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bexo-tic · 4 years ago

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Breath Play - Spencer Reid X Reader

Spencer Reid X Reader Slow Burn

Season 10 Episode 17

Word Count: 3234

The sound of heels clicking overwhelms my senses. I can’t believe I’m here, in the BAU office. Sure, I’ve been here plenty of times during my childhood to visit my uncle, but this time I came to work. My heartbeat slows as I take in the familiar smell of coffee brewing. It’s almost nostalgic, reminding me of the times I’d surprise Uncle Aaron with a visit. My heart aches a little as I think of Aunt Haley, but I push the thoughts from my mind. This is my first day and I need everything to be perfect.

“Y/N,” he smiles warmly as I peek my head into his office. I hadn’t seen Aaron since I left for college, I was too busy working on my degrees. We still called once a week, and that is why it didn’t feel forced or awkward to slide into conversation with him after 8 years.

“Well, everyone is at the table because we have a new case, I can introduce you there.” He leads me out of his office and into a small room filled with only a round table and a screen where the team waits. Their presence makes me nervous. They have all this experience with their job and probably only remember me as Aaron’s little niece if they remember me at all.

“Team, we have a new intern, Y/N Y/L/N. She’s my niece on Haley’s side.” He clears his throat after mentioning her and I can tell he isn’t as over it as everyone would assume. “This is Derek Morgan, Kate Calahan, Jennifer Jereau, David Rossi, and Spencer Reid. And our Tech Analyst Penelope Garcia.”

“Save the pleasantries, Aaron. She knows me,” David says as he gets up to hug me. The smell of his cologne fills my lungs, but not in an overbearing way. He cups my face in his hands. “You’re all grown up; it’s hard to believe.”

“I don’t think I believe it yet either,” I laugh as I sit down and he goes back to his seat.

“I hate to interrupt the joy, but we need to get to Wisconsin, also known as the lovely badger state, home of milk and cheese,” Penelope says. She goes into explaining the case and how the bodies of 3 women had been discovered as late as this morning. I tense my body to keep from shivering at the sight of their photos.

That might be the part that always gets to me, seeing the photos of the victims happy and smiling. I can’t imagine their faces once they realized what was going to happen to them. I watch as they discuss the case, their energy, and ideas building off each other. It happens so smoothly and effortlessly like they aren’t talking about murders. But to them this is normal, maybe they’re a little desensitized to it.

“Whether he knows the victims or not, he’s hit his stride and he’s not gonna take time to cool off. Wheels up in 30,” Aaron says, distracting me from my thoughts. I grab the “go bag” I left in my uncle’s office which is better described as a suitcase on the edge of exploding. It was my first trip and I didn’t know how long we’d stay so I panic-packed what was probably too much clothing. As I leave the office I bump into something hard. I look up and see Derek.

“Oh my- I’m so sorry. I didn’t even look and-” He holds up a hand to stop my rambling.

“It’s fine, it takes more than a suitcase to knock me down,” he says with a smile. I let out a relieved sigh and he continued talking.

“Rossi says you’re fresh out of college. What degrees do you have?”

“I have a Ph.D. in Psychology and a Masters in Criminal Justice.”

“And you’re how old?”

“26, I just took a lot of summer classes,” I shrug.

“Sounds a little like Reid,” he laughs. “Real smart guy, been here since he was 24. He graduated high school at 12.” I feel my jaw open and quickly try to close it.

“That’s um- wow.”

“Insane, I know. Let me help you get to the jet.”

“Yeah, thanks. I was going to ask my uncle where to go.”

“So is having Hotch as an uncle the same as having him as a boss?”

“Mm, I’d say yeah. He’s pretty reserved, but once you’ve known him long enough you can read him like a book. It’s not that he doesn’t want to talk to you, it’s more like he’s too busy thinking to remember to talk to you.”

“Sounds about right,” he chuckles. “Set your bag here and just through that door is the jet.”

“Oh, thanks again for showing me.”

“No problem, Y/N.” He walked onto the plane. It felt strange hearing him call me by my first name when everyone else was referred to by their last name. But maybe I was reading too much into it. It was my first day and we couldn’t have made a bond as he had with everyone else in the 5-minute walk to the jet. I took a deep breath to calm my thoughts and walked through the door.

Already they were discussing the case again. Hearing them bounce ideas off each other and analyze was almost comforting if you forgot they were talking about a murderer. Their dynamic was so in tune like they all held the same vibration. Part of me didn’t want to speak and mess up the flow of the conversation.

“Alright Dave and Reid, go to the Medical Examiner with Em. Morgan and Kate go to the newest crime scene. JJ and I will interview friends and family at the station,” Aaron announced. My fingertips began to tingle with anticipation. This is happening! A part of me was excited to be here. I’d always admired my uncle when I was younger for putting away the bad guys and here I was beside him. Butterflies fluttered in my stomach and I tried desperately to calm down. It was my first case and I was determined not to mess this up. I didn’t want Aaron thinking I couldn’t handle this and sending me home, so I was determined to keep a calm demeanor.

<<< >>>

“Cartilage around the windpipe was damaged, but the COD was actually a crushed trachea,” the examiner says as he leads us to the victims’ bodies.

“I’m surprised Emma didn’t go into cardiac arrest before then,” Spencer says, looking back at me and David. I nod in agreement because I don’t have anything to counter with. I question why Aaron even sent me with them to the M.E. when I don’t have enough experience to be much help here.

“Nobody has sex for 6 straight hours, not even sting,” David says, pulling my attention back to the report. That’s where it should be. “Maybe he’s interacting with them beforehand.”

“Nonetheless, it’s an endurance test. He’d have to be in pretty great physical shape,” Spencer says. I try to form my own ideas as they talk, to just bring something to the table and not feel like I’m useless and watching from the sidelines.

“Well, do you think strangulation is just the dispatching method, then?” David asks.

“Erotic asphyxiation,” I call from behind them. They both turn to look at me and I feel my heart move up my throat. “I mean, the bruising from repeated strangling and releasing is similar to that.”

“If that’s the case, isn't the pleasure usually all for the recipient?”

“Maybe not for him,” Spencer answers. “Cutting off his victim’s air supply might be how he satisfies his own urges.”

I sigh, I might have just contributed something. I don't want them to think I can’t do anything to help. My eyes wander to the other victims. She has the same bruising as the other victim except her hair is blonde, Donna Rayburn. She almost looks like me, but her eyes are blue, not the dark brown I got from my dad. Noticing all our similarities makes me itch and I feel exposed. I jump when a hand touches my back.

“Hey, we’re heading back to discuss everything with the team,” David says. “Are you alright?”

I can feel Spencer’s eyes burning into me from behind, he’s not very good at acting like he isn’t listening to our conversation. I can’t help but wonder if he thinks I’m even qualified to be here; his intelligence is a little intimidating. He could probably profile circles around me.

“I’m fine, just nervous. First day jitters,” I smile in what I hope is a convincing way. David leads me to the car and I sit in the back on the way to the station. Looking out the window keeps me distracted and I let my mind wander. I wonder how the people who live here feel about the news. Everyone says “It could never happen here”, but somehow it always does.

“Six hours is a long time, especially late at night, for someone to be held and no one to hear anything,” Aaron says as David, Spencer and I make it to the table. Again they delved into a conversation trying to connect the victims. So far, the only thing they had in common was their interactions with the unsub. After what seemed like hours of discussion, I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and got up to find coffee.

I found my way to a small kitchen with two coffee pots in it. I grabbed a guest mug and poured in the steaming liquid, leaving enough room for the cream and sugar packets on the counter. A voice behind me makes me jump.

“Did you know Hawaii is the only state in the U.S. that grows coffee?” I turn and find Spencer standing there with his thermos in his hands.

“Um no?”

“Yeah, the ideal coffee growing conditions require high altitudes, rich soil, and tropical climates.”

“Do you start every conversation off with facts?” I ask with a laugh.

“Mostly,” he smiles. “Oh, and I wouldn’t drink that coffee if I were you. Hotch just said we’re heading back to the hotel and regrouping in the morning.”

I checked the time on my phone, 11:33 PM. No wonder I was so tired, with the jet ride and busy day we had. The ride to the hotel felt like it lasted a few minutes, so I must have dozed off in the car. Aaron handed me the key to my room which I shared with JJ. I barely had time to shower before I fell asleep in the white sheets of the bed.

<<< >>>

I couldn’t believe the unsub killed again last night. I knew he would kill again, but it didn’t feel right that I hadn’t noticed. How did we all fall asleep so easily when the murderer we were trying to find had claimed a new victim? And here I was walking around Lynn Boyd’s house as everyone scurried around for evidence. I find my way into her bedroom.

“The bindings, the silk scarf, the rough sex. He’s using ‘Bare Reflections’ to choose his victims,” Rossi says. Finally, another step forward. Last night we concluded the unsub would be a married man, but it didn’t give us much to go off of. A call to Garcia would help us understand more.

‘If this book is mainstream, then his victim pool is large.”

“Garica, did any of the other victims besides Lynn own a copy?” JJ asks.

“Mary Healy had it on her tablet. Donna Rayburn checked it out from the library twice. Emma and Lynn both purchased copies locally.”

Although the book tied our victims together, who even knew how many other married women in the comfort zone owned the book as well. The list of possible targets would be too long to help us tie it back to the unsub.

“And- hey, a lot of the saucy texts are direct quotes from the book,” Garcia says. “Oh! Speaking of texts, I culled them from that he met Mary via message board, Donna at a coffee shop, Emma at the gym, and Lynn, he met Lynn using a fake profile on a discreet dating website for married people.”

“Thanks, Garcia,” Rossi said, ending the call.

“Profile?” JJ asked. He nodded in response. The ride back to the station passed in a blink. Maybe it was the satisfaction I was feeling. My fingertips tingled because we were so close to finally catching this guy.

“Based on area demographics, we believe that we’re looking for a physically fit white male in his mid-30s to early 40s,” Aaron starts.

“He’s a homicidal dominant with an interest in role-play,” Callahan continues. They build off each other so smoothly, and the rest of the team keeps it going.

“We believe his charisma has allowed him to latch onto women who are interested in a popular erotic romance novel called ‘Bare Reflections’.”

“In it, a sheltered female teacher falls for a handsome mogul with a dark past who forces her into a submissive role.”

“Despite her initial worries, Amber Stone finds she can’t live without Carson Bare, warts and all.”

“We believe the unsub and his victims are consensually recreating a scenario from this book.”

“In that scene, Carson introduces Amber to BDSM by binding her to a bed as they have rough sex.”

“The unsub uses this role play to get his victims into a vulnerable position before his fantasy takes hold.”

”This has provided the unsub with a victim pool who have dropped their guard.”

“His first victims were single, but his last two were married. This escalation indicates that he may be married himself and probably has a family.”

“This unsubs M.O. takes patience and caution, and is firmly rooted in a need-based desire, which means he won’t be stopping anytime soon. Thank you.” Aaron says, ending the profile presentation. I look back at the crime scene photos trying to piece together the puzzle. I notice Reid quickly skimming through the pages of “Bare Reflections”.

“Are you even reading it?” I ask.

“I can read 20,000 words per minute, so yes.” He doesn't even have to look up when he responds.

“Robot,” I say under my breath as I roll my eyes, but from his smirk, I can tell he heard me.

“There’s not a single mention of erotic asphyxiation anywhere,” he says as Rossi and a detective approach us.

“It’s the unsub’s fetish then.” Rossi’s brows furrow.

“He’s a charmer that knows that some people lose themselves in the moment and others stop at nothing to please their partners,” my thoughts come out loud as I walk towards them. “Somehow he makes his victims feel safe enough to abandon their hard limit.”

“What’s a hard limit?” the detective asks.

“It’s a common BDSM practice. Hard limits are anything that’s an automatic no-go. It differs by person and taste,” Rossi states.

“And a soft limit is an in which a submissive hesitates or places strict conditions on,” Reid pipes up.

“I had no idea that world had so many regulations. Where does he find somebody like-minded?”

“In “Bare Reflections”, Carson Bare takes Amber to an event called a munch.”

“Which is?”

“According to the book, it’s a social gathering for people interested in BDSM.”

“Where the heck do you find that?”

“We should call Garcia.” Reid nods at Rossi.

“I found one,” he says, showing his simple google search. While Rossi and Callahan go to the munch, the rest of us stay behind to go over the case files.

<<< >>>

“He knew crossing state lines would make it more difficult to link the crimes,” Aaron says about the three prostitute murders Garcia has just brought up.

“That’s a very different cooling-off period. I wonder what was so special about those dates,” Detective Pierce questions. Reid grabs an expo marker and turns to the nearest board.

“First kills were in 2000, 2007, and then he went dormant until last year. What triggers him?” He writes all the dates on the board.

“Deaths in the family,” Aaron asks.

“He could keep losing jobs?”

“These are sex crimes so what interferes with sex drive? Children,” Callahan offers. “The addition of a child would disrupt even the happiest of couples.”

“More specifically the births,” Reid nods and you can see the gears in his head turning. “What if each of these kills corresponds to the births of the unsub’s own children?”

“Garcia, how many men in the hunting zone had a child in 2000?”

“16 and because I already know what the follow-up question is going to be, 5 had their second child 8 years ago, and two had their third last year.”

“Were either one of them busted for something like peeping or exposure?” I ask.

“Yes and no, there's a Patrick Jon Murphy. He’s a physical therapist, here’s the thing he was never actually arrested. I do have some sealed family court docs, though, that I’m about to unseal and learn … Oh, when he was 12, he witnessed his neighbor strangle his wife to death in a sex game gone bad.”

“Even though he was only a witness, that moment created a single event imprint on his love map and probably started his interest in breath play.”

“Is his wife interested in BDSM?”

“Uh, no, doesn’t look like it. The Murphy’s have been in and out of couple’s therapy for years.”

“The therapy roller coaster may have been due to intermittent periods of frustration then bliss surrounding the murders.”

“And his urges increase during periods of non-intimacy.”

“If the unsub’s trigger was the birth of his kids, why change the victimology and accelerate the kills now?” I ask.

“I think the guilt he’s felt has been alleviated by ‘Bare Reflections’, and the intense female interest in it has justified his impulses,” Reid answers. Our phones beep as Garcia sends us his address and we race out the door. His house isn’t even that far from the station, it’s crazy that he’s been under our noses the whole time. JJ and Reid come out of the house looking defeated.

“He’s at the nanny’s house, we’ve gotta move!” We don't even have time to buckle up before we're barreling down the road. When we arrive at the house I can see a girl standing at the front door.

"You two take the front of the house, I'm going around back," Morgan declares. I can see him run after the unsub on foot as Callahan grabs the girl inside the house. That must be his daughter. The rest of us storm inside, clearing each room as we make our way through the house. Calls from upstairs lead us into the bedroom where we find a woman tied to her bed. Immediately we untie her as a medic comes in to check her out.

<<< >>>

“So, how was your first case?” Aaron asks as he sits across from me on the jet.

“Um, intense,” I nod and he laughs. “But I really enjoyed helping solve it.”

“I knew you had it in you.” He squeezes my hand. “Want some coffee?”

“No thanks, I’m gonna try to sleep before we land.” I curl into my chair and try to let the tension release from my body as I fall asleep.

#spencer x you #spencer reid #criminal minds #derek morgan #david rossi #kate callahan #jennifer jereau #aaron hotch hotchner #penelope garcia #criminal minds fanfic #criminal minds fandom #spencer reid x reader #reid x reader

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zeoia · 4 years ago

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I am a warm and loving person. I always have been and always will be.

Growing up, I had to be responsible very early on. I had no choice but to be mature for my age. After all, my mother wasn't there, and we needed a mom. My father was clueless, emotionally detached as an alpha male type. Currently he's not as bad as he used to be, as he finally acknowledges that when I cry, it's not to make him angry. I am crying because I am hurting. And when I am hurting I need comfort.

It used to be about his comfort. He hated seeing the tears. He'd tell us don't you dare start crying. I bottled up emotions. I withheld feelings at home. But they kept coming out during school. I'd isolate myself to cry.

One time I had an extreme outburst to the point of getting violent. I felt unheard. I'd been unheard for so long. People weren't understanding.

I had to separate from my biological mom as a child because she was incapable of taking care of us. This created a sense of longing. There was a hole in my heart and I kept wanting to fill it up somehow.

My father remarried when I was going to middle school. I told him I was fine with it. But honestly I didn't know any better. I was nine, going on ten. How was I supposed to know that I was just saying okay because that's just what I felt dad wanted to hear.

The marriage lasted throughout middle school and fell apart during high school. My stepmom was a scary person. Especially with her son around. She became very controlling. We weren't allowed in her chairs. Not allowed to watch her television. Weren't allowed to eat her foods. She made a mental note of the amount she had left. And anytime something went wrong, despite her son being the one who had always been the one to get into trouble, somehow, my brother and I were shouldering the blame for stuff we didn't do.

We were far from perfect little babies, but the worst we did was stay up past bedtime playing video games. He was a habitual liar. A thief. He was frequently breaking into houses, including our own. The first time I remember interacting with police was because of him. He broke into a girl's house. I was so nervous and I felt small. Because I was. I was so very small.

The divorce process was messy. She wanted to take our house away. Our home. The place that my brother was building bonds in. He frequently went outside spending time with neighbors. Unlike her son, we were still kids. By this time he was approaching adulthood. We couldn't be subjected to that.

We did manage to keep the house somehow. But... Maybe it would have been better to have lost it. To have moved downtown. So my father would stop acting like it was our fault that we stayed out here.

You see, my father has this habit of saying how he wanted to move downtown, closer to where everything is, but would tell us that "you guys wanted to stay here with your friends" in a mocking way. As if a teenager and a preteen know any better. Of course we wouldn't know of what opportunities existed for us downtown. We didn't live our lives in the future. We lived our lives in the moment. Looking at the future just wasn't a thing.

And the only future I COULD think of was the inevitable end. The inescapable fate that every living being shares. Because I wanted it. I wanted it to hurry up and take me so I could stop feeling sadness. the shameful feelings that would make other people uncomfortable.

I had been tired of moving. Tired of leaving people. My childhood involved way more goodbyes than I could deal with. And I continued to be desperate to fill that hole my mother left.

In this home, we finally had a permanent place. Some sort of stability. I didn't want to let go of anything. I couldn't let go of anything. After all, every time my mother visited us, I kept having to let go. I had to let go of the person who was willing to let me cry. I had to let go of the person who frequently told me I love you. this isn't to say that my father was unloving. I still remember every day when we still lived in the apartments, my brother and I would be home alone and we'd hear the door unlocking. And we'd make a mad dash to the door to jump into his arms to be hugged by him.

But this came to an end eventually. Growing up was awkward, and it made me withdraw more. My father expected me to be more ladylike. Despite telling me stuff like "do your best" I often felt like I was failing, even if I wasn't actually failing. Things were hard for me in school. On top of the stress of the divorce, my grades were getting worse. The transition from middle school to high school was uncomfortable. I told myself I was done with goodbyes, so why did I have to say goodbye to my best friends again?

I still remember people I considered my best friends, all the way from third grade. Donna. Jessica. Tina. Martha. Karen. Rae. Megan.

Graduating high school I didn't want to let go. I was tired of letting go. Despite my frequently feeling slightly out of place, I clung to Rae and Megan. We worked the same jobs for years. And then when Rae left for college, it was just me and Megan. Two weird kids with little ability to actually make new friends.

Megan and I did everything together. I went to her house frequently. We even went to the same community college. But as an adult things were getting different. She was very interested in dating, and I was getting more into self discovery. Online, I was making friends with people who liked the things I liked. I got involved with fandoms. She was too, actually.

But our interests didn't always overlap. But in my desperation to keep doing things with my only real life friend, I forced myself to enjoy the things she did. I didn't care for super heroes. Didn't care for being a "Potthead" as they called themselves. I don't know if that's still the term. She liked a lot of things that were very white, euro-centric. I liked things that were. Well they felt different. I liked webcomics and other things I found online, rather than mainstream media. Sometimes I tried to convince her to do something that I liked to do, but she wasn't really having it. If anything she just had a preference for insulting it and making me feel bad for liking things that really weren't her taste.

Honestly I don't remember what started the build up of animosity. I remember that I lost my grandmother on my dad's side and I felt terrible because I never got to really know her. My depression was absolutely awful then and I couldn't bring myself to go to work often. I remember one day when we were looking at our paychecks and she gave me this condescending "well maybe if you didn't call out so much." And I told her "hey how would you feel if your grandfather died? What would you have done huh?" And she got mad at me for making her even think about it. Me, actively in mourning about the death of a loved one, and she's the one mad because I dared to ask her to put herself in my shoes.

The rift was growing so much bigger. But we both still wanted to hold on because we both had nobody. I... Honestly couldn't tell you what it was that was the final nail in the coffin. Maybe it was all the guilt tripping she did. She told me that she was tired of having to go everywhere with me and that it cost money to drive me from place to place, ignoring the fact that I was always going the same place with her. Work. School. We planned it out so it was convenient. And I often bought things for her. I paid for food, gave her gas money, and I even sometimes would splurge on something she had her eye on. Like. A figure or a toy. She had bills and I didn't, so I had the spending money for it. Because I had to make sure that I wasn't going to say goodbye again.

But we did. It was messy. She called me a petty bitch. I don't even remember everything. I just know that I was alone again. Secluded. Isolated. I had nobody. Nine years of friendship and the void was bigger now.

I was desperate to keep finding people. I kept surrounding myself with groups. Getting deeply involved in fandoms in an attempt to connect with people. I leaned heavily on people emotionally, especially if they got closer to me and interacted with me more. People who did anything for me, I would cling to immediately. I wanted to do everything with people who spent time with me. I became addicted to attention.

And that addiction is why I'm in this mess today. It's true that I have managed to surround myself with genuine people who love me, but sometimes something bad lurks about. Especially in a place full of mentally ill people.

#long post #inside my head #about me #life story #this is a heavily abrisged version #i didnt go into detail about my dad not being able to let me do my own shit #how i tried to branch out and make more friends during my college time #i had anime nights with the sometimes and i would get so into it that i would lose track of time #this made him very angry one time #i hadnt checked in with him every hour and it made him worry #and because of not calling him he called me and told me to come home #keep in mind i am a full grown adult #but somehow I had it in my mind that i had no choice but to be obedient #ive never been in a particularly healthy environment #honestly the only reason i feel less controlled now is because he has himself an obedient wife #but even now he still tries to sway me away from being true to myself #and tries to make me into his version of myself

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stxphxn-strange · 4 years ago

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death doesn’t discriminate

a/n: so when i first started my college au, i came up w a lot of angst and tragedy that i forgot about when i introduced you to it. so here’s my solution: you’re getting angst now! tw for death in this fic, keep that in mind as you read. I’m super proud of this so i hope you read and lmk ur thoughts Tags: @stark-strange-love @ah3m @grumb-lin @ironstrange-chaos @maya-custodios-dionach

“You’re perfect, you know that? You’re the most precious thing in existence.”

His words were met with a content (read: blissed out), sleepy sigh.

“Hey, you good?” Stephen asked, softly ruffling Anthony’s already wildly messy hair.

“Great, but exhausted,” Anthony murmured, pressing his face into the pillow. “You know you tired me out, just let me sleep.”

Stephen smiled and kissed him softly. “Do you want to shower first? Maybe a snack? And then I promise you can rest.”

“And you’ll hold me all night?” Anthony asked, looking up and batting his eyelashes.

“Ugh, you’re impossible!” Stephen scoffed, overcome with love for his boyfriend. “Of course I will.”

All Stephen wanted to do was kiss Anthony senseless and hold him forever, but he couldn’t for a couple of reasons: tomorrow he was leaving on SI business, and someone was knocking on their bedroom door.

During Stephen’s unusually infinitesimal period of reflection Anthony fell asleep, unintentionally forcing Stephen to get out of bed. He tightened his robe as he answered the door, tiredness making his smile more forced than normal. “Rhodey, I’m not going to moderate another debate about almond milk between you and Harold.”

“Stop calling me Harold!” Harry yelled from somewhere down the hall.

Rhodey shook his head. “Oh no, we’re not getting into that again. I was just going to ask if Tones got the PDFs yet.”

“He’s asleep,” Stephen said, a blush creeping onto his face. “Although I need to wake him up again, I can ask or just tell him to text you.”

“That sounds good,” Rhodey replied, a knowing look in his eye. “Just remember: our business trip is only a week, and no wall in this apartment is 100% soundproof.”

Stephen rolled his eyes. “Goodnight, Rhodey.”

He closed the door again, sitting on his bed beside Anthony, who appeared to be falling deeper into sleep.

Stephen sighed, gently shaking one of his shoulders to wake him up. Another restful night filled with banter and love was ahead of them, and Stephen wanted to make the most of it before Anthony left in the morning. Grumpy as he was when he finally woke up, Stephen could tell that Anthony wanted to make the most of the night as well.

++++

“It’s official: I hate goodbyes!” Stephen tried not to convey how upset he actually was.

He did hate goodbyes. He hated that Anthony was leaving for a week, though he never liked to admit how much he actually missed his boyfriend. Stephen would always nod whenever Wong complained that the house was quiet without Anthony, Rhodey, and Harry, but his face always fell when it struck him again that his boyfriend was away.

“Let me ask you something,” Wong began.

“Do I want to know?” Stephen replied, filling the kettle with water.

“I won’t beat around the bush,” Wong said. “Why haven’t either of you proposed yet?”

“Unlike the rest of you, we’re not in a rush,” Stephen quipped. “If I know Ant as well as I think I do, he’s waiting for what he thinks is the perfect moment. I’m doing the same.”

“That’s a load of bullshit,” Wong said.

Looking up from his phone, he continued: “You know, we thought you were going to propose before graduation! I’m already out $300 because of all of the bets I lost to our friends.”

“I don’t think I want to know this either, but who did you bet with?” Stephen asked.

“Carol, Rhodey, all of the Odinson siblings, and Christine,” Wong replied.

“And you all know why I didn’t do it then, yes? As in you didn’t bet $50 with six (6) different people after winter break?” Stephen asked. “Anthony and I talked about it and it just felt too soon after his mother and Howard died.”

“No, I didn’t,” Wong said. “That makes sense, though. We really aren’t trying to rush you.”

“I know you don’t mean it seriously, what in our friend group isn’t dealt with through absurd amounts of teasing?” Stephen asked, rolling his eyes. “But you know what? I think when they come back from the trip might be a good time.”

“Fucking FINALLY!” Wong replied, leaping into the air. “Let’s call Christine right now!”

++++

A few days later, Wong woke up to the sound of one of his housemates frantically opening and closing the kitchen cabinets. He was about to text the housemates’ chat, before he remembered that Stephen was the only other one that was home, the others wouldn’t be back for another three (3) days.

So that left a singular question: why was Stephen, somehow the quietest of the group, slamming cupboard doors?

Wong found his bunny slippers and shuffled down the hallway, locking eyes with a distressed Stephen. “What are you doing?”

“I’m rearranging the kitchen.”

“Why?”

“How many reasons do you want? I don’t know what to do with myself, I’m stressed, and it’s too early to call Anthony although I doubt he’s asleep as it is since he rarely sleeps while traveling, but—”

“You can’t be this nervous to propose, can you?” Wong asked, his tone ignorant and teasing but without malice. “He won’t be back until the end of the week, so you have time to plan and replan everything until you’re happy.”

“I was going to propose when he got back, I was going to ask you to help me plan something nice as a welcome for him and Rhodey and Harry, but... shit I have to go home,” Stephen said. “To my parents’ farm, I mean.”

“Why? Everything okay?” Wong asked.

Stephen ran a hand through his bedhead. He knew he was shaking but didn’t have the energy to care. “My mom isn’t doing well at all. I... Victor needs me.”

“When do you leave?”

“Later this evening. I just need to call Anthony, both to hear his voice and to keep him updated.”

“He’s calling you now,” Wong said, glancing at where Stephen’s phone was vibrating towards the edge of the counter.

He began to make something for breakfast as Stephen picked up the phone.

“You know I love you, but why are you calling so early?” Stephen asked, trying to keep his voice light.

Anthony, sleep deprived and stressed as he was, knew him too well and could immediately tell that something was up. His voice was rough when he spoke, “something’s wrong.”

“What do you mean? Are you okay?” Stephen fretted.

“I’m fine, I meant something’s bothering you. I can hear it in your voice,” Anthony clarified. He sounded like a warm hug that Stephen just wanted to hide in until the end of time, his tone gentle as he asked what was going on.

“I’m just upset, that’s all,” Stephen replied. “Um... Victor called me about an hour ago. He says Mom isn’t... doing too well and he really wants me to go to the farm, at least for his sake. So I’m leaving tonight, just to spend some time there while I can. Apparently a lot of the family is flying out... Vic didn’t go into detail but he said it’s bad.”

Anthony hummed, and Stephen could hear rustling on his end of the line.

“What are you doing?” He asked.

“I’m looking for my laptop so I can book a flight,” Anthony said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“No way, I can’t ask you to—”

“Stephen? My darling, my sweet baby boyfriend who can be more obtuse than a triangle?” Anthony interrupted.

Stephen scoffed. “You’re one to talk.”

“My mind is made up,” Anthony said. “I’m sure someone can cover for me, this is a family emergency after all.”

“You...” Stephen’s voice broke. “Anthony...”

Anthony hushed him quietly. “I want to be there for you, and for your family, and I promise you I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“Fucking hell,” Stephen whispered, trying to keep himself from sobbing. “Thank you.”

“I just want to support you, Steph,” Anthony replied. “I’m going to have to go wake Pepper up, she should be getting up soon. I just want to brief her before the day starts, but I’ll be free for a bit after I find her if you want to call me back.”

“I might FaceTime you,” Stephen said. “You haven’t even been gone that long and I still miss you like you wouldn’t believe.”

“The feeling is mutual,” Anthony murmured. “I love you.”

“I love you too, tell Pepper I said hi,” Stephen replied.

He put his phone down when the call ended, sighing and running his fingers through his hair.

“Do you want french toast?” Wong asked quietly.

Stephen jumped, forgetting his friend was even in the kitchen. “Yes please. And then I have to go and pack some stuff.”

++++

“Hey guys, I need you to cover for me. I have a flight to Nebraska at 4, it’s a family emergency, Stephen’s mother...”

“Tones what are you still doing here? You need to get there. I’ll help you pack,” Rhodey said.

“I’ll drive. Be ready to leave in no later than two (2) hours,” Harry added. “

Pepper smiled sadly. “You know we’re going to cover your ass no matter what, especially if it has something to do with Stephen. By the way, w—”

“Now is hardly the time to discuss a proposal, Miss Potts!”

++++

“You know, I always liked Anthony better than you,” Victor said. “I think Donna did too, God rest her soul.”

“Alright Vic, enough,” Stephen replied. “I only came home for you, don’t chase me away. Besides, Donna liked me better than you, and that’s all that really matters.”

“I’m telling Dad you said that,” Victor spat, his light tone betraying his words. “You know I’m happy you’re home. And I’m glad you have Anthony.”

“He’s loyal, you know? I tried to tell him not to come, but he insisted. And he was in California for business,” Stephen said, smiling at the mention of his boyfriend.

“You’re going to do something embarrassing once you see him, aren’t you?” Victor scoffed.

“No, I’m just going to hug him,” Stephen replied. “Fuck off Vic, it’s none of your business how I show affection.”

All things considered Stephen didn’t break his word, because he did hug Anthony as soon as they made eye contact. Nobody had to know if there were tears in his eyes when he rested his head on Anthony’s shoulder and held him as if they’d been apart for years.

Victor, impatiently standing a short distance from the couple, cleared his throat. “I don’t mean to rush this reunion, but we should get home now.”

“Since when do you drive?” Anthony teased, giving Victor a short hug. “The last time I saw you—”

“Don’t you dare say I was ‘just a baby!’ I’ve heard that from all of my relatives these past two (2) days,” Victor replied. “And let me address that now: I’m driving so I control the music.”

Victor’s taste in music wasn’t bad, so neither Stephen nor Anthony objected. Plus, they were both exhausted from traveling and the fact that they didn’t sleep very well apart. It was no surprise that Anthony fell asleep on the drive from the airport to the family farm. Stephen thought back to the other day, to the way Anthony soared under his praises and how he fluttered his eyelashes at the end of the night, just before falling asleep. He was trying to be coquettish, but fell asleep before they could trade anymore banter. Stephen had to fight to keep from laughing (it was more like giggling) at how adorable Anthony was.

Tonight, as the moonlight through the car window highlighted his closed eyes and slightly parted lips, Stephen just wanted to cry. It wasn’t a sad kind of cry, it was perhaps relieved. Things would always be okay with Anthony around, and that realization never failed to bring Stephen to tears.

++++

It was the best sleep he’d had in three (3) days, and it came to a sharp end as urgent knocking cut through his dream.

Anthony slipped out of bed, pulling the blankets up around Stephen. No matter how cold he got in the middle of the night, he always kicked the comforter away.

His fond smile at the thought of Stephen’s idiosyncrasies died when he saw the stricken look on Victor’s face.

“What’s wrong?” Anthony asked, immediately placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

He’d always seen Victor and Donna as the siblings he never had, and it was very important to Anthony that all of the Strange siblings knew he cared for them. Stephen obviously did, although reminding him never hurt, but the familial bond Anthony had with his siblings was valuable to all parties involved. Understandably, the idea of Victor being this upset troubled him.

“Is Stephen up?” Victor asked. His voice was almost shrill, marching the chaotic background noise from elsewhere in the farmhouse.

Anthony shook his head. “Do I need to wake him up?”

Victor nodded. “And hurry up, we have to go downtown now. Meet me in the kitchen as soon as you can.”

++++

The rest of the Strange family descended upon both the farm and the town after Bev Strange passed. The next few days consisted of funeral arrangements, people running errands, speedrunning the stages of grief, and little to no sleep. There were two (2) points during that week where everything came to a screeching halt, and everyone was just taking on tragedy like a sponge soaks water. The night before Mrs. Strange’s funeral was one of them.

Eugene Strange jogged down the stairs that night, an envelope in one hand and his other clutching his chest.

“Dad you okay?” Stephen asked.

“Completely fine, I’m just running something to your aunt and then I’ll settle in for the night,” Eugene replied.

“Do you want me to take it?” Victor offered. “You don’t look well, you should rest.”

“No, son, I’m okay. A little drive to town can’t hurt,” Eugene said, waving his hand in dismissal of Victor’s offer.

A little drive to town couldn’t hurt on its own, but coupled with a heart attack it was fatal to Eugene.

Stephen was livid when he found out, mostly angry with himself for not going and running the errand. “Why did I let him go?”

Victor was also livid, his anger directed at Stephen for most of the week. “Yeah, why did you?! How can you say you care about our family when you took Donna to the lake that day, AND you let Dad go when he was in no condition to drive? I’m lucky you even came around for me and for Mom, everyone knows all you care about is yourself!”

As the Strange family planned their second funeral of the week, Victor and Stephen didn’t talk much. Victor wasn’t right to be angry with Stephen, which he did eventually realize. Victor was even the one who advocated for Stephen going home and taking care of himself for a few days.

“He’s right, you do deserve to be cared for. Especially now,” Anthony murmured, tracing Stephen’s collarbones. “You’re so strong and selfless, I just want to give you the world, if you’ll let me.”

“You’re too good to me,” Stephen murmured. “Ant, do you know I love you so much it hurts? The fact that we’ve been in each other’s lives for so long and have come so far means so much, and there’s no one else I’d rather go through all of this shit with. You... you’re just everything. I love the way you drown me in praise but catch me when I fall... and—”

“If anyone gets drowned in praises, it’s me from you,” Anthony whispered, as Stephen broke off with a sob. “You’re the one always catching me and keeping me grounded. But that’s what our relationship has always been, you know? I never would have gotten through the things that happened in the past few years without you, and there won’t ever be a moment you won’t have my equal support. I think you’ve been stuck with me since we met and talked about... remind me, with your picture perfect memory, what it was?”

Stephen didn’t reply, only shifting a bit closer to Anthony.

“Steph?” Anthony asked quietly, brushing a soothing hand through his hair.

Stephen snored softly. It wasn’t really a snore, as Stephen didn’t snore, more or less a soft exhale that ghosted over Anthony’s collarbone. Either way, he was asleep.

Anthony smiled sadly and kissed his forehead. “Goodnight Stephen. Get some rest, I promise I’ll always be here.”

++++

“If you need anything, do you swear that you’ll call or text or just fly to New York to see me?” Stephen asked again.

“Stephen, I promise I’m going to be okay,” Victor assured him. “And I will.”

“You don’t need anything else while we’re here?” Stephen asked.

“No, I’m fine!” Victor said, feigning annoyance. “Just go home, and Anthony take care of my hardheaded brother, please.”

“I always do,” Anthony replied, giving Stephen a soft kiss.

“Get your PDA out of my face,” Victor teased. “Have a safe flight. Text me when you’re home.”

“You do the same,” Stephen said firmly.

The events of the past week took their toll on the brothers, and Stephen’s usual fearlessness disappeared. The smallest things rattled him, a routine lurch of the plane almost sending him into a panic attack.

“If we survive this flight, will you marry me?” Stephen asked at the crux of takeoff.

Anthony smiled and hugged him, murmuring, “I thought you’d never ask.”

“I swear I had this whole gesture planned but I don’t want to live another second without asking. A part of me needs this trip to have something of a happy ending, and I was really going to wait until we were home, but I waited long enough to be your boyfriend, I don’t want to wait to be your fiancé,” Stephen rambled.

“I have my own romantic gesture planned too.” Anthony’s voice was low and gravelly from tiredness, and his voice combined with his closeness sent shivers down Stephen’s spine. “You’ll love it, I’ll show you when we’re home.”

“I can’t wait.”

++++

Wong‘s friendly, grumpy face was a nice surprise waiting for them at the airport. “Harry and Rhodey are home, sleeping I think but you never know with them. I figured you’d both be tired, so I’d just come get you and let you sleep on the drive home.”

“You might be a Saint,” Anthony replied, leaning fully against Stephen.

“I’m just a good friend, one who accepts payment in the form of bread,” Wong teased. “Let’s go home.”

Harry was the only one in the kitchen when they got back, Rhodey on the phone w T’challa in his room. He greeted them with a warm: “Hey guys, you okay? I made sandwiches if you’re hungry.”

“My friend, I’m going to take you up on that,” Wong replied, pulling up a stool.

“I’m exhausted, and Ant is too, so we’re going to bed. Text if you need anything, but we’re going to just go pass out,” Stephen said. He didn’t bother waiting for a response, taking Anthony’s hand and leading him to their bedroom.

It was right before they climbed into bed that he got down on his left knee, taking hold of Anthony’s hands.

“There’s no limit to the things I want to say to you, and we both know that I’m never usually short on words but I just need to get my point across now. I might combust if I wait any longer,” Stephen began.

“Ask me,” Anthony murmured breathlessly. “I won’t interrupt again, just go ahead a—”

Stephen frowned as someone, it sounded like Harry, shouted from the kitchen.

The knocking, uncoordinated and loud, only intensified the longer Stephen and Anthony ignored it.

“What?!” Stephen called.

“We need a moderator for another debate about food!” Harry yelled.

“I’m in the middle of proposing!”

#tony stark #stephen strange #ironstrange #my ironstrange college au #tw death #wong #happy hogan #james rhodey rhodes #rhodey x t’challa #pepper potts #protective pepper potts #tony and stephen have praise kinks #they love each other a lot #tumblr ate my first draft :(#the strange family #victor strange #donna strange #beverly strange #eugene strange

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esonetwork · 3 years ago

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Timestamp #226: Let's Kill Hitler

New Post has been published on https://esonetwork.com/timestamp-226-lets-kill-hitler/

Timestamp #226: Let's Kill Hitler

Doctor Who: Let’s Kill Hitler (1 episode, s06e08, 2011)

Hello, sweetie.

Prequel

A phone rings as the TARDIS is in flight. The answering machine picks up and Amy leaves a message.

As the camera pans across the console and the dark control room, Amy asks if the Doctor will fulfill his promise to find Melody Pond. Even though she knows that everything turns out okay, she doesn’t want to miss Melody’s childhood.

The Doctor listens intently, but doesn’t pick up the phone. He’s clearly wracked with regret and sadness.

Let’s Kill Hitler

It was once a nice wheat field. Then the Ponds plowed through it, scrawling the word “Doctor” into the crop. They stop in the middle of the O – a giant crop circle – to find the TARDIS and the Doctor in his new pea green double-breasted coat. The Doctor shows them a newspaper article chronicling the event.

It turns out that this was the only way Amy and Rory could figure out to get the Doctor’s attention. He consoles Amy: He will find Melody because River lives. The moment is shattered by police sirens, a speeding red car, and a woman named Mels. The new arrival holds the Doctor at gunpoint and demands to be taken in the TARDIS. It seems that she wants to kill Adolf Hitler.

Flash back to a long time ago in Leadworth as young Amelia, your Rory, and young heretofore-unknown Mels grow up together. Apparently, Mels knows all about Amelia’s “imaginary” friend, the Doctor, and that knowledge gets her in trouble. A lot. Including stealing a bus. She’s also present when Amy finally figures out that Rory loves her.

In the present, Mels, Amy, and Rory take a trip in the TARDIS. Mels actually shoots the TARDIS console while in transit to Nazi Germany. In Berlin, 1938, those same Nazis are being observed by a team with future technology as a machine (posing as a custodian) shapeshifts into a Nazi officer. That team is inside the machine, a highly advanced ship called the Teselecta, which shrinks the Nazi officer and draws him inside. Since the officer is responsible for a series of hate crimes – after all, what Nazi wasn’t? – he is disposed of by a series of “antibodies”.

The Teselecta then goes to Adolf Hitler’s office and activates Justice Mode, but two things interfere in the plan. First, they are too early in Hitler’s time stream. Second, the TARDIS crashes through the wall into the office.

The Doctor evacuates everyone from the TARDIS as it smokes away, then stashes Mels’s handgun in a bowl of fruit. The travelers are beside themselves for actually saving Hitler. The Teselecta tries to attack Hitler again, but he shoots the ship before being stashed in a nearby cupboard by the Doctor and Rory. The Teselecta feigns a fainting spell while the crew analyzes the TARDIS and determines that the most wanted war criminal in history has arrived.

Also, Mels has been shot by Hitler.

Mels, short for Melody, regenerates into a very familiar form. Mission complete. Well… sort of. This new woman has no idea who any of her traveling companions are, she is incredibly self-centered, and has maintained her programming that demands murdering the Doctor. She tries multiple times with every weapon in the room, but the Doctor is several steps ahead of her, but he misses the poison lipstick.

Melody jumps out of window and takes on a squad of Nazis. The soldiers try to shoot her, but she survives due to her regenerative state and uses the discharged energy as a weapon. She picks up their guns and drives away on a motorcycle. Rory and Amy give chase with the sonic screwdriver, followed by the Teselecta disguised as a Nazi soldier.

The Doctor enters the TARDIS and extracts the smoke. He consults with the TARDIS voice interface – the sequence of trying to find a face that doesn’t remind him of his failures is hilarious – and determines that regeneration is impossible due to the poison extracted from the Judas tree. The interface mentions “fish fingers and custard,” inspiring the Doctor to set a course in the TARDIS.

Melody storms a restaurant and demands that the patrons give her their clothes. Outside, the Teselecta takes Amy’s form and miniaturizes Amy and Rory. Just before being killed by the antibodies, the Ponds are given clearance privileges and taken to the control room.

The Teselecta nearly passes judgment on Melody for killing the Doctor, but the Doctor arrives in a tuxedo and top hat. He uses a sonic cane to scan the ship. He also verifies that the Ponds are okay. The Teselecta places Melody in stasis before the crew explains that the mete out justice to war criminals at the ends of their respective timelines. Amy convinces the crew to offer any help they can to the Doctor.

The Silence, a religious cult who believe “silence will fall” when the oldest question in the universe is asked, are behind the plot to kill the Doctor. When the Teselecta crew reveals that they don’t know what the question is, the crew resumes their torture of Melody.

The Doctor asks Amy to save her daughter, so Amy disables the crew’s privileges so that they will all be attacked by the antibodies. The Teselecta releases Melody and the crew is teleported away to a mother ship. As the antibodies descend on Amy and Rory, the Doctor tells Melody to save her parents.

As the Doctor faces his imminent demise, he begs Melody to help him. She talks to the TARDIS and learns to fly the ship, rescuing Amy and Rory before returning everyone to the Doctor’s side. Melody Pond, a child of the TARDIS, wonders who she is. The Doctor asks her to find River Song and pass on a message.

As the Doctor falls unconscious, Melody asks who River Song is. Amy uses the Teselecta to show Melody her own face. Melody decides to pass on her regeneration energy – all her remaining lives – to the Doctor with a kiss, thus becoming River Song.

River wakes up in a hospital with the travelers looking on. The Doctor’s message was that no one could save him, which made her think that she could. This is how she learns Rule #1: The Doctor lies. The travelers leave her with the Sisters of the Infinite Schism to recover, complete with an empty TARDIS-shaped diary. She’ll find her way back to them in time.

As the Doctor ponders the data he downloaded from the Teselecta, River Song enrolls at the Luna University in 5123. Her motivations are simple: She’s looking for a good man.

There are a couple of items working against this fun ride: First, the introduction of the previously unknown Mels. Second, the crux of the assassination of the Doctor relies on him being the smartest man in the room again.

The first can be explained if we’re looking at the events of this season through Amy and Rory’s perspective, therefore seeing a low-impact change in the timeline after Melody’s birth and abduction. The second, while an annoying feature of the Steven Moffat era of Doctor Who, adds a lot of humor and hangs a lampshade on the Doctor’s blind spot for River Song. Especially considering the fact that she is the person who kills the Doctor, an act for which she is imprisoned and is now revealed to be a fixed point. The second also hearkens back to the Ninth Doctor in Boom Town, but it worked there because it wasn’t as much of a storytelling crutch for Russell T. Davies.

That humor, coupled with the character development for River and the Doctor, really makes this story work. The origin story for River Song helps tie off her story and could have provided a convenient story terminus if not for the character’s immense popularity.

The humor also worked because it was self-deprecating. The scene with the TARDIS voice interface poked at the ongoing theme with companion departures and shame, invoking Rose, Martha, and Donna in the process. The scene also point us back to a moment of combined shame and innocence by invoking Amelia Pond, whom the Doctor had not yet screwed up but did leave hanging for her childhood years.

Going back to Rule #1, we find out in this story that temporal grace – the state in which the TARDIS interior exists – houses a “clever lie”. The Fourth Doctor claimed that weapons could not be used inside the TARDIS in order to stop Eldrad in The Hand of Fear. Of course, we already knew that it wasn’t absolute from Arc of Infinity – “Nobody’s perfect,” claimed the Fifth Doctor when challenged by Nyssa about a Cyberman shooting in the console room – as well as The Invasion of Time, Earthshock, Attack of the Cybermen, The Visitation, and The Parting of the Ways.

With all of the discussions about Doctor Who canon/continuity in fandom, it’s a good reminder that Doctor Who canon/continuity has never been consistent.

This story also presents a fascinating parallel to The Caves of Androzani, during which the Doctor was poisoned by could survive by regenerating. The Doctor had several lives to spare at that point, but this encounter comes at the supposed end of the Doctor’s regeneration cycle due to the events of Journey’s End and The Night of the Doctor.

There are also several other franchise callbacks: We’ve seen “justice machines” in the past, though they were in the form of the Megara; We’ve previously seen the TARDIS materialize in a micro environment, courtesy of Carnival of Monsters, and materialize in a micro state, courtesy of Planet of Giants; We’ve seen the TARDIS materialize around people and objects before in Logopolis, Time-Flight, The Parting of the Ways, and The Waters of Mars; We’ve also heard about transferring regeneration energy in previous adventures like Mawdryn Undead, the TV movie, and The Ultimate Foe.

I’m also a sucker for the “Doctor who?” title drop gag, which has been around since the beginning. It makes me snicker every time.

All told, I really enjoy the action, the spirit, and the heart of this story. It takes a tired time-travel trope (“Let’s kill Hitler!”) and turns it on its ear to both develop characters and move a story along. Well done.

Rating: 5/5 – “Fantastic!”

UP NEXT – Torchwood: The Gathering

The Timestamps Project is an adventure through the televised universe of Doctor Who, story by story, from the beginning of the franchise. For more reviews like this one, please visit the project’s page at Creative Criticality.

#Doctor Who #Eleventh Doctor #Timestamps Project

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xxisxxisxxis · 5 years ago

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Gateway Drug | Part Sixty-Seven

Words: 7.3K

Warnings: Explicit language, explicit sexual situations, violence, abuse

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"Vivian, c'mon." Fred pleads, as I grip the headboard of the hotel bed as he tugs at my ankles.

"I'm not talking to that freaking reporter." I protest.

"Vivian."

"Rolling Stone can suck my clit." I argue back, trying to maintain my grip.

"Vivian, you are acting like a crazy person."

"I'm pretty sane compared to the other motherfuckers." I wince, my joint in my ankle popping.

"It's not gonna be that bad, Viv--"

"--He's gonna ask about Vanity."

"So, let him, you and Nikki already know how to handle the Vanity questions." He insists. "We spent an hour going over it yesterday."

"Fred, I can't."

"Viv, babe, c'mon, now. Please." He begs again. "For me, please."

I think about it for a moment, before letting go of the head board, gaining a relieved sigh from him.

"Thank you." He tells me as I pull my heels on and smooth my hair over.

The nightmare of that freaking Rolling Stone journalist following us around for days, picking and prodding, was everything everybody thought it would be. Possibly the deepest question he asked, about the actual craft of Mötley Crüe's talent, was, "so how is the amount of chicks you guys fuck incorporated into the songs?"

As if they would even answer that honestly being that three of them were married and one of the three had a toddler at home with his wife.

And I was particularly annoyed because me and Nikki had to act like the most in love people in the world to debunk the Vanity bullshit.

I hold my breath the second the question leaves his lips, but nobody can trip up on the inevitable topic that we knew would come up at some point.

Nikki's clearing his throat to cover the pause after "so, obviously there's buzz going on about the bombshell Vanity dropped on the Arsenio Hall Show" leaves Cal, our reporter's, lips.

"That whole thing was just...bullshit." Nikki tells him, laughing it off, looking at me.

I laugh along, too, although we both know it's the farthest thing from funny.

"I heard it was a 'misunderstanding' or something like that." Cal adds.

"It's not really hard to have misunderstandings with her, honestly." Nikki admits, rubbing at the bridge of his nose.

"So, there was never an engagement?"

"I think she's let Hollywood get straight to her head." Nikki tells him. "I'm not trying to be an ass but that really put us," he motions between himself and I, "in a really fucked position for a couple days because obviously you hear one of your girlfriends say, you know, 'hey, I'm engaged to so-n-so', and you're married to 'so-n-so', and then have that added stigma about guys like your husband not being able to commit because all the girls around and everything…" He trails off. "And, look, I'm not upset that Vivian was thinking there could've been some truth to it, ya know? But even after Viv realized it was all shit, it was all out there and people were--and still probably are--thinking that it's true. So the media is constantly, wherever we go, asking about my 'alleged' engagement and if we're still even married or got divorced a while ago and so on. And I could give a fuck about public scrutiny, myself, because I knew what I was signing up for when I started a band. I took everything into consideration, but she didn't sign up for people calling her 'stupid' and looking at her to do something, when Vanity--who has no idea what the fuck she's saying or how heavy the allegations she's throwing around are--convinces people that she's engaged to me." Nikki goes on.

"So, Vanity was lying?"

"Vanity was lying." Nikki shrugs.

"You opened up a little bit earlier about your past struggles with heroin--you didn't accidentally propose to her when--"

"Write this down word for word, and put it as the fucking cover quote if you want to: I, Nikki Sixx, would have to be on a high dose of pure horse tranquilizer in order to be so fucked that I'd willingly propose, or agree to get married, to Vanity." Nikki says matter-of-fact. "And that's married or single."

I felt horrible. I wasn't happy with Vanity, I was livid with her...but I knew what it felt like to feel crazy as a result of Nikki switching the story. The drugs were already taunting her sanity, and we just fucking added to it by saying something--that so obviously happened--never happened.

We were both so full of shit.

I let out a breath as I we get off the bus when we reach the venue, needing to get away from Cal and Nikki's lies for a couple minutes.

I catch up to Mick and Emi, who're having a conversation, Emi's girlish giggling has me raising a brow, and I feel someone tap on my shoulder.

Tansy.

"Fuck off." I snap at her and she looks like she's going to cry.

"Vi--"

"--You knew she was fucking him, and then protected them by keeping it from me. Fuck. Off." I clench through my teeth.

This is enough to get her off my back as we head inside, as Emi let's out more laughter.

Mick and Emi--who had a husband of 6 months back home--were growing closer and closer, oddly enough. I kind of knew something was up, but of course I never told anyone. I knew Nikki would give them hell for it, especially Mick, since he specifically told him, Tommy and Vince when they hired Donna and Emi, not to sleep with them/have a relationship with any of them because, "you don't shit in your own yard."

So I kept my mouth shut, but Nikki and the guys eventually caught on to what was happening, anyway, and he and Tommy set loose a wrath on them any chance they felt like it.

I keep my expression neutral as the guys make their way by to go on once Doc tells them it's time.

I avert my gaze from Nikki when he walks by, being that Cal isn't even paying attention.

But Nikki ensures the upkeep of our facade--his hand grasping my jaw, not enough to hurt, but enough to get my attention, as he presses a solid, passionate, knee-weakening kiss on my lips.

When he's pulling away, he looks like he wasn't quite expecting it to be that good, but he's brushing it off in no time, giving me a smirk and a wink before grabbing his bass from his tech and getting where he needs to be for set, leaving me stunned in my spot.

Once I snap out of my little trance, I’m going to the bathroom to fix my smudged lipstick.

I let out a heavy breath as I look at myself in the mirror, taking deep breaths. “He cheated on you.” I tell myself. “He lied, he slept with one of your friends, and he cheated on you.” I repeat, trying to hammer my level head back into place as opposed to letting it run wild with fantasies over stupid little kiss...which is easier said than done.

As I’m stepping out of the bathroom, I’m running smack-dab into Sparkie, and I roll my eyes at his mere presence.

“Sorry.” I mumble, stepping by him, only to hear him walking behind me.

“So, I’ve been thinking…” He starts and I exhale deeply, ignoring him, until he’s grabbing at my wrist, stopping me. “...I was gonna offer you a belated anniversary present but I guess you aren’t interested.” He states, dead, sunken in eyes cutting at me.

“I’m not interested. Fuck off.” I hiss.

“You weren’t whistling that note last night.” He echoes and I snap around, shushing him so the people around us won’t hear what else he’s about to say. He just gets this smug smile on his face.

“Oh, right, I forgot people would flip their shit if they knew Saint Vivian was interested in scoring.” He slyly smiles, his decaying teeth making me grimace. How the hell does Tansy kiss him?

“I wasn’t interested in scoring--”

“--Why the hell else would you show up to my room at three in the morning, Viv?” He cuts me short, and I let out a breath. “Unless you wanted to fuck or something…”

“You really are on drugs, huh?” I sarcastically shoot back in reference to him being so insane to think I would actually want to sleep with him.

“I’ve seen pictures of some cute little tricks you can do.” He says again, his fingers grazing at my cheek.

“Want me to go tell Nikki that?” I ask him--knowing I honestly should because Nikki would probably kill him if Tommy, Vince, or Fred, didn’t beat him to it--and he smiles.

“Sure, why not. It’ll be the perfect conversation starter as to why his precious, purely clean wife was in my hotel room after everybody was passed out.” He whispers, his atrocious breath is purely smoke and alcohol, before he’s rubbing his hand down my stomach, nearly getting between my legs before I force him away from me, controlling my urge to hit him as I turn and walk away.

There was no way to explain why I went to Sparkie in the middle of the night, without it sounding like I was up to no good--not just because Sparkie is the physical embodiment of “no good”, but because I actually was up to no good.

I wipe more of my tears, dotting cold water from the bathroom sink under my eyes to try to calm the puffiness before grabbing some toilet paper and blowing my nose.

I can’t fucking sleep, once again.

I dig in my toiletry bag to see if I packed any benadryl to help me sleep...but all I see is my bottle of Nardil.

I roll my jaw and feel frustration fill me before I’m unscrewing the cap and throw the bottle at the mirror, the pills strewing all over the bathroom counter. My hand is swiping against the cold counter, knocking a majority of the pills into the toilet before I’m flushing them.

They’re just a fucking waste of money. I’m realizing now they quit working a while ago, I was just so bombarded with loving Nikki in our perfect little bubble, but now it’s been popped, and I’m crashing down from my codependent high--that was disguised as genuine happiness and the lie that my antidepressant was working--is now gone.

A deep breath leaves my lips and I wipe my tears, again, deciding to just get something to put me to sleep.

One fucking ambien or quaalude won’t kill me.

The last place I want to be is pacing in front of Sparkie and Tansy’s room door but here the hell I am.

I knock on the door, quietly, hoping he isn’t completely smacked out or he won’t come answer.

When the door swings open, he’s in tattered underwear, his bloodshot eyes looking at me, confused.

The bitter smell of burning heroin and coke flows past him into the hallway, cutting at my nose, and I grimace.

“I can’t sleep.” I tell him, quietly.

“And?”

“I need something to help me sleep.” I explain.

My skin crawls when his eyes snake up my bare legs, his tongue running on the inside of his lips.

“I might have something for you.” He grins. “What’re you willing to give for it, though?”

I’m repulsed by him, but I don’t show my disgust.

“Nikki’s got plenty of money.” I state. “I can pay you back later.” He thinks a moment, before smirking.

“The satisfaction of giving you your first ‘big girl’ drug is enough.” He says, stepping aside, and I cross my arms and step into the room, seeing Tansy knocked out cold on the bed, her naked body looking like a skeleton.

He’s plopping his suitcase on the bed, opening it, and I feel a sick feeling in my stomach at the sight of insane amounts--in bulk--in coke, heroin--at least two different kinds, judging by what I've seen Nikki with the past few years--and a copious amount of pills.

I'm eyeing the pills, but when he reaches for a lump of tar, and looks at me deviously, I have to hold back vomit.

"If you want to hold up the Sixx reputation, I highly recommend this." He says as if it's a fucking joke my husband is strung out.

My eyes dart from the heroin, to the needles in a ziplock stored in the zipper compartment of the luggage.

"I just need a pill to help me sleep." I tell him and he holds back laughter before holding his hand up as if telling me to hold on for a second as he goes to Tansy's purse.

I hear him open a bottle and the rustling of pills, before he's bringing me back a pill and handing it to me.

Seeing it in the light, I realize it's a tylenol.

"Come back when you're actually fun enough to maybe keep Nikki's eyes from straying." He mocks me and I roll my jaw before throwing the pill across the room and storming out.

I didn't get any sleep that night.

I shake away at the memory, a single, stray tear rolling down my cheek before I'm quickly swiping it away as "Dancing on Glass" booms from the stage.

I was so fucking sad. I wish there was a way to describe it that didn't sound so mundane...but that's what it was. Just fucking sadness being suppressed constantly with makeup and a decent smile, knowing I wasn't good enough. I felt like I was living with my mom all over again.

After the show's over, we head back to the hotel with Cal in tow, shooting off questions left and right that have nothing to do with the show itself.

"I gotta go to the bathroom." Nikki mumbles, standing up and I know he's just going to get away from Cal, and decide I'd rather be trapped in a small bathroom with Nikki, than hear another question along the lines of "so what drug is your favorite?"

As Nikki's shutting the door, I'm getting my foot in, stopping him and he looks at me confused, before reluctantly letting me in.

We wait in awkward silence before I'm pushing a strand of hair behind my ear.

"Don't kiss me like that again." I tell him, sternly but politely, looking up at him and he pretends to be infatuated with the sink's water knobs. "Nikki."

"Why not?"

"You know why."

"Oh, right. We hate each other, how stupid of me to forget that." He hisses.

"I don't hate you." I quietly say, and he lets out a breath.

"Not yet, at least." He scoffs.

"Nikki, you fucked up, that doesn't mean I hate you."

"But you're still filing for divorce the second Doc gives you the greenlight, right?" I don't say anything. "That's what I thought."

He slips past me and leaves me to myself, causing me to close my eyes for a moment, and glance in the mirror before joining everybody else.

He was right. I didn't hate him, yet.

The next day the guys are due to take the cover photo for their Rollingstone issue with Cal continuing to breathe down everybody's necks.

"Are you not worried about stomach ulcers?" Cal asks me as I take a sip of Pepsi as we wait for the guys to get dressed for the shoot, and I raise my brows at him. "You have at least three of those a day and it's unhealthy, isn't it?" He adds, trying to sugarcoat it with laughter.

"I drink more water than I do soda...would you rather me be snorting rails of coke or smoking crack or shooting heroin?" I bite and his face falls. "If I want to drink three Pepsi's a day--if I wanna drink 300 Pepsi's a day--I will." Apparently I'm raising my voice, because Doc and Fred are turning their heads in my direction and I can see them slowly making their way to me.

"Umm…" Cal says nervously as I show no sign of easing up on him.

"I've earned the right to drink as much fucking Pepsi I want, Cal, sorry it's not as aesthetically pleasing as Jack or vodka, or chain smoking Marlboros, or isn't as romantically tragedized as junk--"

"--Vivian." Doc starts as I continue.

"But I like it, it's not the worst thing I could possibly drink on a daily basis, and if I want to fucking drink it, I will!"

He looks like a scared weasel, backed into a corner, his eyes wide as he leans away from me slightly.

I didn't realize how close to him I am right now, I'm practically in his face, bitching him out over a fucking Pepsi.

"Vivian!" Doc's barking at me.

I'm backing off, with the help of Fred pulling me away from him.

I'm surprised Cal isn't pissing his pants currently, the look on his face says he's heavily considering it.

"Get him the fuck out of here." I tell Doc, motioning to Cal.

"Vivia--"

"--No, who the fuck does he think he is?" I argue with Fred when he tries to calm me down.

"What's going on?" Nikki and Tommy ask, coming over here.

"Nothing's going on, alright? Vivian's just--"

"--Vivian's just what?" I snap at Doc.

"I'm so sorry, she gets neurotic." Doc ignores me as he tries to reassure Cal and I'm slinging my soda out of the bottle, onto him and Cal, as I yell, "oh, I'm fucking neurotic?!"

"Viv!" Doc scolds me as I throw the bottle down and it breaks.

"Viv," Tommy starts and I snap around to him.

"Fucking say it, Tommy. I dare you." I grit out, the look in my eyes telling him, "say anything else, and I'll tell everything about Vanity and Nikki."

"It was a misunderstanding, alright?" I hear Cal explain to Doc.

"No, no." Fred sighs as he's keeping me from hitting Cal, pulling me away as Cal flinches to get as far from me as possible, looking at me like I'm crazy.

"Don't leave this out of your fucking article! It might just save the entire damn thing since your fucking journalism sucks more ball-pubes than your wife while you've been out here with your nose up our fucking asses!" I throw at him, and Doc closes his eyes and gives out a deep, disappointed sigh, while Fred's tugging me to the bathroom with Nikki on his heels.

The second the door is closed, Nikki's snatching me away from Fred, his hand wrapping around my throat--not enough to hurt, but enough to catch my attention--and he pushes me against the wall roughly, seering down at me.

"The fuck is your problem?!" He demands.

"Hey, cut it out!" Fred cuts in, separating us, glaring at Nikki. "Don't fucking grab at her like that, I don't care how fucking pissed you are, Sixx, you got it?" He points at him. "And you," he looks at me now, "I don't know what the fucking hell you are tripping on, or if you're on the rag, or what the hell kind of demon possessed you recently but you're being fucking ridiculous." He snaps at me.

My eyes are honing in on the rosary around Nikki's neck and I cut my eyes.

"Is that one of mine?" I ask him and he looks down at it.

"Maybe."

"For someone who hates God you really don't mind representing him."

"It's called a mockery, Vivian, get over yourself."

"Give it back." I hold my hand out.

"Fuck off." He replies, going for the bathroom door.

"I said, 'give it back!'" I scream.

"And I said, 'fuck off!'" He yells back.

"It's a fucking string of beads with a fucking cross on it!" Fred outbursts louder than either of us and we look at him. "You have like four, Viv, what the fuck does it matter? He's always worn them." He points out next and I huff out a breath.

I didn't mind when Nikki wore rosaries or crucifixes, I knew he was kind of mocking when he wore them, for the irony of a "devil worshiper" wearing one, but even when we got bad off I didn't mind...in fact as he got worse with his addiction, I hoped the spirituality that they represented would rub off on him and snap him out of his addiction.

It was stupid and I know better now, but Charlette Kinston was my mother. I did have a small speck of her in me, even when I tried not to.

Later that night--more like the middle of the night--I'm still unable to sleep and end up tossing and turning for hours before getting a bath, hoping the warm water will relax me and calm my racing mind.

Once I get out and get back into bed, I furrow my brows at the sound of something weird in my room, and I quickly realize what it is.

The unsettling sound of the door knob twisting and turning throughout the dark hotel room, catches my attention and makes my spine prickle.

I eye the walkie-talkie on my nightstand, and reach my hand out, turning it on. “2.” I say lowly.

“What, 6 and a half?” Fred’s exhausted voice replies.

“20.” I say, which is code for "where are you?"

“101." He grumbles back, "101" meaning the hotel. "In bed. Like you should be.” He says.

“There’s someone at my door.” I reply.

“Who is it?”

“I don’t know what’s why I’m calling you.”

“You want me to get outta bed just to come see who’s at your door, when you haven’t even checked?”

“...Good point.”

“Just look and see, and then let me know if I need to come, alright?”

“Got it.”

I get out of bed, hearing the door knob still rustling, and I tiptoe to the door, peeping out the peephole, to see Nikki, drunkenly fumbling with his room key, trying to put it in my door.

“It’s nobody, they’re gone. Goodnight.” I say to Fred.

“G’night, Vivian. Get some fucking sleep, you need it.” He adds and I roll my eyes.

“I would if I could.” I mumble, swinging the door open to face Nikki. He doesn’t say anything to me before stepping in, his bottle of wine sloshing onto the carpet.

“This key doesn’t fucking work.” He says, tossing it across the room.

“Because it’s my room, not yours. Your key works for your room only...across the hall...where you should be.” I cross my arms as he takes another swig of his drink, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand when some of it trails down his chin.

“Are you strung out?” I blurt, wanting to know whether I should be ready to fight with Sikki or not.

“No, and I haven’t fucking shot up in a long time.” He points his finger in my face. “Just been chasing the Dragon.”

“I can tell.” I state.

“I’m not high, smartass. I came down an hour ago.” He sits the wine down on my nightstand and I raise my brows.

There’s a silent pause and I wait awkwardly for him to explain why he’s here, but as soon as I open my mouth to ask him, he’s saying, “you wanna go swimming?” I furrow my brows, confused.

“W-What?” I ask.

“You wanna go swimming?” He repeats, rubbing the back of his neck. “Like hangout or something.”

“Nikki, we’re separated. We don’t ‘hangout or something’ anymore.”

“No, but I’m not thinking straight due to the wine and heroin smoke, and you’re not thinking clearly because you can’t fucking sleep, so let’s just not think straight together--bonding experience--and pretend we’re at least friends.” He vouches, and I raise my brows, thinking about it.

“The pool’s closed. It’s nearly 4:00am.” I tell him and he scoffs.

“We’re Sixxes, Viv, we can do whatever the hell we want.” He says it as if it’s common sense. “And it’d be nice to practice being around each other without screaming each other’s heads off.”

I give it one last thought, before letting out a sigh.

“Fine.” I relent.

I was worried his sick plan was to drown me, and finally kill me, but soon after we put swimsuits on, and broke into the pool’s patio, I realized he was genuine about just wanting to “hangout or something” and it made me feel a little better that he missed me as much as I was missing him, even if he played it off smoother than I did at times.

“Is it cold?” I ask him as he wades through the shallow end seamlessly.

“No.” He tells me.

“Are you sure?” I question and he looks at me as I dip my toe in. “Nikki, it’s cold.” “Quit being a pussy and get in the water.” He says. “It’s not that bad, Viv.”

I dip my foot in, up to my ankle, and wrinkle my nose.

“Vivian Estine Sixx, get in the water.” He tries to hold back a laugh, keeping his stern facade.

“It’s not cold to you because you have more body heat.” I cross my arms.

“Are you calling me fat?”

“I’m saying you’re thicker than me.” I correct him.

“You can always take your bikini off to get used to the water quicker.” He says and I raise my brows.

“That makes no sense.” I argue.

“No, but it’d sure make me happy.” He grins and I splash him with water.

I quickly regret it as he’s getting out of the pool, about to come after me.

“Nikki, stop!” I whisper yell and he catches up and wraps his arms around me before hurling the both of us into the deep end.

My body is shocked with the cold water, and the second I get my head above water, I’m gasping and shivering.

The second his head pops up beside me, I’m hitting at him.

“Jackass!” I scold him, and he laughs, brushing his wet hair out of his face. “It’s not funny.” I snap, swimming to the shallow and he follows me, still laughing.

“It’s so fun to piss you off.” He chuckles, running his hand over his face to get the drops of water from his eyelashes and I raise my hand to smack at him again but he raises his brows at me. “Fuck it off, Sixx.” He stops me before I even start.

“You started it, Sixx.” I reply, mimicking his voice.

“What's new…" He says with a small smirk, thinking about something before the corners of his mouth fall slowly. "...I've done a lot of shit." He starts and I look at him. "Shit I'm not proud of. I don't fucking know when to just do something a little bit. I can't have a bump, I've gotta go through an eight ball as fast as possible. I can't have a drink, I gotta drink the place dry. I can't have a serious girlfriend, I've gotta marry her." He says, and I glance at him and he shakes his head. "I can't just have a one-night stand, I gotta have a fucking affair." He finishes and I lick my lips, keeping my tears back. "This might be fucked up, but I've realized I don't feel like I shouldn't have had anything with her." He says in reference to Vanity and I furrow my brows. "I just feel like we shouldn't have gotten married to begin with."

It hurts like a bitch, but I know it's the truth, because I feel the same way.

"Me too." I admit and he finally looks at me.

"I wouldn't change it, though. I wouldn't go back and change it." He clarifies and I smile softly, my tears unable to keep at bay.

"I wouldn't either." I assure him.

He stares at me for a moment, looking from my eyes to my lips, standing up straight, before leaning down.

It's a sweet, simple kiss, that only lasts a moment.

It took me back to our first kiss. It was odd, because when we first kissed we couldn't stand each other very much, like we couldn't at that moment in our marriage, either. I don't know if that nostalgic feeling crossed the wires in our brains to convince us to chase one last high together, but one thing led to another and got out of hand like it always tended to do with anything a Sixx did.

I grin in the mirror at him as he mercilessly pounds into me to the hilt with each thrust, my right knee hiked up on the bathroom counter, my left foot standing on tip-toes as his right hand is around my throat, his left hand holding at my waist.

My original intent was to get a shower and leave the kiss at the pool, like it was: just a kiss.

But when we came back to his room where I had left my room key when I went with him so he could get his swimsuit on, and now I'm bent over his sink, tears in my eyes from the pleasuring pressure building up in me, the feeling of my wetness running down my legs at Nikki's doing, is something I've missed.

"Do you really fuck yourself or did you tell me that to piss me off?" He asks me, his dark eyes staring at me, causing me to clench down tighter onto him.

"I really do." I reply as he holds himself against my cervix, causing me to grab at the counter as the delicious pain causes a high pitched groan to leave my throat.

"Do you pretend I'm fucking you?" He questions next, deliberately slowing his pace, the friction of his skin inside my slick pussy satiating the hunger I've been feeling the past several days.

"Yes." I whimper out, my eyes rolling back for a moment.

"Who do you imagine playing with your pretty," his left hand snakes between my legs, calloused, rough, fingers rubbing at my slick flesh, and I back back into him, biting my lip, humming, "perfect clit?" He asks me and I let out a ragged breath.

"You." I confess, my knuckles turning white with how tightly I'm gripping the side of the counter.

"Whose cock do you imagine stretching your tight, hot, wet pussy out?" He asks next, and I'm almost considering trying to get away from him because I don't think I can handle this much ecstasy at one time.

"You." I say again, his hand holding my throat harder in his grip, making my breathing a little shallower, but it only makes me more turned on, another wave of my juices coating his length as he starts picking his pace back up, making me cover my mouth with my hand to keep from screaming.

"Whose name do you scream out in your pillow when you come?" He asks finally, a couple more stray tears rolling down my cheeks as my body is overcome with my orgasm, his hand taking my hand from my mouth as I moan out, loudly, "Nikki", causing him to smile proudly at me in the mirror.

Within a couple more minutes he's finishing in me, and stumbling back a little, a dopey, satisfied smile on his face, while we both come down from our sexbuzz and catch our breath, before going another round.

Nikki's said before, "you know you're addicted when you start lying to yourself about how you're not addicted."

I couldn't agree more.

But the real kicker is waking up to your husband the next morning after having sex, and the both of you pretend like you're strangers, not exchanging a single word before you grab your shit and get the hell out of their as fast as possible before anyone else realizes what happened.

For the first time in his career, Nikki Sixx treated me like a groupie.

And you know what?

It was better that way, because it left no room for, "Oh, well, we had sex which means we made up so we're good now."

We woke up, didn't look each other in the eye, I got off the floor, put my swimsuit back on so I wouldn't be naked, grabbed my key, and left without a word or a second glance.

There was nothing more to say.

We'd said "goodbye" to our relationship, the same way we had said "hello" to it in 1981: with sex that meant nothing, but meant everything, all at once.

We're back in L.A. a couple days later, and apparently Karen got some help cleaning mine and Nikki's room up where I completely trashed it, because when we get in the house, all of our photos are back up, his awards are nice and neat on the wall, and our room looks untouched.

The only give away that something happened is the broken mirror on the ceilings, but he doesn't seem to pay them any mind.

I guess he knew I would inevitably break something.

I keep my lips sealed tightly together as I hear our bedroom door open, initiating Nikki to walk by with a slight, hungover, stumble, as he makes his way to the kitchen, not saying a word to me, not that I expect him to.

He's coming into the living room a moment later, my bag of gummy worms I bought yesterday, in hand, and I roll my jaw, not wanting to start a fight over fucking candy…

...But go big, or go the fuck home, right?

"Those are mine." I tell him, pretending to be reading the newspaper I was reading earlier, and he looks me directly in the eye, opening the bag, taking one out, and eating it.

"My money, my groceries." He states, chewing it, and I exhale.

"I'm gonna go take a walk." Karen comments, sighing as she gets up and walks to the back yard, knowing this is going to get ugly.

"You're right. It is your money." I tell him, not arguing the valid point. "And if you keep splurging on heroin, you won't have any of it left." I add and he death glares me.

"I'm not on fucking smack." He argues sternly.

"You only eat sweets when you're trying to cut back smack." I say and he looks away from me. "At least you're trying to cut it, though." I mumble.

The bag of candy is suddenly colliding with my leg as he throws it at my lap, spitefully, standing up.

"Nikki, you can hav--"

"--It's yours. You have it." He hisses, going back to our bedroom, slamming the door loud enough to sound almost like a gunshot, causing me to jump in my seat.

Nikki: 1, Viv: 1

I decide to shower later on, opting for the guest bathroom to avoid having to see Nikki by walking through our bedroom to get to our bathroom.

I'm only under the running water before I hear the locked door knob twist, before loud banging on the door.

"Vivian!" He screams on the other side.

"Yes, dear?!" I call back, annoyed.

"What the fuck happened to my fucking cars and bikes?!"

I raise my brows, actually forgetting what I did to his precious vehicles until now.

"Open the fucking door!" He demands and I roll my eyes.

"Don't you have better things to do?! Like cleaning the fermented wine--that's been rotting in the hot heat of our garage--from the interior of your cars?!"

I hear the door knob move some more, and I peek out the curtain to see the knob twist completely, the door opening, and I see the little key in his hand.

We both stare at each other for one good second before I'm screaming as he comes for me, but I'm ducking under his arm and trying not to trip and fall on my wet feet as I scurry out of the room.

"I'm gonna kill you, Sixx!" He threatens and I panic a little.

"What the hell is going on?!" Karen asks us, keeping Nikki back when she steps out of the kitchen to stop him from chasing after me any further.

"She completely vandalized my fucking cars and my bikes!" He points at me.

"I didn't touch the Jeep." I argue and he nearly shoves Karen out of the way but she holds her ground.

"I'm about to call Doc if you two don't calm down." She threatens.

"I'm calling the cops and having her ass locked up." Nikki states.

"Do it." I boldly snap.

"No, no, no one's calling the cops." She says, letting out a breath.

"Do you wanna go see what the fuck she did to my fucking stuff?!" He raises his voice at her, motioning in the direction of the garage.

"Have you stopped to think that's a result of what you've done to her?" Karen questions him and he rolls his jaw. "I know you're not used to having repercussions and consequences to your actions, but it's a simple theory called 'cause and effect'." She states and he cuts his eyes at her, probably thinking she's full of shit. "The 'scorned wife effect.' You cheat, she destroys your belongings." She finishes, giving him a quick, sarcastic smile, before stepping out of his way. "If I hear either one of you screaming, again, I'm calling Doc."

He pushes past me, and I go back to my shower.

When I get out, Nikki's nowhere to be seen and the Jeep is gone so I assume he got out of the house for a few minutes, and when I leave our room, going to the living room, I stop in my tracks.

I see her from the corner of my eye, in the foyer, staring at me, and I turn to fully look at her.

She looks like she's been on a binge the past few days, her brown eyes wild and body slightly jittery, her hands gripping tightly to the sneakers I let her borrow a few months ago.

All I could do was stare at her, just knowing Nikki was going to have to come home and clean up the mess that he made.

“Vanity.” I acknowledge her, but not for long before I’m walking into the kitchen, hearing an oncoming storm approach as thunder rattles in the distance.

I grab a Pepsi from the fridge, hearing her slowly creep into the kitchen with me, and my eyes slowly find the knife block only an arms length away from me on the kitchen counter.

Sober Vanity wouldn’t think of hurting a fly. Coked out, crazy, reckless Vanity on the other hand…

“Do you have anything to say to me?” She asks me, shakily.

“Was it good, at least?” I reply, leaning against the counter, staring at her. “When you fucked my husband...knowing he was married...was it good?”

Apparently I’m striking a chord, because she’s got angry tears coming to her eyes, her jaw clenching.

“For someone who’s all about Jesus--”

“--He came to me.” She states, shakily, and I keep my face neutral, although I feel my heart tighten in my chest. “During your time apart last year, he saw me in a Vanity 6 video, and within two hours, I was getting a call from my manager telling me Nikki Sixx wanted a date night.”

“Is that what you tell yourself to make you feel better about it?” I ask, raising my brows. “‘He came to me, I didn’t go to him’? Because at the end of the day, he’s married, and you knew he was married, and instead of turning him away, you welcomed him with open arms.” I point out.

“Have you ever thought perhaps I’m your punishment for not appreciating him?” She asks me, a tear breaking past her lashes.

“Excuse me?”

“God punishes his children when they’re not obedient. You made a promise to God to be the best wife to Nikki you could be, and you broke that promise more than enough times.” She adds.

“So you’re saying God used you--having an affair with my husband--to punish me?” I ask her to clarify. She stays silent, looking at me with pure hatred, and I nod a little, calmly.

My glass bottle is hitting her square in the chest before I can even stop myself, a look of utter shock on her face as Pepsi splashes all over her, her hand holding at the inevitable severely bruised skin bound to form from where it made impact.

Technically, since she wanted to get biblical, I was supposed to stone her to death. Being I didn’t have any rocks, and God frowns upon such things, I opted for a one-time thing that still hurt her but not enough to kill her.

I guess Karen heard the Pepsi bottle shatter on the floor, because she's coming in, with a concerned look on her face...before her skin goes sheet white upon seeing Vanity.

"W-What's going on?" She asks me.

"Vanity was just leaving." I state, rolling my jaw and Vanity looks at me like she's ready to attack.

"I'm not going anywhere until I talk to him." She hisses.

I hear the front door open, and I smile at her.

"Now's your chance." I smugly say, stepping past her, my shoes crackling on the glass as I take my sneakers from her hands, going to our room to put them up, saying, "I suggest you go to your room to avoid getting caught in the crossfire", to Karen as I pass by her.

When I get in our room, that's when shit hits the fan.

"You'd have to be on horse tranquilizer before marrying me?!" I hear her scream. "Huh?! You break up with me over the phone and then act like I'm crazy and embarrass me?!"

"You are crazy!" Nikki screams back.

I hear her shriek, before the sound of skin violently smacking against skin, as Vanity barks out, "if you hate me, hit me! If you just fucking hate me so much!"

I run in to see her hitting at Nikki while he tries to keep his patience.

"Vanity!" I scold, trying to pull her off of him.

Her left hand is suddenly coming back in a fist, hitting me square in the eye.

This does it.

She's knocked to the floor, and her nose is bleeding, Nikki's fist is clenched and smattered with Vanity's blood, and his eyes have a look in them I haven't seen before.

Vanity's now screaming and crying, kicking and clawing at him as he tries to grab her wrist to pull her up, so he instead grabs her hair and drags her out of the house.

"Nikki!" I protest, catching up to him when he's already got her down our front steps.

He let's her go and glares at me, before he stomps back in, slamming the door, locking us both outside.

Vanity's crying, a stream of blood running down her face, my own nose spilling red, but I can't help but crouch beside her and wipe the blood from her face and angle her head back as she sobs.

"Just pinch your nose." I mumble, taking her hand, that's raw from slapping Nikki, and pinching it at her nose.

I had never seen Nikki that angry. He later described his altercation with Vanity, as "hitting her like a man."

I'm not sure if he actually hit her just because she attacked him, because I attacked him multiple times, and he never hit me--the most he did was push me, or grab my wrists or my throat, and even that wasn't enough to really hurt me, just enough to get my attention.

I think everything was put into that single episode.

Every time she made his life harder from the moment she stepped in to it, and even his own self-hate for letting things get the way they did between them, all the anger he had felt for himself and her were packed into that single punch.

And none of it should have ever fucking happened.

#nikki sixx #nikki sixx fanfiction #Motley Crue #nikki sixx x oc #gateway drug

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leverage-ot3 · 4 years ago

Text

notable moments from The Second David Job

leverage 1.13

parker AND eliot were both using lil flip notepads when they were casing the museum

- - - - -

they were apart for three months. THREE!!! MONTHS!!!

- - - - -

the whole scene where parker, hardison, eliot and sophie are casing the place and just narrowly missing each other until it all blows up in their faces? BIG doctor who vibes from the episode where donna and the doctor keep barely missing each other until they see each other through the windows and get caught

- - - - -

aww the last dammit hardison of the season

- - - - -

(Hardison drops his helmet as he rounds a corner, followed by two guards)

Hardison (to Eliot): Help me.

Eliot: I got you.

Hardison: Help me, help me!

(Eliot grabs Hardison’s arm and flips him, then gestures to the other guards)

Eliot: I got it.

Eliot: All right, check one floor up. I think I saw another guy dressed just like this one.

Guard: Got it.

Guard 5: Let’s go.

Eliot: Move! (pushes Hardison into the elevator)

Hardison: I'm gonna kick your butt.

Eliot (pushes Hardison): Stand over there!

Hardison: I'm gonna kick your butt

🥰 chaotic boyfriends 🥰

- - - - -

(Sophie walks toward the doors. Parker drops down in front of her)

Parker: Oh! W- Where did you --

Parker: Run now. Talk later

- - - - -

sophie took off her heels to run

- - - - -

okay but I NEED THAT SCENE OF ELIOT, HARDISON, AND PARKER SQUISHED INTO THE BACK SEAT OF NATE’S CAR AS THEY SPEED AWAY, HAVING NOT SEEN EACH OTHER FOR THE PAST THREE MONTHS

- - - - -

Hardison: How'd you know we'd be there?

Nate: Last week before the exhibit opens, security almost in place, but not fully staffed. Best time to case the joint. Plus, I did chase all of you at one point or another.

- - - - -

Eliot: Is she in on this?

Sophie: "She" can hear you, okay?

Hardison: Wait a minute. There is no "this," Eliot.

Parker: Sophie did come back for me.

(Nate walks over to the table, which is covered in plans)

Eliot: Wouldn't have had to if she wouldn't have lied to you.

Hardison: No calls for three months. I don't need you people.

Parker: What do you mean, you don’t need us?

Sophie: I’m sorry, I seem to remember a certain job with horses where I backed your play, actually.

Eliot: I don't care! You don't con your crew!

(the four of them begin arguing, talking over each other. Nate whistles to get their attention)

parker immediately backing sophie up? we love a trusting daughter

hardison acting all dismissive and parker IMMEDIATELY calling him out? amazing

eliot having trust issues? we’re sad to see it but not surprised at all lol

- - - - -

Nate: Glen-Reeder security system here.

Parker: And that's not the worst of it. (walks over to table)

Nate: Hmm?

Parker: The Davids are under bulletproof glass on a motion-Detector pad.

Nate: Really?

(the others join them, Nate takes a step back)

Parker: Mm-Hmm.

Sophie: Environmentally sealed…

Nate: Really.

Sophie: …kept at a constant temperature and humidity in the case. I saw them working on the airflow.

(Nate walks away, no one notices)

THE FAMILY BACK TOGETHER AGAIN

- - - - -

Nate: Why'd you come back? We agreed to scatter for six months. All of you–all of you—made an amateur move being there.

Parker: It's too hard to leave a job undone. It's like an itch.

Hardison: I put a lot of work into us, into that office. It was like my second home. I blew up my second home.

Eliot: As annoying as you people are, I quit this crew when I quit this crew. Nobody makes me leave.

Sophie: I just, I really wanted to hurt Sterling.

THEYRE A FAMILY, YOUR HONOR

- - - - -

eliot smiled when nate said he taunted them bc:

1. fuck with sterling at all costs,

2. typical nate, and

3. he MISSED THIS

ALSO

hardison and sophie look exhausted and annoyed when nate said he told them he was going to steal it. meanwhile, parker and eliot fucking smile because yeah, get on their level. they Get It™

- - - - -

the team sitting around the table like old times ,,,

ALSO hardison’s worktable tho,,, half eaten bag of chips, empty bottle of orange soda, mini basketball, etc. we love to see how this man works

- - - - -

Sophie: Hey, I think the roof's the way in, but it looks like they've rigged alarm sensors to the skylights.

Parker: I can get around those.

Eliot: Really? And end up on one of the new 20 cameras they got down there from our last little trip to the basement?

Parker: That was fun.

Hardison: Yeah. Could we talk about that?

Parker: Talk about what?

hardison: can we talk about the kiss or ???

parker and eliot are sitting next to each other :)

also eliot is wearing flannel now and we love to see it

- - - - -

Eliot: How'd we miss that?

Nate: Grifter, hitter, hacker, thief. You were all trying to solve your version of the crime instead of just trying to solve the crime. There was a reason we worked together.

- - - - -

Parker: What about Maggie?

parker likes maggie

Parker: Okay, look, you always have a plan "b," right? So, fine. Without Maggie, what's the plan "b"?

MASTERMIND PARKER IN SEASON ONE

- - - - -

Nate: You know, I had to ask her out 10 times before we even got a coffee --

Eliot: Coffee? I would love to. Yeah. What time--? In an hour? I, yeah, I would love to. Let me write down where you want to go. I know exactly where that place is at. All right. I'm looking forward to it. (hangs up)

Nate: Yeah, all right -- No.

Eliot: She probably just really wants some hot coffee.

Nate: Shut up!

Eliot: It's not like a date. (pulls his hair back)

Nate: Are you kidding me? You're fixing your hair?

Eliot: Because I’m playing the professor Sinclair dude!

maggie’s thirst + nate ready to die LMFAO

- - - - -

parker, hardison and sophie watching the button cam footage like a soap opera (sophie is literally eating gummy bears lmfao)

- - - - -

(Parker, Eliot and Hardison sit on the stairs as Maggie and Nate stand in the dining room, arguing)

Eliot: I feel used.

lmao poor eliot. although we love to see the ot3 sitting together as a unit

- - - - -

eliot using a tight alias and then using his real phone number? big dumbass energy

- - - - -

Nate: So we replace the rebar, reinforce the concrete, with any luck, they'll never know what hit 'em. And that, that's the plan.

Maggie: You actually expect this to work?

Nate: Um…

Hardison: No, no, you're supposed to say, "wow. That's just crazy enough to work."

Sophie: Incredibly, chance does seem to bend itself to his bizarre machinations.

Parker (whispers): That's his superpower. (smells Maggie)

in this house we love and respect maggie

also dnjsjsjjdnsn under the cork boards there are two (2) big cases of orange soda and beer for eliot

+ now parker is wearing a very pretty flannel that I want

- - - - -

Maggie: I have to check museum inventory.

Nate: Oh. Easy.

(Nate looks at Hardison, who types on a laptop, then shows monitor to Maggie)

Maggie: This is confidential. (takes laptop) You're not reading my e-mails, are you?

Hardison: No. No.

(Maggie looks down at the laptop. Hardison nods to Nate while she’s not looking)

LMFAO

- - - - -

Sophie: Okay, why don't you run up to him? Being just a little bit out of breath, it changes the speech rhythms—

[Blackpoole Gallery]

Sophie: --makes it harder to detect a lie.

(Maggie passes Parker, taking Lloyd’s phone, and starts to run)

Maggie: Lloyd!

[Mansion Dining Room]

Hardison: See? Like that right there. It's informative.

Eliot: You learn and you con

it’s true, your honor

- - - - -

Nate: Okay. What's he found?

Hardison: Oh. Well, looky here. Dr. Ernst Volk, University of Berlin, dead. Dr. Schliemann, London museum, dead. Oh. Oh, and also the three guys that actually discovered the tomb. Eliot, what does that say?

Eliot: It says "dead."

Hardison: D-E-D, dead, baby.

Eliot and Nate: D-E-A-D.

Hardison: I-I know how to-- I was throwing a little style on it, Just a little bit, a little style. I know how to spell "dead," damn it. I can steal a bank, I can spell "dead. (annoyedly drinks orange soda)

give him a break pls

- - - - -

Sophie: Wrap it up now, Maggie. You're doing great.

THEY HAVE CHEMISTRY

john rogers said that they had a fling in canon (I’m thinking during sophie’s absence in season two) and bless his soul for giving that to us

- - - - -

Eliot: You need something?

Sophie: I was just trying to make myself useful.

Eliot: Yeah, well, last time you tried that, we had to blow up the office.

Sophie: That's not fair.

Eliot: I was just getting used to it.

Sophie: What? Having an office?

Eliot: Being part of a team.

Sophie: Look, I didn't mean, you know, it wasn't supposed to go down like that.

(Parker walks in and tosses a bag on the floor near Eliot)

Parker: What's going on?

Eliot: Sophie here was just trying to apologize.

(Hardison carries the painting into the room)

Sophie: No, I wasn't.

Parker: She tried that with me earlier. She kind of sucks at it.

Eliot: A little bit.

Hardison: Oh, did she give you the speech about how we're thieves and about how this is what thieves do and if we were in her shoes, we'd have done the same thing?

Eliot: No, I think she was just getting to that part.

(Eliot puts the part he was working on down and stands up)

Eliot: You apologized to him first, huh? Why am I last?

Sophie: I wasn't apologizing. I...

Eliot: That's the problem.

Sophie: I just wanted to see if w-we… we were all okay with each other.

Eliot: Okay. There it is.

Parker: I forgive you.

Hardison: Apology accepted.

Eliot: Yeah.

they give sophie shit but they still love her

also eliot is such a sap he misses the office and even admits that he liked having a team what a SOFTIE

- - - - -

Geary: Pictures have been distributed. We're scanning every guest that comes into the museum.

Sterling: Eliot Spencer?

Geary: Eliot Spencer, (referencing files) wanted in five countries, including Myanmar—

(Eliot walks behind Geary and Sterling, pausing to listen for a moment as they walk away from him)

Geary: --which is offering a half-million-dollar bounty on his head.

Sterling: Bringing Spencer to justice and getting paid for it? It's icing on the cake.

(Geary and Sterling get into an elevator)

[Museum Lobby]

(Geary and Sterling walk out of the elevator)

Sterling: Parker?

Geary: Parker. Wanted in nine countries, including Brazil and Yemen.

Sterling: Yeah, tough choice. I'll have to flip a coin.

(Parker is working in the gift shop of the lobby, watching them walk by)

Sterling: How about Sophie Devereaux?

Geary: England, France, Spain, Luxembourg -- Europe, basically.

Sterling: France. Wonderful shopping, horrifying prisons.

(they walk past Sophie, who stifles a laugh)

[Mechanical Room]

(Hardison turns on a light on his hat, opening a panel and attaching clips)

Sterling: Alec Hardison.

Geary: Well, he better not show his face in Iceland

I LOVED THIS MONTAGE

also we love to learn more about the team

- - - - -

on hardison’s phone when it shows their synchronized countdowns, he has himself down as “big h”

- - - - -

Ian: Conspiracy to commit robbery is what, five years? Catching him in the act, 20.

- - - - -

nate rappelled in this one!

- - - - -

nate snatching the gun right out of blackpool’s hand? eliot taught him that and you CANNOT change my mind.

- - - - -

Ian: Maggie!

(Ian walks over to Maggie, followed by Nate and Sterling)

Ian: Well, you understand –

(Maggie punches Ian in the face. He falls to the floor)

Maggie: Screw therapy. That felt really good. (walks away)

we stan a QUEEN

- - - - -

Sterling: Of course, you know your entire plan depended on me being a self-serving, utter bastard.

Nate: Hmm. Yeah, that's a stretch.

(Nate hands Sterling the gun and heads for the door)

Sterling: I'll call you when it's done.

Nate: You do that

- - - - -

(the team stands in a circle, dressed for travelling)

Nate: Thank you, all of you. You surprised me.

Eliot: We had a good run.

Hardison: It's a good time to move on.

Parker: I'm going somewhere... else.

Sophie: A fresh start.

Nate: We made a difference. Remember that.

Hardison (to Parker): Where you going?

Parker: Let's see how hard you look.

(the team separates reluctantly, each going a different direction. They all pause for a long moment, then the screen goes to black)

parker and hardison are still cute, parker is about to cry, hardison and eliot look very sad and almost tearing up, and sophie is actually crying

also hardison was the last one to turn around and that’s so in character it hurts my heart

+ the ot3 were each wearing leather jackets (plus eliot wearing a hoodie underneath = bix2)

I hate the scenes when they split up and the producers said that they ended every season as if that was final anD B O Y IF I HAD TO WATCH THAT AND HAVE IT BE THE END I WOULD HAVE R I O T E D

#leverage #leverage 1.13 #leverage 1x13 #leverage season 1 #season 1 #notable moments #mine

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eldweena · 4 years ago

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So...road trip this weekend. This is pretty absurd, but we don’t really have used bookstores here... We have a Books-A-Million at the mall, which dabbles in used books but just barely, and a nerdy store called The Inner Geek that has some books but mostly vintage toys and tabletop gaming gear. And I heard someone opened a book café, but it’s on the far end of town and the online photos made it look more café and less book. (Maybe it’s BYOB, bring-your-own-book?) ANYWAY. Point being. When we want to brose a *good* used bookstore - which I often do, because I love out-of-print classic fantasy novels - we have to leave the state. So Saturday we drove two hours to Lexington because they have a couple Half Price Books stores. And after a full year of not leaving town due to COVID, we had like 7 bags full of books, CDs, video games, and DVDs to sell. Everything went great at the first store. We got there shortly after they opened at 10:00 am and there were signs posted everywhere saying one person per aisle. They had a sign on the door, and also called over the intercom, that your mask must cover your NOSE as well as your mouth. They’re taking the pandemic seriously and holding customers accountable! I was very pleased. We got $50 for half our sell-backs and found a lot of great buys, too. Then we had lunch at Schlotzky’s. I didn’t mean to take her picture, but in the background you can see a masked woman. She brought a book into the restaurant to read and it made my heart feel happy! After lunch we found an Asian market and my wife stocked up on sweets and drinks. Then we headed to the second HPB, and that’s where we somehow picked up a stalker. This store was a different experience entirely. This time we only got $30 for our remaining sell-backs (we split the selling into two trips so we wouldn’t have to be running back and forth between the store and the car in one go), and while the signage was the same, nobody was adhering. We were looking at science fiction paperbacks and a tall man talking loudly on his phone kept stepping closer to me until he literally brushed my arm. He wasn’t even looking at books - he was on the phone. I pointedly stomped around the other side of our cart to get away from him and while he didn’t stutter in his phone conversation, he did go away. I was about ready to make a scene with a loud, “EXCUSE ME - SIX FEET!” My god!!! People piss me off. Then we went to look at some gaming books because my wife found some old White Wolf manuals and we kind of collect them. (I did LARP Vampire: the Masquerade and MAGE briefly, but mostly I keep them for writing inspiration because the worldbuilding is just fascinating...) This time a young male kept inching his way closer while we were examining the two books they had. (The MAGE manual was brand new, velvet-lined, purple, and pristine. Also $60, so I passed. The Camarilla book was an older edition of the one I have, and the pages were pretty filthy, so I also passed.) I thought initially the guy wanted to look at the gaming books because - I say this only because he had glasses and unkempt hair - he looked like a nerd. Turns out, that was not the case. I caught the same guy staring at us as we moved to another section of the store, where he suddenly also happened to be. My wife went into the young adult alcove and was quickly swarmed by three girls. I couldn’t even get into the crowded aisle (again, the limit was supposed to be one person!) so I went to another shelf to look at true crime. I checked the YA books a couple more times, waiting for it to clear out some. And the guy was hanging around a corner. Not even alone, he was with a girl and I think another guy. By then I was feeling annoyed. I had a fucking mask on, so I knew he wasn’t really looking at my face??? We then looked at middle grade because I’m always on the lookout for Donna Jo Napoli, and that’s where they stick her, and i SAW The SAME GUY! He was never actually looking at books. He was always just standing there, looking out of place and hella awkward, never alone but with the same two people, but he was always looking at us. I wasn’t sure if my wife had noticed so I said, “Let’s get the fuck outta here. I’m tired of that guy staring at us.” She hadn’t noticed, but loudly proclaimed, “Where is he? I’ll stare right back?” I just said again, “Let’s get the fuck out of here.” We took our cart of books (yep, found some more) up to the registers. AND THAT MOTHERFUCKER FOLLOWED US. He like...jumped in line behind us, took a sliding leap. He was holding some things so I was like...well, I guess he could be checking out at the same time as us, coincidentally...??? But this time he was without his companions. So we started checking out and I whisper-hissed to my wife, “That’s--” and she said, “I know.” Then, loudly, she said how rude it was for people to stare. Our cashier said something (I’m hard of hearing so I don’t know what he said; my wife said he told her something like, “I understand, I’m sorry that happened to you”), then the other cashier, who I thought was checking that stalker-boy out, held up a flower book and asked, “Is this yours?” We were like...uh....no...and went about our business. After we checked out I grabbed our bags and was trying to like, run for the door. He’d only had like two things in his hands when I saw him scurry into line, and I was scared he’d try and follow us. I’m one of those people who fumbles and drops things and typos and gets all sorts of clumsy when I try to hurry, so it took twice as long as it should have. Finally we got out the door and I kept whisper-hissing to my wife, let’s hurry to the car. And she was like, no, if he follows us I’m going to tell him to fuck off! We got to the car and loaded up our books as fast as possible, and I just wanted the hell out of that parking lot, but my wife was like, no, there’s a trash can beside the store entrance and I’m dumping our garbage. I didn’t want to hesitate or linger, but despite her insistence that she could do it alone, I went with her. That guy gave me a really bad feeling. He could have been a harmless staring-type of creeper, but regardless, I wasn’t about to let her find out on her own. We went back to the store, and as she dumped our trash my wife said that guy was still in the store, fucking staring at us through the window. When they made eye contact, he ducked away from the corner and went down an aisle. I felt shaky for almost an hour after that, until we were headed out of Lexington and absorbed in an audiobook. I don’t feel like it was all harmless coincidence. How many times can you run into the same person in a store, even a small one? Why was he even there, if he wasn’t interested in books? I’m not sure if he even bought anything, or did he hand that flower book to “his” cashier and try to get her to give it to us as a creepy gift from him? Like, I don’t even know what was up with that flower book. We weren’t even at that end of the counter. We also considered that he might have gotten it into his head that we were shoplifting. I don’t know what would have given him that impression, other than perhaps the fact that I kept taking my cell phone out of my hoodie pocket and tucking it back, as I was comparing prices online versus the store, as I always do... I did see him lean over the counter and talk to the cashiers as we were leaving, and I thought at the time, is he complaining about us? Did he think we were stealing??? Which we weren’t, nor were we behaving suspiciously in any way. And, if he had thought that, why hadn’t he reported us the first or second times we bumped into each other, instead of waiting until seeing us check out and then jumping into line behind us? I mean, WTF. My best guess was that he perceived two girls looking at gaming books and got nerdily excited. But he didn’t try and start a conversation, he just. kept. staring. Men, don’t do this, ever. Women have enough shit to worry about without you stalking them, even by accident, in a fucking store.

#stalking #creepers #road trip #bookstores #asian markets

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missnight0wl · 4 years ago

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Overflow

Summary: Helena sneaks out from the Hospital Wing. She’s followed by Charlie.

A rewrite of the events happening directly after the Portrait Vault. Because MC deserved to have a breakdown right then. Also, it somehow took me almost a year to finish it, and I was close to abandoning it entirely, but here we are.

Words: 2140

June 1989

The lights in the Great Hall never before seemed to be so bright. It was hard to adjust to them after the darkness of the Buried Vault. Helena managed to lift the upper part of her body, and she looked around to check on her companions. Bill was kneeling next to Charlie and holding his arms to support him, Ben was sitting a little further with his hand pressed to his mouth, and in the middle was…

“Merula!” Helena exclaimed in a strangled voice. Without getting up, she got closer to the girl who was lying motionless on the floor with her eyes half-open. The Ravenclaw realised then that there were other students around, clearly alarmed by the whole situation. “Give her some space!” she ordered, reaching her arm as if she was trying to build an invisible barrier. “Someone call help!”

She peeked at Merula and again at the small crowd of people drawing back when she noticed Diego among them. She called his name and tried to stand up, but she tripped. She would fall if not for the Hufflepuff’s quick reaction. She still felt dizzy after travelling by the Portkey.

“Helena, what happened?” Diego asked with concern. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. But Merula is not. Could you… could you look after her? You’re friends with her, right? And I can’t… I can’t now…”

“Calm down,” he said softly. “What happened with Merula?”

“She was tortured.” Diego’s expression became even more worried. “But maybe don’t mention that. Just… just try to distract her… Until we get help…”

Right after she said it, the door to the Great Hall opened and Dumbledore came in, Snape following right behind him. How did they get here so fast? They quickly reach to them and started asking about the events of recent hours. At some point, Madam Pomfrey showed up as well. Helena had problems to focus, but somehow, she was answering all the questions, almost automatically as in some kind of trance. The Portkey, the Vault, the dragon. Rakepick, the Cruciatus Curse, the Garrotting Gas…

“I’ll find her. She won’t get away with this.”

It was Professor Snape, looking very determined to keep his promise. Everyone wanted to find Rakepick… Of course, it’s understandable. Yet, why nobody had shown such concern when Jacob went missing? Does one have to commit an act as horrible as this to get attention? Jacob did bad things, too. He put the whole school in danger because of his Cursed Vaults obsession. At least that’s what people say... Did Snape also try to bring him to justice? If so, he obviously failed. And in that case, how can he even hope to find Rakepick now?

Helena heard fewer and fewer words exchanged by people next to her. She was looking at her friends, some students she could barely recognise after seeing them occasionally in the corridors. Finally, she spotted Rowan, her eyes glistening. She knew. Rowan always knew. She didn’t need to hear the story to tell that something bad had happened. Helena got past her professors, not being entirely sure if they’re talking to her or Merula, and walked down the platform. Rowan was next to her in a moment, embracing her tightly. They didn’t speak, they were just standing there. It felt like the only good thing left in Helena’s life so she didn’t want to let it go.

“That’s enough! You know the most important thing!” Madam Pomfrey’s voice sounded over conversations. “I’m taking them to the Hospital Wing. All of them,” the matron added firmly.

“We’re gonna talk later, okay?” Helena said to Rowan, releasing her from the hug. Her friend only nodded, wiping her cheek with the sleeve.

She didn’t remember exactly how they got transported from the Great Hall. Suddenly, she was sitting on a bed in the Hospital Wing when Madam Pomfrey approached her, moving a folding screen.

“Miss Ellis, I told you to change your clothes.”

The girl looked down at her outfit. Rakepick’s outfit. Well, not exactly, of course. It all started when she was with Rowan at some second-hand shop. She found then a waistcoat made of fabric similar to the one the Curse-Breaker usually wore. Brown shirt and trousers were much easier to get. With the addition of black cloak and some belts, the costume was completed. It wasn’t a perfect copy, but the resemblance was quite obvious. At the time, she thought it’d be funny, and maybe this kind of mockery would annoy Rakepick. And even though the latter goal wasn’t achieved – rather on the contrary – Helena grew to like this silly outfit. It was comfortable.

“Who’s that girl?” she asked, looking at a tall blonde bustling behind Madam Pomfrey.

“It’s Donna, a seventh-year Hufflepuff. She’s starting practice at St Mungo’s in Autumn. I reckoned she might be needed.”

The matron was just checking on her wrist. She was touching it gently, but only now Helena realised how much it hurt.

“I’m fine, Madam Pomfrey, it’s just a wrist,” she said instead. “I think Charlie has broken ribs, and Ben was wounded in the head pretty badly--”

“And how about you let me do my job, hm?”

“I just want to help…”

“You fought a dragon, dear,” Madam Pomfrey remarked softly. “Did you consider you might need help yourself?”

Helena looked at her blankly. “Not really, no.”

She barely spoke for the rest of her examination. Eventually, she was told to lay down. When she turned on the right side, she was facing an empty room. She wished to be left alone, so it was the best alternative for cutting herself off. All the noises became incredibly annoying. The Weasley brothers must’ve tried to come to her bed because Helena heard Madam Pomfrey yelling at them. She heard Merula arguing. She didn’t hear Ben, though. Finally, she got a potion that was supposed to help her sleep.

When she woke up, it was dark and silent. Perhaps it was later the same night, maybe it was the next one already. She knew one thing for sure – she was suffocating. It was that feeling of panic that disrupted her rest. She needed to leave the room immediately. She found her wand on the side table, but she didn’t want to draw attention by lightening it up right away, so she got up and blindly moved to the exit, trying very hard to not stumble.

“Lumos!” she mumbled under her breath when the door closed behind her.

The rest of the castle was just as quiet and calm as the Hospital Wing. Helena was pacing through the corridors, feeling her breath becoming more and more steady the further she got. She was nearing the stairs leading to the ground floor when she heard footsteps which weren’t her own. Her heart started beating faster again. The confrontation with Filch or one of the teachers was the last thing she needed at the moment. She extinguished the light at the end of her wand and hid behind the nearest statue. The steps were getting closer to her, so she instinctively pressed her lips in the hope it’d help her stay quiet.

“Nell?” she heard a whisper.

The redhead suddenly appeared in her view, and they both jumped when their eyes met.

“Charlie!” she hissed at him. “You scared me to death!”

“I scared you?” he raised his eyebrows. “I’m not the one hiding in the dark!”

“I thought you’re a teacher! What are you even doing here?”

“What are you doing here?”

“I just wanted to get some air. And don’t try to distract me,” she looked at him sternly. “You should be lying in bed.”

Charlie’s face got gentler. “So do you.”

“I’m fine, I could go back to my dormitory,” she replied, crossing her arms on the chest.

“You don’t look fine.”

“I’m fine, Charlie,” she said more firmly. “I wasn’t trapped under rubble, I wasn’t tortured--”

“Nell, you fought a dragon,” he cut in. “You got hurt. Don’t say--”

“I know I fought a fucking dragon!” she snapped. “Can people stop reminding me about that?” She stared at him coldly, but Charlie remained calm which only made her feel worse. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to yell,” she said and hid her face. “I… I just really need to get out of here.”

Charlie hesitated before reaching his hand towards her. “Well, can I go with you?” Helena only nodded and grabbed his palm without a word.

They didn’t speak on their way outside. The night was warm and the air fresh. They both were barefoot, but it was actually pleasant to step on the grass. They were still quiet by the time they reached the Black Lake.

“Y’know, it’s just weird…” Helena started out of nowhere. Not because the silence felt awkward or Charlie seemed to be pressing on her. It was growing in her, and she simply had to let it go. “I imagined the reunion with Jacob so many times, and I thought it’d be the most important day of my life. That I’d be so happy, or even sad, depending on the situation, or angry.” She stopped so abruptly that her hand slipped out of Charlie’s. “But I felt nothing.”

He turned to her and watched her for a moment, wondering what to say. “D’you want to talk about what happened before Bill and I came?”

It wasn’t the first time he gave her that look that night. He knew that it wasn’t just an awkward reunion, that something had happened. Bill knew as well. Helena hoped that he didn’t blame himself for hurrying to free Jacob. That there are no reasons to regret it, to begin with. She took a deep breath.

“Well…” she started slowly. “When I entered the inner chamber, Jacob was there, in the portrait…” She swallowed hard, remembering the picture. “He was happy to see me, and I was happy too. And I was about to touch that damn column when he said: ‘You can trust me’…”

Charlie frowned. “Well, yeah. He’s your brother. Why wouldn’t you trust him?”

“Exactly! That’s what I thought! So, I asked him why would he say that. I mean, I’ve spent five bloody years searching for him, following his stupid clues which were more confusing than helpful at times… How could he think that I wouldn’t trust him after that? I fought a dragon for him, and he didn’t even ask about that! Anyway…” She lowered her voice again and bit her lip. “He started explaining himself, and then you came. That’s pretty much it. I don’t know, Charlie… It just doesn’t make any sense. None of it makes sense. And I just… I just want to scream because of that.”

“So scream.”

“What?”

Charlie shrugged. “I mean, I sometimes want to scream from frustration, too. Maybe it’s healthy to let it out. And who’s gonna stop you now?” He touched her arm reassuringly and smiled gently. “I can join you if it’ll make you more comfortable.”

And then, he inhaled deeply and screamed at the top of his lungs. The sound spread over the water, but they were far enough from the castle that it shouldn’t have disturbed anyone. Helena dithered for a moment, but she quickly joined him – a bit shy at first, but with time passing, she felt like a gigantic weight was getting off her whole body. When they both stopped, she chuckled briefly, simply because of how silly the whole situation was: two teenagers in hospital pyjamas, in the middle of the night, yelling at the Black Lake.

The second scream Helena started on her own. However, this time, it brought relief only for a while. Suddenly, everything that had happened in the Vault came back to her. All images, all words, still so fresh in her memory. And that cold look which never before was that cold... Her shout gradually became a cry, and before she knew, tears were falling down her face. Charlie had to realise it before her because in the very next moment, he was holding her in a tight embrace, speaking softly.

“It’s okay, I’m here.”

She wanted to calm down, but the more she tried, the more painful it was. Just hours ago, she had almost everything. Most importantly, she had hope. Now, it all was taken from her – and she didn’t really understand how it could’ve gone so wrong.

She buried her face in Charlie’s chest and clutched his shirt. “Why she left me?” she sobbed.

He said nothing. Partially because he didn’t have an answer for that, but also because he wasn’t expecting that it’s the question on her mind. And since Helena couldn’t see his surprised expression, she was unaware how much she exposed herself when her walls had broken once more.

#hogwarts mystery #hphm #hphm mc #jacob's sibling #helena ellis #hphm jacob #patricia rakepick #charlie weasley #portrait vault #year 5 #my writing

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winchester90210 · 5 years ago

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The BH 90210 Rewrite. 1x15: Palm Springs (AKA A Fling in Palm Springs)

Rewrite Masterlist

Read the previous chapter here!

Chapter Summary: The gang heads to Palm Springs for President’s day weekend.

Warnings: swearing probably, lots of fluffy feelings, mentions of sex.

Words: 2,900

My work is not to be reposted and/or edited without my expressed written consent. (Reblogging is fine and encouraged!!!)

Feedback is incredibly appreciated!

A/N: Hope everyone enjoys this week’s episode! We are going to be skipping the next one but Laverne the gum-chomping waitress WILL make an appearance at some point in the series, so don’t worry. Next week the reader moves out with Brenda and deals with Class President election!

“You’re really gonna stay and work all weekend?” You launch yourself backwards onto the kitchen counter, the cold marble against your legs, “Kelly says anybody who’s anybody goes to Palm Springs.”

“You’re talking to Kelly again?” Your brother cocks an eyebrow at you as he cuts himself a brownie, stuffing half of it into his mouth.

“Well, no… Kelly told Brenda who told me— but what does it matter?” You steal the brownie pan from his other hand, and place it out of his reach, “Just because it’s from a secondary source doesn’t mean it’s not true. It’s a ritual. Like the geese flying south or something.”

“How do you expect to get there? It’s not like you have a car, or a bike, or can afford a plane ticket.” You stay silent for a moment, then give him a pleading, rosy smile. “Oh, no. No! You’re not taking Duke to Palm Springs.” Duke was Eric’s beloved cherry red ‘48 Ferrari. It was given to him on his eighteenth birthday, previously loved and adored by your father, and his father before that and blah blah blah.

“Please? I always take good care of it!” You beg, “I’ll even fill up the tank when I get back! What is it, a dollar per gallon?”

“Sorry. No way. You’ll have to ask Brenda,” he shrugs stubbornly, reaching around you and swiping the pan while you're preoccupied with the argument.

“I can’t! She’s riding with Kelly!”

“Then ask Brandon— look, this isn’t my problem, Y/N/N. Either find another ride or don’t go.”

“It has the original interior, the original grille work. It’s gorgeous,” Brandon enthuses, slipping his hand under your shirt and to your sides as you both lie in the backseat of Mondale, mid make-out session. Well, you were making out. Until he decided to stop it to talk about that car he wanted. Like guys often do. “and it’s only twenty-five thousand dollars.”

“Twenty-five thousand? Brandon! No wonder your dad won’t buy you that thing. Dads are cheapskates, It’s just a fact of life.”

“Dylan‘s dad bought him a Porsche.”

“Babe, Dylan’s dad is facing a grand jury indictment,” you stifle a giggle as you pop a button off of his shirt.

“But my dad knows how hard I work,” Brandon grumbles, “And to top it all off, last night Nat told me that I can’t go to Palm Springs this weekend with you, and all of my friends because his sister is sick and now I have to work all weekend. But hey, you don’t hear me complaining, do ya?”

“Yes. Yes I do.”

“Hey there!” You’re greeted almost immediately by Brandon upon entering the Peach Pit, who’s over at the far end of the counter with a little blond boy. “What a nice surprise. I thought you’d be in packing mode for your trip… but knowing you, you packed early, didn’t you?”

“Always do,” you nod, taking the seat in front of him. You hand Brandon a modest wad of cash and kiss his cheek, making him smile. He mumbles a thanks as he stuffs it into his pocket and hands you a menu.

“Hey… do you ever get the feeling that the entire world is flying in first class, and you’re stuck with a folding chair in the baggage compartment?” He takes your hand in his, leaning over the counter.

“Never,” you deadpan. He studies your face, causing you to giggle into his shoulder.

“Liar!” He laughs genuinely, his eyes crinkling at the edges,“you total liar!” He straightens himself out, “This is Curtis.” He gestures to the adorable little boy beside you, “the hangout king of Beverly Hills.”

“It’s a free country, I can hang out if I want!” The little boy whines.

“Hey, hey, relax, sport. No one said you couldn’t… but does your mom know how much time you spend here?”

“She’s the one that brung me! I told her the food’s not that good," Curtis criticizes, mowing down a plate of greasy french fries.

“See what I have to put up with to make a buck?” Brandon teases, grabbing a plate of food from the kitchen and dashing off to deliver it to a table. Once he’s gone, Curtis turns his stool to you.

“Is he your boyfriend?”

“Oh! Well, uh… no. But he’s… not not my boyfriend,” you waffle. Curtis narrows his eyes, confused. “Look, it’s complicated, kid."

“You give him that friendship bracelet he’s wearing?”

“Yeah, actually… he told you about that?”

The kid dodges your question, chewing on the straw of his drink, “Why aren’t you wearing one?”

“It's a long story, Curtis. Certainly one you don't have time for, okay?"

"I got plenty of time."

You couldn’t ride with your brother, you couldn’t ride with Brandon, there’s no way in hell you’re riding with Steve… that left one option. Brenda, Kelly, and Donna.

“Donna,” Kelly giggles, “we’re not going to Europe. You don’t need three bags!”

“Kelly, I have to dress according to the guys we meet. I mean— high school guys, college guys, grad school guys, dropout guys— you cannot dress the same for all guys. No,” Donna shakes her head disapprovingly, like she just dropped a fashion truth-bomb on all three of you. To be honest, though, she kind of did.

“I guess she has a point,” you laugh, propping yourself up against a locker, “Bring everything.”

Then Steve saunters over, in his usual confusingly patterned button-down, an agitated look spread across his face. He nods down to the innumerable bags on the floor.

“What, are we going to France?” He scoffs, only taking a moment before continuing, “Will you guys come on? There’s gonna be a lot of traffic on the roads." Gee, wonder what’s making him so delightful this afternoon.

“Hey gang!” Oh no. David Silver? What was he doing here? “Are we going to have a blast or what? Huh?” We?

The rest of the group is just as lost as you are, exchanging silent looks of terror to the person next to them. Steve takes note of this and clears his throat.

“There’s been a uh, slight change in plans.”

“It’s weird, I mean I want to be with Dylan and everything, but part of me just wants to get it over with. Like I’m the last person that hasn’t done it yet." Brenda confides uneasily as you all stand against Kelly’s convertible, waiting as the tank fills up.

“Brenda… you are,” Kelly replies.

“No you’re not!" You assure her, "Look, Bren, you’re really gonna like it… I think." Ha. Like you know any more than she does. Donna nods in agreement.

“Yeah, totally… probably. Maybe? I—“

Kelly cuts Donna off, “Listen, who would you rather be with? Dylan McKay or David Silver?”

“Bren, Dylan’s a wonderful guy. You’re gonna have a great time! And you brought protection, so there’s nothing to be worried about!” You place a soothing hand on her arm.

“Right!” Brenda smiles, “I mean, I care about him, he cares about me, it’s gonna be great, right?”

“My grandparents collect anything they can get their hands on,” David guides the four of you, sans Brenda plus Steve, as you wander his grandparents' house. It’s definitely nice, definitely big… kinda smells like patchouli and sunscreen in the best way. “When I was younger I used to travel with them but my dad’s mad at them about something so I don’t see ‘em much anymore.”

“What’s he mad about?” Donna asks.

“Well, my grandparents like my mom and think it’s, y’know, bad he wants to divorce her... Come on,” he waves you all over to him as he escapes through the back door, “I saved the best for last.” You reluctantly follow behind him, your shoes clacking down the concrete steps and into the depths of his backyard. It was gorgeous— a huge pool, palm trees, brick-lined lounging areas. You could get used to this.

“Dude, we are definitely styling out here in this little desert oasis,” Steve grins, “David, I always knew you had potential.” No you didn’t.

“Thanks, Steve,” David begins to venture further back, “but you ain’t seen nothin’ yet! Look, if anyone gets in the mood, you climb up this little terrace here to this hidden nook and nobody will bother you.” You step up another flight of brick-lined concrete stairs and through a small patch of greenery, to be met with a cute little private hot tub… with people in it.

“David?” The old woman gasps, clutching her small champagne flute.

“Grandma?”

“What the hell are you doing here?” The senior man, presumably (and hopefully) his grandfather groans.

“It was an amaaaazing trip!” David’s grandmother raves, pouring pretzels into a glass bowl as the group is gathered around the kitchen island.

“It was indescribable,” his grandfather agrees excitedly, “we would dance every night under the stars.” He pulls Kelly from her stool, picking her up and spinning her around as if they were about to tango.

“Ooh! Can somebody pull the ice cream?” His grandma asks.

“Yeah, sure,” Donna smiles.

“Triple. Chocolate. Chip. I mean, If we’re gonna do it, we should do it right.” Steve chuckles politely at the woman, though he looks like he wants to put a gun to his head.

“Well, I’ve never seen so many old fogies on one boat in my whole life. I mean, a floating rest home is what it was!” His grandpa laughs heartily, getting ice cream bowls from the cupboard,

“Oh, Henry, that’s not so. But hey, one day we woke up on the boat and we both said ‘Let’s go home!’” Funny. That’s exactly what you were thinking. “I mean, we missed our little house in the desert.”

“We sure did,” Henry smiles happily, grabbing his wife’s jaw gently and planting a big smooch on her. “And lucky for us, we would have missed you if we didn’t cut our trip short!”

“Uh, well you guys must be really tired. Huh?” David chuckles awkwardly.

“Oh, we’re exhausted!” The woman nods, “but hey, who cares? I am so excited to see you! And to finally meet some of your friends! Hey! Why don’t we all stay up late, chow down on the snacks, and get to know each other?” Oh, joy.

“This way ladies,” David’s grandma guides the three of you upstairs, her hand on your shoulder. “You’re gonna go up these stairs, down the hall, first door on your right, and you are gonna love it.” You hop up the steps with Kelly and Donna, bags in hand.

“Did you guys hear her?” Kelly starts, opening the door to the room and throwing her bags on an empty bed. Hey, she acknowledged you. That’s a start. “She said she was gonna invite all the cute guys from the neighborhood over to the pool tomorrow!”

“Steve is not gonna like that,” Donna

“Oh, who cares?” Kelly snickers, “I wonder how Brenda’s doing.”

“‘Oh! Dylan, what beautiful eyes you have!’” You joke, throwing your hand to your forehead and bowing backwards.

“‘Oh, Brenda, you are so exquisite!’” Donna joins in, giggling.

“Barf.”

You splash your feet in the Silver's pool, crowds of people surrounding it. Overwhelmed by the vast amount of new people, you're off by yourself, kicking the water around, staring at your feet.

"You know, there's room on this raft for two." You look up to Steve, lying back on a giant inflatable alligator. Ugh, if only it was a real one.

"Why don't you ask your new girlfriends?" You point behind you to the two girls, who you could only think to describe as biker babes, lounging together. Porcelain white skin, spiked black bikinis, way more makeup than you need for a pool party. "They look pretty interested."

"Can you imagine what it would be like if you were interested? You know, me instead of Brandon?" You feign a gag, shaking your head.

"I don't really want to, Steve," you cringe dramatically as he chuckles, "but thanks for getting that thought haunting my dreams forever. Really appreciate it."

"Remember—" He wags his pointer finger at your face, eyes narrowing lightheartedly, "I saw you first." He puts his foot flat against the concrete wall of the pool, kicking off, but as soon as he's far enough— he guffaws. Of course he laughs at his own jokes.

"Dylan, hi!" You practically leap over to him in the foyer, your damp feet leaving faint footprints on the cold floor. "So?"

He shakes his head, brows furrowed ever so slightly, "So?"

"How'd it go?" You raise your eyebrows excitedly.

"How'd what go?"

"With Brenda!" He groans at that.

"Don't ask."

"Well, it's too late, I already did."

"What's with you girls?" Oh, this should be good. "You see a guy with another girl and you immediately think they're sleeping with her?! What is that?! I mean, every time a female customer goes into the Pit-- do you lose it at Brandon?"

"Can't say I do. They usually want him. But thankfully it's not the other way around… look, if this is about the other Walsh-- and McKay, it better be, or else I have questions-- just talk to her about it. Have an adult conversation."

"Easy for you to say, you're dating the king of good family values. The kid's a Hartley House episode."

You open the fridge in the kitchen, helping David’s grandparents scoop out ice cream. You fidget with the scoop in your hands before setting it down. After a devastating loss of Charades, you had to comfort your friends with ice cream. It was the only option, really.

“How do you guys do it?” They both look up from the bowls to stare at you. “The whole long-term relationship thing,” you clarify. “It’s just so… scary.”

“You’re right,” Henry nods, “It’s very scary. Trusting someone, with your heart, your intimate feelings. I mean, before we got married, Adele broke up with me seven different times. Running for the hills was our solution to every problem. Giving yourself to that person— trusting that they’re going to cherish you, to value you and every intimate part of yourself— that is the hardest thing.”

Adele jumps in, “And you have to accept each other for who you are. For every flaw and every perfection, you have to let the other person be who they are. But when you do find the person you can really be yourself with, who you can have fun with, and fully trust… it is the greatest feeling in the world.” She takes the scoop from in front of you and begins scooping. “Who is he? It’s not David, is it?”

You giggle, “No. No, it’s not David. His name’s Brandon, he’s—“ you can’t stop a grin from slowly breaking out on your face, “He’s great. He’s kind, and considerate, and totally crazy about me... but it’s still scary, y’know? My last relationship didn’t exactly end on great terms. And if I barely even liked the other guy but I was still totally obliterated by it ending… I can’t imagine how I’d feel with Brandon. I’ve never felt this way about anyone in my life. I guess you can imagine how much of a major scare that is, huh?”

“Seven break-ups, sweetheart. I can imagine.”

"He even set up a meal plan for the kid! I can show you the security cameras if you want to see them," Nat indulges. You never thought you’d say this, but you were thrilled to be back in Beverly Hills. You missed your own bed, the Peach Pit… the cute waiter at the Peach Pit. And you’re thrilled to be eating something that isn’t ice cream.

"Oh, don't you dare! I cannot handle any more of that guy being good with kids or else he's gonna get me to procreate with him-- and nobody wants a bunch of little Walshes running around here," you snort, stirring your water mindlessly with the straw. Nat shrugs as he picks up an order.

“I could use the extra help!” As per usual, he booms out in laughter, walking away with the plate of food.

“What’s he so happy about?” You twist your head to the kitchen and you’re faced with your overtly-paternal and charitable lover.

“Oh, it’s nothing. Just you fathering a sweet little homeless boy for the weekend,” you have to halt yourself from fawning over him. He’s probably the only teenage boy that would tolerate a little kid, let alone help them out like he did.

“He told you about that?”

“You mean how you not only befriended the little boy, but fed him for free, and made sure that his whole family would stay fed until they got back on their feet? Yeah, he might’ve. I mean I laughed, I cried— it was the feel-good story of the year, B.” He smiles at his feet as he ties his apron around his waist.

“I really missed you this weekend, Y/N/N.”

“Well, I’m here to stay now,” you smile as he kisses the top of your head.

“I’m a real lucky guy, you know that?”

“That’s funny. I was about to say the same thing.”

Taglist: @be-patient-be-good @mpmarypoppins @bevelyhills90210 @blueoz @harleylilo88 @princess-ghost-alien @hueycat2004 @l4life @keepcalm-and-beyou @palefiregiver @bitch-imma-head-out

#beverly hills 90210 #90210 #bh90210 #bh 90210 #rewrite #brandon walsh x reader #brandon walsh #brenda walsh #shannen doherty #luke perry #dylan mckay #beverly hills 90210 imagine #beverly hills 90210 x reader #brandon walsh imagine #kelly taylor #david silver #donna martin #jason priestley

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cat-brodsky · 5 years ago

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The Secret History: Abridged (part 2)

Fair use disclaimer: The following text is intended as a parody and literary commentary of the published book “The Secret History” by Donna Tartt. Some direct quotations from the book, constituting a very low percentage of the original, have been integrated in the parodic text where appropriate. The author of this text neither profits nor intends to profit from it.

Dramatis personae

The farmer, brutally murdered by four rich kids on a drug trip

Richard Papen, the narrator, a slightly less starry-eyed youth slowly growing addicted to drugs

Julian Morrow, a Greek professor who doesn’t actually care about his students

Bunny Corcoran, killed on Easter, lying at the bottom of a ravine covered by snow

The Toffs minus one:

Henry Winter, increasingly exasperated as the Greek class spirals into self-destruction

Francis Abernathy, gay, neurotic, and slowly descending into alcoholism

Charles Macaulay, a full-blown drunken abuser

Camilla Macaulay, the token girl

Judy Poovey, the only character in the book with both brains and heart

The Corcorans, Bunny’s large family, grieving and “grieving” the loss of their son

Georges “I told you so” Laforgue

Cloke Rayburn, the friendly neighborhood drug dealer

William Hundy, the friendly neighborhood bigot

the greek chorus (played by a person in a floral bedsheet toga with two sockpuppets)

The Fans, seated in the front row of the audience

Chapter 6, in which it snows on Easter

Richard: Just for the record, I don’t consider myself an evil person. What we did was terrible, but you know, none of us were exactly bad!

Richard: Anyway, that’s totally unfair. I thought murdering Bunny would be easy, but for some reason now I’m having nightmares and everybody is on edge and we’re scared the cops are onto us!

Judy: Want some Demerol?

Richard: Sure, nothing could go wrong with thaaa- oh wow I’m hiiigh.

Francis: ohgodI’m so damn nervous - oh, hi, Richard. Wanna f-

Charles: And I’m three sheets to the wind. Soused. Pished. Drunk.

Francis: Gimme some.

the greek chorus: and that’s gonna be a theme for the rest of the book

The Toffs (minus one): We need to act normal. How do we act like normal people. We could say we were watching some of that new-fangled cinematography whilst the murder, I mean the accident, happened. Do we call the cops? Wait, uh, not yet...

Julian: My student has been absent for more than three classes in a row, should I be concerned? Haha, just kidding.

Cloke: Man, I don’t like this. You know Bunny’s always broke, but he’s been flush with cash lately. And he’s always wanted in on my... pharmaceutical business. You think he ran afoul of some real bad guys and got himself killed?

Henry: Oh, he just might have.

Cloke: Damn. Let’s go search his room before calling the cops.

Charles: He had a cut-out of the newspaper with the farmer murder! Oh well, good thing I managed to swipe it.

The cops: He’s been missing for a week and nobody informed us? What’s wrong with you people?

Judy: Richard, have you heard about Bunny? I’m sure he’s alright, but... If you want to talk, or need anything, I’m here.

The search for Bunny: begins

The reporters: present

William Hundy: Daymn right I saw ‘im! He was in a back seat of a white car, with some arab type folks. Now I ain’t saying they was terrorists, but you know them daymn arabs-

Henry: Who’d have thought people are going to make things up? And who’d have thought giving him money would look suspicious?

Francis (drunk): I’ve had to spend time with the Corcorans. How utterly terrible. One of the damn children running around ruined my favorite scarf. And they didn’t even notice - what’s more important, their dead son or my scarf? By the way, Richard, I am definitely not attracted to you.

Julian: One of my own students - missing? I would be sorry for his parents if they weren’t so... low-brow. But he's such a sweet boy, so silly; I'm really very fond of him. If anything should have happened to him I don't know if I could bear it. Goodness me, this is altogether so very exciting, so dramatic!

Henry, stars in his eyes: There’s divinity in the midst of us.

The FBI agent: We found drug paraphernalia in Bunny’s room.

Mrs. Corcoran: How dare you!

Cloke: I want a lawyer.

Camilla: Did you know Henry had us kill a piglet after that accident with the farmer? Blood can only be washed off with blood, he said.

Richard: Haha, that’s so Henry.

the greek chorus: and then the body is finally found

Chapter 7, in which everyone takes drugs

Everyone in Hampden college: mourns in a sufficiently dramatic way

Julian, writing a letter: Dear Richard, this is all too hard for me. I fear I have a case of the vapours and thus, I shall not return to Hampden until after the funeral. Who cares about the classes you’re taking with me, amirite?

The Toffs: stay with the Corcorans in preparing for Bunny’s funeral

Mr. Corcoran: my son... oh god my son is dead ...you boys want a brewsky?

Mrs. Corcoran: And those flower arrangements we were sent are atrocious. Simply shameful.

Francis: What do you mean we have to sleep in the basement? That’s just wretched.

Richard: This funeral is so inconvenient. I don’t know how I’m gonna get through this. And the food they serve us is terrible.

Henry: And the garden is so ugly.

Camilla: I can’t take it. Let’s steal some drugs from the Corcorans.

Cloke: Lemme show you where the missus keeps the good stuff.

Francis and Henry (drunk): Gimme some.

Charles, Cloke et al: get stoned the morning of the burial

Richard: Bunny’s grave is just terrible to look at. Oh, I cannot even.

the greek chorus: farmer who?

Chapter 8, in which it all goes to hell

Julian: Henry is such a sensitive young man. I fear this is hard on him. And Edmund and him were so very close. But why did he have to read such a... modern poem at the wake? I would have suggested something from Phaedo.

Richard: Time for more drugs

Charles: Time for more whiskey

Francis: Time for a shopping trip!

Francis was always generous with his clothes. He gave Charles and me his old suits by the armload. I still wear a lot of those suits: Sulka, Aquascutum, Gieves & Hawkes.

the greek chorus: no comment

Henry: is gardening

Francis: gets diagnosed with an anxiety disorder

Charles: crashes his car driving drunk

Charles: makes out with Camilla in full view of Richard

Francis: Yep, they're doing it. Haven’t you noticed? Him and I slept together once or twice too, big deal. Hell, Richard, if you drank as much as he did, we would have screwed too.

Richard: ...Jesus. And I’m stuck with these people until I graduate.

Charles: falls asleep outside while drunk

Richard: Well, he has a fever of 103 Fahrenheit, which, going by my premed education means uh... Judy, what do we do?

Judy: Go to the hospital, of course! Wait, take my car. I’ll give you the keys.

Julian: So young Charles is in the hospital? Dearie me, you all must be grieving for Edmund. Though, is death really so terrible a thing? It seems terrible to you, because you are young, but who is to say he is not better off now than you are?

Francis: Oh, and I think Camilla and Henry have been sleeping together. And she moved out of Charles’ place. I think they had an argument.

Richard: Well, I’m not taking sides, but this is a really bad time. You should go see him.

Camilla: ...Charles was physically abusing me. I’m afraid of him. And I can’t stay at Francis’ place, because he’d fold like a wet tissue.

Richard: So is that it? You're protecting your own interests?

the greek chorus: DID YOU JUST-

Richard: What if Charles goes to the cops?

Camilla: He’d never do that. And Henry is looking out for him.

Richard: Sure, that’s why Henry’s been sending him whiskey.

Richard: Time for more drugs. I’m on soooo many drugs. Did... did Henry plan it all out? He... he totally planned it out.

Henry: is gardening

Henry: For my entire life, I’ve been dead inside... but everything changed the night I killed that man.

the greek chorus: finally someone remembers the farmer

Henry: You don’t care much about other people, do you, Richard?

Julian: A most terrible thing has happened. A letter, purportedly from the late Edmund, has been delivered to my office - filled with profanity and wild accusations and references to some... murder. A forgery, of course. It saddens me greatly that someone would do that. I wonder who...

The Toffs: oh no

Julian: Why, by Jove, this is the letterhead of the hotel where Edmund and Henry stayed on winter break!

Henry: ...I can explain. You see, during that bacchanal you sanctioned, we went a little wild and wound up recreating The Bacchae - it wouldn’t be authentic without a little killing, right? It was just an accident, we didn’t want to bother you. But then Edmund found out, and he, well... overreacted. He was having some personal problems, you know, family problems... Professor, you said it yourself - we must do what is necessary! Really, it was a mercy killing.

Julian:

Julian: ...why, that's terribly interesting. Anyway, I have just been urgently called away from the university. Istran royal family, you understand.

Henry: But-

Richard: But-

Julian: Gotta leave now, toodaloo!

Henry and Richard: ...son of a-

Richard: You know, in hindsight, Julian is kind of a huge prick. I even wrote down that his inability to see anything in true light was his most attractive quality. Turns out he used his students to boost his ego like some sorta cult leader.

Richard: And you know what’s messed up? I still admire him.

Dean of Studies: Cozy place Julian’s got here, doesn’t he? Well, now that he’s done a bunk - three weeks before final exams - I regret to inform you that you guys will have to switch your majors or something. I doubt the school will keep teaching Greek.

Dean of Studies: After all, there was so little interest in the subject that Julian only had six students, right?

The Toffs: ...SON OF A-

Francis: Charles has gone off the deep end. We’ve gotta take him out to the country, let him keep drinking there.

Charles: Henry’s trying to kill me.

Henry: Am not.

Charles: Are too!

Henry: We need to get him into rehab or something-

Charles: walks in with a gun

Henry: Never mind.

Charles starts shooting; Henry wrestles the gun from him.

Richard: Oh no. I’ve been shot.

Henry: I’m so done with y’all. Why do y’all have to be so incompetent? Can’t a man commit a murder in peace? And worse, Julian has up and fled! I loved him! I believed him! Duty, piety, loyalty, sacrifice my ass! I’m outta here.

Henry shoots himself.

the greek chorus: he lived like a Roman and died like a Roman - from lead poisoning.

Camilla, Charles, and Francis exit stage left

Richard: ...Uh, I’ve been shot? Hello? Anyone?

The Hippie enters stage right. Together with the greek chorus, they start carrying Richard off-stage.

The Hippie: It’s all a metaphor, man. Henry has a limp, from the car accident, right? Well, he’s Satan and he’s here to ruin lives. Julian gets off scot-free, but it doesn’t matter cause his soul is damned, man! That Donna chick is Catholic, right? That’s why Bunny was going on about sin and forgiveness - cause he knew what up and he has a chance in purgatory, man, but the others are Pagans so they don’t. Deep, man.

the greek chorus: man, you’re high like a kite.

The Epilogue, in which nobody is happy

Richard: Yeah, well... Everyone except me dropped out. Turns out that our group was only really held together by Julian’s cult-like teaching and Henry’s blind devotion. And that once we couldn’t pretend to be better than everybody else, we stopped wanting to see each other. Or it might have been the two murders, who knows.

Francis, in the hospital after a suicide attempt: So, my grandfather found me with Kim, a nice young lawyer, balls deep in me, and threatened to disinherit me-

Richard: That old homophobe!

Francis: Oh, no, that's cause Kim is Korean. Anyway uh this is my beard - my dear Pricsilla whom I'm gonna have to marry.

Richard: Or you could actually... work for a living.

Francis: That’s inconceivable. I mean, you work, but you are used to menial labor.

Richard: So... what does Charles do these days?

Camilla: He drinks.

Richard: Good old Charles. Anyway, Camilla, will you marry me?

Camilla: Not a chance.

Richard: Oh well. At least I got Henry’s brand new car out of this whole mess. That’s a net gain if you ask me.

the greek chorus, narrating: “As a writer I’m giving the reader signs to help create the story with me. The reader is bringing his or her own memories, intelligence, preconceptions, prejudices, likes, dislikes. So the characters in your copy of the book are going to look and sound different than in mine. I have my own ideas, but once the book is out there it’s not really mine anymore, and my own idea isn’t any more valid than yours.” Donna Tartt, 2019.

The Fans rush onstage.

Fan 1: Henry did nothing wrong!

Fan 2: Who wants to have a bacchanal?

Fan 3: omg look at my character moodboards

Fan 4: What if we kissed over a copy of the secret history

Fan 5: dark acadamia(sic!) aesthetic

Fan 6: Donna Tartt died for our sins

the greek chorus:

the greek chorus: FUUUUUUUUUUUU-

Curtains.

#the secret history #donna tartt #dark academia #henry winter #tsh

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saiilorstars · 5 years ago

Text

The Beginning of Everything

Ch. 20: The Unicorn, the Wasp and the Golden Girl

// Story Masterlist //

Fandom: Doctor Who

Pairing: Female OC x 10th Doctor

(OC Renata’s Face claim: Marjorie de Sousa) (Gabby’s face claim: Victoria Moroles)

~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~

Chapter Summary: The idea was to attend a nice, relaxing party in the 1920s, but instead the group get an alien bee and a thief. Still, it's one of the few times that the Doctor sees Renata genuinely excited over a trip...she gets to work with an author she admires, Agatha Christie!

"The 1920s? Are we really going to the 1920s?" Gabby followed Renata around the TARDIS wardrobe room like a lost puppy. "New York!?"

Renata scoffed very uncharacteristically. "I think not. I specifically told the Doctor you were not allowed there."

Gabby's pout resembled that of a child being told 'no'. "Why not?"

"Because I've been there…" Renata began looking through a rack of 20s clothing, "...and it is not a place for you. It's full of alcohol and violence and humans are very susceptible to it."

"But there was prohibition there!"

Renata scoffed again. "And you really think that was the end of it? Ever heard of speakeasies?"

Gabby's face lit up at the mention of the family establishments. "Yes!"

"Not gonna happen!"

Gabby pouted again. "Dammit!"

"Language," Renata calmly reminded while she looked through a few dresses.

Gabby moped as she moved around a few racks herself. "So if we're not going to New York in the 20s, where are we going?"

~0~

The Doctor was getting impatient with his friends. Yes he was aware that he wasn't the most patient man as it was but he felt like this time it was appropriate. There he stood outside the TARDIS, in front of a beautiful home and no one was there with him. "Would you hurry up?" he banged on the TARDIS doors. "We'll be late for cocktails!"

Donna was the first to poke her head out and reveal a nice, black and orange dress on her that hung a few inches above her knees. Her ginger curls we're nearly tucked into a small low bun. "What do you think? Flapper or slapper?"

"Flapper. You look lovely," the Doctor gestured her to come on out already and was relieved to catch Renata and Gabby's forms coming out from the corridors. "We're going to be late!"

"We're not even invited!" Renata shouted just as they'd come out.

"You want to shout that a little louder?" Donna pointer over her shoulder where the party was going on.

"Sorry," Renata did apologize before setting her eyes on the Doctor. "And you...are you sure coming to an elegant home is the way to stay down-low?"

"Mhm, yup," he answered fairly fast. His attention was mostly on her choice of dress.

She had chosen a white-gold dress with a mermaid scale pattern with golden fringe down the waist. The gold outlined each scale pattern as well as the hemline of the sweetheart neckline. Her usual long hair was tucked someway that made it her hair seemed like it a true 1920s haircut. Her face was brightened with a light, natural makeup.

She looked absolutely beautiful.

The Doctor was reminded of her 1913 look and wouldn't you know it? It brought up the same feelings - he didn't even realize he still had them. What was he supposed to do with them? Get rid of them, what else!? They were itty-bitty things that were so irrelevant he shouldn't even pay attention to them.

That's the plan! Now let's execute it...

"Oh wow, this is a really big house!" Gabby's excitement pulled the Doctor's attention. She was staring at the two-story house across from them with a gaping mouth. Her sapphire blue flapper dress twirled as she spun to look at every single detail of the garden.

"Hey, I helped you put that hair into a bun - don't ruin it!" Renata called in exasperation. She had properly placed Gabby's hair into a sophisticated bun and even stuck one of those black and blue feathers Gabby swore the movies always had. "Gabriella!"

Gabby stopped spinning but she laughed at Renata's face. Her face went red way too easy! "Sorry."

"Well how about instead of staring at the house we actually go to the party?" Donna sarcastically gestured towards the back garden. Here they were wasting time just staring.

"Sounds good to me!" Gabby laughed and took the lead, despite not really knowing where she was going.

"Gabriella, hold on!" Renata called but Gabby didn't listen.

"Ah let her go, it's more interesting this way," the Doctor grinned. He held her arm for Renata to take and despite her initial reluctance, she linked her arm through his.

"I guess I'll just go solo," Donna quietly though she said it with a smile. It was just too funny sometimes.

Gabby was the first one to reach the lawn and when she did she was mesmerized. There were a few tables lining the area, each full of snacks and refreshments. A few servants were finishing up setting the last of the food on the tables. There was a record player set at the right, playing soothing background music. It was all so real.

Gabby was beaming.

"Good afternoon!" the Doctor happily greeted the staff.

"I'm beginning to think that Gabriella really should have taught you the definition of 'down low' instead of me," Renata whispered to him. Gabby thought it was important for Renata to start learning more about humans and their daily vocabulary, but Renata honestly thought slang words were horrendous. Why butcher up words when there was a proper word to use instead? Like 'down low'. What even was that? Gabby had a good time explaining to Renata what the words meant, even crossing into the 'low key' territory where Renata completely got lost.

"Drink, sir? Madam?" one of the waiters, Davenport, came up to the pair.

Donna was quick to put herself beside Renata to order. "Sidecar, please!"

Gabby turned as well, still overly excited, "Oh and I want-"

"-something without alcohol," Renata finished for her. "And same for me."

"Lime and soda, thank you," the Doctor went last.

Gabby huffed at Renata. "You're my friend, not my mother!"

"But you're still not 21. Plus, you're going to want to remember this," Renata made a gesture to the garden.

Just as Gabby was about to respond, one of the waiters, Greeves, made an announcement for the group. "May I introduce Lady Clemency Eddison."

A petite, blonde woman dressed fancily arrived at the scene with a flashy smile. She soon spotted the group but unlike Renata who was already feeling nervous of their uninvited presence, the Doctor was eager to meet her.

"Lady Eddison!" he shook the woman's hand like he was talking to an old friend.

Lady Eddison looked at him for a couple seconds while she tried to place him. "Excuse me, but who exactly might you be…and what are you doing here?"

"I'm the Doctor," he answered easily.

"And I'm Gabby!" Gabby was just as excited at the Doctor when she pushed her way beside him to shake Lady Eddison's hand too.

"We're about to be thrown out," Renata brought a hand to her forehead and sighed.

"Just go with it," Donna nudged her on the side before moving up to introduce herself next. "And I'm Donna Noble."

"Renata Cartwright," the Time Lady weakly said afterwards. She was calling this trip over now.

The Doctor flashed his psychic paper in front of Lady Eddison's face. "We were thrilled to receive your invitation, my lady. We met at the ambassador's reception."

There was an immediate 'recognition' in the woman's face, one that utterly disgusted Renata.

How fake, she thought.

"Doctor, how could I forget you? But one must be sure with the Unicorn on the loose!"

Gabby gasped so deeply that those around her stopped to look at her. "A unicorn!? Are there real unicorns here!?" she started spinning around to catch sight of the unicorn until Renata forced her to stop, but by that time Gabby was a bit dizzy.

"Uh, the Unicorn. The jewel thief?" Lady Eddison clarified, though her gaze lingered on Gabby for a second. "And nobody knows who he is. He's just struck again. Snatched Lady Babbington's pearls right from under her nose."

"Funny place to keep pears," Donna mumbled to Gabby and quietly snickered together.

"May I announce the Col Hugh Curbishley, the Hon Roger Curbishley!"

The trio then saw a young man pushing an older man in a wheelchair towards the party.

"My husband. And my son," Lady Eddison moved to join them just as they arrived.

"Forgive me for no rising. Never been the same since the flu epidemic back in '18," the older man, Hughes, laughed.

"My word! You are a super lady!" the younger man, Roger, exclaimed at Renata.

The woman seemed at a cross between amusement and confusion. "Um...thank you?"

"I''m the Doctor," the Doctor cut in to shake hands with Roger.

"How do you do?"

"Very well, thanks."

Davenport walked up with Roger with drinks on a tray. "Your usual, sir."

Roger took one of the glasses from the tray. "Ah, thank you, Davenport. Just how I like it."

Donna lightly tapped the Doctor's arm. "How come she's an Eddison but her husband and son are Curbishleys?"

"The Eddison title descends through her. One day Roger will be a Lord."

"That can't end well," Renata said. She got a ditzy vibe from the son.

"Miss Robina Redmond," the same waiter announced again.

A young dark haired woman walked up to the party in a confident stride. Even her smirk promised a party.

"She's the absolute hit of the social season. A must," Lady Eddison said as she moved to personally greet the woman. "Miss Redmond!"

Robina seemed to love the attention. "Spiffing to meet you at last, my lady!"

Another guest arrived and turned out to be a Reverend, Arnold Golightly.

"Ah, Reverend! How are you?" Lady Eddison greeted him personally as well. "I heard about the church last Thursday night, those ruffians breaking in."

"You apprehended them, I hear," Hugh added.

"As the Christian fathers taught me, we must forgive them their trespasses," Golightly said. "Quite literally.

"Some of these young boys deserve a decent thrashing," Rogers declared.

Davenport happened to pass by and momentarily stopped by him. "Couldn't agree more, sir." They seemed to share a moment of mutual stare.

"Typical. All the decent men are on the other bus," Donna muttered, making Gabby chuckle.

"Or Time Lords," the Doctor thought to add, making Renata playfully roll her eyes.

"Oh stop it you two," she said.

"Now my lady, what about this special guest you promised us?" Golightly inquire once a the others guests were settled.

Lady Eddison was proud as she made a gesture towards an incoming woman. "Here she is. A lady who needs no introduction."

Everyone began to applaud as a woman joined the party, though unlike Robina this woman seemed more humble as she smiled at them.

"Oh, no. Please don't. Thank you, Lady Eddison," the blonde woman gave a personal greet to Lady Eddison. "Honestly, there's no need." She moved to greet the travelers. "Agatha Christie."

Donna shook hands with her, none the wiser about the woman's real identity. "What about her?"

"That's me!" the woman clarified.

Renata suddenly gasped and staggered back a few steps. "What!?" she'd even lost air in that one second.

The Doctor was the one to pull her back - an act that was shocking to him - and steadied her on her feet. "Are you alright?"

"N-no! That's-that's Agatha Christie!" Renata could barely put her words together. And seeing the author come towards her after greeting Gabby made Renata fall onto the Doctor's side.

"Hello," Agatha Christie extended a hand to shake with Renata but the Time Lady was still in shock to move. The Doctor had to physically move her off his side and make sure she wouldn't fall back before shaking hands with Agatha.

"You are brilliant!" he exclaimed, making Agatha blush of embarrassment. "I was just talking about you the other day, actually. I said, 'I bet she's brilliant'. I'm the Doctor and this is-" he only stopped to see how Renata was doing but she was still staring wide-eyed, "Oh, I love your stuff! What a mind! You fool me every time. Well…almost every time. Well…once or twice. Well…once. But it was a good once-"

Renata finally came back to life and whacked his arm. "Shut up. Hi!" she shook hands with Agatha, a smile quickly forming across her face, "I'm Renata and I adore your books. I'm not much for human authors but you..." she dramatically gasped, though in her mind it was a justified gasp, and laughed, "...you are an amazing author!"

"I have never seen Renata so excited like this," Gabby whispered to Donna who hummed in agreement. It was novelty. Renata rarely showed emotions like this, especially so heightened. She laughed and smiled here and there but she was always the calm one. Sometimes Gabby wondered how Renata managed to do that even when the situations just begged for a roaring laugh or a wild reaction. It was graceful, but it was also odd.

And now here she was, finally expressing a loud delight. Gabby couldn't get over it. The smile on Renata's face seemed like it would crack her face any moment now, but even then she wouldn't stop.

"But it's kind of familiar," Donna said suddenly, tilting her head for a moment as she studied Renata.

"She's brilliant!" the Doctor joined Renata with the same beaming face. "I have all of your books! And I literally mean all of them!"

"He does!" Renata nodded fairly fast that Agatha was concerned the woman would hurt herself. "We read them together! It's always so shocking even though we already read the books!" She laughed, almost squealing, as along with the Doctor.

"Oh," Donna suddenly went, her eyes widening while Gabby looked at her questionably. "Now I see why it's so familiar. They're the same person."

"What!?" Gabby made a face, about to politely tell Donna that was most ridiculous thing ever when she turned her attention back to Renata and the Doctor. The pair were hanging onto each other's arms, excitedly rambling on about all the books they'd read from Agatha. "Oh..." Gabby brought a hand up to her mouth in time to muffle her laughter, but only slightly.

That was hilarious.

"Now I can see it," Donna whispered to Gabby then. It was no longer news that Renata had some secret feelings for the Doctor and Donna honestly didn't know if that would actually work out solely because of the Time Lords contradicting personalities. The Doctor was too him to ever be able to keep up with Renata's routines and calm personality, and Renata was too her to keep running with the Doctor. But now Donna had no doubt that it would so work. They complimented each other without even realizing it.

Agatha already disliked the huge attention she often got but at least right now she was amused. "Thank you, thank you," she managed to cut into the pair's ongoing ramble but her hand may have hurt a little after so much shaking. "You, uh, make a rather fitting couple."

That comment froze Renata for a minute. She exchanged a look with the Doctor. Their blushes were the same.

"We're not married," the Doctor shook his head.

"And we're definitely not a couple!" Renata was quick to add and untangled herself from the Doctor's arm. She didn't even realize when she grabbed it!

"Obviously not—no wedding ring," Agatha pointed to Renata's hands.

Renata did a double-take at her hands, as if she'd forgotten that she truly had no wedding ring, and laughed. "No, of course not!"

"I'd stay that way if I were you," Agatha leaned a bit closer to Renata. "The thrill is in the chase, never in the capture."

Renata caught Agatha's gaze flickering between her and the Doctor and soon felt the warmth creep up on her face. "Oh! No, he's not - there is no chase...at all…" she exchanged another awkward glance with the Doctor. "...right?"

"Mhm," the Doctor looked away while his own blush faded. Why would he want to chase her? Him? Chase her? Of course not!

"This just got really interesting," Donna told Gabby and Gabby almost felt like scolding Donna for her smirk but...it was a bit funny still.

"Mrs Christie, I'm so glad you could come," Lady Eddison cut in - Renata thanked the heavens - and turned Agatha towards her and the others. "I'm one of your greatest followers. I've read all six of your books. Uh, is, uh, Mr Christie not joining us?"

The question made Agatha's face go flat. "Is he needed?" even her tone had gone sour for a second. "Can't a woman make her own way in the world?"

"Yeah," Gabby did a fist in the air, one that Donna quickly lowered.

"Mrs Christie, I have a question," Roger raised a finger. "Why a Belgian detective?"

With the crowd distracted, the Doctor asked for the newspaper Hugh had. He pulled Renata with him, prompting Donna and Gabby to do the same.

"The date on this newspaper…" the Doctor skimmed the newspaper but most of his attention was on the date. "It's the day Agatha Christie disappeared."

"I remember that," Renata pointed at him while she thought back to her own days in the 20s. "It was a huge story because…" she gasped and looked at Agatha with a newfound emotion, "She just discovered her husband was having an affair."

"You'd never think to look at her smiling away," Gabby tilted her head and let her gaze follow Agatha as the author mingled with each of the guests.

"Well, she's British and moneyed. That's what they do—they carry on," the Doctor shrugged. "Except for this one time. No one knows exactly what happened—she just vanished."

"I remember reading the newspapers and...nobody ever figured out why she disappeared," Renata now cautiously looked around their area, as if whatever the reason would pop up in a moment. "If I remember correctly, her car will be found tomorrow morning by the side of a lake. Ten days later she turns up at a hotel in Harrogate. All she said was that she'd lost her memory but...I mean...I think she was just lying."

"Why?" asked Donna.

"She just found out her husband had an affair! She wanted some time alone!"

"Well...I guess..." Donna shrugged. It did sound a logical reason but maybe there was something else that happened, who knew.

Renata cleared her throat and pulled him away from the other two women to speak in a quieter voice. "Whatever happened to Agatha is going to happen today...and we are going to be smack in the middle."

But unlike her who was worried, the Doctor beamed. "I know, isn't it great!? So exciting!"

"No!" Renata hissed. "It means we brought Donna and Gabriella to another dangerous trip. Maybe we should just go."

"Oh no, we can't do that! Look at how happy they are," the Doctor made a quick gesture to Donna and Gabby who'd drifted towards the food. "Plus, you certainly seemed happy a few minutes ago. I'd definitely liked to see more of that, if I'm being honest."

Renata crossed her arms, not entirely convinced. "I'm happy plenty of times."

"C'mon Renée, loosen up a bit. You've had better times when you do that." He was careful as he uncrossed her arms for her, but he knew he was good when she started fighting a smile. "There we go. Let me show you around, yeah?"

She scoffed but laughed in the end. "Show me what? The refreshments?"

He playfully rolled his eyes and offered her his arm. "C'mon!" She sighed but linked her arm with his again. "We can take a walk along the garden later on, if you'd like?"

"To me that sounds perfect but to you I'm sure it sounds boring."

"Yeah but it makes you happy and that's what I want for you."

Renata looked up at him in surprise, but her smile was quick to come back...along with another blush. "I am happy here, you know. I just can't help but worry about the dangers."

"I'm sure things will be fine-"

"The professor!" the housekeeper, Miss Chandrakala, came running towards the party. "The library! Murder! Murder!"

Renata's face fell flat and when she looked up at the Doctor again, this time he had to give in. "Okay, okay," he would give her the point.

~ 0 ~

The travelers, with Agatha, had ran first into the library where the supposed murder had occurred. Sure enough, there was the corpse of the professor on the floor. The Doctor hurried in first and bent down to examine the corpse.

"Bashed on the back of the head. Blunt instrument," he noted and tapped the professor's watch. "Watch broke as he fell, time of death was quarter past four."

"Oh! I've watched enough Law and Order to know that this-" Gabby had picked up a piece of pipe near the desk, "-is the murder weapon."

"Call me Hercule Poirot but I reckon that's blunt enough," remarked Donna.

Agatha had wandered towards the fireplace and found a scrap of paper. Renata watched the author silently tuck the paper into her hand and said nothing about it.

"There's nothing worth killing for in this lot," the Doctor said, seeming disappointed his quick search of the paper pile on the desk had no good results.

"We need to call the police," Agatha announced and had the agreeing nods of the others who hadn't really dared come fully into the room.

"You don't have to," the Doctor whipped out his psychic paper. He heard Renata's sigh and couldn't help but smile. "Chief Inspector Smith from Scotland Yard, known as the Doctor. And these are…" he swayed his head at his friends for a second.

"Better be clever how you finish that sentence," Renata warned him in a whisper when she walked past him to the group. "We're assistants. We're just here to help out the, uh...inspector. Please go into the sitting room. We will question each of you in turn."

"Come along," Agatha ushered the group out of the room. "Do as they say. Keep the room undisturbed."

"Did Renata just lie?" Donna looked at the others with an expression akin to disbelief.

Renata turned around to them and sighed. "Please don't follow what I did. It's terrible."

"But needed," the Doctor pointed at her. He went searching for any other clues he may have missed the first time.

"Why don't we phone the real police?" Gabby asked.

"The last thing we want is PC Plod sticking his nose in. Especially…" the Doctor paused for a moment as he pulled something gooey off the floor, "...now that I've found this!"

"Do you know what 'this' is?" Renata inched closer as he got back on his feet.

"Morphic residue!"

"Morphic residue? In 1926?"

"Can we speak English for a second?" asked Gabby who was helplessly looking between the pair.

"It's something that gets left behind when certain species genetically re-encodes," the Doctor explained.

"So the murderer's an alien?" Donna blinked.

"Which means that one of that lot is an alien in human form."

"Yeah, but think about it. There's a murder, a mystery and Agatha Christie!"

"So?" the Doctor sniffed the residue in his possession. Renata crinkled her nose. He always had that habit no matter what incarnation, apparently. Would it ever stop!? "Happens to me all the time!"

"This is what I meant about danger!" Renata exclaimed.

"But it's also kind of exciting," Gabby walked up to stand beside her. "We get to figure out who did it. As an Agatha Christie fan, that's gotta be pretty exciting right?" she nudged Renata on the side.

"That's...not the point…"

"Oh just let go a bit!"

"Would everyone quit telling me to do that!" Renata groaned and stalked out of the room first.

"She'll get there," the Doctor said casually about it and followed her out.

Renata found Agatha in the alcove of the staircases. "Miss Christie, you shouldn't be out here on your own."

"I want to know who did this," Agatha said and paused when she saw the Doctor holding the residue. "What…?"

"We need to question the suspects," the Doctor said, putting the residue into a vial from his pocket. "Gabby, Donna, you search the bedrooms and look for clues." He leaned closer to them to whisper, "Any more residue," for better clarification. He put away the vial and took out two magnifying glasses in return. "You'll need this!"

Donna didn't seem as excited as Gabby was - she'd taken her magnifying glass without question.

"Doctor, I'm not sure about letting them go on their own…" Renata began but Gabby wagged her finger at her.

"Oh you can go question suspects! Bet that's exciting!"

"Yeah, I thought it'd be," the Doctor grinned. Donna rolled her eyes and took her magnifying glass and went up the stairs with Gabby. "Right then!" the Doctor turned to Renata and Agatha. "Solving a murder mystery with Agatha Christie. Brilliant!"

Agatha frowned at him. "How like a man to have fun while there's disaster all around him. I'll work with you—gladly—but for the sake of justice, not your own amusement."

The Doctor paused and took the moment to calm himself down. He may have come across as careless - it happened often.

"Hey," Renata now frowned at Agatha, "You keep your personal problems out of this. It's his personality, alright? He cares way more than anyone would." She took the Doctor's arm and led him away.

"Renée, you didn't have to do that," the Doctor said behind her, though he was smiling a bit for her defense.

Renata came to a stop outside the sitting room and turned to face him. "Let's get one thing straight, Doctor. I am a terribly difficult person but you are...wonderful, with all of your stupid grins and excitement, and I will not let anyone insult you about it. Not even Agatha Christie."

It was moments like these that truly warmed the Doctor's hearts. He knew Renata was more than what she thought of herself - that 'terribly difficult' person - and he knew that it was hard for her to express what she truly felt. So, for her to have these small moments of honesty with him...made him feel a little special. When she complimented him like this, he felt a warmth on his face that he couldn't get rid of.

He smiled at her so earnestly, so long, that it made Renata blush. She wanted to urge him to say something but...she'd lost her voice for a second. And it seemed like he had to. So, he did what he wanted to. He swooped down and kissed her cheek. She was stunned but at least she could still blink.

"Let's go interrogate some suspects," he smiled softly and took her by the hand.

"R-right…" was all Renata could say at the moment.

~ 0 ~

Reverend Golightly was first on the list to interrogate. They had given him a chair in the room, facing the Doctor, Renata and Agatha.

"Now then, Reverend… Where were you at a quarter past four?" asked the Doctor.

"Let me think," Golightly said, his gaze lowering a bit. "Why yes, I remember. I was unpacking in my room."

"Oh, so no alibi then?" Renata folded her arms. It was the easy way out. "Because you were alone."

"With the Lord, one is never truly alone."

Renata had to to her eyes. She wasn't a very firm believer anymore - that had died a very long time ago. "Next!"

Roger was second but like Golightly, she had an uncorroborated alibi. "I was taking a constitutional in the fields behind the house. Just taking a stroll, that's all."

"Alone?" Agatha inquired.

"Oh yes, all alone. Totally alone!"

Renata pulled the Doctor a bit away to whisper, "You know he's lying, right?"

"Mhm. But it's not his fault he can't openly say he was taking a walk with Davenport, can he?"

"Guess not," Renata agreed and cut him loose. As of now, he was the only one out of the suspect list.

Robina Redmond was the next suspect. But unlike her predecessors, she seemed more irritated that she was being questioned in the first place. "I went to the toilet when I arrived, and then, um, I was preparing myself. Positively buzzing with excitement about the party and the super fun of meeting Lady Eddy."

"And we've only got your word for it," the Doctor was weary of the theme going on.

Robina smirked. "That's your problem, not mine."

"It is when the threat is going to jail or being murdered," Renata's words did fade that smirk quicker than Robina had planned. "So go on then. Next!"

When Hugh came next, Renata had half a mind to tell the Doctor the man couldn't be the murderer. The professor had been far too tall for someone in a wheelchair to knock him out against the head. It just wasn't logical. Still, she let the interrogation go on but wasn't surprised when another uncorroborated alibi was given.

Lady Eddison was no better either.

"I was sitting in the blue room taking my afternoon tea. It's a ritual of mine. I needed to gather strength for the duty of hostess. I then proceeded to the lawn where I met…you, Doctor and I said "And who might you be and what are you doing here?" and you said, "I'm the Doctor-"

"Yes, yes. You can stop now. I was there for that bit!" the Doctor reminded.

After everyone had been questioned, the trio stayed in the sitting room to go over what they had...which was nothing.

"None of them have alibis which means anyone could've done it," Renata sunk into the chair the suspects had been in.

"That means we must look for a motive in order to identify the murderer," Agatha said.

"Use the little grey cells," Renata said in a sudden Belgian accent. The Doctor stopped to give her an amused look. This might just be her trip after all.

"Oh yes, little grey cells. Good old Poirot," he chuckled. "Y''know, I've been to Belgium."

"Course you've been," Renata straightened in her chair when he stopped by her.

"I was deep in the Ardennes trying to find Charlemagne…" he started to explain. Renata watched him fondly, not having the heart to stop him when he looked so happy sharing his trip. "He'd been kidnapped by an insane computer. It took me days to find him but-"

Agatha had no problem ending the memory. "Doctor! Doctor!"

The Time Lord blinked and looked at Agatha to see her more amused than anything else. "Sorry." He checked for Renata's expression but she seemed just as amused as Agatha was.

"Charlemagne lived centuries ago," remarked Agatha after a moment.

"I've got a good memory!"

"For such an experienced detective, you missed a big clue."

"What, that bit of paper you nicked out of the fireplace?" Renata surprised the author. "Yeah, I used to work with all sorts of rascals. One human-" The Doctor cleared his throat. "I mean one author, is not going to doop me," Renata quickly amended. She needed to start learning how to make herself sound more...human. Calling people 'human' was the way to expose herself. Plus, it was rude.

Agatha took out the scrap of paper and walked up to show it to them. "This is all that was left."

The Doctor studied the bit as best as he could, but he wasn't getting a lot. "What's that first letter? N or M?"

"It's an M, clearly," Renata squinted her eyes. "I think the word is maiden."

"Maiden!" the Doctor exclaimed a bit too loud that it startled the women. "What does that mean?" he asked in a whisper.

Agatha sighed and lowered the paper. "We're still no further forward. Our nemesis remains at large. Unless Miss Noble and Miss Gonzalez have found something."

~0~

"Hey, Donna, can I ask you something?" Gabby made the question just as Donna found a locked bedroom door.

"Uh, now?" Donna briefly glanced at Gabby. The door was seriously locked!

"It's important. I haven't been wanting to say anything but I also noticed that Renata and the Doctor seem really close lately-" Gabby actually flinched when Donna snorted. It was a very hard snort.

"Close? That doesn't begin to cut it!"

"Yeah, I know," sighed Gabby and caught Donna's attention.

She stopped trying to open the door - for the moment - and turned to Gabby. "Why do you say it like that? Don't tell me you suddenly have feelings-"

"Ah! No!" Gabby exclaimed and shuddered, making Donna laugh. "I don't even want to hear how that sense was going to finish! It's just...no!"

"Just had to make sure! So if that's not the problem, what is it?"

"I've been working with the Doctor on something that he's made for Renata and while we've been working... I've started to notice the way he talks about her...looks at her…"

"Right, so we're on the same page! Why are we on this again?"

Gabby sighed. "Because I know something that the Doctor should know about but Renata has forbidden me from saying anything."

"What is it?" Donna crossed her arms.

"I just said that I couldn't say anything."

"But you're obviously worried."

"I am," Gabby nodded. "It's concerning because I've come to love Renata and...she...she's in danger."

Donna blinked. "How do you mean?"

Gabby knew for a fact that the Doctor and Renata decided to keep Renata's 'infection' a secret from them. Gabby herself wasn't supposed to know but she'd eavesdropped. Still, she didn't tell either that she knew. It just wouldn't help anyone, but it wasn't. It wasn't helping Gabby that only she knew what that Ood told Renata a while ago. It was driving her mad that Renata was keeping it a secret from the Doctor, especially when he was looking after her because of the infection he knew about. If he knew about the Ood's prediction, he would try to keep Renata safe at all costs! And maybe that's what Renata needed.

"Gabby?" Donna asked again, now truly noticing the struggle Gabby was in. "Look, I won't say anything if that's what you're worried about. I'll keep your secret. You can get it off your chest with at least one person, right?"

Gabby could do with that, she could really do with that. "Back at Zhe's place, Renata and I were exposed to...alien energy? That Block transfer thing and then...and then I don't know if that's the proper term for it but that's when an Ood we learned that Renata could possibly die."

Donna tilted her head, very much interested now. She hadn't heard anything of this - she was sure the Doctor hadn't either. "Hold on, what did this thing say?"

"It just said her song might end sooner and that...that means death. I know it does. I know songs," Gabby shuddered. She couldn't fathom the idea of Renata ever dying.

"Well, the Doctor said when Time Lords die they don't actually die they-they do this sort of body changing thing," Donna tried explaining it as best as she could but even then, Gabby didn't want to hear it.

"She can't die Donna," she whispered. "I'm trying my best to keep an eye out for anything strange."

"Well, maybe we can do it together now. And we can maybe even figure out a way to make Ren talk about that nasty prediction."

"God I hope so," Gabby exhaled deeply. "I've tried talking to Renata about it. I tried convincing her that she should say something to the Doctor - get his help, you know? Who better to heal her than the Doctor, right?" she nervously smiled. "But she hasn't. And she's going to get really hurt if she keeps it a secret. And what worries me too is that, well, like you said, she and the Doctor are getting really close and if something bad does happen to Renata…"

"He'll be heartbroken," Donna finished for her with a saddened smile. "Or heartsbroken, in his case." Gabby nodded. "That's terrible!"

"I know! No matter how hard I tried she won't listen to me! The only reason I'm telling you this right now is because I realized that the Doctor is falling for her, and she for him. It's a guaranteed heartbreak and I don't want to see either of them get hurt, not when it can be avoided."

"We'll figure something out," Donna said determinedly. Like Gabby, she wanted both their alien friends to be happy and very much safe. She had come to learn how Renata operated and it was an annoying self-sacrifice theme that the Doctor often did. They truly were made for each other.

~0~

Renata had found a mirror hanging on the wall in the hallway. She stopped momentarily and faced her reflection. Part of her wanted to laugh at herself because she never pictured herself standing there, much less travelling with the Doctor and two humans.

"If they could see me now," she whispered. Her hand reached to touch the mirror but just as she did, a golden wasp of energy emanated from her hand. She drew her hand back with a gasp and quickly examined it. She looked up at her reflection again and found the same energy was rising from her head, forming what looked like...golden butterflies?

There was a queasiness in her stomach, growing more as the energy continued to drift from her body. What the hell is happening to me? she gulped.

"DOCTOR! RENATA!" Donna's shrill scream pulled Renata away from the mirror. At the same time, the golden energy disappeared but Renata didn't notice as she ran for the second floor.

She, naturally, arrived first at the scene and came to a skidded stop outside the bedroom door that had been previously locked. "What!? What is a? Who's hurt?"

"There is a giant…wasp!" Gabby cried.

Renata stopped and gave the two women a strange look. Behind her, the Doctor and Agatha had arrived.

"What do you mean there's a wasp? We have seen wasps before right?" Renata's expression was a bit condescending and totally not needed right now.

"We mean a wasp that's giant!" Donna tried to explain but it wasn't much better.

"It's only a silly little insect," Agatha remarked and Renata agreed with a nod.

Donna was the one to stop now. She glared at Agatha and Renata. "When I say "giant", I don't mean big, I mean flippin' enormous! Look at its sting!" She stepped to the side and pointed a finger at the huge stinger stuck through the door.

Renata gasped in horror, but the Doctor was eager to examine the thing. He flung the door open and rushed into the room. There was nothing except the open window. "It's gone! Buzzed off!"

"But that's fascinating," Agatha was more focused on the huge stinger left behind. She was about to touch it when Renata yanked her back. The poor author stumbled back from the force.

"Whoa there! I'm pretty sure touching an alien Stinger isn't the best idea."

"Alien?"

"You were bound to know anytime soon," Renata left her to go check on Gabby. "Are you alright?"

Gabby nodded but there was still a trace of fear left in her face. "It was...huge!"

"Giant wasp…" the Doctor had taken out another vial to collect a sample of the stinger. "Well, there are tons of amorphous insectivorous lifeforms but…none in this galactic vector."

"I think I understood some of those words. Enough to know that you're completely potty!" Agatha exclaimed.

"Lost its sting, though. That makes it defenseless," Donna to tried to be optimistic about their chances of capturing it.

The Doctor all but scoffed. "A creature this size? Gotta be able to grow a new one."

"Uh, can we return to sanity?" Agatha almost waved your hands to get the attention back. "There are no such things as giant wasps."

"Which begs the question of what is that?" Renata made a gesture at the stinger on the door.

"And what's it doing here?" added the Doctor.

Their moment of thought was cut short when they heard yet another shrill scream, this time belonging to the housekeeper. Miss Chandrakala was found just outside the house with a gargoyle over her chest.

"The poor, little...child…" the woman said her last words in a strain before dying.

"Who pushed that gargoyle off the roof!?" Gabby looked around until Donna shook her arm to get her attention.

"Th-that!"

The 'huge wasp' was back and buzzing threateningly at them.

"Let's go!" the Doctor led the chase back into the house in hopes of capturing the wasp.

"Well this is certainly new!" Donna exclaimed as they headed up the stairs. "There's a monster and we're chasing it!"

"Can't be a monster. It's a trick!" Agatha argued on their way up. "They do it with mirrors!"

"Do you see any mirrors around us!?" Renata stopped at the top of the staircase and gestured to the hallway where only portraits hung. Agatha didn't want to admit she was wrong but the fact there could be an alien wasp just...it had to be wrong.

"Oh, but you are wonderful!" the Doctor was gazing at the large wasp with a huge grin on his face.

"Doctor - it's a wasp!" Gabby reminded him and as if the wasp wanted to help prove her point, it raced towards them with its stinger first. They all ducked but the wasp swiftly turned around to do the same thing again.

"Oi! Flyboy!" Donna called to it and raised her magnifying glass up in the air. It didn't do anything and so the wasp flew away.

"Don't let it get away!" the Doctor was the first to run after it again. "Before it reverts to human form!"

They followed the wasp down the hallway and made a turn into a new one, only to find it had disappeared into one of the guests' bedrooms.

"Where are you!?" the Doctor demanded. "Show yourself!"

All the doors in the hallway opened up to reveal each of the guests looking mighty confused at the commotion.

"Well," Renata folded her arms. "That's just cheating. And unfair."

~ 0 ~

Lady Eddison wept for Miss Chandrakala in the sitting room. Everyone else was upset but no one more than her. "My faithful companion! This is terrible!"

"Excuse me, my lady," Davenport stopped behind her chair. "She was on her way to tell you something."

"She never found me. She had an appointment with death instead."

"You mean murder," whispered Renata. The gargoyle had been planted on the rooftop and it wouldn't have fallen if the wasp hadn't pushed it over. And the wasp had been exact in its calculations to push it just at the right time. It was a cold murderer indeed.

"She said, "the poor little child". Does that mean anything to anyone?" the Doctor studied the reactions of the guests to see if anyone led on about the phrase, but no one did anything suspicious.

"No children in this house for years," Hugh remarked then shaped his son a glance. "Highly unlikely there will be."

"Mrs Christie, you must have twigged something. You've written simply the best detective stories," Lady Eddison shifted in her chair to face Agatha, but the author seemed at a loss for words.

"Tell us…what would Poirot do?" asked the reverend.

"Heaven's sake! Cards on the table, woman!" Hugh unexpectedly slammed his fist against his armrest. "You should be helping us!"

"Well shouting at her won't make anything better," Renata rose from her seat. "And she's an author who writes about this stuff - it doesn't actually mean she's a detective." She then added in a much lower tone so that no one would hear her, "And neither are we."

"But surely she can crack it!" Robina made a gesture at the author who only kept shaking her head. "These events, they're exactly like one of your plots!"

"But what? I've no answers. None!" Agatha got up from her seat. "I'm sorry, all of you, I'm truly sorry, but I've failed. If anyone can help us, it's the Doctor, not me." She shook her head again and left in a hurry.

~ 0 ~

Renata sat by herself in the sitting room later while the Doctor returned to the TARDIS to examine the residue he'd found earlier. Donna had gone after Agatha in hopes of cheering the author up and Gabby…

Well, she didn't really know where Gabby was. Right now, Renata's attention was on her hands again. She couldn't get the image of the energy coming out of her hands...her head...her body.

"I don't understand," she whispered as she turned her palms over and over. Her skin was normal - she felt normal. Could it be what the Ood was talking about? Renata gulped. She hoped not. But, if it wasn't, then what was happening?

"Are you alright, Ren?" Gabby's voice - though soft - startled Renata. Her hands dropped to her lap when Gabby came into the room. "You're looking pale!" Gabby noticed and quickly rushed up to Renata. "Are you getting sick?"

"No, no, I...it's just been a long day," Renata's warm smile was not going to fool Gabby.

"No, this is what I was afraid of - it's what the Ood said back at Zhe's gallery. Renata, what if this is how it starts?"

"What starts?" Renata repeated in a low chuckle.

Gabby wasn't going to let her downplay the situation. "Renata, why don't we go talk with the Doctor?"

"What? Absolutely not-"

"-just - just listen to me!" Gabby practically begged. "I'm so tired of keeping this a secret! Something bad is going to happen and you--" she pointed at Renata with a desperate ferocity that froze Renata, "-are going to get hurt! Beyond that - you could die!"

"Enough!" Renata hissed. "Now you need to calm down before someone, especially the Doctor, hears you!"

"Renata, I'm scared," Gabby admitted softly. "I'm scared for you."

"But you shouldn't be," Renata put on her best happy smile for the girl. She put her hands on Gabby's shoulder and gently squeezed them. "I'm fine. Nothing has happened."

"You're really pale," Gabby repeated and touched Renata's hands on her shoulders. "And you're...actually really warm…" her face scrunched in confusion. "Like...burning hot."

Renata immediately pulled her hands away and balled them into fists. "Well, that means I'm fine."

"No, it really doesn't!"

"Look, Gabby-"

"I've got something!" the Doctor strode in looking happy as ever. "It's a Vespiform - what's happened?" he caught onto the vibe of the room and much more, like Gabby, he noticed Renata's new shade of skin color.

"I think Renata is getting sick," Gabby was hesitant to say in the beginning but if she didn't give at least a bit of a clue, then Renata could possibly be a goner. And it was worth all the death glares Renata had to give.

"What?" the Doctor frowned. He forgot about everything else for a second as he walked up to Renata. He touched her face - an action that made her feel even warmer - and realized what Gabby meant. "You're burning hot. Are you running a fever?"

"Don't be silly, I don't get fevers - we don't get fevers," Renata swatted his hand away from her. "Least the human kind."

"Still, that's an unusual amount of heat you're exhibiting." The Doctor gingerly sat her down in the nearest seat.

"You two are making a big deal out of nothing," Renata felt her stomach churn and it wasn't the heat she was feeling. She was overly nervous about being caught and that thought alone was scary.

"Gabby, make sure they bring us some drinks. Renata might benefit from one," the Doctor suggested. Gabby was all over it and ran out of the room.

"Honestly, Doctor," Renata swayed her head, trying to laugh things off.

"Don't belittle our concern, Renata. Now as soon as we're done here, I'm going to run new tests on you-"

"-but-"

"-there is no room for discussion about this!"

"Doctor, look what we found!" Donna came rushing into the room holding a small tool box in her hands.

Despite the current matter, the Doctor took the box from her to examine it. They found an array of tools inside. "Ooh…someone came tooled up…the sort of stuff a thief would use," he remarked.

"The Unicorn—he's here!" Agatha gasped.

"The Unicorn and the wasp," the Doctor said with a sigh. Of course.

"I've got the drinks," Gabby returned a short moment later with a tray in hand. "Davenport says any of them will definitely help Renata gain some color."

"What? What's wrong with, Ren?" Donna studied the Time Lady and realized she'd been unusually quiet.

"I don't need a drink," Renata muttered but the Doctor had already taken one glass off the tray and was holding it to her. "Doctor…"

"One glass will not harm you. Please take it."

"Please Renata?" Gabby whispered hopefully.

Renata sighed and took the glass from him. She took a sip and did admit to herself that it was rather tasty.

"So, um, did you figure out that science stuff?" Donna asked but she kept a lingering gaze on Renata.

"Hm, Vespiform sting. Vespiforms have got hives in the Silifax Galaxy," the Doctor answered but he kept a close eye on Renata as well.

"Again you talk like Edward Lear," Agatha said, sounding more resigned that she would never fully understand him.

"For some reason, this one's behaving like a character in one of your books," he said.

"Come on, Agatha," Donna sat beside the author. "What would Miss Marple do? She'd've overheard something vital by now because the murderer thinks she's just a harmless old lady."

"Clever idea," Agatha admitted. "Miss Marple—who writes those?"

Donna made a face and looked at the Doctor. "I've done it again, haven't I?" he silent nodded. "Well, copyright it: Donna Noble. Add it to the list."

"Renata…?" Gabby noticed that Renata had gone even paler and she thought it was impossible.

Renata opened her mouth but no words came out; all she managed were croaks. Something was closing her throat and it was burning.

"Doctor! Something's wrong!" Gabby turned to the man but he was already running up to them.

"Renée! Ren! What's-"

Renata started shaking her head and swatting his hands away. She made a flapping gesture to her drink she'd placed on the table next to her chair. "Poi….p...poison!"

"How could she be poisoned!?" Donna asked when the Doctor took Renata's glass and sniffed it. "Gabby got her the drink!"

Fearing for a second that she could be blamed, Gabby quickly exclaimed, "They served me the drinks!"

"This is cyanide!" the Doctor almost threw the glass at the wall out of anger. "How could this have happened!?"

"I-I don't know! I'm sorry!" Gabby was scared out of her mind, but the Doctor wasn't paying any attention to her.

"Kitchen - NOW!" he grabbed Renata's hand and yanked out of her chair and out of the room.

"What are you going to do!?" Donna ran after him with Gabby and Agatha in tow.

Renata breathed heavily - and strained - by the time they reached the kitchen. What's more was that she could feel that same warmth from before spreading over her body again. The Doctor leaned her against the isle and went around in search for something, she wasn't listening. Her hands were glowing again! She quickly hid them behind her back.

"Ginger beer! Where is it!?"

"I beg your pardon?" Davenport was nearly outraged that the Doctor was chucking things around the kitchen.

"I need ginger beer - where is it!?" the Doctor was going crazy in search of the damn ingredient. His entire body was on a new speed. He was going from one place to the other, dashing like a blur. His hearts were thumping against his chest, his mind screaming to get the detox fast. Renata was practically choking, he needed to do something!

"The gentleman's gone mad!" one of the waitresses exclaimed.

"Oh shut up and just help him!" Donna snapped.

Eventually, the Doctor had found the ginger beer and ran back to Renata. Gabby was helping the Time Lady stay on her feet but she could feel how badly Renata was shaking - how long could she last this way?

"Drink it now!" he practically ordered and despite it being weird, Renata took the drink and drowned it as fast as she could.

"I'm an expert in poisons, Doctor. It's fatal!" Agatha tried to stop him but he shoved her out of the way. Though she was completely stunned, for the man hadn't even noticed his rudeness, she still insisted on her perspective of reality. "There's no cure!"

"Over my dead body!" he snapped. "Renata, we can stimulate the inhibited enzymes into reversal. Protein! I need protein!"

Renata seemed out of it - as was understandable - but she checked her palms again and saw the glow was fading. Well, at least if she died, she wouldn't be caught with a strange gold glow...unless it was regeneration energy? Could that be it? What if the prediction was a silent killer one? She never considered that one.

"Walnuts!" Donna had found a bag of them and tossed it over to the Doctor.

"Renata, eat!" he then handed a good amount to Renata who very poorly stuffed them into her mouth. She chewed as fast as she could.

"Now I need something salty!"

"There's a bag of salt over there!" Gabby ran to the other counter where she'd seen the plastic bag.

"No, that's too salty!"

"But you said you needed salt!"

The Doctor groaned. "Not that salty!

"What about this?" Agatha tried her hand at helping and showed him a jar of anchovies. If he was going to prove this was actually curable then she wanted to see it firsthand.

"Yes, now you're getting it!" the Doctor took the jar and pulled the lid off.

"I don't like anchovies!" Renata managed to say with a more open throat.

"And I don't like you dying, so take it!"

Renata frowned like a child but she took a lot of anchovies and chewed them as fast as she could to get rid of the taste in her mouth.

"What else do we need now?" Gabby was fast to ask.

The Doctor had stopped all of a sudden. "...a shock."

"Well, what kind? Like...scary!?" Gabby wondered what the hell they could use from the kitchen to scare Renata. "Like Halloween scary!?"

"-mallowveen!?" Renata repeated as she forced down the terrible anchovies down her throat.

Gabby shrugged. It was all she had!

"Not that type of shock," the Doctor took in a deep breath as he hurried back to Renata. "Now I'm very sorry about this Renée but I'd do anything to keep you alive, so…"

Renata barely made a face when he grabbed both sides of her face and kissed her. Of course it would be a shock - perhaps the shock of her lifetime. The Doctor held her tightly, kissing her as if their lives depended on it. Hers did. And yet, despite the fierceness that drove him, the kiss felt very familiar. He wasn't sure if it was because of their time in 1913 with the Family, but then...why else could this be familiar?

Renata was the one to eventually break the kiss by pushing him away, but in doing so she felt an overwhelming power to gag (and it was not from the kiss). She threw her head back and exhaled a black smoke that left her stomach churning afterwards.

"Detox," the Doctor breathed in relief. He finally felt his hearts begin to lose the speed it gained in the last few minutes.

"Renata, thank God!" Gabby made a move towards her but Renata wagged a finger at her and then the others.

"Don't...I don't want anyone near me," she raised her hands, indicating her need to be entirely left alone. There was a foul taste in her mouth from everything the Doctor fed her and if she wasn't careful, she might just throw up on the spot.

The Doctor, however, took it the wrong way. "Renée, I didn't mean-" even the Doctor was included in her demand.

"Don't," she warned in a harder tone. His hearts stopped momentarily. She was mad at him. She shook her head and made her way out of the kitchen, albeit a bit wobbly.

The Doctor couldn't let himself be consumed by his concern for her reaction. He would much rather focus on where that poison came from. He turned to the staff, ignoring their stunned reactions, and glared at each and every one of them. "Who is responsible for this?" None of them had anything to say, which only infuriated the Doctor even more. "I said who did this!?" he stormed towards them and had a few of them, including Davenport, back away.

"We-we don't know! None of us did anything!" the younger waiter said.

"That poison came from somewhere!"

"She-" Davenport pointed a finger at Gabby, making the girl's eyes widen, "-brought the drinks! How do you know it wasn't her!?"

"Because it wasn't!" Gabby frowned. "Why would I poison my own friend!?"

"Doctor, calm down," Donna went up to the man and turned him away from the scared staff. "It was obviously the wasp alien."

"But why would it try to poison Renata?" Gabby asked. "It doesn't make sense."

"Because the glass wasn't meant for her," the Doctor realized very soon. "It was for me. There were three glasses on that tray...and I gave Renata the wrong one. It's my fault."

"No, Doctor, it's not," Donna said very slowly before he made other assumptions. "It's the wasp's fault. So we better catch him or her before it strikes again."

The Doctor nodded, but it didn't mean he was content. Renata would surely hate him now for real.

~ 0 ~

Renata had ample time to calm herself down before coming to dinner. She had not seen the golden energy again and she was taking that as a huge win - the last thing she needed was for any human to see her like that, much less the Doctor. And speaking of the Doctor...her face still warmed every time she thought about him.

That's what happens when you kiss him, she berated herself. It was still the same old story. One kiss from him and she melted. It took her forever to get over him on Gallifrey - and she honestly didn't do a very good job there - and then 1913 came around to knock her back down...and now this moment. She still loved him. A lot. And no matter what incarnation she was in, or he was in, each kiss still felt like the first one they shared when they were young.

When dinner time came around, Renata made the biggest effort to push all those feelings away. She came into the dining room and found mostly everyone was already there. As soon as he saw her, the Doctor got up from his seat and hurried around the table to meet her.

"Renée, I'm so sorry-" he began to apologize when Renata raised a hand to stop him.

"I'm not mad at you, silly," she smiled kindly at him and it was, admittedly, a relieving sight for him. "You saved me from a regeneration."

"You just looked upset…"

"Because I'd been poisoned. I'm not mad at you, Doctor. Thank you for saving me," she said honestly. "I do mean it."

The Doctor nodded, albeit nervously, but it was something to start with. He offered her his arm again and she gladly took it. They returned to the table and sat together. A short while later, dinner was served.

"A terrible day for all of us. The professor struck down, Miss Chandrakala cruelly taken from us, and yet, we still take dinner," the Doctor played with the soup in front of him.

"We are British, Doctor. What else must we do?" Lady Eddison inquired as if it was obvious this was what they had to do.

"Uh, maybe not act as if everything is alright?" Renata's heavy sourness was uncharacteristic but rightly appropriate. "Somebody here-" she picked up her knife and used it to point at each guest, "-decided to poison me. Although after great thought, I realize that I wasn't the intended victim. It was my friend, the Doctor, which makes me-" she suddenly stabbed her knife into the table, startling the others, "-madder."

"She's really good when she's scary mad," Gabby whispered to Donna on the side. The ginger silently agreed.

"Don't you worry, Renée," the Doctor gingerly uncurled her hand from the knife and set it down on the table. "I kind of got an idea from all this poison."

"And what would that be?" Golightly inquired.

"Well, poison," the Doctor smiled in an eerie manner. It made everyone stop eating. "Drink up. I've laced the soup with pepper."

"Ah, I thought it was jolly spicy," Hugh laughed and gladly ate from his soup, proving once again that he was the only real innocent one amongst the group.

"But the active ingredient of pepper is piperine. Traditionally used as an insecticide," the Doctor explained just before thunder cracked behind them.

"Fitting," Renata watched as each guest stared at their soups in horror. "Anybody want seconds?"

Thunder cracked again and cut the lights. One of the windows behind them flung open and brought in a gust of wind that took out the lingering candles.

"What the deuce is that!?" Hugh demanded as a noise from a distance crept up.

"It's a buzzing noise…" Gabby trailed off when they realized what it was.

"No…no, it can't be!" Lady Eddison suddenly cried, something that Renata took special note of.

"Show yourself, demon!" ordered Agatha who rose from her seat.

"Nobody move!" the Doctor warned as the others started to get up. "Stay where you are!"

The Vespiform - the wasp - finally revealed its form to the room.

"About that 'stay where you are' thing…" Donna began to backtrack with Gabby.

"Just run!" Renata shouted. She and the Doctor made a run in the opposite direction towards the doors, pulling Agatha with them.

They all met in the hallway but some of the guests were still inside.

"Well we know the butler didn't do it," Gabby thought to humor them since Greeves was with them, but it was a poor joke.

The Doctor grabbed a decorative sword on the wall and headed back for the dining room. But when he did, the lights were back on…

"My jewelry…the Firestone—it's gone!" Lady Eddison cried when she realized her prized jewel wasn't around her neck anymore. "Stolen!"

But the most horrific part came when they realized that Roger had been stabbed in the back.

~ 0 ~

"This is getting far too dangerous," Renata led the way back into the sitting room. Donna came in behind her and went for the nearest seat. "I think you, Donna, and Gabby, need to go back to the TARDIS."

"I think not!" Gabby immediately refused. "You're the one who was poisoned. If anything, you should go rest and let us figure this out."

"I don't think so," Renata shook her head.

Agatha let them figure that one out while she went to Donna's seat. "Did you inquire about the necklace?"

"Lady Eddison brought it back from India. It's worth thousands."

"Not much there, then," sighed Agatha. "Doctor?" she turned to the man by the fireplace. He'd been very pensive since they'd come in and hadn't said anything since then.

"This thing can sting, it can fly… It could wipe us all out in seconds—why is it playing this game?"

"Every murder is essentially the same—they are committed because somebody wants something."

"Well what would a Vespiform want from humans?" Renata made a gesture to the ones in the room.

"Oh please stop," Agatha told her. "The murderer is as human as you or I."

"UH Uh," Renata cocked her head to the side, about to retort when the Doctor gasped.

"You're right! I've been so caught up with giant wasps, I've forgotten!" he moved around fast until he stood in front of Agatha. "You're the expert."

Agatha thought otherwise. "Look, I told you. I'm just a…purveyor of nonsense."

"Oh, no, no, no, no, 'cause plenty of people write detective stories, but yours are the best. And why?" the Doctor checked around for anyone with an answer.

"Because she understands," Renata was the one to answer. "I mean...it's why I loved your books," she admitted with a small smile. "You are the only author that I can identify with. You've lived…you've fought…you've had your heart broken. I've had that too. And you know about people—their passions, their hope and despair and anger, all of those. You are the best. If anyone can solve this, it's you."

Agatha was touched but there were still many things to think about. Maybe it's what she needed though: to really think. Up until now, she didn't want to think that aliens were real and that could be what was hindering her from seeing the truth.

~ 0 ~

An hour later, all the guests were brought into the sitting room. Agatha hadn't said anything but there was a new determination in her face that no one was going to question.

"I've called you here on this endless night because we have a murderer in our midst," the Doctor stood at the fireplace, at the head of the group, "And when it comes to detection, there's none finer… Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Agatha Christie." He moved to take a seat next to Renata. He hadn't meant to but his hand brushed her arm and he felt the same burning heat again. He looked at her but she was none the wiser as she considered taking Donna up on her offer of a grape from her bowl.

Something was wrong there.

"This is a crooked house…a house of secrets," Agatha took the Doctor's place at the fireplace. "To understand the solution, we must examine them all. Starting with you…Miss Redmond."

Robina straightened in her seat, momentarily appearing nervous but she pushed away by putting on a flashy smile. "But I'm innocent, surely."

Agatha saw right through her. "You've never met these people and these people never met you. I think the real Robina Redmond never left London. You're impersonating her!"

Robina chuckled but her nervousness was back. "How silly." Her smile turned tight and as she spoke again, she did it through gritted teeth. "What proof do you have?"

"You said you'd been to the toilet…"

"Oh, I know this—if she was really posh, she'd say 'loo'!" Donna said in-between munches of grapes. Gabby laughed but she quickly covered her mouth.

"Earlier today, Miss Noble and I found this on the lawn right beneath your bathroom window." Agatha grabbed the tool box and walked up to Robina to hand it back to her. "You must have heard Miss Noble and Miss Gonzalez were searching the bedrooms and you panicked. You ran upstairs and disposed of the evidence.

"I've never seen that thing before in my life!"

"What's inside of that?" Lady Eddison inquired. Robina was refusing to take the box off Agatha's hand.

So, Agatha beat her to it. She opened the box for Robina. "The tools of your trade, Miss Redmond, or should I say…the Unicorn. You came to this house with one sole intention—to steal the Firestone!"

Robina cocked her head and stared at Agatha for a long minute until deciding to give it up. "Oh al right then. Ot's a fair cop!" she spoke in a Cockney accent. "Yes, I'm the bleedin' Unicorn!" she rose from her seat and sent each guest a sour smile. "Ever so nice to meet you, I don't think. I took my chance in the dark and nabbed it." She reached under her dress' strap and took out the Firestone. She chucked it towards the Doctor and rolled her eyes. "Go on then, ya nobs, arrest me. Sling me in jail."

"So...is she the murderer?" Gabby leaned closer to Donna's side as if that would do it for protection.

"Don't be so thick little girl," Robina snapped, completely ignoring Gabby's scowl. "I might be a thief but I ain't no killer."

"Quite," agreed Agatha who dropped the tool box into Robina's seat. "There are darker motives at work, and, in examining this household…we come to you…Colonel."

Hugh groaned. "Damn it, woman! You with your perspicacity! You've rumbled me!" He rose from his chair, stunning the others.

"You—you can walk? But why?" Lady Eddison rose as well and faced her husband.

"My darling, how else could I be certain of keeping you by my side?"

"I don't understand."

"You're still a beautiful woman, Clemency. Sooner or later, some chap will turn your head. I couldn't bear that. Staying in the chair was the only way I could be certain of keeping you."

"That's overly disgusting," Renata didn't hold back her thoughts. "And not to mention manipulative."

Hugh chose to ignore her comments and focused his anger on Agatha. "Confound it, Mrs Christie! How did you discover the truth?"

Agatha blinked away her shock to respond, "Um, actually, I had no idea. I was just going to say you were completely innocent."

Gabby laughed again, but this time Donna laughed with her.

"Not the time," the Doctor whisper-hissed at them but Renata decided it was very much the time.

"Serves him right," she said.

Agatha moved onto Lady Eddison and what she had to say was not good news for the woman. "You brought the Firestone back from India, did you not? Before you met the Colonel. You came home with malaria and confined yourself to this house for six months, in a room that has been locked ever since, which I rather think means—"

Lady Eddison frowned. "Stop, please!"

"I'm so sorry. But you had fallen pregnant in India…unmarried and ashamed, you hurried back to England with your confidante, a young maid, later to become housekeeper, Miss Chandrakala."

"Clemency! Is this true?" Hugh looked at his wife in shock.

Lady Eddison wouldn't look at anyone but she wouldn't deny it. "My poor baby. I had to give him away. Oh, the shame of it."

"You gave your own child away because you were ashamed?" Renata felt a new wave of disgust for the guests. "You're perfectly made for each other," she said to the pair.

"I had no choice. Imagine the scandal, the family name. I'm British—I carry on!"

"Oh my God…" Renata glanced at the Doctor, "We need to get the hell out of here."

The Doctor patted her hand - once again feeling the insane warmth of her skin - and promised her they would leave very soon. They just needed to finish up here. "The pregnancy was not an ordinary one, was it?"

Lady Eddison only spared him a look because she was shocked that he'd figured it out. "How can you know that?"

"Excuse me, Agatha, this is my territory," he got up from his seat to take place at the fireplace again. "But when you heard that buzzing sound in the dining room, you said, "It can't be". Why did you say that?"

"You'd never believe it…"

"Try me."

"It was forty years ago. In the heat of Delhi one night. I was alone and that's when I saw it—a dazzling light in the sky. The next day, he came to the house—Christopher, the most handsome man I'd ever seen. Our love blazed like a wildfire and I held nothing back. And in return, he showed me the incredible truth about himself. He made himself human to learn about us. This was his true shape. I loved him so much it didn't matter. But he was stolen from me. 1885, the year of the Great Monsoon. The River Jumna rose up and broke its banks. He was taken at the flood. But Christopher left me a parting gift—a jewel like no other. I wore it always. Part of me never forgot. I keep it close. Always."

"Just like a man—flashes his family jewels and you end up with a bun in the oven," Robina carelessly remarked and didn't even notice the glare Lady Eddison sent her way.

"A "poor little child". Forty years ago, Miss Chandrakala took that newborn babe to an orphanage. But Prof Peach worked it out," Agatha said. "He found the birth certificate."

"Oh, that's "maiden"—maiden name!" Donna realized. "So she killed him."

"I did not!" Lady Eddison angrily said.

"Miss Chandrakala feared that the professor had unearthed your secret. She was coming to warn you," Agatha told the woman, but Donna had something else to say.

"So she killed her!"

"I said no!"

"Lady Eddison is innocent. Because at this point… Doctor?"

"Thank you," the Doctor nodded. "Because at this point when we consider the lies and secrets and the key to these events, then we have to consider…it was you, Donna Noble…"

"What?" Donna blinked and nearly dropped her bowl of grapes if Gabby hadn't dove to catch it. "Who did I kill?"

"Nobody, he's just being dramatic," Renata assured the woman.

"No, but you said it all along, the vital clue—that this whole thing is being acted out like a murder mystery. Which means…it was you, Agatha Christie!"

Agatha blinked when the finger was pointed her way. "I beg your pardon, sir?"

"So she killed them?"

"Donna, it might be better if you just wait," Renata suggested.

"Agatha, you wrote those brilliant, clever books," the Doctor went on. "And who's her greatest admirer? The moving finger points…at you, Lady Eddison."

"Leave me alone!" cried the woman.

"Oh my goodness," Renata sighed. "Doctor, get on with it!"

"Last Thursday night, what were you doing?"

Lady Eddison still glared at the Doctor for his constant push but she did answer a few minutes later. "I...was in the library. I was reading my favorite Agatha Christie thinking about her plots, and how clever she must be. But how is that relevant?"

The Doctor bobbed his head to the side. "Just think—what happened Thursday night?" he set his eyes on Golightly and the man had the audacity to be surprised.

"I'm sorry?"

"You should be," the Doctor frowned. "You said on the lawn this afternoon, last Thursday, those boys broke into your church."

"That's correct…they did. I discovered the two of them—thieves in the night. I was most perturbed. But I apprehended them."

"Really? A man of God against two strong lads? A man in his forties? Or, should I say, forty years old…exactly."

Lady Eddison was shocked all over again. "Oh my God!"

"Lady Eddison, your child—how old would he be now?"

"Forty. He's…forty."

"Your child has come home."

Golightly laughed at them all. "Ha! This is poppycock!"

"Oh? You said you were taught by the Christian fathers, meaning, raised in an orphanage," the Doctor reminded him. "You found those thieves, Reverend, and you got angry. A proper, deep anger for the first time in your life and it broke the genetic code. You changed. You realized your inheritance. After all these years…you knew who you were. Oh, then it all kicks off 'cause this…" he took the Firestone from Lady Eddison and held it in the air, "-isn't just a jewel—it's a Vespiform telepathic recorder. It's part of you—your brain, your very essence. And when you activated, so did the Firestone. It beamed your full identity directly into your mind. And, at the same time,

it absorbed the works of Agatha Christie directly from Lady Eddison. It all became part of you. The mechanics of those novels formed a template in your brain. You killed in this pattern because that's what you think the world is. Turns out we are in the middle of a murder mystery. One of yours, Dame Agatha."

"Huh, what do you know, it really was one of her stories," Renata nodded in her realization.

"Dame?" Agatha repeated in confusion.

"Oh sorry, not yet," the Doctor shared an amused smirk with Donna. It was harder than he thought.

"So...it was the Reverend, then?" asked Gabby. "He killed them?"

"Yes."

Golightly stood up from his seat and shook his head. "Well, this has certainly been a most entertaining evening. Really, you can't believe any of this, surely, Lady Eddizzz—"

"Lady who, now?" called Renata. There was a smirk trying to start at the corner of her lips.

"Lady Eddizzzon…"

"Little bit of buzzing there, Vicar?" Renata leaned forwards, now letting her smirk fully show.

"Don't make me angry!"

"Don't make you angry!?" Renata practically jumped out of her seat. "You murdered people and you poisoned me!"

"Damn it! You humanzzz!" Golightly practically stomped his foot. "Worshipping your tribal sky godzzz! I am so much more! That night, the universe exploded in my mind! I wanted to take what wazz mine. And you, Agatha Christie, with your railway station bookstall romancezzz… What'zzz to stop me killing you? What'zzz to stop me killing you all?" He started shaking violently until the Doctor figured out he was going to transform back into his true form.

"No more murder! If my imagination made you kill, then my imagination will find a way to stop you, foul creature!" Agatha had taken the Firestone and ran out of the room.

"Agatha, don't do that!" Renata sighed and rushed after her, prompting the others to do the same.

They came out of the house but lost Agatha for a few minutes. She showed up in her car, honking the horn to get the Wasp's attention. And it was just in time because the it burst through the front door.

"Agatha, come back!" Renata called but Agatha drove into the darkness.

"C'mon!" the Doctor led them towards another car for them to follow.

"What is she doing?" Gabby asked as they stopped by an empty car.

"She realized she can control it," Renata said, ushering her into the car. "She's going to try and stop him on her own. Humans!"

"Hey!" went Donna and Gabby.

The Doctor took the well and went after Agatha and the Vespiform as fast as he could.

"Now wait a minute, this is the night Agatha Christie loses her memory!" Donna remembered.

"Time is in flux, Donna! For all we know, this is the night Agatha Christie loses her life and history gets changed!" the Doctor said.

"Over my dead body!" Renata huffed.

They followed Agatha up to the lakeside where she was forced to stop. She'd gotten out of her car and held the Firestone in her hand.

"Here I am! The honey in the trap. Come to me, Vespiform!"

"She truly is controlling it," Gabby said once they stopped their own car and were able to get out.

"It's mind is based on her thought processes. They're linked," the Doctor explained.

"Quite so, Doctor. If I die, then this creature might die with me," Agatha held the Firestone high in the air.

"Don't hurt her! You're not meant to be like this. You've got the wrong template in your mind!" the Doctor called but the Vespiform was still coming towards them.

"It's not listening," Renata said in frustration.

Donna took a decision and ran up to Agatha, snatching the Firestone from her hand and throwing it into the lake. The Vespiform dove into the water to retrieve it but ended up drowning instead. "How do you kill a wasp? Drown it," Donna sighed. "Just like its father."

"Donna, that thing couldn't help itself," the Doctor shot the woman a look.

"Neither could I," Donna said quickly. She wasn't going to let it kill anyone else.

"Death comes as the end. And justice is served," Agatha said but she didn't really feel like they'd done much of the justice part. "Just one mystery left, Doctor. Who exactly are you?"

"I don't think you have the time to listen to that bit, Agatha," Renata cleared her throat and looked away before the Doctor could see her smile.

But suddenly, Agatha doubled over in pain. She groaned and nearly fell to the ground if the Doctor hadn't caught her. "Oh! It's the Firestone! It's part of the Vespiform's mind! It's dying and it's connected to Agatha!"

It was true. Agatha's body was glowing purple just like the Vespiform was in the lake. But just as it started, it stopped and Agatha fell unconscious.

"What just happened?" Gabby looked out into the lake and saw that the purple glow had also disappeared from the water.

"It let her go. Right at the end, the Vespiform chose to safe someone's life," the Doctor realized.

"Is she alright, though?" Donna neared closer to them, seeing Agatha wasn't even moving.

"Oh, the amnesia," Renata had gasped when she made her own realization. "This is how she loses her memories. The Vespiform...it wiped her mind of everything that happened. The wasp, the murders…"

"And us," Donna looked up from Agatha. "She'll forget about us."

Renata smiled sadly. "The only human author I liked...and she won't ever remember me. Of course."

~ 0 ~

"So what's going to happen to the others?" Gabby asked once the group was back in the TARDIS. "Lady Eddison, the colonel, and all the staff—what about them?"

"A shameful story. They'd never talk of it—too British," the Doctor said and watched how Renata practically fumed at the excuse. "While the Unicorn does a bunk back to London Town, she can never say she was there."

"But what happens to Agatha? Will she be okay?" asked Donna.

"Oh, great life! Met another man, married again. Saw the world. Wrote and wrote and wrote!"

"She never thought her books were any good, though. And she must have spent all those years wondering."

"Yeah but, I don't think she ever quite forgot." There was a knowing smile on the Doctor's face as he went around the console till he pulled a part of the floor like a lid. "Great mind like that, some of the details kept bleeding through. All the stuff her imagination could use. Like Miss Marple!"

"I should have made her sign a contract," sighed Donna.

"What's all that stuff in there?" Gabby peered over the Doctor's shoulder as he dug through dozens of objects under the floor.

"Souvenirs," Renata answered from the console, eyeing the open part of the floor with distaste. "Some of them - if not most of them - being completely dangerous."

The Doctor kept digging through the objects until he found what he was looking for: a copy of one of Agatha's books, Death in the Clouds. He showed it to Donna who quickly recognized the large wasp on the front cover.

"She did remember!"

"Bet that was a scare for the people who were at the party," Gabby chuckled as she took the book into her hands.

"Somewhere at the back of her mind, it all lingered," the Doctor said. "And that's not all. Look at the copyright page."

Gabby turned to the page and checked the publication. "Facsimile edition published in the year…5 billion!?" She and Donna shared the exact gaping mouths.

"People never stop reading them. She is he best-selling novelist of all time."

"Well earned," Renata said from her spot by the console.

"But she never knew," Donna sadly said.

"Well, no one knows how they're gonna be remembered. We can only hope for the best," the Doctor said, giving her a cheery smile. "Maybe that's what kept her writing. The same thing that keeps me travelling. Onwards?"

Donna playfully rolled her eyes. "Onwards."

~ 0 ~

Renata had been so close, so close to escaping the Doctor's clutches...but he was too smart for her...and fast. He was really fast.

Keeping true to his word, he'd brought her right into the medbay to run those tests he'd mentioned earlier. Renata was scared out of her mind thinking what the results would say, and much more what the Doctor would do. What if she truly was dying already? Or worse, what if she wasn't dying but there was something freaky going on with her insides?

"This is really strange," the Doctor murmured as he read through the results on the computer screen. Renata looked up from her palms to see him thoroughly focused on whatever was on the screen. "The energy we talked about, the Bloxk Transfer Matrix from the Zhe's gallery is still there and so is the Osiran energy."

"Well...what's it doing exactly?" she curiously asked.

"Getting stronger by the looks of it," the Doctor glanced at her, his eyes scrutinizing her for any obvious sign of the merge he spoke about. "You're not expelling it.

Renata wondered if her body was struggling to expel the energy and that's why she was suddenly glowing golden. The Doctor tore his gaze away from the screen to see Renata's reaction. She was mighty good at keeping her expressions neutral. All she did was stare at the screen.

"I'm afraid it's going to get stronger and stronger until it starts...hurting you," the Doctor swallowed hard and turned the computer off. "This is energy that no one - not even us - should have. It's...it's…"

"Contamination," Renata said shakily. "I'm...toxic," she bit her lip as a sour chuckle slipped through. "Not surprising there."

"No, you're not. I'm going to find a way to get that energy out of you, I swear," the Doctor told her.

"Oh, I know you would," sighed Renata. She didn't want him overworking himself just for her. She didn't deserve that. "But listen, I'm okay right now. I'm good."

The Doctor knew by now that Renata wasn't the most open woman - she was used to hiding and that included her personality and feelings. He hadn't yet figured out how to get her to open up entirely, but he wouldn't give up.

"I'm tired, Doctor. I'd really like to go to bed now," Renata said after a moment of silence. She made to leave when he gently grabbed her arm.

"Can I take you somewhere first?" he asked. Renata raised an eyebrow at him, obviously confused with his question. "I, uh, I wanted to give you something. It'll be fast, I promise."

Renata couldn't see why not so she nodded and allowed him to lead her out of the room. He brought them back to the console room and landed them somewhere new, apparently.

When Renata poked her head out she saw it was still night time but they were somewhere in a garden, a beautiful large garden. She felt the light breeze with her flapper dress, but she didn't mind. After feeling like she was on fire, she could use a breeze. "Where are we?" she chuckled as she came out.

"Well, you did say you'd like to take a walk in a garden," the Doctor came out behind her.

"Right, well, I meant in the daytime," Renata took a few steps away from the TARDIS and looked around the place. It was so green and bright despite it being night time. "And, you know, with the others."

"I don't think we should bother Donna and Gabby right now," the Doctor said. "C'mon." He took her by the hand and led her down the cobblestone path.

"You haven't told me where we are, though" asked Renata. She spotted a bright red rose bush coming up and she couldn't help wonder who was in charge of the place - it was simply beautiful!

"It's part of a mediation facility. Welcomes all types of aliens who just want to...relax."

"Well I'd love this place!"

"I thought you would. After a day like the one we've had…"

Renata slowly came to a stop and turned to face him. "You're not still thinking that I'm upset with you over what happened, right? I get what you were doing."

"I just...I don't like putting you in danger, Renée. I know you can take care of yourself but...if I can prevent it then I will."

Renata softly smiled at him. "Oh my Doctor, you are far too kind for a woman like me."

"You're too kind for a man like me." The Doctor sighed, making her smile fade.

"No," she said automatically. "And I will not discuss this any further. I don't want you to stop smiling because of me. It was an overall okay day," she said and because the Doctor knew she was just trying to cheer him up, he smiled at her again. "Got to visit the 20s again. Always a nice time period, if you know where to go."

"Hm, and just where was the past Renata during this time?" he curiously asked. "Speakeasies?"

Renata flushed with embarrassment. "Only a few-"

"Oh!" the Doctor's eyes widened with even more curiosity.

"Don't give me that look!" Renata laughed and let go of his hand to walk a bit ahead.

"Give me a break! It's hard picturing you of all people dancing in a speakeasy!"

Renata refused to look at him while he tried to picture those images. It was embarrassing enough but at least they were doing well again. "Oh, stop it! It wasn't all about the speakeasies. I personally loved the authors and cultural shifts the period had."

The Doctor playfully rolled her eyes. Of course she would prefer to focus on the more classical features of the 20s. "Like what?"

"Well, like...oh, I personally liked F. Scott Fitzgerald's work that started coming out," Renata smiled. "All the quotes that came out of his work were amazing. He was a trouble author, as was his wife, but his quotes always had this clear truth in them."

"Like what?" the Doctor walked alongside her now that she'd slowed her pace down.

Renata hummed and crossed her arms, thinking of the many quotes that she was fond of. After a few seconds, she decided on one even if it was truthfully bittersweet. "I love her and that's the beginning and end of everything..." She came to a slow stop and sighed lightly. "It's a sad line, you know? Love is beautiful but at the same time it can hurt you. And it has, on many occasions."

The Doctor could only silently agree. He'd been there himself of course. "And that's the line that spoke to you? Out of everything he ever wrote?"

Renata nodded. "Unfortunately."

It resonated with her because it was basically her story with the Doctor. The day she met him was the day everything began. She began to smile more, laugh more, be more spontaneous...she learned how to be a better version of herself who could have fun. It was the beginning of a wonderful, albeit rocky, story. He was such an impossible man even back then, making her 'think outside the box' and do the craziest of things. It was the beginning of her first and true love for someone. But at the same time, it was also the end of things, of several things. It was the end of her sanity - he drove her crazy almost every day with his shenanigans - and the end of any possibility of her ever being to love someone else with the same intensity she loved the Doctor with.

The Doctor stared at her while she got lost in thoughts. He was sure that something terrible once happened to Renata that made her like this. He had zero idea what it could've been but he wished it hadn't happened because Renata deserved to be happy. She shouldn't feel like she needed to hide things from her friends. He would never judge her, he just wished he could show her that, make her understand that he was right there.

Start with what you have, the little voice in his head scolded him. That's when he remembered the point of bringing Renata out in the first place. "Renée," he gently called to her so as to not scare her. She blinked out of her thoughts and listened to him. "I've, uh...I've been sort of working on something. Gabby helped with a few things, actually. I...I thought you might...you know..."

Renata followed and nodded at his hand gestures but he wasn't making much sense. "What is it?"

"Well, uh...it's..." the Doctor had to stop and exhale because otherwise he wouldn't be able to keep talking. He was super nervous all of a sudden and he had no reason to be. You decided to make it, now give it to her! The voice was right. "I've made something for you."

"Oh," Renata blinked with genuine surprise and perhaps a bit of curiosity. What could he have made for her?

"Yeah, um...hold on," the Doctor reached for one of his coat's inside pockets and pulled out a small rectangular box. "I-I thought - well, after the whole Monaxi thing, I thought you might benefit from one."

"Benefit from what?" Renata gingerly took the box from him.

"Open it." The Doctor intently watched her pull the lid off the box, his hearts possibly beating quicker when she gasped.

Renata's eyes had widened the moment she saw a golden white sonic screwdriver tucked inside the box. She looked up at the Doctor with the corners of her mouth twitching into a smile. "Is it...is it actually a...a sonic?" She looked like she wanted to laugh so the Doctor presumed she was liking the gift. "It's a sonic screwdriver!?"

"Yeah, um, I figured you might like one so that you can...you know, not have to use your balled fists?" the Doctor raised his own fists for show, making Renata laugh when she remembered how she wanted to take on the Monaxi even without a sonic and just her hands.

"Right," she brought her hand to her stomach while she laughed. "Oh my goodness, I can't believe you would do this for me!"

The Doctor loved seeing her face so bright with delight. She very rarely had these moments and he proud that he was responsible for her happiness right now.

"My own sonic screwdriver, ha!" Renata picked up the sonic from its box and studied it. It was similar to the Doctor's sonic only hers seemed to have a bit more width to it, and it had a clear tip that, once she flicked it on, shined a light golden unlike the Doctor's that shined blue. She laughed at the golden light. "My favorite colors!"

"Gabby's idea. She helped design the thing - loves to draw - and I worked on the, uh, well, the features." the Doctor said, smiling as she went through some of its basic features. "It's identical to mine in its working methods, just...with a few touches for you."

Renata's eyes twinkled with happy tears. I never deserved someone like you. She hurried over to hug him tightly. "Thank you so much! I love it!"

A total wave of relief washed over the Doctor when she said that. He hugged her tighter, letting himself breathe in her sweet perfume and natural scent. "I'm glad you like it."

"How could I not? It's wonderful and so are you!" Renata wrapped her arms around his neck and really took the moment to relish in it. Of course she then noticed the light gold glow on her right hand, reminding her that not all was well.

#doctor who #10th doctor #ocappreciation #ocapp #10th doctor fics #dw imagine #dw imagines #10th doctor imagines #doctor who imagines #doctor who fics #donna noble #gabby gonzalez #oc: Renata Cartwright #fic: the beginning of everything

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