#do you think she was evacuating with the rest of the staff?

[arolesbianism]

Ok I'm fully Jackie pilled now I fully adore her what if you took a lesbian with adhd and make her the worst person you've ever met

[emsgwenstan]

Why not me?

Larissa Weems x fem reader {angst}

words: idk 2.5k?

warnings: language.

note: ok idek what this is, i haven't written anything in months because of burnout, so really just something i pulled from drafts.

“Don’t.” It was to the point; it was sharp and clear. I picked up my handbag, coat and gloves and evacuated the room as swiftly as possible.

Slamming the door behind me, I could feel its vibration, the loud noise echoing through the halls and corridors, just like every one of my steps down the marble stairs. Frustratedly, I rummage through my bag to find my car keys, desperately needing something to just go my way, I plucked them out and balled the abundance of jagged metal in my fist while storming across the cobblestone to reach my car.

The second I sat in the driver's seat, tears started to roll down my cheeks and my nose started tingling, I shove the keys into the ignition and reverse out of the staff lot before practically doing a burnout when setting off. Where to go now is the question. Where to go indeed. The only home I’ve ever known is nevermore, the safe place I retreat to when the outside world is far too cruel, when normies are unkind and when life gets too much.

Every possible place I think to go isn’t an option, they are all riddled with memories of her, there’s nowhere in the whole of Jericho that I haven’t been with her, the park benches and weathervane after getting hot chocolates on a sunny winters day, the local bookstore on a windy spring morning, the clearing just off the road in the woods on a gloomy autumn afternoon, or the empty fair ground on a cool summers night.

“Oh, you would love her y/n, she very pretty and quite the catch, she flatters me all the time and is very sweet-.” “Don’t.” The conversation plays on a loop, God why? Why wasn’t I enough? The trees reflections whipping across the windscreen seemed to become faster. “Goodness, can you believe she asked me? I haven’t been on a date in years.” She had said. “Help me find something to wear dear?” She asked, and, without question I did.

My grip on the wheel becomes tighter until my knuckles turn white and crescent shapes are imbedded into my palms. Did she not know? Didn’t she realize? Has she not seen the way I look at her? Before I drive myself out of the town ship I stop on the side of the road. I just sit there, I sit and cry for a long time, even as dusk falls and night comes, I sit and cry.

Many cars have passed my own, however none caught my attention until I heard one ripping down the road sounding like it’s going a million miles an hour, when it passed the brake lights almost immediately illuminated my skin and the tires screeched as it stopped, my brows crease in confusion until it reversed back alongside me. Quickly I came to realize who it was. Larissa.

Without second thought I tried turning my car on though it wouldn’t turn over, how bloody convenient. I looked to my side to see her get out and run to my door. “Shit.” I breathed. She reached for the handle and was stunned when she couldn’t open it a dumbfounded expression overtook her pale features. “Open the door.” She pleaded I didn’t look at her, I kept my eyes in front of me still trying to start the engine. “Darling open the door.” She begged, her voice cracking and muffled by the glass.

“Y/n so help me god I will smash this window if you don’t open the damn door.” Her accent became thicker as she yelled. I just wanted her to go away, I rest my temple on the headrest in defeat. For a moment it was quiet- too quiet, that was until I heard her door slam close. I peeled my eyes open and saw her wrapping a cashmere scarf around her wrist, immediately in rage I unlocked my door and stepped out. “What the hell are you doing!?” I seethed. “What am I doing!?” She asked incredulously unwinding the material. “What the hell are you doing!? Where have you been? I called you close to forty times with no answer, I thought you were hurt! I thought something bad happened!”

“Why do you care?” I spat, the bitterness rearing its ugly head. “Why wouldn’t I? You’re my friend, of course I’d care!” There it was friend. Somehow that made it worse- another kick to the guts. “Yeah, ok.” I murmured, twisting around and pulling out my bag, closing the door and storming down the tar road. “Where are you going!?” She shouted. “Away, far away from you!” I bit back.

“Stop!” She growled frustrated and confused. I ignored her request and continued walking. “Y/n!… oh, for fuck's sake.” Her voice died in her throat as she came to the conclusion that I in fact didn’t care for what she had to say. Larissa threw down the scarf and started power walking towards me, her heals clacking hard against the ground, her stride quick and harsh. “Hey-… hey! Christ just stop.” She said exasperatedly reaching my shoulder.

“Don’t fucking touch me!” I shrugged her off ripping out of her grasp. “Take the hint! Larissa, I’ve made it clear enough that I don’t want to be near you!” I yelled whipping around to face her. “What have I done? What is going on? You don’t do this- you don’t pull this kind of childish behavior; I expect this from a student not you of all people.” She reacted. “Thanks, truly.” I sarcastically remarked and resumed walking.

“Fine I’ll just follow you then.” She said as if she was one upping me. “Piss off.” I said starting to walk faster. “Tell me what is going on! Please.” She asked her voice a little calmer and more desperate. I once again ignored her. “Y/n. I’m not going to stop until you tell me what has gotten into you.” She said starting to slightly limp from the ache in her feet. “What has gotten into me?… what has gotten into me?” I stopped abruptly.

I spin on the spot facing her again throwing down my bag in the middle of the road. “You.” I said creeping towards her with my finger pointed towards her chest. “You have gotten into me!” I yelled. “Me?” She asked, her brows furrowing and voice shaking. “Yes you! Day in day out, I’m sick of it!” Larissa’s posture straitened and head slightly dropped to the side in question. “Can you elaborate?” She said her eyes flicking about showing her confusion.

“It would be my pleasure. Let’s start shall we. “I’m not sure where I’m going wrong, I just wish someone would want me.” Or “I’m not good enough.” Or “y/n, why doesn’t anyone fancy me? Is it because of this or that'…or some bullshit reason.” I started, quoting just a few things from her. “What? Are you annoyed now that I actually have someone who could potentially be interested In me?” She asked furiously.

“No, I’m annoyed because of how ridiculous it is.” I retorted. “Ridiculous?” She growled through clenched teeth. “Yes. Ridiculous. How many times was I there to say those things aren’t true? How many times have I reassured and helped you? How many nights did I spend being by your side trying to make you happy!?” I asked. “What are you getting at!?” She asked, her eyes wide and lips twisted. “Months… years actually! Listening to you talk absolute garbage about yourself and continuing to do so after me telling you I’m here! - and, and now… you’re settling? for some waitress who thinks you’re pretty?” I explained looking directly in her eyes.

Larissa recoiled and looked as if she had been slapped. “Tell me how you really feel.” She murmured crossing her arms over her chest. “Jesus Christ, get a grip! Are you that thick!? I’ve been tryi-” I began. “Don’t even start, what about you! As far as I’m concerned you don’t have a great track record in relationships!” She yelled, her anger taking over once again. “Just fucking listen!” I screamed, rendering her completely silent.

When I realized she had bit her tongue and no longer wanted to argue, I started to speak again in a more relaxed tone. “I haven’t spoken, been with or even looked at anyone else. I’ve said nothing, but I’ve tried in many ways to show you, to tell you… every single time you have had a problem, a bad day, needed help, needed comfort, who’s been there? Me. I have. I know you better than anyone and I’m telling you that, that woman isn’t for you.” I stated.

“Right. So, your jealous that you're not the one who’s getting the chance with her, is that what you're saying? Because I thought you would be happy for me, out of all people y/n.” She said quickly and bitterly. “No that’s not-” I try. “I’ve heard enough, you want to be left alone fine, go ahead.” She said rolling her eyes and turning around to walk back to her car. “Larissa.” It’s her turn to ignore me. Before she got too far, I reached for her wrist without thinking and stopped her.

“I am.” I said quietly, pulling her to turn back toward me. “Your what?” She asked back. “Jealous.” I express timidly, looking away from her but keeping the firm grip. “But not of you… of her… I’m jealous of her.” I said just above a whisper. I look back up, my gaze trailing from her shins to the hem of her dress, to the waist belt of her grey coat, to her neck, lips and face, her very confused face.

“I’ve tried to tell you… I’ve tried everything apart from actually saying it.” I said loosening the grip on her wrist. “Do you have any idea how hard it was? How hard it is to listen to you talk about someone else making you happy? Someone else who can see the side of you I’ve only ever wished to be privileged to see?” Larissa’s face dropped; her angered expression melted away as I continued.

“What?” She asked, her voice barely above a whisper. “I’m sorry.” I said in the same level of tone, goosebumps forming over my body as a shiver made its way down my spine, right there I knew I ruined everything. I close my eyes and let go of her wrist, I could hear her take a step, but it wasn’t back towards her car, it was to me, my eyes snap open as I feel her entire body engulf mine, in all the years of our friendship we’ve never hugged like that. Not once.

Together we stood planted in the middle of the road not daring to move an inch, it felt like it lasted a lifetime but in reality, it was only a few moments. My head and my heart were reeling, so many emotions, so many feelings, so many memories, so many 'what ifs'. “Larissa.” I said into her chest. “I know.” Was the reply. “Let me say it.” I murmured, Larissa’s chest heaved and contracted deeply, she guided one of her hands to rest on my temple and forehead moving the fallen hair in front of my eyes. “Look at me… please.” She asked pulling back just a little.

I lifted my gaze to her eyes and held the lapels of her coat, smoothing them and giving myself time to breathe. “I…” I swallowed. “I, love you.” I said quietly, tears threatening to spill from my eyes. “I have for so long.” I breathed, finally after God knows how long I finally said it, although my relief was short lived when I saw Larissa face slowly revert back to one of distain.

“This isn’t fair.” She said pulling away and taking a step back her brows furrowing and unable to look me in the eye. “What?” I asked in disbelief. “I-… I liked you for a long while y/n, but now you choose to tell me?” It took every inch of me to not cry immediately. "What are you saying?" I asked dumbfounded, feeling bile build up in my throat. Completely taken aback, I recoiled and was in such a state of disbelief that I turned around in utter shock, plucked my bag from the ground and resumed trekking down the road.

The whole world felt like water filled the atmosphere and I was drowning, my limbs felt heavy and the cold seeped into my bones, I heard her muffled voice call out to me, but it was far too late, the second I looked up a pair of headlights were set right towards me...

[lmk-oc-competition]

LMK OC COMPETITION - ROUND 1

click to see full image

Jun belongs to @camhues

Pebble belongs to @pebblepeb

Learn more about them below the cut!

Jun:

Kind and gentle, Jun is seen as a mother figure to many. A shoulder to cry on, an ear to listen, she will stay by your side and provide advice and comfort as needed. Jun would never turn anyone away that needed her help. Jun is quiet and soft spoken, but won’t hesitate to defend her loved ones physically or verbally.

Jun is a middle aged librarian in Megopolis, maintaining a mundane but content existence. For most of her life, she thought of herself as unassuming and simply wanted to continue her role as MK’s mother figure. But once she finally seemed settled into her life, it seemed her world had been turned upside down and constantly changes.

Throughout the series, Jun has to cope with the loss of her quiet life before MK picked up the Monkey King’s staff and face the challenges that come against her and the rest of the Monkie Kid Crew-as well as embrace the changes she finds herself going through in the process. She finds she has more power than she ever thought possible for a woman like her…

Pebble:

Pebble is self taught witch, learning by an ancient grimoire she conveniently found in a thrift store for five bucks. She focuses on helping citizens rather then fighting demons, primerely evacuates people from danger zones and assist with city reconstructions. Why do you think Megapolis looks as good as new after every battle? She works alone, but secretly wishes she could get to know other heroes.

[starsfic]

(see "Happy Hour" fic-title prompt for context) While Playtime sponsored a happy hour at the local bar for their employees, two experiments--1006 and 1188--privately plotted together for an upcoming little "happy hour" of their own. One that would enact their revenge and ensure no more experimentation takes place. The next day, however, the two were still barely into the planning stages when PlayCo made an announcement that shocked everyone and threw the two of them for a complete loop.

The screech of the opening of the metal doors stirred the prototype from slumbering.

Ah, this must be the team. They were earlier than planned, although he suspected that the Doctor had caught on to the Prototype's altered sleeping patterns. He needed his rest if his plan was to go off like he wanted it to.

His eye opened. And then all they opened as, instead of the white coats of the scientists and the black body armor of security, the simple blue work uniforms of floor staff threw open the doors. There was three of them, all peering in. He stared back, unsure of what to do or say.

How did they even get down here?

"He's here, Miss Ludwig," one of them eventually called. "I don't think he's gonna attack, he looks pretty shocked."

"Thank you," a familiar voice said. "Only one of you should stay. There's an experiment who needs help, she looks pretty messed up." Out of the light, a small figure stepped into the cell.

He knew this woman. His memories of before were confused and hazy, but he remembered being handed the small brunette baby. His memory always wandered to the older girl, the redhead, but he knew this woman.

"Dad," Carnation said, reaching up. No disgust or fear tainted her pretty features. Instead, fierce anger lit up her face. He leaned down, letting her touch and examine his face. "Oh, Dad, I'm so sorry. I didn't know you were here, I swear."

He wanted to speak. He couldn't.

"We're going to get you out of here," she said, pulling a hand away from his face to instead grasp one of his hands. "Everyone else is evacuating the toys and the kids."

"The Doctor?" He had to ask.

She bore her teeth. Now that he was closer, he could see red freckles across her shirt and reaching up to her cheek. "Anyone who was involved in this will be going to prison," she said. "I promise."

She would be disappointed.

But Elliot kept his mouth shut.

[itsclydebitches]

Right, so I was looking over your recap of Worthy again and didn't see you mention how absolutely contrived the circumstances of the James vs Winter fight were. If you remember from Creation, Winter explicitly states "No. When we're finished, we'll move both of you to safety." when Jacques asks if she'd be leaving him there. Logically, this would mean the next we see of Winter she'd be transporting James and Jacques to the nearest available portal but she doesn't? She just conveniently forgets about them. And I'd be FINE with that if it was written as a deliberate choice by Winter. "Sorry Weiss, these two men have negatively affected my life beyond repair and I can never forgive them." and while I don't necessarily agree wholeheartedly with that line of thinking because no matter what, every life should be fought for and saved in a scenario with magic transportation portals such as this. It'd at least be SOME sort of explanation that's in line with the narrative CRWBY is trying to tell. Instead we get her walking around aimlessly in the Atlas Vault, trying to communicate with everyone on the plan's status. Which makes no sense given that we've already seen the ground shake elsewhere meaning SOMETHING has happened to notify everyone that Atlas is falling. And I thought maybe I'll give her the benefit of the doubt, maybe she doesn't know since no portals have spawned in the vault yet and then I rechecked and they HAVE.

She should be sprinting for the portal. Atlas is falling. She needs to go go go but instead she just calmly walks towards it? Is time not of the essence? Where's the urgency? Like I get that sprinting in heels up a flight of stairs that large would be absolute murder on her ankles but still. They dumb her down just for the sake of a stupid fight that nerfs her so she NEEDS Penny to die to give her the powers and win in a fight she should have no issues with.

If I'm also giving her the benefit of the doubt - and from what I can recall after an admittedly long hiatus from watching this particular episode - I think she intended to move Ironwood and Jacques after the evacuation is complete. "When we're finished." So yes, she knows Atlas is falling because that's a prerequisite of the portals appearing. She knows the evacuation is underway and that something is going on thanks to communications being down, but not what. Winter has her next step planned, but no indication of if she should start it yet because she's not able to contact anyone and presumably she wouldn't want to go through the portal until she's planning to leave Atlas permanently. (We know that they can use the portals to get around Atlas/Mantle thanks to Jaune portal hopping to look for survivors, but I'm not sure that's ever established among the other characters. AKA Winter might think she shouldn't go through one until she's ready to leave it all behind, but she can't do that until she's gotten Ironwood and her dad).

But all the above keeps it just as contrived and stupid? Why does Winter need to wait until "When we're finished" to move them? To my recollection the show never establishes anything like, "You're a security risk so we're going to ensure everyone else is through before dealing with you" or "Based on our battle we'll need the rest of the team present to move Ironwood" or even a variation of your idea: "In theory I believe that no one should be left to die, but considering you made our lives hell, Jacques, we're not going to worry about you until everyone else is safe. You get rescued if there's time left :)" It's just such a weird situation that, yes, exists to ensure that Ironwood is conveniently alone so that only his cell can conveniently open so that he can conveniently go find Winter who is all alone in the vault... because?

This could 100% be me forgetting some aspect of Volume 8, but why is she in there again? She's not guarding the Staff because the girls already have it. She's not guarding the portal because portals have opened up all over the city and Ironwood/the villains can slip through any of them to reach the same place (as Cinder did). She's not playing decoy - misleading others into thinking the Staff is still there - because she's totally blindsided by Ironwood's attack. I'm just trying to remember/figure out the justification for this because if there isn't any that makes the fact that Winter isn't rounding up the prisoners all the more absurd. Her role in this plan seems to be to twiddle her thumbs (in a random place she has no good reason to be in) until she's told that all the hard work is already done. Then she can do the one errand she could have been doing this whole time.

I will say, thinking about it now I'm not against Winter being at a disadvantage against Ironwood, regardless of whether or not she's nerfed in terms of the skill she displays. Her losing tracks for me in terms of her being the subordinate/having him as a mentor in the early Volumes (implying that he's stronger not just politically, but combat-wise too), age (again, the older character is likely to have more experience + time to train their skills), and the fact that just recently we saw Ironwood going toe-to-toe against her, Emerald, and all of team JNOR, holding his own until he was inevitably overwhelmed. Don't get me wrong, everything is still wrong with Penny dying to give Winter the Maiden powers, from how her death was orchestrated all the way to a semi-literal deus ex machina that lets Winter win via convenient magical powerup. We could have had the more interesting a) she wins through a really smart tactic or b) she looses and now Ironwood is thrown into the portal bridge fray instead of being left to presumably die off screen :/

[captainderyn]

!!! Don't mind if I do!! 💕 a kiss somewhere other than the lips & ship of your choice? :3

I may have um...accidentally used this as an ingredient in Angst Soup for an idea I've had kicking around *sweats* hope that's okay.

Baraneth/Alistair -- Set during Trespasser (9:44 Dragon). Spoiler(ish) for a codex entry regarding Denerim.

💕 a kiss somewhere other than the lips 

--

Leaving years of crisis behind would have been too easy. 

The Breach in the sky closing, the Inquisition stepping back from both Ferelden and Orlais borders, the calming of the mage-templar conflict; all were things that made it seem as though Baraneth and Alistair could finally step back for a moment and breath. 

Through years of work they had finally stabilized the Bannorn enough to partially step away, enough trust and rapport built that Arl Teagan could make the journey to speak on Ferelden’s behalf at the Exalted Council in Halamshiral  instead of one of them making the journey. 

That was before the barrels of gaatlok were found packed in the cellars of Denerim’s castle, primed to go off at any time. 

That was before Baraneth and their almost two year old daughter spent a fretful night in one of their staff’s homes on the outskirts of Denerim under heavy guard, while Alistair rode about like a madman, evacuating the castle and all surrounding residences. 

By dawn a raven, dated just over a week prior, arrived with news of a qunari plot, being handled by the Inquisition. Within the hour, Alistair sent a return raven with two scrolls--one for Leliana and one for addressed to an agent of theirs with an offer for the Inquisitor alternative to what Teagan was pushing for. 

Midmorning came and went, and with it a packed carriage in front of the lady in waiting’s residence that Baraneth and Eleanor had overnighted in. 

Baraneth hurried from the doorway as quickly as her heavily pregnant self would allow her to maneuver. Her lady in waiting, Mara, followed close behind with Eleanor, wrapped tightly in a blanket against the chill in the air. 

“Alistair!” Baraneth threw her arms around him, and it took all of his remaining energy to not not collapse into her touch. His heart hadn’t left his throat since the previous evening, when dinner had been interrupted by their staff finding the gaatlok, “You didn’t return last night, I was worried sick.” 

He pressed a long kiss to her forehead, hands resting on either side of her neck so he could run his thumbs along her jaw. 

“Everything was, and is, quite a mess. Someone had to keep the people and Bannorn from stampeding." He tried to joke, but his own voice fell flat. Maybe once he could have spun this sort of situation into a web of humor, but it became harder and harder with each new trouble that appeared. 

Baraneth let out a tired sigh, “I’m surprised people even react anymore. What’s to be done? Mara already said she'd be willing to keep Eleanor here for a while.”

He was silent for a moment, caressing her jaw as he moved to rest his chin atop Baraneth’s head. He fixed his eyes on Eleanor, hardly more than a thick head of dark hair as she burrowed into her blanket, still asleep. Mornings had never been her favorite time, not even in the months most people claimed their infants had woken them at dawn. Two years in and some things didn’t change. His heart twisted. 

At a slight nod from him, Mara disappeared back inside with Eleanor, letting the door click softly behind her. 

���Alistair?” Baraneth’s hands splayed across his chest as she pushed back from him, brows knitting. “What are you thinking?” 

He brushed Baraneth’s hair back from her forehead from where she’d pressed against his shoulder, running his hand down the length of her braid and flicking it over her shoulder. Stalling. The horses behind him snorted, jangling their harness. 

“I think while this is being handled is a good time to take Fergus up on his offer to stay with him and Elysande in Highever.” he nodded back towards the carriage. “I got it all packed and ready to go in the overnight hours.” 

Her eyes flicked to the carriage, then back to him. 

“Yes…” she began slowly, hands beginning to twist in the fabric of his jacket. “We had spoken about spending time in Highever, hadn’t we?” 

Alistair let his hands settle on Baraneth’s hips, settling just below the swell of her belly. She brought one hand down to rest upon it, in the spot their daughter had taken to kicking with all the intensity of a training Antivan Crow. Her eyes searched his, her lower lip beginning to tremble. 

“We’re all going.” she said, very deliberately. “All of us.” 

“I will meet you there.” Alistair soothed. “As soon as I get things stabilized here.” 

A few tears slid down Baraneth’s cheeks and she ripped one hand up to flick them away. 

“We’re staying.” She insisted, chest heaving as she sucked in a breath. “We’re all staying together.” 

The last thing he wanted was to be separate from her, after the two years she’d been gone searching for the Cure he had done everything in his power to keep them that way. But he would not lose his wife, his daughter, their baby, to a scheme they didn’t know the depths of. 

“It’s a ten day carriage ride, by the time you get there I’ll already be on my way.” he tried to keep his own voice from betraying how badly he wished to hop in the carriage with her. “Bara, I need to keep you all safe.” 

Her tears fell harder, the hand twisted in his jacket pressing where they both knew a scar rested at the junction of his chest and shoulder from the last time fanatics had thought about stripping Ferelden of its rulers. 

“The baby is due any time now.” Baraneth gasped out the words. “I need you there.” 

“Elysande will be there if anything goes wrong. I'll only be a few days behind you, I promise." Alistair brushed her tears away, meeting her agonized look. "It's going to be alright, Bara."

She stared at him, pressing her lips together.

"Please." He murmured. "I need to know you are safe."

She squeezed her eyes closed, but nodded.

"You come home to us as fast as you can." She opened her eyes, which still brimmed. But her tears halted, for the moment. "Promise me. Alistair."

He held her tight to his chest, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

"As fast as a horse can carry me, I promise."

[nighthoundsworld]

As I now feel like the main pioneer for the Next Avengers fandom I’m gonna start something (that’s probably not gonna be consistent) called Head-canon that’s probably 1000% true and todays Topic is on the very awkward subject for our Next Avengers ✨PARENTS✨ specifically Mothers

#1 James and Francis are complete Mamas Boys without a doubt so this post will be about them. Now not saying they don’t love their dads because they do………but come on now if I had a mom that looked like this I’d be a mamas boy as well

(James)

#2 James wears a Red hourglass necklace around his neck and never removes it because it was the last thing Natasha gave to him before she went to fight Ultron and ultimately died (This is the new canon because I said so, so if our Next Avengers come back in mainstream media expect this to be a thing)

#3 The Day Steve and Natasha left to fight Ultron which lead to their deaths Natasha was forced to inject James with a syringe that had sleeping medication because he wouldn’t stop screaming and crying and wouldn’t let go of Natasha mind you that at the time James was only 3 which grew his fears of Needles

#4 The only Picture James has of his Parents is them dancing at their wedding, it’s the only picture he has and he stops himself for looking for more because every second he spends looking at that picture reminds him of what he lost and what he’s never able to get back

#5 Although James is Captain America’s son and he’s held at such a high regard and given such respect he acts more like Natasha. His hairs the same shade of red, He leans more towards the spy in him than the goodie two shoes solider, his hero costumes primary color is a red and Black jacket with a star etc overall he leans more towards Natasha in the personality department

#6 James biggest secret that no one knows but him is he knows Ballet, he practiced in secret for years and perfected the craft and everyday he ends his day by looking at a Russian Ballerina Music Box and watches it twirl as he thinks about her

(Francis)

#7 let’s get this out the way right now Francis was not planned 😂 LOL He was an accident Baby that Clint and Bobbi made on their 3rd Honeymoon but never the doubt the idea of Abortion never once crossed their minds as they agreed that little Francis was gonna be there’s 100%

#8 Francis being the only one who actually was able to live a portion of his life with his Parents Bobbi tried her hardest to give him some sort of normalcy in hiding with the Freedom Fighters (or whatever they were called) she taught him all the basic things and even made a small area for him where she’s read him bed stories every night and promise him a better future

#9 Bobbi’s nickname for Francis was “Her Little Birdy” or “Franky”

#10 evidently when Bobbi’s death came Francis was 10 years old. A group of Ultron bot’s found their base and she led the fight to stall while Clint helped everyone evacuate. She gave Francis her Goggles and made him promise that no matter what never loose hope in fighting to save the day before Eventually Clint was forced to carry Francis away leaving the boy to watch as the last time he saw his Mother she was fighting for her life in which she ultimately lost

#11 Francis keeps a picture of Bobbi in his pocket at all times so he never forgets his Mom’s face along with the fact that he never takes off his goggles the least he’ll do is just rest them upon his head hiding them within his hair

#12 he customized his Bow so that it can turn into a Bow Staff along with two separate Batons the same Bobbi used as he trained himself with the art of the Bow Staff in honor of her. He also carved out a small Mockingbird within his Bow for her

#13 every year on her Birthday he leaves flowers and one of the children’s books she read to him at her Grave where he talks to her and gives her a recap of what happened in the past year promising her he’d never give up fighting for what’s right

Overall these two are complete Mamas Boys and again like I said I don’t blame them look at who their moms are

[laurelslegacy]

Naming of the kits

Not dead! have NOT stopped working on Zeb trying to get ready for con next weekend. New Zeb mask, old Zeb armor but modified to fit my cooling vest. ordered proper boots to do the right feet but they've never shown up... TWICE. all that, moving, dealing with personal issues. Been hiding away and relaxing with a story I'll likely never post and never thought I WOULD write but the thoughts on it the challenge was nice. But I am going to share with you the last part just written cause I'm in TEARS. summery: Yep Lasat males can get Pregnant, but only a very rare few and the odds of carrying to term is only 40%. it's a war, it's stressful. With the Death Star destroyed they have to evacuate to Hoth. The entire time Zeb is plagued by fear and anxiety over losing not just one but two Lasat kits. Kallus is the always comforting always reassuring, Have faith- he would say. Hera would add Have hope.

“What are their names?” Sabine spoke up quickly, looking from one father to the other.

Zeb looked dumbfounded for a moment before his eyes rested on Kallus, a sort of ‘help’ look.

Kallus started to chuckle “We haven’t chosen yet, we were following some Lasat traditions.”

“Are you going to go for Lasat names or Human?” Rex asked idly curious.

“Not sure, good question.” Kallus replied.

“I’d like them ta have meaning, my name does, Alexandr does. Both fit us.”

Hera looked to Zeb and tilted her head, perhaps she could get more Lasanese from him “What does your name mean Zeb?”

Put on the spot the lasat’s fur started to rise in a blush “Araseb, a hard consonant in front o’ male names so Garazeb, we the people or of the people. Aureli, meaning gold, oosh fer a last name. Looked it up, Alexandr means protector of the people.”

“Hope.” it pulled the attention off of Zeb and Kallus smiled “One of them should be named hope.” A blush spread across his cheeks as Zeb looked at his husband with adoration nodding in agreement. “Nadia.” Zeb perked his ears and Kallus went on, “it was my mother’s name.”

Zeb looked moved to tears and reached out to let the small Lasat female grab ahold of his claw “Nadia, yeah, l love it.”

“What of him Garazeb?”

“Ah…” Zeb was thinking about it.

“Saul. Start with Saul Garazeb.” The old voice came from Chava as she hobbled in with her staff, Grom right behind her. “Ohhh they’re so precious! SO BIIG” She laughed delighted, Sabine handing over Nadia to the old Lasat woman’s arms, Grom taking her staff so she could hold the new Kit. “Nadia Ashla ashlas ulanakra nashna uraka mo.” (Nadia, the light of Ashla bless your life.)

A sniffle pulled everyone’s eyes to Zeb, he wrung a hand over his face “Saulkal.”

Grom grinned and looked at the faces of the others in the room “Name means roughly Faith in my or the Sire.” And he gestured to Kallus.

Now it was Kallus’s turn to begin turning red and eyes welling with tears, wiped at them aggressively only making his eyes more red. “Suitable.” nodding, clearly a bigger more passionate word on his tongue but allowed this one to slip out.

“There now…” the lady drawled out and handed Nadia to Kallus reaching out for Saulkal. Repeating the same phrase “Saulkal, Ashla ashlas ulanakra nashna uraka mo.” She handed the little boy back to Zeb. “Well Visiting hours and over and they better still have hot Caff in the mess, these old bones are too cold!” She turned, was handed her staff and she and Grom made their way out.

Hera squeezed Zeb’s arm and smiled, tears in her own eyes “We’ll let you Kallus, Nadia and Saulkal rest. They’re lovely as their fathers.”

“Thanks” is all Zeb could get out waiting till they left before leaning as much as he could on Kallus, crying to release all the anxiety, stress, worry and fear and let in the tears of love, joy and being complete fill him instead.

[glassica]

Live with me

Notes: wlw, yuri, war, sci-fi, both leads are soldiers

Hopeless.

That was the word Layla would describe the situation they were stuck in. Five hours had passed since the last reinforcement troop sent to aid her platoons, and all within that time the enemies' machine had wiped out over thirds of her comrades. The lieutenant cursed her own incompetence, while a sense of dread slowly clouding her judgement.

What was she fighting for? She didn't know nor care. Ever since the days at school, Layla and her fellow compatriots had been taught to dedicated their hearts and mind solely for Motherland. All she knew was to fight. Fight for her country. For what cause didn't matter, just fight. Layla didn't question the reason behind this ongoing conflict plagueing her nation for decades, she simply accepted that as her responsibility.

The lieutenant probably would spend the rest her life on the battle ground and die with a noble cause, hopefully got rewarded a medal after her body lain and cremated amongst thousands of other fallen soldiers. That was the life she had settled for, at least until she met Chloe.

"Captain. How was your side?"

"Bad. Down right horrendous. Those bastards blew off medical tents so we had to evacuated all the injured and staff somewhere else. I called off the fight and retreated my units to the barracks now."

Layla sat down beside Chloe. The two women hadn't seen each other since the start of the operation. The captain tucked her head on Layla's shoulder, eyes drowsy from tons of sleepless nights. Layla moved the body closer, making herself as the support pillar so her lover could use some rest. The battle wasn't over, but perhaps sitting around for a little but wouldn't hurt, Layla was exhausted too.

Their peaceful moments didn't last long, as all of sudden a gun machine jumped down right in front of the women. Chloe swiftly dragged the two hiding beneath the ruined concrete. It wouldn't take long before the robot blast through their hiding and wipe out the couple, they needed to come up with a plan getting back to the army shelters unharmed. That seemed impossible considering how far they had to run, and there wasn't that much objects to hide on the way either. As Chloe was racking her brain out calculating the route, Layla just dropped a bomb:

- Maybe this is it.

- What do you mean?

- I mean our ending, love. Our last moment. I honestly can't hope for a better way to go out.

A shadow casted on Chloe's face. So her partner still stick to those kind of martyrdom thinking which she resented vehemently. Dying for your country, for the love of your life, for a noble cause,... all those beliefs Chloe had rejected long ago. She had a wish different from that. A self-serving, petty wish disregarding all the teachings the government that tried and failed to instill on her head.

- No dear. We won't die here, at least not on a battle with this stupid robot. Don't you think that's too lame of destiny for us?

- ...

- Layla. Look at me. What had I told you before? How do I want my life with you once the war's over?

- You want us to buy a house on the seaside so every morning we can take walks around the beach. I'm gonna open a flower shop and you'll try hands in calligraphy. Every now and then we go on road trips crossing to other nations.

- That's right. We have so much to do together. I don't wanna be sacrificed on battlefield just for some medals, that's useless to me. We still have a whole life ahead, and I want nothing more than to live it out the fullest with you.

Chloe pulled her lover in a firm embrace, as if holding onto the hope that a happy ending will happen despite all the cruelty and bloodiness gloomed over the fate of two ladies.

"So live, Layla. Live with me."

[bestworstcase]

with only three episodes left, what do you think is in store for the rest of the volume? personally, i’m having trouble imagining a solid resolution fitting into such a small window. not that i doubt there’s a way to end this volume succinctly—rwby is always throwing curveballs i could’ve never predicted hitting, which i love—but i suppose the hangnail in resolution’s cuticle is that jrwby are all finally facing their lifelong, beaten-in worldview being turned on its head and that seems like the kind of thing (on top of neo’s untold ever after story) that needs more time to be resolved. in which case, ig we’re not looking at a clean wrap up? do you think they end this volume ascending the ever after? escaping back to remnant? (i ask those two questions separately bc i wanna say they might have different answers lol)

as a point of comparison, here’s everything (not necessarily in chronological order) that happened in the last three episodes of V8:

1 - ironwood vs everyone beat down

2 - winter heel face turn completed

3 - met ambrosius + staff of creation rules

4 - magic rules lawyered penny into a flesh body to save her from the virus with a side dish of horrible body horror robot body death scene and holy shit atlas is FALLING.

5 - creation of whacky portals for evacuation to vacuo

6 - emergency evacuation broadcast CANCELLED!

7 - cinder remembers the power of friendship and uses it for evil

8 - cinder recovered the lamp and scored the password and used the last question to spy on team oz which is fucking hysterical by the way, so she knows the entire plan

9 - YANG DIES?

10 - ruby and blake fall too. and neo

11 - the evacuation dumps everyone in a sandstorm so they can’t call for backup and also the exit is one-way (“oh dear. ambrosius \:” love that enthusiasm sir)

12 - HARRIET TRIES TO NUKE MANTLE?

13 - ironwood murders jacques

14 - eleventh hour harriet heel face turn also zeki dies because atlesian tech goons thought the nuke needed to be plugged into the IOT for some reason god bless

15 - PENNY???

16 - and winter becomes the winter maiden

17 - TEAM RWBY TOTAL PARTY KILL!!

18 - jaune also

19 - salem and cinder playing chicken over who is going to blink first like they don’t both already know that it’s going to be salem

20 - ATLAS OBLITERATED FOREVER

that’s a lot of things!

now, it’s a lot easier to set up and execute a dense, tightly-paced climactic spiral of disaster than bring a lot of interconnected emotional crises to satisfying resolution in the same amount of runtime—but on the other hand, V9 has a lot less going on. it doesn’t FEEL that way because the emotional development has been so rich and done so, so well, but there honestly are not that many narrative threads to tie off. basically, the big ones are:

1 - ruby’s emotional crisis

2 - jaune’s corruption

3 - neo

4 - how do we get home?

5 - what do we do once we get there?

compared to the sheer amount of dominoes V8 had to juggle, handling this stuff is a nice little walk.

the key thing to remember—& this has been true for every one of rwby’s climactic sequences and also counts as writing advice—is that none of these major threads are truly discrete. they’re all interwoven with each other and bound together with all the smaller filaments (like the cat’s arc or little’s arc or the framing device of ‘the girl who fell through the world’ and what really went down with alyx and the tree), so you don’t have to resolve them separately and indeed you can’t because it all has to happen at once. what this means, from a writing standpoint, is you layer up and make every scene work towards the resolution of two or three major threads and however many minor filaments you can fit comfortably so that everything is doing work for everything else. if you’re efficient you don’t need a lot of time to pull off a stunning climactic sequence, and efficiency is something rwby has always been very, very good at. this is true even of V1 even though V1 feels laughably inefficient by the standards of V8; which is to say, they started off good and got much better.

the other piece to bear in mind is that V9 is not meant to be self-contained; it is not a character-focused breather volume to let the protagonists heal up before returning to remnant to carry on as they were, it is The Answer. when rwbyjn go home they are not going to return to the story they fell out of at the end of V8. that story is OVER. it ENDED. the final word was checkmate and the world they knew is GONE FOREVER. salem WON. the ever after is an epilogue to that story and the prologue for another; it isn’t building towards a resolution so much as it is building a hook.

(<- remember V3 “beginning of the end” and “end of the beginning”? this story-within-story device is something rwby has utilized before; this show is a singular contiguous narrative in the literal sense, but it’s structured as a trilogy.)

so V9 needs to be a satisfying farewell to the middle book and also make the case for continuing on to the third and final story—which very much works to its benefit here, because the sweeping emotional changes being developed actually SHOULDN’T be resolved. a clean wrap up would critically weaken the narrative structure. the immediate crises need to be realized—there must be a moment of peace, of closing one book and beginning the next; a hopeful glimpse of the story to come, of what it could be—and then they go home. and the new story begins.

in the figurative sense you could call it ascension. in the literal sense, no, i don’t think any of the remnant characters are going to ascend because i don’t think they can (frankly i’m bemused as to why so many people seem to believe otherwise; it seems to me that the cat has made it very clear that ascension is closed to non-afterans). but the idea of ascension? oh, yes, they’re carrying that forward with them.

as for whether they’ll return to remnant—yes. i think the probability that they don’t find their way home by episode ten is zero. how they return is an open question but also not a question at all, because the tree is the question and their answer is the door; this has been spelled out, explicitly, albeit in wonderlandish terms. what we don’t know yet is what this will look like, because the tree is also the blacksmith and the ever after runs on wonderland rules. it’s not going to be literal. (<- unless abstraction is less absurd than the literal option, which is possible given the likelihood that the ever after itself is fictional.)

[aajjks]

aww he blew her a kiss ☺️ how cuuuuuteee

TC!dad!JK

even though he couldn’t see you as he rode off, you blew a kiss back and whispered a quiet “be safe” as you watched the large army ride off. you were shocked when the doctor told you that you were to be expecting twins especially considering the last incident. the news made you cry when he told you and so you held onto the good news until jungkook’s departure and you’re hoping this will give him motivation for return home safe, no pressure of course. but you’re sure your trusted partner will be okay. you, however, won’t be.

so day after day, month after month, you are loaded with work. one moment it’s something with the concubines, next it’s something with an ally, then an ally offering you a trade for something, and then your kids are becoming angsty, especially ae-cha. she’s more cranky than usual and because you’re loaded with work, you’ve been missing her dance recitals. recitals you promised to attend.

its been 6 months and everyone is shocked on how well you’re managing by yourself for your first time. although your assigned council is helpful, you’re still exhausted nearly everyday. it’s always something after something and finally after forever, your well-trusted honorary staff ji-eun informed you of miriam’s whereabouts. turns out she got incredibly ill and never informed anyone about her condition. not even jungkook, apparently. so, you assigned a personal physician to look after her and report her condition to you which only got worse and worse.

7 months into your pregnancy, miriam rested permanently and you dealt with that sadness alone. that day, the garden was filled with roses and snowdrops and because of your deep sadness, it began to effect the health of your babies. you even began sleeping on jungkook’s side on the bed a lot more than usual. holding the pillows he slept on as a form of comfort.

your kids really uplifted you during that timeframe and around 8 months, you were on bedrest until the birth of the babies. lots of the citizens in goryeo sent their blessings to the queen for a healthy and successful delivery. queens from different areas that were allied with jungkook came and gifted you with all kinds of souvenirs for both you and the babies.

finally, your 9th month, the possible birth month of the twins seems to be september which is jungkook’s birth month and you think it’s kind of cute. you waddle to your bedroom with your kids and your children are so excited to meet their two new siblings. jinseoul is now 13, ae-cha is now 11, areum is now 5, jawon is now 2, and now that they’re all together like this, you realize just how strong your husbands genes are. each one of them looks like their father except for jawon who has more of your features yet the resemblance is clear.

you’re hoping for two boys again but who knows how the delivery will go. speaking of your 9th month, jungkook SHOULD be back, right? although you receive updates every now and then of his whereabouts, you’re worried he’ll come short on his promise and he’ll be gone for—

“SOMEONE!! QUICK!! CALL THE PHYSICIAN!! THE QUEEN HAS GONE INTO LABOR!!” yells a maid and physicians quickly rush to your aid. “mom?” asks a concerned areum.

“i’m o-okay. j-just..nngh…w-wait outside, okay?” you manage to get out and a nanny quickly evacuates your worried children to their rooms while the doctors begin informing you to calm down.

“okay your highness, push!” and you do.

“you’re doing good”

“we’re almost there”

“push!”

and you push again.

and again.

and again.

tears are pouring from your eyes as you begin crying for jungkook. you desperately want him to be here to hold your hand because you don’t think you can do this on your own. you’re scared and you’re alone.

“i’m sure he is on his way, your highness. you can do this. i know you can”

you nod your head and begin pushing once again and finally your baby’s head is peaking through, the shoulder, and then finally the first twin is delivered.

“IT’S A GIRL!!” yells the doctor as the other doctors congratulate you. “we’re losing a lot of blood” says another doctor and because the babies are positioned for you to push naturally, you do. you’re pushing again and God, you’re so tired. you’re lightheaded and strangely, you feel fingers threading through yours and when your vision clears, there stands jungkook. his hair has gotten longer, a lot longer. he looks freshened up yet his hair is unruly like he was rushing to get to you.

“j-jungkook?” you cry and squeeze jungkook’s hand to make sure he’s real. he gives your hand a kiss and presses his head to yours while encouraging you to push the second baby out. coaxing you to give it all you’ve got and finally, your second baby is out. “IT’S ANOTHER GIRL!!” yells the physician while others congratulate you and the king for your two new babies.

“the queens vitals looks to be fine. lost a lot of blood but she’ll be okay. the babies are healthy as well, your highness. welcome back” says the physician as jungkook cuts the umbilical cord and looks at the healthy twins who eventually calmed down and rested on your breasts.

“i’ve missed you so much” you say, tiredly reaching for jungkook’s hand which he gives you and leans down to your level to kiss you. you sniffle “i’m..i’m not dreaming right? y-you’re actually here, right?”

it’s the quickest and tedious war jungkook has fought to get back to you. although most soldiers were wounded, there were no casualties.

jungkook made you a promise and meant every word he said. here he was, back to you to witness the birth of his beautiful twin girls. “DADDY!!!!!” yelled his kids who immediately ran up to their father once they saw him. “twin girls? aw man” says areum who is STILL reluctant to share her father’s attention with anyone else. “what will we name them?” you ask jungkook.

“i’m thinking…ayra and moonbyul??”

~🫧

wheeew 😮‍💨 im so sorry. you can frfr start when she gave birth. i got too immersed lol

You’re so tired, he’s so tired. But you’re both so happy right now. Jungkook presses a chaste kiss on your lips, and he caresses your cheek.

“Baby I’m so proud of you… you really made me a girl dad..” he almost cries as he stares lovingly at his newborn girls. “Oh my God..” he exclaims, not leaving your hand at all.

“Hi baby. Daddy’s home.” He hugs as his daughters rush in to hug him. “Do you want to meet your baby sisters?” He questions and laughs at areum when she makes a weird face.

“No don’t be like that.” The staff watches the sweet interaction while the nurses take your babies and take them away to clean them up while the others tend to you.

“I think we should name the other one jieun.. what do you say? Ayra and Jieun?” He asks you. “My love I’m so happy- you’ve given me the biggest gift ever.” He kisses your hands all over.

“Rest now okay, I have to go meet my sons too.” He whispers.

[indigosunsetao3]

Keeping Lines Blurry

Chapter 13 - Deadly Secret

Masterlist of Chapters

Warnings: 18+ - No minors Please read the tags on A03 for any of your triggers

Kyle "Gaz" Garrick X Original FMC 5.5k words - AO3 Link

“The President is secure,” Gaz yelled down his comms as he dragged an injured soldier from his regimen out of the street and behind a car for cover. “Bravo Six do you copy?” Gaz tried again as he mounted his gun over the trunk of the car he was behind and returned fire. Day one may have gone quietly but day two was certainly making up for that fact. They had barely made it past sunset when the first shots were fired. The bodyguard right next to the Lithuanian President had taken the shot to the head and Gaz had barely managed to pull the President to the ground when another bullet exploded in the wall where his own head had just been.

“Copy Gaz,” came Price’s voice. “Ghost, Soap, Alex how copy?”

“French President was hit,” came Ghost’s voice a moment later followed by some cursing. “I’m not sure how bad but I’ve got the group barricaded in the back of the church. We’re going to need extraction.”

“Working on it,” came Laswell’s voice, her tone even though there was a sign of stress in how quickly she talked.

“It’s all quiet here,” Alex answered next. “I’ve got the American President and his staff in a makeshift bunker to be safe,” he continued the sounds of fearful chatter filling the background noise. “No shots though, no sign of anything.”

“Soap?” Price asked again and the silence was jarring on the other end. “Soap how copy?”

“We’re pinned,” Soap finally responded back, his voice cutting in and out. “They’re coming from fucking everywhere,” he cut out again before coming back, his mic still on as he ordered some people around. “We’ve evacuated the German Chancellor already but these assholes didn’t get that memo.”

“Keep them busy, reinforcements are coming,” Laswell responded. “Gaz how are you holding up?”

“Taking heavy fire,” Gaz answered before ducking as a barrage of bullets struck the car, popping one of the tires so it sank a bit. “At least three dead and more injured,” he continued before peering through the shot-out window of the car and taking aim at the sniper positioned in the building across the street. He took the shot and the bullet hit home and Gaz ducked down again as the enemy retaliated with another spray of bullets.

“We’ve got company,” Price interjected. “Three blacked-out vans just pulled up outside of our position. I’ve got eyes on the Prime Minister but Henry is gone,” he cursed before the echo of shots filled his comms before going quiet.

“Fuck him,” Soap answered, “maybe he’ll end up as a friendly fire casualty.” Then there was a shout of pain that caused Gaz to tense, his finger hovering over the mic button to call out to Soap. “ ‘m fine. Fuck that hurt, but I’m fine,” Soap answered, “just a graze.”

“Quit mouthing then,” Ghost answered, anger and concern evident in his voice. “And pay attention.”

“Any word about the rest of the area?” Gaz asked as he heard gunshots coming from north-east of his position. “Who else is under fire?”

“Just about everyone,” Laswell answered, the sounds of people yelling filled the silence in her comms for a second. “MI6 just reported the library is under siege,” she hesitated as if listening to something before coming back. “They were taken by surprise,” another long pause as Gaz felt the dread building in his chest as if he knew what was coming before she spoke again. “There were plants in their security. Most of the detail is dead.”

“I’m going,” Gaz answered swiftly as he looked left and right for a clear path. He was the closest to the library, he had gone over the map multiple times to make sure he knew all exits and how to get to the rest of the team should they need him. “If their security team is dead that whole group is about to be if they aren’t already,” he couldn’t think like that even if it was the truth. There were about twenty-five people at this little conference that Henry had allowed Olivia to attend and none of them were even remotely trained in combat. If MI6 had traitors in their midst they had no chance at survival without some sort of outside help.

“Extraction is low priority for them Gaz,” Laswell answered.

“Which is why I am going. I’m not leaving all those people to die because they aren’t deemed important enough,” he bit out as he darted down an alleyway and ran straight for a small car, using the butt of his gun to smash out the window and open the door from the inside.

“Stay alive,” Price answered back after a moment. “We’ll get to you when we can.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Olivia scrambled back out of her chair and hit the floor on her hands and knees when she realized what was happening. Her forearm was on fire and she bit back a yell of shock and pain at the blood pouring out of the gunshot wound there. She had been drinking water with her right hand when the shot hit her and she knew without a doubt if her arm wasn’t up to block the bullet, she’d be dead in her chair right now. Just like the man across from her who’s legs she could see from under the table, his body still just sitting there as if nothing were wrong.

More gunfire and shouting made Olivia move, crawling on her hands and knees to try and find a way out of the room, or at least behind something. She pushed up onto her feet and in a crouched run went straight for a line of bookshelves. She was hissing with pain as she held her arms above her head, aware of the fact she was probably bleeding all over herself as she went. An agent to her right fell to their knees as they were hit with a bullet then two more right to the chest and Olivia reached for them but they were already gone by the time they toppled to the floor.

Tucking herself behind a few rows of books Olivia scrambled for her phone in her pocket and pulled it out to try and call for help. Her hands shook and she had to wipe her fingers on her pantsuit to get the blood off them as she tried to type in her password. She just kept smearing the blood and with a frantic groan, she wiped the phone on her black jacket before trying again. There were messages there, multiple from all different contacts, but Olivia went right to the keypad and dialed the emergency line. Busy signal. She hung up and tried again. Another busy signal. She tried calling John Price, but he didn’t answer so she tried Soap. Nothing.

“Damn it,” Olivia breathed out as she swiped over to her text messages, flinching as the sound of an explosion outside rocked the building. She quickly sent a message off to the 141, including Kyle’s phone even if it was destroyed and he was still missing, before sending one to her mother. Just as she was about to swipe over to her father, Henry the last person she really cared to reach out to, her phone buzzed with a call.

“Dad?” Olivia breathed into the line as she crawled to get even deeper into the library. “Dad, are you alright where are you?”

“I haven’t much time,” her father answered her, his voice sounding hurried and panicked. He sounded like he may be running with how breathless he was. “Are you alright? Have you found a place to hide?”

“I, yes I’m fine,” Olivia lied as she looked at her arm and fought the urge to get sick at the sight. The skin was twisted and ripped under the still glistening wet blood and she could feel something foreign in her skin every time she moved her fingers, as if it were pressing on her tendons and bones. She knew basic first aid she needed to cover and pack the wound and put pressure on it to stop the bleeding but she hadn’t had time. Tending to the wound wouldn’t matter if she was dead. “Dad, where are you? Do you know what is going on?”

“I need you to listen to me,” her father answered, the sound of a door clicking shut in the background. “Do you remember your grandmother's old set of China in the attic? The one your mother insisted we throw away once you were too old to be playing tea party because it was chipped and no longer useable?”

“What? Dad, are you alright?” Olivia asked instantly wondering if he was desirous from a head injury or dying. Why would he be calling about his mother’s China set that she hadn’t even thought about in years.

“Olivia listen to me,” her dad said more urgently and with more authority behind his voice. “Everything you need is in that box. Everything. Get to it before Henry does,” he paused, “I’m sorry for all of it. I never meant for it to go this far, or this wrong,” he breathed out for a second. “You need to know your mother had no idea about any of it. About what Henry does, what you’ve been through. I tried to stop it.”

“Dad, what are you talking about?” Olivia felt the cold sense of foreboding building in her stomach. “Why are you sounding like this is a goodbye?” She tacked on as her phone buzzed with a text response but she ignored it as she gripped the phone tight to her ear. “Dad?”

“Henry always gets his way, you know that,” her father finally answered sounding reserved and oddly calm. “He’s been suspicious for weeks of my betrayal so I’ve been building backups, working in secret to get Kyle the information he needed,” there was a loud bang from his side and her father paused. “I’m sorry for what happened to him. I never did hate him, not really, but I was too wrapped up in my own failures and trying to dig my way out to let you be happy. I’m sorry Livvy.”

“I don’t understand,” Olivia said back frantically as she peered over her shoulder. The shots were getting close to her again and the screaming was starting to die down. As if there weren’t any other people left to scream at all. “Getting Kyle information…what information? How have you betrayed Henry? What has he been up to?”

“Just get to the files,” her dad responded in a whisper as if he were trying to hide or not let someone know he was on the phone. “I love you,” he finished before there was a shot that caused Olivia to yank the phone away from her ear the loudness of it.

“Dad? Dad!” Olivia called into the phone, doing her best to not be too loud but the panic was winning over her logical thinking. “Dad!” Olivia tried again feeling the tears on her face. “Dad answer me,” she begged. There was some rustling on the other line, mumbled words and Olivia clutched the phone hard as someone spoke into it.

“Hello Liv,” Henry said, the voice sending a shiver down Olivia’s spine as she stared blankly out the window where an explosion rocked the skyline. “Shame your father couldn’t keep his mouth shut. He would have been by my side, pride of place if you will when all of this was over. But he couldn’t take it, couldn’t handle the work that needed to be done to get there. Just like you can’t,” he chuckled a bit.

“What have you done?” Olivia asked, her voice a seething hiss as she poked her head out the end of the line of shelves to look for an exit door.

“I did what needed to be done,” Henry answered. “I killed a traitor to our country. The man who singlehandedly tried to start the next world war. I was too late to stop him before he put his plan into motion but I was sure to stop him before he could do more damage. My best friend Liv, how could he do this?” He laughed in a mocking tone, “and he was even willing to sacrifice his pregnant daughter for his cause. How vile.”

“You fucking monster,” Olivia barely breathed, the ringing in her ears from panic drowning out the sound of her own voice. She knew there was no way out of this, her father was dead and she clearly had a mark on her head as well. “My father was ahead of you,” she continued, wincing as she pulled herself up to stand fully, “he hid evidence of what you’ve done and you’ll never find it.”

“No one will,” Henry said unbothered. “Because you’ll be dead before sunrise along with your mother. Goodbye, Liv.” He hung up before Olivia could answer and she pulled the phone away from her ear to stare at it. Her father was dead, her mother she didn’t know and she knew she was next. She couldn’t let that happen she needed to get out some way, get the information out somehow but with Henry tapping her phone she couldn’t exactly text the information to anyone on where to look.

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Gaz was flying down the street after he hotwired the car, switching off between his hands and knees to steer as he reloaded his guns. The drive should take ten minutes but Gaz wasn’t exactly following the traffic laws as he weaved around blockades and ignored all traffic lights. Not that many people were out in the streets at the moment given the fact their capital had turned into a warzone in a matter of minutes. He glanced at the car clock as he made a sharp left turn, feeling himself slide in his seat as he did so, before punching the gas again to get back up to speed. The fire fighting where he had been had started nearly thirty minutes ago, how long had Olivia been under attack? Laswell said MI6 reported about the library about twelve minutes ago so maybe she was still okay.

He opted to continue past the street that was in front of the library and continued to a small family park next to it. He barely threw the car into park before he bolted toward the large stone building. It seemed the attackers were already inside the library because there was no activity outside. Sticking to the sculptures and playthings Gaz used the sights on his rifle to try and assess the library and surrounding buildings for any activity. It was strangely quiet outside and there was no movement in the windows, victims or enemy. That was until gunfire started going off again and a window on the third floor exploded out and rained glass to the street below.

Gaz trained the scope on the newly blasted out window to see if he could get an idea of what he was walking into. There was someone in a MI6 uniform shooting at an unknown assailant but it was impossible to tell if this was one of the plants or the real security working to protect the people there. He didn’t get much more information from watching so he lowered the gun down and broke out into a sprint toward the building hoping there were still some people inside that he could save.

“Gaz,” came Alex’s voice as Gaz hammered away at the lock on the utility door with his gun to get it to break. “I know who the mole is in Henry’s group.”

“Come again?” Gaz asked as he shoulder-checked the door open and raised his rifle up for any enemies that may be on the other side. “What does that matter right now?”

“It’s Olivia’s father,” Alex answered. “Price was right, this whole thing was a setup to wipe out her family. To get rid of the mole, cover up his own misdoings and pin it all on Olivia’s family.”

“How do you know?” The question came from Ghost.

“Because he sent one last message. He knew Henry figured it out and was coming for him so he wanted someone else to know. He said he told Olivia already but just in case,” Alex explained doing his best to not sound pessimistic at Olivia’s chances.

“I’m here,” Gaz answered as he cleared the first-floor stairwell and was taking two steps at a time to the second. “It’s quiet,” he tacked on as he bypassed the second-floor door and continued up to the third. “Can you get me any other information? Laswell, do we know who the plants were? How many real agents are left?”

“No,” Laswell answered back quickly, “you’re on your own. I suggest you get out who you can and find somewhere to lay low. If Olivia’s father is dead she’s next and I doubt they will risk wasting any time.”

“Copy,” Gaz answered quietly before letting go of his mic button and gripping his rifle tighter with one hand as he eased open the door on the third floor. There were dust particles in the weak sunlight and he could smell the tell-tale scent of gunpowder and burning paper. This was definitely where the fighting had occurred and Gaz darted to the closest cover, a library cart, before peering around.

There was no more gunfire. It was silent save for a few groans and the whisper of feet moving quickly throughout the area. Gaz had no idea who was on his side, and who wasn’t, and to be honest anyone else would think he was a potential enemy as well. He had to keep his guard up and make snap decisions on who to save and who to drop. He didn’t like walking into the unknown like this, the risks of hurting someone innocent were too high. It was like the attack back in London all those years ago when Price had found him pinned by falling debris as he had chased a terrorist in a police uniform.

“This way,” a voice came and Gaz tracked the sound over his shoulder to the right. “She couldn’t have gotten far,” they continued and Gaz ripped his earpiece out to hear better, Laswell already said help wasn’t coming so he didn’t need to listen to them now.

“Just plant the last bomb and be done with it,” another man said. “She didn’t get out, if she’s alive she won’t be for long.”

“He wants proof of death,” the first voice answered. “He’s pissed about the last one not having a body.”

“There won’t be one once the bomb goes off,” the second voice replied. “Isn’t that the point?”

“He’s paranoid of her getting away. He still thinks the soldier is alive somewhere,” the first answered.

Gaz heard their boots crunch over glass and he shifted his weight on his feet as he maneuvered into a crouch, sliding his gun back over his shoulder and instead grabbing a knife out of its holster. These two were obviously the plants from Henry but not knowing how many there were he wasn’t going to risk gunfire without a silencer if he didn’t have to. He spotted them one row of books over, their gaze twisted away from him as they walked along.

Careful to avoid the glass Gaz stalked to the row of books and stayed low enough they wouldn’t see him as he positioned himself at the end cap. He leaned against the wood, adjusting his grip on the knife handle listening to them approach before he attacked. They were walking slowly and Gaz stared at the floor watching their shadows get closer as they walked along oblivious to what was around them as they argued.

Gaz had his attack timed perfectly. His left hand darted out to grab the pistol one of them was holding in front of them as his right hand slammed the knife to the hilt into the man’s neck. Gaz listened to the gurgle as the man rapidly bled out, twisting the gun out of the limp hands before he brought the pistol back to crunch into the second man’s skull. The hit wasn’t a killing blow but it was enough to stagger the second assailant as Gaz pulled the trigger on the gun twice in rapid succession, pumping two silenced shots to his chest. They may not have been true MI6 but they had their weaponry and Gaz knew silencers were standard issue when working security patrol. The second man fell dead, the look of shock still in his eyes as he stared at nothing.

Bending down Gaz retrieved his knife and wiped it on the man’s shirt before sliding it into its sheath. He pulled the guy's face covering down and snapped a picture of him and the other man and sent them to Alex before pocketing his phone again. He didn’t have much time and didn’t know if the bomb they were discussing was already set to explode, but the best weapon was always information. If he was blown to bits with the rest of the people here the team would at least have more data to go off of.

Silenced pistol in hand now, Gaz checked the clip before snapping it back into place and continued his sweep. The further into the library he got the more bodies he found. Agents were sprawled on the ground and Gaz paused long enough to check pulses before he walked on. There was blood everywhere and he flinched a bit as he got to the main area where the meeting had taken place. There were bodies still sitting in their chairs, they had been taken by complete surprise because many people didn’t even have the chance to run. No one had invaded the library; the enemy had walked right in the door with them.

Gaz snapped a few more pictures and sent them as he looked around, his eyes scanning for any movement and ears listening for any sound. The men he had killed had indicated someone was missing and the boss wanted picture proof of their death. Gaz knew damn well without them saying it that the missing person was Olivia and it was Henry who wanted evidence. He had botched his attempted murder of Kyle and he wasn’t going to risk Olivia getting away.

There were three options for Gaz to go and he paused trying to think about which way Olivia would choose when he heard a shriek. That was good enough for him. Taking the route to the left Gaz raised his pistol and made his way toward the sound of the scuffle. He found Olivia cornered with a man attempting to drag her out of her hiding spot behind a stone pillar with a bust on it. Gaz didn’t see a weapon in the man’s hands as he tugged at her legs which worked in his favor. In the man's distraction trying to corral Olivia, he didn’t hear Gaz approach. The guy didn’t have a chance to react as Gaz yanked his head back and shoved the pistol under his jaw, pulling the trigger without hesitation. Gaz didn’t flinch as he felt the blood spray onto the little bit of his face that was exposed and he let the body fall with a thump without a second glance.

Olivia was wide-eyed and let out a scream as she saw Gaz crouch down, her eyes staring at the gun in his hand as she backpeddled away. Gaz quickly shoved the gun into the back of his pants before raising his hands in a gesture to show he wasn’t going to hurt her. He could see she was coated in blood; the side of her face was covered in a spray of it and he could see a bright red river of it running down her arm where she had attempted to wrap her wound with a strip of her own shirt. She had been shot and Gaz instantly reached for her, instinct to help her overriding the attempt to calm her.

“Get off of me, let go!” Olivia thrashed and screamed, kicking out hard with her still heeled foot which connected with Gaz’s thigh. Gaz grunted and Olivia went wide-eyed as she saw the name patch on his uniform, recognizing it from the night before. “You! Did you follow me here? Are you part of this?” he didn’t let go of her as she fought, “I said let go!” She reached out and attempted to scratch at Gaz’s face and Gaz knocked her hand away, flipping his own to grab at her wrist to keep her still. He had been hoping to get away without having to speak because it was going to open up a whole can of worms they didn’t have time to deal with at the moment but she wasn’t giving him much choice.

“Olivia it’s me,” he finally said as she trashed around like a cornered animal. “Oli, I need you to be quiet. I don’t know if there are any other people around,” Gaz pressed as he let go of the hand that she had attempted to attack him with to pull down the balaclava and expose his face. “It’s me, it’s Kyle. I need you to stop making noise and we need to move.” He stared at her as she blinked once, twice, the recognition sliding over her own features as she took him in. Tears welled in her eyes as she sat forward and reached out a hand to him as if she needed to touch his face to confirm it was him there.

Then she reared back and slapped him. Hard.

“Fucking hell Olivia,” Gaz snarled as he caught her hand when she attempted to hit him again. “Probably deserved but save it,” he ordered as he stood up and dragged her along with him. “You can slap me later, we have to get out.”

“You’ve been here the entire time!” Olivia snapped as Gaz dragged her along. “I’ve been so worried, so sick and fucking scared and you’ve just been there!” She was reeling as she yanked back against his grip but he held firm as he touted her along behind him. He was using his body as a shield as he led her toward the emergency exit stairs. He had pulled his face covering back up again as they jogged and Olivia was tempted to snatch it back off of him again just so she could really see him and be sure. “You stood there while I cried last night and didn’t say anything!”

“I couldn’t Olivia,” Gaz answered as he paused at a window and peered out to make sure no one was outside aiming at them. “Henry couldn’t know. We needed him to play out his plan,” he explained as he saw the door he came through.

“Play out his plan? You mean let him try and kill me?” Olivia snapped, “he killed my father. While I was on the phone with him.” She sobbed the last few words and felt Gaz hesitate for a second as he turned around and looked at her. “He was helping you! And you let him die!” She wiped furiously at her face which just smeared blood and she wiped more getting frantic with it as it continued to spread.

“I didn’t know it was him Oli. I promise I didn’t know until a few minutes ago,” Gaz said as he grabbed her hand gently to keep her from continuing to wipe at her face in a panic. “We didn’t know Henry’s full plan, we had suspicions and we needed him to act on it so we could get him for it.” Gaz continued as he dragged her to the stairwell. “I’ll explain more later but we need to go. Now.” His words were a bit more urgent as he tucked his earpiece back in to let the team know about the potential bomb. Olivia looked mutinous as she followed him down the steps, her fingertips dripping small drops of blood as they went.

“Find the first place you can to hide,” Laswell said as she relayed information to the team she was working with to get Ghost an extraction. “We’ll get to you when we can but right now you need to disappear. As far as Henry knows you are still dead and Olivia will be as well in the explosion.”

“Rog,” Gaz said as they made it back outside. His rifle was back up in his hands as he scanned the area before waving Olivia out of the stairwell. They ran back toward the car he had stolen but only made a quart of the way there before the ground gave an ominous shake and there was a loud groan as the world around them exploded.

Gaz dove for Olivia, grabbing her hard around the waist as he flung his gun to the side and pulled her tight against him. She screamed into his chest as he curled around her, pinning her down into the grass under his weight to protect her as much as he could against the debris from the explosion. Her hands scrabbled against him as she realized what was happening and her fingers found purchase in his vest straps as Gaz tilted his head down and tucked her face into his neck. He felt the dirt and debris rain down him as the heat blasted against his back before a second explosion went off and he grunted as the shockwave knocked the wind right out of him.

All was silent for a moment, save for the ringing in Gaz’s ears, as if the world had stopped out of sheer shock of what occurred. Then sirens wailed in the not so far distance and Gaz dared to loosen his grip just a tad on Olivia. She was still holding on tight to him, keeping herself pressed against his body as he craned his neck and looked back at where they had come from. The library was gone. It was nothing but fire, blasted stone, and smoke. They were lucky they weren’t hurt; they were much too close to the explosion for comfort. As Gaz turned his gaze back to Olivia he found her staring at the ruin as well, wide-eyed and terrified.

“We’ve got to go,” Gaz said after a moment, his own voice sounding muffled to his ears. Olivia didn’t register, she didn’t even look at him or acknowledge he had spoken. Her eyes were glued to the wreckage of the building behind them and he gently rolled his weight onto one arm and grabbed at her hand to get her to let go. “We have to go,” he said again as she finally cut her eyes to him as he pried her fingers off him. “The police are coming and we cannot be here,” Gaz continued to explain but she just blinked at him. Either she was temporarily deaf from the explosion, or it was shock. Maybe a bit of both.

Olivia seemed to get the gist of what he was saying after a second and moved to let go as Gaz rolled off her and snatched up his rifle. He was on his feet and pulling her up by her good arm and they were running for the car again. Gaz was silently thanking himself for parking this far away, if he had pulled out front there would be no car left, buried under the rubble. Flinging the backdoor open he instructed Olivia to get inside and lay down before he climbed in the driver’s seat and started ripping off his gear. He didn’t want to look like a soldier as they drove away, he needed to look like a frightened citizen so no one would look twice at him.

He stripped down to his t-shirt and shoved his vest and helmet away onto the passenger floorboard, tossing his gloves down there as well after he used them to wipe the black paint off his eyes. It would have to do. Throwing the car into gear Gaz floored it out of the city to try and find somewhere they could stay. He needed to get a look at her arm, she didn’t have an exit wound that he saw and they weren’t going to be able to go to a hospital anytime soon. That meant he was going to have to dig the bullet out which wasn’t going to be pleasant for either of them.

[silver-rings-and-rabbits]

Open Heart 2 - Chapter 11

Countdown

A/N: Buckle up, people.

“What’s going on in there?” Ethan’s voice was hard with urgency.

“Travis just tried to kill Senator Ed with whatever was in that canister,” Matthew explained. He coughed as the poison tickled his throat. “Ed got out but we have no idea what was in there.”

Bobby was lying on the floor, gasping and spluttering. Danny was wheezing and retching, but still fighting to get Bobby into the recovery position. Rafael was shaking, but his eyes flashed in fury as he grabbed Travis by the shirt and yanked him up.

“What the hell was in that thing?” he snarled, making Matthew jump. Travis’s answer was lost in his retching and he twisted away to vomit. The acrid smell burned Matthew’s nostrils, and he hastily turned back to Ethan.

“Bobby took a full blast of it to the face, and Danny and Raf were both right there when Travis deployed it. And I breathed some in. I need you to make sure that whatever it is doesn’t get to the rest of the hospital.”

“I will, don’t worry about that,” Ethan said. He had the calm doctor façade, but he couldn’t stop himself wincing as Danny vomited hard. Matthew glanced back over his shoulder. Bobby had stopped moving entirely.

Leaving Ethan to call for the Centre for Disease Control, Matthew turned back to the room. His heart was hammering, but it almost stopped when he noticed the vent in the ceiling.

“Raf, help me seal the vent!”

“On it!”

They both dug through the cupboard and found some plastic sheeting. Further digging uncovered medical tape, which Matthew tore into strips with his teeth. Raf laced his fingers together and boosted him up, holding on to him tightly as Matthew clumsily taped the plastic over the vent.

“This’ll have to do,” he gasped as Raf lowered him down. Raf’s eyes were bloodshot. He wasn’t sick…but he was stronger than Danny, built like a tank, and he didn’t have asthma complicating things…younger than Bobby…and had taken a faceful of poison gas in Matthew’s place…

“What were you thinking?!” he burst out, grabbing Rafael by the shoulders. “Bursting in here like that, and now you’re covered in…in…whatever it was that made everyone so sick!”

“Relax, Matthew,” Rafael said gently, squeezing his arm. “I’m still feeling good. I’ll be OK.”

Matthew hoped to god that was true because Bobby was still, Danny was wheezing, hugging a trash can in case he vomited again, and Travis was still writhing in the corner.

Desperate to do something useful, Matthew carefully approached Bobby and pressed two fingers to his neck…but he couldn’t find a pulse.

“No…”

He tried again on Bobby’s wrist, but there was no pulse there either. He started to tremble, whispering to himself that Bobby’s heart could be restarted by someone soon, but deep down he knew he was kidding himself.

“Matthew.” Rafael knelt down beside him. “Did much get on you?”

“Only a little.”

“Good.”

Outside, Ethan was talking briskly on the phone. Hospital staff were gently evacuating patients from the nearby rooms. Nurse Sarah was shuffling past with an elderly lady. She smiled and chatted with her but as they passed the window and she glimpsed the scene inside, fear filled her eyes.

“The CDC are on their way,” Ethan reported as he came off the phone. “Just stay calm. You’ll all be fine.”

****

Meanwhile, Bryce was three hours into Kyra’s marathon surgery but he was barely aware of the passage of time. The OR was quiet, his surgical team barely breathing as he worked on Kyra’s open chest. Bryce loved being the centre of attention but in here it was surprisingly easy to ignore the eyes on him. In here, all it came down to was his scalpel and the furious cancerous mass that grew on Kyra’s lungs and heart.

He drew in steady breaths as he delicately cut the tumour away from the oesophagus; it was imperative that he removed every poisonous cell without damaging Kyra’s healthy organs. And he did so perfectly, finally lifting the cut tumour away from the cavity and dumping it onto a nearby silver tray.

The next part was removing the disease from Kyra’s lung, but before Bryce could make the incision, he was distracted by loud whispering from the doorway. A surgical resident was talking anxiously with the anaesthesiologist.

“Hey, what’s going on?” he called over at them.

“Sorry, Dr Lahela. Chief Banerji sent me to round up whoever I could. The feds are here…something’s going on upstairs.”

Whispering broke out upstairs, loud enough for Bryce to hear without the intercom. His surgical team were exchanging concerned glances.

“Dr Delarosa, what’s happening?”

Ines reluctantly hit the intercom to speak.

“There’s been an assassination attempt on Senator Farrugia. He’s OK but some of the staff were caught in the crossfire.”

“Ines, that was Matthew’s patient! Was he in there?”

“…Yes.”

For the first time in his career, Bryce’s scalpel shook in his hand.

“Is he OK?”

“So far, yes. The assassin used some kind of spray. The whole floor’s been evacuated and he’s been put under quarantine, along with Bobby Gunderson, Danny Cardinal and Rafael Aveiro.”

“Raf as well,” Bryce groaned. He could stab a guess at what happened, and had to put his scalpel down for the moment as he confirmed the CDC were already working on the situation.

Bryce’s head spun as he glanced back at Kyra, who lay still under the anaesthesia. Her eyes were covered and an oxygen mask was fixed to her face. This surgery was a risk and they all knew it. One slight nick of the scalpel could cause irreparable damage to the heart and lungs. But Matthew had been so upset at the latest developments in Kyra’s cancer case that he’d been desperate to help. He had spent most of this last week preparing for this surgery and had promised Kyra and Matthew he would see the whole thing through.

But now Matthew was trapped in quarantine, suffering from god knew what along with Rafael and all Bryce could think about was being there for them.

“We didn’t study this at med school,” he groaned as he grabbed his scalpel and tried to get back to removing the tumour…accidentally cutting into Kyra’s lung.

“Crap! Suction!” he cried as blood trickled into the cavity.

His surgical intern acted fast, cauterising the wound and suctioning up the blood. Bryce vaguely knew her – Madeleine Jackson. She was energetic and spunky, very similar to him in some ways. He had requested her for that reason, but now she looked at him quizzically, as did several others.

“Bryce, let me call Dr Tanaka in to take over.” Ines’s voice came decisively through the intercom.

“But it’s his day off, he could be anywhere. I can’t just keep Kyra open and wait for him. I’ve already cut into her lung. She’s at risk of going into shock, it could kill her—”

“Let’s at least try him. I know you’re desperate to see your friends.”

Ines stepped out of the observation deck to make the call. Bryce turned back to Kyra. He had to remove the pericardium, which was possibly the riskiest stage of the procedure. He couldn’t let himself mess up.

Ever since med school, Bryce had had a go-to technique to get into the zone. It had seen him through all his exams and early surgical procedures. All he needed to do was picture a foot and recite the bone names, working his way up the body. It was dorky as hell, but had a one hundred percent success rate.

“Distal, middle and proximal phalanges…leading to the meta-tarsals…then the medial, intermedial and lateral cuneiforms…”

His heart rate was already slowing. When he got to the ankle, Ines came back to tell him Tanaka was on his way, and once Bryce reached the tibia he was ready to roll.

Soon enough, the tumour had been removed from the lungs and added to the surgical trays, and Dr Jackson was cauterising the wound. Bryce stretched his back and rolled his shoulders. The only tumour left was the one furiously clinging to Kyra’s still-beating heart. It covered more than half the heart lining, until now. Bryce held Kyra’s heart in his hands as he reached for a scalpel…

“Holy shit! Someone’s saying the assassin released anthrax into the hospital!”

Bryce dropped the scalpel back onto the tray with a clang that reverbed around the OR. A surgical resident was staring in horror at his pager, and the surrounding panic was such that Bryce could feel it through the glass.

“Get the hell out of my OR!!”

The surgical resident jumped.

“But—”

“I mean it, out. I can’t give my patient my all with you lot freaking out up there.”

“You heard the doctor,” Ines said, calmly. She shepherded several doctors out of the OR, glancing back at Bryce with an impressed look before closing the door. Bryce turned back to his surgical team, but they all looked back at him with fierce determination, just as committed to Kyra as he was. Bryce felt a rush of pride; he loved being an Edenbrook surgeon.

They worked together in tandem – Bryce carefully cutting away the tumour, piece by piece, everyone else suctioning blood and fluid, on standby in case they had to cauterise any more small wounds. Bryce barely noticed a surgical nurse sponging sweat off his forehead as he moved onto the inner layer of the pericardium. His hand was steady as he cut through the lining, but never into the heart itself.

Over an hour had passed, but the last of the damaged lining was finally removed. A naked heart would have been strong enough on its own, if Kyra had a full set of lungs and an intact diaphragm, but her organs needed all the support they could get.

Bryce was carefully securing gore-tex around Kyra’s heart when he heard a voice.

“I’m here, Dr Lahela. What do you need?”

“Dr Tanaka, thank you for coming,” he sighed in relief. “I can’t tell you what it means that you could come in on such short notice.”

“Well, after what Dr Delarosa told me, I’m just glad there’s something I can do.”

Tanaka waited on the sidelines for Bryce to finish attaching the gore-tex. He only relaxed when he was sure it was properly in place.

“I know you’re notorious for keeping your cool, Lahela, but I’m impressed.”

“I gotta admit, today’s testing me.”

“Then you’ve passed,” Tanaka chuckled. “Let me take over from here. Go see Matthew.”

“I owe you one, Doctor. A very big one!” Bryce gasped as Tanaka stepped up and he finally made for the exit.

****

Whilst Bryce had been cutting through the layers of Kyra’s heart, Matthew had been watching the clinical transformation of the diagnostic patient room. Bobby had been pronounced dead on the scene. CDC had wordlessly zipped him into a body bag. He would be taken to the hospital morgue and his poor family would be receiving the phone call that nobody wanted to hear.

Danny was weak and struggling to breathe. He was loaded onto a gurney to be transported to a separate room to receive urgent, round-the-clock care from his fellow nurses. Matthew couldn’t imagine how they would feel, having to treat something of this magnitude on one of their own. It was bad enough, not knowing what the poison was, but throwing asthma into the mix was something else entirely.

Travis was also struggling as he lay on the gurney. He had refused to answer if he had any health conditions the hospital needed to be aware of. Matthew wouldn’t look at him. He just heard the wheels rolling away…and then Ethan’s protests that he needed to be kept in observation at Edenbrook, that he was the only one who could have any idea what the poison might be.

Matthew was still on his feet, Rafael sat on the edge of the bed, both shivering slightly in their patient gowns. Their clothes and belongings had been placed into a bag to be incinerated, with Ethan promising their phones and wallets would be replaced by Edenbrook. Matthew had put his white coat in the bag with an odd pang of sadness.

The whole room had been taped over with plastic sheeting, giving the view outside the window a slightly smeared quality. A decontamination tent had been set up outside the door, alongside a rail of hazmat suits. Matthew had always hated the sight of those: stark white and bulky, with thick plastic face masks and large oxygen tanks strapped to the back. He had hoped to get through his career without ever needing one. He had never considered the possibility of it being used to treat him.

As Ethan followed the FBI agent escorting Travis down the hall, the room suddenly felt much too big and much too quiet. Matthew sat beside Raf on the bed, trying to take comfort in his presence.

“It feels like we’re in a spaceship,” he murmured.

“Heh…y-yeah.”

Rafael had tried to laugh but it came out more like a shudder. He was shifting where he sat, and kept scratching at his skin. He had gone quiet as the room had cleared. Matthew was worried.

“Raf…”

“Guys?”

They both jumped. Bryce was at the window. He’d shed his surgical gown but his hair was pushed back with sweat and he was taking in the scene with dismay.

“Bryce, what are you doing here? Kyra’s surgery…”

“She’s OK, I saw her through the hardest part. Dr Tanaka’s finishing up for me. As soon as I heard you were here, I lost focus. Kyra’s much better off with Tanaka holding the scalpel.”

Matthew was touched that Bryce had been so worried, and it was suddenly extremely comforting to see another friendly face.

“It’s good to see you here, Bryce.”

“Same…but why are you both in here?!”

Matthew quickly explained that had happened between receiving the negative results on the paint tests a few hours ago. His throat went tight.

“Danny was really struggling to breathe…and Bobby died, Bryce.”

“Oh god,” Bryce gasped. “His poor family…I met his kids once…”

Matthew remembered what Bobby had said just the previous morning, about buying his daughter a car. Just like that, he would never buy her anything again.

He gripped the window frame and steadied himself. He had to stay strong.

“But I’m sure we’ll find out what Travis used soon,” Bryce was saying, insistently. “Then the three of you will be cured in time for a drink at Donahue’s tonight.”

He did his best to hide his uncertainty. Matthew appreciated the bravado.

“Thanks, Bryce.”

Bryce gave him a cheeky wink. Ethan suddenly reappeared over his shoulder, still looking tense.

“How are you feeling, Matthew?”

“Holding it together,” Matthew nodded. “Panic’s the last thing I need right now.” But it was very tempting when he thought of how quickly Bobby had succumbed.

“I’ve paged June and Baz. We need to get samples as soon as possible. Danny has agreed to any and all testing but he’s too weak to risk drawing blood right now. As soon as the team get here, we’ll suit up and go in.”

“I’ll be right here if you need anything,” Bryce said quickly, and Ethan nodded gratefully.

Within minutes, June and Baz had arrived and the team scrambled into the hazmat suits and crowded into the room. One of the suits put their hand on Matthew’s shoulder and it took a second for him to recognise Baz through the protective plastic.

“Matthew, are you alright? Oh, what a stupid question, of course you’re not alright, but we’re going to get you through this.”

“Baz, give him some space,” June said, calmly. “Matthew, take a seat. We’re going to take each of your vitals and draw some blood samples.”

“Are either of you experiencing new symptoms?” Ethan asked. “Anything could be important.”

“I’m feeling pretty nauseous,” Rafael said. He still couldn’t sit still. “And I’m having stomach cramps. And in the last half hour or so, my mouth tastes kind of metallic, if that makes sense?”

“OK, metallic taste. And, Matthew?”

“Slight nausea but nothing else so far.”

Rafael moaned faintly, clutching his stomach. After he few seconds, he jumped off the bed and staggered into the bathroom where he vomited loudly. Matthew’s stomach twisted, and it wasn’t from nausea.

Rafael was pale and shaky when he returned from the bathroom.

“I’m OK, I promise,” he said, still swaying slightly on his feet. “Things just went a little blurry for a second…I should probably lie down.”

“Let me help you,” Matthew said, immediately. He had to swallow back his own nausea as he jumped to his feet and put an arm around Raf for him to lean on. For someone who didn’t tend to rely on others for help, he was leaning on Matthew pretty heavily. Once he was lying on the bed, neither of them let go of the others hand.

“Mr Aveiro, if you don’t mind…”

June’s calm, no-nonsense energy was – surprisingly – exactly what Matthew needed. As she slid a blood pressure sleeve over Rafael’s skin, it was easy to believe that they would figure out the cause; they were the best diagnosticians in the country after all…

“Is everyone else safe?” Matthew asked.

“Everyone’s fine,” Baz said. “The CDC have sealed off the entire floor and turned off the air flow in and out of here. The rest of the hospital is safe.”

“Good.”

“Did Travis say anything at all about what was in that can? Even anything that could give us a place to start?”

“No. He just said it was ‘justice’.”

“That reckless bastard,” June growled. “He didn’t care who he took down with him. Why didn’t we see it sooner?”

“Because Travis spent years hiding it. Even Ed was fooled,” Matthew said. “Was the can tested?”

“Yes, but there was nothing left inside. Whatever was in there was fully discharged and left no trace.”

Matthew didn’t realise he had been hoping until the disappointment crushed him. The CDC had already disinfected the entire floor. Their clothes had been sealed and burned. Whatever was in the can now only existed in their bodies.

“Bobby’s heart attack came on too fast for the autopsy to tell us anything,” Ethan said, heavily. “Maybe Danny will be stable enough for a test soon.”

“It’s OK, we’ll diagnose it like any other case,” Baz said. “Study the symptoms, determine the differential.”

“Mr Aveiro, your blood pressure is steady but your body temp is slightly elevated,” June reported as she removed the blood pressure sleeve. “So far it seems like—”

“Aah!” Rafael jerked.

“What’s wrong?!”

“My teeth,” Rafael gulped. “Do they look loose? They feel like they’re gonna fall out.”

Baz took a quick look inside his mouth and shook his head.

“Your teeth look totally normal, Rafael. Did this sensation just start?”

Raf nodded. He looked a little relieved, but he was still working his tongue around his mouth. Matthew bit his lip. Rafael was scratching his arm, but he still only felt a slight nausea.

June and Ethan listed the symptoms out loud, adding that Danny’s blood pressure had dropped precipitously, though Ethan wondered if that was a result of vomiting rather than the poison.

“What’s commonly weaponised?” Baz mused. “Anthrax would fit the vomiting and itching. Everything else could be related to fluid loss.”

“Hundreds of things could cause those two symptoms,” Matthew said, unable to stop himself. “Diseases, chemical agents, poisons…”

He trailed off when he spotted Rafael leaning over the side of the bed. With lighting reflexes, Baz had a sick bag ready for him to vomit into.

“Ugh…sorry…”

“Don’t apologise,” Baz reassured Raf, gently.

Rafael lay back against the pillow, still on his side. Matthew automatically smoothed his hair back. All the team could do now was start testing.

****

Ethan tapped his fingers impatiently as the printer slowly choked out the results of the latest blood test; anthrax, tularaemia and ricin had all been ruled out. Ethan tore these new results free as soon as they came out, but his heart sank as he read over them.

"There’s no trace of botulinum present in Aveiro’s blood. What about Valentine?”

“None whatsoever.” Baz glanced at Ethan forlornly. “I can’t believe I’m disappointed to be saying that.”

Ethan had to take a deep breath to centre himself. He had seen plenty of expressions on Matthew’s face in the past: excitement, nerves, happiness, even deep disappointment when Ethan had almost given up on everything he did, but this was a far deeper fear than Ethan had ever seen. First day jitters were one thing, now his life was hanging in the balance. He didn’t know much about his relationship with Rafael either but the way Matthew had hovered over Rafael told him all he needed to know.

It had seemed hopeless last year, with Naveen on the brink of death and himself being declared ‘too biased’ to help save Matthew’s career. But now they were Chief of Medicine and Junior Fellow on the diagnostics team. He wouldn’t let them down again.

“Keep going,” he ordered. “Try for tabun, or Yersinia. It’s unlikely, but…”

“Worth a shot. We can’t disregard fungal or viral contagions either. And we’re just scratching the surface on chemical agents.”

Baz prepared the machine to run a test for tabun. His pager bleeped as they waited, making them all jump. He read it with a frown.

“Danny’s now in a coma,” he winced. “The nurse caring for him said there were no new symptoms to report.”

“Dammit,” Ethan cursed, clenching his fist. “We’ll need access to Travis and to override the damn FBI…”

“Um, excuse me, doctors?”

The three of them looked up to see a petite young woman in the doorway. Dr Trinh was fiddling with the end of her plait, but she stood with her shoulders back. Ethan had to admit he admired her: she was a fighter under her sweet exterior.

“Dr Trinh. What can we do for you?”

“Actually, I might be able to help you. I…I know where Senator Farrugia is hiding.”

“He’s still here?” June burst, and Sienna nodded, letting go of her plait.

“He is. And I think he knows where they took Travis.”

The three senior doctors shared a look, an unspoken realisation in the air: any details Travis could give, plus whatever the FBI had uncovered, would massively narrow down the search…perhaps far enough that they could reach a diagnosis before they lost any more of their patients.

“You two can take over the testing until we get back,” Ethan instructed. “I’ll go with Dr Trinh.”

Sienna lead him out of the lab and further into the hospital, walking remarkably fast for someone so small. She stopped suddenly at a supply closet on the paediatrics floor.

“He’s in there with a guy who looks like The Rock’s less smiley twin.”

“You’re not serious.”

Sienna nodded, grimly. Ethan could only bring the handle down a tiny bit before someone on the other side clamped down on it. He slammed his fist against the door in response.

“Senator, it’s Ethan Ramsey. Open the damn door.”

They heard the senator’s muffled voice, and then the door opened, revealing the senator sitting on a box of diapers. He was glued to his phone as usual, fingers flying furiously. An obnoxiously tall security guard glared down at the two of them. Ethan was six foot seven and rarely had to look up at someone, but this guy was over seven feet. Still, he refused to be intimidated and, judging by her expression, Sienna thought the same way.

“What the hell are you doing, hiding in a closet on the children’s floor?” Ethan demanded. Whatever little respect he might have once had for the senator had now vanished.

“In case you didn’t notice, the man I trusted as my aide for the last several years just tried to kill me in your hospital, and your pathetic excuse for security did nothing about it.”

“Bobby died trying to intervene,” Sienna gasped. The senator at least managed to look shocked and slightly sympathetic…but then he had had plenty of experience in faking emotions for cameras.

“That’s regrettable,” he said. “But the fact remains, I can’t risk exposing myself until I know for sure Travis was operating alone.”

“And if he wasn’t? You’ve set up your home base near sick children.”

Politicians loved to talk about hypothetical children as America’s Future, until they were faced with actual children. Ed snorted derisively, guaranteeing that neither Ethan nor Sienna would ever vote for him again. “Spare me. I’m the one at risk here, not you.”

“Actually, that’s not true,” Ethan said. “You’re the one who got away but there are five other people who weren’t so lucky.”

“Bad day for them.”

Ethan gritted his teeth, pinching the bridge of his nose, trying to stay calm. The flippant disregard for Matthew and the others was deplorable but, especially after Matthew had gleefully exposed the senator on TV last night, losing his temper wouldn’t get them anywhere.

“The FBI took Travis into custody. I need access to him,” Ethan said, bluntly, but the senator remained unsympathetic. “I’ll expose you to the media,” Ethan threatened. “I’ll tell them you are a corrupt, selfish charlatan who knowingly allowed an entire town to drink polluted water for the sake of cost-cutting.”

The senator just laughed, brash and loud.

“Go ahead. Running to the papers might have meant something in the eighties but times have changed. One news cycle and people will forget and move on.”

“Then I’ll—”

“Hit me? You’ll have to go through him first.”

The senator indicated his bodyguard, who stepped up to Ethan with his arms folded across his chest. Ethan was just trying to calculate whether the risk might be worth it when Sienna jumped forward.

“Senator, forget about Dr Ramsey for a second. I’m Dr Trinh, possibly the most mediagenic doctor you’ll ever meet.”

Ethan couldn’t help wondering if she had rehearsed that, but he didn’t like the way the senator looked her up and down.

“Well, you’ve certainly got the look, I’ll give you that. But what does that have to do with anything?”

“If you give us access to Travis, I’ll give the reporters a glowing interview about how you did everything you could to save our staff’s lives, even though you were the intended victim of the attack. I know voters love your charm, but you’ve never served in the military or the Peace Corps. This would make you an instant hero! Who could resist a hero?”

She gave the senator a winning smile, and he chuckled.

“Alright, you’ve got a deal. And let me know if you’re ever thinking of becoming a political advisor.” The smile disappeared from his face as he glared at Ethan. “But after this one gives that interview, I don’t want to either of you again.”

The senator gave Sienna an address and she and Ethan jumped straight into Ethan’s car, following the directions on her phone. She sat in the passenger seat, almost perfectly still except for her fidgeting thumbs.

“You were very impressive back there,” Ethan offered. He knew Dr Trinh had a way with patients, but he hadn’t realised she could win over the senator so quickly, and with smooth confidence. “But are you sure you’ll be able to stomach singing that leech’s praises to the press?”

“Matthew’s my best friend. And Danny and I…we kind of...and Raf’s supposed to fly off on an incredible adventure tomorrow. I’d do anything to help save them.” She sniffed, and looked out of the window as they drove towards the outskirts of the city.

“I can see why Matthew likes you so much,” Ethan murmured. Sienna looked over at him.

“He likes you too. He has a lot of respect when he talks about you.”

Ethan smiled a little. He remembered when Matthew and Sienna were on their first week on the job. Matthew had stayed all night in the NICU to watch over a premature baby. Ethan had stayed too, and it was the first time they had been able to see each other as more than a clueless intern and their stern mentor. Not to mention how Matthew had been so helpful in his secret treatment of Naveen, and then he had been the one to realise the cause. He realised now that it was a genuine pleasure having Matthew on the diagnostics team, how he was finding his feet and brainstorming with confidence exactly how Ethan knew he would. He should have told him that.

“We’re friends,” Ethan said. Sienna giggled.

“He’s hard not to like. I knew we’d be friends from the moment we met.”

Another memory stirred in Ethan’s mind.

“That wouldn’t be the time you told me Dr Toussaint needed to see me for no reason, was it?”

“Yeah, that’s right! I can’t believe you remember!”

“…Hrm.”

“I should probably actually thank you for that day,” Sienna said, her voice going quiet. “If I hadn’t heard you chewing out Matthew I wouldn’t have invited him to Donahue’s…we wouldn’t have got an apartment with the others…I wouldn’t have dumped my stupid boyfriend, or…or been the most scared I’ve ever been at the thought of losing him.”

Her voice broke and the tears spilled over. Wordlessly, Ethan indicated the glove box where she would be able to find tissues. His own throat was tight.

“Let’s just see what Travis has to say,” he said, gruffly.

The address took them to some kind of military compound, complete with a chain-link fence topped with barbed wire. They had to be searched upon entry but only one of them could go into the containment room where Travis was held. Sienna waited outside. Ethan suited up.

The room was small and windowless, except for the glass panel that allowed for the guards to observe. Travis was lying on a bed rigged to heart-rate monitor. He was still trembling – too weak to continue writhing and scratching – but was sweating from head to toe and had several rashes blooming across his skin. He’d drawn blood where he’d scratched so hard.

Ethan had spent eleven years doing his best not to judge his patients for anything, but now he felt nothing but rage; that weak man had killed Bobby for his ridiculous desire for revenge, and potentially had Danny, Rafael and Matthew’s blood on his hands. It took extreme self-control to stay restrained.

“Travis, are you awake?” he said loudly through the mask of his hazmat suit. “I need you to tell me what was in that cannister.”

Travis looked at him blearily. He could still somehow manage a sneer.

“I’d tell you…if I knew. Believe it or not…people who sell biological weapons…on short notice don’t…uhn…don’t like it when you ask too many questions. All I ever had…was an account number,” he wheezed.

It was not the answer Ethan had hoped for. Perhaps he had been naïve to think it would be that easy.

The chart at the end of Travis’s bed would indicate anything new: low blood pressure, eyes dilated and unfocused. He certainly had the hollow look of someone dehydrated from vomiting so much in a short space of time. Ethan turned to the intercom and addressed the FBI agent.

“Has your team made any progress in determining the contaminant?”

“We haven’t isolated it yet, but we have ruled out several possibilities. I’ll print them off for you.”

“Thank you.”

Travis was glaring at Ethan – probably blaming him for not letting Ed die of lead poisoning – but then his face contorted and he cried out, begging for the pain to stop. For a second, Ethan considered ignoring him…but as he ordered for another dose of morphine, Travis gasped and spluttered. His heart-rate monitor had flatlined. Ethan was ordered to leave as government agents burst in and attempted resuscitation, but they would be too late.

His own heart pounded as he collected a list of symptoms and confirmed negative results, and tried to figure out how much of the poison Travis had taken compared to the other three. Danny was already in a coma. Rafael’s symptoms had come on slightly slower, but now he was deteriorating rapidly. He had to get back to Edenbrook, and fast.

****

Matthew paced. He felt sick and dizzy. His head ached and his eyes burned. But he needed to do something, and when he was powerless, pacing was the only option or he would lose his mind. Ethan and Sienna had apparently gone to find Travis, but that had been nearly two hours ago.  Bryce had stayed outside for a little while before having to report back to the surgeons. He promised he’d return.

Rafael moaned in pain and Matthew tensed…but the moment passed and he slumped back against his pillows wearily. It scared Matthew how much worse he had gotten in such a short time. An oxygen tube had been fitted to his nose after June expressed concern about the levels in his blood; Matthew was still OK. But Rafael had vomited at least three times in the last hour and now he was too weak to move properly. He was frighteningly pale, paler than Matthew had ever seen him, and his cheeks were becoming sunken in. His usually neat curls were all matted and stuck out in all directions. If Matthew stopped pacing, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to keep it together.

“Matthew…you have to…lie down,” Rafael croaked. There was still some light to his eyes as he watched Matthew stumbling.

A second bed had been wheeled in by Baz, and the soft pillows and blankets were beckoning…but he stubbornly shook his head.

“Lying down feels like admitting defeat. And I can’t do that. Not yet.”

“Uh-oh.” Rafael indicated his own predicament with a grin. He had always been able to face a scary situation with a smile, but Matthew instantly regretted his choice of words.

“I didn’t mean that you’d given up,” he said, stumbling to Raf’s bedside. “Your symptoms are worse. You need the rest.”

“I know. Don’t worry, I haven’t given up. How could I, when you’re right here?”

He squeezed Matthew’s hand. The warmth of his skin was extremely reassuring, and he smiled a sweet smile that had always melted Matthew’s heart. It did so right now, despite his sickness.

With nothing but faith and trust in Raf’s eyes, Matthew knew he had been right to stay calm. He squeezed Raf’s hand in return.

“I’m going to get us out of here, Raf.”

“I know. You always do.”

They locked eyes for a minute longer until a shout at the window distracted them.

“Matthew! Raf!”

All their friends were piled against the window, looking at them in shock. All except Bryce, who was grinning.

“Told you I’d be back! This time I brought some company.”

“You both look like hell,” Jackie said as her eyes darted between them, but Sienna wormed her way forward.

“Don’t worry, I have tea! And cafeteria pizza if you think you can eat. I’ll have Dr Mirani bring it in for you.”

“…Yay.”

Food and drink was probably the last thing that Raf wanted right now, but he smiled at Sienna as if she had just granted him three wishes. It was so like Raf, Matthew’s heart ached. In fact, it couldn’t be any more full as he gazed at his friends. They appeared only slightly blurry.

“God, I wish I could hug every single one of you,” he said.

“Same!”

“Just let me grow a spontaneous immunity to whatever you’ve got and then I’ll be right there.”

“What Jackie said.”

“Wait, Aurora, what are you doing here? You’re supposed to be at Kenmore—”

“Elijah texted me. You’re in trouble, so I’m here, and that’s that.”

Matthew smiled, but his smile dropped when another face appeared at the window: a man with smooth, black hair. Rafael tensed up and Matthew realised, too late, he was still holding Rafael’s hand.

“Sora!” Raf gasped. “How did you…”

But Sora was shaking his head and stalked away before Rafael could finish his sentence. Matthew looked away.

“Do you want me to go after him?” Elijah asked, after a minute of awkward silence.

“No, it’s OK,” Raf sighed. “He probably needs time to process this…besides…I don’t really know what to say to him right now.”

“I’m sorry,” Matthew said, quietly.

“You have nothing to be sorry for,” Raf replied.

A look of regret seemed to pass over his face but he pushed it away and turned back to the window.

“What else is happening?”

Sienna bit her lip.

“Well…Ethan and I found out where the feds took Travis and we got a little more information…but as we were leaving…he died.”

Fear stabbed at Matthew as he stole a glance back at Rafael. He might be conscious and coherent, but he had got a similar dose to Travis…would he keep getting worse throughout the night, or would it happen suddenly? Rafael kept his face calm, but there was uncertainty in his eyes.

A rustling at the doorway indicated the arrival of the diagnostics team kitted out in their hazmat suits. Baz held a flask of tea and a box of pizza, which he carefully set to one side. Ethan held a small case, which he opened to reveal two syringes.

“We have something that should help you both. We don’t have a cure yet, but until then this should help alleviate the symptoms.”

“Thank you…” Raf murmured as Baz prepared his injection.

Ethan gently ushered Matthew to the other bed.

“You should sit.”

“Just for a minute.”

Even in his condition, he could tell Ethan was trying to resist rolling his eyes as he prepared the injection…but then he started to blur in and out of focus. As his stomach squeezed, his mouth prickled painfully as if it had fallen asleep. Ethan frowned.

“Matthew, what’s wrong?”

“Paraesthesia around the mouth…and in my feet…blurred vision…”

“Anything else?”

“…I started throwing up a while back.”

“I see,” Ethan nodded, concerned behind the plastic window of his helmet. “Thank you for telling me.”

As Ethan injected the medicine into Matthew, he heard Rafael asking if Travis would be autopsied. Ethan scowled.

“Yes, but they’ve informed me they have no intention of disclosing the results. They’re claiming national security.” He scoffed.

“Are you serious? That’s bullshit!” Elijah cried from the window. “Three more of their citizens are suffering from the same, and they won’t help…” His voice hitched and he looked away. Jackie squeezed his shoulder.

“Danny is unresponsive,” she explained. “He’s going downhill fast. He’s on oxygen, but…”

“Oh my god…” Matthew’s hands shook and he felt like he might throw up again. Sienna’s eyes were filled with tears as she stepped up to the window and addressed him directly.

“We’re not giving up on you, or Danny.”

“We have nine doctors working this case already.” Jackie indicated the group, including the diagnostics team. “We should be able to solve anything.”

“I’m just a surgeon but I’ll help with whatever I can.”

Matthew never thought he would see the day.

“This isn’t the time for that confidence of yours to do a runner, Bryce.”

“Yeah.” Sienna squeezed Bryce’s arm. “You’re not just anything.”

Bryce smiled back at the two of them as June cleared her throat. Matthew stood up again to shuffle back to Rafael’s bedside. No one tried to stop him.

“Here’s where we are,” June explained. “We’ve ruled out anthrax, botulinum, ricin, tularaemia, and we’re waiting on the results for Tabun. The FBI’s tests have ruled out half a dozen fungal toxins, Ebola, Marburg’s and all the Novichok nerve agents.”

Matthew shuddered at the mention of nerve agents. Rafael’s fingers brushed his hand.

“It’s progress,” Ethan was saying. “The fact that there’s still no fever means it’s almost certainly not a bacteria or virus. We’re shifting our focus to—”

Rafael spluttered. He clutched his chest…then pitched violently sideways. Matthew launched to catch him before he tumbled to the floor, but barely had the strength to hold him up.

The exertion sent his head into a spin, and he closed his eyes against the painful rush. A high-pitched ringing in his ears drowned out the sounds of everyone else.

As his head slowly cleared, he became aware of Baz’s gloved hands on his shoulders, steadying him, saying Rafael had just fainted. Together they moved Rafael back onto the bed just before he came to. Beads of sweat dotted Matthew’s forehead.

“What does this mean?” Aurora asked, as Rafael blinked woozily around the room. Matthew didn’t want to see the looks on anyone’s faces as he held on to Rafael’s hand. Rafael’s eyes came to focus on him.

“It means we need to move even faster than we thought,” Ethan declared.

****

Hours passed. The sun had long set. Matthew had never known such pain. The sickness had got worse, not helped by his blurred vision and the way the room spun around him. He couldn’t tell if the pins and needles were a symptom or an indication of how many blood tests he had had. A member of the team would come in every hour to take more, but as Rafael had grown weaker, Matthew had insisted they take more of his own.

Rafael was sleeping – moaning in pain, even in his sleep. Too weak to remain standing, Matthew was slumped in a chair, listening to Rafael’s heart monitor. It was beeping slowly…but it was there. Raf was still fighting. That was all that mattered now.

There had been a time when Matthew had wanted so many things: he wanted to meet Rafael’s parents and the rest of the family he loved so much. He wanted them to travel together, holidays for just the two of them. He had wanted to uncover the rest of Boston’s hidden gems with Rafael, maybe even find places Rafael didn’t know about so he could be the one to surprise him. Everything that almost happened had hurt the most when they broke up.

As he sat listening to Rafael’s laboured breathing, all he wanted to do now was to turn the clock back a couple of hours and keep Rafael out of the room. He should have known Rafael would do something like this, it was what he always did. Of course it was too good to be true that someone could be so brave and selfless; it would only be his downfall. Matthew had tried to tell him…but he hadn’t been able to change Raf’s mind. A tear ran down Matthew’s cheek. Rafael wasn’t supposed to end this way.

Rafael coughed, waking up suddenly. He blinked and searched around the low light of the room. Matthew hastily wiped his eyes and stood up, ignoring the too-painful tingling in his feet as he made his way to Rafael’s side.

Raf gave him a tired smile as his eyes focused.

“Matthew, you look terrible.”

Rafael had never looked worse. Far too pale, his eyes and cheeks sunken in, his lips dry and cracked and sore.

“How are you feeling?” Matthew asked, his voice a croak.

“Not bad.”

“Raf, be honest.”

“I am. The pain’s…not bad. I feel kind of…detached from my body.”

“I don’t like where you’re going with this…”

Matthew hastily turned away to grab him a cup of water. As Rafael’s laboured breathing continued, he pressed to his mouth to muffle a sob. At least the darkened room and blurred vision would keep Rafael from seeing his tears.

Wiping his eyes again, he returned to Rafael, bringing the cup to his lips. Rafael took a mouthful…before he hissed and spat the water back into the cup.

“What’s wrong?!”

“There’s…ice in the water?”

“Yes…?”

“It tastes hot. Like…scald your mouth hot.”

“Cold things feel hot to you?” Matthew asked, frowning as he tried to think through the fog.  His head ached worse than ever: it was like his brain was being squeezed.

“Weird, right?” Rafael whispered. “But…you can tell the others…It might…save you at least…”

Matthew sat on the edge of Raf’s bed. The coldness of Raf’s skin frightened him, and he held his hand tightly in both of his to generate warmth.

“Don’t talk like that,” he begged.

“I’m serious. I might not make it…but you have more time.”

“Seriously, Raf, stop it!” Matthew cried. His fear had suddenly given way to anger as Rafael looked on, wide-eyed. “How could you do this to yourself?! How could you just…just throw yourself in front of the bullet like that?”

“Because you were in danger! If I hadn’t…”

“If you hadn’t, I’d be in the same position I am now. But you’d be safe. And well. Hell, you might even be preparing to leave for Brazil right now.”

Raf shook as Matthew squeezed Raf’s hand and held it to his heart. It wasn’t fair that Rafael was the one clinging to life as a consequence from Matthew’s patient. A patient who was only in the hospital because Matthew had convinced him to transfer.

“Raf…I’m so sorry…”

“What are you sorry for?” Raf gasped. He looked so ill, bloodshot eyes, cracked lips, thinned face. The corners of his lips trembled and he was blinking a lot. If he were functioning well enough to produce tears, he would have done. “I was the one who hurt you…and now…I’m hurting you again…so much…you have nothing to be sorry for…” He could barely choke out his words. Matthew gripped on to him, using one hand to stroke his cheek.

“You know how much I care about you, Rafael,” Matthew sobbed. “But…I have to know why you keep putting yourself in danger?”

He could have had such a good life. Matthew hadn’t met anyone who was so beautiful but also kind, generous, compassionate and selfless. Raf was so loved, and he didn’t even fully realise it…and he deserved so much better than to spend his last moments in agonising pain as an unknown poison overtook his body. Matthew would have sold his soul to find an answer. His hand trembled as he carefully smoothed back Raf’s hair. It was coarse, matted with cold sweat.

“I don’t know why I do it, Matthew,” Raf whispered. Matthew leaned closer to hear. “When I saw him…looking about to attack you…I had no other option…but now I keep thinking…about Vovó…” His voice was thick with tears he couldn’t shed.

“Matthew…I think…I think you had better…page the team…”

Matthew’s hand froze in Rafael’s hair…but he had to. His pager was kept on the bedside table and he fumbled with the buttons, sending an emergency page to Ethan. And then he broke.

He held tightly to Raf’s hand as tears poured freely down his face and sobs tumbled out. Despite his weakness, Rafael was moving his fingers against Matthew’s hand. His eyes were as warm and as kind as the day they met.

Very slowly, Matthew leaned down and gently kissed Rafael’s forehead.

“You mean so much to me,” he whispered, brokenly.

Rafael gazed back at him. His eyes were agonised…until they started drifting in and out of focus. The heart rate monitor was slowing.

“Matthew…”

“I’m right here, I’m not going anywhere.”

“Matthew…I’m sorry I couldn’t save you…that this might be the way it ends…”

“I know. It’s OK.”

“I’m so sorry for everything…”

“Ssh…”

Matthew continued to stroke Raf’s hair, gazing deeply into his eyes until they rolled back into his head and fluttered closed. Matthew’s sobs came thick and fast. He clung to Rafael, crying his name over and over again.

That was how Ethan and June found him when they rushed into the room. Ethan’s face fell.

“We thought the treatment would buy us some time…”

“We don’t know that it didn’t,” June said firmly as she gently prised Matthew away from Rafael. He didn’t want to let go; he wasn’t ready to let him go.

“Matthew,” she said, loudly. “He’s not dead yet, his heart monitor is still going. He still has a chance.”

Matthew’s sobs paused long enough to register the gentle beep of the heart rate monitor. June was right. He finally let go of Rafael, allowing Ethan to seal him in a glass transport case.

“Please save him,” he begged June as she led him to his own bed. “Please…just…whatever you can…”

“I know.” June rubbed his back. “I promise, we’re doing everything. He’ll go into a private treatment room where a nurse will care for him. In the meantime, we keep testing.”

“Wait,” Matthew gasped, suddenly remembering. “Before he went into a coma…Raf said that cold water felt hot to him.”

“Hot-cold reversal? That’s…specific.” June frowned. She had that distant look she got when deep in thought. “It reminds me of something I read a while back…”

Ethan seemed to physically shake off his fear as he turned to her.

“Come on. Whatever hunch you’re having, we need to follow it up fast.”

June nodded, and she grabbed the end of Rafael’s enclosed bed. Ethan had the other, and they wheeled him out of the room. There was no time to comfort Matthew, and he was left alone, watching as Rafael was taken away from him, swallowed up into an ocean of plastic. He collapsed onto his bed and wept.

****

He could barely make out his friends when they approached the window a little while later, but when he did, he struggled to the window. He leaned heavily against the frame, peering at their faces.

“How’s…how’s Danny?”

His heart sank when Sienna began to cry. Bryce wrapped her into a tight hug.

“He died,” Jackie said softly.

“Oh god…”

Matthew felt light-headed. How much time was left for Rafael? Himself? No one said anything for a minute, the silence punctuated by Sienna’s muffled sobs, until the diagnostics team turned up.

“How doomed am I?” Matthew asked, wearily. Baz flinched.

“Y-you’re not doomed…you’re not…” he said shakily, before cutting himself off. June stepped forward.

“’Doomed’ isn’t a useful word, Matthew. My hunch was right.”

“You mean…”

“It’s a maitotoxin,” Ethan said. “One I’ve never seen before.”

“Maitotoxin…” Matthew mused. “That’s…that’s derived from parasites in fish, isn’t it? But…”

It hit him like a truck. He looked at his friends in horror. He didn’t know much about maitotoxins, but he knew one thing: there was no cure. This was going to kill him.

“Dammit!” he cried out, making everyone jump. “This isn’t fair!” In his desperation, he actually managed to kick the bed so hard it moved across the floor, causing the locked wheels to squeal in protest.

“Matthew—”

“I shouldn’t be here! I should have phoned the police straight away…kept everyone out of the room…I should have stayed at home today…oh god…my mother…”

Matthew leaned against the wall as he began to cry again. Holly would bury her second child. He hadn’t seen her since he moved to Boston. They always said she would come over but they were both too busy at work all the time and it had never come to pass. Matthew had been too lax about contacting her. And now he was out of time.

His friends looked on helplessly as he sobbed alone in his patient room. Ethan stepped closer to the window to get Matthew to hear him as much as possible.

“Matthew, it’s not over yet. We’ll be working round the clock to find a cure for you.”

“And you won’t be alone.”

The group turned as one to face the voice at the end of the corridor. Aurora was leading Tobias Carrick and three other Kenmore doctors towards them.

“The best team Kenmore has to offer are at your disposal,” Aurora said, cheerfully.

“Tobias…”

“Save it, Ethan. This is bigger than what’s going on with our hospitals,” Tobias said, smoothly. “Valentine’s not dying on our watch.”

“Can I join you?” Elijah asked, quickly. “Chemistry was my best subject in college.”

“Absolutely,” Ethan said, pulling himself together. “We’ll need all the help we can get.”

The appearance of the Mass Kenmore doctors was a shot of adrenaline to the group’s collective heart. Sienna plastered herself to the window, glaring at Matthew fiercely.

“Don’t you dare die. And no comas either, you hear me?!”

“I hear you,” Matthew said weakly. “And Aurora…I can’t tell you how thankful I am…”

“So don’t. You can thank me by hanging in there, OK?” she smiled at him as she gently pulled Sienna away from the window. Sienna kept looking over her shoulder as they walked away.

“Tobias…Thank you…”

“Don’t mention it.” Tobias smiled at him as he walked past. It was the first time Matthew had seen him without a smirk.

Bryce had been quiet the whole time. Even now, as the other doctors walked to the lab whilst brainstorming ideas, he stayed where he was.

“Bryce…?”

“Page me if you need me!” he called to the other doctors, who were out of Matthew’s sight.

“W-What are you doing?”

“To be honest, I don’t want to leave you alone right now. Besides, I’m better at doing the stuff than I am at researching the stuff. I figured if you needed company, I’d be the best person to do it.”

“…Please.”

Within minutes, Bryce was safely kitted out in a hazmat suit and sitting beside Matthew on the bed.

“Thanks Bryce. I needed this. I’m not doing so well on my own, I tried to keep it together…”

“I know, I know. You’ve been incredible today.”

“I haven’t. I failed to stop a terrorist. I watched two men die and I couldn’t save the third…”

“Matthew, Raf’s not dead! You helped him as much as you could.”

Matthew looked at Bryce, miserably. Bryce gave him a smile that should have been reassuring but it didn’t quite meet his eyes.

“Are you OK?”

“Dude, you’ve got a maitotoxin brewing inside you, and you’re asking if I’m OK?”

“It’s pretty damn obvious how not OK I am.”

Bryce didn’t know what to say to that. His friend sat in front of him, chalk-white, hollowed out. He was shivering and had been crying so much that the skin around his eyes and nose were red raw. A memory came up out of nowhere: Matthew strutting around a baseball diamond, healthy and strong, collecting victory high-fives from his supporters and team mates.

“I’m…not really OK either,” Bryce admitted. “I’ve been trying to be strong for you, and everyone…but since Raf took a turn…”

He looked away, blinking back tears before Matthew could see. His attention was caught when Matthew sniffled.

“I’m so scared, Bryce. I don’t want to die, and I don’t want Raf to die either. I want him to live, I don’t care if he’s in Brazil, or if he’s with someone else…”

Bryce stood up and hugged Matthew tightly. He felt too thin and fragile, and Bryce could barely feel him clinging to his hazmat suit.

“I didn’t tell him I loved him,” Matthew said, quietly. “I said I cared…do you think I should have…?”

“Sssh…” Bryce soothed him. He thought of Matthew’s softened gaze when he stole glances at Rafael and the light blush that had crossed his face when Rafael taught him how to bat. No matter how professional he was, he had never truly been able to hide how he felt about Raf.

“I think he knows,” Bryce said. “And knowing the kind of doctor you are, I know you made him as comfortable as possible.”

This finally drew a tiny smile out of Matthew as he pulled back, wiping his eyes. Bryce grabbed the chair and pulled it over to the bed.

“Listen,” he said. “I know you’re scared…but let’s talk about something good. What makes you happy? What are you proud of?”

“Our friends make me happy,” Matthew said, in his hoarse voice. “I wasn’t hugely social at school, my studies were my life. I went to a party once in a blue moon. I thought Boston would be the same…and I met you guys. You’re the best friends anyone could ask for.” He met Bryce’s eyes. “You’re like a brother to me, Bryce.”

Bryce felt the sting of tears behind his eyes again, but this time his smile was straight from the heart.

“You too, Matthew. I wouldn’t change my time in Boston for the world. Even with Keiki, thanks to you I have a relationship with my little sister again.”

Matthew had a watery-eyed but genuine smile as he lay back down in bed. Bryce leaned over to tuck the blankets around him.

“I love my job,” Matthew sighed. “I love how exciting it is. I love being challenged…”

“Nerd.”

“Not an insult. I love that I can help people and save lives…”

“Ew, ethical nerd.”

Matthew coughed out a weak laugh, and Bryce joined in, hanging on to the moment as much as he could. Whatever happened in the morning, he wanted to remember Matthew’s laughter above all else.

****

Matthew didn’t know how long he had been asleep but the room was much brighter when the sharp, stabbing pain in his stomach woke him up, making him writhe and cry out. Bryce hastily provided a bed pan as he leaned over the side of the bed and vomited into it. He didn’t have much left in his stomach anymore and his mouth burned with acid.

“It’s OK, Matthew, you’re OK…” Bryce was murmuring, but Matthew could barely see him; he was mostly a white blur of hazmat suit. Matthew tried to sit up but the effort made his head spin and he slumped back down on the bed. He almost wished he hadn’t woken up.

“Matthew, are you still there?!”

“Bryce, is he alive?”

“Don’t give up on us now, Valentine, we might just be able to stop this thing yet.”

“Hang on, what are you saying?” Bryce gasped.

Matthew moaned faintly as another wave of pain made him curl up. Three blurred hazmat suited figures suddenly burst into the room.

“Matthew.”

He forced himself to focus. He could just make out Ethan’s features behind the helmet.

“We think we might have found a way to stop the toxin. Elijah synthesised a serum that prevents the toxin from attaching itself to your body. It will give us time to flush it from your system.”

“No way! Way to go, Elijah!”

Bryce was so delighted, he could barely stand still. He was at Matthew’s side, trying to get him to sit up, but Matthew shook his head, desperately. Ethan only held one needle.

“Wait…you need to give it to Raf…he’s so much sicker than I am…”

“We gave it to him already,” June said. “But there’s been no change so far.”

“But he hasn’t gotten any worse!” Baz added, quickly.

“Matthew, I promise we’re taking care of Rafael,” Ethan said firmly. “The serum is the best chance you have right now.”

It hadn’t been properly tested, it was a pure gamble, but it was the only chance either of them had. Matthew stopped resisting, and allowed Bryce to lift his arm to dispense the serum into the serum into his vein.

****

Nothing happened at first. He was placed on another IV to flush out the toxin as soon as possible. Bryce stayed with him a little while longer; Kyra’s surgery had finished successfully and she was resting. She didn’t know what was happening, but would be caught up soon.

Even after Bryce had to leave, June came in every hour to test his blood. Every time she asked how he was feeling and every time he asked how Rafael was doing. As Matthew’s vision cleared, and the nausea subsided, and the room stopped spinning, Rafael remained in a coma. The only sign was that his blood pressure had stabilised and it was the only hope Matthew had to hold on to. He thought he could now handle the idea of never dating Rafael again, but his death would be too much to bear.

The autumn sun was high when June came back, her smile wide. Matthew knew it was good news.

“It worked! There’s no trace of the toxin left in your blood,” she announced. Matthew slumped, suddenly exhausted in his relief.

June took him through the decontamination tent where he could clean up as she called for the patient room to be disinfected. Then, after what felt like the best shower in the world, Bryce caught up to Matthew and the two of them shared a big hug.

“Thanks for keeping me company in there, Bryce.”

“That’s what brothers do.”

Bryce had brought along a wheelchair and Matthew settled into it gratefully to be taken down the hall where their friends were waiting.

They all looked exhausted, but there was so much love and relief on their faces that it took Matthew’s breath away and no words seemed adequate to express how much they all meant to him.

Sienna broke first. She practically flew into his lap and gave him a big hug, burying her face in his hospital gown. He squeezed her as much as he could.

“I was so scared for you.” Her voice was husky from crying.

“Me too. Last night was the scariest night of my life.”

Over Sienna’s shoulder, he met Elijah’s eye. Elijah smiled as if he knew what Matthew thinking. A summer night, Elijah’s quiet admission that he wanted to lead research projects and push boundaries and save lives that might once had been hopeless before. He had just saved the first.

Sienna climbed off Matthew, wiping her eyes. Aurora wrapped her arm around her.

“I just can’t believe we lost Danny,” she murmured.

“It doesn’t feel real yet,” Elijah said. “And Raf…”

“Stop that,” Jackie said suddenly, seeing the panic in Matthew’s eyes. “Raf’s in a coma but he’s not dead.”

Not dead. Matthew nodded, numbly, as Jackie squeezed his hand. His friends huddled around him, and he felt protected in their warmth.

“Come on,” Bryce said, softly. “Someone wants to see you.”

Kyra was lying in her private room, still woozy from the after-effects of the anaesthesia. As Bryce wheeled Matthew to her side, she gave him her sweet smile and he suddenly choked up, overwhelmed. Kyra weakly extended her hand. All he could do was hold on it tightly.

“Made it.”

“…Yeah.”

Soon enough, he was moved to his own hospital room and settled into a bed, angled enough for him to see the orange tree tops out the window. A fresh IV was attached to his hand. He was looking at it listlessly when Aurora poked her head round the door.

“I just wanted to check in on you before I went home. How are you doing?”

“I’m OK…I think. And I have you to thank for that.” He smiled as she walked over to him. “So how did you convince Tobias and the others to come?”

“I just explained what happened. Tobias can be an asshole but he’s not a monster.”

“And him and Ethan working together…?”

“Like an expert ballet for minds.”

They both giggled, all remaining animosity had faded away. Matthew thought about how he had charged at her during the baseball game, and how she had still skipped work to see him. She was a better friend than he deserved.

“Aurora?”

“Yes?”

“I’m so sorry for accusing you of stealing our patient, and I’m sorry I took Tobias’s view without listening to you. I should have known better, and I let you down. And I’m really sorry for that.”

Aurora nodded and patted his hand.

“It wasn’t your finest hour, Matthew.”

“I know. I’ll do better.”

“I know you will, but I won’t go easy on you if you screw up again.”

“That’s OK, I’ll deserve it. Can you forgive me?”

“I already have.”

Aurora’s voice was gentle, and then she almost flattened him in a hug, squeezing him until they heard a gentle knock on the door. Sienna stood there, looking pale and drawn, tears in her eyes.

“Sienna…?”

“It worked,” she said, huskily. She sniffed, wiping her eyes and clearing her throat, but she managed a wobbly smile as she looked over at Matthew. “The treatment worked.”

“Honey, we kind of already…” Matthew was worried about her frame of mind after everything that had happened over the last day and a half, but his eyes widened as he realised there was only one other thing that might have revitalised Sienna right now. She kept smiling as she walked over to his side.

“Rafael just woke up.”

Matthew burst into relieved tears and laughter. He hid his face in his hands as Aurora rubbed his back.

“Listen,” Sienna said, gently. “He’s still very weak and we don’t know what residual effects the toxin may have, but he made it, Matthew. And he’s asking for you, if you want to see him.”

“That’s a very whole-hearted yes,” Matthew sniffled as he blinked away his tears.

****

The girls helped Matthew get to Rafael’s room, which was on the floor above, before they went home to get some rest. Now, Matthew was shuffling towards Raf’s door, leaning heavily on his IV stand, when he heard a raised voice.

“So you’re telling me just ran in there?!”

“It’s not like I had a choice, Sora!” Raf’s voice was so weak that Matthew could barely hear him. “The guy had a weapon!”

“Right! So you had to be the hero, like always! Otherwise the world would stop spinning on its axis, right?!”

Matthew’s fists clenched. Rafael had just woken up from a coma and Sora thought it was OK to shout at him like that? Matthew reached for the door, intent on going in and kicking Sora out, but the next few words stopped him in his tracks.

“Just tell me one thing, and be honest…you still have feelings for Matthew, don’t you?”

“…Yeah.”

Matthew’s jaw dropped, his heart pounded in his chest. He had to steady himself against the IV stand as Sora finally put an official end to his relationship with Rafael. Then he was bursting out the door, sparing Matthew a stony glare, and storming down the hall.

Matthew was momentarily frozen in place at this unexpected development. He suddenly wanted nothing more than to run into Rafael’s room and pour his heart out, but he caught a glimpse of Raf through the door. He was lying in bed – still looking as sick as he had been last night, even though he had been declared toxin-free – and his face was devoid of any emotion as he gazed into the space in front of him. Matthew’s feelings could wait.

He took a deep breath, willing his racing heart to slow down and shut up, before gently knocking and looking round the door.

Rafael’s face could have lit up the room when he met Matthew’s eyes.

“Matthew,” he whispered. “Looks like we both made it after all.”

“Looks like it.” Matthew tried to smile as he sat down in the chair beside Raf’s bed. He couldn’t get what he’d just heard out of his head.

“Listen…I, um, heard what happened with Sora…”

Raf’s face fell.

“I thought you might have.”

Matthew covered Rafael’s hand with his own.

“Raf, I’m so sorry…he shouldn’t have…you might…are you OK?”

“Actually, I’m surprisingly fine. I wanted it to work…but my heart just wasn’t in it.” His eyes widened as his brain caught up. “Wait…when you say you heard…Sora asked if…if…”

“I heard that too.”

Rafael spluttered, his eyes darting around frantically. Matthew squeezed his hand and carefully rested his other hand against Raf’s neck. His pulse beat quickly.

“It’s OK,” he said gently. “We’ll talk about it later. But for now, you have to get better. That’s all I want from you right now.”

Rafael nodded. Tears welled up in his eyes as he started to sob. Matthew felt a little like crying too, but he wanted to be strong for him.

“Do you want me to stay with you?”

“Yes please.”

Raf weakly moved his palm up to meet Matthew’s. Matthew linked their fingers and squeezed his hand. He wasn’t going anywhere.

Tags: @sazanes @rafasgirl23415 @ceruleansnake0

[nyx22-blogs]

To Loathe or To Love

You were a teacher at Winsford Highschool, a science teacher to be exact. You were currently walking to a meeting with your fellow teachers and the schools principal, Principal Coulson. You walked through to crowd of high schoolers going to their classes and made your way through the doors and into the meeting room.

"Hey everyone, is Phil here yet?" You said as you sat down next to Ms. Romanoff and Ms. Maximoff, who you knew as Nat and Wanda.

"No Mr. Hard ass isn't here yet so we can relax for a bit before everyone else gets in." Natasha said as she chuckled at her own name for him.

"Shh, Nat don't call him that out loud he might come in and hear you!" Wanda said, urging her friend to be a bit more cautious of her words.

"Relax Wan, we all know he's usually 4 or 5 minutes late for every meeting he hosts." Nat said rolling her eyes and she spun in her chair.

You giggled and rolled your eyes at your friends antics. Natasha could be so silly at times and Wanda was usually the one who played the mother hen of the group. You definitely wouldn't have it any other way though.

"So Nat..how was the date last night?" You asked her, she had told you and Wanda that she was going out on a date with the art teacher, Steve Rogers, and you hadn't heard anything about the date yet. To say you were curious was an understatement.

"Yeah! Tell us what happened!" Wanda said as you and her scooted your chairs closer to her.

"Ok ok, so basically we had dinner at his loft, which was decorated beautifully may I mention, and it was just so romantic. We talked and ate, and then he turned the lights down low and played some music and we danced and then afterwards when he twirled me he-"

"Hey ladies, Phil here yet cause I was wondering if-"

"NO!" You three said at the same time as the redhead went back to her story.

"And then he kissed me." She whispered and giggled.

"Awwwww how romantic." Wanda said.

"I know ... of course Steve was so romantic he's the freaking art teacher. He probably knew how to set up everything perfectly...like art-!" You said, slightly wishing you had someone doing that for you as well.

"Uhm hi, sorry for interrupting whatever is.. going on here but have any of you ladies seen Phil..or Steve for that matter. I have to ask him something." Said the man you loathed most. James Barnes. A nuisance he was, and idiot, and most importantly..an egotistical know it all, except he knew nothing. Stupid man.

"No, Mr. Barnes. We don't know where Steve or Phil are. Do you think we'd be here talking the period away instead going to them if we did?" You said condescendingly to James.

Nat and Wanda exchanged glances and sat down watching all the drama unfold. Unbeknownst to you your two best friends had been shipping you with the English teacher for quite some time.

But alas, Natasha and Wanda being the foreign languages teachers, you never knew their opinion about you and Bucky due to them always whispering it to each other in Russian or sometimes Sokovian.

"Well sorry y/n, I should've known you wouldn't be able to answer such a simple question in a civil manner." He said in a very irritated tone.

"You know what-" you got up from your seat but before you could continue Natasha put her hand on your shoulder, making you sit back down. You sighed and pulled out your phone so you could message Phil to see where he was. You realized you left your phone on do not disturb so you turned it off and saw you had an email from Phil.

"Guys I got an email from Phil, maybe he changed the meeting location..I'm reading it now..."

Your eyes widened in horror as you read through the message.

Attention all students and staff members, due to the health code violation 1019.1001 -asbestos, which was found in the laboratory, we will all be evacuating the building at approximately 9:50 a.m. Should there be any emergency, please contact school administration immediately. All classes are to be cancelled as well as faculty meetings for the rest of the week. Under no circumstances are any staff members allowed to stay within the premise of the school building. All closed doors and windows will be automatically shut down and locked immediately, and will only be reopened with staff keys.

-Sincerely

Mr. Coulson

"Holy shit!" You said as you ran towards the door and tried to open it.

"What's wrong?!" Bucky, Nat and Wanda all said at the same time.

"Oh my god everyone evacuated the school because of some asbestos in the building and now we're stuck in here." You said panicking as you tried to look for another exit in the room.

"WHAT?!" Natasha yelled.

"Oh my god, today was supposed to be the last day until break...we're gonna be stuck in here for a week?!" Wanda said while she shook Natasha's shoulders.

"Wait- wait a minute, why did y/n get the email late and everyone else left already? Even better question..why didn't any of US get the email?!" Bucky yelled.

"I didn't get it late I had my phone on do not disturb so my notifications wouldn't interrupt my lesson. Do you guys have your phone on do not disturb?" You said.

"Shit..I do." Bucky said.

"I do too." Wanda said.

"Same." Said Natasha as she groaned.

"Well...how the hell do we get outta here?" You said, kind of scared you all would be trapped in this goddamn school the entire break.

"I think the better question would be what the hell are we supposed to do while we're in here." Natasha said as she got up and walked further into the room.

"Nat? Where are you going?" Wanda said as she watched her friend walk away.

"The bathroom, I've been needing to pee for a while now and I can't do it during my damn classes so might as well now." She said as she opened the door to the bathroom and walked in.

"I didn't know there was a bathroom in the meeting room.." Wanda said as she opened her bag and pulled a snack out, she offered you and Bucky some..you both quickly denied.

"I'm going to see if there are any vents in this room." Bucky said as he got up and started looking around.

"What the hell do you want with a vent?" You said confused as hell.

Was he moronic?

"I see my theories of you living under a rock are correct. Haven't you ever seen a James Bond movie?" He said as he kept looking around.

"What the fuck does James Band have to do with anything?" You said getting irritated.

"Ok first of all, it's James BOND you abomination to fucking society. Second of all, if you've ever seen any of his movies, which I'm now learning you haven't, you'd know that when he was stuck in a room like we are he found a vent and climbed through it, which then led him to the door."

So he was moronic..

"You dumbass, you think the five by four vents in this room are gonna be big enough for one of us to fit in it? Hell, even I couldn't squeeze through one of those, and I'm the smallest out of all of us here." You said.

"Obviously I'm looking for a bigger one you idiot! Every room in this building is required to have a ventilation system that's at least 64 square inches. At least I think the bathrooms do.." he said as he scratched his head.

"Great..so we'll just go to the bathrooms then and-" You looked around the room and realized just how screwed you and Bucky were.

"Wanda and Nat are in the bathroom.."

"So? What's the big deal..let's the ladies relieve themselves.. Jesus." Bucky said chuckling at the odd amount of worriedness in your statement.

"Oh my god you're stupider than I thought, the email said that if the doors are locked then they lock permanently, which will include bathroom doors." You said, enunciating the last five words in your sentence.

This entire day was just turning out to be a shit show..

"Jesus Christ, now they're stuck in there. You think we can maybe break the lock?" Bucky said, worried that Nat and Wanda may be stuck in there for a whole week. He may not have liked you, because he really loved you, but he didn't want them to be stuck there the entire time.

Your phone started ringing and it was Natasha.

"Yeah yeah, before you say anything I know. You're stuck. We're trying to figure out- well I'm trying to figure out how to get you out of there. Idiot over here is just make dumb suggestions."

Bucky glared out you and you chuckled at the little pout on his face. It was cute..as much as you hated to admit it.

"Alright well, just get us outta here..Wanda's getting anxious without her snacks..and I really don't wanna deal with Wanda when she doesn't have snacks."

"Yeah yeah, don't worry we'll find a way to get you out sooner..or later.." you mumbled the last part of that statement and hung up the phone.

"That's heavy duty metal surrounding the door knob, I don't think so. Besides, we have to find another way to get out of here now..seeing as the whole ventilation thing won't work." You said, answering Bucky's previous questions before Natasha had rung you.

You we're contemplating if you should try and hit the lock with the fire extinguisher that was in the corner of the room.

"What do you mean? I thought we were gonna go to the bathroom and get to the ventilation system."

"Wanda and Nat are in the bathroom idiot. And. It's. Locked. Were you not here for like half of our conversation?"

"There's a men's bathroom too dumbass." He said as if it were obvious

"No there isn't, not in the meeting room anyway. It's just one big ass bathroom for every adult." You said

"That's dumb.." he said slightly annoyed that nothing was going right today.

You groaned and took a seat in one of the chairs, your head in your hands. You heard Bucky sigh and he took a seat next to you as well. You felt a large hand on your back, Bucky's hand, he rubbed your back up and down.

"We won't be here forever you know..it'll be ok." He said with a genuine smile..which quickly turned into a smirk as he said his next sentence.

"Besides, you'll get to be with my handsome face for the rest of the week." He said, laughing as you started to not so playfully smacking his arms.

"Hey..can I ask you something?" Bucky said as he took his hand and gently tilted your chin towards him.

"Yeah.."

"Why don't you like me?"

"Because you don't like me..?" You said confused.

"What-? No, you don't like me." He said.

This entire feud started because of miscommunication didn't it?

"No, you started making snarky comments towards me the first month I started working here."

"Yeah because you were pretty much a jerk to me doll." He said with a pained chuckle.

"What? What do you mean I was a jerk?"

"Well you showed interest in me in the beginning of the month when you worked here, pretty much lead me on, then when I bought you flowers and left em on my desk you threw em out and never even told me why."

"I- you bought me those?!"

"W- yeah, you didn't know?"

"NO! I- I thought they were from Brock.."

"Why would they be from BROCK?!"

"Because he was hitting on me in the staff room..and then told me you didn't like me..." You said, a bit ashamed this got so out of proportion.

"What- doll. God of course I liked you and- wait Brock was hitting on you?"

"Mhm." You said

"Son of a bitch, I should go knock his fuckin teeth out for all the issues we had to go through and-"

You cut him off by giving him a kiss on the lips. It was soft and slow and passionate and all the little things you needed to confess. His hand combed through your hair and the other wrapped around your waist. Both of your hands instantly wrapped around his neck and you both savored the teaste of one another.

"Hey guys there was an emergency key in one of the stalls and- WHAT THE FUCK-?" Natashas eyes popped out of her head as she witnessed the scene unfolding in front of her.

"YES! I knew it would happen eventually!" You heard Wanda say, and you giggled a bit at their antics.

"What was that about an emergency key Nat?" Bucky said, still a bit out of it from the kiss you two shared.

"Well there was an emergency key in a stall and I'm pretty sure it opens all locks."

"Finally! Let's get the hell outta here." You shouted and all of you ran to the door and Natasha unlocked it. You guys proceeded to unlock all doors in your way and you all finally made it outside.

"Well ladies, and man, it's been a pleasure but I should really go now..I gotta see a certain artsy blonde about something." Said Nat as she walked to her car saying her goodbyes and drove off.

"I should probably get going too, my Vis is probably worried sick!" Wanda said as she gave you a quick kiss on the cheek and said bye to Bucky. She got in her car and drove off as well.

"Who's Vis-?"

"Her husband." You said.

"Oh. Well uhm, do you have a ride..or-?"

"Oh no, I came without my car today..a ride would be nice thank you." You said sheepishly.

"Of course doll, c'mon." He said as he wrapped an arm around your waist and you both walked to his car.

"Hey uhm..would you like to come back to my place for some early dinner..? You don't have to say yes or anything I was just-"

"That'd be great Buck, as long as this isn't a one time thing..?"

"Definitely not doll."

"Well let's go!" You said as you gave him a small kiss on the cheek and you both walked to the car.

Fin

A/N: this was freaking long 😂 and I liked it..ish.

Please please please show me y'all actually read my crappy writing, like, comment, reblog. Revive me lmfao. It seriously helps with motivation ngl :) ❤️🧡💖

~Nyx

[magnimoon]

Chapter 20: The Rise of the Inquisitor (Part 1) - A Cullevelyan fic

You can read it on AO3 as well as the rest of the episodes!

Summary:

The attack against Haven finally happens!

The rest of the episode under the cut

Everything was going perfect. With the Breach sealed, the mage/templar war getting to a conclusion… in theory the Inquisition solved many problems in record time. Then why? Why suddenly chaos and demise overturned the scales?

Then there was the Herald, with a sour gaze looking at the cliffs. She was talking a few moments ago with Cassandra, speaking precisely about the situation. While Bryony diminished her own actions, an uneasy sensation lingered within her thoughts. It is too good to be true, too soon for this to end. Her mind was clouded with paranoia and doubts, yet she didn’t share these feelings with Cassandra, maybe they needed a closer bond for it.

Then her fear became real when the alarm sounded and soldiers readied their weapons while Cullen approached the scene, reporting the status. Cassandra was already at Bryony’s side, glaring at her with full determination. She would be in the team for this one. Varric approached her without receiving orders, something compelled him to be there. A bad feeling, some would say.

“Dorian!” Bryony called at the Tevinter mage who was about to help the residents. However, due to the Herald’s call, he knew he would be in the team once more.

The rest of them, Vivienne, The Iron Bull, Solas, Sera and Blackwall, received orders to evacuate the houses, help the mages and templars and guide every peasant towards the Chantry. The Herald, in a few seconds, was right beside Cullen, ready to open the front doors. Whomever they would fight, would have to deal against the Inquisition armed forces.

Or at least that’s what they thought.

“I can’t come in unless you open.” A young voice was heard, non-aggressive and calmed tone echoed on the opposite side.

Once the main doors were opened, they revealed a late teen/young adult finishing some of the enemies with ease. This boy presented himself as Cole. Judging by his weapons, he is a rogue. He came to warm about this unknown threat. Someone who was angry at the Inquisition for “stealing” his mages. With the teen signaling towards the elevated grounds, everyone’s eyes followed his direction.

Soldiers, peasants, not even their famous Spymaster could’ve foreseen the arrival of The Elder One. Varric stood in silence, shocked by the presence of him who should be dead. Annihilated and rotting in a Grey Warden prison, far away from their current position. Varric’s mind lingered, wondering if Hawke was safe.

“I know this man, but this Elder One…” Cullen whispered near Bryony, enough for her to hear the grief in his voice. That’s when the Herald realized he was referring to the armored human beside the tall, corrupted and deformed figure.

“He’s very angry that you took his mages.” Cole reassumed.

“Took his mages? What a complete arse.” Bryony was the first one to speak loudly, angry at the deformed monster. This took the attention of both the rogue and the Commander. “Cullen, give me a plan! Anything!”

The tone in her voice was desperate, she couldn’t think clearly. Her hands were shaking so badly that keeping the staff on her hands was an impossible task. Yet, she looked determined at her Commander, she was from a lower rank, so she needed to do anything that could help. But Cullen knew better, in the few months she has been in the Inquisition, Bryony usually came up with brilliant plans that could help the organization on a bigger scale. Hell, even missions regarding the advisors were managed by her, strategy and priority decisions became a second nature to her.

So, when she asked Cullen for help, he knew she needed support in many ways possible. Both in strategy and a way to calm her down. “Haven is no fortress…” he started, “if we are to withstand this monster, we must control the battle.” And, as the Commander he is, he complied to her request. Once Cullen gave instructions to every soldier, mage and allied forces present, the battle began.

----------------------

It was a monstrous battle. Around every corner, templars emerged from everywhere, like humidity on a rainy day.

“Dorian?” Bryony asked to the Tevinter mage once their backs touched, covering each other’s blind spots. Just as they learned on the faraway future.

“I know. This is the same red lyrium we saw on that cursed place.” He answered, casting an ice spell over those puppets.

“Yeah! But this one is ten times worse! I didn’t see those blasted crystal blooming from their bodies!” Bryony screamed since she was handling two templars at the same time. One was getting zapped while the other received a kick on the face. Even with the helmet on, he received an electrified impact, killing him on the spot. Good thing Bryony added an armor to her boots a few days ago.  

“Looks like this Elder One got really desperate. You must have ticked him off.” Dorian added, teasing his friend while finishing the last templar on the spot.

“Well, is good to know I have my own fan.” She combed her bangs out of her fangs, posing like a diva when Dorian is present. “Is everything ready?!” Then she screamed as loud as possible to the soldiers loading the trebuchets.

“We are ready to fire!” A soldier replied in the same fashion since the explosions and chaos drowned the noise.

Seconds later, and the team heard a loud crash coming from the enemy’s side. The trebuchet landed a spectacular hit. Now it was time for the next one. Varric signaled the approach of enemies and Cassandra lead the offensive strike alongside Bryony. Usually a mage would’ve stayed behind, attacking from a safe spot, like Dorian. Yet, the Herald wasted no time, getting rid of these monsters was a priority.

First, she would cage enemies with lightning, then Varric would provide assist from behind. Cassandra would land the final blows while Bryony headed onto those non shocked enemies, in order to zap their bones if necessary. She was twinkling in purple sparks at all time, without any time to recharge or rest.

“Hold on, Twinkles, have a time to breathe,” Varric stopped her once there was no sight of enemies nearby, “we need to load the trebuchet.” He took out his big brother tone, calming her down.

He could see the wear and tear on her eyes and body. Nobody told her to take the role of the Herald this seriously. Her hands shook violently and her wheezing breathes became coughs. Hadn’t been for Cassandra, everyone thought Bryony would’ve volunteered herself to ready the trebuchet. There’s a limit for every human being, and Bryony wasn’t listening to her own body and its warnings.

Varric thought that cheering her would help once they saw the avalanche hit the enemy, causing many enemy losses in the process.

Then the dragon appeared.

Within seconds, only one attack was enough to destroy the trebuchet, scattering everyone among the snow and dirt. As well as undoing all their efforts until now.

“Today… is now well beyond making sense.” Tiredness invaded Dorian’s sass. It is unclear on whether the wear came from physical exhaustion, or he was done with everyone’s shit. Probably the second one, however, he felt his muscles tensing in pain as well.

“He has a dragon?! Why does he have a dragon?! Why don’t I have a dragon?!” Bryony exasperated in frustration while jumping off the snow pile she fell into. She still had a snow cap over her head, which fell once she shook her head. “Everyone to the gates!” She ordered at the end, looking more frustrated than tired due to the Elder One’s pet.

Bryony could’ve just run towards the Chantry, leave everyone and saved herself. She was already tired, after all. She fought already her part and no one would blame her for the losses seen on the battle. Yet, there she was, blasting doors while entering into burning houses, rescuing people from the tavern, the medics, Seggrit, Adam (even a hammer and materials for the smith) and fighting alongside Threnn to protect her.

Threnn knew the Herald didn’t like her due to the differences in their postures regarding Loghain and Alistair. That wasn’t enough for Bryony to just let someone die. The Herald gained the respect of Varric during that fight. Once everyone was safe, it was time to head towards the Chantry.

A soldier opened for them since the doors were locked. A few more soldiers entered before Bryony’s team. Roderick was bleeding, a wound that wouldn’t stop him from helping the rest. Once everyone got there safely, Cole grabbed the Chancellor just in time before he lost the strength is his legs. “He tried to stop a templar. The blade went deep. He’s going to die.” Spoke Cole, coldly about the grim news.

While Roderick answered sarcastically towards Cole’s comment, his gaze looked at the end of the Chantry, sorrowful and aware of his physical condition. He knew the boy meant well, and that he had minutes left, whether luck favored him or not.

Bryony looked at her surroundings, seeing how could she provide any help at all. That’s when Cullen appeared from one of the side rooms. Once his eyes immediately saw the Herald, he dashed towards her.

“Herald, our position is not good. That dragon stole back any time you might have earned us.” He told Bryony. She clicked her tongue in disgust.

Cullen, almost by instinct, grabbed her forearm. He saw the Herald’s expression, averting her gaze to anywhere else as a result of such dire news. He tried to console her somehow. His first instinct was to grab her hand directly, but this wasn’t the time for it, by all means.

“I’ve seen an Archdemon. I was in the fade, but it looked like that.” The young rogue interrupted the conversation. Both soldiers turned their heads towards Cole. Cullen’s hand was still gently grabbing her arm.

“I don’t care what it looks like. It has cut a path for that army. They’ll kill everyone in Haven.” Cullen finally released the Herald, angry at the possibility of another Archdemon tormenting Ferelden. The least we need know is another Blight, he thought.

“The Elder One doesn’t care about the village. He only wants the Herald.” Cole added, he didn’t sound sarcastic, or wasn’t making fun of Cullen. He naively answered at the situation, as if the information itself was obvious.

“I don’t care what he wants. How do I stop him?” For a split second, Bryony answered very similar to Cullen, surprising the Commander since usually he is the harsh one and she is more approachable or sympathetic.

“It won’t be easy. He has a dragon.” Cole kept vaguely answered. Almost like asking something important to a kid.

Both Bryony and Cullen were tired, exhausted and the boy wasn’t helping. The Herald only furrowed her eyebrows and looked at the ground, frustrated that everything was happening due to her. The Commander broke the silence.

“We know what he…” and he sighed, that was the obvious part, but he realized Cole wasn’t making fun of him. Is just that, just like them, the young rogue had no plan nor idea on how to proceed. So, Cullen could only hold onto his frustration. Venting on the kid wouldn’t help the situation. “Herald, there are no tactics to make this survivable.” His voice got soft, firm but soft when speaking to her. “The only thing that slowed them was the avalanche. We could turn the remaining trebuchets. Cause one last slide.”

“We’re overrun. To hit the enemy, we’d bury Haven.” Bryony ran the scenario through her head and reached said conclusion. When she saw the Commander’s eyes to her comment, she knew he already had foreseen the same conclusion.

His mind ran through many possible outcomes, any possible advantage they could have. There was none, only dying for the cause. Everyone in Haven would die with a single avalanche, but so does this Elder One. Any other plan resulted fruitless in his mind. But nobody else gave any options.    

“We’re dying. But we can decide how. Many don’t get that choice.” Cullen’s voice faltered once he was finishing speaking. His furrowed eyebrows undo by themselves, without he realizing it. The pain of the memories came back without warning.

He almost went back again to Kinloch Tower, a great example on how could someone die, without even get to choose how. He was losing himself in the worst timing possible. Bryony saw through him. Something wasn’t right with him. Almost by instinct, just like when Cullen grabbed her arm, she grabbed him.

Only this time, she gently placed her gloved hand over his cheek. The cold leather brought him back, realizing what was going on. Bryony flinched by her own action, not even knowing why she did it in the first place. She was about to remove her hand when he pressed his glove against hers. Both remained a few seconds like this, thinking this might be the last minutes together since everything could be ending with an avalanche.

“Chancellor Roderick can help. He wants to say it before he dies.” Cole, once more, interrupted the pair. With that, Bryony managed to lower her hand, clearing her throat.

Both heard what Roderick had to say. Apparently, Haven had a passage that could be used to evacuate everyone through an underground tunnel. With this, there was hope, at least to put everyone at a safe place.

“And he wants me. I could distract him while everybody else escapes. What about it, Cullen? Will it work?” The Herald asked looking towards the Commander.

“Possibly. If he shows us the path. But what of your escape?” Cullen softly answered. The sounded perfect, except that Bryony didn’t mention how she would return.

Bryony, looking towards the huge door, mustered a few words, “Then it’s settled. He wants me, then I’ll give him what he wants. Prepare everyone.” Determination filled her voice and gaze. She readied her staff and drank one healing potion for the ride.

Cullen remained speechless. He knew she readied herself for the worst scenario. “Perhaps you will surprise it. Find a way…” He could only motivate her.

The Commander moved the rests of the soldiers. Gave orders to anyone capable of moving to help those who couldn’t. Meanwhile, Cole grabbed the Chancellor in order to support him through his last moments. Roderick thanked the boy for allowing him to be of help, even if it was one last time.

“You are not thinking of going alone. Are you?” Dorian approached the Herald. He placed his hand over her shoulder so that she would look at him.

“Is there any other way?” Her face was on the verge of fainting, but she somehow wasn’t going to give up that easily.

“Yes,” Cassandra stepped in, “we will aid you.”

“Well, we really don’t want to die, but we are not going to leave you alone, Twinkles.” Varric took Bianca off his back, getting her ready for a possible last battle.

“Heh,” Bryony mustered a small laugh, “thanks, guys. However, once I give you the signal, you will head towards the Chantry.” Dorian and Cassandra were about to speak, argue about this decision. “There is no room for negotiation. I’m the one he wants. I’ll find a way. Don’t worry about it.”

The team remained silent. They headed towards the main door, waiting for their next orders.

“Herald…” Roderick spoke before Bryony departed. “If you are meant for this, if the Inquisition is meant for this, I pray for you.” He was covering with his hand the wound zone, very badly since the blood wasn’t stopping. Yet he waited for her, only to deliver that last message.

She politely bowed, acknowledging his acceptance. He isn’t that bad, after all, she thought.

Bryony heard soldiers running past behind her. This prompted her to look back, where Cullen was standing. “They’ll load the trebuchets. Keep the Elder One’s attention until we’re above the tree line.” He spoke.

Bryony nodded, reassuring she got her orders clear. She was about to head out when Cullen momentarily grabbed her right hand, stopping her. “Once we’ve arrived at the location, I’ll fire a signal towards the sky. Stay sharp.”

“Alright, and Cullen,” she gently pressed back his hand before releasing him, she gazed towards his brown eyes, “thank you.” She was smiling.

“If we are to have chance… if you are to have a chance… let that thing hear you.” He looked at her back before returning to his men, helping two that were limping.

“Oh, don’t worry. He’ll do more than hear me.” She finally readied her staff, heading towards her team who opened the door.

---------------------

She coughed some blood.

After barely regaining some consciousness, her body only agonized in pain while the faint warmness of her body faded away… very, very slowly. Bryony managed somehow to stand up in middle of an unknown cave, Temperature was falling faster that she could warm herself up. At first, she tried to cast a small fire spell, enough to burn the broken piece of wood that fell with her. Nothing, there was no magic left inside her body for the time being. How could there be any left? She didn’t listen to her wounded fleshy carcass who screamed for some little rest. Bryony had to hug herself, rubbing her arms in other to calm down the shakings over her body.

Luckily, the cave had a straightforward road, a man-made tunnel since there were some stairs alongside a built entrance to the next room. It took a while for her to realize this since her vision was barely focusing on her environment. How long was I out? Maybe there is an exit nearby? She thought just as she was about to run. What only resulted from that were some wheezing sounds of agony. She could feel the broken parts in her body, maybe some ribs broken and an injured foot. Bryony squeezed her eyes and her nose crunched, trying hard to remember…

“What the hell happened?” She spoke onto the air, an obvious question since the memories still permeated her head. The real motive of question was the inconceivable previous events to her fall. What was more unreal? Her surviving such lethal situation, or encountering a being who claims to be one of the Magisters who brought the Blight?

“Argh!!!” Bryony exclaimed, pained by the sudden headache brought with the cold and the fuzzy short-term memories.

Thankfully, she wasn’t suffering amnesia, she already suffered one, two would be maddening. But, recalling the events proved to be quite the challenge. Could it be the emotional trauma of almost encountering death? Or that death lingered slightly behind her, quietly waiting for her in this freezing tomb?

She had to move, she refused to perish in such pathetic way. “Think, Bryony, what the hell happened back there?” She spoke out loud while making her first steps towards the exit.

“Shit, I don’t want to die.” She exhaled, trembling by either fear or the freezing sensation. The blood from a wound near her lips had already frozen up, creating a burning sensation that tickled like hell.

Bryony began to remember, as a way to keeping her awaken in order to press forward.

First, she was with her team, Dorian was backing her up while Cassandra defended Varric. It was a solid strategy. They cleared a path cleanly. The last standing trebuchet wasn’t far away; but they wouldn’t risk any possible corrupted templar sneaking into the Chantry. Luckily, it was too easy to recognize enemies from foes, their own men didn’t glow with an ominous red energy.

“There’s our glorious end. All it needs is aiming!” Dorian shouted, already foreshadowing their impending perish.

“Our ending? I believe I was clear with my orders, Dorian!” Bryony spat, electrifying enemies in the process.

“Well, you know, your plan doesn’t guarantee we may escape in time. I’m just getting used for the worst possible scenario.” He sassily answered her friend, frost stepping to her side only to argue back. At least he pierced through four templars with this move.

“We can bicker later! Cover me while I aim the trebuchet!” Both ended rebuked by Cassandra. She was the one spinning the wheel in order to hit properly the mountain.

“You know! I hate to agree with her! I blame you for this!” Varric fired one arrow in between the eyes of an enemy, killing it instantly. He sounded sour, unhappy that, for a split second, he had to be the responsible one alongside the Seeker.

The battle continued non-stop, tiring the team.

“What the hell is that?!” Bryony yelled, gaining the attention of her team, which was redirected to the giant red golem in front of them.

No, it wasn’t a golem, it was another templar. Only this time, little could be seen of his human form. She didn’t sound frightened, just alarmed. She wasn’t sure on how to eliminate a target that monstrous, but she was willing to find out.

Everyone focused on the small minions, they encircled them on a faraway spot. Then Bryony casted once more a lighting cage. This spell became one of her favorites, which became the strongest attack. None of the enemies were strong enough to escape the zapping chains that drew inside. This gave enough time for the team to deal damage to the golem. Every once in a while, Bryony would’ve reinforced the cage.

Once weakened the enemy, and his shields down, Bryony asked Cassandra to catapult her towards the enemy. There was no time to fight back at such ridiculous order, since Bryony was dashing towards the Seeker. It wasn’t an order; it was a warning. In one move, Cassandra readied her shield, covered her face and felt the weight of the Herald. Then, as by instinct, the Seeker countered this movement, sending Bryony flying towards the enemy.

Bryony has seconds to spare, which she used by locking her legs unto the enemy’s spikes and neck. She risked her life by piercing the enemy’s mouth with her own staff. It is unknown how much force she applied to her weapon in order to manage such feat, after all, she did hear the enemy’s mandible snapping. That mattered little once Bryony fully charged the staff with electric magic, sending the enemy, and his head, flying in pieces all over the battlefield. Whomever that person was, was long gone, doomed to be forgotten.

One thing was sure, that amazing stunt costed Bryony’s only weapon. Now, she had to rely on her fists once more.

They lost track of time eventually, the count of how many reinforcements they fought mattered little once the trebuchet was loaded and properly aimed at their target. The battlefield seemed empty enough, so Bryony volunteered to spin the wheel since she was weaponless.

“Everyone, go.” The Herald spoke, the seriousness in her tone opened everyone’s eyes widely. She was meaning it. Dorian already opened his mouth, ready to argue. “It’s an order!” But the Herald wasn’t going to allow anyone to disobey her.

Cassandra griped her sword in frustration before sheathing it. Then she proceeded to grab Dorian’s arm, already thinking of dragging him back to the Chantry. At least, the Tevinter mage knew when to throw the towel.

That’s when Bryony let go of the wheel, looking at the sky. When the guttural roars and the slow flapping of its wings were heard, that’s when the team realized why she was commanding everyone to retreat. The dragon approached them once more.

“Move. Now.” This time, she wasn’t joking around. She could barely process those words before running away from the blasting attack that separated her from the team.

“Are… they s-s-safe?” She was hardly speaking, feeling her lungs freezing while remembering those events. She feared for her team, even while she was near death.

Then, an atrocious, death suffocating sensation crept through her back has she continued focusing. That’s true, I tried to look for them when I recovered from the impact, then…

Then the Elder One appeared in midst the fire, either not caring about the burning pain or not receiving any at all. The imposing figure had only one target in his mind, Bryony. That’s all that mattered. Within seconds, the Herald found herself between this lyrium deformed creature and the dragon which he apparently controlled.

Insults began to evoke from this apparent egomaniac man, or rather mage with a god complex. Calling her “Pretender”. Of course, Bryony was less from afraid once the taunt began. Her heartbeat probably was proving the opposite, yet, she wouldn’t accept some weak ass calumny.

This Elder One, whom presented himself as Corypheus, began to threaten her by imposing his will. “You will resist. You will always resist. It matters not.” Those words still lingered through her mind while resting herself against the wall of the corridor. Her hand was burning, like an acidic burn she couldn’t wash away. She continued walking.

He referred to this as the Anchor. She thought while thinking of his words while she was at mercy of his grasp. He somehow was controlling the magic energy flowing through her left hand. He accused of her of interrupting a ritual, was that what happened at the Conclave? He planned to assault the Heavens. “What is this thing meant to do?!” She yelled, trying to hold in the pain consuming her. For a moment, she thought of her arm melting right in front of her, pain made her hallucinate.

“It is meant to bring certainty where there is none. For you, the certainty that I would always come for it.” He replied, assuring that, even if she escaped today somehow, he will pursue her sole existence.

As if she was a mere toy, a puppet, he lifted her like nothing. Then he pronounced those words, those phrases that revealed to her whom Corypheus truly was. Whom would be her enemy as long as she lived. …Breached the fade… The Old Gods of the Empire… Then it clicked her.

“T-then, he truly is one of the original Magisters. The ones who started the Blight.” She barely spoke out loud, the cold made her lips break each time they were moved. “Who’s there?” Bryony lifted her head once the silhouettes of some regular wraith demons began to approach her.

The Herald wouldn’t humor them, battle them. She wanted them gone immediately, her left pulsing hand dropped green mana at a worrying rate. So, she only lifted it, thinking of those demons be no more. And, with her desire becoming a reality, a mark was placed in between them, which became a small rift. Similar to those she encountered and sealed before, this tinier version sucked the enemies away from her. Instead of being a burdensome inconvenience, it became a useful weapon in her aid. A new technique for future fights. That is, if she survives first.

Bryony looked to the front; she could see the end of the tunnel. It didn’t matter how many breaths of her revealed her exhaustion. Only one last push was needed. Just like it happened with Corypheus.

He mentioned he saw the throne of the gods, and it was empty. That is… Argh, I can’t think straight. He is only one tall idiot who wishes to be the new god. He couldn’t even finish me off when he had the chance.

Yes, Corypheus, full of himself, threw Bryony towards the loaded trebuchet. She received a strong hit, hurting a small part of her spine, nothing she hasn’t received before. If she only had a healing potion at hand. At first, the Herald distracted him by grabbing a sword and pointing it towards him. That made no sense since it has been years since she took one as a weapon, when the possibility of becoming a templar circled around her head. Her eyesight was a bit clouded, still recovering from the impact against the wood. Luckily for her, the enemy at hand suffered from an arrogance impulse that compelled him to monologue his plan. This gave her enough time to watch the fiery arrow being launched towards the sky.

Everyone is finally safe, she thought. Finally, one last cocky smile was given.

“You expect me to fight, but that’s not why I kept you talking.” Not that she somehow made a huge effort into make him talk. But she would savor this moment. “Enjoy your victory. Here’s your price!” The cockiness in her tone was long gone, she screamed using almost every last of energy remaining to kick and release the projectile towards the mountain.

Her back ached just by remembering the second hit she received on the right side of her body. Bryony gently placed her hand over the spot. It hurt like hell and she could notice some alarming red blotches. At least the cold kept the wound under control. She needed to press forward and fast.

But where? Once she finally exited the cave, she was presented with a white Fade’s acre. Her possible burial place amidst the snow. The buildings were long gone, buried by the blizzard snow, if she didn’t move quickly, she would join them soon. Any trace of footprints disappeared prior to her arrival. Her guide were faint constructions that survived the impact. Some carried faint lights that she used to regain heat before they faded away.

This one is recently made, everyone passed through here. I must… keep going. She thought to herself since her mouth could only produce shivering sounds. Any attempt of speaking felt like her throat breaking into several crystal pieces.

Walking became almost impossible. She thought of stopping for a second, just take a short breathing and rest. But fear made her believe that, by doing so, that would become her eternal resting place.

Shit, it can’t like this. Everything I did… All of it, was it for this fucking moment?

She started to remember. It is unknown on whether she was contemplating her life passing through her eyes as death was keeping her a close company, or as a result of her own sheer will in order to keep going.

The memories, those that were keeping her moving on. The most important ones, and the ones that marked forever her life.

The scared templar apprentices looking at her, as if looking at a demon while her fist glimmered with purple sparks. Hector looked at her, his eyes were of a man who witnessed the loss of someone important to him. Just because she used magic.

A few days later, her family wouldn’t even talk to her. With her chamber doors chained on the outside while the Templars arrived for her retrieval. She hugged tightly her knees while Hector tried to comfort her.

The Knight Commander Mortimer, torturing those poor mages who attempted to steal any food that wasn’t molded bread. Jeralt, future to-be Knight-Commander, lied to his superior while a little Bryony hid in the kitchen, holding her breath so that no one would hear her. That same night, she broke the rules and stole a small grape, one that tasted like heavens to the point of making her tear in happiness. For the first time, she experienced sweetness after suffering one year of torment.

Then there was the “silent uprising”. The day Mortimer died by poisoning. Everyone pointed towards the mages for this act. However, none were close to the Templar that day, since he kept them locked and security was tight. Bryony stood closely to Jeralt and her mentor, Lydia, while chaos filled the hallways. Yet this Templar looked strangely calm, even when receiving the news.

Then there was the Knight-Commander office. The first time she entered once Jeralt became the successor to this title. He spoke to her about this “agreement”, one only created for her. That’s when Abrecan came into her life. The Templar that would always watch over her. The one who always patted her head after a successful mission after returning to the Tower.

The kitchen, where she would spend all her nights, dedicating herself only to training. Which caused her to fall asleep during many morning classes.

Her team, the old one.

Finally, the Conclave and the consequences of it.

The Inquisition, the place that initially seemed like her doom. Now, her salvation. While, she doesn’t trust many of them, it has begun to grow on her. Not only the organization as a whole, dedicated to the common well-being, but its people. That’s when a particular face came into her mind.

It can’t end like this… I have so many things to do. So many things to solve. So many people to see again. No. I didn’t even tell Cullen that…

“There! It’s her!” The Commander’s voice reached her ears.

“Thank the Maker!” He wasn’t alone, Cassandra always ran towards her.

Bryony didn’t even realize how long had she been walking through the snow, not even that the blizzard faded out ages ago.

“Cu…llen?” But the Herald was at her limit. Her legs gave out. Her body slowly succumbed into the snow. Her eyes could barely distinguish the figures in front of her. Hadn’t been for the faint light casted by torches in the horizon, she would only see darkness.

Amidst the people, she could only recognize one face, running at her at full speed as if his life depended on it. He looked desperate while trying to catch her. Then her gaze completely blacked out.

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[aquadestinyswriting]

Storyteller Saturday

Hey guys, I hope you all had a good week. I've been on holiday and housesitting so I've not had much time for online social stuff. However, I'll try to keep on top of this event at the very least.

Who is your favourite recurring background character for your story/stories?

No pressure tags: @druidx, @asher-orion-writes, @homesteadchronicles, @warriorbookworm, @mariahwritesstuff, @ashirisu, @thesorcerersapprentice, @blind-the-winds

My answer will be under a readmore since I have a bunch of wip series at the moment

The Wizard's Tale: My favourite recurring background character for this series is probably Adrian Darkmantle. He's not in the story very often and is more often mentioned by others than he actually appears. However, I just love this guy for being the put-upon Necromancy specialist who is maligned by pretty much everyone except from Selene and Dwena. He's a reformed Cabal member, which is why most of the staff are so wary, but he honestly doesn't do anything wrong, even if he's constantly accused of being a spy.

The Trouble with Meredith: This one was a bit tougher, since there are a lot of characters that are only semi-background. I think I'll go with Sister Helesgoht here. She's a dwarf hailing from a very different area, but is a very experienced hospitaler with a speciality in dealing with problems of the mind (an early psychologist basically) and was brought to Fangthane following the Demon War to help those ex-Slayers who survived and were accepted back into the mountain to readjust to a normal life. She also helps out any dwarf that needs some extra help dealing with mental health issues that are above the paygrade of the rest of the clergy.

Fangthane's Folly and the Anvil's Fall: For this one I'll need to go with the duo of Nigg and Nogg, Meredith's twin uncles on her mum's side. They only show up while Meredith is in Stonebridge, and also for a little bit for the evacuation of Fangthane, but they're a lot of fun to write because of the banter between them. They haven't shown up yet, but they should be appearing in the story I intend to re-write fairly soon.

The Ouroboros of Destiny: There is actually going to be a young female white dragon wyrmling character that shows up now and then in this series. She and her brothers were found and "rescued" by the adventuring party and brought to the Vynheim Adventurer's Guild to keep them out of trouble. Sazsha has been convinced to keep them around and is trying to teach them some better manners before releasing them back to the wild when they're a bit bigger and able to defend themselves. Unfortunately for the Aurbold, the female is trying to find reasons to keep hanging around.