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glitchywriting · 7 years ago

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Down the Gator Knoll

Jenny was beginning to get very tired of sitting by Abbie on the bank. They had nothing to do and all Abbie was doing was reading a book. There was no beast or monstrous person to fight and no spells to learn. What was the use of this book?

She was considering where to go and what to do. Why did they travel down south, anyway? Today was hot and it was making her feel very sleepy and stupid. She picked at the grass closest to her looking in the distance trying to decide what to do when a small white alligator ran close by her.

Where they were it wasn’t out of the norm for that to happen as alligators were common here. They weren’t that far from the swamps, either. What was a little out of its normal behavior was it was an albino alligator panicking about being late. She sat up quietly, looking over at Abbie who was still flipping through the book in her hand. She said Abbie’s name but didn’t want to miss where the alligator was going to see if Abbie noticed. In fact, she only waved her hand up at her younger sister to tell her to hold on. But Jenny was too far across the field to notice the jester by then.

Jenny stopped just a few feet from the alligator to see it slip under a flowery knoll. Beautiful golden zinnias ran from the top of the knoll to across the rest of the field before her. The sunny nature of the flowers soothed her she took in a breath before remembering why she was there. The entrance the alligator took felt like a doorway to a small home and not like any hole she ever had to venture through. She spent time digging holes to get artifacts or to hide artifacts. This was a magnificent place, carved out almost as if done by God’s hand. The path suddenly dipped before Jenny could catch her footing she fell straight down.

Time moved slowly as she fell allowing her time to think and look around her. As she continued to fall down the longest well, ever, she thought of Frank and Macey. They both had a rough year, Frank dying and coming back.. Her mother not wanting anything to do with Frank. Jenny understood this stance as finding out that the world is a frightening place with things actually lurking in the shadows. Soon though the darkness surrounding her brought her back to her reality as it filled now with shelves and books. Shelves were astonishingly gorgeous cedar wood. The Amish look that Abbie has picked for when they have time to refurbish.

After a while her stomach dropped and that sick feeling took over her senses. It reminded her of DTs and the side effects of getting off the medication they had her on. Numbness tingled up her arms as her heart battled against her ribs.

For whatever reason this crashed her into thoughts about Hawley, was he okay? Was there someone to feed and water him? The thought brought a smile, no matter how far they were from one another … he always found a way back to her. Yet she still worried.

Finally, with a thump she landed on what smelled like dirty laundry her dirty laundry. The mildew and sulfuric didn’t take her long to jump out of it. The small albino alligator was just ahead swaying its little tail as it hurried through another passage. As the tip of his tail vanished into the darkness she followed, slowly, because there was no indicator there was a door. She pressed her hand against the she believed to be cave wall, to losing her balance. She no longer could see the white animal as she continued forward but she could smell a familiar scent.. It was strong like someone recently sprayed the sweet scent of violets. Just strong enough to make her feel like she was close then almost vanishing, forcing her to move with it.

Doors, and more doors all made with cedar, she felt drawn to them all. This…this feels familiar, she thought as she pressed her hands against the door in front of her. There was no lock, no sign saying to push or pull. But she knew it would open with a light tap of both her palms. Inside the doorway a small entrance, too small for even a child but she dropped to her knees, scooting down to get a look. Outside, and it was still possible that Abbie was still wrapped up in the book that she could easily sneak back over. She could tell her about getting … she looked over and found a child-size whiskey glass with the words drink me in her sister’s handwriting. It did have Abbie’s handwriting on it but she smelled it first and gently ran her pinky in before downing it. Warm and hot the taste that took her to the end of her teen years to finally love about the drink.

It wasn’t long when the warmth dripped from her face downwards. Her vision blurred and the room swiveled as if she had drank more than she did. She knew it was a risk to drink.. Not everything that can kill you is noticeable by taste, smell or touch. She didn’t pass out or worse died, she now could see the manicured lawns of a garden, with the same zinnias she saw earlier. This must have been built by some shady troll for giggles. If I see a nasty green wart-infested beast... I swear to god..

Also @:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/4012210

#Down the Gator Knoll #Jenny Mills #Fanfic #Abbie Mills #Frank Mills #Frank & macey mentioned only #Sleepy Hollow(TV)#Sleepy Hollow Fox #sleepy hollow #fan fiction #writings #queued #not romance

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bishopsbelova · 7 years ago

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It's worth a try to break the drowsy cycle, I can't imagine having it year long without a month of... doing the exact same thing, but having days to regain it instead of a couple hours XD Headcanons are what keeps me going with the Gallagher Girls, I can never just stick to the book, I need to fill in behind the scenes and learn about everyone else's - CS

Yeah, I totally get that. If it’s a book or a series that I’ve really invest in, usually I will gather so many different headcanons for all kinds of situations. And I’ll fill in the blanks between books and even beyond. The options are just so vast and there’s so many different ways you can go. I also love playing around with headcanons about the older generation because there’s just so much we don’t know.

Who is/are your favorite Gallagher Girl character(s)? - CS

Cam for one. She was just one of the first fictional characters that I discovered that I really related to. And I’d say she was just a character that I needed at the time when I found the books back in seventh grade.

I also love Macey and the growth she’s had over the course of the series. Abby is also a fave, as well as Joe. I love them all really but I’d probably have to say that Macey, Cam, Abby and Joe are my faves.

What do you plan to write over winter break? Have you written for Gallagher Girls? How would you describe your writing style(s)? - CS

I haven’t written anything for any fandom for months now, so I just hope to get back into writing for anything at this point. And because it’s been so long, I don’t really know how I would describe my writing style, tbh.

I’ve written about 8? or so stories for the Gallagher Girls that are posted over on my fanfiction.net account. Though they’re older and I’m not sure how I feel about them now because I haven’t read them since I’ve written them.

Yeah, I have some intermediate piano education and an elementary understanding of music theory and technique, it's just guidance from a compassionate teacher! You are right about videos and online books, right now I'm mixing my interests in classical music and vidgame music to watching music theory videos on vgm ^^ Singing along with the music too. As long as we can gain momentum with our arts, I'm sure we can maintain it during school! Fingers crossed - CS

I guess you just gotta play around and see what works best for you. And to just keep up with it to maintain your skills, even if it’s only a few minutes a day or so.

#ggcs2017 #laura's got an owl #Anonymous

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g-girlshavingfun · 1 month ago

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December Prompts

25) Bodyguards - Abby & Macey

Set during DJGC but before the adults learn that Cammie is the target of The Circle, Abby keeps Macey from leaving the Academy one October morning. (3,700)

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It was uncharacteristically warm for an October weekend morning when Abby slid a chair in between Joe and her sister at breakfast, a cup of coffee and a heavily loaded omelette in tow.

“Why do I have to guard the only teenage girl in existence who wakes up early on a Saturday to go for a run of all things?”

Technically she wasn’t supposed to sit at the teacher’s table. There was a separate area for non-teaching staff to eat without risk of having to deal with any of the students, but on the long list of things her big sister had to lecture her about, her choice of chair at breakfast was pretty low down. As it was, she had slid a chair into the suspiciously slim gap between the two of them, both her shoulders pressed lightly against one of theirs. When she sat down, interrupting the pair’s whispered conversation and prolonged eye contact and soft smiles, Abby had noted to herself how Rachel’s entire body lurched back as if trying to exaggerate the space previously existing between herself and Joe. How Joe’s upper body had tensed, gaze returning to his plate, breath held tightly in his lungs until she broke the silence with her complaints.

Interesting.

“Don’t tell me Miss McHenry managed to outrun you?”

“Oh please.” She shovelled some eggs into her mouth, attentive to the smirk dancing across Joe’s mouth and the way Rachel turned away from them both to focus on her own food. “I need my energy and sleep if I’m gonna keep dealing with this many kids every day as well as the Senator and his wife, Winters’ campaign team, and the morons from Secret Service. Teenage girls are a nightmare, I don’t know how you two do it.”

At that, she could feel her sister’s gaze cut towards her in a teasing glare, coffee cup in hand and tone wry. “I had plenty of practice.”

“Really? Who with?” Joe’s sarcasm made Abby’s eyes roll, ingesting more of her breakfast as her friend finally looked up from his plate to make eye contact with Rachel over her head. She could feel the amused smile the two shared the same way she could feel when a gaggle of girls approached the grand hall from outside its closed doors, the same way she could feel when Macey shifted an inch closer to the window in the corner of the room. Secret service may not have been her day-to-day job, but it was a cover she had taken up a few times before, and the instincts of knowing everyone and everything around her had been as easy to slip back into as her own clothes.

Of course, Joe and Rachel made it easy by being so obvious.

“Oh haha. Is this how it’s going to be from now on, you two ganging up on me all the time?”

“Hasn’t it always been?” He winced as soon as he said it, Rachel and Abby flinching away from him in unison because no, it hadn’t been.

There used to be four of them.

Anytime Joe and Rachel decided to gang up on her, she would have Matt in her corner backing her up. If her and her sister got in a fight then the boys would take one Cameron sister each and force them away from each other, or if they teamed up to make fun of Matt then Joe would leap to his rescue and vice versa. When the happy couple would get lost in one another, in the good, the normal, and the perfect that they shared, she and Joe would still have each other. Each a little bit wrong, a little bit damaged.

Three just didn’t work the same.

As the chatter and the giggles and the squeals of the operatives in training sounded around them, each one of them still hopeful and naive about what their futures would look like, the three of them each looked away from the others, lost in their own thoughts. The pained silence that hung over them was oppressive, and Joe and Abby probably would’ve drowned in it if it weren’t for Rachel. As usual, her sister saved the day, clearing her throat and breathing life back into them both with her words.

“Your charge is on the move.”

Abby muttered under her breath as Joe’s laughter echoed in her ear beside her. “For fucks sake.”

Rachel’s gesturing nod brought their attention to the corner of the room where Macey, Cammie, and what seemed like half of their class began to get up from their seats, already done with their breakfasts. Abby gulped back the rest of her coffee and filled her mouth with what was left of her omelette, part of her beginning to regret caving to her sister’s request and taking this job. Wishing the chuckling pair goodbye, only just resisting the urge to flip Joe the finger as he wished her a sarcastic good luck, she followed the growing group of girls out of the hall from a distance.

For once in her life, Abby had planned to stay silent, sticking to the shadows with her head down in order to avoid the starstruck faces and prying questions of the Gallagher Academy student body. Most of the time, she thrived on the attention, loving the way their faces lit up at her stories and preened under her attention. Today though, the combination of a late night call with the international operatives involved in uncovering what interest Catherine Goode had in Macey McHenry, and then said girl deciding to start her morning with a run around the grounds before the sunrise, had left Abby tired and crabby. Not particularly an inspiring mood for the students to see her in. However, as the Junior class started making their way towards the main entrance, she knew she was going to have to make her presence known.

“So where are we going?” The entire group seemed to jump as one, like a collection of jack-in-the-boxes all timed to go off at once, and swivelled round to face her. Hand on her cocked out hip, she raised an eyebrow in challenge to her protectee. “Or more specifically, where are you going?”

Macey just crossed her arms in defiance, glaring at her in challenge. “In to town.”

“No.”

“It’s the weekend. We don’t have any classes, my parents have no use for me today, and I’ve been trapped in this school for weeks.”

“All true. You’re still not going in to town.”

“Why not!” Jaw clenched and eye’s on fire, she looked like she was a moment away from stomping her foot on the floor like a child throwing a tantrum. Lips and nose and eyes trembling in frustration, the voice that came out of her mouth was half snap, half whine, and all anger.

Abby responded in kind, mimicking the girl’s accent in a move that was admittedly a bit childish, even for her. “Because I say so!” Seeing her face contort again, clearly gearing up for another petulant protest, Abby interjected again before their spat could escalate any further. “Because you need more than one agent accompanying you if you want to step outside these walls, especially on a weekend when they’ll be crowds everywhere you go.”

“Everyone else is going.”

“Everyone else isn’t my concern. No offence Squirt.” She shot her niece an apologetic shrug and a smile as she lied through her teeth, Cammie just wincing through her own smile in return, eyes flickering between the arguing pair. Trying to be more sympathetic, Abby softened her tone, “There will be other trips to town Macey. Sorry, but today you’re staying inside the grounds.”

“Make me.”

Slightly stunned at the girl’s boldness, Abby started at her, at the way she tilted her head and rose her eyebrows, popped her hands on her hips and turned her nose up in a mirror of Abby’s own posture.

She sighed. Maybe she owed Rachel and Professor Buckingham and her mother an apology for her teenage years. If Macey was this difficult to deal with, Abby must’ve been a nightmare.

“Try and take one more step towards that door Macey and I promise you I will.”

“What makes you so confident you can stop me?”

It was all she could do not to laugh in the kid’s face. “I was a student here for 6 years and you’ve been here for 1? I’ve been an active field operative for 14 years and you haven’t even had a Cove-Ops lesson yet?”

Macey just scoffed at her, swinging her arms out to gesture at the huddle of girls around her. “Yeah well there’s only one of you, good luck trying to get to me with all of these guys in the way.”

Some of the girls, Abe Baxter’s included, grinned a little, obviously ecstatic at the idea of getting to challenge a real life operative. Others looked less excited but still just as determined, squaring their shoulders and jutting their chins out at her in misguided support of their friend. Only a couple, the smaller girls and those in the research and development pathway, looked hesitant.

Abby cast her eyes back to her niece, the only one of the girls to wince and step away from the group. She wasn’t sure whether Cammie, being the only one to see first hand the danger that they were in in Boston, was the only one who understood the gravity of the situation, or if she was remembering her aunt showing her how to incapacitate an attacker with a skipping rope and was wisely choosing to remove herself from the potential fight.

Either way, Abby softened her tone again, laid a hand on the stubborn girl’s shoulder, tried to diffuse the situation without violence. She wasn’t about to spar with a group of teenagers in the middle of the school.

Rachel would kill her.

“I’m not trying to get to you, Macey, I’m trying to protect you.” The girl scoffed, rolling her eyes. “If these girls are really your friends, they’ll be on my side when they hear that two unidentified choppers were noted flying west over the river this morning. That these past few days there’s been a significant increase in searches for both Roseville and McHenry on the internet. That four new residents have moved here or into surrounding towns in the past week who haven’t yet been vetted by the Secret Service.” She watched as the fight and the support from the rest of the girls drained out of them, realisation shining in their eyes that she was being serious. “You’re not going out today Macey, end of story.”

“We can stay in with you? We’ll go to the cinema another time. Oh! We can watch Clueless in the common room instead.”

Her niece was the sweetest kid.

But Macey just shook her head and sent the girls on their way, sending Abby the stink eye as she barged past her and back into the mansion.

“Well, have fun girls. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” Shooting the rest of the girls a grin and a wink, she span on her heel and trailed after her protectee, sure that the girl’s anger wasn’t yet burned out.

She kept a safe distance as she followed Macey through the mansion, nodding in greeting to Harvey as he stumbled past them through the foyer and smiling politely at Madame Dabney as they passed her on her way down the stairs. As she walked, she shot Joe a quick message asking him to head into town and keep an eye on Cam, that she’s heading to the cinema with her friends, that Abby will remove his eyes from their sockets if she doesn't return unharmed.

He sent her a smiley face in return.

They had reached the second floor when instead of continuing up the steps, or turning towards the student lounge, or even heading into the library, Macey turned into the deserted Hall of History and spun to face her with a scowl on her face.

“I believe the headmistress is out at the moment.”

“I don’t need Mrs Morgan, I just wanted a quiet place to talk to you.”

“By all means, talk away.”

Macey's eyes were piercing. A brighter blue than even Cammie and Matt’s, they gleamed as she glared at her, catching in the light and burning with rage. She swallowed, shuffled her feet, teeth grinding together as she tried to find whatever words she was looking for.

“Stop.” Abby quirked her eyebrow at her. She was very good at what she did, but she wasn’t a mind reader. “Stop following me around, and dictating where I go, and bossing me about all the time.”

“Quite literally my job Macey.”

“No. Your job is to make sure I turn up to my father’s campaign in one piece, that I get from A to B without another broken bone, that I live to see Samual Winters’ victory or concession speech.”

“Right, well unfortunately for you the keeping you alive thing also requires the monitoring your every movement thing.”

“Then let me do what I want and just keep me safe while I’m doing it!”

“You’re supposed to be a smart girl Macey, why can’t you understand that it’s not as simple as that?”

“Because you’re ruining my life!” Her scream echoed through the hallway, bouncing off the walls and slamming hard into Abby, nearly bowling her over with the force of it. “You. And my parents. And this campaign. And..and that woman on the roof! This was supposed to be a good year. I’m finally at a school I like, with people that I love, and I was going to catch up to them this year. I had a plan! But now everywhere I go the girls stare, and they whisper, and they worry. And I have to spend my evenings and my weekends trailing after The Senator instead of catching up on my course load. And now you tell me I can’t even join my friends when they spend a day in town. Everywhere I go, you’re there lecturing me about how I need to do what you say, that you need to keep me safe, but you wont even tell me why! Nobody will tell me who these people are or what they want with me or how you’re going to stop them!”

Well now she felt bad.

Briefly horrified, she spotted small hot tears building in the girl’s eyes. She was always good at making Cam laugh, but her niece was generally a happy kid. Or at least she had been. Abby didn’t have much experience in cheering up angry, scared, hormonal teenage girls, despite being one herself something like a lifetime ago, and she didn’t really know where to start.

She supposed she better start with the truth.

“We don’t know what they might want with you Macey, honestly we don’t. Probably just a ransom, or to manipulate your father.”

Or at least part of the truth.

Since the moment global intelligence agencies saw the footage from the roof, Catherine Goode and The Circle had been identified as the operatives targeting the group of teenagers, but it would do no good to tell Macey that. Truthfully, if there was any reason that particular group of people wanted her it may have more to do with her heritage, but Rachel had given her strict instruction not to tell the girl that either.

“And we’re going to stop them by letting the CIA do their job and track them down. By letting the Secret Service do their jobs by keeping you well protected wherever you go. By letting Mrs Morgan, and Mr Solomon, and me do our jobs. That’s all there is to it okay?”

It would also do no good to tell her that she might not be the target. That there was a small handful of operatives who knew that Matthew Morgan’s disappearance has been heavily linked to that woman and the rest of The Circle. That the operatives in the know suspected that another girl on the roof that day may be equally as likely to have been the person they were looking for.

The Baxters both thought it unlikely, thought that if they had any reason to go after Cam they would’ve done it much sooner after Matt went missing.

Rachel refused to discuss it with her, turning slightly pale and slightly shaky and slightly angry the one time Abby asked her sister how worried she thought they should be.

Joe was concerned. He didn’t give a reason why, just pulled Abby aside when she first arrived and told her to try keep an equally sharp eye on Cammie for now, that he would keep his ear to the ground and try find out more.

She hadn’t dared asked Townsend’s opinion. He would tell her the truth, no matter how painful, he always did. She just wasn’t ready to hear it yet.

“I hate it. I don’t want to take my bodyguards with me everywhere I go. It just makes me feel more in danger, like that woman is waiting around every corner to snatch me again.”

Macey was shaking where she stood, the tears building in her eyes breaking free from their restraints and streaking down her face as she shivered. Abby was struck suddenly, by how small this girl was. How young. How more than anything, she was just a kid scared of getting hurt again. At 16, her biggest worry should be catching up in the school work she was two years behind in, should be her admittedly poor relationship with her parents, should be dealing with Preston Winters and the blatantly obvious thing they had for each other. Not Secret Service agents crashing into her life and trying to take it over.

Unfortunately, no matter how much she agreed that it was unfair, she couldn’t change the girl’s current situation, could only offer reassurance as best she could.

Abby sighed. She was never very good at comforting people, but this was a kid who didn’t have anyone else. She was going to have to do.

“You don’t have bodyguards, you have me. And besides, I’m not your bodyguard Macey, I’m your sister.” Setting both her hand’s on the trembling girl’s shoulders, she shot her as comforting a smile as she could muster. Macey stared at her wide eyed, blinking owlishly at her from beneath damp eyelashes. “I know you’re pretty new to this whole sisterhood thing, but I’ve been a sister my entire life so let me explain how it works.” She squeezed the girls shoulders and wiped a stray tear of her face, tried to put all the intensity and honesty and care she could into her words. “We stick together yeah? You and me. And I’m not gonna let anything happen to you, not if I can help it. I’d take a bullet for you before I let them hurt you again and then I’d take another for good measure. That’s what sisters do, that’s what I’m here for.”

Thinking of her older sister, of how Abby used to trail after her as a kid, going to her for help anytime she had a fight with their mother, or with her friends, or with a boy, she faltered. Rachel had held her on her hip at their father’s funeral, had soothed her broken heart all night after her first breakup, had nursed her back to health after plenty of operations gone wrong. Then four years ago Rachel’s husband had disappeared and it was Abby’s turn to be the solid, dependable one. To comfort her sister and her niece and hold them steady when they fell apart.

But she failed. She just wasn’t built like that.

Macey was still shaking slightly beneath her hands, but her tears had stopped and her breaths had steadied. Bright eyes watched Abby attentively, studying her close. She recognised the look. The girl didn’t trust her, didn’t trust many adults Abby reckoned, so she was looking for any sign of disingenuity, of deceit.

No matter how hard she looked, she wouldn’t find any.

Macey nodded slowly, something like relief glazing over her features. All the fight seemed to drain out of her, muscles sagging under the hands holding her tight and eyelids drooping under the weight of her defeat. She tipped forward ever so slightly, forehead coming to rest on Abby’s shoulder as she took a deep breath. Slowly, Abby reached around her back and wrapped her arms lightly around the girl, giving her a quick pat as she felt Macey’s own arms encircle her waist.

The hug was brief, and hardly comfortable for either of them, but Macey looked a lot calmer when she pulled away, eyes steeled and a soft thank you on her lips.

Abby gave a single nod of acknowledgment and clapped her hands together, quickly searching for a route out of the emotional ditch they had found themselves in. “Now. You said something about wanting to catch up with the rest of your grade? Lucky for you, you have at your disposal a top quality Gallagher Academy graduate who is quite literally not allowed to leave your side.” She wrapped an arm around the girl’s shoulders and started steering them towards the library, shooting her a cocky wink as they went. “So, do you wanna start with COW, a bit of computing, any languages? I’m willing to give you a few Cove-Ops pointers if you want, you’ll be better than Cam and the girls in no time. No way is Joe Solomon a better teacher than me.”

“Actually, could we work on Protection & Enforcement? I know I’m technically injured but…” Macey’s unsaid words were loud in Abby’s ears. I want to be able to protect myself. Nonchalantly shrugging, she redirected them towards the stairs, already planning out a routine and some moves to go through that wouldn’t put additional strain on Macey’s broken arm.

“Sure kid, as long as you promise not to rat me out to your Headmistress. I hear she’s scary.”

———————————————————————

Authors note:

Zach: Has a snarky attitude and a bad relationship with his parent

Joe: Well shit now I have to look after you

Macey: Has a snarky attitude and a bad relationship with her parents

Abby: Well shit now I have to look after you

Happy new year everyone! Officially no longer posting these December prompts in December but oh well. The final 6 updates will probably be posted every few days this month, as I’m back at uni imminently and will go back to being pretty busy.

#gallagher girls #gallagher girls series #gallagher girls fanfiction #december prompts #writing prompts #abigail cameron #abby cameron #macey mchenry #macey gets a parental figure as a treat #Abby is to Macey what Joe is to Zach pass it on

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justatidalwaveoffeelings · 3 years ago

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Ok, so I don't write. I have never written a fanfic. This doesn't have a name and it's probably poorly written. It's Rachel's point of view around the time of Cammie's second kidnapping attempt. I was bored and I had this idea stuck in my head so here it is. I debate not even posting it but what the hey🤷🏼‍♀️

@averagejoesolomon you totally got me hooked on the Rachel only calls Matt, Matthew. So all the credit to you on that one!

This whole thing is basically read at your own risk. Haha

Just like that, what she had left of her world was crumbling. It happened so quickly. Rachel hadn't seen what had happened. She just knew that one moment she had been talking to Cynthia McHenry and the next she felt her instincts as an operative hit her like a swift punch to the gut.

Something was wrong. She looked around the ballroom looking for Cammie but she didn't see her. She didn't see any of her freinds or even that Goode boy. Never one to be dissuaded from her mission, she decided to look for Abby. She at least she might know where her neice was.

As much as her sister annoyed her, she was happy to have her back in her life. However temporary it might be. She was aware how an operative's life gets crazy. She knew her sister was dedicated but she didn't know how far they would be pulled apart when she stepped out of the field after Matthew's passing. They had just recently talked about why there hadn't been much contact between the two of them in recent years. Why Abby had walked farther away from Rachel and Cammie and deeper into her various covers. Rachel knew the guilt the came with losing Matthew. The countless nights that kept her up thinking about what might have happened if she told if him to stay home. If she had pulled the "wife card" and asked him not to keep secrets. She knew that Abby had been hurt. Rachel had never lived through anything harder. It didn't surprise her that everyone else who also loved him felt the same. When he died there was a very real whole in each of their hearts. She had suspected Abby just didn't know how to miss Matthew with her. After all, her sister had never been one to grieve in front of others. Rachel hadn't know just how deep routed her sister's guilt and regret had dragged her. Rachel regretted not going to get her baby sister back sooner after Matthew's passing but she hadn't wanted to press Abby too hard in a time of grief for both of them.

Now, if only she could FIND HER. Her sister always had a knack for being where she wasn't supposed be. So, if Rachel could think if the most inconvenient spot for someone to be she might find her.

When she had finished looking around the ballroom the hair on the back of her neck started to stand on end. She felt a cold sweat start. Her blouse was too tight. She pulled at her collar and silently chastised herself being so obviously uncomfortable. Rachel wanted to tell her instincts to shut up, that nothing was wrong. She knew better though, something was off.

She felt eyes. She pretended to check her make-up in a small compact while checking behind her. She locked on a familiar pair of green eyes staring back at her. Of course he was there. She had just checked the whole room and hadn't spotted him once. If Joe was about to poke fun about her being off now was not the time. When she turned to face him she realized that he wore an expression just as grim as her own.

"You got the same sick feeling in your gut?"

Before she could respond something seemed to dawn on Joe.

"Where's Cammie, Rachel?"

"I don't know. I've been looking for her, or her roommates. Even Abby."

"Zach". Joe mumbled the boy's name. "He's probably with her, right? Did you see them slip out?"

"No, well maybe, but if I knew that I wouldn't be so gosh darn worried now would I, Joseph?!" She hadn't meant to snap but she was feeling worse by the second. Now her instincts seemed to be at work on her stomach.

When the shot went off they didn't question where it had come from. They didn't need to wait for some sort of command. Old habits did truly die hard. They were across the ballroom in seconds. Not drawing the attention of a single onlooker. They slipped out the back door into a dark ally. The Circle. They were there. Beside her Joe started to speak into thier comms unit. There was a big problem. Rachel looked for Cammie. She was being snagged back down the ally, toward the safety of the door by Zach. Neirher of them was bleeding. She was able to breath agian. The bullet could have been a warning shot. It didn't feel that way though. Where did it land?

She brought herself back to the scene. They were after her daughter and she had to protect her daughter. The kids were fighting like operatives. That was something the headmistress in her couldn't have missed and was quietly proud of. Now only if they could all get out of it. Other gallagher girls rushed out beside her, ready for the fight, ready to protect Cammie.

The second that Rachel could she ran at Cam. Yelling Cammie's name she threw herself against her daughter, deeper into the shadows of other gallagher girls. Farther into safety. Only after the immediate securing of Cammie did Rachel realize that people were still screaming. It was Macey standing over.....

Abby. Abby. Abigail. She knew Cammie was secured. Joe would help make sure of it. She needed to get to her sister. She needed to help her sister. She was bleeding from the shoulder, there was so much blood pooling beneath her. Rachel couldn't breathe. She couldn't catch her breathe. Rachel had always been cool under fire; a natural operative. This felt so different. The operative in her was mad for missing the fight. For not getting there in time. The mother in her was scared and hurting for her daughter. The sister in her felt cheated and so very crushed. She couldn't lose Abby on top of everything else. Her heart beat to one terrible pulse- She was not ready to lose anymore family. She dropped to her knees beside her sister. She didn't know if she had told Macey to go back to her roommates but she got up and walked away. Rachel pressed some leather jacket into her sister's wound. She didn't realize that she was crying until she saw her own tears falling on Abby's face. Rachel was screaming. She really. couldn't. breath. She heard screaming and crying in the background. Cammie. She couldn't take this or rather she didn't want to. Her sister way dying in front of her and her daughter was being emotionally tormented. She debating getting up, but she couldn't stop crying. She didn't want Cammie to see her so emotionally distraught and she couldn't bring herself to her feet. Cammie would have to be strong.

Joe was on the seeminly knew what she was thinking because instead of coming toward Abby he commanded the women around Cammie. Keeping her safe. Cammie's sobbing became softer. Rachel's didn't.

She didn't get up when the paramedic team arrived. She wasn't going to leave Abby. She couldn't lose her. She didn't feel like a good operative in control. She felt like a big sister, weak from all that crying. She felt Joe behind her. Pulling her up from her knees. Trying to tell her to let go of Abby's hand. She forced Joe to let go of her arms. Desperate to be the one who fixed it. To do something, anything. All she could do was tell the medic what she saw, and tell Abby that she was going to be ok.

When she turned back around he was there. Teary but not crying yet.

"She's strong. She'll pull through". He tried to reassure her but his voice shook. His hand on her arm felt unsteady. Joe never cried. It was going to be a long night. She had to keep busy. She went to check on her daughter. She couldn't lose any more of her family.

Rachel saw the footage. She knew in that it all happened in a few minutes. It felt like this night would never end. She watched that security footage obsessively outside of her office, sitting on the corridor floor with her head on the wall, right underneath Gilligan's sword. Cavan's sword. Maybe Abby was right. They should have thrown it in the lake. Her daughter was asleep inside her office, away from danger for now. Abby was in surgery. Abby might of died. Abby could still die. Every time she let herself linger on that fact she felt like crying all over again. So, she didn't let herself think of it. She watched the security clip again waiting and watching for a clue. Something. She couldn't truly focus on it though. She was too tired or emotionally distraught. It didn't matter the reason, she knew that a truly great operative had to know when to wave her white flag. In that moment she didn't even feel a little guilty about turning off the video.

Joe stepped out of her office. She did a double take, the last time she had seen him look that way was the night he told her about Matthew. He had been crying. Joe Solomon does not cry. There he was though. He face was streaked eith tears and his shoulders shook slightly. She braced herself for the worse but he just stood there. He looked awful. She moved forward to give him a hug. She couldn't help herself, she started crying again too. Rachel hated to cry in front of anyone but she figured that this secret was safe with him, just like any of the other she had shared with him. She was thankful that she had a freind in him. Thankful that someone else loved Cammie and was willing to fight for her.

After a moment they separated and sat down on the corridor floors.

"I'm so sorry Rachel. I'm so so sorry."

"For what?"

"For everything."

"Joe. After everything that's happened tonight, we are not going over this again.. Its not your fault". Joe started to cry again. Rachel hadn't seen Joe cry so much. She couldn't resist asking him

"What?"

He looked at her pitifully. "You don't know whats my fault, belive me. I.... I think you should think it's my fault."

She wasn't suprised that he was saying these things. She knew of course that he felt guilty. Matt went on the mission he was supposed to. She just wished that he didn't get so hung up on it.

He continued "This never would have happened if Matt were here. He would have taken care of it, you know?"

Of course she didn't know that to be true but she had felt it as well. She didn't want to dwell on what it could have been so she told him that they didn't know that. That he couldn't control who the director sent on that mission. The circle might have come after Cammie even if Matt was alive. Matthew was just a human being, who made mistakes. They didn't know if Matthew being alive would change everything. Joe didnt seem convinced though and Rachel couldn't blame him. It was well worn territory in a familiar conversation. They didnt truly fight, but when it came to blame about Matthews death they didn't exactly see eye to eye. Rachel thought about Matt. It struck her though that as bad as it was at times it could also be worse. Rachel thought about losing Cammie or Abby or even Joe and shuddered. She didn't want to lose anymore family.

She tried to reassure him

"Hey, it will be ok. We will take care of it together ok? We'll all take care of one another. We will do the best we can. Just promise me we will try. Ok?"

Joe had stopped crying but his attention seemed to be drifting.

"I'll try...ok?" It sounded so defeated. Rachel didn't want to press him further. Everyone had already had such a rough night. She let the conversation go until he quipped.

"I feel like I should be telling you these things."

They couldn't help each giving a small laugh

They sat there. They waited for a doctor to come tell them that Abby would make it. They sat and waited for Cammie to wake up. Theorized ways to keep her out of harms way. They talked about surviving. All of them. Together.

Rachel rested in knowing that at least for that day. She wasn't losing any more family.

#gallagher girls #rachel morgan #joe solomon #cammie morgan #zach goode #ally carter #matthew morgan #fanfic

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