#jack and john are... police officers. come on guys

[eyedrateanatomy]

cannot stop giggling at this tierlist me and my partner made after nov 5th. this is horrid

[ccscocoapuffs]

Mark Hoffman NSFW Alphabet

A = Aftercare (what they’re like after sex) Mark is rather complex when it comes to aftercare. He definitely has to have strong trust in you to let his guard down and show you the softer side to truly care for you. The way he does this though is mostly through pulling you into his chest and gently playing in your hair. It's lowkey a head cannon of mine that Mark likes to fidget (ILL EXPLAIN THIS IN A UPCOMING POST!)

B = Body part (their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner’s) Mark loves his hands, I mean after all they do all his work. They allow him to pleasure you, caress you, and his personal favorite finger you. Marks an ass man....need I say more.

C = Cum (anything to do with cum, basically) Mark doesn't really like super messy, He prefers to simply cum inside you. He would never admit it but he has a thing for watching it drip outta you.

D = Dirty secret (pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs) Mark secretly enjoys when you're a brat. Despite how rough he can be with punishments and how he wants you to follow his rules like a good little pet, he loves when you brat. It excites him for what he knows is about to come.

E = Experience (how experienced are they? do they know what they’re doing?) Mark definitely has experience, He knows exactly how to make you cum over and over again just with his fingers. Mark is also quick to adapt to what his partner likes, aka he's a quick leaner for each individual he's been with. ( *cough* Strahm *cough*)

F = Favorite position (this goes without saying) Mark's favorite is doggy style without a doubt. He loves that he can not only pull your hips into him as fast as he wants but he can pull your hair, slap your ass, reach around and choke you....what more could you ask for.

G = Goofy (are they more serious in the moment? are they humorous? etc.) Mark keeps it serious. I mean for starters its mark has anyone seen the man so much as smile? He's a serious guy and he likes it that way. Plus sex is kind of his way to get relief from a rough day or from being pissed off from whoever has done it this time. He uses sex as his release both psychical and mental, hence the seriousness.

H = Hair (how well groomed are they? does the carpet match the drapes? etc.) Mark takes pride in his appearance, he keeps it trimmed down and presentable. The carpet definitely matches the drapes, Mark has Dark brown pubes that are the same as his hair.

I = Intimacy (how are they during the moment? the romantic aspect) Mark actually can be kind of romantic at times. Now don't get your hopes up he isn't the rose petals and champagne kind of guy. But he may light a few candles and start things off really slow and sensual. However he's still gonna rip your clothes off you and absolutely rail you.

J = Jack off (masturbation headcanon) Mark usually doesn't have the time. He stays super busy with work, both at the police department and with John. When he gets some free time he isn't gonna waste it on masturbating, He has you.

K = Kink (one or more of their kinks) KINKY BITCH. Bdsm, choking, Daddy kink, spanking, and spit, just to name a few. Mark always keeps it interesting that's for sure.

L = Location (favorite places to do the do) His office, Mark loves when you come to visit him and he gets to bend you over his desk and take what he wants. Mark also has a soft spot for fucking on his bed, he likes the comfortability of a familiar place and the privacy.

M = Motivation (what turns them on, gets them going) Mark Likes it when you wear skirts or dresses. He especially loves it if you don't wear panties with them. Nothing turns him on more than the thought that people are looking and he gets to show them you're all his. Whether it be by him keeping his hand on your waist all the time or from the other officers talking about the moans that come from his office when you are visiting him.

N = No (something they wouldn’t do, turn offs) Anything that involves you getting involved with Jigsaw. Mark doesn't want John to take advantage of you and use you as leverage against Mark. His biggest fear is losing you too.

O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.) Now hear me out here, I feel like Mark actually likes giving. He loves burying his face into you and moaning against you so you can get off on the vibrations from him being so fucking turned on by you. He eats pussy like a god 100%. However, he prefers receiving. He wants to fuck your fac though, he likes to be in control and use your throat for his gain.

P = Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.) Mark is always ROUGH. It's his only setting, he loves sensual kissing though. He wants to slowly suck on your collarbones, nip your neck just a little, then flip you around and fuck you into the mattress.

Q = Quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.) Mark doesn't really like quickies but sometimes its want you got to do. As mentioned before he loves fucking you on his desk, He loves that spot the most especially for quickies.

R = Risk (are they game to experiment? do they take risks? etc.) Mark doesn't really experiment, he knows what he likes and he likes sticking to it. However he does love risky teasing in public, like slipping his finger into you while you're out for dinner or making you keep him warm while he's talking to another officer in his office.

S = Stamina (how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last?) Mark can go for about 3-4 rounds depending on the day he's had. If he's had a rough day and he's tired you're looking at a quick fuck. If he's had a stressful day, boy are you gonna be there awhile.

T = Toys (do they own toys? do they use them? on a partner or themselves?) Mark is on the fence about toys. He for sure uses his handcuffs and he likes use Anal plugs on you (if you let him). Though he doesn't really like dildos or vibrators, you're his, only he gets to control your pleasure.

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease) EXTREMELY unfair. Mark gets off on teasing you, he wants to get you all worked up till the point you are begging for him to take you.

V = Volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.) Mark isn't very loud, he mostly just grunts ands groans. When he cums he tends to be louder and let out a deep moan as he buries his face in your neck.

W = Wild card (a random headcanon for the character) He keeps a sexy picture of you clipped to the visor in hi patrol car. It's for when he works late nights, all he has to do is look up and take in how sexy your body is and how he get to go home and have you all to himself.

X = X-ray (let’s see what’s going on under those clothes) Mark is about 6 inches in length, He's very thick though. It's something he prides himself on, how much he stretches you.

Y = Yearning (how high is their sex drive?) Medium, Mark can be either really chill or really horny. It really just depends what he's feeling.

Z = Zzz (how quickly they fall asleep afterwards) Mark doesn't fall asleep quicky after sex, he's usually up for at least an hour afterwards. That's if he has time to lay down with you and fall asleep. He wants to pull you close and hold you for a bit before he falls asleep. He would never say it but he wants to make sure you are safe and comfortable, hence why he keeps an eye on you for a bit.

[jqmalikhsgib]

quest

five

it hasn’t been easy finding any information on your fathers past. he had people everywhere. penelope even found out he had cops working for him.

the team realized they couldn’t trust anyone. they kept their mouths shut about the things they’ve found out. they needed to get to the bottom of everything.

reid suggested that they get in contact with your siblings. they obviously knew something about your dad. you were against the idea at first. but if this was the way to get back to your kids, so be it.

speaking of, you had no idea where they were. you knew if your parents had them your dad would have found out you were arrested and come to the police station immediately.

aaron let you know they’re in great hands. jj was taking really good care of them. you sighed in relief. but a thought came to you.

“did you—did you see them?” you whispered to aaron.

aaron shook his head. “no.”

“oh.”

“i didn’t want to overstep i guess. i would rather we discuss everything once this is all over. then we can talk about what to do next.”

“aaron, i—”

“not now yn!” he glares. you gulped.

you knew he was upset. he had every right to be. you thought you were doing the right thing two years ago. you thought he’d be happy.

but he wasn’t. finding out tonight just what aaron had been through the last two years. finding out he never physically cheated, finding out he emotionally cheated on you, finding out jack and haley had to hide away for awhile, finding out haley was killed, finding out aaron had lost two wives in only the span of six months apart.

that—that broke you more than anything. and knowing the real reason why he didn’t come looking for you was to protect you. but he tried after the reaper died.

you were so broken by this. and even more broken when you realized jack had been asking about you. learning that the little boy lost two moms. you felt shame. but you thought you were doing the right thing. letting aaron be free of you and happy.

turns out he was miserable and lonely.

“yn! what the hell is going on?!”

“yeah! we got a call from a reid. he told us you’re back in texas and you’ve been charged with murder?!”

“why is our sister locked up?! you’ve got the wrong person! let her out now.”

“ain’t happening, im afraid.”

your oldest brother tim glares at the officer.

“and why the hell not?! do you have any evidence against her?”

tim was an attorney. he was damn good at his job. and he’d be damned if they kept his sister in a cell.

“as a matter of fact we do. she was at the crime scene, near the body, with the knife in her hand, and she’s in the victims will. everything points to her.”

“she didn’t do this!” abigale, your sister states.

“and what proof do you have?!” one of the officers asked.

aaron finally steps in. “alright, enough! right now this is about proving your sisters innocence. if she didn’t do this we will find the guy who did. come with me.”

your siblings look at you before following aaron. you haven’t really seen them in a while. haven’t even talk to them.

you blamed yourself. when they distanced themselves from your father you distanced yourself from them. to be fair you distanced yourself from your mom and dad too.

when you met aaron you met his team. they became your family over time. you didn’t even tell your parents you were married. they had no idea who aaron was. they just knew the very few details you told them over the last two years.

your siblings had no idea you married aaron, had four kids, divorced, and moved back home. but they were gonna find out everything today.

“it’s best that you three calm down. we had room to believe someone hear is working with your father.”

“which means he’s most likely gonna be here to try and bail your sister out.”

“and that works in our favor. we need her out and safe from him.”

abigale, tim, and john all look at the five people standing before them.

“im sorry? but who the hell are you guys?!”

“we’re the behavior analysis unit. we’re here helping them with the case.” reid states.

“so helping them prove our sisters guilty?!”

“the opposite actually. look, they don’t know that we know yn.”

the three of them frowned.

“you know our sister?”

“quite well actually. she’s like family. she is family.” rossi states.

“yn tells us that you don’t get along with your father. is there a reason why?”

the three siblings look at one another. tim is the first one to shake his head. he refuses to tell them anything unless it was on paper that they get full immunity. he knew the kind of trouble they could get to if they found out there involvement in everything.

“we’re not in jeopardy to say unless it’s in writing we won’t get in trouble for anything darius made us do in the past.”

“you won’t. especially if you were kids.”

“i appreciate that! but we need it in writing. we’re not risking being put in prison. we all have children. we’ll tell you everything you need to know to save our sister. but we need immunity.”

aaron nods understandably. he knew that without having it in writing they could get in trouble. even if they were just kids. he assures them he will talk to a judge and get it all in writing.

for the time being he tells them they could visit yn and have her explain what happened.

when aaron finally got the paperwork he had abigale, tim, and john sign them. once everything was finished he sat them down.

they made sure to meet in a closed location. aaron, reid, and emily decided to be the ones to speak with them.

rossi and derek stayed behind for when your father came and jj was still watching your children.

“where do you want us to start?”

“is darius your biological father?”

“yes! we got dna samples to prove that. we were skeptical when sarah came along already pregnant.”

“do you know who your mother is? or do you know where your mother is?”

tim, john, and abigale look at one another. they frown before john speaks first.

“buried in our childhood home.”

meanwhile, rossi and derek hear yelling. they knew it had to be your father.

they got up and headed to the front to spot darius with your mom right behind him. she was definitely shy around people. they knew it was another sign of stockholm syndrome

“where the hell is our daughter?! we want her out now!”

“sir, we’re not done questioning her.”

“to hell you aren’t! you’ve held her for forty eight hours! you got nothing but a hunch! you let my daughter out this instant or else—”

“or else what, sir?!” one of the police officers steps close to him.

derek and rossi had been watching. they had their own hunch who was helping darius.

“officer wilson! step back.”

“sir—”

“i said, step back. now he’s right. we don’t have enough evidence to hold her any longer. we held her for forty eight hours and that’s all the time we have to keep her. now go release miss y/l/n.”

everyone stands there. they didn’t want you released. they thought you were guilty and they just needed a little more time to prove it.

“now!”

rossi and derek give each other a knowing look. in that moment they knew the chief of police was the one helping darius.

another cliff hanger?! NOOOO but seriously this is almost over.

then it’s angst with lots of yelling and cursing lots of tears lots and cuteness until we get to good and happy moments between you and hotch

lmk if you wanna be on the taglist and if you want to be removed

taglist:

@ivebeenthearchersstuff @slut4ethan @shergoretzxx @rosiehale23

[mrboogerlip]

*giggles and kicks feet because you responded to my ask about Chris*

So I have more questions:

Jason. Marcus's work buddy.

He's bisexual I just know it. Like solidly does not care. I think it would be so funny if he dated a guy with a gender neutral name and was constantly talking to Marcus about him (Marcus doesn't know Jason is bi)

So after like a year he introduces Marcus and Marcus is like:

Didn't we arrest that guy one time?

Ayways I'm losing my shit. Do you have any headcanons for marcus and Jason? Do you think Jason suspects at all that his dad is a killer and....that other think he does?

Sorry for all the questions. I hope you have a nice week. :)

Oh my god, that would be hilarious!! XD I can imagine Jason getting with a troublemaker… (I mean, this universe seems to be full of them anyway!)

Headcanons! Okay, I’ll start off with Marcus…

I said this one in another post, but I’ll just say it again… Marcus attends church every Sunday and acts like he’s such an upstanding man in the community.

Marcus genuinely likes meeting new people and getting to know them, but after his obsession for MC started taking over, he started using his connections to help him out. (We know that Marcus knows a pretty big chunk of the cast: John [not personally], Chris, Aria, Jason, Ellen [implied], Amy and May… if we’re counting those characters that don’t show LOL)

While Marcus’s obsession with MC was already high, he didn’t really snap until he was at the university one day and he saw MC and John kiss each other goodbye before John walked onto the campus for work he was doing there. That’s when Marcus decided he needed to get rid of John and get MC back. Marcus stalked John while he worked there (disguised as him just visiting his friends) and even vandalized his car as a warning. (John suspected it was MC’s ex husband, but didn’t want to say anything to MC, because he didn’t want to scare them. He also didn’t think Marcus would go as far as he did.)

Marcus is THE Sleazy Bisexual Man who will put his dick into anything that moves.

Marcus goes commando a lot of the time (as in, no underwear), even when he’s on duty!!

Marcus has a breeding fetish. Even when MC is a man, Marcus will tell him that he WILL knock him up with his baby and make him his and will keep doing him until it happens.

Marcus is almost always a rough top and can go up to 5 rounds back to back!!! If Marcus didn’t have a job, MC would be stuck in bed all day with him LOL

When Marcus bottoms, he can get surprisingly flustered if his top is super dominant.

That last one was kind of based on this picture that I saw. I have NO IDEA if this is canon, but it lives in my headcanon now at least.

AHH IT MAKES ME GO CRAZY I love it…

Now for Jason…

Jason wanted to become a police officer because he was inspired by the work his mother and father did on the Mark of Belial case.

Jason can be a huge tease when it comes to Marcus, making remarks about him or even getting handsy, just because he knows he can get him flustered. Jason would be surprised, but he’d still probably be down for dating Marcus if Marcus actually said yes.

Jason is into leather bondage stuff.

That’s all I have to say. LOL I wish we saw more of him…

Hmm, as for that last question… That’s a hard one! Jason is clearly perceptive since he seems to have caught onto Marcus, or at least suspects him to be behind John’s murder/the disappearance of his ex spouse. But Jack HAS been getting away with things for decades, so maybe he’s smart enough to hide any trace that even his own son doesn’t suspect him…

No need to apologize! Seriously, thanks for asking! You’re just making me think more about these characters- which I love to do!! :D

[miwhotep]

MY PROBLEMS WITH MILVERTON’S WRITING IN TWO CRIMINALS

This post didn’t mean to hate on the Two Criminals Arc, since there were great aspects of the story I really enjoyed, too: the Sherlock and John parts or the Sherlock-William face-off. I just want to talk about what are my problems with it when it comes to the writing of Milverton, because from his viewpoint, most of the things just don’t make sense.

Let’s start with Milverton’s visit to Sherlock’s office. I used to hate this part, too, for being so heavily based on BBC Sherlock, where Milverton also claims Sherlock’s office as his and makes a disgusting scene, including pissing. When I first read the story, I was angry since copying the scene didn’t make sense: in BBC, Milverton is a foreigner who wants to demonstrate how domesticated English people are with pissing and being able to get away with it – but YuuMori’s Milverton is an Englishman, who even likes to act like someone from the high-class: he is evil, but shown before being generally moderate when it comes to interacting with people. I was also angry because I felt that the scene is literally pissing on the meaning of a character like Milverton: he doesn’t need to act petty or threatening, he is a blackmailer, his whole existence is a threat. He is scary because he tortures people wearing a mask of a smooth-talker, even polite gentleman.

BUT! What if his tendency to make scenes like this is a strategy on his part? With his behavior, he pushed Sherlock to the point where he didn’t find breaking in to his house a problematic thing – he wanted Sherlock to surely break in to him, after all. Milverton angered Sherlock and his companion to make sure none of them, neither the more moral John nor Mary finds anything bad in the break-in, so Sherlock will do as he expected.

Before we move to the second part of the arc, let’s take a look at Milverton’s personality, methods and the conclusions he made about the Lord of Crime while investigating him.

Milverton more than once mentions that he always does a thorough research when it comes to his “cases”, and we also see proofs to this statement beside the Lord of Crime case: Sherlock mentions that he seems to know how much money exactly the people he want to blackmail have or their past and present relationships, he got Mary’s secrets and even the list with her name – so recovering any documents he wish for is not a problem for him either, - or during the White Knight arc, he knew the pressure points of both that police guy who killed Whiteley’s assassin or Sturridge and he was able to use them for his advantage. Milverton also mentions that he knows everything about everyone in London – because he is a control freak who just NEEDS to know everything. Getting information on someone is an everyday job for him – he is not just a blackmailer; he is also the King of Media.

Beside researching, Milverton’s method also includes analyzing people’s psychology and their weak points – as we see in the White Knight arc – to help him decide what actions he needs to take to make his victims act like he wants: whether it’s about forcing them to do crime or just make them act like catalysts to others.

When it comes to Milverton’s research regarding the Lord of Crime / William James Moriarty, he mentions that he spends every hour getting information on him: he knows fully the childhood of the original William, his relationships with other people, what type of person he was while he also researched everything about the present William. He notices the inconsistency between his personality before and after the fire happened, and able to deduce from getting through the court case of the fake-William who the William James Moriarty now is. He also researched Albert and Louis carefully and knows how much the three brothers are caring about each other. He also knows that the Lord of Crime is a Robin Hood figure, that’s why he foiled his Jack the Ripper agenda or took up Whiteley’s crimes to preserve the equality movement. The Lord of Crime’s good nature is how he deduced William James Moriarty being the Lord of Crime.

Before Two Criminals, Milverton is shown as a smart and competent villain who was able to outwit Sherlock more than once and didn’t make any bigger mistake.

Let’s finally move to the second part of Two Criminals where everything what got previously build up regarding his character falls to pieces.

First, Milverton not knowing the relationship between Sherlock and William despite the research he did – it seems so impossible since Sherlock and William met at least three times and he could’ve easily gotten to know about all of them.

The Noahtic incident: this was especially a big thing, Moriarty’s staged crime to expose Enders – and Milverton is a media mogul, a news like this surely caught his eye either looking into what really happened onboard just for his curiosity – don’t forget, he NEEDS to know about everything – or later connecting it to the Lord of Crime when he started doing his research. (And there was already a rumor among the common people about the Lord of Crime’s existence who helps the good – if I think it through, it seems so unbelievable that Milverton only started researching the Lord of Crime after the Jack the Ripper thing: Milverton is the Big Bad of the city, he should’ve feared that the Lord of Crime coming after him once, too). And when he researches the guest list of the ship to find Moriarty’s name on it, he could’ve noticed that Sherlock Holmes was aboard, too.

The train incident: well, that was a more isolated case, but it surely ended in the news – so how no journalists knew that the one who solved the murder case was a noble, alongside the famous Sherlock Holmes? The people aboard surely started gossiping about it, it should’ve been breaking news and Milverton could’ve easily gotten know who was the noble. And this would be also an example of a noble and detective’s social spheres colliding – what he was so surprised about in Two Criminals. (Adding to this point: Milverton, as a blackmailer, deals with all kinds of people: he loves ruining both nobles and commoners, why would he think that colliding of the social spheres of a noble and a detective is impossible? Milverton himself was an example that all kinds of people can meet, after all.)

Durham: no, I don’t start theorizing on that one of the students appearing in that exam looked exactly like Ruskin – but Milverton looked up William’s professor life, too. How could he not know that once the famous Sherlock Holmes went to Durham, too? Students surely started gossiping about their math teacher meeting the famous detective.

Second, Milverton miscalculating William’s pressure point – Milverton always knows the pressure points of his “cases” and he did such a wide research of William’s personal life, he knows the strong bond between the three brothers. He also knows that William is a Robin Hood figure and noticed his method in action: during the Jack the Ripper case, Liam united the police and the commoners against the fake Ripper, how hard would have been for a person like Milverton (who more than once outwitted Sherlock and has a good grasp on people’s personalities) figuring out William’s true plan: uniting the nobles and commoners against the Lord of Crime? He should’ve known that William’s pressure point is not his name published, but his family. Here, I also want to add that Milverton's usual method of blackmailing someone into doing something tend to happen with the use of his blackmailee's family - just remember the police officer whom he made murder Whiteley's assasin or Sturridge whose family got kidnapped to make Sturridge murder Whiteley's family - so Milverton would totally go for Liam's family, too, even if it's just looking at his tendencies. This just doesn't make sense.

Third, miscalculating Sherlock as a person. Milverton faced off Sherlock more than once in the past and surely expected to face him again at other blackmailing cases, he must’ve done enough research on Sherlock Holmes, too – he likes being fully armed when he goes to battle after all. So Milverton knows that Sherlock has his own type of morality – he even relied on that when he calculated that Sherlock will break in to him for the greater good. Milverton also knows that William is a Robin Hood figure who does crimes for the greater good and he surely suspected that Sherlock figured this out, too – so why was he so sure that Sherlock will arrest William when they meet?

Fourth, the safety of Milverton. He always travels with bodyguards and a shielded carriage – if he is doing something so dangerous like facing the Lord of Crime who murders evil people like him, wouldn’t it make sense to make some arrangements providing his safety? Like Sherlock once pointed out, he is a coward – why was he so stupidly brave in such a dangerous situation like this? It doesn’t make sense at all.

And the last one I’m most mad about: he was killed off so easily, despite that he meant to be a formidable foe to the Moriarties. Killing him was no effort to them. He was originally built up as a cunning villain in the acts before: defeating him should’ve required more brains than brawn. Milverton became a totally wasted character who had so many possibilities to explore but ended up being just a way to make Sherlock and William face off. Even if it’s about Milverton’s hubris of being overconfident – one big mistake is tolerable, but four at once? To a person who barely made any mistakes before? Now it’s just a total inconsistent character writing.

I thought a lot about how Milverton could’ve gotten defeated without totally massacring his character and I came up with an idea. First, Milverton threatens William to publish Albert and Louis’ identities as the helpers to the Lord of Crime – Liam would never let anything to happen to his brothers - to make him let Sherlock arrest him, while blackmailing Mary. Sherlock ending up arresting William and Milverton doesn’t get killed on that night. But Albert lets William out so he can escape and do his purge as the Lord of Crime and continue with the Moriarty plan. During the revolution Liam causes, Milverton’s crimes get to the light, too, so the people whom he toyed with finally take their revenge and cause his downfall like he did with so many others – society casts him out as a human trash. Milverton either get killed, brought to court or get chased away from London.

This was a really long essay, but I wanted to show my viewpoint about the story and why I am so angry about it when it comes to Milverton: a competent and smart character getting turned into an idiot. It was a really disappointing ending to his arc.

[sunny6677]

The Mayor's Orders.

(The Saturated AU version of the scene where Mayor Evermore confronts John and Jack.)

TWS FOR DEATH MENTIONS, DISMEMBERMENT MENTIONS, ETC

————

It begins with a pair of doors practically slamming open—with the sound of a man giggling to himself once he looks around. "I'm hooooomeeee.. heheh.."

It shows him eagerly walking across the house—showing pictures of him in clown makeup and performing circus acts, but gradually growing more depressed as less and less kids show up in every photo, until it cuts to him walking up to the bathroom mirror and holding up two blades. "..people are gonna love me this year. Heh.. I'll make them.."

It then cuts to a newspaper slamming down on a table, with an article about a shockingly similar guy to the one we just saw—only in appearance. The guy appears to be named Bobby Velseb according to the article—and is incredibly skinny compared to the man we just saw. It then shows Mayor Evermore, who awkwardly laughs while sweating.

John and Jack, who are sitting in front of him, just stare.

"..what?" John says.

The Mayor repeats John. "..what? What—" He leans foward, screaming in a distressed manner, "WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING?!"

The two police officers flinch in alarm at his rise of tone. John nervously stutters, "..look, we try our best, sir. But—"

"No! Don't—just—" Evermore wipes a hand over his face, his expression seeming exasperated but panicked. "..ughhhhh.."

He then clicks a button, saying gently, "..Patty can come in now."

It cuts to Patty, who slowly opens the door with a puzzled but worried expression on her face. "Hi. Did you—need something?"

"I'd.. like it if you told them about that Bobby guy that's escaped recently. Y'know, uh.. from the prison?"

She walks up, explaining in a wavering tone. "Well, uh.. he's killed a lot of people. Most of them are usually dismembered or are just.. nothing but flesh by the time they find those he killed."

"You're.." She pauses, looking at Jack and John, "..gonna do something about it, right?"

"..psh.. no." Jack rolls his eyes.

When John gives him a concerned expression and Patty looks on with a glare, Jack scoffs.

"I was joking. Geez.."

"This isn't the time for jokes!" Mayor Evermore says, quickly rising from his seat as he slams his hands over the table. He pauses, and sighs. "..anytime he gets out, there's just.. more and more dead people.."

It cuts to Susie, who is cursing beneath her breath after slamming the door shut, and puts a chair against it so it can't be opened. She shuts her blinds, and dives under the bed, appearing frightened as the shadows of feet stomping past sound. There's a voice over of the Mayor, saying, "We can't make any mistakes this time, we've gotta take everything into account here.."

She's too frozen in fear to do anything, just watching carefully until it's gone. Even when it's gone, Susie seems a bit reluctant—but she suddenly makes a startled expression as a pair of eyes open from behind her. Susie tries to scream, but is muffled by a hand shoving itself over her mouth.

It then cuts back to the Mayor who sighs again. "..we can't just leave it alone. I need you two to solve this. I can't let.." He whispers, "..those two take your jobs.."

It shows Shotty and Captain, with Captain grinning happily and Shotty seeming nervous.

After looking at them, the trio looks back over to the Mayor with John stammering out, "Mayor, I—I—there's something going on here. I know you wanna find this guy. But I can't find out what's happening in this town if I don't—"

"..John.. please don't bring that cult thing up again."

"I'm—I'm serious! There's a cult around here!"

"No, there's not!"

The Mayor pauses again, collecting himself. "Please.. just.. do your best tonight."

It shows John and Jack walking out of the building, with John fidgeting with his hands and Jack sternly walking ahead. It cuts to them getting in the car, with John anxiously lighting his cigarette. Jack looks over.

"..are you really smoking at a time like this?"

John stops, and sighs. "..sorry.. let's just see if we can find this guy."

[crossover-enthusiast]

It begins with a pair of doors practically slamming open—with the sound of a man giggling to himself once he looks around. "I'm hooooomeeee.. heheh.."

It shows him eagerly walking across the house—showing pictures of him in clown makeup and performing circus acts, but gradually growing more depressed as less and less kids show up in every photo, until it cuts to him walking up to the bathroom mirror and holding up two blades. "..people are gonna love me this year. Heh.. I'll make them.."

It then cuts to a newspaper slamming down on a table, with an article about a shockingly similar guy to the one we just saw—only in appearance. The guy appears to be named Bobby Velseb according to the article—and is incredibly skinny compared to the man we just saw. It then shows Mayor Evermore, who awkwardly laughs while sweating.

John and Jack, who are sitting in front of him, just stare.

"..what?" John says.

The Mayor repeats John. "..what? What—" He leans foward, screaming in a distressed manner, "WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING?!"

The two police officers flinch in alarm at his rise of tone. John nervously stutters, "..look, we try our best, sir. But—"

"No! Don't—just—" Evermore wipes a hand over his face, his expression seeming exasperated but panicked. "..ughhhhh.."

He then clicks a button, saying gently, "..Patty can come in now."

(Stopping so ya can read)

Oooooo- interesting!!!

[ramrodd]

Tim Scott, The Debt Ceiling and the NAACP: With April Ryan and Tara Setm...

COMMENTARY:

I hope  this is the pre=production for your announcement for the Oval Office as the Party of Lincoln candidate  If the Lincoln Project means what it says about restoring the adult leadership to the GOP. you are that person. You aren't the Republican Obama. You are the Second Coming of Lincoln in a Putney Swope kind of way. My dad was working on your candidacy when I was in ROTC  summer camp  just before the Chicago Police riots at the Democratic National Convention, when when Gore Vidal exposed the inner John Birch Society of he Ivy League Socialism of William F. Buckley and the John BIrch Society.

I want you to run on the Build Back Better captial budge and a promise to install the Trump Hotle Broand on the moon by 2028 if you could  start right now with the campatn theme/ WOKE = Niffer Lover. That's what Abraham Lincoln was all about and Grant tried to implement. Dad was working with the head of the Hampton Institute Professor of Military Science, Major Montgomery, in the transformation of Hampton Institute into Hampton Univerity, Home of the Pirates. You are exactly the sort of graduate the school was created to produce. If you are into Heidegger's Existentialism, a four year ROTC graduate as Putnew Swope. This is where the Beniinig Road Beauty Shop comes in.

I also want you to run on the Stage 3 of Home Rule 50 years of Hip Hop and 50 years of Home Rule and as an official woke white guy who has been using Critical Race Theory since 1971 as a counter-insurgence agenda to end white supremacy of the Fresh Water economics of the Ivy League Socialism of the John Birch Society. The LSA has had a Ivy League Socialism bias since it was created to ensure legacy white prive privilege would make sure a graduate of George Town Day like Brett Kavanaug hit all the bullet points he had to to get  tenure on the Supreme Court,. I endose tenure. I do not endorse the Fresh Water Fascism of the SCOTUS majority's undiluted Ivy League Socialism .

This is fixable, The Slat Water economics of the Binning Road Beauty Shop was the guiding vison of my dad and Major Montgomery, who was the Commanding Officer of my ROTC summer camp platoon in 1968.  he was wonderful, right out of the Buffalo Soldiers. Black Jack Pershing was woke, which is why they called him "Black Jack": John Prshing, the nigger lover. His example, in absolute moral contrast to my cousin, Woody Wilson ( so called be cause he had a perpetual hard-on characteristic of presbyterian slave owners.  My dad and I are from the Black Jack Pershing, League of Nations side of the family, referred to, politely at family reunions, as "worke".

Bring Mitt Romney on and talk about Kac Kemp. Jack Kemp is the GOP's Daniel Patrick Moynihan. Jack Kemp's tenure at HUD is the foundation of Muriel Bowser's Affordable Housing agenda that is the leading edge of Stage 3 of Home Rule: the second coming of Chuck Brown and Bob Marley.

Visualize Whirled Peas

[lost-inanotherlife]

ACT TWO.

In Act Two we discover that the police officer who was knocking on Kate's door is Kevin, her fiancé. The scene also serves to cast doubt on the much-discussed love triangle: Kate's relationship with Kevin parallels her relationship with Sawyer or Jack? Let's see.

KATE: You shouldn't have come here. KEVIN: Yeah, you're right. I've made a huge mistake, and I'm just full of regret right now. KATE: [Smiling] Seriously. It's bad luck to see the bride before the wedding. KEVIN: It's bad luck to see the bride in her dress before the wedding. You, my friend, are naked. [Kate laughs and hugs him tightly. Shot of wedding dress in cover, hanging in bathroom.] KEVIN: Have you tried it on? KATE: I had to hold my breath to get the claspy things to clasp. So, I'm waiting for the very last minute. KEVIN: Well, it's about twelve hours, right? Might wanna get clasping. [Kate falls silent. Kevin strokes her hair.] KEVIN: Hey. I know its... it's been fast. But this is right. I know it's real. And I love you, Monica. KATE: I love you too, Kevin. transcript from lostpedia.fandom.com

You can't imagine how much I love this scene! First of all, big-ass foreshadowing that obviously this relationship is doomed: it's bad luck to see the bride before the wedding. Second huge red-flag is that Kate hasn't tried her wedding dress on because she can't breathe in it. She's waiting for the very last minute. I don't think this suggests that she's unsure about the wedding per se but it sure as hell tells us that she's not only fooling Kevin but herself too. She thinks she can escape her life, she can stop running away but the language she uses unconsciously reveals her secret state of mind: trying on a wedding dress requires more breath than running away from her past.

Kevin tells her that he knows it's been fast (just like "Slowly" suggested, it's a "fast love"), but he knows it's real. You sort of have to LOL at this and simultaneously feel sorry for Kevin too because he's just said that he knows their love is real while he doesn't even know her real name. Hilarious.

So who does Kevin stand for? According to the things we know so far, he's a gullible police officer who looks like the typical "good guy". He's surely an authoritative figure just like Kate's dad, Sam Austen, who's a soldier. And who is Sam parallelled to in "What Kate Did"? Yeah, you got it, our own very Jack Shephard, doctor and leader extraordinaire, aka another authoritative figure. And who runs away from authoritative figures? Yes, bravo, our own very Kate.

In the following scene we're back on the island where Pickett is coming to the cage to collect only Kate. Apparently, Sawyer's been given "the day off". Kate suspects something's up so she says they're a team and she won't go to work if Sawyer doesn't go with her. To that Pickett replies: "Lord knows I wouldn't want to break up the team". The "break-up" theme is established. But who will break up with who?

And for an episode titled "I Do" we have to have a funeral, LOL. In the third scene of Act Two we see Sayid, Locke, Desmond, Paulo and Nikki around Mr Eko's body. Locke thinks it's best if they don't bring it back to the island since "there's just been a few too many funerals lately". Sayid offers to accompany Locke back to the insland to get a couple of shovels. We have this little interesting dialogue here:

SAYID: So, what killed Eko? LOCKE: [Stops to drink out of water bottle] Folks back at the beach call it "the Monster". I don't really have a name for it. You don't believe in monsters? SAYID: I believe in what I can see. But obviously you have. So, why don't you tell me what you think it is? LOCKE: Might be what brought us here. SAYID: So, you think that this Monster decided that Eko was meant to die? LOCKE: I believe that Eko died for a reason. I just don't know what it is yet. SAYID: That's why you lied? We're not headed back to the camp, are we, John? LOCKE: Sure we are. Just need to take a little detour first. [Walks off again]

As I said, this episode is about make-believe so here we are reminded of the theme: Sayid believes in what he sees, John believes Eko died for a reason. But make-believe implies lies, deceptions and (lack of) trust, too. We're gonna have to bear those things in mind.

Finally, we're back on Hydra island where Sawyer and Kate are working. There's some commotion as the speakers blare "Warning". Pickett throws Sawyer and Kate on the ground and holds them at gunpoint (just like the make-believe police/officer scenario in Act one). He also mentions Jack over his walkie ("The doctor get out again? ") in order to evoke the ghost of Jack. Suddenly Alex comes up running and starts pleting the Others with stones. She asks Pickett what he did with Karl (although we the audience don't know yet it's him). She's eventually disarmed and dragged away but, before disappearing into the jungle, she screams the following to Kate:

ALEX: Let me go! Listen, whatever they say, don't believe them! They're gonna kill your boyfriend just like they killed mine!

Absolutely brilliant! Everything's tied up so elegantly, aaaah these Lost writers were so good at their job I hate them. Haven't I said that, yet? :P

So, of course, we're reminded that the Others are NOT to be believed because they're champions at making people believe what they want. Finally, a "boyfriend" is mentioned. Who does Alex thinks it's Kate's boyfriend? After her words the camera frames Kate and then immediately goes to Sawyer so we're led to believe that she's referring to him. However, are we to believe the scene, in other words believe what we see like Sayid does or are the writers making us believe things too? Perhaps are we like Locke and we believe that the ghost of Jack was mentioned for a reason that we just don't know yet and not to simply fill up some script pages?

To be continued!

"I Do" or when Kate and Jack almost got (figuratively) married

I've previously stated that I don't find "I Do" particularly excellent when it comes to Kate's flashback story. I still stand by that. From a creative point of view Kate reiventing herself as Monica and getting married to a police officer doesn't exactly scream "genius". Conversely, the idea for her flashback in "Left Behind" is way more compelling and allows us to see sides of Kate that aren't necessarily related to her interior romantic love life (in that episode Kate and Cassidy teams up to "con" Kate's mother in order for Kate to have a moment with her without getting arrested).

Having said that, "I Do" is, overall, a fucking great episode. Everything and I mean EVERYTHING is written and shot to perfection so I thought to write a little meta about it.

Now, before we move on to the analysis, let's please consider that the previous Kate-centric episode is S2E9 "What Kate Did". I wrote an extensive meta about it and you can find it here. For the sake of this meta, though, all you need to know is this: what Kate sees in Sawyer is herself, specifically what she thinks she is in the present moment based on the things she's done in the past, i.e. a "bad" person or a person capable of doing "bad" things; what Kate sees in Jack is her potential self, what she thinks she can become in the present moment and simply be in the future because she intimately thinks she's capable of being "good" and doing "good" things.

In "What Kate Did" she chooses the black horse representing her "dark" self, therefore she chooses Sawyer. In "I Do" she symbolically chooses Sawyer again but things get a litte bit more complicated because this time Jack says his "I do" and Kate finds that she can't quite say "I do" back yet, but she can't say goodbye to her potential either: in other words she can't leave Jack/her potential behind. You'll see what I mean in this meta.

ACT ONE.

The episode opens with the song "Slowly" in the background. We hear the following lyrics:

Tell me you love me again but this time slowly 'Cause you're talkin' too fast, baby, much fast Come on and squeeze me again but this time slowly 'Cause I like your grasp but it's much fast

You said that our love will grow together 'Cause your mine all mine

Foreshadowing: this episode will be about "I love yous" and about something that's growing.

It'll also be about make-believe as we see a 50s-styled Kate opening a box containing a wedding veil. A man knocks on her door and we see the following dialogue:

MAN: Police, open the door. KATE: [Nervously] Um. Everything's alright in here. MAN: Ma'am, we have reason to believe that someone extremely dangerous is in the motel. We're conducting a room-to-room search. KATE: [Starting to smile] I'm alone, officer. MAN: The person could be holding you at gunpoint, forcing you to say that. Please open the door. KATE: I don't think I should. MAN: Then you have three seconds before I break this door down. One... two... [Kate stands by and opens the door right before he says "three", revealing the policeman, Kevin.] KEVIN: Hey. Wanna get it on? dialogue from https://lostpedia.fandom.com

We the audience (who already know about Kate's past) are already tipped off to the fact that this is all fake. Kate is clearly wearing a mask, she's being someone else, someone who perhaps she'd like to be or, at least, she's putting on a new persona-dress to see if it fits. Spoiler alert: it doesn't. However, this is also extraordinarily real because Kate's indeed a fugitive, she might as well be "the dangerous someone in the motel" herself. Ironically, in the scenario where Kate is the dangerous person in the motel, she's also the person who's holding at gunpoint... herself, forcing herself to say stuff. Interesting, right? In other words, the show is telling us to pay close attention because the episode will play with the line between fiction and reality.

In the very second scene there's a defeated Sawyer throwing rocks without purpose. Kate sees something's wrong with him, he's slowly giving up. She tells him to get a fish biscuit for her, implicitly telling him: "Provide for me, be here for me, don't give up". Sawyer's not stupid and immediately retorts with a "Psh. What, you trying to keep me feeling productive?".

In the last scene of Act 1, we're introduced to the final protagonist of this episode, Jack, and we discover what's growing as the song alluded in the very first scene: "JACK: [To Ben] The tumor on your spine is borderline inoperable. And at the rate it's growing, that borderline goes away in about one week".

By the end of Act 1 we have all the info we need to understand this episode: it'll be about love, it's gonna make us believe things that are not true and the thing that's growing on Ben's spine will be the keystone to put all the pieces of the puzzle together.

To be continued!

[enderpearlll]

no thoughts but.... officer reader........ police reader....

Yandere!Bob Velseb with a police officer reader.

Help i’m running out of bob gifs guys 😭 but yeah i totally forgot that i finished this OOPS

Gender-Neutral reader, but the pet name hun is used.

TW/CW: Yandere content, Bob is a creep, mentions of firearms, spoon feeding, swearing, Bob and Officer have some sort of tension that I’m not going to elaborate on, mentions of murder and cannibalism, etc…

• You were a freshly graduated police officer, having just left your hometown in pursuit of something new. When you were transferred to a station in the middle of nowhere, you didn't expect for there to be two officers working by themselves. They seemed extremely relieved to have another officer on the job, explaining that they were unbelievably underfunded. You deadpanned when they said so, already debating your new job as a police officer. You were already off to a great start.

• The two older officers were obviously overworked and tired, so you did a lot of work to help them out. You liked to multitask. You did a lot of random tasks around the station, including taking care of paperwork and the prisoners. There was one prisoner in particular that creeped the fuck out of you though... His name was Bob. Jack had told you all about him, and the more you heard about him the more you regret asking.

• When you first met him, you already knew he had an eye on you. You were supposed to do something in his cell, but you couldn't remember at all once you unlocked the door. He just kept staring at you... You flinched when he moved slightly, a sickening smile stretching over his cheeks. "Ain't you a sight to see. Come on closer, officer. I don't bite..." He cooed almost childishly, relishing in the look of fear on your face. "I know damn well you bite." You seethed, watching as he piped up with intrigue. You shook it off, doing what you needed to do before he could say anything else. He felt drool dribble down his chin, a quiet chuckle leaving his lips. Now this was going to be fun.

• Unfortunately, Bob didn't seem interested in giving you a break, scaring you whenever you stepped near his cell. You hated when he would scare you, fearful of his past. Whenever you dropped off meals, he'd tell you a morbid fact about cannibalism. Disgusting. You'd snap back or tell him to screw off, tired of his shit. Bob throughly enjoyed how feisty you were, and wanted more of you every day. You had successfully peaked his interests, which isn’t much of an achievement to be proud of. It was terrible.

• Bob would personally request for you, and you hated it. Jack and John had no choice but to send you in, since you were the only one he'd talk to. Or listen to. Or try not to kill. You remember his one time he nearly tore Jack's arm off when he tried to give him his food. They both knew better than that now, and instead placed it at the doorway. But it was the opposite for you. While Bob would threaten and taunt you, so far he hadn't even tried to get close to you. You could probably sit in his cell for hours and he wouldn't try to kill you. Not like you wanted to, though.

• Bob was a pain in the ass. You hated the yearning hunger in his eyes, trailing behind you whenever he saw you, you hated his stupid smile, and you especially hated the way he'd call you hun. First time he called you that you nearly choked on your own spit. Bob was throughly enjoying your embarrassment, noting to himself that he would do so more often.

• After that, there was a definite change in the way Bob would taunt you, it shifted from morbid and sadistic to flirty and... Well, still pretty sadistic in nature. But Bob found that he much preferred the flustered look on you more than disgust. There's just something about teasing you that's so addictive. Seeing you recoil in embarrassment as you try to shield your face from him made adrenaline rush through his veins.

• He often tries to convince you to let him out, accompanied by a smile as you squirm uncomfortably. "Come on, hun. Lemme out, I'll promise that I'll be good..." "No. Quit asking." There's always banter going on between you two, and slowly you find that Bob was warming up to you more quickly than you liked. John once snapped at you for it, calling you both an old married couple. Turns out the tension between you two was highly evident.

• One night, you had went into his cell to drop off supper. He approached you slowly, as if he was a predator trying not to scare its prey. You felt  your whole body shiver when he reached out towards you, his creepy grin growing impossibly wide. Usually he'd never even come close to you, nonetheless touch you. You panicked, grabbing your gun and dropping the tray of food. You pointed it at Bob with a shaky aim, watching as he tilted his head mockingly. He threw his hands up, watching as you ran out of the cell.

• One evening, Jack had walked out of his cell with a platter of cold, untouched food. He looked exasperated, stress evident in his eyes. You quirked an eyebrow, looking at him up and down. "What happened to you?" You asked, with Jack signing deeply. "Bob won't touch his food. He's been like this ever since he got here! He only eats enough to keep himself from starving to death." He uttered bitterly.

You frowned, walking over to the older man and taking the tray from him. "What are you doing?" He asked, looking at you with confusion. "I'm going to make that fucker eat." You spat, glaring at Bob through the metal bars. You weren't going to let that prick starve, no way. He was going to eat whether he liked it or not. You unlocked the cell, dragging a metal chair along with you. You glared daggers at him, watching as his grin grew wide with malice. "Well, hello there, officer."

• You slammed the tray on his lap, watching as he flinched at the steel tray hitting his legs. "Eat." Bob glanced at the food and then laughed at you, only making you sink into your chair and cross your arms stubbornly. "Sorry, hun, I don't eat anything you cops give me." You grunted angrily, pinching the bridge of your nose. "Don't act like a kid, Velseb. If you're going to, did you want me to treat you like one?" You spat, leaning forward and sneering at him. "Want me to feed you, freak?"

• Bob's eyes shot wide open, his grin faltering ever so slightly underneath your searing gaze. He quickly regained his composure, leaning forward so you both were nearly nose to nose. "Only if you want to, officer." He uttered, voice rumbling deep in his chest. You flushed red hot, stumbling backwards. "Huh?!" The man burst out into a fit of roaring laughter, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye. "You heard me." You both sat in silence for a few seconds, before you took a deep breath and met Bob's intense gaze. "...Will you actually eat if I do it?"

• Bob threw his hands up, shooting you a look of over-exaggerated sincerity. "Swear on my heart, hun." You couldn't believe you were doing this. You picked up the spoon with trembling fingers, scooping up a good amount of weird mush. You held your hand underneath so you wouldn't make a mess, leaning in close to Bob so you could shovel the food in his mouth. He leaned forward with overexcited movement, closing his eyes and opening his mouth wide with a breathless "Aah..." You swallowed thickly, guiding the spoon into his mouth.

• You kept doing so, struggling to keep your composure straight when Bob looked so... Never mind. It was silent as you fed Bob spoonful by spoonful, the most quiet that you two have been since you got here. Bob seemed disappointed when the tray was empty, huffing stubbornly as you rushed to make your leave. You couldn’t believe you just spoon fed a serial killer. Dear god, what was wrong with you?!

•You walked out with wobbly knees, your legs threatening to give out underneath you as you locked the cell door. You glanced at Bob one last time, his expression sly as he gave you a wave goodbye. You quickly looked away, cursing underneath your breath. You were a cop for crying out loud, why the hell were you so flustered by a literal murderer?!

• You walked into the staff room, slamming the tray into the sink. You startled both Jack and John, who both looked at you with concern. "So... Did he actually eat?" The moustached officer asked, taking a sip of his coffee. You rubbed your eyes, exhaling deeply. "Yep." They both glanced at you then shrugged, continuing to mind their own business. You went to your office, slouching into your chair and staring at the doorway. What was he doing to you?

[yorkshirewerewolf]

Dennis Waterman, Actor (1948 - 2022) RIP

I am too young (only just!) to recall watching the classic British televison children's series "William!", based on the famous character creation of author Richmel Crompton ( the show was re-made in the eighties as "Just William!").

It was broadcast in the 1960's and the show ran for two seasons. The first incarnation of the cheeky school boy was a young child actor called Dennis Waterman.

A couple of Black & white episodes survive, an early insight into the child actor who made the jump from child actor to successful adult acting professional.

My first real introduction to Dennis Waterman on the "telly " would be in the mid 1970s.

I would, as a youngster, be allowed to stay up late on a Friday night. 10.30pm was "Appointment with Fear" on Yorkshire TV! A random horror flick would be broadcast. "Fright!" (1971) This scary movie Starred actress Susan George. It was, I guess an early British slasher movie and it cast as one of the the lead male actors a young Dennis Waterman. He would also feature in the Hammer studios "Scars of Dracula" (1970) alongside Christopher Lee.

But I guess for me and countless others, it was his role as Detective sergeant George Carter in the classic British Police Crime series "The Sweeney".

First broadcast in 1975, Waterman was cast alongside actor John Thaw who played inspector Jack Regan. Along side Garfield Morgan as the by the book chief inspector Haskins, the series followed the "Flying Squad" was a gritty, violent look at Thief Takers in 1970s London.

It was hard hitting, featured controversial issues and it's broadcast slot of 9pm was after the watershed, allowing the occasional swear word.

The Sweeney was a popular TV series. I was at junior school and was allowed to stay up to watch the show. It was a shock to the system for an under ten year old me! Bad language, chain smoking, scantily clad females, car chases and lashings of gratuitous violence abound in each episode.

It's hard to believe that they even brought out a series of Christmas "Annuals"; hardback books filled with photos, cast interviews and comic strips popular in the UK as Xmas gifts for kids.

Dennis Waterman would portray DS Carter for four series, even reprising his role in two spin off big screen movie adaptations of "Sweeney!"

The duo of Waterman and Thaw even appeared in an episode of the hit comedy series "The Morecambe & Wise show". Eric & Ernie would also repay the favour and make a guest appearance in an episode of the Sweeney.

But everything comes to an end. After the Sweeney finished it's run after 53 episodes, Dennis didn't wait long to sign up for a new challenge. It would be another ITV series but This time he would change sides, becoming ex con Terry McCann who would become shady East End Businessman Arthur Daly's Muscle in "Minder". (1979-94)

Dennis would also demonstrate another string to his bow, by singing the show's theme tune.

" I Could Be So Good For You" was a hit in the UK, reaching number three in the charts in 1980.

"Minder" would not be an instant hit for Dennis. His partnership with veteran movie actor George Cole would soon grow on the general public and the show eventually hit peak viewing figures topping a whopping 17 million. The series was sold around the world making Waterman a household name.

Dennis would release several albums and singles, even performing in a westend musical.

After "Minder" ended, Waterman stayed with the light hearted comedy drama, staring as Thomas Gynn in the series "Stay Lucky"(89-93). He would also sing the theme tune!

His next venture was a situation comedy. "On the Up!" As millionaire Tony Carpenter. And yes! He sang the theme tune AGAIN!

Dennis would soon revert to his tough guy leading man in the mini series "Circles of Deceit" as ex Special Forces officer John Neil, now working as a private contractor for the security services.

This series didn't perform well. The fickle TV viewing public would next see Dennis not as the star but as a supporting role in the British TV series "the Knock" (97-98)

As we moved into the new Millennium, we find Dennis back on prime time TV. This time he changed channels, from independent television to the good old BBC. In "New Tricks" Dennis would play retired detective sergeant Gerry Standing. Who along with a motley crew of fellow retired coppers would join the metropolitan police "UCOS" team ( Unsolved Crime & Open Case Squad) working on Cold Cases. He appeared alongside fellow actors Alun Armstrong who played the OCD suffering Brian "Memory" Lane and James Bolem as by the book former chief superintendent Jack Halford The three ex coppers would be supervised by detective superintendent Sandra Pullman, played by Amanda Redmond ( Who Dennis was rumoured to be romantically linked with back in the eighties)

This would be a triumphant return to form for Dennis, basically reprising his Carter character from the" Sweeney", but as a three times divorced ladies man who drives a classic British sports car, still drinks and smokes like a trooper. He is still stuck in the 1970s, unable to accept the aging process and the political correctness of the new millennium.

Dennis captures this angst and over the 12 series we see Gerry's character grow to accept his style of policing isn't relevant anymore and he's on borrowed time.

Dennis would be the only actor to star in every season of the series, leaving during season 12 and yes! He did sing the theme tune yet again! This fact would be used by comedians Matt Lucas and David Walliams in the Hit BBC Sketch show "Little Britian" The comedy Duo would lampoon Dennis as a tiny version of himself, sat in a giant chair in his theatrical agents office, being pitched various new series, always asking the question...

" Do I sing the theme tune?"

After New Tricks ended, Dennis would go into semi retirement according to several media interviews. He was quoted saying he would rather play golf in Spain, where he had a home, than be back acting.

So that's that! This is just a snapshot of a prolific actor who was a constant during my life. His offscreen life often mirrors his TV characters. Married four times, his hard drinking would sometimes land him in the tabloid newspaper for the wrong reasons, but this missive isn't about his lifestyle, it's about the joy of watching Dennis Waterman on screen, being George Carter, Terry McCann, Tommy Gynn or Gerry Standing.

So it was a shock when it was announced that Dennis Waterman had passed away on the 8th May 2022 in Spain. He was 74 years old

His last acting venture was for the big screen.

"Never Too Late" was Filmed in Australia in 2019, playing an ex Special Forces officer in a retirement home embarking on one last hurrah.

It seems appropriate that Dennis should exit stage left leaving this as his acting swansong.

So let's raise our virtual glass and toast Dennis Waterman. The original TV hardman! He was so good for us.....

[tommydarlings]

She's a maniac | t.h

A/N: Finally it's here!!! Like I already said, when you can't read stuff like that, then please don't even try it!!! It could be really 'dangerous' for your mental health! Btw, I do not 'support' any of these serialkiller's! I just really love the topic! I hope you like this one as much as I do, anyway, enjoy! :) ily,liz <3

pairing: serialkiller!reader x Tom holland

warnings: swearing, talking about serialkiller stuff?, talking about murdering, talking about other serialkiller's, nearly sex? brief mention of necrophilia

w/c: 3.9k

Requests: CLOSED

Summary: Tom and his family are watching a live footage of the most dangerous women on earth, it's disgusting what you've did, but does he fall in love with you anyway? Well, yeah.

masterlist || taglist || requests ( in my masterlist)

"Tom, darling can I turn the TV on?" Nikki asked as she sat on Tom's couch. "Yeah, of course mom" he answered before Nikki turned his TV on. Dominic and the twins came out of the kitchen with a big bowl full of popcorn and sat down next to Nikki. "Are you guys coming?" Dominic asked from the living room while he looked at the kitchen. "Yes, we're coming dad!" paddy answers right before he and Tom came into the living room and sat down. "Any movie recommendations?" Sam asked his family. They all shook their head before Harry said, 

"Isn't there any good stuff on the TV" the redhead said quietly. Nikki zapped through the channel until she stopped at one. "What's that?" Tom asked as he looked at the screen that just showed a room with two chairs and one table in it. It kinda looked like a live footage. "Um… what is it called?" paddy asked after a while. They all shrugged while Tom took the remote and spoke up, 

"It's just called 'the most dangerous woman on earth - y/n y/ln" they all looked at each other with confusion written on everyone's faces. "Maybe the title does have nothing to do with the show? serie?, I don't know" Dominic said after a while. Suddenly, a police officer came into the room and spoke up, 

"Test, test, is the camera on?" he said while he looked at the camera in the corner of the room. So it is live. They all though. After a few seconds, the officer nodded and sat down onto one of the chairs. Suddenly someone opened the door and two police officers walked in with a woman in an inmate suit and handcuffs around her wrists. The police officers sat her down in the other chair and left the room. 

"Do you know her?" paddy asked quietly. They all shook their heads and went ahead with staring at the TV without any clue about who this woman was. Who you were. They all watched you with curious eyes. 

"So dear miss y/l/n, could you please explain to me what you have done?" you let a tiny but at the same time wicked laugh before you answered his question, 

"Do you want me to answer that question in detail?" you said. The officer shook his head and told you to go ahead telling him just the most important things about what you have done. "Well, in total I killed six men" you told him with a shrug. "What else have you done miss y/l/n" you smile before you said, 

"I followed them, I seduced them, I killed them, not more" 

"Not more? Well these pictures tell me otherwise" the police officer said before he opened a file and took six pictures out of it. He put them infront of you and you looked at them for a few seconds before the police officer spoke up again. 

"Would give me the honor and explain every single picture to me please?" the men asked teasingly. You shrugged before you accepted it and started to explain. 

"Men number one, Andy Richardson, he was an alcoholic, a stupid little motherfucker, I seduced him and then I hit him a few times with a crowbar on his head before I buried him in the woods" you smiled. "Men number two, Nicholas brown, he was an abusive dad and husband, one of the worst, I slid his throat and let him drown in his blood, just like he deserves it, then I took his body and laid it in his bathtub so it looked like suicide" and so on and on and on, with every single men got the police officers mind just more and more disturbed while he imagined all these things the man had to go trough. 

"Did you had any sexuall activities with the corpses afterwards?" the police officer asked you. You laughed before you leaned forward and answered quietly, 

"I'm honest officer, no, I didn't had any, not with a single man but I had my own little playroom, not the same like Christian Grey, but in my playroom, the men screamed, cried and begged too" and then you leaned even more forward and whispered, 

"Just like in Christian Grey's, and it was so much fun" you whispered with the biggest smirk ever. 

"This girl is sick" Nikki said while she shook her head desperately. "She has to go to a therapist quickly" Harry said after a few seconds of silence. They all agreed except for one person. Tom. He was so whipped. He thought that y/n was gorgeous and just breathtaking. But at the same time he felt extremely bad for thinking of her in that kind of way. She is a fucking serialkiller, she killed six men with her own hands. That is so disturbing and sick. 

Suddenly you stood up and walked around in the small room. "What are you doing miss y/l/n?" the officer asked. You shrugged before you answered. "I'm just walking around, is that a crime?" 

"No, but what you did to these men is a crime" 

"But probably a good one" 

"What exactly do you mean with that miss?" 

"This case is probably the best you ever had, right? You don't have to answer officer, I know that my case is the best that you ever had and that I'm basically your biggest trophy on the shelf. I'm your career break" you smiled widely. "How-how do you know that?" the officer asked while the fear started to rise in him. You laughed quietly, almost like the devil in person. 

"I studied this topic a lot, you know, serialkiller, crimes, murder, I studied all of this for years, so believe me when I tell you that I know much more about every single case and every single crime that was ever committed in the history of serialkiller's than you ever could" you said loudly and proud. He shook his head slowly before you laughed nervously and looked at you,

"I don't think so miss-" but you interrupted him immediately,

"You know officer, I maybe was really bad at school, like reallyyyyy bad, but when you believe that you know more about that topic that I basically live for, then think again mister, do not underestimate the things that I could do and especially the things that I know about the topic of serialkiller's, because I'm pretty sure that we both know by now that I have much more knowledge in that topic than you could even dream of" you told him smugly. The officer was shooked. He was frozen, he couldn't even look at you right now. He was fucking scared-

"I could hang there one day, haha" you said while you laughed and painted at the wall where pictures from other seriakiller were hanging. He looked at you with confusion on his face before he answered, 

"But first of all we have to take a picture of your face-" 

"No, no, no, not a picture of me, my head, my head could hang there one day you know? Haha, that would look so funny, my pale face hanging on the wall while blood is dripping down my throat and my eyes wide open while I stare at you. Ever. Single. Day" you said while you still stared at the wall with an amused smile on your face. 

"O-okay, i-I have a few questions now" he said quietly. "Go on sir" 

"favorite Serialkiller?" 

"Ted bundy" you answered immediately. 

"Why?" he asked while he looked at you. "He was a fucking genius, he was like the second jack the ripper the only problem was that he got caught, he was basically my inspiration and my role model. I loved him" the officer just sighed and went on, 

"A Serialkiller you don't like?" 

"Charles menson, he was a pussy, he just hired people to do the shitty job for him" 

"When and how did Ted bundy got executed?" 

"On January the 24th 1989 by the electric chair, easy" you laughed. 

"What kind of murderer was Jeffrey Dahmer?" 

"A cannibal" you answered smugly. 

"Who was John Wayne gacy?" 

"He was pogo the killer clown" 

"okay, what is necrophilia?" 

"Having sexuell intercours with a corpse" 

"Who is Richard ramirez?" 

"The night Stalker" 

"What is the quickest way to kill somebody?" 

"Either you shot him directly in the head, between his eyes or you slid his throat with a beautiful. sharp. knife" you whispered. 

"Why did you dismember your victims?" 

"Because it's fun, it's calming and even though it's a mess, in my way it's a beautiful and hot mess" 

"So you think that killing and dismember man is a beautiful and hot mess" 

"Torturing" you answered quickly. 

"What?" the officer asked. 

"Torturing. You forget that. You said 'killing and dismember' but I tortured them too, and that was even more fun" you laughed quietly. The police officer nodded while he though about the awful things you have done with your own hands. 

"You are disgusted" you said quickly while you looked him deep in the eyes. "What?" 

"You are disgusted from the things that I have done aren't you?" you asked with a grin. "How-how do you-" 

"Like I said, I know everything, you can't beat me in that topic, bundy was a fucking genius, ramirez was not that bad either, Dahmer was maybe even better than him but I'm, I'm the fucking goddess" you answered with the biggest smirk the police officer ever saw. He was really terrified to death now. He shouldn't be, but he was. "Do you have a family? Do you have kids?" you added. 

"Yes, yes I do have two kids" you hummed quietly before you spoke up, 

"We serialkiller's are your husbands, we're your son's, and your children are gonna be dead by tomorrow" you whispered without any emotion in your face. And that was the moment were everyone realized that you are cold. "I know that Ted bundy said that he is the most cold hearted son of a bitch you've ever met, but believe me when I tell you that I'm more cold hearted than he could ever be" you whispered. 

"I know that there's an age difference, but budy and you would have been the prefect couple" he answered. You laughed loudly. "But when wouldn't have lasted long" he raised his eyebrow. "Why?" 

You slowly leaned forward before you answered, 

"Because I would have chopped his dick off and took his eyes out and then I would slowly and maybe even gently cut his throat until he drowns in his own blood" you said quietly. Everyone was shooked and terrified to death. The police officer and everyone infront of the TV right now. 

"What is your family thinking about you?" this question surprised you. You didn't expected it all. 

"They haven't contacted me yet" you said while you looked at the wall behind him. 

He just nodded and wrote something in your file. 

"This girl is a fucking maniac" Sam said while he stared at the TV with wide eyes. 

"I think I'm gonna throw up" Paddy said quietly. 

"Yeah, sick bitch" Harry agreed with his brother. "I'm not sure if I'm able to sleep alone tonight" paddy said with pure seriousness in his voice. Nikki looked at him and hugged him tightly before she spoke up,

"Don't worry my love, she's never going to come near us, I promise" she told her son while Dominic nodded his head, agreeing with his wife. 

"Tom, are you okay?" Harry asked his big brother. Tom snapped out of his daydreaming zone and answered quickly, 

"Yeah, yeah of course" he said. "It's disturbing, I know, unbelievable that women like her are even allowed to sit in this room, she didn't even deserved that" Sam told his family, but Tom couldn't even focus. He was so stunned by your beauty, what is bullshit because he definitely shouldn't, is he doing it anyway? Is he daydreaming right now how your lips would feel on his lips? How your hands would feel on his biceps or how your hands would feel when he would hold you tight-

"Tom?!" Dominic yelled. "What?!" he yelled back. He quickly apologized before his father said, 

"We're going now, okay?" Tom nodded quickly and gave them all a quick goodbye before he went to bed. Still thinking about her. "Fuuuuck" he whispered to himself while he laid in bed and rubbed his hands over his face. "Fuck it" he said before he grabbed his phone and searched her up on Google. "Holy shit" he whispered as he saw what else she had done to these men."They didn't even discuss half of what she had done in the live footage" he said quietly to himself while he stared at his phone screen, reading all the awful things that you had done to these men. He was terrified but at the same time was he… fine with it? He couldn't give a fuck anymore, he just wanted to go to sleep now, when that's even possible now. He's gonna start filming spiderman 3 soon so he has to wake up early tomorrow. Let's wish him luck. 

---

"Tom!, Hey holland!" Jack yelled from his trailer on set. They were currently back on set, filming Spiderman 3. Tom walked to Jack's trailer and said, 

"Yeah, what's up Jack?" 

"I actually want you meet someone, one of my closest friends, actually she's my best friend" Tom looked at him curiously. "I thought that I was your best friend" he said sarcastically. Jack just laughed before he answered, 

"You are Tommy, but she is my best friend too" Jack said. "And who is she? Do I already know her?" he asked him. Jack scratched the back of his neck nervously. "Well, yes, you probably know her but you never met he personally" 

"Why are you so nervous all of a sudden?" Tom asked Jack with a little laugh. Jack shrugged and answered quickly, 

"I'm not nervous, it's just that I'm a little bit scared" he admitted quietly. Tom looked at him with confusion all over his face. "Why?" 

"Well, she's… special?" jack answered nervously. Tom just nodded with his head before he answered, 

"She can't be that bad jack, c'mon" 

"Okay, but you have to promise me to not freak out and run away" 

"O-okay?" Tom answered but it sounded more like an unsure question. "How about we meet up all together? Like zendaya, Jacob, you and me? At her house?" 

"Yeah, that's fine with me" Tom answered before he got called on set again to gon on with filming. After a few hours of filming, Tom went to Jack, Jacob and zendaya. "So is that okay for you guys?" Jack asked the group. "So, you pick us up at about 2 p.m?" zendaya asked Jack. He nodded quickly before Tom spoke up, 

"As long as she's no Serialkiller or something like that, then it's fine with me" he laughed loudly while Zendaya and Jacob joined him. Jack remained silent. 

Oh, if they would only know… 

---

"When are we here?" Jacob asked from the backseat. Tom sat in the passenger seat while Jacob and zendaya sat in the backseat. "Soon, in about 10 minutes we should be here" Jack answered. They all groaned but then nodded with their heads. 

"What is her name?" zendaya suddenly asked. Jack opened his mouth but he couldn't get a single word out. "Are you okay mate?" Tom asked his best friend. Jack nodded quickly before he answered zendaya's question. "It's uh, uhm… y/n?" he told her but it sounded more like a question. "Are you nervous? It's just a name jack you can chill dude" Jacob told him with a tiny laugh. "Yeah, you're right" Jack said. "Can you just please promise me that you won't run away? Or cry? Or yell at me or at her? Please, I beg you" Jack added. "Again Jack, why should we be scared?" Tom asked him. "I just-I don't know okay? You will see" Jack said quietly. They all looked at each other curiously before they all fixated their eyes on the road again. 

--- 

"Finally" Tom said while he stepped out of the car quickly. "Wow, the house is really pretty" Zendaya said. Jacob nodded with his head slowly before jack spoke up, 

"You ready?" he asked the group. "Yes Jack c'mon" Jacob answered quickly with a laugh. Jack scratched the back of his neck again. Something that he's doing when he's nervous. Jack knocked at the door three times before a women opnend it. 

It was you. Y/n y/l/n. The most dangerous women on earth and one of the biggest serialkiller in history. 

You smiled at Jack before you said, 

"Jacki my darling, finally you're here, who are they?" you asked while you hugged Jack and looked at the three of them. They all remained silent and just stared at you like you were some kind of alien. 

So obviously everyone knows who you are. 

They all obviously knew who you were because of the little footage. That by the way kinda went viral. Since that day, everyone knows and fears you. Especially men. So that's the reason why you are obviously single, who would have thought? 

"Come in, come in, please" you said happily. They all stared at you and then quickly at jack for a moment before they entered your house. "Do you guys want something to drink?" you asked them all while they sat down on your couch. They shook their head slowly before Jacob whispered into Tom's ear, 

"I-isn't that t-the-" 

"Yes it is Jacob and now you better shut up before she may kills us" Tom whispered back at his friend while he stared at your figure standing in the kitchen. "Don't you want to introduce your friends to me jack?" you asked him. He nodded quickly. "That's zendaya, she play's mj in spiderman, that's Jacob, he play's ned, the best friend of Peter Parker, and that is Tom, Peter Parker himself" 

"Nice to meet you all" you told them while you shook their hands. But as you shook Tom's hands, you felt something, something in your stomach. 

Butterflies. 

And he felt it too. 

--- 

Currently you were in the shower, just enjoying how the warm water ghosts over skin. Suddenly the shower curtain opens and a naked Tom steps in. "Well hello handsome" you told your boyfriend. "Hello darling" he told you as he stood behind you and wrapped his hands around your waist. He buried his face in the back of your neck and whispered, 

"I love you darling" 

"I love you too Tommy" you told him while you turned around and gave him a gentle kiss on his lips. "I'm so nervous" you admitted after a few seconds of just staring into each other's eyes. "You don't have to be my love, my family is gonna accept and love you, maybe it's gonna take some time but they will appreciate you I promise" 

"But you told me that you watched my footage Thomas, they heard what I said, they saw the way I acted! They are either going to act like they love me or they are going to be scared of me the entire time!" you told your boyfriend while you laid your head on his wet chest."But I know that you've changed baby, I know it. I know that your a better person now and that you will never do something like that ever again okay?" he said. You picked your head up and looked him deep in the eyes before he grabbed your legs and picked you up and leaned you against the shower wall." I love you so much, thank you" you told him while you put both of your hands on his cheeks. "I love you even more babygirl" he said before you slowly started to make out. 

--- 

Tom knocked on his family's door quickly before his mom opened. "Hey son, how are you my dear!" she asked him while they hugged. "I'm good thanks mom" everyone hugged Tom as he came through the door before Dominic spoke up, 

"So, where is the lucky girl you want us to meet?" he asked with a tiny grin. "Yeah mate, where's she?" Harry added. "She is a little bit shy okay? So please be 'gentle' with her okay?" he told his family. They all nodded before they heard a voice, 

"Tom, can I come?" you asked from the front door. "Did we already met her?" Sam asked. "Yeah, I don't know either, her voice sounds so familiar" Harry added. Tom just laughed nervously before he said, 

"Just please be gentle and kind okay?" they all nodded curiously before Tom told you to come in and there you stood. Infront of your boyfriend's family. They exactly knew who you were and what you did. They were frozen, they were still but at the same time were they terrified. 

"Hey, my n-name I-is y/n, y/n y/l/n" you slowly said while Tom put his arm around your waist. 

"O-oh m-my God" Nikki whispered with fear in her voice. 

"Tom, what, do y-you even k-know who s-she-?" Harry stuttered. 

"Yes, yes I know who she is, she is y/n y/l/n, my lovely girlfriend" he answered proudly with a smile. 

"Thomas are you crazy-" 

Suddenly, paddy went to you and extended his hand in your way, 

"Hello y/n, you're really pretty, my name is paddy" he told you. He knew who you were, but he saw you and knew that you won't be trouble. He believed in you. 

"Hello paddy, the pleasure is all mine" you told him while you shook his hand. 

"Calm down guys, please, she changed okay?" Tom told his family. 

"You don't know that Thomas" Nikki stated quietly while she looked you in the eyes. You honestly felt kinda guilty. "I love him" you suddenly blurted out of nowhere. "What?" Dominic asked you. "I love your son and I'm gonna prove it to you that I'm a good person, I know what I did in the past but like Tom already said, I've changed and I love him so please give me a chance" you asked them. They all looked at you before harry spoke up,

"You know what, yes, I believe in you too just like paddy so" he stepped forward and hugged you quickly before he said,

"Welcome to the family"

You couldn't be happier.

---

"Darling where are you?" Tom yelled from the bedroom. You were just about to go to sleep but you had other plans. "Coming!" Suddenly you came through the bedroom door with a beautiful but at the same time extremely sexy lingerie in red. Tom's favorite color on you.

"Oh lord have mercy with me" Tom mumble quietly to himself while he looked at you but you heard it loud and clear. You giggled quietly before you made your way to Tom and sat down onto his lap. He put both of his on your ass and looked at your breasts. "My eyes are up here Holland" you said. "Sorry, you just look so… tasty" he said before he leaned in and kissed you passionately. After a few kisses, you leaned in to whisper in his ear,

"Fuck me daddy"

He laughed wickedly before he whispered into your ear,

"Oh kitten, I'm going to fucking destroy you, now your going to be the one that is crying begging and screaming"

-`ღ´- ᶫᵒᵛᵉᵧₒᵤ -`ღ´-

Taglist:

@goodgirlgonetom @majo240820 @misshale21 @itstaskeen @pure-ghost @justafangirlduh @elizabeth-brown @roseke @onyourgoddamnleft @lovelyxtom @hallecarey1 @zspideyy @elizabeth228

[haik-choo]

haikyuu as different texas boys

taylor bailey: kageyama, asahi, yaku, kai, koganegawa, goshiki, osamu, hoshiumi

plays jv football, probably a freshman. wears those jeans that are rally dark blue near the seems and are light blue in the middle with a very ash brown belt. their shirt either says is a salt life shirt or a A&M shirt. either cowboy boots or sperrys, no exceptions. drives a grey ford f-450, relatively well-maintained. occasional mud on tires and blood in bed of truck from the deer they killed last weekend. casual shit. doesn’t hang out with girls. prefers fishing to hunting if he’s being honest. their dad is probably jacked. there’s one in every class of yours, they’re either naive or bland. sorry, bud. 

zachary richards: atsumu, kuroo, matsukawa, hanamaki, terushima, reon, 

call him zac. no ‘h’. does NJROTC but only casually and gets annoyed at the try-hards in the marksmanship program. does a few advanced classes and no one knows why he’s in them because he doesn’t even try. is hot and gets a lot of girls but is only loyal to the girl that he’s been dating for a few years (flirts a little here and there though). dresses like the typical fuckboy but with a flare of jock even though he’s not a jock. has too many girl friends to count. you introduce yourself to him and he forgets your name one day later. (you think he’s hot but you’ll never say anything) 

trey harrison: lev, kindaichi, kunimi, futakuchi, shirabu, tendo, suna

“lmao i hate texas i’m gonna leave here as soon as i graduate” but skips every other class and has already been held back two years. smokes weed in the bathroom and knows the on campus police officers so well it’s almost sus. people either hate him or love him. people think he’s faking not knowing the answers in class but he really doesn’t know them and just needs help. kind of sweet but also kind of an ass. makes a gun sign with his hands but has never held a gun in his life. administrators come in and just look at him like :| and motion him to follow them and no one bats an eye because it happens so often. parents are actually texas-born and raised and he likes the rodeo but will never admit it. 

bo: bokuto, nishinoya, tanaka, ukai, yamamoto, kyotani, 

no last name needed. no other words other than HICK HICK HICK. owns a beat up red pick-up truck who’s engine they worked on. they do donuts in the parking lot and take up two parking spaces. has fresh kill in the bed of their truck. has a long mullet with their shirt sleeves rolled up. bell-bottom jeans with a huge john cena-esque belt. jeans are tucked in his huge ass cowboy boots. is a proud texan, born and raised. probably super short. they go hunting every weekend and occasionally go mudding or dirt-biking. their girlfriends are just like them. THICK accent. honestly they have bde. 

jake moreno: sugawara, akaashi, kenma, tsukishima, takeda, oikawa, semi

award-winning swim kid in student council, people think he’s gay but he’s not. looks like they belong in california. wear dusty pink bermuda shorts with a life is good shirt. have made friendship bracelets by hand. social butterfly. own three different hydroflasks, has painted each one. extremely artistic and friends with everyone. so many girl friends, so many. friends with other guys like him. activist. owns cowboy boots but they are exclusively for the rodeo. girls protect him with their life. is super pretty and a lot of girls crush on him. usually tan with light eyes. unbelievably good grades and aesthetic notes. 

garrett higgs: daichi, kita, yamaguchi, ennoshita, hinata, inuoka, iwaizumi, moniwa, aone, ushijima, aran

in FFA (future farmers of america), genuinely nice and wants to grow up to inherit their dad’s ranch. posts videos of playing the guitar and riding horses. really sweet, a little protected. so utterly catholic it’s almost shocking. has one girlfriend they’ve dated since middle school. you can’t help but want to hug them. sometimes smells like horse manure. gets attached to the pigs they raise and always feels bad when they sell them after competition. usually quiet. drives an expensive truck that they guard with their life. their parents are rich rich. lives on 20+ acres of land that has been in their family for over a hundred years.  

misc: sakusa has never been a texas boy in any of his past lives and will never be a texas boy in any of his future lives. texas makes his skin dry and it’s humid and muddy. dis cos tang.

-

a/n: self-explanatory. also @c0wisland and her ‘haikyuu as asian fuckboy’s inspired me to do this. what a c0w (complete 0verride (of) wow (because she gave me flack for saying she was the GOAT)) also ion know much abt the inarzaki players and afterwards...i still have to finish the mange and anime don’t @ me LOL

[kwebtv]

William Smith (March 24, 1933 – July 5, 2021) Film and television actor. In a Hollywood career spanning more than 75 years, he appeared in almost three hundred feature films and television productions in a wide variety of character roles, with his best known role being the menacing Anthony Falconetti in the 1970s television mini-series Rich Man, Poor Man.

He was a regular on the 1961 ABC television series The Asphalt Jungle, portraying police Sergeant Danny Keller. In 1964, Smith appeared in the episode "The Rope of Lies" as Bill, a ranch hand from the Shiloh Ranch of the syndicated television series The Virginian. One of his earliest leading roles was as Joe Riley, a good-natured Texas Ranger with arms of steel on the NBC western series Laredo (1965–1967). In 1967, Smith guest starred as Jude Bonner on James Arness's long-lived western Gunsmoke.

Smith was cast as John Richard Parker, brother of Cynthia Ann Parker, both taken hostage in Texas by the Comanche, in the 1969 episode "The Understanding" of the syndicated television series Death Valley Days, which was hosted by Robert Taylor. 

He played the outlaw turned temporary sheriff Hendry Brown in the 1969 episode "The Restless Man". In that story line, Brown takes the job of sheriff to tame a lawless town, begins to court a young woman (again played by Emily Banks), but soon returns to his deadly outlaw ways in search of bigger thrills.

On Gunsmoke, Smith appeared in a 1972 episode, "Hostage!"; his character beats and rapes Amanda Blake's character Miss Kitty Russell and shoots her twice in the back. Smith has been described as the "greatest bad-guy character actor of our time".

Smith joined the cast of the final season of Hawaii Five-O (as Detective James "Kimo" Carew, a new officer in the Five-O unit). He had previously appeared with Jack Lord in Lord's prior series Stoney Burke. Smith starred in one episode each of the Adam West Batman TV series (in the episode "Minerva, Mayhem and Millionaires" as Adonis, one of the minions of the title guest villainess portrayed by Zsa Zsa Gabor), I Dream of Jeannie (in the episode "Operation: First Couple on the Moon" as Turk Parker), Kung Fu, and as The Treybor, a ruthless warlord, in the Buck Rogers in the 25th Century episode "Buck's Duel to the Death". Smith also made guest appearances opposite James Garner in the 1974 two-hour pilot for The Rockford Files (titled "Backlash of the Hunter" and also featuring Lindsay Wagner and Bill Mumy), and George Peppard in The A-Team (in two appearances as different characters, in the first season's "Pros and Cons" and the fourth season's "The A-Team Is Coming, The A-Team Is Coming").

In the 1976 television miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man, he portrayed Anthony Falconetti, nemesis of the Jordache family, and reprised the role in the sequel Rich Man, Poor Man Book II. Other 1970s TV appearances included the Kolchak: The Night Stalker episode "The Energy Eater", as an Indian medicine man who advises Kolchak, and an early Six Million Dollar Man episode "Survival of the Fittest" as Commander Maxwell. He also appeared in the 1979 miniseries The Rebels as John Waverly, in an episode of The Dukes of Hazzard as Jason Steele, a bounty hunter hired by Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane to frame the Duke Boys into jail, and in an episode of Knight Rider as Harold Turner, the manipulative leader of a hellish biker gang whom David Hasselhoff's character Michael Knight has to outsmart.  (Wikipedia)

[writing-mermaid]

I'll be your dream, I'll be your wish, I'll be your fantasy

Summary : Y/N McCoy, daughter of Jack McCoy works as ADA Carisi’s PA. Before that, Y/N was sort of the Cinderella of the DA’s office working in the dust of the archives. When the DA’s Christmas ball is themed as a Masquerade, maybe it’s time for Cinderella to meet her prince charming, with a little help of her fairy best friend, Katriona Tamin.

Pairing : Sonny Carisi x reader

Warnings : Language, consomption of alcohol, Cinderella AU, some flashbacks, Vanessa Hadid is a bitch (but as she always is it really a warning ?).

Word Count : 14 682

Author’s note : Written for @thatesqcrush‘s Holiday B!ngo: Naughty & Nice filling the free square, and for @sweetcannolicarisi ’s Disney bingo. I know those two bingos are over now but I really wanted to post it between Christmas & New Year, but life stroked hard and I couldn’t write. Ball dress is inspired by the one from the movie A Cinderella Christmas. Don’t forget that feedback is appreciated and really important.

Song of the title : Truly, Madly, Deeply - Savage Garden

Masterlist

Buy me a ☕

“Assistant District Attorney Carisi’s office, Y/N speaking, what can I do for you ?”, I say, repeating this sentence on a loop all day long.

  Don’t get me wrong, I love my job, I just hate doing it in a fucking hallway, next to my new boss small and windowless new office. Well at least now he has an office, we’re not forced to squat in empty rooms all around the building.

  “Oh, hello Captain Benson. How can I help you ?”

“Hello Y/N, can you please ask Carisi to sign me a warrant for a perquisition please ? I emailed you the application. Kat will pick it in less than an hour. Can you do that for me ?”

“Sure, Olivia, consider it done”, I answer.

“Thanks Y/N have a nice day”, she says.

“Have a nice day too Olivia”, I reply, hanging up the phone.

  I take a look at the clock facing my desk, 10:30 am. I open Captain Benson’s mail and print the papers she joined in. I get up to the printer, passing next to the break room. It’s time for ADA Carisi’s coffee. I take the papers from the printer and enter the break room. I put down the papers on the table and pour a warm and steamy coffee into ADA Carisi’s usual mug and heat some water for my tea. I put two sugars in his coffee and pour the hot water into my mug with sugar. The papers under my armpit and the two mugs in both my hands I walk back to my desk, where I put down my own mug, and then walk towards his office. I lightly knock on the door before his voice tells me to come in.

  “Good morning counsellor”, I say, stepping in the windowless office.

“Good morning, Y/N”, he looks up. “And I already told you to call me Sonny. We work together for a year now, don’t you think it’s time to call me by my name, huh ?”, he smiles at me, with that charming smile that makes me melt.

“I can’t promise anything”, I shrug, returning his smile. “First of all, here’s your coffee”, I say, putting down the cup in front of him.

“Just how I like it”, he hums, taking a sip of it.

“Second, I had a phone call from Captain Benson, she asked if you could sign that warrant”, I add, handing him the papers, his thumb brushing mine when he takes it. “Kat will take it in something like thirty minutes to an hour.”

“I’ll get this ready and let you know when it’s done.”

“Thanks counsellor”, I say going back to the door. “By the way”, I add, turning back to him, “remember that I don’t work this afternoon, it’s my…”

“Monthly lunch date with you dad”, he cuts me. “I know that Miss McCoy, you and I work together for a year, every third Thursday of the month, you have lunch and spend the afternoon with your dad and I always managed to look after myself on those days. So as usual, go eat with your dad and have fun with him. Maybe you’ll start your Christmas errands. Don’t worry for me Y/N, I can handle myself for an afternoon, he smiles at me again. So have a nice lunch and afternoon with your dad Y/N.”

“Have a nice afternoon, counse…”, I can see his finger raising, “Dominick”, I finish before going out, a small smile playing on my lips, almost bumping in Serena, the mail girl.

“Y/N”, she nods at me coldly.

“Serena”, I answer, mirroring her tone.

“Hello Dominick”, I can hear her say with that honeyed voice she uses every time she talks to him, making me sick.

  When I go back to my desk, a pile of mail is waiting for me, next to it, two letters. The first one says, ‘Mr. John McCoy’ and the second one ‘Miss Y/N McCoy’. Even retired, my father still receives his invitation for the annual police and DA’s office ball. This year it’s a week before Christmas. As usual, I’m more like his plus one than a real guest, it seems that the office feels obligated to invite me to those balls because my father is the great Jack McCoy. A legend for some. I don’t know if counselor Carisi made the connection between my name and the fact that my father is probably one of the most famous ADA this city ever had, when I’m just a personal assistant.

  Sometimes, I’m wondering if they accepted me here because of him, like he asked them for a favor. I started to work here eight years ago. Not as a PA, it would have been too good to be true. There was no place for me. I was put in the archives, doing research for the attorneys, the ADAs, the DAs, the police, everyone who needed it. For a little time, I was ADA Barba’s PA, his was sick and I did the job for two or three months, time she came back. Working with Barba was a learning experience. Of course, I’ve already seen my dad work as an ADA, because I spent a lot of time in his office when I was little after my mom left him, and me in the process, but working with Barba was different, he had different methods, a different way of working. Barba was a great guy, seemed righteous, he was nice to me, even if I can’t say that we were friends or close, I was utterly shocked when I heard about that baby story and that he resigned. I was back in my archive hole when I learned about it. I haven’t met counsellor Carisi, detective back then, while I helped Barba, to be honest, I worked at the other side of the hall, in a proper office, I just caught a glimpse of his tall blond frame from afar. My first impression from my viewing point, he made me think about the character of a book from my childhood, Daddy-Long-Legs. He was tall and lanky, just like the mystery man from the book. I never really saw his face nor his beautiful blue eyes before Vanessa Hadid assigned me to be his PA.

After Barba left, a new ADA came to town, Peter Stone. My father knew his, but Peter and I never met before. He was cute and very nice, he brought me teas and pastries almost every day, and from time to time, we had lunch together. One night, after a few drinks, Peter and I had sex. Nothing committed, just a one-night stand, with no promises, between two consenting adults. The next morning wasn’t even awkward, we both had our fun and we stayed friend, occasionally having lunch or a drink. His sister’s death totally crushed him, and he had a lot of problems. Alcohol, sex, he was on a downward spiral. He left after having been set up by a so-called friend.

Then, Sonny came along. On his first day, Ms. Hadid called me from her office and said I had to come upstairs. I complied, knowing that as she didn’t like me, I should obey. I straighten my clothes and put my hair in order in one of the bathrooms before knocking on her office door. She told me to come in and he was there. He turned around and smiled down at me. Blond hair, bright blue eyes, a charming smile, white teeth, tailored three-pieces blue suit, I was breathless, wondering why I never saw him closer before. I was totally swooned by the man in front of me. I might have stared too long because Ms. Hadid cleared her throat.

  “Good morning Y/N let me introduce to you the new assistant district attorney, Dominick Carisi Jr. Counsellor Carisi, this is Y/N McCoy”, she introduced us both.

“Nice to meet you Ms. McCoy”, he said, smiling bigger and extending his hand.

“Nice to meet you too, counsellor Carisi”, I replied, letting him take my hand in his bigger one. “What can I do for you Ms. Hadid ?”, I finally asked, when he let go of my hand.

“Nothing, I just wanted to congratulate you on your promotion.”

“My promotion ma’am ?”, I asked, completely shocked.

“Yes, your promotion. You are, from now, ADA Carisi’s personal assistant. Congratulations.”

  I didn’t know what to say. I just opened and closed my mouth like a goldfish out of its bowl. Was it a cruel joke ? After all this time she was finally giving me the position I applied for the first time I passed the Bureau’s door ? For real ?

  “I… I… Thank… Thank you”, I stuttered. “I’m glad that you trust me enough to assist our new ADA.”

“I’m pretty sure that you will make a very good team”, she responded, smiling. “Let’s find you both an office”, she added.

  An office, we didn’t get it before a few weeks ago. For a year, ADA Carisi and I moved from rooms to rooms, to rooms. It was the worst way to do our jobs. Forced to be in the same room for two very different works. Not that I didn’t like to be in the same room, who would complain after all, Dominick was, and still is, a charming and handsome man, always ready to please people around him and very dedicated to his job. Each morning, he brought me an Italian pastry, still does though, and I grew really fond of him. We exchanged a few things during the few breaks he took or during lunch break, that I had, and still have, to remind him. He explained his path to me, why he wanted to be a lawyer, after having been a cop. I told him about my dad being an attorney too, retired now, but not that he was one of the most important ADA this city had. I still think that it’s strange that he still haven’t made the connection. He asked me why I was a PA and I just answered that it was because I liked that job, and that I probably wasn’t made to be an attorney.

Hadid was right, Sonny and I made a great team. I can’t help but feel like if Hadid paired us, it’s because she don’t like us. ADA Carisi because he was a cop and still has a strong bond with SVU and me because of who my father is. She didn’t expect for us to be such a good team. After a year working together, we have a whole routine. I remind him when it’s time to eat or to have a break, so sometimes, we go together for fresh air, taking a coffee down the street when he’s not too busy. It has been strange a few weeks ago when Hadid finally told us that Sonny would have an office. I thought that finally we would have a proper room to work. When we saw his office, the first question he asked wasn’t to question about the inexistant windows of the room, but where I would work, because there were not enough room for two desks. Hadid simply shrugged and said that they would put a desk for me in the hallway, by the door. I know he was about to protest and to say that if I couldn’t have a proper office or couldn’t be in the same room, he wouldn’t accept that office. But I opened my mouth before he opened his and said it was perfect and that I was willing to wait a little for a proper office. That’s how I ended up here.

  “Hey ! Earth to Y/N, are you here ?”

  I snap back to reality feeling a hand shaking my shoulder.

  “Jesus Christ Kat”, I almost shout. “You scared the shit out of me.”

“Well, I told you I was here but, it seems that you didn’t hear me. Too lost in your thoughts, looking down at those envelopes. DA ball”, she adds looking over my shoulder.

“Yep.”

“Going with your dad ?”

“As usual.”

  My brown-haired friend sits down on the chair facing my desk.

  “Coffee ?”, I ask her, and at the same time, Serena exits from ADA Carisi’s office, giggling.

“Have a good day Dominick”, she continues to giggle closing the door from Sonny’s office, and I can feel anger and jealousy rise in me, my free fist, and my jaw clenching. “Oh, and have a good day too McCoy”, she says, walking in front of me, pushing her little cart.

  I really can’t stand that girl. She does everything to make me lose my mind.

  “Just go ahead and punch her freaking face, I would gladly enjoy seeing that”, Kat states. “And to be honest, I don’t think that she’s Carisi’s type”, she adds.

“What ?”, I question, turning to her.

“You perfectly know what I’m talking about Y/N.”

“No”, I bite back.

“Oh yes, you know. You have a think for our ADA friend in here and I know it. And I’m not the only one who saw it.”

“Don’t be ridiculous Kat”, I sigh. “I have to tell him to not forget to eat when I’m gone.”

“Y/N , you’re mothering him, just like you do with your father”, Kat says.

“I don’t”, I respond. “I’m just reminding him that he has to eat and to take breaks sometimes. He’s so into his work that he barely think to eat, drink, or go to the bathroom. He’s really dedicated to what he’s doing.”

“Y/N”, Kat sighs, “Carisi is a big boy, he’s supposed to know when to stop.”

“Oh, he doesn’t believe me.”

“And you’re not his mom. But you could be his girlfriend. Getting lay would do you good. To both of you. And I saw how he looks at you. With enamored eyes.”

“He doesn’t look at me that way Kat, I’m just his assistant.”

“Well, if you don’t want to see, I’ll not insist. Let’s talk about that ball. I’m going too and my dear friend, this year, I’ll make a princess out of the perfect worker that you are !”

  I can see the look on her face, and I really don’t like it. Kat and I met last year when she incorporate SVU team, we quickly became best friends.

  “I’ll make your inner Cinderella pop out !”

“You’re scaring me.”

“And I found the perfect dress for you, and mask.”

“Mask ?”, I ask.

“Masquerade ball, baby. You would know it if you had opened those letters instead of daydreaming.”

“I don’t daydream Kat.”

“Yes, you do. And your reverie is about the tall, blond and handsome Italian behind that door.”

“Aren’t you here to get a warrant back for Captain Benson ?”, I ask, hoping that she will change of subject.

“I am, but I have time”, she replies. “I know you have your lunch date with your dad today, but I offer you something. Tomorrow night, girl’s night and then on Saturday, dress shopping. I found the perfect dress for you !”

“You looked for a dress for me ? Kat ! I’m a big girl, I can dress myself.”

“Yeah, with a sad black dress when you can look like a princess. Please, let’s have girl’s night tomorrow and let me show you the dress on Saturday. You’ll love it, I’m sure of it. That might be the perfect way to attract some ADA.”

“Good morning ladies”, my entire body stiffens when I hear Hadid’s voice and Kat jolts out of her seat.

“Ms. Hadid”, I say, nodding.

“Miss McCoy, Detective Tamin you’re here. To what do we owe the pleasure ?”, she asks Kat.

“I’m here for a warrant Ms. Hadid, and as I’m waiting for it, I’m having a conversation with my friend.”

“This is very nice from you detective, but Miss McCoy has some work to do and we don’t pay her to have little chats with her friends. Don’t make me regret to have promote you or I’ll have to send you back in your little hole.”

“I was about to ask ADA Carisi if he signed the warrant”, I say, before she can add anything.

“Fine”, Hadid states, “and then I hope that you’ll go back to work”, and she leaves.

“Really, you shouldn’t let her talk to you that way”, Kat tells me.

“That’s okay, I’m used to it now”, I sigh.

“You shouldn’t get used to it Y/N. You’re way better than that woman.”

  At the same time, ADA Carisi’s door opens.

  “Y/N, I have the warrant for…”, his voice very soft. “Kat”, he finishes his sentence seeing the dark-haired detective next to my desk. “Morning Kat.”

“Carisi”, she nods, a little smile playing on her lips because of the tone of Sonny’s voice when he thought I was alone.

“This is for you”, he says, handing her the piece of paper I printed earlier.

“Thank you. I’ll leave you two and I will go back to the precinct. Have a nice day Carisi. Y/N, see you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow”, I reply, while Dominick just nods to her.

  And she leaves, the paper in her hand.

  “I heard that Hadid was here”, he turns to me.

“Yeah, she was, reminding me that I’m not paid to ‘have little chats with my friends’ and not to make her ‘regret to have promote me’, because she could send me ‘back in my little hole’”, I reply.

“Don’t let her impress you”, he says, putting his hand on my shoulder. “You’re a better person than she will ever be.”

  I can feel my cheeks getting warmer and I’m probably blushing. That man really knows how to talk to me.

  “Let’s go back to work”, he resumes. “I’ll need you and your fast tipper skills to help me for the Mendelson’s case for my plea.”

“Give me time to make more tea and coffee and I’m all yours”, I say, seeing him turning bright red, and I assume that I must look the same. “I didn’t mean. I wanted to say.”

“I know, I understood”, he says, before going back into his office.

  Jeez dammit Y/N, you really had to…, I think, facepalming myself. A few minutes later, I enter his office with a fresh pot of hot coffee, sugar, and biscuits. I put down the tray on the side table and settle in front of the laptop next to it. Dominick gets up from his chair, his mug in one hand, a pile of papers with his handwriting in the other. He puts the sheets on the table before pouring himself some coffee and then a tea bag and hot water in my own mug, and settles it next to me, before putting some sugar in it.

  “Thanks”, I smile up to him.

  He just smiles back and starts to read his papers. We spend the next hour and a half to type, modify, revise the entire speech.

  “I think we’re done”, he finally says, stretching in his chair.

  I check one last time the document and hit the print button. From the inside of the office, we can hear the noise of the printer. We settle in a comfortable silence while the speech goes out of the printer.

  “So”, he finally breaks the silence, “I supposed you received the invitation for the Christmas ball.”

“I did. I must admit that masquerade ball is an original idea.”

“Indeed. I’ll have to find a suit and a plus one, maybe.”

  My heart aches when he talks about getting a plus one. When I said I grew fond of him, it was in fact a little more. Dominick ‘Sonny’ Carisi Jr. rocks my world for a year now and I love every part of him, from his ridiculously bright blue eyes to his passion for this job. I love the entire being he is.

  “What about you ?”, he asks, making me snap back to reality.

“I’ll probably go with my father, as usual, if I go”, I answer. “Speaking of my father, I should go and refresh a little before he arrives”, I add checking the hour, getting up from my chair. “I’ll bring the sheets when I come back.”

  And with that, I exist the office, walking to the bathroom. There I just look at myself in the mirror, trying not to cry because I’m pinning and crushing on my boss.

  Sonny’s POV

  I watch Y/N leaving my office. Why did I mention that I needed to find a plus one when I don’t want a plus one ? I don’t want to go to that ball with anyone else but her. But I never dared to ask her out. I saw the look on her face when I mention bringing someone with me, that she looked away, as if she was embarrassed by something. She rushed out so fast that I didn’t even had time to tell her that I’m going alone, or probably will bring my niece or one of my sisters. Of course, I’ll not bring a real date to office party, not when the girl that makes my heart sing is the one sitting on front of a desk outside of my office, accepting to work in a hallway just to still be my assistant.

I remember the first time I met Y/N, she had some dust at the bottom of her black pants and on her shoes. A little stain that she probably didn’t notice on her cheek. I knew she had worked for Barba for a few times, while his assistant was absent, but we never stumbled on each other. I looked at her, her Y/E/C hidden behind a pair of glassed, probably easier for her to see in the archives, her Y/H/C tied. When Ms. Hadid introduced each other, I heard some disdain in her voice, like she was despising her, still does though, and I didn’t and still don’t know why. It couldn’t be because Y/N was new here, like I was at the moment, nor because she has links with SVU. I don’t get how she can hate someone who’s so dedicated to her job like Y/N is, she loves what she’s doing, and we make a good team. She takes care of me, more than she should to be honest, reminds me to eat, drink, have some breaks. I remember once, she changed because she had a date, and I couldn’t help to feel jealous of the man she was seeing that night. She was so beautiful in that dress. It’s like every third Thursdays of the month. She has a monthly lunch and afternoon date with her father. On those days, she looks even more glowing. I must admit that I’m a little envious of her dad, you can see that she loves him very much and he has an important place in her life.

I rise my head from the paper in my hand and spot a man standing in front of Y/N’s office. He’s tall with grey hair and hazel eyes is rummaging through Y/N’s papers on her desk.

  “Excuse me sir, can I help you ?”, I ask, exiting my office, after putting down the sheet in my hand.

“I’m looking for my daughter”, he answers. “Have you seen her ? Y/N McCoy, not very tall, Y/E/C, Y/H/C hair.”

“Yeah, Y/N, she’s my assistant. She’s in the bathroom right now. Excuse me sir, but these are confidential, and you don’t have the right to look at it”, I add, seeing him looking at the papers.

“Don’t worry son, I was on the job. Jack McCoy”, he says, extending his hand to me, introducing himself.

“Excuse me, Jack McCoy, like THE Jack McCoy”, I ask, grabbing his hand to shake it. “Y/N never told me that you were her father. Wow, I’m so impressed.”

“Seems so”, he answers. “And I bet you are Dominick Carisi Jr., former cop turned ADA. My daughter told me a lot about you. I don’t know if she told you that her grandfather was a cop, she admired him and she admires you. She says you’re an amazing ADA and that you are passionate by the job. She can’t stop gushing about you and how happy she is to work with such a dedicated person.”

“I can assure you Mr. McCoy that I am as equally happy to work with your daughter. She’s an amazing assistant, she takes care of me when I forget about my basic needs.”

“She did the same with me, since she’s a kid she’s taking care about everyone around her. She knows this office like the back of her hand you know, she spent a lot of time here when she was a child. Sometimes I worked very late and she fell asleep on the couch of my office. She was doing her homework in a corner of the office, lying on the carpet, reading a book while listening to music when I was auditioning people. No one was ever surprised to see her around.”

“I can imagine that”, I reply, picturing a little Y/N, wandering around the corridors of the DA’s building, or working for school, or even reading a book on an office couch, headphones on her hears while her father was working.

“Dad”, I can hear behind me, turn around to see that Y/N is back from the bathroom. “What are you already doing here ?”

  Y/N’s POV

  I enter one of the cabins to pee before going back. When I exit it, I wash my hands and look at myself again checking my make-up and putting some lipstick again, check my hair. When I judge myself decent again, I go out. I walk back from the bathroom, hearing some laughs and voices coming from counsellor Carisi’s office.

  “Dad”, I say, spotting my father behind Dominick’s tall frame. “What are you already doing here ?”

“Y/N, sweetheart”, my father passes by counsellor Carisi to hug me. “I was a little early and I thought I would surprise you. That charming young man here said that you were in the bathroom, so we started to chat a little. I get why you like to work with that young man my darling, he’s really passionate about his job”, he adds, pointing the blond ADA with his thumb.

“If you don’t need me anymore Dominick, I’ll go.”

“Dominick ?”, my dad asks, raising his eyebrow.

“He told me not to call him counsellor, just like you did with your assistants.”

“Actually, I told her to call me Sonny, but she doesn’t”, he says, scratching the back of his head.

“It’s too familiar, you’re my boss after all.”

“Dad, if you’re ready we should go. Of course, if you don’t need me anymore”, I turn to counsellor Carisi.

“That’s good for me, you can go.”

“Thanks”, I reply, going behind my desk to grab my purse and to clean my desk. “Don’t forget to eat, to drink, and to take some break. I ordered you some food for your lunch, I prepared the few files you have to check. Don’t leave too late tonight, you have dinner at your parents”, I conclude, looking at Dominick while I list the things I planned for his afternoon. “Your tie, it’s not straight”, I say, looking at his neck, my hands reaching for the knot, his eyes meeting mine when I start to redo the knot, his face a few centimeters from mine, those pink lips I’d love to kiss for a year. “Here, all done”, I say, smoothing his suit jacket.

“Thanks”, he whispers.

“You’re welcome”, I respond, on the same tone.

  Someone clears his throat next to us and I suddenly remember that my father is around. I step back from counsellor Carisi and grab the two letters on my desk.

  “We should go. Have a nice afternoon Dominick.”

  On that, I grab my coat and scarf and I head to the elevators.

  “Nice to meet you Carisi, let’s meet again sometimes”, I can hear my father say, probably extending his hand to the counsellor to shake it.

“Pleasure is all mine counsellor McCoy, and I would love to”, my boss replies.

  I press the button of the elevator, and when the door opens, I have the bad surprise to see Vanessa Hadid in the cabin.

  “Miss McCoy, I see it’s time for your daddy-daughter lunch date”, she says, stepping out of the elevator, her eyes falling on my father who’s walking towards the elevators. “Counsellor McCoy, what a pleasure to finally meet you. I’m Vanessa Hadid”, she deceitfully adds, a fake smile on her face, extending her hand. “Let me say that I really admire your work and all you did for the city. I think some people should take your successes as examples”, she looks at me, “and do their job better. Speaking of which, Miss McCoy, don’t forget that you must list all the charges in your documents or the ADA and then the DA can’t do their job correctly.”

“I can assure you Ms. Hadid that my job is done correctly, and that ADA Carisi is very satisfied with my work.”

“I’m sure he’s very satisfied of your job, I can tell, but it’s not enough, and ADA Carisi is satisfied with little”, her remark makes me turn red. “I should remember that you’re just a little secretary and the fact that your father was one of the best ADA of this city doesn’t necessarily make you good at your work, what a shame.”

  I can feel my anger boiling inside of my veins. That woman really treats me like crap.

  “My daughter is a PA, Ms. Hadid and I can assure you that despite what you are thinking, she’s very good at her job and she knows what she’s doing, after all, she assisted me a lot when she was younger and her first job was to be my assistant, so if counsellor Carisi says he’s pleased with her work, believe me, he is. Good day Ms. Hadid, and unfortunately, I can’t say that it was a pleasure to meet you.”

  With that, my father links his arm with mine and we step in the elevator.

 Fifteen minutes later, we’re settle at our usual table at Giovanni’s, one of our favorite restaurants. My dad takes me here since I’m a child. It became one of our rituals.

  “I’m surprised that you never told him that I was your father”, he says after the waiter took our orders. “That boy was practically fanboying over me. This was funny to see to be honest.”

“He’s unbeatable on the previous ADAs, and I’m not sure that he would have treat me normally if I had told him about our filiation. He’s very passionate about this job. I find it really cute”, I reply, drinking a sip of my lemonade.

“I don’t think that this is the only thing you find really cute about him.”

  I almost choke on my drink, while he’s looking at me, a small smile playing on his lips before he drinks some of his whiskey.

  “You shouldn’t let her treat you that way you know”, my dad suddenly says, after the waiter put down our plates in front of us, and I know he’s talking about Hadid. “I don’t like the way she talks to you, and the way she talks about that Carisi guy. Clearly, she doesn’t like any of you. But listen to me Y/N, she might be your employer, but don’t forget that you actually have a law degree. Just like her and just like that Daddy-Long-Legs for whom you work. Your ADA”, he adds, emphasizing the ‘your’.

“He’s not my ADA dad”, I sigh, praying that I don’t blush too much.

“I’ve seen the way he looks at you and the way you look at him, act around each other. You two act like a married couple without being one. But office relationship is not something I really advice.”

“Why ? Because of your own and disastrous experiment ?”, I ask more harshly that I intended.

  He gives me a dirty look and I know I’ve gone too far. This is still a sensitive subject. Even if many years have passed, I know that he still feels guilty about Claire Kincaid’s death.

  “Dad, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have talk to you like that. This was rude from me. I know you only want what’s best for me”, I say, reaching for his hand on the table.

“That’s okay Y/N, you’re an adult and I can’t spend my time to protect you nor make choices for you. He seems to be a nice and good guy and if something happens between the two of you, I’ll support you.”

“Thanks dad, but I don’t think that anything will happen between Dominick and me. And to talk about Hadid, I don’t want to risk getting fired, not when I love the job I’m doing and make a good team with the person I work for. I know I can find a PA job anywhere in the city and that I can work in another DA office, but I love working with SVU and with counsellor Carisi.”

“Promise me something then”, he starts, and I just nod, while he grabs my hand, “if she harasses you, you’ll report her. That woman is determined and tough, but I have no doubt that she would crush you, or Carisi, if she could.”

“I have no doubt about that either”, I respond, drinking some of my lemonade. “Don’t worry dad, if she goes too far, I’ll not hesitate to report her. I promise.”

  We continue to eat, in a comfortable silence.

  “Are you going at your mom for Christmas ?”, he asks.

“No. Last time I spoke to her, she reproached me to be too close to you. And I responded that she shouldn’t have to leave when I was a kid, I would probably be closer to her. Same thing as usual”, I shrug.

“You should be less hard with her.”

“She’s the one who chose that situation. Thank God, you never brought an evil stepmother or evil stepsisters home. Just your pretty and young coworkers.”

“What about your sister ?”, he asks.

“Rebecca ? Don’t have any news for a while. I think she has better things to do than spending time with her little half-sister who’s fifteen years younger than her. I think I might spend it by myself this year, unless you have nothing planned.”

“I’m already invited by a judge I worked with, in California. I can ask him if you can come if you want to.”

“No that’s okay, thanks dad, I’ll have a quiet night, I’ll order takeout and watch some movies. I’m used to be alone, remember.”

“That makes me sad to know that you will be alone on Christmas. You are young, you need to have some fun. Go to parties.”

“Speaking of parties”, I say, taking the envelopes from my bag, “I had those this morning.”

  I hand him his letter announcing the annual Christmas ball.

  “Masquerade”, he reads, after taking the letter out of the envelop. “Does that mean they expect us to wear a mask ?”, he asks, not really thrilled at that perspective.

“That’s exactly what they expect”, I reply, taking a bite of food from my plate. “It could be fun, for once.”

“Are you going ?”

“I have to, I can’t skip my job’s Christmas party, especially not when I’m the daughter of Jack McCoy.”

“What are you going to wear ?”, he questions.

“I don’t know, it seems that Kat found something for me, she seems to have decided to play Fairy Godmother with me. Said she found me a gown to wear on that night, to pop-up my inner Cinderella”, I sigh.

“Maybe you should let her do it, she’s your friend, she wants to help you.”

“I know. What about you, are you coming ?”

“I’m going every year, with you since you’re a child, I’m not going to skip that year either, after all they probably will be expecting for me. Especially that boss of yours.”

  He folds the letter in two before putting it in his pocket. We finish our lunches and then spend the afternoon walking in Central Park, going to the zoo, another old tradition from my childhood. I must admit that dad freed up some time for me more than he did for Rebecca. Maybe that’s one of the reasons why she doesn’t really like me. Well, I don’t really think that dad took care more about me than about her. I know he did spend more time with me, but that’s because my mother left. I spent countless nights on the couch of his office, countless days doing my homework on the spare table of his office, sitting in a court room, waiting for him to finish work, eating sandwiches instead of real meals, sometimes a hot meal from the restaurant down the street. When I was old enough to take care of myself, I stayed home, but I found my way back to my dad’s office for my first job during the holidays. I was helping, just like his assistant. Little by little I learned to love that job, helping the ADA, being here when he speaks with the victims, trying to help said victim, somehow investigating for him. Yes, I went to law school and had my degree, and I could be a lawyer, but being the ADA’s PA, was what I really wanted, I couldn’t guess that for a while I would be stuck in the archives.

 After our afternoon, my dad takes me back to my apartment. After we agreed on going at the Masquerade ball together as we do every year.

 The next day is busy. I wasn’t expected for the trial to be that soon. We had a message when I barely arrived that a court and a judge was available for today. The file is complete, we explained to Malia, the victim, all she had to know and that she has to stuck with what she told us, trying to not be destabilized by the other lawyer, everything is ready and we’re sitting at court, when we get the list of the defense’s witnesses.

  “There is someone I don’t know on it. Look, a last-minute addition”, counsellor Carisi tells me, pointing the name of a man.

“What do you want to do ? Do you want me to do a quick research ? That name is ringing a bell to me. As if my father had a trial with a man having the same name. Give me an hour or two, I can probably find something”, he just nods and with that, I rise from my chair and go out of the courtroom.

  I almost run to my office, quickly making a research in the archives. Bingo, I knew it. Quickly printing what I’ve found, I go back to the courthouse as fast as I can to assist counsellor Carisi. When I arrive again inside of the courthouse, I slide next to my boss, noticing that the man is already in the witness booth.

  “Howard Caplan convicted for rape almost twenty years ago. That’s why the name rang a bell to me, my dad was in charge of his trial. Caplan is a rapist, a murderer, and a liar. He’s one of those people who think that victims deserved what happened to them. He’s out because he was released for good behavior three years ago. If you want my opinion, this is a big fuck you to his victims. I was in courthouse when he was found guilty, I was young, but I will remember that face all my life, the face of a monster. The MO is the same, Caplan is probably Rowell’s mentor”, I whisper in Carisi’s ear.

“How did you find it ?”, he asks me, after I show him the paper with the information he needed for the trial.

“I’m the daughter of a retired ADA and the granddaughter of a cop, that makes me really good at sticking my nose into someone’s past, plus this was in the archives I had to type when I worked in my little mouse hole”, I wink at him. “Now you know what buttons to push.”

“Y/N, you’re amazing, I could kiss you”, he says louder, and I turn bright red, and so does he when he realize what he just said. “I mean with no ulterior motive.”

“Counsellor Carisi, if you and Miss Y/L/N have to talk of personal matters, I suggest you do it outside of my court”, the judge shouts in our direction, looking at us.

“I’m sorry your honor.”

“Sorry”, I repeat, and she sighs.

Dominick’s squeezes my hand under the table as another way to say ‘thank you’, his long fingers caressing my palm, a very intimate gesture. I bite my lower lip trying not to sigh in pleasure, and to pay attention to what’s said.

  “Counsellor Carisi, do you have things to ask the witness ?”

“Yes, your honor”, he responds the judge, letting go of my hand and standing up, buttoning his jacket, I can see the gearwheel turning into his head.

  And for five minutes straight, using the information I gave him, he managed to make Caplan admit that he is Rowell’s mentor and that he didn’t want to kill and rape by himself now not to go back in prison. But his confession is a violation to his parole, so he’s arrested right here and there. As for Rowell, he’s declared guilty by the jury. I sigh in relief when the verdict is said, looking at Malia, who’s sitting right behind me, Captain Benson, and Kat at her sides.

 “Thank you so much counsellor Carisi”, she says, hugging him tight.

“Actually, I’m not the one you should thank. Y/N found about Caplan’s past. She helped me a lot”, he tells her, slightly grabbing my hand in his.

  I swallow the lump in my throat while his stares at me right in the eyes.

  “Thank you, Y/N, you’ve been really nice with me during this all thing”, Malia turns to me and hugs me, making counsellor Carisi let go of my hand.

“You’re welcome Malia. Don’t forget that if you need something, you can contact me.”

“I know, thank you”, she says, hugging me again and tighter, before letting go of me.

  Malia exits the courtroom with her mother and sister.

  “Thank you, Y/N, I don’t know what I would do without you”, Dominick’s voice says next to me.

  I turn to him, his blue eyes are sparkling, while he steps towards me, his gaze never leaving mine.

  “Y/N, I’d like to…”

“Y/N, you were amazing”, Kat jumps in, cutting counsellor Carisi, and hold me in her arms. “You and I are officially off duty so let girl’s night begin !”

  From the corner of my eye, I can see Dominick leaving the courthouse alongside with Captain Benson. He slightly turns his head towards me, and I can see sadness in his eyes. I grab my bag and follow Kat who drags me outside of the building.

  “Don’t tell me that you never noticed the way he looks at you”, Kat says, after at least our fifth or sixth drink.

“He’s not looking at me in any way. Our relationship is strictly professional”, I slur, as drunk as she is.

“And the way you look at him.”

“I’m not looking at it in any way either.”

“You both look like two idiots in love, but you’re too idiots to notice”, she gulps her drink and waves at the waiter for another. “He looks like a lovesick puppy in love.”

  The waiter puts down another drink in front of her.

  “And besides”, she continues, “today he literally said that he could kiss you, in court, in front of everyone. That you can’t deny.”

  At those words, I remember what happened after the judge called us to order, his hand touching mine, little circles on my palm, his hand almost sliding in mine and then, the judge asking him to question the witness, only those thoughts make my cheeks turning red again.

  “He just said that because he was happy I found the information. I don’t think he intended to do it”, I sigh, sipping my mojito.

“You know what you need, you need to get laid ! When was the last time you had a good fuck ?”

“Kat !”, I shout.

“What ? You’re gorgeous, clever and you need to get that tall blond and handsome Italian out of your mind. You two act like a married couple without being one.”

“That’s funny you say that my dad told me exactly the same yesterday.”

“And he’s right”, she gulps her drink once again. “Another”, she waves one more time at the waiter.

“No more drinks for you two ladies, you already had way too many and I ordered a cab for you two to go home safely, ride’s on me”, he winks at us. “And this is my number”, he adds, handing me a piece of paper with his phone number on, “in case that guy you like doesn’t open his eyes.”

  I thank him and put the paper in my pocket. A few minutes later, the doors opens to a woman around Kat and I’s age and the waiter waves at her to indicate that we are the customers. The ride home has us sleepy and at the second we pass my front door, Kat collapses on the couch, and I manage to reach my room, after putting a plaid on her so she won’t catch a cold. She’s right, I mother people too much. Then, I finally allow myself to sleep when I fall on my bed.

The next morning, I wake up with a slight headache, fully clothed and Kat’s groan from the living room.

  “Fuck, my head.”

  I stretch like a cat on the mattress, feeling my whole-body crack before getting up.

  “Good morning to you too”, I say, stepping in my living room.

“How could you let me drink that much ?”, she asks.

“Nothing can seem to have stopped you, so I rather drank too”, I respond, shrugging. “What do you think about breakfast ?”

“Give me some aspirin first”, she says, sitting on the couch, massaging her temples.

  I turn around and walk to the kitchen. I open a cupboard and pull out two glasses, before filling it with water. I open the meds cabinet and take two aspirin pills, then I head back to the living room.

  “Here you go”, I hand her one of the pills and one of glasses of water before gulping my own pill and water.

“Thank God”, she thanks me, taking the glass and the pill.

“Oh, you can just call me Y/N, you know”, I joke, and she chuckles. “What about breakfast now ?”, I ask.

“I thought you would never ask”, she answers, rising from the couch.

She follows me to the kitchen. I take grab two mugs and start the coffee maker and the kettle.

“So, dress shopping today”, she states, very seriously when I put some bread, butter, spread and jam in front of her. “I will doll you up for the love of Carisi.”

“You’re obsessed Kat.”

“Me ? No, I just want my best friend’s happiness.”

  I rise an eyebrow, not really knowing what to answer to that. I appreciate Kat’s efforts to help me having a love life, but I really don’t really see why she absolutely wants to set me up with Carisi. I recognize that I have a massive crush on my boss, but regarding my dad’s situation when I was younger, I don’t think this is a good idea.

  “Stop trying to set me up with my boss please.”

“No”, she replies, a sly smile on her lips.

  I pour some coffee in her mug and some water in mine before I hand her the steamy coffee. We take our breakfast in a comfortable silence before each of us take a shower. As Kat and I are used to sleep at each other’s home after a night outside or for a girl’s night, we have spare clothes at each other’s.

  “Are you ready ?”, she asks, as soon as I go outside of my bedroom, slipping my head into a NYC sweater.

“Is it normal that I am frightened about that dress story ?”, I question.

“I promise you that you have nothing to be afraid about. I swear that you will love that dress and look stunning in it. It was made for you.”

  I sigh, I don’t really have a choice, I need a dress for the DA’s office Christmas Ball and I also know that Kat doesn’t give up that easy. She almost drags me from my apartment to the subway. Thirty minutes later, she stops in front of a little clothes shop.

  “How did you find this place ?”, I ask her, knowing that the kind of dress I can see in the window display.

  Indeed, a lot of the dresses I can see look like prom gowns or princesses’ dresses. So far from Kat’s usual clothing. I never wore a dress like this, not even for my prom. To be honest, I didn’t even go to prom, no one invited me, and I didn’t want to go there alone, instead, I spent the night at the restaurant with my dad who then, took me to a musical, a quiet night to celebrate my high school graduation and acceptation to law school. I look at one of the dressing and then close my eyes, imaging myself in it, looking like a princess, waltzing with a tall blue-eyed Italian in a three pieces-suit.

  “Y/N. Y/N. Y/N. Earth to Y/N, come back here”, my eyes shoot open. “You were daydreaming again, and according to the smile on your face, I know who you were daydreaming about”, she sings-song mockingly.

“I wasn’t daydreaming about Sonny”, I poorly defend myself too quickly, probably blushing in the process.

“Ah ! I knew it !”, she points at me. “But you’re not going into one of these dresses. There is a special one waiting for you inside”, she adds, dragging me inside of the store.

“Kat, you’re here !”, a woman says behind the counter. “And I bet this is the friend you told me about. The one for the dress”, she adds, smiling at me. “Come in darling”, she moves from her spot and grabs my hand to pull me towards fitting rooms, before making me step on a pedestal. “You were right I’m sure the dress will be perfect for her. Please sweetheart, take off your coat so I can see if the size is the good one.”

  I do what she says, shrugging my coat off my shoulder. She points at my sweater that I take off too.

  “Perfect, she’s gonna be perfect for my dress”, she claps her hands after turning around me.

“I told you it was made for her. And he’s gonna be crazy about it.”

“Can you please stop talking as if I wasn’t in the room ?”, I question, annoyed.

“Yes, sorry sweetie. You’ll step in that fitting you and remove your clothes, socks and shoes too, just stay in your underwear, and I’ll come with the dress and help you slip in it. There are no mirrors in the room, so you’ll not see yourself before we come back here”, I just nod. “Come on, undress and I’ll get the dress.”

  Just before I close the fitting room door, I can see the woman locking the front door and turning the open/close sign. I undress as she told me, hopping I’ll not die of cold before she comes back.

  “Well, are you ready dear ?”, I hear less than two minutes later, and when I say yes, she comes in, carrying a huge slipcover. “Turn around and close your eyes. Kat wants it to be a surprise”,  I comply, I don’t want to offend Kat, especially when she wants to make me a surprise. “Lift your arms, yes perfect”, I can feel the soft fabric of the dress on my skin. One hand puts my right shoulder under a brace, hands smooth the top of the dress around my chest, strings are pulled behind my back, and finally, the skirt is behind deployed around my legs and feet. “Put your hands on the wall, I’ll put the shoes on your feet.” I obey one more time, feeling my feet slipping in, making me a little taller. “Come on darling, eyes closed still, you’ll follow me.”

  She grabs my hands and guides me back to the store.

  “Oh my God, Y/N, you’re stunning”, Kat says from I don’t know where.

“Well, for now, I have to believe you as I haven’t seen myself yet.”

“Believe me, you look like a princess.”

“Mind the step”, the store woman warns me. “One more little thing and you can open your eyes.”

  I can feel her putting something on my shoulders. A soft and light fabric, maybe tulle caresses my skin.

  “Open the mirrors Kat please”, she says. “Okay, now sweetheart, you’ll open your eyes and see yourself. On three. One. Two. Three.”

  I open my eyes. There are mirrors all around and reflecting in those, me, in the most beautiful dress I’ve ever seen in my life.

  “It’s... I…”, I don’t know what to say, I barely recognize myself. I look like Cinderella. The dress is blue, with light blue and golden strass on the bustier which has only one shoulder strap, the other goes under my left arm, little blue straps in the back. The skirt is perfect, made of silk covered with blue tulle, with silver glitters, is not too big nor too small. A tulle shawl is covering my shoulders and tied on my chest. I lift the skirt to check on the shoes. They are the same color as the dress, blue with silver glitters. “Oh my god”, I manage to finally say after looking at me in the mirrors. “Kat, you were right, I look like a princess.”

“Least but not last”, the shop owner comes back near me, a sliver mask matching my dress in her hands. “I designed it for you, especially for the dress”, she adds, putting it on my nose.

  I look at the mask, on the silver base, there are blue patterns on the left side and a golden butterfly on the right, with some pearls on its wing. I step down the pedestal and hug Kat tight.

  “You’re going to be the most beautiful woman of that ball.”

  Three weeks after the dress fitting, and said dress hanging on my wardrobe, in a slipcover, waiting to be worn tomorrow at the DA Christmas Ball. Those last three weeks have been pretty calm, which was unexpected considering the time of the year. Usually, Christmas is one of the busiest times of the year. During those three weeks, I spent a lot of times with Dominick and he was dashing as usual. His blue eyes sparkling when talks about his nieces waiting for Santa to give them gifts. The ball is tomorrow and then, next Saturday it’s Christmas Eve, and on Sunday Christmas, that I’ll spend on my own this year. Maybe it’ll do me good, the occasion to rest and rethink my life maybe.

  “Well, I think we don’t need to stay here any longer”, counsellor Carisi says, going out of his office. “You can turn this off Y/N, I don’t think that something will happen now. Friday, 5:30 pm, no calls from SVU since last week. I must admit that I’m glad that this year is calm, not like last year where we had work all over our heads.”

  He smiles at me and my heart nearly misses a beat. That man will be the death of me someday. Why am I not even capable to ask him for a drink or a lunch date sometimes, just the two of us, no work between us and especially, no Vanessa Hadid, who just happened to appear in the corridor where my desk is, when Dominick is about to speak again.

  “Carisi, McCoy”, she calls us. “You both can leave, we don’t have any more work, so we can call it a week. Go get a drink or grab something to eat, enjoy your evening. See you both at the ball tomorrow. Well, if I manage to recognize you”, she adds, before leaving.

  I turn off my computer to see that he came back into his office, probably to take his coat and turn off the light. Then, he comes back when I rise from my chair, putting my scarf around my neck.

  “Y/N, before Ms. Hadid arrived and interrupted us, I was about to tell you that it’s still early and I wanted to ask you if you’d like to…”

“Y/N !”, I hear my dad’s voice shooting from behind.

“Dad ? What are you doing here ?”, I question, turning to him, taken by surprise.

“Taking you to dinner sweetheart, it wasn’t planned but as we are going to the DA ball tomorrow and also because I won’t be here the next two weeks so we won’t have our lunch date, I thought that we could spend the evening together.”

“I… Yes dad, of course”, I respond, “give me a minute please”, he nods, and I turn back to my boss. “What did you want to ask me Dominick ?”

“Never mind, another time maybe”, he answers, looking disappointed. “You should spend a good night with your father and enjoy it. I’ll see you tomorrow, try to save me a dance. Have a nice evening. It was a pleasure to see you again Mr. McCoy”, he says, before extending his hand to my father to shake it.

“Did I interrupt something ?”, my father asks once Sonny is out of view and ears.

“You’re the second person interrupting when he’s about to ask me something”, I whisper, not loud enough for him to hear it.

“What ?”

“Nothing”, I sadly smile at him. “Let’s go for a walk and maybe, I’ll find your Christmas present on the way”, trying to be as joyful as possible, feeling bad for Dominick who twice tried to say something and was interrupted, once by our shrew boss, the second time by my good intentioned father.

“If you want my opinion, that boy probably wanted to ask you on a date. He’s got a thing for you.”

“Dad, we already talked about it, don’t be ridiculous. Let’s go now, would you”, I conclude, slipping my coat on my shoulders.

  The evening passed fast and the next day is here too soon. Kat joins me in the afternoon to get ready. Her friend from the store showed her how to put the dress on me.

  “There you go”, she says, putting a little more red lipstick on my lips. “Perfect.”

  She turns me to the mirror, and I look at myself. I already loved the dress when I tried it, but I love it more this time with make-up and my hair done. I take a look at Kat’s outfits. She wears a black suit, with a little touch of make up on her eyes.

  “You really are something else Katriona Tamin.”

“What ? Because I don’t wear a dress ?”

“No because you’re really something else. I’ve never had a friend who did for me what you have done. I don’t even know if anybody’s friend already did that. You saw a dress, booked it for me convinced that it would fit, you support me and help me when I need something. I’m glad I met you Kat Tamin and it’s an honor to call you my best friend. Thank you”, I say, hugging her tight.

“Oh, don’t thank me now Y/N McCoy, you’ll thank me when you and Carisi are married, having kids and when you’ll ask me to be the godmother of your first born.”

“Kat !”

“Don’t pretend to be offended. If tonight he doesn’t fall for you, I’ll kick his ass myself.”

  We start to laugh when we’re interrupted by the doorbell.

  “Hey dad”, I greet him, opening the door.

“Hello sweetheart”, he responds, kissing my forehead. “You look radiant”, he adds, taking a step back to look at me.

“Thanks daddy. I feel like a princess”, I turn on myself to show him the back of the dress.

“Don’t forget this !”, Kat says, handing me my mask. “Hi Mr. McCoy.”

“Miss Tamin. What an interesting choice of outfit. But it suites you.”

“Thank you, Mr. McCoy. You look very good yourself.”

“Thanks, I just didn’t put that on”, he says, waving the mask in his hand. “This is ridiculous.”

“That’s not ridiculous dad, that’s the principle of a masquerade ball.”

“We should go, or we will be late”, Kat states.

“I have a little surprise for you girls”, my dad says once I lock the door.

  Indeed, a very big surprise, I was expecting a cab waiting for us, but a limo is parked in front of my building. The driver opens the door and help Kat and I to climb in the car. The ride is quick and before I can realize it, we’re in front of the city hall where the ball takes place. We put our masks on before exiting the car.

  “Can you please take us back at midnight ?”, my father asks the driver.

“Of course, sir. Have a nice night”, and with that, he comes back in car and drives away.

  I rise my head and notice that the city hall has been decorated for the occasion with a lot of white lights in the shape of snowflakes. My father starts to climb the stairs, followed by Kat.

  “Dad wait a minute please. Promise me something. Don’t drink too much tonight please.”

“Be here at midnight or I’ll leave without you.”

  That said, he offers me his arm to climb the stairs, Kat by my side. I hand to the person at the door our invitations and we come in. The inside of the ballroom is more beautiful than the outside. There is a huge white Christmas tree, decorated with some Christmas balls, garlands and lights. The walls are full of colorful ribbons. There are tables, full of food and drinks all around the dancefloor, a disco ball hanging on the celling, a DJ is placed in the far end of the room. All around us, there are people wearing masks, so that’s impossible to say who’s who.

  “I’ll go grab a drink”, my dad says. “I’ll see you later”, and with that he leaves.

“I want to ferret a little around. If I don’t see you again before you leave, I’ll call you tomorrow”, she says, kissing my cheek. “Have a good night Cinderella”, she winks at me before walking away.

  I sigh, finding myself alone in the middle of that big party. I take a glass of champagne of the table and sip on it and taste one of the appetizers on a plate next to the drinks. I start to wander around, climbing the stairs to the balcony, looking down at the ball room, watching the first dancers evolving on the dancefloor. I don’t know who they are and I’m not sure that they know who they are dancing with, but everyone seems to be happy with that. I go back downstairs, wandering on the first floor. Music is blasting from the loudspeakers while I’m still walking around almost walking through I don’t know what door, when a hand touch my arm and stops me. I turn around to see who it is, and my eyes meet with a pair of blue ones. The tall man in front of me is starring, before he grabs my hand and take it to his lips, laying a kiss on it. I can’t properly see his face because of my mask, and his only let me see his eyes, his mask sort of looking like the one of Erik, The Phantom of the Opera, I can only see his mouth, not his nose nor the shape of his face, he wears a black suit, Phantom of the Opera style too, matching his mask. Then, silently, he lightly turns his gaze towards the dancefloor, silently asking for my permission to dance and I just nod. He leads me to the middle of the dancefloor. He takes my hand in his and slides his arm around my waist while I put my other hand on his shoulder, and we start to sway to the music. I'll be your dream, I'll be your wish, I'll be your fantasy I'll be your hope, I'll be your love, be everything that you need I love you more with every breath truly, madly, deeply do, the song says, while his eyes are never leaving mine. It’s just him and I lost in the middle of the crowd, locked in a bubble, where nothing else exists but my mysterious dance partner. The more we sway, the more I feel I’m where I’m meant to be, even if I don’t know who he is, I feel good in the arms of that unknown man, who doesn’t seem to know who I am either. The more the song passes, the more I want to kiss him, my eyes go from his eyes to his lips and I think that he must have understand because he leans towards me. I'll be your dream, I'll be your wish, I'll be your fantasy I'll be your hope, I'll be your love, be everything that you need I love you more with every breath truly, madly, deeply do, the song says again when our lips finally touch. My mysterious partner has soft lips, I tighten my grip on his shoulder when he deepens the kiss.

The song ends and it’s like our bubble doesn’t burst. He looks at me smiling, pecking my lips once again, before dragging me behind him towards the inner gardens. I’m giggling like a teenager, living my prom in my early thirties instead of at seventeen. He presses me to one of the pillars of the city hall, his right hand on it while his left hand cups my right cheek and his lips find mine again. My hands find his arms and I’m sliding them until I reach the back of his neck, pulling him a little more into me. I’ve never been kissed like this, ever. I don’t know how long I stay here, kissing a perfect stranger but it feels so right and maybe, just maybe for once, I can allow myself not to think about Dominick Carisi Jr. I’m still in my bubble until I hear it.

  “Goddamn it, where is she ?!”, I recognize my dad’s voice, opening my eyes wide, pulling away from my strange one-night lover and also realize that the city hall clock strikes midnight.

“What is it ?”, my mysterious man asks, whispering.

“I… I have to go”, I answer, murmuring too. “I’m sorry”, I add, pecking his lips one more time before running for my life.

  I think he didn’t had time to process because I have time to reach the main entry of the city hall.

  “Hey, wait !”, I can hear behind me, but I don’t have time to care about him.

“Dad, wait”, I shoot, from the top of the stairs when I see him walking towards the limo, and by the way he walks, I can say that he drank more that he should have. “Dad”, I lift my dress and start to run down the stairs.

  I manage to reach the car, after I struggled with a hole in the stairs and the heel of one of my shoes.

  “There you are”, my dad’s drunk voice greets me when I sit down, and the driver starts to drive. “I saw you kissing I don’t know who. I know I told you you should have fun, but I didn’t think that you would take it that way. “What ?”, he asks suddenly.

“My shoe, I lost one of my shoes, and my shawl”, I say, looking down at my feet, unknotting my mask.

“Well play, now your mysterious prince charming is going to make all the girls from New York trying that shoe to find you.”

“Dad, please stop”, I just manage to say, too tired to bite back at him, because all I want now is to go back home and sleep, probably replaying myself the dance and the kiss to put myself to sleep.

 Sonny’s POV

 I’m dressing myself, hoping that this will have a good effect for the masquerade ball. I made some research before I chose my outfit for tonight. I didn’t really want to look like a prince charming, I wanted to try something different and I remembered that Y/N once mentioned that there was a masquerade ball in a musical she has seen several times with her father when she was younger, The Phantom of the Opera. I checked online to see what the suit and the mask looked like and I decided to wear it. I just took a mask that was a little different.

  “Hey Carisi, nice disguise”, Fin says when he parks in front of my building.

“Wanted to do something a little less conventional than usual, play the game”, I respond.

“Play the game dressing as The Phantom of the City Hall ?”, he mocks me. “Maybe you do that for a certain Y/H/C with Y/E/C lady.”

“She’s supposed to be here, with her father, but with the masks, I’m not sure that I’ll recognize her, she can be dressed in any outfit.”

“Let’s just hope you’ll find her. Now we better get going, I have to take Phoebe on the way.”

  We stop by Phoebe’s apartment where she comes out dressed in an amazing dress. Once at the city hall and in the ball room, I look around to see if I spot Y/N or Mr. McCoy, or maybe Kat, as she and Y/N are best friend, she probably knows how she’s dress. After a first drink and some appetizers, I grab another champagne glass and go upstairs, looking at the ball room from the balcony. That’s when I see her. No not Y/N. A girl with Y/H/C in a blue dress, with a matching mask, a butterfly covering half of her face. I don’t know what she’s doing, but she’s looking at everything in an awe. I don’t know why but I feel attract by that girl, I gulp my coupe and go back downstairs. I don’t know what she’s searching or looking for but she’s about to go in a room she can’t go. I don’t say a word, just touch her arm. She turns around, she’s stunning, outstanding, she takes my breath away. A real princess. I just grab her hand and kiss it. I look at the dancefloor, silently asking her if she wants to dance, she just nods and smile. I take her in the middle of it, we’re surrounded by other people. I take her hand in mine and put my other hand on her hip, while she puts her free hand on my shoulder. We sway slowly, following the slow rhythm of the song, some tune that was released when I was like fifteen. I never leave her eyes, gorgeous Y/E/C eyes. I'll be your dream, I'll be your wish, I'll be your fantasy I'll be your hope, I'll be your love, be everything that you need I love you more with every breath truly, madly, deeply do, I don’t even know who she is but those are words I would tell that girl. Those are words I would tell Y/N if I dared to tell her how I feel about her, but I’ll probably never say it. At some point I can see her eyes travelling from my eyes to my lips, I’m attracted to her and I want to kiss her, badly. Once again, I silently ask her, and she silently agrees. I press my lips to hers in a slow but tender kiss. Her fingers tighten around my shoulder. Nothing else exists but her and me, it’s like there is a bubble around us. The song ends but I don’t want that night to finish. I peck her lips one more time and take her hand to go to the pillars near the inner gardens. She giggles and I find that this is the cutest sound I’ve ever heard. I press her to one the pillars, I steady myself putting my right hand on the pillar and I cup her cheek with my left hand, and I kiss her again. That’s the first time I kiss a total stranger and it’ll probably be the last time, but it feels right. Her hands go up my arms and find their place behind my neck pulling me into her. I don’t know how long our kiss lasts, but suddenly, she pulls away.

  “Goddamn it, where is she ?!”, a voice shouts from I don’t know where and the city hall clock strikes midnight.

“What is it ?”, I ask her, whispering.

“I… I have to go”, she answers, murmuring too. “I’m sorry”, she adds, pecking my lips one more time before she runs for her life.

  I’m completely taken aback as she runs away.

  “Wait !”, I shout, running after her, but she’s already at the other side of the room, still running. I might have long legs, the crowd stops me to reach her.

  I look over people’s heads to see her, her head turning from right to left as if she’s looking for someone. Suddenly, she’s on the run again.

  “Hey, wait !”, I shout, making people looking at me.

  I see her running down the stairs and when I finally reach the entry and go down the stairs, she dives into a limo and the car leaves.

  “Wait !”, I shout once again, going down the stairs, trying to catch the car, but it’s too late.

  With rage I rip off the mask from my face.

  “Fuck !”

“Carisi, what’s going on ?”, I can see Kat at the top of the stairs.

“There’s, there’s that girl, I danced with her she… She…”, I suddenly stop seeing a blue shoe stuck in the concrete of the stairs and a blue tulle shawl fluttering around.

  I bend to take the shoe and I can see Kat going down to me, the blue shawl in her hands.

  “Oh, she really made her inner Cinderella pop out, dancing with the prince, loosing a shoe, leaving at midnight”, she says.

“What ?”, I ask.

“Nothing”, she answers.

“You know who she is don’t you ?”, I question her.

“I’m not saying a thing”, she responds. “You will have to find your princess by yourself”, she adds, handing me the shawl.

  I take the shawl in my hands along with the shoes and turn back to where the car disappeared, not knowing how I’ll be able to find who that girl is.

  Y/N’s POV

  I slept at my dad’s after the Masquerade ball, I let the dress flood around my feet in my childhood room and find a few clothes I let in the apartment in case I have to sleep here. Nothing changed since the moment I left home, the decoration is still the same, the sheets on the bed are still the ones with animals and I found an old pink pajama in the chest of drawers. My phone beeps, it’s a message from Kat ‘Girl, I saw you dancing with that guy and most importantly kissing him. Who is he ? So, no more pinning over Carisi ? I want to know everything. Love ya’. I respond her that we will talk about it later. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I fell asleep, replaying in my head the dance and the kiss.

The next morning, my father drops me at my apartment before going at the airport and wishing me a merry Christmas. I wave at him when the car goes away, sighing, wondering how I’ll get my shoe back and if I’ll ever know who my mysterious prince charming was.

The next three days nothing really happen either, at work it’s still really calm, and I take advantage of it to clean a little and sort the old files which are ready to go in the archives. Sonny seems to be somewhere else, in his own world, I don’t know what he’s thinking about, lost in his thoughts, only snapping back to Earth when I knock on the door. He barely speaks or asks me things, plays with his food when we eat. He seems to look at something that he hides when I enter his office. It’s Wednesday and frankly I don’t really know what to do. I had a phone call with Kat, who asked me about my prince charming if I found out who he was, and I said no. I also told her that I lost one of my shoes and my shawl and asked if she found it or anyone, she said she didn’t see any blue shoe nor shawl and that I should ask the city hall. That I did but, they didn’t find it either. I wonder who can have my shoe and my shawl. Well, I’m not sure that anyone would do anything with a thin tulle shawl and a single shoe.

I continue to sort my files, humming the song I danced on with my mysterious blue-eyed prince charming.

 Sonny’s POV

  I have the impression that I spend my time starring at this shoe sing Saturday night. It’s Wednesday and I still don’t know to whom it belongs to, nor the tulle shawl. Luckily, we don’t really have work so I can think about what happened during the ball than being distracted of my work. I take the shoe and the shawl everywhere with me, hiding it when someone, mostly Y/N, knocks on the door. Serena came in between and gushed about the ball, saying it was a shame that she didn’t see or dance with me. But she spoke about that mysterious girl with the Cinderella dress dancing with an also mysterious man dressed as the Phantom of the Opera and that a lot of persons are talking about them, the mysterious couple. I clearly understood that she was jealous because she wasn’t the center of the attention. Knowing her a little, she would have brag about herself if she was the girl in the Cinderella dress. Honestly, I’m relieved that it’s not her. Actually, I’d preferred that Cinderella was Y/N to choose. She’s very quiet for the last three days, I’m not really talkative either, each of us in our own world. I didn’t even ask her how the ball was for her. We don’t have a lot to do, it’s almost like criminals decided to be nice this year.

It’s very early and I don’t have a lot to do and I think that Y/N doesn’t have a lot to do either, I could take her out for lunch, we have plenty of time. She started to sort old files to store them in the archives, but I don’t think she has many to do after two days of doing it already. I open the door and I can hear her softly humming a song. At first, I don’t recognize it, but then ‘I'll be your dream, I'll be your wish, I'll be your fantasy I'll be your hope, I'll be your love, be everything that you need I love you more with every breath truly, madly, deeply do’. The song, the Masquerade ball song, the I danced on with Cinderella. It’s her, Cinderella is Y/N ! Realization strikes, same hair color, same eyes, how couldn’t I even realize it before ? I step back in my office and take the shoe and the shawl out of the drawer before going back to the hall.

  “I wanna stand with you on a mountain, I wanna bathe with you in the sea, I wanna lay like this forever, Until the sky falls down on me.”

  Hearing these words, she turns around, looking at me with wide eyes, falling on the shoe and the shawl between my hands.

  Y/N’s POV

  Behind me, I hear the chorus of the song from the ball. I turn around and I can feel my eyes widen when I realize that prince charming is Dominick freaking Carisi Jr., my own boss, the guy I’m heads over heels for, for a year. My eyes fall on the shoe in his hand, my shoe, the one I lost.

  “It was you all along”, he almost murmurs. “I think this is yours”, he adds, kneeling in front of me before I can even rise from my chair.

  He removes my left shoe from my foot and slips the blue one on. I don’t even respond, I just look into his beautiful blue orbs, wondering how I couldn’t see that it was him all along. How couldn’t I not recognize someone I see almost every day for more than a year. He gets on his feet and holds his hand to me so I can get up too. None of us say a word, he just slips the shawl around my shoulders.

  “It seems that people are talking about us”, he says, his voice still soft and without raising his tone, and I look up to him. “What happened Saturday night, you have no idea for how long I wanted this to happen”, he adds, his hand cupping my cheek, making me look at him. I start to touch his arms, my eyes never leaving his. “Y/N, can I kiss you again ? Because to be honest, that’s the only thing I’ve been thinking about for the last three days and the moment you ran away.”

“Yes, you can, Dominick. And for the record, that’s the only thing I’ve been thinking about too.”

  In no time, he bends his head, and his lips are on mine giving me a soft but yet passionate kiss. I snake my arms around his neck, one of my hands starts to play with his hair, allowing him to pull me a little more into his tall frame, one of his hands finds its way behind my head, when his second arm wraps itself around my waist. Once again, I feel like I’m in a bubble, here in Sonny Carisi’s arms, it’s like nothing can harm me there.

  “Excuse me, what the hell is going on here ?”

  We both turn our heads to the voice coming from the other side of my desk. Vanessa Hadid is here, starring at us.

  “Miss McCoy, I don’t think I pay you to make out with one of my ADAs. You are paid to assist him, not to kiss him. Mr. Carisi, I don’t think that behavior is appropriated, and this could make both of you fired. Or I can send Miss McCoy back to her little whole downstairs. Your choice Miss McCoy, either you and counsellor Carisi stop there your little make out session and go back to normal relationship, or you can go back to your little hole in the archives or if I want to, I can fire you right away.”

  That’s too much this time, it’s the final straw. Sonny lets go of me and I smooth my clothes.

  “Ms. Hadid, may I’m going to tell you something, and I don’t want to be interrupted. I don’t know what I’ve done to you or why you don’t like me. Is it because of my name ? Because my father is one of the greatest and most famous ADA and then DA that city ever known ? Is that an ego problem ? Let me tell you something. I know you’re the one who hired me, so I don’t think that you have see my resume, but if you look at it, you’ll see that I have a law degree, just like you, just like counsellor Carisi, just like my father, the great Jack McCoy. I just chose a different path. I spent a lot of time around here when I was a kid. When I was old enough to work, I helped my father, was his PA and I loved the job, that’s why I chose to be a PA rather than a lawyer. What you’re doing to me is harassment, once again I don’t know why, but I think that it must be because my name is McCoy, that for you maybe I’m privilege because of that. Breaking new, I’m not. But you know what, I know my rights, nothing authorizes you to fire me just because I’m in a relationship with a coworker, especially of it doesn’t jeopardize our work. Sonny and I are a great team. So, threating me of fire me because of that, you don’t have the right to. I could sue you for that you know, and believe me, you never saw me in court. My father could represent me, go out of his retirement, and plead for me. Or I could do it by myself, and believe me, as Jack McCoy’s daughter, I know how to defend a case. So now Ms. Hadid, threat me one more time for no reason and I’ll sue you, and I can guarantee you, that you’ll not win.”

  She opens and closes her mouth like a goldfish out of its tank.

  “If you both think that this relationship will not have a bad influence on your work, there is no problem for me. I just wanted to let you know that I’m on a break from now to the end of the holidays. Both of you have nice holidays and I’ll see you in January.”

  With that, she leaves, letting me and Sonny alone in my hall.

  “I didn’t know you had a law degree”, Sonny wraps his arms around my waist.

“Oh, I don’t tell everyone in fact. Everyone would think that they need to hire me as a lawyer because of my father and I don’t want that. Plus, I think I wouldn’t have made a good attorney. I’m satisfied with my work”, I shrug.

  I look at him, hair disheveled from my hands, so far from their usual combing.

  “Do you want to have lunch outside ?”, he asks.

“Dominick Carisi Jr., are you asking me out ?”

“If you want it to be a date, this can be, Miss McCoy.”

“I’d love to”, I respond, “but maybe it would be better if I wear the same shoes”, I laugh.

  I sit down again on my chair to change my shoe for my boot. When I’m on my feet again, Sonny hands me my coat and helps me to put it. When I’m ready, we walk hand in hand to the elevator.

  “Still nothing planned for Christmas ?”, he questions.

“Nope, nothing but tv and probably Chinese takeout.”

“What if you come with me at my parents’ ? One more person will not change anything. And my mom will be very impressive that I managed to put the glass slipper on Cinderella’s foot.”

  I laugh and I accept, I really have a good feeling about this.

Taglist :

@bisexualcrowley​, @storiesofsvu​, @the16thprecinct​, @svu-ncis-criminalminds​, @australiancarisi​, @teamsladsandgents​, @thatesqcrush​, @caplanreads​, @averyhotchner​,

[five-rivers]

Cold Case

So, this is a continuation of Interview With a Ghost, my corpse AU.  Sort of.  Lots of outsider perspective.  

But, I’m too lazy to hunt down the tumblr links.  So.  Here’s the AO3 link to the series.  

.

.

.

McGee braced himself before getting out of his car and walking into the precinct.  He’d heard all the jokes before, all the mindless digs at his name, and he liked to think that he’d grown a thick skin in response, but part of him still flinched every time.  

Plus, there was a reason he’d been sent to Amity Park.  That reason being the incredibly suspicious crime rate.  That is, the just shy of nonexistent crime rate.  Also, the billionaire mayor that had popped up out of nowhere.  And the high road repair and park maintenance bills.  

Oh, yeah, and the giant murder investigation that had just.  Disappeared.

The county wanted answers.  So, they sent McGee.  Of course, they didn’t tell the Amity Park Police Department that.  As far as they knew, he was just a transfer. Someone being shifted from one department to another.  

So, yeah.  Bracing.  Just like the wind.  Ouch, it was cold.  McGee wrapped his coat more closely around himself and began jogging through the otherwise deserted parking garage.  

The… underground parking garage.  Wind?  

McGee stopped and turned in place, trying to see where the breeze could have possibly come from.  There weren’t exactly any windows down here.  

Feeling more cautious, but not knowing why, McGee made his way more slowly to the elevator door and hit the call button.  The doors opened immediately.  Inside, a speaker tried to play music, but what came out of it was mostly ear-tearing static.  

Well.  If APPD was getting paid off by a mob or the town was skimming from road funds, they certainly weren’t using their ill-gotten gains on the elevators.  

When the doors opened, McGee was hit with a blast of warm air and Christmas music.  He kept his face carefully blank.  It had only just become December, and the police station was… it was… Well. McGee would have to call it ‘decked out,’ no matter how much he abhorred the phrase.  

… Why were there so many menorahs?

“Hey, are you John McGee?”

“Yes, that’s me,” said McGee, turning to face a remarkably plain man in a button-down shirt and a pullover sweater.  

The man had a pair of novelty felt antlers on his head.  They were decorated with bells.  How unprofessional.

“I’m Collins.  We’ll probably be working together at some point.  Same department.”

“Homicide?”

Collins raised his eyebrows.  “I don’t know what you were told, but we don’t have enough homicides to warrant a dedicated homicide department.  We get a one or two mysterious deaths every month, but it always turns out to be, like, anaphylaxis or something.”  He brought a mug to his lips and sipped slowly.  “Mostly we do vice, theft, fraud, and missing persons. Not much of that last one, either. Oh, we had an arson one time.  But it turned out it wasn’t really arson. Anyway, let’s get you checked in, and hopefully Patterson will be here by the time Captain Jones is done with you.”

“Patterson?”

“My partner.  You know, you being here gives us an odd number of detectives.  That’s going to be weird.”  He sipped from his mug again.  “Maybe we’ll promote someone.  Not Cameron Daily, though.”  Collins stared into the middle distance.  “No. Not Cameron Daily.  Love that man. He’s got to stay in tech support.”

“The captain?” prompted McGee.  

“Hah.  Yeah. You have to brave the secretaries, first.”  Collins patted McGee on the shoulder, and McGee suppressed the impulse to shake him off. “Good luck.  At least this is going to be a quiet month, right?”

.

McGee spent what was probably far too much time pondering what Collins had meant by ‘it’s going to be a quiet month.’  Did the APPD’s arrangement with the local criminals (because there had to be an arrangement) include forewarning concerning the crimes they did deign to investigate?  Or did they have statistics that indicated December was a low-crime time for Amity Park?

Orientation was highly typical, as far as these things went.  The only oddity were the advertisements and promotional pictures for the local tourist trap tapped up all over half the captain’s office.  Was the man a fan?  Did he believe in that ghost nonsense?  Was it some kind of bizarre joke?

At least the Christmas plague hadn’t made it this far.

“Right, now that we’ve got that part out of the way, let’s move on.  We normally like an even number of detectives, but the county moved you over so fast we couldn’t get you a partner, and no one is retiring.”  Jones rolled his shoulders and fixed McGee with a very sharp gaze.  “Do you know why the county was so… insistent with your transfer?”

Ah.  So, the captain was suspicious.  Time to put that backstory to good use.  

“Honestly, sir, I embarrassed someone, and I think they just spun the wheel on how to get rid of me.”

“Mhm.  See, usually when they do that, they pick from departments that actually put in requests for extra personnel.  We haven’t.”

“I think the main concern was just to keep me away.”

“I see.”  The level of suspicion in the man’s eyes did not change.  “You’re going to be with Patterson and Collins until you get your feet under you and we decide what to do about the partner situation. If the county will even let us out another detective on payroll.  Consider yourself on probation as far as whatever it is you’re doing with the county. Don’t put my detectives in danger.”

“Sir—”

“Whatever excuse you have, I don’t want to hear it. Go talk to Collins.  I know you met him.  Patterson probably isn’t here yet.”

.

Collins stood next to a woman in a coat with a long dark braid.  Both of their backs were to McGee.  He could see that they were talking to one another, making tight little gestures with their hands near their chests.  All the other occupants of the room stared at them without a modicum of shame.  

“—until he sees his first fight?  We’re supposed to babysit him until January?  We won’t be able to talk about anything!”

“Well, if you’d been on time, maybe we could have convinced the captain not to—”

Someone behind McGee cleared their throat. Loudly.  Collins and the woman turned, sheepishly.  

“Oh.  McGee. McGee, this is Patterson. Patterson, this is McGee.  You’ll be working with us, apparently.”

“Hopefully, I’ll be able to get out of your hair before too long,” said McGee.

“Don’t count on it.  How long have you been in town?” asked Patterson.  

“Only since yesterday.  Why?”

“We’re showing you around,” said Patterson, snatching the antlers from Collins’s head.  

“Consider it your last bit of freedom before you’re condemned to paperwork,” said Collins.  

.

Amity Park was odd, McGee decided.  

It wasn’t just the clashing but equally enthusiastic Halloween and Christmas decorations, the omnipresent construction, and the worrying number of holes in the road (really, there was no way the road repair budget was actually getting used on the roads).  There was something else.  Something McGee couldn’t put his finger on.  Something—

He did a double-take.  Were those two cosplaying the Ghostbusters?  Why?

How seriously did these people take their tourist trap nonsense?

“What are Jack and Maddie doing out?” asked Patterson.

“I don’t know,” said Collins.  He tilted his head to one side and pulled into a nearby convenience store parking lot.  “You’d think they’d be told; December is a quiet month.”

“Mhm.  Maybe they didn’t believe it?”

“They can be stubborn sometimes,” mused Collins. “But it would be nice if there was some action.”  He pulled the parking brake.  “You want to introduce McGee to the local celebrities?”

A look of indescribable disgust appeared on Patterson’s face.  “Why don’t you introduce them?”

“I did that last time.”

“No, you didn’t.  You rang their doorbell and then ran like the coward you are.”

Collins, without any hint of repentance, shrugged. “Wouldn’t you do the same?”

“This is different,” she protested.  “This isn’t just any new resident.  This is a coworker.  A coworker who isn’t going to see that kind of action for a whole month.”

“Action?” asked McGee.  This felt perilously close to what he’d been tasked to find out.  

“You’ll find out in a month,” said Collins. “Assuming you last that long.”

McGee frowned, and decided to take another risk and prompt the pair further.  “I know you have a low crime rate here,” he said, “but I’m sure there will be something for us to investigate before the end of the month.”

“Well, yeah,” said Collins.  “We don’t get paid for doing nothing.”

There was a sharp rap on the window, and everyone jumped.  God. It was just some kid.  McGee put a hand over his heart and tried not to think too hard about the time he had almost been killed in his car by a dirty cop and his gangster friends.

Collins rolled the window down, letting in a gust of frigid wind.  

“Hi, detectives!” chirped the teen.  “I heard you got a new guy!”

Oh.  That was interesting.  Was the local gang using children as in-betweens?

“Yep,” said Patterson.  “This is McGee.  McGee, this is Danny, the only sane Fenton.”

Danny tipped his head to the side and squinted. “I think that title needs to go to Jazz.”

“Danny, I hate to break it to you, but your sister is a lunatic,” said Patterson, completely serious.  

“Come on, you’re just saying that,” said Danny, staring openly at McGee.  

Did this kid blink?

“Anyway, I’ve introduced McGee to one Fenton, you get to do the others,” said Patterson, poking Collins in the ribs.

“Danny doesn’t count,” protested Collins, squirming. “He’s sane, like you said.”

“You’ll have to be fast.  Mom and Dad are like three blocks down the street chasing…”  He trailed off.  “Well, they think they’re chasing something, anyway.  Transient noise on their latest EMF reader.”  He rolled his eyes and finally blinked.  

“Think they might actually get anything?” asked Patterson.

“Nothing with a mind,” said Danny.  “Might have to play animal control soon, though.”  There was a loud crash and a squeal of rubber, followed by distant but still deafening engine noises.  Danny winced.  “Can you please give them a fine for driving around in that thing?”

“They have a special permit,” said Collins, shrugging.  “Straight from the mayor.  Nothing we can do.”

“I will bribe you to do something.”

McGee choked.

“With what?” asked Collins.  “You’re a penniless middle schooler.”

“Excuse you,” said Danny, crossing his arms. “You know I’m in high school.”

There was another crash.  

“Are you sure they haven’t found anything?” asked Patterson, leaning forward.  

“Absolutely positive,” said Danny.  He sighed.  “I should probably go, though.”

“Okay, have fun, Danny!”

“Don’t think you’re getting out of introductions, Patterson,” grumbled Collins.  

.

“Alright,” said Collins, opening a narrow door and turning on the buzzing yellow light within.  “Your kingdom awaits!”  He gestured grandly, disrupting clouds of dust.  “You’ll be entering old cases into the system.  Did Cameron Daily show you how?”

McGee’s lips twisted at the memory of the computer tech.  “Yes,” he said.  

“Yeah, Cameron gets that reaction,” said Collins, thumping McGee on the back.  “If it makes you feel better, he’s usually in charge of keeping track of the cults. Did he tell you about the VHS evidence?”

“The cults?”

“Yep.  You’ll learn about those later.  VHS?”

“Yes, he told me how to handle the VHS.”

“Great.  So, Patterson and I will be working on case paperwork in the main room, if you have any questions, come get us, okay?”

“I will,” said McGee.  

Collins nodded.  “If we wind up being assigned a case, we’ll come get you.”  He absentmindedly rubbed his shoulder.  “The captain probably won’t give us anything today. Oh, and if Mayor Masters drops in, redirect him to the front desk.  There’s no reason for him to be back here.”

There was a good deal of hostility in Collins’ tone. Interesting.  

“Do you not get along with the mayor?”

“We get along fine,” said Collins.  “He just oversteps his authority, sometimes.”

“I… see.”

“Not yet you don’t,” said Collins, softly, before turning to walk away.  A “Good luck” was tossed casually over the man’s shoulder and seemed to echo in the air despite the hall being far too small for that to happen.  

McGee turned to his work and smiled.  They shouldn’t have left him alone with the records. This was where he did his best work. There was always a paper trail somewhere.  

He opened the department-issued laptop and brought up the digital filing system.  

It was odd, though.  He’d spent years in the police, and he’d never heard of Fenton & Foley Information Systems.  

.

The department computer filing system was a miracle.  McGee meant that completely, as a connoisseur of filing systems.  He wondered if he could get the county to adopt it, assuming it didn’t tie back to the mob or something equally unsavory.  

On the other hand, it was only a couple months old, by the looks of it.  It was, therefore, mostly empty, as compared to the almost infinite number of filing boxes in the record room.  

The record room was not well organized.  In fact, it was barely organized at all.  Several of the boxes looked like they’d been beaten with a bat, others were singed.  A few dripped with something sticky and green. One or two looked as though they’d been drenched in water and then left to dry in a dark, damp room.  Only about half of them were labeled.  

To top it off, towards the beginning he’d found a post-it that had said: Boxy, if you steal these again, I’m going to leave you in the thermos for a week.  -Phantom

The people here were way too into their tourist trap shenanigans.  Unless they weren’t just tourist trap shenanigans.  Unless they were a front.  

He’d put that on his list of things to investigate.

But first, first, he was going to find the records for the murder that was recently swept under the table.

The newest boxes, despite being reasonably intact and therefore unique, weren’t easy to find, but he was able to drag them out and sit down with his laptop.  He could enter as he searched, and thereby give the illusion that he was a completely normal transfer more credence.  

Except.

Except.  The records for that murder didn’t seem to exist.  Not even in the cold case box.

“Hey.”

McGee jumped.  Patterson was standing behind him, holding two paper coffee cups.  

“How’s it going?” she asked.  “I know these records are hell.”

“Fine,” he said.  

“Coffee?”

“Sure.”  He took the offered cup from her.  “Forgive me if I’m wrong,” he said, “but when I was working up at county, I heard that you had a murder case here, recently?  You dug up a teen’s body?”

“Oh, yeah.”  Patterson was unperturbed.  “Yeah, that was pretty exciting.  Collins and I were on that.”

“I can’t seem to find the records for it.”

“Yeah.  Well, there wasn’t any foul play.”  Patterson shrugged.  

“Wasn’t he found buried in a public park?”

“Well, aren’t you informed,” said Patterson. She sipped her coffee aggressively through the plastic stirring straw.  

“So, you found an illegally buried teenager’s corpse and just… dropped it?”

“We investigated it,” said Patterson.  “There wasn’t anything there.  Case was cold even without that.”  Another long, aggressive sip.  She couldn’t possibly be getting any coffee up through that straw.  It had to be mostly air.  

This was the most bizarre intimidation tactic McGee had ever come across in his entire life.  This was saying something.  Once he’d worked with a man who’d pretend to have the flu during interrogations.  

“You should still have records for the investigation.”

Patterson shrugged.  “You’d have to ask Captain Jones about that.  Anyway, I brought a bunch of tapes for you, too.  You’ll have to rewind them by hand, though, when you finally get to them.”  Another sip. “Are you planning on doing the salvage boxes?”

“The what?”

“The salvage boxes.  The ones that got fished out of the lake.  Wouldn’t blame you if you weren’t.  Just curious.”

“I’m- They were in a lake?  Why?”

“Stick around and find out,” said Patterson.  “Did Masters come bother you yet?”

“Mayor Masters?”

“The one and only,” said Patterson, raising her coffee in a mock toast.  

“Why would he come here?”

“Because you’re new, and theoretically a weak link. Oh, yeah.  One more thing.  I know your check-out time is in half an hour, but come back around eight, okay?”

“Why?”

“Reasons.”

“Are you hazing me?”

“That’s what the salvage boxes are for,” said Patterson.  “Come back at eight.  Bye.” She waved as she left.  

Great.  What was he supposed to do about that?

.

He didn’t go home after checking out. Instead, he walked around town.  Patterson and Collins’ tour had been… interesting. Not terribly informative.  They had given him an overview of various restaurants, ‘paranormal hotspots,’ and places where dumb kids gathered to experiment with drugs of dubious legality.  

But they had avoided certain parts of town.  McGee had noticed.  

True, some of that was likely coincidence, but McGee had never heard of a public cemetery that wasn’t the site of something shady. Sure, a good caretaker would chase off anyone messing around in daylight, but cemeteries and graveyards just attracted trouble.  Even if that trouble was just the local goth kids running around while high out of their minds.  

But this cemetery, evidently, is different. Because there’s an unholy amount of people there for something that supposedly hallowed ground.  Is this also part of the weird ghost-theme the place had going for itself?  Were those tourists?  In the graveyard?  

That seemed to be in remarkably poor taste.  

McGee pushed his hands deeper into his pockets and lengthened his stride.  This whole town was in poor taste.  

Oddly, everyone seemed to be gathered around the same grave.  Maybe it was a funeral?  No, the ground in front of the headstone was long since patted firm, and the headstone, while obviously fairly new, had some evidence of weathering even from a distance.

Had there been a celebration today?  Memorial Day wasn’t today, was it?  McGee always lost track of those fiddly little holidays.

Huh.  The headstone was blank.

“Excuse me,” he said to a nearby woman.  “Do you know who was buried here?”

“You… don’t know?” she asked, eyes wide with surprise.  

McGee grinned.  “I’m new in town, I’m afraid, and I just saw all these people here… I’m curious, I guess.”

“Oh,” said the woman.  She looked away, every part of her body language screaming that she was coming up with a story to feed him.  A lie.  Or, at least, deciding which lie to use.  “Well, there was a body found a few months ago?  No one ever identified him, so… He was buried here?  We just, um.  It was sad, you know?  You’ll probably hear more about it if you stick around.”

Despite almost everything she said being a statement, she still managed to make everything but the last sentence sound like a question.  

Even if it was a lie…

“I hadn’t, actually.  Can you tell me what happened?”

… Maybe it was just what McGee needed.