#like autopsy videos which I saw said shit take about

[entropy-sea-system]

I will never understand people who claim that its okay to watch/read something completely ethical to watch/read (i.e. no harm caused to any real being in the production of it) but ONLY if its for specific reasons like education, and not for sexual reasons/interest/etc. It's the same action ! Nobody is going to know WHY someone is consuming a media and frankly I don't think its anyone's business unless someone wants to reveal what they get out of reading/watching something, with content warnings if applicable.

[dgcatanisiri]

Right. THAT is why I don’t watch every video essay that passes through my recommendations, just because it’s about a subject of queerness. Because it wants to talk about one of the biggest examples of queerbaiting as if it existed in isolation from everything else that happened in that fandom.

I need to blow off some steam here.

When it comes to addressing issues of St*rek, you CAN. NOT. divorce the discussion of how the show queerbaited the audience from the audience’s racism. The show had a canon queer character (of color) and centered around a character of color. And, when it came to fan content, what I would usually see come about, if the above two were involved AT ALL? Was crap like this.

A gif of Scott and Stiles, Stiles going for a fist bump, Scott a five, and them just rolling with it, with the text below bringing up a “stoned fratboy” AU. And the very next reblog text drops Scott IMMEDIATELY and makes it into a St*rek thing. Nothing about this show mattered but the characters of Stiles and Derek.

This will forever be what that pairing is associated with in my mind. The erasure of Scott to prop it up, even when it’s not even the subject.

The thing is, this pairing has ALWAYS been my go-to of straight people translating the dynamics of straight relationships onto queer couples, a translation that always misses the mark - aesthetic attraction aside, you aren’t going to genuinely fall for and proceed to act on an attraction to someone who is legitimately aggressive to you. The bully and the bullied do not ACTUALLY end up together, because the bully has made it clear that, if they were given the chance, they’d leave you bloody, not your heart a-flutter. 

AND THAT WAS THE DYNAMIC. For the better part of Derek’s time on the show, he did not give a single flying fornication about Stiles - his focus was on SCOTT. On how Scott - the “Teen Wolf” of the series name - was now a werewolf, how that made a connection between them, as pack. Derek legitimately threatened Stiles with bodily harm on multiple occasions - and in a few occasions off the top of my head, actually followed through with it. Stiles was something that Derek had to put up with, and routinely made it clear that he didn’t particularly care to.

It doesn’t matter how flustered Stiles might have gotten about Derek, the genuine reality always was that Derek DIDN’T care about Stiles. It was not until the show began actively leaning in to the queerbaiting that we saw any positive shift in their interactions. Until that point, it was a lot of antagonism, and, again, antagonism may have often been used to describe straight pairings, but... I mean, people, even the straights are reaching the point of calling out this shit as being unhealthy dynamics at best. 

But they were attractive white guys who breathed in the same room, while being the only romantically unattached characters in the main cast during the first season. Despite the fact that both had plenty of interactions with other characters that could have offered them something with more foundation - Scott and Stiles are best friends who are as close as brothers, Derek is after Scott to join the pack. Stiles on screen is pestering Danny about “am I attractive to gay guys?” and then got him to come over to his bedroom (it’s the same scene as that infamous “Derek in Stiles’s bedroom” bit, not that anyone ever discusses that...) Hell, go in the direction of the dynamic above, Scott and Jackson are rivals on the lacrosse team throughout Jackson’s time. Yet, even with that being the same dynamic AND not involving either character - so not “conflicting” with the ship while offering the same draw in terms of their interactions - it’s a barely touched ship when you look it up on AO3.

So we have the fandom actively AVOIDING featuring the characters of color, diminishing them, and, based on my experience in terms of the content that existed throughout the time of the show’s airing, even transplanting Scott’s characterization over to Stiles - Stiles is the snarky shit who doesn’t mind suggesting killing a perceived threat because he wants the danger dealt with directly, while Scott is the compassionate nurturer who will do everything in his power to find a solution that saves the most lives. But I recall a lot of trying to make Stiles out as “the pack mom!friend,” as if he’d be the one taking care of all these characters if they showed up unexpectedly. 

Like, that example always came with the way he positioned himself over Isaac and Erica in the episode “Raving.” The way that actually is him using them as a shield - if the kanima broke through the door they were pressed against, it’d hit them first, giving Stiles time to run away. But sure, he’s the pack mama, looking out for the baby betas.

When Stiles or Derek suggest or do something morally questionable, they’re justified. When Scott disagrees, he’s the worst. When Derek betrays Scott (working with Peter in season one), his actions are brushed off entirely. When Scott (justifiably) does not trust Derek (his plan for dealing with Gerard in the season two finale), he’s a horrible person for leaving Derek in the dark - even though Derek has spent the whole season actively preying on a group of teenage outcasts, threatening to kill anyone he believes is the kanima, and just generally being a variety flavor bag of dicks.

The fandom diminished Scott, and it even diminished Danny - at the same time that we had Danny and Ethan’s relationship in season three, there were still calls for “a gay couple” on the show. Like, that was the way it was looked at, that “we need a gay couple,” exact words. Because Danny/Ethan was not main cast, or, to put it bluntly since I already said this was a matter of racism, because Danny wasn’t white, this canon gay relationship was ignored and erased in the name of getting the two white boys to kiss. Not “a gay couple in the main cast.” Just “a gay couple.”

For the record, I’m not gonna touch on the age gap element, Stiles at 16, Derek in his early 20s, even though I know it’s become a popular thing to go into as time has gone on - in today’s example of “nuance is a thing,” the nuance of this is that we have adult actors playing teenage characters, which creates muddied waters since fictional construct says one thing, but your eyes and head are seeing actors of a more appropriate age interacting, and while I don’t condone it IRL, this is still fiction and I’m gonna just leave that alone for the time being. The core of my complaint overall here is that fandom was inventing this relationship wholesale and then getting pissy when canon didn’t conform and actors disagreed.

So when you have an interview where, after a few years of being asked repeatedly about “is St*rek gonna happen?” when he plays neither character, when this show is supposedly meant to center on his character, but no one seems to talk to him ABOUT his character, when these “fans” are minimizing him and his character, Tyler Posey makes a snippy remark about how this is “weird, twisted, bizarre, and they’re watching for the wrong thing”? Yeah, actually. He’s right. St*rek shippers WERE watching for the wrong thing.

In the eyes of these shippers, Scott could do no right if it would mean that Derek was wrong. To them, “Teen Wolf” was a description of Stiles (the teen) and Derek (the wolf), and Scott was an incidental character at best. And how dare anyone involved be at all upset over this.

But the videos on queerbaiting NEVER bring this stuff up. And, when those from outside the fandom, who report on these in autopsy fashion, bring up things like Tyler Posey’s comment, they do it in a manner that even suggests that he - the actor who was nineteen/twenty years old at the time of the show’s filming and premiere - was responsible for the various forms of queerbaiting that the producers pushed, like the infamous “Dylan O’Brien and Tyler Hoechlin cuddling on a ship” thing. So, you know, just perpetuating this attitude that permeated this fandom, of this casual low-level racism. 

But no, this never comes up. But speaking as someone who was there during the height of Teen Wolf’s Tumblr popularity? Oh, it ABSOLUTELY was everywhere. But, because the people doing these autopsies were in the midst of this (and, while I’m acknowledging this at the end of this ranting, I do want to be clear that I am speaking about this fandom as an entity in its own right, and not any singular individual in and of themselves, I don’t think that all shippers of this ship are racist or that shipping it is in and of itself racist, just that as an overall experience of this fandom is this core of) or they came after the show’s heyday and missed it, know the pairing for being queerbaited before they know the show/fandom/pairing itself... They’re not seeing it. They’re not talking about it. And it makes for a deep failing in these examinations. Because that racism is why the pairing got as popular as it did. Again, there were other pairings with other foundations available. And yet somehow, it’s the white guys who hate each other getting all the attention in the fandom, over anything else. 

[jasontoddiefor]

Title: The Jason Project

Summary: Jason had just wanted to see his autopsy report, he had only wanted to know what information Bruce had about his death. And when Bruce hadn't given it to him, he had stolen it. He hadn’t meant to stumble upon the bucket list of a dead child and the footage of a grieving father crossing one item after another off the list.

AN: Because I stayed up until 2am and then had to spend the entire day writing the best Jason & Bruce angst I’ll write this year. Yes, I wrote nearly 5.000 words in one day. Warnings for Bruce’s suicidal tendencies after Jason’s death.

The anger was still burning in Jason’s stomach when he was already halfway across the city, far away from the manor and Bruce’s self-righteous, arrogant, condescending fuck-all damning attitude. Green had taken over his vision, and Jason had only started to get back some resemblance of conscious control when Crime Alley had greeted him. He wasn’t clear on what exactly he had said to Bruce once the screaming had started, but Jason also didn’t care. None of his so-called-siblings ever stood up to Bruce’s authority, but Jason wasn’t like them. He didn’t just back down and roll over like a good little soldier when Daddy said ‘no.’

Fuck them.

And fuck Bruce in particular.

Jason had been playing by the rules for months now. He hadn’t killed, hadn’t used excessive force – he hadn’t even antagonized the other kids. And for what? Only to be denied over and over again.

No, Jason, you’re not taking that patrol route. No, you can’t work on that case. No, don’t take your guns. No, you can’t look at the files I collected of your death.

No, I don’t fucking trust you with anything, no matter how hard you try.

The USB drive in his pocket was just another proof that Jason would always be the black sheep – no, he wasn’t even the black sheep. That was probably Steph. In Bruce’s mind, Jason was the wolf in sheep’s clothing, just another threat, a ticking time bomb, for this city.

After all, he was the only one who hadn’t been granted access to the files Bruce had on him. Dick could take a look at what Bruce thought of his golden boy, the Replacement could and even the Demon brat were allowed to see the bi-monthly – or even more often? It wasn’t like Jason had access and could see them – evaluations Bruce wrote on each of them.

The best part of this whole affair was that Jason hadn’t even wanted to see those. He didn’t need a physical reminder of how much of a disappointment he was in Bruce’s eyes.

He had only wanted to see his own autopsy report because Jason needed to know. Talia hadn’t been able to tell him which scars were the Joker’s fault, which ones Jason had earned in his time as Robin and which ones he had already had when Bruce had adopted him.

Jason couldn’t recall those memories himself. Or rather, he couldn’t trust those memories. Often enough Willis Todd’s face morphed into the laughing grimace of the Joker beating down on him again and again, and Jason just wanted to know so his head could stop spinning and his body would start feeling like his own once more.

He got uncomfortable in his body sometimes. Bruce probably had notes on that too. Had seen Jason twitch one too many times too often and written down PTSD, anxiety, dysphoria and a whole lot of other diagnoses.

Fuck him, Jason thought again when he finally arrived at his safe house. Jason had wanted to see only one thing, but now he had gotten every file, every single thought and he’d throw them all in Bruce’s face the next time he saw him. He’d do it right in front of the others too. Who knew, maybe Replacement had some unmentioned thoughts about being replaced himself?

Jason locked the door behind himself and activated his security system. The last thing he needed was anyone barging in when he was in the middle of another existential crisis. The safe house he had chosen to hide away in was his most secure one. State of the art defense and comfortable on the inside, prepped to keep someone on death’s door alive for ages.

Carefully, Jason took the USB out of his pocket and laid it on the table. Then he got out of his uniform and headed for the shower. The water was almost scalding, but Jason preferred it this way. There were days on which temperatures meant nothing to him. He could walk out in shorts in the middle of winter or be wearing four layers in summer. He just didn’t feel the difference. Today wasn’t one of these days, but it was close enough.

When he was done, he got dressed in sweat pants and a hoodie. Soft, warm, and kind on his aching bones.

He skipped dinner.

He hadn’t prepared anything because he’d thought he would be eating at the manor tonight and he was too lazy and too nervous to make himself something now. He was sure he wouldn’t be able to stomach it either.

All that was left to do now was put the damn stick into his laptop.

The USB was cold in his hand, freezing really, and Jason had to force his hand to stay steady. The laptop screen lit up and the files loaded. He hadn’t really expected this many GB to be on him, but Bruce had never been anything but thoroughly.

Jason Peter Todd, the first line read. His birth record was in there, the old one and the original one. His adoption papers, ID and passport and a bunch of other things. Jason wanted to get to the file he was actually here for first. The rest he could still read later on. He had all the time in the world now.

Or at least a week until Alfred talked some sense into Bruce.

Robin, skipped, school reports, skipped, vacation – what the hell was that doing here, skipped.

Ethiopia.

The cursor hovered above the file and Jason wanted to open it, he really did, but then the name of the folder below that caught his interest.

The Jason Project.

What the hell was that?

A 30 step plan to rehabilitate him and make him a good Robin again?

Jason scoffed. He double-clicked on the Ethiopia file. The documents in it were sorted by date, very neatly and labeled to the heavens.

Autopsy report. April 28th. 2am.

It was just one click away. He’d finally know if Bruce had been able to tell how often the Joker had taken the crowbar to Jason’s head, how much it had hurt, how much he had hoped that his Dad would come and save him like he had all the times before?

Jason returned to the overview and opened the file beneath Ethiopia.

He was such a fucking coward. He finally had what he’d wanted to see, and then he couldn’t open it because his heart sped up and his breathing got a little uneven like it always did right before Jason fell into a panic attack?

Well, it had been almost three full weeks since his last one. It was time for a new one.

“Shit,” Jason cursed and closed his eyes.

He could see the flames dancing in front of him, hear that deranged laughter, high pitched and mad.

Okay, alright. He got this.

All the time in the world left for him.

He’d just start with something else first. Losing a few laughs about Bruce’s dumb rehabilitation plan was a good, no, a great idea. He could write one for Bruce right after and mail it to every member of their little family. It was petty, yes, but Jason could do a lot worse, and it was only because this city needed a functioning Batman that he didn’t.

Thus he opened The Jason Project and clicked on the first document. He expected something like a diagram measuring the Red Hood’s aggression to the number of times he messed up, but instead, he came face to face with a video of Bruce.

He looked so young and exhausted.

Bruce looking tired was nothing new, it was sort of his permanent state of mind, though Jason thought he used to be less dead on his feet before Jason had died.

Bruce’s age, however, caught Jason off guard. This video was at least what? Five years old? Maybe even a little more. What was this? Against his better judgment, Jason hit play.

X

“I don’t know what I’m doing,” Bruce said. “It was fine. Everything was fine, and then your English teacher called about a project you handed in before- and I just- I don’t know. I don’t even recall what happened after, except hours had passed and I can’t recall a fucking thing-“

X

Jason hit stop. This wasn’t what he had expected. The Bruce on the screen looked like he was going to cry and Jason didn’t have any memories of Bruce ever actually crying in front of him. Though this wasn’t in front of him at all, was it?

So Bruce had recorded himself talking to Jason. Maybe. Was this a video diary? Jason looked over the other files and no, they seemed to be pretty mixed from writing to photos and audios.

He bit his lip until he could taste blood. Should he keep watching?

Hell, why shouldn’t he? These files were in Jason’s folder, he damn straight deserved to watch them.

He clicked on play again and started watching.

X

“Your project was supposed to be about things you looked forward to doing in summer. And you wrote about The List. Our list. All the things you wanted to do someday because I’m ‘stupidly rich and stupidly rich people spoil their children.’“ Bruce swallowed. “I forgot about the list. It was still there where you left it. Pinned against the corkboard above your desk.”

Bruce took a piece of paper out of his pockets.

X

Jason remembered writing that list. It had been days before his first birthday at the manor and he hadn’t expected anything whatsoever. But then Bruce had asked what Jason wanted and he had written a list of the dumbest rich kids gifts he could think of and handed it to Bruce.

And Bruce had taken it seriously. He had seen nothing wrong with taking Jason on vacation to the freaking Caribbean for two weeks. His only concern had been getting someone competent enough to cover his night shifts, and Kate and Babs had gladly volunteered.

It had been the two best weeks of Jason’s life.

On Jason’s birthday, midnight, they had sat on the beach and talked about all the things they really should do someday and as soon as Jason had come home, he had sat down and written it all down.

That had been the birth of The List. And every once in a while Jason and Bruce had picked something from the list and done it.

Those had been the good times. Jason could feel the dread rise in his stomach, but he refused to stop the video. He had decided that he’d go through all of this tonight and he would.

X

“I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I told Dinah and she said it might help me to do something with it. So I will. I’ll do everything on this list, all the things you wanted to see and- I’ll tell you all about. When the time comes-“

X

When.

When as if it was something sure, something soon, something planned-

X

“-I’ll tell you all about the things you wanted to do so you won’t feel like you missed out. I’m so sorry, Jaylad. I’m sorry, my son. I should have been there. I should have been there for you-“

X

The video cut off.

Jason was frozen in his seat. Something wet rolled over his cheeks and he immediately reached up to wipe the tear away. This wasn’t fair. He hadn’t thought about this, about all the things he had missed out when he was dead and later on when he’d been training.

He hadn’t spent a second thinking about catching up with the rest of the world.

X

Diamond Cats

Nolan Street 134 9am – 6pm M-T 9am – 9pm F-S

Fri 05/15/2014 11:32am

PURCHASE Donut, sprinkles   1,12$

3x Coffee             10,5$

TOTAL               11,62$

TIP                        300$

Thanks for supporting a local business!

THANKS FOR THE TIP MR. WAYNE.

COME BACK WHENEVER YOU WANT.

CATS ARE GREAT HUGGERS.

AND WE’LL MAKE SURE THE PRESS DOESN’T

KNOW YOU COME HERE. I’M SORRY FOR

YOUR LOSS.

X

Jason stared at the receipt, unsure what to think of it. He remembered that cat café. He and Bruce had passed it as Batman and Robin on patrol one night after chasing after Catwoman. Jason had joked about going there with Selina someday instead of running after her when it was freezing and raining. Bruce had rolled his eyes at him and said something about going there just with Jason as well, and no begging about taking a cat home.

So was this Bruce collecting proof he’d actually gone out and done something from the List? The rest of these documents would be full with little things like this. Jason’s missed opportunities, Jason’s lost childhood.

He needed something strong if he wanted to make it through the rest of these. Why didn’t he have any drinkable alcohol in this safe house? Or cigarettes. Anything to make this easier.

He continued on, this time greeted by an audio file.

X

“I’m in Hollywood and let me tell you, it’s not as shiny or impressive as everyone makes it out to be. And the food isn’t even nearly as good as Alfred’s. I think the salmon they served at the buffet was closer to its due date than it should be. And the biscuits are super dry. You would have hated it. But breakfast in Hollywood can be crossed off the list I guess.”

X

A postcard from Disneyland, accompanied by a photo of Bruce in Mickey Mouse ears.

X

Another photo of a couple fries and burgers with Gotham harbor in the background.

X

“Do you- do you remember that documentary about the most spectacular libraries? I’d injured my leg and we didn’t go on patrol, but I couldn’t fall asleep so you sat with me. We turned on the TV and they were talking about all these libraries. Your eyes were shining, you looked so stunned like you didn’t believe the manor’s library could be bested still. And then they started talking about the Biblioteca Joanina in Portugal and you- you started jumping up and down on the sofa when they said that bats lived in the library. You wanted to rush down to the Cave and collect some bats for the manor. And- it’s so pretty, Jason. It’s so beautiful and you would have loved it. I can almost see you here right next to me and god- why didn’t I take you here? Why didn’t I take off a week and just took you here?”

X

A postcard from Kyoto and a photo of Bruce dressed in a yukata. Next to him stood Katana, holding an umbrella over them both.

X

Another photo, this one of Bruce dressed as Superman standing in front of a building Jason recognized as one of the orphanages funded by the Wayne foundation. And next to him was Clark Kent in a Batman costume. Jason couldn’t believe he was seeing that correctly. They both seemed to be handing out candy to children.

“It’s Halloween,” the audio file repeated. It was Clark speaking. “He’s doing better, but I wasn’t sure whether going out with children was a good idea, especially since what happened with the-“Clark stopped speaking, and Jason could hear him struggling to find the right words. “What happened. I thought Bruce was going to quit the League after I stopped him, but he hasn’t. Diana and Hal are keeping track of Arkham right now and I’m checking in on Bruce. I don’t know- I don’t know how you usually do these recordings, Bruce. Or if you’ll ever listen to this one here. But we’re here for you.”

X

The next video was of a room Jason would recognize everywhere: the halls of the Globe Theatre. He had begged Alfred and Bruce to take him there when they’d been in London for a weekend once, but they hadn’t had the time.

The room was packed full and the play seemed to only just begin.

“Thank you for coming tonight, Ladies and Gentlemen! This performance is sponsored by an anonymous donator, who only asked us to perform in honor of one Jason Todd…”

X

Jason pushed the laptop off his legs and stumbled into the kitchen. He needed air. He grabbed a water bottle from the fridge and marched into the direction of the balcony when he stumbled over his discard uniform.

In his attempt to catch his balance, he dropped the glass bottle, which broke as soon as it hit the ground.

“Damn it,” Jason cursed and took a step back only to hiss and jump up.

Blood dripped to the ground.

“Shit, shit, shit.”

Jason maneuvered himself away from the glass shards and hobbled to his first aid station. He took out alcohol and bandages and began cleaning the cut on his foot. First, he pulled out all the shards, then he used the alcohol to disinfect the wound. It wouldn’t stop throbbing even after Jason had bandaged it. He took one look at the mess he had made and decided he could clean up another time. Silently counting to ten, Jason leaned back and closed his eyes.

The boy who had died in that warehouse would have loved to know that this was how he had been remembered.

Jason didn’t want to be that child.

He mourned him anyway.

X

Another video, this time no Bruce in sight but a lot of injured animals. Wildlife rehabilitation center could be read on one of the signs in the recording.

X

The sound of classic instruments playing various movie themes. Harry Potter, Titanic, Star Wars – Jason recognized most of them.

X

A stack of DVDs.

X

The camera was focused on Bruce and his desk. A stack of documents was waiting to be signed on the right. A colorful collection of pens and pencils in an ugly handmade ceramic mug. A photo in an overly fancy frame of Bruce, Barbara, Dick and Jason sitting at the living room table playing Monopoly.

“You always complained about the fact that we don’t take photos in uniform, so I collected some. Or rather, picked them up from someone who collected them.”

Bruce smiled a little pained. Then he held up a photo album, pages upon pages filled with photos of Batman and Jason’s Robin. Some of them were blurry, others stunningly clear and pretty.

“Did you ever notice a kid following us, Jay? I didn’t. I didn’t notice a child following us into Gotham’s darkest parts. He could have gotten hurt, and I wouldn’t even have known. His name is Tim by the way. He’s the exact sort of boy you would have befriended instantly. Smart kid, figured out our identities years ago from a simple flip. And- hell, you’d hate his parents. Jack and Janet Drake, our neighbors actually. They leave Tim alone for most of the year, they weren’t even there for his birthday. They have a kid waiting on them, and they don’t appreciate it one bit. I’m sure you’d have a couple more words to say about them that Alfred wouldn’t approve of. Anyway. Do you know you’re his hero? Yesterday- Tim saved me yesterday. I was going to die. I was almost okay with that as well. You’d be so disappointed in me, but I’m so tired, son. Tim took one of your old uniforms and saved me. He did well given that he doesn’t have training. He said Batman needs a Robin and maybe- maybe he is right. But what if I- what if he dies? I can’t let another child die, and this one isn’t even mine. I wish he were, but- Just, please promise me you’re watching over him, Jay. He loves you, and he needs someone and I don’t know if I can be that person.”

X

“This one wasn’t on the list.” The video was shaky. People could be heard and seen rushing around Bruce, most of them speaking Italian. “But I saw them on my way to the meeting and there was this boy- I could have sworn he was you, Jason. He was wearing a hoodie, just as red as your favorite and his hair was black too, if a little longer than you kept yours. Only his eyes were green. I can’t even tell you how glad I am that his eyes were green, because for a moment I thought the new pain killers were also interfering with my other meds. But the point is, I saw these and thought you’d like them.”

The camera moved to show a couple Venetian masks lying on the table. One was black and reminiscent of Batman’s cowl and besides it laid a smaller green one decorated with fake and cheap gemstones. Another mask was shaped like a W, then there was a blue, red and yellow one.

“Justice League masks,” Bruce said. “They are cheap and look ridiculous, but you would have loved them. I think I’ll keep them as a New Years gift for the League.”

X

Jason was woken up by the sound of his doorbell ringing. He had made it through all the documents, fifty they must have been. It had taken all night and Jason felt hollow. Those things had been for a boy that would never get to see them and Jason was painfully aware that they hadn’t been meant for him.

Nevertheless, he had to choke down those feelings for now and deal with whoever had decided to disturb him.

He managed to make his way over to the display screens showing who stood in his entrance without too much hissing. He was ready to shout at whoever wanted something from him to go away, only for the words to get stuck in his throat when he realized who was standing there.

Bruce.

Civilian clothes and all.

Oh no.

No, no, no, nonono.

Jason couldn’t deal with that now. He didn’t want to stare into the eyes of the man he’d seen cry. He couldn’t. Not now.

The doorbell rang again.

And again and again and Jason couldn’t move.

He didn’t know how much time had passed when Bruce’s shoulders sank in defeat and he turned around. He was leaving.

He was leaving Jason behind once more.

Suddenly, it seemed like Jason couldn’t get to the door fast enough. His foot screamed in protest when Jason rushed forward and threw the door open.

Bruce turned around and stared at Jason with wide blue eyes, and Jason didn’t know what to say.

“I still haven’t seen Romeo + Juliet,” Jason blurted out the first thing that came to his mind.

Bruce stared at him like he couldn’t understand what was going on in Jason’s head, which was fair because Jason had no idea either, so he just kept on rambling.

“The Leonardo di Caprio movie. We only ever watched these super old black and white Shakespeare movies, but I think we should give this one a shot, right?”

Bruce was still staring and it freaked Jason out. Bruce knew. Of course he knew that Jason had stolen all the files and watched them and bawled like a baby because even death couldn’t teach him that the world was a vicious monster that enjoyed breaking people into pieces until they didn’t know who they used to be.

“Jason-“

“I saw the stupid files,” Jason interrupted him. Better to get this out of the way now before they started shouting again. “The videos about the List and all the things you did, and it’s not fair that I didn’t get to do any of that and that these were the end of me. I- I don’t know. I’m tired, Bruce. I’m really tired of you not listening to me and that everything has to be a fight. We used to be better than this.”

Silence followed Jason’s statement and for a moment he thought he’d finally done it and ruined everything. Not the killing, not the disobedience, this talk would be what finally crossed the line. Jason could see it in Bruce’s face.

“I know,” Bruce replied slowly. “I know and I’m sorry, Jaylad.”

Jason’s brain short-circuited. What?

Bruce didn’t notice Jason zoning out, still stuck on that first sentence and kept talking.

“But I can’t shake off the feeling that every time I take my eyes off you, you’re going to disappear again. Back to Crime Alley or to another country or just somewhere I can’t reach you. So tell me what to do, Jay, because I don’t know.”

This used to be easy. He’d been able to ask everything and get a reply. He hadn’t had to worry about what topics they talked about or what he demanded. Sometimes he hadn’t even needed to voice it. Bruce had already known.

“You could start with trusting me for once,” Jason said. “That’s all I ever wanted. Just getting the same amount of trust as Dick. Nothing more, nothing less.”

Silence followed in which they both mustered the other. Bruce looked older than he was, more exhausted than yesterday as well and he was wearing comfortable clothes, those he only put on at home or if he didn’t want to be recognized outside.

Bruce’s eyes darted away from Jason, taking in the sight behind him. It wasn’t a pretty one. Jason had fallen asleep without cleaning up.

“Are you injured?” Bruce asked.

That must have been the most unsubtle topic change of history.

“There’s glass and blood on the ground,” Bruce continued, diving head-first into detective mode.

Jason took a deep breath and bit on his tongue so that he wouldn’t go right back to where they had started.

“Already bandaged.”

“Oh, okay then.”

Bruce’s words made Jason’s sight flash green for a split-second.

“What? No more inquiries? No interrogation about what I was doing?”

Bruce hesitated, then shook his head. “No, I- I’m supposed to trust you on that.”

Jason could nearly hear the unspoken question mark tagged onto the end of that sentence. This was bound to be the worst conversation on the planet.

“Great. Thanks. So, if that was everything, can you-“

Jason didn’t get to finish as two arms suddenly wrapped around Jason. His first reaction was to fight and get out of that grip, until he realized that it was supposed to be a hug. Alright. Okay. They were hugging now.

“This isn’t going to fix us,” Jason mumbled into the crook of Bruce’s neck.

He didn’t know what hugging Bruce was like. It used to be like holding onto a mountain, or a big tree trunk. Nothing could move Bruce and Jason used to be so small, he had been able to climb on top of him and get carried around the whole house.

He wasn’t that child anymore. That child had died years ago.

“I know,” Bruce said. “But can we stay like this a little longer regardless?”

Jason’s foot hurt from standing so long already, but he didn’t mind. This way he had a little more time to hide his tear track, even though Bruce must be able to tell he was crying from the shaking of his shoulder and the wet spot on his jacket.

Just a bit longer.

[kinetic-elaboration]

April 3: 2x13 Obsession

Okay, trying this again! My live-blog thoughts from watching Obsession last night. I didn’t remember this ep very well, and I was a little uncertain about it going in. But ultimately I think it was a really solid Kirk episode and a really solid triumvirate episode.

How many times as hard as rock is this mineral you’re looking for? Let’s be precise. (Aka how Spock flirts.)

I’m really into the sets and special effects today. This big rock that is obviously Styrofoam. The ominous cloud of smoke.

Set phasers to disrupter-b? I feel like he just made that up.

Oh no, three red shirts set out on their own! I feel like this one is pretty smart, though.

Leslie!!! RIP my favorite extra.

“Something that can’t possibly exist… but does anyway.” That’s it, that’s the show.

Well Kirk’s obsession is obvious right away. That’s good. We’re getting right to the point.

They have to meet up with another ship in order to transport perishable vaccines!! I know from first-hand experience that that is very important! Get it together Kirk. Admitting straight out, “I’m okay with some other people dying so I can further investigate the monster” is not a good look on him.

Also I feel like TOS often confuses “cure” and “vaccine” (as in Miri) but even if these are actually vaccines, they could still save lives urgently!

McCoy’s autopsy report: uh, just look at their faces??

The Yorktown, the Farragut… someone on the AOS team loved this episode apparently. (I remembered that the Farragut was Kirk’s first assignment but I did not remember the Yorktown.)

Interesting that the creature smells of honey because “rotting honey” was the smell that indicated the presence of Area X in the Southern Reach.

Some gratuitous touching.

When Garrovick Jr. first showed up, the shot was so ominous and dramatic that I legitimately thought that the creature was a shape-shifter and that was him lol.

Is this another episode where Kirk sees himself in a promising young man and then proceeds to judge him incredibly harshly as a way of judging his own past self? I think it might be!

Garrovick looks like he’s sitting in front of a green screen during this interrogation. Honestly, the colors in this episode are really going off in general! I can see how this would be fun to watch on a new color tv.

“Go to your room! You’re grounded!”

“Put it in your report, Spock!” I really wish we’d seen AOS Kirk do that. Like, fighting with reports and regulations is one of my favorite parts of TOS but we only saw AOS Spock use that as a weapon and it was made to show what a stick in the mud he was but like… they all do it! And AOS Kirk should have too.

And now a scene where Spock and McCoy gossip about Spock’s boyfriend.

I honestly love McCoy and Spock scenes. They have such a great rapport… the respect is not even grudging, it’s clearly there, but they make it more palatable to themselves by adding in some barbs and little digs at each other. But it’s still McCoy that Spock goes to when he needs advice or even, as he says here, just someone to bounce an idea off of, and McCoy is there to listen to him.

Oh, Spock definitely understands obsession.

Kirk’s quarters are looking very purple today.

Mccoy is trying to wax poetic and Kirk just wants him to get to the point.

Time to lie down in an Emo Fashion again.

Not to be nitpicky, but if the creature killed 200 people on the Farragut, and that was half the crew… wouldn’t the Farragut be a lot bigger than the Enterprise? I don’t think that’s right. Also, not to be even more nitpicky, but how did they finally get away from it? Did it get on their ship? If it killed all the people on the surface, could they not have just… stopped hanging out on the surface?

Anyway. McCoy is such a good best friend.

Garrovick was Kirk’s Pike.

Oh no, bringing in the big guns: the boyfriend. A blue shirt conspiracy.

Spock sounds like he’s in one of those HR training videos. Like, he’s attempting to sound conversational while still blatantly quoting from the Starfleet Handbook.

“Why are we delayin’ here?” Heavy Southern drawl.

They really are ganging up on him.

Intuition is a command prerogative.

I love how Bones says “We’re not ganging up on you” after a long scene where they gang up on him.

Oh no, the creature’s on the move! Just straight up floating through space. Cool cool cool.

Kirk’s so distracted by the creature that he’s not even looking at Spock’s ass.

Another bad day for Scotty.

I like Chapel but honestly, imagine Rand in this scene with Garrovick… I miss her.

Garrovick, what an idiot. Throwing shit and hitting switches across the room.

I legit don’t understand how the creature moves in space. Or what this has to do with gravity… which doesn’t exist in space.

Monster hunt, monster hunt!

Spock is agreeing with Kirk now, about the creature’s intelligence.

Whatever is going on with the vents in this ship, it seems like maybe they’re not the most well made.

“Let’s just nuke it.” That’s always a good idea.

Spock is trying so hard to make Kirk feel better. Even calling him “Jim”—which he used to do almost every episode and now rarely does anymore.

Lol, now he’s off to try the exact same thing with Garrovick. “If Jim won’t let me comfort him, perhaps this other irrational human will.”

“Garrovick, let me explain your own thoughts and feelings to you. I’m an expert on humans, you know. I’m around them all the time.”

“I know you want to be emo, but could you please just listen to me??” The absolute transparency with which he’s trying to be helpful.

Kindness actually isn’t an emotion… it’s a choice. Spock really will call anything a human emotion in order to avoid having to deal with it.

I'm sorry but he SNAPS THE KNOB OFF, goes "eh," throws it away, and then tries to stop the gas coming through the vent with his HANDS? How did Sarek raise this boy?

Garrovick is so Dramatic. A true Kirk protégé.

The creature tried to eat Spock and Spock didn’t taste so good.

"I'm asking for your military appraisal of the techniques used against the creature." Professor Kirk coming out.

Poor creature was lost, I guess. Just wants to go home.

And SPAWN. That word just gives me flashbacks tbqh…

Kirk and Spock having their usual ‘who will sacrifice himself first’ – off.

Realistically it should be neither the XO NOR the Captain but this is a tv show.

I do remember this part. Carrying that weird little device down to the planet. It is very aesthetically pleasing. I kind of want it for my apartment, to display as like a modern art sculpture. Minus the bomb

Mmm, a delicious snack for the creature. Yum. Got that gross green blood taste out of its mouth.

LMAO at Garrovick trying to be all heroic, knock Kirk out, and become the sacrifice. You thought!!

Spock and Scotty at the controls so you know how serious the transporter situation is.

McCoy versus the transporter again.

"It was my cross-circuiting to B that recovered them." Yes, Spock saved his space husband, he saved the day, and we should all acknowledge it.

Aw, that’s sweet, Kirk volunteering to reminisce with Garrovick about his father.

The end! I ended up enjoying it a lot overall. We gotta stop having episodes where Kirk is questioned or learns lessons though lol. I want my unabashedly heroic captain! Still no matter what he is always a hero in the end. And as I said, really great triumvirate ep with good individual characterizations, and scenes with each part of the triangle together.

If the Farragut incident was 11 years before this, and, as established in the last ep, Kirk is 34, that means he was 23 at the time. Pretty young to be a lieutenant imo. He was also a lieutenant at the time he was teaching Gary Mitchell at the Academy, which I’m going to personally headcanon, starting now, was right after Garrovick’s death. He returns to San Francisco, takes a year or a semester off to teach, and meets Gary.

Next up is Wolf in the Fold, a rare Scotty-centric episode.

[randomdcfangirl]

The Story of The Red Hood

(A/N): This is something I wrote a long time ago but didn't post because I felt like it was too unfactual. This is my version of Jason's backstory.

Jason telling his story on BuzzFeed Unsolved channel anonymously, not even the staff knew who he was. It was just audio and they put a few diagrams in the actual video to make it better.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

"I'm The Red Hood and this is my story. I lived in Crime Alley which was formally known as Park Row in downtown Gotham. It's the hood or ghetto whatever you call it, there was a lot of projects around there, we lived in some but they have since been knocked down. My earliest memories are of my mom and dad arguing, a lot of times it would end in physical violence against me and my mom. My dad was a piece of shit to keep it short. He was a drug dealer and alcoholic, my mom ended up getting addicted to what he sold. I don't know what type because I was 4 when I noticed she was changing. It was pills of some sort.

So it was a repeat of yelling, beatings, going hungry and mom being high for about 2 years. One thing is my dad was a drug dealer but he wasn't a good one. It ended when my father got arrested and sentenced for a very long time. I was 6 and all I knew was that he was gone and that maybe things would get better, but they didn't. My mom didn't have a job and I was basically keeping us both alive at the age of 6. I knew how the hood worked, people out there were the only people I'd ever known. So I somehow kept us alive for another year and a half. Until one day I came home from school because I was in school at this time, can't tell you how I got there. But I called out for my mom and she didn't answer, I assumed she was high again so I searched the apartment and found her on the bathroom floor. She OD'd while I was at school, she was cold so she'd been there for awhile. So I called the ambulance and gave them the address then hung up.

I already knew I didn't want to be in the system or an orphanage so I grabbed some stuff in a little backpack and left. I'd rather be a street kid then in the corrupt system. I was a smart kid, I knew not to get mixed up in gangs and drugs. I was about to turn 8 when I first got on the streets. It was rough, I was already small and malnourished because we were broke and didn't eat often. After the first few months of being on the streets I had to prepare for winter and Gotham winter's are no joke. But I found out my dad was killed in prison, I wasn't upset, he deserved it after everything he'd done to people including me and my mom. But that meant I was the last of my family, I didn't know my Grandparents and I'm pretty sure my parents didn't have siblings so I had nobody left.

So I was on the streets for just over 2 years. The streets were probably better then my home with my mom and dad to be completely honest. One night I was in an alley and I saw the batmobile, I saw his wheels and in my head I was literally like "those will go for a lotta money down at the shop". So I started taking the wheels off, I got one off and was going to go for the other one but there was a deep voice behind me that said "what are you doing?". I turned and Batman was behind me and in my 10 year old brain I thought I was dead because he looked scary. I grabbed the tire iron I had and hit him in the gut to try and get away but it didn't work. I tried to apologise but he didn't let me and just asked a question "are you hungry?" Is what he asked me. I nodded and he took me to get burgers and we ate at a random place. He gave me a place to stay and it was scary at first because I didn't think I could trust him. I found out who he was, obviously I can't tell you that information, and I got even more skeptical about him. But he ended up adopting me and those first 3 and a half years were amazing.

I became the second Robin at age 12, I was trained by him and he was the father I never had. I truly considered him my dad, still do but don't tell him that. His somewhat dad was there too and he is like a Grandfather to me, he is the only other person in that family I will admit I love with all my heart. We call him Agent A. He's awesome. But everything went kinda bad when I turned 14 and was starting to see more of the shitty things people do. I got to reckless and if anyone knows that Batman or any other hero, unless they're like me, they have a strict no killing rule. So it got close many times with me, Batman and I started arguing a lot. It drove our relationship apart and he benched me from being Robin. So I wasn't allowed to patrol or do missions anymore because I was getting to reckless.

I didn't have anything to do and I don't exactly remember how I found this out but at 15 I found out my mom was alive and in Ethiopia. My mom who was dead wasn't my actual mom, she was just my dad's wife but she took care of me when she could. Before all the drugs, I mean I don't remember much but I have a few memories of her being a mom to me. So it was a complete shock to find out that my mom wasn't really my mom and that my real mom was in Ethiopia. So I told Bats and he said he knew so we got into another fight. So I did probably the stupidest thing I've ever done. I decided I would go to Ethiopia by myself so I did. How I got there and what I did when I got there isn't important.

I found my mom and went to her. It was good for a few hours then the Joker showed up. I was familiar with the Joker because I was Robin, I knew how crazy he was. So I was trying to protect my mom but she stabbed me in the back like a lot of people have. She was working with Joker and basically lead me to him. This is where my story gets really complicated. We both ended up tied up in a warehouse with him beating us with a crowbar. Mostly me because he wanted to teach Batman a lesson. I was going through this for months, I was in the middle of a warehouse being beaten to death with my mom by a deranged clown with a crowbar. He killed my mom at some point then he left the warehouse one day because he knew Batman was close. He told me to tell Batman 'hi' but he knew I wasn't going to make it to then. I tried to get the door open but he locked it on his way out and as I leaned up against it I saw the bomb. I knew I wasn't gonna make it and I didn't.

I know that's very confusing and the only way you'll understand is if you listen. The bomb went off and it burned for a few seconds but then it was cold and peaceful. You're at peace and it's nice, especially if you had such a life as I had. But it didn't last long to me, it lasted for what felt like a few minutes before I woke up underground. I was dead for 6 months, no pulse, no heart beat, I had an autopsy, I still have the scar. I woke up in my coffin at 16, I was calling for Batman but by his real name. I realized no one was coming and I freaked out and clawed my way out of the coffin. I wasn't all the way there, I was dead for 6 months so I had a good bit of brain damage and don't remember much from after I dug myself out of the coffin except that I broke a couple fingers, it ripped my nails out and I was bleeding all over my hands. After that I somehow ended up with a whole organization of assassin's. This woman who is very significant in a few of the bats lives was apart of it and was trying to nurse me back to health but it wasn't working.

The amount of brain damage I had was to much to fix so she threw me in something called the Lazarus pit. It's basically a fountain of youth except it can bring people back to life as well. Her father who was the leader of the assassin's discovered it and kept it secret. Most of them are destroyed now but I think there's one. The pit was painful, I remember that, it feels like you're burning alive and it does for a few minutes after you get out. Then you're extremely disoriented and crazy full of rage and anger. I still have some of that running through me but it's a lot better than the first few years. At this point in my story I'm 17, I started training with the league and the woman to get my memories back because most of those were still blank. I still have a few gaps in my memory but most of it is from before my dip in the pit.

In this training I was learning about Batman and Nightwing who was the first Robin and is kinda my older brother. We weren't close when I was Robin because him and Batman weren't on great terms so we didn't hangout much. I regained my memory at some point then I was told Bruce had another Robin, who is now currently Red Robin, and the Lazarus made me angry about it. I felt replaced but what made it worse was the fact that Joker was still alive. I was never mad at Batman or blaimed him for my death, the reason I was so angry was because after everything Joker put me through he was still alive. I felt worthless and it was even worse because I felt replaced as well.

I ended up leaving the assassin's base a month or so later. I was set on tormenting Batman, I was going to try and kill him, Nightwing and Robin. It was definitely the anger because I'd never put a kid in a situation I put Robin in now. I got to Gotham and started killing the bad people, like rapists, murderers, drug dealers, abusers, pimps, just anyone making another person's life a living hell. The reason I started doing it was because prison wasn't working for them. The drug dealers not as much as everyone else but I still killed some of them. I never killed the innocent, that's something I never did or ever will. So eventually I got Batman's attention and it took a couple months for him to figure out it was me. I wanted it to take longer but I made the mistake of saying his name. So because no one really knew it at the time it made things make sense but it didn't at the same time, because in their head I was dead.

So about a week later we ended up in another fight but he was holding back because he figured out I came back to life. But I had this whole plan to have him choose between me and Joker. Unfortunately it fell through and he didn't choose either of us, we were in and apartment building in a random apartment. I had Joker and we had a talk I guess you could say. More of me being angry and having a few choice words to say to him then anything else. I gave him choices but he didn't really choose. There was a bomb and it had like 10 seconds left and I shot at him. He had his back turned but he's Batman so he dodged it, with a few seconds left he grabbed me and Joker and jumps out the window so we're not caught in the blast. It was still kinda close but I left before he had a chance to register.

Let's just say I wasn't okay after that. I have PTSD, Anxiety and Depression from what Joker did to me so it was hard to except that I didn't mean anything more to Batman then Joker did. So I was a wreck, I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep, all I did was drink, I was about to turn 19 and definitely should not have been drinking. I became a bit of an alcoholic just like my dad and I hated that. I eventually got a grip on myself even though it was only a little. I left Gotham because I wasn't in the right state of mind to stay there. I traveled all over the place and in my travels I ran into Arsenal and we became best friends. Still are. We started working together as Red Hood and Arsenal, we were broke as hell. Eventually we ran into Starfire and we kinda just decided we'd become a team after hanging around each other a lot. Then The Outlaws was formed.

That was probably some of the best and worst years in my life. Best because I had those 2 by my side and they are still my best friends. Worst because my mental health was at an all time low. I couldn't sleep, I was having very bad PTSD episodes, my Anxiety was through the roof, so was my Depression. Arsenal had his own problems, so did Starfire and all we had was each other to lean on and it was all we could ask for. Just people who cared and understood. We did missions pretty often as a group and we would get paid by people who requested the jobs but it wasn't much. We've slept in the worst places, most of the time not sleeping at all. But our own lives kinda pulled us away from each other. Starfire went off world back to her planet, Arsenal and I stock together for awhile until he went back to Star and I went back to Gotham. I was in a better place, wasn't killing as much, the Lazarus through my system calmed down a lot. It still effects me but no where near as bad.

I was laying low in Gotham but the Bats found out. It was only 4 of them at that point, Batman, Nightwing, Robin 3 and Agent A. It was all good until I tried to kill the Joker. It was in another not so good state of mind but I wasn't able to kill him because the bats came. I was planning to kill him the same way he killed me, beat him with a crowbar and blow him up. I was 22 at that time. They got me away from Joker and took him into custody and I left to one of my safehouses. We eventually crossed paths again but it was awhile before I could actually talk to them again. So me and Nightwing ran into each other we ended up having a talk and we kinda made amends. It wasn't anything crazy. It took a long time for us to be okay with each other again. But eventually I was able to call them family again and I visit the house Batman lives in to see them.

But as time went on we added new people, we became a bigger family as you can see. Robin became Red Robin, then the current Robin, then Orphan, Spoiler, Batwoman, Signal, Bluebird and Bluebird's brother who isn't a Vigilante. I'm pretty much cool with everyone, no one I really have a problem with except Batman because we've been through so much together. I'm 25 now and things are better, I still have my struggles and family issues but that's my family. As much as I pretend to not care they're my family and I love 'em. So this was a less detailed version of my story and look how long it is. But anyway I don't really know why I did this but I did so bye I guess.

Oh and before you ask I am not the rapper NF. I actually really like and relate to his music because we've been through similar things but I'm not him. I know someone is going to ask that question."

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

The NF joke was just that a joke, don't come for me I love him lol.

[roslinadama-sinequanon]

Major Crimes-Conspiracy Theory Pt. 1

Anticipation-three things I was waiting for in this episode 1. I wanted to see the rings. I wanted to make sure the ceremony took place since we, you know, didn’t get to actually see it.  2. To hear if Sharon would be called Commander Raydor or Commander Flynn. I’m hoping for Flynn, so that means it will probably be Raydor. 3. To hear Andy refer to Sharon as his wife or Sharon to refer to Andy as her husband. (I got two out of three, the jury is still out over Flynn vs. Raydor)

So, this episode was a light one. I feel like we needed a light episode after the past 5 depressing ones, however, I’m not sure it was the right case for a comedy episode.  

Granted, they were filming this episode long before the shit hit the fan with politicians and entertainers being fired or resigning due to sexual harrassment and assault issues, but, even without everything that’s happening in RL right now, I think it should have been taken a little more seriously. Or at least not had quite so much humor.

Honestly, I think it would have been far more interesting to have this be the storyline that pulled Sharon front and center rather than the trope, life threatening illness. I would love to have seen this storyline used to bring forward Sharon’s own experiences on the force with sexual harassment and also how she dealt with some of that once she was in FID. There could have been great dialogue between Sharon, Andrea, and Amy over this very topic and some of things they have had to deal with. Also, I think it would be interesting for the men to hear this coming from the women they work with and care about. I’m sure some of the things Sharon probably went through would be quite eye opening to Andy. This arc is not over, so I’m hoping, though not really believing, that we still might get some of this from our main characters point of view.

I do love the humorous episodes and I feel like the writers really missed the boat by not writing a classic ProFlynnza episode around Andy’s bachelor party. But, I suppose that would have been too much focus on the characters and the wedding and it would have taken away from the depressing Sharon illness storyline that I still hate and that has cast such a cloud over the whole season.

So, now on to the episode. I promise it’s not full of salt. There were quite a few things I enjoyed, especially considering we didn’t have any talk of Sharon being sick which was GREAT. I would love to be able to put that all behind us, even as I know we have more looming ominously ahead.

Onto the episode--

“Frank Boggs, AKV Security.”

Was it just me or did this guy seem to be a rehash of Dick Tracy? He even looked like Dick Tracy.

“Commander, what are you doing here anyway? I think we can handle an autopsy prelim.”

It sounds like even though they didn’t get to go to Ireland, Andy and Sharon did take some time off for a little honeymoon. I’d like to think they at least got away for a few days up to Santa Barbara or something.

Interesting that Provenza states “Commander, what are you doing here?” I would have thought he would have said “Commander, Flynn what you are both doing here, since I would assume they were honeymooning together. The only thing I can think of was that Provenza was more taking offence that the boss felt the need to come in when he felt he could handle what was going on.

“Nothing random happens in the Palisades.”

I guess I don’t know enough about the Palisades to get all these inside jokes. I do know that Mary lives in the Palisades, but that’s about all I know--and I’m assuming most of America and the rest of the world didn’t get the jokes either.

“Who’s Craig Curtis?”

Andy, Provenza, Sharon and Amy all know their football. Morales is the only one who is lost, after all “It’s not like he was nominated for an Oscar or something.”

“Tackles. Huge TV’s, big burgers, cute girls…Tasteless, the way they dress those waitresses there.”

I do love it when Andy opens mouth and inserts his foot-- and the way he trips all over himself trying to fix things once he gets that narrow eyed look from his wife. Yes his WIFE. He’s not sure if she’s really upset about what he said or not, but I like that she is more amused than anything.

“I should speak to the wrongfully terminated women.”

This is SO something bachelor Andy would have said.

“Don’t apologize again for sleeping with Aidan.”

Okay, so I’m not going to get into how my knickers got all twisted with yet more personal Gusty scenes--we’ve gotten way more of them than the other MAIN couple. What I will say is that when Rusty first starting seeing Gus, I liked Gus. I liked Gus a lot more than I liked Rusty and I felt that Gus was good for Rusty. I liked them as a couple. I didn’t really care about them as a couple, nor was I invested in them and I didn’t really care about seeing any  personal scenes between them, but I was okay with them as a couple. Last season I started to dislike Gus and when Rusty said “good-bye” to him, I really took it to mean good bye. Gus thought they could do the long distance relationship but Rusty knew it was over. And it seemed like that was the logical end of the relationship. Then, this season we have Rusty angsting over Gus, stalking him on social media and Gus not responding to Rusty. Get a clue Russ, the guy is done with you , just like you knew would happen when you said “good bye.” Only now we get more. We find out Gus has been sleeping with Aidan and that he and Rusty are through. Okay, cause I thought you were “through” last season, but, whatever. I really don’t care at all what goes on with these two and hope they stay broken up. This is not a good or healthy relationship.

“A gun…seriously?”

Really? Rusty just leaves his gun laying around? Hardly responsible gun ownership.”

“Man, this calendar is…” Sharon puts her hand out to take it away. “Very offensive Commander.”

Yet again, Wes is so much like Andy.

“You ought to show your tits now cause in a few years no one’s gonna want to see them and you’ll only get hired for your talent.”

OMG, your TALENT. How awful. This scene really hit’s the nail on the head, what with everything going on in the entertainment industry right now. What I found interesting in looking at the reactions of the team to this video, it is the men who are uncomfortable and disgusted--both Andy and Provenza have very visible negative reactions to the video, but Sharon doesn’t. She doesn’t seem to register much in the way of emotion.

I think there are a couple of reasons for this. I’m sure she has had to deal with sexual harassment in the past and this isn‘t as shocking to her as it is to the men. When she asked Jack for a divorce she even made the comment that the time for her needing his ring was long gone. Now that she was in a position of power she didn’t need  what little protection a ring gave her. Sharon is a beautiful woman in a male dominated paramilitary profession, so I feel like she’s experienced some of this first hand. When she was young and just starting out I’m sure she had to learn to keep that professional mask on when she was harassed. Then, she was in FID so I’m sure she saw and heard a hell of a lot when those cases came across her desk and that she probably worked very hard to make sure these guys got punished for their actions. This is the kind of stuff I want to know about Sharon Flynn. Much more interesting than her being sick.

“Gus is struggling to find a decent job.” “Struggling? Why is he struggling?”

First of all I love that Sharon is working on her “thank you” cards--and yes--finally a decent glimpse of the ring. At least there was some continuity with the wedding having taken place, and how like Sharon to get those thank you cards right out.

I loved the amused twist on Rusty’s lips when he tells her Gus is struggling. Mama Bear Flynn has her cub’s back, she seems just as “serves him right” about Gus as Rusty does. Until Rusty says this--- “Because when they stopped sleeping together Aiden fired him and wouldn’t give him a reference.” THAT got her attention.  However much Gus pissed Sharon off, he is now the victim of someone who is breaking the law and as such she jumps to attention making sure Rusty knows that Aidan’s actions are illegal.

I think it’s also interesting to see how far mother and son have come and how more open they are with each other. In a deleted scene (that shouldn’t have been deleted) Sharon wants to talk about overnight guests to the condo. Rusty thinks she’s talking about him and he’s absolutely horrified. He can’t even bring himself to discuss it with her. It turns out that she was referring to her and Andy , and of course he didn’t want to discuss that either, but it looks like they’ve had conversations about Gus sleeping with Aidan.

“Detective Paige, Amy. The man seems to have a thing for attractive young women.” “Well, we’ll do our best but we’re over 30” “You’d never know. Police work keeps you young. Look at my wife.”

BEST line of the whole episode. LOVED IT. Andy is SO frakking adorable. You know he’s been dying to be able to call her his wife, and now that he can he’s going to do it anytime he can. Loved Sharon’s secret little smile, you just know it gives her a little thrill to be called his wife. His beautiful,  young looking wife. And Provenza’s side glance. Very reminiscent of the looks he used to give when Andy started referring to her as Sharon instead of Captain. He’s thinking “Oh Flynn, you sap, you’ve got it SO bad you can’t even see straight.”

“Do you mind, Michael? Some of us are trying to solve a murder.”

This is the first time I’ve heard Andy call Mike, Michael, and I love the way Sharon dropped her forehead onto her hand, like, “Oh, here we go again. Do you really HAVE to get my man all riled up.”

“Did I make mistakes as a husband? Sure. Could I have been more attentive? Absolutely. Should I have slept with so many of her friends, probably not. Bottom line, I treated her like crap. I took her for granted. She left me.”

I don’t know if it’s just me or not, but this guy reminded me so much of Jack Raydor. He even looked a little bit like him. And I got the feeling from the look on her face that Sharon thought so too. I bet she was thinking “I can’t believe I used to put up with a guy like this. Now she has sweet Andy who treats her with such love and respect and who looks at her like the sun rises and sets on her. What I lucky woman.

And by the way. Where was Andy? He was the only member of the team not to go to Tackles. I would have thought it was because he hadn’t been cleared for field duty, but in Sanctuary City 1 he makes the comment that he can be in the field as long as Sharon is present and he was out in the field during that story arc. So, why not now?

“If I leave here today without your signature and a check covering two month’s of Gus’s pay, you have no idea how ugly this is gonna get. Or maybe you do.”

Rusty has learned a lot from his Mama. This scene really reminded me of the scene when Sharon Flynn went to see Sharon Beck in jail and laid down the law to her.

I will end with saying that we got another scene in Aidan’s restaurant when supposedly it was too expensive to film Shandy scenes on location. Those were two restaurant scenes that could have been dates.

Just saying…

[sapphicscholar]

A/N: Sorry for the delay, but I'm back now! We're building up to the finale very soon now, so thanks for bearing with me!

Chapter Text:

After sending messages to both Kate and J’onn, telling them to turn on the lab feeds, Maggie grabbed her own computer and took off for the garage. With the audio from the lab filling her car, Maggie sped over to the lab and parking in a secluded back alley a few blocks away to pull up the video feed herself. As much as she wanted to go rushing into the lab, gun drawn and cuffs out, she knew enough to trust Alex, to wait and see what she did before she gave up their identities.

---

Sam paced across Cat’s lab, her mind working to process everything the other woman had revealed in her slightly incoherent rambling. Sure, there was some frustration with her methods—that much she had expected, though when Lillian had eyes in so many places, things couldn’t exactly be done in the normal way, like, say, issuing an invitation to Cat to join her at the lab. But there seemed to be a reluctance there to pledge allegiance to Lillian, even as the girl delivered useful products and stayed loyal to Cadmus as an organization. And that—well, that was exactly the kind of person Sam needed.

“I need you to tell me how this works,” Sam stated, handing over a petri dish. She looked expectantly over at Cat.

Alex arched an eyebrow at her. “It’s the middle of the night. You understand that tests take time, right?”

“What if I have some of the research that went into it? I need to know what this organism has been designed to do.”

“Can I assume this is Project Hydra?”

Sam regarded Cat silently for a long moment. “Yes.”

“So Lillian has other scientists working for her?”

A loud bark of laughter was the immediate reply. “What, you thought you were special? Thought you might be her only pet scientist?”

Alex bristled at that; she wasn’t exactly hoping to be Cadmus’ number one, but the idea that they had others working for them, working on those projects that Alex wouldn’t deign to touch, knowing there were some ethical boundaries that couldn’t be uncrossed, even for the goal of keeping her cover. “I don’t like redundancy. If I’m working on a project, I don’t want to find out that it’s just some little test to keep me busy. I have other things that could be better uses of my time.”

“Mm, I see a bit of time back in the lab has brought back your confidence.”

“Time in the lab. Someone who saw my potential. Either way—doesn’t change the fact that I know just how good I am.”

“Your work on Project Helios was impressive, I won’t deny it.”

“Good.”

“But you didn’t want to work on Project Hydra, so Lillian found someone else who did. And they’ve made progress.” Sam’s face remained an impassive mask even as she felt her stomach roil with the rage that had driven her out in her car in the middle of the night in the first place.

“But you don’t trust their progress?”

Sam shrugged.

“Or is it that you don’t trust the project?” Alex asked, hoping she hadn’t pushed too far.

Back in the car, Maggie had her gun tucked into the back of her jeans, ready to bolt to the building at the slightest sign that Sam thought Alex’s question went too far, strayed just a little too close into the “questioning Cadmus” territory. The tense silence seemed to last an eternity until the small, slightly pixelated version of Sam barely inclined her head. “I’d like to know the full extent of the project’s ends.”

It was diplomatic, noncommittal, very Sam, Maggie thought. But it also seemed to show her hand in a way that they hadn’t gotten before. Sure, she might not have said outright that she didn’t trust the project. But she went far enough to admit that she wasn’t sure about it, needed more facts before she decided. And that crack in the façade of unwavering trust in Lillian and Cadmus was enough for Maggie to relax ever so slightly.

She sat back in her seat and watched as Sam produced a binder of research from her bag and handed it off to Alex before sitting on one of the lab stools, giving Alex time to read through the pages of notes. Even though Alex’s face was tilted away from the cameras, Maggie could just imagine the look of concentration she would have seen—the little furrow between her eyebrows, the tip of her tongue poking out from the corner of her mouth, the way she’d narrow her eyes in suspicion when some conclusion in the research was drawn without proper evidence. She watched as Alex grabbed for a pen and began scrawling notes to herself, and she wondered what exactly was going on in that brilliant head of hers.

When Alex finally looked up at Lillian again, her expression was grim. “What do you want to know?”

“Same question as before, Cat. What are they trying to make it do?”

“Colonize a human host, though I think you already knew that.” Sam inclined her head and gestured for Alex to continue. “The scientist they found to work on this project selectively bred enough generations to get to a strain of the microbe in which longevity isn’t such an issue. They can breed and live long enough to thoroughly embed themselves in a test subject.” Maggie shuddered. She thought that had been the whole project, but it seemed like Alex was just getting started.

“And what does it do?” Sam asked.

“Well…at this point, not much. But they’re working on developing a plasmid that could be introduced with the microbe.”

Maggie was glad to see that phrase didn’t ring any bells for Sam either.

“I think it’s alien in origin. It’s normally harmless in humans. As is, it’ll stay inert, but they’re working with frequencies that could, I believe—don’t quote me on it, though—be played or transmitted to activate it remotely.”

“And what would that activation do?” Sam asked, her patience growing thin.

“Up their reproduction rate exponentially.”

“Haven’t they already colonized the host?”

Alex shook her head, pushing her hair back from her face. “I don’t think you’re getting just how much higher these reproduction rates are. It wouldn’t be creating numbers high enough to colonize; it’d be enough to kill—and kill almost instantly.”

Repressing a shudder, Maggie watched for a reaction in Sam. The woman’s voice was tight when she finally spoke up, and her hands were clenched around the edge of the lab table. “Have they been successful?”

“Looking at these notes? Not yet.”

“Are they close?”

Alex shrugged. “Maybe.”

Sam nodded, more to herself than anyone else, then packed up her bag quickly and methodically. “Well, thank you for your help, Cat.”

“Yeah, uh, no problem…”

“I’m sure you understand the slightly unorthodox methods now, but I promise to make it up to you.”

“Oh, uh, it’s really fine,” Alex stammered, rather certain she had no desire for whatever reward Sam might dole out.

Sam waved off her concerns. “Can I assume you’ll be at Maria’s apartment tomorrow?”

Alex forced herself to nod.

“I’ll have it sent there, then.”

---

Back in the car, Maggie called Kate as soon as Alex left with Sam to get a ride back to the apartment. She knew she couldn’t exactly tail them without risking being noticed, so she sat in the alley for a few extra minutes, fighting every instinct that told her to be close to Alex, to be there for her the moment she stepped through the front door.

“Did you see that?” Maggie asked as soon as the line picked up.

“I did,” Kate confirmed. “Think we have ourselves a Cadmus defector?”

“I think we at least have someone who might want to turn on Lillian. Did you get any more information about that Jocelyn woman?”

“I think we’ve uncovered a bit. We were able to find her full name from old marriage licenses, which led us to her death certificate. She was only 35—definitely not natural causes.”

“Shit. What killed her?”

“No autopsy was ever done.”

“How?”

“Enough money and influence can keep people from asking questions.” Maggie swore again. “We’re looking to see if we can’t find any evidence around what happened, but for now, that’s all we’ve got. Well, that and the fact that Sam got much more involved with Cadmus after Jocelyn’s death.”

“Think it was related, or was it just that she didn’t really have a life outside of Cadmus anymore?”

“Either? Both? We’re working on it.”

“Alright, well, keep me updated?”

“We will. And be safe—Project Hydra sounds nasty.”

“Always. Talk to you later, Kate.”

“Bye, Mags.”

---

Once Maggie got a text from Alex telling her she was home safely, Maggie sped the last two blocks to the apartment and nearly threw herself into the elevator in her haste to get up from the parking garage.

She bit her lip at the last second before calling out for Alex, just in case Sam was still around. “Babe?” she yelled instead.

“In here—it’s just me. Already swept for bugs.”

“Oh god, are you okay?” Maggie surged forward and wrapped her arms tightly around Alex.

Alex was fine; she had been through worse on the job, had certainly seen worse done to others. But with her head on Maggie’s shoulder and strong arms holding her close, she couldn’t quite hold back the shudder that ran through her, the small sob she quickly choked back at the idea that, had the circumstances been just slightly different, had she responded the wrong way, hell, had she been biking just a little faster, she might not ever have come home to Maggie.

“You’re good. I’ve got you,” Maggie whispered, her fingers carding through Alex’s hair as she felt the woman’s breathing even out once more. Once Alex seemed back to normal—or as normal as could be hoped for in the situation—Maggie led her into the kitchen and put on a pot of water to make tea. Over two steaming mugs of chamomile, they debriefed, talked about whether they might be able to use Sam to bring down Lillian, shuddered at the possibilities that Project Hydra held.

“How’d you know to look?” Alex finally asked.

“I’m your partner, Danvers. I’ve always got your back.”

“Yeah…but as far as you were concerned I may as well have been at work.”

Looking sheepish, Maggie rubbed at the back of her neck. “Well, uh, normally I get a better reaction to my texts…”

Alex cackled. “Is it sad that my first reaction was: oh good, she’ll surely know that it’s not me texting if I don’t send something equally dirty in response, or at least a promise to make some of those wishes come true over the long weekend?”

“Just proves how in sync we are,” Maggie teased. “Now, what do you say we get to bed and try to have ourselves a quiet Thanksgiving together tomorrow? Just ignore Sam and Cadmus and the whole damn world for a little while.”

“I think that sounds perfect,” Alex answered honestly. “Oh shit. I lost the pie—Sam didn’t let me get it.”

“Tragic, but I think we’ll live. What matters is that you’re here.”

“Getting soft on me, Sawyer?”

“Something about the holiday season, I suppose…”

---

The next morning they woke up to a knock at the door. Immediately on alert, they edged their way into the living room, clad in baggy flannel pajama pants and oversized t-shirts and clutching knives and guns. They might have still been blinking sleep from their eyes, but thanks to years of training in less than ideal conditions, at least they would still be able to execute a well-coordinated attack if need be.

“Delivery!” came a man’s voice.

Tucking her gun behind her back, Alex cracked the door open slightly. “Hello?”

“I have an order for a Cat Sullivan from an S.W.”

Remembering the promise of something to make up for last night’s kidnapping, Alex pulled the door open a little wider—wide enough to see the rather gigantic box the man had with him. “That’s me.”

“Perfect. Can you sign for it?”

“Oh, uh, yeah.” Alex grabbed the pen and scrawled the messy signature she had decided Cat might have. “Shit, did you get a tip already? I can’t imagine it was easy to get that box up the stairs…”

The man laughed and dipped his head. “Your mysterious gift-giver paid very well to make sure that I got your delivery here on time. But thank you for the offer. Enjoy your Thanksgiving, Ms. Sullivan.”

“You too.”

Once he left, Maggie ran to get the scanners, looking relieved when it became clear that the boxes were clean. Alex pulled out a pair of scissors and ripped the smaller box open, laughing loudly at the sight of three pies from the nicest bakery in town that would last them at least a week or two. The larger box contained a brand new bike that Alex guessed cost a significant amount more than the used one she’d been forced to abandon on the side of the road.

“Oh yeah… Where is your bike?” Maggie asked.

“I imagine mangled on the side of the road at this point.” The sight of Cat’s name drew Alex’s attention to a card that had been carefully taped to the corner of the bike box.

“Thank you for your help last night. Happy Thanksgiving. We’ll be in touch soon enough.”

[pyropsychiccollector]

Danganronpa - Another IF (Chapter 1, Part 2)

Makoto and Sayaka watched uneasily as Kirigiri pulled Fukawa's body out of the washing machine. They'd cleared away the shards from the broken glasses after discovering that a piece of tape had been attached to the part that went over the bridge of someone's nose. In other words, before Asahina had stepped on them, apparently the glasses had snapped cleanly in half at some point, and someone had haphazardly tried to tape them back together. However, Fukawa's glasses had appeared fine at breakfast, so they had broken between breakfast and the time her body had been discovered. It didn't reveal anything particularly useful yet, but it was a tidbit of information to keep in mind.

Monokuma had dispensed something called a Monokuma File for everybody; in essence, it functioned as an autopsy report, since none of them were associated with the police, who usually investigated these matters. However, as useful as an autopsy report sounded, this file was anything but. They already knew Fukawa had died sometime after the breakfast meeting, and approximating the time did nothing because Fukawa never liked to hang out with them. It was going to be difficult to find out if anyone had seen anyone with her, for any length of time.

At the very least, the file told them her cause of death was suffocation. They hadn't been able to tell that just by finding her body. There were no other signs of injuries, internal or external. Other than that, the file was pretty much useless to them.

"Hmm..." Kirigiri murmured as she shifted Fukawa on her back and held up her right hand, examining it. Kirigiri's gloved hand experimentally rubbed some fluid between her fingertips. "Blood..."

Sakura spoke the thought that flitted through their minds.

"The Monokuma File says there are no other injuries... Which would suggest that she fought back against her attacker."

Mondo rubbed the back of his head.

"Damn... You're sayin' Fukawa's nails are that sharp?" He scowled as Kirigiri shook her head.

"No. If she did that, there would be bits of flesh and specks of blood under her fingernails. However, the blood is only on her fingers. I believe she might've had some form of weapon when she was attacked. A weapon small enough that her hand would easily pass by the killer's wound as she slashed at him..."

The biker punched his open palm in anticipation  He seemed excited about something, though the others could only hazard a guess as to what.

"Well, this'll be easy, then! The bastard who killed her will have some kinda cut or whatever, so let's just check everybody out, fully body search style!"

"I... don't think Monokuma would allow that..." Maizono tapped her chin as she looked up. Naegi weakly chuckled beside her.

"Yeah, he'd say something like that would make the game boring, and then he'd come up with some dumb rule about body searches..."

"Not to mention that would not account for the possibility of two or more people who have some type of cut on their body that they received today." The lavender-haired girl added calmly as she continued to examine the body.  "We would narrow down our suspects, but we would not have any other evidence to prove which one it was. It's best to collect as much information as possible, and go to the trial prepared."

Mondo visibly deflated and looked away with a click of his tongue. Well, it was still a good lead anyway, even if it wasn't case-breaking just yet. While Kirigiri handled the body, he turned his attention to a bedsheet that was lying on the floor in a heap. There were a few flecks of blood on it by the look of it,

"Do you think this is just a red herring?" The Luckster wondered aloud. "Seems too big to suffocate someone quickly...  And I mean, you'd have to do that if you killed Fukawa here, right? 'Cause our rooms are soundproof, but not the laundry room."

Maizono tilted her head in contemplation at his musings.

"Yeah... that's true."

Sakura hummed thoughtfully as she kept her arms crossed.

"This is assuming that the laundry room was the crime scene. We found the body here, but there is no guarantee that she was killed in this room."

Mondo snorted in disbelief.

"You really think the killer walked from their room to here, just carrying the body? Even I know that's a dumbass move with so many people walkin' around and shit."

Kirigiri spoke up again without missing a beat.

"And what if this killer was reasonably sure that no one would inadvertently spot them? What if the killer didn't brazenly carry the body, but wrapped it in something?"

"Like the bedsheet..." Makoto whispered as he looked at the item in a new light.

"You serious?! Even if ya wrap it, someone's still gonna know you're luggin' around a body." Mondo contested.

Kirigiri remained an emotionless mask.

"If you carry it in such a way, the body will pass off as 'laundry' to any casual onlookers. Naturally, this would mean the killer would have to be careful about who saw them, and how they acted, but the possibility still exists that the body was moved. We have no way to know yet."

Makoto rubbed his chin and looked down in contemplation.

"Thing is, though, even if the killer moved the body, it doesn't explain why Touko would willingly enter someone else's room. And I mean, if the killer forced her to go in, someone could've seen it. Or am I off-base about that...?"

For once, Kirigiri smiled pleasantly.

"No, that seems like a reasonable question to consider. Another possibility is that the killer gained passage into Touko's room, and killed her there - so at the very least, you should inspect her room. You should also ask around and see if anyone was present in the dorms or the hall at the time of the murder. If not, we'll know the killer at least had the opportunity to move about undetected. It would be a risky gamble, as someone could come out of their room at any time, but the possibility remains. It is said that killers can be quite illogical at times."

Sayaka briefly exchanged a look with Makoto.

"We should also ask if anyone knows what Touko was going to do... Whether she was going back to her room, the classrooms, wherever."

Naegi nodded in acceptance as he half-turned toward the door.

"Okay... Well, I guess we'll leave the laundry room to you guys. If anything happens or ya find anything, let us know!"

Mondo scowled slightly, but Naegi knew he was just frustrated at the moment.

"Yeah... You guys just do your best out there, I guess. We've got it covered here."

With a wave, the singer and the Luckster exited the room.

~*~

The first people they came across were Leon and Ishimaru, who were in a corner of the massive hall that separated the cafeteria and laundry room. By the look of it, they were arguing, and a vein was popping on Leon's head in righteous anger.

"I'm tellin' ya, it wasn't me! Mondo and I were in the entrance hall the whole damn time! If either of us slipped out, the other would've known!" The All-Star clenched his fists and held them up furiously.

Kiyotaka, for his part, seemed largely unintimidated by the baseball player's display. He was cupping his chin and levelling the redhead with a critical glare.

"Forgive me if I do not just take your word for it! You seemed quite panicked when you saw your video, and you clearly said you had to get out!"

"Everyone friggin' overreacted to their videos, dude! Even Naegi was spooked, and he's all about that 'gotta stick together' crap..." Leon rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as he saw Makoto and Sayaka out of the corner of his eye. "Oh, hey, guys!"

Other than Maizono narrowing her eyes in outrage, neither student commented on Leon's attitude.

"What's goin' on, guys?" Makoto felt he had a pretty good idea, but he still asked out of impulse, more than anything else.

"Ah, Mister Makoto Naegi and Miss Sayaka Maizono~" Kiyotaka greeted them both pleasantly, as if he hadn't just been giving Leon the third degree. "Leon and I were just speaking about alibis!"

"'Speak' nothin'... I sure didn't hear you talkin' about your alibi..." Leon groused, running a hand through his hair in irritation.

Naturally, Kiyotaka did not seem to hear him. Sayaka seemed to come to his rescue, though, as she hummed noncommittally.

""Leon and Mondo confirm each other's alibis. If they say they were at the entrance hall the whole time, then they probably were."

Ishimaru stood rigid as the singer came to the baseball star's aid. He humbly nodded his head in acceptance.

"I... see. I suppose the same applies to you and Makoto? That you were together, I mean."

Sayaka nodded with a smile,

"Us and Junko," Makoto confirmed with a meek laugh. Before Ishimaru could gush too much about the camaraderie, Leon butted in again.

"Look, just what were you doing after we left breakfast, huh? Were you with anyone?"

The Ultimate Prefect wilted somewhat as his alibi was put under scrutiny.

"I was... patrolling the halls..." Ishimaru stated with a tightening scowl.

"Alone?" The baseball all-star pressed.

"It is a duty I take most seriously!" Ishimaru defended himself. "... But yes, I was alone in my patrol."

"Did you see anything that might help?" Makoto asked hopefully.

"Like what Fukawa might have been doing," Sayaka helpfully supplied, in case Ishimaru needed to jog his memory.

Ishimaru gripped his chin tightly and frowned, eyes narrowing.

"Well... she and Yamada got into a.... disagreement that I had to break up."

Leon rolled his eyes as the prefect revealed this new information.

"Well, there ya go! Fatty probably had some motive to kill her, and he just went back to meet with Fukawa in private after you broke them up!"

Ishimaru did not seem convinced. And when he explained his reasoning for doubting the theory, Makoto and Maizono had their doubts, too.

"It was a very minor argument, however. Fukawa insulted Yamada's comics, and he naturally defended them. Plus, when I split them up, Yamada went to the school store, and I know he stayed there because of my efficient patrol route."

"Che. If it was really 'efficient', Fukawa wouldn't be dead, would she?" Leon groused.

"I know I failed Fukawa....!" Ishimaru lamented. "But she had said she was heading back to her room, and I had little reason to doubt her. I was quite shocked to find her dead in the laundry room!"

Makoto rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he summarized the account Ishimaru gave them.

"So, after breaking up the small fight and hearing Fukawa say she'd be in her room, you followed Yamada to the classroom side of the building." Makoto frowned. "Did you see her open the door to her room and actually go in, though? Did you see anyone else around?"

Ishimaru sagged regretfully.

“No. Unfortunately, I was concerned with Yamada, and making sure he did not go right back to picking a fight with Fukawa. I did not even turn to give Fukawa-san a second glance, and there was no one else around, to my memory.”

Leon rolled his eyes in frank disbelief.

“Yeah, sure… real believable.” The ginger’s tone was oozing with sarcasm. He tapped an index finger to his head and stuck out his tongue. “I think you did it, with the way you were giving me the third degree when your own alibi’s got holes like Swiss cheese!”

Ishimaru grunted out in frustration as he raised a fist in outrage.

“I did not kill Fukawa-san! If you cannot believe I followed Yamada, then just ask Yasuhiro! He had been leaving the gymnasium when my patrol route went by there!”

Sayaka smiled nervously and tried to ease the tension.

“Umm… Leon, why don’t you look for Yasuhiro and confirm that? Naegi-kun and I have a number of things to look into ourselves, and we can’t do everything before the trial starts…”

Leon rubbed the back of his head and grinned roguishly.

“Leave it to me, Maizono-chan!”

Makoto turned to Ishimaru and smiled.

“And Ishimaru, if you see Togami, Celes, or Fujisaki, try to ask what they were doing. Sakura and Asahina were the first ones to find the body, and they were able to find me, Maizono, Junko, Mondo, and Leon, but the rest of you guys took a little time getting to the crime scene. I mean, I’m assuming you, Yamada, and Yasuhiro are telling the truth about seeing each other and all, but…” Makoto scratched his cheek sheepishly.

Ishimaru chuckled and spread out his arms good-naturedly.

“Of course, Naegi-kun! Consider it done!”

Leon crossed his arms and looked at Naegi skeptically.

“Hey… what about Kirigiri? Anyone looking into her?”

“She, Sakura, and Mondo are searching the crime scene.” Maizono helpfully supplied. If any of the boys noticed she was a bit quick to defend Naegi, none of them commented on it. Though Leon was shooting Naegi an envious glance for half a second before he and Ishimaru departed. The idol turned back to Naegi, smiling pleasantly. “So, where do you want to go now?”

~*~

Naegi and Maizono's investigation proceeded rather... quickly, after they inspected Fukawa's room. Junko and Chihiro had already started examining it, so all they really needed was an update from them. As expected, nothing was amiss in Fukawa's room. There wasn't some mysterious note, or signs of a physical struggle. The room had been remarkably tidy, and gave no indication that Fukawa had returned there after her scuffle with Yamada.

Moreover, Fujisaki had confirmed she was in her room after breakfast, and that Sakura could confirm her alibi, having waved at her in the hall. When asked about Asahina, Fujisaki timidly answered she had been bouncing with energy and running laps in the halls... much to Ishimaru's ire.  

Leaving Junko and Chihiro to the more detailed search of Fukawa's room, Sayaka mused about the culprit possibly destroying evidence, and so the two moved on to check out the incinerator and trash room, where Celes had been ruminating outside. Apparently, she had been thinking of going in to inspect the room herself, but as usual, her refined tastes made her reluctant to enter such a room. So, she left that investigation to the idol and Luckster, giving her account of where she was and what she had been doing after breakfast as compensation. Similar to Fujisaki, she'd gone off to her room, though she'd been among the first to leave breakfast, so her testimony wasn't... completely reliable or believable. If she'd decided to discreetly keep an eye on the halls, she could have killed Fukawa...

They did discover that to get to the incinerator, a key was needed, and there was always going to be one person who was in possession of that key on a weekly basis. The person with the key was supposed to gather all of the trash and dispose of it, and Yamada had been the first volunteer for that duty. Nothing seemed amiss around the incinerator, though, and Yamada opening up that area to inspect it himself bore no fruit either, as the machine was still cold.

So it was unlikely that the perp somehow disposed of evidence through there. Either they stored any leftover evidence in their room (and the crime scene), or there really wasn't any to be "found". Makoto was adamant they'd find something to go on, but Sayaka was beginning to wonder. From what they were hearing, there had been a number of people loitering in the halls, even if it wasn't for "long" periods of time. How did the killer maneuver around all that, kill Fukawa, and get her body to the laundry room? And why shove it in the washing machine of all things?

There were too many questions, and the trial was only getting closer.

"Honestly? Today seemed like a laundry day for a lot of people." Aoi muttered as she crossed her arms and tilted her head thoughtfully. Out of new leads to follow, Naegi and Sayaka had gone to the cafeteria to see if anyone was there. That's where they found the swimmer, looking all confused about everything. "Togami, Yamada, Mondo... me and Sakura... Yasuhiro... I even saw Fukawa with a load of laundry at some point!"

Naegi and Maizono both immediately latched onto this new information.

"Really? So she didn't stay in her room?" The Luckster queried. "Or was this before breakfast or something?"

Aoi shook her head.

"No, no. It was after. After me and Sakura were through with our laps and taking a break, I saw her coming out of her room carrying some of her dresses. She was still moody, and stayed as far from us as she could, but she went toward the laundry room, I'm sure of it."

The singer and Luckster shared a look.

"Then..." The dark-haired beauty said slowly. "Maybe she was killed in the laundry room?"

"She was carrying some of her dresses, though..." Naegi mused. "Then whose bedsheets got blood on them? The culprit's?"

"Togami and Mondo were doing their bedsheets." Asahina supplied helpfully. "I mean - Sakura was, too, but I was with her the whole time!"

"And Mondo was with Leon..." Naegi muttered. "That leaves Togami..."

"But Togami doesn't seem the type to leave evidence lying around haphazardly like that." Sayaka reasoned. "Even if it got blood on it, he would have folded it up and carried it like he hadn't done anything. We wouldn't have had reason to search his room."

"He did treat Fukawa like dirt, though..." Aoi looked sour. "I mean, he isn't friendly with anyone, but he was especially nasty to her!"

Makoto shook his head, frowning.

"It just doesn't add up. Even if he wanted out, he wouldn't aim for the person he 'obviously' despised. Not to mention how sloppy he would've been with the crime scene, if those were his bedsheets. It just seems like..."

Before Naegi could finish his train of thought, the school bell system rang out as Monokuma appeared on the monitor nearby.

"Ahem! I'm getting tired of waiting here... Let's get things started, shall we? It's the event you've all been waiting for... The Class Trial!! Without further ado, I'll now announce the rendezvous point! Please enter the red doors on the first floor of the school zone. Upupu, see you soooon!" With that farewell, the screen with Monokuma flickered off, and the three teens shared glances with one another.

"W-Well... I guess our time's up..." The idol smiled nervously.

Naegi rubbed his chin before turning to Aoi seriously.

"Hold on. I know you might not have seen everybody enter the laundry room itself, but can you give the list of people who you 'know' had laundry, one more time?"

The swimmer nodded shakily. 

"Y-Yeah... Togami, Mondo, Yamada, me, Sakura, Yasuhiro, and Fukawa. Those are the ones I know, anyway..." Aoi's arms were crossed again, and she looked frustrated. "Do you think Celes could've had stuff, too?"

Naegi shook his head.

"There's no point speculating. We should... just get going, I guess." As he decided this, Aoi shrugged and left ahead of them, but Sayaka paused to look at Naegi's troubled expression.

"Is something wrong?"

Seeing the idol's concern, the Luckster rubbed the back of his head and chuckled weakly.

"No... Well... I hope not. Just a bad feeling, I guess. I don't wanna doubt anyone, but our lives are on the line here..." The brunet's mouth was set in a grim line, and his hands were clenched at his sides.

Without hesitation, Sayaka took his hands in her own.

"Neither of us, nor Junko, did it, Naegi-kun. And I'm sure we can put our faith in the others. If you have doubts, we'll clear them up in the trial, for sure!" The singer's smile was enough to snap Naegi out of his stupor. He gratefully returned her smile with a grin of his own.

"Y-Yeah... You're right. Let's solve this case, and get everyone out of this place alive!"

They had to. For Fukawa's sake as much as their own.