#i was expecting to connect mostly with danny while watching the show

[chef-alta]

That line when Amy says she hopes that Junie inherits the best parts of George and only the 'salvageable' parts of herself has been haunting me for the past three days

the way she thinks so little of her own redeeming qualities, seeing them only as 'salvageable' just

[ekat-fandom-blog]

Personal canons are the canon everyone has created based on the canon and fanon content they've consumed.

Expansion not necessary. I just wanted to add my thoughts.

1. Examples range from wanting to wrap his drinks in a web before drinking them to wanting to fall asleep curled up in the back corner of his closet. No, it doesn't matter which Spider-Man.

2. This one is just my perception of the two. There's nothing I can actually tell you about this other than the vibes seem to match.

3. The headcanon of Poison Ivy eating mostly meat is fun. (Not fully carnivore because I think she'd also eat plants because it's necessary to eat both to be a healthy human and can be healthy for the environment if done in moderation). I decided to combine it with Danny Phantom for this because I haven't seen anyone do it before. So, Ivy being mostly carnivorous and Sam being ultra-recyclo-vegetarian would be appalled at each others diets.

4. Cyborg's connected to a supercomputer created by a more scientifically advanced society, while Barbara is a human (I specified her because she's the best Bat at hacking.) Her being the best hacker in the universe is a stretch at best. There's gotta be computer languages she's unable to decipher because it's so different to any on earth. (I don't think anyone from earth should be able to hack cyborg or the mother/father boxes.) If your supercomputer can be hacked by the equivalent of a preteen with a 2010 samsung who doesn't even recognise the coding language you used, then you didn't create a supercomputer. (Mother/father boxes are sentient, autonomous computers btw.)

5. Young Justice was good. Great. It just seemed to stop caring as much about having the new audience learn about the characters after season 2. I wouldn't know who Razer is if I didn't watch Green Lantern: The Animated Series. I stopped having emotional connections with the characters by season 4 and they stopped wrapping up storylines in an emotionally fulfilling manor after season 2. As someone who never read any comic books except for Spider-man/Deadpool and a few green lantern ones and one batman and spider-man crossover, I don't care about the characters they shove into the show and expect everyone to care about.

6. I get it. The "he won't stop if he does it once" was only in one comic (apparently) and the comic was written by someone that (apparently) most of the fandom doesn't like. I don't care. Every reason he has for not killing is valid and coexists. He collects reasons to not kill like it's gold and he's a dragon. The only reason that is invalid and can't coexist is that he doesn't care enough about the people that could get hurt or killed to permanently stop people like Joker, Bane, or Scarecrow.

7. It makes sense if they were the two to get touch starved easily. Dick grew up in a circus where everyone was presumably pretty tight knit and Tim grew up in a home where appearance mattered more than feelings. But also they happen to be the characters I like to torture.

8. Strange is petty and I 100% believe that Tony started it. (Stephen is finishing it though.)

9. Freddy Freeman can't walk without crutches and flies in the comics. (I haven't read them, tho) I feel like it's erasing disabled peoples' struggles when they just give him the ability to walk in his hero form. Let him be a little flying guy who never touches the ground.

10. It's a comic thing again. I just think it's more interesting. (I found pages of captain marvel comics in google images and tumblr.)

[satans-helper]

Smother the Flame in Your Heart - Part I

Pairing: Danny Wagner x Sam Kiszka

Word Count: ~5000

Warnings: slash & smut & vampirism [slight body worshiping; oral sex; rimming; fingering; anal sex; slight non-con; blood] 18+ only!

A/N: HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! I've never written any vampire fan fiction before so I really hope you enjoy. Poor Danny. I hadn't fully intended to make this into a series but it kept flowing, so be on the look out for future chapters ;)

You can also read on AO3 and wattpad

---

Danny knew that even if they weren’t trapped in a crowded nightclub together, he still would have been able to smell that pretty thing from a mile away. The stranger was intoxicating, giving off a strong aroma of ocean salt, summer greenery and sage mixed with the natural sweat that was even more mouth-watering than the rest. There was alcohol in that sweat too, Danny could tell, and lots of it, and then the overwhelming allure from the smell of his blood, iron-rich and strong, coursing through those veins. It was a lot to take in even from afar; it made all of his senses tingle with anticipation. 

Danny was still sober, slowly sipping on his drink while he’d been scouting, observing. He hadn’t expected to find anyone of interest, actually, so the fact that someone so beautiful and so delicious smelling had appeared before him was the best Halloween treat he could think of. This young man was too tempting to take his eyes away from even for a second. He’d have to do something about this.

Sam, waiting at the bar for another drink to hopefully cure his petulant woes, knew that if Josh and Jake hadn’t dragged him out to this Halloween club night he’d be having more fun smoking a bong and watching horror movies at home. He wasn’t in the mood to dance with strangers he couldn’t even clearly see. Nearly everyone had taken the costume memo seriously and he found himself surrounded by various pop culture icons, monsters, animals and professionals gone sexy or just gone really weird. Feeling defiant, he’d neglected to show up in any sort of costume no matter how much his brothers begged him to do otherwise. 

At least it was Josh’s tab that was open so Sam didn’t have to pay for his own subpar time. When his next drink finally appeared before him, he slunk back against the counter to take in the too-loud, too-obnoxious thumping beat and the sea of people before him. 

Danny was watching all of it from his dark corner at the far end of the bar. He watched how that gorgeous young man stirred the ice around in his drink before taking a sip; the points of his cupid’s bow rising as his lips parted to take a sip; the slight sheen of sweat on his face from the heat and humidity caused by everyone else being cramped in together. When his target stepped forward and to the side, beginning to weave through the crowd, Danny followed, curious, wanting and hungry. 

Thank god for the small but mostly empty patio out back. Sam breathed in the cleaner, cooler air and reached into his jacket for the little cardboard pack that contained three cigarettes and one hefty joint, opting for the joint. As he was lighting it, inhaling and looking from the cracked concrete to the string lights shaped like little white ghosts, the back door opened again. 

Well. Sam’s eyebrows rose on their own accord while he looked his new patio buddy over–at least he was in good, hot company. And this guy wasn’t in a costume either, just in jeans and a black tee, a well-loved suede jacket over top. That allowed for an instant connection in Sam’s mind, so he extended the joint out and asked, “Want a hit?”

He was even more enticing close up and under some light, Danny thought, looking Sam over just as Sam was doing the same to him. “Sure. Thanks,” Danny said, taking the joint and making a point to not show how much the slight brush of Sam’s fingers affected him. Not even the scent of weed could overpower the scent that emanated off him either, Danny noted, and as he took a puff, he could taste the drink that was on those soft pink lips.

“No costume,” Sam observed out loud, leaning back against the wooden fence surrounding the patio. Wow, he’d hit the jackpot even if this ended up just being an opportunity for eye candy. Whoever this guy was, he was a stunner–those strong, dark features drew Sam right in, especially the long, thick rivers of dark curls laced with bronze and gold. And when the guy looked right at him, Sam could clearly see the long, feathery black lashes that fluttered above complex, glittering irises. 

Sam almost never felt ordinary, but he did a little bit standing there next to the sexy, mysterious stranger. But then when his new friend smiled in response at Sam’s observation, he could see extra-sharp canines in that mouth. “Oh wait,” he said with a laugh. “A vampire?”

Danny hadn’t actually intended Sam to notice his teeth, as stupid as that may have been. He’d been relying on the dim lighting and this guy’s own inebriation to maintain his stealth. “Kind of?” he offered, handing the joint back. Well, he was in it now, he thought, and pulled back his upper lip to show off one fang. Sam leaned in close to look, inspecting, and when Danny relaxed his mouth again he said, “All I got is the teeth. Forgot to complete the look, I guess.”

“Wow,” Sam said, still staring, eyes fixated on Danny’s mouth. “They look so real.” He took a hit and kept his eyes on him, fascination growing as the alcohol grew stronger in his blood and the weed made a little crawl into his brain. When he exhaled he asked, “You used glue or something?”

Danny chuckled. “Or something. Yeah.” He tilted his head, looking his fellow patio buddy up and down, innocent from an outside perspective but silently undressing Sam in his mind. He could see it so perfectly–the long, lean body spread out against his sheets, head thrown back to leave the tan, smooth throat exposed. When the joint was passed back to him, Danny asked, “You don’t like dressing up for Halloween?”

Sam snorted a little. “Not really. I feel too old for it.” 

Danny inspected Sam further from behind the curl of dense smoke in front of his face. “You’re never too old for Halloween. It’s fun.”

That made Sam laugh a little, the irony of another wet blanket telling him he was never too old to dress up and play games. “I guess not. I think I’d just rather be doing something else tonight,” he said, and he saw how Danny’s eyes zeroed in on him even harder somehow. Sam took the joint back, hit it hard, coughed into his elbow, then asked, “What’s your name anyway?”

“Danny.” 

“I’m Sam.” Sam passed the joint back for Danny to get the last hit while he nabbed his drink. He was feeling too warm for being underdressed in the cold air, suddenly flustered because his new friend was making no move to hint at an exit plan. He also wouldn’t take his eyes off Sam for a single second, not even when the three people behind them finished their cigarettes and all migrated to the back door. 

“So what would you rather be doing right now?” Danny asked, definitely not willing to leave that question in the past. It was a perfect opportunity if Sam were interested, and Danny was pretty sure that he was.

Sam slurped the rest of his drink into watery ice at the bottom of the glass. “I’m open to suggestions,” he said, setting it back down on the table next to him. “If you have anything in mind.”

-

The night was going better than Sam could have ever expected. He was half-naked in a king-sized bed with Danny on top of him, also shirtless and evidently just as eager, being worshiped, essentially. Sam couldn’t think of another word for what was happening. Danny was kissing him deeply, intentionally, while his hands roamed all over slowly and with the same intent, like he was searching and wanting to discover something and it was driving Sam wild. It wasn’t often he got to be such a pillow princess. 

Sam’s bare skin felt so good beneath Danny’s hands, as soft and as smooth as silk, all his to explore as he kissed him until he was moaning into Danny’s mouth. Danny wanted more. He broke away from Sam’s mouth to get his pants off, then his underwear, and Sam just let him do it. He spread his legs enough for Danny to slide between, which he did, purposefully pushing his denim-covered hips hard against Sam’s cock. A surprised but soft moan slipped from Sam’s lips and Danny kissed it away, being careful not to bite into the plush mouth that responded so beautifully to his own. Not yet, anyway.

Sam tried to wrap his arms around Danny but one was shoved up over his head; he gasped when Danny pressed his face right into his armpit, inhaling deeply. 

“God, you smell so fucking good,” Danny said roughly before taking another deep, long inhale, his nose brushing into Sam’s armpit hair. He liked the feeling of the wiry arm in his hand too, the muscles so plainly obvious beneath Sam’s tight skin, but it was the smell that was making the crazed need roar to life. 

Sam laughed, loud and bright. “Really?”

He was totally innocent, Danny knew, or as innocent as a 20-something boy could be. And Danny didn’t want to hurt him. He’d really try not to. But he knew it would be hard. “Yeah, you really do,” he said, carefully dragging the tips of his teeth across Sam’s chest to get to the other armpit. Sam wiggled beneath him, then Danny felt the weight of his freed arm across his back, bringing him in even closer. “No cologne,” Danny went on, giving Sam another sniff. “No deodorant. I can smell all of you.” When Sam sighed in response and Danny felt his cock stiffen even more against the crotch of his jeans, he made a daring lick through Sam’s armpit with his whole tongue. 

“Whoa!” Sam exclaimed with an involuntary, but still earnest, giggle. He’d never had anyone do that; this Danny guy was a little freaky and Sam was loving it. He loved it even more when Danny licked from his armpit to his chest, kissing his sternum, licking again to get to his nipple. With both arms free, Sam sunk his fingers into Danny’s hair in encouragement; Danny sucked and kissed for a moment longer, then he lifted himself up and Sam watched, enthralled, as he stripped down to nothing as well. 

Stripping while searching his dresser for condoms and lube, Danny was still trying to figure out how to do this without hurting Sam too badly. He was trying to figure out how to do it without even revealing what “it” was. He was also trying to do it while doing everything else because, no matter how abnormal he was, he still wanted very normal things. He wanted to kiss and touch and have sex like a normal person, and Sam clearly wanted that too. Maybe Danny could go even further, try not to do it for a night, just enjoy this experience and save his hunger for something–or someone–else.

“I really lucked out running into you tonight,” Sam said, eyeing Danny blatantly, dick twitching seemingly in response to seeing Danny’s own. 

Danny’s knees pressed against the bed again, inching forward to get between Sam’s legs once more. “Tell me about it,” he said, running his hands down Sam’s thighs, pushing them back and sinking down, chest pressed against the mattress. “You’re so fucking sexy.” 

“Did you take your teeth out?” Sam asked, abruptly remembering that those little plastic fangs probably wouldn’t be fun to accidentally swallow.

Danny chuckled, glancing up. “What?”

“Your little fangs.”

“Oh.” Danny ducked back down, hiding his face, hands squeezing the soft, plush flesh of Sam’s inner thighs. “Yeah, I took ‘em out earlier. Don’t you worry.” He pressed a single kiss to that soft skin before reaching up, taking Sam’s dick in his hand while his tongue moved between Sam’s cheeks. Circling his rim while he sank his fingers into Sam’s thighs, Danny tried to pour all of his efforts into pleasing his new, fun, hot sexual partner instead of scarring him for life, literally. 

“Oh, I’m not worried about anything,” Sam told him, reaching up, stretching his arms to the headboard. Getting laid had never been easier and Danny certainly had a lot to offer. He reached down to jerk himself off while Danny ate him out, listening to the muffled moans of effort and arousal that were matching Sam’s own. He closed his eyes, so grateful now that his brothers had talked him into going out. 

Danny realized he was gripping Sam so hard it must have hurt, but Sam was sighing with contentment and stroking himself, his body moving like gentle waves with everything Danny did. When both of Sam’s hands found the top of Danny’s head, he licked all the way up to the tip of his cock, feeling his belly tremble all the while. “You taste good, too.” He wrapped his hand around Sam’s dick as he moved up further, his lips creating a trail up his torso. Danny looked into those soft, inviting eyes and said, his heart hammering with suppressed desperation, “I wanna taste more of you.” 

“Just like a real vampire,” Sam quipped, holding Danny’s face in his hands so he could trace those lips with his thumb. “Maybe you actually should’ve kept the teeth in.”

Obviously a joke. But a joke Danny didn’t know how to respond to. Should he tell Sam? It had never worked before, but Sam was still drunk enough, possibly still a little stoned, and seemed open-minded enough to potentially believe him. No, there was no way, Danny decided. He tried to wash away his urges by focusing on his own body, how it was pressed against Sam’s, how their erections were rubbing against one another’s, how his skin was all warm, so alive, thanks to Sam clinging to him, beckoning for more. 

Danny sat back, resting his hands on Sam’s chest. Maybe he could get a taste of the taste he wanted so badly, so to speak. He believed in himself. He could do this. “Well, honestly, Sam–I do like to bite,” he said, carefully watching that angelic face. Danny’s tension drifted away a bit when Sam smiled, looking absolutely delighted at the confession. “Kind of a lot. Would you be into that?”

There was just something about this guy, Sam thought. Danny was sweet and sexy, alluring without even really trying to be. Smoking a bong alone at home and watching a movie didn’t compare at all to what he’d actually gotten into for the night. He grabbed the lube from next to Danny’s shin and tossed it over. “I feel like you could do just about anything you want to me.”

Sam had no idea how dangerous those words were. Danny took a deep breath and felt his hands trembling as he popped the cap of the lube open; he hoped Sam didn’t notice. “How do you wanna do this?”

“Just like this,” Sam said, guiding Danny’s wet fingers between his legs. “I wanna look at you. You’re so fucking hot.” 

“You are too,” Danny told him, pushing one of Sam’s legs back as he slid two fingers inside. He was growing restless, all the pent up urges becoming stronger, and as much as he wanted to be slow and gentle, his patience was dwindling. But Sam responded positively, eyelashes fluttering and lips parting while his body relaxed and took Danny right in. Danny took Sam’s cock in his free hand. “I wish I’d met you a long time ago.” 

“Oh yeah?” Sam asked, extending his arms out, trying to grab whatever he could, which ended up being some strands of Danny’s hair. “Well, there’s no time like the present, man. Happy fucking Halloween.”

Danny chuckled. “The night when all the freaks come out.”

Sam gave a tug to one strand of hair. “I met the right freak.”

The more gentle Danny persisted with getting Sam ready, the louder Sam became and he began to outright beg for more. Danny felt like his entire body was just a bundle of too-tight nerves when he rolled the condom over himself and shifted on the bed, bringing his hips closer and closer. 

Sam quickly looped his arms around Danny once he got the chance, pulling him in. “Come on, Danny–fuck me already.” When Danny shoved forward, Sam gasped sharply and clawed at his shoulders–he was getting what he wanted, but sometimes he didn’t realize what exactly that was. This was one of those times. 

“Shit, are you okay?” Danny asked, still so tightly wound he was worried that once he began, it would truly be too much. 

“I’m good, yeah, I’m good,” Sam assured him. He drew Danny closer, holding him tight, and kissed him to emphasize that statement.  Yes, it hurt, but it felt good, too. It felt strangely right despite Danny being a stranger; Sam wasn’t one to fantasize much, but with Danny enveloping him in heat and pleasure, he could imagine doing this over and over with him. When Danny kissed from his lips to his jaw down to his neck, Sam turned his head to the side. “You said you wanted to bite,” he reminded him through panting breaths as Danny’s pace sped up just a bit, making the burn even deeper. 

Oh god, Danny did want that. Sam’s neck was so tempting–he could see one long vein running down, trembling slightly as he strained and kept breathing raggedly. Danny could smell the blood inside and could imagine the taste, so rich and thick it would be in his mouth. 

“I do want to,” Danny said, barely more than a whisper. He wasn’t even really cognizant of how he was fucking Sam anymore, too distracted by this offering. He lowered his mouth to Sam’s neck, asking the question with his lips pressed against that warm skin: “You really don’t mind? Even if I give you a hickey?”

Sam wrapped one leg around Danny’s hips. “Do your worst.”

Danny took a deep breath, his hand tightening around Sam’s shoulder while his hips slowed below. It was a test–maybe he could pass it. He’d have to try. So he started gentle, just kissing and inhaling Sam’s scent, creating a trail from just beneath his ear down to his collarbone; Sam moaned quietly in response, one hand stretching down to grab Danny’s ass in encouragement. So he kept going, introducing his tongue to lick, his lips to press harder, and when Sam arched up, rubbing his cock against Danny’s stomach, he carefully pressed the tips of his teeth against his neck. 

With deep, dark, sinking shame, Danny failed. As the first note of a scream came from Sam’s throat, he clapped his hand over his mouth while his canines sank deep into his neck. It was awful, Danny knew, for Sam to hear the pop of his own skin being punctured and feel the blood begin to flow. It was awful for Danny to keep him pinned there, his own weight and muscle outdoing Sam’s own, with his hips pressed down tightly and his shoulders unrelenting no matter how much Sam tried to push and punch him off. But the feel of the warm blood in his mouth and the taste on his tongue was really like a drug, something evil and uncontrollable. When Sam got a hard smack across his face, Danny grabbed both of those wrists and pinned them overhead, leaving Sam completely defenseless. 

There wasn’t much room for pondering as Sam hopelessly tried to fight Danny off, but he had one thought when time seemed to slow to a complete still: it just couldn’t be real. Vampires didn’t really exist. This was just a deranged psychopath biting him, drinking his blood because he was a sicko, not some spooky mythological creature. But when Danny pulled back, panting, blood on his lips and chin, Sam caught the glimmer of those very real and very sharp teeth stained red and shiny. He whimpered beneath Danny’s palm, fear now making him freeze instead of fight, and couldn’t do anything but stare at that beautiful face that had betrayed him. He was sure he was going to die. 

“I’m sorry,” Danny said. He had no idea how he was going to get out of this one, but he had to try and at least stop it while he still could. His body was trembling hard as he lowered himself again, but instead of latching onto Sam’s neck again, he pressed a kiss to the obscene little wounds, then licked long and slow over the bite. 

Sam’s breathing slowed. He was confused now in this bizarre lull Danny was eliciting; he didn’t feel the urge to fight back anymore, just to lie there and drift off. But no, that was insane, he reminded himself, and wiggled beneath Danny as he tried to bite his palm. 

“Don’t scream,” Danny pleaded, taking his hand away from Sam’s mouth. Thankfully, Sam didn’t, just looked up at him with bewildered, scared eyes. His cheeks were still red though–Danny hadn’t gone too far. 

“What the fuck,” Sam said, voice hoarse. He should use all the strength he had left to kick Danny off himself. He should flee. He should tell someone–but who would believe him? 

“You’re okay,” Danny said. He wanted to cry. He wanted to disappear. He stroked Sam’s hair, hoping whatever happened now would be enough for him to be forgiven for the first time. It would mean the most, he knew, because it wasn’t just Sam’s looks and blood that had called out to him. There was something else there, something Danny wanted to protect rather than destroy. He licked the blood away from his teeth and wiped his mouth before he offered another futile, “I’m sorry, Sam.”

With Danny’s grip loosened, Sam flailed his wrists free and brought his fingers to his neck. “You didn’t kill me,” he said, and was shocked to find that there was nothing even there beneath his own touch. It was like it hadn’t even happened. 

“I didn’t want to,” Danny assured him. He was still hard inside Sam. It was so obscene to be that way, to want more after all this, and he braced himself for Sam to whip into action. “I don’t want to.”

Sam’s mind was reeling. Monsters weren’t real, they were only real in books and movies, but Danny was very, very real. He reached out to touch him, to make sure of that, and found that Danny’s skin felt even warmer than before. Knowing his own blood had aided in that made Sam feel nauseous for a second, but the downcast, sad look of apology on Danny’s face made that feeling disappear. 

“I’m confused,” was all Sam could say, flopping his arms back on the bed. 

“I know.” With Sam seeming to give into him again, Danny moved in, hair hanging over both of their faces. “Can I make it better somehow?” With a daring, shaking hand, he reached down and circled his fingers around Sam’s cock. Of course he wasn’t hard anymore, but maybe Danny could help him get there again. Maybe, for whatever fucked up reason, the night could still end well.

Sam whined, grabbing Danny’s shoulders not in protest but in want. Nonsensical, stupid, crazy want. ��Monsters aren’t supposed to be real,” he said, looking at those lips that were unnaturally red. 

“I don’t wanna be a monster,” Danny told him, recognizing Sam’s gaze; he licked his lips before testing the waters further, bringing his face closer until their noses were almost touching. The most fantastical magic came in the form of Sam pulling him into a hug and bringing him down to kiss, like none of it had happened at all. Danny sighed into it, relief rushing through his heart, and started to stroke Sam back to life. 

Sam moaned, kissing Danny back deeply, his heart speeding up with that confusion and fear when he tasted his own blood on those dangerous lips. He held the sides of Danny’s face and made him look into his eyes: “What’d you do to me?” he asked, but Danny only sped up his movements, thrusting harder inside him, stroking him faster. 

“Something I didn’t wanna do,” Danny said, biting his lip so hard in his sorrow that he made himself bleed. 

“I asked you to,” Sam said, realizing his biggest mistake. He wiped the trickle of blood away from Danny’s chin with his finger before bringing it to his own mouth, tasting what was both of them. 

“Oh, fuck,” Danny huffed out, humping into Sam wildly, sure that he was leaving bruises on his thighs but past the point of slowing down for real. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, Sam.” He was losing it in not only the feeling of Sam’s body around him but in the unfathomable recognition that he was being accepted. He might have been a monster, a beast, but he found someone who cared enough to stay anyway despite having every right to try and kill him.

Sam pulled Danny’s hair hard, locking their mouths together while Danny fucked into him and jerked him off. He didn’t want to think anymore. He wanted to taste the iron on Danny’s tongue, feel the hard weight on top of him, revel in the strange, twisted orgasm that was growing deep inside him, making his balls tighten, his back arch, his heart pound, his throat quiver. 

“Come for me,” Danny begged against Sam’s mouth, further interrupting their kisses by bringing his hand up and spitting pink saliva into it. He reached back down and Sam gasped, eyes closed tight, lips parted as he moaned and squeaked. “Come for me, Sam, please, I need you to.” 

Sam needed that, too. He tucked his face into Danny’s neck, his final moan of release sounding like a wounded animal, which he knew he wasn’t far from being. Danny followed with a deep groan and series of pants in Sam’s ear, both of them unraveled and fucked up beyond belief. 

“I can’t believe you did,” Danny said after a moment. He collapsed completely on top of Sam, feeling boneless and helpless. Thankfully, Sam didn’t seem to mind and that too was more than Danny knew he deserved. When he got up to pull out, he was able to see the damage he’d done–Sam’s thighs were indeed already bruised, in addition to his wrists having nasty blue and purple rings around them. But the worst part was his neck–while there was no bite mark, there was still carnage there in the form of a nasty, bright red and violet patch where Danny had, in fact, bitten him. A collection of broken blood vessels that made his heart sink.

Sam saw that look. He touched the spot Danny was staring at and it felt too hot and too sore, suddenly painful. “It’s bad?” 

Danny nodded. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to–I really tried not to.”

Sam sat up, finally getting the chance to stretch his muscles a bit. He should have been mad, he knew, or really, he should have been traumatized. But there was genuine softness and kindness in Danny’s eyes, not just self-pity. And had he not been a blood-sucking monster, Sam knew he would have really liked him. Actually, he still really liked him, as fucked up as that was.

“It’s not that bad,” Sam said once he was standing in front of Danny’s dresser mirror. Funny, he thought, considering as far as he knew, vampires didn’t have reflections. But there Danny was, right behind him, placing a tentative hand on his shoulder while Sam inspected himself. “I can’t even see teeth marks.”

“I hurt you,” Danny said, slipping away to grab his clothes. If Hell really did exist, he thought as he pulled his boxers back on, he was definitely going there. 

“Not enough to drive me away,” Sam said with a small laugh, still able to find humor in the absurdity. He felt more fascinated by Danny now. He’d been shown that the entire world was truly full of mystery. And monsters. But some of those monsters were really, really hot. 

“You’re not afraid?” Danny asked, looking up at him when Sam turned to face him, still naked and still showing Danny all the places he really had inflicted pain, even if Sam was weirdly accepting of it. 

“Not really. I mean, shit, I sure was when you bit me,” Sam said with another laugh, touching the bruise on his neck again. “Now I’m more afraid of all the other shit I don’t know. If you’re real–if all vampires are real–what else is real?”

Danny sighed, eyes dropping to the floor. “I don’t know.”

Sam hummed. “Do I taste good?”

Danny looked up; Sam was genuinely curious. “Yeah, you taste so fucking good,” he had to admit, his tongue gliding over his teeth for one final taste. “Best I ever had.” 

Sam smiled. He sat down next to Danny, feeling exhaustion crash over him like a tidal wave. “That’s the weirdest and best compliment I’ve ever gotten, I think,” he said, crawling up the bed to get under the covers. He just needed sleep. He needed to sleep and he needed that sleep to happen with a vampire. With Danny. He probably needed therapy, too.

Dumbfounded, Danny just watched as Sam cuddled himself underneath the blankets and closed his eyes. He wished he could sleep too, but he couldn’t, though that didn’t stop Danny from getting in next to Sam and holding all night.

---

Tagging: @sparrowofrhiannon @bizzielisteningtogreta @clairesjointshurt @lightsofthe-living-gvf @starbuggie @mackalah

If you'd like to be tagged in any of my fics you can DM me or go here :)

[geekgirles]

Full Disclosure

“I’m sorry for the way I used to act towards you when we were fourteen,” she admitted before softly adding, “especially when you and Danny were beginning to connect.”

Or

In which Sam and Valerie clear the air between them.

Word count: 5176

READ ON AO3

Before we go in, I just wanted to say that I hope I did the characters justice. Really, it’s all I ask because I’m still fairly recent in the fandom (as in, actively participating rather than fangirling on my own) and I’d hate to make a travesty of characters that mean so much to me. Oh, and this one-shot can take place in whatever timeline you want: you hate PP with a passion? Don’t worry, it didn’t happen. You actually think it’s a good finale? That works too. There shouldn’t be anything that indicates this story takes place in anywhere in particular other than Amity Park, so... All you need to know is that Valerie knows.

Please, enjoy!!

As an intense throb manifested itself in her right side, eliciting an involuntary groan to escape her throat, Sam was more frustrated at herself than aching from the hit. It had been two years already since Danny had the accident that gave him his powers, consequently beginning the constant battles against ghosts that made their teenaged life significantly harder, and, as they came to appreciate their lifestyle, significantly more interesting, too. Once Danny gained his ghost powers, she and Tucker took it to themselves to make sure their friend was always supported and aided when fighting his ghostly adversaries.

And with that came the injuries. 

They certainly didn’t get hurt as often or as gravely as Danny, since he was usually the one facing the mischievous spirits head-on, but they still had to get used to their own fair share of beatings. The teachers were understandably surprised when they effortlessly completed their first aid training in Health class. 

All in all, Sam was used to getting hurt. 

Which made the fact that Valerie had landed such a perfect kick that it literally left her breathless all the more humiliating.

Valerie Gray, a.k.a. the Red Huntress. Danny Phantom’s longtime pursuer and Danny Fenton’s one time girlfriend. The once popular girl was now their trustworthy ally. And, as much as Sam hated to admit it, she was thoroughly kicking her butt. Perhaps she should have expected as much from a ninth degree black belt. 

“Had enough, Manson?” Valerie taunted with a raised eyebrow. 

Getting up slowly, Sam sent her a smirk alongside a challenging, determined look. “Never.” And with that she leaped on the ghost huntress, using her momentum to connect a punch to her face. But Valerie was faster, blocking the Goth girl’s attack with her forearm before sliding her leg under Sam’s to make her lose her balance. Seeing what her opponent was up to, the violet-eyed girl quickly got out of her way, widening the space between the two to give herself some time to think up a new strategy. 

Smirking at Sam’s maneuver, Valerie appraised her with pride. “Not bad, Sam,” she said before changing her stance, ready to pounce, “but the extra space won’t save you from this.” Leaping into the air, the Red Huntress didn’t waste a moment to knock Sam to the floor with a roundhouse kick boosted by her movements. 

Even if the Goth blocked the attack by keeping her palms up in front of her face, the sheer force behind it was still enough to knock her down. That was gonna bruise in the morning, she was sure of it. Glancing up she noticed Valerie looking down at her with a smug look on her face and her hands on her hips. Sam barely resisted the urge to scowl darkly at her. Panting, she conceded, “Alright, alright. Maybe now I’ve had enough.” 

Chuckling at Sam’s proud nature, the green-eyed girl bent down slightly to offer her friend a hand and lift her up from the floor. Once Sam was at her eye-level, she looked down on her watch, now serving as a chronometre. “Five minutes. That’s a full round! Congratulations, Sam. So far, you’re the one who’s lasted the most against me.” She applauded her, but her face betrayed her. She was about to burst out laughing. 

Snorting, the Goth girl elbowed her slightly on the arm. “Knock it off! Even if I lost, I still managed to land a few hits myself.”

“Yeah...Trust me, you don’t have to remind me.” Valerie complained with a pointed look as she rubbed her lower back. Early on in the match, Sam kneed her there. Thank goodness she wasn’t tasked with unloading the Nasty Burger’s products that week. “I’m serious, though. Danny without his powers lasts a minute and a half, tops. And Tucker...well, let’s just say that taking one hit without passing out is already a victory when it comes to him.” 

“Yeah, he and Danny really should do more exercise.” The two girls laughed at that. These past two years Danny’s skill when using his powers had skyrocketed. Enemies that used to give him a hard time were now more of a headache. He didn’t even have to pay attention to the fight to get rid of the Ghost Box. Now, as Danny Fenton… He’d gotten taller, that was for sure. But he still had the nasty habit of relying on his powers a little too much, which didn’t do his P.E marks any favours. And Tucker was still far more interested in whatever his PDA had to offer than the wonders of physical exercise. 

In truth, everyone had changed during that time, if only a little. 

Sam was still as Goth and ultra-recyclo-vegetarian as always. Her raven hair was slightly longer, now reaching her shoulders, but she still wore it mostly loose and framing her face, except for the one strand she kept in a high ponytail. Her fashion sense hadn’t changed much either. She wore a black crop top with Danny’s logo on it instead of the old purple ovalーthe town began selling merchandise of its hero to attract, and basically rob, tourists. Since she created the logo herself, she made her own outfits and nobody was none the wiser. She also stuck with plaid skirts, but this time she favoured a purple and black one instead of her old black and green. But her combat boots, accessories, and make-up were sacred. Everybody knew impending doom was near if Sam ever changed even the tiniest detail in her appearance when it came to that. 

She was still outspoken and an avid defender of animal rights, individuality, and most importantly, of Danny Phantom. Even though most people celebrated the boy and thanked him for his services, there were still some who criticised him and believed Amity Park was better off before him. Needless to say, Sam was always at the front of the line in any protest to defend Amity Park’s greatest protector. The fact that he was not only one of her best friends but also her boyfriend may have something to do with it. But even if they weren’t together, Sam knew Danny. She’d always known him. She would always defend him from those who couldn’t even begin to grasp just how noble, responsible, and compassionate he was.

The corners of her mouth curled up slightly when she remembered she’d just been sparring with what once was one of Danny Phantom’s greatest detractors. 

In a way, Valerie had probably changed the most out of everyone she knew while simultaneously not changing anything at all. 

In terms of appearance, just like Sam, she’d only modified her look slightly. She cut her long, dark brown curls so they now barely reached her shoulders instead of cascading down her back. According to her, long hair just got in the way with her suit. She originally wanted to get an undercut, but her dad almost had a cow so they compromised with short hair for now and leaving the undercut for when she was a little older. The huntress still favoured spaghetti-strapped yellow t-shirts, but now she completed her outfit with dark blue jeans or shorts (depending on the temperature) and white sneakers. She also dropped the headband due to her hair, but she kept the earrings. 

The most obvious change, though, was that she was now an ally rather than an enemy after Danny Phantom’s head. Sam feared for the worst when Valerie found out her ex boyfriend was the very same ghost she’d vowed to destroy (could she really say she and Danny were exes, though? Sure, they went on a few dates and they genuinely liked each other, but Valerie pseudo-broke up with him right when he was about to ask her to make things official... Ugh, the wonders of the teenaged heart... Always bound to give her a headache. This is why she preferred her Goth indifference...most of the time). As much as they wanted to trust Valerie was going to be sensible about it, her track record wasn’t the best, forcing them to keep an eye out in case she decided to send her more positive opinion of Danny Fenton to Hell and shoot him with her ecto-bazooka. 

Thankfully, one day Valerie just sat down with them at lunch, and when Danny tentatively asked her if they were okay, she just smiled and said, “We’re okay.” So they ate lunch in peace...until the Lunch Lady showed up and they had to send her back to the Ghost Zone. At least that time the Red Huntress was there to help them out. Ever since then, the girl sometimes fought alongside them, but for the most part she did her own thing. 

And that was something about Valerie that hadn’t changed; her hatred of ghosts. Valerie was still hellbent on getting rid of all the spirits that haunted Amity Park, with half-ghosts being the sole exception ーexcept for Vlad, Valerie held a huge grudge against him for having used her as his pawn; not like the team could complain, they all hated Vlad, after all. And that made her ruthless, determined, brutal… More than once Danny had tried talking her out of her grudge against the paranormal, explaining to her that, albeit not as numerous as the troublemaking ghosts, there were still some that just wanted to be left alone. But Valerie would not budge. She believed all ghosts lacked the humanity and self-control necessary to resist whatever crazy obsession that tied them to our world and would eventually attack. 

To Valerie, ghosts were ticking bombs. 

Seeing as, so far, most ghosts they faced were malicious or seriously causing trouble, Tucker suggested they just let her be, but the moment she actually targeted an innocent ghost (say, Wulf), then they would have to get serious with her. 

All in all, Valerie was their friend. A friend who had agreed to help her train so Danny wouldn’t have to worry so much about her safety when they were out fighting spectres. Not like he really needed to worry, she could take care of herself, but the more prepared they were, the better. And Valerie was helping her with that, and yet, the air still hadn’t been completely cleared between them. 

As much as Sam would’ve loved cutting to the chase, a part of her still wasn’t prepared to address the elephant in the room. “Not gonna lie, Valerie, I wiー” she stopped mid-sentence. The last thing they needed was to have Desirée roaming free around Amity Park just because she hadn’t been careful with her words. Clearing her throat, she went on. “I mean, I would do anything for your fighting skills. You must have every ghost shaking in their boots...or whatever they have to shake in.”

As Sam sat down on the floor of her family’s private gym, which Valerie still couldn’t get used to being in, the green-eyed girl made her way to the other side of the room far away from  the training tatami, where a middle-sized fridge was located. Pulling the door open, she grabbed two water bottles before going back to Sam. “Yeah, what can I say? I am pretty awesome.”

“And don’t forget modest.” Sam replied sarcastically. 

“Girl, when you’re as good as me, you don’t need to pretend to be modest.” She joked as she handed Sam her own water bottle, which she accepted gratefully, before sitting down on the floor next to her. “Believe it or not, though, I became a ninth degree black belt long before I started hunting ghosts.” She looked at the floor, a pensive look on her face, “...we couldn’t have afforded the classes otherwise.”

Sam did her best to suppress the urge to do a spit-take at her words. Valerie almost never brought her financial situation up. The most she used to do was remember Danny why she hated him back when she still was after him, but the topic was dropped altogether once the secret was out. Looking around her ridiculously lavish house, Sam felt like facepalming herself. How could she have been so insensitive as to remind Valerie of the life she lost?! 

“Valerie...I-I’m sorry. I should’ve told you to meet up at the park to train, but I…”

“Sam, don’t.” The huntress cut her off with a stern tone. “Don’t apologise. You have nothing to apologise for.”

“But it was insensitive of me toー” Again, she was interrupted by Valerie, who silenced her by raising her palm up in front of her.

“Please, let me talk. You don’t have to apologise for anything because you’ve done nothing wrong. I’ll admit, it’s a bit paradoxical finding out that while I was mourning my losses you’d been hiding the fact that you’re stinking rich all along. But I’m not offended by it. Actually, I think I understand.”

“You do?” The Goth girl asked in disbelief, her eyes wide open. 

The African-American girl just shrugged. “I think so. I didn’t realise it until my so-called friends kicked me out of the group, but having money attracts a lot of fakes and shallow people. People who’ll only be there when it’s convenient for them and who’ll throw you away like a used tissue the moment you have nothing else to offer. I know that better than anyone…” When she felt a hand on her shoulder, she looked up to see Sam smiling kindly at her, doing her best to get out of her comfort zone and offer her some comfort. She returned the smile. “Bottom line: you want real friends, so you never talk about your money ‘cause you don’t want to attract the wrong people. I get it.”

“You really do.”

“And I guess I’m also flattered.”

Sam blinked slowly at her. “Wow, Valerie. It usually takes a lot to take me by surpriseーwith the ghost fighting and allーand yet, here we are!” 

The huntress just chuckled softly in response. “What I mean is that I understand that it takes you a lot to let people inーand quite literally tooーbut you still invited me. That means you must trust me, if only a bit.”

Sam couldn’t help but blush at her earnest words. It was true, wasn’t it? She trusted Valerie. She would have never invited her to her house if she didn’t. And, now that she thought about it, Valerie had to trust her too if she was willing to show her vulnerable side to her. Somehow, the thought made her smile. Knowing she would have to bring up uncomfortable topics soon, the violet-eyed girl decided to alleviate some of the tension first. “Well, I’m glad you could at least get your black belt first! Otherwise we would be in for a major asskicking from some ghosts.”

That comment actually made Valerie laugh. “Oh, hush, you flatterer! Or I’ll tell Danny his girlfriend has been hitting on me.” She could only snort when Sam gasped in fake shock. “Seriously, though. I personally would love to be as genre savvy as you are. I mean, you always know what to do or have some obscure knowledge about whatever we’re facing. From the Fright Knight’s legend to how to train your dragon ghost.”

Sam merely shrugged with a lazy grin on her face, “What can I say? Obscure knowledge sort of comes with being a Goth.”

The two girls started snickering after that. As their laughter died down, Valerie noticed Sam’s smile fading from the corner of her eye, concerning her. “Sam? Is everything okay?”

“Valerie...I’m sorry.” 

That took her by surprise. After a few seconds of shock, the Red Huntress rolled her eyes good-naturedly before gently nudging her friend with her shoulder. “C’mon, Sam. I told you already. You don’t have to feel sorry for inviting meー.”

This time it was Sam who cut her off. She shook her head. “No. No, it’s not that.”

“Then what is it?”

“I’m sorry for the way I used to act towards you when we were fourteen,” she admitted before softly adding, “especially when you and Danny were beginning to connect.”

One would think that a semi-professional ghost huntress would have seen it all, and honestly, so did Valerie, but she was genuinely shocked at Sam’s apology. The shock didn't last long, though. “Are you seriously apologising for that? Sam, that was two years ago!”

Of all the things she could be apologising for...She just had to pick that one, didn’t she?

Sam groaned, frustrated and clenching her gym shorts with her hands. “I know it’s been two years, but that doesn’t change that I wasn’t the most pleasant person in the world to you for reasons that weren’t...completely pure.”

“So what?” Valerie insisted. “Neither was I for the longest time! You and Tucker were right when you called me out during Pariah Dark’s attack; how could I expect to be treated like one of the group when I used to be such a brat to you? You still eventually forgave me.” She pointed out.

“You don’t understand…” Sam whined as she rubbed her face with her hands. “While it’s true that part of my animosity towards you came from how you used to treat us, and another good chunk came from your eagerness to vaporise one of my best friends,” the Red Huntress actually had the decency to blush embarrassedly at that, “I really, really disliked you because I was...well, I was jealous. Plain and simple.” 

There. She’d said it. After years gritting her teeth and burning with envy whenever Danny and Tucker (mostly because of Danny, obviously) drooled over Paulina or any other pretty girl, she had finally admitted she was mostly jealous instead of simply not understanding what the fuss was about. Hanging out with girls more often, namely Valerie and Jazz, instead of only spending her time with the guys had really helped broaden her horizons. Especially when it came to her opinion on other girls. She was proud to say she was finally moving on from her “not like other girls” phase. 

Even if Danny’s crush on Paulina had driven her nuts more than once, it was his budding romance with Valerie that truly pushed all her buttons and caused her deepest insecurities to rear their ugly head. Even if dating her was dangerous, Danny still wanted to be with her! He was willing to throw caution to the wind if it meant they could be a couple. And he was so protective of her when Technus attacked… As much as Sam hated to admit it, as much as she wished (to Hell with Desirée) she could ignore it all and just focus on protecting Danny from being hunted by his new girlfriend, that hurt.

That hurt a lot. 

Albeit annoying, Danny’s crush on Paulina was safe. Paulina only liked Danny Phantom. Danny couldn’t really get closer to her as his alter-ego without putting her in danger, and Danny would never put an innocent person in danger. And just like that, Paulina became unattainable. But Valerie…

Valerie liked Danny Fenton. She and Danny often just wanted to have a normal life, away from ghosts and burdens that no 14-year-old kid should shoulder. Even if the Red Huntress wanted to kill Danny Phantom, Valerie genuinely liked Danny Fenton. Despite the danger, she was closer than Paulina. And despite their close bond, she was closer to Danny than Sam herself. Because Valerie wasn’t afraid to admit her feelings, unlike her. 

In fact, hadn’t Valerie put her job before her love life, Sam knew without an ounce of a doubt that she and Danny would still be together. Because she had been too afraid to tell Danny how much he meant to her sooner. 

Yes, she had been jealous of Valerie. 

She had been jealous of the attention she received from Danny. She had been jealous of the fact that they went out on several dates and nothing could embarrass them or ruin their little moment. She was jealous because it would’ve meant things would change. 

But most importantly, she was jealous of Valerie’s guts. 

And she finally confessed it.

...which made what Valerie said next all the more jaw-dropping. 

“Yeah, I know.”

Her jaw hanging low and eyes as wide as saucers, Sam slowly turned her head to look the huntress dead in the eye. “You know?” She asked, completely flabbergasted. 

Valerie snorted. She actually snorted at her question! And while Sam was looking at her with the most comically astonished expression on the face of the planet, Valerie just regarded her with a coy smile. “No offence, Sam, but it was kinda hard to miss. I think only Danny wasn’t aware of it.”

Sam had nothing to say in response to that. 

“Besides, didn’t I tell you before I even started going out with Danny? When you like someone, if you don’t make a move, somebody else will. What did you think I was referring to other than your feelings, chess?”

“That...is true.” The Goth admitted quietly. 

Seeing her usually outspoken friend acting so despondent all of a sudden didn’t sit well with the green-eyed teenager. She sighed, “Look, Sam. I understand that you were...difficult because you were jealous. I can’t deny I once or twice acted petty towards you because I was jealous, myself. But even if I hadn’t decided to just stay friends with Danny, I don’t think we would’ve worked out in the end.”

Not for the first time that day, and she was sure it wouldn't be the last time either, Valerie had taken her completely aback. Furrowing her brow in confusion, Sam insisted, “What are you talking about? You two are the best ghost hunters in Amity Park, you guys would have been the ultimate power couple!”

Leaning back on her elbows, the Red Huntress sent the Goth a smirk, “Ah, but you’re forgetting I would’ve had to know Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom were one and the same first. And I…”, for the first time since their sparring lesson began, Valerie found herself hesitating, “I don’t know how I would’ve taken that.

“Sure, I really, really liked Danny, but I had spent far longer hating his ghost half. Ever since the Cujo-related incidents I blamed him for the turn my life had taken. And even when I was growing fond of Danny Fenton, his actions as Danny Phantom still drove me nuts! I mean, he literally unmasked me right before my dad! He forbade me from ghost hunting until I got that upgrade in my suit. Could I really put all that aside in favour of having a relationship with him?

“That’s why it took me so long to face you guys once I learned the truth; I was trying to make peace with it all. I figured I could learn to forgive Danny, maybe even trust him with my life...but never with my heart again. There were too many imbalances between us for me to be comfortable in a relationship with him...and you guys are honestly better together anyways.” She winked at the ultra-recyclo-vegetarian.

“You really think so?” Sam could feel the heat making its way to her cheeks the moment Valerie nodded at her question. “I-I mean!”, ugh, how she hated stuttering!, “Danny’s always been super important to me...obviously! And we’ve always done our best to be there for each other and have each other’s backs, but there are times when I can’t help but wonder if perhaps we’re just making a mistake and we were better off as friends…” She finished with a defeated sigh. 

At the sensation of an arm wrapped around her shoulders, she turned to look at Valerie. “Sam, trust me. This is no mistake. You’re one of the very few people who understand there’s no difference between Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom; they’re both Danny and you’ve always known that and done your best to show him just that. And unlike Paulina or me, even if you hadn’t known his secret from the beginning, I’m willing to bet my right arm that you would’ve accepted both sides of him equally either way.”

At her words, Sam could only smile warmly, “You really think so?”

Valerie returned her smile. “I know so.”

Still replaying Valerie’s words and organising her own thoughts in her head, Sam turned to face her, one hand resting on her lap and the other on Valerie’s shoulder, “For what it’s worth, I still think that after a, very understandable, initial bump in your relationship, you two could’ve made a great couple too. I meant what I said when I told you that, if Danny liked you, then we would only have to make room for you at our table. I can’t think of any girl I would be willing to do that for but you, Val.”

Valerie almost gasped at Sam’s words, but she recovered rather quickly, “Thank you, Sam. That means a lot coming from you.” Resting her own hand on top of the one on her shoulder, she winked mischievously at her, “And don’t worry; I don’t go around stealing my friends’ boyfriends.”

The Goth girl snorted at that. “Glad to hear that.”

They remained like that for a moment, just enjoying the comfortable silence that had settled between them and their secret understanding. They were friends. They had similarities and differences. But that would never change the respect each felt for the other. 

Finally, getting up from the floor and dusting herself off, Valerie broke the silence, “Come on, there’s still many moves I haven’t used to kick your butt.” 

Sam smirked at the challenge, “Oh, you’re so on!”

................

The Fentons’ Emergency Ops Centre had, ironically, become their safe haven. 

Whenever they wanted to enjoy some alone time before they had to part ways or a ghost attack took place, they would simply climb up the roof and enter through the door leading to it. Although Danny could just phase or fly them there if they were really pressed for time, which was their usual way of getting there because they were always pressed for time. 

The Ops Centre was really just an excuse to spend some time together, really.

It didn’t matter what they did. Sometimes they would make out because they were a couple and couples made out with each other, didn’t they? Especially when said couple consisted of two hormone-driven teenagers. Maybe if they’d been a pair of octogenarians, the fuss of the relationship would have been elsewhere. Like how incredible it was that they’d survived that long in the first place.

Other times they just talked about nothing and everything at the same time. Sort of like what they usually did, but without Tucker. Sam would often talk about the latest hideous monstrosity their parents had intended she wore ー”Oh, you’re laughing now! But trust me, Undergrowth had much better fashion sense than my parents!��ー, or how rapidly the poles were melting and nobody was doing anything about it, or how her latest poetry reading went ー“Kwan’s getting better, actually. This time he wrote about the new scabs he got during the last game”ー, and how they could defeat the villain of the week who was somehow harder to beat than the previous one because, really, they always got harder to beat. 

And Danny would recall his parents’ latest shenanigans, or Jazz’s newest psychological experiment with ghosts that she was sure was going to work because it was just flawless; or he’d warn her about the food in his house ー”I know you don’t eat meat anyways, but don’t open the fridge. The ecto-weenies are back and this time they’ve brought BBQ sauce.” He would also complain about the workload of homework Mr Lancer had assigned them; sometimes because he didn’t think he’d have the time to finish it all, and sometimes he just didn’t know where to start because what the Heck is irony anyway? Didn’t anyone realise that what they often called irony was actually more of a paradox? How could they be teaching something wrong in English class?! And, sometimes, in those rare moments where Danny finally realised, only to forget his lesson all over again the next day, that he could count on her, Tucker, Jazz, Val ーand his loved ones, damn it!ー and confide his deepest secrets, he would open up about how being Danny Phantom was taking its toll on him. How being famous was more often than not more suffocating than flattering. How he was getting tired that his enemies only ever came back, or became stronger, or multiplied. How he feared, no, how he felt it was never going to end until he was 100% dead and not just 50%... He even still had trouble understanding what truly happened to him the day of the accident. 

And maybe they just would never know. 

And then, there were days like today. Days where they would just stay in silence, watching Amity Park since the makeshift observatory his zany but genius parents had built all on their own. Because, sometimes, watching the sunset in silence with that special someone was just enough. 

While Danny leaned against the railing, Sam was sitting on top of it, enjoying the soft breeze blowing around her and caressing her skin. “Today I trained with Valerie.”

Perking up at the sound of her voice suddenly breaking the silence, Danny turned his head slightly in her direction. “Oh?” He let out, “How did it go?”

“I managed to last a full five minutes and land a few serious hits myself.” She stated proudly. 

The ghost boy whistled appreciatively, “Five full minutes! Now that’s impressive.” He sent her a sly look and a smirk, his admiration turning into amusement, “And how many hits did you cushion?”

Curling her lip in annoyance, Sam muttered, “The fact that I’m even sitting here is a miracle in itself.”

That had Danny snickering like crazy, before a sharp pain in his arm stopped him, “Ow!” 

To his surprise, instead of a smug Sam as he expected, he found his girlfriend gingerly rubbing her arm, a pained expression on her face. “Okay,” she panted, “that was so not worth it.”

“Here, let me help.” Gently resting his fingers on her arm, he used his ice powers to send a chilly sensation across her limb, effectively alleviating the pain. “Anything else I should know about? Did the training turn into a battle to the death?”

“Actually, we talked things out and we finally buried the hatchet.” She said seriously.

Danny furrowed the brow in confusion. “Uh, Sam? I was kidding. And I thought you already did that when she found out the truth about my powers.”

Chuckling softly, Sam could only roll her eyes with a smile on her face as she leaned close to leave a tender kiss on his lips before whispering, “Clueless.”

[ecto-american]

Hello there! I forgot if I asked this before (my apologies if I did, I don't mean to rush you, take all the time you need), but I was wondering if you were able to possibly continue of have a part two for that one request where Star stumbled upon Sam and Danny playing bowling. I really enjoyed it, and would love to see more. Thanks!

I take prompts within reason but literally never expect me to write it within any reasonable amount of time because ho boy

The first part mentioned in the post

But why Sam? Out of all girls in town? Well, ghosts were spooky, makes sense that they’d attach themselves to goths like moths to a light. Did that mean the ghost boy hung out with a lot of local goths? No...surely at least one of them would have spilled the beans. 

Star stared off into nothing as she thought, only-half listening to her boyfriend’s commentary on the game. While she wasn’t looking at anything in particular, the popular teen couldn’t help but let her gaze fall into the loser trio’s direction. They were a few lanes down from them, bowling. Why they were in public being losers was beyond her. Especially knowing that Sam’s basement had a bowling alley.

Danny bowled, and he did an excited jump, saying something to the other losers. He had gotten a strike. This was his third one. Valerie had told her he was good at bowling, but she didn’t really ever think much about it. Her cousin was sulking, as normal for her weird, goth self. Sam glanced in her direction, and they met eyes. Star looked away to stare at her own game. Paulina was up, and as normal, she wasn’t a very good bowler. She got a gutter and was complaining to Dash about it.

Star lightly sipped a milkshake to avoid needing to reply, until Kwan finally snapped her out of her thoughts.

“Hey, Starlight? You okay?” he questioned. She glanced at him, and she shrugged.

“Just lost in thought,” she replied honestly. 

“Do you wanna talk about it?” Kwan was always such a sweetie, and Star couldn’t help but smile.

“It’s just some weird family stuff I can’t quite figure out,” she confessed. It was Kwan’s turn to steal a glance at the loser trio.

“Something happen with Sam?” he asked quietly. Kwan was the only one who knew the cousin connection, and he only knew because her parents had accidentally told him. If anybody besides Kwan, who for some reason really liked Sam, knew that she was cousins with that goth freak, her social life would be over. 

“...Sorta.” Star went back to watching them. The three had seemingly completely stopped their game, instead exchanging looks to each other.

And suddenly, they completely abandoned their game.

She didn’t even hide her confusion as she watched them simply...leave. As a group, with their game not even half over and leaving behind nothing, still in their bowling shoes, collectively going towards the back door. Where were they going? They had to be coming back, Sam would have never dared to leave her favorite pair of boots behind. 

Kwan noticed too.

“What’s up with them?” he asked. 

“I have no idea,” she mused. She stood up. “I’m going to go see. Just bowl for me if you want, or Dash can.”

“Gotcha!” Kwan nodded. “Let me know if you need help.”

“I can handle a goth,” Star lightly joked, smiling as she began to make her way towards them.

Sam was the last in line to exit out the back door, but she had seen Star coming for her, and she paused. She turned to her friends, saying something Star couldn’t make out before shutting the door on them. Sam turned to stare at Star as she approached, frowning.

“What the fuck is with you?” Sam demanded to know the second Star was close enough. “You’ve been super weird since Saturday. You actually texted me. You never text me.”

“Well yeah,” Star scoffed, crossing her arms. “I saw you and Phantom bowling together, and now you’re here? Bowling again?”

“Will you stop that?” Sam grumbled. Her hands went to her hips. “I was home alone all Saturday until you and Aunt Rene showed up. Nothing happened. Stop spreading false rumors just because you need a popularity boost in your prep crowd.”

“I don’t need anything from you,” Star replied. “Besides the truth I mean. Something’s going on. I wanna know what it is.” 

“Nothing’s going on,” Sam argued. “Why are you so hung up on this?”

“Because I know I saw something! I heard something!” Star insisted. She jumped, and Sam flinched as a loud crashing noise came from above. 

Star jerked her head to the ceiling, but saw nothing. She glanced at Sam, seeing her cousin stare worriedly above. It was obviously ghosts, any Amity Park resident could tell you that much. 

...Is that why Sam and her friends were eager to go? To see the ghosts? How did they know that there was a ghost fight going on before anybody else? That had to mean that her weird loser friends knew Phantom too. But Fenton’s parents hunted ghosts, didn’t they? They were the weirdos in town that wore jumpsuits everywhere. Maybe they had a tracker device? 

“We should leave,” Star spoke up. “Ghosts are dangerous.” She could have sworn that she saw Sam roll her eyes.

“I’m sure it’s fine,” Sam just seemed to brush off the danger. There were hard thuds on the ceiling, making the room shake, and Star flinched. 

“That doesn’t sound fine,” Star frowned. 

Sam opened her mouth to reply, only for the ceiling to completely collapse as a ghost rammed inside. Star flew back a few feet from the impact, doing a roll as she was only stopped by the railing that separated the main floor from the bowling lanes. All the lights had gone out, and she could hear people scrambling for the exit. 

She looked up to see a full black ghost with its hands around Phantom’s neck, pressing him into the ground. Phantom kicked the ghost off, blasting him with some kind of green energy she had seen him use several times before the ghost screeched in pain, letting go of him and slithering off into the darkness of the bowling alley. 

“Are you okay?” Phantom’s voice asked, and Star immediately panicked. Sam.

She rushed over to see Phantom phasing Sam out from under some rubble, moving her away a few feet behind the bowling shoes counter. Star fell to her knees next to them. Sam looked dirty and had a few immediate scraps and bruises that began to form. Her foot was the worst. She couldn’t tell so much in the dark, but Star knew something was off. 

“I got her,” Star assured the ghost. He looked at her, almost...quizzingly. “She’s my cousin, I’ll ride with her to the hospital and call Aunt Pam.” 

Phantom blinked in absolute awe, glancing between her and the goth with disbelief. Well, it probably was kind of hard to believe. They were nothing alike. He opened his mouth to speak, but closed it. Why was he so hung up on that? 

“Wait, what?” 

Sam scowled, grabbing Phantom by the collar and yanking him to her.

“Danny, go stop the damn ghost already!” she snapped at him. Danny? Oh, right. Danny Phantom. So weird that Fenton and Phantom shared a name. Well, Danny wasn’t that uncommon. They had several Dannys in their grade. 

Phantom broke out of his stupor, and he nodded. He took her hand off him, and he lightly squeezed it. Like they knew each other. It was subtle, but Star saw the touch and that brief look of intimate concern for her. 

“Get out,” he spoke to Star, and he soon jumped over the counter, and back into the action.

Star watched his leap, before she returned to Sam. With Phantom gone, Sam seemed to finally break a little. She had tears in her eyes now, and she gave a hard sniffle as she tried to not openly cry. Family rivalry was brushed aside, and Star leaned in to hug her. Surprisingly, one of Sam’s arms wrapped around her in a light hug back.

“Come on,” Star said quietly. She let go, and she got to her knees, staying squatted next to her cousin. Sam stared at her, lip quivering.

“I’m not going to be able to walk,” she complained quietly. 

Another glance at the injury, and well, yeah. No way Sam was walking on that kind of a twisted ankle. 

“It’s okay,” Star soothed. “I’ll help.”

Star glanced around, seeing the ghost fight finally be taken out of the bowling alley and back outside. The emergency exit they were by before was completely blocked, and several lanes had been torn up. But at least it was ghost-free from the immediate looks of it. 

She sighed with relief, standing up before holding her hands out to Sam. She pulled Sam to her foot, quickly shifting as they put their arms around each other’s shoulder. Sam leaned into her, and Star wrapped her arm around her waist, and they began to slowly make their way out, staying hugged along the wall. 

“Star! Sam!” The girls snapped their head towards Kwan, who had rushed up to them. He looked a bit disheveled, mostly dirty more than anything else, and he was glancing at them, concerned. “Are you guys hurt?” 

“Sam hurt her ankle pretty bad,” Star explained. Kwan glanced down, and he paled a bit. 

“It looks bad,” he replied bluntly. Star glanced down, seeing the injury truly in better light. Kwan was right. It did look bad. She didn’t realize until now that Sam was actually bleeding from her ankle too, and that the blood was on her cousin’s tights as well as some on Star’s pants. “Here, let me.”

Kwan shifted to pick Sam up bridal style, and Star immediately rushed for the door to open it for him. Kwan carried her with ease outside, where police cars were already pulling up. Star waved an officer down as he was exiting his car.

“We need an ambulance!” she called out. The officer just nodded, speaking into his radio as he came over.

“What’s the damage?” the officer asked. 

“My ankle,” Sam replied, lightly lifting up the injured foot in question. Now in the full bright light of the day, Star was absolutely sure that it was broken. The boot hid her foot, but it was at an odd angle that feet just didn’t bend at. 

“Come over here,” the officer instructed. He motioned for them to follow him as he took a few steps back towards a bench. “Set her down here.” 

Kwan did just that, with the officer’s help, putting Sam sitting down on the bench. Sam gave a small groan of pain as her foot brushed against the ground as she was transferred.

“Did you call your parents yet?” the officer asked. Sam shook her head no.

“I’ll call them,” Star promised. The officer nodded.

“Star, please call Grandma Ida,” Sam pleaded. Star glanced at her. “Mom’ll flip out.”

“I’ll see if I can reach Grandma first,” Star promised. She pulled her phone out, scrolling for her contact, and she rang up their grandma.

She answered, and Star quickly filled her in on the details, even though her mind was still thinking back to Sam and Phantom. Things were still way too weird. They way they looked at each other, Phantom’s reaction to the family connection. They knew each other. Star just knew it.

[punkranger]

Snake Eyes

Villain AU: Antoine is a Ranger while Herald is a vigilante who is working with them, or so they thought. Basically there's a lot of fighting and a Herald who is very unlike himself.

thanks to @starrypawz for the inspo with their villain au fic!

You're not supposed to enter the Security room, you're supposed to contact them and let them tell you where to go. But you are close by and to be fair you did try to contact them but got no answer. Maybe they're just talking to the Marshal first but you need to know what's going on and you don't feel like waiting for Chen to tell you.

As you open the door you immediately sense that something is wrong. Not from the security personnel's thoughts, but from the lack of them.

The bright light from the screens covering the opposite wall don't really light up the rest of the room and the corridor behind you is almost as dark, only emergency lights are on, casting an ominous red glow just over the threshold.

It'll be all around you as well, making you a perfect target. Well, too late to back out, if there's someone in here they'll have already heard you opening the door loudly like an idiot.

So you ready yourself, barely breaking your stride as you continue to walk into the room.

The screens all black out.

There! You sense someone to the left, their thoughts are mostly hidden behind an opaque wall, you can’t sense their intentions but you can sense the activity, different from Ortega’s static buzz it’s more like trying to hear someone behind glass. Whoever they are, they have access to drugs you haven’t encountered since...

It’s a good thing you have learned not to rely only on your telepathy as you dodge the tackle, but barely. The other person was fast! Too fast, really, for someone just jumping at him…

They don’t crash to the floor behind you either and as you turn you see their silhouette briefly as they right themself in the air, feet never touching the ground.

"Daniel? Hey, wait, it’s me-” You don’t have time to finish the sentence, partly because he leaps toward you again and partly because you catch up to your own thought-process, realizing that this is not a mistake. If Herald is here, with no security personnel in sight, drugs blocking his thoughts, then he is the one who caused this.

Still, you cling to the thought that maybe he isn’t doing it of his own free will. Partly because your mind struggles to connect the nice, sincere Herald, someone who looked completely starry-eyed when he first met you, with someone who ambushes people in the Rangers Headquarters.

You don’t have much time to think about it as a fist comes flying at your face, followed by an elbow. Though you manage to block both, it is barely, you’re closely matched, which is another thing that doesn’t match up.

“Who are you?” You manage, in between blows, ducking one and kicking him in the stomach, putting some space between you. “And what have you done with Herald?”

Your tone is joking, but you are not. You really want to know what the hell is going on here. Herald is not supposed to be on your level, you’re the one who taught him - and beat him more times than you can count, with him getting up with an awkward laugh, asking to try again every time.

He’s not someone who could go up against you in a serious fight, even less in a cramped space like this, where he can’t use his powers fully.

Nevertheless that’s what’s happening, yet you can’t help but wait for him to explain himself, for the lights to turn on and find him looking apologetic, but smiling as usual, for this to be some stupid mistake that you both can laugh at later.

Instead you watch him get up, simply floating up, feet lightly coming down on the floor in a way that is confident and showy, which you’ve seen before but there’s also a sort of nonchalance to the way he moves that is unfamiliar.

“Danny?” No answer. He stands still for a second and you tense, about to go for a grapple when he turns and disappears out into the hallway. You blink in confusion, then follow with a curse, looking both ways and barely catching a glance of his back to the left.

Frowning, you wonder if he’s completely lost it, since that just leads off to empty offices.

Empty offices… with windows! You hurry after, then hear a crash and as you rush into the room you see Herald leap out of the broken window.

You jump after him.

Partly because you’ve been hanging out with Ortega for far too long, but also because you’re only on the second floor, which should be fine.

Fortunately it doesn’t matter as you manage to catch onto Daniel’s legs.

“What the- are you fucking insane?!” For the first time he says something and you grin up at him but your mind is still screaming, the image of the ground imprinted on the inside of your eyelids. You keep your eyes open. On your enemy, because there’s no doubt that it really is Herald.

He’s also starting to fight against your grip, steadily flying higher.

“What, are you going to kill me, Daniel?” You don’t know what answer you expect, but you almost can’t believe that you’re asking the question, maybe that’s why your voice is still steady. This whole thing seems surreal.

His expression, which had gone from surprise to anger, twists in conflict for a bare second.

“I won't. But I am going to grind you to dust.” He snarls, before shooting up. You hold on desperately, it’s hard even if he’s not trying to push you off any more but the wind is tearing at you and gravity is dragging you down. Then you crest the rooftop of the Ranger’s HQ, Daniel continues up in an arc, then accelerates down.

You realize what he’s going to do and you let go just before he hits the roof with you underneath.

You tumble quite a distance before you stop, bruised and battered, your head spinning, but you get up. Looking around you reorient yourself and spot Herald, who is hovering some distance away, having apparently avoided crashing into the roof when you let go.

Frowning, you wait for him to attack, but he doesn’t.

“I believe you said you were going to grind me into dust, but no matter how much better a fighter you are than you seemed to be you’re going to want to press your advantage.”

He sneers, a cocksure expression that looks completely alien on his face.

“Spare me the lesson, Antoine. I’m simply waiting for the cameras to arrive.”

“Then tell me why you’re doing this.” In the brief respite in fighting your brain has managed to catch up to the situation and so has your feelings. Confusion, hurt.

Daniel puts a hand to his chin, as if considering, “Well, I suppose I might as well tell you now.” His expression turns back to a mocking grin.

“It’s because I hate you Rangers, who think you’re doing any good in this shithole of a city, while you’re all just lapdogs to the corrupted system that keeps criminals in charge.”

“So what, you pretend to be on our side to take us down from the inside? Something you’ve already failed at, since I found you.”

“That wasn’t about you, as I said, you’re not that important.” He ignores your bait completely, continuing, the grin widens to show more teeth, “But taking you down is one step - and a satisfying one.”

You take that in, staring at the person you thought were your friend, partner, someone you thought you knew inside out. His thoughts had always seemed so open, unguarded, yet he’d managed to hide all this deep under the surface, drowning it in apparently false positivity. You don’t particularly disagree with him, but the fact that he hid so much from you makes you feel used, as well as his callous attitude. Whoever he really is you don’t particularly care what his reasons are, even if they’re good.

You’re not going to just let him beat you either. He might be sure of himself, but he’s never faced you when you’ve used the full measure of your skills.

“You can talk big, but I doubt you can put your money where your mouth is.” You taunt again, but he just looks off into the distance. Then you hear it too, the drone of a helicopter approaching.

Then you’re rolling over the roof again, though this time more controlled as you leap aside from his dive.

You circle each other, him hovering out of your reach.

You have to time this right.

The next time he goes down you don’t throw yourself away, just dodge barely to the side and make a grab for him. You only just manage to catch his ankle, receiving a kick to your chin that makes your teeth clack together painfully, but you hold on grimly, getting a hold with your other hand.

Once again you’re in the air, but this time much shorter as he flips around and your back slams into the roof, leaving you breathless and your grip loosens.

Before you can push yourself up he’s straddling you, hitting you, once, twice. Then you grab his head and headbutt him, then roll over so he’s beneath you, managing two hits as well.

Then he starts floating, straight up, with you still on top. You hit him again, then he grabs your wrists and rights himself up, making you slip down.

You hit the ground and roll, but the impact leaves you winded, the shock of it still travelling through your body as you dodge him again. Turning to face him, you realize this is going to be harder than you thought, though he’s not looking much better than you.

Herald also seems to realize that you are pretty evenly matched and time is on your side.

“Gonna give up?” You push, hoping he’ll come down again, you’re not sure what you’d do if he flew away, you could never track him…

He must know this too, because he’s looking away before he focuses on you again.

“Never.” There’s a dangerous look in his eyes now, but you hide a smile because he’s coming towards you again.

However, this time he’s the one who dodges, managing to twist around you and once again pushing you down, but this time you’re on your stomach.

He smashes your face into the concrete roof, knee pressed into your back. There’s a weight to him that is a lot more than you’re used to. Too much for you to push up from, or even turn around. Briefly you wonder if he’s using his powers to make himself heavier, you didn’t know he could do that...

“Gonna give up?” He repeats mockingly.

You barely hear him over the ringing in your ears. Still, you’re not going to let him have the last word.

“Bite me.”

There’s blood in your eyes and you can’t breathe well through your nose. Still, you try to throw him off, not successfully and you try to calm down because he’s not doing anything at the moment but you’re starting to panic.

“I’m sorry, I know you hate this. But it’s the only way.”

You take a while to register the soft words. When you do, you don’t know what to think. How can you believe anything that comes out of his mouth?

But the fact is it sounds so much like the Daniel you’ve known for so long that you want to believe it. The hand in your hair releases its grip and for a second you think you feel fingers brush your cheek.

Then you feel the weight on your back disappear and you roll over, to dodge another attack, to get up, to…

You don’t see Herald any more. Sitting up, you scan the sky for him and see the silhouette of him getting rapidly smaller.

You wipe your eyes again, watching until the blue form is swallowed by the equally blue sky. The drone of the helicopter is also becoming more distant.

You should probably go down and report what happened. But you keep sitting there, staring at the empty sky.

[sovio-studio]

To understand a ghost kid

[Maddie decides to interrogate Phantom in a final effort to discover his ghost obsession. The conversation ends up taking a more emotional turn than she expected]

~~~

"You won't be getting out anytime soon. That's a new anti ghost-power design."

Danny struggled in the luminous green net for a few seconds more before ultimately resigning with a sigh.

"I thought things were going well! You haven't tried to capture me for months."

His mother seemed surprised at his remark. She probably hadn't thought he'd paid much attention to their truce, thanks to her prejudices about ghosts not having emotions all together. However, she composed herself quickly as usual.

"A deal is a deal, I don't plan to harm you this time."

"This time?"

She ignored him. "I need to ask you some questions?"

"Then just ask me! No need for the stupid net." He retorted, pushing against the net once more.

"The net is a precaution. I can't have you running away before you can answer."

"Geez what kinda question is this?"

"It's about your origins. How you died to be more precise"

"Oh… oh! My er-" He settled uncomfortably onto the ground in a cross legged position, despite the net. This would be interesting. "Why do you need to know about that anyway?"

"We've recently been trying to make connections between ghosts, their obsessions, and their deaths. Majority we have solid hypotheses, and a couple we've even confirmed." Now that, Danny was curious about. They actually managed to track down who some of his enemies were before death?

"Go on." She seemed surprised but excited by his will to listen.

"Ghosts come from a range of eras which comes across in their mannerisms, and their passion at time of death is their obsession, which becomes more warped overtime. Whether it be passion as in love or their career, or as in revenge or desperate wants."

Maddie paused her pacing and glanced over to see if he was still listening. He was. She continued, now stood resolutely still.

"You are one of the very few anomalies we found"

"How so?"

He could guess.

"You have no indicators of how you died. Not only do you use modern speech and even slang, you wear a modern hazmat suit, that looks strikingly like ours at that."

That's cause it is.

"So I have two questions. When did you die, and what's your obsession?"

Danny wasn't sure if she was pausing for an answer or not. It was likely her way of testing his cooperativeness, but he had a question of his own.

"I appreciate your curiosity but this doesn't seem like the kind of thing you'd go through the trouble of trapping me for. Why do you really want to know this?"

Maddie walked closer to the net, her calm pace and lack of a weapon showing the gain of trust the two had gotten over the months, even if it wasn't perfect.

"That's pretty simple: I'm a scientist. I do research. And while I can't do physical tests on you as I originally wanted, I can at least do as much research as I can into how ghosts work without that. And your obsessions are extremely important to this." She leaned down towards him as he was still on the floor and pointed a finger upwards, like a teacher telling off a preschooler. Danny bit back an amused smirk. "You seem to break the clear rules that have worked just fine so far, so what I need to know is why."

"You didn't say anything about me breaking any rules."

Maddie stood back up straight and crossed her arms, Danny carefully stood up to join her as she talked.

"You've broken a few. The main being that you seem to have no obsession. My first assumption was that your heroics where just that. It would explain your desperate need to help people and likely meant your last moments involved saving someone, or wishing to be saved yourself."

That made Danny think. Had he wished someone could save him back during the accident? It was a pretty likely reaction considering how much that amount of energy had hurt, but he'd never considered it actually altering his perception or feelings.

"But," his mother's continuation snapped him back to the present, "I ruled that out. In most cases ghosts will stop at nothing to stick to their obsessions, including contradicting other aspects of themselves, or making unlikely alliances, excetera. But while I've observed carefully, every time I've encountered you over the last three weeks, you will often go on unusual tangents."

Tangents...?

~~~

Based on the look in the ghosts eyes he didn't know what she meant. He likely just hadn't recognised that his own behaviour was unusual. Not surprising, but she couldn't make any judgements until this mystery was resolved.

"In short, you aim to help people, but will go off elsewhere to finish a fight, or alternate between fights. You've also paused battles altogether to chat or tease your opponent. And how frequently you are late and disappear after or during fights or helping people. Whatever the reasons for that are, a ghost typically should follow their obsession no matter what, and at all times. In other words, you can get distracted which isn't right."

Not right for ghosts at least. It was definitely more of a human trait, but she left that out.

"So what's your next theory? Or do you have some explanation in mind for why I'm different?" Maddie looked intently back at Phantom to see an incredibly focused expression that was rare on the young spirit. He was strongly invested in this topic, but she couldn't tell why. Did he know something she didn't that had an impact on her theories?

"I had a couple other hypotheses for your obsession that fell through for basically the same reasons." She crouched down to unpin the net, carefully slinging it off of him. She was confident he wouldn't leave at this point. He watched it fall and smiled gratefully, but didn't try to move. "That's why I decided to ask you personally. Though I wasn't sure it'd be something you were willing to talk about."

"Why, because it supposedly involved my death?" He promotes. She hadn't expected him to be so blunt about it but,

"Yes, mostly. Do you actually have any memory of it? If you don't mind me asking?" Honestly that was the question she had wanted to start with. Phantom merely looked away in thought. Not as if he was avoiding it or recalling something, more like he was contemplating. Perhaps he was deciding how to explain.

"I… I remember having a family. And friends." He finally responded. She didn't fill the silence between his sentences hoping he'd add more detail. "I was just, erm, 14, and there was… an accident. It involved an explosion. Of sorts."

"An explosion?" That was awfully dramatic for just a child's death. He looked a little older than 14, but that part was sure believable.

"It was um, not a big one. A device in our home malfunctioned and I just happened to be around it at the time. It was a mistake." If it was an accident how could it also be a mistake? He was definitely leaving out some details but she couldn't bring herself to pry. This was clearly a touchy subject, for obvious reasons.

"So you do remember." He seemed to be startled back into reality and he looked back up at her, the energetic green glow she hadn't noticed had been gone until just now quickly coming back into his eyes.

"Yeah- sort of. It's a little fuzzy."

"Does anything about what you remember give us any clues to what your obsession is?" In other words, what he thought about right before death. That part of the question didn't need saying for him to seemingly pick up on it.

"I don't know exactly, no, sorry. I'm as curious as you are to be honest."

"What about? Your obsession or your death?"

"Both?" Phantom answered vaguely with a shrug.

Maddie had also secretly been digging for any strange circumstances around his death. If they couldn't find a plausible obsession, maybe they could find the reason he didn't have one instead. But his description sounded pretty normal. A household accident. An electrical glitch most likely. While it wasn't a common cause of death it wasn't as erratic as getting mauled while illegally hunting a rare species or burning your house down with you inside it over a guy. There was nothing to go off there, except…

Maybe she'd have to pry a little after all.

~~~

"You said it was a mistake?" Danny pouted at the tricky question.

He'd carefully spun his freak portal accident into a more believable and unrelated tale. She'd managed to catch his little slip up after he had dazed off into the memory, but at this point he'd stick to his half-truth story. He wasn't a very good liar after all.

"It was my fault really. I wanted to show my friends something cool but we shouldn't have been there at all. At least it wasn't either of them that got hurt because of me."

He could tell she was a little frustrated at how vague he was being, but any further would be too much. He stopped there.

"Maybe regret has something to do with it?" After a long moment of awkward silence Maddie eventually resigned back to her theories. "Regret that you went somewhere you shouldn't, or more likely, regret that you died young."

Danny was a little startled by her conclusion. She'd said that last couple words so clearly; she was sure of this.

~~~

Phantom's reaction only made her feel more strongly that this was the one. It actually explained so much. He acted like a teenager: he was up to date on what kids are into and how they talk, plus he acts just like a kid often. Getting distracted all the time actually complimented this obsession instead of contradicting it. His whole heroics act wasn't really that much of an act, because that was just his innocent moral compass, that he miraculously maintained in death thanks to desperately wanting to continue living out his teenage years like his friends could. It's why he seemed so human. He practically still was one because his obsession was to remain human or 'alive', and making the most of his second chance at existing. It wasn't an exact answer but it was too clear now to argue with.

Maddie turned to the ghostly teenager. She could see him in a slightly different light now that she knew his drive really wasn't secretly malicious after all. Not that she'd truly believed that recently anyway.

"You seem pretty human sometimes, Phantom" she commented, smiling.

Phantom looked up at her suddenly and his eyes widened a little. He stared at her for a long moment, seeming nervous. After a moment, he blinked and wiped the expression off his face, but his shoulders still looked tense.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I think that has something to do with your obsession. It's the only good explanation for your more unexplainable behaviour ironically." Maddie admitted.

“Ah.” Phantom’s tension eased and he looked down at the floor. His eyes seemed tired... He didn't look relieved, more… disheartened? Had he been expecting something else? And had he wanted to hear that or not, as neither reaction had been positive. She resorted to asking a question she never thought she'd be asking a ghost. Let alone one she spent half a year trying to catch and examine.

~~~

"Are you okay?" Danny heard Maddie ask, her strongest motherly tone coming through clearly now. He didn't look up at her yet, afraid he'd see her concerned expression and just break character completely.

"I'm alright, thanks. It's just been a slightly different conversation than I expected."

"Alright. I suppose this topic is hard on you. I know you might not think you can trust me but I'm here to talk if you need it okay?"

Danny smiled. She'd said this to him a million times before. "I know mom. Thanks."

~~~

[inawickedlittletown]

I’m With You (22/22)

Summary:

Having a crush was nothing to be ashamed of…lying to the family and friends of said crush about being the guy’s boyfriend, that was a whole other problem. When Buck saves the life of Andrew Diaz and accidentally makes a nurse think that he’s Andrew’s boyfriend, Buck soon finds himself lying to Andrew’s firefighter friends/coworkers as well as Andrew’s family including Andrew’s very suspicious and attractive brother, Eddie.

Based on the 1995 movie While You Were Sleeping.

Words: 4,916

Notes: And we are at the end. Enjoy. 

Read on Ao3

Masterpost

Previous Chapter

–

Eddie saw the pictures before he heard about the get together at Chim’s apartment. Karen had posted a few pictures on Instagram and Eddie had just happened to open the app in time to see them. The thing that struck him the most was that Buck looked happy. He was smiling wide standing between Hen and Karen and then in another with his sister. And then in the last picture, it was Buck, Chim, Hen, and Andrew. 

So, it was to Andrew that Eddie went first. “How’s Buck?” 

“He’s good. Which doesn’t mean that you’re off the hook on talking to him.”

Eddie shrugged him off. 

“He really is good, Eddie,” Andrew said. 

Hen brought up the dinner later, filling Bobby in on Buck and more specifically that Buck was training to become a firefighter. 

“I think that would be good for him,” Bobby said. 

Eddie didn’t know what to say. He hadn’t expected that at all. Buck was going to be a firefighter. 

A week later, he watched Maddie enter the station. She was on her own and Eddie was up on one of the trucks doing some maintenance so she didn’t notice him. Eddie got to watch as Hen greeted her, but then it was Chimney that she left with. 

“What’s up with that?” he asked Hen later when they were leaving the station. 

“Chim said something about Maddie needing a comprehensive movie guide,” Hen said with a shrug. 

“Is Buck really okay?” Eddie asked. 

Hen gave a slight nod. “He’s doing something he loves and he has his sister back. I think — I think Buck is okay. He’ll be okay even if you never talk through whatever you’re still angry about. But I think the two of you should talk.” 

“He should be the one to—”

Hen raised a hand to stop him. “What, to apologize? He sort of did that already. Andrew isn’t even holding it against him, so I don’t get why you are.” 

“I’m not holding—”

“You are,” Hen said. “But you shouldn’t.”

He couldn’t make himself call. Or text. And then, when he finally built up the courage to return to Coffee Time to see if he could catch Buck there, Buck wasn’t there. Not the first time he stopped by. Not the second. The third time that he went in and didn’t find Buck, Eddie finally asked the person at the counter. 

“Buck doesn’t work here anymore,” Buck’s former co-worker told him which meant that Eddie had to actually call him or text him or show up at his apartment. None of which felt like something he could actually do. 

He did need to do something, though, because Buck was a constant thought in his mind. He was past the anger and past all the resentment he’d felt about the guilt that Buck had made him feel and instead he just missed him. He was reminded of Buck constantly. Legolas alone could bring forth memories and then there was everything else. Everyone else who still had a connection to him and saw him if not regularly, at least they did see him. 

All of it came to a head when he was over at abuela’s house with Christopher. Andrew was supposed to join them but he was running late so while Christopher was outside with Legolas, Eddie had a moment with his abuela. 

“No estás bien,” she said. “Te veo triste, mijo.” 

[“You’re not okay.” she said. “I can see you’re sad, kiddo”]

“I’m okay, abuela,” Eddie responded. 

“This has to do with Buck, doesn’t it? Ese día en la fiesta de Andrew, todo lo que pasó con Buck. Todavía estás enojado?”

[“...that day at Andrew’s party, everything that happened with Buck. You’re still angry?”]

Maybe there was some lingering anger but it wasn’t even directed at Buck. It was more that Eddie wished things were different and that somehow if Eddie hadn’t gone and lost Buck’s friendship that something more could have been possible. The potential for more between them...it felt like it was lost. 

“Eddie, qué estás esperando si lo extrañas tanto? Andrew dice que Buck está bien. Va ser un bombero.”

[“Eddie, what are you waiting for if you miss him so much? Andrew says that Buck is okay. He’s going to be a firefighter.”]

“It’s not just that I miss him,” Eddie said and he took a deep breath. “I think...I think I love him. I think he’s the only person I’ve met since Shannon that I could see myself spending the rest of my life with and even though I like to think that I actually do know him, he lied. He lied to all of us. So how much of what he told me is real? And then there’s...well, who knows how he feels about me.” 

Abuela gave him a pointed look but she didn’t get to say anything because Pepa arrived. While Eddie could easily figure out that his abuela wasn’t too bothered by any of what Buck had done, Pepa was different and Eddie just couldn’t tell how she felt mostly because she didn’t ever bring up Buck. And if his name came up, she raised an eyebrow and said nothing more. 

“Didn’t know you’d be here, Eddie,” she said. “I just spoke to your mom. She and your dad are coming back next week?” 

Eddie nodded. The only part about his parents returning to LA that he liked was that they were going to be staying with Andrew. Like Pepa, his parents had said very little on the whole Buck debacle. Eddie suspected that they’d talked to Andrew about it. Maybe Andrew had put them off on talking to him about Buck. Eddie didn’t mind that too much because if Andrew was pushy, his mother was much worse.

“I think mom thinks she’s going to convince Andrew not to go through with it,” Eddie said. 

Pepa chuckled. “I wish her luck. And how are you doing, Edmundo?” 

“He’s missing Buck,” Abuela said. “I miss him too.” 

“He lied to us,” Pepa said. 

“Pepa, no seas asi. Ves a este chico, esta enamorado.” 

[“Pepa, don’t be like that. Look at this boy, he’s in love.”]

Eddie just groaned. He felt Pepa’s hand land on his hair, running her fingers through it gently and soothing. “Eddito, if you really feel like that, what are you waiting for?” 

“You just said it. He lied to us and I have no idea how he feels or what will—”

Her hand tugged at his hair suddenly and he yelped. “Stop thinking so much. You’ll drive yourself crazy. You just have to talk to him.”

“Right, like that’s easy.” But they were right. He did need to talk to Buck. 

Pepa was looking at him still. 

“Look, I can’t pretend I’m not still mildly upset about all of this with Buck. But, I also know that he didn’t pretend to be anything different than who he is with us. And I’m sure once I see him again, it’ll be easy to forgive him.” 

—

Buck was so busy with his last few weeks of training and how grueling it all was to notice much outside of what it meant to be so close to being done. So, he didn’t realize that Maddie and Chim hung out more than he hung out with either of them. He also failed to open any of his mail or check his phone — mostly because he knew his bills weren’t due for a few weeks yet and everyone that was important in his life knew that he was too busy to do much more than train and sleep and as such would understand when Buck didn’t respond right away. 

And then when those final weeks came to an end, came the testing. The written portion and the physical all of it combined to measure all the skills that Buck had learned over the last few months. It felt surreal to have gotten to the end and even more surreal when there were results in front of him and he passed. Top marks. Any station would have him. 

“But there is one that has put in a request for you, Buckley,” one of his instructors, Danny, said. 

The 118. Buck just didn’t know if that was what he wanted. Andrew was already off of the 118 and as much as Buck loved Chim and Hen, he didn’t know if it would be possible for him to work with Eddie. He also hadn’t seen Bobby yet since everything happened but Bobby had clearly put through the request to get him so he had to be okay with it. 

“The 118?” Buck asked. 

“You have friends there, Buckley?”

“You could say that,” Buck said. “I just don’t know if going to work with them is a good idea.”

Danny touched Buck’s shoulder. “The people you work with on this job, those people become family. You’ll spend more time with them than you expect and you will know every single one of them better than you’ll know anyone else because it’s that closeness that makes this work. It’s trust that makes it easier for you to do your job. We leave everything behind to do this, to focus on saving lives, but it’s far easier when you’re carrying the burden of this job with those you work with.”

Trust. It came down to that, to how Buck knew that Eddie didn’t trust him. 

“I think I have to turn that offer down,” Buck said. 

“Think on it, Buckley. You don’t have to decide now. Captain Nash, he’s one of the best. Maybe talk to your friends before you decide. No one will be assigned officially until tomorrow.” 

“Right,” Buck said. “Thanks.” 

It wouldn’t change for him, he knew. He wouldn’t do that to Eddie, he wouldn’t encroach on his space, push in where he wasn’t wanted even if it would disappoint Hen and Chim and maybe even Bobby.

Somehow, it wasn’t Maddie that he called to talk about it, though, but Andrew. And Andrew agreed to meet him for coffee at Coffee Time. 

Ali was there when Buck arrived. Buck joined the line while he waited for Andrew. He had almost made it to the front of the line when Andrew entered and Buck felt a little like he’d gone back in time. Andrew pushed the door open and he was just as handsome as ever as he walked in. Buck couldn’t help but smile, remembering when he’d been behind that counter admiring this man. 

“Buck!” he said as he approached and he pulled Buck into a tight hug. “How are you?” 

“I’m good. Great, even.” 

“Wait, wasn’t today...wait, are you a probie officially?” Andrew asked. 

“That I am,” Buck said and he couldn’t help but smile to himself. “And it seems like Bobby is trying to pull some strings to have me join the 118. That’s, um, that’s why I asked you to meet me.” 

“Yeah, I know,” Andrew said. “I spoke to him about it and we all felt you’d fit in perfectly in my spot.”

Buck took a breath, but they had reached the counter at that point and Ali was there with both of their coffee orders ready and a plate with danishes. Andrew picked up his cup and the plate and motioned towards one of the empty tables. 

“So, you two together officially, now?” Ali asked. 

“What? No. Andrew isn’t into men. But we’re friends now.” 

“Well, he’s still really nice to look at,” Ali said complete with an eyebrow wiggle. “Think there’s a chance he could—”

Buck rolled his eyes. He put a bill down in front of her and grabbed his coffee. 

“I’m just saying, Buck, you could put in a good word for me.”

Buck laughed. Andrew was waiting for him at a table. 

“You don’t want to join the 118,” Andrew said after Buck sat down. 

“I — I don’t know, Andrew. I mean I love Hen and Chim and Bobby and I liked everyone else from the station well enough but there’s Eddie to consider too. I doubt he’d be happy to have me around.”

Buck averted his gaze, staring at his coffee instead. 

Andrew chuckled. “You haven’t spoken to him? I thought — Eddie said he was going to talk to you weeks ago.”

“I haven’t spoken to him,” Buck said and he hated how a burst of hope ran through him. He glanced back up at Andrew. “I’ve been...I’ve been busy, though. Is he, is he mad at me about it, still?”

“I don’t think he is,” Andrew said. “If he ever really was. Look, Buck, my brother is stubborn. We both know that. He needed time. Maybe less than he got if we’re honest, but he did...and more importantly, you needed time. And look at you, look at what you’ve done. What you are. You did all of this on your own and you needed to.”

Buck didn’t know how to respond. He took a gulp of his coffee. It was hot, maybe a bit too hot, but the slight burn on his tongue felt good. 

“You should talk to him,” Andrew said. “If you want. Or you should join the 118. Or you can go somewhere else and be whoever and whatever you want to be. All, I’m saying, is that this is all up to you, Buck. You made a choice to save my life and maybe you got something out of that too—”

“By lying,” Buck said, interrupting. “By pretending that I was someone to you and by continuing that charade even when I...when I knew it was going to blow up in my face.” 

Andrew’s fingers were cold when they touched Buck’s hand, taking it into a tight grip. “You did something stupid, but not malicious. And you’re better for it. I know my family, I know the effect that they have on people and I’m not just talking about Pepa and abuela and my parents, but everyone. And you needed them. You needed their kindness and their acceptance and it’s entirely possible that we all needed someone like you. Even, Eddie. Maybe especially Eddie.” 

“I don’t know what to say.” 

“Just answer one thing for me,” Andrew said and he was smirking, full teeth. There was mischief there which meant that Buck couldn’t help but worry. 

“What?” Buck asked. 

“Do you love him? Eddie, that is?” 

Buck’s hand fell away from Andrew’s. And he knew the answer. He absolutely knew the answer which didn’t make it easy to admit. 

“You do,” Andrew said. “That’s why this is so hard. Go talk to Eddie.” 

“Right now?” Buck asked. 

“Why keep waiting?”

“Because I have no idea how to do this,” Buck said. 

“Tell the truth. That always helps,” Andrew said and then he pulled out a pen from somewhere and wrote down Eddie’s address. “Go.” 

“But—”

“Go,” Andrew said, even more insistent. 

Buck looked at Andrew for a beat longer and then glanced back at Ali. “You know, my former co-worker over there wanted me to put in a good word.” 

Andrew laughed, loud and surprised. 

“Of course, I should also add that the first time I stepped into your house there was a bra hanging off of a lamp so I don’t know if I should actually encourage that.” 

“Buck, stop getting distracted and go,” Andrew said pointedly. 

—

Eddie’s yard was not as big as Andrew’s, but it was enclosed and it meant that Legolas had somewhere to run around with Christopher. Eddie did sometimes take him over to Andrew’s place so he could have a bit more space or over to his abuela’s house. On a few occasions, Eddie had even taken Legolas and Christopher to the dog park, but Eddie always worried about the other dogs getting too close to Christopher. Although, as it turned out, Legolas could be pretty protective of him. 

Christopher and Legolas were both out in the yard and Eddie had been keeping his eyes out on them through the kitchen window while he made him and Christopher sandwiches. Christopher was sitting on the grass and petting the dog which meant that Eddie felt okay with leaving them to it for a moment and going to the bathroom. He had barely closed the door before he heard Christopher shouting and some barking. 

“Legolas! Legolas, come back!” 

Eddie ran out. Christopher was standing with only one of his crutches. Legolas was gone. Eddie didn’t see him anywhere. He rushed towards Christopher, who reached for him. 

“Hey, what happened?” Eddie said as he picked him up. “Are you okay?”

“He ran,” Christopher said. “Like when the earthquake happened. Dad, do you think this is another earthquake?” 

It was a real possibility. Eddie was aware that animals acted strange whenever things like earthquakes happened. 

“I don’t know, Chris,” Eddie said and yet the dog was nowhere to be found. “I’m sure he’s around here somewhere. He can’t get out of the yard.” 

At least, Eddie was sure that he couldn’t. In the time that they’d had Legolas, he hadn’t once tried to get out of the yard. Eddie bent to pick up Christopher’s fallen crutch just as he heard barking, but it was definitely not coming from anywhere in the yard. 

“Daddy, I hear him,” Christopher said. 

It sounded like he was somewhere in the front of the house. So maybe he did have a way to get out of the yard or the door hadn’t been latched properly. 

Eddie set Christopher down and headed to the door leading out of the yard to the front of the house. He heard Christopher following behind him. Eddie stopped short just as he was rounding the house because Legolas was there wiggling excitedly, his tail wagging to and fro as he jumped around and his whole body shook with excitement. Buck was on the ground doing some mixture of petting and hugging Legolas while the dog licked his face. 

“Buck,” Eddie whispered, so low that Buck definitely didn’t hear it. 

Then, Christopher arrived and he didn’t pause like Eddie did. And he yelled, “Buck!” 

Buck glanced at them, then, and he smiled that blinding smile that made Eddie suddenly remember how attracted he was to this man. Buck was there in front of them. He was smiling. He was at Eddie’s house, hugging Eddie’s dog and in the next moment hugging Christopher and laughing. Eddie could only watch. 

“Hi,” Buck said and he had Christopher up in his arms. Legolas walked alongside him. Christopher was speaking too, explaining something or other to Buck, but Eddie couldn’t be bothered to pay him any attention because Buck was right there looking at Eddie with those sea-like eyes. 

“Hi,” Eddie said back after a long beat. “You should come inside.”

Buck nodded. 

Eddie wanted to touch him. He wanted to grasp his hand or his elbow or his shoulder. He wanted to get close enough so that he could smell Buck’s aftershave. He wanted to pull him into his arms and hold onto him tightly. All of those things, he wanted them so that he could be sure that it really was Buck in front of him and he wasn’t experiencing some wild hallucination.

The elusive man that he’d been trying to get ahold of for the last few weeks with no results was there with him and his son and his dog. Eddie had been almost convinced that Buck was avoiding him for all that his attempts to find him were futile. Eddie had even gone as far as to get Maddie’s number off of Chim only for Maddie to tell him to call Buck or show up at Buck’s apartment. Eddie had attempted both a few times on top of texting him and somehow just couldn’t get a response. 

Eddie led Buck inside the house through the front door. Buck only set Christopher down once they were inside and Legolas seemed to want to stick as close to Buck as possible. Eddie didn’t blame him. 

“I was — I’m making sandwiches,” Eddie said. It felt awkward. “Do you—” Eddie cleared his throat. “—do you want to join us?” 

“Uh. Sure,” Buck said. 

Christopher led Buck to the table and Eddie left them to go into the kitchen where he tried not to freak out too much as he pulled out more bread for the third sandwich he was going to be making. He could hear Buck and Christopher talking. Christopher laughed and Buck chuckled a few times. Once, Legolas barked. 

Eddie could only take so long making the sandwiches before he had to take them out of the kitchen. There was a lot to talk about. Apologies to be made. Explanations. But Christopher was there and they couldn’t discuss any of that while Christopher was with them. But, Buck was there. Buck was with them. It was enough to know that Buck had come to them. 

—

Buck had intended to take his time walking up to Eddie’s house, to talk himself into knocking on the door and to maybe not get in his head so much that he couldn’t actually knock. But then, he heard a bark and suddenly golden fur was running at him and Legolas was jumping at him until Buck just dropped to the ground to pet his favorite dog. 

“I’ve missed you so much, boy,” Buck whispered into his fur. “Did you miss me too?” Legolas nudged him and pressed into his space, his whole body moving with all the excitement. 

He was so distracted by Legolas, that Buck didn’t even realize Eddie had come out to find the dog until Christopher was calling his name. 

The next thing he knew, he was hugging Christopher and in a strange sort of daze, he followed Eddie into the house and Eddie disappeared into the kitchen and Buck didn’t know if he could stomach anything Eddie brought out. Christopher was a good distraction. The boy filled him in on a few things. He told Buck about a new coloring book and about Legolas being his dog and about a cartoon he was watching and Buck lost himself to talking to Christopher for a while until Eddie came back. 

Tension hung in the air between them and Buck had expected nothing less. Eddie had welcomed him in, though, and he hadn’t asked Buck to leave. It made Buck think that he’d made the right decision in going to see him. 

He tried to eat, but couldn’t stomach it. His stomach had been taken up by his nerves and maybe in part by the hope he felt and the awe of having Eddie in front of him again. Eddie looked good. He always looked good. 

After he finished eating, Christopher allowed himself to be distracted and settled in front of the tv, Legolas sitting next to him. Eddie motioned for Buck to go to the kitchen. 

“I’m officially a firefighter,” Buck said for lack of something else to say. 

“Oh,” Eddie said. “Congrats. I had no idea.” 

Buck nodded. “I, um, I probably would have never thought of going for it without everything that happened.”

“You’re welcome, I guess,” Eddie said with a snap in his tone. 

“I’m sorry,” Buck said. “I hope you believe me this time. That I never meant to hurt you. Any of you. I came so close to telling you so many times. Something always stopped me — interruptions or my own head. And I should have let it go on for so long or at all, but I’m going to be honest here, Eddie, and just say that I don’t actually regret it. I don’t regret the lie or getting to know you — everyone. I don’t regret any of that. I couldn’t.” 

“You don’t regret it,” Eddie said in a whisper. 

Eddie crossed his arms and he leaned back against his counter and Buck had no idea what to expect, but the one thing he did know to do was to wait and see what Eddie might say. It helped that Eddie didn’t look angry. Mostly, he just looked like he was trying to figure out what to say. 

“At first I thought...I wished you’d never done it,” Eddie said after a beat. “More and more lately, I’ve realized I don’t wish that. I was...I am angry more at myself for not questioning you more and for not realizing sooner that you couldn’t have been with Andrew. I was doubting my own knowledge of my brother...I was doubting everything I was seeing and I think I let so much just go because I wanted you around even if you were my brother’s boyfriend.”

Buck had definitely not expected that. Eddie was frowning in that cute way with lines on his forehead so prominent that Buck wanted to reach over and ease the tension. Really, he could do with touching Eddie in any way or form. He really did love him. Earlier, when he answered Andrew, Buck hadn’t fully known it. But he did. Having Eddie in front of him, it cemented it. 

“You came really close to the truth,” Buck said. “A few times. The day Andrew woke up, I was gonna tell you. I was so ready to and then Chim was telling us he was awake and I was so sure that it was all over anyway.” 

Eddie gasped and he blushed, not quite looking at Buck. “I was so mad that day. Jealous. I was going to kiss you before Chim interrupted.”

“Oh,” Buck said.

Eddie’s eyes met his then and Buck had to swallow before he made the decision to be brave. Buck had been different once, the kind of person that was bold and didn’t hesitate to encroach in someone’s space. That was before Abby and before he realized that all the loneliness he was feeling wouldn’t go away if he had someone warming his bed. In some ways, that had made it worse. 

“Uh, you should — you should kiss me now,” Buck said, moving even closer. 

Eddie’s eyes widened and darkened all at once and Buck lost himself in them as Eddie closed the small bit of space between them. Buck watched him and when Eddie didn’t do anything other than to stand so close to him that he could feel his warmth, Buck reached up to cup his face. Eddie melted into his touch, his lips let out a gasp. Buck closed his eyes and he leaned into Eddie’s space. 

“I love you,” he whispered before he kissed him. 

Their first kiss had been hard and urgent and Eddie had been in control, his anger and his jealousy and everything else he’d been feeling because of Buck’s lies had been everpressent in the way that he’d wanted to show Buck how much he wanted him. This kiss was not that. 

This kiss was tentative and soft and slow. It was an apology and a declaration of love. When Eddie whispered a moan, Buck smiled against his lips. 

“I love you,” Buck said again, their lips brushing lightly as he spoke. He opened his eyes and Eddie was already looking at him. “Eddie?” 

Eddie pressed their lips together into another kiss. His arms brought Buck flush against him and Buck couldn’t think while he could feel all of Eddie against him, his muscles and his toned stomach and how Eddie kissed away from his mouth, nipping at his jawline up to his ear. 

“I love you too,” he whispered, his lips brushing Buck’s earlobe. “Even if you are a liar.”

“One lie,” Buck said back. “And one I won’t ever regret.”

Eddie chuckled. “Just as long as you don’t pretend to be anyone else’s boyfriend.”

“Am I yours?” Buck asked, a tinge of nervousness travelled through him. 

“I think that’s obvious,” Eddie said. “Otherwise, I don’t know what will happen the next time you save someone, Firefighter Buckley.” 

Buck couldn’t help but laugh. “I love you so much, Eddie. Been kinda miserable without you.” 

“Serves you right,” Eddie said, but he kissed Buck again, just a peck. “But I love you too.”

“Good,” Buck whispered back, dropping his head onto Eddie’s shoulder and dropping a kiss there. 

There were probably still a few things to clear up and more to catch up on, but all of that could come later. It made up the mere details in everything they’d been through. In the meanwhile, Buck just held onto Eddie and Eddie held onto him. 

“You know, we do have to thank Andrew for all of this,” Buck whispered. 

“Nope,” Eddie said. “He doesn’t get any satisfaction out of any of this.” 

—

“Welcome to the 118, Firefighter Buckley,” Bobby said, smiling at Buck. 

Eddie didn’t try to hide his own smile, Andrew noted and Buck was definitely grinning from ear to ear. He was already in uniform and there was an ease to the way that he walked and how Andrew could tell even from where he was standing that Buck felt like he was at home. Hen nudged him from where she stood next to him and Andrew glanced at her. 

“Yeah?”

“I’m glad this all worked out,” she said, “but I don’t even get when that all happened with Buck and Eddie.” 

Andrew chuckled. “You know, I think most of it happened while I was sleeping.” 

–

Notes: This fic has been such a joy to write. I just want to thank everyone that’s read this and that has left commens/kudos because that means so much and one of the reasons this fic got finished by keeping me writing even when I began to lose interest in working on this. 

I hope this ending was satisfying for all of you and just thank you all so much. Let me know what you all thought. :)

Tagging: @tranquility-or-chaos @diazbuckleysworld @stilesgivesmefeels

[ladylynse]

Part 8 [FF | AO3] of Whirlwind: Jake should be used to ominous predictions by now. Randy should know better than to blindly follow McFist. Adrien should think twice before sneaking away. And Danny should’ve expected something like this when he got that phone call. (Secret Quartet crossover)

(previous | timeline post)

-|-

7:12 PM

Blood magic.

He hadn’t counted on being lucky enough to find someone with blood magic.

Fortunately, Gabriel didn’t need to recall his akuma to glean information from his champion. He still had all she had given him before she had shut him out. Whether she realized it or not, he had more than enough to discern her identity. He knew exactly what she’d been feeling. He knew precisely why she’d been feeling that way. And that meant that finding her name was as simple as having Nathalie check their records.

“The head caterer is Susan Long,” Nathalie reported at last. “She owns the company. I’m sending you all the information we have on her, but I’m afraid it’s very little.”

That was an understatement; the information was next to nothing. Even her business address was unlisted. Nathalie had told him of her reputation as a caterer, told him that she was in high demand and had handled large, premiere events before. Her food was always impeccable, and she came highly recommended. Still, while he could appreciate that a certain amount of secrecy was necessary in business, particularly where sensitive information was at hand, that didn’t mean he didn’t find this frustrating.

Given what he knew now, however, he didn’t find it unusual.

“Find out more,” Gabriel growled into his headset. “Pull every string you can. I don’t care what it costs in promises or favours.”

“Of course, sir.”

Gabriel knew perfectly well that he was taking Nathalie from other work, and he knew that the excuses she’d given regarding his current preoccupation wouldn’t be enough for long—this was his show, and he was expected to have input on what to do now that it had been ruined—but he wasn’t willing to lose this when it was within his grasp. The meetings to discuss the damage that had been done and setting the contingency plans in motion and even something as simple as crowd control— They didn’t need him for all of that. If they wouldn’t settle for his final word, they could be content with his input at the end, once they’d hashed out all the needless details that had mostly been written out before he’d stepped foot on this side of the ocean anyway. Really, Nathalie could make it so that it didn’t matter when he put in his appearance providing he did put one in. They would easily believe he had important work that demanded privacy, given how much money he’d had to sink into this venture.

It was going to pay off, though. Even if he couldn’t find another Miraculous, he could find power. This wasn’t something he’d trust to Audrey Bourgeois. He’d very pointedly not involved her in any of this and had planned for this trip to neatly coincide with a time when he knew she was elsewhere. She was too prone to go digging for secrets for his taste, especially when she thought she could benefit from the result. The last thing he needed was for her to discover how much power he already had, let alone that he had reason to suspect there was more to be found here.

“Master,” Nooroo said as Gabriel strode back to look out the window of his private suite, “we shouldn’t pursue this.”

“I don’t recall asking your opinion.”

“I’m sorry, Master, but I—”

“Be quiet, Nooroo.”

Gabriel didn’t want to hear Nooroo’s fears again. Vague, dire warnings meant nothing. He was willing to take risks for concrete rewards, to further his ultimate goal. This was why they had come. He needed something to tip the scales in his favour. Something Ladybug and Chat Noir would never expect and wouldn’t be able to counter.

Chat Noir’s appearance here would be much more unsettling if he thought for a moment the heroes actually suspected his identity, but he was certain it was nothing but unlucky coincidence.

Well, perhaps more unlucky for Chat Noir than for him.

He’d been trying to separate Ladybug and Chat Noir for ages. He was hardly blind to the opportunity of defeating Chat Noir now, in a foreign city where he didn’t have the support of the people or his knowledge of the Parisian streets to help him out. Where his only ally was some self-proclaimed ninja from another town as opposed to Ladybug, who knew how he fought and worked altogether too well with him. Success was a tantalizingly real possibility. If he could return to Paris with the Miraculous of the Black Cat….

He still needed the other information he’d requested, and Dracona couldn’t avoid giving it to him forever. But even if she might claim that she couldn’t provide any information about the phantom or the ninja because they didn’t call New York City home any more than Chat Noir did, she had agreed to tell him about those who did.

Even if she didn’t consider herself a hero, it was highly unlikely that she didn’t know any personally. She had magic. He knew how rare that was. And magic that she was born with? Magic that didn’t need to be stolen or harnessed?

She would be able to tell him so much, once he knew enough to nudge her past the point of silence.

Once their connection was re-established and he could talk to her again, if not control her.

If Nooroo’s magic didn’t pose enough of a threat to make her fear him, he could find more mundane ways to turn her to him.

He knew she had a son. Whatever she had felt in the moment that he had been able to akumatize her, he was sure she would still love him, care for him, even with those emotions amplified. She wouldn’t have been so upset if she didn’t. At the very least, the mix of emotions which had been at the forefront would have been different.

And if he could use her family against her, well, perhaps that would be enough to spark her memory. To remind her of whoever truly did seek to protect this city. And if it didn’t, well, he could experiment with harnessing blood magic as easily as he could search for a magical artefact to use in the fight against Ladybug and Chat Noir. As long as his akuma remained in her necklace, he’d still have ties to her, even if he couldn’t make her dance on command.

He could make sure anything was enough.

-|-

7:12 PM

“I don’t know what to do, Plagg,” Adrien admitted once they were back in his hotel room. Getting in hadn’t been as tricky as he’d expected; Nathalie was preoccupied, no doubt in conversation with his father and their contacts over the mess of the launch, and the Gorilla was busy listening to whatever the police were telling the security services. With the way things were going, he’d be lucky if he saw his father even once during the remainder of their trip. The bulk of the organizing might fall on Nathalie’s shoulders, but the ultimate decision-making still rested with Gabriel, and—

One thing at a time. The akuma was more pressing; until Adrien dealt with that, planning for anything else was irrelevant.

Plagg was currently trying to gorge himself on camembert. The concierge had procured an impressive supply to be sent to his room, and Adrien would have to leave him a large tip when he next saw him. As it was, Adrien was talking to Plagg as much out of a desire for advice as a need to slow the kwami down long enough for Adrien to pocket the rest of the cheese before it was completely devoured. “Should I trust these guys?”

Plagg swallowed and zipped over to the last wedge of cheese Adrien had left for him. He picked it up, but before he ate it, he looked at Adrien and asked, “Are you ready to fight Hawk Moth on your own?”

No. He wasn’t. Plagg knew that.

“Maybe I should call Ladybug. Maybe she knows of some way—”

“She doesn’t,” Plagg interrupted, “and even if she did, she’s asleep. If Hawk Moth’s here, no one’s getting akumatized in Paris.”

“Right.” Adrien glanced at the clock on the bedside table; it was past one in the morning in Paris right now. “But these guys…. I don’t know if I can do this. I mean…. It’s not that I didn’t think ghosts might be real or that a different magic than yours could exist. It’s more….” It was more that he couldn’t forget the feeling of falling. The terror that had flooded into him when he had realized he didn’t even have his staff to try to slow himself down. He’d been flung away numerous times in his fights with Ladybug, but this was different. She wasn’t here to watch his back. He couldn’t fight his way back to watch hers.

And there was no distant assurance that if something terrible did happen, something Plagg’s magic couldn’t prevent, Ladybug would be able to restore everything to the way it had been.

“It’s scary,” Plagg said frankly, “but it’s not the first time you’ve been scared.”

No, it wasn’t. But he was usually more terrified of losing Ladybug than he was of anything that might happen to him.

“I never expected that Hawk Moth would be here,” continued Plagg. “No one would. And the fact that you’re here at the same time is lucky. You know how he works and what he wants. You know—”

“He can’t have known that I’d be here,” Adrien interrupted, “which means that what he wants isn’t just my Miraculous. So is…is there a lost Miraculous or something? One that might be here?”

Plagg didn’t answer right away. “There is,” he finally said, “but it’s more likely that Hawk Moth is after something else. Finding a lost Miraculous would be a nearly impossible task, even for someone like Hawk Moth. Like I said before, there’s other magic at work here, and that shop we were in earlier was steeped in it. Rumours of that would be more substantial than anything about the Miraculous.”

“The dragons. You think he wants something they guard?” Adrien didn’t wait for Plagg to answer. “Then I can’t not work with them. I can’t risk Hawk Moth stealing and using something of theirs that I won’t know anything about—that you might not know anything about.” And Phantom had grabbed him after he’d glimpsed the first dragon, so his claim that he was friends with one was more likely truth than a lie. “I need them as much as they need me.”

“So call them. You don’t have to trust them with everything right away.”

That was true enough. Even if he did decide to trust them fully in the end, if only to make things easier, he certainly didn’t have to be the first one to spill all his secrets. Not that there was much they didn’t already know about him, assuming Phantom had talked to the others.

He definitely didn’t need to let them know where he was staying, though. He’d call them once he was back out, meet them somewhere that wasn’t quite the opposite direction of his actual hotel. He didn’t want to head too far away—he didn’t know when the dragon would return—but he didn’t want to pick a spot that would be too crowded if this was somehow a setup and he had to fight.

Then again, he might not have to pick the spot at all. “Plagg,” he whispered, “do you think you’d be able to find them? The dragon from the shop, at least?”

“Can I have more camembert first?”

“Once this is over. I promise.”

Plagg let out a long-suffering sigh but agreed. Adrien didn’t question his luck at the lack of wheedling, instead pulling his hood back up and waiting as Plagg zipped in to hide again. The first step was sneaking back out past Nathalie and the Gorilla. If they caught him and insisted he stay in his hotel room, sneaking out wouldn’t be the difficult part; it would be coming up with some reason that he wasn’t there when someone inevitably checked up on him.

But that would only be a problem if he got caught, and Adrien didn’t intend to get caught.

He cracked his door, listening as much as looking to make sure the coast was clear, and then he slipped into the hallway and headed for the stairwell, quiet as a cat.

-|-

7:16 PM

Rotwood ducked into another alley and ground his teeth. Insolent children! They should not treat him this way. He was their professor. And it wasn’t like he hunted Jake Long at every opportunity. Really, this time, it wouldn’t even be him. He would not be so foolish as to be caught on camera. (Rotwood knew this all too well; he had tried many, many times.) Would it really be so bad if Jake let him have this one moment? This one little tiny moment where he could shine?

Rotwood had already tried offering his expertise on the situation. Called up the local news station the moment he heard. He was still laughed off before he could even make it to the air. It wasn’t his fault Jake had given him a reputation that made it seem like he cried wolf when he didn’t.

How much of a laughingstock had he become that no one listened to him even when the magical creatures he had previously told them about turned up?

It was like no one was taking this seriously. No one except for those who already knew, of course. Why was there all this speculation that the dragon wasn’t real? Of course the dragon was real! Dragons were real! Just like ghosts! And a whole slew of other magical creatures most people hadn’t even imagined, let alone had the chance to meet.

Rotwood waited, hoping to hear the telltale shhhck of skateboard wheels on pavement.

It did not come.

How was he supposed to get closer to his goal—on foot, since some hooligans had let the air out of his tires, including his bicycle tires—when he couldn’t even shake a pair of high schoolers? It would be different if the traffic weren’t generally atrocious and the cab drivers, for some reason, didn’t remember him as ‘that crazy man from TV’. He did not deserve that reputation. Sure, he had made a few mistakes, everyone made mistakes, and maybe he had released some creatures he shouldn’t have in his quest to prove their existence, but it wasn’t like he was trying do that this time.

Really, Jake should thank him. He wasn’t meddling. He wasn’t meddling at all. He was merely trying to document. Would it not be better if someone like him did that, rather than someone Jake didn’t know at all? Certainly better him than someone like Brock, no?

He had tried yelling such arguments at Trixie and Spud, but they of course didn’t listen to a word he said.

He would have been much happier, however, if Trixie had not had a water gun with her. Or if Spud did not manage to play the most incessant earworms at full volume whenever he pulled out his phone to try to call anyone. Or—

“Yo, Rotwood, you ready to give up yet?”

It was, unfortunately, rather unprofessional to murder one’s students. He’d have to lose them. If he kept trying, he’d manage it eventually. He had to.

“Me and Spud, we can do this all night if we have to. But if you give up and go home now, your feet might not even hurt in the morning.”

The stitch in his side hadn’t had nearly enough time to go away, but there was nothing for it. He’d have to run again and hope that, this time, he was able to reach the edge of the crowd. They wouldn’t be able to use their skateboards in a crowd.

Of course, since they were on skateboards, it was increasingly unlikely that he’d make it to the crowd.

“Do we really have to go now?” a man’s voice whined, and Rotwood’s heart leapt when he realized how close it was. A distraction! He could use a distraction.

“Honey, there might not have been an official announcement yet, but the show won’t go on tonight, and I do intend to eat supper,” a woman answered. “It has been rather stressful. A three-course meal—”

The man groaned, and Rotwood moved before they got farther away. He jumped out from his hiding spot behind a dumpster and managed to get past Trixie and Spud, both of whom had quieted their own search while waiting for the couple to pass. They didn’t want witnesses. They didn’t want to explain themselves. Good. He would put himself in a position where they would have to do both if they continued to chase him.

“Excuse me!” he called out, waiving. They’d just passed the alleyway, and they kept walking. The nerve! He expected as much from New Yorkers, who didn’t even blink at things that should catch their attention, but tourists were supposed to be curious. “Yes, hello, behind you!”

They slowed, each of them glancing over their shoulders, but neither stopped.

Rotwood kept waving like a madman. He didn’t need to look over his shoulder to know he’d see two scowling teenagers. “Could you possibly give me some directions?”

“Oh, we don’t know the area,” the woman said with another quick glance back as she tightened her grip on the man’s arm. “I’m so sorry.”

“But you are dressed for that fashion show gala tonight, no?” He tried to remember the information that had been on the news. “The spring release?” What was the name? “Gabriel’s?”

The couple finally stopped, turning to him as he jogged up. The woman was looking at him with narrowed eyes. The man just looked exhausted.

Rotwood figured his best bet was to keep talking. “I heard what happened. Terrible. These magical creatures—” He broke off, remembering too late that telling the truth wouldn’t win him any favours. “They made a good show, those magical creatures?”

He hadn’t managed to keep the note of desperation out of his voice, but the man at least was looking him over with a more critical eye. “Marci,” he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his wallet, “why don’t you go on and have dinner without me?”

For the first time, Rotwood noticed the man’s mechanical arm, and he had to make a conscious effort not to stare. He was well acquainted with those with prosthetic limbs, especially in his line of business which really wasn’t the safest, were you to actually find the magical creatures you were searching for, but most did not include features which looked disturbingly like brains. He pointedly raised his eyes to wait for Marci’s reaction. She kept a smile pasted on her face, but its edges were sharper than they should be.

“This isn’t a working vacation,” she said. “We should take our meals together.”

That didn’t stop the man from pressing several hundred-dollar bills into her hand. “I know. I’m sorry. I’ll make it up to you, but this man needs help, and I do know the way.”

“No such thing as a free lunch, don’tcha know?” Marci murmured, but she tucked the money into her handbag. “You’ll answer your phone when I call.”

Even Rotwood knew that wasn’t a question.

“Of course, sugar plum,” the man cooed. “You can go and have a nice meal, and I’ll help, uh—”

“Professor Hans Rotwood.”

“—I’ll help Hans here.”

Rotwood knew pleading when he saw it. That was definitely pleading. If Marci said no, the man—presumably her husband—would acquiesce to her wishes. He could not afford for that to happen. Once they left, Ms. Carter and Mr. Spudinski would jump at the opportunity to overwhelm him, most likely quite literally, and he was still sore from his excursions last week trying to get a clear shot of a leprechaun. He didn’t need the added pain of hitting asphalt under the force of two teenaged bodies.

“That really would be most appreciated,” Rotwood added, not sure what he needed to say to sway Marci. “If there’s anything I could do in return….” He trailed off, unable to think of anything to offer someone who could so clearly not only afford to attend such a prestigious event but also to spend so much money on a single meal.

“We can talk about that,” the man said hurriedly.

The woman took a step closer to her husband, half turning away from Rotwood, and hissed words he heard but didn’t understand: “You know the Ninja we saw here can’t be the same one as back home.”

“He might have information,” the man answered in a too-loud whisper. “Please, you know how important this is.”

Marci sighed and stepped back. “Of course I do. If you’re so insistent that your work is more important than I am—”

“It’s not. This is just…. It’s…. You know what it is!”

Rotwood was convinced the argument was lost then and there, but Marci’s face softened and she leaned down to give her husband a quick kiss. “Yes, I do, so if you must do some work, then run along and do it quickly. You are not spoiling this for me.”

Rotwood was still trying to figure out how the man could have possibly gotten his way while the couple said their goodbyes, and it was a moment before he realized the man was staring at him. “Ah, my apologies,” he said. “You were saying?”

“Hannibal McFist,” the man said, offering his hand. As Rotwood shook it, McFist continued, “You said you’re a professor. You don’t have any colleagues at MSU, by any chance? Or attended it for one degree or another?”

MSU? Michigan State University? Rotwood hadn’t pegged McFist’s accent as being from that part of the country, and it certainly hadn’t been his wife’s, though in truth, he really wasn’t that good with accents, especially American ones. “No, my position is, ah, merely at a high school level these days, and my alma mater is in the old country.”

McFist grunted. “Had to ask. You look like the type who’d have been friends with Viceroy. If you didn’t annoy each other to death first.”

Rotwood didn’t ask. The important thing was that McFist was walking with him past the alley containing two teenagers who couldn’t stop him without making fools of themselves and giving away the game. He kept up the conversation instead, trying to get what information he could out of McFist without making it clear what he dearly wanted to know, as that would be the fastest way to find himself abandoned and once again at the mercy of merciless teenagers.

-|-

7:19 PM

Randy was pretty sure Jake was going to drive himself crazy. Or maybe that was just his sister doing it. She seemed nice enough, for a little kid, but she also made him happy that he was an only child. He was pretty sure her supposedly innocent needling was totally intentional.

Judging by Jake’s expression, he figured the same.

“Haley, I told you what’s going on,” Jake said, not attempting to keep the exasperation from his voice. “You know how bad this is, so just…stop. Please.”

Haley’s face transformed into what Randy was sure was a practiced pout. “I’m only trying to help.”

“Yo, stressing me out by pointing out all my failures isn’t helping.”

“Look,” Randy said slowly, figuring he should say something but speaking before he’d entirely decided what that should be, “when I was fighting the dragon, she wasn’t, um, trying to barbecue me. That’s probably a point in her favour. The Critic lady from earlier pulled a lot of shoob moves. She didn’t care if she fought dirty. If Chat Noir and I hadn’t had each other’s backs, she’d have wonked our cheese. But the dragon…. Danny said he thought she was testing me. Teasing out my attacks and strengths and stuff.”

“So?” Haley prompted.

Randy frowned at her. “So that’s more than what the other lady was doing when she got butterflied. She went straight to attack mode.”

“Yeah, but Mom’s had all the training, even if being a dragon skipped her generation,” Haley said. “She knows how to fight. She’s not going to throw strategy out the window, and learning what you can do before fighting you is smart.”

All the training…. No wonder she’d been so good at flying right off the bat. Randy had just assumed it was magic. Maybe it still was, but magic plus lessons made sense.

“So none of that’s from this Hawk Moth person,” Haley continued. “That’s just Mom. I mean, Jake’s not the best example of what we dragons can do, but he should have been able to give you some idea.”

Randy was really getting a good idea of why Jake had told him that Haley was a know-it-all.

“Oh, c’mon, you know I just met this guy tonight,” Jake interjected, gesturing at Randy.

“Yeah, him and this Chat Noir, only you messed that up, too, didn’t you?”

“Haley!”

“Why didn’t you ask me for help earlier?”

“Because you do stuff like this!” snapped Jake. “We both know you’re not perfect, and you’re not better than me at everything, so stop pretending you wouldn’t have made mistakes, too, if you were in my shoes.”

“But you knew this was going to be bad. Sara told you, and Kara said you’d have help.”

“She said from my friends, not my little sister.”

“Being friends doesn’t have to exclude me!”

Jake rolled his eyes. “Yo, you think I—?”

“Hope I’m not interrupting a vital family argument,” a voice said from behind them all.

Randy wasn’t the only one who jumped and spun in a circle before remembering to look up. The voice had come from behind and up. Sure enough, Chat Noir was perched on a pole that jutted out about five feet above their heads from the side of a building and into an alleyway. Randy squinted. That was the staff Chat Noir had fought with earlier. It could do that?

“How did you find us?” Jake asked, and Randy didn’t need to know him well to hear the panic in his voice. “I thought you were gonna call!”

Chat Noir dropped lightly to his feet, one hand reaching out to catch the staff as it fell. He didn’t even need to look at it to catch it, collapse it, and slide it in place on his back. Magic. It must be. Or a lot of practice.

“I have a friend with a good sense of smell,” he said.

“My smoke bombs do not stink that badly,” Randy insisted, forgetting for the moment that he wasn’t currently wearing his suit.

Chat Noir blinked. “Ninja?”

“Randy.” He pointed at the dragon siblings and said, “That’s Jake and Haley.” Jake shot Randy a glare but didn’t say anything, instead tapping his Fenton Phone and letting Danny know that Chat Noir had found them. Ignoring him, Randy continued, “Their mom’s the one who’s been butterflied.”

“Akumatized,” Chat Noir corrected. “And I know. I mean. I guessed. From what Phantom told me and, um….” He trailed off and must have abandoned that thought entirely, since he instead asked, “Where’s the akuma hiding?”

“Her necklace,” Randy said, happy enough to roll with the subject change because it was a pretty important subject change. Even with different names, what was happening to people didn’t seem terribly different than what he was used to dealing with. He knew it wasn’t the same, but the idea of it was similar enough to stanking that it made whatever Chat Noir must do on a regular basis easy for Randy to follow. “It’s still on her, even when she’s a dragon. It just…adjusted with her, I guess? It doesn’t look like she’s being strangled by it.”

Chat Noir was nodding. “Hawk Moth can cause pain to those who disobey him, but he wouldn’t hinder their transformation.”

“What about the person being transformed?” Haley asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Can they do something?”

“We’ve only ever seen Hawk Moth change people who agree to it,” Chat Noir said. Randy almost asked who we was and then remembered that the Critic had taunted him about not having his partner around. “And the transformation…. It’s not something they negotiate. That’s all Hawk Moth’s domain.”

Haley glanced back at Jake, who was still talking to Danny. “But…. My mom’s different.”

“She really…probably…is,” Randy offered. “Me, I just use something that’s magic. Maybe you do, too. These guys are…different.”

“I know,” Chat Noir said quietly as Jake rejoined their circle. “That’s…. That’s why I’m worried. Hawk Moth can’t have known I’d be here. He wants my Miraculous, but that’s not why he’s active. He’s looking for something. Maybe another Miraculous that was lost, maybe something else.”

Jake frowned. “Aren’t there only, like, seven of those?”

Chat Noir didn’t confirm that, and Randy wasn’t great at reading faces, but he was pretty sure that was a no. And that Chat Noir didn’t particularly appreciate Jake’s comment. Maybe he thought Jake was pretending to be an authority on the subject of these Miraculous things? Randy might not know much, but he knew Jake definitely wasn’t.

Or maybe it was just that these guys hadn’t exactly gotten off on the right foot, and that was something Randy could smooth over. “Point is, their mom getting akuma matated or whatever you said is bad, and we could really use your help to fix things.” He bit his lip, already feeling that Chat Noir wouldn’t appreciate his next suggestion, and added, “Even if you don’t wanna tell us your real name, you might wanna lose the suit. Just so we can, y’know, blend in with the crowd when we search. It’s not like we’d tell anyone your identity when we’re all trying to keep the same secret.”

“And I already know what you look like without your mask,” Jake added.

“So does your Phantom friend,” muttered Chat Noir, not quietly enough that he didn’t intend for them to hear it.

“That’s Danny,” Randy said. “He also gets the secret identity thing.”

Chat Noir frowned. “He’s a ghost.”

Randy shrugged. “Only some of the time.”

Haley spun to her brother. “What’s that supposed to mean?” she hissed, and he shushed her. Unsuccessfully. They started arguing again. Randy tuned them out, figuring Danny would show up sooner rather than later anyway, and he could settle things easily enough.

“You’ve gotta admit,” Randy said to Chat Noir, “that you’re not exactly inconspicuous in that getup.”

“I’m not exactly inconspicuous without it, either,” mumbled Chat Noir, though that made no sense to Randy. The Critic lady had said this was a foreign country for him, so it’s not like he’d actually know anyone here or that anyone would know him. Even if he was visiting relatives, chances were they didn’t know his secret, so there was nothing wrong with them seeing him without his mask. He’d be as thoroughly unremarkable to this crowd as Randy was. No one was going to look at him twice. But in that cat getup? After fighting earlier? Someone was bound to look again, even in a city this big.

“C’mon, the others already know what you look like. It’s just me, and I’m not from here, either. If that makes you feel any better. I mean, I’m still trying to figure out how I’m going to get home when this is over, so….”

Chat Noir sighed and walked back toward the alley. Randy followed, more to get farther away from the squabbling siblings than anything else. “Claws in,” Randy heard Chat Noir whisper when he was out of easy sight, and the boy tugged the hood of his sweater farther forward before turning around.

Yup.

Unremarkable.

Randy didn’t even need to see his face out of shadow to know that much. “Got a name?” he asked.

Chat Noir hesitated.

Randy didn’t miss Chat Noir’s glance in the direction of Jake and Haley. Quick as it had been, Chat Noir’s continued silence spoke volumes for him. “Just tell me the name of your best friend for now,” Randy suggested, even though it wasn’t like any of them would be able to figure out Chat Noir’s identity from his first name alone even if they wanted to. “That way, you’ll remember what we’re calling you, and you can tell us your real name later if you want.”

Chat Noir smiled. It was small, but it was still a smile, so Randy figured that was a win. “Call me Nino.”

(see more fics | next)

[troop-scoop]

Mistakes & Regrets IX

Summary: When a trip to your Dad’s hometown of Hawkins goes wrong, you end up in the year 1983, and have to learn how to cope with being stuck in the past.

Pairing: Steve Harrington / Future!Reader (like, a really slow burn)

Warnings: Swearing, (Italics are memories when they’re in bulk, but if it’s one line it’s a thought!)

A/n: Yes I know, a bit of a confusing chapter, I will clear it up as the story goes on. 

•••

“Okay, so, in this example,” Mike pointed to the paper he’d drawn on in red pen, of a line, like a tightrope, with a stick figure and a crapily drawn bug. “We’re the acrobat, Will, Barbara, that monster and you are this flea.” the dark haired child told you, pointing to the paper. “And this is the Upside Down, where you hid, and where Will is hiding. Mr Clark said the only way to get there is through a rip through time and space, that’s how you got there, even though you’re from the future.”

You nodded without much though, brows furrowed. You didn’t expect such a detailed lecture from a twelve year old, yet, here you were.

“Caused by a gate.” Dustin added. 

“That we tracked to Hawkins lab.”

“With our compasses.”

You nodded again. “That would make sense. . . It would probably have a stronger electromagnetic field than the north pole, so the needle would point you to the gate.” You weren’t good in science class, but you did still know things. 

“Exactly!” Dustin explained. “See, guys!” He told his friends, gesturing to you. “Even the time traveling weirdo knew!” 

“This gate underground?” Hopper asked. 

The girl, who’s name you learned was Eleven, looked to Hopper with a blank expression. “Yes.” 

“Near a large water tank?” He asked again.

Her answer was the same. “How did you know all that?” Dustin questioned.

“He’s seen it.”

You looked to your grandmother who’s grip on your hands tightened as she began to speak to Eleven. “Is there any way that you could. . . that you could reach Will? That you could talk to him in this-”

“The Upside Down.” Eleven corrected. 

You knew that Joyce was holding onto you so tightly because you were her granddaughter, and just a kid, but you also resembled her son in many ways. 

“Down. Yeah.” Joyce whispered. 

“She did it with me. . . When I was there. I saw her.” You told them. “She saw me too.”

“I didn’t do that.”

•••

What were you supposed to be thinking about while emptying a bag full of salt into the large kiddie pool with Hopper and Jonathan? That this was normal? That any of it had you feeling like you were perfectly sane. You felt like you were losing your mind. 

Maybe you were. Maybe you were really in 1983, but you’d imagined what that boy had said to you. That you imagined that entire scenario of buying a kid water balloons. Maybe you never did see Eleven in the Upside Down, as the middle schoolers liked to call it. But she remembered you too. 

Maybe you weren’t crazy. Maybe you were just. . . having a fever dream. That had to be it, right?

No, this was real, you were just trying to deny it, find any semblance of hope that you weren’t really there, filling up a kiddie pool with salt that Hawkins used for the roads. 

There was no explanation for how you could have possibly seen that boy in August, even though you didn’t show up in 1983 until September 5th. There was no explanation as to how you could have seen Eleven in that place, when she wasn’t the one who made it happen. 

But now you could clearly remember quite a few moments where things didn’t seem to add up in Hawkins. Like how you’d been walking with your dads and your brother, and stopped at the crosswalk with two girls who didn’t seem to know what personal space was, talking about Madonna as if she was new. Their clothing way out of date, with a pair of Levi’s, and , but you were never one to judge. 

But maybe they were talking about Madonna as if she was new, because she was to them. There were so many ‘maybes’ that you could dwell on, theorize over, analyze like you were good at, but that was exhausting. You’d barely eaten that day, just two donuts and a coffee and that was earlier in the day, it was late now, you were tired, and wanted to sit in the shower. 

The realizations just kept coming to you, though. Memories of being in Hawkins and seeing people who were out of place, or like the time you’d gone to a cafe with your family in what your dad used to be the arcade he always went to as a kid, and you’d blinked once after getting your smoothie, and the entire cafe was replaced with arcade games and children happily playing them before you blinked again and you were back in the cafe. 

The same happened when you’d been walking around Hawkins the afternoon before the incident in the restaurant that made you run off, and end up in that place. You’d been minding your own business when it happened, once again, you blinked, and everything was slightly different, hazy, yet clear. It looked like 1980’s Hawkins instead of the one you’d been in. 

Pulling the empty bag away from the kiddie pool, you tossed it onto the floor and looked at Joyce who nodded a bit, holding the goggles you’d found in a science lab that Joyce covered in duct tape to make it dark for Eleven. 

You then looked to Dustin who lowered an egg into the kiddie pool, and to your relief, it floated. “Okay, Kid, let’s get you in.” Eleven nodded a bit, taking the watch off of her wrist and handing it to Mike who put it on his wrist. Joyce handed her the goggles. Grabbing onto Eleven’s hand, you helped her into the pool while everyone surrounded the pool, watching as she lowered herself down to float in the salt water. 

Joyce took your hand, holding it in her own. Her spare steadying Eleven in the water while your spare reached out for the girl’s hand, which she grabbed onto and held tightly in her’s. 

“Barbara?” Eleven questioned. Your eyes looked to Nancy whose gaze was focused on the twelve year old female. 

“Is Barb okay? Is she okay?” 

You gave Eleven’s hand a gentle squeeze, the kind your Pa taught you how to do. She squeezed your hand back but didn’t relinquish her grasp, which told you something was wrong. 

“Gone. Gone! Gone!” Joyce released your hand and grabbed onto her shoulders while Hopper grabbed the girl’s other hand.

“It’s okay. It’s okay. It’s okay.” Joyce kept repeating while Eleven calmed down. But Nancy wasn’t calm, instead holding back tears of her own while Jonathan held her. 

“Castle Byers. Will?”

Your ears perked up, and so did Joyce’s. “Tell him. Tell him I’m coming, Mom is coming.”

From the walkie that you’d brought and placed on the medal cart holding the bags of salt you could hear his voice “Hurry”

•••

“Hey, Pa, Look at this!” Daniel said excitedly, holding out his phone for Pa to see the new high score on Tetris. 

“Kid, I can't, I’m driving.” Pa reminded, gesturing to the empty road. You were close to Dad’s hometown now. Hawkins, Indiana a small town in northern Indiana, but not anywhere close to Lake Michigan. 

“Yeah, Danny, Pa’s driving.” You told him matteraffactly with a smile. You were the older sibling, it was your job to antagonize your little brother. 

“Shut up!”

“Daniel!” Dad scolded, turning to face the two of you from the passenger seat of the Chevy. His usually soft and kind eyes, clearly annoyed with how the two of you had been treating each other the entire trip. “Stop telling your sister to shut up all the time. It’s rude, and annoying.”

You chuckled a bit and the tip of Dad’s pointer finger was facing you, causing you to just smile brightly at him, thoroughly amused. 

“Will, c’mon, you know her ‘fear sensor’ is broken. Remember when Danny threatened her with a fork?” 

You chuckled again and Dad just sighed at the memory, turning back to face the windshield. You’d all gotten back getting fast food, Daniel ordered boneless wings, and it came with a plastic fork. You’d said something to annoy him, and flat out, in front of your fathers, Danny threatened to stab you with it. To which you responded ‘Do it, Punk.’ You weren’t scared of your brother. 

The car grew quiet except for the music playing on the radio, which quickly turned to mostly static, which drew everyone’s attention. “Can I connect my phone?” You asked, holding up the device. 

“Uh. . . yeah, yeah sure.” Dad told you.

“What? Why can’t I ever connect mine?” Daniel demanded. Offended that on the way to Indiana only you and your parents had played things from your phones. 

“Because we actually have good music!” You shot back. 

“What? Mine’s way better!” 

“Dubstep isn’t music, asshole!” 

“Hey!” Pa and Dad both shouted at the same time, Dad holding the cord out to you to connect your phone, and the moment you reached for it, the static shifted a bit. 

“August fifth 1985-”

Your dad reached to the volume knob, turning it to the right to turn it up, amplifying the static female voice over the airwaves. 

“September- Castle by-”

“Dad?”

“Sh!” Dad told Daniel. Your brother’s hand found your own on the center seat while the two of you watched your Dad staring at the radio intently while Pa stole frequent glances to his husband while still trying to keep an eye on the road. 

“I’m sorry- Mist-”

“Will? Babe, what’s wrong?” Pa asked. He was freaking all of you out a bit with how intently he was listening to the familiar voice. 

“Sh!” He repeated, stunning you all into permanent silence. 

“No word for- Explainat- Ste-”

The radio went back to normal, and you saw the unreadable expression on your dad’s face and he leaned back into his seat, eyes still on the radio as Ed Sheeran’s name came across the screen, as well as the name of the song. 

“Dad? What was that?”

He stayed silent.

“You know, Sweetheart, sometimes when we’re in a lower area than before, the signal doesn’t reach us as well. . . It kinda changes between two stations.” Pa tried to reason, his hand holding Dad’s as he continued driving. 

“Yeah. . . Right.” You agreed, though you weren’t convinced, something about it wasn’t right. 

•••

“Name please? Your full name.” 

Looking up from the iron tabletop you met eyes with the man who had a few papers sprawled around on his side of the table, a fountain pen at the ready to write. 

You hesitate for a moment. “Y/n Byers L/n.” 

Everything was too much, trying to process how Joyce and Hopper left you, Nancy and Jonathan with the kids, and then Nancy and Jonathan left which resulted in all of this. The trauma of holding Mike in your arms as tight as your could on the ground as if he was your own brother while Eleven and that. . . thing both died. 

You remembered his tears and how he clutched onto your shirt in that seventh grade science class classroom, his heat against your chest while you tried to soothe him. You remembered how Dustin and Lucas came to you for comfort as well. 

“Year of birth?”

“2004.” You relayed blankly. The sounds of Mike’s muffled sobbing echoing around in her head while you sat in front of the government official. 

“Home residence?”

“425 Culpepper Lane, Weehawken, New Jersey.” The voice that you’d heard while running with Eleven in your arms also still echoing. 

‘Today is just another day of trying to get by without her.’

It was your brother’s voice. But not as high pitched, or squeaky. 

He asked your age. “Fifteen.” Was your response, looking down at your hands, where Eleven’s dried blood was smeared over your palm when you wiped it away from her nose. It was caked into your skin. 

“Alright Miss Byers, correct me on anything I might have wrong. Y/n Byers L/n born 2004 aged fifteen, raised at the address of 425 Culpepper Lane in Weehawken, New Jersey?” You nodded a bit and looked back up at him, 

“Biological daughter of William Byers?” He asked. once again, you nodded.

“Alright, Miss Byers, we need to go over a few more things.” He told you, taking out a large file and placing it on the table in front of you. 

“LIke?”

“How your new life will look. Unfortunately, we can’t get you back home to your time, we’ll help you build a new life here. We’ll give you a birth certificate, emancipation papers, and we’ll give you a monthly stipend for however much minimum wage is where you’re from.” He told you, taking out a calculator from the folder, ready to calculate how much you’d be getting from them. “How much is it per hour?”

“Like, ten dollars.” You shrugged a bit. Now not only trying to process the sobbing and tears that had stained your shirt and the girl who had disappeared before your eyes, probably dead, but now you had to process that the government was going to try and buy your silence. 

“Ten dollars?” He questioned, looking up at you from the calculator. “That’s outrageous!”

You tilted your head a bit, brows furrowed and jaw clenched. “Yeah, out of everything about my life so far, the most outrageous thing is the minimum wage in New Jersey as of late 2019. Inflation’s a bit of a bitch, isn’t it?” 

The man’s pale skin went flush, as if he just remembered who he was talking to. That you weren’t just an adult he was negotiating with, but that you were a fifteen year old girl who wouldn’t see the world like you knew it for another 36 years, where, biological, you’d be a fifty-one year old woman who lived her entire life in the past, instead of the fifteen year old girl who had her entire future in front of her. 

“I apologize. . .” He spoke, typing into the device and then taking out a check book and uncapping his fountain pen, writing down on the small rectangular paper. Ripping it off, he handed it to you. 

You just stared at the check for a moment before reluctantly taking it from him. Holding

it between your thumb and index finger, staring down at the beige paper without much thought, your vision not focused on anything in particular on the sheet. 

“We’ll have you moved into an apartment by the end of next week, and pay for rent for the first few months. We’ll give you a budget for furniture,-”

You began to zone him out, going back to a few hours prior. How when Eleven threw Mike back he landed against the cabinets. You were by his side in an instant, holding him while everyone watched in shock as Eleven sacrificed herself. 

Even twenty minutes after it was all over, you still held him on the linoleum floor listening to his crying while he held onto you for dear life. To him, you were a stranger, yet he trusted you enough to cry in your arms. A twelve year old version of your Uncle Mike, who you knew well. But you barely knew this boy. He was just a kid. He wasn’t the man guy you knew as your Uncle Mike yet. He was just a scared and sad kid. 

“Miss. Byers.”

You looked up snapped out of your train of thought, meeting the ice blue eyes that the men held. “You’ll be going by Y/n L/n, only. Byers is no longer your name. And you have to stay quiet about all this. We’ll talking to Mr. Sinclair, Henderson, and Wheeler, as well as Mrs. Byers and her son. We’ll speak with the chief as well as Miss Wheeler. No one can know you’re from the future. Or anything that’s happened due to Hawkins lab. We need you to sign this NDA. You can never speak about this again. Is that understood?” His question was assertive as he put the fountain pen in your hand. 

“Okay.” It was a whisper, but he understood it while you signed the papers, handing them back to him. 

“You and the Byers boy will come to the lab periodically to get checked up, mentally and physically-”

“Excuse me?” You questioned, tilting your head a bit. 

He cleared his throat, “You and William were in that place for extended periods of time. And we’re concerned about your health. The atmosphere there was toxic. We’re afraid that it could affect your long term health. Especially yours. How long were you there exactly.”

“A while.” You started recounting the amount of times the hands on your watch went by. “A month? Maybe?” 

His face shifted as he stared at you, before writing something down on his paper. You could remember how many times you’d counted after the Demogorgon busted its way out of the wall in the middle school. You could remember plenty about it now. How you’d take a few sips of water from your water bottle to make sure you were at least a bit hydrated, but you were conserving it. 

You’d always retained a bit of your baby fat from being an infant, but you’d crawled out of that place without any of it, and your baby face was practically gone. Cheeks a bit sunken in, barely noticeable, but you’d noticed it. You’d also noticed how you could see the bump where your ribcage ended without having to stretch up. You didn’t look like you. You didn’t look like the little girl who ran around the house while either your pa or dad chased after you. You didn’t look like the kid who you’d seen in the mirror the morning you called yourself an expensive disappointment. Now you supposed you were an expensive missing disappointment. 

“Alright Miss L/n. Send in Henderson when you leave.” He gestured to the door. It didn’t seem right, everything about it was slightly off as you stood from the chair, grabbing your bag and leaving the room into the brightly lit hospital hallway. 

“Dustin.” You called to the waiting room, seeing the curly haired boy look up at you in curiosity before seeing you gesture to the door with your head. He got up and went in.

•••

You were sitting on the floor, your back against the wall and your walkman playing Queen at full volume. You needed it. It was the only thing keeping you sane while the boys were with Jonathan, Joyce and Will. 

You’d sat with the boys before they were able to go back. Being the emotional support that the three needed. Even if their parents were there, they’d never understand what the boys went through. You did, and you’d be there for them as best as you could. 

But the moment they left, and Nancy and her mother had gone to get something to eat, you’d gotten up and went over to the vending machine, which refused to work. So you’d opted for the ridiculous look of having your walkman clipped to the collar of your hoodie, hair a mess and dark bags under your eyes, a scowl on your face. 

Eyes closed you just listened to Freddie Mercury’s voice, your foot tapping to the guitar rift. And even though you were completely absorbed into your music, you weren’t oblivious the feeling of someone standing next to you before sitting down. 

Opening your eyes you turned your head to see Steve sitting next to you. His face bruised and a few cuts from how harshly Jonathan had punched him. But you were pretty sure the small one by the crease of his nostril was from you. 

You pulled the headset off of you ears and stared at him while he said nothing, the music now being heard by both of you. 

“I’m a giant prick, huh?” It made you smile a bit, tilting your head in confusion as he turned his head to look at you, eyes soft. “I mean- I fucked up. I over reacted over Jonathan and Nancy, I’m. . . I’m sorry that I was mean to you.” 

You shrugged a bit, keeping quiet which left him confused. You always had something to say to him, always was quick to playfully insult him, or give a come back, you usually said something witty to keep up the banter and conversations. 

“Y/n, you gotta give me something to work with, I don’t know how to talk to you right now. You look like you want to equally cry and punch me again.” 

“I don’t wanna punch you.” You finally said, turning your head back to where the wall and ceiling met in front of you. “Just a bad day overall. I mean, i go to very early this morning, like two am, and then Jonathan had the fucking audacity to wake me up at seven. And then you and your shit-stirrer friends pissed me off, I bruised my hand.” He said, lifting up the fist you’d used to punch him, maybe a bit too hard. “Got arrested, only ate two donuts in the morning, then I. . . deal with a lot of mind-fucking bullshit, then I filled a kiddie pool with salt. Fucking salt. It wasn’t even really a kiddie, it was giant. And then! Oh and then, I ate a fucking can of choclate pudding! I hate pudding! I was just hungry! And then I held a twelve year old in my arms in a empty science class while he cried.” 

Steve stared at you, seeing the stress that had been put on your shoulders throughout the entire day. He didn’t know what to say. What was there to be said? You were trying to cope with something, and he couldn’t see what it was. 

“Yeah, that. . . sucks.” Was all he could say but it got a frustrated and annoyed groan out of you. 

“Yikes! Just say yikes! Or if it’s really bad ‘big yikes!’” You’d said it so many times back to back that it didn’t sound like a real word to you.

But Steve found it interesting while he stared at you, examining the way the hoodie fell around your silhouette, and the ridiculous way you had your walkman clipped right under your neck. The pink medal being a very stark contrast to what you were wearing

“Yikes.” He repeated with a smile. 

A brief grin came across your face as he said it. 

“So, we’re still friends?” He asked, sitting up straight and turning his whole body to face you, his legs crossed like a kindergartener on the class carpet, in his own colored square. 

“We were friends before?” You asked teasingly, doing the same to face him, and like you were as a kindergartener, sticking a leg out. Which always got you into trouble. 

“Shut up.” 

“Y/n!” 

Turning your head you saw Jonathan coming down the hall, A piece of stained paper in hand as he came over. You didn’t miss the way that both Steve and Jonathan glanced at each other, though. 

“Jona-”

“Here. I think you’ll want to see this.” He told you, holding out the folded piece of paper out to you, which you hesitantly took as Steve picked up on the cue to leave 

“I’ll uh, I’ll talk to you later?” You nodded as a response, watching as Steve stood up and went back to the opened waiting area while Jonathan squatted down next to you as you unfolded the paper only to be met with a photo of your own face. The word ‘missing’ right above it in all capital letters, your name, age, and facial description on it, as well as what you’d been wearing when you’d ran off that night. The date of your birth, and the date of that night. 

“Mom said she found it in there.” Jonathan informed you while you kept examining the photo of yourself. Your hair pushed behind your ears, a smile on your face in a pale blue sweater around Christmas time. 

“No. . .”

•••

Add yourself to the taglist!

@disneyprincessbuffyannesummers​ @jxnehxpper​ @yllwtaxi​ @songofcosplay​ @potatopooper05​​ @cheesecakeisapie​​ @robinsdolan​​ @yall-wildin-like-siriusly​

[sylph-feather]

Wordcount: 1333

Summary: That Fenton kid… he’s not right.

Prompt: by @phantomphangphucker​

“Danny Fenton seeming creepy, unnatural, predatory, etcetera to the general population of Amity Park. Or only seeming creepy, unnatural, predatory, etcetera to tourists, while Amity Park locals are confused by anyone finding Fenton ‘creepy/intimidating’”

John fit in… relatively well, Dash noted. He was a small-to-medium sized town kid, which helped in his adjustment to Amity, and he slid right into the football team’s ranks easily, being fairly skilled and bulky.

There were two things that stuck out about him.

The first was, Dash supposed, to be expected. The kid’s parents hadn’t exactly planned on ghosts; yes, they had heard Amity was the most haunted town, but they had taken that to be a tourist trap, maybe a few odd occurrences of wind and whatnot. Not, you know, ghost laser beams that had torn up their lawn.

It didn’t help that they were on the same block as the Fentons— notorious for destruction from numerous ghosts and the Fentons themselves. John had said their nice house came unbelievably cheap, and Dash didn’t have a hard time picturing why that was, what with the constant destruction and noise, not to mention Jack Fenton’s driving and the giant Ops Center that stuck out like a sore thumb in the skyline.

The unexpected thing was that John was scared of Fenton.

“One of my neighbors is creepy lookin, man,” John had stated, brushing a meaty hand through his dark brown hair.

“If it was creepy it was probably a ghost,” Kwan mused, tossing a nerd’s binder out of his reach as the orange haired loser jumped up in vain.

“I dunno, didn’t you guys say the ghosts all looked… ghosty?” John asked, unsure.

“I thought you said it was ghosty,” Dash grunted, picking up the kid and shoving him in a locker for good measure.

John pounded it shut. “I said creepy. He still walked, and looked kinda like a person, just like… somethin’ wasn’t right.”

“Eh, there’s ghosts that do that, too,” Dash quickly ended the conversation, thinking of that no-faced ghost the Fentons warned could look like anyone save for their eyes.

At least, Dash thought that was the end of that, until John gasped and pointed, looking wigged out as though some centipede had crawled up his arm, and murmured, “that’s him.”

Dash squinted into the crowd, sizing up the many potential targets, all of which looked perfectly normally pathetic. Dash’s tone was not at all sympathetic as he bluntly asked “who?”

“Black hair, blue eyes,” muttered John, hands growing a little sweaty as he rubbed them together.

Dash and Kwan came to the same conclusion simultaneously, if their sudden outburst into wheezing, choking laughter was anything to go by.

“You,” Kwan breathed in, coughing out more laughter, “you think he’s—“ the statement dissolved into hilarity again.

“Fenturd,” Dash hacked, almost crying as fragments of thoughts escaped, “creepy.”

John had the spine to look offended. “The way he moves isn’t right,” he barked, daring a glance towards Danny only to flinch back a bit. Something in his brain told him predator, dangerous, as though he was staring into the jaws of some incomprehensible beast.

Jaws that his new friends were laughing in the face of, mocking its teeth as they breathed its deadly breath.

xXx

John had math class with Fenton.

Now, normally he wouldn’t be paying attention anyways (the only parabolas he was going to have any relation to were the arc of a ball!) he definitely couldn’t have even if he wanted to.

He sat in the back, staring at Fenton’s black head, feeling very watched. It was as though the drool of that jaw was dripping above his head, and all he could do was sit silently still as his hands quaked.

Everything about Fenton was a modicum off. This morning, his eyes had looked dead, unfocussed, and his skin overly pale and almost gaunt.

Now, he was peeling his lips back in a smile at the girl next to him’s presumable joke, and it could only make John think of a snake showing its venom. Even the way his shoulders jerked up and down in hushed laughter was more like strings were jolting at a body that was too loose.

The goth friend gave a little frown from Danny’s side, purple eyes (did she wear colored contacts just, normally?!) narrowing as they caught sight of John’s staring. A black painted fingernail gave Danny a subtle point in John’s direction.

John averted his gaze, focussing nervously on the blank paper ahead of him as Danny owlishly turned in his direction, motion slow and steady.

John could feel the metaphorical thing’s tongue as it sank its jaws around his space like a prison, breath growing short in this warm and uncomfortable space.

He dared to dart his eyes up, anxiety and danger palpable, too much to remain unknown.

John’s brown, human gaze met with the pits of death. Like everything about him, a passover glance revealed nothing overly ordinary, but John had done a double take this morning because oh it’s the Fenton’s kid I should beat him up for what his parent’s stupid net did to our mailbox, and that had resulted in finding out just too much.

A moment of gazing longer and that illusion was wrecked, and you noticed the pale skin, the sharp teeth, the bony figure, the stilted motions. It all looked as though someone were inexpertly puppeteering a corpse, tugging at strings to make the dead thing dance.

Similarly, Danny’s eyes were normal, and if he were to blink away, they would remain so in John’s mind. Startlingly blue, yes, but normal. But John was too nervous; he had chosen to meet the jaws of death, and he was going to stare it down. Under scrutiny, Fenton’s eyes swirled like an abyssal ocean was trapped underneath, reflecting twinges of green lightning.

Overcome with the irrational fear of being sucked into that abyss, John’s resolve was gone, and his eyes flicked down again.

Smited down in math class, he contemplated as Fenton shrugged bonily and turned around to his friend once again, what a thought.

xXx

It’s a week.

A week of nights full of John glancing at that one window of the Fenton house and feeling his skin crawl— sometimes, he swears there’s a faint yet threatening glow of whitish blue, and sometimes green. A week of seeing Fenton in the hallways and feeling the huffing breath of death as his body disjointedly made its way along with its menacing aura and hollow eyes and tight skin.

A week that had several times where Dash and Kwan shoved Fenton against the lockers, and John stood by feeling like they were sticking their hands down the beast’s throat, idiotically welcoming it to snap its jaws and throw them back— and everytime he felt stupid as they laughed at his fear, as the death beast that resided within and around Fenton allowed them to withdraw their hands.

A week… and it was over.

Mostly.

Fenton looked normal, and not just on first glance; that threatening aura was gone, the beast’s jaws no longer raising from the floor to gulp John down into clammy anxiety every time the boy was around.

Still, if he stared too long he’d catch a glint. With every glance, every passing day, those glints of green in his eyes and the vortex of death faded, but it was enough to jolt John out of complacency.

xXx

Another week of fading glimpses had lulled John into breathing easy.

“Can you believe you thought he was creepy?” Dash laughed as John held a prone, glaring Fenton against the locker.

“I’ll give you weird,” Kwan conceded, laughing along.

John laughed, and took Fenton’s shoulders— connected to a living, breathing, body that didn’t look like a corpse, he reminded himself, taking it in, relishing the confirmation that Fenton wasn’t scary at all— and shoved him against the lockers more.

And Danny—

Glared.

His eyes flared that toxic, radioactive green, and John felt lightning strike, igniting that fear.

Fenton’s eyes went back to blue, and John ignored the glimmers of green as Dash opened a locker for him to shove the loser in.

[noreasonjustbored]

Don’t Dress Up As My Enemy

Hi guys! I’ve been working on this since a few days before Halloween and I just finished it. Sorry, it was supposed to be a Halloween one shot but I hope you still enjoy. If you would like to be added to my tag list for future writing, please let me know by responding to this post.

Tag List:

@mychenrymadness @up-the-tube @heyimtavia @adorkable-blackgirl @henryhearts

————————————-

“So what should we be for Halloween this year?” Henry asks Charlotte who was at the monitor. “I was thinking like Sandy and Danny from Grease or even better, Brittany and Justin in those denim outfits. I look gooooodddd in denim.”

“I do look great in denim. But no.”

“Alright, what about the Disney route? Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen?”

“Uhhhh...” Charlotte hesitates.

“Ariel and Eric?”

Charlotte turns away from what she was looking at and spins the chair around to face Henry who is sitting on the couch. She shakes her head.

“John Lennon and Yoko Ono? You like the Beatles, right?”

“Yeah the Beatles are cool. But something’s off.”

“Off? What do you mean by off?” Henry wonders.

“I don’t know, I just don’t like those options. Any other suggestions?”

“Okkkkk...How about the Joker and Harley Quinn?”

“Eww no, their whole dynamic was toxic” Char replies instantly.

“Oh! How about Barbie and Ken? We are totally hot enough to pull that off!”

“Yeeaaahh I don’t think so. Anything else?”

“Wow you’re being so picky this year. What about Red and Abe from Us? Super scary. Plus red jumpsuits and scissors should be easy enough.”

“That would be pretty simple to put together but it’s not doing it for me.”

“Well do you have any ideas?” Henry poses exasperatedly.

At that moment the elevator opens and Jasper pops out. “Guys, guess what I got?”

“A snake?” “A new bucket?” They respond simultaneously.

“No! It’s wands! I figured that we could be Harry Potter characters for Halloween this year. Charlotte can be Harry!”

“Jasper!” Char exclaims. “That’s what was missing! None of those choices had a good option for him, that’s why I didn’t like them.”

“What are we talking about?” Jasper asks curiously.

“Nothing, Henry was just suggesting different costumes for us but they were only for two people” she clarifies.

Jasper turns to Henry, “You didn’t include me in your planning?”

Looking like a deer caught in the headlights Henry stammers out, “No, buddy! I totally thought about you!”

“Really?” Jasper asks Henry with an eyebrow raised. “Hey Charlotte, name one of the ideas he gave you.”

“Barbie and Ken.”

“The iconic duo. Anything else?”

“Ummm...guys I don’t think that this-“

“No Char, I want to know. What was another option?” Jasper asks seriously.

Charlotte sighs but decides to answer his question. “Tiana and Naveen. The main characters from the Princess and the Frog.”

“Oh really?” Jasper looks back at Henry who is now looking guilty. “And who was I going to be Hen?”

Henry looks everywhere expect at Jasper. “Louis the Alligator?”

“Louis the- wowww okay. If you didn’t want to dress up with me this year dude you could’ve just said something.”

“Of course I want to dress up with you! I just forgot. Temporarily.”

“Yeah sure, well thank you to Charlotte for being a good friend and thinking about me.”

“Dude I’m sorry. It’s not like that. Can I...talk to you for a minute?”

“We’re talking right now.”

“I mean alone. Just, come upstairs to Junk and Stuff with me.”

“Are you sure you want to talk to ME and not Charlotte?”

“Leave me outta this.” Charlotte piped up, facing the monitors at the console once again.

“Look, just meet me up there. Okay?” Henry pleaded.

“I’ll think about it” Jasper huffed.

After Henry took the elevator up to the store, Jasper plopped down onto the couch with a long sigh. “You know this is your fault.”

Knowing that they were the only two remaining in the ManCave, Charlotte assumes that Jasper was addressing her.

“What’s my fault?” she inquires while rising from her seat and walking to the couch to sit down next to her friend.

Jasper seems to disconnect from reality, staring blankly at nothing. It’s as if he is in a trance. Then he starts to speak.

“Before you came into the picture, Henry and I were thick as thieves. Practically inseparable. We did everything together. There were no doubts about our friendship. And then one day while we were playing, Henry saw you. A tiny girl with a book that was half her body weight, sitting on the swing set. You were rocking gently back and forth. Not too high, not too hard. Henry thought it was awesome that you could swing and read at the same time.”

“That took a second to master, it made me motion sick at first.” Charlotte says lightly amused.

“He saw some kind of wild flower next to the sandbox and picked it for you. And when he gave it to you he said it was because doing two things at once made you ‘the coolest person he had ever met’. When you accepted it, you said that the type of flower was a daisy. You asked him if he knew that daisies could symbolize true love and new beginnings? Henry said that he didn’t know those things but thought it was very smart that you did. You thanked him for the flower and asked where he had gotten it from. When he pointed by the sandbox you were confused because you didn’t see any other flowers there. You told him that daisies usually grow in clusters and it was strange that the flower as alone.”

“That was weird, daises typically grow in groups.” Charlotte mumbles softly.

“Do you remember Henry saying that the flower was like you? Because you were by yourself? He said that he could be a part of your cluster. So you wouldn’t have to be alone anymore. And the whole time this was happening, I was right there. A few feet away, watching. Not knowing how to contribute to the conversation my best friend up and left me to have with this random girl.”

“I didn’t know you were there.”

“Well I was. You know, I think that day started his love affair with flowers. He was so impressed that you knew exactly what type it was and that you knew so many facts about it. And he wanted to be liked you in that way. You inspired him. I don’t think I’ve ever inspired anything that Henry’s done.”

“Jasper....”

“It’s okay. I’ve mostly accepted the fact that I’ll never be as important to him as you are.”

“Hey listen, you are important to him. I know that Henry loves you. You guys were friends before I even came into the picture, there had to be a connection there. You’re just a little hurt right now because he wasn’t thinking things completely through earlier. But come on, it’s Henry. Not thinking things through is basically one of his personality traits.”

“Yeah I guess” Jasper sighs. “I’m just sick of feeling like I’m the only one invested in our friendship.”

“Have you spoken to Henry about how you feel?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“Well maybe you should.”

“I know.”

It’s silent for a moment. “Uggghhhh” Jasper groans in frustration. “I’m so sorry Charlotte, I know it’s not your fault that I feel this way. It was just easier to blame you than face the fact that I might be losing my best friend.”

“It’s okay Jasper. I understand where you are coming from. Believe it or not, I’ve felt like this before too. Henry and I were way closer in middle school before you found out he was Kid Danger. We spent so much time together at school and then here at work. Secrets bind people together. So whenever you were let in on the secret, we lost some of that closeness and everything changed. Instead of it being just the two of us, it felt like the two of you and then me. It was like I barely hung out with him anymore because you were always there. Henry spent so much of his time showing you all the cool tech stuff and explaining how everything worked in the ManCave, things I already knew about. For a while it was rough for me. It was like I was alone in a room full of people trying to figure out where I fit in.”

“I never knew you felt like that.”

“Yeah. That feeling of neglect was real. Because while we were friends, neither one of us were as close to each other as we were with Henry. That is, until we started spending more time together when Henry and Ray were on missions. We built our friendship stronger and bonded without Henry. He had always been the glue. Then, we created our own glue. And I’m so glad that we did. You are my best friend. That statement doesn’t lose any value just because it’s also true for Henry. The same thing applies to us. Henry loves you. You should go talk to him.”

“I will. Thanks Char.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Hug?”

“Just this once.”

“Yay!” Jasper said as he scooped his smaller friend in his arms, squeezing tightly.

Charlotte patted him awkwardly on the back. “Okay that’s enough.”

Upstairs, Henry was at the register cashing out a customer when Jasper came from behind the beaded curtain. After he handed the person their change, he turned to his friend. “Listen Jasper, I’m sorry man. I didn’t mean to-“

“No Henry, you listen to me for once. I know you didn’t mean to hurt my feelings.”

“Exactly! My bad I’m just so into-“

“Hold up. As I was saying, I know you didn’t mean to hurt my feelings. But you did. You hurt my feelings today when you didn’t include me in your costume plans, especially since we dressed up as a group last year. That hurt man. And you know what that reminded me of? That time I asked you how long you thought you could keep a secret from your best friend and your response was, ‘Oh, Charlotte knows’. It didn’t even cross your mind that I meant me. That I was your best friend.”

“Dude...”

“I’m just saying Henry. For a hero, you sure know how to hurt people.”

“That’s not fair.”

“Isn’t it?”

“Listen. Of course Charlotte is my best friend, but so are you. I know that sometimes I don’t show you the appreciation you deserve. I am truly sorry. You’ve been such a constant in my life that I just assume you know how much I care about you. I should tell you more often, that’s on me. I love you man. Forgive me?”

Jasper stared at Henry with a stoic face for a tense twenty seconds before caving.

“Of course. That’s all I wanted to hear” Jasper said before giving him a big bro hug.

“So the costume thing really was you just being obtuse without realizing, Charlotte was right” Jasper said mostly to himself.

“Well” Henry says in his signature high pitched voice.

“What is it?”

“Um, you see, Ikindawantedtowearacouple’scostumewithCharbecauseImighthaveacrushonher.”

“Huh?”

“I saaaaaiiiiddd, I kinda wanted to wear a couple’s costume with Char because I might have a crush on her. I figured if we had matching costumes, when people commented on them I could look at her reaction to try and gauge if she liked me back.” Henry responds while looking at the floor and scratching the back of his neck nervously.

“Really?” Jasper said excitedly.

Henry whips his head back up to see Jasper beaming at him.

“You’re not like, mad? Because you just went on this whole tangent about how I like her more than you...”

“No this is great! Honestly. I’ve always known that you like her more than me. My problem was that I don’t like it when you treat her like she’s your only best friend and leave me out completely. Plus, you’ve liked her ever since you gave her that flower when we were kids. You stare at her like she hung the moon. And...her contact name in your phone has been Daisy since you got a phone. You’re completely obvious dude.”

“Okayyy, geez. I didn’t know I was so transparent. I just realized this like a few weeks ago.” Henry says.

“You poor sap. Well come on, I’ll help you get your girl” Jasper replies as they walk to the back and push the button for the elevator.

“How are you gonna do that? My costume idea backfired.”

“Yeah she is definitely not going to leave me out after our talk.” Jasper says.

Henry sighs in defeat.

“Hmmmm...oh, I got it! We can still do Harry Potter but instead I’ll be Harry, Charlotte can be Hermoine.”

“And I can be Ron!” Henry concludes excitedly.

“Yeah exactly! That way, you can still technically have a couple’s costume. Even though we both know if anyone was gonna save the world it would definitely be her” Jasper muses.

“This is true.” Henry agrees as they both step into the elevator.

[five-wow]

i watched 10.20! thoughts under the cut, as always.

steve running away from his memories in slow motion is how we start out and i should have expected that because i’ve seen this as a preview but still, oh gosh. (i also just have... so many things to say about all of the parental figures we’re shown steve is thinking of and all of their many, many failings, but that would turn into far too long a meta analysis of steve’s life to even start in on it now. (it makes me so mad though. urgh. you ruined a perfectly good human! look, it’s got, well, about a million issues, really. slow mo beach running means things are either romantic or very bad in fiction world, and i regret to say it’s not the former for steve.))

tani rolls over in bed and it’s empty but it’s empty because junior has been up making her a HUGE BREAKFAST. HE IS WEARING AN APRON. I AM IN FAVOR OF THIS.

i already know tani has some issues with self worth relationships and that they work it out at the end of the episode (i’ve seen the gifs of junior offering to be less sweet and tani telling him VERY RIGHTFULLY that he wouldn’t know how) so i’m not extremely worried, but ahhh, it’s still so sad to see junior put in all this adorable effort that tani fully deserves and tani just doesn’t know how to accept it. heartbreaking from both angles, nooo.

ALSO, tani says she usually just grabs a coffee on her way to work and junior says “yeah, and you’re usually late because of it” and i literally today wrote a paragraph for a fic where i claim that tani is usually first at the office these days (because danny forces steve and junior to sit down for breakfast with him), so way to debunk my writing, canon that i clearly should have just watched a week ago so i could have avoided this situation. :p

“i shouldn’t have asked you to stay over.” ack. no. junior’s face is breaking my heart now, too.

and then he STARTS CLEANING UP. jfc, boy, we already know you’re a saint, you don’t have to keep proving it when you’re looking like a kicked puppy.

ahhh i just realized that if danny is not in this episode because he’s... idk, visiting family again? and junior is staying over at tani’s place, then steve is home alone. that’s bad timing, guys.

ah, RIGHT. he’s not home alone, because gerard hirsch broke in and started drinking his coffee. i’m having flashbacks to sang min, ha.

fdjkfdjkfd okay, this is a good scene, though. eddie! steve’s faces! steve LEAVING THE THE DOORS UNLOCKED becuase he doesn’t like running with his keys! also what, he came in through the back door and he apparently leaves the front door open too, like... just in case? STEVE NO.

aha, danny’s on spring break with the kids! okay, danny, you know what, you forgot someone. home alone: fully grown navy seal edition.

hirsch: “so, i’m guessing reyrei is now official.” fjdkfd i never quite know how to feel when shows include shipnames in their canon because it’s usually very weird, but i appreciate the effort, i think!

i’ve genuinely enjoyed hirsch’s reappearance so far, but as soon as he took tani to meet his uncle (who is now a suspect in a murder cold case) i knew there was going to be an uncomfortable comment about tani being pretty and yes, yes, there was. i mean. i guess i got to enjoy being right?

hirsch: “i know from personal experience she does not respond to talk like that.” okay!!! you know what, i can actually work with that. hirsch is learning, developing, maybe ditching his grosser habits. as long as they’re not going back on that in this same episode, that’s good!

very convenient to have the guy you’re questioning already hooked up to a machine that tattles on his heartrate, haha.

tani: “he made me breakfast.” hirsch: “that monster!” i am. i am actually starting to like hirsch in this episode and it is very strange but very nice.

fjdkfdjk junior says that he knows for a fact that danny got everybody “one of those” (an alexa) for christmas, and i LOVE THAT because it’s wonderful continuity with 10.16, when steve calls on alexa to prove he’s going on a date and they make a whole point of mentioning that danny bought him the thing. also, though, danny, bud - i don’t know how great it is to give all of your friends the temptation to let amazon spy on their lives even more than it already does. maybe go for socks next year.

junior unloads on lou and then they have a tiny dance party in the car and that’s so unexpectedly cute, omg.

very random, but i just really appreciate duke. he’s been there from the very beginning and he’s still giving the team these valuable little bits of needed exposition on the regular. he’s very loyal and drama free and it’s always nice to see his face. shout out to duke.

the old roommate of hirsch’s uncle tells a story that sounds very accidentally incriminating for hirsch’s uncle, which probably means the roommate is the actual murderer. i’m calling it now.

the roommate actually SAYS the uncle was the murderer! ooooh. he’s definitely guilty now.

tani agrees with me!!! only she has some actual evidence to back this claim up apart from knowing how crime show plots work, because she is a Good Detective.

steve talks the grieving widow who was part of a diamond thieving couple down from the brink of killing her husband’s killer by telling her he knows what it’s like to lose “the most important person in your life” and it’s very obvious the writers are making a point here but it’s also very good!

though i did keep getting a little distracted by how perfect this woman’s hair was after running through the woods, lying on the floor half dead, spending most of the day in hospital and then going on a violent quest for revenge. damn. diamonds buy amazing hair products and a personal styling team on call for when you’re in the middle of a crime spree/emergency, i guess.

some eddie/hirsch hints here that i’m going to ignore because oh dear god no.

i??? from the gifs i saw i assumed that the episode would end with some kind of party in the mcgarrett backyard, but that’s not what is currently happening as such, so those string lights are just... always there? oh my gosh. i have no idea if we’ve seen them before and i’m only just now paying attention to it, but more importantly, i don’t know if i want steve to have put those up himself, or danny to have bought them and forced them on steve’s garden like he forced alexa on steve, except with less moral issues connected to a tech giant harvesting your personal data.

tani opens up and she’s crying and junior tells her he’s not going anywhere (duh) and I’M crying!

junior, mid-hug: “i could totally start being meaner, if that’s what you want.” I STILL LOVE THAT. that’s so stupid and so sweet and so stupidly sweet.

oh boyyy, while everyone is having their social moments somewhere in the house, steve is hiding out in his garage and listening to his father telling him not to be a cop on tape. AWESOME. I’M SURE THAT’S FUN AND OKAY AND NOT SETTING UP ANYTHING. this is also why this steve needs a danny in his life, because it’s definitely high time for some agressively caring emotional support to be forced upon this man.

annnnd he gets a call from a british guy who wants to hand deliver him a package from doris.

steve just. hangs up on the guy. omg. perfect. please keep doing that and maybe just, wait for danny and the kids to come home and hug them and take like, a little mental health break? instead of, you know, breaking your mental health, over stuff your mother did, again? gosh.

i will admit i really enjoyed hirsch in this episode! i did not see that coming (and it probably won’t make me like him more in previous episodes) but it was a delightful surprise. and TANI AND JUNIOR, ahhh, i am proud of them and their communication and i love them and junior is the best and tani is perfect. did i mention that i love them? i do. i love them.

(re: the steve angst, i refuse to get myself more worked up about that than i low key already am constantly, so i’m electing to mostly ignore it for now. i’ll see what happens next friday. whatever it is, it’s going to happen whether i want it to or not, so best to make it as painless for myself as possible.)

[darks-ink]

Absurdism Chapter 12

*casually drops headcanons all over this chapter*

Rating: Teen/K+ (a lil swearing, because teenagers, man) Warnings: - Genre: Family, Hurt/Comfort Additional Tags: Sibling Bonding, Family Bonding, Alternate Universe - Halfa Jazz AU, Jazz makes friends

[AO3] [FFN] [more Absurdism on Tumblr] First Chapter | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

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Chapter 12: Control Freaks

Cold air curled in Jazz’ lungs, and she paused in her flight. She’d been expecting it, yes, but not this soon. Normally her ghost sense wouldn’t pick up on Sidney until she actually entered the school. To have it go off this soon… Was he outside?

Concern niggled in her brain, and she turned herself invisible. She would just check the school grounds and make sure he wasn’t in any trouble. During times like these, she wished she was as good as a tracker as Phantom, but apparently that was a hard skill—and a late one.

Luckily it wasn’t that hard to find Sidney. He was hidden from the crowd of students, but not actually hidden hidden.

More surprising was the person he was apparently talking with: Valerie.

Jazz bit her lip, hesitating for just a moment. Should she listen in? No, definitely not. That was just… creepy. She could just join it like a regular person. A better question would be, join as Specter or join as Jazz? But that, too, was an easy question to answer.

She ducked into a bush—not too close, but not overly far away—and shifted back to her human form. It was Jazz, after all, that had connections to both Valerie and Sidney, and who had encouraged Valerie to be nicer to ghosts.

A few determined steps brought her back towards her talking… friends? Was friends the right word to use? Sure, whatever, she was allowed to call them friends in her internal dialogue. A few determined steps brought her back towards her talking friends, and Jazz pushed her way through the brush, glancing between human and ghost.

“Hey, thought I heard your voices. What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Valerie quickly assured her. Next to her, Sidney nodded. Huh. That was surprising.

Jazz shot them both a doubtful look. “Last time I checked, Valerie, you still thought ghosts were scum, and you only talked to Sidney because he had information about Ember, and only while I was there. What changed?”

Valerie shrugged kind of uncertainly. She didn’t say anything.

“Oh, well.” Jazz looked at Sidney, but he wasn’t any help either. “Would it help if… I told you about how we met? Sidney and I?”

“Yeah, I’ve been wondering about that, actually.” Valerie nodded.

“Alright, so.” Jazz clapped her hands together, grinning at Valerie, and ignoring Sidney’s nerves. Now, how to tell this story with as little lying as possible but without giving away her secret… “So, ghosts were kind of becoming a generally known thing, right? Obviously my parents already believed in them, but now proof was coming out that ghosts really are real, yeah?”

Valerie nodded along, and Jazz continued. “And I saw some kids getting bullied, and I… I just hate that. Having to watch it happen to other kids, knowing they won’t target me, but also being powerless to stop it. So I started wondering… If ghosts are real, who says that the Sidney Poindexter from those Casper High rumors isn’t also real?”

“Okay…” Valerie said, slowly. “So then why did he suddenly start showing up? Did you meet him afterwards, and was he—” She turned to Sidney, “You, sorry, were you lured here by something? Why did ghost activity go up so much?”

Sidney shot Jazz a worried glance, then, cautiously, explained. “I have a special portal to the Ghost Zone, and only I can go through it. Jazz found it, and must’ve guessed that that was it, because she tried talking to me through it. That’s when I started becoming active around here, and we actually spoke not too long after.”

“I see…” Valerie’s eyes narrowed in Jazz’ direction, almost suspiciously, but she nodded anyway. “What about Specter and Phantom? They seem pretty set on stopping other ghosts from coming here. Didn’t they have a problem with you, or can you avoid them with your portal?”

“It’s not like that,” Sidney immediately corrected, shaking his head. “It’s not— they’re not like animals, it’s not some kind of territorial dispute. There are lots of ghosts out there that could—and would—hurt humans if left to their own devices. Usually not on purpose, although exceptions exist, but because they don’t know any better. Most animal ghosts, for example, and plenty of more intelligent ones as well. It’s…”

He made a face. “It’s kind of hard to remember, sometimes, how easy it is to hurt a human. If you’ve been a ghost for a while. Jazz warns me, sometimes, if I toe the line. If my retaliation against bullies becomes a little too much. But not every ghost has human friends, or contacts, or would even care if they accidentally got a little too rough. That is why Phantom and Specter patrol, and help the town. And sometimes…”

Sidney shrugged, smiling a little. “Sometimes they help ghosts, too. They gave me some of the earlier pointers, on how far I could reasonably go, and how to stay safe from ghost hunters. On places I could go to see… the see life, to see the human world, without getting pounced on by ghost hunters.”

“I… see.” Valerie nodded, slowly, and Jazz could almost see the gears turning in her head. “So there might be… more ghosts, out in Amity, and no one but them would know about it?”

“Possibly,” Sidney agreed. “But I don’t think many of them stay for long. Natural portals are finicky, and portals like mine are, well, extremely rare, and only work for one ghost. Most of the others that travel to Amity come through the Fenton’s artificial portal, but that’s…” He made a face. “Well, you kind of have to pass through a ghost hunter’s lab just to come and go. Not exactly a risk many ghosts like running.”

“So why not just camp out here?” Valerie asked, quirking an eyebrow. “If coming and going is so dangerous, what’s stopping them from just setting up base in the city proper, and not returning to the Ghost Zone?”

“They can’t,” Jazz said, drawing the attention back to her. “Well, most ghosts can’t, anyway. They need some form of energy to fuel themselves, or they’ll burn out. They usually get it from the ectoplasm in the air, which is high in the Zone, and which the portals expel. It’s still kind of high in Amity in general, so ghosts can last a while, but they’ll burn out sooner or later. Some ghosts can gain energy from different sources, though. Ember, for example, could draw power from her fans. Other ghosts might draw energy from, for example, human emotions, or even actual electricity.”

Valerie shook her head. “But if it’s so dangerous, why do they even try? If they have to get past ghost hunters just to come here, why would they risk it? What’s so alluring about the human world, or so bad about the Ghost Zone, that ghosts feel like they have to come here?”

“It’s curiosity and interest, mostly.” Sidney frowned a little, in thought. “I can’t speak for everyone, of course, and I’m not sure if I would’ve come here if I had to go through the hunter’s portal, but… the Ghost Zone gets boring, if you spend enough time there. I mean, ghosts don’t sleep, usually, so we just spend day in day out in the same place. After a decade or two, or in my case, fifty years, wouldn’t you risk potential danger just to see something else? And, yes, the world changed while you were out, and isn’t that so interesting? If you had the chance to see what the world looked like in fifty years, and even at some risk, wouldn’t you?”

“And you have to remember, Valerie, that ghosts are sturdier than humans,” Jazz pointed out. “Just getting hit by a few shots from an ecto-gun isn’t that painful to most of them, and they heal faster, too. As long as they don’t actually get captured for research, run-ins with ghost hunters aren’t that dangerous.”

“So it’s just like… boredom? Wanting to see something different, combined with the fact that traveling here isn’t that much of a risk, even with the ghost hunters?” Valerie’s eyes narrowed a little, again, but it seemed thoughtful now. Jazz wondered if Valerie knew how probing her questions were, if she realized how suspicious this all sounded without the background knowledge of Red talking to Phantom last night.

“Basically,” Sidney admitted with a shrug. “Some of us have different reasons too, of course. Personally, I greatly dislike bullies because of my experiences with them in life, and being able to stop other kids from suffering through the same… I like that, being able to help. Other ghosts might come here to pursue specific interests, too, or to do things they’re passionate about, but can’t do in the Zone.”

“Right, so—” A loud screeching sound interrupted Valerie, suddenly, startling all three of them. The school bell, Jazz realized. Whoops. She’d gotten so caught up in the conversation that she forgot.

“Ah, shit,” Valerie swore, snatching her backpack off of the grass. “Jazz, we have the same class first, right?”

“Yeah.” She ran through the contents of her backpack, quickly. Did she have everything? Yeah, she thought she did. “Do you need to stop by your locker?”

“Nope. Come on, let’s go!” Valerie already started rushing towards the school when she slowed, turning to call over her shoulder. “And Sidney? Thank you for talking to me!”

Jazz was already hurrying after Valerie when she heard Sidney get over his surprise, and yell back, “No problem! Thank you for listening!”

---

Danny dove low over some of Amity’s buildings, twisting himself into a curling maneuver that was perhaps just a tad unnecessary. So what? He liked flying!

Something in his peripherals drew his attention, and Danny found himself coming to an abrupt halt. It niggled in his mind, somehow, although he didn’t know what he’d seen.

He turned, trying to figure it out. What could he possibly have seen—

oh.

Freakshow’s giant blown-out face grinned at him, the printed image of the red crystal ball instantly drawing Danny’s eyes back to it. It itched in his brain, the swirling—

No!

Danny clenched his eyes shut, trying to draw up mental walls to block the image. No! Not fucking again!

He forced himself to continue flying in his original direction, keeping his eyes shut until he felt confident that he’d gone far enough. When he reopened them, he stubbornly refused to look back, no matter how his mind niggled at him that he should.

It was far enough from FentonWorks—and Casper High—that Jazz wouldn’t come across it. Danny could tell her about the ads when they met in the woods, make sure she knew about the danger. He would have to put a little more thought into Freakshow, figure out how they could deal with him.

Well. Not them, that was for sure. He wasn’t going anywhere near Freakshow and his crystal ball, and Jazz definitely wasn’t.

He touched down in the clearing, Jazz’ innocent youthful face greeting him. No, he definitely couldn’t let her go anywhere near Freakshow. He’d rather die.

“Sorry, I didn’t keep you waiting for too long, did I?” he asked, running his hands through his hair in a hopeless attempt to flatten it some. Just… appear normal, and think it over while training. That’d be alright.

“No, it’s fine.” Jazz cocked her head, a slight frown to her brow, but didn’t comment. “What are we working on today?”

“Well, you’ve got a pretty good grip on both ecto-rays and shields, so we can move to more advanced techniques.” But more advanced offensive techniques weren’t really Jazz’ jam, were they? “We can see if you can get a grip on something elemental, like electricity, or even ice or fire, or we can try something more neutral. There’s this one technique which I can do, but that I’ve never seen Vlad do, that’s like an exploding shield? Like a field which pushes enemies away. You might be able to learn that, if that’s more your style.”

“Hm. Focusing on more defensive techniques would make my core lean more towards those skills, right?” Jazz twirled a strand of hair, clearly thinking it over. “It would be good to focus on offensive techniques too, especially if I can use them in a variety of situations, but the repulsion field sounds useful too.”

Danny nodded. “We can focus on the repulsion field today, and try something elemental the next time. Actually, it might be good to give you homework for that.”

“Homework?” Jazz repeated, almost incredulously. “Wow, now you sound like a real teacher. What would homework for this even mean, besides using my powers?”

“Well, elemental powers are finicky. You know how most ghosts tend to focus on a single element, which in turn lead to people concluding that ghost cores must be element-based?” Jazz nodded, and Danny continued. “Right. Obviously that’s not the case, but most ghosts still lean towards a single element, or two at max. Beyond that, it gets really complicated to be well-trained in them, and you’ll notice that control and power will go down.”

“Okay,” Jazz said, slowly, drawing out the word, “But how does that factor into homework?”

“I want you to feel out elemental leanings.” He formed a shard of ice, holding it up for Jazz to see, then ran lightning over it. “Personally I lean towards electricity, and I picked up ice thanks to a mentor in the Zone. I can do some fire as well, but it’s lesser, because I haven’t focused on it much. I want you to focus on… well, everything, really. See if there’s anything that you particularly feel connected to.”

Jazz nodded, and Danny nodded back. “Right, so, that’ll be your homework. For now, the… what did you call it? Repulsion field? That’s a good name for it, I like that.”

She snorted. “Thanks. Can you show it first, so I know what I’m trying to learn?”

“Yeah, of course.” He floated up and away a little, making sure that Jazz wasn’t too close. Then he curled up in a ball, gathered ectoplasmic energy around himself, like forming an ecto-blast but not in the palm of his hand. The energy gathered, coiling and swirling in a ball around him. When he was satisfied that it was enough for a demonstration, he pushed.

The energy blasted away from him, grass and leaves rustling in the sudden rush of wind.

“Wow,” Jazz breathed, but she was grinning when he looked at her. “That’s so cool! I definitely want to learn how to do that.”

Danny drifted closer again. “Right, so there are a few elements to it, but it’s pretty similar to ecto-blasts and shields. First, you’ll want to curl in tight—less surface for the energy to spread over. Built up the power like an ecto-blast, but around your whole body, rather than just your fist. But it’s gotta be strong like a shield! And then, when you think it’s ready—or when you can’t hold it anymore—push! Uncoil yourself and shove the energy from a shield into a blast!”

Jazz nodded along. “I think I got it. Like a shield, except you can push the energy out into a blast.”

“And curling up into a ball! That’s important, since it’ll help you make the push. Putting a physical element into it—like thrusting out your hand for a blast.”

“Gotcha.” Jazz pushed herself off of the ground, but didn’t quite curl into a ball yet. “How will I know if it’s enough energy?”

“It’s just experience, really.” Danny shrugged. “Kind of like ecto-blasts, you get used to compare energy to power. You can start off easy and build up. That’ll be better for your core, too, and it’ll be like a warming-up exercise.”

She snorted. “I thought there were no warming-up exercises for ghost powers?”

“Oh, shut up,” he said without heat, rolling his eyes. “Feel free to overload your core by accidentally drawing out too much energy if that’ll make you feel better.”

“I take back what I said, you’re a terrible teacher,” Jazz joked, curling up into a small purple ball. Golden energy startled swirling around her, slowly growing denser.

When she pushed out, the blast only gave off a little energy, the grass barely waving in its wake.

“Oh,” she muttered, quietly. Disappointed. “That…”

“Was a good start,” Danny finished for her. “You’re figuring out the technique first, and the power second. Better to start off weak, but know you’re doing it right, than go for too much and accidentally explode your arm, or something.”

“Ugh.” Jazz made a face. “Did you really have to go that visceral with it?”

No, but he was probably already in a bad mindset from thinking about Freakshow. He shrugged at Jazz, though, instead of vocalizing that. “It worked, didn’t it? Now go ahead, you’re not gonna get any better by chatting about it.”

She sighed, almost petulantly, but curled back up again.

Danny watched her repeat the move several more times, every attempt growing more powerful. When her blast left the trees wavering with aftershocks, Jazz held up a hand, stopping Danny before he could compliment her.

“What’s up with you today?” she asked, frowning at him. “And don’t give me that face. You’ve been distracted the whole time.”

He hadn’t thought he was that obvious about it, but… well, this was Jazz he was dealing with. She could probably see through him like it was nothing.

“It’s… eugh. An upcoming confrontation, I guess.” He shrugged, vaguely. “It’s this one human guy, except he has an artifact that allows him to control ghosts, including us, in both human and ghost form. I ran into one of his ads today, and it reminded me that we gotta deal with him, except we can’t deal with him, and—”

He stopped. Slapped himself in the face, and groaned dramatically. “Of course. We can’t deal with him, but we can sic Valerie on him! She’ll be immune to his staff, and she’ll be enticed to do it because he forces ghosts to do crime, and that’s bad.”

“Right.” Jazz stared at him, her golden eyes piercing right through him. She must’ve realized how he’d discovered that the staff worked on them. “And that’s not… a problem? Sending Valerie to deal with it?”

“Probably not. Sam and Tucker shattered it in my universe, and doing so freed all ghosts under its control,” he explained, ignoring the way his stomach curdled. They didn’t break it, not like that, but… it was easier than explaining the truth. “I don’t know how Val feels about us two, exactly, but if we explain that this guy can make us do terrible things… I bet that that would do the trick.”

“Yeah, that seems likely.” She frowned, still. “What… How does it work, exactly? Like, can we resist it, somehow?”

“Not… really.” He scratched the back of his neck, pushed down the desire to fly away and never talk about it again. “Any command you hear while seeing the crystal ball, you must do. There’s no stopping it, it just… drowns you out entirely. Don’t even look at the ads, although you might be able to push those out. The TV ads, especially, are a no-go.”

His grim tone seemed to function as a wake-up call, because she nodded, and didn’t push. “Valerie sounds like a good plan, yeah. Do you want to go look for her now?”

“Nah.” He shook his head. “We’re training now. I’ll talk to her later, and you can do your homework. Like, your real actual homework.”

“Yeah, alright,” Jazz allowed. “But we probably shouldn’t continue for too much longer, in that case.”

“Probably,” he agreed. “That’d be better for your core, too, if we don’t strain it like that.”

“One more, then?” She was already lifting up from the ground, curling into a ball.

“Better make it good!”

She laughed as her golden ectoplasm gathered around her. “I’ll give you a show, alright!”

The energy burst with such power that it knocked Danny over entirely. The woods rattled with the wind, branches snapping off and raining down.

“Uh, whoops.” Jazz laughed sheepishly. “That was maybe a little too much.”

“Maybe,” Danny agreed, floating upright again. “But you might need that much if you’re surrounded by ghosts. It was a good lesson, anyway.”

Jazz nodded. “Good luck with Valerie. Let me know if there are any problems.”

“I can handle it, Jazz.” He rolled his eyes, exasperatedly. “But, yes, I’ll let you know if there’s anything you need to worry about. Good luck with your homework. Both human and ghostly.”

“Yes, Mr. Phantom.” She stuck out a tongue, a warm green, but pulled it back in quickly. Too childish, probably. “See you Friday.”

She pushed off, and he watched her go. “And avoid those Freakshow ads!” he shouted after her, feeling satisfied at her wave back.

Well. No putting it off any longer.

Danny let himself float up as well, flying back to Amity at a more casual pace. He could go looking for Valerie, yes, but he would probably have more luck drawing her to him. She had ghost scanners, but he didn’t have any human scanners.

He hovered over a quiet street—after making sure no Freakshow ads were nearby—and pretended to be looking for something. It didn’t take long for the roar of Valerie’s hoverboard to reach him.

Ah. He loved it when something went according to plan for once.

“Phantom. Looking for something?” Valerie asked, pulling to a halt beside him.

“You, actually,” he admitted easily. “Specter and I could use your help with something.”

Her posture was tensed—and had tensed up even further when he spoke—but she didn’t raise her gun. “With what?” she asked, shortly.

“Have you seen the ads for that goth circus? With their ringmaster, Freakshow?” He waited for her nod before he continued. “His staff has this weird crystal ball, bright red? It’s… I don’t know what it is, actually, but it can used to control ghosts. All of the people in Freakshow’s show are ghosts he’s forcing to participate, and that’s not the only thing he uses them for.”

“It’s not?” Valerie sounded almost incredulous.

“Nah. Apparently circuses don’t pay enough, because Freakshow has his ghost army stealing, too. You can follow the trail through the few cities he’s been in, and he’ll start doing the same here, probably. Might even try luring Specter or I out in the open so he can control us as well, since we’re tons stronger than the ghosts he has now. We know better, but, y’know.” He shrugged.

“You can’t come nearby without getting affected?” she guessed.

“Yeah, basically.” He huffed out something that was almost a laugh. “Besides, it would be better to let the human hunter deal with the human enemy. We wanted to call the police on him for the robberies, but someone needs to deal with the staff first. As long as Freakshow has his army of ghosts, he can just use them to escape from the law.”

Valerie nodded. “Gotcha. I’ll investigate, and if you’re speaking the truth—which I bet you are, because this sounds too crazy to be a lie—I’ll deal with Freakshow.” She made a face. “Ugh, is that really his name?”

“Stage name, I think. I don’t exactly do research on my enemies, though.” He shot her a grateful grin. “But, hey, thanks. Specter and I really appreciate it.”

“I’m not doing it for you,” Valerie said, coarsely. “But whatever. I’ll make sure you don’t have to worry about that crystal ball anymore.”

That… seemed like a strange way to word it. Ah, whatever. He was probably just being paranoid, now, driven up by Freakshow’s reappearance.

“Right. Well, thanks anyway. Have a good night, Red.”

She nodded. “Yeah, sure. Whatever.”

Her hoverboard roared as she left again.

---

“Did you hear?” Jazz asked Valerie, once she thought the locker room had gotten empty enough to get away with it. “About that guy’s arrest?”

“Who, the creepy ringmaster that could literally control ghosts?” Valerie scoffed. “Yeah. Did your parents go crazy about that?”

“Kinda, yeah.” Jazz straightened her shirt, then reached for her hair. Started twisting it up into a ponytail. “I’m glad, though. Imagine how powerful that guy could’ve gotten if he managed to get his hands on a really powerful ghost, like Phantom?”

Valerie hummed, but didn’t say anything. Jazz turned slightly to squint at her.

“What?” Valerie asked, raising an eyebrow. Her expression was… weird, though. Hard to read. “Yeah, I guess that that could’ve been bad. No point in speculating, though. For all we know Phantom and Specter just wanted us to deal with Freakshow, and are now free to hurt the city.”

Jazz felt her stomach roil. “Do you really think that?” she asked, lowering her hands again. The end of her ponytail brushed along her neck, something it didn’t do in her ghost form—the strands defied gravity like that.

Valerie seemed to stare at her for ages.

“Not really,” she finally said, after what felt like forever. “I just…” Valerie sighed and shrugged, taking her eyes off of Jazz. She walked out of the locker room before Jazz could say anything.

“Weird,” she muttered to herself. It was almost like Valerie… knew. But there was no way, right?

Just paranoia. Things were weird, so of course she was overly wary. Nothing to worry about.

[moviewarfare]

A Review of IP Man 3 (2010)

When I first watched this movie, I remember not liking it and feeling rather disappointed with it which is the opposite of how I felt when I watched IP Man 2. However, after re-watching this movie I came out rather appreciating it and enjoying it way more than I expected.

Sammo Hung who was the action director of the first two IP Man film does not return for the third one. Instead, IP Man 3 has Woo-Ping Yuen as the new action director who has a lot of martial art movies to his belt such as Kung fu Hustle and Kill Bill so the action was still in safe hands. One of the things I felt about IP Man 2 that was rather off-putting was the very cartoony style of fighting and overuse of wire works. I can safely say that in IP Man 3 it returns to the more grounded and realistic style of the first movie.

This movie also expands upon the use of environments for the action scenes. Ip Man fights a dozen men on a stair, fights in a construction area and fights a Muay Thai boxer in a claustrophobic elevator. Rather than just be open areas like the first movie, this movie incorporates different environments to create very unique fight scenes. For example, IP Man uses the hand rails during the stair fight or having him protect his wife during the conflict within the small area of the elevator. It's very creative and also very exhilarating fight scenes. One of the biggest advertisement for this movie was IP Man's fight against Frank played by Mike Tyson and despite being just 3 minutes, the fight is still really amazing. While in IP Man 1 he was invincible and there was no threat in the fights and in IP Man 2 where he actually fought physically struggling fights, IP Man 3 does something different. IP Man is still rather invincible in the fights but its the meaning to these fights that are the real suspense. It's a very interesting way of keeping IP Man as the all-mighty superhero but still, make it seem like he is genuinely in trouble in these fights.

There is also a very interesting rival and antagonist for IP Man in Zhang Jin as Cheung Tin-chi who is also a Wing Chun user. It's not like a lot of the movies in which the antagonist is like the main character but evil, Cheung Tin has a lot of depth to him. He will protect innocent people like IP Man and has someone he cares about but is a lot more aggressive compared to IP Man. Zhang Jin and the action director manages to show this contrast by having IP Man fight with more elegance whereas Cheung Tin with more ferocity even though they use the same fighting style. Cheung Tin is also very sympathetic in that he doesn't get the same respect and recognition as IP Man even when he does a good deed and it plays a part in his jealousy towards IP Man which eventually builds up to an awesome climax fight scene. He is a very interesting character and it is no surprise that he eventually gets his own spinoff movie.

Ip Man himself still manages to get his own character arc in this movie in which the major focus is his relationship with his wife Cheung Wing-sing (Lynn Hung). IP Man throughout the first two movies was mostly calm, modest and restraint but in this movie, we get to see more emotions from him as he has a vastly different struggle compared to the previous two movies. In IP Man 1 he struggled with surviving WWII and in the second movie, he struggled with adapting and physically struggled in fights. In IP Man 3 the struggle is mostly dealing with his fame and his wife's cancer. Unlike the second film where there is a problem, he can fight directly, in IP Man 3 the problem can't be solved by fighting. It gives IP Man a unique character arc in which he doesn't come out by the end of the movie better than before but gaining a new perspective and lesson on what is most important in life. It's why I really enjoyed the second half of this movie with its more emotional scenes which is praise given to Donnie Yen for giving a great performance in these heart wrenching moments.

While the second half was great, the first half is not so much. The first half is about dealing with a triad gang working for the antagonist Frank played by Mike Tyson. Firstly, Mike Tyson is not an actor and it really shows in his really cheesy performance. It's even more gear grinding when they make him speak Cantonese and it is just really bad. Secondly, his character is never really explored even though he is the main antagonist for the first half. They don't explain his origins or his motivations whatsoever. It gets really dumb when this whole gang fiasco gets magically resolved somehow by IP Man engaging in a fistfight with Frank which contrasts the whole theme of the second half. It doesn't make any sense but it all just gets resolved and brushed under the rug with no one ever talking about it at all in the second half.

There is also this plot thread about Tsui Lik (Louis Cheung) who is a student of IP Man who has feelings for this school teacher which amounts to nothing. It doesn't add anything to the overall narrative but somehow was put in the movie to just pad time. His relationship with IP Man isn't even explored. The plot is stitched together poorly with a bunch of different plot lines somehow all connecting. Cheung's jealously, Triad leader being a student of some martial art master, police corruption, foreigners being in control, Frank in general, Ip Man's wife, Tsui Lik crush are all stitched together in the first half to create a very messy plot which just doesn't work. Thankfully the second half is more focused and consistent.

I also have a little nitpick with how unconnected this movie feels to its prequels. Ip Man's friend and previously bandit but now fisherman friend is nowhere to be seen or mentioned at all in this movie even though it is still set in Hong Kong. There are returning characters such as Fat Po (Kent Cheng ) who has relative importance and Master Law (Lo Mang) who is just a cameo. However, everyone else feels completely different such as the reporters and Tin Ngo-san (Bryan Leung) who is a martial art master with a great and long friendship with IP Man but who wasn't in previous movies so it just feels really weird. IP Man 2 showed how difficult it is to be martial art master in Hong Kong but I guess its all easier now or something since Cheung Tin seems to be able to start one with ease. One of the things I loved from the second movie was his relationship with Leung, his first student, but sadly he is nowhere to be seen or mentioned and is instead replaced with a forgettable character Tsui Lik who does nothing for the movie. Bruce Lee (Danny Chan) is in the movie but mostly as a cameo for how Ip Man ends up teaching him rather than exploring their relationship which is a shame.

Overall, I still enjoyed this movie a lot. A majority of the problem with this movie is, unfortunately, all in the first 50 minutes but the second half is masterfully done that I almost forgive it.  Even in the messy first half, the fights are still exciting and thrilling to watch. This is a good martial art movie and was a very satisfying conclusion to the IP Man saga before they decided to make one more. I enjoyed it more than I expected and the fact it took risk is something I can appreciate. It's not as bad as many say it is and I think there is a lot of good in it.  

[stylishjunkdrawer]

Ada is Tommy’s favorite and destined to be his supreme equal: A Meta

We are going to look at the vast amount of character growth Ada has experienced over the four seasons/series and where I think her story has the potential to go based on that development. 

****** NOTE: SPOILERS AHEAD *******

S1 Ada – Doesn’t want anything to do with the family business or the crime. She wants Freddie Thorne and to follow true love and generally not involve herself with anything else. She and Tommy are constantly at odds, and you can see them struggling with a sibling relationship and protector dynamic with Tommy trying to keep her safe but she doesn’t want his help. He has to use Polly as a go between for them and try to convince Ada of Tommy’s point of view. She always sees this coming and doesn’t listen. In the final scene, she puts herself and the baby carriage in the middle of the pending war as a metaphor for the victims of their war that aren’t present: the men’s families and children. She effectively deescalates the situation and Tommy/Billy settle the issue directly and everyone else can go home. (RIP Danny) After a season of seeing her mostly as an emotional and vulnerable woman that needs protecting, she takes a stand and shows considerable growth in this final showdown.

S2 Ada – She’s lost Freddie and she and Karl are living in London alone and away from the family. At the funeral she once again doesn’t have much to say to Tommy but is more receptive to his conversation. Polly tries to get him off topic and he makes a comment about how she’s not weeping, she’s capable of discussion. This moment is important for Ada because she’s essentially lost the one thing she wanted to fight her whole family for in S1 in Freddie and she’s strong enough to grieve, accept and move on for her and Karl. She and Tommy have matching black eyes after their attacks and this is an important moment that ties them together symbolically. He offers her a house and where S1 Ada would have refused, S2 Ada takes the key and visits the house with her son. Later on, Tommy lets himself into the house and she demands the key back at gunpoint. Ada is actively standing up for herself at this point and showing she is capable. He gives it to her willingly but notes that “if there was no one watching the house, I couldn’t sleep.” Another notable instance of tables turning is when Polly is not speaking to Tommy when he is withholding Michaels address. Polly goes to the Garrison to the party, and Tommy invites Ada to try and talk to and reason with Polly. This is a direct reversal of their roles in S1.

S3 Ada – In S3, Ada decides to rejoin the family in a sense and become part of the Shelby Company LTD. She previously wanted nothing to do with the family business but this is a showing of her growth since S1. She also plays a critical role of securing Tommy with the meeting contact he needs after his attack and severe injuries. When Tommy is accusing family members of potential treachery later in the season, Ada confirms she rejoined the family and business out of love and with no other motivation. At the end of the season, Ada and Finn are the lone Shelby family members (spouses excluded) that were not arrested and expected to be hanged. At this point, it is clear that Tommy has used his family members and tasked them with dangerous activities and put them in harm’s way, but not Ada or Finn. In the official photos, I don't think it is a coincidence that Ada is one of the two characters closest to him in the photo, and facing the same direction as him whereas Polly is facing away. The body language speaks volumes. 

S4 Ada – She experiences her greatest character growth to date in this series. She is once again a neutral family member between Thomas and the rest of the family that nearly met their deaths. She travels to Arthur’s house to carry the news of the Black Hand cards and leaves him with her gun. This is a scene that any of the brothers may have starred in previously, but this time it is Ada providing the news and resources. Ada says in a family meeting that “The Bolsheviks couldn’t organize a fucking picnic.”  Tommy directly quotes this later when speaking with Jesse Eden and says “I have it on good authority that the Bolsheviks couldn’t organize a fucking picnic.” We, the viewer, understand that Tommy is referring to Ada as his good authority. He sends her to the rally Jesse Eden is speaking at and has her extend a dinner invitation to Jesse from Tommy. Most notable about the scene is Ada entering the bar and demanding service, fully embracing who she is at this point. Later in the season, Ada is arrested by the British army and it is revealed that Tommy has set up a plan with the officer Ben Younger and it directly involves Ada and her previous connections. When she and Tommy later discuss this, he provides the full details of this plan with her, something we haven’t previously seen him do. For example, in S2 when Tommy taps her housemate James to accompany him in his plan at Alfie’s bakery, when Ada asks they just tell her they’re doing something for the “good ole cause.” 

Conclusion: Arguably, Ada has experienced the most dramatic and in depth development of any character across the series so far. She starts as Tommy Shelby’s younger sister that he wants to ensure is protected and not used as a pawn in Campbell’s plan. She matures into the single parent and provider for her son and attempts to help Tommy reason with Polly. We see her further develop and rejoin the family and business and become a more trusted and central figure in Tommy’s operations. And finally we see her brought up to the metaphorical “Big League” when Tommy involves her with the military vehicles plan. Over the course of the 4 seasons, it stands out that Ada is the one family member (besides Finn) that Tommy never outright betrays or leaves high and dry while he’s working on contingency plans. Ada is a weak spot for Tommy and is one of the few people we see call him out mercilessly and face no consequences. He trusts her opinion, uses her quotes in business conversations and trusts her to secure high importance meetings with critical timing. As the series progresses, we see Polly moving to work against Tommy any time Michael is threatened, and Ada actively moves into a position of working with Tommy. 

The photo speaks to this sentiment as well. Polly is facing against them, while Tommy and Ada are in line beside each other. In S5, I think Ada is positioned perfectly to rise to be Tommy’s equal and most trusted confidant in business and in the family. I hope we see her character continue to grow and realize this enormous potential.

Notes: All photos came from google image search. This meta is of course, just my opinion on the characters and growth over the show’s course so far. I welcome all Peaky Blinders discussion so never hesitate to reach out! Thanks for reading.