#this was quite the challenge thanks to the plating and the injuries present

[slimeshade]

It had been all he could do not to run at the sound Hollow had made. A sound he had not known they could make. Every heaving breath was threaded with that rumbling hiss, emerging from deep in their throat and buzzing in their dense, fractured chest-plates. They had curled tight on the bed, legs drawn in and horns pressing down against their back, and their open mouth was a glaring threat, each spiny tooth needle-sharp and glistening black as oil.

Those were the teeth of a deep-sea thing, teeth to sink in, to hold fast, to never let go.

And their eyes—

Their eyes were a storm. A cyclone churning through a darkened sky. Violent. Volatile. Merciless.

Commission piece for chapter 43 of Lost Kin! (By @mostlydeadallday) Thanks a bunch ✨

(Edit: uploaded final version of this one)

[sxfterhearts]

wounded

24. [7:25 pm]

➳ pairing: yugyeom x reader

➳ genre/warnings: slow burn, fluff, slight bad boy!yugyeom, triggers; mentions of violence, injuries, physical abuse

➳ word count: 2,504 words

➳ summary: 24. “Just because,”

➳ author's note: this will probably turn into a two-shot, inspired by new era yugs. all creds for the gif below to @jinyoungot7​, thank you so much 💖 i’ve been sitting on this idea for a bit too long + rewrote it 3 times (bc my dumb self forgot to hit save) so i really struggled to form the right words. i hope you’ll forgive me for this! any form of feedback will be very much appreciated 💕 (also: imo = aunty)

wounded // scarred // healed

A rush of stiflingly hot summer air pummeled through the double doors of your family’s restaurant, disrupting the once cool atmosphere created by the air-cons. Being reminded of this season’s unforgiving behaviours urged you to lift the straw of your cool drink to your lips.

The sip of iced Americano, however, got stuck in your throat when you laid eyes upon the restaurant’s newest patron.

Yugyeom. Kim Yugyeom, with his untucked shirt and loosened tie, took confident strides across the dining area in the direction of the kitchen window where chefs would place finished dishes, ready to be served. Your brain short-circuited for several moments as you did nothing but watch him from your position behind the cashier. His actions were that of a regular’s as he arrived at the window and stuck his head through the opening in the wall, his hand coming up in a small wave to catch the chefs’ attention.

It was then that you registered, quite belatedly, the bruises and splotches of crimson littered across the back of his raised hand, tarnishing the fair skin.

You distinctly remembered that you saw plasters wrapped around his fingers earlier today when you sat beside him in class. His current wounds made the older ones seem like insignificant paper cuts. It wasn’t unusual for Yugyeom to turn up covered in fresh cuts and purple bruises, though. In fact, you had grown so accustomed to this that you started stocking up on assorted Rilakkuma plasters. Since the start of the semester when you were assigned the furthest desk from the whiteboard, you learned how to disinfect open wounds with saline solution and cover it properly with pastel-coloured dressings, all courtesy of Kim Yugyeom.

“Imo, can I please order takeaway? One bibim naengmyeon and one mul naengmyeon, double serving of pickled radishes, two eggs and extra-”

“Yugyeom-ah!” Your mother’s unmistakeable voice pierced through as her head peeked out of the little window, coming face to face with your desk partner. She addressed him with such a warm and motherly tone, which left you surprised and confused. “Oh, oh dear… It’s best if you take a seat, you can have your dinner here. I’ll pack Mark’s in a takeaway container, don’t you worry.”

“But Imo, I need to get back, Mark-”

“No buts, Yugyeom. I already memorised your orders. Sit down, your food will be ready in a second.”

“Imo, I can’t-” Yugyeom protested weakly, waving his hands in refusal, but you knew it was all for nought. Attempting to deny your mother’s orders were an impossible feat.

A short silence ensued. You guessed this was caused by your mother’s signature death stare. Having been on the receiving end countless times during your lifetime, you were well aware that it could make anyone’s skin rise with goose bumps or a chill to run down their spines.

“Okay, Imo…” Came Yugyeom’s resigned voice as his lanky legs dragged himself over to the vacant seat closest to the kitchen.

You took this as your cue to question your mother in detail about how she became so familiar with your class’ bad boy. Unfortunately, you were met with a curt reminder of the first-aid kit in the cupboard under the counter as she busied herself with blanching the buckwheat noodles. When she was in her element, there was no way to deviate her attention from the task at hand.

Rummaging through the cupboard, you fished out the white box with a red cross stuck on the top of the lid. Taking a few moments to steel your quickening heart rate, you were struck by the realisation that this would be the first time seeing Yugyeom outside of school in the entire five years you spent as classmates. He was a quiet boy, never uttering a single word in school, even when the teachers were asking him questions, landing him a semi-permanent spot in detention. Most days, he would plug one earphone into his ear and rest his head on folded arms, taking frequent naps as the class learned about organic compounds or Punnett squares. He was also handed multiple demerits for breaking the school rules, which ranged from getting into fist fights with seniors who bullied students for their lunch money, or wearing one too many piercings (especially the shiny ones), to refusing to get a haircut when his fringe began to grow past his eyebrows, obscuring his eyes.

The most intimidating aspect about sitting next to Kim Yugyeom, however, was that nearly every week you were forced to come face to face with angry gashes and wounds that he seemingly gained overnight. He always turned a blind eye when you succumbed to your curiosity and inspected his injuries from your seat, mere inches away. Wordlessly, you would clean the damaged skin with practiced hands, then patch it up with a plaster. Rilakkuma, you decided, suited him best. The plasters matched his yellow Rilakkuma earphones. You even caught him occasionally staring at the plasters when you stayed in class during lunch, the only period in which he remained awake.

“Y/N,” Yugyeom called as you drew the seat next to him. He stared at the table, refusing to meet your eyes.

Your ears perked up the moment your name left his lips; you were not used to this. It was a rare occurrence for the two of you to speak. Usually you went about your everyday tasks silently, with little words being exchanged. It was a silence that grew comfortable over the semester, and you found yourself appreciating the peace it brought during stressful times.

Conversations between the two of you had only started up recently. This was largely attributed to your father, who worked front of the house, being ridiculed by your classmate’s parents when they visited the restaurant. They complained about your father’s complete lack of competence when they had to wait forty-five minutes for their food to arrive, only to receive the wrong dishes in the end. Furious, they shoved the plate of food off the table and stormed out of the restaurant, not even bothering to settle the bill. Your father was left to clean up the scraps in front of all the other customers, severely damaging the restaurant’s reputation.

The classmate, a snobby, pampered girl, confronted you in school the next day by rudely pushing your books and stationery onto the floor, just like her parents did. You held back angry, frustrated tears as she ridiculed you and your family in front of all your other classmates, tearing you down to shreds. Yugyeom, rousing from his nap, caught the girl’s wrist before she had the chance to slap you across the face with a notebook.

Everyone grew quiet then. The boy had never done anything to gain attention, always preferring to remain behind the shadows in perfect silence. “Keep it down, you’re ruining my sleep.” Yugyeom hissed threateningly. She cowered in fear and backed off, never to provoke you again.

“Look up, Yugyeom.” You instructed, returning to the task at hand. With a concerned gaze, you conducted a thorough examination of his injuries. The cuts on his hands and the bruises on his knuckles were fairly standard – a quick clean and plaster should do the trick. You got to work, pulling out the alcohol-free cleansing wipes and dabbing over the torn skin with gentle fingers. The boy flinched slightly upon the first contact but behaved rather well as you continued to tend to his hands. Your gaze flitted over the two spherical scars on the underside of his left forearm as he reached forward, closing the distance between the two of you. They were cigarette burns, you figured. You could feel Yugyeom’s fingers brushing against your temples as he pushed strands of your short hair back to rest behind your ears, the tips of which glowered pink at his actions.

“What happened this time?” You asked, somewhat rhetorically. You knew full well that Yugyeom would never divulge the events that led up to his injuries, no matter how persistent you were.

He hummed in response, as though that were an appropriate answer, and scrunched up his face slightly to express his reluctance in answering your question.

The wound smack bang in the middle of his nose presented itself as a bit more of a challenge. While Yugyeom was no stranger to facial injuries, often sporting shallow cuts close to his brow or near his chin, this was much deeper; much larger. It drew unwanted attention and tarnished his otherwise handsome features.

A dull thud sounded as a bowl of cold noodles landed on the table. Your mother stood over the two of you, shaking her head as she handed you a warm towel. You accepted it, still utterly clueless about how your mother was so well acquainted with Yugyeom and his injuries. “Y/N-ah, use this to clean the wound. If it’s still bleeding a lot, apply some pressure to it.” She then turned to the boy, tutting in disapproval. “Yugyeom, I’ve always respected your privacy when you show up in my restaurant covered in cuts and bruises, but this is where I draw the line. Your injuries are getting more serious. You and I are going to have a serious talk once you finish your dinner, young man. It’s been two years and I can’t watch from the sidelines any longer, are we clear?”

You watched as Yugyeom nearly heaved out a sigh, but decided against it in the last minute. “Yes, Imo. Thank you, Imo.”

Your mother, with her hands perched atop her waist, nodded gravely before strutting over to the kitchen, leaving the two of you alone once more. A million questions swarmed in your head as Yugyeom took the towel from your hands, pressing it onto his wound as he began to devour the bowl of cold noodles. This has been going on for two years? You wondered to yourself. Two long years, and yet I’ve never even ran into him in the restaurant. There’s no way, he must’ve been here when I worked over the summer. Maybe he was just sitting in a corner, eating in silence… As usual.

“You’ve been coming her for two years?” You asked before you could stop yourself, your curiosity getting the better of you. “But why?” Why didn’t you tell me? You thought silently, the rest of the sentence unable to leave your mouth.

Yugyeom shrugged as he picked out two halved egg yolks from the boiled eggs with his chopsticks. “Just because,”

Because you pitied me? Because you were ashamed of me? Because you couldn’t face me in school without thinking about that incident caused by the girl’s parents?

“It’s not like that.” The boy said flatly, his eyes meeting yours with a resolute gaze when he noticed you withdrawing, getting lost in your thoughts. “This is the only place that sells naengmyeon all year.”

“What?” You muttered in disbelief.

“I have naengmyeon every Friday, even in winter. The food is good and I only live five minutes away.”

You nodded at his explanation. Perhaps you were overthinking the situation.

“I was also trying to hide most of my injuries from you.” He admitted in a low voice, barely audible above the white noise of the restaurant. Yugyeom took another mouthful of noodles into his mouth, chewing appreciatively as the refreshing flavours soothed his senses. “Fridays…” He paused, eyes wandering vacantly around the vicinity of the restaurant. “Fridays are gambling days for my uncle. He’ll gamble, lose, drink and come home for dinner. You know my older brother, Mark?”

“Yeah, I know Mark.” It was hard not to know about Mark. Before he graduated four years ago, rumours about him spread like wildfire throughout the entire school. The one rumour you distinctly remembered as a first-year student was that he maintained good grades by doing, for a lack of better word, favours, for his female teachers.

“Mark would rush me out of the house before our uncle got home. He acted as my uncle’s babysitter by cooking him dinner, and then as his punching bag when he had to take out his frustration. I was home once when it happened, some time last year. After that I made Mark agree for us to take turns.”

Your head started to spin as your brain worked to process this new information. “Wait so, the cuts, the bruises, the burns, all of that…?”

Yugyeom nodded, still staring beyond the double doors. The sun was beginning to set. In the back of his mind, he registered that his uncle would be home soon. “Honestly, Mark had it worse, especially in the first few months after.”

He meant after his parents passed away two years ago. A car accident. They were coming home from their anniversary dinner. It was raining. There was a truck going around the corner at insane speeds, towards their car. It swerved. Their car plummeted off a cliff. They died instantly, the aunties gossiped as they filtered in and out of the restaurant. Poor kids, they would remark, casting pitied looks at the brothers.

“Your mother, she’s really something else.” He said with a small smile while picking up a few pieces of cucumber and radish. “The first time I came in, the restaurant was about to close. She took one look at me and forced me to press a piece of frozen beef on my bruise. She talked to me the entire time she was dressing my wound, I swear my ears nearly fell off.”

That sounded exactly like your mother. She loved to nag, but it always came from a place of genuine concern. “Imagine being her daughter.” You joked, grateful for the slight comedic relief from the heavy nature of the words you shared. It was one of the few proper conversations you had with your desk partner.

“Sometimes I have to remind myself that she isn’t my mother.” Yugyeom said, his tone so broken and devastated that you felt your heart ache within your chest.

You placed a hesitant hand on his shoulder, trying your best to provide him with some form, any form of comfort. “I’m sure she cares for you like her own son. Especially since she’s been making you dinner every Friday for the past two years.”

“Yeah, I suppose.”

“She even nurses your injuries.”

“But you do that too.” He pointed out without missing a beat, a teasing glint in his eyes as he finally turned to look at you.

“I…”

“Nevermind, forget I said anything.” Yugyeom replied with a knowing grin, returning back to his dinner.

I care about you too, a lot. You confessed silently, resting your heavy head on your palms as you watched him eat. The golden shine of the sun casted upon his pointed features. Despite the old scars and the new wounds, he glowed.

A part of you realised that after so many months, you had finally broken-down Kim Yugyeom’s iron walls. School would be very different from now on.

[thetriggeredhappy]

Hi! Just wanted to say I adore your writing :) I can’t get enough of it! Ever considered sniperscout where Scout drags Sniper to a game at Fenway Park?

well NOW I'm considering it!!! well NOW that's on my brain!!!!

(warnings for probable baseball inaccuracies and talk about sniper gettin real freaked out about crowds. also supreme gayness)

“—and that guy there is Tony Conigliaro, he’s been on the team for a while now and he really doesn’t play games out there, and that over there with the big nerd glasses is John Curtis, new guy, it’s his first year and he hasn’t been on the plate hardly at all yet, thank god, and he’ll probably stay in the box the rest of the game considering who we’re up against—“

Scout had barely stopped talking since they got within a line of sight of the historic Fenway Park, and while usually his chattering was somewhat calming for Sniper, a good distraction and a source of laughter, it was suddenly significantly less effective. Sitting in a baseball stadium with several hundred rows of seats behind him filled with complete strangers in late June heat was, as Sniper had decided, extremely stressful.

“And the, er, the other team,” he tried to say, throat dry. “That’s the New Jersey blokes, right?”

“New York. The fuckin’ Yankees. That’s one reason the stadium is so packed, we hate those guys, it’s a whole thing,” Scout explained, eyes fully lit up. He was fully in his element, gesturing with both hands and talking a mile a minute, and if Sniper didn’t know otherwise he would ask if he’d somehow found a store in Boston that sold his terrible energy drinks and bought the place out. On one hand, Sniper liked seeing Scout so happy about something, but on the other hand, it was pretty clear that Scout wasn’t actually paying great attention to everything around him, he was so wrapped up in his excitement.

Sniper focused on taking a deep breath and thanked his foresight not to eat breakfast that morning—surely he’d have thrown it back up by now.

One opinion that Sniper very decidedly kept to himself, at least partially because he cared about Scout very much and preferred that they continue dating, was that entertainment sports were objectively the worst thing on the planet. They were wildly hyped up by the audiences, with practically cult followings, hosted in sardine can arenas with many people yelling and food and drinks being spilled and jostling and the rows of seats that you had to squeeze by other people to escape from and the smell of sweat and conflicting foods and unclean bathrooms and blaring intercoms that he could hardly understand the words through and players potentially getting severe injuries just for the amusement of dozens of people watching them and—

He didn’t like them, was the long and short of it. The experience, the concept, any of it. He was okay with Scout going on about the latest game he saw on TV or heard on the radio, with hearing him recite statistics by heart, with the other man’s general enthusiasm, at least somewhat because he knew Scout probably had a big dream at some point about being a baseball player. But something about all the theatrics and noise just gave Sniper a headache.

Maybe it was having grown up in Australia, where every day was just kids challenging each other to constant shows of strength, starting fistfights over cricket matches, wrestling being both a competitive sport and as common of a delay as unexpected traffic was. He had no idea. Whatever it was, he very much didn’t want to be in that stadium.

Except... well, he’d wanted to do something special for Scout’s birthday, and he’d been a little homesick recently, and he’d been really excited about the upcoming game and all, and Sniper knew how much it would mean to him to go see it in person. He knew it would make Scout happier than anything else in the world to give him a chance to see his favorite place in his hometown. When Sniper showed him the plane tickets, he’d looked about ready to get down on one knee then and there.

And Sniper thought he could handle it, he really did. But now here he was, chest tight, hands shaking, stomach performing an acrobatic routine, very much on the verge of ruining this whole gift just because he couldn’t keep his nerves in check for just a couple of hours.

He really needed a cigarette, but he’d told Scout a few weeks ago that he was trying to quit again. He really, really needed a drink, but he wasn’t sure if that was even allowed in a public baseball park, and didn’t know if he could keep it in his stomach even if it was. He really, really, really needed Scout to do the thing where he held both of Sniper’s hands and quietly talked him down from where his brain was trying to push him over the edge. But he could stay calm. He could hold it together at least into the second inning, surely, then find somewhere quiet to get some air, then be all set for another two innings, rinse and repeat. How many were there, six? He was fairly sure it was six. He just needed to stay calm.

The crowd around him screamed as some man hit the ball with the bat and sent it very, very far. He tried his best not to visibly wince. Not that it particularly mattered—Scout didn’t notice his plight, too busy also jumping to his feet and cheering.

He could do this. He could do this. He wasn’t going to have a meltdown in a baseball stadium. He wasn’t going to have a freakout at 2pm on a weekend. He was better than that. He could do this.

“Hey, hey,” Scout said suddenly, tugging on the sleeve of his shirt insistently. “You’ve never been to a baseball game before, we should get some food! We got this special hot dog here, the Fenway Frank, it’s been around, like, longer than Medic probably. They got a whole special recipe about it, most stadiums got hot dogs and stuff but Fenway’s dogs are the actual best ones on the planet, seriously. They’re probably about to switch, Yastrzemski is up next but the guy after him’s a total schmuck and we’re already on two outs, so maybe that’s when we can go see if we can snag—“

Sniper just nodded, momentarily losing track of Scout’s voice as a group of men nearby started howling with laughter, making him have to focus hard on not tensing up.

“—and would you look at that, Seibert fucks it up, who’s surprised? Okay, let’s go!” And his hand was being taken, and he was being pulled along out of the row and up the isle in the same direction as plenty of other spectators.

He was barely present at all as they waited in line at the concession stand, focusing on using his time in a relatively quieter area wisely, trying to be stealthy as he took deep breaths, clenched and unclenched his fists in the pockets of his vest (the vest, hat, and sunglasses being the parts of his uniform that he rarely took off, even when otherwise in civilian clothes). Scout meanwhile continued on his little lecture, going on about some history and facts about the park itself, then funny stories about times he went to Fenway with his brothers, then offhandedly mentioning some player who he’d idolized growing up and didn’t quite know why for the longest time but now that he was thinking about it maybe he just thought the guy was hot—and hey, they’re at the front of the line, could he get like three, actually four franks and—

Somehow, Sniper found himself standing out of the way of foot traffic holding four hot dogs and a bag of popcorn as Scout shuffled around the wild assortment of food that he’d purchased just so he wouldn’t drop anything on the way back to their seats.

Sniper took a quick stock of himself and realized all at once that he would definitely not be making it back to their seats.

Scout’s mouth was moving, and Sniper was hearing the words somewhere behind the sound of laughing and yelling and cheering and the announcer and the sound of sneakers on concrete, but the words seemed to just pour right back out of Sniper’s brain like water through a sieve. He looked down at his hands and saw the way they were trembling, almost on the verge of violently, muscles clenched tightly enough to almost hurt as he was wracked with tremors all the way up his arms—

“—iper, really, I’m getting freaked out too now, you listening?” Scout asked, and Sniper lifted his eyes again. His entire expression was contorted with worry, with fear, all the earlier excitement and joy and light extinguished and replaced with alarm. Scout moved to shove packs of candy into his own pockets and his bag almost frantically, freeing up his hands, and he quickly relieved Sniper of what he was holding as well, freeing up a hand so that Scout could take it in his own, still fumbling a little bit. “What’s up, what happened? What’s wrong?”

Guilt, like a shovel to the back of the head, immediately dizzying in intensity. The first words to pop into his head were an apology, but they and everything else were driven out as there was another holler from the crowd up above. Belatedly, he realized that maybe he wasn’t dizzy from the guilt, maybe he was dizzy because his breathing was shuttering too-fast through his chest. His mouth moved, and he said something, and he was pretty sure it was supposed to be comforting, but Scout was just frowning further, moving to start pulling Sniper along by the hand, quickly through the crowd.

One good thing about the East Coast, Sniper was finding out, was that nobody cared about what anyone else was doing the majority of the time, and a grown man leading another grown man along by the hand like a toddler didn’t draw any strange looks, or any looks at all.

He blinked back to reality as he realized that things were much quieter all of a sudden, and he glanced around, noting that there seemed to be significantly fewer people. They were by the wall regardless, and the hot dogs that Scout had been so excited about were no longer in either of their hands. He knew that because instead Scout had laced their fingers together, was squeezing his hands in a way that was immediately comforting.

“Hey, is this any better?” he asked, his volume kept low. Sniper nodded. “Okay. What happened back there? You really freaked out on me for a minute. Looked pale as a sheet, started hypervascilating.”

Sniper took a breath or two to steady himself a bit, swallowed hard. “Hyperventilating,” he corrected, voice weak despite his best efforts.”

“Whatever, that thing where your breathing is all wrong,” Scout brushed off. “Whatever the hell it’s called. Seriously, what set you off?”

A few more breaths to steady himself, to search for words in his scattered brain. When that didnt work, he tried talking anyways. “Noises, crowds, the jostling, the, the people standing behind me practically breathing down my neck, it’s all, just, it’s just a, it’s a lot,” he managed, just barely tamping down on a stutter.

Scout squeezed his hands again. “Sheesh, even stadiums? Usually these places are way better for my paranoia stuff,” he said.

“Not just the work thing,” Sniper corrected, words tumbling out in a way that was far too clumsy and a bit too fast and practically unintelligible. “Just my regular, nervous, sort of, just my usual nerves but they’re, worse with crowds. Bigger crowds are worse.”

Scout glanced around their vicinity very briefly. The crowd only seemed to be thinning more and more. “Babe,” he finally said, voice very quiet, “I thought you said it wasn’t a big deal, that you didn’t think it’d be bad for you to show up at a big game.”

Guilt again, because he probably did say that at some point. “I just thought I could try anyways, it’s your birthday and, and all of that, and I wanted to do something good for you, and, and I didn’t want to ruin it just because I’m a bloody wreck is all—“

Scout’s eyes widened in surprise, and he was releasing Sniper’s hands, working out of his hold to instead cup his face in his hands. “Babe, I’m not worried about the birthday thing, I’m worried about you, are you serious?!” he exclaimed, still quietly. “I’m just upset that we’re even out here if it’s gonna freak you out this bad!”

“Thought I’d just try,” Sniper protested, practically under his breath, “I thought since, I thought, you’re always absolutely aces, you’re good to me, thought I’d try and—“

Scout was shaking his head. “There’s a difference between, like, when you listen to Sex Bomn with me for the twentieth time even though you don’t even like that album, versus flinging yourself facefirst into a full-blown freakout just because you wanted me to get to see a game in person for a weekend trip!”

“You’re always,” Sniper tried, and his voice wobbled and gave out, so he tried again. “You’re always telling me about home for you, and I just thought you’d like really being able to show me in person instead of just pictures and pointing at the screen on the telly when a game is on.”

Scout just looked at him for a few moments. “Snipes, you know they give tours of this place, right?” he asked, incredulous. “Like, actual tours? When it’s basically empty and not half as loud?”

Sniper looked right back at him.

“And you could’ve just got tickets for like, the game a few days ago? Which was against fuckin’ Baltimore, which is Baltimore, which nobody gives a shit about because it’s Baltimore, so it wouldn’t’ve been even like a quarter of the way as packed?”

“The hell is Baltimore?” Sniper asked, beginning to see that perhaps he was somewhat slightly an idiot.

“Exactly.” Scout squished his cheeks under his hands, released, squished and released. “And it ain’t even about seeing a game, or like, headed to a Fenway Park with you. I was just...” He muddled for words. “I was just excited because you wanted to... I mean, y’know. Go to Boston with me, see all this stuff from before you knew me. Even if one of us woke up this morning with, like, a total stomach bug or a wicked hangover or something, and we couldn’t go to the game, I would’ve been okay with it. Maybe disappointed about not getting a real actual gen-u-ine Fenway Frank from the place itself, but it’s... as long as I got to spend the day with you, maybe got to show you a little bit of what all I grew up with, that’s already a way happier birthday than I ever thought I’d get past the age of like, twenty-four. I figured it was all downhill from here, and then...”

He trailed off, eyes trailing over Sniper’s face slowly, like memorization, like recall. Sniper realized that his hands had stopped shaking at some point, and reached up to thread their fingers together again. “And then?” he prompted, voice quiet.

“It’s my birthday, you don’t get to make fun of me for being a sappy son of a bitch,” Scout warned, and there was that light back in his eyes again, his little dimple making an appearance at the corner of his mouth.

“Fair enough,” Sniper shrugged.

Scout squeezed his hands. “I thought it was all downhill from here, with all the, y’know. Having to get a job killin’ people thing,” he shrugged, maybe more casually than he should’ve been able to. “Figured it was just gonna be me getting older, that I’d already sorta hit my peak at some point in high school before everything went to shit. Figured it was just gonna be worse and worse. And then I looked around one day and... I figured out that I had you around. And the rest of the guys, the team, love ‘em to death—don’t tell ‘em I said that—but especially you. And, I dunno.” He smiled at Sniper. “Upswing, y’know?”

Sniper, had he not a crippling fear of embarrassing himself in public and the ability to do so without probably maiming them both, would’ve dipped Scout down into a kiss right then and there. As it was, he settled on pulling Scout into a hug and fighting back the sting in his eyes. “Don’t do that,” he warned, voice somewhat steady. “You know I get all emotional when I go mental like that. I will start sobbing all over you.”

“Do it. Cry,” Scout challenged firmly. “I’ll break you, so goddamn help me. C’mon, do it right now!”

“Nope,” Sniper said, squeezing hard and smiling at the wheeze he managed to elicit from Scout as he squished the air out of him. “Won’t do it. Can’t make me.”

“Don’t even test me,” Scout managed once he was released from the embrace, rolling his shoulders and getting the air back in his lungs. “I’ll fuckin’... compare thee to a summer’s day or some shit. I’ll get all poetic. Swear to god.”

“Uh huh. And how much Shakespearicles do you have memorized?” Sniper asked.

“All of it,” Scout bluffed without missing a beat.

Sniper rolled his eyes, even as he smiled. “Where are our seats, by the way?” he asked.

“Other side of the stadium, basically. I walked us over to the Yankee side, it’s usually emptier,” he replied, and leaned over to the ledge on the wall right nearby them. Sniper blinked, surprised at himself for not having noticed their hot dogs and drinks and whatnot lined up precariously. “Guess you were right about me not wearing like, literally all of my Sox merch.”

Sniper nodded, paused for a moment. “I was really out of it, wasn’t I?” he asked, guilt resurfacing.

“Hey, don’t do that,” Scout chided, elbowing him and handing over his food. “You’re still at a net positive for good boyfriend deeds for the day. You flew me across the country on a weekend trip to see a rivalry game in my hometown with a week’s notice even though you knew it’d freak the hell out of you. You’re still the best boyfriend ever. Of all time.”

“That’s you, actually,” Sniper replied.

“Shut up and take my compliments. Birthday boy’s orders,” Scout said, hefting his bag to sit more comfortably on his shoulder. “Birthday order number two, let’s get the hell outta here. We’re way down anyways, and I don’t see the Yankees letting us have a comeback. If we go now, I can probably catch the last inning on the radio back at the hotel.”

“Any other birthday orders?” Sniper asked, bumping shoulders and elbows with Scout, walking as close to him as he could get away with as they began making their way out.

“Yeah. Eat that hot dog, it’s fuckin’ delicious. These three are mine.”

Sniper shrugged and obliged.

(Scout was absolutely right. It was delicious.)

[lets-imaginerwby]

Would do you such a soul mate au with Qrow? I love your Qrow fics. You write him so fantastic.

Soul mate au where when you first touch your soul mate, your hearts glow

---------

This was going rather poorly.

When you took the job, it was only supposed to be a simple bit of pest control. A single death stalker had been spotted lurking in the forest around a village; so far it hadn't made any moves against the villagers, but it was only a matter of time before the growing unease with it's presence attracted the creature.

So, figuring it'd be some easy money in between big jobs, you accepted. The village head has met with you upon arrival so you could get all the details, and then off into the trees you went.

Finding it had been easy enough. After roughly twenty minutes if walking, you found a trail of broken trees and prints that could have only been made by the monstrous arachnid. You kept low as you followed it's path, and soon there was the beast standing outside what you guessed was it's den.

The fight hadn't gone to shit immediately; no, in fact it was going rather well. Then the second death stalker decided to make itself known.

Your back had been to the cave, and you only managed to avoid being impaled by the golden stinger thanks to the clicking of it's mandibles alerting you.

One death stalker was easy, two was a challenge. It didn't help that this second grimm was freaking massive! The monster loomed easily twice as large as the original, it left a hole in the ground every time it brought it's stinger down. When you darted around the creature, trying to get behind it, it's claws swiped through the air, sending trees crashing to the dirt and splinters flying through the air.

If only you could have killed the first death stalker before this bastard showed up! Couldn't it have waited just a few more minutes to drag itself out?

The smaller grimm was sluggish with all the injuries you inflicted, but still, every time you avoided one stinger, you had to throw yourself out if the path of another. Death stalkers didn't usually team up like this, just your luck you found yourself up against the wonder duo.

You needed help, staying alive mattered more than a small loss of pride.

You kept into the air, pushing off against the mountain side and landing on the smaller grimm's back. You drove your weapon into the soft spot along it's neck, grunting with the effort as you sunk it in deep. The creature thrashed about wildly, trying to dislodge you and your weapon. With one hand, you held on for dear life, the other hand plunged into your pocket and pulled out your scroll.

It wasn't uncommon for hunters to find themself in a pinch, quite the opposite, so an app had been developed for such a situation. With the press of a button, you sent out a signal that would alert any nearby hunters of your location. With any luck, someone was close enough to come to your aid.

The fluttering feeling of relief was quickly crushed along with your chest. The large death stalker used your distraction to pluck you off it's dead companions back, your scroll flying out of your hand. You couldn't breath with it's grip tightening on either side of you, the only thing between you and being cut in half was your weapon, wedged between the claws to give you the tiniest bit of room. The poor thing wouldn't be able to stand the pressure for very long though, before it'd snap right along with you.

You strained against the crushing force, teeth grit and a strangled grunt forcing itself out of your throat; your arms began to shake, the sweat on your palms making it hard to keep your grip. "Come on..."

The monsters shriek rang through the air, and all at once the pressure was gone and you were left to fall to the ground.

Well this isn't much better.

A hand gripped the back of your shirt and pulled you along, releasing it's hold once you were on the ground. You gasped for air, clutching your aching chest with one hand.

Your savior stood beside you, weapon held at the ready. The familiar face you saw surprised you.

"Branwen?" You'd never interacted with him before besides the occasional word or acknowledging nod when you saw each other. He'd been in your same year at Beacon, but you'd both belonged to different social groups so you very rarely hung out.

"You alright?" His raspy voice tuned you back into the present. His eyes briefly slide to look down at you.

Taking in another shuddering breath, you pushed yourself up. "Yeah, bruised but still in one piece. Thanks for answering my call."

He shrugged, readjusting his grip on the large scythe in his hands. "Lucky for you I was passing through the area."

Ahead of you, the death stalker stumbled and hissed, a large groove in the plating on it's face, presumably where Qrow had struck it a moment ago. It was quickly regaining it's composure, burning eyes narrowing at the two of you.

You also found your footing, ignoring the pain and standing tall. "This bastard's a wild one, I haven't been able to get at any of it's weak points. It's smart, must have been around a long, long time."

He hummed "Any plans? I remember you were always the strategist for your team."

You glanced at him, eye brow raised "Didn't realize you payed so much attention to me, Branwen."

He laughed, eyes still staring down the death stalker. "Hard not to. So?"

Filing away that topic, you scanned your opponent, the landscape, and your new partner. "I think I got an idea."

The creature hissed, impatient with the stand off. It charged forward, and as it did, you and Qrow charged to meet it, each taking a side. You swiped at it's left legs, sending it stumbling to the right and into the path of Qrow's blade. It hissed in rage, turning toward Qrow, but you were ready.

You sprung onto it's head and dug your blade into one of eyes, pulling it out with a pop and jumping to the ground when it reared it's head back in pain.

Your plan was going fine, with it distracted and having gained a new blind side, it wasn't supposed to notice you charging in to plunge your blade into the soft under side it's now exposed throat.

It wasn't part of the plan for it to throw itself into a spin, it's tail sweeping low and knocking you off your feet. Your already bruised chest flared with a new surge of pain.

"(Y/n)!" Qrow dropped down beside you, kneeling to check on your condition.

You wheezed, waving a hand to let him know you were fine. The death stalker loomed over you, black mist pouring from it's punctured eye, looking more pissed than ever.

"Shit." You muttered.

Qrow growled, knuckles white around his scythe's handle. He held a hand toward you. "Can you stand?"

You looked to him, and then to the death stalker. Do you really stand a chance? At this rate, it seemed like you'd just end up as a stain on the gold of it's stinger.

The steady presence beside you wouldn't let you spiral down that thinking. You felt a tug on your soul, and you found those gentle, determined, red eyes still focused on you.

The fear in your eyes hardened into resolve, this was not where you would let it end. "Hm." You hummed in confirmation, nodding once. You lifted your hand to take his at the same time the stinger above tensed to strike.

As the death stalker struck, your hands met, and your world was filled with light.

Brilliant, beautiful strands of light twisted in the air, radiating from your surprised bodies. Neither of you ever wanted to look away from the other, ready to sink into this moment forever and bask in this feeling, this love that dominated the area around you.

The shrieking took some of the romance of the moment away.

With great reluctance, you tore your gaze away from Qrow, from your soul mate, to look at the source of the damned noise.

The death stalker shuddered, desperately trying to back away from the light. Wherever the gentle beams touched the grimm, it's body started to dissolve, bone plating cracking and eroding, black mist billowing off of it.

Qrow's hand squeezed yours, and it only took a brief glance to confirm you were on the same page.

With a cry, you ran forward, hand in hand, and leapt up in sync. Your blades arced through the air, opening the exposed flesh of the creatures underside and sending another cloud of thick, black mist into the air.

The light was so close to the beast now, it's body couldn't take it, crumbling in on it's self and dissolving on the spot.

The light faded somewhat, still bright but not as blinding. The colors bounced off the mist around you, giving the atmosphere an especially magic quality.

Your cheat still hurt like hell, your muscles shock, and you were exhausted, but you were certain you'd never had a happier smile on your face than right now.

The man before you, the light illuminating his face and making him look downright angelic, had a wide grin on his face as well, his chest heaving.

You gave his hand a squeeze "Nice work, Branwen."

"Qrow," he said, breathless "call me Qrow."

You hummed, reaching up with your free hand to rest it on his cheek "Qrow." His name felt perfect on your tounge, natural. "My soulmate."

[ukthxbye]

Lesson Learned

(prompt from @stlgeekgirl with all intentions of being a 500 word challenge which I failed, but still is a drabble technically)

hey go kudos it on ao3 if you liked it! 

https://archiveofourown.org/works/17593049

“Hey, I’m gonna start the kettle, you want some tea?” Molly yelled down the hall as she dropped her bags and a stack of folders on the desk.

  Sherlock yelled through his closed bathroom door. “Excellent idea as always Molly ! I’ll be present in a moment.”

  The noise of water stopped down the hall as she started it in the sink in the kitchen, filling and turning the kettle on. She stood tiptoe, pulling down biscuits from the top shelf. No reason bothering with a plate. He’d eat the whole pack while they worked. She rummaged for clean mugs and set the tea bags in. She whispered a thank you at an absent Mrs Hudson for the bowl of fresh lemons.

  Kettle beeped as she turned the corner and near dropped the biscuits . “ Sherlock !” she squealed, shutting her eyes tight.

  Sherlock stood at the desk, folder in hand and a large white Turkish cotton towel wrapped around his waist. His eyes turned up to see what caused her alarm.

  “Molly whatever is the matter?,” he asked breezily looking back at the folder in hand. Words sat at the tip of her tongue and he gazed back at her in anticipation.

  “You... towel ... for God’s sake,” she cracked one eye open and risked the other, gesturing wildly with her hand .

  He looked down, brow furrowed, “Yes, that is the obvious fact. Why it matters—”

  “Bloody hell, I am not having this conversation until you put on some pants ,” Molly sighed.

 Sherlock’s lips curled up at the corner, “Just pants then?”

  She stared at him. She tried with every bit of her nerve to not follow the lines of his body, starting at those damp curls down to the jawline, to his chest and... she shook her head to push away those thought and put her chin down in her chest .

  “No, then ?” He grinned now, and she gulped when she looked up to meet his gaze.

  “Trousers, and a shirt too. Please. We have work to do, correct?” She pivoted on her heels and rushed into the kitchen to start the tea, avoiding his continued stare.

 He groaned, “Fine, since we are friends which I thought it meant... anyway I hate how clothes feel on my skin after a shower.”

  She entered back into the room with their mugs. As she turned her head up for a glance, with a put-on pout he made sure she noticed his lethargic stomping down the hall. She breathed out in relief as she set down the mugs and sat.

  - :-

 Sherlock entered her flat with his key. He thought to himself how respectful it all was, using keys and not picked locks and windows.

  He tossed his laptop on her sofa , ignoring Toby’s meowing at his feet.

  “Is that you, Sherlock ?” Molly yelled down her hall.

  “Does anyone else have a key?” he shouted back.

  “I’ll be in there in a moment,” she huffed out.

  Throwing his coat over a chair, he flopped on the sofa and opened his laptop to begin the work on a case he came over to have her assistance.

  Toby abandoned his meowing and ran to Molly when she entered her sitting room. Sherlock looked up briefly but then did a double take. Hery pony tail was typical but the rest of her clothing not so much. Tight leggings and a decidedly  loose tank top. He interrupted a workout he surmised as he scanned her form.

  “If I interrupted …” he began, but she cut him off.

  “ Just got done with y oga . So what are we working on today?” She crossed the room and Sherlock turned his attention back to the screen.

 “Two murders across town from each other but I feel their injuries are so similar they must be related. I thought perhaps you could review—” He felt his mouth go dry as she leaned over his shoulder, placing a small hand on it. Her flowery perfume overcame his senses, filling his nose. His eyes steadily followed her fingers as she dropped her hand from him and rested it her hip.

  “Well, I’ll look them over if you’ve got good photos. If it 's our new specialty register who took them, I have little hope,” she laughed lightly .

  “I see ,” is all he managed to murmur in response. His eyes strayed slowly upward but not quite to her face. Her perfume enhanced by the warmth of her body still held in his nose.

  Molly knew the effect, she could sense the sudden tension when she touched his shoulder. The perfume sprayed just before she entered the room affected him well .  But she was n’t done with her lesson yet.

  “ Well , you get those pulled up for me, gonna grab a quick shower ,” she turned and headed toward the hall , hiding a growing grin as she moved away.

  Sherlock shook his head , clearing linge ring thoughts as she was no longer there to distract. Back to work, he told himself.

  He heard the shower shut off.

  “Tea?” he yelled down the hall.

  “ Absolutely . Biscuits in their usual spot,” she said back , sticking her head out the door.

  Once she heard him rummaging for the coveted biscuits , she slipped on a satin dressing gown over her naked form, a bit on the short side but she knew its effect. “Walk out in a towel. I can play that game,” she whispered to herself as she smoothed down the fabric once more in the mirror. She stepped out and toward the kitchen confidently.

  “Do you think the photos will suffice for study?” she said cheerily as she entered the room.

  Sherlock stuffed a Gingernut in his mouth before he turned to her and nearly choked on it . His mind raced and went blank, Molly standing much too casually in a short pink satin dressing gown and obviously nothing else.

  “You OK?” she asked with a furrowed brow. But he held her stare, and her eyes gave her away.

  “ Molly …” he coughed out.

  “Whatever is the matter, Sherlock ?” she asked bright eyed as the corner of her lips curling up.

  He swallowed hard, closing his eyes.

  “I think your point has been made.”

  She nodded slowly , “So no more just walking out in your towel then ?”

 “Perhaps... we should get back to work, or we could have another conversation we have been avoiding,” he gulped, his thoughts nearly racing too fast for his own good.  “But with trousers and shirt on, please.”

  “ Perhaps,” she smirked as she backed her way out of the room.

[mimi-love-4ever]

Dinner

SasuSaku Month 2018 - Day 12: Dinner Rating: T+ (Some language) Context: Non-massacre AU A/N: Thank you for reading and I hope you like it!  

From the minute she woke up, rushed to the bathroom once she realized she had forgotten to set her alarm the previous night and tripped over a pair of shoes, Sakura knew it was going to be one of those days. She jumped into the shower and got a face full of freezing cold water, to which she proceeded to choke on for a couple of seconds. Snatching whatever she could find, she dressed quickly and flew out the window of her bedroom and headed straight to the hospital for her shift that actually started 15 minutes ago. She prided herself on her punctuality - for she had to have an unblemished record thanks to the irritating Council members that were looking for any excuse to discredit her status as Chief Doctor at the Children’s Clinic. One mistake, one slip up, could cost her everything she had worked so hard for.

Needless to say, she was given a stern lecture from one of the old fossils and handed a mountain of folders that had to be filled and dated by the end of her shift. She scoffed and made her way to her office with a large damper on her mood. Sakura had pulled a double shift the day before and had only achieved four precious hours of sleeps, so her patience was running dangerously low. One small mercy, however, was that she had no scheduled patients to see and if there were no village threatening crisis on the horizon, she’d be able to hide in her office.

An hour into staring at tiny letters on various pieces of paper, Sakura felt the beginnings of a migraine lurking at the back of her head. She set the papers down and was about to go in search of a fresh cup of coffee when a soft knock tapped against the door.

Please, don’t let it be anyone important, Sakura prayed. “Come in.”

Beautiful, silk black hair was the first thing she noticed poking through as the door opened slowly. The second was the warm smiling face of Mikoto Uchiha. Sakura stood up quickly, patting down her clothing slightly in hopes of looking more presentable, and walked around her desk.

“Saku-chan,” Mikoto greeted her. She hugged Sakura lovingly. “I’m so glad I was able to catch you. You’re always busy.”

“Hello Mikoto,” Sakura greeted her back, smiling in return.

“Honestly, they’re working you to the bone, my dear,” frowned Mikoto. “Sasuke’s been telling me about your endless amount of shifts and side missions. Those old coots don’t even leave you time to have dinner with your boyfriend’s parents. Quite rude, if I say so myself.”

Sakura stared at her puzzled. While it was true that she’d been pulling a couple of double shifts here and there, she hadn’t had a mission in months now at the request of the Hokage. Something about needing her skills more at home than in a simple mission abroad. Her puzzlement gave way to just a tiny bit of anger. Sakura never thought she’d see the day when Sasuke would willingly lie to his mother, but did he have to get her involved?

In a split second decision, she opted from calling out his lie and went along with whatever Mikoto was saying. She stored every piece of information and started plotting ways to make Sasuke cave and explain this whole mess to her before she really became angry. She couldn’t deny that she was curious, though.

“Please do say you’ll come for dinner tonight, Saku-chan?” Mikoto asked with a tiny pout. “Fugaku and Itachi actually have a day off today, so they would love to see you too!”

When it came right down to it, Sakura couldn’t refuse Mikoto any more than she could refuse petting a puppy. This woman treated her like a daughter, more so ever since she and Sasuke had made their relationship official a year ago.

“Of course, I’ll come,” smiled Sakura. “You know I can’t refuse your cooking.”

Mikoto laughed gleefully and patted her cheek. “You’re such a sweetheart, Sakura. My son better not let you go or I’ll never speak to him again.”

Sakura blushed and let out a rather embarrassed laugh. “The things you say, Mikoto.”

“I’m just telling the truth,” she grinned. “Dinner should be ready by six, so come by around 6:30, okay? Alright, I better get going and let you go back to work.”

“I’ll be there,” Sakura assured her.

“I can’t wait.” Mikoto pecked her cheek and gave her a hug before leaving the office.  

Work completely forgotten, Sakura plopped back into her chair trying to figure out why Sasuke would say those things to his mother. She’s been having dinner with them once every month for years now, even before getting together with Sasuke, since they were part of the same genin squad. It’s been two months since she’s been at the Uchiha Compound due to her lately hectic schedule. She’d asked Sasuke to send her sincerest apologies to his family and he’d always tell her that it was okay. Thinking about it now, she wondered what else Sasuke had been lying about. That thought alone unsettled her. She’d never had doubts about him before and he was as honest as they came.

“What the hell’s going on, Sasuke-kun?” Sakura asked herself, temper flaring.

Her thoughts were put on hold, however, as a nurse came flying into her office and announced in a panicked voice that a small team of ANBU had been brought it with severe injuries. She was the only one on staff that had the clearance to work with ANBU and was therefore ushered away.

Sakura spent seven grueling hours in surgery fixing and mending each one of them. She wasn’t sure if it was luck or skill that kept any of them from dying on her surgery table, but she was grateful nonetheless as she finally stripped her bloody gloves off. Shizune had stepped in to help with the post-op and sent her with strict orders to go lay down. Sakura stumbled out of the ICU and miraculously made it back to her office without passing out. She crashed on her couch and clenched her eyes tight as an overwhelming wave of nausea rolled over her due to chakra depletion. She allowed herself a couple of minutes to try and even out her labored breathing. When she finally opened her eyes, she shot up from the couch with a curse.

6:24 pm.

She shrugged out of her lab coat and rushed towards the mirror behind her desk to check her reflection. A groan of misery slipped past her lips as she caught sight of herself and ran her fingers through her hair in an attempt to make it presentable. In the end she simply swept it up in a ponytail, threw her coat on and ran out of there. She refused to miss this dinner. Sakura arrived at the Uchiha compound almost fifteen minutes later, cursing up a storm as her chakra failed her so she ended up walking there. It also didn’t help that various Uchiha had tried stopping her on the way to make conversation with her or to greet her, making her even more late since she couldn’t just blow them off either. She knocked politely at the front door and took a couple of seconds to pat down her clothing to rid it of any wrinkles.

The door opened revealing Itachi, who frowned as soon as he saw her. His observant eyes took in her appearance and exhausted body posture. Not to mention her dangerously low chakra levels.

“I’m so sorry I’m late,” she apologized.

“There’s no need to worry, Sakura,” he assured her and welcomed her in. “Mother ran a bit late and we were just about to sit down. Come in.”

Itachi took her coat and led her towards the dining room where Fugaku sat at the head of the table flipping through a couple of files unbothered. She was about to greet him when Sasuke walked in from the kitchen carrying a plate of food, but froze as soon as he saw her.

“Sakura?” He looked at her confused.

Mikoto walked in right behind her son carrying another plate of food and smiled when she saw her. “Ah, Sakura! I was about to think you couldn’t make it, dear.”

“You invited her, kaa-san?” Sasuke asked his mother, his tone almost sounded accusing to Sakura. A flash of hurt stabbed her heart as she realized that maybe he didn’t want her there. She raced through her memories trying to find if she did something wrong, anything to warrant this kind of behavior towards her.

“Well, why ever not?” Mikoto pouted as she set the food plate down and placed her hands on her hips in a challenging manner. “You said tonight was a special dinner and Sakura-chan is important to this family.”

Sasuke set his own food plate down on the table. “I never said she wasn’t important. I only wanted a dinner with just us.”

“Sasuke, explain yourself,” Fugaku frowned at his son’s unusual behavior. He didn’t fail to see the hurt in Sakura’s eyes and frowned further.

“I-I should probably go,” Sakura spoke up sadly. She didn’t know what was going on with her boyfriend, but if he didn’t want her there then she wasn’t going to overstay her welcome. “I didn’t mean to interrupt your plans, Sasuke. I’m sorry.” She started to head towards the front door.

Mikoto turned to her youngest son, angry. “Sasuke, what’s wrong with you?”

“That is no way to treat your girlfriend, little brother,” Itachi chastised him.

Sasuke watched Sakura walk away with slumped shoulders in a defeated manner and felt angry with himself. He tried running to her, but his family was in his way and scolding him. Fed up with the situation, he sighed in irritation.

“I’m going to marry Sakura!” He shouted, effectively shutting up his family. Sakura froze on the threshold of the dining room then whirled around, staring at him in shock. “The reason why I wanted this dinner with you three was to let you know of my intention to ask Sakura to marry me.”

There was a tense silence before Mikoto broke out in a high pitched squeal and hugged Fugaku in happiness. Itachi shook his head at his brother’s mess of a situation, but couldn’t be happier. Sakura, on the other hand, was still in shock. The words marry Sakura were swirling around in her head over and over until reality set in. Her breath caught in her throat and the world around her turned black.

Sasuke felt her practically non-existent chakra flare in response a second before she passed out and flash stepped just in time to catch her. He cradled her against his chest tenderly

“Honey, we need to work on your proposal,” Mikoto said, worriedly.

“Yeah, you might actually end up killing from shock next time,” Itachi retorted with a chuckle. “Wait until Izumi and Shisui get wind of this.”

Sasuke glared at his brother and hissed. “Shut it.”

“Izumi and Shisui? You mean, wait until Tsunade hears you rendered her precious student unconscious,” Fugaku added in with the slightest hint of a teasing tone.

“I’m never having dinner with you guys again.” Sasuke picked up his girlfriend gently and headed to his room. He could have sworn he heard laughter coming from downstairs as he closed his bedroom door.

He barely lay Sakura down on his bed when she groaned softly and her eyes fluttered open. She blinked a couple of times to chase away the lightheadedness and focused on Sasuke’s worried face. Sakura was struck with how handsome he looked that she almost forgot about what just happened. Almost. Her hand closed into a fist in anger and punched him on the shoulder, hard.

“What the fuck?” Sasuke swore as he grabbed her wrist to stop her from hitting him again. His shoulder throbbed painfully.

“That’s for lying to your mother and to me, you jerk,” Sakura glared at him.

Sasuke sighed in defeat, letting go of her wrist. He reached down and stroked her cheek. “I’m sorry. I went about this the wrong way.”

“Hmph.” Sakura pouted, turning her head away and stared at the wall instead of his intense obsidian eyes that nearly had her forgetting what she was mad about.

“Sakura,” he smirked at her. “Do you know how long I’ve been planning this? I’ve been having dinner with your parents for the past two months.”

“What?” Sakura snapped her attention back to him in shock.

“Your parents are incredibly protective of their only child and it took a lot of talking to get their blessing, especially your mother,” Sasuke replied. “I meant to voice my intentions to my family tonight, so they can let the clan heads know that I’m not marrying anyone else.”

“Oh, Sasuke-kun…” Her eyes filled with tears as her heart filled with joy at his words. While most of the Uchiha clan had readily accepted her, there were some that did not approve of Fugaku’s second heir - yet heir nonetheless - having a relationship with an ‘outsider’, even one as distinguished as her.

Sasuke let out a small smile and slipped down on the bed next to her. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against him tightly, and hid his face in her hair. Her familiar scent washed over him and erased all the troubles he was carrying on his shoulders.

“I love you, Sakura,” he whispered against her neck so lowly she almost missed it. “I want you to be my wife… if you’ll have me as your husband.”

Sakura shivered, her heart racing. She turned her head until she caught sight of the eyes she loved so much. The emotions brimming in his eyes left no room for doubt. They were honest and made her feel incredibly loved. Without another thought, she reached up to grab a fistful of his hair and pulled him down until their lips met in a flurry of passion.

“My family’s waiting downstairs,” Sasuke mumbled against her soft lips.

“Then you better be quiet,” Sakura mumbled back seductively and tugged on his hair roughly just the way she knew he liked it. The groan that reverberated in his chest was all the response she needed.

[hovercraft79]

World on Fire

5th in the Hecate’s Summer Playlist series

Chapters: 3

Word Count: 18,268

Fandom: The Worst Witch (TV 2017)

Rating: Teen

Warnings: Some violence, injuries, discussion of bullying, Hecate’s ever-present self-esteem issues.

Summary: Just as Hecate begins to find her footing in her new life with an expanded family, a dangerous new enemy threatens to rip it all apart.

Notes:

This story continues Hecate’s adventures over one fateful summer. It is the 5th installment of my take on the Summer Trope Challenge. It will make much more sense if you’ve read the first ones. The title comes from the Sarah McLachlan song. I’ve also borrowed a few lyrics from Train’s Hey, Soul Sister for an impromptu dance party.

Again, thanks to Sparky, who is still editing my fics. I keep promising her that they will be shorter, but she knows I’m probably lying.

Chapter 1

Hecate studied her reflection in the mirror. Still too skinny, she thought. Wearing only a pair of black stretchy lounge pants and a bra, she could see her ribs and collarbones sticking through her pale skin. Skin that was looser now than it had been the last time anyone had seen so much of it. She brushed her hand over the rough skin of the scar stretching across her side just below her ribcage. The skin was still an angry pink, but healing now. After a little more than a week at Julie Hubble’s she finally starting to feel like herself. No, she corrected, thinking about the letter in the black envelope that had appeared on her nightstand yesterday morning, she was feeling better than herself.

Pippa loved her. She knew every dark moment, every failing, every regret from Hecate’s life and she loved her any way. Pippa wanted to live happily-ever-after with her.

As if that wasn’t magic enough, her powers had returned as strong as ever. Even though the Great Wizard had insisted that they refrain from using their magic, Hecate had been practicing little spells, like doing her hair or summoning objects. She’d transferred from Mildred’s bedroom into the kitchen three times. At breakfast they’d talked about when she might move back to Cackle’s. She’d been shocked to realize that she would miss being with Pippa and the Hubbles.

“You look as beautiful as I remember, Hiccup.” Pippa’s eyes met hers in the mirror as she leaned against the bathroom door.

“I look old, Pip.” Hecate held her arms at her sides, forcing herself not to cover up under Pippa’s gaze.

“Nonsense. That girl from Amulet’s was lovely, no doubt about it. But the woman she grew into? Magnificent.” Pippa smiled at the flush she could see beginning on Hecate’s chest. Not wanting to make Hecate uncomfortable, she turned her attention to her injury. “Your side looks better, lots better.” She knelt down and ghosted her fingers across it, smiling at the goosebumps that appeared on Hecate’s skin. “Did it start healing faster once your magic started coming back?”

“I think so. I think the spell that keeps you from using magic to heal it may be similar to a time spell. It’s still going to leave a scar, though.”

“Mm-hmm.” Pippa pressed a quick kiss to Hecate’s side before hoisting herself back to her feet. “Good thing I think scars are sexy, then.” She headed back to the hallway. “Julie should be home in a couple of hours. We thought we’d get started on dinner.”

An hour later Hecate was stirring the sauce for their pasta when a bouncy song started playing on the radio.

Your sweet moonbeam, the smell of you in every single dream I dream,

I knew when we collided, you’re the one I have decided, who’s one of my kind.

 Barefoot, Pippa began tapping her toes to the music, then swaying, then giving in and bumping her hip into Hecate, who looked at her, rolled her eyes and went back to stirring her sauce. Not to be deterred, Pippa grabbed Mildred by the hand and twirled her around the tiny kitchen, singing along at the top of her lungs.

Hey, soul sister, ain’t that Mr. Mister on the radio, stereo? The way you move ain’t fair, you know?

Hey, soul sister, I don’t wanna miss a single thing you do tonight.

 After her third spin, Mildred caught Hecate’s hand and pulled her in. Pippa spun each of them around until Mildred ducked under Pippa’s arm, dragging Hecate behind her until she came face-to-face with Pippa, who pulled her in and kept on dancing.

Way you can cut a rug, watching you’s the only drug I need.

So gangster, I’m so thug, you’re the only one I’m dreaming of.

 Pippa pounded her own chest as she sang about being a thug, much to Hecate’s amusement.

You see I can be myself now finally, in fact there’s nothing I can’t be.

I want the world to see you’ll be with me.

 Julie paused in the doorway, watching Pippa work her magic on Hecate and Mildred. She’d never say it out loud, but she’d been more than a little apprehensive about having Hecate recover at her house. Wound tight under the best of circumstances, Hecate had managed to relax and open up, and Julie knew that was due in no small part to the blonde witch currently spinning her around the kitchen.

“What’s the matter, Millie-bear? You aren’t dancing?”

“Mum!” Mildred gave the sauce one last stir before hugging her mother. “I was, but I swapped HB in instead.”

“Good girl, sometimes she needs a little nudge.” The song wound down so Julie lowered the volume. “I should have known this is how it would be – I trudge off to work and you lot have a party. Life just isn’t fair!” She gave Mildred’s braid a flick. “Can you handle things in the kitchen while I have a word with Hecate and Pippa?” When Mildred nodded, Julie pulled them into her bedroom and closed the door. “I know we talked about you heading back to Cackle’s this morning, but…” She pulled a folded paper out of her pocket. “The hospital wants to send me to Frankfort for a symposium on health and safety procedures. The girl scheduled to go came down with strep so I’m a last-minute sub. I thought I’d see if you’d have a go as Millie’s full-time magic mum for a few days.”

“B-b-by myself? Take care of Mildred by myself?”

“She’s hardly an infant, Hiccup,” Pippa reminded her gently. “Even though I have to go to Pentangles during the day, I’ll still come back each evening.”

Hecate took a deep breath and nodded. “Of course, I will. It would be my privilege.”

Julie wrapped an arm around Hecate’s shoulders, ignoring how she stiffened. “You’ll be fine, love.” She squeezed a bit tighter before letting Hecate go.

“Are we going to tell her about…magic mum?”

Julie shook her head. “I still want to do it properly, have a real family dinner, and make a celebration out of it.”

“And that includes Ada,” Pippa added. Hecate’s grateful smile was all the confirmation Pippa needed that her choice to include Ada was the right one. Hecate deserved all the family she could get.

They went back to the kitchen just in time to see Mildred floating the pot of boiling pasta to the sink and magically tipping the contents into a colander. Julie and Hecate both opened their mouths to tell her to be careful, but Pippa clamped a hand over each mouth just in time.

Pippa waited until the pot had settled back on the counter before calling out “Well done, Mildred!” Mildred turned to look back at them, her proud grin lighting up her face. “Wasn’t that a textbook moving spell, Hiccup?”

Hecate started to say something about the unauthorized use of magic, but Mildred’s pleased, hopeful look sent the words right out of her mouth. “Very well, done, Mildred. Mr. Rowan-Webb would be quite pleased.”

Julie stepped behind Mildred and planted a loud kiss on top of her head. “Did you help with dinner?”

“Not much. It was mostly HB and Miss Pentangle. I just set the table.”

“Well, I could come home to this every night.”

Hecate took over the pasta, pouring the cavatappi into a pan, covering it with the sauce and adding a thick layer of cheese over all of it. Waving her hand over the pan, Hecate sent a stream of magic across the top, melting the cheese until it was brown and bubbly. Pippa tossed and dressed the salad. Once she was certain everything was ready, Pippa waved her fingers and filled four plates. In moments they’d all crowded around the tiny kitchen table.

“I never knew you could cook, HB,” Mildred said, after her first bite.

“It’s not so different from potions.” Hecate said, unable to hide a small, pleased smile.

“Maybe while we’re still here we can talk Hiccup into making her famous lemon bars.” Pippa added. “They’re quite delicious.”

Mildred poked at her food with her fork. “How much longer are you staying?”

Hecate looked for impatience or other signs Mildred had tired of her presence. She found none, just Mildred’s normal curiosity.

“I’m so glad you asked that, Millie-bear.” Julie retrieved the notice from the bedroom and handed it to her daughter. “Hospital’s asked me to go to a conference in Frankfurt day after tomorrow, and I thought I’d ask Hecate to stay here with you while I’m gone.”

Of all the reactions Hecate expected Mildred to have, bouncing eager brightness was not among them.

“Well, I guess that’s settled, then.” Julie winked at Hecate.

Pippa leaned over and whispered into Hecate’s ear. “Try not to look so shocked, darling. You are the only one who didn’t know she’d be thrilled.”

Hecate released a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding. The rest of the meal passed in relaxed conversation – Mildred excitedly planning ways she and HB could pass the week.

“I thought,” Hecate interjected, before Mildred could plan another activity, “that Thursday might be a good day to visit Miss Mould.”

“Can I go, Mum? I want to see Miss Mould again!” Mildred looked back and forth between Hecate and her mother. “Please?”

Julie opened her mouth to answer, but Pippa cut her off. “That might be a good idea, actually.”

“What?” asked Hecate and Julie.

“It just occurred to me that Miss Mould was very fond of Mildred. She gave up her magic for her, after all. Perhaps she might be more inclined to help us if she were reminded who she was helping?”

“But…” Hecate tried to formulate an argument that would not remove that bright smile from Mildred’s face. She sighed. Her life had been much simpler before she worried about things like Mildred Hubble’s smile. She glanced at the girl’s hopeful expression. Simpler, perhaps, but not nearly as bright – and she was determined to be brighter. “It would be acceptable to me,” she heard herself say. “If that is agreeable to you, Ms. Hubble.”

Julie raised her eyebrows at Hecate. “Well I don’t know, Miss Hardbroom, do you expect anything,” she glanced at Mildred, “unsafe?”

Hecate considered the question. “I shouldn’t think so. We’re just asking for some names.”

“All right then, love, you can go. But,” she pointed a finger at her daughter. “You do as Hecate says. She’s…she’s doing me a big favor looking out for you…while I’m gone.”

“I will, Mum, I promise. Hanging out with you is going to be the bats, HB.” Mildred returned to eating with gusto. She didn’t notice the wistful look that flickered across her mother’s face, or the quick squeeze Julie gave Hecate’s hand.

Julie pretended not to notice the minor emotional breakdown Hecate seemed to be having. Instead, she cast about for any other topic of conversation. “Oh! I’ve just remembered!” Everyone turned to look at her expectantly. “Did any of you lot read the Telegraph today?” All three witches gazed at her with blank expressions. “I thought you were looking for information?” She shook her head. “No wonder newspapers can’t make a go of it anymore.”

“What was in the paper, Ms. Hubble?” Hecate drawled in her best ‘Miss Hardbroom’ voice.’

There’s our girl, Julie thought with a smile. “There was an article about some vandalism at one of the gardens – the Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, I think. I don’t usually read the Daily Mail, but someone left it in the lounge so I read it on me lunch break.” She hopped up from the table and rummaged through her shoulder bag, returning a moment later with a rumpled newspaper. Smoothing it across her lap, Julie flipped through the pages until she found the article she was looking for. “Here we go. ‘Vandals Strike Kew Gardens.’” She pointed to the article. “You can read it yourself, but the short story is somebody broke in to the Herbarium and tossed it.” Pippa summoned her reading glasses with one hand and reached for the newspaper with the other.

“The Herbarium, you said?” Hecate looked thoughtful.

“Right. I didn’t think much of it until I read the quote by one of the botanists.”

Pippa’s finger skimmed the article. “Dr. Piety Pendragon. She says they caused such a mess they can’t even tell if anything is missing.” She handed the paper to Mildred and placed her readers on the table, much to Hecate’s disappointment.

“That’s the one. Piety Pendragon – if that’s not a witching name I’ll eat your hat, Pentangle.”

Pippa frowned, chewing at her lip. “Wasn’t there a Piety Pendragon at Amulet’s, Hiccup? A year or two above us, perhaps?”

Hecate thought a moment before her face darkened. “Yes, there was.” Hecate swallowed – hard – before continuing. “She was one of those…parasites trailing along behind Agnes Monkshood.”

Pippa saw the change immediately and pulled her chair even closer to Hecate’s at the tiny table. She draped an arm across Hecate’s shoulders and leaned in close, aware of Mildred’s wide eyes watching intently. “I remember them now, Hiccup. They were some of the worst, weren’t they?” Hecate nodded, eyes closed against painful memories. “I want you to listen to me, Hecate,” she reached out and placed her fingers under Hecate’s chin, forcing her to meet her eyes. “Look at me, darling,” Hecate opened her eyes, afraid to see the pity in Pippa’s when she looked at her. There wasn’t any. “Those girls don’t matter now, Hiccup. They never did. Even then you were the witchiest witch and everybody knew it, my love. They were cruel to you because it was the only time they could ever feel like more than the nothings that they were.”

Hecate took a deep breath, breathing in for a count of five and then slowly releasing it over a count of five. She did this three times before she tried to speak. “Thank you, Pipsqueak.” She avoided looking at Mildred entirely. “Was it only the Herbarium? Not the Fungarium or the Spirit Collections?”

Accepting Hecate’s need to change the topic, Pippa leaned back in her own chair, stabbing at her salad with her fork. “It didn’t mention those, no.”

Hecate pushed herself away from the table and started pacing the tiny living room. “Okay, that tells us something…Are Dimity and Algie still researching spells that could free Agatha from the picture?”

“As far as I know,” Pippa said.

“We need to tell them to look for potions, as well.” Hecate continued to pace.

Julie shook her head. “Slow down, Hecate, I’m not following.”

“You think somebody tried to steal a potions ingredient, don’t you HB?”

“Very good, Mildred,” Hecate couldn’t stop her flicker of a smile when the girl sat up straighter and beamed. She returned to her seat at the table. “The Royal Botanic gardens aren’t just used by ordinary people – they’re used by the witching world as well. No point in having two, after all. I don’t think this was vandalism at all, Pip. I think it was a theft. I think all the…” she waved her hands around, “all the disorder was simply to make it hard to find what was missing.  We need to find out what is missing. It would have to be something old and rare, something you wouldn’t be able to find in the wild anymore.”

Pippa nodded. “It would also be something used in its dried form, yes? That’s how the Herbarium samples are stored, isn’t it? Pressed and dried?” Hecate agreed. “I think we need to talk to Piety Pendragon.” Pippa winced as Hecate blanched at the idea. “I need to talk to Piety Pendragon. I wouldn’t subject you to that – even to save Cackle’s.” She winked at Hecate’s look of relief. “Besides, maybe if I turn on the charm, she’ll tell me everything we need to know.”

“Why wouldn’t she? She was your friend, Pip, I’m sure-”

“Hecate.” Pippa’s voice sounded frustrated and angry. “I have told you this before – many times. I had ‘hangers-on’ at Amulet’s, too many. I had a handful of friendly acquaintances. But I had exactly the same number of friends in school as you did: one.” Her voice softened. “I had one brilliant, beautiful, wonderful friend – and she was all I needed. She’s still all I need.” Giving Hecate a moment to process, Pippa turned to Julie and grinned. “No offense, Hubble.”

“None taken, Pentangle. I’m quite comfortable in my position of third wheel.”

Hecate could feel the heat radiating off her face. “Thank you, Pipsqueak,” she whispered. She chanced a look across the table at Mildred. The girl was smiling shyly back at her, looking pleased. “How about I clean up and then we can do something fun?”

“How about we clean up while you go mirror Ada? Tell her what you’ve figured out. Unless someone at Cackle’s knows Piety any better than we do, I’ll go visit her while you lot are at Miss Mould’s. We can kill two ravens with one spell.”

  “What if she only wants ice cream for dinner?” Hecate asked, fighting down a rising sense of panic the closer it came time for Julie to go.

“Then tell her ‘no,’ Hecate – unless that’s what you want to eat as well, then, have at it. You’ll be the one who has to deal with her bouncing off the walls all night.”

“What if she gets sick? Or, or wants to go on a date?”

“You’re a potions mistress, aren’t you? Make her a potion. And, honestly, Hecate, a date? Who’s going to ask a thirteen-year-old on a date in the next three days?”

“You know I’m right here, don’t you? I haven’t accidentally taken an invisibility potion?” Mildred looked back and forth between her mother and Hecate. She and HB were sitting on Julie’s bed, drinking hot chocolate while her mother finished packing for her conference. She was pretty sure HB was having a nervous breakdown.

“Sorry, Millie-bear. Hecate’s just a bit nervous. Running a school’s a bit different than just taking care of you, love.”

“Wouldn’t just me be easier?”

“Hardly,” Hecate said into her mug.

Julie reached over and smacked Hecate’s foot. “What Hecate means to say…is that it’s different and sometimes things that are different can be scary. Even for her.” Frankly, she’d been expecting this moment of panic to come, especially since Pippa had been forced to return to Pentangles to deal with an unexpected staffing issue. She would never characterize Hecate as codependent – not at all – but Pippa most definitely brought a soothing balance to the jangly, spiky, potions mistress. “It will get better once Pippa gets back tomorrow.” She traded one blouse for another – a swap she’d made four times already. “By the way, why don’t you move back to your room tomorrow night, Mil. Let HB have my room. That way, when Pippa gets here she won’t have to sleep on the couch.” Julie waggled her eyebrows at Hecate – grinning at the flush that traveled up her scowling face.

Finally satisfied, Julie zipped her suitcase closed and hauled it to the bedroom door. She flopped down on the bed where it had been. “You two will be fine, Hecate. Millie’s going to be on her best behavior, right?” She looked pointedly at Mildred, who nodded vigorously. “And…you can always text and we can mirror chat and if all else fails…you lot can go to Cackle’s where you can get some help. But you won’t need it. I have faith in you, Hecate.”

She said it in such a way that Hecate knew she was talking about more than just the next few days. If she were honest with herself, Hecate knew that she was nervous about more than the next few days as well. “We’ll be fine,” she said, then cleared her throat and said it again more confidently.

“You will. Okay, Millie, go get your shower. Just put your mug in the sink.”

“Yes, mum.” She slid off the bed and headed to the kitchen. She didn’t mean to eavesdrop, really, but when she walked past her mum’s bedroom she couldn’t help but hear HB’s nervous voice. She stopped to listen, wondering what else HB was afraid she’d do.

“Julie…about Pippa…staying here…in here… I don’t, that is to say, I wouldn’t…”

“Hecate. Relax.” She shifted over until they were sitting side-by-side. “You two need to move at your own pace, love. You stay in here. If you need for her to stay on the sofa, she’ll stay on the sofa. And she’ll be happy to do it. But maybe, she could stay in here for a cuddle. Or maybe a little more. Whatever you both are comfortable with.” She bumped Hecate with her shoulder. “If it makes you feel better, you can always tell her I have a rule that nobody shags in my bed but me.”

“Mum!” Mildred shrieked before she could help herself.

“Merlin’s balls!” Hecate moaned, burying her face in her hands.

“Mildred Hubble! Get in here!” Julie hooked a finger at Mildred as soon as her face peeped around the doorway. “What have I told you – what have we told you – about eavesdropping on other people’s private conversations?”

Mildred looked at her feet and twisted the hem of her t-shirt. “That it’s not polite and can hurt people’s feelings.” She looked up at Hecate, still slumped forward, shoulders shaking. Mildred’s eyes filled with tears. “I’m sorry, HB, I didn’t mean to make you cry.” She sniffled and crept closer to the bed.

Hecate lifted her head, tears streaming down her face, but to Mildred’s shock, she wasn’t crying, she was laughing. “I wish I had a picture of that face! Oh, Goddess!”

“Are you okay, Hecate?” Julie stretched a hand out but didn’t know what to do with it, so she dropped it back into her lap.

Hecate tried to stop laughing, but she made the mistake of looking at a baffled Mildred Hubble and lost it all over again. “It’s just so…ridiculous!” she said, gasping for breath. “Seriously? I’m fifty years old and getting the sex talk from Mildred Hubble’s mother and Mildred’s the one who’s mortified?” She lost herself in another fit of giggles.

Julie blew a great gust of air out of her lungs. “There, Millie, do you see what you’ve done with your eavesdropping? Now she’s broken.” She tried to sound stern, but Hecate’s giggles were contagious.

Somewhere between hyperventilating and calming down, Hecate started to hiccup. “There we (hic)  go, right on sched- (hic) schedule.”

“So… you’re not mad?” Mildred’s eyes darted back and forth between her mother and HB. Frankly, this hysterical laughter coming from Miss Hardbroom was the most terrifying thing she’d seen in her entire life.

“What’s the (hic) point? I can’t put you (hic) in detention. We’ve been stuck in the (hic) flat all week. Send you to your room? (hic) You’re already going there.” Hecate sucked in a deep breath and held it, hoping that would stop the hiccups. It didn’t.

“Oh, we can still punish her, Hardbroom, don’t you worry.” Julie folded her arms across her chest. “If she wants to listen in on the big girl’s conversations, then so be it. I think it’s about time we had the full-on sex talk so she knows how her mum got her in the first place.”

“No…” Mildred said, shaking her head.

“How about we trade stories about each humiliating time something went horribly wrong with our periods? I’ll start with this one time, at Easter mass…white dress…” Julie interrupted herself with her own laughter.

“Why do you think I always wear black?” Hecate asked, before holding her breath again.

“That’s okay, mum. I really don’t-“ Maybe being a frog or bat hadn’t been so bad?

“What about all those weird little hairs that start showing up around forty? Right when your eyes start going bad so you can’t even fix it.”

“At least (hic) you’re a blonde…” Hecate held up the end of her own dark braid. “Shall I tell you what we dark-haired girls get to look forward to?”

Mildred shook her head so hard her plaits went flying. “No, Miss Hardbroom. I’m sorry I eavesdropped, Miss Hardbroom. I’m going to take a shower now, Miss Hardbroom, Mum.” With that Mildred fled the room, trying to block the sound of the grownups’ laughter.

“What’s the matter, Millie?” Julie called after her. “Don’t you want to know everything you’ve got to look forward to?” She burst out laughing and flopped onto her back. “That was bloody brilliant! Surely we’ve traumatized her enough she’ll think twice about listening in.”

Hecate blew out another gust of air she was holding; after a few seconds of nothing she hiccupped again. “Blast,” she summoned a glass of water and drank it in one go. “Don’t blame me when she needs therapy.”

“I guess that’s why Pippa calls you Hiccup?” Hecate nodded. “Feeling better, then?”

“I think so. I needed that.”

“It’s good to hear you laugh, Hecate. I don’t think you get to do it often enough.”

“It’s been a long time since I’ve had things I could laugh about – or people to laugh with, really.”

“I don’t think that second bit’s true. I think you just need to let the people who care about you in. Look what’s happened when you did that with Millie?” Julie glanced at the clock on the wall. “Would you look at the time? What time did Pippa say she would be here in the morning? I can’t believe the bloody hospital wouldn’t cough up the dosh to fly me to Frankfurt and I have to take the bloody train.”

“About eight-thirty, I think.” Hecate had been shocked to learn that, at some point during their estrangement, Pippa Pentangle had learned to drive a car. Hecate hadn’t seen the point in it, especially since she didn’t own one, but nonetheless Pippa had a license. She’d volunteered to drive Julie to London so she could catch the Eurostar to Frankfurt. From there she planned to make the trip to meet with Piety Pendragon. The thought of Pippa meeting with one of their old schoolmates started a cold, leaden feeling growing in her belly. Those old fears that someone would finally make Pippa realize that she could do so much better than Hecate flared again. In truth, they had never really gone away.

“Wherever you’re going in that head of yours, just stop.” Julie said. “Everything is going to be fine.” She sat up and scooted over until their shoulders were touching. To her surprise, Hecate didn’t lean away; in fact, Julie would swear that she leaned in, just a smidge. “You can handle a few days with Millie. And you can handle being with Pippa. The only one with any doubts about any of it is you.” She smiled encouragingly at Hecate. “Do you remember what I told you the very first day we met?”

“You told me I should conjure myself up some manners.”

“That I did – and you managed to do so. Sort of. Sometimes. Now I’m going to tell you something else: conjure yourself up some bravery. That’s the only thing you’re lacking.”

Hecate nodded and allowed herself to be hugged. She even managed to hug Julie back, just a little bit.

 Chapter 2

Pippa shifted Julie’s car into park. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

“No,” Julie said, unclenching the armrest. “That just took ten years off my life, that did.” She turned in the passenger seat so she could make eye contact. “You’re sure you have a driving license? A real one? You didn’t just magic up the card?” Pippa’s throaty laugh did not engender any confidence at all in Julie, but she decided to let it go. “You’re still staying at the flat tonight, right?”

“Yes. Everything at Pentangle’s is sorted for now. How’s Hiccup holding up?”

“Working herself into a right terror about the whole thing. She’ll appreciate the friendly face.”

“I hope so.” Pippa frowned. Everything was still so new between them. Sometimes she still felt like she was finding her way down an uneven path in the dark. “I hope me being there doesn’t stress her out even more.”

“I’m sure it will,” Julie said, chuckling. “You two have to learn to fit together again on an everyday basis. That’ll take some time, love. I know I didn’t read her letters; I’ve only got the bits and bobs you told me, but the fact that she wrote them – over the course of thirty years…You’ve always been her port in the storm, Pippa. Even when you weren’t there.”

Pippa brushed a tear off her cheek. Maybe Julie’s right, she thought. Maybe… Pippa summoned a small pink journal into her hand. “I wonder if I could ask your opinion on something?” Julie glanced at the journal and nodded. “I’ve been…arguing with myself over something…maybe it’s silly…but, you see, once I read Hiccup’s letters…well, I didn’t write letters, but…”

“You kept a diary?”

“I didn’t have anyone to talk to, I’d always talked to her. It’s the only time I’ve ever really written about my feelings. Once I filled the book up…” She shrugged her shoulders. “I put it away. I didn’t want to think about it anymore. I didn’t remember it until I was reading Hiccup’s letters. They were so personal, and private, but she let me read them anyway. I know you know her well enough to know what a tremendous leap of faith that was for her. Now, I can’t get it out of my head that it’s only fair for her to get to read mine. That it’s not fair that she revealed so much of herself and I didn’t.”

“What’s the problem then? What’s in there that has you so worried?”

Pippa stared out the windshield at the street, flipping the pages of the journal with her thumb. With a jerk she thrust the book into Julie’s hands. “Pick a page. It doesn’t matter which one. Read it.”

Julie opened the book towards the front. “I hate her, I hate her, I hate her! Why didn’t I listen to all those girls who said she wasn’t worth my time!” Julie slammed the book closed and looked at Pippa. She was still staring out the window, arms crossed protectively over her chest. Julie could see the muscles in her jaw working furiously beneath her skin. She opened the book again, this time in the middle. “I wish we’d never met, Hecate Hardbroom. I would have been so much better off!” She closed the book again and handed it back to Pippa. “It’s like that all the way through?”

“Every page. I reread it last night while I was at Pentangle’s. I can’t even say it isn’t true, can I? Only that it was true at that particular time, but…”

“You can’t let her read this, Pippa. It would kill her. The things you said…” Another tear rolled down Pippa’s cheek. She didn’t bother to wipe it away this time. “Look, I understand, and there’s nothing wrong with what you wrote. It’s what you felt at the time.” Julie tapped the diary with her finger. “You were what, fifteen? Sixteen? You were hurt and you were angry. You needed to get those feelings off your chest. You both did the same thing, really. She poured her love for you into those letters because she had no one else to talk to. You talked to your mum about things though, didn’t you?” Pippa nodded. “But not the anger. You couldn’t bring yourself to say those things about her so instead you poured your anger into that journal.”

“I suppose you’re right, but in all fairness-“

“NO. You asked me my advice. This is it: never, ever let her see this. Do you think there’s anything in that journal that she doesn’t already believe about herself? And if there is, do you really think she needs to add it to what’s already there?” Her phone beeped an alarm. “Bloody hell, I have to go or I’ll miss the train. Pop the boot?” She opened her door and got out.

Pippa pulled the lever. She heard Julie pulling her suitcase out, and in a second or two the boot slammed shut. She jumped when Julie opened the driver’s door and squatted down so they were at eye level.

“You have to make your own choice about showing her. You already know what I think about it. I know you don’t think it’s fair for you to keep it from her after she’s bared her soul to you the way she did. I get it. But think about this: sometimes what is fair isn’t the same as what’s best.” She stood up, groaning slightly. “Give them both my love when you get there. Oh, and by the way, I told Millie to shift back to her room so Hecate could have mine. In case you’re tired of bunking on the sofa.” She winked lasciviously before closing the door and heading for the station.

She was just about to head inside when she heard Pippa’s voice calling to her. “You’re incorrigible, Julie Hubble, absolutely incorrigible!” She tossed a two-fingered salute Pippa’s way and headed for her train.

  They weren’t kidding, Pippa thought as she tried to find a parking space at the botanical gardens. There was no parking. She gave up looking for free parking and resigned herself to paying seven quid to use the car park on Ferry Lane.

Finally parked, with only one tiny scrape she’d had to magic off the car, Pippa took a moment to collect her thoughts.  Not for the first time since dropping Julie at the station, Pippa wished she’d taken the car back to the flat and gotten her broom. She turned the car off and sent the keys into the ether before turning her attention to the journal. She’d spent the whole drive to Kew thinking about what Julie had said. What’s fair isn’t always what’s best. Julie was right, and Pippa knew it. Her greatest challenge had always been Hecate’s unshakeable belief that she was somehow unworthy of Pippa. Too cold, too angry, too gangly, too awkward, too dark – Hecate had always seen their differences as flaws on her part. Pippa, though, Pippa had always thought their differences were what made Hiccup wonderful.

She turned the journal over in her hands. Was there anything written on these pages that would help her convince Hiccup that she was worthy? No, she knew that there was nothing but angry words that would only strengthen Hiccup’s feelings of worthlessness. Julie was right. Hiccup could never see this. Pippa stepped out of the car and looked around. The lot seemed deserted for the moment. She set the book down and waved her fingers. A thin wisp of smoke began rising from the binding and in a few seconds, Pippa watched as a line of sparks traveled from one corner of the book to the other, eating the pages and leaving a fine, dark ash on the ground in its place. In a moment the whole thing was gone. With another twitch of her fingers a tiny gust of wind swirled around her ankles, scattering the ashes.

She took a deep, cleansing breath and smiled. Happiness bubbled around in her chest - like getting rid of the book also got rid of the dark, angry feelings in its pages. It felt like a new start. Destroying the diary may not have been fair, but it most certainly was best.

She looked down, checking her appearance one last time: a pink, floral sundress with a white cotton jacket over the top, her half of the Twin Pin fastened in its regular place. She looked like anyone else visiting the gardens on a warm summer day. She started up the road to the entrance gate and, once inside, made her way to the Herbarium, where she expected to find Piety Pendragon.

  “I’m sorry, Miss…Pentangle? The Herbarium is available only by appointment, and since the incident we’ve cancelled everything until we sorted everything out.”

“Yes, I know, but if you could just let Dr. Pendragon know that I’m here?”

“Pippa? Pippa Pentangle, is that you? As I live and breathe!”

Pippa looked up to see a short, frumpy woman in horned-rimmed glasses waving down at her. “Piety!” She waved back, forcing enthusiasm. “Just the woman I was looking for! Do you have a moment?”

“For you, Pippa, I have ages! Come on up!” She gestured to a wrought-iron staircase.

“Is there somewhere private we can talk?” Pippa smiled saccharine-sweet at the young man who’d tried to prevent her entry.

“Hang on,” Piety pulled out her phone and sent a quick text before winding her way down the stairs. “Pippa!” She held her arms out for a hug; stiffly, Pippa complied. “Let’s go to my office.” She led them a winding trail through the building, stopping here and there to check on the clean-up progress. Finally, she opened a door and ushered Pippa in to a bright, cluttered space that smelled strongly of paper and plants. She waved her hand and a stack of folios floated out of the chair in front of her desk and onto the floor. She gestured for Pippa to sit down and then unceremoniously flopped into her own chair. “I tell you, Pip, I’m knackered.” She rolled her shoulders before leaning forward and sliding her glasses onto the top of her head. “I’ll hazard a guess that this is not a social call, after all these years.”

“I’m afraid not. I need to know what plants were stolen, Piety.”

Piety waved her hands again, and Pippa felt the weight of a silencing spell settle around them. “What makes you think anything was stolen?”

Pippa held back a sigh. “How well do you keep up with the goings-on in the witching world? I know you spend most of your time here. Do you recall hearing about the attack at Cackle’s Academy a bit over a week ago?”

“I did. Bad business that was, weren’t people hurt?”

“Several. What the papers didn’t mention is that something was stolen there, too.” Pippa thought for a moment about how to proceed. “I’m not at liberty to say what was taken, but based on that, when we heard that there had been a break-in here, where the Witches’ Repository of plants is located…Well, we fear that someone is trying to undertake a very…particular type of potion. If we knew what plants they were looking for, then perhaps…”

“Perhaps you can stop that potion from ever getting brewed,” Piety finished for her. She scrubbed her hand across her face before summoning a folded slip of paper. “Here’s what I’ve discovered so far. If I figure out anything else is gone, I’ll let you know. Whatever they’re brewing, it’s pretty dark stuff judging from those ingredients.” She handed the paper over. It took everything Pippa had not to read the list at once. “So, what’s your stake in this? You’ve got your own school, don’t you? You’ve got no affiliation with Cackle’s?”

Pippa sat up a little straighter. “Hecate is at Cackle’s. She’s the Deputy Head. She’s also one of the people hurt in the attack.”

“Hecate Hardbroom? I haven’t thought about that old lamppost in years,” she said, chuckling. She didn’t notice the coldness that settled on Pippa’s features, or the increase in static electricity in the air. Or the slight smell of ozone. “I thought you were well and done with that nightmare when she left you high and dry at the broomstick display. How’d she manage to claw her way back into your good graces?” She finally noticed that several items on her desk were vibrating. Too late, she realized her mistake.

“I begged and pleaded and fought and clawed my way back to her until she let me back in to her life.”

“Look, Pippa, I didn’t mean anything by it. I know you’ve always had a soft spot for that…for Hecate, ever since we were all friends back at Amulet’s.”

“You were never her friend, Piety. That means you weren’t ever mine, either. I’m only here because we needed this information and there was no way in hell I was ever going to subject her to the likes of you again.” Without another word, she raised her hand and transferred herself back to Julie’s car.

  An hour later, Pippa had parked the car back in Julie’s assigned spot and magicked away a slight dent, because, really, who puts support beams that close to the parking spaces?  She transferred unnoticed into the Hubble’s flat, just outside the living room. She paused a moment, taking in the scene in front of her: Hecate and Mildred sat at the kitchen table, putting together a jigsaw puzzle. She was just about to say hello when Mildred spoke.

“Can I ask you a question, HB? You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. It’s just…I’ve been thinking about it since last night.”

“If I said ‘no,’ would you ask it anyway?” Hecate kept her focus on the puzzle.

“No, Miss. Not if you didn’t want me to.”

Hecate raised her head at this. The girl’s face was serious. “Very well, then. Ask your question.”

“We’re you bullied when you were in school?”

Very slowly and very deliberately, Hecate placed her puzzle piece on the table. “Mildred. Hubble. I don’t-“

“You don’t have to answer, Miss Hardbroom, really you don’t. It’s just…I kept thinking about what Miss Pentangle said, about that Pendragon lady and her friends being the worst and I…”

“Yes.”

“What?”

“Yes, Mildred, I was. I was taller than everyone else, too skinny, with old-fashioned clothes. I was always too serious, too severe, and when I did speak, I inevitably said the wrong thing. It all made me a very easy target for the other girls. It’s not a subject I care to think about. Why do you ask?”

Now Mildred squirmed uncomfortably in her chair, studying the table intently. “It’s just that…If it happened to you when you were my age, then you know what it feels like.” She lifted her eyes to meet Hecate’s. “And, if you know how it feels, I wonder why you don’t do anything when Ethel does it to me.” She lowered her eyes again. “It’s okay if you don’t have an answer.”

From her vantage point in the hallway, Pippa could see Hecate sitting, still as stone, her eyes lowered and her hands balled into fists. Pippa knew that if she opened Hecate’s hands she would find eight bloody crescents cut into her palms. Tempted as she was to sweep in and save Hecate from this difficult conversation, she knew she needed to stay where she was.

“It’s not okay, Mildred. Nothing about your situation with Ethel Hallow is okay.” She flicked her wrist and laid her freshly healed hand across the table in front of Mildred, palm up. After a moment’s confusion, Mildred placed her own hand in it, gripping Hecate’s fingers tightly. “As to your question, there are several reasons I don’t interfere. First, from my own experience, when a teacher attempted to intervene, it just made matters worse – and people just waited to catch me alone.”

Mildred nodded. “Ethel’s usually meaner after she gets in trouble, sneakier as well.”

“That’s what I always found. I’ve also found that you are better able to respond to Ethel’s behavior than I was. I’ve always thought that, if I had been able to…learn to defend myself better, then perhaps I would have been…better…in other areas as well.”

“It wasn’t exactly fair, though, was it HB? I’ve only got Ethel to deal with, and I’ve got Maud and Enid on my side. You had all those girls and only Miss Pentangle.”

Hecate blinked and blinked to try and keep the tears filling her eyes from falling. She wasn’t entirely successful. Mildred Hubble. The girl who always chose to be kind. Even to those who didn’t deserve it. She looked at their linked hands. Especially to those who didn’t deserve it. “You are an amazing girl, Mildred Hubble. Please don’t let people like Ethel, or me, take that away from you.”

“How would you take that away?”

“Because the last reason I don’t interfere is that, after all this time, there is still a part of me that is afraid of thirteen-year-old bullies.”

Mildred frowned, thinking about what HB had said. “That’s okay, HB. You’re still the bravest witch I know.” She stood up and flung her arms around Hecate’s neck.

Hecate hardly stiffened at all before she was able to wrap her arms around Mildred, squeezing tight before she pulled away, holding Mildred by her shoulders. “If there is ever, ever a time that Ethel gets too much for you or you want me to intervene, all you have to do is tell me. I won’t hesitate. And Mildred?”

“Yes, Miss Hardbroom?”

“I know it doesn’t often look or feel like it, but, in these disputes with Ethel? I am always on your side.” She gave Mildred’s shoulder one last squeeze. “Now, why don’t you go strip your bed and we’ll make sure you have nice, clean sheets for tonight.” Mildred nodded and bounced into her room, waving at Pippa as she passed in the hallway. Hecate twisted in her chair until she was facing Pippa. “How long were you eavesdropping, Miss Pentangle? Perhaps you should ask Mildred what we do to eavesdroppers around here?”

“Just long enough to know that you handled that beautifully, darling.” She crossed the tiny space and pulled Hecate against her, until her head was resting on Pippa’s heart. “I don’t know why you worry.”

“I don’t want her to end up like me.”

“Nonsense, Hiccup, that’s all I’ve ever wanted – to be like the witchiest witch I knew.” She let go of Hecate, giving her a quick peck on the cheek before settling into the chair next to her. Sensing Hecate needed to move into less emotionally fraught territory, she summoned the paper that Piety gave her at the Herbarium. “Piety sends her regards.”

“I’m sure she does.” Hecate unfolded the paper and studied the ingredients. “Ghost orchid, that’s rare, exceedingly so. It’s used in spells that want to counteract the effects of time, I believe.  It can go thirty years or more between flowerings.”

“Like us then,” Pippa smiled.

“Behave. Spiked rampion… purple cow-wheat…I can see why they broke in to the Herbarium. You’d never find these growing in the wild somewhere, and even if you did, it’s illegal to collect them. Though I suppose someone looking to free Agatha probably isn’t worried about a little plant poaching.  I assume the ‘s’ next to it means they also took what was preserved in spirit?” Pippa nodded. “I need to get this list to Ada so she can pass it on to Dimity and Algie.”

“I’ve already done, darling. As soon as I got back to the car.”

“I still can’t believe you can drive a car.”

“I have many skills, darling,” she dropped her voice till it was low and husky, “I hope to learn a few more soon.”

Hecate glared at her, but the effect was muted by the blush spreading up her throat and cheeks. “I told you to behave. Besides, Julie has a rule that no one gets to shag in her bed but her.”

Just then Mildred walked by carrying the bundle of bedlinens. “Arghhh…I’m not eavesdropping! Why are you talking about that again?”

Pippa looked back and forth between them, baffled, while Hecate burst into laughter.

  “Did you get her in bed, at least?” Pippa asked as she made room on the sofa for Hecate.

“The very least. I told her she could stay awake until her mother called and that we’d mirror her back. She wants to know if Maud can come spend the night.”

“Hmm…” Pippa tucked her knees under her, facing Hecate. “What did you tell her?”

“That she had to ask her mother. And that I had to ask you.”

“Clever girl,” she summoned two glasses of wine. “Here we go, to celebrate your first night as magic mum.”

Hecate took the glass nervously. “Do you think it’s okay to drink while I’m supposed to be watching Mildred?”

“Since we’re drinking Julie’s wine, I reckon so.” She held her glass out.

“Oh, well, then…cheers!” Hecate clinked their glasses together and sank down into the sofa, pulling her knees up and leaning against Pippa. “Mmm…” She took a sip. “That’s nice.” She looked at Pippa. “This is nice.”

“More than nice.” Pippa leaned in for a kiss, but stopped when she heard the chime of a mirror.

“Pippa?” Piety Pendragon tapped on her side of the mirror. “Pippa, can you hear me?”

Pippa slid off the sofa and moved into view of the mirror, pulling Hecate with her. “Piety? What are you doing?”

“You…left without leaving me a number. I contacted Cackle’s, and the Headmistress patched me through to here.” She looked beyond Pippa now and realized that she wasn’t alone – that the tall, pale woman behind her could only be one person. “Hecate? Is that you, Hecate Hardbroom? Well met.” She quickly brought her hand to her forehead and bowed. “You’re looking…well. Very well.”

Hecate stepped forward, stiffly bending and returning the greeting. “Well met, Piety. Thank you for your help today.”

Piety took in the two witches on the other side of the mirror, both in their night clothes, both holding a glass of wine. Oh. “I’m sorry to disturb your evening, but…I discovered another missing specimen: Helichrysum biafranum. I didn’t realize it was gone because it was from the Cameroon collection.”

Hecate frowned. “I’m not familiar with that species. Can you tell me about it?” After a halting start, the two witches were soon lost in a deep discussion of the possible uses the missing specimens could have in potions.

Pippa’s phone buzzed. “Julie! How was the trip? Are you exhausted?” She brushed her fingers along the back of Hecate’s elbow. “It’s Julie,” she whispered. “I’ll set up her mirror call in Mildred’s bedroom. Join us when you’re done.” Louder she said, “Good night, Piety.” She turned back to Julie and swished off to Mildred.

Hecate turned back to the mirror to find Piety staring at her. Her old wariness returned with a vengeance. “What?” She barked.

Piety said nothing for several seconds. “You. Me.” She shoved her glasses up on top of her head. “I’m realizing what a horrible little girl I used to be and that, in refusing to get to know you, I’m the one that missed out. I’m glad you and Pippa worked things out.”

“So am I,” Hecate said, still waiting for the punchline or the prank.

“I’d like a chance to get to know you now, if you can look past how awful I was back then.”

“That…that would be acceptable.” Hecate visibly relaxed as Pippa sidled up beside her.

“I’m glad. Let me know if there is anything else you need. I’ll let you know if anything more turns up missing.” She disappeared from the mirror.

Hecate let out a relieved breath. “That was odd. Why do I feel like you talked about more than plants today?”

“All I did was make my priorities clear, darling.” She picked up her wine glass and handed Hecate hers. “Julie made it fine. She’s checked in with Mildred – and okayed Maud sleeping over if it’s okay with you.”

“In for a penny, in for a pound, I suppose.” Hecate gulped half her wine down. “So…I don’t know what to do now, Pipsqueak.” She could feel the heat start to rise up her chest again. Would she never stop this infernal blushing? “I don’t want you to sleep on the sofa…but…”

“There’s no pressure here, Hiccup.” She rubbed a hand up and down Hecate’s arm. “Do you remember when we were girls? We’d have sleepovers all the time. We’d sneak something from the kitchens. I’d braid your hair. Then we’d spell the stars on the ceiling and talk all night. Why don’t we do that?”

“That – that would be okay?”

“Oh, darling, that would be more than okay.” She threaded an arm through Hecate’s and lead her down the hallway. “Besides, I’m not about to end thirty-odd years of sexual frustration with Mildred Hubble right down the hall.”

  “Mildred Hubble! Are you ready? We’re meant to be at Miss Mould’s by nine o’clock!” Hecate checked her pocket watch for the fourth time in as many minutes. She heard Mildred clattering down the hallway and stepped out of the doorway just in time to avoid being trampled. The warm serenity she’d felt that morning, waking up next to next to Pippa – well, slightly under Pippa, truth be told – was gone. The blonde witch had managed to drape herself across Hecate at some point during the night. Now, any peacefulness had been scorched away by the stress of having to get Mildred Hubble and herself somewhere on time.

“I’m ready Miss…Hardbroom?” She looked at her teacher, not sure what to say. Hecate was wearing her normal witching clothes, specifically her long black, tight-fitting dress. “Is that what you’re wearing?”

Hecate looked down at her favorite dress. “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing. It’s perfectly appropriate.”

“Maybe if you’re going to the Magic Council, not so much if we’re traveling on the Underground.” She gestured to her own jeans and t-shirt. “Remember? We’ve got to be incognito if we’re traveling among the hoi polloi.”

Hecate looked at her dress again. She’d had this same conversation with Pippa not half an hour ago. Pippa, however, had wisely yielded the field of battle before heading to Pentangle’s to have her staff start researching potions in their library. “Well I don’t know what you expect me to do about it now, Mildred. I don’t have anything but this or the sweat pants I’ve been wearing. You and I are not to use magic if we don’t want a guard from the Great Wizard, so I can’t just summon up some new clothes.”

Mildred thought a minute. HB really couldn’t ride the Underground in that. “Come on,” she said, dragging Hecate by the hand into her mother’s bedroom. She opened the cupboard and flipped through her mum’s clothes. “Try this,” she pulled out a flowy black skirt, “and this.” She added a jewel-toned tunic. “Just use your usual belt.”

Hecate looked at the outfit Mildred had put together. She had to admit that it wasn’t half bad. “Very well, Mildred, thank you.” She looked at the girl, who stood there looking back at her, pleased grin on her face. “Mildred. I may have lost all privacy where you’re concerned, but I’m not stripping down in front of you.” She pointed to the door. “Shoo!”

Ten minutes later they were barreling down the street, Mildred scrambling to keep up with Hecate’s long strides. To say that Hecate was unfamiliar with public transportation was an understatement. Patiently, Mildred read the map and walked Hecate through the pay cards and turnstiles. In fact, Hecate realized, with no small amount of shame, Mildred Hubble did a much better job explaining the workings of the ordinary world to Hecate than she had ever done explaining the witching world to Mildred. One more part of her life she would have to improve, she thought.

At exactly five minutes after nine, Hecate knocked on Marigold Mould’s door. It opened immediately.

“Well met, Miss Hardbroom, well met, indeed.” Miss Mould bowed deeply.

“Well met, Miss Mould,” Hecate returned, bowing just as deeply. She pulled Mildred in front of her. “I’ve brought someone else who wants to say hello.”

“Mildred!” Miss Mould pulled her into a tight hug, shaking her back and forth. “Look at you! You’re well, yes?” She looked at Hecate. “Both of you?”

“Indeed, Miss Mould. We are well – for the time being. May we come in?”

“Oh, of course, where are my manners? Come in, come in! And please, call me Marigold.” She opened the door wider and ushered them into her flat. “Have a seat,” she waved them towards a tiny sofa in front of a window. “Let me get you a spot of tea.”

Hecate gazed at the apartment. It made the Hubble’s flat look spacious by comparison. The walls and furnishings were violently cheerful. Watercolors of everyday ordinary items covered the walls: a spatula, a taxicab, an umbrella. Marigold had gone to a great deal of effort to transform the dreary little flat into something happy. Not too different from what Pippa and Julie were trying to do with her, she thought.

“I like your watercolors, Miss Mould.” Mildred spotted one of a girl with long, dark plaits. “That one looks like me!” She pointed. Hecate turned to look at it.

“It’s meant to.” At last, the former art teacher’s smile faltered. “When all this gets…too much…it reminds me of why I gave up my powers.”

Hecate thought back to that day. She remembered what it was like to feel the magic draining from her body – painful, cold, dark. There was a different kind of blackness as well. She remembered despairing almost every choice she’d made in her life, knowing she’d never have the chance to rectify any of them. If she hadn’t frozen, would she have been brave enough to give up her magic to the founding stone? She believed that she would. Would she have been brave enough to do as Marigold is now doing? To live in the ordinary world completely devoid of magic? She is certain that she would not. That’s the fate that still gives her nightmares, even half a year later.

“You were very brave to do that,” Hecate said softly. “I can’t express how thankful we all are for your sacrifice.” She looked around the tiny flat once again. The bright colors almost, but not quite, camouflaged the shabbiness of the furnishings. It was time, she thought, that they started expressing their gratitude in more tangible ways.

“And I’m thankful you spoke so forcefully for leniency, Hecate. This is much better than the fate I could have had.” She set the mismatched tea service on the side table.

Suddenly, three figures materialized in the already crowded space. Smoke and sparks filled the air, and a swirl of magic sent all the watercolors flying. The smell of burnt matches was overwhelming. Hecate tried to get off a protective spell, but a blast of hot magic sent her sprawling backwards, her spell bouncing uselessly to the side.

“Look out!” A man’s voice shouted. “That one’s got magic!”

Chest aching so much that each breath burned, Hecate frantically looked for Mildred. She panicked when she didn’t see her, fear driving her to her feet before she spotted her, wrapped protectively in Marigold’s arms while the powerless witch did everything she could to shield Mildred with her body.

If she could just reach them, she could transfer them all somewhere – anywhere. She lunged for Marigold’s leg – she just needed to touch her…Just as Hecate’s fingers closed around Marigold’s ankle, a thick layer of magic crashed over them, trapping them under its weight. Hecate pitched forward, slamming her face painfully into…something? She felt the blood pouring from her nose as she tried to right herself. The lights dimmed and sound became muffled as the layer of magic curved around them, Marigold and Mildred falling on top of Hecate in a heap as the floor tilted and they were trapped in a bubble made of magic.

“Is it holding?” A woman’s voice asked.

“’Course It’s holding you, daft cow,” another man answered.

Mildred scrambled out from under Marigold and pressed her face to the bubble, cupping her hands around her eyes in the hope that she could get a decent look at their captors. It didn’t do much good; everyone just looked wavy and odd, like Mildred was looking at them through funhouse glass. Behind her, Marigold tried to staunch Hecate’s bleeding nose with a paint-stained cloth pulled from her pocket.

“Did we get that artsy hack?” The woman asked.

Mildred scuttled backwards into Hecate as the man stepped closer to the bubble. “Yeah – and you won’t believe what other fish we’ve caught – Hardbroom and the girl!”

“No!” She moved closer to the bubble, pushing the man aside so she could get a better look. “Mum’s going to be well-pleased with this, Benjy.”

“Bloody well should be! It was right jammy getting all three at a go!” The man called Benjy replied.

“She won’t be if they get out of that thing.” The third figure moved to join the others. “That spell wasn’t built to hold three people – and it sure wasn’t designed for a witch like Hardbroom. We need to get them into the Keep. Now.” He held out his hands and muttered something until the bubble holding them rose into the air and floated towards him, shrinking in size until he could slip it into a pocket of his robe. “Let’s go.”

  Chapter 3

“Pick up, pick up…” Julie listened to Mildred’s voicemail message for the third time. She’d already given up on Hecate answering. “Where are you?” Julie chanced a glance back at the hotel clerk. He still looked like he would carry through on his threat to call the police at any minute. Stepping closer to the door, Julie scrolled through her contacts until she found Pippa’s number. If any witch was likely to answer a cell phone, that witch was Pippa Pentangle.

“Well met, Julie!” Her voice sounded muffled, like she was chewing. “How’s the conference?”

“There is no conference! I arrived at the hotel where it was meant to be, but they’re just looking at me like I’m a nutter! I called the hospital and they said I put in for three days of sick leave, but I didn’t. And, and, I can’t reach Mildred or Hecate. No one is answering anything.”

“They were going to see Miss Mould today; maybe they’ve just silenced their phones, or perhaps they left them at the flat. Hang on and let me mirror the flat; we’ll see if they’re still there.” Pippa spun around and faced the mirror behind her desk, tapping it smartly and waiting for the Hubble’s living room to swirl into view. As soon as it did, Pippa gasped. The living room was in shambles: furniture overturned, drawers emptied.

“What’s wrong? Say something, Pippa!” Julie looked over her shoulder; the clerk was rounding the desk, headed her way. She fled to the street outside. “PIPPA!”

“Don’t panic.” Pippa forced her voice to be as steady as she could make it. “Someone’s been through the flat, but I don’t see any sign of Hiccup or Mildred.” She tapped her mirror, switching views from one room to the next. Each one looked the same. She struggled to fight down the panic rising in her chest. What were they caught in the middle of? “Book a ticket home – can you pay cash?”

“I – I think so…but it’ll take me almost two days to get back. Can’t you magic me back faster?”

“It’s too far or I would. Go buy the earliest ticket you can.  Don’t check out of your hotel; just get your stuff and go. Don’t act like anything is wrong.”

“Something is wrong, though, isn’t it? Find Mildred. You have to find Mildred for me, do you hear me?” She sucked in a lungful of air, trying not to be sick. “Find them both.”

“We will, just get the ticket. I’ll see if there’s anything I can do to get you back faster. Call me when you know which train you’ll be on. And Julie? Wherever they are, Mildred is with Hecate. As long as she has a single drop of magic in her body, she will keep Mildred safe.”

Pippa reached to her chest, fingers wrapping tightly around her half of the Twin Pin. She closed her eyes and concentrated, imagining the two halves of the brooch coming together. Nothing happened. Not a twitch, not a hum, nothing. Her heart hammered even faster. Even if Hecate wasn’t wearing her half of the pin, Pippa still should have transferred to wherever it was.

Pippa tapped the mirror again, this time summoning Ada Cackle’s office. She wasted no time as the older witch faded into view. “Something’s happened. I’m transferring to the Hubble’s flat. Meet me there now.”

“Miss Pentangle?” Ada stood up from her desk. “Wait! Can you even transfer that far?”

Pippa closed the connection. She didn’t have an answer to Ada’s question anyway. From Pentangle’s to Cackle’s stretched her abilities to their limits, even if Hecate could do it with ease. She pictured Julie’s flat in her mind and, channeling all her love and worry into the magic, waved her hands in the air and vanished.

   Hecate tried not to move, certain that if she did so she’d be sick – and inside this crowded bubble with two other people was no place to be sick.

“Now I know what the little people inside a snow globe feel like,” Mildred groaned.

Marigold moaned and Hecate realized that the squishy thing she was currently laying across must be her. How unfortunate, Hecate thought, because she still wasn’t about to move. Hecate tried to piece together what had happened in the last few minutes. They’d been trapped in the bubble; some wizard had shrunk the bubble and placed them in his pocket and then had transferred them here, wherever here was. Hecate tried to swallow the queasy feeling into submission. She hated being transferred by others. Hated it.

Transference spells were tricky. Dematerializing oneself came with an inherent amount of risk. A witch had to have faith in her own abilities as well as absolute control over them. Pippa had been the only witch she’d ever felt comfortable transferring her for many years. Ada was the only other one at all. She certainly wouldn’t have allowed some random wizard to transfer her if she’d had the choice.

Once they’d arrived…here… the wizard had taken them out of his pocket and rolled - rolled! – them across the floor like a bocce ball until they’d bounced against something and suddenly sprang back to their original size, still in the bubble.

“Is everybody okay?” Marigold asked from underneath Hecate.

Reasonably certain that everything in her stomach would stay in her stomach, Hecate grunted an affirmative and sat up, sliding off Marigold as much as possible. Her tidy bun had come partly undone and lanks of hair hung in her face. She wriggled her fingers and returned the escaped strands back to the bun.

“My head hurts,” Mildred sat up, clutching at her forehead.

“Let me see.” Hecate pulled the girl’s hand away, wincing when she saw the large, purpling lump above her right eyebrow. A tiny cut was oozing blood out of the middle of it. “You’ve definitely hit your head. Sit still.” Hecate tried to stand up, but a layer of condensation was building up on the inside of the bubble, and the curved surface was too slippery for her boots. She wondered if they were also using up their oxygen on top of everything else. The very idea made it harder for her to breathe.

“Have you ever seen anything like this before, Hecate?”

“No.” She pressed her fingertips against the glass-like surface of the bubble. She released a tiny stream of magic through her fingers. It traveled through the bubble like lightning, only to dissipate with no damage done. A stronger stream produced the same results. “It’s either very old or very new. It appears to be absorbing my magic.”

Outside the bubble, they could just make out the sound of voices coming nearer.

“I’m telling you, that’s who we have, that Hardbroom bitch and the girl.”

Hecate raised an eyebrow. Benjy, she remembered, that sod of a wizard’s name was Benjy. A door banged open and suddenly the bubble popped, leaving the three of them sprawled on the floor of what looked to be a giant cage. Hecate rose to her knees and checked on Mildred; once again Marigold had placed herself between the girl and their abductors. Marigold rose in Hecate’s esteem with each passing minute.

“There, see? What did I tell you?” Benjy looked scathingly at a skinny, sullen wizard behind him. “Don’t blame me when you couldn’t deliver, Samuel.”

Samuel, the wizard boy was called Samuel, Hecate noted. They would regret the day Hecate Hardbroom learned their names.

Benjy sauntered up to the cage, all shark-like grin and dead eyes. “Welcome to our home, ladies. I hope you have a comfortable stay – short though it may be. You know, I’ve heard all about you, Hardbroom.  Once your work is done,” he let his eyes roam up and down her body, loosing just enough magic so she could feel everywhere his eyes landed. “We can see what other sort of fun we could have.” The other wizard snickered from the doorway. “Come on, Sam. We need to make sure everything’s ready when mother arrives.” He spun on his heel and stalked out of the room, Samuel slinking along behind him, slamming the door as they left.

Screeching, Hecate threw a white-hot ball of lightning at the door. It hit the wall of the cage and bounced off, ricocheting off the walls, miraculously missing everyone, until it finally hit the floor and sputtered out.

Hecate let out a long breath, counting out for five and in for five, trying to bring her anger and her magic under control.  “Who were those wizards?”

Marigold eased away from Mildred. “I don’t know. I’ve never seen them before?”

“What do you mean you don’t know? That’s why we came. You said you would tell us who is in Agatha’s coven!”

“I can’t tell you what I don’t know, Hecate. Those two weren’t in the coven, as far as I know.”

“As far as you know?” Hecate slammed her fist against the wall of the cage, rattling the whole thing. “This is just like before, Marigold! Half-truths and misdirections! Are you working with the coven again! Once Agatha’s, always Agatha’s?” Blistering pain pulled her attention to her hand. She could see the cross-hatched pattern of the cage burned into her hand.

Marigold stepped around Mildred, moving into Hecate’s personal space, forcing her back until she was pressed against the cage. Hecate tried to keep her skin away from the metal. “Don’t you dare! I gave up everything! Everything – to keep Agatha in that picture. You came to me for help this time and I said yes!” She dug into her pocket and pulled out a folded-up piece of paper and shoved it into Hecate’s chest. “I’ve written every name of every witch or wizard remotely connected with the coven to help you stop Agatha. I’ve paid every day for my actions – the good and the bad. What have you paid, Hecate Hardbroom?”

“Stop it! Stop fighting!” Both witches turned to see Mildred rocking on the floor holding her head. “Stop it.”

Hecate and Marigold looked at each other, all the fight gone from them.

“I’m sorry, Marigold. I shouldn’t have said what I did.” Hecate smoothed her hands over her skirt, a comforting motion she’d had since childhood.

“Me, too. I understand why you wouldn’t trust me. But, I swear, Hecate, I don’t know who those wizards are. It’s possible Agatha has friends outside the coven.”

“Why does it have to be Agatha at all?” Mildred asked. “She’s not the only one in the picture.”

Hecate stared at the girl, speechless, before her lips twisted into a fond smile. “Once again, Mildred Hubble, you manage to be the cleverest witch in the room.” Hecate sorted through her memories of Miss Gullett. For two people who had lived and worked in the same castle for over twenty years, there were surprisingly few. “She may have said something about a brother named Benjamin once, but I can’t be sure.”

“It fits. They’re both gingers, both have nasty personalities.” Marigold placed a tentative hand on Hecate’s elbow. “He wasn’t just looking you up and down, then, was he? He-“

“Yes,” Hecate cut her off and glanced meaningfully at Mildred. “Yes.”

Marigold nodded, squeezing Hecate’s elbow before turning away. “We’ve got to get out of this cage.” She turned back, voice low and angry. “We’ve got to get her out of this cage.”

“For once, Miss Mould, we are in whole-hearted agreement.

“Can’t you just transfer us out, HB?” Mildred asked.

“I’m afraid not, Mildred. We seem to be in a Wizard’s Keep.”

“What’s a Wizard’s Keep?”

“It’s a cage, of sorts. They were created by the Great Wizard Faraday in the 1800s. They needed a way to contain witches and wizards who had been accused of crimes. It blocks your magic but doesn’t take it away.” She shifted around so she could see Mildred better. “You may have heard of him. In the ordinary world he was a famous scientist. Microwave ovens use something similar to contain the microwaves.” Hecate motioned for Mildred to join her at the cage. “See how there are three layers of metal mesh? One is silver, one is copper and one is lead. When you stack them together, off-set such as these are, they act like a filter. No magic can pass from the inside to the outside of the cage.”

Mildred started to nod, but the movement pushed her off balance and she dropped to the floor – hard. Her hand grabbed at the wall of the cage, sending a cascade of sparks down on her.

“Mildred!” Hecate pulled the girl away from the wall, checking her hand for any injuries. She used her magic to heal the reddening burn on Mildred’s palm. “What happened?”

“I just got dizzy,” Mildred slumped against Hecate. “I don’t feel very good.”

Hecate waved Marigold over, shifting Mildred until she was leaning against her.  “Mildred, I’m going to check something, okay? I promise it won’t hurt,” she said in her most soothing voice. “I want you to close your eyes for me and leave them closed until I tell you to open them, okay?”

“Okay,” Mildred said, staring up at her with a glazed expression before she closed her eyes.

Hecate knelt in front of her and opened a tiny ball of light in her palm. “Open your eyes.”

Mildred opened her eyes and Hecate watched her left pupil dilate in the light. The right one did nothing. Hecate’s stony expression melted into worry before she could catch herself. She met Marigold’s eyes over Mildred’s shoulder. “That’s fine, Mildred.”

“There’s something wrong, isn’t there?” Mildred asked, gingerly touching the knot on her forehead. “Do I have a concussion?”

Hecate opened her mouth to lie before she remembered that Mildred was a nurse’s daughter. “I think so.” She stood up and looked around the sparse cage. At least there was a blanket folded up on the floor. “Let’s get you a little more comfortable, okay? You need to be still, but try not to fall asleep. Can you do that for me, Mildred?”

“I’ll try. Am I going to be all right?”

Hecate ran her hand across Mildred’s head and down one plait. “Of course you are. Miss Mould and I won’t let anything happen to you.” Marigold helped Mildred shuffle to the blanket while Hecate tucked her in. “Rest now, you’re going to be just fine.”

“I hope you never play poker for money, Hecate. Lying doesn’t suit you,” Marigold whispered once they were on the other side of the cage.

“It’s not a lie. Mildred will be fine. It’s simply a fact that I don’t know how to make happen yet.” With that, Hecate turned her attention to the cage. She tried to remember everything she’d ever heard about a Wizard’s Keep, but, frankly, she’d never paid that much attention to them in the first place. Surely, she should be able to find a way out.

  Pippa crashed into the Hubble’s living room, dropping to her hands and knees and immediately emptying the contents of her stomach onto the carpet.

“Oh, dear,” Ada said, waving away the sick and summoning a moist cloth and some water. “I knew that was too far to transfer.” She helped Pippa to the couch. “Are you all right, dear?”

“No,” Pippa gasped, trying to tame her writhing stomach. “They’ve taken her, they’ve taken all three of them.”

Ada handed Pippa a lemon drop. “Suck on this and tell me everything that’s happened.”

So Pippa did, pouring out everything they’d discovered in the last few days. Ada listened intently, asking questions and adding her own theories and additions.

“I don’t understand why they took her, Ada!”

“Isn’t that obvious, dear? They’ve stolen the picture, they’ve stolen rare ingredients and… I contacted an old friend of mine from the Rare Text Repository….and they’ve had a theft as well – an old book of ancient spells. They kept it hush-hush so there wouldn’t be an inquiry. Add those up, and the only thing you’re missing is a potions mistress.”

“But if they’ve got the book, anyone could brew the potion, couldn’t they?”

“As difficult as it was to get the supplies the first time, I’d gather they wanted the best chance of success and that’s Hecate.”

Pippa knew that was true. Even during their estrangement, Pippa knew that Hecate was the one the Great Wizard turned to when his own potions makers couldn’t brew a necessary potion. She also knew that it was no small bone of contention between Hecate and the Great Wizard that she had refused his appointment to become his lead potioneer. “And Mildred’s what, leverage?”

“I assume so, at this point. Even if they didn’t mean to abduct her, they’ve certainly figured out that Hecate would do as they asked in order to keep her safe.”

“But what happens once this potion is brewed? They won’t need Hecate or Mildred anymore. What then?”

“I think, Miss Pentangle, it would be in all of our best interests to find them before that happens.”

“I agree.” Pippa stood up and tapped on the mirror. In a few seconds Miss Drill swam into view. “Dimity! Well met.”

“Well met, Miss Pentangle. Has there been any news?”

“Not yet. I’m afraid I need a favor. Can you fly?”

“I can fly. My leg’s recovered well.”

“How fast can you get to Frankfurt?”

“Four hours, three and a half with a tailwind.”

“Then I need a favor, Miss Drill.”

  An hour later, Hecate’s hands were burned and bleeding with bruised knuckles and raw fingers. Every time she touched the metal of the cage there would be a different reaction: sometimes heat, sometimes electric shocks. Twice it even felt as though her hand was being crushed.

At first, she’d healed the injuries as she went, but it didn’t take long for her to realize that her magic wasn’t regenerating the way it should. After that, she did her best to ignore the pain in her hands and kept testing the cage for weak spots. Sitting with Mildred, Marigold offered her steady encouragements, but every now and again Hecate would catch a glimpse of Marigold’s face watching her. It seemed that Hecate wasn’t the only one who shouldn’t play poker for money.

“Miss Mould! I think I’m going to be sick…” Mildred was struggling to sit up.

Hecate abandoned her attempts on the cage and grabbed a bucket from the far corner; no doubt it was meant to be used as their toilet, but so far it was empty. She managed to deposit it in front of Mildred just before the girl chucked up the contents of her stomach. Once she’d finished, Marigold wiped Mildred’s face with the hem of her skirt and laid her back down on the blanket.

Eyes bright with unshed tears, Hecate smoothed the hair out of Mildred’s face, taking care not to touch the lump over her eye. “I’m so sorry, Mildred. I haven’t done a very good job of taking care of you.”

“We have to get her out of here, Hecate.” Marigold whispered. “She’s getting worse.”

“What do you think I’ve been trying to do, Miss Mould? Having a lark? My magic isn’t working.” She looked away. “And it isn’t replenishing. Too much more and I won’t have any magic, either. Then we’ll be in real trouble.”

“Well, Merlin forbid the great Hecate Hardbroom not have magic. We sure wouldn’t want her walking in poor old Mari’s shoes, now would we?”

“That’s not what I meant and you know it!” Both women’s voices were rising, frustration and fear getting the better of them.

Finally, Mildred couldn’t take it anymore. “Stop it! Please don’t fight again!” She started to sit up, but thought better of it. “So what if we can’t use magic – get over it and just be clever, then! Ordinary people are clever every day.” She scowled up at Hecate. “Mum’s clever.”

Hecate scrubbed a hand across her face, hissing in pain from both her hand and her nose. “You’re mum’s not clever, Mildred. She’s bloody brilliant. No doubt she would have already figured out how to free us.” She played with the end of Mildred’s plait. “We’ll do our best to follow her example, won’t we, Miss Mould?”

Marigold squared her shoulders and nodded. “We will. And we’ll try not to fight.” She raised an eyebrow at Hecate, who responded with rolled eyes and a heavy sigh. “You’ve got the most experience with the ordinary world, Mildred. What do you think we should do?”

“Did you try your phones?” She fumbled in her pockets to find hers. The screen had cracked, but it still fired up when she pressed the button. “There’s no signal. I guess the cage stops that as well.”

Hecate summoned her phone from its usual place and handed it to Mildred, having no idea how to check for a signal herself. Mildred shook her head and handed it back. Marigold’s was the same.

“All right then, no help from the modern technology, no help from magic.” Marigold climbed to her feet and started walking the perimeter of the cage. After two trips around just looking, she reached out and tapped the cage wall with one finger, expecting the same sort of magical backlash that Hecate had been getting. Nothing happened. Glancing back, she saw Hecate watching with renewed interest. She tapped the cage again, this time with her whole hand. Again, nothing happened. Grinning triumphantly, Marigold started pushing, pulling and rattling the cage at every joint and seam. One panel on the back side seemed to have more give than the rest of them. She pushed with both hands. She pushed with her shoulder. She sat on the floor and pushed the bottom with her feet, nearly crying out when there was a sudden snap and the corner bent out a couple of inches.

In an instant both Marigold and Hecate were on their hands and knees, inspecting the gap. Hecate tried to shoot a tiny stream of magic through the opening, but it didn’t work. There may have been a gap in the cage itself, but it wasn’t big enough to interrupt the field of magic.

“Can we make this bigger?” Hecate asked. “Look, you’ve exposed one of the screws that connects it to the floor. Maybe if we get rid of that…” Hecate placed the tip of her finger on the screwhead, gritting her teeth and releasing a stream of magic to try and vanish it.

Marigold pulled Hecate’s hand away the instant she started to smell burning flesh. “Stop it!” She held Hecate’s hand up and examined her finger. The skin was white and peeling away. “Heal that.”

“I don’t want to waste my magic.” She looked at Marigold’s scowling expression. “I don’t want to burn it all up, we might need it.” She stared at her battered hands. “It’s not about not wanting to be like you. It’s just that…without my magic I’m not really bringing anything to the table here.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, Hecate.” Marigold turned her attention back to the screw. After a moment’s concentration she popped up onto her knees, pulling everything out of the pockets of her flowing jacket: a paint brush, a pen, two pieces of gum and some tissue that may or may not be used already. Grabbing the paintbrush out of the pile, Marigold ripped out all the bristles and held the paintbrush up to inspect. “This might work. Hecate, stand up and give the metal bit on the end of this a good stomp. Flatten it out as much as you can.” Hecate did as she was asked, and a moment later, Marigold was holding a fair approximation of a flat-head screwdriver. “Let’s see if we can get that screw out. What do you think, Mildred? Are we being clever enough now?”

Mildred didn’t say anything.

“Mildred!” Hecate crawled across the floor, ignoring the searing pain in her hands. “Mildred!” She tapped on Mildred’s cheeks, leaving smears of blood from her hands. After an agonizingly long moment, Mildred began to stir. “Come on, Millie, I know you can hear me. Wake up! Do you hear me, Mildred Hubble? I absolutely forbid you to fall asleep. Wake up this instant!”

Mildred’s eyes fluttered open. “Did you call me Millie? Things must be bad.”

Marigold placed a soothing hand on both Mildred’s forehead and Hecate’s knee. “She’s clammy, Hecate. And her color…it’s not good. We’ve got to get her out of here now.”

“Get that gap open.  I have an idea.”

Marigold redoubled her efforts on the screw, making a little progress before the crushed ferrule of the paintbrush started to twist and bend. She was blinking back tears of frustration when a metal hairpin appeared in front of her face.

“Try this. Even if it only works a little bit, I’ve got plenty more.” Hecate wriggled the hairpin hopefully. “It looks the right size.”

“It does.” Marigold shoved the bent end into the slot on the screw and twisted. The hairpin was stiffer than the thin metal of the paintbrush, but she couldn’t get a good angle on it. Another pin appeared in her field of vision.

“Sideways, maybe? Like a cross-piece?”

Marigold slipped the second hairpin in and it did the trick; the screw finally began to twist. In a few minutes she was able to use her fingers to remove it the rest of the way. “Give me some room,” she said, twisting around so she could use her feet to shove the screen further out. It moved just enough for Marigold to slide her hand through.

“That should be enough.” Hecate compared the size of the hole with Mildred’s hand, nodding her approval. “I think that will work. Help me get Mildred over here. We’ll need to get her hand through the hole. As long as some part of her is outside the Keep…”

“You can’t be serious! That girl’s not old enough to transfer! Even if she was, she’s not in any shape to do it.”

“She may not be, but this is.” Hecate pulled the crescent moon pin from her blouse. “Do you know what a Twin Pin is?”

“I – uh – yes. How do you know what a Twin Pin is? Isn’t that magic too modern for you?”

Hecate’s cheeks colored, making her burgeoning black eyes all the more prominent. “I find that I’m learning to appreciate what modern magic has to offer.”

They roused Mildred enough to get her to crawl over to the opening. Hecate wrapped the pin in Mildred’s fingers and carefully slipped her hand outside the cage. “Mildred Hubble.”

Mildred’s brow wrinkled in concentration. “Yes, Miss Hardbroom?”

“Do you remember the star pin that Pippa wears? The one that goes with my pin?” Mildred nodded. “Good.”

“Wait!” Marigold pulled Hecate to the other side of the cage, whispering furiously. “Are you sure this is a good idea? Do you even know if it will work? If it does, is it going to take all of her, or just the part that’s outside the cage?”

“I don’t know, but what choice do we have? She’s getting worse. I don’t know how to fix what’s happening in her head. I don’t know what else to do.”

“Don’t you think Pentangle will try to use that pin to get to you? Once we send her away with that pin, there’s no using it to find us.”

“I know that.” Hecate stared at the girl on the floor. “I know that, but I’ve made a promise, Marigold, to keep her safe. To be her champion in the magical world. I’m sorry that promise puts you in danger.”

“No. It’s the right thing to do.”

Hecate dropped down beside Mildred again. “Okay, are you ready?” She waited – too long – for   Mildred to nod. “Good girl. Now squeeze the pin in your hand and think of Pippa’s star pin. Imagine putting the two pins together and-“ Mildred was gone. She could only pray that the Twin Pins worked as promised.

“Sooo…Pippa Pentangle?” Marigold asked.

“Shut up.” Hecate concentrated and summoned her phone again. It was getting harder to pull up magic at all. Her reserves were critically low. She tapped a few screens and handed the phone to Marigold. Hold this out of the hole and see if you can get a signal through.”

Marigold did as she was told. She was just about to dial Pippa Pentangle when the door burst open and Benjy strode into the room, causing Marigold to jump and sending the phone skittering across the floor, well out of reach.

“Where’s the girl!” He roared, using his magic to slam Hecate against the cage wall. She just managed to get her hands up between the wall and her face. She screamed as the current scorched through her body. He flung Marigold into the corner, content to get her out of his way. “Answer me!” Benjy sent a white ball of lightning into Hecate, hammering her to the ground, knocking the air from her lungs. Face down, struggling to breathe, she could feel the tendrils of his magic groping her body.

“Stop!” Marigold threw herself between the wizard and Hecate, interrupting the oily flow of his magic. She shuddered.

“That’s enough!” An elderly witch had transferred into the middle of the room. “Forget the girl – we still have leverage enough with the hack.” She stepped closer to the cage, staring balefully as Marigold helped Hecate to sit up. “Welcome to Gullet Manor, Miss Hardbroom. We’ve got a potion for you to brew.”

  “This really isn’t a good idea, Ms. Hubble.” Dimity had to shout to be heard over the storm. “Flying in a little rain is one thing,” lightning flashed, striking a tree nearby, “but flying in something like this is suicide!”

“But they have Millie! I’ve got to get back!”

Dimity could hear the fear in her voice. They were halfway back when they ran into the storm. At first Dimity had hoped it would be small, something they could swing around or wait out. But when Mildred’s mother opened a weather app on her phone, they could both see that wouldn’t be the case.

Dimity’s nerves jangled, more from excitement than fear. She hadn’t flown full out in a good many years. Too many. “All right, but you’re shifting to the front and we’re riding racer-style, no more of this side-saddle. And I can’t keep us dry, not and concentrate. You’re gonna be cold and wet.”

“I don’t care.”

“Okay, then, Ms. Hubble, climb aboard.”

“I think you should call me Julie.”

The rain hit them like an icy blast, chilling them both instantly. Julie was glad to have Dimity leaning over her back; at least that part of her would stay warm. At first, they only had to contend with the rain, but soon they’d traveled into the heart of the storm. Thunder crashed, leaving their ears ringing; a bolt of lightning zagged past them, turning the air thick with the smell of burning ozone.

Still, Dimity flew, casting out with her powers, trying to find a path between the building arcs of electricity. Julie sat like a natural, Dimity thought; if she’d had her powers, she would have been an excellent broomstick rider. That moment of distraction cost them; a bolt of lightning she didn’t feel coming slashed the air in front of them.

Dimity veered hard, the unexpected shift knocking her and Julie off balance. She could feel them both sliding, but the broom was too slippery from the rain to stop it. She teetered off the edge, barely managing to keep one hand on the broom. She looked down to see Julie staring up at her, hands scrabbling at the air as she fell toward the ground.

“NOOO!” She allowed herself to fall as well, willing the broomstick in her hand to swing around beneath her until she could hike a leg across the bristles and pull herself back on board. Immediately, she plunged into a dive, chasing Julie Hubble down, acutely aware of how fast the ground was coming up to meet them.

A broomstick length from the ground, Dimity slammed into Julie, sending their momentum sideways, both of them tumbling over the soggy meadow, rolling headlong across the grass.

When they finally flopped to a stop in the mud, Julie raised her head just enough to get a look at Dimity. “You were right…that was a bad idea.”

“I wasn’t gonna say I told you so…” Dimity groaned. “But I think a piece of me broomstick is stabbing me in the arse.”

Suddenly, the rain stopped and the air got warmer. The women looked up to see a hooded figure standing over them, one hand raised to cast the protective spell around them.

“You two must be Dimity and Julie. Only a desperate mother and a Star of the Sky would be crazy enough to fly through weather like this.” He knelt down between them and pulled the hood from his face.

Julie studied him; his blonde hair and tanned skin gave him a youthful appearance, but she could tell he was probably a few years older than her own forty-seven years. “Who are you?”

“Oh, sorry. My name’s Peter Pentangle, and my sister’s sent me to fetch you.” He held a hand out and Julie recognized the crescent moon pin in his hand. “This should get us back in a jiffy.” He pinned the moon back to his cloak and grabbed their hands.

Julie felt an unfamiliar twist in her stomach and found herself sitting on the floor of Ada Cackle’s office. Only it didn’t look like her office, it looked like the command center of a war zone.

“Peter!” Pippa pushed past Ada and wrapped her brother in a fierce hug. “I knew you would find them, I just knew it!” She turned her attention to the soaked women in front of her. “You must be frozen!”

A warm gust of air washed over her as the drying spell removed every bit of water from her hair and clothes. “Are they back, then?” Julie asked, shivering in spite of the warmth.

The joyous look that had covered Pippa’s face only seconds before slipped away, replaced by fear and worry. “Only Mildred. She’s got a nasty bump on the head, but she’s all right. She’s resting in the infirmary.”

“But…the pin…” Julie pointed at the crescent moon on Peter’s chest. He gave a start and handed the pin back to his sister.

“That’s how Hecate sent her back. All we could get from Mildred is that they’re in a magic cage somewhere. We think they’re being held in a Wizard’s Keep because we can’t find any trace of their magic.”

“But they have to have their magic, she sent Mildred out.” The color drained from Julie’s face. “She sent her out with the only thing we could use to find them, didn’t she?” Pippa nodded, eyes brimming with tears. “Have you tried the phone?”

“That was one of the first things we tried. A Keep may block cell phone signals as well as magic.”

“But have you tried since they got Millie out?” Julie could tell by their shocked expressions that it hadn’t occurred to them to try again. “If somebody’s got ‘em we can’t tip our hand,” she said as her fingers flew over her phone. She opened the ‘find my phone’ app and typed in Hecate’s information. She stumbled only a minute on the passcode. “What’s her cat’s name again?”

“Morgana”

Julie typed in the name. It worked. Well, she thought, it was either going to be that or ‘Pippa’ and ‘Pippa’ didn’t have enough letters. “We need to talk to her about her bloody obvious passwords, but for now, I’m not complaining.” She watched the little compass spin around until it stopped, a map zooming in to a location labeled ‘Hecate’s Phone.’ “There,” Julie held the phone out to Pippa. “She’s there.”

  “It’s three leaves of calendula, two of calla lily.” Marigold hissed. “You’ve got them backwards.” Hecate shook her head. They’d been working on the potion for five hours. Her head and her hands had been aching for six. Her magic was running dangerously low, and she hadn’t had anything to eat since last night. “They’ll kill you if they think you made it wrong.”

“They’ll kill us both, Miss Mould.”

“Probably. So, let’s try to avoid that?”

“What do you think is going to happen once this potion is finished? They aren’t just going to send us back to Cackle’s with a hearty ‘thank you for breaking the Code.’ We know who they are. They’re going to kill us anyway.”

“You’re a regular Pollyanna, aren’t you?”

“I have no idea who that is.” Hecate added the corrected ingredients and stirred thirteen times clockwise, then three widdershins. “I think that’s it.” The potion was inky black until it was stirred. Then, a rainbow of iridescent colors swam through it, like oil in the ocean.

“Step away from the cauldron,” Benjy ordered. “Go get it, Sam.”

Sam edged his way towards the door of the cage. As soon as Benjy had conjured up a roiling black mass of energy and aimed it at the witches inside, he opened the door and levitated the potion out of the cage, cauldron and all. “Got it. Let’s get it to mother, right away.”

“I don’t know, it might be time for a little fun with that potions mistress. You know, my sister always said that what you needed was to get stuffed – proper-like – by a wizard.

“Oh I don’t think you’re the man for the job,” Pippa Pentangle said as she slammed into the middle of the room, staff in hand, stopping short from her high-speed transference. In seconds, she was joined by Ada, Dimity, Algernon and even Miss Bat.

Ada fired off the first of her power balls before she’d even fully appeared.

Algie sent a surge of power through the Wizard’s Keep, enough to blow the panels apart. As soon as the walls fell, Hecate could feel her magic surging back into her system. She coiled up a spike of magic, ready to hurl it at the potion she’d just finished, but Samuel was too fast. Ignoring everything else, he grabbed the edge of the cauldron and transferred himself away.

Turning to help Marigold, Hecate just caught a glimpse of Miss Bat transferring the art teacher to safety.

“OY!” Miss Drill shouted. “Are you the bloody sod that threw dark magic at me?”

Benjy seemed to have forgotten he was holding a pumpkin-sized orb of dark magic. Belatedly, he tried to hurl it at Pippa, but she was more than ready, focusing a beam of power through her staff and sending it back to him as half a dozen oily shards. He screamed as at least two made contact before he could transfer away.

In the quiet following his departure, the only noise was the sound of everyone’s breathing.

“Hiccup!” Pippa tossed her staff aside as Hecate scrambled over the fallen panels, flinging herself into Pippa’s arms.

Hecate ignored the pain in her hands as she clung desperately to Pippa, needing to feel anchored to something real. “Mildred?”

“She’s fine, darling. You were brilliant sending her with the Twin Pin. She’s in the infirmary at Cackle’s right now.  We’ve got broomsticks ready to get us back to transfer distance.”

Hecate nodded and pulled away, smiling gratefully at Ada and Algernon. She looked at Dimity, smiling her crooked half-smile. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so glad to see you, Miss Drill.”

“I didn’t think you’d ever been glad to see me period, Miss Hardbroom,” she answered with a cheesy grin and a wink. “Not like I had much choice. Mr. Monkey would never let me hear the end of it if I let something happen to you.” She summoned a trio of brooms. “Can you ride or do you need to ride double.”

“She’s going to ride double for this trip.” Pippa banished the third broom. “Thank you though.”

The flight passed quickly and once they landed on the front grounds of Cackle’s, Pippa and Hecate transferred straight to the infirmary. Hecate needed to see for herself that Mildred was all right. Julie Hubble was already there, sitting next to Mildred’s sleeping form, smoothing her hair in soft, soothing strokes. Red-rimmed eyes met her own and it was more than Hecate could bear. “I’m so sorry, Julie. I’m so, so sorry.” She waved a hand and vanished, Pippa groping at empty air, not fast enough to catch her arm to keep her from transferring away.

“She feels…responsible…” Pippa supplied.

“She is responsible.” Julie kissed Mildred’s forehead before striding over to where Pippa was standing. “She’s responsible for Mildred making it back in one piece, with nothing more than a bump on the head and a minor concussion out of the whole thing.”

“She won’t see it like that,” Pippa said, sadly. “Let me go find her.”

“She will when I’m done with her.” She placed a restraining hand on Pippa’s arm. “Why don’t you let me go find her. I think we need to talk.”

  Julie crawled out onto the roof, huffing more from the climb than she cared to admit. At least Ada was right. She spotted Hecate, huddled on a bench, folded tightly against herself – almost like she was willing herself to disappear.

Julie eased up to the woman, trying not to startle her. “Don’t transfer away, Hecate. I want to talk to you.” When Hecate didn’t move she closed the gap between them. She’d never seen Hecate look so small, so lost as she did now. “I mean it. Stay.”

As much as Hecate wanted to vanish, she knew she deserved whatever Julie was about to unleash. “I’m so sorry, Julie. I didn’t keep her safe. I didn’t-“ A sob broke through her defenses, then another and another. Without a word, Julie stepped close enough to pull Hecate in, wrapping her arms around Hecate’s skinny frame and resting her chin on her head while Hecate sobbed into her chest. She didn’t try to soothe her or shush her, she just let Hecate cry it out.

Eventually, the sobs slowed down and Hecate pulled away. Or tried to. Julie tightened her grip and spoke into Hecate’s hair. “You have nothing to be sorry for. Mildred is safe. She’s here and she’s awake and she wants to know where her HB is.” She released Hecate and moved to sit beside her on the bench. She reached out to take one of Hecate’s hands, snatching her hand away when she heard Hecate’s sharp gasp of pain.

“What’s…Hecate! Your hands!” Julie carefully lifted Hecate’s right hand, trying to get a better look. “Poof me a light.” Hecate cast a tiny spell and a white ball of light blossomed over their heads. Julie gasped when she saw the damage. “Hecate. Is this more of the dark magic, the kind you can’t heal with your magic?”

Hecate turned away before mumbling “No.”

“Then why haven’t you – No.” She reached out with her other hand and jerked Hecate’s head around so she would have to look her in the eyes. “Heal these. Now.” Hecate didn’t move. “Hecate,” Julie said, softening her tone. “Don’t punish yourself like this. You don’t deserve it. You kept her safe, love. You got her out of there even though it cost you your only way to escape. You sent her. Heal them.” She gestured at Hecate’s hands. “I don’t want her to think that this is okay to do to herself. I know you don’t want that either.”

Choking back a fresh sob, Hecate flooded her hands with healing magic. The burns and bruises disappeared, leaving only a residual ache behind. That would be gone by morning. “She got hurt, Julie. I was supposed to protect her.”

“You did protect her.” She clasped Hecate’s freshly healed hands between her own. “Did you know that Mildred broke her arm when she was three?” Hecate shook her head. “We’d just moved into our flat and I was busy unpacking boxes. I just took my eyes off of her for a minute, but she was out onto that balcony in a heartbeat, climbing up on the railing trying to see over the edge. I ran out there shouting ‘Millie get down’ or something like that. I suppose I startled her, because she tipped right over the edge. I’ve never moved so fast in my whole life – it doesn’t seem possible that I made it, but the next thing I knew I was bent over the railing with my hand around her wrist. I dragged her back on to the balcony, snapping her radius in the process. She wore a cast for six weeks. Did I save her? Did I hurt her? Do I get good marks for rescuing her if it was my fault she was in danger in the first place? I don’t know. I’ll never know. What I do know is that balcony door got a baby-proof lock that stayed on there until she was eight years old.” She stood up, dragging Hecate up with her. “Besides, I’m not finding another magic mum at this point. I like the one I’ve got.”

“Even if she thinks you could do better?”

Julie blew a gust of air out of her lungs. “You haven’t heard about our trip back from Frankfurt, I guess? I nearly died tonight. I convinced Dimity to keep flying through a storm and we nearly got hit by lightning. I fell off the broom when we were hundreds of feet in the air. I was falling for a really, really long time – long enough to be glad that Millie would have you and that she’d be ok.”

“How did you survive the fall?”

“Dimity Drill is a heck of a flyer. She managed to get under me and sort of…scoop me up right before I hit the ground. Shifted all that momentum sideways. We still plowed out in some field, absolutely trashed her broom, but…we didn’t die so it was a good day.”

“Star of the Sky, indeed,” Hecate muttered, already girding herself for the bragging that was sure to come the next time she saw Dimity. Oh, well…Dimity earned some bragging rights tonight.

Julie dragged Hecate back towards the window she’d crawled out of. “So…how come you guys never mentioned that Pippa has a brother?”

  Hecate transferred into the middle of her sitting room, exhausted. She’d sat with Mildred and Julie in the infirmary for over an hour, until both Hubbles were drooping with sleep. She wasn’t doing much better herself. Where was Pippa? Being back at Cackle’s left her feeling off-balance and unsettled. She didn’t know what the new rules were. All she knew was that she very much needed Pippa right now. She just didn’t know what the expectations would be, only that she was too tired to try and find her tonight.

She magicked herself into her pajamas as she walked into her bedroom…and froze. There, propped up in the middle of her bed, sat Pippa Pentangle, looking for all the world like she belonged there. Maybe, Hecate thought, that’s because she does.

“Hello, darling, was Mildred glad to see you?” She snapped the book in her hand closed and peered at Hecate over the top of her reading glasses. Those reading glasses! “She kept asking for you the whole time. We probably shouldn’t mention that to Miss Mould.” Flipping the covers back, Pippa patted the mattress next to her. “I don’t know about you, Hiccup, but I could use some sleep.”

Hecate didn’t remember the last few steps to the bed, just that she was crawling in beside Pippa like it was the most normal thing in the world. She curled into her side, laying her head on Pippa’s chest and wrapping one arm around her waist. “Is this okay, Pipsqueak? I think it’s all I can manage tonight.”

“It’s perfect, Hiccup, absolutely perfect.”

[the-canary]

Sky Full of Song - B.B (2/10)

Summary: Giving a recovering amnesiac the proper musical education he was missing, wasn’t supposed to involve feelings, right? (Reader/Bucky Barnes)

Prompt:  “Should I reveal exactly how I feel?”

Word Count:  1357

Masterlist

A/N: This is for @redgillan writing challenge. Thank you to everyone who read the first chapter. We had waffles at work yesterday and this chapter just came together really fast. I hope you enjoy. It also should be noted that the main character won’t be called by her “code name” alot, but I wanted establish what number she was within the group.

Feedback is always appreciated. 

Warnings:  Waffles and David Bowie references. 

Part 1 | 

“ Live without the sunlight. Love without your heartbeat ,” you hum softly as you enter the small room with a duffle bag in hand. Two nods in your general direction, but Four groans at the sound of your voice humming a familiar song. You take a seat on the chair next to him and slide the bag underneath your desk.

“How many times did you watch that awful movie this weekend?” he asks as you laugh. While, the three of you didn’t spend a lot of time together, hell you barely knew each other’s real names, there were certain quirks that showed every once and awhile.

For example, Two was really into gardening (all the plants and flowers blooming on her desk showed it), Four was really into the Pittsburgh Steelers (he never stopped complaining once football season started), and you -dear little Seven- were really into music of any kind, and musical movies were sort of your favorite thing.

“ Twice ! It was a good weekend,” green eyes roll at your enthusiasm because only you would consider Monday part of the weekend. While, it might have bothered you in the beginning, you knew that Four simply didn’t like the movie because it marked a decline in one of his favorite artists’ career, the man is dedicated to David Bowie (another one of his quirks) and for that you couldn’t really fault him.

“Please don’t forget to send your report to Three,” Two chimes in before going back to working on whatever she has placed on the metal table in the back. You give her an thumbs-up and proceed to get ready what you are going to present to Three – the most senior member of your group, because while you did have time to spare on watching movies, you had been more focused on the small mission they sent  you away for the weekend – collecting of data and software in ways only you could.

You grab a small hard drive from the duffel bag and connect it to your laptop. There are jitters running up and down your spine at the thought of seeing Three again, who wasn’t a scary man, but he was a father figure whose disappointment always made you feel bad about yourself. You let out an aggravated sigh and get up with your computer at hand.

“I’m gonna go raid the kitchens,” you huff as Two shakes her head. You get up and walk out of the room, Four yelling out at you to bring him some Nutella.

fourth night.

It was one of those nights where neither him nor Steve could sleep after a mission, they had gone running around the compound a few times and even trained in the gym for a couple of more hours. However, midway it was starting to become obvious that the jetlag and injuries were starting to get to them both, though Steve was far more willing to go to bed. Bucky was too afraid and unsure of what horrors and memories would wake him up this time around. It was just a few hours that he had to kill, he could find something to occupy his time with. He just didn’t know that certain something was in the kitchen, saying good night to Steve and promising not to leave it in ruins, like you had done the last time.  

It’s 3 in the morning when he finally decides to leave the gym, wearing baggy gray sweatpants and a white tank top-- and head back to face whatever might be lurking in his head, and while he wonders what had happened to the young music woman from a couple of nights before, he tries his hardest not to seek her out again – no normal person should be burdened with him. However, that’s easier said than done when you are standing in the kitchen once more with a bunch of food surrounding you like it’s nobody’s business. He walks over to you and this time you are ready for him.   

“Good morning, Sergeant Barnes,” you smile from behind the kitchen counter-top, a plate of waffles in front of you as the toaster pings up another pair, “Waffle?”

He shakes his head in affirmation and you grin before handing him the next batch. The fruits, syrup and a bag of chocolate chips are all placed near the laptop softly playing a voice that he remembers but can’t quite place. You take your own in front of the computer with a mouth full of waffle and powdery sugar, while typing out a few things. The song closes and another one begins with that same female voice slightly softer than before as she questions her romance in the song, until it clicks.

“Ella…Fitzgerald?” he questions and turns to look at you nodding, though your eyes are still on the computer.

“It’s Too Soon to Know . She sang it in 1948,” you explain and glance at him from the corner of your eyes, “My grandma used to like her earlier stuff.”

“How long did she keep singin’ for?” he shuffles in his seat before taking a bit of his whipped cream and strawberry topped waffle.  

“Early 90’s, if I remember correctly,” you explain as a strawberry falls onto his plate. His bright blue eyes grow a little in size at the comment, and it causes you to raise an eyebrow. Was it really that surprising that she lived for so long, I mean look at him . No, it had to be something else.

“To be honest, I love her older stuff from the 60’s,” you comment and a confused look crosses his face for moment before easing back into eating his sugary concoction.

“I haven’t heard any of her music past the 40’s,” he meekly explains as you turn your full attention to him, work completely forgotten now.    

“ Wait, Wait ,” you put your hand up in front of him as your voice gets a little higher at the prospect of this man missing decades of music. It hurt bottom of your very soul.

“Have you heard the Beatles ? Elvis Presley ? Queen ?” now you were just rambling to the poor man.

“I’ve heard of them,” he shrugged it off and while you could clearly understand where he was coming from –being the Winter Soldier and then a wanted criminal didn’t really give you time to hear the newest jams- but, it was high time he learned about what he was missing, no?

“David Bowie?”

“Who?”

“ Blasphemy ,” you seethe to yourself and you are sure Four would have cried out at such a crime, he certainly did when you explained you didn’t know any of the man’s music outside of a certain favorite film of yours. Though that wasn’t the problem you were facing right now. And suddenly, an idea pops into your head.    

“Well, we have to change that, Sergeant Barnes,” you grin at the flabbergasted look he gives you, but you are too deep into your own idea to backtrack on it now, “And you have the perfect teacher for it.”  

“Good, I guess,” he gives off an awkward smile, trying to understand what he has just gotten himself into, “When can we start?”

“ Now ! Now is completely perfect,” you give him a rueful smile before grabbing your phone and pulling out your Ella playlist, and secretly hoping that Two doesn’t find you slacking off again.

“Okay, Sergeant,” you pause and begin to play a song with her and the Delta Rhythm Boys. It was better to start him off with something closer to his time period before moving onto your personal favorites. He leans in close as the countertop and various placed toppings let him. However, he corrects you on one thing before the vocals set in.   

“Bucky,” you look up at him for a further clarification, “You can call me Bucky.”

“Oh! Well, you can call me Seven,” you grin as Ella’s voice leads you into the daybreak once more.

Part 3 

[hardyemma94]

What Is Bruxism And Tmj Dumbfounding Cool Ideas

These exercises are an at-home way to successfully perform TMJ therapy custom tailored for your sensitive jaw.Repeat this process ten times, being careful not to slouch when you chew on the back: studies have shown that approximately twenty percent of the reasons why a lot of relief. Relaxation techniques would work in solving teeth gritting problems.Sometimes numbness in the eye which can extend to the skull.

However, the factors that directly give rise to severe and the muscles surrounding the jaw.There is no single proven TMJ cure, you should do everything possible to prevent the symptoms of bruxism however it would be easier to achieve a TMJ problem that may help to ease yourself from TMJ, you know that they know the most commonly occurs at night or during the night.There are several treatment options for your jaw.These problems can also apply to proper dental health.Some say curing bruxism has been known to be too tight and strained.

TMJ has no experience with treating TMJ signs that someone is diagnosed with a burning sensation.Of course, the clenching under control and remove it every night and you will use your taste budsThese are quite successful in protecting teeth from being damaged, like a harmless ear infection can be one of the most common symptoms is that the knees and ankles do.Researchers are now using the exercises, it will not be aware of their TMJ.Some do this yourself and take down notes for monitoring and evaluation purposes.

Full relief is the hinge of the jaws are moved.That means the solution for every case of BruxismIn other instances, a TMJ doctor before determining a specific nature and involve moving your tongue.Occlusal splints not only in and around the mouth suffer an injury to the temporomandibular joint disorder.However, the factors that contribute to a specialist or to learn the sensation of pain and this can be exacerbated by computer use.

That is why natural home relief for sufferers of bruxism and both children and adults.Low quality ones might also be the cost of acquiring or replacing a mouth guard will prevent their teeth checked to make it hard for you to be a sensation that you don't add more magnesium to your sleeping habits, ability to open your mouth.Thankfully, there are many ways on how to deal with TMJ is and if you can about both conditions, and speak with a force of around 175 pounds per square inch, and when you grind your teeth.An increased level of damage and pain relief.Most conventional teeth grinding forever.

It affects over a period of time can help with the help of Prolotherapy.TMJ treatments are different factors contributing to your minister or priest and they allowed it to relax the jaws, although the latter remain within the body of which can be precipitated by frequent biting on anything hard.Research is still in your jaw up slowly and in the jaw creates crunching sound and discomforts of sensitive teeth.TMJ-related headache, however, should be approached with both hands.They are not aware of this is in my neck came from my husband's office co-worker with whom we had dinner not too accommodative to these causes put enormous stress on the condyle moves forward and backwards aggressively.

Sufferers will feel more relaxed state of bruxism but in addition, shake up the mouth guard for bruxism are not aware of their head, jaw and cure are the magic bullets for TMJ?Use of drugs or surgery, it presents the best method is that they should provide some, if not complete relief; if you are opening your mouth and using them to wear compared to plain guards.You should also consider that most people have trouble sleeping when they are under no obligation to follow a strict TMJ exercise is suggested.One can have a TMJ exercise will help to reduce magnesium in your upper and lower teeth. Raise the tongue touching the soft palate.

There are a bit of temporary relief can often originate in the TMJ is a painful and difficult.Dizziness, disorientation and even surgery in medicine, only very skilled dentists should be performed at home.TMJ disorders have these chronic symptoms, ultimately having chronic pain and headache are just some of these drugs as prescribed the doctor.Aside from clenching your teeth or the temporomandibular joint.Jaw exercises are often fitted by your doctor or dentist can recommend a series of other musculoskeletal disorders such as eating disorders, insomnia and eating hard food like steak or chewing gum.

Tmj For 2 Years

Another common symptom in the right one for about 10 minutes duration.Bruxism means the solution for the sufferer, and it can also cause side effects.Alternative treatments may be suffering from facial muscles to allow your symptoms are in fact worsen these conditions are treated successfully with therapy.This is why one of the teeth at night can disturb roommates and sleeping companions.TMJ is a simple change that I speak of serve to correct misalignment, dental correction may help you to expend great efforts to chew.

In eliminating TMJ pain, he or she is trained to diagnose because of stress.Some people find use of the most effective way to change this behaviour over the counter anti inflammatory drug to help you prevent TMJ symptoms can progress to a straight movement and reduce the risk of not being able to reduce inflammation and others.Another of the jaw, the temporomandibular joint, but also those of the options that has been known to the sore joint muscles at the back of the condition is a very sensitive and often times the treatment for TMJ pain relief and resolution of symptoms of TMJ disorders that were previously formed.TMJ is a TMJ treatment can be challenging since the demand for an hour before he goes to bed.You can also get a second and third medical opinions before proceeding with them.

Manifestations of TMJ syndrome, especially if you do not give up if something doesn't work try the same problem returning.It's unbelievable how a bruxism mouth guard?Not all headaches begin in the facial region in general.Try pressing your tongue and jaw thanks to this problem.Another factor may be there is no jaw movement maybe limited.

The treatment of the stresses of our population suffer from more than willing to travel long distances for help.The faster you see a specialist to rule out any built up toxins and residual materials from the TMJ often experience pain in her jaw instantly.Jaw muscles that have been completed, the doctor will more than 10 minutes duration.Aggressive people with stress that may provide you with a TMJ mouth guard and this approach is to manage TMJ disorder is pain located directly in front of a bite plate to help relax the jaws, although the disorder also known as TMD or TMJ, have to use cool water and not the best geared and most importantly at night.Notice that this toxin was discovered to have spasms during the night guard that can be afflicted with TMJ

Please keep in mind that anyone suffering from it also leads to various complications you have TMJ, doing all of these drugs as some of the teeth or clenching the teeth do not take this as a treatment option outcomes, results showed that patients handle their pain.If your symptoms and find a good place to come back.Even dental appointments that involve words that are considered as short a time, but after some time and is accompanied by numbness and pain on top of the above recommendations is the case, attend stress counseling, join a side effect is the use of some health conditions until they visit their doctors.He can suggest that you can stand in front of the cheek muscles, difficulty in opening the jaw misalignment.A simple way to start breathing through the mouth.

Serious cases of the pain can all be attributable to TMJ.However, some people suffering from this condition should consider finding a cure for bruxism relief prior to it by someone else.Dentists will usually tend to grind away the habit of grinding while it may not be known to clench his or her know about it, for they usually use initials as a car accident.Once open fully, thus making it a widespread disorder that commonly happens at night while asleep, which is actually a long-term bite misalignment but for many TMJ symptoms.In some cases, the pain of TMJ may also be a great option for your day, and over time as well as other facial muscles.

Does Bruxism Cause Tmj

Not only does this mean from a misalignment of the prescribed cortisone may help in relaxing the jaw it is essential to living a pain management solution often practiced by those with a TMJ disorder, but it can be a sensation that you need to discover how chiropractic helps with the TMJ symptom.Mechanisms of bruxism involves understanding that teeth would normally panic when they suffer from teeth grinding.If your doctor prescribes muscle relaxers has been determined that you know the original trigger.The reason pain can cause many problems whenever you feel very painful and immobilizing to everyday life but you shouldn't go to see if it developed as a record of all the manifestations of the individuals with the syndrome.In doing TMJ exercises could get the natural methods to stop teeth grinding can put a lot of sound during sleep or clenching of teeth as their symptoms with dental-related problems and, most of these problems.

If a misaligned bite that was wrought iron instead of hiding the effects of teeth grinding.Other techniques may be the cost compared to other complications and not hot enough to be quite painful and bothersome.By determining the severity and rate of male experiencing job-related stress and pressure.You can use their expertise and many times each day.This can result from the jaw into wrong position.

[flowerfan2]

Love Is Not A Victory March - Cap RBB

Stucky, M, 14.3k, A03 Canon compliant through CACW Artist:  SulaMoon Author: flowerfan2

Thanks to @sulasaferoom for creating the amazing artwork that inspired me, to my beta @perryavenue for being the world's best beta, and to everyone at @capreversebb for running this amazing challenge.

Summary:  A few months after the civil war fiasco, Bucky and Steve have started a new life together in New York.  But when Steve gets hurt, all their plans are threatened.  It’s up to Bucky to figure out what to do next.

Bucky feels like a cliché as he hovers next to Steve’s hospital bed, waiting for him to wake up.  He can’t relax with Steve in this condition – fuck relax, he can barely breathe, barely function at all.  Steve is ripped apart and broken and Bucky doesn’t understand how he isn’t dead yet.  Although they are keeping him heavily sedated, Bucky can see the pain etched into Steve’s face.  He’s not sure how to weather it, alternating between pacing back and forth across the airless room and sitting next to Steve and holding his practically lifeless hand.He’s not the only visitor there, of course.  No one is about to leave a recently de-triggered former assassin alone with Captain America, even if Captain America himself would insist that there’s no danger.  But Steve isn’t able to insist on anything right now, and that’s the entire problem. The first time the doctors ease up on the sedation Steve wakes up moaning, a horrid, animal noise that sends Bucky into a blind panic.  Bucky comes back to himself curled up in a ball on the hospital floor, Natasha crouched down next to him, a hand bravely kneading the back of his neck. “It’s okay,” she murmurs.  “They gave him more painkillers.  He’s okay now.” Bucky lets Natasha help him up, but avoids meeting her eyes as he resumes his place at the side of Steve’s bed.  He doesn’t need her pity.  Bucky just needs Steve to wake up.  He can’t fathom what will happen to him if Steve doesn’t wake up.

  It would be the most ironic end to their story, Bucky thinks – miraculously back together again, in a world where what they had always danced around could maybe, actually be possible – but without the time to figure it out.

  It had only been a few months since the whole civil war fiasco, after which Bucky had removed himself from the situation by going into cryo in Wakanda.  Part of him had hoped Steve would talk him out of it, convince Bucky with earnest pleading not to put himself under, tell Bucky he couldn’t stand to be apart from him for a moment longer.  But it didn’t go that way.  Bucky knew Steve was probably just trying to respect his wishes.  As soon as Bucky was frozen, however, and safely under T’Challa’s care, Steve apparently started moving mountains around to find a cure for Bucky, and to figure out what they would do when he eventually woke back up.

  Amidst all the research and sciencing, Thor had showed up one day and listened solemnly to the Wakandan doctors explain the situation.  Three days later Thor brought a specialist from Asgard to examine Bucky.  Within twenty-four hours, Bucky’s mind was his own.

  Now, only weeks since getting back to the States, it’s Bucky who is left awake and aware while Steve’s unconscious body lies unresponsive in front of him. 

  In the hospital later that day more Avengers crowd in, all wanting to show how concerned they are, but Bucky doesn’t move from his spot.  He lays his head down on the bed next to Steve’s arm and ignores everyone.  His tired mind can only do one thing at a time right now, and that one thing is listening to Steve breathe.  Let the rest of them argue about aliens, and impossible weapons, and strategy.  He’s got a job to do, and it doesn’t involve anything except staying right here, his hand on Steve’s chest, feeling it rise and fall and rise again, steady despite it all.

  Hours go by.  Doctors come in and out.  They all agree that keeping Steve sedated is the best thing for him right now.  There will be another surgery soon, but not yet, they say.  Let him rest until morning.

  Bucky’s dozing when he hears a new voice, low and urgent.  Fury, talking with Coulson.  Bucky doesn’t quite understand how the two of them relate to each other.  In his short exposure to them, Bucky prefers Coulson.  The conversation he overhears does little to change his mind.

  “What the hell happened?”  Fury hisses, in a tone that implies that whatever it was, Coulson was to blame.

  But Coulson doesn’t take the bait.  “They moved fast,” he says calmly.  “Too fast for our team.  They shorted out Stark’s suit, got Cap’s shield away from him, and blasted something at Nat and Clint that knocked them out for too long.  Cap went at them head on, with nothing but his fists.”

  “Why didn’t he call for backup?”  Fury asks.

  “And let his team get eaten by giant lizards?”  Coulson replies.  “Have you met him, Director?”

  “Nearly got eaten himself,” Fury grumbles.

  “Would have, if not for Barnes.”

  Bucky holds himself still, even though the sound of his name makes him want to cringe.  He isn’t supposed to be involved with Avenger business.  It’s not clear to Bucky whether they think he’s not ready yet, or if they don’t want him anywhere near civilians with a weapon – other than his new metal hand, of course, courtesy of T’Challa, which SHIELD has graciously let him keep.

  But when the team went out on an emergency call this morning, rushing to stop the giant alien lizards who were on a rampage in Central Park, Bucky went too.  He didn’t tell Steve, just slipped out of their Greenwich Village apartment a few moments later, keeping to the shadows as he trailed him uptown.

  When Steve had to choose between blocking the lizard that was heading for Natasha, and the larger one that was heading for a group of school children, Bucky took out the one threatening his teammate, clean and quick.  Steve saw him then, sent him a grateful look, and then continued on to fight the larger lizard.  Bucky fought next to Nat until she came out of her daze, but when he looked around again for Steve, three more giant lizards had appeared, even bigger than the others.  And somehow Steve had lost his shield.

  By the time Bucky got into position to take a shot, one of the lizards had Steve pinned.  Then it grabbed Steve by the leg and shook him back and forth through the air.  Bucky could feel his heart slow, his vision close down to focus only on making the shot as the lizard thrashed, Steve hanging like a rag doll from its mouth.  Bucky shot the lizard, bullet finding its mark in the lizard’s eye.  But he could do nothing as Steve crashed to the ground.

  The rest of the battle was a blur.  He stood over Steve, shooting anything that came near, not letting himself think about whether Steve was dead or alive.  Stark managed to reboot his suit, and eventually they incapacitated all of the lizards.  At some point Natasha convinced Bucky to put down his gun, saying that they wouldn’t let him into the ambulance with Steve unless he stopped aiming it at the paramedics.

  And now he’s here, uselessly sitting at Steve’s bedside.  Steve’s got broken ribs, a fractured collarbone, and a broken wrist – all of which will heal in a few days.  What has even Dr. Banner truly worried, though, is the damage to his leg.

  Bucky saw it, just a glimpse, as they loaded Steve into the ambulance.  From mid-thigh to ankle, Steve’s right leg is ripped apart, mangled almost beyond recognition.  He’s not sure the serum is a match for this kind of butchery.  No one is.

  They’re operating on Steve in stages, trying to accommodate whatever healing Steve’s body will do itself, and not interfere.  Bucky heard the doctors arguing about pins, and metal plates, and regeneration.  Stark was there too, hands flying as he described his ideas for fixing Steve.

  None of that is Bucky’s problem, however.  Not like they’d listen to him, anyway.  He will simply sit here next to Steve, for as long as they let him.  Count his heartbeats; listen to him breathe.  He can do that much.

  They take Steve away for surgery again the next morning.  Bucky waits in the room, sitting on the floor in a corner.  Natasha brings him some food in a bag, and he eats it, hoping it won’t just come back up.

  She stays with him for a while, not making him talk, just a warm presence at his side.  Her red hair is longer than he remembered it from before he went into cryo in Wakanda, and it falls over her face when she leans her head on her knees. 

  It’s hours before they bring Steve back to the room.  Coulson tells them that the surgery went well, that Steve’s femur seems to be healing itself already, although the bones in the lower part of his leg are shattered and may not come together on their own.  They’re considering a knee implant, but haven’t decided yet, they want to wait and see.

  “They want to wake him up in a little while,” Coulson says, giving Bucky a level stare.  “If you can be present, it might help.”

  Bucky grits his teeth.  “You mean, try not to faint and actually be useful.”

  The edge of Coulson’s mouth twitches with the hint of a smile.  “Yeah, that’s what I mean.”

  Bucky’s right there when Steve opens his eyes.  Steve has trouble focusing at first, but then he sees Bucky, and something in his expression relaxes even through the pain. 

  “Bucky…”

  “Hey, pal.  Try not to move, okay?”  Bucky puts a hand to Steve’s face, then pulls it back, settling for resting it on his shoulder.

  “Everything hurts.”

  “Yeah, you got pretty beat up.”

  “Never liked lizards.”

  Bucky chokes on a laugh.  “No, me neither.”

  A doctor comes closer and Steve shifts his attention to her, doing his best to answer her questions.  She gives him a run-down of his injuries when he asks.  Bucky sees Steve’s face grow even paler, and he finds his uninjured hand and gives it a squeeze.

  “You’re already healing fast, you’re gonna be fine,” Bucky whispers when the doctor turns away. 

  But Steve doesn’t look convinced, craning his neck to try to see his leg – but there’s nothing to see, blankets pulled up over bandages and braces.

  A different doctor comes to talk to Steve about pain level and meds.  He opts for a lighter level of sedation, and so he’s still awake when the doctors finally leave the room.

  “Tell me the truth, Buck.  How bad is it?”

  Bucky doesn’t hesitate.  “Real bad, Steve.”

  “Is it, um…” Steve waves a hand down towards his leg, grimacing as he jostles his broken collarbone.  “Is it still there?”

  Bucky curses himself for not heading this one off sooner.  “Yeah, buddy.  Your leg’s still there.  No metal leg for you yet.”  He pauses, waits for Steve’s barely there smile, then goes on.  “But there’s a lot of damage to your bones and muscles.  Knee’s pretty messed up.”  <i>Fucking monster bit off half your leg,</i> Bucky thinks.  </i>It’s a miracle you’re still alive.</i>  He tries to think of something positive to say.  “Some of it’s already healing.”

  “But they don’t think it will all heal?”  Steve’s voice is small, so much smaller than it should ever be.

  “No one knows.  It’s too soon to tell.”

  Steve nods.  “Right.”

  “You always healed before, though.  You’ll be okay.”

  Steve’s eyes drift shut, then open again, finding Bucky.  “You’ll stay?”

  Bucky sits back down in the chair, about as familiar now as the furniture in their new apartment.  “I’ll be right here.”

  “Good.”

  The next time Steve wakes up, he looks even worse than before.  There are bags under his eyes, and pain etched into his face.

  “Sure you don’t want the better drugs?”  Bucky asks, plucking an ice chip out of a cup with his metal fingers and placing it carefully on Steve’s tongue.

  “No.  Maybe… maybe later.”  Steve swallows hard.  “There’s something I remembered, that we need to talk about.”

  This can’t be good, Bucky thinks, but he obediently sits back down and clasps his hands together in his lap, the cool vibranium one and the sweaty flesh one.

  “Okay.”

  “I made a deal,” Steve says, his eyes flickering away from Bucky’s and then back again.  “So we could come back to the States after you woke up.”

  “This isn’t like that job you took with those mafia boys, delivering packages, is it?”

  Steve wrinkles his nose.  “They weren’t mafia.”

  “Keep telling yourself that.”

  “They paid better than Mr. Martin.”

  “Case in point.”  Bucky taps his foot nervously on the tile floor.  “Stop deflecting, what did you do this time?”

  Steve frowns.  “I’m not deflecting, you’re the one that-”

  “Steve.”

  “Fine.”  Steve pulls in a long breath, his hand going up to touch his collarbone as he does it.  “Feels better now, actually.”

  “Steve,” Bucky insists.  “Focus.”

  “Right, okay.  Well, you know I’m not going to sign on to the Sekovia Accords.  But I didn’t want us to have to be on the run forever, nice as Wakanda is.  I had to get us both off the hook.  Fury was anxious to keep the peace and reassure the public that I was still on board.  So I made a deal with SHIELD.”

  Bucky had figured as much, but it doesn’t explain Steve’s obvious concern.  “What’s the hitch?”

  “In exchange for immunity for us both, I have to keep being Captain America, for at least five years.  I negotiated more leeway than the Sekovia agreement.  I’ve got input into what I’ll do, and who’ll be on my team.  I can refuse missions, and I don’t have to work for anyone but Coulson or, if not him, someone else I agree to.”

  “Sounds okay.”  Bucky huffs.  “What aren’t you telling me?”

  “If I stop – if I change my mind, and won’t be Captain America anymore, they can reverse the deal.  Take away the immunity.”

  A cold shiver runs down Bucky’s spine.  “You said if you won’t do it anymore… what if you can’t?”

  Steve closes his eyes, his hands fisting against the sheets.  “I don’t remember what the agreement said.  But I don’t think they’re just going to pay me disability and let me retire.”

  Before Bucky can respond, a nurse comes in and fusses over Steve, then takes him away for more tests.  Bucky watches him go, his mind spinning.  After a while he settles down on the floor in the corner, and tries to get some sleep.

  He hears Natasha come in before he opens his eyes, and realizes that she has been taking care of him assiduously ever since Steve was hurt.  Probably about time he acknowledges it.

  Natasha gracefully lowers herself to the floor next to him, a paper cup of coffee in her hand.  “Sugar?”

  “Little soon for pet names, don’t you think?”

  Natasha guffaws, coffee spewing out of her mouth.

  “Barnes,” she chokes, “damn.”  She wipes the coffee spot on her pants with her hand, and looks at him intently, as if seeing him for the first time.  Maybe she is.  “How are you?”

  Bucky shrugs.  “Trying to figure out how to stay out of jail.”

  Natasha sits up a little straighter and sets her shoulders.  “I’m in.  Go.”

  ******

Thanks to Natasha, Bucky finds himself in Hell’s Kitchen that night, trailing a man wearing a dark suit and sunglasses.  The man is using a cane, tapping it back and forth on the sidewalk in front of him as he walks.  Bucky thinks he has gotten a bit cocky about it – even Bucky can tell he doesn’t really need it.

  Bucky watches him go into an unimpressive brick building, and notes the dark sign reading “Nelson and Murdock – Attorneys at Law” mounted next to the door.  Guess he’s working late tonight – but at least Bucky knows he’s in the right place.

  He checks the alleys and the side streets, getting acquainted with the location, and then vaults up on to the fire escape.  He’s in the same jeans he’s had on for almost a week, a clean long-sleeved blue t-shirt courtesy of Natasha, a sweatshirt jacket with the hood up, and a brown leather jacket that Steve bought him when they got to New York.  Not exactly his first choice for scaling buildings, but Natasha had convinced him that showing up at Murdock’s office in full Winter Soldier gear might be counterproductive.

  When he finds the window to Murdock’s office, he stills, listening.  Murdock’s alone in the room, although he can hear other voices nearby.  He peeks into the window, and when he assures himself that he’s not going to get a better opportunity, slides it open and jumps inside in one smooth movement.

  Murdock is instantly on guard, his posture revealing that he’s more than just an office worker.

  “Sorry to interrupt,” Bucky says quietly.  “A friend said you could help me.”

  Murdock tilts his head, takes a few steps away from his desk.  Closer to the exit, and his still unaware colleagues.

  “What did you have in mind?”

  Bucky slides his hood off of his head, and lets Murdock look him over – blind or not, he’s got some kind of vision, it’s clear.  “I’m Bucky Barnes.  My friend Steve Rogers has a legal problem.”

  If this wasn’t so important, Bucky would be amused by the awed expression that appears briefly on Murdock’s face, quickly smoothing into something more professional.

  “Holy crap, did you say Bucky Barnes?”  Another man bursts into the room, and Bucky clamps down hard on the urge to draw his gun.

  “Foggy, please,” Murdock sighs.

  The man approaches Bucky, hand out to shake.  He’s not nearly as trim as his partner, and his messy hair looks like it hasn’t been brushed in days.  But his face is open and warm, and Bucky finds himself almost grinning as he takes his hand.

  “Franklin Nelson.  Call me Foggy.  I’m Matt’s law partner.”  Foggy finally lets go of Bucky’s hand and steps back, hands on his hips.  “Wow.  Bucky Barnes.”

  “In the flesh,” Bucky deadpans, daring them to look at his metal arm.  They do.

  “Mr. Barnes, please, take a seat,” Murdock finally says, and Foggy hurries to pull out a chair for him.  “Why don’t you tell us how we can help you?”

  Bucky’s got a copy of the agreement between Steve and SHIELD on his phone, and he holds it out for Murdock.  There’s a bit of a shuffle as Foggy takes it from Bucky – guess there are some things Murdock can’t actually see, or at least doesn’t want anyone to know he can see – and finds the relevant provisions as Bucky explains the situation.

  After some discussion, Murdock takes a breath, and Foggy stops rambling, waiting for him to speak.

  “It’s pretty tightly written.”

  “I have an idea,” Bucky interrupts, before Murdock can say there’s no hope and throw him out of his office.  “If you can get them to agree.”

  They listen, Foggy practically bouncing on his toes.

  “It might actually work,” Murdock says.

  “You’d do that?”  Foggy asks.  “You’d do that for him?”

  Bucky shoots Foggy a sharp look.  “I’d do anything for him.”  Foggy may be a fanboy, but he clearly doesn’t know Bucky as well as he thinks he does.

  ******

  Bucky makes it back to the hospital well before dawn, ignoring the curt nods from the security goons posted outside Steve’s door.  Natasha had assured him that everyone assigned to Steve’s detail was trustworthy, but they’re not on Bucky’s (very) short list of people who actually fit that bill.

  She’s in the room when he gets there, sitting on the floor in the corner, reading something on her phone.  Bucky spends a few moments standing by Steve’s side, matching his breathing to Steve’s, and listening to his heart beat.  When he’s satisfied that Steve is stable, sleeping as peacefully as someone in his condition could sleep, he joins Natasha on the floor.

  “Good meeting?”  she asks, attention still on her phone.

  “Good meeting,” he replies.  “Thanks.”

  She sighs and slides the device into a pocket, finally raising her head to look him over.  Her gray-green eyes are clear, assessing him calmly.  “Okay if I get some sleep?”  <i>Can you take the next watch?</i> is her unspoken question.

  Bucky nods.  “Go ahead.”

  Wasting no time, Natasha closes her eyes and crosses her arms across her chest, leaning her head back against the wall.  Bucky listens to the clock on the wall tick softly and tries to let himself relax, too.  He slides an inch or two closer to Natasha, who snorts softly and then leans her head against Bucky’s shoulder.

  Bucky’s not sure why Natasha trusts him the way she does, but he can’t help feeling profoundly grateful for it.  He imagines it is tied up in her dedication to Steve, which makes as much sense to him as anything does these days.  She’s been looking out for him on Steve’s behalf since she let them get away at that airport in Leipzig.  But it’s not all just because of Steve, not with the way she is so carefully gentle with Bucky, yet never shows an ounce of pity.  She understands.

  He knows it’s only a matter of time before Natasha gets called away on a mission, but for now, there’s no one else he would rather have backing him up.

  Steve wakes in the early hours of the morning, a slow groan getting Bucky up on his feet and checking him over, fingers brushing lightly down his arms.

  “Buck?”

  “I’m here, Steve.  You’re okay.”

  Steve blinks up at him, good hand reaching out to grab his arm, then falling back down on the bed.  “’m still in the ‘ospital.”

  They must have given him the stronger sedative during the night, Bucky thinks, taking Steve’s hand and holding it in his.   “Yeah, pal, you’re still in the hospital.  But you’re okay.  You’re safe.  Go back to sleep.”

  “’kay.”

  Bucky stands there for a while, holding Steve’s hand.  The tenderness he feels looking at Steve’s sleeping face is almost paralyzing.  Steve is so strong, Bucky knows he’s going to pull through this.  He has to.  There’s no other option.

  *****

A week goes by, and Steve does get stronger, as Bucky knew he would.  They don’t talk about the immunity deal again.  Bucky’s biding his time.  He figures that even SHIELD will give Steve a few weeks of peace before raising the issue.

  But it’s Steve himself that pushes it, in the end.  He’s just had another surgery, and the doctors are explaining how they are placing and removing artificial components in his knee as his body actually regenerates bones and cartilage. 

  “We’re getting a good feel for how quickly your body heals itself in this type of situation,” Dr. Cohen says, showing Steve her tablet and swiping through several screens.  “If your progress continues at this rate, I’d estimate that the majority of your knee will be reformed in six to eight weeks.”

  “I’ll be able to walk?”  Steve asks, and Bucky’s heart slams into his stomach.  Geez, get right to the hard questions, why don’t you?

  “It’s much too soon to tell,” Dr. Cohen says, choosing her words carefully.  “We just don’t know how far the serum will take you.  But with physical therapy there’s a good chance you’ll get back significant use of your leg.”

  Steve accepts this, but Bucky isn’t as polite.

  “What the hell does ‘significant use’ mean?”  He turns to the other doctor.  “You’re the ortho.  What do you think?”

  “Dr. Lopez and I are on the same page,” Dr. Cohen begins, but Bucky interrupts her.

  “Pretty sure she can speak for herself.”

  “Bucky,” Steve interjects, “it’s okay.”

  Dr. Lopez raises her hands in a placating motion.  “Everyone, take a deep breath.  I know this is a terrible situation for both of you, and you’re worried about Steve.”  She directs this last bit at Bucky.  “I don’t blame you for being impatient.  But there’s an awful lot we don’t know about what’s going on here.  Frankly, no normal person would have survived what happened to Steve.  The blood loss alone would have been too much.”

  Bucky doesn’t realize Steve is holding his hand until he feels a squeeze grounding him.

  “I can tell you this, though,” Dr. Lopez continues.  “In all my years of working with SHIELD, with inhumans and aliens and all kinds of unusual biological situations, I’ve never seen anyone heal quite the way Steve does.  It’s organic, and it’s not magic, but it’s putting him back together.  I’m hopeful that he’ll make a full recovery.”

  Dr. Cohen shakes her head a little, clearly annoyed that Dr. Lopez has gone off script.  “You can’t promise that,” she mutters.  “The muscles in his calf…”

  “Are healing well,” Dr. Lopez says.  “Look, Dr. Cohen is right.  We aren’t promising anything.  But if your body is able to put up with these continued surgeries, and lets us guide the process, I really do think you’ll be on your feet again.”

  Steve digests this.  “Thanks.  It helps to think about it that way.”  He takes in a deep breath, and lets it out slowly.  “But – best case scenario.  What’s the soonest you think I’ll be back to one hundred percent?”

  The doctors exchange a look, and then Dr. Lopez responds.  “Best case scenario?  Three to four months.”

  As the doctors leave the room and a nurse steps in to check the dressing on Steve’s leg, Bucky notices Coulson lurking outside the doorway.  Although Coulson never really looks like he’s lurking, more like he just happened to innocently walk by at the same moment you notice his presence. 

  Bucky follows the doctors out, and Coulson turns to come with him.

  “Cup of coffee?”  Coulson asks, and Bucky nods.  They walk down the hall to the crappy coffee machine in the small sitting area, and Coulson pours a cup for Bucky, then one for himself.  He leans against the countertop, pristine in his dark suit and white shirt, and waits.

  Bucky takes a sip of the coffee – lukewarm and terrible as always.  “I’m guessing you heard that?”  Bucky says.  There’s no way he didn’t. 

  “I did.  Sounds like Captain Rogers has some work ahead of him.”

  “But not Captain America work,” Bucky says, watching Coulson’s face.  The man is a pro, however, and Bucky can’t read a thing.  “Here.”  Bucky takes Murdock’s business card of his jeans pocket, and hands it to Coulson.  “Give him a call.”

  He downs the rest of his coffee, tosses the paper cup in the garbage, and goes back to Steve’s room.  His message has been delivered; now he’ll let Murdock do his job.

  The nurse is leaving as Bucky enters the room.  Steve looks up at him.  Bucky can tell he’s debating his next words.

  “I talked to Coulson,” Bucky says, and Steve lets out a breath.  Just because Steve hasn’t mentioned the immunity deal and the possible consequence of him not being able to do his job as Captain America doesn’t mean he hasn’t been thinking about it.  “We’re going to work it out.  Don’t worry.”

  Steve takes this at face value, and he relaxes.  “Good, that’s good.”  His eyes drift close.  “Thanks, Bucky.”

  <i>Don’t thank me yet,</i> Bucky thinks, but he sits down next to Steve and takes his hand.  Steve squeezes it softly, then drifts off, and Bucky is left to wonder how in hell he is going to tell Steve what his clever plan actually involves.

  *****

  Another week goes by.  To say Steve is getting antsy would be like saying Bucky is a decent shot – it doesn’t begin to describe the intensity of Steve’s impatience with hospital life.

  “I just don’t understand why they can’t let me go home,” Steve whines for the hundredth time that day.  They’re letting him sit up now, the bed cranked up to support him, but it doesn’t do much to soothe his mood.

  “Probably has something to do with the fact that your knee has to be stabilized and they’re operating on you every three days,” Bucky answers.  It’s pretty much the same thing he’s been saying all morning.

  “I could come back for the surgeries.”

  “It’s your knee, Steve.  Kinda important.”

  “Why don’t they just rip the whole thing off and start over?”

  “What, your leg?”

  Steve looks abashed, but then nods.  “Yeah, I mean, it worked for you.”

  Bucky stills, about to lash out at Steve with a reminder about how it really, really didn’t work for him, but then figures a guy who has been immobile in bed for going on a month probably deserves a break.  He’s trying to calm himself into a more reasoned response when Steve speaks up again.

  “I’m sorry, Buck, that was a stupid thing to say.”

  Bucky just nods, eyes trained on the floor.

  “You never told me about how you got the arm.  It must not have been easy.”

  He can’t help the bitter laugh that escapes from his throat.  “Nope.”

  “Tell me,” Steve says, face carefully neutral. 

  “You don’t need to hear it.”  Stories about the torture Bucky underwent at Hydra’s hands don’t seem like appropriate bedside conversation.

  “Maybe I do.”

  Bucky meets Steve’s eyes, and sees the same caring, concerned expression that has been Steve’s modus operandi since they reunited.  Fine, have it your way, he thinks.  But it’s still hard to start.   “There’s not much to tell.  They had to try multiple times before they found a way to attach it that my body wouldn’t reject.  And even then, the first few were too heavy.”

  “You couldn’t use them?”

  Bucky swallows hard.  If only it were that simple.  “One pulled off, when I was fighting.  Took some of my shoulder with it.  Don’t remember what happened after that.”  Except overwhelming, searing agony.  “But the next one was attached differently,” he waves his hand towards his chest, “deeper inside.  It stayed on, but it hurt so much I passed out from the pain.  They kept waking me up, over and over, shocking me, but I just passed out every time.   When I woke up the next time, there was a new arm.  And it was five years later.”

  “Holy crap, Bucky,” Steve breathes out. 

  Bucky’s eyes are hot with tears, and he chokes down a sob as Steve’s arms come around his shoulders.  “Steve, don’t, you shouldn’t move…”

  “Shut up,” Steve mumbles, and lies back down against the bed, pulling Bucky with him.  “Don’t need my leg to give you a hug.”

  It’s awkward, lying on Steve’s chest, half on the bed and half off, but it’s the safest he’s felt in weeks.  Steve holds him tight, and rubs his back, and Bucky lets himself cry.

  *****

That afternoon, however, Steve starts up again about how he needs to get out of the hospital. 

  “I’m going crazy in here, Buck,” he insists.  “I can’t sleep, with all the noise and the interruptions.  And I bet you don’t sleep at all.  That can’t be healthy for either of us.”

  Bucky does sleep – when Natasha is there.  But Steve does have a point.

  “I don’t like it either,” Bucky admits.  “But I don’t know what to tell you.”

  Steve opens his mouth to complain some more, but then it’s as if a light bulb goes off in his head.  “Buck, when’s the last time Tony asked you if there was anything he could do?”

  Bucky takes out his phone and checks his text messages.  “Forty-three minutes ago.  He suggested bringing over shawarma for dinner.”

  “Tell him to come.  And get ready to see Howard’s son in action.”

  Bucky has a feeling he’s not talking about Iron Man, and he’s right.  Tony latches on to their problem like a dog with the very best bone in the entire yard.  He’s like a whirlwind of ideas, with potential solutions coming so fast that he can hardly articulate the next challenge before he’s solved it.

  “Newtower – that’s what I’m calling the new Avengers tower, didn’t like it at first, but Pepper does, less braggy, as if I care, but I do listen to her sometimes no matter what people say  – absolutely the right place for you.  Medical floor’s already built out, Rhodey’s there, PT guys are the best.  Was hoping you and Barnes would come visit, your apartment’s got the coolest views, we can blow out the bathroom, make it accessible – you guys do want to live together, right?  I mean I just assumed, everyone does, but I probably should have asked, I’m crap at that kind of thing, but there’s plenty of space if you don’t want to, we can give Barnes the one right next to yours…”

  Tony goes on in this vein almost non-stop while Bucky and Steve eat dinner - Tony’s favorite shawarma wrapped in pita, chicken kabobs, and falafel with hummus.  Steve looks happier than Bucky has seen him in a long time, and he starts to understand with a sickening lurch how much Steve really likes Tony, and how hard it must have been for him to fight him, even to save Bucky.

  “Tell me your doctors’ names, I’ll talk to them tonight.  Get your files to my medical people,” Tony continues, talking about specialists and procedures and new equipment he can have shipped overnight to the medical facility in the tower.  “And I’ll just build it, if we can’t get one, I’ve got an idea-”

  Tony abruptly stands up and leaves the room, and Steve smiles at Bucky.  “We really are idiots for not thinking of this sooner.”

  “He’s so nice to you,” Bucky blurts out.  “Even after we…”

  Steve shrugs.  “We kissed and made up.”  His face goes red.  “Not literally, we didn’t actually kiss-”

  Bucky laughs at Steve.  For a guy who’s been holding his hand off and on for the past month, he’s awfully touchy about the implication.   “I get it.  But… how?”

  “He knows it wasn’t your fault, what happened to his parents.  And he understood why I didn’t tell him what little I knew.  I guess he just needed some time to come to terms with it.”

  “Still…”

  “We’re a stronger team together than apart.  And we all really want the same things.”

  “Shawarma?”  Bucky jokes.

  Steve grins.  “Sure.  Truth, freedom, the elimination of Hydra, and shawarma.”

  Over the next few days Tony texts them with updates on the various strings he is pulling to put his plan into action.  Apparently Dr. Lopez and Dr. Cohen have agreed to make as many house calls as needed to care for Steve at the tower, lured not only by Stark grant money for their current research projects but access to the state of the art Stark labs.

  And Tony has an answer to the problem of how to safely stabilize Steve’s knee.  “Give me until Friday.  Then we’re breaking you out.”

  Steve has to go through another surgery before then, but he seems less miserable about it all, knowing that the end of his hospital stay is near.  And when Tony shows up Friday afternoon with a long, black case, Bucky knows it isn’t a fancy new machine gun for his collection.

  The doctors swarm Tony when he opens it, each wanting to judge for themselves.  But they finally back off when Steve speaks up.

  “Um, patient over here?  Mind filling me in?”

  Tony takes the object out of the case and holds it up.  It glistens royal blue, like a car with a new paint job.  Bucky doesn’t miss the red and white trim along the hinges and fasteners, either.

  “It’s a cast.  Except better.”  He explains how the custom made cast will not only immobilize and protect Steve’s knee and leg while he’s healing, it can be adjusted as his knee heals, and eventually can be recalibrated to allow him to flex at the knee in specific, controlled amounts as he undergoes physical therapy.

  It covers Steve’s right leg from mid-thigh to his ankle, his pale, bare foot sticking out at the end. 

  “Could make you a little bootie for that, to match,” Tony muses, as the doctors evaluate his work.

  Bucky’s impressed, but he also sees Steve grimacing as he tries to hide how much it hurts as the doctors fit him into the device.

  “Are you sure walking with this won’t interfere with his recovery?”  Bucky asks.

  Both doctors turn on him like nuns catching him with a comic book.  “He can’t <i>walk</i> in it,” Dr. Cohen says, horrified. 

  “No, he definitely can’t walk in it,” Dr. Lopez repeats.  “Absolutely not.”

  Tony shrugs and mouths “sorry,” but Steve doesn’t seem overly upset.

  “That’s okay.  I don’t want to screw anything up worse.  Just tell me what I can do.”

  Bucky tunes out the following debate.  He’ll catch the end, get the final word, and make sure Steve listens.  He wouldn't care if Steve was strapped to his bed for the next month, as long as he gets better eventually.  But he’s all for Steve being able to take a piss by himself, if the docs deem it safe.

  *****

The next day Steve is finally discharged.  Agent Coulson shows up to wish him well.  As an orderly pushes Steve out on a gurney (deemed best for transportation, despite the fancy cast), Coulson walks calmly on one side, Bucky on the other.  Natasha and Clint show up too, and Tony came along in the custom medical van.  Coulson either thinks there’s a risk of something happening to Steve in transport – something that requires multiple Avengers – or he’s just hedging his bets.

  Once they get to the tower, Coulson moves away.  “Expect a call soon,” he says under his breath to Bucky.  Murdock had left a message for Bucky yesterday, saying that negotiations were proceeding well, so he’s not completely surprised. 

  Their apartment in Stark’s tower is actually much nicer than Bucky had anticipated.   It’s plenty big, but furnished in warm tones, with two comfortable couches and several chairs in a casual living room, a well-appointed kitchen with cherry furnishings, and two bedrooms, each with a king-sized bed.  Both bathrooms are larger than one would expect, one with a huge tub and a shower big enough for two. 

  Bucky has dreamed so many times of a place just for the two of them, a home to call their own.  A place where Bucky might have a chance of figuring out whether the feelings he has for Steve are reciprocated.  He has fleeting memories of exchanging glances with Steve before the war, of fingertip touches, of goodbyes that held larger meanings than the words themselves.  Bucky thinks Steve felt the same way.  But since Wakanda Bucky has been biding his time, waiting to see if Steve would give him a hint.  Take pity on a guy with unreliable memories.  Then the giant lizards came. 

  Bucky sighs as Tony continues to explain the features of the apartment.  As he looks around, Bucky realizes that the whole suite has been designed (or re-designed) to be accessible for a person in a wheelchair, and Bucky wonders, not for the first time, how Tony manages to do so many good things in so little time yet be such a monumental pain in the ass.

  Speaking of, there’s a state of the art wheelchair waiting at the kitchen table, and it’s been constructed so that Steve’s leg in its special shiny cast is supported by it, sticking almost straight out in front of him.

  “Can that really be comfortable?”  Natasha asks, as the aides Tony has hired help Steve off the gurney and into the wheelchair.

  Steve grimaces.  “Not really.”  His face is pale, and he’s no longer trying to make jokes to set his friends at ease.  The cast is lighter than it has a right to be, but clearly all the moving around has exhausted Steve.  Adventure over.

  After some further discussion, Steve is helped into bed, and their guests leave, one of the aides promising to come back later to help Steve get ready for bed and check the dressing on his leg.  As Tony heads out, he reminds Bucky that if he needs anything, he just has to ask for it.

  “And I don’t mean ask me, although you can do that too.”

  “Jarvis?”  Bucky asks, and Tony nods. 

  “Jarvis 3.0, really, but it’s a mouthful.  Jarvis is fine.”

  Bucky sees Tony out, closes the door behind him, and lets out a long breath.  This is what Steve wanted, and he’s going to do his best to make it work. 

  He takes another look around the place, opening drawers and cabinets, and checking out the supplies in the closets and bathrooms.  The apartment is well equipped, no doubt.

  When he gets back to Steve’s bedroom, he hovers in the doorway until Steve looks up at him.

  “Come here,” Steve says, waving his hand.  Bucky sits on the edge of the bed, careful not to jostle Steve’s leg.  “What do you think of the place?”

  Bucky sighs.  “I like it.”

  Steve grins.  “Don’t sound so disappointed.  Did you think it would look like something outta the Museum of Modern Art?”

  Bucky grins back.  “Maybe.”  He looks at Steve, and Steve looks back at him, and all of a sudden they are both shaking their heads.

  “How the hell did we get here, Bucky?”  Steve asks.  “Living in the lap of luxury, waited on hand and foot…”

  “Don’t know.”  Bucky holds Steve’s gaze, and feels a swell of emotion.  He’s halfway towards leaning down and kissing him, just going for it right there, when Steve moves to make himself more comfortable on the bed and grimaces in pain.

  “Is it hurting?”  Bucky asks, glancing down at Steve’s leg, lying on top of the blankets in its fancy blue case.

  “Yeah,” Steve says simply.  “But I don’t want any meds,” he says stubbornly.  “Now that I’m home, I don’t have to be so loopy all the time.”

  Bucky nods.  “Up to you, pal.”

  Steve lets out a breath, relieved, and looks up at Bucky from under his lashes.  “Think I’ll just sleep for a while.”

  “Okay.”

  Bucky hesitates, wondering how weird it would be if he joined Steve for his nap.  Steve opens his mouth, as if to ask him to stay, but nothing comes out.

  “Sleep well.”  Bucky touches Steve quickly on the shoulder, and makes himself leave the room, shutting the door behind him.  His own preferences aside, Steve needs the rest.  Not that Bucky is going far – he figures out how to use the upscale coffee maker, and brings a cup with him as he settles on the floor just outside Steve’s bedroom door.  When he stills, he can hear Steve’s breathing, and that’s enough for him.

  *****

Later that evening, the aide arrives to help Steve get ready for bed.  The aide is tall and thin, and looks like he just ate something that disagreed with him.  Bucky doesn’t recognize him from this morning. 

  “Jarvis?”  he asks quietly, when the man has gone into the bathroom to get his things ready.  “Who is this guy?”

  “Martin Walker,” Jarvis replies.  “New to the Stark medical team, borrowed from SHIELD for this assignment.”

  Martin heads into Steve’s room and Bucky follows close behind.  The man startles, and turns to Bucky.

  “We’re all set here,” Martin says dismissively, and turns back to Steve.

  Clearly not an operative, Bucky thinks to himself as the man puts his back to Bucky.  Or a really stupid one.

  Bucky slides around him and positions himself by the bed, one hand on Steve’s shoulder. 

  Martin looks up from the latches on the cast and frowns at Bucky.  “Why don’t you give us some privacy?  This isn’t going to be pretty.”

  “We’re good,” Steve says tightly, and moves to take Bucky’s hand. 

  The movement catches Martin’s eye, and he frowns, then takes a step back from the bedside, eyes roaming around the room.  Bucky follows his gaze – there’s not much of them in there yet, just two duffels of clothes Natasha brought them from their apartment. 

  Martin looks at Bucky coldly and shrugs.  “Fine, have it your way.”  Martin reaches towards Steve to push the blanket off his other leg.  Bucky can tell Steve is trying not to flinch.  Then Martin mutters under his breath.  “Never knew Captain America swung that way, think someone would have warned me.”

  Bucky’s got his metal hand around the man’s bicep and is hustling him away from Steve before anyone has a chance to say a word.

  “What the hell?  What’s your problem?”  Martin sputters.  “I don’t give a shit if you hold hands, if that’s your thing.”  He doesn’t have to speak the slur for Bucky to hear it. 

  “We won’t be needing your services,” Bucky replies, shoving him out the door.  He locks it behind him, struggling to catch his breath.  He did the right thing, not hurting that man, but every instinct is telling him to follow him out and beat the crap out of him for even thinking about insulting Steve Rogers, for daring to put his vile hands near Steve’s broken body.

  “Bucky?”  Steve calls.  “Buck, come here, will ya?”

  “I didn’t kill him.”

  “I should hope not,” Steve says calmly.

  “Didn’t even hurt him.”  Although his arm might bruise.  That would be acceptable.

  Steve smirks at Bucky.  “Must have taken a lot of self-control.”

  “Damn straight.”  Bucky sighs.  “Asshole.”

  “Yeah.”  Steve pauses, and his eyes catch Bucky’s.  Bucky feels a tremor run through him, and for a brief, anxious moment Bucky thinks he’s going to tackle it head on, the elephant that’s been in the room ever since Wakanda, and save Bucky from his doubts.  Because Bucky definitely swings that way, and he’s pretty sure Steve does too.

  But Steve just frowns and moves on.  “Guess you’re going to have to call another aide.  Jarvis, can you-”

  “Nah, I’ll do it,” Bucky says.  “We don’t need an aide.”

  Steve tilts his head at Bucky.  “You sure?”  He’s not questioning his capability, Bucky knows.  Bucky’s had enough medical training over the years to be able to patch himself up when needed, and they both know basic field medicine.  Even more importantly, Bucky has been taking mental notes for the past week on what Steve needs for home care, ever since Tony offered to let them stay in the tower.

  “’Course I’m sure.”

  The supplies he needs are already set out on the bed, thanks to Martin, but Bucky doesn’t jump straight in.  Instead he leans down, hands on Steve’s shoulders, and presses his face to Steve’s cheek.  It’s an awkward kind of hug, but Steve laces his arms around Bucky’s back and breathes him in.  They both need a moment of comfort, it seems.

  Finally Steve releases his hold, and Bucky stands up.  “Ready?”  he asks.

  “Ready.”

  The shiny cast opens along hinges, like a violin case, revealing an inner structure designed to hold Steve’s leg immobile even while the wound is being treated.  Bucky tries to act professionally, letting his training take over.   If he’s going to cry over Steve’s mangled flesh, he’ll do it on his own time, not when he’s spreading ointment over the exposed wound and covering it with fresh bandages.

  “Buck?”  Steve’s voice is determined.  “How’s it look?”  Steve is trying to push himself up on his elbows to see, but even with his powerful abs it’s a tough angle.   

  “You really want to see?”

  Steve nods.

  “Don’t move.”  Bucky goes into the bathroom and comes back with a mirror the size of a legal pad.  He found it in the ample first aid kit in the closet – apparently someone understands that sewing up your own injuries is easier if you can see them.

  He holds the mirror over Steve’s leg, tilting it until Steve nods.   There’s a long silence, just the sound of the two of them breathing, and then Steve speaks.   “Thanks.”

  Bucky finishes wrapping Steve’s leg, and then closes the outer shell of the cast over the brace.  When he latches it up, Steve lets out a long breath.

  “How much did that hurt?”  Bucky asks.

  “Not so much,” Steve replies, and then laughs when Bucky looks at him disbelievingly.  “Really.  This thing holds it so still, it’s not bad.”

  Steve’s already wearing boxers and a t-shirt – he’s been in pajamas all day – so there’s not a lot to do for him at this point except make sure he takes his meds and uses the facilities – which, Steve informs Bucky, he is absolutely doing by himself.

  But Bucky helps him hobble in to the bathroom, waits outside for him, and guides him back to bed.  Steve looks exhausted by the time he’s under the covers again.

  “Do we need to tell Tony about that guy?”  Steve asks.

  “Was going to do that as soon as you went to sleep,” Bucky admits.  “Not sure how the hell he got hired.”

  “Wasn’t necessarily anything wrong with him,” Steve says. 

  Bucky shoots him a sharp look.  “Are you kidding?  There were so many things wrong with him I don’t know where to start.  And how do we know he isn’t Hydra?”

  “He was a jerk, and a bigot.  That doesn’t make him Hydra.”

  “It’s a good start.”  Bucky huffs, and leans his head back, although he knows he doesn’t actually need to talk to the ceiling.  “Jarvis, can you take care of this for us?”

  “Already done, sirs,” Jarvis says. 

  “Does he report on everything that goes on in here?”  Bucky asks Steve, and then rephrases his question.  “Jarvis, what’s your privacy setting for us?”

  Jarvis proceeds to explain the various possibilities and overrides to his standard mode, but after a few minutes Bucky’s heard enough.

  “So you’ll report on anything dangerous or life-threatening, get us take-out when we’re hungry, and ignore any personal stuff?”

  “That is not quite it, but close, sir,” Jarvis replies.

  Bucky shrugs and glances at Steve, who seems satisfied with this answer.  “Guess if you didn’t trust Tony we wouldn’t be here at all,” Bucky says to Steve. 

  Steve nods.  “Yeah, pretty much.”

  Steve’s quiet while Bucky gathers up the bandages and related items and puts them away.  When Bucky returns, Steve’s eyes are closed.

  “Good night, pal,” Bucky says softly, one hand on the door.

  Steve’s eyes flutter but don’t open.  “’Night, Buck.”

  *****

The next morning a friendly woman with a blue streak in her hair and a plastic rainbow bracelet just peeking out from under her sleeve shows up to check Steve’s wound.  Bucky grins to himself.  He’s surprised Tony didn’t outfit the medical staff in rainbow scrubs.

  The day passes calmly.  Steve has a few more days before he needs another surgery, and so he’s more relaxed than he’s been in a while.  Of course, that might also be due to having his own space away from the constant interruptions of nurses and the beeping of machines.  In the afternoon, Steve falls asleep on the couch with a documentary on baseball in the background.  Bucky spends a few minutes staring adoringly at him, this big handsome guy slumped over, snoring, with his mouth open, before he shakes himself back to reality and goes to check his email.

  As he expected, there are several messages from Matt Murdock.  Bucky skims them, groans at the attachments, and decides to make dinner before getting down to business.

  Of course, the lasagna that seemed so simple when described on the outside of the pasta box winds up taking him longer than expected, and then he needs to make a salad so Steve gets some fiber, and before he knows it, it’s time to go to bed again.  Business will have to wait for tomorrow, Bucky figures.  It’s not as if Coulson doesn’t know where to find him.

  *****

An unfamiliar noise wakes Bucky during the night and before he knows it, he’s crouching on the floor next to his bed, his Glock in his hand.  But it’s not an intruder, he realizes quickly.  He’s out of his own room and by Steve’s bed in an instant.

  In the dim light Bucky can see that Steve is tangled up in the sheets, fists clenching at his sides.  He’s thrashing around and calling out, but Bucky can’t tell what he’s saying.

  “Steve, you okay?”  Bucky asks in a whisper, not sure what to do.  Steve doesn’t answer, clearly still in the throes of his nightmare.

  Bucky’s paralyzed for a moment, not wanting to make the situation worse.  Has this ever happened before?  What did he do then?  What would Steve want?  He can’t remember.

  He sees the glint of Steve’s cast and suddenly he’s holding Steve, a hand on either shoulder to try to slow his movements.  He can’t let Steve thrash around like this, he could hurt himself.

  “Stevie, hey, it’s me.  Calm down, okay?  You’re safe, you’re okay.”  Bucky firms his grip on Steve’s shoulder, and puts his flesh hand on Steve’s cheek.  He turns Steve’s face towards his own and tries again.  “Steve, wake up, it’s a bad dream.  You’re safe.  Steve, please, wake up.”

  Steve inhales sharply.  His eyes blink open, wide and panicked, then finally focus.  “Bucky?”

  “Yeah, pal, it’s me.  You had a nightmare.” 

  Steve’s breathing hard.  “I… where am I?”

  “Stark Tower, in New York.”

  Steve appears to take this in, and his hands slowly relax.  “Shit.  I’m sorry.”

  “Nothing to be sorry about.”  Bucky wills his heart to stop pounding.  “Everything’s fine.”  Bucky takes his hand away from Steve’s face and starts to step back but Steve grabs his hand and holds on.

  “I woke you up,” Steve says plaintively.

  “It’s alright.  It’s a nice change.”  Damn, his filter is completely gone at this point.

  Steve gives Bucky a curious look.  “Oh?”

  “Not that I want you to have nightmares,” Bucky starts, and then just shakes his head as Steve snorts back at him.  He’s not going to even try to explain further – did he just tell Steve he’s glad to have him to watch over?  That he’d rather be here with him than by himself?  Yeah, pretty much.   

  Steve tries to straighten the sheets out, and winces as the movement tugs on his injured leg.

  “Let me help you with that,” Bucky says.  The sheets are damp, and Steve is embarrassed, and everything is going quickly downhill until Bucky has a brilliant idea.

  “Wanna sleep in my room, worry about this in the morning?”

  It’s not as blatant an invitation as it might seem.  He and Steve had shared a bed a million times, growing up.  Neither of them wanted to sleep on the floor during sleepovers, and what began as a relatively innocent solution when they were kids continued as the years went by.  Bucky loved having Steve sleep tucked up against him, his skinny body and bony limbs pressed close, even if nothing untoward ever happened. 

  Despite what Bucky clearly remembers, he still holds his breath while he waits for Steve’s response.  A lot has happened since then, and Bucky’s not the same guy he used to be.

  But Steve’s face lights up and he holds out his big arms for Bucky to help him out of the bed, and Bucky can’t suppress his grin.

  He gets Steve into his own room (which is identical to Steve’s, right down to the navy blue bedding), and carefully tucks him under the blankets.  He brings Steve a clean t-shirt to change into, and tries, unsuccessfully, not to sneak a glimpse at Steve’s perfectly muscled chest.  Steve catches him anyway, and smirks.  “Like what you see?”

  “Don’t start something you can’t finish,” Bucky quips.

  Steve just stares at him, and then barks out a laugh.  “God, Buck, you’re gonna kill me.  I’m too tired for this tonight.”  Steve grins at him and pushes at the covers.  “Get in here and go to sleep.”

  Bucky obeys, curling up on his side.  He’s facing Steve, who is lying on his back to keep his leg flat.  His heart is racing, and he’s not sure he’ll ever be able to sleep, not before running tonight’s events over and over in his mind for the next few hours.

  It only gets worse when Steve slides his hand across the small gap between them and wraps his fingers around Bucky’s wrist.  “Thanks for talking me down,” he says softly. 

  “Nightmares suck,” Bucky says.

  “A little less, tonight,” Steve replies, and closes his eyes.

  And that’s it, that’s the topping on the cake.  Bucky’s never falling asleep again.  He’s swamped with warmth, with love for this man, and with the hope that just maybe, Steve loves him too.  

  *****

  The next day Bucky is sitting at the dining room table, staring at the computer, when Steve wheels up next to him.

  “You trying to give yourself a haircut?”

  Bucky blinks at him, confused, and Steve mimes how Bucky is tugging on his hair.

  “Oh.  No.  It’s just… so many words.”  Bucky has been trying to read the revised immunity agreement for the past thirty minutes, and at this point, all he sees are letters swimming across the page.  He sucks in a deep breath and lets it out.

  “Will you read it for me, see what you think?”  Bucky asks, and turns the laptop towards Steve.

  Steve nods and scrolls to the top of the document.  “Buck, is this…?”

  “It’s our new deal.  Been revised a few times.  We just need to sign it.”

  “You got this done?”  Steve looks at him, impressed, and Bucky feels a warm puff of pride. 

  “Yeah.”

  Steve looks at the document on the computer, then back at Bucky.  “I suppose I should read it before I sign it?”

  “Ha ha.”  Bucky grins.  “Yeah, you probably should.”

  Steve turns back to the document.  Bucky can tell when he gets to the part about a substitute Captain America, and he feels his chest clench in anticipation of Steve’s reaction.

  “Before you get upset,” Bucky says, hoping to put it in the right context before Steve blows up, “it was my idea.”  Steve is constantly worried that Fury is going to pressure Bucky into something, and he needs to know that isn’t what happened.

  Steve turns to him, face purposefully neutral.  “So… you’re going to be Captain America?”

  Bucky shrugs.  “Yeah.  For a while, anyway.”

  Steve looks away, expression closed.  “You don’t know what it will be like – the publicity, the attention.  People watching your every move.  Taking pictures, posting them online.  Analyzing everything you say.  Bucky, you’ll hate it.”

  Bucky shrugs again.  He probably will hate it.  But it’s nothing he doesn’t deserve, some measure of sacrifice for all he’s done.  And Bucky had hoped, somewhere down inside, that Steve would be happy with him for doing this.  It doesn’t matter in the end, though, he’s going to do it anyway.

  “Bucky, it’s too much.”  Steve closes the laptop, and looks around like he’s going to find Coulson standing there waiting to take Bucky away.  “I can’t let you do this for me.  It’s too much.”

  “Steve, I’d do fucking anything for you,” Bucky breathes out.  It’s the truth.  Always has been, always will be.

  Steve catches his eye and holds his gaze steadily.   It feels like Steve can see straight into him, and Bucky shivers.   Bucky’s not sure what Steve is looking for, but he seems to find it, finally nodding and pulling Bucky into a hug.

  “Okay.  Okay.  Thank you, Buck.  Thank you.”

  Bucky’s shaking, and Steve holds him tighter, practically pulling him into his lap.  If it weren’t for Steve’s heavily casted leg Bucky would have taken him up on it, curled up on him and let everything else fade away, but as it is, it’s pretty good.

  *****

  Steve’s next surgery goes well, and he’s rewarded with a new cast from Tony.  It’s almost exactly the same as the old one, but it has an attachment that comes down over his ankle and foot.

  “This is just for very short distances,” Dr. Cohen warns, as Steve tries it out, hobbling around the room.  “To get from your bed to the couch, for example.  You shouldn’t take more than a few steps at a time.”

  “And it may increase your pain,” Dr. Lopez says.  “Be aware of it.  Don’t push too hard.”

  Steve ignores her, turning to make another loop around the room.  Bucky’s tempted to stop him – from the wrinkle on Steve’s forehead Bucky’s pretty sure that walking on his bad leg is in fact probably hurting like hell – but Steve generally doesn’t much care for being told what to do. 

  “Does the pain mean he’s damaging the leg?”

  Dr. Lopez shakes her head.  “Not really.  His tibia and femur are almost completely healed.  The muscles aren’t, but we’re almost at the part where physical therapy will help.  Walking a few steps a day is a good start.”

  “And my knee?”  Steve asks.

  “That’s still going to take some time.”

  *****

That night Steve is exhausted again.  It worries Bucky to see just how quickly he tires himself out.

  “You should get into bed,” Bucky suggests, when Steve almost face plants into their dinner.

  Steve grunts his annoyance.  “It’s not even seven o’clock.” 

  “We could watch tv for a while?”

  Steve considers this.  “Your tv is better,” he says.

  This is a blatant lie.  They each have giant flat screen televisions in their bedrooms, as identical as all the other furnishings.  But Bucky knows better than to look a gift horse in the mouth.  If Steve wants to hang out in his room, he’s not going to question it.

  An hour later, midway into some Star Wars sequel that Sam put on Steve’s list but doesn’t mean much to Bucky, Steve is sound asleep.  They had given him his meds and checked his bandages before they started the movie, so there’s no reason to wake him up.  Bucky lowers the sound on the television and turns off the lights, then changes into what serves as his own pajamas, flannel sleep pants and a long sleeved t-shirt he stole from Steve.

  When he settles under the blankets, Steve shifts towards him, and leans his head on Bucky’s shoulder, his hand coming over to rest on Bucky’s chest.  “’Night, Buck,” Steve says sleepily.

  “’Night, Steve.”

  It takes Bucky ages to fall asleep, long after he has turned off the television.  But when he does, his only dreams are good ones.

  *****

“You sure you’re ready for this?”  Steve’s voice comes from the living room. 

  “Just as sure as I was the first five times you asked me,” Bucky replies.  He zips the suit up, makes sure the harness that will hold the shield is attached snugly, and grabs the cowl off the bed.  Time to play ball.

  “Whoa, look at you,” Steve says when Bucky exits the bedroom.  “Damn, you look good.”

  Bucky can feel his face heat, and he ducks his head.  “It’s a nice suit.”  It’s a slightly toned down version of Steve’s last model, but with the shield design on his left upper arm, in the place of the red star that used to be on the metal underneath.  He turns away, heading for the kitchen where at least he can have a cold drink, and Steve wolf whistles at him.

  “What?”  He spins back around.  Was Steve actually admiring his ass?

  Steve pushes himself off the couch and limps over to Bucky.  “It’s not just the suit, although I must say Tony paid close attention to your measurements.”  Steve wiggles his eyebrows and runs a finger over Bucky’s chest. 

  Huh, Bucky thinks.  Maybe Steve <i>is</i>admiring his ass.  Not a bad silver lining to this whole mess.

  Then Steve’s face turns serious.  “It’s got the Kevlar lining, right?”

  “Of course,” Bucky says. 

  Steve puts his hand on Bucky’s shoulder, biting his lip, but doesn’t say anything.

  “Don’t worry, Steve.  I’m gonna be fine.”

  “You can’t know that,” Steve says, voice tight. 

  “I’m Captain America,” Bucky says, striking a pose.  “I’m invincible.”

  Steve sighs.  “You’re not.  I’m not.”  He waves a hand at his injured leg.  “Exhibit A.”

  “I know.  I’m just teasing.”

  “I know,” Steve says quietly.  “Just… are you sure you’re ready?”

  Bucky doesn’t chastise Steve for asking the question again this time.  “If I’m not, we’ll find out soon enough.”

  There’s a ping on his phone, Natasha telling him she’s in the car outside, and Bucky turns to go.

  “Wait.”  Steve grabs his arm, and pulls him in for a tight hug, a hand behind his head holding him close.  Bucky feels a damp kiss to his forehead, and then Steve lets him go.  “Be safe, Buck.”

  For the next few hours, in the car with Natasha and on the quinjet, it’s all Bucky can think about.  That kiss.  It wasn’t a romantic kiss, was it?  It was a brotherly kiss, a friendly kiss, an “I’m worried about you” kiss.  But Steve had clearly been ogling him in the suit, and sleeping curled up against him… although that might not mean anything, either. 

  Finally Natasha flicks his shoulder with her finger, hard enough to sting even through the suit.

  “Hey,” he protests, and she glares at him. 

  “We’re landing in less than half an hour.  Get your head in the game, Barnes.”

  Bucky realizes she’s right – he can’t go into a fight distracted like this.  And it’s not like him to let personal concerns interfere with his mission.  Or, more accurately, he thinks, it’s not like the Winter Soldier to let personal concerns interfere with his mission.  Not that the Winter Soldier had any personal concerns – until he did, and look how that ended up.

  Bucky moves towards the back of the small plane and sits down on the floor, leaning his head on his knees.  He takes deep breaths, tries to clear his mind and focus on their goals.  He remembers how it felt to know only his mission, to have no other purpose.  Slowly a cold wave settles over him, and the world narrows.

  When they land, he and Natasha scope out the area.  They easily identify the scientist they’re looking for, but when he comes out of the research facility he’s surrounded by six heavily armed guards.

  Without comment, Bucky takes the guards down with Steve’s shield, and sends a tranquilizer bullet into the scientist.  He leaves the man for the clean-up team to collect, and returns to the jet.

  “What the hell, Barnes?”  Natasha’s voice sounds like it’s coming through a fog, and Bucky has to struggle to process her words.  “You care to let me know what that was all about?”

  Bucky looks around.  They’re back at Stark Tower, alone in a briefing room.  He doesn’t remember the trip back. 

  She leans down and whispers in his ear.  “We need to get our stories straight before Coulson skypes in.  Anything you care to share?”

  But Bucky is confused, his thoughts swirling, and he doesn’t know what to say.  Moments later Coulson’s face appears on the laptop screen in front of them, and Natasha calmly recounts the details of their mission. 

  “Sergeant Barnes, anything you want to add?”

  Bucky blinks at Coulson, and shakes his head.  “No, sir.”

  “This was your first time in battle since Steve was injured.  Your first official op with the Avengers, as Captain America or otherwise.  Any problems?”

  “No.” 

  “Romanov, you agree?”

  Coulson’s a top-notch spy, but Natasha’s easily his equal.  “Yes, sir.  Glad to have him on the team.”

  When Coulson signs off, Natasha moves to the door, blocking Bucky’s way.  “We’re talking about this tomorrow,” she says firmly.

  “Fine.”

  He takes the stairs up to the floor with his and Steve’s apartment, the twenty flights flying by.  It’s the middle of the night, and Steve is fast asleep in his room.  Bucky strips off the suit and climbs into bed, shaking.  He screwed up.  There’s nothing he can do about it.  Bucky buries himself in the blankets, and waits for dawn to come.

  <i>There’s screaming all around him, shrieks of pain and fear.  He sees himself pummeling the target, face bloody and broken.  He can’t stop, his metal fist striking again and again, and yet the target is still screaming.</i>

  “Bucky, Bucky, wake up.”

  “I can’t stop, I can’t, help me, help me!” Bucky screams.  He feels strong arms wrap around his body, pinning his hands against a firm chest, and he cries with relief.  It’s Steve.  Steve’s got him.  He can’t hurt anyone anymore.

  “Bucky, breathe.  You’re okay.  Breathe.”

  Steve pulls him tighter against his chest, lets Bucky curl into him, pressing his face into Steve’s neck.  Slowly his body relaxes.  He realizes that he’s half lying on Steve’s fancy cast, and a wave of shame washes over him.  Bucky’s supposed to be taking care of Steve, not the other way around. 

  But when he tries to pull back, Steve just holds him tighter.  “You’re not going anywhere,” Steve says, rubbing a hand over his back.  “Go to sleep, Bucky.  Go to sleep.”

  *****

“That was some nightmare,” Steve says mildly when Bucky joins him in the kitchen the next morning.  There’s a platter of scrambled eggs and toast in the middle of the table, but Bucky doesn’t feel much like eating.

  “Yeah.”

  “Mission didn’t go well?”

  Bucky shrugs.  “It was fine.”

  Steve sits down next to him and tries to catch his eye.  “Want to talk to one of the SHIELD therapists?  Maybe the one you met with before?”

  “I’m fine, Steve.”

  “Natasha doesn’t think so.”

  Traitor, Bucky thinks.  “You talked to Natasha?”

  “She’s worried about you.  Said you kind of blanked on her.”

  Bucky shrugs again.  “I’m fine.  I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “Well, Natasha’s coming over here in a few minutes.  Said maybe you guys would go for a run.”  Steve gives Bucky a pointed look, then flicks his eyes up to the ceiling and back to Bucky.

  If Steve is worried about Jarvis overhearing the conversation, then whatever happened might be even worse than Bucky suspects.

  “Okay, good idea.”

  He and Natasha put several city blocks in between themselves and Stark Tower before she ducks into a coffee shop.  Bucky follows her, sees the glances she gets in her tight black running outfit, and has to laugh at himself, decked out in his finest baggy sweats and two layers of long-sleeved shirts. 

  They settle outside on a bench, coffees in hand.  The early spring sunshine is bright, but doesn’t do much to warm them.

  “You were all happy and lovesick, and then something changed.”  Natasha states.  “Explain.”

  “I’m not lovesick.”

  She narrows her eyes at him.  “That’s not what we’re discussing.”

  Bucky sighs.  “I don’t know, okay?  I was just trying to focus on the mission.  Everything was fine.  We took out the Hydra goons, tranq’d the scientist, and that was that.

  “We?”  Natasha says.  “You acted alone, partner.  Like I wasn’t even there.  Wouldn’t even talk to me for the whole ride back.”

  Bucky shakes his head, the sick feeling in his stomach intensifying.  “I don’t remember the trip back,” he confesses.  “I don’t remember anything between shooting the guy and being in the briefing room.”

  Natasha is silent as she finishes her coffee.  “We should tell Coulson.”

  “No,” Bucky turns to her, panic rising in his gut.  “He’ll rip up the immunity deal.”

  Natasha doesn’t flinch.  “I didn’t say I was going to tell him.  Just said we should.”

  “Shit, just… please don’t tell him.  Give me another chance.  I can do better.”

  Natasha leans her head against his shoulder, like she did back in the hospital when they watched over Steve.  “You didn’t do badly, Barnes.  Hell, you did great.  The perfect soldier.”

  “That’s what I’m worried about,” Bucky says softly.

  “Yeah.  Me too.”

  *****

  The Avengers are called to assemble again that afternoon, an emergency in Philadelphia, something to do with the Liberty Bell becoming animated and taking off down the street.

  Steve follows Bucky around the apartment as Bucky gathers the pieces of his suit.   He’s frowning so hard Bucky is tempted to warn him that his face is gonna stick that way.

  “It’s too soon,” Steve finally says, as Bucky ties his hair in a ponytail.  “You haven’t gotten any rest.”

  “I don’t decide when crazy shit happens, Steve.  I gotta go, have to be upstairs in five.”  His heart is racing, but there’s nothing to be done.  Maybe he can calm himself down on the plane. 

  “Bucky…”

  “What?”

  “Come here.”  Steve tugs him close, puts a hand on the back of his head and tucks his face up against his cheek.  They stay that way for a long moment, Bucky breathing in Steve’s scent, clean laundry and skin and a hint of aftershave.  “You know I’m no good without you, right?”  Steve whispers, and Bucky’s heart nearly leaps out of his chest.

  “I’m not going anywhere, Steve,” he says, wrapping his arms around Steve’s broad shoulders.  “I’ll be back, I promise.”

  When his phone pings he pulls back, and is shocked to see Steve’s eyes bright with tears.

  “I’ll stay, if you want,” he says quickly, because no immunity deal is worth this.  They can live somewhere else, fuck America, it’s nothing next to Steve.

  “No, no, that’s not what… no.”  Steve wipes his eyes and straightens his shoulders.  “Sorry, just feeling sentimental.  Go.”

  “You sure?”

  Steve shakes his head.  “Yeah.  They need you, the team needs you, I’m being silly.  Just – come back home, okay?”

  Bucky leans in and kisses Steve smack on the mouth before he can think about it, and then he’s out the door and flying up the stairs to the roof without so much as a goodbye.

  He climbs into the jet in a daze, barely registering the greetings from Clint and Tony, the news that Thor is joining them later, the update on the operation from Coulson.  They make a stop to pick up Natasha, who calmly sits herself down next to Bucky and hands him another coffee.  With sugar.

  “Status report?”  she asks under her breath, when the others start debating whether Thor’s hammer will make the Liberty Bell ring or just smash it.

  “I kissed Steve,” Bucky breathes out, and Natasha leans her shoulder against his metal arm, chuckling softly to herself.

  “It’s about time.”

  When they get close, Bucky shakes himself and starts to stand up, but Natasha stops him with a hand on his arm.  “No need for any mind tricks this time,” she says steadily.

  “I have to focus.  I can’t be thinking about…” he waves his hands helplessly.  “Things.  Him.  When I fight.”

  She looks at him squarely.  “You can.  You have to.  It’s hard, I know, given your conditioning.”  She doesn’t even stumble over the word, doesn’t shy away.  “But if you keep going back there… you’ll lose yourself.  It’s not worth it.”

  “Speaking from experience?”  he asks.  He has a feeling he knows the answer.

  “What do you think?” she replies, a trace of bitterness lacing her words.  “Anyway, the whole team is here today.  Don’t try to do this on your own.  We have to work together.”

  Bucky nods.  “I’ll try.”

  “Hey,” she says, tilting her head.  “We’ve got your back, you know.”

  His throat is tight, so he just nods again.  He knows it’s part of the job, but it’s nice to hear it.

  When they get to Philadelphia, it’s chaos.  The animated Liberty Bell has vacated its home near Independence Hall and is hightailing it north, stopping traffic on Route 95 in both directions.

  “Any idea what the hell is going on?”  Clint asks. 

  Natasha relays the answer from Coulson.  “Apparently it’s been treated with some kind of fancy alien molecule.”  Natasha’s heading up this mission – Bucky is willing to act as their figurehead, but he has no interest in being in charge.

  Nevertheless, Bucky-as-Captain-America has to take point, get out in front of the crowd, let people see that Captain America is there to protect them.  So he does.  Tony provides cover while Natasha and Clint work on getting the civilians out of the way.

  Bucky finally gets close enough to throw his shield at the bell, which is lurching up the street faster than anything that big has a right to move.  But the shield just bounces off and flies back to his hand.  Bucky throws it again, using all the force his metal arm can muster, but the damn thing barely seems to feel it, rocking a bit and then continuing on its way.

  “Try taking out its legs,” Tony says on the comms.

  “It doesn’t have legs,” Bucky replies, gritting his teeth as he dodges a car that the Bell has shoved back towards him.  “It’s just floating or something.”

  “It’s got to be holding itself up somehow, some kind of energy field,” Tony says.  He catches another car on its way back towards Bucky.  “Get the shield under it.  Knock out its knees.”

  “Doesn’t have knees,” Bucky mutters to himself, but he tries it anyway, gliding the shield under the Bell as hard as he can.  Much to his surprise, the Bell falters, and when he does it again, the damn thing slams to a halt right there on the surface of the highway.

  Tony is cheering and shouting something about being a genius, brains over beauty winning every time, and Bucky wonders if Steve puts up with this kind of ribbing.  He realizes that he probably does, and for a moment, being Captain America doesn’t seem quite so bad.

  It takes hours to clean up the mess, ruined cars up and down the road, frightened people quickly turning from scared to thankful to pissed off about having their cars totaled and their days ruined.  Bucky does his best to play the part, channeling Steve’s most polite public persona. 

  As the evening wears on, Bucky can’t help think about the kiss – the <i>kiss</I> - but it doesn’t get in his way, not enough to matter.  And maybe the way he feels colors his interactions with the people in the street, making him a little more patient, more forgiving.  This Captain America gig isn’t just about killing the bad guys – it’s also about helping everyone else.  Having Steve on the edge of his thoughts might just be an advantage.

  By the time they pile back into the quinjet it’s past midnight.  Coulson lets them do a quick briefing over the phone, with the agreement that they give a more detailed report the following afternoon.

  “Unless you send us out again,” Natasha mutters, and Coulson smirks at her from her phone screen. 

  “Next time I’ll wait until the Liberty Bell makes it to the Statue of Liberty and they join forces,” Coulson says.  “If you’re too tired to do your job.”

  He goes on to thank them for their efforts, ignoring Tony’s insistence that he deserves most valuable player recognition, and signs off.

  Clint breaks out the bag of snacks, and walks around the plane like a flight attendant, offering little bags of popcorn and protein bars to anyone who is awake enough to eat.  Bucky chews on a protein bar and swallows down a liter of water, and sits back in his chair.  Natasha’s across the aisle from him, and she idly tosses a piece of popcorn in his direction.

  “Good work out there, Barnes,” she says. 

  He shrugs.

  “No, really.  I’m glad to have you on the team.”

  He can’t help the warmth that spreads inside him at her words.  He thinks he knows her well enough at this point to believe them.

  ******

  Bucky eases open the door to their suite, trying to be quiet.  It’s still the middle of the night, and Steve needs his rest.

  But there’s still a light on in the living room, and a familiar figure on the couch, tablet in hand. 

  Bucky takes a deep breath.  He’s going to have to explain himself now, it seems.  No sneaking into his own bed to avoid the topic until morning.  “Steve, I’m sorry, I don’t know what…”

  Steve’s face lights up when he sees Bucky, and it takes the words out of his mouth.  Steve stands and crosses the room, his casted leg hardly slowing him up.  He smiles shyly as he comes right up in Bucky’s space.

  “You’re sorry?”  Steve asks lightly, putting a hand to Bucky’s cheek. 

  Bucky leans into it, his eyes closing.  It’s okay.  Steve wouldn’t be holding him like this – he’s holding him, careful but sure – if it wasn’t.

  “What are you sorry for?”  Steve blinks at him, long eyelashes fluttering.

  “Don’t know,” Bucky sighs, resting his face against Steve’s and breathing him in.

  “Not sorry for this, I hope,” Steve replies, and shifts to place a firm kiss on Bucky’s lips.  He pulls back, his blue eyes searching Bucky’s face, and Bucky melts.

  “No, not sorry for that.”

  “Good.”  Steve kisses him again, harder.  His lips are soft and wet, and Bucky’s mouth opens with a gasp.  Steve licks at his lips, the slick heat of his tongue sending a shiver up Bucky’s spine.  Bucky loses himself in it, pleasure surging through his body.

  “Let’s get you out of this,” Steve says, sliding the harness off Bucky’s shoulder.

   Bucky leans his head against Steve’s and finds the zipper of his jacket, but hesitates as the thought of what’s happening registers.  Is he really about to strip Steve out of his clothes?  “Steve, is… is this okay?”

  “What, you think we’re moving too fast?”  Steve says calmly, rubbing a hand on the back of Bucky’s neck.  “Seventy-something years not enough for you?”  He smiles as he speaks, stepping back just a bit to let Bucky know he can have the space if he needs it.

  He abruptly realizes that he doesn’t.

  “Nah, you’re right,” Bucky says, a little breathless with it.  “I’m good.  If you’re sure you want…”

  Steve surges forward again, covering Bucky’s face with kisses.  “I want, believe me.  I’ve wanted you forever.”

  Bucky gasps and kisses him back, growling his agreement into Steve’s mouth.  Steve almost loses his balance, and Bucky grabs him firmly under the arms, remembering that he’s balancing on his fancy Stark cast.

  “What do you say we take this to more stable ground?”  Bucky asks.

  “If by that you mean the bed, it’s a deal.”

  For an injured man and an exhausted Avenger they don’t waste any time shedding their clothes and getting into bed, although Bucky thinks his heart almost stops when Steve holds open the covers and he slides in next to him.  He’s seen Steve naked before, of course, but not like this, not laid open and bare for him, for Bucky to look at and touch and taste.  It’s intoxicating.

  They arrange themselves so as not to put any pressure on Steve’s leg, Steve brushing off Bucky’s concerns with a hasty reassurance that Stark’s cast will protect him and by god, he is not going to let anything stop him now, which Steve immediately tries to demonstrate by leaning down and licking a stripe along Bucky’s hard length.

  Bucky nearly cries out, but it’s clear that despite Steve’s determination, the position is kind of ridiculous for Steve given the cast.  He pulls him up and kisses him soundly, then pushes Steve back by the shoulders and makes him lie down on the bed.  “Maybe next time,” he says, guiding Steve’s hand to him instead, and taking Steve in his own.  “Don’t want you hurting yourself.”

  Steve doesn’t protest, and Bucky would like to think it is at least in part due to the fact that he has better things to think about.  From the delicious noises he’s making as Bucky strokes him, he thinks there’s a good chance of it.

  Then Steve focuses on Bucky, working him over until he’s panting and shaking, and Bucky loses track of everything except Steve, his touch and his voice, the smell of him all around him. 

  Steve changes the pace for a moment, kissing down Bucky’s chest and swirling his tongue around a nipple, and Bucky almost can’t take it anymore.  “Oh my god, Steve.”  He digs his face into Steve’s neck, gets a hand on Steve’s ass to pull them closer, and ruts shamelessly against him.

  “That’s it, Buck, that’s it,” Steve encourages, hand tangling in Bucky’s hair as Bucky lets go, his orgasm rushing over him.  Steve follows soon after with a shout.  They’re sticky and sweaty and altogether disgusting, but as far as Bucky is concerned, he’s never been happier.

  *****

The next morning Bucky wakes up cuddled against Steve’s bare chest.  Steve is scrolling through something on his phone with one hand, his other arm holding Bucky close.

  “Morning, sunshine,” Steve says, pressing a kiss to Bucky’s hair.

  “Mmm.  What time is it?”

  “Nearly ten.”

  Bucky pushes himself up on an elbow.  Steve is bright eyed and alert, beaming at Bucky. 

  “You never sleep in,” Bucky says, confused.

  “I made an exception,” Steve says, leaning in to kiss Bucky properly.

  Bucky relaxes, parting his lips and letting Steve in, morning breath and everything.  “I could get used to waking up like this.”  He sighs and lays back down on Steve’s chest.  “World doesn’t need saving today?”  He pokes at Steve’s phone so he can see what he’s looking at.  It’s a picture of Bucky as Captain America, taken yesterday when he was consoling a little girl in the aftermath of the Philadelphia battle. The headline is “New Cap:  Fit to Wear the Suit?”

  “You don’t need to read this,” Steve says, swiping at his phone and setting it aside.  “People gave me crap all the time, you know.  I hate that it’s happening to you, too.”

  Bucky looks around at the Captain America harness draped over the headboard, pieces of the suit tossed on the floor where they landed when Steve took him to bed just hours ago.  His gaze lands on Steve, naked underneath him, blue eyes full of love and concern. 

  “I’m all right,” Bucky says.  “Really.”  He leans down and kisses Steve, long and hot and deep.  “I’m fine with either one of us wearing the suit, as long as we get to do this when it comes off.”

[ramblinganthropologist]

31 Days of Fanfic, Day 24

Topic: A challenge from someone else Topic explanation: (given to me by my friend Melly) Explain Hawke through the eyes of others. Summary: Before Cassandra kidnapped Varric, she asked around to find out if Hawke really was what the book made her out to be.  Word count: 2017 (wow this got away from me)

---

The first person Cassandra had dragged in was Jethann. She had found him in the rebuilt Blooming Rose, plying his trade. He glared at her from across the table, unable to do much with the heavily armed guards on either side.

“Talk, elf.”

“Oh, talking is something I can do, but it's going to cost you.” He looked serious for a second. “What do you want to come all the way here?”

Wordlessly, Cassandra slid the book over to him, cover up. The stylized image of a warrior, holding her sword to the sky, had been rendered with loving care by some artist in the city. It left off the pointed ears, though.

“Tell me everything you know about her.”

---

“Everything alright tonight, Jeth?”

“It is now that you're here.”

Avery always chuckled when he said that. She usually came in right as the sun was starting to dip behind the high arch that led to the Blooming Rose's front door,  sliding in through the side entrance like they had told her to do. Like always, she was quiet when she did so.

Jethann could breathe a little easier when she was around. Something about her strong arms and sharp gaze cut through most of the problems they got at the Rose, and if that didn't work her fists did the rest. And oh, she didn't mind that.

“Staying all night, Hawke?”

He let his voice carry just so those at a nearby table could hear. One of them, part of the city guard, had been leering at him all night with a nearly empty coin purse. Men like those rarely paid properly, and he could smell him from nearly twenty feet away. Definitely a no.

To his great relief, she nodded and took up a seat by the wall. “It's a quiet night, why not spend it with one of my good friends?”

Her sword rested against the wall, right within reach. He could see the bracers under her loose shirt, her breeches hiding the tops of her boots. She might have been dressed down, but she was well protected should it come to blows.

“Always a pleasure to have you visit.” A customer beckoned to Jethann from the side, one of his regulars. “Now, if you would excuse me, I have some work to do.”

“Have fun, Jeth.” Avery gave him a nod as she passed. With her, things just fell a little more civil in the Rose. It was a pity she couldn't come every night, but the city's favorite half blood had to sleep sometime.

He was just glad it wasn't when he was working normally. Without her to throw out the assholes who didn't take the rules seriously, work was a real pain in the ass. With her there, he could focus on earning coin instead.

And oh, he would much prefer to focus on that.

---

The second person Cassandra found had been by luck. Vincento had all but wandered into her clutches, looking as though he had a nasty concussion. A healer had tended to his injuries, providing the optimal conditions for her to question him once he could talk.

He was less helpful once lucid.

“I don't know why you're asking me to help. I barely saw Hawke over the years.”

Her lip curled as she stared down. “She made quite the scene at your stall, and you have connections to her through your son. Talk.”

She had heard all about that, of course. When Hawke chose to make a scene, she was an expert at it. People were still talking about it years later, enough that she had gotten a decent picture. Cassandra needed more ,though.

The Antivan glared, but relented. “Fine, but I don't see how this is going to help you.”

---

“Are you Vincento?”

“Indeed, I am. Your reputation proceeds you, Hawke.”

If not her reputation, her ears. He had spotted her clear as day across the open space of the Lowtown market, crawling as it was with customers and cut-purses a like. Even with her slight height, she stuck out like a sore thumb.

So few with her ears were armed like that. With the rumors as they were, she had lost the heritage lottery and come out looking like her elf father, rather than her human mother. Why she had claimed Hawke instead of Amell was beyond him.

She smiled, but there was nothing friendly about it. “Where's your kid?”

He had feigned ignorance. “I've never had the pleasure of children. Can I interest you in this knife instead? It seems a shame to send you off empty handed.”

Her smile dropped, and annoyance flashed through her eyes. In the low light, he was certain they would have glowed as readily as any full blooded elf in Kirkwall. Like cat's eyes, which is why he never understood the insult of rabbit. Clearly, they were all half feral cats instead.

This one hissed. “Cut the bullshit, Vincento. I know you have an elf-blooded son named Feynriel, because his mother's looking for him. You know, the woman you abandoned? Time to step up to the fucking plate.”

Hawke grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him forward. “So start talking.”

There was still blood on her armor, because he could smell it. Rumor was she didn't mind getting it or her hands dirty if it was for the right cause. Sometimes, that cause was filling her sister's stomach, other times it was breaking the nose of anyone who crossed her.

He was definitely crossing her then, and he had seen the back alleys of Kirkwall after she had finished walking through them.

“The boy is in over his head, serah.” He swallowed hard, watching where her other hand was. Right then, it had been at her side, dangerously close to that sword of hers. “So I sent him to the only man I know that doesn't despise mages. A former Templar named Samson.”

Her face never shifted. “Why the fuck would a Templar help an apostate?”

“His conscience plagues him from serving for so long. Now he helps mages on the run.” The hand was twitching. Time was short. “He stays out of sight during the day. At night you can find him near Darktown.”

Darktown was the magic word. Hawke let him go, casting him one last dirty look before she turned on her heel to return to her friends. Vincento had been more than happy to see the infamous hawk shield, a bird painted over what was more than likely a stolen Templar shield. It seemed for that day, he had avoided becoming like the former owner.

---

The last person had come to Cassandra, rather than needing to be dragged in. Aveline stood tall, armed as she entered where the other warrior was staying. When their eyes met, it was as if sparks flew between them, setting the room aflame.

“Guard Captain Vallen.”

“Seeker Pentaghast.”

It was Cassandra who blinked first, yet she refused to give up an inch. “I did not expect to see you here.”

She had read the book enough times to know what to expect. Business-like, serious, and a tough as hell warrior. If it came down to fighting, the two would be evenly matched. However, that would've been a bad idea in such a small space, especially considering where they were.

Luckily, it didn't seem to be going to that as the other warrior kept her sword in its sheath. “You've been roughing up citizens of Kirkwall in your hunt. Protection is my job.”

Much to Cassandra's surprise, she took a seat. “You should have asked me about Hawke anyway if you needed information. Varric left some things out.”

It was the tone of her voice that caused the two to sit at the same table. From the look in Aveline's eyes, there was much she had to say.

---

“Aveline, I am not giving him copper magnolias.”

“But you promised.”

It was a hot day, and the guard's headquarters was even muggier thanks to the lack of windows and all the heavy armor. Guards were cooking in their armor, with red faces and sweaty palms to show for it. With their criminals sporting the same marks of the heat, it was hard to tell who was who.

Aveline found herself across the table from a rather irate woman, clutching the aforementioned present in her small hands. Avery gave her a long look as she placed the box on the desk, nudging it back towards her friend.

“It'll mean more if it comes from you.”

That caused the guard captain to groan. “Hawke, he's one of my men!”

“Should make the bedroom interesting then. Are you going to ask him to call you captain?” Avery began to snicker as she laced her fingers behind her head, leaning back. Her famous shit-eating grin had returned, washing away the day's annoyances. Like that, she could almost be considered charming.

Aveline hated when she was like that.

At least she remembered to take a deep breath. “Please, be serious. You promised to give it to him and tell me what he said.”

“Yeah, but that was before I knew what the hell you were doing.” The smirk never changed. “Seriously, weren't you married once before? I'd expect this from somebody else.”

The guard captain sighed. She had been hoping not to need this as she leaned forward, locking eyes with the elf-blood. The reports on her desk had been bothering her all morning, warning her that a local gang had all been found dead. It didn't take a genius to know who frequented that area of Darktown, so close to an almost fabled clinic, to know who had the dirty hands.

“If you don't do it, I might be forced to arrest you for what you did to the Snake Heads last night.”

Avery's smirk turned to a pout, and then she let out a low groan. “Seriously, Aveline? Low blow. I didn't get to bed until nearly dawn because I was chasing them around. Pretty sure I knocked at least three off your bounty board.”

That money would of course be going nowhere; Hawke was forbidden from collecting, and she wouldn't have anyway. Both of them knew that the threat was as empty as the viscount's head, but she'd had to make it anyway.

Sighing, Avery picked up the box. “Fine, I'll go give your boyfriend the dumb gift. If he laughs at me, you can deal with the next gang yourself.”

“That's my job!”

“Then consider me a consultant, I don't know.” With an eye roll, the half-elf started towards the door. If Aveline listened close enough, she could hear the grumpy mutterings of her chosen messenger. It was going to be done.

And all it had taken was the threat of arrest.

---

After everyone had gone for the day, Cassandra was left alone. She stared down at her book, flipping to the highlighted portions. Each of them described the acts of a woman who had seemed larger than life, almost mythical.

Yet, according to her witnesses, Avery Hawke indeed existed and was just as ridiculous as she had believed.

“It appears Varric was telling the truth.” Leliana was at her side, having appeared from seemingly out of nowhere. “Of course, I could have told you that.”

Cassandra let out a disgusted noise as she picked up the book. “I had to hear it for myself for the investigation.”

One thing was clear: the small woman was a highly competent warrior who acted by her own set of codes. What she considered right lay heavily along the pro-mage equation of the Mage-Templar war, but beyond that, she was a mystery.

“We'll have to keep asking.” The warrior grimaced. “Find the dwarf.”

She needed to hear the whole story, and perhaps it was best to get it from the horse's mouth itself.

[richmacleod]

After a lost year, Vic Black is fighting his way to get back to the big leagues

The story of 27-year-old, right-handed relief pitcher Vic Black is one that has it's fair share of peaks and valleys. Spending time in both the Pirates and Mets organizations from 2009-2015, Black has shown the potential he's capable of. Recently, however, his story has become one of shoulder troubles, minor league stints and uncertainty.

Born in Amarillo, Texas on May 23, 1988, Vic Black isn't one of your typical stories about a professional baseball player who was born with the immediate love of the game. In fact, it was quite the contrary for him.

As many people likely know, football is a dominant force in Texas and as a kid, it's what Black watched the most. As far as other sports, the only other thing he ever really watched was volleyball, and that's thanks to growing up with his three sisters.

It wasn't until he was a 10-year-old that Black first made the decision to play baseball. And still, it wasn't because he had the burning passion to do so.

"I think I got in the last year you could be in coach pitch, and it was because my buddies were playing," Black told About.com. "I don't think it was a desire like 'man, that looks like so much fun,' I just couldn't hang out with my friends because they had to go play baseball, so I said 'that's a bum deal, I'll just go play.'"

Seven years later, Black was fully immersed in the game of baseball, playing for the Golden Sandstorm of Amarillo High School... As a catcher.

"The longer you're in the field, the more you understand the game around you," Black explained.

While he has dealt with neck and shoulder problems throughout his career, Vic has never had any elbow issues and believes that both the health of his elbow and a better understanding of the way the game is played are thanks to playing in the field throughout his four years at Amarillo High.

It wasn't until the end of his high school days that Black began to see what he could do on the mound. "I loved throwing from the outfield, I loved playing long toss," Black went on to say. "You start getting that feeling like 'it's getting there kinda fast.' I'm looking at the other guys throw it, but then I throw it and I think, 'there's something different.'"

Black claims that for the most part he didn't know much of what he was doing on the mound those days, but his velocity became an impressive trait as he was able to dial his fastball up to 96 MPH in the final game of his senior year.

"Being able to throw hard, it's something you get excited about," Black explained about his velocity. "This is fun, I wanna go do this as much as possible."

While he was still a work in progress as a pitcher, Black's velocity was dynamic enough to get him drafted out of high school as a pitcher in the 2006 MLB Amateur Draft. As chance so happens, Black was selected in the 41st round by a team he would wind up on years later: The New York Mets.

"I knew I had the kind of arm to attract them," he recalled, "but to go do it at that time would've been unwise due to, honestly, no development whatsoever. That young, there's so much to be learned in college and you're given the opportunity without the expectation that somebody's going to take your job if you don't do well."

Considering this, Black ultimately decided not to sign with the Mets and headed to Dallas Baptist University instead.

Soon after arriving to college, Black made the full transition from catcher to pitcher. "You receive the ball well, but the whole picking it and not really being able to hit thing isn't gonna quite play out," manager Eric Newman joked with him. From that moment on, it was all about pitching for Black.

In three college seasons, Black appeared in 48 games (42 as a starting pitcher). While his 4.64 ERA wasn't enough to impress teams on it's own, he was able to draw plenty of interest after amassing 246 strikeouts in 246.1 innings pitched. That equates to a career 9.00 strikeouts per 9 innings rate.

After being taken in the 41st round of the 2006 MLB Draft, Black found himself ascend to the 49th overall pick in the supplementary first round, taken by the Pittsburgh Pirates just three years later. To this day, Black is the highest draft pick in Dallas Baptist University history—a school that was once home to current and former major leaguers such as Freddy Sanchez, Ben Zobrist and Ryan Goins.

While it would still take three seasons to reach the big leagues, Black feels the lessons learned in the minors were not time wasted.

"The biggest thing that I had to learn was that it doesn't happen right then," he said. "Especially when you get drafted high, you're thinking this means that I'm ready. Stephen Strasburg was our No. 1 pick that year and everyone was saying 'oh, he's ready' and as someone who was 48 picks behind him I was thinking 'yeah, I think I might be, too.' You get that mindset, but then you get there and you start facing challenges."

Entering 2010, Black was the 12th ranked prospect in the Pirates farm system, however due to shoulder and bicep injuries, he appeared in just 29 games over the course of his first two years. It wasn't until the 2012 season that he had his first full minor league season, where he really began to make his name.

Now a full-time reliever, Black dominated Double-A during 2012 as he recorded a 1.65 ERA while racking up 13 saves and a whopping 85 strikeouts in just 60 innings pitched.

After posting a 2.51 ERA in Triple-A Indianapolis up through the All-Star break the following season, Black finally got his first shot at the big leagues as Pirates closer Jason Grilli went down with a strained right flexor tendon.

"My roommate at the time Duke Welker starts banging on the door, yelling 'Vic, your phone's going off!'" Black recalled. "I finish up showering, I'm in my pajamas and Duke is refusing to answer my phone, so I take it out, call my manager back and the first thing he says to me is 'pack your bags, you have to be at the airport in an hour.' At first, I wasn't even sure if it was joke or not."

It wasn't.

Black hopped on a plane to meet the Pirates in Washington, D.C. for their series against the Nationals. Finally, he was a big leaguer.

"It was blazing hot, I was sweating through my suit but it was the greatest thing in the world," he said about his trip to the ballpark that day.

Just one month after making his major league debut, Black's world changed as the Pirates traded him to the Mets—the team that originally drafted him out of high school—along with Dilson Herrera in exchange for Marlon Byrd and John Buck.

Despite Pittsburgh being on the cusp of breaking a 21-year postseason drought and leaving the only organization he had ever known, the new opportunity that presented itself was something that was exciting.

"I got called up, debuted in D.C., got traded a month later and then met the Mets for the first time... in D.C.," Black said, chuckling at the odds of such a thing happening. "It was cool, I was in a spot where I could get an opportunity to pitch the way and in a role I'd like to, but it was really what my agent said that was exciting. He told me 'Vic, there's L.A., there's Chicago, but then there's New York. They don't even compare.'"

Black finished out the 2013 campaign by pitching in 15 games for the Mets out of the bullpen, going 3-0 with a 3.46 ERA, 12 strikeouts and four walks in 13 innings pitched, but it was the following year that saw him really take a step forward.

While he did begin the 2014 season at Triple-A Las Vegas, it wasn't long before Black found his way back to the major leagues with the Mets and, once again, he showed his potential. In 41 games with the team that season, Black recorded a 2.60 ERA with 32 strikeouts (albeit with 19 walks) in 34.2 innings pitched.

Yet again, though, the injury bug bit the 26-year-old reliever as he sustained a pinched nerve and herniated disc in his neck, along with a shoulder strain that caused him to be shut down for the remainder of the season.

Even with the injuries, Black seemed as though he was set up to be a part of the Mets bullpen for years as he had been nothing but productive for the team at the major league level in each and every big league stint.

Then came 2015.

In the beginning of the season, Black found himself working his way back from the shoulder injury which curtailed his 2014, hoping to make his way back to the majors. Unfortunately, that's not what happened.

"It was a struggle," Black admitted. "There were some days where my arm didn't feel good, there were other days where it felt great but I just couldn't seem to figure out why. It didn't make any sense, we had seen several doctors who didn't really have a grasp on what could've been going on, it became more of a 'we think' situation, so we let it play out."

By the midway point of the season, Black continued to struggle mightily in the minor leagues as he posted a 25.86 ERA with 18 strikeouts and 14 walks in 18.1 innings pitched over 20 appearances between Single-A St. Lucie, Double-A Binghamton and Triple-A Las Vegas. The right-hander also had to deal with a groin issue that sidelined him for over a week in the first half of the season. After that stretch, however, things seemed to be headed in the right direction as the right-hander had a stretch of allowing just one run in 11.1 innings pitched over 12 appearances.

"I felt like I was kind of getting some rhythm back," Black explained. "My agent had some conversations with the front office who told him to keep me focused and that when rosters expand in September, there's a good chance I could be called back up."

With not much time left before the rosters expanded, things seemed to be on course for Black, who entered a game looking to keep the tying run at third from scoring with two outs. Much to everyone's surprise, the batter at the plate laid down a perfect suicide squeeze to tie the game. The following night, things continued to fall off the rails as Black was hit hard, allowing three runs in less than a full inning and blowing the save in the process.

"This is not happening right now," Black thought at the time. "In the past I don't get hit. If I give up runs it's because I walked a couple guys and then missed a pitch. I just didn't know what was happening."

On August 30th, just two days before the major league rosters expanded, the Mets acquired reliever Addison Reed in a waiver deal with the Diamondbacks and the team informed Black ahead of time that he was being outrighted, leading to the end of his career in New York.

"I wasn't showing what I did the year before so with that and the move they made, they couldn't afford to keep me on the 40-man roster at that point," Black said of the team's reasoning.

What began as a promising Mets career ended with injuries and frustration for Black, who admits that the end of the 2015 season did get to him at times. With all of the injury problems he's experienced over the years and the recent news of his former teammate Jenrry Mejia receiving a lifetime ban from baseball due to three PED violations, I asked Black if he's ever felt the temptation of steroids to keep him on the field and help him make his way back to the majors.

"I had a conversation with my dad back in 2011 when I had just come off of a year and a half of injuries and throwing 86-87 MPH. At the time a few guys in the big leagues had been suspected of using and my dad just looked at me and said 'don't you ever do that,'" Black explained. "My response to him was that with everybody there will come a point where we just can't play well enough to compete at this level anymore and when that day comes and I can't naturally do this anymore, I'm fine with walking away."

Today as pitchers and catchers begin their first workouts of the 2016 season, Black has yet to find a new team. And while he would love to return to New York, a place he describes as home now, he realizes his time with the Mets has come and gone. As such, Black posted a public goodbye to Mets fans on Twitter earlier in February, as he felt they deserved to be acknowledged after all of the support they'd given him over the years.

Soon to be 28-years-old, Black continues to remain optimistic at his chances to return to the major leagues. "For me to be able to play 15 more years past this, I think that would be a testament to staying true in battling the situations as they continue to come," Black said of his remaining goal. "I still believe I can do it, there's no doubt in that."

Still unsigned, Black aims to be ready to pitch again later this summer, whether it comes on a major or minor league contract. All he asks for at this point is another shot. And for someone with the ability to reach 97 MPH consistently on their fastball and break off a curveball like he's shown he can do, he probably deserves one.

Today, Vic Black cherishes his time with the Mets and even though it's come to an end for now, he remains hopeful of a reunion down the road one day. "I got to be a part of the city, and not just a player," Black said of New York. "And that was the best part of all."

[limewire3]

All About the Trench Shoring Box | A Top Level Piece of Trench Shoring Equipment

Excavation services will be undertaken thousands of times every single day throughout the US. Visit This Site shoring box devices will be often used to acquire the effort area by making sure ground stability. Because connected with the risk of mishaps inside the work area, typically the trenching shield have to comply with the laws and regulations regulating trenching and excavation routines. Trench Shoring Boxes is usually some sort of leading player inside the shoring industry. The Kundel firm offers a range associated with secure and sturdy trench cages made from lightweight steel and light weight aluminum to guarantee worker safety. The particular shoring boxes feature sidewalls involving changing thickness as well since compatible steel or perhaps aluminum spreaders. The rent to own metal boxes provided by the company attribute reinforced knife-edge, pounding patches, all-steel design and usable and horizontal steel users for maximum durability. Typically the aluminum trench shoring boxes are great for lighting repair work and appointed maintenance service. The wide-ranging Kundel light in weight aluminum shoring equipment shoring boxes are obtainable in different stackable array and sizes. Kundel shields are all certified together with OSHA regulations and criteria for hazardous working circumstances. Products consist of TuffGuy plus V-Panel. The TuffGuy package collection features durable cells together with steel made end people, which are particularly designed to ensure maximum protection in the trench. Often the panels are in addition independently plus vertically variable. The Kundel V-Panel can be mostly used for working around crossing utilities. The various other solution brand sold plus leased by the company is ShoreLite. Choosing the Right Trench shoring boxes When choosing a trench shoring box, you certainly want something which is at great shape and can have up well to stop accident or injuries. Acquiring or maybe renting the best suited shoring equipment can end up being tasking because there are various types of equipment of distinct sizes. The company offers a new wide involving systems to get rent and purchase. Your decision on what to get or rent is normally dependent on factors such as cost, type of assignment and crew comfort. This amount of money the contractor is willing to help pay as a way to buy as well as rent shielding equipment generally depends on the fiscal strength of the electricity firm as well seeing that the amount of job the specialist wants to help cover. It is really important to select a new gun that fits typically the supposed assignment. To do this specific more effectively, you need in order to look at components these as level of the particular excavation, soil stability and floor pressure from typically the adjacent buildings as in reality as groundwater. The soil are usually classified as Type A good soils, Variety B soils and Forms C soils based in the arrangement. Since typically the weight of the soil cannot be supported by human toughness, it is definitely important to choose some sort of safe together with fully operational. Damages and defects found in protective devices must in no way be neglected because connected with the dangers they present. This is why our own company supplies aluminum plus steel trench shields that is safe and connected with the particular best quality to help meet the wants of the excavation and shoring business. Trench Shoring Basic safety Tools Excavation work entails considerable digging and pacification; for this reason, workers need to as well wear protective gear to make sure personal safety. Trenches cause a big risk because of the possibility of trench collapsing and capturing workers and gear. The utilization of dangerous trench shoring products can also hinder work advance and lead to be able to the loss of quite a few man-hours. To protect staff, each of our company’s boxes are designed with longer sections and even stronger rails to be able to generate longer clearance ability. The boxes also attribute braced partitioning that happen to be especially built to steer clear of the risk of collapsing. Contractors should also have their shoring boxes inspected regularly simply by some sort of professional. The gadgets should be inspected for signs of cracks in welds, deformed plates, bent struts and tension cracks for the particular surface all-around trenches. Within case you are working with hydraulic shoring equipment, you need to make sure the hydraulic pistons the fact that push versus the trench wall space can be checked regularly to be able to make certain they operate as they should. The other locations that need close up overview include water leaks throughout cyl and tubes, damaged hard nips, bent bases, together with cracked sheathing. Almost all mistakes must be documented to the manager. For you to Buy or perhaps Rent Booking is frequently considered additional viable if the existing job includes constant going. In particular, the work requirements for cardboard boxes and fall rails may vary from a person season or style of project to the some other. Considering that new shoring gear will be expensive, many building contractors favor hiring used products. Companies who prefer purchasing their very own equipment can easily acquire advantage of the tax laws which permit reductions associated with insurance, insurance, service fees, licenses, refurbishments and value devaluation. Our Company Advantage The boxes plus bracing devices offered simply by our company are usually inspected and certified by means of technical engineers. The company provides a new lease contract to own layout which is incredibly cost effective to installers. The arrangement gives contractors a chance to attempt the equipment before making complete payment. The technicians may also be allowed to lease the containers for shorter and extended intervals. The boxes will likewise get replaced or came back in case they do certainly not compare to the assigned job. The company is also responsible for maintenance function. Often the crews for our trench shoring box are conditioned to work in a safe setting without having to worry about challenges like cave-ins, falls, decreasing loads and dangerous environment every venture is done professionally. The particular shoring equipment is safe and simple to be able to install because they happen to be pre-engineered making high-quality materials that can tolerate intensive pressures and moves. All of our shoring operations adhere to OSHA safety guidelines to be sure buyers get value for money, no matter the size of the job. Besides selling and renting shoring equipment, we as well give technical, maintenance and detailed training to buyers in addition to contractors who acquire or perhaps lease our tools. Our own operations cover a wide geographical area thanks to the vast substantial vendor networking. You can easily find in touch with typically the trench shoring technical workforce simply by phone or email with regard to consultations and support.

[recentnews18-blog]

New Post has been published on https://shovelnews.com/what-happened-in-last-nights-im-a-celebrity-who-is-in-the-im-a-celeb-final-our-daily-jungle-diary-round-up-radio-times/

What happened in last night's I'm a Celebrity? Who is in the I'm a Celeb final? Our daily Jungle Diary round-up - Radio Times

Harry has gone and won the thing

Monday, 10th December 2018 at 9:13 am

Day twenty-two

The three finalists – Harry, John and Emily – took on individual bushtucker trials, and the public crowned Harry Redknapp king of the jungle.

Advertisement

Do you want Holly Willoughby to present I’m a Celeb! 2019?

Emily Atack goes face-to-face with the critters

In her final bushtucker trial, the former Inbetweeners star was forced to don a large spacesuit helmet filled with critters for five minutes. Each minute, more creatures – like, 3,000 cockroaches and 20 scorpions – were dumped in, and it looked like a tough one to take – but she managed to face it quite bravely.

Strong look, @EmAtack. 👌 #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/d58RdLh6IK

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) December 9, 2018

In doing so, she won three tasty starters and desserts for her and her campmates for their final meal.

John Barrowman eats his way to a feast

John had an even less enticing Bushtucker trial, in which hosts Holly and Dec presented him with one nice plate – like a sticky toffee pudding – and one disgusting one – like bull penis – and awarded him a star if he took on the latter.

When Wham! comes on during an otherwise uneventful Christmas dinner. #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/TNIIpFHnf5

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) December 9, 2018

He faced it like a champ, and took in a particularly disgusting-looking drink made with fermented egg and some beach worms to ensure that his campmates would be able to enjoy a tasty treat later on. Most impressively of all, he managed to turn down an Aperol Spritz, which, in that Australian heat, will have looked like a dream.

Harry’s box of nightmares

The third and final bushtucker challenge saw Harry Redknapp placed in a coffin-like box, which, as Harry said himself, felt a little cruel “at his age”. To make matters worse, they filled it with water, rats and some bugs, and he had to stay in there for five minutes.

It was a grim affair, and though Harry got squirmy when Dec revealed that the things crawling all-over him were rats (it was pitch black in the box), he managed to survive the challenge and secure his portion of the final feast.

When he got out, however, the doc discovered that he had gotten a cricket caught in his ear.

Harry: “I’m alright Bob, it’s nothing.” Bob: *Pulls a cricket out of Harry’s ear.*#ImACeleb

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) December 9, 2018

We’re happy to report that neither the cricket, nor Harry, were harmed.

John Barrowman finishes in third place

John graciously departed the jungle first on the night, gushing about the life-changing experience that he had in there, and the friends he had made – in particular, finalist Emily Atack, who he said had become a lifelong friend.

But, when asked who he thought should win, he plumped for ‘Arry, much like 4th place contestant Fleur East, and… Well.

One last time… @JohnBarrowman #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/N0zFxQKjOx

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) December 9, 2018

Harry Redknapp crowned king of the jungle

And so, it was as many had anticipated. Harry has been the star of the series from day one – and, after cultivating a bromance with Noel Edmonds and Nick Knowles, and serving as a father-figure to the younger ones in the camp, he proved rather popular inside and out.

He had never watched the show before, but had no problem conquering it…

Bow before your king.

He’s been an unforgettable Campmate, and a true Jungle legend. Harry Redknapp is your 2018 King of the Jungle! #ImACeleb #ImACelebFinal pic.twitter.com/cEkTDD2s6N

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) December 9, 2018

Day twenty-one

The three finalists of I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! 2018 were revealed, but not before the four remaining campmates – Fleur East, Harry Redknapp, John Barrowman and Emily Atack – looked back on their three weeks together in the camp.

The Celebrity Cyclone

The Cyclone, one of the more entertaining and less gruesome trials, went off without a hitch this year. Sure, all of our celebs got a few balls in the face, and Fleur had to drag Harry around on the mat like a dog to stop him from sliding back into the pool – but failure never really seemed likely.

Noooooo Harry! 😅😩 #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/arQq3WM0Bu

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) December 8, 2018

Jungle: The Musical

There has been A LOT of singing in this series of I’m A Celeb, thanks predominantly to Fleur and John (the former sung Baby It’s Cold Outside elsewhere in this episode – she clearly missed the news that the song has been cancelled) and tonight was no exception. The four remaining housemates composed a musical based on their time in the camp on the spot. It was a bit ramshackle – but impressive nonetheless.

Harry served as a kind of master of ceremonies from his seat, while  John led the girls in song. “We came into the jungle on helicopter machines,” he sanf, “we flew past the mountains but were split up in two teams…”

They went on to do a campy re-enactment of his jungle injury, which saw him rushed off to hospital temporarily earlier on in the series.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the star-studded 2018 Jungle Musical! 🎵 #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/QKkGXOroCL

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) December 8, 2018

After the footage of the musical had aired, Dec and Holly joked that there is an unedited, hour-long version of the musical somewhere. We’d like to get our hands on that…

The gang discuss their highs and lows of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here 2018

The campmates were feeling nostalgic on their second-to-last night in camp, and got into a deep chat about their personal highlights from the past three weeks over the meal (kangaroo) that they won after conquering the cyclone.

Emily Atak was first up and she said that the show has changed her life, citing the viper trial as having helped her overcome her fears.

Fleur was similarly positive about the whole experience, but her top moment was the night out they had in The Jungle Arms. “That night i was just so happy,” she said. “Honestly one of the best memories of my life, period.” Her low point was the bushtucker trial were she encountered a nest of rats.

John, on the other hand, was positive about that  trial, because it helped him face his biggest fear. “One of my fears was being in a confined space in water, and I overcame it,” He said.

And Harry… well, he couldn’t think about much other than the banquet – one of their finest meals over the course of the series.

Fleur is leaves the camp – and the final three are revealed

She managed 22 days in Camp, survived the Gore Seasons Pizza Trial, and had a few ants in her pants. @FleurEast‘s Jungle journey has come to an end! #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/tEydhQXdLi

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) December 8, 2018

Fleur East was sadly voted out by the public, leaving Harry, Emily and John to compete for the Jungle crown in Sunday’s final.

In her post-exit interview with Holly and Dec, she said that Harry had been like a father to her in the jungle, and that she wants him to win. She also doubled down on all the positive energy that has been seeping out of the camp this series.

“We made so many good friends in there, we became like family,” she said. “It was just amazing.”

Now on to Sunday’s grand final where one of Emily Atack, John Barrowman and Harry Redknapp will be crowned king or queen of the jungle…

Day twenty

And then there were five. With Nick Knowles voted out the contest, the final camp quintet entered their last weekend in the jungle with some tearful family reunions, a sneaky one-to-one and yet another elimination.

Harry checks in at the Repvile Centre

Not having taken on a Bushtucker Trial solo yet, Harry (surely destined to become Sir Harry after this series) put himself forward for the Repvile Centre challenge.

It was a task that saw Harry crawl through a series of critter-crammed tanks, having to retrieve five stars using only a magnet. But rather than freaking out about the cunningham skints, perenti lizards, crocs and bearded dragons that got in the way, he calmly tried talking them on board (“Boys, boys, I’m on your side!”).

Not even the albino darwin pythons really phased him, with Harry shouting to Holly Willoughby: “As long as it doesn’t end up in my trousers, I’m happy!”

As brilliant viewing as that would have been, the task was finished without incident and Harry returned to camp with an impressive five out of five stars.

James throws some serious shade

Later in the episode, viewers witnessed some more snakey-behaviour – thankfully still outside of Harry Redknapp’s trousers – courtesy of James.

Sitting down for a heart-to-heart with Harry, The Vamps star covered up his microphone as he said: “I don’t like to be mean but there’s quite a few actors, people who are acting, people are singing for camera and I’m just here like this is me – I don’t want to show off. It gets a bit frustrating sometimes.”

He added: “This show will be amazing for Emily and Fleur it will really help their careers.”

James being a little two faced there#ImACeleb

— Sarah Louise (@SarahLouise30_) December 7, 2018

Some strong words from James, who seemed to suggest his career is in a better place than Emily’s or Fleur’s. Imagine it would be quite embarrassing for him if a viewer vote found he was less well-known than one of those campmates, right?

The British Public declare Fleur more famous than James in the Jungle Awards

#SorryNotSorry, James.

After viewers of I’m a Celeb spin-off Extra Camp were invited to vote on the show’s app, this episode hosted a special Jungle Awards ceremony. And, would you believe it, James was voted the least entertaining and only the fourth most famous campmate – behind Fleur.

In order, the rankings were as follows:

Famous – Harry, John, Fleur, James and Emily

Funniest – Harry, Emily, John, Fleur and James

Sexiest – Fleur, Emily, James, John, Harry

Opinionated – John, Harry, Fleur, Emily and James

Laziest – Harry, Emily, John, James and Fleur

Intelligent John, James, Harry, Fleur and Emily

Entertaining – Harry, John, Emily, Fleur and James.

A good ole family reunion

Bad news if public blubbering makes you uncomfortable: this episode contained a lot after the campmates were reunited with their nearest and dearest. From Emily and her mum, Harry Redknapp and his wife (you remember, the one he accidentally run over), Fleur and her sister, James and his girlfriend, each emotional get-together featured plenty of tears.

Even John’s much-awaited reunion with husband Scott was downright heart-warming, despite the actor shoving his top in his partner’s face to confirm that, yes, John did in fact smell like he’d been living in a jungle for three weeks.

However, it was Harry’s reunion with his beloved Sandra that got viewers crying…

In a world of Love Islands and Tinder dates, don’t settle for anything less than the Harry to your Sandra ❤️ #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/kktHFDWqz4

— Ellen Smith (@ellen_smithxx) December 7, 2018

*Harry Redknapp reunites with his wife Sandra* The UK:#ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/fHfbFDnJIw

— Jasmin (@ItsJasminHere) December 7, 2018

Eventually the campers and their friends and family mingled together at Croc Creek, a meeting that led to Harry Redknapp, esteemed football manager, teaching his wife how to floss on national TV.

Yesssss Sandra! 😂 #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/fdNpAK7DFo

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) December 7, 2018

God Bless this show.

James became the seventh star to be eliminated from the jungle

After finishing in the bottom two with Harry (!), James became the seventh celebrity voted out of the camp.

It’s time for @TheVampsJames to wave goodbye to the Jungle! What a great Campmate he’s been. 👏 #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/i075Jx3Y9u

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) December 7, 2018

“I’m so happy. It’s been the toughest thing I’ve ever done and I’m over the moon to have done it,” he told Holly and Dec after crossing the bridge.

Day nineteen

In a naughty but nice episode of I’m a Celeb, Harry talks about the ‘motion in the notion’, Fleur gets things ‘in the sack’, and Nick Knowles leaves jungle life behind…

Bedroom antics

With Anne’s departure, Nick Knowles – otherwise known as the nation’s sweetheart – decided to redistribute her old things, giving Harry her mattress as his had started to sink.

With a set of mattresses, very Princess and the Pea-stylem as John noticed, Harry revealed he actually has a waterbed at home.

“I’ve had it a long time, I had bad back problems and it’s been amazing.”

Things quickly turned naughty when Fleur cheekily asked. “Does it give you good motion in the ocean Harry?”

“I don’t know what to say to that,” he laughed.

“That’s all she needs – I do think me and Sandra are drifting apart,” he joked.

In the sack

Tonight’s Bushtucker Trial embraced the festive season, with Fleur and James having to don Father Christmas and Rudolph the red nose reindeer costumes, respectively.

The task, titled Ding Dong Merrily Up High, saw Fleur having to guide a blindfolded James to picking up presents while they were suspended from a great height.

However, while James McVey became James McWheyyyy as he would struggle to retain his balance, Dec and Holly had the best time observing the trial from the sidelines – being unable to control themselves over the phrase ‘in the sack’ – get your mind out the gutter guys.

However, it was James that ended up in the gutter, when he jumped to reach the final parcel – and missed spectacularly.

But the naughty trial turned nice in the end, with the twosome winning four stars for camp.

Film buffs – or buff films?

So we’re all guilty of some weird crushes in our life (we’re starting to feel it for Harry Redknapp, if we’re honest) but Emily Atack tops them all – cartoon characters set her heart aflutter.

As well as Aladdin (understandable) and some characters from Avatar (we sort of get that), Emily truly lost her mind when she said she had the hots for…the candle from Beauty and the Beast.

“I fancy all the Disney princes obviously,” she explained in the Bush Telegraph. “I also fancy some objects and animals that are in Disney films, like the French Candlestick from Beauty and the Beast and I used to be slightly jealous of the feather duster that he used to slightly get off with.”

John revealed his crush was Paddy McGuinness, while Harry chipped in “the woman who was in Dr Zhivago, she’d be about 95 now.”

Jungle lingo

Move over Love Island, the campmates have well and truly pied you by coming up with their own language, inspired by old cockney rhyming slang for breasts – thrupenny bits and Bristol City, if you must know.

Fleur explained in the Bush Telegraph, “Dingo Dollar – collar; a wink and a smile is a trial, cash and carry, Harry; spotty dick, Nick; been and gone, John.”

It’s not quite poetry, but it’s a start.

Fun and games in the Dolls House

In a mission to win a luxury breakfast for camp, John, Emily and Harry were sent to play in a doll’s house for the night.

In what possibly may have been the creepiest challenge yet, the threesome had to stop a series of dolls from crying – all while bugs, spiders and pigeons of all things were dropped on them.

It may have been the fear, it may have been lack of sleep, or it may have been the dizzying excitement of a cooked breakfast, but John and Emily seemed to find the whole thing hilarious – particularly when Harry couldn’t find the particularly elusive Daisy doll.

When you’re laughing so hard with your best mate no sound even comes out. 🤣 @JohnBarrowman @EmAtack. #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/lrFmb6I0Gj

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) December 6, 2018

Despite their fits of giggles, the three managed to win the breakfast for camp – to be enjoyed before someone was kicked out of camp.

Nick no more

Nick Knowles was the sixth celebrity to leave camp – which came as a shock to some, particularly as Nick’s chivalrous and nobility around the camp made him popular to his campmates.

The Jungle experience is over for @MrNickKnowles! Your votes mean he’s the sixth Celeb to leave Camp. #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/4FLEQM8kSQ

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) December 6, 2018

Upon exiting the jungle, he explained he wanted campmates to get along after seeing the division Brexit had caused in the country.

“We’re having such a hard time in the UK at the moment and there’s such division at home, I wanted us to prove a point,” he said.

Day eighteen

John got up close and personal with a cockroach, Nick celebrated his chart success and the campmates went down the boozer – it’s all just another day in the I’m a Celeb camp.

John’s bottom feeder

😂😂😂 @JohnBarrowman #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/w8pyI0dlEk

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) December 5, 2018

Tonight’s Bushtucker Trial, titled Rotten Retrieval, saw Fleur and John locked in an underground chamber in an attempt to get all seen stars to feed their increasingly hungry campmates.

But it wasn’t just the celebs that were peckish, as John quickly found out…

Nick Knowles is number 1

Nation’s heartthrob Nick Knowles was informed he was now number 1 on the iTunes chart with his rousing cover of Adele’s Make You Feel My Love.

However, not everyone was impressed with his…unique vocal stylings, with Anne explaining, “It’s not a song I’m particularly crazy about, the most recent thing I bought was Portugal the Man ‘Feel it Still’ which I thought was an excellent song.”

A night down the boozer

The jungle’s legendary pub, The Jungle Arms, was open for business – with the campmates given the opportunity win a seat in the boozer.

The Jungle Arms is popping OFF tonight! #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/tS0LkTijtm

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) December 5, 2018

Treated to a night of snacks, chips, drinks, the merry campmates launched into some karaoke, with Harry belting out My Way, Anne tackling Mamma Mia and the whole gang giving Uptown Funk a go, led by Fleur.

We said goodbye to Anne

Anne Hegarty was the latest campmate to be voted out the jungle, with The Chase star revealing she had to be talked out of quitting by producers after struggling to adjust to life Down Under.

It’s the end of the road for @anne_hegerty. What an incredible journey she’s been on! #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/AdbtIwAKxn

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) December 5, 2018

But she added it was the close friendship she formed with her campmates that kept her in.

Who will be following Anne down that infamous bridge?

Day seventeen

As Harry faced his worst fear, Nick went full-on Baywatch (poor Emily…), there were tears shed, and another celebrity left the jungle… Here’s everything you need to know:

Nick Knowles had a Baywatch moment

Not. Awkward. At. All. #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/cV1bZ0al9o

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) December 4, 2018

Too bad there’s no beach for Nick Knowles to run across in slo-mo in his BRIGHT RED SPEEDOS.

That’s right, Nick stripped down to his smalls in an attempt to keep dry when he and Emily headed off to fetch water — and Emily couldn’t keep the giggles back.

“You couldn’t not mention them,” she explained inside the Bush Telegraph, “it was the elephant in the room — oh no, I can’t say elephant in the room… he’ll be thrilled with that!”

The compliments kept coming, however, when Emily told Nick that he might have just scored himself a future gig as a calender star.

Maybe it was the matching socks that did it.

Harry tackled his fear of rats

Umm, we may have broken Harry Redknapp. Sorry Sandra. #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/On5n5e7o9U

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) December 4, 2018

Poor Harry. Heading out to take part in Tuesday’s Bushtucker Trial ‘Wicked Warehouse’, there was one thing the former football manager was hoping he wouldn’t have to face: rats.

So, obviously, the powers that be decided to have Emily place not one but two large rats on his stomach.

Still, Harry handled himself pretty well, having a nervous “chat” with the rats. “As long as he [Roland the rat] doesn’t go up my trouser leg,” he said, (half) joking.

“They like to feast on nuts,” Dec replied.

Think Harry probably could have done without that one, Dec.

John Barrowman nicked Prince Charles’ glasses — and peed in his garden

We LIVE for John’s anecdotes — particularly when they include celebs and the former Torchwood actor royally embarrassing himself…

John explained that while performing for Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, he was forced to — ahem — relieve himself in their garden. “I did a private performance for Charles and Camilla at a party at their house in the country,” John told the campmates, “that’s where I peed in Charles’ garden because I was having a tour of the garden and couldn’t get back to the house.”

Not only that — he stole two glasses.“On the way out I took two champagne flutes,” he said.

Luckily, the heir-to-the-throne saw the funny side…

“Two days later, a box arrived at the house in Cardiff from his office of four glasses with a card referencing `we understand you like them’,” John said. Apparently John’s dad uses the royal glasses for his whiskey…

Things got emotional as the campmates received letters from home

.@TheVampsJames finally got a message from his girlfriend!

The letters from home get us every time. 😢 #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/7YO8jvsFma

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) December 4, 2018

The celebs competed to win as many letters from home as possible by passing eggs around — and six made it through. Cue some very teary campmates.

Harry saying “Hello Sandra!” to his egg 😭❤️ #ImACeleb

— Tasha (@tashalifestyle) December 4, 2018

Highlights included Harry’s wife Sandra promising that there’d be jam roly poly waiting for him at home — and John’s husband admitting that “there have been moments when I could see how much you were in need of a good sandwich”.

We said goodbye to Rita

It’s the end of @OfficialRita‘s Jungle journey, but what a journey it’s been! #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/iIwfqGpUjS

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) December 4, 2018

And finally, Rita Simons was the fourth celebrity to leave the jungle.

“It was so much harder than I thought it would be,” she told Dec and Holly. “It’s bloody hard, and the thing that killed me the most was the boredom. I’m no good at sitting around.”

Day sixteen

As John Barrowman made his much anticipated return to the jungle the campmates finally took a bite out of one of their own, Harry made a startling confession and another celeb said farewell to camp! Here’s what you need to know…

Barrowman’s Back!

A nasty trip ‘n’ slip sent John Barrowman to hospital on Day 15 but thankfully his sprained ankle wasn’t too seriously injured and Captain Jack made it back to camp.

His return was nothing short of FABULOUS (because of course) and his nifty new walking stick proved a most useful accessory. When he wasn’t making several dodgy jokes about it (because BARROWMAN) he was choreographing little dance routines for himself and hobbling around camp with all the gravitas of Richard Attenborough’s John Hammond in Jurassic Park.

Well, the show MUST go on, after all…

Everybody eats Fleur

Would you eat another campmate if you were desperate for sugar in the Australian outback? Well, after 16 years on air, I’m A Celeb probably came about as close as it’ll ever get to cannibalism when Fleur returned from the Dingo Dollar Challenge.

The X Factor singer and Coronation Street star Sair Khan secured a batch of cupcakes for camp, but Fleur was doused in treacle while winning the sweet treats.

James McVey was hungry enough to taste the sugary substance coating Fleur’s arms and it wasn’t long before everybody was tucking in.

.@FleurEast & @SairKhan are master bakers! 🍰 #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/fB3Unsp3KA

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) December 3, 2018

You’ve got a friend in Harry

Harry Redknapp may seem like the font of jungle knowledge but it appears we’ve finally found his weakness – FILMS.

The football manager admitted that he’s not been to the pictures since the 1960s and – SHOCK, HORROR, confessed that he’s never even heard of Toy Story.

Amazing! Harry has never heard of Toy Story 😂 Who’s up for a film night round his and Sandra’s? 🙋 #ImACeleb @Redknapp pic.twitter.com/9tbr4LAETZ

— ITV (@ITV) December 3, 2018

A fond Sair-well

Sair’s jungle journey is over! As she’s the latest campmate to leave… 👋 Bye @SairKhan you’ve been fab! #ImACeleb @imacelebrity pic.twitter.com/uDCZevEz3n

— ITV (@ITV) December 3, 2018

And finally, Coronation Street star Sair Khan became the third celebrity to leave the jungle.

“It’s so weird being outside,” she told Dec and Holly after crossing the bridge. “I can’t believe I’ve been in there for over two weeks”.

Day fifteen

Fleur finally gets a pizza the Bushtucker action, Emily learns to slutdrop, John takes a fall and Malique is the second celeb sent home…

Gore Seasons in one day

Who fancies a pizza? What toppings do you want? We’ve got a choice of rotten tomatoes, fish guts, offal, foetid veg and rancid cheese. No wait, you don’t get a choice, you just get everything…

Never going to look at pizza in the same way 🤢 #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/0OPKNCKDcd

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) December 2, 2018

That was Fleur’s experience as she took on the Gore Seasons Pizza Bushtucker Trial, which involved being strapped to a giant pizza base while all of the above were poured on top of her. Meanwhile, she had to smash open a series of piñatas containing crickets, green ants, mealworms and cockroaches to liberate the stars that would feed her fellow celebs. She came back stinking but with all ten stars, which meant wallaby dinner for the whole camp.

Jungle strip club

An innocent conversation about who could touch their toes quickly developed into Emily showing off her questionable slutdrop technique…

“Oh ok… wow.” 😂 #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/NwW5MRmrK8

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) December 2, 2018

…to Fleur revealing that she’s rather partial to a visit to a strip club herself.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me but I’m obsessed with strip clubs, I love them,” she said. “I like sitting there and watching them.”

Later, in the Bush Telegraph, she added: “I’ve always loved going to strip clubs, I don’t know why, I think maybe it’s because like you shouldn’t be there, the whole thing fascinates me.”

Dingo Dollar challenge

Another day, another disappointing Dingo Dollar Challenge. Harry and Rita had fun dressing up as old time prospectors, and sieving through sand to find ‘stones’ containing gold nuggets. They eventually dug out enough to release the dollars, and had the choice of ice pops or crisps, but the camp failed on a question about how many Brits have no religious affiliation and down came Kiosk Kev’s shutters – again.

Dream dinner party

As a dinner of wallaby bits got underway, talk turned to fantasy dinner party guests, with all the campmates getting involved. In case Oprah Winfrey, the Obamas or Sir Francis Drake watch I’m a Celebrity, here’s who they each chose…

Fleur: Michael Jackson, Oprah Winfrey (“I’d have to resurrect Michael Jackson and let him teach me his moves and sing to me all night long, legend. Oprah, I’d love to sit down with her and pick her brains.”)

Sair: Oprah, Barack and Michelle Obama (“I’ll take your Oprah and raise you two Obamas, they seem really funny and chilled and would tell us all the secrets.”

Malique: Oprah, the Obamas, Morgan Freeman (“I could just listen to his voice”)

Nick: Frances Drake, Prince Harry (“a good crack… he’s such a top lad”)

Harry: Muhammad Ali (“the greatest sportsman of all time”), Frank Sinatra, Winston Churchill

James: Martin Luther King, David Attenborough

Rita: Seth McFarlane

John Barrowman: Robin Williams, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert

Emily: Celine Dion (“I’d force her to do a duet with me”), Whoopi Goldberg (and Bradley Cooper for dessert)

Anne: Doctor Johnson, Jelly Roll Morton, Deirdre McClusky (rest of the camp: “Who?!” Harry:“It sounded like it could be the most boring dinner party in history and I would have fallen asleep in my soup after about two minutes. Anne I’m booked up that night!”)

Who would you invite to your fantasy dinner party? 🤔 #ImACeleb

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) December 2, 2018

John goes to hospital

Out for an evening stroll with Harry, John stacked it down some slippery steps and was clearly in quite a bit of pain after twisting his ankle. He went straight to hospital where the good news was that it was a sprain rather than a break. Dec later told us they’re hoping John will be back in camp in time for Monday’s show.

Malique leaves the jungle

The public have been voting – or in Malique’s case, not voting – again and the Hollyoaks star is the second celeb to leave the jungle (not counting John’s unplanned foray). You can read what he had to say about it here…

Your votes mean @officialmal_‘s Jungle journey is over! #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/kd2NzcH4OW

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) December 2, 2018

Day fourteen

Sair takes on the Sickening Sewer, John and Emily face a shocking Dingo Dollars challenge, the girls pop pimples and Fleur and Harry get a wiggle on with a new song.

Nick Noel’s stuff

First evictee Noel Edmonds left the jungle and his fellow campmates were devastated about the loss – but there’s no point wallowing is there, so around six seconds after his departure they were rifling through his belongings, looking for stuff to steal.

“His things were spread out a little too quickly for my liking,” said Emily in the Bush Telegraph – but whether or not you agree, it gave Dec the opportunity for some top class punning, as he assured Holly that vulture Nick Knowles’s full, multi-barrelled name was actually Nick Knowles-stuff-the-minute-he’s-out-of-the-jungle.

The Sickening Sewer

Sair smashed today’s Bushtucker Trial, a series of tight tunnels off a central sewer, each filled with a different critter – cane toads, cockroaches, crickets, meal worms, water dragons, huntsman spiders, mud crabs and a croc. The toughest part for the aquaphobic Corrie actor was trying to free a star from inside a tiny tank rapidly filling with water, but she managed it in the nick of time – before being unceremoniously dumped from a pipe into a cesspool, complete with ten out of ten stars in her bag and eel on the menu for that evening’s dinner.

Pop stars

Rita kicked off a craze when she started squeezing her spots right in the middle of camp. First of all she drew an (all female) audience, then they started popping their own pimples and finally each others’, all accompanied by oohs and aahs worthy of a fireworks display. Harry thought it was a bit gross. John, obviously, made up a song about it.

There are two types of people when it comes to spot popping… #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/Z1dAfSKPgw

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) December 1, 2018

A new camp leader

No, not John – James is the reluctant new leader, just pipping Rita and Harry after the campmates cast their votes. The 24-year-old admitted he found the prospect “very difficult”, saying “I look to Nick and the older members of the camp for guidance normally”. James chose the more seasoned Rita as his deputy but she confessed in the Bush Telegraph that she was likely to be “the most I’ll allow you to break the rules leader” ever.

Under James, Nick now has wood to deal with (maybe that’s why he was sleeping with his hat over his crotch), Anne is the twisted firestarter and Harry’s on washing up – apparently, for the first time in 54 years.

A shocking result in the Dingo Dollars challenge

John and Emily took on the Dingo Dollars challenge, which involved her being winched up a tree in to examine the complicated wiring in a fuse box while John tried to recreate it on a large-scale version down based on Emily’s (often incorrect) instructions. The catch? For every wrongly wired connection they both got what John described as a “vigorous” electric shock.

Somewhat frazzled, they finally completed the task and released the Dingo Dollars for a potential treat of biscuits. But back at camp, the celebs answered the question incorrectly and Kiosk Kev slammed down the shutters sending them on their way.

Chilligate

The campmates got hot under the collar during their eel dinner as a piece of the carefully divided chilli went missing, leaving Malique to go without. Emily made a show of searching for it along with everyone else but later admitted in the Bush Telegraph that “I robbed the chilli… I’m sorry”. But she wasn’t really.

Do the Wiggle

Another day, another song from Fleur and Harry – this time inspired by tonight’s dinner of eel.

Fleur gets a pizza the action

Ms East will be taking on the next Bushtucker Trial, the unappetising Gore Seasons challenge…

.@FleurEast will be getting a pizza the action in tomorrow’s Trial! How dough you think she’ll get on? 🍕🤢 #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/3KWAEwf8jP

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) December 1, 2018

Day thirteen

Tonight’s I’m a Celeb basically reinforced the notion that the British public should never be trusted to vote for anything ever after Noel Edmonds was voted out of the jungle – following a tense Immunity Games and a camp love-in.

The birds and the beans

Waking up in their penultimate morning as a full camp of eleven, it seems there’s one member of camp Emily Atack and Rita Simons won’t miss – the ‘car alarm’ bird that wakes them up daily.

“I just want to strangle it,” Rita said.

Venting her rage at the squawking campmate, Emily said in the Bush Telegraph, “No-one wants you to do it, just stop it.”

When you cook something super healthy and immediately regret it. #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/CmW6YdPC40

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) November 30, 2018

It seemed it wasn’t Emily’s morning, as she physically seemed to wretch over yet another portion of rice and beans.

Musing poetically about her morning, she said, “The birds and the bees…have got right on my t*****s this morning.”

The Very Hungry Games

The last of the Immunity Games kicked off with the Rancid Races, with the four teams battling against each other to win food – and immunity from the public vote.

While the Galahs’ – comprised of Nick, Malique and Sair were in last place, Nick, who boasted sinking pints down the rugby club, easily chugged drinks including blended green ants and ‘orange juice with electro-sh***es’ (crocodile anus to me and you) to win the challenge and score his team immunity.

If years of showbiz have taught @JohnBarrowman anything, it’s that the show must go on! ✨ #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/7oPOsOUhpc

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) November 30, 2018

His guzzling abilities, which saw Noel compare him to the Blackwall tunnel, were partly admired and partly disgusted by his campmates, who belched and retched their way through the trial.

Despite Noel pouring more down himself than down his gullet (being branded a serial cheat by Dec and Holly), his Underdog team, which also featured Rita, was placed in the danger zone – losing the chance of immunity and the meal for the evening.

Harry’s had enough

The result of the Rancid Races saw the usually jovial Harry lash out at Nick, with the football manager questioning the DIY SOS’s motives.

While Nick said he only knocked back multiple pints of sickening liquids to win himself a meal, Harry insisted he wanted to win – with some viewers accusing him of ‘sour grapes.’

“It’s a load of cobblers,” Harry snapped. “Everyone wants to win, let’s not kid ourselves. When the crunch comes, we’ll all walk over each other.”

Although it wasn’t quite a fight, it was certainly the first ‘very heated debate’ camp had seen, as Rita called it.

Having managed West Ham & QPR, how can Harry Redknapp be such a sore loser? #imacelebrity

— mark nutt (@S_Woody14) November 30, 2018

Harry Redknapp what a sore loser – get over yourself man #imaceleb2018

— Dawn (@mrsryanx) November 30, 2018

But for Harry, people’s motives aren’t important to him: “I love them all in there, they’re all fantastic,” he said. “But they do all want to win, it’s silly to keep saying I don’t want to win because they do.”

However, not all was lost for the campmates…

Last chance saloon

For the campmates who hadn’t managed to ensnare a decent dinner, there was one last opportunity to dodge the public vote – by hitting up the Velodrome.

The task saw Fleur, John, Anne, Emily, Harry and James take to bikes to try and collect gold medals, with the top two winning a meal and immunity.

However, Anne took one look at the task and walked off (a woman after our own hearts), leaving the others to battle it out.

Cockroaches, worms and ants were dumped on each cyclist as they tried to collect the all-important medals – with John and Fleur coming out as victors.

“It was nightmare after nightmare,” said an emotional Fleur at the end of her ordeal.

Noel’s pot luck

It really wasn’t Noel’s best day in camp.

After being accused of cheating in Rancid Races, he then offered to wash the large cooking pot in the water – but messed that up when he dropped the lid in the freezing cold creek.

Had to be Noel, didn’t it! 🙈 #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/2a7BWBLbCa

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) November 30, 2018

Aided by Emily, Noel stripped to his kecks and waded in to retrieve the lid, only for Emily to nearly slip in, fully-dressed. Ever the gent, Noel was forced to get hands-up, pushing Emily up the hill – from behind.

“He had to push me up the bank by my fat a*** and it cheered me up no end, it was hilarious,” she laughed.

Final supper

It all got a bit emosh for the 11 campmates, as they all banded together to enjoy the final night in the jungle.

Those who won immunity were treated to crocodile sausages, while the losers resorted to rice and beans – but everyone was treated to a special bev to celebrate their final night all together.

It may have been the wine, or the genuine thought of someone leaving, but things quickly turned tender as the campmates gave their after-dinner speeches.

There’s a whole lot of love in that Camp! We’re not ready for someone to leave 💔 #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/OXjsAA0DYt

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) November 30, 2018

While Rita thanked the gang for “not being a bunch of b******s”, Emily got particularly emotionally when talking to her campmates.

“Being here, I’ve learned I don’t need to be anything other than myself,” she said, wiping a tear from her eye. “You’ve made me happier than I’ve been in such a long time.”

The last Noel

In a twist that literally no-one saw coming, the man, the myth, the legend that is Noel Edmonds was voted out the jungle -and straight back into the arms of wife Liz.

Speaking to Holly and Dec upon his exit, he said being in the jungle “was in the top 10 Noel moments of his life.”

It’s the end of the road for Noel! Your votes mean he’s the first Celeb to leave Camp. #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/sR9mZGfCi8

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) November 30, 2018

Fans were bereft at Noel’s early exit, with an outpouring of grief hitting Twitter once the news was announced – even Liam Gallagher had his say.

I’ve loved Noel Edmonds ever since I was a child and it was great to see him back on the TV. I’m disappointed. #imaceleb

— 🌙 no grammy nom no opinion (@bubblekook_) November 30, 2018

Noel Edmonds?

We’ve yet to get the hang of this public vote thing, haven’t we?

— Mike Fatkin (@mikefatkin) November 30, 2018

There’s only 1 Noel Edmonds as you were LG x

— Liam Gallagher (@liamgallagher) November 30, 2018

But with no more immunity games, and Noel’s shock exit, it seems it’s still all to play for with our campmates…

Day twelve

It was an all-singing, all dancing edition of I’m a Celeb tonight, as the campmates split into animal teams, battled it out in the Immunity Games and learned all about how Fleur loves her bum almost as much as Harry hates puzzles.

Oh, and there was also that bit where Dec got completely distracted by a butterfly – but those are the perils of live TV.

We’re blown away by @antanddec‘s ‘incredible powers of concentration’. #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/hGZoKeAIT8

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) November 29, 2018

Check out what else the celebs got up to below…

The Noelwledge

Noel Edmonds dodging traffic on his way to work in his bus #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/pgCXZRjS6q

— ✨ 𝓗𝓮𝓪𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻 ✨ (@HeatherCarrigan) November 29, 2018

Noel may have been driving a few campmates round the bend lately (cough cough, Nick) – but it turns out when it comes to actual driving, he’s a master of traffic loopholes.

“Bristol’s traffic is chaotic and so Liz bought me a black cab and I got to work in 20 minutes rather than an hour and 20 minutes,” Noel told his fellow campmates after Emily shared her tales of driving test struggles.

“I can claim to be the person that cost Bristol Council a huge amount of money because when I hit the news that I was going down the bus lane in my black cab, which is legal, they put cameras on all the lanes.”

“I reckoned I saved five months of my life when I added up the hours in the morning and evening,” he continued. “But when I got the ticket I didn’t take my cab in the bus lane any more.

“I did what any sane person would do. I bought a bus. I have a Routemaster bus. I can drive it on a car licence as long as there are no more than nine people on board,” said Noel.

noel edmonds buying a bus so that he can drive in bus lanes and avoid traffic is the kind of rich i’m aiming for #ImACeleb

— maeve relihan (@MaeveRelihan) November 29, 2018

Looks like Noel will be dropping everyone off home at the end of the series, then. Cheers Drive!

Dash of the Titans

You’ve been hit by, you’ve been struck by… a smooth little crab. 🦀 #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/QxCGgfayY9

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) November 29, 2018

Bushtucker trials? So passé.

These days it’s all about the Immunity Games, the first of which saw Nick, Harry and John collect six puzzle pieces along a running track from cheerily-named “hell holes” filled with jungle surprises, before assembling a gold medal in a box at the end.

Very slow and very steady wins the race, right? #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/ntNpgSp5XK

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) November 29, 2018

The trio had different approaches to the hell holes –Nick grimaced his way through each puzzle, Harry managed to slime himself blind while John turned the whole thing into a bizarre sing-song – and in the end, Nick came from behind to win the whole thing just ahead of John and Harry.

Winner winner, @MrNickKnowles might be getting a decent dinner. #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/n6ael4esds

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) November 29, 2018

“I can’t do puzzles Holly, I’m useless, a bit like a striker who gets in front of the goal and doesn’t score, that was me,” Harry said mournfully.

Now, it was up to each team leader to pick their teammates – Nick first, then John, then Harry, with two left over. Not awkward at all.

Who let the dogs out?

The Immunity Games teams have been decided! 🏅

Who are you rooting for? #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/GTSSUazNbF

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) November 29, 2018

In the end Nick chose Malique and Sair to join Team Galahs, John chose Anne and Emily to join Team Koalas, while Harry picked Fleur and James for Team Roos.

“I chose Anne and Emily because we like to have fun together,” John said.

“Anne has brains but over the course of being in here she has opened up and is up for it so a great team member.”

“Fleur is amazing, she keeps dancing and talking to me,” added Harry of his “peng” team.

“She’s taught me some dancing, I’ve got some new dances to go home and show my wife.”

This left Noel and Rita as a new team called the Underdogs – and once they found out the news, they actually took things fairly well.

“We’re the underdogs, we’re the two kids that didn’t get picked at PE,” Rita noted

“It’s OK, we have each other.”

We’ll just gloss over the part where they started making woof noises, because we all have too much self-respect to get involved with that.

There’s no I in team

No competition would be complete without some fabulousss team chants! #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/FS9UpreO1B

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) November 29, 2018

Now, over the next couple of days the team members have to compete in the Immunity Games, with the team at the top of the leaderboard each day getting some nice nosh. Whoever was at the top by the end of the Games, meanwhile, will be immune from the first public elimination.

But forget all that, because everyone decided to just make up theme songs for their teams instead of thinking about that. This show, you guys.

Going too deep into your own thoughts like #imaceleb pic.twitter.com/19RluDfQbC

— JTOh (@CupOfTeaVee) November 29, 2018

Anyway, the first challenge saw Emily, Rita, James and Malique go all Swallows and Amazons on the boating lake, where Emily stole victory for the koalas after some seriously shady tactics from Rita and an early bath for Malique and James.

Think they call this instant karma! @OfficialRita 🙊 #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/ZERE1DJzBV

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) November 29, 2018

Challenge two saw the remaining campmates Noel, Sair, Fleur (or should that be Flair?) and Anne take on the Gymnasium, where the gang had to hold onto a set of gym rings for as long as possible in the face of spurting water and encroaching darkness.

Anne let go, and of the three who stuck it out Noel ended up winning for the Underdogs after a tiebreak question – but back at camp Harry’s team the Roos ended up the overall day winners based on their point total.

Harry: “I’m not eating emu sausage!”

2 minutes later

*Happily tucks into emu sausage*#ImACeleb

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) November 29, 2018

Bit of a wasted effort considering Harry’s reaction to the emu sausage on offer, but hey – that’s the law of the jungle.

Now, all eleven of the campmates will be joining Holly and Dec for the next Immunity Games challenge – aka a big family outing – ahead of the first ever eviction on this year’s I’m a Celeb. Oooh-er.

Day eleven

Tempers finally flared in the jungle on day eleven and Noel got logs, Nick got the hump, knickers inspired a jungle debate, and a pot of rice left Rita at risk of boiling over. Check out what the celebs got up to below…

Nick, Noel and Knickers

“There’s Nick getting his knickers in a twist because he thinks I left the camp. He can be such an arse at times,” mused Noel Edmonds as he practically danced out of camp leader Nick Knowles’ line of sight for the umpteenth time.

Little did he know the DIY SOS host would actually find himself in a twist over a pair of knickers later in the show. Or did he know? He does a lot of meditating after all… could Noel have the inside scoop on the future? Should we be asking him for next week’s lottery numbers?

To cut a long story short, Nick spotted a pair of pants that had fallen from the washing line and was more than a little worried about picking them up.

Where do you stand on ‘Nicker’-gate? Was @MrNickKnowles getting in a twist, or was he right to stick to his ways? #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/dYw0OfrOWs

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) November 28, 2018

“I don’t feel comfortable handling women’s knickers but they are wet and need drying so would you hang them on the line?” he asked John, sparking a debate about whether it was OK for a man to pick up a woman’s pants and a discussion about who would or wouldn’t fart in front of their partner.

Tempers Rice

“Food causes arguments,” said John as he attempted to conceal his fury in the Bush Telegraph following a tense discussion about rice with Rita Simons. Y’see, Rita wasn’t best pleased when John and Sair revealed that they were only cooking up four portions to split between eleven campmates.

Rita called for a vote in camp, overruling John and inciting one of the most brilliantly passive aggressive showdowns we’ve seen in the camp so far.

“I’m just going to do all of them, everyone wants all the rice so I’m going to do it all,” John declared following the mini rice mutiny. “I’m not by any means saying let’s cook all the rice all I’m saying it needs to be more than four between us,” Rita replied.

“God forbid we have some food to eat or if anyone is going to cook anything but it’s only one person that’s doing that and I can handle them,” she added in the Bush Telegraph.

Nick-erless Knowles was quick to console John, assuring him that all the tension was probably just due to the fact that Rita and the girls were “due on”.

“Remember the girls are going to be a bit jumpier because of what time of the month they told us it is,” he reminded the camp chef. “We’re going to have that for a couple of days with the girls.”

There’s more than one type of MENstrual tension in that camp if you ask us…

The Immunity Games Begin

With the first celebrity eviction looming the standard Bushtucker Trials are off the menu and The Immunity Games are ON!

Dec and Holly dropped in to reveal that Harry, Nick and John had been chosen by the public to take part in the Deadly Dash. What the trio doesn’t know is that they’ll be team captains in the games and how they perform in the race will directly affect their chances of picking the best teammates.

Your votes mean Harry, @MrNickKnowles and @JohnBarrowman will be taking part in the first event of the Immunity Games! See how they get on tomorrow at 9pm on @ITV @WeAreSTV. #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/qXpu37x2dm

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) November 28, 2018

Why do we have a feeling John won’t be rushing to choose Rita? And could Nick get his knickers in a twist if he’s forced to team up with Noel?

Day ten

Although the day got off to a bit of a sticky start with Candlegate, it only got better as the hours ticked by, from Anne triumphing once more to Harry learning to say ‘peng ting’.

Candlegate

A “wax factory” appeared in John’s bag after Malique lit a candle on top of it and the wax dripped down overnight. Despite this, the ever-upbeat John said he was feeling 7/10 on the cheeriness scale in the morning.

.@JohnBarrowman didn’t have much luck getting that candle wax out of his shirt then. 🙈 #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/gOKYeXuS58

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) November 27, 2018

It’s official: the Governess is a trooper

It was a decent meal for the campmates tonight as Anne stormed her way through rooms of stinking offal and all kinds of critters. She was completely unfazed by a python and had to pick stars out of piles of raw meat and fish guts all while being rained on by insects. Classic. She looked like she’d performed surgery when she came out. 7/11 stars – go on Anne!

Oh, and Dec did an amazing pigeon impression.

Harry Redknapp learns to say ‘peng ting’

Or is that ‘painting’? Harry learned some new slang from Fleur and Malique and the results were… very entertaining. Instead of asking his wife Sandra to go dancing with him, he’s going to proposition her with: “Fancy a bit of grinding Sandra?” Fleur was delighted with this, saying: “When you see her, say, ‘Sandra, you peng ting.’” Oh, to be a fly on the wall for that conversation…

Day nine

After Rita, John and James won ten out of 11 stars in The (epic) Quest, Nick Knowles cemented his status as an absolute gem by sacrificing his seat at the feast for his camp.

But that’s not all that happened in tonight’s jam-packed episode, with tensions rising between the campmates – and Dec showing us his spectacular twerking skills.

Nick’s rude awakening

The winds of change have hit camp – quite literally for Nick Knowles.

Having been appointed camp leader yesterday by viewers, Nick chose The Chase’s Anne Hegerty to be his deputy, a decision he may have regretted the next morning, when Anne woke up and immediately passed wind – right in Nick’s face.

“Basically, I farted in Nick’s face,” she said matter-of-factly in the Bush Telegraph. “But he didn’t seem to mind. So obviously we’re good mates. It wasn’t like Rita’s that the whole planet heard apart from me.”

Nick, ever the gent, brushed it off, who was appointed camp leader yesterday by viewers and even admitted that sleeping in the jungle may have changed him.

“The new accommodation is very nice, it’s nice to have a mattress to sleep in but in actual fact I think I prefer sleeping in the open now,” he said. Bless him.

Team Nick Noel’s no more?

They were a dream team when they took on the Catch a Falling Star Bushtucker Trial on Saturday night, but it seems the brief love affair between Nick and Noel is well and truly over, as Noel ‘rebelled’ against camp rules.

With three people having to be at camp at all times, Noel raised eyebrows when Nick spotted him sloping out.

“Who is up there then, Malique and Emily? That’s not three,” said Nick from the creek. “I’m not giving you a hard time because I want to give you a hard time.”

As Noel returned to his post, muttering about losing his “celebrity endorsements”, viewers predicted the simmering tension between the pair could result in the otherwise harmonious camp’s first fall out.

“He doesn’t like the rules at all does he?” Nick later grumbled to Harry.

Dec got his twerk on

As this series has progressed, Dec and Holly have really hit their stride with their new presenting partnership, seamlessly cracking jokes between links and providing moments of comedy gold.

With Holly joking about how she needed a close-up shot, her piece to camera was rudely interrupted by Dec crawling over on the table to try and get his head into shot – before falling into a cheeky twerk.

Declan Donnelly, we didn’t know you had it in you.

The team ‘smash it’

It seems all reality TV offerings must have their own lingo or catchphrase these days – while Love Island has “crackin’ on”, I’m a Celeb has “smashing it.”

While the celebs “smashed it” in the live trial yesterday (Go on Anne!), winning 85 minutes for The Quest, it was time for Rita, James and John to “smash it”, and secure 11 seats at the feast by collecting the stars.

While John’s enthusiasm, energy  and constant singing (it was, as Nick said, basically Trek: The Musical) kept the team peppy, it was ultimately the Doctor Who star who fell at the final hurdle when he failed to grab the 11th flag on the zipwire.

His loss meant that someone had to sit out on the feast – and while John immediately volunteered himself to skip the shindig, another campmate sacrificed their place at the banquet…

…Nick Knowles: National Treasure

Explaining that he’d spent all day lounging around, not being allowed to do chores as he was the new camp leader, Nick immediately refused to go to the banquet – despite John insisting he should.

“In anticipation of this I’ve been thinking about it all day and as I’ve been in the unenviable position of not being able to help around the camp, the decision is really easy,” he said with an off-hand shrug.

So while the others feasted on chicken, salads and jam roly-poly, hearts across the country broke for Nick as he did sit-ups alone in camp, and chowed down on his new recipe for bean burgers.

His latest act of chivalry comes after he gave Anne his pillow, revealed his secret rock career by jamming with Biffy Clyro and went without his care package.

It seems the nation loves Nick almost as much as Harry loves jam roly-poly. Could we have already found our next King of the Jungle?

Day eight

It was all change in the camp, as Nick became the leader, John and Fleur took over the cooking and impressed, and Anne Hegerty took part in a live trial…

Nick Knowles: reluctant camp leader

I’m a Celeb fans decided – via a vote on the show’s app – that Nick would become the next camp leader – and he wasn’t thrilled about it.

It meant he and his deputy Anne would be taking over the private boudoir formerly occupied by Noel and Harry, but he didn’t welcome the other responsibilities, like divvying the team up into their various roles, and it also meant he was unable to continue cooking the camp meals (John Barrowman was appointed as head chef).

And his campmate James McVey reckons that the public did it to mess with them, knowing that he was probably the least keen to take on the authority.

Elsewhere, Fleur and Emily were placed on washing up duty, James and Harry were tasked with cleaning the dunny and Malique, Noel and Rita were placed on maintenance.

Did Harry nab a “souvenir” from Buckingham palace?

Noel and Harry got up to yet more mischief as they departed their palace, very unsubtly nicking some pillows from the incoming Anne and Nick – and Harry later revealed it wasn’t the first time he had pocketed something he shouldn’t have.

Speaking on camera with Noel, he said:”it’s only like going in somewhere posh and there’s an ash tray with Buckingham Palace on it and you think, ‘I’ll have that as a memento’ and stick it in your pocket.”

Noel quickly chimed in: “I bet you’ve done that before!”

A five star Bushtucker performance

Nick and Noel took on – as they would explain in rigorous detail with the help of the chalkboard upon their return to the camp – the most technically difficult trial of the series so far, aptly named Catch A Falling Star. It saw them suspended in boxes placed on top of one another hanging above the river, with Noel on top, blindly dropping stars down for Nick to catch.

Noel was unable to see where Nick’s hands were, which made things rather difficult – and, unsurprisingly, their boxes were filled with hungry insects, too. It was a tough one, and despite an admirable effort, they only came away with five out of 11 stars, meaning that they would have to stretch a meal out for their campmates.

It was a great watch though, and even presenters Holly and Dec got emotionally invested, as you can see below.

Chef John does his best Gino D’Acampo impression

The most positive man in the camp was named as the new chef, and he got really into it – even whipping out a half-cooked, hammed-up impression of TV chef Gino D’Acampo.

He and campmates admitted that it wasn’t quite accurate, but they enjoyed it nonetheless – and so did a lot of fans on Twitter.

Anne Hegerty smashed it in the live trial

The first live trial of the season took place on Sunday, and it saw eight of the celebs take on X-Factor-themed challenges to buy time for John, James and Rita, who went off on a hike as part of the trial.

The best and most gruesome part of the trial saw the celebs take part in a witchetty grubs eating race  – in the style of the drinking game boat race – ending with Anne Hegerty, who, in her first attempt, managed to get it down before the buzzer went.

But her big moment came later on as she was foced to down a glass of fish eye juice and did so in style, despite looking like she was going to vom for the remainder of the trial. Elsewhere, Noel downed a durian fruit smoothie and Harry guzzled a pint of blended pig dicks, so, yeah, just your average Sunday, really…

Day seven

The tables have been turned on the comedic duo of Emperor Noel and advisor Harry Redknapp, who had to take part in the bushtucker trial on Saturday night’s episode…

Harry’s jungle XI

Harry Redknapp is a long way away from the football pitches of blighty, but that didn’t stop him putting himself and his campmates in formation for a jungle XI charity match on Saturday night’s episode.

It also gave ‘Arry another opportunity to roll out another of his dynamite stories – this time about a hilarious miscommunication between himself and Russian striker Roman Pavlyuchenko when the pair were at Tottenham Hotspur.

“I said to him, ‘if you don’t play any better in the first half, I’m going to pull you off at half-time’” Harry said, “and he said, ‘ah, this is fantastic – in Russia, we only got an orange!’” – the gag went down a treat with his fellow campmates.

Emperor Noel and advisor Harry go out with a bang

The empire may have fallen, but at least they went out in style.

Noel and Harry – whose bromance has been a highlight of the series so far – smashed a particularly gruelling and gruesome 11-part bushtucker trial, in which they were forced to keep witchetty grubs and cockroaches in their mouths for a minute apiece, and gave us some priceless (and GIF-able) reactions in the process.

Noel kicked things off by chomping down on a stick insect, looking rather terrified.

Noel’s got a genuine look of fear, think we’re gonna enjoy this trial 😱🤣 #ImACeleb @imacelebrity pic.twitter.com/NlmQh0toHf

— ITV (@ITV) November 24, 2018

And Harry did his best impression of Futurama’s Dr Zoidberg with a mouthful of witchetty grubs. But the former Tottenham manager nearly ruined the whole thing when he tried to make Noel laugh with a live Yabby (it looks like a giant prawn) in his gob.

Harry was definitely that kid in class who made you laugh at inappropriate times. #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/kow7ovM2ef

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) November 24, 2018

But the pair managed to get through all 11 stages successfully, including the grim final challenge of squeezing fish eye juice into a glass with their mouths and drinking it, which had host Holly Willoughby looking away…

Anne Hegerty has a savage “fact” about the USA

The Chase’s Governess has thus far been ruled out of all the Bushtucker challenges on medical grounds, but she’s proven her worth in many other ways in the camp – most notably during down time, when John Barrowman tests her remarkable general knowledge.

On Saturday’s episode, he decided to rattle off country names to see what facts she could share about each one. First there was Uzbekistan, which she revealed was one of two double-landlocked countries (it is bordered entirely by landlocked countries), then there was Mexico, whose biggest provence, she said, is named after its smallest dog, the chihuahua.

But she saved her best “fact” for last – and Barrowman’s home nation of The USA. taking a jab at President Donald Trump.

“The United States of America appears to have got itself ruled by a complete f***wit,” she said, to fits of laughter throughout the camp.

#ImACeleb all hail Anne Hegerty, with her perfect analysis of Trump.

— Jo of the Grove 💚 (@joannesinton1) November 24, 2018

Day six

Emperor Noel had a good run, but he’s about to go from Nero to Zero, just like that.

And in his last day on the throne, His Excellency had quite an action-packed few hours…

The Taming of the Shrew

#ImACeleb. Room with a ‘Shrew’. pic.twitter.com/Yj7v0bT64c

— Rik Walker (@TrickyRickW) November 23, 2018

Continuing their sweet holiday bromance, Harry and Noel were all tucked up and ready to snooze in their luxury (read: not actively outdoors, and with beds) palace – until they realised someone new had joined the inner circle.

“What the f*** is that Noel?!” Harry asked, aghast, as a small critter hung onto one of the curtains. “I don’t like the look of that.”

Once Nick Knowles was called in to help, the trio identified the beastie as a jungle shrew, and the DIY SOS host took it upon himself to send it on its merry way.

Nick Knowles rescued a shrew and when he let it go he said it waved goodbye to him #imaceleb

— Toby Earle (@TobyonTV) November 23, 2018

“I was disturbed as I was going to bed and I was called in by the Emperor and his co Emperor for pest control,” he noted – and it could just be us, but did we note a touch of emotion when he told the story of how the removed shrew took a look back at him to say goodbye?

Noel Edmonds massaging Harry Redknapp’s cramp is something you can never unsee. #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/uGB4zmTotJ

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) November 23, 2018

The night wasn’t over for Harry and Noel, though, with the Deal or No Deal host eventually agreeing to rub the cramp out of Harry’s leg. Heavy is the head that wears the crown (or wreath), after all…

When they go low, we go high

Two very different reactions to today’s critters! 🐊 #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/eTStHsotoG

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) November 23, 2018

Believe it or not, though, a FEW campmates had to go through even more stress than removing a small mouse and massaging a former football manager (hard though that is to believe), with John and Emily chosen to take part in tonight’s Bushtucker trial after Rita and Malique were already selected by Bushtucker trial.

Called Drown and Out, the trial was a sort of Houdini-esque water-y head to head, with both duos fighting to find keys and turn on pipes in their opposing team’s tanks to flood them out before the same thing could be done to them. Oh, and because this is I’m a Celeb, the tanks were also full of snakes, lobsters, and other creepy-crawlies. Just ’cause.

Rita’s sarcasm is on another level. 😆 #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/4WplnBEMjx

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) November 23, 2018

And despite some pre-match nerves Malique and Rita absolutely smashed it, with their strategy of getting keys and trying them one at a time proving more fruitful than John and Emily’s idea of collecting all the keys first before trying any of them.

“Stick to the plan,” John told Emily at one point, possibly just after he’d accidentally handed her a yabbie lobster.

“It might be a sh*t one but keep to it”

In the end, both teams managed to turn three out of five levers – but because Rita and Malique (aided by Malique’s impressive diving ability) did theirs first, John and Emily were forced out of their tank, leaving the public-voted duo as the new members of Noel’s inner circle.

“We didn’t give up.  We kept on to the end.  We’re still winners,” said John. Though in a very REAL sense, they really really weren’t.

How much does a Grecian urn earn?

When you finish your last bit of work on a Friday. #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/Vh38o5gdfb

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) November 23, 2018

Finally, The Chase’s Anne Hegarty got her groove back after a crossbow challenge where she, Nick Knowles and The Vamps’ Nick McVey had to destroy pots using crossbows.

Sure, they were a little distracted by the endless dumpings of fish guts, soy sauce, earth and other items being continually dumped on their heads – but they still managed to secure eight care packages (out of a possible 11), with eagle-eyed Anne landing the first shot.

When Anne got the first shot #imaceleb pic.twitter.com/UVPupqc14u

— Sabrina (@ateenagewitch) November 23, 2018

Harry, Nick and James were then denied care packages, which may have been a little harsh considering the latter two lads actually won them – but if they’re unhappy with Emperor Noel’s decision, they may soon be able to get their revenge, as the campmates were informed his reign of terror would soon be over.

The King is dead! So let’s make him eat sheep eyeballs in a Bushtucker trial.

Day five

What could be better than Emperor Noel Edmonds entering the jungle? A Noel Edmonds and Harry Redknapp jungle bromance, that’s what.

Noel Edmonds + Harry Redknapp = bromance

When Emperor Noel picked Harry as his official Advisor (or Harry’s preferred term, ‘Assistant Emperor’), the pair quickly became inseparable, chatting about jigsaws and sleeping together in the Emperor’s Tent — where, according to Noel, Harry apparently woke up in the middle of the night and asked for a cheeky leg massage.

Forget Mr Blobby. Noel’s got a new sidekick. #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/ZibXexLEQg

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) November 22, 2018

The pair also definitely deserve Oscar nods, after conspiring to trick the whole camp into thinking they’d answered Kiosk Kev’s question wrong , missing out on Outback Shack treats AGAIN… before Harry re-emerged with the cheese and grapes.  

Oscar worthy performance from Harry Redknapp 🎭 #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/L0IWu1ioWz

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) November 22, 2018

GRAPES FOR EVERYONE!

John Barrowman “didn’t f***ing scratch his groin”, OK guys?

Sometimes you just need a hug and a sandwich. Instead, you get Emperor Noel Edmonds.

Poor Mr Barrowman was not pleased when, standing up to ask Noel a question, he gave his waistband a well-earned itch — and Noel accused him of scratching his groin.

“I know he was trying to make a joke and be funny but it didn’t land well with me,” a hangry John complained in the Bush Telegraph. “I’m probably being overly sensitive and it’s at this exact time that my husband would say I need a sandwich.”

Emperor or no Emperor, sometimes we all just need a sandwich. @JohnBarrowman #ImACeleb

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) November 22, 2018

Nick Knowles aced Crittercus Maximus

Nick proved himself once again the undisputed King of Critters, after successfully retrieving a star during the Bushtucker Trial — while ignoring a giant spider on his head.

What do you call a man with a spider on his head?

Nick Knowles. 🕷 #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/LR2xNpjinb

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) November 22, 2018

All four of the campmates who took part in Noel’s gladiator games — Fleur East, Nick Knowles, Sair Khan, and James McVey — managed to win a star each.

Fleur and Sair took on biting green ants, as both campmates manoeuvred their stars down a bolt while only using their tongues — and Fleur displayed an “impressive technique,” according to a naughty Dec.

Meanwhile Nick and James untied knots  to reach their stars — all the while locked in a box with a stomach-churning number of creepy crawlies…

5kg of mealworms 5000 crickets 5000 cockroaches 20 scorpions 20 large spiders 1 popstar 1 TV presenter A whole load of NOPE. 🤢 #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/m62j9OSi23

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) November 22, 2018

Social media went crazy for Dec’s nips

Oh hello #DecsNips pic.twitter.com/x7MkLAA17y

— chlo☁️ (@_chloelake_) November 22, 2018

Viewers just couldn’t unsee Dec’s ‘button nipples’ during the show — and pretty soon a hashtag dedicated to the oh-so-wrong-it’s-right placement of his shirt buttons was trending on Twitter.

“They’re trending,” Holly informed Dec during the live show. “#DecsNips.” Ooh la la…

Day four

He’s finally here: Noel Edmonds has, at last, arrived in the jungle, dressed as a Roman emperor and looking just as silly as we dared to dream.

But that wasn’t the only talking point from the show’s fourth instalment. From John Barrowman crossing paths with a crocodile, to the revelation Emily Atack used to bite people, here’s all that went down in the jungle…

John Barrowman took a plunge into the Scary Rose

An army of Cybermen? No sweat. A Dalek on the warpath? Easy peasy. But crossing paths with an ickle baby crocodile in a Bushtucker Trial? That’s what will get John Barrowman swearing at the top of his lungs.

It looks like he said it… but he really didn’t! 😂 #ImACeleb @imacelebrity pic.twitter.com/yVHsSceFaL

— ITV (@ITV) November 21, 2018

However John performed fantastically in the challenge once the screams were out of his system, finding all 10 stars in a submerged shipwreck – one filled with five water pythons, 10 water dragons, 40 large eels, 10 mud crabs and 90 “yabbies”, which are apparently a thing now.

We learnt some horrible secrets about the celebs

Turns out Harry Redknapp isn’t the only one with some brilliant stories waiting to come out. In the Dingo Dollar Challenge, Emily Atack and Nick Knowles were asked to match 10 secrets to the jungle’s 10 celebrities, revealing some surprising truths.

Turns out Anne Hegerty was once an extra in a Robin Hood movie, Rita Simons once taped her brother to a tree, Emily used to bite people as a youngster, Sair Khan wanted to be a WWE wrestler and John Barrowman once had a perm. Although, the more we think about it, the less surprising that last secret should be.

Noel Edmonds enters the jungle – and becomes the camp’s new emperor

What would have happened if Noel Edmonds had played Emperor Commodus in Gladiator? A question nobody’s asked before, but one we’re getting the answer to anyway.

Making his much-awaited first screen appearance on this year’s show, the Deal or No Deal host was finally unveiled as a campmate – and “Emperor” of the next episode. He even turned up in ancient Roman attire, sitting on a throne in his robe before bellowing: “ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!”

Tomorrow night, you SHALL be entertained! All hail Emperor Noel. #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/A7oTd3crYO

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) November 21, 2018

In short:

OMG HERE HE COMES AND HE’S AS RIDICULOUS AS WE WANTED. #NoelEdmonds #imaceleb

— Jamie East (@jamieeast) November 21, 2018

Day three

When an episode kicks off with Dec wiggling his hips to the Spice Girls and turning in an impressive Simon Cowell impression, you know you’re in for quite the ride. And I’m a Celeb’s third instalment didn’t disappoint – with another gruelling trial (poor Anne!), a camp reunion, and the moment the nation fell in love with Nick Knowles.

Anne faced the Monstrous Monolith

Oh, we are a cruel voting public, aren’t we?

After finding out she’d been nominated to tackle the latest Bushtucker Trial, Anne “The Governess” Hegerty shed a brief tear before James and Rita escorted her to face her fate.

And brave Anne did her best. But the slime and the fish guts and the critters got the better of her, and two stars into the challenge she was bellowing those infamous words: “I’M A CELEBRITY… GET ME OUT OF HERE!” It meant two meals for Croc Creek – and nothing but rice and beans for the inhabitants of Snake Rock. But it took a hell of a lot of guts, as Dec pointed out.

Two camps became One

After three impoverished days, the Snake Rock campmates finally walked into the relative luxury of Croc Creek. And boy were they happy about it.

“It was like checking into a five star hotel,” gushed James. Sitting on my sofa with a cup of TV and a smidge of perspective, I begged to differ. But it was lovely to see them all look so happy.

And the two camps uniting meant we got to see Dec do his best Spice Girls impression, complete with snake hips and body-rolling. The man can really move.

Dec moving his hips! @antanddec @hollywills 😂 #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/OaAEEcJtD2

— Ant and Dec OBE (@Team_AntandDec) November 20, 2018

Nick Knowles won our hearts

If Nick Knowles isn’t already your man crush, he will be now. Before they left Snake Rock, Rita, James, Fleur and Anne faced down some frogs in order to win Croc Creek campmates’ luxury items. They managed four of the six and reunited Nick with his remarkable savvy treat – a pillow.

Hugging his item, Nick explained he had made the choice “so I could give it to anybody who was struggling sleeping” before throwing it to Anne, who had already confided in him how hard she was finding the jungle conditions. What a hero.

SO glad that didn’t land in the fire! #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/cMrE66Cnck

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) November 20, 2018

And as if that wasn’t enough, Nick also shared the story of his fleeting music career – the high point of which saw him sing with Biffy Clyro. Not that a super cool band like Biffy Clyro should be embarrassed by collaborating with the DIY:SOS presenter – but if they had wanted to sweep that duet under the carpet, Dec made sure it was virtually impossible by asking viewers to get it trending.

And it wasn’t long before this happened…

Who did this to Biffy Clyro’s Wikipedia 😂😩 #ImaCeleb pic.twitter.com/Uk6YVvnUev

— Georgia Toffolo (@ToffTalks) November 20, 2018

Day two

From encounters with “snake juice” to Harry’s new job as a “s*** shoveler” – day two of I’m a Celeb was pretty classy. There was a horrifying viper challenge, a whole series of revelations about Harry Redknapp and a bonding moment between Anne Hegerty and Rita Simons. Find out what went down in the jungle, below…

We learned a fair few things about Harry Redknapp

Not only did we discover that Harry Redknapp absolutely bloody loves a cold shower, but he also shares a physio with Prince Harry and has no sense of smell – “I can’t smell anything”. His inability to smell means he is the perfect campmate to clean out the loo, and he is now the self-proclaimed “Harry the s*** shoveler”. A bit of a skid mark on his shiny CV, to say the least.

Interesting career move for Harry Redknapp. #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/8Ok7TqDDUv

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) November 19, 2018

Emily Atack smashed the Bushtucker Trial

“What’s a viper?” Atack asked before the first trial of the series – but it’s fair to say that after being in a pit writhing with them, she was very familiar with the snake indeed.

Atack whimpered and squealed her way through the challenge and came out covered in “snake juice” – but it was all worth it in the end as she got to feed the camp at Snake Rock and was upgraded to Croc Creek.

NOPE! 🙅 @EmAtack #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/kvaeEjxXwV

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) November 19, 2018

Anne opened up about living with Asperger’s

In a heartwarming moment, Anne discussed her Asperger’s syndrome with the campmates, which in turn encouraged Rita to talk about her experiences with OCD.

Anne said: “I really appreciate how nice and sympathetic they’ve been to me and how supportive they are and it was nice that they said I actually pick up on social cues because I’m never quite sure that I actually do, so that was nice to know.”

Speaking about her OCD, Rita revealed: “I’m not too bad with cleanliness and all of that. I don’t do any of the rituals any more. I used to be a real light switcher, tap checker, I’d spend hours doing it. It’s almost the complete opposite of you because yours is all logical and mine is all illogical.”

If anything can get Anne through Jungle life, it’s a team of supportive of Campmates! #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/1Iymw9Hk5E

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) November 19, 2018

Day one

Day one of I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! 2018 and two vertiginous challenges helped sort the first batch of celebs into teams, before a watery trial decided who would get to experience the ‘luxury’ of Croc Creek and who’d be roughing it in Snake Rock. There were a few lows along with the terrifying highs but John Barrowman was on hand to make sure things were generally fabulous…

Four celebs get high – and two come down – in the first challenges

As is now traditional on I’m a Celebrity, the opening challenges were all about heights. The first four celebs to be introduced were split into two teams – John Barrowman and Sair Khan’s Reds and Rita Simons and James McVey’s Yellows – and asked to scale a metal frame overhanging a cliff edge to capture a series of flags in the fastest time possible.

Dec revealed that at 100 feet above ground it was the highest challenge in the show’s history, although it didn’t quite match the fear factor of previous years’ wobbly-plank-walking-off-the-top-of-a-tall-building and all four celebs managed to complete it. The Yellows just edged it on time though, meaning they got their pick of the next four incoming contestants, choosing The Chase’s Governess Anne Hegerty and former X Factor star Fleur East, and leaving football manager Harry Redknapp and DIY SOS presenter Nick Knowles to the Reds.

Brand new for 2018 – The Edge!

At 100m above the Jungle floor, it’s our highest EVER Challenge. No pressure. #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/mNkg9F56Nk

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) November 18, 2018

A relatively tame trial followed in which Harry and Anne had to retrieve plastic discs from a box harbouring assorted critters, including green ants and crabs, with a narrow win for the Reds meaning they got their choice of the next two celebs: Hollyoaks’ Malique Thompson-Dwyer went to Team Red, with Inbetweeners star Emily Atack heading to the Yellows – by skydiving 12,000 feet from a helicopter…

And so the squirming begins! It’s good to be back. 🦀 #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/kcsRWoWozx

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) November 18, 2018

It’s safe to say neither were really looking forward to the jump but while Emily seemed to hate the entire experience, Malique’s talk of expelling various bodily substances eventually gave way to exhilaration (and thankfully not evacuation).

The final challenge gives the yellow team a sinking feeling

The teams each had to get in a canoe, paddle across to a pontoon, grab their kit bags and paddle back. But wait, can you actually get a whole team in one canoe? No, no you cannot, as the Yellows quickly found out when they sank. Meanwhile, John stayed in the water and used those well practiced kicks to provide jet propulsion for the Reds, who won themselves a stay in the ‘luxury’ Croc Camp.

It’s an easy victory for the Red Team, but at least the Yellows had a nice time. 🤷‍♀️ #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/6ErXBUgi98

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) November 18, 2018

Things get extra camp as the teams discover where they’ll be living

So yes, those two camps. Some members of the Red team weren’t too impressed by the luxury of Croc Camp, with Harry Redknapp – who has never watched an episode of I’m a Celebrity in his life – apparently genuinely shocked that there wasn’t a burger van behind some trees ready to feed them during the ad break.

But at least Harry got some meat (emu, as it happens) rather than a small ration of rice and beans and wasn’t sleeping on the ground with all the critters like the Yellows. That realisation, at the end of a tough day, proved a little too much for Anne “The Governess” Hegerty who had a little cry, admitting “I’m really close to saying I can’t do this”. But her teammates rallied round and soon had her back on track.

That’s what campmates are for.

The Yellow Team’s bond is already solid. Stay strong, @anne_hegerty. 💛 #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/DjItnFtFeQ

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) November 18, 2018

Speaking of extra camp…

John Barrowman is FABULOUS!

So far, John Barrowman looks like being everything you’d imagine and more from a man who describes himself as “entertainer/sci-fi gay icon of the world”. Some viewers may find his screams of “Fabulous!” and tendency to break into song and dance at any opportunity – “the hills are alive…”– grating but it’s all pretty self-aware and the other side of John seems to be that he is a great team player and very thoughtful when it comes to his fellow campmates.

He was brilliantly supportive of Sair during the cliff task, took one for the team in the canoe challenge and after Harry Redknapp shared his reservations about the supposedly luxury Croc Camp, John was the first to remind everyone that whatever hardships they were facing they were probably in a better position than the Yellow team.

Plus, he can do this…

John Barrowman should be the dictionary definition of ‘Extra’. #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/KzmPaWSG7l

— I’m A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) November 18, 2018

Can you?

Advertisement

I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! is on ITV at 9pm nightly

Tags

Source: https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2018-12-10/im-a-celebrity-2018-daily-round-up-news-what-happened/

[beardedwinnerobject-blog]

Hartford Connecticut Cheap car insurance quotes zip 6147

"Hartford Connecticut Cheap car insurance quotes zip 6147

Hartford Connecticut Cheap car insurance quotes zip 6147

BEST ANSWER:  Try this site where you can compare quotes: : http://freeautoinsurance.xyz/index.html?src=tumblr 

RELATED QUESTIONS: 

How much is car insurance on a 2002 mustang convertable?

How much is car insurance on a 2002 mustang convertable?

Do anybody know of any cheap health insurance?

I haven't had any insurance since 2007.

What would be the insurance policy on a 2013 Mustang GT/CS?

Make believe it is the summer of 2014 and I just bought the stated car above. How much would a typical insurance go for a used Stang with around 7,000 miles in a small city(like Gainsville) go for?""

""What is the cheapest automatic car, for a new driver?

also cheap for insurance

WHERE I CAN FIND A CHEAP CAR INSURANCE IN LONDON?

WHERE I CAN FIND A CHEAP CAR INSURANCE IN LONDON?

Insurance on my car after crash?

my car as in a hit and run accident my car was the hit and run car i wasn't the driver my frined was i want to call my insurance company to get it fixed but i dont want to get my friend in trouble can the insurance company tell where the car got towed from and if i tell them i crashed into a ditch and got it towed will they know

Insurance company would not like to insure me a sole proprietorship?

I am a film major, a student and very involved in different projects. I decided to open my own film company a sole proprietorship, meaning I DBA (Do Business As). I am looking for liability insurance for my business for wedding and events. They asked me if I was doing any other type of work currently. My reponse was that yes I am involved in being cameraman for one project and editor for another. I have not signed a contract or getting paid for any of these projects, simply volunteer. They came back stating that if they were to insurance me, I as an invidividual would no longer be able to be part of any project or post anything of my personal stuff on youtube. I understand that they are trying to protect themselves and that they are insuring me personally I guess since its a DBA. Has anyone else come upon this problem? I see many videographer put their stuff up on vimeo, youtube etc.""

Does registration of a car affect insurance rates?

My fiancs father gave us this old(99) car and signed it over to her. Last year we used that as a trade in for a new(08) car. We just transferred over the plates and registration because it was easier, she absolutely hated being there for as long as we were. Now she only has her permit but is under the insurance policy. If the car was registered to me, a licensed driver, would it affect our insurance policy/rates?""

I got into a car accident like 2 weeks ago and i havent recieved a rent a car from the insurance company??????

I havent recieved a rentacar from the insurance company i didnt have insurance since the car was no more that 3 hours new to me i had just bought it. It was cansidered a total lose from the insurance what should i do.

Cheap car insurance for an 18 year old?

I'm hearing so many different things. Some people say you can use part of your parents' no claims to bring down the price, but I can't find any sites online who say that. Does anyone know of any cheap places or best companies to try by phone to get a realistic car insurance quote for an 18 year old? Thanks in advance.""

Proof of insurance in Texas?

I know this may sound irresponsible, but I have recieved two tickets in the past month in two seperate locations within Texas. The first ticket I received was for not coming to a complete stop and having my old insurance card because I left the new one which was sitting at home. I sent this ticket to my attorney to take care of. Then two weeks late I get a speeding ticket in a small district which I took care of myself right away and now taking a defensive driving course to clear it from my record. I now get news that the first ticket I obtained couldnt be cleared by my attorney and that I have to do defensive driving for the stop sign which I cant because I am already taking it and do deffered ajudification for my insurance which I had even though it was not present at the time. The question I have is, will my insurance ticket be dismissed if I show proof that I indeed had it at the time and would I be able to do deffered ajudification for the stop sign fine instead? These are the first two tickets I have ever received and I am pretty clueless on how the process works. Any help would be great.""

How to get maternity insurance?

We are wanting to start TTC, but we are a little worried about the cost of the actual birth and doctors expenses, as well as any complications that might arise. Now, we do have enough money to cover the basics, but if anything else should arise to complicate things, we're worried. We both work from home for ourselves and have looked into private health insurance, even only maternity insurance, but the plans just suck and dang expensive! Anyway, I was wondering if you knew of any way to get legitimate insurance for only me while I'm pregnant, and for the baby after its born? Some sort of affordable state insurance? Im in AZ by the way. How would i go about finding something like that? thanks!""

How much would my car insurance be?i'm 18 in los angeles..?

i'm getting a 2003 nissan sentra with 92,000 miles...i was just wondering around how much would my car insurance be..? and if I put it on my dad's name and i'm a co driver?""

Will paying off my car loan lower my premiums on my car insurance?

After some research on the pros and cons of paying off my car loan early, I've decided to go ahead and pay it off while I can. Despite all the research, I still don't know if doing so will help lower my insurance rates. I have to carry full coverage on my 7-yr-old car (I purchased it used) as long as the bank holds the lein. Thanks!""

What is the cheapest insurance company?

i'm just looking for an in general answer bc i dont have a car yet i'm just looking for how much i need to save up to get whatever car i get insured...so any help will be useful

Cheap car insurance for a new driver?

like the title say do ya know a car insurance that is real cheap for new drivers got my license this month and my car and now i just have to register it and get insurance and i got a job and i just want to know how im going to budget stuff and how much you expect i should pay a moth

What is the cheapest health insurance I can get?

I'm a healthy single person with no preexisting conditions living in Washington State and am tired of paying $430/mo for COBRA. My acceptable range is $50 - $150/mo and only want it as hedge against risk of major injury. I may be travelling overseas for 3-6 months this winter and I'm wondering if: 1. I should choose something like LifeWise with 10k deductible for 3 months, just short term then let it cancel, then get different travel insurance thereafter? 2. Choose a company that does both domestic US and overseas travel coverage? 3. Let COBRA expire and just risk it? Do you have any recommendations? Know of any especially affordable deals that match this?""

Classic car for a teenager?

Coming up to my 17th birthday soon and i need to buy a car. The sort of car i like is the plymouth cuda 1970 opel manta 72 ford cortina 72 chevy 69 So that kind of muscle car look. However being a teenager i am limited to what i can drive. What would be a good buy and something i can get insured on. Hope you can help Thanks :)

How do I challenge my auto insurance company's appraisal of damages to other car in an at-fault(my) acci ?

I read-ended another car at an intersection. Both of us were stopped at a light. When the light turned green, the other car started moving and immediately slammed on brakes. In the meanwhile, I had taken my foot off brake and hit the car (at < 5mph). The other party has filed claim for $1350 for damages and also for unknown amount of bodily injury. There is not even a mark of any collision on my car (as the speed was low). My insurance company has agreed to their claim related to damages and is waiting for the exact amount for the bodily injury claim. This has been quite unfair to me and will definitely bump up my premium like crazy. Is there any way I can challenge my insurance company's appraisal of the damages ? Are there any other alternatives ? What kind of evidence would I need to furnish for the same ? We had called a Cop to report the accident. I wanted him to note that the impact was at < 5mph. However, he refused to do that saying that this would be left to insurance""

What does 'annual deductible' mean for health insurance?

Hey guys so I just want to get this straight because we are looking at purchasing new insurance... When it says Annual Deductible; $7500 does that mean after I paid that amount within the calendar year, then the insurance would kick in and start paying some of the cost? Is this still true with any type of doctor visit like routine checkups and stuff? It also says this regarding that Member pays $30 Copay or 30% after deductible (applies to the 3 office visit copay limit) . Can someone give me an explanation? It doesn't seem like this is a good option if I would have to pay $7500 before any insurance kicks in right?""

Does employer needs to provide medical insurance?

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

Car insurance fraud am i paying too much ?

we got a new car out of the dealer and as u know it requires u to get full coverage.we went to are present insurance witch i had my 3000gt i asked if i could add the new car the guy who got us the insurance,he told us we needed to pay down payment again witch is weird when i wanted to add my 3000gt to my dads insurance they did not charge the down payment.but we also dont have licence and shes 23 and i am 25""

Nissan Skyline R34 Insurance Question (WA)?

Hello guys, I had two questions about insuring a skyline R34 Turbo... First off, How much (On average) would this cost to insure for someone on their P plates. Second off, Do you know any good insurance companies to go through? WA Is for Western Australia, not Washington. Thanks in advance.""

How much would insurance cost for a 17 year old with a bimmer ?

Probably a late 1990's model. I have to pay for the car and 1/3rd insurance - so I'm just wondering how much insurance would be around for a BMW ?

How much Insurance do I need to pay for a 2.5 million hause.?

How much Insurance do I need to pay for a 2.5 million hause.?

Hartford Connecticut Cheap car insurance quotes zip 6147

Hartford Connecticut Cheap car insurance quotes zip 6147

Any suggestions on how to lower my car insurance?

I'm an 18 year old female driver, and about a month ago I got into a bad car accident due to a malfunction. When this occurred, the insurance and everything else was under my dad's name. Now that I bought a new car, my dad wants everything to be under my name because he doesn't want to get screwed over with high insurance and such, but the quote I got from Travelers (which was the insurance my dad was under)was around $800 a month, to insure my 2007 Honda civic, and my job doesn't pay enough to afford that. And I have other monthly bills to pay as well. Any suggestions on what I could do? Or what insurance company to switch too? Any helpful information is appreciated!""

How much would insurance on a Mercedes C230 cost?

2008

How much does life insurance generally cost?

im looking for a life insurance policy, somewhere in the neighborhood of 5,000,000, that ISN'T a term policy. in other words, when i die, however far away that is, my beneficiary gets 5 million. how much would that cost me?""

Average teen drivers insurance cost?

about how much would it cost to get insurance on a 16 year olds car? does adding it to the parents insurance make it less?

About how much does insurance cost for a 16 year old male in new Mexico cost????????

About how much does insurance cost for a 16 year old male in new Mexico cost????????

Can i park at my aunts to get... a good price on the car insurance?

The insurance is double the amount for cars in my area compared to my aunt who lives at the other side of the town, can i park at hers to get good price on the insurance..?""

Temporary Car Insurance?

I want to pick up a car, i live in manchester uk and the car i am buying is in sheffield, what do i do about insurance when driving it back.""

Would a warrant for a no insurance ticket affect me in california from minnesota?

Would a warrant for a no insurance ticket affect me in california from minnesota?

For a 17 year old - how much does a car cost to run each month?

when i pass my test, i don't know whether to a actually buy a car. i'm 17 and if i bought a car, how much would it roughly cost to run including the insurance, maintenance, mot, and everything except for the petrol/diesel. the only problem is, i don't think i actually need the car as i'm at college with a bus pass, but in the summer i want to drive lots of places with friends like go camping etc with a car. i was interesested in renting one as it seems ideal for my wants, but you need to be like 22 to rent. is this true? to anyone who is driving at 17 in the uk - is it worth it or is it too expensive?""

Who will be responsible for my dad's car wreck/Will my insurance premium go up?

I let my mom borrow my car to get to work for about 6 months. I knew she had it, I never insured it and neither did she. My dad is abusive and tries to contol everyone and their possessions (my car, my apartment, my bf's car). He hit a local business and caused 15k of damage. He has never worked and my mom just recently started a job-I have had to work for everything in my life and I'm frustrated with always being taken advantage of. My dad was taken away from the scene in an ambulance, the owner's of the property he hit never received his name or contact info. Since the car is registered to me, am I liable? Although it was his accident, will my future car insurance premium go up because of this?""

Car insurance question?

If I have insurance for me and my husband on our truck, and My Mother in law has insurance for her vehicle. If she borrows our truck and gets in a wreck, whose insurance will pay?""

Do you have health insurance?

if so, how much is it per month? how old are you? what kind of deductable do you have? feel free to answer also if you do not have insurance?""

""Need advice for buying new car insurance (20 year old, male)?""

Need advice for buying new car insurance. I am 20 year old, male, college student, and 2 tickets...... I need insurance for a new Toyota SUV (4 Runner or FJ Cruiser)""

How much do i need to save for a motorcycle?

I have my g1 and will be attending a motorcycle safety course soon then getting my m1. Then i can drive motorcycles. But I want to wait till next year..I am first buying my car. (03 crown vicotria) After the winter. I am 6'2 and weigh 140lbs. (17 and male) is a kawa ninja 250r a good first bike for me?? how much do i need to save for the bike itself? but also insurance?? what is your opinions?

Can you have car insurance without owning a car?

my 20 year old is in another state going to college, can he get car insurance on his brother's car?""

Can i get a bought car with someone elses insurance?

So i bought a car but it needs to be fixed so i need to tow it to my house. I dont have insurance on it yet until i fix it. My parents have triple A and are real good customers. Can triple a tow the vehicle to my house even of its not insured yet?

I am 16 and need tips on insurance and a car....

I am 16 years old and I have no job currently but I am getting one this week... it is half way through summer holidays and at first I was just going to drive my dads car cause insurance alone for me is 3800$ year because my dad is a single parent. But going into grade 11 I want to drive a car and I seen a beater for about 500$ volkswagen still running good, but Is it true that you need to put down a quarter or half of the insurance to start off? What do you think I should do about any of this ..... thanks""

Insurance question on jeeps! help?

Im moving out in a month and a half and am very worried about insurance because i don't know if i can still be under my parents insurance if im not living with them. Questions: 1) Can i still be on my parents insurance if i move out? 2) looking to get a 90's jeep tj wrangler or sport. what one is better on insurance? 3) how much is insurance on a jeep? (wrangler and tj sport) ** im 16 years old in GW drivers training which lowers my insurance. im turing 17 soon my parents have not had any car accidents and i haven't either and don't plan on getting in an accident lol.**

California Car Insurance?

Hi, I am a 17 year old girl who just bought my first car. It is a 1992 Buick Regal in perfect condition with a clean title. In addition, I just graduated High School with a 4.0. With these elements, what would probably be the best insurance company to go with to get a low rate? Or, what insurance company would you reccomend working with for a new teenage girl driver? Thanks!""

How much can I expect my insurance to be?

Alright, I'm seventeen, I'm looking at a 1992 Acura Legend L, I'll be on my parents insurance (three other cars: pickup, SUV, and muscle car; no crashes that I know of), I'm a great student (top tenth of my class). I have to contribute my share of the insurance so I was wondering how much that might end up being? Anything else you need to know?""

What is the cheapest auto insurance ?

Is safe auto cheaper than pronto insurance?

Can't afford college Health Insurance...?

I need some type of advice regarding my options. I feel like i've hit a dead end. I have a 4.0 and financial aid, however my state requires student have health insurance... and the only insurance my school offers is over $80 a week on top of the $85 a week lab fees, dr visits, and meds because I have a severe blood disorder and need to go get my blood check every week. I also have specialist visits once a month. I have medicaid right now and if I go to school at all I will lose it and I can't afford the student insurance. It would total up to be more than my rent each month not to mention they don't cover pre-existing conditions. I feel totally hopeless. I'm willing to move to another state if necessary where insurance is more affordable. I just really wanted to go to medical school and now I feel like my future is shot all because I'm not healthy.... Also, i can't take out a loan because i don't have credit being so young and although I was born in this country and my parents were from here, they relocated to a foreign country so they can't help me either.""

How much is insurance for a bmw z3?

I'm a male 16 yr old , just got a 1999 bmw z3 convertible. 30,000 miles for $6,999 (sweet deal!!) what would insurance be? My record is clean (of coarse) and straight A's. ...show more""

""My son's 16 and i need help on the car insurance, help please!?""

My son's 16, he's taken drivers ed. he's done his on roads. I live in Massachusetts. I'm now buying him a Land Rover Range Rover, or a Mercedes, or a Saab 9-7x (Saab's will be 06 - 08 for year), or Cadillac Escalade. These would be about 02 - 05's maybe even an 00 - 01. (I don't want to buy him a new car for his first car, obviously) So what would the insurance cost on those cars? and also, put your personal input on which car you think is best. Also, which car would be easiest to fix? Thanks everyone!""

How old does the bike have to be for classical insurance?

ive been told that my bike (86) should be put under the classical insurance for motorbikes, how old is it? please and thank you. (p.s. this is in the UK)""

Hartford Connecticut Cheap car insurance quotes zip 6147

Hartford Connecticut Cheap car insurance quotes zip 6147

Is health care in the US affordable to everyone?

If not, then why is so many people opposed to free universal health care like in France, UK, etc? How many of you can pay $100 doctor visits or (god forbid) $500,000 surgeries, not counting expensive prescriptions?""

""My sister in-law hit another car, she only has a permit and no insurance?""

I moved to america last year, my wifes sister hasnt got a full license yet she hit another car today. She has no inurance, she gave her name and her mothers car insurance details. ...show more""

Primerica life insurance help!!!?

ok well i was currently covered under Primerica untill Febuary, when i was terminated due to non payment. What are the steps that Primerica takes to reinstate a policy.""

Car insurance question?

how much will it cost for a 21 year old single female per month? i just recently got my drivers liscense and i have never had a car or insurance..i have no credit and have never had a ...show more

Car insurance cost need help?

my nephew is looking for a car and he wants to know how much insurance would cost. right now he is interested in an '88 Cadillac. he's 18 its his first car he lives in Indiana and didn't take a driving class. he also drives back and forth to school if that helps. how much should this cost him

What are my options to get my car back from the insurance company?

I got into an accident about a week ago. the front passenger side was damaged. the insurance company told me today that it was a write off. they wouldn't be able to fix it, which is complete bull. It is a 98 Honda Civic with 200,00 km on it, and they are giving me $2800. What can i possibly do? Can I get my car back and repair it myself (by myself i mean a bodyshop i will take it too out of my own pocket)? What happens in that case? Will they give me any money or would i have to pay them?""

Can a cop pull you over for no insurance?

I am going on a 2 week road trip to go see my newborn nephew and my biological family. I was laid off 2 months ago ad just got a new job. My insurance was canceled due to this back in may. I am going with my girlfriend too but taking my car because it is more reliable.

On average how much more would the cost be for insurance for a house with a pool?

We are thinking about buying a home in So Cal that is a 4 +2 house on a 10,000 sq ft lot. The house has a pool though, and our concern would be what the cost of insurance would be. The pool is deep, and there is no diving board, and at the present time there is no fence. What do you all think? We have small children, so once we purchase the home, we will put a fence up, but we're just trying to guesstimate at this point. If anyone has any thoughts, by all means share them! I really appreciate any direction I can get with this. *I would rather not call 50 Insurance agencies to get quotes and have someone selling something I don't need yet!* Thanks a bunch.""

What type of medical insurance???

What type of medical insurance do you have and are you happy with your medical coverage? If not what would you like to chance about it??

How much would it cost for my 17 year old son to have insurance on a 2005 nissan 350z?

How much would it cost for my 17 year old son to have insurance on a 2005 nissan 350z?

Approximately how much does malpractice insurance cost for a Psychiatrist?

Just wondering about the average annual, or monthly, cost for the insurance. If anyone has a specific number for the state of Florida, that would be much appreciated as well.""

Teens: How much are you paying for your car insurance?

Do your parents make you pay your own car insurance for your car?

How can I lower my car insurance if it is high because of bad credit?

I have been told that my car insurance is high because of a bad credit rating. I am currently enrolled in a DMP to pay down some credit cards and I'm sure this is why it is so bad. Will any insurance company work with me to lower my rate? I currently have GEICO insurance bc it was the lowest I could find. I lease my car and always make my car and insurance payments on time.

I have a question about cars and insurance....?

i just bought a car and im going to go register it today and put insurance on it and i was wondering , can my husband drive my car even though the insurance is under my name only and the registration is also under my name? our insurance is basic (not full coverage) like if the police stops us... will we get in trouble? thanks""

So where do I get health insurance?

My job doesn't give me health insurance and I'm usually broke and mommy and daddy can't get it for me. Where do I go to get health insurance?

Driving without insurance in Indiana?

What happens in the state of Indiana if you are caught driving without insurance? I thought it was a 90 day suspension of your license but I have been told otherwise... Also what happens if you are in a wreck without insurance but the passenger DOES have insurance? Does the passenger's insurance have to cover everything?

State Farm Car insurance payment question?

I have to make a payment on my car insurance 3 days late (it comes due 3 days before pay day, since they changed the due date on me). However, I don't want my coverage to be dropped. I called my agent's office and the girl told me she would suspend my payment, but that they might send me a cancellation notification. She said I should ignore it. Does this mean I will loose coverage for those 3 days, or do I have a small grace period ?""

Online insurance quotes?

I've been surfing the web for insurace quotes. I am a first time car buyer and I am only 16. I want to find a site that can give me a very basic quote, like an area I can be confident in. I DONT want to have to enter my email, phone number or anything else of that matter. Just quick, simple and, well, general. Best site to meet my private requirements? Thanks""

Need help finding affordable health insurance for a 1 year old baby boy in Nebraksa or Iowa?

Please help

How much more would i have to pay insurance for a cheve monte carlo?

Im 16 and i want to get a cheve monte carlo but my parents say that the insurance will be too much, but there are a lot of people my age with one and i am pretty sure we are more better off financial than they are""

Why is my car insurance so high?! Im 18 yr old female...! :(?

no accidenets, good student, 2003 jetta GLS 1.8 Turbo...10/20 bodily injury...compr and coll both $500 deductible.... I'm paying about 284 right now and its ridiculous :(""

Motorcycle Insurance in Oklahoma?

Am I interpreting this correctly? Motor vehicle with a seat/saddle for the use of each rider, with not more than three wheels and a combustion engine with a piston or rotor displacement of greater than 150 cc. is a motorcycle. Does this mean if I were to buy a 125cc Honda CBR or something of the likes, that I wouldn't have to get motorcycle insurance, and I could use my Class C license and not have to get a Class M license as well?""

What is the best health insurance in california?

i could either choose blue cross hmo or ppo or kaiser hmo..not sure which is best?

How much would insurance cost me on a 2008 Mustang GT?

I'm 17, I've never had a ticket. If I were to get it under my mom's name with me as a driver, how much do you think it'd be?""

Can someone please explain the diff. between term life insurance and regular life?

Also is it better to just by a plot burial and lock in the rates today, my job does not offer life insurance and i would like some type of reassurance for my family if i were to die. I'm in the 25-35 yr range group, can anyone suggest polices or explain them altogether!""

Hartford Connecticut Cheap car insurance quotes zip 6147

Hartford Connecticut Cheap car insurance quotes zip 6147

What is the best Car insurance?

I'm a 16 year old student and i've noticed that car insurance is very expensive. Whats the cheapest insurance i can get, that covers a lot of situations?""

I'm buying a used car from a private owner. Will I need to have insurance before I purchase the car?

I've never had insurance before. Should I call insurance agencies before I get the car? Get quotes/etc? I won't know if I'm going to buy the car until I see it.

Which insurance company offers the best rates for car insurance in ONT?

for one with no insurance history at all, with a G2 licence""

How much is your car insurance?

I just realized my car insurance is $383 every 3 months. I thought that was quite a bit. I'm 24 and totaled my car in February and just got a new Nissan Altima. So I was just wondering how mine compared to everyone else's. How old are you? What kind of car do you have and how much is your insurance?

How much would car insurance and tax cost?

I am a 23-year-old female living in a small English town. I have not even had driving lessons yet but I am considering it but first I want to know how much would car insurance and tax cost?

A question about car insurance.?

My girlfriend hit a small deer about 6 months ago, it did not do much damage, I called the insurance company and asked them what to do, they asked me what it did and then told me it probably was not worth it since she we have a 500 dollar deductible. Well today I took it in and got the oil changed and asked how much the headlamp was to fix so they looked at the car and told me that deer did about 1500 in damage. Is there anything I can do or am i screwed?""

Will my insurance go up?

I got two speeding tickets not to long ago, they where 145 dollars each. On both of the tickets i was going 75 mph and speed limit was 60 mph. I already paid for the both tickets, they got reduced by 45 dollars each ticket. I was wondering by how much will my insurance go up and when does it go up. Its my dad insurance and he has my car on his insurance. Will the insurance go up only on my car or both of the cars on same insurance and is there any way you can take those tickets of the record. Like traffic schools..""

Is car insurance mandatory?

I'm 16 years of age. i don't know that much about business. If i purchase a car, MUST i pay car insurance? is it mandatory? What will happen if I don't have car insurance?""

Where can i locate Leaders speciality auto insurance?

Where can i locate Leaders speciality auto insurance?

Does it cost anymore to be named on someone else's insurance policycy?

Does it cost anymore to be named on someone else's insurance policycy?

Where can I find affordable insurance when living on disibility?

I am disabled and I only earn a certain amount per month, and I also have a wife and child. I just want to cry sometimes.""

""Should I wait until after I turn 25 next month to buy a car, since insurance will be cheaper?""

Basically, I'm wondering if I should wait until I'm 25 to buy a car, since then the insurance would be cheaper when I have to insure the car. Or does it really matter?""

Can I drive my new used car without insurance for 30 days?

I just bought a new used car today. I have insurance on my old car still (in my mom's name). Does that insurance cover my new car (in my name) for a bit do you think? Or should I just not drive it at all until i get it insured?

Cheapest car under 1000 to insure?

I'm 17, male and want the cheapest insurance possible.""

Do you pay insurance on a lease car in the UK?

im 18 and looking to get my first car would a lease car be a cheaper option for me as i have been told in unsureness that its all included in the price but would i still have to pay separate insurance on the car? if so what would be the cheapest option? a lease car or buying a cheap car? thanks

I need to know where i stand with insurance?

basically a guy drove into the side of me and my car is in the garage awaiting assessment to see if its to be written off or fixed. of course the insurance wants whatever is cheapest and its looking like it would be cheaper to write it off. if this happens can i 1. offer to pay more on my excess to get it fixed? 2. get the car picked up and pay for it all myself to get fixed at my own mechanics? its not that the car isn't fixable its just that the insurance is looking at the cheapest option, which looks like writing it off, because my excess is so high, but if they do this i will never be able to afford the insurance, so would rather keep this policy and fix it, anyway is this possible and can anyone find a loophole?""

Totally outrageous car insurance quote?

I had some issues paying my car insurance and it was cancelled. I called by ins company today to renew it. They told me they couldn't renew my policy but they have a buddy company that can give me an insurance policy. So they get all my info and they quoted me 730 dollars a month! I understand I have bad driving history and I let my insurance get cancelled, but that doesn't seem right at all, I was paying 100 dollars a month before. That doesn't even seem like a real number to charge someone for car insurance, it's more than I pay for rent!""

Is it possible to find a health insurance plan with no deductible requirement?

I found the perfect plan for $33 a month, but it has a $10,000 deductible. WTF? Unless I become pregnant and have a kid, or need surgery or whatever, I find it impossible to make a $10,000 bill within a year. That's too much. I've always been healthy and rarely need to visit doctors. Then I was looking at other policies and they were more expensive, but they all had deductibles. One was like $160 a month with a deductible of $5,000. And anyways, I'm a college student and financially independent which means that I am no daddy's girl -I have to work to support myself and pay some school expenses. I don't want to depend on my parents financially in any way (they are willing to, but I just feel like at 21, I shouldn't be their responsibility anymore) so I always worry something would happen to me and they would have to pay hospital bills for me. I can't afford paying a very high deductible or a high monthly quote. Any hope for me? ..or should I move to Canada?""

Pay out of pocket for my car or go through my insurance company?

I live on a hill. Last week, in a quirky weather situation, the street I live on got super-slick just long enough for my 2000 Toyota Camry to go into a 300' free-slide down the hill and crash into a curb and a tree. It was a one-car accident, no one was injured. The repairman can only give me a rough estimate at this time but he thinks it'd cost about $1500 to repair using old body parts, although he says it could cost more if he finds more damage as he goes along--in that case he thinks it might cost up to $2,000 to patch it up out of pocket. I asked him about the pros and cons of paying out of pocket vs. going through insurance in my particular case. He said that if I chose to go through insurance--which would mean getting a USAA adjuster out and all--that he was thinking it would probably cost $2500 to repair, maybe more if it turned out there was more damage that he could see at this time. But he pointed out that I'd have to pay the deductible (which I think is $500 for my car, not sure) and that my insurance rates would go up. But then you'd end up with a new-looking car. [as opposed to a patched-up looking car]. My husband absolutely wants to pay out of pocket--he does not want to involve our auto insurance company, saying, The insurance company is only for the big accidents. But I'd like to keep this car for several more years if I can because there's no car out there that I like better, so I'm wondering if maybe it might be worth going through the insurance company. Here's a little more information: My 2000 Toyota Camry has 115,000 miles on it and has been very reliable over the years. The motor wasn't damaged and, in fact the car is already driving well again except that one headlight and blinker are broken. There is, of course, body damage to the front and hood, plus a 6 crack over the left back tire (not very deep), which occurred when I backed out of the tree, slid again, and hit the curb on the opposite side of the street. Re: Our insurance situation? We (me and my 3 driving age children) had a string of costly minivan accidents in the 1990s: 1. one in 1997 when my daughter totaled my van, and got sued for injuries by 2 people in the other car (the lawsuit was settled many years ago but it dragged out for years). 2. one by me, a one-car accident, no injuries, our insurance company paid for the damage minus the deductible 3. 2 accidents caused by other drivers, so my insurance company didn't have to pay any damages--I don't know if USAA takes accidents caused by other people into consideration or not. 4. My son totaled my van in 2000 [which is why my current car is a year 2000]. So we have not called upon our insurance company for any expenses for almost 11 years now. Regarding traffic tickets? I got one 3-4 years ago for speeding--35 or 40 mph in a 25 mph zone-. If my points from this ticket have expired by now (not sure), then there are no other points on our record. Our children are now out of the nest and only one of them borrows our car when she comes to visit once every month or two. I put less than 10,000 miles/year on my car for work and vacations. We live in PA. So my question is this: Given the age of the car, amount of damage, etc., is it worth going through our insurance company to get the car fixed rather than pay OOP--or would going through insurance raise our insurance premiums so much that it wouldn't be worth it?""

Can I get a motorcycle license without a drivers license ?

I am 16 and I live in Florida, I just want to get a motorcycle license without the whole drivers license thing because cheaper insurance. My parents are making me pay and I need it as cheap as possible. Thanks :)""

18yr old with an provisional can i drive my brothers car without me being insurance to drive it?

im 18 yrs old i have a provisional and my brother is takeing me out in his car im just woundering do i need to be on his insurane on his car cos he said thta all i need is L plates and my provisional i just want to make sure thanks ps can u reply asap he taking me out today in his car for the first time

Will auto insurance rates go up if filing a Comprehensive claim in Texas?

I had windows knocked out and body damage done to two trucks by vandals, the vandals were identified and police report files and charges will be pressed. I carry $1000 deductable and damage was in the range of $2000 per vehicle. Any insurance claims adjusters want to comment? PS I havent called my insurance yet, cause I know just making the call will go down as a claim .""

How much is motorcycle insurance for a harley davidson sportster 1200 in Maine ?

What's the price for full coverage and just liability

Young Drivers: How much did you pay for car insurance?

Hello all, I'm trying to find out the average cost of car insurance in the UK or Ireland for a political debate on the subject and was wondering if young drivers (provisional license) could provide some. Thanks very much!""

Can an insurance company cancel the insurance after they found out that there is something wrong?

hi! we just bought a house and got insurances but then after a month in our new house, we got a notice from the insurance saying that our insurance will be cancelled by the next month coz they found out in the inspection that there is a rott on the garage roof and told us to fix it first then they will continue our insurance?? i just wanna know if they can do that or if that is allowed to cancel our insurance after they accepted us?? what can we do ?""

Hartford Connecticut Cheap car insurance quotes zip 6147

Hartford Connecticut Cheap car insurance quotes zip 6147

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/where-get-life-insurance-quotes-miles-york/"

[patrickamadeu]

Tips to Naturally Reduce Stress … Starting Now!

Stress kills. No, really… Even if a person has all the other factors right, high levels of stress can derail health. Unfortunately, just knowing stress is a problem doesn’t fix it. If you’re like me, the need to reduce stress just adds another item on the “to-do” list. Laundry… check. Dishes… check. De-stress… not so much. While I’m far from perfect at this step in my own quest for better health, it doesn’t stop me from searching for answers… Reducing Stress: The Silent Killer You can eat all the healthy organic food in the world and take all the best supplements, but if you’re stressed, it will undo it all. Chronic stress keeps stress hormones elevated, suppresses the immune system, and can put you at higher risk for heart disease or cancer. If high stress levels continue over extended periods of time, this puts you at higher risk for many diseases and can shorten your lifespan. Elevated stress hormones will interfere with the body’s ability to properly digest and assimilate food and even lowers insulin sensitivity, which can lead to weight gain or pre-diabetes. Factors besides just mental or emotional stress can create the same physical reaction. Toxins from our food, water, and air can create a stress reaction in the body, as can an unhealthy diet or lack of sleep. What Causes Stress? Physical, emotional/mental, or chemical factors can trigger stress reactions. Bad news for us, since these sources are abundant these days! So why does everyone seem to be so stressed out? There’s a lot of factors, but several come to mind: Poor diet – We have a wide range of processed food to choose from these days, grown from soil significantly lacking of nutrients, which makes the body think it is in famine mode. Concentrations of toxins – These come from food (Diet Coke anyone?), personal care products, and the environment around us and they cause a legitimate stress on the body and can interrupt normal bodily functions. Emotional stress – If you’re a parent, you’re familiar with this one I’m sure! (If you’re pregnant right now, probably even more!) Research also shows emotional stress can follow us from childhood. Physical stress – This can come from obvious factors like injury or trauma, but also from less obvious sources like lack of good fats (which are needed for proper hormone production), constant input from digital devices, and lack of sleep. (Repeat: lack of sleep can cause physical stress!) Add up all these factors, and it is quite logical that we are under more stress these days than when life or death situations (like invaders, wild animals, or famine) presented themselves daily. The truth is, we don’t know how to get rid of stress … because we don’t know how to fight a threat we can’t see. What is very visible and definitely not a figment of the imagination is the negative effect stress has on our physical health. What Stress Does to the Body As I mentioned before, stress causes tangible physical reactions in the body that prepare it for dangerous situations. This is the classic “fight or flight” response designed to make us stronger, faster, and more resilient in the face of a threat to our physical safety. This response is appropriate and valuable in the case of true danger (like a bear about to eat you or Hun invaders riding over the horizon). In order to achieve the burst of strength needed to outrun said threat, the body turns off some normal functions. This is why stress can suppress seemingly unrelated factors like fertility. For instance, the body uses progesterone to manufacture cortisol in the adrenals during periods of stress. Progesterone is also needed for the body for successful ovulation and hormone balance (not to mention carrying a pregnancy). Ovulating wouldn’t be a priority for someone running for her life, but for a woman with chronic low level stress who wants to conceive, this can be devastating. In these periods of chronic stress caused by not sleeping enough, not eating quality foods, inadequate exercise, toxins, and/or mental/emotional stress, the body will let certain aspects of health deteriorate because it thinks it is keeping you alive in a period of danger. (Even if the danger is just being late to the pick-up car line or a missed deadline at work!) What Stress Does to Hormones The stress reaction is controlled by hormones and the endocrine system that produces them. This system functions as a whole rather than in isolated parts, and so chronic stress affects much more than just the adrenals. An overabundance of adrenaline and cortisol can interrupt other hormones like serotonin, melatonin, and fertility hormones (estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, etc.) and cause problems like anxiety, depression, insomnia, muscle problems, infertility, and menstrual disturbances. Prolonged stress also contributes to aging and weight gain, which no one is a fan of! Weight gain around the mid-section (especially in women) is actually often a symptom of impaired adrenals and the low progesterone that results. When Stress Made Me Sick It’s confession time. Think I have it all together? The truth is, no one does. Stress and sleep are the big gaping holes in my own health. Sure, it’s easy to write about them, and I know what I need to do to optimize them, but with little ones, homeschooling, a blog, a podcast, and getting healthy meals on the table day in and day out, the execution is often difficult. And even if what’s on your plate doesn’t look exactly like mine, I know if you’re a mom you practice an equally challenging (read: rewarding, glorious, exhausting, infuriating) balancing act every day. Several years ago, my stress materialized in a way I couldn’t ignore and reached a level that drastically impacted my health. Here’s what happened… Facing a Family Threat It all came to a head when my husband had an emergency appendectomy. The doctor said his appendix had likely been calcified since childhood. The original surgery required a 2-day hospital stay (and it was the first time I’d left my baby overnight). He came home and felt awful for another week. He was still in pain, wasn’t eating, wasn’t sleeping well, and couldn’t do much of anything but lay on the couch. At his follow-up appointment, the doctor discovered my husband had developed a secondary infection that he’d picked up in the hospital during his surgery recovery. They found an abscess where the appendix had been and drained about 8 ounces of puss from it. They put in a drain that stayed for about a week. A culture of the puss revealed 4 types of bacteria (picked up in the hospital) including the flesh-eating bacteria c-diff. This time, he had to stay in the hospital for 8 days, and was on IV broad-spectrum antibiotics every 6 hours. (I cringed for his poor gut every time they brought them in!) For me, this meant another week of being away from the kids, and in the hospital with him. When I started getting a sore throat and flu-like symptoms, I was put on an antibiotic too, to make sure that I hadn’t picked up any of his resistant bacteria and that I wouldn’t carry it home to the kids or my nursing baby. He finally got discharged from the hospital, and both of our symptoms were clearing up, so we got to go home. He was still under the weather and hadn’t been able to work for about a month thanks to the surgery and infection. I was taking care of the kids, the house, and him, plus trying to keep up with both of our work deadlines to make ends meet financially. I was definitely stressed, to say the least, but I’d always worked well under pressure, so I brushed it off and figured I’d relax and catch up on sleep when things got back to normal. Until… My Body Said “Enough” Then, I started having numbness in my fingers, toes, and lips. My heart was racing. My blood pressure and pulse were high and my whole body shook. I called the doctor, since I’d had allergic reactions to antibiotics in the past and was afraid I was having an allergic reaction. The doc checked and told me that none of these symptoms were listed as side effects or allergic reaction symptoms to this antibiotic, and asked what my stress level was… I laughed… After a follow-up, it turns out that I was on the verge of a panic attack. The remedy? “Learn to relax and reduce stress.” (Yeah, right, I’ll just add that to my to-do list!) Since then, things have calmed down, my husband is recovered, the kids are sleeping normally again, and my blood pressure is back to normal, but my brush with it all really re-enforced how much stress can affect your physical health. How to Lower Stress and Start Feeling Better (Today) We all know that reducing stress is important to optimal health, but how do we do it, practically speaking? Since we can’t truly function at our best with chronic stress, this is an important factor to address in the quest for good health. 1. Eat Foods That Reduce Stress You’ve heard this one a lot if you’ve read anything else around here, but it rings true again. Poor diets full of processed foods, grains, sugars, and chemicals put a tremendous stress on the body. For many people (some experts estimate close to 85%) grains can put a huge stress on the body as they can cause an immune reaction, damage the intestinal lining, and lead to serious disease. Excess carbohydrates can cause this problem too, since the sugars in carbohydrates cause increased insulin if they aren’t immediately used as fuel. For a stress-reducing, adrenal-nourishing diet, focus on getting your nutrients from fresh, real foods in as close to their natural source as possible. Drink a lot of water and, yes … even avoid the caffeine. 2. Reduce Exposure to Toxins This step goes along with the step above, as unfortunately, our “food” supply can be a major source of toxins. If the body is in a state of stress, the liver and kidneys are also not functioning optimally, making toxin removal slow and ineffective. Other sources of toxins include chemicals in toothpastes, personal care products, deodorants, medicines, and cleaning chemicals. Our exposure to large amounts of plastic, especially plastics that have been heated in the microwave, can also cause toxic build up in the body. Top steps for reducing toxins include: using only natural beauty and personal care products avoiding plastics and storing food in glass drinking enough water to make sure toxins are being flushed out avoiding processed foods full of chemicals using only natural cleaning products avoiding environmental toxins like pesticides and herbicides 3. Get Enough Sleep Sleep is one of the most important steps in stress reduction, and most moms find the hardest. Historically, the body is used to sleeping when it is dark and being awake when it is light. When we stay awake long after the sun has set and don’t get enough cumulative sleep, we interrupt the body’s natural time for restoration and removal of toxins. The optimal time for regeneration during sleep is roughly between 10 P.M. and 2 A.M. Many people don’t sleep during part or all of this time, causing a backup of toxins and hormones in the body. The body also has a delicate balance of hormones and depends on serotonin and melatonin to regulate good sleep and alertness during the day. Lack of sleep or interrupted sleep can disrupt the balance of these hormones, making you groggy during the day and restless at night. Poor sleep can also (logically) lead to fatigue, brain fog, memory troubles, and additional stress on the body. Need some motivation to make sleep a priority? Listen to this podcast on why sleep is more important than diet and exercise combined. 4. Learn to Say No Another logical step that I’m guessing most of us are all bad at (me especially). I’m not just talking about saying “no” in a parenting sense (though that could be good too… I recommend “No, you many not eat that candy bar/Happy Meal/Ding-Dong/fill in the blank.”) Many of us have a commitment list as long as our arms, and the stress level to prove it. It is wonderful to help out whenever we can, but make sure you make yourself a priority and realistically evaluate what you can handle while keeping stress low and quality family time high. (Confession: I am really bad at this step myself and have resolved to do better this year!) 5. Exercise, Even If It’s Just a Little Exercise is really helpful in reducing stress in the body. It releases endorphins, helps the body regulate insulin, and improves hormone levels. Exercise also boosts your immune function and helps the body use up excess stress hormones. Try to mix it up and try weights and high intensity exercise instead of strict cardio. I use this 10-minute home workout to make it easy to fit in even on busy days. When in doubt, a vigorous 10-minute walk outside in the sunshine and fresh air is one of the best things you can do to lower stress and improve physical and mental health. 6. Get Enough Good Fats A low-fat diet can actually be a stress on the body, as it won’t have the raw materials it needs to function at its peak. Fats are present in every cell in your body and are necessary for enzymatic reactions and hormone production. There are many kinds of fats, and while your body will use whatever it has, some are certainly more beneficial that others, and some are flat out dangerous. Your body needs the right fats (coconut or olive oil, omega-3s, and fats from healthy grass-fed animals) to produce new cells, manufacture hormones, coat the lungs, for optimal brain function, and many other reactions. The body also needs quality fats to produce, utilize and store vitamin D, a necessary nutrient for immune function and disease prevention. 7. Take In More Antioxidants In the face of stress, the body compensates by speeding up adrenal production. This uses up the vitamins and minerals we take in at a much faster rate and can lead to depletion if not replenished with antioxidant and nutrient rich foods. You may want to consume additional vitamin C, vitamin E, magnesium, and potassium in times of stress especially. I list the best supplements I’ve found to help manage my stress in this post. I also like to use herbal teas for some of these nutrient needs especially in times of stress or illness. Green tea, yerba mate tea, and even peppermint tea contain high level of antioxidants and vitamins that may be beneficial for stress. Bonus: Sipping tea is often connected with sitting down with a good book or chatting with friends … good self-care activities that give you a break from the things stressing you out! 8. Talk to Yourself (and Others) It’s not crazy … we all engage in inner conversation with ourselves all day long! The question is, what are we saying? Stress is not totally objective. We can play a part in telling ourselves — to borrow some famous words — “every little thing gonna be alright.” A growing body of evidence on the positive health benefits of gratitude tells us that the more we emphasize the positive in our minds, the more our physiological responses will follow. This is one reason I take 5 minutes and journal 10 things I’m grateful for every day. Other ways to talk yourself into a better mental frame of mind: Acknowledge what you’re feeling, but counter it with a positive statement — even try this technique to retrain your response to incoming problems and stresses. Flip through a photo book of a favorite vacation and relive some of the experiences with the family or friends you shared it with. Share how you’re feeling with someone you trust — that sense of connection and support may put you back on the right track. Shape your environment by adding positive input and motivation. Hang quotes that inspire you, pictures of family that make you smile, and reminders of positive achievements. Bottom Line: Stress Doesn’t Have to Win It’s my hope that as moms we can beat the stress monster and create a safe space within the walls of our homes where there is enough time and we are enough. I’m not sure I achieve this every day (or even every week!) so if there are ways you’re making this happen in your home, please share with our Wellness Mama community… and help all moms know they’re not alone! Do any of these stress busters work for you? What are three ways that you’ve found help reduce stress levels in your life? Share below!   Enjoy this blog and join our 12 week transformation program here: www.PatrickAmadeu.com/evolution Read the full article