#rescue gone wrong

[whump-queen]

a trope I love and don’t see nearly enough: when a battle/fight breaks out but nobody bothers to free the prisoner.

whumpee is just stuck chained up or tied down while chaos erupts around them. perhaps dangling from the ceiling, or locked to the floor on their knees, all while getting grazed with arrows or bullets that just barely miss them. or maybe they don’t miss.

whumpee getting pummeled into when one assailant’s body slams another. someone else’s blood spattering whumpee’s face when one stabs another.

the captivity has left them so weak. maybe they’re barely conscious of the commotion around them, dazed eyes flitting over flying fists and spattered blood.

do they cry out for help? is there anyone they can trust here? do they dare? does anyone care? can anyone even hear them over all the commotion?

are their friends trying to rescue them? or is it just another team who wants whumpee to themselves? if their friends are trying to save them, whumpee is now they’re just stuck watching their friends get hurt by whumper’s goons and being unable to do anything about it but cry out to them and tell them they’re sorry. they shouldn’t have come. they’re so sorry.

terrified whumpee yanking at the restraints and begging their friends to turn back. that it’s not worth it. to leave them here and surrender, retreat, to escape while they can before they end up just like whumpee, chained up and useless and utterly helpless to whumpers whims.

I like the idea of a whumpee panicking when they see their friends coming to rescue them. they know there’s no chance they’d win, not against whumper. that was the only solace whumpee had, that at least their loved ones were safe, and now they’re watching that slip away with every team member captured before their eyes.

the guilt, the panic, the helplessness, I love it all.

[whump-galaxy]

The whumpee struggling not to laugh with their broken ribs. They hold their chest tight, wheezing and coughing through manic laughter. The caretaker thinks they’ve gone crazy, how could they be laughing after almost dying? But that’s why they’re laughing. They can feel the pain in their ribs. The blood soaking through their fingers. The ringing in their ears.

They’re alive. They lived.

[whumpsmith-participates]

AI-less Whumptober 2024

Day 28 - Internal bleeding

Tags/CW: lachilles, superheroes, rescue gone wrong, Mirage!

When both you and your partner are active superheroes, sometimes you're called in to go and rescue your significant other when they can bite off more than they can chew.

Not that March Hare wasn't an amazing and flawless hero in Verdigris' eyes, but he did notice that they ended up in this kind of situation quite a bit; where his relatively powerful boyfriend would get in over his head and he had to go and rescue him whilst trying not to let his emotions get the better of him.

Of course he was worried. Verdigris always worried when March Hare got into trouble. But there was a time and place for worrying, and sneaking into an enemy base to rescue someone was not it. So he maintained his focus, avoided guards, cameras and— was that a dog?

It helped that the bad guys were quite distracted by a raid at one of their other locations, occupying the lot of them with securing other locations, getting rid of evidence, and leaving only a skeleton crew to guard the captured hero.

Somehow Verdigris made it to the room they had locked March in without alerting any guards. The key was left in the lock on the outside of the door, making it easy for him to get in. He even remembered to pocket the key, so no one could sneakily lock them in while he was tending to his boyfriend.

The room was bare, save for a chair in the middle that March was cuffed to. Verdigris recognised them right away as power-suppressing cuffs, which explained why March hadn't been able to escape on his own yet.

Another explanation was the fact that he didn't seem to be conscious, sitting slumped in the chair, the handcuffs preventing him from falling out of it entirely. His purple jacket was torn and stained with blood, some of it still dripping from a cut on the side of his face.

"Crap," Verdigris murmured under his breath.

He quickly approached March, crouching down next to him and gently lifting his head in an attempt to rouse him.

"Bae? Wake up, come on, I got you..."

March groaned quietly, but didn't quite wake up. Verdigris worried he might be concussed, so he carefully charged his hand with green, glowing 'essence' and he carefully caressed March's face, stinging his open wounds before beginning to heal them.

Predictably, March winced at first, the stinging sensation waking him up, blinking his eyes open as he peered at Verdigris with a daze. Then he recognised his face, and the warmth of his powers, and he leaned against his hand, allowing his face and his concussion to heal, before pulling away so Verdigris wouldn't "waste" too much of his energy on him.

"Th-thanks..." he said hoarsely, "What are you doing here?"

"You went radio silent for a bit too long so they called me." Verdigris said with a shrug, "Let me get those cuffs off of you, then we'll get out of here. Are you hurt anywhere else?"

He got up, moving behind March before crouching down again to take a closer look at the handcuffs.

"I'm fine." March said, "Just get me out of here, we'll worry about the rest later."

Verdigris nodded, using his phone to try and connect to the power-suppressing cuffs to see if he could unlock them. Once his phone recognised the internal chip, he got a pop-up that they had been marked as "lost." So that was one good thing out of all this. If he pocketed the cuffs, that was at least one set less circulating on the black market.

After agreeing to some terms and conditions that he didn't read, he was allowed to unlock the cuffs by scanning his thumb print. They opened with a soft click, and March groaned in relieve when he regained some feelings in his arms as he slowly moved them, while Verdigris pocketed the lost cuffs.

"Can you stand?" he asked, getting up again.

"Yeah," March insisted, before needing a hand up to actually get to his feet...and to stay on his feet.

"A-are you dizzy? Do you feel nauseous? Should I carry you?"

"I'm fine."

March all but swatted Verdigris off of him, before somewhat limping towards the door in an almost straight line. Verdigris rolled his eyes while March had his back turned, before following him.

He didn't seem fine. But he knew that tone. If he kept pushing he'd just get upset. He didn't blame him. He figured he was probably a little embarrassed about getting caught and wanted to at least walk out to save face.

"How did you get past the guards?" March asked, hand on the handle, but not yet opening the door.

"The police are raiding another location, which drew most of them away," Verdigris said, "there's hardly anyone around— They have a guard dog though."

"Tremors usually send dogs running before humans can even feel them," March said, "so we can deal with that easily. The rest we'll just have to avoid or teach a lesson, I guess. Doesn't matter too much."

"'Doesn't matter' is what got you in here in the first place," Verdigris pointed out.

"They got lucky," March insisted, before opening the door.

Now that he had access to his powers again, he could sense the slightest vibrations of footsteps, doors opening and closing, even some sounds, all reverberating through the concrete walls and floors of the building. That way he could tell, without peeking, that no one would be waiting to surprise them in the corridor before he opened the door.

He tried to take the lead. He always had that tendency, and Verdigris usually let him, because he did have a better view on their surroundings, the situation, and always had at least three different plans at the ready. But he was stumbling and swaying and about halfway down the corridor he needed to lean against the wall for support.

Without saying anything, Verdigris took March's arm and put it around his shoulders, supporting him as they continued on. March was about to protest, but Verdigris cut him off before he could say anything.

"Shut up," he said quietly, "I won't tell anyone."

March rolled his eyes, before allowing Verdigris to support him, guiding him to the exit while he kept an eye out for incoming guards. They managed to make it unscathed, allowing them to put some distance between them and the lair before stopping and catching their breath.

"That could've gone worse," Verdigris panted, stretching a bit as he finally allowed March to stop leaning on him.

"It wasn't...so bad to begin with," March replied, both hands leaning on his knees.

"Sure it wasn't..." Verdigris murmured under his breath, while pulling his phone from his pocket. "I'm gonna call in that you were safely extracted and then we'll find our way to the clinic."

"Okay..."

Verdigris looked up, a brow raised. Usually this was the moment where they bickered about whether March needed to see a doctor or not, but now he just agreed? He looked his boyfriend over carefully, noticing the pale look on his face, scrunched in pain, the way one of his arms was pressed firmly over his stomach, the vacant look in his eyes, and finally, his knees hitting the ground as he collapsed.

"M-March?! MARCH!"

Verdigris rushed over to prevent him from smacking his head on the pavement, dropping his phone in the process instead. He cradled March in his arms, tilting his head back to check his breathing. It was too shallow for his liking, and as his hand slid down to his throat, he found that his pulse was weak too.

"Fuck...F-fuck!"

He cursed out loud, quickly checking March for any wounds he might have missed earlier. He recognised the symptoms of blood loss, but he couldn't find any wounds big enough to cause his symptoms. Unless...

"I-it's inside," Verdigris concluded, paling himself as he knew all too well how quickly that could become very dangerous.

He looked around and snatched up his phone, feverishly tapping his fast-dial contacts and calling someone who would be able to get March to hospital now.

"M-Mirage! I need a ride to the clinic, something's seriously wrong with March. H-he's showing signs of shock!"

"I'll be right there—"

The line cut off, at the same time that Verdigris could hear a soft plop! behind him. He quickly lowered his phone and looked behind him, Mirage immediately becoming his favourite hero as she stood right there.

"Straight to the clinic?" she asked, "any other wounds I should call in first?"

"I-I don't think so," Verdigris said, "I don't know!"

"Ooookay, let's just go." Mirage quickly said, crouching down beside him and putting her arm around his shoulders, "Hold on tight. I've got you both."

Verdigris nodded, tightening his hold on March before bracing himself for Mirage's teleportation powers.

Plop!

@ailesswhumptober

Verdigris belongs to @dr-abitat-blog

Masterlist Main account

I can't believe it took me this long to nearly kill Lyall again lmao

[mischievousspooks]

He brought home a heat lamp.

[violent138]

I believe that Jason's in built taser armour has gone off during hugs and nobody believes that it was a mistake at all, despite Jason's repeated insistence that even he wouldn't be that evil.

[gelu-the-babosa-multiversal]

Thank you @shipper-of-many-many-ships for giving me the inspiration to draw them. Referring to this post

Hulk is not that scary compared to Chief

[chaotic-orphan]

Whumptober No. 1

Race Against Time

Search Party // Panic Attack // "If only we could hold on.”

TW: lady whump, blood, lady whumpee, multiple whumpees, male whumper

Welcome to Whumptober everyone 3:) I am doing all 31 days~

*~*~*~*~*

Caretaker kicked Whumper’s door to the cabin open, gun in hand, barrel finding Whumper’s chest immediately and locking on. Immediately. Because Whumper was sitting on the couch with a book in hand, waiting for Caretaker to arrive. At the commotion he raised his head and smiled.

“Ah, Caretaker, I was wondering when you’d come back.”

“Where is he?” Caretaker all but growled. Whumper didn’t answer. He tilted his head to the side, eyes locked on Caretaker’s the whole time, as if Caretaker wasn’t holding a gun that could kill him in heartbeat. A small squeeze of the trigger, so gentle a touch for such a big weight off her shoulders.

Caretaker could kill him, she realised. Right here, right now. She could be free of him forever. A tremor ran through her hands at the possibility. So tempting. So tantalising. If she killed him she wouldn’t get Whumpee back.

“You know you really shouldn’t aim those things at someone you don’t intend to shoot.”

Caretaker’s eyes flashed. “Try me.”

Whumper hummed, snapping the book shut and placing it on the table beside the couch. Caretaker swallowed, planting her feet on the ground, expecting him to stand.

Instead he crossed one leg over the other, resting his ankle on his knee and leaning his elbow on the armrest, his hand propping up his cheek. Completely relaxed.

“Where’s Whumpee?” Caretaker ground out through clenched teeth. Whumper smiled coyly, his eyes the half lidded fox gaze, that saw everything. It was as if he could strip back skin with his gaze, peeling back layers and peeking inside you to see how you thought, how you felt, what made you tick, what made you scared, what made you scream. The world his playground; people his play things.

“Did you come alone?” Whumper asked instead. The question sent shivers down her spine because yes, yes she did come alone and he knew that. She could feel it. He just asked to let her know he knows.

Caretaker stepped closer, hopefully menacing, but her body was thrumming with a mixture of fear, anxiety and adrenaline. She had to keep her nerves for god sake, her hands clammy on the grip.

She clicked off the safety. “Where’s Whumpee?”

Whumper smiled. It made the hairs on her arms stand on end, at attention, every fibre of her being registering the threat he was to her. And he wasn’t even moving. He was just sitting. Fuck! She was freaking out.

“Look at you, Caretaker. Taking the initiative, I told you that you’re magnificent,” Whumper purred. “If you could see yourself right now you’d know what I’m talking about.”

Caretaker swallowed, trying to dislodge the lump that formed in her throat. This is just his trick, his verbal disarmament. Reel you in with his honeyed words and once he has you, he…

Caretaker steeled her resolve, raising the gun a little higher, about to ask where Whumpee was again when Whumper stood suddenly and she faltered. His movements fluid like a cat, a deadly grace as he towered over her, humming. She fought the urge to step back.

“How long do you think a person can survive without breathing, Caretaker?” He asked, his voice rumbling in his chest, echoing off the wooden cabin walls and back to her ears.

“What?” She asked.

Whumper put his hands behind his back, observing her down his nose now. “How long do you think someone can survive without oxygen?”

Dread opened in her guy like a black hole, yawning and threatening to pull her organs into it. “Wh— what does that have to do with anything?” She stammered, hating her mutinous voice.

Whumper hummed, shrugging. “It may or may not have something to do with where Whumpee is,” he said casually. Caretaker paled.

“So would you say a minute? Two minutes? Say, how long was this delightful chat, hmm?” He crooned, a ghost of a smile on his lips.

“Whu—” Panic and rage blinded her at his words, heart jumping into her throat because how long have they been speaking? Was it longer than a minute? Two? Three? Can normal people go without oxygen for three minutes? Could Whumpee?

She abandoned the thought of shooting Whumper, clicking the safety on and opting instead to hit him with it. A blunt weapon, probably more effective than killing him if she wanted Whumpee back and he caught her wrist before it could make contact.

How— she didn’t even see him move. Her eyes widened as she yanked back, but her wrist didn’t budge from his grip. His eyes flashed down at her, tipping his chin back as a smirk slowly made its way across his face.

He reached his free hand to her face, cupping her cheek. She flinched at the contact, but Whumper didn’t make fun of her for it. She was trembling violently, her index finger pulsing, reaching for the safety to click it off and shot him because she had to get away—

Whumper yanked her closer, making her lose her balance and stumble forward into him. He plucked the gun from her hand, clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth. “So bold of you, Caretaker. To think you could threaten me.”

Tears welled behind her eyes. “Please,” she begged. “Please just tell me where Whumpee is. Please let him go.”

Whumper tilted his head, regarding her. “And what do I get in return?” He mused but Caretaker didn’t have time to negotiate! Whumpee didn’t have time!

“Anything!” She blurted out, desperate, trying to pull her hand free from his grip. “Please! Please! He could be dying! He could be dead, please!”

“Anything,” Whumper repeated, tasting the word on his tongue. “How interesting. Tempting. Exactly what I wanted to hear.”

Caretaker lurched forward, grabbing a fistful of his shirt, eyes wide. “Please! Anything! Please, just free Whumpee! Please!”

Whumper paused. “Are you begging?”

“Yes! Yes! I’m begging you, please!” She cried, her heart racing, feeling sweat bead on the back of her neck, horribly conscious about the passing seconds ticking by while Whumpee could be dead or dying, or unconscious.

Whumper’s smile glinted with a knife’s edge as he leaned his head down to hers. “You don’t look like you’re begging, Caretaker.”

Ice flushed her blood, her knees locking as her heart stuttered, shaking like a dog during halloween. Her mouth suddenly very dry, but she was hesitating. She couldn’t— no, for Whumpee.

Her face flushed with shame as she dropped to her knees in front of him. He still didn’t release her wrist, holding it above her head now, tears burst from her lower eyelids, spilling over her cheeks. She stared at his feet.

“Please,” she whispered, tightening her free hand into a fist on her thigh. “Please let him go.”

“Look at me, Caretaker,” Caretaker stared at the ground, she didn’t want to give him the pleasure of seeing her cry. But Whumper didn’t let her have any of her dignity. He sat down and tilting her head up to look at him. “I’ll release Whumpee, if you take his place.”

Caretaker flinched. “What?” She asked with a stolen breath.

Whumper smiled, sitting back in the couch and propping his head up on his hand again, his eyes dancing with a pleased maliciousness.

“You heard me, Caretaker. Those are my terms. You for Whumpee,” he said, his eyes flicking to something behind her. “And I’d say you need to decide quickly.”

Caretaker searched his face for a trick, for a lie, for any hint that he was joking but he wasn’t. He was just watching her with his cut amber eyes, smirk on his face because he already knew her answer.

She looked away from him. “Fine,” she ground out through clenched teeth. “Now let Whumpee go.”

Whumper sighed. “Alright. But first, I need you to do something for me.”

Caretaker’s eyes burned, narrowing into a glare. “No, give me Whumpee! Now! He could be dead already!”

Whumper tightened his hand on her wrist but she didn’t wince or show it hurt. She needed Whumpee. To see him safe and sound. Whumper leaned forward, making her lean back almost falling if he didn’t have a tight on her wrist keeping her up.

His hot breath fanned her face, blowing a stray hair as he spoke. “I can leave Whumpee to die all I want, Caretaker. I’m the only one who knows where he is, now do you want to save him, or do you want to refuse me and waste more time?”

Caretaker pulled her wrist back and this time he let her. Still glaring, she kept his gaze. “What do you want me to do?”

“I need you to get me something from that room over there,” he said, nodding his head to the right. Caretaker turned her head to follow his order and nodded.

She got to her feet quickly, speed walking over, but Whumper stopped her. “Don’t you want to know what?”

“Tell me when I’m there,” she spat, throwing the door open. Hanging from his wrists, covered in blood with a blindfold and a gag stood Whumpee. His head hanging on his chest. Caretaker covered her mouth with her hands and screamed into them, running in and putting her hands on his face.

“Whumpee! Whumpee! Can you hear me?!” She pressed her ear to his chest, sobbing when she heard his heartbeat. He was alive. He was alive, he was alive, he was alive, he was alive.

“You know,” Whumper drawled from behind her. “If you’re coming in guns blazing, you really should do a quick check to see if the thing you want is already there.”

“You tricked me,” Caretaker cried, turning her furious gaze to Whumper. Instead, her eyes found the barrel of a gun.

He smiled lazily. “Not at all, to be fair, breathing is hard when you’re strung up like that, you wouldn’t think it, but your arms squeeze your chest and make it harder to breathe, especially when you’re gagged and dangling.”

“You’re a bastard,” she hissed.

“Compliments don’t get you anywhere with me, Caretaker, but you’ll learn. Maybe the first thing I’ll do to you is leave you like Whumpee here, hmm?” He asked, stepping into the room and closing the door behind him. Caretaker took a cautious step back, one arm stretched to protect Whumpee, keep him behind her.

“I don’t care what you do to me, just let him go.”

“Mmf?” Caretaker whirled to face Whumpee, eyes wide.

“Whumpee? Whumpee! Can you hear me?” She reached up and pushed the blindfold away from his eyes. “Whumpee. It’s me. It’s okay. You’re going to be okay.”

Whumpee’s eyes widened, flicking to Whumper and back to Caretaker again, struggling in his chains. Trying to speak behind the gag.

“Hold on, I’ll—”

She felt Whumper’s presence behind her and jumped, going to hit him but he grabbed her by the back of her neck and squeezed until she stopped struggling. Whumpee’s struggles increased tenfold, screaming into the gag as Whumper leaned down to Caretaker’s ear.

A smile in his voice as he said, “or maybe, I’ll just keep you both.”

[egg-writes-whump]

Whumpee was sat in the back of the car, staring blankly out the window. Youngest got into the back as well, and they watched as Teammate walked around and got into the passenger seat.

Leader and Teammate spoke to each other quietly, and then Leader started the car. The two continued to talk for the majority of the journey, but Youngest couldn’t really hear what they were saying.

They turned back to Whumpee. There was blood in their hair and on the shoulder of their jacket. Youngest couldn’t see it very well, but there was also a lot of blood on the right side of their face. They leaned across the middle seat and took Whumpee's hand.

They turned to look at them. There was something off about their eyes. They looked unfocused. Their pupils were the wrong size, as well. “…are you ok?” Whumpee didn’t answer at first, as if testing the question out and then trying to think of an answer. Eventually they shrugged. “I will be.”

[pain-del-doge]

At last the Bear and their apprentices found the missing hunters, but the lot of them are further lost than whatever meets the eye. A certain Darkness had taken ahold of them, the Bear spotted, and a fearsome redness glinted in their eyes, hungering and endlessly violent like the Darkstones that quietly corrupted their souls.

The hunters muttered among their midst as though they had found a great catch, a mighty beast who prowled and protected the Isle, Prairie, and Forest. She was a hunt to end all hunts, they said, much more valuable than the runts and pariahs she protected as though they were her flesh and blood (Perhaps, some of them were? Given the semblance she had with the Serow.)

Nevertheless, both the corrupted hunters and the Bear raised their weapons. There were only two ways their encounter would end, and the Bear inwardly prayed that their apprentices would see the sunrise again regardless of the outcome.

[bumblingbabooshka]

Tuvok/Chakotay and B’Elanna/Seven both belong to a relationship category called ‘Extended sequence of building something together with many undertones and moments of symbolism, homoerotism, frustration that gives way to greater understanding’ only Tuvok/Chakotay are building something in nature while B’Elanna/Seven are building something mechanical. There’s a difference between the bird calls above, the sun beating down, grass stains on normally pristine clothing vs the stuttering hum of a damaged fan, the oppressive heat of a confined space, normally pristine hands marred by oil. They’re both sleeping on the ground/floor out of necessity though and they’re both, over time, huddling closer - for warmth.

[sibillascribbles08]

Artificial Phoenix movie changes

*cracks knuckles* Okay I said I would do this for at least one curious reader, so here we go. I'll eventually drop it under a cut because it is gonna get long haha, if you guys want me to expand on any of these details just let me know !

The opening to the movie is more or less the same, though Leonardo's mistake is less from sheer arrogance and more in eagerness to use his mystic powers. Training with Draxum has proved fruitful, and Leo's just a bit too excited with how good he's getting with his abilities lately.

When they end up with Casey Jr. in their lair, they don't really believe he's from the future until they end up finding the memory locket on his person. Casey tells them he got it from Master Michelangelo, and Mikey and Draxum know it has to be the same locket though the image inside it is different.

There is also a funny add on to this happening in the background where Sho, upon seeing Casey, congratulates Splinter on his grandson. Splinter wants to know where he got that idea, and Atsuko mentions the pair of them do share a lot of features. If this was being animated Splinter would look at her, next to Casey, with a similar expression on his face as the kid and say "I don't see it"

When Casey mentioned the Kraang, both Draxum and Karai recognize the name. April also realizes that's the same things as the creature she found among the empyrean.

The attempt to get the key back also goes just about the same, though Leonardo's desperation to recover it is more out of fear of something else too powerful for them to handle getting into the city and taking something else away from them. But of course, in his attempts to stop that from happening, Raph gets kidnapped.

Donnie's decision to even make all those escape pods also had to do with him wanting to give them an out in case things got too dangerous (and it still only worked so well).

Everyone is desperate to get Raph back, so the boys all go to do this while Draxum, Karai, April and Cassandra all try to find a way to destroy the key. This time it's not just Leo that causes the run through the subway to go to hell. (Leo is constantly asking his grandmother if Raph is still alive).

Casey Jr. has to give all of them a lecture, and is shocked they're even acting like this when Donnie is the one who harshly reminds the kid they aren't their future selves, but they still understand his point and try to collect their feelings so they can save Raph with a more level head.

Also for the record, Casey has met Cassandra during this film, but he has chosen not to reveal how he knows her or why her image is the one coming from his locket (along with another figure who's far too blurry to make out). Cassandra is determined to find out the answer when this ordeal is over.

Raph still gets possessed by the kraang.

Cassandra and Karai are both part of the ground squad, trying to get Casey Jr. to the key so they can close the portal.

The events to seal the kraang are more or less the same, and while Draxum will deny breaking down in front of April, Karai and Cassandra when Leo is trapped on the other side of the portal, April may mention it to Leo later anyway.

Speaking of breakdowns no one is having a good time for the record, but Atsuko tells Mikey that Leo is still alive, and he's not going to give up.

Meanwhile in the prison dimension, Leo is about to give up, but then an incoming hit never connects, because his father's spirit appeared (I have been tempted to write this scene up at the very least).

Get the shit kicked out of you by a ghost Kraang leader.

Well, not that hard, just enough to keep him busy while Leo makes a run for it and eventually reaches Mikey's portal.

Draxum does not stop pestering the boys for weeks while they recover, and when Leo starts calling him Dad on purpose he pretends he's been doing it all this time.

Cassandra eventually gets the truth from Casey, but Mikey's still curious about why Casey's locket plays the same song that his does (Casey isn't sure why)

Uuuuh I think that's about it ! Let me know if you have further questions

[garashir]

Black Sails XXIII. // XXVII.

[whispersinthedawn]

College of Nightmares Part 2

“We thought Greek demigods died,” Ms Admete blurted out abruptly. “Greeks died and Romans retired to live out the rest of their lives in obscurity, one too powerful to survive and the other too powerless to remark on.”

Percy eyed her suspiciously. The statement seemed ripe for a rejoinder of ‘But you were wrong.’

Ms Admete voiced the criticism herself.

“But they don’t die or lead ignoble lives,” the woman continued, words spilling out of her as if water steadily widening the crack in the wall of a dam, determined to escape now that it had seen the exit.

“Monsters chase the Greeks, harry them, torture them until the stars blend into headlights and safety and danger are the same – and then they find themselves in front of someone who’ll keep them safe, who’ll teach them to defend themselves, and most importantly, who’ll allow them to pass on this gift of life unburdened by murderous monsters to another.”

It seemed a heartwarming prospect indeed – if the monsters and the saviours weren’t working in concert, if protection and destruction weren’t wrapped together in one cunning package.

“And the Romans?” Percy whispered.

The smile on Ms Admete’s face was bitterness incarnate. “You wouldn’t know,” she said with aching gentleness, with a bittersweet empathy that held nothing but an awareness of her own culpability – and how she herself was a victim of the same injustice. “The pain of being forgotten, the knowledge that everything you are is worth nothing more than a postscript in someone else’s fable.”

And still that bitter smile, as if Ms Admete knew it wasn’t enough, that no number of explanations could excuse the impending tragedy.

“To devote your whole life to the fulfilment of your purpose, only to realise that all your accomplishments just serve to relegate you to the side of everything. And it’s not as if you desire accolades or rewards for doing your duty,” Ms Admete insisted, as if wanting to make sure Percy understood, and didn’t misinterpret her grievances as something petty and born of a jealous mind.

Percy bit her lip, unable to make herself say anything.

“But acknowledgement – is that too much to ask for?” Ms Admete sighed, a plea in every inch of her body.

“A sympathetic voice, someone who understands and wants to help, who can bless you with the light of glorious purpose. Is that what was offered to the Romans?” Percy whispered. To you?

Were they still talking about the Titans? The budding power roiling underneath the seeming utopia of Olympus? Or had they moved on to the seething wreck of Gaea and her decade-long plans to subvert both the Olympians and the Titans?

Or something else altogether?

Ms Admete looked at her apologetically. “Perhaps. It certainly seemed that way, though I have no doubt most learnt, if too late, to regret attracting that kind of attention.”

But after a while, you fell in too deep, and escape meant a complete break that you could seldom gain without shattering your life into too many shards of sharp glass. Sometimes, you veered deeper and deeper until you were learning to poke out eyes from your fellow delinquents, until you were learning to flirt and cheat at cards until just the thought of anyone accepting your never-meant overtures terrified you into belligerency.

Sometimes, escape meant killing your chain and the home it was attached to, and cutting off the neck it was tied around for good measure.

(Percy had expected prison. Percy had expected staving off the police just long enough to gather the essentials and then plunging deep into the labyrinth of dark streets and apartments abandoned only during the day, and corners and alcoves that reeked of spoiling waste and lives mouldering in the spray of a river.

Percy had killed Gabe and expected to jump into the river and hide until everyone gave her up for dead.)

“Who is it?” Percy whispered. “Who frightens you so much you dare not even spell out their name?”

Ms Admete released a half-sob which she promptly stifled by pressing a fist to her mouth. “Spell it out? Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus. That’s his name – does it help? Do you recognise him?”

No, she didn’t. But she didn’t need to, did she?

Who’s that? Percy sent out into the ether – or the polar waters that comprised her mind.

Someone Roman, Perce replied.

Someone powerful and ancient, considering the university is a century and a half old and you need a lot of money for that, Per added.

Someone in the employ of the Roman Emperors, then, since all seems to come back to them? Medea offered up half-heartedly.

Nero, Perse concluded grimly.

***

Read on Ao3

[thechiton]

Benadryl is the med with the fastest body acclimation curve ive ever taken, if u take it even like twice in the same month ur body just says nuh-uh i remember that shit. And it doesnt work

[gelu-the-babosa-multiversal]

With the idea of a TFRB x AEMH crossover. It came to the idea that maybe Charlie and Ross could have been friends...

As in the military, they both meet and were partnered together in some activities and become friends, but over time, Ross started to show those sights of aggression and discrimination so Charlie had to decide if ignore or leave his friend.

He chose to leave...

But when he heard that Ross's wife had died Charlie had a moment of remorse and thought that his friend might have opened his eyes, but then the Hulk came to Griffin Rock and Charlie lost his marbles...

¨General Thaddeus E. Thunderbolt Ross, I request a private meeting in my quarter. Now, right now¨

Also, did you guys knew that Ross full name is Thaddeus E. "Thunderbolt" Ross???

Morocco? Doctor Thaddeus Morocco? Do you wanna tell us something???