#special ops: lioness au

[aggressivelyaverage21]

Back to writing this absolute maximalist fic with @kloperslegend

She's an overthinker, she's still a runner...

Beatrice feels a bit like a caged animal after meeting her mark… attempts at tension relief inside to varying degrees of success

Beatrice found herself pacing the staged, but relatively bare, North Carolina apartment.

Circling.

Couch. Living room. Kitchen.

Bedroom. Kitchen again . Porch. Living room again.

Penduluming through the apartment as something in her refused to settle. Part of her was trying to blame it on the location. Unfamiliar. Different.

It wasn’t that the apartment they set up for her wasn’t nice. It was—very nice, considering how expensive rent was nowadays. The furniture was seemingly expertly staged by someone who knew the finer points of interior design—nice and aesthetically pleasing but not too expensive to blow her ‘grad student’ cover story. It wasn’t necessarily to Beatrice’s tastes—but who was she kidding? Her house in Southern Pines wasn’t overly personalized either—much to Chelle’s dismay—but even as a minimalist Beatrice felt there was barely anything in the Durham apartment that belonged to her. And something about that just… tweaked her the wrong way.

So it wasn’t a place that made her comfortable, but ironically enough Beatrice was used to that. And it was nice. Even if Beatrice recognized the quality wasn’t for her , per say. The agency likely had several of these apartments set up for use at any given notice—she was just surprised one of them happened to be in Durham, North Carolina of all places.

Apparently “the CIA is everywhere, Cap.” Mary had patted her on the shoulder as she opened the apartment up to Beatrice's surprise. Even if Beatrice knew very well that “everywhere” shouldn’t technically be the U.S. The law said they were prohibited from acting on US soil—Not that Beatrice wanted to get into an argument about the finer points of US Constitutional Law with anyone over the matter, though she supposed that instinct did bode well for her cover.

The important thing was, there were loopholes.

Loopholes she would be exploiting soon enough if everything went to plan.

The “suspected terrorism” loophole? It was a stretch, but there was no doubt Primeiro Comando da Capital posed a threat. Especially now that the PCC was dipping their toes into arms trafficking. So the “intelligence gathering on a foreign national for the purposes of national security” loophole? Ding. Ding. Ding.

No. If she was being honest with herself, she knew why she was so irritable, why the spare decor was undeservedly receiving her ire.

It was because her team, at least at some level, still didn't trust her.

It had been days now since Beatrice’s first contact with Ava. They returned to the states two days following their ‘ meet cute’ as Mary had taken to calling it— “how professional,” Beatrice grumbled as she received a variety of curt nods and pats on the back from members of her new team. It was mostly a precaution to keep her cover but also served to make herself potentially available if Ava reached out again. They’d arrived early yesterday morning, jet-lagged and pretending not to be with copious amounts of caffeine (Beatrice had decided to steer clear of the other beverages when they boarded the flight back).

But when they landed at the Fayetteville FBO and piled into two SUVs—Were they walking cliches right out of a James Cameron movie? Yes. Did Beatrice have some sense of pride that she was with the ‘cool kids’ of Special Activities now? Also yes—Beatrice was told to go with Superion, Mary, and Shannon, who she learned rather quickly was the Team Lead. She didn’t think anything of it until they were turning the exact wrong direction out of the airport to return to Fort Liberty—a drive Beatrice had made enough times she might be able to do it with her eyes closed; a drive she’d actually made with at least one eye closed returning from some assignment at some ungodly hour on four hours of sleep in as many days.

Beatrice knew she had a cover. She knew, in theory, things would be happening to solidify said cover while they waited to hear back from Ava. However, she had not expected to be deprived of her nearby home in Southern Pines when that happened. It seemed… impractical at best.

However, Superion was very clear: she was not to return to her own home, nor go anywhere near Fort Liberty, and as much as possible she should avoid places she previously regularly frequented. Which shouldn't be a problem because Durham was nearly two hours north anyway.

It was overkill. That’s what she would have said had anyone asked. Internally, though, it stung.

Did Superion expect either Ava or her father to, on a whim, waltz down from New York where they were on holiday (and enjoying it if Ava’s messages and occasional photos were any implication), simply for an extended shopping trip in Durham, a college town of a city with population of a measly 200,000?

Obviously not. Superion might be cautious, a good trait for a leader to have, but she wasn't stupid. Locking Beatrice away like this wasn't because she actually thought she was in danger: it was because somehow, somewhere, Beatrice had fucked up in her eyes.

What the fuck had she done to make her team decide she needed to handled with kid gloves?

Keep Reading

[overkill-max]

The Lost Mask (1/ 3)

——————

Summary: Aaliyah Amrohi considers herself an amateur treasure hunter. What happens when she stumbles upon a journal that claims the Funerary Mask of Thājite Princess is a fake, and the real article was stolen during the Roman period? With the mask over 5,000 kilometers away, and mercenaries at her heels; can Aaliyah trust a woman she just met to keep her safe while she tries to unearth the mask?

AKA

The Sexy Treasure Hunter AU

——————

...A twig snapped. Aaliyah stepped further back. Using the light of the fire as cover. If she stayed a bit further away, the creature coming at her would be lit up while she was at the edge of it.

The shadows would give her a second or two...

Read it on AO3

[super-rangers]

Can't believe I actually got it done this weekend

Enjoy!

[the-royal-blue-network]

Chapters: 2/7 Fandom: Special Ops: Lioness (TV) Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Aaliyah Amrohi/Cruz Manuelos | Zara Adid Characters: Cruz Manuelos | Zara Adid, Aaliyah Amrohi, Original Characters, Asmar Ali Amrohi Additional Tags: Fluff and Humor, Flirting, Romance, Alternate Universe Summary:

They look like they've had sex when they're done. It feels like sex when they're done. It doesn't matter what Cruz says, Aaliyah's pretty sure it's sex they're having.

Health inspector and Bartender AU

[hopelesslygazingthestars]

Chapters: 10/10 Fandom: Batwoman (TV 2019), Batwoman (Comics), Batwoman (TV 2019) RPF Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Sophie Moore/Ryan Wilder, Angelique Martin/Ryan Wilder, Luke Fox & Ryan Wilder, Sophie Moore & Ryan Wilder, Jada Jet & Ryan Wilder, Cora Lewis & Ryan Wilder, Diane Moore & Sophie Moore, Jordan Moore & Sophie Moore, Mary Hamilton & Ryan Wilder Characters: Ryan Wilder, Sophie Moore, Jada Jet, Jordan Moore, Angelique Martin, Cora Lewis, John Diggle (DCU), Diane Moore, Tyler | Sophie Moore's Husband, Luke Fox, Mary Hamilton (DCU), Kate Kane (DCU), Iris West, Victor Zsasz, Jacob Kane, Renee Montoya, Russell Tavaroff Additional Tags: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Religious Imagery & Symbolism, Religious Conflict, Internalized Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Character Death, Modern Royalty, Special Ops: Lioness - Freeform, Alternate Universe, Undercover Missions, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Female Characters, Alternate Universe - Military, Women in the Military, Fluff and Angst, First Meetings, Mother-Daughter Relationship, War, Blood and Violence, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Child Soldiers Series: Part 4 of Wildmoore Summary:

AU based on Special Ops: Lioness – follows Ryan Wilder, a boisterous but passionate Marine who escapes out of Gotham and is recruited to join the Birds Of Prey Engagement Team. Her mission: befriending the woman linked to high-value CIA targets in Southern Africa in order to gather intel and eliminate them at the right moment. Enter Sophie Moore, the Zambesi Princess battling with her family’s expectations, and the spanner in the works to Ryan’s ability to see her mission completed. Two wholly different worlds collide, shaking up everything they thought they knew about themselves.

Very Slow Burn.

[conflagrate]

Autumn 2023 Anime + TV Season

I can’t believe it’s another season!

Anime

Despite a strike-filled quarter in the Western world, I still found very little anime suitable to my tastes. I must accept that, like how Vtubees and Holothingies dominate the conversations these days, that the industry has moved on without me! (not that I really care…). But boy, is it hard to write a season preview when it’s the norm for shows to have a screwed-up production schedule to the point where they spillover into the following cour (here’s looking at you, Zombie show…)

Rankings 1. Horimiya -piece- 2. Jujutsu Kaisen 3. Bungou Stray Dogs S5 4. Zom 100

Shows (to be) completed: 6 Continuing: 1

Well that’s an awful number...but expected!

Moving on to autumn….

Must Watch: Seijo no Maryoku S2 (YES YES YES), MahoYome S2 pt 2, Goblin Slayer S2 (might as well….), Arknights S2 (sigh), SPY x FAMILY S2, Kusuriya no Hitorigoto, Sousou no Frieren [off to a great start already!]

Sounds Interesting! Hope It Doesn’t Suck!: Overtake!, Kamonohashi Ron no Kindan Suiri, 16bit Sensation, Pluto, Under Ninja, Hoshikuzu Telepath, Kawagoe Boys Sing

Not My Thing but Who Knows!: Megumi no Daigo, Ragna Crimson, Yuzuki-san’chi no Yonkyodai, Kamierabi, Onmyoji, Migi to Dali (the manga is so-so but I might watch cos RIP Sano Nami), Good Night World, Undead Unluck, Hametsu no Okoku, Akuma-kun, Atarashii Joushi wa Dotennen, Dog Signal

Do I Have To…? (No I Don’t): Ojo to Banken-kun, Shangri-La Frontier, Dekoboko Majo, SHY, Bullbuster, Kikansha no Mahou, Bokura no Ameiro Protocol, 100Kano, Hanako-kun, Matsuinu

Sequel/Spinoff Hell: Captain Tsubasa S2, FLCL (just why??), MF Ghost (it’s an Initial D thing so I may just give it a go??), Tokyo Revengers, Kage no Jitsuryokusha S2, Kizuna no Allele S2, Uma Musume S3, Beyblade X, Tate no Yusha S3, Kanojo mo Kanojo S2, Otona Precure, Saihate no Paladin S2, Nanatsu no Taizai, Dead Mount Death Play Pt 2, Dr Stone New World Pt2, Rail Romanesque S2 (WHYYYY)

Light Novel/Isekai/Villainess Hell: S Rank Musume, Boshoku no Berserk, Wataoshi, Toaru Ossan, Ikenai Koto, Kimizero, Hikikomari Kyuketsuki, Buta no Liver, Tearmoon Teikoku Monogatari, Potion-danomi,

Idol/Vtuber/AI/Musical Hell: B Project, Paradox Live, HypMic S2 (do I really want to torture myself again?), Imas Million Live

Continuing: Jujutsu Kaisen S2

Expected Load: 10

Oh shit I’m scared I may pick up too many shows for autumn!

TV & Streaming

What I’ve been watching in 3Q23…

Disney+/Hulu: Only Murders in the Building S3, Ahsoka, Kisetsu no nai Machi Netflix: The Lincoln Lawyer S2, Heartstopper S2 HBO: Full Circle, Mare of Easttown+ Apple TV: Hijack Amazon Prime: Wilderness, Deadloch Peacock: Twisted Metal, The Continental* BBC: Wolf, The Woman in the Wall,Colin From Accounts S1 [Binge Aus], Sherwood S1+, The Thick Of It+ S1-4, Funland+ Others: Special Ops: Lioness (Paramount+), The Newsreader S1+2 (ABC Australia), The Ipcress File+ (ITV), The Prisoner+ (ATV), Tsukutabe (NHK+), The Booth at the End (City)

+=older show, *=continuing

Total series completed: 23 Full-length films watched: 45

Holy moley guacamole I watched way too many films…

Writers’ strike just ended (pending ratification) and actors are still picketing so who knows when we’ll get new episodes of any network telly worth watching? Meanwhile, the ROTW & streaming keeps truckin’ on…

CBS: NCIS: Sydney(?) NBC: Irrational(?) Disney+/Hulu: Loki S2, A Murder at the End of the World, Culprits Netflix: Bodies, The Fall of the House of Usher(?), All The Light We Cannot See(?) HBO/Max: Julia S2 Apple TV: Slow Horses S3, Lessons In Chemistry BBC: Boiling Point, Time series 2, Vigil S2, The Way(?) ITV: The Long Shadow, Payback, Breathtaking(?), Orphan Black: Echoes(?) Showtime: Fellow Travelers(?), The Curse Gameshows: Only Connect, Richard Osman’s House of Games Reality: Produce 101 Japan S3 + older shows whenever I feel like it...

Why am I watching so much stuff instead of doing something productive with my time?

[alleyesonthehindenburg]

hear me out... witcher sentinel AU

so the sentinel 'verse would have to be one where sentinels are even rarer than usual, and not thought well of. (my mind has this firmly modern-time, dubiously our world?) they're useful, though, so you get places like Kaer Morhen, where sentinels are sent once they come online for military training. they're good for special ops type operations, suicide missions. guides are known of, mostly though historical sources, but the practice has been co-opted by the military to maximise efficiency. military guides tend to be moderately talented but well-trained in making sure a sentinel is functioning. they aren't paired off based on personal compatibility, but rather by efficiency test results. the traditional emotional role of a guide is effectively ignored (and, mind, with the rarity of sentinels in this 'verse, there's not a lot of formal literature on the subject – mostly fairy tales and airport romance novels).

Geralt was abandoned by his mother as a child and, with no living relatives, ended up bouncing around the foster system for a few years with some less-than-stellar families. he came online relatively young, at thirteen, all five senses, and was promptly whisked away to Kaer Morhen after his caseworker reported that he was a sentinel.

sentinel training, as mentioned before, is all about efficiency. there aren't mutagens involved like with witchers in canon, but the goal of places like Kaer Morhen is basically to create robots – ignore your emotions, don't think about pain. none of it matters. so that's Geralt's life for a decade or so, until a high-profile mission goes to shit. all of Geralt's squad dies but him, the newly-elected president makes a big show of giving Geralt a medal. in the meanwhile Geralt's been placed on medical leave for a year or two, both for publicity reasons ('look how well we treat our sentinel soldiers!') and because he sustained injuries in the mission that are going to affect his performance for a while, if not permanently.

we go now to Jaskier: starving artist, not starving in the literal sense because his parents are well-off and keep him in comfort as he waits for his musical career to take off (this to replace the patrons that Jaskier has in canon). now, guides are not so cut-and-dry as sentinels in terms of their determination. they're usually identified based on a mandatory empathy placement test at eighteen, and those scoring above a certain point are offered to train at Kaer Morhen alongside the sentinels. it's entirely optional, though, and Jaskier barely made the cut for that offer back when he took the placement test, not that he had any interest whatsoever in accepting it.

now, Aretuza and Ban Ard... I'm thinking that these are places where the highest-scoring guides go, the ones who are absolutely fucking off the charts, the ones who can do more than just sense emotion and soothe sentinels. these are the ones trained to be spies and diplomats, untied to any sentinel. Yennefer is one of these, of course; I'm not sure about the details of her history, but as of present-day she's something of a rogue agent.

now, Geralt being on enforced leave, needs to do something. his military stipend isn't much and he'd drive himself crazy with inactivity. Kaer Morhen wants to sign him on with some totally-not-sketchy military contractors, but Geralt manages to get a more agreeable position: bodyguard. he bounces between assignments at first, because sentinels unnerve people even when they're protecting them. but he ends up assigned to protect Cirilla, daughter of a recently-deceased ambassador, granddaughter of the Lioness Calanthe, the first woman to ascend to the rank of general of the army.

... that’s all I’ve got for now but I’m definitely gonna be coming back to it

[trickyarchangel]

Pt. 2 - Untitled - Bond!AU

previously

Steve fully understands his mistake when Q -how could Steve ever let himself slip- freezes in the doorway. They are, both of them, suspended in time, and the outcome of the moment is dependent on how stretched thin Q might be feeling that day. Being the most sought-after quartermaster in SHIELD is enough to run anyone ragged.

Steve drops his hand from the mantle as Q steps back and shuts the door. He doesn’t turn around, just stares at his glove-covered hand on the doorknob. Steve’s stomach attempts to flip as he lets himself focus on that detail. Q always boasts callous-covered fingers and work-roughened palms, no stranger to hard work where his inventions are concerned; he finds no shame in showing them off.

To have them hidden now, it’s a reminder of why Q is here in the first place. Steve knows those gloves; they’re elbow-length to protect the palm print, nitrile, custom fitted to Q’s exact specifications.

“I took the liberty of showing her out.”

Steve knows he’s an asshole, has known it since the first girl’s heart he’d broken his sophomore year in high school. He’s crossed the line, a line they both established at the beginning of their working relationship. He wonders absently how many bags Celeste had been carried out in, and how many times Q had apologized as he’d worked.

Steve also knows there’s a large bottle of whiskey in Q’s future. He wants to prevent that, has always wanted to prevent Q drowning out the memories of what he’s done for Steve, things that no other quartermaster would ever get their hands dirty doing. It’s a bond only Steve can claim with Q, and he will fight for that bond until he draws that last breath.

The expression on Q’s face when he finally turns around tells Steve that his last breath might be sooner than he anticipated.

“I’m sorry,” Q says, dangerously flat. The USB is clutched tight in his fist. “I don’t think I heard you correctly. What did you call me?”

Steve is the best damn operative SHIELD has in the field. He’s not afraid of his quartermaster. He’s not trying to guess how many different things Q can kill him with just by the foyer’s side table. He is, however, trying anticipate the landmines ahead of him.

"I said 'don't go, please'," Steve replies, stepping down into the living area. He can see Q's desire to kill him written in the bitter lines around his mouth, the bags under his eyes.

Q turns his head, looks to the door in hesitation, and Steve sees the hard plastic aid nestled in his ear. It's a reminder that Q's field activity is always monitored. And Steve has slipped.

He'll need to be prepared for a psych evaluation in the coming week. Fury will want to test him, make sure he's still fit for duty. Fury might even threaten to pull Q from Steve's corner, but in the end, it will all be hot air and bluster.

Q will never allow Steve to go into the field without his personal backup. It's that fact that Steve takes advantage of, slinking forward with the grace of a prowling lioness.

"The mission is over," Q states, shoving aside the flap of his suit jacket to drop the USB into the pocket of his tweed waistcoat. He buttons the pocket shut then begins to peel the gloves off his hands.

Steve has no problem admitting that he'd like to kneel at Q's feet and free each of his fingers with his teeth. He's even asked once, receiving nothing more than a bland look, a barbed retort, and a new gun. He knows not to ask this time, watching instead as Q reaches up to pull the ear piece out. He splints it open with his thumbnail, and it parts like the skin of a grape. Steve is insanely turned on in that moment.

Q glances up at Steve and sucks his teeth briefly. "I think we're done here." He comes forward, and Steve bravely stands his ground, but Q only walks around him and casually, purposely, presses his bare finger against the power switch for the fireplace, leaving a fingerprint behind. The flames burst into life, and Steve supposes this means he'll have to burn the apartment down and find a new place to live.

A shame; he quite likes the view.

Q tosses the gloves and the earpiece into the fire and doesn't even offer them the courtesy of watching them melt. He faces Steve again and shoves his hands into his coat pockets.

"Do you know why you need me?" Q asks, and the question catches Steve off guard. He breathes in the scent of the gloves burning as he sifts through a couple of possible answers.

"Every now and then, a job requires no triggers be pulled," is what he answers.

The flames lick at the slate tiles behind Q. He's illuminated from behind, light dancing through his dark brown hair and catching on the silver coating his temples and the longer locks artfully tucked behind his ear. He doesn't look like a hidden-away special ops. Steve sees him more as the model come to life from the cover of a women's magazine.

"It's because you are a spoiled brat," Q corrects him flatly.

Steve crosses his arms and watches Q focus on the brass buckles of his suspenders. "Well, that's just unfair," Q's gaze flashes up to Steve's, "and blatantly true."

Q regards him in silence after that then looks at his own shoes. He pulls his hands free and walks towards the other end of the couch. Steve doesn't move, doesn't want to give in to the urge to match the restless pacing.

"Sabin," Q says, the word sliding from his tongue in an accent Steve's not familiar with in Q's voice.

"Excuse me?"

Q purses his mouth and shrugs. "Her brother's name. He goes to school in Tuscany, wants to be an artist. An artist, of all things, in a world like this."

Steve is tense, his fingers digging into his palms where they're hidden beneath his arms. "I didn't force her into this life."

"No, you didn't," Q concedes. "But neither would you have ever cared enough to know."

It's a wonder Steve's jaw unclenches long enough for him to retort. "I don't have the luxury or, yes, the desire to learn the history of every opposing agent that wants to be the one to take down 007."

"But, as you claim, you have the luxury of - how did you put it - enjoying yourself, of fucking any of them that catches your fancy, or your dick."

Bingo. Steve relaxes his stance and laughs a little, letting his arms unfurl as he saunters to the wet bar in front of the kitchen divide. He's sure to keep Q in his sightline, grabbing a bottle of scotch and popping the cork with a satisfying echo around the room.

"You know, Q, if you spent less time thinking about who catches my dick, I'm sure that pile of junk in your lab could be our next spec car."

He's lifting the bottle to pour when he loses hearing in his left ear, experiencing a high whine in his right. The bottle slips from his grasp, smashing against the bamboo flooring. He follows it, dropping to his knees and clasping his hands over his ears.

It feels like hours pass before the ringing stops and the pressure against his ears releases. He blinks, not remembering closing his eyes, and see Q is crouched in front of him, an expression of sad resignation adorning his features.

Steve blinks again and has to look at his hands to see if they're drenched in blood.

"Are my ears bleeding?" He knows that his mouth is moving, but it takes a few seconds for sound to register again. Too long. Dangerous. He's disoriented, and also nauseous. "Damn."

Q huffs, his breath stirring the fringe on Steve's brow. He looks down at Steve's held-out palms and then places a small device in the center of his left hand.

"A vicious little thing, innocuous, overlooked," Q informs him softly. "Do you think, Agent, that you'd still remember her name after that?"

~TBC~

[aggressivelyaverage21]

Chapter 2: Red Coat Marine with the lovely @kloperslegend

She's an exhausted senior, she's a... ground intelligence officer?

They’d picked her out early. Day one, as soon as they’d been separated into their platoons. The tall, bulky man she’d come to know as Sergeant Instructor Walters skimmed down the list as he paced up and down the line of presenting candidates. When he got to her, he squinted at his clipboard before snapping his small eyes up as he walked past. “Harvard huh… You’re not too good for us, are you, Harvard? This ain’t the fucking Ivy League. ” 

And then Beatrice had opened her mouth. A simple, “No, Staff Sergeant,” had the hulking man spinning on his heel and coming back to her. 

His face inches from hers. “You fucking with me, Harvard? What the hell kind of accent is that?” 

“No, Sir. I grew up in London, Sir.” 

“Well, I’ll be damned. Looks like we got a regular Benedict Arnold.” Beatrice knew better than to correct the Sergeant. She really, really did. It didn’t mean she didn’t want to, though. She’d been called worse by her parents, but being singled out like this didn’t sit well with her. “And I’m not a Sir! Get on your face.” 

She had listened, immediately dropping into the increasingly familiar pushup position as she yelled, “Aye, Staff Sergeant!” at the top of her lungs . 

This particular morning, there hadn’t been any ‘ pushing ’ yet, though Beatrice was sure there would be at some point. She hadn’t done so many pushups in her life, and she’d only been here for three days. 

But the running part? This part, right now? She looked forward to it.

In less than a mile they came to a stop in the worn, patchy grass in front of the old line of pull-up bars, with their yellowing stale tape and rust. It was hardly a warm-up, but that didn’t stop several of her classmates from needing to catch their breath with their hands on their knees, only to get scolded.

Though ‘scolded’ was maybe a bit mild for, “Have you never gone for a fucking jog , candidate? Are you telling me you can’t lug your fat body here from the squad bay without wheezing like a little pig, candidate? Don’t worry. We’ll fix it.”

Beatrice had no idea how the Sergeant Instructors still had voices, considering how much they yelled. Come to think of it, she wasn’t entirely sure she’d yet heard something that wasn’t yelling. She’d even heard one of the candidates whispering something about how they practice yelling at trees… an entirely unhelpful image to have in her mind as she tried to keep her ‘military bearing.’ 

Noise was something she was starting to learn to tune out to a degree. If the yelling wasn’t at her, she found a way to let her mind wander, usually to other things they needed to know, what she needed to be doing, material they needed to be reviewing—with what little sleep they were getting, even seconds of memorization review was priceless. 

While her classmates were getting smoked in the grass next to her she looked at the aged pull up bars. A distinct path had been worn through the grass between the pavement and the bars themselves, and the concave impression in the dirt beneath the bars betrayed the passage of many feet. 

How many Marines had used them? Certainly every officer since at least Vietnam, maybe even before that. And then the line from that to the legends they had already been getting told about, like some sort of combination between service folklore, bedtime stories, and genuine awe at the individuals. Those legends must have touched these, too, or ones like these. People many hailed as heroes had stood where she stood. Done the same things she was doing. 

She’d naively thought her parents' expectations were impossible shoes to fill. They couldn’t even be measured on the same scale of the expectations she was facing now. 

And these expectations had purpose.

KEEP READING

[aggressivelyaverage21]

Chapter 3: The Amber Price of Whiskey

She's a badass, she's a lightweight

.... enter one Ava Silva

“Do you have a mirror under there? This is some Vegas magician shit you’re pulling.” 

Suzanne peered out the screen door to the patio, where Mary and Shannon sat across from each other, evidently playing cards. A modest pile of beer bottles collected to their left. Mary slammed her cards down on the table. 

“I’m just good!” Shannon, tall, fair, and smiling, laid her cards face down onto the table and leaned in with a smile. 

Mary huffed and picked up her cards. “Chief? That you in there? Shannon’s cheating at cards again.” She turned back to Shannon. “And what am I, ‘o for seven, ‘o for eighteen now?”

“Stop cheating, Shannon,” called Superion. 

“The next time I win, you’re cleaning the fucking toilet is what you’re doing,” Mary muttered.

Just then, a door closed somewhere in the house. Rather than Beatrice, Lilith walked into the kitchen. Lilith was tall and stern, with distinctive cheekbones and a delicate bone structure. It was modelesque in a way that could be intimidating. This wasn’t helped by the most severe case of resting bitch face Suzanne had ever seen—outside of her own, of course. 

Lilith greeted her with a nod before opening the fridge. What she was looking for, Superion didn’t know; it was empty but for a beer called Alhambra when she’d just grabbed the water bottle. 

Lilith closed the fridge, beer in hand. She nodded towards the whiskey. “I don’t know how you can stand that with no ice.”

“ This is for cooling off,” Superion held up the water. She held up her whiskey in the other, nodded toward it. “This is not.”

“Just drink beer like the rest of us, Chief, and you’ll get both at the same time,” Miguel said, sliding onto the stool next to Superion. He held out his hand toward Lilith and she obliged, tossing a beer across the kitchen. He caught it easily.

“Mmm. But then I’ll have to look like you.” 

Just then, Beatrice walked through the living room and into the dining area. She’d caught the tail end of the conversion, so at face value, this was a wild thing to say. Miguel wasn’t Beatrice’s type, but she had eyes. The guy was fit, and not un attractive. 

But you know what? Somehow that made it even funnier. 

Beatrice continued into the kitchen comfortably, eyes settling on the beat-up yellow YETI cooler at Superion’s feet. On top, it had a dirty piece of duct tape labeled CANTINA in thick sharpie marker. Beatrice grimaced, amused. Almost every unit she’d deployed with had something similar, though the YETI was a step up from the beat up old Igloo held together by duct tape and dreams they’d had in Syria.

Miguel raised his head to look at Beatrice. “And you must be our little Sparrow.”

Mary leaned her chair back to more clearly see from the backyard into the apartment, hand over her brow to shade her eyes. “Hey, if you’re here to fix the air conditioner, it’s right around the corner. Thank you very much. Thank you for your service.” 

Ah, ball busting, a tradition as integral to this job as much as any other. Beatrice ignored her and leaned on the back of the sofa. She did, however, fight a smile when she heard a thud followed by a whispered “ What ? I was just fucking with her.”

Superion set down her whisky glass and cleared her throat. “I’ll introduce you to everyone. That out there is my QRF team lead, Shannon. That across from her is Shotgun Mary.” She gestured to the shirtless blond to her right, then to the woman cracking a beer open by slamming it against the counter. “This is Miguel, and that’s Lilith.”

“We’ve met,” said Beatrice to Lilith. She offered a respectful nod toward the fellow Marine. Former Marine? Beatrice never could tell; some people said you could never be a former Marine. Beatrice tended to agree. “Villaumbrosia.”

They’d worked together a couple of times in Kuwait. Lilith was precise, meticulous, and to the point. A bit more abrasive than Beatrice usually preferred in her coworkers, but trustworthy and reliable overall. Lilith returned the nod. “Kline.”

The door shut, and everyone turned to see a short-haired brunette kick off her shoes, grocery bags in hand. “And I’m Camila” 

Lilith set her beer down to help Camila with the grocery bags. Mary opened the screen door and came inside, moving counterclockwise around the kitchen bar and gathered crew to get to the fridge. 

“Why Shotgun Mary?”

“Take a guess.” Snarky, but alright. Beatrice had earned that. Also, if it was anything like the other nicknames or callsigns, it was probably something incredibly stupid. 

“Beatrice, can I get you a beer?” Superion stood and made like she was moving toward the kitchen.

“Just water, please.”

“Water,” sniggered Mary, not enough under her breath to not be a goad. Despite her protests, Camila sent a water bottle Beatrice’s way via air mail. It only narrowly missed Superion as she ducked out of the way. 

Much to Beatrice’s relief, she didn’t bobble the bottle at all as she pulled it from the air, smoothly twisting the cap off as she raised it to her lips. Yikes. It was never a good sign when water tasted sweet. She should probably get on the hydration train fairly soon or she would be regretting it tomorrow, drinking today or not. “When do we start?”

“His family keeps an apartment here,” Superion answered, idly twisting her back as she moved around. Beatrice didn’t blame her—she felt stiff from the plane ride too—but each twitch as Suzanne subtly stretched a certain spot implied the woman had an old injury. “We have eyes on it. When she moves, we move.”

“And where does he stay?” Beatrice obviously had said she didn’t have a problem using this woman to get to her father, but it would be infinitely easier if she could just access the target with little to no fuss.

“That’s the million dollar question you’re here to answer.” The reply was provided with some satisfaction, like Superion was sure that she’d made the right choice with Beatrice.

Just then, Mary walked up to Beatrice, face smiling—practically a picture of compassion.

“Let’s see that,” Mary chided, taking the open water bottle directly from Beatrice’s hand and slamming a beer in its place. She looked Beatrice in the eye, set a hand on her shoulder. “I don’t trust anyone who doesn’t doesn’t get drunk with me. Bottoms up, Babygirl.” 

KEEP READING

[overkill-max]

The Lost Mask (3/ 3)

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Summary: Aaliyah Amrohi considers herself an amateur treasure hunter. What happens when she stumbles upon a journal that claims the Funerary Mask of Thājite Princess is a fake, and the real article was stolen during the Roman period? With the mask over 5,000 kilometers away, and mercenaries at her heels; can Aaliyah trust a woman she just met to keep her safe while she tries to unearth the mask?

AKA

The Sexy Treasure Hunter AU

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After their first kiss, Cruz opens her eyes in amazement.

Aaliyah stares back at her with those big eyes of hers.

Sapphire blue.

Piercing.

As clear and luminescent as the water they’re floating in...

Read it on AO3

[overkill-max]

The Arrangement (1/ 3)

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Summary: Cruz and Aaliyah were always destined to meet by bumping into each other. This time, Aaliyah is the one that instigates their meeting because she needs a protector and a friend. Little did she know, she would find more than that in a young marine.

AKA

The Fake Marriage AU

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...“If we get married, like the guys were saying, you can live on base with me. Where Ehsan and his men can’t reach you.” Cruz tells her softly.

Getting married means that Aaliyah and by extension, Ayasha, would be safe behind guards and barbed wire...

Read it on AO3

[aggressivelyaverage21]

Co-written with the lovely: @kloperslegend

Captain Beatrice Kline, USMC, is tapped for a unique undercover assignment: make friends with the mark, a young woman, all in the hopes of finding—and eliminating—the real target: the young woman's father, a notorious international drug lord.

But the more Beatrice learns about the target the less convinced she is of his real position within the cartel—not that her Agency handler will believe her.

More damningly, the longer Beatrice remains undercover, the more she struggles to conduct herself in the presence of her mark: the devastating Ava Silva.

Or: 

Special Ops: Lioness AU (Do not need to see the show for this one to make sense)

[overkill-max]

Duty and Desire (2 /4)

I just want to write a quick little AU fic, so hopefully everyone enjoys it.

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Summary: FBI Special Agent Amrohi is sent to the Middle East to help with interrogations. Death threats are issued and soon she goes from being safe to needing constant protection. What happens when Marine Security Guard Manuelos meets the unstoppable force that is Agent Amrohi? Just how easy is it to do your duty when it intersects with desire?

AKA

The Bodyguard AU

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... The acrid smoke of burning plastic mixed with the smell of charred flesh makes it feel like her throat will never recover from this day. Like she will always breathe in that smell.

She coughs and her head hurts.

“Aaliyah?” Cruz asks in a panic. Still orienting herself.

The woman in question is unresponsive. A contrast to how she normally moves around in a way that the entire room seems to light up when she’s nearby...

Read it on AO3

[overkill-max]

The Arrangement (4/ 4)

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Summary: Cruz and Aaliyah were always destined to meet by bumping into each other. This time, Aaliyah is the one that instigates their meeting because she needs a protector and a friend. Little did she know, she would find more than that in a young marine.

AKA

The Fake Marriage AU

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...Cruz never imagined she’d be good at having a family.

Her life had been a series of wars, and she was not used to unconditional things.

Everything had a price...

Read it on AO3

[overkill-max]

Announcement No. 746

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Summary: After fighting many wars, Cruz is looking for a better way to live her life. Forty words later, she is listed in a mail-order newspaper as seeking one thing: matrimony. Aaliyah is a widow looking for some companionship. What happens when out of curiosity, she sends out a letter to the person behind the announcement in The Matrimonial News?

AKA

The Mail-Order Bride AU

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Cruz sighed as she read over the wording of her announcement again.

746 – Former marine, lives in Kansas, 27 years old, 5 feet 8 inches tall. Wants someone who will be true and sweet. Who stands up for their beliefs. Who is willing to build a happy home next to me. Objective, matrimony.

There was no way to change it now. Not when it had already been printed...

Read it on AO3