#I am tempted to maybe do a micro-fic if I can find time

[mistspinner]

canonically, Year of the Dragon occurs during Napoleon’s invasion of England, but let’s imagine a happier world where Temeraire and friends are in China and watching fireworks/eating dumplings/getting red envelopes full of shiny things like the royal guests they are

[rike-with-love]

Kagura’s birthday fic 2018 (chapter 1)

Summary: Happy birthday Kagura! You're the best heroine in all of anime/manga and I love you so much. I want to cosplay you so hard and I swear I'm going to find the perfect opportunity for that! : 3 For the celebration of our fierce queen I wrote a story in her honor.

Pairings: Okikagu, Soyoshin

Rating: T for bad language

Disclaimer: I don't own Gintama or it's characters, Sorachi Hideaki does. I only own this story.

Author’s notes: I have a link to my fanfiction masterlist on my profile. Please check it out for more chapters and fics!

Chapter 1 – Double dates are a good idea on paper

Kagura was strolling down the Kabukicho's streets, purple umbrella swinging nicely with the rhythm of her step. She had agreed to meet up with her best friend Tokugawa Soyo. Kagura was making her way to the palace with a pack of sukonbus as a snack for the trip.

Kagura, almost 17 years old had developed physically quite a bit, but mentally...well let's just say she was getting there. Kagura had gotten taller, even her vermillion hair was longer, but she still kept it under those signature hair ornaments. Red was her favourite colour and most of her cheongsams were playing with different shades of the colour of love.

In three short years, another person had grown up quite nicely as well. The straight man of the Yorozuya, Shimura Shinpachi had upgraded from a cinnamon bun into a dashing cinnamon man. Yes, it had taken Shinpachi three years to take full advantage of the saint spiritual power of puberty.

Shinpachi knew he had grown up, he just didn't know how to use this new manliness of his to its full extent. After all, Shinpachi was a simple man, he took care of the Yorozuya shop and his lazy co-workers. He had breakfasts with his sister and lived his regular life like he always had before. Of course, his duty as the Otsu's fan club leader he treated like he was the commander of the survey corps charging troops into the battlefield.

Lucky for him, he had caught someone's eye. On her 17th birthday, Princess Soyo had collected all of her courage and she wanted to make her move. Soyo had developed a little crush on Shinpachi and she had decided to tell him how she felt about him.

It was truly a glorious day, when princess Soyo marched into the Yorozuya shop with her bodyguard. Kagura was out with Sadaharu at the moment and she wasn't there to witness the moment.

Shinpachi welcomed the princess inside and even Gintoki sat up straight on the couch. Before Shinpachi had the time to ask about her visit to their humble shop, the princess dropped the bomb. Soyo asked Shinpachi out on a date with the sweetest smile there ever could be.

After Soyo's unexpected words Shinpachi's mind went blank, his ears couldn't see, his nose couldn't taste. Later, Shinpachi called it an out-of-glasses experience. The gorilla slid from behind the scenes to hang an out-of-order sign over Shinpachi's neck, then he returned to his corner to write another apology letter. Gintoki fell off the couch with a loud ”NANI”, because of course he did. After a moment of smiling and waiting for an answer, Soyo got a little worried of the silence.

Gintoki was still shocked about the situation, but he managed to see Soyo's smile dropping a bit. Gintoki didn't want to watch Shinpachi's change to date someone (in this case a freaking princess), so he picked himself up from the floor. The glasses known as Shinpachi were hovering  around the apartment, aimlessly wandering all over the place.

Gintoki said something to reassure the princess and snatched the glasses. He smashed the glasses to their rightful place and ripped the sign of Shinpachi's neck. Gintoki slapped Shinpachi and called his name loudly (”Patsuan!”) and it woke him right up.

Shinpachi had a really hard time believing what he had just heard. Then, the following conversation happened:

Shinpachi scratched his neck and slowly let his eyes climb up to meet with Soyo's green ones. ”Uh, Soyo-hime. Sorry if I'm being rude, but are you serious?”

Soyo's smile lit up again. ”Of course I am, actually I've wanted to ask you on a date for a while now Shinpachi-san.”

Gintoki had given the two young ones some space, but he couldn't resist on eaves dropping just a little bit. He felt so happy for Shinpachi, like a proud father should feel.

”Really? I'm so honored hime-sama,” Shinpachi said and smiled widely with a light tint of pink appearing on his cheeks. The more he smiled, the more it made Soyo smile.

Soyo took a step closer to Shinpachi and he thought his virgin heart would burst out of his chest. ”Well Shinpachi-san, do you want to go on a date with me?”

”OF COURSE I WILL!” Shinpachi shouted, he couldn't quite contain his excitement. Gintoki face palmed himself and Soyo giggled sweetly.

”I'm glad,” Soyo said. ”Come to the palace tomorrow at noon Shinpachi-san.”

Soyo turned around and her bodyguard opened her the front door. ”See you tomorrow then hime-sama,” Shinpachi said with a smile. He could still feel his erratic heartbeat. Well, no-one could blame Shinpachi for feeling a little flustered and shocked, it's not an everyday thing to get a date invitation from a beautiful girl.

Soyo was already at the door frame, but she glanced gracefully behind her shoulder. ”You can call me Soyo-chan,” she giggled and left the shop.

Gintoki was sitting in the living-room, waiting for Shinpachi to come back from the entrance way. Neither said anything before Shinpachi slumped on the other couch. He slowly blinked his eyes a few times. ”Gin-san?”

”What is it Patsuan?”

”What just happened?”

Gintoki placed his hands behind his head. ”Well Pachi-kun, you just got yourself a date.”

”I guess I did.” Shinpachi had always liked Soyo as a person and admired her grace, but never in a million years did this kind of scenario ran through his mind.

”Are you nervous?” Gintoki asked.

”Well, yeah.”

”Oh Pachi-kun,” Gintoki said. ”Don't worry, Gin-san will teach you how to  woo a lady.”

Shinpachi leaned closer to Gintoki with a classic Shimura smile on his face. ”Gin-san, please don't.”

*

*

Long story short, Shinpachi and Soyo went on to their date. Then there was a second date, a third date, and so on. To put it simply, they were together now. Shimura Shinpachi had managed to get a wonderful girlfriend *insert choir and trumpets.

Soyo had told Kagura about her feelings before she asked Shinpachi out. Soyo wasn't sure how Kagura would see the situation, but as one could guess, she was fine with it. Shinpachi was like a brother to her and Soyo was her best friend, Kagura was simply happy for them.

When Soyo had sent an invitation to Kagura, she really had hoped it would be just the two of them spending tine. As much as Kagura was happy for Soyo and Shinpachi, it was a painful experience to be the third wheel. Actually Kagura was pretty sure that Shinpachi wouldn't be joining them today as him and Gintoki were on a job.

As the palace was on her sight Kagura could already taste all the different kind of delicacies Soyo usually offered her in there. They even had a special sukonbu cake and it was almost too good to be true.

Kagura entered the palace and she was guided to Soyo's room. Almost all of the guards already knew Kagura, she wasn't the easily forgettable type anyway. The second Kagura entered Soyo's room she smelled all the delicious food. (”Thank you Soyo-chan”)

After a brief hug Kagura and Soyo sat down to eat. They talked about the usual stuff like their daily lives and some girly stuff. Kagura shoved three cupcakes into her mouth and Soyo approved with a smile. This time, behind her smile, Soyo had a special reason for inviting Kagura over.

”Kagura-chan?”

”Mmmmmm?” Kagura munched.

”You know it's your birthday tomorrow, right?”

”Mmmmhhmmmm-aru”

”I want to do something special with you.”

”Like what?” Kagura asked after finally emptying her mouth.

Soyo's eyes sparkled and Kagura knew it would be very hard to decline her. ”I would like for us to go on a double date tomorrow!”

”Huh? Aren't double dates for couples? Four people, yes?”

”Yes.”

Kagura scratched her head. ”But I'm not a couple?”

”Oh Kagura-chan, don't worry. I have found you a very special date,” Soyo explained.

Kagura didn't know how to feel about going on a date with a stranger. ”Uh...I don't know.”

Soyo had predicted that Kagura might be a little hesitant, so she had a backup plan. ”You can pick the restaurant and he'll pay for your dinner, like a gentleman should.”

Her suggestion was tempting. There was that one all you can eat buffet that Kagura had dreamed for so long. It was just so damn expensive. Now, here on a silver platter was her golden ticket to go there. I mean, it didn't sound so bad to go on a fancy date with some nice guy.

Kagura took herself a piece of cake and turned back to Soyo. ”Who is this so-called gentleman-aru?”

For a micro second Soyo had a sort of mischievous smile, Kagura could swear she saw it. ”Don't worry! He is a fine young man, a very handsome one too,” Soyo said.

”Uh-huh, is he rich too?”

Soyo giggled. ”Oh, Kagura-chan. You'll love him,” Soyo assured with a smile. Then she looked straight into Kagura's soul an added: ”I'm sure of it.”

Well why not, Kagura thought to herself. ”I want to go to the Golden Piggy Buffet-aru.”

”Perfect! It's going to be so great!” Soyo said. ”I'll book us a table for tomorrow.”

”But uh, Soyo-chan?” Kagura asked, voice a bit lower than usual. ”I don't have anything so fancy to wear.”

”Oh Kagura-chan! I'll help you. You're going to look so beautiful!”

With those words, Kagura felt almost excited for the double date. She hadn't been on a date before, like a real date. That fiasco with the giant, she didn't count that as a date. It was more like a scam. This would be a different kind of birthday celebration. Who knows, maybe that mystery man will be as nice as Soyo described, Kagura thought and sucked a strip of sukonbu into her mouth.

*

*

The very next day, Kagura and Soyo were getting ready in the palace. Soyo made sure that Kagura would get the same treatment as she herself got, a princess edition. Soyo had chosen a green kimono to match her eyes and a golden diadem. Her hair was done in one big braid and she had a golden ribbon at the end of it.

Soyo was twirling in front of a mirror, waiting for Kagura to come. ”Soyo-chan?”

Soyo lifted her head and saw Kagura through the mirror. ”Oh Kagura-chan! You look beautiful!”

”Really?”

”Yes silly, come and see for yourself!” Soyo said and walked to Kagura. She pushed the Yato to stand in front of the mirror. ”Now look at that.”

Kagura's hair was loose and wild and it framed her face perfectly. She had a short (thigh length) white cheongsam with red piping. The white clothing made her hair and pink lips really stand out. Soyo had even borrowed her red heels. The shoes weren't that high-heeled, but the way her posture changed with them was something else. Her chest was pushed out and her legs looked longer than ever before.

Soyo observed as Kagura admired her reflection carefully. She saw her confidence slowly building up and Soyo couldn't help but to smile. ”Well?”

”Well I look damn good! My date is so lucky, uh-huh!”

”That's the Kagura-chan I know,” Soyo cheered. ”Now that we both are ready, we should get going. Our dates are waiting at the Golden Piggy.”

Kagura flicked her hair a little, testing out her sassy side and finding it to be very funny. ”Let's go then-aru.”

*

*

Soyo and Kagura's car stopped near the entrance of the restaurant. Their driver came to open the door and Soyo was the first one out. ”Shin-chan!” she chirped outside of the car. Megane must be out there, Kagura thought as she began to wiggle herself out of the car.

Kagura exited the car and straightened her dangerously short dress. She saw Soyo and Shinpachi standing in front of her, hugging like they always did. ”Ah, Kagura-chan! Happy birthday!” Shinpachi said.

”Thanks Patsuan!”

”You look really beautiful tonight,” Shinpachi said and turned to whisper something into Soyo's ear. ”You're such a good friend.” No matter how quietly Shinpachi said it, Kagura could hear him. She rolled her eyes quickly and smiled.

”So, Soyo-chan? Where's my lucky fellow-aru?”

”He's at the entrance, right there behind you,” Soyo informed and pointed to his direction.

Kagura turned around to greet the man with a smile, but that smile dropped as fast as it had rose up. Right in front of her eyes was her date. He was wearing a green shirt and a dark grey hakama. She could recognize that brown hair, those red eyes, that deadpan facial expression anywhere. ”Yo.”

”WHAT?” Kagura shouted and turned to Soyo and Shinpachi. ”What the hell is he doing here?”

”Well he is your date Kagura-chan,” Soyo said, knowing exactly why Kagura was asking her question. Okita Sougo of the Shinsengumi, Kagura's long time pain in the ass, wouldn't probably be her first choice to be her date. ”I thought it would be better for your date to be someone you know.”

Soyo and Shinpachi made their way to the front door of the entrance. ”Come on Kagura-chan! Soyo-chan has arranged all of this for us,” Shinpachi said, voice annoyingly defensive for his girlfriend.

”But he's a rude idiot, I don't want to go on a date with him!” Kagura shouted after the happy couple, but she couldn't get an answer.

”Oi oi, now who's being rude?” Sougo asked, his voice drawing Kagura's attention. ”You've hurt a police officer's feelings, do you want me to arrest-”

Kagura shut Sougo up with her elevated arm. ”Just shut up sadist,” she said and lowered her arm. ”My night is already ruined so if you annoy me even a little bit tonight, I'm going to kick your ass, 'kay?”

Sougo listened to Kagura's every word carefully, then he chuckled a little. ”What's so funny bastard?”

”Well China, I know how much you like games, so I have a proposition for you”, Sougo said with a smirk. ”With a little bet, maybe your night wouldn't be completely ruined, ne?”

Kagura crossed her arms and stared at Sougo for a moment. ”I'm listening-aru.”

”Perfect. What do you say if we both try our best to behave this evening. First one to lose their temper or ditch the date, loses.”

Kagura huffed arrogantly. ”And what's the prize when I win?”

”Well I was thinking about our usual wager, what do you say China?”

”The loser has to be the winner's slave for a day, yes? That's fine-aru.”

Sougo offered his hand for Kagura. ”Prepare to lose, my lady.”

Kagura took his hand and shook it. ”Watch me win, dear der.”

”It's 'sir' China.”

”Whatever!” she huffed.

As the handshake ended Kagura saw how Sougo's eyes dropped down to her dress. His eyes travelled even further down to her legs. Kagura smirked and threw a bold question for Sougo. ”Like what you see Sadist?”

Sougo's eyes connected back to hers. ”Well you aren't a total eyesore tonight China.”

She wasn't expecting him to answer like that, he even seemed to be honest about it. ”Oh,” Kagura said and slid her hand under her hair to rest on her neck. ”Thanks,” she said quietly.

”Aren't you going to say anything nice to me China?” Sougo asked and motioned his hands around him like he was showcasing himself.

Kagura looked at his crimson eyes, they always had a certain fire behind them. Yes, Sougo was infamous for his deadpanned demeanor, but for some reason, every time Sougo looked at her, his eyes lit up. It was the same thing when they fought, he had that same fire in his eyes. Kagura had figured that he saw her as a sparring partner and nothing more, maybe she reminded him of the rush of a battle.

Sougo had grown up too in these three years as any young man would. He was taller, his jaw was sharper, he was very handsome (just like Soyo had described), even Kagura couldn't completely deny that fact. ”I guess you aren't so bad yourself, yes.”

Sougo smirked and took a step closer to Kagura. She felt her heartbeat getting a little faster, then again, it wasn't the first time Kagura had felt this way. During their sparring her heartbeat was always rapid. But they weren't fighting right now, so it was really weird. Sougo poked Kagura's nose with his finger. ”I knew it China. You've always liked me.”

Kagura gasped a little and slapped his finger away. ”No I don't! You're such an-”

”China.” Sougo stopped Kagura before she exploded on him. ”China, remember our little bet. Don't make this so easy for me.”

”Hmph.” Kagura crossed her arms again and pouted her lips. Damn him, she thought. Sougo offered his arm for the suspicious Kagura. ”Do you want me to break that...or what is this?”

”Of course not. I want you to take my arm.”

”You want me to rip it off?”

Sougo sighed. ”No...” He kept his voice a bit gentler than normal. ”I want you to take my arm, because we are on a date you know.”

Kagura was a little hesitant. Did he really want her to latch on to his arm like they were a real couple on a real date. Sougo stepped closer to Kagura and offered his arm again. Slowly, she slid her right hand around his bicep. The other she rested near the bend of his arm.

It felt really weird to be this close to Sougo, and secretly Kagura thought it wasn't a bad kind of weird, but there was no way in hell Kagura would tell him that. Before Sougo and Kagura entered the restaurant, he looked like he had something to say.

Kagura glanced at him. ”Are you already giving up Sadist?”

Sougo shook his head and smirked. ”No, I just want to say one thing before we go in.”

Kagura accidentally gripped Sougo's arm a bit tighter. It was like she got a little nervous of what ever he was about to say, maybe? ”Spit it out then, yes.”

”The bet starts when we enter the restaurant, correct?”

”Uh-huh.”

”Mmh...China?”

Sougo turned his head to Kagura and their eyes locked. The evening sky had a great effect on that bastard, Kagura thought. ”Yeah?”

”I just want to say that couldn't have chosen a more fitting restaurant...miss piggy.”

Kagura's nails gnawed into Sougo's shirt. She gritted her teeth and felt furious as a shit-eating grin appeared on his face. ”You are such an asshole! I'm not going in with you! You-”

”Oh, are you giving up that easily?” Sougo teased. ”I'm sort of disappointed China.”

He sure knew how to pull her strings. ”Dammit”, Kagura mumbled to herself.

Kagura hadn't let go of Sougo's arm, her hold of him had only gotten firmer. Sougo stared at Kagura, who was still trying to make up her mind. ”Come on! I'm getting hungry,” he said. ”Think of all the food you're going to get China,” he added. Then with only a quiet whisper, he pointed out the most important part. ”...for free...”

It seemed he was persuading her to come in, did he really want to go on this double date or is he planning for something evil, Kagura asked herself. Again, with the mentioning of food, he really knew how to pull her strings.

”Are you guys coming?” Soyo asked from the entrance. She had wondered if the two rivals had already began another death match as they didn't follow her and Shinpachi into the restaurant. Soyo saw their close position and she tried her best to act natural for Kagura's sakes.

”Yeah, we're coming-aru!” Kagura said and swinged her loose hair a little from side to side. Her small and innocent motion didn't go unnoticed by Sougo. Soyo saw how he looked at her, he was good at hiding those almost longing looks, but Soyo's eyes were sharper.

Without wasting any more of precious buffet time, Sougo and Kagura followed the princess inside and the date could finally begin. Kagura wasn't sure was this a great way or the worst possible way to celebrate her 17th birthday.

Author's note: This was supposed to be a long one-shot, BUT life happened and my work ate all my damn time. Oh well, now this fic is going to be in two parts...maybe more...who knows. Anyway, thanks for reading! Stay tuned!

[galacticcannibalisms]

It’s late, I’m stressed because my dog is limping badly and I have to change out the newsprint on my prints tomorrow AND take dog to vet and hope they can see him before I work. I did finally finish my next fic, once again inspired by @one-trash-man‘s art. And funnily enough, while I was dragging my feet, they made a really cool animatic! You should check it out.

I’m debating between writing an Aaravos or a Reigen ficlet next.

If you like this fic, please reblog it. Tumblr isn’t putting any of my work into the tags unless it’s original, traditional stuff like my brooch hand print WIPs.

It hit Teru on a nearly daily basis how lucky he was to have Shigeo Kageyama in his life.

Like today, as they walked home together for the umpteenth time since… They weren’t really talking right now (it’d been years since he felt the need to fill the silence, realizing at last that Shigeo’s quietness wasn’t disapproval and was in fact Shigeo enjoying not talking his throat raw with his friend), but they were close together. Teru’s apartment was off a busy street, so their shoulders rubbed together whenever Shigeo needed to scrunch closer to avoid hitting a passerby.

How tempting it was to wrap an arm around Shigeo’s narrow shoulders. No, that wasn’t fair to him. He had bulked out a fair bit since their first days of tentative friendship. Certainly, he was no Adonis for the rest of Salt City but for Teruki – for Teru –

“Hanazawa-kun?”

“Y-yes!” Teru could feel his face grow hot, and then he was suddenly jerked to a stop by a familiar blue aura. It lasted just long enough to stop his momentum.

“You nearly ran into that sign.”

Teru looked forward and realized that Shigeo had just saved him an embarrassing faceplant into a stop sign. His blush deepened as he internally derided himself for not noticing sooner. “Ah, thank you Kageyama-kun.”

“What were you thinking about?” It was such a simple, small question, but Teru didn’t know how to answer that. How could he answer that he was thinking about Shigeo’s shoulders without sounding incredibly weird?

Teru deftly sidestepped the sign to continue walking, adjust the grip on his bag. “Honestly? A couple different things, but mostly just how lucky I am you sought me out after – ” He glanced at Shigeo, watching him piece it together as he talked. “ – after, well, him.”

“You can say his name,” Shigeo finally said, very quiet. But he was rubbing his palms against his school jacket without thinking, fingers spread wide. Teruki knew that feeling. He’d done it too, after their first meeting.

Quick as a thought, Teru reached out and snatched one of Shigeo’s hands from its incessant rubbing, giving it a comforting squeeze and a swipe of his thumb of the back of Shigeo’s knuckles. His hands were always surprisingly soft, the callouses from using dumbbells – focus Teruki.

Shigeo was blushing it seemed –  No, focus.

“Come inside for some tea,” Teru finally blurted. He absolutely was not focusing on anything but the faint color in Shigeo’s cheeks. Was he imagining it? Was it real? Did it matter? Teru had just grabbed Shigeo’s hand. To anyone else, it was an intimate move, but to them…

“I think we passed your apartment,” Shigeo said, looking about. Teru glanced back, galled to find that Shigeo was right. “I’ll come in.”

“Good.” He sighed in relief, following after Shigeo until time came to actually enter the building. They held hands the entire way. Teru chalked it up to his imagination that Shigeo clung a moment longer before he could pull the keys out.

Teru was an only child, and his parents were very rarely if ever home. So it wasn’t a surprise for him to enter an empty apartment. They slipped their shoes off, dumping bags on the floor next to the door before Teru went for the kitchen. Shigeo went the opposite way, to the bathroom. Teru could hear running water, biting the inside of his cheek.

Why had he brought up Mogami Keiji? That’d been three years ago. Of course Shigeo hadn’t recovered. Teru hadn’t recovered from his own brush with attempted murder, and that’d been much milder in comparison.

He looked at his own hands with unusual scrutiny as they filled the teapot. Sometimes, sometimes he still had nightmares of that time. His hands wrapped around Shigeo’s throat, trying to force him to fight. He could feel the pulse still, the warmth, the look of a boy trying his damndest not to give in.

That. That power that blew him into the sky had only come out because of his, Teru’s, actions. The sun had been so warm and beautiful, but the crash had been horrible. Not because Shigeo let him fall to his death, but the crisis of identity afterwards.

When had that ended? When had his near daily nightmares of almost killing someone stopped being so daily?

“Hanazawa-kun? You’ve overfilled the teapot.” Pale hands entered Teru’s field of vision, turning off the sink and pulling the teapot from Teru. Vaguely, he watched the disembodied hands empty part of the pot before wiping the excess water off. Then they disappeared as Shigeo set up the stove to warm the water.

“Shigeo?”

“Mm?”

Teru let his hands drop to the edge of the counter, supporting himself as he stared blankly down. He was still so selfish, he thought vaguely over the rushing blood in his ears. To have a crisis right after forcing Shigeo to think about him again. But Teru was a selfish boy. He always had been. That wasn’t going to change now.

“How can you stand me? How could you talk to me after what I did?” He blinked in the ensuing silence, twitching in surprise when he felt short, blunt fingers against the small of his back, pulling him back down to earth. He looked back to Shigeo, focusing in on his face. There was color there again, but Shigeo’s gaze dropped away thoughtfully before their eyes could meet.

“People can change,” Shigeo finally said. “No one told you not to use your powers against others, so… of course you went so far. But you changed afterwards. You helped me find Ritsu.”

Teru pulled back, using his hand to hold back a bark of laughter. “Shigeo, I hadn’t changed at all back then. I was just… faking it.” He balked briefly under Shigeo’s intense stare but pushed forward regardless. He had to say this now. “I just had my ass handed to me by this. This sounds horrible now, but by this punk nobody of a kid who was. Protecting me? From himself? When I was supposed to be the strongest esper around. I’d been fighting and hiding from those adults for months, and I couldn’t even defend myself when you let yourself go.”

“I didn’t – ”

Teru held up a reassuring hand, letting it drop to Shigeo’s shoulder to squeeze. “I know that now, but back then? I was shook, down to my stupid bald head.” He leaned back into the counter, loathe to let Shigeo go. But he couldn’t look him in the eye either, knowing what he was about to say.

“After… you were this. Gold-plated god to me. How could you decide that you were no better than anyone else when you had so much power? You could’ve been a god at age fourteen! You were my god for awhile.” He laughed at himself, embarrassed. “When I learned what was happening with Ritsu, I jumped at the chance to be helpful to my own personal savior. I didn’t really start seeing you as a person until, until Mogami.”

Since he was holding Shigeo’s shoulder still, he could feel the flinch Shigeo had at the name. “Why then?” Shigeo asked, his voice very quiet. Teru couldn’t read him now, despite the years of learning Shigeo’s micro-expressions. He started to drop his hand, but Shigeo forced it to stay with a gentle grip on his wrist.

“Because you came to me,” he said quietly. “My god-figure called me in the middle of the night with the same itchy, hot palms as me and asked me how I lived with nearly choking someone.” He could still remember the events so clearly, having played them over and over in his mind in the years since then, reminding himself that he and Shigeo really were the same. A phone call in the middle of the night, Shigeo’s halting, soft voice as he related what happened without waking his family. Insisting they meet up after school to talk turning to months and years of walking home together, except when Teru had therapy with his group or Shigeo had to go work with Reigen, the one-sided feelings that built in Teru until he felt his stomach was full of flowers…

“Hanazawa-kun, do you still have nightmares?”

It was Teru’s turn to avoid eye contact. “Sometimes. About when you confessed to Tsubomi-san.”

“Oh.” The grip on Teru’s wrist released. “We fought then, didn’t we?”

“That’s not why.” Teru pushed ahead quickly, squeezing Shigeo’s shoulder tightly. “We’re both commoners, right? You losing your temper like you had showed me why you so strongly believed it.”

“I hurt people that day.”

It made Teru laugh, hearing that from Shigeo of all people. “You didn’t mean to. And we kept people from getting hurt too badly.” It’d been the first time Teru had really focused on people outside himself and Shigeo. It’d been… enlightening why Shigeo cared so much.

Right now though, Shigeo was trembling, ever so slightly. “I was being swallowed by my own power,” he said slowly, haltingly. The teapot was starting to whistle, and he moved to take it off the hot stove, busying himself with finding Teru’s mugs. Teru watched, waited. “It was hell again. I couldn’t stop myself. And I hurt people. I destroyed the city.”

“We rebuilt. People recovered.” Something pinged in Teru’s mind. “You didn’t become him. He had nothing to do with it.”

Shigeo didn’t reply. Teru wondered if he was off the mark. Maybe it was him just connecting the dots between Mogami and Shigeo’s destruction of the city months later, and what if he was making everything worse now? But then Shigeo’s shoulders shook, and Teru could hear the faint sound of him trying not to cry.

Teru stepped forward, two, three steps across the narrow kitchen to wrap his arms around the teen. Shigeo stiffened briefly before sinking back into Teru, setting down the pot so he could turn into the hug. This wasn’t so unusual. Teru had become a surprisingly tactile person over the years, and it had nothing to do with how well Shigeo fit against him, how the other esper didn’t judge the way Teru’s body felt against him even if it wasn’t quite to standards. They were almost the same height, but Shigeo still tried to make himself so small, crushing his face against Teru’s shoulder as he fought the urge to cry.

Teru supported the back of his head, looking off to some of his mom’s collected wine bottles that she kept on display above the counters. “We’ve both changed quite a bit since then. You’ve gotten stronger, more in control.”

“Mm…”

Teru paused to see if Shigeo was going to speak, continuing as he just rubbed his face against the curve of Teru’s shoulder instead. “You accepted yourself then, didn’t you? That you can’t always hide from your emotions? So what’s happening now?”

“I hurt people.”

“I hurt people, and you are friends with me.”

“You don’t anymore.”

“Ehhhhh…” Teru gave his hand a little so-and-so wiggle that Shigeo couldn’t even see. “I could never maintain myself as well as you.” That got Shigeo to pull back and give Teru a suspicious look, to which he guiltily grinned. “Oh, don’t give me that. I don’t use my powers on them.” All the time, at least.

Shigeo let his head drop again with a little thump, sagging into Teru in such a way that he had to adjust his grip to keep him from collapsing into the tile below. “You’re impossible Hanazawa-kun.”

That had him smiling because, funny. That’s what he thought about Shigeo. “You… you can call me Teru, you know. Most everyone does.”

“Teru?” The quiet that followed gave Teru the time to soak in the thrill of hearing his name in Shigeo’s voice. “You can call me Shigeo.” Teru knew he was trying to play fair, knew that he knew that Teru always slipped up and called him that anyway, his heart on his sleeve like some sort of lovesick middle-schooler --

“Mm, okay Shigeo.” He patted his back lightly. “Let’s get the tea made and we can continue this on the couch, okay?”

“Okay.” Shigeo shuffled off him, wiping quickly at his face and the mottled red spots that always showed up when he was upset, whether or not he was crying. Teru stepped forward to help, only for a twinge of pain to go up the side of his ribs.

“Ah, I’ve got to change.” The binder was a cruel master, tearing him away when he knew Shigeo was still fragile, but he had tried to ignore the pain once. Tome had become friends with him that day, helping him get to a bathroom and pull the damned thing off because it hurt to even move, let alone breathe or wrestle the constricting fabric off. Since then, he’d followed the eight hour rule fastidiously, doubling up on sports bras and other, less constrictive means of hiding his chest when need be.

He disappeared into his bedroom, changing as quick as he could, the soft sweater familiar and comfortable even as the ache in his ribs let up ever so slightly. He returned to the main living space to find Shigeo had already sat at the couch, carrying the mugs and holding them somewhat awkwardly because he lost track of the coasters. Teru helped, coasters settling on the table next to Shigeo with a gentle click while he sat down.

Shigeo passed him his own mug before focusing on the cup in his own hands, steam rising to warm his face. Teru watched him from the corner of his eye, sipping on his own tea and feeling the burn to his tongue instantly remove his sense of taste for the next six hours. He set it aside.

Shigeo still wasn’t drinking his tea. Teru watched him a moment longer before reaching out to drag him close. When Shigeo flinched, he realized he was still thinking of… that. “Hey, it’s okay. You’re not hurting anyone here.”

Shigeo shuffled into Teru’s embrace, leaning against his side. The mug of tea was lowered into his lap, twisting over and over in his hands. Teru let his arm drop over his shoulders, hoping Shigeo wouldn’t notice the way his heartrate picked up as he watched the mug of tea twist and twist and twist.

“Shouldn’t I be over all of this? Mo-Mogami and when Tsubomi-chan moved away. That was when I was fourteen. We’re practically adults now.”

Teru made a humming noise, dropping his head back to think. “Now, I’m good at a lot, Shigeo, but I’m not so sure any adult knows what they’re doing. Look at your master. He makes money off of people blaming their stress on supernatural causes when really they’re just overworked.”

“Sometimes they have real supernatural causes.”

Teru poked Shigeo’s far shoulder, making the other teen look up at him. He grinned at Shigeo. “Wouldn’t you say that getting trapped in some poor girl’s mindscape for six months is a legitimate supernatural cause?”

“Mm.” Shigeo looked down.

“Or a lifelong trauma caused from hurting your little brother? You were, what, six? That was eight years Shigeo. It’s been three since you’ve started opening up to yourself. No one is expecting you to be normal that fast.”

No accompanying noise from Shigeo this time. Teru pushed on, rubbing at the spot he’d poked soothingly. “What is normal anyway? We’re commoners, yeah, but we’re still not normal, either of us. Reigen is not normal. Tsubomi is not normal.”

“Tome-senpai is definitely not normal,” Shigeo offered after a moment.

Teru laughed, squeezing Shigeo tight. “No, she certainly isn’t. But most everybody likes her anyway. Everyone in our therapy group do, and so did those kids in that club she tried to strong-arm you into.”

Shigeo was thinking, plucking at a hangnail plaguing his hand so he no longer twisted his mug over and over and over. Teru waited, not wanting to say more, knowing his friend, his rival, his… liked to mull things for a little, chewing at ideas until he came to his own decision. Something that Teru couldn’t do. Something he was jealous of, loved in Shigeo.

“Sometimes, the nightmares get mixed up.”

Okay, Teru had been expecting for Shigeo to agree that all was good in the world and they’d drink tea and Teru would memorize just how Shigeo felt against his side all over again to torment the ache in his chest for another week or two. Shigeo, as always, brought it crashing around his head.

“What, what do you mean?”

“Everything that happened when I was fourteen.” Shigeo sighed, closing his eyes. “Ritsu’s kidnapping, the fire, Mogami… all of it was, is – ”

Teru pulled Shigeo closer, his own face warming up as Shigeo stiffly lay against his chest only to slowly relax, the hard lines of his shoulder and arm adapting to Teru’s softer frame. “Shigeo, I-I like you.”

You could drop a needle in the carpet and hear it for all the sound that was in the room. Outside, a car door slammed, making them both jump. Shigeo started to sit up again, but Teru held him tighter. “No, wait, hear me out.” He cleared his throat and closed his eyes, though Shigeo was not really looking at him. He could feel the tickle of his hair whenever either of them breathed. He was certain Shigeo could feel the panicked racing of his heart.

“When we first met, you refused to fight me. You talked to me the entire time I was trying to provoke you, but I didn’t listen. I, okay, let’s be real. I thought I had killed you at first.” This wasn’t the greatest start, remembering all this. He could feel Shigeo starting to look up and deftly put his chin on top of his head to stop him. “I told you, I worshipped the ground you walked on. I, I needed you. And you were there for me. Even when things kept going wrong in your life. I watched you reach out time and time again to help other espers, other adults, turn their lives around.

“So, your, your nightmares and all that baggage you still have from everything that happened? That’s fair. And I want to be here for you to sort through it. But I think you need to hear every now and then just how much good you did in that year too. You’re amazing Shigeo. I love that about you.”

“Ah. I thought you were confessing to me.”

Teru wondered after the jolt of fear that shot through him if Shigeo had felt it too because he could feel the other teen moving away from him. Did Shigeo look… disappointed? Maybe Teru needed a break from all this heavy talk because surely not, surely it was a mix of whatever else was going on in his head showing itself.

Still, Teru couldn’t stop blushing.

“Ah, that happens to you a lot, doesn’t it? The confusion thing. I remember a few months ago you thought Sakura-san was going to say she liked you?” Shigeo looked a little flustered, but Teru had already been reading him wrong, and he wanted to distract from his own insecurities. This was an easy topic. “What was it she wanted again?”

“For me to walk her home. She thought she was being followed.” His voice was a mumble. It was always a mumble though. Teru plowed ahead, the blood rushing about his head as he continued to distance himself from what Shigeo had said. He gave an awkward laugh, coasters rising and settling down again subtly around them.

“Or before that, what happened with that one girl who gave you chocolates?”

“She was trying to pass them on to you.” Shigeo shifted, straightening up. “Hanazawa-kun, can we get off this topic now?”

“R-right. It’s just a shame you know because you’re a really good guy Shigeo. Anyone would be lucky to have you and I – ” He cut himself off, but he could feel Shigeo staring at him, waiting. He thought I should say, I’ve been in love with you since you sent me to the clouds, since I learned you weren’t gold-plated or the sun or the moon but a normal person like me – he should say these things, but he couldn’t get his mouth to work.

Shigeo leaned against his shoulder, picking up his mug of cooling tea to sip at. “You should finish your tea Teru.”

Teru picked up his mug to sip at, discovering that, well of course it was cold. He warmed his hands with a spark of pyrokinesis, watching steam rise once more from its surface. Shigeo lifted his mug towards Teru, and without a thought he warmed it too.

“Have you thought about trying for the track team at Salt High?”

“Mm, I’m not sure I’m fast enough yet for their team.”

“Shigeo, come on, you have to try – ”

And just like that, they were back in their routine, painful memories and emotions not quite locked away or resolved, but there were more important things to worry about. Like Shigeo joining the cross-country team at school, or Tome’s latest escapade trying to get her and Teru’s therapy group to go out into the woods to hunt for spirits. Or the way Shigeo’s hand fell so easily back into Teru’s as they relaxed into the couch, curling up together to finish their tea.

It was a golden moment between a boy and his former god. Teru really, really felt lucky having Shigeo Kageyama in his life.

[missizzy]

New Fic: Habeas for Superheroes, Part 11: Finding Micro

Read entire fic on AO3

Foggy's afternoon was a welcomingly boring one.  Cheryl seemed a little distant the entire day, but she could have her space if she needed it.   Matt met her at the run-down pizza place she loved, where the pizza was so good he was willing to tune out the smell, he'd told her.  Or the cheese was, anyway; they did know better than to let any of the toppings come near Matt.  He did make several very soft spoken comments about the mushrooms on the slice the person nearest them were eating, which mostly made Foggy laugh.

They were nibbling the last bit of that glorious cheese off the crusts (possibly also worth eating; Foggy was still evaluating) when the text came from Karen.  We need to talk.  Your place again.

Matt got a second text as they were walking home, the phone announcing it as being from Jennifer.  "I'll listen to it later," he said.  "I know she doesn't want me for anything tonight."

Which meant he'd probably go out, unless Karen kept them a very long time.  She felt tempted to encourage the other woman to do so.

They came in to find Karen had again brought beer.  She'd already drunk halfway through the first bottle, which didn't make her look any less wound up.

Foggy walked fast to get her beer, Matt hurrying after her, which was how they got them open before she burst out, "You know that white guy Carson Wolf murdered in public in broad daylight?  Maybe not as dead as we thought.  Also, possibly Micro."

Matt actually laughed, the asshole.  Foggy made a large angry movement with her arm, but that only reduced him to mild giggling.

Until Karen said, "Ellison got a source basically saying he'd been leaking dirty secrets.  Then he got a visit from Wolf who spun the whole 'it'll interfere with an ongoing investigation' act, and it worked; he shelved the story.  He let me have a copy of it."  And she'd come with copies for Foggy and Matt both prepared.

They both read in silence, and then Matt said, "I'm afraid if Frank gets his hands on this, he'll go after Wolf, and there's a good chance that'll end with him killing him."

"And even putting aside the moral problem with that," Foggy added, "The four of us and our clients probably need him alive, Karen."

"But if we don't tell him," said Karen, "what do we do instead?   We and possibly this one hacker who is who-knows-where in this city are the only ones who have even multiple parts of the picture of this powerful man, and I am not going to just sit on that knowledge.  At the very least, I want to know just what Micro had on him."

Foggy saw the twitch on Matt's face, and sighed, "You want to go interrogate him in Frank's place, don't you?"

Matt actually was silent for a moment, then said, "I know it might not be the best idea, if he thinks we sent Daredevil.  But I'm not sure what the alternatives are.  Unless we can track down this hacker."

"Well," said Karen, "if he was able to track Frank down, and also that he knew it was him who'd killed the Watchdogs in the first place, he's obviously somewhere with a lot of hardware, and maybe not a lot of other people.  He also does have a wife and two children, and I don't know if they have any idea whether he's still alive or not, but..."

"If he's in Manhattan," said Matt, "I could probably find him within a week or so.  But are we sure he's even in New York City at all?"

"Ghost in New York was what he told Frank," said Karen.  "I wish we could get more on him.  I wonder...if maybe you went to Frank, and tried to get more details out of him?  Unless you think Frank would try to hurt you, but...well, I don't think he would."

"Probably not," Foggy said, "but you might not be able to get rid of him before you find Micro.  We don't even know how good that guy is at tracking, but obviously he's pretty good at it.  And I would not trust Frank not to kill our quarry."

"Maybe," Karen started hesitantly, "if we talked to Frank about why we need him not to..."

"I wouldn't trust to that with Wolf," said Matt, "because I think there's a good chance he might be linked to that so-called sting gone wrong that killed his family."

That felt like a shock for only a moment, until Foggy thought about it.  "I suppose if he did try to kill one guy to keep him from revealing what he knew...."

"And he has links to Kandahar, where Frank was deployed," Karen chimed in.  "And really, all sorts of stuff happens in Afghanistan they don't want anyone knowing about.  It's very possible, you know, that we haven't known half the truth of why that shootout at the carousel happened, especially when the woman who organized the sting got gunned down with extreme prejudice right in front of us-you know, we assumed it was Schoonover at the trigger, but he's not alive to confirm it either, and it could've easily been someone else still alive."

"Karen," Foggy said, "you do realize that if you're saying you think that whole thing was a very elaborate attempt to shut a certain someone up, the person who could confirm whether or not they actually might want to do that is still very much alive?"  She shook her head.   "I can't believe I'm suggesting this."

"She doesn't have to be the one to ask him about it," Matt said quickly.  "She's not even necessarily the person most likely to get a confession out of him.  He might not be willing to talk to her about it."

"He knows I'm no innocent flower," said Karen.  "He doesn't know everything about me, but he does know that."  But after another moment's thought, she added, "But I can't see myself having this conversation with him without revealing I talked with the two of you."

"If that's the case," said Matt, "I might as well come with you. At least for the first part of your meeting, though if he really wants to talk to only you, I can retreat."

"How far?"  Karen asked.  "He knows about the superhearing, right?"

"Yeah," said Foggy.  "I suppose you could lurk up on the buildings nearby and come running if you feel you have to intervene."

Matt looked pleased at the idea, but Karen shook her head.  "I don't like being less than honest with Frank.  And anyway, he probably wouldn't trust you enough for that.  You come with me, you come with me, simple as that.  And really, I don't know if he would believe you weren't in earshot if you didn't come.  Even if I said you weren't and he believed I was telling the truth, he'd likely just think you were there without my knowing it."

She was probably right about all that, so they agreed to it, and Karen went home to put the flowers up in her window.  Matt kissed Foggy in the way he often did just before going to put the suit on; Foggy wished she knew how to feel about that.  She'd retreated to her own work by the time he was heading out the roof entrance.

A Few Days Later

Foggy didn't even know that Matt and Karen were going to see Frank that afternoon until the evening.  Matt called her on her way home to tell her they were coming back together with tacos, and she pretty much knew then.  She got home first, and when Matt and Karen came in, she took in their troubled looks, and sighed, "How badly did it go?"

"He should keep from killing Wolf for now," said Karen.  "He wasn't too happy about it, though.  Especially because his opinion of your clients isn't too high right now.  The way he talked about Sam Wilson...he seems to see him and Rogers as having both betrayed the country they'd vowed to serve."

"Just by going rogue?  That's a bit rich coming from him," said Foggy, because it was.  "Does he even know about the part where Rogers was expected to just stand by and let the man who was his old sergeant as well as his best friend be murdered?"

"We should've pointed that out," Matt commented.  "It might need to be spelled out to him, since I don't think they're actually admitting to it, but I think he'd believe it once it was.  He's certainly been through enough himself for that, and if he doesn't know that now, I'm afraid he's going to find out very soon."

"He was involved with some very bad stuff in Afghanistan," said Karen, and her voice was trembling, just a little.  "Stuff overseen by the CIA.  He believes they had Congressional approval, but, well, I wonder.  He also thought to tell me this time that this isn't the first he's heard from Micro.  You remember how his house burned down?"

"That was Micro?!"  Foggy had to suppress to urge to demand they both run far away from this and let Frank do whatever the hell he wanted with this hacker.

Until Karen said, "No, it was Frank himself.  He just..."  She had to stop there, before continuing, "But before he did it, he found a CD there labelled 'Micro.'  Containing a video of what he and his squadmates did under Schoonover, on CIA orders.  He wouldn't tell us any more about its contents than that, but whatever they were doing on there, he wasn't proud of it.  Might have even been downright ashamed.   I....I couldn't entirely tell."

Matt put an arm around her.  She leaned into him without protest, eyes closed.

"And you think they might have tried to kill him to keep him from telling the wrong people?"  Foggy tried to keep it gentle as she nonetheless asked,  "But what about his squadmates?  Have they gone after them, too?  Who even filmed them in the first place?  Does he have any idea?"

"If he did, he didn't say," said Matt.  "We did ask about his squadmates, but he's only kept track of one of them, and he's apparently doing just fine, got out and has a successful company here in New York.  But he seems to think he pissed off their CIA liaison in particular-hinted there was some sort of altercation.  He did say the incident he got the medal for was related to their activities, and remember, he protested the mission beforehand, since he rightly though it was a trap."

"Who knows, they might have been trying to get them killed on purpose," said Karen, pulling away from Matt.  "And now they're after both of these men for what they know, committing murders to cover up probably more murders and who knows what else..."

Reminding her they didn't actually know that for sure was probably useless, the state she was in.  "If you're right," Foggy said instead, "I think all three of us and most of our friends really want to see that bastard arrested, or at least discredited.  If we don't want to confront him just yet, then we want to find Micro before Frank does. We don't know what he'd do to him, and even if he doesn't hurt him, he could still easily intimidate him out of doing anything besides grabbing his family and fleeing the city."

Matt and Karen nodded together.  "I'll start looking for him," he said.

"I can do a little more research on this city," said Karen.  "Maybe I'll find some possible locations."

So of course Matt went out that night, and as soon as they'd finished the tacos too.  Karen offered to stay, but Foggy was pretty sure she was going to nap anyway, then finish the day's work.  "I've got enough here I might just still be working when he gets back," she noted.

Except her nap didn't last as long as she would've liked.  Foggy was beset by restless dreams, mixing gunshots and soundclips of Ross with images of Wanda looking frightened, then beaten and bloody, much the way Matt often was when he limped home-and then, oddly enough, of Jennifer lying injured and near death.  It wasn't even an hour before she started awake, and knew within a few minutes she wasn't getting back to sleep.  And then, just to frustrate her more, she found herself struggling to concentrate on her work, her mind stubbornly clinging onto Matt out in the darkness.

It was nearly dawn when Matt returned to find her pressing her head down on the desk, doing too little of anything at all.  He didn't say anything at all at first, just leaned down and ran his hands soothingly down the back of her neck and shoulders, before pressing hard against the knot that had formed in one of her shoulder blades.  Foggy let herself relax, closing her eyes, not holding back the groan of pain fading into pleasure.

He made sure the knot was completely gone, before he said, "I found Lieberman.  His hide-out was right by the water, and had enough computers I could hear them from the bridge."

Foggy shot upward, all her tension coming straight back.  "That sounds more like a crazy man to me.  What the hell is he up to?  Is he planning to kill anyone?"

"I might get him to avoid that part.  In fact, I think he wasn't at all unhappy that I found him.  He wanted help from Frank, but it's possible we can give that to him without Frank getting involved.   Especially since his priority is being able to go home safely.  The problem is, not only does he know too much for that, but we don't even know how many people want him dead because of it-and what we do know is Wolf's not even the highest-ranked of them."

"And what exactly does he know?" asked Foggy.  "And how much pain is it going to cause poor Karen if she has to hear about it?"

"At least some, even if maybe it won't surprise her too much," said Matt grimly.  "Frank's squad was commandeered by the CIA to torture and kill people.  Commanded to commit war crimes, and they all of them committed them.  They were told Congress had approved, which apparently was enough for them to do it, but that wasn't even true.  And someone recorded them doing it, beating and then shooting a man who claimed he wasn't a terrorist...Leiberman played me the video, and I could only hear his voice, of course, but..."  Matt had to paused them, the impact of it clearly still with him.  "It left both of us convinced he'd done nothing wrong."

The horrificness of it all was too much for Foggy for a moment, and she couldn't help but say, "I really wish now we'd never taken him as a client."

Matt looked like he wanted to argue, but knew better.  "Lieberman didn't quite tell me how he got hold of the video, and he did say he doesn't know whose hands it passed through before it reached him.  He first tried to pass it on to this Homeland Security agent the victim worked with-and he's since hacked into enough stuff to be dead certain she didn't know-and he tried to cover his tracks but, well, it seems he didn't do good enough a job of it."

"What about the agent?"  Foggy asked.  "If they know she's received the video..."

"She's still alive right now," said Matt, "and from what he can gather, she's still in Afghanistan, hasn't managed to do anything about it yet, and they're trying to find an excuse to pull her out.  She's a resident of New York City, so if they succeed, we could add her to the list of people to potentially talk to."

"You want to trust a Homeland Security agent?  Even if she wasn't involved in what happened with her partner, even if she genuinely liked him...well, you know what Karen will say."

"I think we know what she's going to say for a lot of things.   But she's still in Afghanistan right now, anyway, and we can't do anything to help her there.  Even if we could get in contact with the Avengers, and they were willing to do something, I'm not sure they could."

Foggy kind of wished they could at the moment, though.  She supposed it was a little dicey, the general statement it would make if the higher-profile heroes gone rogue were the ones exposing governmental corruption, but the spiteful, angry part of her wanted it anyway.   Besides, it would probably make their own job easier.

Except Matt was continuing:  "Although that amount of access that guy has to information is kind of scary.  If they send any communications possibly related to doing anything to her, he could try to hinder them.  And a guy who can set up cameras in his own house and keep them running for months without his wife and kids having any idea as yet..."

"They don't know he's alive, then," Foggy interrupted, because that suddenly became something she wanted to have confirmed.

Here, Matt knew what she could say to that.  "Foggy," he said, "you can't deny it's safer for them that way.  The way Lieberman described all three of them, there'd almost certainly be at least one of them that just would not sit still, and the minute they take action, or even accidentally let slip his still being alive to the wrong person, all three of them become hopelessly easy targets."

"True," Foggy said, and he hoped her read her hammering heart as her not believing that, but just not being willing to argue with him over it at the moment.  And that this was the reason she then said, "So who goes to have the word with Wolf?  Does anyone?"

"I don't know how much he has that Lieberman didn't," said Matt. "And he even said he'd find out what he can about how those emails got leaked.  We might find reason to risk it eventually, or even not long from now, but..."

"Try to do everything sneakily first?"  Foggy did approve of that idea.  Doing things sneakily first did reduce the amount of violence a little bit.  "Or maybe just let the professional investigators do things sneakily first?"

"I've talked to Jessica about it already.  She seemed rather unimpressed with the lot of us, but said she'd try to find a few more names for us, at least."

"Good," said Foggy.  "Now, tell me you can sleep for at least a handful of hours before you need to be anywhere."  He was at least tired enough he would; she could tell that much.

When he nodded, head nearly shaking up and down, Foggy let herself have a deep breath, hoping Matt would chalk that up to her bringing herself down from the night's news.  Then, without any further words, she linked their arms together and led him into the bedroom.  She helped him strip down to leggings, and even the climb into the bed.   This was something she did sometimes, though usually when he was so tired he was nearly falling over.  She had to hope he was too tired to wonder why she was doing it now.

If he did, he didn't ask.  Foggy kissed him under his eyes as they fell shut, then went to shower and change into fresh clothes.  He was fast asleep by the time she was done, having succeeded in saying no more words to him that could've helped tip him off to the fact that she was about to go somewhere other than just directly to the office.

Mid-Morning

The train ride had taken longer than Foggy would've liked.  She might even get questions at work about where she had been, and she wasn't sure she could tell Cheryl about this one, for multiple reasons.  But she had already defied bigger reasons not to do this than that.

The Lieberman home was located in a pretty nice part of Queens, and far enough a walk away from the Metro that Foggy had plenty of opportunities to glance over her shoulder.  Maybe even more so because it wasn't even just their foes she was worried about.

Sarah Lieberman worked as a nurse, and when Foggy walked up to her door, she didn't even know if she'd be there; she had no idea of her schedule.  She had to come after the kids had gone off to school, though.  She wasn't so much of an idiot as to try this when the two kids were around.

As she approached the front door, she tried to look for the cameras without giving away that she was doing so.  She didn't spot anything.  It was also hard to keep a straight face, knowing that in all probability, David "Micro" Lieberman was sitting in front of one of his multiple computers watching her, all paranoid and thinking she was there to do who-knows-what.  And yet she suspected none of his guesses about her purpose would be the right one.

Foggy had to really hope Mrs. Lieberman was home, or, at the very least, she would be home the first time she came back here.  Lieberman saw her here three times, he'd probably take some sort of very possibly disastrous action.

But she ended up not having to worry about any of that.  Half a minute after she'd rapped on the door twice, it was answered by a weary-looking woman who asked if she could help her in an all too distracted tone.

"Hello, my name is Annabelle Sharpe," Foggy started, keeping her voice remarkably steady considering that she usually didn't do this particular kind of lying, "and I'm here to settle a dispute between a couple of your neighbors over their properties and what belongs to who. Don't worry, it doesn't involve you, but we would like your aid in establishing exactly where your own property ends and the Pallems' to the right begins."

"Oh, sure, of course.  I've got the papers for that in...in the office.  Just give me a second."  Foggy was glad to.  It gave her a chance to glance idly around and try to further surmise exactly where the cameras were.  They had to be less likely to be near the street, where there was far more chance of a passerby accidentally stumbling on them.  This plan probably wouldn't get them fully out of sight of their lenses, but they could stand at the front right corner for at least a few minutes and talk quietly without raising suspicion, and hopefully they'd be far away enough for their words to not be picked up.

She came back with the papers, and led Foggy over to where the border between the properties was largely delineated by fences, "but it doesn't quite go all the way; we didn't want to the fence to be that long, and with the cost being measured per-"

Softly, just loud enough to cut off her babbling, Foggy said, "Your husband's alive."

"WHAT?"  And she nearly ruined it with her reaction; she would've yelled more had Foggy not grabbed her shoulder and hastily shushed her.

"Also," she hissed, "he's got cameras set up all around here, so we need to keep our voices down.  And my name's not Annabelle Sharpe, it's Foggy Nelson; I had to give a fake name because he might've recognized my real one.  My husband's in contact with him, and they both think it's safer for you and your children to not know about any of this, but..."

"Oh, bullshit!" Mrs. Lieberman slapped her away, and then turned and started storming back towards the house.

There was no way to avoid suspicion now, so Foggy hastily followed her with a, "Look, I know it sounds absurd..."

"It would if it were anyone else," Mrs. Lieberman replied, without breaking pace, "but as it happens I can find out for myself if you're telling the truth quickly enough."

She was walking too fast for Foggy to quite catch up.   Technically, she ended up slamming the front door in her face, though that was simply because she wasn't paying attention to Foggy being right behind her.  Foggy pulled it back open to no protest.  Mrs. Lieberman was too busy striding into her kitchen, saying, "If he's really set up the cameras there's no way one won't be in..."  She flung the door to the furthest cabinet open, and Foggy saw her remove a pack of flour and some smaller packets, before breathlessly exclaiming, "Well!"

Foggy joined her in front of the now exposed camera.  It was small and far back enough that only a tiny red light made it easy to spot.  She glanced at the cabinet doors, and spotted the tiny hole in one of them; she might not have if she hadn't been looking for it.

"You do realize," she said, "I was hoping to tell you this without him finding out."

"Well, fuck that," Mrs. Lieberman retorted, still staring straight in the camera.  "And fuck you, David!  Now unless you want me to tear this city apart and probably get myself arrested for disturbing the peace, you are either going to come right here or you are going to contact me right now and tell me where the hell you are!"