#how in the pilot sam said he didn’t feel safe and thus why he ran away from the family (sam/mary parallels)

[lambmotifz]

thinking about the way sam’s behaviour changes when he’s possessed and during his addiction/relationship with ruby (which is analogous to possession), especially when dean isn’t around. he becomes aggressive and far more masculine. according to carol clover “female body almost always serves as a portal, susceptible to the infiltration of evil” and “portal possessed by a demonic influence often becomes increasingly masculine during this time, often to the point of toxic masculinity”. “toxic masculine behaviours are a sign of demonic possession, of the change that has taken place within the feminine portal due to the infernal invasion” (examples: regan of the exorcist (1973), linda of witchboard (1987) and arnie cunningham of christine (1983), who become “increasingly foulmouthed, hostile, aggressive - indeed, macho”)

something something sam’s true/unpossessed nature is feminine

[dp-pastandpresent]

Past and Present: Chapter 9

Sam woke up that Saturday morning excited and nervous. While yesterday had been simply wonderful–what with the kiss and all–it was the prospect of today that made her heart flutter.

'Our first official date…'

After they had gotten through the awkwardness of the kiss, reality had set in that maybe they needed to spend some more time together. Up until now, it had really only been sporadic rescues appearances. And neither of them could seem to stop thinking about the other.

She hopped out of bed happily, then stopped, remembering the words of Tucker yesterday.

'He's a ghost. And as a ghost, he can't really age or change.'

She had found herself debating these issues all of last night, not really sure what to do or say; in the end, she ended up just falling asleep.

But now that it was morning, and her head was clear, she began to smile again.

'Tuck, I love you, but I gotta do this for me.'

She quickly ran into her closet, hoping to find the perfect outfit for her date.

It had been ages, literally, since Danny had been on an actual date, and going on one as a ghost was definitely a new experience.

He did his best to hide the nervousness with excitement, but his mind kept going back to the whole idea of dating a human. Yes he had been one once, but now he wasn't. He had emotions, that was true, but he also had ghost powers. He'd never age again. He'd never die. He'd never truly be able to give her a proper life. If he made even one wrong move, he could send her back to that dark place she was the night they met.

'Just stop. Obviously she doesn't seem to care – yet – or this wouldn't even be happening. Just take it one day at a time. Maybe what you need right now is a friend. Someone on your side.'

And then there was the idea of hanging out in public, something he usually tried to avoid during the day unless he was on a rescue.

'But she can't be expected to stay out at night. You have to do some giving as well. Take some risks.'

And the more he thought about it, the more it became clear that no matter the situation, he had to make it work. Make THEM work. If nothing else, to make up for what almost was all those years ago.

Memories had been coming back in bits lately. Memories of what once was, the girl he loved and never told, and the night he almost did.

'If that fire hadn't happened, maybe we'd be together right now.'

But they weren't, and here he was, a GHOST. In love with a HUMAN.

Could the afterlife get any more complicated?

--

Purple clutch in hand, Sam raced down the stairs, hoping to sneak out unheard. Unfortunately for her, Grandma was waiting at the bottom and, unable to stop, Sam soon found herself on the ground.

"Sammy, where's the fire?" Grandma exclaimed, reaching from her chair to help her granddaughter up. Upon looking her over, she got that glint in her eye and knew exactly what the rush was.

'Could she possibly be going to spend more time with him?'

"Well look at you, all dressed up! You trying to impress someone?"While Sam didn't originally think her look was that fancy today, apparently anything beyond the norm could raise a flag. And as she dusted herself off, she did have to give herself some credit: she cleaned up well.

She had ended up with purple flip-flops and black tights, paired with a purple skirt with lace trim to match the purple lace that accented her black tank top. She had let her hair fall down messy, barely even brushing it that morning as she had applied her standard purple eyeliner and lipstick. And it was all completed with the silver chains that she wore around her neck and wrists.

"Grandma, why can't I just dress up for once?" she asked, blushing.

"I know you too well kiddo–you only dress up this nice if your'e trying to impress someone so spill it! Did this Dash fellow finally apologize?"

'Let's see how well she gets out of this one.'The image of Dash making out with Paulina quickly found itself in Sam's head before she grimaced.

"Ewwww no! Grandma why would I ever!?"

"Well, who else would you be rushing off to see? Not good enough to introduce to your favorite Grandma?"

"You're my only Grandma…" Sam commented, starting to sound annoyed.

'Ok Sam, you win today, but I will get my answers soon.'

She gave her granddaughter a wink, which meant that the was done asking questions."Just go have fun, but be safe ok?"

Some days, she really wanted to slug her grandma, and yet she always ended up hugging her instead.

"Thanks, I won't be out too late."

--

Danny wanted to be a normal teenager for once, and today seemed like a good day to do it. But he also knew that the connection they shared was anything but normal. Could it really ever be normal?

Still, he couldn't help himself from swiping some 'human clothes' to wear on their outing, and thus found himself in a baggy t-shirt, torn jeans and a punk band baseball cap.

'Because nothing screams normal like this crap…'

When the clothing style had changed, he did not know, but he desperately wished that this was not what was considered cool.

'Blend in, just for a bit. Be normal'

Having agreed to try some normalcy also meant no flying, something he desperately wished for as he walked to the corner of Sam's street. She had refused to let him come around the house and risk being seen.

But as he approached, Danny found himself feeling anything but normal.

She was really an angel. Standing in her beautiful dark clothes underneath the street sign as she patiently waited.

Looking up and seeing him in his baggy clothes, she smiled and let out a small giggle.

"I know we said normal, but I think I preferred the ghost clothes." She laughed louder as he got closer.

"Really? Is it that obvious I don't belong here?" he joked back.

"So obvious!"

Whatever fear he had before quickly melted away. She didn't want some 'normal' high school boyfriend, she wanted him. The emotional, somewhat concealed, GHOST that he was.

Danny pulled off the cap, letting his messy white hair hang free, and threw it into the street.

"Ready to go?" he asked as they took each other's hands and began to walk.

"Ready, but I have one more question…" she said still smiling.

He nodded.

"Can we fly?"

--

Flying wasn't normal, and Sam didn't care. Normal was out the window the second Danny showed up.

'Who needs normal anyway?'

If she wanted normal, she wouldn't have found herself in this relationship to begin with.

"So where are we headed? The pier, a movie?"

"Better," he replied, glancing down at his dark angel before coming to a landing outside that same record store from before.

"The record store?"

"I figured it was time we got to know each other."

--

While he had spent a great deal of time atop the store, Danny had never found himself inside, and thus did not know what to expect.

During his time on Earth he had listened to a fair amount of music on the record player, all his favorites with their scratches and nicks from being listened to so often.

Naturally, walking in to a store full of CDs and computers was not was he expected.

Sam could see the shock on his face and started to laugh again.

"I think you need a little welcome to the millennium tour." She smiled as she grabbed his hand and pulled him inside,not even realizing that it wasn't as cold as it usually was.

The first aisle they went to was Sam's auto-pilot aisle: the heavy metal, gothic rock genres. She quickly grabbed a "Dumpty Humpty" CD and took Danny to a kiosk. All the while, he just went though the motions, unsure what to really think.

Handing the bewildered ghost the headphones, Sam couldn't help but chuckle as he tried to figure them out and, once he did, frowned at the music they omitted.

"People LIKE this?" he said rather loudly over the heavy drums and guitars that filled his ears. "How is this even music?"

"It's not music, it's a mood. Feeling. It takes me where I need to be when I need to be there," Sam explained.

'I guess I can understand that,' Danny thought, 'but I still wish it wasn't so explicit.'

After a few more seconds, and a lot of concealed laughter from Sam, Danny finally pulled off the phones.

"Do they have any Elvis? Ray Charles?"

"Who?" Sam asked somewhat jokingly as she walked him over to the "Oldies" section.

'Much better.'

Danny reached for a copy of "Heartbreak Hotel" and walked back over to the kiosk, fumbling to figure out how to put the CD in.

"Here, listen to this," he said five minutes later as he handed the headphones to a laughing Sam.

"Hmmmm I think I've heard my Grandma play this one before," she commented as she listened. "I remember vaguely liking it, but it's not Dumpty Humpty."

Sam winked as this, knowing full well that Danny needed some adjusting if he wanted to get used to this time.

Danny missed the wink, for at the mention of Grandma his mind went back to her and the possible connection there could be.

'Not today, not now. Stay cool. Be normal. Forget there could be a connection.'

"You're doing it again," Sam said, interrupting his thoughts.

"Doing what?" Danny asked, completely bewilderment in his voice.

"Flickering. Your glow. Every time you're around me you flicker…" Sam explained, hoping Danny may have an explanation.

"Really? I… I never noticed. "

'Add that to the list of things I need to investigate later.'

Seeing Danny's confusion, Sam quickly decided to change the subject.

"Here, let's try something in the middle," she said as they made their way to the "Classic Rock" section. She had a feeling he'd like what she was about to pick out.

"But close your eyes, I don't want you see the title."

"Really, we're playing that game now?" he joked as he put his hand over his eyes like a child.

'She's pretty cute when she jokes like that.'

Sam put the CD into the player and handed him half of the earphone, putting the other half onto her own ear.

With both their heads together under the same set of headphones, Danny found his cold body turning warm. The sound of guitars filled his ears and the words began to form.

"Oh yeah, I'll tell you something I think you'll understand When I'll say that something I wanna hold your hand…"

A smile on her face, Sam tried to turn her head to face him and the same time he turned to face her. They both had bit of blush in their cheeks and a small smile on their faces. They closed their eyes, knowing it was about to happen again...

CRASH!

The world stopped. They both jumped, losing their headphones, their song, their moment.

"Remember my name!"

Danny turned, his senses heightened as he saw a girl floating above the shelves.

She hadale blue skin, fiery teal hair, she was holding a guitar which was emitting ghostly musical notes left and right.

'This cannot be good…'

--

"You will remember my name!" she sang loudly as more notes filled the air. The people in the store had all stopped and turned, suddenly finding themselves clapping along with the ghost.

"Ember! Ember! Emberrrr!" they chanted as her hair blazed stronger.

'She's gotta be a ghost. But how did she get here?'

After the lunch lady yesterday, he had a feeling he'd start seeing more ghosts around town; with the Fentons always opening that portal, it was bound to let a few out. Still, he didn't quite feel prepared to battle any.

'Ok think, how can you take this one down?'

"Danny! Yesterday, the lunch ghost. Your hands! Remember?!"

Almost as if his body answered her words, he found his hands glowing green, the same way they had yesterday when he used his rays.

'This could work…'

He looked up, held out his hands, took aim, and prayed.

Green beams shot out of his hands and knocked the guitar half way across the room, catching the other ghost off guard.

"Well, if it isn't a little dipstick, coming out to play," she snarled, but without her guitar found herself unable to do much of anything.

'Ok, so the guitar is her power…'

Danny's hands glowed green again as he flew closer, taking aim once more at the guitar on the floor.

'Stronger, stronger, stronger…'

The guitar exploded in a cloud of green light, sending shards everywhere, while the rocker ghost just hovered, her hair slowly fizzing out.

"Not so tough without the guitar, are you?!" Danny shouted, some confidence coming back to his voice.

She opened her mouth to sing, but instead found nothing. Her powers were gone, and she had no more fans to bring them back, since they'd all scattered when the guitar exploded.

"You win this time, Babypop, but I'll be back. No one ever forgets Ember McClain!".

And with that, she flew out of the store in a huff, defeated and helpless.

--

The whole time Danny was battling the ghost, Sam found herself in the corner, behind the headphone kiosk, completely useless.

'There has got to be something I can do for Danny!' she kept thinking, even though there really wasn't.

Then she remembered: yesterday during the lunch incident, she had seen his hands glow green, something she had never expected. They had become powerful, useful, dangerous.

"Danny! Yesterday, the lunch ghost. Your hands! Remember?!" she shouted from her hiding place.

She could tell he heard her, for his hands began to glow as he took aim and knocked the guitar across the room.

'Yes!'

The battle continued as Sam watched on, wishing there was more she could do, but knowing that Danny could handle whatever came next. It wasn't until the ghost finally disappeared that she let out a sigh of relief and ran over to shaking Danny.

"Danny! You did it! You did it!" she said, jumping up and down like a little girl.

"Sam… How'd you remember… the beams? Weren't you passed out yesterday?"

"Sometimes when things are important they just come flooding back." She smiled.

--

While it hadn't been the date they were expecting, it had been a wonderful day in both their minds, and the walk home couldn't have been better.

"Seriously, you listen to THAT?!" Danny asked again of her tastes in music.

"It's not THAT BAD once you get used to it. Better than that bubble gum pop that all the radios play."

"Still, it's a bit intense don't you think?" Danny smiled.

"And 'Heartbreak Hotel' isn't? I never pegged you as an Elvis fan." Sam smiled back as she gently nudged him.

"What can I say, it was the times…"

They stopped, looked at each other and laughed.

The age gap, while apparent, was becoming a great quirk in the relationshipSomething about how things were then and how they were now kept the mood light and open, things they both needed so desperately lately.

"But really, what was that last one? I LOVED IT!" Danny found himself asked.

"'I Wanna Hold Your Hand.' I can't believe you weren't around for the Beatles!"

They stopped again, this time without the laughter, as Sam's eyes got big.

"I am sooo sorry! I never… I mean... I know you're … ugh!".

"Just stop, Sam. It's ok. I know. I'm not from here. This time. It's fine. I'm not… normal." He turned away, trying to hide the frustration in his face at the fact that things could never be normal between them.

"But… Danny… You don't have to be. I know it's weird. I know you're… a… ghost… But we can figure this out. I want to figure this out."

He turned back, a small smile forming on his face again, yet still showing a trace of sadness.

"Yea?"

"Yea. And you know why?"

She walked closer to him, wanting to make the first move this time. She leaned in, eyes closed, ready.

SMACK. Her head hit the ground.

Out of pure instinct, Danny had goneintangible at exactly the wrong moment.

"Shoot! Sam are you ok?" he asked, turning solid again and leaning down to pick her up.

"You need to warn me next time you do that." She said, rubbing her head and praying it wouldn't bruise.

"This is what I meant! I am not normal. I'm a ghost. I can shoot RAYS OF LIGHT from my hands. I can FLY! I can turn INVISIBLE without even trying. Half the time I can float THROUGH things! This can't work!" He turned away and began to walk the other direction.

'Why doesn't he understand? My life was normal before and I was miserable! I don't want that again. I need excitement. Unexpectedness. You!'

"Danny!"

He kept walking.

"Danny!"

Still walking.

"PHANTOM!"

That stopped him.

He turned around, a look of confusion in his face.

"Please Sam, just try to understand."

"I do understand. But I don't think you do. Don't you see? You've saved me time and time again. And you have never had to at all.".

She ran closer as he stood there, waiting.

"I think it's time I saved you."

And this time when she leaned in, he stayed as solid as a human.

[michaelmyersmalewife]

LEVIATHAN | 4. Reunion | MASTERLIST

words: 6k+

warning(s): mark russell being an asshole

A/N: finished this chapter way ahead of schedule so decided to just post it anyway instead of waiting for next monday

you can also support this fic on wattpad & ao3

They had been airborne for a few hours now.

No one in the Osprey had uttered a word since leaving Mark's cabin, there was no need to. Aside from dealing with the craft's awful turbulence, the air was heavy with a melting pot of emotions. Serizawa was up front, looking out the window with a serious expression (not his usual one, Jodie noted, this one looked different - sullen) and flipping the old pocket watch he carried everywhere open and closed. Graham, of course, was right by his side, checking her phone so often it was borderline neurotic. Poor Sam was in the back with Mark, trying to keep his voice down as he answered call after call from what sounded like Monarch and Government officials alike. She didn't envy him.

Last she checked, word hadn't broken outside of close circles. And she doubted it would reach mainstream news anytime soon. Her journalistic mind wanted to be the first to break the story, but she knew the type of panic that came with anything involving Monarch nowadays - let alone titans. And that wasn't even covering how they would give word of the incident to each of their families (if they even had any). It was a mess. So instead she settled back, letting Sam take the reigns for the time being.

As they moved further east, Colorado's rolling mountains gave way to Kansas' checkered, grassy plains. By the time night came, they had already reached the wetter, greener country of the south. Eventually, in the earliest hours of the morning when the moon was still visible despite the warm glow of the sun breaching the horizon, they were already cruising over a seemingly endless body of water. On occasion they would pass over small, mist-shrouded islands scattered throughout like the scutes of a certain lizard.

Until then, Jodie had been dosing on and off throughout the trip, but each time she would be startled awake by images of Gill hiding somewhere in the outpost. She couldn't begin to imagine how scared she must've been to see her coworkers gunned down so mercilessly. She knew that she was one of the lucky ones, reassuring herself that she was now sitting safely in the heart of Monarch's HQ. But that couldn't stop her from replaying the security footage over and over again in her mind.

Why them? She could understand taking Emma, as she was the only one there that knew the ORCA like the back of her hand. It was her brainchild, after all. But the kid?

She wasn't as familiar with her as Gill was, but she knew Madison had guts. She had to, if she wanted to stay with Emma rather than Mark. As she mentally scanned through the footage once more, she recalled an..interesting segment. No one else had commented on it thus far, but something about it bothered her. She couldn't tell for sure, but there was something off about Emma's ORCA, it was as though it hadn't worked. At least, not until Madison appeared out of nowhere and stood between her mother and a certain end at the hand of a giant bug. If anything, it was simply a weird coincidence and the "terrorists", as they had been referred to, took her as a form of motivation. A sharp chill ran down her spine at the thought.

Snapping her out of her thought spiral, Graham walked past her and sat beside Mark.

"How are you holding up?" she asked softly.

Of course, he didn't respond. Typical, Jodie thought, rolling her eyes.

"You could yell at us more if it'll make you feel any better." she said with a lighthearted chuckle.

"I'd rather you not." Jodie muttered under her breath.

Though she couldn't quite see it, Mark smiled at the exchange.

"Don't get me wrong, it's good to see you two." he said. "I know you and Serizawa were good friends of Emma's after..y'know."

Graham paused for a moment. "When was the last time you spoke to her?"

Feigning sleep, Jodie listened. She didn't mean to eavesdrop, but after years of investigative journalism it became a habit hard to break.

"About three years ago. After San Francisco, we went back home to Boston...tried to put the pieces back together. Emma dealt with it by doubling down on saving the world, and I...." there was a long pause. "I started drinking..I can't tell you how much I hated myself letting Maddie see me that way."

Vivienne didn't respond. Yikes.

Lucky for them, Coleman's voice sounded from the back of the Osprey.

"Uh, you mind if we cut in here? It's just..you're going to want to see this." Jodie was roused from her pretend sleep.

Sitting across from him, he handed Mark a tablet. She couldn't make out exactly what it showed from looking over Vivienne's shoulder, but she could tell it contained blueprints. 3D models and what looked like sound frequencies. Emma's research.

"Emma combined the bioacoustics of different titans to create the ORCA's signal. A sort of baseline frequency that all the creatures respond to - attracting them, repelling them, and even at times calming them down. It's pretty remarkable, actually." Coleman couldn't suppress the impressed smile from growing on his face.

"The problem is that we don't know which titans she combined. But if you can identify those frequencies, we'll be able to track the ORCA." Graham said. "And find Emma and Madison."

Mark continued swiping through the data, eyes scanning x-ray upon x-ray of various titans. No two of them looked alike, some had tough exoskeletons like giant insects while others were more mammalian. A few even shared similarities with Godzilla.

"Scylla, Behemoth, Kong..." Jodie commented. "Even the G-man himself. And those are just the few we've been able to confirm."

"Jesus," he said. "How many of these things are there?"

"Seventeen." Serizawa responded. "And counting, after Gojira."

"Seventeen?"

"Now, now, don't throw yourself into a fit." Leaving her seat with an irritated sigh, Jodie inched closer to the group huddled around the tablet. Clearing her throat, she motioned for it. Mark handed it to her.

Pulling up a map of the world, various locations were marked in a seemingly random pattern. After all these years, the map of titans found and contained had become so normal to her. To Mark, not so much.

"Most of them were discovered in deep hibernation," she said as she watched him scan through each outpost, disbelief steadily growing on his face. "While others we've contained in sites around the globe."

"Cambodia, Mexico, Skull Island. We even found one in Wyoming. They're everywhere." Graham chimed in.

"Why don't you kill them?" he asked.

Jodie bristled. Before she could even think of opening her mouth, Serizawa spoke up.

"The government wants to. But we believe that some are benevolent."

"Don't kid yourself." Mark snapped.

Serizawa sighed, looking down at the floor. Jodie limply threw her hands into the air.

"Look, man, I know you had a bad run-in with the big guy but have you seen them They can't help it!" Jodie retorted.

"Yeah? Then maybe something that can level a city if it so much as sneezes shouldn't be kept in a cozy little containment center while everyone else suffers the consequences."

"That still gives us no right to decide whether they live or -"

Suddenly, something in the Osprey began beeping.

"Uh, hey look at that. We're here." Coleman said, nervousness potent in his voice.

Vexed, Mark got up, walking toward the cockpit. Jodie rolled her shoulders. It was going to be a long day.

Looking out the window, Jodie spied the oil platform that jutted out of the sea, shrouded in mist like a lonely spire from a fairy tale. As they got closer, the Osprey began to dip closer to the rig's landing pad.

"Castle Bravo, this is Raptor 1 on direct approach." the pilot spoke into the mic in her helmet.

With that, the landing pad opened, revealing an empty shaft that went down, much deeper than what the rig above suggested. As they descended, they passed by floor after floor, many of which were bustling with people going about their regular workday. Or about as regular a workday could get at Monarch's HQ.

"This is new." Mark whispered.

"Yeah," Coleman said, the pride in his voice unmistakable. "We call it Castle Bravo, our new flagship facility. Built to track and study Godzilla on his own turf."

To Jodie, it had become so much more. It was home.

"I thought it was missing." Mark said, all but gritting his teeth at the thought of the titan still being alive and well.

She bit the inside of her cheek. This guy's deep-running hatred for the giant amphibian was already getting on her nerves.

"Well, only if you don't know where to look." Coleman replied.

That was easier said than done. After San Francisco, Godzilla had taken a pretty bad beating at the hands of yet another MUTO just a few months later - the signature glowing spines that adorned his back had been completely shattered. After crawling back to his home in the ocean, there hadn't been a public sighting of him since.

Slowing to a hover, the Osprey landed. The bay was impressively large for being a little under a mile below sea level.

"This is our stop." Coleman said.

As the group filed out of the Osprey, a line of men and women donning camouflage uniforms waited on the deck. Their leader, a woman with a clean-shaven head and a no-nonsense air, was unmistakable.

"Dr. Russell, this is Colonel Foster. She's the head of G-Team." Coleman said.

"A pleasure." she offered her hand. This time, Mark shook it.

"I take it you're not part of the scientific mission here." he remarked.

"Damn right." a man with a dark, close-cropped beard called from the back.

Colonel Foster grinned. "Chief Officer Barnes," nodding to the rest of the group she continued. "And this is Sergeant Hendricks, Staff Sergeant Martinez, and First Lieutenant Griffin."

Mark gave a quick wave.

"If you'll excuse me, Dr. Graham and I have some catching up to do with Colonel Foster." Serizawa said, coming up from behind Mark. Looking over his shoulder at Coleman, he continued. "Sam, why don't you give Dr. Russell a tour, help him get adjusted."

Coleman cringed. "Sorry, Doc I uh," he placed his hand over his phone's speaker. "Senate's not really taking our sudden leave so well. They're starting to get a little antsy."

"It's alright, I can -"

"Oh, don't worry, Jodie could probably show you around." he said without a hint of sarcasm before quickly returning to his call.

Jodie groaned to herself, putting on her most convincing friendly face as she turned towards Mark. He didn't seem too happy about it either.

_____

The first stop of the tour was the submarine bay.

It was bigger than one would've expected, holding around seven subs, at least a dozen smaller submersibles, and with space for more.

Although Castle Bravo was technically a research facility, it also acted as a fortress, fitted with large reinforced glass windows along with raised metal sleeves that definitely contained weapons of some kind. It had to, when it studied the sort of creatures that would call for that level of protection. Thankfully, Jodie thought, they hadn't needed to use those in years.

"Looks like you could stage a war from here." Marked noted.

"Don't get too excited, most of these are just research vessels." she walked ahead of him, not bothering to pay attention to whether he was following her or not. "Remember, we're still looking for titans. For all we know there could be dozens more out there."

"That's just great." he grumbled.

"If you're so hellbent on seeing them all as mindless monsters, wouldn't you want to be better prepared?"

"Give me a break, Monarch's been chasing these things since the 40s. As far as I can tell, whatever they learned prepared us for jack shit."

Jodie's lips curled inward with irritation. "Y'know, for someone that studies a keystone species for a living I would expect you to know better."

"Those monsters hardly count as a keystone species, they're walking natural disasters." he said, voice as angry and venomous as a snake.

".....That's exactly the kind of mindset Emma was trying to change."

Mark recoiled. "She was messing with something she shouldn't have." he paused, eyes scrunching closed for a moment. "Now look where it got her."

No wonder she divorced your ass, Jodie thought. As much as she wanted to spit it in his face, it was a low blow, even for her. Instead, she kept quiet, continuing to march forward until they reached level two of the facility. Jodie perked up just slightly when they entered the massive room, hearing the softest of gasps from Mark.

"What the hell is that?" he whispered to himself, awe and horror melding together in his tone.

Before them sat a giant reptilian creature. It vaguely resembled Godzilla, in the sense that it too possessed jagged spines jutting out from its back. The similarities stopped there, as this one's face was flatter, almost like a marine iguana. It even had similar, rounded jowels. Not to mention that it was much, much smaller, roughly the size of a blue whale. Jodie was no zoologist but she could've guessed that whatever species this belonged to, it was likely a juvenile.

It was also undeniably dead.

A vast majority of its body was obscured by scaffolding and heavy lifting machinery, but what could be seen was pretty grisly. Whatever this thing ran into had it out for them.

"That's Margygr, poor girl." she said, eyes filled with sympathy. "Found her washed up in the Arctic a few weeks ago."

Mark's eyes wandered to the rest of the room, finding that - much to his dismay - Margygr wasn't the only titan on the floor. As Jodie led him through, they passed by an assortment of titan parts - bones, semi-intact limbs, an organ or two - less than a handful were completely whole. Nearing the other side of the room, he found one that he recognized. The decapitated head of the female MUTO. Out of the corner of her eye, Jodie saw him grimace.

"You're dissecting them?" he said, disgusted.

"Well, yeah. And that's just the start of what they do down here." she said, unfazed by the scene around her. "Don't ask me about the dirty details, though. This isn't my division. The most I know is that the general mission is to understand them - how their ecosystem works, sequencing their DNA, etcetera."

"Their DNA?" he froze. "What could you possibly need with something like -"

"Ugh, could you chill out? This isn't Jurassic Park."

"Chill out? You're just gonna drop a bomb like that and then tell me to chill out?"

".....Are you done?"

After opening and closing his mouth, Mark said nothing.

"What I'm trying to say is that things have changed since you left. We've gathered more information on them in the past five years than in the last decade and since Godzilla showed up again, we've gotten so much closer to understanding them. Connecting with -"

"Do you even hear yourself? This isn't some child's fantasy, we're talking about genocides waiting to happen."

"Mark, they're animals. Just like any other thing that breathes on this goddamn rock!"

"Just - I don't care about this." He waved her off, turning to walk away but realizing he had nowhere to walk away to. "I just want my daughter back. And once that's done I'm done. I'm washing my hands of - of all this. Again. Forever."

Frustrated, Jodie pulled her phone from her pocket. She couldn't deal with him, of all things. She was just about to scroll through her numerous unread messages before seeing the time at the top of the screen.

"Fuck." she muttered under her breath.

"What is it now?"

"The meeting. We've got ten minutes until it starts."

"Meeting?"

"Must've forgotten to tell you." she said nonchalantly. "Guess the tour's over."

_____

The walk to the command center was a quiet one, heavy with tension and just a hint of anxiety.

That whole time Jodie was mentally punching Sam for making her waste precious time with this has-been instead of her own wife. Thankfully, that walk had also been short, and as they entered the room, she made sure to sit as far away from him as possible. Pulling up a chair between Lieutenant Griffin and Dr. Stanton, she waited as more people filed in one after the other. Soon enough, Vivienne walked into the room, standing in front of a large screen. Immediately, all chatter died down.

"As you know," she began. "At approximately 0700 hours, our containment site in China's Yunnan rainforest was raided."

The screen behind her displayed a waterfall, and wriggling just behind its curtain was a massive larva. The same one from the security footage from before. Jodie squinted. The scale of the scene would've fooled her had it not been for the two helicopters shining floodlights down on the creature. What was it doing? It didn't seem to be as distressed as before.

"The specimen - code-named Mothra - escaped, only to cocoon itself under a nearby waterfall, while Dr. Russell and her daughter Madison were taken hostage."

As Jodie peered closer, she saw dozens of iridescent threads spouting out of the larva's mandibles. The silk casing that had already begun to form had to be at least two stories tall.

Then, Emma's file photo and personal data flashed across the screen, quickly followed by a screenshot from the Yunnan footage. It was grainy, and although it was enhanced as much as it could be it hardly showed any detail save for the basic outline of a man's face - an older man, all gray hair and sharp features. A cold, empty stare. Despite the anger Jodie felt looking at the man responsible for all this, she couldn't stop the wave of goosebumps from forming along her arms.

"This is the man responsible," Vivienne wrung her hands. She always seemed to do that when she was nervous. "We haven't been able to find much information on him save for assumed previous encounters, but other than that, it's as if he never existed."

"What we do know is that he's had a penchant for this sort of thing." she went on as the screen displayed multiple screenshots of the man, each from different locations spanning years. This briefing couldn't get any more discouraging. "At the current moment we've assumed he's part of a wave of violent ecoterrorist activity that's steadily been on the rise in recent years. He could possibly be the man behind it all."

"Ecoterrorists?" Mark asked incredulously.

"Someone's spent too much time off the grid." Jodie muttered to herself.

"Wouldn't be surprised. Why else would they go after one of our outposts?" Stanton chimed in.

"What the hell's someone gonna do with a giant worm?" Martinez asked, seemingly genuine.

"You kidding? What can't you do with it?" he went on, leaning forward. "Pharmaceuticals, bioweapons, food - hell, there isn't a country or company on the planet that doesn't wanna get its hands on one of these suckers."

Looking up at the screen that now showed an x-ray of the pupa, Stanton's eyes narrowed. "And remember, this one's just a larva. A baby. After it cocoons? Something else is gonna crawl out. Something bigger. Meaner -"

"We don't know that, Rick." a woman with short, black hair cut in bangs interrupted.

Dr. Chen, the same scientist that Gill followed around like a lovestruck high schooler for the first year after their recruitment. Jodie trusted her.

"Oh, yeah?" Stanton raised a mug full of lukewarm coffee to his mouth. "Just wait for it, Chen."

She turned away, shaking her head with an exasperated grin on her face. Jodie couldn't quite put her finger on it, but Chen always seemed to know something everyone else didn't.  Maybe that was why she liked her so much.

"Our intel indicates our perpetrator wants to capture the specimen alive, which means he and his mercs won't be far behind." Colonel Foster said, stepping forward. "At 0500, we'll ship out to launch a joint operation -"

"I wouldn't bother." Mark said, crossing his arms.

That got everyone's attention. Jodie could feel Coleman's anxiety shoot through the roof after the first syllable left the man's mouth. As quickly as he had spoken, the room became silent as all eyes turned on him.

"Excuse me?" Foster finally asked.

"Sounds like a duck hunt to me."

"U-Uh, Mark? Why don't we let Colonel Foster fini -"

"A decoy," he continued, this time standing up from his seat. "A diversion. Look, they already got Emma and the ORCA. Why would they want just this one when they've got the keys to your entire kingdom of horrors back here?" he pointed to the map of Monarch outposts in the back of the room.

Foster remained silent, hands curling and uncurling.

"I think they want you to go after this Mothra so they can go after a real prize. Something bigger."

"Right.." Foster said, trying desperately to hold onto her composure.

"Mark," Serizawa said. "This is not the first specimen they've captured, they know what they're doing -"

"That's not just a specimen, I've got an ex-wife and a daughter out there. In case you forgot."

"No, no one's forgotten that, Mark," Coleman said. "But, uh, to remind you, you were brought on here to help track the ORCA and to advise -"

"I advise you to kill these things," he snapped. "All of them!" Pointing at the screen that now depicted archival footage of Godzilla, he grimaced, brows closely knitting together. "Especially that one."

Serizawa leaned back into his chair. He was looking more troubled by the second. Jodie ran her hands down her face. At least now she didn't have to deal with his bullshit alone.

"You wanna make sure these things don't fall into the wrong hands? You kill them, and the ORCA is useless."

"Emma wouldn't have wanted that," Chen said firmly. "Even to save her life."

"Well it wouldn't be the first time she put all of this before herself." he retorted. "Or her family, would it?"

With that, he stormed off. Jodie practically breathed a sigh of relief.

"Glad that's over." Jodie said, running a hand through her hair.

"Damn..dude really hates titans." Barnes remarked.

"Yeah, well, you would too if you were him." Coleman replied.

_____

There wasn't much to see outside the small, circular window of the "dorm" save for the faint glint of the moon bouncing off of what looked like an infinite expanse of ice. But to Madison, it was better than looking around the equally cold cage around her.

None of those strange people had bothered them in the hours they had spent in the air. Save for once, a few hours ago when that same woman from before had come offering them all a bland substitute for food. It only reminded Madison that she hadn't eaten anything for almost a day. Looking at it, remembering what had happened, she didn't feel hungry at all.

She didn't think she'd ever forget the scene she had been subjected to in China - the smell of blood, the looks of surprise or fear or pain captured forever on the faces of people she knew. That's what made it all worse, she thought. She had practically grown up around these people. Dr. Tanis would always help her with her homeschooling when her mother was too busy. Tim would make it a point to visit their living compound every now and then for a cup of coffee before work started. And of course, there was Gill. The two of them had become a notorious pair after pulling a prank on one of the archaeologists early into their deployment at the outpost. And one prank soon became ten.

At least she didn't see her among the carnage. Maybe, she reassured herself, she had managed to get out in time. Her mother had told her not to think about it, how in order to get through this they had to keep a level head. That was easier said than done. If anything she wanted to scream. She wanted to scream and cry and beat her hands against the walls until they collapsed or her knuckles became bloody. Instead, she sat on the uncomfortably stiff cot, closing her eyes as she tried to file all those images of death away to the farthest reaches of her mind. Instead, she thought of Mothra. The feeling of connection that she couldn't explain. How important it seemed, despite not knowing how or why it was important in the first place. Maybe if these guys hadn't interrupted them, she thought, she might've figured it out.

She wondered if the pupa had remained unharmed, as the mercs that took them didn't seem all that interested in her. She hoped she was okay.

Suddenly, there was a shift in their course, it felt like they were descending.

Looking over at her mom and the other woman, they seemed to notice it too. Although her mother didn't like showing it, Madison could tell she was nervous. The woman - Elena - she seemed on edge. She had only known her for a few hours, and spoken to her much less, but there was something so startlingly familiar about her. It was like that feeling you got when you stared into a mirror so long that you couldn't recognize your reflection as your own. But she wasn't scared of her, despite the defensive and withdrawn air about her.

Seconds after the sudden descent, the door opened.

"Put these on, you'll need them."

The woman that other guy had called "The Regulator" barged into the room, not caring at all for their personal space. In her arms were three thick parka-looking coats.

"Where are we?" Elena asked.

"You'll see. Follow me."

As the craft slowed to a stop, Madison could hear the harsh wind buffet against the walls. Every now and then it would wobble in place from its sheer force. She struggled to keep up with their pace, falling just behind her mother while Elena walked ahead of them both. As she passed by a window, shrugging on the deceptively heavy coat, she could see a glimpse of the world outside. Under the light of a full moon was a desolate, icy landscape that stretched off as far her eyes could see in every direction except ahead. There, ice and stone joined with a metal encampment. A Monarch outpost, she realized. But not just any outpost. It had to be the Antarctic base.

Under different circumstances she would've been excited. She often overheard her mother talking with Dr. Graham about this place - the landscape, the surprising amount of life, the silence. And, of course, the sleeping giant that lay inside.

She shivered, and not because of the cold atmosphere that seeped through the walls of the craft. She had never actually seen the creature up close save for photos that she had sneaked glances at. Her mother had a high security clearance, but Madison didn't.

"Outpost 32," she overheard a man, presumably one of the pilots, say into a radio as they drew closer to the front (center?) of the craft. "This is Raptor 5 on approach with reinforcements and supplies requesting permission to land. Serizawa has all sites on high alert so transmitting emergency codes now."

After a moment of silence, the person on the other end responded. "Codes are good. Nice to have you back."

Madison's brows creased together.

They were definitely not in an Osprey. The base would notice that something was wrong right off the bat if they approached in whatever they were in right now. Still, they continued walking until they were herded into what looked like an elevator. After a quick and silent trip down, they exited, now in an area that looked like a hangar. It was bustling with a good amount of people, and in the center of the room was an Osprey. Of course, Madison thought. Why wouldn't they have managed to steal one.

As the Regulator corralled them into the Osprey, Madison could see the strange man - the Controller - waiting for them inside. Great.

He said nothing as its engines whirred to life, only staring outside the front window in the same position he had when they first met. As they sat down, Madison could feel her mother's hand on her shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly as the mercenaries took up their weapons. She tried her best not to flinch at the sound.

It frightened her how casual it all was. Like it was just another day at the office for these people. The Osprey hovered in the air for a moment, the bottom of the hangar opening up beneath them. Looking out the window, Madison found that they were actually far from the base, somehow standing still in midair in a ship that made no sound. It was only a little unnerving. Shortly afterward they began their descent, approaching the base after five minutes or so. To her, it felt like forever. As the Osprey neared the base, Madison could see Monarch officials coming out to greet them, illuminated by the floodlights.

Go back!, she wanted to scream, hoping her thoughts would somehow reach them.

When they finally touched down, she began feeling just slightly nauseous as the Controller and his men disembarked.

For a moment, there was a suffocating silence, the wind being the only sound filling her ears. Then the gunfire started. Without meaning to she huddled closer to her mother, and even out of the corner of her eye she saw Elena stiffen.

"I'm scared." Madison whispered.

"I know," her mother said, pulling her closer. "Me too."

At that second, Madison looked up, eyes connecting with Elena's for just a brief moment. In her eyes she had seen something akin to pity, but underneath that was something else. It wasn't quite fear, but it was something like it. In the next second, the gunfire stopped, and with it the Controller stepped back into the Osprey.

"Let's go."

The walk to the outpost was a nightmare. Besides the harsh wind and biting snow coming at them near horizontally, there were at least a dozen more bodies lying frozen on the ice. On either side of her was her mother and Elena, and despite their attempts at shielding her from the grisly view, she just felt even sicker than before.

"Keep your eyes straight ahead," she heard a voice whisper into her ear. It was Elena. "Take deep breaths."

Madison nodded.

Inside, the mercenaries crowded them into an elevator and began yet another descent. Standing just beside Elena, facing in her direction, was the Controller, wiping a drop of blood from his face. He must've felt her eyes on him, as his gaze suddenly turned to her, flashing the tiniest of smiles. If you could even call it that. He smiled as though he had just learned how to move his face in such a way. It was strange and terrible, and she did her best to stare straight through him. Finding that she couldn't quite manage that, she scratched her eye with her middle finger and felt a little satisfaction when he seemed to understand her. At that, Elena stepped between them, staring at him so intensely that Madison almost felt a little scared for her.

Thankfully, the elevator doors opened, revealing a cavern of ice. Dozens of catwalks and research equipment surrounded the massive wall of ice that was at least hundreds of feet high. But that wasn't what caused everyone in the elevator to look up with rapt attention.

"Mother of God," Elena whispered to herself in horror.

"She had nothing to do with this." the Controller replied.

Madison could only stare at it in wonder and just a little dread. Within the wall of ice was a titan, all serpentine coils and gigantic claws. It looked like it could've been several titans tangled together, as she could make out at least two dragon-like heads. Whatever it was was also massive, far bigger than Mothra and possibly even bigger than Godzilla himself.

"Monster zero." she mumbled. That's what she had heard Dr. Graham and her mother call it.

The thought suddenly sent a jolt of worry through her. Was Graham still stationed here? Had those mercenaries killed her too? She hoped not, that would've been too much. After the divorce, it had been somewhat of a relief to have her around. She was like an Aunt, though she didn't really know what it was like to have family outside of her parents. Or her brother.

She tried not to think about it.

Instead she thought about the tunnel she was being led through. It had been carved through the ice and insulated with something that looked a bit like a hamster tube. It was warmer, but she still felt goosebumps forming up and down her arms. As they worked their way up, past what was once people's workspaces, they reached the heart of the facility - the biolab.

From the catwalk, Madison could see one of the horned heads, while a vast majority of its body obscured by layers of ice. Her mother walked up to it, placing her hand against its frozen surface. Elena hung back. It almost looked like it was hard for her to breathe.

"Are you okay?" she asked, trying to keep her voice down.

Elena only nodded, trying to give her a reassuring smile but only further convincing her that no, she was not okay.

"Any survivors?" the Controller asked a man with short black hair.

"No," he replied. "They tried to launch an emergency beacon but we cut them off in time."

"Oh, they'll figure it out. Fire up the drills." Turning to her mother, his gaze focused on the ORCA in her hands. "Do you have everything you need?"

Her mother barely seemed to register what he said, but she nodded.

"Good," he said, that same dark smile growing on his face. "Let's get started."

As the men started up several drills mounted on robotic arms that hung from the ceiling, her mother began connecting the ORCA to the biolab's diagnostic equipment. She cocked her head in confusion when she saw one of the Controller's men walk next to her mother, connecting wires attached to what appeared to be two sleek headpieces into the ORCA. She didn't remember ever seeing those before. Standing closer to Elena while everyone was preoccupied, she looked up at her.

"The ORCA...it hadn't worked back in China. How's it gonna be any different now?"

Looking down, brows furrowed and lips pulled into a thin line, she exhaled. "It's not that it didn't work, it was missing something." she said, face hopelessly blank. "A human connection."

A connection.

Stepping closer to the wall of ice, she placed her hand against it just as her mother had.

Why were they bothering with the ORCA when this thing definitely seemed dead? It had been frozen for decades, possibly even longer than that. And how had a creature of this size been frozen like this in the first place? Other animals had been found in a similar state, but they were never like this. From what she could make out, Monster Zero had been standing in a very lifelike pose. It seemed impossible that the ice had accumulated on him over time. And how long ago had it happened? Antarctica wasn't always a frozen wasteland. Was it even possible that he wasn't dead at all? Stranger things had happened.

Madison got her answer an instant later, when she heard a series of beeps from one of the diagnostic machines behind her. On its screen it showed a flat line that slowly but surely spiked. The waves were brief, shallow, inconsistent - but they were there.

Monster Zero was alive.