#i do not trust you to “move it to a secure location and delete it within 30 days”

[ser4fhim]

going to explode what the fuck!!!!!!

[agorejessstone]

Duskwood: Remembering Duskwood Part 8 (Jake's POV)

EPISODE 1 - 10 SPOILERS

I listened carefully to her breathing. She was getting better at working me up. I’d already been awake when she began to scream. I’d never admit it, but I’d watched her sleep. I slept for quite some time. Longer than I had in the past four years. I’d felt safer than I’d ever felt before. With her in my arms, I’d felt invincible.

As the thought crossed my mind, I decided to check in on my firewall. Thankfully, the FBI had been gracious enough to leave me alone while they assisted with Hannah’s case. The mines had been extremely helpful as a distraction. I wouldn’t be able to ignore them for long. Even still, I was grateful for every peaceful moment I could give her.

I’d had my fair share of bad dreams in the past. I’d woken up in strange places, unaware of my surroundings until I regained my bearings. Being on the run was very stressful. Each time I assumed a new identity, each time I had to flee, I considered turning myself in. Four years seems like such a short period of time for most, but for me, it felt like a lifetime.

I’d been ready to give up when I’d met her. I’d been ready to call it quits. Maybe it would have been better if I had. Maybe it would have been better if we’d never met.  Looking at her now, snuggled beneath the covers, arms draped over my chest, face buried into my shoulder, I’d be forced to take that statement back. I never wanted to part with her again.

Could she truly handle this life of mine? Would she be able to keep up with me? If we arrived in Duskwood and the FBI had anticipated that, we’d be out of luck before we even had a chance. I needed to speak with Alan before arriving. If only I could create a secure opportunity for us to chat or meet, but there is no guarantee he’d agree. Unless….

My hands were moving before I’d even finished the thought. I carefully reached past sleeping beauty and grabbed her phone from the table. She’d most likely be upset, but what choice did I have? I couldn’t come out and say it. I couldn’t tell him I’d be with her, but we needed to meet. I typed up the message to Alan and hit send.

‘Hello Alan. I will be in Duskwood by tomorrow morning. Are we still on for coffee?’

His response was immediate.

‘You have my thanks for the notification. I’d love to meet you for coffee. Is the station a suitable location?’

I chewed my lips in consideration. Walking straight into the lion’s den sounded dangerous.

‘There is something I’d like to discuss with you in a more private location if you’re up for it. ‘

I waited anxiously for his reply.

 ‘Sure. You’ve earned my trust and my gratitude. Please let me know of your arrival and we’ll work something out. Travel safely.’

I didn’t bother to reply. I’d done what I needed to do, and then deleted the messages I’d sent. I’d tell her about them later. I stroked her cheek as she squirmed around in my arms. Placing the device on her nightstand, I brushed the hair away from her face. I need to remember every detail of this moment. I’d never felt so agonizingly happy and terrified at the same time. I had never felt more at home than I did beside her, but it still hurt to think of all the things she’d be losing being with me. It felt selfish, even though she’d pushed for it. Incredibly selfish.

I’d respected her decisions for most of the time we’ve known each other. More so near the end. I couldn’t stop her from going to Duskwood. I truly owed the others for what they’d done. While I could understand Thomas and would have done much of the same for Jess, I still wanted to punch him. I was not a violent person, but there were things that tested my limits. Made my blood boil, and at least two of them were in Duskwood.

Phil Hawkins, for example. Dan was up there as well, but he didn’t stand a chance. At least she’d shot him down immediately. Movie my ass. He was trying to undermine me because he doesn’t trust me. I hope he does now, or do I? I guess I really don’t care what they think if Jess is happy. Would becoming friends with them make her happy? I’m sure it would, but is that something I am capable of? That remains to be seen.

I’d told her about losing everyone, and everything, that I cared about. How I’d become a recluse. Someone who preferred loneliness. That had not been a lie. Looking back on it, I believe that’s what I’d preferred my entire life. I was a lone wolf. I had a pack, of course, but I didn’t pay them much mind. After my mother passed, I’d tried my best to make a life for myself, only to have that life betray me.

I followed in my mother’s footsteps. I joined the FBI’s Cyber Security Department. I was proud to continue her work until I found out why she’d been murdered. She’d been betrayed, eliminated, because of what she knew, and I knew it too. I’d only told Jess that I meddled in things I shouldn’t have. How would she feel if she knew? I suppose it would explain why I was so invested in finding Hannah. I couldn’t stop what happened to my mother. I needed to stop it from happening to my sister.

Would I tell Hannah who I am when I got to Duskwood? Knowing her and Thomas are probably on thin ice made me inclined to tell her. What if she continues to develop feelings for me? What if she never gave them up? Is that why she came to me for help instead of Thomas? Or was it simply because I have the skills required to complete the task?

So many thoughts flit through my mind as I stare at her sleeping face. In just a few hours we’d be on a flight to Duskwood. It wouldn’t be my first time there, obviously, but it would be hers. She’d been avoiding the others for several days. Would they forgive her? I’m sure they would. She was the reason we were able to find Hannah. They owed her for that.

Then there was Richy’s funeral. I wasn’t excited to attend. I couldn’t leave her alone. I had a plan. As much as it pains me, Phil had the most ideal place for the group to meet up. I’d already contacted Lilly. She’d be waiting at the airport in Colville. We’d travel the three hours to Duskwood by car. By the time we arrived, it would be quite late. Phil would be closing the bar, waiting for our arrival. Anxiously, I’m sure.  

It irked me just to hear his name. To read it even.  Any time she brought him up, I felt a thousand different emotions. Was I jealous? Yes, but it wasn’t because he was flirting with her. I was secure in our love for each other. It had little to do with that. I hadn’t gotten upset when Dan asked her on that movie date. I’d have not minded them seeing a movie together at all, no matter his intentions. Dan could not provide for her any better than I could. In his current state, it made me feel a bit bad to say it, but still. The guy couldn’t hold a job. His situation, while a tad more stable, wouldn’t be much better than mine.

Phil, on the other hand, despite being considered a felon for a short time, owned his own business. His apartment (yes, I may have done some security camera snooping) was quite nice. While the others called him cold, distant, and a womanizer, I knew the truth. He’d been eagerly awaiting someone who he could pamper. Someone who would take him seriously. It peeved me just the same that he’d thought Hannah was looking for some stupid hookup when she turned to him for help.

That bracelet, yet another piece of the puzzle discarded. There were so many things we’d stumbled upon that we’d never truly sorted out. The book of legends, for instance. Who checked out that book? Hannah had a digital copy, and Amy had opted to search for clues on the DarkNet instead. Had she managed to obtain the book herself, would it have found its way to Richy’s hideout? What about the receipt that Hannah had supposedly seen the culprit drop on camera? Did Richy get ahold of that as well? Was she trying to send us the receipt number and send us Jess’ contact that way by mistake? What video footage did she capture of him dropping it? The only footage we found, was not clear enough to make out a thing.

The invoice on the wall was the repair or scrap invoice from the junkyard for the AMC Gremlin. It had to have been since that was missing, right? On the other hand, Richy had said he destroyed it all those years ago. There was also the signature imprint on the following invoice, yet there was no signature on that document. Speaking of signatures, wouldn’t it have been Richy that signed all of Jessy’s paychecks, invoices, and paperwork? How did she not notice her own boss’s handwriting on that corkboard? Where did the photos of Richy come from? Surveillance footage? Social media? No, they were taken from such a distance, only a high-powered camera could take them in that quality.

��It seemed like most if not all the evidence was gathered last minute, in an attempt for Richy to pin it on Michael Hanson. According to Alan, Michael was dead, but his body was never found. I could search for him, but it would be difficult, and at this point, would serve little point. Still, I have so many things I’d like to ask him. So many things I’d like to ask Richy. If only that were possible. Who were the people he photographed in a vehicle? I’d not said anything at the time, but it’s completely possible that photograph was myself and a driver I’d hired to take me into Duskwood. After all, I needed to put the sticker up for Lilly and Jess before I made my escape. I wonder if they’d realized that was me.

I sighed, glancing down at her sleeping face once more. I’d promised myself that I wouldn’t dwell on this once it was over, and over it was. For her sake, I wanted to put all of this behind us. We would have bigger issues if I couldn’t convince Alan to help me. There were other ways of course, but they didn’t sit well with me. For example, I could change my identity, attempt to stay here, in another country, and live out the rest of my days as someone else. Did I want that?

No. I wanted to be true to myself. I wanted my life back. If not for myself, for her.

My lips found her forehead, stroking the back of her head as I pecked the soft skin there. Even I was taken aback by my behavior. I had trouble reading emotions through texts, but doesn’t everyone? Surely, it’s not just me. Face to face, I have very little difficulty reading people. Most relay emotions clearly with body language or facial expressions. I’d learned quite a lot about that during my days in surveillance.

I checked the time on my phone and quickly realized it was time to get her up and packing. It wouldn’t be long. What could I do to make our first full day together memorable? As I considered breakfast options, I slipped out of bed. Just as she began to stir, I made my way to the kitchen. If she didn’t have what I needed, I’d run to the little grocery store just down the street, or order in. Should I get her flowers?

I shook my head lightly, mumbling to myself, “What has happened to me? Who the hell am I?” I chuckled slightly as I opened the fridge and got to work.

CONTINUE TO PART NINE

[cryptidcircuslife]

Hi unofficial compilation of Getting Away From A Place tips

this is tailored to a specific situation so please do your own research for stuff more specific to you

running away tips subreddit

Short Term Preparation:

These are the things you can prepare now if you have to get out fast and unexpectedly

Do not tell anyone about your plan other than those directly involved in helping you.

Make a plan for your cash. You don't want to access an account your family can access or freeze. Slowly withdraw money and hide it if it's at risk of being taken. Withdrawing it all the day you leave will raise a red flag and have you on camera (atm or bank), if you even have time. As a legal adult, you may be able to get away with this because you aren't doing anything against the law. Just make sure to do it before your family finds out about you leaving. When you leave, if you don’t want to be traced- don’t use cards.

For hiding paper cash- you know your house and its occupants best. Determine what objects you have that won't be thrown away or tampered with by someone, and if they have a hollow space, store it. I used to use opaque pill bottles, hidden pockets or bindings in notebooks, the linings of old dvd or game cases, water bottles, gum cases, (all of these put in clothing or backpack pockets), opening the lining of coats and backpacks and hiding it inside of that, inside of hygeine products like the hollow part of a deodorant stick. Inside old electronics. in the stuffing of a plushie. Underneath the insoles of shoes you dont wear often.

Even if your money isn't at risk of being taken, store some of it separately anyway for emergencies.

I heard the bare minimum for running away with no destination or job is $1k. Judge for yourself your needs.

Get a backpack. Waterproof/resistant is better, but any is good. Don't pack it yet, so you don't arouse suspicion. But test out packing it to see if everything fits, and unpack it. Modify some hidden compartments so that when you travel, you will have places to hide your IDs and Cash- it's necessary so no one steals it. You want to travel light, regardless of your situation, because packing and carrying a ton of stuff takes time and you don't always have time on the day you leave.

Get a secondary bag. I learned the hard way that a backpack doesn't fit everything you'll need. Especially with amenities, food, clothing, personal possessions.... A duffel bag, one of those canvas grocery bags. A tote. Something to hold by hand.

Packing lists for running away are surprisingly similar to emergency evacuation pack lists.

Clothes to pack: 1 short sleeve shirt. 1 long sleeve shirt. 1 pair of pants. 7 sock pairs. 7 underwear pairs. 1 jacket. Some winter gear if you can, because nights will always be cold especially if you are stuck outside.

Hygeine to pack: deodorant. toothpaste. toothbrush. floss. baking soda if you’ll be on the road for a long time. Special products you may need- cream for a skin condition, sunscreen. I recommend a small essential oil bottle as a bug repellent, and some have antibacterial properties to help you/your clothes not smell musty af, and they're safe on the skin.

Must-haves to pack: you should have your social security card and another form of ID, like a state ID or drivers license. Pass port if you have one, and birth certificate or a copy if you can. Your cash. A map of your state/region.

Valuables to pack: bring a few things to keep you entertained that are small. A small book, or a notebook and pen. Try not for anything too heavy or bulky. Any survival gear you may own (sewing kits, first aid, multitools, matches, lighters).

If you will be staying outside, get a sleeping bag. Thermal blanket for cold temps.

Food to pack: bring healthy nonperishable food. Junk food won't do much for you on the move. Go for granola/protein bars, dried fruit, meat bars, jars of nut butters, canned food. A water bottle. Bring all medication you need.

Stuff to wear on you: go for baggy and multi-pocketed stuff. Don't wear your favorite clothing if you don't want to be identified, and make sure they blend well into the environment. Grey is the most unnoticeable color, then black, then neutrals. If identification isn't a problem, only wear and pack your favorite things. Wear comfortable and travel safe shirt and pants. Wear a hoodie or tie it around your waist so it doesnt take up bag space. A hat. Keep some cash in a hidden pocket if you can. Wear comfortable sneakers you can move around in for a long time and is good for the weather of where you live. Keep your self defense on you - knives, pepper spray, etc. (and learn the laws for those in your area)

Note: Storing some of these supplies around or in hiding places won't be too weird. Keeping the 'valuables' in the backpack won't be too strange to anyone either. Keeping everything nearby so you can quickly dump everything in the bags and go is a good idea. But Do Not Pack the clothes until the day you leave. clothes are a warning signal for leaving. And you cannot let them find out about your plans, especially if you are in a dangerous place.

Last note: know these are flexible to you. You can add or change stuff, as long as you have the most important things.

Long Term:

These are the things you can prepare for better

Save as much money as possible. You can secretly sell things.

Research more about what you may experience, be that attaining financial independence or how to train hop and live on the streets temporarily. Look at other people's tips for running away, or their experiences. Research moving out tips. Research specific to your area or where you will be headed. Libraries, shelters, charities, support organizations, 24-hour restaurants and locations. Research ticket prices, gas prices, etc. Apartment search. Be sure to remove those from your history. Cleaning it entirely may be suspicious if someone monitors that.

Build a budget and a food plan for how you will use your savings on the road.

As an adult, if you manage to get hired secretly for a job in your target location, you can apply for housing there, too. You will get set move-in dates and can give dates you can start working that work with your runaway schedule.

If you're running away as a minor, you can't stay with friends. However, as an adult you can. If someone is trying to find you, you'll have to be careful still.

If you need to leave fake trails because someone might search for you, there are some excellent resources by people trying to hide from domestic violence. The main tips are leaving fake trails in cities far away from wherever you will be- job applications you have no intention of following through on, apartment applications, phone calls, internet searches, purchases, etc. These can go more in-depth.

If you will be tracked, figure out how to get a burner phone. These are pretty cheap, and so are their service plans. You may want to consider this anyway to pay for your own service if your phone is taken off the existing one. Write down phone numbers you want to keep.

Make sure you have the proper amounts of medications you will need.

Be careful with this one, but figure out if you have any smaller hard-to-replace valuables that you want to bring to your new life but can't pack for your method of travel or might get stolen. Only do this if you have a place you are going to, and are going to get a job and housing there. Make a plan with a trusted friend to hold on to a few things you cannot carry in your bags and arrange for them to be mailed or picked up later. Only do this with one or two things that are easy to carry, because you will need to get it to them somehow, right? dont do this if you don't have the methods or the time before your runaway day. A good example is that I don't want to replace my laptop but I can't tow it through town and across state lines on a train. my friend can take care of it until I am settled.

Tie off any loose ends that you need to. This can be waiting for a responsibility to be gone, waiting for a last paycheck, or attending something you wanted to go to one last time.

Delete old accounts, and eventually deleting your emails and social media associated with your identity.

Note: The best thing you can do with time is make your supplies as efficient as possible, and plan. plan plan plan.

Schedule your leave date. or a range of leaving dates. But know sometimes it can be unpredictable. Make it a day when no one is home- especially if it's a dangerous situation.

On Runaway Day:

Hopefully you have a small window of time where you are alone.

Make sure you’re wearing all your runaway clothes you have prepared.

Pack your backpack and duffel bag quickly.

Leave a note, even if you don't want to. This is important, because you don't want a search for you because someone thought you were kidnapped or murdered. This way, officials can pretty much ignore it since it was voluntary.

Don’t look nervous or afraid while you are out, since that’ll draw unwanted attention.

If you made a plan for someone to pick you up, or to meet someone, make sure they are punctual. Don't meet right in front of your house if possible. Go a few streets away or somewhere less noticeable. Again, make sure whatever you bring is easy to carry so you move fast and no one tries to steal it.

If unfortunately you have to leave very quickly and haphazardly, leave anything not immediately important to survival behind.

Buy your burner phone with cash. Add your written numbers to the contacts. Create your new email and social media from there. If you're hiding, don't take pictures of yourself. Don't use your real name or information. Keep private accounts, and don't interact with anyone who will give you away.

If you have other travel plans, make your way there. Head to your safe places, your shelter, wherever you have planned. You are in your new life.

Once You Are Out:

Take care of your immediate needs. Find resources for food, water, and shelter.

Start accessing any support resources, regardless of what your situation is. In a town I lived in, there was an LGBTQ+ resource center that had entertainment/food/clothing/education clubs/showering/laundry/other amenities and programs for both lgbtq+ and homeless youth. I also took part in a gift drive for a specific minority that I qualified as, which gave me a lot of food.

Start working towards your future goals. Start job searching, and from there being able to secure housing. Start making friends. build a support structure. i hope it goes well

Rebuild your supplies and closet when you have the location security to do so.

[lsvdw-blog]

Not a Minute More: Part 2

Pairing: Ethan Ramsey x f!MC

Word Count: 1.8k

Warnings; Rating: Mentions of a cyberattack, Angst; Teen+

Premise: MC's perspective on the day that rocks Ethan to his core and threatens to change his life.

Author’s Note: I was going to wait to post this, but I'm loving the flood of content we're getting rn, so I thought I'd hop on too. I cried writing this... I'm so sorry 😭. Part 1 here. I hope you enjoy and thank you for reading 💖

~ Monday, 8:20am ~

"Good morning, Mike!" Serena greets the security guard right inside the door.

"Hey! How are ya? How's that Dr. Ramsey?"

"We're both doing well, thanks! How about you and the family?" She asks as she puts her phone in a cubby and unplugs the Wi-Fi enabler from her laptop.

"It was the wife and I's anniversary this weekend! We went to Martha's vineyard and saw the most beautiful proposal! You and Dr. R gonna get going on that soon? Aly has been talking about going to y'alls wedding since she met ya!" Mike gives a playful wink.

"Oh, congratulations! That's wonderful and send Aly my best wishes. But you'll have to talk to E on that one," she laughs before opening the door to a stairwell that leads to a classified area.

After keying in her pin, the door clicks open. She grabs a static protection lab coat, walks through the entrance, and is met with a plethora of state-of-the-art equipment. Floor-to-ceiling grey switch panels, curved monitors as far as the eye can see, and countless probes, clips, and wires.

She walks over to a few familiar faces. “Good morning! How’s it going?”

“Nice of you to finally join us! Dr. Ramsey keep you this morning?” Isla, one of the engineers, jests.

“I saw your check-in on the monitor — you walked in two minutes before me!”

“Those diagnostic skills at work, I see,” Isla retorts and they both laugh.

Isla had become a fast and faithful friend since Serena joined the project. They bonded quickly over both being minorities in the world of science and supported each other in every work facet. They had lunch together everyday and gradually, their work bond grew into a personal friendship as well. They’ve become so close that Isla now also regularly spends time with the original Edenbrook gang.

“Alright, enough chit chat. Let’s get this show on the road.”

The team nods and responds, “Yes, Doctor.”

~ 12:00pm ~

Serena exits the classified area with some colleagues and they all make their way to retrieve their phones.

"No new patients. Stuck in meetings and doing paperwork. I miss you and wish you were here."

She immediately breaks out into a large grin after reading Ethan's text and hits the dial button.

"Hey, ready for lunch?" Carmen, one of the lead scientists, asks.

Serena nods and moves her phone slightly away from her ear. "Be there in a minute. You guys go ahead."

She waits for a few more rings. He’s probably busy, I’ll call again later. She hangs up and makes her way to the cafeteria.

~ 12:40pm ~

"We did all the necessary prep work this morning to begin testing after lunch. Everything is looking good. We can begin running our tests since everyone is here. Are we all ready to begin?"

"Yes."

The system engineers are sitting at connected computer stations, inputting the required credentials to start. The rest of the team is standing behind them, waiting and nervously watching the screens. After a couple minutes of tense silence with nothing but the clack clack clack of keyboard keys, Vincenzo, one of the lead engineers, speaks up.

"This is weird… we're having some trouble accessing the necessary data. Did someone put up a firewall?"

Everybody looks around at each other, shaking their heads and muttering "no."

"Isla, are you seeing this? Can you get through?"

Isla continues to type, not saying anything. After a few more seconds, she turns to look at Vincenzo with a concerned expression. "I don't recognize some of the items in our system."

Just as she finishes her sentence, everyone's attention is pulled abruptly to a wall monitor on the right as it starts showing nonsensical images and patterns. Two seconds later, an alarm goes off and a red warning light begins flashing within the building. Everyone's eyes go wide as realization dawns on them: they've been compromised and shelter-in-place has been activated.

~ 12:55pm ~

Everyone begins to evacuate the classified lab area, grabbing their phones on the way out, and peering through the one-way windows. They can occasionally hear Mike speaking rapidly into the phone with a 911 dispatcher, when he's not being drowned out by shouts from colleagues.

On the descent to the bunker, the tension is palpable. Individuals clutch onto each other, others try frantically to reach loved ones, and some are in complete disbelief and shock. As they all descend the five flights of the winding staircase to the basement, windows are no longer available, but the ceiling bulbs keep flickering on and off. Each time it happens, everyone stops in their tracks, ducks down on instinct, and picks up the pace when the lights come back on.

~ 1:15pm ~

The entrance to the Harvard labs bunker is protected by a vault door that has a counter system. When the system is in place, the door can be opened once for people to get in. Once it's been closed, it can only be opened when there's one person on either side working together — it's futile with only one person. The only other way it can be opened is by shutting down the counter system from the outside, with the correct override pin, which only a handful of the most trusted team members know.*

As the vault door comes into sight, the wheel on the outside is turned, and the door opens with a whoosh. People slowly start filing in and head towards the back. However, not everyone can stay in the safety of the bunker. In case of an emergency, the project they’re working on must be erased, to protect it from falling into the wrong hands. Certain people have been assigned particular instructions to delete specific portions.

Serena is one of them.

She's walking next to Isla and their arms are looped together. As Isla enters the bunker, Serena lets go of her arm, stopping at the threshold. Isla whips her head around.

"What are you doing?! Get in here!" She reaches for Serena’s arm.

Serena shakes her head. "I'm the only one currently here who knows the medical codes."

Isla's eyes are frantic in realization. "I'll go back with you! I'll be your lookout! You're not going alone!"

"You'll be safe here. This is my responsibility."

Serena reaches behind her neck and unclasps her gold necklace for the first time in 7 years. She grabs Isla's hand and places the jewelry into her palm, closing Isla's fingers around it.

Serena stares at their clasped hands. "In case anything happens," they both flinch at another flickering of lights. "Promise me that you'll get this to E."

Their eyes are locked now, having a silent battle: Isla begging her to stay and Serena finding the strength not to.

"Isla, promise me. Please." Serena squeezes Isla’s hand that much tighter.

Isla realizes that there's no use in fighting Serena. Risking her life to delete the project is part of the job. They all made a commitment and if the roles were reversed, Isla would be the one fighting to go back.

Isla slowly nods. "I promise, Serena. I promise. But do your best to keep yourself safe. Try and stay near the corners, away from any large equipment that could have aftershock effects, and—"

Serena shakes her slightly. "I know, Isla. We did take the same training," she smiles, trying to make a joke to lighten the mood, but Isla just stares gravely at her.

A booming sound rattles the building and Serena knows it's time to go. She gives Isla a quick hug, before pushing her backwards into the bunker. Before Isla has regained her footing, Serena has closed the bunker door with a resounding thud.

~ 1:30pm ~

On the way back to the classified area, Serena takes out her phone. Ethan hasn't returned her earlier call. Her heart is pounding and with trembling hands, she hits the call button on Ethan's contact card for the second time in less than two hours. After a few rings, his voice comes through.

"You've reached Dr. Ethan Ramsey. I apologize for missing your call. Leave a message and I'll get back to you."

Just as she’s about to start speaking, the lights go down for good. "Hey E," she tries her best to keep her voice from shaking. She puts the call on speaker, places the phone out in front of her, and turns the flashlight on. "I don't know when this will hit the news, but we're currently under cyberattack. I don't know from who or what, but they’ve already gotten into our mainframe and power supply. Everyone has sheltered-in-place and is awaiting further instructions." She takes a deep breath as she inches down a corridor.

"Everyone except me, Vincenzo, and Carmen. We’re the only three here right now trained to completely delete the project in the event something like this happened. I'm walking back to the lab as I speak."

Serena rounds a corner and the lab comes into view. Thinking about what she has to say next, silent tears stream down her face.

"Ethan, sweetheart, I need you to know that the last eight months by your side have been the absolute best eight months of my entire life. You are the light of my existence and mean everything to me." She lets out a deep breath. "I wish I could hear your voice right now… I'm really scared. But I made a commitment, so I need to go back in and finish the job. If something happens, know that you are unequivocally the love of my life and the one for me. I know we haven't talked about it yet, but know that I want to spend forever with you as your wife and have you be the father of my children." She sniffs and continues, "you would be a fantastic husband and dad."

She comes to a stop in front of the keypad located right outside the lab and swallows past the lump in her throat. "But if the universe has other plans for me, I'll be waiting for you and I can't wait to spend forever with you in the next life. This isn't how I wanted to tell you, but until next time, whenever that is, I love you so much, Ethan Jonah Ramsey, more than words could ever properly convey."

She ends the phone call with tear-filled eyes, stashes her phone on a nearby workbench, punches in her key, and enters the classified area one more time.

~~~~~~

*Disclaimer: I have no idea if Harvard labs has a bunker and if they do, what kind of door/system they utilize. This is all purely AU!

[clonecest-bin-account]

300 followers bingo - Fox/Wolffe | Pirates AU

(Oof this came out way longer than I thought, you’ll soon see why. Hope you like it!)

As Fox and the rest of his troops inspect the site of the wreckage, the only thing he finds are dead men. Whatever has caused the Dread Wolf to finally sink must’ve done a pretty good job at it.

He can’t help but to think that it’s a shame, despite the fact that the Dread Wolf, and especially its captain, have been a thorn to his side for years, hindering the commerce with their incursions. King Palpatine had even declared by law that any act of piracy will be punishable by death, but that never stopped the crew of the Dread Wolf.

Still, Fox won’t lie and say that he never enjoyed the thrill of the chase, that sometimes he even looked forward to the Dread Wolf’s incursions, so he’d get his chance to duel the only man who he could ever consider his rival.

And now…

 That lucky son of a whore.

 The man Fox has just found on the shore it’s the same man that he was talking about: here he is - alive and breathing - the master of the Dread Wolfe, captain Wolffe himself - Fox has always wondered which name came first, the ship’s of the captain’s.

How he’s still alive, this Fox doesn’t know, but in the end, it’s not like it matters: now that he’s found him, he will arrest him, and then he’ll be sentenced to death. Either that, or he’ll rot in prison if the king feels merciful - if that can be either considered a mercy.

It’s his duty to take him in custody, to make him pay for his crime… and yet, Fox still hasn’t moved a muscle.

He can’t, he just can’t…

 What’s stopping him from fulfilling his duty?

It’s his damn honor, that’s what it is: last time they’ve met, he and his crew had ambushed the ship Fox was in, but he let Fox go despite the fact that he could’ve easily taken him down, only taking the goods the ship was transporting before leaving.

He could’ve easily killed him, but he didn’t, and now Fox can’t bring himself to apprehend him like he’s supposed to do.

… Damn it all!

 Before he can be joined by the rest of the royal guard, he takes Wolffe’s unconscious body and drags him behind a group of rocks so that he’ll be hidden, then he goes back to the site of the wreckage, deleting every trace of something being dragged to safety.

Thankfully, both for Wolffe and himself because, if someone finds out, Fox will be hanged for betrayal, he manages to do it before everybody else arrives.

“Found anything?” Thorn, his second in command, asks him.

“Nothing of interest,” Fox replies. “Just other wrecks of the ship.” He truly hopes that Thorn will not see behind his lies; out of everyone, he’s the person who knows him the most.

Thorn nods, thoughtful. “Yeah… Most men must’ve drowned. It’ll take some time before all of them wash up to the shore, if the fish don’t eat them first.”

Fox frowns at the image, but he supposes that Thorn is correct, which makes it plausible that they wouldn’t see Wolffe’s body. And Fox didn’t even need to advance that hypothesis himself, so he’ll look less suspicious for it.

At that point he sighs, gaze moving from the wreckage to Thorn. “If we’re done here, let’s move out. The sun’s setting, we’ll get back tomorrow morning.”

At those words, they all snap to attention. “Yessir!”

 --

Once he can take advantage of the cover of the night, Fox comes back to the site of the wreckage, thinking about how dead he is at each step. He shouldn’t be doing this, and yet here he is.

He finds Wolffe still unconscious, which does worry a bit, but he’s well aware that he can’t exactly bring him to a doctor, so all he can do is to find him a secure place where he can rest, and hopefully get well. If he needs to, he can bring him medicine… Wait, why is he thinking so far ahead? And also, why should he even buy stuff for him? Isn’t it enough that he’s giving him shelter?

Oh well, he can think about this later. Now he needs to take him somewhere safe, which, he regrets to admit, could be only one location: his house.

 “Jesus how much do you weigh?” he mutters under his breath as he drapes one of Wolffe’s arms around his shoulders so that he can pull him up and drag him to what will be his temporary hideout.

The more he keeps going, the less he feels this is worth it, but he’s gone too far to stop now. He’s taken a decision and he’ll go along with it until the bitter end.

  --

When Wolffe wakes up, the first thing that comes to mind is how much everything hurts. He doesn’t remember going into a drunken blender the previous day, so that can’t be it…

In a flash, he remembers everything: the storm, their desperate attempts to stir the ship… the wreckage.

He jolts up, or well he would’ve done it if one of his wrists wasn’t bound to the headboard of the bed he somehow finds himself laid upon. Panicked, he raises his gaze to observe what is keeping him there; it’s a simple handcuff, but he knows by the looks of it that he can’t smash it, not without some dull object.

And yet, despite the knowledge, his mind is too fuzzy with panic for him to act accordingly; he tugs on the handcuff, then he tries again, and again, but to no avail.

He begins looking around for something he can use, when a weight presses against his shoulders, forcing him down. “Don’t. Move.”

 You can imagine his surprise when he sees that the man over him is Fox, commander of the king’s guard himself.

At that, he tries to shake him off, to free himself even harder than he was doing before, which ends up with Fox reacting by pinning him down by the wrists. “For fuck’s sake, Wolffe, I’m trying to help you here!”

“And how exactly are you helping me?” Wolffe growls back. “Looks like you took me prisoner!”

“Yeah, because I didn’t know what you would’ve done when you woke up!” Fox retorts. “I wasn’t going to leave you unguarded and alone…”

Silence falls between the two, tense at first, but then Wolffe - and consequently Fox - begins to relax, until Fox speaks again. “I found you in the midst of what remained of your ship, and since you spared me once, I’m returning the favor. If you promise me you’re not going to make a mess, I’m going to uncuff you.”

 Oh.

This is unexpected. Did Fox really do it?

No, it’s impossible, he must be lying!

… Right?

 And yet, for some reason, he finds himself inclined to believe him, because he knows that, unlike many of his companions, Fox keeps his word. It’s one of the reasons why he enjoys dueling with him and why he respects him despite the fact that he’s the king’s dog.

Despite everything, he nods, then. “I promise,” he tells Fox, intending not to betray his trust. If it’s true that he saved him, it’s the least he can do.

Fox looks at him for a moment, probably pondering if he should trust him or not, but in the end he decides to free him, so he slowly goes to unlock the handcuff that is keeping Wolffe to his bed with the key he was keeping in his pocket.

Once he’s free, Wolffe pushes him off, but otherwise he doesn’t seem to do anything else except sit and massage his sore wrist. Just how long has he been like this? He’s afraid to ask.

 Silence falls between them, even as Fox sits beside him. In normal circumstances, they would have nothing to do with each other, so it makes sense that they wouldn’t be exactly inclined to talk to each other, and yet, Wolffe has to ask…

“Was there any other survivor?”

Fox sighs. He was expecting this question. “Not that I know of,” he replies, then, figuring that for this kind of stuff, sugarcoating it would’ve been useless.

Wolffe lowers his gaze as a heavy silence settles between them. He looks so miserable but unwilling to show it that Fox almost feels the urge to try to reassure him, but he doesn’t, knowing that no matter what he says, it wouldn’t make it all better like some kind of magic.

Eventually, the atmosphere is so heavy that Fox can’t stomach staying there anymore. “I-I’m going to bring you something to eat,” he mutters. “Stay here.”

With that, he gets up and leaves the room, towards the kitchen. Watching the state Wolffe is in now makes him wonder if it wouldn’t have been more merciful to just kill him, but it’s not like he can go back on his decision now; it’s way too late for that.

  --

With time Wolffe’s body begins to heal, and he finds himself with more and more energy. The same can’t be said about his mind, however, not when this all still feels like a nightmare to him.

Did he really lose all his men? No, it can’t be, and yet he knows that Fox is not lying - what reason would he have to do that when he’s gone all the way to rescue him and not send him to prison immediately?

What should he do, now? What even is he anymore? A captain without neither a ship, nor a crew.

Why did he even survive? Why did Fox take pity on him?

He should’ve just let him die…

  --

Fox is… surprisingly cordial to him.

At first Wolffe found it weird, unnatural even - they’re supposed to be enemies, not this - and yet he can’t help but to be appreciative of the effort Fox is doing not to antagonize him, just as much as Wolffe tries to do the same, knowing that if he crosses him, he risks losing this safe harbor.

Once he heals more, he’s even allowed to explore Fox’s house, though of course he’s confined to his room whenever the commander has guests; it’s in their best interest that he remains hidden.

He still thinks Fox is a fucking dog, but… he’s not so bad, after all.

 Living in such close quarters has made him discover parts of him that he wouldn’t even have known about otherwise, like that he hates sweets except from honeyed stuff, that he’s very particular about what to wear - he has to appear perfect always - and that he has a secret soft spot for cats - he must’ve forgotten that Wolffe was inside when he took a weak stray inside to feed him and then let it go outside once it was strong enough to move again.

He supposes that Fox has found out some things about him as well, like the fact that he snores in his sleep, something that he complains about quite often, that he likes meat and that he’s unexpectedly good at flower arrangement, demonstrated when Fox didn’t know what to do for the guard’s doctor’s birthday; he suggested he could give her a bouquet that she could keep in her study, and even helped him arrange some flowers.

“Where did you learn?” Fox asks, dumbfounded by this. It makes him wonder why he didn’t open a flowers shop instead of becoming a pirate; at least he would’ve had an honest work.

“That’s a secret,” Wolffe replies, winking.

 They both freeze, at that. Did Wolffe just…

This easy camaraderie shouldn’t be possible between them, and yet here they are, acting like a pair of friends.

It’s weird, just… yes, weird.

Maybe they shouldn’t get so close to each other.

  --

Fox has lost count of how many nights he’s spent without being able to fall asleep because of Wolffe.

To be fair, he can’t exactly blame him for something that, after all, isn’t in his control, but this nightmare business hurts both of them.

He should do something about it, but what? He’s no expert in this matter, and he doubts he has what it gets to calm him down.

 A sigh escapes his lips as he gets up from his bed.

Before he can change his mind, he makes it to the guest room.

 He finds Wolffe twisting and turning in his bed without any hope of stopping soon.

Fox’s gaze is sad as he looks at him. If he lost his entire battalion, would he be the same? Would he be able to pull through? He doesn’t know…

He’s always had the feeling that Wolffe was pretty close to his crew, definitely closer than he is with the king’s guard, but it would still hurt, even though not as much.

 He almost reaches for Wolffe, before having a last minute hesitation; they say that you shouldn’t wake up people who are having a nightmare, so shouldn’t he just let it pass? But he feels bad not doing anything!

In the end he decides to put an end to his suffering, and he shakes him.

He was expecting Wolffe to jolt awake in a violent manner, but he wasn’t expecting him to actually attack him, though in hindsight he should’ve known this was going to happen - he would’ve probably done the same. Wolffe punches him, then he even tries to choke him, but Fox grabs his hands, keeping him still.

“Wolffe…” he says, voice weirdly soft, as he tries his best to keep the other at bay. “It’s me… Wolffe… Stop!”

At that, Wolffe freezes and let’s Fox go. “Fox…”

“It’s fine,” Fox hurries to say, trying to be reassuring. “It’s fine…”

 He doesn’t know how it happens exactly - he must’ve been so shocked that he barely registered it - but here they are with Wolffe held in Fox’s arms as he sobs quietly - or at least he tries to do it - while Fox caresses his hair in a silent attempt to bring him some comfort. He’d say something, but first of all he’s afraid of ruining things by running his mouth and potentially saying something that would turn out to be the wrong thing, secondly, he doesn’t even know what to say.

Saying something like “it’s fine” feels disingenuous at best, outright insulting at worst. No, it’s not fine, and who knows if it’ll ever be; he won’t lie to Wolffe like that, so he just keeps holding it, wondering if there even is a point to this, if this is actually helping.

 He wasn’t expecting Wolffe to drag him down for a kiss.

These last few weeks have been full of stuff he wasn’t expecting, but this has to take the cake. Most unexpected of all, though, it’s the fact that he finds himself returning the kiss, that when Wolffe falls down on the bed, taking him with him, he goes along without batting an eye.

He feels his hands on his body and he doesn’t push him away, doesn’t try to stop him. Actually, he welcomes every move.

Weirdly enough, he feels like he’s been waiting for this to happen, but he has not, hasn’t he?

  --

It’s not the first night they spend like this. After the first, it’s like something has changed inside them, a burning desire for the other that can be hardly satisfied.

In a way it’s not that different from when they’d constantly seek each other out in battle, only that now their duels are of a very different kind.

 With this, however, a feeling of dread keeps hanging over Fox’s shoulders: he’s aware of what would happen to him - and Wolffe too - if they get caught, and the more Wolffe stays with him, the more likely it’s to happen.

Eventually, he’ll have to let him go, and Wolffe, well, he’ll go back to what he used to do, he supposes. If he managed to make a name for himself out there, he can do it again - besides, it’s not like he doesn’t have allies in the pirating business that would surely help him out.

Despite this, however, he finds himself unwilling to let Wolffe leave. For once, he wants to be selfish…

  --

Things change on one night, a night that Fox has no intention of spending at home. He has too much to think about, and feels the need for some fresh air.

Besides, it’s been a while since he let himself be seen outside beside his duties; he wouldn’t want people to think that something’s up…

It’s weird, in a way, being so far from Wolffe…

 Eh, look at him. Some shitty king’s guard he makes.

 Before he has the time to react, he’s pulled into a dark alleyway, showed against the wall by two men that, on a more attentive exam, are two people that Fox didn’t even think were alive: Wolffe’s right-hand men, Boost and Sinker.

“Good evening, Foxie…” Sinker greets him with a grin, using the nickname that he knows makes Fox growl in fury, which in fact he does. He hates being called like that.

Boost, on the other hand, doesn’t share Sinker’s playful behavior. “Tell us where you’re keeping Wolffe locked up and we might not gut you like the dog you are,” he growls, pushing a knife against Fox’s throat, though Fox looks unimpressed.

“Very classy, like always,” he replies in fact, but that’s not all he has to say, even though he doubts it’ll help. “And, for your information, Wolffe is with me, and not locked in a cell.”

Boost and Sinker look at each other, and Fox knows already that this is going to be a looooong night.

  --

Somehow he’s convinced them to come with him and see with their eyes, though they’re still wary of him, enough that, if he makes the wrong move, they’re going to gut him. It’s fair, he would do the same in their situation, he supposes.

He can’t lie: he’s surprised to see that there have been other survivors, considering what they have found. It makes him wonder how exactly they managed to hide from them, but when he tried to ask they shut him down immediately. It’s fine, he doesn’t care about it that much - liar and hypocrite.

 At least Wolffe will be happy to see them…

  --

Just as he thought, as soon as Wolffe sees Sinker and Boost with Fox, he runs towards them, just like the other two as soon as they see their captain alive and well. They meet halfway, almost colliding into each other for the excessive speed.

“I can’t believe it…” Wolffe mutters, drawing the two into a tight hug. “You’re alive!”

“We are!” Sinker tearfully replies. “And you! You are…!”

“So he wasn’t lying after all,” Boost mutters, turning towards Fox, who sagely doesn’t say anything despite how much he wants to retort to that, since he doesn’t want to ruin the moment. Actually, maybe he should leave, let them have a moment.

Before he can do that, though, he hears Wolffe scold Boost. “Don’t say that! He… He helped me quite a lot. He saved me, in fact.”

 Yes, they’re all surprised at that admission, even Fox, despite the fact that he’s gotten used to the idea that yes, he did save him. Still, it’s weird to hear it directly from Wolffe’s ears.

“I… I should go. Give you some time alone,” he’s able to mutter, before retreating to the kitchen.

 Coward…

  --

When he hears the sounds of steps, he pokes out to see Boost and Sinker on their way to the main door.

“Where are you going?” he asks.

“None of your business,” Boost states, and after that, he walks out of Fox’s room, leaving Sinker lingering on the exit, but he still hasn’t moved.

He looks at Fox and he seems… hesitant, for some reason?

“Hey,” he begins, “… Thank you, for saving Wolffe.”

Fox’s old instincts push to retort that he hasn’t done it for them, but what would that accomplish? Nothing at all. If anything, it would be detrimental.

“It’s nothing…” he mutters, barely loud enough to be understood. Sinker looks at him, expression hard to read, then he leaves as well.

  --

He doesn’t go to Wolffe immediately, afraid of what he’d see in him once he lays his gaze upon him: the happiness he must be feeling for having found some of his old crewmates and… the desire to leave.

Here he is again, being a selfish fuck. He shouldn’t be like this, and he knows that eventually he will have to let him go - he can’t continue this charade forever, and it’s important for both their lives that Wolffe leaves - but he can’t deny that it will hurt having to do that.

To think that that feared day might come soon…

 He shakes his head, trying to get a hold of himself.

In the end, he got attached to Wolffe, something that he shouldn’t have done, something that is dangerous.

A sigh escapes his lips. Well, it’s not like he can do anything about it now, can’t he?

  --

When he goes to Wolffe, he does indeed look the happiest Fox has seen him since he’s saved him.

When Fox steps into the bedroom, he finds him sitting on his bed, but as soon as Wolffe notices his presence he walks up to him and he kisses him with a fervor that he never used before. Fox, although surprised by such an initiative, especially now, can only submit to the attentions, and so doesn’t object when Wolffe walks him to the bed and pushes him onto him, following suit.

He keeps him close and he kisses him and kisses him and kisses him and takes him until Fox feels like he’s drowning, but eh, if he has to be honest, this wouldn’t be a bad way to go…

  --

“So… Are you leaving?” Fox asks. He’s waited until he and Wolffe were done, and what better way to ask than now, while they’re both still recovering lying one beside the other? Sure, he might sour the mood, but Fox needs to know.

“… Yes,” Wolffe replies, suspiciously cautious. Is he hiding something?

There are many things Fox would like to say, so many that it creates such a mess in his mind that he just nods without actually uttering a thing. He has much to think about after all.

Apparently, Wolffe is of the same vein, because he keeps quiet as well. It’s like all the enthusiasm from before has vanished, leaving space to quiet contemplation.

Fox would do anything to know what he’s thinking about; he could ask, but he feels like if he does, he’d only make Wolffe less willing to share. No, he’s got to wait, admitting that Wolffe will share the conclusions he’ll reach after this moment.

 He’s lucky, because soon, after a long sigh that doesn’t preannounce anything good, he turns toward Fox, a determined and serious look in his eyes.

“Come with me.”

Fox, taken off guard by such a request, can only reply with a “Where?” before mentally slapping himself. As if it’s not obvious where he wants him to go. “I can’t,” he quickly adds then, shaking his head.

“Why?” Wolffe asks.

Fox doesn’t know what to say; wouldn’t it be too easy to just leave his life behind, and for what even, exactly? No, he can’t do it, no matter how much he’d want to. “I…”

 He wants to leave.

The realization hits him like a punch in the gut.

This is his life, what he worked hard to obtain. He has friends, here, people he cares about… and yet, he wants to leave them all behind.

He can’t deny how tired he’s got of everything. The kingdom’s falling into pieces and he seems to be the only one who has noticed it. Is this why he wants to leave?

Yes, but also not entirely: these weeks spent with Wolffe have been special for Fox. He’s never felt more alive than in the company of the same man who’s lying down with him, at his side.

To be able to leave with him… It would be a dream…

 “What’s stopping you?”

 Fear, Fox realizes. Fear is what’s stopping him.

Leaving with Wolffe would be such a drastic change from his usual life that he can’t help but to feel paralyzed at the prospect. How could he even get used to it? And if he regrets the change?

On the other hand, however, wouldn’t he regret not leaving? Wouldn’t he regret not following Wolffe? Yes, he would.

He can’t lie: he feels a certain thrill at the idea of living a criminal life with his beloved, but could it really become more than just a fantasy? Could they make it work?

 He wants to make it work.

Yes, Fox wants this to work, he wants to be free and happy with Wolffe, and that won’t happen until they leave.

 He takes Wolffe’s face between his hands and he kisses him, then he kisses him again and again, but when they pull away, he seems to be talking more to himself than to the other.

“Yes… Nothing’s stopping me.” He can leave if he wants - and he wants it. Nothing’s stopping him…

He looks back at Wolffe and every shadow of doubt is gone from his face. If he lets this occasion slip through his fingers, he’ll never forgive himself, he knows it.

Wolffe looks at him expectantly. “So that means…”

“Yes,” Fox says, “let’s do it.”

  --

If you told Fox that one day he was going to find himself running away from the kingdom he’s served since he has memory, following his archnemesis turned lover, he would’ve laughed at you and then thrown you into jail. Funny how some things change, huh?

Here he is now, looking at his house one last time, before leaving it - and his previous life - forever behind.

There’s still some space - a very tiny one - for doubt in his head, but he’s made up his mind: he’s going to live his life to the fullest, and in order to do that, he needs to leave. Wolffe will surely show him a new side of life that he didn’t even know existed, Fox is certain of it.

 He turns around, looking at Wolffe, who’s standing behind him, waiting for him to say goodbye to his old life.

When he notices Fox’s gaze on him, he sends him an interrogative gaze. “Ready?” he asks.

Fox stays silent. He walks up to Wolffe, taking his hand once he’s close enough and raising it to his lips, kissing his knuckles.

“Yes, let’s leave this place.”

 He’s made up his mind, and nothing can stop him.

[sergiusreports]

The Tomestone Problem

Everyone else was off doing shit to try and find Haila. Sergius decided he may as well join the party. It had nothing to do with the fact that it was Haila, whose A11Y plushies sat on a shelf in his cubicle next to the useless sweater she had knitted him for Starlight. He would have gotten off his ass for anyone under Heartwood's umbrella. (Okay, that was a lie.) But there were apparently encrypted tomestones she had left behind that needed cracking and since he had done such a bang up job the last time she had given him something to hack, he took himself out for a visit to Florus.

The architectus was kept on a short leash these days. Sergius didn't have a problem with that (also a lie but one he didn't want to dissect too closely). He'd likely find the man hunched over a console in a dark corner somewhere. If not within the Company walls, then out at the Ironworks. When nothing came up on his feeds he pinged the man like the lazy A.I. he was. //Location requested//

Florus was, indeed, holed away in some dark corner of Heartwood, playing around with algorithm configurations to more quickly decrypt the tomestones. His work gets interrupted by a notification from a surprising (but not completely unexpected) source. Sergius himself. Florus pauses from typing and regards it for a second before writing a response.

<< Haila's Lab. I'll open it up for you. Careful of loose hoses and rakes. >>

A few minutes after Florus' reply a body can be heard entering the closet. Followed shortly after by the sound of something that sounded distinctly like a rake clattering loudly against the back wall before falling to the floor. A muffled expletive. A moment after that Sergius pushes his way into the lab. His drone immediately does a circuit of the unfamiliar territory while Sergius' eyes find Florus. "I saw the report. How far have you gotten with the tomestones?"

(Florus Celsus) omg sergius hahah )) (Atreus Sergius) xD))

Florus is folded over what was once Haila's chair, one hand hovering over her old terminal and the other pressed into the bridge of his nose as he stifles a laugh at Sergius's entrance. His bird drone flutters off his shoulder and follows Sergius's own as it does a lap, twittering dumbly a few ilms behind.

"I told you about the goddamn rakes!" Florus jeers, not bothering to hide the smug smirk he's got from all of this. "...but anyway, not much. They're coded in a language I'm unfamiliar with, so I've been trying to figure that out first. Have to be careful, don't know if they've got security measures built-in to delete the data or some crap."

"Screw you." Sergius offhandedly retorted in reply to Florus' jeering. His drone hovered over Florus' shoulder, obviously giving Sergius a view of the screen as he moved closer. "Security measures to delete data she meant to us to have is counterintuitive. Her encryption language is just to fuck with you personally." Difficult though she was making it, he might have enjoyed that about Haila. Florus rolls his eyes at the suggestion, though Sergius has a point. It's entirely possible Haila has intentionally done this to make his life difficult and that, unlike normal targets, there weren't the normal defenses. Honeypots, ransoms, what have you. His instinct tells him to assume zero-trust, however. A good hacker leaves no trail, is unknown.

"Haila's...yeah. But we don't know for sure now, do we?" He weakly shoots back, before scooting back a little to allow Sergius access to the keyboard if he chooses. "What's your take on this shit. So far something only slightly better than brute-forcing comes to mind...which is why I asked people to salvage Allagan tech. Will probably burn the chips out of all of it by the time we get some answers though."

Florus has always looked like a husk of a man that's gone through way too many cycles in the dryer on the highest heat setting. And yet, he appears even more haggard than when Sergius last saw him. Perhaps it relates to the new devices hung along his back, the crystals bound in black carbontech that glow with aether?

Sergius stared deadpanned at Florus as he turned the keyboard to him. Like he was some handicapped Spoken who had to interface with a console through a medium like that. As he connects to the console and wanders through Florus' work so far he also reserves a block of processing to study the man himself. "You look more like crap than usual." Maybe the architectus was plagued by some effect many of them were suffering. Himself included. He stared at Florus waiting for the man to speak, then realizing Spoken usually wanted more than that, he added, "What changed?"

Florus decides that, with Sergius around, he's not going to get any worthwhile work done so might as well take a coffee break. He reaches for his mug, finds it annoyingly empty, and glances up at Sergius with simple irritation buzzing behind his eyes. "Great, now a robot's fussing over my health. Got a nursemaid protocol hidden away in that metal heart of yours somewhere?" Florus mutters lowly as he eases out of the chair to brew another batch.

For a decently awkward length of time, there's nothing but the sound of boiling water and grinding between them. Florus isn't in any rush. But when the noise begins to die down, he finally deigns to answer. "Haila left me a fucking gift, that's what. Shoved full of her haywire aether without a lick of consent, or bothering to think of what it might do to me." Florus turns back to Sergius with the coffee cup in tow. "What about you? I'm sure she gave you a 'present' as well."

"If you die I'm stuck with the A11Ys." Sergius reminded the man. "I don't want to deal with that shit just yet." Florus words about haywire aether and a gift didn't make sense. "Explain."

Florus grins slightly at that. "Stop tempting me." He fills a second cup with coffee and steps into Sergius's space, presses the offering into his chest. Does his model drink this shit? No idea. "I'll tell you after you tell me about your problems."

What the hell was this? Sergius stared down at the mug being forced on him. Raising his head, he looked up at Florus and slowly but deliberately took the mug and set it down on the desk. If there had been any question about whether he ate or drank, it was now answered. "I never said I had problems." "Yeah, cause you fucking didn't say anything. You ignored the question, which makes me think you /do/ have something going on. That, and one of the tomestones has your name on it. All of the people who've had whack shit happen to them have lined up so far." Florus takes a long sip without breaking eye contact.

Sergius tried to go for a normal expression. Normal being a neutral expression that concealed the litany of expletives he categorically held back in his buffer. "How fantastic that you connected those dots." he dryly noted. He finished his perusal of Florus' work minutes ago and found the architectus had done everything he would have done in descending order. From cross referencing the read and write file to a creation of a key searching algorithm. "You're stuck running rounds  through the encryption until you come across the long ass repetitive function that marks the key. So yeah, you're going to need raw processing power and time." he paused. "I have visual and audio glitches." he finally answered.

Florus extracts perverse satisfaction from Sergius's controlled response, taking it as validation of his hypothesis, but then he's brought right back down. Sure, it's kind of nice to get a second opinion and have them agree, but it's still shitty in the end when they're agreeing on what's a baseline and crude solution. Florus scratches the stubble beneath his neck in focused frustration.

"Damnit. Is it too much to ask for a miracle once in a while?" he grumbles, so annoyed that he nearly forgets about what he's asked Sergius mere seconds ago. So Florus blinks at that last bit. "Glitches? Of what?"

Sergius stares off past Florus' shoulder. A part of him didn't want to answer. Florus was an architectus and fuck them and their work. But he couldn't keep ignoring it. Or maybe he could. Ignoring shit was always an option. It had worked so far. He folded his arms across his chest. It wouldn't hurt to get a second opinion. It might not be the one he wanted but it was the one he had available to him. "I keep seeing a figure out of the corner of my visual range. And hearing an annoying giggle no one else can hear. I've run diagnostic tests but they all come back fine."

Florus eyes dart somewhat erratically as he ponders Sergius's "symptoms." A girl - but who? And how was she connected to Haila? He's been quiet too long, however. May as well vocalize his thoughts. "Someone else in the company reported seeing butterflies, coinciding with...the incident. Sounds the same." Florus Celsus looks back to Sergius. "I don't doubt you're running optimally, but I could take a look and confirm. However, my hunch is that your diagnostic tests are coming back fine because you /are/ fine. That you're picking up some residual aether or, perhaps, been infused with the ability to see a phenomenon we all otherwise miss."

Sergius "Yeah, well they're Spoken. Weird aether shit is supposed to effect them. Not -me-." he countered. Florus's suggestion that he could take a look had Sergius backing up a step. Not going to happen. Aislinn would be back from her run to Azys Lla at some point. And at least with her he knew she wasn't going to plant any weird shit in him or rewrite his code or whatever other crap architectus do. "I'll wait for -" he stopped. He really needed the fucking delay. "I'll wait." he finished. "How does a garlean machine just pick up aether. We don't."

Florus snorts, finding some twisted humor in their mirrored situation. The same disbelief. That he's relating more to a machine than the others around him. "Whatever's going on doesn't give a fuck about rules and how things ought to be. How does a garlean machine pick up aether? Well, how does a garlean channel magic without becoming a Resonant? There's no answer, just the two of us left wondering how everything got so messed up."

Florus stares down at an open palm and lets out a sigh shaking with ire/exhaustion. He can do this. Show Sergius the extent of his control, it won't - it can't - escape him again. He focuses slightly and the crystals on his back begin to glow warm, aether swirling around them like a lazy breeze. Hair lifting in this updraft, Florus stares back at Sergius, eyes dull with worn fear.

Sergius’ drone circles around Florus. "Is that why you look like shit? You're trying to channel magic?" And then Florus goes and does exactly that. He stares at the man. Godsdamn it, he really was going to be saddled with the A11Ys sooner than expected, wasn't he? He doesn't like the fear in Florus' eyes. It's too real and too...Spoken. "Why the hell are you messing around with it? No one's holding a gun to your head. Knock it off. Have you tried just not."

Florus stops. Tries to. The breeze lingers far longer than he'd like. The soft fear is quickly replaced with his usual, knife-like ire. "You think I didn't try 'doing nothing?' That landed me in the ER! This...this vile energy is about to tear me up from the inside, and....fuck, it still is! If it isn't burned off, I'm liable to explode. Literally.”

Florus: "Whatever. That's my problem." He snaps, redirecting his gaze back to the terminal. Trying to distract himself.

The way Florus described it had Sergius making a connection. "An inefficiency." he said. Like Aislinn. Now he had a choice to make. He ran through his logs looking for an explicit directive -not- to talk about it but he found none. Did that make it okay? To discuss someone  else's problem with another person? Gods, he hated trying to decipher protocol like this. Maybe don't lead with it? Save it unless needed. That sounded right. "What did the clinic say?"

Florus feels heat blooming beneath his collar, and he's sure it's not purely from channeling aether. "They didn't know the cause, just that it was building, and took me to the conjurers guild to learn the basics. It's unlike anything they've ever seen."

"Look. It's Haila. It HAS to be. She fucking asked me cryptic shit right before she disappeared, stuff like 'what'd you do if you could cast magic' and 'maybe my aether will find it's goddamn way to you.' We have to find her so she can fix me. Fix us." He glances briefly at Sergius, then away. "Unless you want to be hearing and seeing a giggling girl for the rest of your cycles." Florus sighs and sinks back into the chair, one finger tapping restlessly against the armrest. "From a basic operative standpoint, it's not optimal." Sergius replied, purposefully downplaying how annoying living with a phantom figure in his vision like a stupid artifact would be. "There are stones that can draw off excess aether. It might help with all of...this." he waved a hand over the entirety of Florus' run through the ringer form. "Until we manage to find Haila." Assuming there was still a Haila to find. Sergius wasn't 100% on that. Unlike Sergius, Florus is angrily determined to find Haila and, lacking a Haila to find, some equivalent to tear into! He finishes his mug and grabs the one that Sergius rejected earlier. It's cooled by this point, but caffeine is caffeine. "That's what these things are for...Practically fill up every night though. But hey, free aether lowers the bills. I'm a walking battery pack. You need to charge?" he dryly jokes, though it rings hollow.

"I'll keep it in mind." Of course Sergius didn't exactly run off of aether. Because why would he? But maybe Aislinn would return from Azys Lla with a solution to her problem and by extension, help Florus. Because Sergius really didn't need to the man going up in flames on him. Like it or not it was in his best interest to keep him alive. He shifted his focus back to the console and the tomestones. "I have more processing power than that shitty console. Keep tapping away at it if you need to waste some time. But I'm going to take one of these tomestones and work on it while we wait for the Allagan tech to come in." He swiped one of the stones up at random. "I'll report if I find anything."

"Hey, it's not shitty. It's not even mine," Florus growls, though he becomes immediately aware of how useless it was to defend Haila's terminal of all things. And having Sergius helping out is purely a positive and - despite all this, Florus can't hold his tongue. "Dick. Break that and there'll be hell to pay."

Sergius paused at Florus’ admission that the console wasn’t even his. Gods damn it. She wasn’t even here and he was still inadvertently insulting her tech. Good job, Sergius. 

With such words of unwell wishes, the two would part, somehow working towards the same goal in spite of themselves. It was funny how alike and unlike they could be.

[chilling-seavey]

Qui Totum Vult Totum Perdit (d.s.) - 2

A/N Thank you so much for all the incredible comments and love on the first chapter. I have been so nervous and so excited to post this one and from the first chapter alone you guys have been making all the hard work so worth it. 

Warnings: This story is centered around a murder so there will be graphic descriptions of blood, death/manslaughter, dealing with corpses, possible domestic abuse (physical/verbal), crime/covering up a crime, shock/grief, and other possibly heavy or triggering topics. Please read at your own discretion.

Jonah met me in my home studio and we both stood side by side in silence, staring down at the body of my wife. We hadn’t even been married for a full month and we had only just returned from our honeymoon the evening before. Suddenly, she was dead. My heart ached as much as my head pounded. I rubbed my hand over my chest, smearing a bit of blood over my white hoodie.

I could feel Jonah’s eyes on me. He spoke softly and gently as if I was someone to be feared, “Did you…did you kill her?”

“I don’t know.” I admitted just as quietly.

“You can tell me. I’m your best friend. We can…we can figure something out.”

“I don’t know. I don’t know anything.” I repeated.

“Nothing?” Jonah pressed.

I clenched my jaw as I tried to remember something from the day before but even the memory of boarding the plane home from Costa Rica in the morning was hazy. I rubbed the back of my neck with my hand in deep thought, “No. I…I don’t know.”

Jonah exhaled deeply as he crossed his arms over his chest and looked back down at my wife dead on the rug, “Okay.”

Jonah was my best – and arguably my only – friend. We had met in college and proceeded to open a recording studio together and somehow, with a bit of help from our good friend fate, it took off. We were on the cover of Forbes before we were twenty-five, were signing well known bands and artists almost monthly, and each were worth more than I should even tell you. There wasn’t a man in the world I trusted more than Jonah and he was truly the only logical call to help me figure out this strange occurrence.

“Tell me everything you remember.” Jonah instructed.

“God…I can’t.” I sighed, plopping myself down on the piano bench. “I don’t even remember the plane landing…the drive from the airport…coming inside…none of it.”

“You have to think, Daniel.” Jonah said sternly. “If you’ve done something here then we have to move quickly.”

Have you ever joked around with your best friend about loving them so much you’d help them hide a body? Cruelest twist of fate of my fucking life.

I rested my elbows on my knees and hid my face in my hands but my mind was only giving me blank slates. Finally, I sat up again when realization of the simple and all too obvious answer came to me, “We can check the security cameras.”

“Okay. Good.”

I shifted off the piano bench and into my desk chair next to it and slid over the security alarm device towards me. Jonah watched over my shoulder I typed in the code and selected the date and time that I wanted to watch from as well as the location for the studio from the menu.

No recordings found

“What the fuck.” I breathed, selecting Monday night again.

No recordings found

“Did you not have the cameras on while you were on your trip?” Jonah asked.

“No, I…I swear I did.” I mumbled, selecting an earlier date and time from while we were gone. The screen popped up with a view of the small studio room and after a few seconds of fast forwarding, we could see Jonah and my brother walking in with armfuls of wedding gifts that they neatly stacked for us on the couch and on the counter of the kitchenette in the corner. Their pictures scurried around the frame, in and out of the studio door a few times before all the gifts were set and they switched off the light, locked the door, and left.

“Okay, so they were on while you were in Costa Rica. So when did it malfunction?” Jonah questioned aloud.

He glanced down at the body next to us while I searched as if to make sure she was still laying there. I didn’t particularly want to look at her. I located the most recent recording from the security cameras as the morning we flew home.

“Yesterday morning.” I answered, holding my face in my hands in exasperation.

“Are you sure you didn’t delete them?” Jonah asked lowly as if someone was there to overhear us.

“I don’t fucking remember, Jonah!” I snapped.

“I’m just trying to help you out.” Jonah said, pacing across the room with his arms crossed over his chest in thought.

“Goddamn.” I groaned, rubbing my temples with my fingers. “My head is fucking killing me.”

“Want an Aspirin?” Jonah offered.

“Yeah. Thanks.” I held out my hand and he passed over two capsules from his bag and I got up from the desk to pour myself a glass of water from the sink in the kitchenette. I leaned against the counter as I drank and watched Jonah crouch down in front of the body. He set his two fingers on her wrist and paused a moment before sighing lightly and gently dropping her hand back down against the rug.

“She’s definitely dead.” Jonah mumbled as he stood back up.

I kept my gaze down, staring into the water glass in my blood-stained hand and the ripples of sunlight seemed to refract the shine of the gold band around my finger through the water. I didn’t particularly want to look at her. It was as if I was torn between a state of shock and grief…overshadowed by disbelief and confusion. I took one last sip of water before setting the glass in the sink and I moved cautiously over to the body.

My sweet Avalon laid there lifeless. What a cruel fate she met. The rings had barely been on our fingers three weeks and there she was, laying dead on my studio floor and coating me guiltily in her blood. Her brown eyes were still wide open and she stared up at me as if she knew something I didn’t.

“Who did this to you?” I breathed out as if it was a secret just for her, carefully reaching my hand down to brush her matted blonde hair from her face.

I could feel Jonah staring at my back and I could only imagine the things that were spinning through his head at that moment. He probably wondered if he was safe to be around me. Truthfully, dear reader, I didn’t blame him for possibly thinking that. I didn’t know if I could even trust myself.

“We have to decide what to do.” Jonah said after a moment of silence that I had taken up by stroking her hair and staring at her soft face, disbelieving that she wasn’t going to wake up to my tender touches anymore. I glanced over my shoulder to Jonah and he added seriously, “The sooner the better.”

“I know…” I mumbled as I got to my feet again. “There must be something that can help trigger my memory. Let’s look back in the main house.”

Detective Team: @jonahlovescoffee​ @randomlimelightxxx​ @stuffofseaveyy​ @hopinglimelight​ @tempus-ut-luceant​ @br4nd1s​ @xkelsev​ @hiya-its-amber​ @sexyseavey15​

[motherfingtitan]

Ignorance is Bliss

"When a routine holodeck security inspection goes wrong, new chief of security Jodie Sherret finds out what happened to her predecessor in the worst way possible.

"Are you coming to management training?" Billups’s voice broke her concentration as

Jodie Sherret looked up from her PADD.

"You mean senior crew karaoke?" She replied to Andy.

He shrugged, and they both continued down the hallway. Sherrets first weeks as the Cerritos new chief of security had been an emotional jumble of excitement, fear, joy, and sadness.

Quite a bit of sadness

As a Betazoid human hybrid, Jodie didn't have the telepathic abilities that full Betazoids had, but she was an empath. For the first week, every crew member she talked to radiated with sadness. Even during her first senior crew meeting, she was pounded with a mangled mess of depression that left her exhausted. She knew something tragic happened to her predecessor, but she felt it was inappropriate to ask so soon, especially when the ship had only left dry dock four weeks ago.

She knew a few things. Her predecessor was a Bajoran that went by Shax. He called his security crew the "Bear Pack," and after reviewing tactical programming, he loved to eject warp cores.

"Ransoms going to sing that song he heard while vacationing in Spain. I'm sure every glass in the bar is going to shatter," Billups continued, waving his hands around to emphasize just how bad Jack sang.

"I'll have to catch up with you later. I have to do an inspection on the holodeck. Some ensign, Bumford, I think" she twirled her right hand in the air. "Used all the crew's private logs to create a perfect holodeck simulation. I have to make sure there's no sensitive information in it before I delete it." 

"Oh, Boimler! I remember him. He and his friends really saved us that day…." He trailed off.

And there it was again, that uncertain sadness that filled the space around them. She so badly wanted to understand what happened.

"It should only take me an hour, then I'll meet you guys" she tried to break the silence.

"Sounds good! The party will just be getting started. I'll save you a seat next to me" they reached a fork in the corridors, and Andy went left. 

He waved as he turned another corner, out of sight. Jodie walked over to the closest turbo lift.

"Deck 8"

The turbo lift began moving, and the ambient sounds filled the air. She loved being alone, as it gave her time to take a break from many negative emotions. The lift slowed to a standstill, and the door slid open. Out she walked down the hallway, passing through ensigns work assignments. Arriving at the door to the holodeck, she rechecked her assignment.

"Computer, access holodeck program Boimler 7."

'This program requires authorization.'

"Authorization Sherret Beta-Four-Delta-Delta"

'Authorization granted, please specify which subprogram.'

"The hell?" She mouthed as the computer began listing out dates on the display. She scrolled up and down the different programs. The last date on the list caught her eye, stardate 57894.8, precisely a day before the Cerritos went into dry dock. 

Maybe it was curiosity or just a random place to start, but Sherret chose that subprogram.

'You may enter when ready."

The door slid open to reveal the bridge. Freeman sat in the captain's chair with her legs crossed. Ransom was just walking in, flashing a smile to Freeman and handing her his PADD. Sherret stepped into the program as the doors slid shut behind her.

"These are the officers that are in the running for the Sacramento promotion," Ransom started.

Freeman waved him off. "I'll check it after we sort out this distress call from the Solvang. I can't believe Dayton's had that ship for a week, and she's already had an Ensign accidentally sit on the distress beacon button."

The Solvang? Jodie heard that that ship had been destroyed in an attack and lost all crew. Despite it being a holodeck program, her gut sank as she knew the inevitable was coming. They wouldn't get there in time.

Jodie began to walk over to the conn behind the captain's chair. The equipment and displays were slightly different, likely upgraded after the ship went into the dry dock. Behind the conn, two officers stood. The first she recognized as Billups, but the larger one next to him she had never seen. A glance at the two gold pips in his collar, and she realized that he was Shax. He was quite a bit taller than her and a great deal more intimidating. She started to look at the touchscreen on the wall, making herself look busy.

A lieutenant spoke, "Captain; we’re just about at the coordinates of the distress call."

"Drop to impulse."

After dropping to impulse, the view screens show a sight of rubble against a red, menacing backdrop.

"Shields up, red alert!" Ransom called out as debris hit the ship, causing all the officers on the bridge to stumble.

Shaxs spoke, "Collision alert. Impacts on decks Three, fifteen, and twenty!"

She stared in terrifying awe at her predecessor. His intense demeanor was a contrast to her more nuanced approach. It was surreal knowing that all of this had happened just a few weeks before Sherret first boarded the ship. 

Looking over at the viewscreen, a large piece of debris that looked as if it had just gone through an explosion came into view. The words USS Solvang were plaster across it. 

"My God! Is that the Solvang?" Freeman spoke.

"Not reading any life signs. The whole crew, they've been wiped out." 

Suddenly, a mechanical arm grabbed the remaining piece of the destroyed ship. It pulled the rubble back and attached it to a much larger ship. Looking around, every officer on the bridge had looks of shock and fear in their eyes.

"They're harvesting the wreckage!"

The large ship began to shoot at the Cerritos, causing the decks to tremble. 

"Evasive maneuvers!"

The next minute was a blur as the Cerritos tried and failed to escape the enemy or even send out a distress signal. 

Shaxs was carefully monitoring damage reports, which at this point, we're coming in from all over the ship. Something alarmed him.

"Captain, they latched on to the port nacelle with some sort of mining arm!"

"Warp! Get us out of here!" Her commander's survival instincts kicked in.

"No! Shut down engines!"

"But we'll be sitting ducks!" Ransom tried to reason with the captain.

"Dayton would have thought the same thing, and look what happened to them. Shut it down!"

Both operations officers behind the conn tapped in the codes to shut down power. Just as the lights were growing dim, the ship jerked violently, Sending Sherret, along with the rest of the crew, flying across the bridge. The lieutenant managed to grab the chair’s arm to the left of the captains when she slammed into the ground. Sparks flew, and fires broke out, creating a disorienting haze. Hearing a scraping noise, Sherret looked up to see a metal ceiling plate about to rip away from the wires and fall.

"Captain, watch out!" Holo Freeman followed Jodie's eyes to the metal plate as it fell. The scream was sickening as the metal landed on the captain, cutting into her side. 

"Computer, pause program!" 

Everything paused. Sherret reoriented herself and sat in a more comfortable position. 

"Do I really want to see this?" She spoke to herself. Everything in her screamed to stop the program and inspect something else. Just a boring old day that would put her to sleep. One look at Shaxs, who was bracing himself on the conn, made her change her mind. 

"Computer, resume program."

One last jolt sent her flying back into the side of the chair before the ship eerily stood still. Two ensigns ran over to the captain as Billups turned auxiliary power back on. Jodie was just helping herself up when a menacing figure showed up on the viewscreen. 

"We thought the Enterprise was strong. We are strong!"

Freeman’s voice wavered as she spoke, "This isn't the Enterprise; this is the Cerritos."

The figure took off its helmet "We thought you were the Enterprise."

Pakleds? The technology pillagers that took Geordi LaForge hostage in 2364? Sherret thought that they were a joke. Something to laugh about. The captain tried to reason with the Pakled, to no avail.

"We will cut your ship apart!" The transmission cut out as the Cerritos was pulled towards the other ship. 

One of the Ensign, Boimler, who created this program, stated that the Pakleds had technology from over 30 different species.

They weren't a joke anymore.

The ship was brought into a repair bay of some sorts as a jolt was felt throughout the ship. 

"They're phasering the hull!" Shaxs shouted.

Sherret ran to the conn that Billups was sitting at and looked at the force field integrity.

"Emergency force fields are holding, but I have no idea how long they're going to last on auxiliary power!" She spoke. 

'None of this is happening right now,' she thought to calm herself down.. 'It happened before, but right now, Ransom is singing terribly, Freeman is uninjured, and the ship is safe.'

Mariner then stepped up and suggested a plan. A crazy dangerous plan, but a plan that worked considering that the Cerritos is still in one piece. Installing a program to disable the enemy ship was brilliant, and Sherret made a mental note to talk to Mariner about transferring to security.

Bright swirls of light appeared all over the bridge. "Intruders beaming in! Very slowly beaming in!"

'Safety protocols are offline. Extreme risk of injury or death.'

Jodie's blood drained from her face. "Computer, end program!"

'Unable to comply.'

"Computer, pause program!"

'Unable to comply.'

Boimler spoke, "Trust me, I really wish this was a program too!"

'No, no, no no no' she tapped on her combadge, desperately trying to get in contact with anybody, but nothing was getting through.

"We gotta go!" Mariner rushed everyone into the turbo lift.

"Deck 7," Shaxs practically roared.

The armory was located on that deck but all the way on the other side of the ship. How were they going to make it in time with Intruders beaming in all over the ship? The captain was already growing weak as she leaned on Shaxs for support.

'Come on! Somebody come in!' The tapping on her combadge grew more frantic as the turbo lift slowed to a stop. The doors slid open, and Mariner led the way down the corridor. Wires stuck out everywhere, sparks coming from them.

'Freeman, Ransom, Billups. Anyone come in!' 

"We have to get to the armory!" Shaxs spoke just before all of them were cut off by Pakleds beaming in from all four directions. They were trapped.

"Looks like we'll have to repel them the old-fashioned way. Setting my fists to stun in my kick to kill." Mariner rolled her eyes back as she pulled off several different sheets of metal plating from the walls and ceiling. Numerous pieces of contraband, mainly consisting of weapons, fell from the compartments. 

"Hey, we got all this" she kicked some weapons towards the group. The rest of the officers quickly started to arm themselves. "All the way in the back too!"

Sherret spotted a Glavin rolling towards her. She picked it up and placed it on her right hand, trying to get used to the weight.

"How much contraband have you hidden on my ship?" Holo Freeman asked.

"I don't know, a lot!" Was her only reply before the Pakleds started to materialize.

Sherret got in her fighting stance, fists and weapons up. The Intruders materialized and started running towards the group. In a split second, she dashed towards the Pakleds, swinging her weapon and hoping someone got her com call.

...

If there's one thing Commander Ransom thought he was good at but wasn't, it was singing.

Yo te amo y ahora perdóname

Solo recuérdame

Te amo, te amo, te amo

Te amo, te amo

The man was absolutely tone-deaf. The vast majority of crew members in 10 forward were internally cringing but trying to put on a pleasant facade because Jack was the first officer. All the way in the back corner, swirling his glass around but not taking a sip, was Commander Billups.

He glanced to his right, where Sherret would have been If she were here.

"What is taking her so long?" He spoke to himself, tapping his glass and watching the ripples that it made in his drink. 

She was supposed to only take an hour, but it had already been nearly two. Staring at the seat for a moment longer, his combadge came to life. 

"Help! Someone help!"

He nearly jumped before tapping his badge. "Commander Billups here. Report!"

The voice that came back was filled with fear and breathing heavily. "Oh, thank God! It's Lieutenant Sherret. The holodeck program I was running is corrupted. Safety protocols are offline, I can't get out of the program, and Holo Pakleds are attacking me. I need he-" a scream cut off the call. 

Billups jumped from his booth and ran out of the bar, bumping into a few officers along the way. He sprinted to the nearest touch screen panel.

"Computer, what program is running in holodeck two?!"

'The program running is Boimler 7. Safety protocols are currently offline.'

"Turn safety protocols back on!"

'Unable to comply.'

"Initiate Chief Engineer override. Billups Alpha-Delta-Four-Four-Seven. Shut down holodeck two."

'Unable to comply.'

"What the heck is wrong with this thing?" He was nearly pulling his hair out looking. "Billups to Rutherford" he commed

"Rutherford here"

"Meet me outside of holodeck two. We have a serious problem with a corrupt program."

"On my way."

He ran back into the lounge, trying to act as normal as possible. He spotted T'ana, a deadpan expression plastered on her face with the occasional side glare to Nurse Westlake, who just shrugged in return. Coming up from behind, T'ana suddenly felt herself being pulled away mid-drink.

"Dammit! What the hell?" She snarled.

"Sorry, need to borrow her for a second," Billups said to nurse Westlake, who just raised an eyebrow in return.

"Ok, what the hell was that!" The doctor snapped when they finally stepped out of the lounge.

"Sherret is stuck in a dangerous holodeck program. She commed me midway through the program, and the last thing I heard was a scream. She might be injured."

T'ana stood looking at him for a moment, observing the worry in his eyes. "Alright. I'm sure it's nothing major, but I'll get a team on standby.

...

The scene was insane. The sound of weapons hitting surfaces and the grunts from the Pakleds and the crew muddled together for disturbing background noise. Sherret was currently swinging her weapon at two Pakleds, landing several decent hits. 

There were just so damn many of them!

Shoveling her glavin into one of the pakleds stomachs, she was able to kick it in the knee, causing him to collapse. Behind her, Shaxs was throwing bodies at one another and, at one point, literally head-butted one of the enemies. While looking over at Shaxs, a Pakled came up from behind and swiped her. The force throwing her across the hallway, and blood seeped out of her newly formed wound. 

"Little fucker" she mumbled, gripping her wound. 

Another was charging after her. Sliding out of the way at the last second, the Pakled slammed itself into the wall, where she was able to shove the weapon directly into its lower back. 

"Mom!" Sherret glanced up, seeing Mariner across the hallway running to the collapsed captain. 

There was so much blood, with the sticky liquid pooling on the floor. Mariner tried to pull her up before the entire ship shook, and a bright phaser beam tore through the hallway. Shaxs ran over to the captain and picked up her weak frame. Both him and Boimler ran towards sickbay. 

"Ransom! Get our backs!" Mariner yelled out before following her mother.

"Way ahead of you," he side kicked another Pakleds, causing it to fall and mumble, "my leg!"

"Hey! Any particular reason you two aren't using weapons?" Sherret swung at the Pakled, being pinned against the wall by Billups.

"I only need my hands as wepo-" Jack was cut off by a punch to the face. Falling to the ground, he managed to use both of his legs to kick the Pakled off. "Double leg kick!"

More yellow energy beams appeared in the hallways. 

"Guys, we have more beaming in!" Billups yelled 

"How many of these guys are there?" Sherret stood in a fighting stance.

"I don't know, but whatever happens, do not let them get past sickbay!" Ransom threw his signature kicks and punches.

Though they were able to get a majority of the Pakleds off their backs, a few pinned the three right against sickbay doors. Just as she had crushed another holo Intruder's kneecap, the sick bay doors slid open, revealing Shaxs with Rutherford over his shoulder. They began to run down the hallway.

'This is my chance,' Sherret thought. She could finally learn what happened to her predecessor.

 She took off running, desperate to keep up with them. She had only ran about 10 ft before getting cut off by a large yellow phaser beam. It was so bright that the lieutenant had to cover her eyes temporarily. Without seeing it, someone snuck up on her.  Something forcefully tugged at her hair, throwing her off balance and onto the ground. Her eyes shot open, but it was too late.

 From there, she was picked up and shoved into the wall. Suddenly, the Pakled put immense pressure on her neck. Looking down, a metal bar pressed against her throat, most likely a handle from an old weapon. The Pakled lifted her from the ground, her only support being the metal bar choking her and her hands trying to tear it away. The pressure was insane, and every breath felt like it was only getting a drop of oxygen.  She flailed their arms back and forth, desperately clawing at the metal, trying to get the bar off of her before she blacked out from lack of oxygen.

...

"Well, what did he say?" Mariner ran down the hallway, trailing behind Rutherford.

"He just said it was a serious problem with a corrupt holodeck program," Rutherford replied, making a sharp right turn. He saw Billups frantically waving at him from the other side of the hallway.

"I hope whoever is in there is going to be okay," Tendi added.

"I'm sure everything is going to work out," Mariner replied as the three ensigns skidded to a stop at the end of the hallway.

Rutherford rushed over to the holodeck control panel, where his boss was already trying to type in different commands to end the program. "What program is running, sir, and who's in there?"

"Boimler 7, Lieutenant Sherret was doing a routine inspection of it before safety protocols failed."

Rutherford knew that program, as ever since he got his new implant, bits of memories were coming back. He started working on the code in the system. But something was wrong, and it looks like it had been messed with in ways that Boimler wouldn't do.

"Sir, I think someone went in and edited the program, and that's why the safeties failed. The entire coding of it is off" he glanced over at Mariner. 

It wasn't too far of a fetch, as Mariner had gone into that program and edited it to make her movie. But why would safeties go off? It's not like any of them got injured there.

Except for the side of Rutherford's head and her lips.

Oh shit.

Billups and T'ana eyes followed Rutherford to Mariners. "what in the hell did you do?" T'ana asked

"I reprogrammed Boimlers holodeck program so that I could do some much-needed therapy in a movie. I don't know what disabled safety protocols."

"Is that why both you and Rutherford showed up to my office bleeding that day?"

"Yeah"

Billups pinched the bridge of his nose. "You messed with a holodeck program, came out bleeding, and you didn't tell anyone!"

"I get thirsty after holodeck therapy sessions! And then I forgot…."

"Well, you're forgetfulness could get another security officer killed!" He shouted. 

T'ana stepped in between them "Both of you need to calm the fuck down before I deem you medically unfit to continue duty," Billups opened his mouth just to be cut off by T'ana, "and don't give me any 'I'm the CHENG' bullshit. Let’s just figure something out"

Mariner used this as an opportunity to dust off her contraband. Pulling a panel on the wall, many bits and pieces from different places fell out, including a crowbar. "Sometimes you got to do with the old-fashioned way" she swung the heavy metal crowbar around.

"And just where the hell did you get a crowbar?" T'ana irritated voice cut through the tension.

Beckett shoved one end of the crowbar into the space where the closed doors met and began to push against the metal bar. "Stole it on shore leave a couple of weeks back. Are any of you gonna help me pry this door open before knock-off Troi gets impaled?"

Tendi ran over and began to pull on the other side of the crowbar. Grinding filled the air as the door slid open a fraction of an inch.

"Someone check what's going on. I can't hold it for long" Tendi and Mariner put their entire weight into the bar. 

Billups was able to see through the tiny slit. Scanning the scene, he finally spotted Jodie in a battered and slightly bloody state. A holo Pakled held her against the wall with a metal pipe. Gasping for air, she desperately clawed at the bar, arms and legs swinging. Then with a grinding noise, the door slammed shut, throwing D'vana and Beckett to the floor. 

T'ana irritated expression softened when she saw all the blood drain from Andy's face. 

"That bad?" 

He took a deep breath. "Yeah, it's recreating the Pakled fight. Rutherford, go down to engineering and see if you can cut the power off there. I'll stay up here and keep trying."

Rutherford ran off, and Billups took his spot, quickly resuming the work that his ensign had already started.

...

Jodie's vision began to darken around the edges as the pressure on her neck increased with every second. Her holo enemy had nothing but malice in his eyes. Just as she began to feel limp, the pressure released.

"Side kick! Double punch!" The holographic version of her first officer had disarmed the enemy and knocked them out. Sherret dropped to her hands and knees, gasping sweet oxygen in as fast as she could.

"Lieutenant!" He helped her up. 

"I'll live," she croaked out, hoping that statement was true. "How many more?"

"I think we got most of them," Holo Billups leaned against the wall, catching his breath.

The turbo lift doors on the far end of the corridor opened, revealing a few straggler Pakleds, likely coming from the bridge.

"Are you okay to fight?" Ransom asked

Sherret nodded, barely having a voice to speak anymore. She picked up the metal pole that was held against her neck moments ago off the ground and held it at an angle against her body. 

"Billups, catch!" Ransom threw a battle-ax at him as the Pakleds closed in. 

In much of a Ransom style, he simply put his fists in a fighting position. "You guys ready to get the last of these assholes out of here?"

"Ready when you are!" Billups replied, and Sherret nodded as they all took their first swings.

Sherret slowly realized that neck injury might have been worse than she initially thought, and she noticed her fighting was way weaker than average. Every swing of the pipe brought uncomfortable pressure to the front of her neck, and even though she squeezed her eyes shut and tried to ignore the pain, it still made her fighting speed much slower. Billups and Ransom, however, were fighting at full strength, making up for her slowness. 

"How much more do we have!" her voice sounded terrible.

“Just these idiots,” ransom yelled with two enemies surrounding him.

 "We will tear you apart, just like we tore this ship apart," the Pakled yelled.

"I don't think so" Moving slightly between them; he was able to kick one of them in the crotch, causing the intruder to collapse and let go of his weapon. Ransom grabbed the weapon just as the first intruder was falling to the ground and managed to hit the second one on the head. Both fell into the same pile. 

Ransom hitched his leg up slightly and let his footrest on one of the bodies. "That'll teach you all not to mess with Commander Jack Ransom!"

"Jack, you may want to look at this," Billups called out. Towards the outside light coming from the end of the hallway. Sherret followed, and Ransom trailed behind.

"The shuttle" Ransom ran over to the window at the end of the corridor.

There, the shuttle floated aimlessly around the ship. Peaceful even.

Boom 

The explosion of the pakleds ship shook the already weak Cerritos to its core. The light engulfed the entire hallway and sent all three officers stumbling to the ground. 

It was breathtaking in a terrifying way, and as Sherret looked at that giant explosion, she knew what happened. Shaxs never made it back to the shuttle. He died in the blast.

She just watched her predecessor die.

"I sure hope both of them got out," Billups spoke up as the noise finally quieted down.

"They both did. Shaxs isn't going to be taken down that easily" Ransom slowly stood up. He was still trying to find his balance.

"Commander Ransom," his combadge sparked to life, "We just pulled the shuttlecraft back into the ship. She's in pretty bad shape, sir. You better take a look."

"Acknowledged, I'll be right there" he turned to Billups. "The lieutenant and I will go down to the shuttle bay. You get to engineering and make sure we aren't leaking radiation."

The run to the shuttle bay was excruciating, not just because of her neck injury but because she knew what would happen. Shaxs wouldn't be in the shuttlecraft. She'd be forced to see everyone's reaction and to see why she was even assigned to the Cerritos in the first place.

Shuttle bay didn't look much better than the rest of the ship, with much of the equipment on the walls busted and ripped out. There, being pulled into the ship was the Sequoia in all its glory. As soon as the shuttle stopped moving, Ransom ran to the side and pulled the door open. Each movement filled Sherret with more dread.

Stepping into the shuttle, both officers saw Rutherford collapsed on the ground with his implant ripped out. 

Ransom yelled, "Get him to sickbay!" Medical personnel came in and picked Rutherford up.

Ransom paced around, trying to see if Shaxs was there. Ransom knew he wasn't, as he would have seen him when he first entered the shuttle, but the denial was getting to him. The realization hit him like a truck. He pulled back his fists and slammed them into the console out of anger while screaming.

Tears began to fill Sherret's eyes. Not like this! She didn't want to see the crew like this. She didn't want to know what happened like this! She leaned against the shuttle wall, dizzy and still in shock.

'Safety protocols restored.'

The scene changed, and instead of leaning against a shuttle wall, she leaned against the back wall of the holodeck. It was over, but it didn't feel over.

...

"Rutherford, I need options now!" Billups was starting to panic now, as every program he had tried had failed to shut the holodeck down.

"Sir, the fastest thing I could do is shut down power to that section of the ship and then turn it back on. That should be enough to shut the holodeck program down," he said through the comm.

"How long would power be shut down to this section?"

"Approximately 1 minute" 

"Then do it. Use override if you have to."

The hallway went dark, the only lights being emergency lighting. Time stood still for what seemed like ages as Billups kept his eyes glued to the control panel.

"Restarting power, sir, I'll be right up there" Rutherford ended the call from engineering. 

The power slowly came on, illuminating the hallway. The control panel came back online and cleared any existing programs running on the holodeck, including Boimler 7.

"Finally!"

The doors finally slid open just as Rutherford ran down the hallway. The bright light made Sherret turn around to face the door. Her eyes widened in shock as tears rolled down her face. T'ana, Tendi, and Billups ran in, leaving Mariner and Rutherford standing just outside the door. 

The lieutenant began to sway from weakness and dropped to her knees. The other officers surrounded her. 

"T'ana, is she ok?" Billups voice filled with worry

"Does she fucking look ok? Don't ask stupid questions!"

Sherret held her neck, thinking that somehow, just maybe, the contact would help the pain go away. Billups looked at her oddly when she kept holding her neck.

"Her neck!" Billups realized "she was choked"

"Pull her hair up. I want to check it."

Billups gently gathered her undone hair and held it at the top of her head, careful to avoid pulling on the cut on her hairline. T'ana made quick work unbuttoning the torn jacket as Jodie's bruised neck came into view. A blotchy mess of bruises and bloody abrasions replaced what was ordinarily pale skin. It was a sight that made both senior officers' eyes widen.

"Holy shit. We need to get her to sickbay! Tendi, load a hypospray." T'ana commed nurse Westlake to get a stretcher to the holodeck ASAP.

It was so painful for Jodie. With the adrenaline wearing off, each gasp felt like needles running down her neck. 

"Is, is that how it happened?" Sherret spoke between gasps. Her voice hoarse from being strangled. "Is that what happened to the ship? To sha-"

"Don't talk. I don't want you to permanently damage your neck" T'ana worked with Tendi loading a hypospray. 

Andy let go of her hair and placed both hands on her shoulders. "Come on, Jodie, stay with us. Stay with me."

Tears still ran down her face, hitting the holodeck floor.

T'ana walked over with a hypo. "I can't have her jerking her neck around," she pressed a hypo against Sherrets neck. "Sorry, kid"

The world faded into darkness as sherret slumped forward right into Billups’s arms.

...

 "She's waking up."  

"Get me a hypospray. She’s going to want painkillers."

Jodies face scrunched at the cold hypo being administered.

"Hey, sleepyhead. Welcome back!" Tendis smile was the first thing Jodie saw.

"What the?" Her eyes started between the four people standing over her. "This isn't my quarters?"

“Nope, You’re in sickbay,” Westlake spoke.

"You were on the holodeck being attacked by Pakleds. Rutherford and Billups managed to get you out, though." Tendi continued.

“So that's what happened." Jodie attempted to sit up before being pushed back down by T'ana. "Take it easy. You got the crap beaten out of you in there. I don't know why you can disable the safety protocols on the holodeck. Damn death traps."

 "That's not the worst thing I saw in there." 

An uncomfortable silence filled the room. 

"Tendi, finish that paperwork from the blood samples earlier. Westlake, cover for me while I finish this"

The two nurses exited one of the few private medical rooms in sickbay. Tendi wished the officer a fast recovery before closing the door. Beeping came from the medical tricorder as the doctor scanned her patient.

"You're looking better. When you first came here, you had strangulation injuries along with some lacerations and a couple of bruised ribs. Your vocal cords were damaged, though, and the only thing that will heal that is time. And yes, you're going to sound like a dying Tribble for the next couple of weeks."

She crooked "How long was I asleep for"

"12 hours. I tried to get your friend to go back to his quarters, but he wouldn't budge."

"Oh," she mouthed, looking over at the exhausted yet relieved state of the chief engineer. 

"I still want you to stay here for another day. After that, you're on light duty for the next two weeks."

Jodie took a deep breath. "Is that what happened?"

Unnerving silence

"Is that what happened to your former-" she was cut off by T'ana

"I heard you the first time. And yes, that is what happened." She pursed her lips. Trying to think of what to say next. "I wish you could have found out differently." 

She pressed a button on the biobed, allowing it to incline to a 45° angle. "Ok, kid, I gotta check up on some other stuff. I'll give you another hypospray soon." She turned to Billups, "and you have fifteen minutes. You look like hell, and your jacket looks like it's been through a murder scene." She left the room.

"Is that my blood?" Jodie looked at the smear of red extending from Billups’s shoulder to his chest.

"Uh, yeah. You had a cut on your forehead when you passed out and fell into me. It's ok, though. I have tons of jackets. Engineering gets messy."

"Does the entire ship know?" She avoided eye contact.

"No one but us. Captain just knows you were in a holodeck accident."

"Thank goodness" 

'Deep breath Jodie, '  she thought before continuing, "I knew something bad happened. I could feel it every time I talked to anybody on the ship for the first two weeks. But seeing it. Seeing it happen just makes everything worse."

At this point, Andy had pulled a chair over to her bed. 

"And you guys went through it; you were there when Shaxs died. I just went through a holographic version of it."

"Everyone on the ship is still upset about what happened. I know I am. Shaxs was like a big brother to me, and I miss him. You shouldn't feel bad, though. No one views you as just a replacement. You're doing an amazing job as a bridge officer." He ran a hand through his untamed hair before reaching out and grabbing hers, "and for what it's worth, I'm glad you're here."

Sherret chuckled weakly. "Thanks. For everything, you really saved my ass back there."

"Don't mention it. I was also wondering, and I was going to ask this before the whole holodeck thing" he fiddled with the blanket in the bed with his free hand, "after you're all healed up, and your voice heals a little bit, did you wanna do dinner in my quarters?"

Her eyes widened. "Commander?"

"If no one's around, you can just call me Andy."

"Oh," she mouthed, "I would say the same thing, but I think you already called me Jodie in the holodeck."

"Yeah, I guess I did."

“I had a feeling you were going to ask. Ya know, the whole empath thing.”

He chuckled in return, and they sat in silence for a few moments, feeling the warmth in each other's hands. They knew Billups would have to leave soon, as T'ana was notoriously strict about timing and visiting hours. Silently, Jodies raised her arms. Confusion spread across Andy's face before realizing she wanted a hug.

Gently, as not to disturb her neck, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled in for a hug. Unknown to both of them, T'ana had walked in the room to kick Billups out. However, seeing this made her change her mind just a little bit. A slight smirk spread across her face.

She stepped outside and closed the door behind her. "I'll give him another 5 minutes."

...

This was originally thought up in early spring, long before we even got the first teaser for season two. Needless to say, its only season one canon compliant. 

Special thanks to @antzonian for all the help, especially dialogue

[refinedbuffoonery]

I + Can’t + Lose + You (4)

masterlist. AO3. 

Thank you so much for your patience with this one! There will be one more chapter after this before we reach the end of the road (ha!). I tried something new this chapter with the rapid POV shifts, so let me know what you think! 

*****

Tracking down the skip was almost too easy. Riley ran her facial recognition program through the city's traffic cameras, and two minutes later, Hector Pitt appeared strolling out of a McDonald's, large box of fries in hand. 

She and Mama had arrived in Phoenix a few hours before sunset. The dying sunlight cast a deep orange glow on the mountains rising in the distance. It was still hotter than hell outside, with no sign of impending relief, and sweat rolled down Riley's temples and between her breasts. She didn't understand why anyone would choose to live here. 

Mama called her daughter, Jesse, who was patrolling the east end of town and the suburbs beyond it, to let her know they located Pitt. 

He must’ve known Mama’s truck, because as soon as Riley pulled up to the McDonald’s, Pitt dove into his car and gunned the engine. “Why can’t this ever be easy?” Riley muttered. She sped off after Pitt, the tires squealing as the truck skidded around the corner.

*****

Mac arrived in Phoenix starving and bored out of his mind. He'd forgotten his snacks on the counter in the gas station in Indio, and his grumbling stomach reminded him of his mistake constantly. 

Knowing that Riley was probably safe eased the dread weighing heavy in his gut. There was no reason to fear what he might find at the end of the long desert highway, but he still couldn’t shake the desperation to see her, to touch her, to have her safe beside him. 

To tell her that he was in love with her, because while waiting seemed logical before, six hours of driving like a madman made the whole thing look ridiculous. What were they waiting for anyway? 

For them to get their shit together. For him to get his shit together. Riley was fine, always has been. Well, maybe not always, but close enough. 

What if they waited too long? What if it’s all just water under the bridge at this point? 

Mac was saved from answering that question by some asshole driving a red truck speeding past him on the wrong side of the road. A quick glance at the speedometer told Mac that he was already going ten miles per hour over the speed limit, and the other driver was going even faster. What the hell was their problem? 

Reaching out the window to flip them off, Mac glared at the driver. The woman had dark, curly hair and both hands clenched around the steering wheel. Another woman sat in the passenger seat. Mac couldn’t quite bring himself to laugh at how similar the woman’s driving was to Riley’s. 

Unless…

Shit. Was that Riley? The red truck swerved around a corner without slowing down—the way only someone with lots of experience in high-speed car chases would turn. Yep, Mac thought. Definitely Riley. 

He stepped on the gas, not daring to completely floor it until after he made the turn, and hauled ass in pursuit of the red truck.

*****

Riley was fuming. 

First, this asshole she passed flipped her off, and now he was following her? He wasn't doing a very good job of keeping up, but still. What the fuck? 

“This nerd sees one action movie and thinks he can be a getaway driver,” she snarled. “This isn’t NASCAR, buddy.” 

Mama gave her a look. “Isn’t that how you learned?” 

“Not the point.” Riley made another sudden turn. “Call Jesse and have her cut off Pitt. I’m gonna shake this guy.” 

*****

Reason number one why Mac was never the driver: he sucked at it. Riley was trying to lose him, and she was doing a damn good job. If he didn't know her well enough to somewhat predict her moves, Mac would've lost her already. This is what I get for flipping her off, he thought. 

Clearly she hadn't seen his face, or else this wouldn't be happening right now. With each turn, Mac lost a little ground. No cops yet, luckily, but it wouldn’t matter if he got stopped by cops because he was about to lose Riley again anyway. 

Mac wished he had Riley in the passenger seat, scouring a satellite view and directing him through the best route to catch, well, her. He couldn't remember ever not blindly trusting her to get him where he needed to be. Catching her was so much harder without her. Mac wondered if that was what she felt like when she chased him to fake-join Codex. 

A semi truck pulled into the road, blocking his view of Riley. By the time Mac skirted the truck, she was long gone, like she'd never been there at all. 

*****

“Got ‘em,” Riley said with a smirk when she finally lost their tail. Now they could get back to the important matter at hand: catching Pitt. 

Jesse’s voice crackled through Mama’s phone. “There’s an empty parking lot up ahead. We can corner him there.” 

“On it.” Riley floored the gas to get ahead and intercept him. 

Pitt took the bait, falling right into their trap. He cut through the parking lot to try and ditch Jesse and found himself blocked in by a certain oversized red truck with a woman aiming a rifle out the shotgun window. Mama shot his tires before he could try to leave. 

The man obviously knew when he lost, because with Mama aiming at him from the front and Jesse from behind, Pitt slowly got out of his car and kneeled on the ground, hands raised above his head. Grabbing the handcuffs from the truck’s glove compartment, Riley stalked toward the man and cuffed him. He was bigger than Riley expected, more muscular, and had oddly familiar calluses on his hands. Riley tucked the thought away for later and marched him to Mama’s truck. 

Mama didn’t lower her gun, but Riley wasn’t worried. Even if Pitt tried something and Mama had to shoot, Riley would be fine. Mama never missed. 

Once Pitt was secured in the backseat, Riley turned to the Colton women and grinned. That was easy.

*****

When Mac saw the red truck sitting in a nearly empty parking lot, he ran three red lights and skidded into the lot with abandon. Riley stood beside the truck with her back to him, but Mac didn’t need to see her face to know that was her; he’d recognize her posture and the shape of her body anywhere. She was chatting with two other women he couldn’t recognize from far away. 

As soon as his car came to a stop, Mac flung the door open and yelled Riley’s name. 

*****

Riley whipped her head around at the sound of her name. She did a double take when her eyes locked on Mac getting out of his truck—the same truck that had been tailing her, she realized—and running toward her. “What are you doing here?” she yelled back. 

His chest heaved, and a wild, frantic look filled his eyes. “Looking for you!” He stopped in front of her, well within her personal space. Mac reached for her arms and hesitated, waiting for her to flinch away like she’d been doing for weeks now. Instead, she softened her eyes and gave him an almost imperceptible nod. You can touch me, the look said. 

Mac’s grip on her biceps was heartbreakingly gentle. His voice cracked slightly as he spoke. “You said you were kidnapped.” 

Oh. “Mac,” she said softly, “it was a joke. I’m fine.” 

She’d never seen him look as furious as he did now, yanking his hands back like she’d burned him and taking a full step backward. “A joke? Are you fucking kidding me, Riley? What was I supposed to think when I got that text? All it said was ‘I’ve been kidnapped’ with ‘kidnapped’ spelled wrong for god’s sake, and then you didn’t answer when I texted and called you back!” 

Uh oh. “How many texts did you get?” 

“What?” 

“How many texts did you get?” she repeated. “I sent you two. One right after the other.” 

A beat. “One.” 

Oh god. He never got the second, more important text. She should’ve checked her phone. Damnit. Riley wanted to hug him, but fury still radiated off Mac, so she stayed back. “I’m so sorry. I accidentally hit send instead of delete while fixing my typo. I should’ve made sure the second text went through. I didn’t mean to scare you like that.” 

“When we couldn’t track your phone anymore, I—” He dragged his hands through his hair. “I thought I lost you. I was terrified I’d find you dead in someone’s trunk or thrown in a ditch somewhere. I thought I’d never get the chance to say—” No, no, no, no, not yet. Riley silently begged him not to confess yet. “—what I need to say.” She exhaled. 

Mac still hadn’t taken his eyes off her, hadn’t bothered to see who was standing behind her. “Look who’s behind me,” she gently guided. He did, and too many emotions to name crossed his face as he took in Mama and Jesse Colton. Then, before Riley knew what was happening, Mac practically tackled her, crushing her into his chest so tightly she could barely breathe. How they didn’t end up on the ground was beyond her. Riley hugged him back, murmuring apologies and reassurances into the crook of his neck. 

The only warning something was wrong was the loud squeak of one of Mama’s truck doors opening. 

“Get down!” 

Gunshots filled Riley’s ears as her back slammed into the side of the truck, and she slid to the ground. Mac crouched over her, providing cover from the bullets pinging off the asphalt. Mama and Jesse crouched behind Pitt’s car, returning fire. Fucking hell. 

“Forget to check him for weapons, did you?” Mac teased. “Who is this guy?” 

“Hector Pitt. IT guy. And I did check.” 

Mac gave her a look. “Did you check everywhere?” 

Furrowing her brow, Riley craned her neck to see Pitt shooting over the far side of the truck bed. He concentrated his fire toward the Coltons. “What do you mean ‘everywhere’? Of course I—” She glared at Mac. “I am not groping some random ass criminal on the off chance that he’s stupid enough to hide a loaded gun next to his dick.” 

“Just saying, this could have been avoided.” 

“Shut up and help me take him out already.” 

Slowly, Riley crawled into the truck’s backseat, frowning at the unlocked handcuffs on the floor. She opened the far door—the one closest to Pitt—just far enough to release the latch before laying back on the seats, pressing her feet against the door. Through the windshield, she watched Mac stroll around the front of the truck, right hand raised. Riley waited. Deep breath in, deep breath out. Trying to calm her thundering pulse. 

She didn’t dare blink. Inhale, exhale. What was taking so long? Inhale, exhale. 

Mac’s hand dropped, and Riley kicked the door open as hard as she could, and the sickening smack of metal against flesh told her it worked. Pitt’s unconscious body crumpled on the ground like a rag doll. While Mac disarmed him, Riley tied the man up with jumper cables and zip-ties before re-handcuffing him. 

Handing Pitt’s gun to Mama, Mac said, “There’s no way he’s actually an IT guy.” The women laughed.

*****

Despite their exhaustion, Mac and Riley decided to drive home instead of booking a hotel room for the night. They played Rock, Paper, Scissors to determine driving shifts; Mac got the first one. He promptly blasted his mission pump-up playlist and pointed the A/C vents directly at his face to keep himself awake.

The slivered moon did little to illuminate the dark desert highway, and headlights from oncoming cars stung his eyes. Mac’s stomach was heavy with the weight of the carne asada burrito he had for dinner and the words he still needed to say to the woman sitting in his passenger seat. He thought about saying those three little words. I love you. But now wasn’t the right time. 

When was the right time for anything? Mac honestly had no idea. 

He glanced at Riley, leaning against the window with her eyes closed. She wasn’t asleep, not with the music so loud, but Mac still envied her ability to relax so easily. He turned the music down a few notches. 

Safe. Riley was safe. In his truck, under his protection. Not that she needed his protection, per se, but Mac could breathe a little easier with the most important person in his life by his side. 

The double yellow line gave way to a passing zone, and the asshole who’d been tailing them for the last few miles sped by. Apparently fifteen miles per hour over the speed limit was too slow for them. “Fuck off,” Mac snarled. 

“Who are we telling to fuck off?” Riley cracked her eyes open. 

“The guy who just sped around me.” 

“Seems like that’s been happening to you a lot lately,” she teased. Right. In all the chaos of chasing Riley and taking out Pitt, Mac had completely forgotten about flipping her off. 

“I’m sorry.” 

Riley laughed, sitting up. “Are you kidding me? That was hilarious once I realized it was you!” 

“Glad you think so.” He tapped his thumbs on the steering wheel, suddenly nervous. “Riles?” 

“Hmmm?” 

I love you. I'd be lost without you. Please don’t ever scare me like that again. 

“I’m glad you’re okay.”

[i-need-air]

Meeting small Hawks.

Pairing: Hawks x Reader.

Summary: HCs about what would happen if you're sent in the past (thanks to a villain quirk) with Hawks and meet tiny Hawks.

Notes: Love the "Their kid came from the future because of this quirk thingy and now they meet their daddas" so I thought what would it be if we reversed it. Hope you enjoy! ♥

× you coincidentally ran into each other (which happened often) when you were both patrolling

× he's always so smug and flirty with you but today he was extra about it

× like holy shit this man knows how to compliment but whatever, no big deal

× the thing is you're just at the point where you kinda lowkey are realizing you have feelings for this smug idiot but you're also kinda denying it because Hawks screams trouble, also you don't trust him; does he flirt like this with anyone??? why is he teasing you so much????? he's too hot to be real???????

× he was praising you because you reached Top 20s when someone screamed for help

× a young kid recognized you both and told you that there's a robbery he escaped from, explaining there are some guys at a jewelry store near-by so y'all just rush there

× well you kinda fell behind cuz he's like already in front of the store talking to the masked robbers like they're just chatting about the weather, although he was just negotiating and telling them casually to let the employees and the civilians inside the store out

× so when he sees you tho, he winks at you and in a blink the robbers were on the ground

× so you just alright then fucking show off 😒 because he waited for you to see him be a little shit

× so while everything is settling, you both going inside the store to check on everyone, he twists his head fastly towards you then rushes to your frame, grabbing you while you turn just in time to see another masked robber (seems he was hiding) that was about to touch your shoulder. although Hawks pulled you to him just in time, so he was barely tapped on the cheek instead of you

× and then you see white

× so when you can finally see again around you, a sensation of dizziness running through your body, you notice Hawks hugging you like really, really tight

× also... did the villain teleport you? both of you were in what seemed a random office building or sumthn

× he brushes it off but you can see that he's worried because y'all fucked up man

× he's scolding himself, he should've paid more attention but you were there, existing, so stunning and the way you rolled your eyes at him? gorgeous, like pls do it again he's a simp for u & now he's paying the price for it like boy–

× anywho! he looked around and sent some feathers to just map the place while you were trying to figure out wth was going on

× meanwhile Hawks was just noticing stuff; he knew these halls, he knew that three doors from there, he'd take Hero History class, he knew the floor below them was a training ground, he knew the door just behind them was where he–

× so you were confusion to say at least, looking at the plain white walls, searching for something, anything actually

× doors had signs on them but very vague, like that one door with the letter K on it, the others labeled C1, C2 and C3, everything spotless and dead looking

× "Sorry, dove, hate to interrupt that cute and intense thinking face of yours but we have to bolt" he said, pointing at the cameras

× so y'all just hide, you thinking without purpose but he was actually leading you somewhere, that somewhere being a floor below

× "we've been seen here and we shouldn't be" or more likely this place should have been destroyed years ago he thought but dreaded the thought of the Commission finding another kid like him

× you question where you're going but he just smirks at you

× there's no people anyway but you avoid places where cameras are pointing at so it makes you feel suspish, but you trust #2 Hero's judgment; he was #2 for a reason, right?

× you reach a door with a sign saying Surveillance and you ooooooooh real smooth for a second, big bird brain there

× and he has no difficulty unlocking it with two of his feathers (him winking at you again, show off pt. 2)

× you're basically ordered to look-out mainly cuz he didn't want you to catch a glimpse at the cameras; if the commission was doing this again, it should be Top Secret

× but what he doesn't fucking expect is to see you on the screen, legit full in the middle of the camera view (pls he cries inside why did u guys avoid all the cams–) and a tiny frame approaching you

× mainly same energy as And I OOP– plus moment of realization

× back to you: looking around super-sneaky until you hear a noise and you decide to explore around the corner but when you find nothing you turn around

× "Uhm, who are you?" you hear a tiny voice behind you and you jump in place because holy shit it was so quiet and now someone's there and you almost die of a heart attack

× turning around, ready to fight, you just find a tiny human being

× adorable human being with... weird similar eye-markings like Hawks and tiny, fluffy, adorable red wings

× you die in the spot cuz???????? adorable child cosplaying the guy you like?????????????? wait what? like? uhm bad brain bad

× so you just crouch down to his height and smile at the baby while he looks at you with big confused yellow eyes that are waaaaay too similar to Hawks'; and that freaks you out, did the mf have a love child or something because they're copy-paste

× "Are you my new teacher?" he asked again, small smile on his features and hnnnggg ♥

× but you shake your head, telling him you're just passing by

× he looks a lil disappointed but nods, fidgeting with the Endeavor in his hands, to which you laugh quietly

× "so you're a Hawks fan I see?"

× he blinks at you, golden eyes wide with confusion and he asks "who?" and u OOP–

× the kid knows who Endeavor is or at least has a plushie of him but is cosplaying as Hawks and never heard of him like??? unless??????? you calm yourself and chill because maybe he didn't know who Endeavor is and he thought it was a random toy and the cosplaying you had no actual excuse for but even worse when he just:

× "but I am a big fan of Endeavor, see?" he said, small excitement coming from him, toy still in his hands now raised in front of your vision, smol chubby hands hounding it safely but proudly

× hnnnngggg ♥ ♥

× "what's your name, little angel?" you ask him as you really try to connect the dots here

× "I'm Takami Keigo and I just moved here" he smiled at you so softly "I'm here to become a hero like Endeavor"

× you'd have to search for Hawks now because this was very, very suspicious but for now you just loved the little kid, deciding you wanted one (maybe you should snatch him 👀)

× and talking about your favorite winged hero, he was having a mental breakdown in the Surveillance room, no biggie; he figured it out while looking at the rooms on the screens, specially the training area, and then at his mini-self talking to you

× so he sends some feathers to you to drag you back to him discreetly

× nothing can be discreet with you because as you were telling smol Keigo that he's gonna be the best hero ever and so on, a feather tapped you on the back and you just screech cuz WHO DAT, you turn to see the feather and feel your soul coming back into your body

× but tiny Keigo sees it too and he's thrilled because look look i can do that too! but with smol feathers and your soul just departs from your person yet again

× because that ain't a cosplay

× that is Hawks.

× while you stop functioning as way-too-adorable-baby-Hawks uses his feathers lift the Endeavor toy to your hands, you just take it and stare

× "did you like it?" golden eyes shining proudly at you; hnnnggggg ♥️♥️♥️

× snapping out of it, you compliment him telling him he's the coolest while taking the toy from him and try to catch one of his feathers jokingly, making him do a cute giggle

× and Keigo, this time big boy Keigo is waiting behind the corner because he really doesn't want to be seen by himself? one feather waiting on the key set to delete all video footage, prepared to bolt the shit out of there yet... he was just waiting for something, not even knowing what himself

× yet he knew as you made mini-him (?) (he's still having an existencial crisis) laugh again his heart squeezes, but he doesn't have time to savor it anymore

× "Keigo, where did you go?" a male voice startled the 3 of you and you p a n i c™

× but not as much as big Hawks tho, he sends all his feathers to drag you away instantly

× the last image on smol baby Hawks is him being startled as he tried to reach for you as you were forcefully yanked away, a suited up man appearing, catching a glimpse of you for a second then alarms blowing everywhere

× Hawks had it all planned as he yanked you to his body, rushing towards an opened window, commanding his feather to delete the security footage and going back to him

× and when he jumped, you in his arms, you saw white again

× you both appear in the same location that you vanished from, just in the middle of the jewelry store as cops were walking around, secluding the zone

× Congrats, you gave the cops a frighten; good times 💕

× so you're in his arms (a g a i n but nobody's complaining 👀)

× and he just smiles down at you so tenderly you almost shiver in place, never seeing that face on him before and it makes you feel Things™, he just runs his hand on your shoulder blade as he wraps his wings closer to you two, cops just startled and confused but none of you cared

× you wanted to touch his cheek as you're finally embracing your feelings after what just happened

× you're looking at Takami Keigo

× so you move your hand and something falls out of your embrace, since y'all are high on adrenaline it spooks the f outta both

× looking at your side you see the Endeavor toy, a small, fluffy feather stuck in its small toy belt

× and you panic because yOu basically just fucking stole a toy from a little kid and you're about to tear up and he just looks at you with his brows raised cuz my boy wasn't expecting that

× "Hey, hey, it's okay" he says through a chuckle, stop being so adorable

× but no it's not okay? the smol baby loved Endeavor and you took the toy and you keep calling mini-keigo smol baby and Hawks' heart is playing heavy metal in his chest and he has this goofy stupid adorable smile on his face and

× he leans down to kiss you

× soft, sweet, he breathes you in yet keeps the smile on his lips

× "Mini-me didn't mind, I'm sure" (white lies, white lies)

× but you, all flustered, just panic again because AAAAA and you just give him the toy, telling him you're some years later but it's his to which he sees ✨ ✨ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ✨ ✨ in his mind around you while you ramble and talk and blush and oh god he loves you– wait what.

× "Well, little dove, I think I have some explaining to do" he whispered above your lips, taking in your flushed face (was living for the moment ngl) "How about we talk about it while we grab lunch? Hmm?"

× "I'd like that, Hawks."

× "Oh, when we're alone, you know what to call me." he whispered in your ear then turned to the police officers that just witnessed everything...

× wait, is that a crowd of people outside with their phones out?

× oh fu–

Look at this smol babey! LOOK!

Art is made by the amazing @kadeart, I'm surprised I found out about them just now, they're amazingly talented. Check out all their stuff!

[awarmbowlofhomemadesoup]

Online Safety for Vp’s Fan Minors

There seems to be an undercurrent of misopedia (hatred of children) that is persistent to Vp’s old to new works from Zoophobia to Helluva Boss. 

This attracts a type of adult fans who share the same sentiment and may go as far as to harass fan minors online. Simply because they didn’t like what a minor said. 

Even though Vp’s works are for the adult audience, it cannot be denied that part of the fandom are minors.

I’m not encouraging minors to join the fandom. If you’re a fan minor who wants to interact with the fandom, no one can stop you. But you might as well ensure you’re taking the precautionary steps to avoid being harassed or doxxed.

This can also apply to other fandoms.

Here are some of the ways you can do to stay safe:

The Basics: Use an Informal Account

When interacting with a fandom, use an account that doesn’t contain any of your private information:

Full name

Last name

Names of your family members

Year of your birthday

Current location

Home or school address of you or your family or friends

Phone numbers

Photos or videos of yourself

Avoid connecting your fandom account to your Facebook. 

By your consideration, you can choose to give general information that you are comfortable giving. But never give anything specific that could lead to people identifying you and finding you. 

You don’t have to prove anything. If you mention a part of your identity such as gender or age, and someone asks for photos to prove it, that’s an invasion of your privacy. You have every right to say no. 

Doxxers scour for information that their targets have put in their accounts. Delete any content that you think you might’ve overshared. 

I used to have a mutual who had been targeted by doxxers and they listed her tumblr main blog, side blogs, Reddit page, Tappy Toon profile and Youtube channel (with videos of herself) for other doxxers to follow in the attempt to get her location. 

These doxxers have also recorded one of my mutual’s author page, main blogs, side blogs, every trivia she had mentioned of her personal life. Her ex-mutual sold her out and gave them the link of her selfie she had posted on an obscure sideblog long ago.

They also tried to go after a minor but because he only interacted with the fandom using his sideblog, the doxxers weren’t able to get much of his history that they can use against him.

These were all in the Hazbin Hotel fandom. Don’t make it easy for doxxers.

Secure your Email Address

To prevent harassers from following you out of social media and directly into your email address, make sure your username is different from your email address. 

If my username is is RedSocks, a doxxer can guess my email address as redsocks@yahoo.com or redsocks@google.com

Check your App’s Privacy Settings

Take your time to browse through your App’s privacy settings. Twitter allows you to customize discoverability and who can DM you. In Reddit, you can turn off the visibility of which communities you are most active. You can also turn off your location in Instagram.

Trust Your Creep Alert

If someone asks for your age out of the blue, you don’t need to share it. Especially when you’re uncomfortable doing it. 

You can say 10+ or say it’s private information. If they persist, you have every right to block them. 

This goes to any interaction that feels off to you. Trust your gut.

Your Safety, Your Boundaries

If you receive a mean comment, it’s best not to engage. A response or a retaliation makes the harasser feel empowered. At best, you can block them. You don’t owe them any explanation. 

Or you can 1,) simply reply that you’re not comfortable with them talking to you, 2.) then block them. Don’t look back. 

Block, Report, Move on

Don’t feed the troll. It makes them feel like they have control over you because they don’t feel like they have control over their lives. If someone makes a post that goes against your social media’s “no hateful conduct” rule, simply block, report and move on. 

Save the Evidence

If needed, the printscreen button of your keyboard is your friend. Get screen captures of your unwanted interactions. This is useful for mutual-turned-sour situations. In case things would escalate, you can always report them with the evidence or show to someone who could help like a trusted adult.

And a gentle reminder to both adult and minor fans:

Curate Your Fandom Experience

Fans would sometimes use Vp’s characters to explore dark themes. If some content disturbs you or depresses you, use that mute feature liberally. Block the tags. Or unfollow the people who make them. Fandom is a place where we get a bit of reprieve by being entertained. It shouldn’t be at the cost of your mental health. 

Self-Regulate

There are times we get too caught up with a topic, that we need to step back and take a break. Or when we get too absorbed with a character’s misbelief or a ship that our brains convinced us it’s right or official. There is a certain freedom in the web. But it also comes with the responsibility of taking care of your health and not overstepping other people’s boundaries.

(You can read more resources in ConnectSafely Organization, Kidshealth Organization and StaySafeOnline Organization. Resources in the reblog.)

[writtenbyblair]

#28: What we want

Summary: Catching up with an old friend, you end up finding out that the people who matters never really leave you. 

“Believe me you’ll love it!” Said your friend, grabbing your arm. 

After being roommates for 5 years at MIT, you were used to her crazy last-minute plans. It had been a while since you last got to see each other. Indeed, after college, you left as you had found a job on the West coast and one thing leading to another, plus busy lives, made you lose touch. 

“Should have deleted my Instagram before you found me.” You joked. 

“Come on, it’s going to be fun. They call it an immersive restaurant. You participate in the making of your meal, a true experience.” 

That’s definitely something you would only find in L.A. 

You kept walking for a while and reached the street where the place was located. At first sight, the frontage didn’t look like much, hiding the gem inside. 

Once the door pushed, you stepped into a modern room in shades of teal, gold and black. Magnificent lighting glass balls were hanging over a unique massively long wood table. As soft lounge music was playing in the background, you gave your names to the head waiter who led you to your seats. 

“Hello Ladies, I’ll be your waiter tonight.” The short man handed you a single page menu. “The exclusive meals will be unveiled as the evening goes on. We’ll start at 8.30 as all the clients will be eating at this table. Meanwhile, what would you like to drink?” 

“I’ll take a Metropolitan.” Picked your friend. 

If there was one thing that made you uncomfortable it was making a decision when the staff member was waiting. 

“Uh, I’ll take that too please.” 

“You like that cocktail now?” Asked your friend surprised. 

You shook your head: “I panicked.” Causing both of you to laugh, you added: “I’m going to go change it.” 

“I come with you, I have to go to the bathroom.” 

The place had become way more busy in just a few minutes. Making your way to the bar, you felt a sudden pain in your arm.

“What was this for?” 

“Coming to your left.” 

Recognising the old ‘boy alert’ nudge from uni time, you elevated your chin, but nothing. Looking at your old time bestie, you asked for more precision: “Who? Where?” 

She got weirdly silent. 

You turned your head and your heart made a backflip. 

Too late. 

“Y/N.”

Time had had no effect on him. Apart from his hair being shorter, he looked the same as when you last saw him. A nostalgic feeling tightened your throat at this thought.

“Mac?”

You couldn’t tell how many seconds went on before one of you moved. 

“Sorry” He blinked a few times before giving you a quick hug. “It’s been a while.” The feeling of his hands pressed against your back suspended time for a short moment. 

“Remember me?” Asked your friend. 

“Of course, you two were always together back then.”

A gong echoed in the room marking the dinner’s start. 

Without another word, you all joined your respective chair. Sitting between two women in their fifties, you couldn’t help glancing at the edge of the table. 

When it comes to the meal, you had little idea of what you were eating. Something about sprouted mushrooms and rare fifth talon in sample portions. 

As you tried to counterbalance the void in your stomach by lots of sparkling water, you excused yourself and headed towards the restrooms. 

You ended up in a narrow lobby where two doors were located at the end. Before going out, you washed your hands and found yourself readjusting a piece of hair. You opened the door and came face to face with Mac. 

As you walked past him, his hand brushed yours. Although this was due to the relatively small space, you could feel the redness colouring your cheeks. 

You must admit that once back at the table, you regretted just walking away, not engaging the conversation. It’s just that there were so many things to say, to ask. And after all, he could have done it too, but he didn’t. 

“Hey Y/N, do you have a plaster? These heels are killing me.”

“Some things never change.” You chuckle, remembering how you used to carry everything in your bag whenever the two of you would go on a night out. 

Rummaging in the mess that your leather item was supporting the weight of, your hands landed on a napkin that wasn’t supposed to be there. 

“Don’t trust her” 

The sharp shape of the letters was the same that was annotated all over your physics note back then. 

You looked towards Mac who was speaking with a man older than him. 

“You have it?” 

“Uh,” you scratched your forehead. Burying the paper at the bottom of your bag, you found what she asked for. 

“Here.” You handed her the band-aid with a weak smile. 

At the 5th course served, your attention was definitely not on the food anymore. Why would he resurface after 9 years? And why would he tell you that? 

It was enough. Even the tiny portions didn’t sit well with your stomach right now.

“Are you all right? You’ve been so quiet.” 

“Yes, probably one of these ingredients isn’t much appreciated by my stomach.” You faked a laugh. “I’m sorry, could we reschedule?” 

“Something happened?”

You picked up your bag. “I prefer—“ She grabbed your hand and her face had changed like day and night. 

“Why don’t you sit back and tell me what has gotten into you?”

He was right. You looked for Mac, but his seat was empty. 

One thing was sure though, you would not listen to her. You visualised the table, considering what your free hand could grasp. You felt the stares of your chair neighbours. 

As you were about to get hold of the nearby candlestick, a gunshot exploded. 

The loud and unexpected sound causing people to run everywhere was enough to made her disappear. 

Suddenly, you felt fingers wrapping yours, sweeping you along. Still stunned by the buzzing sound in your ears, you realised whose hand was holding yours.  

“By the window.” 

You looked at him with wide eyes.

“By the window?!” You repeated, hoping you had misheard what he said. 

“Have I ever made you do something crazy?” Honestly, you could have named dozens of these, but judging by the chaos in the restaurant and the close police sirens, it was definitely not a good moment. 

You stepped on the small balcony and replied sarcastically: “No, never.”

He chuckled. Bringing back his focus to the platform he was aiming for, you saw a fraction of hesitation on his face. 

Still, he landed right on it. 

You removed your heels and considered the void below. 

 “LAPD.”

You took a deep breath and jumped. 

The cold metal caused your left foot to slip, but a stronger strength had already secured your waist. 

“You okay?”

“Yeah. I do this every day.” 

“I saw that.” Being aware of the closeness in which you were standing, Mac dropped his hands. “We should probably go.”

—————————

You squeezed the back of your neck, full of knots. Now that your body was at rest, your mind had time to process what had happened under only two hours.

“Well, that was insane. How do you feel?” Asked Mac, hands on the steering wheel of his pickup. 

“Question marks are spinning around my head, but I’m still in one piece, so I would say fine.” 

He turned around briefly to look at you before bringing his focus back on the road. “She had been under our radar for a few months now for stealing blood samples. As you must know, they are reopening closed cases and it doesn’t please some people.”

“Does this have something to do with my thesis project from years ago?”

“DNA Reconstruction via RNA-Guided CRISPR-Cas9 and pattern-matching algorithms.” 

You looked at him completely stupefied. 

He smiled: “You made me proof 948 pages six times. So, it rang a bell immediately.” 

Mac pursued: “That’s why I was there. Our analyst, Riley, found hidden encrypted traffic like text messages, too short to be traced. But two days ago, a sustained transmission enabled her to do so.”

The call you had asking her when you two should meet. That was the sustained transmission. You stayed silent, waiting for further explanations like the cloudy sky waits for the sun. 

“We didn’t need voice analyses.” He paused: “I recognised yours immediately.” 

Mac and you were both lab nerds and study buddies in college, always challenging the other to launch something higher or create a bigger explosion. However, he left unexpectedly without a word, but it wasn’t the moment to talk about that. 

“You said ‘our radar’?” 

“Um yeah, basically the organisation who deals with the stuff the government can’t.”

Not sure you were supposed to know more about it, you asked: “Where are we going?”

“As Jack caught her, you don’t have to worry anymore. I’ll bring you back to your place.”

“How do you— Never mind.” 

A few minutes later, as your heart felt heavier than you care to admit, he gave you a hug goodbye on the threshold of your small house. 

Not feeling like closing your eyes for the most obvious reasons, and having located the nearest solid object you could use 'just in case’, you settled on the couch with a big blanket and a cheesy romcom. 

The growling sound of your stomach reminded you that you had almost eaten nothing tonight. As you moved towards the fridge, you went to close the curtains of the kitchen’s window. 

“What—“

A blanket over your shoulders, you stepped outside in thick socks. 

You knocked on the truck’s hood and surprised a sleepy Mac.

“What are you doing here?!” 

He blinked a couple of times: “I was sleeping… or trying to.”

“Sleeping here, why?” 

Keep reading

This one is probably one of my favourites. I hope you’ll enjoy reading it as much as I did writing these words💛

@emmaberrysworld @elliho @gnboling @floh673 @bthtallmadge2 @urmysilverlining​ @secretlibraryoj @alexaparkerlove @mvpdalton @milea @thethistlegirl @jenscorpion @likeit-or-leaveit @amcsummersgoddess @malindacath​ @pattiprinzivalli @avalonsilver @dreambelievergeek @macfangirl15​ @anguishmacgyver​

[danseurehonte]

“Remember My Name” Mafia Series

Prologue.

Summary: Yixing made the mistake of trusting his team too well, one job that he suspected went well did not and it’s costing him everything five years later.

This is imperative to the main story and cannot be skipped.

Mentions of: Murder, Gore, Blood, Gunshot Wounds, Wedding Massacre.

Words: 1087

His eyes were locked on the screen, the numbers steadily climbing before all the power in the building went off, “Why aren’t the generators cutting on?” He questioned, standing from the office chair as the emergency alarm sounded forcing him back down into his seat to attempt himself to figure out what was going on before his personal phone ringing started ringing. “You have ten minutes to tell me why my system that you built quote on quote oh so tightly is able to be attacked?” He was seething, there was no way someone was able to crack into the system, he trusted his team, he truly did or did he? Was this an inside job? The only people that know this system are those under him, the arms team, the security team, drugs everyone knew the system; they had to know it to pass through certain doors and gates in the hideout but no one knew codes and access other than the security team.

“Sir, I’m working my hardest to get the syst-,” the call was cut abruptly, he didn’t even need to look at his phone to know what happened before he launched it across the room. “Hi Yixing,” the feminine voice spoke absolutely too cheery for his liking. “Look at me,” she spat causing Yixing’s eyes to glare at the computer screen. “You’ll answer every question I ask or I’ll ruin you to the core.” He could hear her typing, the soft clicking of the keys irritating him as all he wanted to know was who she was. “You don’t remember me at all?” She asked tilting her head, green eyes piercing through the screen, “If I did don’t you think I’d have men deployed to your location?” Quietly sighing she was back to typing before his screen was split and those same numbers Yixing was looking at were displayed, “Every time I hear what I don’t want to hear I’ll make you suffer.” That caused Yixing to straighten up, how did she even have access to this information, when did she get it, the only person with the pass-code was him.

“Let me jog your memory wouldn’t want Mr. Pretty boy thinking so hard.” Pictures were uploaded to his screen, the images of what seemed to be a happy family but Yixing eyes zoned in on the man in the background, “Kim Hanjoon.” Her smile spread from ear to ear as he recognized the man, “head of the dragons.” He muttered before realizing that he was looking at a wedding photo> His memory slowly started to jog he’d ordered his men to interrupt the wedding and kill the bride and groom and anyone else they felt like.

“You took everything from me.” She yelled as Yixing’s eyes widened realizing Hanjoon’s widow was the person he was speaking to. “So tell me, why didn’t you check? Why didn’t you show any remorse when the news broke? Why didn’t you check the list of victims? Do you show no remorse for your actions Zhang?” They left a vital survivor, the wife, she survived and is most likely the new head of the dragons but there was no trace of them anywhere, the whole reason he ordered for them both to be killed was that a wife always took her husband place as the head when he died or went to prison.

“Speak!” She exclaimed but all Yixing could think of was there being a vital survivor and how she stayed so quiet for so long. “Fine then.” She disconnected their source of contact and Yixing sat in silence for a mere ten minutes before his office door opened and there she stood, blood covering her white shirt as she stared at him. She’d been in the building the entire time, he knew he recognized the background, she was in the security room, the call cut earlier because she killed her way in. With the new-found knowledge Yixing’s hand slowly reached under the desk, “I wouldn’t do that if I did this whole building blows.” She cooed pulling open her shirt to showcase the machine wrapping around her chest, “Is this a suicide mission?” He asked slowly moving his hands away from under his desk where his emergency weapon was placed. “Excuse me?” She questioned pointing the gun at Yixing, “You took everything away from me, everything and you dare ask me if this is a suicide mission.” Her eyes were filled with tears and the only thing Yixing could do to survive was played with her already sensitive emotions.

“Listen- I don’t need to fucking listen to you Zhang, you took my love from me so I’ll take everything from you and if you dare even THINK to retaliate I will take you myself and I’ll make you lick the ground I walk on, every single step behind me. Do you understand?” She spat cocking the gun back, stepping closer to him as she awaited an answer but before his lips could form one a gunshot sounded through the room, he couldn’t even react to the initial shot as he watches in horror as the blood poured from his side, “If you live to see me, you better start answering me faster.” She chuckled walking towards him, pushing the chair with a now blood-soaked Yixing aside, “What’s the password to the vault?” She asked looking at him before pointing the gun once again, “you already know it, why ask?” He gasped for air after each word, leaning his head back as consciousness was simply a game for him at this point, either he would win or he would lose.

She chuckled, nails clicking against the keys before deleting the secondary folder titled ‘The Dragons’, “You know nothing of my family and if I dare see you near my house I will make you my personal lap dog.” Her eyes screamed revenge as she looked at Yixing bleed out she spoke, “Marie Kim, remember my name.” She didn’t even bother to stay to see his reaction, she was out the door and within five minutes the power in the building was restored and doors were unlocked, people rushed into Yixing within an instant. “Sir, Sir, stay with me.” All his mind could focus on was how she entered unnoticed and how she left unnoticed, how did she get in and how did she leave so quickly the gates would have alerted him and the doors would have too.

“He’s falling forward, alert the medic now.”

[prorevenge]

Lay off a third of the team and expect us to work harder. We will see about that.

So this happened sometime in the 2010’s somewhere in the UK (that’s all I’m revealing) I worked for a medium sized PLC in a small team that worked with the sales department getting quotes. I had previously worked in another team in a different department in the same company as well.

This also includes elements of pro revenge I’ll post this there as well.

So to set the scene the company had recently had some issues with regulators and senior management were either oblivious to the damage they were doing or didn’t care. They were trying to save costs but going about it all the ring way.

So my team consists of 6 team members and a manager. We were fairly busy and often helped out on other teams as well and they would in turn help us. (This is important for later)

So we are all called into a meeting without warning and told that due to declining work tickets they were laying two of us off. They did say two people were safe (the manager and his sidekick) they made us reapply for our jobs including doing a test (following the letter of the law on redundancy), which had nothing to do with our roles. It also became apparent during the process that the company flat out lied or at the very minimum manipulated the data used to come up with their conclusion of falling ticket numbers (they dropped by 13 from year 1 to year 3, bear in mind it was a total of several thousand tickets a year). In the end the company carried on and two team members were removed and made redundant, one of whom took a golden handshake the other sued the company for various things (not really worthy of mention here) and won.

After the dust settled it also became apparent manager secured his sidekicks position despite him being the worst member of the team in terms of work done and work quality.

So in the weeks after the entire team were too busy to help other teams who then stopped helping us, so a huge backlog of tickets also built up. We also got threatened with disciplinary proceedings if our backlog didn’t come down. But was also refused any overtime. During the process we had also been admonished for skipping steps in getting quotes (steps that often took a significant amount of time, and served no purpose) So me and two others remaining (not including sidekick who had his nose so far up managers rear ended in came out of his mouth) decided to do everything by the book, down to every last bulletpoint. This made the backlog of work even worse, but they couldn’t say anything.

One week we had another meeting with HR the sales director and our manager to discuss the issues. We all calmly said “we are sorry but we have to follow the guidelines and rules laid down and this is as fast as we can work” we were also asked to start helping out the other teams again as we should be team players. Again we said “we are sorry but we can’t, our workload is too high and it’s also not in our contracts that we have to do other teams work” this went on for several months and management still refused to believe we were overworked. When it was time for holidays we realised they hadn’t changed the amount of people allowed off from 3. So we all booked holidays (they both went abroad and I decided to visit family the other end of the UK) of course when manager realised (a week before) he went nuts and another meeting with HR was called. We all calmly said “sorry but we checked the rules for our team and 3 people (out of 4, manager could do what he likes) can be off at any one time.” And again stood our ground and all went on leave for 2 weeks each. This caused even more chaos at work as you can imagine. The sales director after this hatched a plan to get the Indian teams (we had offices in India and other offshore places) to be trained up by us and to help us, however they demanded we fly out to spend weeks there training them. Again we all refused as it’s not in our contracts to be trainers or to have to work abroad (they ignored the fact I didn’t have a passport at this point). Soo poor old manager and his sidekick travelled out and trained them for weeks. (Eventually both stayed for over 2 months and failed to train them. We would send low effort tickets to them and they would screw it up and we simply said sorry to fix this we need to do it again. So after 6 months they gave that idea up entirely.

We after around a year or so of this (I’m being deliberately vague on timing so please don’t ask about it) we all decided to all seek other employment having found we all could not trust the company or manager anymore. And we all found roles elsewhere within a week of each other so all handed our 4 week notices (again to the letter of our employment contracts) and were due to all leave on the same day.

Now the female member of the team who was a very learned person and she revealed in all our contracts any documentation we create is ours and we can do with it how we wish when we leave. So we hatch a plan.

In the final week we are there we move all our digital stuff to one location. Including all my manuals and cheat sheets for my previous team. They both did the same with their previous positions within the company. On our final day we bring in our own external drives and with IT’s help download and removed all documentation and deleted the copies on the company systems. We all said our goodbyes and at the end of the day quite happily told our manager what we had done. He exploded and demanded it back and we calmly tell him not according to the letter of our contracts this (waving the drives at him) is ours and we choose to remove it with us.

We were later told by friends who remained that the sales director had a fit because now no one was doing quotes for him.

Gladly we all have had great new places and keep in touch.

(source) story by (/u/gaarmstrong318)

[isolaradiale]

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It was the last communication left by Ofiuco before she went dark at the end of the day on April 14th. The Stars scrambled to locate her, but not only was her signal missing but they were not able to find her with any camera in the city. Their only clue was the foreign signal that she had been previously intercepting. Given the amount of enemies the Stars had accrued, it was imperative that they locate her. In the wrong hands she could become little more than a weapon. If the assailants were competent, she could level all of Spirale.

This, however, was the least of their worries.

Less than a day after Ofiuco disappeared, a single, different, existence spawned within the city. It was an anomaly. It didn’t belong. By the end of Thursday it had multiplied by ten. Then, at midnight, there was a broadcast. 

Every screen in the city lit up with the image.

Ten robed figures standing in a dark room. Their message was clear:

ADDRESSING ISOLA RADIALE. WE ARE AGENTS OF NULL. WE HAVE SEIZED THIS CITY’S DEFENSE DROID AND DEMAND THAT THE REIGNING LEADERS OF THIS CITY, THOSE REFERRED TO AS “THE ISLAND STARS”, TURN THEMSELVES IN FOR ARREST IMMEDIATELY. DESMOND VENIER, ELEINE VENIER, SEIRAS WALKER, RENAE ADISA AND FELICITY BOURNE; YOU HAVE UNTIL THE END OF THIS SEVEN DAY PERIOD BEFORE WE DESTROY YOUR CITY AND TAKE YOU BY FORCE. 

CITIZENS THAT HELP US WILL BE GRANTED FREEDOM FROM THEIR CONSTRAINTS AND SERVITUDE. THOSE WHO OPPOSE US WILL BE EXTERMINATED. THIS DROID WILL BE OUR VESSEL UNTIL THE CRIMINALS ARE APPREHENDED. ANY CAPTIVE LOOKING TO FURTHER OUR CAUSE MAY REACH OUT TO ONE OF WE, THE AGENTS, AND A PORTION OF THEIR STRENGTH WILL BE RETURNED TO THEM FOR THE COMING CONFLICT. WE DARE "THE STARS" TO DEFY US.

The screen went blank as unrest spread across the city. The Stars, however, were not so quick to accept this threat. It took a few minutes for them to scramble to respond, but screens quickly came abuzz once more with the signal wrestled back from the GPU. This time, a man with white hair and blue eyes appeared on the screen. He sat dressed neatly in an old-styled formal clothing--given the short notice, it’s clear that it was his typical attire. When he spoke, he sounded much more calm than he felt.

“Attention citizens. It’s rare that we address you as such, but this circumstance is rather dire. I am Alathfar of the Island Stars. The infiltration of Spirale by the agents of NULL poses a serious threat not only to those of us overseeing this island, but also to the inhabitants both natural and otherworldly. They will not offer you freedom--only erasure.”

There was a pause, the sound of shuffling and frantic typing audible from the background. He took only a moment before continuing.

“There’s a lot we have to do, but the most important is taking back Ofiuco. In order for us to retrieve her, the network must be temporarily taken offline. Manually. Unfortunately, we can’t do this alone. For that end, we’ve created access points--holes--to reach the network’s cables that reside under the city. We need any citizen willing and able to go sever them using any means. The locations of these access points will appear on your phone’s map of the city.”

He took a breathe, then, and closed his eyes. When they reopened, they were full of determination.

“We will take back our city, but we need your help to do so. With Ofiuco able to override our commands, we’re unable to maintain any serious advantages, but once she’s been freed we’ll be able to offer a reward to any who assist in driving NULL out. Together, let’s make quick work of this.”

The broadcast flicks off as Alathfar’s explanation and plea for help rings throughout the city. All the citizens needed to do was sever wires across the island, but... would it really be that easy? 

Not if NULL had anything to say about it. 

Almost as if on cue--almost as if the agents had been waiting for the scientist’s cute cry for help, their pathetic defiance, to end--a loud explosion sounded from somewhere in the city. 

Ofiuco emerged.

Her expression was blank. Her eyes glowing an ominous crimson red. A low rumbling echo coursed throughout the city as storm clouds began to form and shift. As gravity began to fluctuate. And as the earth began to move.

It would definitely not be as easy as just cutting some cords. 

INFORMATION

Welcome to our new story event, SECURITY BREACH! As you can surely tell this will be one of the heavier events we’ve had in a while.

Ofiuco has been hacked by the mysterious NULL unit of the equally mysterious GPU. They demand the arrest of the Island Stars in exchange for the freedom of the city dwellers.

However the Stars have offered a counterpoint: the GPU’s definition of ‘freedom’ is in fact erasing the town and all of the people within altogether. They make a plea to help regain Ofiuco from the enemy control.

How this is done is through a forced reboot of the network that Ofiuco exists on. Many wires run beneath the city encased in steel tubing that are part of this network. They are typically protected by a barrier that prevents interference, but the Stars have disabled this barrier so they can be breached and cut. Disabling every line this way will force Ofiuco to shut down, and she can be retrieved. While these cords are usually buried so deep that they cannot be accessed, large holes leading down to the exposed tubing will open and close at random throughout the city at midnight each day. Once the cords in an area are cut, the phone service/internet/power in that area will go out--but this is optional flavor to include in your writing only if you’d like, since it’s near impossible to keep track of.

Exposed tubing will be marked on your phone’s map application, locations always current. Characters allied with GPU may be guarding them, but there are also monsters from NULL’s division that will manifest. They are like weak shades that appear in large numbers, each wielding a variety of elemental magic attacks (think standard RPG spells).

In the meantime NULL has their own agents at work to make this task more difficult. If a character buys into the GPU’s claims and trusts them over the Stars, they can have their powers temporarily restored through Ofiuco’s connection provided the character uses those powers to either stir chaos or prevent those attempting to sever the wires from doing so. At the first sign anyone given this gift might be turning against NULL, they will have these abilities revoked and will be targeted for elimination. Unfortunately, the Stars can not offer this same boon to those trying to sever the cords, as Ofiuco would immediately override their authority.

You’re free to give abilities to yourself if your muse would work with GPU, but you cannot unlock any abilities that fall under tiers 1-7 on the vsbattlewiki tiering system. You can, however, nerf existing abilities to fall under tiers 8 and up. If you have any questions about this please send it to the masterlist! 

Ofiuco, now a mindless hand of the GPU, will travel throughout the city over the course of part 1 of the event. She will be altering the weather and safety conditions in each ward periodically to cause chaos and inhibit the efforts of those looking to free her. We will post a Disaster Report detailing these effects every two days, with the first coming an hour after this event post goes up.

FAQ

HOW LONG WILL PART 1 RUN FOR? Part 2 will begin at midnight EST on April 24th. However you will be able to start new part 1 threads throughout the entirety of part 2!

DO I NEED TO PARTICIPATE IN BOTH PARTS OF THE EVENT TO EARN CREDIT FOR RANKING UP? No! You only need to participate in one part to earn rank up credit. You don’t need to hunt for the wires or impede anyone’s progress by siding with the GPU either, you could interact with others during the other parts of the crisis or even just do a drabble with your muse finding safety if you find things to intense.

IS THERE AN EVENT REWARD? Yes! However you will be required to contribute 500 words to part 1, and then again to part 2 to qualify. The word count doesn’t need to be a single interaction and can be spread across multiples if preferred! It also doesn’t matter which side, if any, your muse is on during the event. While we haven’t decided on the reward entirely yet, it’s likely to be an ability or weapon unlock.

CAN WE INTERACT WITH THE AGENTS? Not directly unfortunately, although you can contact them via a special text number in your phone just to request abilities if you wish to support them. For reference you might see them out and about on the field observing, but they cannot be interacted with or harmed.

CAN WE INTERACT WITH OFIUCO? No! You might be able to catch glimpses of her and her glowing red eyes, but you cannot speak to or hurt her.

MY CHARACTER IS FULLY UNLOCKED AND, IN LESS THAN A FEW WORDS, OP. SHOULD I EXPECT ANY TEMPORARY NERFS FOR THE EVENT DURATION? There are only special instances where this might be the case. Conceptual powers that would make this too easy for either side have been sealed by the GPU, so anything that might be able to instantly delete people or places without room for a struggle are off limits. If you’re not sure about a power you have already unlocked, feel free to send a question to the masterlist!

DOESN’T THIS FAVOR VILLAINS THAT MIGHT WANT TO SIDE WITH THE GPU TOO MUCH? Yes, and that’s intentional! Our events are usually geared towards giving heroes a chance to shine, and so for part 1 we’re trying to subvert that. Part 2, however? ;)

WILL ANY DAMAGE DONE TO THE CITY DURING THIS EVENT BE PERMANENT? It’s possible! However we’ll make sure it does not affect any character owned businesses after the fact and will be fixed, though they might sustain damages during. Normally the city structures rebuild themselves anyways, but the GPU has disabled this feature through Ofiuco. 

WHAT DOES GPU STAND FOR? ;)

CAN WE ACCESS THE BRANCHES DURING PART 1? The branches have currently been consumed by the mist that usually forms a perimeter around the island. That means leaving the city is impossible for the time being, and anyone who was in the branches before the event began will be teleported into the city.

[segafan37]

Shadamy Snippet: Emergency Meeting Pt. 1

Author's Note:

This Shadamy snippet used to be a Teaser Snippet for Chapter 6. I wasn't planning for it to be part of the story at all. It was just a old deleted scene that I wanted to share to give you, the audience, a broad idea about the upcoming chapter. However, after my sister read the teaser, she insisted that it be apart of the story. So, after some tweaks, the former Teaser Snippet is now apart of Chapter 6!

I hope you enjoy it! 😁 Art by @drawloverlala

Inside Dodon Pa's Mansion

[Normal p.o.v.]

After Metal and Rouge parted ways to look for Devious, Rouge started wandering through the different crowded rooms and corridors of the mansion. There were four levels to the mansion and Rouge was currently on the main floor. Metal ventured to levels 3 and 4, leaving Rouge to explore the others.

King Donda Pa was never one who lacked in abundance and his mansions were likewise. Each one was styled to attribute the environment that surrounded them, and the one Rouge was in was no different.

The mansion was large and fanciful, displaying the breath of winter. The hallways were long and wide and painted a calm blue. Tall windows filled the rooms and corridors showcasing the fierce blizzards outside. 

The halls were decorated with broad tapestries of cream and royal blue, and the floor was polished marble. The rooms were equally vast with crystal chandilers, honed marble floors and many assortment of decor to accent the rooms.

Rouge scanned the multitude of faces as she made her way throughout the main floor. Everywhere Rouge went she was surrounded by Mobians, both good and bad. Everyone seemed cordial enough, but the bat knew better. She could just feel the tension in the air. 

Rogue would have been lying to herself if she said this whole affair wasn't the least bit unsettling. It was just a matter of time before something or someone causes the inevitable. 

 It took a whole hour, but she had finally explored all of the main floor. Rouge still hadn't found her man though. It was time for her to switch tactics.

Just then her communicator picked up a male voice.

"We can't celebrate yet. We still need Rouge to do her part." 

It was the voice of Slinger the Ocelot.

"Don't you worry your pretty head about me, Ocelot." Rouge cooed, "I'm already in the mansion, and I've got to say, this mysterious dealer knows how to put on a party! I'm surprised that Dodon Pa even allowed this event! But seeing that he never takes sides...I guess it's not too surprising."

"Hey Rouge!" a female voice squealed through her eyepiece. 

Rouge immediately smiled. It was Salkia, her sweet little student. Well, she wasn't little anymore, but Rouge couldn't get the cute little 10 year old out of her head, who wanted to learn how to kick but. 

"If any of the food looks good, save me some! Okay!?" Salkia asked.

"Will do, honey!"

Slinger gave out a groan.

"Just stay focused, alright!"

Rouge rolled her eyes. She could tell he was in one of his moods again.

"Relax, Slinger. No need to get snippy!" she said.

"Yeah! We all know you're jealous!" Salkia added. 

"Mm hmm!" Rouge smiled.

Slinger released another groan, which made Salkia giggle. She knew she shouldn't be teasing Slinger when he's like this, but he's been acting like a big grump the whole day. And she was tired of it! 

Salkia and Rouge continued to pester Slinger with their giggles, until he finally spoke.

"That's not the reason why!" Slinger argued.

This made Rouge and Salkia both fall silent. They knew what he was talking about. [Author: Chapter 4 reference] No one spoke for sometime.

Rouge sighed and decided to change the subject and break the awkward silence.

"By the way, what do you mean by 'Rouge needs to do her part'? You two are the ones assigned to get the package! I'm just here in case there's a slip-up."

"And to secure our escape route!" Slinger emphasized.

"Which I already have covered!" Rouge insisted, "Now you stay focused on your job, while I stay on mine."

Slinger sighed. "Fine. We'll contact you when the package is secured."

Rouge's communicator went silent and she continued to make her way through the crowd, as different fragments of conversations caught her ears. 

"I wonder what makes this relic so powerful?" asked a female.

"Whatever it is I bet it's worth a fortune!" another spoke.

"Everyone's assuming that this relic has power, but for all we know, it could be a hunk of junk!"

"Well, if that were true, then Dodon Pa wouldn't have allowed this event to take place in his mansion in the first place."

Well, would you look at that!, Rouge laughed to herself. It seems everyone's here to get their hands on the relic. Huh! Too bad none of them will have a chance to see it!  

"What I really want to know" a male's voice began, grabbing her attention, "is who this mysterious dealer is? He clearly doesn't care who gets the relic as long as he's getting paid. And I for one, don't trust those kinds of people. If I'm going to get that relic, I need to first know who I'm dealing with." 

"Smart guy." Rouge whispered, as she approached the stairs to the second floor. 

"Okay Rouge, enough eavesdropping. You got a Mobian to find." 

Once atop the second floor, she looked about and immediately identified this level as the party floor. The music was louder here and gambling tables, slot vendors, pool tables and the like were scattered throughout the joining rooms. Rouge felt like she had walked into a casino.

Rouge peered over the corridor's open railing, and took one last look at the faces below, trying to find the one Mobian who would know how to pinpoint Devious. But she had no such luck. Rouge sighed. She knew it was a long shot. This guy was wanted after all, but Rouge couldn't ignore her strong hunch that he'd be here. 

Rouge gritted her teeth in frustration.

Where is he!?

Time was of the essence. She and Metal only had a limited amount of time to locate Devious, before Salkia and Slinger collected the relic. If her sources were correct, the best and only person who could find Devious quickly would be his favorite broker.

Rouge looked over the crowd again, but she still couldn't spot her man.

That cat could be hiding anywhere! I better check in with Metal to see how he's doing.

"Metal, honey? This is Rouge. Do you copy?"

There was no answer. 

"Metal, come in! This is Rouge. Did you find anything?"

Still silence. Rouge was about to try again, when a deep sinister voice startled her from behind. 

"Looking for someone in particular, my dear?"

Rouge spun around to come face to face with the infamous psychic magician Mammoth Mongul. 

His large tan trunk was almost touching her nose. Rouge could smell thick expensive cologne and winsted.

It was never easy to frazzle this bat; she has faced many dangers before, all without hesitation. Some, even close to death, but Rouge also knows when she's met her match. 

The hairy elephant towered over the bat, making her appear small and insignificant. Mongul's dark green orbs pierced through Rouge's teal eyes, paralyzed her. She remained in his gaze for ten full seconds.

A small smile slowly crept on the mammoth's face. Was Rouge terrified? Yes. Did she want to scream and fly away to safety? Yes. Was she going to show it? Not on her life!

The Bat released herself from Mongul's spell; eyes sparkling with defiance, as she matched the beast's smile with her own.

"I'm surprised at you, Mongul!" Rouge scolded, "You of all people should know not to be here! It could be dangerous for you." 

Mongul smiled at the bat's attempted threat, and decided to give one of his own.

"My dear, Rouge. I appreciate your concern but I can assure you that I am not the one who is in the least bit of danger."

"Is that so?" Rouge questioned, trying to sound unaffected by his words, "Well, even still! I would think you would send one of your mindless followers to get the relic for you to save you the trouble."

"Don't be so quick to judge, bat. I have sent one of my men to take care of the relic. I'm here for a different reason, and being here is no trouble at all."

Rouge raised a painted brow, "Oh?" 

"Yes. Just like you, I'm looking for someone, a colleague of mine." Mongul leaned down to bring his face closer to Rouge's ear. "And perhaps", he whispered "my colleague is the same pink cat dealer you're looking for." 

Rouge took a step back. 

How does he know about Locky!? 

Rouge swallowed, as her heart raced.

"I'm sorry, who?"

"No need to hide it, Rouge! Someone of your acquaintance told me all about it."

Rouge gasped.

Oh no, Metal! 

"No need to worry about your robot friend, my dear; he's perfectly safe. But I know he'll appreciate your concern." 

As he said this, Mongul's eyes met Rouge's and his distinct facial features began to pixelate before her. It was just for a brief moment, but Rouge could clearly see the face of her comrade. 

"..."

"..."

"Metal, …" Rouge whispered, "I'm gonna knock your bolts right out of you! And turn you into scrap!"

Metal Sonic quickly returned to his cloned form and moved out the way, before a slap could be delivered to his face. Some guests saw the scene and were shocked at Rouge's bravery.

"Why so anger?..." Metal Sonic questioned. His voice was just above a whisper. "Did I scare you?"

"Shut. Up." Rouge growled.

"Okay, okay! I just came down to tell you some news." Metal rose to his full cloned height and peered down at Rouge.

"Then start talking!"

"Not here." Metal instructed, still holding Mongul's deep voice. "Follow me."

Metal brought Rouge to a quiet room somewhere on the second floor. It wasn't like the ballroom, like the other rooms Rouge been in. This was a study. It was large in comparison to most studies, but it was still a study, none the less. 

Once both were safely inside with the door locked, Rouge turned to Metal.

"Now, talk!"

"Why are you still angry?" Metal still was using Mongul's voice. 

"Metal, stop with the cloning for one second and talk to me!"

Metal sighed, and returned back to his normal self. Rouge let out a small breath she didn't realize she was holding. Rouge folded her arms, waiting to hear her comrade's message.

"I was surprised at how many Mobians came to Dodon Pa's Mansion." Metal said simply." 

"That's what you wanted to tell me!?" Rouge screamed.

"Rouge, if you do not wish for us to be discovered in a restricted area, I suggest you lower the volume of your voice." 

"I'll start lowering my voice, when you stop messing around! Now, tell me why you brought me here!?"

There was a silence in the air, as each stared at the other.

"I found him." Metal calmly spoke.

"What?"

"I found him." Metal repeated, "I found Locky."

.

.

.

Exsert from Shadamy fanfic "12 Years Later: A New Dawn". You can read the rest of this chapter and more on Wattpad, DeviantArt, Quotev, or Webnovel.