#she said to call parents to figure out but assistance records were incredibly clear who kid was with

[quiisquiliae-archived]

Send memes, will do shortly. It's been a grumpy day.

[5-seconds-of-bucky]

Undertow (IV)

CH IV: Market Moments

Word count: 3.8k

Warnings: none

Listen to the audio version here!

Chapter 1 // Chapter 2 // Chapter 3 

Shawn felt slight guilt for letting the fib glide so smoothly off of his tongue. He and every other native to the town knew the market stands would have a slim chance of selling cheeseballs. Shawn knew not only because he works there, but also because he found the clear tub of the snack at an actual grocery store.

But the fib was worth it in his eyes. It resulted in Y/N running amuck in a quest for the orange snack, asking any patron she ran into where she could find some. Shawn just kept chuckling at her from his designated stand, apron tied around his waist. Anytime Brian noticed his employee’s lack of concentration during the beginning of the shift he would remind him in a stern tone to “keep your eyes on the bananas, not the girl.” And any bystander would have thought that comment triggered Shawn’s immediate tensing muscles and nostrils, flaring like a bull.

His employer knew, though, comments like those never put Shawn on edge like that. Brian’s eyes followed the young man’s gaze to see the same Y/N Shawn had introduced him to earlier that day. It was the stranger chatting her up, with his shoulder against one of the wooden beams nearby, that caught his attention. Based on the fuming reaction of the one beside him, the man piqued Shawn’s interest just as much. His sandy blonde hair and all-too-tight shirt made Shawn think to himself, why not just tattoo try-hard on your forehead?

“Jealous much?” Brian mumbles beside Shawn’s ear, resulting in a surprised yelp from the proximity. Though his emotions were undeniable, he refused them anyway.

“M’not.” Crossing his arms over his torso, Brian immediately patted one of his biceps in an attempt to bring them down.

“Don’t look so angry. Customers will think you’re unapproachable,” he hisses. Shawn obeys for the sake of his paycheck but refrains from straying his eyes from the two for long. Any customer who wanted assistance purchasing an item or had a question they demanded Shawn answer, the boy would only spare eye contact with them for fifty percent of the conversation.

“It’s been fifteen minutes. What could he possibly be talking about with her?”

Brian hums. “People talk about lots of things. Who knows, maybe they’re finding they have lots in common.” Shawn only scoffs at this.

“Please,” she’s a walking mermaid talking to a mooching lifeguard, Shawn thinks, “they have nothing in common.”

“Okay, how long can you hold your breath for?” Wesley’s lips form a devious smirk as the question leaves them. Y/N’s lips can only part, losing all acts of shaping anything near an answer. Her mind suffices a simple “just a while” seconds later, hoping it wasn’t too vague to beckon more questions. Lucky for her, it seems Wesley has a knack for caring more about the response to his own questions rather than hers. This was nothing new to Y/N, who did in fact, grow up with her father as a parent.

“My record is six minutes and fourteen seconds. It’s on my bucket list to beat the world record: twenty-two minutes and twenty-two seconds. I know it’s ambitious, but…” frankly, Y/N is growing bored of the conversation. As guilty as it sounds, she saw no point in speaking to Wesley when she would vanish from his world in a few days and head off to...somewhere else.

“Hey, let me ask you something,” she breaks off Wesley’s incessant chatting with a small smile and does not wait for his go-ahead to continue. “If you could go live anywhere on Earth, where would it be?” Wesley’s lips form a small ring as a strange, high-pitched tone leaves them. Y/N stands with wide-eyes and is too afraid to ask what that was or where it came from, deciding to stay silent.

“Does it have to be real, or can it be mythical?”

“I mean…preferably real, but--”

“Because my father always told me these stories when I was younger about this place on Earth. He claimed society was so different down there compared to the one on land, that he called it a world in our world.”

“D-down there?” Y/N responds in a meek voice, eyebrows raising.

“Yeah...Atlantis. You’ve heard the stories too, I’m assuming.”

“I mean...I’ve only seen it in that movie about the fish girl.”

“The mermaid,” he corrects.

“Yeah, whatever.”

“Well, my dad described it differently. He said that their kingdom was built and crafted from a sunken city. Even after seeing it demolished and crumbled, the Atlanteans knew they could transform it into something incredible. And he went on about all these abilities they have, like how their eyes adjust naturally to the darkness of the water, how they have this innate connection to marine life and can communicate with any sea animal that crosses their path; they don’t even need to hold their breaths underwater!”

“Sounds like your father was a great storyteller…” Y/N chuckles nervously, eyes darting to the passing bystanders who continue giving Wesley concerning looks. Her blood was quickly running cold in fear of finding somebody with similar, piercing eyes Wesley’s father probably mentioned too.

“That’s the thing. My father might have been good at telling stories, but he is a horrible liar. I remember the fourth time asking him how Santa Claus could get into our house with no chimney and a locked door he could not come up with an answer and told me it was a myth. The same thing happened when I asked why we had to buy eggs when the Easter Bunny got millions for free. And when I asked how the Tooth Fairy had access to all the printing presses to international currencies without being arrested, he got upset with me...told me I was too smart for my own good.”

Y/N is slowly becoming baffled by the precarious names he is throwing out and decides to let him continue. Drawing any suspicion to herself due to confusion over well-known characters of the land-walkers is the last thing she needs.

“But, when it came to talking about Atlantis, he never seemed to run out of details. Any question I asked about it, he always seemed to have an answer for. I would ask more about it now because everything inside of me is telling me it’s a real place. But...I’m scared if I confront my dad about it…”

“He’ll tell you it’s fake.” Y/N pieces the end together for him. His lopsided smile slowly turns into that of a frown, earning a sympathetic gaze from Y/N. “Well, I don’t know how credible I am as a stranger, but…” She lifts a hand to rest on Wesley’s shoulder, “I think your father is right. You are too smart for your own good...and I think if such a place were to exist, there would be more evidence of it.” Wesley nods but soon pauses, becoming entranced by Y/N’s sincere gaze.

“What’s wrong?” Her voice demands.

“Huh? Oh, nothing you just,” he clears his throat, “you have really pretty eyes.”

The orbs he was transfixed on moments before widen at this compliment. All at once, her mind rewinds itself to replay this afternoon with Shawn; his curls tickling her neck, the chuckle in his throat vibrating against her and her ruining their “moment”, a word she has yet to find a clear definition on. She also replays Connor’s entrance and comments about Shawn looking near ready to lock lips with her or be her utter demise through suffocation. Either activity sounded both passionate and intimate in a way Y/N was unclear about wanting with Wesley.

“Oh,” she whispers, dropping her arm from his shoulder in a haste.

“I-I’m sorry, that was awkward,” Wesley apologizes.

“No, no it’s alright. I just...I don’t want you to choke me,” she blurts, earning a few puzzled stares from those around them.

“What?”

“Or kiss me. Or...I don’t know, whatever happens in these moments.”

“Moments?” One of Wesley’s brows arch.

“Yes, a moment. Was that a moment? Because I think I just had my first one today and I’m not sure how--”

“Hey, Y/N, breathe.” He reaches both hands out to take her by the shoulders, quickly demonstrating a deep inhale and long exhale. She follows, mimicking his timed breaths down to the second. “It doesn’t have to be a moment if you don’t want it to be.” She nods, slowing her quick breaths and throwing a glance over her shoulder subconsciously for a quick peruse at Shawn’s figure behind the wooden stand. She smiles to herself, seeing his concentrating frame bend and twist meticulously to stack the bunches of bananas to perfection.

“Was it with Shawn?” Wesley asks. Y/N looks back toward him, pulling her brows together.

“Was…”

“Your moment. It was with Shawn, wasn’t it?”

“I..uh…” Her cheeks begin glowing red upon being caught.

“Hey, I’m not going to be upset.” He shakes his head, blonde streaks falling against his eyelashes. “Mendes and I might be tough on the water, but…” He takes his hands off of her shoulders, “I could never hate the dude enough to take his girl.” Y/N spares Wesley a grateful smile.

“Thank you.” She mumbles, preparing to pivot and return to Shawn’s stand.

“Oh, wait, Y/N--” the girl’s head turns back, humming.

“Where would you go, if you had the chance?” His question makes her eyes flicker down in thought, a pondering silence filling the air around the two.

“I’m not sure, actually. I don’t know if there is a place that could live up to this…” Through her answer, Wesley’s eyes met Shawn’s above her shoulder. Realizing he’d been caught, Shawn turned his body away, the feeling of dejection consuming his insides by the sight of his savior and worst enemy conversing.

“Well, just know a lot of people would miss you here if you left. More than just me,” he says, pressing a palm against his chest. Y/N looks behind her once more, only to be met with Shawn’s back.

“He would especially miss you.”

Another fond smile crawls onto her lips as she thanks Wesley again. When she turns to retreat to Shawn and Brian, the sinking feeling Wesley was awaiting inside of him felt more like a hot air balloon running off of helium than it did a whale with an anchor. As he begins walking in the opposite direction, sparing cursory glances at some of the products or swim trunks he walks past, his phone begins blaring its ringtone. He is stunned to pull it out and to be met with a pixelated version of his father and the name “DAD” overtaking the screen. Did his father finally keep his promise?

“Dad, hey!” The young man greets with exuberance.

“Hey, son. Finally got some free time…” Ripley announces at a regular volume. Hidden in between a few displays, he peers at Wesley slowly drifting from the curious girl, who was now speaking to an associate and pointing to the yellow fruits between them. “Tell me, how is it going? Did you win that surfing contest?”

“Yeah, but it kind of sucked to win now that I think about it. One of the other guys got really hurt.”

“Eh, I’m sure he’ll be fine. That’s what a rookie gets for going up against my son!” he barks a laugh. “I bet that trophy won you a couple of girls’ attention, huh?” Wesley gulps.

“I mean...not really--”

“Don’t lie to me, son. I can hear how lovesick you are. What’s her name?”

“Are you almost done yet?” Y/N groaned after Shawn finished up with a customer. She was sitting in a chair Shawn found under their table, picking at her nails in hopes that something interesting would happen.

“We’ve got another hour before we close up but then we have to put everything away so it’ll probably be an hour and 45 minutes before we can leave.” He shot her a smile as she dramatically slumped in the chair.

“They didn’t even have cheeseballs! I wasted half my day asking people if they had cheeseballs and they looked at me like I was insane.”

“Gee, I wonder why.”

Y/N rolled her eyes. She couldn’t help that she wanted the orange delicacy and in her opinion, these people were insane for not having it. “Just shut up and do your work so we can get out of here faster.”

“You’re so bossy.”

“I know what I want. Can you blame me?”

Shawn turned his back to her, opting to ignore her complaints instead of feed the fire.

“So you’re ignoring me now? Rude.”

He tried his best to keep the laugh in.

“That’s fine. I’ll find someone else to talk to.” She stood up and brushed off her pants, purposely bumping Shawn in the shoulder as she walked past. He reached out to grab her arms before she could get too far, forcing her to stop and turn around to look at him. “What, scared I’m going to find someone else to buy me cheeseballs?”

“Just stay safe.” There had been something nagging at his gut since he saw her with Wesley earlier and he was wary to let her out of his sight since then.

“Okay?” She gave him a funny look. “I’ll stay safe, no need to worry. Trust me, I know how to take care of myself.” It didn’t make Shawn feel much better but he let go of her anyways.

She walked off, only looking back once to shoot him a wink. He could only shake his head as he went back to work, wondering how it had been only one day and he was already infatuated with this girl.

Y/N walked around from table to table, actually taking the time to look at the contents this time. She didn’t have any money, as she found out earlier that day, but she still enjoyed looking at what each stand had to offer.

She looked around for a while before one stand in particular caught her eye. It was pushed back in a darker corner of the marketplace that people would probably miss if they weren’t paying attention.

She approached the table slowly, making sure to not startle the person running it, who seemed to be asleep in their chair. The table was decorated in an array of beachy looking stones and jewelry.

The person woke in her presence, sitting up and pushing their sunglasses up on their nose. “Why hello there.”

Y/N smiled at them, suddenly offset by their demeanor. She kept her gaze on the trinkets on the table, running her fingers over the symbols imprinted in them. Some posed a striking resemblance to the things she could find in her jewelry back home. Or, what used to be home.

“See something you like?”

“Yeah, they look a lot like-” She stopped herself, realizing that she almost revealed her identity.

“Like what?” They leaned forward, urging her to go on.

“Just, uh, something I saw in the store the other day.”

“You know,” They leaned back, crossing their arms over their chest. “Some say these came from Atlantis. Straight from the room of the princess.”

“Oh really?” She forced a laugh, retracting her hand to her chest. “Won’t the princess be upset that her things were taken?”

“She lives there no more. Ran away from an arranged marriage and was never found. I’m sure she cares very little about what happens to her old possessions.”

“That makes sense.” Her voice was so quiet she almost didn’t hear herself.

“Please, take whatever you’d like. I’ll give it to you, half price.”

“That’s very kind of you, but I can’t.” She looked back to Shawn on the other side of the market, seeing him busy bagging some fruit for a customer.

“Are you sure? Such a beautiful girl deserves beautiful jewelry. Perhaps that boy you’ve been sitting with would want to get you a gift?”

“I really should get going.” Y/N nervously scratched her upper arm. “Thank you though.”

“Always! Come back any time.” They gave her a sly smile and she took a few steps back. “Have a great day.”

“Uh, you too.” She gave a polite smile and nod, turning around and hastily making her way back to Shawn.

The vendor pulled their sunglasses down from their eyes, revealing a pair of piercing green eyes. They pulled out a phone from their back pocket and unlocked it, clicking on the name Ripley in their contacts and bringing the phone to their ear.

Someone picked up at the last second, a gruff “what?” to greet the caller.

“It’s Merlin,” the vendor spoke. “I’ve got eyes on the subjects.”

Shawn’s post-work exhaustion and shopping trip from earlier in the day made heaviness caress his eyelids without complaint. Y/N hoped it would be the same for her, but she felt there was a kickdrum where her heart usually lied and the incessant wriggling of her toes beneath the bedsheets was impossible to control. This night in particular was when the girl felt scared to let sleep wash over her like a high-tide. Various scenarios of her waking up tomorrow without Shawn beside her or not in his bed played in her mind on an unrelenting loop.

The lime green digits on Shawn’s nightstand read 2:23 when the girl surrendered to the endeavor of catching shut-eye and opted for shuffling from beneath the covers and waddling to the kitchen. Despite seeing Shawn lock it earlier that night, she inspects the front door anyway. She does the same with the windows, even going as far as to flip the lock back and forth to build the small sense of security she felt. Even then paranoia still cloaked her mind and hypnotized her to grab the near-empty bin of cheeseballs from the kitchen cabinet and situate herself into a sitting position on the kitchen island, eyes pointed directly at the meager shard between the curtains of the kitchen window.

Slowly, the girl grew disoriented from the lack of sleep and stress harboring her for the last few days. The vision her distressed subconscious conjured is one far more macabre than she could have manifested while awake. Not only did they find her, but they kidnapped Shawn alongside her and drug him down to the depths of the water with no mercy. The scream he elicited when he no longer carried any valuable oxygen was muffled and distraught. Bubbles blurred his face, which, in turn, made tears build beneath Y/N’s eyelids. When she witnessed the facade of him go limp in the guard’s merciless hold and begin sinking, the whimpering pleas for him to wake up and escape quickly morphed to crackling screams.

When she heard his voice break through clear to her, the lids shielding her vision flung open. Immediately, her eyes stung from the contact of the cold air to her hot tears as she observed Shawn and Connor’s perturbed expressions. Glancing down, she found her arms stiff and cradling the bucket of cheeseballs to her chest.

“Uh…” she sits herself up, mimicking the position she was in last night before trying a buoyant tone of voice. “Good morning!”

“Good morning...you alright?” Connor lifts an eyebrow in Y/N’s direction, while Shawn is still lost for words after stumbling into her body tucked inwards and crying out for him.

“I’m good! Just came down for a...late-night snack. I must’ve closed my eyes for a few minutes.” She assures, holding up the plastic bucket for their eyes to study.

“Seems like you were here a little longer than that.” At this comment, she twists her body around and gasps at the numbers on the stove. The numbers 7:04 stared back at her menacingly.

“Woah,” she breathes out, whipping her head back to face Shawn and Connor. “My bad.”

“Were you feeling okay last night?”

“Yes,” she squeaks defensively. “I just...had trouble getting comfortable is all.” Crossing her arms, she refuses to meet Connor’s questioning eyes and Shawn’s features, still locked in place. “I’m going to the bathroom.” Y/N excuses herself in a mumble before sliding off of the counter and scurrying through Shawn’s open bedroom door, shutting it behind her. When a second closing door sounded, Connor looked directly at Shawn’s profile.

“So, you’re not gonna tell her what you heard?” Shawn glanced down to his fingers, picking at his nails.

“Why should I?”

“I mean, if a girl I was into confessed her love for me in her sleep I wouldn’t be standing there keeping quiet.”

And Shawn’s initial reaction was quite the opposite. When Y/N murmured “I love you” followed by his name an undeniable smirk tugged the corner of his lips. The man wasn’t quite sure he felt smitten at the same level, but he could surely reach it. And he wanted to, but the only thing stopping Shawn from planting a kiss to her lips the moment her eyelids fluttered open happened to be the echo of her cautionary messages playing on a loop in his brain. Both knew their relationship already pushed boundaries that threatened their lives to those looking for Y/N and to draw any more attention to themselves would be a ludicrous choice.

Furthermore, Y/N has shown no signs of traveling these last few days. For Shawn to jeopardize this new affair by selfishly wanting more out of it would only result in her packing her bags and leaving. She even preached that she would only provide Shawn with a load of heavy burdens and trouble. He begs to differ, since the moment they crossed paths, his woes were as scant as raindrops. But even in this unacknowledged intimacy, Shawn understood he must reciprocate the blurred lines, throw out the words he can never say to her, realize that she could up and leave any day now.

This new friendship was one Shawn was riding like a bumpy wave. And each time he thinks he may be near the end he plummets back into the thought of her. Every being of Shawn wants to follow Y/N’s instruction and keep paddling to the next wave to sweep him up.

“It was just a dream, Con. It didn’t mean anything.”

Whether or not he had admitted to himself, though, he was already snagged beneath by her undertow. The depth she chooses to yank him down to could be the least of his worries. The only doubt suffocating him is the matter of her deciding to let him go.

Look out for the next part of Undertow coming out 2/19/21!

Join the taglist to see what happens next!

Taglist: @fallinallincurls​ @ilumxna​ @lonelyreputation​ @purely-imagines-and-fantasies​ @shawnmxndxs​ @learning-howto-be-myselfx3​ @sillyquirkymendessupporter​ @itsalwaysbeen305​ @friendlyneighborhood-mendes​ @marissje​ @princessmia1705​ @rosetoronto​ @itrocksmysocks​ @organicpurplepants​

[darkmindsthinktwistedthoughts]

A Supportive Tide

A very Happy Birthday to Yesha. Here you go, my humble offering for the Birthday EXTRA-ganza! I took the liberty of adding an NB OC here. The picture of them will be at the end of the fic. ^^ Really hope you like it x

Warnings: I guess a very small bit of angsty stuff but mostly fluffy and supportive.   

**Original fic created by Yesha @ikesenhell​ lovingly borrowed to take liberties with it to create this little tale. Please go check out To Honor and Protect series and it’s delightfully enchanting spin-offs (I See Starlight and The Measurement of Time) Yesha’s Masterlist link here. 

---

A Supportive Tide

The ebbing tidal waters made the dock creak lazily as a set of sure-footed feet clad in soft-soled boots bypassed it in favour of the slightly uneven ground near it. It was quiet here and that is what they yearned for most. 

They couldn’t explain it, but back in the city, their head hummed a broken tune that threatened to drive them over the edge. Sometimes it was louder than others. Drowning out the world around them, making it feel like they were standing in the epicentre of a hive of rather annoyed hornets. It had been like this for so long they had begun to forget a time before the noise. Was there such a time?

Slowly they followed the shadow of the cliff face, a small worn leather satchel tucked in tight to their side. Pale hair dragged back into a haphazard ponytail behind their head revealing the darker tips that often provoked comments on changing seasons as Autumn gave way to winter so to did their hair. Their snow-capped hair tumbled into dark chocolate rivers, the tips of it brushing lightly in the breeze over their shoulders.  

It is said that things come in threes. In this city, it had certainly seemed to be the case. Whilst whatever had happened before the records were taken properly had been forgotten what had happened after was well documented. Not long ago there was a time where people feared the magically talented. Times had changed but it was still prudent to exercise caution when casting spells. There was no longer the penalty of death, but that was not to say that there were not opportunistic people in the world who wouldn’t exploit such talents for their own ends. Training had become more intensive, lack of results was both equal parts frustrating and disturbing to them. And still that humming in their head persisted. 

When they were finally certain that they were out of direct view from the dock they arranged themselves on a large rock, their back pressed against the jet black rock of the cliff. The warmth of their body lost to the impervious chill behind them. It was the same rock present in the city, it just seemed to suck and absorb without ever changing. Some would find that frightening but to them, it was strangely comforting. 

Opening up their satchel they took out a book and started to read. The runes were faded and in an old hand but still, they could feel the warmth of that hand gliding over the pages as it spun its story. A tale of a Princess who found love and magic. Who had the strength to stand and change the flow of the tide itself. Protecting and saving her people against unimaginable odds with the help of a few brave men. Stories had a way of drawing the reader in deeper to them. Allowing them to disappear for a few hours in the pages of text that pulled on heartstrings and stirred spirits. Time passed and it wasn’t until the icy water touched their foot that they even noticed the tide had come in. Their mismatched eyes widened as they scurried to stand up.

Panic. The way back was cut off by the swirling water and there was no way forward either. Stranded on their rock all they could think to do was clutch the book they had taken from their father’s library to their chest and curse their own lack of foresight. This was exactly the kind of thing that they had been warned about by their mother. Focus was something inherent in them and ran strongly in their veins thanks to the traits of both their parents. But putting such a thing into practice had proved difficult.

If you didn’t focus in training you were injured, but the same was said for lack of focus during study. One false move during an experiment, one wrong calculation you were at just as much risk as in the training area of losing a limb. They could hear the stern voice of their mother now. All those lessons on paying attention and this is what happens? Their father would have been a little more forgiving even if he too would have a few choice words to say about calculated risk and poor judgement. 

Eyes scrunched shut their senses began to clear. They could clearly smell the fresh salt that hung in the air and clung to their skin. Feel the jet black rocks behind them, strong and steady against the moving tide. The water had risen further, the large rock was little more than a stepping stone beneath their feet at this point. Why couldn’t they do it all the time? Why couldn’t they channel that latent magic they were told they had? It remained trapped like a corked bottle even now when a little magic would have been better than nothing at all. 

“I just… I can’t do this! Why did this have to be my fate? I don’t get it. How do I make it all stop? I can’t hear myself in all this mess. I can’t… I-” The throbbing in their mind was enough to blur their vision as they practically screamed across the surface of the rising northern sea. The book they gripped tight to their chest felt like a lifeline anchoring them in place. Their chest was tightening, their heartbeat pounded away as the air was robbed from their lungs. 

Small bubbles rose in a fast stream to the surface near the rock generating a layer of fine foam on the water. Before they could question what had caused such a thing to happen clear solid jets of water swirled in the air like twisting glass. Growing larger and larger until they joined into a doomed peak and suddenly dropped revealing the soft smiling figure of a man with violet eyes. Water clung to his silver hair and caught the changing light of the day making it appear almost as if he were wearing a crown.

“Hello. Might I be of assistance?” The stranger seemed familiar even though they were certain they had never met before. There was something about his friendly approach that washed over them in a calming wave steadying their erratic heartbeat, allowing them to breathe again.

“Who are you?” 

“I have many names. But you can call me Mitsunari Ishida. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” The kindly figure stepped forward a little only at that point did they realise he was standing on the surface of the sea water, almost hovering in defiance of the natural laws.

“Ishida? … THE Mitsunari Ishida? The mage?” Tales, facts and a heavy dose of personal assumption combined to form the only logical explanation. As unbelievable as it was here stood the man from the tales in the book. The one in the history books, the one in the paintings in the castle and the sculpture by the dock. He was here as solid and real as anything else and looking not one day older than the last time anyone living had set eyes on him. 

“One and the same.” He gave a small nod of his head and looked around realising they were balanced on a disappearing rock surrounded by rising water. “It seems you are in a spot of bother. Would you like some help to get home?” A muted reply in the form of a nod came as they fell silent suddenly unable to speak while the fact that a living legend had just materialised in front of them sunk in.  “Very well. Mind your step.” He waved his hand and water began to form floating blocks by them. Every step he took whilst holding on to their hand gently guiding them forward had another block forming beneath him. So this is what it's like to have magic?

“That was incredible.” Stepping foot on dry land once more and looking over the edge of the cliff below they sighed in awe. They knew that was nothing compared to what the great mage could do but it was still impressive to one that couldn’t even so much as command their pencil to move when willing it to.

“Was it? Thank you.” Modestly Mitsunari smiled before allowing himself to incline his head in curiosity, a hint of concern in his voice. “If I might be so bold as to inquire. What were you doing down by the cliff?”

“Escaping.”

“Escaping? I’m sorry I don’t follow.” Mitsunari admitted watching as his companion slipped to the ground on their knees, eyes fixed on the distant horizon at sea. 

“My head. It only ever feels quiet when I'm there. I don’t know if its the distance from the city, the water or the stone of the cliff but my head stops humming. I tried to explain it to my mother she insisted that training would clear my head by giving me something else to focus on. And my father tried his best to understand but I don’t think I made any of what I was feeling clear enough. I’m a little afraid I’m going crazy.” Turning in the direction of their saviour they realised they had been rambling and began to laugh derisively. “Haha, and now I’m talking to the man of the ocean. If I go back now I doubt anyone would believe a word I say.” They leaned back adjusting their legs so they could bring them up to their chest and sit on the ground properly

“Stranger things have happened. Might I see your book?” Mitsunari joined them on the ground gently teasing the tome from their frightened fingers. His touch was soft like a lapping wave on the shore. After flipping through a few pages he smiled. “Ah yes here we go. You see? You would not be the first to see me as I am.” He turned the book revealing passages of his return to the new nine. 

“Still. You appeared back then when there was a need for you. A strong, dire, end of all things need. Why would you turn up to help a kid on a cliff?” They took the book back brushing the familiar writing with their fingertips their expression softening for the first time.

“I wonder. Not all things are set in stone some must be carved out and crafted by our own hands.” He turned his gaze to the horizon. A look on his face that could only be called melancholic as he remembered times past. “Are you a rock or water?” he muttered. 

“What?”

“A man I once knew many lifetimes ago now asked me when I was training if I was trying to be a rock. I’m afraid I was rather terrible with swordsmanship. I’m still not the best at it, and to be honest I always preferred my books. Still, his question set me wondering. Many would see a rock as a source of strength but it is in the strength of water’s ability to move and flow freely, change its own form and adapt that makes it truly the stronger opponent.” Mitsunari calmly guided the youth through the reasoning.

“... So right now I’m being a rock and I need to be more like water.” They frowned. 

“No. Right now you are discovering who you are. You have the potential to be and do whatever you see fit precisely because right now you are neither stone or water.” Mitsunari smiled a beaming enigmatic smile.

“It’s all very cryptic but I guess I kind of get it.”

“Good.” He nodded knowing that even if it made little sense to the other now it would given time. 

“Erm. It might sound strange to bring this up now but why did you show up now? I’ve been here many times and you’ve never once appeared like this.”

“I have always been here and always will be. I appeared tonight because of you, little Princess.” He spoke matter of factly without a hint of a joke. 

“I am not a Princess.”

“No? My apologies you’re right. You will be whoever you want to be and that is something no one can take away. But for now at least you must run home before you miss your curfew. Today is a special day after all.” He had a knowing smile on his face and his violet eyes seemed to hold a warmth to them as he gave them a fond look. They couldn’t shift the idea that they had met before. A distant memory of summer, a kind hand guiding them safely back to their parents. 

“How did-- no, you know what? I don’t care. You’re right I didn’t realise the time I have to run back or I’ll be in real bother.” Standing up they brushed off the loose grass and dirt from their clothing before thinking of something. Reaching into their satchel they pulled out a small notebook full of sketches they had made whilst studying with their father. Most, if they were honest, had nothing to do with the topic they were meant to be looking at and were in fact just doodles of flowers and animals. They had no idea why they thought it would be a nice gift but something unspoken inside guided them to that idea. “Thank you. It’s not much but would you please accept this? Although I have no idea what you would do with such a thing.”

“It would be my honour. Until we meet again…” Mitsunari graciously accepted the small book smiled a blindingly bright smile that rivalled the sun reflecting on the ocean. The wind picked up and they were forced to avert their eyes to prevent dirt from getting whipped up into them

“Meet again?” When they turned to look they found Mitsunari was gone. In his place was a rather pretty looking ocean flower perfectly preserved in some kind of suspended animation. They reached down to pick it up, lost for a moment in the beauty of such magic to be so strong and yet so delicate. I wonder if I’ll even manage to get the hang of it. “Dammit, I’ll end up in double intensive training sessions with mother for a week if I miss my own birthday party.”

Slipping the flower into their bag they took off at a run back in the direction of the city and the tower for the guard. 

---

Image created on Picrew *link* and edited by me later in 3d paint.  

[smkkbert]

Time for a story - Another try

“This partnership will certainly be as useful to Starling as it would be Metropolis.”

Oliver could list at least a thousand reasons why forming an official partnership with the city at Lake Michigan would be a good thing. The people living in Starling City needed to know that people outside of here cared about them and they needed to care about people outside of this city to build alliances over the unfairness of their lives. The cultural exchange could help everyone to learn and grow too. Especially students had the chance of learning something here.

The chances of organizing quick and easy student exchanges would increase, especially for students of the Glades. They barely got the chance to leave the city because their parents couldn’t afford it and schools had given up on trying to build partnerships with other schools outside of the city. The Glades had a certain reputation even outside of Starling City’s borders. Maybe the partnership with Metropolis would help with that.

“We should make an appointment to discuss the details of this idea.”

“Definitely.” Oliver nodded his head though Aylin Fleming, mayoress of Metropolis, couldn’t see it. “I am not at my office right now, but I will tell my assistant Rebecca to call your office first thing tomorrow to make an appointment as soon as possible.”

“That’s great.” Oliver could hear Aylin’s excitement in her voice. “It’s been a while since I have been to Starling City the last time.”

Oliver had to bite back a sigh of relief. He had been mayor for quite some time now, and he still wasn’t used to leaving the city overnight or at all to be honest. So far, he had managed to avoid most of those appointments by sending someone else to go there for him or convincing his partner to come to Starling City instead. Apart from the fact that he couldn’t leave his Green Arrow duties easily, he didn’t particularly like leaving Felicity and the kids behind either. Besides, he couldn’t sleep as long as he wasn’t in his bed with Felicity right there with him. He doubted that this would ever change.

“I figured it was better to meet in Starling City given your family duties.”

“That’s indeed correct,” Oliver replied. “Having five kids is-“

“-probably nerve-wrecking.” Aylin chuckled. “Don’t worry about it. I like to travel around and see a lot more of the US than most people do. I suggest that I will try to bring a close circle of five people with me that will be interesting for you to meet. Bringing some companies and charity associations on board of this is certainly a good idea.”

“I agree.”

This partnership would only work if it wasn’t just pushed onto the city by the politics. The people of this city, at least the people who had a positive influence on other people here, needed to help. The more they supported it and offered opportunities for the people of the city to live out this partnership, the better.

“Do you already have people in mind?”

When Felicity groaned next to him, pulling her fingers from where they had played with the neckline of his shirt and turning on her back to make faces at the ceiling, he shot her a brief glance. He stroked his hand over her thigh apologetically, but she just flashed him an annoyed glare.

Once Donna had demanded that her grandchildren and her granddog as she called Hawk were going to spend a day with her and Quentin, Oliver and Felicity had both taken the day off to spend it together. Between their jobs, raising five children and saving their city, their marriage just fell short sometimes. They had their family time that they enjoyed a lot, but spending time together without their kids demanding their attention or anyone watching them was missing often times. Spending time together as a couple that was still as madly in love as they were was just too hard sometimes. There wasn’t enough time.

“Lena Luthor will definitely be a great help,” Aylin explained. “She leads the most successful company of Metropolis, and she is quite engaged with charities. She has high interest in challenging children’s needs and developments. She is working close with several schools in the city to enhance the cooperation between them and business, so no little talent gets overlooks because of unfavorable origins.”

Again, Oliver nodded. He knew what Aylin meant. Some kids didn’t get a chance in life just because of the neighborhood they were born in or raised in. Kids of the Glades were much more likely to end up in gangs or other criminal organizations than other kids because they knew from the start of their lives that they would never get the same chances as other kids. It was a sad way to grow up.

“I have someone like that here in town too.”

“I know.” Aylin chuckled once more. “Even our newspapers are full of all the charity your wife is doing. She is a real hero, isn’t she?

“That she is,” Oliver said with a warm smile on his lips. “She is-“

Oliver stopped abruptly. He had turned his head to look at Felicity, who had climbed out of bed. He had thought that she was just getting her tablet, so she could work a little as long as he was busy. Instead, he found her standing at the bedside. She had taken off her dress, letting it pool around her ankles.

After all those years of being with her, Oliver knew he shouldn’t get erected just by seeing her in some sexy clothes. As he saw her standing there in that black lace lingerie that barely hid her beautiful curves, his imagination was racing, creating a thousand scenarios of what to do with her now.

He wanted to take off her panties, push her up against the wall and take her hard and fast until she was screaming his name.

He wanted to tease her again and again, denying her to come until she was begging him to.

He wanted to take off her lingerie slowly and make sweet love to her.

Oliver felt his cock twitching in his pants in reaction to his thoughts. After all those years, all those sensations of having sex Felicity were burnt deep into his memory. He could come just from imagining having sex with Felicity. From the way Felicity pushed her tongue into her cheek and grinned at him, it certainly hadn’t gone unnoticed by her.

“She is incredibly goodhearted,” Oliver eventually continued, clearing his throat. “If there is one person in Starling City we have to convince of this partnership, it’s her.”

“In that case I’d hang up the phone right now.”

Felicity’s whispered words made Oliver grin. When they had agreed to take the day off together, Felicity had suggested making it a lazy and comfortable day. For Oliver, that had meant enjoying some delicious meal he would cook for them and watching some good movies or maybe some of the many videos they had recorded of their kids. Apparently, Felicity had other plans.

Once Oliver had ended this phone call, he would definitely be in for that. First, he had to make sure he and Aylin were really on the same page here.

“I think it would also be a good idea to include some teachers of public schools.” Oliver had trouble to bite back a quiet laughter when Felicity rolled her eyes with a dramatic sigh. “The sooner we get them on board and make sure the right people get in touch with each other, the better.”

“I agree.”

Aylin told him a lot about the schools in Metropolis, the work she had done to enhance their resources and the work that was still needed to enhance the development even more. Oliver wanted to follow her explanations closely because he was eager to hear what she had already tried and still wanted to try in the future. After all, he was trying to make the schools in Starling better too.

Unfortunately, it was quite hard to listen to Aylin’s explanations given what Felicity was doing though. She had climbed back onto the bed and was now sitting on her heels on the mattress next to him. She had puckered her lips briefly before she had started unzipping his pants.

When Felicity wanted to tug down his boxer briefs, Oliver slapped her fingers away. Felicity indeed pulled her fingers back for a moment. She shot him a pointed glare though. Oliver looked back at her just as pointedly, but it just made Felicity roll her eyes.

Oliver couldn’t deny that he was kind of amused by the whole situation. He and Felicity loved to have sex with each other although they were together for so long already. He doubted that there were a lot of couples like they were.

Distracted by his amusement, he realized too late that Felicity wasn’t let herself be stopped easily. She had already hooked her fingers into the waistband of his boxer briefs and tugged them down. Oliver wanted to stop her before she could grab hold of his partly erected cock, but he was too late. Her fingers wrapped around him firmly and Oliver felt himself growing hard instantly at her touch.

“Everything alright?”

Oliver bit down on his tongue as hard as possible. He hadn’t meant to hiss, but Felicity’s touch had taken him by surprise so much that he hadn’t been able to control himself.

“Yeah,” Oliver said between gritted teeth. “I am just making dinner for my family, and I cut myself. It’s nothing.”

“Oh, you are cooking?”

Oliver tried to slap Felicity’s hands away, but she denied to let go of him. Her fingers stayed wrapped around his cock tightly. The more he tried to push them away, the more they tightened around him and stimulated him with it.

“Yeah, I am a passionate cook,” Oliver explained, his voice still tense though he slowly started regaining self-control. “I think that family dinners are very important and-“

Tensing his jaw, Oliver sucked in a deep breath when Felicity’s lips wrapped around his cock. She locked her eyes with his before she lowered her head to take him deeper into her mouth. Oliver struggled to resist the urge to thrust into her mouth. It took a lot from him not to do so.

“Oliver?”

As much as he knew that looking at Felicity was the worst he could do right now because it only turned him on more, he was unable to look away. His eyes were locked on hers, and there was nothing he could do about it. He used all the control he had on himself to not thrust deeper into her mouth.

When Felicity lifted her head a little again, he thought that it was getting easier for him to control himself. She swirled the tip of his tongue with her tongue though, and it made Oliver’s fingers tense around the phone so much that he wouldn’t be surprised if he broke it.

A hot shiver ran down the length of his spine, leaving goosebumps in its wake. Only Felicity had eve had the ability to make him feel like this. Only she had ever managed to turn him on to a point that he felt he was completely losing himself in her.

“I am very sorry Aylin,” he said eventually though he hated to let Felicity win in this without putting up too much of a fight, “but I think dinner needs my attention right now.”

Aylin chuckled. “Don’t worry. It’s fine. I shouldn’t have called you at home anyway.”

“No, I am glad that you did,” Oliver replied honestly. “I think it was important that we-“

When Felicity took his cock in again, her flat tongue rubbing against the underside of his cock, he shot her another pointed glare. He was already trying to end this phone call as quickly as possible, but she really wasn’t making it easy for him. Felicity just grinned innocently, sucking at his cock lightly.

“It was really important that we talked about this. I suggest we let our assistants handle our schedules to make an appointment to meet as quickly as possible. If you have any questions, you can always email me or call me. I will do the same in case something comes up here.”

He talked so quickly that he was almost sure that Aylin had to think he was crazy. She did falter for a moment before she eventually agreed.

“Alright.” Her voice still showed hesitance and confusion. “Have a nice evening, Oliver.”

“Yeah, you too.”

Oliver hung up the phone quickly and dropped it to the floor. With his hands free now, he grabbed Felicity by her shoulders and pulled her away from his cock and closer to his face. Their noses almost touched. That was how close he pulled her towards him.

“What was that?”

He tried really hard to sound angry, and he failed miserably. As much as he would have liked to have that phone call because it was important to the city, he was almost grateful for the interruption. He had needed it more than he had thought he would, and he was sure his marriage needed it too.

“Oh, I was just making sure that I got your attention.”

“Really?” Oliver asked. He cocked his head at her. “Well, that phone call would have needed my attention because it was important.”

He knew Felicity knew that he wasn’t angry with her. She grinned and rolled away from him. Lying next to him, she turned onto her stomach and wiggled with her butt. Looking at him over her shoulder, she grinned.

“Now what are you going to do?” she asked, her grin widening. “Are you going to spank me?”

Oliver didn’t ever consider it for a second. There were a lot of sexual fantasies he wanted to play out with Felicity eventually. Violence, however meaningless and lustful it was supposed to be, didn’t belong to it. There had been too much violence in both of their lives for him to consider it something pleasureful to do.

“I’ll show you what I do.”

Quickly, Oliver turned around and sat down on his heels. He took his fingers into the waistband of Felicity’s panties and tugged them down her legs. Taking off his own pants and his shirt, he moved between Felicity’s spread legs. He covered his body with hers before he positioned himself at her entrance.

A low sigh escaped him when he felt how wet she was for him already. He let himself slide into her with one deep thrust, enjoying the familiar feeling of having her wet channel welcome him so easily. Seeing how Felicity sucked in a deep breath and shifted her butt to make him go even deeper, caused another warm shiver to run down his spine.

Once he was settled deep inside, Oliver lowered himself onto his forearms. His chest pressed against her back and rubbed against it when he started thrusting. He settled for a slow rhythm, thrusting deep as he did. Felicity’s walls were fluttering around him already, and she moaned out low. It only turned Oliver on more.

Although they hadn’t had much of a foreplay and they had basically just started, they were already incredibly pleasured. It was so easy to be pleasured with each other. They had ten years of memory to increase their pleasure quickly and their teasing of before was enough to make them want each other anyway.

The sound of skin slapping against skin filled the room. It mixed with the sounds of Felicity’s moans and Oliver’s groans. It smelled like sweat. Everything in this room screamed sex and it only turned Oliver on more.

Angling his head, Oliver looked at where their bodies were joined. He could see his cock moving in and out of her. It was slick from her juices, glancing in the light. The view made him thrust even harder.

It wasn’t long until Oliver could already feel the familiar prickling at the base of his spine that told him he was close.

“Felicity.”

He whispered her name, telling her that he was close though he was sure that she knew that already. From the way she was lifting her hips slightly to meet his thrusts and the way her fingers were tightened around the bedsheet, he knew that she was close too. They always knew when the other was close.

Lowering himself a little more over her, he pushed an arm under her hips to angle them. The new position made him rub against her G-spot with every little movement. From the longer and louder growing moans, Oliver could tell that it was exactly what Felicity needed.

Soon, her muscles tensed which he knew was a sign that she was incredibly close now. Her toes dug into the mattress, giving her more leverage to meet his thrusts. She was moving quickly, wordlessly prompting him to keep up to her rhythm. He did so gladly.

A long moan escaped Felicity’s lips as she came. Her walls fluttered around his cock in the best way. They gripped him tightly, pulling him even deeper into her. Her muscles were twitching and they continued to do so as Oliver continue to pull out and push back in, prolonging her pleasure for as long as possible.

As Felicity’s pleasure slowly ceased, Oliver felt himself closer and closer to his own rush. He tried to hold on a little longer, enjoying those last seconds before the pleasure would wash all over him. He was just about to give into it when-

“Wait! Stop!”

→ → → → →

Felicity could feel Oliver struggling to wait and stop as she had asked him to. Every muscle of his body was tense, trying to maintain that thin thread of self-control he was holding on to so desperately. She could almost feel his cock pulsating inside of her since Oliver was so close to coming.

“What?”

His voice sounded like two octaves higher than usually. He whispered the words between gritted teeth, barely getting them out between his clenched jaws. No matter how hard it was, he was doing his best to stop and wait though, simply because she had asked him to do so.

“I-“

Felicity tried to turn her head back over her shoulder to look at Oliver, but the movement caused her hips to shift. Oliver groaned in response and squeezed his eyes shut. Every little movement was bringing him closer to the release he was trying so hard to restrain himself from. Felicity figured she didn’t have to lock eyes with him and just put one of her hands to Oliver’s.

“I just wondered if maybe this was our chance to give number 17 another try, you know?”

Felicity could almost feel Oliver’s cock twitch inside of her at the bare mention of her idea. His reaction made her grin. She had known that he would like this idea.

Years ago, Oliver had mentioned that he had made a mental list about all the sexual fantasies he wanted to play out with Felicity eventually. She had given him five wishes he had been able to ask for, and it had been some of the craziest time in her life. Still, it had been utterly perfect.

When Felicity had been pregnant with Millie and desperate for sex, she had eventually written down her own list. Although she had tried to prevent it from happening, he had eventually gotten the list between his fingers. Since then, they were talking about fantasies they shared regularly. Whenever they had time and were in the right mood, they were trying to play out one of those fantasies. It was keeping their sex life even more exciting.

A couple of weeks ago, they had decided to try anal sex for the first time. Before they had really been able to start, Hawk had interrupted them though.

Maybe now was their chance to give it another try.

Oliver didn’t need to say a word for her to know that he’d be in for that if he managed to regain just a little bit more self-control. Carefully lowering his body down on hers completely, Oliver rested his head against the crook of her neck and took some deep breaths.

Felicity stayed as still as possible, knowing it was the best she could do for him. As the moment continued and the silence felt even heavier, Felicity started chuckling though.

“Are you okay?” she asked. “We can delay this and-“

“Pssst,” Oliver hushed her and bit into her shoulder lightly. “Just give me a moment more.”

Felicity bit down on her tongue to stop herself from laughing even more. She’d love to tease Oliver about this even more, but she knew it wouldn’t be helpful. If Oliver came now, it would take a while until he was ready for another round. He wasn’t the youngest anymore after all as she loved to point out to him. Everything inside of her was already tingling at the anticipation though.

Before Felicity had suggested trying anal, she had done a lot of research about it. She knew that enough lube and a lot of communication were the two keys to make anal, especially a first-time anal experience, pleasurable. She knew that this wouldn’t be a problem because she trusted Oliver a hundred percent. They harmonized perfectly between the sheets because they knew each other so well and they were communicating if necessary.

She was sure that this was going to be an exciting thing to try for them.

With a low groan, Oliver eventually slid out of her. Felicity groaned slightly at the lack of feeling him inside of her all of a sudden.

Oliver didn’t let her wait long though. He moved over, so he could open the top drawer of her nightstand and grab the bottle of lube they were keeping there for the rare situations when they needed it. The sound of Oliver unscrewing the bottle already made a shiver run down her back. Barely three seconds later, the lube was drooping down on her butt, making her flinch slightly at the coldness.

“Sorry,” Oliver said soothingly. “I didn’t know it was that cold.”

“It’s fine.”

Felicity’s body tensed briefly when Oliver put the head of the bottle right to her anal entering. Instead of applying the lube just inside of her, he started massaging her butt cheek with his left hand slowly until she relaxed.

“Ready?”

Smiling, Felicity nodded her head. “Ready.”

If this little encounter though it had barely lasted two minutes, had shown anything, it was that they could really trust each other with this. Oliver would be careful and respect her needs. He was that kind of guy, always had been when they had been together.

The feeling of the lube entering her anal entrance was weird at first. Feeling the cold fluid running down the sensitive walls of her rectal channel felt weird. It was a new feeling, something to get used to. Once that first moment of unfamiliarity had passed, she realized that it felt kind of good though. All the little nerve endings that ran together there made her feel exactly how that lube entered her deeper and deeper.

While she was still focusing on that sensation, Oliver was applying even more of the lube to his cock. Felicity could almost hear how Oliver was holding back a moan at touching himself. He had been so close to his orgasm before that it wouldn’t take a lot of time for him to come. It was a good thing that she had already come before and was so aroused by her anticipation that she was almost on edge too.

When Oliver covered her body with his once more like he had done before, he kept the lube close in case the needed more. He stayed propped up on his left forearms, his fingers lacing through hers on the sheet.

Felicity bit down on her bottom lip, waiting for Oliver to move. She could feel his cock resting right between her butt cheeks and though his tip was nowhere near her entrance, the sensation already aroused her even more. Soon, Oliver moved his hand between their bodies though and positioned himself at her anal entrance.

Her heart was beating up into her throat, and Felicity was holding her breath. He was only at her outer entrance, but it already felt incredibly good. All those little nerve endings made her feel exactly how hard and hot his cock was for her. She felt her vagina clench down on emptiness, needing to feel him, and she wondered if it would feel weird that he wasn’t going to enter her there.

Carefully, Oliver pushed just the tip of his cock inside. Felicity sucked in a deep breath, clenching her eyes shut. The sensation didn’t hurt, but it didn’t feel particularly good either. It was unfamiliar and maybe a little uncomfortable.

After all those years, Oliver could read her body language perfectly though. He knew that she wasn’t completely fine with it, and he reacted to it immediately. Pushing his arm under her body, his fingers sought out her clit and started rubbing against it in a slow and gentle rhythm. Within seconds, Felicity relaxed, her hips thrusting against the touch of his fingers.

Kissing her shoulder blade, Oliver moved even deeper into her. He still moved slowly and carefully. With every inch he moved deeper inside, he tested her reaction. When she tensed even the slightest, he stopped and just rubbed his fingers against her clit before she relaxed, able to take more of him in.

Felicity didn’t know how often they had to stop and take some time before they could continue. Eventually, he was seated deep inside of her. Oliver’s pelvic bone pressed against the cheeks of her butt. His cock filled every inch of her, stretching her walls without making it feel like it was too much.

They took their time, staying unmoving, so they could get used to the feeling. Felicity couldn’t say if she liked the feelings. It still felt so new. It was different than anything Felicity had ever experienced. Oliver’s cock was stretching her walls, filling her in the most delicious way. Usually, this was something to moan out about and enjoy, but her vaginal channel still felt so needy for him that those mixed feelings were hard to handle.

When Felicity got used to the feeling of having him in there, she shifted her hips slightly. It was a silent request for Oliver to start moving, and he didn’t have to be asked twice. He moved just a couple of inches out of her before he pushed back in, maintaining his slow rhythm of before.

Unexpectedly, Felicity felt her pleasure increasing. She couldn’t say where the pleasure was exactly coming from. Part of it was definitely coming from her clit that Oliver was still rubbing his fingers against, but there was another source the pleasure was spreading from, and it was hard to locate because she had never felt it coming from there.

It took some time before there was more than just being used to the feeling. The starting familiarity turned to more. It turned into pleasure. A quiet moan escaped her as her nerve endings started tingling. Her skin heated, feeling so sensitive that she was almost sure any little touch could tip her over the edge.

“Oliver.”

He squeezed her hand, letting her know that he was close to. Felicity smiled as it had been the other way around just a couple of minutes ago before she had come and interrupted their sexual intercourse to try this.

Felicity knew that she wouldn’t have a mind-blowing orgasm. She’d have a great wave of pleasure spreading through her body, but she wouldn’t say that it was going to be the best orgasm she had ever had. All those sensations were still too new for her to fully enjoy them. Maybe one day, once they were more experienced with this and didn’t have to be overly careful, it would become even better.

With one more flick of his fingers against her clit, Felicity came. Just like she had suspected, it wasn’t a mind-crashing orgasm. Still, the warm and exciting feeling of pleasure that was washing over her filled her body with contentment and release. It was a great feeling. Like a relaxing bath, it made her feel warm and fuzzy.

Her body was still trembling as soft spams ran through her. It was why it took her a while before she noticed that Oliver was still holding onto her hand very firmly, unable to let go just yet. He had held back his pleasure for too long to just let it happen now.

Felicity knew he needed her help, so she squeezed her hand. Wetting her lips, so she was able to talk, she whispered, “Come for me, Baby.”

Oliver shifted his hips a little more, finding a new angle that appealed to him more. His hips stuttered briefly before his muscles tensed and he released into her with a soft growl that made a warm shiver run down the length of her spine.

When his muscles gave in, Oliver rested his body on top of hers. He snuggled his head against the crook of her shoulder for a moment. Neither of them moved. They just stayed like that, enjoying the quiet and the intimacy of the moment with their bodies still connected.

By now, it should be impossible to find ways for them to increase their intimacy. By now, they should have reached the highest level of intimacy possible. It always felt like that, and yet she caught herself realizing that their intimacy had increased once more.

It was the same about their love. After all these years and everything they had been through, she felt like she loved Oliver as much as a person could possibly love another human being. Yet, she fell even more in love with him from time to time. Oliver just managed to make her feel like she was falling in love with him all over again, always more than the last time.

Eventually, Oliver rolled off of her. He bounced up and down on the mattress next to her slightly and pulled the blanket over himself before he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against his side and kissed the top of her head.

Felicity sighed contently and pushed one of her legs between bot of Oliver’s, so she was almost lying on top of him. His body was warm and he smelled so wonderfully good. Felicity liked the smell of sweat and sex on him.

“So,” he asked with quiet voice, “what do you think?”

Felicity smiled, kissing Oliver’s shoulder. She knew he wasn’t asking her to tell him how great he had been. He wanted to know her opinion on anal sex altogether, making sure they were on the same page when it came to future experiments. Communicating about sex was just as important to them as communicating during sex and having sex too.

Her fingertips stroked against the tattoo he had gotten for their last wedding anniversary. It followed the horizontal eight in a slow rhythm. Without stopping, she lifted her eyes to Oliver’s, finding his eyes already on hers. He was looking at her openly, ready to hear whatever she wanted and needed to say.

“I think it was a little weird at first,” Felicity admitted. “I mean it was unfamiliar to have anything go in there.”

Oliver smiled at the face she made and stroked his thumb against her cheek. His calloused fingertips felt even scratchier against her sensitive skin, but Felicity just really liked the feeling no matter what.

“So, we are not repeating it?”

Felicity puckered her lips. “I don’t know. Once I got used to the feeling it became enjoyable, but I think it needs more training and more experience to get really good.”

Oliver nodded his head. “Agreed.”

“So, I guess we will just experiment with it a little more when we are feeling like it, but we don’t force it.”

“That’s what I think it best too.”

Felicity smiled. She and Oliver were already on the same page. They were a team always and forever no matter what.

Snuggling closer to him, Felicity rested her head on Oliver’s heart and closed her eyes. Oliver kissed the crown of her head once more and his arm wrapped around her shoulders even more tightly. His fingertips started stroking up and down along her spine, leaving goosebumps all over her skin.

“What are we going to do with the day?”

Felicity smiled. “I suggest that we take a little rest to recover. After that, we go right back to screwing each other’s brains out.”

“That sounds perfect.”

Felicity hummed in agreement, already half-asleep as the sound of Oliver’s heartbeat lulled her in. She guessed today was just another perfect day in her life, all thanks to this wonderful man she had gotten married to. Their marriage was something that had never needed another try. It had been perfect from the first second.

@fannaz @promiseyoullbepatientwithme @bytemegeekette @felicity-said-just-in-case @phanseptiic @orangeisorange @mspotatohead14 @whentheheavenfades @emmaamelia95 @smoakingskye @seaolicity @ourwritinginvein @1022bridgetp @felicityqueenforever @leagueofolicity17 @yryssss @myhauntedblacksoul @muslimsmoak @sherlock44 @sinceriouslybea @arrowsalways @olivyflavescentdeer @olicitys-castle @ofnothingcharming @vaelisamaza @smoakedandcharmed @alexisa1206 @mysaudadespt2 @florence-bubbles @addictiontelly @queens-of-arrows @memcjo @hysterical-for-joshifer @oswinelevenforever @olicitylovemaking @bandanab310 @mymusiclove101 @lynslogic @scarletqueen23 @olicityshipper19 @alex-wesley @arrows-4ever @unabashedlynerdypatrol @louehmysoul @ligiapimenta @chattyyana @charlie-leau @coal000 @samcrowleys @ishippolivia @julianegomesqueen @malafle @miriam1779 @charlinert @melaux @ontheolicityship @myshipperlife @wrightainsley @lexi9515 @ladygreenwood @multi-fandom-crazy-fangirl @morinamel @mje-thomas @kebarry @canadianheartgirl @nannett2307 @almondblossomme @paarti12 @kathrynelizabeth89 @imdfabulous @cutearrowgirl @mrt2501 @mecha1330 @arsipaci14 @mzminx @salasvia @brandis91 @cainc3 @morganmiguess @pr0fessi0nal-fangurl @iamisalima @nessafra @jonhdiggle @niki-is-amazing @universed-posts @hopeful-warrior @senoritaswiftie @bellemmie @green-arrows-of-karamel @iheartarrow @olicityovereverything @oliverfel4 @navyaarsha @fandoms-breathe-life @simone4mcswarek @olicity-in-the-heart @fullychippedcreation @geemarie @everything-but-normal-cat @myarroworld @tjmartinez @pleasantfanandstudent @itsmagnoliagirl @j69confessional2 @scentedcolorpirate @icanica74 @javinancupil @tjmartinez98 @certainmentalityface @tatianadamaceno @ryelew @wildwillowzepplin @missafairy @letsplaymurde-r @lipizette @positivepiper @nuttymilkshakehologram @laksagirl @turnupthemusicandscream @pumpernickle93 @onceuponanolicity @1106angel @jaspertown @fadinglands @morganashimi83 @mochababychristy @omglovechrissie @mariejr88-blog @thetaufactor @onceuponanolicity @speakandseethetruth @bri206 @aglasgo @thats0klaroline @geemarie @pineprincess @nerdgirljen @peterpanslostgirl666 @eternal-olicity14 @allyouhadtodowas-stay-stay-stay @lovelycssefan @tsseract @flowerandsunshine @dcnmarvelgamergeek @blondeeoneexox @monetsmark @soaring-cities @bb-olicity @mashamarty @rulerofsilence @erika-amber @felicity087 @i-claim-only-emily @pattid1 @westallenandolicityshipper @babyolicityandwestallen @nothingmorethanmyotps @kayleenyc @tonto16 @olicityfluv @olicitea1990 @olicity5ever @haahaaa2408 @pattid1 @faegal04 @24karatgem

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[krisdoesart]

Close to the chest - Sanders Sides AU

Logan - part 1

Summary: Some background on Logan's family. An 11 year old Logan goes through a lot of emotions about various things in his life, and a usually indifferent father does his best to console his son

I'm really proud of this and would really appreciate a reblog if you see this! Thank you!

Warnings: Sympathetic Deceit (though never mentioned by name), neglectful parenting, divorce, bullying

Ships: none

Word count: 1785

Logan Bowman called his father D.

D figured it was short for Dad, although, based off his typical speech mannerisms and the fact that he called his and Virgil's mom Mother, D couldn't understand why Logan wouldn't call him Father.

Oh well, it's not like D cared that much about it anyways.

D was a very successful businessman. He was known for being very manipulative and had bent the truth many times to get to his position.

D was married to a woman named Sarah. They'd had two children together; Virgil, born early 1999, and Logan, born a year and a half later. Both parents were successful, but they both had busy lifestyles and, despite the family being well off, had never felt like much of a family.

Sarah, or Mother as Virgil and Logan called her, acted as more of a shelter for the two boys. Logan and Virgil were the closest two of the family, but Mother would comfort and shield the two from their father. D felt very disapprovingly of acting emotional and highly encouraged his sons to keep their emotions and thoughts close to the chest.

That being said, D was never much of a father figure for Logan or Virgil. He often acted stiff, cold, as if he didn't care for his family. He encouraged them to be successful but never greeted them warmly. He would often go on week-long business trips and leave his children with their mother. Whenever both parents were away, Virgil would care for Logan rather than make D or mother pay for a babysitter.

Mother wasn't much better. She would do her best to treat her children well, but she was nearly as busy as her husband and wasn't very good at acting motherly. She'd do her best to comfort her children when Virgil and one of his friends got into a fight, or when Logan came to her with complaints of bullies, but seeing as the two had been raised mainly by nannies and she had never been much of a child lover, she was often unaware of what to do in these situations.

Oh, how dearly Virgil and Logan missed her when she left.

June 2012

Logan

Just because he wasn't surprised didn't mean he wasn't upset.

That night had been one of the few times the whole family had eaten together. For reasons unknown to Logan, the meal had felt very tense and uncomfortable. Once everyone had finished, D had announced to Logan and Virgil that he and Mother were getting divorced.

Logan had been expecting it to happen for some time. The couple had frequently fought and had never seemed to be content around each other as of late.

Virgil seemed visibly distressed by the idea of the parents separating. Logan frowned at him, concerned. He reached under the table and began tapping the 4, 7, 8 rhythm on Virgil's arm to help calm him down.

After a few seconds, Virgil asked, "Are we going to be separated?" His voice was small. Logan saw in his face how much the prospect scared him. He wasn't the only one; Logan felt a twist in his gut when he imagined he and Virgil being split between their parents. What if Virgil got stuck alone with D? Logan knew how uncomfortable D made Virgil feel.

"No, most likely not," Mother said. "But there is a high chance of you two staying with your father. We've discussed our options, and what's most likely to happen is that you two and your father will be moving up north."

Moving? The idea both delighted and terrified Logan. He'd been having worse and worse troubles with bullies lately. Summer had just started and he was incredibly happy to get away from the daily struggles of maneuvering school and avoiding bullies, but whenever Logan left his house, they seemed to know and follow.

On the other hand, Logan had made friends here. This was the house he'd grown up in; he'd gone to the same school for the past 6 years and had gotten to know some amazing friends over that time. Logan found it rather difficult to make friends; he wasn't sure whether he'd make it in a completely new setting.

Next to him, Virgil was shaking his head. "No," he said softly, "no, I'm not moving. Especially not without Mother. I'm not moving."

He stood up suddenly, his chair scraping against the floor. Logan startled next to him, looking up at Virgil's face. He looked like he was ready to cry.

"You're not just dropping this on me. You don't get to just suddenly decide to change our entire lives like this. I've got classes! I've got- I've got friends! I've got a life! You can't just do this to me!"

D stood up, looking Virgil right in the eyes. "This isn't for you or about you. This is about your mother and I. Now sit down and stop being so dramatic. You know what I've told you about unnecessary outbursts like these."

Virgil clenched his jaw. Tears were now running down his cheeks. He glared for a moment, first at D, then at Mother, and then down to Logan, before spinning around and stomping away upstairs to his room. After a moment's hesitation, Logan got up, excused himself, and walked up the stairs behind him.

Logan knocked on his brother's bedroom door gently. "Virgil?" he called softly. "May I enter?"

Silence.

"Virge?" He knocked once more. "Are you alright?"

Logan waited for an answer, but none came. He sighed and walked back to his room.

He shut the door behind him and looked himself up and down in the floor-length mirror in his bedroom. Pale, skinny, slightly crooked glasses, disheveled black hair. Logan looked like he hadn't slept in a few days. Which, in all honestly, wasn't far from the truth. His parents had fought late into the night the night before, and Logan had found it incredibly difficult to get any sleep at all.

Logan stepped out of his shoes and let himself fall onto his bed. He rolled onto his back and pulled off his glasses, setting them on his night stand. Rubbing his eyes, he stared up at the ceiling.

And then he began to cry.

About nothing. Everything. Losing his mother. Losing his home. The bullies' unending torment. His father's unending disappointment in him, despite his straight-A record and perfect behavior. The prospect of having to try (and most likely fail) to make new friends. Having to live with only D, no mother.

Everything Logan had been stressing about lately just came pouring out of him. He wasn't sure how long he cried for.

Eventually, he heard a knock at the door. Logan sniffled and rolled from his back to his side, facing away from the door. When the person at the door knocked again, Logan cleared his throat and called out, "You may enter." He didn't turn around when the door opened.

D came in and sat in the other side of the bed. After a few seconds of awkward silence, D asked, "Are you alright, son?"

Logan bit his lip nervously. Is this going to help, he thought, or is he just going to lecture me, like always?

"No," he choked out finally. "No, I am not alright."

"I know this is difficult for you and Virgil," D started, "but I fully expect you to be able to handle this–"

"The divorce is not the only thing that is causing me to feel upset." Logan pushed himself up to a sitting position, still facing away. "I've been having a very difficult time with bullies lately. It seems that there is nothing I am able to do to cause them to leave me alone, as I have already reached out to the school to no effect. My two friends, Leo and Kenneth, have assisted me with this situation, but they are obviously not moving with me. I am unsure of whether I am even capable of making new friends if we move. Who's to say that my bullying situation in our new location would be any less severe than my current one?

"I usually talk with Mother or Virgil about these issues, as you never seemed to care much about feelings. I'm not particularly fond of them myself." At this point Logan had turned to face his father, although his eyes were pointed at his bed. Tears still streaked his face, though he had stopped crying. He looked up. D appeared to be thinking. He had a conflicted look on his face.

D spoke after a moment of silence. "Your problem is that you care about what other people think. Do you think I got to my position by listening to what other people say about me? In case you haven't noticed, son, I don't have the prettiest reputation. But I don't pay any attention to what they feel. It's not my job to make other people happy; I'm the only person I need to be worrying about. If you stop caring about pleasing everyone around you; if you stop caring about what those nitwits from that awful school say or do to you, you'll find it so much easier to enjoy yourself.

"I've also noticed you express your emotions quite openly." D inspected his nails despite the yellow gloves covering them. "It's like you wear your heart on your sleeve! You let on so easily when something's upset you, or if things don't go according to plan. In our society, such a habit can be dangerous. Don't let those bullies know they've gotten to you! They'll just come back to bother you again, knowing they'll get a rise out of you every time they bug you. Keep your thoughts and feelings close to the chest, and people will have a much harder time finding satisfaction in your torment.

D stood up and gave Logan a pat on the shoulder. "Son, know that you can always come to me about issues. Especially now that your mother will no longer be a part of the picture. We are family, after all. Just remember– close to the chest." And with that, he left the room, closing the door behind him.

Logan pondered D's advice for a while. Maybe that was, in fact, the answer? If Logan just stopped caring about what other people felt or said, and kept a mask over his own feelings, would it make his life more tolerable? There was certainly room for improvement, and he saw no downside to his father's suggestions.

Logan sighed. He needed to sleep. He could more properly deal with these emotions in the morning.

[ohsupernaturall]

Chapter 1 (Always and forever and in-between)

"To be understood is to prostitute oneself" 

— Fernando Pessoa 

Song Muse “Just the girl by the click five”

The hierarchy was something to be reckoned upon in tree hill generally and tree hill high specifically; that was the reason Nathan Royal Scott, star shooting guard for the tree hill ravens, son of the infamous loaded Dan Scott and boyfriend of the ever popular cheerleader Peyton Sawyer felt entitled. That was of course before his illegitimate half-brother Lucas turned things around, securing himself a spot in Nathan’s basketball team, and aiming for his girlfriend.

That was why he needed to bring Lucas down a notch or two, and that was where Haley James came into the picture.

Haley James was Lucas’s best friend, has been since they were eight years old, and if she weren’t Nathan probably would have never noticed- nor given her the time of day. She was an over achiever, with the best GPA in the school, a tutor to people doing less than well in school and an employee in Karen’s café- Lucas mother’s Cafe . In short, a nerd, so the idea of her and Nathan crossing paths was highly unlikely.

Until Nathan saw her with peripheral vision as he looked over at Lucas, the girl was so tiny; he felt as though she could fit into his pocket, with a smile too big for this world.

“Hey who is that girl he is always hanging out with?” Nathan asked his own best friend and sidekick Tim.

“Who knows? Why you feel like slumming?” said Tim jokingly, Nathan scrunched up his nose in mock indignation and shoved Tim playfully- as if that would ever happen.

Still his father’s words rang in his head ‘If someone isn’t on his side then they are his opponent, the only way to deal with an opponent is to identify their weaknesses and attack them’

Nathan fully intended to exploit Lucas’ weak points. He followed Tim to their next class.

###

Haley was walking out of the tutor center when she heard someone whispering her name loudly. She stopped dead in her tracks, school was deserted; students had gone home but she stayed later than usual to go through some notes, she had prepared for a D+ student she was tutoring.

“Psst, Hales!” the voice called again and she looked around.

Lucas’ head was peeking out the door of an empty classroom.

“Luke?”

“I need help” said Lucas through gritted teeth.

She moved closer “Wow! Wow! Damn it Lucas. My eyes! What happened?”

Her friend was stark naked, aside from two basketballs giving him some coverage. He looked absolutely pissed. “What do you think happened? Guess who took my clothes in the locker room?”

She sighed loudly; Nathan Scott was the epitome of scum.

“Well?”

“Well what?” Haley asked confused.

“I need clothes!”

“I would be very happy to help you Luke, but I am still wearing mine, and I don’t think they would even fit you”

“Very funny” Lucas dead-panned “just help”

He pushed himself back into the classroom and shut the door.

“So how exactly did that happen?” Haley asked fifteen minutes later, she had run to his house, grabbed something for him to wear and returned to school in record timing

“I took some extra time in the shower” Lucas explained as they walked away together “I came out and all my clothes were gone”

“Enter your savior” she said, giving a fake courtesy.

Lucas chuckled, throwing an arm around Haley. “Well, your damsel in distress is eternally grateful”

###

The tutor center was a place Nathan hasn’t gone to before, but there he was; a paper assigning Haley to be his tutor in his hand. When he signed up, there had been four other tutors available to help him, but he insisted on Haley. That way he was hitting two birds with one stone; first, he actually did need assistance with his grades, if he didn’t improve, he would end up working in his father’s dealership, and second, he would be messing with Lucas big time and that was the best part.

“Hey!” Nathan smiled sweetly as he walked through the door, moving closer to Haley didn’t make her seem any bigger.

Haley stared in what seemed to be confusion and resentment for a split second, before asking “Can I help you?”

“I hope so, you are my tutor”

She eyed him from head to foot before laughing cynically and looking away “Right! I don’t think so”

“You are Haley James, right?” He confirmed, looking down at the paper in his hand. Haley was quick to grab it, huffing in annoyance, and then she saw her name. Perfect, that was just perfect. She was already doing all she could to be a professional and not tell him off for what he was doing to Lucas.

“I am sorry” said Haley “I am best friends with Lucas”

“Well then I am sorry too” joked Nathan.

“Forget it, I will find you someone else” said Haley dismissively.

She attempted to step out when Nathan’s lean form blocked her way “Whoa! Whoa! Look! Look! There is nobody else; I would be fine with it if there was”

“If there were” corrected Haley.

“See you are helping me already”

“Look I can’t help you and on top of that I won’t help you, okay?”

Haley quickly walked away but not before spotting a confused frown crossing his face. He was flabbergasted in fact; it usually took him a much lesser dose of puppy-dog eyes to get what he wanted from a girl.

“Wait” he chased after her and had barely grabbed her arm, before she jerked it away from him, quickly he raised a hand “Sorry, sorry, look I don’t understand”

“Then you do need help, because I made myself loud and clear, I will not help you”

“But Ms. whatever her name is, told me you were available to tutor me”

“Ms. Mckee” she rolled her eyes.

“Right”

“I never said that I didn’t have time. I said I refuse to help you” she spoke every word slowly as though he were an idiot.

“Why?”

“Why?!!” she looked at him in disbelief “How about I make your life miserable in every single way possible, and then you will know why!”

“I don’t even know you”

“Yes, but I know Lucas, and I know what you did to him in the locker room”

Nathan stifled a laugh, she flared her nose “and see there it is, now, excuse me, I need to go”

“No, wait” his face turned serious “Sorry, I just…”

But she was already out the door.

Agitated by his very presence, Haley was thankful the day was over, she all but stomped her way home. He was a major-insufferable-up to no good- jerk and he had every word she said coming, strutting around like he owned the world. Figured he was Dan Scott’s son, though underneath the façade Haley could almost spot remnants of a human being, she almost felt bad; actually she felt terrible; so terrible that her heart ached. Something about him seemed so innocent, young even; she guessed that if he were to murder someone, convicting him was highly unlikely. After all who could suspect the charming boy with bright blue eyes and a coy smile?

“No” she whispered to herself.

On the other hand, Nathan was still scratching his head in confusion; never has any girl talked to him that way, even before his rapid rise to popularity, girls seemed to take an interest in him, he found that out at fourteen when a smoking hot senior, Taylor, pulled him into his room at his parent’s beach house and slept with him, he hadn’t even initiated it. In fact, as he remembered it, he was incredibly nervous, but that seemed to make him even more desirable, adding to the fact that it was also a party held in honor of him joining the varsity team; that was an epic night.

Then there was Peyton, he got to know her shortly after and they talked a lot, soon enough he asked her to be his girlfriend, and they were happy, ‘were’ being the keyword. She was too much, always irritable, cranky and melancholic, so what if he hung out with his friends? She didn’t expect him to devote every waking moment to her. As well as the fact that she was crushing on Lucas, that on its own made his blood boil, she was his girlfriend. During their latest fight they were in his car and she was acting like a total bitch, she threw a fit and decided to walk home; in a beat Nathan threw her pompoms out the window and left her on the side of the street. Sure they were alright now, as alright as it can get anyway, he likes Peyton, she is his girl and the sex is amazing but if she was going to be like that, then he didn’t need the added drama. Which brought him back to Haley, he actually felt ashamed at being scorned by her, he knew he should have retorted, but something about her demanded his respect and he was willing to give it to her; that was new.

###

“You wanted to see me, Mr. Kelly”

“Yes, please, come in Mr. Scott” the teacher peered at him over his glasses.

Nathan moved closer standing at the teacher’s desk, a test held tightly in his hand with a big ‘F’ marked boldly in red.

“So, if this is about my grade…”

“Yes, Mr. Scott, it is in fact about your grade, I assume you are aware that you need to maintain a certain grade point average to be able to participate in any athletic activities”

Nathan rolled his eyes, and spoke through gritted teeth “Yes”

“And you are falling behind, I am afraid you might not be able to play basketball anymore if you don’t turn it around”

“I know” Nathan said annoyed.

“Perhaps you could try tutoring; we have some fine students who are more than willing to help”

He didn’t attempt to even hide his sneer.

The teacher sighed and spoke softly “Listen, Nathan, I know that a young man in your position might find it embarrassing to ask for help, but it beats the alternative, that is if you want to keep your position on the team. You do want that don’t you?”

Nathan nodded briefly.

“Then I think you should go to the tutor center right away, it is the seventh room on your left” he pointed out the door. Nathan grabbed his test, and made for the door.

“If you could” Mr. Kelly interrupted, making him turn around “see if Miss Haley James is available to tutor you, she is quite promising and I am not supposed to show favoritism, but I must admit, she is the best”

Without a word, Nathan clenched his jaw and headed to the tutor center. Not only did Lucas take his spot as shooting guard on the team and his girlfriend’s affections, he was indirectly stealing his entire basketball future all together.

“Hey” Nathan walked in with a melancholic expression “I just wanted to let you know I will be fine”

“Great” responded Haley, carelessly.

“I mean F is for fine, right?”

He lifted his test briefly to show her the grade before turning around and walking away. Haley could only stare after him mouth agape in shock, she stood that way a little, before rolling her eyes and shrugging, what was she supposed to do?

“You could tutor him” a small voice in her head whispered. But she pushed that thought away quickly, it didn’t matter how sincere he looked.

###

He highly doubted that there would never be a sound that aggravated him more than his father talking to him about basketball. Nathan loved the game, the rush and the crowd’s adoration, but when it came to Dan Scott, everything between him and his son was about sports, whether it be his next game, his faulty (according to his father) techniques or how unlikely it was to beat the older man’s score from when he was in high school. Nathan was sure he could do it, but it really hurt his feelings that his dad seemed to think so little of him.

“So how did it go?” Dan Scott asked “with practice”

Nathan shrugged “I am small forward”

“And what did you do about that?”

“What do you want me to do dad?”

“I told you, I want you to eliminate the competition” Dan stated firmly.

“You mean your son?” said Nathan venomously.

“Don’t call him that”

“I am going upstairs” he said quietly, walking out of the room. His father already had too many high hopes on him being the star athlete, he would go insane if he were to know that Nathan might have to be forced to leave the team because of grades all together, that was a school rule and even Dan would have a hard time switching it around in their favor like he does.

He drew a shuddering breath as he laid down on the couch, picking up the phone, Haley’s number was inscribed on the paper where she had been assigned as his tutor, it was Karen café’s number, where she worked, she had thought it useless to use her house number since she was hardly there unless at late hours of the night when people shouldn’t even be calling. It rang a couple of times before she picked up.

“Karen’s café” she answered.

“I am calling for Haley James”

“Yeah, this is her��

“Hey! It’s Nathan Scott” he sighed, Nathan had planned to apologize for whatever he had done, and to ask her for help once again, perhaps this time she would be yielding “I really need your help”

“Sorry, this isn’t her”

She hung up the phone on him quickly, not even allowing him to get a word in edgewise. Nathan put the phone down dejected, she had turned him down too many times so far, yet, he continued allowing himself be treated like a doormat. Heck, he wasn’t proud of it but he was sure he would try again.

“What was that?” Karen, who was standing at the cash register, asked her.

“Uh, wrong number” improvised Haley.

“But you just said ‘this was her’. Did you forget your name?”

Haley chuckled softly, hoping they could avert from the subject, however she still felt Karen’s eyes bore into the back of her head.

“What’s up?”

The girl turned around, struggling to find the proper words to explain, ‘the son of your ex-husband (the one who abandoned you and your child) is asking me to tutor him, oh and by the by, he has been bullying Lucas relentlessly. However now I am on the edge of caving and agreeing to it because he has a distressed quality that is tugging on my heartstrings’ didn’t seem proper, so instead she said “This…guy… wants me to tutor him and I said no ‘cause he is kind of a bad guy”

Karen raised her eyebrows “You know him?”

Haley was silent for a beat, feeling slightly ashamed “Not really, I just know of him” she answered, avoiding Karen’s gaze, by pretending to clean the counter.

“Dangerous?” pushed Karen.

“No” said Haley, curling her lips and trying to act nonchalant, she caught Karen with a skeptical expression “What you got that look?”

“What look?” asked Karen, playing dumb.

“The look that my mom always gets when she wants to throw her two cents in, What?” replied Haley sheepishly, gesturing for an explanation.

“Well, Haley, I think you have pretty good instincts. I am not trying to tell you what to do” Which meant she was “but just to play devil’s advocate, if this boy came for tutoring, maybe he’s trying to change”

Haley opened her mouth for a second, unable to find counter words, she sighed heavily; her logic had been defeated. Karen moved closer, placed two cents on the counter and said “Might be something in there worth saving” before walking away.

They younger girl, bit her lips uncertainly, the idea of saving Nathan Scott in anyway seemed farfetched.

###

It was a beautiful day, the sun shone brighter than ever, birds were chirping, and a gentle breeze ruffled the tree leaves around her. Yet, Haley sat fuming. She had her first tutoring session with Nathan, having finally agreed to doing it the night prior, right after he kidnapped Lucas to humiliate him and throw his phone away, and she loved Luke, he was like a brother to her, even more so than her actual brothers, so after a few tears, she went over to Nathan’s house and decided to stop him once and for all; her way. When he answered the door, he was definitely surprised to see her, it even came more as a shock when she told him she would tutor him, Nathan was absolutely sure she wouldn’t after Lucas told her. So, he was more than gleeful, even readily accepting her two conditions; first, Lucas doesn’t know, and second, he leaves him alone. Both seemed like a fair price, and he was more than happy to pay. As she left, Nathan stood there watching her for a few seconds, a sincere smile on his face, she was kind of cute.

Haley had the textbooks already out as she fidgeted on the bench, most of her sessions took place in school, but due to the anonymity of the situation, she had told him to meet her at the dock, take it or leave it.

“Breakfast of champions; want some?” said Nathan as he walked up to her and placed two cups of latte and a box of cracker jack on the table.

“You are late” Haley didn’t spare him a glance as he sat down.

He tore into the box of snacks, fishing for the prize and said “Oh! Please let this be a cheat sheet”. Instead he pulled out a plastic beaded colorful bracelet, the kind she used to make with her mother and sisters when she was five. Nathan looked between her and the bracelet a few times hesitantly, then smiled shyly and declared “It’s for you”

“Stop it, it’s just…”

“Come on” he interrupted, sliding the bracelet on her hand smoothly “Don’t say I never gave you anything”

He looked too pleased with himself, and Haley grabbed a textbook “Do you see this book? Because this book is me, I am math”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he still smiled.

“It’s supposed to mean, you can work your whole, I am Nathan Scott, Mr. big shot, scoring my touchdowns on somebody else, because I don’t think..”

“I don’t even play football” he said ludicrously.

“Whatever” she replied dismissing him “at the end of the day all your bluster and BS don’t mean anything to Math, because Math don’t care and neither do I”

“Well, does English care? Because I really suck at that too”

“Please don’t waste my time” she spoke as patiently as she could muster “I am already taking a huge chance on you because my instincts are screaming that you are full of sh…”

Nathan stifled a smile, looking down and nodding his head, trying to keep on a serious mature facial expression.

“Let’s just get started, okay?” suggested Haley in the most patient way she could muster, and he smiled again, his eyes gleaming “Page 81”

No sooner had Nathan looked at the book that Haley had to stifle her own laugh, his nose scrunched up in total confusion, as he read the problem out loud, frowning deeper with each word. “A class average mark in an exam is 70. The average of students who scored below 60 is 50. The average of students who scored 60 or more is 75. If the total number of students in this class is 20, how many students scored below?”

Haley was waiting for him to finish when he looked up and said “You know if I understood any of this, we wouldn’t be here right now”

She huffed out a laugh, reaching for her pencil, as she slowly explained the problem, eliciting theories he could remember and offering up the ones he couldn’t. Turned out, Nathan was actually quite smart, just needed to understand every step before he could be convinced to answer and it only took them around half an hour before he was answering summation notation problems mostly on his own. The way his face lit up with joy, actually made her smile sincerely, as he took on another problem without her asking.

Soon enough they were talking, though at first shortly and formally on her side at least, she found he armor breaking slightly and caught herself enjoying his company, his playful attitude made her laugh a few times. After they were done, he looked up at her and smiled brightly, this time, she smiled back.

“Thank you, Haley, really.”

She nodded curtly, collecting her things “I will see you next time then”

“Whoa! Whoa! Wait” he got up hurriedly “There was no way; I could solve whatever gibberish was in that book”

Haley cocked an eyebrow “and?” she asked suspiciously.

“And I am buying you ice cream”

“Nathan…” she sighed.

“Look it isn’t just for you, I like ice-cream and we have to celebrate this milestone, plus the fact that we have been together for two hours and you haven’t screamed at me” his eyes were practically dancing and she chortled at his barely contained excitement, agreeing to one scoop before they parted ways.

“So how long have you been at tree hill high?”

“All my life” she laughed.

Nathan frowned, racking his brain; he whispered “Why can’t I remember you?”

Haley raised her eyebrows in disbelief, though still smiling “Wow! Nathan Scott didn’t know who I was? My mediocre reputation has been compromised”

He swiftly corrected “No, No, I didn’t mean it like that, I swear, I just meant that…” he caught Haley staring at him with eyes narrowed mockingly “I should just stop talking before I make a total ass of myself”

“Good idea”

They arrived at a nearby ice cream parlor in silence, she saw Nathan digging for his wallet and asking her “What do you want?”

“It’s okay, I will pay” she rolled her eyes “You already got me breakfast and the bracelet.

“Who invited who for ice-cream?” he asked bewildered.

“Fine” Haley sighed “mint chocolate chip”

“Cone?”

“Waffle”

“Excuse me, two mint chocolate chip ice-creams, waffle cones” he handed the man the money, and grabbed the cones as soon as the man scooped the ice-cream “There you go”

“Thank you” said Haley, savoring her treat, and making satisfied sounds “mmm, mint chocolate chip is heavenly”

“Yes it is” he whispered inaudibly, staring at her with a gleam in his eyes

“What are you looking at?” she snapped him out of his thoughts, jokingly, she had finished her entire cone in record timing “That is the only proper way to eat mint chocolate chip ice cream”

“You want mine” he offered, dangling half his eaten cone, in front of her face.

“Nah! it’s okay” she said, clearly wanting it.

“Here, I saved it for you”

“I couldn’t”

“I want you to have it”

He chuckled, when she grabbed it suddenly, saying a quick thank you and shoving her face in it.

They said goodbye shortly afterwards and parted ways. As Haley walked home, she felt a tiny trickle of melted ice cream on the corner of her lips, wiping it away, she caught a whiff of the earthy sandalwood scent of Nathan’s cologne, still lingering faintly on her new bracelet, she wouldn’t admit it but she smelled it all the way there, and a little after that.

[vanquisher2099]

Part Five: A Detective Walks into a Wire

There was a particular quality to the air which, John Leavitt noted, was more foul than usual that morning. The news had suggested the cause was the enormous wildfire burning to the north, and recommended minimizing time spent outdoors and even suggested respirators. John wasn’t sure why he had been so eager to chase a lead down on the west coast, but as it turned out, he hated Los Angeles.  

It wasn’t just the terrible air quality and fires that bothered him, it was something about the very spirit of the city. There was, he thought, a contradictory sense of both needing to appear completely relaxed at all times while simultaneously showing how hard one was hustling that permeated the people here, a sort of look at how much work I’m putting into not being bothered by anything that grated against his own personal inclination to put his head down and quietly work without, hopefully, attracting too much attention. Attracting too much attention was a dreadful hazard in his line of work, for one thing, and for another, there was a humility to working a thankless job that he appreciated. Harry, had he been around to hear any of this, would have probably said something about how the two philosophies seemed to be equally stupid, but John hadn’t seen Harry in over a year, so whatever opinions he might have contributed were moot.

The case, such as it was, should have been a simple one: track down some parents and let them know their daughter was dead. The problem – and the thing that had gotten John on a plane to LA, in spite of the cost – was that the parents were unusually hard to find and might not have even existed. John was beginning to have serious doubts as to the existence of a daughter as well, which meant that his client – a well-dressed fellow claiming to be the daughter’s butler, was running some kind of scam. His checks cleared, though, and for now that was good enough for John. The private detective business was unsurprisingly a little less lucrative in an era of constant surveillance, but there was still value in someone who could actually go places and physically dig through the garbage – so to speak. John at least had only been forced to go dumpster diving in search of clues three or four times since he’d left the police force two years previously.

His lead was, in this case, the address of what was meant to be the last known residence of the girl’s father – the parents had, in the history given to John, separated some twenty years previously. John hadn’t been able to get firm information on the mother – not beyond official birth, marriage, and divorce records, anyway – and her last known address had ended up being a convenience store in downtown Chicago – but the father’s last known residence appeared to be an actual house somewhere up in the hills surrounding LA. Which meant, John hoped, that he could at least show a photo around and see if anyone had ever seen the guy before. Whether or not John’s client would appreciate him trying to uncover the particulars of what the hell was going on was not something he was prepared to really think about at the moment, of course; though again, his client continued to pay him and had even reimbursed the flight without batting an eye, so it was possible John was paranoid and the parents were really just that much of a pain in the ass to find. Either way the trip to LA promised to sort all that out – either John would end up telling an old man his daughter was dead, or he would end up down a rabbit hole of yet another goddamned conspiracy.

John had hopes it wouldn’t end up being a conspiracy. Conspiracies were, as it turned out, incredibly messy and generally ended with people getting paid off, fired, or in the worst case, killed. John counted himself lucky that he’d only lost his job in the aftermath of the fiasco with the agricultural business back in 2099, and even that firing had been seemingly unrelated to the larger events. John had been certain there was more to the headless body in the alley he’d found, but the department had wanted it buried, even after the scandal had broken and (John suspected) taken down the person who’d ordered it buried. So his efforts to continue pursuing the case (and finding out what, if anything, the local vigilante had to do with it) ended up with his demotion and eventual dismissal for insubordination. Which, to be fair, he had been.

Shaking his head, John brought himself back from his reveille and focused on the present dilemma, which was that he was currently prevented from getting to his destination by what was either a completely legitimate closure due to fire, or someone was pulling of a heist under the cover of a fire. Either way there wasn’t really much reason to attempt bypassing it – regardless of the reason for the closure, it meant the area beyond was potentially lethal. It was, he figured, unlikely that he’d find anyone useful remaining, as they’d either be too busy fleeing a fire (or too busy pulling off a heist) to really offer any kind of assistance into finding someone. It would be an incredibly large risk to take for a, charitably put, tremendously minor chance of finding something out that would help put the case to rest.

Bypassing the barrier was fairly easy. There were only a few uniformed officers from a private security firm standing next to a single barrier across the road. As soon as John turned his rental car around and headed back, the officers seemed satisfied they’d performed their duty adequately. The fact that John almost immediately pulled over and exited the rental didn’t seem to raise an eyebrow, and it was a simple matter of hopping a fence between two of the houses to land him on the other side of the barrier and out of sight of the two quite obviously disinterested guards.

The neighborhood in which he found himself was, somewhat unsurprisingly, not currently on fire – although it didn’t take long for John to spot a few signs that the neighborhood had been on fire in the very recent past. There were still a few charred ruins from the last fire which had not been cleared away; either because the residents of said ruins were dead, or they’d failed to pay enough into their fire insurance premiums, which would have jumped up as soon as the companies noticed there was a fire on the way. It also became clear that whichever telecom had been responsible for the maintenance of the area network had not bothered to repair anything just yet, as John’s glasses began to display a flashing “no signal” warning.

A friendly sign set up on the side of the street flashed a friendly warning to John and anyone else who happened to be around that there was an imminent fire and all residents should evacuate as soon as possible. John ignored it, but did notice with a certain level of surprise that the neighborhood did appear to be fairly abandoned. Undeterred, he pulled up the area map from a copy he’d saved locally and began making his way to the address. It was a bit more difficult to navigate without having a view of his own location to track, but most of the houses had numbers on them (a quaint throwback to when houses were not all precisely geotagged for digital maps) which made it slightly easier to verify he was heading in the right direction.

What it did not do, however, was allow John to notice the incredibly faint glimmer of a tripwire stretched across the sidewalk. His foot, however, did notice the tripwire, mostly by tripping over it. John stumbled and swore, then found himself blinded by an enormous flash. Disoriented, he staggered a few paces before something quite blunt and immensely heavy impacted with his temple, and he went limp. A pair of hands caught him as he fell and quickly dragged his body into a neighboring house.

At the barrier, one of two security officers paused in his performative bullshitting long enough to acknowledge the report coming over their comms. “You have him? Great. I’m sure Her Highness will want to speak with him about what brought him to our community.”

“Did you see what he was wearing?” The other guard asked. “Motherfucker should have just hung a sign on himself saying ‘I’m a spy’ and saved himself the trouble.”

“Hey, maybe he’s just into long coats. Could be part of his whole aesthetic. Maybe he’s just like, a door-to-door coat salesman. Out selling long coats that make you look like an asshole.”

“What do you think Her Highness is gonna do with him?”

“What does she always do with trespassers? She’ll ask him what he’s doing here, and once she knows that she’ll give him the same choice she gives everyone. Stay and help or uh, you know. Don’t.”

“You ever seen anyone choose not to stay?”

“I don’t think anyone’s ever seen anybody choose not to stay. Pretty sure choosing not to stay is the same thing as saying you never want to be seen again, if you catch my drift.”

A voice broke over their comms. “You know she hates when people call her Her Highness, right?”

“Who asked you? I mean come on, if the shoe fits…”

“She doesn't think it does.”

The conversation was interrupted by the approach of another car. One of the two held his hand up in an apologetic wave while the other gestured to the barrier. “Sorry ma’am, this area’s been evacuated due to fire risk. You’ll need to head back the way you came.”

In the car, the driver nodded, waved apologetically, and drove off, leaving the two security guards, John, and whoever else was in the abandoned neighborhood to their own devices.

Part Six

Part Four

[ship-ambrosia]

Gruvia Week, Day 3

Give it up for Day 3! Wow, I’m surprising even myself with the motivation I’ve gotten to write!

This one is posted off my laptop. It doesn’t fit the prompt exactly, but I couldn’t think of anything else and it works well enough. My submission today is a piece of a longer fanfiction that I’ve been working on, and debating if I actually want to do the entire thing - so today’s also kind of a test run for me? It’s also way longer than my Day 1 and Day 2 posts lol

As always, please consider checking out my first Gruvia fanfiction on AO3, Four Degrees!

 "Would you stop moping around, ice princess? You're gonna give us all a damn cold!"   "Natsu, don't be mean! That's totally unnecessary!"   "I'll do whatever I want, especially if he isn't going to fight back! Hehe."   "Salamander, you know I don't like the iceman as much as I don't like you, but even I'm starting to get pissed off for him."   "Gajeel, please don't make this worse."   "If you want to go, I'm ready to go!"   "I'm always ready to go, you pink-haired loser!"   "Call me that again to my face, metal freak!"   "I just did!"   Gray glanced up just in time to watch the two of them, mid-brawl, escape out the front doors of the guild.   Across the table from him, Levy let out a sigh. "I'll go make sure they don't destroy anything. Be back in a second, Lu."   Lucy nodded, turning back from her friend to face him. Mentally, Gray braced himself. He knew Lucy at the very least was concerned, but he didn't exactly like to have all his feelings out in the open for others to scrutinize.   "She'll be back, Gray."   He looked up to Lucy's eyes, her smile and her gaze twinkling with hope. He wasn't sure what he had been expecting her to say, but that wasn't it. And honestly, it still hurt. Anything that anyone said about Juvia would hurt, unless they were telling him where he could find her.   "Why did she only tell Gramps where she was going?" He croaked. "Why wouldn't she let me come with her?"   Lucy pursed her lips. "Juvia is strong, Gray. She can handle herself. You might want to protect her, but you picked a girl who knows how to be independent. She wants to figure out what happened to her family on her own. You have to respect that."   "What if she finds out something terrible happened to them? Or that they abandoned her? Wouldn't she want me- or at least someone else to be there to comfort her?"   He wasn't telling Lucy the whole truth. Gray had a bad feeling. He couldn't give a reason or proof, but he felt that Juvia was being tricked. By who, or why, he didn't have a clue. But it had him on edge, and that was why he was trying to get Master Makarov to tell him where Juvia had gone.   "I can't tell you that I understand exactly what she's thinking," Lucy sighed. She glanced up when she heard Natsu and Gajeel yelling from outside the guild hall. She got to her feet. "I'm gonna go help Levy. But have faith in Juvia, Gray. She'll be home soon enough."   As Lucy walked away to deal with the two dragon slayers, his thoughts drifted dark again. Juvia was a powerful wizard. She could have enemies from her Phantom Lord days. He had a lot of enemies. Fairy Tail had a lot of enemies. There were so many reasons that someone might want to hurt her. But to convince her through a letter that they had information about her parents? It either had to be real, or someone very sophisticated in their plan to catch her.

  Juvia stared out the window of the train as it left the station of a small mountain town. Though deep within her heart she was rather lonely on this journey thus far, there was certainly something to be said about riding the train in peace and quiet, without the usual dragon slayer dry heaving on the floor of the car. She usually took jobs that included Gajeel, and occasionally she would join Team Natsu, so she was used to dealing with their motion sickness. But being by herself gave her lots of time to think. To reflect on her life in Fairy Tail as the train rattled along to its final destination, and Juvia's home.   She had not been to Foxglove in over ten years, having only her earliest memories to remind her of her childhood in the orphanage before her mother's estranged brother discovered his niece was still alive and taken her in. This life of hers before she had joined Phantom Lord was not filled with happy memories. It was in the orphanage that she became alienated from the other children because her rain curse began. That was also where her habit of creating teru-teru bozu dolls came from, the nuns who ran the orphanage having taught her how to make them to drive the rain away. Her uncle had been a mean and nasty man who hated the rain and treated Juvia like dirt. He didn't know anything about her parents, either, never informed of how they died and never mentioning a thing about them; she only knew her mother's name. Juvia ran away from him when she was sixteen. Not long after that would she come across Phantom Lord, and Jose, seeing the vast magical potential in the fledgling water mage, offered her a position within his guild.   Juvia sighed. It wasn't as if her life in Phantom Lord was as bad as her life before it, but it certainly wasn't happy compared to how she felt now. Phantom Lord was a cold and lonely guild, with relationships built on strength and the guild itself fixated on remaining the most powerful in Fiore. Still, she had made friends there, including Gajeel, so she couldn't say she was never happy; but it was clear to her that Jose was only interested in her for her power. Behind Aria, she had been the second strongest member of the Element Four.   Her life had changed so much, starting the moment the rain parted and she saw the sun for the first time since she was a little girl. Of course, thinking of that event in time only brought her thoughts to the one who had driven the clouds away; her beloved Gray. Relationship being considered or not, it was hard to argue that anyone else had a more significant impact on her as a person than him. She counted her blessings every day that he was in her life, as she had seen what losing him felt like once and Juvia never wanted to feel that pain ever again. Despite Gray forcing her to promise to never do something like what she did during his fight with Invel again, there was not a bone in her body that wouldn't make that sacrifice if he was in danger and it was their only option. She truly had resolved to heed her own words and live for love however, to live for him, as he had done the same for her. Oh how she missed him.   There were not many trains that made the journey up the mountain to rainy, secluded Foxglove, and she was grateful that this one did. Juvia leaned against the window in an attempt to get the imaginary Gray sitting in the seat across from her out of her mind, and mentally re-read the letter she had received. We have some records here in your name that have never been unsealed. If you would like, you should come to Foxglove and collect them.  We would love to see your sweet face one last time, and the beautiful woman you've grown into!   The instant Juvia had opened the letter, she knew what she had to do and that she had to do it by herself. When Gray begged her to take him along, concerned for her wellbeing, her heart had fluttered so rapidly she thought it might burst from her chest; but truthfully, Juvia didn't know what she might discover about her parents, and that was why she had refused any assistance and only told Master Makarov where exactly she was going. She didn't want anyone following her, though she couldn't remember if she had mentioned Foxglove to Gajeel or not. Juvia giggled a bit at the thought; for someone who feigned disinterest in nearly everything, that big oaf had a really good memory. He was actually just a big softie, but with metal screws.   Juvia didn't even notice she had fallen asleep until the train's horn went off as it pulled into Foxglove Station. She blinked sleep out of her eyes and collected her small bag of things before quickly making her way off the train. In the pit of her stomach, she could already feel the nerves gathering at the thought of what was going to transpire. Juvia had booked a room at the town's inn, planning to pick up the records immediately from the orphanage and then retire to her suite to mull them over. She had enough money set aside for about a week's stay, so if she needed to be alone and mull over any particularly upsetting information that she might learn. Part of her was angry at herself for not taking anyone along, that she might crave company in the aftermath that learning about her family and her past might leave. But she took a deep breath and reminded herself that this was the correct action - to go alone.   Whispers of recognition fled past her as she made her way to the orphanage in the center of the purple-hued town, but not because of her origins there. She felt herself swell with pride as the people around her buzzed excitedly of her more recent merits. Isn't that the famous wizard Juvia, of Fairy Tail? The one who uses water magic and declared her love for her guildmate Gray to everyone at the first Grand Magic Games that Fairy Tail won? She's amazing! She was part of the last day's group that year! I heard she's incredibly kind and resourceful as well! She's even more beautiful in person than in the magazines! Well, what else do you expect of Fairy Tail?   Juvia was filled with a happy warmth as she climbed the steps to the orphanage door and reached up to knock. Juvia of Fairy Tail. That certainly was a title she liked much more than her previous Phantom Lord one. Her life in Fairy Tail was everything to her; it had all her friends, and especially Gray, and so many happy memories waiting for her to return. She would never let anything take her away from that. Her memories would be what comforted her if she found sadness in the records.   When the double doors opened, she immediately recognized the nun who answered. Her smiling face brightened upon recognition of the little Juvia that had once been growing up in the building she stood before now. Juvia was hastily invited in, and brought through the courtyard past smiling children who also recognized her. The courtyard was not a happy place for Juvia, as it reminded her of how no one ever got to play outside because of the rain she brought. She politely asked to continue through.   "I see the rain has stopped," her guide said cheerfully.   "Yes it has, thanks to a wonderful man in my life."   "Oh well, isn't that sweet? You deserve someone who cares for you so. What can we thank for your visit, Miss Lockser?" The nun asked sweetly as she poured Juvia a cup of tea.   She took the cup gratefully and was about to explain when she paused. They had sent the letter, hadn't they? So they knew she would travel to Foxglove, they would be expecting her visit.   "I received a letter, that said you found unsealed records in my name," Juvia spoke with a suspicious edge to her voice. "So I was hoping I could come to collect them."   The nun blinked at her. "Miss Lockser... there were never records of your past here. You were brought here by strangers who found you wandering on your own; we were never even sure if you were from Fiore. That's why it took so long for your uncle to be approved as caregiver. We had nothing to compare to. The only thing we took was that he knew your name, honestly."   Juvia felt a sinking feeling in her chest, all previous happiness gone. Suddenly she wished she had taken Gray up on his offer to come with her. That he might hold her while she cried the tears that threatened her now. This was even worse news than any information that she could have learned.   "I understand. Perhaps there was a mix up and I received the letter meant for someone else."   "I'm so very sorry. If you'd like, you can stay in town for a few days and I can let you check anyway," the nun answered. "Maybe you can spend some with the children here as well. They'd love you, I'm sure."   Juvia wiped her eyes. There was no hiding the tears now as they fell. She insisted she was fine, however, and politely chatted with the nun for a bit before excusing herself so that she might check into the inn she had reserved for herself. On her way down the steps of the orphanage, she pulled out the small communication lacrima that Master Makarov had insisted she bring with her; now she was grateful for it, because she was lonely and a bit suspicious. She decided to call the guild hall itself and ask whoever answered if she could talk to Gray. Juvia resolved to tell him she was in Foxglove, because she desperately wanted him here with her now.   Just as the lacrima connected to the one back at Fairy Tail, Juvia felt a sudden chill rush through her body. Goosebumps bristled her skin, and she felt her pace quicken. She looked around wildly, but no one around her seemed as panicked.   "Hey, sweetheart!" Someone called to her. She kept her head down, focused on the lacrima in her hands.   "Beauty with the blue hair, I'm talking to you!" The voice seemed to be following her.   "Juvia Lockser!"   The sound of her name reverberated through her ears. They only knew her name... because she was a well-known member of Fairy Tail...   "Ame Onna!"   She stopped dead in her tracks. Hearing her Phantom Lord name brought up emotions in her that she had kept down for so long. It had been one thing for the nun at the orphanage to mention the rain surrounding her was gone - because that had reminded her of the man who changed her life, and who loved her. But to call her that accursed name, was to remind her of a life she never wanted to go back to. I am not the Rain Woman!   With her Water Body beginning to boil as her anger rose, in preparation for the use of her Sierra spell, Juvia turned around to angrily face the man calling to her. "You better have a good reason to call me-"   Juvia stopped speaking immediately, cutting herself off when she recognized the man who stood before her. "You-"   And she was cut off again, but this time by the man himself. Because he had shouted "Raging Thunder!" and caught Juvia off guard by a powerful lightning spell that electrocuted her Water Body - more painful than when she had struck Laxus's Thunder Palace to save Cana - and eliciting a bloodcurdling scream from her mouth. One that a certain Mirajane Strauss heard before Juvia dropped and shattered the lacrima that had been in her hands.   Juvia dropped to the ground when the spell stopped, all of her strength sapped from her immediately. As she lay barely holding on to consciousness, she wondered vaguely if she didn't have such a strong magic core, whether or not that attack would have killed her.   The man stepped forward and lifted Juvia's limp body from the ground, bringing her closer to his face and allowing her to indeed confirm that he was the man she recognized, a man from her past that she had not seen in years. Another set of feet were suddenly heard coming up to her, and Juvia wondered for a split second if someone was coming to her rescue. When the newcomer spoke however, a horrified expression appeared on Juvia's face. Her worst nightmare come to life.   "I knew one day you would return to me, Juvia Lockser. My Ame Onna."

  Mirajane wasted no time in informing Master Makarov what she had just witnessed, and he in turn wasted no time in rushing across the guild hall to where Team Natsu sat, along with Gajeel and Levy. He went right to Gray's side, knowing he was the one who most deserved to know.   "I fear that Gray's hunch was correct," he told the table, causing the young man to sit up. "His instinct to travel with Juvia was correct, but both Juvia and I were fooled. One of our own is in grave danger."   "What's happened to her?" Erza asked sharply, when Gray only clenched his fist in response.   "We aren't actually sure," Mira admitted. "She called on a lacrima, and when I picked up I saw her being electrocuted and all I heard was her scream. I think she dropped the lacrima because only a moment later the line went dead."   "Oh no!" Lucy gasped, covering her mouth with her hands in shock.   "Where is she?" Gray asked coldly, getting to his feet. "Tell me where she went."   "I'd bet she went to Foxglove," Gajeel crossed his arms and looked to their guild master. "Didn't she?"   "You knew?!" Gray turned his fury to the iron dragon slayer when the master nodded. "You knew and you didn't tell me?"   "If Juvia turned away your offer to come with her, it was clear to me she wanted to go alone. I wanted to respect her wishes," Gajeel turned his face away from him. "Foxglove is a small mountain village in the north, and Juvia grew up for a couple years in the orphanage there. Only one train heads up there. If we're gonna go after her, we better head out soon."   "Of course we're going after her," he gritted his teeth. "I won't let anything else happen to her."   Gray left the table and headed for the door without waiting for anyone else to follow. Everyone still present at the table looked between each other. An air of fear for the safety of their friend hung heavy between them until Gajeel stood up.   "C'mon Lily," he called to his Exceed. "Stripper ain't the only one concerned about Juvia. We're going too."   At his side, Levy also got to her feet. "I’d better go too, to make sure things don't get too heated between the two of them."   "We'll stay here at the guild just in case something else comes up," Erza offered her. "Perhaps Lucy and I can try and figure out who would attack Juvia?"   The celestial wizard nodded. "Be safe, Levy. And bring Juvia back, please."   Levy bit her lip. "We will. We have to... for her sake and Gray's."

[hooptrition]

Patty Mills brings it back home

“Who would've thought?” The text message on her phone finished with four words that sent Rebecca Kelley wandering off down a memory trail that dated back to the year 2000.

As assistant coach for the Canberra Under 14 boys team in that year, she had been part of the team's season that culminated with a trip to Townsville in far north Queensland for the Australian Club Championships. And it was her mum Di, having been that team's manager, who was now texting the question that had to be asked, as the baby of that long forgotten team, Patty Mills, prepared to return home with the NBA Championship trophy.

In all the wonderful hoopla that accompanied Patty's return to Canberra, including the awarding of the Keys to the City, the story behind the story and the lessons it may hold still lies in wait, to hopefully be applied to and appreciated by following generations of youngsters and their parents.

Kelley, now a deputy director in Canberra's governmental machine and a mum to her own growing family, remembers a tiny youngster who was already moving to a different beat.

“He was the first kid I'd ever seen wearing headphones as he wandered around and naturally I had to ask him just what he was listening to. He gave me a listen and I have to say that the rap I heard from Eminem really wasn't my thing and in fact wasn't really something that most kids in Canberra were even aware existed at that time,” she explained.

Despite being the youngest and smallest and not having much of playing role at that national tournament, Patty was the central team motivator and energy creator for the group, revealing for the first time possibly the origins of his world famous towel waving antics years later in San Antonio for the Spurs.

“On the team bus he'd be standing up, singing and carrying on and more often than not would have the whole team standing up rapping and dancing along. Here was the baby of the team who wasn't playing much and yet he had a unique rapport with all the kids, on the bench he was constantly animated and vocal and at training he was going the whole time.

“You wouldn't have thought back then he was a kid going places. He was good but he wasn't outstanding, but who knew what was ahead?”

Kelley's last honest reflection is part of a larger question that has produced an incalculable amount of literature and theorising about just what is talent, whether it's mostly down to nature or nurture and what exactly are the things we should be looking for that might indicate a tiny 11 year-old might one day scale the basketball world?

By the next year Patty had started to blossom on the court and at an Under 14 tournament hosted by key regional rivals the Illawarra Hawks, he began a rivalry with Hawks star forward Daniel Jackson that would track all the way to the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) and Australian Junior teams.

Brad Luhrs who has a been a seemingly constant figure over the past fifteen years in Canberra junior basketball was Patty's coach at that event for the first time.

“You could tell he was a clear standout at that level then,” Luhrs said, “as was Jackson for Illawarra, though he was way taller and bigger.”

“Patty was quick and he had great ball handling skills but if you'd asked me then, I would have thought the other kids would eventually catch up or that he'd slow down.”

Within a couple of years Patty was the point guard general for Canberra's Under 16 State team and had begun to draw the interest of national talent identification coaches who were part of the now disbanded Intensive Training Centre (ITC) across the country.

Naturally Patty had also attracted the attention of other sports, and as well as setting and still holding almost every junior record at Woden Little Athletics club, he dabbled in Australian Rules football alongside his basketball.

Jason Denley was Patty's coach for the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) team that contested the Under 16 National Championships in 2003, Patty still being 14 at the time due to his very unGladwellian August birthdate.

“He was small, incredibly fast and utterly fearless and for a kid with such athletic talent and I was most surprised by his lack of ego,” Denley said. “He never complained to referees and somehow he seemed to be someone that his teammates and opponents both admired for the endless energy and passion he brought to every play.”

ESPN's Sports columnist Bill Simmons has long held a view that every successful franchise needs a team “Chemist” to keep everyone happy and connected and along those exact lines Patty was continuing to expand his role as the supreme on and off court motivator.

“There was a group in our large boys and girls ITC training sessions that Patty used to be one of the leaders of, and in the warm up stretching they would launch into singing that they had obviously choreographed some time before,” Luhrs remembered.

“Amazingly James Taylor's 'How sweet it is to be loved by you' is the one that sticks in my head and to hear 14 and 15 year old boys harmonising and chiming in at coordinated spots at the top of their voices might have been something other coaches wouldn't have tolerated. Somehow though that sort of comfortability as a group and self-confidence was their calling card and at the end of the day how can you not want that?”

An invitation to his first Australian Junior Camp followed soon after 2003's Under 16 Nationals and as that camp stretched across an age range from 14 to 17 Patty was once more the smallest and youngest fish in a pond that was becoming increasingly concentrated.

At the camp Patty was one of the two standouts guard prospects along with Victoria's Scott Pendlebury, who would famously eventually choose Australian rules football over basketball thus clearing the way for Patty to start on scholarship at the AIS.

Brian Goorjian was at that time the new Australian Boomers Head Coach following on from the team's disastrous qualifying loss to New Zealand that had scuttled 2002's World Championship plans and he was front and centre at that camp to see what the next generation had in store for the program.

“Within the first half hour of Goorjian arriving on the floor there was one kid that he used exclusively to demonstrate every defensive and offensive drill,” Denley recalled.

“Paaaatty get out here, delivered in a rolling Californian twang, was pretty much the chorus for the camp and despite being so young, Patty was clearly already some sort of leader by the dint of his sheer energy and joy for each task and endless clapping and hollering for anyone and anything he or the group came across.”

Interestingly, at the same time Goorjian was possibly signalling that even at that early stage Patty was going to be part of his national team plans (Patty would eventually find his way to the Beijing in 2008), an entirely different version of Aron Baynes to that which played a part in this year's Spurs triumph alongside Patty was lumbering through drills at the camp.

Shortly after that camp Patty moved in to the AIS on a full time basis but still maintained his role as the spiritual leader of the ACT junior teams he continued to play for at Junior National championships.

“My overriding memory is of his infectious energy, the talk and support that just never waned,” Luhrs recalled from his later time as ACT Under 18s Head Coach. “And this was with him as the star of the team and it was obvious that this wasn't just something he discovered when he was sitting on the bench. It was part of him.”

At the AIS Patty bought all his familiar calling cards into play as then Men's Assistant Coach Paul Gorris confirmed.

“You'd watch him play and he was super quick and talented but when you think back then about the idea of the NBA you never could have imagined it,” he said.

“I was lucky enough to also be coaching the ACT Under 20 team back then and the thing that sticks with me is just how humble he was around the group. He was our big ticket item, with everything run around him and all his team-mates knew that, yet he was always mindful of involving them. He was playing with his mates he'd been with since they were 11 or 12 and they were quite happy to defer to him as needed, but somehow he was able to keep things so that it was never about him.”

The all singing and dancing Patty was still very much in evidence in those team and Gorris' favourite memory of those teams inevitably gravitates back to the off-court feel of the group Patty inspired.

“Back the there was an unwritten rule that I'd drive the 12-seater van to the stadium for each game and everyone would sing along to whatever sort of weird music the team had selected to prepare with. Naturally it was Patty and his cousin, Luke Currie-Richardson, (now not surprisingly a dancer with the world famous Bangarra Indigenous company) who would be leading the chorus up the front of the van. Coming into Ballarat stadium with the whole bus rocking along in full voice is something I never grow tired of remembering.”

For an outsider looking in, the overriding question would have be to just how did this diminutive energiser bunny with super quicks, a solid skill package, a streaky shooting stroke (the recent improvement in which is story all of its own a certain Mr Engelland may be able to explain more fully) and seemingly unquenchable faith in the power of positive encouragement make it in arguably the world's single most challenging athletic league?

Rebecca Kelley recalled running into Patty on occasions around the AIS years after her involvement with the Under 14s.

“He was always one of those people you have touch points with and although my involvement with his basketball career was like a grain of sand on the beach, he's always remembered me and is always quick with the 'G'day Rebecca!' and a chat. I guess it's part of his personality, he's a nice guy and he's not just going to be a great athlete, he's going to be a leader in his own way like the Cathy Freeman of this generation.”

Gorris has been in regular touch with Patty since he first left for St Mary's College in 2007 and commented how much he hasn't changed despite the time away and the constant spotlight.

“He's matured and grown up a little bit from worldly experience but deep down it's still, the same Pat, still very much about the family, still very much about everyone else.” he said.

In the back end of 2011 during the NBA lockout Patty played nine games for the Melbourne Tigers before a forgettable stint in China and his rescue by the Spurs early in 2012. He was four or five in line on San Antonio's guard depth rotation then yet something about him and his approach to that situation or challenge separated him. To watch Greg Popovich's (San Antonio's Head Coach) grizzly visage turn sunny side up every time Patty and his side line support antics were mentioned in interviews during ensuing years is in itself truly amazing.

Is it possible that the natural talent of selflessness and never-ending positive energy is actually way more powerful and valuable than any analyst can put a finger on? Are the tendencies Patty displayed way back in 2000 as a 12 year-old in Townsville the sort of things talent identifiers should be more heavily factoring in?

Are team “Chemists” as Simmons like to call them, a species all to themselves that someone should be tracking or nurturing?

Fittingly Daniel Jackson, Patty's regional rival from those heady junior days has now migrated to Canberra as one of the centre-pieces of the city's semi-professional team, and trying to size up exactly how Patty has been able to do what he's done thus far, is maybe best left to him.

“I've known him since he was 12 and never heard anyone say anything but what a great guy he is...not that he's a nice enough guy or a good guy, but a great guy.” he offered, “and when that's the case there's no doubt it's easier to succeed as everyone in your team is in your corner and pulling for you to be good.”

[minijenn]

Universe Falls Preview

Finally got some stuff down for this chapter. At least its fucking intro is done I’m damn ready to start this flashback that probably won’t end up deviating too much from the episode but whatever this chapter is just a means to an end anyway like so many chapters have been recently but ah well it’ll still be cute, I guess. Anyway, here goes: 

It wasn’t very often that Greg was able to find the time to organize the van he called home, but when he did, Steven was always the first to volunteer to help him. And this particular evening was no exception to that, as the young Gem hurried down to the carwash as soon as his father had made mention of doing some summer cleaning over the phone. Steven had already been spending most of the day with Connie, Dipper, and Mabel, so he had easily been able to recruit them in coming along and so they all soon found themselves congregated around the former rock star’s van, organizing his extensive collection of vinyl records.

“Here’s all the Orange Magic Orchestra ones,” Steven reported, holding up a set of three records to his father.

“Great,” Greg smiled as he rifled through another box of discs. “Put them in the Transcendental Space Rock pile.”

“Wow, Mr. Universe, your taste in music is so great!” Mabel complimented with an excited smile as she shuffled through several records. “Bam!, Purple Lloyd, Princess, Sadonna… These are some of the best bands ever!”

“Aren’t they all from the 80s?” Dipper asked with a lightly teasing grin.

“Maaaaybe,” Mabel shrugged, defensive of her musical preferences. “Its better than being a diehard fan of a certain Icelandic pop group that hit their peak in the 70s then just sorta fizzled out into obscurity, don’t ya think, bro-bro?”

“…Low blow, Mabel,” Dipper remarked, completely deadpan. “Low blow.”

“At home, we only have classical music and movie soundtracks,” Connie spoke up, looking through a box of unorganized tracks. “My parents are… pretty conservative when it comes to music. Or movies. Or TV shows. Or just about anything, really. Point is, I’ve never heard of any of these.”

“You’ve never heard of the Philosophy Majors?” Greg asked, holding a disc up for Nietzsche’s Breakdown. “Oh man, then you gotta hear this. It’ll really knock your socks off.” The former rock star took the record out of its sleeve and proceeded to place it on the nearby player. As soon as he put the needle down, a loose, mellow, yet upbeat tune began to play, one that unanimously perked all four kids up as soon as they heard it. Steven and Mabel took the initiative, grabbing Connie and Dipper respectively and pulling them both into sudden, unexpected dances. All of their moves were rather uncalculated and spontaneous, mostly just amounting to both pairs spinning in wide, sloppy, carefree circles along to the music and their own buoyant laughter. Greg stood by, chuckling himself as he blithely played air guitar as the kids continued dancing, their original intentions of cleaning completely forgotten as they all freely and readily enjoyed themselves to their hearts’ content.

As the song continued and started to build even more, it was quickly becoming clear that Steven and Connie were getting caught up in it more than anyone else. Their laughter only silenced itself as their eyes met, both of them still spinning together to the point that the world around them started to blur, literally and figuratively. Steven couldn’t help but smile warmly to Connie, eliciting a small, bright blush from her that she was quick to suppress in place of another helpless but happy laugh. A familiar feeling started to overtake the pair, one that they couldn’t quite describe, but openly welcomed all the same. And that feeling only grew deeper and richer as Steven’s gem started to flush with a pink glow, one that quickly overtook them both and brought them even closer together than they already were.

Dipper and Mabel were the first to stop and stare in awe as the recognizable light of an oncoming fusion swell over Steven and Connie. Greg also took pause, his eyes widening as he watched in complete disbelief as the glow faded and revealed a startlingly new, singular figure in place of his son and his friend.

Stevonnie.

They were still laughing and spinning as they formally appeared, but they were quick to stop upon noticing something felt different, but still familiar all the same. “What the-” the fusion cut themselves off starkly upon taking a single glance down at themselves, instantly realizing what had happened as a result of their lighthearted fun. “W-when did we… How…. Wha…” Stevonnie trailed off, rather jolted by both surprise and also by a sudden, almost overwhelming burst of joy over being together again, though they didn’t let it show.

“S-Stevonnie!” Mabel quipped with a rather forced smile, one that Dipper didn’t share has he simply looked to the returned fusion in apt surprise. “Uh, long time no see, huh?”

“Uh… y-yeah…” Stevonnie nodded, rather caught off guard by their own sudden reappearance. “I guess it has bee-” The fusion abruptly stopped on a sharp gasp as they happened to glance over at Greg, a deeply embarrassed blush flooding their cheeks as they met the former rock star’s stunned, awestruck gaze. “M-Mr. Dad! Er—I-I mean, Dad U-Universe! O-or, uh… um, I… We—we didn’t mean to! I-it was an accident! We just… W-we’re not… we-” Stevonnie was unable to finish their frantic ramblings as the same glow that had brought them together suddenly split them apart as a result of their unreconcilable panic.

Steven and Connie tumbled to the ground together as Stevonnie vanished, but even so, their shared alarm remained as they briefly exchanged a wide-eyed glance before looking to the twins for assistance. While Dipper and Mabel were quick to help them up, there wasn’t much either of them could think to say or do in light of what had just happened as they all glanced over at Greg expectantly. The former rock star was still in absolute awe, his jaw still hanging agape as he fumbled to turn the record off behind him. When he finally was able to collect himself enough to speak, it was in an expression of absolute shock as he looked between Steven and Connie dumbfoundedly.

“Y-you two can fuse?!” he asked, still partially wondering if he had just been seeing things a moment ago.

“Uh… y-yes?” Steven replied, exchanging another uneasy glance with Connie.

“Oh! We’ve each fused with Steven too!” Mabel informed excitedly, motioning to herself and Dipper.

“Mabel!” Dipper scolded, knowing that this didn’t need to get any more awkward than it already was.

“S-so… all three of you kids have… w-wow!” Greg exclaimed with a growing smile of amazement. “That’s incredible! Since when? Wait, how is this even possible?!”

“The Gems think its because I’m half human-” Steven began to explain before Connie anxiously cut him off.

“Please don’t tell my parents, Mr. Universe!” she pleaded desperately. “They don’t know I’ve been doing magic stuff with Steven, Dipper, and Mabel! I can’t tell them! They’re not going to understand, I-”

“Whoa, whoa! It’s ok,” Greg quickly reassured. “I’m not gonna tell anyone if you don’t want me to. And besides, I may be the only other human being on the planet who’s gonna understand this whole fusion thing outside of you three.”

“W-what do you mean?” Connie asked, confused.

“Wait a second… Mr. Universe, have you ever actually fused with one of the Gems before?” Dipper asked incredulously. “I thought humans and Gems couldn’t fuse.”

“They can’t, for the most part,” Greg said, rubbing the back of his neck. “And to be honest, that’s not… exactly what happened…”

“Then what did happen?” Mabel asked, quite curious.

“Well….”

“Story!” Steven interjected with a gasp, stars in his eyes as he rushed over to the back of the open van and beckoning the others to do the same. “Come on, you guys!” Connie, Dipper, and Mabel joined the young Gem in taking a seat, all of them more than eager to hear another riveting tale from the former rock star’s intriguing past. “Ok, Dad, we’re ready.”

“Aw geez, I didn’t think I’d be telling you this so soon…” Greg remarked with an awkward grin as he reached into a nearby box, pulling a video tape out of it. “Probably best to start with this…” The former rock star inserted the tape into his VCR, the screen buzzing with static for a moment or two before opening up on a recording that he had filmed 23 years ago, one that set the scene for the story he was about to tell.

[madlyinlovephff]

Chapter One

“Method To My Madness”

Despite someone’s random approach, there is actually some structure to it.

“Honey, my eyes are scarred right now” Jordon drawled as soon as he entered the kitchen.

Jordon Hay; jovial, persistent, focused and also, my fitness trainer. I can’t remember a time when I’m eating something incredibly unhealthy and Jordon hasn’t popped up in my mind. When I said that he’s focused and persistent; I mean focused and persistent.

Also, he’s extremely British. Right down to his walk. Not that I’m complaining.

I looked up at him, my face looking like a deer caught in headlights. Dammit.

“Excuse me while I go drown myself in your hot tub” He said, hands on his chest and shaking his head like no tomorrow.

I took the spoon out of my mouth, which had previously consisted of Nutella. Clearing my throat I said, “I have a very good reason”

His eyes narrowed at my face, then at the jar that sat on the counter and then back at me.

“Yes, Adelaide, I’m interested and listening”

Quickly getting rid of the jar and the spoon, I sat beside him, “Well, I mean, you know how the tour just got over and I’m always on a strict diet while on tour, so I figured-“

“Figured that I’ll be alright with you eating spoonful of Nutella, at what, 7:30 in the morning?” He almost screeched.

I jumped away from him, deciding it is better to be at a considerable amount of distance. “Well, it’s your fault too, by the way” I crossed my arms.

“Excuse me?”

I stifled a laugh at his infuriated expression, “Yes, there was nothing stocked in my kitchen. Forget about kale and healthy things, nothing, nada”

He paused, looking at me with that wounded expression, “Adelaide Edwards, you have over 5 people working in this huge house for you”

I frowned at him, offended, “You know that I hate how you make them sound like they’re my servants or something”

“Well, maybe because they are?”

“NO! No, they’re not. They’re family, Jordon. I’ve had this same conversation over 283 times with you”

He shakes his head at me, as if he’s amused, “They work for you”

“You work for me” I smirked.

“Okay, I honestly hate when you win arguments. You make the most insufferable face, I swear” He said.

I rolled my eyes, picking up my phone to see that I still have a few minutes before I have to leave.

Jordon let out a huge breath, “David says hi, by the way. You know, it seems eerily quiet here, it’s sort of frightening”

Oh, and he’s gay.

I looked around too, texting back Emma Watson, “Yes, but that’s only because I’ve usually got someone over. And Fred, Gina, Quinn, and all are at mum’s”

Look, honestly, they’re not servants. They’re family. My nana used to have this house-keeper back in the days and she had 5 adopted children because she was never able to have her own. And since Nana only had my mum, who was far too ambitious and always looking at a way to get into Harvard, she almost adopted them as hers when her house keeper passed away.

It’s been years and years and there is still not a single holiday or celebration that they aren’t a part of. They’re all married now, older and wiser, mildly educated too, but they never left the family. So now, they help us just in everyday lives. My mom always tells me how she could’ve never survived the pacing downtown London life is she hadn’t had them growing up.

That feeling runs in our family. Of love and fondness to everyone that wants it. It was only after my Nana passed away three years ago that I decided to do something in her honour. And so I came up with the idea of ‘We Day’; a day dedicated to inspiring the youth, because Nana loved children, she loved their innocence and she hated what our world had come to. And at 26, I can say that I am capable of doing something about it.

It’s pretty simple, really. I struggled with my music for a while, back when I was 16, went around to different record labels, always coming back disappointed. I remember when I used to believe that my music could make a difference, that it had the capability to empower. I’ve always believed that music is one of the most powerful weapons to move people. It was always because of this reason that I wanted more out of music than just learning violin and piano and joining the school choir, I’d wanted a career out of it. I wanted my music to affect people the way other people’s music affected me.

For a while, I genuinely used to think that I’d be a disappointment to my parents. My parents, who were both Harvard Law Graduates, and had always strived only for the best. But, it wasn’t before I had struck a contract deal with Keith Music Ltd, that I’d trusted my talent to the fullest.

And so after a massive debut and a good year, when I’d started to fall down the rabbit hole that is Hollywood, from which I didn’t truly come out for a good 2 years, I had realized my duty.

When you have been lucky enough to hit it big and when you’re automatically provided with the celebrity status, it becomes you’re responsibility of sorts, to use that status well. To give back to the world that has given you all these luxuries. Because at the end of the day, what satisfies you shouldn’t be success and wealth, it should be that feeling of doing good.

“Alright, can we please go over you’re fitness schedule this week?” He asked, checking his phone.

When I nodded, I noticed I’d gotten a text from Lima, my very stylish, very tall, and very Brazilian assistant. It said that she’d be here in a few minutes and I motioned Jordon to start talking.

“Well, I suppose we can be fine with only 2 days for a few weeks. You’re right, you’re just fresh off the tour and we don’t want you to starve or anything” He said, frowning as if he didn’t like the idea in the least. Which, knowing him, he probably didn’t.

I smiled so massive, I’m pretty sure I tore some skin cells, hugging Jordon, “Oh god, Emma had just texted me to go out this evening”

He shook his head at me and got off the stool, “Alright, have fun, I was basically here to welcome you back, it’s great to see you again Addy” he said, smiling.

I smiled at him, it’s nice to be back in London. “Thanks, Jor. It’s nice to be back, the tour was good”

He chuckled, heading towards the door, “Oh, it was more than just good, darling. I reckon the most earning one this year”

I ducked my head, greeting Max and Gary, my bodyguards, with a smile, “We’ll see about that”

After quickly bidding Jordon a goodbye in the elevator, Max and Gary led me to the ready car, inside, there was Lima, scrolling through her phone frantically.

“Lima” I said warmly, hugging her close as soon as I sat in the back seat.

“Addy, it’s been long” she said. I chuckled, shaking my head.

“Yeah, if you consider 12 hours long”

She threw a look at me, just as the car started and we were off from my penthouse in Mayfair.

I liked Mayfair, it was relatively calm as compared to Central London; not that it wasn’t just as extravagant. I’d bought this penthouse from Alexander McQueen, few shorts months before he died.

I’d met him for the first time in 2006, when they had offered me my own clutch line for a whole season. I’d never forget the way he spoke about his ideas, the way he pictured his ideas. It was magnificent, knowing and working with a man like that. Never will I forget him, even though it has been 2 years since he’s passed away. Geniuses like him don’t appear often.

I looked at Lima, whose known me for a good couple of years now. Her parents are still in Brazil, extremely kind hearted people but I still have no idea from whom she gets her feisty streak. This girl could dominate the world if Victoria and her had gotten along better. But nevertheless, she’s extremely hard working and dedicated, that’s what I truly appreciate.

“Your One Hyde Park Apartment will be clean by the time you’re done with the meeting with Keith, so will you be staying the night there?” She asked, turning towards me.

I thought about it for some time, before shaking my head. “Mayfair is fine with me, I’ll be going out tonight anyway” I said.

She nodded thoughtfully, “Yeah, it’s better to come back to Mayfair then, the paparazzi knows you’re back in London”

“Oh shit, I’ll still need to change before heading out” I said, groaning.

Lima shut her eyes and took a deep breath, “Okay, so we’ll be heading to Hyde Park after all"

“I guess” I shrugged.

Looking out of the window, I saw the beautiful streets of London fly pass in the morning light. London, my home for as long as I’ve been on this earth. There’s just something about London, you know? Something ethereal, its history, its architecture. And even though I spend a lot of my time in Los Angeles and New York, nothing beats London.

It wasn’t long before we slowed down at the BBC Radio 1 studios. There was a mediocre amount of people outside, and as I stepped out of the car, my leopard printed boots firm on the ground, I waved at the crowds and first went to greet them.

Call me crazy, but I can’t resist crowds. Especially the ones that have given up their precious time to just come to meet me. How can you let these people down? The ones that wake up even before you to come stand outside random places.

My fans are honestly my favorite people on this earth. Well, other than my mom and dad…. And Amelia…. And Arthur, but nonetheless, I love them. These beautiful people who wait in lines for me, who care for me as if they’ve known me their whole life, as if I’m a part of their family itself. How can you not greet them when you have a chance?

By the way, I digress a lot.

A few hundred selfies later, I was bounded inside the studio where my longtime friend, Nick Grimshaw, was waiting with a Starbucks in his hand, grinning at me like a cheeky fool.

“There you go, one London fog latte” he said, and I shook my head, hugging him and kissing his cheeks before sipping my drink and profoundly thanking him, and heading straight towards my last interview for a while.

“Okay, I know how crazy your day has been Addy, but please tell me you have the single we were talking about, all ready to go” Keith said as soon as I entered his enormous office and went ahead to greet him.

My phone kept beeping but I put it aside for a while, before sitting in the chair right in front of Keith’s desk. I was frowning at him, I knew that because his face fell and he sighed deeply.

“It’s barely been 24 hours since the show in Melbourne ended, and you’re already asking me for a single?” I leaned forward.

He raised his eyebrow, his pepper hair styled to perfection, “Victoria told me that you’re ready with one”

I didn’t reply to that; and his smirk turned smug.

“There’s a reason, alright, but just tell me, for the state of my being, that you do have one song ready Adelaide” he said, his voice calm but his eyes giving away the stress.

I nodded reluctantly, knowing that if he knew that I already have a single ready, it wouldn’t be long before the entire cycle of releasing an album and going on a long tour started again.

He sighed in relief, before looking at me thankfully, “I’ll come straight to the point then, Danny Boyle, wants to have a meeting with you”

I paused, thinking over what he said before giving him a confused look, “And why would he want a meeting with me? You make it sound like I should know what’s going on here”

Keith gave me an exasperated look, “Danny Boyle, he’s the director of the Olympics, Adelaide” he said.

I took in a sharp breath before my eyes widen, “Does this mean what I think this means?”

He smirked, finally getting the reaction he expected, “Pretty sure, he’s been trying to reach you for a couple of weeks and when his message was finally delivered at the head office, I got a hold of it”

I nodded fervently, “And?”

“And I’ve gotten a meeting fixed with you, sometime within the next few days, because I know you’d probably not be in London after this week, so what do you say Adelaide Edwards?”

I smiled, “I say yes ofcourse, what the fuck do you think I would say?”

He shook his head, looking highly amused, “There’s also the fact that he’s approaching only a few artists personally, so I reckon, you’ll be getting a good spot” he said.

I closed my eyes, thinking just what my life had become.

“That’s massive” I shook my head.

“Not much of a surprise, though” he commented.

I looked at him, urging him to continue, “Well, obviously, since Gold became 10X platinum in the UK, you’ve been considered a British icon, a statement of sorts, people relate Britain with you” he explained.

I nodded. Gold was released two years ago, and until a few months earlier, it was still the most selling album in the country and had hit 10x platinum, making it the 8th most selling album in the country in history.

It feels surreal, you know? Those songs I’d written, confined in my hotel rooms, in my tour bus, while backstage at my shows, while in flights, when they were just mine and for them to be known so hugely worldwide now, people knowing their lyrics, making it their own, the feeling is wild.

It was only three years ago, at 23, in 2009, that I’d felt like I couldn’t possibly get more successful than that. But, you know, life surprises you. And it’s the realization that hit me that I get to do what I love, every single day of my life, making people smile and making their worries fade, making them lose themselves in my music, that it was always because of these same people that I am what I am today. Each and every single one person in my life, every single fan, every person that has ever stood up for me, ever supported me, had played a part in shaping my life.

“Earth to Addy? Already dreaming?” He chuckled his throaty laugh.

I gave him a haughty look, before asking him details concerning the meeting, which is highly anticipated (by me).

“Well, do you want to listen to the song or not?” I asked him, already scrolling through my phone to reach the particular recording.

When I played it, I knew it instantly had his full attention. He was looking at the distance, the beautiful landscape of a drizzly London city laying beyond his glassed mirrors.

Once it was over, I turned my head towards him, “Well, what do you think?” I asked.

“I like it, it’s incredibly good, but-“

I frowned, “But?”

Keith took a deep breath, facing me with a serious expression, “Adelaide, I’m going to be honest with you, your song writing is powerful, your melodies are moving and you voice is empowering, truly, but Addy, it’s too similar. This song sounds like it could’ve, I mean, should’ve been in your last album, which obviously did massively, but do you understand where I’m going with this?”

I knew he was trying to be polite and quiet about it; so as to not offend me because I was an easily offended person sometimes and I knew that. And I appreciated his opinion as well, because he wouldn’t not want my songs to do well.

“So, what you mean to say is that my sound needs to be different?” I asked, raising my eyebrow.

He shrugged, “Addy, I have the utmost respect for your music, trust me, I know how powerful you are when you make music, but I feel like it’s so similar, just basically the exact same thing. I know you and I know you aren’t the one who just wants hits, and I know after Richard, your song writing hasn’t changed genres”

I flinched at his name and then I quickly found myself frowning at my boss, “What?”

“Look, I’m not saying that all your lyrics are sad, heartbreaking, break up songs but you have to admit, you haven’t dated anyone for 5 years, Addy, and I get that that is your personal matter, but as your label manager, I’ve got to say this, but maybe you need a new inspiration perhaps?”

I didn’t say anything; because at that moment my mind was all over the place and my heart was beating way too fast. Not wanting to cause a scene in front of Keith, I just nodded.

My music is mine, you know? Not once in my almost 10 year career and 6 albums have I had anybody question the inspiration behind my lyrics, so to have Keith be so blunt about it, I couldn’t help but be down hearted. Do I need a new inspiration in my life, romantically?

Shaking my head, I was getting worked up over nothing, really. I’ve already written tons of songs and all of them aren’t bound to sound same.

“I-I want sometime for this album, Keith. I feel like I should’ve asked this from you long ago, I’m not able to enjoy the time I spend making music, Keith. It’s not a leisure activity for me, it’s my passion. And I want to take advantage of that burning passion because I know that you know that I’ve decided that I won’t drag on my career till my 35s and 40s just for the sake of it, that’s not me” I said, not looking at him, not because I was scared but because I hadn’t ever really expressed my anxiety over the continuous chain that was my life for the past 10 years.

He was quiet for too long, but after 3 minutes and 28 seconds he spoke again, “Adelaide, you know what? Take time for this album, go out, go riding if you’d like, design stuff for your line, and take time off music. Can you do that?”

I stared at him, realizing he’s actually serious, “Yes, yes I suppose. Thank you Keith, truly, I have a lot of work in LA and New York, I think I’ll lay off of a bit, focus on other things, you’re right. It feels like it’s been an endless chain, so thank you” I said, smiling softly at him.

“No, thank you. But now, you’ve got to settle the issue of what to sing with Danny Boyle” he said.

I rolled my eyes, already half way through the room towards the door, “I hardly think he’d want me to sing a new song”

Keith chuckled, “Oh lord, you’re right. You’re grown up, haven’t you?”

“Oh, sod off”

Outfit

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[elarawritingtrash]

Fandom: Avengers (MCU) Crossover with X-Men

Written in 2015

Summary: Darcy was normal, even through the entire thing with Thor and then the other thing with Thor, and -- well, just overall. She’d always been normal. That was, at least, until her boyfriend turned out to be a traitorous Hydra !@#$%^.

Warnings: none? Possible implied dubious consent

‘ware of tense changes, for I have always been bad at keeping one continuous sense

The thing about Darcy Lewis’ life is that she’s never really mattered. Oh, don’t get her wrong, she knows she’s awesome – but it doesn’t matter what she thinks, it matters what everybody else thinks.

When Darcy was born, it was not only as the third child, but as the unexpected, unwanted third child. Her parents, stereotypically enough, had wanted two children, a girl and a boy, and they had gotten those children. Darcy showed up a couple of years later as a complete accident.

It’s not like her parents were terrible people or anything – they didn’t abuse her or even neglect her – but there was a distinct… lack of care. Her parents would still read her bedtime stories, still help her with her homework – but her accomplishments received mild, faked enthusiasm and a condescending, “That’s nice, dear,” rather than the excitement that either of her siblings’ achievements got.

It didn’t help that Darcy was easily bored, not the greatest at concentrating on most things – causing her grades to be average rather than great – and painfully uninterested in sports in addition to being somewhat uncoordinated. 

(“Who wants to spend hours chasing a ball across a field or trying to hit a ball with a stick?” Darcy argued, but nobody else seemed to agree.)

Darcy’s sister became a soccer player, and a good one at that, and her brother became a trauma surgeon, while Darcy… well, Darcy had always been indecisive. First, she decided that Biochemistry was the field for her – you know, help people, create the cure for cancer or something equally world-changing, become famous. Yeah, no. Biochemistry did not turn out to be as cool as Darcy thought. So she switched majors (and that was a fun conversation to have with her parents), figuring that if she couldn’t change the world in a medical way, she might as well try Mechanical Engineering, which also had cool, world-changing options. Alas, it was also a bust, and Darcy switched yet again, this time to Journalism, but that turned out to have way more writing class and literature requirements than Darcy had the patience for. Finally, she switched to Political Science. It wasn’t perfect; it wasn’t what Darcy had pictured herself doing, and it had plenty of dry, soul-sucking history and politics classes, but it wasn’t horrible. It was the best she’d found so far.

(Also her parents had decided that they weren’t going to pay her tuition to Culver anymore if she switched majors again. But that totally didn’t have anything to do with it.)

But then, it turned out that Darcy needed physical science credits to graduate. She had discovered already that she didn’t like physical science much, which was why she’d dropped all of those classes before finishing them. It was too late for her to get into any classes or clubs or anything that would fill her physical science requirements – except an internship. The problem, then, was that no scientist ever would want a political scientist for an intern. Except Dr. Jane Foster, who had no other applicants and thus had about as much choice in the matter as Darcy herself – that is to say, none.

So to New Mexico with Dr. Foster it was. Surprisingly, the internship wasn’t as bad as she’d expected – she was as unimportant as ever, but she’d expected that. Since she knew literally nothing about astrophysics, Darcy mostly stuck to cleaning up after Jane (who didn’t seem to care about much if it didn’t pertain to her work, and who had not, in fact, so much as noticed when her intern began inappropriately calling her by her first name), organizing files, making sure that everything got recorded somewhere and nothing got lost, putting together and helping keep together Jane’s random-metal-pieces-and-duct-tape machines, and occasionally reminding Jane to take breaks for food and sleep.

Actually, Darcy wasn’t entirely sure what, exactly, Jane was so intent on doing all the time considering that she never seemed to get anywhere, but then astrophysics was supposed to be mostly theoretical, which did not seem to be what Jane was attempting. There was a reason nobody else had applied, after all, and Darcy didn’t really care as long as she finished out the internship with the six credits she’d been promised.

It turned out, eventually, that Jane wasn’t as crazy as everybody thought, and also Norse mythology was correct (ish) and Darcy met an actual, true fax god, and also was at ground-zero for an alien attack. Darcy was so not prepared for this! Six college credits did not even come close to being worth it. Of course, Darcy, as always, didn’t matter. Jane mattered, a little, because of her work and because she and Thor totally hit it off (in a romantic way), but even she didn’t really affect much.

Still, even with the danger and Darcy’s position on the sidelines, it was really cool. The coolest thing that had ever happened to her, probably – how many people could say that they were there for one of the first alien sightings? Well, not Darcy, actually, because Creepy-Government-Agency-of-the-Jackbooted-Thugs (CGAJT for short. It was a work in progress) was very clear in their instructions that nobody else know details about it, but whatever.

Plus, during Thor’s brief stay on Earth, Darcy had apparently been brought through Jane’s barrier of professionalism from ‘intern with whom Jane shares a tiny living space’ to ‘girl friend with whom Jane shares a living space and is good for gossiping with’. It turned out that besides the obvious problem (Jane’s polyamorous love affair with her work and Thor), Jane was actually a pretty good friend.

(Also, Darcy and Thor got along surprisingly well, though not to the same extent that Jane and Thor did. Darcy’s enthusiastic, shameless personality got along well with Thor’s cheerful, shameless personality. It didn’t hurt that she’d tased him, surprisingly; he actually thought that it was hilarious and impressive and dubbed her his ‘Lightning Sister’. Darcy would be lying if she said she wasn’t pleased.)

Both of those were why, after Darcy’s internship was over and she’d graduated from Culver, she went back to working for Jane – this time as an assistant, rather than an intern, albeit still an unpaid one. Jane was even worse than before, of course, because not only did she love her work, but she was desperate to get her boyfriend back from the far reaches of space (or wherever Asgard was). That was okay; Jane clearly needed someone to make sure she didn’t forget about herself in her obsession, and Darcy didn’t mind being the one to do that.

They got an intern, and between his actual ability to science! and Darcy’s nagging capabilities, they actually had Jane willingly (kind of) going on dates within two years. One thing that helped on the getting-Jane-to-date side but not so much on the Jane’s-emotional-health side was Thor’s appearance on Earth and coinciding decision to not contact Jane. Darcy loved Thor (in a completely platonic way), she did, but when he got back he was so getting yelled at. She loved Jane more.

Thor did show up again, brought by another disaster, but Darcy didn’t think that a lecture was the best idea considering the circumstances. You know, murderous, universe-destroying Dark Elves generally take precedence. This time, Darcy was useful! She helped save the world, like a boss, and it was awesome. Also nerve-wracking and mildly terrifying, but, still.

Except, she played a fairly small part in the saving of the world. All she really did was help set up the science! thingies with Ian. Jane was a lot more important, what with the whole parasitic, destructive thing that took up residence in her body, and Darcy was not jealous of Jane, she really wasn’t, and she was a little glad that she wasn’t important in that way, but she couldn’t help but wish she was important in some way. She firmly shoved that part of herself down, forced herself to be properly supportive of Jane and later happy for her, and got over it. Darcy became even closer bros with Thor (his nickname for her of ‘Lightning Sister’ had, at first, been a little weirdly familiar, but now Darcy was totally willing to consider him her brother. She certainly liked him a lot more than her biological brother), continued assisting Jane with science!, and started a tentative relationship-slash-friends-with-benefits thing with Ian (inspired by that one kiss that had been fueled by nerves, adrenaline and relief but which had actually been pretty good). Her life was good, in Darcy’s opinion, even if she was stuck sharing a tiny English ‘flat’ with Jane and Thor (which was way worse than just twice as bad), Jane still didn’t have the funding to pay her so she had no spending money but plenty of her parents’ disappointment, and she was still unimportant.

At least two of those things changed, though, when Tony finally wheedled Jane into agreeing to take funding from Stark Industries (included in the deal was two rooms/suites/apartments and a lab in Stark-now-Avengers Tower). Darcy was a little confused that Jane was bringing her with, since Jane now had the funding to hire assistants who could properly science! with her, but she was certainly not going to complain. She was also not above taking money she didn’t technically deserve and free housing that she didn’t have to share with Jane and Thor (even if she did have to admit that she and Ian were, in fact,  at the point where they could cohabit together).

Darcy was even happier than before, because her boss was awesome and her boyfriend was great and now-Avengers Tower was incredible. Plus, she got onto speaking terms with Tony Stark (!) and Bruce Banner (slightly less !, but he was pretty cool, too), and became BFFs with Clint Barton, also known as Hawkeye (!), through Say Yes to the Dress marathons and a prank war that Darcy lost, but not without dealing some good blows to him first. Natasha Romanoff was slightly harder to become friends with because she was absolutely terrifying and also didn’t spend as much time in the tower (Clint apparently hadn’t taken nearly as many missions lately as he usually did and Natasha still was, and Darcy was too afraid to ask why). Captain America she didn’t meet at all, supposedly because he was living in D.C instead of staying in the tower.

Jane was doing well, too, because she had her boyfriend back and a ton more funding than she’d ever had before, even if she still refused to use it to hire more assistants. Instead, she just forced Ian to work insane hours with her (Darcy didn’t technically have to, but she did anyway out of solidarity).

Really, considering their lives, it was a miracle that Darcy and Ian’s relationship was as smooth as it was. They only rarely fought, and Darcy had never been truly angry at him, not the kind of angry that would have made her even consider breaking up with him. Considering that most of their time (both together and in general) was spent working together, that was incredible.

But then, if Darcy was impressed with the ease of her own relationship, she was in awe of the perfection that was Jane and Thor’s. They were, like, the absolute dream couple personified; both of them had separate, time-consuming jobs so they didn’t get to spend a lot of time together, their relationship was occasionally long-distance, and they seemed to have nothing in common. Yet they had never fought to Darcy’s knowledge, and Darcy would know if they did because Jane would be heartbroken and mopey about it and Darcy was the only friend she had to weep about it to.

Still, even the dream couple deserved to have a couple of date nights, right? Right. That was why, on Ian’s suggestion, Darcy pestered the next time Thor would definitely have a free night on Midgard out of Tony (the very same day, it turned out) and nagged Jane, with Ian’s reassurance that he and Darcy could handle things for one night, into leaving the lab to go on a date with him (the phrase, “If you can spare the time to get dressed up and go on a date with Richard, you can do the same for Thor. You know, love of your life and all that jazz,” may have been included).

So Darcy hustled Jane up to the veritable apartment that she shared with Thor and stared her down until she got dressed and put makeup on. Finally, with Jane properly ready to go out on a date, Darcy had planned to drop her off to meet Thor in the lobby of the tower. Jane apparently did not agree with this plan. Jane gasped suddenly as they got in the elevator. “Wait! I forgot to collate the data from that last experiment!” She practically wailed, darting forward to press the button for her lab’s floor.

“Jarvis, can you ask Thor to meet us in Jane’s lab?” Darcy requested quietly with a sigh (so close!) as she watched Jane bounce impatiently on her toes, oblivious to Darcy’s conniving. Hopefully, Thor would get to the lab in time to prevent Jane from being able to resume working. Jane could never resist Thor in person. “It’s fine, Jane, Ian and I can do that,” Darcy reassured her somewhat hopelessly, raising her voice so that Jane had no chance to pretend she hadn’t heard. “You go enjoy a night with Thor.”

Jane shook her head firmly. “No, this is more important,” she declared, although she wilted guiltily as soon as the words had left her mouth.

Darcy continued trying in vain to convince Jane all the way down to the proper floor and into the lab, where they found Ian as he removed a USB from a computer. He shot Jane a startled look and then raised his eyebrows at Darcy questioningly, even as he moved to intercept her from getting deeper into the lab. Darcy knew he was perfect.

“Jane, Ian and I are perfectly capable of collating that data without you,” Darcy tried, more to explain it to Ian than actually convince Jane. “Don’t worry about it, go out with Thor.”

Ian positioned himself in front of Jane (even Jane on a mission wasn’t quite willing to sidestep one of her coworkers like that) and stared into her eyes earnestly. “Really, Dr. Foster, I’m sure that it’s nothing you need to do yourself. You can go have a night off while Darcy and I handle this,” he told her. Darcy really appreciated Ian sometimes; he was amazing at backing her up with very little context.

“No, I really – that data will only be there for so long before it’s overwritten, I should stay and help you guys with it,” Jane responded, pursing her lips doubtfully.

With perfect timing (because Darcy wasn’t sure how long she and Ian could have held Jane off), Thor appeared through the door. “Jane!” he called in his deep, deep voice. Yeah, Thor was Jane’s and Darcy would never contest that, but she could still appreciate him, okay? And there was a lot to appreciate tonight.

Thor was dressed in some semblance of modern Midgardian formal wear, though his coat was a little strange, and apparently he was really hot when he wasn’t wearing a hundred pounds of armor or a T-shirt and jeans (well, he was always hot, but he was looking particularly hot right then).

Darcy wasn’t the only one affected, either, because as soon as Jane turned towards him her jaw dropped and her eyes widened.  Thor grinned smugly as Jane’s appreciative gaze swept over him several times.

“Thor,” Jane responded a little breathlessly as Thor strode forward and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

As Thor began leading Jane towards the door, he nodded to Darcy and Ian. “You have my thanks, Lady Darcy, Intern Ian,” he said solemnly.

(Darcy had stopped referring to Ian as an intern, because honestly that was just awkward when they were sleeping together, but it had taken a while to break herself of the habit, so Thor had caught on. He was just as stubborn as Darcy and didn’t have the same reasons to stop, which meant that she couldn’t get him to. At this point, Darcy was pretty sure he was just doing it to mess with them.)

“Darcy, don’t forget to collate that data! From both machines, not just the one,” Jane called over her shoulder as Thor steered her through the door.

Then they were gone. Darcy let herself breathe a sigh of relief; now that Jane was out of the lab and with Thor, they were in the clear. “Jeez, I thought we’d never get her to go,” she said to Ian, who smiled back, looking just as relieved as Darcy felt.

“I know, it’s like she doesn’t care about anything else when there’s work to be done,” he responded.

“Right? You know what she said about collating this data?” Darcy paused, and Ian stared at her with the proper amount of expectance. “’This is more important’! Than Thor! Can you believe it?”

Ian shook his head. “No, I certainly cannot.”

Darcy got the feeling he was humoring her with that one, but she gave him a kiss anyway.

With that, they got to work collating the data Jane had been so frantic about (once they figured out what data and which two machines). After all, if they lost the data now, Jane would never go out on a date again.

It took barely twenty minutes, not even close to as long as Jane had apparently thought, and they finished with hours before the pertinent data would have been erased.

Darcy spun in her desk chair long enough to make herself dizzy. “Hey, what were you doing with that USB?” she asked belatedly, having forgotten it until then. Her momentum kept her spinning lazily as she pressed her eyes shut tightly and rubbed at her forehead.

“Hm? Oh, that.” Ian hummed thoughtfully. “Well, I was using it to download all of Jane’s data, which you so kindly recorded onto the computer, so that I could run away and bring it to my evil commanding officers,” he said, his voice commendably even to keep with the joke, and Darcy touched her feet down on the floor to stop her spinning while facing him.

Her mouth was open before her eyes were. “Ha ha, very –“ Then her eyes opened, and she took in the scene: Ian, his face stony and his eyes cold, and his hand tightly holding a gun pointed directly at her. Darcy stared wordlessly for a moment, because what do you say to that.

“I’m really sorry, Darcy,” Ian told her earnestly, seeming to really mean it. Darcy thought of his earnest attitude when trying to convince Jane, and didn’t believe it. “You’ve been great, really, it’s just… well, my employers are rather persuasive, and the mission matters more.”

Employers, Darcy thought. That was an interesting word. “Your employers, huh?” she said, half expecting her voice to break, but it held steady. Nothing felt quite real, yet, but Darcy could feel the encroaching edges of panic and hurt. “And who is that? Hydra? AIM?”

“Got it in one. I always knew you were smart, Darcy.” Ian let his fake expression fall. He moved over to the computer, plugging his USB back in and beginning the transfer. “I work for Hydra, and they sent me in undercover to get Dr. Foster’s findings. She really is a brilliant astrophysicist, isn’t she?”

Darcy couldn’t do this, couldn’t small talk with her boyfriend (ex-boyfriend, some part of her corrected hysterically) while he stole her best friend’s life’s work. “Why are you doing this?” she asked in a shout, and oh, there was the break in her voice. And where were the Avengers who were home? Jarvis should have sent them by now. Except no, they wouldn’t be coming, Darcy realized with a dawning sense of horror, because Jarvis wouldn’t be sending them because Jane had had Tony disconnect Jarvis from her lab before the last experiment, citing sensitivity reasons.

Ian, of course, would have known that just as well as Darcy. He must have planned it that way. It was that, above anything else, that for some reason brought it home to Darcy that this was Ian, her boyfriend, the intern she’d pestered Jane into getting, that was holding a gun on her and stealing Jane’s work.

“It’s the job,” Ian explained with a careless shrug. “That’s just how it is, Darcy.” How dare he. How dare he. Darcy was scared, yes – how could she not be when there was a gun being held on her – but she was angry, too. Furious. Because she’d liked Ian, really liked him, and he’d been using her the entire time. For Hydra. And now he thinks he can call her by her name as casually as ever? No.

“How dare you!” Darcy shrieked, and threw herself at him bodily, damn his fucking gun.

Ian clearly hadn’t expected that, as her tackle brought them both to the floor, his breath being knocked out of him as Darcy’s full weight landed on top of him. Darcy didn’t bother to move off of him, instead going for his eyes immediately (unfortunately, she’d left her bag, which had her taser in it, upstairs). Except, Darcy may have been a little… overeager, and before she could actually claw Ian’s eyes out, he recovered enough to defend his face with his left hand. His right hand, still holding his pistol, came around and backhanded her quicker than she could react, and she fell to the ground beside him. Her glasses skittered away.

Ian swung himself over her, rubbing at the tiny scratches around his eyes. “You little –“ he began, snarling. He was cut off as Darcy slammed both hands, clasped together, into his stomach as hard as she could.

Darcy tried to scramble out from underneath him, but Ian pinned her legs beneath one of his own and grasped her wrists in his left hand, slamming them to the ground above Darcy’s head.

“HOW COULD YOU I TRUSTED YOU JANE TRUSTED YOU, YOU BASTARD!” Darcy screamed at him, practically incoherent, as she thrashed under him. Ian was forced to release his gun to hold both of her hands, and he was clearly struggling to keep her pinned.

Good, Darcy thought viciously. If she couldn’t stop the traitorous bastard, at the very least she was going to cause him as much inconvenience as she could.

“Stop it, Darcy,” Ian snarled at her, calmer than she was but still clearly annoyed. “God, you always were an annoying shrew.”

That achieved the desired result, as Darcy stopped struggling for a moment in sheer, disbelieving fury. “What?”

Then she continued struggling, however, because she was going to get one good punch to his stupid, smug, traitorous face.

“LET GO OF ME YOU ASSHOLE I’LL CLAW YOUR EYES OUT TEAR YOUR STUPID NOSE OFF AND FEED IT TO YOU!”

Darcy really, really wanted her taser because nobody had ever deserved to be tased as much as Ian did. It would even be worth getting tased herself through the contact with him.

Ian grimaced at her. “Do you ever shut up? Even in bed you never shut up, not for a single second.” He leaned close, whispering conspiratorially, “You’re pretty hot, so I thought it wouldn’t be too bad, but honestly, you were the worst lay I’ve ever had.”

Darcy screamed, long and wordless and enraged and kind of hurt. She couldn’t believe this. That would have pissed her off no matter who said it but it was Ian and she had thought they had something, he’d been her best boyfriend ever and he’d been faking it the entire time, and all that meant that it wasn’t just infuriating, it was insanely hurtful too and Darcy had been sure that her last breakup had been the worst it got but no, no, this was worse. Darcy hated Ian and she couldn’t believe she’d been so stupid – she’d had sex with this man, but she hadn’t even noticed that he wasn’t into it, much less that he’d secretly been working for Hydra. She’d thought, for a little, that she might be okay with marrying him.

Something pulled from deep inside her, painfully, and her scream became less emotional pain and more physical pain. Electricity arced across her skin and jumped in little bluish-white sparks onto Ian. Ian screamed, too.

Until he wasn’t screaming, anymore. It felt like an eternity of pain before the pain stopped, too, along with the electricity. Darcy was left feeling hollow, filled with nothing but a bone-deep exhaustion. She was so tired; she didn’t really want to move at all. But Ian (Ian’s body…?) had slumped down on top of her, which was really quite creepy, and she was having a hard time breathing.

So Darcy forced herself to move, wiggling her wrists out of his now lax grasp and squirming until she could shove him off her onto the floor. His hands had electrical burns on them, she noticed with a distant sense of bewildered horror. Reluctantly (she had to know, had to, but at the same time she really didn’t want to), she reached out to press her pointer and middle fingers to his neck.

No pulse.

[numberonetrashcollectorus-blog]

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Ever since i was 5 i have been memorized by motorcycles, street, track, cruiser, dirt a little bit of everything in each category. Now im 18 years old and have decided its time to look past the awe and articles and into owning one! Iv been into the supermoto scene for over a year now just thrilled with them. Im hoping to get a wr250r/x, klx250, or drz 400. The online insurance quotes were nuts for basic liability! (6100-6800$ cnd) I hear others having 7$/monthly from the states. Has anyone has experience with this and are the quotes accurate? (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) Thanks for your time- hope you know more on this than me!""

Nice cars with out the insurance?

first off what is the difference between a normal cars insurance and a luxurery car like a ferrari.second, i have $100,000 and im looking for a nice fast car, but i dont want to buy a ferrari or sumthing cuz of the insurance is a lot higher i heard. i was even thinking about buying a 2009 ford f150 and souping it up with rims and everything but i'd rather a car thats really nice. does anybody have any ideas for a nice fast car with normal insurance?""

How much worse is your insurance if your vehichle is red?

How much worse is your insurance if your vehichle is red?

Any suggestions for a first car that's affordable and safe for a 16 year old?

I'm 16 years old and much in need of a car... as you can imagine money is sort of an issue. I need a car around or under $3,000 that works and will get me from place to place. A car that looks decent is a plus too. If anyone has an idea of how much insurance would cost monthly for a car around that price with a student grade discount also, please tell me. Any ideas on a car or a way to save up some more money so i can get something above 3,000? Don't be smart @sses and tell me to get a job because I'm really busy with school and sports...thanks""

Is there really any cheap health insurance I only bring home $280 a week and they want you to pay $260 or so.?

Is there really any cheap health insurance I only bring home $280 a week and they want you to pay $260 or so.?

Individual Health Insurance Plans - Medical history not perfect?

anyone know of any affordable insurance plans out there...health insurance, preferably with a deductable only on ER and Hospitalization costs.... and initial co-pay only on visits and such...Rx.... my medical history isn't the best, but no major health issues...just some past med. history that could make it difficult for me to be insurred.""

Why is my car insurance so high?

I bought a 2007 nissan sentra in 2011 and unfortunately didn't look into the insurance factor when I made my decision. I do have a lien on the car, but I'm in my 30's, no tickets, no accidents, okay credit, and I'm still paying over $200 a month in insurance! I pay more for the insurance then I do the car payment! Is the insurance high because it is a foreign car or what?""

""Does anyone know if I am disable,I receive ssi (I have a MS)what kind of car insurance?""

Does anyone know if I am disable person, I receive ssi (I have a multiple sclerosis) what kind of car insurance company I can choose? And how much I have to pay each month? Thank you""

Insurance for 18 year - which 7 seater?

im looking for a 7 seater that i can get insurance on for myself and my son who is 18 years old. im over 50 and have got 5 years NCB, my son has had his licecnse for 1 year and ...show more""

What is an affordable insurance for my child?

Im looking for an affordable insurance company for my daughter that has decent copays and covers dental, eye, meds etc. Ive been looking online but cant seem to find what im looking for. If anyone has any experience or suggestions your help is appreciated. Thank you!""

What can I do when a cap on my tooth is breaking away and I cannot afford insurance and not enough money?

What can I do when a cap on my tooth is breaking away and I cannot afford insurance and not enough money?

How much will my insurance be on a car?

I am 21 years old and I am wanting to get a 2009 dodge avenger with 21,000 miles on it. I just want to know about how much may they charge me for the insurance.""

How much wil Car Insurance be when i get my temps in Columbus Ohio?

How much wil Car Insurance be when i get my temps in Columbus Ohio. im going to be under my moms insurance. how much will i have to pay. or will i have to pay. my mom dosent kno, neither do i. can she put me on her car insurance for free or do i have to pay or what. whats the rules so to say""

Are you 17/18 and recently bought a car/insurance?

Im wondering what are the prices like now, and for what cars. Speaking to my mum,she told m vauxhall astra has a fairly cheap insurance for a young driver but anyway share below of around how much it costed you to get insurance and for what car thank you! 10 pts""

Holden West Virginia Cheap car insurance quotes zip 25625

Holden West Virginia Cheap car insurance quotes zip 25625

How much does motorcycle insurance cost in California? I'm 20 years old and thinking of getting a bike.?

I'm thinking of getting a Yamaha R6. Still don't know what year? Anyone got any tips of what year i should get?

Do you get rid of your car insurance when you get a DWI?

I don't understand,.. when you get a DWI and license taken away, wouldn't you not need car insurance anymore for a year since you won't be driving your car? All the talk about having insurance go up etc, and $1000 added onto the bill every year, does the receiver of the DWI have to keep their insurance or something?""

Universal life insurance as a savings plan?? Is that a good idea?

Ameriprise Financial is sellign me 400k life insurance policy that costs 200 per month. They say its like a savings plan because I can access 90% of the 200 per month at any time. Is this a good idea or a scam??

I got a ticket for failure to show insurance in NJ . How will this effect my insurance rates.?

The day I got my car, I was got a ticket for not having insurance in NJ.I had insurance but paper had not come in the mail yet. I went to court and it was lowered to failure to show insurance and I paid like $185. How will this effect my points and and my insurance rates. Should I reopen my case and plea not guilty or see if I could get it dismissed and would I have to get a lawyer for that? Is it worth the money? This is my first ticket ever. I though he would dismiss my case after explaining my case but my public defender was really rude and impatient when I asked him If I could have the case dropped saying You're should be glad I am not getting your license taken for a year! which is true, but I had proper documentation so there was not way my license would have been suspended.""

How can I receive free or low price health insurance ?

I am 21 and a type 1 diabetic ... My father recently got laid off so I do not have insurance anymore I tried to apply online for free medi-cal but it says I have to have at least 1 pregnant person on my application... I'm running out of insulin and need to insurance ASAP. Can anyone help me with any advice or where to apply for free or low price health insurance I only make 600 a month

Getting car insurance (complicated case)?

Alright, so this is my story. I am getting new Mazda3 next week. I am 19 years old male (my dad is paying for car). My mom will pay for my insurance (full coverage). The problem is, my mom and my stepdad are divorced, but she is driving car he bought and she is paying him for that car, so she is under his All-State insurance. Now I need insurance and what to do? We obviously dont want to put my name under my stepdads insurance. Someone said to my mom that she should get new insurance (for example Progressive) for my car under her name, and then put me on her insurance, though she would never drive Mazda3, because I go to college in different town. The person said this way we would not pay as much as if Id open insurance under my name. Now and advices. Thank youOh and another question. If, let's say, car is bought under my moms name, can I get individual insurance under my name? Or only the owner of the car is allowed to do that? P.S.: please dont try to talk me out of getting ne""

Can someone help me find car insurance for my dad?

my dad is looking for a car insurance company that insures anyone who drives his car, ie. his children. is this possible? what insurance companies offer this type of insurance?""

Question about teen car insurance?

Question about teen car insurance? I have a couple questions about insurance for teens: 1. If it is a 4 cyl, is insurance lower? 2. Is it cheaper if you have good grades? 3. Does the style/number of doors make a differance? TIA""

I am 17 and i am looking for cheap car insurance. does anyone know a good insurer?

I am 17 and i am looking for cheap car insurance. does anyone know a good insurer?

Renault clio 1.3L 16v Insurance costs?

how much will it cost to insure me in a Renault Clio 1.3L 16v when i am 17 using a provisional license

My auto insurance covers anybody who drives my car...is my teen covered? I cannot afford to list him....?

Me and my teen have a car. I have both cars listed on my insurance with full coverage. If he is not covered is there an insurance company that will cover a driver of his age without ...show more

What if i don't have car insurance and i don't drive the car?

i wanna buy a car but not drive it for a while but i can't afford car insurance....can i not register until i am ready to drive it is that legal?????

Insurance and child support?

So my daughters father put our daughter on his insurance .. Which when she was born I put her on Medicaid now her insurance is all messed up because the fact that he did that. child support sent him a court oder for them to actually get everything fixed. Which he saying he doesn't know why child support sending him that..? has anyone gone threw this. Im confused.

Complicated car insurance question?

ok, i am 17 and want to insure a land rover. If i took out my own policy now, it would cost a crazy 3500. heres my solution but i dont know if its legal and/or valid. 1. give money for land rover to my dad. 2. dad buys land rover, so it is technically his. 3. dad takes out insurance policy in his name for the land rover. 4. i go down as a named driver on my dads policy for the land rover ????? is this allowed ????""

Cheap car insurance...who are you with?

i am looking for cheap car insurance for my two cars. i had my license since i was 18 and now im 20. i have no tickets and i need to find insurance please help me....who do u have and how much do u pay?

How much would car insurance cost for a 17 year old from allstate in california?

does it also matter what kind of a car it is? I have a 1999 chevy malibu

B Average for Car insurance Discount?

Will I still get the B Average car insurance discount if I have a 84.86 Average?

""My friend already has auto insurance on her car, can I get my own insurance on her car or do i have to own it?

I have a Job interview at Coke Cola and I need to show them proof of insurance on the vehicle I drive however i do not own the car but ill be able to drive my friends

What is cheaper for a 17 year old car or 50cc moped?

for insurance to buy for lessons thx in advance

How much content insurance do i need?

my insurance company needs an answer asap. we close in 2 days. small bungalow with finished basement, approx 2300 square feet in total. Master bedroom spare bedroom, office, rec room, kitchen, dining room, great room, full bath, 2pc & 3pc bath, 3 flat screen tvs, usual appliances, all rooms furnished modestly. Would $50,000 be enough?""

Does a full license reduce insurance premiums over a provisional license(NOT learners permit)?

In my state and probably many others now as well, there are three License tiers: Learners Permit, Provisional Drivers License, and Full License. Learners permit is pretty much self explanatory, you have to drive with a parent/guardian only and must hold it for 9 months to get to the Provisional License in the middle which allows you to drive fully unsupervised after you turn 18 with many restrictions before 18 but still carries increased penalties(what they consist of I am not sure but they are nonetheless there only for Provisional Licenses) even after you turn 18, and then after you hold a Provisionals for 18 months, you can finally get a full license. Obviously not having increased penalties would be nice but I'm wondering if Full License status would also reduce insurance rates since it shows that you were able to hold a Provisionals for so long without moving violations and are therefore not quite as problematic of a driver as someone who has not yet passed the 18-month probationary period required for a Full License. Clarification on what a Provisional License is for my age(20): The Provisional License is for all intents and purposes basically the same as a full drivers license after you turn 18 with the exception of enhanced penalties for moving violations which remain possible until you get a full license. I'm just curious if there are insurance benefits that come with a full license as well or if, for some absurd reason, they still base it on the old learners-then-license system, and then they go up after you get a full license because they think you are suddenly unsupervised, which is not the case with a Provisional License moving up to a Full License.""

Where can i find cheap car insurance for over 25's first time buyers?

Where can i find cheap car insurance for over 25's first time buyers?

""I'm looking for fullcoverage insurance that is cheap ,but i'm under 25 so what is the cheap campany around?""

Ft.worth ,bedford,euless hurst?""

How much does will my insurance pay? My car was totalled?

My car was in a serious accident, and is irrepairable. The insurance company is coming down in a day or two to check out the car. I was no at fault, police are still looking for the guy at fault. However, my car is done. Will my insurance company give me the value of replacing a car like that, like if I were to buy one again, or would they give me the book value?""

Adding 18 year old non-owner to car insurance.?

I am now 18 years old but have not yet gotten my driver's license because of the rate increase before I turned 18. I have had my learner's permit for 3 years and have a perfect driving record (no tickets or accidents). I do not own a car right now. So, I need to know if A) I need to be added to my parent's policy in order to drive their car once I get my license, and B) if so, how much more will the insurance be? I live in Florida.""

Holden West Virginia Cheap car insurance quotes zip 25625

Holden West Virginia Cheap car insurance quotes zip 25625

""Best health insurance, help ?""

I know nothing about insurance, share your experience with your search for health insurance. In your opinion, what's the best one ? Thanks in advance, Daniel :)""

How cheap could i get insurance?

im 17, gonna be 18, no parking violations tickets or accidents whatsoever. the reason i ask is because the state i live in requires insurance.""

Auto Insurance?

Why cant we have insurance on Auto Repairs. Where we pay a co-pay (like health insurance) or deductible and the auto shops are regulated by the insurance companies. We would pay more for cars that need more repair. Wouldnt it make automakers more interested in making a better car?

Student Car insurance?

Does anyone know of a good insurance company that is suitable to students? I am off to university in september, I'm not taking my car with me however, I will be home every other weekend and will want to use it then as well as when i'm home for christmas etc. I am looking for an insurance company that is suitable for this kinda thing as I dont want to be payin lots for insurance when I hardly use the car. Thanks""

Is honesty really the best policy when insuring a car?

Is honesty really the best policy when insuring a car?

How much u pay for ur car insurance?

for small car. i am considering to get a daewoo matiz, coz its cheap running car. i have my hometown driving license, but thats only valid for 1 year, since i live here for the 2nd, i need to apply for uk license.""

How can I get cheaper car Insurance?

I need to insure my new car. How do I do that at a cheaper rate?

Will my insurance company insure my car without the registration?

I'm buying a used car and picking it up and hour away from me. I don't have the bill of sale or registration but I need insurance on it to drive it home. Can they still insure it?

""What does 100,000 300,000 coverage mean for auto insurance?""

Does that mean 100,000 per person injured? 300,000 max per accident?""

Why are drivers often required to carry car insurance even if their cars aren't worth much?

I want to know why a driver has to have car insurance if the car isn't worth much. You know like a old car from way back in the day?

What Insurance Agency Will Cover Salvage Rebuilt Cars?

I own a 2001 Ford Focus that I'm just now finding out is a Salvage Rebuild vehicle. I switched from the New York State insurance to Geico because it was cheaper, but Geico doesn't cover salvage rebuilds (I only found out it was a salvage rebuild because it was on my title). I purchased the car from my great-grandmother, who purchased it from a dealership in 2004. According to them, they do not sell salvage rebuild cars, but lo and behold, it is a salvage rebuild (from NJ!). I need an insurance company by the 9th of this month that isn't going to cost me an arm and a leg for a downpayment ($298 for GMAC... eesh). Does anyone know of what insurance agencies DO cover salvage rebuilds and are online?""

Buy a car? No License or insurance?

Is it possible for me to buy a car with no license or insurance and have my dad drive it back to the house and keep it there? I dont intend on driving it untill i get it all sorted, i just want the satisfaction on knowing its there and its mine. Im from the UK""

How do I get Renter's Insurance?

It's required for college dorming, but i'm not sure how to get it. Help?""

Who is responsible for insurance on car.... the owner or driver?

I'm going thru a divorce and my husband has been paying the insurance on our 3 vehicles. However, I believe the policy has not been paid and due to lapse the first of July. I'm getting insurance on the car I'm driving, but my husband alternates driving between the other car and truck. The truck is titled in his name, but the other car is in mine. I can't afford insurance on two cars. If he drives it, and he's stopped, who is responsible for the insurance?""

Does employer needs to provide medical insurance?

Hi I am a foreign worker, working here in US, do employers need to provide medical insurance or not??""

CAR INSURANCE NYS??????

if you missed your car insurance payment by a few days and u got into a accident (a deer hit u) should your car insurance still cover you...

Is this good fuel consumption & cheap insurance group?

I have found a car and the specs sa the following fuel consumption and I wanna know if it is good or not as im looking for something more economical. Fuel consumption (urban) 43.5 mpg Fuel consumption (extra urban) 65.7 mpg Fuel consumption (combined) 55.4 mpg Also it says the insurance group is 7, is this going to be quite cheap?""

Cheap car insurance for new drivers?

I passed my test yesterday and want to know if anyone knows any cheap insurance companies that do 1 month cover only? as am im selling my car soon! thanks!

Looking for affordable health insurance for the sefl employed?

i cannot find any affordable insurance and i need assistance

How much does Homeowners Insurance cost?

Whats a good estimate for how much my homeowners insurance would be if I'm a first time buyer, my home is around 300,000. and I have good credit, plus the home is in a brand new developement. I just want an estimate. Thanks.""

Car Insurance Estimate?

I'm 19 years old. I've had my license since December 2008. I've never been in an accident. The car would cost around 5000$ It's a silver 2002 Saturn Vue AWD V6 With around 100,000 miles on it. Used obviously. It would be bought with a loan from a bank, so financed. I make around 1000$ a month, working 32 hours a week. Lame work for now, but hey. I can easily pay for the insurance. I also have good credit history. Any ideas on what insurance would cost.""

What is the cheapest car insurance premium quote?

That you know of , for an 18 year old male driving a group 1 car. Thanks.""

Cheap Car Insurance for a 17 year old ?

I am looking for car insurance in Britain. I am 17 next month so I am looking at provisional prices which aren't too bad. I was curious and put in my birthday a few months earlier and said i had passed, the price was in excess of 4000, for a car worth 1000 ? I then put in the details of a friends new car, hes 17 and only just passed. Rich and got a 2011 bmw 1 series top of the range, quote was 9,500. How can a 1000 car be only 5000 cheaper than a 30000 car, none of this makes sense ? I know we are 4 times more likely to crash but does anyone know of any cheap insurance companies for 17 year olds just now ?""

What's reasonable insurance quote for new driver (UK)?

Hi Everyone! I'm a new UK driver searching insurance quotes for my Ford escort (engine size 1.4). I'm thinking third party only for starters. What sort of ammounts should I consider to be reasonable offers? Also, must I pay the premium in one lump sum? P.S: I'm 23 years old... Cheers!""

Car title and insurance help?

Here is my situation,my sister recently gave me a car but the title card has my dad's name on it.The plan was to put the car under my dad's name so I could practice my driving but my dad has not gone to the DVM to finalize it.I now have my license and debating on whether I should put the car under my name or just let my dad put the car under his name since he will be paying for the insurance.Another problem with the car title is the insurance. I am not sure if he should add me to his policy or get my own policy instead.I don't want him to be affected if I were to get into an accident.I am not a minor if that helps.""

Holden West Virginia Cheap car insurance quotes zip 25625

Holden West Virginia Cheap car insurance quotes zip 25625

I receive a health insurance stipend but keep it in savings instead. is this okay?

i went from being fully covered with my company in los angeles, but i moved to new york 7 months ago, where their insurance doesn't cover. in lieu of this, they give me a stipend. however, it's not nearly enough to cover cost of insurance here, so i've been putting it in a savings account until i can afford a plan in my budget and/or emergency health situations. my boss just asked me for proof of insurance. i will tell the truth of the matter, but what will happen? what can they do?""

What is general insurance?

i want to know abt general insurance.

Does anyone no of affordable maternity insurance?

My daughter is now almost 9 months old. I'm planning to get pregnant again in december. I'll be 20. Witch means that the insurance i had before MCHP will not cover me. You have to be younger then 19, and i don't live in Maryland anymore. Does any one no of any health programs that are affordable in Pennsylvania or any state for that matter? I'm married and my husband is the only one who works at this time so i was kinda looking for something on the lines of MCHP. For those who don't no what that is, its when the sate covers your pregnancy minus a few cost. Please Help! O and if your just going to rag on me for being to young and stupid dont even bother!""

What car insurance company provides the cheapest policies and best coverage?

What car insurance company provides the cheapest policies and best coverage?

What company has the very cheapest car insurance for Tennessee?

I just need the bare minimum insurance. Which is the cheapest?

Teen Car Insurance after one accident?

How much would my insurance premium rise for a 17 year old boy if I get into an accident (at-fault)? A good average (+X%) answer would be good.

""I am 17 years old and don't have health insurance, what do I do?""

I am 17 years old and don't live with my parents. I am living with a friends Aunt while I attend college. Because I don't live with my parents I can't be on their health insurance, I've been ill and worried but avoiding the doctor because any medications would cost a fortune. All my prescriptions used to only be $15 now they are dramatically raised. I don't have a job either. What do I do? Is there any type of thing I can qualify for? Any feedback would be much appreciated!!!""

Is life insurance worth having so young?

I'm almost 21 years old, junior in college, and have new car (owe ~$23,000 with my mother as a co-signer), but no other debts. I started a $50,000 life insurance plan with my insurance company( State Farm) and pay about $17/month. Is it truly worth getting a plan this young or should i just put that money in to a pre existing savings account?""

How much is an SR22 insurance cost?

More or less...

How much does it cost for car insurance for an 18 year old male at insautoinsurance?

How much does it cost for car insurance for an 18 year old male at insautoinsurance?

Where can I get auto insurance at a reasonable rate in the GTA?

I am a teen driver and just got my G2 license, and I'd like to buy a car (I'm in school and I have a job) but would like to know if I could find reasonable insurance rates ($0 - $150 MAX) in and around the Greater Toronto Area. Please list companies or brokers. Thanks in advance.""

Can you report someone for driving without car insurance?

i know this person and i was just wondering if you could turn them in for not having car insurance without them knowing who turned them in. I want to prevent someone from getting hurt and not getting there part of the insurance claim or whatever.....anything will help..THANKS!!!!

Whats the cheapest car insurance company in Michigan?

I'm moving out of my parents house in a few months, and am at the point of looking at car insurance rates. I've always just paid my fees on their shared account, which was only about $25. Friends in Ohio that also live on their own pay about $80 on their own plans per month, and they have accident histories. When I ask for quotes with a clean history, Progressive gave me a $350 quote! What's the best company to go through? Or at least top 3? I just want minimum coverage because that's all I can afford for now.""

Car insurance lapsed in CT what would be the steps to reregister car & get insurance?

Do i need to contact an insurance company first or the DMV?

Car insurance price?

Does car insurance price depend on the safety of the car? Like a car that has 5 star crash test rating, does that mean the premium will be lower than a car has 3 star rating? Thanks.""

Do i have to have insurance?

i live with my parents. an my mom told me that our car insurance company says i HAVE to be insured, cause i have access to my parrents cars... can they do that?""

Are my car insurance rates normal?

I'm looking to buy a 2004 hyundai tiburon gt and the insurance company said it would be 1100 every 6 months. My second choice was a 2005 mazda3 I. Once again, rate would be 965 every 6 months. Even the tiburon base would be over 1000. I'm a 17 year old boy. Which explains alot, but I've had no accidents and have the safe driver discount.""

What happens if I'm driving someone else's car and it doesnt have insurance?

I have insurance but the car I was in doesn't. Is there a way out of this?

How to deal with car accident with no insurance?

FYI: this falls under New Mexico laws I drove a small 2 door honda civic and was on my way to school. There was alot of traffic being it was around lunch time and i was approaching an intersection when this dodge durango came out of nowhere and tried to cross in front of me. (I had the green light) I tried to brake and swerve but my driver side front end hit her passenger front end. I didnt have insurance at the time of the accident and she came and said it was completely her fault and that she went because the other drivers were waving her to go ahead and go. She was 19 with no DL so ended up getting 2 tickets. I, on the other hand,didnt get any tickets and took an ambulance to the E.R. being i was having bad chest pain so my husband emptied the car because it was pretty much totalled. So, since ive never been in an accident before, what steps can i take to make sure she pays for this? I have a disabled husband, a 6 year old child, and now without a car with injuries i cant afford to have right now.""

Anyone know any sites I can go to to get life insurance and car insurance quotes? I don't want to give my?

phone number to any company because they hound you forever, I just don't need all the phone calls and presser.""

Does anyone know what homeowners insurance companies allow dogs like like chow chows?

We are thinking of getting a very sweet gentle chow from a local rescue group and our current insurance (Travelers) will cancel our policy should we get a chow (plus a whole other long list of breeds). I'd like to hear from someone w/ a german shepherd, sled dog (husky, malamute, akita), rott, pit bull, or other dog deemed dangerous about what insurance company you may use.""

Looking for best insurance product (LIC) which returns guaranteed & handsome amount on maturity along with acc?

Age : 35 yrs., married Premium Amount : 90  99 K per year Premium term : 25 to 30 yrs best lic plan combo plan""

Insurance for Braces?

Does anyone have insurance for braces that they have used and can tell me about it? I really need braces but my regular insurance won't pay. :( Any help is appreciated! :)

Good Cheap car insurance?

Im 16, Im getting my truck and my license in september, and I was wondering what car insurance companies I should look in to? I could be added onto my parents plan but it would be pretty expensive, I was wondering if there's a cheaper option? what insurance do you have and why? thanks!""

How much more does insurance for a left hand drive vehicle cost in the UK?

If I bought a left hand drive VW camper and insured it I the UK, would it be more expensive than a right hand drive one? Or just answer if you know how much more it costs for and left hand drive vehicle in the uk?""

Holden West Virginia Cheap car insurance quotes zip 25625

Holden West Virginia Cheap car insurance quotes zip 25625

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/travel-insurance-australia-scott-dixon/"

[virtuosinovel]

Ch 46 - Revelations

At Victor’s request, the meeting was held in his hidden library office. This time Dudley was patted down before entering, which seemed superfluous since he had been escorted all the way from his cell to the Hive by armed guards watching his every move. As he entered the room, Victor waved from his desk chair; the same one he was sitting in last week when Dudley pointed a gun at him. Before taking his own seat, Dudley scanned the room for killer teenage ninja nieces. This time he and Victor were alone.

“Thanks for meeting with me Benjamin. It seems for the first time ever, we are utterly alone. No recorders on you. No control panel wristband on me. The cameras and audio have been disabled,” said Victor. For the first time since the tuxedo for opening ceremonies, Victor was dressed in typical business attire: a navy suit, a red power tie, and a serious demeanor.

“I guess I should thank you for meeting me considering your laws and the circumstances. I understand it can only get better for me as a result of this,” Dudley replied. He wasn’t so sure about the last statement, especially if the cameras weren’t rolling. Who would care if Victor just pulled a gun out of his desk and ended him right here? Maybe Victor would show some restraint since Dudley hadn’t fired any shots.

“Correct,” confirmed Victor. “Depending on how happy you are with your organization now and your moral compass, you stand to do quite a bit better than you are currently.”

“What do you propose?” Dudley asked. He wanted to get down to business. Why was he here?

“A lot has happened in the past week, much of it while you’ve been detained. Just so we start on a level playing field, why don’t I put a few of my cards on the table by catching you up. I wouldn’t want you to consider my proposal without proper context,” said Victor.

“Fair enough. I’d appreciate that,” answered Dudley.

“You know about the helicopter crash of course, but what you might not know is it was no accident. They ran into a force field which protects this island from exactly that type of belligerent act of aggression. Depending on your personal philosophy, you’ll find this either brilliant or abhorrent. Personally, I love it.

“In the United  States, if a burglar gets hurt on your property while trying to rob you, you could actually be held liable. Here, we don’t give a rat’s ass if you booby trap your whole fucking property. Anyone brazen enough to be trespassing without your permission deserves what they get,” exclaimed Victor. His calm demeanor had given away to righteous indignation.

Dudley thought back to the emergency drill on the airplane. That’s why Meena was on the phone immediately. They knew an attack was coming even before Dudley knew.

“After word of the crash leaked to the world press, there was a backlash on multiple fronts. The U.N. called an emergency session to discuss sanctions against the United  States. World stock markets had their biggest one day drop since Black Monday in 1987 and are still unstable. The underground movement in the U.S., which was a slight groundswell, has turned several of your major cities into free-for-all riot zones. The attack was the tipping point on a house of cards crashing down as we sit here,” Victor summarized.

Now everyone else’s role during the plane’s emergency drill became clear. Brandon was moving assets around to prepare for the crash, perhaps helping to partially cause it in the first place. Greta probably made diplomatic pre-warning calls. Donovan and Victor no doubt orchestrated it all. Victor continued.

“After you decided not to shoot, which I do appreciate regardless of the bulletproof force field, you were subdued by what is known as Angel’s Trumpet, or Columbian Devil’s Breath. It’s a fascinating plant and if properly manipulated, has some practical uses other than simply killing one’s enemies. One is you can exercise a certain type of mind control over the target. After you were hit with the dart, we could have sent you swimming to Australia and you would have gladly hopped in the ocean and started on your merry way, never questioning the sanity of the act. Instead, we told you where your cell was and you started walking.

“Along the way, you spilled all of your secrets at our request. We pretty much had the crux of the matter figured out, but we didn’t know exactly what agency you worked for, where your bugs were dropped, etcetera. You’re now an open book to us. Everything you thought, did, or were ordered to do, we know about and you’re on tape saying it all. I can’t say any of it was earth-shattering, but at any rate you should know you have no more secrets from us,” explained Victor.

Dudley sat quietly. There wasn’t much to say. Victor picked up a remote control and turned on a TV on one of the side walls. Dudley saw himself in the video, talking freely. He didn’t remember any of it, but everything he said in the video was true.

“I’ll fast forward through this if you don’t mind. I just figured you might want proof,” said Victor.

“Please do,” said Dudley, his cheeks flushed.

The next video started. Dudley recognized the person in the video. It was Lieutenant John “Jack” Randall of Freedom Keeper Special Forces; the sole survivor of the helicopter crash. A medic assisted Randall as he walked between two shoulder-height bars.

“I though the only survivor was paralyzed,” interjected Dudley.

“He is. He’s wearing an exoskeleton which helps people walk with paralysis,” said Victor quickly, making it clear that wasn’t the point of starting the video. Dudley was relieved that although 21 of his coworkers died in the crash, the doctors seemed to be treating the one survivor very well.

“Like I said Benjamin, there were no big surprises in your revelations. Now let’s contrast that with what Lt. Randall had to say,” Victor said as the video continued rolling.

The video cut away from Randall’s rehab efforts to him sitting up in bed. Someone off camera interviewed him. It sounded like Eve Carson.

“Please state your name and rank,” said the woman.

 “Lt. Jack Randall, Freedom Keeper Special Forces.”

 “Tell me about your unit Lieutenant.”

 “We are a covert special ops unit reporting straight to the President of the United States of America.”

 “Is the American public aware of this unit?”

 “No ma’am.”

  “What was your mission here on this island?”

Randall explained all of the specs of the mission in detail. All eight potential targets: four places and four people. He didn’t stutter or hesitate once.

“Why were you sent to attack those targets?”

“This island is capable of doing harm to the United  States with its technological and financial capabilities.”

“Who was your Alpha target?”

“Victor Freeman.”

“Does this have anything to do with Victor Freeman being a person-of-interest in an ongoing FBI case?”

“No ma’am. There is no ongoing FBI investigation. It was a mission to neutralize the island’s capabilities.”

Eve seemed to hesitate on the tape. Victor leaned forward like this was an Oscar-winning suspense movie he’d seen before and couldn’t wait to relive the ending. Eve continued the interview, obviously ad-libbing now that Randall had revealed an unexpected secret.

“There is no ongoing FBI investigation into the Sons of Liberty 2.0 naming Victor Freeman as a person of interest?”

“Only to the public. Privately the case is closed.”

“Why is it closed?”

“There is no such group as Sons of Liberty 2.0. The Freedom Keepers invented them.”

Eve was obviously as shocked as Dudley, but she knew this was an opening she had to jump through.

“Who conducted the Tea Party Anniversary Attacks if Sons of Liberty 2.0 doesn’t exist? Who bombed the CIA and the NSA buildings?”

“The Freedom Keepers conducted the attacks, ma’am, at the direction of the Director of National Intelligence and the President of the United States of America.”

Eve and a couple of other onlookers behind the cameras gasped. Dudley grabbed his seat handles like he was on a roller coaster. All the knowledge he thought he had was draining out of him and resetting him back to infancy, like an intellectual version of Benjamin Button.

“What?” Eve asked. It was an exclamation, not a question, but the Angel’s Trumpet worked on Randall just the same. He repeated what he said before.

“Why?”

“It was done to regain the balance of power. The public started valuing freedom over security. The attack was engineered to instill fear in the public again so they would stop pushing back against the government. It was also meant to discredit Victor Freeman and Next World because they were aiding and abetting the freedom movement.”

Victor stopped the tape, dropped the remote, and looked over to Dudley. Dudley was immediately traumatized, mouth agape, head and body shaking, staring distantly at the carpet trying to re-calibrate the last 20 years of his life. It had all been one big fucking lie. His career was a charade.

“I’m sorry you had to see that Benjamin,” said Victor, returning to his normal calm demeanor. Most people would have jumped on Dudley with an I-told-you-so barrage, but Victor knew he had already won. Like a parent who just told his child the truth about Santa Claus, Victor sat there for a moment.

After several minutes of silence, Dudley still didn’t speak. He sat there staring into space like an invalid. Victor must have figured the obligatory grace period of silence was over and started speaking.

“I must say, even I was stunned by that one. I’ve heard every conspiracy theory ever invented. It was my business. I believed some of them and disregarded others. Some were eventually proved and some eventually discredited, but this one lined up perfectly.

“A nobody entrepreneur forms a start-up company at just the right time in history, with just the right product mix. He’s not smarter than anyone else nor any richer; just incredibly lucky, incredibly intuitive or both. A passive disdain for the lack of privacy in America turns into action now as people see there is something they can do about it. The combination of privacy becoming accessible and constant bad behavior from people in power turns the tides on the watchers. The people don’t want to be watched anymore and they’re taking action. What’s worse? It’s not violent action, but passive resistance, so it can’t be met with violent counter measures. You can arrest and beat protestors in the street, but what can you do when they’re protesting from behind their computer screens; when you don’t know who they are?

“So instead of fighting the people, you fight the idea. You discredit the Founder of Next World by sending in a puppet CEO, getting the board to vote for an exclusive contract by waiving a pile of cash in their face, and forcing this young upstart out.

“Then, to put the icing on the cake, you stage an attack so people are scared shitless again, like they were in the good ole days after 9/11. And lo-and-behold, the anonymous ringleader of the attack just happened to be aided and abetted by guess who; the young upstart. You leak some information to his old mentor, which gets back to him, convincing even the young entrepreneur he is responsible. He buys an island and is out of your hair forever, afraid to return to his home country. Even that’s not good enough so you attack his new country. Am I missing anything?”

Dudley was silent during Victor’s recap. Maybe Randall was lying in the video. Maybe hallucinating from the drugs. But everything Dudley had said was true and everything else Randall said was true: the unit, the bugs, the mission specs, everything. It was futile to think this was all a lie.

“No, that about covers it,” said Dudley in a low voice.

“The first casualty of war is the truth,” said Victor.

“So, what now?” Dudley asked.