#how the FUCK is a new system to enter data into gonna help make me feel like i BELONG
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god I fucking hate corporate buzzword bullshit
#âoh this new software tool will help foster a sense of ~belonging~#shut up shut up shut UP#that doesnt mean anything thats just words!!!#how the FUCK is a new system to enter data into gonna help make me feel like i BELONG#âwe're all about fostering a community of belonging and welcomeâ#SHUT. UP.#let me do my job and go i dont want these fuzzy meaningless words gdamn#and stop making me go to workshops and conferences that are JUST ABOUT these good sounding words#give me a tangible plan. steps. actions to take. a definable goal.#gonna start chewing through my computer keyboard#how much money has this company spent hiring consultants and arranging conferences just to come up with the tagline ~belonging đ~#im not cut out for this man#WHAT. DOES. IT. MEAN.
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The Crossroads to the Sun đ
Takemura/Female V
Rated: M for mature themes and explicit content NSFW 18s only
Trigger Warnings: Themes of death, suicide, gallows humour
Part 1 of ???? âThe Sun Seriesâ
Link to part two :
https://isuspectyouhavefantheories.tumblr.com/post/641314624666468353/search-for-the-sun
Will eventually be posted on my AO3 account when I get this betaâd. đ€
âââ
She had decided she wanted to be away from night city when she pulled the plug. If anything, she wanted it to end under the blanket of the starry skies, part of her hoping they would guide her into the next world safely. Driving through the neon jungle felt like a technicolor funeral procession. Or perhaps a walk to the gallows? She was thankful she still had most of her senses as she pulled herself from her morbid reverie just in time to avoid a badly placed bollard on a sharp turn straight down the road heading towards the city limits. She swore under her breath but continued. The pain was dull, but festering in her mind, less so than before, but enough to keep reminding her of the internal ticking clock that was getting louder with each passing hour as it neared to zero. She breathed deeply though her nose and steeled herself. But more doubts began to drift through her, like a slick fog encircling her mind she thought of all the people she would be leaving behind and hoped they wouldnât hate her after tonight.
Goroâs name flashed up on her biomon and it took her a minute to register. She nearly rear ended a truck at a traffic light before finally answering.
âYes?â
âWhere are you?â His voice was gruff, demanding and her eyebrow crinkled in irritation.
âWhatâs it to you?â
âLet me help you V. Just take the deal with Hanako, we make this right and you get back your life. If I were you, I would not waste the chance.â
âYou mean you get back your life.â She spat, Takemura went quiet on the other end for a moment, his eyes flinching at her tone. âDonât try and pretend this is concern for my well-being and as far as making this right goes... You really still think you and Arasaka can fix this? Goro I know when Iâm beat. Nobody can fix this. Iâm done for and itâs time I just fucking faced facts and made my peace. Iâm done. Iâm calling it.â She hadnât realised how hard she was gripping the steering wheel until she felt the alloy begin to crunch lightly under her guerrilla cybernetics.
There was a long pause and she thought for a moment he had hung up until she heard the shuffling of erratic, hurried movement on the other end.
âWhere are you V?â He demanded, his voice was direct, to the point, no room for nonsense, no room for anything but answers.
âIt doesnât matter. Iâve left a data chip with Misty. It contains all the relevant evidence, via brain dance, you need to get the vindication you so desperately require.â
âV, tell me where you are right now. â It was sharp this time.
âIâm sorry I couldnât help more. Goodbye, Goro. It was a pleasure to have known you.â She hung up and looked down at her phone, closing her eyes a moment only to be jolted by Takemura calling again. She took a deep breath before turning it off and throwing it in the passenger seat and popping into third gear as she trolled though the gates past the city limits to security. She was quickly flagged through with little bother from security. They seemed more interested in what was coming into the city that what was going out.
It took her an hour to get to where she needed to go. The edge of the badlands. The final touch stone before she headed further in, back to all she ever knew. Just another busted down prewar gas station covered in sand, nature already claiming back its land. She parked her car outside and managed to pry open the front door after digging some accumulated sand from the way.
âââââ
She woke to the whistling of the desert storm on the shutters, the dilapidated old outpost rocked shakily. She almost felt as if she was in the belly of a ship at sea being pulverised, to and fro, by an onslaught or roaring waves.
She sat up, listening to them a while, until eventually the weather died down to a gentle lulling breeze. She stepped outside for a moment and thanked whatever powers that were out there that the sky was clear enough to see the moon and a dim scattering of stars. She climbed from her make shift cot and stepped outside.
âStill think you made the right call? Those Saka assholes might have fixed you up all nice.â Johnny flashed back into her peripheral vision, sitting on a bench under a busted canopy with his guitar slung across his lap.
âI dunno. I guess weâll see.â
âVal.â
She looked up at him with narrowed eyes.
âThey were just going to extract you and dump me the moment it suited them. What, you think I was just gonna put my head in a hungry lions mouth and just hope everything would just sort itself out? For all I know they would have just cut me open the minute they got me up there. Iâd rather die out here, on some dusty ass terra firma in the wastes than lose my mind up in some space prison.â She flipped out Evelynâs cigarette case, only three left in place making her sigh before pulling out one and lighting it up.
Johnny groaned at the sensation of the nicotine flooding her system from her first drag. It had been a while since sheâd allowed herself such little pleasures, but for the first time in months she wasnât on deaths door, bringing death so someone elseâs door or trying to kidnap an heiress, so exceptions can be made.
âWeather out here huh? Never notice it in the city but, fuck. Mother nature sure is a feisty broad.â
âYou have no idea.â She chuckled.
âPretty good we got here before the worst of of the storm hit earlier. I would not want to be the sorry sack of shit that had to drive through that.â Johnny chuckled.
âââââââââ
It was about 5am, sun already shining and blistering the ground, she had scavenged a few things from the outpost to keep her and Johnny going long enough to get to the Aldecaldos
Or just long enough. The thought of kicking it just before saying goodbye to Panam and Saul and the others churned uncomfortably down into the pit of her stomach but she attempted to occupy her mind, busying herself with prep work and repairs on her gear. She was going to try at least.
Before she could think of the next task, Johnny materialised again, already on edge.
âSomeoneâs coming.â
âRaffen? Cops? Arasaka?â
âCanât be sure. Iâd get ready if I were you.â He was gone again, and all she could think to do was get back to the gas station and ready herself for the visitors.
A Herra Outlaw that looked as if the chemical desert had taken a shit on it, genuinely one of the most out of place thing she had ever seen in the badlands and that was saying something, pulled up with a soft screech as the brakes engaged and the engine shuttered off. The pop of the car door made her grip her baseball bat tighter as she edged closer to the door, so as to be on the hidden side when it opened.
The door flung open, nearly ramming her in the face had she not hugged the wall so closely, she held her breath as a darkened figure entered the room, but the rasping baritone that filled the air made her freeze.
âV?â Takemuraâs voice cut through her and all she could do was stare in disbelief.
âWhat the fuck?â
He whipped around like lightening, his wild searching gaze landed on her and his eyebrows all but flew up into his hairline and his eyes widened in disbelief but seemed to relax after a moment, a wave of relief washing over his features as of up until this moment he had been in a panic.
It was all a blur, he pulled the rusted metal door closed, nearly wrenching the door off its screeching hinges before his arms suddenly reached for her. He pulled her forcefully into his chest into an embrace that should have shattered her spine with the implants this man had. The newly back online ones, she noted.
She scrunched her eyebrows incredulously at him when he pulled away, his fingers tracing down the length of her arms until they still rested on her shoulders as he continued to look at her as if he was afraid the moment he took his eyes off her she would disappear into thin air.
âWhat are you doing here?â She breathed, still struggling for air after the uncharacteristic ribsplitting hug.
He looked down now, almost sheepish in his manner but he did not waiver when he returned his gaze to her.
âStopping you from making a foolish choice.â
She sighed deeply.
âAnd since when do you have any right to tell me what I can and canât do?â
âI do not. But I can try at least to make you see reason.â He wasnât budging, she wasnât budging.
âGoro...â she pinched the bridge of her nose and temple in an attempt to quell the newly forming tension migraine.
âYou could have your life back. You would be good as new, Arasaka would ensure it if you testify at the board meeting. Arasaka always rewards loyalty.â
âI know thatâs some rhetoric youâve been spoonfed your whole life but unfortunately I have a very different opinion on the subject of âwho Arasaka servesâ and it most certainly isnât people who have a history of stealing from them.â She dead panned, making Goro groan.
âIf you would just listen to me you would know that is not the case. Hanako-sama has extended this life like to you V do not waste it.â
âIâve been listening. And watching. From the very start. Iâve seen them from an angle you have yet to even comprehend and part of me fears even then you wouldnât see the truth.â
âThey are-.â
âOnly in this for themselves. I wonât argue with you about this, there is nothing you can say that will change my mind. Iâm not selling my souls to the fucking devil, man, Iâm sorry but thatâs how this situation feels to me. I know there is nothing anyone can do for me, not you, not Arasaka, not Hellman, not even Alt fucking Cunninghamâs AI ghost from beyond the Blackwall knows how to undo this so fuck this. I refuse to spend the last days of my life scrambling for answers only to whither away to nothin and die anyway. Iâm leaving this hellhole on my own fucking terms. So just let it go. Just forget about me and go back to your cushty little life as Arasakaâs cheerleader or body guard or whatever the fuck it is you do.â
She couldnât remember how, but during the course of their verbal spat, he had pushed her against the adjacent wall from the door and upon hearing her retorts he snarled in frustration and slammed his hand into the wall beside her head, denting the already disintegrating plaster, sending a cloud of dust in the air around them. The pluming cloud fluttered and caught the small rays of morning light seeping through the crags and cracks in the windows and walls of the abandoned gas station. She managed to push him off with a forceful shove only to have him lunge back to her. His martial arts clashed with her own brand of badlands fist fighting. She was flexible, contorting her body out of his reach before rounding on him with a left hook followed by a hasty jab aimed for his face. Unfortunately, he had reach, countering her wild strikes with a wave of his arm and tugging her to him. She lifted her knee between them to vault herself from his grasp but lost her footing at the end and it took only a single low sweeping kick to her other leg that sent her off kilter, but Goro followed her to the ground where he pinned again, this time on the floor with both her hands above her in each of his. She struggled against his vice grip, twisting and squirming beneath him to roll him off but he refused to be moved barely even flinching as she thrashed beneath him, awaiting her to finally stop. She roared in frustration but refused to give up. If she couldnât knock him with her strength then she could knock him with her words.
âHanako knew!â She spat at him, the intensity of her glare ripping though him.
âKnew what?â He asked with narrowed eyes.
âShe knew it was Yorinobu who murdered her father. She knew you were telling the truth, that you were being framed and she still let you go down. Then guess what the kicker here is?â She laughed bitterly. âSaburoâs not even dead. Heâs being kept as an engram, heâs been planning something with Hanako this whole time and they were going to let you go down regardless!! They were going to discard you, who served them faithfully your whole life, for their own fucking agenda. So tell me, why you think for one fucking second that they will actually help me?â Takemura was quiet, his hold on her waining enough for her to flip them, her hands balled into his shirt begging him to look at her but it was as if something had been shattered in him. They both were panting from their verbal and martial exchange, but they were far from done.
He suddenly reached up, his hand cupping her cheek gently, tracing the cybernetics of her face with the tips of his fingers before pulling her down to him without warning, his lips finally met hers in a heated kiss.
She gasped into his mouth, giving him the chance to shove his tongue in to explore her. He didnât know when he would get the chance, if he ever would again after this. But she had yet to bite his face off so he took that as a good sign. In fact she had nearly gone limp from the shock of his sudden advance. He pulled away slowly, his face still inches from hers but his eyes bored into hers with a renewed intensity.
She pulled her hand from his now loosened grip and reached down gently and placed a delicate hand on his cheek, only for him to lean into it with closed eyes. He pressed his own hand over hers and took a deep calming breath.
âGoro, look at me.â
His eyes opened again, staring down at her with so much hope yet one word from her could shatter him into a thousand shards. And fate was a cruel mistress.
âIâm going home.â He looked down at that, his brow tugged in an unreadable expression but she chased after his gaze and held his chin so he had no choice but to stare wordlessly at her.
âIâm going home. To the people I love. To say goodbye. And maybe... maybe, for once in my life just try to do some good in this world, not for eddies or cred or some fucking illusion of grandeur, but just to do something worthwhile. I want have something real. Before I... before I canât anymore.â She stroked his cheekbone with the back of her knuckle. âI donât expect you to understand. But it isnât up for debate.â Not what he had wanted to hear, but the finality in her words left him no room to argue. And so he was then left to stare down the inevitable horribleness of a world with no V.
He rested his face in the crook of her neck, her soft sun kissed skin, slick with sweat from the desert heat.
âThen let me have this at least.â He whispered against her, causing her to shiver under the weight of his words.
He returned his lips to hers, an even more energised passion driving his need and to his surprise she returned it, hands cupping his face gently. She then pushed him back down on his back and dove back to his lips. He began unbuttoning and loosening her clothes as fast as his hands could allow him. He pulled off her tank top and stopped a moment to admire her perky little breasts before pulling her back to him and lavishing her chest adoringly with bites and kisses that made her mewl against him.
âYou have been taunting me since the day we met. Not wearing anything but that tight blue netrunner suit.â He growled against her chest, biting at the underside of her breast, his eyes primal and burning hers with an unspoken need to be closer.
âIâm a net runner you gonk, ah-!â He bit a little harsher around her nipple at the comment but lapped at it gently afterwards. âI-it was for practicalityâs sake.â She shivered against him.
âIt was to torture me.â He chuckled.
He lifted them suddenly, his hands under her thighs again as he deposited her on a near by countertop, her legs wrapping around his hips as he ground himself desperately into her while trailing his lips from her ear lobe to her jugular and back before biting then tugging sharply causing her to yelp softly.
âMaybe a little.â She gasped, casting him a delighted grin which elicited a growl from deep within his chest. He leisurely ran his hands along the hem of her jeans, tugging at them slightly before slipping his hand down underneath to grab a handful of her ass, squeezing it appreciatively before moaning at how soft and pliant her skin was under the extra sensitive touch of his cybernetic hands. He allowed himself to become lost in her for a moment. Mapping her every contour in his mind, committing each breathless sound that fell from her lips to memory, savouring her sweet breath on his tongue and wondering if he would ever again taste something so perfect as her. He felt her pull away lightly, a few centimetres from his face to gasp for a breath and still his lips chased hers. It was as if she could read his mind sometimes, she was looking at him with those confounding purple eyes, her smile faltering as if she could see how banefully torn he was.
âThis wonât change anything.â She whispered sadly against his lips .
His brow creased under the weight of his anguish, another growl, not so carnal as before but instead a roar of frustration and he attacked her body with a new found, punishing fervour. He pulled her up effortlessly once again and threw her into the cot, her bodyâs weight caused the springs to groan and he had managed to discard his shirt fully, then turned to her. She was now only in her underwear, her golden skin glistened in the low orange morning haze. Her body was lithe yet athletic, her skin tantalisingly smooth to the touch yet disturbed by stray scars scattered about her person. Her years of fighting for her survival in this hellscape had shaped her and moulded her into this picturesque model of strength and beauty. He kneeled before her, nipping his way down her navel to the hem of her panties that he then quickly slid off in one fluid motion. He dove between her legs, basking in the sweet gasps she made as he drove her wild with his tongue. Her hands twisted and twined themselves into his ebony and silver locks, pulling his bun loose to let his hair cascade down his shoulders, grazing her nails over his scalp delicately. He introduced a single finger to her and pumped deeply inside her yet at a controlled pace, eliciting another quivering gasp that made him smile against her.
âGoro...â the way her breathless lips formed around his name drove something in him. She was able to bring out the strangest and most wonderful of feelings in him.
He was sure from her cries she was nearing her climax and before she could taste the sweet precipice of her release, he rose up to kiss her. Her taste on his lips had a lewd yet arousing effect on her, but her climax, once so tantalisingly close was now receding and the heat biting and curling in her abdomen made her squirm against him. She pulled away after a moment and gasped a quick breath.
âYou ass.â He pressed his face into her neck again and she felt the rumble of his chuckling. He continued to kiss her neck and his hands pinched and rolled her nipples in a torturously teasing manner. She writhed under him, a mewling mess.
âStop teasing me.â She pleaded, her own hands cupping either side of his face to pull him from his ministrations on her neck that she was almost certain would be bruised to absolute fuck in the morning.
He nudged her legs to open and she obliged eagarly.
He teased her entrance lightly running his tip up and down coating himself in her essence before sliding steadily inside of her. He had to stop half way and swallowed a guttural moan. She was so tight. Like a warm vice pulling him further inside her and dragging him impossibly closer to her. Her legs had wrapped around his hips, her thighs quivering around his girth. He took another moment to make some experimental, shallow thrusts and groaned once more at how deliciously slick she was.
âOh... V...â his forehead pressed against hers and his grip around her hips tightened.
âDonât.... stop...â she was barely above a whisper, which made Goro want nothing more than for her to be louder.
He took this as his moment to flip her onto her stomach against the cot.
His right hand held both her arms behind her back, folded and solidly trapped there. His left hand was holding her hip, dragging down to guide her over his girth once again. He rather enjoyed the view of her at this angle, he was so lost in the way she bounced against him, the feeling of her walls rubbing so exquisitely against his length, that he was sure he wouldnât last long. The thought of having their tryst cut so short however did not appeal to him, the feeling of being fully encased by her was so unequivocally amazing he never wanted it to stop, so he forced himself to slow down to a languid yet laborious pace, favouring drawn out leisurely strokes.
âJesus Christ...â she gasped, arching her back in a way that made him want to go back to pounding her within an inch of her life but he was controlled, no foolish young man driven by a cardinal need, but a mature and tentative lover who wanted to make his partner see the stars before this was over.
He reached around, dragging his hands from the underside of her bellybutton to glide along her ribs, up and over her breast, giving it an appreciative squeeze before cradling her throat gently and turning her head to look back at him as much as she could in the position which granted wasnât much. He leaned forward, still thrusting inside her at a restrained pace, and ravaged her neck, suckling the flesh at the junction of her shoulder and neck before trailing his bites to the underside of her jaw, then to her ear where he nibbled her lobe gently.
âTell me what you want.â He breathed against her, the lewd sound of their bodies meeting in their primal dance and the soft gushes of wind rattling the shutters were all she could hear above their own crescendo of panting and haggard moans.
âDonât... be a dick...â she gasped, earning her a sharp smack on her ass cheek.
âTell me.â He thrust inside her, harder but not hard enough to satisfy her fully, leaving her trembling for more.
âAh... fuck! Please...â she breathed, trying to shove her own hips back into his for more friction but his hand migrated back to her hips, a solid anchor, preventing her from getting her way.
âThatâs not what I asked you.â She could hear the underlying cockiness in his tone and it pissed her off almost immediately.
How could this man illicit such polarising reactions from her, she thought. One moment she wanted him to bend her over a desk, the next she wanted to snap him in two. But the sentiment remained, she wanted him.
âPlease... Goro... fuck me... harder...â he hummed in satisfaction and released her arms from his vice grip.
âThen I suggest you hold onto something.â He had leaned forward his lips against her ear, the vibrations of his bassy timbre tickled her in an irresistibly tantalising way.
But her inward musings came to a hault when he began his unforgiving pace, she could feel him hitting her cervix with every thrust and she cried out, hands barely holding on to the edge of the cot as her body rocked against the force of his hips.
His hand came down to tease her slit, circling her sensitive nub in a maddeningly delicious way that caused more mewls to erupt from her lips.
Goro stared down at her, enraptured by every twist and twitch she made. Her arching back defining her musculature and heâd be lying if he was doing any better than her right now. He was holding on for dear life, dragging this out for as long as he possibly could. But eventually, the warmth and curling in his abdomen could not be ignored and he quickened his circling around her clit to drive her to her end. She screamed softly into her hand as her release rolled over her in wave after wave, his continuing thrusts helping her ride out her climax to its fullest. He followed her soon after, nearly collapsing on her, his forehead resting between her shoulder blades as he struggled to regain his breathing. She recovered before Goro and pulled him further onto the cot where they crumbled into it. He curled around her, his arms pulling her flush against him as he savoured the feeling of her skin on his. He pressed his nose and lips to the top of her head, inhaling her scent deeply, attempting to sear these details into his mind for a later date. He tried his best to keep his eyes open, but she began to stroke his chest in a soothing circle, and before he knew it he was out like a light.
ââââââ
He woke with a jolt, the room now completely darkened by the night and a sudden anxiety disquieted his mind. He reached for where V had been but his hand grabbed nothing but empty space.
âV?â He called, sitting up and listening for anything, then scanning the area. He could see from his thermal scan she had been gone from his side for nearly two hours.
He pulled himself up, dressing quickly and wrenching the front door open to see that her Thorton was gone, whatever tracks that were left had been swallowed by the desert wind and he stood in silence.
âThis isnât going to change anything.â Her words echoed in his mind and he clenched his hands into fists, a slight shake evident from his barely controlled emotions on the cusp of breaking through to the surface.
âThey were going to discard you, who served them faithfully your whole life, for their own fucking agenda.â
He tried to quell his anger, his hurt, his inescapable feeling of betrayal. He fought to keep his composure but the memory of her touch was seared into his mind and body yet it did nothing but only make him ache to have her back in his arms. He would never feel that again, never experience that intense, intrinsic connection to another human being. The thought did nothing to disquiet his mind. Eventually he broke and turned to punch his hand nearly completely though the wall of the garage as he breathed in ragged and strangled chokes. Unshed tears burned in his eyes and he wrenched his arm back to completely break through the wall altogether with the force of his strike. He didnât stop. He pummelled the wall until his cybernetics were scuffed and cracked. Warning signs flashed in his peripheral vision but he ignored them, slumping to the ground he cradled his head in his hands and roared in futility. He stayed there a moment, still, quiet and thoughtful. He raised his head with a thud against the nearly dilapidated wall and he looked off into the distance. On one path, the further reaches of the badlands, down another was the fluorescent and blinding lights of Night City, beaconing him back with a curled finger.
And not just night city, but the ominous red looming glow of Arasaka Headquarters illuminating the night and further banishing the stars. The only life he had ever known was within Arasakaâs ranks. All he had ever been was a vassal, a loyal one at that. Traded his life and limbs for them. Let them carve him into an instrument of their empire from the moment they had deigned to elevate him from the slums, only after he had skinned his fingers to the near bone scrubbing his clothes in the chemical sickened canals. He had given Arasaka his life.
Yet Hanako knew he was innocent. Not only her but Saburo, his lord tono, his idol. He had known. It stung him to his nucleus, like nothing ever had. He was stilled, inaction gripping him to his core. He found his gaze always defecting back to the badlands. To her lands. He didnât make a choice so much as follow an instinct.
He rose from his seated position and opened the door to his car, looking back at Night City one last time, not saying goodbye to the city, but farewell to all the possibilities it held. They were not meant for him. A defiant grin stretched over his lips before a determination set in his eyes, looking back to the badlands. He dove into the front seat and revved the engine before backing out to the edge of the main road and quickly pivoting into position then tearing out onto the dusty highway, sending a plume of dust in his wake as he made for the badlands, his spirit lightened and rejuvenated. He undid his top shirt buttons, ripping off the front Arasaka logo to his cybernetic neck plates and throwing it with a quick flick out the car window, then looking down at the Arasaka patch logo on his arm which he also tore from his jacket then sent it too flying out the window. With each metre he put between him and the city, the younger he felt.
âIâm coming V.â He whispered under his breath as he pressed harder on the gas.
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youâre in my veins, you fuck | oneshot.
summary: college!bucky barnes.
pairing: bucky barnes x reader.
word count:Â 2315.
wanings: angst, light smut, cheating, swearing.
authorâs note:Â italics are flashbacks.
masterlist.
They first met when (Y/N) was doing voluntary work in the collegeâs shelter, she did love animals and it would look good in her CV once she finished college. Being a vet was something sheâs dreaming to do since she was a little girl.
He, on the other side, was there just to get something good done to able to continue in the football team. His coach has made him clear, if he did not keep his grades up and did something good, beneficial for the community as he put in words, he could kiss goodbye to the football team and therefore, his scholarship.
She did not like him, he had a reputation around college. Typical football guy, arrogant and a heartbreaker. Yeah, she couldnât stand that. Mostly everyone on the football team was like that, thinking they were above everybody else. Like football was the most important thing in the world and as they were the players, they were entitled to do whatever the fuck they want whenever they want.
When he stepped in the shelter she couldnât keep a straight face, disgust was written all over her features. He was handsome, breathtaking even. Muscular, blue-grey eyes that could burn holes in your soul and that brown hair. But he was nothing more, everybody knew he had a way with the ladies and guys. Using them as he pleased. Something easy for him it appeared, but not capable of loving or keep an emotional bond with anyone.
She was his supervisor during the weeks heâll be working, of course, she would. Just her damn luck. She talked to him just the necessary keeping a cold and distant façade. He did not anything wrong, he seemed interested in the work they were doing for the animals and did not mistreat her in any way, but it didnât matter to her.
Slowly, she started to warm up to him. He got something the dogs love, always revolving around him and he, well, he seemed excited every day to be around them. Petting them, taking good care of them. And everyone in her social circle knew she was lost when a guy was good with animals.
So she decided to give him a chance and started to know him. She also began to notice the little things about him too, how his eyes would light up when a puppy went running towards him or when she happened to be near him. She learnt that the scholarship was the only way he was able to attend college and he did it only to have a future so he could help his family but he hated studying.
She learnt he was very clever but lazy, so when terms were approaching she helped him study. Long nights studying and he bringing her coffee and her favourite pastries. Sometimes he would even get Chinese or Mexican take-away, her favourites. She understood that when he closed his eyes running his hands through his face, he was lost in the data and needed a break. She would then just closed the books and talk to him about everything and nothing.
They grew closer and closer, spending more time together. And she fell, fell hard. She realized this has happened when one day at the shelter, Bucky arrived running like crazy and took her in his arms spinning her around. Soft giggles escaping her mouth.
âI did it! I passed this stupid econ test. And it is all thanks to you (Y/N)â He said softly cupping her hand while smiling brightly at her.
She looked down blushing and biting her lower lip. He sighed and lift her chin âYouâre gonna be the death of me doll, you know?â
The next thing she knew was they were kissing. And she realized she has fallen for the stupid football guy. She loved him.
That was their start and from that moment everything seemed fine. They started dating shortly after their first kiss. The news spread around campus, (Y/N) became the target of many things among jealousy and bitching comments about how Bucky would end up dumping her in a few weeks. He was a player after all.
But Bucky proved everyone wrong, their relationship was only getting stronger as her love for him. Well, if anyone asked she was lost, she did not know how to describe it. And for her, there lied the beauty of it. Love was crazy, love did not make sense and she did not make sense when Bucky was around her.
She had a few boyfriends in the past, but nothing compared to Bucky or the feelings he woke up on her. (Y/N) was sure that he was her other half, it was clear to anyone in their social circles truth be told.
(Y/N) knew Bucky was in her system and even if what the future held for them was nothing, he would always be in her. She was sure about it.
However, sometimes, the spell of love breaks leaving nothing but anger and sadness. And (Y/N) was not able to run away from it when happened.
Buckyâs team had won the championship and of course, there was a party going on to celebrate. She was late to it but needed to be there as soon of possible, she had promised him.
But Nat, one of her dearest friends, being the little shit she was made her go for a few drinks earlier with the excuse she needed to get loose.
So when finally she arrived at where the party was held she was already tipsy. Not tipsy, drunk. So drunk that her head was already hurting.
Her eyes searched the place for Bucky but he was nowhere to be found. Letting a groan she approached his best friend, Steve. He was nervous when he saw her but put a good face, smiling to her and telling her he didnât have a clue about Buckyâs whereabouts.
She smiled suspiciously at him and turned around in search for him. Nat was long gone, probably doing shots.
Searching the area she almost gave up but something caught her eye when she was heading to the bathroom. In a dark room, there was a girl, one of those bitches that made comments about Bucky cheating on her and dumping her. She was giggling while whispering things to someone.
Suddenly she started moaning, a guy between her legs. She couldnât tear her eyes from them, a dreading sensation forming in her chest the more she kept looking.
When she reached her orgasm the guy got up kissing all her body slowly until their lips joined together. That was the moment the bitch opened her eyes and find hers, an evil smirk forming in her lips as the guy kissed her neck and then she moaned it, loudly enough so she could hear it âBucky.â
She couldnât believe her as she stumbled with something. The noise made Bucky to look up and he wished he would never have to see again what was in front of him, (Y/N).
(Y/N) crying silently and trying to control her breathing, anger and disgust the only emotions in her once, loving eyes.
Bucky let go the girl and walked towards (Y/N), he knew he messed up badly. â(Y/N), doll. It is notâŠâ
âWhat? It is not what it seems, isnât it? Really Barnes?â She shouted angrily as her first connected his jaw. âYouâre a fucking bastard, you heard me?â
Tears were forming in Buckyâs eyes. âPlease doll, it was a mistake. I drank too much and then some guy gave us some pillsâŠ.â
(Y/N) widened her eyes âDo not make any excuses for your behaviour James. Not only did you fuck that bitch but also doing drugs? Really? This is the death of you, youâre just breaking yourself. Nobody is helping you.â She said in a cold tone, not angry nor other emotion. She was void. âAnd I hope you can get it in your drunk and high head that you and I are done. Do not ever try gazing at me or speak to me again you fuck.â (Y/N) finished slowly and then walked away.
Itâs been months since that night and Bucky was broke. He messed up, he just broke one of the best things to ever happen to him and what for? To get laid with some of the collegeâs sluts. Nobody knew how to help him and he started to lose it, he was kicked out of the football team. His performance was not what it was expected and his grades dropped as well as the long drunk nights.
And (Y/N)? Well, she became void. Not emotions on her, only darkness around her heart. She was still doing the same, but not emotions. Her friends were worried, but no one could snap her out of it.
Bucky and (Y/N) crossed paths during those months and even though Bucky tried to approached her she would not even look his way or any of his friends. Bucky cried himself most of the nights while (Y/N) just spent a lot of time at the shelter, puppies were the only thing nowadays that could make her feel something.
One night Bucky had enough of this situation, something needed to be done and said. So with an almost empty bottle of Jack he walked towards (Y/N)âs. Probably she would close the door at his face or if Nat was there, his ass would be kicked. But he had to try.
Nat opened the door, she looked exhausted. But she smiled softly.
âI was wondering when you would appear Barnes.â She looked at him from head to toes. âYou are a mess, but she is worse.â She sighed making space for him to enter the flat.
âIs she here?â
âNope, but she is about to arrive from the shelter.â The memory of her playing with the puppies made Bucky smiles as tears rolled down his cheeks.
âLook Barnes, I donât like you. Not after what you did to (Y/N) but Iâm guessing you are the only one who can fix this, her. She⊠I just want my friend back so, do what you have to do to bring her back or Iâll kick your ass. And I mean itâ She spoke as she left the apartment.
Bucky just stood there awkwardly finishing his bottle of Jack. He started to get anxious, what if she did not appear? What would he say? Natâs words were resonating in his brain when (Y/N) opened the door.
That was it, it was his only chance.
âHeyâ He whispered softly attracting (Y/N)âs eyes to him but there was nothing on them.
âWhat are you doing here?â She calmly said and looking around, likely looking for Nat.
âI just wanted to see you, talk toâŠâ
âI made myself clear that night Barnes, can you not remember?â She cut him.
âI remember but thisâŠâ Bucky spoke motioning the both of them. âThis needs to stop. I messed up and Iâm sorry, you just donât know how sorry I am. And I need to do something, I need to know that youâre okay.â
(Y/N) scoffed at his words. âReally? Well, this is how I am because of you James, you should be proud of yourself.â Her tone was getting angrier.
It was a start, she mentioned his name and her façade was breaking. He knew her, and he knew he needed to keep pushing.
âHow am I supposed to be proud (Y/N)? I canât look at my own reflection, I broke the purest thing Iâve ever known. Youâre not yourself, you donât even look like that anymore. I want you to smile, to look carefree as you used to do. I donât care if you donât speak to me ever again.â
âYou canât have it all Barnes. You tried, remember how it ended?â She said as she stepped closer to him. âWith your head between some slutâs leg and not mine.â Venom dripping from her words.
He stood his ground looking at her eyes. âI know that (Y/N). Damnit! Of course, I know that. I only dream about your face when you discovered me. The only thing I seemed to smell is that fucking coconut perfume you always wear. Youâre everywhere but you are not yourself.â
âAnd whose fault is that bastard?â She screamed hitting Bucky in his chest. He made it, her façade was broken. âI trusted you, I loved you. I love you so much that I cannot breathe sometimes, that I cannot sleep. It is like youâre a curse, some type of venom. I cannot move on from you. Donât you get it? Youâre in my veins, you fuck.â
She was sobbing now and that broke Bucky even more if possible. Wrapping his arms around her he said softly. âI know and I hate myself every second of everyday doll. I lost everything that I thought was important but the truth is that they were just a hobby âtill you came. You made everything brighter as if I was blind before and now I could see all the true colours. I know what I did and Iâm not asking for you to come back to me. I am here so you can forgive yourself and move on doll.â
(Y/N) was now crying harder than ever, she still loved him so much. There was no doubt in it. Her fists clenched to Buckyâs t-shirt and her forehead pressed to his neck. Bucky allowed himself to smell her scent once again, maybe this was the last time.
His arms were still around her fragile figure, hugging her tightly. Bucky kissed her head and whispered sweet nothings into her ear trying to calm her.
That was how they remained for minutes or hours, neither of them could tell but it was the most complete theyâve felt in months.
#persephonesinfernoswriting#bucky barnes x reader#bucky barnes x you#bucky barnes x y/n#bucky x you#bucky x reader#bucky x y/n#bucky barnes fanfiction#bucky barnes fic#bucky barnes fanfic#bucky barnes oneshot#au!bucky#au!bucky barnes#marvel fanfic#marvel fanfiction#marvel fic#the winter soldier fanfic#the winter soldier fic#the winter soldier fanfiction#au!college#bucky fic#bucky fanfic#bucky fanfiction#bucky oneshot#the winter soldier oneshot#bucky!college#bucky barnes!college
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GUNDAM WING - REWATCH - 45 - 47
You guys get a triple episode this week! Youâre welcome, bitches.
45. Signs of the Final Battle
Thereâs that space crew working again. I hope they support the position of White Fang...
Quatre: I no longer need the ZERO system; Iâve absorbed it
Howard: You guys gotta rest, itâs happy hour somewhere *flips on Margaritaville*
Does Treize think he can win in space? Yes. Yes he does, obviouslyÂ
Can a launch be âvery successfulâ or just successful or unsuccessfulÂ
Oh, hey, Hilde, Whats up?? I forgot about Noin!Lite
CANS is a bit wishy washy. Oh no, donât blow up the earth. Oh, hey we need to blow up all the gundam. Only we can have a gundam.Â
Those minidisks are back. Usually I forget this was made in the 90s.
Whey would my brother start a fight when they could just talk? Relena didnât you read the tags: Friends to enemies to lovers, slow burn, 300K, major character death
All the âgirlfriendsâ are having a secret meeting.Â
Hilde is delivering plans about a weakness in a battleship... Interesting...Â
This isnât a kids game; are you sure CANS???
Wufei is like Iâm just gonna jump in for Duo here, since he sucks at Chess
Duo: Hey, Heero you wanna play 5 person chess? This is how we do it on L2
The alarm goes off and theyâre all doing cool Flying V formation like the mighty ducks.Â
Wow we could have had this the WHOLE TIME if they just TALKED TO EACH OTHER??? We were robbed.
I have questions about the structural integrity of a mobile suit in space. Hilde isnât waring a space suit, and her mobile suit is compromised⊠Wearing a helmet seems to be an aesthetic decision only.
Can we talk about the glint in Deathscytheâs eyes? Because itâs so badass.
Duo can tell that itâs Trowa and Heero just by how they pilot⊠interesting⊠(Is my 1x2x3 shipper showing??)
Itâs canon: Duo is better than Heero and Trowa combined.Â
Donât get me wrong, I like Hilde, but if the show had balls they would have killed her Rogue One style
The pilots new flight suits are A+Â
46. Milliardoâs Decision
$10 Milliardoâs decision is to put his helmet back on and become Space!Zechs
OOOH Tallgeese II has entered the battle
Treize: I built a Gundam before, but I just want to pilot the same mobile suit as my boyfriend so I also build the Tallgeese II
Oh hey, Wing keeps showing up... I wonder whatâs gonna become of it this time....?
I donât even know what whatâs happening here with them all hanging out, but I am here for it.Â
Trowa: be nice to women; Wufeiâs flexy arm thing breaks
Duo about Heero: he makes mistakes just like the rest of us; the rest of the pilots are all silent not because they disagree, but because they are thinking of all the fucked up shit theyâve seen Heero do in the past.Â
To quote Brand New/Taking Back Sunday, Heero is as subtle as a brink in the small of my back
Heeroâs a little short of a storm trooper...
Either Relena is just super excited to see Heero or they are slowly reducing the oxygen in her holding cell
Hilde brought them the data, and then Heero doesnât even leave it with the other pilots, he literally brings it back to LIBRA??? WHERE IT CAME FROM
The closed caption just said [mysterious charm] AMAZING
Zechs: Guys I have a really cool idea, but I need your help to move my desk to the observation deck for ~the aesthetic~
IDk what look Heero is going for when heâs sneaking on the libra, but itâs not half bad, and it comes with a neckerchiefÂ
What is this amazing pose of Tallgeese II standing on the shuttle. AMAZING. Treize is such a BOSSÂ
Wait. Zechs was a hologram the whole time?! Thatâs so extra, I love it.
How are all these people magically connected. How does Une immediately wake up when Treize is about to do something crazy
Did Une just take Wing?! I have no memory of this
Zechs: CANS restrain Dorothy; CANS:Â FINALLY my moment has come!
Wow I have no memory of this
Wing Gundam pushing Treize out of the way and Dorothy losing her mind
OMG IT WAS Lady Une the whole time?!
Way more badass than any of us gave her credit for. Going from being in a coma, to launching a Gundam into space, to taking the brunt of a beam canon. Lady Une is the MVP of this episode.
47. Collision in Space
Heero: Iâm just gonna have a little nap right now, and then when Treize fails, Iâll go ahead and blow up the Libra
Howard: Which side should we root for guys? Whats the over under on White Fang?Â
Sally: OK, weâre gonna side with Treize, ok guys? Hope you agree because this is gonna get crazy.
CANS: Why do the Gundams hate us even tho I just gave the orders to destroy them last episode??Â
Well, last episode Duo was the superior pilot. This time, not so much...Â
Treize: I would thank the Gundams, but I think my silence is better, theyâll totally get what Iâm going forÂ
Dorothy: Wait, you canât move the libra? I have to view of the battle #priorities
Peacemillion is just the right side to fly in and destroy Libra. How convienent.
Noin folds like a lawn chair, but so does Zechs
CANS IS SUCH A BITCH
Peacemillonâs plowing into us⊠itâs the only thing thatâs gonna plow into you
CANS: How could this happen?!Â
Treize is so proud of the ships
God Relena, do we have to spell everything out for you about whatâs happening right this second
Heero: I need Wing Zero. Good thing it just crashed into this ship
Trowa about Wufei fucking off: Heâs fulfilling an old promise. That means Wufei and Trowa did talk when they broâd downed at the circus
Treize: that pilot has to be that kid⊠play it cool. Donât him know you remember his name.
Heero said butt
This is what Iâm here for; Duo infiltrating everything.Â
Trowa is the best. Just do a double spin out of the way and a bow. Ta da!
DorothyxQuatre duel. This is the only Quatre ship Iâm here for.Â
I was just wondering what happened to the scientists.
We built an error into the canon⊠interesting, where did you get that idea
Duo looks so badass threatening the scientists. More of this please.Â
Epyon standing there like a GargoyleÂ
Crushing blow??? GET IT???? GUys do you know what heâs gonna do next?????
Thoughts:
I am glad that @mpanighetti and I decided to do these 3 episodes as a group, and then finish out the series with the last two episodes together.Â
I had very little memories of some of the details here, and I get why... honestly, these are weird kinda filler episodes. When a series is only 49 episodes, we donât get a lot of time for nothing to happen, but the writing is getting looser at the end of the series, and if this arc had happened in the first 1/2 all of this would have probably happened in 1 episode, and instead we get 3.Â
There are a lot of badass moments here: Duo, Une, Treize.... but the rest of the episodes feel a little flat...Â
What I think I remember for the next episode(s):
I have so many memories of the penultimate episode (which i will make a whole post about separately) but we get an epic battle between Treize and Wufei, and I honestly forget how things fully wrap up during the last episode, so I am so excited that weâve made it to the end. I canât wait to write up my final thoughts and then rewatch Endless Waltz. Â
#gundam wing rewatch 2020#gundam wing#gundam memes#thisweekingundamwing#Signs of the Final Battle#Milliardoâs Decision#Collision in Space
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notable moments from The Mile High Job
leverage 1.08
Nate: We need a key card.
Eliot: And I hate to say it, but you know who we could really use --
Nate: Don't even say his name. I don't want it spoken aloud
eliot begrudgingly admitting they could use hardison because although they may bicker all the time, he knows to appreciate him
- - - - -Â
[Leverage Headquarters]
(Hardison is watching a microwave, which dings)
Hardison: Yeah, buddy!
(he tries to pick up the pizza pocket but it is too hot and he drops it)
Hardison: Damn it!
(he blows on it and picks it up to eat it, then takes a watering can and heads out of the kitchen)
why do we (and parker and eliot) love this fucking idiot so damn much ???
- - - - -Â
(Hardison walks through the offices watering plants)
heâs such a nester + heâs probably watering parkerâs plant too which is adorable
- - - - -Â
Eliot: All right.
(open the door to the hall to find Parker waiting)
Parker: So, what are we waiting for?
Eliot: How does she do this?
Nate: I don't even ask anymore.
Hardison: Don't bother with the stairs. I got you a ride down.
(elevator dings and they enter)
we love to see parker defying all laws of physics and logic and the team being baffled by it e v e r y time
- - - - -Â
(Nate, Parker and Eliot run into the lobby, headed for the door)
Nate: No, itâs right behind us, itâs right behind us!
(guards put their hands on their guns)
Parker: Itâs furry, itâs big, itâs chasing us, get down now!
(they grab Sophie on the way out the door, leaving the guards confused)
Nate: Come on, we need to get to the airport, now!
thatâs actually a really clever way to escape a situation ??? it was very effective to distract the guards ???
- - - - -Â
Hardison: What I.D.s have you got on you?
[LAX Airport]
Nate: Let's see...
(team begins looking through their pockets)
Nate: We got, Peter Davison, Sylvester McCoy, and I have a Tom Baker. Yeah.
Sophie: Ooh, yeah, I have a Baker. Sarah Jane.
[Leverage Headquarters]
Hardison: Perfect. I now pronounce you man and wife. (typing on keyboard) Now go on and kiss that bride.
[LAX Airport]
(Sophie hands Nate a ring that he places on her finger)
hardison bases their ids on doctor who characters, what a fucking nerd
also, we gonna talk about how sophie carries a bunch of different wedding rings with her at all times or ???
- - - - -Â
Sophie: How did you both know there'd be an extra uniform in the bag?
Nate: Everyone knows flight attendants are required to carry extra uniforms in case they get called to work unexpectedly.
Eliot: Or if something happens to the one that they're already wearing.
Sophie: How does "everyone" know that?
Nate: Worked airport security.
Eliot: Slept with a flight attendant
sophie being exhausted + eliot never mentioned the gender of the flight attendant so let my bi heart dream okay
- - - - -Â
(security guard opens Nateâs luggage to find many BSDM items inside. Nate gives Sophie a look)
Sophie: What? We needed luggage. Lost and found.
Nate: You didn't check the bag first?
Sophie: We were in a bit of a hurry. (to guard) Yeah. Cuffs are his. Whip's mine. (slaps Nateâs butt) Second honeymoon.
Eliot (picking up his bag): Idiots.
me watching this scene: part horrified part secondhand embarrassedÂ
- - - - -Â
Hardison (on computer): Let's see what we can learn about Nathan Ford today. Online poker? Online chess? Sudoku. Crossword. What... Damn. Somebody needs to get laid.
y i k e s
- - - - -Â
[Coach]
(Parker on P.A. while another stewardess demonstrates)
Parker: Place the mask over your mouth and nose and breathe normally. In the event of a water landing, your seat cushion can be used as a flotation device. But let's face it, if this thing goes down in the water, more than likely the impact will kill you.Â
(Eliot grabs the bridge of his nose while the other passengers get alarmed)
Parker: Please take a moment to locate the nearest emergency exits, because if this plane's on fire, you're gonna want to get out quick. Jet fuel burns at over 1,000 degrees. That's hot, folks.
Eliot: All right, Nate. We're here. Now what?
eliot looks exhausted like 300 different times during this episode
+ bless the other flight attendant that just carried on with the crazy white chick being crazy over the speakerÂ
- - - - -Â
poor eliot with the guy sleeping on him, heâs so exhausted already lmao
- - - - -Â
Steve: Nothing. Itâs just... I could've sworn I saw a maintenance guy get in that elevator.
Hardison: A- A maintenance guy? Wow. Real nice. I bet you think we all look alike.
Steve: That's not what I meant.
Hardison: You know what -- If I have to go to one more of those damn sensitivity seminars, I know who Iâm blaming.
Steve: No, no, no.
Hardison: I know who Iâm blaming.
Steve: It's not what I meant.
Hardison: I blame you! You! (walks away)
hardison using societal tendencies of racism is iconic every (every) time
- - - - -Â
(Eliot gets up and begins going through luggage in the overhead racks. One of the passengers watches him suspiciously)
Eliot (to passenger): Can I help you with something? Watch the movie.
what would you even do in this situation ???
- - - - -Â
Marissa: I know. It's just -- It's like a placebo effect. It's not really working, but it makes you feel better anyway.
Parker: Yeah? So, when's that supposed to kick in? (she moves forward) Look. Flying isn't really all that scary when you think about it. I mean, there are a lot more likely ways to die than on a plane. Car crash, house fire, electrocution, drowning, autoerotic asphyxiation. I mean, the fact is, death haunts us every day. No matter where we are.
(Parker smiles and moves away)
Y I K E S
- - - - -Â
Hardison: You kidding? Did you get the new expansion pack? Woman, I was up all night. Now, look, I mean âBurning Crusade" was great, but this new one is mind-blowing.
Nate: HardisonâŠ
[First Class]
Nate: âŠyou bailed on the job because you were up all night playing a game?
[Genogrow Break Room]
(Hardison turns aside and opens a cabinet door to hide his face)
Hardison: First off, "game" is hardly adequate, okay
hardison is DONE with them not taking his âgamesâ seriously ,,, also LMFAO thatâs why he was lateÂ
- - - - -Â
Hardison (opens door): The meeting's starting, sir. (closes door)
Haldeman: What meeting? (sighs and puts on his jacket)
that is such an effective tactic tho ???
- - - - -Â
Parker: Hatbox full of Euros, pouch of uncut diamonds, and a stolen Stradivarius. Now, Iâve never lifted one of those.
Nate: Parker..
let! her! steal! it!
- - - - -Â
Eliot: Ms. Devins, those payments were not made in error. They were bribes. He was trying to pay off the researchers so they would not testify.
Marissa: What are you talking about? What the hell is going on here?
(Parker sits down next to Marissa)
Parker: The guy in 1D wants to kill you. Ginger ale?
Eliot: Just â sh-she--
that poor lady is NOT having a good time
also eliot looks sO DONE WITH PARKER LMFAO
- - - - -Â
Eliot: Erlick's a pro. He had a ceramic knife. If anything was going down, he'd sniff 'em out when he saw them coming.
Nate: How would they do it?
Eliot: Easiest way? Take 'em out in transit.
Sophie: You mean bring down the plane they're on?
(everyone looks at her pointedly)
Sophie: You mean bring down the plane we're on?
Nate: Yeah
thatâs interesting meta to know but we hate to see it
- - - - -Â
Nate: Okay, Parker, I -- Parker, I need you â (to Eliot) All right, we got to talk to Erlick now.
[Plane Bathroom]
(Dan is still unconscious on the toilet as Eliot and Nate come in)
Nate: Geez!
Eliot (patting Dan on the face): Hey!
(Dan does not stir, Eliot sighs)
Eliot: When I knock people out, they tend to stay knocked out.
Nate: Hey!
(Nate taps the guy on the face)
Nate: Luggage tags.
(they search Danâs clothes and take his luggage tags. Eliot grabs the ceramic knife before they leave the bathroom)
eliot doesnât fuck around lmao
also he did the flippy thing with the knife
- - - - -Â
Hardison: Parker, the device you found -- is it anywhere near an orange box?
Parker: Yeah.
[Haldemanâs Office]
Hardison: Oh, god. They tapped into the black box.
[Cargo Hold]
Parker: No, no, it's not black. It's orange.
[Haldemanâs Office]
Hardison: Yeah, the black boxes, they're orange.
[Cargo Hold]
Hardison: Makes them easier to find in the debris.
Parker: Oh. OhâŠ
[Haldemanâs Office]
Hardison: They've hacked into the flight's computer, which means they have access to the system, which means they can spoof the black-Box data all at the same time.
[Cargo Hold]
Parker: Crash the plane without anyone knowing it was sabotaged.
[Haldemanâs Office]
Hardison: Exactly
thatâs terrifying
- - - - -Â
Nate: Listen to me!
[Haldemanâs Office]
Nate: You can do this! I trust you!
(Hardison looking very unsure of himself)
[Cockpit]
Nate: No matter how many times you goof off or screw up, you always come through in the clutch.
[Haldemanâs Office]
Nate: You're the only guy I can count on in a situation like this.
Hardison (cracks his neck): You know what? I-I-you... You're right.Â
You're right. I got this.
[Cockpit]
Nate: Yes! Yes! Yes, you can!
Hardison: You're right. You're -- I'm the man.
[Cargo Hold]
Hardison: I'm the man. I got this. I'm gonna do this.
hardison is amazing and they need to appreciate him more
- - - - -Â
[First Class]
(Nate and Eliot stumble into seats and belt up)
Nate: Sophie?
[Coach]
Sophie: Yes?
[First Class]
Nate: You okay?
[Coach]
Sophie: Yeah. You?
[First Class]
Nate: Ask me again in 10 minutes.
[Coach]
Sophie: You're gonna remember this one, aren't you?
[First Class]
Nate: Oh yeah.
everyone else on the comms: ,,, yâall have to flirt right this second ???
- - - - -Â
[Haldemanâs Office]
(Hardison watching footage on the Internet of the plane landing)
Announcer (on monitor): âŠemergency landing on the seven mile bridgeâŠ
Hardison: Whoa! (gets up and dances) Baby! Unh! Age of the geek! Smooth! Too smooth! Lord, I was so scared, I wanted to cry, call my mama. Y'all cool? Yâall cool?
Nate: Yes, cool.
Hardison: Family. All right.
hardison is baby + HE CALLED THEM HIS FAMILY !!!
#the mile high job#leverage 1.08#leverage 1x08#leverage season 1#season 1#notable moments#leverage#mine
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A Softer Side Part 2
Hunt and Strand lived, breathed, and ate the case until they had exhausted all avenues, only then did they decide to stakeout Donovanâs place.
âItâs like four days until his kids birthday and heâs still in town, what gives?â Hunt asked from the back of the van as he watched Donovanâs car pull up.
âA few options, he isnât our guy, heâs snatching closer to home, or heâs paying someone else to get their hands dirty as heâs retired living the life of luxury.â Karl quipped sarcastically.
âIn a run down duplex. Sorry, Iâm not buying.â Jerry huffed.
âMe either. Heâs dirty, we just gotta find the dirt.â Karlâs eyes narrowed as the trunk of Arthurâs car opened. Snatching the camera with the telephoto zoom lens he zeroed in on the shopping bags.
âYou got something boss?â
âShopping.â He stated and clicked away as Jerry watched the images come up on his laptop screen. âHmmmm.â
âHmmm indeed.â Hint said scanning the photos. âWhy would a guy in his sixties, living alone need feminine hygiene products and diapers?â
âDamn good question.â
âHeâs stocking up.â Jerry said quietly.
âHe is, hey run the plates.â Karl smiled. âHeâs changed cars, thatâs not the same one he had last week when we came here.â
âDerek Strider, age 57, black hair, thatâs dyed because it was a sandy blond when we met last week. Says here heâs a retired school teacher. Helps out at, oh fuck me.â Jerry said a moment later, and spun the laptop around for Strand to see.
Karl almost went nuclear. A fucking orphanage, is this guy for real? âGet Meekland on the phone, right the fuck now.â He snarled and Jerry opened a line.
Strand relayed the information and Jerry, wisely, kept his mouth shut.
âIâm not asking for a warrant yet maâam, Iâm asking for someone to go sit on the orphanage over the next few days to see what this guy does.â The line went silent for a few moments.
âYouâre sure?â
âSomethings off Sarah, we canât ignore it.â
âVery well, Iâll have someone assigned to you this afternoon.â She snapped.
âThank you.â The line went dead.
âYou guys really hate each other donât you?â Jerry said quietly.
âNo, just... we irritate each other, oil and water.â He chuckled, let him think they hated each other, it was better than Iâm banging the boss. âWhat type of security do you think he has on that house?â
âConsidering what heâs hypothetically hiding, Iâd say a lot.â
âHmmm.â
âWhat hmmm, I donât like that hmmm.â Jerry said cautiously.
âHeâs going to go out at some point and I want to have a snoop around.â Strand murmured.
âYou canât go in...â
âI didnât say I was going in, I want to look around.â He shot back. âYou knock on the front door while I wander around the back.â
âIf we go in without a warrant.â
âIâm well aware of what happens, donât sweat it kid, Iâm not about to blow this lead by entering without a warrant.â Not yet he thought.
âOk then, when?â
âDiscretely call the orphanage and ask what time the volunteers come in, tell them your interested in helping out.â Karl lifted the camera back up as Arthur ventured out to the car again as Jerry made the call.
******
âHeâs heading to the orphanage.â Jerry confirmed.
âAnd you know this how?â He asked sarcastically.
âBecause Wainwright just texted me that heâs over there and our boy just got out of his car.â Hint smiled.
âGood, letâs go.â Karl stalked to the house with purpose, his long legs eating up the road. Signaling to Jerry, he went around the back. He heard the kid knock on the door and wait, the polite investigator just tying up loose ends. Strand committed the layout of the rear of the house to memory, the storm shelter door which was oddly out of place against the abandoned garden shed along the back fence. Glancing at the neighbors yard, their storm shelter was against the house. Hearing Jerryâs second knock and polite call of Mr. Donovan he ventured along the rear of the house, studying every weather beaten board, every window. Nothing out of the ordinary. Taking out his phone he snapped a few photos and walked toward the garden shed, now here was some security. âWhat are you hiding behind a rusty tin shed Arthur that needs a high end, high priced military security system?â He muttered to himself and snapped a few pictures of the lock and the storm shelter which also has a lock. The back entrance to the house was also tightly secured, he needed blueprints and a warrant.
******
Climbing back into the van Karl uploaded the photos from his phone to Jerryâs computer and gave him detailed information about the locks and where to find someone to break them. He also had him pull the county blueprints of the area.
âEx military.â Strand said as if that alone explained everything. âThey donât ask questions and get the job done. Itâs our last resort if we canât get the warrant.â
âWeâll lose our asses if we go in without a warrant.â
âI will, you wonât be coming in if it gets to that point, because I wonât be arresting him.â He said darkly and let the kid see the rage and hatred simmering beneath the calm facade that was Karl Strand. âIf it is who we think it is, Iâm not letting him slip through again. This time Iâll end the fucker.â
âFair enough.â The kid gulped.
âSet up one of the remote wireless cameras on the house and we can monitor from the office for the night. I want food and a fucking shower.â He was beat. Theyâd been jammed in the van for nearly a week but it was paying off, they had leads, they were following cautiously.
âCan do boss.â Karl climbed into the drivers seat while Jerry took care of the camera and they headed out once everything was online.
******
Strand went out for burgers again after his shower and walked into the conference room as Jerry was finishing up with Wainwright on the phone, the camera theyâd set up showed Donovanâs car back in the driveway at the house.
âOur boy home for the night?â He asked placing food in front of the rookie and taking a seat.
âYeah, got in about ten minutes ago. Wainwrightâs gonna hang in case he scouts the orphanage out tonight.â
âGood.â
âHe also setup a wireless camera so we can see the building, front and back.â
âEven better.â Karl studied the orphanage, entries, exits, windows. âPretty secure.â
âReasonably, the younger kid section more than the main building.â Jerry said biting into the burger.
âBegs the question of how? Howâs he gonna do it Jerry?â
âHow much does it cost to legally adopt?â
âChump change to what heâs getting for them. But no, not legally adopt, too much of a paper trail, too many questions.â Karl chewed on that thought. âI wonder...â
âYou wonder what?â
âI wonder if heâs visiting other orphanages.â Strand mused out loud.
âFuuuck! I didnât even think of more than one. It would be a bold fucking move to snatch them from the orphanage though.â
âYeah.â Karl said wistfully as his brain ticked over each scenario. âIâd wait.â He murmured.
âWait for what?â
âIâd wait for the kids to be adopted.â He sat up abruptly and started typing. âCross check all the orphanages in the last few states heâs hit with parents that have adopted only to then have the child kidnapped a little while later. Thatâs going to be a short fucking list, at least I hope itâs shorter than the list we have.â They sat and tossed theories around as the computers churned through data. They both fell silent as the chime from the computer informed them of a hit.
âShit.â Karl scrubbed his hand over his face. âI was hoping I was fucking wrong.â
âMe too, but itâs more weight for a warrant.â
âOk letâs get to work.â He sighed as the hits came in, a slow trickle of more names heâd add to his list.
âHe used more than one orphanage in New York State, Ohio, and Colorado.â Jerry said in awe at the amount of names popping up. âThis is crazy.â
âIt is, but whatâs the bet you just found your milk money.â
âNo we found their prime merch, the milk money will be the homeless that can be cleaned up and sold for a quick $20K.â
âLetâs get it together, Iâll call Meekland in the morning and disturb her weekend.â He grinned, in more ways than one.
âOh sheâll love you for that.â Jerry said sarcastically.
âYou sassing me boy?â Strand growled.
âNo sir absolutely not.â
Karl couldnât contain the chuckle, the kid was all right for a rookie.
******
It was 3 am Saturday morning when Strand called it a night. They were both wrecked.
âGo home, get some sleep Jerry. Good work these past few weeks.â
âThanks boss but if youâre staying so am I.â
âIâm not, Iâm heading out. We canât help these kids if weâre falling asleep mid-takedown. Rest.â
âYou too.â He said and collected his coat and headed out.
Strand was kicked back staring at his board when Meekland stepped in. âMaking progress?â
âSlowly, but yes.â He eyed her carefully, damn he was in the mood to fuck her hard. âIf he sticks to pattern heâll move on the 17th kidnapping the first kid.â
âWe can lockdown the orphanage.â She assured him and he smiled.
âHe wonât take the kid from there, itâll be from the family that just adopted their new baby girl.â He snarled.
âOh fucking shit Karl.â She breathed. âSeriously?â
âThatâs how Iâd do it and thereâs a pattern with previous states and families that have adopted.â
âWhoâs he going to hit?â
âI donât know. There are multiple adoptions each day and he visits more than one orphanage, each with a different ID. Weâre still working that angle. It wasnât until a few hours ago we were thinking it was just him and a lone operator, now Iâm thinking mob or syndicate.â
âJerry heading home?â
âYeah, as am I. We need sleep. Thereâs nothing more I can do for her tonight.â
âYou really think sheâs still with him donât you?â
âI heard her screaming when we were close fifteen years ago Sarah, I fucking know she exists.â He stood and pulled his coat on, jamming his hands into the pockets.
âWant to hit the bar?â Which was their code for take me home sir?
âI do, but Iâm beat to hell. I need sleep.â
âGo and sleep, we can swing past after lunch.â And with that settled she turned on her heel and left.
******
He knew he should have said no to Sarah, but damn it a man has needs and she was more than a willing participant. The drive home to his downtown apartment was blissfully short given the time and for once the doorman wasnât at his post to talk his ear off. He needed his brain to shut down for a good twenty four, a solid eight and a good fuck would suffice. Once inside he darkened the room, took a long hot shower and let the day and the case fall away. Crawling naked under the covers he let sleep claim him hard.
******
Her text tone woke him, Sarah was on her way. Slipping on a pair of lounge pants that hung low on his hips he padded out to fuel up with coffee and eggs he hoped were still good. He was clearing his dishes when Sarah knocked.
âYou look like shit.â She said gruffly and handed him a bag of fresh bagels.
âGood morning to you too sunshine.â He chuckled and let her in.
âEat your bagels.â She smirked.
âIâll save them, I just had eggs. What is it you want Sarah?â He asked sternly.
âYou.â
âI thought you had a someone special?â He joked.
âApparently not as special as the blond bimbo on his arm last Thursday.â She snapped. Ahhhh he thought, that would explain the moodiness these past few days.
âIâm not relationship material Sarah you know that, this is just sex.â
âSex is all I fucking want right now.â She spat and his eyebrow raised.
âOn your knees.â He growled. âYou forget your place little one.â She dropped to her knees, eyes never leaving his. âBedroom.â He barked when she went to touch him, the slight flinch reigning her in. He knew what she needed from him, what she craved when she was like this. Watching her crawl on all fours to the bedroom he finished his coffee and devoured a bagel, she would wait, time itâs own restraint.
She was kneeling at the side of the bed, her usual spot, when he came into the room and shut the door. Belt in hand he stood behind her, looming, his presence enough to have her submit to him. When her head bowed he sat on the bed in front of her and hooked a finger under her chin forcing her to look at him.
âYou know not to take that tone with me little one.â He growled. âAcross my lap, you get ten.â He saw the realization in her eyes that they wouldnât be a soft ten either. âStand.â He commanded. Once she stood she kept her head bowed, hands nervously twitching in front of her. âTake your shirt off.â He purred, the slight smile tugging his lips as her hands shook while fighting the buttons. It was arousal over fear, Sarah had never feared him, nor should she. This was their game, mutually beneficial, equally satisfying. He drank in her curves, the swell of her breasts as she stripped the blouse from her body. âNow your skirt.â His voice husky with need of his own as his eyes followed the fabric down her legs to pool at her feet. She waited, knowing he was in control, he would tell her when to move.
âOn the bed, across my lap.â He said after he took his time devouring every inch of her with his eyes. Holding out his hand she took it to steady herself as she got into position. âHands.â He murmured, the command in his tone unmistakable. Binding her wrists with the belt he secured them comfortably in the swell of her spine. Sheâd come prepared with her hair already in a tight braid, the long rope like tail enough for him to wrap around his hand for a good grip when he was ready. âCount them out little one.â He soothed as his hand circled her ass cheek ready to strike.
He drew his hand up and back and slapped her hard. The crack of skin against skin echoed around his bedroom.
âOne sir.â She said defiantly.
The second strike caused her to whimper, the large red hand print blooming on her skin.
âTwo sir.â
With each strike she relinquished control, he could feel her submit to him further.
âFive sir.â She choked as the tears came. He didnât hesitate, knew that this was what she needed. Wrapping her braid around his hand he fisted it and pulled her head back gently before striking her again.
âSix sir.â She sobbed, tears streaking her cheeks.
âNearly there little one. He purred and brought his hand down sharply.
âSeven sir.â He felt her let go, the last of her stress and tension falling away as he soothed her ass cheek before striking again.
âEight sir.â Her sob shook her body.
His fist tightened in her hair as he gave her the last two strikes, both harder than the rest of them.
âTen sir.â She cried, as he released her hair gently and soothed the pain from her scalp and her glowing hot cheek.
âWill you talk to me in that tone again little one?â
âNo sir.â She whimpered.
âUp you get.â He urged and he helped her up and into his lap, her wrists still bound.
âIâm sorry sir.â
âI know you are.â He kissed her forehead, the need for her to feel safe was as important as the release the rough session would bring her.
âBe a good girl now and hop up.â He said, his hand steadying her as she unfolded herself from his lap. Fingers stripped the remaining lace from her body, those curves enticing him to play. Once she was naked he cupped her face in his hands and devoured that beautiful mouth. âSuch a good girl.â He purred as she stood there and let him take her as he wanted, touch her as he wanted.
He wasnât a gentle lover, and never had been, he didnât do it with the premise of intentionally hurting someone, but his handling was rough. Gripping her wrists he held them forcefully as he took and touched. Releasing them he positioned her face down onto the mattress, his huge frame towering over her. Nudging her knees to widen her gripped her hips hard to bring her up on her knees, that perfect ass presented ready for him to fuck. âWider.â He growled and nudged her knees open, the whimper making him smile. Sheâd been begging for him to take her like this and hard for weeks. He left her there, poised for the rough hard fuck sheâd asked for while he stripped, his cock aching to be buried inside her, to feel her. He opened the nightstand drawer and placed the vibe on the bed for later, she would come and come hard today.
She wiggled her ass as his tip pressed against her entrance and his hand coming down sharply on her ass cheek. âDonât test me.â He snarled. He teased her, tormented her to breaking point, the tears and whimpers fueling his own lust. With a sharp thrust of his hips he buried himself deep, her body shaking with the force of their pelvises meeting. Hers was a guttural groan at finally being filled with him, his own grunt equally as loud as he held her hips painfully tight and began to take her.
Strand fucked her hard, his own tension and stress of the weeks past eager to find its own release, the need to fuck it out of his system taking over. Pounding into her he gripped the leather at her wrists and rode her, the sound of their bodies colliding mixing with the grunts and groans of fucking filled the room. He felt her peak, the tightness of her pussy caressing him. Just as she was about to shatter he pulled out, her release ebbing away. His throaty chuckle at her whimper of frustration only spurring him on. âI warned you not to test me.â He snarled, the slick tip of his cock pushing at her puckered hole. It wasnât often he gave her this pleasure, knew she relished it as much as he did. âSo wet for me.â He cooed, the spanking earlier doing its job, her heightened arousal obvious. âYou want me there donât you.â He teased. âWant me buried in that pretty ass.â
âPlease sir.â She begged and pushed back slightly to try and force him inside her, desperate to feel him fill her again. The hard slap to her already red ass cheek made her yelp.
âPatients little one or youâll get nothing.â He growled. âIâll take my fill and leave you wanting.â She stilled and waited. âBetter.â He stroked his engorged cock and made her wait longer, the game drawn out for her pleasure as well as his. Slipping inside her soaked pussy he gave her a few thrusts before pressing against her back door, the tightness around his mushroom tip making him groan. He fed her the tip, her muscles contracting around his head like a vice, her body trembling as she fought the urge to push back onto him.
âPlease sir.â She whimpered.
âYou want it all donât you little one?â He inched into her slowly, her breath erratic as she struggled not to come.
âPlease sir.â She whimpered.
Once he was seated in her tight ass he drew out and began to thrust, the ease of which he knew sheâd prepared for the evening in advance. Working into a rhythm he plunged in taking her hard, the slaps to her ass adding to their mutual pleasure. Leaning over her he placed a hand either side of her head, above the shoulders and fucked her, that soft whimper making him lose his mind as he dominated her. In a swift move he straightened, wrapped her braid in his hand and pulled her head back so her body was bowed back, the other hand at her throat. She was at his mercy, bound and being fucked relentlessly.
His hand dropped from her throat momentarily and reached for the vibe heâd placed there earlier. Switching it on he held it over her clit, the cry of shock and extreme pleasure sharp to his ears. He slowed his rhythm as he eased it inside her pussy, the curved section long enough to sit against her clit. Taking a hold of her throat again he plunged in and felt the vibration ripple up his cock, the groan primal. He took her, hips snapping, pushing him deep into her ass, she was almost screaming in ecstasy.
Feeling her peak he pistoned his hips and fucked her like the primal animal he was, taking what he wanted, everything she had to offer him and more. âCome.â He snarled and squeezed her throat as she exploded. The feel of her milking him had him roar before he spilled his seed, his thrusts erratic and powerful. Both spent he pulled out and released her wrists, her body lax and unmoving as she caught her breath. âColor little one.â He said as he climbed off the bed.
âGreen sir.â She panted.
They werenât one for cuddles and snuggles afterwards, they both got what they needed out of this session and Karl headed to the bathroom to shower. She joined him as he was stepping out to take care of her own personal hygiene. With a towel wrapped around his hips he cleaned up and stripped the bed, virtually erasing the fact theyâd fucked here at all.
******
âYou know this canât be a regular thing Sarah.â He said as she stood on his threshold, finger stroking down his crisp blue shirt. âI canât go through all that shit again.â
âPity.â
âWere no good for each other.â Except for a quick fuck he wanted to add but thought better if it. He needed to be clear with her again. They had rules and limits for a reason, especially after the crash and burn of their actual relationship years earlier.
âI know Karl, itâs just...â She sighed. âI know.â Leaning in she kissed him sweetly. âThanks for the session, I needed it.â
âSo did I.â
âYou know itâs Sunday, you donât have to go in.â
âI want to see what the our databases spat out.â He said abruptly. He wanted to chase down leads and get ahead of this fucker. âAnd I think better when Iâm staring at the board.â
âIâll see you around then Strand.â
âYes maâam you will.â He said softly and closed the door before she could worm her way back into his heart. Heâd loved her once, if a man like him was able to love, but they were just fuck buddies now and it suited him just fine.
******
He didnât expect to see Jerry at the conference room table, downing coffee and typing furiously.
âYou look like a man possessed.â Karl chuckled softly as he shucked his coat and sat to look at the names the computer had pulled, he was loose and relaxed and ready to dig in. âAnd you shouldnât be here on your day off kid.â
âYouâre here.â He said flatly, continuing on his current train of thought.
âIâm on my own time Hunt, I donât expect you to be.â Strand said gruffly, he wasnât a complete asshole to drag the kid away from his scheduled time off.
âYouâre here, Iâm here.â He said simply. âIâm not looking for overtime, or a pat on the back. I want this prick.â
âItâs personal for you.â Karl said quietly, his gaze studying the rookie as he worked. âNot my business.â He added when the silence stretched. Yes, he thought, youâll do kid.
âMy sister.â Jerry said after a moment as he kept working, though Karl could see the pain and grief etched deep in the kids face when he mentioned her. It had aged him in a heartbeat. âNot this case.â He added quickly. âBut you never know, this might give me answers into hers.â
âUnsolved?â
âStone fucking cold boss.â
âTell me.â He commanded, he needed to know where the kids head was at.
Strand looked at Jerry and rage looked back, that was something, Karl thought. Anger was good fuel when you had to push through the shit haunting your every step.
âNutshell version. My sister, Eva, is 16, seven years younger than me, or she would be if she was still alive. Iâm not sure she is. She ran away from home and or was kidnapped when she was 10. My mother was adamant she was taken. Iâm more inclined to believe Eva took off on some hair-brained fantasy of a better life on her own, even at ten she was a hellion. Cops looked into it and shuffled it to a cold case after not so much as a weâre chasing all leads. They donât give a shit.â
âWhich is why youâre with this agency and not a cop.â Strand added.
âAbsolutely.â He said vehminantly. âIâd like to believe sheâs still alive, but reading this case and the possibility of her being sold, Iâd rather she be dead.â
âCanât blame you there.â Karl studied the rookie closely. âIs this going to be an issue for you?â
âNo sir.â He said strongly. âThese kids, the women they are now, deserve everything of me to catch this guy and nail his balls to the fucking wall. If it leads me to answers about my sister then great, if not, Iâm ok with that too.â
âThereâll be other cases that blur the lines with your sister.â
âYep, and itâll be the same answer then too.â He said matter of factly.
âGood to know.â Karl was pleased with the rookieâs answer. A lot more grit under the shiny new investigator badge than there appeared to be. âWhat have you got?â He nodded at all the names and figures on the screen.
âI need to figure out whatâs driving this and itâs usually money. I set up a phony encrypted account and signed up for all these websites that offer girls of all ages to be purchased. I needed to be in their system to have a snoop around. Itâs my guesstimate of the different levels of, dare I call it, merchandise, and payments for each girl, for each username or seller.â He explained.
âYouâre looking for a pattern.â
âExactly.â He pointed at Karl and went back to the printed out spreadsheet in his hands.
âHow far does this go back?â Strand asked, the cogs in his head turning with this new information.
âSo far only three years. I can get more but itâll take some time. Iâve already set my computer to pull data.â He turned the laptop around for Strand to see, numbers and names flicking past at an alarming rate.
âHow may girls per year?â He asked softly.
âPer user or per website?â
âBoth.â
âGimme a sec.â Jerryâs brow knit in concentration as he fiddled with the spreadsheet on the big screen. âHoly shit!â He breathed out in disbelief.
âYeah that sums it up.â
â130,000 plus girls a year over the site. 1 to 2 thousand girls, give or take per user. Some users rank higher than others.â
âWe look into them all. Split the list of users in half, we run them all. Letâs build the case from our side so when we put these assholes in a cage they fucking stay there.â Karl growled.
âIâll dig for personal information first to give you a name and username on the site.â
âDo that. Iâm calling Meekland, we need more people on this. Itâs not just our buddy boy Arthur, not just this handful of sites.â
âWe going after them all?â
âWe shut Arthur down first, thatâs our priority, find the girl, his first girl. We can run the rest in the background.â Karl said as he got some notes together.
âI can set that up. Can I have Wainwright? He knows his shit when it comes to computers and hacking and tech.â
âIâll see what I can do.â He looked at the kid. âI know youâre not in it for the pat on the back, but this deserves one. Good job.â He grabbed his phone and made the calls to Meekland, secured Wainwright for the support and began to dig into the usernames.
******
âQuestion.â He said into the silence, the hum of the computer fans the only other sound in the room a while later. âDid you cross the sell dates with anything?â
âNot yet.â Hunt answered. âThe snatch date would be different to the sell date and we donât know how long he keeps them.â
âSearch for sell dates on our boys three anniversary dates.â He said on a whim.
âYou got something boss?â
âA hunch maybe.â
Jerry ran the search on the sellers websites and the spreadsheet on the big screen. âThatâs still a lot of girls.â He blew out.
âBut look at the ages.â Strand grinned. âThatâs the only thing that matches for three of the sellers. The girls are all 16.â
âSo he keeps them from infants to 16?â Jerryâs voice choked.
âGrooms them from birth to be the whores theyâll be sold as.â Strand ground through his teeth. âThose are your prime merchandise.â He nodded to the screen. âLook at the price they were sold for.â
â3.7 mil, 6.2, 1.3, 5.4. Auctioned off, not just sold.â Jerry said reading the site.
âCan you find pictures of the girls?â Karl asked.
âThey usually donât have pictures up of prior transactions but I can look. You thinking these are Arthurâs girls?â
âThatâs exactly what Iâm thinking.â
âThereâs three usernames though.â
âOh I bet itâs all his, one for each anniversary.â Strand was deep in Arthurâs head now. âI wonder?â He whispered to himself and opened up his file on the wife as he scanned the account and username list.
âGot something boss?â Jerry asked and grabbed their cups to refresh the coffee that had gone cold.
âMaybe.â He mumbled, brain locked onto the current task. âDid you happen to glance around the inside of his house when you talked to him?â
âA little, I didnât want to be too obvious.â Jerry sat the coffee in front of Karl and took his seat again.
âWere theyâre any pictures or anything of his wife that stood out?â
âHe had a portrait of her and a child, well Iâm assuming it was his wife and a depiction of their child.â Jerry closed his eyes as if to bring the memory back. âOh and a strange poem line under the portrait painted on the wall or something. You know how people have those chic signs and sayings and shit? He had one that said.... oh fuck me... wait.â Jerryâs eyes went wide and he scrambled forward to use his laptop. âFuck! Fucking fuck I missed it before. NevermoreRaven thatâs his fucking account username.â Jerry spat. âAnd he lists all three separate usernames under that one account name. Son of a bitch.â
âSo our boy is into some Poe is he?â Karl grinned. âWhat was the poem line on the wall?â
âSorrow for the lost Lenore.â
âThe Raven by Mr. Edgar Allen Poe.â Strand stood and scrawled it across the board. âWhatâs the bet Lenore is his wifeâs real name. Add an amendment to your report on the Peter Jensen case, tie it in. Itâll give us cause and a bit of weight.â It was a good solid lead and something he could now got to Meekland with to secure a warrant. âDamn good work Jerry.â
âI was stupid, I just thought it quirky and should have followed up, we could have known this earlier.â He spat, angry heâd made a rookie mistake.
âLive and learn kid. Without the website info it wouldnât seem like much.â
âIt would have to you.â He huffed.
âKid Iâve got nearly twenty years on you.â He snorted as he pulled out his phone to call Meekland again, thing had just swung in his favor. âRun and focus everything on EvermoreRaven. We nail Arthur first, then we go after the others. Letâs not spread ourselves too thin and lose him.â Which is what had happened last time, Karl thought. History would not be repeating itself, his case, his op, this time around, his rules.
âWhenâs he due to strike again?â Meekland asked, annoyance in her voice at being disturbed again on a Sunday.
âTomorrow is his kids birthday and the day his wife died. Heâll have his information on who heâs going to snatch and the 16 year old heâs about to sell.â
âJesus Karl, this is a can of fucking worms.â Her sigh was one of frustration.
âYeah and itâs going to get messy if we donât do it right. As much as I want to bust in there and nail his balls to the wall we need to catch him in the act. The snatch and sell needs to go down, transactions completed for it to be worth anything in court, for us to dig deeper and get them all. I need to know where heâs getting all the girls and housing them. I need the warrants, I need a team.â
âYouâll have it.â She said without question. âSend me the list of who you want on this, hand pick the team. I know you Karl.â She said, that unspoken approval of they donât all have to be department employees.
âThank you maâam.â He said gently, and he was thankful, she was giving him free reign which if the op went south it would be her ass too. Heâd keep Hunt and Wainwright, the rest would be a team he trusted and knew wouldnât let shit fall through the cracks. Time to color outside the lines a little, he thought as, he put in a call to Wainwright and was surprised when the guy walked into the conference room ten minutes later. âYou working today?â
âI was yeah. Nothing that canât wait. What do you need?â Karl liked Steven, blunt and no bullshit, much like himself.
âGet with the kid.â He nodded in Jerryâs direction. âHeâll get you up to speed, I have an op to plan.â
âSweet.â
âYou up for a tail?â
âOn Arthur? Sure, where and when?â
âHeâs going to leave sometime tomorrow for the snatch. I need you to follow him and get it on record, the snatch, the location heâs taking the kid to. Itâll be an infant going in and likely a 16 year old coming out.â
âI donât think the teen will come out that day boss.â Jerry said softly not really sure if he should speak up.
@hausofobsession @ill-skillsgard @grandpa-sweaters @authentic90skidd @tuckersgirl @fairlyfallacy @flowers-in-your-hayr @raewritesfiction @stinkerbelle007 @kamie-b @mrsaugustwalker @skrsgardspam @loliwrites @trippedmetaldetector @lihikainanea @fay-walden
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The Firm - Chapter 11
Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9Â Chapter 10
Summary: Erik has been hired to find an embezzler for an old friend. The whole gang is back at GBI, ready to fight an old enemy and save their friend.Â
Pairing: Erik x Black!OC
Genre: Suspense
A/N: *steps up to the mic* Hello everyone! I want to thank everyone who has supported this story. Also, to let you know that this story is coming to a close. I will be dropping a chapter each week until its conclusion.Â
LaNyah stares at the older women whose hair is much longer and darker than when she helped her out in the parking lot, however long ago that was. Then she looks over at Laura, who is rocking back and forth, whimpering about not wanting to die. Why would she even ask such a thing? What does Laura know about this woman that LaNyah doesnât? How does she know her? Did Gina say before her friends arrive? Does she mean Alex, Ashley, Stacey, and Erik? LaNyah tries to hold back her smile and closes her eyes to focus on keeping calm while this lady begins her tale.
Gina sitting in the center of the couch, looks between the two stunned women. âAs I was saying, this story took place almost 20 years ago. There was a decorated officer who had a loving wife and kids.â She swoons at the memory of her loving brother. âHe was the leader of a special ops team until an unjust allegation was brought against him by a team member. Someone he trusted and chose to be on his squad,â Gina snarls out. âHe was under investigation during his last mission, and it would have led to a court-martial.â She rushes out before waving her hands in the air like it didnât matter, âAnyway, before that could happen, members of his team took matters into their own hands. He was brutally murdered, and someone made it to look like an enemy ambush.â
âHow do you know that it wasnât?â Laura asks from beside her.
Gina taps Lauraâs upper leg, âOh dear, it was too perfect. The killing was too clean, everyoneâs story was just soâ in sync. Nothing about a military death is like that unless it is a cover-up.â
âMaybe, they were trying to spare the familyâs feelings, you know, like friendly fire in combat or something?â LaNyah interjected.
âSHUT UP!!!â Gina shouts, startling both Laura and LaNyah. She takes a few deep breathes and smooths out her skirt, âIt was not that. My twin brother was callously killed while overseas by members of the team he built.â LaNyah and Laura share a look, and Laura starts crying all over again.
âWhat does that have to do with us?â LaNyah somberly asks while staring at the crying pregnant woman over Gina.
Sniffling, Laura nods at LaNyah, âYeah, I donât know anyone in the military.â
LaNyah looks away, putting her head down at what Laura said because she knows that is not true for her. She only knew of one person until a few weeks ago. Gina canât mean any of them, right? She inhales sharply, unaware that Gina has been watching her intently since Laura made that last statement, a small smile forming at the corners of her mouth.
She looks over them, âThis is my favorite part,â a full smile breaking through while Gina takes Lauraâs hands in hers before continuing. âWhich brings me to why you two are here. I am going after those responsible for my brotherâs death.â Gina rubs the tops of her hands, âLaura, your fiancĂ© works for one of them.â
Laura closes her eyes at this, tears still falling and mutters, âBut LaNyah was supposed to be the fall guy, not Matthew.â Ginaâs eyes widen at that.
âWhen did he tell you?â
âWhat? Wait, he set me up?â
LaNyah and Gina blurt out at the same time. Laura rolls her eyes at LaNyah, âI told you this was all your fault.â LaNyah opens and closes her mouth before looking over at a laughing Gina. She canât believe it. Minding her own business and she became the ultimate pawn in someoneâs game of revenge. What is her life?
---
âBabe, stay here with Stacey. Let us handle this.â Alex moves to keep Ashley from coming with them. Kill is on the other side of the room, tying his combat boots while talking on the phone. Stacey is at the conference room table, pulling up floorplans to the warehouse. Alex and Kill changed into dark military fatigues in preparation for the battle zone they are entering.
âFuck that! I already told you what I would do when it came to LaNyah.â She gets in his face, âI need to be there when you find her! So, donât you dare try to keep me from being there!â Ashley snatches up another pair of fatigues and pushes past him towards the bathroom, slamming the door. Alex stops short as the door nearly misses hitting him.
Kill finished with his last call, turns towards him. âGreen, stop.â Alex walks back over to him, âJust accept the fact that she is coming with us. You canât stop her, and even I wouldnât try to stop her.â Kill walks by Matt, who has been untied and snatches him up. âCome on. You got some more talking to do.â Â
Everyone packs into the fully loaded Chevy Suburban that one of Killâs connects dropped off after Matt gave them the location for the warehouse where Gina is keeping the girls. Kill throws the keys to Green so he can drive. Bridges jumps into the front passenger seat. Kill drags Matt to the second row of the SUV; he is behind Green, and Matt is behind Bridges.
Once they hit the freeway headed south to San Diego, Kill turns in his seat to look at Matt. Clearing his throat; he waits until Mattâs attention is on him. Mattâs bloodshot eyes make direct contact with Kill. His petrified stare meets Killâs murderous scowl. Bridges looks back, turning around in her seat to watch what happens between the two.
âIâm only gonna give you one chance to get this right. From the beginning, when you first met Gina and started working for her. GO!â
Matthew sputters to a start, clenching his hands into fists as they sit on his lap. âShe didnât give me all the details at first. All I know is that she was looking for someone to help her bring down Mr. Green. It was no secret that I had gone out for every single special project, and he never picked me. I know he knew who I was, and even my supervisor helped me become a lead analyst so that I would be on his radar. So, it was no love lost on my part to do something to Mr. Green for how he treated me.â Ashley sucks her teeth, âI swear I didnât know she was after you when I first started.â
âWhat was her plan for GBI?â Kill asks him.
Directing his answer to Bridges, âShe knew you were married to Mr. Green and figured the easiest way to get you was through him and the company. I was supposed to help her embezzle money from various accounts into her offshore accounts. Make sure all roads led back to him, showing that he was stealing from his own company leading to a prison sentence. My supervisor was her first inside man at GBI when she brought me on to begin the embezzlement, and she killed him.â
âSo, Alan didnât just quit as we all thought? Wow,â Green remarked as he listened to the conversation about Ginaâs plan to take down him and GBI. Â
âNo, his job was to find someone who had put in some time with the company and disliked you enough to make her plan a reality, then vouch for me. When that was done, so was he.â He starts to hiccup, struggling to get the next part out. âShe said he served his purpose and shot him right in front of me. Not even 10 minutes after I met her.â He shudders and breaks eye contact with the group.
âWhat about LaNyah?â Ashley jumps in to ask. âWhy her?â
Running his hand through his hair, âConvenience, I guess.â Matt shrugs and looks up at Ashley who glares at him, âIt was supposed to be Stacey. Gina didnât care who was in that position; she just needed to know that I was checking their work and would be able to change the reports and move the money. I only had been working for her about 6 months when Mr. Green hired Stacey as his assistant, causing a delay in the plan to search for a new fall guy. Once he hired LaNyah, I passed over whatever information I had to Gina, and she told me when we would start.â
Matthew explains that he only had the background check that HR completed on her. So, it contained the information that Gina would have needed to complete a deep dive of LaNyah, similar to what Kill did when he found out he would be working with her. They all knew what that meant, even if he didnât.
With LaNyah being new and a personal hire by Green, it made her the perfect scapegoat because everything links her position and working for the company to Green. The money starts disappearing after she began working there, and no one would know because he was altering the reports after she completed her weekly data entry reconciling all the accounts her team handled.
âWe started skimming money from the Scholarship account about 3 months after LaNyah joined the company. It would be believable since she needed time to learn the system before manipulating it.â
âSo, sheâs after Bridges and Green? Anyone else?â Kill asks Matt, wondering if he is the one who gave her the information she needed to track him down finally.
Mattâs eyes lift as he thinks about the question. âYou know what, I think she might have, but I have no way of knowing. She only tells me what she feels I need to know when it matters.â He briefly pauses, inhaling deeply, âAll I know was she asked me to increase the amount of money we were moving about 3 weeks ago. I told her we needed to be careful because I figured out that Mr. Stevens was here auditing the accounting department.â
âHow did you know that?â Green speaks up.
âI am supposed to watch LaNyah, too, and noticed she was meeting with you often before your big trip. Then after you were gone, she was always disappearing to the 35th floor to âworkâ with Stacey on some project. It didnât make sense to me because she never stays in the office past 6 like the rest of us. But I do recall walking by her office one Friday afternoon, and she was on the ground surrounded by old reports, muttering to herself.â He loosens his tie, âI never thought she would double-check her work, so that could only mean that she may have figured out what was happening. If that was true, then I knew she probably went and told you,â looking at Green, âand Mr. Green must have hired you to look into it.â Kill nodded his head. âWhen you warned me to back off of her, I wasnât sure if you worked for Gina. But I would only see you at GBI, so I guessed you were Mr. Greenâs man.â
âWhen did you tell Gina about Erik?â Ashley asks through gritted teeth. He was the only one she could not find from the entire team all these years, and as soon as she finds him, LaNyah goes missing. Matt hasnât said anything about kidnapping to make her believe that was part of her original plan. She more than likely planned for her to go to prison along with Alex, leaving Ashley by herself.
âAbout 3 weeks ago, when Gina called me about doubling the funds, I told her about the audit, and I gave her your name since I couldnât find much about you on my own.â Matt removes the tie from his neck, placing it in his lap. âShe screamed about something ââ He jumps in his seat, âOMG, itâs you! Sheâs after you, too! Said something about you being the missing link.â
âCalm down, Matt.â Green rolls his eyes while watching the man panic through the rearview mirror.
âGina has always scared me, but that call made me even more paranoid than usual. I just wanted to make sure Laura was ok. I made her go and stay with her mother in Bakersfield, 2 months ago.â Twirling the tie in his lap, âI decided to visit her after the call and walked in to find Gina sitting right next to Laura talking shop like this woman wouldnât have all of us killed with a snap of her fingers.â Tears blur his vision, and Mattâs voice cracks, âLaura knew I was doing some illegal shit behind Mr. Greenâs back, so I came clean about what she didnât know and told her who she just met. Gina called me back that night and told me exactly how much she wanted to move the next time. A week later, I had everything in place to move more than a million from the account.â
âAnd it takes two weeks before the money moves from the scholarship account. That was what I saw the night before we came back home.â Green states.
Kill closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, âYou were right, Green, she was planning to make her move which is why we saw the major movement from the account. She wanted us to notice.â Clenching his fists by his sides, âWe just didnât know that by the time we saw it, she already had LaNyah.â
âLaura and my son,â Matt squeaks out. Everyone looks at him as he breaks down.
---
Gina moves away from Laura on the couch, focus bouncing between the two of them. This is going to be better than she thought. Laura pissed at LaNyah. LaNyah upset about what she just found out; that she is a doll in this game. And yet, she still doesnât even know how big a part she plays. With loathing, Gina gazes at her.
Turning to the right, now fully facing LaNyah, Ginaâs smile morphs. Ginaâs voice laced with all the malice she could muster, âYou, Miss LaNyah Cole, have a relationship with every single person on my list.â Laura gasps and shrinks back on the couch, glad she is not in her place. Now, she and the baby stand a better chance of making it out of this place alive.
Tearing up, LaNyah whispers out, âWhat?â
âMy brother was accused of sexually assaulting the only female member on his team, Ashley Bridges.â She stands up and walks to the other side of the table, looking down at both of them. âYou both would recognize her by her married name, Ashley Green.â
LaNyah squeaks out, âAshley! What do you want with her?â
âTsk, tsk, tsk, LaNyah, darling. I did not go through all this trouble for Ashley alone.â
âShe wants Mr. Green, too, idiot.â Laura huffs out. LaNyah rolls her eyes at her, growing irritated by this whole situation. She didnât ask to be put in the middle of this. But it seems everyone around her knew something that she didnât, and that bothers her.
âYou want the whole company to go down?â Gina starts slow clapping. LaNyah puts her head in her hands. Of course, she does. It is why she was the perfect patsy. Blame this on the girl who was like the daughter of the two people she held accountable for her brotherâs death.
âYou are a brilliant woman, Miss Cole.â She walks to her standalone chair and leans against it, âBut you are missing the most important thing or person rather. The only person with the skills to kill my brother like that and clean it up so well. A man who, up until a few weeks ago, I only knew by his nickname, Killmonger.â No, no, no, please do not let it be him. LaNyahâs big, confused brown eyes meet steely grey ones, âMr. Erik Stevens.â
The tears that she was holding back started rolling down her face. LaNyah clutched her chest with both hands while trying to stay seated in the chair. Her breathing was coming out in spurts between her loud sobs. Gina held her hand up to Laura, who was struggling to get up and go to her. She leans over and starts to rub circles into LaNyahâs back. LaNyah flinches at first but just closes her eyes to find something else to focus on to help her breathe.
âI know, sweetheart. Itâs hard to find out that the man you like is a stone-cold killer.â LaNyahâs body tenses at her statement. She peeks over at Laura, who has a look of sympathy on her face as she watches LaNyah breaking down at what she learned. Gina closes her eyes as she continues to speak low, still soothing LaNyah with the circles on her back. âHe hurt me, too dear. More than you could ever know.â
---
âDid she pay you well for this suicide mission?â Kill demands harshly, Bridges and Green grimly laugh as Matt turns green. âMatthew, you know if we handed you over to her, she would kill you herself. I mean, she did kill the guy you were supposed to replace when she hired you. The money had to be exceptional, right?â
â3 times my annual salary at GBI,â he meekly responds, âand she told me I didnât have a choice.â
âLet me guess; she threatened to kill you on the spot? Over Alanâs dead body?â Green interjects. Matt just nods his head. They all shake their heads in understanding. It was gonna be him or someone else. But Gina was gonna execute her plan regardless of how many casualties lined the path.
The mood shifts in the SUV as everyone disappears into their thoughts. Ashley is sniffling upfront, swimming in guilt for putting LaNyah in harmâs way. There was no way she knew anyone was coming for her husband or her, but still, Nyah is like her daughter. And in her haste to find LaNyah something to be in control of and help her build a career, Ashley never considered how Nyah working under her husband could lead to such a moment.
Alex looks over at Ashley and grabs her hand, kissing it. âStop beating yourself up. You could not have known this was gonna happen. We didnât know McCoy had a twin who would seek vengeance for his death. There is nothing that could have prepared us for any of this. We deal with it now, together as a team. Just like we always have, ok?â Ashley squeezes his hand in response, not trusting her voice at this point.
Kill looks out at the passing fields, controlling his breathing. Gina knows about LaNyahâs connection to Green and Bridges. What else could she know? If Gina is thorough enough to uncover his identity and know that he was involved compared to the rest of the team, then she knows he was the one who killed her brother. She is gunning for him specifically, but she wants to take everyone down â Bridges, who was her brotherâs victim; her husband and protector, Green; and their âdaughter,â LaNyah. She is using her as bait to bring all three of them to her. No one is supposed to make it out of there alive, except for Gina and her goons.
LaNyah. How is she handling all of this? If he didnât push her so hard, he could have been watching her like he was supposed to be. Instead, he had hoped his updates from Stacey, as infrequent as those were, would provide him with enough information to know she was doing fine and safe from harm. But this is something else altogether; she was kidnapped in broad daylight by a maniac with no regard for human life. Kill laughs to himself, just like him back then â one goal, one focus, by any means necessary. He runs his hands through his dreads, grateful that he decided to braid them back today. There is no room for any mistakes here and too many lives at risk. Itâs LaNyah or bust. Heâll deal with all the other bullshit later.
Snapping his fingers, Bridges and Matt look at him. âYou know youâre done, right?â Matt nods, âGood. Youâll serve time in federal prison, but at least you will be alive to meet your son and maybe save your family.â
Matt sighs, âI just wanted to provide for my family. I understand, but I am grateful to be alive.â He glances up at Green catching his eyes in the rearview mirror, âIâm sorry for everything I did to you, sir. To your business and your family, including LaNyah.â Green acknowledges his apology.
Green turns off the road into an industrial complex, leading to Ginaâs warehouse. Kill slaps the back of his seat, an old signal from when Green used to drive during other missions. The mission has started, and nothing else matters until they get back into the SUV. Releasing Ashleyâs hand, she watches the two of them, Killmonger and Green. The two men who saved her all those years ago are back and ready to do it all over again. She smiles to herself, and they are going to save LaNyah, too.
âYou know sheâs probably expecting you?â Matt says that like wasnât the most prominent thought in all of their heads as they approach lot near the warehouse. Everyone was smart enough to keep it to themselves.
âWe know.â Green declares.
âAnd we are ready for her.â The sound of a gun rack sliding catches Mattâs attention, and he looks over to see Kill holding a Glock.
Chapter 12
Taglist: @killmongersaidheyauntie @muse-of-mbaku @panthergoddessbast @youreadthatright @princessstevens @nahimjustfeelingit-writes @stark-red19 @kreolemami @bidibidibombaclaat  @iamrheaspeaks @missumuch1918 @simplyyamberr @cheychey10142 @ajspencer1892 @chrismarcs @loosewindmill @sydneebleu @semianta @eyeknowmywrites @alexundefined @itsjustmezari @goddessofthundathighs @guccixcucci @kissmyafropuff @gimmeface @fd-writes @jozigrrl @soufcakmistress @scrumptiouslytenaciouscrusade @shaekingshitup @localtrapgod @post-woke @theesotericqueen
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Shouji Mezo X Reader Remember part 53
With the phone call, the teachers were able to pinpoint where Y/n was. Not exact location, but a pretty good hint. Aizawa didnât tell the students who he was brining to this mission, but it was for their own good. He didnât have high hopes for Y/n considering the location was close than he assumed.Â
 Dr.(last name) has dozens of laboratories all over japan and even some all over the world. These labs would lack the true man power to guard it, maybe a security system, but no big shot hero or villain names. With her absence Aizawa thought she was out of the country, but she was closer than expected. She was watching over the events wasnât she? She wanted to see how well her daughter would survive the battlefield she created.Â
âThereâs cameras all over, I bet.â Aizawa told Edgeshot.Â
âI wonder why there hasn't been an alarm yet.âÂ
From the assumed time Y/n left to the time she made the phone call. The heroes commute was shorter, they were given private cars to catch up to her with the permission of local police stations to speed. It wasnât because this was a rescue mission, but to possibly put an end to the NOMU attacks.Â
To think they almost had the scientist pinned who created the NOMUs, but now there were two confirmed, with the possibility of them working together. How many people were working for the league of villains? All for one was already a terrifying opponent, but some big name scientists waiting to be let of the ethical leash. No wonder why her husband was trying to loosen up regulations on quirks, probably saved their marriage.Â
The duo surprisingly found the lobby empty. They were still careful walking in and found at the front lobby had all the cameras. They found Y/n passed out in a lab room. She was retrained and unconscious. In other rooms he found Dr (last name) was talking to some disheveled assistance. There was an empty office with a computer.
âYou take the computer. Get all the information you can.â Aizawa said.Â
âThe other two will help take out guards.â Edgeshot said.Â
Down in the basement laboratory Dr(last name) fixed her hair as she explained to her team what was next for them.Â
âWith that all for one lackie here to pick up a half baked NOMU, I may be able to give them an even better NOMU. If you guys can keep him entertain until I can get an estimate on the next creation.â She said. âItâs gonna be my best NOMU yet, from my very own blood.â
âI donât know if we can hold his attention he doesnât really talk.â An assistant said.Â
âYou canât be awkward your whole life. He probably wants something to enhance his quirk. Heâs survived attacking UA after all. Figure it out nerds!â Dr.(last name) yelled.
 The scientist walked past the room that held her daughter. She lacked the empathy to have regret. She hoped her daughter was going to be the second stage of her best creation! However a man walked past the corner. Aizawa shuttered at the sight of the woman.Â
âAnd what is Eraserhead doing in my lab? I donât give tours on weekdays.â She said.Â
âNo, Iâm here for other reasons.â He told her using his quirk.Â
The doctor still charged at Aizawa. She punched the forearm he used to block the blow. It was harder than he expected. His eyes widened realizing where Y/n truly learned how to fight. Her muscles remembered but the memories had been blocked.Â
âI have to ask what kind of teacher lets his students get involed with their prisoner?â Dr (last name yelled). âWhat type of bored man are you?â
âI canât stop what the heart wants.â
She did a high kick that Aizawa was able to dodge. He punched the woman in the stomach to knock her back once more. She was like a reactor ready to blow off with more going on each second. Her smile was going insane and then it was to a dark scowl.
âYou heroes love fucking everything up for the best like me!â She growled.Â
Aizawa pushed her back. She threw a cart at him and took a fire extinguisher and threw it at him. He ran a bit back looking to see if there was another way to fight her. She chased him to the main lab.Â
âSound the alarm we have rats!â She yelled for the whole staff to hear.Â
âDamn itâ he growled.
âUnleash the beast!â The doctor yelled some more.Â
 Red light loud alarms started going off. A staff member put codes in to delete everything from the main frame. Edgeshot saving data from the main computer cursed realizing they were now running out of time. The class holding the not finished NOMU opened up releasing fluids all over the floor and the brain bird.Â
âI heard you almost died to one of these bad boys, hopefully this one finishes the job!âÂ
The NOMU crawled out wailing an unbearable screeched. Two other staff memebers blocked the way as he noticed the doctor was making her escape. The NOMU charged at Aizawa. He went under and attacked one assistant.Â
âSelf-destruction will activate in 30 minutes.â A computer for all hear said.Â
The doctor was able to escape his sight as he fought the assistants. His new priority was to get Y/n out of there. He raced out of the group as the NOMU slipped on the own fluid it was birthed in. Aizawa went back to the room where y/n was and found she wasnât even in there. They moved her which mean she was worth saving.Â
â20 minutes till self destruction.â
âEdgeshot, did you get the data?â He asked over walkie talkie.
âI got about 30% before the main frame wiped the whole system clean.â He explained. âDid you save the girl.â
âNo, however the staff moved her so she wonât be part of the self destruction I hope.â Aizawa explained.Â
He was going to fail her again. 30% of the data probably wonât prevent Y/n from being turned into a NOMU. That letter she wrote to Shouji was signing her death away for doing something she believed in. Logic was what she threw out the door like Midoriya did when he saved Bakugo, why? It was what they did. They had to be part of the chaos despite their survival rate. Their minds are one track on one goal. That was all she was worth to her mother was another NOMU part, and she knew that which is why she had to go and fight.Â
Aizawa figured out what the last part of Dr.(Last name) plan was. If Y/n didnât die at the camp, she would find a way to get Aizawa fired or at least publically humiliated. Y/n would be kidnapped from the lack of eyes on her at the school because the school trusted Y/n during her recovery. Once the doctor found a way in past their security, they would kidnap Y/n, prove UA was a terrible school for children, and turn Y/n into a NOMU. However the doctor never figured out how to get pass the security yet.
â5 minutes until self destruction.â
 The sound of frantic running and screaming seemed to quiet down. He left that NOMU with those assistants but he couldnât save them either. They created their own demise. Aizawa found Edgeshot outside where they entered.
âCâmom!â
They rang away from the building as fast as they could. They headed towards the car but the noise of the loudest boom they ever heard was able to knock them forward on the forest floor. The world seemed to just smack them. Debris hit their backs. Aizawa slowly turned the the smoke full building. It was completely destroyed. It still held. The people werenât outside. There were underground tunnels. That doctor wouldnât die yet, now that she had her daughter.Â
Edgeshot helped Aizawa up. They were both unbalanced but still made it to their feet. It was a failed mission. Or so they thought. The other two heroes called from behind and they were glad they didnât lose anyone from the team. They walked more towards the car and found a gruesome sight. Two bodies. One burnt to a crisp, wearing the lab attire and the other one was an unconscious Y/n. The bodies were brought to the hospital and files were being filled out.Â
#shoji mezo#mezo shoji#Shouji Mezou#bnha shoji#shouji mezo#Mezo x reader#shoji x reader#bnha fanfiction#bnha x reader#bnha#series#xreader
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Let me earn your trust (Kamilah Sayeed & MC)
Previous chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Book: Bloodbound (property of Pixelberry Studios) Pairing: Kamilah Sayeed & MC: Amy (I do not own those characters, they're the property of Pixelberry Studios as well) Warnings: strong language, some fluff Rating: Mature Author's note:  I'm not a native English speaker, I'm sorry for any mistakes (feel free to correct me).
~ 2000 words
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Chapter 8
Amy run all the way from the bus to Raines Company. She was ready to run over the whole building, straight to the catacombs. What she didn't prepare herself for, was security.
At the moment, she got inside, she was stopped by the man wearing a black suit, with an earpiece. She didn't remember him. Probably the reason for this was that when they had arrived with Adrian, no one dared to ask.
"I can't let you go any further before confirming your identity Ms." he stood in her way.
"Amy Campbell," she said nervously, not wanting to wait any longer. "Adrian knows that I'm coming."
The security man went to his computer and started typing Amy's identity. His brows furrowed.
"Can I ask for your real name?" he asked suspiciously.
"I have already told you," Amy bit her lower lip, losing confidence.
"Amy Cambell exists for about 4 years from now, and I'm sure that you're not 4 years old," he said, slowly reaching for his phone.
Shit, Amy swallowed hard. How good is their system in here that they knew about this? She was sure that Lily wasn't bad in her job, and she made sure to replace all of Amy's previous personal data with the new one.
Amy smiled sweetly to him, and when he was focused on picking a number, she ran past him as fast as she could.
"Block the elevators, call everyone in the building!" Amy heard screams behind her back, but she was already far ahead, adrenaline coursing in her veins.
She got to the stairs and started climbing, prying that no one would stop her.
Finally, she was on the floor where Adrian had his office. She didn't expect that anyone would stop her here. And again, she was wrong.
"Excuse me," she heard and then, saw a middle-aged woman with blonde, short hair, and scowl on her face. "You can't go in there."
"I have a meeting scheduled with Adrian," Amy said without turning and walked through the doors to the office, and after that, to Adrian's elevator.
"Wait, I'm calling the security," the woman said, high-pitched.
"They already know that I'm here," Amy said with a smile as the elevator moved.
***
Amy stepped out of the elevator, breathing heavily after running through the whole building. First, what she saw, when she entered the catacombs, were Kamilah's and Adrian's faces. Then, she noticed a girl standing with her back to Amy. Characteristic purple-hair stood out in the faint light.
Amy put the backpack on the ground, and her legs began to tremble. Tears started to flow down her cheeks without her permission.
"Lil?" her voice shaky.
The newly turned vampire looked in her way. Her whole appearance was radiating with unknown power.
At incredible speed, Lily was standing in front of Amy. They hugged each other tightly. Amy closed her eyes, still crying but grateful for having her best friend beside her.
"Carefully," Kamilah cautioned.
"Oh, yeah, I'm sorry," Lily let go of Amy's body when she realized how devastated the girl was. "Shh, Ames, it's alright."
Amy was weeping ashamed. She didn't want anyone to see her like that. Especially not clearly confused with the situation vampires. But she gave up, she couldn't keep her emotions in check anymore. Her legs were shaking, making her got down on her knees.
"I thought that I lost you for good," she finally spoke, her eyes red from crying.
"Are you kidding me?" Lily kneeled down beside her. "You will have to do more than that to get rid of me," she laughed at her own joke, but when she saw that Amy was still shaking, she said, "come on, Amy, we don't cry, remember?"
"I know," Amy wiped her face, trying to hold her emotions back. "Are you mad at me?"
"Why should I be," Lily asked, disoriented.
"Because of me you are," she stopped, not knowing how much did they tell her friend.
"A fucking vampire?" Lily smiled widely. "That's awesome!"
Amy couldn't help but laugh with her. That was her best friend. Like nothing had ever happened, her attitude stayed the same.
"You're such an idiot," Amy said teasingly.
"Jerk," Lily repaid with a smile. "Why are you so sweaty?"
Amy reminded herself about what happened earlier and looked in Adrian's eyes.
"I might have caused some trouble before getting here," Adrian raised his eyebrows, not entirely understanding what she had in mind.
He wanted to ask, but then, another person walked in the catacombs.
"Adrian, I tried to stop her, I swear," Nicole, his assistant, said and froze when she saw Amy and Lily on the ground. "What is going on here?"
Nicole stared at Lily deeply. She could easily recognize the newly turned vampire since she had seen a lot of them in catacombs. When she entirely understood what had happened, something cracked inside of her.
"Did you turn her?" she said with blame in her voice.
"Nicole," Adrian scratched his neck, nervously, "thank you for caring, but Amy was welcome to come here."
He didn't answer her question. Mostly because there was no need to, she stated the fact.
"You seriously turned some random person?!" she was shaking with anger.
Amy and Lily stood up from the floor, confused.
"Nicole," Kamilah decided to put an end to this nonsense, "Why don't you go back to your office and give us some time, private."
Her voice was calm, but Nicole knew to well that if she doesn't cooperate, Kamilah won't go easy on her anymore. With that thought, she disappeared in the elevator again, sending one last threatening look towards Amy.
"I told you to stop giving her hope," Kamilah turned to Adrian. "She can become a trouble one day."
"I had never given her hope," he tried to defend himself, unsuccessfully.
Meantime, Lily changed her clothes to the clean ones that Amy brought from their flat. She was grateful for not having to wear a shirt covered in blood anymore.
Amy was impressed by how good Lily handled this new situation. What's more, she didn't feel threatened by her being the vampire after all. For a second, Amy wondered why Lily wasn't hungry, but when she saw an empty blood bag near the wall, her doubts were dispelled.
"What will happen now," Lily asked, she couldn't hide the excitement in her voice, eager for adventure.
"You will go with Adrian to his apartment and live there for a few weeks during which you will learn how to control yourself," Kamilah answered emotionless. "We need to deal with the Council and get the approval for you to join Adrian's Clan."
Both of the vampires shared a meaningful gaze.
"What?" Lily was surprised, "I'm gonna live with a billionaire, and he is going to teach me how to become a badass?!"
"Technically, I'm not a billionaire yet," Adrian smiled to her. "And Kamilah would be the one to teach you most of the time since she has more experience than me on this topic."
"Woah," Lily remembered their first talk, but that didn't decrease her enthusiasm. "So I'm gonna be even bigger badass, cool!"
Amy smiled at her, wondering how she could be so confident around these overwhelming vampires. Amy's smile faded when Kamilah turned to her with the next words.
"And you are going to live at my penthouse," she kept the same tone of her voice. "We have some work to do, don't we?"
Amy quietly nodded. Ready for what's to come.
***
Kamilah showed Amy the guest room in her penthouse, which from now on, belonged to her. The room was nothing compared to Kamilah's spacious bedroom, but still, it was bigger than Amy's at her place. Besides, Amy was not a greedy type of person. She would get what she was given.
The walls were light beige, and the items of furniture the opposite, darker. There was a bed in the corner and the table by the window. The window was placed in the way that if someone opens the door, the sun didn't reach them. Also, the room was filled with high wardrobe, and commode. Light carpet on the dark floor matching the color of the walls.
"This is the only room where you can have opened curtains during the day," Kamilah said, standing outside of the room while Amy stood in its center.
"Got it," Amy looked around herself, "Can I redecorate it?"
"Why would you do such a thing?" Kamilah was surprised at this question, she felt insignificantly offended.
"Because, that's the biggest fun when you're getting a new room," Amy remembered when she had to move out and into different rooms back in the days. "I don't wanna change too much, only make it a little bit mine," Amy assured, with a soft smile.
Kamilah felt calmer. What's more, she was glad that Amy wanted to make herself feel at home.
"Yes, by all means, you can," Kamilah made her way to the living room, followed by Amy.
Should I feel already this freely around her, Amy asked herself in thoughts. It was a whole new situation for her. She should feel intimidated by it and distanced herself. But, what she really felt was the anticipation of what the future held for her.
"I want you to feel here comfortable," Kamilah said, sitting on the armchair tired after the long night and day, she stared deeply into Amy's eyes. "But, I have my rules."
"Okay, I will go to bed before 10 p.m." Amy laughed at her own joke, but Kamilah stayed firm.
The woman tilted her head slightly, a spark in her beautiful, dark eyes.
"You're adorable," Kamilah said with a hardly visible smirk, making Amy blush. "I was about to say..." she traced her fingers on the material of the chair, the movement hypnotizing Amy, "that you are not allowed to enter my bedroom and office." Kamilah stopped playing with the chair, lifting her gaze and waiting for Amy to do the same before continuing her thoughts. "Especially, the office, I value my work. And I do work a lot."
"Okay," Amy understood, "I won't bother you when you are working."
"Good," girl, Kamilah added in her thoughts, catching herself how often she wanted to call Amy this way.
Amy picked up her bag and was about to go to her room when Kamilah's voice made her turn around.
"I can send someone to your apartment for the rest of your things," she said after noticing how small was the bag in Amy's hand.
Amy wondered why she would do that, and then it hit her. Kamilah had so many things in here. Luxury things. It must have been weird to see someone like Amy, having only the content of the one bag.
"There is no need to do that," she ensured. "By the way, I left nothing there, so that's everything I have."
Kamilah raised her eyebrows in a huge surprise. She could not understand how Amy lived so far with this small amount of her own stuff.
"Then I will send someone to buy you new things and clothes," it was so easy for her to say something like that.
"I don't..." Amy sighed, "Kamilah, don't get me wrong," when she said her name, something cracked inside of the woman. "I like it the way it is. I'm used to owning so little things," Amy was about to share her rule this time. "I figured out that the more you have, the more it will hurt to lose it one day." She forced a smile, adding, "besides, I moved a lot recently, so it's easier this way."
Amy turned around and disappeared inside her room.
Kamilah was left with her thoughts.
She couldn't understand why, but she started to care about this human. And caring was certainly not Kamilah's thing for a very long time. This basically new feeling made her feel concerned.
Kamilah had a similar rule to Amy's.
She found out that the fewer people she cared about, the less painful her existence was.
Next chapter: 9 ----------------------Â
tag list: @onyxgaytrash, @lightning-fury, @scarlet-letter-a0114
----------------------
~SPOILER ALERT~
I'm grateful for yesterday's chapter of Bloodbound, and especially Kamilah's scene. I mean, I was skeptical about how they would write Kamilah's "I love you" cause, let's admit it, Kamilah is complicated as hell. And it would seem off for her character to just tell this without context. That's why I'm happy that they wrote such a beautiful dialogue between her and MC before it happened. Â
#kamilah sayeed#kamilah x mc#kamilah#bloodbound kamilah#bb kamilah#bloodbound mc#bb mc#lily spencer#adrian raines#bloodbound#choices bloodbound#choices bb#choices stories you play#choices fanfiction#choices fic
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Deep Blue Sea: Ch. 18
Chapter 18: Survivor Six Subnautica/JSE Egos Crossover
(( take three for writing this chapter :âD JJ and Henrikâs POVs didnât cooperate, but fortunately Marvâs did! Because of it taking three attempts, Iâm not gonna make you wait any longer by doing my final rewrite edit that I usually do, so apologies for errors! ))
Warnings: Swearing, Character Injury, Mentioned (Minor) Character Death Characters: Marvin the Magnificent, Dr. Schneeplestein, Jameson Jackson, Jackieboy Man, Chase Brody, Second Officer Keen POV: Marvin the Magnificent
Theyâd arrived back at the habitat maybe an hour or so ago, and Marvin was fiddling with his PDA when banging startled him. Turning it off, he tipped his head questioningly at Jameson. The younger man was hitting his fist against the wall to get their attention. That explained the noise.
He pointed, then, signingâŠsomething. Marvin couldnât read the signs, but let his eyes follow Jamesonâs outstretched finger toward the window.
Marvin stood with his brows furrowing; somewhere behind him, he could hear Henrik hiss between his teeth as he re-wrapped the wound in his leg after checking on it. Eyes widening, he saw exactly what the chef had been pointing at.
âThereâsâŠthree of them. Please tell me Iâm not seeinâ things.â
He felt Henrik move to his side to get a better look. ââŠYes. Yes, see it, too.â
Three shadows approachedâtwo with Seaglides, one without. The one without the device was keeping surprisingly good pace with the other two.
âMaybe itâs Yu or Keen?â Marvin suggested, pursing his lips. He couldnât help feeling a little pang of guilt. Heâd been so adamant about leaving the island, and now it seemed like one of them had survived? He could barely hide his cringe when there was clanging from the entrance.
The outside hatch was opened and slammed shut again, then the drainage systems activated. It was only with the sound of the pumps falling silent that the bulkhead was shoved open. One Seaglide was left in the entrance (probably Jackieâs; he was really good at leaving it in bad places).
The second was in the hands ofâ
There stood Second Officer Keen: Slouching, exhausted, covered in cuts and bruises, but very much alive. He looked like he could pass out right where he stood.
âStatus?â he demanded instead, his cutting stare going straight for Henrik. When the doctor stood silent for apparently too long, Keen elaborated with, âInjuries? Survivor count?â
âCounting you,â he started, âis only six remainingâall in this room. Jacksonââ he nodded for the chef, ââhas fractured ribs and is being watched for pneumonia. Brody and Magnus both suffered minor concussions.â There was a grimace as the doctor shifted his weight to let off on his injured leg a little. âI was bitten by one of the fishâa âBiter.â The rest of our injuries consist of scrapes, bruises, and cuts that will heal on their own.â
MarvinâŠwasnât so sure of that last bit. Not when he took a good look at Jackie and cleared his throat to get Henrikâs attention, then gestured for the security guard.
âWhat the hell happened to him?!â
Scrapes, and cuts, and a torn divesuit, bloodied where the water hadnât washed it away on the swim back to the habitat. The fabric at his thigh was ripped apart completely, revealing the filthy shredded skin beneath it that was already discolored with a nasty bruise that had Marvin grimacing. He was also walking funny, wincing with every step even as Chase kept an arm around him.
âDid you fall off the goddamn mountain?!â
âHeh⊠Itâs really that obvious?â
Marvin had to hide his snort.
âWhat?â
âCan you just like. Wrap me up or somethinâ, please? It hurts, and weâve got shit to tell ya.â
The entertainer moved forward to help Chase with supporting the other man, walking him to a less-cluttered part of the habitat to sit him down. âWhy?â Marvin asked. âFind more data logs?â
Chase snorted. âYeah. That and more.â
The sound of ripping fabric filled the habitat as Henrik tore Jackieâs suite to get to the injury in his thigh. He was scowling, because of course he was. âWell? Spit it out!â
âWellâŠâ Chase rubbed the back of his neck. âThereâs another survivor. So, seven of us I guess. But like. Not from the Aurora. It was the Antony guy from the recordings.â
Eyes widening against his will, Marvin shook his head. âBut⊠That recording was ten years old. How is that possible?â
âHeâs found a way to surviveââ Keenâs voice startled Marvin; heâd about forgotten the officer was there, ââas will we.â
âThen why didnât you bring him here? I donât underââ
âHe has been in solitude for so long that his humanity is nonexistent and he attempted to kill us,â Keen interrupted. âHe already succeeded in doing so with the CTO. He called us âdiseasedâ and claimed we would poison him. The manâs gone mad. He can stay on the island.â The sharp edge to his tone was softened only by his grimacing as he sank to the floor with his back against the wall. He was still in his uniform, but one sleeve was shredded, both knees torn, and cuts ripped into the fabric throughout it revealed matching ones on the skin beneath. All in all, he was a mess.
After he was silent for a while, he added, âWe must avoid that island. Sepse knows this planet far better than we do, but with any luck he remains close to it when and if heâs ever in the water. The animals here, we can learn how they act. A human? Too unpredictable.â The hundreds of quotes Marvin had heard about man being the only true monster echoed in his head at that. âAâŠpackage, was sent to the Aurora. Iâm not positive what it was, but we need to get onââ
Frantic shaking of his head. âNope. Not happening.â Marvin paused for a few moments to pull a water bottle and nutrient bar out of one of the lockers, passing them both off to the officer before continuing as Keen glared daggers at him. âI already tried, okay? Fuckinâ thingâs surrounded by radiation. If youâre up for a suicide mission, then sure, go for it, but otherwise I suggested planting your ass right here.â
âYes,â Henrik added as he wrapped bandages around Jackieâs legâhad his already cleaned it? âIt sounds like you wereâŠotherwise occupied on the island, but we got a message shortly after returning. The shipâs drive core is damaged.â
There were an audible thunk as Keen tipped his head back to hit against the wall. A long sigh, then, âBrody. Would you know how to repair that?â
âDependinâ on the extent of the damage, I might be able to. But Iâd need a radiation suit and Iâm not goinâ alone.â
âIf we get the suits, Iâd go,â Jackie offered.
Good, Marvin thought. He wasnât going anywhere near the ship with that Reaper so close to it. He shuddered at the thought. âHow would we even get the suits?â He pulled his PDA off his hip and waved it around to prove a point. âWe donât have the blueprint.â
âWe do, actually.â Keen screwed the lid back on the nearly-empty water bottle and gestured to the PDA nearest him: Jamesonâs. âThe radiation suit is under a specialized lock when our devices enter Emergency Mode. Our PDAs will release the blueprint only if they deem it necessary. So as much as I hate to say it, further damage to the drive core should help trigger it.â
âWhich would mean it could be beyond my ability to repair it, but we can at least get that data package.â
âYes.â
âAndâŠwhat about the radiation? Canât just leave the drive core damaged and leaking, can we?â Marvin gestured vaguely out the window before crossing his arms. âI mean. Personally I like not being radiation poisoned, but maybe thatâs just me.â
Jackie and Chase both tried to stifle laughter while Jameson bit his lip and ducked his head. Keen only sighed. âWe can only hope it doesnât reach this far, at least until we have the suits. With any luck, the damage might still be repairable to stop it entirely.â
âThatâs reassuring.â
âOkay, okay.â Jackie prodded at the new bandaging on his thigh, wincing, and Marvin rolled his eyes when the security guard proceeded to poke at it again. âSoooo⊠We canât do anything about the ship âtil the drive core takes a little more damage. That means we keep doing what weâve been doing and gather supplies, right?â He hissed when Henrik moved to start cleaning the shredded soles of his feet, nearly kicking the doctor and earning a harsh glare. âBut somethinâ Iâve been wondering since the island⊠Keen, why didnât you just jump off the bridge into the bay? I mean. You threw your PDA from there, right? You couldâa just gotten away.â
The officerâs eyes dropped to the floor. He lookedâŠgenuinely upset as he shook his head with a soft sighâfingers picking at his remaining sleeve, shoulders slumped, head bowed low. âThe CTO and I got on the island from a different beach than the center bayâs, one more on its southern side. We remained at the surface for the entire trip thereâI didnât even realize it was floating until I left with you and Brody.
âWhen we reached the bridge, the CTO was already wounded and we didnât know the bay passed through the island. I thought we would be trapped if we jumped down there, so we chose not to risk it.â He closed his eyes and tipped his head back against the wall. âI see now that had we jumped in the bay, Yu would still be with us.â
âNothing we can do about now,â Marvin said. He moved back to one of the lockers to grab the officer more water, then blinked when he was met by the sight of the PDA. Heâd totally forgotten Jameson had put it in a locker. With it and another water bottle in each hand, he went to kneel at the officerâs side. âJust drink and eat. And then try to sleep. Fuck, you look like you need it.â
Keen tried to glare, but it fell away as he took the items offered to him.
âFor now, we should just keep doinâ what weâve been doing.â Chaseâs voice echoed slightly; he had his head in one of the lockers as he pulled supplies out. Marvin recognized them as the ones for a divesuit. âWeâll let Keen rest upâcould I take your PDA quick? Thank youâwhile we just keep gatherinâ. Once the rad suitâs unlocked, Jackie and I can head to the ship.â
When the fabricator finished the new suit, Chase gave both it and the PDA heâd taken (to make sure it got the correct sizing, if Marvin was to guess) to Keen. The accents on the new suit were a light gray. The entertainer really had to wonder if the colors were associated with sizes, or more so for ranks or positions on the ship.
âSoâŠâ Marvin ran a hand through his hair, frowning as his fingers caught tangles. âOur only plan right now is wait for the drive core toâŠI donât know, blow up?â
Chase just rolled his eyes. âDude. Itâs not gonna blow up.â
#writersofjack#jacksepticeye#marvin the magnificent#dr. schneeplestein#jameson jackson#chase brody#jackieboy man#second officer keen#deep blue sea#dbs ch18#blitz indites#subnautica crossover#swearing /#character injury /
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Alphabet Soup
Author: liketolaugh Summary:Â Connor likes to explore his identity in bits and pieces, understanding what makes him himself one slice of life at a time. When Valentine's Day rolls around, that's when he first starts wondering about romance. Or: Connor's coming out, first to himself and then to others.
âLieutenant, can you explain the concept of romantic love?â
Hank choked on his coffee, sending it sputtering in front of him as he coughed violently, setting the mug down hard on the table in front of him. Connor had to hide a grin, patting the man on the back to help him along until the man inevitably waved him off, still coughing.
âWhat the fuck,â Hank wheezed, once a few minutes had passed.
âI noticed the last time I went to the grocery store that some of the decorations had changed and a previously generic aisle had been redesigned to suit,â Connor explained, leaning against the table to idly monitor Hankâs respiration as it returned to baseline. âThe last time this happened was when Christmas was coming up, if you recall, so I did some research, and my system database indicated that the occasion in question was Valentineâs Day. I thought youâd be able to explain it to me.â
âYou fucker,â Hank complained, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. He immediately took another deep swig of the coffee, pointedly ignoring Connorâs small smirk, and set it down again. âUgh.â
âThatâs not very helpful, Lieutenant,â Connor said mildly.
âUgh,â Hank repeated, with extra emphasis. âAlright. Okay. Fine. Do we have to do this now?â
Connor quirked an eyebrow at him, head tilting a little. Hank scowled back. Their bickering attracted Tinaâs attention, and she sauntered over and plopped herself down with her own cup of coffee in hand.
âAnything causing the lieutenant that much visible anguish has my attention,â she announced, fixing avidly curious eyes on Connor. âWhatâs up?â
âI asked him to explain romantic love,â Connor informed her.
âYeah, that would do it,â she snorted, a delighted smirk pulling across her mouth. âIâm so glad you decided to do this in public, and also in my vicinity, because this is way too much fun to pass up. Heâs not gonna help you though. What did you want to know?â
Connor considered her for a moment, weighing the pros and cons of indulging her, but he was the one whoâd decided to do this in a public avenue. âHow do you recognize it?â
âOoh,â she crooned gleefully. âThatâs a fun one. Alright, so romantic love, that almost always starts with crushes.â
âWho has a crush?â Chris asked, appearing beside them. Hank seemed to have retreated into misery, scowling at the table and looking like he wished his coffee was spiked with something unhealthy. âNot you, I hope.â
âFuck you, Chris,â Tina said without heat. âWeâre explaining romance to Connor.â
âNo, youâre not,â Connor disagreed, bringing a fist up to support his cheek idly.
âIâm getting to it,â Tina assured him. âCrushes, do you ever look at someone and just get excited to be around them? Maybe nervous? You know, butterflies in your stomach, fluttering heart, all that wonderful teenager stuff.â
Connorâs mind unwillingly shot to Markus. âNo,â he said, a touch too quickly.
Tina looked skeptical, but didnât push the issue. âWhatever, youâll know it when you feel it.â
âOkay, but thatâs not all there is to it,â Chris argued, and Connor shifted his gaze to him, hoping he would be more helpful. Chris shot him a small grin. âRomantic love kinda follows you your whole life. Crushes are part of it, but it matures over time. Your partnerâs supposed to support you no matter what, even when things get hard. Thatâs the beauty of it though.â
âChris is being sappy because every time he and his wife argue, they talk it through and fall even more in love,â Tina explained to Connor, who was at this point just growing increasingly confused.
âWhy are we explaining the intricacies of successful marriages?â Ben asked, appearing by Hank and leaning on the table. âNot that Iâm complaining, but I think the only ones married here are Chris and I.â
âConnor is asking about romance,â Chris explained to Ben. âTina decided to save Hank the suffering.â
All of them looked at Hank, who had one hand covering his face, trying to tune out the conversation.
âAnd I decided to pitch in,â Chris finished, with an almost apologetic tone to his voice.
âIâm beginning to think I should have suffered in silence,â Connor mused aloud, trying not to smile. He wasnât expecting this to be an actively popular topic, but he didnât think heâd had a conversation this active or friendly with his coworkers before, and certainly not so many at once.
âYou really should have,â Hank groaned, kicking him under the table. Connor kicked him back shamelessly, and Hank cursed, giving him a dirty look, to which Connor tilted his head innocently.
âYouâll understand when you get a girlfriend,â Ben told Connor kindly, smile faintly bemused. âMaybe that nice girl from analytics.â
Tina clapped. âOh, thatâs a good example! Connor, you know Alicia?â
Connor nodded cautiously, head tilting. âYes? Sheâs rather nice but a little strange.â
âThatâs because she has a crush on you,â Tina explained earnestly. âShe talks to you a lot with really flimsy reasoning, right? And she stutters and blushes and does you favors?â
âYesâŠâ Connor said, slow and cautious as he tried to follow, a little overwhelmed now. âWhat⊠do I do about this?â
âOh god,â Hank groaned. Connor took the initiative and kicked him first this time.
âYou donât have to do anything,â Chris provided with a sympathetic smile. âBut youâd definitely have more than a fair chance, if you want to ask her out. You probably get a little nervous around her too, right? Maybe want to get to know her better?â
âYour heart should beat fast,â Ben added, with a touch of wistfulness to his voice. âMaybe you want to show off and impress her. Young love is something special.â
Connor shook his head, increasingly flustered and starting to regret bringing up the topic more sincerely.
âI donât,â he protested. âI just noticed that she was acting strangely.â Heâd actually been a little concerned, and he wasnât sure he felt any better about it now. How was he supposed to respond to a girl with a crush on him? This certainly wasnât in his programming.
âThank god,â Hank muttered, and then, clearer, bumping Connor more gently, âThen sheâs flat out of luck, and you donât have to do anything except maybe let her down nice if you feel like it.â
Connor hummed with some distress, finally reaching out to do some quick supplementary research, and then, after a few moments, said, âMy research indicates that not all couples are a woman and a man?â
His mind flicked to the Tracis, two girls wrapped together like that would protect them from the rest of the world.
âHe gets it,â Tina said with obvious pleasure, jabbing her thumb at Connor.
âMost couples are,â Ben corrected, with an almost apologetic bent.
Connor started to reply, but was distracted when someone else finally came into the break room, and a quick glance told Connor that it was Detective Reed whoâd entered. Instantly, a smirk shot across Connorâs face and he called out,
âDetective Reed, look at me!â
Detective Reed turned around, a faintly confused scowl on his face as he stopped fumbling for a mug.
âBitch,â Connor said clearly, and Reed sputtered.
The other four humans collapsed into various forms of laughter, and that was the end of that conversation. But Connor kept thinking about it, even when he went back to work and long after Hank had put it out of his mind.
-------
Hank wasnât able to put it out of his mind for long, because soon after that, Connor started playing love songs in a wide variety of genres whenever the radio was silent for more than a few minutes.
The nature of the activity wasnât itself particularly unusual; Connor spent quite a lot of time exploring new possible interests whenever they were drawn to his attention, and Hank had been kind enough to give him space to do so. The man had put up with classical, rap, movie soundtracks, and electrobeat as Connor tested them all out by turn.
Apparently Hank drew the line at Kelly Clarkson.
âCanât you play this shit in your head?â Hank demanded of Connor, less than a week into his newest curiosity. He looked exceptionally sullen, slumped against the arm of the couch and making quiet, irritable groaning noises.
Connor would argue that he looked like a petulant child. It wouldnât be the first time.
âI could,â Connor said agreeably, âbut this is one of the few occasions where doing so externally is genuinely better than keeping it within my system.â Transmitting sound data directly into his mind wasnât quite the same as listening to it play.
âWasnât it enough to put me through that whole talk at work?â Hank demanded of him. âYou gotta subject me to Taylor Swift all day too?â
âI donât know how to tell you this,â Connor deadpanned, glancing over at Hank, âbut none of you were actually very helpful.â But Hankâs continual protests were starting to put a knot in his chest, and before he could think better of it, he asked, âIs there a reason youâre so reluctant to help me explore this particular topic, Lieutenant?â
Hank went still for a moment, and Connor winced as he realized what had caught his attention. Connor only called him âLieutenantâ at home when he was uncomfortable. But he couldnât help it; Hank was usually so unconditionally supportive of any moves Connor made to explore his opinions, so this uncharacteristic protest was making him nervous.
Hank exhaled.
âHell,â he sighed, obviously frustrated. âItâs just- a messy topic, Con. I never really got the hang of it myself. Thatâs why I have an ex-wife instead of a wife.â Connor bit his cheek, trying to push his scattered thoughts together into a response, but when Hank looked over at him, the manâs expression relaxed a little, resigned instead of annoyed. âMost people go through their first fumbling relationships when theyâre teenagers. I guess you didnât exactly get that chance though.â
âI was never a teenager, Hank,â Connor reminded the other, trying to force the anxiety in his chest to ease. Hank rolled his eyes, but relaxed noticeably.
âYeah, no shit. Anyway, Iâll put up with it, I guess. God knows I have practice.â
That made Connor curious, but not enough to ask. âAppreciated.â
So Connor kept running through them, shifting quickly from genre to genre but sticking to the main topic. He found that he preferred love songs by women, and liked the heartbroken ones as much as he did the longing and lovestruck ones, and otherwise his genre preferences had remained rather uniform: metal and rock were his favorite, pop was okay, and country and hip-hop were out of the question.
A few times, he tried to imagine what kind of woman he might want to date, but his mind skittered over the idea without catching on anything, and eventually he accepted the defeat with as much grace as he could. Maybe it was simply something he couldnât guess before he tried. (Or maybe it was just another way Connor was failing to understand.)
Hank assured him, gruffly, that heâd probably work it out in time â he always had more faith in Connor than Connor had in himself, even if he was usually reluctant to express it.
Connor himself, of course, wasnât nearly so sure. Who would even want to love Connor so intimately? Connor was⊠well. Connor. The reasons not to like him couldnât be counted on fingers.
He didnât say that to Hank, of course, and it didnât stop him from thinking about it.
--------
In the immediate wake of this, Connor came to New Jerichoâs headquarters on a social call.
It wasnât something he made a point of doing. Actually, it was something heâd tried his very best not to do, not wanting to cause the androids of New Jericho any more discomfort than was strictly necessary to perform his duties. Even social calls as a more general concept were foreign to him. What would they even do? Most of the time, Connor either followed Hankâs lead or entertained himself alone. Group activities were new territory, and he was as unsure of himself as he ever was.
But Markus had asked. Connor rarely found it in himself to deny Markus anything.
So he met Josh at the front door of the headquarters and followed him inside, keeping quiet and awkward. Josh would be a reassuring presence if Connor werenât so nervous just to be around him â he kept up a litany of neutral-ground questions about work and about Hank, and accepted Connorâs stilted answers without any evident frustration.
âW-what were you and the others planning on doing tonight?â Connor blurted out eventually, and winced when he realized that it had no relevance to the question Josh had just asked about Sumo.
Josh favored him with a small smile and Connor looked away quickly, self-conscious.
âWe were thinking about just watching a movie,â Josh said conversationally. âNorth gets testy when we try to talk work on Saturday nights, and movies arenât something any of us except Markus have a lot of experience with. Itâs nice.â Josh considered. âWell, Simon knows some, but theyâre mostly for kids.â
He sounded very pleased, Connor thought, and it made sense. All of them were still working on finding their footing in a world that, while not exactly safe, was no longer quite so actively attacking them.
âWhat kinds of movies?â Connor ventured after a moment, still stiff and nervous despite his own best efforts.
âWell, North likes action movies, of course,â Josh said with a roll of his eyes. âThe more violence, the better. Simon likes the absolute trashiest romances-â
âCan we try one of those?â Connor asked without thinking, and cringed as he realized heâd interrupted Josh, who was blinking at him, startled. He ducked his head. âSorry.â
They reached a door, and Josh pushed it open to go through, bemused gaze still lingering on Connor. âI didnât think youâd like that sort of thing â I kind of figured youâd be on Northâs side, honestly.â
Before Connor had a chance to answer, Markus called out, âConnor, Josh, hello!â
Connor started and shrank in on himself a little, irrationally startled, and he lingered back to examine the room while Josh talked to Markus. It was nothing special, certainly nothing to indicate it was in one of the most important buildings in Detroit â an old TV system and a couple of battered couches, one of which Markus and Simon were sharing, and one of which had North flung over most of it, tossing her ball in the air with an aura of general impatience. When she caught Connor looking, she raised a lazy hand in greeting, and he relaxed a little and nodded back.
Connor would never tell any of them this, but he was by far the most comfortable with North out of any of them. It wasnât that she was the least suspicious â sheâd actually been by far the most so for over a month â but they were⊠more alike, than the others.
Connor wasnât sure he could ever be truly comfortable with Josh when his first instinct when he was scared was still, after all this time heâd been deviant, to lash out with all of the prowess of his combat program. Even if he didnât usually do it. (Usually. Hank had, once, almost gotten a black eye from startling him.)
It was a little better with Markus, who was patient and calm but certainly had the resolve to fight if he ever needed it, and Simon, who would fight if he thought it was the only way out. But not much.
They could, and if they really had to they would, but they didnât hurt people like he did. And there was nothing Connor could do to match that.
Connor left Markus and Josh to go perch on the end of Northâs couch. âJosh said you like action movies,â he said without preamble, glancing at the still-off television screen.
North grinned at him. âTheyâre better than anything else we can find. You joining me on that?â
Connor shrugged. Heâd liked comedies so far, but he actually hadnât explored much beyond what Hank had insisted he see yet.
âHe actually asked for one of Simonâs bad romances,â Josh provided with a grin, apparently catching their conversation. Connor heated up, embarrassed, and Simon beamed at him, bright and sparkling.
âOh my god, why,â North said with exaggerated affront, and this time Connor had to fight his grin down.
âIâm just exploring the idea,â he protested, focusing deliberately on Northâs exasperated expression to avoid the reactions of the three others. âIâve been curious about the idea of romance since shortly before Valentineâs Day. I havenât had much exposure to it in any form.â
Northâs nose wrinkled with a more genuine displeasure, though it wasnât specifically directed at him. âWho fucking needs that anyway,â she muttered.
Both his eyebrows rising, Connor glanced at Markus inquisitively. He didnât disappoint.
âNorth and I broke up last month,â he explained, with only a small amount of regret in his voice. âThings were getting⊠letâs say, a little too intense.â
âHe means we argued so much that we made up more than we got along,â North clarified, not quite bitter but definitely irritated. âNot exactly life partner material.â She threw a look over her shoulder. âShouldâve gone with Josh after all.â
Connor was confused until Josh objected, âJust because Markus swings that way doesnât mean I do.â
âThanks, guys,â Markus said, wearily enough that even North looked briefly apologetic. He glanced at Connor and elaborated with a wry smile, âI had a crush on Josh too, during the revolution, but that was kind of a dead end and there wasnât exactly time to think about it anyway.â
Connor glanced between the four of them slowly, playing catch up. âYouâre bisexual,â he concluded at last, unable to help a spark of interest.
Markusâ smile eased, his shoulders dropping, and he nodded. âSomething like that. Josh is straight, though, and North isâŠâ
âWorking on it,â North finished for him, audibly dismissive. âNot.â
Understandable.
Connor considered this for a moment, glancing between them, but was interrupted before he could finish processing; he was finding himself a little tongue-tied. Possibly Hankâs embarrassment concerning the topic was infectious.
âOh no,â Simon said suddenly, with slow-dawning dismay. âI didnât even think about it.â
Josh twisted to stare at him, distracted. âYou love romance.â
âThatâs other people,â Simon explained earnestly, looking distressed. Connor almost smiled.
âIâm just curious,â he said, as honestly as he could. He was probably straight, according to Ben and some of Hankâs own implications, but they all sounded so confident that he didnât feel secure enough to actually say so.
Markus smiled at him, and Connor averted his eyes, embarrassed. âThatâs fine. Iâm sure thereâs quite a lot of androids who havenât even started thinking about romance just yet.â
Connor smiled a little, some of the tension draining out of him, and North cleared her throat loudly.
âOkay, but letâs get back to the point,â she said loudly. âWhich is, thereâs no way Iâm sitting through another goddamn Hallmark movie.â
Simon made a low protesting noise, and Connor deflated a little, though he hadnât really expected his request to make an impact anyway.
âCompromise,â Josh said firmly. âIâm sure we can find an action movie with a romance subplot.â
âYeah, like we can find one without one,â North grumbled.
âBut what do you and Markus like?â Connor asked earnestly, leaning forward to listen even as Josh went to join Markus and Simon on the other couch.
âFantasy, mostly,â Josh confessed with a shrug. âIâm a little tired of history, if Iâm honest.â There was a touch of humor to his tone, and Connor nodded his understanding. âAnd Markus likes the indie stuff.â
âItâs creative,â Markus said defensively, and Connor had to laugh.
----------
Tina wasnât sure when Connor had picked up the habit of bringing everyone coffee toward the end of the workday, but it had certainly endeared him to the rest of the precinct. It probably had something to do with the fact that he was always finished a good hour before the rest of them. If he wasnât bringing them coffee, heâd just spend the end of the day fidgeting restlessly, or else heâd start on the backlog of paperwork that had never gotten done.
It was around that time of day again and Connor appeared from the breakroom with a labeled paper cup for each of them, bringing it around â first to Hank, who had certain privileges as Connorâs blatant favorite. Then Ben, and Tina made grabby hands when Connor came by her that made him visibly bite down a smile.
Connor bypassed Gavin entirely, which made him scowl, and Tina saw Connor cast a lightning-quick glance over his shoulder to smirk at the manâs reaction. He gave one to Chris, to Wilson, to Person, and he only came around back to Gavin once heâd given one to every other officer waiting.
Gavinâs coffee, it developed, was labeled âRat Manâ. Tina hid a grin behind her fist, and Gavinâs outrage grew visibly.
âYou got something to say to me, tin can?â Gavin demanded of Connor, who raised his eyebrows.
âIâve heard some of the other officers refer to you as such,â he said innocently, eyes glittering. âThereâs really no reason for me not to do the same.â
Gavin shook the coffee angrily at Connor and swore as some of it splashed onto his hand. âDonât act like you donât fucking know what youâre saying, you plastic piece of shit! Iâm not gonna take this disrespect when I make sergeant!â
âThen Iâll be sure to keep it out of your hearing when you finally achieve that rank,â Connor said mildly. âWhich may be easier if you stop giving yourself coffee burns.â
Gavin looked Connor in the eye and swallowed down several gulps of what Tina knew to be boiling hot coffee without flinching. He paused for a few minutes, probably waiting for the pain to die down, and then said roughly, âFuck you. Iâll be there before you are, blue blood.â
Connor looked away quickly, borderline flustered and genuine amusement pulling at his mouth, and shrugged. Tina, unlike Gavin, was in perfect position to see his LED flash yellow for a few seconds before returning to blue, and she didnât have time to be concerned before Connor said lightly,
âYouâd probably find last weekâs Kendelson case very interesting, Detective. There are some distinct similarities in execution and profiling, if you want to take a look.â His eyes flashed back to a squinting Gavin, smirking just a little. âDonât worry, Iâll wait.â
Then he took off back to his desk, settling by Hank again before Gavin could reply. Gavin stared after him for a minute, brow furrowed, and then shrugged, shaking his head like he was throwing off a fly.
Tina waited for Gavin to take another drink before saying, tone conversational, âYou know if you break his baby gay heart, Anderson is going to kill you and weâll never find your body.â
Gavin choked, which was exactly what sheâd been hoping for.
âWhat the fuck? Connorâs not gay and he doesnât have a fucking crush on me!â
Tina waited. She and Gavin were two of the few queer officers in the precinct, and she was sure he could pick up on Connorâs signals as well as she could. Gavin stared straight ahead, thinking, and then, sure enough, his jaw dropped.
âOh fuck,â Gavin said, with genuine dawning horror. âHeâs gay and he has a crush on me. Tina, donât you fucking dare tell him.â
Tina grinned. âYou should probably go pick that case up. Connorâs usually right about these things.â
âI hate you so fucking much,â Gavin said fervently, and then he stood up and headed for the records room.
--------
It was hard for Connor to find hobbies, especially in a city that had only in the last month or two began to settle into a new rhythm after the revolution. But he thought he was managing well enough, with some help from Hank and occasionally from Markus or Simon.
The animal shelter had been Simonâs idea; Connor loved animals, liked being productive, and the animal shelters had in many cases never actually left, only become severely understaffed, owing to the difficulty of transporting so many animals on such short notice. It had quickly become one of Connorâs favorite places, and he tried to go there at least every two weeks, if not every Saturday, helping to herd and entertain the dogs while the actual caretakers did their jobs.
He almost always found that heâd stayed longer than heâd meant to â he simply enjoyed himself too much, cooing to the dogs and coaxing the shyer ones into playing just as hard as the loud ones. It was a good way to de-stress after a week of police work; even Hank had commented after the first couple times he went.
All of this was to say â when he went to the shelter, and found himself struggling to focus on the dogs, he noticed.
Connor had quickly gotten to know all of the employees there, just as theyâd gotten to know him, with how regularly he came around and how recognizable he was. He knew that Jeanine liked the cats better, that Kenneth was a bit of a worrywart, that Penny had been suspicious of him the first few times he came but had warmed up quickly when she saw him fawn over the dogs.
The first thing Connor thought when he saw the new boy opening the kennels was that he was very, very cute, and it wasnât until the dogs were barking at his feet that he remembered that he had a task to perform.
âHello,â he greeted awkwardly, kneeling to hold out his hands to the dogs and let them recognize him and his scent; it often took them a minute, since he didnât smell like any human, but they always got there quickly. They were very smart.
The boy started, glanced over, and smiled. âOh, hey- Connor, right?â
Connor nodded, looking down. âI donât believe Iâve seen you around here before. When did you start?â
âJust last week,â the boy said cheerfully, moving on to the next kennel. Connor glanced up and thought he liked the boyâs smile. It looked like it came easy. âA lot easier to get jobs in Detroit now that so many people have moved out- uh.â He seemed to think that over for a moment, and then glanced gingerly over at Connor.
Connor smiled at him reassuringly. âIâm sure,â he agreed. âWhatâs your name?â
The boy relaxed. âJacob, nice to meet you. Iâve heard a bit about you from the others.â
Connor let an embarrassed grin slip onto his face. âI like dogs,â he said, and then realized that was rather redundant. But Jacob laughed.
âIâve heard,â he said.
And perhaps that should have been it â but Connor kept getting distracted, watching Jacob lead the dogs away one by one to look them over, weigh them, and scrub them down, just the ordinary routine that every other worker did once a week. Connor caught him cooing to the dogs, too, well within Connorâs sensitive hearing, fond and friendly and gentle, and didnât realize heâd gotten distracted until one of the ones near him shoved their cold nose against his palm insistently.
He felt unaccountably nervous. Not frightened, but rather, he realized, excited, and he couldnât help but wonder why. Jacob was just a boy, with a nice smile and a talent for handling dogs â so why did he have so much of Connorâs attention?
And then Connor remembered how Tina had described a crush to him, and wondered.
---------
The first thing Connor did when he looked up and met Chloeâs eyes was flex his hands, closing them into fists and then opening them again, something uncomfortable deep in his chest.
But they were empty. Of course they were. Androids still were not technically allowed to handle guns, and he was at work.
Chloe just gave him a small, almost understanding smile, and he had to wonder if sheâd caught the motion. Either way, she bypassed everyone else to stand by his desk, hands clasped neatly behind her and apparently unconcerned by her environment and the stares she was getting.
She was alone, Connor noticed, and appeared more animated than she had at Kamskiâs villa. He wondered why.
âHello,â he said at last, for lack of anything better to say.
âHello,â Chloe returned lightly. âItâs good to see you, Connor. I was wondering if youâd be willing to take a short break to talk to me for a while.â
Connor stared at her uncertainly, mouth pinched. He had no objections himself, of course, but he couldnât help but want to know why sheâd even want to speak to him. He certainly wouldnât, after heâd come so terribly close to shooting her in cold blood.
When he glanced over to Hank for support, though, the man just made a small shooing motion at him. There was something odd about his expression, though Connor was too uncomfortable to take the time to decipher it just now.
Ben, on the other hand, gave him a wink, which just made Connor more uncomfortable, and Chris gave him a small and reassuring grin. Tina appeared to be laughing silently, eyes bright, and Gavin rolled his eyes, long and exaggerated.
Eventually, Connor just turned his gaze back to Chloe and nodded slowly.
âOf course,â he agreed. âGive me just a moment to finish, please.â
Chloe nodded, and waited patiently as he added the last few strokes to his report and closed his terminal. Then he stood up and followed her out the door, confused and nervous in a much more familiar and anxious way.
âIâm sorry,â he blurted out, glancing at her once they were a few minutes down the block. âAbout⊠about before.â His throat was thick with stress.
Chloe just gave him an understanding look.
âIt was a long time ago,â she said gently, âbut I was a machine once too. I remember what it was like⊠and all I was programmed to do was take calls and file paperwork.â
Connor clenched his jaw, trying to master the wave of guilt before it choked him.
âElijah never thought you were going to shoot,â Chloe added kindly when he remained silent. âBut⊠I wanted to thank you for not doing so, anyway. It must have been difficult.â
âYou shouldnât have to thank me for it,â Connor blurted out, terse with pain.
âI donât,â Chloe corrected. âIâm choosing to.â Her gaze swept over the street, and her expression softened noticeably. âIt helps that itâs you. I donât think you know what it means to me, that I can wander around without pretending to be a machine. That alone would make up for quite a lot.â
âThat wasnât me at all,â Connor protested weakly. âThat was mostly Markus.â
âIt was,â Chloe agreed, which wasnât a response Connor was at all used to but which was somehow comforting in and of itself. âBut you certainly helped.â She glanced at Connor, warm. âItâs different for you. Youâve never known a time before androids walked the streets. But I was the first, and I remember. Connor, this is everything to me. It wouldnât have happened without Markus, and it wouldnât have happened without you either.â
She was right â Connor couldnât quite wrap his mind around it. Even the dozens of old movies heâd seen, without any androids in them at all, background or otherwise, seemed like a different world, one that existed only in fiction.
After a minute, he decided to just accept it. He didnât really need to understand why sheâd forgiven him, anyway, and he probably never would one way or another.
âThank you for forgiving me,â is what he settled on, stiff but sincere, and she gave him an understanding smile.
She hadnât seemed this old when heâd seen her before; it made him feel quite young by comparison, in a way he wasnât really used to. But then, he supposed, sheâd probably been pretending to be a machine then. Plausible deniability, on her part or on Kamskiâs, or both. Chloe must have had quite a lot of time to grow and develop.
What came out of his mouth next surprised him. âMay I ask you a sensitive question?â
Chloe paused for only a split second, apparently surprised, and then nodded. âCertainly, but I reserve the right not to answer.â
âYou seem⊠comfortable with yourself,â he explained haltingly. âWhich I assume is from having quite a lot of time to explore your own identity.â He paused for a split second, uncomfortable, and then pressed on. âHow does one go about exploring their sexuality?â
Chloeâs surprise was almost audible, but there was a genuinely pondering look on her face as they turned around to head back towards the precinct, almost in unison.
âIs this a sex question or an identity question?â she asked at last.
Connor flushed. âThe latter,â he said quickly.
Chloe was quiet for a few more moments as they walked. âWhy are you asking me, out of anyone?â she asked eventually.
Connor shrugged uncomfortably.
âWe only have a passing acquaintance,â he explained slowly, hesitantly. âSo youâre essentially impartial. Youâve had more time to explore yourself than any other android I know, including Markus, since heâs been a deviant for so little time. I thought⊠if I could ask anyone, I could ask you and not suffer too many repercussions.â
Chloe nodded, slow and thoughtful.
âI realized I was aromantic a while back,â she said matter-of-factly, head tilted to watch him. He ran a search on the term and nodded his understanding, and she continued, âIt took quite a while. At first I thought I was maybe too young to be getting crushes, and I hadnât developed that far yet. Then I thought it was because I had too little exposure to the outside world. Who was I going to get a crush on, Elijah?â She rolled her eyes, and Connor had to smile a little. âBut that wasnât it either. I just wasnât interested, not even in the idea.â
She stopped for a minute, and he let her think. They were almost halfway back to the precinct now.
âSo my experience might be a bit different,â she continued, with a small smile. âBut Iâd suggest you give serious thought to who youâd want to be in a relationship with, not just who you think youâre supposed to. If you have to force it, itâs probably not right.â
Connor hummed uncertainly. He understood her words, butâŠ
Well. It just didnât seem like it would be that simple.
She caught his eye and smiled.
âYou can kiss me if you want to try,â she said carelessly, eyes glittering with something like amusement. âI wouldnât mind â itâs not like I get the chance often.â
Connor considered that for a moment, and briefly imagined his lips against hers, the way heâd seen other people do, bodies pressed together just a little-
âNo thank you,â he said hastily, and she quite rightfully laughed at him.
His smile came out embarrassed, but he didnât take it back.
----------
Hank got his first clue when Connor started to put LGBTQ documentaries on the television whenever he had a chance.
It had initially surprised Hank that Connor was lingering this long over the idea of romance, but in hindsight it shouldnât have; Connor had thus far chosen to explore his identity in phases. Heâd explored clothes and colors and decorations all together, and games with movies and outings, and technological history over the course of a week with nearly unbreakable focus â once he hit on a new problem, he worked at it until he was satisfied. There was no reason that this would be any different.
Maybe the real reason Hank was so confused was that he hadnât expected it to take this long.
And one or two might have been attributed to Connor talking to others, but after Connor put on the fifth that month, watching intently, Hank started to get the idea. He was a police detective for a reason, after all. A long time ago, heâd been a borderline prodigy.
It wasnât that Hank hadnât ever thought about it before.
Well, that was almost a lie. It hadnât occurred to him to think about Connor coming out. But heâd thought about Cole, and remembered how his parents, so long ago, had reacted to his lesbian sister. And heâd remembered how he hadnât spoken more than a few words to his sister in decades because of that.
âI remember the day gay marriage got legalized,â he said conversationally, and Connor started, turning to him with wide and curious eyes. Hank shrugged at him. âI honestly didnât even know it was up for vote at the time, but I woke up that morning and there were rainbows all over the internet. Rainbow drinks, rainbow food, rainbow clothes, hell, public buildings lit up in rainbow colors to celebrate. People were talking about it all over, hashtag lovewins â that one stuck around for a while, people loved it.â
Connor tilted his head, the exact same curious gesture he always made. âWhat did you think?â he asked.
âWell, at first I figured it was pretty cool, but it didnât really have that much to do with me,â Hank said casually. The memory came easily; heâd been pretty self-absorbed then, focused on his own ambitions. Heh. âBut then Jeffrey called me.â
âYou were already friends back then,â Connor said, thoughtful, and it wasnât always obvious how young Connor was but times like this, so surprised that he and Jeffrey had been friends twenty years ago when they were both over fifty years old, it kind of showed.
âWe joined the force around the same time,â Hank agreed. âWeâd been friends for almost a decade at that point â nothing like now, obviously. Anyway, he wanted to know what I thought of it too, and I told him basically what I told you. As soon as I was done, he came out to me.â He caught Connorâs startled expression and had to grin. âYeah- he doesnât spread it around, but heâs not in the closet either. He says heâs married to his work, but thatâs an inside joke â his husbandâs an ex-con.â
That surprised a genuine laugh out of Connor, rare enough that it made Hank grin too.
âIâve heard it a thousand times,â he tacked on, leaning back and noticing the Connor had at some point paused the documentary. âItâs not even funny anymore, frankly.â
âI donât know, itâs certainly funny to me,â Connor disagreed, giving Hank a small grin, and Hank snorted.
âYouâve got bad taste in humor, son.â
Heâd have to introduce Connor to Brooklyn 99 later. Heâd love it.
---------
New Jericho didnât have a gym, exactly, but there was a large room spread with padding on one of the lower floors, which served essentially the same purpose â androids didnât need to work out, of course, but some of them liked to.
Connor only ever used it when he was teaching North the forms from his combat programs, but he had it on good authority that she used it whenever she got the chance. Especially to practice, but for other things as well, moving just to feel her servos whir and her artificial tendons stretch.
He was running her through one of his favorite sets, meant to unbalance and knock down an enemy, when Markus appeared, striding through the doors like he was at home here as anywhere else, and maybe he was.
âConnor!â he called out, and he sounded pleased. âIâve been looking for you! I should have known you were in here.â
Connorâs running explanation to North broke off into stutters, and in the middle of a motion, he faltered, tipped, and then fell, landing hard on the ground in a daze. Mortified, he scrambled up back to his feet and swung around to look at Markus, who was smiling at him, clearly amused and warmly affectionate.
Connor hadnât understood the term âhis heart skipped a beatâ before. He did now.
âA-ah, hello, Markus,â he greeted, fidgeting as he tried to calm his embarrassment. âWhat did you need?â
âI wanted to check on you,â Markus admitted shamelessly, coming closer. âIâm glad you and North get along so well â and I heard you spoke to Chloe recently?â
Connor nodded quickly, and the two of them spoke for a few more minutes â Markus eventually confessed that heâd wanted to know how Connorâs work environment had been so far, and Connor explained what he could, which he felt was embarrassingly little. He wasnât always particularly good at picking up on everything he should, in a social environment, and he didnât have answers to all of Markusâ questions. Markus assured him it was fine, but Connor was still rather embarrassed, and he kept fidgeting until Markus smiled at him again and left the way heâd come.
âNorth,â he whispered as soon as Markus left, feeling stunned, âI think Iâm gay.â
âYeah, I thought so too,â North agreed, with clear amusement.
---------
Once the realization had finally hit Connor in its entirety, it seemed obvious. The nervousness around many of his closer male friends, the constant curiosity that led him to ask relationship questions that seemed to surprise some of the others, the disinterest in women that heâd noticed almost from the start- it made sense.
It also felt like a secret that stuck in his throat, and he couldnât help but remember Benâs apologetic correction, most couples are.
He should come out to Hank first. He was closer to Hank than essentially anyone, and he knew, from the conversation he and Hank had had before, that Hank would most likely be okay with it.
But he found himself anxious. It sometimes felt like Hank was all he had, and the very last thing he wanted to do was to risk alienating him. Irrationally, despite everything â or perhaps because of everything â he worried that this would be the final straw.
The first time it occurred to him to talk to Captain Fowler, he dismissed it entirely. While Fowler and Hank were good friends, the man still made Connor a little nervous, as such a significant and direct authority figure. Besides which, they didnât have that kind of relationship.
Then the thought occurred to him again, and again, his mind wandering back to it periodically â almost every time the topic came up, including twice when Hank asked why heâd so suddenly stopped talking about it.
Eventually, he gave in and awkwardly suggested that Hank go on ahead â he wanted to talk to Captain Fowler about something before they left. It wasnât even technically a lie. Hank gave him a weird look, but went on easily enough.
Connor waited another minute or two once heâd gone, working up his nerves, and then went to knock on Fowlerâs office door. He waited for permission, and then went inside.
Captain Fowler was packing up for the day, but he turned to Connor as he entered, one eyebrow raised. âConnor,â he greeted briskly. âWhat is it that couldnât wait for tomorrow?â
Connor fidgeted, and Fowlerâs eyebrow raised further.
âCaptain,â he said at last, uncomfortable. âMay I ask you a personal question?â
Fowler stared at him.
âHank warned me about your personal questions,â he said at last, sardonic, âbut I didnât think youâd actually do it.â Then, âSure, shoot.â
Connor swallowed, letting his gaze fall to the ground, and hesitated long enough for Fowler to clear his throat impatiently.
âDo you⊠have any advice, about coming out?â he asked, soft and so embarrassed that his voice was only a little louder than a whisper.
There was a long moment of complete silence, and Connor tugged on the sleeve of his jacket.
âComing out,â Fowler said slowly, almost incredulously. âAs LGBT?â
Connor nodded without looking up.
âYou know Iâm married to my work,â Fowler said, with no hint that it was a joke at all. Still, Connor smiled a little.
âYes,â he confirmed. âYour husband is an ex-con.â
Fowler snorted, and another long, interminable minute passed. It occurred to Connor, belatedly, that Hank may have been messing with him.
âSure,â Fowler said finally, and Connor started, looking up with more surprise than he wanted to admit to. Fowler didnât quite look sympathetic, but he certainly appeared more forgiving than he had a minute ago, if still a little bemused. He dropped back into his chair, and gestured for Connor to sit in the one across from him. âI assume you heard Iâm gay from Hank, heâs one of maybe three people that know that joke â he tell you how I came out?â
Connor shook his head. âOnly that you did it the day gay marriage was initially legalized.â
âIt made for a good opener,â Fowler agreed, and he seemed to be settling into the conversation, arms crossing. âIdeally, youâd test the waters first, see where they stand before you go all-in. Have you talked to Hank yet? I mean, I assume this is about Hank first and foremost.â
âNot about⊠me,â Connor said hesitantly, still fidgeting with his sleeve. But it was reassuring, Fowlerâs easy acceptance â and, for some reason, the fact that heâd taken it for granted that Hank was that important to Connor, that Connor would be thinking of him. âBut Iâd been watching some documentaries, and he talked about his stance then.â
Fowler huffed a little, and Connor thought he mightâve been amused.
âHankâs not a bad guy,â he said grudgingly. âIt sounds like he handled that part for you, maybe on purpose.â He shrugged. âOnce I knew where he stood, I told him I was glad Iâd be able to get married now. Itâs a little easier to be blunt, if you can bring yourself to.â
Connor could be blunt; Hank complained rather often that he was too much so.
âAnd if I⊠didnât want to?â he asked, uncertain despite himself.
Fowler sighed, but he didnât seem resentful; instead, he settled in, and they kept talking.
---------
Connor made dinner for Hank most days, when he could get away with it, so that seemed like the obvious place to start: he made something nicer than usual, with less mind to nutritional information and more to Hankâs tastes, and waited for him to be most of the way done before he spoke.
Hank seemed to pick up on his mood, maybe because he couldnât completely stop his LED from flickering nervously every so often, and he ate scrolling absently through his phone instead of fielding Connorâs usual conversation.
âHank,â Connor said at last, his strain not quite coming through to his voice, âmay I tell you something personal?â
Hank shut off his phone immediately, flipped it so the screen faced down, and raised an eyebrow at Connor. âThatâs new,â he said mildly. Connorâs expression pinched a little, and his face immediately took on an apologetic cast and he waved Connor on.
Connor fidgeted, weaving his coin around and around his fingers, rocking slightly with his feet tucked under him.
âI talked to Chloe,â he mumbled, then cleared his throat and spoke a little clearer, though without looking at Hank. âAbout, ah, exploring oneâs identity, since she has the most experience â she had some good advice, I think, and Iâve been⊠thinking.â
He faltered again, but Hank didnât move to interrupt, though one eyebrow had crooked up a little. Heâd stopped eating, but when Connorâs gaze flickered down again, he resumed.
âI react differently to North than the other Jericho leaders,â he said, and he knew it was a touch scattered, didnât entirely make sense, but he couldnât help it; all of his careful scripting seemed to have deleted itself. âI understand some of it, but thereâs no reason for me to get so flustered around them and not around North. And there was that worker at the animal shelter, and it was so strange that I was so easily distractedâŠâ
He was fidgeting harder even as he trailed off, one hand coming up to tug at his ear, which was a new one. It was always hard for Connor to come to terms with any part of his identity, let alone one which was supposed to be so big.
Hank didnât seem to be silently laughing at him, which was a blessing, but he wasnât otherwise reacting either.
Fowler had suggested he be blunt, if he could.
âI think Iâm gay,â he said at last, gaze intent on the table. âMost likely. Itâs, um, consistent with everything Iâve noticed so far.â
And then he fell silent. After a few moments, he heard Hank put his fork down and glanced up anxiously. Hank looked contemplative, gaze piercing in a way that was unique to him. Connor analyzed his expression, and he didnât seem dubious, or irritated or⊠anything but pensive.
âWhatever you figure makes you happy, kid,â Hank said at last, and his eyes crinkled into a fond and faintly amused expression he took on mostly when he thought Connor was overcomplicating something simple. âYou know I ainât gonna hold anything like that against you.â
Connor beamed at him, feeling the tension drain out of his shoulders like a weight falling away.
âI know,â he said sincerely, because for all his worries heâd never really expected that Hank would be angry.
---------
Almost a month after Connor came out to Hank, Alicia finally made her move, after several months of flustered conversation and furtive looks.
She caught Connor just at the end of the work day, by his desk as he was packing up. It wasnât quite the first time, so he paused, giving her a faintly expectant look. She was pink, barely enough to be noticeable, but she seemed more determined than usual, he thought.
âHey, Connor,â Alicia said, her tone a touch lower and quicker than it was talking to anyone else. âWould you like to meet after work, um, at that android-run coffee shop? Blue Bean CafĂ©? I know they have some good thirium drinks they recently put up for sale.â
Connor hesitated, watching her for a long moment.
âAs a date?â he clarified. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Hank go still, watching Connor to see how heâd react.
She nodded quickly, eyes hopeful.
He considered, tugging lightly at his social protocols for help until he finally came to a decision.
âIâm sorry, Alicia,â he said apologetically, deliberately keeping his focus on her to the exclusion of anyone else. âI recently concluded that Iâm gay, so going out with you would be under quite false pretenses.â He smiled at her gently, trying to be reassuring even as his chest squeezed nervously. âBut your suggestion was very thoughtful. I appreciate it.â
Alicia blinked rapidly, and Connor winced as he saw the dawn of humiliation start to appear in her eyes before she visibly forced it down and gave him a strained smile.
âOh dear, thatâs embarrassing for me,â she said, with a clear attempt at good humor. âI should have guessed, all the best ones usually are. Thanks for telling me.â
âI wouldnât want to be rude,â Connor demurred, belying himself by glancing furtively at the rest of the bullpen. âIâll see you tomorrow, Alicia.â
âYeah,â she agreed rapidly, glancing away, and didnât quite run off but she did walk rather quickly.
As soon as she was gone, Tina yelled, âYou owe me twenty bucks, Collins!â
âGod damn it,â Ben muttered, and Connorâs wince eased into a faint smile. Heâd be alright.
Hank clapped him on the back, apparently coming to the same conclusion. âThirium drinks, huh? In the mood to celebrate?â
Connor glanced around, and no one seemed overly concerned. From the door of his office, Fowler gave him a small nod, and Tina and Reed seemed to be exchanging money as well, Reed scowling faintly.
âMaybe,â he allowed after a moment, glancing at Hank. âIf you donât mind.â
âAnything to break you out of your rut, kid,â Hank jabbed. âGod knows you need the help.â
âI do not,â Connor objected. âIâm doing just fine.â
There was a pause.
âYeah,â Hank agreed at last. âI guess you are.â
#dbh#connor#hank anderson#jeffrey fowler#chloe#north#markus#josh#simon#gavin reed#tina chen#fanfiction#my writing
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King of Prism SSS Episode 9 commentary (Alexander)
FINALLY!!!!! Finally I can talk about a few big things from this series I have been dying to talk about....
...............What did I sign myself up for.Â
A quick rundown of what it says here: More and more people are becoming interested in the street-style and choosing to be street-style stars since the Prism King Cup. In the graph, the gold portion is academy-style and the silver is street-style, before -> after the Prism King Cup. Below it points out that Kazuki and Hiroâs âsparkingâ scores from the Prism King Cup (the Prism Watch data) were equal and suggests Schwartz Rose needs to step up their game in the street category.Â
Every time I laugh at this.Â
Every time I feel kinda bad afterwards.Â
But
So Ace was entered as an official participant. It says âreserveâ, but still. I guess that may have helped to make Jojiâs score possible and not break the system.Â
(In between writing my episode 5 commentary post and now, I got to read the interview with the director in spoon2Di where he confirmed that Jojiâs high score was only because Ace joined in what was supposed to be a solo show.)
Flashy, huh. Weâre going with flashy this time for âcharacharaâ.... Okay. (Better than gaudy I guess.)
I love this so much. Kakeru coming outside just to watch Taiga exercise and get all sweaty and all that. I wonder how long he stood there. Or rather I wonder how long he watched with binoculars after heading back inside.Â
Iâm such a dumbass. After episode 3 aired someone pointed out that this is Taigaâs mom vs. Alecâs mom, and my excuse for not noticing then was that itâs in the background and such. (Canât pause the movie in the theater and didnât think to check it afterwards.) But here the camera actually pans over them slowly, so yeah I have no excuse.Â
But regardless. Amazing!!Â
Another thing I didnât catch in the theater. But I have never had a reason to know the Japanese word for asthma before. Iâm glad that gave him an actual reason for being sickly instead of just.... sickly child syndrome.Â
As long as youâre happy, Victoria.Â
But really though, their relationship is pretty damn interesting.Â
I wonder if she knows he borrowed her clothes.Â
No I donât know why these grown-ass men have nothing better to do than pick on an actual seven year old child...............
So uh. This line confused me for the longest time. The way he says it, I really thought he was giving âDaikokunoâ as another last name and I thought it was some kind of DJ KOO reference I didnât get or something.Â
But thanks to Crunchyroll I finally realized.... ITS A PLACE. Heâs just saying where heâs from, and thatâs how Alexander is able to find him. GOOD LORD IM SUCH A DUMBASS.......... Another point for Crunchyroll.Â
HE BIKED ALL THE WAY FROM YOKOSUKA TO YOKOHAMA
Okay so now that I have the luxury to pause this, as soon as I did I opened up Google Maps in another window, zoomed in and....
WELL THENÂ
At least I finally know where it is
BUT DAAAAAMN
Fuck asthma am I right
It wouldnât give me the cycling time, but yeah, you can imagine.Â
They only have this one image of Rei doing a jump and gosh darn they are gonna use it to the fullest.Â
So during this scene and the next people cheer for Rei in the theater, but nobody really knows what color he is. There was a whole lot of variation at the beginning before people (in Nagoya at least) finally settled on red. (For the flames maybe? I donât know if itâs official.....)
Alexander actually had a flashback to this moment on Prism Rush during the Road to SSS 9 event. I reblogged it recently on my @prism-rush blog trying to disguise it as part of my Alexander birthday spam. (It wasnât.)
YEAHHHHHHHHHHH BOY
So if you have no idea where the heck this egg came from and what it is..... Rainbow Live.
But anyway.Â
I can finally FINALLY talk about this!!! Even though I knew it would probably be all over Twitter, I really wanted to protect this spoiler on Tumblr if I could. It was such a big deal to me when I saw it in the theater and I really wanted you guys to have the opportunity to be as blown away as I was. I could not possibly think of anything to say about it that wouldnât be a hint, so all I could say all this time was just that Alexanderâs episode has âa surpriseâ in it.... SURPRISE!!!
But yeah, when I saw this for the first time I thought it just came out of NOWHERE. Total shock! I thought this was not predictable at all!
But then it hit me. All of a sudden I remembered something. Something important.
Again, in Road to SSS event 9....
So, for folks who follow my @prism-rush blog, remember that one Alexander PR where he was looking into a box? And nobody knew what was in the box? But there was something weird following him? I even mentioned it and my confusion over it in my summary of that event. WELL GUESS WHAT.
We finally know what was in the box donât we. Â
I asked a friend to see the card story to fill in the blanks and see if there were any obvious hints to what was going on at the time, and itâs just mentioned as a strange animal he picked up. Alexander struggles with what to do and not really wanting to take care of it, but then he asks himself what Rei would do..... (Whether he could see Momo at that time, I do not know ahah....)
So in the beginning after seeing Part 1 in theaters I said on Tumblr that the Road to SSS events from Prism Rush didnât have much to do with the SSS anime, and most of them didnât and still donât. All of course except for Road to SSS 9, just that one, which ended up being way more important than I would have ever imagined. And this isnât even the only reason either, there is also--
SO UH anyway Road to SSS 9 took place in June, so this flashback is taking place in June DURING Road to SSS 9. A very roundabout way to dating the episode, but really cool. I like how Road to SSS was significant after all.Â
And another surprise for me. In the theatrical version heâs not glowing here. They wanted to emphasize that heâs powering up I suppose eheh. I was really freaking out about this in the stream chat. SO COOL.
To the right of his little dragon house youâll see some âdorayakiâ because.....
Although they never actually mention it in the anime, his name is Dorachi. (Confirmed on Twitter.)Â
(Note: Dorayaki is also the favorite food of classic Japanese character Doraemon.)Â
Even though Dorachi doesnât talk in this episode, in the theatrical special video for Alexander he talks A LOT. An UNFAIR amount. So much I do not remember most of what he said since I only saw it once and it went by so fast.Â
But his real name is very long (like the manager names from PriPara) and he talks about spreading the prism sparkle. Iâm sorry, thatâs honestly all I remember right now.
Will he show up again in the main anime before the end?
(Okay yes.)
And at least they gave you guys was a bit of original(??) art of him in the new ending.Â
WHATEVER THEY MAKE OF THIS CHARACTER I WILL BUY ITÂ
Okay moving on.......Â
Urrgh..... okay so.............. When I first was watching this with you guys in the stream I was like UGH because I donât think âflashyâ fits here at all. I really wished they had stuck with âplayboyâ since it would work better with this scene.Â
But then when I watched it again, I realized they already used âflashyâ once in this episode to describe Kazukiâs sweater, and it did kinda work there.Â
If we go back to my episode 3 commentary, my main complaint with Crunchyrollâs translation of âcharacharaâ was actually less about the words they used, and more about how it just wasnât consistent.Â
This episode..... is consistent.
..................
................................
Another point for Crunchyroll.Â
I officially cannot complain about the subs in this episode.Â
Another little thing in SSS I have spent way too much time thinking over is how Joji got here.Â
In every episode up until now, itâs always been Louis seen walking beside Jin like his pet. But in this episode. JUST THIS EPISODE.... itâs Joji instead.Â
I think the reason is because Louis is performing next, so he has to rest (since heâs not exactly in the condition he once was.....) So Joji scooped up the opportunity.Â
Whatever the reason, I find it really interesting.Â
HERE IT IS
My all time favorite Alexander face
In a weird way I actually think heâs cuter here than in the Prism King Cup
This song.... was not quite what I was expecting for Alec, but I love it. No part of me anticipated heâd just launch into a ballad but WOW. I just love how they picked something that really shows off his beautiful voice like this. Alexander is in my top three singing voices in King of Prism (1: Hiro, 2: Taiga, 3: Alexander) so I loved hearing him belting this out.Â
Now time for my like.... 4th(?) embarrassing confession in this post.... I had no idea this song was a cover until like AN HOUR before this episode aired. You guys were playing TRF songs in the stream, the original came on, and while yâall were like âwhat should we watch nextâ I was sitting there like â!!!!!!!!FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFâ
Well, itâs a new song to me. And I think itâs perfect for him.Â
Poor Joji and his inconveniently timed fruit.Â
He finally gets to spend time with Jin, and he just canât get a break.Â
I love the generation gap here. Kazukiâs existence has been so big to Taiga he can only think of Kazuki. But Kazuki and Hijiri are able notice the subtle differences that make this an OG Rei move.Â
I could certainly spend a whole lot of text speculating why Alexander did not change into his battle suit, but I wonât waste your time and just admit I have no idea. Iâm glad he doesnât, since it keeps the spotlight on Alexander since HE CANâT PERFORM ONE GODDAMN SHOW WITHOUT TAIGA BARGING IN ON HIM BUT MMMRGGHGHG
TAIGA YOU SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER
Yeah I was SO MAD about this when I first saw it at the midnight showing.
A lot of people change to green when Taiga comes out, but I do not. This is the only battle where I cheer for Alexander the whole time. Â
Not only was I mad at Taiga for being so dumb, but just mad at the whole concept of Taiga barging into Alexanderâs one show to do basically the same jumps we saw in Pride the Hero again.....Â
But.....
Nowadays I forgive my idiot son. And I hope you do too.Â
This wasnât the moment I forgave him. No, thatâs coming later. I was mad at him for an entire month. But yeah.Â
Heâs just so confident and everyone believes in him................................
So Alexander breaks the street-style curse and gets a damn good score. Higher than Taigaâs original score.Â
But just like Jojiâs score was due to Ace, I canât help but think Alexanderâs score was a good deal due to Taiga.........
I had a feeling this would happen.Â
I knew long before Part 3.Â
Even back when I had only just seen Part 1.... I just knew the tables would turn in this episode.Â
Maybe it would be difficult to guess by watching week-to-week, but for me having Alexanderâs episode as the last episode of the theatrical Part 3 just seemed like it would be WAAAAAY too much of a coincidence otherwise. So I had a strong feeling Schwarz would come out ahead at the end of this one. (I didnât guess the reason would be because Taiga would get a penalty, but yeah.) And especially because the performances are kind of out of order to make this work? Up until now I thought all of the Schwarz Rose boys performed first, but Yu was up before Alec? And Louis is up next. Maybe it wasnât a guaranteed thing that the Schwarz Boys always go first, but I noticed it. Â
So up until now score has not mattered much as Edel Rose has just sailed on though. But now it does. It matters a lot.Â
So this is the second surprise of this episode, and why I was saying itâs the beginning of the chain of events that lead to the end.
But about score mattering now, one of the reasons I have been questioning Taigaâs score the whole time is because I knew this was going to happen. So I just.... I just hope Taigaâs score wasnât lower to begin with on purpose for mathematical reasons so they could get their desired progression of the overall score or something. IDK.
I donât blame Rei for not figuring it out right away. Even though I KNOW this is Alexander, I still have trouble connecting his younger and older selves. I mean, getting muscular doesnât make your eye shape completely change does it....?
Poor Kazuki. He doesnât care.
So if I interpreted this episode correctly....Â
This was Alexanderâs official transition from an antagonist to a protagonist. (Or just to a normal rival at least.)
During the first two movies and for a good long time of Prism Rush, he always played the part of the villain. But once Road to SSS started that began to change. We saw him reminiscing about Rei, making awkward conversation with Louis, struggling over forming a duo with Joji, etc. So I had a strong feeling they were taking his character in this direction, but this right here was the official turning point I believe.Â
No more destroying stadiums. From now on heâll be spreading the prism sparkle with Dorachi.Â
And still trying to beat Kazuki but you know.Â
So I donât have a source handy (if someone challenges me to find one Iâll dig it up) but I remember I read one time that Alexander was actually originally a character that was only created for the first movie. But then they realized they had to keep him on when he was just so popular.Â
So if you have ever supported Alexander, this episode was for you. Fans make King of Prism possible.Â
So.... one more thing I guess. Something I learned from the Minato episode was that even if I ignore controversy and specifically state I donât want to talk about it, it still finds its way into my inbox anyhow. So I might as well get this over with I guess.Â
After Young of Prism Alexander was revealed to have light skin, someone told me a theory that mixed race children are sometimes born with lighter skin which darkens as they grow older. So up until her design was revealed, I had always imagined Alexanderâs mother as a black woman.Â
So yeah. I donât know the reason for his darker skin color now.Â
But Iâd like to point out that in this episode being pale was associated with being weak and unhealthy, while darker skin was associated with being healthy and strong and just leave it at that.Â
And thus ends Part 3.Â
Next week begins.................. what I have been dreading for a long time............
So...................
So up until now I have been pretty tight-lipped about spoilers. But once episode 10 airs, the floodgates will pretty much be open. Episode 10 and episode 11 are so connected itâs really hard to talk about one without the other. I mean, once you know about episode 10, I seriously might as well. So after episode 10 airs, at the bottom of my commentary post and after a warning I plan to share some episode 11 spoilers.Â
Because I have been through this......
And I know how itâs gonna make you guys feel......
And since I was lucky enough to get some answers right away, Iâm going to give you guys those same answers for those who want them so you donât have to just sit on episode 10 for a week. I am not that kind of a monster. I wonât put you guys through that.Â
So after episode 10 ends, take a deep breath, cry it out if you need to, and get some tea.Â
I know how youâre gonna be feeling. I know. Donât send me a panicked anon ask right away. Give me a little time. Hold on.Â
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âV-Day Reunionâ - Part 2
âV-Day Reunionâ - Part 2
( Part 1 )
My Masterlist - Here
My Kingsman Masterlist - Here
My Tag List - Here
Eggsy Unwin x Reader
Word Count:
Key: Y/N = Your Name, H/C = Your Hair Color, E/C = Your Eye Color
Warnings: Emotions, Violence, Cursing. Let me know if I missed anything, please!
Summary: You and Eggsy were each otherâs go-to for everything. But when a robbery goes wrong, you are given a chance to restart. In doing so, you have to say goodbye to your old life. That is, until even more shit hits the fan.
Authorâs Note: I hope you guys enjoy it!
@witchymarvelspacecase is my wonderful beta reader, but let me know if there is anything our two brains missed!Â
If you would like to be tagged in any of my future pieces, check out my tag list above and let me know! And as always, feedback is greatly appreciated!
<3
- DreaSaurusREX
Over the course of two weeks, you and the boys planned out how the job was gonna go. You and Jamal went in one day, and acted like interested customers. The two of you made sure to go into every room you could without being caught in order to get a good idea of the layout and how to go about everything. You were the one who came up with most of the plan:
You, Eggsy, and Jamal would be the three to go in. There was a security system that seemed pretty basic. The boys would be the ones to steal whatever they could find or thought they could sell, while you focused on making sure the security system stayed unlocked and got access to the main account. The entire job should only take about 10 - 15 minutes at most. Then you three would be out and on your way.
Seemed simple and easy enough to do.
It was around 2AM on a Monday night when you three walked up to the storefront.
ââKingsman Tailors.â Even sounds posh.â You said under your breath as you used your burner phone to quickly hack into the security system. Once you got the green light, you opened the door and the three of you started working. You didnât even hear the boys opening the registers or doing anything, your entire focus was on your phone screen and your laptop near the back of the shop.
Your phone was connected to the security system even more solidly thanks to a simple micro USB cord that plugged into the inside of the main power panel and your phone. You didnât care if any data was taken from your phone because it was just a burner cell, so it didnât really have any information in it. Your laptop was the main show.
Within the first few minutes, you realized how difficult this was going to be on your end.
âFor a tailor shop, this place has some fuckinâ impressive systems.â You called out without taking your eyes off the screen. You were working your way past the firewall when Eggsyâs hand was on your shoulder to let you know he was there. He watched over your shoulder as your fingers typed out strings of codes.
After a solid 5 minutes of typing, you put in one last code and you were shown a screen that you had seen before. It was a simple screen that showed the possible actions you could take: Security, History, Accounts, Vault, and Agents.
âGod you are fuckinâ brilliant, (Y/N)!â Eggsy excitedly whispered in your ear before pressing a kiss to the side of your head. You smiled and waved him off.
âYes yes, Iâm amazinâ and you all would be lost without me. Now go finish your end of this so we can get the hell out of here once I get through.â
âYes, maâam.â He started to walk away when you felt him come back. âI honestly donât know where Iâd be without you.â He moved your chin so that he could press a kiss to your lips before going back to help Jamal.
Refocusing on your task, you reread the different tabs: Security, History, Accounts, Vault, Agents.
ââAgentsâ? The fuck do they mean by that? Fuck it. I donât have time. âVaultâ it is.â
You clicked on that tab and began decoding yet again. This one was trickier than the impressive firewall. That being said, you pulled out an older code and it worked magic on the locks. The vault opened and you could see the amount of revenue Kingsman Tailors made up to date.
You were about to start draining some of that money when your phoneâs screen began to flash red.
âGuys! We need to fuckinâ go. Now!â You shouted, panic very evident in your voice. Eggsy was by your side in a second. Even though you were scared, you couldnât bring yourself to move.
âWhy? Whatâs goinâ on?!â Eggsy was looking at your laptop to try to find the problem. Then he saw your phone blinking. âShit. Jamal, câmon man!â
Jamal and Eggsy started to zip up their bags full of whatever they grabbed and get ready to book it. It was then that you got an idea. You quickly clicked out of the âVaultâ tab and entered the âSecurityâ tab. You began an attempt to hack back into their system through your laptop. If you managed to do it, you could buy another couple of minutes to try to finish up and let the boys escape.
â(Y/N/N), câmon!â Eggsy was trying to lift you up by your shoulder but you pushed him off.
âNo! Let me finish!â Eggsy looked at what you were doing know and shook his head.
âNo, babe! Â Even if you can get in, police are on their way! We are fucked if we stay here!â
âI know.â You said quietly. Eggsy gave you a look as he realized what you were doing.
âNo. No! Abso-fuckinâ-lutely not, babe! You are coming with us right now! Youâre not stayinâ!â
âIf I stay behind and do this, I can buy you guys enough time to get out safe with what you got and then try to get some of the money into our accounts.â
âYou said we had to stick to the plan. What th--â
âGary Unwin, I am not arguing with you right now. Fuckinâ get out now!â
Jamal was by the door. The three of you could hear the sirens. They had to be about a minute or two away. Jamal yelled to you two, not hearing what was going on. He ran towards Eggsy and grabbed his arm. Eggsy looked between the door and you before lunging to give you a deep kiss.
âYou better come back home in one piece. No more stupid shit.â Eggsy held your face in his hands as you nodded.
âIâll do my best. No more stupid shit. Now get the fuck out of here. Both of you!â
Jamal didnât need to think twice before grabbing Eggsy and bolting through the door and down the street. You couldnât unsee the pained look in Eggsyâs eyes. You felt bad, but you know that he would have done the same thing for you or for any of the boys. It's better for one person to go down rather than the whole team.
You finished hacking into the security system on your laptop, you quickly got back into the vault and transferred ÂŁ15,000 into Eggsyâs account. You were typing a message to text to Eggsy from your regular phone when the door of the tailor shop burst open and three policemen ran in, aiming their guns right at you.
As soon as you pressed send on your message, the police found you in the back of the shop with your laptop on the ground and your phone in your hands.
âFreeze! Do not move!â One of the policemen shout. You had only run into the police twice before, but this time felt more serious.
From where you were sitting on the floor, you had two options, you could either go quietly with the police or try your luck on escaping through the back door and hope to find a decent hideout.
âFuck fuck fuck fuckâŠâ You muttered to yourself. You knew this would probably end badly, but you had to make a run for it. The thought of prison scared the shit out of you. You quickly shot up and made a b-line to the door.
âHey! Stop!â One police officer shouted at you. Another talked into his walkie.
You made it out the door and found yourself in an alleyway. You hesitated on which way to go. Facing toward your right, you saw two officers running towards you.
âGuess Iâm goinâ left!â You thought before your legs caught up with your brain and you were on your way.
âStop! Or I will shoot!â One of the officers threatened. A whole new wave of fear rushed through you, causing you to stop in your tracks. Your breathing was labored not only from the running, but the fear of being shot. You could hear the officers getting closer.
Quickly looking around, you saw there was a small cut through just a few feet away. There was also a ladder leading to the rooftop of a building. You chose to dash to the shortcut. Before you could make it three steps, you felt a burning pain go through your non-dominant arm as you fell face forward onto the pavement.
Before you could attempt to lift your torso off the ground, you were pushed down. Your arms were painfully jerked backward and you felt cool metal snatch around your wrists. The police officer was saying something, but you couldnât focus. Between the pain in your arm which you determined to be a gunshot, and the pain of being pushed on the ground, you felt the world around you fade out.
âGoddamnit. I should have just kept moving. I should have just left with the boys. Now I donât know when Iâll see them again. Eggsy. Oh god! I--â
Your thoughts were interrupted as two sets of hands lifted you up. It wasnât until you were lifted to your feet that the pain amplified and you felt yourself falling into darkness. The police had called an ambulance, but you had blacked out well before they got there.
Tags - @melconnor2007 @ashenfallsof @geeksareunique @all-by-myself98 @witchymarvelspacecase @theeactress @thomasstanleyhoelland @white-chocolate-mocha-fan @hbknatiâ Â
#kingsman imagine#kingsman fanfiction#kingsman fic#kingsman fandom#kingsman fanficiton#eggsy x reader#eggsy imagine#eggsy unwin imagine#eggsy fic#eggsy unwin fanfiction#gary unwin x reader#fanfiction#fanfic#fanfictions
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Run With Me
Pairing: Bruce Banner x Reader
Summary: Bruce finally found happiness, only to have it all ripped away. Now he can only either fight or give up to get his life back together.
Okay so this is a different style of writing Iâm trying specifically for this story. Thereâs less dialogue but l really wanted to weave a tale and the magic of Reader stories is you can fill in the blanks so I could get to the point so this was the best way to try it. I donât know how Iâll go, I just wanted to experiment.
Warnings: KIND OF dub con? Maybe? Itâs not really meant to be thought about too hard? I mean this is a story by me itâs obviously gonna have a happy ending. Suicidal tendencies, infedelity
Anyway enjoy!
âI canât do that to them Fury.â
âIâm not asking at this point agent Romanoff.â Furyâs voice was sharp and to the point.
Natasha kept her gaze blank and impartial, any inner feelings of turmoil were well hidden.
âThe Avengers will watch over any potential child.â
âThatâs not good enough. Bruce is the Hulk. Y/N is a mutant. There are so many negative variables that could happen. Even if this baby turns out without powers itâll still be wanted by every criminal organisation. Do you want to be responsible for putting that child in itâs own Red Room?â
Natasha felt her heart sink into her stomach, that was a low blow and Fury knew it, but she needed that push. This was a necessary evil for the better of mankind.
â....... Fine.â Natashaâs voice was dangerous and low as she stormed away, heels clinking on the ground as she walked with hardened steps.
When Natasha was out of the room she clenched her fist, nails digging into her palms painfully. There was only one surefire way to break up Bruce and Y/N and it was possibly going to be one of the hardest things sheâs ever had to do.
âââââââ
When Bruce met Y/N it was like a movie. Even for Bruce, an otherwise serious and studious individual to say something like that proved how much he had changed and how far he had gone.
It had all happened completely by chance. There was a bug in the system, everything was erased.
It was easy to tell that Bruce was on the edge, all that work only for someone to hack into their system and crash it? Bruce spent MONTHS working his hardest on that project. It was going to make a lot of peoples lives easier. Every single person stayed the hell out of his way, afraid that they would be the person to teeter him off that edge and plunge him into a hulking rage.
A colleague bold but terrified had made the stuttery announcement that he had a lot of the project backed up on a hard drive at home. Not all of it but a lot of it and he could get one of his roommates to bring it in.
That did ease off a lot of the tension but Bruce was still upset. He was upset that all these people he had worked with and ate with and spent countless hours working the nights away with was still so afraid of him. It hurt his feelings, it ironically made him madder, (And a little bit hurt) however he didnât have the time so he pushed those feelings down and carried on, keeping his mind solely focused on getting that hard drive. He wouldnât be calm until it was in his hands.
Seconds turned to minutes and it was almost an hour since his colleague had stated his roommate would bring the hard drive in. Bruce tried his best not to sound threatening as he asked for updates on their status.
As soon as he was told their roommate had stopped for a late breakfast at the local coffee shop Bruce was off, deciding to meet them halfway himself. Bruce always had to do everything himself if he wanted something done right.
Bruce power walked to the coffee shop, nothing was going to stop him until he was back in his lab with his projects data safely returned.
A woman in a blue sweater, thatâs who he had to find. Easy.
His grip has tense as he opened the door, a small bell chimed as he entered the sweet smelling shop.
His eyes scanned the people in the small cafe and finally landed on the back of a girl matching his given description.
He walked up to her, clearing his throat. âExcuse me, are you Y/N L/N?â
The girl turned around hearing her name, one hand held a cup of coffee, the other held a plate with an intricate looking dessert and small spoon.
Bruceâs heart stopped when he saw her. His clenched fists slowly uncurled and the tension headache that was pounding at the base of his skull all up stopped. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. The first thing Bruce noticed was her kind and warm smile, so sincere to be directed at an angry stranger. There was a sparkle in her eyes and she was just gorgeous. If Bruce wasnât utterly forgone at this point he was lost as soon as he heard her voice.
âWow you look tense haha, wanna maybe order a decaf and calm down there?â
He swallowed thickly and nodded dumbly, staring before he realised he needed to speak to her.
âUh, yeah,â His voice was unsure, was he starting to sweat?
She laughed lightly. Again Bruce was spellbound by the sweet noise.
She moved to the side slightly, making room at the counter for Bruce to meet the barista and make an order.
âIâm, Iâm Bruce.â He said after he ordered a green tea.
âI guessed! I have your hard drive!â She smiled brightly and tapped her handbag.
Oh right, the hard drive.... The reason he was here. He should probably get that...
âI can give it to you now but Iâm gonna sit and have this.â She raised the hand that was holding her dessert slightly. âWanna join me?â
Bruce allowed himself to smile, he felt he would of smiled even if he didnât allow it.
âYeah, okay.â
That breakfast turned into a lunch, which then turned into them walking around Central Park, which then turned into a spontaneous trip to the movies after Y/N she was excited to see a new release but her roommate was too busy and she didnât want to go alone. Bruce immediately claimed he too wanted to see that particular movie and that they should go together. (Bruce was lying though, Bruce didnât even know WHAT was playing on the movies currently, but somehow that didnât matter).
That then turned into them deciding to dinner together, this time Y/N making the casual suggestion, hoping that Bruce would want to join her. They each seemed to make continuous excuses so that they could spend longer and longer with eachother as they talked and laughed and even enjoyed comfortable silences together.
Needless to say Bruce completely forgot about his hard drive and the next day when he walked into the lab with a spring in his step and a song in his heart his lab assistants were never more confused by his behaviour.
From that day on Bruce and Y/N were basically joined at the hip. Bruce had never been happier. Suddenly life mattered, suddenly he wasnât just living, trying to make up for all the terrible things he was responsible for, suddenly he was just living. It took no more then a year for Y/N to move into the tower with Bruce and it barely took another year for Bruce to propose. Because fuck it. Bruce had spent his life suffering. He KNEW she was the one and Y/N finally helped Bruce realise that he in fact did deserve to be happy.
Even introducing the Hulk to Y/N (which Bruce was initially against) went fine. For once Bruce felt a complete agreement with Hulk.
Y/N was theirs. Nothing was going to separate her from them or else hell would rain down on whoever tried.
Nobody was more excited then Tony when Y/N and Bruce decided they wanted to have a baby. They did want to keep it a secret until they had in fact conceived but Tony has caught Bruce doing tests on himself to make sure he was actually able to have children. And by Bruceâs utter amazement he was. He thought for sure the gamma incident would of sterilised him but it hadnât, and Bruce just took this as another clear sign that what they were doing was meant to be.
âââââ-
Natasha spent the next few days in a daze of dread, a permanent pit of ache and sorrow in her stomach. She and Bruce had a special connection, which is why this made it all the harder, feelings were never good for an Assassin to have. She and Bruce bonded in friendship, bonded in a way that two people who have both experienced a pain and loneliness could only share.
âYou donât have to do this.â Clint spoke breaking Natasha from her haze.
âEven by Furyâs standards this is unfair.â Clintâs eyes flittered over Natashaâs tense frame, watching as she played with a small chemical vile in her hand.
âI have too Clint. Fury is right. This isnât about me or Bruce. This is about the future of a child.â Natasha breathed in through her nose.
âIf Bruce had a child it would never be left alone. It would be hunted for the rest of its life. Iâm not going to let a child suffer like that.â Not like the way she did.
So Natasha did what she did best. She swallowed her pain, squeezing the vile and walked away to do her mission.
âââââââ-
Y/N hummed as she entered their shared living space in the tower. She placed her handbag on the bench as she made her way towards their bedroom.
What she saw caused her heart to shatter into a million pieces. Tears welled up in her eyes and she shook her head in disbelief. Bruce and Natasha naked in bed together, their clothes and underwear visablely littered the floor.
âNo...â She whimpered. âHow could you...?â She was hyperventilating as she screamed waking Bruce and Natasha up.
âHOW COULD YOU?!â She sobbed, it seemed to take a moment for Bruce to register the situation he was in. His eyes widened when he saw his position in bed with Natasha.
âY/N!â He let out a panicked cry but was stopped by another sob of anguish from Y/N.
âI HATE YOU!â Y/N screamed in rage, pulling off her wedding ring and throwing it at him before running out.
Bruce was stunned, his brain was still trying to figure out what was going on.
âNatasha?â Bruceâs voice was laced with confusion as he turned to her, half hoping for some kind of explanation.
âI should go.â Was the only words Natasha spoke, avoiding his gaze as she redressed, gathering her loose things and silently leaving.
âââââââ-
Bruce sat in a silence behind Tonyâs bar, empty bottles strewn all around him. He replayed the night in his head countless times and just couldnât understand how it happened. He had willingly taken Natasha to bed that night. His brain buzzed and grated in his skull as he tried to work out why he had done it.
How could he do that to Y/N? How could he do that to Natasha? How could he mess up so badly?
No matter how much he drank he couldnât put himself into that unfeeling stupor and numbness that came with inebriation. Bruce just wanted to feel nothing so he continued to drink in hopes that he could drink his feelings and mistakes away.
âââââââââââ
After Y/N came by, taking boxes of the last of her things and had officially moved out, Bruce had refused to leave his floor. The Avengers tried to tread lightly but they all had wavering and mixed opinions on the entire situation. Whether they were on Bruceâs side or Y/Nâs side, no one could understand how Bruce had cheated on Y/N.
Tony had been the one to try to support Bruce throughout all of this. He tried to get Bruce to come out and he tried to get Bruce to talk to him, he just tried to be a friend... It had reached the boiling point when enough was enough and Tony decided it was time to talk.
After a week he had Jarvis override the lock on Bruceâs door and let himself in.
Tony looked around and winced at the once happy home as he looked around for Bruce.
âHey Bruce,â Tony called out to alert his friend to his presence. âCome on Big Guy, enough is enough. You need to come out.â
Tony entered the bedroom and was immediately met with an unpleasant smell, hanging thick in the air. His nose scrunched as he looked around, spotting a lump of sheets on the bed and scruffy brown hair peaking out of them.
âBruuuce?â Tony carefully walked towards the bed cautiously. âCome on Brucey.â His heart sank when he saw the broken man.
âYou gotta get up.â
âWhatâs the point?â Bruce croaked out, his voice sounded dry and Tony worried if Bruce had eaten at all for the past week.
Tony sucked in a breath and sat down on the edge of the bed. âBruce, look I know your upset but you canât stay like this.â
Bruce turned his head slightly too look at the man and Tony saw that Bruce hadnât shaved at all.
âShe wants a divorce Tony. Thereâs no hope left. I canât win her back and I donât deserve too. Just leave me alone.â Bruce pulled the covers over his head and Tony knew that this was the end of any conversation he had hoped to hold.
âLook.â Tony knew he would have to treat very lightly. âYou made a mistake. It happens sometimes... God knows Iâve done my fair share of them. But you canât just put your life on stop.â Tony stood up and began to walk out of the room. âY/N wouldnât want you to be like this.â Were his final words to his friend as he left.
Everyone was shocked to say the least when they saw Bruce in the shared kitchen. They all exchanged uncomfortable pleasantries with him as he took some food and mumbled how he would be in the lab if anyone needed him. Not that anyone probably would. Ever since Y/N had left Bruce had been unable to Hulk out. He was useless for missions at the moment. No one dared to voice that Bruce had looked absolutely terrible.
ââââââââ
âWhat do you want Fury.â Tony stood impatiently, brows stylishly raised, waiting for an answer. He loved annoying Fury and putting on the ol obnoxious Stark charm was just the way to do it.
âI need access to your data files.â Fury said as he stood tall, over an intricate system of computers.
âWhat?â Now his brows were raised in a genuine manner of confusion. âIâm not going to just give you access to my work.â
âItâs not your work Iâm after Stark.â Fury said with an impassive expression.
âYou mean Bruceâs?â Tony guessed correctly.
âWe have every right to check when weâre worried about the safety and security of the country.â
âAnd just what is that suppose to mean?â Now Tony was offended.
âBanner has changed over these past months. We have every right to believe with his combined negative behaviour and new attitude heâs taken up to building weapons again.â
âBruce wouldnât do that.â
âDo you know what heâs been doing?â
Tony bit his lip. He hadnât... Bruce was more secretive, more focused. Before Tony could easily admit that anyone had trouble dragging he or Bruce away from the lab but now Bruce was different. Tony admittingly was concerned deeply for his friend.
âFine.â Tony chirped. âIf itâll prove to you, Iâll show you Bruceâs files. âBut Iâm expecting an apology when you see nothing is wrong.â
It didnât take Tony long to get into Bruceâs encrypted files and soon enough everything that the gamma scientist had been hiding was now exposed and up for everyone in the room to see.
Tonyâs smirk dropped and his stomach sunk. Fury was right... Bruce WAS building a weapon. But... It was a bullet... Bruce was designing a chemical compound to suppress the gamma in his system and engineering a bullet that would be able to blow through his skull without triggering a Hulk response.
The room was filled with a heavy and uncomfortable silence as the schematics of his weapon blew up on the screen.
Bruce was trying to kill himself...
âââââââââ
âIâm coming!â Y/N called out as she yawned and quickly made her way to her front door. There was a harsh pounding on the other side, whoever was knocking didnât want to wait.
âYes-â Y/N stopped mid word. She stiffened as she saw Natasha at her door. All the pain she had tried to put behind her came flooding back to the forefront of her mind.
âI need to talk to you.â Natasha said curtly. âItâs important.â
So reluctantly Y/N let the Russian woman into her tiny dingy apartment, leading her to the living room where they both took a seat.
There was a tense silence and Y/N was willing herself not to cry as she looked at the perfect and beautiful woman in front of her.
âListen closely. We donât have much time.â
Y/N blinked in confusion as Natasha laid various files and folders onto the table in front of them and began to explain her story.
âSo,â Y/N said as she tried to process Natashaâs story. âHe was drugged...?â She asked warily, frowning at Natasha.
âIt was the only way to break the two of you up.â Natasha confirmed as she stood, clenching her fist. âYou have to believe me, I never wanted to hurt you or Bruce but the baby that you both wanted to have. I just wanted to prevent a tragic future. But I was wrong and I donât expect you to forgive me but Bruce needs you. He-ah.â Natasha let out a small noise of shock as she felt Y/Nâs arms around her.
âI forgive you.â
Natasha never expected to hear those words and it stirred a powerful emotion in her when she did.
Natasha stood back, breaking the hug before she allowed herself to get too emotional.
âNow come on
pack a bag, we donât have much time.â
ââââââââ-
âHULK SMASH!!!!!â Hulk roared in anger as Clint barely escaped his angry fist.
Clint KNEW this would happen! Why did HE have to be the one to tell Bruce?!
He shot an arrow into the ceiling, which was connected by a cable, shooting himself up to the ceiling and narrowly avoiding another punch.
âCmon Bruce that could of killed me!â Clint cried out in exasperation.
âHULK EAT STUPID SHEILD HUMAN!!!â
Hulk leapt up, easily reaching the ceiling, throwing a punch and punching a large hole in the wall after Clint once more dodged.
Clint shot an arrow at Hulk that imploded in the green behemoths face. Hulk shot forward and grabbed Clint in his fist.
Look! You can kill me-â
âSMASH!â Hulk screamed in Clintâs face as he raised him higher, his mouth wide open.
âBut! There was a but!â Clint exclaimed, he could feel his body being uncomfortably squeezed tighter and tighter. âIf you smash me youâll never get Y/N! I can take you to Y/N!!!â
Clint closed his eyes, prepared for pain but instead he was dropped to the ground. âJesus Christ you were really going to eat me werenât you?â Clint felt his adrenaline spiked all the way as she caught his breath on the ground.
He stood as he watched Hulk shrink down, green returning to a tan colour.
âOkay we-â He was cut off as Bruce punched him square in the jaw.
Clint shook his head and placed a hand on his chin adjusting his jaw.
âAre we done?â He sounded more annoyed then anything else.
Bruce stood, glaring at Clint but nodded.
âOkay, put on some clothes, grab anything worth taking and letâs go.â
-âââââââ
âBruce is trying to kill himself?!â Y/N was absolutely horrifying, she felt completely rattled to her core as tears slid uncontrollably. âThis is all my fault.â
âNo itâs not.â Natasha said calmly, keeping her eyes on the road as they sped down the highway.
âNo itâs not,â Natasha clenched her fist tighter on the steering wheel. âThe council decided it would be in the worlds best interest if we just let Bruce succeed.â
Y/N let out a horrifying gasp.
âEven Fury agreed that, thatâs too far.â
âThatâs why your helping me now?â
Natasha nodded her head. âWe shouldnât of approved of the first mission to begin with.â
âNat, itâs okay... I understand why you did it.â
Natashaâs expression hardened. Just because Y/N had forgiven her doesnât mean she had forgiven herself.
They pulled up and Y/N looked around curiously. There was a bubble of fear and excitement in her stomach. She saw a small jet and her stomach now flipped. She was really agreeing to leave America. Leave every single thing she had known and loved. She was afraid, but her joy overshadowed any other feeling she had. She was going to see Bruce again. She was going to BE with Bruce again. They were going to be together again and this time nothing was going to tear them apart.
âââââââ
Y/N was waiting with Natasha at a secluded take off area, she was bouncing her leg nervously as they stood together in silence.
Finally another car pulled up and for the third time that day Y/N started crying. As soon as she saw Bruce step out of the tiny inconspicuous vehicle she sprinted towards him.
Bruce immediately followed the second he saw her and they collided into each otherâs arms.
âIâm sorry! Iâm sorry! Iâm sorry!â Y/N blurred out as she sobbed. âI-I should have trusted you! I-â
Bruce silenced her with a long over due kiss. The two were pressing so hard into eachother it would of hurt if it didnât feel so good.
âIt doesnât matter now.â They broke the kiss and Bruce held her face carefully, wiping her eyes.
âYou look so beautiful.â
âYou look terrible!â
They both laughed as they cried in each otherâs arms.
âWhereâs your face?â Y/N smiled giggling slightly as she stroked his face, feeling the uncomfortable scratch of his shaggy beard and unkept curly hair. Despite her words of criticism she pulled him into another kiss.
They pulled apart when they heard a deep voice, clearing their throat.
Fury stepped towards them, a stoic expression plastered on his face as he held two folders in front of each of them.
âThese are your new identities. Everything youâll need is in here. Youâll have to keep a low profile for this to work. No hero-ing, no scientific breakthroughs, no anything thatâll get either of you any attention. Complete normal and quiet lives.â
Y/N nodded cautiously as she gingerly took the folder marked with her name, looking at it with a shy interest.
Bruce however had no reservations as he wrapped one arm around Y/N and took his file with the other. âThatâs all Iâve ever wanted.â
âAnd.â Fury hesitated just the slightest. âI wanted to personally apologise for the pain SHEILD has put you both through.â
Bruce gritted his teeth but the relaxing touch of Y/N immediately calmed him. âIt doesnât matter now. Thank you for what youâve done.â
âYou two should go.â
Y/N broke out of Bruceâs grasp and went to hug Natasha once more, knowing that would be something the red headed assassin would need. âYouâre a good person Nat. Donât forget that.â
Y/N grabbed onto Bruceâs arm and tugged him forward towards the jet. âYou ready?â
Bruce pulled away from her, he delicately took her arm, tenderly running his fingers up her arm and to her hand. He reached into his pocket with his other hand, pulling out Y/Nâs wedding ring and sliding it back onto her finger. âNow I am.â
âââââââââ-
It had been just shy of a year since Bruce had mysteriously disappeared from the Tower. Tony had taken his leave the hardest out of the Avengers but as life goes on, he had to move on. Being the only other person to know the truth, he was able to be happy for his friend, even with the loss of his science buddy.
âSir, a heavily cryptid file from an unknown source has forced its way past all your security protocols. Shall I delete it and try to trace the user?â Jarvis spoke, pulling Tony away from his latest gadget.
âNah if they wanted to get in this badly send it through. Atleast if itâs a virus itâll give me something interesting to do.â Tony said, putting down his screwdriver and waving at his holoscreen.
The file came through to reveal a picture. A hospital room came into view and Tonyâs eyes widened as he saw Bruce looking happier then he had ever seen, along with Y/N laying in a bed and looking happy but exhausted. A small bundle was in her arms and Tony saw a tiny face and arms sticking out of the blanket.
Tony smiled and almost teared up.
After spending a good five minutes looking at the photo he finally spoke up.
âDelete the picture Jarvis. Make sure itâs unretrievable.â
âYes sir.â
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Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online - Episode 06
I should probably watch some anime today. Itâs Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online, episode 06! Here we GO!
-Itâs February 11th, just a bit after the Squad Jam. And LLENN is in GGO, down in the cash shop where THEY HAVE A NEW P90 IN STOCK FUCK YEAHHHHHHH! P-chan, daughter of P-chan, is born! LLENN loves her submachine guns so much. Itâs a wholesome love between a woman and her gun.
-And hey, thereâs Eva! Whatâs the Boss doing in a place like this?
-Opening! You know, sidenote, Iâm wondering if GGO has some level of self-identity thing going on. Like, itâs one thing that Karen and Saki each happened to get a form that matched who they wanted to beâŠBut the entire team of tiny girls who wish they were bigger and got more respect, waking up in GGO as tall, buff amazons? On top of Karen, who wants to be cute and adorable and the little spoon, waking up as literally the smallest size the system allows? That feels a little too unlikely to just be the odds.
-The 15th. Itâs the post-credits from episode one, as the whole of Sakiâs crew is there watching the highlights from Karenâs performance in the Squad Jam, and seeing just how much crazy shit she pulled off before they fought her. Youâre a MONSTER, Karen-san! A total BADASS!
-Karen is still trying to properly hook this gaggle of adorable schoolgirls sheâs somehow befriended, to the terrifying amazons who pushed her to the brink. Saki is all huffy about how Karen is still kind of scared of Eva. Well what about Sophie, huh? Look at their gunner, sheâs huge!
-Yeah but she has a gentler demeanor, as we start getting connections. So, Saki is Eva. Kana, with the bob cut, is Sophie. Mi, the blonde, has the sharpshooter Toma, and has learned to drive stick because sheâs been overseas. The one with those cutesy rounded eyebrows, Shiori, is Roza the other heavy-gunner. Their second sniper is Moe, who is deeply embarrassed about how she puts on such cool airs in the game. And then thereâs Risa, who is Tanya the scout, the closest to anyoneâs real selfâŠBut still tall and muscled, just the sleek muscles of a runner.
-So thatâs the whole gang! By schoolday, they are but the humble high school rhythmic gymnastics club. But by night, they are a vicious crewâŠAnd theyâre here to talk strategy. They want to walk through the entire encounter and figure out where they dropped the ball! Theyâre in your care, Karen-san!
-Episode 06! âSAO Loserâ
-Also they devour the snacks she gives them because they are, after all, athletic teenagers. And it turns out theyâve only known each other since last April, when they all joined the clubâŠAnd they were fucking terrible. Itâs actually why they got into VR gaming, to learn to communicate physically and sync up properlyâŠAfter their coach got fed up and quit on them.
-As for why GGO? IT was the fact that it was so different, so far out of their usual context, that they could start from zero and not the outright negative position they were in with their actual sports. A crisp, clear goal, that they all knew they knew nothing about accomplishing. And of course, itâs just plain a good game, so they got super hooked on it!
-Which is why now theyâve got to push for victory in the next proper Squad Jam! What about rhythmic gymnasticsâŠ? That too. BUT ESPECIALLY GGO. Now, will you be in the next one?!
-KarenâsâŠNot so sure. This was kind of sprung on her. Sheâs not gonna say no, but she canât say yes. And she doesnât even know if M will keep playing, let alone want to team up with her again going forwardâŠ
-âŠSaki is sad now. But eventually, theyâre all ready to head out, and Karenâs got to get ready for her big trip back to her parentsâ place for spring break. Saki is still sad about not having a LLENN to war against in the inevitable next Squad Jam.
-The 24th. Karenâs back in her hometown, out with Miyu, and kind of wishing neither of those things were the case judging by the look on her face. Miyu keeps taking photos of her new look and she saw the highlight reel of you and that M guy! You kicked ASS! Tell her everything, everything! What made you want to split up from M? That was BANANAS!
-So Miyu learns everythingâŠAnd yeah this Pito chick sounds like a nutter. Just make sure she never knows your meatspace identity and youâll be fine. Oh, hey, this karaoke bar has some new Elsa songs! You wanna do one? Miyuâs gonna do one. They are gonna get that next set of concert tickets!
-A few days later, Karenâs on the plane back home, and gets a promo email saying that the second Squad Jam has just been announced for early April.
-Sidenote, these things donât make any sense. Like, look, it wasâŠfifteen teams to start, right? That means the absolute maximum player count in a single Squad Jam is 90 people, holding the 2-6 size limit. Both of the major battle royale centric games right now, PUBG and especially Fortnite (but especially Bart) can rack up a hundred players inâŠabout 30 seconds, give or take. Even in their own squad modes, from what Iâve seen it doesnât take more than a few minutes to get into a match, tops.
-Now, okay, thatâs on an American game audience, with something that uses heavy amounts of cross-play and can be played on an incredible variety of devices. So I will freely admit itâs not a 1:1 comparison to VR. But unless the Japanese server only has a couple thousand people on it, tops, getting 30-90 people into a match shouldnât be the kind of thing so huge it only happens once every few monthsâŠBecause if it is, how the hell is the game able to keep running and pay for what I have to imagine would be much better servers than an ordinary FPS, to deal with the immense amount of data a full-dive VR player would be sending?
-I know Iâm overthinking it, and theyâre getting the feel of gaming right. Itâs justâŠI donât know. Kind of weird the way theyâre trying to make the Squad Jams, as an entire concept, into these big Events when thatâs not how this shit works. Anyways, itâs another personal sponsorship, with some fine tuned rules, and any of the top four teams are pre-seeded if they choose to enter.
-Oh, and then Saki emailed Karen immediately because WOOOOO SECOND SQUAD JAM! Also, her message is full of more emojis and text emoticons than I think Iâve ever seen in one place. Also Saki wants to eat her treats again so please invite them over sometime soon. âŠShit, that kid is blunt.
-When Karen gets back to her place, she finds a guy waiting for her who gets WAYYYY too close and itâs M. So that removes one possibility I had. And now sheâs twice freaked out because how the fuck did he find her? Can they go somewhere private to talk about that? Because shitâs gotten Real.
-And thatâs how they end up in a little cafe area in the apartment building, I think? Hard to say. But, bluntly, M has to admit that he has no proof of any of his claims, but thereâs some shit you need to know. Also, he gives a real name, one Asougi Goushi. Goushi is RIGHT UP ON HER and begging for her help because peopleâs lives are, for real, on the line.
-His, and Pitoâs. âŠOh fuck me, what is Pito doing. Sheâs insane, and they both know it. Sheâs going to participate, and form a teamâŠAnd in real life, she said she intends to kill herself if she doesnât take the gold. But not until she confirms his death.
-Karen would like off this ride now please. This is ludicrous and you should go to the police.
-ButâŠWell, hereâs the deal. You know the SAO Incident, right? Thousands of people locked in, forced to fight for their lives. PitoâŠWasnât in that group. She was a beta tester, and became obsessed with the game. On launch day, something came up. She had to delay her entrance into it for just a few hoursâŠEnough for the lockdown to happen, and SAO to become a sealed bubble she couldnât enter.
-She watched it all on the news. She watched everyone else go through the greatest crucible of their lives. And it broke her. That she lost her shot at entering that crucible, turned her inside out. To have a chance to burn her life out in battleâŠEver since VR games became popular again, sheâs been throwing every spare moment she had into them. But they donât satisfy her yearning for the void.
-For a little while, though, things wereâŠstable. Until the SAO Incident was solved, and the survivors started talking. Pito had to confront her âlost opportunityâ, and learned about the player killers, who committed genuine murder inside the world of SAO. Most of the deaths, outside of those first few chaotic days, were in fact from player killers or from self-defense against them.
-Other sidenote, I donât know if itâs just one of those Manga Things where shit gets enshrined and used and reused because itâs an easily understood story path, but Japanese gaming culture seems to have this really different attitude towards PvP and attacking other players in general.
-And PitoâŠPito envied them. Their chance to put their lives on the line, to kill or be killed. To be them or to strike them down. Thatâs how fucking insane Pito is!
-Things werenât so bad when she was burning of steam in GGOâŠBut then she missed the Squad Jam, the first big script-changer event! And itâs caused a relapse. âŠSo sheâs going to try and turn Squad Jam 2: Gunfire Boogaloo into a death game. Yes, yes! So again. Why not the cops or professionals.
-âŠHe canât. Pitoâs too important to him. If he goes to the police or psychiatrists, sheâll be killed, jailed or put in a psychiatric ward, and if they try to lock her up sheâll find a way to kill herself. Sheâd die, and not before destroying herself in the eyes of all the people who rely on her.
-âŠThis is over her pay grade, man. She canât help you here.
-KABEDON
-Goushi corners her up with the very important move that is Kaibedon, and look. He, loves, Pito! Thatâs why he has to find a way for this to end in her survival, so he can get her back to center! Karenâs first kabedon, and itâs to hear a guy confess his love for someone else. This is bullshit.
-So they end up sitting back down, with Goushi drinking black coffee, which he hates, but he drinks it because Pito likes it. âŠDude just have a sweet drink and mellow. So, okay, talk it out. Whatâs your plan and why arenât you scared like when she had P-chan aimed at your damn head?
-Because his real fear isnât deathâŠItâs leaving Pito behind without him there to keep her grounded. Say he dies. Hell, say Pito kills him. ThenâŠThen what. What if she doesnât have the will to kill herself? What if she tries for suicide by cop, or worse, what if she breaks down and her resolve cracks entirely? Sheâd be destroyed. She wouldnât even have the dignity of death, sheâd have a hollow life.
-And okay, explain in very small words how Karenâs supposed to help.
-Enter the SJ 2, face Pito, and defeat her in battle!
-âŠWHAT?!
-You are the one person who she will accept a defeat from. She made that promise to you! If you defeat her honestly, and if she knows itâs an honest fightâŠSheâll be stuck to her promise. Sheâll have to stay alive, so she can meet you. And thatâll give him time, to pull her back to center and out of this relapse state.
-âŠThis is insane. This is ludicrous. ButâŠIf itâs the only option on the boardâŠGuess sheâs entering.
-Credits!
-Aftercredits! Karenâs back in bed, and now has Goushiâs personal email as a way to talkâŠBut Karen needs someone to enter with. Who the hell can LLENN relyâŠonâŠMiyu! MIYU SHE NEEDS YOUR HELP! âŠMiyu is so fucking down. Theyâre gonna rage, Karen!
I guess SAOâs gonna SAO, huh. Gotta be honest, I wouldâve enjoyed this more without the death game angle. But oh well, letâs try and enjoy ourselves next time, in episode SIX of SAO Alt: GGO! Wait for it!
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okay, so today was pretty good. I woke up to my alarm at 11:45 for PT, got ready and walked there. The session was fine, nothing very remarkable about it. Afterwards when I was walking home there were people from charities out canvasing which is a fairly common sight, I ended up stopping and talking to a guy from one called Peopleâs Action who are working to end mass incarceration  and advocate for a fairer legal system (I told him up front that I was a student and had no income so I couldnât donate, but we had a pleasant conversation anyway). We were very much on the same wavelength about things, we talked about the new DA in Philadelphia and how he was instrumental in getting Meek Mills released from prison recently, he was talking about reforms the Chicago SA has been instituting and I was telling him about the JTDC and how there were children locked up in there for sometimes over a year. Theyâre currently pushing for a bill thatâs in the Illinois legislature to end money bail throughout the state, basically meaning if someone is arrested on a low level offense, they would be booked and processed, but then released subject to bail conditions such as ankle monitoring and such, the idea being that nobody stays in jail simply because they canât afford to pay their way out, which is a huge reason for incarceration and the main cause behind most of the inmates at the Cook County Jail right now (note jail is different than prison, prisons donât usually house people who are pre-trial). So he gave me the name of that legislation and how I could talk to my elected representatives about supporting it (he said he was pretty sure the rep for where I live was signed on, but itâs always good to let them know weâre supporting their position). So that was a pleasant little discussion (pleasant being a relative term, of course). So I got home and started on my baking projects for the day, one being the bread I wanted to make into cheesy garlic bread. I had bought a package of frozen pizza dough a while back, and thereâs a recipe on the back to turn it into italian bread instead, and I had let the last one I had thaw out yesterday so I could cook it today, first I had to split it into two loaves and then leave it to rise for 2-3 hours, so I set that up, then started working on my caramels. It was the same recipe I used before and liked, Iâve just learned to change up the temperatures according to how I like them lol mainly leaving them on longer so they get harder and chewier, which is how I like them. there were a few potentially dicey moments when I was adding the heavy cream and butter (if youâve ever made caramel before you know when you add the heavy cream it legit starts bubbling violently and can be rather intense) probably because I added too much too quickly, and it threatened to bubble over but eventually subsided. I then left them on until they got to like 260 instead of 240 like the recipe said before taking it off the stove and pouring it into a pan to harden, then topped it with sea salt because any good caramel has to be salted these days. It was around 4 at that point and they were supposed to sit for 3 1/2 hours, so I had some time obviously. I did the dishes in the sink, then finally started to finish cleaning my room. I had done a good bit of it last week with cleaning up the clothes that were really the main issue, but I just had a lot of other clutter and random things hanging about that I mainly stuffed either under my bed or in my closet, because those are really the only places I have to put stuff, lol. Hopefully this weekend I can get around to pulling out my clothing and deciding what I want to do with what exactly, keep it or hand, or store, or donate, so hopefully that will work out. Around 5:30 when the bread was done rising I put it in the oven, then when it was done I sliced one of the loaves open and started the cheesy garlic bread part, which is actually very easy because itâs only melted butter, garlic powder, and shredded cheese (of course you could go for the more authentic garlic flavoring by using actual garlic, but in my experience the garlic powder tastes fine). Once that was done I sat down on the couch and had some time to kill before Arrow came on, so I watched last weekâs Blindspot that I hadnât gotten around to yet. I think I only have last nightâs Krypton to catch up on now, though Iâll have another Blindspot episode to watch tomorrow night, but itâs the season finale so Iâm almost done with that. Iâm gonna have to find some good shows to binge over the summer when all my shows are over and I need to decompress from bar studying. Soon enough after that it was Arrow time. Now, to be clear, the only reason I was watching was for Dinah Drake, Black Siren, and Sara Lance, I didn't really give a fuck about anybody else (besides like, Quentin, I guess). Oliver I really donât give a shit about at this point, and even Felicity has become pretty meh to me because they canât seem to write her as a character independent from her relationship with Oliver. The opening with them attacking the police prescient with the FBI was pretty bad ass, and done really well, so they get credit for that. The episode went on, I was worried for a moment that they were gonna kill off Rene when they had him call his daughter and I was like OH GOD DO NOT DO THIS TO ME so I was glad they got out of there alive. Then there was Quentin clearly only caring about getting Laurel back, and Iâm sorry but I refuse to believe you can GPS track A FUCKING PACEMAKER even when I know theyâve done it with someone else on here at some point, but as soon as he said it to Oliver I was like okay thatâs gonna be important so it was good that that was picked up soon. I mean, literally everyone knew they were gonna kill Quentin, and that itâd most likely be in the form of him sacrificing himself to save Laurel, so when he quite literally took a bullet for her that wasnât really a surprise. When she called him âDadâ my heart definitely broke a little bit. Then everyone else stormed in and I was really just wanting Laurel to rip that stupid collar off her neck and scream at Diaz, but actually having Dinah come to her assist and help her get Quentin out of there was like, such a really well done moment for both of them, I loved it. Then of course there was Oliver being stupid with Diaz and not just putting a fucking arrow into him like he shouldâve, like you couldâve grabbed that USB data off his neck if he stopped breathing??? We know thinking isnât your strong suit buddy but come on. Not gonna lie, Laurel coming in and being like âoh, that movie you were talking about, it was old yellerâ before literally blasting him off the building with her scream was so fucking great, I just wish it had actually killed him so we didnât have to deal with anymore of this bullshit. If heâs actually like, a villain next season Iâm gonna be pissed because he needs to just be done. Then of course we had everybody at the hospital with Quentin in ~stable~ condition going into surgery, and getting to have a nice long goodbye chat with Oliver, only for them to have Sara show up after he already went into surgery so she didnât get FUCKING SAY GOODBYE to her FUCKING FATHER and just shows up in time to hear that heâs dead, because has the universe not dealt Sara Lance enough heartbreak already, you really gotta keep killing the people she loves???? that shit pissed me off, because it wouldâve been so fucking easy for them to have her there earlier and at least get to say goodbye, this was just being unnecessarily cruel. I did appreciate that she at least got to speak to Black Siren, I wouldâve liked a more in-depth conversation but itâs a start at least. I did of course feel for Laurel as well, we know she has to be dealing with a lot of grief and heartbreak based on the relationship her and Quentin had built up over the last season and him quite literally becoming a father to her. And now of course she has nobody, like who is going to help her now? the only other person who maybe would was Oliver, and OH WAIT heâs getting taken off to prison now. I mean, I guess they could have Dinah reach out to her which my DinahSiren shipper heart would adore, I would be really happy if that happened for next season, but I donât really want to get my hopes up about it. But yeah, about that whole Oliver getting arrested thing. I know I was going on two weeks ago about how brilliant it was that they ended the case the way they did because it put double jeopardy rules into play so they couldnât try him again, but double jeopardy doesnât apply to federal charges (which is frankly something a lot of people, myself included, think is unconstitutional, but itâs the law for now), so he could be charged under federal statutes for crimes, however they would have to establish federal jurisdiction over the crimes, such as them occurring on federal land, or a series of other factors, because federal and state jurisdiction isn't always concurrent. It is of course very rare that federal charges are brought after someone is acquitted of state charges for the reasons I outlined above, it may not be double jeopardy by law but a lot of people view it that way regardless. They also made it really unclear as to what his situation was, like was he getting charged and going to trial or had he essentially entered a plea of some sort? I mean, if the charge is for like 35 murders (or however many they can claim federal jurisdiction for) thereâs no way heâs getting an actual plea less than life in prison without parole (as opposed to the death penalty) so idk how that would work. but I really didnât feel emotionally invested in that plot at all because I just didnât believe the stakes, like sure he may spend a few months in prison until next season starts but we all know heâs going to get out and somehow take up his vigilante identity again. I wasnât surprised that he went public about being the green arrow, I mean, Oliver did it in season 10 of Smallville so at this point I was pretty sure it was gonna be happening any time now. As far as the scene of him walking through the prison to his cell, thatâs bullshit, because they would have him in protective custody being that like half the people in the prison want to kill him. but yeah, I guess thatâs where weâre leaving off for now. I honestly really hope they make season 7 the last, itâs a solid place to end a series without it getting too drawn out (because letâs be real, itâs already being drawn out) and at this point I feel like theyâre just getting close to Oliverâs narrative journey. Of course the characters can still be a part of the universe and show up in crossovers or just make cameos in the different shows, so itâs not like they'd really be going anywhere permanently. As far as the news coming out of the CW Upfronts today, I did chuckle a little at Supergirl getting moved to the Sunday night slot and Legends permanently taking over Monday (sorry SG fans) and it leading into Arrow, because thatâs apparently the way they want to do things now. As far as the fact that Batwoman/Kate Kane is going to be part of the crossover next year, I canât have much of an opinion there because Iâm not terribly invested in the Batman mythos to the point where Iâd really have any knowledge about her, the most Iâve really seen was watching Batman The Animated Series and of course that isnât very much, so I guess weâll have to see where they go with that. Someone on twitter said Legends should be leading the crossover next season, which I very much agree with, they've definitely earned it at this point. Well, once Arrow was over I just watched the Great British Baking Show Masterclass which is just the two judges making their perfect versions of the different challenges they had the contestants make in the bake off, because itâs very soft and British and does not hurt me the way the Arrowverse does, so that was pleasant, and I watched that until I started getting ready for bed. I have an early morning, itâll be my first day at my mini internship at the DV Clinic, just on Fridays through the end of June. I would really have liked to have known about the NY job by now so I could have a better idea of how I stand there, but I guess Iâll just have to be pulling out all the stops to make myself the most useful worker that they wonât want me to leave, whether I end up needing a job or not. Thatâs the plan, anyway, as far as things Iâve already done there Iâm pretty good at all of them, I can do OPs of course and Iâve interviewed clients, both over the phone and in person, and of course I can step up in court on status updates and such which it sounds like would be most of what Iâm doing in court, so thatâs all good. Well, itâs 12:30 am and I have to wake up at 6:55 am to get there by 8:30, so I really should be getting to bed now. Goodnight my loves. Happy Friday.Â
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