#wren fletcher

[lifes-remedy]

Science!

Same VA, Same interest. Where do your passions lie?

[quietfounder]

I wonder what Wren would think of Cosmo and Wanda, or just the concept of fairies in general.

I completely expect her and Hazel to get along really well, and it's not only because they share the same voice actress.

[eulaliasims]

Gameplay? On *my* blog? It's more likely than you think.

I really wanted to play the current uni students, but I needed to age up just one more sim, so we're gonna drop in at the Fletchers' for one (1) whole day so Wren can join the rest of the new college kiddies (despite what the pop-up says, they had a C+, which is literally all I require of my sims to go to uni if they have a want).

Last round, Autumn aged into an elder, Julian there grew into a child, and the family adopted Marzipan the orange cat. Ashley also grew up last round and has been away at uni; lotta birthdays in this house lately.

Hi, Tegan!

[ampersandnotdash]

Oh Wren, my quirky little science geek. My heart is breaking for you.

[that-one-thespian]

The Mages Were Missing

(There's still an hour left in my VERY good friend @crash-bump-bring-the-whump's birthday so I'm NOT late! This is the first of several writes in response to this incredible piece)

Izan hadn’t answered her texts. Mariano hadn’t come over after his shift like he always did. Laredo had missed a stream. Manuel didn’t come to the date that Fletcher was so excited for. Individual incidents, happening too quickly to be coincidence, made even more suspicious when Wren looked into Dimitri and realized there had been no activity on his social media. No matter how bad it was, he always posted a picture of his hideous dog in various outfits every day. 

The mages were missing. 

Tracking them down took too long. Way too long. Wren pored over security camera footage of their last known locations. The coffee shop, convenience stores, laundromats, she filtered through their cameras, finding nothing. Hours of footage. Nothing. Blind spots, erased footage, convenient glitches in the security systems. She needed a new tactic.

Police reports. Fire department logs. Dimitri was aggressive above all else, there would be an arson report, a burning building, a noise complaint, something.

After hours of searching for clues, she finally found a report. A burning hedge, near Dimitri’s apartment. 9:27 AM. Going back to her security footage, she scrubbed to that timestamp for the convenience store closest to the address. Blind spot. Someone knew she would be looking. There was only one person that clever, that surgical, and who had a bone to pick with each one of the war mages. She tried to keep tabs on him, but she could usually only narrow it down to the city he was in.

Luis was back.

Not for long, now that Wren was on the hunt. 

She scoured car rental agencies, setting her software to scan highway footage for similar cars to the ones just barely in her field of vision in the security footage, searching the previous footage for more images of the car to narrow things down. Her coffee drained from its mug. Her fingers flew across the keyboard. 

On her sixth hour of searching, she found his newest alias: Juan Herrero. John Smith, really? Beneath the anxiety and steely determination, she let herself feel a flash of derision. Finally, finally, she found the rental cabin under his name, booked at a steal because the owners were remodeling the basement. 

Wren whistled, loud enough to fill the clinic, and grabbed the car keys.

It was time to get their mages back. 

~

Wren stood at the back of the group, checking her tablet as Fletcher worked at the lock on the cabin's front door. The comms were working, but she couldn't guarantee there wouldn't be some sort of device to jam their signals.

Archer stood directly behind Fletcher, looking murderous. He always did, when Luis was involved. "Luis is crafty. We can't let him separate us. We-"

Several things happened in the same instant.

Click.

"I got it!"

Fletcher pushed open the door.

Fletcher yelped.

Fletcher was gone.

"Fletch-" Archer reached for him, but his solid metal hand closed over empty air. The team was left staring into a dark foyer, listening to the fading footsteps echoing off the walls.

Archer cursed under his breath. "It's a trap." He ran inside without another word, his expression somehow even more murderous. "Elana-"

"Here!" Elana thundered after him into the dark, leaving only Jewel and Wren on the doorstep.

"So much for don't get separated." Jewel looked hesitantly at Wren. "We should find the mages, while we know Luis is... occupied."

Wren nodded, pressing forward into the darkness.

~

Frozen hinges reluctantly yielded, screeching as Wren braced her back against the door and forced it open. She had to cover her face at the rush of cold, blinking against it.

Fluorescent lights flickered above them, dimly illuminating bleached hair and red, blistered, frost-crusted palms. 

Dimitri laid there on the floor, unmoving.

Jewel rushed into the freezer, cupping his cheek with one hand and putting two fingers at his neck with the other. “I’ve got a pulse. Help me get him up, we need to get him outside."

He wasn’t even shivering anymore. Even from the doorway, Wren could see the scorch marks on his hands. He must have been trying to keep warm using his magic alone, without any focus or gloves to protect him. 

When she grabbed his shoulder to lift him up, Wren startled. Dimitri’s eyes were open, locked on hers with the exhausted, terrified focus of someone who expected to be left behind.

“R… ru-run.”

Wren felt a chill run down her spine.

“We know it’s Luis. Archer and Elana are on him. We’re going to get you out of here, just hang on.” Jewel wrapped her jacket around Dimitri’s shoulders.

“C-care…ful.” Dimitri’s voice was hoarse, strained. Each syllable scraped past his lips like the hinges Wren had forced to move against their will. “Said… hid- hidden.”

“I can find them.” Jewel’s voice was level as she helped him to a sitting position. That was how they found Dimitri in the first place- Jewel had nearly collapsed from the force of the despair when they got close enough.

Wren slid his arm around her shoulders, flinching from the frozen clothes against her neck. It took too long to get him outside, to drape a blanket over him and give him a water bottle that he clutched to his chest. Every second was another second where Archer and Elana and Fletcher faced down Luis.

They still had four war mages to find.

[crash-bump-bring-the-whump]

Confined to bed rest for Mariano?

BTHB 2023 - Fill 15 - Confined to Bed Rest

You know what anon, he sure fucking IS confined to bed rest after what Royal did to him! The team still belongs to @that-one-thespian and I've been having SO much fun hashing this out with them c:

The invitation - The party - The aftermath

TWs: broken bones, gore, aftermath of torture, concussions, effects of a traumatic brain injury on speaking, mention of drugs in a medical setting

Nine hours. It was nine hours from the time Archer all but ran inside the clinic with the bloody bundle of clothes he called Mariano to the time Jewel finally came out of surgery. Bastian didn't know people could look like that and still be alive later.

Mariano's chest had been bent the wrong way, like a dented car door. His hair had been a bloody, tangled mess. He was nothing but slack limbs and too-pale skin.

He'd looked dead.

Jewel wouldn't have asked for so many surgical packs and drapes to be set out for a corpse, though. She wouldn't have let Archer or Fletcher give that much blood to a corpse. She wouldn't have operated until well past sunset on a corpse.

Bastian couldn't even be in the building. He sat out in Elana's Feelings Clearing, seething, his chest just about broiling from how he wanted to raze things to the ground. "You need to stay." Archer had said when Wren had located where Royal was. "We need to be careful when we get Mariano out of there." He was firm, but not domineering. A steel wall of determination. "Keep the clinic safe. Please. We're going to need it."

In the end, Bastian had only stayed because he recognized the fury that Archer refused to let past his eyes. He'd seen that same look in Mariano's eyes before. He knew he'd had it in his own. Archer would tear apart that building with his bare hands before he let anything more happen to Mariano. The whole team would.

So Bastian stayed. He stayed, feeling that wavering, flickering connection to his Mariano hang on by a thread. And when the team got back, with Elana bleeding from the middle and Bastian's hands too unsteady to even help clean her up, he left for the clearing. Jewel didn't need more distractions to contend with while she worked.

Archer joined him not long after.

When the sun had sunk below the horizon, Bastian and Archer went back inside. Mariano was tucked into a bed, draped in a hospital gown instead of the loose pajamas the team usually kept on hand for injuries that needed surgery. He was less bloody, less...entirely wrong. His breathing was slow and deep, supported by the oxygen cannula at his nose. Most of the blood had been cleaned away, with bandages and stitches as the only clues to the warpath that Royal's bat had been on across his body.

Fletcher perched at his side on a chair, holding one of Mariano's hands in both of his own. Bastian could see the dried tear-tracks a mile away. "Hey." He said, one scaly hand coming to rest between Fletcher's shoulder blades.

"Hey." Fletcher said, his eyes never quite leaving Mariano.

"Jewel give a verdict?" Bastian asked after some quiet, watching the silent forming of peaks and valleys on Mariano's heart monitor. Jewel wouldn't lie to them, even if it was regarding a friend.

Fletcher nodded. "He's...she said tonight would be the...the hardest." His voice wavered, and Bastian felt him shiver under his palm. "And if...when he wakes up tomorrow, we'll know more." Wordlessly, he pulled Fletcher against his side, letting him press his face into Bastian's hip. His jeans had seen worse than tears and snot from people he liked a whole lot less.

Bastian settled into a chair beside Fletcher, giving him a shoulder to lean on that wasn't singed or bandaged. Archer took Mariano's other side, his laptop's glow carefully angled away from Mariano's face. Bastian couldn't even blame him. Even with enough drugs to keep a horse unconscious working through Mariano's body, Bastian habitually kept his phone's brightness on its lowest setting.

Bastian had never hated how Mariano slept more than he did that night. Hands folded at his stomach and still as a statue, he looked like he belonged on the pillow of a coffin instead of a clinic sickbed. Archer and Fletcher seemed to have the same idea, each of them taking one of his hands in their own. With his good arm at his side, he just seemed exhausted.

Exhausted, and as it turned out the next morning, deeply concussed. When Bastian woke up from an involuntary nap, Fletcher and Archer were already holding a drowsy Mariano between them like he was made of porcelain. He was awake, barely, but also visibly elated when his eyes met Bastian's. Jewel had to have drugged him up well.

"Bastian...good morning." Mariano said, drifting languidly from word to word. "How..." He struggled for a moment, and Bastian could see him searching, translating, and searching again when he couldn't come up with the phrases he wanted. "How are your...how is your...heart?"

Bastian stood with a snapping, popping stretch that made his sides shake and his head spin. "Don't worry about me right now." He sighed, rolling his shoulders as he leaned over the bed. His lips met Mariano's forehead carefully, one hand resting feather-light on one of his shoulders. He could feel the sturdy stitches under the thin gown. It felt like he could snap Mariano in half if he wasn't cautious. "You're the one who can't talk right."

Mariano snorted indignantly and tried to look away like he always did when Bastian teased him, only to groan and squeeze his eyes shut. "I...I speak just fine. It's the...the English words. Not my...brain that is the issue." He mumbled, not opening his eyes again. "Bats, no bats...it does not matter."

Bastian laughed, low and soft as he kissed Mariano's cheek this time. "Shh. English or bats, don't stress yourself out, stupid. Just relax." He straightened up, popping his back once again. "And don't even try to get outta that bed, or you'll have Archer, Fletcher, me, and Jewel after you."

"I do not think my...my legs know their jobs enough to do...that." Mariano muttered, beginning to relax again as one of Fletcher's hands started delicately combing through his hair. "I will, treasure...I will stay."

"So..." Bastian started, keeping his voice low as Mariano melted back into sleep. He tugged the blankets up to his mage's chin, not able to keep his eyes away from the clinic walls as his face heated up. He wasn't going to deal with that new pet name just then. Current Bastian simply did not have the capacity to process anything else. That was for later Bastian, who hadn't been run through an emotional blender by some weird, rich guy the day before. "So I'm gonna order breakfast. What's the doc's favorite? Figure we all deserve something nice today."

[merrybandofmurderers]

tagged by @fade-and-loathing-in-thedas to use this picrew. made some dwarves and my alienage vigilante squad

Cadeyrn Vasca (he/ney)

Raleigh Cadash (he/him)

Adia Cadash (she/her)

Eliseo Cadash (he/him)

Fletcher Cadash (they/them)

Reza Cadash (she/her)

Sable (ze/they)

Zenith (ze/zir)

Wren (he/him)

Jude (they/them)

@mrs-theirin, @calicostorms, @ringneckedpheasant, @transfenris-truther, @brainworm-terrarium

[emends]

tags: wren.

·  𐡀  𝙼𝚄𝚂𝙴.  ៸ ៸ ៸  wren burkley. ·  𐡀  𝚅𝙸𝚂𝙰𝙶𝙴.  ៸ ៸ ៸  wren. ·  𐡀  𝙸𝙽𝚃𝙴𝚁𝙰𝙲𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽.  ៸ ៸ ៸  wren. ·  𐡀  𝙰𝙴𝚂𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚃𝙸𝙲.  ៸ ៸ ៸  wren. ·  𐡀  𝙳𝙴𝚂𝙸𝚁𝙴𝚂.  ៸ ៸ ៸  wren. ·  𐡀  𝚂𝚃𝚄𝙳𝚈.  ៸ ៸ ៸  wren. ·  𐡀  𝙷𝙴𝙰𝙳𝙲𝙰𝙽𝙾𝙽.  ៸ ៸ ៸  wren. ·  𐡀  𝙸 𝚂𝚃𝙰𝚁𝚅𝙴 𝚆𝙸𝚃𝙷𝙾𝚄𝚃 𝚈𝙾𝚄 𝙾𝙽 𝙼𝚈 𝙻𝙸𝙿𝚂.  ៸ ៸ ៸  wren & fletcher.

[pupsmailbox]

COWBOY ID PACK

NAMES ⌇　abeline. adeline. alfred. anderson. annie. archer. arthur. ash. aspen. austin. automata. axel. barett. beau. beckett. belle. bennett. betty. billy. blaise. boone. bree. brooks. bryce. cade. caleb. callen. callie. calvin. carson. casey. cassidy. chance. chase. clayton. clementine. clint. clyde. cody. colby. cole. colt. colton. connor. coraline. county. cree. cyrus. dagger. dakota. dallas. dalton. damon. darby. darla. delta. denver. dove. east. easton. edgar. eliza. elliot. ellis. emmett. emmylou. everett. everly. fallon. fang. farmer. fletcher. flint. flynn. fritz. gage. georgia. georgina. grant. graves. hank. harrison. harvey. hattie. hawk. hayes. heidi. holster. hudson. hunter. ida. jace. jack. jackie. jackson. james. jed. jesse. jessie. john. jolene. josh. joshua. jude. knox. leroy. lewis. loretta. lucille. luke. luther. lyle. maple. marshall. mason. maverick. meadow. millie. misty. myra. nash. nell. nina. oakley. oscar. otis. owen. pace. pamela. penelope. phoenix. pierce. pollyanna. prairie. quinn. ray. reed. reid. rhett. rhys. riley. river. rochelle. rory. roscoe. rosie. rudy. ryder. rye. sadie. savannah. sawyer. scarlett. sedona. selena. shep. shepherd. sienna. sierra. silas. skye. spanner. sparky. sterling. stevie. stormy sullivan. sundance. tallulah. tate. tess. todd. tucker. twila twyla. verily. wade. walker. walt. walter. waylon. wayne. weston. wilde. will. willa. willow. winona. wren. wyatt. zachariah. zane. zeke. zinnia.

PRONOUNS ⌇　ace/ace. aim/aim. badge/badge. bandana/bandana. barrel/barrel. boot/boot. boy/boy. brash/brash. buck/buck. bull/bullet. cattle/cattle. clad/clad. clash/clash. colt/colt. cow/boy. cow/cow. cowboy/cowboy. cy/cyborg. denim/denim. dirt/dirt. dive/dive. drive/drive. fang/fang. farmer/farmer. fence/fence. fire/fire. foal/foal. gold/golden. gra/grass. gun/gun. hat/hat. herd/herd. hill/hill. hit/hit. hold/holdem. holdem/holdem. hoof/hoof. horse/horse. iron/iron. jack/jack. jump/jump. kick/kick. lasso/lasso. law/law. lawful/lawful. lone/lone. mech/mecha. metal/metal. mount/mountain. mustang/mustang. noon/noon. officer/officer. out/out. outlaw/outlaw. poker/poker. protect/protect. pry/pry. punch/punch. punish/punish. ranch/ranch. ranger/ranger. rev/rev. rev/revolver. rev/rev. revolvers/revolver. river/river. ro/ro. robo/robo. rug/rugged. run/run. rust/rust. ry/ry. save/save. sharp/sharp. sheriff/sheriff. shoot/shoot. shot/shot. shot/shotgun. shout/shout. spark/spark. spur/spur. star/star. steed/steed. steel/steel. sun/sun. thief/thief. tumble/tumble. weed/weed. wheat/wheat. wood/wood. yee/haw. yeehaw/yeehaw.

[rwuffles]

BIRD—THEMED NPTS．  requested by 🐦 anon．  ➷

pt: bird-themed names, pronouns and titles. requested by 🐦 (bird) anon. end pt.

⚘   ⌣   names． whistle   melody   feather   robin   callum   wren   mavis   alouette   merle   branson   merope   colm   sephora   fletcher

⚘   ⌣   pronouns． wing / wings   flight / flights   whistle / whistles   song / songs   melody / melodies   chirp / chirps   hum / hums   nest / nests

⚘   ⌣   titles． the one with feathered wings   [prns] feathered flight   [prn] who sings in the early morning   the one with beautiful colored / monotone feathers

[thatbiologist]

G’eth Character Name Bank

First Names

Masculine Names

Alfred, Andrew, Arlo, Arthur, Balthazar, Barry, Ben, Benedick, Bernard, Burchard, Cedric, Charibert, Crispin, Cyrill, Daegal, Derek, Digory, Drustan, Duncan, Edmund, Edwin, Elric, Evaine, Frederick, Geffery, George, Godfreed, Gregory, Guy, Harris, Harry, Horsa, Hugh, Humphrey, Iago, Jack, Jeremy, John, Kazamir, Kenric, Lawrence, Leoric, Lorik, Luke, Lynton, Lysander, Madoc, Magnus, Maukolum, Micheal, Miles, Milhouse, Mordred, Mosseus, Ori, Orvyn, Neville, Norbert, Nycolas, Paul, Percival, Randulf, Richard, Robert, Roderick, Stephen, Tennys, Theodoric, Thomas, Tristan, Tybalt, Victor, Vincent, Vortimer, Willcock, Willian, Wymond

Feminine Names

Adelin, Alice, Amelia, Beatrix, Beryl, Bogdana, Branwyne, Brigida, Catalina, Catherine, Claudia, Crystina, Deanna, Desdemona, Elaine, Elinora, Eliza, Enide, Eva, Ferelith, Fiora, Freya, Gertrude, Gregoria, Gueanor, Gwen, Gwendolyn, Hannah, Hegelina, Helen, Helga, Heloise, Henrietta, Igraine, Imogen, Jacquelyn, Jane, Jean, Jenny, Jill, Juliana, Juliet, Katie, Leela, Lettice, Lilibet, Lilith, Lucy, Luthera, Luz, Lyra, Malyna, Margherita, Marion, Meryl, Millie, Miranda, Molle, Morgana, Morgause, Nezetta, Nina, Novella, Olwen, Oriana, Oriolda, Osanna, Pamela, Petra, Philippa, Revna, Rohez, Rosalind, Rose, Sallie, Sarra, Serphina, Sif, Simona, Sophie, Thomasine, Tiffany, Ursula, Viola, Winifred, Yrsa, Ysabella, Yvaine, Zelda, Zillah

Gender-Neutral/Unisex Names

Adrian, Alex, Aiden, Arden, Ariel, Auden, Avery, Bailey, Blaire, Blake, Brett, Breslin, Caelan, Cadain, Cameron, Charlie, Dagon, Dana, Darby, Darra, Devon, Drew, Dylan, Evan, Felize, Fenix, Fernley, Finley, Glenn, Gavyn, Haskell, Hayden, Hunter, Jace, Jaime, Jesse, Jo, Kai, Kane, Karter, Kieran, Kylin, Landon, Leslie, Mallory, Marin, Meritt, Morgan, Nell, Noel, Oakley, Otzar, Paris, Peregrine, Quant, Quyn, Reagan, Remy, Robin, Rowan, Ryan, Sam, Samar, Sasha, Sloan, Stace, Tatum, Teegan, Terrin, Urbain, Vahn, Valo, Vick, Wallace, Waverly, Whitney, Yardley, Yarden, Zasha

Surnames

Surnames, Patrilineal - First Name (Patrilineal Surname)

Ace, Allaire, Appel, Arrow, Baker, Bamford, Barnard, Beckett, Berryann, Blakewood, Blanning, Bigge, Binns, Bisby, Brewer, Brickenden, Brooker, Browne, Buller, Carey, Carpenter, Carter, Cheeseman, Clarke, Cooper, Ead, Elwood, Emory, Farmer, Fish, Fisher, Fitzroy, Fletcher, Foreman, Foster, Fuller, Galahad, Gerard, Graves, Grover, Harlow, Hawkins, Hayward, Hill, Holley, Holt, Hunter, Jester, Kerr, Kirk, Leigh, MacGuffin, Maddock, Mason, Maynard, Mercer, Miller, Nash, Paige, Payne, Pernelle, Raleigh, Ryder, Scroggs, Seller, Shepard, Shore, Slater, Smith, Tanner, Taylor, Thatcher, Thorn, Tilly, Turner, Underwood, Vaughan, Walter, Webb, Wilde, Wood, Wren, Wyatt, Wynne

Surnames, Townships in G’eth - First Name of (Location)

Abelforth, Argent Keep, Barrow Springs, Barrowmere, Bedford, Brunhelm, Bumble, Casterfalls, Dunbridge, Falmore Forest, Folk’s Bounty, Frostmaid, Fulstad, Heller’s Crossing, Hertfordshire, Humberdale, Inkwater, Little Avery, Marrowton, Mistfall, Mistmire, Morcow, Necropolis-on-Sea, Otherway, Parsendale, Piddlehinton, Port Fairwind, Redcastle, Ransom, Rutherglen, Saint Crois, Tanner’s Folly, Tavern’s Point, Wilmington

Surnames, Geographical Locations in G’eth - First Name of the (Location)

Cove of Calamity, Deep Woods of Falmore, Eastern Isles, Eastern Mountains, Foothills, Frozen Peak, Lakes, Maegor Cobblestones, Northern Mountains, Southern Isle, Tangle, West Coast, Wild Wild Woods, Woods of Angarad

Surnames, Nickname - First Name the (Something) 

Bald, Bastard, Bear, Bearded, Big, Bird, Bold, Brave, Broken, Butcher, Bruiser, Careless, Caring, Charitable, Clever, Clumsy, Cold, Confessor, Coward, Crow, Cyclops, Devious, Devoted, Dog, Dragonheart, Dreamer, Elder, Faithful, Fearless, Fey, Fool, Friend, Generous, Giant, Goldheart, Goldfang, Gouty, Gracious, Great, Hag, Handsome, Hawk, Honest, Huge, Humble, Hungry, Hunter, Innocent, Ironfist, Ironside, Keeper, Kind, Lesser, Liar, Lionheart, Little, Loyal, Magical, Mercenary, Merchant, Messenger, Old, Orphan, Pale, Polite, Poet, Poor, Prodigy, Prophet, Proud, Reliable, Romantic, Rude, Selfish, Sellsword, Scab, Scholar, Shield, Shy, Singer, Sirrah, Slayer, Slug, Small, Stoneheart, Swift, Tadde, Talented, Tart, Tenacious, Timid, Tiny, Tough, Traveller, Trusted, Truthful, Viper, Wizard, Wolf, Wyrm

[beeclops]

[eulaliasims]

Uni: Lina and Wren 2/2

Wren finally has their sporty little car that they inherited from Grandma Marta again. 🎉

Wren and Lily caught up over peppermint mochas...

...while Lina hung out with Trent. She's right there, dude.

I finally remembered to give some of the uni kids microwaves so they can have instant ramen.

Unfortunately, Wren decided to make soup instead.

Lina: Mrrrrgh, wha's the racket?

Wren: Soup's fucked.

Luckily, Jill Stein the Alien Firefighter was here in an instant to save the day. Wren tried to tip her, but she was already running off to the next emergency before they could!

Wren: Mom lied, this soup isn't comforting at all.

Lina is unfazed by the tiny kitchen fire, and Wren has decided to eat cereal for the time being.

Both of them have evening classes, so they decided to head over to the campus square and see if they could make some rent money busking. This would be a fabulous shot if the instruments weren't covered in snow.

No! Don't tip the dormie, tip us!!

Thankfully Obi has their backs.

Lina: Hey, thanks, man!

Obi: Sure thing. Sweet sound!

Important update: Brashen, the most boring of all the dormies, has finally developed an interesting characteristic. Unfortunately, it's this.

oh my goddddd, GO AWAY.

Hey, Cammy.

Camille: S'up?

Look at Wren go, getting so many As on their final exams. Autumn must be so proud of them!

[ampersandnotdash]

I want to live in Wren's room.

[crash-bump-bring-the-whump]

Whumpril 2023 - Day 13

Sometimes we comfort the strong brave Archer, sometimes we scare the shit out of him and the rest of the team. c: Thank you forever to @that-one-thespian!! Also is this technically what the prompt asked for? Maybe, maybe not! But it works!

TWs: buried alive, grief, blood, broken bones mentioned, near death experience

Blurry Vision | Support | “I think I need to sit down.”

"Bastian! Mariano!"

Jewel cautiously approached the pile of concrete and metal. The air smelled like spilled gasoline and dust. The air was hazy, choking. She had to tug her shirt over her nose and mouth to even hope to breathe.

It was silent.

Archer was already calling for their two missing people, hands on either side of his mouth. His voice was steady, strong. Jewel felt the panic he stomped down loud and clear, though. The guilt that threatened to swallow him alive. There was no triumphant laugh from Bastian, no shifting of rubble as he stood and announced that explosives were no match for a dragon's hide. There was no pair of dark hands breaking free, no mage with fire in his eyes pulling himself from the destruction like it was the only thing on his mind.

"Can either of you hear us?" Archer started climbing, gripping twisted rebar with his prosthetic as he tried to survey the pile of destruction for any movement. "Fuck--fuck, I don't think they got out." Archer's voice shook, just for a moment as he hauled himself to the top.

"That's, that's a lot of metal." Fletcher sounded faint as he approached too, pulling his sweatshirt sleeves over his hands to protect them as he followed Archer. The twisted remains of construction equipment were half-buried, crushed from the force behind their fall. "That's a lot of metal. How much, how much equipment was being kept upstairs?"

This had been a storage facility for construction equipment. The basement had been their target. Mariano and Bastian had gone ahead to scout, swallowed by the darkness of the stairwell and the click of a door shutting. The rest of them had stayed on the ground level to investigate further.

Elana had heard the transmitters turn on before anyone else.

This trap had been meant to kill them all.

Jewel carefully, cautiously looked around. She scanned, searching for some vague feeling or emotion that could've been coming from Bastian or Mariano. Anything. Even dread, the certainty that they were dying, would've been more welcome than the absolute stillness. The silence was suffocating.

She pressed a hand to her mouth, swallowing down the urge to cry. It would be a miracle to find them alive and unharmed. A deeply improbable, unreliable miracle. It was just unthinkable that they'd still be there to rescue, not after tons and tons of material had been dropped on their heads. Jewel had to accept that they were probably trying to find bodies. They were probably trying to find pieces of bodies.

She had to brace for that inevitable wave of horror and grief.

Bastian and Mariano had been further down after all, deeper in the warehouse than anyone else. Archer hadn't argued too much when Mariano had suggested it--what Mariano couldn't handle, Bastian certainly could. They wouldn't be going alone, either. It would be safe and keep the rest of the team available for backup if it was needed.

They had all figured this would be a trap. An ambush. A fight. They hadn't counted on the person they were tailing to bring down a whole building in an attempt to get rid of them.

Bastian and Mariano's comms hadn't sent out a single transmission since the first explosions went off. One urgent "Get out of here" from Mariano, not even a second after Elana had already picked Fletcher and Jewel up and started sprinting. That had been it. The last words they'd heard--telling the team to escape.

It had been so loud. They'd all been shouting, calling names and instructions and directions as terror snapped at their minds. They'd barely made it out to a safe distance by the time the closest explosives went off. All five of them had collapsed, holding each other. Shaking and clinging. It had been a struggle to not be overcome by all the emotion, Jewel bracing herself against Elana as her head spun.

Now, all they could do was search. Desperately, Fletcher shouted for either of his and Archer's boyfriends. "Bastian! Mariano! Please, anything! Anything at all!" He begged, voice cracking under the weight of his tears.

And then she felt something.

There.

Jewel's attention snapped to one spot in particular. There was a flicker of something: confusion. Pain. Worry. "Over here! Elana, over here!" She shouted, darting to the spot she could feel it coming from. "Under this--this big piece, right here. Can you lift it?" That flicker fanned into something more substantial. Hope. Relief.

Elana laughed, grim and confident as she rolled her shoulders. "Always." Elana got her fingers up under the concrete and rebar slab, and Jewel saw her arms tense. Her shoulders strained as she kept her back straight, breathing evenly as she lifted. Archer hurried over, levering his prosthesis up under it to help. Together they gently set it down, just to the side.

There, half-buried next to a still-partially-standing support beam and scowling in the light, was Bastian.

The dust in the air was too thick, it clung to Bastian's hair, his skin, turning even the dark red of his blood a pasty grey. Bastian tried to move, hissing and gripping his side before he met Archer's eyes and seemed to realize what he was seeing.

"A...Archer?" He croaked as both Elana and Archer started sweeping away everything that covered him. "Is...is everyone okay?"

Archer and Elana finally got Bastian revealed, their hands keeping him from sitting up as Jewel knelt by his side to start looking him over.

"Bastian--fuck, we're okay, we got out." Archer said, holding Bastian's face in his hands. "You're alive. You're here, you're okay." He whispered, as though he were trying to convince himself that he wasn't imagining this. Archer had to take a moment before he spoke again, squeezing his eyes shut. "We haven't found Mariano yet." Jewel didn't miss the tremble in his voice, or how he pressed that terror down further.

"Oh..." Bastian groaned, one hand pressing against his eyes. He was dazed. "He's...he has to be here. Got...we got separated in one of the blasts." Jewel saw how Archer's face twisted, felt how his tightly controlled grief flared high and hot. "Feels like my ribs got stomped on by a bull." Something had cut Bastian in the chaos, freshly drawn blood trickling down his face.

"You might have some broken ribs." Jewel said, frowning. She circled around to his other side, pressing her ear to his back. "Breathe for me, Bastian." She didn't hear any rattling when he did. "Good. Okay, Elana, let's start moving him to the van, be careful with his spine--"

A horrified gasp drew their attention. Fletcher was pulling frantically at a pile of rubble towards the outer edge, tossing smaller pieces aside. Wren was at his side, looking equally alarmed as she saw the same thing he did. A harsh, strangled coughing filled the air as they pulled one particularly heavy-looking piece of metal away.

Jewel felt her own hope soar amid the confusion and pain she could feel from that direction. She knew that cough. She knew that breathless, painful sound.

"Mariano! Mariano, Marito, we have you." Fletcher's voice soothed, and as Jewel stood again, she saw Fletcher and Wren with their arms wrapped tightly around Mariano. He was bloodied, curled up, and completely caked in dust. His hands clutched at them both, leaving grey hand prints on both of them as he tried to catch his breath.

Jewel ran over, realizing that one little portion of an outside wall was still standing at Mariano's back. The metal they'd pulled away had been a solid work table. She could almost imagine him scrambling under it and curling up amid the destruction and noise.

Crouching down, Jewel started examining Mariano. Some possible breaks, some cuts, and he'd be lucky if he wasn't completely black and blue the next day--not to mention the worry about what was in the dust they'd all been choking on. But...he wasn't much worse off than Bastian. This was all fixable. None of it was an immediate risk to life.

As they all slid back into the van, shaking and dirty and exhausted, Jewel slumped into the passenger seat. Archer and Fletcher were in the back. They were holding hands and kissing dust-caked foreheads, helping Elana to keep Mariano and Bastian from getting jostled around too much as a teary Wren drove them back to the clinic.

Jewel had been a doctor for too long to accept miracles as legitimate possibilities. However, maybe this time, she thought. Maybe this time she could accept a miracle.