#i always say; you know it's a bad relationship when the local incarnation of evil is telling you to get out of dodge

[brothersgrim]

♡ what do Elise's attempts to reach out mean to Kane?

Send me ♡ + a word, and I’ll write a headcanon. || Accepting

I’ll tell you, it would mean a lot more if she wasn’t who she was. Or rather, if her father wasn’t who he was. Triple H, one of the leaders of DX. Kane and DX, as you might know, have a colourful history.

No, let me rephrase that. 

DX has made Kane’s life even more of a Hell than it already was since the day he met them. He hates them. I’m going to give a brief rundown of events that I just remember off the top of my head, in no particular order:

- DX launches a vicious assault against The Undertaker. He holds his own until he’s overwhelmed by sheer numbers. Kane comes out, and everyone expects him to side with DX and beat his brother. Instead, Kane grabs Triple H by the hair, yanks him off of ‘Taker, and knocks the sense out of H, sending DX packing. This is, I believe, the first time since his debut that Kane aligns himself with his brother. It’s also the first time ‘Taker has ever genuinely smiled on TV. 

- Triple H and Chyna jump Kane in the parking lot with metal pipes and a spanner. Despite being in the middle of a feud, ‘Taker comes charging in, Big Show in tow, to chase them off. Kane, the Devil’s Favourite Demon, was beaten so horribly he can’t stand, and struggles even to reach out and hold on to his big brother’s leg as Taker stands over him like a snarling watchdog until H and Chyna are long gone. Later that evening, Kane seemed to have recovered, and declared revenge on them in the middle of the ring. He doused Trips, Chyna, and their car in gasoline in an attempt to burn them all to ash. When that doesn’t work, he strangles Triple H nearly to unconsciousness, and pursues Chyna down the hall when she attempts to intervene and quickly regrets it. 

- DX makes a mockery of the Undertaker, and by extension, Kane’s experiences. So, Kane and Taker are often not on the same page. Everyone knows that. During the peak of one of their earlier feuds, Kane (backed by Paul) defeats Taker and locks him in a casket. Kane takes an axe to the casket, douses it in gas, and burns it, and then Taker’s AWOL for a bit. At one point, it looks like he’s made his return. The gong sounds, the music plays, lights slowly come on to reveal a familiar figure in the ring… And it’s Shawn Michaels dressed as the Deadman, before he starts dancing around the ring to DX’s music and stripping down. Trips and Chyna come out with barbecuing gear and they proceed to have a ‘cookout’ to burn the ‘Taker clothes Shawn had somehow gotten a hold of. Kane was pissed off at this for a few reasons. Firstly, it’s blatantly disrespecting his brother, and, excuse him, you insipid little pricks, only he’s allowed to do that. He and Paul. Not you, never you. But also, that whole barbecue thing? Kane setting Taker’s casket on fire was meant to be symbolic. As far as he knows, his brother set the funeral home fire. The fire that cost him his home, his parents, his skin, half his vision, his sanity, his speech for more than half his life, and his freedom. So, trapping ‘Taker and burning him was supposed to be some sort of poetic retribution. Real ‘eye for an eye’ thing, you know? And then DX comes out like ‘lmao what a fun backyard barbecue :))))) we remembered our chef hats!!!’ Like… Do I even need to say why that’s obscenely disrespectful? 

- Literally the entire XPac and Tori deal. God, it’s a doozy. I’ll do my best so summarize for anyone who has trouble remembering: XPac befriended Kane, much to Undertaker’s suspicion. Taker didn’t trust ‘Pac for a second, and sparked a feud with him as he tried to warn Kane that his new friend was bad news and took literally any opportunity to throw ‘Pac through the floor. The problem was that XPac presented himself not only as Kane’s first friend after two decades of solitude, but also as his best friend. He coaxed Kane into speaking on his own for the first time since the fire. … He also told Kane that DX would be happy to have him, if he could just prove that he deserved a spot in their stable. You can see where this is going. XPac basically conned Kane into doing DX’s dirty work and heavy lifting under the premise of people finally accepting him. There were a few times where they’d lose or things would go badly, and ‘Pac would just walk out on Kane, leaving him alone in the ring or back stage, but how was Kane supposed to know that’s not what best friends did? He never had anyone. There’s a brief moment where it looks like Kane is going to reconsider. ‘Pac calls Kane out to the ring and tells him that even though he knows Kane’s starting to make up and work things out with ‘Taker, that his brother is bad news and manipulative and a liar, whereas he (XPac) has always been honest with Kane. Kane is visibly upset by this, stays silent for the entire segment, and keeps trying to turn away, but ‘Pac gets in his face and lays down an ultimatum: If Kane wants to keep being his friend, if he wants to have a shot at DX, he’ll cut all ties with his brother then and now, because if he has anything to do with the Undertaker none of them will want him. (Sidenote: Invalidating other relationships and isolating your victim is literally Abuse Tactics 101.) Again, Kane says nothing. The rest of DX comes out of nowhere and starts a brawl. Pac hops out of the ring and leaves Kane to fend for himself. Like his brother, Kane’s able to hold his own well until the numbers game takes its toll. ‘Taker comes sprinting - and I mean sprinting - down the ramp, hauls them off of Kane, and clears the ring of everyone else so Kane can get to his feet. Taker steps up to Kane, and with unbroken eye contact says a line that hit me deep. 

“Kane… I am your brother. And I will not make you choose. I would never ask you to choose.” 

Local murdercult leader gently points out to his baby brother that he’s being treated poorly and shouldn’t have to put up with it on main. Taker leaves the ring, but lingers at the top of the ramp. Pac tries to convince Kane to stay, but after a moment of consideration and hesitation, Kane leaves with big brother and is later seen getting a(n inaudible) pep talk from the Lord of Darkness back stage to make him feel better. So that’s part one. Kane does eventually switch sides to side with ‘Pac again, after Taker interrupts a match and almost kills Pac. Kane lays him out before Taker can explain (and he does turn around, hands up, like he’s about to have some patient conversation to lay out why he hates Kane’s ‘friend’ so much). After re-siding with Pac and going back to being his glorified guard dog, stringing him along for a bit, Pac and the rest of DX decide to tell Kane that, you know what? There’s no place for him in DX. There was never a place for him in DX. They don’t want him.

Some time during this mess, Kane met Tori and fell in love with her. She was, according to the announcers, his first love, first girlfriend. He would have given her the world. He basically acts like she’s the most wonderful thing he’s ever seen. He’s by her side, he’s constantly protecting her, totally indulgent, ruthless with anyone who upsets her but the most gentle we’ve ever seen his character when it comes to handling her himself. Boy got bit by the Love Bug so bad. During a pre-Christmas episode, DX challenges Kane to a match, where if he loses, Tori has to spend Christmas with XPac. He lost. He lost her. The day DX is supposed to give her back, Kane’s an anxious wreck. They show a clip of him waiting for her out back. He’s pacing back and forth, back and forth, over and over again, and according to the commentators, he’s been out there for a while. When they’re finally reunited, Kane clings to her. Literally holds her as close as he can and just wraps around her, like he’s afraid someone will try and pull her from his arms again. Like I said, he had it bad. She’s all sweet with him, pulling out all the pet names, stroking his face (mask) and his arms as she tells him what a great time she had with ‘Pac and what a gentleman he was. Kane is understandably confused, but is pacified when Tori tells him that he was all she thought about while they were apart. … She then starts telling Kane stories about how other superstars were hurting her to send him on a warpath. Incidentally, the guys she talks about are all of the people DX has problems with. She eggs Kane on in the ring, reminding him that these guys hurt her over and over and yelling at him to hit harder, hit again, rip them apart, and he very nearly murders Test in the ring as a result. It’s one of the most vicious matches at the time. Test, the entire time, was confused and pleading his innocence. He had zero idea what either of them were talking about. 

Not too long after, DX once again mobs Kane, They tie him down and restrain him in the ring and beat the hell out of him while XPac announces to the world that, actually, on Christmas Eve, Tori had been cheating on Kane with him. Kane is understandably upset by this. Tori originally denies it, then switches to begging for Kane’s forgiveness… Then seemingly decides ‘whatever’, kisses XPac, and walks out with DX, arm in arm with Pac and leaving Kane still tied down, beaten and broken-hearted, in the ring. Remember, Pac was the best friend he left his own brother behind for, and Tori was the girlfriend he was willing to kill for to protect. Kane eventually has a handicap match against XPac. Pac’s accompanied by Tori, and his partner is - wait for it - Triple H (with Stephanie). Kane dismantles them like it’s an art form. Beats H into an unconscious heap, has Pac crumpled in a corner begging for the ref to call him off, and Kane’s still going after them. Steph has to shield Trips from a furious demon with a chair, so he moves on to Pac, and if it wasn’t for Tori yanking the chair out of Kane’s hands he probably would’ve ended his former best friend right there. About six or seven refs come in the ring, Kane lays all of them out like it’s going out of style, and then turns on Tori. He’s egged on by Paul, He’s angry, he’s hurt, he wants revenge, she hurt him so badly… But he still hesitates. He lets her go. She stands up and starts touching him again, face and arms and hair and saying that she knew he still loved her. … And that’s when he tombstones her, but he hesitated. If she’d just left, he might not have. The Big Red Machine, The Devil’s Favourite Demon, the monster, hesitated. I cannot say enough how much he’d loved her and how grievously her betrayal hurt him. (For the record, during Kane’s assault on Tori, Steph, H, and Pac are hiding out on the ramp. Pac seems distressed but doesn’t do anything. Kane, on the other hand, had left entire matches behind to go after ringsiders who had tried to hurt Tori, back when they were together.)

- There’s also the Katie Vick storyline. I don’t acknowledge ‘Katie Vick’ as being a real thing in Kane’s history, as it doesn’t make any sense, so we can either decide this never happened, or was just H spreading really insidious and gross lies (which is kind of what happened in WWE canon, anyway), once again mocking the fact that Kane lost everyone he loved and people will believe anything about him in the worst way.

- Triple H and Chyna were both part of the Corporation, back when they had Kane assaulted, committed, and forced into being McMahon’s lapdog. 

- Shawn Michaels using the whole ‘May 19th’ thing to set Kane off and get him to hurt people because that’s exactly how you respond to someone with PTSD right??

- Their most recent feud in 2018 shows that the brothers haven’t forgiven them even a decade later.

… And this is just what I remember off of the top of my head. I’m sure if I searched it up, I could find a lot more. The point is, Kane’s been lied to, manipulated, abused, and hurt by DX since Day 1, and he stopped buying what they were selling a long time ago. So, before he knew who she was? It was nice. Confusing, and something he’d probably ask Paul or his brother about, but nice. Now? Knowing who she is, and what the past has held? He’s a lot less inclined to take it at face value. 

[thevindicativevordan]

On Livewire

You know Leslie is probably the most popular and well known female Superman Rogue mainly because they use her so heavily in outside media.

Which makes sense given her debut in Superman: The Animated Series, but it still kind of fascinates me. They didn't bring her into comics continuity until 2006 apparently, with Gail Simone and John Byrne (Byrne of all the creators!) being the ones to finally fold her in. Even after they brought her in, they still have never given her that much attention or focus which is a disappointment for me frankly, because Livewire is honestly fantastic in Scott McCloud and later Mark Millar's Superman Adventures runs, and I would say with complete sincerity that those two are probably her best writers. "Millar writing a female character well?" you scoff at in disbelief. I know, I was shocked too! But she's funny, clever, and a huge pain in the ass for Supes. Reading how she was used there, and rewatching her STAS incarnation recently, really made a big realization for the character hit me like a lightning bolt (couldn't resist):

She's basically an evil superpowered Lois Lane! I know I can't have been the first one to realize that, although I haven't seen anyone else actually outright state it anywhere, but c'mon it's so obvious! She's a reporter of a sorts as well thanks to being a disc jockey, her debut in STAS even has her interviewing Lois and Clark! She's got strong opinions on Superman that conflict with the general opinion about him (Lois being pro-Superman when everyone else is more hostile towards him at first, Livewire being anti-Superman when everyone else has embraced him as their hero). She's rude and abrasive, and doesn't care if her opinions offend people, which sure does remind me of Lois at her meanest.

Livewire to me is an examination of what Lois would be like if she abandoned her morals or never really had them in the first place. Leslie doesn't care about the "truth" which is the big difference between her and Lois. Lois can be headstrong, willful, and outright rude, but it's all in service of her pursuit of higher ideals. Livewire doesn't care about that, she carries about getting people to pay attention to her, and getting the recognition and wealth she believes she's owed.

What I'd Do With Livewire

It wasn't until I had that big realization about Leslie that I figured out what role she should play with regards to Clark: She should be Clark's old college ex who was the one who got him into journalism in the first place.

Clark's college years are unexplored territory narratively, typically we jump from his childhood in Smallville right into his debut in Metropolis. Now I know Clark dated Lori that mermaid back in Pre-Crisis during his college years, and while that's a fun bit of trivia, it doesn't really add anything meaningful in the same way that I think Leslie and Clark dating could. So I'd rather go with Leslie because I think she makes for a better foil for Clark and because the two of them would benefit from having a deeper connection established, plus Leslie could get fleshed out as a character more.

I like the explanation that Clark chose journalism in part because it challenges him in ways his powers can't, but in the comics they've rarely bothered to explain how he chose that field in the first place. I would have meeting Leslie at college be that big moment where he starts to figure himself out. She's assertive and confident, and Clark is attracted to that for similar reasons he's attracted to Lois. Leslie would start out as an optimist and idealist in the same way Clark is, and the two would bond and go into journalism together, with Leslie being the one who really believes in the field initially. They'd both be big believers in the duty of the press to inform and the presses ability to shape public opinion, with Clark attracted to investigative journalism and Leslie attracted more to broadcast and digital journalism. They start to date and for a moment, Clark seriously wonders if this is the one.

The big break between them comes when Clark and Leslie go on a trip around the world during their senior year of college. That trip would be where both of them learn how crappy the world is. Clark always had some idea of how bad things were because of his powers, but the trip is where he really starts to realize that there is a real need for someone of his powers to step up, and that there are hard limits to just how much he can accomplish as a member of the press. That same realization is what shatters Leslie's idealism and optimism. She loses faith in the ability to make a difference, to punch through the wall of public indifference, and as a result she gives up that dream. Instead she decides that if you can't beat them, join them: she switches instead to telling the masses what the powers that be want them to hear in exchange for money, to saying whatever the masses will give her attention and prestige for, embracing tabloid journalism that prioritizes clicks and engagement over information. Ultimately it destroys the relationship between Leslie and Clark with her viewing him as a sap and him viewing her as a sellout.

I think that origin really would help flesh out her worldview and motivation a lot more. She's a former idealist who has been broken by the world in a similar way to Poison Ivy. Leslie thus acts as a foil to Clark and Lois in that she's someone who let the world rob her of her idealism and sold out on the truth in exchange for material success. She's what Clark or Lois could've been if they took Lex's offer to work for him, and they should recognize that to some degree. Clark should have conflicting feelings for her, not romantically that relationship is dead, but in terms of sometimes he wonders if he's just wasting his life trying to fight for truth and justice. So few people seem to care about those principles, why hold on so tight to them? Why not just look out for his own self-interest the way everyone else seems to? It's the refusal to give up even when it looks pointless that makes the two of them different, and makes Clark a hero and Livewire a villain.

How I'd Like Livewire To Operate

There's a lack of imagination in how Livewire is used on the comic side as I see it.

Like most Superman Rogues the typical Superman writer doesn't seem to have a clue what to do with her beyond generic "villain" stuff, but that does a disservice to what Livewire brings to the table. Livewire does want to fry Superman to a crisp, but that's not what her daily goal is to accomplish. More importantly, she wants respect and she wants money, and the way she gets both is not by trying to rob banks, it's by leaning into her background as a media personality combined with her new powers. Unleashing electric bolts is honestly the least impressive part of her powerset in terms of her ability to manipulate anything and everything technology.

The Internet? Livewire can crash the entire thing with ease, or restrict access to portions of it. She can do the reverse and smash through firewalls and encryption like it's made of paper. Imagine Livewire shutting off the power grid or causing it to explode, secretly using your "smart" tech to record your every move, uploading ransomware to every piece of technology in Metropolis, emptying the bank accounts of anyone who annoys her, or bringing Metropolis to it's knees thanks to the "City of Tomorrow" being a test ground for the Internet of Things, so everything is connected and thus easily manipulated. Smart cars crash into each other, elevators randomly drop, trains are unable to stop and simply accelerate onward unceasingly, plans attempting to land find their instruments on the fritz, anything and everything is Livewire's to control. But terrorism, while entertaining and occasionally profitable, isn't Livewire's main focus either.

One of my favorite Superman Adventures stories with her had Livewire manipulating TV broadcast signals so that any time there was a male news reporter on screen, the signal wouldn't come through. Stuff like that, where Livewire is making life hell for people in a way that isn't immediately life-threatening is what I envision as her day to day operations, but her bread and butter is fake news. What Livewire is REALLY good at doing is manipulating the public due to her journalism background plus her powers. She can make fake videos that look totally authentic, fake articles that seem to come from credible sources, fake voice recordings, she can make anyone appear to do or say anything through the Internet, and then she can upload that to the devices of every single person in Metropolis.

You can get stories about the mayor being framed for taking bribes, local activists cast as grifters, and supposed upstanding citizens such as Lois Lane and Clark Kent appearing to take orders from criminals like Intergang on what stories to run. Basically you lean into the journalism aspect for Livewire stories where Clark and Lois have to investigate to see whether what Livewire is putting out there is fake or legit, with peoples lives and reputations at stake (including frequently their own).

And when Superman and Livewire actually do clash physically? I don't care how it gets justified, Livewire simply being that powerful, her lightning being "special", she has the ability to manipulate Superman's bioelectric field, whatever: she can hurt him. When she hits Supes with lightning, it burns. It's painful as all hell. Livewire needs to be a threat and I'd like her to be treated as a powerhouse since I don't see a reason why that shouldn't be the case. Livewire is a really cool Rogue, there's a reason she's managed to keep getting used long after the DCAU ended. I hope the comics creators start utilizing her to her full potential.

[seriously-siri]

Epiphany

Happy holidays @fontasticcrablettes ! I am your @talessecretsanta2019. I know it’s cutting a bit close, but my very existence doesn’t know how to do anything easily so this is only the first part! Part 2 to come in a couple of days!

Also readable on my AO3 here.

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Yuri wasn’t going to do anything special for the new year’s celebration. He wasn’t going to go out of his way to go to a party in Dahngrest since he didn’t really know too many people outside of his guild and didn’t really care to get to know them at the crazy shindigs that were sure to be happening. On a mission? Sure. At a guild meeting? Made sense. Five kegs into what Yuri would bet a crazy amount of money is the best alcohol the local taverns have in their basement? No thanks.

Brave Vesperia decided it was better to save funds rather than throw their own party since their space still needed some, or a lot, of work done. Really Karol decided that which was fine because he had been invited to the Hunting Blade’s party and Raven apparently had other plans (and Yuri wasn’t going to touch that with a ten foot pole). Judy was on a job with a couple of their newest recruits which left him and Repede to do their own thing.

A year was a year and while this past one has been very different from what Yuri expected on the daily, he’d rather get past the whole world almost ending thing and just start a new one. Because no matter how hard he tried, Yuri always found himself reflecting on the last day of the year, which is sort of the point, but it always put him in a bad mood. He’ll take the quiet of the guild for a night, maybe watch some fireworks, and then start from day one and enjoy what he gained over the past year instead of think about the intricacies of how he gained it.

So no, he wasn’t going to do anything special for the new year.

Until a scroll came addressed to him, rolled up on thick parchment with the seal of the empire stamped in gold wax. Yuri was dubious at first, since Estelle was the only one that sent him mail regularly and it was usually a normal, square letter on normal paper. Flynn would always tossed in a letter to him whenever she wrote so it wouldn’t be from him. Besides Flynn wouldn’t waste the money on the fancy paper if it wasn’t for official business. It turned out to be just that. It was an invitation to the castle to celebrate a new year and a new relationship between the Empire and the Guilds and was even signed by Yoder and Flynn. Nice gesture, but not really Yuri’s thing… which was clearly what Flynn expected because a smaller parchment fell to the floor that had one simple word on it written in familiar script.

Please?

Leave it to Estelle to at least ask nicely.

Also, leave it to Flynn for knowing exactly how to get him to agree to something so excruciatingly awkward. Because it was definitely Flynn and not Estelle who also knows that slipping that note in the official letter would work, but would never dream of being that evil.

Not only is the entire shindig at the castle going to be literal torture, but the trip from the get go has been miserable. It is cold and not the usual winter cold, but cold cold, colder than Hypionia cold and Yuri vaguely regrets leaving the scarf Estelle knit him a couple month ago at the guild. So after a quick stop in Halure to pick up a hat for himself and a small blanket for Repede, Yuri finds himself plotting all the ways he’s going to pay Flynn back for this complete betrayal of their friendship.

“What do you think Repede,” Yuri glances down briefly as Repede lets out a yawn. “Should we pretend we got lost and just crash old Hanks’ party?”

Bark!

“Yeah, I think Flynn would have me arrested if I no showed.”

Bark!

“No kidding. I guess I shouldn’t let these fancy clothes go to waste, I spent way too much on them.” Yuri shifts his pack on his shoulder and eyes Repede who is definitely smirking at him. “Hey, don’t think you’re getting off easy! I got you a fancy collar to match.” And if Repede’s grumble isn’t enough to show his displeasure, his glare is scarier than any a human has ever given Yuri. “You heard me. Estelle is going to absolutely love it and we are never going to hear the end of it.”

Bark bark!

Yuri shrugs. “If I have to suffer so do you.” Dipping down he gives Repede a quick ruffle between the ears and pet down the back, “Well at least it’ll be warm in the castle and hey, maybe if we get there before lunch we can make Flynn buy us something to eat. The food at the gala tomorrow probably won’t be even remotely edib-” but there’s a tenseness in Repede that forces Yuri to pause. It’s not the cold that is causing a barely noticeable tremble down the dog’s spine. “What’s up buddy?”

The only answer Yuri gets is the smallest twitch of Repede’s ears and he doesn’t need to think twice before dropping his bag to the ground and tossing his sword sheath aside. He sets his stance just a little wider as Repede moves to cover behind him with a low growl. “Who’s there?”

Estelle came to Flynn’s office looking for a quiet place to read, at least, that is what she told him.

It made sense; the castle is basically chaos incarnate with preparations for the celebration that evening. The halls were packed with staff putting up decorations or running back and forth on various errands. If the number of times he’d been interrupted from his work that morning is any indication of how many times Estelle probably got bombarded with questions, he was happy to let her plop down in a chair in the quiet for a little.

And it had been quiet, very quiet. When Flynn realized he hadn’t heard a page turn in Estelle’s book for awhile he caught her staring wide eyed out the window at the lightly falling snow. Eventually the book made its way onto a table and the chair was left empty while pink began shuffling around the room. First Estelle browsed over the books on the book shelf, something Flynn found a little funny since she’s already read them all at least twice. Then pink made its way to the window to watch the snow for a little and then back to the book shelf…

She hasn’t stopped since.

It’s not that Flynn cares much for the gaudy carpet that blankets the middle of his office floor, but if Estelle doesn’t stop pacing it’s going to need to be replaced sooner rather than later.

Flynn, paperwork long forgotten, sets the pen he is idling flipping between his fingers down and leans back in his seat at an angle he knows will make a loud enough creak to catch the princess’ attention. “Lady Estellise-“

“How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?!” Estelle snaps with a small muffle stomp of her heel and she turns to him, fists clenched at her sides. Then fingers uncurl and immediately cover a small gasp. “I’m so sorry Flynn. That was uncalled for.”

Flynn flinches. He knows she doesn’t mean to snap at him, she’s stressed and worried and he can’t entirely blame her. Flynn’s been half expecting a fist to come around the corner of a hall or doorway all morning followed by a promise for further retribution for making Yuri put on an ironed shirt. The other half of him was trying to scream at him that something wasn’t right.

Yuri was due in town yesterday and had yet to make his grand appearance or, at the very least, begrudging appearance. While Yuri isn’t the most punctual person Flynn knows, he also isn’t someone who shows up offensively late.

“It’s fine, Estelle.” The way she scrunches up her face means she doesn’t believe him, but Flynn waves it off with his hand as he stands up and makes his way to the front of his desk. “Yuri probably just got distracted with some monsters. You know how he is, any chance to get a couple flips in and he doesn’t have a care in the world.”

“Oh, like you’re any different.” Estelle tries to tease, but it falls flat as she glances to the window again. “I just have this feeling Flynn. Something is wrong and I know that doesn’t make any sense, but we need to go-”

The knock on the door causes them to both jump and Estelle visibly pales as Flynn whirls around a little quicker than usual.  He doesn’t so much run across his office as he does throw himself at the door to fling it open.

“Commander?”

Sodia. Flynn has to close his eyes for a moment to keep his disappointment from showing. He was sort of hoping for a fist to the face. Okay, he was really hoping for a fist to the face or a snarky comment or anything that meant the sickening knot in Flynn’s stomach was unmerited.

Stepping back Flynn nods. “Come in, Lieutenant.”

“Sir, I need-“ Sodia pokes her head around the door and suddenly rushes in, nearly tripping on a sloppy bow as she spots Estelle. “I’m sorry your highness, I didn’t realize you were here.”

“It’s okay.” Turning to pick up her book Estelle glances at Flynn and raises an eyebrow before heading to the door. “I will see you at the celebration later.”

Flynn nods and watches her leave before turning back to Soda. He needed to make this quick because that look he just got meant he didn’t have a lot of time before he will need to catch up to Estelle once she leaves the castle. “Is there something you need?”

Sodia, however, is staring at the still open door. “Um, is everything okay, Sir?”

Sighing Flynn crosses his arms and pinches the bridge of his nose. “She’s worried that Yuri hasn’t arrived yet and honestly? I am too. The weather looks like it’s getting pretty bad out there and it’s not like Yuri to be this late.”

“Well didn’t you say that Yuri probably wouldn’t want to come to the celebration?” Sodia frowns at him. “Maybe he decided to stay in Danhgrest with the rest of his vigilante friends.”

“Careful, Lieutenant.”

“Sorry, Sir.”

You don’t sound sorry. Flynn isn’t sure what he expects, but the obvious venom in Sodia’s voice is a bit unnerving. He knows she’s not the biggest fan of Yuri and he’s tried his best to understand her reasoning. A lot of it make sense; Flynn does have a soft spot for Yuri and when it comes to his best friend, he does tend to act a bit out of character, but he doesn’t know how to explain to her that that is never going to change.

Flynn sighs and straightens up a bit, “Now, what is it that you need.”

“The morning perimeter patrol unit in the south missed their latest check in.”

Oh good. “Was it a unit that was patrolling outside the city?”

Sodia nods. “Ever since we lost the barrier blastia the monsters in the surrounding plains have been getting more aggressive at their attempts to get in the city. It’s almost like they know they can just walk in our front doors.”

“Monsters have never been unintelligent. We just never considered how lucky we were to have the barriers.” Flynn leans over his desk and snatches up the cloak hanging off the back of his chair. “I’ll head down south to their patrol quarter and check it out. I’d like you to gather some reinforcements and meet up with the unit in the northern quarter. Lock up the gate and then split the battalion to sweep down to the east and west.”

“Shouldn’t I come with-“

“I’ll be fine, Sodia. We’re a bit strapped for help because of the holiday and I would rather you have the back up.” Flynn ties off his cloak and nods to the door. “Don’t make me say that’s an order.”

“Sir!”

As soon as Sodia is out of sight Flynn takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. It’s shaky and doesn’t so much calm his nerves as it does make him aware of just how tense he is.

Damn it!

He feels so unbalanced when it comes to Yuri. Thinking about him in even the slightest bit of danger makes his heart skip a beat and he can feel his chest tighten, threatening an onslaught of panic he can’t afford to waste time fighting.

He can’t lose focus, not now. Not when everything is teetering on the edge of compete disaster. For as much as Flynn wants to rip his armor off and go look for Yuri, he is the commandant of the empire and he won’t fail his soldiers. He won’t become the very thing he’s fought against his whole life.

And despite knowing that’s exactly how Yuri would want it, it still hurts. Spirits, it sucks.

It’s just like Zaude and Flynn’s worst nightmares consist of reliving the hell that was those two weeks thinking the Yuri was gone. Knowing that Yuri was gone. Having to accept that Yuri was gone.

Then Yuri wasn’t gone and Flynn realized that there was nothing in the world that he was scared of more than having to go through that again. Nothing ever was or ever will be.

Damn it, Yuri. I’m going to kill you.

_

Despite the ever-present nausea that has kept her from eating all day and the voice in her head that has been screaming ‘something’s wrong!’ at her since the sun rose, Estelle lets a small smile creep up her face as Flynn comes half running down the stairs to the lower quarter. She knew he was worried, even if he was determined not to let it show. Still half running was definitely not the best sign. He was clearly in a hurry, but also trying not to make it look like-

Oh, oh no. Something’s wrong.

“Flynn!” Estelle runs out from under the awning she’s taken shelter under and flips the hood on her cloak up to try and protect her face from the snow whipping around. “What’s going on?” The way Flynn hesitates as he turns to meet her makes Estelle’s stomach flip, but she catches his gaze and doesn’t let him look away. Please please please just-. “Tell me.”

“The southern patrol missed their check in.”

Estelle bites her lips and swallows hard. “But that’s…that’s the road that leads to Halure.” The road Yuri is traveling on.

Flynn tears his gaze away and sets off down the street slowly until he’s past the residential houses. Pausing, Flynn glances around quickly before sprinting out of the gate towards the plains. “Let’s go!”

Now it’s not just Yuri that could be in trouble and that makes the knot in Estelle’s stomach tighten even more. How Flynn does it, how he keeps his façade of calm despite everything will never cease to amaze her. Right now, she wants to run reckless into the storm the same way she wanted to jump into the waters around Zaude to look for Yuri when he fell.

She can’t lose him again. She can’t and she knows Flynn feels the same way, but she also knows Flynn’s first priority is now the missing soldiers. They were his men and Yuri…well Yuri is not and she hates that. She hates that he’s forced to choose. She hates that one life is considered less than another just because they aren’t a part of the empire’ because they chose to live their life differently.

It’s so very wrong, and for how much it makes her want to scream she can’t imagine how it makes Flynn feel. Estelle considers herself lucky; despite being a member of the empire, or the small detail of being the princess of the empire, she feels like she has way more freedom than Flynn does. She could run off right now and look for Yuri and no one would say anything to her, but if Flynn did that… well if his own guilt didn’t eat him alive then the council would certainly have a few words to say about it.

Yuri would probably kill them both for doing anything like that. No, Yuri would definitely kill them.

It isn’t until Estelle can barely make out Flynn’s blue cape in front of her that she realizes just how hard it is snowing. The walls within the city cut the wind down, but out on the plains the snow was falling in every direction, including up. The wind itself was deafening as it batters Estelle and she has to slow down a couple of times to keep from being knocked off her feet. Flynn doesn’t seem bothered and she vaguely wondered how much of that was his determination and how much of it was his armor.

Which she almost collides with as Flynn skids to a halt with a hand on his hilt. “Flynn?”

Flynn puts a finger to his lips and peers around. “Something is-“

Bark!

“Repede!”