#since halloween is coming up figures i should use my supernatural muses more right | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

distractedhistotech · 5 years ago

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Before MSA + 1: Halloween

Arthur had managed to put together something that acted like a diaper but which fitted into his pocket instead of around the hamster. “It takes a little bit to put them together though…”

Cadence seemed happy with the pocket diaper considering how much time she was spending in Arthur’s shirt and coat pockets.

“I wonder if you could incorporate it into your Halloween costume,” mused Vivi.

“Uh…What’s Halloween?” asked Arthur.

Sydney and Lewis gave Arthur startled looks. “You don’t know what Halloween is?!”

Arthur panicked a bit as he realized this was something everyone was supposed to know about. “My parents were super religious,” he said quickly. Sydney and Lewis seemed to accept it.

“Halloween evolved from the Celtic celebration of Samhain,” explained Vivi. “It was the ending of the year at sun down, but the new year didn’t start until the sun rose. Being outside of time as it were meant that ghosts and the like had an easier time manifesting. It probably makes magic easier and stronger too. At some point, people started wearing scary outfits to try and blend in or scare away the spirits. That ritual eventually became putting on costumes for fun and, in the case of kids, going around to houses and asking for treats.”

The other kids were staring at her in surprise at the info dump, while Arthur was wondering if this meant Halloween was technically a pagan holiday.

“Actually, the Catholic church took a lot of pagan holidays and incorporated them into their religion. Christmas takes place in December because that’s when a big festival called Saturnalia took place in the Roman empire. Evidence suggests that Jesus was actually born in Spring,” continued Vivi as if she’d predicted Arthur’s thoughts.

The more Arthur learned the more he wondered if the adults in his early life knew what they were doing.

“Anyway…My dad makes cosplay as a side job so if you want he can make you guys costumes too,” said Sydney.

Lewis nodded. “He always makes costumes for us.”

Vivi perked up. “Really?”

Sydney nodded. “But nothing super complicated, okay? He’s gotta budget.”

“What’s cosplay?” asked Arthur.

“Costume play,” explained Lewis. “People dress up like characters from anime or videogames that they love. Some of the outfits are really complicated or accurate.”

“We usually do a theme for Halloween,” continued Sydney.

“We did Sailor Moon for a couple of years,” said Lewis.

“Another time we were Ed and Al Elric,” said Sydney. “I’m not sure what we could do with four people.”

“Power Rangers?” suggested Vivi.

“There’s usually five of ‘em though,” said Sydney.

“Is that a big deal?” asked Arthur.

“Not really,” said Lewis. “It would just seem a little weird to be short a ranger.”

“So, we need a group of four people,” muttered Sydney. “All I can think of are Transformers, but that might be too complicated.”

“All I can think of is the Scooby Doo gang,” said Vivi.

Silence. The kids turned to stare at Ben. “Would Ben let us dye his fur?” asked Lewis.

“I have no idea,” admitted Vivi. “Would the dye be safe?”

“I have no idea,” repeated Sydney. “Dad knows a bit about hair dye…”

“I think you could get away with leaving him white and black,” said Arthur.

“So, who would be who?” asked Lewis.

Vivi and Sydney promptly pointed at Lewis. “Fred.” Then they pointed towards Arthur. “Shaggy.”

“You do have the muscle tone going on,” agreed Arthur.

And Lewis blushed because he was somehow the biggest one there despite (probably) being the youngest. “W-well, who’s gonna be Velma and Daphne?”

Sydney and Vivi exchanged looks. That was…less obvious. Both wore glasses, had relatively short statures, and were fairly tomboyish.

“You’re shorter,” said Vivi.

Sydney pouted. “Yeah, I am. Guess that makes me Velma…What kind of name is Velma?”

“I dunno.”

“Will we need a van?”

“None of us can drive,” pointed out Arthur.

“Maybe a toy or something,” suggested Lewis.

“Oh, yeah, that makes more sense,” admitted Arthur.

The four kids (and dog and hamster) just lay there for several minutes. It hadn’t been a particularly odd conversation, but something in the air seemed heavy, as if something life changing had just happened.

Then Ben started licking Arthur’s face, ending the moment. Arthur let out a laugh. “H-hey! Stop! Stop!”

Vivi grinned. “You’re saying ‘stop’, but you’re laughing.” Ben decided to switch targets and started licking Vivi instead. She giggled. “Ben!”

“We should teach him how to talk!” Ben turned his attention to Sydney. “Hey! Ew! Your breath smells like fish! Why does it smell like fish? You’re not a cat!”

“Ben’ll eat anything if you give him the chance,” said Vivi.

Lewis pulled a bag of chips out from somewhere and grinned. “Like this?” He popped the bag open. He was immediately tackled by the dog. “Ack!” Ben quickly stuck his head in the bag and quickly snapped up the contents before transferring his ministrations to Lewis. “Oh yuck! Your breath really does smell like fish!”

“Hold him for me,” said Vivi. “I’ll brush his teeth!”

The whole thing devolved into a wrestling match. No teeth were cleaned. Everyone needed a bath afterwards.

Sydney had been right about the Scooby Doo costumes being fairly simple to make. She hadn’t stopped to think about make-up and hairstyling though.

“Are you almost done?” asked Sydney Jr.

“Almost…Just one more pin…and done!” Sydney Sr stepped back to admire how Sydney looked with the brown bob wig in addition to the rest of her costume. “The shape of the glasses aren’t the same, but I don’t think anyone will care.”

Sydney Jr. twirled and did a hop-skip over to Vivi, who was messing with her noticeably longer orange wig. “How ‘bout you?”

“I prefer shorter hair. Hair this long just…gets in the way,” said Vivi as she glared distastefully at a lock of orange hair.

Sydney nodded. “I hear ya. I just want it long enough to ponytail it.” She glanced at the boys. “How ‘bout you two?”

Unlike the girls, the boys weren’t wearing wigs. They’d just had their hair styled into a close approximation of their chosen characters. Sydney Sr claimed this was because the wigs would look too bulky unless the boys were willing to shave their hair. They weren’t.

Arthur fingered his hair. “This doesn’t feel too different from usual besides the colors.” He was wearing green and red. He was coming to prefer bright colors like orange and yellow.

Lewis was happily studying his reflection. “I kind of like this hairstyle.” He turned to Sydney Sr. “Will you teach me how to do this?”

Sydney Sr gave him a grin. “Sure! I’ll get you some decent hair mousse. Now, if you’ll excuse me I’m gonna go change into my costume.” On his way out, he ran into Hiro. “So, how’d Ben like the vegetable dye?”

“He tolerated it.” That was a lie. Ben had taken one look at the dye, snorted, and changed his fur color to the proper brown color.

“I’m leaving you alone with Noelle and the kids for a bit. Behave now.” And Sydney Sr hurried down the hallway.

Hiro raised an eyebrow. The Sydneys were pretty darn odd. Still, they got along with the rest of the family and friends, and Hiro did like them…in reasonable amounts.

He walked Ben over to the kids, who all started petting him. “Wow, this dye is really realistic,” said Lewis.

Sydney nodded. “My dad knows what he’s doing.”

“How you holding up boy?” asked Vivi. Ben licked her in response. “Good to know.”

“Oh, you kids look so cute like that,” said Noelle. “Let me get my camera!”

Hiro let the kids pose for the camera for several moments before clearing his throat. “Now, I don’t know how much you know about the holiday, but it is easier to come into contact with the supernatural starting tonight and lasting until November 2. It’s most intense on Halloween though. So, Mr. Scoville and I will be escorting you tonight. I have tools prepared to chase off anything that may take an untoward interest in your group, and you will all be spending the night here. Mr. Scoville also has some sort of repelling ability, so I’d imagine this is one of the safest places in the county.”

Arthur let out a sigh of relief. “That’s a relief.”

“Had some bad experiences?” asked Vivi.

Arthur nodded. “I just knew they were at the end of October. I didn’t know about the Halloween thing. Why does it get so much worse anyway?”

“That’s not something with a simple answer,” said Hiro. “Something makes…magic for lack of a better word more potent during these days, which makes it easier for people to see ghosts and for ghosts, along with other normally invisible entities, to become visible to people. It’s a good time for them to be heard if there’s something they want to get across to the mundane, living population.” Hiro glowered. “Although I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a tradition among the supernatural to have fun and try to scare humans. It’s what people are expecting to happen after all.”

Ben gave a barely noticeable shrug. Hiro wasn’t wrong, but it was more of a ‘teenagers messing around and doing things their parents won’t necessarily approve of’ sort of thing.

Arthur crossed his arms. “Well, I don’t like it, whatever it is…”

Vivi turned to Sydney and Lewis. “Have you guys ever noticed anything weird around this time of year?”

“I haven’t ever noticed anything,” said Sydney. “Lewis says there are ghosts all over the place though.”

Lewis nodded. “Yeah, some are pretty scary. It’s a lot more active in the cemetery and house. Sydney always spends the night since some of them look pretty scary.” Lewis made a face as something suddenly occurred to him. “Uh, this is the first Halloween we haven’t slept over at my house. Do you think Mom and Dad and Belle will be okay?”

“I put some ofudas up at your house that should keep away most dangerous entities,” reassured Hiro. “Honestly, you probably attract half of the activity so just spending time away from them will put a stop to a portion of the paranormal activity.”

“Huh, really? I had no idea,” said Lewis.

“Oh, yes, once ghosts figure out someone can see them word spreads very quickly.”

“Wait. I can’t see ghosts, so why do they keep following me around?” asked Arthur.

Hiro shrugged. “I’m not entirely sure why, but you…leak energy. Being around you is like it being Halloween all the time,” said Hiro. “You also have an aura that the supernatural find pleasing, like how kids will gravitate to a kitchen where cookies have just been cooked.”

“I could go for some cookies,” said Vivi.

“You’re going to be getting plenty of candy tonight,” said Noelle. “You can see about having cookies after you finish off the candy.”

Vivi grinned. “Challenge accepted.”

“No,” said Hiro.

“Aw…but-”

“No, you remember what happened last time,” said Hiro.

“Ooh, what happened last time?” asked Sydney.

“When she was five she ate all of her Halloween candy at once and didn’t sleep for three days,” explained Hiro. “She tried to feed Ben chocolate. Dogs can’t eat chocolate.”

Ben huffed because he could eat chocolate, thank you very much. Stupid need to hold up the illusion all the time. He couldn’t wait until Vivi was mature enough to know what he really was so he could relax at home. Not to mention it would be easier to snatch some of whatever that was Noelle was cooking.

Lewis must have noticed how Ben was staring longingly towards the kitchen because he grabbed a treat out of his pocket. “Would you like a Scooby Snack?”

Eh, it’ll do. Ben snapped it up and gave Lewis a lick of thanks.

“What’s taking your dad so long?” asked Vivi. “He said he was going to be a zombie. It can’t take that long to put on some torn clothing and fake blood.”

Sydney grinned. “Dad put in way more effort than that. There’s latex and make-up and contact lenses…”

“Mr. Scoville’s costumes are really complicated,” agreed Lewis.

Any further conversation was interrupted by a groaning sound. Everyone turned to see…a zombie. It was covered in bite marks, half rotten, had clouded over eyes, and dirty, torn clothing. It was completely unrecognizable as Sydney Sr.

“…Okay, that is a convincing zombie costume,” admitted Vivi.

“Thank you,” said Sydney Sr, briefly breaking character before going back to groaning.

“You look like a dead body!” said Arthur. “Which I guess is the point, but it’s creepy.”

Sydney Scoville groaned again. He sure was taking the zombie thing seriously.

“So…” Sydney Jr held up her treat bag. “Can we go trick-or-treating now?”

“Unnngh!”

“Taking that as a yes!”

Thankfully, the other adults decided to agree with the translation so the kids were able to head out. “There are a lot of costumes,” commented Arthur.

Vivi nodded. “Yep, it’s a popular holiday.”

“What a cute baby!” cooed Lewis at a young couple and their baby, all of them dressed like dinosaurs.

“Thank you!”

“But most of them seem to be younger than us,” continued Arthur.

“That guy’s older than us,” pointing at a guy dressed like a robot.

“People just prefer to go to parties once they get older. I don’t know why. They’re sooo boring,” complained Vivi. “Where’s the darkness? Where’s the creepy shadows? Where’s the questioning of if there’s a ghost around the corner or if that’s a really good werewolf costume or some werewolf decided to go to the store to pick up milk?”

“There are some ghosts following us,” commented Lewis.

Arthur tensed up. “Why?”

Lewis glanced towards the ghosts. “Are you sure he’s not a zombie? He looks pretty dead.”

“It’s Halloween. It’s obviously a very good costume.”

“He smells like a zombie though.”

“We’re ghosts! We can’t smell!”

“Oh yeah.”

“Besides, wasn’t there a Scooby-Doo movie with zombies?”

“Since when are there Scooby-Doo movies?”

“Mr. Scoville’s costume is really convincing,” said Lewis.

“Unngh!”

“Are zombies real?” asked Sydney.

“Yes,” said Hiro. “Under very specific circumstances. It takes one of a few specific rituals. It’s very dangerous and is not something that should ever be done unless you have prior permission from the subject of interest. Even then, it’s not recommended because of the possible side effects.” He paused. “Actually, this is a very complicated subject. Let’s talk about it when we have more time.”

“I don’t wanna talk about it at all,” muttered Arthur as they walked up to a house.

They took a moment to ring the doorbell, ask for treats, and thank the woman handing out the treats. Ben tried to beg for treats. This wasn’t allowed, and the group went on their way.

“Do ghost hunters have a lot of work on Halloween?” asked Sydney.

“Paranormal investigators,” corrected Hiro. “While we do look for ghosts, calling us ‘hunters’ suggests we intend to hurt ghosts in some way. That’s a last resort in cases where the ghosts in question seek to harm the living and cannot be convinced otherwise. And whether an investigator works on Halloween or not varies. Most will take the time off because they might get false positives. Some like working on Halloween though since they might get results they wouldn’t usually come by.”

“That doesn’t sound very professional,” muttered Arthur.

“I agree,” said Hiro. “Personally, I feel that circumstances that modify magical strengths can be dangerous, even if it’s something to your advantage.”

“Wouldn’t that make things easier?” asked Sydney.

“Yes, which might be good in an emergency, but it can make you under or overestimate a situation.”

“How is overestimating bad?” questioned Arthur.

Hiro took a minute to think about how to describe what he was thinking. “It’s like using a hand grenade to make a hole when a drill will suffice.”

Vivi, Lewis, both Sydneys, and even Arthur laughed. Hiro had to admit it wasn’t the best analogy, but it’s what he came up with on short notice.

“It’s like you thought the corn was sweet so you put in the wrong amount of salt,” said Lewis.

“That’s a better analogy,” admitted Hiro. “Anyway, once you outgrow trick-or-treating, you should find some way to spend Halloween that doesn’t involve the supernatural. Maybe go to a party or stay home and watch movies.”

“Watching movies would be nice,” said Arthur.

“Ooh! We could watch the Nightmare Before Christmas again!” said Vivi.

“You will not. It’s a school night,” said Hiro. “As it is the only reason you’re spending the night together is for safety’s sake.” He looked to Sydney Sr. “I’m trusting you and Mrs. Scoville to get the children to sleep and awake on time.”

“Nggggh!”

“That means yes,” said Sydney Jr.

“I still wish we could spend the night at Lewis’ house,” said Vivi. “There’s a lot more space, and it seems more fitting to spend Halloween in a haunted house.”

“Belle sometimes cries at night. She might wake you up,” said Lewis.

“Or we might wake her up,” countered Arthur.

“I don’t wanna wake Baby Belle up!” agreed Sydney Jr. “She’s cute when she’s sleeping.”

The subject of conversation rapidly changed to siblings and sleepovers. Hiro watched them absentmindedly before feeling something brush against his side.

It was just Ben, who gave him a smile unseen by anyone else. Hiro found himself smiling back. It was nice…seeing the children all so happy like this.

It would be nice if it would last forever.

#Arthur Kingsman #Lewis Pepper #Vivi Yukino #Sydney Scoville Jr.#Sydney Scoville Sr.#Hiro Yukino #Mystery the not-Dog #Brief Noelle sighting #Halloween episode #The gang dresses up as the gang #And talk about ghosts and stuff #While getting free candy #Then they get to have a sleepover

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stillthewordgirl · 6 years ago

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LOT/CC fic: Through the Looking Glass

Of all the things Leonard Snart has done since being pulled from the timestream three years after the Oculus explosion, meeting his Earth-X double is probably the weirdest. Of course, in the life of a Legend, things can always get weirder.

This one started as something completely different: a Halloween story, a light-hearted Legends team-building visit to a haunted house, with guest visits by Leo Snart, Ray Terrill and others. And then Leo and Leonard, who had...issues...to work out, completely took it over and turned it into something I didn't plan. (Snarts are strong minded, OK?) I ran with it.

Many thanks to LarielRomeniel for the beta! Can also be read here at AO3 or here at FF.net.

“I can’t believe this is what you people do for fun.”

Sara, grinning, glances over at Leo, who’s standing with Ray Terrill a few feet away, staring at their destination. He catches her gaze, lifting an eyebrow at her, then goes back to his perusal of the site.

“Well, only this time of year,” his husband tells him, amusement in his own eyes. “And it’s not everyone’s cup of tea.” He laughs at Leo’s expression. “You can pass if you want. But it’s been a long time since I’ve seen one; I’m going to go in.”

“Hmm.” The man from Earth-X shakes his head. “Well.”

“You wanted to visit for the Halloween season,” Terrill reminds him.

“I was expecting more along the lines of candy and kids in costumes, not...” Leo waves a hand. “...this.”

Leonard, who’s standing next to Sara and eyeing his doppelganger with a wary expression, transfers his own gaze back to their surroundings. They’re standing outside in the warm fall night, right inside a main gate that led into what he vaguely remembers used to be a business plaza with multiple shops big and small. It’s something different, now.

“Frightmares!” the massive sign over one of the bigger former department stores screams in bright green and lurid purple letters. “One of the top 10 haunts in North America! Five houses!”

Frankly, he’s a little dubious too. But Sara had wanted to come here during their stop in Central City, and he’d wanted to spend some time off the ship with her...and here he was.

Leo sighs, and Leonard glances back at him. He can’t help the uneasiness the other man invokes in him. The whole thing is just...weird.

It hadn’t been planned, this meeting. With the Legends taking a break due to a lapse in the supernatural activity Constantine could locate (the warlock isn’t sure why, but he’s currently trying to find out), they’d headed back to 2019 to try to give Lisa and others the news of Leonard’s return.

While his sister hadn’t been in town (Ramon had promised to try to find out where she is), the opportunity to let himself into STAR Labs and stun Barry Allen with the back-from-the-not-so-dead routine had been too much to pass up. However, the reaction hadn’t quite been what he’d expected.

Barry had glanced up from where he’d been looking at something with Ramon and Snow, focusing on Leonard immediately. But he hadn’t reacted with stunned disbelief or shocked surprise, but rather with a thoroughly non-surprised grin.

“Hey!” he’d called. “That didn’t take long.” Then he’d frowned a little, looking at Sara. “Where’d Ray go? And Sara? What are you doing here? Not that you’re not welcome, of course.”

Leonard had halted, staring at him, nonplussed. Sara had put two and two together pretty quickly and laughed, stepping up and putting a hand on Leonard’s arm.

“Barry,” she said gently. “This isn’t Leo.”

Then the reaction was all he could have hoped—well, maybe not hoped, but Leonard’s with Sara, and Barry’s a married man now anyway. The younger man had stared, then, realization crossing his face. He looked at Sara again, who nodded, then back at Leonard, who’d lifted an eyebrow and given him his best “surprise!” smirk.

Barry’s jaw dropped. “Snart?”

Ramon squeaked. That was really the best word for it.

“The reports of my death...etcetera, etcetera,” Leonard had drawled, folding his arms. “Hear I missed a lot. Mazel tov.”

“Thanks,” Barry had said automatically. But then he’d frowned again, focusing behind them. “Uh. Sara? Did you tell him about...”

“Well, well, well. This is...interesting.”

Leonard had whirled at the eerily familiar voice, coming face to face with...his own face. Mostly.

And that had been how he met Leo Snart of Earth-X, visiting Earth-1 for a few days to meet his husband’s parents and take some supplies back to his own Earth.

It’s still weird. It will probably never stop being weird.

Although they’re heading to Star City soon to see Sara’s father and friends (something Leonard is fervently trying not to think about too much), they’d planned to stay a day or two in Central first. Leonard would be just as content to give that up now, but Sara is holding him to it. And when she’d asked Barry if the Frightmares haunt was going on, Terrill had perked up and asked if he—and Leo—could come along.

He hadn’t asked Leonard. And Sara had happily agreed.

And here he was.

Leonard stifles a sigh of his own. He thinks Ray Terrill hears him, though, because the man glances over, giving him a half-smile.

He likes Terrill, actually. (And it’s always going to be “Terrill” to him—he can’t bring himself to call the man “Ray.”) It’s not that the man’s attractive—although he is; apparently that’s one thing in which he and his doppelganger have similar tastes—but he seems to get how unsettling this is for Leonard. More so than Leo does, actually. His double just keeps studying him with the air of someone who just can’t figure out how things could have gone so wrong on this Earth.

It’s unnerving. And irritating. Really irritating. Especially given how Leonard knows a few things happened while he was...gone.

“Well,” Terrill says then, turning back to Sara. “I want to go check out the ticket options. And have a look at the concessions. Fair food is something you just don’t get on Earth-X.”

Sara makes a thoughtful noise and nods. “I wonder if they have the really good soft pretzels,” she muses. “Mmm…with plastic cheese. Gideon refuses to make that for me.”

“Let’s go find out. I’d give a lot for…”

Leonard thinks about following them, but they’re already halfway across the lot, toward the cluster of concessions in the middle of the haunts. And he figures Leo might follow them himself. He’s native to the other Earth, after all, and this is a new place with many new things.

He doesn’t.

The two Snarts regard each other. And neither looks particularly happy.

As they walk away, Ray Terrill looks back at the two men, his husband and his husband’s double from this world. It’s eerie, really, how they mirror each other, in ways they probably don’t even fully recognize. And how that lets him read the man he doesn’t even know.

Leonard Snart is uneasy and irritated, but he’s also unhappy. Disturbed. Not with the woman he’d come here with, not at all—if Ray’s any judge, Leonard’s pretty much besotted with Sara, as much as he’ll let himself show it to a relative stranger. But he’s very unsettled by Leo’s presence—maybe even his existence. Not surprising, really. He probably feels like the other man is both a threat of sorts and an example of what he could have been, had his path been somewhat different.

But given that Ray’s rather besotted with Leo himself…well. He may not be the best judge.

Still, it’s hard to see that amount of…pain, yes, he’ll call it that…on a face he loves so much. And as much as he loves Leo, he knows his husband may sometimes—well, take his tendency toward playing counselor a bit too far.

“You really think this is a good idea?” he asks Sara quietly as they walk.

The captain of the Waverider smiles a little. “If we’re going to continue to work together from time to time—both you and Leo and the Legends—Len’s going to have to work out his feelings about this. And better now than in a battle scenario.” She glances at him. “And Leo’s...”

Terrill smiles too. “All about the feelings. I know.” He sighs. “But, despite how casual he is about all this, I know Leo. And his feelings. This is making him more unsettled than he’s letting on, too.”

Sara makes a thoughtful noise. “Well, then,” she says after a moment, as they walk toward one of the haunts. “It’s a good thing we’re giving them a chance to talk it out.”

Leo is wearing short sleeves on the warm fall day, apparently unfazed by the scars tracing his forearms. Leonard can’t help glancing at them, then hurriedly looking away. He’s wearing his usual layers—four of them, all told—and it’s disconcerting how the other man is, in a way, baring his own body for him. It makes him uncomfortable in a way he’s not quite up to articulating.

A few of the scars match the ones he has. Most don’t. The man from Earth-X has fought battles Leonard didn’t had to, after all. That knowledge makes him a little uncomfortable too. If anything, it seems like Leo should be more guarded and less open than his counterpart. Instead…well, that’s just not the case.

Of course, Leonard’s fought battles Leo didn’t have to, too.

Leo also doesn’t seem bothered by the notion of simply studying his other self openly. They’ve traded histories just enough that Leonard knows that Leo has had quite a different life from his. He’d fled Lewis with his mother when he was quite young and grown up with his mother in the Resistance. She’d died during a Nazi attack on a base where she has serving as a nurse, but only a handful of years ago.

He has no younger sister.

And no matter how much Leonard wants to avoid talking to him any more than necessary, Leo apparently has no qualms about that, either.

“And so how are things going?” the other man says, leaning against a fence and folding his arms. Then he clarifies with a tilt of his head, as if aware that Leonard will dodge if given the merest opportunity. “With Sara.”

Leonard eyes him. “Fine,” he says shortly, folding his own arms.

And it is fine. It’s great, really. But that doesn’t mean he wants to talk about it. Not even—or especially—with this man wearing his own face. It’d been bad enough that the man from Earth-X had been there, listening with great interest, when Team Flash had made the connection than Leonard and Sara weren’t just together—they were together together, as Ramon put it.

All Leo had done was lift an eyebrow. But there’d been, to Leonard’s eye, an undue amount of skepticism in his expression.

“Fine?” Leo echoes now. “Really? Because as I understand it, from your Mick and others, you weren’t…you’re not too much connected to your feelings. And trust me, to make a relationship work, you need to…”

Oh, now, this is just too much. Leonard wants to snap, but instead he just rolls his eyes, turning away.

“No one asked you,” he mutters, looking around to see if he can spy Sara. But it’s darker, and there are increasingly more people around. He can’t see her or Terrill at all. Where did they say they were going?

Leo huffs a little. “I want to help,” he says, a touch of asperity in his voice. “Not only do I like and respect Sara and Mick and the other Legends, you…”

“You don’t know me.” Now Leonard does snap. He glares at the other man. “You have no idea about my…feelings.” He spits the word out despite himself. “For Sara, or otherwise.”

Leo glares back. Leonard almost feels pleased about that. It’s the most negative expression he’s seen on the Earth-X man since they’d met. He folds his arms and delivers his most insouciant smirk…but it doesn’t precisely get the response he wants.

“Well,” Leo drawls, and the tone’s so familiar it’s eerie, “I’m sorry. For Sara. She deserves better. Someone who’s not made of ice, or pretends he is.” He shrugs as Leonard’s eyes narrow. “And given that no one on your ship seemed to have a clear idea of any of your feelings before you ‘died’…” He actually does air quotes and somehow that’s even more annoying. “…I can’t really believe that things will have changed quite so easily.”

“Excuse me?” He’d known Leo had spent time on the ship (the puppet—and what had become of it—still were the subject of uneasy joking there) to “help” the team, but he’d had the impression that not much had come of that. Certainly not enough that the other man could make such a supposition about Leonard’s feelings or the lack thereof.

But it seems that he has. “Mick. Your Mick,” Leo continues. “He wouldn’t talk much about you. Someone who was supposedly his best friend. And Sara. I could tell there was something…off…in her interactions with me, but she never once said anything about you. Seems like her feelings might be complicated, too, if there’d really been something between…between you two before. Although she certainly seems to have rushed into it now.”

Rushed into it. After all they… “You don’t know that team as well as you think you do,” is all Leonard can manage before his phone chimes.

It’s Sara.

“Hey, where RU?” the text reads. “Thought U were behind us.”

Well, that explains why they’re not back. “Still outside,” he texts, ignoring Leo pointedly. “Where?”

After a moment, another chime. “Courtyard, mall plaza interior,” she sends back. “Gotta go thru a house to get here, tho.”

Of course. “Be there soon,” he replies, then tucks his phone away, scanning the area to get his bearings a little more. If he’s got to pick one of these things to go through, especially by himself, better to consider the matter rather than picking one at random. Let’s see… haunted swamp with swamp…things, a castle-looking one that seems to have classic movie monsters such as vampires and werewolves, the always-in-poor-taste abandoned asylum, zombie apocalypse, portal...

“Was that Sara?”

He’d ignore the other man, but he doesn’t want to deal with more badgering. “Yes. They’re in the courtyard in the building. Gotta go through one of the houses to get there.”

Leo sighs. “Of course. Well…”

But Leonard’s ignoring him again, striding toward the nearest ticket booth. He hears Leo sigh again, but he’s pretty sure the man is following him. More’s the pity.

He has to wait a few minutes, but eventually he steps up in front of a tired-looking attendant, who greets him absently before looking up—just as Leo joins him.

The attendant blinks. “Whoa,” he breathes, looking back and forth between the two men. “Are you, like, identical twins or something?”

Leo and Leonard glance at each other, then back at the clerk. “No,” Leo tells him with an absolutely deadpan expression. (It’s almost enough to make Leonard smile. Almost.)

“Oh. Um. What can I get for you tonight?”

Leonard opens his mouth to request one ticket, but Leo interrupts him. “Anything but the asylum one,” the man says flatly. “Just…no.”

The attendant blinks again. “Well, the tickets are good for any house,” he says finally. “Although you can buy a pass that will let you into all of them, either once or unlimited. Or…”

“One ticket,” Leonard interrupts. “For now. Thanks.”

The attendant takes that to mean one ticket each, so Leonard rolls his eyes and pays for both. He sort of wishes he’d had the foresight to lift someone’s wallet, just so that he could pay for Mr. Straight-Laced’s ticket with obviously stolen money. Mr. Not-Straight-But-Straight-Laced. Whatever.

From the look on Leo’s face, that’s occurred to him, but he takes the ticket anyway. “Which…”

The portal-into-another-world house (“Alien Hellscape!”) has the shortest line, so Leonard heads for that one. He slouches against the wall, ignoring the chattering group of teenage girls ahead of him, and tries not to sigh visibly as Leo joins him.

It only takes a moment or two before his Earth-X double speaks. “Did you pay for that ticket with stolen money?”

Leonard smirks at him. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

Leo stares. Then he shakes his head disapprovingly. Leonard decides he’d really like to wipe that particularly self-righteous look off his face.

“I can’t believe you,” Leo says quietly. “You’re a thief. And...” He lowers his voice again. “...from what I’ve heard, a killer. You went right down Lewis’ path, despite everything.” He looks up and meets Leonard’s eyes. “Our mother would be devastated.”

As a low blow, it’s not nearly as effective as he seems to think it will be. Leonard hides the pang it does cause and shrugs, moving with the line.

“I sort of doubt that, because she high-tailed it out of town when my sister was still tiny, leaving both of us with Lewis,” he drawls. “She sorta lost any right to pass judgment, I’d say.”

Leo frowns at him. “What? I can’t believe that,” he says, tone thick with disgust. “How dare you...”

“I can’t care if you believe it or not.” At least they’re at the ticket-taker now. Leonard hands him the slip of paper with a nod, peers into the darkened space beyond the doorway, sighs, and starts in, into a first room set up as a damaged science laboratory.

Stuff like this isn’t all that big a deal to him. He’s observant enough to pinpoint all the “scares” coming, and he’s seen enough real-life shit that fake blood and made-up monsters don’t faze him. He’d double-checked the haunt rules, and the actors aren’t allowed to touch their “victims” here—not that he thinks Sara would inflict it on him if that was the case.

Fortunately, the gaggle of girls ahead of them, and the trying-to-act tough boys with them, are giving the actors enough of a noisy reaction that they’ll hopefully not try to get more out of the eerily similar men sauntering through the maze after them.

Especially since Leo feels like this is a valid time to continue their “conversation.”

“My mother was a strong woman,” he tells Leonard, falling into step next to him. “She left Lewis not long after he openly joined the Reich. I was 5. She took me with her. There was never any question to that.”

An...alien?...pokes its head through a crack in the plywood wall and hisses at them. Leonard lifts both eyebrows at it and keeps going. “You sure about that?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

The girls ahead of them shriek, and the boys swear, as a figure in a hazmat suit lunges out at them, shepherding them into another room. While the figure ignores them, Leo and Leonard hurry to catch up, slipping into the darkened space too just as a curtain falls closed behind them. Leonard glances about, then sighs as he catches sight of the light-ringed “portal” ahead of them. It doesn’t look dissimilar to a setup at STAR Labs.

Another figure, this one hooded instead of hazmat-suited—which doesn’t really seem to go with the theme, but whatever—has appeared now, doing some sort of theatrics over by the circle of lights, to the great glee of the younger people. No one’s listening to the older pair.

“Mmm. Well, it’s fabulous you got to grow up a momma’s boy, Nazis notwithstanding, but we both had to make our own hard choices.” Leonard gives him a flat look. “I chose to keep myself and my baby sister alive in the only way I could figure out at the time.”

Leo’s chin goes up. “You seriously couldn’t figure out a better way than becoming...

“...a helluva thief? Yup.” Leonard glances at him. "I did what I had to. Not ashamed of it. Not many other opportunities out there for someone who had a felony record as young as it’s possible to have one.”

Leo gazes back, as in the background, the hooded figure finishes its pageantry, the portal changes to glowing a harsh orange-red, and the light flares to “ooohs” and “aaahs.” “You could have gone to the authorities.”

“The cops? About Lewis? Many of them the same ones who called him ‘buddy’ and thought he got a raw deal when he got kicked off the force?” Leonard lifts an eyebrow at him. “Leaving Lisa behind with him? Because that would have worked out so well.”

Leo starts arguing again, but the group is being shepherded through the portal now, and Leonard turns way, tired of it. The hooded figure, which is really rather small, tries to bar their way, but Leonard just wants to get through this damned thing. He sidesteps and goes through...into pitch blackness.

The teens are giggling nervously. Leonard takes a few steps to give Leo clearance room, and frowns, glancing around. His eyes haven’t adjusted at all. His night sight’s usually pretty good, so...

And then there’s a flare of light, so bright that his vision goes pure white. Leonard throws an arm up reflexively even though it’s too late, and hears the teens start screaming and Leo curse behind him.

“You OK?” he calls back as his eyes start to recover. He may not like Leo, but he doesn’t want to have to tell Terrill that something’s happened to him.

“Yeah.” Leonard can feel the other man move to his shoulder. “What the hell...”

And that’s rather what it looks like, actually, as his pixelated vision started to resolve. Someone’s vision of hell. A blasted landscape of bare, jagged gray rock and sand, flames flickering here and there, molten rock oozing sullenly out of gaps in the ground. Nothing else, save for some jagged outcroppings of rock, as far as the eye can see. And the air smells faintly of brimstone.

Leonard can hear Leo’s intake of breath. “Is your Earth capable of this kind of special effects or...”

“We’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto.” Leonard hesitates only a moment before reaching into his jacket and pulling out his newest weapon, a prototype miniature cold gun he’d been inspired to create after working with Gideon to rebuild his larger gun. It’s not as powerful, but it can be hidden far more easily, and he’d tucked it away before this trip to Central City, just in case.

Leo looks at it, then at him, and it makes Leonard smirk a little to see the disapproval that he’d brought a weapon into a public place warring with what frankly seems to be a thread of envy. But then he shakes his head and lets it go, glancing around.

“The kids!” he says sharply then. “Where’d they go?”

Leonard whips around too. The pack of teens isn’t in view, a realization that makes his heart sink. But...

Holding up a hand, he listens. Aside from a faint noise of crackling flame and wind, it’s quiet here, and... “There.”

Sure enough, not far away, the stone gives way to sand and there are footprints, all close together, as if, perhaps, the group was being herded. The two men start in that direction, carefully, Leonard holding his gun out and ready, Leo turning frequently to watch their backs.

“What could do this?” he muses. “One of the mythic creatures the Legends have been hunting? A demon?”

Leonard makes a thoughtful noise, his irritation with his double more or less faded for now in the presence of all this other weirdness. “Could be. More likely, I think, a meta with powers something like Ramon’s. There was something weird with that portal, but I figured it was just...normal weird,” he mutters. “For a place like this.”

“Point.”

Leonard can hear the sobs and noises before they find the group, rounding a stone outcrop to find the eight teenagers huddled on the ground. One of the girls jumps to her feet, looking like she wants to fight, but she puts her hands down as she sees them, eyes going big and round.

“You were behind us,” she stammers. “Before. Weren’t you? Do you have any idea where we are?”

One of the boys cuts in then, voice anxious. “This isn’t just part of the haunt...right? This is...this is just too weird. And that guy...the one who sent us here...”

“The one in the black hood?” Leo asks, glancing at Leonard. “Was he here?”

Another girl nods, pulling her legs up against her chest where she sits on the ground, back against the rock.

“He said...he said to pool all our cash and our phones and any, any other valuables,” she says, voice shaking, “and when he comes back, if it’s enough, he’ll take us home.” She looks down at a fairly meager pile of smartphones, costume jewelry, wadded-up bills, and change. “We don’t have a lot. I’m scared...my mom...”

“Hey.” Leonard hates to appear soft in front of his counterpart, but...she reminds him of Lisa. He goes to a knee, watching her, gentling his voice. “We’ll get you home. OK? What’d he sound like? Older? Younger?”

She blinks thoughtfully. “Just...you know, actually, just like a kid. Our age or younger. But trying to sound older.” Then she looks back and forth between them. “Wow. Are you twins?”

Leonard ignores the question, but the rest is perceptive for someone who’s scared out of her mind, and the others murmur in agreement with the assessment. He gets back to his feet as Leo addresses the group.

“Stay here,” he instructs them. “Stay together. We’re going to find him, make sure he takes us all back no matter what.”

They clearly don’t want to be left behind, but neither do they want to see more of what this blasted landscape holds, so they let the two men turn away without much protest—although Leo turns back nearly immediately.

“Any of you see another bright flash of light?” he asks. “Like when he brought us here?”

The answer, as expected, is no. Leonard scans the area thoughtfully, walking away silently until they’re out of sight, then glances at Leo, who’s eyeing him with an odd expression.

“The person in the black hoodie--what I thought was just a bad costume,” he says in a low tone. “They tried to bar us. Didn’t want us here too.”

Leo hums thoughtfully but frowns. “We’re more likely to have valuables...”

“But we’re also more likely to be able to fight back.” Leonard nods to himself. “This is another kid, I’m guessing...a meta trying to take advantage of their powers to make some cash. They found this place while experimenting with those powers; Halloween’s a good time to use it. If it was something more sinister than that, they’d have...harmed...one of those kids to make their point—and, hell, they’d have gone for higher stakes. I’ll bet they even know some of those kids.”

He scans the area again, pinpointing a sheltered spot that looks like a likely spot for someone hiding and waiting in this hellhole, then takes a few steps.

Leo doesn’t follow him. Leonard glances back, sighs, and turns, readying his best glare again.

“Look, I know we can’t stand each other, but I could use the backup,” he says tersely, motioning toward the rock formation. “Just in case I’m wrong about the perp.”

Leo considers him, still with that odd expression.

“I can’t figure you out,” the other man admits. “You’re a crook and a liar who’s hurt a lot of people, but you were kind to those kids. And you didn’t even bother finishing a basic education, but you’re obviously highly intelligent.” He shakes his head. “You make no sense.”

Leonard stares at him.

Leo stares back.

Finally, Leonard huffs out a sigh. “Now, you want to do this?” he mutters, folding his arms. “Can’t it wait until we figure out how to get back?”

Leo takes one step forward...then smirks at him. God, that’s annoying. (“Pot, meet kettle,” Sara whispers in his ear.)

“Talk,” he drawls, “and I’ll walk.”

Leonard glares at him a moment longer. “Jackass,” he growls. “About what?”

Leo takes another step forward and stops, considering. “About...why you went along with Lewis. On a criminal path.”

Leonard snorts. “You realize I was 10 when he first took me on a job, right? I was supposed to say no?”

“You could...”

“Not without risking both myself and Lisa to Lewis’ temper.”

“Your mom...”

“Had already checked out, for all she didn’t leave for another month or two.”

“I can’t believe he’d...”

Leonard stops and spins to stare at his doppelganger. He abruptly strips back the sleeves on his left arm, holding up his scarred forearm to the horrified Leo. “This beauty was from Lewis. Broken beer bottle. I took the blow so he wouldn’t use it on Lisa. She was 5. I was 13.” He yanks the sleeves back down, roughly. “Nearly bled out. Didn’t. That’s one of the worst, but I got a lot more where that came from. Tell me again how I should have said no.”

It seems like it might have finally registered with Leo that he’s off base on some things here. He stares at Leonard’s now-covered arm a moment longer, then takes a deep breath and takes a few steps forward to join his double. Leonard scowls at him, but then turns and starts toward the likely hiding spot he’s identified.

After a minute or two, though, Leo speaks again, his voice low. “And there was no one to help you?”

For the first time, he doesn’t sound skeptical. He sounds almost...analytical. And Leonard can deal with that a lot better than he can cope with sympathy. He shrugs.

“Not that I could trust.” It's hard to judge distance in this place. The rocks are a lot farther than they look.

“How…” But Leo subsides.

And because of that, Leonard gives him a little more. “I was in juvie by the time I was 14,” he mutters, eyes on their path. “After that, any choices I did have got a lot smaller. Schools didn’t want me, between the juvie and the fact I was Lewis Snart’s son. And then I kept missing class to take care of Lisa, and they took that as further evidence that I was worthless. Lazy. Didn’t care.”

That gets a disgusted noise from Leo, but for once, it doesn’t seem to be aimed at Leonard himself. Leonard can see the other man watching him, but he doesn’t say anything, and Leonard decides to reward him by giving him a little more.

“So, yeah. I decided if I was going to be a crook, I’d be the best damned crook I could be,” he drawls. “And I was good at it. Far, far better than Lewis.” He knows a smirk is touching his lips, doesn’t care if Leo sees it. He’s not going to be ashamed at what he’d accomplished, what he’d risen from. “And believe it or not, I might not have been a ‘hero,’ but I had a code, and I kept my people to it, too.”

“What about Mick?”

Leonard glances at him. “What about Mick? I met this Earth’s in juvie, you know, when I was 14 and he was 16. He was in the same boat in some ways. Though he was even less motivated to be on the side of the angels than I was.” He hesitates, then, knowing that Leo’s Mick had been quite firmly with those angels—and no matter how much he’s irritated by his double’s attitude, he finds himself loathe to dispel any of Leo’s fondness for either Mick.

Without me to keep him in line, Mick can be a scary guy, his memory whispers.

He ignores it. People change.

Leo gives him an odd look, but Leonard continues. “So, I dunno,” he says with a shrug. “Maybe there was some choice, some way out, in there someplace, but I sure as hell didn’t see it at the time.” He looks at the Earth-X man. “I won’t say I didn’t make a lot of mistakes, did some things I regret. But you weren’t here, living it, so spare me the judgment.”

Leo frowns to himself, but by then, they’ve reached the rock formation. The two men share a glance, then Leonard takes a step to one side, tilting his head, and Leo nods, tilting his head toward the other.

I’ll go this way and you go that way and distract him until I can get the cold gun on him, the first gesture says.

Gotcha, is the wordless reply.

Maybe they do have something in common besides appearance, after all.

As it turns out, the meta is question has earbuds in, of all the damn-stupid things. He’s sitting on the rocks, nodding his head in time to some sort of music, and he nearly jumps out of his skin when Leo steps in front of him, waving in a friendly fashion. Before he can do anything more than jump and gape, though, Leonard steps out, aiming the cold gun at him and giving him a disapproving and mock-disappointed look.

“Hey, kid,” he drawls. “Think you forgot about something.”

The teenager blinks at them, and Leo, rolling his eyes, steps forward and grabs the cords of his earbuds, giving them a yank. They fall out, and Leonard repeats the words patiently.

“Time to put us all back where we came from,” he clarifies. “If you don’t want this to go very badly, anyway.”

“But how…”

Leo steps smoothly in to play good cop, then. “Well, now, my friend here doesn’t really want to hurt you, you know. But we do need to go home. Which this…” He waves a hand. “…is not.”

The kid, a pasty-pale redhead with a ton of freckles, stares at him before stammering out a response.

“It’s just...I need, money, man. And…” He suddenly seems to register just what, precisely, he’s looking at, and his eyes flicker back and forth between them. “Whoa. Are you guys twins?”

Leonard ignores that. Again. “You scared the crap out of those other kids,” he says, letting his voice grow harsher. “For what? A few bucks and couple secondhand smartphones?”

To his slight surprise, then, the meta rallies, his chin going up and his eyes growing a little harder.

“Those kids have made my life a living hell in high school,” he snaps back, before flagging a little. “Well, some of them have. Not all of them. But they were in a group and…” He shakes his head and looks around himself, then waves a hand.

“This place looks scary, but it’s really pretty harmless,” he says almost apologetically. “I found it when I was experimenting and as long as you keep your eyes open, you’re fine. And I’da put ‘em back no matter what. But I needed some money, for…”

His voice trails off. Leonard sighs. A glance at Leo tells him that the other man is, perhaps, starting to fall for this sob story. But he’s not so gullible. (He tells himself.)

“For what?” he asks, keeping his voice harsh. “Drugs?”

“No!” Now the kid looks really upset. “It’s just…my car won’t pass inspection. Not unless I get a few things fixed. And I need it to get to work. I help out my mom…my sister…”

Crap.

The two men exchange a glance again. And somehow, there’s another meeting of minds.

“Kid,” Leonard says, gently his voice now, and tucking the cold gun away. “You ever heard of a guy named Cisco Ramon…?”

They let the kid, whose name is Aaron, pull his hood back up before he takes the other kids back, right to the spot in the haunt that he’d taken them from, and right to the minute. They all swear they won’t talk about it, and while Leonard doesn’t really believe them, he’s also fairly sure no one will really believe them if they do.

Aaron, who’d enlisted the help of the haunt-employee friend who’d been in the hazmat suit earlier, ushers Leonard and Leo through one of the nearly “chicken doors” and out into the corridors beyond. One call to STAR Labs later, the Flash himself shows up, giving the two men a somewhat beleaguered glance before taking off with the repentant young meta, who, if he turns over a new leaf and gets some training with his powers, will now have the support of Team Flash behind him.

It’s sort of fun, Leonard decides, to make promises on Barry’s behalf. Especially knowing the younger man will feel honor-bound to fulfill them. It’s also kind of fun to see the realization on his former nemesis’ face that Leo and Leonard, working together, could be a force to be reckoned with.

And isn’t that a thought?

After that, they both use the corridors to head slowly toward the center of the complex, where Sara and Terrill are, presumably, still waiting for them with absolutely no idea what’s gone down. But before they can step out into the bustling courtyard, Leo slows to a stop, moving aside, and Leonard lifts an eyebrow at him, but does the same.

The man from Earth-X takes a deep breath, then slowly lets it out before nodding and looking at his double from this Earth.

“I’m sorry,” he says simply. “You’re right. I didn’t realize how different things were here, for you, and how they affected you.” He spreads his hands out before him and sighs. “I’d never have thought that you might have had the harder road, considering where I’m from.”

Leonard tilts his head and considers, briefly, being a bit more of a jerk about it…and he finds, after all, that he doesn’t have it in him.

“And I’m not saying that I did,” he says instead. “They were just...different roads. Different challenges. And, well,” he drawls, showing his hands in his pockets, “I’ve never had to be a soldier, either. And at least no one’s ever tried to lock me up or kill me for…particular proclivities.”

He lifts an eyebrow. “And they would have, you know. Being with Sara doesn’t change that.”

Leo gives him a smirk in return. “Never said it would.” He folds his arms. “And I still think you’re going to have to…deal with some of your issues…if you want it to work out with Sara. Because…before you ‘died,’ if you had feelings for her, did she even know?”

“She knew. I sort of…” Leonard stops himself, a bit disbelieving that he’s fallen into the conversation. “I’m not talking about this.”

Leo lifts an eyebrow now. “Talk,” he drawls. “It will help.” He lifts a finger as Leonard glares at him. “And if you do, I won’t bring it up in front of Sara. Probably.”

Leonard continues his glare a moment longer, then sighs. “Fine,” he mutters, moving just out into the courtyard and leaning against the wall. “I made an overture of sorts to Sara. Back…before. But it wasn’t…wasn’t a great time for it, and she just…she challenged me. To steal a kiss.”

Leo makes a sympathetic noise, but Leonard ignores him. “And then I ‘died’…” He makes his own air quotes as sarcastic as possible. “….before…well. She kissed me at the Oculus before it blew up. OK?” Now he glances at the other man, who suddenly looks both a bit stunned and bit…ugh. Pitying. “And that was it. Until a few months ago.”

Leo stares at him. “But why wouldn’t she tell me? About that? Back when I was trying to help the team grieve. When I’m…”

“Maybe because it’s none of your business?” Leonard folds his arms, eyeing him. “And because it might be pretty damned awkward, considering that you’re not only not interested, you’re absolutely stinkin’ in love with your guy?”

Leo shuts his mouth. “Ah,” he says after a moment. “You have a point.”

“Uh huh.” Leonard shakes his head. “C’mon. Been a long night already. I wanna see Sara, and I’m sure you wanna see Terrill.”

He takes a step forward, but Leo doesn’t follow. When Leonard looks back, though, Leo’s watching him. And he no longer looks judgmental. In fact, he’s almost smiling.

“We good?” he murmurs.

Leonard sighs. But he offers the edge of a smile back. “Long as you don’t try to hug me.”

A moment later, though, he sighs. “No. The puppy eyes won’t work.”

His double doesn’t say anything. But it’s just…disturbing, Leonard thinks. “Ugh. My face should never have that expression.”

Another pause. “All right. Fine. One hug,” he allows.

A few minutes later: “Let go, Leo.”

Another few minutes: “Sara? Help?”

#rebuilding bridges #captaincanary #coldray #legends of tomorrow

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kookiekeys · 8 years ago

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A List of 101 Jungkook/Jimin Recommendations

Since I began reading Jungkook/Jimin stories early last year, I’ve tried to keep track of all the ones that left a lasting impression. Unfortunately, I most definitely have missed out on other amazing stories that I have either not read or have not been able to recall (a lot of the ones on Tumblr I’ve unfortunately got no way of digging out of my 20,000+ likes). Regardless, I hope you find something in this list :) (List is in no particular order, and I’ve tried to include summaries as provided by the authors themselves. Also, please read the tags accordingly, as the list includes stories covering a wide array of topics)

Start a Riot by chihiro (Rating: E)

- Jeongguk and Jimin have been at this for a long time. The only difference now is that Jimin has grown up and Jeongguk sees no reason why he shouldn't have what he has wanted since a long damned time.

sweet like honey by graseun (Rating: M)

- we've been making shades of purple out of red and blue

Nowhere We Can Really Be Free by bangswing (Rating: E)

- Jeongguk is awakened to the supernatural walking beside him, wearing an ugly sweater and the sweetest smile.

Mine for the Taking by staycute1234 (Rating: M)

- Alpha Jungkook wants to mate Omega Jimin, but Jimin likes to play hard to get.

practiced by wordcouture (Rating: M)

- the fans have another thing comin'--but speaking of coming...

that spin i’m in by wordcouture (Rating: T)

- Open your mind, let your fantasies unwind. Welcome to the Moulin Rouge.

Blow Me Like Your French Horn by ohdizzy (Rating: T)

- In which Jimin undergoes a transformation from Cinnamon Roll to Sinnamon Roll and Jeongguk is a little too competitive, a little too tsundere, and a little bit too moony-eyed for his own good. “i see that you adore playing your loud ass trumpet at random moments in the middle of the night, well fyi i happen to be a master at the French horn so fuck u i challenge you to a brass off” AU

i guess you say (what can make me feel this way) by jungkooks hyung (Rating: T)

- in which jimin works at a country club at the pool and jungkook is a member

Rain All Day and I Don’t Mind by jams_and_suga (Rating: T)

- Jimin and Jungkook spend a rainy morning together. Inspired by the song "Banana Pancakes" by Jack Johnson

Sorry But I Need to Have You by eightninetwo (Rating: T)

- Jeongguk's never one to back down from a dare. But when said dare involves making out with Park Jimin, Jeongguk finds himself wanting it to be more than just that.

my only wish this year by atechamcham (Rating: G)

- jeongguk won't be back for the holidays, and that's fine with jimin. but on christmas morning he wakes up to a text saying he's got a present under his tree.

tying the knot by empressium (Rating: E)

- it's kind of a big fucking deal

star boards by wordcouture (Rating: T)

- "You should never dream about finding true love." "Why not?" "Because once you find it, the only thing that's left is heartbreak."

Little Pieces by Jikookiejar (Rating: Not Rated)

- My Jikook ficlets from Tumblr

lemme hear you beg for it by fatal (Rating: E)

- jeongguk's always been a tease, you'd think jimin would have caught on by now.

Who Let His Boyfriend Be so Fucking Hot? by Halottie (Rating: Not Rated)

- “I woke up early so we can have some fun before you have to go to class.” Jeongguk flashes him a sleepy smile, “I love you.” “I know.”

just one chance to make me blush by ninagum (Rating: M)

- Sometimes love is just a hand to hold and someone to listen.

i like how desperate you seem (in the way you look at me) by fatal (Rating: E)

- packs merge all the time. it's survival. jimin knows that, but what he's not prepared for is the attention he's getting from a certain jeon jeongguk, the alpha's son.

Picture Me With You by novilunar (Rating: E)

- Dealing with being in the same class as his favourite camboy is not an easy task for Jungkook

sugar, we're going down swinging by aborescent (Rating: T)

- modernsherlock!au - The first time Jeon Jungkook meets Park Jimin, the other boy is dissecting what looks like a penis.

Relax, Don’t Do It by yoongidontdoit (Rating: E)

- Jeongguk likes to party. Jeongguk likes to party hard. When he wakes up half naked in a Denny's parking lot, for the third time, he decides to commit to something for once and swear to be completely straight-edge for a full 90 days. That includes no partying, no late nights, and absolutely no sex. Easy until Jimin decides to crash land, literally, into his life.

talking body by empressium (Rating: E)

- "I'm a big fan of your work, author-nim"

Him by PinkBTS (Rating: M)

- “I mean a muse,” explained Yoongi, eyes traveling to Hoseok. “Someone that makes you feel the shots. Not only take them.”Jeongguk snorted. “You’re just whipped.” “Maybe,” agreed Yoongi, winking. “But it works.”

love exposure by pettey (Rating: E)

- “You’re in love with my brother. Do you know what he does?” “He dances.” In which Jeongguk is a soon-to-be journalist with a camera and Jimin lives in nightclubs, sort of.

officially by wordcouture (Rating: M)

- Jungkook usually fucks his interviews up the ass, figuratively speaking of course. Except for this one time when he literally did.

You're My Achilles Heel by miskeen (Rating: E)

- Jungkook just likes the taste of Jimin's cock in his mouth

nothing will be bigger than us by busan_brat (Rating: T)

- A fucking hypocrite, that's who Jimin is. A fucking hypocrite who makes sure that Jungkook is alive and as well as anybody can be in this concrete jungle made of too many broken dreams and too little hope.

Blooming Period by yourcupoftae (Rating: T)

- Jungkook learned, after years of studying them through his camera lenses, that flowers always flourished to their most beautiful blossoms right before they withered.

Ears by Usui (Rating: E)

- Jimin has been going through a dry spell. Taehyung decides the best way for him to get laid is dressing as a sexy cat for Halloween. Jimin meets Jungkook, a guy armed with bad cat puns who definitely approves of the costume.

listen to my heartbeat (it's calling you at its own will) by poplolli (Rating: T)

- Park Jimin has fluffy sweaters, green glasses, chubby cheeks and a smile what could make flowers grow. Jeon Jeongguk has Reputation (with capital R), a motorcycle, way more black leather jackets than necessary and a Secret (with capital S). And may or may not, Jeon Jeongguk has a teeny tiny Crush, too. (It's really tiny though, the capital C must be a mistake, okay.)

You Left This Here by RoxasJinsei (Rating: M)

- Red eyes, a shade or so deeper than blood, make Jimin's body freeze, a shudder racking his frame when a slow smirk makes it's way across the man's face.

I Promise, I Promise. Calm Down. by RoxasJinsei (Rating: T)

- Jungkook meets Youngbae, Jimin's charge. He likes him. Jungkook also meets Jimin's neighbors. He doesn't like them.

In the Line of Fire by bubbleteafics (Rating: E)

- For some reason, Jimin was everyone's favorite target.

A God's Star by TheHalesNyx (Rating: E)

And Back Again by novilunar (Rating: E)

- Jimin wishes he could stay away from Jungkook

underdressed and oversexed by gangbang (Rating: E)

- jungkook just needs the money. it’s kind of unfortunate jimin happens to be the porn star he's jacked off to for the past three years.

Flower Talk by soranosuzu (Rating: G)

- Jimin works in a flower shop and Jungkook is a delivery boy who drives a pastel pink van.

Captain Cuddles by goog (Rating: M)

- In which Taehyung learns that he is not entitled to call Jeongguk 'Captain Cuddles'.

Track one: I love you by dalliancee (Rating: T)

- Just way too close, just by the fingertips — and only by the fingertips. That's all they will ever be.

you're intoxicating (I can't stop) by astrochild (Rating: T)

- and what a strange love this is.

Dream Maker by graesun, Polkari Seuta (VeritasEtVita) (Rating: M)

- Oh, dream maker, you heartbreaker / wherever you're going, I'm going your way. Several days in the lives of Jimin and Jungkook living off instant ramen and lots of kisses.

check one two by gangbang (Rating: E)

- for the first time ever, camboy jimin has a couple of guests on his show. or: Local Twink Gets Fucked Hard and Raw by Two Hotties.

Hate the way I don't hate you by blt_prf (Rating: T)

- 10 things Jimin hates about the new kid in his dancing team.

Varsity by Noona (Rating: E)

- In which Park Jimin and Jeon Jungkook are rivals.

Baby, Take Care of Me by rapmonstsr (Rating: M)

- Jeongguk wants to protect Jimin.

wet by wowoashley (Rating: T)

- Jimin’s arms flex as he pulls the top off and tosses it to the side, and Jungkook feels the sudden need to sit down. It’s suddenly too hot. He needs a drink. He needs something.

i’ve been drinking, i’ve been drinking by decompositionbooks (Rating: T)

- Jungkook tries to figure Jimin out with Yoongi's trademarked "What Your Drink Says About You" alcohol psychoanalysis.All he knows is that Jimin likes fruity little drinks.

Web of lies by untrueee (Rating: M)

- Weaving a web of lies I can see it in your eyes Jimin is a liar and a spy, but that's why Jungkook loves him.

Boy You Belong To Me by rapmonstsr (Rating: M)

- When Jimin tries out for the cheer leading squad, he doesn't expect to be humiliated in front of the entire football team. He certainly didn't expect to get closer to the handsome star fullback, Jeon Jeongguk, but it seemed his senior year was beginning to become a series of unfortunate events.

Mizu by renaihyung (Rating: T)

- Jungkook and Jimin grew close in high school through their swimming club. Eventually, both swimmers developed feelings for one another, but it isn’t as easy as one may think. Jungkook is incapable of voicing or showing his emotions, and he isn't sure why. When high school ends and the couple split, never getting further than lingering touches in terms of their relationship thanks to Jungkook’s doing, it’s no shock that Jungkook regrets his decisions every day after Jimin has left. All he has is the swimming competitions to somehow bring him closer to the boy he loves.

Move Your Body by novilunar (Rating: M)

- Jimin has nothing on his mind but practice, and Jungkook has ways of getting into places he shouldn't be. The dance department of Jimin's university is one of them.

if i get in, i just might drown by fatal (Rating: E)

- fucking jimin has always been jeongguk's favourite hobby. ruts just made it that much more special.

Hamartia by chihiro (Rating: M)

- Jimin mistakes Jeongguk for a siren and makes a promise to him he is not prepared to face the consequences of.

The Bet by jonghyunslisterine (Rating: T)

- Where Jeon Jungkook makes a bet that he can get the notoriously single Park Jimin to sleep with him by the end of the semester.Needless to say, things don't go exactly as planned.

Paths by novilunar (Rating: T)

- Jimin is the son of an inn keeper, Jungkook is an adventurer. They make it work.

Gods & Monsters by rapmonstsr (Rating: M)

- Jimin is not entirely human. Jungkook is a ghoul hunter. And someone is pulling the strings behind a curtain.

you're a hard soul to save with an ocean in the way (but i'll get around it) by namakemono (Rating: T)

- Jimin has the whole ocean at his fingertips, but for some reason he can't help but look up to where the humans are, and wonder what it’s like to be part of their world. (or: the Little Mermaid AU that no one asked for)

Training Wheels by jeonify (Rating: G)

- everything starts when jeongguk moves over, and jimin teaches him to ride a bike. everything ends when kim taehyung moves over, and jeongguk abandons his bicycle. +“they say that if you watch the sunset on that hill for 31 consecutive days, your unrequited love will be reciprocated.”

the waiting game by bonnia (Rating: E)

- It’s a waiting game. Jimin knows that Jungkook doesn’t have to come back, but with every little touch, every time Jungkook does, and every time Jungkook lies down right next to him, pressed up close, torturously warm and smelling like cigarette smoke and cologne, Jimin can’t help but feel like he could — would — wait years just for Jungkook to come back to him again. (Or: In which Jimin is a prostitute and Jungkook is his favourite customer.)

I Don’t Need a Map My Heart Points Me to You by busantanboys (Rating: T)

- “Well,” He paused for effect, throwing a wicked smile Jungkook’s way before continuing, “I’d like you a whole lot better if you’d untie me, sweet cheeks.” “Sorry, no can-do, sunshine. Cap’n’s orders. Looks like you're stuck with me.” - (In which Jeon Jungkook is enamored with tiny, pirate, Park Jimin.)

When You Look Here by jimjamgguk (Rating: E)

- In which Jungkook and Jimin are paired together for an assignment. Stuff happens.

flashing lights (you've got me faded) by bonnia (Rating: E)

- getting married to the heir of his father's rival company, multi-billionaire-playboy-sexgod jeon jungkook in a bout of drunken insanity and consequently being forced into a fake relationship with said asshole, is Very Low on jimin's bucket list. (actually, it doesn't even make the list.) but, jimin would grudgingly admit, at least the sex is good. (actually, the sex is better than good. but you didn’t hear that from him.)

yankee doodle by Hurley (Rating: E)

- Jimin’s fourth relationship is with a guy who wore a policeman uniform to happy hour at the local bar. (aka the fic where Jimin likes older guys.)

Soft Times by rapmonstsr (Rating: M)

- Jeongguk takes care of his Jiminie.

once upon a timeshare by namakemono (Rating: M)

- Jungkook is in desperate need of a vacation, but spending two weeks in Namjoon and Hoseok’s timeshare in Okinawa with his recently separated ex of three years was probably (definitely) not what he had in mind.

Glass Diamonds by GinForInk (Rating: E)

- Jungkook accidentally fires his skateboard through the window of a dance studio.

warm me up (with your lips) by graesun (Rating: E)

- Jungkook feels like maybe it should be a bigger deal that most of the population chooses a lifelong mate before they turn twenty-five. But truth be told, Jungkook has always been a sucker for love stories--for the story of his parents finding each other at eighteen and nineteen, for the promise of belonging to somebody, for the legends – old stories of alpha, beta, and omega instincts finding the one without any effort at all. Jungkook had been sure of his own hopeful love story not long after he met Jimin, the both of them imprinting on each other while Jungkook was still too shy to say more than a few stuttered words to him. It’s been a long time coming. And Jungkook can’t wait for them to finally belong to each other.

I’m Not Sorry by bananacookies (Rating: Not Rated)

- Jungkook never would've expected a text from a stranger to turn out like this.(A story in which Jungkook's lonely, Jimin's a sweetheart, and Yoongi's the cat)

Perfect by miskeen (Rating: E)

- jimin and jungkook get ready to go out. eventually

hypnotic (you got me talking in my sleep) by ninagum (Rating: M)

- Jungkook plucks off the icicles around Jimin's heart, one at a time, despite the continuous blizzard.

i am a good good boy by narrowrule (Rating: E)

- The ideal couple. Jimin was short and soft in all the ways Jeongguk was tall and hard. The stuff of highly rated KBS dramas, Taehyung supposed. Until recently.aka taehyung stumbles upon (more like into) the true dynamics of his best friend's relationship ft. power bottom jimin, eager to please jeongguk and thirsty taehyung

When the Sun Goes Down by rapmonstsr (Rating: M)

- “Yeah? You must feel like a god right now.” Jeongguk glances out to Gangnam’s sparkling nightlife and hums in agreement. At least Jimin is aware. “What does that make you?” OrJeongguk is a sad rich boy who falls in love with his best friend.

crush(ed) by fatal (Rating: M)

- jimin's been lost for so long, he's forgotten what it feels like to be found.

Rubies for a King by TheHalesNyx (Rating: E)

- Prompt: Twenty years ago, Jimin's father struck a deal with Jungkook, the dragon to ensure that the crown will remain in the family. Twenty years later, Jungkook has come to claim his prize.In return for Jimin’s life, his health, in return for an heir to the company throne, Jimin’s father had made a deal with a dragon.

Sleepy Cuddles by jimin_to_my_ship_we_got_kookies (Rating: G)

- Jungkook just needs his cuddle buddy back in bed.

100% success rate by bonnia (Rating: T)

- Legend has it, that whenever Kim Taehyung unleashes the ;) face, things do not bode well for Jeon Jungkook. But legend also has it, that Jeon Jungkook has a penchant for making terrible decisions. (or: in which jungkook has a crush the size of manhattan, taehyung is his alleged wingman, and jimin is only wilfully oblivious)

you make my heart saur by sugrpill (Rating: M)

- "'I gotta go.” “Go where?” Taehyung asks as he settles back into the couch, admiring his new ink. “Do someone,” Jimin says cheekily as he rises, clambering over Taehyung's legs. Taehyung shoots up, back straight, eyes pleading. “Don't fuck Jeongguk.'” (In which Jimin goes out looking for a hook-up, and they both get a little surprise.)

Guilty Pleasures by jimin_to_my_ship_we_got_kookies (Rating: G)

- Everyone's got a guilty pleasure, some sweeter than others.

Bloom by mnsg (Rating: T)

- Jimin has a soft spot for Jeongguk the size of Jupiter and it’s hard not to take advantage of that, sometimes. Especially when Jimin looks so good and sweet and happy Jeongguk could just…eat him.

if i can be with you by goldenhearts (Rating: Not Rated)

- collection of shorter stories originally posted on tumblr (@springjeon)

You Read Me Like a Book by dyegu (Rating: T)

- The university library has really really tall bookshelves, which kinda sucks for someone who's short like Jimin.

could you stop being so high up, please? by dyegu (Rating: T)

- If someone wants a kiss, someone is going to have to stop being so freaking high up.

Park and Recreations by miskeen (Rating: E)

- Jimin and Jungkook play laser tag. It's pretty much a fight to the death

Cuddling Misadventures by nutterbutterbisquit (Rating: M)

- Jimin wakes up in the middle of the night to give Jungkook the wake-up call he's wanted since they started sleeping (literally) with each other.

longing: a yearning desire by NaHe (Rating: T)

- The first words a person’s soulmate will say to them appears on their left wrist on the day of their 18th birthday. Unless, of course, their soulmate has passed away. Jungkook was a 21 year old with a blank wrist.

your body is a place to stay by jonghyunslisterine (Rating: T)

- In which Jungkook juggles a five-year-old daughter, Jimin the pretty bookstore employee, and coworkers who like to tease him too much.

Just a joke by pastelrainbows (Rating: G)

- Jeongguk pranks jimin. Jimin is not amused.

numbers by memechele (Rating: T)

- jungkook loves his job: after all, being a cashier in 7/11 isn't exactly rocket science, and it pays well. He starts to love it even more though, when the christmas exhibition a mere 25 metres away from the store gets a new santa, and jungkook has the best seat to ogle him. or jimin is the new santa in jungkook's local mall, and jungkook ends up on jimin's lap on christmas eve.

Share a kiss with me tonight by Themboybandsthough (Rating: Not Rated)

- It's a social experiment

drop our anchors in a storm by merrimint (Rating: M)

- In which Jimin and Jeongguk's last night together before Jeongguk has to leave for the military results in nine months worth of stress and the consumption of a frankly ridiculous amount of chocolate covered strawberries.

Of course, it had to be you by Rose_gold715 (Rating: T)

- Park Jimin is an Omega wolf who simply wants to find a mate who will accept him. Jeon Jungkook is a mysterious, devastatingly handsome Alpha who confuses Jimin.

promise rings by cupidsus (Rating: E)

- cliche friends with benefits problems with slight twists of some sort

Practicality by rapmonstsr (Rating: T)

- Jungkook manages to piss off his crush and Secret Santa all in one go.

hit me (with your best shot) by happy_tokki (Rating: G)

- The first time they meet, Jeongguk hits him with a snowball. And that is how it all begins.

Won’t Let You Sink by jikookie (Rating: M)

- Jungkook considers it his life mission to make sure his boyfriend doesn't let the stress and pressure get to him. Based on when Jimin lost his part in Autumn Leaves to Tae. Jungkook taking care of his precious boyfriend who is always there for him. With just a tiny bit of smutty goodness.

All the Way Home I’ll Be Warm... by Anonymous (Rating: T)

- Lately, it seemed like Jungkook was always running. Running to work, running to the gym, running from gallery opening to gallery opening, trying to network and make a name for himself in this city, and currently, tonight, running very, very late to catch the last train home for Christmas.

White T-shirt and Brown Timberlands by Rose_gold715 (Rating: G)

- Jimin is filing for divorce after eight years with Jungkook. He needs to let go, and yet, he wants to hold on a little longer.

Well Done! by annafeu (Rating: E)

- Running low on provisions to last them through the winter, wolf-pack leader Jungkook captures an unsuspecting rabbit to have for his Christmas dinner.

Return with the Tides by baepsaeved (Rating: T)

- Jimin has been to six different worlds, but he ends up falling in love with a boy from his hometown.

Metallic by snarcsics (Rating: E)

- Jimin is an elegant killer, he’s sweet and careful and he makes every slice feel like hell. Jungkook learns from him, watches him, moans out with him when Jimin’s eyes flutter in satisfaction at the agonized muffled screams he receives with every glide of Jungkook’s kitchen knife.

baby you got devotion in every little motion by automatic_dick (Rating: E)

- jimin's six months pregnant when his boyfriend leaves him: unemployed, nothing in savings, three months from having a second mouth to feed. he gets a job getting fucked. can't be that bad. he's been getting fucked over his whole life, might as well get paid for it.

In some cases, I’ve had to shorten summaries a little bit. Please let me know if that is not acceptable and would like that changed.

If there are any errors, or if you have any recommendations for a better way to organize this, let me know!

#jikook #kookmin #bangtan boys #fanfic recommendations #ao3

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izzy-b-hands · 4 years ago

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As You Lay Asleep

So the idea of John as a sleep talker came into the DL server tonight, which progressed to him saying funny, then scary things, while sleeping, which then went as it did towards possession (and we are nearing Halloween, are we not?)

This is what came of all that talk on the server. Send Freddie your love and good vibes folks, he’ll need it in this one.

Just to note, I set this in 1975.

My love to all who read/like/reblog!

“He’s here.”

Freddie looked up from his book. “Pardon?”

John was out like a light, laying on a couch set at one wall of the studio space, but he spoke regardless, as par the course for whenever he napped. “He is. For you.”

Freddie looked around the room. “That’s not funny. You keep dreaming about Veronica, or whatever it is you’re thinking of.”

“He sees you in your dreams,” John muttered. “Mhm. Cheese is good.”

Freddie nodded. “Yes to the latter, but what was that first bit?”

John giggled, in a devilish way, and suddenly Freddie found himself wishing he had gone with Roger and Brian to pick up lunch.

“You’ve had your fun,” Freddie said. “No more talking now, John.”

“John is busy, but we’re free to talk,” John said.

Freddie dropped his book, and stood up from his chair. “Enough.”

“Ask us something.”

The crucifix on the wall belonged to the owner of the studio, and it had been odd at first to see it every time they came in, but now it was a life saver.

He grabbed it off the wall, and pointed it at John, still completely asleep. “John, I need you to wake up. You’re scaring me.”

His eyes flipped open, but they didn’t flicker or move, and his breathing was as slow in sleep as it had been a moment before. “He can’t wake up yet.”

His hands shook as he stepped gingerly closer to John. “I know you’re trying to be funny, but this is too far, we’re alone here-”

“We know,” John smiled, and his eyes flipped shut again.

“I’m going to leave you here,” Freddie threatened, setting the crucifix down to grab his jacket off his chair. “And I’m finding Roger and Brian.”

“You won’t leave him,” John said. “He’s like your little brother, and you’re scared for him now.”

He wanted to scream. They (if there was a they, this was probably just John’s usual sleep-talking and he was overreacting) were right. He was scared for John right now, and he couldn’t leave him alone in the studio, not like this.

“Fuck you,” Freddie scowled, and dropped his jacket back on the chair.

John just grinned.

“I’m going to ignore you,” Freddie decided aloud. “I have a song to work on anyway.”

“I know,” John said.

“As our bassist, I should hope you would know that,” Freddie said, and pulled his latest sheets of music and lyrics off of the top of the grand piano nearby.

“No,” John said. “We know. The song. How it will go. Why you’re writing it. Even you don’t know all of that yet, you’re still figuring it out.”

Freddie shook his head, and looked down to the papers.

When he looked back up, John was up, standing directly in front of him, smiling.

“Fuck!” he dropped the papers, and backed away into the piano. “Stop it, now! I mean it, John!”

“We already told you, he isn’t here right now,” John said, chuckling, eyes wide open and unmoving, unblinking.

He took a step forward, and Freddie couldn’t stop the whimper that left his throat.

Then John laughed, and it was his voice, but not him at all, loud and cruel.

His mind raced. They’d watched the occasional horror movie as a group, what did they need for an exorcism?

Holy water.

He did not have that. But there was fruit punch in the fridge in the kitchen area, and a salt shaker. That would have to be close enough.

He bolted past John, who snickered as he watched him run.

“What are you going to do? Who are you hoping will save you? Who will hold you in the dark only you can see, at the end of it all?”

He ignored John’s voice, his steps heavy behind him, and focused on his task.

Which, by his own admission, was probably pointless. Salt worked against the supernatural, in theory, but fruit punch wasn’t exactly holy (no matter how delicious a punch it was.)

He dumped as much salt as he could fit into the pitcher of punch, struggling not to spill any as his hands shook. They hadn’t stopped since he’d dropped the crucifix, and at this rate, they might never calm enough to play the piano or do anything else ever again.

John’s hand touched his shoulder, and he tossed the pitcher over his shoulder, emptying it all over John.

Who didn’t fucking move. Not an inch. As if he had salty punch thrown all over him every day.

“Was that to try and get him back?” John asked, his hand tightening around Freddie’s shoulder, hard enough to hurt. “That’s adorable, but useless.”

He didn’t often find himself feeling fear like this. In fact, he couldn’t think of another time where it had been this strong, this serious.

Enough to bring him to tears.

“Please,” he mumbled through the tears as they fell. “John, stop.”

“He would like us to,” John said. “But we don’t want to, and we get to decide what happens now.”

He ripped John’s hand off of his shoulder, and pushed past him, back to the studio area.

“Where are you going now? Why does your kind fight this so much? Do we not always tell you that we come in peace, be not afraid?” John’s voice boomed down the hallway behind him, many voices in the one. “Well...I suppose we used to come peacefully. Things change, even if we do not...”

He was begging for Roger and Brian to come back, to burst through the door with lunch, but the front door of the studio didn’t so much as move as he ran past it.

“Why don’t you leave, if you’re so scared, so unready for us?” John asked, a hand harshly catching his arm and pulling him near as they stood in the hall near the front door. “You could leave, but you won’t. A fact we knew, but so strange to see it happen.”

John’s face was close enough to kiss, his breath warm against Freddie’s ear. “We will find you, when it’s over for you. We find everyone, no one can hide-”

John’s head whipped away, and looked upwards, a snarl on his face. “He can’t!”

The words that fell from his mouth after that were in some unknown language, lyrical and sharp all at once, having a conversation with someone outside of John that Freddie couldn’t see.

His head whipped back to Freddie, and his grip tightened on Freddie’s arm. “If we cannot take you after, then we will now. We are not to be refused.”

“I don’t know who the fuck you are!” Freddie spat, working to wrench his arm out of John’s clawing grasp. “And who are you all anyway, why not answer that? At first you said ‘he’ was here for me. Did ‘he’ get bored and leave you here instead?”

“He watches,” John said. “He observes. He decides what will be.”

“Fuck off with this fucking joke,” Freddie said, finally free of John. “I’m done being scared. This isn’t funny, and you’re being a bad friend, John. You need to stop.”

For just a moment, John was back. “What? I...I’m not a bad friend, am I, Fred?”

“Oh no, you aren’t,” Freddie cried out, tears falling again as he watched them well up in the corner of John’s eyes, open but moving normally now, bright. “I was talking to-”

“Us?” John asked, and he was gone again, his eyes gone glassy like a shark’s. “That was fun.”

“When Roger and Brian get back,” Freddie said. “We’ll figure this out. We’ll get him back.”

“But you’ll all lose him again, one day,” John said. “You can’t see it now. You aren’t supposed to. You should value these days more, there are only so many.”

“I value my time with John, Roger, and Brian plenty,” Freddie spat. “I love them dearly. Whatever you are, you don’t know that love.”

“We do,” John said softly. “When he feels it, when he’s with all of you. We feel it too.”

He was frozen. He wanted to shake John awake (if he was still somehow sleeping, it was hard to tell what state he was in right now), to hit him and knock him back to normal, to hug him close until he stopped talking like he was.

Instead, the door to the studio opened, and Brian held up a bag of fast food. “We went quite far, but look! McDonald’s! I hope you’re both hun-what’s going on?”

He stopped and his arm holding the bag aloft dropped to his side as he watched them.

Roger walked in behind him, and frowned. “What’s all this?”

John turned, and smiled softly. “You two aren’t ready for us yet. But you will hear from us, someday. Through him, or maybe someone else. What fun, to see who it might be.”

He turned back to Freddie. “And we’ll find a way to you. Just you wait.”

Then John dropped heavily to the floor, snoring, and Freddie could only half catch him.

---

“I was saying what?” John scoffed around a mouthful of burger. “Freddie, that’s ridiculous.”

“Don’t,” Freddie said sternly. “I don’t know what you were dreaming about, but you scared the fucking shit out of me. Don’t you ever do that again.”

“I don’t remember doing it,” John protested. “Though I am sorry, if I scared you with whatever sleep talk I was babbling.”

“You did a lot more than babble,” Freddie said with a shudder, sipping at his drink. “But I forgive you. So long as you never do it again.”

“God, we miss all the fun shit,” Roger muttered. “Deaky gets possessed while he sleeps, and we aren’t even here for it.”

“I’d much rather you had been!” Freddie said sharply. “It was terrible. Like you were gone completely, Deaky. I don’t know who it was that took over, but I don’t want to talk to them again.”

“Them?” John asked.

Freddie nodded. “They mentioned ‘he’ was watching, and here, or some other shit. And every other time they referred to themselves as ‘we’ and ‘us.’ Along with some nonsense about ‘be not afraid.’”

“That’s what angels say, isn’t it?” Brian mused. “But those don’t sound like angels.”

“I don’t give a fuck who they are,” Freddie replied. “They can’t take over our John. I’ve declared it; I hope they can hear me.”

“Maybe they can,” John snickered.

His smile dropped at the look on Freddie’s face. “I meant no harm, Freddie, only joking.”

“You did literally drop to the ground, dead asleep when we came in,” Roger said. “That was weird. And waking you was like waking the dead.”

“I’m tired,” John shrugged. “Look, I don’t know what else to say. I truly am sorry, Freddie, for whatever I said, even if I can’t remember it now.”

“It’s okay,” Freddie sighed. “But god knows I won’t be sleeping well tonight, now. Not with what happened today in my head.”

“I could come over?” John asked. “We could stay up, watch movies.”

Freddie shot Brian and Roger a despairing look.

“Y’know,” Roger said. “Why don’t we all stay with you tonight, even into the night after? A couple nights of a slumber party at Freddie’s; I think it sounds good.”

Brian nodded. “Maybe you’ll talk tonight like you did today, John, and then Rog and I can hear it too.”

Freddie shuddered. “How dare you try and speak that into existence, Brian.”

“I’ll keep you safe from his blathering in his sleep,” Brian chuckled gently.

“Someone had better,” Freddie said. “No offense, John.”

John waved away his concerns. “None taken. Used to creep out my mum too. Little me, walking up to her when she had put me down for a nap, going on about ‘knowing what will come’ or something like that. Silly, isn’t it?”

Freddie frowned, and made a note to call John’s mum the next chance he got. He had some questions for her, that desperately needed answering.

But for now, the assurance of John being very awake and happy and himself, and that Roger and Brian would be there as well for their little slumber party, was enough to calm him.

Even if he did somehow, impossibly, feel like there was another invisible pair of eyes in the room, watching him.

But it was probably nothing.

#text post #LeeH writes #queen band fic

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ghozt1ng-blog · 8 years ago

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Mysteries of the Q Files

Chapter 11: Undisclosed Information

“That’s it! You are going back home tonight,” Susan said sternly. Her son gave her a withering look.

“Mom, there’s no way I could have predicted that a vampire, of all things, would suddenly show up and abduct someone!”

“I think it would only make sense, really,” Agent Miles cut in. “If there is a wolf monster running around, why not a vampire?”

Naomi gave the agent an annoyed look; she still didn’t want to refer to the original attacker as just a wolf. She then spoke up, “They’re actually not a package deal. Classic horror movies of the 50s and 60s presented the idea of monster-verse, where these kinds of creatures would rub shoulders, but it wasn’t until the 80s and especially in more contemporary media that people even put vampires and werewolves into the same story! No, there is something really wrong going on here.”

“You really know your monster history,” the Sphinx said appreciatively. “I have to agree with Naomi on this one Miles. The two monsters and the two attacks are definitely connected, but the question is how.”

“I am pretty certain I know,” Trick attempted to get into the conversation.

“We don’t have time for these foolish teenage suspicions and drama,” his mother groaned.

“I want to hear what Patrick has to say,” the Sphinx said gently. “Please continue.”

“Look here, I had suspicions, yes mom, suspicions.” Trick stated firmly at his mother’s unimpressed glare. “Suspicions that there might have been something done to the less popular kids here in town, or maybe just one in particular. Never mind that for now, the point is this, Eustace was scared of the popular kids earlier. More than he should have been. Shannon then let it slip that there was something done to put these reject students into their place. And she suggested that it might be done again. I think one of the bullied kids here, or a few of them, are the people behind this.”

“And so they just now show that they can transform,” Susan laughed skeptically. “That sounds rather convenient, and rather unfortunate. They could have flipped the tables earlier. And if your wild guesses and conjectures are somehow correct, that means you are back at square one.”

“Not necessarily,” the Sphinx said, with an upraised finger. “In particular stories, people with incredible powers discover them after a traumatic or life changing experience. Or they finally manage them after something happens to motivate them to do so. If Patrick is correct with his hypothesis, then whatever happened to these bullied kids was enough to push them over the edge.”

Needlessly straightening her glasses, Agent Miles said, “There is something else to consider. This is a small town community. In communities such as this one where entertainment and connections to larger cities are scarce. Kids, teenagers in particular, turn to various kinds of trouble making to find fun. This usually takes the form of promiscuity and being sexually active, while others turn to vandalism and pranks, but studies also show that many attempt archaic practices like seances or black magic. Maybe these attacks are a result of someone meddling with powers that just happened to be real?”

Everyone in the room suddenly shivered. A blanket of cold and dark thoughts smothered them momentarily. Agent Conturbatio’s musings finally broke the sudden spell.

“That would be very fantastical, but at this point nothing is really off the table,” the Sphinx admitted. “We’ll have to do some digging, and quick. This situation is getting out of hand.”

“Which is why Naomi and I can’t go yet,” Trick protested. “I think that Agent Miles might be closer to what is happening here than someone finally discovering they can become a monster.”

“Yes, it does go against the laws of Thermodynamics for a teenager to suddenly become a large wolf-like monster,” Naomi said. “But magic would break our known laws, and this whole case seems to be doing just that to an extent.”

Trick waved a hand. “The point is still this: the kids here won’t talk as easily to grownups as they will to us. We need to be the ones to interview them. I have an idea of who we should get a hold of next, but it has to wait for tomorrow, when the next halloween party happens.”

“They’re still doing that,” Miles and Susan exclaimed together.

“Of course, it is matter of showing how cool they are and that they are above what has happened,” Trick said. “I got an official invite from Rachel. There will be those who duck out, because they are scared, but most will still want to come. Especially since they don’t see the connection between victims yet.”

“That makes no sense,” Naomi interjected. “That makes them sound like complete idiots.”

“Which they are,” Trick smiled.

“I really hate this idea,” Susan said. “But if my son is going to be our bait, then I want to be near by.”

“That’s fine by me. We can get another car,” the Sphinx replied.

“I’m not bait, I’m an interrogator,” Trick protested.

“Not according to Rachel, or that one girl, what’s-her-face, that gave you her number earlier,” Naomi fired back. Trick felt red creeping up into his face.

“I knew it,” Miles gloated smugly.

“Oh cool it,” Naomi snapped. “I just think Trick is letting all of this get to his head. Remember, we came here to do a job, so let’s do it correctly. I don’t want to waste my weekend here.”

“Yes, yes, you’re right. And I’m not letting this get to my head,” Trick said grumpily.

“Patrick, what exactly are you hoping to learn from your investigation,” the Sphinx asked. “I agree that we need to check out every possibility, and your logic about you and Nomi talking to the other teens is sound enough for me, but where are you going with this? You can’t just jump in and form a hypothesis as you go.”

“And what’s yours,” Trick challenged. His mom sucked air through her teeth angrily.

“Honestly, I think that someone close to these teenagers has the ability to transform themselves into a monster at will. I think that they are influenced by something like the turn of the season, or some other natural phenomenon, and their knowledge of teenage drama is mingling with their bestial self, causing them to attack their friends,” Agent Conturbatio explained calmly.

“Ah that is a fine theory,” Trick said, mimicking the Sphinx’s raised finger pose. “But from what I have learned, these victims are not connected through friendship, but through rivalry and their social status. At the party tomorrow night, and at Camille’s Diner, I plan on finding out what exactly happened to the bullied students and thereby figure out their list of targets. But, I cannot rule out the popular kids being a part of this as well. What is my theory you ask? Especially after this vampire attack, I think that a number of students are attacking one another to get even for social slights.”

“And how do you explain the monsters,” Agent Miles asked.

Trick shrugged. “I hope to find out.”

Naomi raised her hand slightly as she said, “I have a theory. This town has had some minor renovations done to it over the years, which is nothing new for any place. However, sites like the school were made to protect people the case of a nuclear attack during the Cold War, but that has been changed. I think Agent Miles is right about one thing,” She looked pained to agree with the older woman. “I believe people have messed around with supernatural powers and we are now seeing the consequences of it. Spells or beasts might have been buried away and just recently discovered. Whatever it is, it is a recent development. I say magic, because of what I said before: these kinds of monsters typically don’t belong together, but they are showing up in the same town.”

“Very interesting,” the Sphinx said. He shared a quick look with his partners before saying, “Alright everyone, we have a lot to sleep on. Patrick and Naomi, be careful tomorrow. I want that information, but more importantly, I want to keep the two of you safe. And Naomi, that was an interesting thing you said about the town changing. I’ll try to give it some time to look at.”

With that, he dismissed them. Once Susan Brown had taken the teens away, the Sphinx pulled out Carly’s phone, recovered from the rubble. She must have dropped it when she was taken. He had inspected it by rubbing his fingers over the shattered screen. Before its battery had died, it had given him some useful information. Carly had an adult lover on the side. She had shared a lot of personal information with him. She had also shared a great deal of what was going on at her high school with him over texts. Patrick had surprisingly confirmed a lot of what he had discovered on the phone before it died. Conturbatio was planning a strike to nab the suspect and question him. He was just keeping the kids busy and having them locate possible sources of information for him when it came time to put the suspect away. Routine work for a member of the Bureau.

Nevertheless, something tickled at the back of his mind. Naomi’s information swap with Miles’ creepy theory weighed on him a little bit. He could not put his own finger on it, but he admitted to himself that there might be more. And this second attack did not add up the way he hoped it would.

I just need to get my hands on him and get a straight confession, he thought. The Board will then have more physical evidence and we might be able to go public. This could change everything!

He knew he was getting ahead of himself, but he was so close. The world was full of the supernatural and the extraterrestrial. It was just that most people did not want to accept what they could not readily explain or dismiss out of hand. No, the crazy beyond that bound the universe together needed to be publicly recognized and studied. That was the true purpose for the Q Files.

But could he pull it off this time? Or would this case just be another embarrassment?

#mysteries of the q files #q files #my stories

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