#minor league baseball is chaos but fucking delightful

[betheflame]

baseball AU snipsnop 2

A commotion erupted in the dugout and Bucky leaned forward from their perch on the bench to see what it was all about. He leaned back and reported to Tony. “Gonzales put his helmet in the wrong cubicle again.” 

Tony rolled his eyes. “Rogers took umbrage?” 

“Ain't that the lady in Harry Potter?”

“Well, the word means to take offense and she’s an offensive character, so maybe,” Tony shrugged. “Rogers?”

Bucky nodded. 

Tony sighed. 

“Ten more days at least, bud,” Bucky said calmly. “Whatever he did, maybe get over it?” 

“He didn’t do one thing,” Tony muttered. “It’s his whole person.”

Bucky made a noise Tony couldn’t interpret. “Maybe find someone to fuck out all your feelings then, because you’re being a bummer.” 

Tony snorted. “Didn’t work last night.”

“Well, you know what they say,” Bucky said as he heaved himself off the bench. “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again."

___

i've planned maybe two plot points for this thing and the rest of them keep falling out of my fingers. gonna be fucking wild.

[ecfandom]

Polis 433 Ch. 13 Preview

I’m sorry for the wait!!

***

“Do you have someone to pick you up tomorrow?” Clarke asked as she kept herself busy folding Lexa’s jeans and shirt. Her mind circled endlessly around their conversation in the chamber, the feeling of Lexa’s hand in hers, Lexa’s palm cradling her cheek, and the terrible story behind the burn scars eclipsing Lexa’s hand and wrist. That story had lingered in the back of her mind ever since she’d read about it, eating at her in a mixture of guilt at having read something so intimate about Lexa’s past, and sorrow at the physical and emotional pain she knew Lexa must have endured. Seeing the tangible evidence of what’d happened to Lexa, feeling the scarred skin beneath her touch, had left her feeling strange, sad and just generally out of sorts. She was not, however, too self absorbed to notice Lexa’s lack of a response. She smiled when she walked over to Lexa’s bed with her folded clothes and found Lexa nearly half asleep.

“Hey,” she said softly, and combed her fingers through Lexa’s hair. “Sleepy?”

Lexa cracked open an eye and grinned. She nodded, lulled by Clarke’s fingers in her hair and the warming blankets on top of her. “You spoil me,” she murmured, gazing at Clarke with so much affection, Clarke quickly looked away, distracting herself with Lexa’s clothes once more. She had never been looked at the way Lexa looked at her. It was too much--piercing and knowing, and worst of all, so very gentle.

“I told you,” Clarke said, wanting to clear the lump in her throat, “friendship with me has its perks.”

“If I recall, I’m not the one who needs the convincing.”

Clarke flushed and good-naturedly tousled Lexa’s hair in retaliation. “Don’t tease.”

“I would never,” Lexa swore, her brow furrowing in mock seriousness. Clarke rolled her eyes, and her hand stilled in Lexa’s hair. Her smile fell, and before Lexa could ask if she was okay, she slipped her hand to Lexa’s cheek, feeling the skin there with the back of her hand.

“You’re a little warm,” Clarke murmured, searching Lexa’s eyes for any signs of distress. “Do you feel okay?”

“Fine. More than fine,” Lexa said with a wink that had a hot, red blush racing up Clarke’s throat.

Taryn clearing her throat from the doorway had Clarke nearly jumping back as Taryn strode into the room with a guitless grin.

“Sorry, was I interrupting something?”

“Fuck off,” Lexa groaned with a laugh, rolling her eyes at Taryn’s knowing smile.

“That’s no way to talk to your doctor.”

“Remind me again how I got stuck with you as my doctor?”

“Oh, I think it was when I shoved a needle into you arm and administered the Epi that re-started your heart and saved your life, you ungrateful jerk. Maybe next time I’ll let you code a little longer.”

“Hey,” Clarke snapped, “that’s not funny.”

“Only joking,” Taryn said, raising her hands in surrender. “How are we feeling, Lexa?”

“Ready to get out of here.”

“Yeah, you’ve been saying that since you woke up in here a week ago.”

“Well, the sentiment remains. You’re still discharging me tomorrow, right?”

“Sure,” Taryn said with a shrug. “If your system behaves overnight, I don’t see why not.”

“It will. I want to be out for the game. I was just inviting Clarke when you so rudely interrupted.”

Clarke laughed incredulously. “No you weren’t.”

“Well, I was about to.” Lexa reached out and grabbed the front of the scrubs Clarke had changed into before Lexa’s treatment, and gave her a little tug. Clarke tried to hold back a smile as she let herself be pulled back to Lexa’s bedside, blushing furthermore and rolling her eyes as Taryn watched on, her arms crossed, and an amused grin on her face.

“Go with me,” Lexa murmured. “I’ve got four tickets. I promised one to Taryn’s sister-in-law, but I have two left over. Bring Ellie. It’ll be fun. Popcorn, hotdogs...come on. It’s the best.”

“What game are we talking about?” Clarke asked, removing Lexa’s hand from her scrubs and placing it back on Lexa’s lap with an amused pat.

“Polis Patriots,” Taryn filled, “minor-league baseball.”

“Oh,” Clarke said with a frown. “I don’t remember that being a thing when I was little.”

At Lexa’s silent plea for help, Taryn continued. “They moved from Juneau a couple of years ago. You should come. We all go. My sister-in-law, Paxton, just got back in town. You can meet her if you haven’t already. My girls are coming with Ella too. I’m sure Lily would love to see Ellie.”

Clarke looked from Taryn to Lexa, endeared by the look of hope on Lexa’s face. “When is it?”

“Wednesday. Do you work?” Lexa asked.

Clarke held back a grin at Lexa’s hopeful eyes. “In the morning.”

“Perfect. It’s not until seven. Come on,” Lexa said, “it’ll be fun.”

Clarke sighed, patting Lexa’s hand. “You’re lucky you’re cute when you’re oxygen drunk.”

“You’ll go?”

“If you’re sure you don’t want to give those tickets to someone else.”

Lexa scoffed. “Who else would I give them to? You know Ellie’s my number one.”

***

Clarke felt like an idiot walking through the hospital with the wide grin on her face, but despite what she tried, it wasn’t going anywhere, even after she picked-up Ellie from the peds wing with a full diaper and sugar crash. With a fresh new diaper, and a snack from the cafeteria to bring her blood sugar back up, her happy, chatty toddler had returned full force. As they often were, Ellie’s hands were relentless as they worked their way over Clarke’s hair and face, played with the necklace Clarke wore, and toyed with the pen light in her chest pocket, all the while talking a mile a minute in gibberish Clarke could only half understand.

“Mommy,” she asked, patting Clarke’s cheek for emphasis.

“Yes, Love?” She gently pulled Ellie’s hand away and settled it between them, hiking Ellie up further onto her hip as Ellie squirmed around in her arms.

“I want see Wexa.”

“She’s resting right now. We can see her some other time.”

“No, now!”

“Ellie,” Clarke said, a gentle warning in her voice, “no yelling.”

“But want Wexa now, Mommy.”

“I know, baby. We’ll see her soon. We’re going to go to a baseball game with her.”

“What’s that?”

“Baseball? It’s a sport. Like when we kick the ball in the backyard and play soccer.”

“Soccer!” Ellie squealed, delighted by the thought of one of her favorite past times.

Clarke laughed and gave Ellie a fond squeeze. She was so in love with her baby’s joy and energy. Ellie had an insatiable propensity for new ways to have fun, and Clarke often marveled at and admired her spirit. Call her biased, but Ellie was a tiny bundle of perfection she would never get enough of. She kissed Ellie’s cheek and took in her wonderful baby smell, hoping never to forget the little moments like these, so often lost in the chaos of her busy life.

She still had her nose pressed to Ellie’s hair when a figure rounded the hallway at nearly a jog and side-stepped just in time to avoid a collision.

“Oh, Clarke, jesus, I’m sorry,” Abby said, one hand over her chest, the other clasping her daughter’s shoulder, steadying them both.

“I forgot how fast you walk down these hallways,” Clarke said with a chuckle, slightly breathless from the scare.

“Sorry, Love, it’s a bad habit. And oh my goodness, there’s my favorite little munchkin in the whole wide world,” Abby cooed, taking Ellie into her arms when her granddaughter shouted her name and leaned towards her. “What are you two doing here?” She asked Clarke. “I didn’t think you were on today.”

“I’m not, I…” Clarke said, then paused, suddenly confronted by the fact that she would have to tell her mother about Lexa, or she would have to lie--something she hadn’t done to her mother since she was a teenager. “I was visiting a friend,” she said, deciding on the safe middle road.

“Is everything okay? Raven? Octavia?”

“God no, it’s not them. I would have said so at the start.”

“Oh,” Abby said, then grinned. “A secret friend, then?”

“Mom, don’t start.”

“Don’t start!” Ellie echoed, her brow furrowing into a comically deep frown. “Don’t start, gammie!”

“What? What am I starting? Huh? Come on,” Abby teased, bouncing Ellie until she was giggling and burrowing her smiling face into Abby’s neck. “So it is a secret friend,” Abby then said, turning her attention back towards Clarke. “Is it a...special friend?”

“Mom, I’m not in high school anymore. Please, spare me.”

“Fine,” Abby said, giving an exaggerated sigh. “Don’t tell me any of the fun details then, I’ll subsist on the same old, stale hospital gossip.”

Clarke laughed and rolled her eyes. “You’re the chief of surgery, you’re not supposed to be listening to that garbage.”

“Darn right, I’m not. The things I hear...it’d make even the devil’s cheeks burn!”

Clarke felt her stomach suddenly flip at the thought of her mother hearing any of the common rumors that circulated the hospital halls, always having to do with who was fucking who in the on-call rooms. She cleared her throat. “Just in case it was already apparent, I’d just like to state for the record that nothing that you hear around here pertains to me. And if you do hear my name, it’s a lie.”

“Don’t I know it,” Abby said with a sigh. “Your love life is tragic, my dear.”

“Mom!”

“Speaking of--”

“No, we’re not speaking of—”

“--that strapping, young firefighter from your Memorial Day bar-b-q is here. Did you know?”

“I…” Clarke said, already fumbling over that word alone.

“Of course you did. I’m guessing that’s your secret, special friend.”

Clarke groaned, then smiled in embarrassment at the look it drew from one of the nurses standing outside a nearby room. Clarke had grown up at this hospital, spending more after-school hours here than in her own home. The hospital hallways of Polis Memorial were practically her living room, the cafeteria her dining room. She’d had more personal conversations with her mother here than anywhere else. It was almost comical.

“Oh for the love of...not you too,” Clarke said, leaning up against the wall to avoid a technician pushing a portable x-ray machine.

Abby grinned and handed Ellie back to her daughter. “Just promise me you’ll let yourself have some fun.”

“Mom.”

“A date or two would be nice.”

“Mom!”

“Alright, alright.” Abby threw up her hands in defeat, then fondly stroked Ellie’s cheek and booped her on the nose. “Grandma's leaving. I mean it, Clarke. Please try to relax.”

Clarke sighed. “I will do my best.”

“Good. I’ll see you for dinner tomorrow night, yes?” Abby asked over her shoulder, already halfway down the hall.

Clarke threw her a thumbs up in response and turned and walked the other way. “The women in my life are crazy,” she muttered to Ellie, who simply beamed at her and nodded.