#faraday and vasquez

[orangesnail]

Love the contrast between Faraday being big and broad and Vasquez being quite lean, and Vasquez is taller than Faraday, beautiful muwah

[sconfittoleone]

[tinkertoysdamn]

Chapters: 1/? Fandom: The Magnificent Seven (2016) Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Joshua Faraday/Vasquez, Sam Chisolm & Joshua Faraday Characters: Joshua Faraday, Sam Chisolm, Vasquez (The Magnificent Seven 2016), All Seven (The Magnificent Seven) Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Post-Canon Fix-It, Canon-Typical Violence, Canon-Typical Behavior, Period Typical Attitudes, Adaptation, Not Beta Read Summary:

After the Battle of Rose Creek, Chisholm presents the Seven with a new job, cleaning up the mining town of Personville, Montana. A hotbed of corruption and scandal, the Seven will have to use their wits and not just their guns to untangle the town's complicated politics.

Inspired by Yojimbo and the novel Red Harvest. Because one Kurosawa adaptation isn't enough.

I am very dumb and attempting a new fandom.  WWWWWHHHHHEEEEEEEE!

[faraquezshipper5794]

I feel like Faraday could either be a god tier cook or the world is on fire. There is no imbetween.

I have read quite a few fics with Faraday being an amazing cook and I can see that character trait in him so that is why he is up there winning Masterchef.

[soba-riri]

A redraw of an old doodle I did. I miss my boys.

[fontainebleau22]

The Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets AU I can’t stay away from! With thanks to @lazaefair for the original prompt and the wonderful artwork that goes with it.

Vasquez gets himself kidnapped and almost eaten, Faraday enlists Goodnight’s help to look for him, meets some new people and almost gets himself killed, and everyone learns some surprising things about their friends’ pasts.

[wildechild17]

Just an art of my favorite cowboy couple in my modern-day supernatural creature AU, Magic + Malevolence. ft Joshua the necromancer and Vasquez the unwilling hunter. Check it out with the link below! :D

[voteforintensepuppets]

What Goes Bump in the Night for WIP Wednesday!

"He's not a vampire,” Alejo says, but his shaking voice betrays him. There's a flash of annoyance at the slip, and he scowls at Josh, grabbing the album, snapping, “Give me that. Hold the light."

[terrencetheycallme]

Mag7/Dark Souls 2 Crossover: Prompt Piece

Prompt: Something you weren’t supposed to overhear.

Fandom: Magnificent 7 (2016) as a Dark Souls 2 crossover

Characters: Billy Rocks (POV), Vasquez, Faraday

Relationships: Guess.  Pre-relationships round the board, but specifically, pre-Varaday and pre-Goodrocks

Context: I’ve been working on Dark Souls 2/Mag7 cossover versions of each character, and Billy Rocks ended up being my manscorpion (human torso attached to a scorpion body), based on a character named Tark from Dark Souls 2 (who became the way he was as a result of Bad Guy Experiments).  Vasquez is a fire-using pyromancer based on the desert sorceress characters, and Faraday is a dark-magic hex-user.

Also linked to this post I made a year ago, featuring some unfinished designs for Vasquez and Goody from this AU!  I hope to get the rest of the 7 drawn at some point too.

This is a very specific AU, I fully recognize that, but for this preview, there isn’t too much that you need to know beforehand, and I’ve tried to give a basic picture with context clues in the actual story.  I hope to do more for this project, at which point, I’ll give more of a sort of pre-story description of what elements of Dark Souls 2 I’m using.  This was also mainly a prompt exercise to get me into a writing mode, so I wasn’t too concerned with setting the stage perfectly!

(And if some things are a little too confusing, feel free to let me know, and I'll answer questions!)

The basic gist of this: Everyone involved is trying to escape the Big Bad, and snuck into underground tunnels to do so.

Enjoy!

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

Billy moved quietly through the tunnel, thankful for the dark.  It shrouded him, it gave him safety, it meant he wasn’t followed, wasn’t hunted. 

His master disliked the dark, after all.

He moved lightly over uneven ground, feeling carefully as he went, paying attention to tremors and vibrations, listening when he could with his imperfect human ears.

He was so close to freedom.  So close to getting out, to throwing off the chains his master had kept him in.  But not quite.

He had to find Goody first. 

First Goody, then escape, for both of them.

Billy’s jaw tightened and he glared through the dark.

Goody shouldn’t have done that.  He shouldn’t have separated from Billy.  He was safer when Billy could protect him, he should have known that by now. His body was so fragile, so easy to damage. Billy was the one with the nigh indestructible form.

The shudders of footsteps pulled him from his thoughts, the tremors coming from close by.

He stilled.  His body tensed, a familiar but uncomfortable action, his hybrid instincts at war with themselves.  He should dig, hide in the ground and wait for the shake of their footsteps above him.  But no—no, he should hunker down, get as low to the ground as possible, use his spear as they approached—

The footsteps stopped.  More than could be attributed to one person, too few for three.  So, only a pair, then.  There was a thud, as though one of them had dropped to the ground. 

So, they could be injured.  Good.

He crept closer, careful to stay in the shadows, aware of his bulk and its drawbacks.  He came to a stop before he could round a final corner, the potential threats on the other side.

Voices filtered through the dark.  The dim and flickering light of a fire threw itself haphazardly against the rock wall.  Torch?

“Shouldn’t have done that, Faraday.” 

A pained laugh.  “Hey, I been waitin’ to fuck that asshole up for years, a little nick to the side is worth it, far as I’m concerned.”  The man’s voice was heavy with exhaustion, uneven and slurred.

“A ‘little nick to the side?’  I’d call it ‘profusely bleeding from a hole in your abdomen.’”  This one sounded frustrated, his voice tense and unhappy.  Billy tilted his head.  He didn’t recognize either.  “Hold still.” 

A wet cough.  “Don’t s’pose you… you know any miracles, do ya?”

“No.”  Curt.  Short.  Billy’s brow furrowed.  This one sounded like he did when Goody wouldn’t listen to him.  “But I have some bandages I can work with.  And some of that magic salve.”

Billy’s spear dipped an inch.  A healer?  Maybe this one knew Goody…

A low whistle, more air than sound.  “How’d you get that?  Been watchin’ you the whole while you been in that cage.”

“Not the whole while.”  Gravelly and viciously satisfied, with dark ferocity.  Billy’s shoulders tensed.  He pulled the spear back up.

There wasn’t any more talking for a while, though Billy strained to listen. 

Distantly, a part of him wondered why he didn’t just make the attack, why he didn’t lunge from his hiding place and take them out while they were distracted.  One of them was clearly wounded, the other focused entirely on helping him.

A soft muttering reached his ears, a language he didn’t understand, and he paused again.

“Hey, I been meanin’ to ask you.”  There was the injured man again, still sounding tired and hurt. 

The other man only hummed acknowledgement.  There was a soft slapping sound, like a hand smacking against skin.  Like Goody when he reached up to smack Billy’s arm in one of his odd fits of humor, grinning and unafraid.

“Hey,” the tired voice again. “I m… I mean it.  Hey.”

“What, guero?  Trying to keep you from bleeding out, and you can’t stop talking.”  More of the unfamiliar language.

The other voice kept going.  “Why’d you… try to get me out?”

An impatient scoff.  “No ‘try’ about it.  You’re out, aren’t you?” 

“Still stuck in his—his damn tunnels, ain’t we?”

“Not for long, we’re not.  Now, ch.”

The first man didn’t seem to have a response to that, falling as close to silence as he could with his harsh and heavy breathing.  The sounds of the other man’s attempts at healing didn’t slow.  Billy’s spear dipped again, further this time.

“…You didn’t… di’n’t answer my question.”

More hurried movements, frustrated murmurs in that unfamiliar language, the hard abrupt vibrations of something hitting the ground.  A weapon? The other man’s hand?  Fist, maybe?

“Will you—”

“I worked f’the guy who held you prisoner.”  A wet swallow.  “He tortured you.  You know what he did.  You saw.  You should… should want me dead too.”  The ruffle of fabric, frantic movement that Billy couldn’t place.  “I l—I listened to him.”

His voice was rising, a thread of urgency, of something raw and harsh, weaving through it.  Billy’s grip on his spear was so tight it was nearly painful.  Just attack.  Just put him out of his misery.  Both of them.

But his body wouldn’t move. 

“Shouldn’t be here.  Could kill you.”

Goody laughed at that.  It was wispy and broken.

Billy looked up into empty blue eyes.  Goody smiled, wan, and went over to him anyway.

“Yeah,” Goody murmured, light and weak as the dust from crumbled bones. “And you shouldn’t keep letting me in.”  A wink, filled with Goody’s typical fake cheer.  “I’m practically your jailer, after all.” 

And then, he’d leaned back against Billy’s body – the protected parts, the stiff plated parts, where Billy couldn’t bend to reach him with his hands, couldn’t feel his warmth – and closed his eyes.

And then he’d helped free Billy from his master.  Helped free him, and then had disappeared.

And Billy had thought—he didn’t know, really.  He’d thought it was only him, and now Goody, out for themselves against all of his master’s staggering resources. 

He’d thought these two may have been guards sent to recover him.  Would have attacked them thinking that, if he hadn’t listened. 

But now…

“You were a prisoner too.”  The other voice wasn’t so frustrated now, wasn’t so tense and urgent.  It was soft.  Gentle.  “I knew that from the beginning.  From the way you were around him.  I saw your scars, Faraday.  You didn’t want it any more than I did.”

“But I—”

“I wasn’t about to leave you with him.”  The voice was almost too quiet for Billy to hear.  Solid with the steel of the man’s conviction, but tender somehow, like he didn’t want to scare the other man.

“Vas…”  Weak and shaking, that first voice.

“I’m not going to let him hurt you.”  Resolve, determination.  An idea started to form in Billy’s mind.  “Not anymore. We are getting out of here, and we’re going to find you help, ey?”

There was no answer.  For the first time since discovering the two men, Billy found he wanted to see what was happening.

He took in a slow breath, and the stubborn idea grew. 

Goody was still missing.  Billy’s master would likely be looking for them both.  Billy needed to find Goody and get them out of here.

And these two men seemed to have the same goal.  And the way they spoke to each other…

Slowly, carefully, Billy straightened his torso and pulled his stinger back, lowered rather than poised to strike.  He exhaled long and slow, and moved out of the darkness, rounding the corner and revealing himself to the interlopers.

There was only a beat of silence, then an explosion of movement.  The injured man sucked in a breath and reached for a long staff with shaking fingers.  The healthy man, crouched over the injured one, whirled about in one graceful movement, an odd fan jumping to his hand.  Fire began to swirl about his forearm.  Poised to strike, like Billy had been.  Ready to protect, as Billy wanted to do.

Billy held up his free hand.  He very pointedly didn’t move any farther forward.  He made eye contact with both the injured man and the healthy one, letting his gaze linger on the latter.

He dropped his spear to the dirt.

[inkformyblood]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The Magnificent Seven (2016) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Joshua Faraday/Vasquez Characters: Joshua Faraday, Vasquez (The Magnificent Seven 2016) Additional Tags: Female Joshua Faraday, Mutual Pining, Post-Battle of Rose Creek, Injury Recovery, Permanent Injury, Horses Summary:

Vasquez watches Faraday and realises why her actions look so familiar.

[demisexual-dryad]

Okay dump time:

So obviously, as in my previous post miles is an Oread and Phoenix is a fire spirit/elemental. Here’s what I would assign the rest of the cast:

The fey family: quite conflicted here, I don’t think their speciation is all the same because you know, different fathers n stuff. But the bottom line is: if they could channel in the games, or were actively a part of the clan, they are at least part witch/magic users. They occupy a role as heralds and enforcers between the spirits of the dead and the living. I decided that in this AU;

-Mia and Maya are half-elves because of course.

-I think Pearl is half nereid, because to me that makes sense for her.

-Dahlia and Iris were half-kitsunes, both with very different outlooks on life and definitions of “mischief”. Iris’ magic wasn’t nearly as strong as Dalia’s though.

-Morgan and Misty were regular human magic users. (The fey clan only recently started to approve of interspecies marriages as human population in their village was steadily declining)

The Fey clan was frequently sought out to treat magic-related ailments until recent modern medicine came about.

Everyone else:

-Gumshoe is absolutely a werewolf. He big. He clumsy. He goofy. He an awkward big dog man.

- Larry, because he’s always chasing after a pretty face, is a satyr.

-Kay: She is so a Fae. The fae mischief energy is strong with this one.

-the Von Karmas: they’re both demons, but demons of different cardinal sins. Manfred was a demon of pride, Franziska is a demon of wrath. Miles doesn’t care for his title as demon prosecutor because a: the press just assumed he was a demon by association and while he likes to feel connected to the Von karmas early in his career, he feels like he’s also lost that connection to his dad. That makes him feel guilty. Because B: when Franziska comes on to the legal scene it just makes shit confusing. What would they call them both? “The demon prosecutor” and “the ACTUAL demon prosecutor”? Moreover, when people found out she used a whip and immediately started calling her a “succubus dominatrix” (considered insulting to female demons who aren’t actually succubi) in the news? Miles bout near lost his shit that’s his little sister bro. Also being a demon doesn’t make someone inherently evil, and the press demonized Miles through that nickname. Imagine. You’re hated and called mean things for something you’re literally not. This is why Miles prefers his more “standard” form these days. He looks less like a weird demon and more like an oread, which he is.

-Trucy and Apollo: Aurorae, or wind nymphs. They take after their mom in that regard. Wind nymphs can fly and turn themselves into wind and reappear elsewhere. They’re extremely light beings. They do have wings to reflect birds and other sky dwelling creatures. Apollo I chose to be one because of the myth of Echo, I just imagine he’s like the wind of a hurricane, just so fucking loud and forceful without realizing it. Trucy more because her ability to disappear and reappear makes her excellent at magic tricks and deception. Also they’re hypersensitive to air movements and slight electrical charges, which is how perceive works for them.

-Athena: I wanted to make her a Raiju at first (lighting yokai) but those usually take the forms of dogs, so I figure maybe she’s a venti (Roman storm spirit). She’s sensitive to electrical fields, even more so than Apollo and Trucy, and as a result can not only hear peoples emotions with a heightened sense of hearing (she hears the charge and nature of the electrical fields) , she can sense them quite accurately too. Venti in some myths can take the shape of horses or storm clouds, but I think she’s just very electrically charged, and can summon or control small storms or electricity. (On top of the aforementioned powers). She’s also quite loud too, but not as consistently loud as Apollo is.

-Blackquill: this motherfucker is an Oni. What else do you want from me? He acts like a samurai haunted by some terrible misdeeds even after he’s proven innocent. He’s an Oni. 100% an Oni.

-Maggie Byrde: she’s a harpy. She has the lower half of a bird and wings. She’s a very clumsy flier.

-Will powers: Giant/jotunn. He’s a big lad. Gentle giant, anyone?

-Dee Vasquez: oh she’s SO a Gorgon. The headscarf thing? The femme fatale allure? Dark and mysterious? Gorgon. Absolutely a gorgon. She’d rock a pair of black aviators too.

-Lana and Emma skye: sphinxes. Lana being the kind to dish out riddles and justice, Emma being a bubbly cub until later when she becomes bitter and sardonic.

-The Judge: he’s a centaur. An old ass centaur. Some of them are supposedly wise, he’s just bad at his job.

-The Gavin brothers: Sirens. They have gills, claws, webbed hands, scales, etc. they also can shift into an aquatic form with a tail, and have alluring voices they can use for charm magic. Klavier uses his for musical talent, Kristoph uses his for manipulation. (So surprising, that.)

-Sebby: he’s a water elemental. He’s so turbulent, it reminds me of swirling water. He’s made of water, can control water, has an elemental core like Phoenix does, and hydration is extremely important for him or he will dry out and that’s no bueno. Overheating is also a serious problem because he could boil himself alive, or freeze himself solid if he’s too upset. His dad hates him for his delicate chemistry. (I still want to ring Blaise’s neck, can’t you tell?)

-Damon Gant and Tigre furrio are both malicious imps.

-Cody hackins is a kappa (mischievous Japanese water spirit with a turtle shell).

-Matt engarde is so a bitchy asshole vampire. Get staked through the heart, loser.

I’ll probably add more as I think of them.

But this is what I’ve got for now!

(Sorry this took so damn long, I fell asleep the first round of writing and then of course got busy with other things in between.)

Gimme fantasy au info in exchange for my fantasy/siren au infodump

FUCK YEAH SAY LESS

[orangesnail]

Very glad that a lot of Varaday fanfics agree that Faraday would be the one to freak out about crushing over a dude while Vasquez thinks “this dude annoys me so bad, I can’t not fuck him”

[sconfittoleone]

[tinkertoysdamn]

Chapters: 4/? Fandom: The Magnificent Seven (2016) Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Joshua Faraday/Vasquez, Sam Chisolm & Joshua Faraday Characters: Joshua Faraday, Sam Chisolm, Vasquez (The Magnificent Seven 2016), All Seven (The Magnificent Seven) Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Post-Canon Fix-It, Canon-Typical Violence, Canon-Typical Behavior, Period Typical Attitudes, Adaptation, Not Beta Read Summary:

After the Battle of Rose Creek, Chisholm presents the Seven with a new job, cleaning up the mining town of Personville, Montana. A hotbed of corruption and scandal, the Seven will have to use their wits and not just their guns to untangle the town's complicated politics.

Inspired by Yojimbo and the novel Red Harvest. Because one Kurosawa adaptation isn't enough.

[faraquezshipper5794]

Im gonna be posting some fanart soon so keep an eye out for it!

[wildechild17]

Mag 7 wip

something I'm working on as a side project for NaNo, decided I'd share a little (not really) excerpt here, just because i could

Sam Chisolm wasn’t sure what he’d expected, but as he stood in the sparsely decorated apartment in London, it wasn’t… this.

It was, in fact, sparse. There was a small kitchen, a couch with a pullout that looked slept in, a bathroom, and a tiny closet. It was by no means a luxury place, but it was just one level above being condemned, if you asked Sam.

The man’s heart broke a little as he took it in. There was no sign of the occupant he was looking for, not that he knew who he was looking for—his boss had simply given him this address and said the person who lived here would be a good addition to the team if Sam could convince them.

Given the fact of who the rest of the team was made up of, Sam had two guesses as to whose place he was standing in. Past experiences told him one was more likely than the other.

Something caught his eye, a leatherbound book sitting among the blankets on the pullout. Curious, Sam wandered over, reaching for the book. He flipped through it, noting it was some mix between a journal and a scrapbook. The first entry dated back to just over eleven years ago, and Sam couldn’t help but read.

9-29-12

I’ve always known my family had powers… how could I not, when mom uses hers to heal those in our family, and when both she and gran have told me about other members of our… bloodline? Apparently, the blood is important… and their abilities.

I just assumed, like everyone before me, that it skipped generations… Instead, I woke up this morning with my own abilities. Powers… magic? I like the idea of calling it magic. Who knows, I may have them sooner and didn’t realize it… Skipper had died during the night, and when mom and Aunt Elenore asked who I was greeting this morning because to them it was empty air… I told them Skip, and I was then informed he’d passed in his sleep, so how could I be seeing him?

One quick test later, my mom declared that a) I had magic, and b) it could be classified as necromancy. That’s… a terrifying, truthfully, prospect, but… I can handle it. I hope.

At least it’s the weekend before fall break, so mom can help me figure out how to start managing it. I’m in senior year, so it’s not like I’ll have to hide it from the others as school for long. If I go to college, I can get by with strictly online classes, I think.

Mom suggested I use a journal to track my progress, but I’ve never been the best at keeping records, even school wise. Hopefully with something to keep track of, that’ll change.

I’ll make another entry when something of importance happens, I guess.

10-10-12   10-9-12/10-10-12

What the fuck is my life, truly?

With the influx of my powers, came something else… my memories. I guess necromancy and reincarnation can go hand in hand, because this isn’t the first time I’ve lived. I started having dreams and flashbacks during break, of an older version of myself set back in the Wild West. I thought it was just some weird dream/fantasy thing since… well, since I’m sort of obsessed with that era, anyways, but… no. It all came rushing back to me, today, during fifth period, which is my study block this year.

We got a new student… which, in a small town like Salem, is kind of a cause for chatter, and I wasn’t really paying attention until the guy sat next to me. When I finally looked at him…

Son of a bitch… it’s Vasquez. It all came back to me—Sam Chisolm, Rose Creek, Bart Bogue…

I’m… sort of embarrassed to say that I had a total breakdown right then and there. Mom actually had to come and pick me up early, it was so bad. It’s super late (early?), right now, almost three in the morning, and I’ve been catatonic all afternoon, according to her. So, I guess all these events really happened yesterday?

I’m getting distracted… I told her what had happened, what’s been happening, and she… didn’t seem totally surprised. Fact is, she’s the one who gave me the idea that my reincarnation ties in with my powers. Something about death being involved, which… makes sense, in a weird way.

Mom offered to keep me out of school for the rest of the week, so I can recover, but… I don’t want to do that. Maybe a day or two, but not a week. I want to talk to Vas so I can Vasquez, so I can sort of explain things to him. Hopefully, it’ll go well…

10-13-12 Update: It… I didn’t explain the powers thing to him. I didn’t want to freak him out, but I did tell him why I had my breakdown on Monday. He understood, because when his memories came back to him, he was a wreck for a while too.

He came over for the afternoon, and mom and Aunt Elenore absolutely fell in love with him. Bastard put on the damn charm. We didn’t get any schoolwork done, not like we really planned to, but we did catch up on things. What’s been going on in our modern lives, and he told me a little about what happened after I died in Rose Creek… His family travels a lot in this life, for his dad’s work. He’s got two siblings, an older sister and younger brother. I couldn’t resist and had to make a crack about his ‘three Maria’s’… he asked where mine was.

… I told him Maria died when we were kids. He sobered up pretty quick… guess he could tell it was a sore subject.

Anyways… my magic practice is progressing well. Right now, I can just see spirits, which is weird because they look like just regular people—for the most part. I’ve seen a few grisly sights, but I’m learning how to pick their energies apart from the living, so I don’t make a fool of myself in public.

Oddly enough, Vasquez has a couple ghosts hanging around him…

Sam flipped through the journal, heart twisting in his chest as he noticed a few entries more prominent than others. One, over Christmas break, detailing why Vasquez had ghosts—his father was a hunter of the supernatural, and the revelation apparently caused a rift between the two boys before Vasquez’s father himself had put things to right. He’d put the hunting behind him and was trying to settle down with his family… he could have never expected his son to befriend a witch—which, that had led to Joshua admitting about himself…

Prom. They stopped dancing around their feelings for each other and became official, and that entry made Sam smile, as well as the photos of that night that accompanied the entry. They did make a handsome couple. That was where Vasquez’s writing started slipping in on a few pages, offering extra insight or his own commentary to whatever Joshua was writing.

Graduation. Maybe too quick to those who don’t know about… us, but Vasquez gave me a bloody promise ring tonight. (you’re not actually complaining, are you? Fuck you, I’m keeping it forever thought so) and detailing a rough plan of the future. Plans to stay in Salem long enough to get through college, before moving. Maybe they’d find where Rose Creek was, if it was somewhere they could move to, settle down there. Ideas about where the rest of their motley crew were…

College. Joshua went into Anthropology and the Occult (seriously, guero? Bite me, texican), and Vasquez Art and Architecture (you know there’s a joke about cliches in there somewhere, right? Don’t you dare). Joshua seemed to develop a minor side hobby (?) in helping people with their dead loved ones, the spirits who hadn’t crossed over because of unfinished business (Jennifer Love Hewitt, who?) When they’d both finished their studies… Joshua was the one who proposed.

There were photos of various moments, in those early years. High school included prom, graduation, senior trip, homecoming week. After high school showed moving into their first apartment together, as they worked through college, domestic moments, moments with their families, college graduation, of the proposal, and later, multiple photos from the wedding. Tickets to various date locations, movies, and festivals, were taped in as well. It seemed Joshua (and by some small extension, Vasquez) was eager to keep track of everything.

But just after their return from their honeymoon in August of twenty-fifteen, the entries stopped. The next one wasn’t dated until January of twenty-sixteen. Reading it, Sam felt his heart stop and blood run cold.

1-13-16 I’m sorry, Ale… I’m so sorry I couldn’t help you. I couldn’t… couldn’t save you. If I was faster… maybe you’d still be here. Maybe I could have… God, I’m crazy for thinking it… brought you back. If you’d wanted it… if maybe I’d seen you… your spirit, at least, maybe one more time, to ask…

There are limitations to my abilities… I can bring people back from the dead, but only within a set time… I didn’t make it with you… And I’m so sorry.

You must have crossed over. That’s the only reason I can think of to not see your ghost… it’d be just like you, too… you wouldn’t have wanted me to see you like that. I know you wouldn’t have. I know, but… goddammit it still hurts, you son of a bitch. If I could have just said goodbye…

… you were gone too soon. And those bastards… they’ll pay. Eventually, they’ll pay.

I’m sorry.

I… did find where Rose Creek is. It’s still a small town but thriving in today’s age. I’ll… I’ll go there. For us… for you.

Maybe I’ll find some sort of peace there.

Silence, for a few months, before another entry was made.

5-23-16 God, what have I done? I didn’t… I wasn’t… I didn’t mean for that to happen… I didn’t know I could do that.

I need to get away. From everyone. Anyone that I can hurt…

I’m so sorry Vas…

After that, there were no more entries. Sam flipped through the remaining blank pages and found nothing. Frowning, Sam went back to the last entry, and wondered what the hell might have happened for it to exist.

Actually, he wondered what happened in those last two entries in general—one was obvious. The other… not so much. He’d have to ask Matthew to investigate the dates mentioned, give or take a day or two. Surely, there’d be some sort of record online, somewhere—

“How the fuck did you get in here?”

Sam startled, the book falling from his hands and back on to the bed. He whirled around, coming eye to eye with Joshua Faraday. The first thing the older man noticed was how tired the redhead looked, with bags beneath his eyes, and skin pale. He stood as though the weight of the world was laid on his shoulders, but it didn’t distract from the, frankly, intimidating glare he was fixing Sam with.

“I know I locked the door when I left,” Joshua continued, and then his gaze flicked down to the journal on the bed, and his anger grew. He stood straight, and Sam swore the room grew colder and darker as Joshua set a bag of possible groceries on the floor, “You went looking through my personal things?!”

“Now, hold on just a minute, son—” Sam began.

“I’m not your son,” Joshua hissed, and there was no doubt about it—Joshua was altering the space around them. His eyes were beginning to glow, a toxic green that caused the hairs on the back of Sam’s neck to rise, “What are you doing here, Chisolm?”

“I came to offer you a job,” Sam said, quickly, and Joshua drew up short. A brief look of bafflement crossed his features as he stared at the older man, “That is, if you want it.”

The redhead crossed his arms, eyes narrowing.

“Explain,” he said, shortly, so Sam did.

He explained how he’d been tasked with bringing a crew together (yes, the rest of the Rose Creek bunch, for the most part…) and that while Joshua’s name hadn’t come up directly, Sam’s own bosses had suggested Joshua could be an integral part of the team. This team would be dealing with threats across the world, both natural and supernatural. Clearly, Joshua would be a good addition, if he wanted to join.

“But… I’m not pressing you to,” Sam said, quietly. He glanced down at the journal, then back to Joshua, “You’ve clearly been through a lot already.”

Joshua’s expression darkened, lips thinning, but he said nothing. Just stared at Sam with those eyes of his still glowing. But he was silent, and Sam took it for a good thing.

“… would you have come for me, if I hadn’t been brought up?” Joshua asked.

Sam blinked at the question, but answered nonetheless: “Eventually, yes. It wouldn’t have been fair not to include you and—” he faltered, only because Joshua pinned him with a venomous glare, “We want everyone we can get. We worked so well together, before.”

Silence, again, and Sam could tell Joshua was right on the edge of accepting the offer, he just needed one last push.

“Who killed him?” Sam asked, pitching his own voice low—after all, someone had mess with those he cared about. He was angry thinking about it; Joshua startled, so Sam asked again, “Who did it? We can go after the sons of bitches with you.”

Joshua’s jaw clenched.

“Hunters,” he ground out. “Ones who didn’t approve of his relationship with… with me. I don’t… I don’t have exact names, though.”

“Then come with me,” Sam offered, holding out his hand. “Together, we’ll help you figure out who did it, and we’ll see them get what they deserve.”

Joshua looked down at Sam’s extended hand, before he looked up at the man himself. The temperature returned to normal, and the shadows fell away. The glow in the witch’s eyes faded, but they still burned with anger and determination…

Joshua took Sam’s hand.

“You’ve got yourself a deal, Chisolm.”