roadtogracelandx45

[roadtogracelandx45]

Game Changers| Part 2| A. Banks| Mighty Ducks

Ava had just dozed off, her head resting against Charlie’s shoulder and a warm blanket from the warmer covering them both, when her grandfather and Uncle Tom came storming into the room, the former cussing up a storm when he saw his nephew, “You were supposed to stay in the house! Not take her out, Rick! What the hell were you thinking?”  

“I was thinking that she was depressed about her father and stepmother having problems and being left home alone, and that playing hockey or even skating would make her happy.” Rick returned, glancing back into the room to ensure she was still asleep. 

Thankfully, she was; the pain medicine and the anti-anxiety medication they had given her finally worked. They were waiting for the orthopedic surgeon to finish up his surgery, and then it was Ava’s turn.  They didn’t want to wait to see if she would heal on her own, not with how much pain she was in. 

“Jack, you are great with the team and boys but you kind of suck when it comes to raising a little girl.” Tom added, clapping his brother's shoulder, “Look at what happened to Grace. Rick and Cole did what they thought was best. Maybe you should have let her stay with Casey or with us. I am sure Carrie would love to have her stay with us.”

Carrie was Tom's middle child and one of Ava’s best friends, and the one girl from their small neighborhood group who would go with her to the Ducks games or to the pond where they would practice.  “He is right, Coach Reilly,” Casey commented from the doorway. she had gone to the door when she heard the raised voices, “It would have been best if she had stayed with me from the start. I may just be her stepmom, but I do love her like she were my own. She needs some sort of stability, and honestly, you and your wife aren’t that.” 

Jack flushed, wondering what Ava exactly ran her mouth about when she was over there, and how things got bad when he and Stella drank. “She didn’t say anything about what happened to me, but she did talk to Charlie, and Charlie said something. He is worried about her.”

 The older man clenched his fist, he knew all about Charlie Conway, the boy that his granddaughter called her brother, almost immediately after Gordon and Casey were married.  And she knew that they talked about things more than she did with Rick and Carrie. She felt more comfortable with him. 

“And he told me about it.” Casey went on as two nurses came down the hallway to the small room to get Ava for surgery, “She wants to stay with us after the surgery, I will be home with her more often, and she will have Charlie and their friends. That’s what she needs, not to be left alone in a big house after school and on weekends. You can call Gordon and talk to him if you want. But Coach, if you keep doing stuff as you have been, Ava is going to start hating you more and more. And she will turn out worse than Gordon.”  Jack and Tom exchanged a look, and the former huffed in surrender. “Fine. Whatever she wants.”  

**

2 days later 

*** 

The Ducks were still loud and rowdy as ever when they went into the townhouse that Charlie, his mom, and the Bombays lived in. Charlie had informed them the day before at school that Ava had been hurt and was being released from the hospital, and they wanted to go see her. They only got to see her on the weekends since she attended the same cake-eater school that Banks attended, and not the public school they attended.  

Connie and Tammy spent a lot of their homeroom period making cards for her and preparing a guide of what she needed to know about 90210 and Melrose Place. Since she was going to be stuck on the couch for the foreseeable future, she needed to watch the shows and understand the full obsession that they had with it. 

Tammy thought that she would be a Brandon girl, and Connie, who knew her almost as well as Banskie did, thought she was going to be a Dylan girl. Every good girl, like Ava and Connie, needed a boy like Dylan in her life to make things interesting. They both felt so passionately about it that they started fighting about it and were bickering about as they walked into the house. 

“What are you two going on about?” Ava asked as she and Casey came back into the living room, to the couch that had been made into a makeshift bed for the girl. Her voice caused the Ducks to turn to her.

Adam was already moving over to her side to help her sit down on the couch. He had come over after she was released from the hospital and had stayed until after dinner with the Conways. He had felt a ton of guilt for not being at Reilly's house when Ava got hurt, as had been planned. But his older brother insisted that he go with him to play hockey at the ice rink. Which led to a fight between him and several of the others.  

“Adam, I am fine, really.” She insisted as he helped her sit down and fixed the pillow that she was resting on it more.  He just rolled his eyes and sat next to her. 

Tammy and Connie both exchanged a look and a smirk. Ava and Adam were a lot like Guy and Connie were; they just meant to be. But they are just both stubborn enough not to do anything about it. Ava was firm on not wanting to be in a relationship with anyone because of her parents and how badly it blew up, and how badly Gordon and Casey’s relationship was going. She was even more adamant about it. They were just best friends, and that's all they would ever be. 

[roadtogracelandx45]

Current State of Affairs 5| Lee Dutton| Yellowstone

“Think about what you're doing Grace, you are making a huge mistake,” Lewis warned as Rhett smirked and put a heavy hand onto his shoulder smirking, his eyes were on his cousin and brother who was supporting more of her weight and Lee who was shifting to stand fully in front of her.  He had waited a very long time for this, ever since Lewis had shown up at the Abbott Ranch and had flipped out on Spencer. 

“My name is Spencer.” She snapped, “Not Grace, and for the first time in 3 years, I am thinking clearly.” Lewis was taken aback when he heard how firm and resolute her voice was; in the three years they were together, had she acted like this? She normally submitted to him quite easily, but being back around her family had brought this side of her back out, and he didn’t like it at all. 

With a shaky hand, she removed the diamond engagement ring from her finger and dropped it onto the floor. Perry kicked the ring away from them and turned his attention back to his cousin, whose knees had buckled again, and she was starting to go down. “Hey, hey,’ Lee started as both men turned their attention to Spencer, they both grabbed hold of her arms and helped lower down to the ground.

“There you go again, Grace, acting like a fool to get attention. You know how much I hate that.” Lewis complained as he went to go near the trio, but Frank, who had enough grabbed Lewis by the scruff of his shirt and started to pull him to the doors that led to the barn. 

 Lewis Winchester wasn’t the man that he had ever envisioned for his only child. He had always pictured Spencer with one of the Dutton boys, he was never picky on which. All three were good boys who turned into good men, and they knew how to treat a woman, especially one as important as Spencer Abbott. 

“Frank.” Lewis started trying to soothe the anger, like he did with other lawyers and clients in the courtroom, but it didn’t work this time; in fact, it just made him angrier.  More murderous, and honestly, it was kind of scaring him. He was starting to see why Spencer had been okay with him losing his temper around her for so long and so quickly.  

“Grace, a little help here.” Lewis pleaded, looking over at Spencer, who was now being treated by the paramedics, and for the first time in the almost 4 years they had been together, she ignored them and let Lee help her up off the floor to go upstairs to her bedroom. 

The paramedics wanted her to take it easy before the wedding, and this fight between her father and her now ex-fiancé wasn’t it. 

“Spencer! Please!” He pleaded, sounding absolutely terrified. 

“Nah, you did this to yourself.” Spencer retorted, “Whatever my family does to you is on you.”  Honestly, now that the cloud had been lifted off of her, she knew that this was supposed to happen, and whatever happened with Lewis, if he ended up at the train station courtesy of Rip and Lloyd. Then so be it. 

“Spencer, go upstairs and start getting ready,” Royal ordered, he knew that his brother was too angry to say anything else to Lewis, and they really didn’t want to have Spencer involved in anything that they were going to do to him. She needed to have plausible deniability. 

“Yes, Uncle Royal.” She said, there was no way she was going to piss her uncle off or her father off even more. Lewis wasn’t worth it. 

Not anymore.

For the first time in a long time, Spencer was doing something for herself. She was taking back her happiness and the life that she had always wanted before Kayce blew it all up. And nothing, not even Lewis Winchester, was going to stop it. 

***

Lee sat on the neatly made bed in Spencer’s childhood bedroom, studying the pictures that lined the wall while she was in the bath, trying to get rid of her headache and freshen up before the hours-long event that was coming up.  He really couldn’t believe his luck that she said she wanted her family. That she wanted him.  He was getting a second chance that he didn’t think he deserved. Especially when he had left her not once but twice.   

He had spent years kicking himself in the ass for letting her go so easily, not wanting to bring more shame to the Dutton last name. Especially with the rumors surrounding his mother’s death and the shady business that followed them everywhere.  He had already sent a message to his dad asking for his mother Evelyn’s engagement ring. John had promised it to him when he first found out about the two of them. Way back when Spencer was still in high school. 

 John, like Frank, had been under the impression that he wanted  Spencer to be a part of the Dutton family. No matter what Dutton boy it was. Kaycee would have been preferable, but seeing Lee with her, they made sense. 

“Hey, are you okay?” Spencer’s voice asked, shaking him out of his thoughts, she had come out of the bathroom in the silk bathrobe, her damp hair leaving wet spots on the shoulders. 

“Fine.” He returned, holding his hand out for her to join him on the bed. Which she took and climbed onto the bed next to him. “Just thinking is all.” 

“Lee Dutton, thinking? That’s surprising.” She teased, “Seriously, babe, what’s going on in that head of yours?”   Instead of letting her sit next to him, he pulled her onto his lap. 

“Lee? “ She repeated as she traced the pad of her thumb over his cheekbone, “You are worrying me.’  

He shook his head as if to tell her that she had nothing to worry about. But knowing her as well as he did, she was going to worry about everything. Especially when it came to him. 

“We will talk after the wedding, I promise. About everything. Right now, the wedding is what matters.” Spencer narrowed her eyes at him before nodding her head, “Fine, I will hold you to that.” 

[roadtogracelandx45]

Courage Under Fire| Currahee part 6

masterlist

Dick looked up when he saw the shadow passing the small barracks that he shared with Lewis and frowned when he saw Olivia walking past quickly and alone, which was odd. She was never alone. She was usually with him, Lewis, her twin, his friends, or her girls, but never alone.

He stood up quickly and pushed open the door. "Liv? Is everything okay? Why are you back so soon?"  The girl paused and turned to look at him, and his heart broke when he saw the tears coming down her face and leaving black mascara streaks in their wake.

"No, everything isn’t okay." Her voice trembled and broke causing Dick to go down the stairs and pull her into his arms. Something he was normally against, but this was Olivia in front of him, the girl who got him to dance, and was like a little sister to him. 

"What happened? Where are Lewis and Liebgott?" He looked over her head, searching the area for them. He had seen her leave with Liebgott, and moments later, Lewis followed them with a peculiar look on his face—something he had never seen before.

"In town." She hiccupped, burying her face into his PT shirt. 

"Come on," He muttered, a surge of anger going through him, he couldn't believe that they let her walk back to camp by herself especially with being upset, he steered her up the two steps that led into the tent and over to the empty bunk, and had sat her down.

 "Lew was drinking again." Dick who had busied himself with getting tissues for her to clean her face off, turned, “Liv you can handle him when he is drinking, you did all through OCS.’  

“This time it was different; he was different. He was cruel and jealous.” She returned as he moved to sit next to her, handing her the tissues, “Like how he would talk to Kathy, he called me a slut.” 

Anger surged through him again, he couldn’t believe that Lewis did that; this wasn’t the Lewis he had come to know in the last few months. The Lewis that he knew loved Olivia deeply, and he would never do anything intentionally to hurt her.  

“I kind of lashed out at him, told him he was the one that followed me out of the church and to the airport and he was the one that came up with the idea to pretend that we were married so Katherine didn’t try to marry me or my sister Marla off to some man who is old enough to be our father.” 

“Wait. What?” Dick was surprised in all the months that he had known both Olivia and Lewis, they had never once had either one of them mentioned that they were pretending to be married.  

Olivia’s cheeks colored and she turned to look at him, “My mother is a money-hungry, gold-digger whore. All she wants is money and power, and  because my father divorced her, she lost out on the trust fund that Fredrick set up for the family.” 

She paused to wipe her cheeks off and crumple the tissues up in her hands, “So as soon as I turned 16, she started to try and marry me off to any man that she thought was acceptable. The last time was right before Bobby, Marla, and I moved back to South Philly, and I wrote to Lewis and Aunt Helen about it. When we were in Arizona for his almost wedding to Kathy, Lew had the bright idea that if he was single and I was old enough to marry, he would marry me.”  

Dick nodded his head showing he was following her as he reached for the canteen that was sitting on the floor between his and Lewis’ beds so she could have some water, now that she seemed calm enough to talk. 

“Lewis came to Charleston with me and Helen. Because my brother died in Pearl, Katherine was there when we arrived and started right in on me, so he decided to act like we got married to stop her from going on about everything.” After taking a sip of the water, she said, “Including the fact that I should have been okay with getting married at 18 years old, like she was when she married her first husband.” 

She took another sip of the water to get rid of the lump she had in her throat, “That was all news to me and   Bobby. That she had been married before our father. He mysteriously died, too.”  The redhead was surprised at how bitter she sounded, it was the complete opposite of how she normally was. 

“Oh, you didn’t hear that part of the story from Lewis?” She asked as she shifted to sit facing him, “2 of 4 Katherine’s husbands have turned up dead. My father and Nathan, her third husband, are the only two who lived. The only reason why Nathan is still alive is because he faked his own death.’

“And your father?” Dick asked as he rubbed his hand across her back, trying to wrap his head around this all.

“Was smart enough to get the hell out of dodge when he reconnected with Andie.” She answered, “We were 10 when Daddy went to Philadelphia for work and met her again. Mother was back on the drunk farm, and he brought Andie and two of her kids, Izzy and Tommy, with him. Andie swooped in and started taking care of us. It was so odd to a mother all of a sudden. Katherine only ever cared about my brothers, especially James and Nicholas. She hated that either one of them took up for me.’ 

Dick nodded his head showing that he was following her.  “Daddy served Katherine with the divorce papers after she came back from the drunk farm. She was furious. Started throwing stuff around the parlor.’

It struck Dick how privileged Olivia was at that moment, talking about the parlor of the house she grew up in and how her father served her mother with divorce papers. She and her two brothers, who were with her, were down-to-earth and well-mannered. Almost the exact opposite of Lewis. Perhaps that is why they almost worked so well together, she mellowed out the extreme sides of his personality. And he brought her adventurous side. Two pieces to a puzzle, but he supposed that maybe the age gap was going to be a part of the problem. 

**

Herbert Sobel, seeing the lights still on in his XO’s cabin, went up the stairs and peered into the small window. Olivia was sitting Indian style on the empty bed next to Winters, they were sitting next to each other, looking way too cozy. 

This was an interesting development.

 From what he had been told by Amber and later by General Sink that Olivia was extremely close to not only Lewis Nixon but Dick Winters and they had grown close during their time in Benning, and from what he was seeing, they were extremely close. This is too perfect, he could use this against Winters and turn his best friend against him, and in turn, Olivia. If they all saw that Lewis was against them, they would turn too, and the girl would leave, and Amber would be in charge of everything. 

 It would be absolutely perfect. And he, he needed this win. 

*

Lewis had stumbled into the barracks just after 2 in the morning being supported by Ed Tipper and Floyd Talbert, and was met by a very upset Dick Winters and Olivia Stewart who stood up quickly, her face tear stained and had dark mascara streaks left a pathway down her cheeks. 

“Come on, Livvy, I will walk you back to your barracks,” Floyd said as he crossed the room quickly, he could see the fire and hurt her eyes, and wanted to stop her from attacking Lewis and regretting it tomorrow.  She couldn’t even bring herself to look at or say anything to Lewis as she brushed past him and went over to Floyd’s side.  

“Livvy.” Lewis managed before Tipper pushed him back towards the beds. “Sir, I would suggest leaving her alone until you sober up. Otherwise you may end up on your ass again and I am not talking about the Lieutenant.”  Even though he knew it wasn’t his place, he would put Nixon on his ass for hurting Olivia. 

They could hear Joe’s voice coming from outside the barracks calling for Olivia, and they didn’t need another moment like they had at the bar; this time, Joe wouldn’t hold back. Especially if he saw how upset Olivia was. For all the bravado that he showed in the bar and around town, deep down, they all knew that he cared for Olivia. How much they didn’t know yet. 

“Liv!” Joe’s voice came again, causing her to go out of the cabin and into Joe’s arms.  

**

“ ‘Ey, hey, princess. It’s okay.” The cabby said as he caught her in his arms, holding her to his chest.  “I am sorry.” She cried into his chest, all the emotions that she had built in her since the attack on Pearl Harbor, the emotions that she tried to hold back, just came out of her. “Shh, Liv, it's okay.” He soothed, holding her tighter to his chest, “Come on.” He led her away from the barracks to the latrines to help her clean up a bit.   

“I am sorry, I am sorry.” She repeated as he opened the door to the latrines. Joe was surprised that she was apologizing for showing emotions. In his experience, girls could be overemotional and go from one extreme to another quickly, but never apologize for it until a lot later, if at all. 

“What are you sorry for? Nixon was bang out of order for what he said.” He asked as he closed the door and twisted the lock. He wasn’t risking an interruption from Mary, Nixon or anyone else who could be coming in.  After she had left and Talbert and Tipper separated him and Nixon, he had decided that he was going to make it very clearly known to Olivia that he wanted her and was going to do anything to get to her. Even if that meant giving up Mary.  Something that he hadn’t been sure of until he saw her interacting with her nephew. He could see having a family with her if they both survived the war. 

“For not telling you about the fake marriage. For leaving you there to deal with Nixon. For crying.”  She started as he crossed the space and stood behind her at the bathroom counter, and placed his hands on her hips, his fingers tracing over her hips and the smooth material of her dress. 

“Olivia, you have nothing to be sorry for.” His eyes were on hers in the mirror, “He did that to protect you from a fate that you didn’t deserve.”  On the walk back to Toccoa, Bobby had informed him, George Luz and several others about the fake marriage and how Nixon had lied about it for her and Marla’s safety. If it had been one of his sister’s friends, he would have done the same thing.  

His hand trailed from her hip across her pelvis, his eyes never leaving hers. “Joe. What are you doing?” She asked, her breath hitching in her throat. He hushed her and pressed his lips against the soft flesh of her neck, “Just let this happen, Princess. We both want it.”  

Her eyes met his in the mirror, she looked thoughtful for several long moments as he trailed his fingers over the smooth material of her dress and down. She hummed in agreement before she turned her head and kissed him.

**

“Lieutenant  Stewart, may I have a word?” Sobel asked the next morning, seeing the head nurse sitting at one of the tables in the officers’ dining hall. It was the first time that he was seeing her there; normally, she was attached at the hip with Nixon and Winters, or even her twin brother and his friends.  

“Captain Sobel, what can I help you with?” Olivia asked as she picked up her coffee cup and took a sip from it.  

“We need to have a conversation about what I saw on Friday night.” 

 She raised her eyebrow, she had a pretty good idea of what he saw, but she wanted him to say it so she could try and deny it, “What did you see Friday night?” 

Sobel leaned forward, the smell of stale coffee on his breath wafted towards her, and she scooted back in her chair to get away from it. “ You and Winters together.”  

“So? I am usually with him or the other officers, that's nothing new.”  She was relieved that he hadn’t seen her and Joe leaving the latrines together, uniform and dress rumpled from their romp. 

“Not looking cozy like that.”  

“Cozy like what?” She asked. “Like something happened between you two.” He was surprised when she started to laugh, “He was comforting me, Captain. Nothing happened between us. I am sure if you poked around during our very rare downtime, you would see me like that with Guarnere, Liebgott, Talbert, and some of the other men.” 

“See, I don’t believe it, especially after what I have heard from Amber.” He leaned further over her, causing her nose to wrinkle. “I know just exactly how easy you are.” 

“Excuse me?” Her temper flared as she stood up and pushed herself away from him, “Easy?”  He smirked, he had succeeded in getting under her skin, and he couldn’t help but revel in it, “Yes, you let just about anyone into your pants.” 

An angry red flush covered her cheeks and neck,  and her hands curled into fists. Like he wanted to strike him, but knew better. He would go straight to Sink after hitting her back and get her kicked out; they both knew it. And in ways, Olivia was a lot like him; he wanted nothing more than to be a nurse, and because of her own stubborn pride, she wouldn’t take the money to go to nursing school. The Army was her best shot at achieving that goal. 

“I wonder what Colonel Sink would say if he knew that the precious head nurse is sleeping around.” 

“You can say whatever you want, I know the truth, and I am sure the good Colonel will too.” She said, “Excuse me, I have work to do, I am sure you do as well.” 

**

She was still trembling when she went into the small office that she shared with the male officers, the only two that were in there were her older brother Edward and Dick both of whom looked at her and stood up when they saw how distressed she was. 

“Sobel approached me in the officer’s mess hall.” She said before they could, “Apparently he thinks that Dick and I have something going on.’ 

Dick’s ears burned red as he sat back again when she said that. “He saw us in the barracks last night when we were talking about what happened with Lewis and him pretending to be my husband.” 

Edward nodded his head, his lips pressing into a thin line, angry as Spiers, Shames and a few others joined them; he didn’t want to say anything in front of the others to save his sister from more embarrassment but it had seemed it was already getting around the companies that Lewis and Olivia fought. 

Ranney, one of the men who had been out on the weekend pass and looked a little worse for wear, sat down next to Olivia and draped his arm on the back of her chair. He wanted to ask her about how things went after she had left and if there was any merit to the inklings of rumors that they had heard from Sobel, but seeing the expression on the oldest Stewart’s face, he held off.  

They were working in silence when the door opened again, Skinny Sisk was brought in by the military police; his tie was hanging loose around his neck, and his shirt was mostly unbuttoned and untucked from his trousers. There were faint red lipstick marks on his neck and jaw.  Olivia had glanced up from the information that she had been reading quickly to see who it was and go back to the paperwork, but froze seeing how unkempt  Skinny was.

 “What happened?’ Edward asked as he sat up straight in his chair, he was the most senior of everyone in the room, so it was on him to ask. 

“We caught this one out by the train tracks.” The MP said, “With his girlfriend.”  Skinny could see the amusement in Olivia’s eyes as she mouthed train tracks out at him.  “Bathroom?” He mouthed, causing her mouth to twitch into a smile, and inclined her head in his direction as if to say touche. 

“What in the world were you doing at the train tracks, Sisk?” Edward asked, his mouth twitching into a smirk as if he knew the answer before even asking.

“Well, sir, I thought it was a good space for some alone time,” Skinny answered, looking from the younger Stewart to the older one. “Why didn’t you leave before the military police showed up?” Ed Shames asked, unable to help himself. 

“Because, sir, she was coming, the train was coming, and so was I.” If Edward was surprised at his statement, he didn’t show it; his sister, on the other hand, covered her laughter with a cough, causing the boy to be ridiculously proud of himself. Not many people could get Olivia to break like that. “I will let you handle this, Captain Stewart.” The MP who brought Skinny in said. 

 The older Stewart boy nodded his head in agreement as the man left the room, his attention going from Skinny to his sister, whose shoulders were shaking with suppressed laughter. “Olivia, this is not funny. He could have been killed.” 

“But isn’t that how most men want to go?” She asked innocently through barely contained giggles, “In the woes of pleasure? I mean that’s what PawPaw said.” 

 Edward scrubbed his hand down his face, almost in annoyance. Leave it to their great-great-grandfather to tell Olivia stories like that. “Olivia Franklin!” He scolded again as she stood up and started gathering her paperwork to take with her back to the hospital. 

“I am going to walk Skinny back and go to the hospital to check on the girls from Charlie company.”  

“Just behave yourself, Liv,” her older brother started, “You have already caused enough trouble with Sobel this morning.” 

She grinned innocently at him and held up her free hand, “As well behaved as a nun in church. You coming with us, Mike?” 

Ranney, who had been sitting next to her, nodded his head and stood up quickly. He liked the other officers, but he wasn’t comfortable around them like he was around the others, so he was okay with leaving, and he wanted to repeat the story to the others.  

The elder Stewart watched as his sister fussed over Skisk as they walked out of the room, his worry clear on his face. Dick had started to tell him what happened the night before when she came in and just gave a brief rundown. A huge part of him wanted to pull her out of Easy, away from her twin, Lewis, and the others to keep her safe for his own peace of mind, but he knew Olivia would never forgive him. So he had to stand on the sidelines and hope that she didn’t blow up her life and everyone around her. 

[roadtogracelandx45]

RICHARD WINTERS & LEWIS NIXON | Band of Brothers

I just want a humble, murderously simple thing: that a person be glad when I walk into the room. - Marina Tsvetaeva, On Love

[roadtogracelandx45]

Morning. Lew? Nix? In here.

DICK WINTERS and LEWIS NIXON -> In States of Dressing and Undressing EP 7 Breaking Point, EP 9 Points | Band of Brothers

[roadtogracelandx45]

Welcome to HBO’s WWII Fandom's Third Rewatch!

You are cordially invited to join us in watching Band of Brothers, The Pacific, and Masters of the Air in rotational order from June 2- September 14, 2025

We will be watching two episodes a week and will have prompts to boost fandom creation as we watch together!

You can find the episode schedule and prompts here and here

If you are unable to watch the show at the same time as the schedule, no worries. Watch whenever you are able - our goal is to bond over our love for these shows and experience them again together. Even if you fall a bit behind we'd love to see you liveblog your thoughts on the episodes and making things to celebrate the shows! :)

Please tag all your posts during this event with #hboww2rewatch and give us a follow for all updates on the rewatch.

Please reblog this post to spread the word!

[roadtogracelandx45]

like do u see the vision

[roadtogracelandx45]

[roadtogracelandx45]

Y’all my GPA isn’t realized just quite yet but I did do a quick what if for it to see if it was enough to get me off of the continued suspension that I have had since 2009. (Long story I was a bad student who wasn’t diagnosed with depression and anxiety) but I did it! Even with taking 9 days off for my trip to England and Scotland I still pulled a hail Mary and PASSED every class. Which brought my GPA up to a 3.0!

The amount of relief I am feeling right now makes me want to do a happy dance, cry happy tears or just go back to sleep but I have to get to up to start getting ready for work.

But i did it and i am so proud of myself. 

[roadtogracelandx45]

Cena vs Orton? Hell yeah, sign me up.

[roadtogracelandx45]

I wish he would have turned heel sooner

[roadtogracelandx45]

I am so digging heel Cena.

[roadtogracelandx45]

[roadtogracelandx45]

On this day in April 14, 1899, Lilian Caroline Astor Cullen is born in Manhattan, New York to John Jacob Astor and Elizabeth Collins.

[roadtogracelandx45]

[roadtogracelandx45]

Veiled Justice|2| Barba

part one

masterlist

“You know you are late to your own party, right?” Rafael asked into the phone after the second ring. He may have been fully removed from SVU for the last year or so but he was still well-informed about the squad and their antics. 

“Rafa, there has been an accident.” She started skipping over the party part, she could care less about the party. Her first and only concern was Kathy and Ressa, everything else would be settled later including her award.

“Are you okay?”  She could almost imagine him standing up and starting to gather his belongings. 

“I am fine, it’s Ressa.” 

It was completely silent on the other end of the phone for several long moments. So quiet that Olivia pulled the phone away from her ear to make sure they didn't get disconnected. 

“Are... are you sure?”  His voice sounded pained and pinched. A very unfamiliar thing with him, it was usually her that was pained and pinched. 

“I am sure she was with her sister in law when the car they were getting into exploded. They are taking her to St. Vincent’s.” 

The other end of the phone was silent. 

“Rafa?” She prodded after pulling the phone away to look at the screen to make sure that the line was still connected.

“I will meet her there.”  He finally said after several long moments, “And Liv?” 

“Yeah?” 

“Thank  you.”  

The captain went to say you’re welcome, but he had disconnected the line and was probably rushing towards the hospital to see his wife and meet his daughter. 

**

Emily Williams-McGarrett was the nurse on duty when Ressa was wheeled into the emergency room, muttering under her breath in Italian.

 “What happened?” She asked as she came around the nurse’s station desk, her blue eyes curious. She had come out of a patient treatment room in time to see the first stretcher roll by with another woman on it. 

“Female,  40s, car bomb.”  The paramedic informed her as the second on-call doctor ordered them into trauma 1.   Emily moved around them to go to the head of the hospital bed. “Can you tell me your name, sweetheart?” 

“Teresa St-” Ressa paused to correct herself, “Barba.”  

 Barba sounded familiar, she just couldn’t place where she had heard it from before.

“She is the wife of the former Manhattan ADA,  Rafael Barba.” The paramedic informed as if he could tell what she was thinking; he had grown up in the same neighborhood as Rafael and his group of friends. He was one of the success stories to come out of the neighborhood. 

 Emily looked from Ressa and then to the paramedic and back. From what she had been told about Barba, he was infamous in the medical world for what he did and the stories that had been repeated to her.  She vaguely wondered if the wife was going to be like him as well. 

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sudden loudness of two men arguing, and everything in the room paused. 

“McGarrett, can you go check on that?” Doctor Sampson asked, causing her to peel off her gloves and go towards the waiting room area, but Ressa’s voice caused her to pause. “That would be my husband and nephew-in-law. I am pretty sure Carl is telling Rafa that he isn’t allowed back here with me. He and I had a major fight before I went to Italy, and I went and stayed with Maureen and Carl, and he showed up to the apartment, and Carl threw him out. So it might turn violent.” 

Ressa knew her husband had a bad temper, and to a point Carl did too especially when it came to the women in his life. 

“Don’t worry, Mrs. Barba. I am very well-versed in breaking up fights.”  Emily assured her as she exited the trauma room. She had broken up plenty of fights in not only the Navy but also between her brother and husband. She could handle an angry lawyer and an angry nephew, she just was expecting them to be this angry. 

**

Carl was furious that Rafael had the gaul to show up to the hospital after everything that he did or didn't do to Aunt Ressa. 

 “Why are you even here? You practically broke up with Ressa!” Carl shouted as his wife Maureen came into the waiting room, her baby cousin on her hip, their matching terror of everything that happened with her mother and aunt clear on her face and body language. 

“Carl? What’s going on?’ She asked as Emily came out of the back area and over to them, her hand going to Rafael’s shoulder, crumbling the suit jacket even more. “Rafael? What are you doing here?” 

“I am here to see my wife.’ He returned his anger dissipating, “It’s been almost 3 years since I  have seen her. I think I deserve to know why she left.”  His eyes went from Carl to Maureen and the little girl who was staring at him with wide, curious eyes.

Eyes that looked a lot like his. 

“Who is this?” 

Maureen looked uncomfortable as she held her cousin closer to her. “Talk to Ressa first about it, then I will tell you.’

Rafael took a step back, his heart pounding in his ears. He had a sinking feeling he knew who this little girl was. 

It was his daughter, and Ressa had kept her from him. 

 His temper flared again, and he quickly stamped it down, knowing that scaring the little girl more wasn’t going to win him any points. 

“Mr. Barba. If you follow me, I will take you to see your wife.” Emily said, tightening her grip on his shoulder. 

He barely registered what she had said as he followed her lead, going through the locked doors to the now-private room that Ressa was taken into after she was cleaned up. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn’t realize he was in the room with Ressa until a very angry Rafa met his ears. 

“Teresa.” He returned just as angry as his wife was; he moved away from Emily, who looked leery about them being left alone. “Can you excuse us? I need to talk to my wife.” 

[roadtogracelandx45]

Safe travels, sir. Thank you for everything.

Val Edward Kilmer December 31, 1959 - April 1, 2025