#un trade & development

[southsouthcooperationday]

Multi-stakeholder round table 9: Data, monitoring and follow-up.

8th Plenary meeting - Round table at the First Session of the Preparatory Committee for the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 22-26 July 2024. Data, including data on financing, is crucial for assessing progress and guiding actions towards achieving th...

Watch the Multi-stakeholder round table 9: Data, monitoring and follow-up!

[coopsday]

About the UN Trade & Development and its 60th-anniversary events.

Today represents a milestone for UNCTAD, marking our rebranding as UN Trade & Development and the beginning of our 60th anniversary. We want our vision of the global economy to be understood and our voice heard in the global economic debates where decisions that affect developing countries are made.

Find out more

[wildlifeday]

Watch the High-level event to mark the World Wildlife Day 2024.

Watch the High-level event entitled'' Connecting People and Planet: Exploring Digital Innovation in Wildlife Conservation.''

In 2024, World Wildlife Day will explore digital innovation and seek to highlight how digital technologies and services can drive wildlife conservation and human-wildlife coexistence, now and for future generations in an increasingly connected world.

Under the theme "Connecting People and Planet: Exploring Digital Innovation in Wildlife Conservation," the World Wildlife Day 2024 celebrations will aim to raise awareness on the latest applications of digital technologies in wildlife conservation and trade and the impact on ecosystems and communities around the world of certain digital interventions. The Day promises to feature new tools for enhancing our efforts to safeguard biodiversity and the benefits we derive from wild animals and plants. It will offer a platform to engage in a balanced discussion around inclusive and responsible digital innovation, in line with the 2030 Agenda for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

World Wildlife Day should connect people with our natural world and inspire continued learning and action beyond the event. For WWD 2024, we hope to provide a jumping off point for exploring what digital innovations are available now, what discrepancies we are facing and how we want our digital connectivity to evolve for people and planet.

The Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), with partners such as the UN Development Programme (UNDP), International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), Jackson Wild and others, will host the World Wildlife Day 2024 celebration

Related Sites and Documents

CITES Website Concept_Note Agenda

[worldcitiesday]

Global Observance of the World Cities Day 2023 in Istambul; Turkey.

The global economic outlook remains fragile amid a convergence of crises that are threatening to further reverse progress on the Sustainable Development Goals. The United Nations World Economic Situation and Prospects 2023 projects that global growth will decelerate to 1.9 per cent in 2023. It is also estimated by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and IEA, that roughly $2.6 trillion dollars is required every year until 2030 to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and stay on course towards a net-zero society by 2050. (United Nations, 2023) This amount may appear huge but compared to annual global savings and other large financing markets, it is achievable. The availability of capital is large enough to solve global infrastructure needs. (WorldBank, 2022) To unlock this capital, a paradigm shift is essential to inform the way efforts toward sustainable development is deployed in low-to-middle income countries. A significant drop in development grant funding and an increase in public investment is a clear signal that a change from a granting model to a financing model is crucial in keeping up the pace towards attaining the SDGs. (UN-Habitat -CIF, 2023) While the financing model is not entirely new for public authorities, this period of economic downturn has not only elevated the urgency of scaling up investments for development but has also provided an opportunity for transformative innovative finance to be prioritized in public discourse. Such a discourse will be held on Monday, 31 October 2023. It will be a culmination of month-long global deliberations on financing sustainable urban development in a high-level segment at the of the World Cities Day 2023 in Istanbul, Türkiye. This session will bring together leaders of sovereign wealth funds, development finance institutions, private sector and governments.

[opencommunion]

"As the U.S. government continues to provide Israel with both weapons and diplomatic cover �� most recently, by voting against a UN resolution demanding a ceasefire, coincidentally also on December 11 — activists like DBNY see collective direct action as their best means of curbing the violence. They also describe their organizing as a direct response to solidarity requests from Palestinian labor unions urging workers around the world to halt the flow of weapons to Israel.

... Since September, DBNY has been taking the fight to Easy Aerial’s doorstep. Each week, activists with the group distribute flyers to the more than 11,000 people who work for over 450 businesses in the 300-acre complex, including art studios, food vendors and entertainment companies. The flyers in English and Spanish provide background on Easy Aerial, Crye Precision and the Brooklyn Navy Yard itself .... In addition to the weekly flyering, DBNY has organized demonstrations to coincide with the corporation’s board meetings and public events. Activists have also been directly petitioning the corporation’s executives, board members and staff, demanding they evict Easy Aerial and Crye Precision from the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

While the response from the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation to DBNY has been official silence paired with harassment from hired security — including drone surveillance — the response from workers has been 'overwhelmingly positive,' according to the activists. 'Most of them have been shocked and disgusted to learn that they work alongside war criminals.'

... Ultimately, DBNY hopes to replicate the recent successes of other activists targeting weapons manufacturers supplying the Israeli military. Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions Boston, for example, was able to force the closure of Elbit Systems’s offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in August, following a year of demonstrations, as reported by Cambridge Day.

According to DBNY, until the Brooklyn Navy Yard ceases to host businesses trading in 'blood money' from targeting people in Gaza and the United States alike, all New Yorkers and visitors should boycott the complex. To that end, the activists have created a petition demanding the eviction of Easy Aerial and Crye Precision, as well as pledging a boycott until that time.

'We also urge all tenants and workers to take autonomous actions at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and by joining our campaign to disrupt, strike and boycott all genocide profiteers,' said the DBNY spokesperson."

Demilitarize Brooklyn Navy Yard: IG, Linktree Resources for locating genocide profiteers near you ACT UP Civil Disobedience Guide Small Group Direct Action Advice

[afeelgoodblog]

The Best News of Last Year - 2024 Edition

Welcome to our special edition newsletter recapping the best news from the past year. I've picked one highlight from each month to give you a snapshot of 2024. No frills, just straightforward news that mattered. Let's relive the good stuff that made our year shine.

1. January - South Korea passes law banning dog meat trade

The slaughter and sale of dogs for their meat is to become illegal in South Korea after MPs backed a new law. The legislation, set to come into force by 2027, aims to end the centuries-old practice of humans eating dog meat.

2. February - Greece legalises same-sex marriage

Greece has become the first Christian Orthodox-majority country to legalise same-sex marriage. Same-sex couples will now also be legally allowed to adopt children after Thursday's 176-76 vote in parliament. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the new law would "boldly abolish a serious inequality".

3. March - Global child deaths reach historic low in 2022 – UN report

The number of children who died before their fifth birthday has reached a historic low, dropping to 4.9 million in 2022. The report reveals that more children are surviving today than ever before, with the global under-5 mortality rate declining by 51 per cent since 2000.

4. April - Restoring sight is possible now with optogenetics

Max Hodak's startup, Science, is developing gene therapy solutions to restore vision for individuals with macular degeneration and similar conditions. The Science Eye utilizes optogenetics, injecting opsins into the eye to enhance light sensitivity in retinal cells. Clinical trials and advancements in optogenetics are showing promising results, with the potential to significantly improve vision for those affected by retinal diseases.

5. May - Vaccine breakthrough means no more chasing strains

Scientists at UC Riverside have demonstrated a new, RNA-based vaccine strategy that is effective against any strain of a virus and can be used safely even by babies or the immunocompromised.

6. June - Bill Gates-backed startup creates Lego-like brick that can store air pollution for centuries

The Washington Post detailed a "deceptively simple" procedure by Graphyte to store a ton of CO2 for around $100 a ton, a number long considered a milestone for affordably removing carbon dioxide from the air. Direct air capture technologies used in the United States and Iceland cost $600 to $1,200 per ton, per the Post.

7. July - Stem cell therapy cures man with type 2 diabetes

A 59-year-old man had been suffering from diabetes for 25 years, needing more and more insulin every day to avoid slipping into a diabetic coma and was at risk of death. But then Chinese researchers cured his disease for the first time in the world. The patient received a cell transplant in 2021 and has not taken any medication since 2022.

8. August - Chinese drones will fly trash out of Everest slopes

Come autumn, Nepal will deploy heavy lifter drones to transport garbage from the 6,812-metre tall Ama Dablam, south of Everest. This will be the first commercial work an unmanned aerial vehicle does in Nepal’s high-altitude zone.

9. November - Tokyo to make day care free to boost birth rate

Tokyo plans to make day care free for all preschool children starting in September, the city governor has announced as part of efforts to boost Japan's low birth rate.

10. October - FTC Rule Banning Fake Product Reviews Takes Effect With Stiff Penalties

Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Khan announced on Oct. 21 that the agency’s prohibition on fake online reviews was taking effect, imposing fines as high as $50,000 for violations. Khan encouraged followers to report the proscribed practices at reportfraud.ftc.gov.

11. November - Bumblebee population increases 116 times over in 'remarkable' Scotland rewilding project

The bumblebee population has made an impressive comeback in a developed area by increasing to 116 times what it was two years ago thanks to a nature restoration group.

12. December - Spain to enshrine gay marriage and abortion rights into its constitution so 'they cannot be undone in the future'

The left-wing PSOE leader made the announcement at an event marking the 46th anniversary of the Spanish Magna Carta.

“We believe that these are rights that we must protect in the Constitution so that no one can touch them in the future,” Sanchez said in a statement in parliament on Friday.

----------

That's it for last year :)

This newsletter will always be free. If you liked this post you can support me with a small kofi donation here:

Buy me a coffee ❤️

Also don’t forget to share this post with your friends.

[probablyasocialecologist]

Market-based approaches to forest conservation like carbon offsets and deforestation-free certification schemes have largely failed to protect trees or alleviate poverty, according to a major scientific review published on Monday. The global study—the most comprehensive of its kind to date—found that trade and finance-driven initiatives had made "limited" progress halting deforestation and in some cases worsened economic inequality. Drawn from years of academic and field work, the report compiled by the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO), a group of 15,000 scientists in 120 countries, will be presented at a high-level UN forum starting Monday. Its authors urged a "radical rethink" of increasingly popular market-based approaches often promoted as effective at saving forests, curbing global warming and raising living standards in developing nations. "The evidence does not support the claim of win-wins or triple wins for environment, economy and people often made for market mechanisms as a policy response to environmental problems," said contributing author Maria Brockhaus from the University of Helsinki. "Rather our cases show that poverty and forest loss both are persistent across different regions of the world... where market mechanisms have been the main policy option for decades," she told AFP by email.

Read the report here

[torillatavataan]

For three years, Ukraine and the Ukrainian people have fought against Russia's war of aggression defending the freedom of us all.

Ukraine deserves our unwavering support and a just, lasting peace based on the core principles of international law and the UN charter. There must be no negotiations in Ukraine without Ukraine and no negotiation on Europe without Europe.

Be assured, Finland does its best to assist Ukraine on its path towards peace and EU and NATO memberships. We will continue to support Ukraine with as much defence materiel as possible and we encourage others to do the same. So far Finland has provided Ukraine with defence materiel worth €2.5 billion.

Ukraine remains our biggest development cooperation partner and the largest recipient of humanitarian aid. Also, the whole country, the Government, and the business sector alike, are eager to help Ukraine with the reconstruction.

Ukraine needs our help. Russia systemically attacks civilian targets. Finland continues to provide extensive civilian materiel assistance to strengthen the resilience of Ukraine.

Finland stands with Ukraine. Today, tomorrow, and in the future. For as long as needed.

Alexander Stubb, President of Finland Petteri Orpo, Prime Minister Elina Valtonen, Minister of Foreign Affairs Antti Häkkänen, Minister of Defence Ville Tavio, Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Mari Rantanen, Minister of Interior

[snoozify]

WHAT’S GOING ON IN HAITI 🇭🇹

Haiti is a country in the Caribbean and Latin America that has been exploited and oppressed by colonial powers and imperialist forces for centuries. Its people have suffered unimaginable horrors and atrocities. Haiti was the first Black republic in the world, and the second independent nation in the Americas and the first Latin American country It achieved its independence in 1804, after a successful slave revolt against France. Haiti's independence was a threat to the racist and capitalist system that dominated the world. It inspired other enslaved and oppressed people to fight for their freedom and dignity. Haiti was also punished for its independence by the colonial powers. It was forced to pay a huge indemnity to France, and faced trade embargoes, diplomatic isolation, and military interventions.

Haiti was also exploited by multinational corporations and NGOs, who profited from its cheap labor, natural resources, and humanitarian aid. They also imposed their agendas and policies on the Haitian people, undermining their sovereignty and democracy. Haiti was also devastated by natural disasters, such as earthquakes ( a earthquake they are still recovering from that happened in 2010 and then a earthquake that happened in 2021 that killed 1,419 people) hurricanes, and floods, which worsened its already dire situation. Haiti was also victimized by diseases, such as cholera, malaria, and COVID-19, which ravaged its population and health system. The diseases were often introduced or exacerbated by foreign actors, such as the UN peacekeepers who brought cholera to Haiti in 2010. Haiti was also marginalized and silenced by the mainstream media, which portrayed it as a hopeless and helpless case, ignoring its history, culture, and achievements. The media also spread misinformation and stereotypes, fueling racism and stigma.

Haiti was also betrayed and abandoned by its allies and neighbors, who turned a blind eye to its plight, or worse, contributed to its misery. The United States of America, in particular, has a long history of meddling and undermining Haiti's sovereignty and stability. Taking 500,000 dollars from Haitian banks and still collecting money. The United States of America has invaded, occupied, and intervened in Haiti numerous times, imposing its political and economic interests. It has also exploited Haiti's labor and resources, and blocked its development and trade. sugar refining, flour milling, and cement and textile manufacturing, clothing, scrap metal, vegetable oils, dates and cocoa are all things given to other countries by Haiti. The United States of America has also supported and funded the Core Group, a coalition of foreign powers that has interfered in Haiti's internal affairs, manipulating its elections, constitution, and government. The United States of America has also failed to protect the human rights and dignity of the Haitian people, both in Haiti and in the US. It has deported and detained thousands of Haitian refugees and asylum seekers, and discriminated and criminalized them.

Here are a list of countries who agreed to help the United States and Canada evade Haiti:

Germany

France (the same country that we had to pay just to be free)

Benin

Jamaica

Kenya

Yes I am Haitian my dad side is from Haiti. My fathers family moved up here to Seattle because Haitian was going through a small silent genocide and have been since they have been free from France in 1804, France took my countries money and told them that they have to pay reparations just for existing and they had to pay France just to be free from the French. And then America jumps onto the bandwagon and decides to take billions of dollars from Haiti. Haiti was once the richest country but became the most poorest because of ignorance.

My people are being killed everyday just for speaking out against their government, my people are being killed because nobody was their for them when the 2010 and the 2021 earthquake happened because “Haiti is a bad country and helping them won’t do anything” and they are still recovering from that to this very day. Families are being displaced, the violence is getting worse, innocent people are dying and are fighting trying to stay alive, women and children are being r$ped and kidnapped. I have family that live in Haiti that I lost all contact with because they are fighting everyday, and who knows if they are even alive.

Here are some important links to help you get a better understanding on what’s going on in Haiti and stuff to donate to

Donations:

Haitian Health foundation

Partner in Health: Haiti

Hope For Haiti

Haiti Aid

Haiti Children

Haiti Twitter Link for More Donations. P2 P3

Videos

FYI a lot of these videos are from last year but a lot of them speak really well on what is always going on and why they are going through it

Haiti Debt

What is Happening in Haiti

Haiti and the Rice

Listen Part 2

Free These countries as well

What we want to free in Haiti

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE TAKE THE TIME OUT OF YOUR DAY TO AT LEAST LOOK AT THESE LINKS. For the sake of My dad and the sake of my family I want to see them happy they wanna go home but won’t be able to until Haiti is free I will update this if I need to and please Like, comment, reblog anything is appreciated

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

China emphasizes partnership with Brazil to overcome US trade war

“China will work with Brazil to (…) exercise true multilateralism, guarantee the UN’s central role and defend the legitimate rights and interests of Global South countries,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun, when answering Brasil de Fato/TVT about whether talks had begun between Brazil and China or within BRICS to confront the wave of tariffs initiated by the Trump administration in the United States.

The new US government’s policy of tariffs has targeted both countries. In the case of China, 10% tariffs have been applied to imports of all Chinese products. Brazil is likely to be affected by 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum the US imports. President Lula has said that he will react to Trump’s steel tax. Last Friday (14), Lula told Rádio Clube do Pará that Brazil would complain to the WTO or tax US products.

The Chinese foreign ministry spokesman also said that “China supports Brazil’s BRICS presidency and will jointly advance further BRICS cooperation”. He added that “as two major countries in the world and representative members of the Global South, China and Brazil have maintained our strategic determination and made active contributions to global peace, stability and development together in a volatile and turbulent world.”

Continue reading.

[southsouthcooperationday]

Multi-stakeholder round table 7: International development cooperation.

7th Plenary meeting- Round table at the First Session of the Preparatory Committee for the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 22-26 July 2024.

United Nations Economic and Social Council, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), UN Trade and Development.

Watch the Multi-stakeholder round table 7: International development cooperation!

[coopsday]

Celebrating UNCTAD’s achievements of the past 60 years - Charting a New Development Course in a Changing World.

Marking its 60th Anniversary, UNCTAD Rebrands to “UN Trade and Development” and Convenes a Global Leaders Forum

UNCTAD’s 60th anniversary Rebrands as "UN Trade and Development" and convenes Global Leaders Forum with the UN Secretary-General, Heads of State, leading economists and Nobel Laureates in June 2024.

UN Trade and Development’s Secretary-General, Rebeca Grynspan, emphasized the organization’s transformative approach and commitment to supporting developing countries in an increasingly polarized world.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) announced today its landmark rebranding as "UN Trade and Development," commemorating its 60th anniversary this year. This strategic move underscores the organization's commitment to greater impact with a new, clearer visual identity aiming to better reflect its work and values aiming to amplify its global voice on behalf of developing countries.

Charting a New Course

Under the leadership of Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan, the organization has been adapting to a rapidly changing global trade landscape impacted by the COVD19 pandemic, geopolitical tensions and climate change, with initiatives that enhance the organization's capacity to rapidly analyze new challenges and support efforts in developing nations.

The rebranding marks a pivotal moment- the first ever comprehensive review of UNCTAD’s global communication footprint and a bold forward-looking strategy to communicate its work and values.

At the presentation of the organization’s new brand as part of its 60th anniversary celebrations, Secretary-General Grynspan underlined "Visible, transformational change is our objective. We are celebrating UNCTAD’s achievements of the past 60 years as a forward-looking, renewed organization, building on our legacy but ready to respond to the new complexities of the global economy. We will continue to work to ensure development is at the core of global economic decisions, and the voice of developing countries is heard."

The organization will adopt its new name and logo across all official channels, in the six UN languages, marking its first rebranding in sixty years.

60th anniversary celebration:  Global Leaders Forum

The rebranding marks the start of the 60th anniversary of the organization. UN Trade and Development will convene a Global Leaders Forum from 12-14 June at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, inaugurated by UN Secretary-General, António Guterres and UN Trade and Development Secretary-General, Rebeca Grynspan, alongside Heads of State and Government, and the participation of civil society organizations, private sector representatives and some of the world’s leading economists. Under the theme "Charting a New Development Course in a Changing World", the Forum will emphasize the organization’s integrated approach to trade and development, addressing finance, technology, investment, and sustainable development, with a specific focus on the needs of developing countries, and UNCTAD’s work in Africa, the least developed countries, small island developing states (SIDs), and landlocked developing countries.

It will also be an important occasion to explore innovative approaches and pioneering solutions with the world’s top policy makers and thinkers.

For more information about UN Trade and Development and its 60th-anniversary events, click here.

Download the video here.

**About UN Trade and Development: **

UN Trade and Development (formerly known as UNCTAD) is dedicated to promoting inclusive and sustainable development through trade and investment. With a diverse membership, it empowers countries to harness trade for prosperity.

[boatswainscall]

I really do sympathize with Destiny 2 players and the Absolute State the game is currently in (and tbh has always been in, in some form or another), as someone who originally picked the game up during Forsaken and who has been let down in new and unique ways every time I've returned to it since. I know too that the typical Ragetubers within its niche are for sure not helping things (neither has the subreddit). I honestly though have an immense amount of grief for people on here especially who love Destiny's world, lore and characters so much who are having to watch as the leadership keep breaking new holes in a ship that has been sinking for years. And if it ultimately means people end up coming to Warframe either in general or because of 1999 I will welcome them all with open & unjudging arms.

I am also aware though that Warframe's super early game and vertical midgame climb are even now a horrifying slow crawl, and are the #1 killer of people's progress no matter how badly you want to get to 1999 or even stuff much earlier on like the Second Dream or the War Within. It's pretty much a universal experience to have a high MR friend carry you through that whole portion, either through deleting the map for you as you both attempt to farm for specific mods or straight up farming for them themselves and trading them to you to give you the boost you need to get to the good stuff. It's what my friend had to do for me back in 2017 when I first started, and it's what me and that same friend will do for a mutual friend if they ever start playing themselves. It's Warframe's biggest problem right now, alongside the issue of properly balanced difficulty at the peak of endgame but that's it's own developmental can of worms.

However.

Like I said, I've played Destiny myself. I've been on the subreddit, I've seen the rage bait youtube videos. I've seen the levels of virulent and shocking hatred some players have for the developers and Bungie as a company. Which is well earned in the case of the upper leadership as we saw, but is un fucking warranted when aimed at the developers and writers. The game has been floundering for years and getting worse with its microtransactions yes, but that is not and has never been the fault of the people who actually make the game. But it's way easier to just yell at Bungie or "the Devs" as a monolith, not helped either by the fact that the developers were kept in a chokehold on speaking up about why player feedback was supposedly being "ignored" until the news broke last year about the bottomless depths of the CEO's fuckheadery.

What I'm getting to is, DE is not that kind of developer, entirely I think because they've managed to remain independent even after being bought by Tencent (and because Steve is the CEO). They have always been open and honest about their developmental decisions and direction (beyond just vague "roadmaps") and are extremely receptive to player feedback. I don't doubt that they're aware of the midgame mountain and are likely trying to work out how to improve it, but it's such a sprawling and widespread issue that we likely won't hear anything about it for a good while. DE though has already had to handle some truly nightmarish levels of personal targeted harassment a couple years ago involving a specific youtuber who I don't think I've heard of since the situation was handled. The last thing we need is more of that specific genre of toxic freak calling for physical harm on the developers because of the poor balancing of the midgame mountain or the Endgame's difficulty curve (if they get to it). Frankly no fucking game developers deserve that, on any game of any type or size. Not Destiny 2's, not Warframe's, not anyone.

Which is a long way of saying I hope the toxic assholes coming from Destiny 2 are starved out by Warframe's midgame mountain and go play something else instead, which tbh from what I've seen most of them are Crucible types so they probably will anyway. As for everyone else jumping ship, we've got a ship of our own and we're pulling you on board. And we'll be there with climbing equipment once you reach that midgame mountain, including myself.

[xantchaslegacy]

Keen Sense and Curiosity

Some more Phyrexia happenings; check out the story on Ao3 too if the spirit moves you ;)

The cavern was empty.

As empty as any place could be on a plane where even metal lived, and tunnels of living flesh laced through the world from surface to core, and back again.

Walls of matte metal enveloped the cavern, carved smooth in some places by patient hands, and elsewhere patched with stretches of rougher-hewn, and more frequently, unhewn steel. Pools of varying depth and size blotched the cavern floor, brimming oily fluid; a mixture of effluvia that seeped in from the Hunter’s Maze above, and runoff from the labs that pumped in through meat-pipes from the Surgical Bays below.

The liquid churned, filled the air above it with the thick scent of life. It glowed, reflecting the false sunlight of the Hunter’s Maze that shone through tunnels of mirrored steel, flooding the space with a placid light. The fluid hummed in many low notes, a liquid choir that sang, just then, for no-one.

Even absent the creatures of Phyrexia, the cavern was active.

Active, but empty.

Two predators stalked into the cavern.

Glissa and Vorinclex prowled through the space. Side by side, elf and hulking praetor, scanning for danger by sight and smell and sound. Watching each others’ flanks with the practiced instinct of packmates.

Glissa tapped her scythe against the porous steel of the cavern.

Nothing of concern, as far I sense.

Vorinclex growled, low, and lumbered forward.

I smell nothing alarming. Stay alert.

Glissa sniffed her concurrence and fell back to the shadows, watching her companion as he went.

Phyrexia’s tongue was efficient, but the language of beasts had a guttural elegance that script and speech wanted for. That the "civilized" coveted.

Vorinclex sniffed the air once. Twice.

“Prawn.”

Speak of the devil .

Jin-Gitaxias strode into the cavern through a rounded tunnel that sloped upward from the Surgical Bays. Two chrome-capped cronies accompanied to him, chattering in their sanitized tongue.

“Hm.” Jin turned his head at the sight of Vorinclex. “You aren’t tardy.”

“As agreed.” Vorinclex’s voice, guttural even when he displayed the full and disarming range of his articulateness, rolled from his throat at a growl in Jin’s presence. “Brave of you to saunter out of your sterile little bunker.”

“As agreed.”

This cavern was a compromise of a rendezvous. One of many pockets between the Hunter’s Maze and Jin’s Surgical Bays that had formed as a semi-organic side effect of the intentional terraforming that had created the layers of their new Phyrexia.

The place had proven of interest to both factions so far, exacerbating the developments of predators in the vicious swarm, and (by the accounts of the Progress Engine) expanding the scope of Jin’s research with equal explosiveness.

It was one of the precious few, if not only, places in Phyrexia where the Vicious Swarm and the Progress Engine dwelt in equal measure, and felt equally comfortable.

Or equally un - comfortable, Glissa mused . Depending on who’s around.

“Vorinclex.” Jin-gitaxias’ voice, metallic and self-important, rang through the chamber like a bell. “It is surprisingly civilized of you to leave your attack dog behind.”

G lissa only sneered from the shadows at that. It was impossible that Jin-Gitaxias did not now she was there.

Vorinclex snorted. “We are praetors. We do not fear to fight our own battles.”

“Battle…? This is a simple trading of knowledge to benefit both our factions in the work to come. I understand if such a complicated notion frightens a simple brute. If you prefer to turn your tail...”

“I would not waste a chance for Phyrexia’s evolution,” Vorinclex spat. “Though I doubt I’ll find anything useful to the Swarm in the body of some sulking cell-scraper.”

“I am equally skeptical,” Jin replied, “that the mass of flesh that transports your meager brain will prove of any interest to our synthesis. Still, Norn will insist we work more collaboratively sooner than later. What she wishes, we must actualize. Better we begin such efforts in advance. In any case, further exploring the opportunities this space has to offer for our experimentation is worth a pointless hour of diversion.”

“Your portion of this space,” Vorinclex corrected. “The properties of these pools will be a boon to accelerate the development of the swarm’s best predators.”

“That is the agreement,” Jin said. “Wasted as it is on you and yours.”

Glissa scowled. The arrogance of the Engine’s Praetor was a sort of grating that only the self-proclaimed “civilized” could manage.

“That is part of the agreement.” Vorinclex prowled closer to Jin along a strip of metal ground that divided two of the pools, and sat up on his haunches, lording the few inches of height his current body had over the other praetor. “Sharing this space. Are you ready to share your secrets as well?”

“For the good of Phyrexia,” he added, smirking with his voice, if not his actual maw. He dislocated his jaw, and spat something at Jin’s feet. A red-white blur bounced once with a dull clatter then lay still on the cavern floor.

A phyrexian’s head and upper body, red-muscled and clad in plates of white porcelain steel.

“A souleater,” Jin observed, in his dispassionate way.

“One of Norn’s,” Vorinclex said, picking at his teeth with a finger on his smaller limbs. “A lurker. She may approve of our cooperation, but I will not suffer her eyes and ears where they have no business.”

Glissa smiled grimly. The cavern had been cleared of members of the Swarm and the Engine alike in preparation for this meeting, in some cases by force. Those efforts had revealed this member of Norn’s Machine Orthodoxy sects, lurking about the sub-layer. She had personally beheaded the agent herself and eaten its body with Vorinclex.

Jin-Gitaxias stooped slightly to inspect the half-corpse at his feet. “Norn will be displeased with her servant’s dispatching.”

Vorinclex licked his chops. “Are you displeased?”

“I serve Phyrexia’s greater ends. I have no opinion on small matters.”

“So it pleases you to come here for Norn’s benefit?”

“There is every chance our Great Synthesis could benefit from this exchange,” Jin replied. His jaws hardly moved as he spoke. Glissa wondered if his vocal chords even required motion of the mouth to communicate, with all the modifications he’d made to his body. “Allow the two most advanced specimens of our respective factions to examine each other and find how our best qualities can be shared between our...separate efforts to advance Phyrexia. It will certainly benefit your blind efforts to learn from us, and Norn will undoubtedly want you operating at a greater capacity than you do now.”

“Our glorious, ineffable leader,” Vorinclex snarled.

It’s good he speaks like that all the time, Glissa thought. Otherwise his scorn for Norn would be a more open secret.

“Our flawless mother.”

Jin-Gitaxias was harder to read. Glissa wished dearly to know what he actually thought of their self-proclaimed ‘mother.’

V orinclex spat into the pool. “ Your flattery would be wasted even if she was here to hear it .” He tilted his head, appraising Jin. “Shall we begin, or would you like to waste more time with words?”

Jin held up a closed hand, then raised a single index finger.

“I will insist on taking my observations first,” he said. “If you can contain yourself that long.”

“Please.” Vorinclex spread his arms wide, and his shadow fell on Jin’s toadies as well as the praetor himself. “Observe. I know you can’t wait to see what a real phyrexian looks like.”

“It is not eagerness, simply concern is that your own clumsy analyses will damage my instruments before I can take your measure.”

Vorinclex huffed, and lowered his arms to his sides while Jin turned to his attendants, who were busy pouring steaming liquid into a basin. Jin dipped his fingers into the stuff.

Sterilizing, Glissa realized. The acidic smell was powerful, even at a distance . Since the Swarm and the Engine had begun making joint use of it, each had introduced elements to the odor of the place, and while the acidic curdle of the Progress Engine's experiment pits did permeate the place, it usually melded queerly well with the more vital, vibrant scents of the Hunter's Maze, making a smell that was inoffensive to a hunter's nose, and even invigorating, at its best.

“So much ceremony,” Vorinclex observed. “I could inspect you twice over in the time it takes to complete your pageantry.”

“At least one of us needs to approach this exchange seriously.” Jin raised his hands from the bowl and began cleaning them on his apron, wiping each digit with a slow meticulousness that seemed maliciously deliberate. He looked to Vorinclex, still squatting on his haunches. “Will you lie supine for me?”

“Guess.”

“Hm.” Jin snapped, and his transcriptors snapped to attention. “Prepare to take notes.”

They chattered in affirmation.

Jin’s hands, those massive, long-fingered things that made Glissa think of blightwidows, began probing at Vorinclex’s shoulders, tracing along the massive spiked plates that protected his upper body. The light scrape of chrome on bone-steel rang like a chime through the cavern.

“Grand,” Jin remarked. “Such ostentatious plumage is likely effective in scaring off other simple beasts, I presume. I doubt our synthesis has much need for...bony shoulders.”

“Still,” he added, “It has a certain animal charm. It suits you.”

"When you find yourselves in the wilderness of a new plane, with nothing but your test-tubes and little needles to defend yourselves against the incomple at , you'll feel different."

Jin made a dismissive *click*-ing sound. "I have faced the strongest among the incompleat and triumphed." his hands trailed down from Vorinclex's bone-spurs and dragged way across his collar and breast. another crisp metallic note sheared the air. "This robust musculature, on the other hand…" His fingers splayed over the chest, probing at intervals with prods that brought soft huffs to Vorinclex’s breath. Jin’s other hand began taking measurements of Vorinclex’s arms, working its way from shoulder to arm to wrist to-

-Vorinclex seized Jin’s fingers, and lifted the arm above his head with a casual tug.

“A practical demonstration,” he growled, cutting Jin off. “Strength like this emerges through the struggle of life against life and death. Something that doesn’t happen in your test tubes and operating tables.”

“Untrue at its premise,” Jin replied, mildly. “In any case, the structure of your muscles can be examined, and reproduced by construction or artificial growth.”

Vorinclex cocked his head by the slightest degree. “I’ll believe it when I see it. How will you learn the structure of my flesh?”

“Our oil and research have yielded have many ways to examine what lies within. Lenses that can see past base matter. Magical tracers injected into the body and tracked with external scanners. However-”

Jin’s finger thinned, a subtle and silent shifting of the metal in his digit that Glissa might have missed if not for her eyes, compleat with a hunter’s acuity.

“I prefer to look for myself.”

Glissa tensed. Jin meant to cut Vorinclex open. She would allow it, of course, so far as Vorinclex was prepared to allow it, but would be ready to spring to his side should the need arise.

Jin, however, simply stood, half hanging by his wrist, looking at Vorinclex with his sharpened digit raised.

“Well?” Vorinclex sounded vexed by the pause. “Will you or won’t you?”

“We civilized people call this ‘waiting for permission,’ Jin said, enunciating the last three words with an insufferable deliberation.

Vorinclex barked a laugh, and released Jin’s hand. “When does the great butcher prawn wait for any thing’s permission? What sort of Phyrexian waits and does not just take what it intends?”

Jin ‘tsk’-ed through grit teeth. “Discourse between praetors should have more weight and social depth than the intercourse of beasts.”

“What do you know about the intercourse of beasts?” Vorinclex shifted, closing the distance between them. “Fine. This is permission to take whatever measures and make whatever cuts you need to slake your idiot thirst.”

“Whatever measures? I will remember that.”

Jin’s blade sank into Vorinclex’ upper arm with a disquieting ease. The muscle there was dense, as Glissa knew from hunting and scrapping with her companion. If the lack of resistance gave Vorinclex any pause, he showed no sign.

Nor did he look bored. He was watching Jin intently as he drew the blade down and lay open the topmost layer of Vorinclex’ skin and steel-twined muscle.

“The musculature...” Jin pulled aside Vorinclex’s hide and sliced deeper into the limb. Red and green and black dribbled in oily clumps from the cut. “...Impressively dense, as expected. Supply. Pliable. The proteins comprising the circulatory system...”

He trailed off, muttering and slicing. His unsharpened fingers working aside the fibers inside Vorinclex. Every few seconds he pulled a needle of silver from his knuckles and sank it into the flesh, marking a spot in the meat. Vorinclex’s gaze followed Jin as he moved down the arm, exhaling to punctuate each piece of Jin that was slipped into him.

"You've let the growth of your organics guide the development of your mechanical components," Jin observed. "A common thread in the Swarm specimens I've explored."

"They work in harmony," Vorinclex replied, as if explaining nursing to a newborn. "These components want to work as one, so there is no need to meddle in the finer details. A creature need only to act, and the instincts of the oil will guide the organic and its modifications to the best natural conclusion."

Jin scoffed. "Without adequate guiding intelligence...without intent, you are wasting time and resources with an uncoordinated approach."

"Oil is intelligence. Where you see only a vector, there is a guiding natural brilliance already present in the oil that outstrips the capacity of any sapient mind. Even yours, prawn. You say I waste resources? I say you waste time trying to bend the direction of an already perfect path to compleation."

“That’s as good as an admission of complacency,” Jin replied.

“It’s efficient use of our energies.” Vorinclex reached down and tapped one of the needles thrust through his upper arm. “unlike this.”

Jin only scowled at that.

After the arm came an incision along the back, then a cut along Vorinclex’ backmost thigh, down to the knee. The muscle within was vivid red and a maroon cocktail of oil flowed down the limb to the ground, where it soaked into the floor and trailed off into the pool behind him.

With every prod and pin from Jin, more of these fluids leaked down Vorinclex’s body in minute rivulets.

Still, Vorinclex stood as high on his haunches as he had at the outset.

“Another beast might have fallen from being cut open in this way,” Jin remarked.

“A lesser beast,” Vorinclex replied.

M ore cutting. More needles. Jin chattered away all the while as he cut deeper and deeper, until his probing found Vorinclex’s internal organs.

“Some actual efficiencies,” Jin murmured, shifting aside steel-mesh sacks and crocus-flesh enhancements, “And more than a few vanity organs that I presume let you play at being king of the beasts.”

“Not a king, just an aspiring apex.”

Jin fell silent after a period of further muttering and poking. His fingers ran the length of Vorinclex’s splayed-open leg, flank, and arm, tracing the patterns of muscle fiber within.

After a minute of this silence, Vorinclex stirred.

“Is something displeasing you, prawn?”

“The lack of something has me...intrigued.” Jin ran his sterilized digits through the fibers of Vorinclex’ arms. “It is known you boast a prodigious healing capacity, and yet I see nothing at work-”

“Watch your fingers,” Vorinclex said, interrupting.

The meat of his arm began joining with a sudden, soft, squirming, sucking noise so low and quick it barely registered to even Glissa’s ears. Jin withdrew his hands, but the closing muscles bunched around the longest of his fingers, and the digit came away trailing a gobbet of Vorinclex’s flesh.

Jin held up the stringy chunk of shuddering meat, turning it over in his fingers.

“A healing that must be triggered consciously. Interesting.”

“A healing that can be subdued intentionally,” Vorinclex cut in, as the rest of the cuts began sealing all along his body. “Aren’t scientists not supposed to jump to conclusions?”

J in ignored the question. “I will take this as a sample.” He held his hand out, and one of the transcriptors scuttled forward, producing a jar with a black seal about its lid. Jin popped the seal off and dropped the meat into the jar. H is minion shuffled back away, nearly tripping as Vorinclex growled at it, spattering the ground with spittle.

Having deposited most of the flesh. Jin wiped the rest from his fingers into a smaller tube, and examined it by the light; a series of metal tunnels reflected the false sunlight of the hunter’s maze down into the caverns; more than generous to see by.

Satisfied by what he observed, Jin tucked the test tube away in a slot in his flank. He spread the remaining smear of oily tissue onto Vorinclex’s arm, along the line of the now-healed cut. His other hand hovered above the healed-over incision on the leg.

“My pins are still inside your-”

“They are mine now. Carry on your examinations.”

“In that case-”

With a deft movement – a pull at the leg and push to the chest so subtle Glissa barely registered either, Jin unbalanced Vorinclex and flipped him into the pool. Vorinclex was too large to submerge fully in the fluid, and he displaced enough of the humming green stuff that Jin’s transcriptors were obliged to shuffle hastily backwards from the splash. Vorinclex let out an angry yelp, but Jin strode into the pool in two smooth steps and, straddling Vorinclex’s waist, grabbed his head in one massive hand. Jin continued vocalizing his examination as if nothing at all had happened.

“These teeth,” Jin murmured, his voice dropping in volume as he leaned in close to examine Vorinclex’ mouth. “Ingenious in form for affecting lethal lacerations in prey, though they are not especially well-rooted. Prone to falling out in the process of your...consumptions, I’d hypothesize.”

“Teeth break,” Vorinclex growled back. “Better to get good use out of them a few times and have a robust body to push new ones into place.”

“Wasteful.” Jin loomed closer. Vorinclex would have a front-row view of the blue praetor’s pristine, regular rows of chrome teeth. “Better something that lasts.”

“How long would it take you to replace those trinkets in your mouth if I savaged you right now? I can push out new teeth in seconds. I don’t need to go crawling back to a lab to replace my fierce parts.”

“You’d break your teeth a dozen times on mine before you even scratched my mouth.” Jin moved his face bare centimeters from Vorinclex’s, as if he meant to test his hypothesis on the other praetor there and then. “So savage away. But not until I’m finished with you.”

Jin’s fingers ran leisurely down Vorinclex’s side, fingers curving around from chest to back, probing his musculature and carapace with minute twitches, before coming to a rest on hips, where groin met thighs.

“Powerful legs. Claws and teeth that could render steel to fragments. You have excelled in your advancements toward animal perfection.” Jin dragged two fingers back up along Vorinclex's flank, the chrome making a surprisingly soft sound as the tips trailed over the metal-shod bone and exposed muscle.

Vorinclex snorted. His voice spoke dismissal of Jin’s comment, but he seemed, to Glissa’s eye, to almost preen at the comment, like a wolf showing off its coat.

“I am testament to the Swarm’s success. We have taken life that once barely subsisted and hobbled along among tangles of rust and created an ecosystem of thriving, ever-improving predators.”

Jin grunted at this newest failure to provoke Vorinclex. It was such an annoyed, base sound that Glissa had to suppress a giggle.

“Regardless of this...low success,” he said after a pause, “I hypothesize there might still be shortcomings in your Swarm.” Jin’s left hand snaked under Vorinclex’s gut, while his right slithered down Vorinclex’s thigh.

“And I would hypothesize those weaknesses might be reflected in your own...form.”

“You’ve seen me inside and out. Look as long as you like, you’ll find nothing resembling weakness.”

“We will see.”

Jin continued to inspect Vorinclex’ chest and neck. He kept up a constant monologue of numbers and measurements, his transcriptors at rapt attention. Neither had materials for writing. Sound recording devices built into their skulls, Glissa mused.

“You will be the first to attempt traversal across planes,” Jin commented after a while. “Our research to date suggests this will be a catastrophically traumatizing experience for your body.”

“I look forward to new hunting grounds.”

“There will be immense pain and an almost complete immolation of your form.”

“Is that all?” Vorinclex affected a yawn. “Good to know. I’ll bring my rubbers.”

Jin grumbled again. “It is regrettable Vrig failed to divine the secrets of Memnarch’s soul-traps...we might have achieved Phyrexia’s interplanar ends without such needless agony.”

Glissa stifled another giggle. It could not have been plainer Jin was hoping the comment would lead for a chance to expand on his tedious science.

“Research and development? Limited?” Vorinclex’s feigned shock was somehow more and not less pointed when growled. “Imagine my surprise.”

“It takes astoundingly little imagination to imagine you surprised,” Jin’s fingers darted suddenly to Vorinclex’s thigh, forefinger and thumb pressing into the veins below the hips.

Vorinclex grunted once. A soft bark that indeed betrayed surprise.

Glissa tensed, again.

“Curious.” Jin’s fingers had paused along the inside of Vorinclex’s thigh. “I would have suspected this organ here might be rendered obsolete by a...properly evolved creature.”

Vorinclex did not squirm. He was too proud, to perfect for such a thing. But he did shift noticeably under Jin’s observation

“Such a novel shape the tissues have taken.” Jin’s hand shifted under space where Vorinclex’ hind legs met. “The Grand Evolution is abundant with its own surprises. This feels like...an advancement of the Crocus blooms, yes? Grafted onto...no...grown from your body?”

Vorinclex did not shy away from Jin’s gaze.

“Some creatures among the swarm yet benefit from physiological stimulation to encourage breeding.”

“It yields rapid generations and equally explosive improvements in biology,” he added, sounding as defensive as an apex predator of Phyrexia could.

“The father of machines disdained such methods of reproduction,” Jin mused aloud. “Much of old Phyrexia did, at least on the nine spheres.” His hand had disappeared up to his first elbow, and it did not escape Glissa’s notice that the fingers on his right hand were running through the fur on Vorinclex’s back, caressing the spine. “‘Grow’ is our watchword. Not ‘breed.’”

“The father of machines failed,” Vorinclex spat. “And perhaps he disdained procreation because he was too preoccupied with writing into the scriptures his own sad failures to acquire the mate he desired.”

“And who have you been mating with?” Jin inquired. “Beasts? Elves? Wurms? I would have guessed you and yours were too busy trying to eat each other and preening your muscles and metal at one another to find time to breed.”

“I will take a sample,” he added, gripping tight onto Vorinclex’ fur.

“Don’t waste breath talking about what you will do. Do it.”

“Mm.” Jin withdrew his hand from the spine with a jerk and a sound like a canvas torn in two, pulling out a clump of spined hairs from Vorinclex’ back.

Vorinclex tensed and growled.

Jin’s other hand came away from between thighs, and Vorinclex jerked this time. Jin held between thumb and forefinger a strip of tissue.

“I presume your healing is as robust in your crocus organs as it is in your muscle?”

Vorinclex rose up, though not to his full height, dripping pool-fluid. “Prodigiously robust. You can inspect closer, if you dare place your head where your hand was bold enough to wander.”

“Regardless,” Jin replied, clinically smug, returning his hand to Vorinclex’ leg. “That the most advanced among the Swarm...the apex of phyrexian evolution, even, would possess such an organ...” He trailed off, and made a series of soft clicking “tsk”s. “I would think that you might think it...weakness.”

Vorinclex lunged toward the edge of the pool. Jin, not expecting the move, was thrown forward and landed in as semi-sprawled position in the shallows. Glissa suppressed a laugh to see the praetor so prone, his little skirt and apron askew about his legs.

“You are losing focus, prawn.” Vorinclex's voice was dangerously low as he prowled forward to loom over Jin. “I am ready to take my turn.”

“Impatient,” Jin clicked. He pulled back the skirt, perhaps to keep it from getting wetter, though it was thoroughly soaked from what Glissa could see. The fluid of the pool also, had shifted in color, while they stood in it, from an acid green to something more like the blue-green light when Lyese and the Eye of Doom both broke the horizon together.

“Worried that I’ll break you?”

Jin hummed, a raspy vocalization of frustration . “Not at all. My concern is that your clumsy pawing will not yield the data your swarm need s to adequately better itself.”

“Never mind my paws, Jin. I have my other ways of taking your measure,” Vorinclex rumbled. His maw thrust forward, to within inches of Jin’s neck. From her place, Glissa could hear his breath. See it steam along the metal of Jin’s jaw.

“A predator can probe by scent and taste alone.”

“Bestial senses,” Jin scoffed. “Your means of analysis are as crude as those you use to advance your evolution.”

Vorinclex responded by placing his forelimb across Jin’s shoulder, pushing him down into the shallows of the pool, and sniffing further down the other praetor’s neck, approaching his shoulder.

“Hm.”

He stopped there, inspecting the metal of Jin’s collar in a slow circuit. Jin seemed unsure what to do with his head as Vorinclex probed, and opted to remain still. Vorinclex moved almost painfully slowly, and Glissa could not help but wonder what was driving this uncharacteristic display of patience.

V orinclex’s breath continues to fog on Jin’s chrome surface as he moved, leaving a misty, matte trail on the shining body that faded quietly as he wandered across Jin’s form .

Jin kept silent for several more minutes as Vorinclex probed further down, inspecting chest and shoulders. Every few seconds he would adjust his fore-paws, never pressing down on one stretch of Jin’s body for too long, but never taking off enough weight to allow him to rise, either.

“How are you recording this?”

Jin’s voice was strained, the already metallic voice reverberating as if spoken through a funnel of steel. Almost as like he’d run a long distance.

Vorinclex paused at the question. He was just then running the edge of his snout along Jin’s elbow, and he made a slow, deliberate trail of Jin’s head as he re-positioned himself to look Jin in whatever portion of his face would best correspond to eyes.

“Recording?”

“Yes.”

“I will remember, of course,” Vorinclex placed a broad paw over Jin’s midsection. Maroon-muscled digits closed around Jin’s silvery, snake-like spine. “An apex’s eyes miss nothing. An apex savors every meal it takes the measure of.”

“You intend to eat me, Vorinclex?”

“If I ate you, Jin-Gitaxias….REALLY ate you, I would not get to see the despair in you when the Grand Evolution crushes your Synthesis, and all the other fool dogmas of Phyrexia under its heel. When all is one with our mighty Swarm, when all are free of sapience and weakness...perhaps on that day I will eat you. But no sooner.”

“But since you brought it up...” Another paw closed around Jin’s corded spine, though Vorinclex kept his weight on his hind legs so his weight did not crush the other. “I can’t think of a better use for you than nutrition to fuel the Great Evolution.”

“Can’t think, that is one among many defects,” Jin rasped. “No imagination. No critical thought. Nothing beyond instinct. Fitting traits for a king of beasts.”

“Your opinion,” Vorinclex growled, shifting forward so his shadow fell of Jin. “Me, I like my current position.”

“You don’t dispute it?”

“I wouldn’t want to waste your time debating with a mere beast.” Vorinclex’ jaw shifted into something only a few would recognize as a smile. “This spine of yours...” He pressed forward slowly, and Jin sank further into the pool, a glowing mix of oil and other fluids washing over him. “Strong. Stronger than it looks. I’ve torn apart wurms with less durability.”

“The result of rigorous research and development,” Jin said, the pride tangible enough that Glissa could detect it even in his metallic monotone. “Not the sort of strength one could just evolve through blind-”

“And yet,” Vorinclex continued, pressing down further. “Even with such a strong support, I suspect there’s no real backbone beneath it. That must be why your posture is so slovenly.”

“Ah-” Jin started to say something, but whatever it was caught in his throat, and instead a low, tinny buzzing noise came from his chest. his fingers found the hollows in Vorinclex’s forearms. The same forearms that held him in the pool. His fingers wove their way into the space, gripping onto the other praetor’s limbs.

“Ah, it looks like I’ve found something.” Vorinclex, if it was even possible, leaned in closer, bearing down on Jin. “This can’t be where air flows through, so I can only assume I’ve hit a nerve.”

“How-ah!” Jin cut off again into more buzzing.

"I'm gleaning more than you know." Vorinclex' hands were almost entirely submerged in the pool, but it was clear from the movement of his arms that he was probing the length of Jin's spine. "I'm intrigued by how you've arranged your nerves to run the length of this tube-body of yours. Incredible use of space, but not without its tender spots…As for your form..you could have a raptor’s grace, if only your limbs were not so inefficient in proportion to-"

Jin’s hand jolted up Vorinclex’s arm, and pressed at a spot just below his jaw, where head met body. Vorinclex’ weight shifted suddenly to one side, and Jin used the momentum to roll the both of them sideways, splashing through the pool, which hummed with tripled vigor.

Jin rolled atop Vorinclex, and for a split second Glissa’s leg’s fell into a crouch in preparation to strike his head from his body-

But Vorinclex, using the sheer advantage of his weight, carried the roll another turn, and pinned Jin beneath him, once again half-submerging his chrome form in the fluid.

They remained that way for long seconds, Jin humming hoarsely, and Vorinclex’s arms tremoring.

“Very clever, little prawn,” Vorinclex said, finally. “All that time spent studying was not entirely wasted.”

“Your evolution has granted you some low advantages,” Jin conceded in his tinny rasp. “I am beginning to re-evaluate my chances of thriving in your death-trap of a home.”

The pool fluid around Jin was slowly turning a more metallic sheen, a mixture of blue, purple, and black metallic. Where it dispersed into the blue-green, it became more muted, but seemed to churn with a thick urgency

"Of course you would not survive in the Maze. Your form has been molded to fit into your filthy operating theatres."

“So I should simply remain in my labs in perpetuity?”

"I didn't say that. You and your meat-molders are more than welcome among the Swarm. I'm intrigued to see how perfect your form could be if you let the oils of the Maze shape you into a true predator."

"You said I would not survive."

"Because you would never embrace it. It isn't in your nature. If you could come down from your chrome pedestal, and hunt and adapt like any other beast, you could be something tremendous."

“You underestimate me.”

“That was never a problem. That you overestimate yourself is.”

“I am capable of cooperation and collaboration, it is others who are too insular or insecure to take full advantage.”

“I’m taking full advantage now, or didn’t you notice?”

“You have lingered unusually long on my spine.” Jin shifted his grip on Vorinclex’s left arm, his fingers moving closer to the shoulder. “It is an unparalleled example of compleation, but I wonder how useful the time you are spending on it is now.”

“Lower then.” Vorinclex shifted his grip, and his attentions, to where Jin’s skirt began. If you insist.”

“‘What is planted below will determine what flourishes above.’”

Vorinclex paused, one of his fore-paws beginning to pull back apron and skirt. “Poetry?” He asked, scorn clear in his growl.

“One of Sheoldred’s prophecies,” Jin replied. He kept a grip on the nearest of Jin’s paw’s. “One I have been pondering at length when my schedule allows. Her counsel and her company have been more useful than seeking cooperation from you or the furnace-rat.”

“Sheoldred.” Vorinclex spat the name as if it had been a bone lodged in his throat. “A waste of your time. If there’s one thing more useless than your science it’s prophecy and soothsaying. The only reality you should care about is the reality of flesh and fangs.”

“They have proven exceptionally useful, her prophecies,” Jin replied, almost sing-song through the grate of his voice. “She has been my most fruitful partner outside the Engine.”

Vorinclex grunted, and leaned further into Jin. The chrome praetor sank another few inches into the pool.

Jin's own arm shifted as Vorinclex's did, his fingers still clinging to the hollows in the other praetor’s arms.

Vorinclex seized Jin’s shoulder in his maw and, with a quick thrust of his head, tossed him further into the pool. Before Jin could even conceive of rising up, Vorinclex was looming over him again, this time with a massive limb planted to either side of the chrome Praetor’s head.

“Enough talk. I’m not done knowing you.”

Keeping his left paw planted, Vorinclex cradled Jin’s head in his right. The muscle of his arm began to distend and lengthen. Moments later, branches of flesh were snaking under and across Jin-Gitaxias. Vorinclex’s lower arms began to distend as well, and resumed the probing at Jin’s legs.

An exasperated sigh escaped Jin as the upper-arm tendrils splayed his arms out, binding his limbs to the ground and tethering b etween his long fingers.

“Silence is a waste. I have plenty of additional data I might gather from observing your clumsy pawing.”

“Speak to your toadies if you wish. I don’t mind your noise.”

V orinclex pulled back Jin’s skirt in one swift motion, and a rip cut through the humming as his skirt tore along one side, revealing sleek legs of chrome.

“The leader of the Swarm is notably and conspicuously preoccupied with my lower anatomy,” Jin said, conspicuously loudly. Louder at least than his trascriptors would have needed him to speak to hear. “His probing, already indelicate, becomes borderline frenetic as his bestial sensory organs take account of the perfection of my form.”

The distended muscles around Jin’s upper body tightened audibly. He did not abate in his monologue, but the fluid around him grew more intense with it’s churning, and deepened in its dark-metallic tint.

“-seems completely capable of processing auditory information, even when preoccupied with pursuits of base interest-”

Vorinclex bared his maw, and something not dissimilar to his distended arm-muscle snaked out. It was not a tongue exactly, as sapient creatures of flesh might understand it, but a sensory organ modeled after crocus organisms Glissa had perfected with compleat frogmites.

Just now, this organ took the measure of Jin’s legs, probing the knit of cable and struts that joined below the waist, extending into chrome-capped knees.

“-searching perhaps for an equivalent anatomy to his own, not appreciating that, unlike the cumbersome designs of the Swarm, creatures of the Progress Engine make use of modular bodily components that may be included or exempted from certain activities based on their applicability to the situation at-”

The tendrils about Jin’s chest began to writhe, and pulled his arms from a T-formation to up above his head, dragging him further up along the bank.

“-ah-”

Vorinclex’s secondary arms moved up again to Jin’s core, leaving the explorations below to the tongue. His palms rested along the segmented coil enveloping Jin’s spine.

“-feeling to measure the reactions of my nervous system to his probing and brutalization. A simplistic approach, but showing more attention to detail than one might expect from-”

Jin’s ankles and feet received more lingering examination. Vorinclex tested the durability of each digit with his snout, pushing them to the extent of their flexibility. The construction of Jin’s heel seemed of particular interest.

“-most likely having discovered yet another anatomical superiority his own faction lacks in-”

Two tendrils wound a spiral around Jin’s neck.

“-a curious maneuver. What sort of response he hopes to elicit is a mystery, as even he must know respiration in a specimen as advance as myself is-”

Jin cut off suddenly as both tendrils slithered into his mouth and down his throat, writhing all along their length as they went.

Vorinclex gave no outward sign he was conscious of what his arms were doing. Glissa had no doubt he was enjoying the opportunity deeply regardless.

The opportunity, and the rasping, muffled sound of Jin attempting to continue his monologue.

Vorinclex brought one of his smaller arms up to the side of his head and tapped around where his sheltered ears lay. He favored Jin with a shrug.

Jin’s muffled attempts ceased suddenly, and a rattling vibration started up in his chest.

“His tactile limbs navigate the obstacles of my internal organs with unexpected efficacy. A lifetime meandering through the unorganized hazards of the Tangle and the Hunter’s Maze have helped develop a low cunning useful for-”

A voicebox somewhere on his body, built into the chest, maybe. Glissa smirked from the shadows. Leave it to Jin-gitaxias to build in redundant systems to make sure no one could ever shut him up.

Vorinclex’s maw had returned to Jin’s midsection as his tendrils lifted Jin’s arcing spine out of the fluid. His tongue traced over each coil of the segmented spinal spikes that fanned out around Jin’s back.

“-that he can carry out so many parallel probings of my form is astounding, especially given the thoroughness. It is of course a shadow of the theoretical network efficiency our faction has already accomplished with the vedalken mindmeld, but nevertheless-”

Vorinclex released his grip on Jin’s spine, but his body remained bent over the surface of the pool, as if straining of its own volition.

“-able to contort my body from within using his tendrils-”

That he can keep rambling on with several tons of muscle and steel shoved down your gullet is incredible enough, Glissa mused.

“-tendrils prove resilient to the acids of my stomach and the abrasive metal components of my internal-”

Tiny offshoots of Vorinclex’s arms, thin fibers of metal and crocus-perfected flesh, w o rked like roots into the crevices of Jin’s upper body. The fluid all around them was properly churning now with the combined effects of their movement and the essences leaking from both of them into the pool.

“-provided his brain is capable of such memorization, the beast should have explored enough of my innards to form a rudimentary map of my major external organs.”

“A fair exchange of information.”

Glissa almost started at Vorinclex’s voice. He’d been silent for nearly a half-hour.

Jin shuddered and tsk-ed. “This is...not equitable...I did not explore you nearly as deeply with my dissections-”

“I can feel your pin-probes working their slow way through me, collecting information,” Jin cut in. “Spare me.” He moved his face closer to Jin’s. “What is your conclusion on my own research technique, hm?”

Jin turned his head. “You were studying my actions. My reactions. Taking note of how I grapple with you, and my stimulus response to your aggression.”

“Obviously. This is how a predator learns.”

“Learning...what use is learning to you?”

“Everything learns.”

“Your evolution is a mindless charade. You mean to tell me you have a use for the scientific process?”

“You misunderstand the Grand Evolution, and you do degrade it by comparing it to evolution writ large. Even at it’s basest, evolution is not a process of becoming the biggest, the strongest, or the most fang-filled-”

“As if any of those things are prized or rare in our Phyrexia,” Jin observed.

Vorinclex made a rasping sound that Glissa knew to be a chuckle. “Evolution simply rewards whatever creature can rut and breed best. What makes a new generation that survives to do the same in perpetuity wins.

“Our Grand Evolution is more than just evolution as the flesh knows it. We see a process failing, we see a useless limb or vestigial encumbrance, and we remove it there and then. A jaw formation fails to aid a predator in its hunting? The jaw must go. A venom fails to kill outright from a single bite? The glands that produce it must be replaced. A creature like you-”

Vorinclex leaned into Jin, his voiced dropped to a strained snarl. "You are s quandered potential. You've coated yourself in such potent metals. Hacked yourself and your septic underlings into such ingenious shapes. But now you languish in front of vats and corpses, those clever bodies untempered and untested against real strength."

J in barely stirred at the commentary. “Your approach is both more scientific and more reckless than I thought. No concern for long-term consequences. Short-sighted and slapdash modifications.”

Vorinclex pulled his head back. “You got me talking again, silver-prawn. You’re such a fool I forget how clever you can be.”

“More flattery than I anticipated.” Jin raised a hand and brushed the side of Vorinclex’s jaw. Vorinclex leaned into the gesture, almost imperceptibly.

“Interesting.” Jin’s hand came away, and he inspected something along the back of his thumb. “Heightened levels of adrenaline, even compared to your baseline.” He wiped the thumb on Jin’s forearm. “I will take samples for my research.”

“Don’t let me stop you.”

Jin half-rose to a seated position, long strands of Vorinclex' arms still draped around his shoulders. He looked to Glissa like one of the vedalken draped in their bulky suits.

With the same hand he’d caressed with, Jin flexed, and the middle finger elongated, thinner than the scalpel-finger had been, until it was needle-fine. One of the transcriptors waded into the shallow of the pool, and affixed a clear container to the back of Jin’s hand.

Vorinclex carried on tasting the air about Jin’s neck and face all the while, arm draped round the other praetor’s back.

As the Transcriptor waded out again, Jin slid the needle into Vorinclex’s collar with a smooth deliberation. A snake slipping into a burrow. Vorinclex showed no overt sign of feeling it, though he kept steady, even as his probing increased in intensity about Jin’s chest. If Jin's instruments were as fine-tuned as he claimed, they were sure to have picked up on the rumble within Vorinclex' chest, mixing with the sounds of the fluids in the pools.

The glass vial on Jin’s hand began to fill.

“Under the fallen father, Phyrexia developed many variations of oil, as you well know.” Jin leaned forward into Vorinclex’s shoulder. “Substances found in the artifacts of planes explored during our many years of exploration, powdered powerstone, the fluids of the many lesser creatures whose bodies we mastered...we produced glands to resist acid and fire, to fuel sleepless hulks and unailable plague vectors.”

A fluid, clear and green-tinted, and laced with golden filament, filled the glass. More still poured into the container at a thick flow.

“The oil is an art we have all benefited from and contributed to. Even you beasts of the swarm.”

“I’ve touched the inside of you, prawn. Your oils are not more impressive than mine, just different.”

“Did you enjoy their taste, Vorinclex?”

Vorinclex laughed – a thundering rumble from his gut.

“I should be asking if you are enjoying the taste of me right now.”

“Ah, yes, I forgot you were in there.”

Jin bit down, hard, severing the tendrils Jin had shoved down his throat.

“Ah-”

Vorinclex pulled his hands up, tearing the thinner cords of sinew and steel. His fore-arms re-formed in full with a sharp, violent sucking sound, and he pounded back down into the pool, dousing them both.

Jin, for his part, vibrated with a grinding noise from inside his chest. His needle had snapped off in Vorinclex’s neck.

“Now that is what I would call fair exchange.”

Vorinclex spat into the water, and stalked back up out the side of the pool, shaking out his coat as he went, splattering the walls and floors with the fluid of their exchange. Jin clambered back up the bank of the pool, reclining with an arm balanced on his knee.

“You’ve ruined my skirt.”

“I’m sure you’ll find a nicer one somewhere.” Vorinclex stretched out his forelimbs. “Was that useful for you, prawn?”

“It was not entirely unproductive,” Jin replied. His transcriptors approached him from behind, still muttering away.

“I could learn even more if we had our entire network of caverns and pools at our disposal.” Vorinclex’s claws flexed. “If you were willing to let me hunt you through the space, I could glean multitudes about how you tick...if such a thing interested you…?”

“Guess.”

“Hmph.”

“A moment.” Jin turned to his transcriptors and, with a single deft swipe of his hand, separated their domed heads from their bodies.

The heads never hit the ground; Jin plucked them out of the air with his other hand, and tucked them into a compartment at his waist. The bodies slumped in place, sagging but standing upright.

Vorinclex sniffed. “Failed in their recording?”

“Succeeded, which is why I will be taking their knowledge into myself. It is an unnecessary risk to have such valuable data wandering around inside beings so susceptible to bribery or abduction. Here-” Jin waved a hand over the bodies, and began collecting the jars and other vials they had assembled. “A gift – you may eat those. I have no more use for their ambulatory parts. These were grown from samples of myself; they can be your consolation prize, since you cannot have me.”

“A waste of resources.” Vorinclex looked down on the bodies with disdain. “Phyrexia is still a closed system until Norn can break through to new hunting grounds. Can’t your research make use of them?”

Jin looked up at Vorinclex, but did not answer right away. He continued to collect the samples the transcriptors had gathered.

“Most likely,” He said at last. “It was only a goodwill gesture.”

“I eat only what is worth being eaten. Those septic corpses are worth nothing.”

“Hm.”

“The exploration of your form is goodwill enough,” Vorinclex rumbled.

“I will offer something else then.” Jin made a strange gesture; a movement of the hand from chest to side. “We are, despite valid criticisms, among the pinnacles of our factions. Your crocus creations-”

“Glissa’s Crocuses. They are the fruit of her labours.”

Jin clicked irritably. “The crocuses are, despite their crudeness, well suited to aiding the sort of newt and germ generation the progress engine has perfected. We might then make children from our respective materials-”

“Yours and mine?”

Jin paused, but Vorinclex pressed on.

“You and me, specifically?”

“It is a proposal with immense promise.”

Vorinclex tilted his head. “I would be...curious to see what comes of it.”

Jin leaned forward, and Glissa imagined for a moment she saw his jaw clench into a smile. “An understandable position. We have this space here, and Norn will approve of anything that could add such potent forces to Phyrexia. If you would only-”

“I won’t,” Vorinclex cut in, with a sudden, unmistakable edge.

“...why?”

“What does it matter ‘why’? I said no.”

Jin hummed in exasperation. “We have already seen great leaps and bounds in our respective factions’ grand designs. Why not join our own materials to see what can be made anew for Phyrexia? Urabrask and Sheoldred have their own project underway, and even the tangle has a fine specimen resulting from your proximity to the Furnace.”

“Norn will have no children of mine.”

"The swarm is already committed to her expansion. To our expansion. What does it matter whether they are of your direct lineage?"

"There is no singular "Swarm" to be committed. Glissa and I don't limit where our hunters range, and I won't deny them whatever killing grounds the Orthodoxy open for Phyrexia. They're free to join Norn's conquests whatever way they please.”

Jin hummed with irritation. “If they are free, then...I ask again, why not-”

“If a phyrexian I spawn chooses, they may follow Norn. If a predator can make itself mightier on the flesh of the planes she wishes to open up, I welcome the chance. If the creatures our factions collaborate on here are meant for her schemes, so be it. What I will not do is personally sire for the sole end of adding to her legions. I won't give my own brood to be her tools. She has you for that, prawn."

Silence. Jin turned away, and busied himself with extracting the vials and other samples from the bodies of his transcriptors, tucking them into a bag at his waist, and several slots along his back.

“It’s a wasted opportunity,” he said at last, not looking up. “This space has already proven useful to our efforts beyond measure. I foresee much great progress being made here.”

“That’s why we were here to-” Vorinclex’s gaze swept the cavern. “Yes. That’s why we agreed to this.”

“I am trying to discover the way forward for all Phyrexia. Not just for Norn’s benefit.”

“Then you should look up from your dissection tables, Jin, and see the world Norn is making with clear eyes, and how you contribute to it.”

“As you do.”

“I know what I am contributing to, and how I am contributing.”

Jin hummed. “I am not ignorant.”

“You don’t have to be ignorant to fool yourself.”

Jin hissed at that, so low it was almost lost in the humming of the cavern, but still he hissed. He turned away from Vorinclex.

From the transcriptor’s bodies, Jin extracted two more vials – long, empty lubes of glass. He waded out into the pool, and knelt.

The fluid was much changed by their activities. From acid-green to blue-green, to something that seemed to Glissa’s eye like colored quicksilver, shimmering form purple to blue to green to black to purple again. It sang a markedly more complex tune now than the humming of the fluid in the other pools.

Slowly, Jin tipped the vials into the fluid and filled them up, stopping each with a plug of gummy black material.

“I will test incubating my next batch of larvae in the fluid from this pool,” Jin said, tucking the vials into compartments in his breast. “It has absorbed some of my own essence, which should at least...counterbalance any defects you might introduce.”

“I’m sure the notion does not make you uncomfortable,” Jin added, somehow baring even more of his teeth than usual. “I do not fear to create life for Norn’s Phyrexia.”

Vorinclex said nothing, but regarded Jin for a few seconds longer.

Then, still without a word, he lowered his maw into the fluid of the breeding pool, and began to drink.

And drink.

Jin just stared. Glissa realized her own breath had caught in her chest.

And still, Vorinclex drank deeply of the stuff, and the humming of the fluid shifted, chords of sound rippling through the cavern as he sucked the glowing stuff up into his maw.

When he at last lifted his head, minutes later, the gaze of every other person in the chamber followed the movement.

He merely licked his chops, and stretched out his shoulders with what Glissa knew to be intentional effect.

“Meager,” Vorinclex noted at last. “But, if I cannot eat you, that’s the next best thing. Maybe you managed to leak a useful mineral or two into the pool.”

Then, with a deliberate grace, he looped out of the pool, leaving Jin to watch him go in silence. Iridescent, humming fluid dripped from his sides onto the spongy metal floor, which soaked the liquid up with a greedy haste.

Glissa smiled at Vorinclex as he rejoined her, then back at Jin, shooting the latter praetor a tight smirk and sneer.

Your scientist has been pleasantly rattled.

Vorinclex grunted.

He’s not mine. And now I’m liable to be sick.

Glissa snorted a laugh.

They began their climb back to the Maze. As the breeding pools disappeared behind them, Glissa patted at Vorinclex’s flank, where Jin had cut into him and delved inside. He rumbled his appreciation, but when she went to wipe the fluid from his jaw, he pulled away.

She let him be. There was much work being done, and yet to be done still. This diversion had certainly been trying enough on its own.

As the light of the Hunter’s Maze began to fill the tunnel, Vorinclex’ tongue slipped out the corner of his mouth.

Almost absently, he began to lick traces of fluid from his chops.

"Keen Sense and Curiosity” is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.

[katyawriteswhump]

the power of love, part 3 (steddie, stobin, steve whump fic)

Steve has a habit of surviving near death experiences then getting sick for no reason. And Eddie and those fatal bat bites? After an impossible feat of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation from Steve, he’s mysteriously fixed. So, Eddie’s back to being banished, this time with Steve and Robin in tow. Eddie’s healing, but Steve isn’t… and life gets even more confusing, when Eddie develops feelings for Steve, which aren’t entirely unrequited.

Part one Part two Part four Part five Part six Part seven Part eight Part Nine Part Ten Part Eleven Part Twelve

Chapter Three

Eddie POV

“You wanna thank me for saving your life, Munson? Then stop trying to ditch me.” 

Steve sinks a little deeper into the couch, and his eyes flutter closed. 

“Steve?” Eddie flails, then, before he knows it, he reaches out, brushing Steve’s hair from his clammy brow. He cups his face and gently jostles him. “Steve! Shit, you with me?”

“Stop hassling me,” Steve mumbles. He’s turned a shade paler, if that was even possible.

“Oh my God, what happened?” Robin finally returns with the bandages. “Steve?”

“Jesus, will you both stop yelling?” Steve moans softly. “Just… gimme a minute, okay?”

“Okay. I’m gonna try bandaging him up,” says Robin to Eddie. “Go find a blanket. You didn’t notice he’s massively shivering?”

Telling her how Steve took a turn for the worse real quick feels like a weak excuse. “Yeah. Blanket. Right.”

“Oh, and clean clothes. For both of you. Something for me, too? And… Oh my God, I guess we need supplies for a road trip.”

Eddie grabs the cover from Steve’ bed, some clothes already laid out, and delivers them downstairs. Steve mutters his thanks and drags the pants on, while the others avert their gazes uncomfortably. He collapses back down onto the couch. 

He’s stopped bitching. It must be bad.

Robin places a dressing over Steve’s wound, unfurls a long bandage. Eddie has to admit—he’s astonished by how collected she is. Granted, like earlier, she pulls a spectacular spectrum of grossed-out faces. Eddie sees how tender she’s trying to be, as she helps Steve to sit, starts winding the bandage around his midriff. And he gets it.

Dammit, how did some guy he loved to hate, turn out to be so easy to like?

Still jealous, Harrington.

Also, though the poor guy is struggling to remain conscious, Eddie still struggles not to ogle that body. Steve’s chest really is mega-hot. And how the heck can somebody’s wet hair retain so much shape and volume?

“You gonna go get those supplies,” asks Robin, “or stand there and gawp till Vecna swallows Hawkins whole?”

Eddie snaps his mouth shut, scurries off.

Rifling through Steve’s stuff feels totally audacious. While Steve’s bikini girl posters are not to his taste–cringe!–he’s not un-enjoying himself. He literally breathes in Steve on everything—his premium-brand clothes, the bedding, the whole room. And woah, what has his life come to when Eddie Munson is intimate enough with Steve Harrington to dig his scent?

He drags off his ruined Hellfire Club t-shirt over his head—not without a pang, because all the scrubbing in the world’s not gonna save that pretty baby. He catches a glimpse of himself in a mirror, and staggers back into the bed. Woah!

His hair is a car-wreck, his torso a mass of red wheals and scratches. Yet that truly is all his injuries are. They scarcely overshadow his ink. He sorts out his hair, for which Steve possesses some truly excellent tools of the trade, and then discovers Steve owns a thick leather belt with a chunky silver buckle that isn’t entirely un-metal. He looks weird and almost preppy in Steve’s clean, crisp clothes, but…

… you’re still gonna stick out like a long-haired loon’s sore thumb. 

He locates a roomy woolly hat, bundles his hair up beneath it, and grabs the rest of the supplies.

Downstairs, Robin fiddles to tie the ends of Steve’s fresh bandages. Steve, meanwhile, lies partially beneath the blanket, his arm flung across his face. Eddie’s alarm spikes, though he tries to keep it light: “For a self-confessed hater of bodily fluids, you are smashing it outta the stadium today, Buckley.”

She glances up, a portrait of anguish. “He’s getting worse.”

“Stop worrying,” mumbles Steve, sliding his hand from his eyes. Then his head flops limply to one side.

“Steve!” Robin shakes him. “Eddie, he’s out for the count! What do we do? Henderson just radioed, and there’s like, army guys in town, going house to house. He’s heard your name and Steve’s in radio chatter, which means Steve is right. They know he’s been helping you, probably me too. It’s only a matter of time before…”

Eddie tunes out, in order to control his own ballooning panic. Then he puffs out his cheeks, steels his resolution. “You two should stay. He needs help, and he’s in no way as much trouble as I am.”

“Steve really, really doesn’t wanna be arrested. He thinks we should stick together unless there’s absolutely no choice, and… where he goes, I go.”

“Seriously?”

“I made a promise! Oh, and obviously, going on the run with two guys riddled with possibly rabid bat-bites has always been a dream of mine.”

While he searches for car-keys, Eddie considers making a solo run for it. Astonishingly, though, he simply can’t do it. “Eddie the Banished might be back,” he mutters to himself, “but he doesn’t flee from friends in need anymore.”

They haul Steve up between them, each hooking an arm over their shoulders. In the garage, they manage to wrangle him into the backseat of a Lincoln Continental that JR Ewing would be totally proud of. Like most of the Harringtons’ possessions, it makes Eddie wanna hurl. They shove the supplies in the trunk, fix a couple of bikes to the roof.

“You sure you can drive this thing?” Robin slides into the backseat, awkwardly manoeuvring Steve’s head and shoulders in her lap.

“No sweat.” Eddie beams at her, like he means it. “One issue—how does this colossus start when you don’t have to hotwire it?”

After a few minutes, and a helluva lot of grinding in the gearbox, Eddie pulls jerkily off up the driveway. After that, they barely go a block before hitting trouble. Flashing emergency vehicle lights blind them at every turn, army trucks roll by, and the quickest routes out of town have been ruined by the earthquake or roadblocked anyway. Eddie performs a clumsy U-turn and heads back the way they came.

“Shiiiiit, what we gonna do?”

 “Eddie, he’s awake, but he’s gone really cold. Steve? Steve! He’s trying to tell me something.”

“Drop him off at the nearest hospital?”

“He made me promise,” hisses Robin, though she sounds more doubtful than ever. Then, to Steve, “Shhh, take it easy. Don’t try and… huh?”

Eddie drives randomly, avoids another roadblock, where the earthquake has swallowed a whole street. Robin says, “He wants us to go toward Lover’s Lake.”

“Whut? Oh, screw it. Why not? I’ve got a creeping suspicion this is gonna end in disaster, whatever we do.”

As they drive, several more emergency vehicles tear past. Each time, Eddie’s heart lurches to his mouth, and he further trashes the Lincoln’s gearbox. Somehow, though, they reach the wooded road that leads toward the lake. Robin is in full-on panic mode: “Eddie, he’s barely breathing.”

“Okay, okay, keep calm.” Eddie’s instructing himself every bit as much as her. “We’re nearly there. Nearly there, ’kay?”

When they pull up on the closet verge to the lake, he realises they’re screwed. Searchlights streak the forest. Clearly, manpower is pouring into Hawkins from all over the State, for disaster search and rescue… and to capture and destroy satanic ol’ me. Oh, and Steve Harrington, my unlikely henchman.

He twists to where Robin is desperately cuddling Steve to her.

“Robin, there’s no way we can get him to the lake without—”

“He seems better,” she says. “He’s breathing evenly again, like he’s sleeping rather than…”

…dying? A thick lump clogs Eddie’s throat.

“…than wheezing and gasping,” she finishes. “He’s getting warmer again, too.” A flashlight streaks the hood. “Oh shit, shit, shitbirds! They’re getting near! What do we do?” 

Somebody is indeed getting waaaay too close, and Eddie is at last on a relatively clear road out of town. He makes an executive decision, presses the pedal to the metal, and drives hard into the night.

Part 4

(also on AO3 here and as part of my steve whump fic series)

tags: @estrellami-1 (thank you, thank you, thank you!) If anybody else would like to be tagged on this fic or any of my writing, please let me know :) Reblogs, comments and likes also very much appreciated :) Thank you for reading so far.

[glitteringsunshine]

Gibbs’s Gal

Part 1

Pairing : Leroy Jethro Gibbs x Reader

( crossover with madam Secretary)

Reader’s POV:

“Okay the reports done.” Jay said. “ You think these joint task force reports would be easy, but getting approval from all the departments is a real headache.”

“ So what’s the final title of the report?” I asked.

“ Corruption in selected foreign military and the difficulties in building Infrastructure” Phew. Err some parts of the NCIS report has been redacted. I don’t know why.” Blake said.

“ Well we need to find out. I mean the it’s their marines who are working for the state building infrastructure. But state has the right to know ground data.” I said.

“ Yeah ,I tried to talk with the NCIS Director but he shut me out. “ Nadine said.

“ Well its not only State’s development money , but it is also the funding of many international Agencies. We can’t put up redacted reports to the UN.” I stated.

“ Well I will ask Russell Jackson to look it up. After all nothing is Privy from POTUS”. As his chief of staff Russell Jackson will know what to do.

….

“ Y/N , come with me to Russell Jackson”. The Msec said.

“ About the Corruption report?” I asked .

“ Yes”.

I quickly hopped in with Msec in her motorcade.

“ Ohh wow aren’t we going to his office?” I asked.

“ Apparently a top secret meeting is going to happen here.” She said.

“ Really ! In the Men's Restroom.” I rolled my eyes.

“ Well not my first choice” she chuckled.

“ Apparently Henry is coming in too” she said.

“ What’s DIA have to do with the report?” I asked.

“ Yeah I would like to know why I am meeting my husband in a men’s room too Y/N, sorta reminds me of college” she chuckled.

“ I heard the door open and saw Tony and McGee walk in.”

“ Hello Y/N, nice to see you”. McGee said.

“ Hello” Tony said warmly. “Gibbs asked us to come here, any idea why?”

“ Vague one. BTW meet the Secretary of State”

“ Huge fan” They said in unison. “ Ma’am you are my favourite politician” Tony said.

“ Don’t say that . She hates the word” I chuckled.

“ Done being a fan, Dinozzo ? Then we can discuss stuff.” I heard Gibbs say as Henry ,Gibbs and the Director of NCIS walked in, followed closely by Russell Jackson.

Introductions were made. Though all of us knew others by reputation.

“ This is Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs” Henry said. He is a fellow marine. He served under me in the marines. I believe you two have met before.”

“ Yes we crossed paths a few times related to work” I nodded.

“OK”said Russell Jackson. “In a Joint mission by NCIS and DIA we have uncovered alarming human rights violations in the countries mentioned in the report. The part redacted is actually the source that helped us uncover this.”

“ We studied the file” . “ Well State knew we were fighting Corruption, but this is cruel”.

“ Yes” Henry said. “ They kept it so hushed up , even CIA did not catch wind.” One of the translators working there when we were deployed as Marines has now rose in their military ranks. He brought this to us.”

“Henry, I mean Dr . McCord worked extensively with him, the asset ,our source. . Henry was not only my superior officer in the Marines, but we hung out together. Anyhow that’s how we met him , in a bar while we were hanging out. He was young , idealistic and Dr McCord hired him . We were in dearth of translators and he helped us. Anyhow we are planning to present the military leader in the international Criminal Court.”

“ We have frozen some of his assets. However he got wind of it. The dictator thinks there is a leak. Before we can pursue the dictator , we need to get our asset out. Now the state is visiting to Geneva right , to sign a trade deal?”

“ Now the asset trusts only Henry and Gibbs” Russell Jackson said. “ The asset is visiting Geneva with the dictator. We can take him in safety there. Henry and Gibbs have to go. Henry’s cover is as Msec’s arm candy. Gibbs will your date Y/N. Since the event in WTO mentions that staff could bring dates, he will be yours.”

I nodded.

“ Oh one more thing. The week in Geneva, you will be sharing a room with him. The dictator suspects we might to do an extraction. If by any chance he gets to know a staff’s date is in a separate room, he will get our plan. We need to be careful. “

“ I am Okay with it if Special Agent Gibbs is” I said , to which he nodded.

“ While Henry and Gibbs works the extraction, your job is to get the trade deal signed by him. It’s a multilateral agreement and when we present him to the International Criminal Court, there will be instability in the country. We don’t know if we could get his successor to agree to the trade deal. Since they control vital maritime routes , it’s important we get them to sign the deal. “

“ Now that his assets are frozen, he might use the trade deal as a leverage to unfreeze it. We can’t unfreeze the assets. Then the dictator would escape before we could get to him.” Russell said.

“ So Y/N” you would have to drop into NCIS once to work on your cover.” Henry said.

“ While you are at it familiarize Jethro with the protocols okay.” Msec said.

…

Jethro’s POV:

I saw Y/N walking in with a huge binder. How on earth does she work in those heels. Well they were sexy though. I would like to fuck her with those boots on. Wow from where did that thought come from. I blinked to get that image off my head.

“ Well here are the protocols. Covers the banquets ,dinners etc. There are pointers on the meet and greet style for people from different countries. Learn them” she said taking off her coat.

“McGee pointers” I said handing the file over to him.

“ Gibbs protocol is important. Go through it.” She said leaning against my desk.

As she did ,I could see her cleavage peeking out from her blouse. I suddenly had this urge to cup her voluptuous breasts, knead them. She was inches from my mouth. I wondered how her lips would taste. Her dark red lipstick looked so enticing. I got this urge to brush my thumb on her lips, to kiss her with a passion she has never known. Her eyes beneath her glasses spoke of wild seduction and pure temptation. Like the finest whiskey in a crystal glass, it sparkled against the light. What attracted me more was the inherent kindness and exuberance that was reflected in her eyes, like hot chocolate on a cold December night. I couldn’t look away from her. She held my gaze until she blinked. “ Gibbs you have to read them okay. I don’t care if Mcgee helps with a framework or something , but get it done, okay. McGee I will highlight the important points.”

As she bent down to talk to McGee, I couldn’t help but stare at her ass. The loose skirt she wore did not really highlight her body, but as she bend down, I could see her attractive curves, the voluptuous beauty if it, from the bent of her hips and ass to her lovely thighs. I heard her laugh with McGee. Suddenly I was filled with an insane jealous rage.

“ Do your job McGee. You can laugh and fool around later. Y/N in Abby’s lab now. Let’s get it over with the cover story . I have other cases to solve.” I said.

I barged out ,Y/N following me.

“ Gibbs Gibbs Gibbs” Abby said. “ Look I went through the Admiral’s journal.He was going through a divorce right. So I finally managed to read through it , not easy because of the codes , but look he found out that his lawyer arranged for someone to roofie his wife and take suggestive photos , making everyone believe that she had cheated. That’s when our missing Admiral wanted to confront the lawyer.”

“ I need more Abby.”

“ See the lawyer meets her clients out of her office. She has this weird jamming programme where we can’t triangulate her cell location. But if we get her to meet , I can access her cell data, her client list , her records of who she set up , how she got the roofie, who she used a photographer, everything.”

“ We need to get the location of our kidnapped admiral. Or else she would leverage that for a deal.”

“ Well Gibbs you can go in as a client. You can tell her to meet at a bar my friend owns. She has great tech that breaks signal jammers for video games. She uses them in her bar ,so she could play video games without any interference. I can put in someone undercover as a waitress . In that way while I attach a chip on you to hack her phone data, someone can get her phone locations.”

“ Well, Ziva, Kate, Jessica and Ellie have all interrogated and talked to her. So who to put.” I ask.

“ Her” Abby says looking at Y/N.

“ You can go undercover right?” I asked. Why didn’t it strike me before.

“ What me? Hmm ok” Y/N says.

…

“ Stop fidgeting Y/N” I said, looking at her in her waitress uniform.

“ The skirt is too short and tight” she said pulling at it.

“ Ohh God. I don’t have the body for such an outfit. I look awkward. There’s no way I can pull it off. Your lawyer will know something is off.”

“ Relax. You look wonderful. You can’t pull it off. “

“ Uhh huh keep the coat in the van and walk. There is no way a waitress can afford such a coat.” I said.

“ Got the data Boss” we have her. McGee said.

“ Yeah got all the locations she had been. “ Abby said.

“Okay Tony ,Nick follow the lawyer.”

“ Jessica , Ellie get to location 1 ,Ziva and Kate to location 2”.

…

As I walked Y/N to my car, I realised she disnt have her coat. She was shivering. I took off my jacket and wrapped it around her.

“ Thanks” she said.

“ Good Job” I smiled at her. Dropping the menu to get close to her for the signal. Brilliant” I smiled.

“ You know you should smile more often Gibbs. It really looks good on you.”

“ Says the woman who forgot to smile in her year book photo” I chuckled.

“ So you did a background check on me” she laughed.

“ Well I needed to know who I am sending undercover. Plus I was curious . I wanted to know you, understand you better.” I confessed.

“ I was trying to portray the bold mysterious enigmatic look in that yearbook photo” she chuckled. “ You know typical teenage rebellion phase.” She laughed. “ I was a need but a rebel too, breaking rules , being a brat, resisting authority. In some sort of way I thought not smiling in my yearbook photo was an act of rebellion. I was a brat then, pretty mischievous. But my grades were really good. Plus I had this knack of avoiding suspicion, so didn’t get into trouble.”

“ You are still a brat.” I chuckled. “ It has worked Well for you though, helping you think out of the box.”

“ You have your fair share of out of the box thinking, disregard of protocol too, cowboy.” “ Yeah I looked you up too.”

I didn’t realise when I have gotten so close to her, her lips centimetres away from mine. It will be so easy to brush my lips against hers. She leaned in slightly. I leaned in too. Suddenly her phone rang.

“ Yeah , thanks Blake. I would look into the keynote speaker for the International Women’s Education Summit.” She said.

If only that stupid phone didn’t ring right now. I was so close to kissing her. I would have loved to hold her close to me, kissing her ,exploring her, feel her heartbeats against mine. Get a grip Marine.

…

Reader’s POV:

“ So how do you two meet?” “ Uhh Dating website, that’s a good cover.” Abby said.

Gibbs was standing behind me , bending down to look at the computer screen. His close presence made me feel butterflies in my stomach. “ Nope, find a better one” Gibbs said.

“ Maybe in a coffee shop, while we were getting coffee?” Gibbs continued.

“ Boring” Abby said.

“ Maybe at a bar. Two complete strangers. Fucked behind the alley. Had on and off casual sex. Then started dating.” I mused.

“ Wow , Hot.” Abby Exclaimed.

“ English Lit major here. I know how to write a good story. You should always be specific when you lie you know.” I chuckled.

“ That’s one of my rules too” Gibbs laughed. “ So who made the first move? How many times in the alleyway ?”

“ What?”

“ Specifics remember?”

“ I Will let you two work that out” Abby laughed.

…

We were going through our covers. We saw the lawyer being escorted out. Suddenly she took out the gun of an NCIS agent holding the entire squad room at gunpoint.

“ I will not go to prison” the lawyer said.

“Okay ,Okay ,we can talk” I said.

“ I will walk out from here, you will not follow me” she said. “ Get me that box of money and fake passports you confisticated now”

“ OK, Ok I said . I am bringing it.” Then looking at my shoes, I looked at Gibbs, a silent understanding passing between us.

I took the evidence box and approached her . Then jammed my foot on her, my stilleto shoes causing her real pain and she dropped her gun. Gibbs immediately slipped it away as Ziva tried to handcuff her.

“You bitch” she shouted at me, and she attacked Ziva, snatching her knife and throwing it at me. Gibbs immediately pulled me down on the floor , protecting me with him on top of me before Ziva subdued her. The knife however hit the window and a piece of glass cur my shoulder. I gasped at the pain.

Jethro’s POV:

I looked at Y/N. I saw the blood from the glass that had cut her shoulders.

I pulled her up. She looked shaken. I pulled her in a hug , holding her tight against my chest.

“ Get Ducky now”. I said to Kate.

“ You know Y/N it’s okay to say it hurts while getting stitches.” Ducky said. “ You don’t have to grit your teeth and put up a brave face.”

“ You gave me painkillers Ducky. Plus the Alcohol you made me chug helped me with the nerves, as you said.”

“ You gave her painkillers with alcohol Ducky?”

“ Well it helps with the nerves . Though I suggest she doesn’t drive today.” Ducky said.

“ I will take her home Ducky.”

Ducky finished doing her stitches. “ Well you can take her home now Jethro.”

“ Come Y/N , let me take you home.”

“ But I don’t want to go home. I wanna see the world” she pouted.

“ What painkillers making you loopy kid?” I chuckled. “ Come.” I said as I took her hand.

“ Ahh such a gentleman. You don’t have to be so kind. I won’t sue NCIS for the damages” she giggled. “ I am sorry about your jacket though. I can buy you another.”

“ It’s okay Y/N.”

She tiptoe on her feet ,suddenly brushing her lips against mine and softly sucking on it. “ Kind of wanted to do that all day long” she giggled.

I lost my self control then. I crashed her lips against her passionately. She gasped at the sensation and as she parted her lips I shoved my tongue inside her . I felt so close to her. She responded eagerly. As we broke for oxygen I looked into her eyes. “ I have wanted to do that all day along too”.I said . Her eyes reflected the desire I felt. I picked her up and carried her to my car. I buckled her seatbelt before driving.

“ That’s not the way to my home.” She said.

“ I am taking you to my place?”

“ To your bed” she giggled.

“ I would be lying if I said I don’t want you in my bed Y/N. You have no idea what has gone through my head from the morning, Ohh the things I want to do to you.” “ Well how drunk are you?”

“ Drunk enough to really have the nerves to go to bed with you.Not enough for you to think guily of taking advantage of me.” She said dazed.

“ Ohh Y/N I want to be with you tonight. But you have alcohol and painkillers in your system. I don’t want you to do anything you will regret in the morning.”

“ You don’t want me?”

I took her hand into mine placing it against my crotch. “ You feel the hardness Y/N . You did that. I want you so much Y/N. But it’s not fair to you. I would like to take you when you are fully sober.”

“ She rubbed her hands against my crotch. I did that .” She giggled. “ I would like to feel more of that hardness.”

My cock throbbed against my pants. “Y/N , you are making it difficult for me to concentrate on the road.”

“ Oops Sorry. She withdrew her hands and started biting her nails and sucking her thumbs.”

This girl is really gonna test my patience and my honour. I have to keep my self control control.

“ Don’t bite your nails. It’s a bad habit.”

As a response she stuck out her tongue at me, making me laugh.

We arrived at my place. I carried her to my bedroom , put her down on my bed. I gave her one of my hoodies to change into.

When I came to the room again after changing to a hoodie and sweatpants , I found her half asleep. I gently tucked her in, kissing her forehead and Patting her forehead.

“ I wish you would stay” she mumbled.

“ You really want me to?”

“ Only if you are comfortable”

“ Good. Cause I want to.” I said . Then I laid down beside her, pulling her close to me ,cuddling her as we both drifted off to sleep. The sensation of her against me really turned me on , but I also felt a comfort, a warmth I did not want to lose. Her touch was like a drug to me.

…

“ I woke up in the morning. Y/N laid in my arms fast asleep. I have never felt so much peace ,so much bliss, that I felt at that moment. Gently I nuzzles at her neck. “ I think I maybe falling in love with you” I whispered. Gently kissing her forehead, I got up.

I was rock hard and needed a cold shower. I willed my Dick to go down, but it had a mind of its own. I imagined Y/N’s mouth and fingers around my cock and stroked my Shaft. I thought of how it would feel to be inside her. I shot my load in my hand and floor. Then taking a cold shower , I went to cook breakfast.

“ Hi good morning” she said. “Smells delicious.”

I offered her some coffee. “ So how would you want your eggs? Runny or dry.”

“ None. Cause I think your pan’s on fire.”

“ Shoot fuck I said” putting it out.

We both ended up laughing together. At that moment I felt so whole. I moved towards her. Then holding her gaze I cupped her face before claiming her lips.