#Tv: Countdown

[jays-bonnie-on-the-side]

this is the temporary fix for mark I’ve been craving. more pls ☺️

Holdover

CHARACTERS: Mark Meachum x YN former coworker/ boss

SCENE: Abandoned Motel, late evening.

THE VIBE: Hurt/comfort, lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers, brutal honesty, slow-burn steam

CW: Language, emotional conflict, hints of (past) intimacy, romantic tension

The door slammed open hard enough to bounce off the wall.

YN stepped inside first, her breath ragged, sweat streaking down her dirt-smudged neck. She didn’t even look around. One twin bed. A dead ceiling fan. The motel reeked of rot and neglect.

Mark trailed behind, dropping his duffel with a heavy thud. “This place looks like it hasn’t had a guest since the Cold War.”

“You weren’t exactly giving me options, were you?” YN snapped. “Oh, right. Because you’ve been so good at giving people options.”

She spun around. “What the hell does that mean?”

“You know what it means.” Mark's voice was low and bitter. “You’ve been calling the shots since you got that promotion—and God forbid anyone challenge Saint YN.”

“Don’t start with this,” she warned. "You just couldn't handle a woman being your boss."

“No, I will start with this. You climbed the ladder, and somewhere along the way, you started looking down on the rest of us—me especially.”

“Oh, you did that all on your own. I wasn’t harder on you because I hated you, Mark. I was harder on you because you turned into this—this smug, flirty, arrogant son of a bitch—”

“Because you started to give me shitty jobs,” he roared. The room went quiet except for the sound of the broken fan creaking overhead.

Mark took a breath, eyes flaring. “You stopped looking at me like I mattered the moment you outranked me. And then you acted like I was some goddamn liability.”

“You were,” she bit out. “You stopped listening. You undermined me in front of the team. You acted like everything I said was a personal attack.”

“Because it was personal!"

“Then maybe you should’ve been professional enough to handle it!”

"Oh I handled it sweetheart!"

"You quite like a coward!"

They were toe to toe now. The tension coiled so tight between them it could snap a steel wire.

“You know what?” Mark said, voice tight. “You don’t get to stand there and judge me! You took a step back for this task force so you're my equal. No, no, technically I was here first, so you're a rookie."

She huffed "Yeah right!"

He smirked, a green with envy little rookie whose jealous of Oliveras.”

YN blinked. “Excuse me?”

“Oh please. You’ve been grinding your teeth every time I so much as smile at her. But you threw me away, remember? Or does your memory only work when it’s convenient?”

“That’s rich—coming from the guy who can’t go five minutes without acting like he’s God’s gift to women just to distract from the fact that he’s still hung up on someone who won’t give him the time of day anymore.”

Mark flinched.

“Hit too close?” she said coldly.

“I’m not the only one hung up.”

She laughed—sharp and bitter. “Please. You think I waste one minute thinking about you?”

“No,” Mark snapped. " Then why are you here YN? I think you waste every second trying not to think of me.”

Silence.

Her hands were shaking, and she hated that he noticed. She turned her back to him, biting down the burn in her throat.

“Forget it,” she muttered. “I’m done. You win. I don’t even know why I came on this mission.”

“Because you think we blew this mission, and you always have to fix everything,” he threw back. “Even things that are already broken.”

“Like you?” she said, barely above a whisper.

Mark didn’t respond.

She heard him mutter something under his breath before heading into the bathroom and slamming the door.

The water turned on a moment later.

She sat on the edge of the bed. Her hands were clenched. Her jaw ached from grinding it. But the worst pain sat somewhere behind her ribs—loud and aching and screaming at her that this still mattered

And that maybe she’d been just as much at fault.

She couldn’t sit still.

The anger had nowhere to go. The motel room felt like it was choking her. And so, for reasons she couldn’t name, she walked to the bathroom door. Slowly. Then pushed it open.

Steam greeted her like a wave.

She stepped in. Didn’t announce herself. Couldn’t.

Mark was just a silhouette behind the frosted glass, water streaming over his skin, his hands braced against the tile like he was trying to stay upright.

She leaned on the sink, jaw set.

Steam rolled toward her in thick waves. He didn’t hear her come in—he never locked the door. Water thundered against the tile as he stood in the small stall, back to her, his figure half visible through the fogged glass.

YN stood at the sink, arms crossed, biting the inside of her cheek like it might stop her voice from shaking.

“Did you ever mean it?” she asked quietly.

A beat. Silence.

Mark didn’t say anything for a long time. “Mean what?” His voice came from behind the foggy door, low and unreadable.

“You know exactly what I mean.” Her voice cracked on the edge of the sentence. “All the things you said. The nights we spent on stakeouts. That time in Madrid when you looked at me like I was the only person in the room.”

Silence. Then the water shut off.

He stayed in the stall a few seconds longer, as if bracing himself. Then the door creaked open.

Mark stepped out. Her eyes landed on his face —and he looked raw. Hair wet and curling over his forehead, water still dripping from his chest.water still dripping from his chest, lower over his abdomen to his hips lower to his ....

YN looked away instantly. “Jesus, Mark—”

“Hey, you came in here,” he said, stepping forward, grabbing a towel, wrapping it around his hips “You want to talk, have real answers?”

She kept her eyes on the cracked floor. “Just tell me it was nothing. Tell me I was a fool for thinking any of it meant something.”

Mark was suddenly right in front of her, close enough she could feel the heat from his body radiating through the humid air. His hand cupped her face—not rough, not soft either, just… real.

“You want the truth?” he said. “You terrified me. You got that promotion and suddenly it was like I didn’t know how to be around you without wanting more. And I hated that. I hated that you had control and life all figures out. I hated that it still wasn’t enough to stop wanting you. Because I didn’t deserve you.”

YN swallowed. “So you punished me for it.”

“Yeah,” he said flatly. “I did.”

They stared at each other. Just inches apart, but a thousand miles away.

She stepped closer, her voice trembling now. “You made me feel like I was... Like I was wrong for being good at the job.”

“You weren’t wrong,” he said. “You were brilliant. And I wanted to be the one who told you that every damn day. But instead I made it worse. Because I’m an idiot.”

Her breath shook as she looks into his green eyes. Mark’s jaw tightened. His hand came up to cup her face. Gently this time. Tender. Careful.

And then he kissed her.

Hard.

All teeth and desperation and years of unspoken things.

Her hands gripped his damp shoulders like she was drowning. He kissed her like he was trying to burn out the years between them.

The kiss left them breathless—foreheads pressed together, skin flushed, air hot with more than steam.

Mark’s hands were on her waist now, thumbs brushing bare skin where her shirt had ridden up. YN clutched his towel-damp shoulders, half-dazed, lips swollen from how fiercely they’d crashed together.

His voice was low—rough, uncertain, but still cocky in that way that always made her want to slap him and kiss him at the same time

“You started that,” he murmured against her lips.

She swallowed, smirking despite herself. “You kissed me first.”

“After you walked in here like a goddamn fever dream,” he breathed. “You stood there with that look on your face—I thought you were gonna kill me or fuck me.”

“Still might do both,” she muttered.

That earned a crooked grin. “Come here.”

He started to lead her backward, slowly, toward the bed. His hand was warm on her back, guiding, gently urging. His eyes were hungry now—open and bare in a way she hadn’t seen in years.

But YN hesitated.

Her hand pressed flat against his chest, stopping him.

Mark frowned slightly, eyes scanning hers. “Hey,” he said quietly. “What’s wrong?”

She exhaled, flustered. “Nothing.”

He tilted his head. “You sure? Because two seconds ago you were ready to melt into me.

She bit her lip, avoiding his gaze. “I just—look, I do want this. Desperately. But I feel…” She motioned vaguely to herself. “Disgusting. I’ve been sweating all day, my hair’s a mess, I probably smell like roadkill, and you just had a shower and now I’m standing here like—”

Mark blinked, then leaned back just slightly, a laugh catching in his throat.

“Are you seriously stopping this because you’re worried you’re dirty?”

“Yes!” she said, exasperated. “I am! Because I feel like I’ve been rolled in sandpaper and humiliation all day, and if we’re gonna—” she gestured vaguely at the space between them “—do anything, I’d prefer not to feel like I’ve been hit by a dump truck.”

Mark let out a breath that was part relief, part amusement. “Jesus, YN.”

He grinned—then softened.

“You could’ve just said, ‘Give me five minutes.’ You didn’t have to look like you were about to commit a federal crime.”

She gave him a flat look, cheeks flushed. “I didn’t expect to walk in here and end up halfway to ripping your towel off, okay?”

He smirked again, stepping closer, pressing a soft kiss to her temple.

“Go,” he said gently. “Take your shower. I’ll still be here.”

“In that towel?”

“Maybe...maybe not."

She groaned and turned toward the stall, but not before he gave her a sly look over his shoulder.

“Oh, and YN?”

She paused.

“I wanted this since Madrid. So take your time. But not too long.”

--

What do we think? Need a part two for ending or not? Maybe back story to their "Madrid mission"

taglist: Jensen: @jackles010378 @libby99hb @winchesterwild78 @suckitands33 @mostlymarvelgirl @deans-baby-momma @ancles @tulipsvanilla @thesilmarillionblog @jays-bonnie-on-the-side @kr804573 @kamisobsessed @hobby27 @globetrotter28 @kindollss @muhahaha303 @shadysoulangel @lyarr24 @spxideyver @impala67rollingthroughtown @panickedbitch @deansimpalababy @livya99 @yvonneeeee @ladykitana90 @stoneyggirl2 @imsiriuslyreal @panickedbitch @roseblue373 @n-o-p-e-never @ariasong11 @lmpala1967 @sherlockstrangewolf @spnaquakindgdom @writtenbyhollywood @mishkatelwarriorgoddess @healojane @star-yawnznn @cevansbaby-dove @deanswifeyy

[katherinehoughtoncastle47]

COUNTDOWN PROMO

[jays-bonnie-on-the-side]

My man posted!!!!!

Caption: This group

Period.

I love him 😭 so so proud of him!!

[ironworked]

Latukefu’s latest role as Luke Finau in the Prime Video series “Countdown” shows there is more to him than just muscles. He can trade witty jabs with the best of them and his verbal sparring partner in the series most often is played by Jensen Ackles.

“That came off the bat as soon as we started,” Latukefu says. “The chemistry was there with Jensen and me. We have kids the same age. I just think the dynamics of the two characters really works. It was real easy.”

[...]

Latukefu says, “They just cast the right kind of people with the right sensibilities. It’s a mixture of the show and our personalities individually. It was real easy.”

Knight echoes those feelings adding that a major reason the team and show clicked immediately was Ackles.

“He had the responsibility to set the tone and lead us forward,” Knight says. “I think he did an incredible job and made it easy for us to enjoy each other and go to work each day. It was a genuinely fun time.” [KGET.com]

[pedro-reed]

Uli Latukefu | Countdown (2025) 1x01

[tsmidnights]

#1Monthtil1989(Taylor's Version) 💙

[evrikka]

Mark Meachum | Countdown 1x01

[cloexbrosluvr]

Amazon's Prime Video Countdown show article from TV Guide Magazine (June 16-July 6 edition)

[jensenacklesmybeloved]

[jays-bonnie-on-the-side]

he looks so fly 😍

Jensen with Eric Dane, interviewed by Zon D’Amour.

[vertigoartgore]

Countdown to the 10th anniversary of the Hannibal Series Finale (31) :

Hannibal 1X09 - Trou Normand (airdate : May 23, 2013)

Directed by Guillermo Navarro and written by Steve Lightfoot.

[daredevilsource]

frank castle’s monologue.

[jays-bonnie-on-the-side]

countdown isn’t even out yet and i have hella one shot ideas 😆

[ironworked]

Mostly non-spoilery Countdown thoughts: like I said in tags yesterday, this show isn't reinventing the wheel genre but that was never what they advertised, so can't use it against them.

What this show is (and 3 episodes in is already successful at) is the lovechild of '24' and an 80s-90s thriller/buddy cop movie: A group of badass professionals with different personalities and approaches to the job working a case that builds and raises stakes over the whole season. It's fun!

Good pacing and very solid work by the cast is a great foundation to build the season on, and I cannot wait to see how it develops.

Also I gotta give a shout out to whoever's responsible for the music, because finally! rock music! (there's Arctic Monkeys, Tool, Metallica, The Raconteurs,...)

Back on the topic of the cast, I want to point out this bit from Jensen Ackles' interview with The Wrap:

Q - And Mark starts things off by hitting on the one woman in the team, played by Jessica Camacho. JA - [Laughs] He probably thinks he has more game than he actually does. The obvious answer is he sees an attractive woman. And maybe it’s not just hitting on her, maybe it’s sizing her up. I wanted to play both, because you want to try to find a foundation of the will they or won’t they. But that was more of a test of like, “Who is this person and can I charm her?” Because if I can charm her, then somebody else can charm her and that’s not good. I need to know that I can trust these people. There’s little bits of games that happen within the task force early on, like, Who can I trust and how much can I trust them?

Because some people keep saying Beau and Russell and Mark (and somehow Soldier Boy too?) are the same character, but that's because if they even watch the material they come out with an extremely surface reading of it all.

See, all these characters might be flirty like Dean. But they do not flirt in the same way, or for the same reasons, and it shows. And that goes for everything else. They're similar character types, but they are very definitely not the same character or played the same way.

Sooo, anyway, everyone with Amazon Prime watch as soon as you can! streamers like people watching soon and all the way through.

[halflingjakab]

[911whatsyourgratitude]

the way tommy treated buck on their first date was literally so so sweet like calmly reassuring him when he was visibly freaking out and being vulnerable about his experiences but also smoothly transitioning back to being flirty with the "I guess its just me that makes you nervous" line. MWAH 🥰 he's just very sweet and gentle