#'does it interfere with all the other meds that might kill me'

[cleolinda]

A personal update

because Never Not Oversharing Medical Conditions 2k23: my A1C (average blood sugar levels) has become actual trash, and my GP has put me on Metformin. This is also good for polycystic ovarian bullshit, which I quite thoroughly have! Overall I feel like this is a good development. My gastrointestinal happenings do not agree with this. This is a known and common side effect of starting Metformin and probably will subside, if I don't come down with lactic acidosis first. (It's fine! Relatively rare! BLACK BOX WARNING: A SERIOUS PROBLEM AND CAN LEAD TO DEATH) Nonetheless, this has created a bit of a speedbump in terms of getting things done. I think I will feel a lot better very soon, particularly in terms of fatigue, but right now, there may be no Long Effort Posts this week. Weekend Links will go up as usual.

[cancelledboobsubscription]

I’ve making headcanons about all of my hyper fixations for a while now and just dumping them on my friends so I’m gonna also dump them here.

If you’re into All For the Game , My Hero Academia, ATLA, The Raven Cycle stay fuckn tuned my doods bc I have a loooot of stuff rattling around my empty skull.

Not all of these are 100% mine some of them are already pretty popular and I’m expanding on them or I heard something similar and edited it to my own tastes

I’ll separate them by series,,,

Theres like one canon that’s mildly nsfw

TW: drug abuse

Mha/Bnha

pro hero kirishima’s Red Riot™️ merch is insanely size inclusive bc he wants fatgum to be able to wear the hoodie that kiri’s pr team sent him but that’s not all,,

If he wasn’t super gay and in love with Bakugou he’d be very Into BBWs so again his merch is super size inclusive bc he wants everyone to be able to wear it

The company that makes the merch also takes requests for special made merch for people who’s quirks interfere with a “normal” size or dimension

ALSO ,,,,this man(kiri) is built like a fuckn MACK TRUCK OKAY he is 6’7” and cannot fit through doorways without ducking and turning a little to the side ,,, he is broad And still wears no shirt™️ ,,, this being said ,, bakugou is still around 5’8” and pretty slim don’t get me wrong he’s extremely strong and toned but he’s not huge,, it makes flying easier if he stays a little lighter ,,,,,,, the point is,, sometimes kiri will pick up bakugou with one arm and bakugou can’t even pretend to hate it anymore

Also,,,, fatgum has to use special pens and keyboards because of how big his hands are,,, he’s literally 8’2” I won’t take criticism on this

Fatgum actually loves wearing red riot and sun eater merch

Allmight and Inko start dating and one day when they’re out someone comments on how much all might “looks like a skeleton” and she absolutley lets loose on them for being so vapid and shallow and how “he’s risked his life to save people like you more times than you have ever even thought about being helpful in your life and it would serve you well to treat someone who’d die for you without even knowing you with more respect”

All might had to gently pull her away bc the guy was crying and she wasn’t anywhere near finished with him

Midnight is Asexual and aggressively pretends to be horny on main™️ because for one, it works with her quirk and two, nothing sells better than sex especially when you’re a woman.

Bakugou and kirishima use sign language to talk shit at Public events

Dabi is addicted to painkillers because he’s been on them his entire life,, he wakes up with the shakes and sometimes toga has to help him take his meds in the morning because he’s already in withdrawal

Tensei was the first one to realize that iida was autistic and immediately did copious amounts of research on ASD and how to be a good brother to him

ATLA

sokka grows his hair as long as Zuko’s (except the sides obvi) and sometimes he’ll wear his hair in the fire nation top knot and zuko loses it every time

Azula gets help and now sometimes when she wakes up with the sun after a night of fitful sleep she goes to the courtyard to have tea with iroh. They never talk, but then again they never need to.

Sometimes after a hard day sokka falls asleep in the bathtub and wakes up to zuko warming the water back up and washing his hair for him

Suki lounges in zukos throne while zuko gets worked up about stuff and paces all around the room

Mai is on the ace spectrum

When sokka and zuko visit the southern water tribe zuko will firebend for the all of the kids in the village,,, they love him so much and sometimes sokka gets a little teary eyed watching him

Sokka braids zukos hair water tribe style and it’s the hottest thing maybe ever

Zuko takes sokka on shopping sprees pretty frequently and sokka fuckn loves it

One time someone has the nerve to call sokka “the fire lords sugar baby” and sokka just flips his ponytail over his shoulder Ariana style and says “and what about it?”

The Raven cycle

Ronan has 100% killed Robert Parrish in his dreams and when he wakes up to see Adam next to him he almost immediately wants to go back to sleep and do it again for all the pain he’s caused Adam

Gansey is oblivious to the fact that he is indeed shredded,, when he gets really worked up he moves his arms a l o t like rolls up his sleeves, crosses and uncrosses his arms and The gang’s favorite is when he puts his hands on his head and subconsciously flexes,,,, literally entire gangsey will group swoon at him and he genuinely thinks they are marvelling at his passion for whatever he’s worked up about

Ronan watched broke back mountain once when he was like 16 and now all he can think about is being a gay cowboy ,,,

Adam will read people’s tarot wrong if theyre douchebags

Don’t you think it’s funny that the ganseys don’t have any straight children?

Blue has a T-shirt from each member of the gangsey (except Noah,, rip Noah) and shes created a terrible Franken-T-shirt by ripping them up and sewing them all back together in an extremely ugly patch work thing

Adam talks in Latin in his sleep and it really freaks his roommate out,, like a lot,, not to mention the fact that Adam already creeps him out to begin with bc he’s got that other vibe that comes from being tied to cabeswater and lindenmere ,, 6 out of 7 days his roommate is convinced that he’s a witch or a fairy or something

Ronan teaches opal how to bake and opal burns everything on purpose

aftg

Neil has definitely killed multiple people to survive

Neil’s mom definitely made him kill someone at least twice to make sure he could kill to survive on his own if they got separated

he probably definitely still has nightmares about each one

Matt and Dan both had a crush on Neil for like 30 seconds and absolutely talked to each other about him

Ppl always talk about how hot it is to crush a watermelon with your thighs,,,, Andrew could do it with his arms

Aarons ass is so flat and Andrew has an absolute dumptruck

Kevin started out as one of those annoying “obsessed with WWII” history guys and now he’s actually very into queer history and will rant about the lavender scare for an hour if you let him

The foxes lounge room(?) has a dart board with riko’s face on it to this day,, they literally have a drawer full of copies the same image of riko and every time one gets worn out they put a new one up. It’s more of an inside joke now but wymack still hates that little puke even though he’s dead so it stays up

Post-canon Neil gets drunk and teaches the team how to steal a car by hot wiring Matt’s truck

Matt does drag for halloween one year and Dan liked it a little too much *cough cough* she pegged him while he was still in drag

Someone once asked Renee if she was “saving herself for marriage like a good Christian girl should” and Allison knocked them out cold and stepped over the body

Neil calls Aaron ugly to his face literally any chance he gets (I feel like this one might be canon but I actually don’t know What’s real anymore)

Andrew Unironically wears a pink apron that says “kiss the cook” that Nicky got him for Christmas when he bakes

Okay I think that’s it ? For now?? Let me know if y’all want more,,,,, I’ll separate them next time I just really had to dump these and I didn’t want to make multiple posts.

I made this at 5:30 in the morning sorry if it’s riddled with typos and errors.

[hesgunnalovethis]

Act of Guilt

Summary: Your actions planetside begin to interfere with your daily life and Leonard McCoy, struggling to see you this way, wants to help.

TW: Teen rating for mature themes, we’re talking through some sleep paralysis, we’re having bad dreams, we're absolutely full of angst but we end on a high besties <33

This one goes out to all my homies that are overworked and underappreciated :’) whether it be school, college, uni, careers or general life; you are seen, you are valid and I think you’re doing a great job and so does our homeboy Leonard McCoy.

Masterlist!

Word Count: 1855

You were used to waking up against the frigid grey of the Enterprise. Even as a high ranking officer you were each assigned the same internal quarters, uniform in presentation. Glutted, you often heard a little more than you wanted to on either side of your walls. You feared that perhaps they heard a little too much as well.

You were used to waking up with frozen limbs. With the same familiar feeling washing over your head before rushing down to tighten your chest. The same reluctance to open your eyes to reveal whichever heinous scene your subconscious displayed within your familiar raw walls.

Every night played out the same: the face of someone you loved in front of your pointed phaser switched to kill, heaved awake by the thud of their lifeless body, held a frozen prisoner forced to endure whichever fear felt most prominent that morning.

Recently you couldn’t even bring yourself to near the bed. You’d return from shifts to sit on the bitter floor and recount the enemies you’d killed in the name of Starfleet. You’d think of their lives, their loved ones, their dreams.

You were brought to Starfleet to be a doctor; now it seems they’d have you do anything but.

It was Thursday. You made your way to the medbay to be briefed on the rota for this week. You weaved in and out of a sea of uniforms who stalked towards their own respective bases for their own respective rotas.

Your week often looked the same - another sense of routine you couldn’t seem to escape - five days with the ground team, one shift in the medbay, one day off. Your medbay shift was always the same too. Sunday shift: the biggest influx of causalities, highs of inpatients with the longest turnover time, most surgeries performed and somehow always understaffed.

Moving towards your, makeshift, office you picked up your PADD and looked for the rota that Leonard always sent to you prior to the briefing. Seven days of ground work. You almost doubled over from the thought of it. Your entire body felt hot as you took deep breath convincing bodily fluids to stay put.

With frantic pace you arrived at Leonard’s, very much real, office and found him turned away finishing his notes for the day.

You dropped the PADD in front of him with force, “Explain.”

“You know that if I had it my way you’d be here seven days a week.” Leonard spoke as if rehearsed, he’d obviously anticipated your visit.

“You have jurisdiction here, Leonard. Surely there’s something you can do? Something you haven’t tried?” You scrambled out as Leonard put his pen down and held his head in his hands.

“I’ve tried everything darlin’. You don’t know how important it is to me that you’re here.” Your mind flicked through your conversations in the medbay that went on a little too long as you stood a little too close. Stolen moments through the day you’d fill with genuine laughter and escapism. The fresh flowers that would appear in your crooked office that he’d never let you thank him for. You remembered the shifts where Leonard would let you take the lead while he caught up on sleep on his couch. The days you’d both stay behind and drink away the sourness until you met the sweetness of his lips on yours. “I’ve tried everything.”

“Tell them we’re understaffed. Tell them I’m indispensable. Tell them-” Your voice broke. Leonard head lifted at the sound revealing a deep hole in his cheek unmistakably driven in by a phaser shot.

You gasped, stumbling back through his office tripping over the coffee table centre piece of the room. Leonard moved towards you. Unable to take your eyes off the hole in his face as your hands dripped with blood and guilt you expelled your body weight willing the pull door to push open. Leonard’s hands levelled either side of the door frame his face close to yours. Ears muffled and knees giving way you pressed your eyes shut concealing the scene.

“Y/N?” Leonard asked after a few moments of stillness before lifting one of your eyelids shining his torch in each eye. As you readjusted to the light you saw Leonard’s face again, clean of everything but concern. You glanced round the room to find the coffee table the only thing out of place and your hands sweating but clean. You reached for Leonard pulling him in towards you. His hands swept round your back and he pressed a kiss into your temple.

“What” he asked, “the hell was that?”

“Felt like my dream.” You said performing exercises to convince Leonard you did not have a head injury without him asking.

“And you often have dreams of murderous me?” Leonard dissolved, guiding you towards the seats in the middle of the room, straightening the coffee table.

“No. I often have dreams of murderous me.”

Curious and cautious Leonard sat opposite you and reached for your hand. He pulled back sharply at first “You’re iced.” He clasped both your hands in his and puffed a long warm breath between them. Slowly your anxiety began to melt. The breath was real. The warmth was real.

“Every night I have a dream, eerily like an away mission, only the faces are swapped and I know who I’m killing. And then, I wake up and watch them die on my floor and my body screams at me to wake up and help them but I’m frozen. I can’t move.”

“Sleep paralysis?” Leonard asked still rubbing your hands between his own.

“That would be my guess. Every morning. Some nights I can’t face it.”

“What do you do those nights?”

“I stay up. Sit on the ground and think about all the lives I’ve taken in a job where I’m supposed to save them.” You stood up and walked towards the window in Leonard’s office, poking open the blinds to view the busy medbay. You sighed at the internal architecture of the ship. “It’s like I’m not real. I exist within grey walls or as a killing machine.” You slumped back down in the chair.

Leonard leaned forward slipping his hand round the back of your neck, scratching the base of your hair line. He held eye contact with you and sincerely stated, “You’re quite dramatic.”

“Week after week, Leonard. Every time I shut my eyes I see you or Jim or- or Chekov lifeless because of me! Makes you think of what those lives I’ve ended meant to someone else.” You stood up again walking towards the blinds, poking them open slightly hoping to see a different landscape. “And why does this ship have no exterior windows! Would it kill them to let me see the stars? Remind me where I came from.” Spitting the end vehemently towards Starfleet architects.

“Why don’t you come and stay with me for a while?” Leonard placed a hand on your shoulder, his other hand working the blinds out of your fingers before you broke them. “A change of scenery might do some good.”

“Aren’t you going to tell me I need to work through my guilt and reconceptualise my relationship with my job?”

“You’re a damn fine doctor Y/N. You don’t need me to tell you that, you just need a clear head to realise it for yourself.”

Leonard led you out of the medbay shouting a mere, “I’m a doctor, not a motivational speaker damnit.” In place of his weekly briefing.

Together you walked the length of the ship. Leonard asked you more about your dreams presenting it as conversational but you could see the medical cogs in his brain turning. “You’ve never had psychological training?” Leonard asked at one point with a startled stopping of his feet.

“Psychological training? What med school did you go to?” Scoffing at his faith in The Academy.

“Not med school, but I did a fair whack before I joined Jim’s ground team. You’ve never had- my god! No wonder you’re wracked with guilt darlin’ that is- that is- how did you ever end up planetside?”

“I don’t know I’m just pretty handy with a phaser I guess.” You said as you arrived at a door with the letters C.M.O emblazed on the front. “Nice door. How come I’ve never been here?”

Leonard shrugged “ ‘s not my fault you prefer the desk.” He stated opening the door to his double sized room.

Smooth navy covered the walls, beautifully contrasting the deep wooden furniture and shelves of brown bottles. Surrounded by whiffs of comforting warm fires and cheap rum you watched as Leonard ordered on the lights and followed him through to the next room. There was no doubt that Leonard lived a full life back home. His living space was full of southern knick-knacks and photographs of people you’d never known. There was a small collection of silver neck chains on show, thoroughly worn although never while on shift and nine or ten small stacks of crime novels strewn across the floor.

“This might cheer you up sweetheart.” Leonard tossed his PADD onto his cracked brown leather couch and made his way to the back wall which was entirely concealed by a deep purple curtain. Taking a bundle of the thick fabric in his hands, he eyed you before trudging it across the room revealing a vast ceiling to floor window. You caught your reflection in the glass and clapped your mouth shut looking to Leonard in shock.

“Bit of a sick joke for an aviophobiac.” Leonard physically shuddered at the open black, “But if it makes you happy it’s worth it.”

Bounding over the top of Leonards sofa to get a better look, you gazed out over the space you’d called home for past three years. Something about the infinite expanse always grounded you. The lack of endings and the billions of possibilities that presented made all of your worries and problems seem positively insignificant. It left you searing with luck to be living regardless. You moved even closer letting your breath fog up the glass. Leonard moved behind you hugging you round the middle and resting his chin on your shoulder.

“Look at it Leonard. Isn’t it just-”

“Horrifying?”

“Do you really look at that and feel nothing?” You were aghast at the thought.

Leonard sighed “I appreciate the sentiment of it.” He concluded. “It reminds me of a Jorge Luis Borges quote.”

“I didn’t realise you were so well read.” You both shared another moment of genuine laughter, “What’s the quote?”

“He says, ‘I’m not sure I exist, actually. I am all the writers that I have read, all the people I have met, all the women that I have loved;” He squeezed your arm as he spoke “All the cities I have visited.’ Reminds me of you actually. All the lives you’ve saved in the medbay and planeside. You leave a part of you everywhere you go; that’s what I think is beautiful, doll.”

You turned to him. He held your gaze firmly and you knew he meant the words he’d spoken. You rested your head against his chest silently thanking him for his kindness, you knew he’d never let you say it out loud. This wasn’t your home, but Leonard smelled of home for we all leave a part of ourselves in those we love.

Together you turned the couch to face the window and under Leonard’s duvet slept a full night of dreamless sleep woken only by a PADD dropped on your chest with the same force you’d dropped at Leonard yesterday.

“Five days in the medbay.” He gestured towards the open rota displayed on the screen, “Two days off. Including Sunday.”

[the-alice-of-hearts]

Kids Again Ch 4

<Previous First Next>

He's always running with no one to keep warm

Two years she watched him run the rooftops and do his best to live up to the image that Bruce had, it wore heavy on him. 

She saw him get more reckless, and hurt more often. It was like he was running in circles, he was trying so, so hard to be better. She couldn’t even tell if he knew that’s what he was doing. So she stayed in his head as much as she could, making sure that he didn’t die on her. 

Marinette came to class with bags under her eyes. Her friends watched her up her coffee intake, she moved everyday like she knew something bad was going to happen. She got quieter, more clumsy. She would be there one moment and then in Gotham the next. Kim walked next to her, made sure he was ready to catch her. Alix went with Marinette any place the boys couldn’t. They watched over her; made sure that she didn’t get hurt. 

“Mari?” Alix had asked her in a small voice one day, “when did you sleep last?”

The four of them were lying on her floor, working on homework like they always did. Kim and Nino looked over to see her response. 

“What day is it today?” Marinette stalled for time, hoping that it hadn’t been too long. They got overprotective when she went too long with sleeping, and it wasn’t something she wanted to deal with today. Unfortunately it looked like they weren’t going to answer until she did. She sighed loudly, “I think I got a decent amount on thursday. Slept almost 5 hours before... waking up.”

Kim reached over to hug her, they all knew what was unsaid. She woke up in pain, scared, and hurting.”

Nino came closer as well, “Netté, today is wednesday.” He reached out and held her hands, “go to sleep. We will watch out for you. He usually naps before patrol anyways yeah?”

She rubbed her eyes, “yeah... he does… but we still have homework to finish.”

Alix grabbed the papers that Marinette was reaching for, “and we can finish our own work then help you with yours after you nap.”

Marinette bit her lip trying to stay alert enough to protest, “you’ll fail english without me.”

Kim laughed and tapped his fist on her head, “at the rate you’re going we’ll fail with you too. Please em gái, take a nap. Just a short one will do.” ((Vietnamese: little sister))

---

With that they convinced her to go lay down. The three of them looked at each other, Alix spoke up first, “what do we do if…”

“If he dies.” Nino picked up the train of thought, “I don’t know that we can do anything.”

“I swear to any of the gods listening, if he hurts her, I will kill him myself.” Kim looked at Mari. She was sleeping heavily, but he could see her start to toss and turn. “He’s already giving her nightmares.” 

“All we can do is be steady for her. She needs us to be strong, so we will be. Alix, do you think your dad will let you stay here for a while?” Nino had started planning out all of this weeks ago.

Alix nodded, “yeah I think he’s about to go to an excavation site soon anyways. My brother would be glad to not have to look after me.”

“Good. Kim, can you run interference with the teachers? This is hard enough on her, we don’t need her to have extra stress on her plate.”

“Yeah I can take care of that.” Kim was still looking at her so he saw when she finally let out a sigh and settled down, “how do we make her sleep though?”

“I can help with that.” Sabine had climbed up to check in on then and heard the conversation taking place, “We have her with a therapist, and it will be easy enough to get her prescribed meds for her anxiety and to help her sleep. It’ll just be a matter of making sure she takes them.”

Nino nodded at her, “We can make sure she’s taking them in the morning. I have to take mine each morning and evening on a schedule as well as needed for worse times. I can help there.”

Sabine smiled at him, “thank you Nino, that would help a lot. Alix you can stay here as long as you want, but if it gets to be too much please let us know.” She took on a stern voice, “You shouldn’t have to bear this alone. None of you are to take on more than you can handle. I know you want to help her, but you’re all kids too. I’m not above banning you from the house if I think you are putting too much stress on yourselves.” She reached out to grasp Nino’s hand, “I mean it. I know you know very well what she is going through, but your mom and I have a deal.” 

Nino smiled back, “yes ma’am. I promise.”

Sabine stood up from where she had sat near them, “With that settled, who wants to help me bring up some food for everyone. You all should eat, and Marinette will need to eat when she wakes up.”

Kim offered to go help her. After they left Nino turned to Alix, “you have to make sure she’s taking her meds at night. She won’t want to, and she will try to hide it. But you have always known us better than we know ourselves. You have to make sure she takes them.”

Alix nodded at him grabbing his hand and giving it a squeeze, “You know I will. Found family, right?”

“Found family.” he repeated the vow. 

---

Marinette stopped talking one day. She was getting sleep, but she still wasn’t in Paris enough. So she stopped talking. If she didn’t say anything then people noticed less when she left in the middle of a conversation. 

No one else at school noticed. Well no one but Chloé, but even she knew that this was off limits for teasing. Chloé may have become a bitch to Marinette for no known reason, but she knew the limits on what was too far. 

Mariette went silent so Kim got louder. The three hoped that if the teachers were focused on him being a clown that they wouldn’t notice Marinette not participating in class. Kim and Alix started a ‘rivalry’, making sure that any eyes that might stray to Marinette would land back on them. Nino had Marinette sit next to him so he could take notes for her, and nudge her if a teacher was looking at her. He also had the worst job, making her actually take her anxiety meds. Alix and Kim played distraction, Nino played mother hen. 

Marinette from a year ago would still have complained. She would have reminded them that she was a big girl and she could take care of herself. This wasn’t Marinette from a year ago, this was their best friend so scared for her soulmate’s life that she couldn’t take her eyes off of him.

---

Then something unexpected happened. 

Marinette spoke up during their study session unprompted for the first time in weeks, “He’s not Robin anymore.”

Alix sharply looked up from where they had been laying, “What?”

They all hesitated waiting for Marinette to continue, “Bruce saw his stitches, he... well he blamed Jason.” She scoffed at the thought, “like the asshole didn’t drive him into his recklessness.” 

“Netté, what happens now?” Nino was always the first one to speak up.

“Bruce said that he was wrong, that he shouldn’t have trusted Jason as Robin. He ran away. He’s stronger now, so being on the streets isn’t as dangerous. But he’s back out there. He went to one of his old hideouts. I don’t know what he’s doing next…” she trailed off and they all waited for her next thought. 

The boys had both moved closer, Alix was still laying on their back looking up at Marinette. They all knew that when her thinking face came out they needed to wait for her to speak up. 

She took a deep breath, “I need you guys to help me get him here. I know it’s a lot to ask, and I totally understand if you can’t help me, but it’s just-“

“How are we going to do that?” Kim asked her, cutting her off. They were all willing to do whatever it took to make Marinette smile again. 

She stared at him for a moment, her mouth in a perfect O, “you’ll really help?”

Alix nudged her leg, “found family right?”

Marinette smiled at that, “yeah, found family.”

She laid out her plan. It would take them all because it involved smuggling Marinette to Gotham, and her parents would notice if she started acting unusually in front of them. 

It only took a week to get things together. Alix had convinced their dad that they were looking into a historical artefact in class and wanted to prove their teacher wrong so they needed to go to America with Marinette as a witness. He bought the story easily, believing Alix when they told him they needed to take Marinette specifically because she knew the city better. Reminding him that her soulmate grew up there. So with two plane tickets the plan was finally in motion. Kim had been bringing his gym bag empty to the group study sessions so that Mari could pack clothes in it. Nino had a suitcase that he had smuggled out when his parents weren’t home. All of it was slowly collected at Alix’s house. Since their dad was still out of town they only had to drop home to take care of their plants, so it made it a really easy place to keep things. 

Then it took another week for their departure date. For the entire two weeks Marinette had been so focused on going to Gotham that she didn’t notice that Jason had been blocking her. Later she would know that he didn’t even realize he was doing it. 

They were at school the day before they would be on their way to Gotham when Mari checked in on Jason, making sure that she could find him. Hoping that he was in a place that she would easily be able to find him. He wasn’t. He wasn’t even in Gotham. He was in a desert, with a woman. She looked a little like Jason, but his mom had died… and this wasn’t Catherine.

Marinette looked up at Kim with fear in her eyes, “Something is wrong.” she said it quietly. With Alix’s hearing, Kim’s ability to read lips, and Nino sitting next to her it was easy to be sure that they all knew something was happening. 

Kim acted fast, shooting a rubber band at Chloé made her stand up and start yelling. That provided enough distraction for Alix to get over to Marinette’s other side. With Nino and Alix surrounding her, and Kim playing distraction she was able to completely follow Jason. It wasn’t good, he was with the woman. He called her mom, guess that explained why he wasn’t in Gotham. When Joker appeared Marinette gasped. 

_____________________________________

She was loud enough that Rose and Juleka looked over at her. Alix shielded Marinette’s body as much as they could, trying to make sure that no one could see her face. The terror on it shouldn’t be seen by anyone else. They took care of each other, and Marinette would be mortified if she found out someone else knew what she was going through. But not even with the combined efforts of all three of their strengths could they keep the attention off of her when the screaming started. 

It was like listening to a horror movie. Marinette’s screams ripped through the classroom. If you asked anyone to describe it they would tell you it was like being in a room that was filled with terror. 

“Everyone get out!!” Chloé yelled loudly. Alix looked up at her in surprise, not expecting Chloé of all people to help. Between Chloé and Kim they got the classroom cleared in less than a minute. “I’m gonna stand outside the door so no one comes in. Just, take care of her yeah?” with that she walked out of the room and closed the door. They could see her shadow still there. True to her word no one came in the classroom. Unfortunately everyone in their hall could hear the screams. 

“Netté, please. You have to listen to my voice. You have to come back, come back to Paris. You don’t want to see this. Please come back to us.” Alix finally clued back into Nino’s voice. He was trying to get her to come back, but it didn’t seem to be working. 

____________________________

Marinette wasn’t listening to Nino, she was caught in this moment. Watching Joker beat Jason, his blood spilling out on the floor. Then something happened that opened everything. Her mother had once told her that some soulmates could talk to each other in times of crisis, and this would count as one. 

She could hear Jason’s voice, ‘please let me pass out, please let me pass out, she doesn’t deserve to see this, please whatever deity might be listening let me pass out!’

Then she heard others in the link, ‘Jay bird! Please tell me you’re there! Little wing I’m trying to get there faster, but you have to wake up. There’s a bomb, you have to get up. Jay you have to get up now! You have to go to the door.’ 

“Jason please! Please wake up. We need you, we need you to wake up. I need you!” Marinette didn’t realise she had spoken out loud, but she would feel that her friends were all holding her. 

‘You don’t really know me, but please live for us. We all need to meet you one day.’

“Jason you have to get to the door.” She was sobbing now.

‘Jay, wake up!’

He started moving, crawling towards the door. For a moment she had hope that he would make it. She could feel everyone pleading with the gods to just get him out of there alive. Then he tried the door, it was locked. He didn’t have enough strength or time to get out of there, ‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry I never got to love you Marinette.’

If she hadn’t already been in Kim’s lap she would have fallen to the ground. All the energy in her body was gone. It was like a huge chunk of her had been ripped out. 

“Mari, can you hear us?” she heard Alix’s soft voice.

“Netté, we need you to talk to us.”

Her sobs had turned into a hysterical laugh, “he’s dead!” She looked at Nino, still crying but becoming worse by the moment, “the fucking clown killed him!” 

Kim was running his hands through Marinette’s hair, all three of them waited for her to break back down. They had gone through it with Nino, they would be just as steady for Mari. 

After her laughing turned back to sobs Kim wrapped his arms around her again. Holding her tight, “we’re here for you em gái. We’re here.”

“He’s dead… Jay’s dead…” she sniffled turning to press her face into Kim’s chest, “and his last thought was of me.” 

Nino and Alix had moved in and were hugging her now too. “Netté, I promise, it gets easier.”

[in-tua-deep]

20 for Vanya?

20. What-ifs/Alternate Timelines

I have a lot of what-ifs and alternate timelines for Vanya lmao, especially ones that prevent the apocalypse because I’m a sucker for a happy ending tbh

What if Vanya was included? Why not? Klaus’s powers weren’t useful for missions, Allison’s story for Claire was literally like “yeah Klaus got distracted by ghosts in the background lol” so it’s not like a kid without offensive powers couldn’t do it

you have rebellious Vanya aus, where she decides, like some neglected children do, so act out. If her father isn’t going to acknowledge anything good about her, she’s going to make him acknowledge the bad. Punishment might be the only time he pays attention to her, after all.

(let’s call this an au where the pills suppress her powers but not so much her emotions)

So you have an au where she sneaks out and joins the missions. She breaks into the mausoleum and picks Klaus up and stares her father down with a challenge in her eyes. 

Five vanishes, and Vanya gets worse. She plays her violin at 2 in the morning. She refuses to eat her broccoli. she teams up with diego to see who can piss dad off the most

(her and Diego actually get along very well in this sort of au, honestly)

Vanya gets out and plays the violin and gets angry. She plays with fury and fire and gets second chair, because Helen is actually really very good. But she makes Helen work for it. Helen isn’t secure in her position, she always knows that Vanya is a step away from taking it from her

and maybe that should make them enemies, but it doesn’t. They’re rivals. Helen respects the hell out of Vanya, and Vanya can’t help but admire the woman who makes the most difficult pieces look effortless

(RIVALS TO LOVERS: VIOLIN EDITION)

Vanya writes her book. Except she kicks down Diego’s boiler room door and is like “DIEGO”

“WHAT”

“I WANT TO WRITE A BOOK ABOUT HOW MUCH DAD FUCKING SUCKS”

“I’LL BE RIGHT THERE”

as one of the rebel kids, Vanya actually got along well with Klaus as well since she helped him sneak out and 100% also smoked at least some weed with him because it would piss off Reggie tbh though she didn’t get into the harder drugs like he did

(showing up absolutely plastered to breakfast when they were sixteen was hilarious even if the laps they had to run around the block were not)

anyway Klaus crashes at her apartment sometimes, with supervision, because she loves Klaus but he has a problem and has stolen from her before but he’s still her brother but regardless

Klaus-Diego-Vanya sleepovers where they brainstorm the book to shit talk their father. Honestly it’s kind of a blast. They all get super wine drunk and end up watching Mary Poppins together with some Very Loud Opinions about nannies in general tbh

klaus throwing popcorn at the screen: BOO WHY WAS OUR CHILDHOOD NOT A MUSICAL???

diego: idk if you can have cheery musicals about child soldiers

vanya: i mean if they can have a musical about child labor in factories and the starvation of the workers in oliver twist you could do something with child superheroes

klaus: EXACTLY thank you vanya

they publish the book (luther is uNHAPPY, vanya dedicates her book to ‘all my siblings who survived the Reginald Regime but especially those who didn’t’, and she gifts Reggie a copy that says “fuck you lol” and is signed by her, diego, and klaus), they continue living, they go to the funeral when reggie kicks the bucket

and then five shows up, feral and aching

and five tells vanya about the apocalypse, and vanya thinks about their father saying time travel messed with the mind, and then she thinks - fuck the old man he was wrong about her (ordinary, fuck that, she’s Vanya Fucking Hargreeves) and he was probably wrong about Five, too

and Five is wholeheartedly believed

“Let me call Diego,” Vanya says when Five tells her about the eye, “I bet he could totally wear a police uniform and get info about the eye. And if not, I’m absolutely sure Klaus could improvise a solution. He’s good at that.”

“Klaus??” Five asks, vaguely suspicious.

“We don’t talk about the Sleepover of 2012.” Vanya intones solemnly, and refuses to answer any further questions on the topic.

Harold Jenkins comes to the apartment and tries to woo Vanya or whatever, and Vanya is kind of like... “Look, Leonard. I can be your teacher for violin. It’s my job. But I am in a relationship. And also like, super gay. If you have a problem with that then I am not the teacher for you.”

Actually scratch Diego and Klaus getting called, which they do, Vanya looks at them and her thirteen year old brother and is like “wait. actually i know someone infinitely better to crack this case wide open.”

“Who?” Five, Klaus, and Diego all ask

“My girlfriend.” Vanya says proudly, called Helen up.

And Helen walks into the building like she’s at fucking war and has such demanding confidence that they just give her the information she seeks and apologize for inconveniencing her.

“Hey Vanya are we still on for date night tomorrow?” Helen casually asks after, and Five kind of wants to be her when he grows up honestly after watching her verbally eviscerate Lance or whatever the fuck his name is

“Yeah.” Vanya confirms, “Unless there’s other apocalypse stuff to do?”

“You take all the time you need, honey.” Helen says warmly, “After all the more time you take the less you have to practice.”

“I’m gonna destroy the concert piece and you know it.” Vanya threatens.

Helen sniffs, “Okay, whatever you say second chair.”

and then they kiss and Helen ditches and the others just kind of look at Vanya judgingly

“In fairness, she’s very hot and very talented.” Vanya defends herself.

Klaus nods sagely. Vanya nods back. He gets it. 

“Concert piece?” Diego asks, because he has priorities.

“Yeah, I’ve already asked for tickets for all of you and you will be attending Diego.” Vanya smiles prettily with all her teeth.

“When is it?” Five asks

“April 1st.” Vanya tells him, “And no that isn’t an April Fools joke. You will attend and you will marvel at my skill. And maybe run interference between Helen and Allison because I’m kind of afraid they’re going to rip each others throats out to establish dominance.”

“That’s the day of the apocalypse.” Five informs her.

“Not on my goddamn watch.” Vanya says, because her family will attend her fucking concert and they will make awkward small talk with her girlfriend and the fucking apocalypse has better lay down and get over itself because nothing can stop Vanya’s goddamn plans

“I can investigate Meritech more.” Diego offers, because Lance-or-whatever-his-name-is is clearly shady as shit, “I have police contacts I could go through. Hey Vanya, your concert tickets include a plus one?”

“They can.” Vanya shrugs.

“Sweet, let me see if Patch can come.”

“She’s way too good for you, bro.”

“Shut your goddamn mouth.”

Anyway the point is they all go home, and Diego goes to talk to his police contacts and Five is definitely at home for when Hazel and Cha-Cha attack the mansion, oops. 

“Whomst the FUCK.” Vanya yells, kicking Hazel in the crotch because she’s Vanya Fucking Hargreeves she knows self defense thank you very much

“Ah.” Five says. “Hazel. How’s it going.”

“Just peachy.” Hazel wheezes, “Why’d you betray the Commission?”

“Well, you know. They cut the dental. That was really the last straw.” Five says, sarcastically.

“The dental.” Hazel echoes back, nodding very seriously, “I fucking know. You know physical therapy isn’t even covered anymore?”

“No shit?” Five says, “I mean you’d think with a job as physical as ours...”

“I know.” Hazel howls, vindicated. 

“Five.” Vanya says, rolling her eyes, “The house?”

“Oh, right.” Five frowns, looking at Hazel, “I mean. Can you like, leave? And not come back?”

“‘Fraid not.” Hazel actually sounds somewhat apologetic, “You know what the Commission is like. They’re really gunning for you.”

Five nods, because really what did he expect, “Can you leave like, temporarily? I mean you’d pretty clearly outnumbered. I don’t even know where Cha-Cha is, but judging by the furious yelling she probably met our sister and brother and Luther is hard to kill. Trust me, if he wasn’t we would have killed him when we were like, eight. But for real, can you get out of our house? I mean. Storming the den? Seriously? What kind of information did they even give you?”

“They didn’t give us any information.” Hazel responds back, sounding appropriately outraged, “They didn’t even tell us you could teleport.”

“Well that’s just rude. You’d think they wanted you dead or something.” Five muses, “But seriously, get out of my house.”

“Yeah, that’s fair.” Hazel admits, and leaves, because honestly Hazel is chill like that and knows when he’s lost. And Hazel also has a lot to think about. Like the fact that the Commission sucks and doesn’t even have dental, and how pretty the donut lady is. 

and Vanya is just like... okay. Weird. Is that going to happen again? Probably? I mean. Okay, this day has already been so goddamn weird. This week, honestly.

And they keep getting attacked by the Commission. And Vanya finds out someone broke into her apartment and stole her meds. What the fuck. 

“Did your shitty assassin friends do this?” Vanya asks, waving an empty pill bottle.

“Why would they?” Five asks, honestly confused.

“Because they’re assholes?” Vanya says, honestly outraged.

“You got me there.” Five admits.

The combined forces of Diego-and-Patch (because Patch is actually thrilled that Diego is asking for help regarding an actual fucking crime) figure out that the eyeballs are being sold illegally

Klaus is not kidnapped so he’s fine, just tagging along and living his best life, however this also means that Klaus does not steal the briefcase and Hazel and Cha-Cha are fine

Vanya keeps Five close at hand because frankly she doesn’t want him to leave again and she did really miss him. Also if she does save the world she can lord it over Helen’s head forever. 

And so Five is around when Vanya’s powers manifest, probably because they just got targeted by commission goons again because they’re trying real hard to kill five and separate Vanya

“Holy SHIT.” Five says, very intelligently, “You have POWERS.”

“Wow. Gonna have to write a fucking sequel to the shit-talking-dad book.” Vanya says, honestly a little light headed.

And then Vanya finds out her powers are sound based.

“Oh no.” Vanya says, “Where the fuck are my pills. I am not relearning how to play the violin with-powers a few days before the big concert Five, what the fuck.”

“But you need to learn to control them!” Five protests, “They’re your powers!”

“They’re a goddamn inconvenience is what they are.” Vanya states, “I mean, what am I going to do with them? Stop a bank robbery with the Umbrella Academy? Yeah, no thanks, that ship has sailed and sunk to the bottom of the ocean Titanic style. I’ll figure them out when I’m not in danger of blasting the audience halfway across the continent.”

“Yeah.” Five admits, “That’s fair.”

“Besides, if I’ve been on that shit as long as I have, and it’s been a long time, I cannot even IMAGINE what quitting cold turkey will do.” Vanya points out, very sensibly, like a siblings who has watched Klaus go through withdrawal symptoms more than once.

“Maybe there’s extra at the manor?” Five suggests, “Pogo probably knows.”

“Oh yeah I bet Pogo knows something.” Vanya mutters maybe a little bitterly.

They go back to the mansion and the Commission is honestly pulling their hair out tbh, and they ask Pogo who kind of pales and is like “UHHHH YES I CAN GET VANYA EXTRA PILLS” and goes to get them from whatever stash

“Fucking sweet.” Vanya whispers, entirely done with this situation, “The only adult male role model I had and he hid my powers from me and betrayed me. Love that for us.”

Five shrugs, “I mean, you’re right. All of our adult role models were all kinds of fucked up.”

“You vanished when we were 13.” Vanya says, “Didn’t you find like, any other adults ever?”

“Oh let me tell you about the Handler.” Five says, and proceeds to do just that. Because let’s be real, the Handler was the only human interaction Five had after forty odd years alone it was pretty damn important

Vanya, on the other hand, has strong plans to eviscerate the Handler should the two ever meet because Five deserved way better than to be forcibly made into an assassin?? honestly fuck that woman

that’s it that’s the au

Vanya finds out she has powers and is like “i have a LIFE i don’t want to interrupt it with bullshit POWERS,,, also going cold turkey off my meds seems like a bad idea if I don’t want to deal with withdrawal symptoms during my concert for fucks sake, my gf would never let me live it down if i skipped”

so vanya takes her meds, does NOT destroy the world, makes every one of her siblings go to the concert and even invites Hazel and Agnes after Hazel betrays Cha-Cha to join team No-Apocalypse. 

and then introduces them all to her girlfriend

“Holy shit Vanya.” Helen deadpans, “Your family is all kinds of fucked up.”

“I know.” Vanya says, aggrieved, “It’s been a long fucking week. Want to go camping and help me figure out my cool sound based powers? Bet they’ll make me a better violin player than you.”

“I think the fuck not.” Helen hisses, always up for a challenge, “Let’s do this. Me and my violin vs. you and your dumb baby powers. You’re on.”

“FAMILY CAMPING TRIP.” Klaus hollers, with all the enthusiasm in his little heart.

“Holy shit this is going to be such a disaster, I just know it.” Diego mutters.

“Shut up, it’ll be nice.” Allison says, elbowing Diego with her pointy pointy elbows.

“It’s going to be a shitshow.” Vanya says serenely, because it is. That’s just who their family is. 

Wouldn’t have it any other way, though

[starfleetimagines]

Worf - “What were you thinking?”

Pairing: Worf x gender neutral security officer reader Requested by user Kalumiko425 on wattpad: The reader is a security officer like Worf and goes on most away missions with him. The reader does have feelings for the Klingon but can’t tell if he likes them back. Story wise maybe they’re exploring a new planet and the away team consists of the Captain, Number 1, Counselor Troy, Worf and a few other officers. They come under fire by something (you choose what alien I’m not entirely sure) and the reader is injured. Word count: 920 Warnings/notes: Reader gets injured, no real descriptions of the injury though Tag list: @dancingwith-thesunflowers, @anicamarei, @sinschesters, @groovyfluxie, @space-helen - if anyone wants to be added to or removed from a tag list, please let me know!

Your tricorder became to beep as you scanned the area around you. “Commander, I’m detecting lifeforms.”

Riker went over to you and looked at your scans. “Humanoid?”

“I believe so,” you replied, “but the magnetic field from those mountains are interfering with the readings.”

Worf took out his own tricorder. “I cannot tell what species they are.”

“Deanna, can you sense anything?” you asked.

Deanna paused and then said, “I sense their presence, yes. They’re not too far from us.”

“We should have a look,” said Riker. “But make sure to stay out of sight. We don’t know if these people have warp-capabilities.”

You all nodded in agreement.

“Riker to Picard.”

“Picard here,” the captain replied.

“Captain, we’ve detected other lifeforms. We’re going to go check them out.”

“Understood. Stay safe. Picard out.”

The four of you made your way towards the lifeforms, being careful to keep an eye out for anyone along the way.

“Hang on,” you said as your readings began to change.

“What is it?” Riker asked.

“The interference is weaker here. I’m able to get clearer readings.” You frowned.

“What do they say?” Worf asked.

“They’re Romulan.”

“Romulan?” Riker exclaimed. “What on Earth are the Romulans doing here?”

Deanna shook her head. “There haven’t been any intelligence reports of Romulans being near this sector.”

Riker pulled out his phaser. “Let’s go see what they’re up to.”

You all took out your weapons, you and Worf taking the lead as the two security officers of the away mission.

“They’re just over this hill,” you said quietly.

When you rounded the top of the hill you saw a camp of sorts, only with a lot of technology.

“What is it?” Deanna asked.

“It looks like a surveillance site,” Worf said angrily.

“Just what we need,” Riker said with a sigh.

“We should make our presence known,” Worf said. “Let them know they can’t just spy on us.”

You scanned the camp and shook your head. “I’m reading over fifty life-signs. We’re outnumbered.”

“With all that equipment, they must know we’re here,” Riker said. “But I’m guessing they might not know that we know they’re here as well.”

“I recommend returning to the ship,” Deanna said.

“I agree,” Riker said. “We need to report back and figure out a plan.”

Just as you were all starting to turn back, something caught your eye. “Worf, look out!” you exclaimed, shoving him out of the way as a Romulan fired a weapon in his direction.

Worf stumbled back and you felt the burn of the disrupter blast hitting your side. You yelled in pain and fell to your knees.

“Y/N!” Worf exclaimed, going to you quickly.

“Riker to Enterprise, emergency beam out! Lieutenant Y/L/N is hurt.”

“Stand by.”

Worf gathered you in his arms and your head slumped against him as your vision went dark.

When you awoke, you were in sickbay, the bright lights making you squint.

“Y/N,” Doctor Crusher said gently, “how are you feeling?”

“A bit sore,” you said. “But I’m okay.”

She smiled softly. “Luckily, the Romulan disruptor didn’t do too much damage. You just passed out from the shock and the pain. You’ll make a full recovery in a day or so.”

You gave her a tired smile. “Thanks.”

“There’s someone who’d like to say hello,” she said and stepped away from your bed.

Your brow furrowed until Worf appeared.

“Hey,” you said.

“What were you thinking?” he asked.

You raised your eyebrows. “Um. I was thinking of protecting you. You’re welcome.”

“You could have been killed,” he grumbled. “It was reckless.”

You huffed out a laugh. “What? So you’re the only security officer who can protect others?”

Worf frowned. “No, but if you had been killed…” He shook his head. “It would have been a great loss to the crew.”

“Thanks, but I wasn’t,” you said flatly.

“Why did you step in front of the blast for me?”

“Because it’s my job,” you replied.

“You could have just shot at the Romulan or told me to move out of the way. You did not have to risk yourself for me,” Worf said.

“Yeah, well, maybe it’s because for some unknown reason I have feelings for you,” you said before you could stop yourself. You immediately cringed when you realized what your pain-med-filled mind had just made you say.

Worf stared at you. “You… you have feelings… for me?”

You rubbed at your eyes and sighed. “Cat’s out of the bag now, huh?”

“You’ve never said anything,” he said, voice softer.

You looked at him and shrugged slightly. “I guess I didn’t know how you’d react. I mean, you’re my superior officer and a friend. I didn’t want to ruin anything or make anything awkward.”

“It will not be awkward,” Worf declared.

“It won’t?”

“No. Because I have feelings for you as well.”

A smile spread across your face. “You do?”

“Yes,” he said, almost shyly. “I am sorry for not saying anything sooner, but I am not one for expressing more… intimate feelings.”

“It’s okay, I understand,” you said, reaching out to him.

He took your hand. “When you’re feeling better, I would like to take you on a date. If that is acceptable for you.”

“I would love that.”

“Good.” Worf kissed your knuckles gently. “For now, just focus on recovering.”

“Will you stay here with me for a while?” you asked, starting to get drowsy again.

He took a seat at the edge of your bed. “I’ll stay as long as you want.”

If you enjoy my work, please consider supporting me on Ko-Fi

[xchoco-mixturex]

Holy moly, choco thorws an arrival (duh) analisys?!

As always, spoilers from tenkuu shinpan arrive, up until chapter 71. Always, the japanese version, since I read it in japanese. Read with caution below. ALSO ITS VERY LONG. I apologize before hand! (and for my poor english)

Like seriously, i mean, it ,this is HUGE SPOILERS! if not spoilers from much of the plot until now.

(And before you ask, we are translating be god damn patient or we drop the project, k thanks nwn)

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Okay? okay!

I dont now how many chapters we have left but i hope im actually wrong in this one because it feels like too few has passed :c. But a climax happened ofc: Daisei is there, you know, the huge ass eye. Also, ORibe mentioned that Yuri in on her way on fusion the dimensions, i dont know if she means the OG high rise dimension with the ruined high rise dimension? OR back to the real world? I doubt it’s back to the real world, since they still need a God, and left the game on pause tecnically. As Yuri said, it was ‘their fault’. Of course, Yuri being the actual administrator knew Daisei could do ruckus since he is also trying to archieve god. 

Now, i think Daisei is doing that in that ruined world since the OG High Rise world its paused. There hasnt been more killings, and i am not sure if the god candidate needs to read the other 2 god codes. For the ones that have read at least one code are:

Yuri

Juo

Okihara

Yoshida

And the Judges duo aka Kuon and Sniper.

Of course, Yuri cannot be god since it breaks the administrator rule, Juo is dead (is he? DUUUN DUN!) Okihara was comatose the last time we saw him and the med staff was healing him, Yoshida its mentioned to be alive but MIA. (or at least mentioned, since Yuri told Rika if he sees yoshida to thank him)

That would leave our beloved Sniper being the one with that duty. And for the role he is taking in arrive, who he is a bit more predominant there, it could make sense. BUUUUT! The issue is the god damn God system. I do not quite remember if reading the other codes was necessary,since he and Kuon finished the trial and faceless-kun said “yeh go on!” Of course, the issue with that, is that turning into God needs energy, and in the OG high rise world there is none or not the enough level to turn him into that, EVEN WORST, it seems that, according for what we have been seeing here, is that the ‘Will’ and the fluctuations of that is the one that feeds the system (despair, hope, etc). And will usually manifests, in a soul. Who the heck is a soul of the main five? Kuon.

You think the god damn Sniper would literally say “oh yeh, lets get rid of her and we get all out of here”. Lets be freaking honest, that option was there long ago but he was the one, literally, HIMSELF, that told her that no matter what she wont disappear. So yes, sacrificing Kuon is out of the question. Actually, sacrificing any of his team members its our of the qustion, since he asked Rika that with Yuri’s condition as Admin, she was forced to stay there somehow, and Rika said he is staying, and so did Sniper. So yes, leaving someone behind its ALSO out of the question Now, with the appearance of Daisei, who....Wanted to be like Kuon in that ethereal form since, according to him, it gives him a sort of inmortality, also wants to be god. And apparently, after he killed himself but had the will to ‘keep on living’, he realized he could be god. Now, I dont quite know HOW Ruined High rise world came to happen, but somehow Daisei arrived there. According with that he started a new killing game, a killing game the OG gang wanted to end FOR ONCE AND FOR ALL. Of course Daisei did not wanted them to interfere, so he created a sort of barrier that doesn't let the old members of the game enter. Therefore, neither Yuri and co could chase him down with the manipulating the barrier powers. That’s UNTIL...Kuon came with an idea. Apparently for what Sniper told Juorika and co, Kuon, Yuri, And Hayami Shintaro created the cloud mechanism (the ones with Clouds with a WILL aka, clouds with souls). Since Yuri seems to be human and in a frontier, and I am guessing its to keep the plan going, she sent the other main 4 to blend to that place: Rika, Nise, Sniper, And Kuon. Each of them linked to an object with their souls within, and not necessarily a weapon.  How each person got linked to their cloud its ANOTHER THEME, specially with the new character seen: Senya’s alien. The alien seems to be related to the creation of the system, not giving exactly who he is, but he having some authority over the strings of destiny, since he saw senya being a ‘main protaginist’ and, therefore, thats the reason he linked Senya with Sniper’s rifle, and therefore, Sniper! Who is the alien and what exactly is his role, i do not know quite yet. I just know the systems apparently were created with humanity’s will, the issue is how? and why? was a group of persons will? Since it seemed to be related to the archival of god status,  keeping people away of feelings, actually turning them emotionless, and being the strongest. Was it high class ppl? governments?  we dont know yet. Now back to the actual pot, Daisei has showed up, and his abilities with his second stage masks he seems to create using old memories. Some data recollected from the old world, not necessarily being ppl of that world that are alive right now, but also dead people since he brought Maid mask back.   Also it seems people are and at the same time are not related to their original power. If they have an original power beforehand, its good, but Daisei can also provide them more power of needed, specially if they are second stage soldiers. For example, Rika and Kuon are one of the strongest characters of the manga, Rika being an Apostle and not having  a god code in his system, yet still paired with the strength of a god, and Kuon, right now, its awfully OP, being able to bring ppl back to like and/or healing him. But their clones, Juo(rika) and Zeon, are just first stage level, who are just created to bring up despair, and analyse about intruders, but not personally KILLING the intruders or the foreign objects. (they call object from the OG gang like that). Then again, them compared to their og versions, aren’t that strong. Are they the strongest of their category? Yes. Are they paired to their original versions? Hell no. But then we have second stage soldiers that are naturally strong (Mayuko and Archeangel aka Nise and great angels clones...Oh and X, who is Miiko’s clone). And Second stage ones that aren’t naturally strong, like Maid mask, who was just paired up in strength to a strong angel, but nothing else, and now its paired up to people like Oribe who has Rika as her cloud (then again, a strong cloud,b ut his power is reduced due noodle form),and Asuka, who has Great Angel’s rod. What will happen now? Well, many stuff. First of all I don’t want it to end yet, but here are my takes: Well, we know Senya is coming back after talking with his alien friend (?, so he may get Oribe out of that issue when she is being strangled. The world merging may happen sooner as expected. That could mean, maybe, just maybe, the physical interference of the OG gang, no longer as noodles, since their presence its related to how the barrier (that its in a constant purge between Yuri and Daisei) its weakened or not.  I wonder if Daisei might flee with that, give a fight, or send a stronger clone. Hmmm... On the other hand, if the gang presence its stronger now, either be cloud is stronger or them just yeeting themselves there, that means MORE INTERACTIONS! (andsniperdad--). I hope we see other ones besides the main five, while i love the main five, i also like the other characters a lot, also lets have in mind Shika needs to see Hayami. Another thing, yes, during this whole ordeal, the Judges were investigating about Daisei, and while they aren’t sure if they can replicate bodies like he does (Iiiishhhh...) well they know, or at least Kuon knows, how to regenerate/resurrect people, but that takes a lot of energy and the hurt/dying person to have a will to keep on living, and honestly, I am surprised she hasn’t fainted yet--! Would the dimension merging somehow return her body back? Eh, its free to dream. What i know its that if the dimensions are united, that means Yuri could travel from A to B and, therefore, meet Nise again! And the crew of course! (well, after she rests because that whole things takes a lot of energy.) I rather not have my hopes up because Tenkuu shinpan Arrive aint as merciful as the prequel. Because honestly, it made me cry like at least 8 times. And Miura is not afraid to hit us in the feels, either be good or bad. What shall Daisei do? Oribe will be okay? What about the Mayu-Mayu gang with Juo(rika) and Zeon vs Archangel?! Rika will do something as a cloud? Shika will shoot? How long will Kuon endure in Nanami’s body?! WHERE IS THE SNIPER NOODLE?! And most importantly, if we have seen clones about almost all the main gang, and even some extras...Does that mean we shall face a Sniper clone soon?! (I fanon-wise call him Deva)  And how will his personality be? Because we have seen all clones are lacking on most of emotions (unlesstheyaredefective) Because if he is like how me and my tumblr bestie have been theorizing...This will be bad. Thank you for reading my huge analysis! Take care!

[dearophelia]

self indulgent grey’s spy!au

so i’m watching madam secretary again and it’s reminding me of the grey’s spy au i was frantically texting @evil-redhead about last year

(first of all, and i did the research to learn that this isn’t actually possible, but it’s fic so who cares: please imagine with me addison as elizabeth’s surgeon general. thank you and goodnight)

second of all, and this is just copy/pasted from text messages with some very light editing:

-one-

The kill order comes in over encrypted text just after 2:30am Kaliningrad local time. Addison knows the logic: take him out and the whole supply chain through the Baltics collapses. She also knows the reality: taking out gun runners in former Soviet states is like playing whack-a-mole with a baby hammer. Eventually someone in the Company will figure that out and change tactics. In the meantime, she has orders.

She speaks flawless Russian with zero accent, which helps when she steers the arms dealer out of the party and up to his private suite. She pretends she’s from the same village as his grandmother, tells stories about a local borscht variant. He compliments her tits and her legs and everything else he can see. What he doesn’t see is the way she twists around her ring and flicks open a hidden compartment with her thumb while she’s pouring the vodka.

Addison watches as he eagerly takes the shot and then turns an interesting shade of purple. He’s dead within ninety seconds.

She takes a shot of clean vodka, wraps up in her black trenchcoat, and slips out the back entrance into the night.

There’s a pay phone four blocks down. She calls her handler and leaves a message about the museum being closed tomorrow, code for mission complete. She checks out of the hotel and is on the next flight to Helsinki away from here.

-two-

Addison likes Mark Sloan, she does. He’s a good asset and a great fuck and she doesn’t at all mind that their schedules sync up in Helsinki more often than she syncs up with anyone else anywhere else. Helsinki’s a good place to lay low for a few days, even easier when she’s hardly getting out of bed.

But he’s DIA and she doesn’t trust defense guys farther than she can throw them. Goes out of her way to avoid them, usually. But Mark’s good company, great fun, and nothing they do in this hotel room ever happened the moment one of them leave. So she’ll let the DOD thing go as long as it doesn’t interfere with her own work.

He’s making breakfast and trying to tell her a joke he overheard. This never ends well, but she indulges him. It falls apart in the translation – “You’d find this hilarious if you heard it in the original Czech,” he proclaims, setting a plate of eggs in front of her.

Addison eyes him over a forkful. “Since I don’t speak Czech, your odds aren’t looking good, Sloan.”

Mark’s still telling his joke and she smiles as the sun rises over their tiny hotel room.

36 hours and then she’s off to Paris and meeting a DGSE contact she can hardly stand. Then, armed with that information, back to former Soviet listening posts. Maybe this one will be inland.

-three-

Addison takes the right hook like a champ, luring the goon into a false sense of security. She drops down, grabs a broom from the floor, and lets the guy have one last laugh at the pretty girl with the stick before she comes whirling in and knocks him flat on his ass inside five seconds. Another goon runs out of the shadows and she cracks him across the skull so hard he actually skids across the floor.

“Impressive,” her contact says in dripping French. He sips his tea.

“The file?” she holds out her hand. No one does intelligence theatrics like the French. Not even the Russians.

With an irritated sigh, the DGSE agent drops a USB drive into her hand. “It self-destructs after 24 hours. Would not recommend keeping it in your suitcase.”

Addison gives him a tight smile and returns to her hotel room.

Derek, this time.

(Mark is Scandinavia and the former Soviet states. Derek is Western Europe. Alex is usually somewhere in Central Asia and Jake is in the Mediterranean.)

She waves off his concern about the shiner blooming over her eye and slides the drive into her laptop. “Order room service,” she tells him as she pulls her shirt off, changing out of bloodied and ripped clothes while waiting for the drive to load.

It’s not his fault he hovers. He’s an embassy doctor, bouncing around Western Europe for the State Department. Last time he got into a fight was probably high school. Last time he had to do anything classified on his own was probably never.

He orders – including red wine and extra ice, which she’s sure makes the kitchen worker on the other end say a few choice things about Americans – and her laptop chirps ready.

Volgograd this time. Not a weapons dealer. A physicist. A nuclear physicist. “Oh boy,” she says to herself.

She books a hotel in Volgograd and then places a same-day Amazon delivery for post-its, a portable printer, tape, and other supplies. She and Elizabeth call it the conspiracy theory order, though she skips the red string.

While Derek’s setting out dinner (and sets a bag of ice intentionally – and somewhat aggressively – in her direction), she sends a secure text to Alex.

gonna be in vgrad for a minute. you nearby?

Dinner’s over before she gets a response.

yep. even have some intel for you.

Addison puts her phone away and turns to Derek. “I’m fine,” she says, gesturing to the cuts and bruises.

“I know.” Still, he wraps his arms around her in a gentle hug. “I worry.”

She hugs him back. They haven’t been married in a long time. “I know.”

He gently maneuvers her to the couch and opens his bag. Addison went to med school too – though the CIA scooped her up during her residency – and a few of the cuts need butterfly closures for a couple days. She lets him work.

“How are Meredith and the kids?”

-four-

“Lox and two chives,” Addison orders at the counter, as she has the last ten days. “And the bathroom key, please.”

The cashier slips her a key. She pays and disappears down the hallway with the bathrooms, but opens the supply closet instead. Past shelves of paper towels and cups and cocaine (not her problem, not today), she pauses at the second door. The handprint scanner flashes blue then green at her palm. The door unlocks.

Bright lights overhead, several whiteboards shoved up against the walls, photographs and maps taped up everywhere. The single desk in the middle of the room is covered in folders labeled TOP SECRET, most of them open. Alex puts a cup of coffee into her hand. She finishes half of it before she even takes her coat off.

Spy work isn’t all glamorous. It’s mostly sitting in dark dank rooms filled with boxes of moth-eaten paper, trying to connect two dots. Alex is a good partner for it though. The fact that he’s CIA too doesn’t hurt – she doesn’t have to play the alphabet agency paranoia game with him.

Hours pass. Another day, another half step closer. The bagel shop closes and they slip out the back by the dumpsters.

“You want to grab a drink?” she asks as she has every night.

“We could skip drinks,” he suggests.

She looks at him in the flickering parking lot light. Normally he says yes, they get drinks and dinner, talk shop, part ways at her hotel.

A small smile graces her lips. Addison doesn’t need to be a spy to pick up Alex’s meaning.

Volgograd is fucking boring. And she and Mark have an exclusive-when-we’re-in-the-same-city agreement, not exclusive-everywhere.

The smile shifts into a smirk. “Yeah.”

-five-

This is a bad idea. This is a really bad idea. This might be the worst idea she’s ever had. And yet.

Flicking her eyes up to the rearview mirror, she gets a read on the car following her. Scratch that – cars. Plural.

She slams on the accelerator and calls Elizabeth.

“I need a favor,” she says as soon as Elizabeth’s picked up the phone. Addison hears several small children laughing in the background.

“On it,” Elizabeth says, once she’s heard the situation and the favor. “Give me ten minutes.”

Sure. She’ll keep leading a high-speed car chase through Southern Turkey and try not to accidentally make a left into Syria. She can keep this up for ten minutes. Why not.

She has the final piece in a USB drive hidden in her shoe, but this extremely stupid idea only becomes worth it if she – or, she supposes, her shoe – can get back to the agency. Which is where Elizabeth comes in. Addison’s nowhere near Ankara and the embassy, driving into Syria is an even worse idea (and she’d run out of gas long before hitting Damascus anyway), and so she needs an exit. Now.

Seven minutes and Elizabeth calls back about an airfield fifteen miles away. A Blackhawk will be waiting there for her, but she has to clear a couple layers of airfield security first.

Addison looks back up in the mirror. Three cars now and she thinks she sees the silhouette of someone hanging out the window with a gun. She’s going to have to have a discussion with Derek about suitable conversations he has with his current wife about his ex-wife the CIA agent and international spy. It’s not Meredith’s fault; GRU’s been tailing Derek since they were the KGB. Addison makes a mental note to remind State about that, maybe have someone sweep his house for bugs on a more regular basis.

But that’s a later problem. A much later problem. The more imminent problem is that she’s being shot at and still has seven miles before the airfield. “Can I just drive through security?” Addison asks, making an abrupt right down a skinny unlit street.

“Sure,” Elizabeth says. “It’s our airfield, do what you want.”

“Not the first time I’ve destroyed US government property.”

Elizabeth snorts. “Call me if you need anything else.”

The call drops as another round of gunfire shoots past.

“You’re really bad at this,” she mutters at the car behind her. They haven’t even managed to blow out the back window yet, not that she’s complaining.

By the time she hits the airfield, they’ve shattered the back window, blown several holes in the trunk, and they hit one of her back wheels just as she slams through the first security gate.

The second gate guards are a little more prepared and already have the gate lifted. They drop spike strips behind her to trap her pursuers. She jumps out of the car to the sound of many tires being violently punctured and the sound of angry Russians being thrown out of their cars and onto the ground.

The Blackhawk lifts off into the dead of night. Addison runs her fingers through her hair and texts her handler that she’s on her way back to Istanbul. She’ll hand off the intel to people who get paid a whole lot more than she does and move on to a new case.

Maybe South America, this time. Let some heat die down before bringing her back to Europe.

Once it’s all settled and she’s in her state-sponsored room, showered and sitting in a fluffy bathrobe, she checks her messages. One from her brother, about Thanksgiving logistics. One from Elizabeth, making sure she made it out okay.

And one from Mark.

Case is taking me to Venezuela. Gonna be a while, Red.

Addison grins. Her new orders came in just before dinner. Turns out there’s some worrisome news in her area of expertise coming out of the South America desk and the Company’s shipping her off to Caracas.

Maybe not. My flight leaves in a couple days. Buy me a margarita?

[goldandbluesmiles]

Joker’s Killer

Chapter 2: A Father’s Rage and it’s aftermath

Summary: In the end, it’s not Batman that kills the Joker. It’s Bruce Wayne.

May 29, 1:19: Bruce Wayne walked into Arkham undetected by any security cameras or guards

May 29, 1:25: Bruce Wayne entered Joker's cell.

May 29, 1:35: A guard realized that the hysterical laughter and gurgling from the clown's cell weren't just for show.

May 29, 1:37: Bruce Wayne was found standing over Joker's body with a steel bar in his hand, Joker's head bashed in.

XXX

Note: This is an A/B/O fic though the only tropes that are focused on are the protective omega parent and bonding.

TW: Non-consensual bonding (It’s an a/b/o fic)

Ao3

Chapter 1

XXX

Joker bit Jason.

Joker bit his boy, his pup.

That monster hurt his son. Again.

Red Rage rose up inside of him.

The monster will never hurt his baby again. The Omega would make sure of it.

His baby would be safe from now on.

The drive took twenty-one minutes and forty-three seconds.

The omega knew how to get around the cameras and guards. Enter from the supply chute, count the seconds between the camera rotations, walk when the guards turn the corner.

The cell was easy enough to get into, he knew the code after all. Make sure the alarms didn't go off. Make sure they click back into place.

The monster greeted him with a smile and a laugh, the pale face twisting in unnatural ways.

The Omega took out the steel bar he had in his sleeve. The joker look at it and laughed mockingly. The omega picked it up and broke the monster's hands first and then his legs. He then moved on to the jaw. The monster was still laughing, the sound coming out in gurgles and gasps.

The monster's head was bashed in next, the blood and bone flying all over the place, the sound of laughing finally started to die down as the door of the cell opened. There were arms holding the Omega back and keeping him down, but he didn't care.

The Red Rage subsided and was replaced with an empty calm.

The monster was gone.

His baby was would be safe now.

XXX

May 29, 1:19: Bruce Wayne walked into Arkham undetected by any security cameras or guards

May 29, 1:25: Bruce Wayne entered Joker's cell.

May 29, 1:35: A guard realized that the hysterical laughter and gurgling from the clown's cell weren't just for show.

May 29, 1:37: Bruce Wayne was found standing over Joker's body with a steel bar in his hand, Joker's head bashed in.

XXX

Detective J. Morales and E. Rosario were the ones to go down and get the report on Bruce Wayne's bloodwork.

"So what's the verdict doc?" asked Julia, "What drove our dear billionaire bonkers?"

"Please, Julia," sighed Estella, older and a little more polite than her younger partner

"What? I'm just saying," said Julia

The ME, Ethan, turned to them with a grim smile.

"There were no drugs," said Ethan, "His hormones spiked first and then stayed that way for a while but then they came down when-"

"And this is where we remind you that not all of us went to med school," said Julia

Ethan smiled, "Right. Uh...it's a little unprecedented. You know the two defences of when omegas take the defence of themselves or their pack?"

"Sure," said Estela, "The first one is where they go 'up' and they go into a rage protecting their pups and sometimes packs, constitutes as temporary insanity,"

"I mean it would make sense," said Julia, "We all know what happened with the Joker and Jason the first time,"

At that, the mood in the room dimmed even more. Jason Todd's disappearance and return might not be the hot topic of the headlines anymore but any person with a half a mind knew that the consequences of it would stay with the family. And with the realization that Joker had hurt Jason again, bitten him, well...who could blame a parent?

"The other one is when they 'retreat' into themselves," said Ethan, "Don't really realize what they're doing and go on autopilot, It's less common but it happens,"

"I've seen it before," said Estella, "Woman got a year's probation and mandatory therapy for running over a guy while driving away from an abusive partner. She was taking the fastest route on autopilot to her mom's house. Poor thing just wanted the baby in the backseat safe,"

"So which one is it here?" asked Julia

"That's where it gets weird," said Ethan, "His hormones are very low now, dangerously low, indicating that he's not all there-"

"So the second one," said Julia

"That's the thing," said Ethan, "We have other indicators that show if someone was recently in a charged state and they're all there,"

"So...?" said Estella

"As we know, the Joker but Jason and Bruce didn't find out until about half-an-hour before he killed the Joker. My assumption is that he got charged, did the deed, once he realized that his pup was 'safe', he retreated into himself,"

"Why?" wondered Julia

"I can't be sure but there are so many things different from the usual cases. For one Jason is an adult but on the other hand, we know what kind of life that kid had so it's pretty understandable that his parent jumped into defence mode. As for the 'retreat', Bruce is a public figure, this might be his mind's way of protecting his pack from the vultures but again that's just speculation,"

"There's no point in assuming things," said Estella, "What do you have to say that we can relay?"

"Officially, this man does not have the capacity to stand trial from a biological standpoint, you should ask a psychologist but I believe they will say the same thing. This man also needs medical care,"

"You said officially," said Julia, "What about unofficially?"

Ethan took a deep breath, "It would be a little early for me to say it and might interfere with the case but this man might need long-term care. Gotham might have to say goodbye to her oldest hero,"

A dark stillness settled in the room. While Gotham's public might speculate, among the police force, the justice system and everybody in between, the identities of Gotham's vigilante family were an open secret.

"May they rest," murmured Julia. She didn't say who, nobody ever said it out loud but the idea, the thought, was there.

May they rest, Gotham's original legend.

XXX

The press conference was held at 10:00 AM the second day after Joker's death.

The day before had been spent by the Wayne siblings, along with Jason's pack, huddled in their nest, barely leaving, eating, sleeping and cuddling under the mountain of blankets. Their pack, the ones less affected, and their friends had taken up their mantles for two nights. Superman had been called in, a few of the arrows, the birds of prey had taken the night and Bluebird had also stayed out, giving Bruce's kids the time they needed. Barbara made sure to coordinate them efficiently. Martha Kent and Diana watched over the family, making sure Alfred spent time with his grandchildren, and not working himself to the bone in the kitchen.

Early on the day of the press conference, Alfred took his second grandchild aside and quietly spoken with him.

"You don't have to do this, my boy," he told Jason, "No one will blame you for waiting to do this or not doing it at all. Someone else can handle it. We could even do a private interview with friends in the profession if you are really intent on telling your story,"

"No," whispered Jason, "They will still speculate. I want this to be done as open as possible and then put a cork in it. This way they can't come up with their own ideas,"

"If you're sure," said Alfred

Jason nodded and Alfred gently hugged him close, wishing with everything inside of him that his own son was here to comfort his child. Instead, he was lying in a hospital bed under guard, waiting for the courts to decide his fate.

The press conference was held in a room on the WE building to be able to keep some control over the event and to keep Jason at ease. The commissioner was also present to carry on the conference once the siblings were done.

Dick was the one who went up first, introducing them as his five siblings, Kate, Selina and Alfred stood behind him.

"We are here today, not to talk about the incident but to give you context as to what lead to the incident happening. We want to clear any misconceptions and make sure the public knows that the Wayne family is handling this situation with the utmost decorum,"

"That said, most of this story will be told by my brother Jason, and it will be a difficult experience. If you could please listen first and keep your questions until the end,"

Dick backed away and gave Jason's shoulder a squeeze as the other man stepped up.

"Good Morning Gotham," said Jason, "As you know, due to previous stories, that I was kept from my family for some time during my teen years and that the fault was with the Joker. That story had been told many times, and I will not repeat it. I would instead like to talk about what happened three weeks ago, the last time Joker escaped,"

"The Joker captured me along with 16 other hostages that were in that store with me when he came in. We do not know if he had found me by chance or if e was looking to trap me somewhere and plays some more. About ten minutes into the situation, he took me to the backroom and-

Jason stuttered there, a lump forming in his throat. Still, he swallowed and continued.

"He-um- he took me to- to the back room and told me he was going to...that he was going to-to bite me."

There was a murmur around the room but died again as Jason continued.

"After giving me the bite, he insisted that I," deep breath, "that I bite him too,"

This time when Jason stopped the silence was deafening, no one had the heart or the presence of mind to say anything.

"A you can imagine, my first reaction was to refuse but he threatened the other hostages and to prove a point, went out and shot one of the women in the leg. He also kept physically assaulting me as he told me what he would do to the rest of the hostages if I refused. I finally agreed to the bite and Batman came around five minutes later. I was able to go home to a private doctor and due to confidentiality was able to keep the bite from my family. On the day of the Joker's death, I was having lunch with my father when he spotted it. One thing led to another, and I ended up telling him where it came from. He got quiet and left me at the table. Not understanding what had happened, I let him go and went back to my place where one of my friends was also keeping me company. I didn't know about Joker's death until I saw the news that evening,"

Jason took a small breath after that.

"And now we are here," said Jason, "Are there any questions? Yes?"

"Why did you not tell your family immediately?"

"As you can imagine I was in shock and felt violated and since they could not do anything about it, I didn't think it necessary to let them know. Next? Yes?"

"Why not follow your father after he left you at lunch? Did you not think his behaviour was a little odd?"

"It is not odd for my father to walk away from a conversation, when upset, to calm down. I really didn't think anything so drastic would happen. I just wanted to get home,"

"Can you comment on anything pertaining to the investigation? About the mental state of the accused?"

Commissioner Gordon could see Jason's composure slipping and stepped up.

"Due to the time available, I think it is time that I took over. I can answer any questions you have on the investigation this far,"

No longer finding any reason to hold back due to the fragile mental state of one of Gotham's prominent omegas, the crowd of reporters burst forth with questions.

Jason didn't pay them any mind. Instead, he let Dick and Alfred lead him out of there as his siblings followed. Through the back of the room, Roy and Kori were waiting and they instantly took him in their arms.

"You okay, Jaybird?" murmured Roy

Jason just pressed his face into his shoulder and whimpered.

"Let's get you home," said Dick, laying a hand on his back

Yes. Home. That sounded nice.

He nodded and they carefully started to move away to the exit.

Behind them, Gordon was still talking to the press, explaining to them what he could. In the coming days, there would be more of these as Gordon gave more to the waiting public but Jason wasn't going to have anything to do with those.

Slowly, his family would help him heal from these scars too. And they would heal from the aftermath of them.

[shaineybainey]

“Noble Intentions”

Lab Rats [T]

The Lab Rats and Mighty Med teams face off with the greatest threat to humanity yet: The Incapacitator, a supervillain bent on becoming the most powerful in the planet. …Which makes things super awkward for Leo, considering that their newest nemesis is his father. AU. Lab Rats vs Mighty Med redux.

** DISCLAIMER: SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR DISCLAIMER **

tagging: @clockradio93 @vcnting @verified-dumbass @serpent-princess @weareoutofmaplesyrupdave @aaaaahhhhh1234 @lettersandwhiteroses @breanadaveport-mendel @cecespuffs @quimbionics @hollywoodendinq 

[ By the way, if anyone doesn’t like to be tagged anymore, just tell me through a DM. I appreciate the likes, but if the tagging annoys you, I’ll respectfully leave you out on the next one :) ]

TW: disturbing imagery, death of loved ones, panic triggers

V: Late Bloomer

Leo stirs, his whole body entirely too numb. He squints as his eyes sting from the flood of light shining all around him. He waits until the pain ebbs. Soon enough, he can make shapes, spot movements. But nothing is familiar.

Nothing except the overlapping Ms on the wall – one scarlet and one chrome.

“Leo? Leo, are you okay?” a shape – then a couple of shapes – approaches him. “How are you feeling?”

He withdraws from the faceless figure even though he recognizes the voice. “Chase?”

“Yes, Leo, it’s me,” the figure replies, but in Bree’s voice. He (she?) smiles. “You’ve been out a while. We’re glad you’re okay.”

“Where are we?” he asks, still trying to see through the gray haze.

“We’re on Mighty Med. It’s a hospital for superheroes,” says Adam.

“I know that. I know what Mighty Med is,” Leo says. He sits up. He sees a vague outline of a hospital room… How come he still can’t see anyone’s face? It makes his heart thump. “Who are you? Why can’t I see you?”

“The Incapacitator’s energy field must have been too much for you,” Chase replies. At least, it’s his voice.

“It’s going to be okay,” assures Bree. “The doctors said the blindness is temporary. In two days, you’ll be able to get your vision back.”

He searches their faces, still uneasy. The outlines of the shapes look like his siblings. There were four other people, although who they are he doesn’t know.

Suddenly, a worry hits him. “Where’s The Incapacitator?”

Though he doesn’t see their faces, he senses relief. “It’s over, Leo,” says Chase.

“What’s over?”

“Him. We defeated him!”

“What?”

“Yeah! He was holding you hostage,” says the figure that was Chase. Then, in Adam’s voice he adds, “It took us some time, but we figured out how to use his own power against him. Who knew it was that simple?”

“Wait. No, no, wait. I don’t understand.” He shakes his head. “You’re not making any sense. Who are you?”

“He’s dead, Leo. He imploded,” Bree says, a cold smile evident in her voice. “He died, as he should have.”

“No. No, that’s not true!” He tries to leap out of the bed, but the shapes hold him down. “What are you doing? Let go of me!”

“Why?”

Leo looks up quickly. He freezes upon seeing Krane towering over him, half of his body terribly burned just like the last time he saw him. A hole gapes at the place where his right eye should have been.

Krane grins wolfishly, blood on his teeth. “Isn’t this your fault? You should have reported him a long time ago. Maybe he would still be alive if you had.”

“We would still be alive,” S-1 agrees, appearing on the other side of him.

“You’re not quite the hero you think you are,” Krane says, his grip on his arm tightening.

The shapes press in on him, robbing him of breathing space. “No – Stop!” he screams. “Get away from me!”

But they only converge, closer and closer and closer until the shapes merge into a tangible cloud that wraps around him. Soon, the cloud turns into water that he plunges under, and then he can’t breathe.

He screams, but no sound comes out.

He gasps for air—

– Ϟ –

Leo wakes, gasping as if breaking through a surface. He defensively pulls his arm back from the person touching it, scooting away from him.

“Easy, Leo. It’s okay. You’re safe,” Joel says. “I won’t hurt you. It’s just me.”

Leo’s eyes quickly scan the room for danger. He’s in some bedroom, one he’s never seen before, and his father, wearing jeans and an ash gray t-shirt, is the only one there with him.

It all comes rushing back. Tecton, Chase, the energy lasso.

There was also the look of murder in his eyes as he grabbed him.

He retreats farther away from his father, afraid.

Joel chuckles. “Leo, I mean it. You’re—”

Leo flinches away from his touch, his heart calming but his brain still on high alert.

Joel sighs. “Right. I know. I overdid it. I’m sorry.”

“You were going to kill me.”

“I was never going to kill you. I would never. Why would I do that?”

Why would he? Leo doesn’t know. He used to think he understands why his father would do things, but now he doesn’t. “How could you lie to me?” he asks.

“Leo, you know I don’t like you being involved in the things that I do. Especially since you still stubbornly believe that there’s room for you in the superhero world.”

“But I am involved now. You hurt my family when I asked you not to!”

“I didn’t really hurt them! Everyone is still alive when we left.”

“You hurt Chase.”

“Well, the kid was kind of stupid.”

“He was still my brother!”

“Hey.” Joel points a finger at him. “Watch it. I don’t like your tone.”

The warning registers, but it does very little to allay his anger. “How could you do this? How could you hurt a lot of people like that?”

“Come on. It’s not like you don’t know that it’s just part of the job. They got in my way, I move them out.”

“But—”

“Leo, stop. Okay? Stop nagging me about this. It isn’t right,” Joel says patiently. “You know what I am. You know what I do. I understand why you’re mad, but everything I did was for a reason.”

Leo watches him indignantly as he gets up and heads towards a wardrobe. He simmers as he observes him dig through its contents.

It doesn’t make things any better when he comes back with a fresh set of clothes, smiling as if nothing happened.

His father observes him a moment before chuckling. “That must be some dream you had,” he comments. “I’ve never seen you this angry before.”

Leo says nothing and only looks away. He can’t stand his father at the moment.

“Since it seems like you won’t ask, this is the place I’ve been wanting to take you to,” Joel says. “It’s the house where I grew up. Nana’s and Pop’s house.”

Leo stubbornly keeps his mouth shut. Still, he’s moved to examine it closely. “I didn’t know it was still standing,” he mutters begrudgingly.

“Yeah,” Joel says, looking around the room fondly. “RT and I used to share this room, but when I turned 9, Nana moved Uncle RT to her sewing room downstairs.”

It’s fascinating that the childhood room of one of the most powerful supervillains in existence looks…normal. The room itself is small. Leo thinks it’s about the size of one of the sitting rooms in the Mission Creek mansion.

Pressed against the wall to his left is a study desk, a dust-covered stack of books, a decades old lamp, and a Duck Tales pencil holder sitting atop it. Right next to the study desk is the wardrobe. By the door is a shoe rack.

Everything looks so neat and normal that it’s almost disorienting. Sure, it’s obvious that not much had been touched for a long while, but he doubts that anyone would guess the kind of man the kid who used to sleep here would grow up to be.

“So, was I right? Were you having a bad dream?” his father asks. “You’re sweating like crazy.”

“Are we in Kansas?”

Though still a bit taken aback by his resistance, Joel answers. “Yeah.”

“Why did you take me with you? You didn’t need me.”

Joel shrugs. “Many reasons. Distraction, for one. Emotions run higher when there’s a hostage involve, especially when it’s a kid,” he says. “I know for sure it frazzles Tecton. That’s one of his weaknesses: his emotion tends to get the best of him in situations like this. He becomes more impulsive, more prone to make mistakes.”

“So you’re using me as a pawn.”

“I brought you here because I didn’t want to leave you behind with your new family.” He sighs. “Your stepdad is slipping. I want them to know how easily they could lose you. You’re valuable to me, Leo. I want them to feel the same fear I feel every day.”

Leo says nothing. He doesn’t know whether he should be grateful or frustrated that his father is once again stepping into his new life.

“You’re not going to tell me about your dream?” Joel prompts, smiling.

Leo stares at him, unsure. “I know you hate my new family, especially my stepdad, but you can’t keep doing this,” he says wearily. “What are we going to do if they find out that I’m your son? They’d think I’ve been in on it all along. It’s going to make a lot of things complicated.”

“Are you ashamed of me?”

“No, Dad, I never was! But after today, maybe I am.” Leo sighs. He hunches forward, gathering his thoughts. “This is putting me in a bad spot, too. I don’t want you to get hurt. I know you have your reasons why you do the things you do, and as we agreed on our deal I’m not going to interfere with anything unless it’s super bad.”

“But…?”

“But if I keep helping you, the superhero community might start viewing me as an enemy.”

“I only see that as an advantage.”

Leo only glares.

“Why do you insist on being one of them?” Joel asks. “You’re wasting so much of your time trying to earn their respect. You’re working three times as hard as your siblings, and they treat you like you don’t matter.”

“They don’t do that.”

“Yes. They do. You just don’t what to admit it.” Reading distress on his face, he says, “You’re a lot smarter than them. Take away your stepbrother’s bionic chip, and what is he? Just an average kid with an average level of intelligence.”

“But that doesn’t change the fact that—”

“That what? He creates things that work, that make money, and you don’t?” His father’s eyes have darkened, and Leo realizes that the smile was just a mask for the poisonous anger bubbling underneath. “Before you and your mother met them, you were heading towards great things. But look at what they did to you. They took everything from you. They took advantage of your loyalty, your sacrifice – and once they didn’t need you, they discarded you.”

“Please stop,” Leo mutters, the words hollowing out his heart.

Joel’s eyes soften when he realizes how it’s all hurting him. “I know the way I do things aren’t how you’d do them. But the world doesn’t look to me the way it does to you. It’s not a bright and warm place for people like us, my son. It just takes advantage of us and leaves us in the dark.”

When his son still won’t meet his eyes, he attempts a genuine smile. “I’m doing all of this for you. I don’t want you to experience the same things I’ve experienced. I know it may seem that I just want destruction, but really, what I want is a world where no one would take away anything from you.”

Leo knows what his father means; he knows the story. His dad and his uncle were only children, 10 and 7, respectively, when their parents were killed. They were able to get away from the murderers and hide in an abandoned house not far from here.

His grandfather had been close friends with a superhero at the time. They waited and waited for him, wishing that the man would show up and rescue their parents.

But the minutes only turned to hours, and hours turned to days. Even in the funeral, no superhero showed their face.

It was the day The Incapacitator was born. Injustices with no one to help only piled up, and the anger only increased until finally, everything he once was had turned into the man who sits in that room today.

Leo understands. Or, at least, he can sympathize. But why does it have to go this far? “You do know that if you drain the whole Earth of its energy, it’s possible that it would just implode in on itself,” he points out.

Joel laughs. “I just say that to spook the superheroes. You know them. They don’t do anything unless it involves drama.”

“You kidnapped me to prove a point. It’s not like you don’t.”

“I don’t. I prefer to be practical.”

“Practical? What if you get hurt?”

Joel shrugs. “Big game, big risks.”

“What if you die?” Leo asks, exasperated. “What if this is the one to end it all? You told me that your line of work is the one where people make you retire. Why would you put them in that position when you don’t have to?”

The expression on his father’s face changes. “I’m not going to explain anything to you.”

“I don’t need you to explain it to me. I don’t want to get involved in it.”

“Yes, you’ve made that very clear.”

Leo huffs. Why can’t he understand? “Dad, please. Don’t do this.”

“This is not your fight,” his father says decisively. “You’ve never wanted to be on the same side as me. I’m letting you. But don’t interfere with my plans.”

“It’s going to hurt a lot of people.”

“People die. That’s just what they do.”

“People? People like who, Nana and Pops?” Leo regrets the words as soon as they come out of his mouth. Horrifying still is the look of shock and hurt on his father’s face, turning the silence that ensues into something stinging.

He can kick himself. He should kick himself. He should have never gone that far. “I’m sorry, Dad. That was a terrible thing to say,” he apologizes. “It was hard on you when you lost them. I’m not as young as you were, but I don’t want you to die either. No matter how many offenses the law has listed under your name and how much they’re offering people for your capture, you’re still my dad. My world will also fall apart if something happens to you.”

For a moment, Joel only glowers at him. Then, he scoffs. “I can’t believe you know that they have a bounty on my head.”

“Well, I have to find a way to pay for college,” Leo jokes cautiously.

Joel chuckles. He’s still notably upset, but it’s obvious the tactic has worked. “So was that what you were dreaming about? That I died?”

Leo nods. “I was in Mighty Med. They told me you were dead.”

A smile teases at Joel’s face. “That upset you?”

“Of course. Who would ever want to wake up in a world where their parents are gone?” Remembering more of the dream, his frown deepens. “Krane and S-1 were also there. They told me it’s my fault that you died.”

“Krane. I took care of him a long time ago.”

“I know. It was the first time I asked you for help.” Leo hesitates before pointing out, “You know, you didn’t have to go that far. You could have just overloaded them and shorted them out. You didn’t have to…”

“Eliminate them? Of course I did. He was going to hurt you. He also didn’t seem to be the kind of guy who stops after you fire a warning shot.”

“You do know that what you did technically counts as being a hero, right?”

“Hm.”

Leo smiles for the first time. “You know, if Uncle RT finds out you—”

“Don’t.” Joel directs a steely stare at him. “Don’t mention any of the three of them anymore. I don’t want to talk about the dead right now.”

The smile on his face wanes. “Okay.”

Joel nods at the set of clothes sitting on the feet of the bed. “Change into that. You’re gonna be here a while so you might as well be comfortable.”

“Wait. You’re gonna be staying in?”

“Like I said, I’m practical. The longer you’re gone, the more desperate they’ll be. It’s easier to work with desperate people.”

“Aren’t you worried that they’ll find us here?”

“How? I fried your phone while you were sleeping, you don’t have bionics that—”

“You fried what!”

“—can trace, we’re in the middle of nowhere—” Joel smiles as he walks out the room. “They’ve got nothing.”

Leo feels like his brain has shorted out from that one information. “How could you destroy my phone? I worked hard to get that paid off!”

“I can always get you a new one,” Joel calls from down the hall.

Leo groans. That one was mine, though! “Why are you doing this to me?”

His father makes no reply.

Leo sighs, defeated. “You know, I feel like if I had superpowers, we’d be having a different conversation right now.”

His father slowly drifts to the door. “Why? Do you feel like you might?”

“I said if,” Leo says, irritated. “Let’s face it, Dad: I’m 17. Yours started showing up at 5. It’s time that we both accept that I’m a loser in that genetic department.”

“You know you’re not a loser,” says Joel. He shrugs. “You never know. Maybe you’re just a late bloomer. Maybe it’s just taking you longer.”

“Or maybe it’s really just not in me.”

“Could be trigger-based, too,” Joel muses. “Stress…”

“Had four years of that in high school.”

“Life or death situation?”

“Almost died five times, on my last count.”

Joel frowns thoughtfully. “Toxic waste?”

Leo deadpanned. “There ain’t no way I’m going to let you drop me in a pool of one just to see.”

Joel watches him closely. “Do you want superpowers?”

“I don’t think it’d make a difference at this point. I mean, it’d be cool,” Leo admits, “but if I just don’t have it, I just don’t have it.”

Joel nods thoughtfully. “Well, let me know. We could make a bid for the Arcturion if it’s something you want.” He smirks. “I have a better chance at it than she does.”

“Wait,” Leo calls after his father. He swings his feet off the bed, and it’s then that he realizes he’s chained. “Dad, what is this? Why’d you bolt me to the floor?”

“In case they do find us here!”

Leo fiddles with the lock a moment but decides to abandon it for now. “What’s the Arcturion? What’s that?”

“Do you want to help me with this one device I’d been working on? I could never get the mechanics quite right. Maybe you’d have an idea on how to fix it.”

“Yeah, sure – but what’s the Arcturion?”

Joel only chuckles. The real reason why I wanted this transponder, he thinks but as with all unspoken words Leo doesn’t hear it.

Not that he should. He has decided his son can’t know about it yet.

After all, it’s the true key for The Incapacitator to be the most powerful of them all.

[bunnyhanasong]

Broken

Chapter 2 of “Foolish Girl”

Main ship: widowtracer (though Amé isn’t in this one)

Side ships: pharmercy, implied mekamechanic, mentions of Dvamon, platonic mekatracer/HanaxLena

Genre: angst, hurt/comfort, some family fluff uwu

Notes: some swearing, medical talk, Angela is a helicopter mum, Lena is still a dumb lesbian, Hana and Lena are soft sisters, Angie and Fareeha are Best Mums

Cross posted to my Ao3 lesbianlenaoxton

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

“LENA OXTON, WHAT THE FUCK.”

“Hana,” A soft voice murmured from across the room, “Volume down please, people are trying to heal.”

“Yeah yeah, sorry, eomma,” Hana waved a hand at Mercy, letting the door close behind her. She crossed the room to the hospital bed, glaring at the tiny woman slumped against the pillows.

“Lena, what the fuck,” Hana repeated at a much lower volume, “What were you thinking?”

“Hana, please don’t pester her,” Fareeha spoke from her seat on the couch, “Angela already reprimanded her enough.”

The blonde tucked protectively under Fareeha’s arm smacked her shoulder lightly in reproach, “She deserved it.”

“She got shot, Habibti,” her girlfriend reminded her gently, “She’s been punished enough for now.”

Lena grumbled something from under her scratchy hospital issued blanket, making everyone turn to her. Her skin was still a sickly pallor, though she did look a bit more alert despite the amount of morphine she was on. Her unruly hair was still that, fluffed up against her pillow.

“I didn’t intend on getting shot, Love,” Tracer rasped lowly, dark eyes apologetic as she looked at her best friend.

“But you did,” Hana concluded, “All because of Widowmaker.”

“No...” Lena frowned, “She saved me. Reyes would have killed me if she’d not been there.”

Hana looked back at Mercy for help but Angela just shook her head, “She has a point... We all heard her over the comm.”

“She... she’s not as bad as you want to believe,” Lena murmured in a way that sounded almost meek, “It seemed like she broke through her programming... at one point she sounded just like Amé.”

Angela hummed and shifted against Fareeha to look at Lena, “She did sound a bit more emotional than in the past. Not to mention her not killing you and also contacting us. That was very odd.”

“She’s still in there, Angie,” Lena’s voice cracked a little as she willed Angela to understand, “She’s not dead.”

Hana saw tears welling in Lena’s eyes and frowned, reaching over to take her hand. Lena gave her a weak smile and slumped back against her pillows when Angela didn’t respond. Hana sat down on the edge of the bed, brushing her friend’s hair out of her eyes before speaking.

“So, aside from the obvious, how are you feeling, Lee?”

Lena shrugged, leaning a bit into Hana’s touch, “Like I got shot.”

Hana rolled her eyes, “No duh, pabo,” stupid, Lena knew what that one meant.

“I don’t know,” Lena lifted her hand to show the IV taped in place, “Good drugs. Can’t move though, then it hurts.”

“What’s the actual diagnosis, Doc?” Hana asked Angela, who’d gotten up from her place in Fareeha’s arms and was over at the counter looking at files.

“Bullet wound to the upper thigh, just missed the femoral artery. No exit wound but unless the bullet begins to cause issues there is no logical reason to remove it.” She looked at Lena pointedly, “You’re lucky, Reaper usually isn’t that kind. In any other instance he would have aimed for your head.”

“Amé... I mean Widowmaker was too close,” Lena replied, “He knew she would have fought him.”

“Acting out to protect the enemy like that is not logical on her part,” Fareeha began, “Especially if she’s breaking through her programming; God knows what Talon might do to her.”

“Angie... is there any way to get her out?”

Mercy’s blue eyes were stern as she spoke again, “Lena, we cannot risk our lives to save her. She’s still a brainwashed assassin, and a very good one at that. We do not need another Gérard situation.”

“But-”

Angela held up a hand, “Süsse, please do not push it. Unless she comes to us willingly and asks for me to reverse their brainwashing, I will not interfere.”

Lena gave Angela a sour face at the pet name, not in the mood to be babied. She sighed and nodded in digression, knowing better than to push the older woman any further.

“Eomma?”

Angela couldn’t help but smile when Hana called her mom, “Yes, Hana?”

“When can Lena come back to the safe house?” They had a safe house in every major city, since Overwatch activity was technically illegal; it was better to stay hidden. Their Paris safe house wasn’t very big, but in an instance like this it wasn’t possible for them to leave for a still operating watchpoint just yet.

“If she doesn’t develop a fever or infection she can go home in the next couple days. No walking though. Wheelchair for the time being and then crutches when you get your strength back, Lena.”

Lena groaned, “You’ve got to be kidding,” she pouted at Mercy, “How long?”

“You will probably be walking in 4-6 weeks. We will need to do physiotherapy to avoid muscle damage and I want to keep a close eye on your progress. No missions or running for a while, I’m afraid.”

“Angie! That’s so long.”

The doctor shrugged, “Maybe you’ll think next time before you go running into danger without backup.”

“Angela,” Fareeha said gently, “Be nice.”

“She deserves to know how utterly stupid that was.”

“And I’m sure she does, darling,” Fareeha has stood and cross the room to her girlfriend, “But you’re not helping.”

Angela just glared up at the taller woman for a moment before sighing. She walked over to Lena, checking her vitals on the monitor and adjusting the morphine drip. When she was finished she glanced down at the younger girl, who was staring at her with apologetic puppy eyes.

“I’m sorry, Lena,” Angela leaned down to drop a kiss to her head, “I will try to speed up your healing as best I can. We can talk about this later, but I’m not angry. You just scared me, I don’t want to lose you.”

Lena smiled in spite of herself at the affection and her honesty, “I’m sorry too, mum. I’ll try to be careful in the future.”

“Please do, for the sake of my poor old heart.”

Hana rolled her eyes, “You’re not old, Angie.”

“Feels like it,” Angela stood up straight and flinched when her back implant pinched at her skin. She went back over to Fareeha, who immediately placed a gentle hand on her back as she sensed her discomfort.

“Why don’t you go rest, Angela? I can take you home and then come back and watch the pup, she will be fine.”

“What is it with all of you and calling me a puppy?” Lena grumbled, a pout on her face as she listened to her teammates.

“I should stay...”

“Habibti, you need sleep. Please, I’ll stay with Lena until she sleeps and then I will come back home, yes? I’ll bring Hana home with me.”

Angela sighed and rubbed her tired eyes, “Alright.”

Fareeha smiled and pressed a kiss to her temple, letting Angela collect her papers and bag before leading her out into the hallway. The younger girls watched them go, Hana sighing when the door shut completely.

“Angie’s been a mess since you got shot,” she explained seriously, “You were out for two days, I’m sure you’re aware.”

Lena nodded, frowning, “Has she slept at all?”

“Not really,” Hana replied, “Fareeha’s coaxed her to take naps on the couch but this is the first time she’ll be going home since. She’s been living at the hospital with you.”

Lena sighed, feeling bad for the stress she’d clearly caused Angela. She rubbed her hand over her face, feeling her own eyes droop with sleep as the morphine hit her again; Mercy must have increased her dosage.

“Sleepy?” Hana’s voice was slightly teasing as she patted Lena’s arm gently.

“Mhm,” Lena nodded, “Meds are strong.”

“Lucky you,” the younger girl laughed and glanced back at the door, “Want me to leave so you can sleep?”

“Nuh-uh,” the small woman stifled a yawn, “Hana?”

“What’s up, Lee?”

“Cuddle?”

Hana scrunched up her face in mock disgust, “Ew, affection? Gross.” When Lena flashed her signature puppy eyes though, Hana dropped the act, “You’re lucky you’re cute, dummy.”

Hana got off the bed and helped Lena move over carefully, trying not to jostle her leg. She pulled back the blankets and climbed up beside her friend, laying down and covering them both up. Once Hana was situated, Lena smiled at her and snuggled as close as she could; though it was difficult since she was stuck laying on her back.

“Better?”

Lena hummed in agreement, “You’re warm.” She leaned her head against Hana’s shoulder, “Who’s all at the safe house?”

“Angie, Fareeha, Jack, and Mei,” Hana replied, “Then me and Brig. And you, in a few days.”

“Ah, how is Brigitte?” Lena’s voice held a teasing edge to it. There was no secret that Hana and the Swedish mechanic-turned-healer were involved, but the extent of their relationship wasn’t as clear.

Hana turned a shade of pink that would put her original meka to shame, “S-she’s fine. We’re good... great actually.”

Lena giggled at her reaction, “You two official yet?”

Knowing she wouldn’t escape this conversation, Hana sighed, “Not yet. I mean, I don’t think so.”

“You don’t think so?”

The Korean girl shrugged, “We’ve been taking things slow. She knows I’m... apprehensive about relationships, and she respects that.”

“Aw, that’s sweet,” Lena poked at Hana’s reddened cheek, “Brig is a good person.”

The smile that fell on Hana’s lips was genuine and full of adoration, “She’s lovely and I really do love spending time with her... It’s just hard, Y’know? After Yuna...”

Tracer knew all about Dva’s past relationship with her meka teammate Yuna, code name Dmon. It ended when Hana decided to join Overwatch, which took her away from Korea and her friends in the army. Yuna had been supportive but very firm in her view that Hana was leaving a whole life behind and she might not be around when the other girl returned home. It was really hard on Hana and Lena knew that, especially since finding out that Yuna and Kyungsoo had ended up getting engaged recently.

“I know, love. And I’m sure Brigitte is going to be understanding and patient for you. Just don’t keep the girl waiting too long, yeah? She’s quite the catch.”

“Hands off, Oxton,” Hana joked at Lena’s implication.

Lena raised her hands in mock defence, “She’s all yours, Song.”

Hana laughed and knocked her head lightly against Lena’s, “I miss hanging out with you.”

“I miss you too, love,” the older girl replied sincerely, “Should come visit me back in London when you get the chance. Figure I’ll be on leave for a while once Angie lets me out of her sight.”

“Maybe I will,” Hana agreed happily, “London is nice.”

The room fell into a comfortable silence for a while, save for the beeping of Lena’s heart monitor and the hum the morphine pump. Hana wrapped an arm around Lena as she turned on her side, getting comfy once again. The two had grown a lot closer since Dva joined overwatch, it was a given since Lena was the closest to Hana’s age next to Brigitte. Despite the seven year age different between them, they’d quickly become close friends. Lena has began seeing Hana as a little sister and she would do anything to protect her.

“Lee?”

Lena hummed sleepily, “Yeah?”

Hana’s voice seemed apprehensive, “Can I ask you something?”

Lena raised an eyebrow and turned her head to look at the younger girl, “What’s on your mind, love?”

“Could you tell me about Amélie?” Hana winced at the way Lena’s eyes portrayed her pain, “If it’s not to hard on you.”

Lena put on a brave face, though talking about her best friend who might as well be dead was still painful, “What do you want to know, Hana?”

“What was she like? I never met her but you seemed to be rather fond of her. I’ve heard she was lovely to be around.”

“She was lovely,” Lena began in a soft tone, “So lovely. She seemed a bit snobbish in the beginning but I think that just comes with her being a countess, you know? Once we actually spent time together I realized how sweet she actually was. She was so joyful and her laugh, God, Hana, her laugh was so adorable you just couldn’t help but smile when you heard it.”

Hana smiled sadly at the way Lena’s eyes were melancholic, knowing the memories were all very bittersweet to her now. She patted Lena’s hand lightly, “I’m sure it was pretty. She was very beautiful in the photos I’ve seen.”

Widowmaker may have Amélie’s body but she did not resemble the woman much at all. Amélie hadn’t been as thin, having a nice dancer’s build with a little more meat on her bones. Widowmaker’s blue skin was pulled taunt over bone, clearly due to the fact that she no longer needed to eat. Amélie had the kindest soft grey eyes Lena had even seen as well, which made Widowmaker’s contrasting golden eyes all the more unsettling. Widowmaker’s mannerisms were a little more similar, but her demeanour contrasted so much with Amélie’s that she barely seemed like the same person anymore.

“She was gorgeous,” Lena agreed with a sure nod, “A dancer too. So strong and sure of herself, seeing her dance was absolutely breathtaking.”

“Lena?”

The older girl made a sound in reply, lost I thought now as she remembered her past with Amélie and Gérard.

Taking that as a response, Hana continued cautiously, “Did you...love her?”

“Uh,” Lena was a bit taken aback, “I... well I never admitted it; never really liked to think about it. She was my mentor’s wife, Hana, I couldn’t have feelings for her.”

“But you did,” Hana concluded, knowing the answer already.

“Yeah.”

Hana took her hand and laced their fingers together, giving Lena’s hand a reassuring squeeze, “I’m sorry, Lena.”

“It’s okay,” Lena said even though it really wasn’t and never had been okay, “I miss her but... Angela’s right. Unless Widowmaker comes to us for help, we can’t change what happened. We don’t even know if Mercy could reverse the brainwashing, Talon’s had her for so long now. The other day could have ended a lot differently, I’m just as surprised that she didn’t decide to kill me.”

“It’s okay to hurt over it still, Lena. Your feelings are valid and it’s okay to mourn the loss of your friend. Maybe you should have thought before you acted yes, but Widowmaker didn’t kill you and that’s all that matters right now.” Hana looked at her pointedly, “But please no more running head first into danger like that. I can’t lose you.”

“You won’t lose me, love,” Lena promised, “I’ll be here to be your annoying big sister forever.”

“I’ll hold you to that, Oxton.”

Lena laughed and Hana did too, though her’s was partially interrupted with a yawn.

“Sleepy?” Lena echoed her friend’s earlier question, earning a nod from the younger.

“Yeah,” Hana replied as she threw her arm back across Lena’s waist, “Nap time.”

With a chuckle, Lena wrapped her arms around her best friend, watching as she snuggled closer and closed her eyes. It was times like this where Hana’s true age showed, where she was just a nineteen year old girl and not a soldier or a superstar gamer. She was just Hana Song, a sweet girl who worked too hard and worried too often. This was the Hana that Lena felt drawn to protect, her baby sister who she knew wasn’t always as strong as she forced herself to be.

Hana had fallen asleep quickly, leaving Lena awake and left to her own devices. She was basically immobilized due to her leg and half of Hana’s weight resting on her, so she occupied herself by glancing around the room. It was a normal hospital room, small and all white with the usual equipment. There was a tiny couch and a counter with a sink across the room, and a door that led to the small bathroom across the way. The main door was creaked open, making Lena jump until she realized it was just Fareeha.

“Hey there, little pup,” the Egyptian woman spoke softly when she saw Hana was asleep, “How are you feeling?”

Lena smiled at her, “Sleepy, but not bad, love. How’s Angie?”

“Overworked, but she’ll be fine,” Fareeha replied with a sure nod, “She’s stubborn but she means well.”

Lena was about to answer when a yawn interrupted her, making Fareeha laugh in that charming booming way that made everyone smile.

“Why don’t you rest, little one?”

“Nervous,” Lena admitted quietly, “Don’t like unfamiliar rooms, especially hospitals, reminds me too much of after the accident.”

Fareeha crossed the room and dragged the single chair closer to the bed, “Oh, you poor thing. Hopefully you’ll get home soon, that will make things easier I figure.”

Lena nodded and smiled when Fareeha’s warm hand brushed over her forehead. The older woman was so gentle, contrasting her stern appearance and large, muscular body. She was undeniably handsome, in a way that everyone was so drawn to her. Not to mention her way of speaking was so eloquent and reassuring that her presence soothed Lena almost immediately.

“Would you like me to sing something,” Fareeha questioned nonchalantly, “It used to help keep you calm, no?”

After the slipstream incident, Lena had been contained in a see through glass bubble as Winston and Mercy worked to keep her anchored to this world. As she was drifting in and out of the time frame, the young woman would often have panic attacks. Fareeha was usually there to bear witness to the attacks, since she was almost always around Angela. She had been the one to keep Lena calm, surprisingly, by singing her lullabies in Arabic.

“Sure,” Lena replied with a smile at the other woman, “That’d be nice.”

So Lena snuggled back down into her blankets, Hana’s body heat keeping her warm and feeling safe. Fareeha kept a hand on her hair, running her fingers through it gently as she began to sing a lullaby that had become rather familiar to Lena. It was called Nami Nami, “Sleep sleep” or something along those lines, and it was one of Lena’s favourites. Fareeha’s singing voice was low and pleasant, immediately surrounding Lena in a sense of calm and comfort.

Soon enough Lena began to drift off, letting her eyes flutter closed as Fareeha’s voice lulled her into sleep. She was almost completely asleep when she felt the faintest brush of lips on her forehead.

“Rest well, little one. Heal nice and strong, we need you on our team again.”

[thelittlesttimelord]

The Littlest Timelord: The Death of the Doctor Chapter 10

TITLE: The Littlest Timelord: The Death of the Doctor Chapter 10 PAIRING: No Pairing RATING: T CHAPTER: 10/? SUMMARY: The Doctor’s death is looming on the horizon and Elise is growing every day. What the Doctor doesn’t know is that he has 200 years to teach Elise all he knows. Amy, Rory, and River let Elise in on their secret, because River knows she will keep it. What will Elise do when he’s gone?

[A/N - We’ve made it to the double digits! I am so excited for the next chapter! I’ve got an emotional scene planned that will forever change the relationship between Elise and the Doctor.]

Elise watched as Amy paced back and forth.

“What's wrong?” Rory asked her.

“The most beautiful thing you've ever seen?”

“Oh, tell me I didn't really say that.”

Amy laughed at his embarrassment.

The first mate and the other pirate started to break down the barricade in front of the door.

“What's going on?” Amy asked them.

“We're not staying here to mollycoddle the boy. The Captain's gone soft. It's time for us to leave,” the first mate told her.

Elise and Toby stood up.

“He told you to wait, you dog. He's your Captain, a Naval Officer. You're honor-bound to do as he tells you,” Toby said.

“Honor-bound? Do you know what kind of ship this is? Do you know what your father does?” the first mate asked him.

Amy wrapped an arm around his shoulders and stroked the back of his head. “Don't listen to him, Toby.”

“We sail under the black flag. The Jolly Roger.”

“Liar! He's no wicked pirate!” Toby yelled.

“Oh, you think so? I have seen your father gun down a thousand innocent men.”

“Get what treasure you can. I'll meet you in the row boat,” the first mate told his fellow pirate.

Toby rummaged around and found a sword. “You're going to remain at your post,” he told them.

“I am not playing games with you, boy. You put that down.”

“One more step and I'll use this, you blaggard.”

Elise admired Toby’s bravery.

“You don't know how to fight with a cutlass, boy.”

“Don't need to, do I.” He swiped down and cut the first mate on the hand.

“No. You little swabber!”

“Congratulations. You made it to the menu. Probably shouldn't go out there now,” Amy told him.

“You scurvy ape!” The first mate pulled out his gun.

“Don't shoot. The powder will blow and kill us all,” Rory said.

The other pirate took the keys from the first mate’s belt. “Mulligan, what are you doing?” he said.

Mulligan left.

“No honor among pirates,” Amy said.

The first mate put down his gun and started to rebuild the barricade.

Elise wished she had her sketchbook or something with her. She was bored and wondering what was taking her father and Avery so long.

Toby, who sat next to her, pulled off the medallion around his neck and started to polish it with a piece of cloth.

Suddenly, there was banging on the door.

“Amy! Open the door!” the Doctor yelled.

“Toby, open the door! Toby!” Avery yelled.

Rory and Amy ran to the door to deconstruct the barricade.

The door opened the Doctor grabbed the medallion. He started to breathe on it, quickly clouding the surface. The Doctor ran out of the room with Avery following, leaving Amy, Rory, Elise, and Toby standing there confused.

They soon came back in.

“Now what?” Amy asked.

“Now we wait,” the Doctor told them.

“Just wait?” Rory asked.

“Not my most dynamic plan, I realize.”

“TARDIS?” Amy asked.

“It's been towed.”

“What?”

“Sorry. We might be stuck here for a while.”

“So you're saying that we should all just wait here below?” Rory asked.

“The sea is still calm, like a mirror. If you go out on deck she'll rise up and attack you,” Avery said.

“It's okay. The calm won't last forever,” the Doctor told them, “When the wind picks up we'll all set sail.”

“Until it does, you have to hide down here.”

 *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Avery joined the Doctor and Elise up on deck.

The Doctor was teaching Elise about the stars.

Avery looked up at the night sky.

“It's not one star, it's two. The Dog Star, Sirius. Binary system,” the Doctor said.

“I use it to navigate the ocean,” Avery told him.

“I've traveled far, like you. Space can be very lonely, and the greatest adventure is having someone share it with you.” The Doctor looked down at Elise, who smiled at him. “

If we get out of this I'll take him back to England. He can't stay with me. I'm not the father he needs.”

“Who are you, Henry Avery? Respected naval officer, wife and child at home. How did you end up here, wandering the oceans with a band of rogues?”

“I've set my course now. Nothing I can do to alter it.”

“People stared at it for centuries and never knew. Things can suddenly change, when you're least expecting.” The Doctor patted Avery on the chest before he and Elise went down to the captain’s quarters. The Doctor stopped and looked at the windows he had smashed.

Elise looked at him and then looked at the windows. She got a prickling feeling at the top of her spine.

“Doctor? Elise?” Amy asked, coming up behind them.

“Shush.”

“What can you see?”

“Feels like something's out there, staring straight at me.”

There was a crash of thunder and then lightning.

“Man the sails!” the Doctor yelled, running up on deck.

Elise and Amy ran after him.

Soon, they were being pelted by rain.

“To the rigging, you dogs! Let go the sails. Avast ye! Put the bunt into the slack of the clews!” Avery yelled.

Amy and Rory ran to a set of ropes and started pulling on them.

“I swear he's making half this stuff up!” Amy yelled.

“Well, we're going to need some kind of phrase book!” Rory yelled back.

The Doctor stood at the wheel, directing the ship.

Elise clung to his legs.

“Toby! Find my coat. My compass is inside it, boy. Heave ho, you bilge rats!” Avery yelled.

“Rats was all I could hear!” Rory yelled back.

Toby came towards his father with the coat when a golden crown fell out and rolled across the deck.

The Siren shot out of the crown and flew up into rigging, before coming down to the deck.

“Don't let her take you!” Avery yelled.

Toby walked towards the Siren with his hand out.

“No!” Avery yelled.

Elise let go of the Doctor and ran towards Toby.

“Elise!”

She grabbed onto Toby as he touched the siren. Elise opened her eyes and found she was in a med bay, much like the one on the TARDIS. She’d only been once. She’d been sharpening her charcoals and sliced her hand open.

The Siren was hooking Toby up to machines as she ignored Elise. The Siren disappeared and a second later, appeared with Rory.

“Rory!” Elise yelled, running towards them.

The Siren turned red when she got near him.

“I’m sorry,” Elise told her. Elise stepped back and the Siren calmed down.

The Siren floated off to somewhere else.

A few minutes later, the doors to the med bay opened.

“Daddy!” Elise yelled, running towards him.

“Elise!” The Doctor caught her in his arms. “You’re okay.” He placed several kissed on her hair before he put her down.

“McGrath! He's one of my men,” Avery said.

“He's still breathing,” Amy observed.

“My entire crew is here. Toby!”

Amy spotted Rory. “Rory!”

“Toby!” Avery said, running over to his son.

“The TARDIS!” the Doctor yelled. He ran towards the plastic sheeting and threw it aside. He’d never been happier to see the big little blue box.

“We have to get him out of here,” Avery said.

“Wait,” the Doctor told him. He scanned Toby with his screwdriver. “His fever's gone.” He walked over to Rory and scanned him.

“He looks so well,” Amy said.

“She's keeping him alive. His brain is still active, but all its cellular activity is suspended. It's not a curse, it's a tissue sample,” the Doctor told her, “Why get samples of people you are about to kill?”

“Help me get him up.”

The Doctor started to unhook Rory from the machines.

They started beeping rapidly.

“She's coming,” the Doctor said.

Rory was starting to wiggle around on the metal bed.

The Doctor, Amy, Avery, and Elise hid behind some monitors as the Siren floated in. As she sang her song, Rory went back to sleep.

“Anesthetic”, the Doctor realized.

“What?” Amy asked.

“The music. The song. So she anesthetizes people and puts their body in stasis.”

The Siren floated over to Toby.

Avery stepped out with his gun raised.

“Avery, no!” the Doctor yelled.

Avery fired his gun and the Siren turned red like when Elise had tried to come near Rory.

The Siren advanced on Avery until the Doctor sneezed. The Siren produced a beam of fire between her hands as she came towards the Doctor.

Amy held Elise back from running over to him.

“Fire. That's new. What does fire do? Burn? Yes. Destroy? What else? Sterilize! I sneezed. I've brought germs in.” The Doctor pulled out a handkerchief. He sneezed into it before throwing it on the floor.

The Siren blasted it with fire.

Amy used this distraction and ran to Rory. The Siren started going towards Amy now.

“Amy, stop. Don't interfere. Don't touch him. Anesthetic, tissue sample, screen, sterile working conditions. Ignore all my previous theories!”

“Yeah? Well, we stopped paying attention a while back.”

“She's not a killer at all, she's a doctor!”

Amy stopped messing with the Rory’s tubes and the Siren returned to her normal state.

“This is an automated sick bay,” the Doctor said, “Its teleporting everyone on board. The crew are dead, and so the sick bay has had nothing to do. It's been looking after humanity whilst it's been idle. Look at her. A virtual doctor able to sterilize a whole room.”

“Able to burn your face off,” Amy reminded him.

“She's just an interface, seeped through the join between the planes, broadcast in our world. Protean circuitry means she can change her form, and become a human doctor for humans. Oh, sister, you are good.”

Amy reached for Rory and the Siren turned red again.

“She won't let us take them,” Avery said.

“She's keeping them alive, but she doesn't know how to heal them,” the Doctor explained.

“I'm his wife, for God's sake. Why can't I touch him?” Amy asked.

“Tell her, Amy. Show her your ring.” The Doctor grabbed Amy’s hand. “She may be virtual but she's intelligent. You can't do anything without her consent. Come on. Sophisticated girl like you. That must be somewhere in your core program.”

“Look, he's very ill, okay? I just want to look after him. Why won't you let me near my husband?” A tear fell from Amy’s eye and the Siren cocked her head to side.

The Siren held out her hand and a circle of light appeared around it.

“Consent form. Sign it. Put your hand in the light. Rory's sick. You have to take full responsibility,” the Doctor told her.

Amy did and the Siren disappeared. Amy turned off Rory’s life support and he immediately started gasping for breath.

“He can't breathe. Turn it back on,” the Doctor said.

She did and Rory went back to sleep.

“What do we do? I can't just leave him here.”

“He'll die if you take him out,” Avery said.

“Rory? Rory, wake up,” Amy cooed, stroking his hair.

“Where am I?” Rory asked.

“You're in a hospital. If you leave, you might die,” the Doctor told him.

“But if you don't, you'll have to stay forever,” Amy added.

“You're saying that if I don't get up now…?” Rory asked.

“You can never leave.”

“The Siren will keep you safe,” the Doctor said.

“And if I come with you?” Rory asked.

“Drowning, on the point of death.”

“I'm a nurse.”

“What?” Amy asked.

“I can teach you how to save me.”

“Whoa. Hold on.”

“I was drowning. You just have to resuscitate me.”

“Just?”

“You've seen them do it loads of times in films. CPR. The kiss of life.”

“Rory, this isn't a film, okay? What if I do it wrong?”

“You won't.”

“Okay, what if you don't come back to life? What if…?”

“I trust you.”

Amy looked at the Doctor who was walking over to Avery. “What about him? I mean, why do I have to be the one? Why do I have to save you?”

“Because I know you'll never give up. I know you can do this. Of course, if you muck it up I am going to be really cross. And dead.”

“I'll see you in a minute.”

The Doctor looked at Amy and nodded. He ripped off the restraints and Rory started gasping for breath.

Amy and the Doctor lifted him up and carried him into the TARDIS.

Elise walked over to Toby and Avery. “Goodbye Toby,” she said. She leaned down and placed a kiss on his hair.

“Take care of him,” Avery said.

Elise nodded, knowing he was talking about her father. Elise entered the TARDIS as Rory started coughing up water.

“Amy. Amy, you did it. You did it!” Rory told her. He sat up and they hugged.

The Doctor smiled and walked up the stairs to the platform. “Did you say goodbye?” the Doctor asked Elise.

She nodded.

“Don’t feel like talking?”

Elise shook her head.

The Doctor sighed internally. He missed the days when Elise was loud and outspoken. He hoped she found her voice soon.

[megalony]

Detox

This is a new Roger Taylor series that I will be working on which I hope everyone enjoys.

Taglist: @lunaticspoem @butlegendsneverdie @langdonzvoid @jennyggggrrr @luvborhap @radiob-l-a-hblah @rogertaylorsbitontheside @chlobo6 @rogertaylors-lipgloss @sj-thefan @omgitsearly @luckytrashgooprebel @scarsout @deaky-with-a-c @killer-queen-ofrhye @bluutac

Warning: Mentions of drug use.

Series masterlist

Enjoy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Roger took one glance at the paper that the boys were passing around before throwing it back onto Miami's desk where it had been when they had entered their manager's office. Leaning back, the drummer slouched into the sofa as if his limbs had turned to jelly, his arms folding over his chest as he looked unimpressed as opposed to embarrassed.

He tried to ignore the looks he was getting from John and Brian but it wasn't working. He could see the worry in John's eyes out the corner of his vision and he could feel the confusion radiating off of the guitarist like heat waves. Roger didn't want their sympathy, nor did he want their worry or concern because he didn't need it. Freddie seemed to be the only one masking his emotions with a neutral expression that the drummer was thankful for.

"Why are you showing this? You think I don't know what shit they write about me?" Roger barked, his head lifting so he could look at Miami, his eyes hidden by the raven black sunglasses sitting on his nose. He didn't need their manager to show him the tabloids and front covers of every magazine to know that there were quite a few articles out this week about him. There was always one paper somewhere in London or America that was describing how the band was outlandish, stupid, risky or how one of them had done something wrong. It didn't matter what their music sounded like, it mattered about their image that the world was trying to tarnish.

Roger knew he wasn't perfect, far from it. But he wasn't trying to be perfect and he wasn't putting on a show for the media. He was himself and he had flaws, if they decide to pick on those flaws and show them to the world Roger couldn't stop them, he simply found it petty and stupid to try and do that. People liked his music and went to his shows, they didn't need to know his life to enjoy his music and if they didn't like him then no one forced them to listen to the music he produced.

"There problems with this Roger and we can't ignore them. One is that the media have a picture of you high on drugs, they have confirmation that you took drugs. I don't care what you do in your own time but this was after a concert, if you do this then there are repercussions. People aren't likely to go to a show where the act does heroin backstage." Miami responded, his head cocked to the side as Roger looked down to his lap for a moment.

Roger didn't know how the media found out because they had no paparazzi backstage at any of their concerts. If a show was recorded then it was by a Queen production, they listened when someone said to stop recording them and Roger took the drugs in his dressing room on his own. But someone had snapped a picture of him later on and it was quite clear he was higher than a kite. But he didn't know how they knew what drugs he had taken. The band knew he was on drugs, (Y/n) knew he was on drugs, hell even Miami had known before now that Roger was doing something before now.

The boys and (Y/n) had tried to stop him. They tried to tell him that it wasn't what he needed and the amount he was doing wasn't going to be good for his health but Roger shrugged off their worries. It was his life and he had his reasons, they weren't going to change his mind but it didn't stop them from trying. Miami had ignored the problem until now because although the band respected him, he was never going to stop them from doing what they wanted.

"The other problem with this is that you're doing drugs in public and whilst your working. You do them at the studio, you take them at concerts and now the media have proof of that. I know none of you care about your image but the fact is that other people do. The studio in London won't take you if you do drugs Roger and we can't have you high at a concert. You either get clean or you do drugs in your own time."

The managers of the studios that the band used wouldn't let them back in if they knew Roger was high when he was working and that was understandable. But people would be less likely to go to a concert if Roger was high and more to the point he wouldn't be allowed on stage. He had to either get clean or get his drug use under control or else the band was going to have problems very soon. Now that the media had confirmation of this instead of simple rumours they could be more damaging than they had ever been before. People in any industry didn't last much longer if they were found to be doing drugs or being abusive or having any brushes with the law.

In some instances it didn't matter as much, such as parties. Drugs were a normality in high-end parties that Queen often attended so no cares were given if one or even all of them did drugs at a party. But this wasn't about a party, it was about one of their own shows.

"Alright, it was one fucking concert anyway. I'll curb it down, don't worry." Roger held his hands up in defence. They all knew he had never done that at a concert before but last week he had been desperate. He normally did drugs in his own time and certainly not when he was in public. sure, sometimes he would go out when he was rather stoned but he wouldn't take his drugs where people could see or find out. He had his reasons to take them, he wasn't doing this for fun or to intentionally ruin their image.

"Curb it down?" John repeated with a scoff, leaning forward in his chair so he could see the drummer who was sitting on the sofa next to Freddie. John raised his brows as he felt like screaming. Roger wasn't even going to attempt to get clean, he was just going to 'tone down' his intake. "Rog, are you that addicted you can't even try and clean yourself up?"

"No Deaky, I can't. I've been on three different painkillers and the doctor won't give me any higher meds in case 'I get addicted'. Heroin and the other shit I take is the only thing that works because it's just like pain meds anyway. What do you want, me stoned every day or me calming it down because I can't not take something for the pain." Roger pushed himself up so he was sitting straight instead of slouching. Leaning over Freddie to see the bassist who looked the rather bad kind of surprised.

Roger had been in a car accident six months ago and it had damaged his left arm and his back. He had a nerve very close to his spine that had been damaged and was now making everyday hell for the drummer. The doctor had given Roger different prescriptions but they weren't enough, the amounts weren't even close to taking the pain away and being a drummer was demanding. He had to constantly twist and turn and move to clash the cymbals, the snare drums, the bass drum, every drum was scattered around him and he had to twist side to side to reach them all. His left arm was beginning to feel easier and better so that wasn't the problem.

Someone at one of the parties to celebrate one of the shows going well had offered Roger some drugs and he needed something so badly to take away the pain. It wasn't the drug that was addictive, it was the lack of pain. It was how much Roger felt like himself and how he felt able to walk and twist and even run with no pain because the drugs were dulling everything in his system. Heroin was very similar to certain high-class prescription drugs that were addictive, one of the reasons his doctor wouldn't prescribe him them. The drugs worked for Roger, they took away the pain and let him have his life back.

Last week at the concert he had needed a high to stop his back from screaming. The concert was over two hours long and it took a lot of energy and movement, there was no way Roger could have gone through that with his back and nothing to take the edge off.

"You're stoned now, aren't you?"

Before Roger could even respond to that, Brian had reached over and taken the glasses from his eyes. Roger wasn't shifting uncomfortably in pain, he wasn't in tears from his back and he wasn't sitting in one position like he sometimes would when the pain got worse. His eyes were red and his pupils were blown wide.

"You can't carry on like this, let us help you." Brian wouldn't interfere if Roger was taking drugs now and again. If it was recreational it would be different, Roger would be taking them for fun or for the high because he liked it. If he took them every so often when his back pain got worse Brian might be able to understand because it would be a little easier on Roger. But he was taking something nearly every day because he wanted to be without pain and if he even tried to get clean he would be bombarded with pain that he didn't want to face.

They could get him into rehab, they could take him to the doctor and start him detoxing so he could slowly get himself off the drugs and start taking something else as a replacement. They could try and get the doctor to give him stronger meds when he was off the heroin. The band would do anything and everything in their power to help Roger because he was their family and they couldn't let him suffer. But taking the drugs was only going to make him even more dependant on them than he was now and that was never going to have a happy ending.

One day Roger would end up taking too much because either the pain was getting worse or he was relying on it and one small burst of pain from any injury would make him take more heroin. He could overdose and ruin his system or he could overdose and then go take more heroin and kill himself. Either way, Roger wasn't on a path that would lead somewhere good and they needed to get him back on the right track.

"Can you fix this?"

Pushing himself to his feet, Roger tried to keep the tears out of his eyes as he unbuttoned his shirt before throwing it to the floor. Turning at an angle to each band member could look at his back.

All three of them stayed quiet, eyes blown wide as if they had suddenly become as high as Roger was right now. No one even dared to breathe as they looked at the damage. Roger had a scar littering the middle of his back directly over his spine from his operation after the car crash. But there was clear swelling along the middle and lower part of his spine which was beginning to bruise and he was bleeding under the surface of his skin. Not to mention the internal damage they couldn't see like his nerve damage or the shredded muscle he had which had to have part of it removed.

Leaning around, Miami caught a glance of the problem which caused his expression to fall. His head shaking as he got to his feet, clearly going to leave the room either to give them space or talk to someone.

"Take him to hospital, that needs sorting now." Miami pointed to the damage on Roger's back before he left the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Managing to force his eyes open, Roger tilted his head up, locking his eyes onto (Y/n) who was standing at his side. Thousands of tears had flushed his features and were still continuing to well in his eyes that were red raw from the saltwater distorting his vision.

The boys had called (Y/n) before they had driven Roger down to the hospital to get checked over. That had been this morning and now it was seven in the evening. The swelling on Roger's back was close to pressing on his spine and if that happened his damaged nerves would have added pressure and it could cause temporary or even permanent paralysis. But they couldn't find out what was wrong whilst he was high on drugs, they needed his system to be clear so they knew what symptoms he was having and to start tests and scans of his spine.

The drugs were slowly wearing from his system but it wasn't happening fast enough and it would take a few days to detox Roger in the normal way. He was already starting to go through the withdrawal symptoms. His body was spiking a fever, his head was splitting at the seams and the pain was back to his shaking system. He couldn't lie on his back because it applied pressure to the swelling and made everything more unbearable for him.

An idea had come up that they could put Roger into an induced coma and flush his system so all drugs and medications would be swept out of his body in a matter of twelve hours. That was ideal in order to get Roger clean and start the tests to get him better but it came with risks. Roger could deteriorate in that time, his heart could get damaged or stop and it would be worse when he came back around. He wouldn't be able to take heroin again because detoxing made his body less tolerable to the drug so a small amount could cause an overdose.

But Roger needed to do this.

Part of him wanted to do this, he wanted to get clean now and not have to go through the whole detoxing process and the withdrawal symptoms such as throwing up, fever, feeling drowsy and the unbearable pain. It would be so much easier and he could be clean like everyone wanted. But the other part of him knew that if he did this then he was condemning himself to pain. He would have to beg his doctor for a higher prescription and he would have to deal with the agony his back caused him because he couldn't take heroin again without the risk of overdosing from a small amount.

"I can't... i-it's gonna hurt worse." Roger whimpered the words as he felt himself beginning to shake. His hand tightened around (Y/n)'s as she bit down on her lip to stop herself from bursting into tears. This wasn't his fault, he was in agony and he was still going to be in agony once this was over. There was no winning for Roger.

"Sshh, they'll put you on morphine when you come back around after this. And the doctor will give you a prescription, they won't let you leave if you're not okay or are in too much pain, sweetheart." (Y/n) bent down so she was level with Roger, her free hand brushing through his hair as she brought his knuckles to her lips. Trying her best to calm him down but nothing she could say would make this easier for Roger.

A choked sound resembling a morphed scream left Roger's lips as his knees jolted, pushing up towards his stomach as he contorted his body into a C shape to try and take away the pain that was now shooting up his back. It was the raw pain he was first met with after the crash, the pain that the doctors had ignored and refused to treat with the higher meds that Roger clearly needed. Both his hands wrapped around one of (Y/n)'s to the point he was cutting off her circulation as he brought her hand to his chest, trying to distract himself but it wasn't working.

"M-make it stop." Roger spat the words as if they were a vile taste on his tongue that he wanted rid of.

His words were the confirmation that the doctor standing behind him needed to push the medication into the IV drip going into the vein on his right arm at the crease of his elbow. The medication that took only seconds to work and effectively turn Roger's brain off until morning.

The feeling of his brain turning off was one that Roger had never experienced before but it was not one that he would recommend. It was like remembering and feeling the exact moment you went to sleep at night when normally you remembered your head hitting the pillow and thinking for a while, but you never remembered exactly when you drifted to sleep. Roger knew one thing for certain as he started to feel the pain disappearing. He knew that he wasn't giving up the heroin for nothing. He had gone through six months of suffering and taking drugs to make the pain go away. If Roger couldn't have something to take that pain away if it persisted, he would rather die than go another day with the pain they had refused to take away before.

[crqstalite]

pt. 18, into the lion’s den, pt. 7 (bisauur && nadia)

so i kind of lied because in between these two chapters i made a new consular baby, and her name is bisauur! no, she and nadia aren’t together, because i intend to write bis with zenith (don’t kill me, i really, really like the few fics i can find with zenith/female jc), but i think they’re a cute pair as sisters :)

written: 10.5.19. word count: 4,029.

════ ⋆★⋆ ════

character song: run boy run, woodkid

character file: bisauur & nadia grell, padawans to naji iresso

-

bisauur has met quite a few interesting characters since she joined the crew of the defender class starship, the polaris. something the young miraluka jedi still isn't yet over, as everything is still so new. without eyes, using the force to become familiar with her new surroundings is fascinating work. from seeing how the ship's gears fit together, how the engines whir at night as she slips off into sleep. sometimes she still runs into a wall or two because of all the years she spent in the temple, but the warm, familial energy that courses through those of the crew makes it easy to laugh it off, no matter who passes by.

qyzen is an interesting character. someone who kills for sport is an interesting idea, if not also rather morbid when matched up against the jedi code. the trandoshan doesn't offend her though, and she's accompanied him on a few hunts over the three years she's been on the ship. he's good to keep conversation with, even thought it took her a while to fully grasp the guttural language. he doesn't ever mind when she speaks in basic, but he and naji were proud once she managed to figure it out.

tharan and holiday are also two very interesting characters. tharan's scientist background makes him an exciting person to talk to as she learns about chemicals and the such. he's taken her to see the stars many times over when they land on certain planets, and her favorite so far has been the cool air of alderaan. holiday is a darling, but she has a hard time sensing when she's near her, lacking a force signature holiday tends to be a surprise in the darkness. the woman (or hologram, as bisauur has had to learn) is still kind though, and apologizes when she does startle her.

zenith confuses her more often than not. bisauur typically doesn't agree with his methods of getting things done, but she has learned the apparently very helpful skill of sharpshooting. or at least, can aim without shooting herself in the foot. the polaris' crew seemed surprised when they came back off of balmorra with zenith chuckling as she slipped the rifle off from around her shoulder. she enjoys the twi'lek companionship, and the things he can teach her in the art of war. he and tharan tend to ask quite a few questions about how a miraluka can really see, but she counters with how eyes work and why they work. that shuts zenith down, but tharan is still firing back with answers.

lieutenant felix iresso is still a bit of a mystery to her. naji mentioned something rather odd occurring to the man years before they'd met, but his force signature is kind and warm. he often smiles, and like zenith, is talented with weapons of the long-range kind. as much as naji doesn't want her to know (or possibly she knows bisauur knows), a large portion of his force signature is tied with hers. as forbidden as it, they make an adorable pair together, and fight well side by side. he was the one who taught her basics of piloting, though she's confined to the co-pilot's chair indefinitely.

nadia makes her smile in a special kind of way. the others are years upon years older than both of them (nadia is still only 24, and bis is only just catching up to her now), and it's like having the sister she'd always wished for. though there's a clear cultural seperation between the two, they're happy to spend their days together and learn side by side as the world twists and changes around them. nadia teaches her about the world outside the temple, and in return, bisauur teaches her of the more advanced force abilities she posesses.

in all, bisauur is rather happy with her new station on the polaris, and the others have accepted her wholeheartedly so far. though they've been through so much more with naji than she has (she only joined them while naji was stationed on corellia, fighting the first son. a terrifying expedition for a brand new padawan, she was confined to the polaris), the woman treats her as a daughter nearly. given, only a year or two seperates them, but as kind and as sweet as she is, bis wonders if this is what it's like to have a mother. everyone else on the ship she'd assume has a mother, no matter how fractured their relationship might've been. bisauur has none to remember, or even try to remember because her records seem to have been erased. it's a sad and disturbing thought, but she reassures herself because the council must've had a good reason.

the way the force flows around her without her even trying as she sits across from nadia leaves her bored while they both attempt to meditate in the medbay without dissolving into giggles and gossip as they always do. it's rather hard, even if both young women are trained properly in the force. they're simply too good of friends to be trusted to carry out naji's lessons by themselves, and it seems nadia's edging on forgoing it as well as her concentration wavers. something's troubling her, and bisauur just barely opens her mouth to ask what has her force signature all frazzled when the datacron they've been levitating together drops to the ground and she takes her head in her hands, crying out in pain. "nadia!" bisauur cries, shuffling over to her on her knees to take the pained girl into her arms, "nadia, what's wrong?"

the initial pain doesn't pass as quickly as bisauur would've hoped, as tears flush the pale girl's face, a ghastly shiver falling over her body as she holds her tight. once it seems to, her force signature and breathing pattern drop considerably, not quite relaxed but better than it once was as bisauur allows her to recollect herself. this is rather odd, what's gone on that has nadia in such a fit? she'd never seen her like this before, and that concerns her, "nadia?" she whispers, trying to scare her any further, "nadia, are you alright?"

"i-it felt like...l-like i was being shocked!" nadia tries to explain, stumbling over her words as she stumbles to her feet. her eyes are bloodshot, as if some invisible force really has sent volts of lightning through her body. furiously wiping away tears, the girl dashes out of the med bay and because she can hear it, stomps up the stairs as fear leaves whispers imprinted on her aura.

"nadia! wait!" forgoing her own shoes, bisauur collects the datacron and hurries up the stairs to the flight deck to follow after her. what could've caused such a sensation to rip through her body like that, especially without any other interference? looking down at the datacron, she wonders if possibly what she found inside could've caused something like that to happen. bisauur hasn't actually gone poking around in one for a long while, so she's afraid for her friend.

however, her thoughts get the better of her once she reaches the landing, so much so she runs headfirst into zenith, who she quickly apologizes to before rushing into the common area, where nadia's fingers are dashing across the holoterminal's buttons. "wait a moment, nadia. what are you doing?"

"trying to contact naji. the only other reason i can figure i would've felt that is if naji was in a similar state of pain." nadia nips at her bottom lip for a moment as her fingers still, poised above the controls, "you don't think she's died, do you?"

bisauur tries to comfort her in the best way she knows how as her own worry pierces her heart. she's forgotten that she and naji had an amazingly strong bond between the two of them, and just the thought that their master might be in some serious trouble causes her to frown as well. the way that nadia described it, she's terrified the woman might've encountered a sith. they're the only force users that could've overpowered her, and got her guard down so far that whatever shield she should've had present would've failed. twirling a strand of grey blue hair, she pulls nadia's hands away from the console, "i doubt she would fall to such a force, nadia. and remember, she specifically told us not to contact her while she was planet-side."

nadia seems conflicted as her eyes refocus on her fellow padawan. "but what if she's in trouble and really needs help?"

"then i'm sure she or the lieutenant will contact us when they are safely out of harm's way. but for now all we can do is wait." she responds as nadia's gaze drops from her's to the ground. "whatever happened, we both know the lieutenant would put his life on the line for her. there's no way they wouldn't come back without the other."

"i guess you're right." nadia mumbles, sniffling away any tears that remained, as bisauur brushes away the few that escaped her bare knuckles, "it's just that our force bond had never responded to pain like that before. i really hope she's okay."

"you and me both." she says, as the ship shudders under her stress. just enough for only her to truly notice, before nadia squeezes her hand in hers. nadia's own calming heartbeat allows her to breathe again,

"i felt that. it's not so horrible to be scared, bis, as long as you channel it correctly." nadia's trying to be brave, repeating nearly exactly what naji had told her the first time the polaris had been attacked and the ship sustained more damage from her own anxiety than the oncoming ship. "we can be scared together."

"we heard screaming, is everything alright?" holiday asks as they both hear footsteps behind them, finding not only zenith (her face heats once she realizes just how hard she ran into him), but tharan and the aforementioned hologram (she can only tell because of her voice and as friendly as she is with her, a shiver runs down her spine because she can't tell where she's projecting herself) as well.

"we were only startled a bit, is all." bisauur responds as she reaches out in the force foolishly to find the projection or listen closer for when she speaks again before she turns her tone serious, "have any of you heard anything from naji or the lieutenant?"

"not lately, no. now that i think about it..." zenith trails off in thought, "usually they check in around dinnertime. it is rather late, isn't it?" his force signature is flooded with concern, as is tharan's. she wonders if qyzen has left on another hunt, as his signature is nowhere to be found among the group that had come to find them. "you think they ran into trouble?"

nadia only nods and tharan frowns. "our fair naji surely must be caught up with something. there must be no reason to panic just yet." the reassurance doesn't help too much, as tharan must've seen her instinctively frown, "i'm sure it's nothing serious. she'll be back to tell us her adventures when she and the lieutenant return."

"sith aren't exactly known to be the merciless type." nadia frets, clasping bis' hand in her own in terror, "what if someone found them out?"

"i'm sure whatever trouble they ran into, they can handle themselves. lieutenant iresso is rather protective of naji, he wouldn't let her get hurt." bisauur's nerves are on end as the hairs on the back of neck stand up straight, holiday's voice having moved from in front of her to behind her now. "we'll just wait a little longer until they check in again. they're supposed to come back soon, aren't they?"

"after they gather enough information about that sith they were hunting, we're supposed to extract them." zenith finishes. a tad bit of annoyance enters his aura, possibly from the mention of said sith. "shouldn't be too much longer."

even though they're all aware they're talking about the barsen'thor of the jedi order, they're all on edge when the seperate to go to sleep and no message comes to the polaris. it's late, and no one should be up worrying about the pair. but, tharan stays up tinkering, zenith is doing something other than sleeping obviously, and qyzen has yet to return.

she and nadia dress almost silently as they go off to their own bunks before bisauur beckons her over to her own bunk instead, not wanting to be alone for the night without the others also sleeping in the crew quarters. nadia pauses, but quickly dashes over and snuggles into the blankets beside her. has it always been this cold without her fellow padawan, she wonders as nadia warms her. she hadn't expected to feel so alone without her master, but still surrounded by the other occupants of the ship. even though she can't truly see nadia, she still smiles as senses the other girl roll over to look over at her. "she'll come back, she has to come back. she wouldn't leave us alone, and you're right. i would know if she was dead."

"that sounds about right." bisauur whispers, rearranging her hair so it can lay freely behind her instead of over her eye covering, "she's still out there."

nadia's force aura is clouded over with fear at first, before her resolve shines through. "she's naji iresso. no one could kill her that easily." bisauur grins, before nadia's warm hand presses against her cheek to turn her head just a bit. her warm lips press a kiss against left cheek, then she snuggles her head into the crook of her neck. a bit startled, she returns the favor by lifting her bangs and kissing her forehead playfully as nadia giggles. "sorry, force of habit."

"with naji?" bisauur asks. it seemed she also treated nadia as more of a padawan than a sibling or lover, but bis has learned a lot since joining the polaris' crew.

"no, with my father. don't take it the wrong way, you're like the sister i never had, but i love you like family bis."

bisauur must've paused too long after she admits this odd fact, because nadia panics, "if that bothers you, i'm sorry! i should've asked first."

"no, it's quite alright, nadia. it's just...i've never had a sister before. i don't know what that's like, but i do believe i like your version of it." she hugs the girl tighter, nuzzling her head into her hair, "i love you as well, nadia."

"glad to hear it. good night, bi-sis."

"good night, nadia."

-

naji almost can't run fast enough through the crowd of sith to find felix. the other, much more dignified than she is now (all with shoes on, unlike her after she'd ditched them outside to run faster through the garden), all grunt and gossip in disapproval. usually, she'd care and hide within whatever garment she's wearing, but all that matters is getting through the court and finding felix, master delux or kira. and not run into the women that had just shocked her hard enough to cause her to still be twitching now. barely being able to hitch up her dress high enough to keep running, she nearly knocks over a drink or two on the tables she passes in panic, all the while still trying to pick out darth nox's force signature among the other sith. it grows colder and colder as her vision begins to black out nearly from pain but also from fear. nox had left some burns somewhere, one that the strap on her dress is brushing against with every step she takes, and a few others on her arms.

all naji wants is to find felix and get out of here.

thankfully, it doesn't take too long to get to the furthermost wall and retrace her steps to the ornate couch she'd been sitting on, fake nursing her ankle earlier in the evening. felix's force signature is giving off that's he's rather uncomfortable talking to the other man, but both of their eyes lift from one another once she just barely stabilizes herself against her husband, panting hard as her vision blurs. the pain is becoming too much to handle herself, and it sounds as if someone's stuffed wampa fur in her ears, as felix calls her name.

"what's with her, she drink too much?" the other man asks, cocking an eyebrow as she can barely make out his words.

naji beckons for felix to lean down a bit, their universal signal for that something's gone wrong and they can't talk about it in front of present company. once he does, she's barely able to whisper, "she's knows. get out." before she loses consciousness completely, slumping in his arms as he can barely keep her upright.

-

"what'd mier do to her?" andronikos (as he's learned the man's name after a night of his slightly drunken rambling) mutters under his breath as he stands to help felix, "gave her a run for her money, from the looks of it. your girl has a sharp tongue, huh?" he chuckles, as if it's an inside joke both of them should understand from their one-sided conversation they'd had that night. he whistles with clenched teeth, "burn marks? doesn't seem like something mier would do unprovoked."

felix isn't sure how to answer his pestering questions, but his eyes widen as he catches a glimpse of the burn marks adorning her porcelain skin, her blonde hair framing her face as strands stick to her sweaty forehead. gathering her up in his arms, he turns back to andronikos before departing out the opposite direction from where she'd run in, "it was nice meeting you and the darth, give her our regards!"

once he's out of earshot of any other sith and down a few halls, he lets his own fear flood his emotions. "by the stars, what did you do, naj?"

he's never been one to panic, and with his wife incapacitated he's not going to now. his first thought is getting back to their suite and letting her sleep off whatever happened for a couple of hours while he collects their things and contacts kiveqil and kira of the violent occurrence but quickly scratches that idea when he realizes whatever happened would cause darth nox to come looking for them. nothing would keep her from getting their suite location from any of the thul servants.

alright, screw that thought. first order of business is getting in contact with the polaris. he's not sure whether darth nox can track either of them, so his first thought is getting back to organa. but, there aren't any direct taxis from house thul to house organa, and if he asked for one some suspicion would immediatly be raised. and, the polaris would probably be shot down by anti-orbital canons as soon as it hit the surface if he called them down here. his best bet would be finding a speeder and riding that as far as he can towards organa.

it'd look suspicious if kiveqil and kira left nearly at the same time naji had bolted inside, most likely with a sith on her tail as well, so though 'communication was key', he figured giving it a bit of time before contacting them would serve them all well in not getting killed outright. setting her down gently on a couch far from the dance hall, he tries not to pace as the call rings the polaris. surprisingly, zenith is the first to pick up. "lieutenant. your check-in period passed hours ago."

"i know. look, plans failed and we need to get out of here now. how fast can you get here?" zenith must hear his frazzled thoughts through the holocom because he stands up just a tad straighter.

"something went awry?"

"you could say that." he tries to keep his fear out of his voice, but his eyes keep darting away to naji's slumped over form.

"we'll be there soon." zenith responds, and his pictures flickers away into darkness again. the sun has finally set outside and the moon seems to be on it's way to providing them with the moonlight needed to travel. picking her up again, he figures stealing a speeder would be faster than getting one from a droid because the preset location would surely be imperial controlled anyways. he's not sure how many credit chits he has on him right now, but thank the stars both of them kept their weapons on them and had arrived in this same outfit. nothing important would've been left in their suite.

finding one left unattended on the far side of the palace courtyard, he prays naji won't be mad at him later for getting her out safely. as lawful as they both are, she'll have to forgive him later as he sits her in front of him, one arm around her waist as he manages to get the struggling safety harness around both of them. revving the engine, they're off through the courtyard. thank the stars it's late, and they manage to make it into the snowdusted countryside without running anyone over.

the moonlight would be beautiful, if he wasn't noticing the burns on her exposed back. it only strengthens his resolve, as he promises to make whoever did this to her pay dearly for it.

-

"andronikos!" he's sat back down, bored without the soldier to talk at, and is considering getting another few champagnes from the servants walking around the ballroom (knowing full well if he got too drunk mier would smack the alcohol out of him). no one bothers talking to him, most likely because of who he is and what he looks like at the moment, but thats how he likes it. but, mierrio doesn't look exactly happy to see him as she stalks up to him, as he stands from his seat on the couch. "where is fess?"

"why're you looking for him?" he asks, and he's afraid if he was force sensitive, she'd burn him down or whatever it was they felt when others were angry around them. he was never very sure.

"the woman he was with was not a sith, andronikos. she's a jedi, and you let her go?!" andronikos doesn't particularily like being scared of his wife outside of the bedroom, but the murderous look in her eyes sets a different kind of fear in him. like second-hand fear, but worse. "i suppose i can't be angry with you, you wouldn't have known. however, i'm sure she wouldn't have come alone..." she trails off, fingering her saber staff in her hand. mierrio must've chased down the woman from the garden, as he can still see the evidence of leaves on the trail of lavender tulle behind her. "unless she had a death wish, but most jedi seem to have plenty of those these days. stay here, would you? i need to find lord x'ire."

"wait a second, would you?" andronikos asks, and mierrio whips around angrily.

"what? i don't have time for you right now."

well that stung in a way he didn't think it would, not after so many years, "hold on before you go off on your violent tyrade, babe. look." she rolls her eyes, before following his finger to a discarded holocom. her eyes widen, before it's replaced with a murderous smile, and she picks it up, looking at it curiously.

"why, you may be a genius and a half, nikky." she says sweetly, "i still need x'ire. he may be tied to all of this, iridonians still aren't commonplace among the sith. but, this holocom could get us more information than interrogating him could."

"does that mean you'll pay even a bit of attention to me now?" he asks slyly, and she rolls her eyes, before stepping on her toes to reach her mouth to his. she nips his bottom lip as he pulls her closer, though just a moment later she pushes him away, "really sith? just when things get exciting in this stuffy ballroom."

"i promise i'll make up for it later. but for now, i have a jedi to catch."

[gallusrostromegalus]

American Names for Apple-Derived Liquids and How To Use Them: A Guide

So there’s been some confusion about the “Cider” i reccomend using in the Jesus Tea Recipe, so here’s a clarification post about which apple-based liquids I am and am not referring to

Apple Juice

Description:

clear yellow juice, sweet-smelling, non-Alcoholic.  Tends to have either a pissingly sad amount of Vitamin C, or TONS of it becuase the juice people add it back in after processing it.  Check the label.

Uses: If you can find the 120% DV Vitamin C version, this is great for alleviating cold symptoms (vitamin C doesn’t cure colds but it DOES make you feel better.  You’re still contagious. And sick.)  Check the sugar but can also a good substitute for soda when you’re craving something sweet to drink.  If you don’t have the Cider listed immediately below, you can put this in the Jesus Tea too.

Apple Cider

Description:

CLOUDY yellow-brown juice, NON-ALCOHOLIC. It’s apple juice, but made with the skins left in and not strained as much.  Tends to have better (50-100% DV) vitamin C content, along with important trace minerals, but Always Check the Label.

Description The Second:

Same as above, but with cinnamon, cloves and other spices steeped in it and served hot, especially at your grandma’s christmas party right after you and your cousins have all been playing sled-based Game Of Thrones out in the chest-deep Iowa snow and developing hypothermia before one of the more responisble adults demands you all stop walling Jimmy into an ice cave and come inside. Tastes like something stolen from the gods.

Uses: PUT THIS ONE IN THE JESUS TEA. In the Abscence of POG juice on the mainland, this is the closest thing we have to unicorn blood in terms of curing what feels like death.  Buy three gallons, chug one imediately, pass out for eight hours and sip the next two over the next 24 hours.  If not on death’s door but still cold outside, mull with spices and drink hot and thank whoever stole the recipe form Odin, probably.

Hard Cider

Description:

THE BOOZY ONE.  Apparently sweet for an alcoholic beverage, smells like diabetic skunk piss to me. Typically sold in brown beer-like bottles, and in the US, carbonated.  

Uses: Getting Extremely Fuckt Up, according to Irish Folk Band Gaelic Storm, who definitely know more about getting drunk than I do.

NON-USES:  DO NOT PUT THIS ONE IN THE JESUS TEA. Do not drink alcohol while on cold medications, or any medication really as not only will it prevent the medicine from doing it’s job, it could also potenticall kill you.  Also, Cold medications can interfere with a lot of meds, double-check to see if any medication you might be on is OK to take with cold meds before consuming.

Apple Cider Vinegar

Description:

fermented apple Juice or Cider, depending on manufacturer.  Looks similar to Apple Cider in that it’s brownish and cloudy but smells Bitter and slightly rotted upon opening the bottle.  Because it’s vinegar.

Uses:  Sauces, salad dressings, marinades, mouthwash, spot-cleaning stains, dab it on things you want your pet to leave alone, wipe your houseplants with it to get rid of pests. Hell, my sister uses this instead of shampoo and has flawless Disney Princess Hair so she might be onto something.  You can also add SMALL amounts to the tea if you need the acidity to break up phlegm in your throat or suchlike. but add like, a half teaspoon per cup, MAX.

NON-USES: ACV can be used to clean many thing but due to it’s high sugar content it can’t be used to sterilize things.  So don’t use it to clean cuts or countertops, use regualr antiseptic cleaners for that stuff.  Also don’t drink a whole bunch of it straight? that’s a lot of acid and it’ll give you a hell fo a stomach ache at best.

[cozmo-the-mighty-chinchilla]

Tbh, if Warriors ever finally comes to an end, I really REALLY want it to end with the Code being rewritten and Starclan finally butting out of things(unless its actually important and they're actually being helpful). Because...

1) The Code: much of the code does more harm than good. I mean c'mon, how many cats' lives have been lost or ruined all because they fell in love with someone from another clan? What good does that rule even do? It apparently doesn't stop any one from falling in love, and the only reason it exists is because they think kin in other clans will cause disloyalty but I mean, they've shown time and again that the clans do better when they work together anyway.

And in Dawn of the Clans, all the groups got along just fine before Clear Sky decided to be a dick. Why can't they go back to that? Helping one another, letting cats fall in love with whomever? Be kind to one another? Having kin and mates in other clans could help defuse tensions and make the clans less willing to fight.

Also they need to actually enforce the code. How many cats have killed/attemptd to kill other clan cats? What about when Russetfur and her patrol sat on their asses and watched a kit struggle in agony in a foxtrap? If you are going to have rules, enforce them!

2) and starclan? Hoo boy, Starclan. 90% of the clans problems come from them. Their vague as fuck messages? Telling the cats one thing then changing it the next? (Like when they said "oh we can't interfere with love" yet sending a sign to Leafpool to have her get Squirrelflight and Brambleclaw together.)

Or that time they told Leafpool to "FolLoW YoUr hEaRt" then FUCKIN YELLED AT HER FOR DOING JUST THAT?????

Or how about Mothflight's Vision, where it felt very suspiciously like they had her and Micah meet knowing they'd fall in love, knowing she'd get pregnant, knowing Micah would die, knowing Moth would make the rule that Med cats can't have kits? Maybe I'm reaching, but when I finished that book, I couldn't help but feel like they set it all up specifically so Moth would make that rule.

Same with The Leafpool and Squirrelflight situation. It felt like they told Leaf to set her sister up with Brambleclaw all so Leaf would have someone to give her kits to.

Much of what happens feels almost like it's all set up by Starclan. Not that I think they necessarily control what happens, but more like they know what might happen and they're setting the living cats on a path that will lead to certain things. Almost like they're "pulling the strings" if you will. And it bothers the hell out of me. Especially when they then try to shift blame onto the living cats.

Starclan really needs to either butt out or be less vague.

There's a lot more I could say about this all, but this nll post is already so long, so I'll leave it at this.