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slippinmickeys · 3 years ago

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North of Zero (23/23)

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“...Joy?” Scully said. “Did you… did you say your name was Joy?”

Mulder turned to look at Scully who was staring at the girl with a look of amazement.

“I did,” said the girl.

Scully’s mouth opened and closed once and then she said, “Is your mother’s name Patti, by any chance?”

Joy nodded.

“I met you,” Scully said, “When you were a baby. I was in a coffee shop with William and-”

Scully seemed to run out of words.

“When I was gone?” Mulder asked quietly.

She nodded.

Mulder looked at the girl curiously. Scully had told him about the encounter – it was the night he had almost come home and been forced to jump off a train and run into the quarry.

“Your father was NSA,” Mulder said.

“That’s right,” said Joy.

“You can do what William can do.”

Joy looked over at William, who was looking extremely overwhelmed.

“I think so,” the girl said.

“How?” Mulder asked.

“We don’t know for sure,” she said, “but before my father was an analyst, he was a courier. We think my mother came into contact with a piece of one of the ships when she was pregnant with me. It’s all we can piece together at this point.”

“These children are extraordinary,” Peter said. “What you and Joy will be able to do, William…”

At that moment, the faceless rebel leaned forward in his chair and William inhaled quickly, looking startled.

“What’s wrong?” Scully asked.

William pointed at the faceless rebel. “He’s talking to me,” he said, “in my head.”

Mulder whipped his head around to look at the alien and then William jumped up and ran from the room, running into Murphy who was on his way in. Scully stood to follow him, but Joy held up a hand.

“Let me go talk to him,” she said, and turned to go. Scully looked over at Mulder and he reached out and squeezed her hand. The kid probably needed space. Scully hesitantly retook her seat.

“Was it something I said?” Murphy asked.

Peter rubbed a hand over his face, sighing. “What is it, Murphy?” he asked.

Murphy held up an envelope. “ID badges and suite assignment for Bravo, Charlie and Delta.”

“That was fast,” said Peter, and waved him in.

Murphy dumped the envelope out on the table and pulled out three keycards.

“Here are your RFID badges. All the locks in the base operate on radio frequency near-field communication systems. We tried swipe cards for a while, but the magnetite wreaked havoc on the magnetized strips. You should have seen Humphries one time, she got locked in a–” Murphy seemed to realize that he was talking too much. “Ahem. Anyway, here are your cards. You’ve been granted pretty high level access, so make sure to take care of these and keep them on you at all times.”

Mulder and Scully slid the cards toward themselves, both of them distracted.

Murphy started talking about their suite assignment and how to get there.

Mulder tried to concentrate on what the soldier was saying but he only heard half of it, the whole time wondering – hoping that his son would be alright.

XxXxXxXxXxX

William ran from the conference room blindly, running into two soldiers just outside the door who made sounds of outrage, but he tripped on past them and kept running. It was all too much, too fast.

After making his way down a long corridor, he tried to feel his way toward somewhere without people, casting out a wide mental net, but there were beings everywhere – human and alien. It was useless. Finally, he rounded a corner into yet another hallway, and, finding it empty, he leaned against the wall and slid to the floor, covering his face with his hands.

A few minutes later he felt someone approach and stop in front of him.

He dropped his hands and looked up. Joy was standing there in jeans and a green tee shirt with a cartoon planet earth on it.

“You okay?” she asked.

He took a deep breath. “I guess.”

“Mind if I sit?” she asked, and he gestured to her to go ahead.

Joy settled herself down on the ground next to him, hugging her knees into her chest. She looked at him sympathetically for a minute and then finally spoke.

“It’s a lot,” she said, “When I used to get overwhelmed by it all, I would go and find a little corner or a closet and hide in it with a book. It isn’t easy being Alpha around here. Everyone looking at you like you’re some kind of chosen one.”

“No kidding.”

“I’m just saying… I get it. I’m probably the only one who does.”

They sat in silence for a few moments and William felt his equilibrium start to slant back to level.

“You came a long way to get here,” Joy said.

“I came a long way,” he said, nodding. “I didn’t know here was where I was going.”

“What’s it like out there?” she asked with an innocent curiosity.

William thought of the lonely days. The long nights on the cold ground.

“You don’t want to know,” he said.

“Roger that, Bravo.” She started picking at a small hole in the knee of her jeans, pulling at the little white fray.

“Look, I know it sucks,” she started, “but I’m here too. And you’re not alone anymore and neither am I and-“ she stopped when they heard voices coming down the corridor.

A couple of refugees walked by, staring at the both of them and whispering. William sat there sulkily.

“Anyway,” Joy said, standing up and wiping off the back of her pants. “I’ll leave you to it.” She turned to leave. William wanted to lash out. He felt like the dog Jessie, his leg stuck in a trap. And there Joy stood, reaching out a hand in comfort and friendship, trying to release him.

“You said you found a closet?” William finally said, looking up. “Is it nearby?”

Joy smiled at him. “Come on,” she said, reaching down.

He grabbed her hand and let her pull him up.

XxX

Joy swept her keycard in front of the lock on the unmarked door and the light on the mechanism turned green and clicked open.

“How many doors can you open with that thing?” William asked.

“Pretty much all of them,” Joy said, turning the handle and stepping inside. “Being Alpha does have its advantages.”

William followed her in. It wasn’t the broom closet he’d been expecting. The room was unadorned, but there was a small loveseat and an end table next to it. He raised his eyebrows at her.

“Peter talked them into letting me make it more comfortable. No one else knows to look here. It’s a safe space. You want to sit?”

William nodded and took the left side, leaving the right for Joy. She sat and turned to him.

“So…” she said.

“So…”

“Listen, I’m just going to ask,” Joy said in a rush, “I’m dying to know what all you can do. If your powers are the same as mine.”

William had been curious about that himself.

“Okay,” he said, “...moving things with your mind.”

“Easy,” she said. With a slight flick of her wrist, the end table next to the small sofa floated up into the air.

He smiled.

“The ships,” she said, “you can control them?”

He wrinkled his brow. “I can tune into them,” he said, “and bring them down. You?”

“I’ve never brought one down,” she said, “the only ones I’ve ever really had access to belong to the Rebels. But I can… what did you call it? Tuning into them? I can do that. I can fly them.”

“Have you ever done more than one?” he asked. “Does it make you weak?”

She nodded. “Yes,” she said, “but that’s what the ConTech is for.”

“ConTech?”

“Our engineers,” she said, “used some of the technology that the rebels shared with us. It helps me connect with more than one without it taxing my strength. It’s how we’re going to destroy the invaders’ ships.”

“Cool,” he said, wondering what other kind of technology they had. “Can you hide from the ships, too?”

“Hide from them?”

“Yeah, like go inside yourself when you’re about to get scanned. They just pass right by.”

“I don’t know,” she said, pulling back a little bit. “I’ve never had the chance. I’ve never been scanned. I’ve never… they don’t really let me leave here.”

“What? Ever?”

“Not without an armed escort.”

William sat back for a moment. Being on the road by himself had been difficult, stressful, lonely. At times downright scary. But there was a freedom to it. An independence, an agency over his life and his own decisions that he wouldn’t trade for anything. Joy had been taken care of, looked after, hell, downright revered. And yet he felt a little bad for her.

“How about the super soldiers?” she asked him, cutting through his reverie. “You can sense them too, right? Like, how they feel different… empty. And other people? Like, you know where they are, even if you can’t see them.”

“Yes,” he said, tuning back into the conversation. “I can’t tell you how many times that saved my bacon.”

She laughed. “Your bacon ?”

He felt a little self conscious, but he wasn’t going to let her tease him without teasing her back.

“Yes, my bacon,” he said. “It’s rarefied bacon, Joy. Gifted bacon.”

“Savior bacon?” she laughed.

“Apparently.”

They both chuckled, and William felt more comfortable. His parents were amazing, but it was so nice being around someone his own age again. He thought briefly of Dan.

“How about the magnetite?” he asked.

“What about it?”

“You can control it, right? Move it around, call it. It… I don’t know… responds to you.”

Joy gave him a sideways glance. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

William could feel his face fall.

“You can do all that?” she asked.

He nodded, feeling self conscious again.

“That’s so cool.”

“Yeah, I guess,” he said, and she smiled at him.

“So I guess you can do this, too,” she said, but he was looking at her, and her mouth didn’t move. She smiled at him, and he realized she was talking to him in his mind, like the faceless rebel had. He stood up fast.

“Hey, it’s okay,” she said in his head again. “It takes some getting used to.”

He noticed he was breathing hard, and tried to calm himself down. He sat down gingerly, looking at Joy.

“Try to say something back,” she said.

He concentrated on where her voice was, hovering in the space above his ears. He focused his thoughts there and said, without opening his mouth:

“Something back.”

Joy laughed, a short bark that cut through the air.

“See?” she said out loud, “you’re a natural. We should practice. See how far apart we can be in the base. Some of the Rebels? I can talk to them from miles away.”

“Do you like talking to them?” he asked. He’d been frightened by some of the things the faceless man had said to him about his role in the fight against the invaders.

“Yeah,” she shrugged, “though they don’t say much, to be honest. They’re quiet. A little weird. But kind.”

A long silence stretched out in front of them, but it didn’t feel awkward. Finally William looked up at her.

“How about healing?” he asked.

“Yes!” she said, perking up. “That’s been so nice. Though honestly, the worst that ever happens to me around here is like, a paper cut.”

“Well it was handy on the road, I have to say,” William admitted, “And I was able to save my mom, too, which was…” it felt like a lifetime ago, and it had only been a matter of hours.

Joy looked at him, confused. “Your mom?”

“Yeah,” he said, “she got really hurt by one of the super soldiers. Like, verge of death. I saved her.”

Joy had a blank look on her face.

“Can’t you heal other people?” he asked her.

“I-” she said, looking dumbfounded, “I don’t know. I’ve never tried.”

“You want me to go shove somebody down the stairs so you can give it a whirl?” he joked.

“Tempting,” she said, “but no.”

“Hmm…” he said looking at her. He had an idea.

XxXxXxXxXxX

“I should have maybe eased my way into that conversation,” Peter said.

“Honestly,” Mulder said, standing up, “if I was being counted on to save humanity, I think I might want the band-aid ripped off.”

“Should I go after him?” Scully asked. Her sense was to give him his space and let him come to them, but this was a particular parenting dilemma she hadn’t exactly anticipated.

Mulder put a hand on her arm. “Let’s give him some time,” he said. “Will he be safe here?” Mulder asked. “He doesn’t know his way around.”

“Joy does,” said Peter, grunting as he slowly rose from his own chair. “She’ll look after him.”

Scully glanced at Mulder, who gave her a reassuring smile.

She turned back to Peter. “What happened, Peter?” she asked. “Why the limp? The cane?”

“Ah,” said Peter, “a story for another time. Come, I have something to show you.”

He led them, limping slowly down a winding series of hallways and several doorways, using a keycard to get through locked doors. Through various openings they could see a large control room, banks of servers, various offices and a small bullpen.

“This is the command center,” he explained, “the hub of the resistance.” Several soldiers walked by them, in the same dark fatigues that Team Six had been wearing.

“Is it controlled by the military?” Mulder asked.

“We’re run by civilians,” Peter explained, “but have a military branch.”

“U.S.?” Scully asked.

“And Canada. Mexico, too. Think of us like NASA. A civilian agency with a military arm operating in the same domain.”

“You got an org chart?” Mulder asked.

“I’ll see what I can do,” Peter said. “This way,” he went on, opening another locked door that led to what looked like a freight elevator. Sure enough, he pushed a button on the wall, and the large doors opened. The three of them stepped on.

“How do you power the base?” Scully asked, curious how they managed to keep such a massive base running when the electrical grid was a thing of the past.

“You are a scientist, Dr. Scully,” Peter said, smiling down at her. “You are aware of how much energy it takes to quickly cross light years of space?”

“Massive amounts,” she said. “Incalculable amounts.”

“The rebels have afforded us use of one of the drives from their ships. It will keep the base running for the next ten thousand years.”

They rode the rest of the way down the elevator in a stunned silence. Finally, the elevator stopped. They stepped off and into another long hallway. To the right of the elevator was a computer terminal, and Peter typed a few things into it, staring at the screen intently. The interface was a touchscreen, and he scrolled through several screens before making a satisfied sound.

“Right, then,” he said, turning to walk down the hallway, “this way please.”

He led them down the hallway, a set of stairs and then another long hallway. Finally, he stopped in front of a door that was marked 817-12, and turned to them with a smile on his face, leaning on his cane.

“Would you like to knock, or should I?” he asked.

Scully, tilting her head at him in curiosity, reached out and gave two sharp raps to the door. A moment later, it opened up, and a woman looked out, her jaw dropping.

“Scully? Mulder!”

To Scully’s utter astonishment, Rebecca came flying out of the room and wrapped Scully up in an enormous hug. At the sound of voices, a girl came to the door, peering out into the hallway expectantly. Scully noticed her when Rebecca let her go so that she could launch herself with equal enthusiasm into Mulder’s arms.

“Jordan?” Scully said, peering in at the girl, “is that you?”

XxX

They sat for twenty minutes in Rebecca and Jordan’s small quarters catching up while sipping small cups of coffee (coffee!). Rebecca wanted to hear all about where they had been and what they had been up to since she and her daughter had been taken aboard a faceless men’s ship in Southern Ontario several years before.

Peter rose slowly from where he sat, and Scully could tell that he was loathe to interrupt, but he said very quietly:

“Pardon me, miss. But I need to take Mulder and Scully from you. There will be a lot of time for catching up in the next few days, I expect.”

Mulder and Scully said their goodbyes and followed Peter as he wordlessly led them down another few stairways and on to another level. He paused at another door.

“Courage, friends,” he said softly, and knocked.

A young man opened the door, looking at Peter curiously.

“Can I help you?” he said.

“Is your grandmother here?” Peter asked.

The young man nodded and called over his shoulder: “Grandma? There’s someone here to see you.”

After a moment, the door opened wider and Scully had to grab on to Mulder’s arm so that she didn’t pass out.

“Dana?” said the older woman as she came to the door, her voice tremulous with shock.

“Hi Mom,” Scully said tearfully, gripping onto Mulder so hard that she left marks.

XxXxXxXxXxX

“So how big is this place?” William asked.

“Big,” Joy said, stopping in front of a door. “This is you,” she said, lifting one side of her mouth in a smile. “Home sweet home.”

He would be staying with his parents, whom he’d been told were expecting him inside.

“When will I see you again?” William asked, lingering in the hallway.

“Oh I wouldn’t worry about that, William, they’ve got big plans for us.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “So I keep hearing.”

Joy tilted her head at him. “Tell you what,” she said, “this will be good practice. Find me tomorrow morning, in here.” At this she tapped the side of her head, where William had heard her telepathically. “Tell me where you want me to meet and I’ll be there.”

At that, she smiled at him, stuck her hands in the back pockets of her jeans and turned away down the hallway, throwing one last look at him over her shoulder.

William rested his head against the door for a moment before going in.

XxXxXxXxXxX

It was impossible to know what time it was, buried as they were deep below the earth. Mulder hadn’t worn a watch in years, being that time was essentially irrelevant in the new world, where dawn and dusk were the only things you needed to keep track of.

He rolled over in the bed and wrapped an arm around Scully, who was still asleep.

She and William had both crashed hard early after the tumultuous, mentally and physically taxing events of the day before. He wouldn’t have been surprised if she slept until noon. Whenever the hell that would be.

Pressing a gentle kiss into the softness of her hair, he rolled out of bed and ambled into the bathroom of their two bedroom suite (one of the larger accommodations on base, reserved for higher ranking members of the alliance), brushed his teeth and washed his face, and marveled at the endless supply of hot water.

When he stepped into the living area of the suite, he was surprised to find William sitting on the couch, his eyes closed in concentration.

“Hey,” Mulder said softly, and William looked up at him.

“Morning,” William said.

“How long have you been up?”

“About an hour,” William said.

“You okay?” Mulder asked. He was concerned about his son. They hadn’t really had much of a chance to talk about what had happened on the ship, and the Bravo-savior bomb that Peter had dropped on them yesterday. Not to mention the fact that he had just met another person who seemed to have the same powers and gifts as he did. It was a lot for anyone, probably too much for someone simultaneously going through the turbulent trial of puberty, and 100% not the series of events he would ever want inflicted on his own child.

“I mean…” William started gesturing vaguely, and Mulder had to laugh, chuckling as he sat down next to him.

“Yeah,” Mulder said, “I wouldn’t be either. Listen, if you need or want to talk about it, your mom and I are both here.”

“I appreciate that,” William said. “My adoptive parents never really… I’m really glad I found you both.”

Mulder reached out and squeezed his shoulder.

“Now, if you don’t mind,” William went on, “I’m going to deal with my current situation by ignoring it completely and attempting to flirt with a pretty girl.”

Mulder’s eyebrows shot up. “As a parent, I’m not sure I should endorse that particular plan of action, but as a… well, don’t tell Scully I said this, but… go get ‘em, tiger.”

William smiled, looking at the floor and Mulder stood, walking to the small kitchenette to open the few bare cupboards.

“You hungry?” he said, turning to the boy, “I think there’s a cafeteria… somewhere.”

“Yeah,” said William, “I just have to do something first.” With that, he closed his eyes once again and took a deep breath, appearing to slip into some kind of light meditative state.

Mulder watched him and after a moment, he saw the boy’s mouth quirk up in a smile. A second later he opened his eyes, the smile lingering on his face.

“Okay, I’m ready,” he said, standing. “Let’s go get some food, I’m starving.”

XxXxXxXxXxX

Joy was waiting in the large cafeteria when they arrived. She was leaning against the wall by the door with her arms crossed, and shoved off when they walked in.

“You said you’d be here ten minutes ago,” she said, her tone more sass than annoyance.

“Sorry,” William said, throwing a quick look to Mulder, “we got lost.”

His father sucked his lips into his mouth for a second and then said, “I’ll leave you two to it,” and turned away, making a beeline for the coffee station.

Joy made her way over to the line for food – this particular cafeteria, like the suite their family was assigned – was for the higher ranking members of the alliance and the staff that worked at the command center nearby. William trailed her like a shadow.

“You woke me up,” she said, sliding a piece of dry toast on her plate, followed by a piece of bacon and then a scoop of scrambled eggs.

William took three of everything she did, and gave her a smartass smile.

“You told me to practice,” he said.

“Let’s make a deal that you don’t practice until after seven in the future, huh?” she said, sliding her tray further down the row and eyeing the massive pile of food on his plate.

“I had no idea what time it was,” he said, picking up a piece of sausage from his plate and tossing it into his mouth, and then continued with his mouth full: “Our suite doesn’t have a clock.”

“I’ll be sure to get one sent up,” she said, shaking her head.

Once they were at the end of the line, Joy grabbed silverware and a napkin and slid onto a bench at an empty table, where William slid in across from her.

She stared once again at his tray. “Are you seriously going to eat all that?” she asked.

William shoveled a forkful of eggs into his mouth. “A savior needs to keep up his strength,” he replied.

She took a dainty sip of water and looked prim. “You’re certainly in a better mood today.”

He took a snappy bite of bacon. “Well you know how I feel about bacon.”

“Savior bacon?”

“Permission granted.”

Joy finally snorted in laughter, and William felt ten feet tall. He chanced a look at his father who had settled at a table about twenty feet away and he had his nose buried in a large mug of coffee, but William could see the smile he was wearing in the crinkle of his eyes.

A large shadow appeared at the side of their table then, and they both turned to find Peter standing next to them, wearing a small smile and holding a tray in one hand and his cane in the other.

“Good morning,” he said, and they both mumbled quiet good mornings back.

“William, I feel as though I must apologize to you,” he went on. “My delight in seeing your parents again and in having you arrive here in time for humanity’s greatest triumph-” he stopped. “I’m doing it again,” he sighed, scrunching his face in ignominy. “William, I am sorry. Let me leave it at that.”

William felt his face color in embarrassment, but smiled up at the man, shooting a look to Joy.

“It’s okay, Peter,” he said, “I understand. And I have a way you can make it up to me…”

XxX

“Thank you all for coming,” Peter said, as Mulder, Scully and William walked back into the conference room where they had been debriefed the day before. Peter was already in the room, along with Joy, Humphries, a faceless rebel and an older man who looked like Paul Sorvino, who was dressed in the dark fatigues of the alliance’s military unit.

Joy gave William a little finger wave as he slid into a chair in between his parents, but her face was grim.

“I’d like to introduce you to General Sidney,” said Peter, nodding at the military man. “While I’m one of the scientific leads here, the General is the head of operations on base.”

William followed his parents’ lead and nodded at the man.

“Welcome,” the General said. “When Captain Humphries told me who you were, I admit I almost fell out of my chair.”

Humphries gave a clipped smile and leaned back in her seat, her gaze resting uncomfortably on William, who shifted uneasily.

“I would like to give you all time to acclimate yourself to life here at Base Zero, and to reconnect with some of the friends and family you’ve been reunited with,” William heard his mother take a deep inhale from beside him. “But I’m afraid time isn’t something that’s on our side.”

The General rose to his feet and pressed a fob that he was holding in his hand. A large screen lit up on the wall opposite the wall of bedrock. Everyone turned their attention to it as a map of the world appeared, several large circles of red populating parts of the map intermittently.

“We’ve gotten reports from Bases Three, Seven and Twelve of large upticks in enemy ship activity in their sectors. Abductions, killings, you name it,” the General said. “There’s also rumors coming in from Bases Two and Nine of mass sweeps of some of the larger refugee camps and towns where people collect to trade.”

The mood in the room took on a bleak, tense energy.

“The enemy is on the move,” the General said, “and the time to act is now.” He turned to Humphries. “Captain.”

Captain Humphries stood and held onto the back of her chair.

“We know what Alpha is capable of,” she said, “but Bravo is an unknown quantity.”

William swallowed thickly, and could feel both of his parents shifting uncomfortably in their seats.

“We’d like to run him through a battery of tests-”

“No,” Scully said, interrupting her, “absolutely not.”

Humphries shot a look to Peter, who leaned forward.

“They would be harmless tests, Scully,” Peter said, his forehead crinkled in empathy, “just to see what William’s aptitudes are. I would run them myself. You and Mulder are of course welcome to sit in, if that would be agreeable to William.”

William thought nothing he’d heard in the last few minutes sounded the least bit agreeable, but he shot a look to Joy who gave him a tiny nod.

“ It’s okay, ” he heard her say in his head, “ I’ll be there, too .”

William cleared his throat when he realized all the eyes in the room were on him. Scully was looking at him intently and he knew what she was thinking – if he said no to anything, she’d go to war on his behalf.

“No, it’s okay,” he said. “I’ll do it.”

Humphries inhaled and gave him a quick encouraging nod, when Mulder leaned forward.

“All right, so you test him,” his father said, “what then? I assume you have a plan in place and have since long before we arrived here. What is it?”

“That’s classified,” barked Humphries.

“Captain,” Peter said, an edge of scolding creeping into his voice.

Humphries looked to General Sidney, who sat down and leaned forward on the table, lacing his fingers together.

“We have a device,” the General said, “that will amplify Alpha’s powers over the ships. It will network all ships on the planet, and Alpha – and Bravo as well, if his powers are so inclined – will use their psychokinetic abilities to bring the ships down. All of them.”

“How many ships are we talking?” Mulder said.

“Hundreds,” Humphries said, her voice clipped.

“No,” Scully said again, “I’ve seen what bringing down just four of those ships did to my son. It almost killed him!”

“The device we’ve created with the Rebels mitigates much of the damage done-” Peter began, but Scully interrupted him.

“These are children . You cannot possibly expect them to-” she shook her head, worked up. “Where is Patti? Where is this girl’s mother?” Scully pointed at Joy. “There is no way she has consented to-”

“She’s dead,” said Joy in an even tone of voice. Everyone in the room stopped and looked at her. “And you’re right. She probably never would have let me put myself at risk like this. But she’s gone. And it’s my choice, now. These are my powers. I don’t know why I have them. I don’t know why William has them. But I’m going to use them to help people. That’s my decision. And I think it should be William’s, too.”

Everyone’s eyes shifted to him.

He took a breath and then nodded slowly.

“I’d be a pretty shit person if I let her stick her neck out for humanity and I just watched. Plus I can’t let her take all the credit for saving the world. ”

He saw the corner of Joy’s mouth twitch.

General Sidney held up a hand.

“Let’s run our battery of tests first. If William is what we all hope he is… then we’ll have to run a trial on the device. We’re getting a little ahead of ourselves.”

Mulder sighed from beside him and William felt his father put his hand on his shoulder.

“Then let’s get ahead of ourselves even more,” Mulder said. “Let’s say you’re able to bring down all the aliens’ ships. What then? There are still how many super soldiers out there? Do you have a plan to get rid of them as well?”

“That’s trickier,” Peter said, “as you know how impervious the soldiers are. We’ve run some scenarios where we send out strike teams to hunt them down. We have a few prototypes for magnetite infused bullets and IEDs, but they’re as yet untested.”

“Does Peter or any of the military personnel know about your gift with magnetite?” Joy said in William’s head.

“No,” he replied.

“Don’t tell them,” she said, “not yet.”

“Huh,” said Mulder, leaning back and rubbing his hand across his face.

“One thing at a time,” said the General, standing. “Carmichael, run a full battery on Bravo. Today. I’d like the results as soon as you have them.”

Peter nodded and General Sidney excused himself with Humphries on his heels. The faceless rebel stood silently and left the room too.

“Well,” said Peter after a moment of silence, “I suppose we should get started if everyone here is ready? Though,” he went on, turning to William, “I believe I owe you a favor first?”

William glanced at Joy and then looked back at Peter. “We can kill two birds with one stone,” he said, “My favor can be our first test.”

XxX

Peter laid back on the examination table in the small medic clinic within the command center, looking like an adult lounging on a toddler’s bed.

Mulder and Scully stood against the wall of the room, watching curiously.

“What happened, Peter?” Scully asked, as Joy and William stood on either side of their friend, ready to get started. “You never did tell us.”

“Pollux,” the big man said, “kicked me about a week out from the Base when I first traveled here. I assume he broke my leg. By the time I got here, the healing process had already started, and it didn’t heal right as I had to spend more than a week on a horse.”

Mulder winced from where he stood. “That must have been agony,” he said.

“And Pollux got to hear about it,” Peter said, “and he is still the last to get an apple.”

William looked up over the big man’s torso at Joy, who was looking a little nervous.

“It’s okay,” he said to her in his mind, “I’ll walk you through it.”

“Are you ready?” he said to Peter.

Peter put a meaty paw on his arm. “I am ready, William.”

William nodded and moved behind the big man’s head. “Close your eyes,” he said, and put his two hands on Peter’s temples.

“I’m just going to see if I can feel what’s going on in there,” William said to Joy out loud, “then I want you to try.”

Joy nodded silently.

William reached inside. He felt along the pathways of Peter’s body to the knot of bone and the messy, complicated weaving of nerves in the man’s leg. He listened quietly for a moment, trying to suss out what Peter’s body wanted him to do. Then, he felt it.

“Okay,” he said. “Come here, Joy.”

She came up silently and stood next to him.

“Put your hands on him. The temples work best for me, but it might be different for you. You know that feeling inside of you, the healing place?” Her brow knotted. “Find it inside of you and then extend it into him.”

“Okay,” she said quietly, and reached out and put her hands on Peter’s head, closing her eyes. “Okay, I think I’m there,” she said after a moment.

William reached out and put his hand on Peter as well – he could feel Joy’s presence.

“Go inside,” he said. “Pull the healing place with you.”

William started to feel resistance. He looked over to Joy and her brow was creased.

“Peter, you’re fighting her,” William said. “Be with her. Be with her so she can help you.”

He felt the path smooth out. Felt Joy move along it.

“I can feel it,” she said, a little excited.

“Tune into his body. It’ll tell you what it wants you to do.”

“Okay… I’ve got it. I’ve got it! ”

“Good!” William could feel Peter’s body working in conjunction with Joy. He pulled his hands away from the man and stood back, watching as Joy continued to work. The big man’s eyes were running back and forth under his closed lids like he was in a state of REM sleep. After a moment, Joy inhaled and opened her eyes, and she stepped back, her hands falling away from Peter’s head.

Peter’s own eyes fluttered open and he took a deep breath and then swung his legs over the side of the exam table, tentatively putting weight down on one and then the other. A moment later, he gave an experimental little hop and then a full on jump in the air. He shouted triumphantly and then whirled around, picking Joy up in his arms and twirling her easily. When he set her down, he turned to William and grabbed him by the face and planted an enormous kiss on William’s forehead. William nearly fell over backward.

“A wunderkind!” he said, his eyes alight with mirth. “Miracles, the both of you!”

William chanced a look to his parents who were looking on, both wearing small, proud smiles.

XxXxXxXxXxX

Mulder and Scully watched the testing process through a glass partition.

“This is fascinating,” Mulder said, “Though it makes my Knicks T-shirt trick with Bruckman seem kinda stupid.”

Scully managed a smile but didn’t laugh, keeping her eyes on their son. The whole thing made her nervous. She’d known that the boy was special since he was an infant, and had always worried that his gifts would be found out and exploited. She just hadn’t counted on their being exploited to save humanity. Even if she could protect him from that, it didn’t seem right to try.

For his part, she knew that while Mulder was concerned for their son and more than a little worried about the impending showdown with the invading alien force, he was also impressed by the breadth and scope of the operation, giddy to be once again surrounded by the tedious enforced order of a lumbering bureaucracy. Scully, having fully experienced the freedom of fending for herself for the last several years, felt held down by its thumb, the full weight of the mountain that surrounded them pressing heavily on her psyche.

“What do you think about this ConTech?” she asked.

“I don’t know enough about it to have an opinion,” Mulder said, watching as William and Joy sat in front of a computer interface, the screens in front of them showing them objects at various distances within and without the base, testing to see how far their telekinetic powers reached. “Am I worried it won’t be able to protect them from the effects of the ships like at Marlo’s farm? Yes. But I’m also worried about the reports of the aliens escalating their attacks. There’s no question I want my son to survive this with his life, but I’d also like to be able to hand him a life worth living. A planet worth living on . I’ve said it to you before Scully, and I have to go on believing it: Maybe there’s hope.”

XxXxXxXxXxX

The tests had gone well, at least according to General Sidney. William seemed to be what they thought he was – what they needed him to be. They were planning to run a test of the ConTech first thing the next morning – just a quick test on the rebel ships to make sure the technology Peter and his team had developed would shield Joy and William from the worst effects of controlling them. The Rebels wouldn’t network their own ships with the invaders’ until the actual operation, thus ensuring the element of surprise. Once that initial test was run – in and out, the General assured them – they would plan their operation. And the sooner, the better.

“My only concern,” William said, feeling odd speaking up in front of an entire conference table full of adults and high ranked military officials, “is that in the past, when I’ve brought down the ships, it was only temporary. They were always able to get back up in the air an hour or two later. We need them to be completely disabled, don’t we?”

“Yes,” General Sidney said, “on the aptitude tests we ran today, it did appear that you had less control over the ships than Alpha. Her manipulation skills scored a lot higher.”

“What does that mean for your operation?” Mulder asked.

“It means that Alpha will have to take the lead,” the General said. “The simulations we’ve run have all worked. Before Bravo arrived. We’re only counting on him for backup and to perhaps give a boost to Alpha. If Joy thinks she can do this, we’re moving ahead with the operation.”

“I can do it, General,” Joy said, looking small from where she sat in between two full grown men.

Mulder leaned down into William’s space. “A boost?” he asked quietly.

William turned to him and spoke in a similarly low tone. “Today, during the tests, if Joy lifted something with her mind to a certain height, let’s say, I was able to come in and help her lift it higher. You know, like a boost.”

“You can network your powers?” Mulder asked, intrigued.

“Yeah,” William said, “so far.”

“If that’s all, Bravo?” the General said loudly.

William looked up and found the room staring at him. “Sorry, sir. Yeah.”

“Then we’re moving forward with the ship trial tomorrow at 0800. Everybody get some rest tonight.”

XxXxXxXxXxX

Someone had been kind enough to send dinner up to their suite, and they sat at the small table in the kitchenette scraping around what remained on their plate.

“You didn’t eat much,” Mulder said to him. “You okay?”

William looked up to find both of his parents looking at him.

“A little nervous, I guess.”

“If it makes you feel better, I trust Peter implicitly,” Mulder said. “I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

“It’s okay to be nervous, though,” Scully said. “I’m nervous for you.”

William sat back and studied his fingernails.

“I miss the cabin,” he said after a minute. “It was quiet there. Peaceful. You can’t turn a corner here without running into somebody.”

“It’s certainly different,” Scully said, reaching forward to take a sip from the water glass in front of her. “But… it turns out there are people here that we know. Some from After. But some…”

William looked up at her.

“My mother is here,” she said, unable to keep a smile from her face. “And my nephew. Your grandmother and cousin. They’d like to see you. Would you… like to meet them? You won’t remember her, but your grandmother used to look after you.”

“Yeah, sure,” he said automatically. But there was what felt like a bubble inside of him, a churning, anxious feeling that was rising up in his chest and squeezing the air out of his lungs. He stood from the table.

“Is it okay if I go for a walk?” he said. “I’ve got some nervous energy and I need to-” he shook out his hands and Mulder nodded at him.

“Yeah,” his father said, grabbing onto Scully’s hand from where he sat, “of course.”

William grabbed a generic base sweatshirt someone had given him and his ID card.

“I’ll be back,” he said, and walked out.

XxX

Joy opened the door in pajama pants and a tank top, her hair in a messy bun on the top of her head.

“This is the second time you’ve woken me up,” she said. “At least when the Rebels talk to me in my head, they do it during business hours.”

“Grab a coat,” William said, trying not to look at the soft round skin of her shoulder or the way her clavicle arced toward her chest like Cupid’s bow.

“Why?”

“Just get a coat,” he said, “and, you know, shoes.”

She gave him a skeptical look, but grabbed a jacket that was hanging on a hook near the door and slipped her bare feet into a tatty pair of sneakers that sat on a mat underneath the hook. She stepped out into the hallway and closed her door, shoving her hands deep into the pockets of her coat.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“Out,” he said.

“What do you mean, out?”

William started walking, turning around and walking backwards for a moment while she stood there looking at him.

“You got that key card, Alpha?”

She narrowed her eyes at him as he walked. “Why?”

He turned around again. “You coming or what?” His voice was cocksure and playful, but inside he was all nervous energy, hoping against hope that she’d follow him.

XxX

When they arrived at the large iron door that led to the outside, he turned to her in surprise.

“Wow,” he said, “I figured there’d be a guard or something.”

“What are we doing here, William?”

“You told me that they don’t really let you leave here. Without an armed escort.”

“Yeah.”

“So I’m taking you out.”

She took a half a step back. “I don’t know…”

“It’s safe,” he said. “You can feel as well as I can that there’s nobody out there. No threat.”

She licked her lips, but didn’t keep walking away, which he took as a good sign. “We shouldn’t.”

“I can’t take it in here anymore, Joy,” he said. “It’s so… loud. Don’t you just want to… I don’t know… breathe?”

He saw it the second he had her.

He ran his key card over the lock, but it beeped and turned red. He turned to her.

“Hand it over,” he said. “If we get caught you can tell them I made you.”

She stared at him for a second like she was about to tell him that no one would believe that, but then she reluctantly placed her key card in his outstretched hand. One swipe and the lock turned green and he could hear the mechanism detach from the big iron door.

“Being Alpha has its advantages,” he said, repeating the words she’d said to him the day before. She gave him a half smile.

“Come on,” he said, and led her out into the night.

XxX

It was one of those clear nights. The kind where the air feels lighter and brisker, where just one pull of it into your lungs makes you want to thump your chest and stomp your feet. The stars were out in force, pinpricks of brilliance in the giant purple dome of the heavens.

There was a small and steep rocky path up the sloping hillside just to the left of the base door and William began climbing it. About fifty yards up, it leveled out into a rocky outcropping that looked out over the valley that spread out below the mountainside, the vista lit up by a bright, waxing moon. William walked to the edge and looked over it and then sat, letting his feet hang down into space. Joy sat down tentatively next to him, peeking down below them. They could just see the edge of the big iron door.

“I’m not sure how I feel about heights,” she said.

“I’d recommend not looking down, then.”

“Noted,” she said, and then leaned back, resting her hands behind her. After a moment she let out a deep, cleansing breath.

“Wow,” she said, “it’s really beautiful out here. Especially without a quartet of nudgy himbos who smell like Ballistol and B.O.”

William snorted a laugh. “Himbos?”

“Not really,” she chuckled, “they’re actually pretty smart and cool. Except maybe Traverse. I don’t know how he made it this far, I think he ate paint chips as a kid.”

The night settled between them, and they sat, quiet and contemplative. Finally, he turned to her.

“So how’d you feel about today? The tests?”

She shrugged. “Seems like we work pretty well together.”

“Yeah,” he said, and the silence stretched for a bit longer. Then he noticed as her posture changed and her shoulders slumped.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, and she took a minute before she answered.

“I’ve been thinking about the healing,” she said quietly, “and I’m wondering how many people I could have helped and didn’t. My mother died. A year ago. And I can’t help but think; what if I could have saved her?”

Somewhere in the distance an owl hooted, its call low and forlorn.

“What did she die of?” William asked, flashing on the sight of his adoptive parents lying dead on their porch.

“They said it was an aneurysm.”

“Quick?”

“Yeah,” she said, looking away.

“Some people we can’t save, Joy,” he said, thinking of Dan. “We do the best we can and try to live life in spite of it.”

She turned to look at him, her gaze curious and intent. “How old are you, again?”

“Fifteen,” he answered.

She shook her head, smiling in spite of her mood.

“But an old fifteen,” he went on, and bumped his shoulder into hers companionably.

She chuffed a small laugh.

He looked at her a long minute.

“Can I ask you something?” he said. “When we were talking about our powers before, I didn’t… Peter said you knew I was out there.”

“Yeah,” she said, “I could feel you. Could you not feel me?”

“No,” he said, “well… Maybe?”

She lifted her shoulders up until they were just below her ears and then released them, the nylon of her jacket whispering a slick susurrus.

“It feels like… I don’t know, like a string connecting you and someone else. Like a string pulled tight. And the closer you get to it, the easier… the better it all feels.”

“I call it my ‘homing beacon,’” he said.

She laughed. “I suppose that’s as good a name as anything.”

“I only ever felt it with my parents, though,” he said, “until… until I brought that ship down near Zero. Then I felt it with you.” He looked up at her and she had a queer look in her eye.

“I think…” she started, “I think you only have it with someone you have a connection to. Someone you want to be with. Your parents probably wanted you to be with them, right? Well… I wanted to meet you. I… I wanted you to be with me.”

“Huh,” he said, thinking that maybe it made a weird kind of sense.

“You knew I was out there,” he said.

She nodded. “The rebels told me. Once I knew you were out there… all I wanted to do was meet you. Talk with you. It’s hard being different like this, even when it’s a good different. It’s hard being special.”

He thought about it for a moment. If he’d known there was someone else like himself out there, he knew he would have felt the same way.

“So you brought me here.”

“I guess I did.”

He looked over at her, at the way the moon shone on the dark of her hair, and suddenly felt the connection to her again. The homing beacon turning itself back on. She gazed up at him, a look of surprise on her face. He reached out and took her hand. She squeezed it, and he felt settled again. He felt home.

XxX

There was sweat on his lip, there were butterflies in his stomach, there were a bunch of tough looking men and women standing behind a partition twenty feet behind him. In front of him there was a small hand sized metallic ball the color of freshly mined coal and a large computer readout on a huge screen set into the wall at the front of the room. Next to him was Joy.

Peter was tinkering with something at a large console to their left, with a faceless rebel sitting next to him. General Sidney stood at his shoulder.

William stole a look behind him and found his parents standing off to the side of the room, huddled close together. His father looked stoic. His mother looked tense. Nevertheless, she gave him a small reassuring smile and his dad nodded at him once, you got this , it seemed to say. He nodded back and turned to the screen in front of him.

The readout on the large screen showed the rebel ships spread out across the globe. The goal of the morning’s exercise was to test the ConTech which Peter had assured them would, in theory, link all of the ships to one central point which Joy could control. Having her focus on essentially one ship should mitigate the drain on her powers, and also – if it worked – bring down the entire alien fleet in one go. William was on stand-by for support and the General hoped to learn exactly what was involved so that when they went forward with the actual operation, he would be able to assist.

“Okay!” said Peter, standing from the console. “The platform is up and operational. Can we get a system check, please?”

Various different people did a check-in from around the room, starting with the rebel sitting to the left of Peter, who merely nodded.

“Comms is a go.”

“Security is a go.”

“Sequencer is a go.”

“Matrix monitoring is a go.”

“Alpha is a go,” Joy said, and William, feeling awkward, followed up with:

“Bravo is a go.”

“All Systems go,” Peter said, looking up at General Sidney.

“Let’s roll,” said the General.

“Alpha, on you,” said Peter. “Take it away, Joy.”

Joy reached out and put her hand on the small metallic ball in front of her and William could feel a minor shift in the energy around them. He kept his eyes on the screen ahead.

“Okay,” said Joy, “I’m connected. Easy-peasy. I’m going to try to move the fleet first. I just want to get a feel for it.”

“Roger that,” said a man behind them.

Joy’s eyes fluttered shut. Up on the screen, William watched as the ships on the screen all moved to the east at the same time in a synchronized movement.

“Looking good,” came another voice.

“Alpha, how are you feeling?” asked Peter.

“Good,” said Joy, her eyes still shut, “really good.”

“Great,” said Peter, “see if you can get in sync with the ship’s systems. Bravo, can you walk her through how you would bring one down?”

William nodded. “Okay,” he said, “to me the ships felt like an interlocking system of… tubes or something, tunnels, does that make sense?”

“Yeah,” said Joy, “A series of conduits.”

“Right,” said William, “now find a hub. There should be a focal point where they all converge.”

“Got it.”

“Block the energy running through it. It’s just like putting your hand through a stream of water.”

“I see what you mean,” Joy said. “General, do you want me to try to-”

At that moment there was a loud beeping from the console behind the partition where most of the crew sat.

“Sir, we have a problem,” said one of the soldiers.

William looked up at the screen. All of the rebel ships, which appeared as green blips on the global readout, continued to move in synchronicity. But William saw several red blips appear on the screen as well, and then a few more. All of them were moving together with the greens. Shouts of alarm started from the various stations around the control room and men and women began talking over each other. William just looked up at the screen and faster than he could keep track of them, hundreds of red blips appeared.

“Enemy ships have entered the matrix!”

William glanced at Joy who swayed a bit in place, her hand still on the metallic grip.

“Rebel One, what’s happening?” shouted the General.

The room erupted into chaos. The invaders’ ships had somehow locked into the system, linking up with the rebel ships.

“There’s so many,” Joy said from next to him, her voice low and shaky.

“Can you focus on one?” William asked her. The room behind them was a loud murmur, and William tuned them all out. “Joy, pick one. Let the ConTech do the rest. Just focus on one.”

Her posture improved, though her brow was knit in concentration.

“Okay,” she said. “Yeah, okay, that’s better.”

“General!” shouted a voice above the chaos. “They’re doing something to our system!”

Peter stood from his console.

“Sir,” he said, “the matrix is showing signs of failure. If we’re ever going to do this, it has to be now.” William realized what they were saying. This was more than a trial run, now. If their plan to bring the ships down and stop the invading aliens permanently was to move forward, it was now or never. His stomach leapt.

The General stood. “Alpha,” he said.

Joy clenched her jaw and then answered. “Yes, sir?”

“This is no longer an exercise. It’s a full-on operation. We’ve discussed what this would look like. Do it, Alpha! Bring them down. All of them. Bring them all down now!”

“Shit,” she murmured so that only William could hear her, and then said, loud and clear, “Yes, sir!”

William watched as she leaned a little forward in space, moving both hands to clench the metallic sphere in front of her. She was mentally bearing down, William could feel it. But something was off.

“Something’s wrong,” she whispered.

“What is it?”

“They won’t go down,” she said, and William could tell she was talking directly to him.

“Did you try the-”

“Yes,” she said, “Will they’re doing something. They’re fighting back somehow. I can’t figure out what’s happening!”

William reached out and grabbed the sphere in front of him, but all he felt was a garbled mess. When he looked back at Joy, one of her hands was flailing out in the air, reaching for him. He shot his hand out and grabbed on.

He was with her instantly and could feel the chaos. It was like turning on the radio and finding the volume had been turned all of the way up.

“One, what do I do?” He found Joy was in the middle of a telepathic exchange with one of the faceless rebels.

“You know what to do, Joy,” the man said calmly.

“They won’t go down!”

William was with her, and could feel that she was in the hub of the ship’s conduit, but she was right, there was a resistance there. He sent a little bump of energy into it too and it seemed to push back even harder. He tried something else – tried going with the flow of the ship instead of against it. The energy gave way, rushing through the circuits of the ship.

“Go up,” he said.

“What?” Joy said.

“If you can’t bring them down, send them up!” If she couldn’t interrupt the flow of the ships to bring them down, she could work with the flow and fly them – control them – and either way, take them out of the sky.

There was a pulsing blackness on the edge of his mind. Whatever the aliens were doing, he could feel the resistance growing.

“You have to do it now, Joy,” he said. “Send them up!”

“ Up where ?!”

“Into your solar system’s sun,” the rebel said calmly. William realized then that if Joy destroyed the aliens’ ships, she would also be destroying— and killing—the rebel allies that were on their own ships. “Initiate the hyperdrive. Your sun is 8.3 light years away. It will be over in moments.”

“Wait!” William interjected.

“It’s the only way,” the rebel insisted. “This was always a suicide mission for us, Joy. Listen to me. Do it now.”

William could feel Joy bear down. Felt the flow of energy from the ships, the flow of the energy from Joy. There was a singular point of contact with the ship through the technology in her hand, but it was flagging from where she was holding onto William, like a flag snapping in the wind.

Squeezing her hand, he reached out with his other one and grabbed the sphere in front of him and that was all it took – a potent volt of energy clicked between them and he felt a massive surge of power. The ship they had chosen, all the ships, rocketed upwards.

XxXxXxXxXxX

Scully watched as more and more of the red dots appeared on the large read out screen at the front of the control room. Alarms started going off. She pushed herself off the wall.

“Mulder, what’s happening?”

Mulder was moving forward next to her, his eyes locked onto the screen.

“The ships,” he said, “all the alien ships are entering the… the network.”

Scully’s eyes flew down to her son who was standing next to Joy staring up at the screen.

“Jesus,” Mulder whispered, watching it all unfold. There were shouts from every station. The General was barking orders and then Scully got a sense of what was going on.

“Oh my God, Mulder,” she said, “they’re going to do it now. They’re going to have to do it right now.”

“The rebel ships-” Mulder started.

“In order to network the ships with the ConTech,” said a voice from beside them – Scully looked over and Humphries was standing close, her eyes locked onto the screen – “we had to network all of the ships across the globe. So we’re not just disabling the shifters’ ships, but the faceless men’s too. If their ships aren’t also in the air, the linking system won’t be able to connect them all. It’s all or nothing.”

“And they have to do it now?”

“Yeah,” she said, squinting at the screen, “something’s wrong. They have to do it now.”

Scully watched as Joy seemed to struggle. Then her hand shot out and William took it. A moment later, William reached out and took the ConTech handle that was in front of him and she felt a slight tremor run through the floor. Then all of the ships, red and green, every single one, went flying off the screen.

A long moment later Joy and William both collapsed to the floor.

XxXxXxXxXxX

William came to consciousness with something tickling his nose. He reached up to scratch and found a tube – a cannula feeding him oxygen – resting on his face. Startled, he pulled it off his face and sat bolt upright.

“It’s okay! It’s okay,” said a voice from nearby. “Mulder!”

William looked around and found Scully sitting next to him. He was in a hospital bed, in a small room that looked like the infirmary room they had been in to heal Peter. His dad opened the door from the outside and looked startled to see him awake.

“Will!” he said, stepping quickly into the room.

William looked down at himself. He was in a hospital gown and covered with a light blanket.

“Where’s Joy?” he asked, feeling panicky. The last thing he remembered was-

“She’s in a room next door,” Scully said calmly, rising from her chair and reaching for his arm. She put a finger to the pulse on his wrist and looked up at a small clock on the wall opposite his bed.

“Is she okay?”

“She’s still out,” said Mulder, lifting up a calming hand.

“I gotta go see her,” William said, swinging his legs over the side of the bed.

His mother squeezed his wrist where she was holding it and spoke in the most authoritative voice he’d ever heard.

“You’ll do no such thing, William!” she said, standing up. “You have been unconscious for three hours.”

“Mom!” he said, indignant.

Mulder stood for a moment, his mouth open, his gaze shifting back and forth between them.

“Okay, that was amazing,” he said, “but I’m going to have to side with your mom on this one.”

“I feel fine,” William said, “I feel better than I ever have.” He meant it. He felt like he could chew carbon and spit diamonds.

Just then the door to the room opened and a small older woman took a step in, pulling on her earring nervously.

“Is this a bad time?” she asked.

His grandmother. He knew it instantly. The resemblance was remarkable. Her body type was the exact same as his mother’s, with the same face shape and blue eyes. Her nose pulled slightly more at the nostrils, but everything else about her was so surprisingly like Scully that he immediately pulled back his indignation and stared at the woman.

“Um, no,” he said, surprised to find he actually meant it, “it’s fine.”

The older woman smiled and turned to a kid who came in behind her, at least a foot and a half taller than her, but only, upon second glance, three or four years older than William himself.

“Hey,” the older kid said.

“Hey,” replied William, and, realizing that he had his bare legs hanging over the side of the bed, swung them back up and covered them with the blanket.

Scully looked at him for a moment and then turned to the two newcomers.

“Hi Mom,” she said, and walked forward to press a kiss into the older woman’s cheek. “William, this is your cousin Matthew and your Grandma Scully.”

“Hello,” he said. Neither of the Van de Kamps had had living parents, so he was surprised and more than a little pleased to actually have a grandmother.

“I can’t tell you how happy I am to see you again, William,” she said, stepping forward. “And the fact that I’m meeting you as a grown person while you’re sitting in a hospital bed is a true testament to the fact that you are your parents’ child.” She laughed, and all the tension in the room instantly broke.

Matthew stepped forward and held out a hand.

“Matthew?” William said, shaking the kid’s hand. He had a strong grip and his hand was warm and dry.

“Matt,” he said.

“Will,” William said, nodding.

“So you’re the enigmatic Bravo,” Matt said, as Will released his hand.

Matt was tall with sandy hair, and had the same eyes as his grandmother and Scully, but there was a charming, rakish spark to them that put William instantly at ease.

“What, you didn’t get a cool code name?” Will asked. “I thought they just handed them out.”

“Well, on a scale of importance, I’d be Zulu, but I was recently promoted to KP duty, so you never know.”

William smiled.

“We won’t stay long,” his grandmother said. “We just wanted to check in and welcome you.”

“Well, this family has a long and grand tradition of hospital visits,” Mulder said from where he was leaning against the wall. “We couldn’t leave you out of the fold.”

His grandmother gave a rueful smile. “William,” she said, “when you’re on your feet again, we’d love to celebrate having you back and of course celebrate today’s accomplishment. How would you feel about coming and having dinner in our suite?”

“It’s more like a cell,” said Matt, and his grandmother swatted at him.

“We’re very lucky to have it,” she said. “Bring Alpha too, if you’d like – Joy, I mean – I bet I can get something special from the cafeteria. What’s your favorite food?”

“Lasagna,” William answered after a moment, committing himself to going.

“Perfect,” she said, and then stole a look at Scully, who had resettled at William’s bedside with a stern look on her face. “Well, we’ll let you get your rest.”

Matt reached out and gently pushed his shoulder. “Can you talk to somebody, Bravo?” he said quickly, “get us an upgrade?”

“Matthew!”

“Coming Grams,” Matt said, but then made a telephone sign with his hand and a big thumbs up as he backed out of the room.

Before the door had finished closing on their exit, Humphries stuck her head in.

“Alpha is awake,” she said to Scully. William yanked the leads off his chest, slid out of bed and was out of the room before his mother could protest, which she did – loudly – but he was already walking into the room next door.

Peter was standing at the end of the bed and beamed when he saw William, who had eyes only for Joy, who was sitting up, looking at him expectantly.

“Hey,” she said, “the hero of the hour.”

“You did all the work,” William said, suddenly feeling self conscious that he was wearing only a flimsy hospital gown.

After a quiet beat, Peter cleared his throat and excused himself. William lowered himself into the chair next to the bed. He could see his mother hovering outside in the hallway.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“Weirdly good,” Joy answered, “you?”

“Same.”

“Peter told me that according to the doctors here… They think maybe our joint power overloaded our systems and that we should be fine.”

“Then can you tell that to my mom because she’s doing some serious helicopter doctoring. I think she’s worried I’m going to drop dead.”

“It’s nice that you have someone to worry about you.” Her voice sounded small.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine…” Joy sighed and then reached up and yanked the cannula out of her own nose, pulling it down so that it rested on her chest.

“So… What happened?” she asked, and he knew exactly what she was talking about. The alien ships appearing suddenly, their resistance to the two kids’ powers.

“I don’t know. Maybe after I brought them down a few times they figured out how I did it. How to stop me.”

“Well,” she said, pushing her head back against the pillows behind her, “we still did it.”

“Yeah, we did,” said Will, though it felt like a hollow victory.

“Something wasn’t right, though,” she said, giving voice to a feeling he hadn’t wanted to. “You know what I mean? What we did should feel like a win. Everybody else around here is celebrating. But something else is happening, and I don’t know what it is.”

Their safety felt perilous and teetering, like Hiawatha cresting the Tahquamenon.

William reached out and took her hand. “Yeah,” he said. “I feel it, too.”

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

The energy around the base for the next few days was jubilant, but William seemed distant and reluctant to accept the many congratulations he was offered. Joy, too, was a little remote, and William spent a majority of his time with her, either in their suite or off somewhere inside the base. Scully was concerned about what exactly they’d been through, though physically they both seemed to be fine. Talking with them, they explained as best they could what had happened when they destroyed the alien ships’ fleet, and all they could say was that before they’d passed out, they each felt a great surge of power. She’d run every test available to her at the base and could find nothing wrong with either of them. Nevertheless, she couldn’t help but worry.

Tonight they were on their way to her mother’s small quarters for the dinner that she’d been excitedly planning since meeting William in the infirmary. It was wonderful to see her mother in a joyous flurry, and Scully suspected that she was thrilled to once again have a family to fuss over, and thought that Matthew too probably appreciated not being the sole object of her maternal attention.

William was fidgeting non-stop with the cuffs of his hoodie while they all made their way down, and Joy finally snapped when they stepped off the elevator.

“Will you knock that off, William?” she said, reaching forward and yanking one of his sleeves out of his hands and up his forearm. “God, you’re making me twitchy.”

“Seriously kid,” Mulder said, as he trailed behind the three of them, “are you okay?”

William cracked his neck as they walked. “Sorry,” he said, “just restless, I guess.”

Scully pulled up in front of her mother’s door. “Well,” she said, “let’s all just try to relax and enjoy ourselves, all right? I’m pretty sure my mom has pulled out all the stops for tonight.”

William took a deep breath, and suddenly the hood of his sweatshirt went flying up over his head and the strings were yanked tight by invisible hands. He made a sound of surprise and pulled the hood off, shooting a look of amused irritation at Joy.

“Alright, alright,” he said, and Scully glanced at Joy who was standing innocently with her hands behind her back looking prim and satisfied.

Scully shook her head and knocked on the door.

It swung wide open an instant later to reveal Matthew who stared at them and impishly said “Thank god you’re here, she’s out of control.”

He was lightly shoved out of the way a second later by Margaret Scully who was beaming and dressed in a light blouse that Scully vaguely recognized. Her mother pressed a kiss to her cheek and ushered them all inside.

It was a tight fit in the small space, most of the room having been taken up by a large table and chairs that looked like they had been brought in from one of the cafeterias. The rest of the furniture – a small sofa and two chairs – had been pushed back against the walls.

“Wow, Mrs. Scully,” said Mulder, and Scully turned to see what he was looking at. The table was set beautifully, with actual china and a tablecloth and a smattering of small votive candles that sizzled and guttered when she swung closed the door.

“Now, Fox,” she said, chiding him a little, “I think we’re pretty far past the formality of ‘Mrs. Scully,’ aren’t we?” Mulder gave her a muggy smile. “And yes,” she went on, looking at the table proudly, “I wanted to make it nice.”

“Mags here called in every favor owed her on fifteen levels,” Matthew said, pulling out a chair at the far end of the table and gesturing for Scully to sit. “Please,” he said, “have a seat or one small sneeze is going to knock us all over like bowling pins.”

Everyone squeezed in guts and shuffled around as her mother got her guests all situated and seated where she wanted them, and then Maggie took a step into the kitchenette and reached into the tiny refrigerator to reveal a bottle of champagne with a flourish, the glass a heavy green chunk in her hands. The foil on the top reflected off the candlelight in a dull glow. Scully hadn’t seen one in years.

Mulder, who was sitting at the head of the table, stared for a moment before his mouth dropped open. “How on earth did you manage that?”

Her mother demurely turned her head away and began removing the foil with practiced care. “I may have run into General Sidney in the infirmary when we visited you,” she said, “and explained who I was and what I was planning.”

“She flirted,” Matthew translated, “shamelessly.”

“Oh stop it,” she said, affectionately shoving him in the shoulder. “Now open this for me while I get the glasses.”

“I’m just saying,” Matt went on, twisting off the muselet on top of the bottle, “Grandma has a way with military men. She says ‘jump’ and they say ‘yes, ma’am.’”

Margaret ignored him and began setting down small rocks glasses in front of every place setting. “It’s okay for them to have a little, right?” she asked Scully as she placed glasses in front of William and Joy, “we’re celebrating.”

Scully nodded and looked at the two teens who were seated next to each other, both looking silently hopeful.

“It’s fine, Mom,” she said, and her approval was punctuated with a loud pop! as Matthew finally worked the cork out. Once he had poured everyone a small portion, Margaret raised her glass and everyone else followed suit.

“Now,” she said, still standing, “a proper toast.” Scully watched as her mother pressed her hand to the base of her throat, where, in the days before the invasion, she would have been wearing a string of pearls for an occasion such as this. “To being reunited with family thought lost,” she started, “to the memory of those who are no longer with us,” with this she put her hand on Matthew’s shoulder, “and to two brave, extraordinary people, who have given us all hope.” She looked intently at William and Joy, who both looked a little uncomfortable with the attention. “To Joy and William.”

“To Joy and William,” Matt, Mulder and Scully all repeated, and then everyone took a relieved sip. Joy gave a little cough and Matthew held out a hand and said, “Giggle juice can be a bit much. I’ll happily finish it for you.”

Everyone laughed and the tension was eased and Scully’s mother immediately launched into serving everyone heaping plates from the impressive spread on the table. Steaming lasagna with oozing, stringy cheese, garlic bread, a crisp green salad. Everyone marveled and complimented her on the food, but she deferred to her eldest grandson.

“The food was all Matthew’s doing,” she said proudly. “He’s working in one of the cafeterias and was really able to pull some strings.”

“You don’t want to know what I had to pull to get this spread,” he said, passing the platter of garlic bread over to William, “but it wasn’t just strings.”

Once everyone was settled with their plate, Margaret reached her hands out to either side of her.

“Grace,” she said in a matronly way, and everyone joined hands. William, who was sitting next to Scully, had cold fingers, but a warm palm, and Scully squeezed once and gave him a smile when he looked up at her.

“Lord, thank you for all of your blessings lately for which we are eternally grateful,” Margaret said, “and please bless this food to our use, and us to thy service. Amen.”

Amens were mumbled all around and then the air was filled with the silence of eating and silverware clinking on china. Scully couldn’t remember the last time she’d sat around a table with family and shared a hot meal with actual cuisine. After her final bite, she took a sip of champagne and let the bubbles fizz and zip along her tongue, and when she swallowed the warmth that spread through her belly seemed to extend all of the way to her soul. This was everything she missed, and when she looked up, Mulder was looking at her with a look of such warm satisfaction and peace that she could feel the burn of tears in the corner of her eyes.

“So,” said her mother, standing up, “who’s ready for dessert?”

At that moment, William inhaled a sharp breath and shot up from his seat so fast that the chair he was sitting in fell over backwards.

“Will?” she said, looking at him in concern. She glanced at Joy and saw that the girl was staring at her plate, gripping the table so hard that her fingers were turning white.

“William?” said Margaret, tilting her head curiously.

“I get excited about dessert, too,” said Matt glibly, but Scully could see that a serious look had crossed over his face, and his eyes, normally alight with impish mirth, were clouded and dark.

“William, what is it?” Mulder said, and William looked down at Joy, who exchanged a look with him.

“They’re coming,” William said, his voice tremulous.

“Who’s coming?” Scully asked.

“Super soldiers,” said Joy, her voice like a whisper.

“How many?” Mulder asked grimly.

William looked to his father, his face white as a sheet. “All of them,” he said.

XxXxXxXxXxX

Joy knocked on the general’s door with a quick rat-a-tat-tat . Sidney answered the door a minute later, dressed for bed, a pair of bifocals perched on the end of his nose. He took one look at Joy, William, Mulder and Scully standing in the hallway, and said, “Let me get dressed.”

He was back at the door less than a minute later dressed in his full fatigues, and he stepped out into the hallway and began walking toward the command center.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Super soldiers, sir,” Joy said, rushing to keep up with his quick, long strides.

“Where?” Sidney asked, swinging around a corner.

“It’s hard to say,” Joy said, “I’ve never felt anything like this.”

“South,” William piped up, only a half step behind Joy. Mulder and Scully brought up the rear.

The General turned into the control room at full pace and a young soldier leapt up from his post.

“Officer on deck!”

“As you were,” Sidney barked, moving to the center of the room. “I want a live satellite feed on the big screen.”

The soldiers on duty rushed to their stations if they weren’t already there. Sidney turned to William. “South of this location?”

William nodded.

“How far away?”

William shook his head.

Sidney turned and rattled off latitude and longitude and a minute later, the big screen in the front of the room populated with a satellite picture of the area near the base.

“Adjust south a hundred clicks,” ordered Sidney and a moment later, the picture adjusted.

“It’s going to be hard picking up anything at night, sir,” said a soldier to their right.

“I’m aware of that,” the General said, not taking his eyes off the screen. “Okay, give me another 40 clicks south.”

The screen adjusted minutely. He leaned forward and Mulder tried to make out what he was looking at. The picture wasn’t zoomed in very close, but something was odd about it.

“Switch to thermal,” Sidney barked.

And that’s when Mulder’s heart went to his throat. On the screen, amidst a large swath of North America that was almost entirely black, was a white and red mass moving incrementally in a northerly direction.

“Zoom,” the General said. The picture adjusted. “More.”

On screen was an absolute mass of super soldiers. Mulder couldn’t make them out as individuals, but as a colossal horde, miles long and miles wide. Tens of thousands of them, marching steadily north.

“Holy fucking shit,” muttered a soldier. Mulder wasn’t sure who said it because no one could take their eyes off of the large screen at the front of the room, but he had to agree with the sentiment.

“Someone wake up Carmichael,” Sidney said. “And I want speed and trajectory calculations. Someone tell me how long until they reach Base Zero.” A beat. “Now!”

“We have about thirty-six hours,” said a young female soldier, looking up at the General from a computer screen.

Mulder felt Scully slide her hand into his and squeeze it, hard. He chanced a look at her, and saw only fear.

Peter shuffled into the room, his feet in slippers, sliding one arm into a flannel shirt.

“What is it?” he asked as he fastened the buttons. Mulder could see they were all off by one.

Sidney gave him a succinct breakdown.

“Sweet fancy Jesus,” he said, looking up at the screen. “But they can’t enter the base,” he said. “The magnetite protects us.”

“Yes,” said Sidney, looking grim. “But they can surround us. Cut off our flow of supplies. It would be a siege. One we would lose.” The General heaved a sigh. “We’ll have to fight them.”

“That many?” Scully asked.

“We have no other choice.”

“General, our magnetite technology is untested,” Peter pointed out. “And we don’t have enough of it.”

“We’ll have to make more. As of right now Base Zero is in Condition Red. I need a call for civilian volunteers. Anyone willing or able to fight. I want Gen3 weapons in the hands of anyone ex-military or law enforcement. All those who cannot fight should report to engineering to help make weapons. I want any refugee with a scientific or manufacturing background called up first. We’ll need quick and dirty IEDs and as much of the MAG-2 ammunition that we have distributed. Get Base Two on the horn and see if they can scramble air support.”

An alarm whooped through the air and a PA system began announcing the change to the base’s condition and a call for civilian volunteers. The voice was calm, but Mulder could feel the tension ratchet up.

The General began speaking again. “I want Team Commanders and their XOs in the conference room in ten minutes with topo maps of the entire region.”

From Mulder’s elbow, he heard a quiet “General?” He looked over and Will had taken a step forward. He cleared his throat and spoke louder, “General?” he said again.

General Sidney turned toward him.

“I want you and Alpha in the conference room as well, Bravo. Ten minutes.” When the General turned away, Joy grabbed his elbow.

“Sir, William has something you need to know.”

Sidney peered at him curiously. “Any time, son.”

“During the Aptitude Tests, sir,” he said, “there was one you didn’t run. I have a power that Joy doesn’t. Something that will be able to help us.”

“And that would be?”

“Magnetite, sir,” William said. “I can control it.”

Sidney crossed his arms over his chest. “Control it, how?”

“I think I might need to show you.”

XxXxXxXxXxX

35:08 hours left

Above the conference room table, forty pounds of magnetite hovered in the air, chipped bits and dust swirling around the center mass of rock like light arcing at the edge of an event horizon.

The officers that sat and stood around the conference table watched – some in fascination, some in abject discomfort – Sidney himself was hard to read.

“How much can you lift?” he asked William.

“I’m not sure. It’s finite, but… A lot?”

“Can you separate it? If you went down to the mines right now, could you remove the magnetite from the rest of the elemental rock?”

“Yes,” William said, “that’s easy.”

For the first time, Sidney looked pleased about something.

“Son, I’m going to need you to go down there as soon as we break here.”

“Okay,” said William, and he let the magnetite sample that had been brought up settle gently back onto the table.

“Now,” the General went on, “you’ve said you’ve killed the Metallics with this?”

William explained how he’d done it, leaving out the part about Dan.

“We’ll need to consider his position on the battlefield,” said Sidney, addressing the amassed officers.

“What’s the range of your control over the element?” asked Humphries.

“Half a mile, maybe,” William said. “At the most.”

“Get me a geologic survey map,” Sidney ordered, and a moment later one came up on the conference room’s big screen.

Everyone studied it.

“We’ll need to get him close enough to a reliable surface seam,” Humphries said. “Maybe if our forces abutt the mountain,” she pointed to an area on the map, “with Bravo out front.”

“I’ll need room to work,” William said. “I don’t want to hurt anyone but the super soldiers.”

Sidney stood for a moment just looking at him.

“We will work around you,” he finally said. “Tell us what you need and we will plan around it.”

William rose from his seat and walked around the table to stand in front of the map. He closed his eyes and felt the mass of voids moving steadily towards them.

“Where, William?” General Sidney said, stepping up close to him. “Where should we go?”

“Here,” William said, pointing to the map. “North,” he went on. “We have to go north of Zero.”

XxXxXxXxXxX

26:03 hours left

William didn’t walk back into their suite until well into the night. Scully waited up and pressed a cup of tea into his hand. He tiredly smiled his thanks and then went into his room and shut the door.

Scully watched his retreating form and she thought she finally understood what Mrs. Peacock had told her all those years ago about the enormity of love for one’s child.

XxX

22:46 hours left

She had fallen asleep on the couch and was startled awake when there was a soft knock on the entrance to their suite. She looked over at William’s door and it was closed, the boy still asleep behind it.

When she swung their suite door open she found her mother standing there, kneading a tissue into shreds.

“They put out a call for volunteers,” her mother said shakily. “Matthew is going to fight.”

Scully ushered her mother through the door and to their sofa.

“I’m not good at this anymore Dana,” she said, “sending my men off to war.”

“No one is good at it, Mom,” she said. “No one should be.”

“What if I lose him? He was all I had left, and then I found you and William again and I…” She took a bracing breath and turned to her daughter. “On the wall,” she said, “in every hallway down on the lower levels, there’s a clock. It’s counting down the hours until the super soldiers arrive and it never stops, that clock. Every second brings me closer to losing you all again. Every breath. Every step. I know that everything in life changes. Especially in wartime. I’ve been around long enough to know that for a fact. But when your father shipped out, I at least had you kids. But this time, Dana, you will be up there and I will be down here and the only constant, level thing I can look to will be that damn clock.”

Scully leaned in and wrapped her arms around her mother’s small frame.

As she was sitting there holding the birdlike wings of her mother's scapulae, Scully wandered into a flash of haptic memory, of hugging her mother after her cancer diagnosis. She let herself fall into a shallow pool of remembrance. She thought of the high, grinding whirl of the Kitchen Aid mixer in her mother's kitchen, the plush, velvety feel of the carpet in her den. The scent of the dogwood just off her mother's porch. Everything she thought of that was just so quintessentially Margaret Scully.

She pulled back. “I know it wasn’t always easy to be my mother,” she said, “my choice to enter the FBI and all of the things that happened to me and our family because of that choice. And now that I’m watching my son carry the same weight as Atlas, I-” Scully sighed, unable to look her mother in the eye. “I’m sorry for what you had to endure. I understand it now. And I’m sorry that you’ll have to endure it again.”

Her mother put a gentle hand under her chin and lifted her face so that she could see her eyes.

"Dana, you were always the fighter," she said. "Oh, how you used to go toe to toe with Bill. You'd stomp and rage and I honestly think he was always a little scared of you. This little scrap of a redheaded thing raging against a boy four years older and twice your size. And while Bill had the job for fighting, and Charlie had the pluck, you have the heart. I have never encountered a more tenacious soul in my life. I have to think that that's what God put you on this earth to do. To have that child and fight this war, and if I was merely a vessel through which you traveled to get you both to this point in time, then when I meet St. Peter at the gates of heaven, I can tell him that I played my part. And he’ll know – and you should, too – that I supported you. I always have.”

Scully tipped forward and held her mother tight.

XxXxXxXxXxX

15:23 hours left

Mulder found William pacing the hallway in front of their suite, looking restless and lost.

“Hey,” he said, and the boy looked up, startled.

“Hey,” William said.

Mulder was carrying a couple of cups of coffee back from the cafeteria. He and Scully had planned to sit down together and try to come up with some sort of plan with how they would handle the various outcomes of the next morning’s events, but he decided that that could wait.

“You all right?” Mulder asked.

William put his hands in his pockets and shrugged. “I don’t know what to do with myself.”

Mulder looked at the boy — the last Mulder, who had never been a Mulder at all — and he could see himself in him, in the arc of his jaw, in the shape of his eyes, in the rangy way the boy walked, leading with his hips. He opened the suite door and set the coffees down, then closed it and turned to his son.

“Come on,” he said, turning to walk back down the hallway from which he’d just come.

“What?”

“I think we need some fresh air.”

William stood there for a moment and then trotted to catch up.

“Is it, uh-” Mulder gestured vaguely around, “everything? Or is this just teenaged ennui?”

William chuffed a laugh. “Teenaged ennui, definitely,” he said. “Tomorrow will be a piece of cake.”

Mulder led them through the various levels, making his way to the entrance of the base. William was silent until they approached the large iron door. There were two young soldiers standing guard this time, but after a beat, they stepped aside and let Mulder lead his son out into the air at the base of the mountain. It was golden hour, and the light hit the trees in the valley below with a downy brightness. It was as beautiful an evening as Mulder had ever witnessed.

“Grandma Scully was here, earlier,” William said, the name sounding odd coming from the boy’s mouth. “In our suite, I mean.”

“Oh yeah?” Mulder turned from the flat area in front of the base door and noticed a small rocky path that led upwards just to its left. He turned to climb it and William followed him.

“I think she’s maybe come around to this ‘chosen one’ thing.”

“Don’t think that’ll get you out of a six am roll call under the Christmas tree.”

William smiled, and they found an area that leveled out on a small ridge above the base, the valley and woods beyond spread out below them. They turned to look at the vista.

“Do you think I’m the chosen one?”

Mulder stood for a moment, considering his answer.

“I think you have incredible gifts,” Mulder said, “and I think they coincide with a timeline wherein humanity desperately needs them. But I don’t know that I really believe in a grand purpose, in fate above all else. I think each individual deserves more credit than that. That said, I do think you’re the right person in the right place at the right time, and while it’s an awful lot to fall on the shoulders of a fifteen year old kid, I do think they fell on the right ones.”

William kept his eyes in front. “So I’m peaking early is what you’re saying.”

“I’m saying that I think you’ll absolutely do right by humanity. I think you’ll do right by yourself. And that no matter what happens tomorrow, I’m proud to call you my son, and I will be until the day I die.”

He heard the boy take a breath, drawing the mountain air deep into his lungs. They stood in silence for several long minutes.

“What’s your last name, William?” Mulder finally said. “I never knew.” A small part of him was ashamed of the oversight. A small part of him still didn’t want to know.

William looked out at the horizon, at the scope and breadth of the world he would have to save — a child of fifteen, whose chest was only just filling out, whose voice had deepened only in the last few months — and replied:

“Does it matter?”

“To the scholars and the historians, it probably will.”

There was a sound behind them – the slightest scratch of a heel turning on gravel, and Mulder turned to see Joy standing off on a spare bit of shale by the edge of the path. She was holding her small wing-like elbow in a delicate hand, looking at William with a longing he recognized in his own love-sick heart. He suddenly had the urge to find Scully, to bury his face in the skin of her lily white neck. Instead he looked back to their son.

“If there ends up being a history at all,” William said, finally turning to his father, “I think I should get to decide.”

William had grown up since Scully had found him on a ridge in their hunting grounds, Mulder decided. Not so much older, but wiser, harder, now armored with the quiet kind of knowledge that sneaks up on you and grabs you by the neck. Mulder tried to think of the boy who had frolicked in a field with Tisdale, who had joyfully pulled fish up out of the ice.

He wasn’t a boy anymore, Mulder thought. He’d never be a boy again.

“When tomorrow comes,” he said, reaching out and running his fingers through the feathered ducktail of William’s coppery locks, “we’ll be right beside you.” He pulled the young man in and placed a gentle kiss to his forehead, and Mulder could feel the fan of his son’s humid breath on his jugular notch.

Then Mulder turned and headed back down the path, reaching out to brush his fingers along Joy’s sleeve as he walked by, passing his son’s care into her hopeful, innocent hands.

XxXxXxXxXxX

William could hear his father make his way down the path back to base, but he knew he wasn’t alone.

“Someone send you along to make sure I didn’t run off?” It wasn’t a fair thing to say, but he couldn’t help but lash out, only a little. The fear and anticipation had hollowed him out until he felt like only an outline of himself. A memento pinned to the wall like a Hiroshima shadow.

“I thought we might run away together,” Joy said, “fuck ‘em.”

At this William turned to her in surprise. She stood a little ways off the path, looking at him with a small smile on her face.

“Don’t tempt me,” he said, turning back to look at the valley and gesturing to his feet. “I’m a man on a ledge.”

He felt her approach and stand next to him, her sleeve just brushing his.

“William-“ she started, but he cut her off.

“No, I… I wouldn’t. I won’t.

“That’s not what I was going to say.”

When he looked at her again, her upturned face was shy but hopeful, and he felt something spark inside his chest. He spread one arm wide in invitation and Joy tucked herself into his side. The outside of her jacket was cold and she smelled like the night. He pulled her in close and felt her arms wrap around his waist and underneath the fear and the dull panic, he felt a small thrill. If his heart was a smoldering orange coal, she was the breath that kept it lit.

“We’re crossing the rubicon,” he said.

“Yeah.”

“I wish you could help me.”

“I will. I’ll be right next to you.”

“You know what I mean.”

She sighed and turned a little in his arms so that she was facing him. He had to look down.

“It was always going to end like this,” she said. “You know that as well as I do.”

“But now?” It didn’t feel fair. He leaned his head down, resting his forehead against hers. “I’ve only just found you.”

Joy slowly rose onto her toes and pressed a warm, soft kiss to his lips. It was his first.

“You say the magnetite speaks to you, right?” she said when she pulled away. It took him a minute to compose a response, and even then it was only the nod of his head.

“And what is it saying to you? Right now?”

William looked back and forth between her eyes and then knelt upon the ground. He held out a hand and asked a question. He felt the Earth respond.

“I’m ready,” he said, looking up.

XxXxXxXxXxX

00:08 hours left

Mulder stood at the ready along with the other fighters that General Sidney had amassed. There were over a thousand, spread along the front of a ridge north of the base, hundreds of clumps of a dozen people spread over a mile of land, the base behind them, and a long field stretched out to the horizon in front.

William, who stood at the center of the fighting force, had chosen well. The magnetite of the mountain wherein Base Zero was housed would keep the super soldiers off of their rear, so that when they came, they would have to stream around the sides of the mountain and approach the fighters from the front – the geography of the area such that the fighters’ flanks were also protected.

In amongst the fighting force were spread the military, with two groups of special forces on either side of William and Joy who were tasked with protecting the two teens, whose job it would be to wield the vast stores of magnetite that were buried in the hills behind them. William would call it up from the earth, and – theoretically – Joy would help him sling it. Everyone else was armed with guns and magnetite ammo, and throwable IEDs filled with the element that should render the approaching super soldiers to dust. They’d been given other various weapons including magnetite infused knives, but if the enemy got close enough for them to use them, their cause was all but lost anyway.

Mulder ran a hand over a sweaty lip, looking over William to where Scully stood on his other side, one of the larger gatling guns held at the ready. He had tried to talk her into staying back at the base with those who could not fight, but she’d refused as he knew she would, and had told Sidney in no uncertain terms where she would be located on the field of battle. Next to her son. Next to Mulder.

The super soldier force was maybe ten minutes out according to the math, and if you paid attention, you could feel the slight rumble in the ground of the untold number of feet marching steadily toward them.

The anticipation was killing him. Mulder felt a keen sense of lachesism – he almost longed for the clarity delivered by disaster, the singular, shocking pleasure of doom. Anything was better than waiting for death to come, and when he finally saw the invading force wending their way over the distant hillsides, he thought that perhaps doom was the right word.

It must have been like what Leonidas and the other 300 Spartans had seen when they saw the full might of the Persian army wending towards them at Thermopylae. It wasn’t just a mass of super soldiers coming toward them, but a wall, a front, tens of thousands of beings who had once been people sweeping towards them like a hurricane approaching a beach.

He could hear swearing and prayers, whimpers and breaths, and one or two shots from the guns of fighters who couldn’t hold their nerve.

“Are you ready?” he heard his son ask Joy.

“Yes,” she said, and he watched as the two teens stood strong in the face of overwhelming odds, feet braced, their hands out, ready to wield the odd power they were born with to save humanity or die trying.

The enemy was upon them.

XxXxXxXxXxX

+00:35

William did not have the time or energy to think or worry or feel.

The battle hadn’t been raging long, but already the fighters from Zero were losing it.

The super soldiers were coming at the ragtag force far faster than they could be taken out. It was as if a horde of locusts had descended on what remained of humanity to pick their bones clean. There was the constant prattle of gunfire, one IED explosion after another, super soldiers turning to dust so quickly that every fighter on the battlefield looked like they were covered in a layer of ash. And still they came.

William was bringing up metric tons of magnetite from the ground and he and Joy were slinging it in vast swaths through the endless line of troops in front of them, but it was only buying them time. This couldn’t last. Whatever hope they had that morning was spent, trampled into the ground like a daisy beneath a boot. The world around them was nothing but shades of gray and black.

He coughed once on the dust; it was in his mouth and up his nose and as he expelled it, time slowed.

To his right, his mother had a large gun that was spraying forth magnetite bullets in a never ending half arc, holding off the wall of soldiers coming at them, but only just. To his left, the line was beginning to break. He saw Peter with one of the massive next gen gatling guns run out of ammo. A super soldier came at him, his hand like a knife, and Peter grabbed the gun he was holding by the barrel and swung it up with such force that the super soldier’s head whipped back and he flew into the enemy soldiers ten feet behind him. It only took a moment, however, for his place to be filled and William saw with detached horror as a soldier put a hand through Peter’s enormous neck and he crumpled to the ground. William’s father, standing next to him, lunged up with one of the magnetite infused combat knives and the soldier who had felled Peter vaporized. A second later another soldier stepped in and Mulder fell as well, an arc of blood spraying the air where he had not a moment before been standing tall. William saw Joy dive for the men, everything still moving in slow motion. He turned his head back to the front.

Standing before him, like a tree in the middle of a river’s current, was a young woman, not more than sixteen or seventeen years of age. Her hair was auburn streaked with the dust of her atomized compatriots and she wore a pink hooded sweatshirt with a pair of boot cut jeans, stained at the knee with grass.

In her hand was a baseball bat.

“Dan?” he said into the molasses drip of time, the name on his lips sounding hollow and as stretched out as taffy.

The super soldier before him cocked her head to the side and shifted her gaze to where Joy kneeled on the ground, her eyes closed, her hand resting the temples of William’s father. Dan took a step forward and raised the bat.

His hands shook as he held them out to the side and summoned forth an arrow of magnetite – no more than would take to fill a tea cup – sending it into the forehead of the girl who had been his only friend. She burst into dust just as a cool breeze whipped through the battlefield, and she was carried off into nothingness.

For a moment, time stopped. It was as quiet as the silence before Creation.

William remembered the feeling he had on the Preacher’s ship when his mother lay choking on her own blood, the incandescent rage that had come from within his chest and flowed to his fingers and hands, peeling apart the hard metallic alloys of the ship like they were no more than tissue paper. What he felt now was so much more powerful and intense that it felt like a vibrating psychosis – needles along his skin, rising up and through him like a tsunami taking a beach.

He called forth a force so potent that it would have torn any other person on Earth in two.

But instead of destroying him, the power itself cleansed him. The elements of the earth that answered his call were a pumice to his heart, distilling his essence to its purest form — if the soldiers before him were dark, he was light; if they were hate, he was love.

He was everything they ever were in their life and he would be the death that sent their souls home.

XxXxXxXxXxX

The ammo in Scully’s gatling gun was nearly out. It would only be a matter of seconds before she and every other human fighter with their backs to Base Zero were overwhelmed by the invading force. She thought of her mother, waiting in a small room beneath a mountain, rosary beads clutched in her hands. She thought of the pain of childbirth, of the coursing flow of love that followed it. She thought of Mulder’s eyes in the night and the way the color of his irises would shift when he was deep in the cradle of her hips.

And then the ground beneath Scully’s feet shook, as if a beast was erupting from the bowels of the earth.

She had only time to glance to her left to see Joy dive toward William and take his hand before the world itself seemed to implode.

There was a massive reverberation and then above them everything went dark. When she looked up to see what had blocked the sun, she saw nothing but a dark wall of stone miles wide and long rushing through the air over their heads and then careening down until it blasted into the line of super soldiers in a tremendous conflagration of rock and debris. The sound was like an atomic bomb going off. Scully slammed shut her eyes and covered her ears, falling to her knees.

Untold seconds or minutes or hours later, it was over. She blinked and lowered her hands, dust falling out of her hair and onto the already thick layer at her feet. She glanced over and William and Joy were still standing there, hands linked, breathing hard, both of their heads lowered in exhaustion or defeat or some other unnamed emotion Scully could scarcely bring herself to name.

To their left, Mulder sat, propping himself up on one arm, shaking his dusty head as if he’d just woken up from a trance. Next to him, the enormous crumpled body of Peter Carmichael lay still and silent. All around them were the fallen bodies of comrades and refugees, and amongst them stood the shell-shocked fighters who had survived.

The entire field before them was empty, but for a dust devil blowing west to east, swirling what remained of their enemy up beyond the surly bonds of the earth and into the heavens from which their destruction had both come, and gone.

William had to shove the door hard with his shoulder. It had been a damp summer, and the door itself, he was happy to see, hadn’t been touched in a few years.

“This is it,” he said, smiling behind him.

The little cabin had weathered the end and beginning of the world with robust cheerfulness, its windows reflecting the brownish green of the lake out front with watery solemnity, and the inside of the small house was dry and quiet, each piece of furniture and all their various knickknacks sitting exactly where they’d left them.

“Aren’t you going to carry me over the threshold?” Joy asked.

“I would, but I don’t want to throw out my back.”

“Kids,” said Scully, issuing a stern warning.

“I don’t think you can call them kids anymore, Scully,” said Mulder, bringing up the rear, his arms laden with food and supplies.

William reached back and took Joy’s hand, leading her into the kitchen with a wink and a smile.

“Come to the window,” he said, pulling her into the living room so that they could look out and onto Green Lake. “You gotta see the view.” His parents ducked back out to unsaddle the horses and give them some privacy — their timing fairly conspicuous.

Joy moved to stand in front of the big windows and took a deep breath, watching the gentle ripples of the water undulate along the lake’s surface. William took advantage of their seclusion and moved to stand behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her in tight.

“I was thinking,” he said into her ear, as she brought both of her arms up to cover his, “we could build our own cabin on the lot next door. There’s a little grove of poplar trees in between there and here, just enough so we’d have a little privacy.”

Joy inhaled again and thunked her head back so that it rested on his shoulder.

“I think that sounds like Heaven,” she said.

William Mulder took a moment to reflect on how far they’d come.

Maybe it was surprising, but he didn’t often think of the battle north of Zero. Today, however, standing in the one place in the world where he’d always felt safe and at home, he did.

He thought of the people they lost and couldn’t save. He thought of his grandmother and the others who had been deep below the earth, shrouded in the velvety darkness of soil and stone, not knowing whether they would ever see the sun again. He thought of Joy on the battlefield, choosing to save Mulder’s life over Peter Carmichael’s, a man who had been like a father to her, because she only had time to save one. He thought of the zealot Elaine, and the way her gun trembled when she held it. He thought of his cousin Matthew, how he’d come up to him after the battle and put his hand on William’s shoulder, the impish glint in his eye as dull as an old penny.

The cover of the hemlocks above the cabin waved thickly in the breeze off the lake, waving shadows onto the weedy yard in front of them.

“It’s just like you said it would be,” Joy said, squeezing his arm. “I don’t feel anything here but peace.”

He pressed a hand to the window and felt the cool glass press back. They had given all they could, all they had, to the outstretched hands of humanity and had earned a long awaited rest. For the rest of their days, they had no plans but to live a quiet life, a settled life, a life beyond the reach of fear, or judgment, or regret.

Their service had ended. Their lives had begun.

#The X-Files #fanfiction #fanfic #my fic #MSR #Post Colonization #North of Zero #thanks for sticking with me #however many of you are left

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morizoras-cave · 4 years ago

Text

Trespasser (Request)

Tom Holland x gn!teen!co-star!reader, Jake Gyllenhaal x gn!teen!co-star!reader

Genre: angst, fluff

Request Description: tom holland x teen!costar!reader and jake gyllenhaal x teen!costar!reader (or just one of them lol) where they're at the red carpet for the premiere of their new movie. suddenly, a fan sneaks onto the red carpet and inappropriately touches/attacks the reader. tom and jake are super pissed and get super protective over the reader. thank you!

Warnings: harassment, inappropriate touching, creepy dude, language

(A/N): LMAO NOT @ ME FOR ACCIDENTALLY POSTING THIS BEFORE IT WAS DONE EYE,,, anyway this is my first gender neutral post. im very happy to be able to include more people in my fics, and i apologize for previously exclusively having female pronouns :) also thank you to @goblinsbones for bringing the whole gender neutral thing to my attention!

“Alright, you’re on soon!” someone yelled from the backstage area. The crowd of fans and journalists was already cheering from behind the curtain.

You and the rest of the cast of Spiderman: Far From Home were standing in your gorgeous suits and dresses waiting for the red carpet. You had all worked so hard on the movie to give it your all, and it had finally payed off. You finally felt the pride as you stood at the premiere.

You hadn’t had a huge role in the new Spiderman movie. At least not yet. Kevin Feige, Marvel’s boss and the Man With The Plan™ had informed you, that you small character would be much more important in the upcoming Spiderman movie. Of course, you had to keep shush about that.

Either way, you’d grown very close to the cast. You had first feared that it would be awkward and that you would be an outsider, given that you were quite a bit younger than them, but that hadn’t been the case.

You and Zendaya basically texted or hung out everyday, you and Jacob pranked everyone together, you and Tom had heated discussion about movies, and you kept Jake informed on Gen Z culture. You loved each one of them dearly.

“You nervous?” Jake asked. He was looking in the mirror one last time, adjusting his tie. You grimaced and shrugged.

“A little bit, but I’m okay,” you said, “I’m mostly excited. I can’t wait to see all the fans. I hope I lived up to their expectations.”

“Well, I don’t know about them, but you lived up to my expectations, kid. And I actually know what I’m talking about!” Jake joked and finally turned to face you. You scoffed and giggled.

“Alright, it’s starting now!” the same man who had yelled before informed, and you saw him scurrying off to a distant corner of the backstage area.

“I guess we’re doing it,” Zendaya said. She was beautiful as always, her amazing taste in style showing through her butterfly dress.

First she went through the curtains, the crowd screaming and roaring. You felt a little bit more nervous then, wondering if they would cheer as hard for you.

Then Jacob went through, and then a lady gestured for you to walk through, which you did. A smile immediately adorned your face. The people cheered for you. There were so many smiling fans further down the carpet and the sky was blue and bright. The sun beamed on your skin, as you took a couple of steps down the red carpet.

There was nothing to be nervous about, you realized. It was awesome.

Jake and Tom followed after you, and then began the slow decent down the carpet. First, past the photographers and then the area with the journalists (arguably the worst part), before arriving at the most exciting part. The fans. The long stretch where fans stood on either side, eyes gleaming in adoration.

You smiled and waved, expressing your joy. Tom and Jake, walking behind you, smiled when they saw your excitement. It was your first big movie premiere.

You were too caught up in the moment, so happy you could burst, to notice or hear the bustle and yelling happening just a little bit behind you, between you and Jake.

No, you didn’t notice that at all, not until you felt a hand on your waist and your shoulder, making you jump. The hand kept you from scurrying away, and spun you around the face the person.

You just assumed it was Jake or Tom or a bodyguard or something. You were wrong. Spinning around you came face to face with a random man, probably 20 or so years older than you. You’d never seen him in your life, and the moment you processed that, his touch on your body felt like a burning, blaring alarm.

“Y/N!” he yelled over the sounds of the fans talking and screaming. His spit hit your face. You tried to grab his arms and pull them off you, but his hold only tightened. “I’m such a big fan! Please! Please, can you sign my shirt?”

You were thrashing and desperately trying to pull him off you, every inch of you showing discomfort and disgust with his hold on you, but he seemed oblivious, or maybe he just didn’t care.

“Get off of me!”

Finally, a hand roughly pulled the man from you, releasing you. You almost fell over, your body hurling away from him. Your vision blurred for a moment, but remembering where you were, you blinked back your tears.

Jake’s hand was digging into the guys shoulder, and you saw the guy twisting in pain. Jake was yelling something, something about “how dare you!” and “what gives you the right to touch them?” His jaw clenched and unclenched.

Tom was marching over as well, and angry look on his face. He got close to the man as well, yelling now too (”You fucking scum!”). Then, across the carpet, he turned his head and his eyes caught yours. He halted. He saw you, hugging yourself, chest heaving, as you struggled to hold back your tears. This was supposed to be fun.

Tom’s heart broke. It broke because he knew the experience was ruined. You’d been so excited. And for what? For some jerk to mess it up for you?

He suddenly felt no urge to yell at the guy, no, he just padded over to you, and brought you into a hug without a word. You stood there.

“I’m so sorry, N/n,” he whispered. With him so close, you could finally hear. “He had no right to hold you like that.”

“It’s not your fault,” you muttered. Tom didn’t answer then and you both just stood there in a hug, warm and nice, holding each other.

You felt a hand gently placed on your back and looked up to see Jake. He smiled at you gently, although you could tell he was suppressing a lot of anger. He and Tom made eye contact for a moment, then both looked at you.

“Alright guys, we better go,” Jake said and both you and Tom nodded.

You begun to walk, but this time you felt Jake settle on one side of you and then Tom at the other. They both grabbed the hand of yours that was on their side, and then you started walking down the carpet again.

You saw some fans awwing, some still outraged at the man’s actions, and some completely clueless. Either way, you held on to Tom and Jake. The warmth of their hands in yours, made a sense of security and safety swirl in your chest. You smiled.

“Thank you!” you said to no one in particular, but the squeeze of your hands let you know that they heard. Although, if you asked them no thank you was needed. No one should be allowed to scare their little sib, and goddamnit they would make sure of that.

___________________________

Tag List:

@hera-the-writer @marvel-madness @40srogcrs @whatthefuckimbisexual @snarky–starky @garbage-potato @eviemarvel @lozzypoz321 @allthecreativeonesaretaken @missamericana713 @rororo06 @shady80smusicsingercolor @ireadfanficforfun

#tom holland #tom holland x reader #jake gyllenhaal #jake gyllenhaal x reader #spiderman #spiderman x reader #spiderman cast x reader #x reader #peter parker #peter parker x reader #Marvel cast x reader #MCU cast x reader #avengers #avengers x reader #avengers cast x reader #avengers cast x teen!reader #tom holland ff #jake gyllenhaal ff

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iamnmbr3 · 3 years ago

Note

the loki show managed to put together a cast/crew of the worst possible women they could find. from natalie “loki thinks sylvie is his mother” holt, to sophia "sylvie had it worst then loki” to whatever kate heron is. everything they say makes me hate them more. cant believe marvel let them do this to tom

I mean. I think they put together the worst people they could find. It’s not just the women. Don’t forget Eric “publicly complained on Twitter because the Disney execs wouldn’t let them make the show even less about Loki than it already was” Martin. Not to mention Mike Waldron, the king of bad takes, lord of the antis, and chief creator of this whole mess.

Also I gotta say Natalie Holt dropping in with that bizarre “Loki looks at Sylvie like his mother” take right after Kate Herron went on a rant about how fans shouldn’t call sylki incest was hilariously perfect comedic timing and amused me to no end. It was also weird when she said Loki and Sif dated given that she had nothing to do with writing the series...and also given that he based it on that torture scene. But I still think she hasn’t been as harmful as Kate ruining the show with her bad directing and also calling what Mobius did therapy (as did Mike iirc) or as harmful as what Mike and Eric have said and written.

But yeah it’s a mess. This show was made in bad faith. Everything from the writing and directing to the makeup and PR was a huge slap in the face to Tom and to the Loki character and to Loki’s fans. Absolutely outrageous. It’s literally like if Disney made TFatWS about John Walker and had Sam call him the “superior” cap. People would be rightfully outraged. This was just an insulting disaster that seemed actively malicious. But yeah it’s not by any means just on the women. I mean, Mike’s the one who wrote the story and he has made many many gross comments. So yeah... Not sure why he and Eric Martin are being given a pass in this ask...

(Edit: Seriously. Just check my Loki tv series interviews tag if you want to see lots of equal opportunity awfulness from both women and men associated with the show. It wasn’t just the women by any means.)

#asks #loki tv series #loki series #loki show #loki tv show #loki 2021 #Marvel #MCU

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wrenhyperfixates · 4 years ago

Text

Love Poison

Pairing: Loki x reader Summary: You plan to take extreme measures to catch Loki’s eye. Unfortunately, things backfire terribly. Can something good come of the mess? Warnings: use of a love potion (putting this here because in case that bothers some people) but I think that’s it A/N: For @tom-hlover. Thanks for requesting and hope you enjoy!

Tag List: @lucywrites02 @frostedgiant @lunarmoon8 @twhiddlestonsstuff @lokistan @thelokiimaginechroniclesficrecs

Disclaimer: Picture not mine

You glanced out the window of Tony’s lab. In the week since you’d been promoted to his personal assistant, you’d seen more of the Avengers than you had in your almost five years of working at the Tower. In fact, you’d seen all but the one you’d really been hoping to. Loki. You had a little crush on the god, you would admit, but you had no hope of getting to know him if he never stopped by the lab. You considered asking your boss about him, but decided that the embarrassment wasn’t worth the risk. So, instead, you kept on waiting.

Your lucky break came one day when Tony sent you to the kitchen to get him some coffee. A large part of you wanted to suggest sleep instead, since he’d pretty obviously been up since you’d left the Tower last night. But you were still too new to the job to be so bold. You were in the middle of pouring Tony’s drink when a certain raven haired god came rushing in, snickering to himself. He stopped in his tracks when he noticed you.

“Who are you?” he asked sharply, as if he had been caught in the middle of something. Judging by the box of glowing vials he had with him, you supposed he might be. “How did you get in here?”

“Oh! I, uh, I work for Tony. I’m his new lab assistant,” you responded shyly, telling him your name.

“Ah, I see. A pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am Loki of Asgard. That doesn’t happen to be Stark’s drink in your hands, does it?”

“Actually, yeah, it is. May I ask why?”

Loki peered over his shoulder before turning back to you, a mischievous glint in his eye. You were almost certain your heart would beat out of your chest if you stayed in this close proximity to him any longer, but he finally began to explain himself.

“I was hoping to slip a potion into it. I had been planning on just dumping it into the coffee pot, but it would much easier if you could help me sneak it into the cup. Do not worry, I will not let you get into trouble. I will gladly take full blame. And, before you ask, it is completely safe.”

You contemplated for a minute trying to choose between your new job and Loki. The choice was pretty obvious, though, as you always tended to think more with your heart than your head. Maybe this could even spark a friendship between you and the god.

“Ok,” you nodded. “What’s it going to do?”

“It will make him burst out into uncontrollable laughter,” Loki explained as he set a few vials on the island, looking for the right one. “A harmless prank, really, but all I can get away with these days.”

A few moments later he was saying goodbye and hurrying off to enact his next prank. So much for that friendship you were hoping would bloom. Except, he’d left a potion behind. Maybe you could return it to him, and at least get another conversation out of it. But then you looked at the label and got another plan entirely. It was a love potion.

Ten minutes later you were staring at the bottle of glowing purple-pink liquid. Tony had run out to yell at Loki, knowing immediately who had been responsible for his sudden laughter. There were blueprints to be working on, you knew, but you’d had an idea, and it was proving nearly impossible to get it out of your mind. If you could just see Loki again, find him again, you could give him a drink with the potion in it. Not a lot, just a drop. Just nudge him into having feelings for you. Then once he got to know you, maybe the potion would have worked its way out of his system and his feelings would be real.

Almost without knowing what you were doing, you were pouring some of the contents in a cup of water. You poured yourself a cup of water, too, suddenly feeling very anxious. Was this right? You hadn’t technically stolen it or anything. But deep down, you knew that wasn’t the issue. This was crazy. It was manipulative. Everything about your relationship will have started out as a lie. Maybe you just needed another sip of water to calm down.

“Shit,” you whispered to yourself as you realized you’d drunk out of the wrong cup. Your mind went into full panic mode before focusing solely on Loki.

You skipped through the halls of the Tower, looking for your otherworldly prince. He said your name in a question as he almost collided into you. Immediately he knew something was off, he just couldn’t quite put his finger on it. It would bug him until he could.

“Did Stark send you after me?” he questioned. “I do not suppose you would be willing to help me out a second time?”

“Tony didn’t send me,” you brazenly replied. “I’m here to ask you on a date, Loki.”

“And why,” he said in a sharp laugh of disbelief, “would you do that?”

“Because I’m in love with you.”

His eyebrows shot halfway up his face. Not only was that an outrageous thing to say because you hardly knew each other, it was unbelievable because he was, well, him. Plus, you seemed a lot more bold than you had earlier. He almost didn’t believe it was the same person. Maybe you had a twin running around. Or maybe it was drugs. But no. He’d seen the effect drugs had on Midgardians before, and this was different. Still, he could not figure it out.

“That is lovely, but-”

“He would love to!” Thor cut his brother off as he appeared from around the corner. “How about you get some coffee? You like coffee, right brother?”

“No.”

“It’s perfect considering how we met,” you giggled as Loki grimaced. “I know a place that has coffee and tea, if you like that better.”

Loki desperately wanted to decline, but it was the last thing he needed for his image. Besides, he was pretty sure Thor would drag him there even if he said no.

“Very well. I shall meet you in the lobby at seven.”

“See you later, Loki,” you giggled as you waved goodbye, leaving to go doodle his name in your notebook.

“Well, well, brother,” Thor said. “I had no idea you had finally realized what an eligible bachelor you are. Good for you, putting yourself out there.”

“I suppose you were not at the same conversation I was,” Loki said wryly. “You put me out there. I was about to say no.”

“Come now, it will be good for you. Why do you seem so dismayed?”

“It does not make sense that they like me. No, they said love, actually. For one, I hardly know them. For two, I am me, don’t forget. Harbinger of destruction in the Battle of New York. Something is not adding up.”

“Just enjoy this, brother. Someone has realized how wonderful you are and asked you out. It is just how things work on Midgard.”

“Perhaps,” Loki mused, wracking his brain. “But I must do some research. There may be magic involved.”

“You know what,” his brother sighed, “I am going to help you just to prove this is real.”

“If you must.”

The search proved fruitless, but Loki was determined to comb through more of his enchantment books later. Right now, however, he had to meet you. For a date. The whole thing still sounded absolutely absurd. Though, he would admit you did look rather adorable bundled in your coat, ready to go out in the cold night air. Being the gentleman that he was, he offered you his arm, which you excitedly took as you giggled. That was another thing, why were you suddenly so bubbly? It was a far cry from the shy, easily flustered person he’d met earlier. He added it to his mental list of possible symptoms of whatever was afflicting you.

About an hour later, the two of you were still seated in the small café you’d brought him to. Loki was, surprisingly, enjoying himself. He had to keep reminding himself that this was not real, that he shouldn’t get too attached, for he was sure he’d figure this out sooner or later.

“Really?” you laughed as he finished his story.

“Yes, the entire chair just gave out from under him,” he recalled, telling you of one of the many times he’d pranked Thor in their youth. “After all, he’d just said to stop gluing him to it. Everything else was fair game. The best part was father never could prove I was behind it.”

“I wish I was clever like that. Or could do magic.”

“Well, I’ve never heard of a Midgardian working seiðr before, but I suppose nothing is impossible. I fear I may not be the best teacher, though. I lack the patience a good teacher should possess.”

“You seem plenty patient to me. Loki, you’re...” you said, nervously casting your eyes down to the floor, “well, you’re amazing.”

He blushed at your words, but accepted them with a small thank you. You’d calmed down considerably throughout the course of the evening, now seemingly fully captivated in your conversation with Loki. And he even found himself thinking that he didn’t mind your company, a rare thing indeed. Maybe Thor was right after all. Maybe this was real. As much as he wanted to believe that, deep down, he still knew something was very, very wrong.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Loki took you out again a week later. After a dinner out in the city, he had nervously brought you back to the Tower for a movie on his couch. It had been Thor’s idea, though he seemed to have been hinting at something else by suggesting Loki bring you back to his quarters. But, thankfully, you didn’t seem particularly interested in any of those things. Rather, you were content to just sit with Loki and let the movie play. You were curled into his side, cuddling him. It took someone actually wanting to be near to him to make him realize how touch starved he actually was. It alarmed him at first, to have you so close, but he relaxed as you began methodically braiding and unbraiding a few locks of his hair. A small smile played at his lips as he thought of the domestic simplicity of it.

“Hey, Loki,” you said. “I’m really glad I met you.”

“I am too. And to think, it all started with a simple prank.”

Loki suddenly stood up from the couch, accidentally pushing you off him. He apologized as he rushed over to his bookcase. Remembering how you’d first met had made him think of something; he’d been searching for an enchantment, but he’d never considered it being the effect of a potion. Reading the page in the book, he realized you were exhibiting all the symptoms. He sighed and checked his potion box, hoping against hope that he would find nothing missing. Unfortunately, he did.

He’d packed up his things so quickly that he must have left one behind and, one way or another, you’d consumed it. And of course it had to be that one of all the options. It was more love poison than love potion, he thought to himself as he scoffed. He sat down and plopped onto the couch, burying his head in his hands.

“Loki?” you hesitantly asked. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh, my darling, I am so sorry. It is all my fault,” he apologized, taking your hands as confusion sparked behind your eyes. “It may take a little time, but I will fix this. For now, you should go home.”

“But, Loki,” you sniffled. “I don’t want to. What’s happening? Can I see you tomorrow?”

He hesitated. He really shouldn’t let this continue, for both your sakes. “I... Yes, I will you see you tomorrow. Do not worry about what is going on, I will take care of it.”

You sniffled some more, but acquiesced. After placing a kiss to his cheek, you set off towards your flat, leaving the unfinished movie playing in the background. Loki immediately started preparing the antidote. It would take nearly a week to fully brew, and he tried to figure out what to do with you in the meantime. He feared that if he kept seeing you, you would hate him when you came to. But, if he rejected you now, you might become violent and unpredictable. Better to keep you safe. And, if he was lucky for once in his life, maybe he could have a chance with you once you were in your right mind.

As soon as the antidote finished, Loki prepared to give it to you. He’d found the bottle of love potion hidden in Tony’s lab and concluded you couldn’t have used more than a few drops. He even dared hope for a second that you hadn’t used it, after all, but then he noticed the seal had been broken. The small dosage must have been the reason he didn’t recognize the side effects as belonging to it right away. The larger the dosage, the more intense the effects.

“Hi Loki,” you greeted as he opened the door for you.

“Hello, darling.”

“Is something wrong?” you asked, cupping his cheek. “You seem upset.”

“I am fine. May I interest you in a glass of water? Tea? Anything to drink, really.”

“Oh! I guess water sounds good. Thanks,” you smiled.

He handed you the cup and waited while you took a sip. The effects were almost instantaneous, filling him with both joy and sadness at the same time. You gazed around the room with a dazed look on your face. Loki helped you to a chair as you regained your senses.

“Oh my gosh,” you gasped. “Loki, I’m so sorry.”

“Sorry for what, darling? I am the one who left the potion lying around.”

“Yes, but,” you started, wondering how much you could get away with. You decided it was just best to come clean. “I should have returned it as soon as I saw it. Not... not try to give it to you. Serves me right that I accidentally took it myself.”

“You were trying to give it to me?” Loki inquired with furrowed brows. “What would you do a thing like that for?”

“Because,” you gulped, “I really do have a crush on you, Loki. I was desperate, I guess. But that’s no excuse, so yeah, I’m sorry. I should go now.”

“Wait,” he called after you before you could run off. You were rather charming, he thought. And he did believe that he got to know a bit of the real you through the potion. Besides, maybe Thor was right, and it was time he put himself out there. “I know we did not start under the best circumstances, but I would like to take you on a real date if you will allow it. Say, tonight?”

“Really?” you squeaked in disbelief. “I would love to, Loki.”

“Just do me one favor, darling. Stay away from potions, please.”

“Believe me,” you nervously laughed, “I plan on it.”

You scurried away to text your friends about the crazy turn of events. Loki smiled after you before destroying the rest of the love potion, happy that some good was able to come out of the whole mess. But there was one thing he knew for certain; he’d be swearing off potion making for quite some time.

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thekatebridgerton · 3 years ago

Note

Literally nobody was outraged lmao. People are praising iz left and right, writers, producers, whole cast. It literally broke record and people are obsessed with it but stay mad.

Friendly reminder that if you don't want to see my tirades about season 2 blacklist the tag #what the fuck Netflix

And to answer you anon don't media productions always want good press? I mean like yeah the way that it broke records was pretty underhanded they force the audience to keep watching until the end because they expected some plotlines to get better.

And you're right I'm one of those people who is praising the actors in particular because they did such a great job with that that they were given. Bridgerton has an amazing cast, they're going places.

I'm just pointing out that while the viewership did raise and they did break a record the audience was still left disatisfied.

Sort of when you love someone but their performance in bed leaves something to be desired. You still love them you still wouldn't leave them. It's not a problem that they're not that good in bed. But you know they could be, and that's disappointing.

I don't know one person who says that they like season 2 who also doesn't say the words "but I wish they would have done this and this different... " In The same sentence

compared to the glowing reviews That season 1 received what which had YouTubers left and right saying how great it was and the costumes the actors how fun it was to watch bridgeton season 1, and they were great lines in the show and the people who are still talking about it like 6 months later.

So I'm not saying the audience is outraged I'm saying they're disappointed and disatisfied despite liking something so much and that's the reviews that bridgeton season 2 is getting. Which is very valid

They can improve or they can choose to keep going as they are, I look forward to what the results from that strategy may be.

But I truly do think that they're going to get better for season 3 maybe it's the eternal optimist in me

and that's the tea

#bridgerton #bridgerton season 2 #Bridgerton season 3 #what the fuck netflix

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lala-ladybug · 4 years ago

Text

Healing Hands: Chapter 4

Yesyesyes I’m super excited to share this one with you guys!! The game is finally beginning, ahhhh!!!!

Jasonette Sword Art Online AU

Read here on AO3

Tag list: @iloontjeboontje

First | Previous | Next

Chapter 4: Goddamn wimps, all of them

Marinette opened her eyes, squinting against the bright sunlight. She stood in a huge village square filled with hundreds of people, the gaps between them growing smaller as more and more players appeared. The sun shone merrily, and an excited chatter began rising in the air. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It felt good to be back.

“Marinette!” She looked around to see Alya and Nino waving a few yards away. She broke into an excited smile and jogged over to meet them. They must have spawned in relative to their actual locations since Kagami, Luka, and the others from her class were already there.

“Hey guys!” Marinette said breathlessly. “Almost didn’t make it. Thanks for the call, Alya.”

The brunette gave her a quick hug. “Anytime, girl. Now you and Lila can show us the ropes!” She bounced excitedly.

Marinette barely caught herself from rolling her eyes and just nodded instead. Of course Lila would be able to help teach the others how to play. It definitely wouldn’t just be Marinette teaching everybody. Again.

Meanwhile, Max and Nathaniel were remarking on how realistic the textures of the cobbled streets were. Marinette did a double-take when she saw Adrien standing next to them. He had an immensely intricate and ornate suit of armor. There was an excess of spikes, ribbons flowing from every joint, and every inch of him was covered in metal. A tall helmet adorned with skull decals cast a shadow over his grinning face.

“What are you wearing?” She spluttered. He pointed a thumb to his chest with some difficulty, the thick metal creaking with the movement.

“This bad boy is the toughest armor in the game! I may have made a few embellishments of my own, so now I look even cooler.” He stated with pride.

Marinette shot a look at Luka, who wore a light set of simple leathers. He grimaced and shook his head, warning Marinette not to question their friend’s surprisingly atrocious taste in fashion. Or serious misunderstanding of armor weight classes.

“You know you could’ve picked any armor you want, right?” Adrien asked.

“Oh, I know. I crafted this set during beta testing!” Marinette spun around to show the boys, gladly welcoming the change in subject. She was dressed in a light suit of armor, the metal tinted a deep red. Black fabric peeked underneath the gaps, a strong yet flexible design of her own making. A simple grey cloak hung off her shoulders, concealing the quiver behind her back.

While Luka and Adrien complimented her brilliant design, she spotted Lila. She looked a little out of her element, hanging back to awkwardly watch a conversation between Kim, Alix, and Kagami, oddly enough. The three were dressed in heavy sets of armor, lamenting about how there weren’t any monsters to battle yet.

Chloe sauntered over to join them and, having heard how even Kagami was itching for a fight, wrinkled her nose. Marinette giggled to herself. This was going to be interesting, to say the least.

* * *

Jason’s eyes snapped open and he threw out an arm to steady himself. The transition from logging on was dizzying, but the sensation faded with every deep breath he took. He noted the smell of freshly baked bread wafting through the air. Damn, even he had to admit this tech was impressive. Dick and Tim stood next to him, wearing blue and red-toned armor respectively. Tim was looking around wildly, grinning like an idiot.

“Timmy!” Cassie Sandsmark sprinted towards them to tackle her boyfriend in a hug. Oh great, looks like the rest of the kiddy patrol was here too. Looking to where Cassie had run from, Jason indeed saw various members of The Team. Connor looked just as nauseated as Jason had felt after joining. Roy stood next to him, unmoving as he stared down at his very realistic-looking hand. Ouch. Jason had to have some sympathy for the poor kid, not that he’d ever tell him that.

Bart and Garfield, on the other hand, appeared to be having the time of their lives. Bart got into a running stance and Garfield gleefully jumped into the air, both falling flat on their faces. Jason snorted as he watched Jaime help his boyfriend up. Jaime asked him, “Whoa there ese, what gives?”

Bart shook his head and muttered, “I don’t have my speed.”

Garfield furrowed his brow and strained his face. “You look like you’re either really constipated or trying to shift,” Artemis informed him.

Ignoring her, Garfield locked his panicked eyes with Connor’s. “I can’t shift either, SB.”

“Der kaolc ym nrut,” Zatanna intoned quietly. When nothing happened, she nervously said, “My magic doesn’t work either.”

Jason rolled his eyes. Goddamn wimps, all of them. “Looks like all you supers will have to stoop to our level.”

“Stay whelmed everyone,” Dick stepped in to mitigate half the group’s outrage. “It’s just a game, we don’t exactly need our other skills right now.”

Before they could say anything else, an enormous bell mounted in the center of the town square began to ring. A hush fell over the crowd. The sky darkened as red hexagons interlocked to create a massive dome around the town.

A tall being flickered to life in the air above them. The hooded figure floated high overhead, their face eerily concealed.

“Attention players,” the figure raised their hands. “I welcome you to my world.” Well that didn’t sound ominous, Jason thought to himself. He felt the mood from the others shift into high alert.

“You may call me the Game Master, and I am the only one in control of this world. You may have noticed that the logout button is missing from your main menu.” The figure paused dramatically. “I assure you, this is no defect in the game. It is all as I have designed it to be. You cannot log yourselves out, and no one outside the game will be able to remove you forcibly. If anyone tries to do so, a transmitter inside the VR headset will emit powerful microwaves into your brain that will end your life.” Shit, shit, shit. This was just supposed to be a dumb game he played to make Replacement shut up about it, what the hell?

“Of the 10,000 players, 215 have already died because their family or friends ignored this warning and attempted to remove their headsets. Media outlets have been reporting on this, so it is safe to assume the danger of your headsets being removed has passed.” This guy had to be joking. Though if he wasn’t, Babs would surely research everything within her power to try to remove them safely.

“One other feature of the game is that you are no longer able to revive players. If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will die and the headset will destroy your brain.” Jason’s eyes widened and his head whipped to Dick. He ran a hand through his hair, looking just as horrified as Jason felt.

“The only way for a player to return to the real world is to clear the game. You are currently on Floor 1, the lowest level of the castle. If you make it to the dungeon and defeat the level boss, you may progress to the next level. Defeat the final boss on Floor 100, and you will clear the game.” This motherfucker couldn’t be serious.

The game master, god what a pretentious prick, raised his hands and began to disappear once more. He said, “Good luck, players,” before disappearing entirely. The sky returned to its cheery blue.

A beat of silence passed before someone started screaming. Then the thousands of players erupted into a cacophony of sound.

* * *

Marinette stood stockstill amidst the chaos. She felt more than heard masses of people panicking around her. Her eyes darted back and forth without truly seeing anything, mind racing to figure out a solution. If there was no way to safely remove the headset, then they’d have to beat the whole game. What about the Kwami? Could they connect with their miraculi? What about the small powers they’d each accumulated over the years? If those were accessible, then they might stand a chance, but god if they weren’t--

A hand on her arm made her snap her head to attention. It was Adrien, his jaw clenched tightly. She gripped his arm in return, the small reassurance barely that. Around her, the new Order looked to their leader for orders, direction. And behind them, her classmates....

Most were white in the face. Max had his hands clenched in his hair and was muttering to himself about the likelihood that the headsets actually could kill them. From the way he was shaking his head, she guessed it was a definite possibility. Lila looked like a cornered animal, twitchy and desperately looking for an escape. Even Kim and Alix wore uncharacteristically serious expressions.

“Well?” Chloe prompted Marinette. The latter took a deep breath. Better focus on solving the smaller problems first. “Your VIP package came with a house on the first floor, right?”

Chloe blinked in surprise. “Yeah, it did,” she replied uncertainly.

“Good.” Marinette whistled and gestured for the rest of her friends to gather around. “Listen up! We don’t know how everyone else is going to react, so it’s best for us to go somewhere safe to lie low for a while. I can teach everyone the gameplay, and we’ll do our best to help beat the game.”

She looked Alya and Nathanial in the eye, since their hands seemed to be shaking the most, and said with all the confidence of Ladybug, “Think of all the bullshit Hawkmoth’s put us through. We are not going to die here. That’s a promise.”

Marinette drew her bow and half-strung an arrow, holding it parallel to the ground. “Chloe has a house on the first level. Let’s go.” She nodded to Adrien, Chloe, Kagami, and Luka to establish a perimeter around the rest of the class as they moved. She exhaled a quiet, shaky breath and led the way out of the square.

The crowd did not part easily. People were sobbing, shouting, hyperventilating. They needed to get out fast before the shock wore off.

Someone stood in front of her. The poor soul was probably just as scared as they were. She put her bow back in her inventory, trying to appear as non-threatening as possible.

“Excuse me,” Marinette gave a little half-wave to get their attention. “May I please get through?”

“Oh, sorry,” He had a deep, male voice. One hand gestured to the direction she was headed as he stepped out of her path. “Go right ahead.” His hands weren’t shaking as the other crept towards his belt. Not good, not good.

A flash of silver was all the warning she got before Luka pulled her back. A knife collided with his hastily raised shield, shedding sparks as the assailant nearly dropped his weapon in surprise. Marinette dropped down to sweep her leg beneath Luka’s shield, knocking the man off his feet. He gave a shout of surprise as he went down, and Luka disarmed him in the confusion.

“Come on, move it!” Marinette shouted over her shoulder. She re-equipped her bow and surged forward, picking up the pace to get the hell out of there. Such a large group was an easy target, they had to get out of the open and fast. People were starting to react beyond their shock, and more of them were bound to get violent.

Her eyes scanned over the buildings in front of them. There. A momentary break in the throng of players allowed her to spot Slipcut Alley, a favorite shortcut of hers. It was only a few yards away. The alley was too narrow for anything but a single-file line, but it provided cover and was hidden by a spell that only other beta testers would know about. It was their best option.

She squared her shoulders and pushed through the last of the crowd. She turned to face her friends, who gathered around her as they too made it out into the small clearing. Chloe, Kagami, and Adrien were watching the crowd behind them, ready to defend against any other attacks.

Marinette put her bow away one more time and asked, “Do you trust me?”

Shaky nods and wide eyes. That would have to do.

“Then follow me,” she said, and walked straight through the wall before them.

* * *

“Our first step should be finding shelter for the night,” Dick said sharply. “We can figure out the rest tomorrow, but it’ll do us no good if we die tonight.” Tim nodded, ever the protégé.

“And just how do you suggest we do that?” Jason countered. He couldn’t help it if it came out a little accusatory. He did not sign up for a damn death trap.

It was Garfield who had the answer. “Well, in order to do anything, we need money. So we need to start killing some monsters!” He palmed his fist with a resounding smack. “And then we can see about an inn or something.”

Connor rubbed his chin. “That’s not a bad idea, kid.”

“Just tell me where to hit them,” Roy said in a low voice, sounding about as pissed as Jason felt.

“Let’s split into three teams. Alpha squad will be Artemis, Wally, Bart, and myself. Tim, Roy, Gar, and Connor will be Beta. Jason, you’re with Jaime, Cassie, and Zatanna for Gamma.” Great, Jason was the only non-super there. What a grand old time that’ll be.

He made to leave the square and disappear into the panicking crowd, but Dick held his arm. “Hey, I’m trusting you to keep them safe,” he kept his voice low. “It’s been a while since they fought without powers, so keep an eye on them.” He then turned to address the rest of the team. “Alpha will take north. Beta, go south and Gamma see what’s west. Meet back here at sunset. Alpha will secure lodging before engaging enemies.”

“What, no pep talk?” Wally elbowed Dick. The latter didn’t crack a smile as he said, “Just stay alive.”

Beside him, Garfield swallowed hard and said weakly, “Noted.”

Jason rolled his eyes and jerked his head in their assigned direction for the other three members of Gamma squad to come with him. He’d follow along as long as Dick made good plans, and Jason didn’t exactly have any better ideas for now.

He put on his very best I know exactly how to kill you and I’ll do it if you don’t get the hell out of my way face and lead the way out of the packed square. The crowd parted easily before him, and they were out on an open street within a matter of minutes.

”Where to first, ese?” Jaime asked, shifting nervously from foot to foot.

Good question. Jason looked around for a map or something that could tell him the way out of the damn town. When he glanced back for a quick headcount and only counted two, he cursed and asked Cassie, “Where the hell is Z?”

She pointed at a nearby stall where the magician was chatting with the vendor. Zatanna waved to them, then sauntered back over to the rest of the team. “The shopkeeper says there’s a bridge further down this street and to the left that’ll take us west out of the town.”

Cassie frowned. “Was that a player with their own shop already? Man, we are behind.”

“Oh, no it was an AI.” Zatanna readily supplied. “An NPC?” She added on seeing the confusion on her companions’ faces. “Honestly, was I the only one to do research on this game before playing it?”

Jaime sheepishly scratched his head while Cassie squeaked, “Well....” Jason had to agree with them, he just did this to keep Replacement happy. And get Dick off his ass, the meddling prick.

Zatanna shook her head. “Look, AI stands for artificial intelligence, and NPC is a non-playable character. They’re computer-generated people, not actual players.”

Jason caught enough to surmise that these NPCs were created by the same maniac that locked them up in here. He crossed his arms and asked, “How the hell can we trust their word if they’re controlled by that fuckin’ game master freak?”

Cassie bit her lip and had the good sense to look concerned. Zatanna just shrugged and said, “I guess we’ll just have to find out. We can try following their directions but stay cautious in case it’s a trap.”

“Fine,” Jason sighed. “Let’s go.” He was already resigned to the absolute stupidity of the situation anyway.

They made it to the end of the street without incident, and turned where the shopkeeper had directed them to. There was a bridge, spanning a merrily bubbling river, and open fields dotted with trees beyond it. Jason could smell the greenery and apple blossoms from here.

“Wait!” Jaime threw his arm out. He made a face, then sneezed. “Aw man,” he gave a tremendous sniff. “Can’t eben escabe allergies in a video gabe.”

Cassie laughed at her friend and slapped him on the back, which only made him sneeze again. Dumbasses, they didn’t have time for this. Jason rolled his eyes for what felt like the umpteenth time that day and walked up to the base of the bridge. He slowly, carefully stepped across and edged his way to the other side.

The other three followed suit, and upon joining him, Zatanna said cheerfully, “Seems like we can trust the NPCs!”

“For now,” Jason muttered, still not convinced. He turned his gaze to the rolling hills before him, warm breezes sending waves that shimmered through the knee-high grass. He didn’t see any monsters, but there had to be some... right?

He used two fingers to swipe the air in front of him, opening his inventory. At least he remembered that much from the tutorial. He equipped the crossbow he’d loaded in when he created his avatar. Damn, that night in the Batcave felt like it was a week ago.

Jason took a wary step forward, into the grass. “Fan out,” he directed the other three. He didn’t turn to watch as he heard them draw their own weapons and creep up to flank him.

A rustle in the grass ahead had him throw a clenched fist into the air to have the others hold their positions. He waited until the movement stilled, then crept forward a few more steps, careful to keep his footsteps silent. He was within feet of it now, whatever it was. He hoisted up his crossbow to brace it on his shoulder and trained it on the last place he’d spotted movement. There was a sharp inhale behind him, and then Jaime sneezed loudly.

The head of a wild boar whipped up and it lunged for Jason. “Shit!” he yelled. Damn kid and his perfect timing. Jason blindly jumped backward and fired a bolt at the same time. It met its target and the boar shattered into glittering dust that resembled pixels. In front of him, a notification popped up that 20 copper coins, the crossbow bolt he’d shot, and a boar tusk had been added to his inventory. Huh, that was surprisingly easy.

“Wow, that was so crash!” Cassie pumped her fists in the air. “This game is gonna be a piece of cake.”

“Not so fast,” Zatanna frowned. “Remember, this is only the first level. It’s bound to be easy. It’s only going to get harder from here.”

Jason turned around to face them. “And just because that little shit was easy to kill doesn’t mean they all will be on this level.” He noticed Jaime hanging back, looking embarrassed.

“Hey kid,” Jason jerked his chin at him. Jaime's head snapped up. “Do you want to try the next one or wait by the bridge until your allergies clear up?”

Jaime opened his mouth to respond but had to sneeze again. “I think I’ll just waid by the bridge. I’b really sorry guys.” He trekked back to where they’d come into the fields.

“And then there were three. Ladies first,” Jason mockingly bowed, gesturing to the open fields beyond where the boar had been. Zatanna smirked and Cassie stuck her tongue out at him, which he returned with a rude gesture.

#healing hands #jasonette #sword art online au #virtual reality #maribat #maribat fic #batfam #batfam fic #yj #yj fic #young justice #young justice fic

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mammonology · 4 years ago

Text

Superman ⟨Mammon and Beelzebub⟩

—Where Mammon and Beelzebub's S/O gets in trouble but someone else saves them

—WC; 354

—A/N; I had to repost since Tumblr tags weren't working :<

♡Mammon

➷He literally told you he should be the one to save you! Either that or just accept your death, but nooo Solomon just had to be near you

➷When the outrage happened you were sitting with Solomon at the cafeteria, the demon raged as he looked around for his target

➷The large demon hauled a whole desk at your direction but thankfully Solomon casted a protective shield spell before the table came close to either of you

➷Mammon came to the scene a bit late as he was getting food, he saw a very shaken up MC, Solomon was trying to calm you down

➷He marched right up to you, grabbing your hand as he pulled you close to his chest

❝I'm sorry, I wasn't here to protect you..❞

➷But you wouldn't blame him at all! It just happened so fast, you thanked Solomon by buying him lunch though which he happily accepted

➷After that incident he will 100% be more clinger and protective about you, it's getting a little annoying but you understand, he just doesn't want you to get hurt :')

♡Beelzebub

➷He honestly forgot how delicate and fragile humans can be

➷But I kid you not he will use all his strength to protect you but in that time he couldn't as he wasn't in your class

➷However Leviathan was, Beel is honestly thankful for his brother to have protected you

➷There was a malfunction when the potion was made as when it fell on the floor it released a green cloudy smoke

❝Don't breathe it in MC!❞

➷Leviathan then rushed you outside as the smoke was poisonous, everyone heard of this news immediately and Lucifer was called to handle the situation

➷All of the brothers went to your classroom to check up on you both, the classroom needed to be closed for a few weeks

❝MC, you're not hurt are you?❞

➷He'd pull you to a bear hug as he strokes your hair, not wanting to imagine if you did breathe the smoke in

➷Another person that would up their protection but not to the point where it's overbearing

✧Lumi

#obey me #obey me one master to rule them all #obey me mammon #obey me beelzebub #obey me headcanons

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simkjrs · 4 years ago

Note

I understand if this is a kind of "rant-type" question, or the kind of question that winds up in you having to deal with a deluge of asks; please don't feel obligated to answer it if you'd rather not. Would you be okay with talking about how/why, to quote a recent tag of yours, BNHA "Could be quite good if it were entirely different and written by someone else"? I enjoy your writing, and I think it would be interesting to hear one storyteller discuss another's work, if that's all right with you.

feel free to take this with a grain of salt but speaking as a reader and a writer i feel like horikoshi is all over the place with his story, like there’s a lot of potentially interesting ideas in there to explore but he never has the guts to follow through on them, and he’s quite good at writing ensemble casts but he never really plays to that strength. the themes are a mess ... the pacing is decent enough to keep a reader initially interested but once they have some time to think about it the story just falls flat...

more specific complaints

it was said that 80% of the world has quirks but many quirks are only “minor.” so why is it such a big deal that izuku is quirkless if 20% of people are also quirkless and most quirks dont make a difference anyways? either stick to the “everyone has quirks and its normal, izuku is a one-in-a-million freak” thing or dont. being a ‘lone’ existence and being part of a ‘minority’ existence are two different kinds of stories so pick one and be done with it

the very beginning of the story izuku says that not all people are born equal, referring to quirks. so from the very beginning we get to see like, okay, so quirks kind of determine your place in life in a way, izuku is going to see some hardships. but then he gets a ticket to the top with The Most Powerful Quirk Ever ™ because he’s just that good of a guy. so what’s the message here? not all people are born equal, but it’s okay because if you’re a good person you’ll find a way to make it to the top under the system that said you were worthless in the first place? wouldn’t the story be more meaningful if izuku had abandoned that system altogether?

the hero system is kind of corrupt and about appearances, and some of the villains have a point when they say so :( BUT it’s okay because the heroes are still right even if they struggle sometimes. dont worry about any of that lets just go back to school life shenanigans. (from what i remember, news outrage over children getting hurt in the course of hero training was treated as a bad thing rather than a good thing... endeavor gets a chance to redeem himself because he’s a ‘hero’ but villains dont ... why did horikoshi make that choice?)

theres been quite a few discussions about how villains are the ‘outcasts’ of society ... and then the whole case of shinsou, where due to his quirk people ostracize him preemptively ... and izuku as well, who was bullied even though he didn’t do anything ... like theres this great setup to discuss how villains are made by society’s rejection of the outcasts but instead shinsou and izuku join the hero institution instead? come on

if horikoshi wanted this to be a serious story, then he had plenty of chances to make a story about challenging systems in place and examining the motivations behind social structure. but he doesn’t follow up with any of the chances he sets up, he always backs down or reverses his stance, and i think thats frustrating.

if horikoshi wanted this to be a funny or slice of life story, then why didn’t he stick to the ensemble/comedy moments that give bnha a lot of its appeal? certainly there’s a way to mix comedy and drama in storytelling, but the way he does it, i feel that the “slice of life” stuff detracts from the story rather than strengthening any of the story’s (nonexistent) themes.

also horikoshi has made a lot of questionable comments and decisions which i wont get into here lol but i dont really hold a lot of respect for the kinds of ideas he seems to be perpetuating in his work

i think bnha could’ve been quite interesting if an author who was methodical and committed about what kind of story they wanted to tell was writing the story .... as it is, i lost interest in it ages ago, so.

#long post #bnha #meta #i guess.#its been a while since i read bnha and i havent seen anything past gentleman villain #ask #Anonymous

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wordynerdygurl · 4 years ago

Text

Skin Deep ~ Part 4

Author’s Note: Hi everyone! As @that-one-person reminded me, we were overdue the next chapter of Skin Deep! I hope this has been worth the wait. As always, if you’d like to be added to my tag list, let me know! Also, requests are open and I love when you re-blog and like my work! Thanks for all your kindness!!

This is the 4th Part of our Story with links below to the previous chapters! ENJOY!

Skin Deep Part 1

Skin Deep Part 2 Skin Deep Part 3

Pairing; Loki x Reader, Steve x Reader, Bucky, Natasha, Nick Fury, Thor and Valkyrie round out of cast! Summary: Picking up where Part 3 ended: You’re on the run with Loki, who wants answers. Steve comes clean to an old friend, Natasha and Fury make a plan. Warnings: References to violence, smut, intergalactic travel, and some kissing!

From his vantage point at Steve’s grill Bucky noticed the almost frantic vibration coming off his oldest friend from all the way across the lawn. And Steve wasn't carrying any champagne. In fact, he was whispering furiously to Natasha, shaking his head.

Looking to the skies, Bucky smelled the electricity in the air. It made the hairs on his human arm rise, antenna to trouble, tuning into the wrecked wavelength his friend was putting out. It was about you, of that Bucky was certain, and with your own strange behavior tonight, he knew trouble was en route. He had let you sneak away, sensing your breaking point, knowing your need for a minute alone. It was the reason you were such great drinking buddies. You let Bucky be himself and he returned the favor. Besides, something in Steve was different these days, something Bucky didn't exactly like. His friend, Captain America, hero to the weak, was pushy. Aggressive. Angry.

And when Steve looked at you, there was a gleam, a spark of possessiveness that gave Bucky pause. Sure, you were amazing. Funny, smart, undeniably sexy in a way all your own. Bucky understood wanting you, he even got the need to have you, hold you, lock you down with a ring. If only Steve could see how unhappy you were. Each time Bucky saw you, the strain had pulled more of your joy away. Sure, you baked pies, smiling the whole way, chirping platitudes and teasing Steve. That happiness, though, it never reached your eyes. Telling Steve that an engagement ring was too much, too soon, Bucky had tried in his very stoic way to prove that you weren't ready. Never fully able to give his buddy his blessing, Bucky had opted instead to provide you a shoulder to lean on. And lean you did. Slugging back vodka shots at all these parties, in the quiet and seldom used spaces of kitchens and dining rooms, you had talked easily with Bucky. No topic was too wild or off limits, with the exception of Steve. Anytime the name of your new love came up, the subject would change. You'd deflect and Bucky let you. Maybe he should have pushed harder, he thought as Steve stomped his way. Maybe Bucky should have forced you to talk about whatever issues you and Steve faced, tried his hand at advice, or offered excuses for his best friend’s erratic behavior. If Bucky had done that, then perhaps the stifling stench of trouble wouldn't be pooling around the party, pulsing through all the high energy people gathered together. “Buck… come here, would ya?” Sure, Steve sounded like himself. Jovial, a little concerned in that serious way he had, but not mad. For some reason, it reminded Bucky of the way Steve’s father would talk, just before he’d beat the ever loving hell out of Sarah… or Steve. It soured the stomach of battle tested Sergeant Barnes. War was coming. “Sure thing, punk.” Cocking his head, Steve couldn’t quite look his friend in the face, opting instead to focus on the open back door of his farm house. Would you come strutting out of it, unaware and un-phased? Steve prayed for that, even if his gut told him otherwise, “Bucky, you said my girl was in the ladies’ room?” Tucking his hands in his pockets, nodding solemnly, “Yea, Stevie. Yea. She had to piss. It happens.” Waiting for the battle was exhausting and Bucky just didn’t have the patience to stew in the slow burn of Steve’s anger. Clapping a broad hand along the neck of the Winter Soldier, Steve pulled his friend close. To anyone looking, the embrace would seem brotherly, kind. What they couldn’t see was the tight grip used to keep Bucky contained, or hear Steve’s heated harsh whisper, “Where the fuck is she, Buck? I know you know. So tell me.” Reacting instinctively, pulling against the restraining hook of Steve’s palm, “I don’t know what you’re talking about… she went to the bathroom, I came out here.” “Well she’s gone now and so is Loki-” Stepping back out of Steve’s reach, “Wait. Loki was here? I thought you said he left. Opened the Bi-Frost or whatever. Disappeared.” Almost growling, Steve ran desperate hands through his blonde hair, ignoring Bucky and turning to Natasha, “We need to let Fury know. Set a perimeter. Loki won’t be able to get off the planet, not without help anyway.” “Fury’s involved? Steve, what is going on?” Jabbing a finger into the chest of his best friend, Steve spun, spitting, “You let Loki kidnap my fiance, that’s what’s going on! And now I have to find her and rescue her before that greasy alien asshole does something else to the woman I love!” Rearing back, Bucky inhaled, lifting his shoulders. If you have to fight a friend, fight fair, he thought. Already Bucky could read violence in Steve’s muscle movement. The graceful way Steve bounced on his toes to build momentum into his fierce throw was minute but effective. Dropping his right arm, just a touch before stepping into his swing, Steve's eyes screamed murder and they were locked onto James Buchanan Barnes. A swish of air brushed at Buck's dark hair as the blow missed. Bucky easily blocked the punch, grabbing his pal at the wrist and twisting until his chest was pressed into Steve’s back. It was as fluid as the ballet you had forced them to attend a few months back, quick and clean movements, executed flawlessly. Bucky felt Steve spin in his grasp, planting his feet, preparing to toss the Winter Soldier on his ass. His counter maneuver was a leg sweep, one Bucky was ready to use, when Steve went limp in his grip. Natasha had sucker punched her mission partner in order to get his attention, “Steve. You gotta relax. Bucky didn’t know and you’re drawing attention. Too many eyes around here, ya know?” Natasha waved to Tony, a gesture that said, no worries, everything is ok over here. It was enough to satisfy the playboy, who turned back to his cocktail and conversation with Rhodes. “I'm fine. It's fine. I’m just…” unable to find the right word, spiraling, Steve sagged towards the ground. Catching him at the waist Bucky steadied his woozy friend as Natasha brushed off help from the other guests. Returning to the pair of soldiers out of time, The Black Widow, barely containing her disgust, “Bucky, get him inside. Steve, I'm sending everyone home, then I’m going to make a call.” True to her word, Natasha whispered something to Tony and Pepper, Bucky clocking their reaction of concern for both you and Steve. It was very clear to the Sergeant that The Avengers were not in on this mission. None of them were permitted to hang around the farm house with Nat going so far as to walk out with Clint and Rhodes. Bustling Steve into the kitchen, Bucky kicked a chair free from the table, dropping his buddy on his ass. Still a little amped up from the almost altercation outside, Bucky decided to put a bit of distance between him and his childhood friend, resting his hip against the counter, "What the hell was that, Steve?" "Stay out of it, Bucky." "It's too late for that, punk. Either you start talking or we take this back outside." Side eyeing the super soldier with a metal arm, Steve tugged at the corner of a pretty place mat sullenly, "Fuck you." "Language!" "You think I give a shit about bad words? Now? No… things are too far gone." Waving his hand, begging for more, "Care to elaborate, Cap?" Steve had a second to consider his options. He could let Bucky in, tell him what was going on, hear his opinions on the situation at hand. Or… not. "You don't need to be involved. Once Nat gets back, it's best if you go." Thunking into the opposite seat, Bucky leveled his grey gaze on his pal, "And if I say no?" "Look, it's an off the record thing. Tony, the rest of them? They know nothing. I don’t need you sticking your nose in-" That was all it took for the dam of Bucky’s own outrage to burst. With a wood rattling slap to the custom built dining table, open palm connecting enough to make Steve jump, "Damn it, Rogers! My nose is in this already. Hell, you were ready to half kill me over this… over her, not fifteen minutes ago!" Sighing, hard and heavy, Captain America pressed back in the wooden chair. He saw the questions in Bucky's look, the need to unravel this mystery, the desire to find a way out for his friends. And Steve realized that to accept his buddy's help, Bucky would need the full story. The truth hurts and Buck's words stung Steve. Bucky was right and in the end, he reasoned, they might need him to help bring down Loki. After a second of consideration, a rough hand sliding through his blonde locks, "Fine. FUCK! Fine. What do you know?" Crossing his arms over his chest, stern voiced but curious, Bucky started, "Just you and Nat reporting to Fury? Small team." "Small mission. At least, at first." Trying not to give anything away, making Bucky work for it felt good, almost like a return to his life before Loki, before you. Tapping his metallic finger on the table, Bucky resumed his questions, "So, how does Loki figure into this?" Leaning forward, Steve lowered his voice, “Weapons tech. Power. More than when he attacked New York. He’s been off world gaining followers, an army, and a throne.” “So the plan was to keep Loki away, right?” Nodding, Steve’s inflection solemn, “By any means necessary.” Rocking his head back, as if slapped, Bucky’s eyes widened. Just the implication of those words, by any means necessary, used by Nick Fury meant that this mission was crossing a line from mundane into murderous. "And she was your way in." It started to take shape, the whole sorted plan, Natasha’s involvement and Steve’s role in it all. Bucky felt that prickly sensation again. Bowing his golden head, Steve shook it yes, "Only… I wasn't brought in… I… volunteered." "Ok, but why?" Inching closer to the truth, waiting out the Captain, Bucky nodded for him to continue. When Steve wasn't forthcoming, Bucky nudged his foot with a sharp kick, eager to accelerate the story. For a second that frantic, frenzied energy flashed through the room again, pulling on Bucky's sixth sense, "Because I wanted what Loki had… who Loki had. I wanted her, so bad Bucky. So bad." “Steve… come on, man. There are other girls out there-” Cutting his friend off with a shout, “Why should that asshole have her? He doesn’t deserve her. Before he left, she was always so sweet, so cute… then he… abandoned her! Left her! Man, that was… just so hard to see.” “Yea… I know. I mean, I remember when she and Loki were together. And I know his leaving was hard on her.” “Hard on her? She… she stopped eating, stopped sleeping. God, I could hear her crying all night. Know how hard it was to keep away? To know that Loki had forgotten her?” Steve kept talking, about you, about loving you, and the lengths he went to in an effort to court you. He followed up with all the ways you denied him, over and over, until Natasha intervened. That all of it played into Fury’s plan was a convenient cross-point, coincidence, until things had gone wrong this afternoon. Bucky let him tell his story, knowing full well it was merely a version, a fairy tale wrapped around the rotten apple of truth. In Steve’s world he was the hero, wronged by fate, Fury and Loki Odinson. His path had been paved with good intentions and pure hearted motives. It was everyone else who misunderstood, miscalculated and mistook his actions. Could Steve be blamed for that? Of course, this edition of Steve’s tale didn't include beating up a cuffed prisoner. It also omitted the fact that Steve had been pursuing you while actively lying about Loki's whereabouts. Glossing over the details allowed Steve to paint a picture highlighting the best of him, but Bucky had known the little punk a long time. During a long pause that found Steve with his head in his hands, Bucky took a deep breath and asked, “And how did you and Fury know what Loki was up to?” “He was sending mission reports weekly. Loki had been tasked with helping promote peace across the Nine Realms. That he gained so much was the tipping point. Fury felt like a return to Earth would be 2012 all over again, only this time… total annihilation.” Something was still nagging at Bucky, “Had Loki made any threats?” A guilty look passed over the face of Captain America and his normally solid voice wavered, “Not that I was told about.” “So, Fury...?” “Fury needed… no, that’s not right. He wanted to keep close tabs on Loki, monitor his return, his mood, his movements, if he ever came back.” “And since she was his lover, she was a potential point of contact… the entry point?” “A possible one.” “If you were dating her and Nat was posing as her friend, then you’d know if Loki reached out, spilling the details on his plans, and be able to head him off at the pass.” “Exactly!” Oddly proud, Steve was almost happy that he no longer carried the burden by himself. Sure, Natasha knew, had even engineered some of it, but having a friend on his side made Steve feel better. “But Loki didn’t do that? He surprised you today?” Blowing out a frustrated snort, “Natasha went to meet him at the base. Apparently, the high and mighty Prince expected to be greeted by Fury and his forgotten lover.” “That didn’t sit well with the God of Mischief?” “Nope. Somehow he froze Nat. Confined her, I don’t know… Anyway, he came here and…” Trailing off, Steve could still picture his lady’s body, your body bent under his own, your eyes pressed shut in ecstasy. How you ground against what looked like his own sculpted skin, moaning through an orgasm that appeared amazing, and left you with shaky legs. Going silent, Bucky didn’t push, not this time, but he did feel the moment Steve surrendered fully. His shoulders let go with a deep inhale, his voice sounding like that scrawny kid from Brooklyn after a bad scrape, "She loves him, man. And I fucked up. Loki’s got my girl and I don't have any way to find her or fight him." Tears? Sighs? This wasn't Steve. No, Captain America was an unstoppable, unflappable hero. Spinning out was Bucky's move, not Steve’s. Putting his fleshy hand on Steve’s shoulder, trying to console the broken man in front of him, "Come on, kid. There's always a way to win. It's what you and I have been doing for over a century." “Not this time, man.” "Why not? Did you come clean? That’s why she left, isn’t it? You told her what was going on and she went after Loki." Shame filled Steve’s heart, his cheeks burning, "I… I didn’t get the chance. She left here, but not alone." "She'll be back." Words, pathetic platitudes, were all Bucky could offer. He had seen you tonight, skittish and jumpy. He saw Steve’s reaction to your disappearance, angry and hurt. Bucky thought that a snowball in hell stood a better chance than you're returning. "Not happening. I lost it on her, Buck. Smashed up mom's dresser, yelled… It was like being outside myself, watching myself do and say these terrible things. And it wasn't her fault. Not really. I mean, yea, she fucked him but he was me, so-" "Whoa. Stop. Say that again?" Steeling himself to relieve this afternoon’s nightmare again, Steve swallowed hard, "Loki, you know how he can… shape shift? Well, he came here as me and I walked in on myself screwing my girl!" Bucky's eyebrows lifted, his full lips curling into a cockeyed grin, "Wait. You're telling me that you came home and saw yourself banging your future fiancé?" Pausing, catching Bucky barely holding back a smirk, "Yea… why?" And for some reason, after all the incredible things Steve had shared tonight, it was the idea of Steve catching himself balls deep in your naughty bits that made Bucky laugh. Once he started, Bucky couldn't control the mad giggles from overtaking him, much to Steve’s astonishment. But then Steve laughed, too, "I guess it is pretty funny, when you think about it." "I mean, your face must have been priceless!" Clutching his stomach as the laughter grew stronger, Bucky had tears running down his cheeks at the image Steve described. Sure, it was a horrible thing, but who could say that they watched themselves having sex like that without being in porno? It took them both a minute to calm down, with Steve settling enough to counter, "Shit, Buck! I was pissed! I probably looked crazy." "That I do believe. What did you say to her? Them?" Now his face flushed scarlet, burning with embarrassment. The lie was just easier to get out, "Um… I don't really remember. I know I surprised Loki and well, my girl fainted from being used by him. The shock of it not being me, ya know?" Bucky didn't buy it, but he let his friend sell the story anyway, "Must have been scary for her. And that's when you secured Loki in the locked shed? And set Nat as your watchdog?" "Yup." Unable to meet his friend’s stormy stare, knowing that it would undo him completely, Steve focused on the edge of the table, running his fingers back and forth along the rough wood. If this were an interrogation and Bucky were sitting across from a suspect and not his best friend, he’d have no problem beating the guilty man into submission. But Steve was his strongest connection to this world, this time, and it was hard to walk away from family, even if they didn’t deserve the benefit of your doubt. To that end, one thing still bothered Bucky, "Why not cancel the party, man?" "Because I still want to marry her." Pulling the small black box from his front pocket, Steve toyed with the thing, his vision of a future with you still so close to realized. Whistling at the size of the sparkly rock enshrined in white gold, "Fancy. What do you think your chances are? Think she'll say yes?" "My chances went down to zero the second Loki dropped down to Earth. As for her answer… Dunno. I… I hope so, but now…", Steve faded off, knowing there was little hope for your romantic reunion if he didn’t have a clear idea of where you were at the moment. "Now Loki’s back." "Right." “And they’re gone, together.” “Right.” “And Fury’s on his way.” Striding in on impossibly high heels, Natasha folded her arms over her chest, eyeing the two gossiping men in front of her. It was going to be a long night. --- Somehow you had made it to the treeline undetected, using the orchard as a shield, ducking behind trunks as you and Loki scrambled toward the edge of the property. You couldn't help looking over your shoulder, checking for pursuit, worrying that Steve or Natasha were going to find the pair of you. There was no possible way they would let you get away, not after today, not with Loki. It was a bit treacherous, though. There was only natural light to guide you through twisted branches and raised roots, so your progress was slower than you wanted, but Loki was with you. Even beaten and bruised, he radiated calm, a soothing balm for your frayed nerves. Something about that made this whole situation seem better, manageable. You were no longer alone, Loki was here, holding your hand, not directing you but consulting. "Pet… the roadway is up ahead. Stay here, tucked out of sight." Pulling your long lost lover close, a small kiss passed between you, a passionate promise to sit still. Stepping tentatively out onto the gravel filled shoulder, Loki surveyed the highway quickly. When he was satisfied that the coast was clear, Loki waved at you, motioning you forward. Striding confidently at your side, Loki stopped in the dead center of the yellow lines, his grounding arm around your waist. A car, low, black, expensive, came racing round the bend, barreling towards you. Tucking your chin to Loki's chest, you gripped him tight, readying for the car's impact. A roar of wind swirled around you, grabbing at your skirt, whipping around your legs. For a second you thought you'd been struck. Breathless, your lungs emptied. There was nothing solid under you, just the feeling of Loki and a current of warm air. Next, you felt the impact of hard earth under your feet, vibrating through your shins, then Loki's grip loosening a touch, "Ok, darling?" Peeking from under his arm you saw lights everywhere. A bar was to your left, filled with noisy drinkers, barely discernible from the traffic around you. Honking horns made you jump, "Where the hell are we?" "Cleveland. I can't yet take us off world. I'm still a bit weak, I'm afraid… but at least we have a bit of a head start on Rogers and Fury." People pushed past you on their way to dinner, chirping happily, not seeing you in their tunnel vision. Being anonymous was a nice change, welcome even, as your personal life had been lost to Steve's intergalactic presence. On the busy streets of Ohio no one took notice of the two well dressed people standing on the damp sidewalk. "Um, you changed?", no longer sporting his battle gear, Loki was dapper in a black suit with an ebony tie. Leaning closer you straightened it, not because it was crooked, but because you needed to feel it… him. The whole look was just shy of too much, but that was the space Loki filled best and honestly, looking at him made your heart swell. Loki was back, and yours. After more than two years, having him close again felt natural, easy. In so many ways, the opposite of your life with Steve. As if somehow sensing your tug into nostalgia, Loki knuckled your chin up, "Just keeping up with you, love." His nose brushed against your own, so weirdly intimate and innocent for a man who had slapped your ass red only hours ago. Resting his forehead to yours, you inhaled that magical combination of burning sparklers, broken in leather with just a hint of honeyed citrus, "God, I forgot how great you smell." "Hmm… dove, there is nothing on Asgard that smells or tastes as wonderful as you. Believe me. I looked." "Careful Loki… people will say we're in love." At your cheekiness, Loki claimed your lips, his hands sliding over the soft fabric of your dress. Clinging to him, unwilling to let go now that he had returned, you puffed out a pouty sigh as Loki withdrew. “Norns. You know how badly I want you again? I can barely think straight for wanting you.” Oblivious to everything around you, lost in the sweeping pools of Loki’s desire filled expression, you toyed with his collar, “We have a lot of catching up to do, for sure.” “I’d love to get reacquainted-” here he paused to lick over his full lower lip, hunger for you dripping from every word, “-but we are on the run from the Earth’s mightiest heroes.” Snickering, you rolled your eyes at the thought of the Avengers, hours away eating charcuterie in Steve’s backyard. Stepping back, you sighed, “You’re right. So, have you got a plan?” Hanging in the air, your sentence had just left your mouth, your tongue still savoring the syllables when a sizzling crack snapped next to your ear. Swinging you away, forcing you to the sidewalk, Loki spun in a blaze of green. Crouched over you, snarling, “Fury! Always a pleasure to see you.” Stepping from the blazing golden circle supplied by Dr. Strange, Fury crossed onto the Cleveland sidewalk from your now empty garden party, weapon trained on Loki’s broad chest. “Wish I could say the same, Loki. You know it’s time to end this. Let’s take our… deliberations back to the office. Talk about this man to man.” A barking laugh left your lover, “Man to man? I am a GOD! And you… you are pathetic. Your attempts to keep me off Earth, imprisoned, away from my woman have all failed.” “Where are you going to go? You can’t get off the planet without help. My help. And it’s yours, Loki, if-” “If I come quietly? Tail between my legs, submissive and compliant?” As the words left his mouth, you watched, focused on the way Loki was shifting closer to you. The long fingers of his right hand were visible, reaching back for you, a silent signal of his escape plan. Fed up and furious, Nick Fury’s voice was flat with frustration, “Loki. Enough. Let’s do this somewhere people aren’t.” “Oh, I don’t know, this seems as good a place as any!” Circling Loki, edging nearer, Fury tried reasoning, “Endangering civilians isn’t going to make things easier. You know that.” “You know, I’d love to talk about how you betrayed me. How you stonewalled my lady… how you put Captain America in my place, as if he could ever be worthy of her. But, I’m a little busy at the moment.” Snapping his fingers, you jumped to your feet, grabbing for Loki’s outstretched hand. The second your palm connected that feeling of floating overcame you once more. This time you were ready for the roar of traveling through space by Loki’s magic, the push of meeting the ground, the curl of Loki’s body against yours. Blinking, you opened your eyes on new scenery, the chill of a beautiful sea soaked morning breaking around you. Straightening the coat of his pristine suit, Loki smiled at you as his fingers wove between your own, “New Asgard. My brother’s realm, now ruled by Valkyrie, by his abdication. We need to find him. He has a lot to answer for.” --- "Just what in the hell happened? I thought I was very clear about avoiding this exact problem." Pacing, hands firmly on his leather belted waist, Nick Fury growled at the bent head of Steve Rogers. "Now Loki’s on the run, dragging your… Well, what is she exactly Captain? Girlfriend? Fiancé? Mark? along for the ride." At those harsh words, Steve started, ready to focus his own anguish somewhere, anywhere. Fury was as good a target as any, as far as Steve was concerned. Pushing off the paving stones, he was stalled from rising by Natasha's firm hand and quiet words, "We have an idea-" "I don't want ideas. Not from you two. What I want are answers, Romanoff, and I want them now." Sitting on the emptied bench of the picnic table, still covered with your pretty tablecloth and jars of peonies, Natasha sighed, "I didn't have time to alert Steve. Loki made it here first and… reconnected-" "Is that what we're calling it?" Snapping, Nick glared from his good eye, his last name never more appropriate. Exhaling deeply, Natasha Romanoff squared her shoulders, "Sir, Loki… manipulated the circumstances." "Just what in the hell does that mean?" All three available eyes locked onto Steve, “What it means, Fury-” lifting his golden head with a jaw clenched tight, “- what it means, is that the son of a bitch showed up here and had his way with my woman. “After Loki… took advantage of her, I had him. He was contained, here, in my shed. It was modified with the restraints Tony provided with Thor’s direction.” “And still, he got away?” Disbelief clouded every syllable from Fury. That his two top agents had failed and so badly, had the normally stoic director steaming. Standing now, Steve was almost chest to chest with the man who’d been pulling the strings of this entire operation. Natasha, watching closely, knowing that she would only be able to subdue one of them if it came to it, gently palmed the dagger concealed in her waist band. Steve thrust forward, brushing past Fury before facing him once more, “Yea, Nick. He did. He got away.” “Do you know how?” Fury’s fingers were curled around his pocket taser, just in case Captain America needed a jolt, reminding him of who was calling the shots here. It wouldn’t do much except give Nick a head start, but with the Captain looking so rough and so raw, the SHIELD director would take any advantage available. “We believe that… he was set free.” Natasha didn’t want to say the words. You had let Loki go, that much she knew to be true, and she supposed that it made some sort of sense. Steve had been right all along. You and Loki did have some cosmic connection that even time and distance couldn’t eliminate. Intervening for the sake of Fury’s mission and Steve’s pining heart, Natasha had no qualms about why she’d guided you into a relationship, in fact, she still believed that he was a better man for you than Loki. But no. No matter what Rogers did, you had never let go with him like you had with the younger son of Odin. Not that you complained. You had taken all of Natasha’s words of praise, her seemingly well intentioned advice, her flat out advocating for Steve in stride. Sure, your friendship suffered for it. Natasha, never having been one for close ties to anyone, had enjoyed the talking and gossiping. It was nice to have a girl around the tower. One who understood period cramps and cravings. A person who would put on high heels and makeup for a night of dancing then suggest hoodies and shorts for watching Pride and Prejudice. That was over now. When she had been, well, frankly, overpowered by Loki and his new paralyzing weaponry, Natasha knew the plan for a peaceful capture of the prince was over. Having seen the aftermath of your reunion with the space god, having seen Steve’s seething anger, the Black Widow felt her own ire spike. Didn’t you know how hard she had worked? How tireless her efforts had been to keep you and Loki apart? Just how invested she was in joining you and Steve together? It was like you wanted to throw all of that away, squandering those bonding moments where you had become something more than a mission, those times when you were Natasha’s only real friend. Couldn’t you just go along with the plan, unknowing, quietly? She knew you couldn’t, wouldn’t. It wasn’t in your nature. So, channeling that frustration into the cold facade that so many had seen just before they met their end, Natasha had to compartmentalize the “you” she cared about away from the “you” she was responsible for trailing. Both had pissed her off. Now, hearing the gruff grumble of Director Fury bearing down on her, Natasha could only accept the berating tone of his hard words. He wasn’t wrong. She and Steve had fucked up royally, the whole mission was blown, and while Bucky had certainly aided in your escape, he was blameless collateral damage. The consequences fell to you and the Captain. Killing you was going to be hard for them both, but if it had to be done, so be it. Shrugging, Natasha started again, “Nick, we have a tracker on her. We know that she and Loki made it to Cleveland, but he can’t get away from Earth without some aid.” “Well, that’s good to know, if only it was some new intelligence. You’re tracking her? Great! Where is she now? Don't know huh? Well, she and Loki tele-ported from a city sidewalk, in front of me and hundreds of civilians, with no word on their next destination. “And make no mistake. Loki will find a way off of this planet and when that happens, there’ll be nothing else we can do.” “So what? Let him go! He’s won, Nick. It’s over.” Throwing himself down onto the bench, Steve’s dejected voice breaking, he slumped over his feet. “That’s not an option Cap. Loki is more powerful now than he’s ever been. You both read the reports. He wasn’t just hanging around on Asgard. No, Loki was negotiating peace between his native realm of Jotunheim and his adoptive home. He was gifted with tools and technology that no human could hope to wield. Earth ending stuff, Captain.” “Whatever plans you had of making peace are over now. There’s no way Loki gives us any help… and why would he after all this?” “Rogers, I’ll do whatever I must to keep this planet and the creatures on it safe. Loki is a threat to that, just by existing. With his new powers, high placed connections and intergalactic royal title, he had the potential to be unstoppable.” Seething breath puffed out the chests of the two men standing toe to toe. Machismo made Natasha want to vomit. Men. “Look, I’ll go after them. Steve, stay here, in case she reaches out. I’ll take the quinjet and trace their path.” Standing now herself, Natasha turned to the depressed super soldier, patting his arm, “Bucky’s still here. I’ll let you know when I’ve found anything.” “No. Nat, I can’t let you go alone. It’s my fault, too.” “You’re no good to me like this, Rogers.” “But, She’s-” Cutting him off, Natasha stepped closer to Nick, “I know, but you’re too involved. If tough choices need to be made, can you?” Gulping hard, passing a rough hand over his face, Steve frowned, “I can do my duty, if that’s what you’re asking.” “Steve.” Her tone said it all the words she wouldn't vocalize. I don’t trust you, not now, not like this. I don’t believe you will have my back at the cost of the woman you claim to love. I don’t think you can do the job. Fury didn't allow her the chance to elaborate, jumping in with his definitive voice, “Natasha’s right, Rogers. You’re staying right where you are, on the bench. Romanoff and I are going to resolve this issue without any further problems.” Half hearted, strength sapped, Steve raised his eyes to the leather clad figures before him, “Please. Please, Nick… Nat. Don’t hurt her.” “I promise, Steve. I won’t.” And in the second, all three knew she was lying.

--- Finding Thor’s shanty was easier than you expected. A friendly fisherman was only too happy to point you in the right direction. What you saw upon arrival was not entirely what you had expected when visiting Loki’s brother. It was a beat up looking cottage, surrounded by empty cases of cheap Midgardian beer, crumpled take out containers, and a collection of well fed seagulls situated near the edge of the village, “Ugh. What a pig.” “Loki! It’s… charming?” Your admonishing whisper turned the statement into a question at the sight of Loki’s disgusted face. For a second you just stood at Loki’s side, staring at the weather beaten front door, your hand clasped in his strong one. “It’s disgusting.” Agreeing with a small nod, “Um, yes. Yes, it is. But, this is your brother’s house and you said we needed to talk to him. Step one is ringing his bell.” “No. I won’t do it.” You had forgotten about this side of Loki. Fastidious, precise and obstinate, Loki could cop an attitude that had the ability to drive someone crazy. Someone like you. Over the last two years it had been easy to forget all the little things that made Loki prickly. It was even easier to forgive him. Since he’d left, you had looked at your life together through rose glasses, through a gentle fog of missing him, and those elements of your relationship that were less than perfect had been abandoned. Now, standing outside the hovel that Thor called a home, as a fresh day dawned over New Asgard, you were reminded of all those imperfect things that came with loving Loki. A wave of need, love, and longing for him rolled over you. All of those imperfections made you perfect for each other. Rising up on your toes you pressed a small kiss to Loki’s pout, taking the tall God by surprise, “What was that for?” Shyly grinning, you bit into your bottom lip, “I missed you… missed kissing you.” “Then perhaps you should come over here again?” That was all the invitation you needed. Stepping into Loki’s space, your chest resting against his own, you savored the nearness of him, as himself. He wasn’t playing at being Steve. Loki was here, he was with you, and if you weren’t mistaken his hands were drifting down your backside. The rush of it, well, it was familiar and new at the same time. How Loki seemed to inhale your breath, inhale you, as his mouth opened to accept your lips. His gentle exhale, a moan, as his tongue licked over your own. It was overwhelming. It was wonderful. Stepping back, you started to pull away, only for Loki to wrap his arms around your waist, “Not so fast, darling.” Losing yourself, you focused solely on the firmness of his body, the weight of his hands on your hips, the intensity of Loki’s desire. Intoxicating, heady, you leaned into those feelings. Kissing Loki back, you tangled his hair in your hand, earning another one of those sultry sounds that made your legs weak. How had you lived without the passion and pleasure he provided for so long? A smashing crash broke the quiet morning causing you to jump in Loki’s embrace, “What the hell was that?” Immediately on the defense, Loki pushed you behind him, crouching into a protective stance. From over his broad shoulder you watched, worried about the new danger coming your way, unsure how to help your reactive lover. Another rattle had Loki palming his dagger, anticipating an attack. That’s when a raccoon, bigger than your childhood terrier, scuttled from under an overturned trash can carrying what looked like a half eaten slice of pizza in its mouth. “Appalling! Mother would be modified!” Loki cursed as he offered you his hand, kicking away an empty glass bottle, "Why is he living like a dirty animal, surrounded by trash? One would think they were back on Sakaar!" “I don’t know what’s going on with Thor, but we came here for a reason. Let’s get it over with, ok?” Loki shook his head, refusing to step any closer, “He’ll have to come out here. I won’t go inside this… dilapidated shit box.” Sighing, “Fine. Fine, I’ll do it.” Stepping around a pile of broken electronics, you carefully picked your way to the front door, gracefully knocking on the splintering wood. After an answerless few seconds, you tried again, rapping lightly with your knuckles before turning to flash Loki a small smile. That’s when you noticed the striking woman striding towards you and your returned lover. “My, my… is that pretty Prince Loki I see?” Even her voice was sexy, you thought, as the sarcastic words dripped from her full lips. The swaggering stranger radiated cool, calm, sensual energy. Otherworldly energy that made you feel mortal and boring. You couldn’t help tugging your skirt straight and fluffing your hair as she got closer. “Ah… Valkyrie! How are you?” Hugging her tightly when she opened her arms, Loki found that he was genuinely happy to see the fierce, battle tested warrior. Smirking at your man, she countered, “That’s King Valkyrie to you. Your brother crowned me, or have you forgotten?” “On the contrary. It seems like he finally realized what I’ve known all our lives.” “Which is what, exactly?” “He’s not fit to be the ruler of Asgard, obviously.” Drawing right up to Loki, hands on her hips, Valkyrie leveled her dark eyes at his, “What would you know about ruling, Mischief?” “Enough to know that you’re good at it. Enough to know that I no longer want to be the King of Asgard.” “Is that so? And what’s changed your mind?” At those skeptical words, Loki wound an arm around your waist, tugging you close, “I’ve got more… important concerns these days.” Looking you over with her shrewd, searching gaze, but speaking to Loki, “And she likes you? Are you sure?” Laughing, the sound deep and rich, “As much as you like fighting and drinking.” “I hardly drink anymore. As King I have mead only on important occasions, I have to keep my wits about me the rest of the time.” Sharing a laugh, the two shared another small hug before Valkyrie turned to you directly, “Alright. Who’s this then?” Loki started to respond but you cut him off, extending a hard towards the newly crowned King of Asgard, “Uh, I can answer for myself, thank you, Loki. Valkyrie is it? Nice to meet you. And, yes, I love Loki.” Making a face that was part disgust, part pride, Valkyrie smirked, “Love? Oh no. Hasn’t anyone told you yet? Loving the Odinson boys is hard on a girl.” Pulling Loki in for a small kiss, taking him by surprise, “I’ll take my chances.” Shrugging nonchalantly, “Suit yourself.” Focusing on Loki once more, Valkyrie shifted on her feet, “Listen, if you’re looking for Thor, he’s not here.” “Oh? And where exactly is the lovable oaf?” Hitching a thumb over her shoulder, pointing up the hill, “At the palace… the new palace, that is. You can come and, please, don’t forget your girlfriend.” Falling in line behind the King, Loki couldn’t help but add, “You know Val, I think I liked you better when you were drunk.” Snorting in response, “And I know I liked you better when I was drunk, weird right?” Bringing up the rear, your own sarcastic comment dying on your throat when the Palace of New Asgard came into view. Banners of gold shimmered in the light of the rising sun, flapping in the breeze of the young morning, beckoning you closer. You hugged Loki’s arm tighter, excited and exhilarated by the sight before you. “Home is a people, not a place. Those were some of my father’s last words to Thor and I… and while I can never take you to the place where I grew up, this… this is the home of my people.” “Loki… it’s beautiful!” Valkyrie, stopping so you could both catch up, “It’s getting there. Thor’s been a huge help. Come on, let's show you around the palace and let your brother know you’re here.” ---To Be Continued!

My minxes: @sammy-jo1977 @vodka-and-some-sass @just-random-obsessions @brokenthelovely @lots-of-loki @thefallenbibliophilequote @iamverity @iluvsumbucky @unadulteratedwizardlove @wolfsmom1 @procrastinatinglikeabitch @mizfit2 @shxdowofdarkness @nonsensicalobsessions @ahintofkiwistrawberry @alexakeyloveloki @jessiejunebug @rorybutnotgilmore @crystalizedcaramel @lokislittlecorner @scrumptious-finicky-illusion @capcapcapsicle @jamielea81 @caffiend-queen @thenatalie @otakumultimuse-hiddlewhore @jenjen8675309 @that-one-person

#loki x reader #loki x you #loki fanfic #loki smut #loki multipart #MCU fanfiction #mcu x reader #mcu x you #steve rogers smut #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers x you #bucky barnes #valkyrie #thor

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commander-diomika · 3 years ago

Text

Pairing: Grizzop/Oscar Wilde/Hamid, though mostly Grizzop/Hamid.

Word Count: 1600

Rating: Explicit

Additional Tags: Panties, Bondage, Overstimulation, Blow Jobs, Xeno, Mushblins, Anal Sex, Dubious Consent, mild degradaton/humiliation, There's a lot going on in this one pals, Kinktober

Prompt: Panties & Lingerie / Overstimulation / Dub Con

Summary: Grizzop comes back from a hunt with energy to burn.

Wilde had sucked Hamid off, lavish and gentle, slow laves of his tongue over a long and decadent session, bringing him slowing up to the edge and back again, until his whole world narrowed to the overly sensitised head of his cock, until he could cry with the tease of it all. Wilde finally relented, swallowing him down and finally drawing Hamid over the edge, gulping down every drop of his spend, then cleaning him with an attentive mouth over the tickly, well-tended head of his cock. Wilde then tucked him back into the panties, smoothing the hand over the silk before bidding him good evening.

Hamid stood in front of the mirror appreciating himself, the gift of the beautiful lingerie Wilde had found for him. The man truly had incredible taste, or at least Hamid’s and Wilde’s taste ran in a tight enough parallel to make no difference.

The purple panties and the bralette simply had to be custom-made; the way the panties cupped his balls and the sheer lace bralette hugged his flat small chest, seemingly to make it curve in all the right ways. Hamid ran a hand up and down his sides, relishing the afterglow and soft lace under his palms.

He felt tenderly wrapped up in the warmth of it all; so much so that the first time he realised he wasn’t alone was a quick flash of red eyes in the dark. All breath left Hamid’s lungs before Grizzop’s body slammed into the back of him.

At first touch, Hamid just thought it was the cool of Grizzop’s breastplate against his bare back, but no, the goblin was wet, and muddy. Hamid gasped in air and made a noise of disgust.

“Wotcher, Hamid.” One wiry arm wrapped around his waist, the other sweeping up Hamid’s chest, smearing a line of mud over his stomach and over the lace of the bra.

“Grizzop!” Hamid screeched at the sight. “Get off me, you’re disgusting!”

Grizzop made a thoughtful noise. “I know.” Squeezing Hamid tighter to his chest, he ground his hips into Hamid’s rump. Hamid could feel Grizzop’s crotch pulsing against lace-clad buttocks.

“I’m serious! These were a gift!” Hamid wrenched his body in Grizzop’s grip, but it was like fending off a python once he got a hold of you. Unable to take his eyes off the smear of dirt marring his beautiful lingerie, Hamid opened his mouth to cast a spell, and Grizzop’s grimy fingers shoved into his mouth.

“Mmrgrrzp!”

“What’s so good about this costume shit anyway?” Grizzop’s arms squeezed into Hamid’s sides. “I never got what you and Oscar got out of wrapping up all fancy like this.” Holding him steady between forearms, Grizzop plucked at the tatted lace over Hamid’s chest. Hamid could hear the threads breaking under such treatment, and bit down on the fingers in his mouth in outrage.

“Ow! You little-” they scrabbled, Hamid breaking out of Grizzop’s grip for half a breath before a booted foot jammed into the back one knee and Hamid went down, twisting to face his assailant as he went. Even as a caster, all the combat experience he’d racked up hadn’t been for nothing.

Hamid landed on his arse and scrambled back, one hand lifting and a spell half-spoken on his lips. The spell fizzled just as he felt a cool click around one ankle .

“W-where did you get those?” Hamid stammered, backwards momentum dying as Grizzop clicked the other anti-magic cuff closed.

“Oscar.” Grizzop straightened back up, standing between Hamid’s ankles. “He doesn’t need them anymore so, he gave them to me. Said they might come in handy-” Grizzop’s eyes met Hamid’s, voice heavy with implication “-on a hunt.”

Hamid felt a sting of betrayal even as his previously-spent cock twitched at the look in Grizzop’s eyes. The cuffs were heavy and wide on his ankles, but still tight enough that a quick glance down showed that they wouldn’t be slipping off his feet anytime soon.

He didn’t get a chance to investigate further as Grizzop surged forward. He was often like this when he came back from a hunt, all crackling energy and impossible lust, but he usually went and worked it off with Wilde, who was a little… sturdier.

Grizzop caught Hamid’s wrist in one vice-like grip and moved to drag him backward to the bed. The other hand scooped up the back of the little bralette and yanked, hiking the band up around Hamid’s armpits.

Hamid’s feet scrabbled on the floor, trying to keep up with Grizzop’s momentum and protect the delicate material from snapping.

“Grizzop, no, you’re ruining- these were a gift! You- you- beast!” Hamid protested as he was hauled up onto the bed, the band cutting into his armpits and stretching, tearing.

Grizzop’s eyes gleamed over him in the darkness. “I’d rather be a beast than a useless, pretty doll, all dressed in ribbons and whatever the fuck this is.”

Hamid’s head felt fuzzy, like moving through tar without the familiar fire of magic in his veins. He couldn’t even get his hands up to properly resist as Grizzop flipped him onto his stomach and plopped his weight in the middle of Hamid’s back. Grizzop was already winding ropes around his wrists before Hamid could even voice a protest.

Hamid had been tied up before, of course. He liked other people looking after him. He liked giving himself over to others, and what better way of symbolising that than allowing yourself to be bound? But he’d always had his magic, and besides, when Wilde did it, it was a delicate, reverent thing. Here, with Grizzop’s claws finishing the wrap and throwing a loose end around a bedpost with a grunt, it felt… utilitarian.

The weight on Hamid’s back pressed his half-hard cock into the silk of his panties, and even though the material was beautifully soft, it still sent zings up his spine and a sob escaped his lips, the pressure unpleasant, tickly. Despite the way it zapped his brain, blood went pulsing back down there. The sensation felt like it would go on forever, until a blessed moment of relief as Grizzop’s weight lifted from his back.

Hamid, over the noise of his own ragged breathing, could hear Grizzop shoving his pants down. The bed sank under Grizzop’s knees as he straddled Hamid’s legs, and with dawning horror Hamid realised something. He’s still wearing his FILTHY SHOES! On MY BED! And that was the most distressing thought he’d ever experienced… right up until he felt sharp teeth bite into the lace over his backside.

“GRIZZOP!” Hamid cried as the back of his panties were completely torn to shreds.

“Pftheh." Grizzop spat the remnants of fabric out."What? They’re stupid. And pointless. And in my way.”

Grizzop hadn’t taken his controlling weight off Hamid’s legs, shuffling up and spreading Hamid’s buttocks in sharp hands, and Hamid wiggled and squirmed as Grizzop spat, aim perfect, on Hamid’s exposed hole.

Grizzop’s tendrils, slick and hot, slid between Hamid’s cheeks, curious and catlike. It was always the most eerie sensation to start, until they spiralled and joined, pushing inside of Hamid without preamble.

Hamid was now fully hard, the front of the panties still solid enough to trap his cock against them, and as Grizzop rutted fully into him, the rub of his cock against the silk nearly made him white out.

"Grrizzzzzop!" he wailed. His arse was slick with Grizzop’s fluids, still feeling open and hot from Wilde’s attention earlier, but in no way ready for the intrusion, stinging and spiraling, of Grizzop’s strange cock.

Hamid squirmed beneath the onslaught, little pants escaping his mouth as he tugged uselessly against the bindings on his hands. Grizzop leant down, fastening teeth over the meat of Hamid's shoulder. The goblin didn't bite all the way down, merely held Hamid, but under the threat of those points of sharp teeth, Hamid stilled quickly, breath hot and chills radiating out from the bite.

Grizzop gripped Hamid's hips as the halfling stilled, and fucked into him, fast and ruthless, little pleasured growls escaping his lips. Despite his frenetic pace, the force of Grizzop’s teeth remained perfectly measured, not quite breaking the skin. Hamid’s head buzzed and frothed, every thrust squashing his prick against the panties.

It only took a minute or two for Grizzop to take his pleasure. Hamid felt the pulsing, gushing slick of the climax inside of him.

Grizzop settled his weight properly onto Hamid’s back, the metal of his breastplate warm, his rain soaked clothes practically steaming. “If I take the cuffs off, you promise not to blast me?”

Hamid took a shuddering breath as Grizzop’s cock slid wetly from his hole. "I won't but I should, you terror." Thankfully he felt his prick softening, the unbearable friction of skin on cloth abating. He felt his breath returning and a fond, frustrated smile twitching on his lips.

Grizzop unbound Hamid as efficiently as he'd trussed him. Before taking his weight off Hamid, he pecked a quick kiss to the back of Hamid's neck.

"Thanks!" Clearly not quite trusting the promise not to blast him, Grizzop sped out of the room at his usual clip, grabbing his pants as he went.

…

Later on, as Hamid slept, Wilde dropped off a package in his room. It was a froth of purple lace, wrapped in a ribbon. Having heard Hamid’s wails and caught sight of the half-dressed goblin leaving his room, he thought that Hamid would probably appreciate a replacement gift.

#nsft #hank writes #kinktober #rqg kinktober #hamid saleh haroun al tahan #grizzop drik acht amsterdam #rqg oscar wilde #rqg #rusty quill gaming #gave myself a LOT of things but you know what? I think it works #no idea if I have an audience for these on tumblr or if everyone who reads them is on the discord #but i will continue to put them here anyway

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whenrockwasyoung19 · 4 years ago

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It’s Time to Talk about a Bespectacled Elephant in the Room

I’ve been in the Beatles fandom for 8 and a half years. I have had a Beatles blog for the entirety of those 8 and a half years, and I have watched as discourse about these four men evolve. The discourse inside and outside the fandom has become so toxic that I don’t think I can engage with it in the same way that I could before. Let me explain.

When I entered this fandom 8 and a half years ago, it was in 2012, quite an infamous year in tumblr history. That was the pique of “”cringey”” fandom culture. The Beatles fandom was as steeped in fandom culture as any other fandom. I know this because I was part of two of the top of fandoms at the time, Doctor Who and Sherlock. Believe me, I have seen cringe.

The fandom at the time was totally aware of the John, Paul, George, and Ringo’s flaws as individuals, but most fans tended to simply enjoy Beatles fandom as if it were the 60s. Some might call it ignorant bliss. If you asked me at the time, I’d have said it was self-aware ignorant bliss--if that even makes sense. At the time, there wasn’t a person with a Beatles icon who hadn’t heard the line “John Lennon beat his wife.” Everyone knew it, but everyone also knew the real story, and so everyone just made peace with it. As a result, people didn’t think about every bad thing the Beatles ever did on a daily basis. It was more like a once-a-month kind of thing. Otherwise, fandom discourse was quite fun and relaxed. There were no shipping wars, no one fought over who was the best Beatle, everyone gushed over the Beatles wives, and we all just had fun with fics and fan art.

Of course, in this period, people engaged in conversations about one bespectacled Beatles problematic behavior. These conversations usually came from outside of the fandom. It was usually randos coming into the tags or into someone’s ask box and ranting about John Lennon’s violent behavior. Some of it came from within the fandom. Some people really didn’t like John and gave others shit if they listed John as their favorite Beatle. A lot of the discourse boiled down to: ‘hey, I see you like John Lennon. You should know that he beat his wife. And now that you know that, you should feel bad about ever liking him in the first place.’ And the response was often, ‘Actually, John Lennon didn’t beat his wife. They weren’t even married at the time. And also he didn’t beat her, he slapped her once in the face, and then never did it again.’ No one’s minds were changed. The fans had made their peace, and the antis came off as cynical and pretentious.

When Dashcon happened, and Tumblr took a hard look at its cringey fandom culture, the Beatles fandom evolved as well. The fandom became, frankly, less fun. It no longer felt like a group of people who found the Beatles decades after the 60s and were fangirling like it was 1965. There was still some of that left, but a lot of it kind of faded. So, most fandom interactions were reblogging pictures of the Beatles from the 60s and various interview clips and quotes. But the barrage of antis never really went away, and the response didn’t evolve.

Then, the advent of cancel culture came on. I always waited for the Beatles to get, like, officially canceled, but I also felt they were uncancel-able at the same time. Let me explain. I have been a Beatles fan primarily in an online space, rarely engaging with fans in real life. But I have met fans who are life-long Beatles fans, people who are a lot older than us and who’s fandom isn’t tied to the internet. They don’t give a shit about any of our discourse. They may or may not have heard it before, but they seem totally indifferent to all of it. I’m sure most of them have never heard ‘Mclennon’ before. These are the people that flock to see Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr in concert (and pay astronomical prices for it). These are the people who go to record shops and buy vinyl. These are the people I run into at flea markets who buy up all the Beatles merch before I can even arrive (true story). So, the Beatles will never be canceled because there will always be people who love the Beatles and don’t engage with online discourse. Rarely said, but thank god for Gen-X.

As cancel culture took over the internet, fandoms changed. It’s not as noticeable in fandoms without problematic favs. For instance, I’m also steeped in the Tom Holland fandom, and that boy is a little angel who has done no wrong. No one has discourse about the unproblematic boy who plays an equally unproblematic character. But in fandoms with ‘problematic favs’ the mood has shifted. I’m also in the Taron Egerton fandom. Taron Egerton, for those who only follow me for my Beatles stuff, is a genuinely sweet and kind person who has had zero scandals in his six year career. There were some rumblings when he was cast as Elton John, and some people took issue with the fact that he’s a straight man playing a gay man. This discourse seemed to die quickly as a whole lot of straight people played gay people in that same year (Olivia Coleman as queer Queen Anne, Emma Stone as her queer lover, Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury). Why jump on this boy who at the time was still technically on the rise. He’s not exactly the same target as someone like Scarlett Johansson who has her pick of roles. Taron doesn’t have quite that some power in Hollywood, and I think most people made peace with the fact that this was a big role for him, and it’s not really fair to take that away from him. So, all in all, the closest thing to a scandal was something that died pretty much on arrival.

That was until this summer when everything changed. When George Floyd was murdered, celebrities flocked to social media to mourn his loss. Taron’s social media account was silent. For weeks, Taron said nothing about Black Lives Matter or Floyd’s death. This caused outrage in the fandom. Many raced to defend him, starting a hashtage #IstandwithTaron. Others sought to tear him down and anyone who supported him. The kind of mania this one incident caused tore through an otherwise peaceful fandom. What I saw was two sides in a total panic. The antis were people who once had faith that Taron was a good person and were now questioning that. Andthe defenders were people who desperately wanted him to be a good person and were afraid that he wasn’t. In essence, both sides could feel Taron about to get canceled. The defenders wanted to stop it, the antis wanted to ride that wave.

What this long drawn out Taron example is meant to convey: is that cancel culture has put fandoms on edge. One’s fav has to be perfect, otherwise it can jeopardize the existence of the entire fandom. I’ll admit, I was afraid that I’d be some kind of pariah for standing by Taron through all of this. My actions were to basically reason with the antis but still defend Taron. I defend him mostly because I felt that his silence was the result of a needed social media absence and that trying to shame him back onto social media was an invasion of privacy. But I was genuinely afraid that he would get canceled, and the fun of the Taron fandom would be lost.

In the Beatles fandom, it often feels like the Beatles, mainly John, have already been canceled. I see this coming from two different sources: antis from outside of the fandom and antis within the fandom. The outside antis are just the same as the ones from 2012. These are people who like to drop in that John Lennon beat his wife, posting this in the tag (which violates an ancient tumblr real by the way--no hate in the tags).

The antis outside the fandom speak to a larger anti-John Lennon sentiment online. I see references to John Lennon ‘beating his wife’ on Tiktok and twitter. The tone of anti-John Lennon posts has shifted. Before, it felt like the antis were being smug but also argumentative. They wanted to have a conversation about this bit of info they read on Reddit with no context. Now, “John Lennon beating his wife” is practically a meme. It’s a running joke online that John Lennon was a wife beater. I can’t look on my instagram explore page because every so often a John Lennon beats his wife meme will pop up amongst the other, normal, memes.

This change in discourse suggests that the internet has just accepted this as fact now. I should note that back in 2012, it seemed as if few people knew this fact. The fandom knew it, and these random antis knew it, but few others did. Now, because of how common these memes are, it seems to be widespread knowledge.

Consequently, the Beatles fandom, who used to ward off attacks from antis, seems to have given in. I recently saw a post from a Beatles blog (had the URL and icon and everything) that confessed they felt guilty for listening to the Beatles, and I’ve seen similar sentiments expressed in the fandom. People tend to put disclaimers in posts about John or even all four that John is an ‘awful man.’ It seems like the self-aware ignorant bliss has completely gone away. Occasionally, I still see posts joyously talking about Mclennon or reblogs of old photos from the 60s. But the culture has shifted.

Online, it no longer feels comfortable to be a Beatles fan. It feels like you have to own up to 8 decades of mistakes by four men you’ve never met. And, I should note, this is kind of how it feels to be a fan of anything right now. Taron is not canceled today, but he could be tomorrow. It’s this pervasive feeling of guilt that the person you’re supporting may or definitely has or is doing something wrong.

I’ll admit this uncomfortable feeling has expanded into other parts of my fandom life. I listen to their music, and I feel elated--the way I always have. Then, I get these intrusive thoughts which sound like all the worst parts of Twitter combined. It wasn’t always like this. Back in 2012, when I knew almost nothing about them, I saw them as four young men who were full of happiness, love for another, and talent. Back then, listening to their music was exciting and joyous. Sometimes, I fear that I can never feel that way again. Next year, when I finally go to Liverpool, will I be filled with excitement or guilt?

I say all this for a few reasons. One, I love John Lennon. I appreciate all the good he did for the world not just as a musician and an artist but also his advocacy and charity work. I love him, and a part of me will always love him, but observing the change in discourse has enlightened me as a historian. Part of my job is to observe people’s legacies, and John’s is perhaps the most interesting legacy I’ve ever observed. When he died, he was hailed as a saint. But tall poppy syndrome set in, and the antis started. This culture grew and grew to the point where it seems to, at least among the younger generation, taken over the sainthood.

But as a historian and a fan, I have never seen the saint or the devil. I’ve only seen the man, the incredibly flawed man. The thing that these antis never understand is that John Lennon was painfully aware of his own flaws to the point where it made him all the more self-destructive. In essence, his past mistakes caused him to make additional mistakes. But John, aware of his own flaws, always tried to change and was often successful. I’ve talked about this before, but John demonstrated that he was capable of being a good person, like properly so, again and again. After he struck Cynthia, he never hit her again. His shortcomings as a father to Julian weren’t repeated with Sean. He worked on his drinking, his drug addiction, and his anger, trying to overcome those demons till the day he died. By all accounts, the John Lennon that died in 1980 is not the John Lennon who struck Cynthia Powell at school. That John Lennon was living a cleaner, healthier life. He was a better father to both his sons by that point, and was trying to repair his relationship with Julian. He was a good husband to Yoko and saw himself living a long and happy life.

John Lennon cannot and should not be boiled down to just his flaws. It’s one thing as a fan to acknowledge that John is a flawed human being (news flash: they all are), but he is also much bigger than that.

So once again, why am I writing this long, rambling post, once again talking about John Lennon’s virtues? Because if I can’t engage with healthy discourse about the Beatles and John Lennon, then I can’t engage with discourse on the topic at all. So, I probably will post less Beatles stuff because I find it hard to go through the tags or even my dash (well, I can’t really go through my dash anymore for other reasons I’m not going to get into right now). If any of my followers have noticed a lot of Taron posts lately, it’s not just because I love Taron, it’s because Taron’s tag is pretty much the only location on tumblr I feel 100% comfortable in. Any foray into John or the Beatles tags becomes uncomfortable and guilt-ridden quickly.

So, I probably will post less about the Beatles until I can find a blog or a tag that doesn’t give me bad vibes. My fandom will likely outgrow tumblr and the internet. I have a ton of Beatles books; maybe I’ll rely on those. I am doing official scholarly research on them now. Maybe that will be my outlet. I’m sorry if I post less about them now, but it’s really for my own well-being.

#John lennon #the beatles

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jq37 · 5 years ago

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The Royal Report– A Crown of Candy Ep 3

Keep Sharp

On the Road Again

Welcome back to Calorum you guys. We last left off witnessing an actual miracle as a group of cheese assassins masquerading as meatlanders (and Brennan by proxy) failed to kill a single Candian, Tartguard included.

Now, everyone is picking up the pieces. Amethar is still messed up from the fight so he’s being tended to. Liam and some of the NPCs are working on clearing the tree from the road. Ruby, still covered in blood, is in one of the carriages and when she uses Prestidigitation to clear the blood from a circus flyer she was carrying, Calroy walks in and grabs her hand to stop her as a reflex. He quickly drops her hand--very bold move to grab one of the princesses like that--and tries to impress on her that the rest of the world isn’t like Candia and she really really needs to stop with the casual magic when they’re on the road. Ruby is really naively taken aback and frustrated by this information but Calroy describes it like it’s business as usual. Her aunt, Lazuli, has the title of Archmage but the official position is that the title is an archaic holdover from less enlightened times and she was simply a really good alchemist--even though everyone knows that’s untrue. That’s politics bay-bee! Lapin joins the conversation (along with Theo shortly after) and says that if people knew where he got his powers from, he’d be dead (which seems a weird thing to say with Calroy in earshot).

Outside, Liam is chopping up the tree and finds these little peppermint acorn things called Heartseeds which are basically concentrated, ambient, magical energy that can grant small wishes. Preston eats them and gains a fly speed of 40 (but it’s like he’s a firework--he has to land after 40 feet). Jet finds Liam and asks for help with keeping an eye on Ruby. She’s pretty shook after seeing her almost die. Liam is down to do it for nothing (the kid just wants to be included) but Jet insists on being in his debt and--always on brand--he just asks for some cool seeds. She also finds a meat shield that’s made out of gross, burnt, stuck-to-the-pan meat bits that she names Burnt Ends.

They get going again and in the PC wagon you have all the PCs but Jet (who is outside with the guards and Grissini) along with Cruller and his wife--Lady Donetta. She chats with Grissini for a little bit while the adults try to get her to get in the carriage. She’s finally swayed by Ruby but when she comes in she says she wasn’t (just) flirting. She was trying to get intel on how in trouble Ruby was. Liam offers that he speaks Ceresian so he can spy if they need him to and also did anyone have any dreams last night? Theo--who is trying to keep everyone alive and was like so close to being impressed by Liam--along with Lapin and Cruller try to get everyone back on track but Ruby--defiantly--is all, “They’re not gonna kill me. I’m a princess!” Theo points out that someone almost killed her literally ten minutes ago and Cruller points out that death isn’t the only bad thing that can happen to a person. She could get forcibly put in a monastery for instance. Jet is not even having that in hypothetical-land and says that as the heir princess, she would lay the smackdown on anyone who tried to do that.

It looks like things are about to dissolve into overlapping gibberish but Amethar does the dad thing of putting his foot down and yelling at everyone to get along before taking a dad nap passing out from his injuries. Lady Donetta patches him up while Cruller once again talks about the importance of politics. It’s not just them that have to play this game. The Meatlanders are polytheistic generally but all Bulbian on paper. Jet thinks this whole song and dance is ridiculous and should be changed once she has more sway in politics, but she’s willing to shut up for now. She’s also willing to keep Lapin’s secret, but him bringing it up sparks Cruller’s interest. Lapin tries to gloss over it but Liam chimes in that he’s sorry about breaking his teacup. Lapin shuts him up (Liam on a low Insight check thinks he hates him) and rolls a 14 to get Cruller off his back.

Secrets and Lies

As they cross the border into Fructerra, Sir Theo invites Ruby and Jet out for some fresh air and they invite Liam which he goes along with even though it’s clear he wanted to talk to the sisters alone. As soon as they’re out of earshot of everyone Theo turns off the scold and says that regardless of everything they’re all saying, Ruby absolutely needs to keep studying magic. He says that he was a ward of Lazuli who taught him some magic (including animating Sprinkle) and he has a whole-ass lore dump for them that he was planning on subtly revealing over time but now’s the time for getting everybody up to speed ASAP not mentoring from the shadows:

He says that Lazuli--who, like Ruby and Jet, wanted magic to be acceptable and not relegated to the shadows of one kingdom--was doing arcane research into wild stuff like immortality that would have advanced the world a lot further than its current state. She died sacrificing herself in a battle where she was the only Candian casualty. Theo was there and, before she sent him away, she said that she needed to do it to, “save [their] people and save [their] world.” He didn’t get what she meant and why that would be literally the hill she--a princess and Archmage--would choose to die on but he knows she would sometimes have visions of the future and he thinks she might have known Ruby was coming and needed to ensure that timeline happened. Ruby--who is outraged that this is the first she’s hearing of all of this and shocked that Theo is suddenly cool (“I've always been cool! All of us are cool!”) still doesn’t want to do all this “book stuff” or embrace any kind of magical destiny and even Jet is like, “Come on girl.” Anyway, Sir Theo tells them they just need to be chill and lowkey and he’ll hook them up with magical training and banned books for Jet. He also promises to teach Ruby the Find Familiar spell.

Liam helps Lady Donetta with herbal remedies for Amethar and he comes back at full health. Amethar gets to talking about Liam’s dad who he says had Liam’s knack from nature stuff and taught him (Amethar) how to fight. Calroy chimes in that his dad and Amethar fought together in the Ravening War. He also says that Liam being a hostage (he outright calls him a hostage) is what lets his dad not join the Concord (the kind of ride or die, post Ravening War pact everyone else is in) and remain an independent rebel state. Apparently, he seceded because, King Jadin (Amethar’s Dad--the past king), would not uphold Candia’s alliances. Liam’s dad (Duke Joren Jawbreaker) turned traitor to go fight with their Dairy Island allies.

It takes another couple of days to get to Comida and, on the way there, Ruby learns and casts the Find Familiar spell--netting her a butterscotch falcon that she names Yak after the noise he makes. She hopes he’ll be friends with Sprinkle because Siobhan knows that the second real objective of every D&D campaign (after making friends) is acquiring pets and having them play with each other (which is in direct opposition to the DM goal of not letting any of your players have any pets).

Cruller checks in with Theo about the secret magic lessons and also says that he’s looked into it and the imperial soldiers who saw Ruby do magic are gossiping. Grissini is shutting some of it down so it’s not spreading like wildfire but it’s really just a matter of time. Cruller tries to get more specifics about what Jet and Lapin were talking about (his Sugarplum magic) and Theo dodges the question. Cruller says that he can be more helpful if he’s in the loop but doesn’t push further.

Faces and Names

We have made it to Comida and, after a quick House Rocks family heart to heart, it’s time for a parade of a BUNCH of new characters:

Manta Ray Jack: Man at Arms of House Cheddar and one of Amethar’s Ravening War buddies. A literal 2 foot tall cube of cheese. He also has a tattoo of a Manta Ray on his arm which isn’t important to the plot but is important to me that you know.

Sir Morris Brie: Knight of House Cheddar, Master of State to the Duchess (who we’ll get to next) and another Dairy Island buddy of Amethar.

Duchess Primsy Coldbottle: A literal bottle of milk, 16-year-old regent of House Cheddar (Duchess of Lacramor specifically) and ruler of the Dairy Islands. On a nat 20, Ruby knows that Prince Tarthur Cheddar was the prince during the Ravening Wars but died. She also knows about…

Captain Annabelle Cheddar: (Captain of the Colby) who is this cool, naval, battle-ready lady that Ruby sees hanging out with a bunch of solider women fighters and having a great time while Primsy is talking to her advisors. Apparently, Anabelle should be the rightful heir to the Dairy Islands but was stripped of her title because she refused to marry (hmm) which Ruby thinks is sick as hell. She goes to chat her up and finds out that she’ll be fighting in the Melee part of the tourney.

Senator Augustus Ciabatta: A full bread person who’s a senator from the very populous Ceresia and he’s throwing coins to the people from his palanquin. (I want it on the record that I feel an episode called Bread and Circuses coming.)

Prince Cabbage: The adult son of King Cabbage. His palanquin is the second largest. The largest belongs to...

Hierophant Rex Belizabeth Brassica: She is basically the Bulb Pope. She’s like a green woman with broccoli hair. She and Lapin have met before before she became pope. They quickly talk and she invites him to tag along as they pay their respects to the Emperor. He agrees to go. She’s followed around by Archbishop Onionpatch (another Primogen from Greenhold in Vegetania).

Theo is a little nervous about Amethar cozying up to all these dairy people considering the attack but Amethar insists he can handle himself. There’s a big feast set up and Amethar goes to talk to Primsy who is just super sweet and seems to know she has a lot of responsibility that she is trying her level best to uphold. She’s like the anti Jet and Ruby and Brennan...if something happens to her...I swear...

Anyway, Theo is scanning the room for trouble and he sees (1) That Anabelle is looking at Amethar forlornly from across the room (maybe like she wishes she could be in the room where it happens so to speak?) and (2) there is a young Dairy nobleman stealth flirting with Primsy. Amethar asks Sir Brie about the attack and he says they had nothing to do with it. They don’t have the resources after the war which was fought largely in the Dairy Isles. He seems to blame Anabelle at least partially for the diminished power of House Cheddar based on the dirty look he shoots her when he mentions the state of the state. Amethar reiterates that the alliance between Candia and the Dairy Isles is solid and Manta Ray Jack pops in to casually drop that Amethar had a war girlfriend (lover? idk what the proper terminology is here) in the Far East Isles back in the day so I’m sure that’s gonna become relevant at the worst possible moment.

Brennan also curses us by unleashing Thad (Jet’s avocado pen pal boyfriend) onto the story and as soon as Jet re-meets this poncy, French-y, horny, avocado she’s like “I made a huge mistake” and later gets him to “meet her outside” so she can ditch him.

Theo goes with Liam to check up on Primsy because he’s concerned with whatever is going on with her and that cheese boy who he learns is her traveling companion--Lord Stilton Curdeau. And it’s covered by cologne but his cheese stink is familiar. He wants to alert Amethar but Amethar is currently eyeing Basha Myaso (Warlord of the Beef Clans and ruler of all of the Meatlands) who is glaring at him. On Calroy’s advice, he squares up with Basha who implies that Candia is responsible for the false flag attack. Amethar tells him to “watch [his] fucking mouth.” Diplomacy!

Meanwhile, Lapin is with the Pontifex in the Great Food Pyramid (which is, of course, a thing). She introduces him to Sir Keradin Deeproot who is this super buff super intense carrot Paladin. We learn that Lapin isn’t an archbishop and his title of primogen comes from his status as a “miracle worker”. Apparently, Miracle working is very uncommon even though the Bulbian church is so massive. When asked, Onionpatch says that things in Vegetania are fine except that King Belvedere Cabbage is infirm. Another Priogem--this one of Cersia--joins them, the Archbishop Fettucina Alfredi who is this very classically beautiful looking, toga wearing woman with glowing eyes--she’s also a miracle worker. Lapin is like, “Oh fuck,” because if she’s magic too then she might be able to tell that he’s not actually on the level.

Lapin veers away from Alfredi and chats up the Pontifex who says Brightgarden is OK but they're currently dealing with a murder of an archbishop in the Meatlands (the Archbishop Raddica). Lord Basha is looking for who did it and the Pontifex wants them brought to justice ASAP. Alfredi brings up the attack on the road and wonders about the rumors she heard about strange magic. Lapin, sweating bullets, lies and says that he thinks it was the work of the Bulb. On a 14 Deception from Lapin, Alfredi thinks lavender fog would be a weird Bulbian intercession. It sounds more like something a false good she’s heard about from Candia would do. What’s her name? The Sugarplum Fairy? Lapin, with a 25 Persuasion check, is able to wave that off as primitive backwoods things that he’s working to stamp out in Candia. That’s enough to get the Pontifex on his side and they go up to see the Emperor.

Outside of his room is his daughter--Lady Plumbeline Uvano--who is lowkey very upset about something. She greets them and then takes the Pontifex in to talk to the Emperor while Lapin waits outside with Alfredi and Kerradin. When she’s done paying the respects of the church, the whole holy crew goes back to the party. Before Lapin splits off, the Pontifex does a little pull aside with him about Candia’s role in the war and how she thinks, with him at the helm, Candia is in good hands.

At Sir Theo's suggestion, Amethar has the Candy Crew stand with the Cheese Peeps during the announcement of the tourney which is a big deal because it’s a symbol that the alliance is still on even though they were attacked by cheese bandits. Primsy introduces herself to the princesses and gives them cool, milksilk handkerchiefs she embroidered herself with a candy cane crossed with a cheese cube on a stick with their house words: There is Strength in Sweetness. She doesn’t have one for Liam but gives him hers (it has her house words: Keep Sharp) on the condition he joins the archery competition and fights for her. With not a 15 between the 6 of them (even w/ multiple help actions) none of the PCs have presents for anyone else.

The tourney is announced. There are three events, each with a dope prize. Winner of the melee gets a boon from the emperor at the end of his rule. The winner of the archery contest gets a seat on the Cornucopian Council, the title of Master of Arrows, and is made advisor to the next emperor (which seems like a LOT to put on a person whose main skill is “can shoot arrows well” but OK sure). The winner of the joust gets to name a candidate for Emperor from any class or house they wish and their choice must be considered. Ruby and Liam join the archery contest. Theo signs up for the joust. Jet is hesitant but Amethar convinces her to join the melee with him. She also scratches “The Dairy Islands Rule!” into a piece of wood for Primsy and she’s charming enough that Primsy doesn’t think it’s a slipshod afterthought.

An imperial courier shows up and tells Theo the Emperor wants to talk to Amethar. He brings all the PCs and Calroy. Lady Plumbeline is still outside her dad’s room and she’s still pissed. On a 24 Insight check, Theo can tell that--as I suspected from episode 1--she is pretty ticked that she has all this institutional knowledge and competence and experience but, because of an arbitrary rule, she can’t take the throne. She tells Amethar (who she met when she was a teen) that they need to limit how many people go in as to not overwhelm him. He takes Lapin and Theo (who gives Sprinkle to Jet) and goes in to talk to Uvano.

Uvano, as we already know, was another Ravening War buddy of Amethar’s and another person he’s seen piss and shit--which we learn because that’s apparently how Amethar classifies who his best friends are. They talk the way old buddies do and Uvano asks what he would say about his life taking a surprising turn. Amethar says that if it was anyone else asking, he probably wouldn’t be on board but for Uvano? He’ll do it. That’s just what he wanted to hear.

And that’s where we end the episode without rolling initiative because the combat in the next episode is all fun and games and to quote Lou Wilson--who I suspect is about to become the wrongest person in D20 history--“It’s all sparring. Nobody is going to get killed.”

Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuure.

You Should Know

Country Accents seen to be as follows: Dairy (Scottish), Meat (Russian), Fruit (French), Grain (Italian), Candy (American/British)

In the long awaited sequel to “Kristen Has -3 Dex,” Liam has a -2 to Charisma.

Ruby speaks Lacra (Dairy-speak).

The Meatlander gods include The Great Cow, The Great Boar, and The Great Hen.

The head beef dude has a super jacked T-Bone steak wife who I assume we’ll get a name for during the melee next episode. Update, courtesy of @fjordgofurther--we did get a name this ep. Her name is Scravoya.

The Bulbian concept of hell/the devil involves the “Hungry Ones” which just serves to underline that Brennan really did think this crazy thing all the way through and still decided to not do it but to DO it.

Everyone levels up every episode I believe since D20 uses milestone leveling for the main seasons but Ruby and Jet leveled up twice to level 3 to help catch them up a little now that they have a story reason to be stronger.

Things I’m Concerned About

Uvano is only in his 60s. Like, people die in their 60s but that detail casually mentioned in a setting like this always brings up the possibility of poison or some other kind of sabotage.

The second Brennan mentioned the daughter of Uvano in passing ep 1, I clocked it and the situation is basically what I was anticipating it seems. Like, of course she’s pissed. I would be too. I wonder if either the boon or the chance to offer up a candidate could be used to override the Concord rules? Either way, gotta keep an eye on her. Also, I noticed the little flippant remark she had for the Pontifex (“This is Fructerra, I’m dressed for court.”) and I don’t know if that’s distaste for the church or something more personal but it seemed interesting enough to mention.

I know that the improvisational nature of D&D means that there’s not foreshadowing in the same way that you have in something fully set like a book or a movie but every time the Rocks family gets together for a sweet (ha) conversation (“We just want to protect you, Pop.”) I am just more and more sure we are being set up for a fall.

Lou Wilson’s defining trait as a D&D player is doing what his character would do and letting it play out to its logical conclusion, consequences be damned--consequences be welcomed even. And Amethar is--como se dice--no Calroy when it comes to politics. I can’t imagine these facts at up to any kind of happy sum.

Also, speaking of, I wanna trust Calroy, but I can’t. He’s too good at this. He’s too competent. He knows too much information and Amethar trusts him too much. Hope he proves me wrong but I will not be made a fool of by a slice of cake. Do you hear me Brennan? I REFUSE.

I've only had Primsy for a week, but if anything happened to her, I would kill everyone in this room and then myself. No but, seriously, if she is just as she appears to be (and this is GoT so I guess it’s not off the table that she’s secretly like bad and it would have taken a 30 Insight check to find out) then MAN I am so scared for her. Characters who are just trying their best to do a good job are my Kryptonite and she is as much in the wrong genre as the twins are. Moreso even.

I’m concerned Amethar has a cheesecake baby somewhere out there that’s gonna end up being a Problem. Oh my god what if one of the twins dies and their backup character is Amethar’s illegitimate kid?

The Bulbian Church has so much power but so little magic which seems...odd. Also, just curious, what is a Paladin without divine magic? Isn’t that just a fighter?

I very much vibe with the concept of Alfredi as a character but lol I was STRESSED for Lapin during that whole conversation and I feel like that’s gonna be my default state for him all season.

I’m concerned (or maybe just suspicious) that there’s more to the backstory with Theo and Lazuli than we heard. That little extra narration from Brennan about swearing he could feel her smile? Mmm, OK.

Five More Things

The character art for this season cracks me up because Brennan clearly gave the artist for this season two lists and one list was labeled “Hot” and one was labeled “Ridiculous” and that’s how we got characters like Primsy and Calroy in the same scene as Anabelle and Grissini and the funniest part is Brennan’s absolute refusal to play any of these characters like they’re any more or less ridiculous than any of the others. He’s like, “The hot pasta woman is valid and the talking cheese cube is EQUALLY VALID.”

“Not this season. Not season five.” Very bold of Brennan to be outraged about Emily trying to ride a living sprinkle dog like that's the ridiculous thing about a world with a living sprinkle dog.

The Sucorsi Road running into the Glucian Road for Sucrose and Glucose is the kind of worldbuilding detail that I love.

I was gonna be so mad at Brennan for the nonsense that is the name “Belizabeth” but he said on Adventuring Party that he was specifically dunking on GRRM with that so he gets a pass this time.

You know that famous Pixar meeting/lunch where they came up with Bugs Life, Monsters Inc, Finding Nemo, and Wall-E in one conversation? I bet Brennan had a similar brainstorming sesh where he came up with Garthy, Anabelle, and two other thirst traps that haven’t been introduced yet. Like come on. He described her hair as, “princely”? Brennan is trying to kill some of y’all.

#dimension 20 #dimension 20 spoilers #a crown of candy #a crown of candy spoilers #the royal report

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