#if she & Nick met when she was alive they’d be that couple at the family function that can’t stay off each other

[juniperhillpatient]

ghost stories aren’t really truly complete if at least one of the ghosts isn’t insatiably horny tbh

[chilligyu]

info: wen junhui/reader, teen+, soulmate au genre: angst, romance | word ct: 2k warnings: descriptions of injuries, scars, blood, hospitals summary: forever was a powerful word, and it was the only word he could think of when he imagined his soulmate. someone who was just as powerful as she was terrifying. because forever was a powerful word, and it scared him to no end. author's note: please read! this soulmate au deals with soulmarks in the form of injuries. once someone turns 18 their body will be marked with their soulmates scars and they will acquire all of their future injuries (i know it's a little confusing, story explains it better). if talks of scars and blood make you uncomfortable, respectfully, this fic will not be your cup of tea. thank you all!

Forever. Never, in all of Junhui’s life, had he heard a more terrifying word. He hated the permanency of it, the idea of being stuck doing one thing, being with one person. The thought of it alone made his skin itch. He loved being able to get on a train and go absolutely anywhere, loved never being tied down, loved being free. Sometimes he didn’t even know where home was, where he’d be sleeping, and that’s when he was most happy. He couldn’t explain it, nor did he want to.

What scared him most, was what he was destined for, what forever truly meant for him. For years he was told how his life would change, how it would never be the same once he became an adult. And he believed them. No matter how much he hated it, he’d have to be delusional not to. Because he’d been watching it play out on his skin since he turned 18. He’d been watching his body pucker with scars, little nicks here and there, for the better part of four years. A thin line across the back of his hand, a surgical scar on his stomach, it was so nerve-wracking. Because he hadn’t been injured.

His soulmate had, and he was a first-hand witness.

That was the sad existence he was left with, the one he’d been running from for years. He lived in a world where everyone was covered in the injuries and scars of their soulmate. Your body wasn’t a canvas of your own life, it was the story of someone else’s. And God Junhui hated that more than anything. That his life wasn’t his own anymore and there was nothing he could do about it.

It all became real for him when he came home from school on his 18th birthday. He shouldered off his bag and was getting ready to shower when he saw the bright pink mark on his stomach. A little thing, only two inches in length, half an inch wide, almost completely negligible. At first, he was confused, then scared, and finally—mortified.

No. He said to himself as he inspected the scar. Please tell me this is a lie.

For years he stared at his own body, repulsed and confused by the injuries that kept cropping up. His friends would laugh at the little marks, claiming that his soulmate was a complete klutz. Still, he refused to acknowledge it. He didn’t care what sort of scar showed up on his body, he refused to care. He refused to think about the one person who was tied to his entire existence. No matter what they were going through. He didn’t care when the eight inch gash appeared on his arm, nor did he care when he saw the surgical scar sprawled across his knee. It was just skin, scar tissue and skin. It didn’t mean anything.

Or that’s what he tried to convince himself.

Sometimes, if the injury was bad enough, he would even feel the pain from it. One day he was walking to work, and suddenly he was struck by an intense migraine. The throbbing alone was enough to make him want to puke. The world was spinning, he could barely feel the ground underneath his feet when he caught his reflection in a store window. His eyebrow had split open, a single trickle of blood streaking his face.

What happened? He found himself wondering despite himself. Are they—are they okay?

Before that moment, he had never actually bled from one of his soulmate’s wounds. And it terrified him. He had only seen the injuries once they’d healed, meaning that the danger, and pain, was over. That little bead of blood meant—meant that this was real. That on the other side of his scars was a real person. He hated forever, he hated the word, hated the meaning, hated what he was forced to endure because fate had better plans for him.

But still, he couldn’t help but wonder. And that was harmless, right?

Going to the doctor after that was interesting, because he had to get a full body X-Ray to see what sort of damage his new body had endured. Standard protocol when you turned 18, he’d just been putting it off for as long as he could. Injuries from his soulmate's childhood were clear against the backlight, several broken bones from when they were young, or reckless, or both. Without realizing it, Junhui found himself smiling at the sight. It was sort of comforting, knowing that he’ll always have this part of someone else. That it’ll never leave him.

He gingerly touched each wound and tried to imagine the story behind them. There was this one right up his shin, very old, very faded, it reminded him of the one time he fell off his bike as a kid. Maybe he had something in common with his soulmate. Maybe they had a similar past. He had no idea, but it was fun to wonder.

For periods of time, Junhui wouldn’t accumulate any new marks, and he felt lonely. He pretended like he didn’t, he continued on as he usually did. A string of flings and drunken escapades kept him busy, but they just—they weren’t as fun anymore. Car rides with no destination, late nights underneath the stars, the things he loved most no longer held the same weight. He felt stupid, selfish, wishing for some sign of his soulmate. Because that meant that they’d have to get hurt for it to happen.

And then, he thought he lost them.

He was getting set up for a gig, plugging in his mic and laughing with the stagehands, when he felt his life flash before his eyes. Like he’d been crushed by a car. The pain was so excruciating, he was finding it hard to breathe. Collapsing to the floor, he could’ve sworn that he saw a bright light above him. Tears streaked his face, his stomach churned like the red sea—he thought he was dying. He had no idea what was going on, until—until he realized that he was fine. That his soulmate—that his soulmate might’ve—

Pulling up his shirt, he watched a deep gash form on his stomach and a deep bruise color his whole abdomen. Propping himself up onto his elbows, he instantly fell back to the ground. Looking at his arm, he noticed the swelling. He was being covered in bruises, several of his bones were broken, and he only had one thought on his mind.

I have to find them.

He managed to get to his feet, finding his right leg weaker than he remembered, and he practically sprinted out of the bar. Pulling out his phone, he started searching every news site he could think of, looking for any news of any sort of car crash. Of any sort of accident.

Every few minutes or so, he’d check to make sure that his scars were still there. That his soulmate hadn’t left him. Because that’s what everyone truly fears, and the one thing Junhui has grown to fear more than forever. When you slowly see your soulmate's scars clear up, when your skin is your own once more, it means one of two things.

Either you’ve found your soulmate, or your soulmate is dead.

Please stay alive. He found himself begging, finally catching word of a couple car accidents in the past day. He scrolled through them, scrolled through the pictures of victims, desperately trying to find them. Dozens of faces blurred past his vision, and he finally stopped at a picture of a young woman. A woman with a small scar on her chin, just like the cut Junhui got when he was a kid and banged his chin on a coffee table.

After years of denying her existence, he had finally found his soulmate. For a brief moment, he was caught in some sort of trance, completely awestruck by the person who was a permanent part of his life. She was beautiful, perfect, everything he had ever dreamed of and feared all at once. It broke his heart, knowing that it took her getting hit by a car for him to find her.

When he figured out which hospital she was taken to, he hailed a cab and paid him extra to get him there as fast as he could. As he rode, he read the article more thoroughly, reading about how she was hit by a drunk driver, how she was in critical condition, and how she was in a medically induced coma. He had to fight back tears, knowing that she might not make it.

Arriving at the hospital, he showed the front desk her picture, desperate to find her any way that he could. They confirmed that she was there, that she had just got out of surgery. They kept telling him that only family could see her, that he’d have to wait until she was out of the ICU, and a million other things that he didn’t give a damn about. He had to see her.

“She’s my soulmate.” He whispered, trying not to lose it. “Please, please, let me see her.”

Even though the nurses were conflicted, they eventually let him in. Thanking them quickly, he sprinted down the hall to her room, tears stinging the corners of his eyes. He couldn’t lose her. Not before she was even a part of his life. Not before he could even tell her how important she was to him. He hadn’t even met her yet, and yet if she died – then his life would be over.

He slowed down as he got closer, his heart beating in his ears. She was just a few doors down, she was so close, he could feel it deep down inside. As he stood outside her door, he tried to calm himself down, he inhaled and exhaled, attempting to stabilize the raging storm inside of him.

Mentally preparing for the worst he reached for the door handle, his entire arm shaking. He was fully aware that she wouldn’t even realize he was there, that she’d be lying catatonic in a hospital bed with tubes and wires hooked up to her. He didn’t care. It was still an important moment in his life. He was about to meet his soulmate for the first time.

Turning the handle, he felt his heart stop when he saw her. Even though the actual sight of her broke his heart, something he couldn’t explain started to stir inside of him. Like—like his entire existence led him to this point. And while that thought alone would’ve terrified him not too long ago, it now gave him a purpose to strive towards. He wouldn’t run from this.

He approached her carefully, pulling up a chair and sitting beside her. As he sat there, he watched as the little scars across his knuckles started to disappear, and saw them reappear on her. Unconsciously, he started to check on every single scar on his body, finding himself frowning as they vanished from his skin. He would’ve preferred to bare them, knowing that they wouldn’t mar her beautiful body. And he’d miss the proof that she was meant to be with him. Fate determined that they were meant to be together, and for the first time—he accepted that. Because he finally learned that alone was a far more terrifying word than forever.

“I don’t care how long it takes.” He whispered, taking her hand in his. “I’m not going anywhere.”

[bartramcat]

Desert Palm

I was cleaning out my Docs and came across this. It's from over a year ago and was my impetuous hypothesis about post Dead Doll reactions to the revelation that was GSR. It's mostly dialogue, so an easy read. It probably contains a lot of Canon and character violations, but, since they never let us know how the team felt, I went with my gut. It's been an interminable week, so perhaps it will amuse someone.

Exterior Desert Palm Hospital. Catherine and Warrick are sitting on a bench in conversation.

W: You really had no idea?

C: No. I always knew she was special to him, but I thought it was more of a teacher-student thing. When she first came here, I thought they'd had a bad breakup in San Francisco, but then it wouldn't have made sense for him to ask her to come here.

W: Maybe it was student-teacher then.

C: I don't know. He saw something in her. I remember him saying she was someone he trusted. Boy she was young.

W: Do you think Ecklie will fire them?

C: I don't know. He's a fool if he does. God knows Gil's never been his favorite person. I never thought he would ever do anything that would put his job at risk. Not playing politics is one thing but violating a policy.

W: Are you upset with him? For not telling you? You've known each other a long time.

C: I was more shocked than angry at first. But after seeing how desperate he was out in the desert...It's so strange to say this about Gil, but I think he really loves her. I thought he was incapable of those kinds of feelings. 

W: What kinds?

C: Normal, I guess. The way a man loves a woman. That's why I thought the only kind of woman who'd interest him would be someone like Lady Heather. Oh..

W: What?

C: I went on and on to Sara about how I thought Heather was the only woman Gil was ever really interested in. I knew she looked uncomfortable, but I thought it was because she didn't want to think about her boss that way.

W: You didn't know.

C: No. Damn it. I wish he had trusted me.

W: You are hurt…

C: I'm okay. (Smiles) It's not like I found out he was a murderer. 

W: No. You found out he loves someone.

C: That sounds so strange. To be honest, I thought being a murderer more likely than Gil falling in love.

W: Yeah. Any idea how long they've been together? Did he say anything out there?

C: (Shaking her head) No idea. He didn't say much, but I could feel his panic. All he wanted was to find her.

W: So they may have been together for years.

C: I don't think she would have been dating that EMT a few years ago if they were together then.

W: Damn. I forgot about him. Gris didn't like him at all.

C: (Short laugh) No he didn't.

In unison--

C/W: He was jealous.

C: It feels good to laugh after the last day or so.

W: Yeah.

C: You know, they're a lot alike. They're both nerds. They probably understand each other on some strange socially awkward level.

W: (Laughs) When you put it like that, you're probably right.

Interior. ICU waiting room. Greg, Nick and Sofia are sitting. Nick and Sofia next to each other. Greg apart.

S: How on earth did we not know?

N: (Shrugs) We know Grissom. I didn't know for sure if he was even interested in women. (At their looks) Or men. Work and bugs.

S: (Laughs) Tell me about it.

N: You had a thing for him?

S: I was intrigued. I had never met anyone quite like him before. He asked me to dinner once when I got demoted by Ecklie.

N: Oh Yeah. He wanted you to find Grissom negligent in that old case.

S: He wasn't. I thought he might be interested in me afterwards. Turns out all he wanted to do was extol the virtues of being a CSI and not let Ecklie influence my judgment.

N: That's Grissom. 

G: Maybe he was already with Sara.

S: I don't think we'll ever know.

G: What do you think Ecklie will do?

S: He could fire them. I know from personal experience he has a vindictive streak.

G: So a psycho almost kills Sara, and he fires her? Doesn't seem right.

N: You know that isn't the reason.

G: In other labs, they could be married and still work together.

S: This isn't other labs.

They're quiet for a few moments.

N: They should have leveled with us.

S: You almost sound angry. Look I don't work with them as closely as you do--

N: He almost got her killed because some psycho figured out he was sleeping with her. (Softly) He shouldn't have been sleeping with her.

S: You are mad.

N: I don't know what I feel.

S: I think you love both of them separately, and you don't yet know how to think of them as a couple.

N: Yeah. Maybe. It's as if I never really knew either one of them.

G: They're still the same people.

N: You're all right with them being together?

G: I'm not going to judge them if that's what you mean.

N: You think that's what I'm doing?

G: Maybe. 

N: Do you think Grissom really loves her?

G: Yeah. 

N: What about Sara?

S: She's been in love with him for a while.

N: What makes you say that.

S: Let's just say that as a woman I picked up on certain vibes.

N: Not on his side?

S: No. I thought the same as you. That the man had no interest in a relationship with anyone. But I'm sure he loves Sara.

N: What makes you so sure?

S: I saw his face when the paramedics couldn't get a pulse. He was terrified.

N: So was I…

S: We all were. But--I can't explain it. It was as if the life was draining out of him.

Greg stands up and walks over to the glass, looks in.

G: She's still asleep.

N: Grissom still with her?

Greg nods.

N: So let me get this straight. You two are okay with the two of them being together?

S: I don't think they should lose their jobs if that's what you mean. 

G: You know how I feel.

N: (Throwing his hands up) All right. I guess I just have to get used to this.

Exterior. Catherine is pacing.

C:  Where the hell is Ecklie anyway?

W: How much do you think he knows?

C: I don't know. But Gil isn't making any effort to hide how he feels about her now. God I hope she's going to be okay. For his sake as well as hers. What was it he said? The only person he'd ever loved. Hard to believe a man can get to be 50 years old without ever falling in love. (Beat) Maybe he had no idea how to handle everything.

They're quiet for a few moments.

W: You said she was conscious when they brought her in.

C: Yeah. And Gil wanted to stay with her in the ER.

W: Is that what that nurse was telling you?

C: I'm glad Brass showed up and took him for a walk.

A car pulls up; Ecklie gets out.

E: I hear Sidle's been found alive. Is she going to make it?

C: We think so. They're still trying to get her stabilized. Nick and Sofia found her just in time.

E: Grissom rode the Medi-Vac with her?

C: So?

E: That's against regulations. I haven't seen all of the reports, but I heard that Natalie kidnapped Sidle to get back at Grissom for the death of her foster father?

C: That seems to be the consensus.

E: I heard Grissom almost lost it in interrogation.

C: I probably would have lost it too.

E: Are you covering for him?

C; Look, Ecklie, if you want to ask me something, just ask.

E: Where's Grissom now?

C: We don't know. Last I saw Brass was taking him for coffee.

E: Stokes and Sanders? 

C: In the waiting room. Sofia too.

Brass appears, sees Ecklie, hesitates, then approaches.

C: Any news?

B: She's out of the ER, but they're keeping her in ICU for the next 24 hours.

E: Where's Grissom?

B: With Sara.

E: In ICU? I thought only family..

B: She doesn't have anyone else. 

E: All right. Let's stop pussyfooting around here. I want you all to tell me how long Grissom and Sidle have been dating.

C: We have no idea.

E: You're covering for them.

B: No. She's not. I know for a fact no one of the team knew anything before this whole mess started.

E: What about you? 

B: I had my suspicions for a while. I only found out for sure about a few months or so ago.

E: And you didn't tell anyone?

B: Not my secret to tell.

E: It's a violation of lab policy.

B: Your lab, not mine.

E: How did you find out? They weren't messing around on the job, I hope.

B: (Glares at him) No. They're 100% professional on the job. I found out by accident away from work. That's all I'm going to say.

C: Do you know how long they've been together, Jim?

B: No idea. But I think it's been a while. You're going to hear it anyway, so I may as well tell you they're living together.

E: Well that's just great. Who told you that?

B: He did. When the ICU nurse told him he couldn't go in with her because he wasn't family, he told her they lived together, so he was her family.

E: They're not secretly married or anything like that?

B: I don't think so. If they were I think he would have said so. His emotions are pretty raw.

E: Good old fashioned shacking up.

W: Hey Ecklie. You don't have to be so crude.

Pause. Everyone seems to regroup.

E: So you're telling me no one else knew about them?

C: I swear I had no idea.

W: Me neither.

E: Don't tell me they've been together since he brought her here.

C: I don't think so, but you'll have to ask him.

E: I'm going to do just that. 

Ecklie starts toward the doors. Brass steps in front of him.

B: Not now.

E: He's broken so many rules. He needs to explain himself.

C: It's not the right time. He hasn't slept for 2 days. We were out in the desert all day looking for her. He's still worried sick about her. We all are. 

B: Forget the rules for once. You should care more about the people. Sara came within an inch of losing her life, and all you care about is lab policy?

Brass continues to block his path.

E: All right. Let's just go in and see how she's doing.

Interior. ICU waiting room. Nick and Sofia are still sitting together, talking quietly. Greg is still staring in through the glass. We see what he's looking at: a woman is lying in the bed with IVs in her; her left arm is in a soft cast. We see it is Sara. She appears to be asleep. There is a man in a chair sitting next to the bed, holding her right hand. It is Grissom. He appears to be talking to her, but we can't hear what he's saying. 

Ecklie, Catherine, Brass and Warrick enter the waiting room. Greg turns around and stiffens at the sight of Ecklie. Nick and Sofia look up at him, uneasily.

E: (Smiles sheepishly, as if realizing he's unwelcome) How's she doing?

S: They think she'll be fine in a few days. She's on fluids and pain meds. But she'll probably need surgery on her arm.

E: I understand you and Nick found her. How did she get out from under the car?

N: We don't know. But she was smart enough to take the mirror with her. I saw the reflection...otherwise…

E: You might have been too late.

S: She was starting to shut down.

During the conversation, Brass, Catherine and Warrick have moved towards the glass.

C: Looks like she's asleep. She is conscious?

S: Yes. She's conscious. They want her to sleep.

E: (Looking around) Where's Grissom?

Catherine nods towards the glass.

E: Still with her?

C: I don't think he's leaving anytime soon.

E: Look, why don't you all go home and get some sleep. It looks as if you're going to be a little short for a while.

N: (Blurts out) You're not going to fire them, because if you do, that would be so wrong.

E: I don't believe you people. They've been deceiving you, and you all act like I'm the bad guy here. There are rules people.

G: Stupid rules.

E: Didn't you used to have a crush on her? I think you'd be the last person to approve of her sleeping with her boss--and yours.

G: She's my friend. I'm for whatever makes her happy.

W: You keep trying to make it sound dirty.

E: I have one of my supervisors carrying on with one of his team for who knows how long. What would you call it?

S: We don't choose who we fall in love with.

E: You all sound like a bunch of hopeless romantics.

C: We don't have the happiest of jobs. Maybe it's nice to be talking about 2 people who love each other instead of people killing each other for a change.

N: Yeah, and we wouldn't even be talking about them if Natalie hadn't tried to kill Sara.

W: Look, Ecklie, we care about both of them. If they have found something with each other, we're fine with it. They both needed to find something. So we're good. You should be too.

E: I don't even want to think about all the cases they've compromised.

C: It's a lab policy, not a law. Other labs even have married couples working together. They've never compromised anything. If they had, don't you think one of us would have noticed?

E: You never noticed they were living together.

Greg, Nick and Sofia look surprised by this.

C: We look at the evidence in a crime. We weren't looking for a love affair. Their work has always been above reproach.

E: You all feel the same way?

He receives a chorus of Yeses and affirmative nods. Ecklie walks over to the glass and looks in. Grissom is still holding her hand. Ecklie turns back to them.

E: (Sighs) Well. I guess I'll figure out what to do about all of this later.

B: Good decision.

E: I still think you all should go home and get some sleep. Oh, good job everyone. Finding Sara I mean.

With that Ecklie leaves. They all watch him go.

C: He has a point. About sleep I mean.

W: Someone needs to pry Gris out of there. He needs food and sleep.

C: And a shower. Look, why don't you guys take off. I'll see if I can get him to go home after you leave.

Doc Robbins and Super Dave arrive.

R: How is she?

B: They think she'll be fine.

R: How's Gil?

C: You're not going to tell us you knew about them?

R: No. But I'm not surprised. 

C: You're the only one.

R: It's always been pretty clear they have a connection, but I didn't know. Now everyone does. The Lab grapevine is working overtime.

C: I'll bet.

Interior of Sara's room. She opens her eyes; Grissom smiles at her. She looks confused.

G: You're in the hospital. 

S: You stayed with me?

G: Yeah.

S: (Her eyes focusing; she sees the figures behind the glass) Is that the team?

G: They're worried about you. (Seeing her confusion, gently) It's okay. Everyone knows.

S: About us?

G: (Nods) I only want you to worry about getting well.

S: Aren't you worried what they think?

G: I don't care what they think. (Puts both his hands around hers, and squeezes her hand) All I care about is you.

Interior. Sara's room. Sometime later. She is asleep. Grissom is still sitting next to her in the chair; he is barely awake. The door opens, and Catherine enters. She has obviously been home. She is wearing fresh clothes.

C: Come on Gil. You need to go home and get a shower.

G: I don't think I should leave her.

C: You can barely stay awake. You don't smell great either. She'll be fine. Sleep is the best medicine.

He stands up and stretches a little; he looks at Sara.

C: The nurse said she'll call you if anything changes, but she's probably out of the woods. 

G: Okay. (Leaning down) I'll be back soon.

C: Go ahead and kiss her. I know you want to. (He shoots her a look then leans over and kisses her forehead.) Oh, Gil, my friend, you've got it bad.

G: (Confused) Got what bad?

C: (Laughs) You're such a dork.

Interior. Grissom's condo. The sound of the doorbell. Grissom appears. He is in clean clothes and is freshly shaven. He opens the door. It's Catherine.

C: You look a lot better.

G: I slept. I don't think I've ever been so tired.

C: Fear is exhausting. (He smiles slightly.) Gil, in all the time I've known you I think the past couple days were the first time I've ever seen you really scared.

G: I don't know what to say to you. In many ways, you've been about as close to me…

C: But you've never been in love with me.

G: No.

C: Well I've never been in love with you either. (She looks around, taking note of the plants and the pictures on the walls.) A woman lives here.

G: How?

C: It's decorated. Your idea of decorating is bookshelves and dead bugs. I was in your old place a number of times, remember? (Sensing his discomfort) Are you planning to marry her?

G: We've never talked about it.

C: A woman living with a man who doesn't bring up marriage?

G: I'm a lot older than she is.

C: I doubt she cares. 

G: Wouldn't you?

C: Not if I loved him. (She looks at him for a moment) Gil, if you're worried about your age difference, take it from me, there are much bigger considerations. If you can live under the same roof that's half the battle.

G: Battle?

C: (Smiles) You are so innocent sometimes. You have to fight sometimes.

G: (Contemplating) She was upset when I took my sabbatical and…(almost accusatory) what did you tell her about me and Heather? 

C: If you'd been honest with me about your relationship, I wouldn't have told her anything.

G: Whatever you think about my relationship with Heather, you're wrong. I've never been in love with her. I've never slept with her either.

C: I find that hard to believe.

G: Everything isn't about sex.

C: You can't deny your fascination.

G: I'm fascinated by a lot of things. We have a connection, yes, but so do you and I. She sees things other people don't.

C: What things?

G: She reads people in ways I wish I could.

C: She reads you?

G: She knew how I felt in 2 minutes.

C: About Sara?

G: (He's said too much.) Yeah.

C: I wish I had.

Catherine looks around the condo again. There are so many little feminine touches. Sara really does live here. Feeling contrite--

C: Is Sara still upset? About what I said?

G: No. (He seems someplace else for a moment) I want to get back to the hospital. Have you seen Ecklie?

C: Don't worry about Ecklie. 

G: I have to worry about Ecklie. He's been looking for a reason for a long time. He has one now.

C: You worry about Sara. We'll handle Ecklie.

G: I don't understand. I thought you were mad, you know--

C: Gil, I'll probably never understand you and Sara, but I don't think you should lose your job for loving someone. Come on. Let's get you back to the hospital.

Catherine walks out. Gil stares after his friend for a moment, smiles, and follows her out.

[turnaboutimagines]

Hello! This is kinda spoilery but could you please do some headcanons for Wright and Edgeworth’s SO (you can pick whether it’s poly or separate) getting kidnapped and will only be set free if a client gets a Not Guilty verdict? Like what happened to Maya in Farewell, My Turnabout. Also, I love your writing!

Thank you very much for the kind words, pal!  And for sending in such an interesting request, too!  💚 I had a lot of fun thinking about how they’d handle a second instance of a loved one getting kidnapped.  Since you gave me the choice, I went ahead and did poly since I had yet to write for that on this blog!  ^^  Because you didn’t specify I went ahead and did a triad style polycule (i.e., all members are in romantic relationships w/ each other!) and set it after Phoenix gets his attorney’s badge back since that’s just where my mind immediately went!Feat. Wrightworth/Narumitsu x Reader

You’re targeted because of Miles’s position as Chief Prosecutor.  It’s a direct attack on his attempt at reforming Los Angeles’s justice system, trying to turn Edgeworth’s blade of fighting corruption against him.  Likely in an attempt to cause him to lose his position.

Of course, he does not stand for this foolishness for one moment.  He’s bound and determined to get you back, while also insuring that such corrupt individuals get their due punishment by standing beside the bench again, himself.  This isn’t going to be a repeat of De Killer…

However, he plays along with the kidnapper’s orders for the time being and manages to convince them to allow Phoenix Wright as the defense attorney.  

After all, that’s the easiest way to insure that the correct verdict is given and they can get their partner back, is it not?  

Besides, they’d be hard-pressed to find a better defense attorney than the legendary Phoenix Wright… even if Engarde did get the Guilty verdict all those years ago.  This time would be different.

It’s not technically a lie, because Miles is involved in it from the start this time.  The verdict itself won’t be different, however.  But they don’t need to know that.

There’s only one defense attorney he trusts with his entire heart and soul…and he just so happens to have very similar stakes in this matter as far as you’re concerned.

He calls Phoenix about an emergency and heads home immediately after, white knuckling it through traffic as he figures out how to break this news to his partner.

He ends up being straight forward, not softening any of it as he recounts the call nearly verbatim to him.  There’s a light tremor to his voice, half of worry for your well-being and half from rage… and perhaps some frustration with himself at the fact that you’d gotten kidnapped from right under their noses.

Phoenix blanches, but he listens to everything as best as he can.

The idea of defending another person like Engarde doesn’t sit well at all with Phoenix and… neither does the fact that they have you.

Just how unlucky is he for his best friend and, now, one of his partners to be kidnapped like this?

However, he knows that he has to do this.  For Miles, for you… and for Trucy, too.

But he pulls him into an embrace and gives him that reassuring smile of his, gently cupping the sides of his face with his hands as he gently bumps their foreheads together. 

Quietly reminding him that it’s in times like this that they need to smile the most.  There’s a light tremor in his voice too, though.

Miles leans into the touch and presses a kiss to one of his wrists, reassuring and grateful, before pressing a proper kiss to his lips.

When Trucy comes home from school, she finds her fathers talking over hushed whispers.

Phoenix is the one to tell her that her third parent is currently kidnapped, but that they’re going to get you back.  No matter what.

Believing that she’s lost both of her biological parents, the news hits too close to home and her smile falters.

They’re both quick to pull her into a tight hug between them.  Phoenix leans down to place a kiss on her temple, murmuring words of comfort, while Miles silently rubs her back.

They share a look, resolve only strengthened to bring you back home safe and sound.

Things are tense in the courtroom, Miles is reliant upon Gumshoe to keep his investigation into your whereabouts covert.  It’s hard to navigate and the defendant and kidnapper catch on as the trial drags on… and tensions rise between Miles and Phoenix as the risk to your well-being intensifies.

This is stressful on them both, arguments occur behind closed doors and they briefly slip back into referring to each other on a last name basis when alone.

Edgeworth is irritable and guilt laden, while Phoenix is anxious and frustrated.  Trucy withdraws, throwing herself into practicing her act until you come back home.

But, like with Maya, you’re recovered just in the nick of time.  Exhausted, starving, traumatized, and a bit bruised… but alive and the Guilty verdict is handed down and all is mended between your partners.

Once they’re able to see you again in person, you’re immediately brought into a huge group hug with both of your significant others and daughter.  Everyone’s crying at the reunion, all glad to be reunited and that the worst is over.

You stay at the hospital for a couple of nights after and they take turns spending it with you, neither wanting you to be left alone after everything.  

Trucy spends as much time as she can with you, too, doing magic tricks with you in the hospital to cheer you up.

After you’re back from the hospital, they both manage to take time off of work to help you recover and feel safe in your own home again.  You are thoroughly spoiled by the both of them, to say the least.

Miles brews you your favorite tea and will read to you as much as you like, treating you to as many kisses on the forehead and knuckles as he possibly can.

All while hovering around you like a mother hen to make sure all your needs are being met. 

Is it too hot in here?  Do you have enough pillows?  Are you hungry or thirsty?

Phoenix makes it his personal mission to get you to smile and laugh as much as he can while giving you all the cuddles and kisses—he’s practically always got at least one arm around you. 

Dorking around and making teasing remarks at Miles when he’s being a bit too smothering with his concerns (even if Phoenix can be just as bad).

Miles is not amused, of course, but his reactions often are what make you laugh the most.

If you enjoy card games, he’ll play games against you during the day and manage to bribe Miles into joining you with some kisses.

Trucy will insert herself whenever she’s home and you play them.  She’ll bust out UNO, specifically, and wreck her papa’s hand with it every single time, much to Edgeworth’s chagrin and yours and Phoenix’s amusement.

At night, you get the coveted position of middle spoon with their arms wrapped securely around you and kisses pressed to your face and neck.

And best of all… family cuddles!!!  When Trucy gets home from school, the four of you group up on the couch and watch some Steel Samurai all together.

You’re in the middle with Miles’s and Phoenix’s arms around you with Trucy seated in your lap (sure she’s not as small as she used to be, but she won’t settle for anything else!).

After a few days, they return to work and life in the Wright and Edgeworth household settles back into a relative state of normalcy.

[nekoannie-chan]

Regrets

Pairing: Steve Rogers X Mutant! Reader.

Word count: 1545 words.

Summary: Steve had made a decision, but another fact will make he realizes it was the wrong one, can he fix it?

Warnings: some smut references, nothing explicit, mention of deaths of characters, angst, sad.

A/N: This is my entry to the @distractedgemini‘s Kay’s Decade of Music Writing Challenge with the song prompt #35:

“Someone like you” by Adele.

And my entry to the @kitkatd7 ‘s Kits’ 250 Writing Challenge with the dialogue prompt #1:

“Don’t you understand? You were her happy ending”.

And my entry to @jtargaryen18 ‘s 30 days of Chris.

My native language is Spanish so I wanna improve my writing skills in English if you notice any mistake please let me know and I will correct it.

I don’t give any kind of permission that my fics be posted in other platforms or languages (I translate myself my work) or the use of my graphics (my dividers are included in this), I did them exclusively for my fics, please respect my work and don’t steal it. There are some people here who make dividers that anyone can use, mine is not this type, please look for the other’s people. The only exception is the ones I gifted ‘cuz now belong to someone else. If you find any of my works on a different platform and is not one of my accounts, please let me know. Reblogs and comments are always welcome.

DISCLAIMER: I don’t own Marvel’s characters (unfortunately), except for the original characters and the story.

My other media where I publish: Wattpad, Ao3, ffnet.

If you like it, please vote, comment, and give me feedback to improve my skills and reblog.

  I heard that you're settled down That you found a girl and you're married now I heard that your dreams came true Guess she gave you things, I didn't give to you

 2005

 You came into your house after returning from school, everything was supposed to have changed, the mutants no longer had to hide, and weren't taken to the Garland Detention Center.  

"I'm home," you said after closing the door.  

There was no answer, maybe they didn't hear you.  

"Mom, Dad," you called as you walked down the aisle.

It was strange to you that they didn’t say anything, you returned to the hall, maybe they left you a message there and you hadn't seen it yet, there was no note, probably something had happened, some last-minute mission, although it was rare that you hadn't been warned.  

While they weren't your biological parents; Clarice and John had adopted you after yours were killed by the Purifiers when you were a baby, although the fact that you were adopted didn't care much because you were happy with your family, even your last name was Proudstar and they love you as her daughter.

But when you entered the kitchen, a scream came out of your throat; there were their bodies, you could tell at first glance that they had tried to defend themselves, even though it was not enough.   

"No! Mom! Dad!”

You tried to move them, you were hoping they'd still be alive, even if they were badly hurt, you didn't get the idea that they were dead.   

 I heard that you're settled down That you found a girl and you're married now I heard that your dreams came true Guess she gave you things, I didn't give to you

 "There's someone here," a woman said.  

You didn't even hear when someone came into your house; for a moment you thought they were your parents’ killers who had come back or listened to you.  

“Are you Y/N? Y/N Proudstar, Clarice's, and John's daughter? The woman questioned.  

You nodded, you didn't know if to trust, you didn't even know who that woman was, within seconds a man came into the kitchen.

"When did you arrive? Fury asked you.  

"About 10 minutes ago," you replied scared.   

"You'll come with us, Coulson, accompany her to take her belongings and help her," Nick said.  

 "What? I'm not going anywhere, I don't even know who you are, how can I be sure you're not going to do me the same as my parents?”   

"We are S.H.I.E.L.D. we received your parents' message asking for help and that we take care of you.”   

“How do I know they are S.H.I.E.L.D.?”  

Your parents had told you everything, yet without proof, you couldn't believe them.

Fury and Coulson showed their IDs, they weren't lying, you sighed, you went to your bedroom followed by Coulson and you started storing things in suitcases and backpacks, they hadn't specified any item limits on you, so you'd take as much as you could.

 Old friend, why are you so shy? Ain't like you to hold back or hide from the light

I hate to turn up out of the blue, uninvited But I couldn't stay away, I couldn't fight it I had hoped you'd see my face And that you'd be reminded that for me, it isn't over

 2012

 You walked as fast as you could, that day you were late, you were carrying the report of the last mission you were gone to.   

You didn't pay attention around you, so you crashed into something hard, you thought it had been against a wall, because of the impact, you fell.  

"I'm sorry, miss, okay?” The ‘wall’ said to help you lift.   

"Captain, I'm sorry, I didn't see it," you apologized.   

Steve help you pick up the leaves, within a few seconds Coulson showed up.

"Agent Proudstar, the report," he asked.  

"I was already taking him to his office right now," you replied. 

"I see you've met, your next mission will be together," Coulson said.  

You knew who Steve was, but you remembered he didn't know who you were, you still didn't show up.  

"Agent Y/N Proudstar," you said, smiling.

 Never mind, I'll find someone like you I wish nothing but the best for you, too "Don't forget me, " I beg I remember you said "Sometimes it lasts in love, but sometimes it hurts instead" "Sometimes it lasts in love, but sometimes it hurts instead"

 2018

 "I know we've lost a lot these days, but you remember I was going to ask you something the day Bruce called us. You know when Thanos...” 

"Yes," you answered while you were accommodating some things 

Steve took your arm to stop and pay attention to him.  

"What's going on?”   

"Marry me," he asked.  

"Just like that? Are you sure? I mean, you always told me you wanted Bucky to be in...” 

"We try to get everything back to normal, Thanos is dead we can't do much, but we can try to be happy and get on with our lives, it seems like that's all we can do.”  

"I think it's going to be enough for Nat to be there," you said. 

He took your answer as if he ‘I do’ and kissed you.

 You know how the time flies Only yesterday was the time of our lives We were born and raised in a summer haze Bound by the surprise of our glory days

 2023

 You looked down, you knew Steve had told you a lie... or worse he had lied to you all that time.   

As soon as he left you started running towards the trees, you didn't want to know anything anymore, if you could... If you could... you probably would have done the same thing and prevent your parents from being killed.  

“Y/N!” Bucky called you.  

You didn't listen to him, you kept running, you wanted to go as far as you could, you'd like to somehow forget everything and Bucky finally caught you, grabbed your arm, and stopped you.

"He's gone, he went with Peggy," you started sobbing.   

Bucky hugged you, he didn't know what to say or do to comfort you, he knew what you were saying was true.   

"He left us... Bucky, he left us...”  

Yes, Steve had left them, but Bucky didn't understand exactly what you meant, you hadn't even had a chance to say anything, you didn't know now what to do, the feeling was a thousand times worse than when you lost your parents.

 I hate to turn up out of the blue, uninvited But I couldn't stay away, I couldn't fight it I had hoped you'd see my face And that you'd be reminded that for me, it isn't over

 1947

 Steve peeked into the door of the house where Peggy was living.  

He saw her pass, at least now he was sure he hadn't got the wrong house; he needed a few more minutes before knocking the door and that's when he saw Daniel kissing Peggy and after the couple split up, she took the baby from the crib.

Peggy found her right partner after Steve had ended up on the ice...   

Steve stayed a week in that time, it would probably be a month after the last time he had seen them...  

You didn't expect to be welcomed... but he would do his best to recover what he had ruined.

 Never mind, I'll find someone like you I wish nothing but the best for you, too "Don't forget me, " I begged I remember you said "Sometimes it lasts in love, but sometimes it hurts instead"

 2019

 "Orphanages are full," you said while you're taking the last picture you'd been taken with your parents.  

"Everything is complicated," Steve replied, and he was reading the newspaper.

"We should adopt some or some of those little ones, I was very happy when Clarice and John adopted me," you said looking at the picture.  

"You think they're going to let us? We’re superheroes, I don't think they want to expose children to danger," Steve replied, taking his eyes off the newspaper.   

You kept thinking for a few minutes, Steve was right, you didn't know exactly if another threat would show up, no one knew.  

"You're right.”  

"But we can do some," Steve proposed, approaching you.  

"Captain," you said seductively.

 Nothing compares, no worries or cares Regrets and mistakes, they're memories made Who would have known how bittersweet this would taste?

 2023

 Steve returned to where he belonged, took everyone by surprise, as soon as they heard the machine activate Bruce and Bucky immediately went to see what was going on, Bruce had installed it at the Compound in case it was necessary, they feared it would be some other enemy, no one expected him to return, as soon as they saw him a sepulchral silence took over the room.   

Bucky decided to take him outside, no one dared say what had happened. 

“And Y/N?” Steve asked

Steve had immediately noticed your absence, Bucky bit his lip, and he didn't know how to explain it.  

"Buck, and Y/N? I know she must be angry...” 

"She didn't make it on the last mission," he finally confessed.   

"What?”   

"Something went wrong and...”  

Steve turned around and started walking inland from the Compound.

“DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND? YOU WERE HER HAPPY ENDING…!”

Steve didn't keep listening to what his friend was saying, he went to the base and went straight into the room that you and he shared, and if he hadn't left... if it hadn't been so hollow head... you'd still be alive.  

He opened the drawer of your nightstand where you kept the photos, he wanted to see you, he saw that something flew out when he took out the album and it was frozen as soon as he saw the object.

She took the positive pregnancy test, the day he left, you seemed so nervous, so you insisted that he wasn't the one to return the Stones.  

There was only one way to get you back, this time I wouldn't ruin it, he took some things from the room and headed to where the time machine was.

 Never mind, I'll find someone like you I wish nothing but the best for you "Don't forget me, " I beg I remember you said "Sometimes it lasts in love, but sometimes it hurts instead"

 2010

 You knocked on Fury's office, you were sent to call, and you thought it was for a new mission.  

"Agent Proudstar, I'm glad you came," Nick said.  

“What do you need a Director?”   

"This is Steve Rogers, Captain America," Fury said, pointing to Steve.

"Captain, I'm Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Y/N Proudstar," you introduced yourself smiling.  

Your smile, Steve had missed her so much.  

He stretched out his hand to greet you and smiled, he was going to fix everything that had happened, he would love you again and no mistakes this time, and he was going to make sure you were happy together.

.

Never mind, I'll find someone like you I wish nothing but the best for you, too "Don't forget me, " I begged I remember you said "Sometimes it lasts in love, but sometimes it hurts instead" "Sometimes it lasts in love, but sometimes it hurts instead"

[waywardroserp]

WAYWARD ROSE welcomes ELIZA GREEN BLACKWOOD to their life as an ELITE. They prefer (SHE/HER) pronouns, is 274, BISEXUAL, and has been with us for SIX MONTHS and belongs with the WITCHES. They share an uncanny resemblance to MADELAINE PETSCH. They work as THE OWNER AND MANAGER OF GREEN BLOSSOMS and are described as RESOURCEFUL, INDEPENDENT, and EMPATHIC. (Ingrid, 28, GMT+1, She/her)

Name: Eliza Green Blackwood Nick Name(s): Mrs Blackwood, Red, Boss lady Age: 25/274 years old Pronouns: She/her Positive Traits: resourceful, determined, empathic, intelligent, independent Negative Traits: sly, manipulative, vain, petty, selfish 

Sexual Orientation: Bisexual Romantic Orientation: Biromantic

Occupation: Owner and manager of Green Blossoms Species: Witch Powers/Abilities: Phytokinesis, black magic, blood magic, spells, enchantments, energy manipulation Skills: Botanics, extensive fashion knowledge, witch craft knowledge and werewolf lore

Rank: Elite Role: Switch

Turn-Ons: anal play, rough sex, breath play, bondage, pet play, d/s Turn-Offs: Watersports, scat, meaningless violence, humiliation(except from close partner)

Biography:

Eliza was born on a stormy mid summer night in 1744. Her father was an up and coming politician, and her mother a mid wife, making her the youngest child in a wealthy american family. She had one older brother and one older sister who she loved very much. Eliza’s witch blood and powers derives from her grandmother who her father all but refused the children to see(he believed her to not be mentally sound and was very embarrassed of his mother who would talk of potions and spells and curses, not to mention old history between covens or other supernatural species crossing paths with witches. She loved her grammy very much and would often visit her after school.

From a young age Eliza had a very strong connection to nature and her grandmother taught her both how to care for flowers like humans would, and how to care for them as a witch could. A great deal of what she knows of magic, Eliza has learned form her grandmother. She was someone the young girl often looked to as the only one in her family who understood her and appreciated her for who she was. Unlike her older sister Eliza was quite outgoing and had both a rebellious strike along with a big mouth. She would say what she meant and not keep silent even if told. This caused her to act out in her teens, finding the fact that the tabloids at that time frequently wrote about her in connection to her fathers political career. When Eliza was 17 years old, she found out she was pregnant and it took her a bit of magic to figure out who exactly the father was as she had done her fair chair of fooling around with men. When she did figure it out though, she tried to hide the pregnancy from her parents, unsure what to do. She found herself too young to get married, yet her parents would surely shun her if she had a child out of wedlock. Eventually she and the baby’s father, Colin Grey decided to marry. And while her parents never found out about her pregnancy happening before the marriage, they strongly disapproved of her choice of husband.

Colin was a known ladies man from a middle class family and his father supported Eliza’s fathers rivaling political side. After their marriage her family refused to help them out in any way economically which for a time made life very difficult. Eliza gave birth to a beautiful baby girl in 1761, naming her Willow. With an infant at home, Colin was the only one who could take work to support them. And while his father worked hard to secure him work at the bank he worked at, Colin often spent a lot of their money on drinks and women Their marriage wasn’t an awfully happy one, though a couple of years into it, Colin began to take his responsibilities more seriously. He cut back on drinking and came home at reasonable hours, even became prone to lavish his wife with flowers and buy dresses or toys for his little girl. When he was killed as an innocent bystander in a street brawl, Eliza was at her wits end. Sure she could sell of some of her jewelry and potions, take requests for readings and sell flowers at the farmers market, but she was without a proper education and money, struggling to make ends meet.

The death of her grandmother proved to be both a hard blow and a blessing. The old lady left her entire estate, all her money and savings to Eliza, and the girls were able to move into the old house out by the lake. Eliza loved being close to the forest and take her daughter out to enjoy the scenery and nature. Meeting Chance was by no means planned for, yet she saw it as another blessing, finding true love while walking in the woods with her daughter. Their love grew quickly, and when he shared his secret with her Eliza was both happy and filled with wonder. She’d heard tales from her grandmother about the werewolves roaming the woods but she had never actually met or known any. Chance was easy to love, being a lot of things that Colin had not been. Even tempered, exceptionally kind and very understanding. It did not seem as if there was a thing she could say wrong or an act that would ever anger him to her or push him away. Not to mention he was a terrific father to her little girl. Ever so patient and sweet with her. It was rare for Eliza, that steadfast love and loyalty, the lack of judgement or embarrassment. While she had loved her parents and siblings, she’d always felt like they weren’t happy with who she was and that whatever she did they’d find some way of judging her or being displeased with her. When tragedy struck and the wolves attacked, Eliza used all the magic she could muster once she and Willow hit the water, creating an air bubble around the two of them as they were taken by the river. However it took a lot out of her and when they finally washed up on shore, Eliza passed out from the exhaustion of holding the spell in place. When she woke a few hours later in her own home, being tended to by the town doctor, she drew strength from her flowers and her garden in order to place a cloaking spell on herself and her daughter, terrified that the wolves would attack again. When she had gathered her strength and went to look for her love, he was nowhere to be found, and rumors had it that someone had died at the bridge that night. Using a lot of different spells, Eliza could deduce that Chance was alive, but she was unable to locate him. Knowing that most werewolves have unusually long lives, she turned to dark magic in order to keep herself, and later her daughter alive, prolonging both their life spans. The price however was very costly. once every third year, she had to sacrifice two human lives in order to keep the spell active. Its one of her deepest secrets and she hides a lot of guilt and shame over the extreme measures she has taken. Though in turn her powers have grown immensely over the years. the older she gets, the more powerful she seems to become. When Willow reached her late teens, the Green girls decided to leave their old life behind and start anew, traveling trough Africa and Europe. Over the years Eliza have taken many lovers, but she has never given her heart out to anyone. She’s always been a spirited, seductive woman with little scruples on using her beauty for her gain, though at this point its become near a daily habit for her to use her charm to get her way. She moved to Wayward Rose with her daughter after hearing of the city from another witch and was quickly able to open her own flower shop, Green Blossoms. Eliza has power over all five earthly elements, trough her power of earth is the strongest. Because of her age she can come off somewhat entitled and uses a lot of pet names for people such as ‘honey/darling/sweetie’. Unless faced with an elder her assumption is that most are younger than her. Over the years she’s grown fond of fashion and trends, liking to stay current and taking a great deal of pride in her appearance. She likes to think of herself as a cool mom and tries not to smother her daughter too much. though the second any boy name comes up or she doesn’t know someone her daughter mentions she quickly demands details and insight, being a fairly hands on mom who would go to the ends of the earth to protect her child. She’s not much for patience and fuss with strangers, and has a tendency to put up a bit of an attitude with those she doesn’t know well. Mostly its her way of keeping everyone at arms length, or in line should need be. While she is kind and playfully forgiving she will cut a bitch if you mess with her. Cross her and it will be your last time breathing. She might have a long fuse, but if you manage to enrage her she will be vicious and can be downright cruel.

[takadasaiko]

Second Chances Chapter Ten

FFN II AO3

Summary: Steve has every intention of returning the Infinity Stones to their correct place in the timeline and heading back to his own. His problems start when he makes an impulse decision to jump over to 1946 and Peggy decides to go back home with him. It only gets more complicated from there when Howard tags along with them to 2023. Tony lives fix-it fic. Pepperony.

Chapter Summary: Peter gets a visit from Nick Fury, Pepper and Peggy make plans, and the boys try to figure things out.

Chapter Ten

The music that had been blaring since they had started in on the car shut off abruptly, causing both Stark men to pop up from either end of the roadster. "FRIDAY, what did I-?" Tony started, but swallowed the rest of the gripe. "Hey there, little miss. What are you doing up?"

Howard looked over to see a little girl waiting there. She was four, maybe five. Her dark hair and big brown eyes a dead giveaway even if she hadn't been standing barefoot in what the displaced man could only assume were some sort of pajamas. Red and gold, just like Tony's armored suits.

"I'm hungry."

"Yeah? Whatcha gonna make for breakfast?" Tony asked, his voice teasing as he grabbed for a towel to wipe some of the grease off his hands.

The little girl giggled and moved further into the garage. "You are!"

"Me? You sure?"

"Yeah. Mommy said you would."

"Uh-huh. Bet she did." He leaned down and scooped her up, balancing her against his side. "Why don't you ever make breakfast, huh?"

The little girl's eyes darted over her father's shoulder and Howard found himself at the center of her attention. "Is that your friend you're gonna help?" she asked.

Tony glanced around, almost like he'd forgotten that Howard was there at all. "Yeah. That's Howard."

"Hi, Howard. Are you gonna eat breakfast with us?"

"Only if you'll let me," he answered with a small smile, doing his best to keep the light tone Tony had used with her.

Her eyes narrowed like she was giving it a lot of thought, and for a long moment he wondered if she might tell him no. Finally she gave a shrug of her small shoulders. "Okay." And that was that. She squirmed down, her father releasing her, and took off out the door.

Howard stared after her. "Uh…nice kid."

"The best," Tony answered. "Her name's Morgan."

"I knew that. I remembered that."

Tony snorted, but Morgan's reappearance at the door stopped any comment that he had geared up. She stomped her bare food. "Come on!"

"Waiting on you now," her father popped back as he strode right passed her and Morgan chased after him, giggling and grabbing for his hand.

Howard stood slowly, wiping his own hands and following. If he didn't, he thought there was a better than even chance he'd miss out on breakfast all together, and his numbers were usually right. Tony's focus was on Morgan and then on Pepper as he entered the house, kissing his wife and chattering happily with his family. Howard found himself completely forgotten in the movements that seemed entirely familiar to the others involved in them. All but the man that had met them at the house the night before. He couldn't seem to get away from his glare.

Finally, Tony turned towards him. "Omelet?"

"Sounds good," Howard managed, wondering if he'd be able to squirm out of that death glare anytime soon. If he was going to do something in the future to set Tony against him, apparently his would-be son had others on his side too.

Howard took a seat at the breakfast table and tried for a smile. "So… Hogan, right?"

The question was met with narrowed eyes and suspicion and he decided that if he wanted to survive until breakfast, he might be best to keep his mouth shut.

                                                ________________

"You seemed surprised that Tony was willing to give Howard a place to stay until this is sorted out."

Steve glanced over to the passenger seat of the truck to find a pair of clever brown eyes focused on him. She wasn't asking if there was a problem, but what the problem was. He pulled in a breath, looking back to the stretch of road. "They had a… complicated relationship when this timeline's Howard was alive. From what I understand."

"Howard is under the impression that Tony hates him."

"Hate is a strong word."

"But is it an inaccurate one?"

Steve's jaw tightened as he searched for the best way to describe it, but he wasn't sure he knew what that was. He knew it was complicated and that Howard had spoken to his son about him over the years which had left Tony bitter long before they'd even met. It was complicated, but every last detail that went into that he couldn't recount. There were often three sides to as story: one person's, the other's, and the truth in the middle. He just didn't know what that was.

"I don't think so," he said carefully. "At least, I don't think Tony wants to hate him."

"What happened?"

He took a turn towards the lake just up ahead. "Life. Differences. The man Tony describes as Howard is a lot harder than the man we know."

When Peggy didn't respond he glanced over again, seeing the conflicted look etched into her features. "He thinks he needs to fix something."

"Yeah, we need to send him back. Tony's —"

"I mean Howard. He thinks he needs to fix something with Tony. It's…. Well he's always been that way, but even more since you went into the ice. Somehow he convinced himself it was his fault that he couldn't find you, so much that…. It doesn't matter. What matters is you know him. You know how he can get."

"Not finding me wasn't his fault, Peggy."

"I know that and you know that, but he's Howard. He's obsessive. Driven. Maybe even more than he used to be."

"He's a good man."

"I know he is. Frustrating, but his heart tends to be in the right place. That doesn't mean things pan out exactly how he intends though. Remember Poland?"

Steve frowned and the lake came into view and he swallowed his argument that was ringing hollow even before he voiced it. He remembered how stubborn Howard had been and how the young genius had nearly gotten himself killed because of it. "Yeah."

"Please watch after him. This could go very badly very quickly."

"I'll keep an eye on him," Steve promised as they pulled into the Starks' driveway and up to the cabin.

If FRIDAY had announced their presence or not, no one greeted them at the door, and even after he knocked they were left waiting for a long moment before a loud come in!could be heard from the other side of the door. Steve and Peggy exchanged looks before starting in.

He'd only been to Tony's lakeside cabin a couple of times over the years and he hadn't actually made it inside. He wasn't sure what he had expected, but the simple, open layout wasn't it. While he was sure the home was set up so that the tech genius was fully comfortable in it, it wasn't nearly as flashy as the tower had been. There were no visible bots, only one work table, books lining the shelves…. It was strangely disconnected for Tony Stark.

"Hey, sorry," a voice traveled down the stairs, drawing their attention to Pepper Potts who was making her way towards them. A very unhappy Morgan sat at the top of the stairs, eyes rimmed red and lips in full pout. "Someone's been throwing a tantrum because her daddy needs space to work."

"Howard's in there," the little girl grumbled.

"Howard's working on the car," Pepper counted reasonably, but Morgan wasn't having it.

"My car."

"Is it now?" She turned an apologetic look towards Steve and Peggy. "FRIDAY cracked Hank's security. Which as the CEO of Stark Industries I know nothing about, of course, but Tony's been held up in there since breakfast."

"And he's letting Howard look at it?" Steve asked skeptically.

"Oh no. He gave him a car to tinker with to keep him distracted. Hence the meltdown up there." She motioned at the still-sniffling little girl. "Morgan, do you want to come see Uncle Steve and meet his friend?"

Morgan shook her head hard and then she was gone, up on her feet and out of sight upstairs faster than he might have given her credit for. Pepper sighed. "Sorry."

"I'm sure it's a lot to adjust to," Peggy offered.

"Or she's a five-year-old Stark that's been told no. She'll find a way to get what she wants. The second I'm not looking she'll be out that door with a step stool to reach the panel on the garage. If that doesn't work, she'll find something else."

"Sounds like a handful," Steve chuckled.

"You have no idea. And now there's three of them."

"Hey, you married into the family."

"Believe me, I knew what I was getting into by the time that I did," Pepper laughed. "FRIDAY should let you in if you want to go check to see where he's at in it."

"Or relieve him of Howard duty?"

"Just make sure Morgan doesn't slip in around you when you go in. He has trouble telling her no even if he needs to focus."

Steve looked back to Peggy. "Let me know if you need saving," she said, her voice a little teasing, and he broke out in a grin.

"Definitely."

He followed the short path out to what must have been Tony's garage and found a touch pad outside the closed door. He pressed his palm against it and FRIDAY welcomed him by name as she opened the doors for him. "They're in the back."

"Thanks," he mumbled, never really sure if he should say it out loud or not. He had always felt like he sort of knew JARVIS. He was that voice in all of their ears for the year they had tracked down rogue Hydra agents together. He was gone though. Absorbed into Vision and Vision killed for the Infinity Stone. FRIDAY was different. He didn't know her, and he found himself right back at square one like he'd been with JARVIS early on.

"I'm just saying that I could…. can you even hear me through that thing? Hello?"

Steve's brows drew together as he moved towards the loud tapping sound through a second set of doors and found Tony sitting at a desk, feet propped up and reading from actual monitors rather than his usual projections so that Howard couldn't easily see the information on them. Surrounding him was some sort of force field, barely visible except when Howard tapped against it, and Tony motioned that he couldn't hear him and turned immediately back to his work, utterly ignoring the fact that Howard was growing more and more agitated.

"He's not going to let you see that."

Howard spun, dark gaze snapping to Steve. "Everyone wants to send me back home, but it'd go a lot quicker with two minds working on it!" He slapped the palm of his hand against the force field, but as far as Steve could tell it didn't make a sound inside.

"I don't think he can hear you."

Howard snorted, sinking dramatically into a chair. Funny. At that very moment Steve could see every inch of his friend's granddaughter in him.

After a long moment Tony seemed to find a stopping place and clicked his screens off, powering down the field around his work area. "Hey, Cap, when'd you get here?" he asked chipperly, and Steve didn't think for a second that he hadn't known the moment he walked in. Likely FRIDAY had announced his presence inside the soundproof cube.

"Not long ago. I thought you were trying to keep your father alive?"

Tony took his time stretching before finally turning a lazy look on Howard who was glaring in his direction. "He'll live. You and Peggy weren't supposed to be in until this afternoon."

"It is afternoon, Tony."

"Yeah?" He tilted his wrist to look at his watch. "Hell. Okay then. Who wants lunch? We should probably eat lunch."

Howard's lips twitched downward. "So how far did you get? You crack it?"

Tony shot him a look. "It usually takes more than a five hour study-stint to crack how a guy that talks to ants regularly bypasses the square cube law of physics."

"He talks to ants?"

"That's what you took away from that?"

"To be fair, I've wrapped my mind around the fact that time travel will be possible and my son's gonna be the one to figure it out, so bypassing the square cube law of physics isn't exactly daunting."

"But talking to ants is?" Tony pressed, eyes narrowed and head tilted just a little to the side.

Steve cleared his throat, desperate to hide the chuckle that he just couldn't swallow. "Howard, we're not going to just throw you back into your time without warning. Don't worry."

The relief was short lived as he looked over to Tony who shrugged. "What? When it's ready, it's ready."

Steve caught Tony by the arm as he started to brush past him. "Hey. He was… really excited to meet you, even before he knew that you were going to be his son someday. Cut him some slack?"

"I have been," Tony grumbled, moving towards the door.

Blue eyes found brown staring at him and Howard looked torn. "It's like whiplash."

Tony Stark, in a nutshell. Steve sighed. "He's processing."

"What the hell did I do to him, Cap? Will I do? I can't -"

"No, you can't. You aren't the man that raised him. Not yet. You can't fix that, Howard."

"I'm not…. You talked to Peg didn't you?"

"You really think I wouldn't?"

Howard loosed a long breath. "Okay…. Okay. But you have to help me, Cap. I gotta know what I did wrong."

"Howard…"

"You've met him. That kid is amazing. Have you seen those suits of his?"

"A time or two."

"Yeah, well, he won't let me look up close, but from a distance they're impressive. He's smart. Maybe…. Well he's at least as smart as me. He figured out time travel, Cap."

"Tony's brilliant."

"That's gonna be my kid… and he hates me."

"He doesn't hate you."

Howard motioned after the man that had since left the garage.

"It's complicated."

"I'm not so dumb myself. Help me pick up the pieces and put them together. Whatever I did to him, I don't want to do to him."

"Howard…."

"Cap - Steve - please. My pop and I never saw eye to eye. He whipped the hell out of me when he caught me reading because it was a waste of time. I needed to learn his trade. I needed to be him. I lied my way into school. Ran outta there fast as I could and swore I'd never do that to my own kids if I ever had 'em." His look turned a little desperate. "I don't know what I'm gonna do to him, but I can't stop it if I don't find out."

Steve swallowed hard, glancing back towards the door Tony had disappeared out of. Both of his friends were hurting and it seemed like the way to stop it was to get them on the same page. That could alter Howard's new timeline more than it already would be though. "Let's get inside."

Howard's shoulders sagged at that, but he shuffled forward reluctantly. It broke Steve's heart, but he followed behind him. Maybe he could find a way to bring the two men to a place of understanding without shattering the timeline any further than he already had.

He followed the Starks back into the house, finding a lunch that he hadn't necessarily been expecting already set out on the table. Pepper and Peggy seemed to have hit it off, already making plans to go into town together. Steve didn't mind staying, right? Morgan had felt left out of everything and they were going to take her into New York City to have a girls' evening. He smiled and said of course, because what else was he going to do? Really, he knew what he was stuck with. The same kind of no-win scenario that always came up with Tony. He would be left to play mediator between the generations, desperate to find a way to make both friends happy. They deserve that, didn't they? After everything?

The problem was that he didn't know how to make that happen.

                                               ________________

Summer afternoons with nothing to do were rare and Peter did his best to enjoy them. Mr Stark was busy out at his cabin with Captain Rogers and his father - still so weird to say, but hey, when you'd been into space and had been snapped out of existence weird was relative - and the other Avengers were doing… something else. He wasn't sure what, but it left him with a free afternoon. He wasn't going to knock that. Not when there was a lego Millennium Falcon with his name in it.

He was meeting Ned back at his apartment, the new set just purchased from the Manhattan store, when he felt the hairs stand up on the back of his neck. His Spidey Sense caused him to freeze for half a second and a hand grab his shoulder from the crowd, redirecting him.

Peter started to squirm, his first instinct to put distance between him and his attacker, but the person leaned down and he heard a feminine voice in his ear. "I'm with SHIELD."

The teen swallowed hard. "Yeah, and how do I know you're not lying?"

"Director Fury would like a word," she said, ignoring the question.

Peter finally managed to catch a glimpse of the dark haired woman, but she nodded forward to a black SUV that shouldn't have been parked where it was, but no one seemed willing to bother the owner. The shaded window rolled down, revealing a face that he'd only seen in files at Stark Industries. It was impossible not to recognize Nick Fury.

"Mr Parker," he greeted as Peter was ushered forward. "We need to have a talk."

                                               ________________

TBC

Notes: I wasn't exactly sure how this chapter would fall out: one VERY long one or two shorter ones. Still not sure next chapter will be all that short, so I thought it was better to split them.

You guys have been blowing me away with the reviews. Thank you so much and I hope you know you make my day with each one XD

Next Time: Pepper and Peggy take Morgan into town to give the boys a chance to sort a few things out. It does not go as hoped.

[vitosscaletta]

Nicholas x Laura B)))

How DARE you make me do all the work.. (JK I’ve missed them.. thank you 💖)

How did they they meet?

In the spread eagle lol… iirc it was after Nicholas failed to convince his sister to leave EG and was :((.. Laura happened to be there at the same time & was chatting with Mary May when he started a conversation with her.. just talking about the cult and everything yknow

Who developed romantic feelings first?

HMMM I really think they both developed feelings at the same time? Nicholas was kinda 😍 from the moment they met (like not love at first sight but. she’s cute). Laura thought he was very handsome and sweet but she would NEVER fall in love with him after the messy breakup she had with her ex… failed step one 

Who is their biggest “shipper?”

I THINK.. Nick, Kim, Jerome, .. Hildy probably, idk if she’s a shipper (she’s your oc you need to confirmmmmm) but she and Laura immediately get along, so I’d imagine she would be happy to have her as a sister-in-law.. Laura DEFINETELY is!!

When did they have their first kiss and under what circumstances?

HMM I’m not sure if we’ve discussed this so here’s a possible scenario lol....... I imagine it’s at some point after they liberated a Peggie outpost or something and got out barely alive... then go to his home.. or hers same difference and “celebrate” their survival with a drink or something (with the radio on.. or a spotify playlist).. it’s pretty casual until some ~~~romantic song plays and Laura is like “we should TOTALLY slow-dance to this :~)”.. there’s a lot of tension since they’re so close to each other and then it just happens I think? Once they break apart they probably just start laughing..lmao..

Who confessed their feelings first?

Laura LOL she just blurts it out

What was their first official date?

OK i know we didn’t talk about this but I like to think… karaoke night at the 8-bit pizza bar :^) (you can bet she dragged him up the stage for a duet.. a shitty cover of Waterloo lol) 

How do they feel about double dates/group dates?

IDK I feel like they’d try it but Nick and Kim would be the only other couple they’d hang out with since they’re all friends with each other lol

What do they do in their down time?

oh you know.. exploring hoe county and “accidentally” finding a peggie outpost they can mess with, watching shitty tv shows/movies together, going fishing (not Laura but she watches him), making fun of the Seeds

What was the first meeting of parents as an official couple like?

I don’t think they’d ever meet each other’s parents with the end of the world and all that :( I can’t speak for his parents but hypothetically her parents would ADORE him!! He’s the perfect son-in-law for them hehe :^) Laura has met his sister though! They get along very well almost immediately.. as mentioned above :~)) 

What is their favourite thing to get to eat?

idk I mean Nicholas does most of the cooking because like I said he’s good at it and it’s not junk food so they really mostly eat at home. If they go out they probably just have Pizza or basic diner food since there’s really not much else to choose from

Are they hand holders?

YES everyone is a hand holder now!! 

How long do they wait before sleeping together for the first time? What’s the circumstances?

IDK I think either right away (not a one-night stand thing duh they probably talk about it before or something) OR after a few weeks? Not that long but they don’t rush into it or anything yknow..

Who tops?

HM idk honestly I feel like sometimes it’s Nicholas.. sometimes Laura :3c

Who does the shopping and the cooking?

They’d probably do most of the shopping together (Laura is very picky with food.. especially with her ~fancy vegetarian products™ lol).. Nicholas mostly cooks just because he’s great at it and genuinely enjoys it :`)

Which one is more organized and prone to tidiness?

I feel like they’re both very organized but Nicolas even more 

Who proposes?

HMMMM honestly I don’t know if they’d get married at all, I mean that all becomes useless after the bombs drop and that would all just be symbolic and on one hand yeah a wedding would be nice but I feel like they’d just end up living like a married couple like.. it just happens and they wouldn’t really need it y’know..

Maybe they have a small one just because it’s fun but they don’t have to make it legal.. they can’t anymore lol. There wouldn’t really be a big proposal they’d just bring it up in a conversation i think?? 

Big Ceremony or Small?

If anything.. small! Just their friends in Hoe County!

Do they have children? How many?

YES!!! three girls, Sophie, Yvonne and Riley :^) They didn’t plan on having kids that soon but they're both very family-oriented people so.. happy surprise ig! The girls grow up with a very loving family (and community lol..) and they’re all probably well-adjusted and don’t really act out or anything, all things considered.

[crazedlunatic]

Questions

“Quit whining, Blaine.”

“I can’t.”

“Why can’t you?”

“Because I’m grumpy and sleepy and I need a nap.”

“So shut up and take a nap?” David asked, looking at Blaine like he was crazy.

“I can’t just take a nap. There are certain parameters to be met. Wes isn’t here, you’re busy, and I know I technically did cuddle with Andy once but it was just weird.”

“When did you cuddle with Andy? How did he meet your parameters? Wait. Andy from here or Andy from church?”

“Are they not the same Andy?” Blaine, who was half draped over the back of the couch, sat up straight.

“… They look nothing alike.”

“That actually explains a lot... so I’m not sure which it was.” Blaine fell back onto the couch in a laying position. “Do you think your mom would mind if I went home this weekend without you?”

David looked at him, clearly trying to decide if he should laugh or be annoyed.

“Because your sister cuddles me. Your mom too. And I’ll have you know that once, I cuddled your dad. He didn’t necessarily cuddle back but it was still nice because he didn’t push me away. Do you think I always want to cuddle because I was starved for affection as a child?”

“No. I think it’s because you’re a cuddle whore.”

“That is rude.” Blaine scoffed.

David got a mischievous grin on his face and then said, “Hey, Kurt!”

Blaine shot up into a sitting position, eyes lighting up.

“God, this is disgusting.” Wes groaned as he came in behind Kurt. “Please don’t. I can’t stomach the painfulness today, Blainers.”

“I thought we weren’t going there?” David looked at Blaine, amused.

For how many times Blaine had openly admitting that he wanted to cuddle Kurt, he never came out and did it.

“I need body heat to survive. Otherwise I’ll slip back into a depression and we’ll lose regionals, soooo….”

“You better get your ass over there and start cuddling then.” Wes’ voice was much more urgent. “Please don’t make me give that solo to Nick because we will be fucked in the ass—no offense to you, Kurt, Nick, or Jeff.”

“I think Blaine needs fucked in the—ass.” David cringed as Kurt walked within hearing distance.

“Did I…. interrupt something?”

“Blaine needs body warmth. Apparently, his chubby cheeks aren’t doing it for him right now.” Wes said. “You should sit with him. Or on him. On his lap. With your pants off—”

Blaine grabbed an empty can of Dr. Pepper and hurled it at Wes’ head.

“God. I think your talent is wasted on soccer.” Wes huffed, raising his textbook before it could hit him right in the face. “Gross. I think there was still some in it. Thanks for that.”

“Any time.” Blaine said and then smiled brightly at Kurt. “Did you have a good weekend? We missed you yesterday.”

“I did have a good weekend. I miss my Dad when I’m not here so I try to go a lot… we’re pretty close.” Kurt nodded.

“Well Blaine’s also pretty close to his hand…”

Blaine’s eyes widened in horror and he shot Wes a very un-Blaine look.

Kurt blinked several times, unsure if he’d heard what he thought he did.

“Yeah, I’ve got stuff to do.” David hopped up, giving Blaine a very pointed look.

Blaine tilted his head, facial expression neutral but it was clear they were having a silent conversation with each other.

“I’m going to go with him ‘cause I’m afraid to be outnumbered by gay guys.” Wes hopped up as well, following David out of the common room.

“… Are you the weird one or are they the weird ones?” Kurt asked him, still looking confused.

“That’s debatable, honestly. They pretty much adopted me and won’t let me leave.” Blaine said—which was kind of the truth. “So… uhm… do you like Harry Potter?”

“Not really.” Kurt shrugged. “My aunt tried to get me into it when I was little but—why do you look like I just killed your sister? Oh God. Do you have a dead sister? Wait, do you have siblings?”

“I have a sister in law I’ve only met once and I’m pretty sure she was alive.” Blaine said.

“So, you have a brother?”

“Yeah. He’s a lot older, though. He moved to Italy when I was three so I don’t really know him that well. It’s kind of a every couple of years holiday dinner type deal.” Blaine shrugged. “You don’t like Harry Potter? Do you have siblings?”

“I have a stepbrother. I actually had a huge crush on hm at one point but we just pretend that didn’t happen.” Kurt said and then his blue eyes widened. “That might have been too much information.”

“Nah. I had a crush on Wes for about 4.5 hours and we’re like brothers.” Blaine shrugged.

“Wes? Really?”

“He’s pretty sweet if you get him in the right mood… and he actually cuddles with me usually but he’s in a mood… probably because David lost his virginity first.” Blaine shrugged again. “You do like Disney, though, right?”

“I mean, I haven’t really watched the movies much since I was younger but I went to Disney World every year until I was seven.” Kurt shrugged this time.

“Why did you quit going?”

“Uhm… well, my mom died.” Kurt admitted.

Blaine’s eyes widened in horror.

“It’s okay!” Kurt said quickly. “Really!”

“This is why they just let me sing but not actually communicate with the outside world.” Blaine groaned, covering his face with one hand.

“I could ask you a personal question to make up for it?” Kurt suggested. “If it’d make you feel better?”

“It might.” Blaine lowered his hand.

“If your family lives in Westerville, why do you live here? Don’t you even stay on the weekends?” Kurt asked. “I know a lot of kids aren’t local to here, so…”

“Uhm… Well, I don’t spend all of my weekends here but I don’t spend any of them with my family.” Blaine said, tone very… even.

Because he hadn’t expected this… although, honestly, David had warned him it would be coming.

They’d been friends for months and it was only natural for Kurt to wonder.

“Can I ask why?” Kurt asked.

Blaine opened his mouth a few times to speak but closed it just as many times.

“You don’t have to answer.” Kurt said, now looking concerned.

“The best way to put it is that… my grandmother is a politician and judge… a Republican politician and judge…” Blaine said. “I don’t really stand for what they believe in and, honestly I don’t really want to be in a spotlight anyway, especially for that, so… I just don’t go home. I get lunch with my Mom once a week, though, which is about as much as I can handle.”

Kurt stared at Blaine, his blue eyes wide.

“It’s fine.” Blaine said quickly, able to tell Kurt was now worried. “I’m fine. I just… I’m more comfortable here and with David and Wes’ families. I’m happy at Dalton and my parents aren’t great but I do have a solid support system in their families so it’s… good. It’s good. I’m good.”

“Blaine…”

“No. Really.” Blaine reassured him. “Honestly I’m happier than I’ve been in a really long time and hopefully I’ll get a scholarship and never have to worry about it again.”

Kurt’s expression softened.

“Pinky promise?” Blaine held out his pinky.

Kurt bit back a smile, linking pinkies with Blaine. “Okay. So, you get to ask another question. Maybe three more to make up for that one.”

“Hmm.” Blaine looked thoughtful, tucking his legs underneath himself. “What do you want to do in college? I mean… assuming you want to go to college.”

“I would like to go to Parsons for fashion design in undergrad… maybe stay there for grad school or move to LA to grad school.” Kurt said and then added, “Assuming I’d even get into fashion for undergrad. What about you?”

“Well I’m hoping I’ll get a soccer scholarship. I could get recruited from Duke, US Santa Barbara, and UCLA… I mean, supposedly. I know they’ve been around but I haven’t actually talked to any of them after they’ve watched.” Blaine shrugged.

“But what would you go for?”

“At the moment I think I’m more focused on getting out than what I’ll do once I get in.” Blaine admitted.

“You don’t know what you want to do? At all?”

“Honestly the last couple of years I’ve just been trying to get to where I am now. I used to want to be a lawyer or a doctor but… I’m not so sure anymore.”

“Why not?”

“My dad is a doctor and my grandmother is a judge… and I don’t really want to follow in their footsteps.” Blaine paused and then added, “Or end up like them. I’m kind of counting down the days to graduation so I’ll never have to see them again.”

“I’m sorry.” Kurt bit his lip, looking upset.

“I’ll get everything figured out once I’m not tied to them anymore. I just need to get to that point and then I’ll be good.” Blaine said confidently.

“Yeah.” Kurt nodded.

“Seriously. Don’t worry.” Blaine gave Kurt his usual, bright smile.

“I just didn’t know you might be leaving this summer.” Kurt’s voice was soft. “I didn’t think about it. Sometimes I forget you’re a year older than me… well, a grade higher, really. Our birthdays aren’t far apart but I missed the school enrollment deadline by a month to be in your grade. I’ll… miss you.”

Blaine frowned because, honestly, he hadn’t really thought about that.

He knew he liked Kurt—liked him much more than even David or Wes probably knew. And of course he’d known he was a senior and Kurt was a junior… but he hadn’t thought about what that meant. That soon they may have been separated.

“I’ll miss you too, Kurt.” Blaine’s voice was soft. “I could end up at OSU or UK, though.”

“I understand wanting to get out.” Kurt said. “More than you may know. Starting over on your own, no history… I really want that too.”

“Hey, maybe I’ll get into UCLA and you’ll get into fashion design school in LA. We could totally be roommates or something.”

Or something as in maybe boyfriends… then partners… then husbands… then dads.

But that was ridiculous.

They were in high school.

That kind of stuff didn’t happen in real life.

“I think you’d be a really good lawyer or doctor.” Kurt said. “You shouldn’t write those off because of your family.”

Blaine swallowed hard looking at Kurt, his chest tightening at the thought of maybe leaving in August and never seeing him again.

What if it was too late and they’d missed their chance?

“I should probably work on my French essay, but maybe I’ll see you at dinner?” Kurt stood up.

“Kurt—” Blaine moved to stand but didn’t do it. He looked up at Kurt, his hazel eyes meeting Kurt’s blue ones.

“Blaine?”

“I really, uhm… like you.” Blaine licked his lips anxiously.

“I really like you too, Blaine.” Kurt’s voice was soft—it was always so soft. “It just… it’s hard to think about not being…”

“Yeah.” Blaine said, knowing what Kurt meant because he felt it too.

They both knew they wanted to be together but for some reason, Blaine was holding back. It was obvious Blaine was the one, too. Kurt was upfront. Kurt was consistent. Blaine was out outlier. The wildcard.

Everything was in Blaine’s court and he hated it because he had a hard time admitting his feelings over the simplest things, let alone how hard it was to talk about what was in his heart.

“How is Pavaratti doing? I know you said he was acting a little weird last night.”

“I don’t know. I think he’s okay. Maybe he’s not done molting yet or something?” Kurt grabbed his bag. “I’ll see you tomorrow for more Blaine and the Pips practice. Have a good night.”

“Yeah, you too.” Blane frowned as Kurt left the common room, his stomach in knots.

Why was it that he had a plan, a real plan, to get out… and then Kurt shows up? And why was it that he couldn’t get Kurt out of his mind for more than an hour at a time?

And why did his heart feel like it had been ripped out after seeing Kurt’s facial expression when Blaine admitted he wanted to get away when he went to school?

And the even more important question… why did he want to sabotage his next recruit visit the next day so he had an excuse to stay local and go to OSU or UK?

[green-eyeddragonfanfiction]

War of Attrition: Chapter 2

Pairing: Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier x Reader Summary: Best friends with Steve Rogers, renowned Howling Commando, and married to one James Buchanan Barnes, your life wasn’t perfect, but it was as close as it could possibly be in the middle of World War II. Then you fell from a train in the Alps, and everything changed. You spent nearly 70 years as a tool of Hydra alongside your beloved, though your past with him was more often than not forgotten. Steve visits an old friend then a new one. The assassination attempt on Nick Fury’s life doesn’t go as planned. Warnings: Violence, mental illness Word Count: ~3,467 A/N: Yup. Putting that gif up top because if I’m going to go for a low blow, I’m at least going to be upfront about it.

Masterlist // Book One // Book Two

Previous Chapter // Next Chapter

And just like that the video ended. The screen turned black and the next video played, back to the clips of war propaganda and the occasional recording of Peggy, Howard Stark or Colonel Phillips.

Steve got up wordlessly from his seat in the back, his poor pamphlet crushed to a pulp in his hand.

Steve left the Smithsonian as quickly as he could without drawing attention to himself. The last thing he needed right then was to be mobbed by well-meaning fans.

His feet carried him where he needed to go without even realizing it and when he finally left the maze of his mind and looked around, he was in front of the fancy care home that Peggy lived in. Steve had learned that she’d been in and out of the hospital lots over the last ten years or so, but her family finally decided that she should live somewhere they could visit and that a hospital did no favors to her health.

Peggy had Alzheimer’s and even the best treatment in the world had done little to halt the horrific progression of the disease. Some days were worse than others, but Steve had wasted enough time these last few years.

Steve Rogers was many things, but a coward he was not.

The nurses and helpers all greeted him with friendly waves. Even a few of the patients gave him cheerful hello’s. The thing about being nearly a hundred years old was that even people who regressed back to their childhood could remember him.

He knocked quietly at her door and was relieved to see she was already awake, idly watching the TV on the wall. When she turned to look at him a bright smile lit up her heavily lined face and Steve didn’t have to hide his in return.

It was a good day, it seemed.

“Steve! I didn’t know you’d be visiting. Don’t just stand around all day, come sit,” she said, voice commanding even though she sounded weak.

Peggy always sounded weak nowadays.

“I should have given you some warning. I didn’t really think about comin’ over, it just kind of happened,” Steve said sheepishly, taking a seat in the chair beside her bed. “I woulda brought you flowers.” His Brooklyn accent always seeped out when he talked to Peggy. He was allowed to be Steve Rogers around her, not Captain America.

Peggy waved a feeble hand at him and scoffed. “I’ve never been one for flowers, Steve. You know that. My grandson just replaced them yesterday anyway. I wouldn’t have said no to a glass of scotch, though,” she said with a wink.

Steve grinned and shook his head. “No way. I don’t need Nurse Shelly comin’ after me. Not after last time.”

Peggy giggled quietly, her eyes bright. “She was rather cross with you, wasn’t she?”

Steve pretended to glare at Peggy, but he was smiling just as broadly. “It was all your idea. You told me it’d be fine!”

Peggy simply smiled that secret smile of hers. “Seeing you sing and dance was worth it. Mr. Jenson across the hall can complain all he likes. I don’t regret it one bit.”

Steve laughed and sat back in his chair. “Yeah, well, I don’t plan on being on that woman’s list again if I can help it.” There was a pause, then, “I went to the Smithsonian today.”

Peggy eyed him shrewdly. “Can’t get enough of yourself, huh? Had to go and see yourself immortalized in a National exhibit?” she asked playfully, though her eyes told him she knew what he must be feeling.

Steve smiled weakly at the playful jab. “Can’t help it if I look good in ten foot high murals.”

Peggy smiled at that, a soft laugh leaving her lips. She stared at him, though, smile leaving her face after a moment. “You looked at their memorial, didn’t you?” she asked, already knowing the answer.

Steve ducked his head guiltily but Peggy only smiled knowingly. “I’m not going to yell at you, silly man. I used to do it too, you know. Back when your name was up on that wall with the two of them.”

Steve looked back up, blue eyes immeasurably sad, but Peggy was already shaking her head. “Oh no, you don’t get to feel guilty about it now, mister. What’s done it done.”

Steve pushed his bangs out of his eyes; a nervous tick he never kicked, even after nearly seventy years on ice. He couldn’t talk about them anymore. “I met a guy the other day. He was nice. Lapped him a few times in the National Mall. He’s ex-military. Para-rescue. He works at the VA now. Name’s Sam Wilson.”

Peggy smiled at him. “He seems like a nice young man.”

Steve laughed at that choice of words. He supposed that, to him and Peggy, just about any guy was a “nice young man.”

“Yeah, I s’pose he is. He asked me to visit the VA later.”

Peggy raised a wispy eyebrow at him. “And are you going to?”

Steve smiled cheekily. “Depends. Will you get Nurse Shelly to forgive me if I do?”

Peggy chuckled at that. “I think I can manage that. It might be good to go, you know. Mr. Wilson might even encourage you to leave your house for more than missions, exercise, and visiting me.”

Steve held his hands up in a defensive manner, smile attached firmly to his face. “Woah now, don’t get too crazy there, Pegs. Next you’ll tell me I need to learn how to use dating apps.”

She laughed in earnest at that; so hard Steve was worried she’d start coughing, but it seemed that wouldn’t be a problem.

The two of them sobered, though the air was still light with the remnants of smiles and laughter. He found his gaze wandering to the bedside table which was littered with pictures and letters and get well cards from friends and family.

“You should be proud of yourself, Peggy,” he said, lip quirked up at the corner.

Peggy followed his gaze, her thin hair scratching lightly against the pillow as she turned her head to look. “Mm. I have lived a life,” she said, gaze flicking to Steve. Her expression sobered a bit and Steve knew what was coming next. “My only regret is that you didn’t get to live yours.” Steve stared down at his hands and she could tell from that slight furrow in his brow that he was thinking too hard. “What is it?” she asked, that little hint of command seeping back into her voice.

“For as long as I can remember I just wanted to do what was right.” His blue eyes flicked up to Peggy, his eyes searching hers as though she had all the answers. “I guess I’m not quite sure what that is anymore.” He paused, his eyes dropping back down as he lost himself in his thoughts. “And I thought I could throw myself back in and follow orders. Serve.” He looked back up and put on that fake smile that made Peggy want to sigh. “It’s just not the same.”

Peggy huffed out a short laugh. “Always so dramatic,” she said, rolling her eyes. Steve smiled in earnest and gave a little half shrug, looking away almost guiltily. “Look,” she said seriously, “you saved the world. “We rather... mucked it up,” she said, lips quirked upward in a smile that was closer to a grimace.

Steve shook his head. “You didn’t. Knowing you helped found SHIELD is half the reason I stay.”

She made a small noise in the back of her throat and reached for Steve’s hand. He leaned forward and let her take it and quietly lamented at how weak her grip had become. “The world has changed, and none of us can go back. All we can do is our best. And sometimes the best that we can do is to- start- over,” she gasped out, interrupted by a coughing fit.

Steve dropped her hand to scramble for the pitcher of water on the small table by the window. He returned as quickly as he could and sat back down, holding it out for her to take. He reached out with his hand to get her attention and she turned to look at him, her expression changing in a way that made his his heart sink.

Like she was seeing him for the first time in seventy years.

“Steve,” she breathed, awe in her voice.

Steve stared at her, biting back a torrent of emotions. Today had been such a good day for her. They’d been talking for close to an hour.

“Yeah,” Steve said softly.

She gasped, eyes already getting watery. “You’re alive. You came back.”

Steve swallowed thickly against the threat of tears and put on the bravest face he could manage. He was sure his smile was more of a grimace, but it was the best he could do.

“Yeah, Peggy,” he said quietly, unable to speak louder without his voice breaking.

She sniffled and shook her head slightly as she stared at him. “It’s been so long. So long,” she said, tears threatening to spill in earnest now.

Steve gave her a smile that he didn’t really feel and leaned forward, voice low. “Well I couldn’t leave my best girl. Not when she owes me a dance.”

Peggy sniffled. “Did you bring (Y/N) and James with you? I still haven’t given them their wedding present,” she asked, trying to reach past Steve for the bedside table.

Steve grabbed her hand gently before she got very far and shook his head slowly. It was a really bad episode if she thought (Y/N) and Bucky were still alive. “They’re not with me right now, Pegs, but I’ll be sure to tell them you want to see them, alright?” he asked, hoping he sounded comforting and not like he was about to cry.

Peggy smiled at him like she did all those years ago and Steve felt his heart break all over again. “I’d like that very much. Those two are just the most adorable couple I’ve ever seen,” she said fondly.

Steve’s smile was fixed on his face so stiffly that he was worried it’d stay that way forever. “Yeah, they are.”

Steve did end up going to the VA.

By the time someone had come in to take care of Peggy (who’d fallen asleep shortly after her episode began. “Too much excitement,” Nurse Shelly had told him with a beady, accusing stare that sent him scurrying out the door) it was too late to make it in time to truly participate in the conversation, not that Steve was sure he could have anyway.

“Sam Wilson?” he asked the lady at the desk, who immediately went flustered and starry-eyed when she realized who he was.

She snapped a sloppy, frazzled salute to him and pointed down the hall. He gave her a polite “thank you, ma’am,” and walked leisurely in the direction she’d indicated. He could feel her eyes on his back the whole way.

The doors to the room were open and Steve leaned against the door frame, not wanting to interrupt the woman who was sharing. Sam was at the front of the room and Steve saw his eyes flick to Steve for a split second before returning to the woman. No one else seemed to realize he was there, which Steve was thankful for.

“The thing is, I think it’s getting worse. A cop pulled me over last week. He thought I was drunk. I swerved to miss a plastic bag. Thought it was an IED.” When she finished talking she looked down at her hands, missing the understanding looks the other vets were giving her.

“Some stuff you leave there,” Sam began. His voice was soothing and cut easily through the tension in the room. It was clear that this was a safe space and everyone in that room trusted Sam. “Other stuff you bring back. It’s our job to figure out how to carry it. Is it gonna be in a big suitcase, or in a little man purse? It’s up to you.”

Steve’s jaw worked as he mulled over Sam’s words. Peggy’s words from earlier bounced off his skull until there was nothing but a racket left for him to sift through.

Steve stayed and listened for the rest of the meeting, but never went and sat down. It was almost over, anyhow.

After, Sam said goodbye to some of the vets before making his way over to Steve, making busy work by reorganizing and stacking pamphlets. “Look who it is. The running man,” Sam said, throwing Steve a sly smirk over his shoulder.

Steve tucked his hands in his pockets and walked over. “Caught the last few minutes. It’s pretty intense.”

Sam nodded as he placed some cards back into the basket on the table. “Yeah, brother. We all got the same problems. Guilt, regret.” There was a tone in his voice and look in his eye that Steve knew all too well.

“You lose someone?” he asked quietly. Sam didn’t have to answer. It was a pretty personal question, after all.

But he did anyway. He nodded, eyes eventually landing on Steve though Steve could tell he wasn’t completely in the present. “My wingman, Riley. Flying a night mission. Standard PJ rescue op. Nothing we hadn’t done a thousand times before. Until an RPG knocked Riley’s dumb ass outta the sky. Nothing I could do. S’like I was up there just to watch.”

Steve’s memory flashed to that Godforsaken train in the alps. Of (Y/N) and Bucky falling mere milliseconds before he got there.

“I’m sorry,” was all he said instead.

“After that, I had a really hard time finding a reason for being over there, y’know?” he said with a weak smile.

“But you’re happy now? Back in the world?” Steve asked, nodding his head towards the large stack of papers on the table.

Sam crossed his arms and the smile on his face was a little more genuine now. “Hey, the number of people giving me orders is down to about-” he made a show of looking around, “-zero? So, hell yeah.” He was smiling in earnest now, just like he had been at the National Mall. “You thinkin’ about getting out?”

Steve stared at a spot on the table. “No,” he said quickly with a little shake of his head. Then he paused and tilted his head, considering. “I don’t know.” He smiled that melancholy smile. “To be honest, I don’t know what I would do with myself if I did.”

Sam considered that for a moment, his lips tipping down at the corners. “Ultimate fighting?” Steve laughed and Sam chuckled. “Just a great idea off the top of my head,” he said, grinning. “Seriously, you could do whatever you want to do. What makes you happy?”

Steve looked back at Sam, his lips straight in that almost-smile he wore too often these days. “I dunno.”

Your POV

The mission was simple. Assassination was simpler than extraction or escort.

One target. High value. Extremely capable. Proceed with caution.

Hydra sent out a small group of soldiers dressed as local police. Handler Pierce wanted to solve the problem without pulling you and the other Soldier into it if at all possible. You were valuable, best used in the shadows.

However, it was clear from the noise on the comms that the Hydra soldiers had failed and were in pursuit. You watched the screen in your hand, quickly tracking his most likely paths of escape.

You kicked the bike into life and shoved the tiny device back into your pocket. “Hop off when I slow you down. Grab your Mag Disc Grenade launcher,” you said by way of warning. His right arm was already around your waist so he didn’t slide back even an inch when you sped forward out of the alley. The electric engine was nearly silent, perfect for stealth operations... ignoring the fact it was broad daylight out.

You’d drop him off at one of the most likely routes of egress of your target then head to the other yourself. You’d leave the bike with the other Soldier. If the target happened to take another route, you’d pursue one foot (well, jet skates) and he’d pursue on the bike.

But you trusted your calculations.

You slowed down at the corner of one of the intersections, pulling up on the curb and ignoring the gaggle of surprised onlookers. Most of them scattered when they got one look at the guns you were packing, but some stopped and took pictures, gawking like a bunch of brain-dead monkeys. You ignored them and felt the bike shift as the Soldier hopped off, mag launcher in hand. You parked the bike on the curb, knowing there was no way in hell anyone would be stupid enough to touch it after getting a single look at you and the other Soldier.

“What about you? There’s only one,” the Soldier said, holding up his launcher as the two of you started to walk away from the bike.

You rolled your eyes even knowing he couldn’t see the gesture behind your goggles. “Shut up and do your job,” you said, grinning ferally beneath your mask as your razor-sharp wheels popped out of your feet. It the other Soldier said anything after that, it was drowned out by the roar of your twin heel jets and a half second later you were half a block away.

“I really don’t need this, you know. You should have taken it,” said his voice in your ear.

You growled your annoyance. “I don’t need it either, idiot. A high-tech car like the target’s? I can fry it with a single touch. I doubt it can outrun me in this traffic anyway. Did you plan to punch it into submission?”

The other Soldier made a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat. “Are you in position?”

You came to a stop in the middle of the street, ignoring the cars that swerved wildly to avoid you. A few drivers yelled angrily at you as they passed, but you ignored them, too. “Of course. Tell me if you get a visual. It seems like the target lost the agents that had been pursuing him. I don’t have any information no-”

“I have a visual.”

You groaned and fired your heel rockets up again and headed back to the other Soldier’s position. “I’m headed back. Status?”

“Mag grenade deployed.” There was the sound of an explosion in your headset and you were fairly sure that if you didn’t have your heel jets on you’d be able to hear the explosion and screams with your own ears. You could imagine the car flying through the air. In fact you rounded the corner just in time to watch the other Soldier sidestep the SUV, smoke wrapping around him like a cloak.

“Success. Target’s transport destroyed.”

“Finish him, then. I’ll be there in a moment with the bike and then we can return to Handler Pierce and inform him of our success.”

You watched him wrench the door off its hinges and send it flying. You left him to finish the target and grabbed the bike which, as you’d expected, had been given a wide berth. You kicked it on and rolled over to the Soldier a half-block away. You knew immediately something had gone wrong. He was stalking towards you, but his posture was all wrong.

“What happened?” you asked, looking between him and the wreck.

You heard him through both the comm and the normal way as he hopped onto the bike behind you, sitting back to back so he could watch your six while you made your escape. There was a handle on the back for the express purpose of him being able to hang on while you drove. “He used some sort of device to cut through the door of the SUV. Escaped into the sewers. Could be anywhere, especially if he has backup waiting for him.”

You glowered as you weaved through the city’s streets, cutting through traffic and dodging places you knew had cameras. “You should have chased after him.”

“We can back and you can go down the sewers in a fruitless chase for our quarry, then.” When you didn’t respond he sounded almost smug. “Didn’t think so.”

“You can tell Handler Pierce you let him get away from you, then.”

He went stiff against your back and you knew that had struck a nerve. “We still have eight hours.”

You frowned. “So it’s on me to find him again.”

There was a pause, then, “No, it’s on us.”

Next Chapter

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[eightmakar]

Fingers Crossed / Two

Teaser // One // Two // Three

Summary: Peter return and explains himself

Word Count: 2.1k

(A/n: this is was way longer!! CONTAINS INFINITY WAR SPOILERS AND MY IDEAS OF POST-INFINITY WAR. Message me to be tagged! xx)

Gods. Aliens. Robots. Guys in suits. Magicians. Tony Stark. Each day the news covered something new about whatever was going on. That Tony was missing, but nothing about Peter.

Even though every Midtown student lived for this type of thing, school was cancelled due to the terror of people disappearing. There were reports all over that people randomly dissolved; luckily, none of your immediate family had. Your mom told you a few other family members you had very little connection to dissolved, and Ned said he knew a bunch of people that did, but you and May were fine. You were just praying that Peter wasn’t one of the ones who had dissolved.

Pepper still hadn’t heard anything from Tony. The two of you were keeping your fingers crossed that they would come back whole. When a week had passed and they were still missing, she came to visit May.

She brought dinner, the nicest dinner you and May had had in a while. Steak, seafood, anything you could imagine. It seemed normal to you; Pepper Potts, the CEO of Stark Industries, was casually having dinner in the Parker’s kitchen.

In the midst of your meal, her phone rang. She looked at the caller ID, then shot out of her chair.

“It’s Tony!” She cried.

You crossed your fingers, hoping that Mr. Tony Stark would have an answer for you and May.

“Tony?” Pepper answered her phone. “Tony? Where the hell are you?”

You could hear his voice, but not make out the words. You looked at May anxiously, your hands shaking, a wave of nausea running over you. It felt like Pepper and Tony’s conversation went on forever before she asked him what you were dying to hear: “Is the kid with you?”

You closed your eyes and took a deep breath, waiting.

“If he’s with you put him on the damn phone right now, Tony! I’m with his aunt and girlfriend and they have been in shambles. Put him on the phone right now.”

Your heart jumped. Pepper turned her phone on speaker phone, and you and May simultaneously cried Peter’s name.

“Hey hey hey, there’s no need to yell now.”

You burst into tears. He’s there. He’s alive, and alive enough to be talking to you. You jumped up and grabbed Pepper’s phone.

“Peter Benjamin Parker I’m going to beat the sh—“

“Baby, I know, I’ll explain everything later. I love you.”

“Where are you?”

“We’re at the facility upstate. The one I told you about.”

Tony took over the phone. “He’s safe here. Pepper—“

“Safe?” You echoed. “I’m sorry, since when has Peter been safe with you Mr. Stark?”

“Hey, honey....” Pepper tried to stop you. You didn’t care.

“Listen,” Tony said, calculated. “I know you’re mad, so please give me the chance to explain.”

“Mad is an understatement.” The voice in the back of your head was screaming at you. Why were you talking to one of the world’s richest and smartest men like that?

“Pepper? Are you there?”

“I’m here,” Pepper replied, stepping closer to you.

“Just bring them upstate.”

“I will. See you soon.”

“Bye.”

Pepper took the phone from you and ended the call. She immediately dialed another number, and said “Happy, it’s me. I’m coming down right now with May and (Y/N), and you need to take us to the Upstate Facility right away. Tony finally called. Great, be there in a second.” She turned to you and May. “Follow me, we’re going upstate.”

The car ride felt endless. You were itching to hold Peter in your arms, to kiss his face, to see that he’s okay. To actually see, not just hear his voice.

You couldn’t believe your eyes when you pulled into the Avenger’s Facility. It was enormous, just like Peter had told you. You were ushered inside by Happy and Pepper and you didn’t have time to look around because Peter was waiting in the lobby for you and May to arrive.

You froze when you saw him. There he was, in the flesh, standing just a few feet from you. May took advantage of your hesitation and ran to Peter, hugging him tighter than you’d ever seen. She whispered things to him like “are you okay?” and “I missed you so much” and “please don’t do that to us ever again.”

When May was finished greeting him, you finally processed that he was back, your best friend was back, your love was back. She had barely gotten out of the way when you barreled into Peter.

You began sobbing into his chest the moment you touched him. He was here, with you, and you were with him, hugging him, smelling him, feeling him. You held him as tight as you could, knowing you couldn’t hurt him no matter how hard you squeezed. Your Peter was back.

You pulled back from the hug. Peter leaned down to kiss you, and instead of accepting his kiss you punched his arm over and over. “Where did you go, Peter? You had us worried to death!”

“Hey hey hey baby stop stop!” He put his arms up in front of his face to protect it. “Let me explain. But first, this is Mr. Stark.”

You didn’t even realize Pepper and Tony Stark were having their own reunion next to you. It was much quieter than yours and Peter’s; you supposed they’d done this many more times than you, plus you and Peter were just 17.

You pursed your lips looking at Tony. He greeted May, complimenting her on her looks, and turned to you. “You must be the girlfriend who yelled at me on the phone,” he said calmly.

“You bet your ass I was. Where did you drag Peter and why did you drag him into this?”

“Baby,” Peter interjected. “It wasn’t Mr. Stark’s fault. I snuck on the spaceship. He tried to send me away. He tried to parachute me away and I snuck on. It’s not his fault.”

You turned your glare to Peter. “PETER.”

“Why don’t we have a seat?” Pepper suggested, obviously trying to calm the situation down.

“That would be great,” you agreed. Pepper and Tony led the way to a comfortable seating area, where you sat protectively next to Peter, holding his hand tightly. Pepper and Tony sat across from you both, with May on the corner, perpendicular to you both.

“Alright,” Tony began. “You saw the spaceship, correct?”

“Yeah. At school, on the news,” you replied haughtily.

Tony rolled his eyes. “Listen sassy girlfriend, I did my absolute best to protect Peter and I feel like I failed. So if you could just, like, give me a break, that would be great.”

You looked stunned, but nodded. Tony continued, “So that ship had a couple of ugly, Squidward-looking aliens that were asking about a stone that controls time that was locked in a wizard’s necklace so their genocidal father could control the universe. Apparently there are these things called Infinity Stones, each that control a different aspect of life: reality, soul, mind, time, space, and power. If you can harness the power of all six, you can essentially eliminate half of the universe with a snap of your fingers.

“The wizard with the Time Stone called himself Dr. strange, and got kidnapped by Squidward. I got onto the ship AFTER I activated Peter’s parachute and sent him back to Earth, because I had just SAVED him from choking to death from lack of oxygen because he was on the outside of the ship without protection. I had made an iron spider suit for him, and activated it to save him. By the time I realized he was on the ship, we were in the middle of space and I couldn’t do anything.”

“Sweetheart, I promise he didn’t make me go,” Peter piped in. “I went because I wanted to help.”

You shot Peter daggers through your glare. “Peter, if Mr. stark kept trying to send you away, then why did you go back?”

Peter shrugged. “I thought they might need my help,” he said a little sheepishly.

You turned to Mr. Stark. “Mr. Stark,” you began.

“Please call me Tony. When I hear Mr. Stark I look for my grandfather.”

“Got it. Tony, I apologize for blaming you. It appears that this is all Peter’s doing and I shouldn’t have blamed you.”

“Apology accepted. Can I finish?”

“Of course.”

Tony continued. “We arrived on this weird planet and met these other guys who were also looking for the genocidal alien, who apparently is named Thanos.”

“Babe,” Peter interrupted, “an alien tried to lay its eggs in me. Just like that old movie Alien!”

You sighed. “Peter, quit interrupting. Unless you’re going to finish his story.”

“Well, I mean, Thanos was this big really ugly guy that had the weirdest chin I’ve ever seen. We were on an alien planet and we fought him and it was so awesome!”

“Kid,” Tony said. “It was not awesome. You died.”

You were silenced, shocked beyond belief. May had to speak for you. “What... what do you mean, Peter died?”

“Died. Disintegrated. Disappeared. Along with the wizard, and almost every other alien with us.” You gaped at Peter.

May explained that many other people had dissolved and it had caused a mass panic. You were stunned. How was Peter one of the ones who dissolved?

“I don’t know where I was,” Peter explained. “But wherever I went, the process of going there was the worst thing I’ve ever felt. I can’t explain it.”

“He dissolved in my arms,” Tony said. You swore you could hear him choking up. “There was nothing I could do.”

“Well, obviously he’s not dissolved anymore so what happened after that?” May demanded.

“That’s all on Mr. Stark,” Peter said, turning to look at him. You felt him squeeze your hand three times; it was something you two had come up with a long time ago. Three squeezes meant “I love you.” You squeezes back four times, saying “I love you too.” All you wanted to do was hold onto Peter, especially hearing he dissolved like so many other people. You lifted up your entertained hands and kissed the back of Peter’s.

“Well, Nick Fury seemed to have called in some backup. Long story short, Cap, Banner, Clint, Natasha, Thor, and I teamed up with this Air Force Pilot-turned superhero, plus some aliens and some Wakandans and Rhodey, and we were able to undo whatever it was Thanos the Angry Grape did. The wizard, Strange, seems to think they were all trapped inside the Soul Stone, in some kind of world created for taking souls. I don’t know, I just shoot where I’m told.” Tony finished his story, leaned back, and propped his feet up on the coffee table that separated you and Peter from him and Pepper.

It stayed quiet for several minutes. You, May, and Pepper were just taking everything in. Peter had died? But also not really? It was a lot to process in a short time. You simply laid your head on Peter’s shoulder.

Pepper finally broke the silence. “You got on an alien ship ALONE without a plan or backup or any idea where it was going? Tony, what the hell were you thinking?”

“Listen, honey, I—.”

“No, you listen to me. Before you flew off to fight aliens, you suggested we have a baby, but how can we take care of a child together when you’re running off every ten minutes to try and save the world? AND you hung up on me?”

“Pepper, honey, I didn’t hang up on you, I lost signal in space, but—.”

“No sir, no more ‘buts’. You need to think about how that affected me, okay?”

“Can we take this somewhere more private? I hate to have the kid see mom and dad fight,” Tony suggested, motioning at Peter.

“Mr. Stark, c’mon now....”

“Happy, can you take these folks back to Queens?”

“You got it boss. Let’s go, Queens folks.”

You all stood up. You inched over to Pepper and gave her a huge hug. “Thank you for everything, Pepper. We owe you.”

“I know how it feels to be on your end. Call me any time.” She smiled at you.

You thanked her and moved to shake Tony’s hand. “Thanks for doing your best to keep him safe,” you said. “I know he can be a pain in the ass sometimes.”

“He’s a good kid, and having someone like you who fights for him is great. Keep it up. Maybe one day you’ll get a Stark Internship too.”

You laughed. “Maybe.”

With that, you reconnected your hand with Peter’s, followed Happy to the car, and rode back to Queens. Your crossed fingers had worked.

Tags: @upsidedownparker @justbetomholland @spiderlingss @bi-writes @loserparker @tomhollandwritings @scarlettxspider @im-a-witchy-author @tomsfireheart @holland-ish @beautiful-holland @freckledskittles @jellalyrancher

[fallout4holmes]

Far Harbor 8

We couldn't put off Dima’s plan any longer. Along the way we checked on the status of the Last Plank bartender's uncle, still living out on the island in the Fog thanks to some condensers, and we promised an enterprising young girl called Bertha to clear the old lumber mill of ferals for future settlers. A sole remaining trapper had claimed the mill as his own, but Bertha’s friends should have no trouble chasing him off.

We found Confessor Martin’s private… hermitage, I suppose. According to the tapes we found, Martin truly did have an amicable relationship with the strange synth that had welcomed them to their new home. He blamed himself for not realizing how bad Far Harbor’s hostility had become, and then blamed Dima when his own people turned against him because of Dima’s refusal to help drive the Harbormen off the island. Martin demanded Dima leave the Nucleus, and then when Tektus took over with his calls for blood, Martin retreated into seclusion. A few written notes revealed he was visited by Sister Gwyneth, early in her doubts. He started to believe she was right, and never regained his faith, quietly disappearing.

We returned to Acadia, our prize in hand. Dima was alone in his observatory. It was a… tense, moment. Neither brother was exactly certain how to interact with the other.

“You’ve returned,” Dima said, with some small surprise.

“We said we would. Will these suffice?” I handed him the tapes.

“Yes, these look like they’ll serve. Let me listen…” he smiled softly to himself, “It’s good to hear his voice aga- ah. Some… grim material to work with.” After a few moments, he had copied excerpts onto a new tape. “I take no pleasure from twisting the words of an old friend, but I believe Martin would understand. This tape should pique the interest of the High Confessor, but Tektus is nothing if not wary.”

“It’s not the first time I’ve set a trap,” I took the new tape. “How are preparations coming along for a replacement?”

“The initial stages have gone well. He should be ready in time.” Dima hesitated, but asked, “You said something when we last spoke, when you agreed to this plan. My mind keeps coming back to it… ‘In some corner of Hell, he’s laughing at me.’ May I ask…”

“The Director of the Institute.”

Dima was stunned, “I don’t understand.”

“The Institute used whatever means to their end, no matter the cost, the collateral damage caused. There were no questions of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ only ‘necessary.’ Unfortunately, the wrong of destroying a person often leads to the right of saving many.”

“… and the wrong of letting a person live who shouldn’t?”

“We’re going to find out, aren’t we?” 

He winced. “So the Director is dead. And the Institute?”

“Destroyed.”

“Then it’s over?” Relief and hope filled him, “No more Courser hunts? No more slavery? Oh, but…” as suddenly as it seemed to come, the hope faded to something sadder. “But that also means the technology to make the synths is lost. Our origins have been buried. Not to mention, the loss of human life…” He glanced at us both with some chagrin, “I know that must sound disingenuous given my actions, but -”

“I sounded an evacuation before it was destroyed,” I said. “Everyone had a chance to get out. Not all of them did. It’s a truth I have to live with, that I don’t think I’ll ever forget.”

Dima glanced at Valentine, “Nor should anyone.” He sighed, “I’m sorry if I sounded as though I was judging you. You’ve wiped out a great evil in the world, and knowing the Institute is gone will bring peace of mind to many of my people. I’m grateful.”

We were invited to stay the night before going to the Nucleus in the morning. I think he hoped to have a chance to speak to Valentine, and so I resolved to be close by and listen in, just in case. My partner wasn't going to make it easy on him. And yet, for all his doubts, Valentine still wants to know his brother, this piece of family he never knew he might have had.

So it was with some false flippancy later that he answered a simple, “How have you been, Nick?” with “Haven't woken up discovering any new missing parts in a while, so I call that a win.”

Dima smiled. “I stopped counting the number of repairs I had decades ago. I have bad actuators, frayed wires…”

Whether innate sibling rivalry, or simple relief at a safe topic, Valentine continued the list, “Rusty joints, patched power couplings, and don't even get my secretary started whenever I tell her I literally have a screw loose.”

Dima chuckled, “You know, it's actually pretty nice being able to complain about this with someone who understands.”

Valentine nodded, “Yeah. Yeah, it is.” Silence settled a moment before Valentine asked, “Dima, why do you even call me Nick? Didn’t you know me from before the personality imprint?”

“We didn't have names inside the Institute. And after the personality experiments started, the only name you ever called yourself was Nick Valentine. If there's another name you'd prefer, I'd be happy to -”

“No. No, I... I like the name. When you wear something for a long time, it kind of seeps into ya, you know?”

“Of course. And yet your… friend, only calls you Valentine.”

“Habit. Calls me Nick when it’s important. So, what happened after the Institute? To you, I mean.”

“After our escape, after the… fight… I eventually made my way here, simply wandering North, hiding on a ship, anything to get as far away from the Institute as I could. Once my escape felt secured, I was left with nothing. No programmed task, no false memories. I spent a year just sitting in a cave. Just sitting. One day, it finally occurred that maybe I could decide for myself what to do, who I was. It was decades before I met another of my kind. At first, I didn't believe it. I thought the person I was talking to was deluded. And then I realized the truth. That we were the same. I didn't know it then, but that's when Acadia really started. And you, Nick? What happened after?”

“Woke up one day in a garbage heap, a body in tatters and a head full of memories belonging to a man who'd been dead for 200 years. Suffice to say it was a confusing couple of weeks.”

“I am sorry -”

“I know. I was still confused, you didn’t want to hurt me, but… anyway. My first human contact in the world was actually a kid. I think his name was Jim. Grilled me for an hour. Once they'd seen I wasn't going to hurt anyone, the other folks in the neighborhood came out to ogle the mechanical man. It eventually turned into a pretty swell soiree. Local mechanic even gave me a once over, free of charge. Those people, they treated me like a human being. I've been trying to return the favor ever since.”

“That sounds wonderful. It's… not what I expected.”

“Don’t get me wrong, took me a long damn time to get a feel for the Commonwealth. Eventually made my way to Diamond City. Plenty of people assumed I was just a saboteur, moving in to melt down the reactor or poison the drinking water. But they couldn't exactly turn me away.”

“Why?”

“Because I'd rescued the mayor's daughter.”

I softly laughed. “I'll never tire of hearing this story,” I said to Faraday behind me. “As you've been standing there a few minutes, I imagine you'd like to hear the rest?”

He sounded a bit embarrassed. “I was going to ask if you were spying again. I suppose you were, but not quite like I thought. I have to say, I hoped Nick would come back. Dima really is glad to see him again. But I don't quite understand why you want to help.”

“I am a man of my word, and I am not in the habit of abandoning those in need.”

We listened for a time. “Did he really pretend to be a bomb?” Faraday asked.

“So he says.”

“No one could be stupid enough to fall for that.”

“Clearly you haven't met many raiders.”

“Um. Well, no, I guess I haven't.”

We were joined by Chase. “What in the world are you two doing?”

We moved away before we could be discovered. “We didn't want to interrupt!” Faraday protested.

Chase rolled her eyes and turned to me, “You're a detective, right? You've had experience finding missing people.”

I must admit, there is a certain comfort that comes with the anticipation of a case. “What's happened?”

“A synth was supposed to arrive from the Commonwealth, but he's gone missing. Brooks in Far Harbor has all the details, he's the one who was supposed to watch for his arrival. Tell him I sent you.”

She gave me Brooks’ unit designation from the Institute, just in case he didn't want to cooperate. Valentine and Dima were still talking. The sun would be setting by the time I reached Far Harbor; hardly an ideal time to track down a missing person, but given the dangers of the island, there was no time to waste. I resolved to head into town at least, and see what Brooks could tell me. I left Valentine to catch up with his brother. I didn’t know if it would help or not, but I think it’s important he get some sense of the old synth on the mountain… and, more importantly, that Dima gets a sense of the sort of man his brother is.

I hurried into Far Harbor and found Brooks cleaning up. The missing synth, a young man called Derrick, had arrived ahead of schedule in a panic. Brooks tried to calm him down but Derrick, convinced he was being pursued, ran off. Brooks was unable to stop him, or find him when he disappeared. He feels terrible about it. The only information he could give me was that Derrick had white hair and had run off down the south road.

“Then I suppose I’ll head south,” I sighed.

“Sure you want to be out an' about in the dark, cap'n?”

I turned and saw Longfellow approaching from the Last Plank, a bottle of whiskey in hand. “The sun hasn't set just yet, and if there's the slightest chance that he is still alive we must move quickly.”

“We?”

“If I had my dog with me, tracking Derrick down would be simple, sunshine or no,” I grinned, “but I’d gladly take a septuagenarian hunter instead.”

“Hmph,” he seemed amused, I think, though honestly it’s hard to tell. “And where’s your friend?”

“Acadia. He’s catching up with his brother, I didn’t want to interrupt.”

“Brother, huh?” Longfellow was supremely skeptical, but shrugged and said, “Brooks, watch this for me.” He put his whiskey on the counter, “I’ll be back as soon as this young pup makes a fool of himself tracking at night.”

I did not, in fact, make a fool of myself. To the contrary, Longfellow was impressed with my ability to observe details, and only corrected me once when I confused the blood trail of a wounded radstag with the trail of blood we’d been following. Given the nature of the trail, I knew the young man was likely dead… but nothing prepared me for the grisly nature of his fate. We tracked him to a house where trappers had set up camp. They’d eaten him, and left his head among the remains. 

The Institute was gone, what had he been running from? A lone Courser? The Brotherhood? An imagined foe born from paranoia? Whatever the reason for his fear, Brooks had been in no position to stop his flight, through no fault of his own. How many people have died trying to reach a place of refuge?

Longfellow was grim, “Damn shame. Suppose you’ll let Acadia know?”

“Yes. Will you tell Brooks?”

“I’ll tell him. He’ll probably blame himself, even though it’s not his fault. I'll see to him, don't worry.”

I thanked him, and hurried back to Acadia. Chase was distressed to hear the news. This does, in fact, happen often. I don't mean the cannibalism, specifically, but synths being killed en route to Acadia. The island is a death trap for those ill prepared. This place doesn’t need ideals of peace and isolation, it needs practical help for the physical challenges of survival.

Valentine just found me. I'd managed to find an empty spot to sleep for the night, and was writing the above as he sat down next to me.

“You snuck out on me,” he said, perhaps a touch put out.

“I didn't want to interrupt. I found Longfellow in town.”

“Just want to make sure you get home in one piece,” he held my hand. “Chase mentioned something about finding a missing synth?”

I told him what I'd found. He shook his head with a heavy sigh. “This place…”

“Acadia is a worthy idea severely lacking in execution.”

“Considering what they've got to work with, it's amazing they've got this much.” It was true, the resources are limited, the neighbors unfriendly… “If only there were some sort of organization that could lend a helping hand,” he finished sardonically.

I chuckled, “The thought had crossed my mind, but would Dima accept help?”

“It’ll be a surprise, that’s for sure. He’s not fond of the Railroad, doesn’t understand why they’d remove synth identities instead of embracing them, but no one here knows what the Minutemen under their current management are about.”

“It is a bit out of our jurisdiction,” I said with a grin, “but perhaps some trade could be set up at the very least. Did you enjoy talking to him?”

“It was… nice. Strange. He was alone on this rock for a long time before he met another person. He’s… removed from a lot of life. Most of what he knows about the Commonwealth is second-hand knowledge, what he’s heard and stored in his memory banks. I think he got more out of the conversation than I did, listening to stories about the world. I still can't quite crack what makes him tick.”

“Beyond protecting his people?”

“Protecting is fine and good, but every time he mentions ideals and synths having their own culture and way of life… well, that would be nice, but it'll take a long time for that to happen. Not sure the people here are as in it for the long haul as Dima is… or as willing to do whatever it takes to make it happen.”

There certainly seems to be a disconnect. We'll find out soon enough if it's all worth it.

[originaldetectivesheep]

Tales of the Missing 3 - Lo que no se puede llamar "amor"

There are some things expressed without words -- there are some things, for which there are no words, in any tongue, to express.

Lo que no se puede llamar "amor"

Davíd shook his head, not playing along with Miguel's monologue about what he'd do with their client, what he'd do to Nicole who was probably just over through the door into the house, might be hearing what they were saying about her while they were working over the foundations of her mud room.  He couldn't say anything back if he didn't want to get it from him, virgin, little boy even though he had at least a decade on the Mexican mason and two kids – three by now – back in Cúcuta, but there were some things that just weren't right – and there were a lot of people, white people even, around here who knew Spanish.

"Come on, man," Miguel said, reaching up to pick down another brick from the stack, "throw me a bone here.  You seen her, right? She talks to you, man, even if she don't talk to me – you gotta thought about what it would be like, get a piece of that."

Davíd held up his left hand, the plain gold band on his ring finger gleaming through the grimy stone dust.  "I'm a married man, bro; too much to even think about.  All I want to do is get this floor done, get back for Christmas and see my new baby.  I don't got time to jerk off on the job."

Miguel shook his head, trying to do sad but not getting much past disappointed.  "Your wife got you whipped, man; no good." He seated the brick in and scraped out the extra mortar as it squeezed up at the seams.

Davíd just gave him a look.  "Nobody's whipped: I do my job, I send the money, and Felicia takes care of the kids. Three now – I ain't showed you Jorge's pictures yet.  How many you got with your motel girls from Randolph?"  That shut him up, and Davíd took down a couple more bricks to finish laying the corner.

Still, though, Davíd thought as they worked, Miguel finding other things to rant about, he had eyes.  Nicole was a picture: the look people went for when they cast hot rich housewives in novelas and pornos, always perfectly made up but like she wasn't wearing anything, that soft brown hair twisted up in a chignon at the back of her head, stylish even in the loose comfortable clothes she put on to sit around the house.  Maybe she was making an extra effort because there were strangers in and she didn't want them to think she was sloppy – maybe she was making an effort because there was something else there.

Miguel was right – she talked to him.  She talked with Finn, the boss, when they were coming in and out, businesslike, making plans, making sure the invoices came, that the schedule worked, and she'd talked at everyone in a few stilted words of high-school Spanish on the couple times she brought out coffee or water on breaks, but she talked to him more – she maybe talked to him special, or maybe he was just dazzled by her eyes, her smile, and didn't see it when she might be talking the same to other guys.  But she did talk to him, yeah, going through the house to use the downstairs guest toilet, or when he was the last one out picking up tools and making sure the dust got swept out of everywhere it shouldn't be, unplugging the heater, and any time she did she had a smile for him – a smile and the feeling like she might want to put an ivory-white, manicured hand on his scarred brown arm.  What was it, that bit, right before Thankgiving, that day they were sprinting to get the front steps done in time for them to set before her guests started rolling up?  

"So how do you say 'Happy Thanksgiving' in Spanish?" she'd asked, while he was scraping flecks out of his pants on the back steps. "Feliz día de Acción de Gracias," he'd answered, not getting it, and then she'd smiled pure golden sunshine.  "Feliz día de Acción de Gracias," she said, slow and careful and making sure the vowels were right, the accent in the right place; "that's funny – I thought it was 'Happy Thanksgiving in Spanish'."  She'd giggled a little, and he smiled, too – bad jokes, dad jokes, but you didn't do dad jokes with strangers unless you thought, even a little, that you might want to be a little more familiar: someone you could let your guard down with and just be silly, be comfortable, be yourself, be together. And if Nicole was like that with him, when she was like that with him, Davíd couldn't help feeling something for her: not love like he had with Felicia and the way he felt when he was home with her, the kids around the house with her, lying in bed with her nestled in his arms, and it wasn't lust like he'd had back when he was chasing her, back before her like when he just wanted to grab a girl and drag her in, kiss her deep, push her down, take her body and make her moan and beg for it.  It was something else, something different: something like it was both and neither and the other side of the universe from anything like it, a passion that didn't make any damn sense and ran up on his heart out of nowhere like it was about to explode.

They got the bricks laid down, the whole of the under-layer finished, and now all that was left was to set.  Davíd and Miguel wrestled the pallet of tiles up out of the truck while Finn measured again, and it turned out the room was half an inch shorter and almost an inch less wide than he thought: they'd have to cut the tiles and the saw wasn't in the truck.  "No sense not doing a full day," he said, "we can't lay the tile today, but we can cut the ones that need cutting, and they'll be ready when we come back, and we can get the whole floor done in one shot.  Miguel, come with and help me move it; Davíd, I guess you stick here and keep an eye on the gear and the tiles.  I don't need to lug the two of yous around."  Finn beckoned back out at the truck in the driveway, and Miguel shrugged and followed him out; Davíd sat down on the steps and thought about a cigarette, then thought better of it: it was still Nicole's house, still her rules.

"You're – Finn didn't leave for the day, did he?" Davíd started a little, because he hadn't heard her come up – hadn't heard her open the door behind him.

"No, ma'am – he measure the floor.  We need to cut the tiles.  They go and get the saw – we not done today, yet."  She was as beautiful as ever, one arm reaching up along the side of the doorframe such that her lopsided blouse looked like it was about to fall clean off her other shoulder, and he was covered in mortar grit, a dozen nicks and pricks from stone edges and corners swelling up and puffing over on his hands.

"Well, you don't need to sit out on the stoop waiting for him," she said, and paused for a second – that she paused at all made it significant, made it something, made Davíd's heart jump up into his throat.  "Won't you come inside?" He nodded, tongue sticking dry in his mouth, and stood up to follow her back in through the door.

"I've got to say, it's coming along really well," Nicole said, nodding at the mud room.  "But it has to set, right?  So you won't be putting the tiles on today?"

Davíd nodded. "Yes, ma'am; that's right."  It was good to talk about work – less nervous, less conscious that it was just him and just her in this house, alone.

"But then, after that, you have to come back again to redo the baseboards for the new floor."  She turned around, facing him, not close really but so close, so close – "And wouldn't that be getting late?  Wouldn't that be cutting it close – to go back to Colombia and see your family for Christmas?"  There was a different note in her voice – not messing, but a strange soft tone like she was invested, like it mattered, like almost she felt bad about taking him away from his wife and kids she'd never met, never seen.

Davíd shook his head and cracked a smile.  "Yes, ma'am; it probably be late, but I make it work.  I got to be back this time – my wife have a new baby and I not seen him in person yet."  He shook his head again.  "I just keep looking at the pictures she send – I run my phone battery out, all the time."

"I –"  She paused in the kitchen doorway, brushing at a phantom strand of hair that wasn't on her cheek.  "I've seen – and I thought about it, that it wasn't fair that you're always running out your phone showing the pictures to the other workers.  And, right, you must be looking at them again, all the time, when you're home – so I thought, and it's probably too much, and maybe it's a dumb gift, but – I'd like you to have this."  She reached around the corner and came back with a plain, budget, digital picture frame, and pushed it into Davíd's hands, her own hands soft and warm and alive on his.  "Feliz Navidad."

He took it, not quite understanding the why, not understanding at all that soft and breathless feeling in her voice, and like his arms were moving all of their own accord he reached out and wrapped around and held her close.  Nicole gasped a little at the initial shock, but instantly, when she wasn't kissed, when she felt him, his body, close against her and she could feel that strange and raging and nameless and inscrutable passion from every pore, a tension vibrating on the same frequency as her own heart, she understood – or didn't and she was just reacting, too, her hands pressing in on his back, not seeking or desiring anything else but this embrace, this moment, ready for it to last forever and the rest of the world to drop out and fade out around them.

This wasn't love – whatever this feeling was, it couldn't be called love.  Love made demands and asked for changes: love made children and reached for big houses and knitted together to make one life out of two.  And this wasn't lust, a lust that would have torn down this embrace into desperate thrusting, to take and be taken before anyone could have second thoughts.  This was something else and it made no sense and it didn't need to, sole and solitary and self-sufficient, two people who needed merely this from each other and understood the need and desired nothing but its fulfillment, nothing else in the world, nothing.

Out in the driveway, the truck's tires spun on the gravel out by the street, and the spell was broken.  "Gracias, señora," Davíd said, the hand not holding the picture frame barely tracing on Nicole's arm as she released as well, her hands feathering down to his waist.  "Y feliz Navidad." She smiled, and just like that the last touch was gone.

Maybe, that was it as Miguel and Finn toted the saw and the table inside, plugging it in while Davíd organized up a stack of tiles and stowed the picture frame under the front flap of his overalls.  Maybe that would be it, only ever a few words more and the job would be done and they would never see each other again.  But even if it was, they had had that moment – they would always have that secret, that bond between them that couldn't ever be called love.

further Tales of the Missing ...

[wrenchbouquet]

Are you feeling any better about the storylines for Team Scorpion, especially Quintis, this season?

Short answer: not really, no

Long answer below the cut

General:

1. Irresponsible mom Paige after fucking Walter the moment they’re able to after getting together vs. being in a relationship with Tim 


Why does Paige just not seem to care about her son’s existence anymore except when it’s convenient for her? Ever since she and Walter got together at the Quintis wedding, it’s like she can’t ditch her son fast enough to go fuck her boyfriend. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that but she’s always been so mindful of her son it’s strange she’s turned into a horny teenager now.) Especially in 4.01, when they literally just got back from three weeks exposed to the elements on that deserted island the first thing Paige did was to dump him on Sly without caring at all if he’s okay? I get that she wants to finally bang Walter, but would it have killed her to spend that first night home with her son making sure he’s not suffering any major physical and/or psychological trauma after a horrific plane crash and being stranded for almost a month? The first time they bothered to include Ralph again was in 4.04 when they went to the churro festival to look at churros they couldn’t afford, but that really doesn’t count as a genuine family outing when ex-wifey tags along too. Then that very night it was back to ditching Ralph god-knows-where so they could run off for a fancy date they could miraculously suddenly afford. 


       * We’re not alone in this, people on FB are commenting too on how Ralph’s appearances are so sporadic especially given how Riley’s promoted to regular cast now. They don’t even know what to do with the kid they currently have (who, while is only 12, is thankfully old enough to take care of himself), but now they want to add a Quintis baby to the mix? You can’t conveniently dump an infant in school like you do Ralph.
            * Yes there are child protection laws that prevents kid actors from working too much, but why can’t they at least have him in the garage more often and give him a more decent arc than being horny for an older girl? Shows like Madam Secretary and Lethal Weapon handle tough cases with sweet (and realistic) family moments every episode, why can’t Scorpion?
        * Ralph “wanting them to be alone” is beyond wrong in itself, that a kid that young only cares about his mom banging her new boyfriend. Though with how much Waige rubbed it into his face on that island that they were desperate for ‘time alone’, it’s not surprising… And as the grownups, it’s not a stretch for a viewer to think that Paige and Walter as the adults would want Ralph to be a kid and think of him rather than vice versa. 


The problem is not that Paige is dating again, not at all. The problem is how she’s behaving now that she’s dating Walter. Remember when she was with Tim? Ralph was invited to every outing- from the date in 3.04 to the dance in 3.07- without any question. Even when Ralph was being a rude little shit to Tim, Tim treated him with nothing but respect and care and even condoned his behavior when Paige was horrified (3.04 “He’s just a kid who loves his mom… Ralph is gonna keep challenging me, and he is right to try and protect you, because you are an amazing woman and he is grateful to have you in his life”). But Walter? That kid all but worships every inch of ground he steps on, but he can barely be bothered to acknowledge the kid’s existence these days unless he’s needed on a case and it’s convenient to the plot.


2. Ralph/Patty is just wrong. 


Patty is in high school, and when this whole crush nonsense started Ralph wasn’t even 12 yet (in 2.22 he said his birthday is 12/11/2005). Young puppy love and crushes I get. But Walter and the rest seeing no problem in how almost obsessive Ralph is becoming, and rather encouraging it? Why is nobody seeing all the potential statutory issues that could come out of this relationship? Yes they are both underage but wow is there a difference between 12 and 15. 


   * Though maybe if the two main couples on the show don’t start and end every. single. day. yapping about how they’re running off to fuck, Ralph wouldn’t think it’s so normal and want to join the club so young…


The geniuses telling Paige it’s not wrong and to let it happen when Ralph is her son and she’s not okay with it is wrong. 
What happened to the strong single mom Paige who stood up to the guys and chewed them out that “this isn’t communal child rearing” (1.07) when they tried to tell her how to raise Ralph then? Letting Ralph turn to the others for genius-related stuff is fine, but when it comes to her 12 year old trying to hook up with a high school girl, that’s when she deserves to take control of how to raise her son. And her caving to peer pressure sets a very bad example. 


3. Cabe’s trial- really?


Of all the federal laws the team breaks and Cabe is the only one arrested for something he really didn’t have a choice about? Where’s Walter and Happy’s trial for marriage and immigration fraud? Where’s Happy’s NTSB investigation for crashing a plane she wasn’t supposed to be flying, not to mention causing an international incident with Russia/Norway?? This picking and choosing of consequence isn’t helping the showrunners case for being well-thought out when it comes to plots and even characterizations. 


4. Continuity
Where’s Heywood? How are Patrick and Ronnie doing?? Why hasn’t Happy mentioned her dad in almost a year, and especially nearing/on her wedding??? Why didn’t Paige use the money Ronnie gave them when the team was too broke to buy food for themselves???? How is the team alive after going from three weeks on a deserted island-Arctic-Africa back to back????? When did we jump to Halloween and what happened between 4.05-4.06 to justify that time jump??????


       * Hell, NCIS mentioned Tony a few episodes ago- they can remember a character who left two seasons ago, but Scorpion can barely remember a member of their main cast (Riley), let alone recurring guest stars from just a few episodes back who had major impacts on the plot/main characters?


What happened to Merrick’s China treason that Homeland was “freaking out” about? Why did Happy only remember her pilot’s license at the very end of 3.23, and not when they were stranded in that Wyoming airfield with “no way” of going to the wedding??
        * It’s almost like she only wants to fuck Toby (honeymoon) than actually bother about marrying him. For happening in the same episode, it’s difficult to to ignore how easily Happy ‘forgot’ her pilot’s license to get to the big wedding she dragged her feet over but when it came to the honeymoon the entire team was joining them on she couldn’t wait to get there no matter how. 


5. Toby’s timeline


S1/2 vs. S3/4 GET A WHITEBOARD AND SOME MARKERS NICKS
    * 1.01: “He got his doctorate at the age of 17”; 1.17: “I had a medical degree from Harvard before most people have their driver’s licenses”; 2.11: the picture of kid Toby was at his high school graduation    * 3.23: “I wore (the wedding tux) to my prom” ← Really? The prom he went to after graduating high school at around 9? He’s wearing the same tux now at 35 that he wore at 9? Really? 
    * Let’s see how they handle 4.13, but if Toby met Amy in Harvard (so before 16, as stated in 1.17) does that mean they were together for literally half their lives? If they were together since their early/mid teens, why (and when) did Toby lose his virginity to that Vegas show girl (2.23: “a showgirl (at the old Tropicana in Vegas) made me a man”)?


Also, what’s with constantly letting Toby down and insulting him just for gags? The poor guy had to lose his pants thrice in just six episodes (3.25-4.05), and by 4.05 especially it wasn’t funny anymore. God forbid Walter was forced into such compromising positions, or either of the girls had to take off their shirts in an episode, everyone would erupt how gross it is. But since it’s Toby getting the brunt of the shitty writing it’s considered fun.


6. Blatantly repeating plots


3.15/4.09 (almost dying in the ocean surrounded by deadly sea creatures); 1.12/4.11 (it’s pretty much the exact same thing- complete with drown-it-to-save-it and the resolution of daddy issues- only it’s a dog now instead of a kid); 4.01/4.12 (Walter hallucinating); 3.23-25/4.10/4.14 (plane crashes). THERE ARE MORE PLOTS OUT THERE PEOPLE GET CREATIVE. Recycling plots this early on isn’t good… 


Quintis:

1. The baby storyline

I’m sorry but I’m not a fan of the baby storyline. It’s no surprise my thoughts on not liking the direction they’ve taken but it’s plain irresponsible to add an innocent child to their mess when they haven’t discussed the huge issues they’ve ignored between just them.  


So many other tv couples who have/want to have kids worry about their jobs and how it might affect their family- Deeks/Kensi (NCIS: LA), Henry/Elizabeth (Madam Secretary), Jessica/Neil (The Good Doctor), and JJ/Will (Criminal Minds) just to name a few. And they don’t just worry about it, they actually talk openly and honestly with each other about it more than once. And the couples mentioned above who are in law enforcement/government service acknowledge how unsafe their jobs are and how they’re going to balance kids when the reality is they could get killed at any time. But Quintis? Nope. They literally just came back from being exposed to toxic vapor/nuclear radiation yet again but saw no problem in immediately trying for a baby. You’d think after all their exposure to radiation and dangerous chemicals they’d at least want to get checked up to make sure they’re healthy enough to have a baby, but once again what are consequences on this show especially when it comes to Happy?  They should start trying for a kid after talking it through and making the necessary plans (and sacrifices) and when they’re financially stable, not just because “oh we’re married now time to have a baby”.


       * (And that is not to mention how they were literally too broke to buy a churro at that point in time, but were still irresponsible enough to push for a baby with no regard for how damn expensive babies are.)
        * This team obviously can’t take care of Ralph or Bueller as is, both of whom only appear when they are needed for the plot and conveniently disappear otherwise. Why then are they trying to add yet another child, especially an infant you can’t just toss aside when it’s not needed, to the mix?


2. Happy’s continually disappointing behaviour 

Happy is still showing she doesn’t care too much about Toby/blatant hypocrisy
: 

In 4.01 she was bitching about Collins sitting next to Toby while she was cozy in the back with Sly- anyone who has ever seen an SUV knows that the people sitting in the very back row have to get in first before those sitting in the middle row. If she actually cared about Toby not getting close to Collins, she should have stuck with her husband the whole time instead of jumping to the back first and then bitching about Collins. And then, when Toby was almost killed by Collins yet again, she continued talking to Sly about Megan instead of freaking out that her husband almost died again. 
        * If she was such an experienced ice road trucker, why didn’t she just drive that SUV when they were travelling on ice and get Toby in the front passenger seat away from Collins? 
            * Sidenote: Why is her stupid Portuguese song the only confession from 3.24 they seem to remember? What about her ice road trucking? What about being a side ho for Jake Gyllenhaal, while he was publicly dating Reese Witherspoon? (This isn’t personal bitterness, it’s fact based on the timeline canon told us via Happy.) 


In 4.04 she couldn’t so much as nod when Toby asked if it was a good thing they got together, but the moment she decided she wanted a baby it was all “I want a family because I love you”. If she really loves him then she needs to show it throughout, not only as lip service when she wants something from him. I mean, she went literally their entire wedding without saying ILY to her brand new husband. Sure her speech was sweet and all, but would it have killed her to say those three words anytime before they were about to die in a plane she wasn’t supposed to be flying?


The 4.08 public sex was illegal, and disgusting. Trying to conceive means unprotected sex, and since there probably wouldn’t have been any showering facilities in that hay loft it means that unless they stole wet wipes from Sly, then Happy would’ve spent the whole day with cum running down her legs. And why was everyone so excited about that?? Happy can demand public sex during Sly’s birthday celebrations, but when Toby calls her by a sweet nickname in the garage she treats it like such a violation of their personal lives?! The double standards are startling and unfair. 


4.09 ex-spouses baby naming/“Toby manipulates you” 
was wrong. Happy agreed to think about naming the baby after Walter if they kept it a secret from Toby (which, really, won’t be that hard for the robots considering they kept their marriage a secret for over six years). But god forbid if Toby secretly agrees to something that Happy hates just because he was guilt tripped into it. And when has Toby ever manipulated Happy?? Every step of their relationship he had expressed his feelings loud and clear but always waited for her to make the first physical step. Whereas Happy was the one who led Toby to believe their relationship was healthy and secure when she was secretly married the whole time and never bothered to tell him about it, not to mention her physical abuse and lip service when she wants something from him. Hopefully she won’t name their child a name he really doesn’t want but at this point nothing about her doing that is surprising. 


Yes there was a sweet moment at the end of 4.10, but once again it was when Happy was feeling insecure that it happened. Would it kill them to have a sweet moment initiated by Toby’s insecurities and Happy stepping up to comfort him instead of vice versa? Because if we learnt anything from that episode it’s that Toby has a lot of past baggage too that could very realistically haunt him whenever. Them being the side couple shouldn’t prevent them from having a cute and genuine moment during their journey towards parenthood. If the writers are unable to devote time to show a healthy progression and growth of their relationship and individual characters, why did they pair them up and marry them off so early? 
        * (Also, how convenient is it that she’s still not pregnant when they’re finally having this kid conversation? If they were immediately successful she’d be 3-5 months pregnant by now, a little late to have the “will our kids turn out okay” talk- which goes back to point #1 about responsible parents.)


[askdarus-thefuture]

Nick gets some news + kind of an update on where everyone’s stories are at right now...couldn’t think of a title, here’s a cutscene.

“Uh oh,” Meredith said, looking up when the gates opened as she and Richie worked in the garden.

Richie looked up, looking confused as Rick Grimes walked in with Dwight, Laura, Aaron, Gracie, and Tara. Rick didn’t normally come all the way to Hilltop, not with his leg injury and the nasty glares he always received from Daryl. Richie froze when he saw who else was with them.

“Oh my god,” Richie whispered, looking at Negan. He looked up when he heard Maggie slam the door of Barrington and watched as she walked out, Hershel on her tail.

He quickly stood up and ran over, holding Hershel back.

“Hersh, c’mon,” Richie told him quickly, ignoring his best friend practically growling to try to get to Negan.

“What the hell, Rick?” Hershel yelled, getting the attention of anyone who wasn’t already looking.

“I need to talk to Nick,” Rick said, “We do.”

“You had no right to bring him here,” Maggie snapped at Rick, “If Daryl-”

“I’ll deal with it, if he sees,” Rick told her. He cleared his throat, “Sherry...Nick’s mother...she’s dead.”

Maggie went silent.

“Negan wanted to be the one to tell him,” Rick explained, “I know it ain’t right, but-”

“No,” Maggie told him quietly, “It...It’s okay. I-I guess he should be the one ta tell ‘im,” she swallowed, “We’ll show you to his room.”

If anyone ever said Maggie Rhee wasn’t a saint, they’d be a liar.

Richie continued to hold Hershel back until they went into Barrington and his friend shoved him away, making him fall on his ass into the dirt.

“Don’t,” Hershel snapped at him, “Grab me like that again,” he said before stalking away.

Richie watched after him in shock.

“What crawled up his ass and died?” Meredith snorted, helping Richie up.

“No idea,” Richie sighed. He looked around at the people of Hilltop and noticed the door to their trailer was open, meaning someone was most likely in there, probably telling his parents-

Daryl came charging out of the trailer and Paul hurried behind him.

Yep.

“Get in the house,” Daryl snapped at Meredith and Richie.

“But-” Meredith started.

“Go!” Daryl yelled at the, surprising them both into silence.

Meredith clenched her jaw and met Daryl’s gaze, not moving even when Richie tried to tug on her hand.

“Mer, I ain’t jokin’-” Daryl started.

“He’s here because Sherry died,” Meredith told him, “Negan wanted to tell his son himself.”

“Don’t give a shit,” Daryl told her, pointing at the trailer, “Go.”

Meredith huffed before stomping away.

Daryl looked at Richie.

“Nick is my friend,” Richie told him, “I’m not going anywhere. I want to make sure he’s okay.”

“Go,” Daryl said again.

Richie looked at Paul pleadingly, “Dad-”

“You can check on him after he’s gone,” Paul told him, “Get inside,” he said firmly, “I’ll come and get you when you can check on Nick.”

“But, dad-” Richie started.

“Now, Richard,” Paul snapped at him.

Richie sighed and stalked over to the trailer. He went inside and looked out the window, making sure both his parents went inside.

“All clear,” Meredith said quickly, running outside.

Richie followed immediately.

“This was a lot easier when we were smaller,” Richie commented, climbing up on the roof with his sister, which was conveniently one outside of the room Nick and Eliza stayed in at Barrington house.

“When you were smaller,” Meredith snorted, “You were the one who went and gained a bunch of muscle mass-” she started.

Richie put a hand over her mouth when he saw the window was cracked and they leaned against the side of the house, listening.

“I-I don’t understand,” Nick said quietly, looking up at his father; his father, who was standing in front of him. Actually in front of him, not through prison bars, for the first time in his entire life. Eliza was beside him, holding his hand.

“Your mother,” Negan said quietly, “She, uh…” he cleared his throat, “Well, kid, she’s fucking dead.”

Nick went silent.

“Nicky…” Eliza trailed off.

Nick stalked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

Richie quickly climbed off the roof, ignoring Meredith hissing his name, trying to get him to come back.

“Where are you going?” Richie called, running after Nick, who was heading towards the gate.

“I need air,” Nick said, pulling out his knife, “Stay home, Richie,” he spat, waving at the guard who looked at him cautiously before eventually opening.

Richie looked down. Somehow the way Nick said his name made him feel...bad. It made him feel like he was some little kid.

“I’m coming with you,” Richie said, taking his knife from his boot and following him out, “It’s not a good idea to go out alone.”

Nick rolled his eyes, going to walk out when he heard a crash.

Gordon watched after Richie and Nick with a sigh.

Richie could take care of himself, definitely, Gordon told himself.

Richie is allowed to have friends, Gordon told himself.

He knows what he’s doing, Gordon told himself.

Gordon’s eyes fell on Gracie and tilted his head. He hadn’t seen her in a while. She was there the first week he was in Hilltop, but then she left for Alexandria with her dad. It was weird how different someone could look in the span of a couple months.

Gracie must have felt his eyes on her because she waved at him, smiling.

Gordon looked away quickly, feeling his cheeks heat up for some reason he didn’t get.

He winced when he heard a crash, his head jerking up to the house.

Rick and Daryl were fighting on the porch of Barrington.

“Dad!” Andrea and Richie both yelled at the same time.

Richie ran over from the gates, leaving Nick behind to walk out on his own.

Andrea ran over from where he was talking to someone, trying to pull Daryl off of Rick with the help of Paul and Richie.

“Stop!” Paul yelled, finally managing to pull Daryl off of Rick, “That’s enough!” he yelled, surprising everyone, “I’ve had enough of it now!”

Daryl was breathing heavily, looking down at him in confusion.

“Breathe,” Paul told him, putting his hands on his cheeks. Daryl held eye contact with him like he always did, copying his breathing, before finally closing his eyes for a moment and resting his forehead against his.

Paul ran his hand through his hair once before pulling away. He helped Rick up, handing him back his cane, “It’s time you two resolve this...without violence, for our kids sake.”

Daryl looked up and saw Richie and Meredith both watching him, standing beside Judith. He glared at the ground, “Ain’t nothin’ to resolve. Can’t forgive him,” he said, surprising everyone. Daryl wasn’t one to talk about his feelings in private, let alone in front of people.

“I never meant to hurt you,” Rick told him, “After everything we lost, we couldn’t be like them, Daryl.”

“So ya made me leave my goddamn home!” Daryl yelled, “Ya made me leave Judy, ya made me leave ‘Chonne, ya made me leave…” he trailed off, looking down.

The unspoken you hung in the air for a moment.

“We had the prison there,” Rick told him, “But I never wanted you to leave. I-I wanted ya by my side, like we always were.”

“Were,” Daryl told him, “Ain’t now. Ain’t never gonna be as long as he’s alive,” he pointed to Negan.

“Oh, you’re goddamn dramatic,” Negan spat him, “I came here to comfort my kid because his damn mother died. I don’t give a fuck about you and your little family you try to have, Dixon.”

Daryl glared at him, not breaking his gaze.

“Ain’t like you could keep one anyways,” Negan snorted.

Paul held Daryl back before he could lunge at him, glaring at Negan, “Shut the fuck up.”

“I don’t get it,” Nick said suddenly, making everyone look over, “I don’t get what you did to him…”

“Didn’t do shit,” Daryl said defensively, “Ain’t here to talk about that,” he swallowed, looking away from Rick now, “Ya said she’s dead?”

Negan nodded.

“Go be with your dad, kid,” Daryl said, looking at Nick, “Don’t go runnin’ away.”

Nick swallowed, looking down. Daryl had been nothing but nice to him despite some unspoken thing his dad did to him.

“Go on,” Daryl said, and grabbed Richie and Meredith by the backs of their shirts, “What did I tell you two?” he grumbled, dragging them back to the trailer with him.

Rick watched after him and sighed, looking down, his hands on his hips.

Everyone went silent for a moment.

Nick ran up and hugged Negan for the first time, clutching his jacket tightly.

“All’s well that ends well,” Gracie said, suddenly appearing beside Gordon where he was watching.

Gordon jumped in shock, looking over at her, “Jeez, warn a guy.”

Gracie rolled her eyes, watching them, “Can’t believe they let that guy out of his cage.”

“I know,” Gordon said quietly, watching Nick hug Negan tightly. He looked away when his dad looked at him, but didn’t walk over from his place by Rick.

“Isn’t that your dad?” Gracie asked.

“Mhm,” Gordon hummed, looking down at his shoes.

“Aren’t you going to go say hi to him?” Gracie asked.

Gordon stayed silent.

Gracie studied him before rolling her eyes again. She grabbed his hand, “C’mon, let’s get out of here.”

“Huh?” Gordon asked, looking confused.

Gracie let him to an abandoned tool shed, “I found this place when I was younger, with Meredith,” she explained, “No one bothers to come over here because they don’t use it,” she said, opening the door, “This is where I come to think.”

Gordon looked around the room, a little shocked. It was small, sure, but there was a couch inside, along with Christmas lights hanging all over the walls. There was an old radio sitting on the table and a couple of CDs beside it...and a bong.

Gordon looked at her in shock.

“Hey, don’t look at me,” Gracie said, smirking slightly, “Meredith uses it more than me.”

“You guys are friends?” Gordon asked.

“I guess,” Gracie said, flopping down on the couch, “We just have a mutual distaste for all the pointless drama around here,” she said, patting the seat beside her, “C’mon, hide out here until daddy dearest leaves.”

Gordon hesitated slightly before sitting down.

“What did he do?!” Richie demanded as soon as they got into the trailer.

“Richie,” Paul said calmly, “Go to your room.”

“No!” Richie yelled, “There’s so many damn secrets in this house! You act like we’re kids but we’re not-”

“Yes, you are!” Daryl yelled, surprising them again. He barely ever yelled and it was never at them.

“Daryl,” Paul told him quietly, putting his hand on his shoulder.

“Why can’t you two just listen?” Daryl demanded, “I-I tried, okay? I can’t…” he trailed off, looking down.

“Pops,” Richie said quietly, “I-I’m sorry,” he said quietly, looking over at Meredith, who was looking guilty as hell.

“I can’t…” Daryl took a deep breath, “I can’t be the strict parent with you two, get it? I just can’t. All I’m askin’ is that ya just listen when it comes to this guy.”

Richie and Meredith both nodded.

“Good, now give your dad a hug and go to your rooms,” Paul told them both.

They both hugged Daryl, much to his dismay, before hurrying in the direction of their room.

“I’m bein’ let out,” Negan said when they were finally alone. Nick was still practically clinging to him, not caring how young it made him look. He’d only gotten to hug his dad through prison bars before, he wasn’t about to stop now.

Eliza looked over from where she was looking out the window, “What?” she demanded.

“Rick’s givin’ me enough shit to survive, sendin’ me on my way to an outpost,” Negan told them, “Can’t have no people...but I played the sympathy card with the stupid son of a bitch, he said you two can come with me.”

Eliza looked down at Nick and then back up at Negan, “We’ll do it,” she said quietly.

“On one condition,” Nick said, looking up at him, “Can we have a visitor sometimes? We really like him.”

“Up to Rick,” Negan told him, “I ain’t pushin’ it. I finally got you back, I ain’t losin’ you anytime soon.”

Nick nodded, going silent again.

“Sorry about  your mom, kid,” Negan said, “She was a good woman; strong, brave. Just got a big head in the end, made some dumb moves…” he trailed off, shaking his head, “Shame, really, coulda made a comeback-”

“Dad?” Nick whispered, “Please shut up, don’t ruin the moment.”

[samuelfields]

How Uber Sold The False Dream Of Riches And Enriched Itself Instead

My first tip

The sun was just starting to peek over the mountains so I pulled over to stretch my legs. It was 6 am.

I had only been driving for about an hour, but I had never come to this part of the Bay Area before. Right over the Golden Gate Bridge and down towards Stinson Beach I had dropped off a passenger.

Perhaps it was his “ride of shame” after a late night of partying? Or maybe he was going to some secret yoga studio retreat before the stock market opened at 6:30 am. As an Uber driver, what my passengers did at unusual hours was always left up to the imagination.

The Beginning Of Uber

In 2015, I was unemployed, childless and had a lot of time on my hands. After spending 13 years waking up by 5 am working in finance, I often found myself twiddling my thumbs for several hours before my wife woke up.

She was the night owl and I was the morning lark. To fill my time, I would write on Financial Samurai just as I still do today.

But as I read more and more about people’s experiences making extra money driving for Uber, I just had to try it myself. After all, I was based in San Francico and Uber was founded in San Francisco.

Uber touted that I would be my own boss, drive whenever I wanted, and make a lot of money. Further, they offered me a $500 sign up bonus. Sounded good to me!

Everything counted towards my laser focus of building enough passive income so that both my wife and I could avoid full-time work forever. Besides, I knew there would be stories to write from my experience.

Got lured into signing up in 2015 w/ my old leased car named Rhino

In the beginning, I was excited about my new hustle. My two public park tennis teammates were making about $30-$40/hour driving.

I figured if I could make $90 – $120 by the time my wife woke up, I could make enough for the day to at least pay for food and entertainment for the both of us.

Further, I’m always encouraging readers to start a side hustle. It was only logical to try driving for Uber myself and report back my findings to help others make an informed choice.

Until this day, I still clearly remember my very first Uber passenger. She had flown in from Denver and I dropped her off at a random warehouse somewhere south of the city. She hinted at meeting up after she was done, but I politely declined.

As Uber kept touting the benefits of driving on their platform and as I got savvier as a driver, the more hooked I became. Instead of giving just one ride as some do as a PR stunt, I wanted to give at least 100 rides to make my experience statistically significant.

I learned various strategies to sometimes boost my hourly rate to $45-$50. Then I realized I could make even more if I referred drivers to sign up using my online platform. I even signed up my wife and drove as her to get the $500 bonus!

With experience, I started getting overconfident about how much I could make.

The Beginning Of The Decline

After about six months of driving, I began to notice my hourly rate had started to decline. No matter how strategic I was in terms of driving during maximum surge pricing, sometime in early 2016 it became rare for me to breach the $30/hour earnings threshold.

It was like deja vu all over again, where the better I performed while working in finance, the less I got paid. All anybody really wants is a correlation with effort and reward. It was clear after so many price cuts, driving for Uber became less profitable.

Then I noticed that driver referral payouts were starting to decline as well. Instead of making $500 – $1,000 per referral for drivers who completed 25 rides on the platform, the payouts decreased to $50 – $100 per referral and qualification eligibility increased to 50 – 100 rides.

Back when payouts were good

My dreams of making six figures on my driving and referral side hustle started to fade.

But what irked me most was not the declining payouts, given the market is rational and nobody forced me to do anything for Uber. What irked me more was some of the people I met at Uber corporate.

Three fellow drivers and I were invited to Uber headquarters as a “reward” for being such great drivers and referrers.

I went because I was curious to visit their offices and to get free food. I was also actually hoping they’d be awarding us with some type of incentive or monetary bonus for being such great “partners” as they called us.

What a disappointment. The free food turned out to be water and cold pizza. I felt like prey lured into a trap by hunters. Their real purpose was to pick our brains and try to learn how Uber could replicate our success across its driving platform.

One guy just came in for 20 minutes and rudely left after he got what he wanted from us. I felt used. We were used.

Here we drivers were, a Black guy, a couple Hispanic guys, and an Asian guy talking to six White women and an Asian guy who all went to private schools. The contrast was stark as only I went to college, and a public one at that. They continuously peppered us with questions about how to be better drivers.

And do you know why they peppered us with questions?

Because none of them had ever driven before! You would think that one of the best ways to improve your driving platform is to actually experience for yourself what it’s like to be a driver. It’s not as though they were making some product that required a PhD in chemistry.

When I asked them why they didn’t just spend some of their work hours driving themselves, none of them responded. One might have even snickered.

It was as if they were too rich or too privileged to do the very job that was going to make them rich.

I’m not a fan of people who think they are better than others or too good for some type of work just because of their fancy backgrounds.

This experience was the beginning of the end for my enthusiasm for Uber.

When I then saw Uber roll out its predatory car leasing program to keep drivers enslaved, I finally deleted my driver app for good.

Uber Culture Is Rough

From my one meeting at its headquarters, I’m not going to generalize all Uber corporate employees as rich clueless people who take advantage of others. That would be unfair as I’ve met several fine Uber corporate employees as well.

But what I will say is that if you’ve never gotten your hands dirty by working a close to minimum wage job, especially in the service sector, you have no idea how hard it is to make a living in such professions. You will likely take for granted how good you have it too.

By the time I stopped driving in mid-2016, my hourly wage after taxes and expenses was only around $15. During the process of giving over 500 rides, my car had been barfed in and nicked up.

I had also encountered several incredibly snooty passengers once Uber Pool was introduced. It seems as if people who spend the least on a product are often the worst behaved.

A firm’s culture starts at the top. And it was clear from Uber’s sexual harassment lawsuit and multiple complaints that Uber had a culture problem. It had grown accustomed to treating people poorly in general, not just its contractors, due to its growth.

Below is a recent example of Uber’s culture from a guy who led some of Uber’s rider growth teams from 2015-2018. He’s now a VC at Andreessen Horowitz.

Instead of calling the people who helped make you rich “underclass,” it’s probably better to simply say “thank you.”

Let’s try to humble ourselves as soon as we start believing we’re hot stuff. It’s very easy to confuse our success with our own abilities, rather than being fortunate to hop on a train that was going somewhere.

Uber Millions And Billions

At the end of the day, Uber has improved the quality of lives for millions of consumers, which is why the company is able to raise billions in an IPO and value itself at close to $100 billion.

None of us ever want to go back to paying 3X more for a taxi that never comes. Having the ability to get a variety of food using Uber Eats is great too.

It is also true that driving and delivery for Uber are choices. Nobody is forcing people to work for close to minimum wage or less while simultaneously risking a situation where one accident can wipe out a month’s worth of profits.

Even if Uber continues to lose $1.8 billion a year as it did in 2018, its IPO will fund them for at least another five years.

I just ask the thousands of Uber and Lyft employees who are now millionaires and billionaires to not forget about the people you used to help make you rich.

If you aren’t at least thankful, you might one day find yourself stuck in a pickle with nobody willing to pick you up.

Final Takeaways From Uber

1) To get rich, you must sell people the dream to work for you while giving them little-to-no equity. Work on your selling skills. Work on building your own equity.

2) While trying to convince your underpaid contractors that you are doing them a favor, work on new innovation like self-driving cars so that when your contractors finally revolt, you’ve got your bases covered.

3) Excess profits are always eventually competed away. Therefore, to make the most money, you must be an early adopter. Drivers in 2013 made way more money than drivers today. Of course, the same goes for Uber’s corporate employees. Practice recognizing opportunity.

4) Don’t be too proud to get rich. Do what you must to provide for your family. I don’t care if people online make fun of me for only making $1,100/month as an assistant high school tennis coach or when I gave hundreds of rides one year. It is because of these experiences that I’ve continued to grow and appreciate what I have.

5) No matter how successful you become, try to stay grounded. If you don’t, you will eventually be eaten alive.

6) Even better than grinding away at Uber corporate is being an early investor. Make your capital work hard for you so you don’t have to.

Readers, any of you work for Uber or know people who work at Uber? How was/is the experience? What will you be doing with your financial windfall? Any new side hustles we should be aware of?

The post How Uber Sold The False Dream Of Riches And Enriched Itself Instead appeared first on Financial Samurai.

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