#when is this set ? whats happening ? more @ 11 on : lena has no idea what she's mcfuckin doin : )

[plague-karm]

Hadalpelagic Zone Part 11: Lena and Sebastian discuss their plans while Bentley, Valen, and Ellie exploit the fact that their friend (or in Ellie’s case “fucking abomination who really likes going near my best friend for some reason”) has become the towns urban legend.

“Did you get all that?”

Sebastian had set it up in a way she could (hopefully) understand, it was a diagram that took him a while to draw, detailing the ins and outs of Innovation Inc and how Lena could get the files into the system without drawing suspicion.

“How do you know all this stuff?”

“My old engineering class went on a field trip there”

“You went to uni too?”

“Yeah? I didn’t finish it though”

His eyes twitched.

“A minor inconvenience got in the way”

“Ohhh because you got arrested”

“Yeah. That.”

“I’ve taken all the routes in, when are we actually going to do this exactly?”

“What days do you not have work?”

“Wednesdays and weekends”

“That’s it?”

“Yeah, I work on analytics here so they let me off”

“Right…”

“So I have to import this into the system and make sure it can’t be erased?”

“Exactly, make sure it can’t be missed, you’re trusted, they’ll believe anything you say”

“Well not everything, I had a hangover and said I was sober once, I threw up, I cried”

“I…how do you want me to respond to that exactly?”

“I don’t know but I don’t drink anymore so that won’t be a problem”

“Thank god”

While they continued to discuss their plans, Bentley, Valen and Ellie were having an afternoon walk through town, Ellie and Valen were walking hand in hand while Bentley whistled and walked by his lonesome.

“Hey check it out!”

Valen exclaimed as he walked over to a nearby poster, the other two joined him to see the large cloaked figure on the poster.

“Looks like Seb’s been making a name for himself”

“All that talk about keeping his existence a secret and he does this…?”

“Hey don’t look at me…!”

“No one knows what he ACTUALLY looks like so it’s not an issue”

“But what if someone finds out?”

“We snuff ‘em out”

“WHAT?!”

“Ooooo that’s a good idea actually”

“Oh come on- we’re not REALLY gonna start killing people are we?!”

“Relax boy kisser we’re not actually gonna do it, it’s just an idea”

“An idea I’m REALLY tempted to go through with”

Someone else joined them, a younger looking girl, she looked a little nervous.

“H-Have you seen it?”

Bentley took notice and immediately turned to her, his voice took on a more gentle tone.

“Seen what?”

“The monster…”

“Hm…yeah, I have”

Valen looked panicked and whispered.

“What are you doing…?!”

“He’s a tall fella, real tall”

“Is it true that he hurts people?”

“Hm…only the ones who hurt him back”

“M’kay”

She walked back over to her mother.

“You’re SUCH a liar, he would kill anyone if it meant lining his pockets!”

“Ellie, the kid looked like she had seen a ghost, couldn’t spook her more than she already was”

“What if the rumours get worse…?!”

“Nah I think it’s funny, they all think he’s this evil behemoth when he’s actually just pissy and greedy, it’s hilarious”

“Two of those things are true…”

A lot of things happened that night, while Bentley was off making bank regarding the urban legend of his remote seaside town, said creature and Lena had other plans. He was waiting for Lena to come into his room to discuss their plans one last time before going out to transfer the files…where was she? He wasn’t normally this antsy but she had been that consistent up until now, she’s normally here by now, where could she be…?

“Great, maybe she IS an idiot…”

He slithered upstairs and knocked on her door, he crossed his arms and said…

“We were supposed to meet thirty minutes ago…open up”

No response.

“Don’t make me come in there”

Again, no response.

“For the love of god-“

He opened the door only to find her in a fetal position in her bed, his eyes widened and he went over to her without a second thought, like he was pulled towards the sounds of her pain. She was wincing, badly.

“What happened…?

“My legs feel like they’re on fire…”

Why did he feel so worried? Why did he want to put her wellbeing over the plan? Why did he feel so conflicted?

“You said I had to import the files first right…?”

“Yeah?”

“You said you’ll be there so just…get me in the building and I can do that, I need my meds first though”

Her voice was beginning to sound less strained, she still couldn’t stand though.

“Where are they?”

“In there”

God why did everything she own have to be so pointy and inaccessible to him? Who even buys cabinets this shape it’s so jagged!

“You’re almost there”

“Don’t patronise me”

“Sorry”

When he finally managed to open the cabinet he saw several bottles and his eyes twitched, of course tonight was going to have pitfalls, if only he still had normal hands, maybe he could sort through this quicker…he huffed, he needed to stop thinking “what if” and “if only” regarding his old life, he wasn’t human anymore, he was tempted to pull his hair out until he remembered he wasn’t alone. She was just sitting there, looking at him with wide eyes, but there wasn’t a single hint of fear in them.

Looking back, he doesn’t think he’s ever seen her show fear towards him. Valen’s always been jumpy, and even now he still gets a little apprehensive around him, Bentley looked like he was on the verge of freaking out when he told him he used to eat people to survive (something that definitely didn’t ring in his conscious in present day). But Lena had never done that, she either looked dazed or curious, he overanalysed all of them in his spare time to make sure they weren’t going to give him up if they were offered something, he could read Valen and Bentley like books, but Lena was like static, hard to make out with nothing behind her eyes.

“…Can you get them?”

He looked down at his claws.

“These things are being useless”

Lena tilted her head in response.

“Okay, I’ll try and get up”

This immediately lead to her falling flat on her face.

“Ouch”

He sighed and held her up to the cabinet, using one of his arms as a backrest for her.

“Just find the damn meds…”

“Okay”

She found them and took three.

“Thank you, my strength should come back in a little while”

“But we don’t HAVE a-“

He took a deep breath, he had to keep calm, he knew this wasn’t her fault, it was something she shouldn’t control, but he was so fixated on the plan…this couldn’t have happened at a worst time…

Unless…

“You’re lucky I planned around this”

“Hm?”

He kept her in his grasp and slithered down to his room.

“Wait did you get the-?”

She was already holding the hard drive containing the files.

“Oh”

“Yeah, I got it before you rushed me out”

“I didn’t rush you”

“You’re very fast despite your size”

He turned to her, he didn’t know whether to be flattered or offended.

“What’s THAT supposed to mean?”

“You’ve been eating a lot of meat lately so-“

“You know what? Never mind, you’re getting distracted, this is what I did in case your little condition started acting up”

He revealed that he made a secret opening in the floor which lead to one of Innovation Inc’s entry points.

“This will get us there”

“Wow…how long did it take you to do this?”

He looked away and spat some of his teeth out.

“You don’t wanna know”

“…”

“They’ll grow back”

“Okay…let’s go”

He continued keeping her in his grasp as they went through the secret entryway, and he hoped that nothing else unexpected would happen that night…

Well it did, he just wasn’t there to see it.

Bentley had been going around town and telling yarns about his encounters with the “mysterious creature” roaming town, and he was being given quite a lot of money for it.

“Should we REALLY be doing this?”

“Val, think about it, if we spread this about, more crazies are gonna wanna buy from him AND people are gonna stop wandering near where we live, ‘cause you know, abandoned”

“Yeah and the money’s good sooooo…”

Valen sighed, he might as well grin and bear it right?

Meanwhile the other two managed to sneak into the building and were currently wandering through its lower levels.

“I forgot how big this place was…”

“The main computer is on a higher level, if I can lock the files onto that then we should be set to do whatever we want from there”

“And that’s exactly what I want”

“…Right”

“Are your legs working now?”

Lena looked down blankly.

“Let me check”

She rocked her legs back and forth.

“Put me down so I can try walking”

He put her down on her feet and slowly let go (in case she fell over again) and to both of their relieves Lena could walk once more.

“Thank god…”

He made sure she wasn’t looking when he quickly punched a hole through the steel wall.

“There’s an opening over there you can use, I’ll stay here and look out for you”

“Okay…”

Lena hummed as she went through it, she managed to find it after a while and exported the files successfully, he smirked when he realised that things were going well despite her physical detriments…they’d have to do this again VERY soon.

“Perfect…”

“Okay that should be going through their system now”

She still looked unsure about all of this, she knew it was for a good reason, but she felt like something wasn’t right…she hated feeling wrong, whenever she was “wrong”, something bad would happen.

“Why are we doing this again?”

He looked down at her as she stood by him, of course, none of these idiots liked to make life easy.

“I told you yesterday-“

“I don’t believe that”

He couldn’t tell what face she was making…was she trying to look stern? He genuinely couldn’t tell, she was his only ticket into this place so as much as he’d LOVE to argue with her he knew he couldn’t risk that, reaching out to any other person in town who would be crazy enough to help out would inevitably out him and his location and that’s something he couldn’t risk.

Oh god, he was actually being rational, all those anger management lessons from his mom were paying off it seems.

“Listen Lena the only thing you need to know about my intentions is that they’re good alright?”

“So other people don’t go through what you went through or because you want revenge?”

Boom, she got him, he tensed and hissed as she crossed her arms, he forced a smile as he said…

“What makes you say that?”

“You just…I overhear things sometimes…you’re just doing this for your own interests…”

“…I literally said that a life where they go defunct is the life I wanna live why are you so surprised?”

Oh god, she forgot he even said that, how was her mind getting WORSE? What did she have for breakfast this morning? Was it warm or cold today? Who did she talk to? She was getting overwhelmed, badly overwhelmed, she began to hyperventilate, he knew that they would get caught if she started doing something more verbal so he put her back in his grasp and travelled to the lowest floor of Innovation Inc, there wasn’t much here aside from abandoned experiments and barely functioning lights (which he didn’t mind because the less light the better). He wasn’t sure how to bring her out of this state so he reluctantly rubbed her back and kept her in his arms in case her pacing would alert security.

“Look if you forgot it’s fine but I’m not gonna go around and act like I’m a beacon of morality because I’m NOT…and I…DO need you, you’re the only one out of those idiots I can trust…they’d snitch, you won’t”

She mumbled and nodded, he could tell she was coming back a bit.

“And you’re not doing anything “wrong” either, you’re helping me with the takedown of an organisation that put you and the other two idiots through hell…if your conscious is eating away at you so much just pretend I’m not even there”

“…I don’t blame you for being angry at them, I just wish you just told me flat out “hey I want revenge against this corporation that turned me into something I didn’t want against my will” because I’d be more upset for it if you just said that”

“Why?”

“Because they hurt me too…but what they did to you was…I don’t really know how to describe it”

Oh she just opened Pandora’s box with that one, his eyes twitched as he made her look up at him with his claws. His rage was palpable and she could see that, she wanted him to get it out of his system.

“Imagine your body, your goals, your LIFE, allllll being taken from you because of a crime you didn’t even FUCKING commit!”

He sounded unhinged, but Lena remained in place, looking up at him, he was completely losing it.

“This ISN’T a body it’s a PRISON! I’ve been stuck like this for years and there’s STILL parts of it I haven’t figured out! YOU can’t comprehend what they did to me! I’ve heard it allll before from people like you! You have one little bodily problem and you think it’s COMPARABLE! Like we have something in common! I know something happened to you! It’s written all over your face! So if you even THINK of comparing whatever the hell you went through to me then just shut the fu-!”

“I’m not”

He was breathing heavily, he couldn’t tell if this was a release for him or an implosion, god, how was she not afraid? He’s had this talk plenty of times before, before he met her and the others, he’d bring people to tears, make them fear him, because the thought of genuine connection in a place like the Hadal Blacksite was ridiculous, it’s why him living with them felt so alien to him.

He couldn’t tell if he was happy or not, well, he was, he could see his mom and his siblings whenever he wanted, he could indulge in as much food as he wanted, there were things he still couldn’t do (like go out in public during the day or get a normal job) but it was better than bitter cold and constant starvation. He continued ranting, it eventually devolved into barely comprehensible Spanish that Lena couldn’t really make out but he kept her in his grasp throughout all of it.

She didn’t know why, maybe it was to keep him grounded? She knew that a lot more of his…animalistic traits had been popping up more as of recent thanks to the sensations and life he had been locked away from. The biggest one she had noticed was his fixation with blood, she had a tendency to accidentally cut herself whenever she made dinner and he’d loom over her, he’d then look away reluctantly and force out a simple…

“Sorry…”

It got to the point where he had to keep himself in his room whenever she cooked because it happened so frequently. His teeth would regularly fall out and grow back in quick succession depending on what he ate. Little things like that she took notice of, and she didn’t blame him for any of them, she knew what it was like to have parts of yourself taken away from you, but she didn’t know how to phrase in a way that wouldn’t make him angrier than he already was.

He slammed his left fist to the metal floor, his claws dragging through it with ease, he looked back at Lena…god…why was she still looking at him like that?! Lena wasn’t sure what to do…this was someone who actually knew what it was like, she knew he wouldn’t hear her out, but she wanted to get this out of her system, time to give Ellie’s advice a chance.

“Look…parts of me were taken away too, obviously it doesn’t show but…it was something similar-“

Oh he did NOT need to hear this right now, he glared at her and his grip tightened, his rage reaching its boiling point.

“AT LEAST YOU STILL HAVE A BODY!”

“At least you still have a mind…”

His anger came to a screeching halt, he wasn’t sure what he was expecting but it wasn’t that, he looked less angry and more taken off guard, the way she responded…it was so empty, and he knew that his one sided screaming match would get them both in serious trouble if he carried on so he kept his trap shut as he slowly travelled through the entryway he made.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

Lena looked down at her hands and sighed, no going back now…

“When I was younger my dad always said that I had a brilliant mind that was being held back by itself…I didn’t know what he meant by that…until one day he did an operation on me, and I could do things I couldn’t do before a little faster…”

“How old were you when that happened?”

“Eleven”

Jesus Christ…

“It should’ve been one but he was impatient and they kept going…and after a few years the opposite happened, I couldn’t walk as well as I used to, I couldn’t think straight, I couldn’t cry, I was getting paler…I tried to tell him that he was hurting me, but he wouldn’t listen…so a week after my 16th birthday I just…”

And then it all clicked for him.

“…That’s why you ran away from home isn’t it?”

“Mhm, I moved in with Bentley after that, we grew up together…but something happened with his family and he moved to Cali to get away from everything so I just went to him since he made me feel safe…and I don’t even register that the person I was before the operations is even ME…we’re like two completely different people…I haven’t told Bentley or Val because I don’t want to be seen as something that constantly needs to be helped, Ley’s protective as it is I don’t want it to get worse. Im twenty four, he shouldn’t be worrying about me all the time…”

He could tell this had been on her mind for a while, this explained the scars she had too, he wanted to bring them up but the energy he lost from his emotional breakdown earlier was starting to catch up to him. She looked upset too, as upset as she could be, she was hugging herself as her dazed eyes looked downwards.

“The pain you felt when you got experimented on, I don’t know what that’s like, I’ll never know what that’s like…but I know what it’s like to have parts taken away from you when you don’t want them to leave, and when they’re gone…you forget what it’s like to even have them in the first place…and you don’t feel like yourself…even when you’re around people who love you despite all of that… and feeling wrong even though what happened isn’t your fault, you know it’s not but you blame yourself anyway…do you know what that’s like?”

That resonated with him, finally, someone who didn’t try and compare their pain to his, he knew she was someone who struggled with words, he knew she trusted him, he didn’t know why for the longest time, but she did. She looked up at him and he responded in an uncharacteristically soft voice.

“…Yeah”

“I want to help you, I really do, I just don’t want you to lie to me”

They made it back to his room, he finally put her down and he curled up by the pillow nest, he has a bed but he still makes the nests out of habit. Lena sat close to him.

“Fine, you’ve convinced me”

“That’s good”

“…Did the shouting overwhelm you?”

“Yeah”

“…I’m sorry”

“It’s okay”

That’s when they overheard commotion from upstairs, it sounded like the other three had been here for a while, Lena looked up at the door and tilted her head, the two slowly walked out to see what was going on.

“What’s happening up there?”

“I don’t know but I actually need to try and go to sleep so whatever it is they better-“

Bentley, Ellie, and Valen had all of the money they made on the table, celebrating with their adrenaline on full display.

“OH WE ARE DOING THIS EVERY NIGHT!”

“OH MY GOD YEEEESSSSS!”

“I can’t believe we got so much just for telling true-ish stories…”

“WE GAVE THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT AND WE GOT WHAT WE WANT IN TURN!”

“NOTHING IS GONNA RUIN THIS FOR US-!”

That’s when the three noticed that they weren’t alone, Sebastian put the pieces together pretty quickly and his rage spiked up yet again.

“HAVE YOU BEEN MAKING MONEY OFF OF ME AGAIN?!”

“Oh shit I JUST remembered my limo’s waiting for me outside and I can’t miss it byeeee”

Ellie ran like hell out of the house and Valen screamed as he avoided his inevitable wrath, Bentley managed to dodge his tail with ease as Lena yawned and went upstairs to get some sleep. After the chaos simmered down everyone else went to sleep…except for Sebastian, maybe he could actually trust her…not just as a business partner, not just as a roommate but also as a friend…yeah…

That sounds right.

[fazedlight]

Fandom creators tag game

Thank you @waytooinvested and @fabulousglitch for the tag!

1. What sort of content do you create, and what is the thing you’ve made that you’re most proud of?

Proudest fic - There are a few I tend to choose from, but right now it's Even Though You're Kryptonian

Fanvid - My Rise vid

2. What fandom(s) do you create for?

Supercorp. (And a very tiny amount of Dansen and soon Rojarias.)

3. What is your current favourite ship (or brotp if you prefer), and how controversial is it?

Supercorp!! I don't think it's a controversial ship, lol.

4. For your answer to question 3, are they canon?

They are to me 😌

5. What was your first fandom, and how old were you?

My first obsession (and still greatest love) was Xena. I started watching the show a few episodes into season 1, when I was 6 years old. It was very formative.

That said, I didn't really get involved in any fandom communities until Supercorp (in early 2022).

6. What is your most unhinged fandom creation to date?

I don't think I get super unhinged, but as a pilot I did like creating this dumb incorrect quote.

7. Do you remember what started you off creating fandom content, and if so, what was it?

I was getting frustrated at not being able to find certain types of fics, and it struck me that... I was allowed to write my own.

8. Do you let people you know in real life see your fandom creations?

Yup! My partner read my first two fics in support, and several of my IRL friends have read at least one of my fics because I didn't have the good sense to keep that information to myself when I was getting started. It's mortifying lol. But my friends are very cool people.

9. How do you feel about fanworks of fanworks? Has anyone ever made something based on a thing you made?

Fanworks of fanworks are amazing!!! I've been incredibly lucky to have that happen three times (post), and gotten asked for permission for a different continuation and a podfic that may eventually happen.

10. What feeling do you most often try to evoke with your creations?

Angst. Longing. Bits of compassion too.

11. Has someone ever paid your work a compliment (in any form) that has stuck with you, and what was it?

I love each and every one of my commenters ❤️

Honestly, the compliments that stick with me most are "I came back to reread this" or "this idea is still living rent-free in my head" type comments. I think that's what all writers and artists want - to feel that their art lasted in someone's mind beyond the first time seeing it.

12. What’s your favourite thing someone else has made that you’ve seen in the last 24 hours (and link it if you can find it again!)

Technically it was more than 24hrs ago but this art by @awaitingrain is so fucking cute!!

13. Give a small sneak preview of something you’re working on right now (eg a couple of sentences of fic from a WIP, a gif set theme, a small piece of a larger picture, whatever you feel happy to share)

I have a ficlet (that's getting out of control), here's a snippet:

Lena was cozying into the warmth of Kara’s body, when Lena spoke. “I’m thinking of visiting my mother’s house soon,” she said shyly. “I want to find out more about her. Where I came from.”

“That sounds lovely,” Kara said softly.

“Do you want to come with me?” Lena asked.

Kara hesitated.

14. Have you ever seen/read anything made by the person who tagged you? If so, what was it and what was your favourite thing about it? (pick a favourite if there are several)

Both of them are on my reading list 👀

15. Do you leave comments on fandom works, and if so how would you describe your comment style?

Some of my comments are very simple, some of my comments are very long. I've tried to get more consistent about commenting ever since starting to write, because I know how important it is. Unfortunately, I also read a lot less now that I'm writing more.

16. How many works in progress do you currently have? Will you finish them all?

I have 5 WIPs! I'm very confident I'll finish them all.

17. what’s the longest it’s ever taken you to finish a fandom project?

I guess my worldkiller Kara fic took a bit over 3 months, though part of that was spacing with the Supercorp Big Bang.

I tend to write fast. One of the things I'm actually trying to do is slow down to fill out the story a bit more.

18. Describe the thing you made most recently in a way that is technically true, but also completely misleading. Link the thing if it’s published!

Lena has a bad day in the lab (Clockwork).

19. Do you ever engage with fanworks for a fandom you’re not in? Which one(s) and how did you get into it?

I totally engage in fanart from other fandoms that cross my dashboard, particularly korrasami. I don't tend to read fanfic of stuff I haven't engaged in, though.

20. Recommend a fan work from your fandom to your followers

This fanvid is probably my favorite in the entire fandom.

Suggested tag list, but there are no rules here, follow your heart.

A mutual you have never actually spoken to but think seems cool - oh there are so many of these!! I am tagging @mssirey who I don't think I've had a proper convo with yet

The most recent person whose content you engaged with (eg read a fic, reblogged art, whatever form you feel best fits) - @thealieninhiding (though by the time I finish this very long post it might be someone else lol)

Someone whose content you saw via tags/reblogs and you followed them because of it - @jadedloverart!

Someone in your fandom that you think makes cool things - @ekingston

Someone in a different fandom that you think makes cool things - tagging @thatonebirdwrites who makes korrasami stuff too

Someone you always tag on things like this - I'm not sure there's someone I always tag but I'll pick @nottawriter as one of the people I frequently tag when I do these things

Someone you have never tagged before - @rebellionbear have I tagged you before?? you are cool so I am tagging you!

Someone you would like to get to know better - @femslashhistorian

Someone who makes art you like - @awaitingrain along with others above!

Someone who writes fics you like - @luthordamnvers along with others above!

[red-archivist]

finally caught up on tmagp!

eps 11-15 thots below

ep 11:

celia? again?? jack???

"Besides, I’m sweet enough already" is such a dad joke. As in, literally a joke my own dad has made several times

Ink5oul cameo!

lollll the change to stuffy business language

ah, ink5oul you can't be stealing corpses now, behave

GWEN Thank you, Alice. ALICE I… Sure. Whatever. Don’t get used to it.

tsun tsun~

"he's one of our externals" what a way to phrase it. also tells us that the oiar/the government works with several monsters

ep 12:

omg he's actually asking her out? fair play

"I think I'm done with Magnus stuff" buddy boy, its episode 12- magnus stuff isn't done with you, i can tell you that much

"Date of Incident: 9 March 2024" ooh v recent huh

stags are the worst, jordan, ty

oh. bonzo is back. lena meant it when she said to keep an eye out

the groom's was the name gwen handed over i assume

HE RIPPED HIS HEAD APART?? jesussssss

gwen. gwendolyn. you are not okay.

GWEN Thanks, Alice. Utterly useless as always. ALICE Anytime.

okay but purposely useless. purposely joking and irritating bc if you cant take it seriously it cant hurt you- that attitude is going to bite Alice sooner rather then later

ep 13:

ooh date night (morning)

A BABY???? CELIA WHAT

"it all went downhill" > proceeds to describe being generally successful- oh sammy we got to work on this hang-up

oh alice's parents are both dead? so just her and the little brother she is always looking after and giving money to anytime he is mentioned? bet that hasn't given her a complex

oh celia, you know the cases are real you're just trying to sound him out

"is it my fault?" GWENNNNNNN 😭

"we are... managing... the bad guys" oh boy

crypto bro, betting against your own life is a crazy idea what is wrong with you?

it reminds me of the dice case, a luck/circumstances based thing where you try to beat a rigged game

oof. sam. you hit a sore point there "professional"

"Stop trying to make an impact" is alice's motto tbh

ep 14:

"i went through the same thing when i started" i knew Alice had gone snooping, you dont get that avoidant without having tried first. of course, raises the question of what scared her off?

alice stop running away from your feelings challenge level: impossible

where the hell is there a marsh near Newcastle-Under-Lyme?

ooohhh boy hello sudden tone change

snake mannnnn, mannnn full of snakkeeessss

rejection notes from an institute....

ep 15:

sam. sam this is not smoother flirting than before

The Pillowman... we are making a note in case that's important

awww Alice loves her brother so much... shame that she's pitching him in such an awkward, intrusive way

"babies... are cool..." same, Alice

the fucking harpsichord? in the bg of the case reading is making me sooooo tense. i know what's going to happen and they're just drawing it out 10/10

oh. oh no. this is not what i thought was going to happen. i thought sure okay, rich assholes hunting ppl through the woods not... making them hunt each other oh this is so much more fucked up

"none of them got far" JESUS oh its not even all of them, just him

and now he is being hunted, okay

FUCK, the gunshot

oh. why is she in the office

STOP SNIFFING YOU CREEP

mowbray... is she one of the 'externals'...

LADY MOWBRAY Catch you next time, dearie. CELIA No, you won't.

oh that's vicious, celia knows she's a threat and won't give her a single inch, her hackles are raised sky-high

ah! sudden rock music!

And we finally meet Luke, hello

TAPE RECORDER

ummmm and another new voice??

UMMM

this is... the presence alice thought was following her? the thing she and sam set loose from the institute?

well. fuck.

[spaceman-earthgirl]

Supercorptober Day 11: Wild

This fic is a follow up to the Super prompt from a couple of days ago because they're too cute and I wanted to write more. This one is set right after the last one.

Fic link. Series link.

Eliza’s smile is all too knowing when they get back from their walk, but Kara’s not sure if it’s just the normal knowing smile, the smile that says she knows they have feelings for each other and it’s only a matter of time before they get together, or if it’s a smile that says she knows what happened while they were out on their walk.

Her cheek still burns from where Lena had pressed her lips not long ago, it makes her wonder what it’ll feel like if Lena kissed her mouth instead.

All through dinner, Lena keeps sending her shy smiles, eyes finding hers across the table. It’s doing things to Kara’s heart, making her feel so stupidly happy and warm and so very loved.

Kara’s having trouble keeping her own eyes off Lena.

“Are you ready for dessert?” Eliza asks once they’re finished dinner, the question obviously directed at Lena because Kara has never said no to that question in her life.

“Yes, I’m dying to try this famous pie,” Lena smiles, standing up. “Let me help.”

Kara can see Eliza has to fight herself to accept the help, used to waving off any help that’s offered, which is why Kara didn’t offer herself. But she can tell Eliza is really trying to include her, make her feel welcome. Kara makes a mental note to thank Eliza, not just for opening her home to Lena, but also for giving them the little push they’d needed.

Kara literally moans around the first bite of pie, and she’d be embarrassed, seeing the amused tilt of Lena’s eyebrow, but the pie is too good for her to care.

“This is amazing,” Kara says around her mouthful. “Thank you.”

“Lena did most of the work,” Eliza smiles, a hand falling to rest on Lena’s forearm. “Thank her, I only helped, she’s a natural.”

Lena’s cheeks go pink under the praise, and for just a moment, Kara wishes they were alone, so she could lean over and place her own kiss to Lena’s cheek, feel the heat of her skin.

“Thank you. I’ll have to try and make it again once we’re back in National City, see if I can replicate it.”

Eliza laughs, and Kara knows it’s mostly because of her own excited grin. “I’m sure both of my daughters would appreciate that.”

After dessert, Kara manages to convince both Eliza and Lena to let her do the dishes, and maybe she uses a bit of her speed, but she sort of doesn’t trust Eliza alone with Lena anymore, not that there’s much else Eliza can say now, since she already got them to admit their feelings to each other.

She regrets her decision though when she walks into the living room and finds them both flipping through a photo album.

“Hey! I said no photo albums,” Kara pouts.

“I agreed to no such thing,” Lena smiles. She points to a photo. “I knew you’d be cute.”

Kara rolls her eyes, even as she blushes.

It’s not as painful as she expected, and by the end of the first photo album, she actually gets up to get a second, likes sharing a bit of her teenage years with Lena. Sure, Lena teases her and they Lena and Eliza laugh more than once at her expense, but Lena’s the only person she’s every felt comfortable sharing all of herself with. She wants to share it all with her, she wants Lena to know all of her, knows she won’t judge whatever she finds out.

She wants to know all of Lena too.

---

Kara blinks her eyes open, knows it’s still early but it’s light enough that it’s morning. She looks over to Alex’s childhood bed, sees brown hair tangled across the pillow, Lena’s face relaxed in sleep. She listens for a moment, lets the sound of Lena’s quiet breathing and her steady heartbeat wash over her.

She still can’t believe yesterday happened, still can’t believe that she’s lucky enough that Lena wants her too.

Kara sneaks out of bed, an idea popping into her head. It’s a little cheesy but she hopes Lena will find it romantic. She wants to show Lena how much she cares, wants to show her the love she deserves.

She heads outside, through the back garden and out into the trees beyond. She finds a patch of flowers, gathers a few, makes a small bouquet before she heads back to the house.

She plans to sneak back in, leave the flowers beside Lena’s bed for when she wakes, but when she walks into the kitchen, she finds the woman herself already sitting at the dining table.

“Lena!” Kara exclaims. Maybe she should’ve checked that Lena was still asleep, but it’s too late now, as she hastily hides the flowers behind her back.

“Kara,” Lena says, lips pressed together, trying not to smile. She clearly hasn’t been up long, hair pulled back in a messy pony tail, one of Kara’s sweatshirts pulled over her pyjamas. It’s an unfairly cute look and it’s a little distracting. “What’s that behind your back?” she asks, though Kara’s pretty sure she saw.

“Nothing,” Kara says anyway, but when Lena tilts her eyebrow, Kara knows she’s not going to get out of it that easily. “I wanted to surprise you,” Kara says, bringing the flowers back into view. “I was trying to be romantic.”

Lena’s smile softens instantly as she stands, makes her way across the small space to meet Kara. “You shouldn’t have but thank you, they’re beautiful.”

“I definitely should have,” Kara counters. “Pretty flowers for a pretty woman.”

The compliment makes Lena blush and Kara wonders yet again what it would be like to kiss her.

“Thank you,” Lena says, smile shy as she takes the flowers. “I have a question for you.”

“Oh?” Kara says, getting more distracted by the minute with Lena’s close proximity. Last time Lena was this close, she’d kissed her cheek.

“Yes,” Lena nods. “You agree that flowers are a romantic gesture?”

Kara frowns. “Yes. Should I have gotten you something else instead? I can,” Kara says, gesturing towards the door. “I can go and get you anything you want.”

“No,” Lena says, catching Kara’s hand to stop her from leaving. “That’s not what I meant. I was just wondering if you knew, since I filled your office with flowers and you didn’t realise my intent.”

Kara’s mouth drops open. “You filled my office with flowers because you liked me?”

Lena laughs. “Of course, I did. I didn’t realise that the gesture could be seen as just friendly until you took it that way.”

Kara groans. “We could’ve been together all this time?”

“Maybe, but I like this way instead. We know each other now, I think we needed to go through the past few years together, all the good and the bad, before we could get to this.” Lena puts down the flowers on the counter beside them and drops Kara’s hand in favour of wrapping her arms around Kara’s neck instead.

Kara tilts her head down, letting it fall to rest against Lena’s forehead. Lena is so warm, all she wants to do is be closer. “I’m glad we made it here, together.”

They stay like that for a moment, breathing in each other’s space, but then Lena tilts her head and so does Kara and then a mouth is on hers, hot and perfect.

The kiss is hesitant and a little unsure but it’s everything.

Kara’s surprised she hears it, with how focused she is on Lena right now, on the weight of her arms around her neck, on the tiny sigh Lena breathes into the kiss, on the pounding of her heart and the material of Lena’s shirt that Kara’s fingers have curled in, but she does, she hears the creak of the stairs that means they’re about to not be alone in the kitchen anymore.

“Eliza’s coming,” Kara says, and Lena practically jumps out of her embrace, cheeks red. It’s cute, how she looks worried but also how her eyes dart back down to Kara’s mouth like she just wants to kiss her again.

“Morning dears,” Eliza smiles, not seeming to realise what she’d almost walked in on. Or maybe she does know, and she’s just being polite in ignoring it. “How did you both sl- Kara Danvers,” Eliza cuts herself off. “Those flowers better not be from my garden,” Eliza says, eyes on the bunch of flowers on the kitchen counter.

Kara’s eyes go wide. “They’re not, I promise! They’re wildflowers, from behind the house.”

Eliza is suddenly all smiles again. “Okay good, take a seat, I’ll make us all breakfast. How did you both sleep?” She asks, finishing her question from before. Kara can see the question on her mind though, can see her trying to figure out if something has happened between them.

Kara answers the question, Lena too, but she can tell Lena is distracted and she looks over and sees why, sees Lena watching her, a small smile on her face.

Kara reaches over, not caring that Eliza is in the room, to take Lena’s hand, tangling their fingers together.

Lena’s smile gets bigger.

Eliza notices, Kara catching the raised eyebrow sent her way in question and when Kara nods, Eliza’s smile grows too.

“I’m happy for you both,” Eliza says, not waiting for a response as she turns back to the pancakes she’s making.

Kara lifts their joined hands, similar to the way she had last night, presses a kiss to Lena’s hand again. “I’m happy too.”

[shepherds-of-haven]

I hope you’re having a great day Lena! I was just wondering if we could have any fluff facts about the shepherds as a whole! Like fun tidbits of how they interact with each other, what some of them do if they have the same day off, does anyone host weekly game nights?? I hope that makes sense! Reading the recent short story on Patreon I love seeing how the characters interact with one another and now I need moreeeeeee🙏

Ooh, great question! I’m feeling curiously tapped dry at the moment, so I’ll probably have to reblog this as more ideas come to me; I’m so happy you’re enjoying the short story, btw!! 💖

Some group dynamic headcanons:

Many of them steal clothes from each other. Briony wears a cute sweater of Shery's (she asked), Ayla gets cold so she just takes one of Red's jackets from a chair (she didn't ask), Chase gives Tallys his scarf one day and Riel corders Trouble a pair of gloves from a fashion line he favors because his old ones are holey and they get into an argument about it... This leads to some recruits mistakenly thinking that the captains are all involved in some sort of mass relationship because they keep walking out of each other's rooms wearing each other's clothes. (The recruits believe a lot of really dumb stuff, if you couldn't tell. They LOVE gossip. It's like a competitive sport in the compound)

There is a weekly card game night, initiated and organized first by Chase, but it grows bigger over time, with snacks, cakes, drinks, and new games being procured! I'd actually say it's more like every ten-fourteen days or so than on any set weekday, and is typically proposed by anyone who senses that they or others need to blow off some steam. They all tend to meet in a private common room and either just chill and play some card games and casually drink and listen to music, or they get LOUD and raucous and play more risque non-card games (like Question or Command/Truth or Dare). The loud nights are more like once a month or bi-monthly, though! They take place in the captains' lounge so dumb recruits don't get to join! It's rare that they're in there all doing the same thing, though: maybe half will be at the table playing card games while others will be broken up into smaller groups, say arm-wrestling in the corner or playing chess at the smaller table or reading, but they're all there! Game nights are almost never held unless everyone is there, which is extraordinarily difficult to schedule, but they all make an effort to make it happen--even those who first had to be dragged into it, like Blade or Riel!

Speaking of chess games, Red and Riel have a standing game where they complete at least four more moves every night that they're around and able to meet up after dinner. Planning their next move helps them both break up the monotony of the day, and it's something they enjoy immensely. However, whenever he gets called away on a mission, Red gets sick with worry that Riel's been cooking up all sorts of schemes while he's been gone, so sometimes on the road he has, like, a schematic that he doodles on trying to anticipate Riel's next move, and it's very nerdy and ramps up in joking Anxiety. Riel, graciously, goes easier on him on nights after he comes back from long trips, though he denies it

Similarly, Blade and Trouble have a standing training session once a week where they just beat the crap out of each other. This is generally where they do the majority of their talking

Briony and Ayla first had an agreement that they would get the other one up if they overslept (Briony tends to be the one who oversleeps while Ayla is better about being up at dawn, but Ayla is really grouchy if she went to bed late and Briony is the only one who can handle her), which morphed into doing runs and sparring together at dawn and having breakfast frequently!

The girls have a standing spa night once a month where they all get together in a room (usually Shery’s) and basically do sleepover stuff and relax and chat and catch up for a few hours. This also sometimes involves showing each other new outfits that they bought that month! Sometimes there are even group baths in the big common bath, but these are rarer because Shery is shy and Tallys doesn’t like sitting in hot water getting pruny

Chase and Trouble drag Red and Halek to go drinking with them around once a month; sometimes Blade is persuaded to go if Trouble can get the drop on him and punch him hard enough to wind him. It’s complicated

Riel and Shery, of course, have tea together once a week! You’re not allowed if you can’t bring a chill vibe (Riel’s rules). Tallys, Lavinet, Halek, and Red are occasional visitors; Briony is allowed on a good day. Blade would be allowed but he has 0 interest

Similarly, Lavinet hosts a weekly brunch, either in a courtyard or at some restaurant in town! Typically it’s a girl thing and Ayla, Briony, and Shery are the most consistent attendees, but Chase has snuck his way in there often, and Riel, Halek, or Red pop up occasionally!

Tallys and Halek cook together! It’s not all that often and doesn’t seem to have any set way of materializing--it just happens somehow--but they both very much enjoy it! Sometimes they cook dinner for the whole group and have a little dinner party that they both secretly get excited for! Sometimes Shery bakes the dessert!

Riel noticed that Tallys has a little garden that she spends time weeding, so he sends gardening tools or special seeds when he thinks she needs them and she leaves baskets of vegetables or vases of flowers in his office. All of this is done without exchanging a word

Chase sporadically teaches Briony acrobatics and things like tightrope walking, just randomly whenever they’re both idle. She teaches him how to gut people with bare fists and also sometimes they paint! 

Caine caught Red grazing in the pantry late one night and now it’s like a Thing where they pass each other in the kitchen and Red sort of just looks the other way re: Caine’s bedtime and what on earth he’s doing up so late and Caine doesn’t tell anybody that Red is just absent-mindedly eating a loaf of bread at 2 AM because he was too busy working to remember to eat dinner. It’ll be like, “there’s some turkey leftover from dinner in the cold box” “oh hey, Caine. thanks. ...so, what’s the news from the midnight watch tonight?” “i’m going to go hunt ghosts on the seventh floor with my friends!” “...okay! have fun!”

Lavinet has a monthly shopping trip where she updates her wardrobe, and it is very common for others to accompany her around the city and just shop while they drop! Common partners are Shery, Briony, Riel, Chase, and once memorably Blade, who didn’t know what he was in for!

Trouble and Ayla are wildly competitive and keep arm-wrestling each other for money; this becomes a bi-weekly sporting event that is eagerly attended and bet upon by third parties

There was ONE group karaoke night. ONE. Most of them got so blackout drunk that they swore to never do it again. Even now, several of them go green whenever they hear a popular bar song (“Don’t Piss Where You Plant Your Flowers”) being sung, especially badly

The game of "telephone" gets really bad in their group. It's like, Shery will say to Briony that she's worried because she thought Riel looked a bit peaky and feverish. Briony will say in passing to Trouble that Riel is getting sick and Shery is worried. Trouble will say to Tallys that Shery is worried sick because Riel is bedridden. Tallys will be mixing herbs and Chase will ask what for and Tallys will reply that Riel is sick, but because she's mixing herbs, Chase will surmise that the sickness must be quite advanced, and will later say, "Damn, have you seen Riel? Seems like he's really sick." Red will interpret this as "I have seen Riel for myself and have determined that he's extremely ill." At least four people will bust into Riel's room, expecting him to be on the verge of death, despite the fact that they saw Riel that morning. Riel will be fine and very annoyed at the intrusion.

They rarely go out as a group to bars and establishments outside of the compound (too chaotic as well as risky, for one thing, and also, recruits don't need to see their superiors like hanging out of bushes and dancing on tabletops drunk out of their minds, and also, "Mages can't drink" (lol)), but when they do deem it a worthy occasion (Trouble's birthday, say), the girls are very punctual when getting ready, and the boys are almost always extremely late due to various shenanigans (Chase forgot that he put a booby trap on Red’s door, covering Red with flour, or a cat somehow slips into Trouble’s room and steals, like, a detonator or an important key, and they have to go chasing it across the city). This has led to the girls coming late on purpose in order to even out their arrival, but mysteriously, this has only led to even later start times, meaning they often don’t get started until like 10 or 11 PM when the most well-intentioned souls meant to be in bed by midnight... that never happens, either!

One such night once led to them ending up on a ridge in the Sun’s Embrace, like a mile outside of the city, in order to watch the sun rise together, because hiking in the dark while blasted out of their minds sounded like a really good idea. They all made it, and the dawn was spectacular, but the moment was ruined when Tallys said softly, “It’s the beginning of a beautiful new day--” punctuated by Trouble abruptly throwing up in a bush and Riel just flat-out passing out

[naralanis]

little bumps in the road (pt. 11)

Previously on LBitR...

Lena is completely mortified, and untangles herself from Kara with a swift jump backwards with far more force than is perhaps warranted to push away a powerless Kryptonian.

“Lena?” Kara says, looking confused as Lena recoils as if she has been burned, eyes hurt. Lena takes another step away.

“Sorry,” Lena gasps out, hating how small and hoarse and weak her voice sounds. “I’m just gonna--I’m OK. I just need--” she walks backwards until she collides with the door, and immediately starts fumbling for the handle, taking long, miserable seconds to locate it. “I just need some air.”

Kara opens her mouth to say something, already taking a step in her direction, but Lena doesn’t give her the chance--she’s already bolting out of the room and slamming the door behind her, practically stumbling onto the motel’s nearly deserted car park.

She knows Alex will stop Kara from following after her, and for the moment, she is incredibly grateful for that--she doesn’t think she’ll survive another breakdown in Kara’s presence.

Lena sinks to plonk rather ungracefully right on the curb, between their Jeep and Alex’s atrociously parked motorcycle. Lena wants to go away, to put some distance between herself and the Danvers sisters, but she has nowhere to go, so she just rests her head on her knees and curls tight into herself.

She breathes in, deep and as slow as she can, and then out, once, twice, again and again. Lena hates feeling this weak, this helpless. Her mind is all she has, and if she can’t control her own thoughts, her own memories, then Lena’s got absolutely nothing left. Something is terrifyingly wrong with her--she knows it, can feel it so deeply and keenly in her bones, in her own subconscious.

Lena sits at the curb for quite some time, distracting herself by watching the cars speeding down the road from the space between her knees; fixates on the hum of the ice machine right behind her, and times her breaths to the slow, lazy flickering of the word VACANCY in a not-so-bright yellow neon.

The more she tries to think back to the Kryptonite incident--to place herself in the event, to remember what happened when and where--the more her brain hurts. It’s almost a physical pain, like her thoughts are loose cogs rattling around, bouncing and denting her skull. Her thoughts feel physically heavy, and she doesn’t know how much longer she can carry them. 

She hears Kara and Alex talking in the room--their voices are muted, and Lena can’t quite make out what they’re saying, though she doesn’t really try. Instead, she focuses on other sounds--car doors slamming, an engine backfiring, and just. Breathes.

The sun is close to setting when she hears the door to their room opening--she doesn’t need to look up to know that it’s Kara approaching with tentative steps. Kara’s red converse--stained with chocolate ice-cream--come into her field of view momentarily, before the blonde plops down next to her with a world-weary sigh.

“Turns out, bees like chocolate ice-cream,” she says matter-of-factly. “I dropped some on my shirt earlier and they were really after me. I had no idea bee stings hurt that bad!”

It’s clearly meant to humour Lena, and it works, somewhat. She lets out a little half-laugh, but the image of Kara actually feeling pain from something as innocuous as bees strikes an altogether different chord.

“So,” Kara continues, lightly bumping Lena’s shoulder with her own. “You good? You’ve been out here a while.”

Lena wants to say that no, she is very, very much nowhere near ‘good’ right now--she’s afraid she’s starting to lose her goddamn mind and she has no idea how to stop it, how to get back in control.

“I’m fine,”she says instead, looking down at the pavement between her knees, studying the fissures on the concrete.

To her credit, it doesn’t look like Kara believes her at all; but, also to her credit (not to mention Lena’s immense relief and gratitude) she doesn’t push the issue either.

“Alex was saying you figured out what’s wrong with me.”

Kara’s voice is nonchalant, a little forcibly disinterested, maybe, and she punctuates her question with an idle pull of the stubborn little weeds that managed to sprout from the cracks in the pavement. She tears at the leaves slowly, and for a moment all Lena can sense besides Kara’s presence (and her ill-concealed curiosity) is the sound of ripping leaves and the faint smell of freshly cut grass.

“Lena?” Kara prods gently.

“Alex didn’t tell you?”

Kara shrugs, looking at the little mound of leaves she’s torn, piled neatly on her thigh. “I wanted to hear it from you.”

Lena nods. “Yeah,” she confirms with a deep exhale. “I figured it out.”

Lena doesn’t need to look at Kara to know that she is smiling from ear-to-ear. It’s like she can feel the brightness of that grin the same way she feels the warmth of sunlight.

“Yes! That’s awesome, Lena!” Kara quips happily, nudging her shoulder again. “How do we fix it?”

“It’s actually quite simple,” Lena says, glad to have the opportunity to make her errant brain focus on something else. She’s already drawing up schematics and working through formulas in her head--she can’t wait until she has the proper equipment to actually work on it and distract herself from whatever spiral her mind’s sinking into.

“The Kryptonite bonded with some of your blood cells--well, traces of it did, anyway.” She explains. “We basically just have to figure out a way to filter them out; then you’ll be as good as new.”

“That’s great news!” Kara laughs, hands clapping together in sheer excitement. “Rao, thank you, Lena.”

It’s the sheer sincerity in Kara’s tone that breaks her.

Lena feels the sob bubbling up her chest and her throat, but it wrenches its way out before she can even think about stopping it--her chest feels tight, and her eyes are burning, and withing seconds she’s sobbing in earnest, trembling and biting at her sleeve so she doesn’t wail like a child in this parking lot.

Kara, blessedly, doesn’t say anything at all. While Lena hugs her own knees to her chest, hides her face in her arms, Kara merely sits there, occasionally rubbing soothing circles on her back as Lena cries herself hoarse.

She cries until she’s spent, until she’s empty--of tears, of feelings, of thoughts in general. Her eyes are stinging and her cheeks are wet with tears, and Lena none-too-gently wipes at her face with her sodden sleeve, sniffling and trying to compose herself as Kara remains silent.

Without a word, Kara reaches under Lena’s chin and turns her head so their gazes meet. She looks blurry to Lena through the film of tears still clinging to her eyes, but the blonde merely clicks her tongue and wipes at a few of her errant tears with her thumb.

“You shouldn’t thank me,” Lena says through a shiver once her sobs subside; Kara wipes at her fresh tears slowly and tenderly, and Lena doesn’t feel like she deserves this gentleness. “You shouldn’t thank me, you shouldn’t comfort me. I’m the reason we’re in this mess.”

“Maybe you are,” Kara says, though her tone is gentle. “But so am I.”

Lena snorts--it’s inelegant and a little ridiculous, but she can’t help it, and she’s not feeling particularly elegant at the moment. “I’m the one who shot you full of Kryptonite,” she points out.

Kara sighs. “And you’re the one taking it out of me. That’s that.”

“Kara... it’s not that simple,” Lena whispers. She knows she sounds defeated, but that is exactly how she feels. She wishes it could be that simple. She wishes they could erase everything and start over, or maybe never start at all and save themselves the heartbreak.

Kara shrugs. “Maybe not,” she concedes, hand returning to rub circles at Lena’s back. “But right now, it has to be. I need you, Lena--not just to get this Kryptonite out of me and to help me punch your brother into the sun, but I want--I need my best friend back. I need you.”

Lena wants to ask how on Earth Kara is able to make it that simple. She wants to point out that there is simply too much between them--too much they haven’t discussed, too many likes, too many accusations... there was so much anger and distrust between them, and now... well.

Lena’s running. Kara’s powerless. They have nothing left to lose. Except, maybe, each other. That thought is incredibly depressing, but, inexplicably, it makes Lena break into a shy smile--her lips tug upwards almost of their own volition.

Kara notices her tentative grin, and responds by taking Lena’s hands, hooking their pinkies together over that cracked curbside. The gesture has the same effect to Lena as one of her sunshine-warm hugs--it envelops her entirely, calms her like a soothing balm.

Lena’s whisper is soft, but she knows the Kryptonian doesn’t need her super hearing to hear it.

“I need you, too.”

Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

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[warstrong]

❝I don’t care what they say about me.❞

❛    i know   ,   hiccup   .    ❜      it’s one of the things she admires most about him   ,   she supposes   —   he is STRONG in ways astrid has not seen in many   .   the pressure to be perfect is there   ,   perhaps   —   but his sense of SELF overcomes   .   hiccup follows his heart   ,   more than anyone she has ever known   .   he’s always been this way   ,   and she prays to some distant gods that he never changes   .

nevertheless   —   he may not care   ,   but she does   .   forward thinkers were not always well - received   ;   once upon a time   ,   she had ALSO casted metaphorical stones   .   kept her distance from his difference   .   a foolish girl   ,   she’d been   .   now   ,   she comes to rest a palm on his shoulder   ,   a gesture of comfort   ,   of constant friendship   .   support   .      ❛    and i’m not saying you have to   .   but it’s just a dinner   .   you’ll talk to some people   ,   laugh with some others   .   just a few hours   .   they’ll be less likely to gossip if you just met with them a little   ,   yeah   ?    ❜

                                                  - ̗̀   lana del rey starters              ➝                @uselessreptiile !    ̖́-

[sophfandoms53]

History Repeats Itself AU One Year Anniversary

I can’t believe that it’s been an entire year since I’ve created this AU! Seriously, I feel like it was a few months ago. But nope. A whole year. It’s crazy how much has changed from then to today. I hope you are all staying safe and inside!

This AU has grown in a massive way that I could have never predicted. I never intended on creating a whole book to follow the AU but y’all wanted more and I realized how much I could explore with this AU and I’m so thankful for all the love and support, seriously it means the world to me. This AU helped me get back on my feet when things were extremely dark and bleak, so I really appreciate it.

Okay enough sappy stuff lmao, lets get to the purpose of this post.

To celebrate my AU’s one year anniversary I wanted to do something a little different compared to my other two big posts. Instead of writing mini fics about the events, I’d just show you guys what’s coming up and explain it without revealing too much. Mainly this will be about certain character’s plot points and their arcs. Just wanna have some fun with a dash of feels inbetween.

So let’s begin!

So obviously this is the start of Troy and Skye’s investigation. They stumble upon this hidden room in the archives, similar to Della’s, and the entire room is in dedication to Dewey Duck. An idea that manifested between Huey, Shelly and Louie and it became a reality.

For Troy, this starts as a gold mine. All the stories about his families adventures, a lot of those artifacts, are in this room. Most of his attention is on all the artifacts as he comes to realize how much his parents hid from him. They had this entire room and no one ever told him about despite him constantly visiting The Archives. Although at first he doesn’t initially realize this room is about his Uncle Dewey, he see’s that when he looks over at Skye.

The first thing Skye saw upon walking in was the portrait of her father, and that’s where she remained fixated for a while. Even after Troy walks over, he too becomes distracted by it. This is the first time Skye has seen her father outside of the family photo Webby showed her and her brothers when they were young. Her emotions are all over the place. Her initial impression of her dad was not him being an adventurous person. So seeing this portrait, and the painting from the other day, it solidified her father was definitely not what she thought.

Seeing all this, Skye immediately wanted her brothers to know. She knew they were just as curious as she was, well maybe Danny a little more than Chase. But regardless, that was the plan.... until.

The note.

Louie,

I need to use The Curse Of The Sirens. I know this is late notice. I hope to explain soon. I’m sorry.

- Dewey

Once this was read. Any plan or idea they had, went out the window. They had more questions than answers and Skye became even more confused about who her father was. When Troy suggested that Dewey betrayed the family and used the curse to do so, the two came to an agreement to keep everything hushed until they found out the truth.

They just weren’t prepared for how complicated and messy the truth was.

Oh Lena. Lena, Lena, Lena, I’m so sorry.

Lena is still definitely a mess in this AU. 11 years of corruption when you thought you left your past behind? Yeah that does stuff to ya. However, during the first 5 years of everything happening, she was able to fight back and remain in control during the day time, she was able to be a proper mother and teach Aurora how to control her magic, but at night? The darkness took over. Similar to how Magica’s powers were connected to the Lunar Eclipse (this comes into play later too). After year 5, Lena had no choice but to banish herself away to protect her daughter and everyone else. Unfortunately this left her bound to Aurora as a shadow and the darkness causes Lena to manipulate her.

Once set free from the Shadow Realm, Lena imprisons both Aurora and Louie (not realizing this would allow them to talk and figure out their relation) and takes over the bin, in a similar manor like Magica. Although, Lena transforms a section the money bin into her own little place, creating her throne. She sent shadows and darkness rapid around Duckburg and enjoyed every second of it.

This does come back to be a huge regret when Lena is reformed and the darkness is sealed away in the Shadow Realm, along with Aurora who made the sacrifice to give her mother another shot at life. Due them both being shadow’s (in Aurora’s case half shadow) Lena is still able to keep contact with her in her shadow form, and the two work together on how to free her, while repairing their broken relationship slowly, but steadily.

Yup, Magica’s still around. Her number one target? Sweet little Aurora.

Lena’s not the only one keeping contact with her daughter in the Shadow Realm, Magica is too. Magica see’s how vulnerable and confused Aurora is and she wants to feed on that.

She wants to lure Aurora in and make her feel like she can help, teach everything there is to know about magic. Any question she had, Magica would answer. Aurora would be the key to gaining back all her magic abilities, which she slowly gained feeding off of Lena in order to corrupt her.

Due to Aurora being half duck/half shadow, it would grant Magica more power than ever before. She’d have the ability to manipulate more than dreams and shadows, she could manipulate things in the real world. All she needs is a new puppet.

After all, they’re family, right?

I kinda showed this moment already, but I wanted to bring it up again to clarify something. (And an excuse to draw Danny with his hair zoosh so y’all can see them side by side lmao)

Danny is not the kid Dewey is going to have the most trouble building a relationship with. This little moment is meant to emphasize, for Danny, that Dewey knows who he is, uses his proper birth name, Daniel, and he accepts his father with open arms.

All Danny wanted was for his father to know his name and show that Dewey was trying to connect with him. That little moment was enough for Danny to want to create a proper bond with his dad, and they do just that.

Dewey quickly bonds with both Skye and Danny once he comes home. Which makes sense as Skye dedicated most of her life to finding out the truth about her dad and was the first to accept his offer to be a proper father and Danny is a happy-go-with-the-flow 8 year old kid, he’s game for anything.

Notice how I missed someone? Well....

Look familiar?

Currently a WIP as I’m figuring out the background, but yes this is that infamous scene between Della and Louie.

Unlike his brother and sister, Chase struggles to find any common ground with Dewey. On his first day home, Chase admits to feeling completely disconnected from him due to Dewey and everyone else mentioning specific aspects of his father that Skye and Danny inhabit. He feels lost in the middle as most of Dewey’s time is spent with either Skye or Danny, while he just watches.

Chase believes his father is unaware of his heart condition (which comes into play during their fight) as Dewey never brought it up upon meeting. Chase is so use to his mom and doctors taking care of him that he struggles having his father around, a lot.

Attention is something Chase wants, but he never knows how to go about it because he doesn’t wanna seem weak or have it come back to his heart condition, sometimes he just wants someone to spend time with him and not bring that up.

This cultivates into Chase internalizing his frustration for his father’s attention that he does something drastic and it all goes south and falls apart in the matter of minutes. He got his father’s attention, but not in the way he wanted.

The reason this conflict is with Chase rather than Danny is, Chase is the middle child, just the same as Dewey. It felt fitting that Dewey would clash with the kid who inhabited his middle child syndrome and thirst for attention.

Similar to Della and Louie, Dewey calls Chase out for going completely overboard just because he wanted some attention when Chase could’ve just vocalized his frustration instead of thinking he had control over the whole situation and that he hadn’t thought through every variable or how it would affect the entire family. This, of course, provokes Chase to say,

“Oh? And who does that sound like?”

-

And that’s all for now! Again, thank you all for the support of the AU, it’s absolutely insane how far we have come and I cannot wait to share more with you guys. You all mean the world to me.

Happy One Year History Repeats Itself!!!

[sytycdinternational]

Eurovision 2021 Semi-final #1 Review

Strongest Semi-Final ever since I started watching this show. I’m fully prepared to lose faves.

1. The Roop - Discoteque - Lithuania 🇱🇹: Singing “There’ noone here, I feel safe to dance alone” in front of millions of viewers perfectly illustrates our current state of mass surveillance, change my mind. There were no major changes to their performance at the national final (why would there be when the underlying concept got them a record win at Pabandom iš naujo!), but the bigger stage definitely added another (violet/pinkish) dimension to it. I wouldn’t mind at all if the checkered flag background image forshadowed their win this year.

2. Ana Soklič - Amen - Slovenia 🇸🇮: Ana’s performance sucked me in like the black hole on the background screen at the start. Great gestures to enhance a rather static show and the staging, just wow. One half of planet earth on screen reflected on the floor, the big bang bursting beneath her feet at the climax, it was simply a presentation of galactic dimensions. I do wish her pronounciation was clearer, since every time I was tempted to sing along her words seemed to devolve into gibberish in my ears.

3. Manizha - Russian Woman - Russia 🇷🇺: DON’T BE AFRAID, DON’T BE AFRAID, DON’T BE AFRAID! OF MANIZHA TAKING THE WIN!!! Cause that’s where she’s headed for! That. Was. So. MINDBLOWING. It truly exceeded all my expectations. The charisma, the drive, the vocals, holy shit. I was close to bursting out in tears during the folklorish chanting segment. Like, there was just something swelling up in me that’s hard to describe. All while I’m head-banging like crazy. Perfect execution starting with the patchwork fabrics and clay art in the postcard melting my heart. Ana really had bad luck being stuck between two crazy (good) entries lol. 

4. Tusse - Voices - Sweden 🇸🇪: It seemed like Tusse was caught in a permanent state of crouching. Tbh I was warming up to the song, but then the key change happened and I just went nope. I think the song would have benefitted from incorporating the harmonica element at the start more. 

5. Montaigne - Technicolour - Australia 🇦🇺: The dancing condoms from Lena’s 2011 entry for Germany made an unexpected comeback. I feel so bad for Montaigne, especially now that it’s become apparent what a drawback not being able to perform on the real stage really is. Also, that “technicolor” effect every few moments did nothing but harm the entry.

6. Vasil - Here I Stand - North Macedonia 🇲🇰: Vasil seems to like rock-climbing, that interesting to know. It could not, however, prepare me for the disarmingly sincere performance that Vasil gave us. Nothing he’s singing is ground-breaking at all, but it’s the sum of its parts that makes it so special for me. How could I not fall for  someone who’s dedicating a song to his lover in front of all of Europe.

OMG I first thought Nikkie told Montaigne to stay away, instead of awake lmao.

7. Lesley Roy - Maps - Ireland 🇮🇪: I thought Jendrik’s entry was the most kindergarten-y entry this year, but clearly I was wrong. I think Lesley bit off more than she could chew. Poor thing was so visibly nervous I was almost having a nervous breakdown from all the anxious energy she was giving off. Also, was she crying at the end??

8. Elena Tsagrinou - El Diablo - Cyprus 🇨🇾:   Tomboy Elena is not what I expected from the postcard. Hmm, some of the more questionable lyrics (taco, tamale...) suddenly became a lot more difficult to ignore. Still, surprisingly strong vocals for how much Elena is moving around, so major props for that6. Elena Tsagrinou - El Diablo - Cyprus 🇨🇾:   Tomboy Elena is not what I expected from the postcard. Hmm, some of the more questionable lyrics (taco, tamale...) suddenly became a lot more difficult to ignore. Still, surprisingly strong vocals for how much Elena is moving around, so major props for that.

9. TIX - Fallen Angel - Norway 🇳🇴: The song gains another dimension when taking Efentix into account, doesn’t it... For some reason I don’t think this song got elevated by the new stage at all. 

10. Albina - Tick-Tock - Croatia 🇭🇷: I feel like accidently stumbled into a showing of the Starlight Express musical. I think I know what they were going for with the outfits but they made me go more aww than oof. Still fierce. In an endearing way. Which works btw. Also, some nice ideas like turning Albina into a quintuplet and her dancers raising her up above their heads. Damn, her being all excited to be on stage at the end was super cute.

11. Hooverphonic - The Wrong Place - Belgium 🇧🇪: I think I’d have preferred an even darker song if that’s the attire they wanted to go for. In the end I really think they were in the wrong place.

12. Eden Alene - Set Me Free - Israel 🇮🇱: I don’t think I’ve ever seen such an unnecessary outfit change. I really like how Eden went for a warmer tone for the beginning before turning up the sass. I love what she did with her hair. Queen vibes. Also, my favorite dance choreography so far, the guys can get it.

13. ROXEN - Amnesia - Romania 🇷🇴: It really feels like she’s lost herself, including her voice. Okay, that was mean. Dancing while executing such an intricate stage choreography can’t be easy. Still, I think Finland got upstaged when it comes to edge factor. I was not sure, but then the font on screen last-minute basically confirmed it.

14. Efendi - Mata Hari - Azerbaijan 🇦🇿: It’s official, the true successor of “Fuego” has emerged. Elena who? Albina who? Efendi slays them all. All hail the snake goddess from the orient who ensnared millions of men in her pit this very night. Whoever came up with the ring-around-the-rosy circle dance is a god damn genius. So many circle elemnts too like the revolving flower pattern on the floor, the golden pear and the revolving fireball of doom turning into an all-seeing eye at the end. I’m positively hypnotized. 

15. Go_A - SHUM - Ukraine 🇺🇦: Kateryna’s piercing eyes stare right into my soul. Not sure if I’m in the mood for some winter vibes but interesting cyber-druid look. Is that what people mean by technopagans?

16. Destiny - Je Me Casse - Malta 🇲🇹: I’ll definitely add this catchphrase to my dictionary.

Ranking: Obsessing over #1-2, adore #3-6,  really like #6-10

Manizha - Russian Woman - Russia 🇷🇺

Efendi - Mata Hari - Azerbaijan 🇦🇿

The Roop - Discoteque - Lithuania 🇱🇹

Go_A - SHUM - Ukraine 🇺🇦

Vasil - Here I Stand - North Macedonia 🇲🇰

Albina - Tick-Tock - Croatia 🇭🇷

Eden Alene - Set Me Free - Israel 🇮🇱

Destiny - Je Me Casse - Malta 🇲🇹

Elena Tsagrinou - El Diablo - Cyprus 🇨🇾

Ana Soklič - Amen - Slovenia 🇸🇮

Montaigne - Technicolour - Australia 🇦🇺:

Tusse - Voices - Sweden 🇸🇪

ROXEN - Amnesia - Romania 🇷🇴:

Hooverphonic - The Wrong Place - Belgium 🇧🇪:

TIX - Fallen Angel - Norway 🇳🇴

Lesley Roy - Maps - Ireland 🇮🇪

Prediction of who’s not going to the finale:

Australia

Belgium

North Macedonia

Romania

Ireland

Slovenia

Nikkie dragging past Eurovision entires lmaoooo. The audacity. And of course they had to put Duncan’s ass shot into the promotion video I’m diiiieing. I don’t know what a double platinum disc is but I didn’t think someone would get it randomly handed to without pre-announcement.

Aaaand I was right except for Croatia instead of Belgium. Damn, that kinda hurts. But in terms of staging it had the least effective staging among the many bops in this semi-final so it makes sense in retrospect.

[bellaireland1981]

Lights, Camera, Coffee in LA Part 2

Ok! Here’s part 2!!!  I hope you all like it! I’m really loving writing this one, so I may do more, but we shall see!!

Thank you again to @denisemarieangelina​ for bouncing ideas around with me and for reading it over! 

Characters: Chris Evans x Reader

Warnings: Minor angst (if you squint) FLUFF

After breakfast, I went to grab a shower and get dressed while Michael and Chris discussed the movie project.

Thirty minutes later, I felt more awake and energized. I was excited about being able to spend more time getting to know Chris better. I wrapped my long brown hair up into a towel to soak up some of the excess water before I attempted to wrangle it into any kind of style. While it was towel drying I looked through the clothes I brought with and decided on a pair of boyfriend style cropped distressed jeans with a white v-neck, buttoned down loose fitting tank.

I tackled my hair next, deciding to just comb out the tangles and allow it to air dry. When I didn’t take time to blow it dry and flat iron it, I had a natural wave to my hair. Sometimes it was a nice change of pace to leave it natural.

My phone chimed alerting me to a new text just as I was finishing my makeup. I set my mascara down and picked up my phone to see who had text me.

C: (10:34) I just wrapped up the meeting with your brother, I’ve got a few other things to do this morning, then I’m free. Want to meet at Caffe Luxxe in Santa Monica around noon? It’s close to the pier…

L: (10:35) Sounds great! I’ll see you at noon! I may have to check out the pier after we get our beverage. I’ve never been there. ;)

C: (10:36) Wow! I’m not living that one down. You’ve NEVER been to the PIER?? That’s it...we’re going.

L: (10:38) You’re probably not wrong about that! And you obviously can’t see it, but I’m doing a happy dance right now about seeing the pier!

C: (10:39) So… only happy to see the pier? You can’t see it, but I’m crying over here.

L: (10:41) Wow...needy much? LOL  Don’t cry, I’m more excited to see YOU again! ;)

C: (10:42) That’s better! ;)  See you soon!

Smiling, I tucked my phone in the back pocket of my jeans and headed downstairs to find my brother again.

It wasn’t hard, he was out on the patio where I’d left him and Chris earlier. He was finishing a phone call as I sat down in the chair Chris had been in.  

“So, figure out what you’re doing today?” Michael asked after hanging up the phone.

“Yup!” I replied beaming at him, “I’m meeting Chris for coffee at Caffe Luxxe in Santa Monica and then we’re going to go to the pier. I’m trying to tame the inner freak out before I go meet him so he doesn’t realize I’m a complete dork.”

“Dork or not he’s the lucky one to get to spend time with you, Little Bit.” Michael replied looking worried, in a way only a big brother could. “Just be careful. I don’t know that you know what exactly you’re getting into here Lena.”

“I thought you liked Chris, Mickey.” I said, frowning at my brother. “Why are you now cautioning me against him?”

“I do like him, Little Bit” He explained, “He’s a great guy, but he’s not just some random guy you met on a plane with a “normal” job. He lives in the public eye, and has a very large fan base. Dating a celebrity isn’t easy. Not to mention, he seems to have commitment issues.”

“Wow” I replied, annoyed with my brother. “I admit that your concerns about him being a celebrity have some merit, only from the standpoint that you’re right, I’ve never dated anyone famous. Not that I’d call going for coffee and hanging out at the pier necessarily “dating”. I don’t even know if he is interested in me that way or if he simply wants to be friends. But you’re not in any place to talk about commitment issues, Michael. Before you met Talia you were a manwhore and said often you didn’t want to be “tied down”. Obviously, people can change and what may be true of someone when they’re younger, may not be the case as they get older.”

I got up from the table to head back into the house. I loved my brother, but he’d always been overprotective of me and never really seemed to get that I’d grown up.

“Lena,” Michael called after me, “I’m not trying to piss you off, I just want you to be careful is all. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I’m a big girl, Mickey.” I replied glancing back, “I don’t need you to protect me. I am capable of deciding who I am friends with and even who I date.”

“I know that, Lena” He replied, “I’m just trying to look out for you. It’s my job.”

Thankfully, Lia walked out onto the patio at that moment, having just gotten back from her meeting. I needed her to run interference with  Michael and give me  a chance to breathe.

“She’s not even here for a day, and you’ve already pissed her off I see.” Lia commented, eyeing us both as she sat down in the seat I had vacated. “Does it have anything to do with a certain Captain Hottie?”

“Not you too” groaned Michael, scrubbing a hand over his face in frustration, “You’re not even Team Cap!”

“No, but I’m Team Lena” Lia said, looking at Michael with a raised eyebrow, “And I like Chris. I think they could be good for one another. Now stop being an overprotective brother and tell your sister to have fun today!”

“Have fun, Little Bit.” Michael parroted his wife, “I’m still planning on grabbing stuff to grill out tonight… maybe see if Chris would like to come for dinner?”

I knew he was trying to smooth things over so I cut him some slack for now. I walked back over and gave him a hug.

“Now was that so hard?” I asked, smiling. “I can check to see if he’s available, and I’ll text you to let you know.”

“Have fun, Lena!” Lia said, winking at me. “I can’t wait to hear all about it!”

“Thanks, Lia!” I laughed, hugging her, “I’m so glad you married my brother!”

I left them on the patio and went back inside to grab a drink and head up to my room to finish getting ready.

________________________

A few minutes before noon, I arrived at the coffee shop as luck would have it found parking close by. I pulled my phone out to send Chris a quick text to let him know I’d arrived. He’d text me twenty minutes ago letting me know he was headed back towards the cafe, but that traffic was heavier than he’d anticipated.

L: (11:55am) Just got here, I’m going to head inside. No rush, please drive safe!

I headed inside not expecting a reply as he was driving. I found a quiet table in the back corner where I figured we’d be able to blend in a little more. The cafe wasn’t overly crowded, being noon, so we’d have some semblance of privacy.  

My phone pinged with a new message as I sat down. I quickly pulled it out to check it.

C: (11:58am) I’m about 5 minutes away. Be there soon!

L: (11:59am) STOP TEXTING AND DRIVING CHRISTOPHER!

C: (12:01pm) Voice to text, I swear! I kinda like it when you yell at me lol.

L: (12:02 pm) You’re a meatball. You can’t see me right now, but I’m rolling my eyes at you. Just be safe. I found a table in the back corner to the left as you walk in.

L: (12:02pm) Gonna order drinks, whatcha want?

C: (12:03 pm) Hold on, walking in now!

A couple seconds  later the cafe door opened up and Chris strolled in, eyes scanning the room. A smile lit up his face once he saw me and he headed back to the table I had claimed.  

“That was a very accurate time estimate” I said teasingly, “5 minutes on the dot.”

“Do I lose cool points if I admit it’s what my GPS told me?” He asked, laughing.

“I’ll give it to you this time.” I said, smirking at him.

“I’ll go grab us some drinks,” He said, still smiling. “What would you like?”

“Iced mocha, please!” I requested, “Too warm for hot coffee.”

“It’s never too warm for coffee.” he said, giving me the cocked eyebrow look and failing to look stern.

While Chris went to the counter to get our drinks, I glanced at my phone and saw a missed text from Talia.

T: (12:06 pm) Don’t forget to invite Captain Hottie for dinner!

L: (12:08 pm) LMAO, does Mickey know you’re continuing with that nickname? And I will ask him…if you promise to keep my brother on a leash ;)

T: (12:08 pm) DEAL! And he knows my heart belongs to him...and Iron Man.

I laughed at my sister in law as I tucked my phone away.

“One blasphemous iced mocha for you.” Chris said, and set the drink in front of me, “One normal and perfectly perfect coffee for me.”

“Blashphemous coffee, huh?” I asked, laughing at him. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard coffee referenced in that way.”

“I mean, I just call it like I see it.” He replied, taking a sip of his coffee. “What had you laughing when I was walking back?”

“Lia text me” I said, suddenly nervous to ask him over for dinner. I didn’t want to appear over eager or assume too much about our new friendship. Of course, Chris was perceptive enough to catch the change in my voice.

“Hey,” he said smiling, “I can hear you thinking over there, everything ok?”

“Yeah” I replied, taking a deep breath.  Deciding the worst that could happen would be he’d say no, I forced myself to ask him. “She was reminding me to ask ‘Captain Hottie’ over for dinner tonight. My brother is grilling.”

Chris threw his head back and grabbed his chest, laughing. It gave me a rush to know I’d accomplished making him laugh hard enough for the left boob grab twice now since meeting him. I had to laugh with him, because his laugh was actually contagious.

“There’s so much to unpack there” he said, once he got himself under control again. “First, I’d love to come to dinner, it sounds great. Second, I’m not sure how I feel about the new ‘Captain Hottie’ title… at least from your sister in law… I could be open to it from a certain new friend… and finally, were you really nervous to ask me? You’re adorable when you get nervous by the way.”

At a complete loss for words, I took a moment to collect myself and took a sip of my coffee. I wasn’t sure how to handle Chris flirting with me. Was he flirting? Ugh!

“I don’t even know what to say to any of that.” I admitted, blushing. “So, I’ll just let them know you’ll be coming to dinner.”

Chris laughed again, and winked at me as he took a drink of his coffee.

“So, how did the rest of the meeting go with my brother?” I asked, changing the subject.

“It went well, actually.” He smiled, knowing what I was doing. “It looks like I’ll be in LA most of the summer.”

“That’s great!” I exclaimed, a little too enthusiastically, “I mean, since it was a project you were wanting and all.” Smooth, Lena, not at all obvious here.

“It is great!” He agreed, “I’m very excited to do this movie, but I’m also really interested in spending some more time with this fun, gorgeous, wicked smart, and hilarious girl I met on the way out here.”

“This person sounds pretty great” I replied, melting at his words, “You’ll have to introduce us! I could use some friends to hang out with this summer. And did you seriously just use “wicked” as an adjective? You’re so Boston.”

“Alright, Miss sassy pants” he said, tossing a balled up napkin at me, “Let’s head to the pier, see what kind of trouble we can find.”

We spent several hours hanging out at Santa Monica Pier. We rode the roller coaster, ferris wheel, played a bunch of games, ate way too much junk food, and I swear, I’ve never laughed so hard in my life. I really enjoyed spending time with Chris.

After we finished exploring the pier we decided to head down and walk along the beach for a bit before we needed to head to my brother’s for dinner.

“I had a lot of fun today, Chris!” I said beaming at him. “I can’t believe I’ve never been here before.”

“It was fun seeing it as new through you,” He replied, causally reaching out to hold my hand in his as we strolled, “It’s been a while since I’ve been here. I think my nephew Miles was three the last time we were here.”

I enjoyed the feeling of his strong fingers laced through mine as we walked along the beach. I always loved being by the water, but being here with Chris made it even better. It was like we were in our own little bubble.

We walked a little further down the beach lost in each other’s company, laughing, and just enjoying the afternoon. Suddenly, Chris stopped walking, his hand squeezed mine tighter, causing me to stop walking and turn towards him.

“Everything OK?” I asked seeing that he had tensed up, a frown on his face.

“Yeah” he replied, his voice full of tension mixed with what sounded like anxiety. “We should head back.”

I wasn’t sure where the abrupt change in him came from. Had I said something wrong and upset him? I frantically went back over the conversation, not sure what could have upset him.

“Chris?” I started softly as we walked back towards the pier and his car. He had dropped my hand and was moving at a faster pace. I wasn’t even sure he’d heard me. When he didn’t reply, I decided to keep quiet and follow his pace.

It only took a few minutes to make it to the parking lot where Chris’ car was parked. He unlocked it remotely and walked over to the passenger side to open the door for me. Even now, he was a complete gentleman. I quietly got in and buckled my seatbelt waiting on him to walk around and get in on the driver’s side. I kept quiet on the way back to the cafe where my car was parked, trying to figure out what to say to him.

He pulled in next to my car and put his in park, turning to look over at me. I could see the wheels turning in his head. Deciding to let him off the hook and get out of this before my emotions got the best of me, I turned towards him and tried to paste what I thought was a genuine smile in my face.

“Thanks for today, Chris,” I said softly, not trusting my voice, “I had a lot of fun.”  I quickly unbuckled the seatbelt and reached over to open the door.

“Lena” Chris jumped out of the car and quickly caught up to me. He reached out and gently grabbed my hand, turning me around. “Wait.”

“It’s OK, Chris” I reassured him, my resolve quickly leaving me, “We can hang out another time…. If you want that is. If not, I had a really great time getting to know you.”

“Lena, stop” He replied, thankfully stopping my babbling. “I had a lot of fun with you today, I like being with you. It’s easy to forget the rest of the world exists when I’m talking to you…. I just got so caught up in you, I  let my guard down and forgot to be on the lookout for paparazzi. They followed us on the beach, and I’m pretty sure they got pictures of us together.”

“So, it wasn’t something I said or did that upset you?” I asked quietly, hating that I was feeling so insecure.

“Fuck no,” He replied instantly pulling me towards him and engulfing me in a hug. God, this man could hug, and he smelled amazing, even after being in the hot sun all day. “Lena, I doubt there’s anything you could say or do that would upset me. It’s just that in the past, my relationships often tanked because of the media or over-critical fans hounding whoever I was dating. It would kill me for you to be hurt by that.”

“I’m made of tougher stuff than that,” I replied, “Today’s insecurites aside, that is. I guess I just wasn’t really sure what this was, and didn’t want to assume anything. I thought we were having a great time and then after the beach I thought you wanted to get away from me as fast as humanly possible...or that you were wishing you had some of Cap’s super speed. I’m going to shut up now.”

Chris laughed and dropped his head down so that his forehead was now resting against mine, which brought me up against the solid wall of his chest again.

“This,” he started pulling away slightly to look me in my eyes, “was definitely a memorable first date. That is going to quickly be followed by our second date, which is dinner at your brother’s. Then, being as it’ll be our second date and all, I’m hoping to get to kiss you goodnight after making arrangements to meet up for our third date. I’m thinking Disneyland for that by the way. After that, I plan on continuing to date you until I eventually wear you down and you agree to be my girlfriend. How’s that for transparency?”

“I got stuck on the second date and mentions of kissing.” I smiled up at him, biting my lip, “Is that a hard rule for you… waiting for the second date? Because then I can make the argument that coffee was technically the first date then, the pier was our second and dinner tonight would be third.”

“That’s where you got hung up?” He asked laughing, “Ok, what about the rest that whole spiel?”

“Dinner, kiss, Disneyland, more dates, girlfriend, got it.” I answered, “So back to the second date thing.”

“As long as we’re on the same page.” He joked, tilting my face up towards his. He leaned down and brushed his lips against mine gently before pulling back again way too quickly.  

“You’re killing me Smalls” I groaned at the teasing kiss. “You’re not playing fair.”

“Great movie!” He laughed, “I promise to make it up to you, Sweetheart. After our third date.”

“I plan to collect.” I replied smiling.

“I look forward to it.” he said then leaned in and brushed another quick kiss on my lips, “See you in a bit. Drive safe please, precious cargo and all that.”

“Ditto.” I said getting into the car. “I’m really glad I had an early morning flight to L.A.”

[popculturebuffet]

Ducktales Reviews: Let’s Get Dangerous!

The Duck Knight Strikes Again as our Darkwing Double Feature concludes! Scrooge, the Kids and Launchpad visit the fair city of St. Canard. While Huey tries to work out how the seemingly world changing project Scrooge is financing for researcher Taurus Bulba .. um.. works, Launchpad and Dewey visit Drake, whose struggling to find any crime to actually fight, but soon finds himself tangled up in the case of a plucky young orphan, her missing grandfather and Bulba’s dark secrets and soon Darkwing and his new family find themselves the only three people standing between the world and it’s untimely end. Let’s Get Dangerous with a full review with recap and spoilers under the cut.

It’s time! I’ve been obviously, being a fan of both darkwing duck, if only finally watching it in full now, and superhero stories in general, and this show having told some REALLY good ones over the past 3 seasons including darkwing’s previous episode “The Duck Knight Returns!”, which I sadly didn’t get to in time before this episode. But this is a worthly replacement to conclude our double feature so it all works out. But yeah a big one hour special that changes the course of the season, brings Goslyn in, and brings in Darkwing’s old rogue’s gallery? Sign me up. And it’s also VERY clear that Disney has plans for a revivial/spinoff for darkwing. Besides this episode setting it up and Frank being very clear he has plenty of ideas for this big duckverse as a whole and is a massive fan of the series, there’s the fact Disney conspciously posted a trailer, 4 preview cilps (Though to their credit none really give the game away entirely and all but one take place in the first act, and the one that didn’t is so they could show off Stephanie Beatriz as Goslyn, which is fair enough). And if that werent’ enough, the killing stroke is that the episode is FREE TO WATCH on Disney Now, and likely on Youtube sometime soon given they usually do that when the make an episode readily avaliable as done with most series premires and, for some weird reason, the season 3 premire of big hero six. But wheras that’s probably just to drum up hype for an aging-ish series, this feels like a delberate move to drum up hype for the episode among both fans of the ducktales reboot and the old darkwing fanbase. The only way they could’ve been more transparent is if they put a giant sign at the end of the episode that says SPINOFF COMING SOON.. MAYBE.. DID YOU LIKE THIS? TWITTER US IF YOU LIKE THIS.. THAT’S THE RIGHT TERM RIGHT?. 

That being said I can’t blame them as Darkwing’s a beloved property, superheros are big right now thanks in large part to disney themselves with the MCU, and the fandom reactied with overwhelming praise to “The Duck Knight Returns!”, which is one of season 2′s best episodes even if the cliam that scrooge never went to the movies nor saw one on cable after 1938 is implausable at best and really dumb and I hate it at worst. I mean I get he wouldn’t love rising prises, but I seriously doubt Della wouldn’t have dragged him to one at some point or that someone wouldn’t of tried to get him to invest in theirs long before boorswan. It just dosen’t fit the character and it was dumb.. it’s also unrelated to this episode but I had pent up rage from preparing to review that episode and I might as well get it out of the way now. Point is this episode has a lot riding on it and had all the hype. So did it live up to it? Let’s take a look. 

We open in St. Canard, former wretched hive of scum and villiany and soon to be home to the second John Oliver Memorial Sewage Plant. Launchpad’s narrating and nearly getting everyone killed in a car accident as Scrooge argues with Bradford over the project Scrooge is on his way to see.. with the boys in two naturally. And since eveyrone else is missing and I had fun with it last time i’m assuming Webby is with Violet helping Lena with her burdgoening superhero career and trying to ask her out,  Beakly is tending to the house ,  Della and Penny are working out and trying not to admit there’s clear sexual tension and Donald is once again in the Pantry because he never learns. HE NEVER LEARNS. 

Anyways we learn their going to visit Tarus Bulba, in this continuity a famous and well loved scientist who I’m sure defintely won’t turn out to still be evil... yeshewillletsmoveon. Huey and Louie are excited about it because of Huey’s well established love of science and Louie smelling the money in a big inavation with Scrooge likely smelling both. As for Launchpad and Dewey their going to check in on Drake, whose living here now: Launchpad because he’s his best budy and possibly future boyfriend and Dewey because he needs more hits for his channel as he’s finally taken Dewey Dew Night to the masses. Bout time. Now he just needs a streaming deal. Make it happen Disney, D+ needs some animated series of it’s own. They also do a naturally terrible job of keeping the fact h’es a superhero a secret. We also breifly see drake doing a superhero dive before also comically tripping up and getting injured off screen. Cue.. Darkwing Colored ducktales logo as we don’t have time for the theme this week! And given this episode is an hour long that’s saying something.  Anyways Scrooge and the boys sans dewey head to meet Bulba whose a charming, gregarious man who quickly hugs the boys, puts them on his shoulders and snaps a selfie with the group. And he’s also familiar with the boys: Huey for wining the junior woodchuck science award and Louie for Louie Inc which ended before it’s time.. on public record. He’s a fan of both. And even given later reveals this seems genuine which I did not expect it to end up being anything resembling that. But we’ll get more into Bulba’s character when the time is right for now he shows off his invention: The Ramrod! While it shares the same name as Doctor Waddlemeyer’s device from the original, and as we’ll soon learn he made this one too, instead of a gravity device it instead can make ANYTHING you ask for, with Taruus wisely using Haggis to demonstrate. Huey however can’t help but wonder how it does what it does as surely what it makes has to come from somewhere though Louie tries to shut him up as he dosen’t want him to look a gifthorse in the mouth. I mean Horace gets self concious about it.  Meanwhile Launchpad and Dewey meet up with Drake at the reboot version of Darkwing Tower, where he’s set up nicely: Multiple costumes, gadgets, including arrows with his face on them, and the ratcatcher in all it’s glory. Seriously I do love motorcycles even if I’m terrified of riding one. It’s part of why yugioh 5d’s holds a special place in my heart despite card games on motorcylces being patently nuts.. but it’s in the best way possible. As for how Drake got this sweet setup turns out  Launchpad introduced him to Fenton who designed all his gadgets and presumibly his HQ as well as his snarky crime detecting and st.canard monitoring computer, W.A.N.D.A. Naturally he also is unaware he’s gizmoduck and freely shit talks gizmoduck again, though apparently Fenton does too. Granted Fenton could just be doing it to awkardly agree but it’s just as likely fenton uses it as an excuse to vent about his superhero alter ego, as we’ve seen that while Fenton loves being Gizmoduck he also resents it at time for keepiing him from doing science and getting glory just for punching people. But I love this dynamic, as Fenton’s just too nice for the old “they both hate each other and want the glory” dynamic to work, so Fenton untetionally pissing DW off as Gizmo but secretly supporting him as Darkwing is great and I can’t wait to see where this goes.  Before we get back to the main plot, and there is a LOT of it to get to, I just wanted to point out that Dewey seems an awful lot like drake.. i’m not saying he’s the boys father and Della simply didn’t knoow who it was mama mia style nor did she, in her more selfish form of 11 years ago want to know.. but that’s exactly what i’m saying. THanks to whoever sent me that theory, it got more fire this week.  Back on the actual plot turns out Darkwing dosen’t really have any foes to fight as while St. Canard has a reputation as a crime hole, Zan Owlson has taken over as mayor and cleaned it up. I assume in part because Glomgold seems to have no idea where she went and thus hasn’t done some elaborate scheme to show how much better off he is/kill scrooge mcduck. I mean let’s face it it always involves killing scrooge mcduck. His charitable contributions involve killing scrooge mcduck, his team ups with scrooge involve killing scrooge mcduck, his breakfast cereal came with a free knife and a map to scrooge’s house. Though I do defintely want to see Darkwing vs glomgold. I mean he’s not DW”s normal type of supervillian but still, tell me you wouldn’t see that.. and if your serious there’s the door. 

Anyways despite having no crime to fight and trying to bluff past it despite WANDA trying her best not to help his case, DW goes out on patrol with his boys anyway.. and procedes to just pose for several hours before trying to stop what turns out to be two guys moving furniture and being force to admit he’s not in a great place. He just wanted to fight crime and inspire people the same way Jim inspiried him.. before he you know went insane, tried to murder Drake and everyone on a film set then seemingly died but is now presumibly still in duckberg’s sewers.. or just as likely hiding in glomgold’s house hider in the house style.

And yes that’s a real movie in which a real gary busey lives in the walls of someone’s house. And funner fact it’s on amazon prime and I was unaware of this or I would’ve watched it sooner and will be as soon as this reivew’s finished. Possibly while this review is going on I dunno. Point is your lives are richer and we might have another possible spinoff/gay love story for Disney. Just saying Disney. 

Point is Drake is breaking down, but thankfully he landed in the right alleway as a small figure is breaking into the mcduck industirie’s st.canard branch, i.e. where Bulba is. Also I gotta admit while McDuck industries having a branch in St. Canard wasn’t a huge stretch, it was set up all the way in the pilot meaning Frank had the backdoor to set up an episode here since day one, along with every other major location really. Nicely done. 

Darkwing follows her and confronts her, stopping the seeming intruder from stealing the key to the ramrod device and finding out she’s a.. little girl? It’s goslyn everybody!

.... I .. why was this under clap. I mean it’s a very good message with a very nice garfiled head but i jus... what. 

Okay that’s better. Thank you Genie and thank you ghost of robin williams.. I miss you man. She escapes, though sans key and security storms in, with Drake looking guilty. After some banter with Scrooge who fails to recognize him which would be funny if it wasn’t utterly nonsencial. And utterly nonseical can be funny it just comes off less as “haha scrooge still dosen’t remeber him” and more “Wait you seriously don’t remember the guy who was crucial to one of your plans during the moonvasion and who got beat up on your behalf.. I expect better from you. “ Scrooge just dosen’t seem like the type to forget someone helping him in such a big way. He can be stubborn, stingy and selfish, but he’s not that forgetful. 

However Bulba enters, says he knows exactly who he is.. and we cut to a press confrence where Bulba is lauding him for stopping a dangerous intruder. Presumibly he vouched for Darkwing since he knew about Goslyn and it was an easy way to cover up her involvment and it’s probably not the first time she’s tried this. He’s awarded the key to the city by Mayor Owlson who, while not wanting more costumed vigilatnes, is happy to reward someone doing the right thing. And I .. love this. I was worried she’d be your standard I don’t like superheroes type mayor, the kind gotham keeps getting with predectable results despite you know, the bat family being vital for gotham not becoming more of a hellscape. Instead Mayor Owlson is grateful, respectful and only reasonably dosent want St Canard overun with heroes it dosen’t need.. yet. She may want to use the proper channels but she’s not going to try and run someone out of town or grumble out of them for trying to help her city. She gets it.  Meanwhile Huey’s hat explodes with with notes and what not, to Louie’s annoyance, though my boy’s excuse is utterly hilarious “It’s dewey’s hat”... boy still cannot lie. Louie is of course annoyed at him wanting to know how it works and possibly runining his dreams, but Huey is rightly concerned that he has no idea just how the Ramrod works or what powers it or what prinicpals it runs on. And it makes sense: Besides Huey always wanting to know how things work being his deal at this late point in the series there have been quite a few times, both involving huey and not involving him where something seeming to be too good to be true in fact was and had some dark secret behind it. Counting them off:

The House of the Lucky Gander: A seemingly swanky casino with the best water show ever turned out to be mostly an illusion created by a luck vampire. 

The Infernal Internship of Mark Beaks: Beloved tech icon Mark turned out to be the con artist we all know and love as well as the jackass we also know and tolerate. 

Beware the BUDDY System: Beaks new driving robot turned out to be stolen bulb tech that Beaks hadn’t bothered to fix properly. I know Huey wasn’t there for that one but still. 

Day of the Only Child: Again Huey wasn’t involved but probably heard about it later but since Louie WAS, he should know better. Louie befriends rich kid Doofus Drake only to end up nearly kidnapped because he’s creepy as shit. 

Who Is Gizmoduck?!: While Huey wasn’t the target here, he and Fenton are close friends at this point and he was direclty involved. Beaks trying to sponsor Fenton turned out to be a scheme to steal the Gizmoduck Armor. 

The Town Where Everyone Was Nice: A seemingly central american town having a friendly festival turns out to be a carnverous plant monster that wanted to eat them. 

The Dangerous Chemistry of Gandra Dee!: Fenton’s seemingly nice date turned out to be an industrial spy for .. Mark Beaks. Seriously he seems to love this type of scheme. Mark Beaks alone is reason for Huey not to take Bulba at face value. 

A Night On Kilmotor Hill: The kids being able to go into their dreams ends in Magica stalking and nearly taking back Lena. 

Quack Pack: A wacky sitcom wish nearly gets everyone eaten by horrifying versions of humans. 

The Lost Harp of Mrivana: While the Mirmaids werne’t responsible for the dark secret this time, their society was built on the philosphy of a man who turns into a giant sea monster and nearly lead them all to the same fate. 

The Trickining: A lost horde of candy ends up being a trap by a bunch of monsters to steal candy that nearly got them all eaten and hurt Huey’s feelings. 

The Forbidden Fountain of the Foreverglades: A two-fer as the resort their at steals youtha nd the fountain of youth they went to find turns out to need to drain it from someone first. 

And Louie was present for 9 of these! And the only one around for one of them! That’s what makes this frustrating: Huey and Dewey have grown, but Louie instead of learning from his mistakes, blindly trusts something too good to be true despite the fact he has a running tally of when that’s happened!  I get he’s lazy and dosen’t want this to turn out to be too good to betrue, but he’s too smart for him not to see the red flags or see that Huey’s not “ruining this for them” but has been through this enough, mostly with mark beaks or people around him, to see a pattern. It’s frustrating when Louie was given a whole season arc, and didn’t seem to have any of it stick despite you know nearly murdering his family and nearly getting murdered by a zombie. The show is better than that and knows it’s better than that and it’s one of the weaker points of the episode. 

Back to the stronger stuff though, it’s time for the moment you’ve been waiting for IT’S DEWEY DEW-NITE WITH DARKWING DUCK! I figured after the preview clips this was the one Frank had been hinting at all season and it’s finally here! Dewey, now fully on team darkwing, interviews the terror that flaps in the night.. and has a picture of him just coming out of the shower for some reason.. okay are Launchpad and Drake already together and no one told us? Whatever the case, Darkwing’s first big interview is interupted by Gosalyn. As for how she found them, she followed a combination of the resedue from his smoke bombs and Dewey’s livestream that’s been going on this whole time. As his attempts to hide Drake’s identnity and really this entire show up to this point has shown subtley is not Dewey’s strong suit. 

Gos, after snooping around a bit and even letting out a “Keen Gear!” for old time’s sake, and finding Drake’s lunch box and first darkness poster, reveals she came for help since she figures DW owes her one for last night.. or earlier tonight. The timescale in this special is really hard to figure out and only gets worse.  Gosalyn fills in her side of the story and why she broke into two places in the span of 24 hours. Turns out the Ramrod was in part created by Gosalyn’s grandpa, who was working under Bulba on the project. But one day Dr. Waddlemeyer found out the Ramrod was critically unstable and went to warn Bulba.. and never came back. Gosalyn wants to find him, and wants to DW to punch Bulba into telling her where he is. DW.. naturally does not and raises valid concerns: He’s an upstanding citzen whose offered his full support, has done nothing wrong in the public eye, and is nothing but nice to everyone and Gosalyn.. is a kid whose clearly in mourning, broke into two places, and has no evidence to back her up. He wants to help but he simply can’t and Gosalyn prepares to storm off herself.  However in a VERY nice moment, Dewey goes to her and offers to help, as obviously missing parents are a big button for him and he appricated the fact he had someone when he needed to look into his own missing parent and wants to be Gosalyn’s webby.. his exact touching words. It’s a nice call back that really ties Dewey into this story well: He has a solid motive besides crimefighting stuff to help here. Granted Gosalyn’s confused as she hasn’t met webby, yet, and Dewey’s puns don’t help, but as Dewey explains his Dewey puns to her and his name, Launchpad talks to Drake and encourages him to help her. Drake is in fact reluctant like Gosalyn thought for his image but also because as mentioned Bulba seems to belive in him And that’s. understandable. Since starting out, he’s had no crime to fight, no villians to vanquish and only one person acknowledge his work and existance and that person is standing right there. Bulba is the first person besides Launchpad to not only enourage his Darkwing Duties, but to honor that and got him cleared of possible tresspassing charges, a key to the city and an interview on the hottest show on the internet. This risks all of it. But Launchpad makes a good point.. that he needs to help those who can’t help themselves and while he dosen’t have to fight bulba, he can at least look into him. A look at his dented lunchbox reminds Drake that his best friend/future husband is right, and that he became darkwing to protect people like he used to be.. to help the helpless.. and Gosalyn is helpless right now.. plenty capable, but someone who clearly can’t do this alone. So the four take off in the ratcatcher.

The four sneak into Bulba’s office and root around, but end up having to hide when Taurus comes in, with DW hiding in his massive filing cabinet that resembles Darkwing’s own from the original series, that was retired since by now computers have made that kind of thing obsolete. Still it’s a nice nod. Turns out Huey is confronting Bulba as he genuinely dosen’t know how it works and Bulba is annoyed at all his questions. Really Terry there’s an easy way to fix that. 

But instead Scrooge comes in and while Terry TRIES to use him to brush off Huey.. Scrooge dosen’t bite and has learned to take Huey’s inquires seriously. And it’s something I didn’t notice about the series but love dearly now i’ve realized it with this bit: The Adults almost always take the kids concerns into considration and when they are brushed off it’s more due to personal issues, like scrooge’s pride, than because their kids. And given just how many hundred series have had the adults just brush off the kids issues like nothing, it’s REALLY refreshing that even reckless adults like Launchpad usually listen and that the kids competence isn’t entirely ignored just because of age. 

Bulba brushes them off by giving them the map to the ramrod.. speficially extensive notes on it that they have to carry out as a team. He then adresses Darkwing as he somehow knew he was there but again, is more than happy to help him with any investigation.. and it just so happens evidence Gosalyn was at least telling the truth on some level flies out of Bulba’s files as it shows a picture of him happily playing with Gosalyn and Dr. Waddlemeyer. 

Darkwing asks if he knows them and surprisingly Bulba is completely upfront about it or at least his version of events: Waddlemeyer was his best friend his close partner until one night he ran in raving about a problem with the ramrod and in trying to fix it, it backfired and then he was gone. Gos takes this well.. and tackles Bulba while calling him a liar and pockets the key toossing it to dewey as the two soon run from a pissed off Bulba. While Launchpad tackles Bulba away from the kids, Gosalyn TRIES to trigger the ramrod only for Darkwing to stop her. “I’m Sorry Kid but this isn’t going to bring your grandfather back” it’s then the entire episode is turned on it’s head. While, unfortunatley, the trailer gave away other dimensions would be involved, it didn’t however set this up “He’s not dead, he’s in another dimension!”

Yeah while it makes perfect sense in hindsight I dind’t see him being ALIVE ever being a thing, so well played frank.  Back with the rest of the family, Huey, Louie and Scrooge are diving around a stack of papers and Louie is sitll being a little shit, and not in the fun way in the “well not everything’s a missing mystery blah blah blah”... when you .. you learned tolerance for your brother two episodes ago. Thankfully this ends here..mostly because Huey ends up being right as Louie mentioning the misssing mysterys gives Huey his eurkea moment. Turns out the Ramrod uses one of them, Solego’s Circuit. Solego, based on the chaos god from the disney afternoon crossover something I missed on first watch, was in this universe a mad thinker who belived in the old theory that fiction is just a mirror to another universe and everything is real and found a way to open portals to other worlds. Problem was his methods were unstable, and could destroy the world, and likely the universe, if used repeadtly. Wuh-Oh

Back at the Ramrod, Bulba has launchpad on him, while Darkwing aand Gosalyn discuss things and come to the obvious conclusion: If Dr. Waddlemeyer was caught in a ramrod explosion then he’s likely out there somewhere and Darkwing clearly wants to help. Bulba TRIES playing diplomat again and mentoning that even if he’s out there the trillions of dimensions out in the multiverse mean he may be nigh impossible to find.. and the ramrod’s too unstable for that. This however finally backfires on him as Bulba had previously said it was perfectly stable, and has now fully confirmed gosalyn’s side of the story.. and since it is stable, if he’s not lying that is, then that means they can find Dr. Waddlemeyer and get the full truth.  Naturally at this point Bulba finally stops playing nice and knocks both over and triggers the ramrod which is now very clearly unstable from use and prepares to throw both into another dimension, also confirming that what happened to her grandfather was no accident. Thankfully Dewey arrives in the nick of time with a well place smokebomb and bulba gets hit with lightning from the machine giving him a scar and cleaving one of his horns. While Gos is able to escape thanks to launchpad it dosen’t last long and Bulba confronts her.. but soon makes the classic mistake of saying no one can save you now.  Cue Darkwing with the classic terror that flaps in the night speech. And unlike the original darkwing’s fights with Bulba, this fight is entirely in darkwing’s favor, as in a thrilling fight Darkwing beats the crap out of them then escapes Bulba’s fist , the only blow the man gets in this time. While Bulba still is a legit threat, he can’t match Drake’s speed or misdirection skills. However when trying to get the key, which Bulba grabbed earlier in the scene, Goslayn falls and Darkwing goes to save her. And while our heroes celebrate for a second with launchpad joining them.. Bulba has escaped AND still has the ramrod key. Uh-Oh

Bulba is of course activating the ramrod with SCrooge and the boys telling him to stop.. it’s too dangerous... but Bulba decides to get dangerous and pissed at darkwing, unleahses the fearsome four! Cue act break. We’ll be right back. Let’s have an intermission shall we. 

Okay break’s over. St. Canard isn’t doing great as the fearsome four have locked down the city, with Gizmoduck barely holding his own against bushroot and unable to get past, and thus meaning implicitly no one else from duckberg can either and with scrooge and the boys missing, Mayor Owlson calls on darkwing to save them, again giving her more points in my book as she rightly figures the guy dressed up as the hero from the tv show and playing him for reasl is the best person to face four villians from a 90′s tv show suddenly out and about and holding her city hostage. 

But Drake is spiraling a bit as these are super villians with super powers. This dosen’t quite work for me as A) He’s a super fan and thus should know their weaknesses and B) What.. what did he expect. Even the vast majority of Batman’s Rogues Gallery is super powered. But it’s a quick speed bump, understandable as Drake probably didn’t grasp the very real reality of fighting super crime. We also get to see all 4 classic DW Badguys int heir glory, and beating up bonkers, who apparently exists in this universe which is more suprising than it should be. HOwever Darkwing, ends up accidently coming up with a plan: capture one of them, get them to let them into bulba’s heavily foretfied lab turned lair, and use the ramrod to send them home and find dr. waddlemeyer. Easy. Well okay not so much as the two argue over Gosalyn coming along but Launchpad’s experince has taught him kids are the best adventuerers at all and they just need to be an adventure family. Gosalyn’s dewey, Darkwing’s launchpad and Launchpad’s the uncle.. not quite the right congifuration but his heart’s in the right place.. even if Gos refuses a family since she still has one.. even if you know she can always add the two of them in. Eh semantics point is WANDA found Quackerjack and Goslyn rightly points out they can handle just one villian. So they head out. Also during the scene Fenton tried to contact them but Darkwing semeingly brushed him off.. we’ll get to that later. As the camera closes in on Scrooge and the boys being seen as missing we find the boys at least as Bulba throws them in jail. Scrooge is still missing, though we’ll find out where he is soon enough. Bulba returns to his office to find Bradford. Unsuprisingly finding the circuit wasn’t an accident and Bulba was working out the circuit for F.O.W.L. this whole time. However Bradford also isn’t remotley happy about how big and bombastic things are getting. After all his modeus operandi is stealthy and quite not you know hyjacking an entire city with an unstable super science device and 4 villians from an old cartoon show. Bulba points out hey he wanted the world, this is the way to do it and when Bradford continues to push back against him Bulba rants: he’s just like scrooge or the waddlemeyers or darkwing no vision. Bradford may not see fowl as supervillians, which no dude you are just because you don’t operate in the open dosen’t make you not supervillians. one of you wears a hood for fucks sake. Supervillians don’t have to wear costumes just ask the kingpin.. or his lookalike bulba who has his newfound minons take out bradford and throws him in with the kids. Yeah maybe.. don’t downtalk the well intentioned madman. This is why you haven’t taken the world yet. But with both his bosses gone Bulba feels they need a big splash and takes Liquidator’s suggestion of killing darkwing duck, and sends everyone’s faviorite dog shaped liquid pitchman to bring him to Bulba. Side note I watched a few episodes to see if the series gets darkwing’s villians  down.. what changed. and .. yeah it ended up being irrlevant as while the four do get to show their stuff and liquidator, my faviorite so far and sadly the most underused, relaly gets time to shine, they aren’t really that diffrent. Except for bushroot who weirdly only uses godzilla noises now. Thanks I hate it. Otherwise though it’s pretty accurate to the series and hopefully wtih a reboot we’ll get full on reboot versions of all four. 

Meanwhile Team Darkwing stakes out quackerjack, with Darkwing still unsure of what to do, and Launchpad having brought snacks like a good uncle. Yeah while he did immitate scrooge for a second it’s clear he’s taking after donald. Awwwwwww. The two then procede to think over one of quackerjacks episodes and while gos goes to find him, they sing the theme song. Great. They do end up finding him.. and as in the episode it’s inside a giant mech.. that probably wasn’t cgi in the show.. or maybe it was but god it’d be awesomely horendous.. somebody make that. They narrowly escape him.. but run into liquidator instead. Wuh-Oh.  Meanwhile, literally as these bits are intercut but it was just easier to do it this way, Bradford is thrown in his cell and the kids are curious why he’s here, with Huey assuming he’s getting money and the kids breaking out with Bradford forced to follow, though caling Heron for an evac. Dewey actually has a plan: Since he knows Darkwing an Gosalyn won’t stop till they get to the ramrod, they simply need to find the ramrod and wait for them to show up and offer a way out, though Bushroot bars the way. Thankfully Dewey knows who he is as Launchpad naturally made him watch a LOT of darkwing duck but hey it came in handy and gives him something to bond with his birth dad over so that’s a bonus. 

The three make their way through, with Dewey singing the darkwing theme song.. and naturally being the one to trip the vines. our heroes make it out alive but bradford  is pisseeeeedddddddddd. And in his rage accidently says maybe a bit too much after dewey incorrectly assumes he’s never felt this alive in years. 

“I’ve never been closer to death thanks to your foolhardy adventuring! If you didn’t meddle with forces you didn’t understand Magica De Spell wouldn’t have broken the bin, the moon never would’ve invaded earth and all of reality wouldn’t be in jeopardy! SOMEONE HAS TO PUT AN END TO THIS!” Yeah this speech .. is damn good hence me quoting it in full and Mark Evan Jackson really sells it. While granted we knew this was what started FOWL trying to elimiate the ducks, that’s how we found out FOWL existed still after all at the end of last season, here it becomes clear that despite Bradford saying it’s just buisness and seemingly being business minded.. this is PERSONAL. He genuinely seems to hate the ducks and their adventuers and the damage they cause and seems to blame them and soley them for everything that goes wrong.

And I was going to say “Well he’s not entirley wrong” as their adventures have had consequences.. but as I looked through the episodes.. I realized I was wrong. Out of 60 episodes so far, the ducks actions have only threanted duckberg or Scrooge’s buisness a handful and most of those are Louie. They are :

Louie misusing little bulb in the great dime chase wrecking parts of the bin

The beanstalk incident from Jaw$, which Scrooge was called out on in the public. 

Gizmoducks messy bank robbery prevention in who is gizmoduck, easily outweighed by everything since. 

Destroying an underwater research station in the depths of cousin fethry which was in part due to natural wildlife. 

Scrooge’s flu and stubborness tanking stocks in “The 87 cent solution” not to mention destroying property. While yes Scrooge was being played by glomgold his own stubborness and the kids refusal to call beakly lead to it playing out longer than it should have. 

Ruined an expensive movie production (Which is partly Jim’s fault, but scrooge still didn’t get intolved at any point or have anyone more experinced oversee boreswan or even ever contact jim about a cameo. )

Louie nearly destroying time itself in timephoon.

Della giving the moonlanders the blueprints for the spear

And as you can tell almost all of them aside from louie’s two incdients involve some form of extenuating circumstances. While Chaos has insued it’s never been intentional and always been cleaned up. Even the invasion, as close a call as that was, was solved BY the family and their allies.. and glomgold, but hey sometimes you need an x factor.  Most of the duck’s actions have only backfired on themselves of people nowhere near duckberg or scrooge’s intrests and most villians gunning for them would regardless if scrooge was active or not: Glomgold hates scrooge for entirely personal reasons, Magica was locked up for good reason and while she got out due to the family’s rift, she would’ve done what she did with the bin regardless, the beagles just want their land back even if Scrooge rightfully owns it, Beaks maniuplated fenton to get the armor and now goes after him out of jealousy, and Lunaris was already going after earth Della just sped it up and did so in good faith entirely unaware he was a invader. These nuts would be gunning for scrooge anyway, and while some of it’s due to his life as an adventuerer, said life was started before Bradford was born. Scrooge isn’t responsible for guys coming after him any more than batman, or spide-rman. Sure a hero being around gives them reason to keep trying but it also means there’s someone to STOP them.  And more importantly, as I always intended to prove, their adventures have done more good than harm: Beisdes the obvious mending and extending of their family, with Donald and Scrooge patching things up and Beakly, Launchpad and especially webby being warmly welcomed in and Della finally finding a way home, not to mention their various allies, over the last 60 episodes our heroes have, and yes another list and a long one so buckle up. In chrnological order:

Brought clean, limitless water to duckberg, if through scrooge’s water company. 

Defeated a luck vampire that was kidnapping innocent people (Okay Gladstone’s probably mildly incident but even he didn’t deserve that) and likely left him unable to continue his scheme. 

Freed a lost and enslaved Egyptian civlization from a tyrant and brought them quite literally into light.. and gave them burritos. 

Defeated Zeus.. not really a huge change for humanity but given what a dick he is I’m counting it. 

Through Gyro’s invetion of the gizmotech armor and Fenton’s use of it, gave duckberg a superhero whose since cleaned up crime, keeps the city safe while scrooge isn’t around and is beloved by the city. 

Stopped a known super spy.. who works for Bradford but still. 

Defeated Magica, saved the entire city, and depowered her all in one day and all together.

Found an entirely new and giant species of plankton and gave their cousin a purpose

Destroyed an evil plant monster that had likely eaten dozens before that. 

Helped a man find his family’s treasured lamp

Opened a museum wing to share Scrooge’s various treasures with the world. 

Hundreds of years ago stopped a robber baron from bleeding a town dry. 

Donald selflessly possibly sacrificing himself in a dangerous rocket to try and get home to warn earth and his family of the coming invasion. 

Taught Lena how to love herself, got her to turn against magica, and then with Violet’s help Webby helped her return to life, and find a home where she’s actually loved and wanted and finally happy and free. 

Stopped beaks rampage.. granted it was with stolen gizmotech, but he still stole it int he first place. 

Gave the Drakes an adopted son who genuinely loves them and sucessfuly gave them finacial freedom from their cruel, sociopathic biological son. 

Stopped an army of scrooge’s greatest foes from stealing his company. 

Formed a resistance against the moonlander invasion, stopping it eventually with glomgold and the cousins help. 

After that stopping Lunaris backup plan to destroy the earth itself along with his own people. 

As a result of all of this, despite the invasion, introducing a new population of happy, repentant for their invasion of the world aliens into duckberg who have been loyal and hardworking. 

If unknowingly stopping Fowl’s own agent from killing everyone in duckberg. 

Saving a lost society of mermaids and helping them start over

Sucessfully saving a charity gala from hyjackers. 

Helping Daisy start the career she wants. 

Saving BOYD from being hyjacked by dr akita

Saving all of Tokyok from Akita’s plans for boyd.

Finally letting BOYD be his own boy and break free from his past. 

Defeating team Ragnarok and saving the earth from the end of days. 

Defeating the phantom blot while unlocking Lena’s powers, both saving an innocent child from death and giving duckberg protection from Magica once and for all. 

Helping penny adjust to earth giving Duckberg another defender besides Gizmoduck and the clan mcduck. 

Stopping ponce de leon from draining the youth from anyone else and restoring all his victims. 

So yeah five times the number of bad things they’ve done or money they’ve lost. For all the chaos it causes the ducks have changed so many lives and not just their own for the better. And I think that’s the problem: Bradford only sees thing in the terms of possesion in money, and helping people gets him NONE of that. To him all of this is just more risks to the world and his control of it. To him Scrooge has near complete control of duckberg, thousands of buisnesses, the potetial to grip the world.. and he uses it to seemingly endanger it and better lives instead of his own. I mean he has enriched his own but still. Bradford simply CAN’T see past himself or his own saftey and greed to see any benifit for anyone else. ONly himself and with scrooge gone the world is his, the world is safe, and the world is better. In other words.. he’s who scrooge ALMOST became, minus the effort to get things himself. A bitter old man who cares only about himself and his possesions and wants nothing else. We’ve seen it here and we’ve seen it in the life and times: Without his family scrooge grows cold and alone.. and without anyone to really care about Bradford is what he’d become.  He’sd also forced to eat his transmitter after blaming his outburst on his lack of medication. Wah Wah. 

Back at Darkwing Tower, after what feels like 80 years, our heroes squabble a bit as Gosalyn wants to run off after another villian to get to her grandpa while Darkwing wants them to get some rest while he takes care of some buisness> Gosalyn balks at this, all but shouts YOUR NOT MY REAL DAD! and then runs off to the overlook of hte tower. While Darkwing takes a call with Fenton at long last, Launchpad goes to comfort the girl. She admits straight up she was a bit hard on the guy she’s just desperate to find him. And it turns out darkwing as over hte last.. few nights? Wait....

I’m genuinely confused as the time skip at the end of act one indicated a day at most yet i’ts apparently been several and drake’s been loosing sleep over it? And even WITH the lockdown the rest of the duck family hasn’t barged in? I mean yes the four are keeping the gates shut but even with fenton trying, I highly doubt della has the patience to wait while her kids and baiscally dad are in serious danger, and they still have the cloudslayer/sunchaser and while yes bushroots pplans could stretch up it’s as simple as della flying up and then landing somewhere. I don’t think mayor owlson would complain TOO much about property damage and while scrooge would grumble he’d pay for it. Point is the timescale here is confusingingly worded. At most i’d say a day has passed and darkwing hasn’t slept since last night, as that makes more sense than “Whelp I guess our famiy’s been missing for days nothing weird about that. As I said the timescale for this episode is really weird and one of it’s few problems, the other being, now we’ve met them might as well get out of the way, how throwaway darkwing’s foes feel. They all, minus mega volt, get a moment to shine but they all feel like interchangable goons. Like any of them could’ve done any of their scens just swap out the gimmick. I do get this episode has a LOTTTTTT going on at once, so I get any character bits with them probably got shoved out and odds are we’ll get “real world” throughly updated versions next time, it just feels weird to make such a big deal and bring the fearsome foursome in and not either give them a bigger roll or have them stick around for the future, though as I said frank will probably remake them from the ground up for the reboot with new origins and what not, and some might intentional take after them like drake did with tv darkwing, so fair enough, just felt it was a bit of a waste but I understand it given the sheer amount of stuff to fit into a 45 minute special. 

Back on the actual plot though Darkwing’s been up all night conversing with Fenton trying to find dr. waddlemeyer. And Fenton sadly has no good news: Not only does the Ramrod have only one shot left in it before it breaks reality, but even if that gives them one shot to find Dr. Waddlemeyer.. there are trilions of universes out there. The odds of finding it before reality goes bye bye are slim to none. But Darkwing refuses to give up as he refuses to let Gosalyn down. It shows that despite his earlier fear.. Drake is a damn good person and wants to make up for not beliving in gosalyn, to help her anyway he can no matter what it takes. Gosalyn realizes she’s been kind of a dick and helps darkwing and herself get some sleep, and in a reversal of the scene from Darkly Dawns the duck, hums little girl blue to him. Awwww.. my heart.. it’s too full!. 

Back at the tower, the boys and bradford find the ramrod and bradford grumbles as he finds where scrooge is: trapped in the ORIGINAL ducktales reality, though using the remastered proportions and blue eyes. It’s a good gag especially since Bulba specifically trapped him in this scene. 

Beautiful. Bradford wonders how the hell he’s going to cover this up.. and Huey overhears him, having already been suspcious because while good at running a massive shadowy conspiracy, he didn’t you know, tell heron to keep it down on the transponder as the boys were around and her continuned interputions and his outburst earlier made Huey suspcious. Before Bradford can cover he starts coughing (With Dewey’s pricless injection of “Oh no we killed him!”) and coughs up the transmitter.. with Heron inconvently pointing out he’s fowl high command. He’s the bad guy.. from the kids point of view at least. But Bradford just chucks them into the 87 dimension where they stare blankly at scroog’es rampage. So now it’s all down to team darkwing.  Speaking of which their all asleep but Wanda wakes darkwing up and in another ddtd parallel, he leaves to take care of this himself, if without Gosalyn waking up this time. His reason is simple though: The ramrod has fired up and this is their only shot at getting her grandpa back. So Darkwing strolls in.. and once Bulba and the fearsome four marvel at his directness, Bulba sends them to knock his brains out and drag him in. Thankfully Gosalyn and Launchpad wakeup and while Gosalyn is mad for a second, she sees him getting drug in and finally realizes just charging in isn’t going to do it. .and since Launchpad knows DW like the back of his hand, he gets them in by dressing them up as Jumbalya Jake and the Bugmaster. I’ve heard of both though why the hell Frank chose Jumbalya jake over .. ANYONE else, is beyond me. Bugmaster is fairly popular, Jumbalya Jake.. is basically a less intresting fuzzy lumpkins. Regradsleess it works and our heroes make their way inside. 

Bulba is preparing to his big hyjack the airways villian speech, contacting the leaders of the world.. and killing darkwing, whose none to happy about it to show their serious with an ultimatium: either let him use the ramrod to change the world for hte better or else. And this seems a good as time as any to talk about Bulba.. whose utterly EXCELLENT in the reboot. And I loved the original but instead of just being a super comptietn villian bulba is instead a well meaning one. While he embraces the supervillian lifestyle and flunkies and flamboyance, he’s also just trying to remake the world, to make it BETTER than it was beofre, to end hunger, no traffic acidents. It dosen’t make him a good person, much like magneto or disney’s own toffee, the ends do not jusify the means and he’s likely going to destroy reality in the process, and it’s clear his own arrogance is at much at play as his desire to do goo dand anyone with valid concerns is just a doubting asshole. He’s a compelling villian and James Monroe englehart REALLY fucking brings it, creating a villian with style, a mission and competence galor. He’s really damn good and easily tops the original which is not easy at all, but props to frank for doing it. 

But before he can get started, Gosalyn throws the smoke bombs down all around and does Darkwing’s terror that flaps in the night bit for him, and the distractoin allows DW to escape and kick bulba in the face. A HELL of a fight insues. That’s one of the best things this series does is fight corpegraphy as while battles aren’t in EVERY episode, whent hey do happen their spectacular as Darkwing and Launchpad take on the fearsome four in one hell of a beautiful sequence. Darkwing and Launchpad plan to take the four on while Gosalyn gets to the ramrod. Gosalyn understandably questions how an actor and a launchpad are going to take on four villians with the two piping in that bushroot really isn’t na villian which .. I mean he KINDA is but the symapthetic kind that would probably give it up eventually but fair enough. I still like that nod even if this version is less adorakable traumatized plant and more...

Still Goslyn realises their power! THeir nerds! And with the power of fanboyness, and taking a few hits and refrencing the just us justice ducks episode I haven’t seen yet, their triumphant. Singed but triumphant. 

Meanwhile Gos continues to try and find her grampapapapapapapappapappaaaaaaaa while Bulba engages Darkwing and Launchpad. Jokes on him their already engaged to each other! She fails to find him but does find the ducks, who wonder what quackaroonie means and why their heads were round.

As the Ramrod rips a massive hole in time and space that threatens to suck everyone in. While Dewey encourages Gosalyn to keep going Huey tells her to stop... which.. Huey you lost your parent too, end of the world or not you can phrase it better. Otherwise top notch youv’e been the best this episode. And in one of the best scnees of the episode Gosalyn realizes what she has to do and despite Bulba tempting her with another relality she ddosen’t even consider it.. she shoots the ramrod with her crosbow, destroying it, with the final portal taking the fearsome four .. somewhere. I dunno? Cleavland..antis? I’m sure their fine. Bulba is knocked out though, and Gosalyn slowly weeps while her new dad consoles her. It’s a touching scene.

Thattt’s soon interupted with one last bit of unfished buisness as Huey suddenly realizes OH CRAP BRADFORD”S MISSING. They find him heading off in a marked FOWL helicopter, which Bradford points out the stupidity of but with Scrooge now having concrete visual evidence his head investor is running one of the oldest and deadliest spy agencies in the world, and their gunning for him decides to give a big of a gloat and tells Scrooge his adventure fantasy is ending while Scrooge remarks their world got a lot more dangerous. And yeah.. while I doubt Bradford will still brook over the top villiany, he now no longer has to hide his agents from scrooge or dance his operation around him and likely has enough embezlled funds to keep fowl going long enough to take out scrooge.  And yeah before we get to the end, thank god as while I love this review it’s been one of the longest writing experiments of my life., let’s talk about the FOWL overarching Plot and the interlocked missing mysteries subplot. The progress up till now has.. not really been great. Understandable but wheras season 2 had way too much plot this season took until thsi episode for the plot to really kick in. It’s been aggrivating and both fowl agents after you only crash twice .. really had nothing to do with them in their missions, with both only really using their resources. However.. as slow as it’s been, I will give credit in two places: 1, htis was likely done to get plots out of the way that were lighter and less tied into things, with only two exceptions in the next 6 episodes judging from the just released synposis for novemeber. And 2) the fowl episodes that WERE there set things up brillinatly. You Only Crash Twice set up heron’s lack of stealth and overt villianly, so her calling bradford a ton and bringing a marked helicopter did’t come out of nowhere, while last week’s episode hinted at the fact that FOWL somehow has acess to their own copy of finch’s diary or an equivleant. While we don’t know all the details. This episode also got the plot into overdrive by fleshing out bradford anymore, adding into his lack of liiking cartoon supervilliany by giving him a well and true hatred for scroooge and co. It’s not just the risk, he truly hates their lifestyle and LOATHES all of them and wants them gone.. and now he’s getting his chance. Overall it hasn’t been a bad plot and I get why it’s mostly in the back, but it still could’ve used some build up. But they worked well with what they had. I will also say the focus on Huey is ramping up with the last batch of episodes, so this really has turned out to be his season afterall. Good.  So we wrap our story back at Darkwing Tower as Gosalyn bemoans the fact her grandpa is gone. But Drake, for the first time this episode in his civies, softly encourages her to, much like him at her age, get back up again. She got blown up, buffeted around and lost a lot. but they WILL find him. Afterall Drake has a scientest friend who knwos another scientest, and until then.. she can be his crime fighting partner/implicit daughter. So Gosalyn, after so much rejection of it finally accepts her new family while Launchpad runs in to join them with dewey’s blessing. He’s not leaving the show ind, he’s just going to spend days in duckberg, nights in saint canard and sleep on the drive over, to Drake’s pitch perfect “What the actual shit bud” face. Gosalyn is happy, ,and Wanda has a crime for them to chase and our hapy family , back after way too long, heads off into the night to get dangerous. Wheew. 

Final Thoughts: God damn this was a long one. I mean it was an hour long but god damn I had a lot to say. But it was a good one. Minor flaws aside, a second watch showed off the pacing, great jokes, amazing emotoinal core, perfomances and plot progression. Unlike the Duck Knight returns the episode wisely ballances darkwing with the boys and scrooge, and interweaves them beautiful as well as finding a credible way for them to find out about FOWL. The game has changed.  I also saved the best for last as Stephanie Beatriz was fucking amazing as Gosalyn. While i’ve always loved her, she’s nice, bi and utterly fantastic on brooklyn nine nine why wouldn’t I?, and was excited I was both suprised by how diffrnet her gos voice is from her regular one, though shouldn’t have been as her rosa voice is also vastly diffrent.. seriously stephanie do more voice work your great at it, and Gos was rebooted well, sanding a bit of her hellion streak off while still feeling like the character and instead of just ignoring her grandpa’s death after one episode, making it inot a major part of her character arc here and likely in the future. It’s damn good stuff. The special really overall gets the spirit fo darkwing while making something, new , fresh and bold out of it and easily holds it’s own among the other specials. Nothing much else to say that hasn’t been said, this special was utterly amazing, go watch it. 

Now with that done if you like my weekly ducktales reviews, you can follow me for more, comment to tell me how i’m doing and i’m proud to announce.. follow me on my brand spanking new patreon! 2 dollar patrons get a poll once I have enough to do one of those, a discord once I get any, and 10 dollar backers get to pick a review for me a month! If you have the dough, please check it out and if not tha’ts okay. Until next time get dangerous but in the safest way possible, don’t forget to vote trump out and happy halloween! Play us out  Jeff Pescetto!

[saiilorstars]

Falling in Temptation

Previous chapters • Sequel to Stars Dance

Fandom: Doctor Who

Pairing: 11th Doctor/ Female OC

~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~

Ch. 11: A Different Wire

Chapter summary: The Doctor charges on to find Amy and her baby. He's taken every precaution possible to keep everyone else safe, including putting Avalon into a lockdown. He's determined to keep his word to Rory and keep Avalon safe but when the battle seems to be over on Demons Run, they learn that the Silence has not only been watching Amy closely...Avalon has also been under their careful eyes.

Fairy Tale Memoirs (Companion story)

A little fairy comes at night,

Her eyes are blue, her hair is brown'

with silver spots upon her wings,

And from the moon she flutters down.

She has a little silver wand

And when a good child goes to bed

She waves a hand from right to the left

And makes a circle round its head.

And then it dreams of pleasant things,

Of fountains filled with fairy fish

And trees that bear delicious fruit

And bow their branches at a wish.

Of arbors filled with dainty scents,

From lovely flowers that never fade,

Bright flies that glitter in the sun

And glow-worms shining in the shade

And talking birds with gifted tongues

For singing songs and telling tales

And pretty dwarfs to show the way

Through fairy hills and fairy dales.

A little fairy comes at night,

her eyes are blue and her hair is brown

With silver spots upon her wings

And from the moon she flutters down

Amy held her baby daughter in her arms as she recited the poem she knew by heart. It was a stupid poem - lullaby - that her own mother used to sing to her before bed. Amy would never tell Avalon that, though. That woman thrived on fairy tales it was ridiculous. But now Amy could see why her mother would tell her the poem. It was soothing and magical. It calmed her daughter each time she read it. Maybe when this was all over, Avalon could take over in the fairy tale department because Amy felt like her voice lacked the talent Avalon owned.

But for the meantime, Amy had to do things on her own. It was a scary job to do when she had no idea where she was and the fact she didn't own one weapon against the people holding her captive. She could only hold her daughter close to her when she was allowed to carry her.

Melody was the only thing keeping Amy sane. At one month the baby girl was a cheery one, a gurgling one, and she never seemed to cry. It was as if Melody knew that things were tough and she didn't want to add more to the problem. Melody would attentively listen to the things her mother would tell her, from the sweet poems to the inspirational speeches. She loved them all.

Amy tried not to think about the soldiers inside the room she was in, all packed even with the eye-patch woman, Madame Kovarian.

"I wish I could tell you that you'll be loved. That you'll be safe and cared for and protected. But this isn't a time for lies. What you are going to be, Melody is very, very brave," Amy was quiet with her words, but only because she didn't want Melody to pick up on her stressed tone.

Madame Kovarian - the eye patch lady - was waiting at the front of the room, just like she always did. "Two minutes," she warned, not that Amy would look at her.

"But not as brave as they'll have to be," Amy continued with Melody close by. "Because there's someone coming. I don't know where he is, or what he's doing, but trust me. He's on his way. There's a man who's never going to let us down. And not even an army can get in the way..." She trailed off when she saw the soldiers with Kovarian coming for her again. Not her, but her. Melody. Amy instinctively backed away a couple steps. "Leave her, just you leave her! Please leave her! Leave her!"

It was the same thing each time, and each time Amy fell for it.

Kovarian took Melody from her and returned the infant to the bassinet at the front of the room. Amy was right on Kovarian's trail though and stole a last look at Melody. "He's the last of his kind. He looks young, but he's lived for hundreds and hundreds of years. And wherever they take you, Melody, however scared you are, I promise you, you will never be alone." She leaned down and kissed Melody's forehead. "Because this man is your father."

~ 0 ~

A grim Avalon awaited in the console room for the Doctor and Rory to return, practically at the doors. Eventually, the two men entered the TARDIS and took a long breath. It'd been another close one but a very good success.

Avalon and the Sapling had promptly waited for them to return, but the former looked close to bursting from anger.

"Good moment?" Avalon crossed her arms with a raised eyebrow. "Success? Victory?"

"I think you know," Rory pointed at her, moving to give her a hug but Avalon stepped back, making him sigh.

"You don't get hugs until my lockdown is lifted," she snapped and looked at the Doctor next, "Goes for you too."

"Ava, we've been through this," the Doctor began as he followed her towards the console with Rory.

"Give it a rest, big brother, it's not gonna work," Lena Reynolds poked her head from behind the console rotor. "Better spend your time over here to get that location the Cybermen told us."

The Doctor grumbled under his breath but followed Lena's suggestion. She'd been recruited after ganger Amy had been deactivated in hopes of finding the real Amy faster. Apart from that, Avalon had been set into a deep, serious lockdown in the TARDIS after the events in the ganger factory. Avalon literally screamed, thrashed and at one point was locked in her bedroom, but nothing would get through to her. They were trying to keep her safe and in return she wanted to kill them.

The only thing that somewhat calmed her was bringing Lena along. It'd worked so far but Avalon already had thin patience. One month was about it.

~ 0 ~

"C'mon, at least let me help get the people," Avalon was following the Doctor around the console, resorting to bugging the hell out of him until he agreed, like always. The screaming hadn't helped and the fact she'd kicked him in the shin definitely didn't do any favors.

She would resort to old fashioned begging.

"Avalon, you know the rules. You need to stay in here for your own safety."

"Oh c'mon! You've sent Lena to pick up a Silurian! That right there was very irresponsible!"

"Vastra is an old friend and she wouldn't hurt anyone...anymore," the Doctor kept his gaze fixated on the controls because the moment he met Avalon's begging eyes, he would fall right for it.

"This is ridiculous! You can't keep me in here, you know!? I do have rights! I should know, I've been in an actual jail!"

"I could very well drop you off at UNIT," the Doctor warned, or threatened, whichever one would make her understand. "I'm sure an old friend of mine wouldn't mind keeping an eye on you."

"What?" frowned Avalon. "You are beyond ridiculous! I can't believe you're not using one of your biggest assets to get Amy back! This is beyond me - this is about our friend who was kidnapped! With her baby!"

"I know that!" he snapped, finally turning to her. At least she wasn't begging anymore. "And it's because I've already lost Amy that I'm not risking you! Never you, Avalon."

Avalon paused at his sudden softness. "Don't do that," she said after a moment.

"Don't do wh-"

"-don't go all soft and mushy on me when it doesn't mean a damn thing," she snapped. "I'm tired of it. At least your ganger had the decency to be honest before we let him die."

"Oh, here we go again!" the Doctor flapped his arms in frustration. Every damn time they had an argument, his stupid ganger would come up in the conversation. It drove the Doctor crazy not knowing what his ganger had told Avalon just before they escaped the Flesh. "If you're going to keep bringing that up, the least you can do is tell me what he said that got you so riled up with me!"

"It's the fact that he was able to be honest with me and you can't! That's incredibly sad and each time I remember it hurts, do you get that? It hurts. You hurt me."

Her words punctured each of his hearts. Her eyes had watered up as soon as she said them. That's what got him. She wasn't angry with him, she was disappointed and hurt. Hurt because of him. And he had no idea how to fix it, especially when he didn't have the context.

"Ava," he slowly touched her cheeks until he had successfully cupped her face without being slapped for it. "You need to understand that everything I'm doing is to keep you safe. I can't lose you too. You have to be different."

"Different from what?" she begged for at least one answer to her millions of questions.

"From everyone before you," he smiled sadly. He wanted to change the story so badly, he wasn't letting himself think about himself for one second. All he allowed himself to think about were the people that had come before Avalon who had suffered terrible fates because he hadn't been careful. "Have I ever told you the story of Donna Noble?"

"No, who is she?"

"She is the woman who used to travel with me before you and the Ponds. She was my best friend. She saved the 27 stolen planets from being destroyed. She was so loud and so courageous - you remind me of her sometimes. You even have the ginger hair to match."

Avalon felt the 'but' coming soon. He had never talked about his previous companions and she'd never really dared to ask considering what their endings had probably been. "...what happened to her?"

The Doctor sighed and let his hands drop from her face. "I happened. I was selfish and I wasted a regeneration and put all that energy into a jar. Donna absorbed that energy in what we call a metacrisis. She became part Time Lord and that could never be. She nearly died if I hadn't wiped her memories."

"She...lost her memories?" Avalon gulped. This is what many of her stories of the Doctor didn't contain: the tragic endings of his trips and his companions. "Like...everything?"

"Everything that had to do with me and her travels. Avalon, she was the most important woman in the universe. Different alien species still sing about the Doctor-Donna because of what she did and who she saved. And I had to erase everything from her head. She's off living her life on Earth and I can never see her again. And she can never remember what she did in her travels." It was the first time that Avalon saw true, genuine tears in the Doctor's eyes. He was reliving that terrible moment of his lives, firmly believing it was his fault. "She was my best friend, Avalon, and I lost her. And I've lost people I considered more than a friend. You want to know where the last person I had feelings for is at right now?"

"No-" Avalon's voice had turned frail, full of guilt.

"She's stuck in another universe. I did that to her. Twice. She can never come back."

Avalon felt the twinge of guilt double in that one second. Okay, maybe she hadn't been thinking as logically as he obviously had, but in her defense he wouldn't let her. She just wanted to be with him, be happy together. "I'm sorry," she whispered, bringing one hand to rub her other arm. "I-I didn't think about that stuff. But I mean...Doctor, you never say anything about your past. I stopped asking questions because I assumed that with time you would trust us to tell us on your own."

"It's not about trusting you, it's about how you'll react to it. There are horrors that come with me. Tragedies. And no matter how much I try, I can't stop them. Amy and Rory have already become part of that list- their daughter who was unborn is already on the list. I'm not gonna make that mistake with you. You are where the cycle ends."

Now this Avalon could appreciate because now she knew what he meant. He stopped being cryptic with her and just told her the truth. It was a truth she couldn't discard so easily because it was so important to him, but she wasn't going to let it ruin what she knew could be so good for them both.

She would just need to prioritize first. Her patience could last a bit longer now.

"Okay, I hear you," she said, stepping closer to him. She brought her hands to his face now, smiling encouragingly. "But I'd also like if you heard me."

"Avalon-"

"I propose that for the moment we set aside our differences and work together to get Amy back. Afterwards, we can resume this conversation. Sound fair?"

The Doctor would nod if he didn't already know what her proposal consisted of. "You can't go outside."

Avalon's smile wanted to falter but she kept it right on her face. "You'll find that I do as I please. Besides, it's been one month and they haven't done anything else. I bet their minds are so preoccupied with Amy that they don't even remember about little ole me. Now c'mon, I know who's next on that list of recruitment and I so want to be the one who picks her up."

"No, Avalon. It's just too dangerous."

"It's literally a prison - how much safer can it get? I don't think whoever's behind this is stupid enough to go barging into the highest maximum security prison, do you?"

The Doctor swayed his head, able to see that clear logic. "Well..."

"Please? Please? Please? Please? Please!?" the ginger clung to his arms as she begged, though now she did with a wide smile, "You can even send Rory or Lena with me, if you want. Or you can come, or-"

"Fine," he covered her mouth. See, he shouldn't have looked into her eyes. "But only because it's a prison and I know if River tries anything she'll be shot down."

Avalon took his hand off her mouth and frowned, "Since when did you become so doubtful of River? She's done nothing but help us every time we see her."

"Yeah and half the time it's because she made the mess," the Doctor pointed out. They all loved pointing out how many mistakes he made that River had to come and help fix. "Plus, there's things I've learned about her, things that make me nervous."

"Like what?"

The Doctor gaze on her was long. There was no way he could tell her that a good part of his reluctance with River stemmed from the fact River was meant to harm Avalon. "Future things."

Avalon rolled her eyes. "Oh, well, please, that's more than enough explanation. I completely understand. But you know what, I'm taking Rory to go get River. Thank you!" she gave him a quick hug then started shouting for Rory as she ran into the hallway.

The Doctor really hoped he hadn't messed.

~ 0 ~

In Stormcage, alarms blared as River Song, dressed in a Victorian gowm, swayed her way towards her cell. It nnver got old how frantic the place would get whenever she would pop away for a trip. It wasn't like she wouldn't come back! She stopped in front of a wall phone and picked it up, "Oh, turn it off. I'm breaking in, not out. This is River Song, back in her cell..." She was about to hang up when she thought of something else and pressed the phone back to her ear. "Oh, and I'll take breakfast at the usual time. Thank you!" She finally hung up and continued down the corridor but stopped when she saw two silhouettes in the dark, one specifically dressed as a Roman. "Oh, are you boys dressing up as Romans now? I thought nobody read my memos."

Avalon stepped out of the shadows first with an amused smile, "Your memos are about Roman costumes?" she glanced at Rory, snickering, "This is why I like her!"

Rory shook his head at her and got to business. He wasn't pleased that the Doctor had broken his promise and allowed Avalon out, even if it was to a prison of maximum security. Rory wanted to get out of there fast and return Avalon back to the TARDIS. "Dr. Song? It's Rory, and Avalon. Sorry, have we met yet? Time streams, I'm not quite sure where we are..."

"Yes. Yes, we've met," River nodded, sounding rather sad. Avalon could tell, despite the darkness that surrounded them. "Hello, Rory, Avalon."

"What's wrong?" Avalon asked her, taking a step forwards until Rory gripped her arm to keep her from taking another one.

"It's my birthday," River nervously laughed.

"Oh, happy birthday," Avalon smiled, now understanding her current attire, "That's why you broke out, then. Where'd you go? Victorian London?" River nodded her head. "You know, the Doctor's yet to take us there."

"You'll be there soon enough," River promised, though she didn't look very happy about the idea. Avalon presumed this was another 'spoiler'. River knew something that they couldn't know about yet.

"I hope you didn't go alone, though," Avalon said, hoping to steer the conversation somewhere lighter. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to do much.

"Um...somewhere, with a special someone," River nodded, still forcing a tight smile on her face. She couldn't tell Avalon anything of where they'd gone for her birthday. If she did, she'd have to explain why it was only them two and no Ponds nor Doctor.

"We need your help," Rory declared. Things weren't moving fast enough.

River nodded and went to her cell, pulling out her diary to pinpoint their timelines. "Where are we then?"

"They've taken Amy," Avalon said just as River pinpointed their timelines.

River froze for a moment then turned around with widened eyes. "Demons Run."

"How...how did you know?" Rory blinked as did Avalon.

"I'm from your future. I always know," River tried to keep herself calm as she glanced back at the two, "Why on earth are you wearing that?" she eyed Rory's Roman garbs.

"The Doctor's idea."

"Of course. His rules of engagement," River rolled her eyes, "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee."

"Look ridiculous," Avalon remarked with a smirk.

"Have you considered heels?" River joked.

"They've taken Amy. And our baby," Rory was in no mood for jokes at the moment, "The Doctor's getting some people together, we're going after her, but he needs you too."

"I can't," River mumbled, her eyes teary. "Not yet, anyway."

"River?" Avalon was confused by the change of attitude that took place in the brunette. She'd fought so hard with the Doctor to let her come get River and now the woman was going to leave them hanging!?

"This is The Battle of Demons Run," River neared them, "The Doctor's darkest hour. He'll rise higher than ever before and then fall so much further. And...I can't be there till the very end."

"Why not?"

"Because this is it," River shuddered a breath, "This is the day he finds out who I am, when everyone finds out."

"Timelines," Avalon could understand the reason and had to resign her insistence. But just as River had explained, her expression turned frantic.

"Avalon you need to stay away from that place! Demons Run is where everything happens - it's where you are in most danger!"

Avalon groaned. "Not you too, River. You're sounding just like everyone else."

But River was adamant to be heard. "I am serious! You know why the Doctor will fall the hardest here than any other time he's had battles? Because of you."

Avalon's eyebrows knitted together, frankly offended that now it was all being blamed on her. "What, so it's my fault things go wrong?"

"No, it's mine," River didn't hesitate to answer, startling both Avalon and Rory. "I should've been more ready, but I wasn't and now I need the Doctor to step up and keep you safe. You need to stay in the TARDIS until it's all over." River's eyes flickered to Rory, pleading him to heed her warning.

Rory didn't need to be told twice what he already knew. But now if River was begging for the same thing, then there must be a serious good reason. "She's been in the TARDIS this whole time. She only came for you."

"Yeah and you're making me look bad here," Avalon folded her arms, deeply scowling. "What the hell, River!?"

"Tell the Doctor that he needs to listen to me," River told Rory as if Avalon wasn't shooting her daggers.

"You got it," Rory nodded and this time held Avalon's arm tightly as they headed back for the TARDIS

~ 0 ~

This time there was no getting discussion with the Doctor. Once he heard what River told them, he had no hesitation to shout like Avalon - making it an interesting fight when they both matched volumes - until she got the point that she wouldn't be leaving the TARDIS.

"YOU CAN'T DO THAT!" Avalon was as red as her hair, possibly more. "You can't just bench me!"

"Oh I can and I am," the Doctor leveled her glare with his own. And given his age, he had a better one than Avalon...but not by much. "You are staying here with Lena-" he gestured to the woman in question who was being forced to watch the entire argument unfold, "-and taking control of the TARDIS."

"Avalon, if River says this is what has to happen then we should follow it," Lena chimed in only to get the same hard look from Avalon. "She's from the future, she knows what happens."

"Today's the day I start hating River," Avalon resolved. "Only question is will you be added to the list?" she landed her hard, blue eyes on the Doctor.

"If it means keeping you safe then so be it," he resolved as well. "I told you I wasn't making the same mistakes again."

He could practically see the smoke coming out of her ears at this point. She walked up a few steps until she could better look him in the eyes. There were so many words running through her head right now, but she wanted to find the words that would sting the most. It was one of her flaws. She would default to hurting people one way or another in retaliation.

"You know what?" she raised her head, allowing him to see how serious she was. "I bet that when you had to wipe Donna's memories you didn't give her a choice either, huh?"

The right words indeed.

She saw the pain strike across the Doctor's face in two seconds flat. There was a hint of betrayal, asking her how could she turn that against him when it was such a difficult memory to share.

She tilted her head to the side, letting him know that she was studying the effects of her words on him. "Remember me when you're out there, winning or losing. I'm supposed to be your friend, someone you value apparently, yet you won't let me make my own choice. Some Fairy Tale Man you are." She turned around and stormed into the hallway.

The Doctor was left to process her strong sting until he remembered Lena was still there. She was gazing at him sympathetically, and perhaps sorrowfully.

"I'm sorry about her," Lena felt compelled to apologize on behalf of her sister. Despite not knowing what Avalon was talking about, it clearly hurt the Doctor a lot. "When she's angry she'll say anything to win. Once she's cooled off she'll realize how insensitive she was. I'm not excusing her, I'm just telling you what's going to happen...in case you don't want to forgive her for that."

A brief smile appeared on the Doctor's face. "Please," his sarcastic tone pretty much stated he would always forgive Avalon. "Ava is Ava and that's who she needs to be...who I want her to be."

Lena nodded and did patiently wait for him to finish that sentence but when he didn't, she did. "Because you like her. A lot." For once, Lena was satisfied to be the one who left the Doctor speechless. She didn't have a lot moments like those. "I've always known, big brother," she shrugged. "Just like I've always known where my sister's feelings lie. That's why you're so upset with each other, right?"

"Baby sister, I really think this is not the time to discuss such matters. We have Amy and her baby to find," the Doctor turned to the console. They were about to finally land where Amy was and that required all of his attention.

Lena sighed but gave a nod of her head. "But are you sure you're going to be able to concentrate?"

"Oh, I'm not worried about me," the Doctor said, clearly lying but there was something else he was thinking about it. "I'm worried about you considering you're going to be stuck in here with Avalon."

Lena laughed softly. "Well, the Sapling will be here with me too."

"Oh, he's just as angry as his mother," the Doctor shook his head. The Sapling had gotten both his and Avalon's anger and that was a very poor combination. He might self combust if he didn't calm down soon.

"I'll be okay with them, but to be honest..." Lena tilted her head to the side, "I don't know how long Avalon is going to last in here. She's kind of like you. Staying still isn't for her, much less when someone she loves is in danger."

The Doctor solemnly nodded. He knew that too, which was why he needed to work fast.

~ 0 ~

Madame Kovarian was an astute woman, not to mention an incredible actress. Her base was being overran by the Doctor and his army that foolishly thought they were winning. All she had to do was pretend to be afraid that her plan was going to ruins.

"I need to get off this station," she ordered the nearest soldier with her. "Bring me the child and prepare the Silence."

"Yes, ma'am," the soldier nodded and went off with another soldier to retrieve the infant.

"Ma'am, the Silence?" another of the soldiers reluctantly asked. None of the soldiers - none of the army for that matter - were that happy with Kovarian's decision to work with the Silence. From the very beginning they felt like the Silence would do whatever they wanted, dismissing Kovarian's orders. For the record, they hadn't yet, but no one trusted those creatures. Who could trust a creature they couldn't remember?

After they'd been killed off on Earth - yet another warning from their Colonel to keep their eyes peeled when it came to the Doctor - everyone figured Kovarian was done with the Silence. After all, they'd done their part in the job. They cared for the child while she grew up. They were supposed to be over now.

"They're not done here," Kovarian rounded into a new hallway, quickening her pace each time she heard a different bullet downstairs. "The Silence has yet to retrieve the girl for me."

"But we have the child, ma'am," the soldier insisted, briefly exchanging glances with his other comrades. They were all just as nervous. "The infant. Isn't that what we needed?"

"Yes, but I want the other one too," Kovarian said and finally stopped in front of the airlock that would bring her to her own private ship. She turned around and prepared to wait for the infant to be handed over. "I cannot leave with just one."

"So the Silence are still here, then?" the soldier, just like the rest, started looking around with nervous eyes.

Kovarian smirked. "They never left. They will do the other job and bring me the girl. All we have to do now is wait. And watch." Her smirk widened at the thought of what was coming. "Watch how the Doctor will 'win' before he truly falls."

~ 0 ~

"This is wrong, this is wrong, this is wrong!" Avalon shouted at the TARDIS monitor as if the people on the other side of the screen could hear. Her hand was gripping the console in utter fury.

"Avalon, stop that," Lena scolded her sister and had to physically pry Avalon's hands off the console.

"Mother, I've never seen your face get so red!" the Sapling said and because Avalon caught his fearful face, she calmed down a bit.

"Sorry," she apologized and exhaled heavily. "I just...I should be out there! I should be helping!"

"Yeah, me too," the Sapling folded his arms and pouted like only a child would. "I can literally grow up like a giant and Father still didn't let me go out!"

"First of all, you're a child," Lena wagged a finger at him. "And second of all, Avalon, you know they're just trying to help and I think you were fairly rude to the Doctor. In fact, you were horrible to him." Avalon rolled her eyes but even as she looked away, Lena could see the guilt on her face. "I don't know what the hell you were talking about in the end, but I know that really hurt him."

Avalon's gaze slowly fell to the bright floor. Of course she knew she'd hurt him. That was the point. She turned back to the monitor and watched through their security feed the battle that was unfolding on the main bridge. The Doctor had disappeared after causing mass pandemonium. The strange part was that they'd lost visual on Kovarian too. She started switching through the security feed, watching Vastra the Silurian and her human wife Jenny basically kick soldiers' asses near the control room and in the next were several soldiers running down the hallway with a bassinet in hand.

"They have the baby!" she exclaimed.

Lena rushed to her sister's side, as did the Sapling, and saw the same thing Avalon had found. The bassinet bounced with each step the soldiers too. "We have to let them know!" Lena said.

Avalon moved along the console with natural speed, her fingers already knowing exactly which controls to use. Lena raised an eyebrow at her sister, her expression question enough.

"He finally taught me how to drive the TARDIS," Avalon answered quietly, momentarily pausing.

"Oh Avalon," Lena sighed. "You really have to control that tongue of yours."

Avalon blinked away the tears in her eyes and focused on getting through to someone. "Yeah, I know, I'm an outright bitch."

"I didn't say that-"

"You didn't have to," snapped Avalon, but not necessarily at her sister. It was information she already knew based on everything she had lived before coming to the TARDIS.

"Are you calling father?" the Sapling trailed after his mother, nonethewiser of the conversation around him.

"I'm trying but as usual he's not answering," Avalon groaned. "Maybe he should have a cellphone or something! Nobody's answering! Lena!" Lena flinched at the sudden call of her name. "Watch the monitor! Tell me what's going on!"

"Right!" Lena hurried back to the monitor and started going through each camera. "Uh, well, I see Rory! He's gone off with someone else in the hallway! Oh! Vastra and Jenny have gotten into the control room! Ah! Those monk things - they've nearly taken care of an entire room! Don't look Sapling." She ushered the Sapling away from the monitor. "Avalon, they brought the bassinet to Kovarian!"

"They did what!?" Avalon screeched. "That's it! I'm going out there!"

"No you can't!"

"The Doctor can yell at me all he wants - I deserve it, I know, but it's a baby! And more importantly, it's Amy's and Rory's baby! I'm going to be good for once!" Avalon turned and dashed for the doors.

"Avalon, please don't!" Lena went after her but Avalon yanked open the doors.

"Just stay inside, Lena. You and the Sapling will be just fine in here!" Avalon smiled at her sister and child before running out.

"Oh God, my big brother's going to be very crossed with me," Lena hurried for the monitor in hopes of finding where the Doctor was at the moment. She kept going through tabs again until a Silence popped on her screen. She yelped and stumbled back as if the creature would come out from the screen. "Not you again, definitely not you again..."

'I know you can see me, Reynolds,' the fact it was actually talking to her made her yelp again. 'You have come to us just like you're meant to. Now you will come with us. Tick, tock..."

"Aunt Lena, he looks like the Scream," the Sapling had moved over to the monitor but as soon as he did Lena pushed him away.

"No, you stay there! And listen to me, Sapling, because right now you're the only one who's going to remember. You can't see him which means he can't affect you. Remind me that I saw him, and that he's threatening to take my sister."

"But how do you know he's talking about Mother?"

"Because it's always about my sister," Lena regrettably said. "I don't know what it is about my sister but there's always something threatening her, like-like she's just destined to be. Just remind me, okay? Remind me when I look away. We need to find the Doctor."

The Sapling nodded.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor had made his way to the control room where Vastra, Jenny and another old friend(ish) Dorium were in. They were so close to finally getting the hell out of that place, but he had to admit the dark satisfaction he felt knowing that the entire was but one step away from crumbling into nothing.

He sat in front of the controls and turned his chair just as Strax the Sontaran brought in Colonel Mantel, the leader of the army they'd basically destroyed and were now mere stragglers. "Sorry, Colonel Manton, I lied. Three minutes, 42 seconds."

"Colonel Manton, you will give the order for your men to withdraw," Strax ordered.

"No. Colonel Manton... I want you to tell your men to run away," the Doctor told the man instead.

"You...what?" Manton raised an eyebrow, not quite following.

"Those words. Run away. I want you to be famous for those exact words. I want people to call you Colonel Run-Away. I want children laughing outside your door, cos they've found the house of Colonel Run-Away," he stood up and pointed at him, "And, when people come to you, and ask if trying to get to me through the people I love... is in any way a good idea... I want you to tell them your name. Oh, look! I'm angry. That's new-" his voice hardened, as did his eyes. He walked up to the man and looked him in the eyes, his lips curling into a smirk when the Colonel visibly gulped. "I'm really not sure what's going to happen now."

Two more Silurians walked into the control room and with them came Kovarian. Despite her situation, she didn't seem that upset. "The anger of a good man is not a problem. Good men have too many rules," she had the foul decency to speak.

The Doctor slowly looked back at her. He forgot about the Colonel and moved onto her instead. "Good men don't need rules. Today is not the day to find out why I have so many."

Kovarian glanced at Manton calmly. "Give the order," she surprised everyone in the room with that statement, "Give the order Colonel Run-Away."

~ 0 ~

Amy was surprised as she heard a knocking on the door. She was pretty nervous given what was going on downstairs. Quickly, she tried to find something to use for protection, "Who's that? Who's there?" she called and picked up a thermometer, eyeing it with hesitation, "You watch it, cos I'm armed and really dangerous and...cross!" Of course once she heard Rory's voice she froze, wondering if it was truly him. "Rory?"

"Yeah, it's me!" he called back, "Hang on a minute."

"They took her. Rory, they took our baby away," she explained with shame, feeling like it was her fault her baby had been taken away. She should have fought stronger for her daughter.

But the doors slid open to reveal Rory holding Melody in his arms. "Now, Mrs Williams...that is never, ever going to happen."

"Oh, my God. Oh, my God," Amy dashed for him and Melody. She took her daughter into her arms and quickly checked her for any visible injury. "Where's she been, what have they done to her..."

"She's fine. Amy, she's fine. I checked," Rory promised her. As soon as he had his daughter in arms, he made sure that she was safe and clear of any mark. He didn't want to let her go until he was with Amy. "She's beautiful. Oh God, I was going to be cool. I wanted to be cool. Look at me." The tears just kept pooling in his eyes.

Amy laughed at him but she was crying too. "Crying Roman with a baby, definitely cool. Come here, you!" she grabbed him with her free arm and kissed him.

The Doctor had found the room but not with a pretty view. "Ugh, kissing and crying, I'll be back in a bit."

"Oi, you," Rory snapped his fingers at him. "Get in here, now." The Doctor shrugged and happily came into the room. "My daughter. What do you think?"

The baby could barely blink at him but she did squeal, although he didn't think it was for her. She was just happy to see people that weren't so mean to her mother.

"Hello. Hello, baby," the Doctor waved at the baby girl.

"Melody," Amy cut in.

"Melody! Hello, Melody Pond! "

"Melody Williams," Rory was getting tired of the name switches.

"..is a geography teacher," Amy shook her head, "Melody Pond is a superhero!"

The Doctor leaned over to listen as Melody gurgled, "Well, yes, I suppose she does smell nice. Never really sniffed her, maybe I should give it a go. Amelia Pond, c'mere!" he hugged the new mother.

"Doctor!" she exclaimed.

"I'm sorry we were so long."

"It's OK, I knew you were coming. All of you," Amy smiled but her eyes did search behind the two men. "Well, where's Avalon? She needs to meet my daughter. She's got a lot of singing to do cos this one-" she nodded to Melody, "-likes the singing!"

"Um, Avalon's a bit indisposed right now," the Doctor's eyes flickered to the side. "Actually, I was thinking of letting her burn this place down afterwards and see if that'll cool her down."

Amy arched an eyebrow at him but since he was looking at her now, she turned her attention to Rory. "What did you two do?" she assumed they were both in on it, otherwise Rory would be upset.

"The necessary," Rory answered without hesitation. He stood by all the choices they'd made so far. "Avalon's going to be safe."

"Doctor! Take a look," Vastra entered the room, "They're leaving," and she pointed at the large glass window on the side of the room, "Demons Run is ours without a drop of blood spilled. My friend, you have never risen higher!" she cheered while the Doctor looked out and saw the army leaving the base.

Though behind him, Rory swallowed hard when he remembered River's words earlier.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor had made a hasty return to the control room, along with Vastra, when he heard Lena's voice frantically calling through the speakers. When the hell did Lena get out of the TARDIS? And if she was out of the TARDIS then Avalon...

"I'm so sorry!" Lena practically cried to him when he reached the control room. "She just...she saw the soldiers taking the baby and she ran out to help!"

"Course she would," the Doctor rubbed a hand over his face. "Okay, okay, it's fine because..." he laughed nervously, "The soldiers are leaving anyways and-and everything is safe. Everyone is safe. She is safe."

"Um, Doctor?" Dorium called from his seat. "I've hacked into the software. Wasn't very complicated given that I sold it to them. But I've, uh, I've found something interesting."

"More interesting than this entire place and plan of that woman's?" Lena asked, thinking it probably paled to everything they'd gone through so far. "And did you know there's Silence here? The Sapling told me that!"

"There are no Silence here, Lena," the Doctor said dismissively as he gazed at the screen.

"I thought that too but the Sapling was very adamant that I told him to remind me."

"Lena, let's focus on the plans here and then we'll see about the Silence."

Lena agreed but only because the Doctor already seemed so lost on whatever was on the screen. "So, what is it, then?"

"It's records about the child," Dorium replied. "They are very extensive."

"They've been scanning her since she was born and I think they found what they were looking for," Dorium pulled up a tab on the large screen with a DNA module.

"Human DNA," the Doctor assumed as he moved closer with Lena.

"Look closer," Vastra instructed, "Human plus. Specifically...human plus Time Lord."

"But that's..." Lena looked at the Doctor, "Did I get my biology wrong or..."

"She's human," the Doctor blinked, just as confused as Lena was. He didn't even know why they were having this conversation in the first place. "She's Amy and Rory's daughter."

"You told me about your people. They became what they did through prolonged exposure to the time vortex," Vastra reminded, "The untempered schism..."

"Over billions of years, it didn't just happen!"

"So how close is she? Could she even regenerate?"

"No, no! I don't think so..."

Vastra raised an eyebrow, "You don't sound so sure."

"Because I don't understand how this happened!" the Doctor snapped at her and looked back at the screen again with no clue in his mind. None of it made sense!

"Which leads me to ask... when did it happen?"

"When?" Lena raised an eyebrow, "Are you really asking that?"

"I'm afraid so," Vastra nodded.

"When?" the Doctor still hadn't caught up.

"I am trying to be delicate...I know how you can blush," Vastra pointed and Lena couldn't help but giggle, "When did this baby... begin?"

The Doctor's face did indeed flush at the question, "Oh, you mean..."

"Quite."

"Oh c'mon you guys, you're not really gonna sit here and try to pinpoint a time of conception...are you?" Lena looked between the two, almost laughing if the situation wasn't so dire.

"She's right," the Doctor pointed at her, "That's all human-y, private stuff, it just sort of...goes on. They don't put up a balloon, or anything."

"But could the child have begun on the TARDIS, in flight, in the vortex," Vastra began.

"No, no, impossible!" the Doctor cut her off, "It's all running about, sexy fish vampires and blowing up stuff. And Rory wasn't even there at the beginning. Then he was dead, then he didn't exist, then he was plastic. Then I had to reboot the whole universe...long story. So technically the first time they were on the TARDIS together, in this version of reality, was on their..." his eyes widened as the realization struck him.

"Oh..." Lena had also caught up on the date.

"On their what?" Vastra dreaded to ask.

"On their wedding night," the Doctor swallowed hard, "But that doesn't make sense! You can't just cook yourself a Time Lord."

"Of course not, but you gave them one hell of a start and they've been working very hard ever since."

"And they truly have," Dorium agreed before pulling up another screen. "Kovarian's team spreads through time and space, Doctor. They've been keeping record of somebody, alright. Take a look."

The screen page he had was full of a list of names, titles, for documents. Upon a closer look, they were discovered to be videos too.

"Big brother," Lena suddenly called, her voice frail with newfound fear, "Why do all of these have my sister's name on them?"

The Doctor had noticed that detail straightaway. He didn't answer the question as instead he practically pushed Dorium's chair away to take reign over the controls. He started scrolling through the page, finding it to be endlessly filled with different videos and documents. He got more frustrated the longer the list became. Finally, his finger accidentally clicked on one title.

Avalon was a teenager, perhaps fifteen or so, and she was in her school uniform. She was angry as hell - which was confirmation that this was truly Avalon - and raging to Rory about something. The audio wasn't very comprehensible but it was clear when she managed to make a dent against a street pole with her bare fist. The act froze Avalon, and Rory, in her spot. She brought her fist, which was turning purple fast, and then checked the pole to make sure it'd been her who did it.

"She was always so freakishly strong," Lena whispered, eyes fresh with tears as dread took her over.

"...as are some Time Lords," Vastra made her comment knowing the reaction she would get from the Doctor.

"Don't you even go there," he pointed a finger at her face, nearly poking one of her eyes out. "I won't hear such a stupid idea, such a-a completely insane idea!"

"You said the Silence had been after you and your friends for months," Vastra continued calmly despite having the wrath of the man radiating towards her. "Who's to say that they weren't after just one of you? They already had Amy..."

"But this is Avalon!"

"Precisely. What exactly are her medical records?" Vastra's eyes flickered to Lena for the answer.

"U-um, well...I don't know?" the woman meekly answered, shrugging her shoulders. "I mean...I never really saw them. But..." she hated where she was going with the conversation, "There is the fact that she's adopted."

"Really?" Vastra raised a scale-green eyebrow at the Doctor. The man refused to even entertain the idea, so he turned away. "Adopted?"

"Yeah," Lena nodded her head. "I mean, we don't know who her birth mother is and we're not entirely sure if my Dad is her Dad so..."

"There is a possibility that the child..." Vastra purposely didn't finish until the Doctor would finally give her the attention she needed.

"No!" he snapped at her and basically everyone in the room. "Absolutely not! Avalon is not a Time Lord! She's from New Earth! She's not - she's not their daughter! I think I would have noticed if I was carrying the whole family!"

"...but would you have, though?" Lena's meek question made him pause.

He was growing angrier by the second, but his anger wasn't exactly directed at them. It was more to himself. If this was real, and he had missed it...he would never forgive himself. "She can't be Melody because...because her name's not even Melody," he stuttered the answer as if he was now just trying to convince himself it wasn't real.

"Pull up her records, Dorium," Vastra commanded the blue alien. "The infant's and the woman's. If they are the same, Doctor, then this is most certainly not over. In fact, don't you think this was too easy?"

The Doctor's body nearly shook. He couldn't have missed this, no he couldn't have. His head was spiraling though with all the details he knew about Avalon, the ones he couldn't figure out back then.

Her insomnia?

Time Lords didn't need that much sleep. He went about a week or two without it. Avalon went days without it.

Time Lords had more strength than the average human. Avalon had always displayed her 'freakish' strength in situations. She wasn't in control of it sometimes but she always made a good show of it.

Time Lords' brains were far different than other species.

"I see things differently, I think differently, my brain is just...wired differently. And nobody seems to be able to catch up." Avalon had told him on the first day she came into the TARDIS that she felt like she was ahead of everyone else, and he didn't see it.

The wire. The wire in her brain that was connected differently, that set her apart from everyone else. Why could she remember things that nobody else could? Amy and Lena forgot about the Daleks and the 27 stolen planets, but Avalon didn't. It was in the back of her mind. Amy forgot about Rory after he was erased from existence, but Avalon was aware that she'd forgotten things.

"Big brother?" Lena cautiously touched his arm. He'd gone off in silence and little by little, the expression on his face changed. "What do you think?"

For a few seconds, everyone waited for him to answer.

She's outside of the TARDIS. His eyes zoomed to the door. 'In fact, don't you think this was too easy?' She was outside. And it was too easy.

"AVALON!" He erupted into terrified screams. He bolted out of the door and ran as fast as he could. "AVALON! AVALON!"

[breannacasey]

Fic Masterpost

Since I just made it to 100 posted works on my ao3 since I created it in January 2014, I thought I’d make a masterpost on here of all of them to celebrate. Also, shameless self promo. I’ll also include some of my upcoming things, because they would make it 100 without counting the translations.

I’ll put them by fandom and in the order I started writing for each fandom. And I’ll put a  ⭐ next to my personal favourites. And 🌟 for my faves of faves.

Fandoms I’ve written for in alphabetical order: 911, 911 Lone Star, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Criminal Minds, Hannibal, Harry Potter, House md, Leverage, Limitless, Lucifer, New Amsterdam, Prodigal Son, Sherlock, Supergirl, Supernatural, White Collar

Total per rating: General (21), Teen and Up (72), Mature (7)

Total per warning: No Archive Warning Applies (85), Chose Not To Use Warnings (1), Major Character Death (10), Graphic Depictions of Violence (3), Rape/Non-Con (1)

Supernatural (10 works)

Let Me Go (series, 2 works, 1 354 words, Teen) Castiel/Dean Winchester: Dean Winchester struggles with suicidal thoughts.

A Crowley Valentine (one shot, 1 899 words, Gen) Castiel/Dean Winchester: It’s Valentine’s Day and Crowley is tired of Dean and Cas not admitting that they’re in love with each other so he decides to take action.

Never Stop Fighting (multi chapter, 9 chapters, 21 274 words, Teen, Graphic Depictions of Violence) Castiel/Dean Winchester, Lucifer/Original Female Character: The brothers go investigate a weird occurrence but they end up rescuing someone who might be able to help them fight Metatron and put heaven back in business. But could she have an agenda of her own?

Demon Love (one shot, 1 117 words, Teen) Castiel/Dean Winchester: Dean uses his demon powers not exactly in the deadly way Crowley had hoped.

There’ll Be Peace When You Are Done (one shot, 1 076 words, Gen, Major Character Death) Castiel/Dean Winchester: Dean dies and goes to heaven

A Different Kind Of Family (one shot, 1 455 words, Teen) Castiel/Dean Winchester: Sam and Dean go on a hunt for what turns out to be zombies.

A Good Combo (multi chapter, 5 chapters, 11 680 words, Teen, Pizza Place AU) Castiel/Dean Winchester and more: Castiel meets Dean at a weird time in his life. He just got out of a relationship and, with the death of one of his siblings, he isn’t sure if he is ready to jump into another one just yet.

Please Stay With Me (one shot, 906 words, Gen) Castiel/Dean Winchester: Set some time after 11X04 “Baby”, Castiel is still staying in the bunker, resting and getting better, but the brothers are barely ever there and Dean won’t even stay in the same room with him.

+ one crossover

Criminal Minds (3 works)

Prentiss’ Secret (one shot, 1 209 words, Teen) Aaron Hotchner/Emily Prentiss: Prentiss left the BAU to work in London. Now she’s coming back to help them, but she has a secret.

Outside The Comfort Of Innocence (one shot, 1 354 words, Teen) Aaron Hotchner/Emily Prentiss : As a kid, Emily Prentiss and her family move in next door to the Hotchners. Hotch and Prentiss grow up best friends, but a dark secret brings the real world into their childhood. ⭐

Everybody Loves Halloween (one shot, 991 words, Gen) Aaron Hotchner/Emily Prentiss, Jennifer Jareau/Will LaMontagne: Emily comes for Halloween and the Hotchners go trick-or-treating with the LaMontagnes.

Sherlock (8 works)

Filling The Holes (series, 6 works, 8 960 words, Gen, Teen and Mature, Major Character Death) Sherlock Holmes/Jim Moriarty: This is a series that goes on in the spaces between what we see on the show. It takes place after Reichenbach Fall. ⭐

John Watson’s Missing Wednesday (one shot, 854 words, Teen) Sherlock Holmes/Jim Moriarty: At the wedding, Sherlock mentioned a time when John missed an entire wednesday without even noticing, what happened that day?

The Dead Are Busy Too (one shot, 618 words, Gen) Sherlock Holmes/Jim Moriarty: Nearly two years after the events of Reichenbach Fall, Moriarty’s network is close to being a thing of the past.

Harry Potter (20 works)

1998, or the year everything changed (series, 18 works, 77 224 words, Gen, Teen and Mature, Major Character Death) Various ships: A series taking place the months following the Battle of Hogwarts. Each story focuses on a different character, but they all interlock with one another. (aka I didn’t like the epilogue so I made my own.) ⭐

Light in the Darkest of Times (one shot, 742 words, Teen) Luna Lovegood/Ginny Weasley: Feeling his constant support of Harry Potter in his magazine might cause the Death Eaters to try something, Xenophilius has Luna stay in Hogwarts for the holidays, thinking she’d be safe there. But things aren’t the same in the castle since Dumbledore’s death.

The Potion Master’s Daughter (multi chapter, 14 chapters, 67 001 words, Teen, Major Character Death) Luna Lovegood/Original Female Character and more: Severus Snape had a daughter several years ago. A year behind the famous Harry Potter, she’ll navigate her years at Hogwarts, punctuated with all kinds of events, like the opening of the Chamber of Secrets, the Triwizard Tournament and Voldemort’s return. 🌟

Hannibal (1 work)

Love and Dogs (one shot, 137 words, Gen) Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter: Hannibal wakes up at Will’s place

Limitless (10 works)

Screw, Marry, No Kill (one shot, 1 317 words, Teen) Brian Finch/Ike, Brian Finch/Mike: Brian thought having a one night stand with a coworker wasn’t a big deal, but not everyone had the same opinion.

Distracting Thoughts (one shot, 1 508, Teen) Brian Finch/Ike: Brian takes too much NZT and suddenly gains the ability to hear thoughts.

Keep You Safe (one shot, 832 words, Teen) Brian Finch/Ike: Set during 1x22 Finale: Part Two!! With Brian under side effects from the NZT, Ike worries for the man’s life.

Undercover! Again! (one shot, 2 601 words, Teen) Brian Finch/Ike: Brian and Ike are sent on an undercover mission, but things don’t exactly go as planned.

Rebecca Harris’s One Sick (Valentine’s) Day (one shot, 1 137 words, Gen) Rebecca Harris/Lucy Church: Rebecca was about to head off to work, but when a surprise visitor shows up at her door, she has another idea.

The Influence A Person Can Have (multi chapter, 3 chapters, 10 340 words, Teen) Brian Finch/Eli Whitford, Brian Finch/Ike: Sometimes, you meet one person and it changes your whole life. Everything else after that would’ve been different. For Brian, it all comes back to that moment he met Eli. It seems some people are simply meant to enter your life at the right moment, to stir you in the right direction. From figuring out who he is to falling in love for the first time to getting his life together and even meeting the love of his life, Brian’s life wouldn’t have been the same. 🌟

A Little Bit of Ice and Rube Goldberg (one shot, 1 875 words, Teen) Brian Finch/Ike: When freezing rain takes over the city, everyone goes home while it’s still safe outside. Brian insists on finishing what he’s working on, forcing both he and Ike to stay alone in the office to weather the storm.

Fulfilled, Not Finished (one shot, 4 861 words, Teen, Major Character Death) Brian Finch/Ike: When the squad finds a potential witness for their case, Ike volunteers himself and Brian to go check it out. But things take a dark turn. ⭐

Curve Ball Field (one shot, 7 196 words, Teen) Brian Finch: When Brian gets kidnapped for ransom, the CJC isn’t clear on how to handle the situation, or how to reassure his family. 🌟

+ one crossover

House (2 works)

Lean On Me (one shot, 1 414 words, Teen, Major Character Death) Gregory House/James Wilson: A short evolution of House and Wilson’s relationship, from their first meeting to their last. ⭐

Don’t You Know I Care? (one shot, 1 364 words, Teen) Gregoy House/James Wilson: House ended up in a hospital bed, again, but this time the familiar face of Wilson is missing from his bedside.

Supergirl (4 works)

My Hero (one shot, 650 words, Gen) Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor: When Lena gets pushed off her balcony, Supergirl is there to rescue her once again.

When It Starts (one shot, 1 908 words, Gen) Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor: Lena loves being Kara’s friend, but she wouldn’t say no to being more than that.

Hero in Need of Saving (one shot, 2 180 words, Teen) Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor: When a gunman shows up at Catco, Kara gets hurt and ends up stuck in the elevator with Lena and some kryptonite. ⭐

If I Could Find The Way Up (multi chapters, 3 chapters, 4 959 words, Teen) Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor: Lena Luthor is depressed and she doesn’t understand what she calls an obsession for Kara Danvers. Kara who keeps cutting their time together short, maybe on purpose. Lena is struggling to deal with all that pain she feels inside and trying to figure out what she feels around Kara might mean.

Lucifer (1 work)

Grow On Me (one shot, 4 051 words, Mature, College AU) Lucifer Morningstar, Marcus Pierce: Lucifer and Marcus are college roommates. When Lucifer learns Marcus doesn’t have plans for the holidays, he convinces him to come to a cabin with him and pretend to be his boyfriend to get his siblings off his back. ⭐

Prodigal Son (7 works)

Bright Ideas (one shot, 3 560 words, Teen, Graphic Depictions of Violence) Malcolm Bright/JT Tarmel: Because Malcolm is Malcolm, he goes after a suspect on his own and gets taken. And then JT helps.

Unleashed (multi chapter, 8 chapters, 53 452 words, Mature, Graphic Depictions of Violence) Gil Arroyo & Malcolm Bright, Malcolm Bright & Martin Whitly, Gil Arroyo & Martin Whitly, Gil Arroyo/Jessica Whitly: Martin Whitly has escaped. He is finally free to get back at those who have hurt him. Everyone is anxious for him to be found and locked up again. And worried about what he might be planning to do. 🌟

On An Island (one shot, 1 704 words, Teen) Malcolm Bright: While on vacation, Malcolm finds he misses home and reflects on the past.

Shivers and Soup (one shot, 1 340 words, Gen) Malcolm Bright & Dani Powell, Malcolm Bright & Ainsley Whitly, Dani Powell/Ainsley Whitly: Malcolm has a cold and is sent home

Hold You Close (one shot, 2 077 words, Teen) Dani Powell/Ainsley Whitly: Ainsley gets injured while covering the team’s latest case and Dani decides to check on her.

Only One Safe (one shot, 2 609 words, Teen) Dani Powell/Ainsley Whitly, Malcolm Bright & Ainsley Whitly:  When blackouts spread across the city, Malcolm’s friends lock him up to make sure he won’t get himself into trouble. He worries about everyone else.

+ one crossover

911 Lone Star (12 works)

Stranded in Smoke (one shot, 2 339 words, Teen) Carlos Reyes/TK Strand, Owen Strand & TK Strand: During a fire, the floor collapses under TK’s feet, his radio stops working and he finds himself completely separated from the rest of the crew.

There For You (one shot, 1 235 words, Gen) Carlos Reyes/TK Strand: When Carlos doesn’t show up to work and cancels their plans, TK wants to make sure he’s okay.

Not Your Choice (one shot, 3 236 words, Teen) Carlos Reyes/TK Strand: A man holds up TK’s therapist office and Carlos is the officer sent in to deal with it.

My Only Sunshine (one shot, 2 553 words, Teen) Carlos Reyes/TK Strand: Carlos gets hurt while pursuing a suspect and, despite Michelle’s advice, he insists he’s fine and doesn’t need to go to the hospital. He is wrong.⭐

Late Night Bruises (one shot, 2 385 words, Teen) Carlos Reyes/TK Strand: TK gets himself into trouble, but Carlos is there to help.

Classic Happiness (one shot, 1 021 words, Teen) Carlos Reyes/TK Strand: TK invites Carlos over to the house for their first actual date.

Don’t Leave Me (one shot, 2 384 words, Teen, Major Character Death) Owen Strand & TK Strand, Carlos Reyes/TK Strand: TK had been the one unconscious, on the edge of death before, and he knew it had to hurt for those around him, but he never fully understood what it felt like until he was the one standing over someone he cared deeply about, begging for them to wake up.

A Long Day (one shot, 4 245 words, Teen) Carlos Reyes/TK Strand, Marjan Marwani & Paul Strickland, Marjan Marwani & TK Strand: Some days, nothing truly bad happens, but without anything good either, small things pile up and drag you down.

Pain Leaves Traces (multi chapter, 3 chapters, 5 958 words, Teen) Carlos Reyes/TK Strand, Owen Strand & TK Strand: TK is getting closer to Carlos, but there is still a part of himself he’d rather he didn’t know about.

Stay Behind, Make A Friend (one shot, 524 words, Gen) Carlos Reyes & Paul Strickland: Paul is alone at the firehouse when Carlos shows up, so they hang out.

Another Heart Robbery (one shot, 4 886 words, Teen) Carlos Reyes/TK Strand: When the building he’s robbing catches fire, Carlos thinks he’s the most unlucky man on Earth. Then comes a very handsome firefighter.  🌟

Off Balance (multi chapter, in progress, 8/10 chapters, 10 399 words and counting, Teen) Carlos Reyes/TK Strand, Carlos Reyes & Michelle Blake: What Carlos thinks is a simple cut, turns out to be much worse. 🌟

Leverage (4 works)

The Past Job (one shot, 1 565 words, Mature, Rape/Non-Con) Damien Moreau/Eliot Spencer: Damien Moreau learns Eliot wants to leave his organisation. He decides to deal with it himself, and why not enjoy it while he’s at it. ⭐

The Protection Job (one shot, 1 785 words, Teen) Alec Hardison/Parker/Eliot Spencer: Eliot falls off a roof during a job, leaving Parker and Hardison unprotected. ⭐

+ two crossovers

911 (15 works)

In My Heart (one shot, 2 410 words, Teen) Evan Buckley/Eddie Diaz: While on a call, Buck gets exposed to a toxic substance and it makes Eddie put things into perspective.

Worry, Worry, Worry (one shot, 3 238 words, Teen) Evan Buckley/Eddie Diaz: No matter how many times Buck gets told that he will be safe, when Eddie accepts to be serial killer bait, Buck worries about him. ⭐

Who’s First? (one shot, 1 322 words, Gen) Evan Buckley/Eddie Diaz, Howie Han & Hen Wilson: Hen and Chimney bet on who, between Buck and Eddie, will be the one to make the first move.

A Gay Old Time at the Mini Golf (one shot, 2 004 words, Teen) Hen Wilson/Karen Wilson, Evan Buckley & Hen Wilson & Karen Wilson & Michael Grant: When Buck gets woken up by the sounds of people in his apartment, he doesn’t expect the day to turn out so fun.

When Things Are Bad, Better To Laugh It Off (one shot, 1 525 words, Teen) Howie Han & Tommy Kinard, Howie Han & Hen Wilson: The story of how Howie Han became Chimney.

His First Choice (one shot, 1 209 words, Teen) Evan Buckley/Eddie Diaz: Buck feels lonely, like everyone around him has a family, someone who cares about them more than anything, but he doesn’t. Turns out he is wrong. ⭐ 

Always Come By (one shot, 1 196 words, Gen) Evan Buckley & Bobby Nash: Bobby’s afternoon alone is cut short when a sad Buck shows up at his doorstep. ⭐ 

Beautifully Cold (one shot, 1 463 words, Gen) Bobby Nash & Grant Family, Athena Grant/Bobby Nash: The Grant-Nash family goes on a trip to Minnesota in the middle of winter.

Give Her The Comfort She Needs (multi chapter, 2 chapters, 2 912 words, Teen) Evan Buckley & Maddie Buckley, Evan Buckley/Eddie Diaz: Eddie, Buck and Christopher are having a morning like many others when Maddie shows up to take her brother to a funeral he doesn’t seem keen on attending.

Let Me Take Care Of You (one shot, 596 words, Gen) Maddie Buckley/Howie Han: Maddie is sick and Chimney takes care of her.

Loving Exasperation (one shot, 571 words, Gen) Evan Buckley & Maddie Buckley: Maddie comes home for Thanksgiving during her first semester of college. ⭐

At Least We Have Each Other (one shot, 666 words, Teen, Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings) Howie Han & Karen Wilson: Something happened to Hen during a call and Chimney is the one to deliver the news to Karen.

Wait Happy (one shot, 650 words, Gen) Maddie Buckley/Howie Han: After they learn about it themselves, Chimney and Maddie have to wait to tell the others about the pregnancy.

Gratefully Together (one shot, 632 words, Gen) May Grant & Michael Grant: Michael helps May move into her dorm room.

Barbie Boy (one shot, 618 words, Mature) Evan Buckley/Eddie Diaz: Buck’s karaoke performance has quite the effect on Eddie

Crossovers

Supernatural and Buffy the Vampire Slayer:

Nobody Picked The Family Business (multi chapter, 6 chapters, 14 796 words, Teen) Dawn Summers/Sam Winchester, Tara Maclay/Willow Rosenberg, Spike/Buffy Summers, Castiel/Dean Winchester: When Sam doesn’t get a scholarship to Stanford, John lets him go to UC Sunnydale, hoping all the stuff going on there will convince him to keep hunting.⭐

White Collar, Leverage and Limitless:

The Grey Area Job (multi chapter, 4 chapters, 15 992 words, Teen) Neal Caffrey/Eliot Spencer, Sophie Devereaux/Nate Ford, Alec Hardison/Parker, Brian Finch/Ike: When he and Peter encounter a particularly complicated case, Neal calls his friend, Sophie Devereaux, for help.

White Collar and Leverage:

The Informant Job (one shot, 2 675 words, Teen) Neal Caffrey/Eliot Spencer: While searching a warehouse, Eliot finds himself in a situation he wasn’t expecting.

Prodigal Son and New Amsterdam:

Stay Right Here (one shot, 5 129 words, Teen) Malcolm Bright, Iggy Frome: After being kidnapped, Malcolm ends up at New Amsterdam to get treated for his injuries.⭐

Traductions

Du Poison (vf de Poison, Supernatural)

Je Tiens à Toi (vf de Don’t You Know I Care?, House)

Quelqu’un Sur Qui Compter (vf de Lean On Me, House)

Une Vie que Personne ne Choisit (vf de Nobody Picked The Family Business, Supernatural, Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

Soon

Henren Week: Everything I Need (one shot, 534 words, Gen) Hen Wilson/Karen Wilson: Hen and Karen enjoy a quiet day off together. ⭐ 

Buddie Week: Good Things Don’t Come Easy (one shot, 1 272 words, Teen) Evan Buckley/Eddie Diaz: Eddie couldn’t fall for someone like Evan Buckley, but the heart hardly ever listens to logic. ⭐

Buddie Week: How To Handle Friendship With Smart Idiots (one shot, 836 words, Teen) Evan Buckley/Eddie Diaz: Carla is tired of watching Buck and Eddie being oblivious about their feelings for each other, so she decides to get involved.

Tarlos Week: The Best Farmer’s Market Find (one shot, 810 words, Gen) Carlos Reyes/TK Strand, Carlos Reyes & Owen Strand: TK wakes up to the sounds of his dad making breakfast, not alone. ⭐

Owen Strand Week: Snow Day in Austin (one shot, 1 060 words, Gen) Owen Strand & TK Strand: Owen has been feeling down and missing the New York winter, but he has an amazing son.

Evan Buckley Week: Under The Stars (one shot, 532 words, Gen) Evan Buckley & Christopher Diaz: Buck and Christopher go camping. 

[marvelsdc22]

The Professor And I (pt. 16)

Intro: Hello lovelies!! I hope you guys are having a good day/night!! I can’t believe we’re almost done with the series!! It’s crazy that there’s just one more part to this, anyways! Enjoy!! :)

Note: Y/N is gender neutral. Lena is a professor. Y/N is a student. Everything is revealed!

Word Count: 1194

Part 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

A few nights after the events of Thanksgiving, you were back at the university for one more week of classes before finals week, you walked into your Neuro class and looked around, your seat having been taken due to you being later than usual and Alex having not been able to save it so you found a spot that was unfortunately in the front row, Alex giving you a worried look as you passed your usual row before you plopped down in your chair and quickly averted your eyes when Lena looked over at you, her frowning before she cleared her throat and turned to the class “Alright class, one reminder don’t forget to finish up your group projects-“ Lena said, getting cut off by most of the students groaning “I know, but if you listened, you and your assigned partner should either be done or close to done” Lena said, looking around at all of you and you turning to locate your partner who looked at you as well ‘After class?’ Winn mouthed, looking at you and you nodded and gave him a thumbs up before focusing back on the lecture.

After the class, you stood up and packed up your things before turning and nearly running into Winn “Sorry” he chuckled, taking a step back and walking with you out of the classroom and feeling Lena’s stare as you walked out “Library work for you?” You asked, looking at Winn and watching him nod “Library sounds good” he said, following you out and the two of you making it to the library before setting all your things down “How much more do we have?” Winn asked as he opened up his laptop, looking at you as you opened yours “Maybe a quarter left? You don’t have anymore classes do you?” You asked, looking at him and watching him smile and shake his head “Nope, I’m all yours” he assured, pulling up the presentation you two were working on before hooking his laptop to the HDMI cord that connected it to the screen that was at the end of your table “Lets get started, shall we?” He suggested, glancing at you before the two of you got to work.

A few hours later, at Lena’s office, she was looking through the photos she was sent, it being the pictures that were taken a while back of the two of you making out on her couch in the office, her sighing as she pushed them away and reread the letter that was in front of her:

End the relationship or we’ll leak these and both your lives will be ruined, that and we’ll hurt your little lover

-       Unknown

“I can’t let them scare me… They shouldn’t hurt them now” Lena muttered, jumping when she heard a knock on her door and glancing at the time 11:00pm ‘Who would be here at this hour?’ Lena thought to herself before she stood up and opened the door “Alex? Kara? What are you two doing here so late?” Lena asked, raising an eyebrow at the two standing in front of her and Alex glared at her as she crossed her arms “Where’s Y/N? We haven’t seen them since I left class and they aren’t answering my messages” Alex said, glaring at Lena who raised a delicate eyebrow “I have no idea, I haven’t talked to them since we… Broke up” Lena said, saying the last part quietly and watching Kara’s brow furrow in worry “The last we heard they were going to the library to work with Winn on a project… We checked there but no one is there minus a few other students” Kara said, looking at Lena whos face shifted to worry “You said they were with Winn?” She asked, quickly turning around and going to search through her papers to find Winn’s paper then comparing it to the letter she had just received before break “No no no no” Lena muttered, looking between the two handwritings and seeing them matching “What? Is Y/N in danger?” Alex asked, taking the papers from Lena and looking at them “I swear to god if something happens to them” Alex said, glaring at Lena as she set the papers down “I knew I shouldn’t of let them out of my sight” Lena said, beginning to pace before Alex put her hands on Lenas shoulder and forced her to stop “Are. They. In. Danger” Alex seethed, glaring at Lena who closed her eyes before nodding “More than likely” she whispered.

An hour earlier at the library “I’m gonna go get some water, need anything?” You asked, setting your book down as you stood up and stretched “I’m good, thanks though” Winn said, glancing at you and you nodded before heading towards where the vending machines were, coming back a few moments later to Winn on the phone “I don’t want to do this” he said, you watching as he ran a hand through his hair and seeming conflicted “I-“ he said before you spoke up “Winn? What do you not want to do?” You asked, looking at him and watching his face turn guilty “I’m so sorry, Y/N” he said, looking at something over your shoulder and before you could turn around you felt a flash of pain to the back of your head before everything went dark.

Back at Lena’s office “What do you mean ‘more than likely’?!” Kara asked, looking at Lena as Alex grabbed the collar of Lena’s shirt “Let me go and I’ll tell you everything” Lena said, looking at Alex who huffed but released Lena and started pacing “Well?” Alex asked, looking at Lena and gesturing for her to get on with it, they were running out of time to find you, watching as Lena went and shuffled through her things “Here’s all that I know… A number has been messaging me about how I needed to stop seeing them, I think it’s the same number that has been trying to get ahold of Y/N” Lena said, letting them read over the messages before continuing “I had the police look into it and they found the location of where the messages were being sent and I knew it could only be one person…”

When you started waking up, you felt yourself laying on cold ground and blinked a bit to get used to the bright light that was in what you assumed was a room that you were in, wincing as you slowly sat up and looked around, going to move your hands when you felt and heard heavy chains around your wrists “What the hell?” You asked, turning and seeing yourself chained to a wall, whipping your heard around with a groan when you heard someone sliding a key into your door before it opened “Ah, I see you’re awake” the person said, having a sneer on there face as they walked closer to you, their heels clicking on the concrete floor with every step before she kneeled down and cupped your face “I see why Lena would want you… But, let me introduce myself… Welcome to your hell, I’m Lillian Luthor”.

Permanent Taglist: @rianncreates​​​​ / @5aftermidnight​​​​

Supergirl Taglist: @x-danvers-x​​​​ / @aznblossom​​​​

Lena Taglist: @life2-live​​​​ / @supergirl-imaginess​​​​ / @ianarec

The Professor And I: @youngandwildx7​​​​ / @youlookterribleilookawesome​​​​ / @ironsnowstorm​​​​ / @rebornpoet​​​​ / @scottishgirl1998​​

End Note: I hope you guys enjoyed this part! I had a blast writing it!! If you want to be added to a Taglist, shoot me a DM or and Ask!! And as always, have a good day/night!! :)

Requests Open

[laurazepamwrites]

The chemicals between us ~ Chapter 11

Mei stood nervously outside Commander Morrisons office, her hand hanging in the air hesitant to knock. She had worked on her report for at least four hours and was fuelled by Junkrats encouragement. Now the moment had come to actually give her Commander the information she had found and the fear of rejection blocked her path. Should she even bring up the desire to go or trust Morrison to give her the task himself? What if she came across as desperate? All these questions spiked her anxiety as she stared at the door, hand in the air. A sudden knocking noise made her jump as Snowball took the initiative and tapped itself lightly against the door. ‘ Snowball !’ Mei mouthed as Morrison gave permission to enter from the otherside. She scowled at her droid and took a deep breath before entering.

Jack looked up as she entered, ‘Ah Mei, you have the report? Im impressed. I was expecting it by tomorrow at least.’

‘Y-Yes Sir.’ Mei entered and shut the door on Snowball. ‘ Serves you right .’ She thought as she approached the Commanders desk and handed him her report. ‘I've actually discovered a pattern of disappearances Sir, recently too, one of them is a rather famous Omnic.’

Jack nodded his acknowledgement as he studied her report leaving mei to anxiously bite her nails. ‘ He’s going to hate it, this is all a waste of time, why did I listen to that damn Junker!’ It felt like an eternity was passing before he finally gave an encouraging nod. ‘Er Mei? You can sit down you know..’

‘Oh!’ She hastily sat herself down and smoothed out her jumper and leggings absentmindedly as Jack waited patiently for her to get more settled. ‘You’ve done good work here Mei, and I agree. I think you have definitely found a lead here. If Null sector are nearby this can't be good. I’ll get Athena to get as much from the arrest report as she can and will assemble a surveillance team to head to Calais-’

‘I'll go!’ She blurted out.

‘Excuse me?’

‘Sorry! Sorry Sir, its just..I did the research and compiled a report. I volunteered myself, I think it's only fair I also go on the mission.’

Morrison sighed.. ‘Mei i'm not sure this is the best time to-’

‘No! Im- Im being assertive! And I’m putting my foot down! Give me one good reason why I shouldn't be allowed to go on a recon mission sir! You can't expect me to be cooped up here all the time doing nothing! I mean..You let the Junkers go and they're not even Overwatch!’

Jack held a hand up ‘Mei you've made some valid points but might i suggest you take a small breather whilst i explain some things?’

Mei chewed the inside of her lip and nodded.

‘Winston took you and Lena to Paris after reports of Omnic attacks yes? I heard it was quite the reunion..however you got injured, It could have been more serious if Dr Zeigler were not present. You're not a soldier Mei, you're not trained in any forms of combat. I have a team to look after and that involves making sure everyone here is as safe as possible. I understand you're frustrated, it must be hard feeling like you can't help but I've been speaking to Winston and-

‘Sir do you know I spent 2 weeks alone on an ecopoint with hardly any power?’ She said cooly.

‘I am aware-’

‘Do you know I spent over a week in the Antarctic with nothing but a tent and a weapon I made from scratch to get to the nearest point of civilization?’

‘Mei Im trying to-’

‘Why does everyone here think i'm some kind of doll?! I've proven I'm resourceful, that I can handle a gun that creates Ice for goodness sake and I'm not a bad shot either!’

‘Mei Im sending you to Calais.’ Morrisons voice spoke over hers.

‘I...what?’

‘As I was trying to explain...We can't play to our strengths if we don't use all of the team. I've spoken to Winston and he agrees, you were critical in the success in Paris and rather formidable with that gun and droid of yours. We do however have one concern..’

‘Which is..?’ She asked, but Mei already knew the question. She was waiting for it ever since she first arrived.

‘How are you Mei? Really? After what happened to your team?’

‘I..’ Mei hesitated and considered her answer. ‘It..It was hard to adjust. I've been gone for ten years, It's been hard but honestly I'm doing so much better now..’ She tried to sound optimistic. She could barely convince herself that was true.

Morrison seemed unconvinced himself. ‘Have you seen anyone professionally? To talk to I mean?’

‘I did see a therapist a few times..and I felt a lot better.’ That was only half true. She had seen someone but she had struggled to talk about the loss she felt, the guilt, the anger, the sadness when she desperately tried not to feel those things. She stopped going eventually, she threw herself into her work and it helped keep the dark away.

Morrison looked doubtful..'it was a terrible thing that happened Mei, have you spoken to anyone here? Winston? Angela?'

Mei almost scoffed. Winston had tried to talk to her but as usual she closed up, something about having no idea they were in trouble and everything appeared to be running smoothly at the ecopoint. She had made her excuses and left before he could explain further, not wanting to hear how he had thought all was well when her team were dead around her. After that he had given her her space leaving her to come to him if she needed to talk about what happened, but she never did.

'I don't need to talk to anyone sir, I'm fine.' She said firmly.

'You don't seem yourself Mei..'

'With all due respect Sir we are up against a well funded terrorist organisation who outnumber us 100 to 1. I'm sure I can be forgiven for 'not being myself' sometimes.'

'Hmm good point. Very well Mei if you think you are up to this then I see no reason why you can’t go for recon. It will be good for you to get more experience in the field, I'll make sure a senior member will be on the mission with you.’

Her eyes lit up ‘Really? You mean it!’ She couldn't help but beam.

Morrison chuckled lightly ‘I wish more of you was this enthusiastic. I’ll discuss your report with Ana and Winston. Keep an ear out, Athena will call you to a mission briefing by tomorrow.’

Mei Jumped from her seat. ‘Xie xie! Thank you! Thank you Commander Morrison! I can't wait for the briefing! Opps, I mean..I know it's serious but you know what I mean?’

‘You're dismissed Mei.’ Jack said patiently.

‘Oh! Yes Sir! Thank you! Thank you again!’ She closed the door behind her, waiting those few seconds for her brain to catch up on what had just happened. ‘I did it Snowball!’ She grabbed her droid from the air and spun him around gleefully.  

Jack smiled briefly at the sound of Mei celebrating but it was short lived, his expression darkened as he accessed his computer, once again bringing up the secret communications with the stranger.

: So….guess you're still pretty mad about Bryansk?

  :You gave away our position and could have lost us everything.’

  :And I heard it was handled well enough. Talon now has a lot less weapons.

  :What's the reason you’re contacting me?

  :I think I'm being watched. More than usual.

  :What do you mean?’

  :They are getting suspicious here, and I think i'm in danger. Im sorry..i need to give them what they want sometimes, Im just warning you need to lay low for awhile but ill still be working my magic one way or another.’

  :Understood, A little warning next time.’

  :Sometimes we don't have that luxury friend. Adios.’

The screen went black leaving Jack staring at his expression etched with trepidation.

                    --------------------------------------------------------------                                            

The next Morning Mei hovered at the entrance to the large meeting room, she was early by about twenty minutes and now anxious that she would appear too eager. She started to bite her nails when she heard the click of heels approaching, turning to the sound she was greeted by the sight of Angela, her blonde hair up in a messy ponytail and holding two mugs in her hands, a small folder of paper under one arm. ‘Ah good you’re here. I was hoping you would be early, unless you like cold coffee.’ The blonde woman said brightly.

Mei felt more at ease and was thankful someone expected her to be early. ‘Are you on the Calais mission Angela?’ She asked, taking one of the mugs with a smile of thanks and holding the door open.

‘Ja, would be good to stretch my legs as i'm sure you can appreciate, and as this is a surveillance mission Jack felt a less inconspicuous look would be more suitable.’ Angela replied. The two women sat beside each other at the large round table. Angela began rifling through the papers, Mei took a drink from her mug and glanced over, realizing it was her report. ‘Is it.Is it ok?’ She asked.

‘Hmm?’ Angela looked up at her. ‘Ah yes! You’ve done a fine report, and you found a good lead too. With Athena's assistance we may be able to locate the addresses of those who have reported missing Omnics.’ She took a quick sip from her mug. ‘Oh and well done on noticing the Activist artist had vanished.’

Mei pursed her lips. ‘Yes well, that might not have been so much me..but I did most of the work!’

Angela raised an inquisitive eyebrow at her and waited for her to continue. Mei tapped her fingers on the table in irritation before blurting out her grievances. ‘That damn Junker walks in with that smug attitude like he owns the place and starts poking fun like he always does and - and he set a fire somewhere! Did you know that? I should tell the Commander.. Anyway, I might have been feeling at a loss trying to find some leads and he just takes over and-!’ Mei waved one of her hands at the report and took a rather angry slurp of her coffee. Angela tried not to laugh at her friend. ‘I see.’ She said, suppressing a smile and occupying herself with tidying the papers in front of her.

‘Is that all? Do I need to mention he found some information on the report or not?

‘No, but did you thank him?’

‘I..no.’

‘Maybe start with that.’

‘But he’s a jerk.’

‘And it was only a few days ago he was in my office complaining about you..honestly, you are as bad as each other.

Mei looked shocked at the accusation ‘Angela! We are nothing alike! For starters he’s an international criminal! He’s grown up completely feral! He’s-What did he say about me?!’ She didnt get her answer as they both looked up as everyone else entered. ‘We’ll discuss this another time.’ Said Angela, still trying not to laugh. Mei huffed, folded her arms and scowled sideways at her friend.

‘Good morning ladies.’ Ana said cheerfully as she joined them at the table followed by Commander Morrison and Winston. They were each carrying a copy of Mei’s report.

‘So..’ Ana began. ‘Thanks to Dr Zhou we have a promising lead in Calais. We try to keep such missions of intelligence gathering to as small a number as possible to avoid detection but as this is not your field Mei we will send Angela along with you. I think you both can keep a low profile as sightseers.’

‘It's a simple enough mission.’ Said Morrison. ‘Gather as much intelligence as possible regarding missing Omnics and Null sector. Don't mention Overwatch or Talon to anyone to avoid suspicion. We will arrange a hotel and car hire under false names and identification, you’ll have 24 hours in the city before pick up.’

‘ I have gained access to the addresses of the Omnics who have filed missing reports for your convenience .’ Offered Athena.

‘Angela will be going with a concealed weapon but that will be the only one available. It would be too risky for Mei to have her weapon with her, and to be on the safe side maybe it's best to leave your droid behind Mei so you are less recognizable’

‘Oh..’ Mei sounded unsure. Snowball was her near constant companion, it would be odd to have him so far away from her. ‘If it's ok Commander, can he come along but remain at the hotel?’ Morrison thought for a moment before grunting and nodding his head in agreement. Mei let out a small sigh of relief.

‘When do we depart?’ Asked Angela.

‘Athena has discovered that an Omnics right rally is due to happen in 3 days time. Maybe you can get more information there.’ Offered Winston.

‘Good idea.’ Agreed Ana. ‘Lena will take you there the night before, make sure you’re both ready for departure.’

‘Yes Captain.’ Mei replied.

‘Keep your wits about you and be careful.’ Warned Morrison. ‘Omnic rallys can potentially become heated and France has had its fair share of violence lately as you both know. Watch each other's backs out there.’

Angela nodded in agreement, ‘You can count on us Commander.’

              ------------------------------------------------------------------

Snowball glided along the corridor towards the common room followed closely by Mei and Angela. ‘...And you may want to learn a couple phrases of french if you don't already. Oh and I will need to stop by the City of lace and fashion.’ Angela was saying as she walked in step with Mei who looked up at her in puzzlement. ‘It's a museum, oh and we best see the museum of fine arts too.’

‘Erm..don't you think we should be working on the mission?’

Angela chuckled. ‘Ah Mei, we’re undercover. We should play the part, and if we have souvenirs and shopping bags we will look much less suspicious.’

‘Shopping bags huh?’

‘Well..I would like some new shoes at least.’ Angela shrugged as they walked into the common room together. There was evidence of early breakfasts having been made, a near empty jar of peanut butter on the side. Hana, Jamison and Lucio were heard laughing on the decking outside enjoying the morning sun.

‘Now's your Chance Mei.’ Said Angela who had begun washing their mugs in the sink.

‘Hmm?’

Angela nodded towards the glass doors that lead to the outside seating area. ‘To thank him.’

‘Right now?’

Angela did not answer, she dried her hands on a nearby tea towel and raised her eyebrows at Mei as she strode past her and opened the door to the decking. Mei’s eyes widened in alarm as her so-called friend brazenly greeted the group and informed Jamison that she wished to speak to him inside. Jamison had surely said something because Hana and Lucio were now laughing, she overheard Hana jokingly say ‘ Ding ding  round fifty!’

‘What was that!’ She hissed at Angela as soon as the blonde turned back around. She had no time for an answer as Jamison was quick to follow Angela, looking grumpy at what he assumed was going to be a telling off. The scowl on Mei’s face was not helpful.

‘Fucks sake, whatever it is I didn't do alright? Well..might of? Look just have your moan woman and get it over with!’

‘Well I suppose since you brought it up maybe you could explain why i found a service droid with most of its mechanics taken out..?’

‘Hey my experiments are none of your business!’

‘Oh so it was you!’

At that point Angela made a rather dramatic show of clearing her throat, Mei rolled her eyes and sighed deeply to compose herself. ‘Okay..okay look. I didn't want to fight..’

‘Really? You've made a fine job of that.’

‘For goodness sake! I'm trying to say thanks!’

Junkrat stared at her, the confusion visible on his face as he processed what Mei had said. ‘What the fuck are you talking about?’ He said eventually.

Mei started to lace her fingers together, suddenly feeling shy and looking to her feet. ‘You erm..you actually did help me. With the missing Omnics I mean, and I took your advice, I did see the Commander and I'm going on the mission to Calais for recon. I ..I guess I wouldn't have had such success without your help, so honestly, thank you Jamison.’

She expected him to scoff or make fun or to laugh at her, but instead what he did gave her a strange sudden warmth in her stomach. He smiled, not one of his manic grins when he set something on fire or blew up one of his explosives and neither was it the kind of smile when he joked around with Hana and Lucio or had a few too many drinks with McCree and Torbjorn. He was genuinely smiling at her and she felt like she was truly seeing his face for the first time.

‘That's Brilliant Mei! See I told you didnt I! You just gotta puff yourself up and make yourself heard! Honestly, made up for ya! When are you going?’

Mei gave a small smile. ‘Erm..two days' time, it will give me a chance to prepare at least.’

‘Ah you’ll be fine. Show the old man what you’re made of.’

She smiled and suppressed a small chuckle. ‘Maybe I will..thank you.’

‘No worries.’ He said, still smiling at her. Mei suddenly felt unsure of what to say next and they both seemed to remember their mutual dislike of each other. They stood there both of them not knowing what to say or do now and Jamison was never good at being quiet when feeling uncomfortable. ‘So er..what now? Do we shake hands? Hug it out? Go back to annoying each other?’

‘Erm..I mean we could try to..Oh I don't know! You are very annoying.’

‘Annnd she's back in the room!’ Jamison laughed and winked at her ‘Take a chill pill Frosty.’ He said back to her as he went back outside. Mei continued to stand in place and took a few seconds to process whatever had just happened. He genuinely seemed happy for her didn't he?

‘Wow.’ She heard Angela say.

‘What is that supposed to mean?’ Mei asked, narrowing her eyes at the Doctor.

‘Oh nothing..I didn't see anything or notice anything, and at least you won't have to worry about thanking him now. Sometimes you just need a little push. Rip that bandaid off as it were’

‘You are not funny and you are a terrible friend.’

‘You're welcome.’ Angela smiled warmly at her.

                     -------------------------------------------------------------

‘What's your problem?’ Roadhog grunted from his bed. Junkrat looked up from maintaining his peg, ‘Huh?’ Roadhog wheezed as he pulled himself up into a sitting position and reached over to his oxygen tank, clipping the nozzle of the hose to his mask and inhaling deeply. ‘You're too quiet.’

‘Damned if I do damned If I don't..’ Junkrat muttered. ‘Im fine.’

‘If you say so.’ The huge Junker replied and remained silent. A few seconds passed and predictably Junkrat spoke. ‘Mei’s got herself a mission.’

‘Mei now is it?’

‘Well..it was weird. She was her usual frosty self and then she's thanking me.’

‘Uh huh.’

‘I dunno mate, felt weird.’

‘You think any positive interaction is weird, Rat.’

‘Cos it is mate and I don't get it, If i don't get it I don't like it. I don't like being confused and everyone one here is fucking confusing. Especially her.’ He swore to himself and went back to work, a deep frown etched on his face. Roadhog watched him for a moment and sighed to himself.

‘Idiot.’

                     -----------------------------------------------------------

It was approaching midnight and Mei was still wide awake. Time had gotten away from her and she had spent hours preparing for her mission right down to what clothes she would wear and how long Angela could spend shopping. She had gone over everything with a fine tooth comb but still could not shake the nervousness and doubt gnawing at her. What if she screwed up, what if she blew hers and Angela's cover? What if they didn't find anything and it turns out to be a huge waste of time and resources and it would be her fault for pushing the Commander to let her go?

‘ He genuinely seemed happy for me.’  The sudden thought jolted her from her anxieties, but she didn't want to think about Jamison and she was annoyed at herself for doing so. ‘Snowball have I forgotten anything?’ She asked her droid but he was far away on her desk charging silently in sleep mode. Mei sighed and decided to go through her preparations again tomorrow with Angelas help. She settled into bed hoping she’d have no claustrophobic nightmares and tried to relax her thoughts with deep breathing, she concentrated on her chest rising and lowering and soon began to feel the weight of sleep slowly creeping on her. Her mind flashed with the image of  how Jamison smiled at her and her eyes snapped open, the strange warmth blossomed in her stomach again. She grumbled, ignored it and rolled over, pulling the blanket closer around herself, annoyed that he was even bothering her in her thoughts.

[amaltheaz]

2019 Fic Writing Roundup

Total 2019 Word Count: AO3 tells me it's 80,085 but it's also not taking into account my nano word count since I haven't posted them yet so with that included, plus the tumblr prompts I filled and the stuff I haven't posted yet... 319, 721 words

Total 2019 Hits - 54,879

Other 2019 AO3 Stats

Kudos - 3,493

Comment Threads - 325

Bookmarks - 710

Subscriptions - 437

Links & Titles to 2019 Works:

From recent to earlier in the year...

1. let there be damage ensued (in that kind of love)

Ship: Scott Moir/Tessa Virtue

Summary: Scott has no idea how much time has passed since the door shut behind them, since the lock was set in place. All he knows is that he is here and so is she.

aka

that pegging au I've been working on for way too long

Status: Completed.

2. you can see it with the lights out

Ship: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor

Summary: Prompt: Kara’s not affected by cold the way humans are and Lena has begun to take advantage of that fact. Kara’s warm skin is great for cold hands

Status: Completed

3. hang a shining star upon the highest place

Ship: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor

Summary: Their first time hosting Chanukkah for the family.

Status: Completed

4. did you mean it (when you said I was pretty)

Ship: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor

Summary: "Lena takes a deep breath to steady herself before she finally dares to look up. Dark blue eyes meet her gaze and she tries to swallow down the dry feeling in her throat, tries to see why Kara is looking at her like this because she's sure that friends don't do this."

aka my own little twist on that friends with benefits au

Status: work in progress

5. what a waste to say the heart could feel apart

Summary: "Despite how it happened, she feels better about coming out to Varia. It seems a similar feeling to the time she saved that plane, a complete body and soul relief that she was able to be who she truly wants to be. Kara can't help but think though, that coming out as Supergirl only resulted in her having to hide even more of herself, just so nobody suspected that she and Supergirl are one and the same."

Or

that alien activist au that nobody asked for but I wanted to write it anyway

Status; work in progress

6. and say you'll hold a place for me in your heart

Ship: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor

Summary: "It’s nearing midnight when they walk through the front door of their new home."

Status: Completed

7. we can move worlds again (like the way gold lasts forever)

Ship: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor

Summary: "The first time they meet, Kara Zor-El is in prison and in line for execution that very same day."

aka the mummy au nobody asked for

Inspired by the fanart in this post: foleypdx.tumblr.com/post/155613882562/luthoring-the-mummy-supercorp-au-lena-in-this

Status: work in progress

8. short on stardust, but there's still time

Summary: "Kara doesn't have to try too hard to single out Lena’s heartbeat across National City, finding it almost as easily as she finds Alex’s or Eliza’s. The ache in her chest loosens and relaxes when she hears the strong and steady beat and it tells her that Lena is unsurprisingly still awake.

And so Kara doesn't spare another thought before pressing Lena’s name on her phone."

Status; work in progress

9. i can try if you like it

Ship: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor

Summary: Tumblr prompt: intimate artistry and birthday fic

10. you danced inside my chest

Ship: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor

Summary: Lena melts under her touch, leaning into it in near the same way that a cat seeks affection."

11. teeth sinking into heart

Ship: Kara Danvers & Alex Danvers (danvers sisters please and thank you)

Summary: a little break in Midvale

Note; I'm really proud of this little ficlet.

12. the key to our heaven is mine

Ship: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor

Summary: "She wakes up with cold dread soaked into her bones."

And some more that I didn't post to AO3

Jack/Lena - Secret relationship & holiday fic

Tessa/Scott - pregnancy fic/hairbrushingbraiding

SuperCorp - "you don't have to hide from me"

Supercorp - "Kara, can you smell that? Is that—is that you?"

Supercorp - "this isn't how I imagined it happening"

Supercorp - "this is the plan?"

Supercorp - "how could you ever think that would be a good idea?"

Supercorp - "did I just say that?"

Supercorp - "kara looks down at the coffee order in her hand, shocked and disgusted that anybody in their right mind would order a triple shot with nothing to mask the bitterness, and wonders who in the goshdarn heck placed such an order."

Favorite Fic

- My favourite fic that I've written this year honestly would have to be my Jack/Lena from a prompt I filled. It was a nice change of pace to write a different pairing just to know that I can actually do it. This past year I had hoped to challenge myself a little more with my writing and writing Jack/Lena has helped with that.

Hardest Fic

- I had already said it earlier but fwb au for sure has been my hardest fic. I feel honestly part of it is that I know I'm close to the end and I don't want to get there, and the other part wants me to be there already, haha.

Do you plan on taking prompts in 2020?

- oh, for sure! Though I do have so many prompts waiting for me in my inbox, sometimes you just need new ones to unlock some of those creative juices.

What was the best thing about 2019?

- Getting to know my discord family over at @creatorsguildsc has definitely been something that has brought me great joy. Interacting with other content creators in fandom, day in and day out, sharing our frustrations and our love for the thing that we love doing, learning from and encouraging/enabling each other. For sure, this is the best thing about this year.

What was the worst thing about 2019?

- I feel this probably is the same as last year and that's how I wish I had written more.

Any last thoughts for 2019?

- Not bad. Let’s do more of that.

Goals for 2020:

- Finishing fwb au for sure, and hopefully some of my other fics too. I would really love to finish my Melinda/Nat fic as well. Hmm, I would also love to get to know other content creators in this fandom.

Tagging: @spaceman-earthgirl, @xxpaper-flowersxx, @nataliawhite92, @hrwinter, @pippytmi, @drfitzmonster, @spicycheeser, @outislanders, @semperpugnandi, @idontneedtobeforgiven, @ihavethewrongglass, @littlemousejelly, @bearpantaloons, @swashbucklery, @whythinktoomuch, @vox-ex, @storyiicharacter, @gveret-fic, @coffeeshib, @cyclone-rachel, @dcanslist, @thelnjames and any other writer who wants to join in, please feel free ❤️❤️❤️