#i moved sara there so it can be easier to write again!

[smallmartiniolive]

Thinking abt how Jurassic Park is like obviously abt chaos and the evils of mindless capitalism that destroys what it touches for a profit but also it’s abt the people you know? This is coming from the movie standpoint bc the book didn’t really check off the right boxes for me but the movies are just so inherently abt people and connection! To me

I’m gonna just give my thoughts abt mainly dinot3 bc they are something. So special. To me.

Imagine you’re Alan Grant, in love w dinosaurs and being in the field, ur at the top of your game and it doesn’t even matter as long as you get to study what you love. Then, unexpectedly! You get to share this passion and love w another person and part of you doesn’t understand why it works but that’s ok as long you get to dig up dinosaurs and be with her, Dr. Sattler (understandable

Imagine being Dr. Sattler and always chasing after something and wanting more. You find the love of your life and he doesn’t hold you back at all, he’s perfect! You both thrive in your own lanes! You get on a helicopter to who knows where and you meet this exciting new guy, you don’t love him, not like Grant but he’s exciting and new and you feel like he sees you for something you’re not even sure you see yourself

Imagine you’re Ian Malcolm and you’re made aware of people trying to remake dinosaurs and you know it’s impossible but you also know that life finds a way so you go along. You flirt w some paleontologists, have fun, berate the senselessness of the actions around you. I mean what else is there to do. Then, you get a life altering injury that’s gonna bug you forever and the last person you see is a person you hoped you got to save, who is risking his life to save children (I.e. Grant) and then suddenly you’re waking up to the face that saves you (I.e. Sattler).

And through that all, nobody comes out ok! There’s nightmares and injuries and assumedly they’re quarantined in a Costan Rican hospital till everything’s sorted and people are good to go. Alan and Ellie always find each other, planets in orbit etc, and of course Lex and Tim are connected to Alan after everything. The kids cling to them and they protect them, but also they at least have each other and are stronger for it, but it also makes them aware of how awful it would be to be alone right now- Ian Malcolm. So they all spend time together drifting in and out of hospital rooms (most commonly Ian’s bc he can’t move around much) and after all that they’re connected by shared experiences and the knowledge they can’t share. Pandora’s box and all that but they all end up woven together.

They separate but I’m sure it’s apparent that Malcolm ends up alone, not wanting to rely on anyone, especially not his ex-wives and kids cause that would be unfair and even in pain he’s still trying to protect other people. So they end up together again, how could they not? Malcolm needs help, they all do but that’s a touchy topic and it’s easier to focus on what they can see. Alan and Ellie and Ian finish up at the dig and Alan just wants everything to be the same so he can forget and Ian needs the change, but Ellie? She’s not really sure and it leaves her unsteady.

All at the same time you have Malcolm writing his book bc the truth was always what was most important to him, like Alan to dinosaurs. Alan doesn’t want him to ruin his life, and Ellie wants to support him but doesn’t know how but they coexist.

Ian gets better. He leaves w/ Sara a woman he met shortly after the hospital and whom he seems inexplicably fond of having witty banter with. He leaves so that when he publishes his book it doesn’t come down on them, he leaves because Ian Malcolm has never been one to want to settle down and he’s afraid of becoming complacent, that if he stops moving he’ll lose something critical (he’s shark-like, Ian).

And then the digs over and Alan’s ready to throw himself back into another, but Ellie simply isn’t. She gets a teaching position in another state, and Alan doesn’t ask her to stay but by god he wants to (just like he wanted to w Ian although he never had the chance bc he was gone so much quicker) and it’s the biggest mistake he ever makes.

Ellie leaves. Ian reconnects w his kids, reminded by Alan and Ellie how important family is and that hiding only does them a disservice. Alan digs.

They still stay relatively close, stuck in orbit even though they’re separated, they message and mail and spontaneously stop by when they’re in town (Ian). There’s distance but it’s not uncrossable, they’re still there for each other. They still call and those calls never go unanswered, no matter how late.

Ian goes to Isla Sorna and it’s shoved in his face that he’s changed, whether he wanted to or not. He wants something more stable, of course he still wants independence but he also wants to come home to *something* (he misses what he had w Alan and Ellie but he’s trying to avoid that iceberg). Alan and Ellie find out and it’s the beginning of an end, they fly out immediately and check in w him, and stay a few days. But. But Ian didn’t tell them, didn’t tell them abt something so critical to the three of them.

They grow a lil farther apart.

Alan goes back to work. Ian mutually splits w Sara (word is she and Nick have something weird going on when they aren’t traveling the world for respective careers)

Ellie marries Mark, the guy she met while teaching. He made her laugh and was a lil plain but she liked it (reminded her of Alan). Although Mark is different, he brings up kids on the third date and he’s everything she needs right now, he’s stable and kind and his job travels w him so she never has to worry which would take precedence (her or the job). He loves her for her or what she is right now and there’s something in the back of her mind but she loves him and they build a life together.

Ian meets a woman he can settle down with, an intellectual and a perfect mix of Ellie and Alan (although he doesn’t know it) and he settles down too, finally ready for that build-a-family lifestyle that he’s started to want. They have two kids (canon compliant due to the five kids comment in Dominion) probably around Ellie’s kids age, they probably have play dates. Alan doesn’t come around too much but he mails occasionally or helps set up furniture, but he’s undeniably pulling away.

Alan who couldn’t just ask people to stay, is alone and he’s become increasingly aware because of his new grad student. Billy Brennan is a mirror, he’s everything Alan was (admittedly more flirtatious tho) and Alan can’t do anything but nurture it because he wouldn’t even know how to change (because god knows he wants to). So he pulls away and focuses on work and at least w Billy he’s not alone and maybe maybe he can help him get on a better track (his version of accepting defeat)

Of course he doesn’t stop seeing Ellie or visiting w Ian over mail or the occasional spontaneous visit (couldn’t bring himself to) but he pulls away still. During play dates, Ian sneaks looks at Ellie’s calendar and will conveniently tell Alan when Marks out on business ( bc I refuse to believe Alan didn’t visit Ellie even tho Mark first meets him when Charlie is 2 so I believe he snuck on in cus it makes sense you know). Alan loves Ellie’s kids more than himself and probably bought Charlie his dinosaur toys (Ellie groans abt his taste but she knew it would happen and loves him anyway).

And then Alan, who has never really been alone but has isolated himself to that point, gets a chance to see dinosaurs again (he says it’s for the money but dinosaurs are what’s always made sense to him). He gets lost. He’s got no way out. He calls Ellie bc she’s always been his beacon of light, saving grace, Hail Mary etc etc. (Also him bringing Ian up to Eric bc that man has never been normal about *either* of them).

Ellie meets him at the hospital (maybe w Ian who knows) and Alan is made increasingly aware (between yelling and crying and thank gods) that he’s not alone he’ll never be alone as long as they’re around.

And after that they’re sort of ok. They have regular visits and there’s distance but they settle, they try. They bitch abt Jurassic World together and how all the kids they’ve collected are doing. One of Ian’s eldest going into paleontology bc she met Alan Grant at the age of 15 and it altered how she thought academically and Ian is exhausted. Ian and Ellie’s partners don’t really understand it but they also know not to interfere (even if sometimes frantic calls wake them up in the middle of the night).

Alan stays in his ways (hoping for a change but not seeking one).

Ian and his wife have a tiff bc she accused him of loving her bc he loves Alan and Ellie at least at first (still does in a different and perhaps more powerful way than her?) and he can’t lie bc it’s all the truth with him. He says it’s not fair to her to not know that Alan and Ellie are just his people, you get it. She doesn’t, not really, it only ever made sense to the three of them. They divorce but it’s amicable.

Ellie and Mark have been on the rocks for a little, they’re relationship has always been a bit boring but that was never a real problem. However, she wants to go out and do more field work (writing books was great but she’s ready for a change bc the world turns quick but she’s always moved faster). He wants to have an at home life and one thing spirals to another. She chose him bc he’d never need to choose between anything and she wouldn’t either, they could both have everything and he’s a great guy, but. But now she needs a change and once again she’s left in a situation where someone can’t bend for her, so she breaks it. They divorce and it’s heartbreaking, they love each other, but Ellie has always needed some flexibility (she calls Alan and Ian later on and they drop plans to have dinner together, she doesn’t bring up the break up but she does note how they changed things for *her*, it’s nice maybe they changed)

Maybe they’ve all changed a lil you know? Ian travels, lectures, makes connections, and visits w the people he loves. Ellie writes paper after amazing paper after amazing book between field work. Alan digs. They communicate in academic papers and books that they send each other, their love notes are annotations that feel a lil too raw so they’re kept private. Every new paper and book and interview fuels the three of them forward and keeps them in orbit. Despite everything.

Then, Ian is hired by Biosyn (Ellie encourages it a bit bc she doesn’t trust them, Alan discourages it for the same reason). And then they’re back, they are SO back. They come together to fight against what they’ve always had to fight against, it’s a lil exhausting but they have each other. Through it all it’s always them. Every single time. Alan and Ellie meet and see each other like they don’t see anyone else. It’s a little unfair to Ian because they’re prepared and his entire world gets flipped for a second when he sees them (it’s ok he recovers pretty quick). They fall in step, into old conversations and patterns.

And between taking down Biosyn and avoiding dinosaurs they all kind of fall in love, not again bc it’s always been that way for them but it’s just so so apparent. They can’t give each other up and everytime they look at each other there’s comfort and understanding without words. It was easier to deny a part but now they are here and it’s just so. Perfect

Ellie tells Alan she needs to go, she’s always been too fast for this world, Alan tells her he’ll stay which is the best love declaration she could have asked for.

Ian says he needs to tell the truth, he’s always had to, and they say “we’ll be with the you, we will tell the truth with you.” You know and that’s their love declaration, Thats them asking him to stay, to be with them.

And at the end of it all, Alan says in the end he’d just rather not be lonely again, and Ian and Ellie look at him like he’s absurd bc of course he’s stuck w them now. It’s always been them even if they didn’t realize it

OH MY GOD LOOOOONG POST IM SORRY IM NOT NORMAL AT ALL HAHA. Dinot3 is something I’m not normal about because look at their stories!! Look at how through everything they fit together!! They are in Montana somewhere rn having a beer and laughing abt something silly one of them did and talking abt their collective kiddos.

TLDR; just my thoughts on DINOT3 and just their canon timeline and how it’s always been those three.

[beanieman]

what are your thoughts on an 'everyone survives au', what they would do after the death game?

(Before I get into separate headcanons, I want to add that I think every single one of these characters would be struggle with paranoia. I mean, they were put in a death game.)

Sara Chidouin - Sara ends up staying at Joe's place a lot considering her Father was taken down with the company. It's easier for her to hang out with him then to stay at home, but she still calls her Mother daily to make sure she's alright. Other than that she continues going to class and her near death experience has only made her more determined to get good grades so she can go to a good school. She also finds a local kendo and joins as a student.

Joe Tazuna - Joe finds a lot of comfort with Sara staying at place. It makes him feel more secure that they're together, and the whole experience has certainly made him value their friendship. But outside of her, he keeps going to school with the intention of getting his diploma. He's not sure of what he wants to do after high school, but his experience has left him more determined then ever to live life in the moment.

More Undercut

Gin Ibushi - Gin goes back home and gives his Mom a big hug. He missed her a lot, and he's very glad to be home safely with Mew-chan. He was walked home by Sara and his Mother ensures that he can still see big sis Sara and all his other new friends. Despite his new connections his Mother is still worried for his safety, so she moves him to a private school that is much smaller. He gets a lot more help here and makes some good friends his own age, but he's still always excited to see Sara and Joe when they come to tutor him after school.

Keiji Shinogi - Keiji is forced to finally get therapy considering his friends around him know that he can't keep ignoring his issues. He gets a lot of encouragement from them, but he knows that the healing process takes awhile. While he works on himself, he gets a job as private investigator and helps people that the police won't. Also he dyes his hair a different color to symbolize a fresh start. (Also because the person writing this post hates his hair color.)

Alice Yabusame - With ASU-NARO's grip loosened, Alice is released from jail within a few months time. He doesn't go back to making music considering Reko already has an established band and he feels like he's intruding, but he still gets what he really wants. He gets to play music with Reko again. This time for fun without the pressure of stardom. As for his career...well it comes to him while he's reapplying hair dye. He decides that he would make a great hair dresser, and Reko supports him whole heartedly.

Reko Yabusame - With a near death experience to change her life, she decides to send Alice a letter in prison and offer a chance at reconciliation. He takes it, of course, and she's glad that she's the first one to great him once he's released. Outside of Alice, she decides to tour with her band. Life is short, and she wants to play as much music as she can in that time!

Nao Egokoro - Nao goes back and finishes her collage education. That's what's most important to her, but after her education is said and done she works out a plan with Mishima to become his official mentee. She wants to teach art to some day, but in the meantime, she's more than happy to attend all the shows Reko invites her to.

Kazumi Mishima - He goes back to teaching as that's his passion. Yet now he tells his story to his students as both a cautionary tale and a tale of persevering despite all odds.

Q-taro Burgerberg - Q-Taro goes back to playing sports. It's what he loves, and he's not going to let a death game slow down his passion. He also keeps in contact with Gin and frequently takes him to watch his games.

Kai Satou - With parts of both his families taken down with ASU-NARO, he is left having to live for himself. He gets a job as a chef and his own apartment in the middle of town. It's all very new to him, as is his friendship with the rest of the group. He talks to Q-Taro and Sara the most, often checking in on them to make sure that they're doing okay. He's even let Sara crash at his place a few times if Joe wasn't around and she needed a break from home. He really feels like she's family, and it fills some of the hole Mr. Chidouin left behind.

Kanna Kizuchi - Kanna is very glad to be home with Kugie and her parents. She's also glad that she has Sara and Shin's number and can call them anytime if she wants hangout. They both frequently come to pick her up to get ice cream, and they pick her up from school so she doesn't have to walk home.

Shin Tsukimi - Shin doesn't handle being put into a death game well. Even though he survived despite all odds (or percentages) he still struggles with shaking the fear. Anyway, let me elaborate on my AU about this exact scenario where Shin ends up traveling and living in hotels so no one can truly track his location. Also very important note that he keeps with Kanna and they eventually find out that they're bio siblings after he meets Kanna's parents and they recognize the name of his parents.

Dolls

Ranmaru Kageyama - Ranmaru gets Sara's, Joe's, and Anzu's number before he leaves the death game. Despite it all, it feels...refreshing to have new friends in his life that are happy to talk with him. He spends a lot of time texting with them, and when he's not doing that he relaxes with the knowledge that he has genuine friends.

Naomichi Kurumada - He's proud of everyone that they were all able to win, and he has a new outlook on teamwork considering they were all able to win together. He continues to box, but now he has new friends coming to watch him from time to time.

Anzu Kinashi - Anzu goes back to business as usual. She likes being a funny clown girl and wants to continue her craft. She would like to see her mentor again to tell him all that's happened, but she'll be happy preforming either way.

Mai Tsurugi - Mai goes back to the bakery and uses her near death experience as a way to make money. Anytime anyone comes in she goes "I just had the roughest time,🥺" so she will get better tips.

Shunsuke Hayasaka - Shunsuke tries to find a different job that doesn't tangle him up with ASU-NARO. He figures he'll try to get some kind of desk job, but in the meantime, he enjoys taking his morning jogs again.

Hinako Mishuku - It depends on how the participants escaped the death game. If ASU-NARO was running then she'd stay with the company and wonder what was next. Maybe it would be another death game, or maybe they'd do something new, but she is loyal since ASU-NARO presumably wouldn't get the chance to betray her in this route. However, if ASU-NARO was destroyed, then she'd have to find an entire new path in life. Where that could take her I couldn't say with as little as we know about her real personality now.

[retrieve-the-kraken]

Young Royals Season 2 play-by-play analysis

This is a much longer analysis because so much happens on this episode that sent me on a whirlwind of emotions and thoughts... I couldn't stop from writing a near essay worth about most crucial moments. Can't stop, won't stop.

EPISODE 5

Simon has been keeping Wille’s sweater under his pillow this whole time, probably sleeping with it. Does it still even smell like Wille? Is the scent fading? Is that why he needs to inhale harder, longer, deeper, wrap his whole face in it? He closes his eyes and licks his lips, like he’s trying to conjure the memory of the feeling of being with Wille, the taste of Wille’s lips. He’s still conflicted, just because he gave in at the ball and kissed Wille doesn’t mean that things have gotten any easier for them. He’s still technically with Marcus, he’s still aware that things with Wille are difficult, that Wille still hurt him, but he’s so drawn to him, he’s finally allowing himself to feel all the things again. He’s been fighting for so long and it’s exhausting.

Smelling Wille’s sweater is like a drug to him, he‘s conflicted, confused, and he needs a hit right now. It’s not going to help things become clearer, in fact they’re probably going to get more muddled. (Fun fact: smelling the person that you love can release the chemical oxytocin, a hormone and neurotransmitter that is also released when we hug and when we orgasm. That’s why it’s often referred to as the love hormone. Our brain chemistry combined with our feelings for a person can determine whether we think that person’s smell is the most fantastic thing in the world, even if they should smell stinky and unpleasant. Simon’s brain loves Wille’s scent. If his feelings for Wille had changed at all, Wille’s scent might not have had the same effect on him anymore. But he still has feelings for him, and so his smell is the most attractive and comforting thing in the world to him.)

Meanwhile Wille cannot contain his happiness, he’s full of hope again, and the shower intensifies that. He’s alone with his thoughts and he gets to mull over them. (Fun fact: did you know that showering lifts your mood because of negative oxygen ions? Sounds contradictory, but these are negatively charged atoms generated by the falling water, and they make you feel energized. That’s part of the reason why Wille is smiling like a madman here, the shower is boosting the way he already feels. Happy, elated, hopeful, invincible. Simon kissed him, he’s still majorly under the effects of oxytocin).

Wille making a sandwich for Simon… like a little callback to their first night together, and him making Simon a s… I love you, Wille, I love you with all my heart.

August being all smug about the fact that he’s gotten the speech, then looking over at Wille, knowing that he probably also got the speech, and he looks annoyed. Wille automatically bites his nail anxiously.

Simon desperately wanting to talk to someone about kissing Wille. He feels like a bad person because he “betrayed” Marcus. But baby, you had already told Marcus that you didn’t want anything serious, you were still getting over Wille, you weren’t ready to move on yet, and he’s the one who convinced you to stay in a “relationship” that you didn’t want. So maybe… it’s Marcus’s fault. (Not excusing kissing someone else when you’re in a thing, situationship with someone else, but… read the room, Marcus.)

“But does that make you a bad person just cause you do one bad thing?” Sara, are you comparing Simon barely cheating on Marcus with Wille to you betraying your brother or August causing a whole royal scandal? Or maybe she’s referring to her secret relationship with August, which is, in her mind, a direct betrayal of Felice. She doesn’t think she’s really doing anything terrible to Simon by being with August, and she thinks that August can still be redeemed. She’s giving him a second chance, which she often chastises Simon for doing to other people (Wille, Micke).

“You’re supposed to tell me to forget about Wille and be with Marcus.” Simon feeling so guilty, and conflicted. He feels like he’s betraying himself because he shouldn’t still have such strong feelings for Wille after everything that happened. He’s so conflicted and desperate for something certain, something easy.

“But you’re not in love with Marcus,” says Sara, leaving out the obvious which is “you’re in love with Wille instead.” But also talking about herself. “You can’t control your feelings. If you have feelings for the wrong person, it can still feel just right.” Poor Sara, you fell in love with the worst person. But she’s right, you can’t control your feelings. Simon has been trying to do that all season and failing fantastically.

Sara being all nervous about learning the protocol for meeting the royal family. August being a brown-noser with Jan-Olof. They both want it so bad.

Simon singing with all his heart, singing like he’s never sang before… and Jan-Olof with his frumpy face. I love that Simon stands up for himself, that he argues, that he states that they’ve been practicing. “It’s important to stick to tradition.” “But I thought the whole point was to prove that the school has been modernized.”

“We want this to be a group performance, not a solo.” And then when Simon storms out, Jan-Olof actually says to the teacher “Good.” THE GALL. All the other bullshit about tradition and continuity might be true, but at that moment it becomes evident that it was also about not giving Simon the spotlight, to make sure he doesn’t stand out. Fuck you, Jan-Olof.

I'm here for a Simon and Felice team-up. I want them to be hot curly-haired melanin-blessed fierce besties, especially after what happens in the next episode... Simon seems to be cool with her now, despite how she treated Sara at first, despite the whole kissing Wille in his room, despite everyone knowing that she used to be in love with Wille. And Felice is the supportive friend we all deserve.

Felice: “They don’t want new rumors about the two of you, you know?” (And then Wille goes and blows the lid off of that in the next episode. You don’t want rumors? No problem. Nothing but verified information straight from the source from now on.)

Again, they are sitting together, even when Simon is angry about Wille, if not directly at him. Simon, don’t reject the sandwich, please, Wille made it with so much love… don’t be like that, Simon, please, he wants to please you so bad…

One day they will have a nice encounter in the music room, from beginning to end…

“Everything I do becomes a problem when you enter the picture.” This was why Simon said that he couldn’t accept Wille’s role, because he still thinks that it’s somehow Wille’s fault, that it’s not something out of Wille’s control. “They don’t want you to be associated with me, as per usual.”

“How long do I have to be punished for that video?” It’s true, he’s constantly being victim-blamed for the video, as if him and Wille wanted to get caught, as if it was their fault that the video was recorded and leaked and became viral… It’s like when actresses have nude pictures and they get hacked, and the media reports it like they shouldn’t have had nude pictures of themselves, and how embarrassing for them and the negative impact it might have on their careers... Instead of condemning the hackers…

“You don’t get it because you haven’t felt the consequences.” Simon is so angry about his song that he says things without trying to see from Wilhelm’s perspective. Haven’t felt the consequences???? Have you not seen this sad boi puddle of anxiety mopey mess walking around the school this whole time, almost getting yanked out of his dorm by his bodyguard and dragged all the way back to Drottningholm??? Did you not see him seething every time August was in the vicinity???? Did you not spot his raw red eyes from crying in his ridiculous wig???

“Yesterday was a mistake.” Simon says it, not because he doesn’t have feelings for Wille, but because he’s jaded. It will never work between them, they are not equals, there’s a whole institution hellbent on making sure that they never get back together. And Wille decides to try to level the ground.

This whole argument. It hurts so much. Of course Simon is hurt, at being lied to, at feeling like he can’t trust Wille. But we know that he really doesn’t understand, that he really would not get anywhere by reporting August. The fact that he says to Wille that he is the royal family, that he’s just like them, just like his mum… But we’ve established that yes, Wille hid the truth to protect Simon, just like Kristina hid the truth to protect Wille, but their motivations were different. Wille really truly wants to protect Simon, whereas Kristina protects her son and by extension the royal family.

Wille trying to control his panic attack in the music room. He feels like he fucked everything right up again. My poor baby. (Also, he just told Simon that it was August, and Simon can do whatever he wants with that information, and he’s probably worried that the thing he was trying to protect Simon from will actually happen…)

“Okay, so it wasn’t because it’s him.” Jan-Olof doesn’t answer, instead changes the subject. Duh.

”What a fucking snake.” “We always knew that August was an asshole.” “Yeah, but I meant Wille.” Simon turns like he was about to say something, but doesn’t.

Rosh being as good a lawyer as August’s dad. Give me Lawyer Rosh walking into court with her cow-print coat, please.

“Wille is right, people like them never get convicted.�� Depressing truth. Rosh has a good point too, but it’s still bad advice. “Don’t you want everyone to know what August did?” The thing is that the royal family can probably manage to cover it before it even gets out, even after he’s gone to the police…

“Erik never had to give any speeches before he was of age.” This points so hard to how different Kristina treats Wille. Erik was, for all we know, the perfect Crown Prince, he didn’t have to make up for anything. Wille has to make up for past “scandals”… he has to clean up his image a lot, become the perfect Crown Prince in no time. Kristina probably thinks of this as pushing Wille to power through into his role of Crown Prince. Fake it till you make it. She’s sizing him up for his role, for whether he will be committed to it.

Now she poses the possibility that Wille may be deemed unfit. Or wether he'll be able to produce heirs. He’s fucking sixteen… “We risk upsetting the entire system of government.” So much for modernizing. Kristina has proven again to be old-fashioned and homophobic.

“I can’t force you. And I shouldn’t have to either.” Bullshit, Krissy. You’ve just mindgamed/mindfucked him into doing it, by revealing strategically that August is his backup. That was your plan all along. This whole conversation is so manipulative. “You have to remember that your decisions not only affect you. I need you on my team, Wilhelm.” Fuck you, Krissy. What about being on Wilhelm’s team instead, for once?

Wilhelm touching the broken frog prince snow globe, like he’s consulting with Erik...? Or like he’s realizing that the frog prince is free from his snow globe prison. It was terrible at first, it felt horrible for the snow globe to smash, something precious broke, but… now the frog prince is free…

But I love that Wilhelm wants to think about himself for once. And not in a selfish way. He’s weighing his options.

Sara not understanding that it’s not Felice’s decision who purchases Rousseau, and storming out.

Wilhelm finally opening up completely during the session, trusting Boris, making the tea and being very expressive.

“There was the real Erik, and then there was Prince Erik.” Erik had more training for his role, he was the first born, Wille was the spare. As far as everyone knew, Wille was never expected to step into the role…

“I know that I should be grateful for everything that I get, the honor, the privileges and everything, but how hard can it be?” He is aware of his privilege and he is aware of what is being asked from him in return, and he hasn’t realized that he would give all those up in a second, if it weren’t because he feels bound by duty.

“I do owe them, I have to do all this.” “Do you really?” Good, Boris, good.

I’ve said it before and I’ve said it again. Wilhelm drinks hot tea like a Viking. Dear god boy, your tongue, your throat, the roof of your mouth... (@makingupachangingmind pointed out that water in psychologists’ offices is always lukewarm, but it’s not… Wilhelm just boiled the water himself, and as he pours both cups you can see the steam. That is freshly boiled water. Obviously poor Edvin was not made to drink boiling tea during the scene, but for all intents and purposes Wilhelm just drank really freaking hot tea because he doesn’t mind how hot it is. It’s like he’s trying to kill something inside of him.)

And then Boris gives him permission to think about himself. To be a bit selfish.

By possibly giving August everything he’s ever wanted, Wilhelm might gain something much more important and valuable: his freedom, and the freedom to be with Simon.

August is playing chess with the same third year boys that turned on him before (they’re even almost in the exact same places and positions as the day they voted for Vincent). Like there’s no longer bad blood between them for voting him out of his prefect position. But knowing August, it’s simply because he doesn’t have to be resentful about that anymore, because what he knows that they don’t is that he’s about to be the top dog, once it becomes obvious that he’s the next in line to the throne.

I like that Malin calls Wille by his first name, not Crown Prince. I know that most of the time, people don’t have to address him that way, but often they do, so for Malin to be so familiar with him it’s nice.

Sara seeking comfort in August, and August being sweet. Ugh, I hate him so much, stop making me like you.

“If I let him take over, I could be free. From all this, I could be free with you. But if you go to the police, then I won’t have a backup anymore. I won’t have a choice. I can’t be free. I’ll be betraying my whole family, betraying Erik. I don’t want that.” This whole speech, it’s so simple and beautiful. Wille is finally doing what Simon asked him to do last season, to figure out what he wanted, something that he had to do on his own. And Wille figured it out, but even when he did it on his own, he was thinking of what Simon wanted too. Wille wants to be free, but it’s only worth it if it’s to be with Simon… so he exposes his feelings, he tells him what he wants, and what he hopes, and then leaves the choice completely up to Simon.

“Did he just say that he’d give up the crown for you?” Is one of the most iconic lines from this season, along with “they don’t have names”. I need a t-shirt of each. The look on Simon’s face as he realizes that yes, the boy he loves would literally give up everything for him, he would give up being King of Sweden, if it means he gets to be with Simon... If Simon will have him...

Jesus Christ, August is also giving up a part of himself, something that he felt was so important… for love. AND He looks so freaking cute looking at Sara… Goddamn you August.

Him talking about being King August and Queen Sara… like it’s in the bag…

Sara being sour still about Rousseau and making Felice feel terrible… it’s not the people that are buying Rousseau that she’s angry about, it’s not entirely about Rousseau being sold either, Sara feels helpless because it’s just another way in which she’s acutely aware of how much she doesn’t fit in with her peers. If she had the money, she could buy Rousseau for herself… But instead she has to depend on Felice’s family making “the right choice” of new owners for Rousseau, which let’s face it, Sara wasn’t going to be happy about absolutely anyone who might be interested in buying him. ��What does she expect, for you to keep Rousseau so she can keep riding him?”

Wille waving his pencil to catch Simon’s attention… And that whole conversation whilst talking about the book… ugh, my heart. Simon finally understanding the pressure that Wille has on his shoulders, and Wille apologizing for it, and Simon forgiving him and understanding that it's not so simple and that it's not his fault, and basically saying that the ending is unknown so there’s hope… And Sara in the background being like “what’s going on between these two”. And Henry being Henry, of course.

“I mean she killed herself.” Ugh, let’s hope this is not foreshadowing of anything. (Unless it could be something about Erik…?)

LINDAAAA MY LOVE. We didn’t get enough Linda this season and it’s really upsetting. What’s even more upsetting is that Linda is so excited that Simon is in a relationship again with someone “caring” as far as she knows, that she doesn’t realize that Simon is uncomfortable with the conversation. Linda, I love you, but read the room. And of course Simon won’t say anything because he technically IS still with Marcus.

“Tampoco los voy a abochornar si vemos a la Reina (I won’t embarrass you either if we see the Queen)”. Now please let THIS be foreshadowing of the first time Linda and Kristina meet, PLEAAAASE. Not the embarrassing part, the meeting part. Please let them meet, please let them interact, please let Wille and Linda be super sweet with each other and for Kristina to realize that they have a warmer relationship than she has with her own son. Please let Kristina watch how Linda and Simon interact and realize how different that is from her relationship with Wille.

Sara tells August that Simon knows, like a little snitch, but she truly hopes that August will do the right thing, because she doesn’t understand how August works. What August knows that Sara doesn’t is that he gains nothing by confessing to the crime, as his stepdad told him. So now he has to find a way to save his ass. And that means sinking Simon somehow. (The game of chess is foreshadowing, though, throughout the whole show. August needs to be several moves ahead of Wille and Simon somehow. And someone pointed out a while back that, in the first episode, when Wille and Alexander are playing chess, Alex checkmates Wille, which is also foreshadowing to the next episode, where he has a role in pinning Wille and Simon…)

Simon thinking about how to tell Wille that he’s still going to the police… But Sara and Henry interrupted… Simon added a “But…” and then they came in and Wille had to leave because he felt physically ill.

EDIT (2023/03/23): I just realized I was wrong as I was rewatching most of this scene yet again (for fic research purposes, strictly) and it’s Wille who says “but…” then trails off when Sara and Henry come up. I don’t even want to know what he was going to say, because it doesn’t matter anymore, because after he has a breakdown and Simon comes by his room, Simon clarifies that he’s not doing it to hurt him, that he needs to do the right thing, and Wille says he knows and that he’s not trying to stop him. So we know already that whatever he might have said before the interruption was best left unsaid , perhaps. Maybe he would have protested, bargained a little, tried to sway Simon’s decision, and that would have negated what he said before, about it being Simon’s decision. So he kept quiet. He could have easily asked Simon to talk in private, try to talk him out of it, try to stop him, but he kept quiet, letting the reality of Simon’s choice to sink in, accept his fate. He needed to accept Simon’s decision, whatever it was, for Simon to trust him fully again.

After he throws up and as he’s brushing his teeth, he sounds like he's wheezing, he’s having trouble breathing. He's feeling weak, getting into bed without even taking his shoes off and rolling himself into a blanket burrito of pain and sadness... Because he knows that he will never be free, he will never be with Simon… he’s trapped forever… my poor baby…

“Are you mad at me?” No, Simon, you know he’s not… it’s just a tiny little thing of his whole world crumbling down…

Wille understating how sick he felt, because he didn't want his own feelings to influence Simon's decision. He's putting Simon first, because he loves him, even if if it's at the cost of his own freedom and happiness.

Simon seeing the frog prince/frog king snow globe smashed and Wilhelm keeping it on a little plate in his room, with all the jagged broken pieces, he probably doesn’t know the story behind it, but he must deduce then that it held a lot of meaning to Wilhelm, that he wouldn’t simply throw it out just because it smashed.

“But it’s scary.” “It’s scary for me too.” They're both scared, of the consequences of their actions, Wille is scared of having to be Crown Prince, of disappointing people, and Simon is scared of fighting for nothing, of things staying the same, of pointlessly fighting the system and perhaps other consequences… but they’re also both scared of the same thing, of being without one another, of having to be apart, of losing each other… they were so close, and suddenly everything goes up in smoke…

Wille tentatively reaching for Simon’s hand, and Simon letting him take it, caressing his fingers. They're both so resigned. “What will happen to us?” “I don’t know…” Kind of like the ending of Kris by Karin Boye…

They hug, and they both get a hit of oxytocin. It’s like Wille’s dream at the beginning of the season, breathing in each other, feeling at home and safe in each other’s arms…

And then they give in, for one last kiss, perhaps… then they look at each other, silently asking each other “can we at least have one last time?” So much has been written about this scene already, about all the built-up desire and yearning and aching bubbling to the surface, about them thinking that this might be the last time that they get to be together, so they decide they will have one last night together, just in case, to cherish forever. To assure each other that it’s the circumstances that are keeping them apart, not themselves. They are in. They are it for each other. To know that they love each other, that this was real and intense and worth fighting for, even if they can’t be together in the end, might help them survive.

I just want to fixate on three instances: this moment when Simon’s aching and yearning come through in his face again, in that little frown, and then it disappears in an instant as he melts into the kiss, into Wille’s arms, and he breathes in and relaxes and lets himself enjoy this, enjoy the taste and the smell and the feeling of Wille again…

And the best kiss in my opinion is this moment, when Simon takes control, as he climbs onto Wille’s lap like he’s been aching to do for so long. Because it’s obvious that Wille has always been hung up on Simon, it’s obvious that his feelings for Simon never went away, that he was in it the entire time… But Simon tried to hide/push his feelings away so much, get over him, move on, he tried so hard, but now he’s done fighting it, and he lets his desire take over. Get on top, take control, ravish him. Hands on his hair and on his face, kissing him desperately, grinding against him, chests rubbing, heavy breaths, devouring his neck. It’s so intense and beautiful… the song choice is chef’s kiss. It is holy.

And of course, the moment where Wille manages to ignore his own pleasure, his own elation, long enough to have the presence of mind to close the fucking curtains. Simon looks momentarily conflicted, at the sudden darkness, but then Wille lets out a nervous little chuckle, as if he’s asking “is this okay?” And Simon smiles. Yes, it’s okay. With that simple move, Wille regains control of his own narrative, for him and for Simon. They regain their privacy. They are safe with each other. At this moment, the world outside disappears, shut out completely, and it's just them.

I don't know how many times I've rewatched this episode, but I never not lose my shit over every single beautiful Wilmon moment...

Next episode is just me screaming and yelling at the screen...

This episode is brought to you by OXYTOCIN™.

[addictedtostorytelling]

Thank you for your thoughtful answer about Abby Fisher! You sort of answered this in your original response, but if you wouldn't mind elaborating, how would you have written an arc like that? In canon, we see Sara connect to so many victims/survivors in a way that impacts her own mental wellbeing, and I am wondering what it might look like if that connection was maybe drawn out longer than the arc of one episode, especially because the Abby plot has all the holes you pointed out.

hi, anon!

unsurprisingly, my answer got away from me here, so in case you don't want to read this whole monstrosity, the tl;dr version is:

i'd move the storyline up, making both sara and the kid older when it took place. i'd also show their relationship develop in real time as opposed to inserting it into previously established narrative as a retcon. from there, i'd change certain details to make it more feasible that sara and the kid could stay in contact. finally, i'd put different kinds of narrative pressure on sara to make her more willing and able to open up to the kid regarding her own past.

much, much longer version after the "keep reading," if you're interested.

__

so to start off here, let's discuss the background specs for this potential arc:

as mentioned in the previous post, i'm convinced this storyline would actually work better and be more viable if it were to take place with an older sara who had already "come out the other side" on her s4/s5 story arc and achieved some stability and healing in her life.

i just can't really see her being prepared to adopt a mentorship role for a vulnerable child probably any earlier than s6.

that said, i also think the most ideal time for the story to unfold would be sometime after her breakdown in s8/s9, as well.

for me, the real sweet spot with her would probably be in the s10/s11 range, when she is happy, settled, stable, and thriving (and also has some free time on her hands because grissom is living abroad).

i'm likewise of the opinion that the story itself would work better if we saw sara's bond with the kid in question develop in real time, as opposed to being told about its development long after the fact (and being asked to believe that sara has maintained this really significant and even life-changing relationship for the past ten years that we have nevertheless known nothing about until present).

along those same lines, i also think the storyline would work better if the kid in question were older than five years-old when sara actually bonded with them.

the kid can still be around early elementary school-age (between 5 and 8 years-old) during the commission of the original crime that puts them into contact with csi, but when sara finally gets to know them and adopts that mentorship role in their life, they should be older, between 15 and 18 years-old.

though i don't actually believe sara is bad with small children—again, i am the one writing a sprawling geek!baby au right now—i think the fact that she thinks she is bad with small children would make her reluctant to try to befriend one (see, for example, her protestations to grissom about taking care of brenda collins in episode 01x07 "blood drops").

that so, i tend to suppose she would have an easier time dropping her guard and bonding with a somewhat older foster child in the preteen to teen age group than she would with a literal kindergartener.

i also think that her dynamic with an older kid would just plain be more interesting than one with a younger kid (because older kids can be held morally and intellectually accountable in ways younger kids can't).

as for the kid's foster situation, i think that whereas episode 15x12 "dead woods" has abby fisher in a relatively new placement with foster parents who don't know her as well as sara supposedly does, in this scenario, it would work better to say that the kid had been in the current placement for several years and that their foster parents know them well.

since sara seemingly never experienced that kind of long-term stability in a single placement herself—according to her conversation with glynnis in episode 05x10 "no humans involved," she bounced around a lot—she might end up being a little bit weird and flighty about the kid's situation in an "i'm not quite sure how to relate" type of way that would make this whole scenario more interesting.

so then thinking of the scenario itself:

let's imagine this story as a three-episode arc (which i'm going to title the "memoriae sacrum" arc).

like i said in my other post, i'm not 100% married to the "foster kid realizes, ten years ex post facto, that their father was not in fact a murderer" storyline (particularly as i find it somewhat ham-fisted), but for the purposes of this thought exercise, we can more or less stick to those bare bones.

that said, one element from the original storyline we're definitely not going to retain is the part where they retconned the nature of sara's father's abuse from what we had always known it to be in earlier seasons.

episode 1

in real life, gary dourdan became a persona non grata at cbs after he left csi under unpleasant circumstances back in 2008—hence the reason why tptb at the show never brought warrick back even in flashback in any subsequent seasons.

that so, if these were "real episodes," there'd probably be no way to swing an appearance from him.

however, let's imagine this arc more like a fic, where we can play around with what characters we want.

so let's say that back in 2000 or 2001 or so, sara and warrick work an apparent murder-suicide case together wherein a father seemingly kills his wife and eldest child and severely wounds his youngest child, shooting them*, before dispatching of himself.

* i don't really think the gender of the kid would matter, so imagine what you like here. this kid can still be abby fisher or it could be anyone else. i'm going to use they/them pronouns in reference to the kid to leave the possibilities open.

whereas in the original case, the killings took place at a mountain campsite, let's say, in this one, they happen inside the family home (which makes them even more similar to sara's own family tragedy and also adds to the circumstantial evidence suggesting the father is the cuprit).

at this time, sara is still a csi level ii, so warrick, at csi level iii, is the actual lead on the case.

the youngest child's injuries are profound. however, when they do eventually come-to enough, warrick is able to interview them.

(sara plays no part in the interviews by her own choosing and never interacts with the kid herself at any point during the investigation.)

unfortunately, the kid is unable to provide any kind of useful information to warrick, as, at this time, they are very young and the situation is so traumatic that they simply can't recall much. they also may have sustained injuries during the attack which impact their cognitive abilities/memory*.

* whereas in episode 15x12 "dead woods," abby fisher is rather improbably shown to survive a close-range gunshot to the head with no long-term impact to her cognitive abilities, i think it'd be more realistic for injury to either be entirely noncerebral in nature or to result in some actual traumatic brain injury symptoms.

warrick being warrick bonds with the child pretty immediately—seriously: one of the joys of the early seasons is watching warrick interact with kids, like when he used to babysit lindsey willows or when he interviews suzy in episode 07x10 "loco motives"—and, as is often his wont with child victims of the crimes he investigates, gives his contact information to them and/or their new social worker, telling them to get in touch with him again in case they ever remember anything and/or even just want to talk about the case with him when they're older and interested in learning the facts.

however, in the absence of any testimony from the child which might suggest differently, the evidence in the case does seem to (more or less) indicate the father's guilt.

since the father is dead along with the rest of the family, there's no one to arrest, so, in consultation with grissom, warrick closes the case—a decision sara has no real reason to question at the time.

particularly as, even back then, as would be shown in the flashback scenes, the case does squeeg her out and somewhat trigger her, given its likeness to her own family history, and she feels like the sooner she can move on from it, the better.

fast forward to ten years later, to 2010 or 2011 (i.e., s10 or s11).

at this point, said surviving child, now an older teenager, appears in the lobby of the crime lab one morning at the tail end of the graveyard shift, requesting to see warrick.

of course, by this time, warrick is dead, so once it's determined what the kid wants—which is apparently to discuss their family's case—sara is summoned to meet with them, as she was the other investigator back in 2000/2001.

and let's say the detective on the case was ray o'riley, who is also, by 2010/2011, canonically deceased, so he's not available, either.

sara is, initially, shown to be uncomfortable at this prospect, citing the fact that she's not warrick and doesn't "have a way with kids" like he used to. however, since she is the only csi still working at the lab who has any direct knowledge of the case and its details—grissom signed off on it as supervisor back in the day, but of course he's no longer on staff—she's pushed into taking the meeting, never mind her objections.

here, i'm picturing ecklie being like, "come on, sidle, just deal with this. it was your case."

she initially tries to be very formal with the kid, but it should be clear to the audience that she's wildly uncomfortable and masking.

however, while her going line is that she's "just not good with kids," between the flashbacks and the real-time scenes, the true source of her discomfiture quickly becomes apparent: namely, the whole "orphan whose one parent killed the other in front of them" likeness between her and this kid in particular.

at first, she assumes the kid has come to the lab because, now that they are old enough, they want to hear the full details on their family's case, as per warrick's offer to them back in 2000/2001 (of which sara is aware because warrick wrote it on the business card he gave to the kid and/or their social worker back in the day).

however, to her great surprise, the kid corrects her: they've actually come to provide new testimony in their family's case, based on some newly retrieved memories of theirs.

much like in canon, they would explain that something had recently caused them to remember details about the murder they were unable to remember previously—and these details contradict the notion that their father was the murderer.

however, let's say that in this version of the story, this recollection on their part happens under even more dubious circumstances than the ones in abby fisher's case, like while the kid is under hypnosis or experimenting with hallucinogenic mushrooms or undergoing a controversial form of therapy or the like.

much as in canon, sara is skeptical, believing the kid simply wants to "rewrite their family history" (an impulse she understands but doesn't necessarily condone).

let's say unlike in canon: the thing that draws sara to this kid even more than just the similarities between their respective family histories is their personality.

honestly? the kid is whip-smart and well-spoken but also angry and rough around the edges; blunt and a little bit awkward, etc.

they match sara pretty much toe-to-toe during this interview, countering her every argument.

when sara tries to let them down gently and tell them that in the absence of any new physical evidence, there's no reason for the crime lab to reopen what seems to have been an open-and-shut case, they get in her face, citing (obviously researched) precedents re: the legitimacy of their chosen memory recovery techniques to her in an attempt to change her mind.

with all of their tenacity, it's hard not to be reminded of her younger self.

but in that resemblance, it's also hard for her not to think of how she operated as a young csi: that tendency she had to "chase rabbits" and let her feelings get in the way of her professional judgment.

she remembers how often she used to be disappointed back then; how she'd get her heart hung up on certain outcomes and then have it shattered when they didn't pan out.

let's say—again, since we're pretending we can get whatever "guest stars" we want here—that after sara goes home for the day, this dilemma is one she talks to grissom (on one of his visits to the states) about, explaining to him that for as much as this kid may want her to start digging, it's possible they may not like what she finds if she does, and she'd hate to cause them even more pain.

she opens up to him: she knows what it feels like to be this kid.

maybe she even admits that when she surreptitiously searched through her mom's legal files back in 2004 (see episode 05x10 "no humans involved"), she was hoping to find not "exonerating" information, per se—as her mother's guilt was never really in question—but at least some new context that might have helped her to better understand or come to terms with her mother's actions, or at least to fill in some of the blanks in her memories.

so she gets the impulse, you know?

(of course, she notes, she never did find any previously unknown information to contextualize her mother's crime. there's nothing that could ever really ameliorate "abused schizophrenic wife brutally stabs alcoholic abuser husband to death in his sleep," is there? the whole situation was just as awful and senseless as she always remembered.)

now, she wonders what her role is here as the adult: to play the realist and put her foot down, telling the kid there is no probative evidence to suggest their father's innocence; or to actually listen to the kid and reopen the investigation (because she understands how often kids—and especially foster kids—tend to have their thoughts and feelings discounted and she doesn't intend to be one of those grownups who just brushes off everything a kid says simply because they are a kid)?

at this point, grissom gives her a nudge: asks her when she looked through her mother's files what she felt when she discovered that there was no "hidden context" and things were always just as bleak and awful as she'd always known they were.

her realization: she accepted it.

was disappointed, but accepted it.

because at least then she knew for sure, you know?

and with that determination, sara decides to reopen the case, securing permission from catherine (who is at this time her supervisor) to do so, albeit perhaps more in a "well, i guess i can't really stop you" way than an "i fully support you in this endeavor" one.

she also enlists greg to help her—or rather, he volunteers because he remembers running dna on the original case back in the day, recalling some unknown exemplar collected from the crime scene he couldn't find a match to then and wanting to follow up on it now that codis is a more fully-developed technology.

the next morning, when the kid once again turns up at the lab, sara gives them the news that she's officially reopening the case, though she makes sure to stress: she's not promising them anything.

even with that caution, the kid still lights up.

for the first time, sara sees them smile—and on the one hand, it obviously terrifies her, having all this kid's hopes rest on her, but on the other, she also can't help but feel somewhat exhilarated, offering this kid at least a chance at an outcome she never had available to herself.

episode 2

this episode marks the beginning of sara's investigation in earnest.

the physical evidence in the original case is both limited and ambiguous in nature.

there were no signs of breaking and entering at the house.

the family members were shot with a gun belonging to the kid's father, and his prints were found on the weapon, which was recovered from next to his body, right where one would expect to find it had he dropped it after committing suicide.

however, there was also a pair of microfiber gloves found next to the father's body, which, while roughly the same size as his hands, were not ones the kid recognizes as belonging to their father.

sara and warrick's going theory at the time was that he had worn the gloves to shoot his family members but then taken them off to shoot himself, though they couldn't figure out why he would have done so, given that he didn't necessarily need to conceal his identity as the killer, his intention always being to commit suicide in the end.

inside the gloves, there is one unsmudged print. however, it is seemingly unrecoverable, due to the nature of the fabric.

the mystery dna greg couldn't match back in 2000/2001 comes from a sweaty handprint on a door handle to a part of the house seemingly out of the way of the murders; it doesn't belong to any of the family members, though it's unknown as of yet to whom it does belong or if it is even probative.

there is also circumstantial evidence to suggest that the kid's father may have been experiencing financial troubles at the time of the murders and that the kid's mother may have been having an affair back then, as well, of which her husband had perhaps recently become aware.

there was nothing at the scene to indicate anyone in the family struggled with assailants prior to their deaths, and both the mother and elder sibling were covered over with blankets, indicating remorse on the part of their killer.

meanwhile, the kid's "recovered memory" suggests that the man who came into their bedroom that night had some distinguishing physical characteristic that their father didn't have.

in episode 15x12 "dead woods," abby fisher's memory centers on a distinctive smell, and maybe the same thing could be the case here, though there might also be some other difference instead; i don't suppose this point really matters much, in terms of the overall story arc.

sara decides to run everything from the top, grissom-style (see episode 01x12 "fahrenheit 932").

of course, in this scenario, the added "warrick of it all" would throw a new wrinkle into the whole operation, as she would be sifting through his old work, potentially looking to overturn it.

imagine: once word gets out that sara is revisiting this case, nick becomes upset with her for distrusting warrick's original determination, feeling as if she is just being contrary and maybe even taking advantage of the fact that warrick isn't around to defend his own conclusions anymore.

and for what?

all because some weirdo (possibly drugged-up) teenager dreamt up a pseudo-memory ten years after the fact?

of course, given his ignorance of sara's past, nick doesn't understand sara's sense of personal connection with (and obligation to) this kid—and especially not because sara is trying with all her might to repress her own feelings and memories and "remain objective" on this case, not allowing her own trauma to color either her investigation OR her interactions with the kid.

—speaking of whom.

the kid turns up again at the lab for what is now a third morning in a row to check on sara's progress.

whereas in all of their previous encounters, the kid has had this somewhat surly attitude—think sara fending off grissom's inquiries about her "diversions" in episode 01x16 "too tough to die"—now, they are starting to come out of their shell.

while it's not a total transformation just yet (much like sara, this kid has been burned a lot and is fairly "slow to warm up"), they are becoming gradually more animated and expressing curiosity about sara and greg's investigative activities.

while it's clear they're trying not to get their hopes up too much—per sara's caution—it's also clear they're not fully succeeding in that trying.

more and more, they're becoming invested.

—and so is sara, who, despite her general trepidations about being "bad with kids," finds herself getting along with this one, especially as she starts to see their personality emerge out from behind that façade of jadedness, and especially as the kid starts to speak somewhat more freely about what their life in foster care has been like for the last ten years.

though sara lets on nothing to the kid regarding her own time in the system, we as the audience should be able to tell: the instability and uncertainty of "living with strangers," of always being the "odd kid out," is something she can very much relate to, and she feels for this kid.

deeply.

unfortunately, the gods of forensics don't seem to be on their side: it seems like whatever new investigative avenues sara and greg develop all eventually terminate in dead ends.

the mystery dna isn't in codis.

the details from the kid's memories are hard to get a fix on.

as the episode goes on, sara's stress grows.

she's still fielding passive-aggression from nick, who resents her taking on the case in the first place, and she is also starting to feel pressure from catherine and/or ecklie, who are annoyed with her for continually tying up department resources (including both herself and greg) as she pursues admittedly flimsy leads in a ten year-old solved case.

worse: the more time she spends with the kid, the harder she's finding it to keep her personal feelings out of the case AND out of her interactions with them.

despite her best efforts, she's getting her heartstrings tangled up in the investigation and in them.

she's also thinking about memories from her own past that she hasn't allowed herself to think about for a long time, and she's, frankly, worse for the wear for it.

after a hard shift fraught with disappointment for both her and the kid, she goes home to grissom, and we get a cuddling in bed scene where she admits, somewhat tearfully, to him that there is still so much she doesn't know about what happened between her parents; so much she can't remember either because it all happened when she was still so young or else because she's repressed it.

memory can be a fickle thing, grissom muses, and she agrees.

tells him she doesn't remember when her mom first got sick or why she (seemingly) never received treatment. doesn't remember when her father's abuse started. doesn't remember why her mother never tried to leave or if she perhaps did but maybe somehow failed. she can't recall what, if anything, precipitated the murder—if her dad's abuse of her mom had recently gotten worse or if her mom just finally after so many years snapped or if her mom's delusions perhaps had become stronger or more violent in nature.

she admits: there is so much about that night she has actively tried to forget and so much she is terrified she will someday be triggered to, against her will, remember.

worried about her, grissom wonders if maybe she should hand this case over to greg, but she tells him she feels she owes it to the kid to keep going, at least until she can definitively say whether or not their father was involved in the murders (regardless of if they ever identify any other potential suspects outside of him).

resolved, sara returns to work the next night.

however, as she starts to dig into the case again, she still isn't coming up with anything to challenge the original narrative.

at a team meeting, nick (who, remember, is the assistant supervisor on grave shift at this point) motions for her and greg to shelve the case, as active/current cases have been piling up in the meanwhile "and warrick already solved this one ten years ago anyway." sara pleads to be allowed to continue her investigation, and catherine compromises by pulling greg off the case while allowing sara to continue to work it solo. she also presents sara with a hard deadline: if she hasn't come up with anything probative by the end of the week, then she's got to drop the whole thing and move onto something new.

the kid appears—like clockwork—the next morning and, upon sara's dismal report, practically begs her to keep going, pushing her to dig deeper, to try just one more thing, please, please.

it's here where, overwhelmed by facing so much opposition on all sides, triggered, mixed-up, and half-defeated, sara finally snaps at the kid—says something harsh about how you can't rewrite history just because you want to; tells them that they have to learn to accept the fact that their father was a bad man, and there's nothing anyone can do to change that reality.

at this point, for the first time, the kid—who, until now, has been very tough and even recalcitrant—breaks.

starts crying.

and sara immediately feels awful.

apologizes—and, in an attempt to extend an olive branch—admits (in her awkward but heartfelt sara way) that she was maybe talking more about herself and her father than she was about them and theirs.

slowly, hesitantly, she tells the kid an abridged version of her story, enough that they also can see the similarities between their experience and sara's and know that she understands where they're coming from.

earnestly, she tells them: she wishes more than anything in the world that she could tell them for sure that their father was innocent and that she could find "the real killer" and lock them away.

but the truth, she says, is that that answer may not be the right one, however attractive it may seem.

she gets real with the kid: without more details, there's starting to be nowhere left to go in this case.

the kid offers to try more of the memory recovery technique—i.e., the hypnosis or the shrooms or the therapy—to help in the effort.

but sara tells them: memory is unreliable, and that technique is unproven.

better to stick to science.

she vows, for now, to keep going.

the kid is grateful to her, expressing that they feel like she "just gets it."

cut to the final shot of the episode: sara appearing super conflicted—honored, on the one hand, to have won this kid's trust, rare commodity that it is; but terrified, on the other, that she is still ultimately going to end up letting them down, which is the absolute last thing in the world she wants to do.

episode 3

insert sara wracking her brain to come up with one last avenue of potential investigation here.

eventually, she comes back to the latent print in the microfiber glove—one piece of evidence that was never run back in 2000/2001.

she thinks the print could be the key to unlocking this case now.

however, recovery will be nearly impossible using traditional collection methods.

even with mandy's help, there's no clear answer as to how to lift the print off of the microfiber without destroying it and while still maintaining all its ridge detail.

as the end of the work week is rapidly approaching, sara fears her time to investigate may well run out before she can derive a solution to her problem. not only does she feel like she's letting the kid down but also in a weird way warrick, who she knows would have done everything in his power to get to the truth, were he still around to run this investigation instead of her.

but just as she is about to succumb to total despair, who should approach her but nick, offering up a memory of his own?

—namely, a technique warrick taught him back in the day that might be applicable to her problem.

cue both nick and sara doing their best warrick impersonations: "i can pull a fingerprint off the air!"

of course, there's no guarantee warrick's technique will work, and it could still result in the destruction of the print. however, it is the best option sara has yet encountered.

so, when the foster kid appears at the lab the next morning, sara poses the choice to them: do they want her to take this one-in-a-million chance (knowing that it could well destroy the only remaining physical evidence that might possibly exonerate their father in the process of so doing) or do they perhaps want to hold off in the hopes that technology will eventually advance to the point where the print will be recoverable by some other, less invasive means sometime in the eventual future?

though they are nervous about the prospect, the kid ultimately decides to take the chance.

so sara pulls the print and is successful in so doing. however, she also destroys the surface from which she pulled the print as she collects it, meaning that the print now only exists in digital facsimile form.

mandy then runs the print, and eventually she determines: it doesn't belong to the kid's father.

its existence strongly suggests that another person was on scene during the commission of the murders and that they handled the murder weapon.

unfortunately, there are no hits on this mystery person's identity.

all of these determinations are made during the night, while the kid isn't at the lab, and sara knows that the next morning, she's going to have to tell the kid: while there's a possibility—and even a good one—that their father isn't to blame for the murders, as of yet, there is no empirical way to definitely prove as much, much less to find out who the real killer is.

and there may not ever be.

however, sara doesn't get the chance to tell the kid anything, because they don't turn up at the lab the next morning.

instead, their foster parent does.

come to find out, the kid had been lying to their foster parents, claiming they were going to early-morning "sat prep" and then beelining for the lab instead.

after one of the kid's friends accidentally let it slip to the foster parents that the kid had never actually attended any of the prep sessions, yesterday morning, the foster parents had trailed the kid to the lab. after the kid got home, they then confronted them.

now, upon discovering what the kid was up to, they have become concerned about the kid's level of investment in the case, fearing they are setting themselves up for a major letdown.

the foster parent explains the situation to sara.

apparently, after their family's murders, the kid bounced around in the system for years. during this time, they experienced all sorts of behavioral problems. earned a reputation with the dcfs as a "problem child."

the foster parent and their spouse were kind of a last-ditch solution; the only ones willing to take the kid in anymore.

it took them a while, but they were eventually able to earn the kid's trust and stabilize them.

now, after four or five years of living in their home, the kid is finally on an upswing: doing well in school, enjoying a social life, and just really thriving for the first time since the murders.

however, given the kid's obvious emotional investment in this case, their foster parent is worried that if they don't get the results they want, they might not be equipped to handle to the disappointment and could suffer a major backslide, right at a time when they're getting ready to "launch." the foster parent doesn't want to see them get derailed or "sacrifice their future for the past."

unaware that sara knows this fact all too well for herself, the foster parent explains: the stats on most "graduates" of the foster system are abysmal, so the best chance this foster kid has is to buckle down and study for the sat, get good grades, and attend college.

"that's their pathway out."

the foster parent has now come to sara in order to ascertain whether or not there is actually any hope that the kid will get the answer that they want, all said and done.

when sara explains the somewhat ambiguous outcome with the print, the foster parent decides not to tell the kid and asks sara for help in thinking up some way to "put the kid off the scent" for the time being, at least until they're emotionally prepared to hear potentially disappointing news.

though conflicted, sara suggests that the foster parent could perhaps tell the kid that she'd sent the print off to the fbi for further analysis and that it might be "in process" for a while (months or even years), and the foster parent thanks her for the idea, assuring her it's in the kid's best interest.

they also tell her: she shouldn't expect to see the kid back at the crime lab anytime soon, as it's probably not the best place for a teenager (and especially a traumatized teenager) to be hanging out before school everyday.

though sara outwardly expresses support for this decision, it's clear she's not 100% sold on the notion that concealing the truth is the best course of action here. she is also obviously devastated that she won't even get to say goodbye to this kid.

after her encounter with the foster parent, greg quickly sniffs out sara's upset, which she blames on the fact that she regrets not being able to get the kid a more straightforward answer.

however, he intuits: she's also sad because, despite all her protestations about not liking children, she's actually gotten attached to the kid, and now she's not going to see them again; she is going to miss them.

though he expects sara to resist this assertion, she surprises him by admitting he's right.

cut to a time jump.

the next morning.

and who should turn up at the lab but the kid, having snuck out on their foster parents yet again?

like sara, this kid has the uncanny ability to detect bullshit, and they're not buying the whole "fbi" story that their foster parents tried to sell them. they want to hear the truth from sara herself about her findings, even if it hurts, they say.

please.

at first, sara is reluctant to defy the kid's foster parents' wishes. she is also scared of sending the kid on a downward spiral and fucking up their life.

but then she realizes: she knows for herself how hard not knowing can be.

so she reaches deep inside herself, sits the kid down, and presents them with the truth in the best, most honest way she can think to, even though it's not altogether positive.

she admits: she can't tell them for certain that their father is innocent, though there's at least a chance he is. she also can't tell them who besides their father might potentially be to blame, though perhaps there is someone out there.

maybe, she conjectures, the databases will eventually kick out a match to that print or the dna that at the moment doesn't exist in their datasets; maybe technology will improve enough to someday fill in some of those blanks.

she'll absolutely keep trying, running the evidence periodically to see if anything turns up.

but in the meanwhile, there's no answer.

and there's also a chance that there will never be one.

on instinct, she confesses to the kid: she's never been certain if her mother habitually kept the knife she stabbed her father with under the pillow and pulled it out "in the heat of the moment" to defend herself OR if she had, in an act of premeditation, fetched it from downstairs after he fell asleep that night.

back when she was a kid, the detectives who worked her father's case had asked her, but she couldn't tell them.

and now she's never going to know.

"i keep trying to remember," she says, "the knife block in our kitchen. if there was an empty slot. if i heard her go back down the stairs and then up again. but i can't. that memory is just gone."

she's sorry, she says, she can't give the kid the answer they wanted.

but.

you can live with it.

there are ways to live with it.

someday, she promises, the kid will make other memories that their brain will allow them to retain; happy ones. they'll still carry the memories of their family with them, too. but they'll grow around the grief. have new experiences. give and receive love.

the kid ends up crying then, sobbing, totally unguarded and childlike, that they miss their family, and sara hugs them and says she knows, she knows.

cut to the end of the episode.

the kid's foster parents have come to pick them up from the lab.

they're apologetic to sara that the kid was "bothering her," but she tells them she doesn't mind. she also explains: she told the kid the truth, and they took it well.

"kids are more resilient than you think," she offers.

the foster parents agree.

they start to take the kid home, gently chastising them, on the way out the door, that now that they've skipped sat prep for a week, they're going to have to enroll in another session and take the course over again.

on hearing this statement, sara pipes up, "i could maybe help with that—if you want." stumblingly, she explains that she got a near-perfect score on the sat and attended harvard at age sixteen. "out of foster care," she adds.

and so it is that sara becomes this kid's tutor.

i imagine from this point, though the main storyline would be concluded, we (as the audience) would still see periodic evidence that sara was indeed keeping up with this kid and continuing to meet with them fairly regularly.

there could in time be other storylines for them.

if we want to go the tamer route:

maybe something to do with sara struggling to balance her work responsibilities with her new mentorship role.

alternatively or additionally, maybe her supporting the kid as they deal with some complicated feelings after their current foster parents propose adopting them.

on the one hand, they want to say yes, because they love their foster family and crave that sense of belonging. on the other hand, it feels like a betrayal to their bio family in some way, especially since they're so close to "aging out" anyhow.

maybe the kid meeting grissom and developing a relationship with him, too.

maybe the kid doing some kind of volunteer work or internship connected to the lab to help with their college applications, with sara supervising.

maybe them, with sara's help, starting a forensics club at their high school.

if we want to go the angstier route:

perhaps the kid still occasionally struggles. gets involved with substance abuse or has serious behavioral problems. ends up in trouble with the law, to the point that sara is obliged to confront them.

alternatively, maybe the kid has to unexpectedly move placements, and when they do, they confront sara: ask her why, if she supposedly cares so much, she doesn't offer to foster or adopt them herself. after all, aren't they close? doesn't she get it?

and who knows? maybe sara actually considers the possibility or even decides to go for it. has to broach the topic with grissom. reevaluate their lifestyle. could be an interesting development for both of them.

if we want to go the super angsty route:

turns out, the kid's dad didn't kill their family, and the real killer has somehow realized that the kid survived and the case has been reopened and that sara is periodically checking into it. maybe the killer then targets the kid, knowing they are the only person who could potentially identify them. maybe the kid is in real danger, and it's up to sara to catch the killer before they come to harm.

in any case, i'd definitely want to see more of sara interacting with this kid, building a real relationship with them over time—one that fit with her core characterization and didn't attempt to make her into something she wasn't.

excepting a scenario in which she did actually choose to foster or adopt this kid, i'd like her to toe that line, being a friend and supportive adult but not trying to fill the role of "mom."

i'd like to see her friendship with this kid challenge her in productive character ways and be consistently depicted, to the point where it was easy to believe that this bond was an important and regular part of her life.

anyway.

there would be other ways to write the whole thing than with this "memoriae sacrum" version, certainly.

but that's at least one way i could see the premise of "sara befriends a foster kid" working better than the option we're offered in canon.

thanks for the question! please feel welcome to send another any time.

[kaylinalexanderbooks]

This is SO IMPORTANT.

The camera angle change is an extremely helpful metaphor. I read a story by a friend, and oftentimes she would put paragraphs in places that don't make sense. Such as:

"Sara, do you want to go out with me?"

He pushed his hands into his pockets as he spoke. "Sure."

I pushed a hair out of my face. "Really?"

His eyes lit up. "Of course."

I smiled.

If you were confused, what she did was write conversations where Person A's actions were in the same paragraph as Person B's dialogue instead of their own. I often got lost by who was speaking because of this.

Here are some general rules for paragraph breaks:

*Topic change*

this is the one they always teach in schools, but it often leads to long paragraphs.

You can have multiple paragraphs on the same topic.

I've found when I have large paragraphs, I read through it many times over to see if there's any mini-topic shift that I can find so I can have two or three breaks so it's easier to read.

*Setting*

this goes for time and place

Whenever your characters arrive at a new location, break the paragraph.

Even just turning a corner or entering a room or turning around can count.

*Dialogue*

the one everyone tells you about. If a new character is speaking, break the paragraph.

However, it does go more than that. As I showed in my non-example, keep the character's actions and thoughts with their dialogue.

If a new character enters the scene, break the paragraph. If a character coughs, break the paragraph.

Whenever the focus shifts to someone else, break the paragraph.

If a character is giving a monologue that isn't in narration, find a way for them to move around so you can break up their speech. "Also, you can dictate changes in paragraphs by excluding quotations at the end of the sentence.

"And once you start the new paragraph, put the quotations at the beginning again."

*Narration*

this one is hard, because when the narrator is describing something, they have a tendency to speak in long paragraphs, but try to keep them medium-sized at most

Like I said in Topics, find subtopics to break up the large paragraphs.

I actually split this list into bullet points like this to make it easier to read, so maybe this is an example.

*Effect*

like OP said it hits hard when you break up paragraphs

For the sole purpose

Of being dramatic

Paragraphs can be any length

Big

Small

A single word long

If you have a really long paragraph and you can't find a way to break it up into subtopics

The next several should be short

Gives the readers a break

When the camera angle changes

Or when the rhythm of the scene changes

Make the paragraphs match

Hope that was helpful. Best of luck writing!

Whole-heartedly BEGGING writers to unlearn everything schools taught you about how long a paragraph is. If theres a new subject, INCLUDING ACTIONS, theres a new paragraph. A paragraph can be a single word too btw stop making things unreadable

[albakore]

Buying them flowers

Synopsis: They were overworking themself again, so reader thought it might be nice to do something thoughtful for them.

Characters: Diluc, Kaeya, Jean (gn!reader)

Warnings: none, just fluff!

⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⊰⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅∙∘☽༓☾∘•⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅ ⊰ ⋅•⋅

Diluc:

we all know Diluc is the CEO of overworking himself. this man never lets himself catch a break

if you are in an established relationship, he definitely buys you flowers on the regular.

flowers are just the perfect gift in his mind: they don’t take up useless space forever, they look pretty, they smell nice, there’s variety, the list goes on

he definitely doesn’t expect to come home to you handing him a bouquet though

Diluc let his shoulders sag as he stepped in the door to the winery. The abyss had been more active than usual, and while it wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle, it still left him sore and grumpy at the end of the day. His eyes scanned the dim area that was his living area. There were a few lit candles about but judging by the stillness of the space he assumed most of his staff had resigned to their homes for the night.

Just as Diluc let his guard down and began freeing himself from his excessive outerwear he hid himself in all day, you stepped out quietly from your shared bedroom and approached him. Diluc noticed your footsteps right away, he was a well-trained fighter after all, so of course he knew how to pick up even the slightest shift in his surroundings. There was an odd rustling sound that accompanied you before he felt your palm placed firmly against his back to get his attention.

“Surprise.” You spoke softly as he turned around to spot the bouquet in your hands. You had a soft, sympathetic smile on your face as you took in how tired the man before you appeared. The ever perseverant and reliable Master Diluc with bags under his eyes and tussled hair and his jaw perpetually clenched. You took his gloved hand in yours and raised it so you could place the flowers in his palm.

“What’s this for?” He asked softly, looking at all the different kinds of flowers you had incorporated.

“For you, silly!” You chuckled at his reaction. “What, I’m not allowed to get my lover flowers?” You feigned defensiveness as you settled your amused gazed on his bewildered expression. He brought the flowers up to his nose and breathed in the pleasant floral scent before he wrapped his arms around you, exhaling a small thank you before letting his head fall onto your shoulder almost defeatedly — almost because nothing in this world had bested the Ragnvindr yet. You knew he was strong enough to push through this, all he needed was a little support. He took a few deep breathes, appreciating the presence of his lover, allowing himself just one moment of vulnerability. It seems a bouquet was all it took to break down yet another part of the man’s emotional walls.

Kaeya:

when he spots the bouquet his first thought is how you are just the cutest

he’ll occasionally buy you bouquets if he happens to see something pretty while he’s out adventuring or if Flora has something interesting out for sale

he’s a fan of single flowers, something he can tuck behind your ear gently while he watches you grow flustered by his actions

definitely a single rose kinda guy, even if it’s super cliche

Oh, what’s this? He muses to himself, eyes glinted with mirth as he approaches his desk. He glances over the flowers and the note and wonders who the anonymous suitor could be. He hopes to himself as he reaches for the note that you were the one who left these flowers for him but he knows he has his fair share of people pining over him, so it wouldn’t exactly be a surprise if it were someone else. Even despite you two’s public relationship, that doesn’t always stop the odd bold soul from thinking they could steal him from you, wrongfully so of course. His eyes instantly flit to your named signed at the bottom and his smile grows from his normal cocky smirk to a genuine soft expression.

The letter reads:

How’s work, Captain? Home feels emptier without you here. I miss you telling me good morning and good night every day. I know Mondstadt’s needs are more important right now than one individuals, but that doesn’t stop me from awaiting the moment I can wrap my arms around you again. On the bright side, no one’s pinched my ass in days! That’s about the only positive part of this whole situation, though. Say, when your workload lessens again we should get dinner together! Sara from Good Hunter keeps asking me when you’ll stop by. Well, I’ll let you return to your work now. Thinking of you, always.

Kaeya sighed as he set down the note and picked up the flowers. He’d been covering for Jean for a few days while she attended to other business. He didn’t mind, really, it was the least he could do in return for all she did for Mondstadt, but he couldn’t deny he missed you too. He’d been staying in his old dorm at the Favonius HQ to make his life a little easier; he was up late into the night working on paperwork in her office and up early in the morning to go on patrol. It would only be a couple more days until she returned and he could yet again have you laid on his chest comfortably.

He’d have to remember to ask Albedo for a vase to keep these flowers in, and surely Sucrose would know of a way to up their longevity so he could keep them on his desk for as long as possible. He sat down in his chair and picked up a pen and loose piece of paper to begin writing you his response.

Jean:

jean is an absolutely sucker when her s/o buys her flowers.

everyone knows Jean’s secret favorite pass time is reading romance novels

so that kind of super corny but romantic shit is right up her alley. how to woo jean gunnhildr 101

she doesn’t get to buy her lover flowers as often as she would like. the thought that she should always crosses her mind at the least convenient of times.

she’ll be nowhere near flora/any sort of flower patch and she’ll think “i should get them some flowers to make up for not being home as often as i would like to be”

but then she’ll be whisked away by someone else in mondstadt who needs her help and well…

Jean was fresh out of the shower, hair down and damp, towel wrapped around her body as he made her way to your shared bedroom. You had gone out to fetch you two something to eat for dinner, so it was just her left in the apartment. She opened the door quietly and was taken aback by the scene in front of her. There were candles lit all along the desk and dresser, there were flower petals scattered about the floor from the door to surrounding the bed. In the middle of the bed sat a bouquet of flowers awaiting her.

She hadn’t moved an inch, her mouth was slightly ajar and her hand still firmly gripped the door handle — in a good way of course. She hadn’t registered the front door opening that signified you entering with dinner. You paused and watched her for a minute before setting the food down and making your way over to her. You brushed some of her hair away from her shoulder and pressed a kiss there causing her eyes to snap over to you. “(Y/N)! I-I don’t even know what to say-“ she stammered over her words, cheeks growing redder by the second. You giggled, bringing her knuckle to your lips.

“Go put on some comfy clothes and then we’ll eat. We’ll worry about everything else later. You’ve been working so hard lately, I just thought you might appreciate some.. relaxation.”

She sighed before leaning over and pecking your cheek. “Thank you, really.” She murmured before stepping into the bedroom. You watched as she continued to glance around the room in awe as she made her way to the closet. You turned and walked back to the boxes of food you had brought home. Of course you two had to enjoy dinner before dessert.

[puppetsoftomorrow]

the avalance news reader au

hey who said peer pressure doesn't work. anyway i made this post and y'all seemed to like it so here we go!! might post to ao3 later on idk...

It had been a truly terrible day.

Ava considered, in the moment that her coffee machine spluttered coughed up coffee grounds over her last clean shirt, that maybe she'd just had a truly terrible year. All her dreams about finally moving to television after being stuck in the doldrums of local news media for six years had been slashed when she'd been placed on the graveyard shift - sure, Ava was finally reading the news, but her shift was from 1AM until 4AM, so her only audience was long-distance truck drivers and new parents.

Still, she persevered, with the slightly foolish belief that if she worked hard enough, she could be promoted to a primetime slot. Or at least a slot that didn't require her to be making coffee at 10:45PM.

Her day had started off badly - she'd barely slept, as the sound from the construction work three blocks away rattled her windows, and she’d woken to find that her cat, Merlin, had kicked his litter halfway across the house in a fit of pique. Ava couldn't even have her normal oatmeal, as she was out of oat milk, and now she was having to drink her coffee black.

After changing her shirt to a dark dress and grimacing as she choked down the coffee, there was a knock on the door, and Ava groaned as she realised she was running late.

"Hey, Sara." She sighed.

Sara stood in the doorway, hair wavy over her shoulders, hands shoved in the pockets of her hoodie - the same grey hoodie she wore every day, branded with their news station's logo.

"Woah, a dress?" Sara said, eyebrows raised appreciatively, as Ava grabbed her coat and bag and they moved to go down the stairs.

"Don't mention it." Ava grumbled, pulling the coat around her shoulders.

"It looks good on you." Sara said, and Ava shot her a look. Sara mimed zipping her lips. "Do we have to time for Starbucks? I had to have black coffee; my mouth tastes like something died in it." Ava muttered, and Sara shrugged.

"I mean, we've arrived half an hour early for every shift for the past year -"

"Do you want to go back to taking the bus?" Ava said, looking over at her as they reached the lobby. They'd discovered they lived in the same building almost accidentally in Ava's first week, awkwardly meeting across the hall in the early morning, until Sara had realised that Ava had a car and they'd started riding in together.

"Fine, if you're happy with having bad angles." Sara said, holding the door open for her, and Ava rolled her eyes.

"Are you saying I have bad angles?"

"Oh, I'll find one." Sara muttered, and Ava snorted with laughter and unlocked the car. One of the benefits to giving her camera operator a ride every day was always having excellent angles.

After a stop at Starbucks, Ava rolled along the dark, quiet roads, sighing deeply.

"What's up?" Sara asked, sipping her drink - black coffee, which she somehow enjoyed.

"Nothing." Ava muttered, but it only took one look at Sara for her to come out with the story of her crappy day. Sara laughed.

"So that's why you're wearing the dress."

"That's what you're focusing on?" Ava said, focusing on the road with a small smile on her face. "I have to go back to my apartment at 5AM and clean up kitty litter and coffee grounds."

"Not to mention getting coffee out of your shirt." Sara snorted, and Ava groaned, loud and over the top.

///

They always split when they got to the studio, Ava marching off to make-up to get ready, and Sara taking the elevator to the studio floor to set up her camera. The studio was always dead past midnight, just a skeleton crew left, which Sara found she enjoyed - it was easier to know everyone that way. She waved at Nate, distracting him from where he was running through the weather, muttering under his breath and checking his perfectly coiffed hair in the camera. He waved back, a bright smile on his face.

Careful not to trip over any of the wires on the floor, Sara made her way up to the box above the studio, the cramped room filled from head to toe with blinking lights and buttons, with a large window so they could look down on the studio. The techs – Behrad and Charlie - were sat with headphones on, running through sound checks, so Sara just waved to them as she found who she was looking for.

Zari, the studio runner, was running through her clipboard, muttering under her breath. When she saw Sara coming, she rolled her eyes. "Back again?"

"What have you got for her today?" Sara asked, keeping her voice nonchalant.

"The usual. Some city councilor has been embezzling funds, Star City is readying to bid for the 2028 Olympics, and former mayor Queen is opening a patisserie down-town. It's been a quiet week."

"Exactly." Sara said, her grin widening. "You've got to add the cat one."

Ray, their head writer, had found a story a week ago about a fat cat attending the Star City pet spa to lose weight, and Sara had been tracking down clips of the poor thing, bribing the editor, Nora, to pull them together. She'd even written a script. Zari looked at her with an eyebrow raised.

"Seriously?"

"Yes! I have a bet going with Mick - if I can get Ava to break on camera by the end of the month, he's got to give me $50." Sara said. It was ridiculous, she'd started the bet - truthfully, she found it endearing how Ava read the news with the same abject sternness whether she was covering a political scandal or a dog who'd learnt to surf in Star City Bay. She'd only broken her composure once - a smile creeping on her face when reporting on the 5th birthday of a crocodile at Star City Zoo named Snaps. From that day on, Sara had vowed to make her laugh, properly, live on air.

"I don't have any time to make up." Zari said, and Sara sighed.

"Yeah, but you know Ava reads quick enough. Please? For me?"

Zari seemed immune to the puppy eyes, so Sara sighed. "And I'll give you $20."

Zari snorted. "Do you have $20?"

"I'll have $50 when I win the bet." Sara countered, and Zari sighed.

"Fine. I'll see what I can do."

"Z, you're the best." Sara said with a grin, and turned to return to the studio floor.

///

The program went smoothly, like always. Sara liked her job, the focus of filming and the pride she got when she saw her own work on TV, but she liked it better when she was filming Ava, who had pretty much insisted from day one that Sara be her primary operator.

Ava looked especially pretty today, someone in make-up evidently having convinced her that she didn't need the bun today, and instead curled her hair over both shoulders, which didn't completely cover Ava's defined arms, visible in her sleeveless dress.

The night ran the same as most others, Ava transitioning smoothly between topics and engaging in light, courteous banter with Nate before he presented the weather. Sara looked at Ava during these moments, the five minutes she was off camera, where she looked down at her notes, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth.

Okay, so maybe Sara wanted to make Ava laugh because she looked so pretty doing it. Sue her.

They were coming near the end, and Sara was losing hope that the story would be included, until she heard the segue.

"Now, in lighter news," Ava started, her eyebrows suddenly shooting up as she read the prompter. Sara grinned; Zari had obviously left this out of Ava's notes to inspire more of a reaction.

"Cats," Ava blurted out, steadying herself before continuing, "they're not normally known for their love of swimming, but one feline in Star City is hitting the water instead of the gym in a bid to lose weight. Mr. Snuggles -" Ava bit her lip as the pictures played on the monitor - a black and white cat in a life vest, looking absolutely terrified, and Sara grinned. "Mr. Snuggles is a thirteen-year-old cat who - dislikes the outdoors and other physical activities."

Sara's grin widened as Ava lost it, barely making it through her lines through her giggles. Her face was flushing pink and she bit her lip to try and compose herself. "But with encouragement from his owner -" Ava pressed on, trying to hold herself together, "Mr. Snuggles had lost one pound in six months."

That was the final straw, as Ava descended into a full-on laugh, barely making it through her sign off. Sara was so distracted by the sound she nearly missed Zari's voice in her ear. "Camera 1 to Camera 3 in 3, 2, 1 -"

Sara switched off, but not before Ava snorted, flushing even deeper and covering her face with her hands at the sound, not disguised by the jingle from the lottery numbers playing across the screen.

///

Ava had bolted from the set, and Sara packed up her equipment as quickly as possible, ducking out just in time to catch Ava as she walked down the corridor to the lobby. Her face was now free of make-up, her hair tied up in a messy bun, but she was still in the dress that left Sara's mouth a little dry. She looked at Sara, blushing again.

"I can't believe you did that." She groaned, and Sara put on her most innocent face on.

"Did what?"

"Bribed Zari to put the cat story in! John in make-up said that Charlie had told him that you'd bribed Zari."

"To win $50!" Sara said, grinning. "And you have a really cute laugh."

Ava looked up; eyebrow furrowed. "Really?"

"Yep." Sara said, trying to play it cool. "Look, do you want half? I feel bad now."

Ava sighed. "No, it's okay."

"I could buy you dinner." Sara said, almost blurting it out, and Ava looked at her. "To make up for it."

Ava's mouth quirked up in a smile. "Uh - yeah, okay. I can do dinner."

~the end~

okay so this was fun to write and i kind of want to write more so uhh send me where u think this story should go. or ideas for a part 2 maybe. thanks for reading!!

[themadauthorshatter]

... I’ve already made a draft of this and deleted it, but I’m going back in. 

This is an AU of what would happen if Mareven was healthy and the end game. 

I apologize in advance for any and all MareCal shippers, including myself. 

SO! What happens? 

Simple. 

Everything remains mostly the same in the story except we get more of a doubtful and uneasy Maven as the story progresses, as in he hugs Mare a little longer and is genuinely perturbed when he hears about the ‘bomb’ that went off and looks terrified of Cal when he returns and orders Farley to be tortured. He’s also more hesitant to listen to his mother. 

He still offers Cal’s legion to the Guard, but is a little sadder to say it. 

THEN WE GET TO THE PLOT TWIST OF THE STORY!!!!!!!!!

Maven plays along, but, as he stands by his mother’s side, he mouths, “sorry” to Mare and goes for a gun on Arven’s belt, shooting him in the leg and warning him not to try silencing him or he’ll aim for something more vital. 

It catches EVERYONE off guard, especially Elara, who’s about to risk having Cal or Tibe out of her whispers to get Maven back in line. 

Instead, Elara asks what he’s doing and why, as she thought this was what he’d always wanted. 

“It’s what you want, Mother. Not me. None of this is right. You’re already the Queen. What else do you want!?” 

Elara bares her teeth. “Are you saying you want to live your days with a Red rat?” 

Maven pulls Mare to her feet and pushes her behind him, keeping the gun at them, nodding. “I’m saying I'm not following your plans or listening to anything you have to say. I'll die before I let you in my head again!” 

Well, wish granted because Mare senses the cameras turning back on and Elara lets Tibe and Cal go.

Only to force Maven to shoot her and Tibe, though Maven actually misses him.

Mare breaks free and they make a run for it, Elara shouting that they are traitors and to arrest them, though she does force Tibe to play the part of concerned husband.

Cal isn't in the room because he races after Maven and Mare.

Speaking of which, Maven leads Mare through the castle and finds a hall that goes toward a servant's passage, so they can escape.

Too bad there are guards that round the corner and take aim at them, not only for staging a coup de ta, but also for attempted regicide.

Cal's there too, aiming a handgun at them and telling them to submit to arrest.

They do and are sent to the Silent Stone cells.

Mare is confused and livid and doesn't want to talk to Maven, who keeps pacing and clutching his head and telling someone to be quiet. 

Mare mentally tells him to maybe practice what he’s preaching, but wonders what the hell all that was when they were captured. 

Maven sighs and sits down, back-to-back with Mare, and asks her how good she is at picking locks. 

Her hands are for picking pockets, not locks. 

Maven lets out a semi-bitter chuckle and regards that he shouldn’t have bothered asking because of course she’s better at pockets. he then admits that he’d been so scared of the cells as a boy, his young mind tricking him into thinking that there were monsters or prisoners in the cells. 

Speaking of the cells, Mare breaks her silence and asks why it’s so hard for her to use her powers, even asking if Arven is close by listening to them. 

Maven admits it would be useful to do that, but no. The cells are made of Silent Stone, which is basically Arven being there without him really being there. 

Although she already knows what’s going to happen, Mare wonders what will happen to them, in the Bowl of Bones. 

Maven lists off a firing squad, some Silvers, maybe some animals, and the fact that no matter what, the show will not be short; the people want blood and Tibe is going to give them blood, even if it’s his own son’s. 

“Not if he can’t find you.” 

Both Mare and Maven stand as Cal walks in, dressed formally and holding a set of keys to the cells. 

Maven asks what this is and what Cal’s doing as he opens both Maven’s and Mare’s cells. 

Cal explains that he’s already had to give Julian a head start and hopes that Maven and mare can do the same, can vanish into thin air before their execution. 

Mare asks why they should accept the help, seeing as Cal’s the one who arrested them, but Cal counters by asking who’s idea it was to get them arrested, glaring daggers at Maven. 

Maven has his own question: How does Cal know they won’t be seen? 

Cal looks away and admits that he hopes there aren’t any Red servants that know how to fix the security system.

Maven and Mare exchange a glance and start walking, but Cal gets between them, shackles them, and grabs their arms, telling them to play along and make it convincing so no one questions anything. 

They both do their best reluctant prisoners act up until they pass by Sonya, who inquires as to where Cal’s taking them. 

Cal states he’s just taking them to get some cardio before their execution, seeing as how they’ll need every ounce of strength they’ll need. 

Sonya spits that they shouldn’t and should actually fight with nooses around their necks so they’re easier to grab and throw around, but drops it anyway, eying Cal before she leaves. 

Time’s almost up, so it’s a good thing Maven leads Cal to a servant passage, where they stop and get free, Maven getting his flame-maker bracelets back. 

Maven opens the passage, but Cal stops him and Mare, telling them to be careful now, because if they manage to escape, they’ll be fugitives and will get hunted like deer for treason, Maven for attempted regicide, from what narrative that now exists. 

They nod and thank him for the help. 

Before Mare can follow Maven, Cal grabs her arm again, which makes Mare turn to him. 

The two stare at each other, realizing what’s happening and what’s going to happen. 

The royals will figure out that Cal helped them escape and will probably have him killed for letting two traitors run free. 

Cal is the one who helped her in the first place by getting her the job at the Summer Palace, and now he’s saving her life again, this time also saving his brother’s and risking his own. 

Maven shouts for Mare to keep it moving and Mare pulls out of Cal’s grip, backs away, and races after Maven, Cal watching her leave before closing the passage. 

His face contorts with sorrow, regret, anger, and pain and he clenches a fist as he hears a sentinel shout that Mare and Maven are missing. 

Cal shouts, “They’re this way!” and races down the hallway and away from the bookshelf, trying to make it look like they outran him. 

In the passage, Maven leads Mare by the hand as they soon find themselves underground and under the streets, overhearing an announcement to keep an eye out for the two of them because both are armed and dangerous, Mare especially. 

Maven groans at his father’s words and muses that at least they’re out. 

Mare isn’t as relieved and asks what he was planning with his mother. 

Maven stops in his steps and states that she already knows. 

Mare does know, she just wants to hear Maven say it. 

Maven bites his tongue and clenches his fist at his side, not turning to face Mare as he asks what will happen if he doesn’t tell her. 

She’ll make him tell her, make him talk or she’ll shock him until he dies. 

Maven  tightens his fist but then drops it, admitting he and Elara planned on killing Tibe and using Mare and Cal as scapegoats, sending them to the Bowl of Bones, and having them executed to wrap up the story and solidify Maven as the new King, with no Scarlet Guard and no loose ends to ensure the story of Mare being a Red would slip out. 

Mare demands he define ‘loose ends.’ 

Lady Blonos. The servant girls who dressed Mare as a Silver. Lucas. Julian. Sara. Mare’s family. Kilorn. Cal. Mare herself. All the Reds on the list Julian gave her. 

Mare gasps at that last one, sliding down a wall as Maven explains in increasing panic and with his eyes growing teary that he was along with the ride and all for getting the throne the way his mother planned, but then he began to feel genuine feelings for Mare and her plight and no matter how much Elara tried to take those feelings away, they always came back. She did the same with Tibe, making Maven lose his love for him, and had semi-success with Cal, but didn’t fully remove his love for his brother. It also changed when they killed Blonos and the servant girls, and when Tristan died. It opened Maven’s eyes and made him realize that he was going to kill someone he didn’t want to die. he’d already lost Thomas and it was his own fault, but if he was the reason he lost Mare, too, he’d lose his mind. 

Maven stops his rambling and joins Mare against the wall, admitting that he knows he deserves whatever comes next, but whatever does happen, he just asks that mare know that he is sorry for all of this, for putting her in such danger that now they’re on the run and risk execution if they’re caught. 

Mare turns to him and asks if Elara has the list, if he told her about the Newbloods. 

Maven shakes his head; the raid was going to happen in a few hour hours, so there wouldn’t have been enough time for Elara to look through his mind, write down all the names, and the find them in the blood base, so they have a good head start there, too. 

After a minute of collecting themselves, and a glare from Mare, the two stand up and keep walking until they reach a fork in the path and wonder which is safer.

The only answer they get is a gun pushed against the back of Maven's head and a certain blaonde telling him to go right or she's painting the tunnel Silver.

Mare turns and sees Kilorn and Farley, with the addition of a certain Barrow we all still mourn, don't lie.

"Shade!"

Mare and Shade reunite, though Maven voices confusion as he thought Shade had been executed.

Shade explains that they tried and failed, making an example by teleporting in front of and behind them, saying with pride that no one's faster than him.

Mare is a mix of happy and sad at the news, but Farley brings them back and reminds them they need to keep going or they'll get arrested and killed.

Maven also gets put back in shackles, but acts as a good sport and doesn't burn them off.

They continue throught the tunnel until they reach a train, climb aboard, and get to riding, merrily on their way to nowhere in particular.

Back in White Fire, Elara slaps Cal HARD in the face and demands to know what he was thinking and where Maven and Mare are.

Tibe gets between them, but Cal admits that he didn't fully know what he was thinking, just that he couldn't let his brother be forced to fight when he's still in training. It would be a bloodbath.

Elara asks if that's the same reason why he also let Mare go, or if there's something he's not telling them.

Tibe also wants to know. He understands letting Maven go, but why a Red rat like Mare? If the people see her lightning powers and Red blood, there will be Hell to pay.

Cal's silent, but Elara solves that with a quick look into his mind, seeing all the moments of Cal and Mare being close and friendly with each other.

Elara asks Cal if he's more interested in dirt than diamonds and Tibe gets the picture instantly, upon seeing Cal's reaction.

Change of plan: Cal is getting his legion back in action, and an additional two hundred soldiers to locate and either capture or kill Mare and Maven. No more catch and releases or else it's Cal who fights in the arena and he'll have nothing but his wits to defend himself.

Cal pales at this and gasps that they can't kill him, because then Norta has no heir.

Tibe only glares at him and tells him not to fail before leaving to let Cal get his army ready.

Cal watches his father leave and is broken by the fact that he legitimately screwed up and that his father, as King, needs Maven, his own son, executed with Mare, someone who never should have had her powers to begin with.

Elara glares at Cal for a moment longer and also walks out of the room, leaving Cal on his own.

[genshin-obsessed]

[moth]

happy birthday pocket!

i had no energy to make this a genuine fluff drabble it's 12:30 am here

----

Groaning, Diluc runs his hands up his face. Tf was he gonna do on your darned bday when his freaking schedule is full of ABYSS ABYSS ABYSS ABYSS ABYSS MUAHAHAHAHA

He mumbles something about perhaps gathering a small bouquet of small lamp grass before discarding the idea, thinking that it wouldn't be enough to resemble all the love and adoration he had for you. He unties his hair, letting the crimson locks rest against his back as he picks up the quill once again, writing away. 'Perhaps a letter will work for now. After I return from my duties, all my time will go to them for sure.' Smiling, he begins to pour his heart into each words written down on the parched paper.

----

Flopping down on your couch, you flip through a magazine of advertisements. Man, you were hungry. And what's better than grabbing some leftovers from what Diluc had cooked for you two the other day? You smile at the thought of the sight of your husband in the kitchen with an apron on, hair tied into a high ponytail as he works his magic. Gaze shifting to the ring on your finger, your eyes soften at the ruby gem, reminding you of his beautiful crimson eyes.

----

He quickly slips the letter into your mailbox, yes the two of you do not live together(yet), rushing off elsewhere. Probably outside of Mondtsadt's walls to make some abyss mages perish. He first starts with Brightcrown Canyon, moving from area to area- Man, this guy is traveling all across Mondstadt, excluding Dragonspine, with the image of your smile on his mind at all times. I mean, what can I say? He's obsessed with you. If you got injured? In the blink of an eye he'll be hurling a freaking phoenix at what, or who hurt you. If someone insulted you? "Sorry, did you say something to my lovely wedded partner here?" he questions, ticked off with a very concerning smile on his face. He wraps an arm around your shoulder, opening his eyes which send a chill down the insulter's spine. "That's right. We're married, got a problem? Call them a hilichurl on drugs, they're my hilichurl on drugs. A random, dumb idiot? My random dumb idiot. Back. Off."

----

Shuffling over to the random fridge in the kitchen, you look around the kitchen before giggling and taking out the leftovers from "Once Upon a Time in Mondtsadt", his specialty. You slip the plate onto a rack, placing it on the stove, somehow warming up the meal.

----

Diluc jabs the hilt of his claymore into an abyss mage, twirling his weapon around and stabbing the monster right in the face. He opens the map, noticing that he's already in the second to last area. A new motivation! A small hum of satisfaction is heard before he proceeds to massacre the popularity of abyss mages in Mond.

----

You slip the plate of warmed-up "Once Upon a Time in Mondstadt" onto the counter, hopping onto a high stool and rubbing your hands together excitedly. Grinning, you cut off a piece of the steak and let it enter your mouth, the texture and flavor instantly making you float up to heaven.

----

It's.. Raining... Diluc is soaked. Soaked.

----

Setting down the fork and knife, you get off the stool and walk towards the front door. 'Perhaps mail has arrived already..' Opening the door, you check the mailbox and are met with a nice looking envelope. It's a pastel scarlet-ish color, with a white lacey pattern along the edges. Slowly scooching back inside, you close the door and open the envelope, unfolding the letter.

Dear (Y/N),

Happy birthday, dearest. I would've had something planned for today, but unfortunately the abyss has eaten up my schedule once more. But if the sun hasn't sunk when I get back, would you like to spent some quality time together? Perhaps we could eat out at Sara's, or go sight seeing. Perhaps the sun going down would be nice, stargazing sounds fun. Many ideas have circulated around my head while I was writing this, however do be prepared to accept a bouquet.

'Oh honey I'll make sure to have the bouquet somewhere on display in my house, fosho.'

You mean a lot to me, and since Father's passing, you've been here for me at all times. When we were younger, when Kaeya was taken under Crepus' wing, when all three of us had those good times.. Ah, it's always nice to recall the kind moments we shared.

You stifle a laugh, remembering how Kaeya had accidentally frozen Diluc- But then the ice slowly started melting with an angered Diluc underneath.

My entire heart is dedicated to you. If you have a wish that I can grant within my power, please ask for such. Even if it counts as spoiling you rotten, I'll love you no matter what. You've made my life so much easier, and whenever you can you also help me out with the abyss. Not that I'm fully supporting such, since you're putting your life into danger which is what I do not want.

'And you are too, fighting the abyss as well,' you chuckle. 'My love, please take a break for once.'

Now I must end this short, due to me being behind schedule already. I need to set out ASAP. See you soon, I love you.

-Love,

Diluc.

Your heart flutters at the last three words, oh how it always does so. But your cheeks can't help but blush at the words written down.

----

Trudging up your doorstep, Diluc knocks on the door. The sun.. had already fallen. You open the door by a crack, peeking through and immediately swinging it open at the familiar redhead. Wrapping your arms around him, you sigh contently and rest your head on his chest. "I missed you..," he mumbles, pressing a light kiss to the top of your head. "Why don't we head inside? Ah, before that.." The darknight hero takes out a bouquet, as promised in the letter, the flowers glowing a wonderful blue. Small lamp grass. So, he went with his original plan. Lovely. He hands it to you, patting your head before making his way inside.

--END

carp i am so tired it's now 1 am

well uh

gn pocket hope you enjoyed this <3 <3 <3

Hello Pocket! I'm here to wish you a quick Happy Birthday!!

[Cicada]

You've become a year older! How sad.. But nonetheless, congratulations on making it this far! Both me and Moth are very proud of you, even if you're technically the bigger one here, and we're always encouraging you!

Thank you for being a wonderful writer, and person in general.

-Cicada.

It’s official :’) I am Diluc’s hilichurl on drugs

On a more serious note, thank you so much Moth!! You didn’t have to do this, but you did and it makes me very happy! I really appreciate it💖💖 this was definitely my bedtime story lol even though I have I think one more! This was adorable, I got to be married to Diluc- UGH IT MADE ME SO HAPPY!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!! Just the thought of this made me tear up😭😭 you’re awesome, thank you my friend!

And Cicada, yes I know I’m getting older 😔 I’ll be ancient soon enough- but thank you. To you both! Your words mean a lot to me too💖💖💖

I hope you both have a wonderful day/night💖

[coping-via-clint-eastwood]

4x12 - GSR fix-it fic

(A/N:  What the motherfuck- TUMBLR HAS A TEXT BLOCK LIMIT?!!!! UUUGGGHHH!!!! I guess this is gonna have to be in two parts. But, I guess...this whole thing is pushing 9000 words, so I'll split it 4500-4500. Yeah. I'm as tired as Gil now. I'm gonna go sleep with him. I was inspired to write this after watching that video.  Anyways, they're actually together in this one.  Aka when Gil FINALLY goes home, he can rest his forehead on Sara's and reassure himself that she's actually still okay, and that she's actually still right there, with him.  Because I crave this for them.  So, there are many and heavy contextual changes. Fyi, I'm not writing out every single piece of dialogue/action, hell no.  I'm just writing whatever's relevant to GSR. Oh and, warning - canon-typical ns/fw

{I'm sorry about the formatting but I would like to give} Special thanks to @addictedtostorytelling for...basically saving my ass with all the details of this fic. Thank you for answering my questions, no matter how inane, dumb, unnecessary, or worse. And of course @stokes-theorem got me out of a panic attack; it is much appreciated 🙏)

Gil walked through the house of the 419 of the night, having had to put protective coverings over his shoes so that he did not disturb any evidence he might accidentally step on. He had to keep his back to the wall and walk sideways as well. (The sound of his footsteps were adorable.) As he passed the spare bedroom, he noticed that the victim possessed a collection of butterfly-resembling trinkets, all displayed nicely on her shelf. He made it to the area of event at last, squatting down to take a closer look at the body.

His eyebrows jumped up in shock - the victim had a strong resemblance to Sara. For a few moments longer, he stared at his (secret) girlfriend's image, a dozen thoughts swirling around in his head but never aligning themselves. It was his unfailing sense of duty that allowed him to literally get his head upright and get back to his team, who was waiting outside. But when he opened the door, the very person in his line of sight was Sara; again he stared, this time at her actual self. Inside, there was a dead body, who looked so like her, but here she was, living, breathing and- turning her head to stare right back at him. But the one's gaze held such a different meaning from the other's.

Jim, who was past Sara in Grissom's line of sight, thought that he was the one the team leader wanted to see, so he stepped between the scientists. "Ready for us?"

"For now, no one enters this house except CSI."

[CUE THE INTRO]

Gil assigned Warrick to the car, but he assigned Sara to the perimeter, to which she shook her head in disbelief and questioned, "What? You just did a one hour walk-through. The perimeter cannot be a priority." On 'not', she shrugged and laughed wryly.

His gaze immediately turned beseeching. "I need you to work the outside. Catherine and I will be inside." He momentarily shifted his eyes in the direction of the door at the last bit but immediately looked back at her, his eyes even more pleading. Sara gave him an 'alright, fine' smile and went to do as he said.

Gil did not examine the car, but there was a fair chance that it would yield a fair amount of evidence. However, he had, as Sara remarked, gone over the perimeter, so he knew that Sara's scouring of it would bear no fruit. He deliberately did this; he wanted to dissociate Sara from the case as much as possible, in his own little way.

While Catherine went to interrogate the victim's friend, Gil took the opportunity to go back and stare the body for a bit longer.  He was (understandably) haunted that the 419 looked like the love of his life.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he did not hear Catherine walk in behind him; his head flinched to the side when she spoke, "One thing I can never get over with this job: anything can happen to anybody."

Gil clicked his tongue and responded, "That's why we're here," before going back to looking over the corpse.

Soon enough, Sara was let in a little more on the action when she had to crawl under the house and unscrew a pipe running from the bathroom to get the water that had been drained into it, as well as process the actual pipe.  However, Gil insisted that she was to return to the laboratory and test just those pieces of evidences as soon as she was done; his intent was that she would be occupied with something appertaining to the case but not in such a major capacity, thus satisfying her curiosity if only on a temporal basis.  Gil and Sara did not know it, but when she looked up into the pipe, Gil happened to be spraying luminol onto it on the other side.  (A/N:  Can I just take a moment to appreciate the cinematography here?  As well as the music <3)

The bugs helped the bug man out again; flies swarmed the dustbins that had pieces of corpse inside them.

After those were sent back to Al and David, Gil went back inside the house.  This time, he examined the victim's collection of synthetic butterflies.  He was turning over one that was blue, translucent, and had a base so that it could stand, a thoughtful frown on his forehead.  If Sara had been there to see him, she would have kissed it away.  He put the butterfly down and picked up a framed picture of Debbie.  With her arms straight up in the air and an open-mouthed smile that showed her top row of teeth, it was evident that she had been jubilant at the time of photography.  Gil shook his head; not because he pitied the loss of her joy, but because he was once again struck by her likeness to the greatest joy in his own life.  He tore his eyes away from the photo and looked at himself in the mirror, trying to collect himself.

But the adverse was achieved, because the bed was visible in the mirror, and he envisioned the victim sitting on it facing away from him, alive and well.  She then looked over her shoulder at him; the image was replaced with that of Sara.

Grissom clenched his jaw.  He stiffly tilted his head to one side, his gaze at himself hardening.  All in an reinforced effort to steel himself.

He was forcibly yanked out of his thoughts when his phone rang; his head flinched a little way in its direction while his eyes flickered down to it.  He picked it up and manage to announce in his normal voice, "Grissom."

"Hey!"  came the voice of the very woman who plagued him so, her voice cheery; she had dismissed any offence she had felt earlier from her mind and forgiven him, just being happy to hear from her man.

But her voice made him drop his mouth open in shock. Restraining the last of his resolve from flying out the window, he said, "Sara.  Uuuuhhh listen I'm in a bad area, I'll call you back."  He deliberately raised his voice a little to make his lie more believable.

Even though he could not see her, she gave a little nod; physical embodiment of her acknowledgment.  She responded by raising her voice just as he did when he next spoke.  "I got a skin tag off the bathroom drain pipe."

"Skin tag.  That's great.  Uh, give it to Greg."

"Yeah I did.  Hey do you want me to come over there and give you a hand?"

"No I'm-I'm-I'm fine," he stuttered, his free hand moving up then down again, as if he was physically dismissing (his emotions besides) her offer.  "I'll-i'll-i'll- uh...I'll talk to you back at the lab."  He immediately hung up after that.  He raised his head to glare at himself; he needed to force himself to push whatever emotions he had aside so that he could focus on the case.

As for Sara, she frowned in concern, but went on brushing what she put down as his typical eccentricity aside and went to help Warrick out with Michael Clark's car.  A third party would have enjoyed watching them work, especially with John M.  Keane's music.

After that, Sara and Warrick convened with Catherine in the break room to go over the course of the physical events of the murder.  Grissom joined remotely by holding his pager to his ear with one hand, while the break room's table had a speaker that his phone was tapped into; it was certainly much easier to communicate with Sara remotely and in a group where he could avoid speaking directly to her instead of communing in private where he literally had to face her.  Since Grissom was at the house, he walked through it himself in accordance with his team's narration.  When Sara spoke, he had to tilt his phone away from his ear, catching himself tripping again.  Since he was at the scene of the crime, he narrated how the deed was done.  As always, he had been envisioning the actual events, so it was difficult for him to picture such a thing happening Sara's likeness, but he pulled through; he did pause for extremely brief moments, and those could be put down perfectly as him taking time to think.

Sara, Catherine and Warrick finally went home after one and a half shifts.  As Sara approached the door to her and Gil's place, she could hear Hank scratching at it.  She smiled and opened the door. "Hey!" she called at the same time that Hank barked. Hank then stepped behind her and sniffed the air. "He's not here," Sara told him, gently pushing him inside with one hand and holding her kit with the other.  She sat on the couch and directed him to sit next to her.  She took her phone out of her pocket and showed it to him.  "We'll call him, huh?"  Hank had come to understand that that little slab of plastic with an area that would light up was something that humans used to communicate with each other.  There were frequent occasions when one of his humans was away, and the other would hold this object in between him and them.  Then, when the human pressed some things that made beeping sounds, there would be a certain tone for a while until the other human's voice could be heard from it; this was one such occasion.

Sometimes however, the other human's voice would not be heard.  In those cases, he and the human would just bark or speak into the slab by themselves.  After several hours, the slab would start up with a ringing sound, and when the human made a beep, the other human's voice could be heard.  He would always bark joyfully then and wag his tail.

So Hank smiled at Sara, tongue hanging out as he panted eagerly.  He watched and listened as she made the slab beep, and a tone followed.  Not too long after, the tone ended, and was replaced with a, "Grissom." He had had to turn away from the area of wall he was swabbing and take the phone out of his inner breast pocket.

Hank immediately started barking into the object, letting his human know that he was excited to hear from him and missed him.  Both humans giggled.  (At least Hank managed to cheer Gil up for a little bit.)  Sara absentmindedly ran her other hand down his ear as she waited for him to stop barking so that she could have her turn at speaking. The dog was aware of this, and let his mother have her turn in due time. "We miss you," she smiled.

He sounded forlorn as he answered, "I know... I miss you too...but I have to finish this." He was frowning sadly, and his shoulders were slumped. Sara thought that he was sad because he regretted not being able to come home to her. While this was true, he had another reason: that he had to deal with...this. And it was not that he had to deal with it; it was something that he had taken upon himself to. All he wanted was to protect his Sara, even if it meant hiding (fortunately minor) details of the case from her, and foregoing sleep altogether.

"Why not come home? Take a break. And you can continue tomorrow," she tried to coax him.

He shook his head even though she could not see him. "No. You go ahead without me," he said woefully.

She frowned in concern. "We gotta stop doing this." She was referring to the fact that they often stayed up for the whole day to work on cases instead of getting sleep.

"I know, I know," he sighed, his free hand squeezing his temples. "I promise I'll get more sleep after this case, okay?"

There was a period of silence when Sara nodded. "Okay," she said genially.

She heard her boyfriend huff a sigh; he dipped his head defeatedly when he did that. "Look, I-i-i'm sorry," he stuttered for the second phone call from her in a row.

She shook her head, "Don't be. It's alright. I'm guilty of the same thing." As well as she could hear that he was in dire need of sleep, she would not force him to since he did not want to. Plus, there was no way she could get Gil to come home without people questioning as to how she managed to get through to the stubborn workaholic; suspicion would be raised as to the true extent of their relationship.  He was at a loss as to what to say.  So, she rescued him as usual, "I'll see you back at the lab?"

He felt as if there were chains around his body that had just been loosened. Finally, something he could answer honestly! He felt as if he was ripping them off as he answered, "I don't think so. I still have to process the carpet-"

"The carpet?! Gil, that thing runs over every inch of floor!!!" Hank, who had been contently resting his head on Sara's lap, jerked his head up at the sudden interjection.

"I know," he groaned slightly, the vocalisation coming more naturally now that he was free. The boxer lay his head back down. "It has to be done though."

She nodded before saying, "I know. Don't run yourself into the ground, okay? I mean," here he could hear her snicker, "no more than you usually do."

For the first time in over a day, he smiled. A small but genuine smile that made the corners of his storm blue eyes crinkle endearingly; if Sara was there to see it, she would have kissed him. "I'll try not to." And, ah, how nice - she could hear the amusement in his voice.

"Take care of yourself. Remember to eat at least. I love you."

"I'll try. I love you too. I love you Hank!" His head jerked up again and enthusiastic barking ensued. The humans followed suit with more giggling before they hung up. With his spirits lifted anew from his conversation with Sara, he pocketed his phone and got back to work with a little more energy than he had before.

As for Sara, she put a hand on Hank's head and said, "Well boy, let's go and eat some breakfast huh?"  He gave a cheery bark and jumped off the couch.  Sara closed and locked the door, carried her kit and followed him down the stairs.  She hurried to put her kit away and then popped back to the kitchen to set out Hank's food, and then get herself food. They ate, went for a walk, and returned. Sara took a shower, and put on Gil's shirt after. When it came time for bed, Sara asked Hank to lie on the bed with her, and cuddled him. "Since Gil isn't here, I'll hold you tonight," she smiled. He seemed to understand as he nuzzled her face and lay his head back down.

A little after the phone call, Gil did go and eat. He shed himself of his coveralls, put them in his car, got in himself, and drove to the nearest diner. He ate there and then took away a second meal for his lunch, which he ate at the appropriate time. Sara went to the laboratory at nine o' clock that night, wanting to do all she could to help her boyfriend. She went to check on Warrick's progress.  Upon finding him sifting through the contents of the victim's vacuum cleaner with a pair of tweezers and coughing profusely, she teased, "He-he-heyyy. Blacklung."

"Ah...I've been sifting through this trash for about six hours." That meant that he had been working for the entirety of the swing shift. "You come here to rescue me or make fun of me?" the poor man retorted.

"I am just looking, relax." She pointed to one of the petri dishes Warrick had set out to sort the evidence. "What are these white fibres here?"

"They must be from the spare bedroom, because all the other carpets are green."

Sara looked at the plan drawing of the house. "Spare bedroom wasn't on his entrance or exit path."

"Look, all I know is that they were near the top of the bag, so it must've been one of the last things he vacuumed." Sara gave small nods of acknowledgment.

"I did manage to find this butterfly pendant..." Warrick moved his tweezers to the petri dish where it was and picked it up, "...with some white fibres in it. Looks like it's from a necklace, or a bracelet. And it has this link, which has snapped so I'm thinking...sign of struggle?" He straightened up a little bit to raise his point.

"Killer was in that spare bedroom."

Gil's panicky obsessiveness was certainly affecting a fair few of his teammates. Catherine went to the scene of the crime at the same time as Sara returned to the laboratory.  She knew that Gil was very stressed out about the victim looking so much like their dear friend, and so she wanted to help him.

(Poor Gil...he did not realise that when he worried, his team family worried too and would do whatever they could for him; he did not realise that they could love him as much as he loved them.  He had such heavy doubt about his own lovability, so much so that he even almost rejected Sara when she first asked him out.)

Catherine walked in to see Gil processing the carpet (to the amazing soundtrack). During the conference, he had mentioned that he had processed the carpet on the threshold of the bathroom, and at present he was processing the area of carpet just beyond that.  Her work-wife face on, she said to him, "Don't tell me you never went home."

Gil looked up at her, one hand still on the carpet and the other holding his filter paper. "Okay." Since she did not want to hear anything to that effect, he decided to water it down by saying, "I just got started in here.  I haven't even got into any of the rooms yet."

"You know you lose your edge after sixteen hours, and you're into your third shift. She brought her forearms out to her sides. "I mean I'm all for overtime but, this is just plain greedy."

He shook his head tiredly before reassuring her, "My knees can't take this anymore." As fuelled as he was from his food, it still physically hurt to remain on one's knees for an extended period of time.

"Have you eaten anything?"

"Yes."

"Ah," she nodded approvingly.  "Then, how about a shower?"  Gil shook his head.  Catherine raised an eyebrow in turn.  At Gil's look of horror, she clarified, "I mean at your place.  You need to go home."

"As soon as we find some evidence, I promise."

"With fresh eyes you won't miss it."

Her work-husband groaned as he stood up, his knees creaking.  "Just talk it through with me will ya?  What do we know?"

Catherine's eyes shifted to the side in thought.  "Alright."  She inhaled deeply before continuing, "The bathroom is where things got started. Candles, oils...steam shower...cleaned up, oiled up...sexed up."

"Let's go back to the bedroom," Gil voiced, moving his head a little way in the direction of the bedroom. They got their UV-protective goggles out of their kits, with Catherine taking the torchlight as well.  Cath shone the light on the topmost bedsheet, but nothing showed up under the fluorescence. "No, nothing on this sheet," Gil noted. He lifted that sheet to expose the one underneath, to yield the same result; he gently cocked his head to one side in acknowledgement (which was cute).

"She changed her sheets for her date; I would," Catherine remarked.

Since there was nothing to be found on the top surface of the bed, Gil let his gaze wander to the side of the bed. A ring embedded into the mattress caught his eye with a loop red cloth threaded through it with the rest stuffed under the mattress caught his eye; this time his head jerked a little to the side in vigilance. He squatted down and pulled it out, passing hand over hand.  When it was completely free and he could see what it was, he transferred it to one hand so that he could take off his goggles with the other.  He then looked up at his colleague with an uncomfortable expression and called, "Hey Cath..." When she looked at him, he held the thing up as if he was holding a dead rat and continued, "...got silk?"  His eyes shifted to the object as he asked that.  What he meant by that was if there was an identical finding on her side.

She looked down at her side of the mattress, and opened her mouth at the discovery and looked back at him.  Gil kept an inquiring gaze on her and took the opportunity to stand up.  She bent to her side while reaching an arm down and fished the cloth out.  "Why yes I do."  Gil looked back at the one in his own hand and shook it to see if anything would fall out; he was still disconcerted and frowning though.  His unease was turned into scepticism when Catherine said, "Iiii don't mean to embarrass you but um...some guys need leverage," as she stepped towards the foot of the bed and removed the sheets to uncover the barrier.

"They do?"  He was frowning a little bit harder; Sara certainly never complained.

Grinning in the hopes of finding something, Catherine gave a nod before saying, "I'll dust for prints."

While she did that, Gil's phone rang again.  He took his phone out from the same place he had when Sara called.  "Grissom."  He stuffed the hand not holding his phone comfortably into his pocket.

"It's Warrick.  I have somethin' for you - I found a butterfly link.  With some white fibres in it."

Grissom started walking to the other bedroom.  "Butterfly where?"

"In the vacuum bag.  You check all the rooms?"

"Lemme look again, and I'll get back to you."

"Alright." Grissom had reached the spare bedroom by then, so he put his phone away and got up to the shelf where the victim's butterfly collection was, a smile gracing his face at the sight of insects. He shone his (regular) torchlight on the contents of the shelf. When came across some more photos of Debbie, he drew himself back slightly, but quickly tore his gaze away from them; this was not the time to dwell on his feelings. His gaze averted to a blue jewellery box next to them, decorated with even more images of butterflies. He opened it; inside, there was an assortment of accessories, all butterfly-themed. He carefully used a finger to move them about, pushing them aside to see if there were any broken-off pieces. He did find one near the top right of the box.

In the meantime, Catherine had successfully made a print show up.  She tape-lifted it with a triumphant smile and proudly brought it to show Grissom.  "Hang one.  Toe print.  I'll have Sara compare it against both victims."

"Good."  Sara was the only unoccupied person.  "Warrick found a butterfly charm in the vacuum bag...I think I just found a piece from the same chain in this box."  He pointed to it.

"Butterfly huh?"  Catherine mused, her eyes moving to look over the rest of the trinkets.

"She had a collection." He seemed quite happy to announce that, and it was no wonder why.

"Gifts?  From her...gentleman callers?"

"Maybe the killer was taking his gift back.  As in, leave no trace.  Maybe he finally ran out of patience and got sloppy."  At the last sentence, his voice deepened, as if he was challenging the unseen and unknown perpetrator.  Upon shining his torch on the shelf below, he found a strand of hair.  Short and white, as would come from an elderly man.  He squatted, with Catherine following suit, and picked it up with his tweezers.  "And this is why I didn't leave."  His voice was soft with excitement and victory. Catherine left to bring the hair and toe print back to the laboratory, giving the print to Sara and the hair to Greg. Gil got back to Warrick and informed him of the matching butterfly.

Sara went to take the lower ten cards of both victims. Having finally gotten the chance to look at Debbie, she moved the swivel chair she was sitting on to draw herself up beside the victim's face. She stared down at it.  And suddenly, she understood.  She understood Gil's skittishness, understood why he had been reluctant to let her in on the case.  And she was, of course, haunted; it could very well have been her on Al's slab.  She glanced about, not knowing what to think; she could not articulate her emotions even in her own head. Eventually, they settled on one person: Gil. Gil, her protector; the person who had been 'protecting' her from this case at any rate.  She would speak to him to clear her head; she could always talk to him, and he would never turn her away. Well...he used to. But that was when his feelings towards her were even more of a mess than they currently were. He had progressed a lot with her help.

With that temporary comfort, she finished up and went to run the prints through AFIS. That took several hours. By the time that day shift roller around, both Debbie Marlin and Michael Clark were ruled out.  She then went to find Gil.  Or Catherine; whichever she found first. She went to the shift supervisor's office; nobody was there. And nobody was in the assistant shift supervisor's office either. But after some wandering around, she found Catherine in the locker room, sitting on a bench and changing her shoes. "Hey," Sara called, trying to seem cheery, "you seen Grissom?"

"He's still at the crime scene," Catherine responded, glancing at her as she did.

Sara nodded to signify her acknowledgment before reporting, "I eliminated both victims from the print you pulled off the bed."

"Well we know she was fishing off the company pier..." Sara responded with a look and a nod. "You uh, seen Debbie?" Catherine looked at her properly, wanting to gauge her reaction.

"Yeah," she said laconically, not wanting to give anything away.

"And?" Catherine enquired.

"Yeah I compared her...toe prints," she avoided still, her expression hardening.

Seeing as that would lead nowhere, Catherine decided to comment, "If I didn't know better I'd think that it was you on that table."

"I didn't really...look at her face," Sara denied. Noticing Sara seemed sad somehow, Catherine relented and just gave her a knowing look. Sara let her face fall, and allowed herself to sound as pleading as she really was when she asked, "If you see Grissom will you tell him?" Catherine nodded sincerely. Sara just walked off after that. The assistant shift supervisor convened with Jim and they went to Desert Palm print samples.  They did find a match; Dr.  Tripton.  Catherine phoned Gil and informed him of it.

[light-miracles]

Would it be okay to ask for a writing prompt with SuperBat? Maybe idk Kate’s been missing for ages and Kara has been looking for her non stop and she finally comes back and like visits Kara and Kara just basically breaks down because her best friend was missing and she missed having her worlds finest buddy by her side? I realise this is a long prompt but like I love them and we need more SuperBat fanfics.

Freakin finally, L

......

It was Ally's call what woke her up in the middle of the night, after spending more hours than what she should working in a report for the Senate she had to deliver in two days. Her niece was direct and clear, like all Danvers through the generations. Faintly behind her in the background noise, she could hear Nira Nal's voice telling someone to hold on, not to lose consciousness. Kara immediately stopped feeling any tiredness and got out of the bed. "What?"

"A woman dressed as a bat literally just fell from the sky. Her DNA links her to the Kane family, but she's obviously not Kitty, and her costume seems to be a relic. Aunt Kara, I think it's an accidental time traveler. I need you to-"

Kara ran out her house and in less than ten seconds she was already there.

......

At no point did Kate lose consciousness, but her pain was so intense that she wished she had. She had a vague understanding of everything that had just happened. Alice threatening to blow up the city, the building below her collapsing, she falling, falling, falling uncontrollably and with nowhere to shoot her hook, an excruciating light and then the her painful impact against a car.

Then there was two strange faces in front of her telling her to hold on. Confusing colors. Her mind clouded. At no point the relief of unconsciousness but the blinding torture of pain.

And when she regained her mental clarity, she was sitting in a shiny headquarters, with a couple of weird cables attached to her arm and three people talking around her. Someone had found her and helped her. A great relief washed over her when she recognized Kara. "Super."

"Hey," said Supergirl leaning in front of her. It was Kara. Beautiful, brave Kara. The others must have come to help when they heard of the disaster. Kate wasn't selfish enough not to admit that she was relieved, even if it meant owing Allen a favor. "The city... Alice ..."

"Don't worry, everything is fine," said her friend, putting her shaking hands on her shoulders. "Everything is fine."

"No, it's not okay, the bombs exploded." Kate tried to stand up, remove the cables from her arms, and go back outside where her city needed her. And where was Mary? Luke? Her father?

"Kate, no, don't move, please. You're not fully healed yet."

"I have to help them."

"There's no one to help Kate. Please don't move. Listen to me. Gotham is fine. Everyone is fine. And you have to sit back and let Daydream heal you. She's the best, it won't take long. "

That must be true, because as the seconds passed clearer the image around her became. The lab was very high-tech, bright and white, with things she hadn't seen in her life. The two women next to Kara were strangers and yet they looked familiar. Kara wasn't wearing her outfit but what clearly looked like pajamas, her short hair (short?) tousled like she'd just gotten out of bed.

She looked older. At least ten years older.

"This isn't real," murmured Kate without looking away from her pretty face.

Kara put both hands on her cheeks, holding her gaze. "It's real Kate. I'm here with you."

"Where am I?" she asked trying to control the growing (strange) panic. "What's going on?"

"It's the year 2300," replied Kara slowly. "You have been missing for 280 years."

.....

The only thing that seemed real was Kara's hand holding hers firmly.

Kate thanked her training for her ability of remaining calmed at the face of the strange aspects of her life. It had been useful to her when the Multiverse died because a bald zombie in a robot suit was having a bad day, and it would be useful to her now. If Sara Lance and her team could, so could she. She just had to stick to the facts, evaluate the information, and focus on a way to fix it.

Kara's presence would make it easier.

The brown haired young woman explaining what they thought had happened. In 2020, when Kate fell from the building, somehow a wormhole opened that took her to 2300. For her it had been only seconds. For the rest of the world, centuries.

"Excuse me, what was your name?" asked Kate.

"Ally Danvers," the young woman replied. "I'm Kara's niece."

Kate looked at Kara to confirm, and she nodded. "Great great great something niece, but who counts these days?"

"And I'm Nira Nal, Daydream," the woman a little older than Ally said, stepping forward and bowing slightly. "I think that in your time they shook hands, but we don't do that anymore."

Evidently the little brunette who had been Kara's apprentice had also had a family. Kate nodded again.

"Everything must be very confusing for you, maybe we should give you a moment..."

"How do I come back to 2020?" Kate interrupted. "Someone put me in touch with the Legends. Hell, even Allen would be enough. I don't want to rest, I want to go home and stop Alice."

Ally cleared her throat a little. "It might be a bit more complicated than that. We need a little time to-"

"Look, Agent Danvers 9.0 or whatever, you may have all the time in the world but my city was literally falling apart just now. I have to go back and help my city, now."

It was Kara who answered. "It will take a while, Kate. Time travel isn't that easy anymore. But I'll take you home, I promise."

"This is the future," replied Kate, feeling a sudden rejection for the woman with Kara's face and Kara's voice but that wasn't her Kara. Not completely. "Don't you have loads of time machines and 200 mini Barrys with ridiculous names running around?"

"No, not anymore," Nira Nal replied. "Time travel was completely forbidden years ago. We can bring you home, but it's going to take us a couple of days to get a machine."

"Time travel is forbidden?"

"Yes, I forbade it," said Kara.

Kate turned to look at the blonde woman.

"I'm the President of Earth, Kate."

The bat woman blinked confusedly. "President..."

"Candidate for President of the Solar System next year!" said Nira cheerfully.

It was all too much, and Kate didn't want to show any sign of weakness but it was too much. Kara took her hands. "It's late. Come with me, please. I'll explain everything you want to know at my place, and tomorrow we'll start looking for a time machine. We'll fix it. But Ally and Nira have to go now, someone has to sleep tonight."

Kate still wasn't convinced that she shouldn't just turn around and get out of there.

"World finest, remember?" Kara asked with a small smile.

That helped her make her decision.

....

Kate thought that Kara would take her wherever she was going to take her flying. Instead, they both entered what would in the past have been described as a car but to Kate's eyes looked like a mini tank.

They didn't talk on the way, Kate intently looking at the incredible futuristic city around her, the glowing towers, the long, labyrinth-like streets, the flying vehicles in the sky, and the Kryptonian carefully staring at her at her side. Only Kara could not pay attention to the street at all and drive with absolute safety. Like everything else she did, she did it perfectly.

They left the city towards a two-story red house, which seemed totally mundane. And old, at least for what seemed to be the rest of the future. It had a porsche, two roofs and a small garden where Kate could see a lot of different flowers, dimly lit by the white light coming from the bright lamps.

"I thought you'd live in the White House."

"No, that's still only for the president of the country. I work in the embassy of the planet and live where I want. I use this house when I want to be near Ally and Nira."

"Always taking care of your family."

"You already know me."

Kate still wasn't totally convinced, but she nodded. "The city is not Gotham or National. Where exactly are we?"

"Unity City," replied Kara. "It was founded by Kal 150 years ago."

Still in her Batwoman outfit, Kate got out of the vehicle and rushed into the house, assuming no one was around to see her face or Kara would have said something, the little Bruce in her mind scolding her for having her face uncovered. But she was trying to focus on one problem at a time so she ignored her annoying imaginary cousin.

And it was when the door closed behind them that everything started to feel real.

The place looked so hideously normal that Kate wanted to snap her fingers to make sure no robot butler would come asking for her coat. Kate turned around and Kara was there, by the door, looking at her like she hadn't seen her in centuries and that look of hers broke her heart.

"I know it's only been a few hours for you," said the older-looking short haired Kara. "But I'm so happy to see you, Kate. I thought I'd never see you again. I never knew what happened to you. I thought-" Kara let out a sob.

Kate could never bear to see her sad, so she hugged her. It was the first time all day that she felt like herself. The only thing she felt familiar.

It was Kara. Older, with another hairstyle and almost imperceptible wrinkles around her eyes. But she smelled like Kara. Her hugs felt like Kara's. So Kate closed her eyes and returned her hug with all her strength.

..........

After taking off her batsuit and laying it on a chair, Kate Kane took a quick shower in a bathroom that looked normal except for a small water fountain next to the toilet and the fact that the shower water floated around her instead of falling. After coming out, she dried off and put on a comfortable green pajama that seemed never to have been worn. Probably because it wasn't pink and she didn't imagine Kara's fashion tastes changing, ever.

Kate came out of the bathroom with her hair still wet, studying the house some more. Strangely, Kara no longer had photographs, when in the past she used to have many photos of her friends on her walls. The decor was less colorful too, more sober, fewer kitten figurines and more desks and books and strange objects that Luke would surely kill to use. Kate took one that looked like a remote control, pressed a button, and a small hologram of Saturn appeared in front of her eyes.

"That's a letter they sent me from Titan," said Kara entering the living room, having changed out of her old pajamas for a clean new set. "It turns out that on some of Saturn's moons there are favorable conditions for living. A group of explorers founded a colony fifty years ago."

"Sounds like something out of a bad movie."

"Nobody watches movies anymore, but you're right."

Kate put the remote control down on the table. "Nobody watches movies anymore?"

"Well, I suppose some people still do, but cinematography is considered an ancient art now. They're not as popular as they were in the early 21st century. They're hard to find too."

"Do you still watch movies?"

"You know me, Kate. I couldn't survive without my weekly dose of Frozen," she said smiling and turning away from the door. "Would you like to have dinner with me?"

She nodded and entered the deceptively plain-looking kitchen, all the while Kara staring at her as if she might disappear at any moment. Maybe she was going to do it. Maybe this time travel thing was only safe if you were a Flash or had a time machine. Perhaps at any moment the universe would simply erase her as if she had never been born.

The food on the white table in the kitchen looked magnificent. It was a stew with potatoes. Kate didn't know how hungry she was until she smelled it.

"All kosher, of course."

That moved her deeply, but she did not allow her face to show it.

They both sat silently, facing each other, smiled slightly and began to eat in silence, until Kate could no longer ignore her own nerves and looked up at Kara. The blonde looked at her with a smile on her face, as if patiently waiting for her to talk first.

"Sorry, it's all so..."

"Confused."

"Weird," said Kate. "I had lunch with you last week and now you're... older, and we're in the future."

"I remember that lunch very well. It was the last time I saw you," she said with a sad smile. "I ... never stopped looking for you, not even when you were declared legally dead years later. No one gave up. Sara and her team even asked Gideon to look for you through the timeline, but she couldn't find you. I don't understand why."

"Maybe the thing that brought me here was something different," said Kate rubbing her hands together. "I'll look into it when I get home, and I guess you will too."

Part of Kate wanted to ask her about the future, and another part of her wanted to know absolutely nothing. She knew very well that she could be influenced and change what was supposed to be her future. However, her future was Kara's past. Or at least this Kara's, who was similar enough to her friend to trust her and different enough not to let her guard down entirely.

"So, you're president of the planet now."

The blonde nodded. "Yes, for ten years now."

"And you banned time travel."

"I did, yeah," she said, looking away for the first time, using her dinner as an excuse. "Eventually we discovered that it was too dangerous and could have catastrophic consequences so we banned it. The Time Bureou was dismantled. Brainy had to go back to his own time immediately."

"Consequences like what?"

"The timeline is much more fragile than it seems. Also, for example, if two people from different times have a child, it can create a paradox that could swallow the universe. It was too risky and I had to ban it. That's why believe me when I tell you that take you back to 2020 is practically a global priority, and you will be back very soon."

Kate's instinct told her that there was something Kara wasn't telling her, but she decided not to press it right away. "Good. Meeting Mia was good, but there are also dangerous assholes like Reverse Flash. And I respect and appreciate Sara and Barry but..."

"They were like lemurs with machine guns?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah, more or less," said Kara with a sad smile. Kate realized that she had spoken in the past tense about their friends.

"And... is there anyone left?"

Kara's gaze lit up, and she drank a glass of water before answering. "Kal is still in Metropolis, but he's taking some sabbatical years. He's not as active as before but if anyone deserves a break it's him. J'onn is still alive, but he's very old, and can't move as much as before. His children and I visit him very often."

"Children? Oh, good for him."

"Yes," Kara smiled. "He and M'gann were very nervous at first, no one had had yellow Martians in millennia."

"Yellow?"

"Children of green and white Martians."

"Sounds colorful. Anyone else?"

"Charlie, Sara's friend. She hasn't really changed. It's as if time hasn't passed for her. Andrea Rojas is also-"

"Fuck, your awful boss is still alive? What the hell?"

Kara laughed, smiling like old times and making Kate feel her heart flutter. "She's not been my boss in centuries, thank goodness. And it turned out she's half Jarhanpurian. That was a long time ago," she said leaning forward, as if she were going to tell her a secret. "Do you remember Gemma Cooper?"

"Walmart Karen?" said Kate, and they both shared a laugh as they remembered what they used to call the old hideous Obsidian North member.

"Well, Gemma was secretly part of this group of Jarhanpurians hidden in the planet, Leviathan. At that time we didn't know it but she was Andrea's mother."

"Ugh, so a jerk and with super powers."

"And one of them is to age as slowly as a Kryptonian," Kara drank water again. "She's on Titan now, sometimes she sends me letters."

"Then she must not be a jerk anymore," said Kate quietly. And she suddenly knew she had to change the subject before asking about who she really wanted to ask. Mary. Luke. Sophie. Her father.

Alice

Whenever she thought of her sister she only felt pain.

"I have to go home, Kara."

"I know. I'll do anything I can to make you come back safe and sound."

Kate sighed wearily. "Being here can't be good for the timeline."

"Don't worry about that, the timeline can fix itself when you come back to 2020." Kara reached out and cupped her hand on the table, gently stroking her knuckles. Kate wished she hadn't. She was still as intensely beautiful as she was when they first met, and Kate at the time was too tired to be careful not to do something stupid, like tell her she loved her and ask her to kiss her.

So she just smiled wearily. "World Finest?"

Kara's eyes gleamed. "Always."

[singledarkshade]

Magical Mix Up

Summary: When Constantine uses a spell to locate Rip, it leads them to a hospital and a nurse called Rory Williams. Taking him back to the Waverider they try to get him to remember who he really is. While Rory's wife Amy is searching for him with the Doctor, they come across an unconscious man in a long brown duster. Author’s Note: I had a small idea and shared it with the Discord Ripchat group, which sent it from a small possible one-shot to a larger story. This is a birthday present for @riphuntertimemasterlegend. Happy Birthday, I hope you enjoy. Chapter One

 “I have one more patient for you, Rory,” Davy on the desk said, handing him a chart, “Some kind of burn.”

Rory Williams took the chart and scanned it quickly, “Okay. What’s open?”

“Curtain three,” Davy replied giving him a smile.

Nodding to the other man, Rory headed out to the waiting room which wasn’t too bad for a Sunday afternoon in the middle of the summer.

“Mr Constantine,” Rory called. His patient stood and Rory frowned in surprise to see the man wearing a trench coat, white shirt and a red tie, his dyed blond hair was a mess, and he had the look that he had just rolled out of bed, “Please come with me.”

As a blonde woman stood to join them, Rory shook his head, “Sorry, you’ll have to wait here for the moment.”

Rory’s patient turned to the blonde woman, had a quick, annoyed whispered discussion before she sat down and he turned to Rory with a charming smile, “Lead on, mate.”

Walking the man through the security doors, Rory motioned him to take a seat on the bed and pulled up the stool.

“Okay,” Rory told him, “Looking over your information it says that you burned your arm. I’ll do an exam to check the area, and if required I will get one of the doctors to take over, or I will clean it up.”

Constantine shrugged, “Really sorry about this, mate but I lied a little bit.”

Confused Rory heard a strange noise behind him, turning he saw the blonde woman from the waiting room walking through a portal to what looked like a ship or space station. Spinning off his stool, Rory grabbed a scalpel out the kit to defend himself.

“I know you’re confused, Rip,” the blonde woman said, “But we’re your friends and we’re taking you home.”

Gripping the scalpel and letting the Centurion in his head free, Rory replied, “No idea who you are and I’m going nowhere.”

Constantine shrugged, “Sorry, mate,” he pulled a strange looking silver device from his pocket and a flash of light filled Rory’s vision before everything went black.

Sara Lance sighed as she watched Rip fall to the ground, “That could have gone better.”

John frowned at her while crouching down to relieve the unconscious man of the scalpel before pulling him off the ground and onto his back in a fireman’s lift, “You’re not kidding.”

“Let’s get back to the ship before anyone comes looking for him,” Sara motioned John back onto the Waverider.

Carrying the unconscious form of his amnesiac friend, John was relieved when they entered the ship and Sara closed the portal. Resting Rip on the medical couch Sara slid the cuff onto his arm and checked the readouts. They now had to wait until he woke up to see if he remembered anything now that he was onboard the ship once more.

“Well?” John asked.

“As far as I can tell he’s healthy,” Sara noted before frowning at him, “It would be easier with Gideon.”

“That wasn’t my fault,” John defended himself, “I had no idea that the idol would react with the spell in that way.”

Sara rolled her eyes, “Now we have no AI because she’s suddenly human, unconscious and in Star Labs.”

John frowned, “From everything the doc told us, she’ll be fine and she’s sleeping just now. It’s probably a lot to assimilate going from an AI to human. If we give her time, I’m sure she’ll wake up soon just like Dr Snow told us.”

“Until then we can’t really go anywhere,” Sara sighed. She looked down at the man on the bed before her, “He looks different.”

John shrugged, “Well you said this is a camouflage. He’s bound to look different.”

“I mean the last time I saw him without the beard he looked odd, but it seems to suit him now,” Sara mused, shaking herself she turned back to John, “Do you have any ideas how to return his memories to him? Because I only know of one way and, without Gideon, it’s not possible.”

John mused, “There are a few spells and rituals I can try but since this was caused by the time drive and not a spell or curse then it becomes tricky.”

“Well, the last time this happened ‘Phil’ was writing about us,” Sara said, “So it was slightly easier for him to accept his movie was basically real. But this time he’s a nurse? It’s the last thing I expected.”

John shook his head sadly, “Rip is a lot more compassionate than you give him credit for, Sara. He just knows how to hide it because he was raised to believe it was a bad thing.”

She pinned him with a sharp look, “I didn’t know you two were such good friends.”

“Spend some time almost getting eaten alive by a demon,” John noted with a shrug, “You tend to bond.”

Sara checked the screen again, “Let’s leave him to rest. I’ve set the alarm to let us know when he wakes up and put up a forcefield so he can’t leave this room. We don’t want him getting anywhere near the time drive.”

John nodded, “You can say that again.”

 Ray, Jax and Zari looked up when Sara and John entered the bridge, Mick was lounging in a chair with a beer in his hand, but the tilt of his head let Sara know he was paying attention. Ava was sitting stiffly on the chair in the parlour, with Nate not far from her both looking annoyed as they had been voted down when Constantine said he could possibly locate Rip.

“How is he?” Ray demanded instantly.

Sara gave a slight wince, “He has no memory of us.”

“So, he’s Phil again?” Jax asked.

Sara stole one of Mick’s beers and took a seat on the stairs, “No.”

“Then who does he think he is?” Ray and Jax demanded in unison.

“Rory Williams,” John spoke up, “A nurse working in London.”

Mick let out a snort of amusement while Jax said, “At least he’s still English this time.”

“Once he wakes up John is going to try to retrieve his memories,” Sara told them, “But as with Phil, we just have to remind him we’re his friends, that his memories are fake, and he belongs here.”

A snort from Nate made Sara turn to him and Ava, “Neither you nor Ava need talk to him at all but if you do remember at the moment, he isn’t Rip.”

Ava shrugged, “We’ll try.”

 Rory’s head was killing him. Pressing a hand to his forehead, he slowly opened his eyes before slamming them shut when the light jabbed through them like a knife. Trying to get his bearings, Rory wondered what happened because he was sure he had been at the hospital. If the Doctor had kidnapped him from work, he was going to kill the Time Lord.

“Amy?” he murmured, letting her know he was awake because he knew she would be at his side if he was hurt or sick. Especially if the Doctor had picked them up. He was confused and saddened when his wife wasn’t there sliding her fingers through his hair and telling him to stop being lazy.

Finally, he forced his eyes open and frowned as he looked around a medical bay, realising he was on a ship, a space station or just a good bit in the future. Suddenly Rory remembered the last patient he had.

“Son of a…” he breathed, looking around properly.

He was still in his scrubs which meant whatever they’d done to him had been while at work.

“You’re awake,” a voice came from behind him making Rory turn to find a blonde woman walk in. She was a good bit smaller than him, but Rory could see from her bare arms she was extremely fit, and from her stance, the Centurion part of his brain noted she was a warrior.

“Who are you?” Rory demanded, “Where am I? And what do you want?”

She stepped forward trying to look unthreatening, “My name is Sara Lance and, I know how confusing this will be for you, but I promise it’s the truth.”

Rory folded his arms waiting for the explanation.

“Your name is Rip Hunter,” Sara told him, “You were stopping a Time Demon and used the core of this ship. It sent you through time and changed your memories as a camouflage. I understand you think you’re someone else but you’re not. We’re your friends and we’re going to help you recall who you really are.”

Staring at her, Rory finally managed to say sharply, “I know exactly who I am, Miss Lance. And I’m going home.”

“There,” she smiled, “That was the real you for a moment. Hold onto that and we’ll get you back.”

Shaking his head in bemusement, Rory stared at her, “What is wrong with you?”

“I know this is strange,” Sara said, “But this is for your own good. I made a promise to a friend of ours that if I found you then I wouldn’t let you leave again.”

Rory remained silent trying to work out his next move but began to pace so he could get closer to the door, hopefully without her realising.

“Your room is still here,” Sara said, moving so she was the same distance from him as he walked, “It was locked until recently so all your things are there for you to go through, which will hopefully help you remember who you are.”

Rory reached the door and shook his head, “No, thanks.” Hitting the button to open the door he ran into the corridor and chose a direction at random. Running through the corridor he saw a tall man with dark hair coming towards him.

“Rip?” the man grinned at him, “It’s so good to see you.”

Letting the Centurion take control, Rory ducked and caught the man in his stomach throwing the man over his shoulder and onto the floor. The man let out a loud oomph as he hit the ground, and although the nurse part of his mind wanted to check the other man was alright, thankfully the Centurion part was in control. Turning a corner Rory stalled finding the man, John, who had been his supposed patient standing there.

“I know you’re confused, mate,” John said, “But this is your home, Rip.”

“What is wrong with you people,” Rory snapped, “Why can’t any of you listen to what I’m saying. I am not this Rip guy. My name is Rory Williams, I have never met any of you before today and no matter what you say or do, I’m not going to remember a life that wasn’t mine.”

Just as he finished talking, something thudded across the back of his head and Rory dropped to the ground unconscious again.

 “Did you have to hit him?” the annoyed voice of Sara came as Rory swam towards consciousness with yet another headache.

A man grunted, “Seemed quickest way to stop him after what he did to haircut.”

Rory heard Sara let out a sigh before she said, “Let’s not give him any more brain damage, Mick.”

“Whatever,” the man grumbled.

Forcing his eyes open Rory realised he was not in the medical bay this time but, from the looks of things, a cell. Slowing sitting up he found Sara standing on the other side of the glass with concern on her face.

“Are you okay?”

Rory glared at her, “Well I’ve been abducted by a bunch of lunatics who keep knocking me out, while trying to convince me I’m someone I’m not. How do you think I am?”

She gave a slight smile, “There are some painkillers and water just down in the corner, and something to eat if you’re hungry.”

“Or you can let me go and I’ll get something at home,” Rory shot back at her while he found the painkillers.

Sara winced, “I know this seems harsh, Rip but it’s for your own protection. The last time this happened I let Thawne and his Legion of Doom take you, and I can’t let that happen again.”

Rory sat on the bench again, “So your logic for keeping me captive is so someone else doesn’t? That makes complete sense.”

“I left you some books and a few of your diaries to read through,” Sara told him, “We’ll talk a little later once you’ve had some time.”

Rory watched her leave and sighed. He listened to the Doctor every day, but this was true nonsense. Finding the small stack of books, Rory lifted the top one opening to the first page finding it was handwritten and realised this was the diary of the man they thought he was. A part of him wanted to read it a little but he didn’t want to invade the person they thought he was privacy. Closing it and putting it carefully to one side, Rory checked what else was sitting there and found Treasure Island, one of his favourites.

Putting the blanket and pillows they’d given him on the floor to sit on, Rory started to read.

 John sat watching the security feed of the cells as Sara spoke with Rip, or Rory as he was calling himself these days. It was odd watching his friend like this, he truly believed he was this Rory Williams and there wasn’t even a hint of recognition of any of them.

If they had Gideon, it was possible she would be able to get through to him, but currently Gideon wasn’t an option.

“Well?” Sara appeared at his side.

“He looked at the diary then put it down,” John told her, “I don’t think he’s going to read it. We need to try something else.”

Sara frowned, “What about your spell?”

“I need some supplies,” John said, “I’ll go pick them up in the morning,” adding before she could argue, “A night-time trip isn’t a good idea.”

Dropping into the seat beside him, Sara stared at the man on the screen, “Rip was always close to Jax, and Ray gets along with basically everyone. Maybe I should get one of them to try get through to him.”

John shrugged, “Why not? Or you could try your girlfriend.”

Sara frowned at him, before ignoring the jibe, “I’ll ask Ray to try first. Jax still has some issues from evil Rip.”

                                 *********************************************

 Rory drank the tea he’d been given with his breakfast as he continued to read the book. He’d been fed and managed to get some sleep but was still in a cell. Rory wondered what Amy thought happened to him and hoped that the Doctor would be able to track him down somehow. He smiled slightly imagining Amy walking in, with River at her side, taking out anyone between her and him.

The door to the room outside the glass opening interrupted Rory in the middle of a chapter. He let out an annoyed sigh, marking his place with the handy bookmark that was already inside the novel, placing it to one side before looking up at whoever had come in to annoy him some more.

“You’re the one I hit yesterday,” Rory noted seeing the tall man with perfect coiffed dark hair, looking like he stepped off the page of a magazine, “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

The other man gave a shrug, “I’m okay. I’m Ray,” he introduced himself, “And you’re using the name Rory just now, right?”

“I’m not using it,” Rory replied sharply, “It’s my name.”

Ray winced for a moment before he pulled a chair over and sat, “It’s not. Your name is Rip Hunter, although that’s not the name you had as a kid. You were originally called Michael but in order to become a Time Master, you had to change it, so you chose Rip.” He paused, for a moment before explaining, “Time Masters were at one point the supposed guardians of time. They raised you and until a few years ago you worked for them.”

Rory rolled his eyes but held his tongue for the moment knowing the more information he had the better.

“You saved a lot of lives making and stopping alterations to the timeline,” Ray continued, “Then your wife Miranda and son Jonas were killed by a man called Vandal Savage who it turned out was working with the Time Masters. You recruited us to stop them, which we managed to do, and we protect the timeline now.”

“My wife’s name is Amy,” Rory said softly, “And my daughter is called Melody. Both are perfectly fine. I have never heard of Time Masters and I have no idea who any of you are.”

Ray sighed annoyed but Rory was beginning to go over and over the idea of Time Masters. If these people had access to time travel, that would allow Rory a possible way to contact the Doctor.

“Rip,” Ray sighed, “I know things were bad between us all for a while, but you sacrificed yourself for us. The fact you survived is incredible and I can understand why you want to hide in this life you created for yourself after everything but it’s time to come home.”

Rory shook his head, “It’s a nice sentiment but no matter what you say, I am not and have never been Rip Hunter.”

Ray grimaced before he stood, for a moment Rory thought he was about to say something else before he simply walked out.

 “We can’t keep him locked in the cell,” Zari said as the team gathered in the library, “It’s not fair.”

“Don’t see why not,” Nate muttered.

“Because he isn’t a danger to us,” Zari reminded him sharply.

Ava frowned, “Tell that to Ray.”

“I’m fine,” Ray spoke up, “But he’s insistent he’s not Rip, and I think he’ll try to get off the ship any way he can.”

Sara sighed softly, “John is getting supplies to try the spell for returning Rip’s memories, until then he stays in the cell. I don’t like it either,” she stopped Zari arguing, “But it’s for his own protection and our safety. Rip, no matter what memories he holds, is still very smart and he could cause problems for us.”

“How long till John does the spell?” Jax asked.

Sara shrugged, “He said he had to collect some ingredients. I’m hoping he’ll be back soon.”

“What about Gideon?” Ray changed the subject, “Have we heard from Star Labs?”

With a smile, Sara replied, “Barry called earlier. Gideon is not only awake but is in good health and Dr Snow is just keeping her under observation for a few days.”

“That’s good,” Jax sighed in relief.

“For now,” Sara said, “We’re stuck here in Star City. So, you may as well visit family and friends or pick up some supplies you want. I will stay on the ship and keep an eye on Rip.”

“Are you sure?” Ava asked, “One of…”

“I’m sure,” Sara cut her off, “He’s my responsibility.”

 Rory looked round when the door opened again, wondering who was coming to persuade him he was someone else this time. A different blonde woman walked in, taller than Sara, and looked at him with distaste.

“I don’t know what your game is this time, Rip,” she said sharply, “But I know you’re making sure they let their guard down before you do whatever you’re planning.”

Rory stared at her for a minute before laughing, “You are crazier than the rest of them.”

“After what you did to me,” she snarled, “I know how untrustworthy you are.”

Letting out a sigh, Rory stood and moved to face her, “Look, whoever you are.”

“You know who I am,” she snapped.

“Whoever you are,” Rory repeated, “Your people abducted me. You all keep telling me I’m someone I’m not while holding me prisoner. Whatever issues you have with that guy, I know nothing about them and have nothing to do with them. Though I can offer the number of a good therapist for you to talk through whatever you need to.”

Anger flashing in her eyes, the woman leaned in and she stated darkly, “Even when you ‘get your memories back’” she put in the air quotes, “I will make sure you stay in this cell.”

With that said she turned, her hair flipping over her shoulder as she marched out. Just before the door closed, he clearly heard Sara’s voice demanding, “Ava, what are you doing?”

Sighing Rory sat and picked up his book again, he’d been here a day and as they’d used some kind of portal technology then Rory was sure the Doctor would be able to find him.

At least that was what he was telling himself.

[bbaronpiper]

Wake up call

Here’s another collab with @artsaree​. She’s amazing. you should definitely check out her writings.  So basically, we both wrote half of it . 

warnings: smut

Aron x Reader

my part

7:30 am. Your eyes shot open at the sound of your alarm you turned it off quickly but you still heard a low groan coming from the other side of the bed. You felt Arón stir a little but refused to open his eyes. You turn to face him and run a finger on his cheek. Savoring the few moments you have with your boyfriend. You slept last night without him. He was out partying with his friends. Again. You didn’t have a problem with it at first because you swore you’ll never be that type of girlfriend who controls and forbid their man on the things they want to do. Until recently, it became a habit of his.

“Morning, Baby” His voice was low and husky.      

You smiled at him in return, scooting closer. “Slept well?”

“Si” He said while rubbing his eyes. “Partying after spending whole day on set isn’t easy”

You bit the insides of your cheek to stop you from spitting the words. Arón must have noticed this since he then turned to lie on his back and exhales. Leaving your hand that was on his cheek to fall on his shoulder. “Do you have something to say Y/N?”

You leaned on your elbow trying to get him to look at you. Your hands travelled down to his chest “Don’t you think you’ve been partying a lot lately?”

“Mmm Don’t think so..” he shrugged still not looking at you.

“You’re barely home” you almost whispered not sure if you want to push this discussion.

“What do you mean Y/N? I’m always home” he then looked at you.

You were about to open your mouth to spill everything you’ve been feeling lately but then decided not to. He probably too tired for drama anyways.

“Come here” he motioned to you as he opened his arms. You complied and laid on his chest. “Te quiero.” He lifted your chin up and look at you deeply. “Don’t ever think otherwise. Even just for one second” stupid you, let your heart flutter at his words smiling up at him sweetly.

You splash cold water on your face to snap you out of your thoughts. You stare yourself at the mirror and saw your red and puffy eyes. You kept staring blinking rapidly trying to stop the tears from forming. You stood there for what felt like years before wiping your face with a clean towel. You held your breath one last time, tightly shut your eyes only to open them again, exhale and went out of the bathroom and into your shared bedroom.

2:40 am and he’s still not home. Why are you not surprised?

It was so obvious. Looking back now, you felt like a complete idiot blindsided by love. You should’ve seen it coming when he gave you that smile that didn’t reach his eyes anymore, the way your lips touched and moved in sync but the desire to have you was gone.

“Bet you couldn’t last a day without fucking me” you laughed as you teased him. You two just finished fucking and were now watching a movie when his hands travelled up to your thighs again.

“Is that a challenge?” he raised an eyebrow.

“Nahh, just stating facts” you then got this brilliant idea to get back at him for all those times he made you beg and tease you. You straddled him, bury your face onto his neck softly gliding your lips against his skin while your finger trace against his bare chest. You wore nothing but an oversized shirt of his. Nothing underneath so you’re pretty sure he felt how wet you are right now. Normally, this would work. Arón never declined sex.

“Bebe” you whispered to his ear seductively and nibbled on it after.

“Shhh!!! Here comes the best part!” his eyebrows furrowed as he pointed on the screen.

Oh this was gonna be hard. “So, you’re saying, you wouldn’t touch me even if I am naked?” he shrugged, his lips formed an inverted smile with his eyes still glued to the TV. You then took your shirt off. And you swore you heard a soft “damn” coming from him. You just wanted to mess with him, tease him but the feeling of his skin touching yours turned you on as you start grinding him through his boxers moaning close to his ear.

Nada. No emotions.

You sighed in frustration so you decided to take it to another level. You then turned your back at him leaning on his chest, you open your legs wide and draped your legs on his. You smirked as you can already feel his growing bulge against your ass.

“I hate to fuck myself but since my boyfriend’s ignoring me…. Oh well” you announced as your hand gripped his leg and your other hand start to play with your clit. Rubbing small circles and moaning softly at first. You can feel him shifting underneath you. you were surprised when he grabbed your waist and push you off of him and sat you on the side.

“Yo.. you’re b-blocking the view,Y/N” he said uneasy. His hands gripped his thigh and bit his lower lip way too hard for you not to know he’s about to give in.  

You scoffed at him “Oh it’s on!” you then place your left leg again on his right one and start to rub your clit faster than before making you moan so loud saying things like “Ohhh baby…” “Si, Arooonnn, si!” you’re so wet it made it easier to switch from rubbing your clit into inserting two fingers inside you. your other hand then reached for his growing bulge. He refused to touch you but you definitely wouldn’t refuse to touch him. You started palming him as you pleasure yourself earning a low growl from him. “Let me ride you baby”

You then suddenly felt his hand over yours, the one you had on your pussy and jerk it. “You drive me crazy”

  @artsaree​ /Sara’s part

He managed to push you away a little so he could finally flip you both over so he was now on top.

Smirking down at you he pulled down his pants, making his hard dick slap against his lower stomach.

„Open up.“

You bit your lip and jerked your head back to give him easier access to hover over your face. Slowly he slid his dick in your welcoming mouth, making both of you moan out softly.

„Mhm just like that.“ he groaned and held onto the wall for support as you were sucking his tip seductively.

„Take it.“ he suddenly spoke and pushed his length into your mouth. It was always a little hard for you to fit all of him in your little mouth but he still made sure you were okay.

There was still a little space left so you nodded at him to tell him he could push his entire dick in your mouth.

„Dont want you to gag, u know that.“ he just mumbled but did as you told him and he slid his cock deeper.

„Ah fuck.“ he groaned and threw his head back in pleasure.

You could feel tears building up, he seemed to notice too because he pulled out completely. You swallowed and took a deep breath. „You good?“ he spoke but you just replied by bringing his tip back to your lips.

„Mh good girl.“ he moaned out as you kitten licked his tip.

„On your stomach babygirl.“ he groaned after you had sucked on his tip for a bit.

He got off of you and stood up to get a condom from the drawer.

Meanwhile you lied down on your naked stomach and waited for him.

„Open your legs for papi.“ he growled as you felt a harsh smack on your left ass cheek. That made you moan out in pain but it also felt good. It wasnt hardcore pain, but you did know it would leave a spot.

You opened your legs and lifted your hips up a little.

„Yes good.“ you heard his deep voice behind you.

Arón grabbed a pillow and placed it under your hips for support. „Ready for my cock honey?“ he asked.

„Yes papi.“ you moaned as a response before he slowly slid his hard cock into your trembling pussy. „Ah fuck you‘re always so tight.“ he whispered and grabbed your hips roughly.

Without hesitation he started slamming into you as if there was no tomorrow. With harsh thrusts he kept hitting your g-spot, making your eyes roll back and your mouth fall open.

Arón was moaning loudly as you could already feel him getting closer.

He changed his angle a little by aiming higher, laying down on your butt.

„Babe.“ he growled and suddenly grabbed you by your hair.

He he never done that before.

And he knew you didnt like it since your head was sensitive.

But that moment you were so turned on, you didnt even think of stopping his actions.

Arón fucked you roughly and fast while you were moaning out his name or cursed. You could hear him panting against your back.

„Im coming baby.“ he groaned and slammed into you with no mercy. You couldnt keep it any longer either.

Two last thrusts and he had you coming for him. Your body started shaking as your orgasm went through your body like lightening.

„Yes baby come on.“ he smacked your butt once again until he came as well. „Fuck yes.“ he almost screamed and jerked your head up on your hair.

It hurt but you were too concentrated on your own orgasm you didnt realize.

Your back was up against his chest while his cock was twitching in you, spilling his cum into the condom.

„Ah fuck.“ he breathed out as he calmed down from his intense orgasm.

You were pretty exhausted too and just expected him to cuddle you and finish the movie but he suddenly whispered:“On your back.“

You were confused but followed his commands and lied down.

„Put your arms behind your back. No touching until I come back.“

By nodding you agreed and he left the room without saying any more.

You waited patiently for him to come back and it was really hard not to touch yourself. You just came, yes, but your clit hadnt gotten any of his attention yet. And usually he ate you out before sex or at least rubbed your clit while he was fucking you.

It took him about 5 minutes to finally return to the bedroom, he was now wearing jeans, but his upper body was still exposed.

„Did you touch yourself baby?“

You shook your head truthfully and spoke:“No I didnt.“

-„Promise?“ he asked and stood in front of the bed looking at you.

„I promise daddy.“

He nodded and finally climbed inbetween your legs.

„Good girl.“

He spread your legs carefully before finally attaching his lips to your thighs, placing soft kisses everywhere.

This boy could really fuck you rough and tell you you‘re his baby a second later.

Your hands were still behind your back, just as he had told you to, while his tongue was tracing circles on your thighs and lower stomach.

„Arón.“ you moaned out, seeking pleasure.

He loved being called daddy or papi, but hearing you say his name was his biggest turn on. He loved your voice, and when it said his given name he got reminded how much he loves you really.

„You sure you deserve this for being such a bitch to me before?“ he played.

„Arón please.“ you exclaimed and looked down at him.

He was just laying there, looking up at you, no part of his body touching yours anymore.

„You know what. Nah. Maybe tomorrow.“

[bnha-scenarios]

Okay, so, first thing first. The second half of September and the whole October has been a wild ride.

Apparently this game blew up on TikTok (and probably some other platform or something?), and now I could see that��there are tons of you who downloaded the game. That's just... so... unreal, at least to me. I didn't think this project would get so much attention. Even now, I’m still waiting to wake up from this dream 🙃

Anyway, if you’re new here: welcome! Sit back and relax, ‘cause this is gonna be a long ride!

I want to take this opportunity to say that due to the amount of comments, especially on itch.io page and my Tumblr, I won’t be always replying personally one by one to everyone anymore. I'll still try my best to answer questions and all, but I think by now everyone's common questions should already be answered in the FAQ page. So, moving forward, questions I have already answered inside that page will be ignored.

Still, I want you to know that I do read and treasure every single one of your comments. Thank you so much for your encouraging words, support, and suggestions! I'm sorry I can’t reply to those writing in languages other than English and Indonesian. While I can throw simple comments into Google Translate, every now and then the translator butchers long sentences and gives me garbled translation which I can't understand 😥

  ☕️ Special Thanks ☕️ 

I'd like to also take this chance to say, many, many thanks for the coffee, you all amazing, generous people:

M.L. | Dominique | Genki | Sara | 1 Anon

Even in this hard time, you’re all so kind. Again, I can’t really do much, but as my way of thanking you, your names will be put under Special Thanks in the game ♡ 

Alright, now, to the real essence of this post: progress update.

My work had been pretty demanding nearing the end of this month, and it made me get really sick of doing coding in general. Still, there is some progress on the game, and that’s good enough for me!

More details below ↓

Character Sheet: You / Player / Main Character

Before I get to anything else, let’s talk about ‘you’ first, shall we?

Although the main character's name is changeable, if you don’t wish to pick a name for them, ‘Suzuki Kaede’ is set as the default name.

Why Suzuki? I figured I would just take from one of the most common Japanese surnames.

Why Kaede? I chose it because I wanted a common Japanese unisex name, because the main character themselves is supposed to be gender neutral. So, the name came up as one of the results in Google, it has a somewhat nice and neutral meaning (maple), and I find that it sounds pretty nice, I decided to use it.

To reiterate, throughout the game, I try my best to not mention any physical characteristics and avoid elements which leans heavily to a specific gender in the story. All the characters in the game will also call you with your last name, and only neutral suffix (-san) is used at first. But you could get an event where you would be able to pick how the love interest will call the player, starting from that point in the story (on top of neutral options, there will be choices with gender-specific suffixes which you could pick if you want to). Other than that, all characters will always refer to the MC as ‘they/them’.

Now, moving on to the thing which people has asked about -- the player's Quirk. Here's a text version in case you couldn't see it in the image above for some reason:

What happens when a woman with Enhanced Learning quirk and a man with Camera Vision procreates? A child with exemplary learning ability and a pair of exceptionally observant eyes, apparently! The hereditary Vision you got from your father enables you to focus or scan an object or landscapes. With all the cues and information from your eyes, it seems that you're able to analyze and 'see' particular details of your object of interest in the form of numerical data. Due to the mainly passive nature of your quirk, you have to rely on the traditional weapons for offense, which might not be useful at all depending on your opponent's quirk. It's a plain and nonoffensive ability which isn’t so suited for a hero according to most people, but whatever - you’ll show those noobs the power of a gamer!

In other words, the information in 'Stats',  ' Weapon Proficiency', 'Special Moves', and even the 'Affection' meter, are actually part of the MC's Quirk. This also means, the more you hone your Quirk, the more it could affect your gameplay. I'll talk about that on the Gameplay section below.

There is one thing that’s kind of related to the MC's Quirk and I wanted to clarify. Bakugou did call you this in the demo, and yep, you might have guessed it: “crosshair eyes”. Reticle, crosshair, whatever you want to call it -- it’s that symbol you usually see in the center of your screen whenever you play FPS games. This is the only physical feature of the player's character that I specified (and yes, canonically, Hatsume has a pair of similar looking eyes in the original work). In relation to this, the icon for ‘activating’ your Quirk matches the same symbol.

Gameplay

Introducing: Stats, Special Moves, and Video Games!

Stats

There are 5 basic Stats for all of the characters in the game (brownie points if you recognize where they're taken from!): Speed, Technique, Power, Intelligence, Cooperativeness.

Your own Stats start off low, but you will be able to increase it by doing various activities, such as studying, playing games, winning on Heroics lessons, going to certain places, etc. Different activities raises different Stat, and you're free to choose which particular Stat you want to develop.

What are Stats being used for?

Certain Stat will increase a certain character’s affection, though it won’t be as much as if you hang out with that character.

There are certain places which you can only unlock when a specific Stat reaches a certain point. I’ll talk about hang out places and characters’ schedules in another post.

Weekly one-on-one training matches in Heroics lessons will test a specific Stat or Special Moves each time. Depending on who you chose to become your opponent, that specific Stat will determine the outcome of that match. On one hand, winning these matches can increase your Stat, but on the other hand, there are also special events you could possibly unlock when you lose. Again, I’ll probably talk more in detail about this in another post, since I still don't have the coding part down, so things might change.

Special Moves

Every hero has a Special Move in this universe, and so does the player’s character! While they might not be as flashy as All Might’s iconic United States of Smash, some of your Special Moves will have a direct effect on the gameplay. For example, a certain Special Move could unlock more answer choices for certain scenarios. Another Special Move could be activated to give you hints on how many affection points will be added to a character for the available choices.

You have a total of 5 unlockable Special Moves, and it will be up to you to use this feature: do you spend your time trying to unlock all of it in hope to make your gameplay easier, or ignore them completely in favor of balancing your Stats while pursuing the affection of your chosen love interest? It’s your choice!

(More brownie points for you if you got the reference in that picture lol)

Another use for Special Moves would be in the Heroics lessons, seeing as it might test how your Special Move fares against the opponent you picked.

Video Games

I would say that this particular element plays quite a big role in this game, since the MC learns and develops themselves by playing games. While you do have a set of games which you’ve owned, you’re able to purchase new games from the Video Game store. I would recommend doing this, as there are some neat ones which will help you greatly in your playthrough. But if you're not interested to explore them, that's fine too!

Each video game has a different effect, and it’s up to you to discover them! Or, perhaps, you could unlock a Special Move that allows you to know what effect each of the game has? 😉

What are Video Games being used for?

Most games will only increase specific Stat(s), but there are also others that can unlock Special Moves.

There is one game which helps you to unlock Stats or Special Moves of your classmates, which you can use in the Heroics lesson to pick a suitable opponent based on your current Stats.

In addition to all that, there are 2P games which require more than one person to play, and you could play them with your romance target when they’re available. On top of building your Cooperativeness, choosing the right answers during the gaming session will increase that character's affection.

Others

The basic functions behind some activities like studying, buying video games, and playing video games are done. I will probably move on to code the functions handling the Heroics lesson’s battles and the behind-the-scenes of when the player chooses to go to certain places.

I've also finished the two main custom screens, which is the Quirk and Games page. If I have time and the motivation, I'm guessing I'll be adding the two other additional screens I had thought of doing. We'll see.

Assets

This part is my nightmare, because I’m a perfectionist who’s far too picky when gathering resources…

But no assets = no game, so I did find several assets which I did like. This includes backgrounds, audios, background musics, and some sprites I was planning to use for developing the phone call function. I’m not going to list down all the things I found here, because I don’t think any of you would be interested in a long-ass list, but here’s an amazing background picture which I stumbled upon searching the dark abyss that is the internet:

Full credits to the artist: https://arsenixc.artstation.com/

Writing

I would have to say there isn't too much progress on this side yet, but I did decide on some story elements I want to insert into the game and scripted in a few scenes for the first day. I also managed to code in the dialogs for some common activities / places, like the video game store and a small part of school lunch time.

Honestly, I should probably create a sheet to identify how many scenes I would have to write? So all of us know the progress for this part of the development? ..... Let's see how it goes when my OCD flares up...

Disclaimers

All assets included in the devlogs are not mine, and credits to the asset owners / websites will be included in the game! My Hero Academia / Boku no Hero Academia ⓒ Horikoshi Kouhei

[greggodna]

Thoughts on CSI 9x5 GSR??

@4-ever-young recently messaged me to talk about CSI Episode 9x5: Leave Out All the Rest and what the ending of the episode might imply about the GSR relationship. They’re looking for more info and have given me permission to post our conversation. 

Here’s the question: In the final scene, between Grissom and Lady Heather, what really happens? How can you leave such a scene with a question mark. All this, for me, created a stain in the relationship between Grissom and Sara. It is possible that no author, writer, or creator himself has ever revealed something about that scene? Only on a CSI forum did I read about a response from David Rambo to an e-mail from a fan on the issue of episode 9x05, categorically replying "no, because we're discussing it, he (Grissom) is with Sara now". What do you think of that scene? Not having certainty, I lost a bit the desire to watch the show, because I see that scene as a stain in the relationship between Grissom and Sara. William Petersen has said several times that Grissom never slept with Heather. Do you know if no author, writer, or creator himself has ever revealed something about that scene? 

My shortened answer: I don’t think Grissom slept with Lady Heather. As for the creators’ intensions.. I’m not sure. I’m not super deep in the GSR fandom so I don’t know where to look for those kinds of answer. But it’s possible no one wrote it with a specific answer in mind. William Petersen was a producer on the show and I’m sure he had a lot of input in the writing of scenes, especially the ones with him in them. If he says that Grissom didn’t sleep with her I think that’s a pretty good answer.

So, CSI Fandom, what do we know/think of the end of 9x5?

Here’s my extended answer under the cut (I rambled for a bit): 

I will say, I am no expert on gsr by any means, though they were my original OTP of the show. (Now I really focus on shipping Nick x Greg haha…) Okay, episode 9x5: Leave Out All the Rest… I did re-watch this episode a couple of months ago. I’m going to ramble, so just stay with me. The scene at the end is really interesting to me. I like that Lady Heather tries to explain why Grissom is there. She thinks he comes to her/her house because it is the only place that doesn’t remind him of Sara. And that’s pretty understandable. Lady Heather and Sara are very different in some ways but are also similar in other ways. I think Grissom is drawn to her because she is so confident in who she is and what she does. She seems to understand him more than he understands himself. I think this at first unnerved him but he also kind of likes it. He’s not great at communicating so it’s easier for him to have relationships (platonic or otherwise) with those that don’t have to question his thoughts and feelings all the time. He and Sara have been in a relationship for a long time now. Years. When she left it obviously upset him but I don’t think he found a way to really process his emotions. We see them trying to maintain contact. Sara comes back for Warrick’s funeral and stays with him for a little. But clearly has been some strain on their relationship since she left. And we see that flashback again of Grissom watching that video from Sara. She explains that she’s been waiting for him to make a decision about their relationship. They’ve been stuck in limbo pretty much. And Sara finally says that by Grissom not making any move to further their relationship, he has effectively decided to end it. We get that conversation them between Lady Heather and Grissom where she is basically giving him free therapy. She sense that his relationship with Sara is over despite him not saying that. What should strike us as interesting is that Lady Heather repeats pretty much the same wording as Sara regarding Grissom not making a decision. As for us speculating about what happens when he asks Lady Heather to stay and the door closes… Well, I don’t see Grissom as someone who seeks sexual intimacy for comfort. I think if anything he seeks more intellectual intimacy. Or maybe just someone to sit next to, lie next to. Earlier in the series, in 7x21: Happy Endings, we get this conversation between Grissom and Sara:  Grissom: Sex without love is pointless. It makes you sad.  Sara: Well, I’m pretty sure I don’t make you sad. Grissom: No. You make me happy.  So, I really don’t see Grissom sleeping with Lady Heather. I don’t think he loves her, or don’t think that he loves her in that way. He cares for her, sure, but I just do not think he slept with her. Of course, this is open to interpretation and I’m sure other fans have a lot to say about it!

[raywritesthings]

Sharing Space, Sharing Sleep

My Writing Fandom: Arrow Characters: Laurel Lance, Oliver Queen Pairing: Laurel Lance/Oliver Queen Summary: Laurel and Oliver spend a night in the bunker. *Can be read on AO3, link is in bio*

The problem with a secret basement floor that was only accessible from the elevator was that it was only accessible if the elevator worked. And sometimes that just didn’t happen.

She really wished it had decided to stop working after she and Ollie had gone home for the night, though.

“Still nothing?”

Laurel watched as Oliver prodded the button again with his finger while she held her phone flashlight aloft for him to see. The button didn’t even light to indicate the elevator had been called. “Nope.”

“Okay. Do we want to try the circuit breaker in case it’s not the storm? What are our options?”

“It’s definitely the storm,” Oliver decided. And he was right, probably, but she frowned anyway. “I can try prying the elevator doors open, going through the ceiling hatch and using a grapple arrow to get up to the doors on the first floor.”

“You wouldn’t have anywhere to stand to get leverage to pry those open,” she pointed out. “And didn’t Cisco add that magnetized thing to the doors after Curtis came down here?”

“Right. So they’re not gonna open without the access code, which we can’t enter in without power.” He backed away from the elevator, hands resting at his waist. “Sometimes there’s such a thing as too much security.”

“Curtis,” she repeated, and in the limited light from the phone, she saw his grimace. Laurel checked it. “Well, it looks like the cell towers are down, so no chance of calling for a rescue. I’m also on 32% battery.”

“You can shut it off,” he told her. “We’ll be fine.”

She wondered if there had been nights on the island spent in pitch blackness because a fire wasn’t possible. In any case, he was right; it was just the two of them down here, so they were perfectly safe. Laurel shut off her phone and followed the sound of his footsteps and the shadowy outline of his broad back towards the center of the room. It would be best to sit down and get comfortable. Who knew how long they would be stuck without power? The storm had gotten quite intense before they’d been forced to head in from patrol, and if a power line was down it wasn’t likely to get fixed very quickly on Christmas Eve when most people were at home enjoying time with loved ones.

Neither Laurel or Oliver had had that on their agenda for the evening. Sara was still away with the Legends, and she hadn’t seen her mother since last spring and her dad’s funeral. Oliver, on the other hand, had no plans since Thea had gone away to meet Roy for the holidays and Felicity had Hanukkah plans with Detective Malone. It had given John the night off to be with his wife and twins, so really they were doing a good deed rather than simply distracting themselves from their relatively empty personal lives.

Her boot connected with the step up onto the platform, and Laurel stumbles a little, only for Oliver’s arms to catch and steady her.

“You alright?”

“Yeah, just came a little sooner than I thought.” She forced an easy smile, not sure why she bothered since he couldn’t see it, and reluctantly pulled away from his hold. Laurel felt along the table’s edge until she reached one of the chairs pushed into it and pulled it back out to take a seat. “Well.”

“Well,” Oliver echoed, by the sounds of it sitting not quite across from her several feet away in his own chair.

She tried to think of something, anything to say. There was a bubble of nerves in her gut that wouldn’t let her focus. It had always been that way with Ollie. Sometimes more intense, sometimes less. Lately, it had been more.

She told herself several times a day that it didn’t matter that he was single and had been for months, that the two of them were working together better than ever in both the field and their professional careers. He didn’t have any sort of feelings for her anymore, and if she ever indicated she did for him, it would only make things strained between them again. And she didn’t want that.

It wouldn’t be good for them or for the continued protection of the city if the specter of her feelings started hanging between them again. Though as she thought about their current situation, she couldn’t help a small snort leaving her.

“Something funny?” Oliver asked.

“Not exactly. Just thinking, you know, what all the criminals would say if they could see us now… trapped in our own base.”

There was a pause, then Oliver let out his own low chuckle. “Yeah, they’d consider that their Christmas gift, probably.”

“Hm.” Laurel looked down. “You know, it’s sad, but I can’t actually remember the last Christmas present I’ve given anyone? I guess I’m kind of a Scrooge.”

“You didn’t have a lot of reasons to celebrate the last several,” Oliver pointed out. “I’m not doing any better on that front than you. At least you saved all our lives last year.” He was silent for a moment, then she heard him ask, “What was the last thing I ever got you?”

A kiss on the cheek, she thought, the memory of it vivid enough it felt imprinted. Though she quickly realized the next-closest answer wasn’t any better. So she lied. “Uh, you know, it was so long ago I don’t know if I remember.”

“Ow,” Oliver replied. “Okay, maybe it was a while ago, but you kind of have to discount five of those years.”

“True.”

“And 2006 isn’t — it’s a decade. That’s not so long when you cut that in half,” he continued to excuse. “What did I get you that year? I could swear — wait, was it…” He trailed off, probably realizing he’d just stepped on a metaphorical land mine.

“A black lace nightie?” Laurel finished for him. “Yeah.”

“Right.”

She could remember it perfectly. Opening it in his room on Christmas Eve ten years ago. He’d told her she wouldn’t want to wait for Christmas Day in front of her family with such mischief in his eyes she’d known it had to be something risqué. The blush that had risen to her cheeks as she’d taken it out of the box, the way he’d licked his lips as she held it up to herself. She’d felt powerful and desired and more like a woman then than she’d had before, and she hadn’t wasted time making use of his gift.

“I don’t have it anymore,” she told him, the bluntness helping tear herself out of those recollections before she went too far. “I think I burned it in 2010.”

“Hm.”

“I probably was drunk and hating your guts,” she confessed. It was somehow both better and worse that she couldn’t see his face right now.

“Well, here’s to neither of those things being true anymore,” Oliver said, and the cheer in his tone didn’t sound too forced.

“Definitely,” she agreed. They lapsed into a silence that somehow wasn’t unbearable. She supposed they’d been through all of that together once and reminiscing on it wasn’t going to be worse than living it.

The temperature had to have been falling all the while since the power failed, but it was becoming noticeable now. Laurel folded her arms over her chest and did her best not to shiver.

“Any idea what time it is?”

“It was past two when we got back from patrol, I think,” Oliver answered.

Laurel nodded, then her mouth opened in a yawn. “Pretty late. We’re probably sleeping down here.”

“Yeah.” She heard him shift, then ease up from the chair. By now she could make out a solid outline of him even in the darkness. “We’ve got the medical cot. You can have that. I’ll use one of the tables.”

She frowned and stood as well. “Ollie, you’re not using one of the tables.”

“Why not?”

“They’re not beds, for one thing.” She reaches out and touched one of the metal surfaces, immediately drawing her hand away. “Also, they’re freezing.”

“I’m not cold.”

“Well, I am,” she insisted. “You’ll be freezing by the morning if you sleep on one of these.” It was just science, hard-earned island skills or no. He couldn’t stop a metal table from leeching the heat from his body.

“Then what do you suggest?” He asked, his arms lifting and falling.

She was stumped for a moment. They only had the one medical cot — really, they ought to think about investing in another one in case more than one of them was injured. But for now… “We’ll have to share.”

“You and me?” He asked. It didn’t sound disgusted, at least, just uncertain. “We might break it.”

Laurel shook her head. “These things have weight capacities of 500, 600 pounds usually. We’ll be fine.”

“Will we fit?” He asked next.

“I think we can make it work.” She motioned with her arm for him to follow her down to the cot. Laurel pulled the blankets back, then gestured for him to get on.”

“Ladies first?”

“Ollie, it’s gonna be way easier for me to try fitting around you than vice versa.”

“Fair enough.” He hesitated, then bent down to unlace his boots, climbing in and shifting as far to the other side as possible, his back to the railing.

Laurel kicked off her own boots, then climbed in as well. It was a little awkward, and she teetered on her knees for a moment.

His hands reached out to hold her hips and steady her, and Laurel sucked in a breath. “Thanks,” she managed.

“No problem.”

Laurel shifted so that she was lying down. They were a little bulky up top, so she unzipped her coat and shrugged it off, laying it on top of the blanket. Oliver did likewise. Then she drew the blanket up and settled down on her side, her back to Oliver’s chest.

How many times had they laid like this? Well, not really like this. Laurel had never done everything she could to remain as far forward as possible so that they were just barely touching; Oliver had never held his arms ramrod straight at his sides in a way that had to be uncomfortable.

Laurel thought for a moment, then looked over her shoulder. “Hey, Ollie?”

“Yeah?”

“Merry Christmas, okay?”

She thought she could just make out the curve of his smile in the dark. His left arm shifted off his leg to brush against her back as he moved it to curl over his chest. “Merry Christmas, Laurel.”

She smiled back and faced forward again, letting her eyes close. It was strange, knowing they were in a bed together again after how many years, but comforting. Familiar. Safe. So her breathing evened out, and she drifted off to sleep.

---

Oliver had been cold, even if he hadn’t wanted to admit it. That much was obvious when he awoke to find he had wrapped himself around every bit of Laurel he could possibly reach like an amorphous heat-seeking amoeba.

Or maybe it was just her.

He’d missed this feeling. Her slow, even breathing, the smell of her hair where his nose was pressed into her neck, the curves of her body only accentuated with the muscle tone she’d developed in the years since they’d last been this close. A voice in the back of his head that had grown louder and louder over the last several months couldn’t help asking why he’d ever let the distance come between them, how he couldn’t have realized the good thing they’d had.

One of her legs had snuck between his, and her right hand resting on his thigh. At least this hadn’t just been his doing. Beyond their tangled pile of limbs and blankets, Oliver could tell the base was just as frigid as it had been growing the previous night, but he could scarcely recall feeling warmer than now.

There was a low hum, and then the lights and computers kicked back on at full brightness. Laurel startled, groaned, then turned roughly in his embrace to bury her head into his chest. He couldn’t quite stop a fond chuckle from escaping, even though he knew making her aware of their current situation was perhaps not the best idea.

Sure enough, she froze before slowly lifting her head. Her hair was half-falling in her face, and he couldn’t think of anything for a moment except how adorable that was.

“Um… morning.”

“Morning,” he greeted back. “Christmas morning, actually.”

“Right.” Laurel looked back, one of her hands bracing against his chest for a moment. “I guess we’re free, huh?”

“Most likely.”

Neither of them moved for a moment. Then, her lips pressed together and her head ducked, Laurel slowly withdrew her leg and clambered off the hospital bed. Oliver did his best not to let his face fall and rolled to the other side to get out as well.

“Sorry about, uh,” Laurel was saying, her one arm gesturing to the bed as if her words were failing her, which was a rarity. “It’s really cold down here.”

“I’ll buy you a black lace parka for next year,” he offered before he could rethink it. He was terrible at joking around, what had made him throw that out there?

Laurel scoffed, her head shaking, but her lips were undeniably drawn back in a smile. Oliver couldn’t hide a relieved and slightly proud grin at the sight, which pulled a short giggle from her as well.

It was thrilling to know that he could still be the one to bring this side out of her. It made his heart lighter in a way his favorite holiday hadn’t for a while now.

“Tell you what,” she said, slowly walking around the bed to his side. “I can’t think of anything to get you, so consider this an IOU.” Laurel rose onto her tiptoes and brushed his cheek with her lips. Goosebumps that had nothing to do with the temperature broke out all down his arms, and every hair on his body seemed to stand up straight. “Merry Christmas, Ollie.”

He had to clear his throat for a moment to make a reliable sound. “Merry Christmas.”

Laurel smiled again, then grabbed her coat and threw it around her shoulders, striding for the elevator. She hit the button and stepped inside when the door opened.

Oliver remained where he was, a goofy smile spreading across his face. Not exactly their shared Christmas from a decade ago, but he could remember now why he enjoyed the holiday with Laurel so much.