#update: i tried to fix the formatting so there is space between the bullet points

[televinita]

Zoo 3x07

It's Labor Day. I have labored. On the things that matter, like doing my damnedest at catching up on this show.

Hark! I did not realize how much I missed this show being about zany animal chases out in the field until we were finally blessed with just such an adventure, starring our favorite partnership -- plus a special guest. I think we all know which Hated Dad, in a showdown between Srs. Oz and Morgan, is my favorite. Let's all give a big round of applause to our top Mitch/Jamie shipper, Max ("I take it you're back together with my son?" I am impressed he managed to hold that in all the way to nightfall, honestly)

I'm gonna assume, based on their easy banter here, that he and Jamie stayed on good speaking terms and he had a valid reason for snaking (pun intended) custody. Though I am gonna need to know a) why he uses the phrase 'back' together, because I have a lot of witnesses to attest to the fact that they have no concrete evidence of a relationship on the books prior to this year, and b) again, why they could not legit have been together in S2.

Just assume I loved every second of Mitch complaining at Max, and Max being entirely "lol this is great, what a fun time with my son, listen to my boy snark" in response.

MITCH SNARKING ABOUT THE V. ROMANTIC PLACES JAMIE HAS TAKEN HIM SO FAR. (now stop me before I spiral into my QuickSad place with all the headcanon I came up with in 2015 about where I saw them going on vacation)

Anyway, speaking of zany animal chases, the giant invisible snake is my new favorite hybrid. (I don't know what to do with Jamie's Dragonslayer move of stabbing herself out of it after being swallowed. I've called this show insane so many times it has lost all meaning.)

"Jamie is the person I trust most” asdkl;fajsdl;afjsdklfjasd. I mean, he says this and kinda fails at showing it, but I like hearing it out loud as confirmation of his thoughts. [edit: and actually, I guess fear of losing that person would be a big motivator in not wanting to risk the possibility yet. Peace with ending, made.]

I'm not sure how to feel about the last scene given that Mitch didn't get a word in edgewise and all of his faces were Sad Regretful Puppy faces, but I think how Jamie handled it, finding the perfect blend of confrontation, sympathy and consequences, might be my favorite thing she's done all season.

I spoiled myself on ahead of time on him injecting her with the amnesia tranq, and honestly all I feel is sympathy that all of this is so far beyond Mitch's control* and he's backed into a corner scrambling to contain the situation on his own, maybe do less damage if has at least an idea of a solution before he presents the problem. I'm assuming it's not going to go well for him, but I can appreciate why he tries.

**poor Mitch. All he wants to do is just hole up somewhere in peace and quiet with his girlfriend for a while and the world is like, "Don't you dream impossible things!" And yes I just worked a Taylor Swift lyric in there, minus a question mark to completely alter its context.

Other Stuff

I think we all know, at this point, who I am rooting for in a knock-down fistfight between Abigail and Clementine. In related news, I better not hear a peep from the latter against the former doing what any mother would do to rescue her (creepy, horrifying nightmare) baby.

I did enjoy all of Mitch's wonderful, irrational "no tank! tank bad!" responses to the proposed treatment for Clem's baby. I told you being unbearably emotional about his daughter was his best attribute. And his general expression watching her go into the tank is a lot of what I was missing last episod4.

Also awww @ giving her that last tiny reassuring smile as the last thing she sees before the tank does its job.

Jackson taking up the Big Bro / Uncle reins around Clementine is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Helping fix stuff at which he is woefully under-qualified and taking her sass! Opening up about heartbreak! Tracking down baby daddies! THIS IS THE BEST. Can this show just be all Mitch and Jamie doing Action/Adventure Stuff while Jackson and Clementine hold down the fort, provide backup and bond.

So is Sam really the father or not? Because I gotta tell ya, I was not whelmed by his short-lived face, and as much as I would love very much for Clem's baby to be raised with the help of the village for lack of a life partner, I would also secretly like to be dazzled by the Knight Of Magic Spermatozoa. Also, if Clem really did sneak off in the middle of the night, I have another demerit waiting for her steadily worsening permanent record.

Worst part of episode: I officially have zero patience left for the Kenyatta Family Drama Hour. Dismissed.

P.S. GOOD NEWS: I went to bed frustrated and puzzling over the fact that I still couldn't understand the season 3 plot or how it connected to season 2, but my subconscious must have worked on it all night because I literally woke up this morning and went, in awe, "I Understand." I mean, not entirely or enough to be brave enough to say it out loud, even for the purpose of having people check my work, but enough to not feel rage at how boring the show is anymore. Whereas last year the episodes would fly by, this is the first episode since, like, 3x02 that didn't feel like it took 900 years to finish.

[fallenfurther]

FabFiveFeb - Jeff

Finally finished @gumnut-logic‘s FabFiveFeb challenge. Here is my little fic for the bonus round. Prompts used: home, figure and laughter. 

Also see previous weeks: Alan (with part 2, 3 and 4 ), Gordon, Virgil (a WIP, but with one and a half chapters complete so watch this space! I will fix the boys), Scott (now a WIP and to be my first collaboration!) and John.

*****

Jeff’s eyes flickered beneath the sunglasses. It was the second weekend he’d been allowed home and a rescue had dragged his boys away. It was bittersweet. His eldest sons, and mother, fussed over him while Gordon chatted incessantly, intent of catching him up on everything he’d missed. Alan, his little Alan, was still nervous around him. It was hard on both of them, Jeff knew. Seeing Alan so grown up, so tall, so responsible, was still a shock, and yet Jeff could still see the child he’d left behind beneath it all. It had only been three months since he had returned to Earth and there was still so much to adjust to. He was walking better now, for longer periods, and he was looking and feeling healthier. The doctor’s plans did include a strict diet, which thankfully only allowed for one home cooked meal a week, for the time being. Jeff surveyed the lounge from his advantage point. He had been reading old reports on the balcony, but the white bucket chair had proven too comfortable and he had fallen asleep.

The room had subtle differences in it, but it still felt like home. From here Jeff could see John, sitting at his desk, his son’s soft voice coordinating the rescue. Jeff had watched the briefing from this spot and had seen the glance John had given him, as John sat down in the chair. Jeff had just nodded. It still wasn’t his place. Oh, Jeff planned to sit back at that desk, but first he had to get a feel for how the boys ran International Rescue now. Jeff need to understand what had changed, what was the same, and worked and what needed changing, and how he would fit back into the organisation. It was going to be a tough conversation to have, with Scott and John so used to heading up the rescues. Jeff was so proud of his sons. They had all gone above and beyond his expectations, though some had taken on more than they should have on their own. His thoughts drifting to Scott, his eldest, who had shouldered so much. Jeff knew he had to take some of it back; it had all become too much for one man. The logical thing would to be to take back Tracy Industries, and take a back seat with International Rescue, but International Rescue had been his brainchild, his second dream.

His eyes fell on the ginger man, a smile forming as it always did at the sight of his family. John’s attention was on the figures and readouts that were displayed before him. The holograms of various brothers came and went, each updating John and receiving the information they required to continue. Forcing himself out the chair, Jeff lent against the rail to watch the relieved smile that crossed John’s face as the last person was rescued. John’s eyes stayed fixed on the readouts until all four of his brothers were safely in their machines and on their way home. Only then did Jeff see the man relax back into the chair, his fingers flicking and sorting the data in a less rushed manner. Jeff turned from the scene and headed down the steps to join it. He perched on the side of the desk. He watched as John typed up the report and filed the relevant data into a neat mission log, a format that Jeff was starting to become accustomed to.

“Have a good nap, Dad?” John glanced up at him, giving him a quick smile, before continuing. Jeff squeezed the man’s shoulder.

“Mighty fine one.”

“Scott will be home in five, and the others fifteen minutes after that.”

Jeff nodded, his eyes already looking towards the swimming pool. He could still remember when he piloted Thunderbird One. The rush of adrenaline that was always released as her engines roared and forced him back into his seat, then the second release after entering the blue sky, changing to horizontal flight and letting her engines burn. Hitting Mach 20 from such a low speed had always been a thrill, something Scott shared with him. He could never keep that boy away from planes!

John was spot on, and Thunderbird One soared into view, the pool retracted, and the ship slipped effortlessly back into its bay. The doors had been closed, but Jeff could always feel the force of the wind created by the machine. As he watched his mind tricking him into believing it was blowing through his hair. There had been so many things he had imagined over the past few years, sun on his skin, rain, food, his mother, his boys at various ages, his wife. All things he thought he’d never see again. But he had hoped, he had survived and now he was home, waiting for his eldest to emerge from the depths of the island.

Scott emerged as Thunderbird Two made her approach. Jeff smiled as his eldest strolled towards him. Back in his civilian clothes, skin clean of any dirt and hair dried and styled. Nothing about the man in front of him screamed ‘I’d just risked my life to save other’. The smile was returned. Scott gave Jeff’s shoulder a squeeze.

“How’d we do, Dad?”

“Top notch rescue, son.”

“He was asleep for most of it.” John piped in. Scott laughed.  

“You caught me! But I’m sure it was a job well done.”

The laughter was music to Jeff’s ears. There was still worry in the corner of Scott’s eye, but his son now was used to his frequent naps. Scott’s laugh always made his dimples appear and deepen; those dimples which Lucille adored. Another pat on his shoulder, and Scott headed towards the pool.

“Thanks Dad.”

Jeff watched from his vantage point as Scott collected up the deck chairs and set them back around the pool. Bolting the things down only damaged them, and they were forever being forgotten to be put away. The memory of Scott’s training in Thunderbird One came to mind, especially his first attempts at landing through the pool. It had taken a few tries to get the aim right, and even after that a few tiles often got scorched or broken, but the young man had gotten there eventually. Though the deck chairs had been a little worse for wear after those attempts, one even ending up in the sea. Gordon had teased Scott about that for months after that incident. Jeff stood up and stretched when Scott re-entered, before joining his eldest on the sofa. Scott already had a tablet in hand, taking down bullet points ready to write up his report. It was not long until his youngest two joined them, their laughter alerting them that they were on the way, long before they entered the room. Their playful spirit still very much the same as when he’d left. Jeff was glad the bond between the two youngest was strong, and that Gordon was able to be the brother Alan needed him to be. How Jeff had missed Gordon’s jokes and cheek. When Virgil arrived, John joined the family and Jeff could sit in on his first debrief since returning to Earth. It was having his boys close that he’d missed the most.

[queercapwriting]

Hey, if you got the time could you please write a Sanvers fic where Alex risks her life for Kara because we all know Alex, that hoe takes bullets for her BULLETPROOF sister, and maybe gets hurt and Maggie gets mad and scared? (Bonus Points if Maggie finds out this way that Kara is Supergirl)

Perhaps this is obvious from the prompt, but be aware that this getsviolent (but of course our babies will be fine and in love and safe, my nameisn’t Jason Rothenberg).

IF YOU CAN’T READ PAST THE “Keep Reading” LINE FOR SOME REASON, READ THE WHOLE THING HERE, because it does NOT end with Kara yelling!!!!

http://archiveofourown.org/works/8856685/chapters/20919791

Kara doesn’t see the Kryptonite-based, diamond-tipped bullets speedingtoward her.

So she doesn’t understand, at first, why Maggie is breaking formation; whyMaggie is screaming her sister’s name; why Maggie is sprinting across thewarehouse, across the warehouse whose walls are shattering from the barrage ofmachine gun fire she is blazing through.

She doesn’t understand, until she hears a sickening ripping open of flesh.

Doesn’t understand until she looks down to see Maggie get there just in timeto catch Alex as her limp body falls; until she sees Maggie cradle Alex’sbleeding form with one arm and unloading five rounds rapid of bullets into thechests of the two Cadmus lackeys who’d shot at Kara.

Who’d hit Alex. Because Kara didn’t see, because Alex dove.

And Alex’s blood is pouring out of her shredded torso, flooding ontoMaggie’s hands, soaking into Maggie’s clothes, and Maggie’s gun is firing andMaggie is not missing a single target.

Kara sees only red and Kara seees only her sister and Kara has sworn neverto kill but Alex is pale and Alex is starting to seize and suddenly Kara is realizingthat there is no one left to rage at; no one left to even consider killing,consider maiming, consider hating – except herself, because Alex, Alex, Alex– no one left because Maggie has left no one standing.

So now there is only the eerie silence that accompanies the aftermath ofMaggie’s loaded gun; now there is only J’onn sprinting and Kara flying andAlex’s third-in-command shouting orders for an immediate medical evac andMaggie ripping at her shirt and using it to stem Alex’s bleeding – to try tostem Alex’s bleeding – her hands the color of a Halloween prank gone wrong; herhands the color of war.

Kara lands and Kara yells and Karaconvulses and J’onn’s arms try to contain her and she knows nothing else.

(continues below the keep reading line and here).

“Alex,” she sits bolt upright, and J’onn regards her gravely.

“She’s still unconscious after surgery, she’s with Detective Sawyer, she – ”

Kara is gone, Kara is sprinting, Kara is slamming her way into the emergencymedical bay; Kara is not at all slowed down by the sedative J’onn must have injectedher with to bring her back to the DEO in one piece.

The thing that stops Kara in her tracks is the sight of Maggie; Maggie withstitches holding together her shooting arm; Maggie covered in a combination ofher own blood and her girlfriend’s; Maggie sitting beside Alex’s bed, faceblank, not even flinching at the bang Kara causes when she careens into theroom.

Eyes are empty. Eyes staring at Alex’s still too pale face.

Eyes with the ghosts of eight dead Cadmus gunmen – eight dead Cadmus people– screaming behind their shutters.

“You were shot,” Kara says to Maggie simply, dully, as she trembles forwardto take Alex’s limp, IV-ed hand into her own, finding the pulse in her fingersand breathing for the first time since she saw her sister falling.

Maggie doesn’t look at her. Maggie’s face, her body, doesn’t register thatshe heard her at all. Her shirt is still dripping with Alex’s blood, asickening counterpoint to the machines measuring Alex’s weak vital signs. Herhands are crusted dark red.

Kara turns to J’onn, who’s slipped into the room behind her, arms foldedacross his chest and staring, grim-faced, between the girls. His girls.

He shakes his head slightly at her, and Kara tries again.

“Maggie. You were shot.”

Maggie’s expression still doesn’t change, and her eyes don’t leave Alex’sface, but she swallows and she breathes and she opens her mouth and her voicecreaks like she hasn’t used it in years when she says, “I didn’t notice.”

Kara bites her lip and J’onn stares at the floor.

“You got her out of there, Detective Sawyer. You got her out in time. She’sstrong. She’ll fight, and she’ll be just fine – ”

“You’re bulletproof,” Maggie ignores J’onn and moves for the firsttime, fixing her eyes on Kara. Eyes sharp enough, eyes enraged enough, to obliteratethe chests of three Cadmus men, to shatter the skulls of five, even with herown arm riddled with their bullets.

Because they massacred everyone in the bar. People she had cared for. Peopleshe had loved.

And god dammit, they would not take Alex Danvers from her, too.

And those eyes, that gaze, that rage, she’s focusing now on Kara – on Supergirl– on the woman whose cape alone can shield people from full out explosions,whose fingers could crush bullets, whose hands could toss an entire alien prisoninto space.

“You. Are. Bulletproof,” she spits again, and she rises this time.

Winn’s pale-faced sprint through the hall comes to an abrupt halt when hehears Maggie’s yell. He grimaces, and tears flood his eyes. He swallows, and hesprints back in the opposite direction, his face a mask of grim determination.

“The bullets were laced with Kryptonite, Detec – ” J’onn tries, stepping upto Kara’s side like he’s bracing for Maggie to attack. Because he is.

“I don’t care if they were laced with nuclear explosives. You’re bulletproofand you people have her so brainwashed into doing her job perfectly thatshe shredded her abdomen for you, she might right now be dying for you,and to what, spare you a little pain? My god, you think you’re so highand mighty that you – ”

“Maggie – ”

“Not the time, Winn,” she growls and he cowers, breathless in the doorway,but he doesn’t move.

“Yes, now, Maggie. Listen, you love Alex. So does J’onn. So do I. And so…”He takes a deep breath and glances at Kara, who holds her breath at J’onn, whonods once. “And so does Kara.”

“What the hell does Kara have to do with this?”

Winn gulps and Winn passes Kara the glasses he’d run to get. She breathesand she uses one hand – the other is still holding Alex’s – to put them on.

Maggie furrows her brow and Maggie blinks and Maggie stares and Maggie’sstomach implodes and Maggie collapses.

Knees crash into the cold ground, shoulders wrack with silent sobs, withindefinable grief.

Because now – because Supergirl is Kara, damnit, and Alex, Alex, ofcourse, Alex – now suddenly her rage has nowhere to go, no one to be pouredinto, and it might just destroy her.

She doesn’t hear James run into the room and she doesn’t hear him when hemoves behind Alex’s bed and kneels next to her. She recognizes his hands, hisscent, surrounding her as he gathers he into his arms, pulls her against hischest.

She recognizes him, recognizes who’s holding her. And she hits him anyway.

Hits at him, stronger with one arm than the other because the force of herflat fisted punches nearly rip her stitches open. She hits at him, tears herthroat with her guttural, futile yells, hits at him harder.

Kara sobs and Winn covers his mouth with his hands and J’onn looks carefullyaway and James absorbs every blow, just shushing Maggie softly and wrapping hisarms even tighter around her raging, trembling, breaking body until her punchesbecome sobs and her yells become desperate gasps for air.

None of them knows how long they stay like that; how long Maggie’s bodywracks with wasted rage and consuming terror; how long James stares at Karathrough Maggie’s mess of hair, whispering wordless comfort to the woman who ranacross a machine gun sprayed room to get to one of his best friends; how longWinn’s hand alternates between covering his face and running worriedly throughhis hair, the other firmly holding Kara’s free hand; how long tears stream downKara’s face, alternating her gaze between James’s sad eyes and Alex’s closedone; how long J’onn doesn’t breathe, holding his arms across his chest becauseif he moves them – if he stops physically holding himself together – he mightjust break, too.

None of them know how long they hold vigil before Alex coughs, before Alexrasps her sister’s name.

“I’m here. I’m here, Alex. You’re okay, everyone’s okay – ”

Alex blinks her eyes open slowly, groggily.

“We need to update our body armor,” she chokes, and J’onn and Winn laughdryly while Kara sobs.

Maggie is frozen at the sound of her voice, frozen at the sound that lifemakes when it needs to let you know there’s still some hope in the world.

“Where’s Maggie?” Alex wants to know next, and James puts a tentative handto Maggie’s blood-sprayed face, leaving a fresh print of Alex’s blood on hercheek from having held Maggie’s stained body and sopping clothes so close. Shestares up at him with faint surprise, like she’s forgotten that anyone elseexists. Anyone but the woman asking softly, asking painfully, for her.

“I’m here, Danvers,” she croaks, and she swallows, and she accepts James’shands as he pulls her to her feet.

“You got hurt,” Alex pales even deeper than before, panic rising in her eyesas Maggie rises into view and Kara holds Alex down to the bed. Maggie laughsdryly.

“Most of the blood’s yours, babe.”

Alex blinks and sinks back down and twitches the fingers of the hand that’snot being held by Kara toward Maggie.

Maggie gulps and Maggie steps forward and Maggie bends down and Maggie kisseseach of Alex’s fingers, her knuckles, the back of her hand. A single tearblinks down Alex’s face as she registers the tear-streaked blood stains on herlove’s face.

“I’m okay,” she tells her. “I’ll be okay.”

“You almost died.”

“What, and left you all to deal with Winn without me? Not getting rid of methat easy, Sawyer.”

A single, dry sob wracks Maggie’s chest and Alex blinks out another tear.

“Too soon. Sorry. To Maggie. Not to you, Schott.”

Winn laughs wetly and puts his hand on her ankle and she winks at him asbest she can.

“You gave us quite the scare, Alex,” J’onn tells her, still subtly hugginghimself, and Alex fights to focus on his face.

“I’ll be okay.” She turns to Maggie. “You caught me.”

Gunshots – her gunshots, lethal gunshots – ring through Maggie’s ears andher love’s blood pours through her fingers. She kisses Alex’s hand again.

“I’ll always catch you, Alex. Just maybe a little warning next time you takea stomach full of bullets for your sister, okay?”

“For my…” Alex turns groggily to Kara and blinks in swooping, suddenrecognition of the strange sight of her glasses with her Supergirl outfit. “Youtold her? They told you?”

Maggie nods and smoothes Alex’s hair out of her face, trying to answer herunspoken are you angry at me for lying with her eyes, with her hands,with the way her heart is beating only for her, only for the woman whose needto be perfect, whose constant sense of shock that Maggie likes – loves – her,whose insistence on taking bullets for a bulletproof superhero, suddenly andperfectly make sense.

And makes her love her all the more.

Kara reaches over Alex’s bed to touch Maggie’s shoulder.

“Of course we told her, Alex. She’s family.”