#except something went wrong and the fool got his brother sister in law and their boytoy inside as well

[padfootastic]

Then who is Rabastan’s boyfriend going to be? Did he have a tumultuous relationship with Sirius and decided to bring his Lord back in part to break the inmates out of Azkaban to get his man back? 😂😂😂

sksksks the sheer comedy of anyone rebirthing a dark lord and staging an azkaban breakout bc they haven’t been laid in a while is just 🤌🤌

or, we could ofc, go with the classic ‘rab wanted bcj but his brother got there first and dammit roddy, u already snagged bellatrix black ffs don’t be so greedy’ just for shots and giggles ;)

(ok this is an added bit but i ran out of tags. just want to say, rab spent the next 12 years whinging and desperately pleading w sirius who was so fed up w him he threw himself in the dementors’s direction on purpose just to escape his ex)

[slyttherins]

Meeting the Weasleys | Bill Weasley x Reader

Summary: The reconstitution of the Order of the Phoenix bring Bill back to England to help his family and others fight against Voldemort. Bill takes you along and you meet his family...who has no idea he has a girlfriend

Pairing: Bill Weasley x Reader

Word count: 1880

-

Muggle transport sucked. Especially planes. Fascinating transportation system, but why must they take so long to get to places? Portkeys were much faster.

Usually, when going to his family home, Bill would use a portkey to the Burrow, but as the Weasleys had temporarily moved to the new Order of the Phoenix's headquarters, there was no point going there. There was also no portkey available to Grimmauld Place since it was a secret house.

A plane was the only option.

''You didn't tell your family you wouldn't be coming alone?!''

Bill slung his satchel bag over his shoulder, thankful for the extension charm. ''Erm, no. I wasn't going to announce to them that I have a girlfriend through a letter, it doesn't sound really serious.''

For that, he wasn't wrong.

''We can't just show up together on the doorstep, Bill.''

Suddenly, you started re-evaluating your decision to come to England and think it was a bad idea. It's not like you and Bill were old friends. You had never met his family. What if his mom was angry for not warning her he was bringing his girlfriend? Would this put you on her bad side?

Bill shrugged, seeing no issues. ''Why not? Mom won't mind. She'll be so happy to see me that she'll forget to be mad for not telling her about you. It'll be fine, Y/N.''

As you expected, it didn't go like Bill had planned. He was a fool to think he could trick his mother like that. Molly was furious.

At first, she was confused. Then, she thought Bill had brought a friend to help with the Order - they could always use more wizards and witches on their side. But, when he introduced you as his girlfriend, her mood changed and she started scolding his oldest for not telling her something so important - even swatted his arm with the spoon she was holding. Ouch.

Bill too had been surprised by his mother's reaction, having not been talked to in that tone since his teenage years.

''William Arthur Weasley, how could you do that? You disappear in Egypt for six years and come back with a surprise girlfriend and expect me to not get mad and act as if it's nothing important? How long have you been hiding this from us? I'm your mother, how could you hide this from me?'' her voice boomed through Grimmauld Place. It was like getting a real-life howler. Pretty scary.

Once Mrs. Weasley was finished, she turned to you, her facial expression completely changed, and smiled warmly. ''Sorry about that, dear. Some people have no manners and assumes they can't be scolded after leaving the nest.'' She narrowed her eyes at Bill. ''I'm Molly, Bill's mother...but I'm sure you've caught that already. What's your name?''

''Y/N,'' you introduced. ''I'm sorry for coming unnoticed. I kept telling Bill it wasn't a great idea.''

''Don't feel bad, it's all forgiven.'' The plump woman smiled warmly at you. ''Would you like some biscuits? I just took a batch out of the oven.''

.

After eating some biscuits in the kitchen and chatting a bit with Mrs. Weasley - Bill was trying to be forgiven -, you and Bill took your luggages upstairs and went to put everything away. There weren't a lot of rooms left - a lot of members of the Order had taken residency at Grimmauld Place -, but Mrs. Weasley had kept one for Bill. Ron was supposed to share with him, but now that you were there, Ron was going to have to move rooms. Sorry, Ron.

''I didn't think she would be that angry. If I has known, I-''

''Angry? She was furious, William!'' you interrupted as you entered the bedroom, finding it a complete mess. There was a trunk opened in the corner, quidditch magazines and wrappers on the nightstand, and dirty clothes everywhere. Bill's little brother was a messy person.

With a few whisks of his wand, Bill gathered Ron's stuff and put everything in his trunk - dirty or not - to make room for yours. In the end, the trunk struggled to fit everything, but with a little bit of magic, everything was possible. It might explode when Ron will open it, but it wouldn't be your problem then.

''I guess I overestimated myself.''

You started with your clothes, folding them neatly in the chest drawers and hung the jackets in the small wardrobe. There was an old smell floating in the room, but it was inevitable in a house this old.

While you did that, Bill reached for the toiletries items, frowning confusedly when he saw how many bottles of who-knows-what you had brought. What were they all for? Did you really need all of those?

''I...I thought she was going to hate] me because of that,'' you admitted, genuinely scared you were going to be one of those girlfriends that's hated by her future in-laws. All because Bill omitted to tell his mother about you.

Bill huffed a short laugh, but seeing how you were genuinely worried of so, he turned into a serious face and he came up to you, wrapping his arms around you from behind. ''That's very unlikely,'' he said, turning you around in his hold and tilting your chin up. ''My mom has no hatred in her body - except for the ones who harm her children. I promise she doesn't hate you.'' Bill kissed your temple, but his speech didn't convince you completely.

''Well, she was yelling. To me, yelling is not something positive.''

''At me. She was yelling at me,'' he corrected. ''But then, she offered you biscuits, didn't she?''

''She did.''

Food was how Molly showed affection and care. She loved to cook all sorts of meals and desserts to feed the ones she loved. If you were particularly kind with her, she might cook your favorite dish at supper.

''Let's finish unpacking so I can introduce you to the rest of the family.''

You nodded and slipped out of your boyfriend's hold. Hopefully it'll go better, this time.

.

When you left the bedroom, you ran into two boys of the same height and physique, which you recognized as the infamous twins. Bill had told you about all members of his family on the plane journey, but telling apart who was who was another story though.

They both hugged their brother - who was almost as tall as them -, having not seen each other in a while and, when Bill introduced you, they looked shocked.

''Girlfriend?'' Fred repeated, sounding surprised. He glanced at you mischievously. ''Have you slipped him a love potion?''

It was all jokes, but you didn't know their humor so you took him seriously.

''Excuse me?'' You were offended that they could think you did something like that. Slipping someone a love potion was vile and immoral. Plus, love potions only created infatuation, not love.

Beside you, Bill rolled his eyes and laughed lightly, which told you they were only joking. ''Is it that difficult to believe that I got a girlfriend? Last time I heard, you all agreed I was the coolest brother of the lot.''

''The coolest, perhaps, but not the most skilled in the flirting departement,'' Fred teased. ''I think I deserve that title.''

''It's just, our brother never brought a girl home before,'' George explained to you, feeling sorry for the misunderstanding. ''How did mom take it? Her oldest son taking a girl home, she must've been emotional.''

''She was thrilled-''

Thrilled wasn't the word you would've employed.

''He's lying. She hit him with a spoon,'' you corrected.

Bill nudged you. ''Y/N! You're supposed to be on my side.''

You shrugged.

''A spoon?'' Fred and George chorused. ''I thought it was only us who got the spoon.''

.

Next was Ginny and Ron, which you met at the dinner table.

Although she was the youngest, Ginny was the closest to Bill. There was a special bond between the two that made you smile fondly.

Farther into the kitchen, another ginger haired boy stood on his mother's heels, trying to steal something to eat. Upon hearing Bill's voice, he turned and joined his sister, but didn't fail to give you a confused look, having never seen you before. If he had, he would've remembered.

''Who are you?'' He took a bite of the bread he stole and Ginny elbowed him for being rude.

In response to Ron's question, Bill slid an arm behind you, grin on his lips and raised his eyebrows, waiting for his siblings to catch on. Since knowing him, you had learned that the eldest Weasley didn't like to make a big deal out of any news - counting having a girlfriend.

It didn't take long for a wide smile to spread on Ginny's face. ''Oh my Godrick! I was not expecting this when you said you were coming home. I'm so happy for you,'' she told Bill and then turned to you and introduced herself - although you already knew her name - and kindly asked for yours. ''Finally, I will no longer be the only girl among those boys. Why have you kept her a secret?''

''I did not-''

Ginny gave her brother a look. ''You didn't tell us. It's the same thing.''

''Maybe he didn't want you to steal her from him,'' Ron joked, making fun of his sister's excitement.

Ginny glared at him, about to say something back, but before she could, Molly called out that dinner was ready. A loud crack echoed and Fred and George aparated in the kitchen, sneaking on Molly and making her yelp.

''Just because you're allowed to do that doesn't mean you-''

''Do you need help, Mrs. Weasley?'' you offered.

Although Bill had promised his mother didn't hate you, being helpful would surely get you on her good side.

Molly smiled at you, thankful for the help. ''That would be very appreciated, dear. You take the soup and bread to the table. Don't forget to place a cloth underneath the stockpot or else it'll burn the wood of the table.''

You nodded and got to business.

While you were helping Molly, two men arrived in the kitchen. One of them had dark curly hair and the other had a walking stick. They introduced themself as Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. You had heard of the former in the newspaper, but didn't dare ask questions. You simply smiled at him politely.

''Where are the others?'' you asked Bill when you sat down beside him, looking at the kitchen's entrance thinking two more Weasleys would come in. ''I thought you had five brothers.''

''Charlie is in Romania working with dragons and Percy,'' Ginny paused, glancing at their mom in the kitchen, taking something out of the oven. ''He doesn't live with us anymore.''

Ginny didn't need to say more for you to sense that Percy was a sensitive subject for the family. Especially to Molly. You felt like there was more to it than him moving out, but didn't dare ask as it wasn't your businesses.

Thankfully, the subject was dropped fast enough and Ron and Fred started arguing about who would get the ladle first, only for Ginny to roll her eyes and take it before them. Once she was done, she gave it to you to purposely annoy her brothers, which got a complaint from Ron.

''It was my turn!''

[katierosefun]

well, here we are! june basically flew by and it was a little rough, but we’re back with some long recs on cool things i’ve read/listened to/watched, and i’m about to force everyone to sit down and listen to my sleepover-esque ted talk in which i give unwarranted and unasked for rec lists. so here we go!

kdrama:

while you were sleeping

okay, so i tried to watch this kdrama when it came out in like...2017, i think? but for some reason, i wasn’t able to get past the first episode. i don’t really know why? because it’s so beautifully shot, and i super love the premise, which is basically this girl and this guy are somehow able to see things that are going to happen in the future...but only in their dreams. this whole kdrama really handled the plot super well--each episode honestly felt like a movie in itself, and the filming was just stunning, and i think this has to be one of the most visual kdramas i’ve ever seen. each character is also super interesting and complex on their own, and i really loved seeing such a strong cast of characters interact with each other in this world. 

i think the only slight downside of this kdrama was that i couldn’t really get invested in the romance? i’m not quite sure why--i found both lead actors’ performances wonderful, and don’t get me wrong, i did think they were cute together as the drama went on, but i still couldn’t find myself buying into the romance until maybe relatively late in the drama (like...ep 11 or so? ep 16 was honestly when i realized that awww, wait, they’re actually super cute). but then again, i feel like the writers weren’t really prioritizing the romance either--i think they really wanted us to think about the beauty of dreams and redemption and how everyone can touch another person’s life in some significant way, so i can’t really be mad about it!

but anyways, overall i really enjoyed this kdrama and watched it all a lot faster than i thought i would! SOLID music, beautiful cinematography, good acting, mostly good writing, and some really memorable characters! def. a must-watch if you love suspense, aesthetics, and some wonderful characters.

the ghost detective

i’m someone who doesn’t like horror or scary things at all, but i was so intrigued by the plot and whatever material i saw on tumblr, and...of course, choi daniel, lee joo young, lee ji ah, and park eun bin. honestly, this is just a really wonderful and really underrated cast, and they really all brought out their a-game for this 32-episode supernatural / thriller / horror drama. basically, this kdrama follows the story of a young woman who’s trying to figure out who murdered her younger sister...and of course, there’s something supernatural going on. 

honestly, this kdrama was such a ride. i loved the crime-solving aspect of it, and i was really in love with the interactions between all the characters, esp. that of eun bin and daniel’s characters. (guys...they’re so ride and die for each other. there’s also so much yearning. so much yearning in this kdrama, it just about killed me--) 

the villain was absolutely, appropriately, elegantly creepy, and like...scary beyond belief. basically, the villain (lee ji ah’s character) feeds her victims these harmful thoughts and ultimately get them to kill themselves. it’s sad and haunting, especially when you see that the victims tell their victims “don’t listen to the bad things. try only to listen to the good things”. and...yeah. themes of how to handle all of these bad feelings inside of you really came through in this kdrama, and there were a lot of themes of suicide and the kind of rage and sadness that comes with that. (also! if you’re a fan of lots of angsty/whumpy situations....this kdrama definitely does not hold back with all of your fave whump/angst tropes! literally! every! episode! i! had! to! lie! down! because! too! powerful!)

school 2013 

(aww, look at this precious cast…as though they didn’t all make me ugly cry at least five times—)

yeah, yeah, yeah, i’ve talked about this kdrama ad nauseum, and i know i watched it last month, but as i was studying for the lsat, i really, really, really needed some comfort. most notably comfort re: studying life, academics, how difficult it is to study but also be uncertain of your dreams…and if you are certain of your dreams, how that sometimes requires studying but that just makes life all the more overwhelming…can you tell i’ve been thinking about this a lot

i’m not going to ramble more about this kdrama considering i already have done so multiple times, but i enjoyed this rewatch and honestly,,,my love for this show has just grown even more. there’s a good reason why people consider this a comfort kdrama, because. i consider myself deeply comforted. also, i’ve been listening to the ost for the whole month. it’s become a problem. but sometimes. sometimes you need to listen to songs that feel like someone’s patting you on the head and telling you don’t give up, set down your burdens, don’t think you’re alone and dream whatever you want to dream, go wherever you want to go. i’ll stop talking now, but god. when i say that i think everyone who has ever felt incredibly tired by work or school and just wished for someone to give them a big hug either then or now...god. this is just one of those kdramas that i think honestly touched so many people’s lives, and i’m very grateful for the cast and crew and writers for ever bringing this story to life. :’) (god, okay, now i’ll stop talking before i make myself cry i’m fine this is fine)

your honor

so, i watched this kdrama thinking that it would be light and funny given that yoon shi yoon is the main male lead, but boy was i wrong--don’t be fooled by these happy little faces, this kdrama is heavy. this kdrama is about a young man (with a criminal record) who winds up impersonating his twin brother, who happens to be a judge. we also have a trainee who, after seeing the legal system fail her older sister, is on the rise to dispense justice through the courts the best she can.

honestly, the first few episodes were rough, mostly because of the content. big trigger warning for rape, violence, and sexual harassment at work. this kdrama really didn’t hold back when it came to addressing how the very people who use the law can also be the very same people who manipulate and abuse it. because of that, i found this kdrama incredibly powerful. that said, it certainly had its lighthearted moments too. 

overall though, i liked this kdrama. the main characters were incredibly complex and genuinely the type to make me believe that for all the injustices in the world, there are still and always will be people fighting for the right thing. as someone who wants to enter the legal field, this kdrama was just uplifting. i was so blown away by the absolute rawness of the main two leads, esp. yoon shi yoon, who i’ve only ever seen in super lighthearted kdramas. so this was a really interesting change of pace, and i genuinely enjoyed watching this!

waiting for love

so this kdrama is just two episodes, and what’s better is that it’s available on youtube! it’s about two college students--a young woman who’s been hurt by falling in love with jerks now just wants to date, not really fall in love...and a young man who’s excellent at giving dating advice except he’s afraid that he’s never going to actually fall in love, so he just dates a girl for the sake of dating.

now, i kinda thought that this show was going to be kinda lighthearted, a little shallow--but it was weirdly...comforting? idk, i found myself liking it a lot more than i thought it would be. this is far from the perfect kdrama, and i kinda wished that we got more than 2 episodes because i think some of the plot points could have been better expanded, but...there were genuinely a lot of scenes that made me think a bit more about what it actually means to be in a loving relationship--like how it’s not enough to just put on a happy smile and eat meals together, but like...you know. there has to be trust and actual liking and also, yeah, maybe a bit of frustration in order to actually know whether a relationship is real or not. and given that the characters were all discussing the pressure on getting married and romance esp. when you’re in your twenties...idk. makes you think about are you dating someone for the sake of appearances? or do you genuinely...like them?

there was also quite a few tropes that i personally adore in this kdrama, which helped balance out the stuff i found more tiring. there was a lot of the “right person, wrong time” stuff going on (you really want the two main leads to get together after a certain point, and you just keep holding your breath whenever they walk past each other and beg please please please let it be this time...), and also that good old “two strangers fall in love with each other purely over writing to each other” (god. first the half of it, then me & au, then greenhouse podcast...something about this trope huh). that said, there were def. some parts that made me “:////” because some of the characters were kind of frustrating, but i’m gonna chalk that up to good writing since i think i was mostly mad about how i knew people like some of the characters lol. overall, i think this might be at least semi-enjoyable--it’s probably not something i’ll watch again, but it def. made me mull over what it means to actually be in a loving relationship, esp. if you’re in your twenties and everyone around you seems to be in happy romantic relationships/getting engaged and whatnot. 

movie: 

columbus 

i’m a firm believer that there are some movies that are meant to cheer you up, some movies meant to make you cry, and then there’s some movies that are just meant to...sit with you. and this movie is definitely one of them. this story follows casey, a high school graduate, and jin, the son of a famous architect. the two of them are both so incredibly exhausted with their lives (casey with her constant worry about her mother, who’s a recovering drug addict; jin with his surface-level lack of concern for his comatose father). in their small town of columbus, indiana, the two of them bond over architecture and just. being quietly there for each other.

this movie’s been compared a few times to lost in translation in the sense that there’s this not quite romance between the two leads, who have a bit of an age gap (john cho and haley lu richardson have about 20 between them!). to be honest, i didn’t really get the sense that there was supposed to be a romance. if anything, it just felt like...two really lonely people finding each other. definitely not a simple friendship--definitely not a familial kind of relationship, definitely intimate. 

idk. i think this movie might not be for everyone--i definitely agree with a lot of past reviewers that this movie is on the slower side. there’s some stuff here about complicated relationships with parents, a lot of cool architecture, really beautiful shots...and overall, it’s just...quiet. it’s lovely, and i can’t really stop thinking about it. it’s subtle, bittersweet, and oddly compelling. might not be the kind of thing you’d want to watch in the middle of the day, but if you’re a little sad and in the mood for something not to necessarily lift your spirits but...at least acknowledge them and sit with you, then...this is the movie to watch. idk. i felt kind of crummy the day i watched this movie, and i felt as though someone just sat next to me on a park bench until the sun went down. (mayhaps specific but hush, i’m writing this right after finishing this movie, so i’m...feeling a certain way.)

wish dragon 

i watched this movie right after watching columbus because a) decided i was in the mood for something lighter, and b) i learned that john cho?? voiced?? the dragon?? (caroline your crush on john cho’s jumping out this month...) 

but anyways! i loved this movie a lot. it was so satisfying? like, just narratively speaking? and the animation was wonderful and also weirdly smooth and satisfying, and there were a lot of funny and touching moments. this movie’s about this young man named din who stumbles upon a magical teapot that holds the wish dragon long--long has to grant din three wishes, and yes, i know, very aladdin, but that said, this movie has so many original twists that it feels weird to call it an aladdin retelling. it really did feel like a movie completely on its own, which i applaud the writer and director for! 

i don’t want to spoil too much of this movie, but something i really enjoyed was that din’s main wish is just to see his old childhood friend again. idk, i think we all have that one friend from when we were really little that we miss--and this movie really dug into that, as well as themes about parents wanting to do the best they can to provide for their kids, and!!! and long the dragon gets his own storyline and amazing character development too!!! i was honestly just amazed at how this movie fleshed out the characters so well and had so many wonderful themes that just made me tear up. guys. this movie’s great. highly recommend for its wonderful characters and the power of friendship. just a grand old time in general. :’))

searching 

yeah...yeah, i wasn’t kidding about my crush on john cho this month. yes, i watched three of his movies within 24 hours. this movie is about david kim who’s looking for his missing 16 year old daughter, margot. this film is honestly noteworthy for many reasons, one of them being that the entire movie is told through like...a laptop screen, as in we kind of follow david’s frantic search through facetime, facebook, tumblr...which i honestly didn’t think i’d be into, but whoo boy, i was wrong. it just added to the whole addictive quality of this movie, as it usually does when it comes to anything from the thriller genre. 

but besides this just being a straight up addictive thriller with absolutely mouth-dropping twists (but like...good twists, and smart twists, good god--), this movie was just...touching? there’s so many themes related to what grief does to a family (because we learn within the first 10 minutes that the mom died due to cancer), and there’s just...something really fragile about relationships between surviving family members. i was absolutely blown away by john cho’s performance as a tentative and grieving widower whose world just absolutely falls apart in his search for his daughter. this movie was just so...real because of that. like, yes, this movie has all of the suspense that you would expect this kind of movie to have, but there was also just...so many beautiful themes about grief and how far parents would go for their kids and godddd yeah no i started sobbing when the movie ended. god. 

also, my bias towards john cho aside, i...really loved his character. david kim is absolutely believable, and like? he’s not just the guy putting the pieces together--he’s also the guy who misses his wife and also the guy who wishes that he was there for his daughter. he’s also the guy who pauses and re-writes all his text messages because he’s trying to be a good dad. i feel like with a lot of these suspense / missing person movies, it’s really easy to have characters who are just the stoic alpha male types--and david kim definitely had his badass moments in this movie, but like...something i just loved was seeing the vulnerability that comes with...having a missing child. being a parent. god. this movie messed me up but in a good way. i can honestly say that this movie is now probably going to be one of my fave movies of all time. highly recommend, am literally obsessed with it.

book:

the seven husbands of evelyn hugo by taylor jenkins reid

ohohoho………where to begin with this book. this was one of those books where i was like “huh i kinda don’t understand why people are so obsessed with this book”, but then i hit like...page 20 or 30 and was like “oh god i Literally Cannot Put This Book Down Oh No” and wound up finishing it in like three days (mind you, i only read at like...midnight these days. i don’t understand why either). 

i finished this book at like 2 am and promptly burst into tears because this was just one of those books. it follows the story of evelyn hugo, a famous hollywood actress from the 60s or so and onwards. known for her intense beauty and her seven husbands, she’s now giving an exclusive interview to the young reporter monique grant, where she’s about to tell all about her life. this book had me dropping my mouth multiple times, and i think tjr can spin one hell of a story, with so many good twists and turns and intensely memorable characters. by the end of the book, i was actually mad that evelyn hugo wasn’t a real person, because i, too, fell a little in love with her and thought, i want to actually watch her movies. i want to learn even more about this remarkable woman. 

but alas! she’s not real, so i don’t get to see her accept an oscar or look up all the tabloids about her and her seven husbands or her speculated (and very, very, very real) relationship with celia st. john. basically...i just loved this book. the last line made me smile and laugh and cry a little bit (actually...cry a lot), and y’know...i’ll admit it’s not totally perfect, but i’m glad this book exists, and i’m glad that even though tjr isn’t bi herself, was very adamant in this book about bisexuality being real. just. like. god. once again. mad that evelyn hugo isn’t real. it’s fine, she’s real in my heart.

[ripley95]

Echoes of Old Embers

Chapter 9

Pairing: F!Shepard/Kaidan Alenko

Rating: T

Chapter length: 3.8K

Story Synopsis:

After surviving the war, one of Shepard’s biggest regrets was rejecting Kaidan at Apollo’s. Fate has a way of bringing Jane and Kaidan back into each other’s lives. A misunderstanding with his family makes Kaidan and Shepard relive old history and question where they stand.

Link to Chapter 1 on AO3

Chapter Synopsis:

Kaidan and Shepard have a serious conversation that puts an emphasis on her regrets of going to the orchard.

Read to Chapter 9 on AO3

Tumblr Links:

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14

Read the chapter here below the cut:

Shepard made her way down the stairs after her conversation with Libby. Kaidan was probably awake by now, so she figured it was as good a time as any to seek him out. As she made her way down to the foyer, she noticed some new arrivals.

"Oh, there she is," Raiya said, after hearing Shepard on the steps.

Maisie was standing behind her sister, holding a young child, presumably Austin, Raiya's son. Maisie was practically bouncing with energy and a big grin on her face. Shepard knew that her excitement was only in part for seeing her nephew again after so long. She figured it was mostly for getting to see if the fruits of her labour were effective in deceiving her brother-in-law. Shepard wasn't quite as concerned about it anymore, knowing that Libby wasn't mad at her. Still, she was interested in knowing if she could pull off being someone else all the same.

Shepard made her way to the bottom of the steps with a smile. She noticed Kaidan off to the side, leaning against the entryway to the living room. As soon as he saw her, he had a big, dumb grin on his face, clearly trying to contain any outward reaction to her new look. At least he seemed to catch on to what they were doing and didn't say anything to give away her real identity.

"Jane, this is Matt," Raiya said, drawing Shepard's attention back to them. "And that's my son, Austin."

"Hi, Austin," she said with a wave and a smile. He shyly clung to his aunt for protection. She then turned to Raiya's husband, who was distractedly struggling with all of his bags and trying to set them down, "and it's nice to finally meet you, Matt."

"Sorry, Jane, was it? We knew Kaidan was bringing someone, but I never got a name," he said, as he extended his hand as a welcoming gesture.

"Yup, that's it," Shepard said with a smile, shaking his hand.

Maisie snorted from behind them, Raiya giving her a glare that promised death if she were to give away what was going on. Matt looked at them with only slight confusion, seeming as though that was a pretty standard occurrence between the two of them.

Matt had to laugh at Shepard, shaking his head. "Well, good. Correct me if I get it wrong. I can be bad with names. It's nice to meet you too.”

Shepard offered him a warm smile in acknowledgement.

"Anyway, we should probably go put your bags away. I think Kaidan and Jane were just about to be sitting down to breakfast," Raiya said.

"Ah. Message received loud and clear," Matt said with a chuckle. "Didn't mean to be interrupting anything. I look forward to getting to know you better, Jane."

"Thanks, the feeling is mutual," she still smiled back at him kindly.

Matt nodded at her as he and Raiya went upstairs. Maisie followed after them, Austin still in her arms.

"So, did Jane look familiar at all?" Shepard could hear Maisie ask, apparently barely able to contain herself as they reached the top of the stairs.

Kaidan walked over to where Shepard was standing, and they continued to listen to the muffled conversation.

"Now that you mention it, she does look a little familiar. Why? Please don't tell me I already knew her and just made a fool of myself?"

"Oh, you know her, all right. That was Commander Shepard," Maisie said with excitement.

"Haha, very funny," Matt said, thinking it was a joke. There was a moment of silence before he finally spoke again, this time, the tone of his voice more serious. "She's joking, right?"

"No, she's not. That really was Commander Shepard," Raiya confirmed.

There was another moment of silence. Shepard could almost picture the mortification that was likely on Matt's face right now.

"You can't be serious. And you let me act like that in front of her? She's going to think I'm an idiot! I have to go apologise."

"For what? Not knowing who she was? Relax, she's cool." Maisie said with a laugh, clearly finding entertainment in Matt's torment.

"Should I say something?" Shepard asked Kaidan.

He had a big grin on his face, finding entertainment in the situation. "After what you guys put him through, I think he deserves to be put out of his misery."

She agreed and yelled up the stairs. "It's okay Matt, you were perfectly charming," Shepard said, hoping that was enough to suffice.

"They could hear all of that?!" Matt said, sounding horrified.

"Seriously, Matt, it's fine," Kaidan reassured.

"If you say so," he responded, not sounding convinced in the least. "I don’t think I'll never be able to show my face around her ever again," he said more quietly. He was trying to avoid their conversation from being overheard more, but it wasn't sufficient.

Shepard decided that was enough eavesdropping for her tastes, and turned to Kaidan with a grimace, feeling bad.

"I should probably go apologise to him later. I didn't mean to be pulling one over on him," she said.

"Oh, so this wasn't meant to be a practical joke?" Kaidan asked with a shit-eating grin on his face, clearly eyeing her new hair.

"On someone I don't even know? Definitely not," she said, at least happy that Kaidan was taking a playful tone on the matter, and was making her feel better about it.

"So what's this all about then? Did coming to meet my family put you into some kind of quarter-life crisis or something? I know they can be a lot, but this is a bit over the top," he said, his smirk wider than ever.

Taking him up on his playful attitude towards it, she leaned her hip out dramatically, running her hand over her hair before flaunting it. "What, you don't like it?"

"I didn't say that." Kaidan's smile became more subdued, the playfulness leaving his eyes. "You look good," he said, looking at her seriously.

Shepard was dumbfounded by the sudden change in tone and caught off guard by the admission. She didn't know what to say, or how to take it. She figured it didn’t really matter. She was trying to avoid romantic feelings. That hadn’t changed. Who knows, maybe he was just being nice. She steeled herself, making sure to temper her response. The best she could come up with was a "Thanks.” and a half-assed smile. “So, uh, did I hear something about breakfast?" she asked, avoiding eye contact.

"Uh, yeah," he said, pointing towards the coffee table and sofa in the living room. "Mom and I cooked. I grabbed us some plates."

"Great! I'm starving," she said, making way for the couch, not wanting to linger on their awkwardness.

She sat down in front of the smaller plate, the other one obviously being Kaidan's helping with a much healthier size for someone with the caloric requirements of a biotic. It looked amazing. It was a full cooked breakfast with eggs, bacon and toast all arranged nicely, with a cup of coffee on the side. He likely didn't know that Shepard already had a cup earlier. She wouldn't complain, though, especially after the lack of sleep for the majority of the previous night. It all felt luxurious compared to the colourless oatmeal that the hospital usually served her thanks to their low rations on just about everything else. She waited for Kaidan to sit next to her before she started eating. She grabbed a strip of bacon and let out an audible sigh as she slumped back into the couch.

"Damn, Kaidan, your family sure knows how to cook."

"The bacon was all me. I told you I was good at it."

"Hmm, well, I suppose you didn't have any garlic to burn this time," she said teasingly.

"Hey, now, that was a good steak."

She let out another sigh at the memory, "Yeah, it really was," she smiled at him, lost in the nostalgia of it. "That was a good day," she said. One of the only good days throughout the war, in no small part, thanks to him. She wouldn't ever want to go back to that time for so many reasons, but she missed the camaraderie they shared while they were still on the Normandy together. In a lot of ways, this felt like that. Except, now it was filled with a lot of awkwardness and regret.

He leaned back into the couch, too, his own strip of bacon in hand. "It was, wasn't it?" he said with a smile that Shepard matched before the conversation dulled into them both enjoying their breakfast. Neither of them particularly wanted to revisit memories of the war. After a few bites, Shepard turned to Kaidan, noticing that he had been staring at her.

"What?" she asked, noticing his look of amusement returning.

"So, I have to assume that this is why you disappeared this morning," he said, finally pointing to her hair again.

Shepard laughed, realising that she still hadn't given him an explanation. "Ah, right. Yeah. Kidnapped by your sisters, I'm afraid. I only just managed to make an escape for it right before coming down here."

"That explains a lot. So what happened? Did Maisie force you to do it? I can have a talk with her if she's bothering you. I mean… more than she's already been causing trouble."

"Oh, no. No need for that. Aside from the whole misunderstanding, your family's been great. Really. I actually did this for Libby. With Raiya and Maisie's help, of course."

"Ah, okay," he said, finally putting all of the pieces together. "That makes a lot more sense now. Has she seen it yet?"

"She has," Shepard nodded.

"And how did that go?"

"Surprisingly well, actually. She's just having a bit of a rough time, but I think things have been successfully smoothed over between us."

"Good," he said, sitting back on the couch and relaxing a bit more. "That's good."

Another moment of silence passed between them.

"Everything okay?" she asked.

"I didn't say it before, but after I saw her reaction yesterday, I felt like a bit of an idiot. I think she's always felt a little left out of this family. She and I are both the middle children. That usually means we'd be the ones getting the least attention. Because of my biotics and everything that went on at Jump Zero, I got a lot of special treatment from the family. I think that resulted in her feeling completely left out most of the time when we were growing up. This wedding was supposed to be about her, and now I've gone and taken that too."

Shepard nodded at that in quiet contemplation. She could understand the predicament. Maybe it wasn't all fun and games growing up with a lot of siblings after all. "If it's any consolation, when I talked to her, it didn’t sound like she was upset with you. Maybe she wouldn't have told me, though, since everyone has gotten the impression that we're dating," she said with a weird emphasis on the word. She noticed a weird expression on Kaidan’s face that she couldn't quite read. She figured the assumptions were just getting to him too. "But anyway, she seems like she's putting a lot of stress on herself over everything. She misses your dad. I wouldn't be surprised if she's feeling a little alone right now, but I don't think her outburst was really about you taking her day away from her."

"Well, that's good to know, but I think I should go talk to her later all the same."

"I think she'd like that," Shepard said honestly. Libby did seem like she could use some more emotional support than she'd been getting through all of this. Maybe it would give them both a chance to talk about their dad more.

Kaidan glanced at her. It looked like he was unsure of what to say. He let out a sigh. "Can I admit something?"

Shepard looked at him, confused as her heart began to flutter. "Always."

"I'm really glad you came, even with this whole mess. When I saw you in Vancouver and heard you needed a place to stay, I was almost glad for it. I think our talk in the cabin yesterday made me realise why."

Shepard perked her head up slightly to show that she was listening intently.

"Did I tell you that this is only the second time I've seen them all since I got back to Earth?"

"No, I don't think you ever mentioned that."

"I still remember the day I got here, and it wasn't a happy one, at least, not for me."

Shepard looked at him curiously.

"Don't get me wrong, I loved seeing my family. I missed them. It was a relief knowing that they were okay, and of course, they were happy to see me. Things weren't so simple on my end, though. To them, me coming home was like an answer to their prayers. I had been MIA, so knowing that I was safe was something to celebrate. But to me, coming back to Earth was just confirmation that my dad was really gone. For them, their whole focus was me providing them with something to celebrate and be happy about. It was like I was filling a void. I couldn’t take that away from them. But the whole time I was here, it just felt like something was missing. It felt wrong. I forced my happiness for their sake, but I'll admit there was a part of me that was dreading coming back here. I guess I just liked the idea that I'd have someone else to focus on. Have a distraction so I could be that for them again when this is supposed to be a happy occasion."

Shepard paused with the severity of the statement. She could understand wanting something to make those feelings easier. She could see herself serving as a good distraction for that, though she was sad about the circumstances of why he needed one. Of course she'd be that for him, though. It was even enough to make her feel a little less regret for coming out here, knowing that her presence might make things easier on him.

"Well, you've served as a good distraction in my moment of need. Least I can do is offer you the same," she said with a halfhearted grin, hoping that it was a casual enough statement. If circumstances had been different, she'd say something like she'd always be that for him whenever he needed it, but she knew she couldn't be promising things like that anymore.

Kaidan's eyes softened at the gesture. "I'm glad I could have been that for you. But still, I'm sorry things have turned into such a mess here. I never meant for things to get so out of hand. I just hope you don't regret coming."

It was like he was reading her mind or something. Maybe she wasn't as good at hiding it as she thought she was. Of course she regretted it, just not in the way he thought. The more misunderstandings happened, the more she wished they were real. She wished that they had woken up in the cabin with smiles on their faces and light kisses as they cuddled more deeply without a care in the world, instead of quickly and embarrassingly separating themselves. She wished that she could have gone through his family photos with him at her side, hearing every one of his stories associated with them. She wished that she could hug him now while he was struggling to come to terms with losing his father. She wanted her admission to Raiya to mean something, and her efforts to appease Libby to be the first of many bonding moments. As much as she hated to admit it, she wished Maisie would get to flaunt the fact that she was right about her and Kaidan's relationship this whole time.

"Don't worry. I don't regret it," she said, practically lying straight to his face.

"Well, good. I'm glad. I'd hate for you to feel unwelcome here."

Shepard nodded at the irony of it, as she huffed out a laugh. "I think if anything, I'm probably a little too welcome."

"Right," Kaidan said with a sigh. "I'll have to figure out how to deal with everyone eventually. I'm not really sure how to get them to see reason on this one."

"That might be difficult, especially after this morning," Shepard admitted, though, she already regretted it, not knowing how to explain this one without saying too much.

"What happened this morning?"

"Oh, uh, nothing new,” Shepard amended quickly, trying to think of something. “Raiya and I just had a long discussion. Maisie had already gotten to her.”

"Ah, well, I guess I should have expected that," he said to Shepard's relief, glad that he didn’t prod more. "I don't know if it would do any good at this point, but I can call a family meeting to let everyone know we're really not together if it would make you feel better."

The thought of that gave Shepard an internal sense of panic. "I appreciate the thought, but if it's all the same to you, it might be best to leave the lectures about that until after we leave. Libby's already had enough stress with everything, and this week really should be about her. We should probably try not to add more drama than there already is," she said. She really didn't want to burden Libby with more drama, but a big part of her was worried about the ramifications from Raiya now too. She had confided in her, and telling her that there was no relationship after admitting that she loved Kaidan felt like it would be a betrayal of her trust that she was gracious to give in the first place. Shepard figured that would have the potential to add a considerable amount of drama. This was meant to be an important time for their family and she wasn't about to ruin it or make things worse for Libby. She could deal with the fallout later, after the Alenkos had all enjoyed this time together.

Kaidan looked at her more seriously after that. "Okay. If that's really how you want to deal with it, I'm fine with that. I just don't want you to feel uncomfortable while you're here."

"It's fine. I'd rather not make things any worse than they already are. If we act casually enough and just don't confirm anything, maybe they'll drop it."

Kaidan looked at her and nodded in confirmation, the air filled with silence.

"Oh, there you two are," they both heard from behind them. They sat up straight and practically whipped around, startled by the suddenness. Ada was standing at the bottom of the steps.

Kaidan and Shepard looked at each other a little shocked for not having heard her come down the stairs. They hadn't even considered that they were having this conversation so out in the open until now.

Ada staggered momentarily, as she caught sight of Shepard. "Well, you certainly look different. I hope my daughter didn't put you up to that," she said, referencing Shepard’s new hair.

"It's a long story, but don't worry about it. Nothing was done against my will," she said with a small laugh.

"I suppose I'll have to take your word for it. But anyway, there's still so much to be done before tomorrow. Would the two of you mind giving me some help?"

"Of course, mom," Kaidan said, already getting off the couch to help.

"Great. The lawn needs to be mowed, and there's a bunch of dead branches on the ground out there."

"Sure thing. But Jane's still recovering, so she should probably sit out."

"Oh, don't you worry about that. I already had plans to put her to work helping me out in the kitchen. That way, she can still take it easy."

"I don't know if you want to do that," Kaidan said with a laugh. "She's a spacer, military brat. She's used to eating rations or cafeteria food. I don't think she's cooked a day in her life."

Shepard gave him a disgruntled look as she also stood from the couch, meeting them in the foyer. "Hey! I can cook."

"Sandwiches aren't cooking," he said with a teasing grin.

"Is this supposed to be some kind of payback for saying that you burned the garlic or something?"

Kaidan gave her a defensive look. "No, nothing like that. Just want to give my mom a fair warning," he said with a smirk.

"Oh, hush. It's just food prep, Kaidan. I'm not going to make her cook anything. I'm sure she can peel some carrots," Ada said.

"That, I can do," Shepard said with a smile.

"See? Perfect," she said, giving them both a satisfied grin. "Now stop teasing her, and Jane, you can meet me in the kitchen when you're ready," she said, bustling her way over there.

"You think you'll be okay in there alone with her?" Kaidan asked.

Shepard let out a small chuckle. "I've been in plenty worse situations than food prep, Kaidan. I think I'll be fine. The carrots, on the other hand… well, we'll just have to see about that."

That brought a smile back to Kaidan's face. "I wasn't talking about the carrots, Shepard, but I think you know that. It can be intimidating to be around parents. Especially if she might have gotten the idea that we're together."

"Yeah," she said, still looking slightly amused with herself. "Well, I've already been stuck with each of your sisters at some point or another today. I'm sure I'll be fine with your mom, too."

"All right, if you're really sure."

"Something tells me there's no backing down from your mother," she said, as she went back to pick up her and Kaidan's dishes.

"There really isn't. She's a force to be reckoned with. But then again, so are you."

Shepard smiled at that. "That may be true, but it's one thing to be up against a reaper. It's another thing entirely being up against parents. I'm not so sure I could win in a fight against your mom."

"You're not instilling much confidence here, Jane. You sure you're going to be okay left alone with her?"

"It was a joke," Shepard said with a grin. "I'm sure she'll be fine."

"Okay," he finally agreed. "But if you need anything, don't hesitate to come out and flag me down."

"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind," she said as she finally walked off towards the kitchen. Kaidan's mother seemed to be the least prodding of the bunch somehow, so she really hoped it would be fine. All she had to do was keep her foot out of her mouth… Then again, maybe that was something to worry about after all.

[mattzerella-sticks]

Electing to Care (a Dean/Cas fic centered around voting) (ao3)

Dean Winchester has lived in Texas his whole life, and has seen it go red time after time, election after election. He never gave it a thought that there was something he could do to make a difference.

But then Sam drags him to a rally, where he meets someone who shows that one person can do just that. And the best way is to lead through example.

           There weren’t many things Dean Winchester would wake up early for. Work was a given, although ‘early’ is a fluid concept when you’re the owner of your own business. Some days a simple text saves him an hour or two from actually having to open his shop. Emergencies, as well, can rouse him from sleep much sooner than he’d like. His wants taking a backseat to the needs of his family and friends. However, on this morning – a morning of a rare day-off – it was neither of these two options that forced him to watch the wide, Texas sky bleed from marmalade to robin’s egg, jumping the chasm of the color wheel. The reason he’s conscious was because of a third, more sinister reason.

           Sam’s puppy-dog eyes.

           “Please, Dean,” his brother had begged him over dinner last night, “Eileen’s flight was cancelled, so she and Siobhan won’t be back until tomorrow night.” His wife and daughter were visiting with relatives over in Georgia, Sam exempt from travel because of a case. And while it wasn’t to be a long trip, their reunion has been forestalled by the reputed reliability of Delta airlines.

           Dean was nonplussed. “I don’t see why you can’t do this by yourself?”

           Sam sighed and started to explain, his fingers racing to keep up – a habit hard to break even while his wife’s eyes weren’t there. Dean couldn’t blame him, finding his own hands forming words seconds after he spoke. Although in contrast to Sam’s plea, Dean’s use of signs was centered on a key one: ‘no’.

           It was only when his brother pulled out his secret weapon that Dean finally surrendered, weakly nodding both head and fist.

           Which explains why he’s trapped in a crowd with strangers, his brother, and a half-empty tumbler of coffee barely doing its job.

           Even rubbing at his eyes under his shades doesn’t help. “Christ, Sammy,” Dean grouses, “How can you stand things like these?”

           His brother is too cheery for a man missing a wife. The night before he was like a dog waiting for its master to return home. And now, his tail is wagging as if Dean brought him to the park along with all the other pets. Sam turns to him, breaking from conversation with another group of young twenty-somethings. “It’s for a good cause,” he shrugs, “We’re all interested in the same thing.”

           Dean chuckles. “Yeah, surprisingly.” He casts another glance around at the crowd, amazed by the amount of Democrats who happen to live in Texas. When they first arrived at the park, Dean had expected twenty people at the most and five minutes before Sam sighed and freed him. What he wasn’t counting on was for people to show up. Now it’s been a half-hour since the thing was supposed to start, and Dean’s been gnawing on his arm like a trapped coyote.

           “What’s everyone waiting for anyway?”

           “This usually happens,” Sam tells him, “the guy running the rally gets caught up in talking to people he loses track of time.”

           Dean rolls his eyes. “Of course. Some two-bit politician in a three-piece suit, making sure ‘he’s got our vote’!” Sam doesn’t appreciate the jab, shooting him a bitch-face reminiscent of the time Dean sewed the cuffs of all his pants three inches shorter than they were. “It wasn’t funny, dude,” Sam snapped at him after work, “I had a meeting with my boss and all she could stare at were my ankles!” Dean couldn’t hear him over his own laughter.

           “He’s not like that,” Sam says, “Cas is pretty cool.”

           “Cas – you know the guy well?”

           “We’ve had a few conversations.” Sam smiles, gazing up towards the makeshift stage where a few people were milling about. “He actually started this organization himself, y’know, after the election.” Sam points to his white t-shirt, where the words ‘I Got the Blues’ stand out in fierce cobalt. There was another, similar shirt crumpled in the backseat of Baby, where Dean had tossed it, preferring his own black tee. “Wanted to be a part of the ‘rising Blue Wave in Texas’ as he called it.”

           Dean scoffs. “More power to him, but he does know Austin’s an anomaly, right? There’s not enough of a differing majority to make Texas look like anything else but an ugly, red sunburn – unfortunately.” He notices a few people shoot him some ugly looks, and he ignores them.

           Sam offers another reproachful look. “We came close. And with everything happening, especially in our own state, lots of people are looking to jump ship. You remember that protest against detention camps Eileen and I went to a month and a half ago?” How could Dean forget – it’s not everyday he gets a FaceTime from his sister-in-law telling him his baby brother was in jail. “We outnumbered the counter-protesters ten to one! You couldn’t even hear them. And – get this – Cas organized the whole thing.”

           “He’s really working hard for his votes.”

           “God, Dean, do you even follow the news?”

           “No – why?”

           “Cas isn’t running for any office.”

           “Wait,” Dean says, “you’re telling me this guy has nothing to gain from… any of this? Then why’s he putting in all this work?”

           Sam smiles again, a small one usually given to babies or toddlers when asking things like ��why is the grass green’. “Because he just cares.”

           The words struck Dean into a sort of silence. Sam leaves him for a bit, then, ambling over to a few other people he knows. Which is fine with him, as he needs the solitude to process his thoughts.

           Caring is something Dean thought was antithetical to today’s society. What with everything going on in and around the world, numbing yourself was the only way to survive. Dean treated everything outside his personal sphere with a cool indifference. He has his opinions, but he can’t work up the energy to voice them anymore. No matter what, it always felt like he was being drowned out or being proven wrong. ‘Bisexuality is a real thing, dad’ is met with ‘you’ll find a nice girl someday’. ‘Stanford is so far away, Sammy’ seemed like a good argument at the time, but now that his brother is back with a good job and loving family, is now just a bad memory. ‘We can make it work, Lisa’ never had any foothold in reality. It’s why he hasn’t voted in a long time, since his vote won’t make a difference whether Texas finally breaks with tradition or stay entrenched in their past.

           Thankfully, he’s saved from drowning in his musings by the projected tapping of a life preserver. Dean refocuses on the stage as Sam makes his way back towards him. “Is it starting?” he asks.

           “Yep.” He points, “That right there is Cas.”

           Cas is… not what he was expecting. Given that he knows enough about politics to fill a leaky barrel, his mind crafted a caricature of a man. He thought he’d see a balding, somewhat pudgy guy waddle his way up the steps in a suit or – worse – a button-down with the sleeves rolled up so he can ‘get to work’. Instead, Cas is an average guy. He has a full head of dark hair that looks as styled as his own. And his choice in clothes is a mix of stuff Dean is sure is in his own closet. Aside from the ‘I Got the Blues’ in reverse colors, Cas has on a brown-and-blue plaid shirt, some khaki shorts and…

           “What kind of hippie sandals are those?”

           Sam scoffs at him. “Those are Tevas.”

           “Te-what now?”

           “Tevas,” Sam says, “they’re more than just a sandal. You can do a lot in ‘em like hike, bike, rock climb –“

           “So what you’re saying is you own a pair, too?”

           His response to Dean’s jab is very suspicious blanching. “Just shut up and watch…”

           He does. Not because Sam told him to but because Cas still had a surprise or two up his sleeves, like his voice. It was as gravelly as the road he and Sam would bike to reach the lake near their Uncle’s property every summer when they were still kids. And just as treacherous. One time Dean was tossed on his ass because he wasn’t paying attention, and the pebbles dug enough into his skin to scrape. He’s dealing with a similarly uncomfortable sensation. Except the only scraping caused by Cas’s coarse baritone is Dean’s dick at his zipper. ‘Probably the worst thing to do at a rally,’ he thinks, ‘is popping a boner.’

           Dean wills for his dick to stop pounding at the gate, regretting his decision to forgo underwear. “It’s warm,” he remembers saying earlier, “and I’ll be back in my sweats soon enough. Why waste a pair?” ‘What a fool I was…’

           “Hey, could you stop?” Sam whispers to him, eyes whipping back and forth between him and Cas, “I know this isn’t your thing but at least try to look like you’re having a good time – for me?”

           ‘You don’t even want to know the horrible good time I’m having here, Sammy.’ Still, for his brother, he musters up enough strength to grimace as Cas wraps up his speech. He motions for someone else, a woman, to come to the stand. They shake hands and hug, and he moves off to the side so she can have everyone’s attention.

           Except his eyes stay on Cas. He should be relieved now that the man’s siren song was over, except Dean’s left still spellbound. The woman was an easy out – Dean could have focused completely on her and her platform and depressed himself thoroughly enough to wilt his crotch. But no matter how hard he tries, he finds himself looking back over towards the other man.

           Watching him, Dean sees he’s completely enraptured with what she has to say. His body is turned toward her, profile blocking out the heavy sun, making it near blinding to gaze at him for too long. Dean was never one to shy from a challenge. If he stared long enough, he looked a lot like the saint Sam and others probably thinks he is.

           Without realizing, the crowd starts clapping and Dean is dragged from his contemplation. Sam hollers and cheers with the rest of them, nudging him to do the same. He nestles his coffee between his elbow and chest and claps.

           “Thank you,” Cas takes the microphone again, “That was as inspiring and empowering as always. Now, remember folks, if we want to get her elected to office, we need to –“ the crowd responds, “Vote!” “You need to tell your friends to –“ “Vote!” “Your family?” “Vote!”

           “Because what do we got?”

           “We got the blues!” There’s another uproar, and Dean startles at the ferocity of it.

           Cas laughs at it. “Thank you. To get your strength up for the long battle to midterms, please go and grab some complimentary brunch – on us.”

           “Brunch?”

           Dean noticed the tables near the back of the event, where he was sure some volunteers would be staffed to get unknowing suckers into signing petitions. When he and Sam arrived, all he saw was a few clipboards stacked at the end of one of the tables before his brother was dragging him towards the front. But if Sam didn’t have to be early to everything in his life, he might have been able to see the food being brought in. Or get a good place in line.

           Sam nods. “They always get somewhere good to cater. Since it’s brunch they might even have mimosas?”

           “Good,” Dean claps him on the back, “Hope you can carry all of it when you get back here.”

           “What?”

           “You brought me here,” Dean tells him, dialing up his own puppy-dog eyes, “It’s the least you could do.” They’re not as well executed as Sam’s but they get the job done. He’s enjoying the sight of Sam trudging into the crowd, getting smaller and smaller, when he feels a slight presence behind him.

           Dean doesn’t know what’s worse: that Cas is standing right there or that he’s even hotter up close. Details he couldn’t make out are now in sharp detail. Like the scruff dusting his chiseled jaw, or how his shirt clings tight, teasing at strong, defined muscles that are on display with his calves. Even now he’s at a loss because of the other man’s eyes – as blue as the party his shirt is touting.

           Cas holds a hand out to him. “I don’t believe we’ve met. My name is Castiel Novak, but you can call me Cas.”

           “Dean,” he replies, “Dean Winchester.” Cas’s hands are calloused and warm, a nice feeling even in this torturous heat. “And yeah, this is my first time – here, at a… my brother brought me.”

           “I take it your brother is Sam Winchester?”

           Dean raises a brow. “He’s talked about you,” Cas continues, explaining, “And I saw you two standing together in the crowd. Wasn’t that hard to put the pieces together.”

           “Yeah, he’s a hard one to miss.” He waits a beat, debating on what lie to use to exit the conversation before he ruins it. Only Cas isn’t as willing to let go as he is.

           “So, what did you think?”

           “Think of what?”

           “Of… this?”

           “Oh, um… it wasn’t that bad. Except it’s not really my thing…” Cas’s head tilts adorably, and Dean would appreciate it more if he wasn’t trying to forget the taste of his foot. Except it seems he’s not keen on taking it out of his mouth anytime soon. “Y’know, politics. I think you’re doing a nice thing but… I don’t know – I’ve never seen the point in Texas.”

           “Politics is everybody’s thing, Dean.” He winces, recognizing the tone in the other man’s voice as the one his teachers would use when he was caught ditching class. “Voting is what decides how this country is going to be run and by who. I mean, look at what happened two years ago. November is important because we need to reverse all that’s happened before it’s too late.”

           “But it’s like we’ve already been tossed in the crapper and flushed before we realized it,” Dean argues, “How can we climb out when we’re stuck in the sewers?” The analogy draws a smile to Cas’s lips.

           “I wouldn’t know,” he starts, “I’m not a plumber by trade.”

           “Really? Then what do you do besides… this?”

           “I’m a carpenter.” He gestures to the stage, “I actually built this myself with some leftover material from a few orders, as well as some recycled wood from old furniture.”

           “That’s… really cool,” Dean says, smiling, “I know a lot about tools, but not enough to do all that. But show me a car and I can strip and repair her in a day.”

           “Mechanic?”

           “Yeah, I own Singers’ Body Shop down on Enfield.”

           “I’ve heard good things about it – from your brother, actually,” Cas tells him, “He was helping me connect with some lawyers, to do some pro bono work with detained immigrants, and my truck was having a fit. My brother ended up bringing it over to a Jiffy Lube the day after, so I never got around to going.”

           “Damned chain stores,” Dean grouses, “If it’s the one I’m thinking of I’ll be seeing you soon enough.”

           Cas’s eyes twinkle at the thought. “I’m lucky you’d want to see me again after such a delightful first impression.”

           “Look, sorry if I’m a little grumpy.” Dean scrubs a hand down his face, choosing his words carefully. “It’s not because I don’t believe in what you’re doing, really. I think it’s cool. But… I don’t know if it’ll all work out, s’all. I saw how excited Sam and all our friends were when it looked like Hillary was going to win but then… he wouldn’t leave his house for a week. The world’s not gonna change enough in two years to ever fix everything so what’s the point and… I don’t know, it’s probably me being stupid or – whatever.”

           “Dean.” He looks up, Cas’s voice sighing in such a fond way his heart skipping over itself at the sound. “What you’re experiencing isn’t rare. Voter apathy is a terrible affliction, one that persists thanks to the machinations of others. The people in power who don’t deserve their positions have coasted on it for years, disenfranchising constituents so there won’t be any opposition. That’s what I fight against by hosting these rallies, registering voters, and staging protests – making it so people care again.”

           “Sounds like a hard job.”

           Cas smiles with his gums. “That’s easy. The tough part is when it comes time to vote – hoping that I’ve done enough to turn out enough people at the polls.”

           Dean looks over at the sprawling crowd, watching them mingle with each other. People of different races, young and old, smiling and laughing like there’s nothing waiting for them in the newspaper or on Twitter that’ll send them into a spiral. “From the looks of things, you might just do it.” He feels something flutter in his chest, and a warm feeling oozes its way down like butter on a warm slice of toast.

           “And you?”

           He turns back to Cas. “What about me?”

           “Will you be voting?”

           Dean wishes he wasn’t facing Cas. It’s hard to crush the dreams of the good-looking man with a kind heart when you’re swimming in his eyes. His face turns red, and he focuses more on Cas’s mouth when he says, “…I’m not sure.”

           He gets a clear view of when Cas frowns. “What I mean is,” Dean continues, “I haven’t voted in awhile… not even sure I’m registered…”

           “That’s an easy fix, Dean,” Cas says, “the deadline is months away and –“

           “Why does it matter, anyway?” he asks, voice small, “My vote won’t make a difference…”

           “All votes make a difference, Dean,” Cas tells him, Dean’s self-doubt like oil spilling into the sea of his eyes, his passionate response setting it all terrifyingly ablaze. “Yes, it is just one vote but it helps raise up all the others. Your vote is like your voice, and if enough people shout it can get people’s attention. Even if we end up losing, if we make the margin as thin as possible – people will notice. Although, I have good faith all the people who’ve been taking a back seat for so long are no longer willing to let others drive for them.”

           Sam was wrong, back then, when he said Cas ‘just cares’. Because from what he’s seen, Cas doesn’t do anything in ‘justs’. His actions are absolutes. His words are truths. And God help everyone if his dreams aren’t reality. He pours his heart into his work and into people, and makes everything shine like they’ve gotten a fresh coat of varnish. Even now, Dean feels his own storm clouds lightening, as if Cas’s bright disposition is forcing them out.

           “You sure?” Dean asks, teasingly, “Getting me to vote could be a point for the other side…”

           Cas huffs. “Really, Dean, I find that hard to believe.”

           Dean isn’t done playing with him. “Well, y’know, I haven’t really been paying attention to the news lately, I might just pick the names I like the most. I like cruising in my car, so maybe I’ll vote for –“

           “If you’d like,” Cas cuts him off, his own impish grin plastered to his face, “I could make a helpful suggestion?”

           “Oh?”

           Cas takes a step closer. The extra foot of distance was a barrier keeping all of Dean’s senses and wits about him. Now Cas has the higher ground. “I’m not doing anything later tonight. We could meet up for dinner, somewhere casual, and I could explain the current political climate,” his voice takes on a breathy quality, “just… like… this.”

           Dean nearly falls apart at the seams. The only thing keeping him together is that he has to respond. But his tongue has a stranglehold on his brain, and not much gets through. “You – you would?”

           “Of course,” Cas says, “I find it’s best to… act, rather then letting opportunities slip away. I wouldn’t be wrong in thinking that you’re interested in… voting.” Dean whines low in his throat. “And maybe after we can take it back to my place and discuss,” his hand brushes across Dean’s crotch, “polls.”

           It’s too much for Dean – and too good to be true. “You don’t,” he huffs, trying to get control of himself, “You don’t just say that to any pretty face at a rally, do you?”

           Cas doesn’t get offended, instead chuckling at Dean’s question. “I couldn’t say, I’ve never actually seen anyone with as pretty a face as yours come to one of my events.”

           “Really?”

           “It wasn’t Sam that I noticed first in the crowd.” That hits all of Dean’s spots, and nearly has him seeing stars. But as quickly as Cas’s advances started, he takes a step back, allowing Dean the lungful of air he so desperately needed. However, his smile doesn’t dim. “Here, take this.” Cas hands him a business card. “You can text me so I’ll have your number, and we can go from there. It was a real… pleasure, meeting you, Dean.”

           Dean responds with a meek, “You, too.”

           Cas moves back towards the stage, towards a group of people, as if nothing happened. He does get a noogie from a smaller, blond man, and Dean’s only sure it’s because of what happened when he winks at Dean while suggestively licking his lollipop. Dean doesn’t watch them for much longer.

           At least Sam chooses then to walk back. “So they were out of drinks,” he said, handing Dean a plate, “but I managed to get eggs and some pancakes for us. Although that’s all the bacon I could get and – Dean, are you listening?”

           “Huh?”

           “Are you all right?” Sam asks, fork held steady in the air, waiting to see if it would continue in its quest for food or be held off by something else.

           Dean shakes himself out of his daze. “What? Yeah, yeah I’m fine – thanks…”

           Sam lets it go. But halfway through his meal, Dean, who can’t leave well-enough alone, bothers him again.

           “Hey Sam, can you tell me more about this whole…” he waves with his fork, “I Got the Blues thing?”

Epilogue – November 6, 2018

           Dean steps out from the building, a sticker tacked onto his shirt, smiling. It brightens when he spies a familiar figure leaning up against Baby. “Hey,” he calls out, “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be harassing people to do their ‘civic duty’?”

           Cas chuckles and wraps his arms around Dean’s waist. “I was, and will be. Wanted to check up on you is all.” He places a firm kiss to Dean’s lips, nipping at them, begging for entrance. He lets him in. After a good few minutes of making out, they pull away. “So,” he asks, nose pressed to nose, “what did you think?”

           “About the kiss or voting?”

           “I already know you love my kisses.” He gives Dean another one, tacked onto the end of his sentence like a period, to prove a point. “How do you feel now that you’ve voted?”

           “It feels – well… it feels like…”

           “Like…?”

           “Like nothing’s changed.”

           Cas leans back, disbelief etched into his face. “Excuse me?” he asks, “What do you mean nothing’s –“ He cuts himself off, noticing the Cheshire grin Dean has failed to reign in. “You little shit.”

           “What?”

           “Why is it you like to get a rise out of me?”

           “I don’t like getting a rise out of you.” Even he knows it’s a lie, and doesn’t need to see the shrewd look in Cas’s eyes. But playing dumb has its rewards, and Dean loves to reap them. “And anyway, I’m not totally wrong. We won’t find out who won until later tonight so really, nothing haschanged.”

           “You’re so obstinate.”

           “Am not.”

           “This is just like the Tevas all over again.”

           “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

           Cas huffs out a laugh. “You said they were ugly, stupid, and even more hippie than Birkenstocks.”

           “And?”

           “You’re wearing them right now!” Dean bites down on his lower lip, stuffing his smile down like an overflowing envelope as he peeks down at his feet. Like Cas said, Dean has his own tan pair on. The other man bought them for Dean when he tried Cas’s on. He was very vocal about not liking them, but Cas could see past the front Dean put up.

           “Well I didn’t have any other shoes to wear because somebody hid them on me,” he lies, letting his smile bloom like a spring flower at how Cas rolls his eyes. “At least I don’t have to work in these, otherwise you’d really be getting an earful.” Another good thing about being your own boss – if he wanted to make sure his employees went out and voted, close the shop and make your day’s pay be dependent on whether or not they get a sticker.

           “At least one of us has the rest of their day free,” Cas sighs, “I still need to check in with everyone and do a few more sweeps to make sure people engaged in the democratic process.”

           “You love it though.”

           “Yeah.”

           “And hey, when you’re done, come to my place,” Dean tells him, “we can get in a good mood and examine some polls.” Cas’s laughter still sends a shiver down his spine.

           “I’ll do just that.” They stare at each other, saying everything they ever need to with their silence. Cas pecks Dean on the lips one last time. “I should get going.”

           “You should.”

           It’s another five minutes before he does.

[imagineclaireandjamie]

A Hundred Lesser Faces: Sixteen

Section One {A Hundred Lesser Faces} what if Voyager!Claire had gone first to Lallybroch instead of directly to the print shop in Edinburgh? :  [(One) (Two) (Three) (Four) (Five) (Six) (Seven)

Section Two {A Hundred More}, the aftermath of Claire and Jamie’s reunion, following their journey as they work to build a new life together [(Eight) (Nine) (Ten) (Eleven) (Twelve) (Thirteen) (Fourteen) ]

Section Three {Begin and Tell}, Now with EVEN MOAR AFTERMATH! [(Fifteen) ]

Sixteen 

“Oh Jesus, Claire, I’ve been—I thought ye were—I canna believe—”

I yelped as Jenny, oblivious to my injured arm (Jesus, maybe I had fractured something), flung both her own around me, kneeling before me in the road and clinging like she would never, ever let go, gasping. “He isna—The marriage isna happy—The bairns are no’ his—He’s—Oh, God—Claire! Ye came back!”

I didn’t push her away. I didn’t even move, come to that. I was too bloody stunned to do anything except sit like a stone, arms pinned to my sides, absolutely dumbfounded as the words poured out of my tiny sister-in-law in frantic sobs. 

“Jamie, he—he read your letter and went straight after ye—Ran out wi’ his soul afire but it was —Each day that’s passed, I kent deeper and deeper in my heart that he’d lost ye for good and that it was all my FAULT and—Oh my God....” 

This last was a whimper as she held me tighter and fell completely to pieces against my shoulder. “I’m—so—sorry—Claire,” I heard faintly as she shook. “So—verra—Even before I told Jamie, all the day before he arrived, it was eatin’ me alive wi’ SHAME, and—”

I managed to pry her loose and hold her back by the wrists to look her in the eye. A creature more different than the cold, vicious woman who had sent me away from Lallybroch three weeks ago could scarcely be imagined. There were deep, dark circles under her eyes, and she looked as though she’d lost a frightening amount of weight in a short time. She looked pale, thin, and utterly defeated. There was no steel of biting judgement in those Fraser eyes, now, no seething poisonous anger—just an open wound of regret and relief, from which her jumble of half-coherent thoughts kept running out in bursts. 

“I tried to tell him—tell Jamie—how truly sorry I—but he wouldna—He was so angry wi’ me, Claire—blazin’ and—ANIMAL wi’ rage and—” She shuddered, violently, the panic written in every line and twitching muscle. “ — and he had every right, but—And then he was gone, so sudden-like, burstin’ out the door after ye — Ridin’ like he’d race to hell to get ye back—But he kent ye might already be lost, forever, ag — again, and—” She sobbed harder. “And I didna have the chance to make him hear how sorry—How much I hated mys — HATE myself for—” 

“Jenny?” 

She flinched at the word as violently as if I’d slapped her, though I’d spoken it with painstaking gentleness, scarcely more than a whisper. In fact, I felt almost beatifically calm. Between Jamie’s recent fury and Jenny’s obvious devastation over what she’d done, my own rage and need for revenge seemed very distant in my heart, at present. It was shocking, honestly, how steady I felt in asking it, as though I were only mildly curious: “Just tell me why.” 

“I was angry,” Jenny said at once, the words tumbling out in a choked, breathy rush. “Angry that ye’d left us wi’out a word—left Jamie alone.”

That much I’d known already, but I couldn’t ignore the need to be justified. “Jenny, I didn’t lea—”

“I know.” She took my face in both her hands, and for the first time in all the years I’d known her, I felt like the smaller of us. Her eyes were soft with sorrow, wide with the need to be heard. “I do ken it, Claire. Or...rather....I believe ye— that there must be more to things than they seem. I trust your word.” 

There was such sincerity in her eyes, such tenderness and love in her touch, that I felt my throat tighten—at the sheer childlike relief of having this woman’s warm light stretched out to cover me at last, after such a devastating first reunion. Still....I couldn’t simply forget. 

“Why couldn’t you believe it then?” Still calm, my voice, but it trembled as I struggled to suppress my own tears. “When I was telling you so to your face—why couldn’t you trust in me, then?”  

She had withdrawn her hands and closed her eyes at the first question, lips pursed, head bowed, like a convicted offender, submitting to the axe.  I didn’t think she was going to answer at all, but then a small voice—

“Maybe I was jealous.” 

 “....Of me?” 

“Aye.” 

For one blazing moment of disgust, all thought of tears vanished, and I wondered if I could take back every single word to Jamie about the necessity of reconciliation. If this woman was honestly mad enough to begrudge a brother’s love toward his wife—

But I saw her expression as she struggled to catch her breath to speak, and my heart quieted at once.

“Not only do ye appear out of the clear blue sky, Claire—after so many long years, but ye show up lookin’ all— so — ” She gestured helplessly to my person. “So damned beautiful and young and healthy and—And life has clearly been far kinder to ye than it had been for us, and....When I saw ye in the dooryard— I could feel it in my body, ken? As though it were a fire, set off at the edges of my mind, burnin’ up my decency and compassion and—Christ, all my good sense, and — I kent it was wicked .... heartless..... but I couldna help meself.”

“And that—that jealousy,” I said carefully, still levelly, with no scorn, “was enough to make you want to take Jamie away from me? Me away from him?” 

“Yes — NO! — No, it wasna—I canna—It was EVERYTHIN’, Claire! All of it together! And perhaps most of all, there was the fact that — ” She looked up at the sky as though for help, a little moan of despair escaping her lips. “I’d been the one to push Jamie into the damned marriage in the first place, see? ME. And I’d kent even then that it wasna blessed. I saw your own fetch at the weddin’, for Bride’s sake, and I was fool enough to ignore it, and—And if ye’d come back, now, it would mean I’d been wrong to have him go through wi’ it, when I’d been given plain warning from above, and the GUILT of it—” She heaved a breath to choke down the rising panic, and I had to give her credit for looking me dead in the eye as she said it. “I made up my mind that it was better to act as though ye’d never been there. I‘d bury the the letter and no one would be any the wiser....It was reckless, shortsighted....cruel....I was lookin’ after my own selfish heart....I did ye both so much wrong, unforgivably...I’ll never stop tryin’ to make it right...if ye’ll let me.” 

The shame of admission hung heavy on her shoulders. I could see it, weighing her down like a cross, all those wrongs. Anger. Indignant rage. Petty resentment run amok. Crippling guilt. Didn’t I know the power of those things, too? To wound and damage?

I reached out and took her hand, squeezing. 

She looked up at me at once, eyes still brimming, clinging to the tentative hope my touch promised. “Everything can be well again, Claire, I swear it. Ye came back, and once he kens it, Jamie will put aside Laoghaire at once, I know he—OH!” 

Before I could interrupt and tell her that I knew, she was standing and trying to pull me to my feet, too. “We’ll go after him, together, at once! I’ll leave a message for the family in town and we’ll ride until we find him. Ye’ve no idea—NONE—how overjoyed he’ll be to see—” 

“Jenny—Jenny, stop!” I gasped. She was so alight with the fire of promised action, redemption, that she didn’t notice I was resisting, nor that she was hurting me. Yes, I must have had a hairline fracture or some sort of damage beyond bruising, for my vision was going black around the edges as I tried to get free of her grip. “Jenny, there’s no need! Jamie and I—”

“GET AWAY FROM HER!”

Jenny jumped, and though Jamie’s shout had startled me as much as her, I was also deeply touched to see that her immediate reflex was to shield me, flinging her arms out wide to face the attacker. 

When she realized who it was, though, saw him leaping down from the horse, she started sobbing harder and was running toward him, flying on a wind of breathtaking joy. “JAMIE! Oh, Ja—”

But he brushed past her as though she weren’t even there, leaving her standing in the road. 

“What has she done to ye, mo chridhe?” he demanded as he dropped to his knees next to me, hands jarring more than gentling in his haste to check me over. His voice was urgent but cold in his alarm. “She hurt ye?” 

“I’m fine,” I panted, “just landed on my shoulder, but I’m fine. An accident” 

“I heard the screams—and you’re bleeding,” he said, voice still frighteningly alien, and sure enough, the fingers he brushed over my hairline had blood on them. “What did she do?” he demanded again. 

“She didn’t do it on purpose,” I said at once, “the horse got spooked and threw me and—It was a complete accident, Jamie, truly, Jenny didn’t—”

“Ye’d—already—found him?”

Both our heads swiveled to watch the hoarse, broken voice. Jenny was surveying the pair of us with such a symphony of emotion and realization moving over her face and body, it was both beautiful and painful to witness. “Oh, God be praised,” she whispered, crossing herself, beaming beneath her sobs. “Jamie, mo chridhe—Ye found her in time!” 

Her barely-contained joy drained ounce by ounce as Jamie stood.

“Tell me what it is you’re doing here, Janet.” His voice was deathly quiet. Dangerous. “Why it is ye came to encounter my wife today and cause her harm.” 

She was pale, but determined. “I was on my way to visit Maggie, and just happened to come across her on the path and—Jamie, I tried to tell ye at the house,” she blurted suddenly, stepping toward him as though she couldn’t control her own body. “How sorry I was. I meant it, trul— Jamie? JAMIE, stop this moment, where are ye going?”

For the moment she’d confirmed that our meeting had been pure coincidence, Jamie had turned to help me to my feet, ushering me firmly toward the horses. 

“Jamie, ye canna go!” Jenny was begging. “Wait!”

“Jamie, wait,” I echoed, panting, head spinning in more ways than one as Jamie helped me get my foot into the stirrup. “W—” 

“Ye must stay and hear me out!” Jenny was hovering at Jamie’s elbow as he lifted me bodily up into the saddle. She was getting more desperate with every word. “Ye canna turn your back on me like this, brother! Ye must—”

He whirled and she leapt backward. “Tell me what it is, precisely, that I MUST do for your sake, Janet.” 

From my forced vantage point in the saddle, I had a clear view of the heartbreaking scene on the roadway. Jamie, enraged, drawn up to his full height, like a bear about to attack; Jenny, ten feet away but all but cowering before him, eyes tight-shut, lips pursed and shaking, waiting for the slicing of claws. He would never physically harm her, I would have sworn to that; but there were sharp edges in his voice, and no mistaking them, deadly enough to slice and maim, leaving permanent scars. 

“Would I EVER have kept Ian from ye so?” His teeth were clenched tight, as were his shaking fists. “Would I EVER have turned him away? Your very heart, the breath of your body? Shunned him at the door, as though he were worthy of less hospitality than a stranger? Wi’out a thought for your heart or happiness, let alone his?”

“No...ye wouldna....Never could ye have done such a terrible thing......No decent person...” She was sobbing again; it was a wonder she was able to speak at all. “But Jamie, mo chridhe, listen to me, let me apol—”

“Ye LIED to her!” Jamie bellowed, lunging a step forward before he could stop himself. “Deliberately deceived her into believing me happy with Laoghaire—” this he spat with the utmost contempt, “then let hour upon HOUR pass upon my arrival before telling me a GODDAMNED word about her having been there! That there was still a chance I could catch her!” 

“I’m so—” 

“It came down to a matter of MOMENTS, woman—the difference between reaching Claire in time and losing her forever. Had ye waited two minutes longer to tell me, it would have been as though you’d slit her throat before my eyes. And I dinna think I shall ever be able to look upon ye and see aught but that very knife in your hand. The fact that I caught her in the end doesna change what ye meant to do—what ye did—to me.” He leaned forward and snarled, contempt and hatred in every syllable. “So tell me what it is I MUST do, this day. What I owe you.”

“What I did—was—wrong—Evil,” Jenny gasped out, coughing and struggling to get enough breath, “I kent it then, and I ken it now. I’ve scarcely eaten nor slept since ye left to go after her, nor been able to leave my bed for the shame of it—But ye found one another,” she gasped out again, trying to smile and move slowly toward him. “God restored your true heart to ye at last, despite my terrible actions.” She was nearly close enough to touch him, and she reached up to lay a hand on his cheek. “I’ll do anythin’, whatever ye demand for the rest of my life—to make it right wi’ ye both, mo chr—”

He turned his back before she could touch him, and was mounted on his horse the next moment, turning us in the direction Broch Morda. 

“Jamie,” she moaned, both arms clutching round herself, as if they didn’t know what else to do. “Please.” 

“Jamie, wait,” I said quietly, but then stopped. I knew that now was not the time for forcing rapprochement, but my heart was absolutely breaking for both brother and sister. But I had to say something, to give him one more chance to stay. “Aren’t you going to Balriggan? To settle with L—?”

“Not today.” He kicked up and galloped off toward town without a backward glance.

I did look back, though, and the look on Jenny’s face as she crumpled haunted me long past the time she disappeared from view over my shoulder. 

[a-dreamer-named-mars]

Imagine Being Jealous of Jamie's New Partner (Part 2)

Dedicated to emmaljo on wattpad. Read this imagine series and more here. 

- - - 

"991. What's your emergency?" "Help...I...near the docks. Help."

* * *

"This coffee is getting worse and worse each day that goes by. We should start getting our morning dose of caffeine at that stand on the 5th."

It was just another morning in New York City and, as usual , Danny Reagan was complaining about the coffee served at the precinct.

"That guy's coffee is so good!" His partner said enthusiastically after getting the memories of what was to her, the best coffee she's ever tasted.

"Yeah well... Hopefully we'll have the chance to make a stop there today."

"Umm... I don't think so. Look at what we got today." She said handing him the file across the desks. "A woman called 911 about half an hour ago. The boss says he needs us on it because he thinks it might be related to that case we worked on back in 2014 - It was women trafficking."

"Let me see that..." He said picking up the file and looking at the, almost no leads they had.

"The docks... Yeah, I agree it could be related. I don't even need to re-read the file, they would throw them on containers and ship them to every other third world country."

"Yep, I remember it. Well, we should give the 911 call a listen and get on it. We don't know how many more women they have there."

Danny put down the file and went to the NYPD data base where he searched for the call they were eager to hear. He pressed Play  and heard the woman's words and he immediately recognized it.

"This is my brother's girlfriend!" "What?" "I know it, I'm positive! This is Y/N , I gotta call Jamie!"

The detective quickly picked up the phone and dialed the officer's number as fast as he could.

"Hello?"

"Hey kid, when did you last see Y/N ?"

"Oh..." The dissapointment in Jamie's voice didn't go unnoticed and Danny figured out something was wrong. "We kind of, got into a fight a couple nights ago, I left her place and came to my apartment."

"What? Why? What happened?"

"She was acting super jealous over this new partner I have, I have been going for drinks with her and Y/N didn't like it... But nothing happened, Danny, really. The girl just doesn't know a lot of people in the precint yet and I just decided I'd help her make feel less lonely."

"Jamie... that doesn't matter right now. What I have is bigger than that."

"What's up?" "She called 911." "So? What happened?"

"Well let's just say she wasn't just robbed or anything... we think she might have been kidnapped."

"Danny..." Jamie said with a sigh. "Don't fall for it, I am sure she's just doing all of this so I move into hers again."

"Jamie... I cannot believe I am hearing you say those words. What's the matter with you?"

"You should have seen her when I came home the other night, she looked like she was about to beat me or something, she was acting like a maniac, insinuating Eddie and I slept together..."

"Hey, I'm not Doctor Love, I am an NYPD detective who needs to find this woman as soon as possible. Goodbye."

And with that, Daniel Reagan hung up the phone on his little brother and got up, his partner Baez following him.

* * *

"Was he that upset?" "He was... he basically said she was lying. But she wouldn't do that." "You sure?" "Yes, Baez. That girl's a sweetheart. Really, she wouldn't."

The partners were driving as fast as they could to the docks. Luckily, right when they were about to leave the precinct, the sargent stopped them and gave them the good news - someone called in because they could hear a woman's scream from a boat that's parked at the marina. Right near the docks.

That also earned them the right to a warrant, since this strongly indicates that there could be a relation between this and the women trafficking case they closed a few years ago. And also, there was a woman's life in danger as well.

After a few more minutes of driving they finally got there and carefully walked on the wooden walkway trying to be as quiet as possible, and searching for any signs of struggle like blood or pieces of ripped clothes.

"Hey Danny... don't you think it's strange that there is no one here? No one around the boat?" "And you don't think that would turn a lot of attention towards them?" "Eh, you're right."

After about a half an hour of searching they could hear what sounded like a moan. A moan of pain.

"Did you hear that?" Danny asked in a whisper. "It's from the boat on your three." "Yeah." His partner replied with a following sigh. "We got the search warrant, we should go in."

They got their guns ready and walked inside the large, blue boat. It seemed like it was an old boat, or a boat that wasn't taken care of since some of paint was gone in some parts.

"NYPD! Hands up!"

The guy that was bent down with his ass up got spooked when he turned around and saw them approaching him with a gun and he quickly put his hands up and dropped down in his knees, even without them asking.

He probably wasn't the ringleader.

"Is there anyone else in this boat?"

The bald, caucasian man who had his body filled with tattoos nodded a yes quickly.

"Do they have guns?" "No-No, sir." "Describe who's inside!" "Uh, uh... about ten women... I-I... don't know any more information, I-I was just payed to watch them for a couple hours or more..." "Baez, cuff him. I'm going in."

Danny's partner easily put the cuffs on the man while Danny went inside the boat and found out what he highly expected, but feared the most.

Jamie's girlfriend.

Plus nine other women, with their hands and legs tied and their mouths taped. Just like her.

Only difference being, she was bleeding. A lot.

"Hey Y/N, hey wake up!"

The other females kept looking at Danny, hoping he'd set them free, but that woman was bleeding. Family or not, she needed him first.

"Baez, call a bus immediately!!"

She did and after bringing the cuffed man inside so she wouldn't loose sigh of him, she rushed to Jamie's knocked out girlfriend, trying to wake her up but with no success. That was a lot of blood running out of her body... She didn't know how far away she actually was.

In less than four minutes the paramedics rushed in and took her to Saint Victor's, the hospital Danny specifically requested they took her to, so she'd have at least someone there.

The detectives stayed at the boat for a couple more hours. Untying the women, taking the duck tape out of their mouths, taking their statements.

"You're now a part of an on going investigation. A very important part." He complemented while emphasizing the word "important". "You can't leave the city. But if you do, we'll probably find you anyway." He said with a knowing smile and nod. And those were the last words he said before getting back in the car and leaving with his partner to the hospital to check on Y/N.

He was going to have a pretty busy week ahead of him - having to interrogate all nine women plus his brother's girlfriend when she'd be ready to leave the hospital or to at least talk; tracking down the boat and where it's been; tracking down it's owner aka the ringleader; closing the case.

* * *

"I heard Y/N is coming home today." Nicky said as she took a bite at the cake her mom had made for dinner that Sunday.

Everyone who was sitting at the table turned their attention to Jamie, hoping he'd say something about the new information he'd gotten about his girlfriend but, they had no such luck.

"Well, that's good news, right?" "Sean, maybe you shouldn't bother your uncle with this." Linda told her son. "Just finish the cake your aunt Erin made. "It's very good. You gotta give me the recipe." The nurse said now facing her sister in law.

During the rest of the meal, the family kept talking with each other except for Jamie who had been quiet for the whole time.

Eventually they finished eating and left the table, being this Sundays Jamie's time to do the dishes. He busied himself with the task, his thoughts speeding in his mind. He was so caught up in it that he only noticed Danny's wife approaching him when she waved her hand in front of his eyes.

"Jamie?" "Huh... sorry. I was, distracted." "Could have fooled me..." "What's up?" He asked while continuing to put some dishes in the washing machine. "You know, Danny told me you and Y/N got into a fight." "She was acting like an crazy person. Seriously." "I get it...I get both sides cause, me and Danny have been there. But the best thing we did was talk about it." "I don't know..." "You know, she was lucky she was alive. She lost so much blood. I do feel really bad about the baby, but... you could always try again if you two get back on your feet again." "What baby?" "Your baby... she was pregnant."

Jamie's heart sunk.

She noticed the confusion in his face and immediately assumed that he didn't even know.

"Oh my God... you didn't know! I'm sorry..."

He was still trying to manage how to understand all of this, but he still asked more questions.

"Are-Are you sure?" "Yes. I am so sorry." "How is she?" "She... She was heartbroken, obviously. But she wasn't too far along so the removal of the fetus wasn't very painful."

She could see the paina and confusion in his eyes and decided to help him out.

"You wanna go see her? I can finish here." "Thanks Linda."

He quickly grabbed his coat and left his childhood home to see his one and only true love and try to make things right with her.

[justinehudock]

When You Finish This Story, Just Remember: The Cat’s Name is Molly Sarlé

I wanted to make his first name Ammo, exactly like “what comes out of a gun” ammo. I really thought it sounded cool. As the child’s mother, that would make me The Gun—a nickname I knew would suit me to the ground, and that I could live up to, I knew—having a handle like that on him. Seeing as how, my little son, baby would-be Ammo, barreled through me as ammunition does its steely, swaddling “mother”. Dark and cold her interior may be, notwithstanding. It’s not important; a mother’s a mother’s a mother. 

But, my partner, and the other half of the sireage—they don’t like any term more intimate, isn’t that gross?—to would-be Ammo, hated the whole suggestion “'fiercely”. They said to me, “From Point A, all the way to Point O.” In fact, when I tossed up the idea, my partner responded, "I mean, holy shit, that should be illegal." And looked it up, too. To see if it was! Boy, they’d’ve been a real smug shit if it had been. 

It isn’t, obviously. Why should it be illegal to name a baby Ammo, especially a baby human, which’s got all those rights? Of course, it can’t be. Unlike license plates, we could have named him FUK, or B00B, or anything else that agreed with us. We could have given him your name, too, if we wanted, but we didn’t like it. No, Ammo’s no violation of the law, not just for the fact of having that name and the little sucker living with it, shooting through life and all of life’s unique barrels with that tacked to its bib. It’s just that a lot about the situation would hazard the illegal, apparently. I’ve been unfairly coerced to concede that — that there are a “number of issues” with it. Life as an Ammo’d be a “house of law waiting to collapse”, so my partner analogized, in the terrible, hammy way they have that I really — I almost can’t stomach it after a day at work. 

This is their own logic (I don’t buy a bit of it, for the record): you’d be like someone, I don’t have names, with a credit card number and chip frequency duplicator on hand; lying around the house. You may snort, the thing’s just a reader! or so my partner began, even doing the snort for effect, though it came out more like a snuffle. To be totally honest, I barely heard this speech, hardly even glanced up from my puzzle to watch their theatrics, which my partner was only doing to stomp all over my most favorite name. I was slurping up coffee like a pig to tune out whatever they were building to. But my partner went on, and I had only made a small cup.

It only recognizes numbers, too, they said. So you couldn’t even call it a good reader. I’ve got a young nephew on my brother’s side that can read back the alphabet in burps. And his younger sister, a niece of mine, can sing it back. Her elocution? Touchable like silk. With whole words thrown in, too! wonderful, delicious, like those dried bits of red in a fruit cake. But the credit card reader, it's just a mediumish, blackish box, sitting on the side table we use for desk stuff overflow, and sometimes the cat sleeps on it. You know the thing I’m talking about.

Like with Ammo, as a name, you can’t make a box illegal, if you’re just keeping it more like a fish, like we planned to, remember? Planned to feed it expired Coldstone Creamery gift cards and, for a snack, little slips of paper scrawled with different sections of pi? Not harnessing the box for its intended purpose, I mean. Never for anything immoral!

It’s the inevitability issue, though, with your friends’ credit cards, the visiting work guys’ credit cards, our moms’, their boyfriends’, more cards, plastic cards, thin plastic cards: they all start falling into the machine’s reader sleeve, mysteriously -- don’t look at me! Buttons get pushed, you’re being really Bond about it and only when they flush the toilet or wash their hands do you even start fiddling with the stupid slow piece of shit, so it’s all utterly inaudible. The whole maneuver is as silent as falling snow, I’m telling you. Quiet, I’m always quiet.

But, see, did you catch that? The cards would end up in the reader, despite your good intentions. All I’m saying is, illegality would always be on the sidelines, like, uh, the devil’s hands. Like using a permanent marker on flimsy-everyday writing paper, the mundane bleeds into disaster. The machine isn’t bad but bad things happen when it’s around. Was it Washington who said “anything that can go wrong will go wrong”? It was him, or some other guy with a wig. Any guy with a wig would know. And this, it’s just your basic black box, hardly more interesting than a shoe box, in my view. Any son of mine’d be a whole lot smarter, and more disposed to white-collar troublemaking, than that box, too. So, there’s the entire issue in a nutshell.

I really did want to name my little son Ammo, though. The craving shot through me in rounds: wake up, wham, Ammo. On the supermarket’s produce floor, squeezing Asian pears, sniffing Spanish oranges, picking Chilean peppers, kabloom! Ammo, mi amore. More bad than I wanted any idea original to my hormone-fermented brain, at that point; badder even than my incontrovertible but “really unfeminine” desire for a pregnancy body that resembled 2009 Chris Pratt’s. His thick physique that looked so warm, the perfect ward for growing a brawny Ammo, more evenly than all the other little boys in the world. But, me and my partner also knew our son should get the chance to see an airport sometime, as well as other, crowded public places important to anyone’s formative years. Dog parks, and fairgrounds. Ball places. That’s something my partner and I agreed on, that it was important to the rearing of any well-adjusted boy that he visit all kinds of environments, bustling ones and snoring ones, too, but to sniff around, learn the meaning of “horizons”, bang and bounce all the important germs so they don’t come sniffing around his immune system anymore. Tousle with the other kids and poke fun at the ones on leashes. But not choke them with their own collars, when their parents looked away. We’d tell him no-no-no.

Listen, though: if the boy ever got lost, and that can happen in crowds, you’d see how shouting his name—with alarm in your voice, because it’s not unalarming to lose a baby. It’s a parental thing.—wouldn��t please the immediate society too well. Wouldn’t please society in earshot, or the powers that be, too well at all. And we factored in letting him get lost a couple times as a child. It was important to us. No self-respecting adult I know was in constant parental purview as a kid. I know some people, and this is true, who, as children, were always near their parents in public spaces, and they’re in jail now. And, trust me, you don’t want to know the shocking sort of stuff they stole to get there. Adult prison! They don’t send you there for burgling righteous items, or for working under the thumb of right-minded Johns. There is no “wholesome” in organized crime. They share fewer than three letters, in fact. So, it’s all pretty disgusting. 

Yeah, the name idea was, as I said, eighty-sixed. My second and third choices, too, but I wasn't as attached to Bullet and Bomb anyhow. Once we crossed Ammo off the list, though, officially and everything and all that, black ink spilled & etcetera, etcetera, my partner picked up on my disappointment. They saw the little furrows—dents—developing in my disposition, like spooky UFO photos in a red room. I had begun to walk through the condo with my shoes on; and, when I made tea, I’d steep for four minutes, rather than the three that had always been my signature. My partner knew, now, just how much I wanted a little Ammo, barreling through the house, barreling through his school years, barreling through his SATs, barreling, barreling, barreling. Starting gymnastics, tumbling through that. Meeting the president, ultimately.

My partner, they aren’t the shiniest penny in the bank—they don’t hear euphemisms like you or I do, just regular sentences and snickering—but they are careful to notice these sorts of things. The little shifts of emotion in their other half. And that’s worth more in a partner than one hundred of the shiniest pennies! So, we decided on a compromise. Compromised on a decision. Turned back the odometer from a red-hot eighty-six to a chill, alright-everyone-take-it-easy forty-three, and the baby was given Ammo as a middle name. 

To keep the whole thing totally and definitely not a flag-raiser, we even made his first name Luigi. So Ammo’s tucked in there like any creatively bullshit, Italianate honorific. Sometimes people ask us about the spelling, and we tell them (and you’re just gonna scream over this) that it means “extra love” — because of the extra M. They believe it. So many people believed it, in fact, I started to doubt that it was a lie, after all. So I looked it up. 

Of course, you couldn’t fool the real Italians with that, because they know the pronunciation differences as a pretty basic requirement, but most people, they’re not Italians. And the ones who are, anyway, are so turned on by talking about their own families, and their own jobs as high school psychiatrists, and their own trouble finding this or that something-or-other from the old country, States-produced mozzarella that doesn’t taste like placenta—and oversalted, oh, Dio—or whatever, that they never say a thing about Ammo or his extra M. Never even heard a word we said to begin with. Fucking Italians. 

So we’ve got a little Luigi in the family. But everyone who loves him calls him “Ammo”. Except, you’ve got it now, when we’re in public. In public, he’s Luigi. To his acquaintances, and, it’s what he taps into the bowling alley’s keypad to track his climbing score. And what he told the butcher to call him, who saves the calf giblets we treat to our cat, Molly Sarlé. It all works pretty smoothly that way. Like “buffed marble,” my partner says (I got an attack of sneezes from that). But I have my Ammo. And, if he gets lost in any of those public spaces we’re always in, we have this system where we’ll shout “Middle name! Middle name!” to the nebula. And he’ll shout back, “It’s kind of illegal! It’s debatably illegal! It’s risky! It could induce a panic!” like our own family game of Marco/Polo. (You should hear him: Ammo’s cute baby voice, shouting those long, older-boy sentences so beautifully and articulately.) 

In that way, we find our way back to each other, with a big smile on my and my partner’s faces when we see our precious son in the crowd: his wonderful chubby cheeks shining like lead alloy; his bright eyes, gleaming and glowier than coppermines. God love that wonderful son of a gun.

[pocketsizedsam-blog1]

Real life supernatural

Jared x reader

word count: 2,144

warnings: cursing

"Did you do it?" Jensen yelled.

"Do what? Kill that man? Jesus Christ, you know me Jensen! Would I have done something like that?" Jared yelled back at his best friend, rather upsetting everybody in the room.

"I'm just making sure! You were the last person to see him alive, at that bar, Jared! And things got heated! I'm just worried that's all!"

"I can't believe you would think that! Jensen what the hell?" You screamed, rather pissed off.

"Like I said Y/N, I was just making sure, it all seems suspicious! Jared you have been off lately!"

"Whatever Jensen, just drop it, Jared didn't do this and you know it."

"Maybe he didn't, but maybe he did, I guess we'll never know because the only two people who would know that is the dead guy and him." Jensen frowned.

"Get the fuck out." You fumed.

"Was planning on it." He said, anger in his voice, as he turned to walk away.

"Don't let the door hit you on the way out." You retorted under your breath.

Jared had pulled a chair out from the table and sat down.

"What died in his breakfast this morning?"

"Jared... Look me in the eyes and tell me you didn't do it."

He looked you in the eyes, dead serious.

"I. Didn't. Do. It." He clenched his teeth.

"Do you swear on my life that you didn't do it?"

"Babe." He said, standing up again and putting his hands on your shoulders. "I'm not going to swear on your life, but I can tell you that I didn't do it."

"Okay." You said falling into him.

Even though you had your doubts, a simple 'I didn't do it!' Worked for you. Later on that evening, you, Thomas and Shepherd were fooling around in the family room after supper. Tom took your phone and slide up on the camera icon. He took a couple of pictures of himself, then a few of him and Shepp.

"Come on momma! Get in the pic with us!" Tom called.

You got in the photo with the two little boys. Jared came into the family room and sat down in the recliner.

"Come on dad," you started, "Get in the photo with us!"

"Nah, no thank you." He smiled slightly.

"Ah, come on Jared! What's going on with you? Take a picture with you fiancée and two boys!"

"I said no, now knock off." He said sternly.

"Jared... The boys are leaving soon, just do something with them. The least you could do is get in the photo with us."

"Momma Gen is coming soon?" Shepp asked.

"Yeah, but you haven't seen momma Gen in almost a month."

"I'm going to miss you momma (your/nickname) and dadda j." Tom said giving you a hug.

"Momma and dadda love you and we are going to miss you too... But you'll have fun with momma Gen and dadda Nate."

The boys were living in a spilt family with step-parents. Before Jared's attitude change, the two of you were going to give the two little boys another baby brother or a baby sister, but since Jared has been so cold and negative, he wanted no part in having a baby. Tom being the smart little boy he was piped up about how long they stayed with you and Jared.

"But wait, momma! We still have another week with you and dadda!" He gasped.

"Momma Gen wanted to take you guys early because her birthday is tomorrow and she wanted to celebrate with you!"

It was a partial lie, tomorrow really was Genevieve's birthday, but with Jared acting the was he's acting, you couldn't stand to have the boys here. It's too dangerous for them. There was a knock at the door and Tom jumped to get it.

"Momma Gen!" He squealed.

You pick Shepherd up in your arms and brought him out to Gen.

"There's my other little man!" She smiled tickling his belly.

He giggled and cuddled into you more.

"Awe, someone looks sad." Gen put a pouty face on.

"I don't wanna leave momma (your/nickname) and dadda j yet!" He cried hugging your neck.

"But I told you Shepp, you know momma (your/nickname) and dadda love you, we'll always be here is you need anything! But momma Gen and dadda Nate deserve to spend some time with you too!"

Tom on the other hand, as much as he didn't want to leave you and Jared, he liked to go with Gen and Nate too. You put Shepp on his two feet. You gave him and a hug and a kiss on the nose.

"See you in a month my babies!" You said giving Tom a kiss and a hug too. "Call us every night!"

"Love you momma!" The two boys exclaimed, hugging you again.

As you stood up you smiled at Gen.

"Boys..." She started. "Dad's out in the car go and out and see him, mom and I need to discuss something before I leave!"

The two little boys left you and Gen alone.

"What's going on?" Her smile faded.

"There's something wrong with Jared, I'm sure of it. I mean he's so different. Just as recent as not yesterday night but the night before at 1 am, I get a call from the police saying Jared got in a fight at a bar. Now that man is dead. Jensen stormed in here today, questioning Jared about what happened. He was pissed."

"What do you think is wrong with him? Are the police looking into him?" She worried.

"Yeah, and in not quite sure. I mean I know somethings off, and I don't know what!"

"Keep me posted okay? We'll talk tomorrow and I want to know everything that happens. Be careful, I've never seen him like this."

Later on the night you had gone to bed and Jared came shortly after. You awoke to the abrupt knocking sounds at the front door downstairs. You quickly jumped up out of bed and rushed down over the stairs.

Y/N's POV

I opened up the door and when I looked up, there were two men in police suits staring at me.

"Is Mr. Jared Padalecki home?"

"Yes, he is, what night you need officers?"

At that moment, Jared came down over the stair and stopped. He went to run but the two officers quickly caught up, then S.W.A.T members broke through the back door of the house and held Jared at gun point.

"JARED!" I bawled.

Come on I didn't want to see the love of my life get taken away in cuffs.

"You are under arrest for the murder of Daniel McQuaid. Anything you say or do can and will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney, if you cannot afford one, one will be provided for you.." The officer continued reading his rights.

"YOU SONOFVABITCH!!" I screamed. "I TRUSTED YOU! YOU TOLD ME YOU YOU DIDN'T DO IT! YOU LIED!"

I gather all the necessities and I went straight to Danneel and Jensen. I knocked at their door hard enough for them to hear. I mean it was late, but they'd take me in right?

Jensen's POV

"Who is that? It's like almost 12?" Danneel scoffed.

"Jensen!" We heard softly at the door downstairs. "It's Y/N, you were right, Jared did it, and I was stupid to believe him! And the thought of having the kids around a murderer, it kills me. Please let me in! I have nobody!" She screamed out.

"Ugh, do I have to get up?" I frowned.

"Jensen!" Danneel hit me. "Come on that is our best friend!"

"Please, Jensen! Danneel! The police just came to the house and arrested Jared, I was wrong to believe him. I'm sorry." She cried.

I quickly got up and ran down over the stairs. When I opened the door, Y/N was standing there, with a couple of bags, tears streaming down her face.

"I'm sorry." She said as I pulled her into a hug.

Danneel came down and and she rubbed Y/N's back.

Officer Danvers POV

"The Suspects being detained as we speak chief." I smiled.

"Then how do you explain this Danvers?" The chief turned the computer monitor around to show me the holding cells with officers panicking because of a loose suspect.

Each officer had a go pro on their chest to prevent police brutality, maybe I should check mine, it might reveal some details. I mean I was with the perp the whole time! While reviewing the footage I saw something that I thought was a trick of the eye. But I've watched enough supernatural to know what's going on! I knew it! Shape shifters are real! Holy crap! This is amazing! I need silver. If this is a shape shifter, then the real Jared Padalecki could be alive! I knew exactly where I'd find Y/N Y/L/N! I drove to Jensen Ackles' house. I knew how crazy I was going to sound but I need them to know! I can't believe I'm working a case involving my favorite superstars!! I walked up to the door and knock.

"Hello?" The Jensen Ackles actually talked to me!

"Hi- hi... I'm officer Danvers, I'm working this case and I think shape shifters are real!"

"yeah... Listen officer... Supernatural is a fictional show, these monsters don't actually exist."

"I have proof, do you mind me showing you?"

He paused for a minute, looking at me like I'm a nut job.

"Amuse me." He said stepping out of the door way.

I walked into the house and I seen Y/N and Jensen's wife, Danneel sitting at the table.

"Hi, I'm officer Danvers and I have proof of the supernatural."

I showed the three of them the video from my go pro.

"D-did you see the Chiefs eyes! Listen I know you think I'm crazy, but I'm serious and I have reason to believe that it wasn't actually Mr. Padalecki-"

"Jared." Y/N cut me off.

"I believe that there is a chance this shape shifter kidnapped Jared and there's a chance he's still alive."

"Thank you officer Danvers for trying to give me a sliver of hope..." Y/N smiled. "But that's not true, you and I both know that the supernatural is not real."

"Then how do you explain that Jared- or what ever that things name is, disappeared just like Houdini? I was with him the whole time except for when I went to report to the chief! Then he showed me surveillance of officers scurrying around everywhere without a Jared Padalecki in cuffs next to them. I was talking to a fellow officer and he claims the one minute he was looking at an actor going away for murder then the next minute looking at the chief in cuffs! Hopefully he's still at the station! Please! Please believe me!"

"Alright." Jensen started. "Come on Y/N, Danneel you stay here with Jj."

He gave his wife a kiss and Y/N gave her a hug as the two followed me back to the station. It was almost like this shifter didn't see us coming and it was easy to 'gank' him. Did you see what I did there? ... Gank him! Just like Dean Winchester! As we were walking back out through the station, we heard all officers unholstering their weapons and screaming "GET ON THE GROUND! PUT YOUR HANDS ON YOUR HEAD!"

"Jared!" Y/N cried.

She ran up to him and gave him a hug.

Y/N's POV

"I didn't know where I was too. It was dark and wet and I'm sorry, I know I probably scared you." He cried.

"Actually you were there the whole time! Monsters are real Jared...." I pulled him closer to me so I could whisper in his ear, "I slept with one!"

"What!" He back away from me furiously.

"It had your face! It acted almost just like you! Except for the anger management lack and mood swings!" I paused. "Wait! It all makes sense now! They boys and I were taking photos and I wanted you to get in one with us and the shape shifter you wouldn't! He got mad with me! Because I would've noticed something was off! How could I have been so stupid!"

"Your not stupid! So wait... Your telling me the things we hunt on screen are in the real world now?"

"Yes." I started. "But let's not worry about that right now, your home safely and that's all that matters."

I pulled him down to kiss me.

"I love you baby, and don't you ever scare me like that again!"

"Don't worry, the only one wearing my face from now on will be me!"

He kissed me and hugged me and it was amazing to have him back, safe and sound.

[bullshitfromanidlemind-blog]

A Question

I am writing this article as an outrage to the frequent rapes happening in our country. People are getting used to such headlines nowadays. But every time I read about a rape, be it in the capital or somewhere else, my blood boils. A country is a failed state if half of the population [not half exactly thanks to female infanticide and obsession towards a boy child] doesn’t feel safe after dusk. People are rather interested saving cows instead which could be a personal preference but we need to set our priorities right. We panic when our mothers, sisters, wives, girl friends are late returning from work or don’t pick up our calls especially when it’s at night. We try to drop them and pick them up from places because deep down we have this fear “what if something happens”. As a result we don’t try to solve the problem, rather we try to bypass it by putting restriction on women because we are “concerned” and it’s for “their safety”. But whom are we fooling? Is it really the solution? Why should they live in fear and restrictions just because some people could not educate their children right? What’s their fault? And what kind of education teaches that “the best way to teach a girl a lesson is either raping her or throwing acid on her as in to ruin her life forever to summarize. People are not born rapists. But then why girls feel safe in bikinis in the western countries that lack "culture” and don’t feel safe in our “ancient cultured” country even if they roam around in a burqa?

It’s a no-brainer that there must be something wrong with us. And yes, the reason is the way our society is today. It’s not a single reason but a product of multiple reasons which makes the country a mass producer of rapists and molesters. And I am not talking about any specific area of the country or any specific section of the society. From north to south, from rich to poor, from a teenager to a person in his sixties, problem lies everywhere. Let’s talk about few of them.

Equal rights for women, not: this topic creates thunders in everlasting debates. The question is simple, “do women get equal facilities as men do in our country?” Every time we see two parties with some cliché points. One party will say feminism is redundant nowadays why because women get ladies seats in trains/buses [they don’t forget to thank ac Volvo buses for not doing such discrimination], free entry [sometimes free drinks as well, can you imagine?] in pubs and public support in a public argument. So for them it’s sorted, what else do you need to live? Another party which is also known as “the Feminazis” will start taking examples since the beginning of time and discuss the oppression on women and after sometime totally deviate from the topic and it becomes point blank male bashing. Then the first party will say “yeah you say equality, but why men always have to pay the bill? Why men are judged if they cry? Why should we only lift the paani wala can?” and many more irrelevant questions. Then the first party will say “men are biologically stronger but that doesn’t mean they are superior” and it’ll go on and on. Then comes the third kind, the enlightened ones who will conclude the debate saying things either like “don’t respect a gender, respect a human being” or “women should not compete with men cause they are already superior” or “you are wrong, it’s not about who’s ahead, it’s about if they are moving together side by side”. But after the long discussion the main question remains unanswered. And the real answer is kind of tricky. Yes we are a civilization who worships women as goddesses [I am not going into religion cause that’s the different topic altogether], we had Rani Laxmi Bai then, we have Sushma Swaraj now but originally the condition of women rights in India is like money. A lot is there but not accessible to majority specially when in need, feminism is there but it empowers the empowered. So the answer is no, women don’t have equal rights, majority have less and a minority have more rights than men do. 

That is how things are: the phrase which is fed to us whenever our culture had to force something which is logically inexplicable, for example, the image of an ideal Indian woman. She should be polite, she should cover her body n sometimes face as well, she should respect elders no matter what, she should obey her father/husband [whichever male master she’s assigned to cause man leads and woman follows], she should not answer back, she’s the primary caretaker of the house and kids and career should always be a second priority. Of course there are exceptions and they are increasing with time but for majority there is infinite number of unwritten rules. And the sad part is majority follow these rules else the society will judge them or some aunty will come with her moral policing. It’s there is all levels of the society be it poor or rich, be it educated urban society or orthodox rural ones. And the reason is “that is how things are”. That’s why in villages girls get sasural training instead of education to get married off ASAP, people gossip about how the new girl got promoted and they did not cause she worked hard in boss’s cabin on her knees in some MNC, the newly married bride has to leave her job/studies and ambitions cause that’s how a happy family works. But this has to end someday. Just because women tolerate all silently, people get used to it. Then if some lady argues with a man with raised voice, people turn their heads and start judging her. Same suggestions are taken on different priority based on whether it’s coming from a man or a woman because the general assumption is “ladkiya toh dumb hoti hai yaar”/“abbe uski kya aukaad hai”. But what is the factor that creates this assumption. 

Happy family: It happens because in India a happy family means where women keep sacrificing. A boy sees his father always dominating his mother and beating at times. He sees her sister getting less privileges and priorities generally because he’s a boy. When he cries father says don’t cry like a girl, be a man. He thinks being like a girl is bad or equivalent to be weak. This thought gets embedded into his mind that girls are good but they are beneath me. When this boy grows up and goes out in the world. He sees girls coming from non-cliché families outperforming/ignoring him no matter how hard he tries. He takes this as humiliation, how can that petty girl dare to humiliate me? She needs to be taught a “lesson”! We all know what the possible lessons from this point are. 

Stop at the early stage, be pro-active: No one is born rapist, neither someone has the guts to rape someone at the first attempt. The reason rapists exist is the way we ignore the early signs of a potential rapist for which these sick people get away with a lot of small crimes and gather the courage to do bigger atrocities pushing their limits. We see or hear about events like, someone pulled a bra strap in some co-ed school, some neighbor boy harassed a girl cause he loved him[thanks to Bollywood], some child is molested by their elder brother or uncle, some middle aged uncle groped someone in a bus, some local hero molested a passerby and other numerous flavors eve-teasing and molestation where in most of the cases girls don’t speak up and even if they do, their parents suppress them fearing shame in the society and even if they speak up the male counterpart gets backed up by their family by saying things like “didn’t mean any harm”/“he’s just a kid”/“it’s a misunderstanding”/“your girl has issues”/“it was a mistake, please forgive and forget”. Events like these get the guts for someone to attempt a rape. 

We the volatile people: Another reason is people forget very easily. And media is to be blamed for that. In a hunt for new news headlines, they don’t draw closure to all the cases. We see new rape cases in the headlines on a daily basis but how many stories draw a conclusion? How many of the rapes reported are drawn to a closure? As a result, a person who is going for a candle march for Nirbhaya today forgets everything tomorrow and gets busy with Dream11 cause IPL is about to start. 

Sex? What is that: But why so many people especially in this part of the planet are driven towards touching a girl without her consent? Let’s face it, India is a sex starved country and the reason is our “cultured society”. Sex is treated like a taboo in our country and still we managed to be a country with second largest population [soon to be number 1 as you can’t force birth control norms like china over here because “democracy”]. Forget doing it, even talking about sex/condoms/even sanitary pads make people embarrassed. Since childhood we don’t get any awareness about sex just by the behavior of our elders around us we get the idea that sex is dirty and bad unless you are married. Once you get married, somehow you get a license to have sex. The biology teacher gets ashamed to take classes on reproduction, even prostitution is illegal here. People in their 30’s remain virgin and wait for their marriage to happen cause “culture”. But it’s not something you can hide or stop by not talking about it, it’s a biological need. This disrupted status quo between supply and demand makes people desperate to get some action. 

Iron cuts iron: Girls don’t go well with girls most of the time. I don’t understand the reason though. As we see around us women force restrictions on women all the time. Be it the neighbor aunty who gets judgmental when your clothes are not “sanskar compatible”, the same aunty who wants you to get married just after your college is over because “isko kaunsa prime minister banna hai”, the family members who are biased towards the boy child over the girl or the mother-in-law for whom “bahu” can’t work or study after marriage because that’s not how a “happy family” works but the “beti” can have ambitions. We can call them hypocrites in one word. But why does this happen? They went through the same system; they know the pain of being restricted all the time. Shouldn’t they let people live freely when the power is in their hand? Or is it some kind of anger which they couldn’t express when they were the victim in the story and later vent it out as revenge when they get the power? The way ragging thrives in hostels. I see girls demeaning themselves by telling boys “kya ladki jaisa ro rha hai?” or “mard bann” or “chudiyan pehen le” as if being a man is always better than being a woman. Mothers tell their daughters, “tu toh mera beta hai”, if she’s taking responsibilities. These people always keep this thought deep down in their mind that men are superior [because society embedded that into their minds and they can’t see beyond that] and try to compete with men whenever they get a chance. I see feminists with agendas like “ladko ko dikhana hai” or “ladko ko unki aukaad dikhani hai”. They always get obsessed with beating boys than improving themselves and by that they indirectly create a notion that girls are weaker in general, they somehow reached this state where they can challenge men. But you should pick your contender based on performance and not on gender. People ask for fast forward laws and courts for rape but that couldn’t happen because women are not united as a community. A lot of women take advantage of women rights which were introduced to help them. We see reports like girls trying to frame guys into fake “molestation/rape cases” to get lime light on social media or earn easy money by blackmailing, wives filing fake domestic violence cases to teach in-laws a lesson, even girls try to stop cars on highways asking for help and loot them when someone stops to help them out. Now think, if you tried to help someone and got looted by some gang, will you ever dare to stop your car next time seeing someone asking for help? Especially in north India people don’t dare to stop their cars thinking it could be a scam, people are not so inhuman to leave someone dying on the road but experiences have made them cautious. For the same reasons and numerous fake cases our penal code can’t make fast forward system for rape cases as it might be a fake one. 

It’s your fault: There are a large number of people who blame girls for getting raped. They say things like “she was drunk”/“she was wearing indecent clothes”/“she was roaming around alone in the night carelessly”/“she always hangs out with guys”. Let me get this clear, a rape/molestation is never the victim’s fault, be it a boy or a girl. We need to get out of this dumb notion. Rapes happen because some people believe it’s okay to have sex with a girl even if she is saying “no” because the usual reason we blame girls with for rape. Rapes happen because we couldn’t educate those sick bastards. Rapes happen because we couldn’t provide the safety to our women that they deserve. Then there are enlightened politicians who say things like “rapes happen because girls and boys meet freely”, what else do you expect? Separate countries for men and women? These thoughts are toxic, just because thoughts like these exist; we see different columns for boys and girls in co-ed schools. I mean c'mon, it’s a co-ed school, let them meet freely and understand each other. We are seeding difference at a grass-root level like this. 

Law and order: We have laws to deal with rape cases but sometimes they seem useless due to poor execution. At first half of the cases don’t result into an FIR because “what people will think?” The ones which get to the police stations don’t get enough priority all the time as police is busy taking bribes. At times people who go to the police station get humiliated with weird and out of context questions. If you look beyond metros and big cities, a lot of police stations and related nursing homes lack infrastructure to test and prove rapes before the substantial evidences fade away. On top of that our court proceedings make even snails look faster. A lot of people don’t have the time, money and patience to fight a case till closure and end up doing personal settlement by either taking some money or marrying off the victim with her rapist. Another issue is it’s bail-able [if you have money] until it’s proved in court which takes years. Sometimes rapists are below 18 and they get away with “warning and few months in the rehab” as juvenile but people don’t asses their sanity when they are released with anonymity. Yes, things are getting better slowly but we are light years behind of how it’s supposed to be. The law and order need reinforcements to address these issues.

So it is clear, that we have loads of issues and to overcome those is neither a short term job nor a one man job. We as a society need to evolve and spread awareness so that we don’t breed rapists and molesters unknowingly, don't treat women differently than men and treat a rapist the way he/she should be treated. But that’s a farfetched goal and we have real issues at present. What to do about them?

What to do: Well, this is 21st century where we can track ground activity from space. But with all these successful ISRO satellite launches, with all these eyes in the sky why aren’t we being able to save our women? Can’t we dedicate few satellites for our women? Just few “Geo Stationary” satellites to cover the entire country. We can make an app what can be easily installed in all phones [not only smart phones] which will have a “panic button”. When someone feels that their safety is being compromised can push that button. Immediately the location of the SIM card will go to a central server via that dedicated satellite so that people don’t have to rely on the availability of mobile networks. That server will pick that location in GPS and alert the nearby police station with specific GPS co ordinates. Even if the rapists throw the phone from some moving car, this whole process will happen in less than a minute giving police a real time data to come up with a legit search radius. The satellite can even be used to take photographs for evidences. A lot of tragedy can be avoided that way including other crimes as well. We should ask for such systems, we are the tax payers and should ask for money allocation during yearly budget for such system.

You can say writing an article and ranting about everything is very easy but to do something it takes courage. I will say if everyone did what they are capable of, our country would have been like heaven. But a change has to come from within ourselves and it always starts with an idea. I am not bragging but saying this so people don’t judge me as a “theoretical patriot”. I have taught English and Mathematics to slum kids for free, I have protested to save environment, I have fed hungry beggars, I have given gifts, food and clothes in charity, I even cleaned up dirty lakes, I don’t litter, pay taxes honestly as well. Maybe I am capable of doing more but I don’t have the money or resources to build such a system for sure else I would have done it already. I have a job and mouths to feed. I will request my friends to forward this to such an extent that it reaches people and government. I would love to work on such a project [who wouldn’t?]. If this changes the thought process of even a single person, my purpose to write this will be fulfilled. I believe in our country that it has the potential to bounce back. So the question is…will you support and forward this message? Hoping to see better days[“Acche Din”]….Jai Hind.

Kunal Dutta.

[unadulteratedrebelrunaway]

A SCENE AT AN A.A. MEETING

[8/23/18]

  Alexander W. Benson II

             My name is Rex.  I run a local A.A.  I'm the one who conducts the meetings.  I make sure the trains run on time.  I might be in my sixties, but don't let the grey hair fool you.  You get smart with me; I'll kick your ass.  I am responsible.  I am the go to guy when anyone needs anything.  If anybody has a problem with anyone else, come to me. I'll take care of them.

             People think I'm an *******, but I help people.  I just use tough love.  For instance, this one guy came up to ask me a question.  I cut him off because I knew exactly what he was going to say.  I happened to see the broken chair behind him.

             "Shut up.  Listen, and learn.  You shouldn't have broken that chair.  You're going to have to own up to what you did."

 ***

             The other guy tells me his side.  "I was sitting on a chair, and it broke.  I wanted to bring it to Rex's attention since Rex is always bragging about how he runs the show.  I tried explaining it to him.  I figured I would own up to it since I was sitting on it.  The bastard talked over me, accused me of trying to break the chair. When I countered, he walked away and barked an insult as he raced away from me."

 ***

             Then I am talking to Rex again.  "Oh yeah, this young, real dumb kid walked up and tried passing the buck.  I knew he broke that chair.  I called him out for it, and since I'm a real busy man, I had to meet someone else.  The bastard probably thought I had all the time in the world for his shenanigans."

 ***

             Unfortunately, I am talking to the human enema bag again.  "I like to give tough love sometimes.  Some ten year old boy walked up to me after one meeting and I saw he was crying.  I told him to knock it off.  Then the boy told me his parents died in a house fire while he watched."

             "Why didn't you save them?" says Rex.

             "I tried to but the firefighters held me back," says the boy.

             "I told him that was no excuse," says Rex.  "If that was me watching my parents, I would have thrown those firefighters across the street and my parents would have still been here today, so don't you give me any of that helpless victim crap."

             "I told him to buck up and stop it right this minute," says Rex.  "Crying won't bring them back.  The kid started bawling, so I called him a pansy because I figured if I pissed him off enough, he would get mad and stop crying.  Kids must be wimps these days because then he cried even worse.  Running out of patience, I slapped him across the face.   I called him a coward for not facing life.  Would you believe a bunch of people ran up to me and started yelling at me?  I'm a busy man, and since I had important things to do I turned around and tended to those other tasks.   The kid's uncle ran up to me and started ranting so fast I couldn't understand him. I called the other guys over and told them to remove this man from the premises because I will not tolerate name-calling.  If you can't act appropriately, you have to leave.  Same rules for everybody.  I enforce the law without discrimination.  That is one thing you can definitely say about me.  I don't discriminate."

             "I have every right to be a hard-ass because I go around helping people. I'm not an *******.  I just act like one all the time.  If they don't want it, I'll make them accept my help. If they want help, I'm going to motivate them by yelling at them.  My way works all the time.  Except for all of those cases where people want to fight me.  They have an attitude problem if you ask me."

             "Then there are all those times it doesn't work.  Nine times out of ten, the losers who come to me fail.  It isn't me because I know what I'm doing.  They're the problem.  I'm always right, and they're wrong.  They were weak so they failed.  If they listen to my advice, which is perfect, then they will succeed every time.  Just ask me. I'll tell you my way works because Rex Candy says it will."

             "I'm the law and order around this place, and I'm as tough as they come. And yes, my **** doesn't stink!  I can vouch for that, personally!"

 ***

             It is Friday night, and the meeting starts.  A former Marine is going to be the speaker.  Rex is up there, ready to puke his self-proclaimed wisdom on the masses. It is time to lay down the law with all these miscreants.  According to Rex, they are miscreants because they wouldn't be here if they were good people.

             At the beginning of the meeting, Rex stands up in front of everybody.  He sees somebody grabbing a coffee.  "Hey you, put that down.  What's wrong with you?  Sit down."

             "Everybody," says Rex, "when the meeting is going on, everybody sit down and shut up.  It isn't nice to me, I mean the speaker, and it isn't nice to anyone else.  If I catch anyone sneaking out of this room, I will deal with them swiftly.  I will swoop down on them like an Eagle.  And you don't want me to come after you because I'm your worst nightmare."

 ***

             Sometime later, Rex is seated behind the Marine.  He spots two hecklers in the crowd.  Those two look crazy.  Better not mess with them.  I know, I'll just pretend they're not there.

             A man with leg braces gets behind the podium and says, "My name is Will, and I'm an alcoholic.  I guess you haven't figured it out yet, but I'm going to be the speaker this evening. I was born into an Irish Catholic family.  I was the oldest of a litter of eleven.  Since I could remember my parents used to get into fights.  My dad was a salesman and he was always on the road.  We always seemed to have money but mother never cared about that.  He would come home drunk in the middle of the night and they would always end up in a fight. Back then the police didn't get involved.  Anyway, my mother always got on my dad for never being home, and when he was he was always drunk.  The violence didn't really bother me because I was always resentful toward the two of them for ignoring me.  The only times they didn't ignore me was when I got bad grades, or when I did something bad. As I grew up it seemed almost every year I had a new brother or sister to play with.  I loved them but I was always jealous of them because my parents seemed to hate me while they never stopped lavishing attention on them.  I seemed to be the lonely type.  At least that was the only thing I ever noticed."

             A man who looks like Mork who is sitting in the audience gets up at this point and walks in front of the podium.  He keeps bowing up and down and waving his right arm up and down like he was doing some bizarre ritual from a religion I cannot recognize.

             A kid sitting behind him yells, "Amen."

             Will does his best to ignore both of them despite looking a little annoyed. Rex doesn't do anything because he is intimidated by both of the troublemakers.

             "As soon as I was able, I started hanging out with the kids who smoked," says Will.  "I was only ten.  We started skipping class and getting into fights.  I thought it was awesome.  I also felt like I belonged with these guys so in short I stopped going home.  When I did get home my mother always gave me a beating for not being around to help out.  I hated this because I resented my mother not loving me but always wanting me to do the heavy work because my dad was never around.  Usually, I would be back on the street with my friends before dad got home.  On the few occasions we intersected he would give me the beating of my life."

             "Hallelujah," says Mork.

             "Shut up, man!" says the kid who said Amen.

             Will pauses and looks over at Rex.  "Aren't you going to help me?"

             Rex looks at him.  "With what?  Why do you need my help?"

             Will points at the two shadowboxers who were only a few drinks short of entering the shadowlands.

             "What are you pointing at?" says Rex.  "I don't see anything."  Rex says this despite the fact that everybody has been watching the two clowns for the whole meeting instead of listening to Will.  I had trouble hearing Will talk.

             "With them," says Will as he pokes his finger toward Mork and his buddy.

             "You're imaging things," says Will.  "Just shut up and keep talking."  Then he looks over at the clock to make sure things are on schedule.

             "My dad would beat me," says Will.  "When I was little I didn't do anything because I was too scared, but now that I was a little older, and although I would still curl up into a ball and take it, now I was laughing through it.  My dad would call me a no good, a no account, and some other choice nicknames.  I would finally tell him I found people who loved me.  Yeah, I said people who loved me.  At least I thought so at the time.  I got drunk for the first time that year.  Then I got laid.  I still remember her name, Jennifer.  I was in love, but she wasn't.  The next day I got in my first fight with one of my friends when I caught him screwing Jennifer.  Jennifer would later get pregnant out of wedlock, deal drugs to support herself and the kid because the boyfriend left her when she got pregnant.  As time went on all of my friends grew up and got a life, went to jail, died, or joined the military."

             Rex is still ignoring the noisemakers: however, he jumps up when he sees someone quietly exit the room.  "People, if I see one more person leave this room during this meeting I am going to be very upset," says Rex.  Then Randy turns to Will.  "Don't just stand there.  Keep talking."

             Now Will looks more annoyed by Rex than he did by the first two noisemakers. "You know, you're disturbing my speech too."

             "A poor musician blames his instrument," says Rex.  "Quit wasting time and try to wrap this stupid thing up."

             Will does a double take on Rex and looks like he's going to hit Rex. "If I go back into the Marines, remind me not to enlist at the same time as you.  I don't want to be in the same company with you, especially if we were to come face to face with the enemy."

             "I don't like you either, but I'm getting tired of telling you to finish your speech," says Rex.

             "There was a draft back then, and I didn't want to join the Army so I joined the Marines instead," says Will.  He looks at Rex and adds, "Too many backstabbers in the Army. At this point I still didn't know I was an alcoholic but I figured if I left everything behind I would start a new life.  A sober one that is.  It turns out that only worked for a few weeks, and then I got back into the drunken saddle of hooch, except now I was better at it--in a bad way."

             Will looks over at the two guys who are before him.  Mork is still doing his weird blessing ritual while the kid is dancing around him shadowboxing.  It is almost like each guy is completely unaware of the other one.  Will shakes his head at them and says, "It takes all kinds."

             "I'll fast forward to save time," says Will.  "Now I'm a Marine.  I was in Viet Nam doing the same thing my dad did in his day--fighting for my country.  I remember I took some shrapnel one time.  Ironically, it wasn't from battle.  I was cleaning latrines and some idiot was playing with a hand grenade. It blew him to Kingdom Come but I ended up with buckshot in my right hip and thigh.  I managed to limp over to the medic's tent.  I told the nurse what happened but she didn't seem to believe me. She wrote down in the report that I injured myself through horseplay.  If I wasn't in such pain from the shrapnel I would have been upset because in the Marines I could have been court marshaled for that.  They might let people get away with shooting themselves in the foot to get out of service in the Army, but never in the Marines.  I was escorted to a cot.  The doctor comes over with a needle, and it wasn't one of them small painless ones like they have today.  No, these things stung, and I didn't want the shot.  The doctor told me it was Morphine so it would kill the pain. Then he could look at it.  He wasn't taking no for an answer.  He pulled rank on me and ordered me to take the needle or else I was in trouble for insubordination.  I would find out later why he wanted to give me that needle so bad."

             Mork and his friend start pushing into each other.  They are both in the aisle in front of the podium that Will is speaking from.  Everyone was looking over at these two and then Rex, wondering when he was going to be a hero.  Somebody leans forward and taps Rex on the shoulder.  "Hey, when are you going to do something?"

             Randy hisses, "Don't touch me, you maggot."  He points his arm toward Will and prominently sticks his chest out with pride.  "That man served this country.  Show a little respect."

             One drunk in the back of the room whispers to another drunk.  "I'll bet you five bucks those two windbags tee off for real in," he pauses and looks at the clock and adds, "less than five minutes."

             The second drunk waffles a moment.  "I also have a gambling problem so I shouldn't, but you're on." They shake hands.

             "No welching when I win this bet, though," says the first drunk.

             The second drunk smiles.  "Did I also tell you I belong to a group of Compulsive Liars.  We're called Liars Anonymous."

             "I've never heard of them," says the first drunk.

             The second drunk says, "That's because I just founded the organization. Like right now."

             Rex stands up and looks past Mork and company.  He shushes the two drunks in the back.  "Quiet back there."  He does so loudly so the drunks could hear him over the hecklers.

             "It turns out the doctor was a faggot," says Will.  "He raped me while I slept.  He forgot to remove the shrapnel."

             Some members of the audience try to act surprised, but this is the twentieth century, and the shock value isn't what it used to be.

             "Well, anyway, I told myself I would find that bastard and get even with him," says Will.  "I would do my time, which was up in six months, and then I would find him.  It seemed like I was always trying to get even with somebody.  Actually, at the time if I had to get even with only one person at a time, business was slow."

             Will looks at the clock and sees he has five minutes.  Job walks up to him and says, "Sorry about the distractions but could you please wrap it up.  We need to conclude this meeting."

             Will has to think fast.  Then the idea strikes him.  "Sorry people, but I've just been informed that I need to wrap this monkey business up.  The long and short of it is I was always thinking of me, and I was always feeling resentful.  That is what made me an alcoholic.  As long as I live my life in the moment, and for other people, like my family I have now, and I keep going to these meetings, I will stay sober.  If any of you feel like you are filled with resentment, I advise you to just let it go.  Even if you don't forgive your enemies.  Just let it go, people, because resentment will literally kill you.  That is all."

             The two whack-jobs are still going at it.  The meeting adjourns and the first drunk sees five minutes ticked off with a fight.  He tells the second drunk, "Looks like you won.  Here's your five bucks."

             "Can you give me that in ones, please?" says the second drunk.

             "Sure, but I don't see what the big deal is," says the first one.

             "You'll see in a minute," says the second one.

             The first drunk hands the second one five singles, and the two of them shake hands. "It has been a pleasure doing business with you."

             The first drunk furrows his brows at this and watches the second drunk walk over to the two clowns who couldn't behave like civilized adults.  "One for you, and one for you.  Gentleman, it has been a pleasure doing business with both of you."

             The second drunk walks out the door.  The first drunk races to the door and looks out to see the second drunk climbing into a black four door sedan.  "Looks like a brand new car."  They wave to each other as the second guy passes by.

             Remember that lesson though.  LET GO OF RESENTMENT.  Resentment might seem like a good motivator in the short run, but it will eat you alive from the inside out.   Just ask an alcoholic.

 THE END

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28 Men And Women Share The Most Shocking Thing They Ever Accidentally Walked In On

1. Young at heart

I was living with my grandparents when I was about 19 years old, and I came home early one day from work. I walked into the bathroom and saw my grandfather who was like 80 at the time, butt naked staring at himself in the mirror. He was smiling and shaking around his schlong.

After we both made eye-contact, we both said “oh shit”…and just turned around….

I’ll never forget that image in my head as long as I live.

2. Dad The Tattoo Artist

About 6 years ago when I was in high school I walked out of my room to see my father putting a temporary tattoo of a spider on my mom’s ass. We made very brief eye contact before I did a U-turn back into my room. Parents are weird, man.

3. Mom’s Best Friend

When I was 8 I walked in on my dad banging my mom’s best friend in my bed. She was babysitting and he was supposed to be at work. They were loud, and I went to see what the noise was. My dad screamed at me to go away, so I got out of there without actually seeing them.

I told my mom when she got home, and she ended up spending the night in jail for breaking her best friend’s nose. When she got home she beat the shit out of my dad with a baseball bat. Wasn’t the first or last time he cheated on her either.

I got an awesome new PrincessJasmine bedding set out of it, though.

4. Grandma, On The Phone

When I was 14, I went over to my grandmother’s house and came bounding in like normal. To my surprise, she was sitting on the phone – completely naked. She screamed. I screamed. I quickly turned and exited the house. She called me later that day.

“I hope you don’t think that all women are saggy and old like me.”

5. Jock Itch

I lived in a two bedroom apartment with 4 guys so it was 2 guys per room. I usually left first because of my job. One day, I realized I had forgotten some important documents and came back to get them. I opened up the door to my room and found my roommate, laying naked on his bed, his legs up in the air, and blow drying his balls. He later explained to me that he had some sort of jock itch and needed to keep that area “moisture free”. That image is burned into my brain to this day and on his birthday, every year, I send him a picture of a blow dryer.

6. A Rabbit makes a delivery

I walked in on a couple having sex. Wouldn’t be that bad, except I was dressed as a giant rabbit delivering chocolate bunnies for Easter.

7. Family Trauma

I once walked in on my sister-in-law licking my brother’s asshole in my parents’ bathroom. Quite traumatizing.

8. It Was A Nice House, Otherwise

I (25F) was being toured around a house I was planning to rent a room in from Craigslist by the owner. The last bedroom door was closed, so he knocked and opened the door to reveal a husky man with headphones on aggressively jerking off. I still rented the room.

9. The Great Outdoors

So I’m out tent camping at a state park. It’s early morning (maybe 6ish), I need the restrooms down the path. I grab my shaving kit, start walking the 500 yards. About halfway, I hear a noise, and look to my left…

…directly into the eyes of dude hammering away at his girl doggy style inside their tent, with the door open.

I pause, kinda shocked. Dude waves at me. I wave back. Girl looks up, she waves. I wave back. They continue fucking. I continue walking.

10. Communication is key

Walked into my girlfriend’s place unannounced, found a guy balls deep in her ass in the living room. That was the day she went from girlfriend to ex real fast. If she wanted anal she could have just asked.

11. Sketch Has No Limits

A “walking in” story from a party I was at when we were all about 17-18. A couple of hours in, everyone had turned up except one of the birthday girl’s best friends. She eventually calls and says she’s out at a club and can she bring the guy she’s met – whose name is apparently “Sketch”.

Half an hour later they turn up, pretty drunk. After about 15 mins, we realise they have vanished upstairs. Birthday girl doesn’t really want them fooling around in her bedroom but no one wants to walk in on them either. So we send the drunkest guy up to call them down.

He toddles off upstairs and then about a minute later comes back into the living room looking pale and distraught. He sits down. We ask what happened.

“I went up and opened the door… and he was going down on her… and then he looked over at me… and I think he was a vampire! There was blood all over his mouth. So I left.”

Turned out they’d started fooling around, it became clear it was her time of the month but “Sketch” decided to power on through. We’d accidentally sent up the one person who, in a drunken haze, was not mentally equipped to deal with this at all. He looked broken for the rest of the night.

12. “You Do You, Man”

So this happened last semester. But I got home around 11/1130pm and no one was home, I’m like alright whatever. I go to my room, throw my stuff down and grab my water bottle, I walk into the kitchen to fill it (where the front door is – small 3 bdrm apartment through the school) and in walks this girl and I’m like wtf is this girl doing in my house. We make eye contact. I realize it’s my roommate in full drag. Fake boobs, wig, high heels, all of it. All he says is “I can explain…” Already having seen a lot of this kid’s oddities, I just say “Don’t bother, you do you, man.” And I just went to fill up my bottle and continued to play civ or something the rest of the night. He now occasionally just chills in drag and talks makeup and clothes with my other roommate’s girlfriend. I’m writing this sitting next to his 7ft unicycle propped against the wall. It’s been an interesting year to say the least.

13. Knock First

In college one of my friend/roommates had a girlfriend we all liked. Cool chick.

Except I somehow walked in on her shitting 5 different times in a year. It got so ridiculous that I got antsy about going to any bathroom with her around. It took a year for me to stop yelling through bathroom doors before I went inside.

14. Hide And Seek Goes Terribly Wrong

Didn’t really walk in but the most traumatizing time. When I was 6 I had friends over for a play date and I went to go hide underneath my grandparents’ bed with my friend. My grandparents came into the room after us so they had no idea we were in there so they started undressing and goton the bed. Sounds started. I started crying but they were basically deaf so they couldn’t hear me. But my mom walked by the room and thought she heard me crying so she walks in. Grandparents start screaming at my mom. Mom starts screaming at grandparents I run out from under the bed with my friend trailing behind me. It was awful.

15. A Father/Daughter Moment

One time I, then a teenaged girl, walked in on my father masturbating to porn. I could tell from the dialogue was porn that I had masturbated to several hours earlier. I didn’t see anything other than dad throw the bed sheets over himself and look incredibly sheepish. That day I learned we both like lesbian porn, however, we have not bonded over this incident.

16. The Resident Assistant Does His Rounds

I used to be a Resident Assistant. I was doing room inspections with my partner RA. I had given all my residents over a week notice, taped a letter to their door alerting them that I would be coming around. Everything was going fine until we got to room 312. I still remember the room number to this day.

We knocked on the door 3 times with no answer. I announced that I was keying into the dorm. We get inside, everything’s normal. I go to the individual bedrooms and knock 3 times again. As soon as I announce I’m keying in, my resident opens the door in just gym shorts.

“Hey what’s up?”

“Just doing our scheduled room checks.”

“Oh, ok. Come on in.” Without even hesitating or giving me a warning on what I was about to walk into.

As he opens the door I see a naked man dart across the room and into the bathroom. I didn’t know he was gay, so that was surprising. But then as I walk into the room and look to my left I see a tiny Asian man was standing in the corner with a laptop in front of him. He was only wearing a cheetah print thong. I quickly avert my eyes and look to my right and I see a camera on a tripod.

I dart out of there immediately yelling “you passed, have a nice day.” They could’ve had kilos of coke in the corner I wouldn’t have cared.

17. Cocaine Is A Hell Of A Drug

I was 12, at a sleepover with a good friend of mine. It was around mid-afternoon. I was getting myself some water when I come back to see my friend getting lectured about how messy his room was (it was immaculate) and how he should take responsibility for things (he did). His dad is pulling up carpet fuzz and yelling at him for it. My friend is crying. I kinda pretended that I didn’t walk in on that, and hung out in the kitchen reading cereal box ingredients.

As soon as the dad walks out, his girlfriend comes in through the door in tears. She had totaled her Corvette running a red light, and now the boyfriend was hysterical, yelling at her, and us. They go to their room and there’s this banging and fighting noise. Then everything was normal.

Took me fucking forever to realize they were addicted to cocaine.

18. Heroic Girlfriend

We’d gotten our friend a bit too drunk for this birthday. Walked in on his girlfriend cleaning him up after he had apparently shit himself. Amazing woman was trying to keep it a secret so as not to have him embarrassed.

Called him the next day and instructed him to marry her. They’ve a son in college now.

19. Eighties Nostalgia

8 years old, almost 9, It was my birthday in a week and I was all hyped up because I thought we were going to go out for pizza later that day. In those days, it was a big deal. Wtf was $5 pizza? This was 1987 and Round Table Pizza was better than God. Anywho, strolled right into my parents’ room. My mom and dad, butt ass nekkid on the bed in the middle of making the beast with two backs. Except, not two backs. Three. One of mom’s friends striding mid-step into the master bath like ninja fast. Mom’s on the bed, straddling, and oh god what a matted mess. Dad right behind her, also straddling. Lock eyes with mom, and in a valiant attempt to diffuse whatever shock I was in, decides she’s gonna play it cool. She leans forward, drops a fairly epic sized double ended dildo, grabs my dad’s feet, picks them up and starts singing “row, row, row your boat.”

Obviously, I screamed like a banshee and ran for my life. Almost 40, still can’t go camping without flashbacks.

20. Mom, The Hypocrite

I walked in on my mom watching the “Anal Princess vol 2” tape she had confiscated from me the day before…

No, I never got my tape back.

I also never again caught shade for watching porn.

21. Answering the call light

I worked as a CNA in a long-term care facility. A call light was going off so I entered the room to find an old man with a Foley catheter jacking it in his wife’s face. They both yelled at me for going in the room, even though the call light was on. It was just a weird sight to behold.

22. Unsanitary

When I was about 13 years old, I ran inside from playing touch football with my friends to go to the bathroom. I really had to piss. Now I’m not much of a sportsman–I just liked to play for the fun of hanging out with my friends–but my step-brother was a real shut-in. He rarely bathed, had a long greasy mullet, and always wore his jean jacket that had a Metallica patch ironed onto the back.

We were the same age, by the way.

So I run upstairs and throw open the door…and stop dead in my tracks. The toilet was in one corner of the room, and the sink was next to it about an arm’s length away. There squatted my step-brother, bracing his body weight on the sink and the back of the toilet. Between his legs stood the plunger suctioned to the linoleum floor. The end of the plunger was up his ass.

23. “I Thought You Were In The Shower”

I used to sleep at my cousin’s house all the time. I was raised by my mother and she’s a nurse, so I spent many nights there.

One night when I was 12 I was at his house. It was just us and his three younger siblings. When I stayed there I crashed in his room. So, around 9 pm I say I’m going in the shower. His shower used to take a long time for the water to become hot, so I turned the water on and went into the living room with my towel on and watched “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” for about 10 minutes. Then I hear a bunch of shit falling in my cousin’s room, so I walk towards it.

I open the door and there’s my cousin, completely naked with a dish towel wrapped around his erect dick, and he’s knocking everything down in the room with his dick. I’m talking sports figurines, a lot of books, VHS tapes, video games, basically anything you could think of that would be in a 13-year-old’s room. So I say “what the fuck cuz” he just looked at me calmly and said, “I thought you were in the shower, I was going to clean it up, I always do”

Never mentioned it again.

24. Naughty Until The Very End

Do you know there are people in their mid-80’s still having hot, sweaty, hair pulling, ass spanking, dirty-talking sex?

I know there are. I accidentally walked through a room where my 80+year-old friend was banging his 80+year-old girlfriend. They didn’t know I was there and it took a full minute to get out of the room. Apparently, an 80-year-old woman can still be a “naughty girl who needs a good, hard fucking.”

You go, my man Howard!

25. Unsurprising Somehow

Years ago I was sharing a room with my homophobic brother, he is one of those guys that consider himself the alpha male but is mostly just talk. I came early from work and I found him using a dildo in his ass….to this day I can’t look at any penis shape thing without having flashbacks.

26. Sis borrows laptop for “school work”

I thought nobody was home when I got home and remembered my sister borrowed my laptop to do her school work the night before. I go to her room to get it and she has it playing porn while she is pounding herself with a cucumber. I’ve never run out of the house so fast. Went and hung out with a friend til later when everyone would be home. Never mentioned what I saw to anyone until now.

27. Dad Was Not Amused

When I was a young boy (5 or 6 maybe) I remember going into my parents’ room at night to hop in bed with them and my father being completely naked when I just ran in and hopped in bed.

My mom thought it was the funniest thing ever and I can remember my dad being in a bad mood the entire time I laid there until (very quickly) he got me out of the room and back into mine.

I remember asking “why is daddy naked” and my mom said “Oh, he is just going to take a bath now”

1) My dad didn’t take baths 2) I only realized about 20 years later that I most likely just walked in on my parents about to get it on and my dad was in a bad mood because “fuck this kid” right?

28. Morning Glory

I was the one “walked in” on:

In high school I snuck out of the house late at night to meet some friends and let’s just say I was very hungry when I got home. So I raided the kitchen pantry and took the only two edible things that were ready to eat – plain tortilla chips and plain hershey’s chocolate bars.

I go up to my room and start eating the chocolate and chips. Mind you I sleep naked and it was a little warm in the house, so I’m naked on top of all of the blankets and with the state of mind I was in I was making a pretty big mess. Crumbs and chocolate bits getting all over my chest. …Well, then I pass out.

Here comes the problem. I have always been hard to wake up. We’re talking now I have to set 12 alarms every morning for work. So every morning my parents (mom until this incident) would come to my room, open my door, turn on my light, say time to get up and close the door. Turning on the light was the only way to get me up and out of bed.

So, my poor mother comes to my room to wake 17 year old me up. And as a 17 year old boy, who is just waking up, I was FULLY ERECT. Door opens, light flips on, and there is her son laying like a dead starfish on his bed, chips crumbs and melted chocolate all over his chest, with a RAGING boner. Not only that but from her angle she is staring right down the devil’s alley at my taint/balls/boner.

So she screams at the top of her lungs. This scares the shit out of me, so I wake up and start screaming at the top of my lungs. Now she’s kind of running in place flapping her arms around screaming, I’m screaming naked in horror in my bed, and my dad comes bounding over thinking something is wrong and bursts the door fully open. He yells “OH WHAT THE FUCK!” I try to yell “GET OUT” and cover myself but really just manage to yell, “GEEEEEEROUFFF!!!!” as I rip the blanket up and fall off the bed to the side.

Breakfast was quiet that morning.

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