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artificialqueens · 4 years ago

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Different People (Different Arguments), 3/14 (Branjie/Jankie) - Ortega

a/n: ayo!! so sorry for the update gap fam, but chapter 3 is here! soooo hope u all enjoy. p.s. i promise I love Nicky, Gigi and Crystal…but every good story has a bad guy right???

fic summary: Brooke Lynn is a political advisor for a government department where she has to contend with an incompetent Minister, maintaining her stone-cold bitch image, working alongside a press team of slackers, and the Prime Minister’s ever-so-slightly terrifying enforcer breathing down her neck 24/7. So when a familiar face from her past arrives as her new boss, she’s not exactly thrilled to add another problem to her ever-growing pile.

And then she admits she’s got a crush on her coworker.

Last chapter: Jackie became a breakout political star after she spoke out against the homophobia and misogyny in the media, and Brooke finally acknowledged that her feelings for Vanessa maybe weren’t as platonic as she’d thought.

In this chapter: When Shadow Minister Nicky Doll and her advisors arrive at DoSac for an informal, pre-election briefing, Jan tries to cope with the stress of seeing her old colleagues again. There’s more at stake, though, when Jackie reveals a secret that cannot get out.

***

Casting her eyes over the meeting room, Brooke attempted to focus on what Jackie was actually saying. She was trying her hardest, she really was, but it was just that Vanessa was wearing the red jumper today, the really soft one that made her look more cuddly and adorable than normal.

Brooke had a crush on Vanessa. She’d accepted that now. The way to deal with it was just to never act upon it, talk about it, or to admit it to anyone outside of her own head. She’d spent so long cultivating the perfect stone-cold, heartless bitch image and she wasn’t exactly going to do anything to taint that now. The most important thing she had to remember was that she didn’t need anyone- she had no desire to be in a relationship, to be tied down and have to answer to someone else all the time. She had a perfectly good bullet to get her off and if she felt like it she could always go and pick up someone random from a bar. There was always that irritating aspect when the afterglow had faded, though, if whoever she’d used for the night wanted to stay over, or heaven forbid see her again. Things were just better as they were, Brooke concluded. She couldn’t get attached, or hurt, or fall in love this way. If there was one thing she wasn’t, it was vulnerable. Getting into a relationship with someone put you in the weakest position you could possibly get.

She would know, after all.

Still, she was allowed to dream about it; an ideal world in which love worked out the way it did in books and movies, one huge cliché where Brooke and Vanessa were happy together and lived in perfect domesticity, had the best sex of their lives and went on adorable dates. It was simplistic and shallow and completely unrealistic, but perhaps that was all it was meant to be.

Gazing at Vanessa again, she was surprised to see her eyes already on her. She was even more surprised when she looked around the room and saw that everyone else was staring at her as well.

“Brooke Lynn?” Jackie asked, staring at her expectantly. She stood in front of a huge whiteboard with marker pen scribbled all over it- generic buzzwords such as “connectivity”, “inclusivity” and “diversity” sprang out to her, but nothing really indicated what Jackie could have previously been talking about.

“Um. The fiscal year?” Brooke guessed blankly. Jan laughed from across the table, throwing her head back and letting her blonde hair cascade down the back of the chair. Jackie didn’t find it as funny.

“For God’s sake, Brooke, this policy is only going to work if everyone pays attention and has some form of input other than just staring at me with glassy eyes like they’ve been goddamn taxidermied!” she sighed, sitting her pen down on the table and sliding into an empty chair. Brooke felt a pang of guilt- Jackie had been doing well in the two weeks that had followed her Von’Du interview and had received heaps of public support and attention. The perfect time, Bianca had insisted, to get some new ideas out there and into parliament.

“Sorry. Remind me of the premise?”

Irritated, Jackie rolled her eyes before Vanessa cut in with a sweet smile. “Issa scheme to get the UK to house more refugees and get ‘em into work therefore boosting the economy, diversifyin’ the nation and basically makin’ us look like good guys to the rest of Europe.”

Brooke shot her a grateful smile across the table, trying her best not to blush.

“Thank God someone’s been listening,” Jackie smirked. “We’re basically just trying to come up with a name for it. Or a tagline or something.”

Brooke pressed her pen to her lips, thinking for a second. Nina suddenly piped up from beside her.

“What about…Don’t be bigoted. Be uninhibited,” she said, her suggestion met with utter silence from the rest of the group.

“Well that was nice, Nina, but how about something a bit less…” Jackie thought for a second, trying to find the correct word.

“Shit?” Brooke shrugged, Jan once again letting out a peal of laughter. Vanessa was clearly trying to conceal her giggles from the other side of the huge table, while both Nina and Jackie looked unimpressed.

“Do you have any better suggestions?”

“No, and I’m not going to pretend like I do! I’m not going to just yell out any old crap like I’ve got shit idea Tourette’s,” Brooke shrugged, Jan now bent over in her chair from laughter and Vanessa now audibly giggling. Brooke couldn’t tell, but she could have sworn Jackie let out the tiniest snort of a laugh before regaining composure.

“Ladies, please, this is important! This is a good damn idea, if I’m allowed to blow my own trumpet, and we’ve got to get it out there sooner rather than later,” she insisted. A loud, harsh vibration from Nina’s phone startled them all.

“Bianca’s here,” she announced, trying to keep her tone bright. Before the girls even had time to react to the news, Bianca had appeared in the room in a smart, tailored black and white suit.

“Good morning to you all, shit Spice Girls impersonation act,” she smiled cheerfully.

“Mornin’, Bianca,” Vanessa greeted her.

“To what do I owe the pleasure?” Jackie quipped dryly, lounging back in her seat.

“Two things from me,” Bianca began, ignoring the Minister’s sarcasm. “The shadow minister’s visit, today at 11. They’re going to be talking to Nina and the rest of those brain-dead, civil-service puppets out there about what’s going to happen if they take office. Nina, your job is to basically communicate to them that they’ll be taking it out of my cold, dead hands.”

“Fuck, that’s today?!” Vanessa exclaimed somewhat involuntarily, earning her a steely glare from Bianca which in turn made Vanessa look as if she was seconds away from death. Reaching into her pocket and retrieving her phone, Brooke fired off a quick text to Vanessa under the table.

B: It’s okay. Snakes only eat once every few weeks x

As Bianca briefed Nina, Brooke watched as Vanessa looked down into her lap and smiled, a light blush colouring her cheeks very slightly, although that could have just been the light of the room. Satisfied that she’d made Vanessa feel better, she tuned back in to what Bianca was saying.

“…you tell them nothing. Except where the toilets are, but you lie about that.”

“So who’s actually accompanying Nicky today? I’ve heard nothing and I want to make sure I’m relatively prepared for whoever enters my department,” Jackie folded her arms across her chest, already defensive.

“You already know about Nicky. Privately educated daddy’s girl and massively out of touch with the electorate. Probably a lizard wearing a human skin suit, I’ve never particularly wanted to get close enough to her to check if that theory’s true,” Bianca shrugged. “The other two coming with her are going to be her advisors, Gigi and Crystal.”

“Oh no,” Jan suddenly exclaimed from her chair. Her face had gone incredibly ashen, her eyes wide and fearful. Suddenly Brooke was acutely aware that she no longer had only Vanessa to worry about. If Jan’s old colleagues and ex-friends bumped into her it wouldn’t be particularly pleasant, and Jan would no doubt be incredibly shaken. Crossing the floor was like a betrayal, pledging loyalty to one party after being aligned with another was treacherous, and so it was likely that Gigi, Crystal and Nicky still wanted Jan’s head on a stick.

“Oh yes. Gigi Goode, bit of a newborn as far as politics is concerned but she’s got impressive credentials. Graduated from Oxford University with a first class degree and a PhD in Politics and Business. Won the World Universities Debating Championships five consecutive times. She’s confident, clever, and has zero scruples. Knows every loophole in the world of politics,” Bianca reeled off. Jackie raised her eyebrows, clearly impressed.

“She sounds interesting.”

“Don’t even make contact with her, she’ll probably have you telling her the fucking nuke codes and all the department’s discrepancies within the first 30 seconds of meeting her. Crystal Harness is a different story,” Bianca frowned. “Not too good when it comes to actual political knowledge. Nina, you and her would get along. She’s a baby too, really, not been in the game long. Graduated from Oxford Brookes. Second class degree in Psychology and Sociology. Don’t think for a second that this is a reason to underestimate her. She is cunning and has intellect and knows everything about everyone, don’t let her see you break a sweat.”

Jackie looked momentarily terrified. “I didn’t realise Nicky had some kind of metahuman task force working for her.”

“They’re not that bad,” Brooke sighed, tipping her head back in her chair. “If you talk to Nicky entirely in cockney rhyming slang, she’ll just combust. Gigi is fine if you give her a fake smile or two. Crystal is basically simple. You’ve got nothing to worry about, Jackie.”

Feeling the mood in the room change, Brooke turned around in her wheely chair and was met with Bianca’s icy stare.

“What part of ‘don’t underestimate these people’ do you not understand? What, you think they’re here for a jolly little chat with Nina about worker’s rights and office hours? They’re here to get intel, and I want you all to be more airtight than some middle-aged white woman’s Tupperware. And no, that’s not a euphemism.”

Brooke watched as Vanessa wrinkled up her nose in distaste. She had such a cute little nose, and Brooke found herself imagining how perfect it would be to just kiss it gently before they both drifted off to sleep together in a little house that they shared. Frowning involuntarily, Brooke chased those particular thoughts out of her head. They were way too intense, too weird and commitment-y for her friend she had a stupid crush on. Remembering what Bianca had said earlier, she turned and faced her.

“What was the other thing? You said you had two things to tell us.”

“I’m getting there! Right, Jackie, I’ve got you a good photo op this evening. Some new charging points for electric car owners, it’s going to be the biggest one in the UK and a big step for climate change, yadda yadda yadda. We’re going to get you driving in a fucking Prius or something, charging it up and then driving out again. Pretty simple, but effective- what? What is it?”

Every head in the room turned to face Jackie, who looked as if she’d seen a ghost. Her hands were gripping the edge of the table, her knuckles white. She’d turned pale, her face ashen, and she seemed worried.

“Driving? No, I can’t drive, there’s no way,” she babbled, her usually calm and composed exterior completely destroyed.

“Jackie?” Jan prompted quietly, clearly concerned. Brooke shared a brief look of confusion with Vanessa. It was clear nobody had the faintest idea what was going on.

“I mean, you can drive. We have your drivers’ license, you sent in a photocopy as proof of identification when you received Darienne’s job. I don’t really see the issue here?” Bianca curled her top lip, completely unfazed by Jackie’s behaviour.

“Bianca, you don’t understand…I’ve not driven in ages, I…do you not-”

“Do I not what?” Bianca cut in, her irritation mounting by the second. “Look, I don’t really have time to stand here and argue the toss. This is part of your job. You’re doing the goddamn photo op. Christ, this was the girl who two weeks ago was desperate to get on prime time television. Now you’re shitting yourself at the thought of driving a bloody battery operated car. Get it done. 6 o’clock tonight. See you all later.”

As Bianca click-clacked out of the department, the mood in the room was still very tense. Almost frozen, Brooke thought, the tiny hairs on her arms standing up from goosebumps. Jan was the first to speak.

“Jackie, are you okay?” she almost whispered, her voice both deafening and quiet in the silent room. There were a few seconds (minutes?) where there was no response at all, in fact Brooke was almost convinced that nobody even breathed. Finally, Jackie spoke.

“Yep. All good. So, um, if you ladies can continue thinking up some form of line or title we can use or something while you’re finishing off that immigration data, and Nina if you can just forward me the protocol for Nicky’s visit again so I can read over it, then that would be great,” she said, her body almost frozen in place and her face wearing a fake smile.

Deciding not to push it any further, Brooke simply nodded and walked back to her desk. It wasn’t long before Vanessa was following behind, rolling her own wheely chair along to sit beside her.

“What d’you think all that was about?” she whispered, leaning her elbows on Brooke’s desk expectantly. Brooke couldn’t help but stifle a laugh- Vanessa could be such a gossip and it was one of the things that was oddly endearing about her. Trying not to be too taken in by her perfume and parted lips, Brooke instead threw up her defences again and rolled her eyes.

“I don’t know, ‘Ness. To be honest, it’s not my place to ask. It’s not yours either,” she chastised softly, hitting Vanessa gently on the nose with her pen. Wrinkling her nose and pulling away, Vanessa shrugged.

“You’re right, I know. Still, she was kinda rattled. Hope she’s okay,” Vanessa frowned, nibbling on her bottom lip.

“She’ll be fine. Honestly. Just go and do your damn job.”

“Hmm. Winding you up’s more fun, baby, but I’ll do what I’m told,” Vanessa winked at her, shooting back off to her desk in her chair.

Feeling her heart speed up, Brooke fleetingly wondered if maybe the feelings she had for Vanessa weren’t entirely one-sided. That was flirting, right? Brooke wasn’t reading too much into it? Or maybe she was. Reality brought her back down to earth with a bump, telling her what a ridiculous thought that was. Vanessa saw Brooke as a friend and a co-worker, and that was where her feelings ended. Brooke couldn’t let herself get carried away or distracted with the idea that Vanessa would ever treat her as anything more than what they already were.

Letting out a huge exhale of breath, Brooke opened up the immigration spreadsheet and was about to start working when there was a thud of two elbows on the empty space to her left. Turning slowly in an attempt to conceal her flinching, she was met with Yvie; head in her hands, black dreads cascading over her shoulders and a huge, smug grin on her face.

“Don’t even say a word,” Brooke warned her, clearly too late as Yvie began sniggering a laugh behind her hands.

“I wasn’t actually here to gloat, but now you mention it…” Yvie joked, lolling lazily against Brooke’s desk. “So you’ve not admitted anything to anyone else. In fact, you’re probably maintaining the fact that there’s nothing to admit. But you’ve definitely admitted something to yourself, because I think your face is so red that you could go stand at a street corner and act as a traffic light.”

“If you keep talking, I’m going to staple your mouth shut,” Brooke glared, grabbing the stapler on her desk for emphasis. It didn’t seem to intimidate Yvie at all, who was still grinning maniacally and completely unfazed.

“Hey, like I said! Not here to gloat at all. I’m actually not here to talk about your deep feelings for your coworker in any way. Just thought you might like to know that Akeria texted me this a couple minutes ago.”

With that, Yvie produced her phone and held it out to Brooke so that she could read the screen.

A: ahahaha yeah. Big Silk with the fuckin bodyshots man!! Don’t actually know how she made it in today. Also, 100% confirmed Nicky’s looking for stuff to take Jackie down with bc she’s still pissed about that dig in the Von’Du interview. watch ur back xo

Attempting to ignore whatever conversation that had been going on before, Brooke focussed on the important information. She wished she could say she was surprised by the shadow minister’s plan but in all honesty, she’d highly expected it. Sighing, Brooke handed Yvie her phone back.

“I mean, I’m not too worried. What can she possibly dig up? Jackie will’ve been vetted by Bianca already,” she shrugged, clicking on a single cell of the spreadsheet half-heartedly.

“She got pizza delivered to the office last week?”

“That’s not even- Yvie. Come on,” Brooke raised one eyebrow in disbelief. “The papers would be hard pressed to conjure up a paragraph on that. Jackie will be fine.”

Appearing to be satisfied, Yvie pushed herself off the desk and made to return to her seat, but not before turning back to Brooke with the same smug look on her face as before.

“You know, I don’t think anyone in the office could’ve missed that wink Vanjie gave you just there. Whatever you’re feeling, I don’t think it’s as one-sided as you think,” she smirked, making sure to keep her voice low. Unsure of what to reply, Brooke simply narrowed her eyes, picked up her stapler and clicked it twice in warning. Chuckling, Yvie sauntered back to her desk.

Trying not to even entertain the thought that Vanessa could like her back, Brooke continued with her work. All of the numbers suddenly seemed scrambled and jumbled up, making no sense to her whatsoever. Feeling as if she was about to scream with frustration she made to ask Jan for advice until she noticed her desk was empty. Come to think of it, Jan hadn’t actually left the meeting room with her and Vanessa. Bullshit if she was getting away with doing nothing while Brooke worked on this entire set of figures by herself. Getting up and smoothing her skirt down she made her way to the meeting room only to find it empty. Puzzled, she began to walk slightly aimlessly down the corridor, her curiosity piqued at the disappearance of both Jan and Jackie. It was unlike Jan to just wander off without telling either Brooke or Vanessa where she was going.

Reaching the photocopier and a dead end with no Jan in sight, Brooke was about to give up and ask Nina for help instead when she heard two sets of muffled voices coming from the stationery cupboard.

“I’m just panicking, I know. But I feel like I have good reason to. I mean, it’s going to be absolute carnage if this gets out.”

“It won’t, don’t worry. I still can’t believe Bianca missed that when she vetted you. But please don’t panic, it’ll all be fine! I’ll speak to Nina and I’ll get her to quietly cancel it.”

Jackie and Jan. What the hell were they in the stationery cupboard for, and most importantly, what were they talking about? Whatever it was, it sounded serious. If it was serious business, Brooke deserved to know. Making to burst open the door in a show of outrage, she stopped herself when Jackie’s voice spoke again.

“I just feel like such a failure. I should’ve known it would get out, I should’ve said something-”

“Hey! You are not a failure,” Jan’s voice cut in urgently. There was an odd sort of pause in which Brooke wasn’t quite sure what was happening. “You’re a good person, Jackie, and a kick-ass politician. You’re the best thing to happen to this department since I arrived, even if I do say so myself.”

Soft laughter, then Jan’s voice again. “You’re incredible. Don’t ever doubt that.”

Another pause. Brooke couldn’t quite bring herself to move, somehow feeling as if she shouldn’t be hearing this at all. Composing herself, she rested her hand on the door handle.

“Jan I…this might seem inappropriate, but-”

“Okay, what the hell is going on in here?” Brooke demanded as she flung open the door and revealed herself. Both girls seemed to jump back a bit, Jackie looking to the floor awkwardly and rubbing the back of her neck, Jan’s mouth forming a perfect circle as her jaw dropped in shock. They had both gone bright red, which Brooke thought was odd for two colleagues having a professional conversation.

“Jesus, Brooke, you scared the crap out of me,” Jackie breathed out raggedly, her voice spooked but holding an underlying note of irritation.

“I don’t care, you haven’t answered my question. What were you talking about? What’s going to be carnage?” Brooke replied, keeping her glare cold. Jackie kept her eyes trained on the floor, not seeming to want to look up anytime soon. Jan still hadn’t spoken.

“Close the door,” Jackie said finally, sounding a little shaken. Feeling the wind slightly knocked out of her sails, Brooke did as she was told and watched as Jackie steadied herself on the shelf and sat on an unopened box.

“Um. Do you remember I kind of went off grid after uni? A lot of people were asking after me and couldn’t really find me.”

With a pang of guilt, Brooke’s first reaction was that she hadn’t really cared. She’d been glad to see the back of Jackie at the time, if she was honest. Times had changed, though, so Brooke simply nodded instead. Jackie wrung her hands together, her face completely racked with nerves.

“I wasn’t in a good place. My mental health spiralled out of control pretty dramatically once I graduated, I struggled to find a job for a while and when I did, I got way too into it. I would work myself into a frenzy, I’d do consecutive days on two hours of sleep…at one point I was averaging a panic attack per day. I didn’t really, um. I didn’t really have anyone to talk to about things. I tried going to therapy but it just didn’t help. I don’t know…it felt like I was making progress just being able to know that I was visiting someone, I guess, but I wasn’t really. Anyway, you don’t need to know my sob story,” Jackie frowned, shaking her head repeatedly. “To cut a long story short, I was driving into work one day, trying to do twenty things at once as usual. It was idiotic, but I was on the motorway and a text came through from my boss and wanting to seem like I was organised and in control, I tried to type and drive at the same time…the motorway was quiet, there was nobody around me…fuck, sorry-”

As Jackie’s voice broke slightly, Jan crossed over to where she sat and rested a gentle hand on her shoulder.

“I crashed into the barricade in the central reservation doing fifty miles an hour. God knows how I’m still alive. The police obviously came along with the ambulance and the fire brigade and of course they wanted to know how it was that I managed to crash on a clear stretch of road with no other drivers around me. I’ve never been able to lie to save myself, so I just told them. I’d only passed my test the year before that, so they took my license away. That’s why I can’t do the PR thing. It’s illegal for me to drive. I got a fake license purely so I could take this job.”

Leaning against the door, Brooke felt she wanted to sit down too. This was so much to deal with. She couldn’t style herself out as not caring about this, because she actually felt sick to her stomach with guilt. She couldn’t believe Jackie had coped- or not coped- completely on her own through all this horrible mess. Even though there was no way she could have known, Brooke just wished she could’ve done something differently. She desperately hoped Jackie was better now.

“Jackie, I’m so sorry.”

“No, no, don’t be sorry. This isn’t about me being…enormously god damn mental in the head, or whatever,” she snorted a derisive laugh. “I’m more worried about how we’re going to placate Bianca. Jan said she’d talk to Nina and get her to cancel the shoot but Bianca’s going to ask questions.”

“Well it’s not your fault she didn’t vet you properly,” Brooke shrugged, how Bianca would feel the absolute last thing on her mind right now. “So she can just deal with it. How Bianca feels doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’re okay.”

Jackie looked up at her, her face grateful but slightly taken aback at this raw show of compassion. Truthfully, Brooke was also slightly shocked at how kind she was being towards her. She was grateful for the shout that came from the hall suddenly.

“Brooke? Guys? You in there?” Vanessa asked, as she opened the door and stepped inside the stationery cupboard that was ever-decreasing in space. Confused by the presence of her boss and the two other advisors, her perfect eyebrows became furrowed together. “There some meeting I didn’t know about?”

“Yeah, in the stationery cupboard. It was really important, girl, did you not get the memo?” Jan laughed affectionately. Laughing briefly at her own ridiculous assumption, Vanessa then tentatively looked at everyone else again.

“So…why we all here?”

Brooke briefly looked at Jackie, then sighed. “Jackie can’t do the PR stunt because legally, she’s not allowed to drive. She got done for texting while driving years ago and her license got revoked.”

Vanessa’s mouth dropped open a little as if she was about to ask how, then shut again as she clearly decided against it. “Does Bianca know?”

Giving her an affectionate smile, Brooke raised her eyebrows at her. “V. Come on. Use your brain.”

“Fuck, ‘course not. I’m so not with it today. So what’s happenin’?”

“Jan’s telling Nina to cancel it and when Bianca finds out, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. What’s important here is Jackie,” Brooke said decisively. Shocked again at the vulnerability she was showing, she smoothed down her black pencil skirt and sniffed once, trying to ignore just how close Vanessa was in the tiny space. “So that’s settled. Can we all get out of this cupboard and do some damn work? I feel like I’m suffocating.”

Without speaking, the four girls filed out of the cupboard as if the conversation had never happened. Brooke’s head was still slightly spinning as she slumped back in her chair, the excel spreadsheet now more confusing than ever. She was still attempting to take in everything that Jackie had just told her. It was so much to process, and Brooke couldn’t shake the guilty feeling that was settling in the pit of her stomach, the feeling that maybe there was something she could have done to help all those years ago. Sighing, she cast her eyes to Jackie’s glass-fronted office where the Minister was now typing into her phone, her face failing to betray anything about the heartfelt conversation that had just taken place. Why the hell did Jackie have to confide in her like that? Life would be so much less stressful if everybody just kept their guard up like Brooke did.

Still, she mused, everyone would probably be a whole lot more lonely.

Suddenly, Brooke’s phone screen lit up with three messages at once- two from Jan, one from Vanessa.

J: I would love to, that sounds amazing (: we could go for sushi?? Wardour Street has some really nice places! Xxx

J: whoops wasn’t meant for you lol sorry

Brooke would probably have been about ten times more intrigued and curious about Jan’s text if she didn’t have a text from Vanessa awaiting her.

V: I don’t care what kind of front you try to put up, you’re kind and caring and a total sweetheart x

Not even daring to look up and risk meeting Vanessa’s eyes, Brooke reached for a piece of paper on her desk and began to fan the blush that had just flooded her cheeks. Trying her best not to think about what Yvie had said earlier, she began to compose a reply.

B: You’re a cutie. Don’t tell anyone I was nice to you though, being a bitch is kind of my brand x

Risking a peek up over her monitor, Brooke watched as Vanessa picked up her phone and giggled, covering her mouth with one perfectly manicured hand.

God, it was going to be a long day.

***

They had arrived.

Brooke felt like a bird of prey as she stood beside Jan and watched from above as Nicky and her two advisors were greeted by Nina in the lobby. Even from six floors up Brooke could tell that Nina was hating the fact that she had to be at the very least civil to the three opposition members. Narrowing her eyes, Brooke watched closer.

Nicky was using the tactic she employed every time she had a television interview; gushing about how happy she was to be here, playing the humble, meek elected representative of the people. She was wearing an immaculate navy pencil dress with what appeared to be a Tiffany heart around her neck, and her sleek blonde hair was piled on top of her head in a bun. Following dutifully behind her were two others. The first girl Brooke heard before she saw- a cry of excitement at being in the building had been the very thing that proclaimed the arrival of the opposition. She was still making an obscene amount of excitable noise which travelled up the floors of the lobby as if it was riding the elevator. Squawker- or Crystal, Brooke supposed she should call her- was equally well turned out. She gave off a clear professional vibe in her button-down shirt, blue skirt and little heeled boots, and her curly red hair was swept over one shoulder.

“Gigi needs her roots done. See?” Brooke whispered to Jan, not taking her eyes off the three opposition members. Receiving no response, Brooke turned to look at her friend. Jan’s shoulders were tensed up as she trained her eyes on the member of the opposition in question. Her style was immaculate and she wore a pressed white shirt with huge sleeves and a pair of smart tailored black trousers with her high heels. Her long, blonde hair had been immaculately styled and blow-dried, and Brooke found herself wondering how or if she had the time to do that every day. Looking to Jan again she found her brow furrowed, biting at her long, painted nails.

“Jan, come on. Don’t ruin your nails, you’re better than that,” Brooke scolded, grabbing gently at Jan’s wrist and pulling it away from her face. Jan finally turned to meet her eyes before looking quickly back down at the floor again. “Hey. Talk to me.”

Sighing, Jan leant against the balcony, watching as the opposition were led away to the lift. “Sorry. I know I’m not myself today. It’s just this is really, really freaking me out. It’s not like this is the first time I’ve seen these girls since I crossed the floor, but to have them here where I work? It’s just a lot. It sounds dramatic but like…it kind of feels violating, if that makes any sense?”

Brooke nodded slowly. “I know you’re worried about it. But you’re being really brave about the whole thing. And hey, you kind of have an advantage, I guess! They’re on your territory, they’re not familiar or comfortable with anything here. Mainly because nothing’s engulfed by the flames of hell or costs over £10,000.”

Snorting a brief laugh, Jan’s face grew somewhat blank again. “I mean. Their tanks are on our lawn, though, they know we’re shook.”

Rolling her eyes, Brooke laughed derisively. “Jan. These private school bitches are not going to take power. You live in this country at the moment, do you really think the public are going to vote for people like Nicky?”

“Well, the public are idiots.”

Brooke gave a snort. “Jan, you can’t say the entire nation are idiots.”

“Yes I can, I’ve met them,” Jan deadpanned, signing off with a smile. Brooke relaxed against the balcony, comforted by the fact that Jan clearly felt a little better.

“Listen. One single day. One day of smiling and nodding like a puppet and just taking whatever crap or snide comments or shade they throw at you. You’ve handled so much worse,” Brooke smiled reassuringly, resting both hands on Jan’s shoulders. Comforted, Jan made to turn back to the department when suddenly she whipped her head back round.

“Brooke,” she murmured. “What if they find out about Jackie?”

“What, that she exists? I know it was a crushing disappointment to us all but they’ll get over it some day,” she deadpanned. Jan gave a colossal roll of her eyes.

“No, you bitch! The license thing,” Jan sighed in exasperation, raising her voice just a little.

Brooke paused for a moment. It was weird how protective Jan was of her boss. She was never like that with Darienne at all. Fair enough Jackie was far more competent but still, it wasn’t as if the two shared some deep personal connection or anything. Brooke thought about asking her about it, but instead decided that that probably wasn’t what Jan needed right at this very moment.

“Who’s going to tell them? Me? You? Vanessa? Jackie herself? We’re the only ones that know. Come on, Jan, think,” Brooke tapped the side of Jan’s head once, punctuating her point. “It’s not going to get out.”

Smiling slightly, Jan seemed to compose herself and took one deep breath. As if something had occurred to her, she let out a laugh.

“God, what’s happening to you, Brooke? First you’re nice to Jackie for once and then you listen to me vent for ages. Your cracks are showing,” Jan smiled. Brooke attempted to style it out by shrugging, secretly a little unnerved that her recent empathy was being noticed.

“Stop psychoanalysing me, psycho, and let’s get back to our desks.”

No sooner had both girls turned the corner towards their office when they came face to face with the three members of the opposition coming out of the lift, Nina leading them. Jan immediately froze in place, seemingly unable to move. Brooke wanted to do something, anything to reassure her but before she could even look at Jan, Gigi’s cold grey eyes met her own.

“Nicky,” she turned to her boss, her cheerful, light voice at odds with the stare she was giving Brooke. “You go on ahead with Nina. Crystal and I are just going to have a little catch-up with a couple of old friends we haven’t seen in a while.”

Brooke wasn’t easily intimidated and she swore that today would be no different. As Gigi and Crystal advanced towards them, she drew her shoulders back and tilted her head, not giving a single thing away on her face. She could feel Jan growing more and more timid beside her. Christ, if these girls were planning on giving her friend a hard time then they’d be leaving the department in an ambulance.

“Brooke Lynn. Jan! So good to see you both,” Gigi began, her smile smug as she rested one nonchalant hand on her hip. “God, how long has it been? When was the last time we saw these two, Crystal?”

“Gee, Gigi, I don’t know! Did they not serve us at McDonalds when we went to get nuggets a couple days ago?” Crystal chimed in, flashing a quick, amused smile at her friend. Brooke muffled a derisive laugh as she shook her head. She couldn’t quite believe the schoolyard bullshit that these adult women were trying to start in her department. Still, if this was the game they were playing, then Brooke would play accordingly.

“Clever, implying that we’re both in minimum wage retail sector jobs! Something which your party loves to shit on very often. I love it,” Brooke smiled sweetly, gently clapping her hands. Gigi gave a fake laugh.

“Ladies, relax! It’s just some classic cross-party fun, no harm meant by it. You know that, right, Jan?” she flashed her a false smile. Brooke watched as Jan, shoulders now so hunched she was practically concave, gave a meek nod in response.

“You know, we really miss you, Jan,” Crystal nodded somberly, her voice high and sweet and almost-but-not-quite masking the fake sincerity behind her words. “Nicky’s always saying how open she’d be to having you back if you’d ever want to cross the floor…again! Gigi and I miss you too. We miss our friend.”

With that, Crystal reached a hand out and touched Jan’s arm gently. Flinching a little, Jan finally met her former colleague’s eyes and gave a weak smile. Brooke felt a flame of anger sting her veins as she watched the whole interaction. It was the same every time Jan ran into these two- they would start with the bitchy high school bullshit and Jan would be unable to ignore it, growing more and more quiet and subdued with every passing comment. Fuelled by her anger and dislike of behaviour of the two girls in front of her, Brooke snorted sardonically.

“Friend? Spare me the bullshit, you’d stab yourself in the back if it meant you got ten more followers on Instagram. Now if you’ll excuse us, we need to get back to work. You know, being in power? But this has been lovely,” Brooke flashed her bright white teeth in a smile, which Gigi returned equally as insincerely. “I haven’t had the conversational equivalent of hepatitis C in a long time.”

“As always, Brooke, you’re a very funny girl. Quite the comedian,” Gigi gave a tight-lipped smile as she stepped to one side and cleared a path down the corridor for the two girls. Hooking her arm through Jan’s, Brooke began to leave and had taken roughly three steps when she yelled her retort over her shoulder.

“I’ve got a lot of jokes, but none as good as your boss!”

Still fuelled from the frustration coursing through her veins, Brooke steered Jan the rest of the way down the hall and into the small kitchen like a demented steam train. It was only after she flicked the switch on the kettle so hard she thought she might have broken it when Jan spoke.

“I know they annoy you, babe, but don’t be too hard on them.”

“Don’t be too…Jan! They were standing there making you feel like a sack of shit, I wasn’t going to sit back and let them rip you to shreds! God, I can’t believe you’re defending them,” Brooke cried, grabbing two mugs and two teabags so hard she felt they might crumble apart in her hands. Silent for only a moment, Jan began playing with the edge of a tea towel, deep in thought.

“They were my friends once though. Who knows, maybe…maybe they were being serious. Maybe they do want to be friends again.”

As the kettle reached boiling point, Brooke took one deep, calming breath and began pouring them cups of tea. Part of her hated the way that she’d been conditioned into going straight to the kettle when something was angering or upsetting either her or her friends, as if a ridiculous hot drink was going to help make things any better. Vodka, now that would go some way to really help the situation. If Brooke and Jan shared a 75cl bottle, they’d be able to get so wasted that those idiots from the opposition wouldn’t bother them anymore. The bottle would also be ideal for smashing over Gigi’s smug face. Too bad it was too early for alcohol, Brooke mused, as she handed the smaller girl a steaming hot mug of tea. As Jan gave a grateful smile and began to sip, Brooke found herself wishing she could knock some sense into her. One of Jan’s biggest strengths was very feasibly also her biggest weakness; her determination to always focus on the good in people, to ignore their flaws and instead choose to look at their positives. It was something that made Jan such a horrendous judge of character. Christ, she’d worked for the opposition for a year, after all.

Casting another glance at her friend and deciding she’d visibly gained back a little of her confidence, Brooke grabbed her own mug off the countertop.

“Right, come on,” she said decisively. “We’re going to go back to our desks and drink these up and get on with our work, because these snakes that have slithered into the department don’t change a single thing about how capable you are as a professional. Okay?”

With a stifled smile Jan led the way back to the office, leaving Brooke wondering if she could still maintain the bitchy façade she always presented to the world if she was getting this good at cheering people up.

***

Sadly that wasn’t the only encounter they had to suffer with the opposition that day. Nicky soon appeared in the department’s offices with Nina, almost as a grand finale to the tour of Dosac she’d been given so far. She watched with narrowed eyes as Nicky made her way from desk to desk of the comms team, shaking hands and smiling in a sickeningly sweet manner that made Brooke want to hurl. Gigi and Crystal hovered behind Nicky’s shoulders like little cartoon devils and angels, except in Brooke’s opinion neither of them had many angelic qualities about them.

Attempting to ignore the gatecrashers in her office, Brooke turned back to her monitor. She supposed that maybe both Gigi and Crystal were pleasant people. Perhaps even Nicky at a push. They might still have been fun and friendly people to hang out with, after all, the politics they followed didn’t define them. Suddenly remembering a very obvious exception (Hitler), Brooke sent another withering glare the opposition’s way. Hit with another pang of doubt, she reasoned that comparing Nicky Doll to Hitler was perhaps an overreaction. Tuning out of the immigration stats that sat in front of her, Brooke instead found herself listening in to the conversation between Nicky and Nina.

“The space here is lovely. Very professional, very focused. There’s maybe about twenty-five percent that I’m not okay with, though. I think I’d prefer isolation booths for everybody to work in- it’ll keep everyone more on task,” Nicky asserted, Brooke noticing out the corner of her eye how Yvie and Scarlet both recoiled in horror at the thought of not being able to chat and keep each other going throughout the day.

“Okay, so you’d prefer isolation booths in addition to the longer working hours of 8.30am til 7pm, and only half an hour for lunch,” Nina confirmed. Her hair was twice as big and frizzy as it usually was, probably as a result of tearing half of it out in frustration after the amount of hours she’d spent with Nicky.

“Christ, does she want us chained to the phones as well?” Adore mumbled. Brooke immediately tensed up- if she had heard that comment, then Nicky definitely had too. Sure enough, Nicky whipped her head round and stared Adore straight in the eye.

“That’s very funny, but no. I would not be chaining people to phones, I would simply be employing popular and common tactics that are used by employers the world over. Something which you wouldn’t have to worry about, because I wouldn’t have you working for me,” she smiled fake-sweetly, her voice getting more and more clipped as she reached the end of her sentence.

Brooke found herself praying that the opposition would never reach any position of power whatsoever if they were going to have this tiny dictator running the department. Adore had slunk down into her wheely chair, as if trying to make herself invisible. Suddenly, Brooke heard Jackie’s office door open behind her.

“What the hell is going on out here?” she muttered as she reached Brooke’s desk, looking straight at the visitors to the department. Glad of an opportunity to relieve the tension, Nina once again plastered the fake smile on her face.

“Minister, may I introduce your opposite number, Shadow Minister Nicky Doll,” she smiled at Jackie, waving a hand at Nicky as if she was unveiling a booby prize on a game show.

It was interesting to watch how the two women regarded each other. Nicky immediately narrowed her eyes, pursing her lips together in a display of agitation at no longer being the highest authority in the room. She made no show of moving to shake Jackie’s hand, in fact she didn’t appear to want to speak to Jackie at all. Instead, Jackie herself made the first move and stepped forward once, twice, finally reaching a safe distance and holding out a hand for Nicky to shake. Her face was placid and gave nothing away. Almost Sleeping Beauty-esque, Brooke thought.

“Nicky, it’s so good to finally meet you properly,” she smiled calmly as Nicky gingerly took her hand to shake. “I hope you and your team have had a good day in the department?”

“Oh yes, it’s been lovely. Although obviously there are a number of things that will need changed once we get into power!” Nicky gave a fake little laugh, her eyes still hostile.

“Well. If,” Jackie wrinkled her nose in a smile, which Nicky returned sourly.

Brooke was suddenly distracted by a buzz from her phone. Yvie.

Y: Christ there’s more fake smiles in here than the outpatients’ at a fucking plastic surgery

If Brooke had been in the mood she probably would have been howling with laughter, but the tense, uncomfortable conversation was still taking place.

“I found it interesting that you chose to highlight my disagreement with Manila Luzon in your interview with Chad Michaels. I felt it slightly undermined your point about the need to raise other women in politics up when you yourself were clearly intent on taking me down,” Nicky continued to smile falsely, the bitter undertone to her words not going unnoticed by Brooke. Jackie kept calm, smiling lazily back and raising her eyes to the ceiling.

“Oh, I don’t know about undermining my point. In order to make a good argument, you have to present some evidence to back it up, and that’s all I was doing. I’m sure you understand it was nothing personal,” she said, giving a little nod.

Nicky flared her nostrils, her face now unimpressed as she swept a hand through her hair, rendering her bun a little messy. “Well. It was lovely to meet you anyway, Jackie, but I still have numerous issues to talk through with Nina. If you’ll excuse me.”

With that, Nicky turned on her heel, not even bothering to wait for a reply. On her way back to Nina, she stopped to murmur something in Gigi’s ear, which then resulted in Gigi marching round the corner. Brooke could have followed her up, but was too distracted by Jackie coming to hover at her desk.

“Numerous issues? I’ll bet she has numerous fucking issues, God. Let’s hope that lot never get into power, she’s more unhinged than a flat pack IKEA cupboard,” Jackie whispered, causing Brooke to splutter a laugh. Jackie smirked at her reaction, then her face grew suddenly serious. “Did you know if Nina managed to get that photo op cancelled?”

“She did it about half an hour after we spoke. Jan really got on her back about it, so it was pretty impossible for Nina to wriggle out of it,” Brooke explained offhandedly, trying in vain to focus on her work. Looking up, she noticed that Jackie seemed to have a faraway look on her face.

“She’s so good, isn’t she? Jan. She’s just incredible. So organised and on it,” Jackie said quietly to no-one in particular. Confused, Brooke simply nodded. Apparently remembering where she was, Jackie cleared her throat, smoothed her skirt down and returned to her office.

Around ten minutes later, Brooke thought she was making some real headway with the persisting immigration data. That was until she almost jumped out of her skin when she felt a hand come crashing down on her shoulder. Spinning around rapidly in her wheely chair she was shocked to see Bianca looming above her, her face grave as her eyes met Brooke’s.

“Bianca, holy fuck. You scared the crap out of me,” Brooke sighed, Bianca not even cracking a smile as her grip on Brooke’s shoulder tightened and she escorted her out of the room. Brooke’s stomach churned as she was led out into the corridor. What the hell was happening, or what the hell had happened, or what the hell was about to happen?

The bright white light of the corridor contrasted violently with Bianca’s expression, which was the personification of the wrath of God itself. She was silent for a moment, which prompted Brooke to tentatively speak first.

“So, um. Why did you want to see-”

“I want to know why a certain Sasha Belle over at transport now has the very same PR stunt I very nearly passed a kidney stone to secure for Jackie,” Bianca snapped. Her voice was cold and low, and Brooke felt goosebumps prickle over her skin just hearing her speak. She felt conflicted. Half of her wanted to reveal Jackie’s personal reasons for having backed out; it was a legitimate excuse and might even make Bianca feel some form of remorse, God willing. On the other hand, it was a part of Jackie’s life which Brooke was sure she wanted to leave behind, and if more and more people knew about it, well. That would make it increasingly hard to forget. Biting her lip, she tried to tell a white lie.

“She had personal reasons for backing out. We decided as her team of advisors that it would be best if she didn’t go through with it.”

“I don’t give a rat’s ass what deeply held personal fucking reasons she had against it, it is her JOB to go to photo ops, it is her JOB to give herself media coverage!”

“Well she couldn’t even if you wanted her to. Not legally anyway,” Brooke found herself saying, her voice too loud in the echoey hallway. Bianca raised her eyebrows a little, as if urging Brooke to go on. Slightly regretting having not simply kept her mouth shut, Brooke continued.

“Jackie had her driving license revoked. It was years ago- she was texting while driving and crashed on the motorway. So even if she wanted to do the damn publicity, she couldn’t,” she explained, sighing as Bianca’s face slowly took on a look of realisation. “I don’t know how you didn’t already know this, Bianca. Her license was fake, I don’t get how that slipped by you. I thought you did background checks on everyone that came within a five mile radius of the party.”

Bianca exhaled loudly, slowly running one hand down her face. She opened her mouth to speak, then shut it, then opened it again.

“When I asked you about Jackie, it wasn’t just a casual, out-of-interest enquiry. We were seriously fucking desperate. We had nothing on her, nothing on her at all apart from the fact that we knew she had a degree in politics and she’d been around the stock exchange for years. We were just desperate to get Darienne out of the party and stop the fucking spiral of madness she was driving us all down. Her position had become toxic, Brooke Lynn, nobody we approached about the job would touch it. So we needed somebody unknown, someone who wouldn’t know or understand who she was succeeding. That’s why we failed to do intensive background checks. I mean, we established that Jackie hadn’t murdered or stabbed anyone, for Christ’s sake. But everything else we had to skim over. We couldn’t have had Darienne in her job for any longer, it would have just…it would have just killed the party.”

Brooke could sort of understand where Bianca was coming from. Taking a calming breath, she suddenly felt the panic rise up in her throat again. “But Bianca, if this gets to the papers-”

Bianca cut her off, holding a single hand up in front of her face and looking down the corridor with suspicion. Wordlessly, she walked to the double doors at the end of the corridor and wrenched them open. Behind them stood Gigi, who jumped at the sudden movement.

“Oh. Hello Bianca. I was just, uh. Trying to find the toilets. This department is like a damn labyrinth, you know?” she laughed awkwardly, almost paralysed under Bianca’s glare.

“Do you want a massive cup to press against the door too, or are you good?” she quipped dryly.

Brooke’s heart began to palpitate nervously. Gigi had clearly been behind that door and listening for quite some time. How long, she didn’t know. But if she’d heard the reason why Jackie couldn’t drive, this was all different kinds, shades, textures and flavours of bad.

“Bianca, really. All I heard was that Jackie wasn’t exactly vetted properly. Which, you know, could be kind of a big story in itself, I think,” Gigi smiled cunningly. All at once, Brooke wanted to laugh. Attempting to get the upper hand on Bianca Del Rio was an interesting tactic, one which basically ensured you weren’t going to win. Deciding to step back, Brooke let Bianca take the reins.

“Oh, I see! You were looking for a story! Well here, here’s a great one for you,” Bianca smiled sinisterly, putting Brooke in mind of a predator about to pounce. “Did you know that Jaqueline Cox is sitting in that office there despite the fact her driving license got revoked? She crashed her car on the motorway because she tried to text and drive at the same time. Did you not know that?”

Brooke watched as Gigi’s face lit up at the revelation. She had to admit she didn’t really know where Bianca was going with this or what she had to gain from revealing the information to one of the Shadow Minister’s aides. As Brooke attempted to interject, Bianca simply turned and fixed her with a smile.

“You didn’t know that, no?” she asked Gigi again. She simply shook her head, delighted at what had just been revealed. “Oh, wait, of course…you wouldn’t know that! Because the only people who do know that are, um, Miss Cox…her three advisors…and me. If this information got to the press…I would know that it came from you.”

Brooke wanted to practically jump for joy as she saw Gigi’s face fall, growing very apprehensive as Bianca took two steps towards her. Her voice lowering, Bianca continued the onslaught.

“And I would rain down upon you so hard that your body would have to be re-assembled by crash team investigators-” she hissed. Gigi opened her mouth to defend herself and Bianca immediately stopped her. “- do not fucking interrupt me, girl. Now, you breathe a word of this to ANYONE, you fucking living toothpick, and I will-”

Already shaking with laughter, Brooke ducked her head out of the door and ran into the offices.

“Jan! ‘Ness! Come quick. Bianca’s going off on one at Gigi,” she stage-whispered, the two girls looking up, bemused but quickly following Brooke back to the corridor doors nonetheless. The double doors were fronted with a small pane of clear glass, which the three girls all peered through to see Bianca continuing to verbally grill Gigi, now far less composed than she was before.

“…I will eviscerate you, right? And I mean, I don’t have your education, I don’t know what that means. But I’ll start by plucking your eyes out and I’ll busk it from there. Okay? Glad we’re agreed. Have a great day.”

As Gigi stumbled back down the hall in a daze as if she’d just crawled out of an avalanche, the three girls on the other side of the door tried to compose themselves after their laughing fit.

“Bianca has such a way with words,” Jan mused, wiping tears from her eyes. “So why was she yelling at Gigi, what had she done? Looked at her?”

Brooke explained what had happened to the two girls, watching as their facial expressions shifted from confused, to fearful, then some semblance of reassured. There was still an aspect that was a little panicked, however, the knowledge that Gigi knew about Jackie’s past clearly worrying them both.

“Look, don’t give it too much thought. Bianca has it all under control. She always does,” Brooke reassured them, shrugging as she walked back to her desk.

“Guess I’m happy to trust Bianca,” Vanessa smiled, relaxing a little. “Hey, you ladies had lunch yet?”

“Not yet. Pret?” Brooke offered, Vanessa smiling beautifully and picking up her bag from her chair. Brooke didn’t miss how Jan simply nodded silently, her face still troubled, clearly not as trusting of Bianca as Vanessa was.

***

As the three girls sat huddled around Jan’s desk eating their lunch, Brooke watched as Vanessa scoffed down her messy meatball panini with marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese that oozed out the side and made long, inconvenient strings. She could have teased Vanessa for her shambles of a lunch but she decided against it, instead choosing to compliment her.

“‘Ness, how can you eat literally whatever you want and still look so good?” Brooke asked, attempting to look offhanded but still feeling like her guts were made of jelly as the words came out her mouth. It was hugely tiresome how much more nervous and self-aware she was around Vanessa now that she’d actually acknowledged her crush on her. It was much harder to pretend things were purely platonic if she gave her a compliment.

In response, Vanessa simply smiled bashfully and shrugged, her mouth full of food. “Hey, I always wonder the same thing about you, baby. I’d kill to look like you.”

“With these thighs? Girl, no you wouldn’t,” Brooke snorted, trying to keep herself from blushing.

“You got good thighs,” Vanessa insisted, making Brooke wonder just how much attention Vanessa paid to her legs. Snapping out of it, Brooke told herself that she was probably just being kind. After a beat of silence, Jan cut in.

“Well, I know both of you find me wildly attractive and are also madly jealous of my amazing figure, which is why neither of you have said anything,” she joked through a mouthful of salmon salad. Brooke gave her a playful shove, shocked when she heard a little cry.

“Jesus, Jan! It wasn’t that sore.”

“That wasn’t me. That came from Jackie’s office,” Jan said gravely, looking at the Minister’s office door where she could just see the blonde bun belonging to Nicky peering over the strip of frosted glass. Exchanging concerned looks, all three girls made their way over.

Brooke was the first to walk in and when her gaze met Jackie’s her heart sank. She was sitting behind her desk and had turned pale, her eyes frightened and huge in her face which had gone almost ghostly white. Turning her gaze to Nicky she noticed that the girl seemed smug in some way, as if she had the upper hand. In a moment, Brooke knew exactly what had happened.

Gigi had spilled.

“Miss Doll, you ain’t actually allowed in here. This is the Minister’s private office,” Vanessa began in a valiant effort to stick up for Jackie who was clearly past sticking up for herself.

“Oh, it’s quite alright. Jackie and I were just having a little chat. A little reminisce on the past, if you like. Well. Her past,” Nicky smiled, casting an amused gaze at Jackie whose face was ashen and defeated as she sat at her desk. Brooke suddenly felt herself overcome with fury.

“I hope you’re giving Gigi a big pay rise for that information. She won’t have much time to spend it though once Bianca finds out. I’d maybe give her two…three days left to live?” she hissed, her face contorted as she glared at the shadow minister.

“Brooke Lynn, is it?” Nicky addressed her, Brooke momentarily wondering how she knew her name. “Brooke Lynn. We all know what it’s like in politics. Unfortunately if someone has some information on someone else, it’s only natural that they’re going to exploit it. And that’s all that’s happening here! It’s not personal. Just professional.”

“Like hell are you exploiting anything,” Jan spat, her face dark. Come to think of it, Brooke had never really seen her so angry, but the tiny girl was like a spitfire as she narrowed her eyes at her old boss. “You know full well where to draw the line between personal and political information. If you leak this to the media then you’re more reprehensible than the party you represent.”

“I’m sorry ladies, but this is how you play the game, and I play to win. I’m not really prepared to discuss it any further,” Nicky rolled her eyes, picking up her bag from where it sat on Jackie’s desk.

Just as she made to leave, Nicky turned to see Bianca standing in the doorway of Jackie’s office, glancing with confusion at the scene in front of her.

“Bianca!” Vanessa cried, for once happy to see the Prime Minister’s enforcer. “We were just talkin’ about how Nicky maybe shouldn’t go to the papers about Jackie…? Telling them about her driving license? Tryin’ to think of a reason why this would reflect badly on her party in some way…?”

Brooke watched as Vanessa looked pleadingly at Bianca, willing her to do something, anything to spin them out of the situation. Bianca for her part seemed calm, upbeat even.

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe she should! Good idea!” she shrugged, flashing a smile Nicky’s way as she turned and made to leave the room.

Vanessa’s face immediately dropped as if she’d been slapped. Jan’s expression was completely blank. Brooke didn’t know what to think. It seemed as if Jackie was holding her breath, and Nicky simply stood rooted to the spot, her eyes still on Bianca as if she knew there was more to come. Sure enough, Bianca reached the doorframe, stopped, and turned on her heel.

“Oh, shit, wait a minute! I know why she shouldn’t! Because you know, if she did that…she’d be dead,” Bianca said simply.

Brooke watched as Nicky blinked silently at her. Bianca continued to speak.

“To me. To her advisors. To her party. To the electorate. And the only job she’d get in power is for this government’s catering company sweeping up crumbs as a kitchen cleaner, because I’d call every journalist I know, which of course- that’s all of them! Isn’t it Nicole! And I’d tell them all that lovely little story I’ve had saved for a rainy day, about a certain Right Honourable Lord Doll- how is your Dad, by the way?- and how he enjoyed a lovely five years as a member of the Bullingdon Club at university, a club so fucking morally bankrupt they had a exposé film made about them! Of course, the homeless person your Dad had to burn money in the face of for his initiation- he didn’t enjoy it so much. Nor did the live pigeon he had to bite the head off of either. And I believe there’s also rumblings about…something about a pig, which I won’t go into. And so I’d quite happily email all these journalists any photos and soundbites and CCTV footage they wanted, because I’d say…I’d say that’s quite a big story. I’d say that would probably contest a Minister’s silly little eight-year-old car accident in the running order of the ten o’clock news. That’s what I’d tell her,” Bianca finally finished calmly, smiling a little at Nicky whose mouth was now hanging open like a goldfish. Turning to Vanessa, Bianca simply nodded on her way out of the door. “But maybe you should tell her!”

Catching Vanessa’s eye, Brooke couldn’t help but burst into a triumphant grin. Vanessa returned the smile, now completely relaxed knowing that Jackie had the upper hand. Nicky was still standing completely still and hadn’t moved since Bianca had left.

“I’ll, um. I’ll ask Nina to get your coat,” Jackie addressed Nicky pleasantly, sitting at her desk and pushing a single number on the phone as Nicky simply nodded wordlessly.

Brooke wanted to burst out laughing. Bianca had her enemies in Westminster, but she was also an absolute mastermind.

***

They had made it through the day. They always did, after all. They were a great team, Brooke thought, and God help them if they were ever disbanded in any way. Sitting in a quieter corner of the office with her head tipped against the head of the sofa, Brooke took a deep breath. It was often needed at the end of days like these. Jan sat to her right, curled up against the arm of the couch and simply staring into the distance. Thinking for a moment, Brooke turned her head and stared at Jan.

“Do you think Bianca really had all that stuff to back up what she said about Nicky’s Dad?”

Jan smirked and met Brooke’s eyes. “It’s Bianca. She’s a walking, talking database. She probably has shit on all of us. She probably knows stuff about us that we haven’t even done yet.”

Before Brooke could even try to get her head around Jan’s words, Vanessa joined them. She flung herself against the sofa dramatically, gently tilting her head so that it rested in the crook of Brooke’s shoulder. For a second she could barely breathe.

“I wonder what she’s going to do to Gigi when she next sees her. Can’t imagine I’d want to be in her six-inch heels right now,” Brooke continued, trying to talk through her breathlessness.

“We talkin’ about Bianca?” Vanessa murmured, nuzzling her head against Brooke’s shoulder to get comfortable. Christ, why the fuck did she have to do that?

“Yeah,” Jan smiled wistfully. “God, I’d be running for the hills if I was her. Alyssa’s charity ball is in three weeks, remember? I wouldn’t put it past Bianca to stage a live crucifixion as the night’s entertainment.”

Brooke felt Vanessa laugh softly against her side. She was such a warm, happy person, at least when she wasn’t stressing her head off at the latest party shambles. She was too good to be working here, but Brooke was so glad that she was.

“So you’re not going to be ditching us to run back to the opposition anytime soon then? Not going to be meeting up with Gigi and Crystal for a cute little catch-up coffee?” Brooke only half-joked, turning to address Jan again. She watched as Jan’s face grew a little dark, her brow furrowing as she let out a derisive laugh.

“I’m not fucking with anyone who attempts to sabotage Jackie’s career,” she said forebodingly.

There it was again, Brooke thought, this protective side to Jan which she’d never really seen before. She didn’t think she’d ever get over how strange it was.

Footsteps behind the sofa prompted all three of them to turn around. It was Jackie- she’d freshened up her makeup a little and had sprayed some deodorant or perfume or something that smelt nice. Reaching the sofa, she gave a warm smile to the three girls.

“Thanks for your support today, ladies,” she said sincerely, leaning on the back of the sofa. “It was a tough one, but we got there in the end.”

“Sorry that Nina couldn’t arrange an alternative bit of PR in time, Jackie,” Vanessa smiled apologetically. Jackie let out a small laugh.

“Are you kidding? That was a blessing in disguise. After the day I’ve had the last thing I want to do is go and feign interest in electric cars for an hour,” she shook her head. “Seriously though, thank you. You three are a total blessing.”

Brooke was surprised when she then turned to face Jan, her expression turning a little shy. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah, two minutes. I need to pack up and I’ll be good,” Jan smiled timidly back at her, her cheeks going a little red.

“Okay. I’ll wait at the lifts. See you tomorrow, girls,” Jackie said finally, waving goodbye to Brooke and Vanessa before walking away.

Vanessa tipped her head off Brooke’s shoulder to lean forward and look at Jan, who was grabbing her coat. “Where are you two off to then, Miss Ma’am?”

Jan stopped in her tracks, as if she hadn’t really been expecting the question. “Oh! Um, Jackie’s just giving me a lift home.”

Brooke screwed up her face at her friend. “A lift home? In her car? That she drives? Is that meant to be a joke?”

Seemingly realising her mistake, Jan smiled and shook her head. “I meant her driver. Her driver’s going to drop me home on the way back to Jackie’s.”

Brooke sat blankly for a moment, turning to Vanessa and seeing her face hold the exact same expression. Vanessa laughed in disbelief. “Your flat’s five minutes away, you lazy shit!”

“Hey, give me a break! I’m exhausted, a five minute walk is still a walk I don’t want to do, and I’ll take what I can get,” Jan shrugged, grabbing her bag and making to leave. “Bye, girls. See you both tomorrow.”

Brooke gave a tired reply as Jan made her way out of the department. Sighing, Vanessa leant against the arm of the sofa, kicking her legs over Brooke’s lap and subsequently causing Brooke’s pulse to quicken by about 90%. They sat in silence for a moment, Brooke’s brain too full to even contemplate starting a conversation. Luckily, it was Vanessa that spoke first.

“Do you think something’s goin’ on there? Between Jackie and Jan?”

Brooke paused. If it were any other situation, she’d maybe have thought Vanessa was right. But this was work, and sometimes people got incredibly passionate about their party and the people that ran it. Jan had had to put up with Nicky, and then Darienne. It was only natural that now that she was finally working for someone competent of course she was going to want with every fibre of her being for that person to do well. Turning to face Vanessa, Brooke made a doubtful face.

“No, girl. Jan’s just loyal. She wants to see Jackie do well. That’s all I think it is anyway.”

Brooke watched as Vanessa knit her brows together, frowning momentarily then casting her gaze into her lap.

“You know-” she began, then cut herself off as she decided against saying whatever she had to say. Then, changing her mind, she began again. “I swear you’re so blind half the time, Brooke Lynn. I think you have your guard up so high you can’t even see when someone has feelings for someone else. It’s kinda…I don’t know. Anyway. It don’t matter.”

Brooke watched, astounded as Vanessa swung her legs off her lap and stood up. Her face was bright red, as if she was embarrassed in some way. Brooke felt she had to reply, but she had no idea what to say or how to respond. She simply blinked at Vanessa, as if her last ditch attempt at communication was morse code.

“I’ll, uh. I’ll see you tomorrow then?” Vanessa continued, smoothing down her dress and smiling as if she hadn’t said a thing. Going along with the façade, Brooke nodded slowly. “Bye, Brooke.”

As Vanessa’s footsteps retreated down the office and into the lift, Brooke just stared straight ahead and tried to make sense of what Vanessa had said, or what it even meant, or what the implications were. It had felt like she was mad at her in some way, although Brooke couldn’t figure out what she’d done. What had she meant by it all? It made Brooke’s head hurt.

She was still there when the cleaners arrived half an hour later, and she still hadn’t managed to unscramble her brain. Giving up, Brooke grabbed her coat and bag and made her way to the lifts, stuck with the feeling that somehow she’d left something behind.

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szopenhauer · 4 years ago

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Where do you put your keys when you get home? personal

Have you ever seen a snake in the wild? one from far away on the sand when I was on camp and second time it was just dead and not even whole anymore, I wanna touch a snake!

What’s your favourite movie from the 80s? can’t choose only one

Are you expecting any phone calls or emails? not really

Do you have any family that live in another country? no one close

Are there any words that you hate or make you cringe? sure

What is the best house you’ve ever lived in? I’ve lived in one house only unless I can count some I stayed for awhile like grandma’s apartment or aunt’s cottage

What movie reminds you of your childhood? many movies like Jumanji or Goonies

What was the last email you received? spam

Are you in any fb groups? I am

Whose house did you last visit? my gf’s

How many tabs do you have open right now? 5

What’s something you’ve been meaning to do but keep putting off? I procrastinate lots of stuff

What’s the first thing you check on your phone at the start of the day? fb messanger/time

Would you date someone who still lived with their parents? I still live with my parents Do you think there is life on other planets? not those close to us

Would you enjoy a night of playing video games? maybe Do you dream of traveling the world or are you happy where you are? I’m not happy but I don’t want to travel Would you watch a porno with your partner? hmm... Have you ever stolen from your work? no Do you own any sex toys? I don’t How often do you use facebook at work? depends Would you date someone half your age? that would be illegal and I wouldn’t want to anyway Are you a romantic person? a little? Would you be okay with your partner hanging with their ex as friends? I probably wouldn’t be Do you have a current passport? never had a passport Is it more fun to go out just with your date or on a group date? just my date Have you had a relationship with someone of the same sex? as a lesbian Is marriage a necessity for two people who love each other? no but it’s nice Is there anything you think science will never be able to explain? possibly Is intoxication ever an acceptable excuse for acting stupid? if you can’t act normal then don’t drink, UGH! Do you litter? never Do you believe in fate or destiny? not sure Doing nothing all day makes you feel…? both good and bad Have you ever had sex with someone you worked with? I have not Would you date someone just for the sex? noooo Do you consider yourself a positive person? pfft Are Sex and Intimacy the same thing? sex is to intimacy like square to rectangles How often do you get angry? I’m like Bruce Banner Have you had cosmetic surgery? I haven’t On a first date do you pay or do they? split Do you only date people who have jobs or are full-time students? I don��t care what they do in life (school, job or nothing) if we don’t live together, I’m unemployed myself Could you date someone who does drugs? doubt it Do you enjoy watching sports? nah Would you do a striptease for your partner? umm... Would you date someone who doesn’t have a car? sure, I don’t even own one You have a week off, travel or stay home? home <3 Does spending the weekend at home annoy you? noooo Do you consider yourself open minded? nah Do others find you sexy? r u kidding?... Have you ever met someone in person you met online? I have Do you tell your friends you love them? nope, just family and partner

Do your siblings dye their hair? sometimes Who can you best relate to in the last book you read? partially to Will, Stella and Poe Are you indecisive? it’s hard for me to make a decision but I am not changing my mind like wind blows

What are you listening to? Lana Del Rey What are you doing tomorrow? we’ll see What was the last compliment someone gave you? not sure which was last Do you have a big family? no but it’s still to big for me :x Which one of your senses would you miss the most if you lost it? sight, then hearing

What’s your opinion on prostitution? Should it be legal and regulated, or is it something that needs to be gotten rid of completely? it should be illegal If you want (or don’t want) kids, is this something you’ve always known or have you changed your mind as you’ve grown up? I wanted kids at first because I played dolls and didn’t know anything about pregnancy or taking care of real children, I just thought it’s normal everyone have them at some point and that’s all but once I found out more about the subject I realized it’s not for me because of many reasons

Has the person you like ever seen you in your pajamas? yup Did the last person you kissed celebrate your last birthday with you? she wasn’t in my life at the time What’s the first word of the last text message you received? ok was the whole message XD

What was your last thought before you went to bed last night? I’m gonna die, if I won’t fall asleep I’ll explode, I feel so bad Are you okay right now? am I ever?... When was the last time you saw your mom? we’re home together What is the last thing you drank today? just going to drink some water in the kitchen Will you be up before 7 am tomorrow? hope not What are you listening to right now? Cigarettes after sex Last time you had a sleepover? ages ago If the last person you dated said they were in love with you, what would you say? I know she does, she was telling me that already Do you replay things that have happened in your head? overthinking for life If you could get paid to do anything in the world, what would you do? sitting in front of the computer Do your parents actually knock on your door before entering your room or just barge right in, instead? my dad knocks, my mom barges in What would you do if it snowed right now? ...

Are you more of a leader or a follower? loner

Would you say you’ve had a good life so far? no comment What’s something you wish you could have delivered to your house? regularly or right now? What’s your favorite art style? surrealism? Are any of your coworkers currently out on maternity/paternity leave? I don’t have coworkers now Do you have a good sense of balance? it’s hard to say Do you live in a very racially and culturally diverse country? no Do you live alone? I wish

Have you done something recently that helped someone else, in any way? nothing big If you knew that one of your friends was considering suicide, what would you say to them? depends

Who was the last person to pay you a compliment? my gf The shirt you’re wearinh - is it one of your favourites? yep Is there a certain name that you think seems to have become really popular, and you know lots of people with that same name? growing up Ewelina, Julia, Emilia, Katarzyna, Urszula, Małgorzata and Michał were the most popular names Before Facebook became popular, did you use any other social networking site? yup Have you ever asked anyone “Do you love me?” If so, did you get the response you wanted? Do you think when someone says “I love you”, you feel obliged to say it back? yes, usually and kinda If you’ve had a bad experience in a past relationship, did you find that you were scared to get into another relationship, in case the same thing happened again? that’s normal Are you friends with the last person you hugged, or something more? we’re related Do you ever post song lyrics as your Facebook status? sometimes Do you drink alcohol on a regular basis, or do you prefer to save it for special occasions? I don’t drink even on special occassions Did you play with Barbies when you were a kid, or did you prefer something else? I played with Barbies but not only them If you were going to buy a present for the person you love/like, what would you generally choose? what she likes/wants/needs :) If I’m going to buy you a box of chocolates, which kind should I definitely NOT get? don’t buy me any Is there something you generally always ask for help with? I need help with many things :( Has anyone called you beautiful today? no, I’m not so that would be a lie

Who was the last person to see you cry? my mother

Do you drink bottled water? sometimes

You never know what you have until it’s gone. True or false? kinda true

Are you scared of losing the person you like to someone else? if they were happy with someone else - let that happen, I’ll be fine alone

Will you be in bed in the next 20 minutes? too early to sleep

Do you laugh at inappropriate times? rarely

How many bracelets do you have on right now? zero

Do you have someone you have late night conversations with? I do

What does your phone do when it receives a text? vibrates

What is in your pocket? no pockets!

Can you remember the last person you texted without looking? my sister

Do you listen to music everyday? almost

Are you gonna be home alone tonight? I won’t be alone

If there was a large spider in your room, would you stay in the room? how big?

Are you a flirty person? maybe The last store you went to was…? local

Do you have a friend named Alex? used to What did you think of the movie Juno? I have mixed feelings about it How often do you eat meat? often Have you ever gotten clothes from the kids section as an adult? I have :x Are you more of a science/math person or english/history person? I’m artsy When you were little, would you have rather watched Cartoon Network or Disney Channel? we didn’t have such expensive channels Since using the internet regularly, have you started to read less than you used to? I read less not because of internet Are you a big fan of the Harry Potter series? nah Do you find yourself feeling lazier when the weather is warm? I feel lazier when the weather is cold because I don’t wanna leave my bed or home at least Are you a fan of the TV show Friends? watched fragments and I like Chandler and Phoebe - I think they would be great together, I’m a bit like them How old do you think is too old to sleep with a stuffed animal? never Are you 100% over the last person you kissed? I’m not How many tattoos would you like to have? I don’t plan any Are you over the age of 25? I am Do you want your life to stay the way it is right now forever? omg! I want my life to get better :( Would you rather live without music or without the t.v? without TV

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fabuloustrash05 · 5 years ago

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TMNT 1920’s AU (#2)

While I finish up the last bits of chapter 2 of my Ramona fanfic, I decided to quickly put this together. In case anyone was interested, here’s some more character info on some other workers at the jazz club in my AU.

This list includes information on Splinter, Karai, April, and Casey.

More character info will be coming out in the future! Who would you like to know about next?? Let me know!

Splinter/ Hamato Yoshi

(1st class) Age: 63

Owner of the famous underground jazz club, The Dojo

Karai and the turtles father

Immigrant from Japan

Moved to New York for a better life

Hard worker

Very strict

Wants his kids to marry someone rich and from high class

Former member of the mafia when he was younger

Left the mafia after he met his wife and later got married

Widower

Doesn’t think April is “talented/qualified” to be a performer for the club

Thinks Casey is a bad role model

Owes the mafia money, causes him to be in debt

Sells alcohol even though its prohibition,

He’s desperate to make money so he can pay off his debt

Doesn’t want his children to leave the club until he pays off his debt

Doesn’t tell anyone about his money problem

Drinks to help him forget about the bad things in his past

Wants to keep his family safe

Plays golf with Donnie

Can play the piano

(side note: I’m not sure if Splinter should be human or not. He might be human in this AU, but I’m not sure. This question also goes to the turtles and the other nonhuman characters. What do you guys think?)

Karai Hamato

(1st class) Age: 24

Oldest sibling

Used to be the most popular singer at the club, until her brothers came onto the stage

Still performs but not as often as she used to, only performs on special occasions or when she feels like it

Bored of her famous high class life

Wants to quit her job at the club and explore the world with her best friend Shinigami

Supports her brothers and their choices, even if there stupid choices

Knows Japanese

“Casey who?”

Finds the new girl, April, annoying

Sometimes joins Donnie at the bar, gossip partners

Smokes regularly

Really wants a pet snake

Likes to tease her brothers, mostly Leo and Raph

Donnie is her favorite sibling

Wants to join in on the women’s suffrage protest, but her dad wont let her, goes anyway

Has an attitude

Interest in the crime world

Loves Mikey's cooking and his jokes, he always makes her laugh

A bit of a rebel

April O’Neil

(2nd class) Age: 23

New girl at the club

Works at the club as a waitress and cigar girl

Dreams of being a singer for the club one day

Idolizes the turtles and Karai, they are her role models

Hard worker

Gets along great with customers

Has never drank alcohol and doesn't plan to ever

Perky

Hates smoking but does it only because her idols do it

Likes baking, sometimes brings some of her baked good into work

Cooking buddies with Mikey

Her dad works in a factory, but doesn’t get paid a lot

Mom died when she was little

Thinks Raph is hiding something

Wants to help Donnie get over his stage fright

Loves bird watching, her and Leo’s favorite activity to do together

Donnie was the first coworker she became friends with

Childhood friends with Mona Lisa

Raph taught her how to play poker

Advice giver

Finds Casey annoying but likes spending time with him

Sometimes helps the turtles rehearse their songs for the next show

Loves children

Casey Jones

(2nd class) Age: 24

Works at the club as a bartender

Extremely cocky

Flirts with female customers constantly

College dropout

Occasionally late to work

Family owns a car repair shop, expert on cars

Common smoker

Became Raph’s best friend after fighting some gang members together

Lost a tooth during that fight

Claims that he and Karai once dated

Occasionally bickers with Donnie

Drags Raph to clubs on there nights off, showing him the “better life”

Knows about Raph’s secret relationship with Mona

Likes to get in your personal business

Bad role model and knows it

Lives life to the fullest

Him and Mikey are a chaotic duo

Sometimes steal alcohol from the club’s bar

Listens more to his gut than his brain

The Turtles Original Post Plot Ideas

#turtles in the roaring 20s #tmnt 1920s au #my au #fabtrash au #tmnt au #tmnt 2012 #tmnt #teenage mutant ninja turtles #master splinter #hamato yoshi #april o'neil #oroku karai #casey jones #tmnt leonardo #tmnt michelangelo #tmnt raphael #tmnt donatello

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inceptionbigbang · 6 years ago

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The complete list of fics available for the Inception Big Bang 2019 is here!

Works are numbered, without the authors names to preserve the mystery. Artists, when you're ready to make your decision send us an email or a tumblr message with your top 3 choices. Fics will be claimed depending on availability, on a first come first served basis.

On this round we will only assign one artist per fic. Artists that wish to claim a second fic, or that wish to work on a fic that has already been claimed should check out the second round, on July 2nd. All fics will be open for all.

Without further delay, here they are:

1. Arthur and Eames meet as trust fund teens in a Manhattan private school. Eames is a new student who's just moved from overseas, and him and Arthur hit it off immediately. Friendship turns to a whirlwind summer romance, until Eames is forced to move back to London. They meet again many years later when Arthur has to kidnap Eames for a job.

Arthur/Eames

Teen and Up

No content warnings apply

2. A songfic featuring Aubrey by Bread, studying Arthur and Eames and what their relationship might have been like before the Fischer job. The characters aren't going to resemble fanon (Arthur's closed-off persona and Eames's flirtiness). I'm going to try to expand more on what Nolan gave us during the movie (Arthur's straightforwardness and Eames's aloof/cold personality). Basically, Eames is distant and Arthur chases.

Arthur/Eames

Side: Dom/Mal

Teen and Up - Mature

Graphic Depictions of Violence*

* There might be a torture scene, but I'm still debating on whether or not I want that in the story.

3. A fic about arthur and eames and their first meeting in the military to all their other meetings in the criminal underworld of dreamshare. not that long, i'm aiming for 2.5k or maybe 3k if i can. i wanted to focus on their totems and how eames could use forging as a totem (because if he can't forge then he must be awake, right?) but he has a totem just in case. and arthur has a totem (the die from the movie) that he uses a lot more except when he happens to be taken and tortured for some secret or another and the only thing that convinces his brain that he isn't dreaming is the way eames stands when arthur aims a gun at him? if that makes sense....

here's a little bit of what i have written so far:

he’s more surprised at the lack of surprise he feels when eames digs a poker chip out of his desk. its blood red with gold and white accents, worth five thousand dollars at the particular casino it came from, disregarding the fact that it was arthur’s shitty first and last attempt at a real world forge after he participated in a poker game eames held on base many years ago and realized half the chips in the set were fake, pocketing a one thousand dollar chip to use as a reference.

“our totems match,” eames murmurs, flipping the chip over his knuckles with a concentration a bit too intense for something he could do in his sleep (ha).

“match how?” he asks, sipping a glass of orange juice, freshly squeezed because eames wanted to use the electric juicer. he's tempted to pull out his die from his pocket and roll to see it land on five, even though he knows this isn’t a dream.

“i have something that you made, and you have something i made. also, there’s some significance with the number five.”

Arthur/Eames

Side: Dom/Mal

Mature

Graphic Depictions of Violence*

*I put the Graphic Depictions of Violence just to be safe but i think it's less than what's shown in the film? because it's supposed to be like an after-torture scene where arthur is like "ouch i'm super hurt and drugged and don't know if i'm dreaming" but again i don't think it's any more graphic than the film at least. might keep that tag just to be safe though idk

4. When dreamshare is first developed, no one has totems. They've always gone into dreams for short amounts of time and always with another person, so there's no chance of someone forgetting their reality. Mal's friend Pip has consistently been pushing the boundaries of dreaming, and one day she decides to go a later deeper without Mal. When Mal wakes up, she realizes that Pip is still asleep and she has to go down after her where she basically incepts Pip with the idea of totems.

Gen

General audiences

No content warnings apply

5. There was a small lake behind Arthur's house. The following night, he sat at its edge and stared at the moon's reflection in the water.

See something you like?

Arthur turned. A man was sitting next to him.

"Hello," Arthur said. "Thank you for helping me get home last night."

The moon smiled. "How did you know it was me?"

Arthur rolled his eyes. He picked up a pebble and tossed it into the water, watching the waves ripple the reflection. "How can you be here and there at the same time?"

The moon leaned back on his elbows and stared up at the sky. "Same way I can be in the lake and the sky at the same time."

Arthur frowned. "That's not the same thing. The lake's just reflecting the light from the moon. From you."

The moon turned to smile brightly at him. "Well aren't you a smart one, hm?" He leaned in and whispered, "I'm a reflection, too. We all are, at the end of the day."

Arthur thought about that. It didn't make sense, but that didn't mean it was wrong. He looked up at the moon in the sky, then at the moon sitting next to him.

"My name's Arthur," he offered. "What's your name?"

The moon looked at him strangely. "Eames. You can call me Eames."

"I'm going to be an astronaut, Eames," Arthur said. "Then I can come and visit you in the sky."

Eames smiled again. Arthur wouldn't have thought the moon liked to smile. "I would like that very much," Eames said. "Very much, indeed."

Arthur/Eames

General – Teen and Up

No content Warnings Apply

This fic is a canon AU and will ultimately include the events in Inception.

6. Eames on vacation after inception and stumbling upon Arthur; floppy haired, tanned and just completely the opposite of how Eames has ever seen him before.

Hawaii looked good on him, no better than good...

Arthur/Eames

Teen and Up – Mature

No content warnings apply

7. It’s a follow up story to Cat Person.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/11040948

First story summary:

Arthur misses his cat and would very much like to get another. He gets Eames instead.

Arthur/Eames

Teen and Up

No content warnings apply

Set in the Star Trek Universe

8. This is an academia AU! Arthur is a struggling young professor trying to find his niche, Eames is the mysterious colleague he keeps (inadvisedly!) hooking up with at conferences.

Arthur/Eames

Mature

No content warnings apply

9. When Eames first moved to America, he was at a loss for things to cook. He wasn’t used to the supermarkets and ingredients he needed were expensive. So he Googled food bloggers and found Arthur’s blog. The weekly updates keep Eames going in his boring office job. It takes him a few months before he gets the courage to comment but it’s all downhill from there. Eames is lost with Arthur’s sardonic commentary and when Arthur’s next recipe is one Eames requested, he knows he’s in bad.

Arthur/Eames

Teen and Up – Mature

No content warnings apply

10. Arthur is a flight attendant. Eames is a passenger.

Arthur/Eames

Teen and Up – Mature

No content warnings apply

11. Haunted House AU. Arthur’s working at a popular horror maze escape place to make some extra money over the summer. It’s far from his dream job—making minimum wage crouching behind dark trap doors and chasing random couples and tourists—but at least he gets to vent his frustrations about his coworkers (who are, frankly, driving him insane day by day) by literally screaming at customers. Then there’s Eames, who finds haunted houses boring, overrated, and not the least bit frightening, but is willing to humor a friend (Ariadne?) by accompanying her. But an encounter (and some painfully obvious flirting) with the cute guy under the ghoul mask is enough to make him want to come back again, and again, and again—

FEATURING:

- Cobb as the owner/boss and the only guy who actually takes his job seriously. He probably squints a lot because sunlight genuinely hurts his eyes lmao - Mal as his wife, who used to be an actress but left to start a business with Dom. Super sweet and kind of protective of their employees. Plays the main ghost. She’s terrifying. - Yusuf doing their costumes and makeup!!!!

- Arthur getting the job in the first place because his screams are so full of rage (let! him! rest!)

- Eames blowing all his cash on haunted house admission fees so he can flirt with Arthur (who plays different roles on different days, maybe? but Eames can always recognize him, even under the masks/makeup)

- he’s not trying to be creepy, he just wants to ask if he can see him outside of work/get his number—but something always goes wrong before he can

- Arthur being frustrated because Eames is a) distracting, and b) not easily scared, which doesn’t look good for his job. And it annoys him because he has a track record of being able to freak out anyone. He takes it upon himself to make him scream at least once (I haven’t decided how he does, but he does, eventually. Eames probably jokes about screaming with something other than fear, but i am too babey to write any sexytimes)

- maybe??? mild h/c?? Dumbass Drunk College Students coming in all wanting to prove to their friends that they're the Alpha Male, picking a fight and being super violent/rowdy/destructive, + arthur getting hurt/generally kind of shaken up; that’s the first night he lets eames really talk to him outside of the job, maybe even lets him take him home (i dont know if im including this scene for sure but..perhaps)

- Ariadne getting them banned from the haunted house after reflexively slapping Arthur in the face with a rubber snake (Cobb takes the ‘no touching the actors’ rule seriously—especially after what happened^). Eames thinks he’s lost his chance for good, but Arthur finds him outside and finally makes the first move :)

Arthur/Eames

General – Teen and Up

No content warnings apply

12. Arthur is in love with Eames, and he's pretty sure Eames is at least interested in him back. Only problem? Arthur is ace, and not at all sure how Eames is going to react to that. But Arthur's going to talk to him about it, because the alternative is to lose even his friendship with the forger, and that's just not on.

Only the team is also determined to set the two of them up. Will that end up being a wrecking ball to Arthur's fragile attempts at making things work with Eames?

STORY OUTLINE:

Arthur is ace, and no one knows. When Eames invites Arthur to join him for Christmas, Arthur panics and says no - and spends the whole of Christmas regretting it. The team comes back from Christmas break, and everything is awkward. Arthur knows he has to say something or ruin his relationship with Eames forever, and he's going to do that at the New Year's party where Eames will hopefully be in a good enough

But unbeknownst to him, he's not the only one who's realized something needs to happen. Cobb, Ariadne and Yusuf agree that an intervention is in order. And when better to set their two friends up than at New Years? Get them kissing and surely the tension between them will resolve itself.

What could possibly go wrong?

At the New Year's party, Ariadne suggests playing a game of spin the bottle. Arthur is less than enthused, but Cobb and Yusuf both back up the idea. They play a few rounds before it lands on Eames, whom Ariadne dares to make out with Arthur.

There's an awkward beat before Eames moves to do it. Arthur reacts by freezing and shying away physically. Eames takes this a rejection and leaves the room. Arthur sits there, frozen, and then leaves too.

He goes to the bathroom and breaks down, blaming himself for being so stupid and backwards. Eames hears him, and comes in and comforts him. Once Eames realizes what the problem is - that Arthur is ace - he promises Arthur that it doesn't matter to him, he just wants to be close to him. Cue happy end credits.

Arthur/Eames

General

No content warnings apply

13. Arthur learned a long time ago that he was special, and no else could see the strings.

Or, ‘everything is still the same, but Arthur can see Red Strings of Fate’ AU.

There are moments when Arthur thinks he needs to tell Eames about the strings. Owes him the truth, he thinks, Eames deserves to know. Other times – well.

Eames knows enough, and he has secrets of his own. Arthur is allowed this one.

Maybe someday it will come up on Sunday brunch, or something.

“Oh yeah, by the way, I can see red strings that I’m pretty sure are tied up to being literal soulmates and we have one. Get it? Tied up hehe. Anyway, no pressure or anything. Love the sex.”

Yeah, Arthur, that would go lovely.

Arthur/Eames

Teen and Up – Mature

No content warnings apply

Ok folks, the next fics are or may eventually get explicit. Minors, we love you guys! Stay safe. Don’t claim them.

14. Arthur has a goldfish which, long story short, he has convinced himself he only needs to keep alive to prove he is not a hot mess. Except now it’s not looking so good and has a weird sore on its side and he doesn’t know what to do but he can’t just let it DIE. So he takes it to the vet and is scoffed at and told it is a feeder goldfish, they cost less than a dollar, just get a new one.

Two vets later and he’s at the end of his rope when he meets Dr Eames, whose dog is introduced as his PA and goes on all his rounds with him. Dr Eames doesn’t even question it, just starts the exam and tells Arthur to pet the dog and start at the beginning while he works.

Arthur/Eames

Teen and Up – Mature - Explicit

No Content warnings apply*

* Discussions of parental death.

15. Eames is working with Arthur the first time in a long while, only now it seems that he has a huge crush on Arthur. He doesn't know how else to get rid of the crush and he really can't concentrate on the job when he's thinking about Arthur all the time, so he asks Arthur to have sex with him, to get the crush out of his system. Arthur agrees surprisingly easily and sex is great, but afterwards Arthur doesn't seem happy and Eames' crush is worse than ever. The more Eames tries to get rid of his crush, the more it sticks, and the less Arthur is talking to him. After the job, Eames has some time to think and he realises that maybe neither of them really wanted for him to get over Arthur. He goes to see Arthur to talk to him about it, but they end up kissing and stuff as well.

Arthur/Eames

Mature – Explicit

No content warnings apply

16. Summary: Eames hasn't seen Arthur in almost four years.

Pseudo- Winter Soldier AU.

There's no response from Arthur, no recognition in his eyes. No banter, no teasing – a coldness that would leave any lesser man with severe frostbite.

"... Arthur?" The words sound so raw, so gutted in Eames’ mouth. "Are you-" are you alive? Are you dead? Am I dreaming?

He reaches for his poker chip.

But before he can trace the ridges for the familiar grooves, a shot rings out loud like a crack of lightning.

And the last thing that Eames sees is Arthur and how he always remembers him: in his whip-black suit and a smoking gun in his hand.

Bang.

A single bullet tears through Eames' temples, and he is ripped open, pain lighting every nerve in his body like a pinball machine – and he prays to god that this is merely a dream so he can finally wake up.

Arthur/Eames

Mature – Explicit

No content warnings apply

17. “Taxiing an injured delivery boy around the neighbourhood to help him complete his remaining orders had not been a contender on Eames’ list of potential scenarios for the night. Instead of the morose teenager bleeding onto the synthetic leather of the passenger seat, and the short stack of pizza boxes sliding to and fro across the backseat, the Brit had rather imagined his rental car would serve far more nefarious purposes tonight." -- Essentially, Pizza Delivery Porn Guy Crack A/E AU. Aim: comedic tone with bowchikkawowow.

*Arthur isn't the teenager. He is a customer who ordered pizza.

Arthur/Eames

Mature – Explicit

No content warnings apply*

*There is mention of a traffic accident - no detail, but it might not be someone's cup of tea. Also, not yet at the sexual scene so don't know whether I'll stop at M or go to E.

18. In the court of the vampire supreme Saito, ambitious human noblemen Eames and Arthur battle for the coveted position of favorite bestower. Winner takes life everlasting.

Arthur/Saito

Side: Arthur/Eames

Arthur/Dom Cobb

Eames/Saito

Explicit

Graphic Depictions of Violence

Bloodplay, Extreme Sadomasochism. Possible Necrophilia

19. Arthur is an undercover narcotics officer posing as a high school senior. Eames is his teacher, who is taken with Arthur and who feels terrible for lusting after a student. Arthur takes down the bad guys, saves Eames' life, then they smash (after Eames finds out he's a fully grown adult person).

Arthur/Eames

Explicit

No content warnings apply*

*Eames is (shamefully) interested in Arthur, who he thinks is 18 and also his student.

20. Pre-movie: Dom and Mal are a dominant/dominant couple who want to find a sub they can play with together. Arthur is interested in trying to fill that role.

Arthur/Dom Cobb/Mal Cobb

Mature – Explicit

No content warnings apply*

*BDSM, bondage, dominance/submission, spanking/flogging, roleplay.

#inception #arthur x eames #inception big bang #inception big bang 2019 #inceptiversary

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oracleofthenorth · 6 years ago

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Tag Thingy

Hey, so I was tagged by @ro-ro-noa (thanks!) And now you get to know more basic stuff about me then you ever asked for! Here Goes:

NICKNAME: Harvest (my name is Harvey)

ZODIAC SIGN: (Which one tho? I guess we’ll go with sun/star) Taurus

HEIGHT: 5′4″

THE LAST THING I GOOGLED WAS: Garter Snakes (I just think they’re neat!)

FAVORITE MUSICIANS: Currently I’m loving any of the Brazilian Carnival Music my coworkers play, but Shpongle, Ani Difranco, Rodrigo Y Gabriella, Squirrel Nut Zippers

FOLLOWING: 224

FOLLOWERS: 364 (?) when did that happen??

DO YOU GET ASKS: I got one once I believe

AMOUNT OF SLEEP: Varies. Work night vs not? Was I in a position to be up reading fanfic?

LUCKY NUMBER: 23

WHAT ARE YOU WEARING: Currently a wound vac machine, a corset type chest binder, a white tank and my favorite tiger lounge shorts/pants (am recovering from surgery)

DREAM JOB: Wildlife adventure safari leader

DREAM TRIP: Japan to see one piece tower and also Australia and also Africa

LANGUAGES: English (American,) and a tiny bit of Espaniol

FAVORITE SONGS: The ghost of stephen foster, Dorset perception, Little plastic castle, Bink’s Sake

RANDOM FACT: I can barrel race on horseback

AESTHETIC: A touch of goblin, plus some cottage, plus safari

10 SONGS ON SHUFFLE:

Little Plastic Castle: Ani Difranco

Sugar Magnolia; Greatful Dead

Lusid: Ohgr

Gasoline: Halsey

Suddenly I See: KT Tunstall

16 Shells From A 30.6: Tom Waits

No Rain: Blind Melon

King of Pride Rock: The Lion King/Hans Zimmer

Saeglopur: Sigur Ros

Float (My Electric Stargirl): Atomic Swindlers

I nominate @angrymommawolf aaaannnnd @zorotrash

#Tag thing

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whisker-biscuit · 6 years ago

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Harley Quinn is Not A Good Role Model: Chapter 21

Rated T-M for language and graphic descriptions of violence

Pairing: Dr. Flug/Black Hat

Summary: Dr. Flug Slys is a successful psychiatrist working at one of the world’s most respected mental institutes for the criminally insane. But this new patient is unlike anything he’s ever encountered. Flug is determined to help him, nonetheless.

Black Hat has other ideas.

Chapter 21: The Big Day

9:00

Flug and Martin met at 9:00 on the dot, right in front of Dementia’s cell. The intern had his hands in his pockets but it was obvious he was fidgeting with the fabric inside.

“So, we’re actually doing this today. Holy shit,” he whispered in a jitter. “I’m going to prank my boss, holy shit!”

“Okay, easy, d-don’t go announcing it to the neighborhood,” Flug cautioned. He took out his set of keys and unlocked the door as quickly as possible. “This is a just a normal therapy session, on a normal day. Okay?”

That statement was proven wrong – or right, depending on the point of view – when Dementia sprang from their left side and knocked both doctor and intern off their feet. Their clipboards went flying.

“Heyyyyy guys, did you miss me? I missed you! Well actually no, that’s not true, I only missed Flug. I’d say sorry Martin, but I’m not sorry. At all.”

She was sprawled across the floor with her head and shoulders resting easily on Flug’s flattened collarbone. He would have tried to get her off, but he was too busy trying to get the wind back into him.

Martin had fallen too. He sat up quickly, not stuck underneath a hyperactive inmate like his supervisor, and looked between the dogpile in front of him and the still-open door behind them all. The teen shifted closer to Dementia and she stopped talking immediately to glare at him.

The message was clear: don’t touch me. So instead Martin scooted away and closed the cell door with his heel. Dementia went back to rambling as if she’d never stopped.

“So I was thinking a lot last night about us three, and what we’re doing today, you know, and I’ve decided it’s not fair that you guys get all the fun! I mean I already hooked up with my inmate buddy so don’t worry he’s gonna help us out, but am I supposed to just sit here and be the looney girl while you guys are out there having fun? I don’t think I like that at all!”

“Dementia…off, please…” Her doctor patted at her weakly.

“And I know you can’t really let me out without losing your job or whatever, so then last night I was thinking some more and came up with an amazing plan! How about I pretend to escape? Then you guys have alibis cause you’ll be looking for me, and then I can hide somewhere safe, like the vents or something I don’t know, and then we can all meet up at some secret place and then we can go prank that Bautista guy together!”

“Dementia, suéltame, por favor,” he tried again, a little stronger this time.

“Oh, lo siento Flug, I didn’t realize you were dying, hah!” Dementia wiggled backwards so her head was on the ground, pressed against his shoulder. Her hair spilled everywhere.

Martin took this chance to grab ahold of his supervisor’s arm and pull him gently into a sitting position. Flug clutched at his chest as he took long, deep gulps of air. He turned his irritated gaze down to his patient.

“Oooh, you got that scary goggle thing going on again,” she giggled. “I was thinking about that too, you know. How you can get all dark and creepy like that. We should totally use that! Like if we run into a guard or something, I can do my crazy person act and you can just, like, stand there doing that without saying anything! And I don’t know what Martin can do, maybe he can be our hostage? I’ve always wanted to take a hostage, this will be great!”

“I’m not gonna be your hostage,” the intern grumbled.

“Oh don’t be a party pooper, it’ll be fun! You won’t even have to do much, just let me stand right behind you with my teeth at your neck! Fun, right?”

“Why the hell would I think that’s fun? Who even thinks that’s fun?!”

“Of course it’s fun, you just –”

“Did you…were you awake the whole night last night?” Flug cut her off. He stared, concerned, at the impressive dark circles under her eyes.

“What? No, don’t be ridiculous,” Dementia turned her head away from him, mashing one cheek into the padded floor. “You’re just projecting your problems on me.”

“No, I’m pretty sure you’re sleep deprived, Dementia.” He twisted sideways to look at her face again. “Were you just too excited to sleep?”

“That was, that was part of it, yeah…” The inmate trailed off, eyes not meeting her doctor’s. She wilted just a bit.

“Do you want to tell me the other part?”

“I…” She chewed her lip. “I just had a nightmare, is all. It wasn’t that bad. I’m fine.”

“Did you want to talk about it?”

Dementia only looked away, so Flug laid back down so she was on his right side. He gestured for Martin to do the same on his left side. The intern complied, and the three of them stayed there silently for a solid minute before their patient spoke again.

“There were birds.” Her head was hidden by her hair. Flug couldn’t see her expression.

“Birds? Like domestic birds?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.” Dementia turned to look at him. “Someone shot them and it hurt.”

“Hurt you? It hurt you to watch them get shot?”

“It hurt,” she repeated. Her eyes unfocused. “It really hurt.”

“Okay. Okay, I understand. Dreams aren’t fun.” He backed off. “So, I only caught about half of what you were saying earlier, after you tackled me so nicely.”

“Heh, yeah, I should be a football player.”

“But I did catch that you wanted to be let out, and I can tell you right now that’s not gonna happen.”

“What?!” She jolted up. “Why not?”

“First of all, because I would probably lose my job regardless of whether you escaped or I let you out. You’re my patient and the institute doesn’t take that kind of thing lightly. Second, I’m starting to realize that I’m probably not going to do any actual pranking. My office is in the opposite direction of Bautista’s, I’d have no reason to be anywhere near his door.”

Martin sat up at this, and both teenagers stared at Flug in disbelief.

“So, you’re gonna…are you calling it off?” The intern stammered out.

“No I’m not, especially since your friends are still coming and probably have something planned.” He reached up and tugged at his bag. “But I don’t think I’ll really be much help. I had some ideas, sure, but there’s not a way for me to carry them out without getting caught. Or at least without becoming a suspect. I really, really didn’t think this through enough.”

“No, you really didn’t.” Dementia said, bouncing one knee against the floor. “So now what? I can’t call off my buddy either, it’s too short notice. He’ll be pissed and I’ll be out of a favor. That’s gonna suck.”

“You don’t need to call anything off,” Martin declared suddenly. He shrank a little when the other two looked his way. “I mean, your biggest problem is that you can’t do anything directly, right? So just…tell me what you wanted to do. I can relay it to my friends. They’ve probably figured a plan out, they’re really excited for this.”

Flug tapped at one corner of his headwear. “Are you sure? You realize that if someone gets caught, it’ll most likely fall on you. You know that, right?”

“I know,” the intern straightened his back. “But I trust my friends. They’ll figure out a way, they always do, and they won’t rat me out. And besides, I’m really sick of that guy pushing me around. Pushing us around. I can do this.”

They watched him quietly, but Martin locked his jaw and did his best to look more confident than he felt. Dementia was satisfied first, because she snorted and scooted over to him like a snake.

“Congrats, pal, you’re officially a delinquent. Welcome to the delinquent club.”

The psychiatrist continued to stare at his intern. His goggles betrayed no emotion. Then he gave a longsuffering sigh and reached for his forgotten clipboard.

“Well, now that we’ve decided to throw ourselves to the wolves together, how about we get on with this therapy session like normal doctors and patients, yeah? Dementia, was it just the dream that unsettled you or was there anything else keeping you awake?”

….

At the end of the session, Martin trailed behind his supervisor all the way back to Flug’s office. Neither one spoke beyond a few questions and answers about interacting with inmates. At his door, the psychiatrist turned and appraised his intern one more time.

“I’m not kidding about this, you know. Best case scenario if you get caught, you’ll lose this job. Maybe be barred from working here. Worst case is that you get sued. Or arrested on vandalism charges. I really don’t know what else to say.”

“I, I get it.” Martin said, clenching his hands. “But I’m in this all the way, Dr. Slys. I won’t let you down.”

That expressionless look came back over Flug’s face. A closed-off, calculating demeanor that made the teenager shiver for a reason he couldn’t place.

“Alright then. See you in the aftermath.”

Flug disappeared into his office without another word.

12:00

Martin sat at an open desk in the front lobby and pretended to work on his paperwork. His hand gripped a shaking pen, and he stared down at words that hadn’t made sense for over ten minutes. He couldn’t back out now. The group would be here any minute and he couldn’t back out now.

The front doors opened with a rush of crowd conversations, making the intern jump and nearly snap his pen. He watched as a solid twenty to thirty college students came into the building all at once, abuzz with excitement. There was a professor and a teaching assistant leading them.

Someone in a navy ballcap met Martin’s gaze, his eyes widening in recognition. Martin pursed his lips and shook his head just a little. The last thing he needed was for his coworkers to realize that he knew anyone in the group.

Then three people in institute uniform came out of another door to the right, and stepped up to the tour group with professional smiles. One of them was a woman Martin didn’t know. Another was Dr. Rorschach herself.

The third was Bautista.

“Hello, students of Ituriel University! I’m proud to welcome you here at the Global Psychiatric Medical Center for the Criminally Insane. I’m Dr. Lauren Rorschach, head director of this institute, and…”

Martin zoned out of the director’s speech, choosing instead to scan the crowd for other familiar faces. The one in the navy ballcap – that was Sidney, he realized – had grouped up with four others, who were alternating between staring around the lobby and staring at Martin. He risked tapping the pen to his lips, once, twice, and they got the message quick enough.

Eventually Dr. Rorschach beckoned towards another door, and the tour group followed close behind. Martin waited until everyone was gone before standing up swiftly and gathering his paperwork in his arms. He entered through the same door and kept pace about four meters behind the students, scanning blankly over the top page in his stack and acting all the world like he wasn’t paying attention.

The group turned the corner, but when the intern followed he nearly smacked headfirst into Sidney, who grinned and didn’t say a word. Martin peered over his shoulder and saw that Bautista had stopped the tour in front of his own office door, explaining what was required of the psychiatrists when they weren’t actively working with patients.

Sidney took an easy step backwards, closer to Martin, and his four friends shifted towards the back of the group at the same time. The teenager’s eyes darted to each of them. John, Esmerelda, Abdullah, and Leslie.

“Hey,” Sidney whispered, smile in his greeting. “That’s the guy, right?”

“Yeah, and his office.” Martin whispered back. “My boss said he can’t help you directly. Sorry.”

“Eh, I figured.” The student’s mouth quirked as if he found everything very amusing. “Anything we need to know?”

“You’re visiting a group session at some point, and I’ve got word that someone there’s gonna help you. Don’t know how. Also, my boss said no property damage, he’s worried about vandalism charges.”

“Cool. I’m sure something’ll come up. You better clear out before they see you.”

“Good luck,” Martin said as he swiveled the other way. His four other friends all gave their own smiles or nods, silent as phantoms.

They could do this. He trusted his friends, and Flug trusted him. He just needed to go about his day, and stay away from the tour group, and wait for news. His stomach roiled with stress, but he squashed it down and buried his mouth against his workload. They smelled strongly of paper and ink, and Martin wondered if Flug smelled something similar with the bag over his face.

He shook his head and continued on his way. No one noticed he’d ever been there.

14:30

The tour was set up to go for nearly four hours. They visited the indoor gym, the outdoor gardens, the medical ward, the empty orientation rooms on the first floor. They stopped for lunch at 13:30 in the staff break room, eating and talking and chattering over the impressive facility.

Abdullah mentioned how the office hallways all led to either the front lobby or the break room, and how interesting that set-up was. Leslie guessed it was probably an easy escape route if an inmate got out and came after anyone. John thought it was dumb, that it was more of a maze than a real floor plan. Esmerelda didn’t say anything.

Sidney just grinned.

At 14:30, Dr. Bautista and his associate came back in and announced that Dr. Rorschach wouldn’t be joining them on the remainder of the tour due to a meeting with another psychiatrist. He then announced that the institute had given them permission to show the students a group arts-and-craft session for less dangerous inmates. It would be starting very soon, so everyone needed to pack up their food and grab their stuff.

The session was held on the second floor, which meant that each student had to have their body scanned for metal objects and their backpacks searched for suspicious items. Nothing could be allowed that might give an inmate a chance for, well, anything.

Over twenty of the students had writing utensils, rulers, and various other sharp objects that couldn’t be taken upstairs, but none of them wanted to leave their bags out in the open, too used to guarding their things from potential thieves on-campus. So the institute staff compromised and took everyone’s stuff back to the break room, which was locked from the outside and safe from harm until the tour came back.

By the time everything was sorted out, it was 15:11 and they were running late to the group session.

Dr. Bautista, thoroughly irritated by the hold up and lack of foresight, hurried the group upstairs to a large room guarded by three men in security outfits. He turned around to address the tour before they went inside.

“I don’t need to remind any of you that being in this room is a privilege. You are all very young, but you’re also psychology students from Ituriel University, which means that I expect you to do exactly as I tell you without argument. Do not interact with any of the inmates unless we explicitly say it is okay. Do not approach an inmate unless we say it is okay. Do not do or say anything in this room, unless we say it is okay. Do I make myself clear?”

There was a various assortment of verbal assent from the students, and Dr. Bautista turned around without acknowledging it. Near the back of the group, Leslie rolled her eyes and whispered, “what a douche”, just quiet enough that the tour leaders in front couldn’t hear it.

Half the students snickered.

Everyone sobered up quickly, however, as they stepped through the doorway. About eight long tables were in the room, lined so that four of them ran parallel to the other four. Inmates sat with simple crafting tools – nothing sharp or hot – and were working quietly amongst themselves. Twelve guards lined the walls.

Dr. Bautista walked up to the nearest table and looked down at the beaded necklace a patient was making. He murmured something to the man, whose face tightened but didn’t stop working. The group watched quietly as their tour leader faced them.

“As you can see, the patients here are very well-behaved. Most of them have either been on the 2nd floor for their entire incarceration, or they have been rehabilitated enough that their privileges extend to having session on this floor. But at any time, that privilege can be revoked. We, as psychiatrists, are here to make sure that these patients will not be a danger to themselves or others, and offering incentive to change is one of our tried-and-true methods of rehabilitation.”

As he spoke, an inmate from two tables down stood up with a jar in his hands. He was a giant, burly man with a bull tattoo visible all the way up his arm. He shuffled in the direction of the group with his head down and eyes on the jar he held.

Esmerelda stiffened where she stood, watching the man. Sidney glanced her way, then coolly set his eyes to Dr. Bautista, whose back was turned to the patient coming their way. None of the guards seemed concerned by the man’s behavior – he looked only as if he was going to refill his art supplies.

But then, less than two meters away from the oblivious psychiatrist, the inmate suddenly took a few giant strides and lifted his jar high above Bautista’s head. Security shouted to warn about the threat but it was too late.

Sparkling pink glitter fell from the upturned container like fairy dust, covering Bautista with a shower from hell. He spluttered and staggered forward as the glitzy stuff got into his eyes and mouth, just in time to miss three guards grabbing at the inmate, who calmly dropped the glitter jar and held his hands above his head.

The other patients burst out laughing as one unit, cheering and whistling at the bizarre sight of a sparkling, stumbling psychiatrist who left a literal trail of pink glitter in the air behind him as he moved. The tour professor looked horrified, and his teaching assistant had clapped a hand to her mouth to keep her snort to herself. The students had no such qualms about hiding their amusement.

Everyone was ushered out of the room and downstairs in a heartbeat by several red-faced guards while the rest tried to sort out the chaos.

Sidney tilted his head to the left as the tour group was pushed back into the staff break room. A guard apologized and asked for patience, and promised that once things were straightened out, then the tour would go on as usual. She pointed to an opposite door – also the same door that led to the staff offices – and reminded them that restrooms were in that direction. The professor followed her out, arguing about wasting valuable time and asking what the head director could possibly be doing that was more important than the pandemonium going on right now.

Soon it was just the students and the teaching assistant, and Sidney tilted his head to the right, catching the eyes of his friends. He smiled with all of his teeth. Someone smirked in reply.

They had work to do.

15:00

When Flug stepped into Dr. Rorschach’s office, she had already set up the video call on her computer, and was waiting at her desk with her hands folded over a pencil and paper.

“Not one second too late or too early as usual, Doctor. Your dedication to punctuality is amazing.” She said pleasantly, gesturing for him to sit in the chair next to her. He wasted no time in doing so.

Inspector Daniels stared at both of them from the screen. Only his top half was visible, and he wore the same Interpol uniform from the day Flug had met him, back when this entire fiasco had started.

It felt like months ago.

“Dr. Slys,” the Inspector nodded cordially. He glanced down at something unseen, then lifted his gaze back up. “Before we begin, I have to ask if either of you have any cellular devices or anything that can be used to record conversations.”

Flug blinked twice, then pulled out his phone from his coat pocket. Dr. Rorschach brought out two phones and then opened a drawer, out from which came a walkie-talkie. They placed all the tech on the desk.

“Is that everything?” Daniels asked. They both nodded. “Alright. Now I must ask you to turn them all off, please. This meeting is confidential.”

The doctor did so easily, but his boss’ face became pinched.

“With all due respect, Inspector, these devices ensure that my employees can contact me in times of emergencies. I can turn off some of them, not all of them. I have to be available for any situation.”

“I understand your position, Dr. Rorschach,” the inspector said smoothly. “But you also have to understand that, again, this meeting is confidential, and Interpol cannot risk having information leak through. We cannot even have the potential of a leak. I’m sure you realize how dangerous this individual is.”

They stared at each other, with narrowed eyes and set jaws, until Dr. Rorschach relented and switched off all three devices. Daniels made a ‘hmm’ noise and looked down again.

“Are there any audio or visual recording devices set up in this room, such as a security camera?”

“No,” the director said, completely honest. “I don’t believe require staff to have cameras in their personal offices. Nothing is in this room that could compromise or record our conversation.”

“Good, good.” The inspector studied Flug a moment. “How have you been, Dr. Slys? I received your report and was pleased that you hadn’t, ah…sustained any major injuries yet.”

Flug tactfully ignored the tacked on ‘yet’ and sat back in his chair. “I’ve been well, thank you. Progress with the patient has been slow, but so far every encounter has been meaningful, even if it doesn’t appear that way to the naked eye.”

Or to me, he thought, considering how much I’ve been pissing Black Hat off lately.

“I’m aware you were the one who requested this meeting, correct? May I ask why?”

“I was,” Flug considered his words. “I was under the impression that the patient’s collar was a shock collar, from the…way he has reacted sometimes when it beeps. But recently I was in a conversation with a member of our security force who implied that, that Black Hat has…supernatural powers? And that his collar b-blocks it somehow?”

Daniels’ face didn’t change from its stony neutrality, so Flug continued.

“So whatever the case, I – it would help me greatly if I understood exactly what I’m working with. Lowering potential for a leak.”

The inspector remained quiet, and Flug exchanged a confused glance with his director. But as he opened his mouth to ask another question, the Interpol officer cut him off.

“Have you ever seen the aftermath of one of Black Hat’s crimes?”

Flug’s mouth clicked shut. He thought about the report on the last psychiatrist who had tried to work with Black Hat. The visuals made him shudder.

“Yes, I have.”

“I’m not talking about the photos from the case file we sent you, Dr. Slys. I’m asking if you’ve ever seen what happens after that creature decides to go on a rampage.”

“I…no. I haven’t.”

“I thought as much,” Daniels looked at both of them. “Did you know that Black Hat once killed fifteen American SWAT members in less than a minute?”

No, he didn’t know that.

“Are you aware that after he did so, Black Hat then proceeded to phase through the wall of a nearby government building and decapitated five United Nations representatives in a single instant?”

No, he wasn’t aware of that, either.

“Do you know how we know he did it?” The inspector leaned forward. “The SWAT team carried body cameras. That government building contained state of the art surveillance. Everything glitched out in his presence. The only reliable video footage was near the end of the killing spree, when Black Hat reverted to the form you know him as, and the cameras came back online just in time to catch him straightening his tie. Do you want to know how we know he did everything else I mentioned?”

No, no, I don’t want to know. But tell me anyway.

“Because of the blood. The clearing where the SWAT team was stationed looked like the filming site for Saw VII. They were torn apart like nothing we had ever seen before. We know Black Hat phased through the wall because he left a blood trail that couldn’t phase with him, so it left a near-perfect replica of his silhouette against the vertical concrete. We know he killed the UN representatives at the exact same time because our forensics team found matching rates of body cooling and lack of blood coagulation in all five bodies.”

Dr. Rorschach was white. Flug’s hands clenched at his lab coat under the desk.

“I’m not a religious man, Dr. Slys, but I can say openly and honestly that whatever that creature is, it’s not Earthly. That collar around his neck is the only thing keeping him here. Forget the straitjacket, forget the reinforced titanium walls, the guns, the guards. Those are just precautions to keep him at bay as an almost-human thing. Because without that collar, everything else means jack shit.”

“So h-how,” Flug managed, “how does the collar do it?”

“I’ll tell you, both of you, but I need to remind you that what I say in this room stays one hundred percent confidential. Don’t tell security. Don’t tell the other psychiatrists. Don’t tell your friends or family members. No one. The last thing we need is for this science to be replicated by anyone with more dubious morality. Or worse, for Black Hat to learn any more about it than he already knows.”

Flug looked down at the pencil and empty sheet of paper he had brought for this meeting. Slowly, he crumpled it into a ball and dropped it into the waste basket by the desk. Daniels gave him a tight smile.

“Alright then. This collar is state of the art technology. You’ve probably noticed how bulky it is, right? That’s because of its contents. It’s programmed to measure body mass.”

“I’m sorry, what? Body mass?” Flug felt his brow visibly furrow.

“That’s what I said. Down to the picogram. And it’s not like those high school chemistry scales either. It doesn’t get altered by movement, or, say, if someone set an iron ball in Black Hat’s hands. It’s programmed to his body mass only, in as near as accurate as we can get. You see, most people have their own body mass, and it can be altered only with layers of clothing, or changes in weight or height. Black Hat’s body doesn’t adhere to those rules.

“When he shapeshifts, or phases through things, that’s what changes his body mass. It shouldn’t, it goes against almost every physics law we know, but that’s what it does. That collar acts as two things. The part around his neck measures his body mass, and it keeps the thing in place so he can’t jolt it. The bulkier part, in the back? It contains a needle that’s connected directly to his spinal cord.”

“What?! Isn’t that, doesn’t that violate his rights?”

“That creature doesn’t have rights.” Daniels replied, eyes grim. “He doesn’t have an age or origin we can track, he holds no citizenship that we know of, and any rights he might have been able to claim have been tossed out the window for decades now, with his criminal record.”

“This is insane,” Flug said aloud, slumping in his seat. “This is absolutely insane. Shit…”

“I’m going to continue, if you don’t mind.” The inspector didn’t wait for their confirmation. “As I said, it’s connected into his spinal cord at the base of his neck. If and when the collar recognizes a change in body mass, no matter how small, that needle is automatically plunged deeper, which cuts off his ability to move or feel most of his body. It usually only lasts about ten seconds, but we know from experience that if need be, the paralysis effect can stay upwards of six hours.”

Flug grit his teeth. “So, d-did you just provoke him into trying to attack you after the ten seconds were up?”

“No, of course not,” Daniels looked mildly smug. “We have a remote device that can increase the time span of how long the needle remains injected.”

“If that’s the case, why didn’t you use it during his transfer to this institute?” Dr. Rorschach asked coldly. “If I recall, one Interpol officer’s life was at stake in a confrontation between you and Black Hat. Not to mention, letting Dr. Slys walk into his cell without this device to back him up seems extremely negligent.”

“It was your decision to allow Dr. Slys to do so, Dr. Rorschach.” The inspector replied, eyes narrowed. “In fact, you assured me he was well equipped to handle this creature. If anyone can be accused of negligence, it would be you and your institute, wouldn’t you say?”

“You still haven’t answered either of my questions, Inspector.”

Daniels sighed. “I was worried Black Hat would kill someone, to be frank. The last time we used this device, it was simply to test that it worked, and after the trial was over Black Hat went into a frenzied rage, without setting off the collar, that killed three soldiers. It was by this we learned that the only way the device worked was if Black Hat had already set off the collar on his own. Our scientists are still trying to fix this issue, but we think it might be related to the effect he has on technology in general, especially radio waves and cameras.”

Dr. Rorschach and Inspector Daniels continued discussing this problem, and what could be done to fix it, but Flug had stopped listening. Because he was still hung up on that little detail about being stripped of your free will for six hours.

No wonder he didn’t want to talk about it, the psychiatrist realized. What a horrible, humiliating thing to have to deal with every day. I’d be pissed too.

He looked over to his boss, who was still arguing with the inspector that having the defective remote was better than having nothing at all. Flug didn’t really care either way; he had gotten this far without getting mauled, he’d be fine for a while longer. And the idea of having such a twisted little thing in his pocket when he visited Black Hat was making him feel sick.

“Excuse me? Inspector Daniels?” The doctor asked, getting the attention of both superiors. “You, uh, mentioned that Black Hat doesn’t know everything about the collar. How much does he know?”

“Not enough to be dangerous,” Daniels said. “He knows that it’s a restraining device, and he knows about the needle because he can feel it in his spine. I have no doubt he’s figured out that it’s related to activating his powers, although we never explained that to him. And I’m almost certain he doesn’t know about the remote control’s restrictions. We’re very lucky that Black Hat has never been well-versed in technology.”

Flug’s hands twitched. “Thank you, Inspector. I’ll be sure to u-use this knowledge carefully and to the best of my ability from now on. I’m afraid I have other things to attend to today. Is there anything else you needed to tell me?”

Daniels shook his head, and Flug thanked him again before getting up on unsteady feet. Dr. Rorschach stared up at him, obvious protest in her face, but he just shook his head.

“I’m sorry for leaving so soon, but I think there’s not much more I can learn from this meeting. If you come to a decision about me receiving the controller, then please let me know when you can.”

“Actually,” the inspector said, looking down again. “My time is about up for now as well. Dr. Rorschach, I feel that you and I can continue this conversation at a later date. You seem to have things handled well over there, and your psychiatrist doesn’t appear concerned. I’ll bid you both adieu. Dr. Rorschach, Dr. Slys.”

With that, Daniels cut the transmission and left Lauren fuming and Flug in deceptive silence. Without a word both of them turned on their phones again, and the director made a surprised noise that had her employee look her way.

“What’s the matter?”

“There’s been a situation on the 2nd floor, come with me.”

So he went with her, and stayed quiet as she called someone while they walked.

“This is Dr. Rorschach, I just finished with my meeting, what’s – what? Slow down! Bautista was attacked by an inmate?”

That had both of them halting in their tracks. Flug stood awkwardly as his boss listened to a voice he couldn’t make out. Then she snapped “I’ll be right there” and hung up the phone.

“What’s going on? What happened?”

“An inmate assaulted Dr. Bautista during the university tour, and they’ve been trying to get ahold of me for over half an hour. Supposedly it was Inmate #244, real name unknown, alias Metauro. He dropped a ‘glitter bomb’ on our coworker while he was showing the arts and craft room to the tour group.”

“O-Oh? That’s b-bizarre.”

“It’s about to get more bizarre, because while he went home to change, someone wrecked his office.”

Flug tripped on air and nearly faceplanted. “I’m sorry, wrecked his office?!”

“That’s what I’ve been told. Security hasn’t figured out who did it yet.” Dr. Rorschach’s heels clicked on the flooring with urgency. “They think it might have been some of the students, but haven’t found any evidence yet.”

“Ah, okay, uh…why am I coming?”

“Because you have an amazing eye for detail, Doctor, so you’re going to help security comb through the wreckage while I talk to people.”

Too soon they were at Bautista’s open door, where several guards were standing, taking pictures and arguing with each other about being lax on security. Everyone stepped to attention when they saw the head director.

“Dr. Slys, do whatever you need in here. Take pictures, ask around, anything. Try not to disturb the scene too much but otherwise I’m giving you free reign until I can find our chief of security.” She peered into the room and her face went carefully blank.

“What? Is it bad?” Flug was really, really hoping it wasn’t too bad.

“Huh,” Dr. Rorschach said. “Well, now I know why they think it was the students.”

She turned around and grabbed the nearest guard, dragging him with her in whatever direction the students were in. Flug headed to Bautista’s door and was very grateful that the noise he made sounded like shock.

The office wasn’t wrecked as he’d feared. Instead, blank lined paper balls covered the floor, leaving no trace of carpet anywhere. A lamp near the left corner had its shade switched out with the waste basket. A bookshelf on the right had its contents rearranged so that the first letters of several titles spelled out the word ‘asshole’ in a more subtle but still noticeable message.

The window was filled with sharpie penises and the Cool S, making it extremely difficult to see in or out. The computer had been covered by the waste basket’s liner. There was a single piece of paper on the desk with something written on it, so Flug waded into the room to look at it.

Beautiful Bautista Bastard

Underneath that was a rushed sketch of a tall man wearing a tutu, with fairy wings and a glowing wand. Small penciled dots littered the page behind the mand and the doctor snorted as he realized it was supposed to represent fairy dust. Or whatever that ‘glitter bomb’ had been.

Without blinking, Flug took his phone out and held down the camera button. He panned around the office from the left to the right, making sure to catch everything. His boss had told him to take pictures, so he was taking pictures.

She’d never said he couldn’t keep them. She’d also never said he couldn’t show them to two certain someones.

Really, he was just doing his duty.

(And maybe Black Hat would have some input to give as well)

Heyyy it's out! Sorry for the delay, this was a doozy of a chapter and some of the scenes weren't coming out like I wanted them to. I hope you all enjoy this update, because there are some important info drops here. Sounds like Flug is more concerned about Black Hat's rights than his own safety, hmhmhm.

#villainous #villainous au #asylum au #dr flug #black hat #demencia #paperhat

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