#I left my own copy at home because it's too precious to risk travel

[leogichidaa]

Going to the library to convene with God (Carl Gustav Jung)

[beca-mitchell]

even when my body blows away, my soul will stay (1/1)

Summary: Four days in NYC away from her very pregnant girlfriend feels like a lifetime. But at least Beca has the cutest travel buddy ever—her two-year-old baby.

Word count: 4,539

Notes: Title from Ingrid Michaelson’s “Home”. I don’t really know what this is...just go with it. For @asimplefavors. This is a bit into the future (obviously) of this universe and subsequently reveals a lot more about Beca and Chloe's relationship and where it is. 

Hope you enjoy and sorry this isn't smutty.

Read below or on AO3.

* * * * * 

Age: 31/32 New York, New York February

 * * * * *

Emma trots in front of Beca, just a step or two ahead, happily wielding her miniature purse like she knows exactly how to pose for cameras already. Beca tilts her head with a smile, wondering just when Emma grew up so quickly right before her eyes.

As always when she thinks about Emma, she thinks about Chloe, back home in their Los Angeles villa...and, of course, their newest family member who is well on her way.

She thinks of Chloe’s decidedly grumpy face as Beca and Emma left just yesterday morning, but Chloe is simply too pregnant to travel and Beca’s press obligations for her voice-acting role in an upcoming animated film seemed like a good opportunity to get Emma out of the house. Also, some much-needed one-on-one time and a break for Chloe and her seemingly endless patience for Emma’s incessant demands as to when her (Emma had somehow taken a liking to referring to their incoming family member as her own baby, which despite Beca and Chloe’s endless efforts ) baby would be ready to play. Or whether Chloe would let her balance her blocks on her stomach again.

Still, Beca misses Chloe terribly and more than ever, wishes she were back on the west coast cuddling with the love of her life in their comfortable home. She winces as the sound of cars rushing all around them and quickly reaches out to hold Emma’s hand.

“Stay close to me,” Beca instructs when she sees the paparazzi ahead of them, already snapping photos. They seem docile for the moment, only occasionally shouting out questions. Beca somewhat recognizes their faces as regulars whenever she comes to New York. She only hopes that they keep their voices low and their words appropriate as to not startle or scare Emma.

Not that it seems like Emma is paying them any mind. Beca’s grin grows again when she notes how big of a fucking ham her kid is, playing it up for the camera. She just knows Emma got that from Chloe, somehow. All that confidence and taking everything in stride. It had taken Beca years before getting used to the entire atmosphere of being famous and most days she’s still not used to it. She’s not quite sure how she feels about Emma adapting so easily to all of this, but for now she’s just happy that Emma is content.

She makes a mental note to tell Chloe about it and maybe perhaps even break their code about looking at paparazzi photos because she’s pretty damn sure that the fact that Emma’s jacket matches her own jacket is something that might be so ridiculously cute that Chloe will demand they print a few copies. Beca makes an additional mental note to thank her stylist for pulling strings and getting almost an exact miniature replica of the designer suit jacket Beca has on. It looks adorable on Emma and Beca isn’t afraid to say it.

“We say hello?” Emma asks, slowing to a stroll as they near the wall of people waiting for Beca just at the entrance to the building.

“Not today, Em. Maybe one or two, but mama has to go inside really quickly, okay?”

Emma smiles at her. “Okay, mama.”

Beca smiles back before bending down to pick Emma up quickly. “Don’t look at the lights, baby.”

Emma tucks her head against Beca’s shoulder in a brief show of shyness before she nods. “Okay, mama,” she repeats like the absolute angel she is.

It turns out that her daughter is a bit of a trickster too because the moment they get close enough for somebody to fire off a question, Emma’s head immediately pops up and she responds animatedly as if Beca’s words had no meaning whatsoever.

“Beca! Beca—what’s next on the agenda for you?”

“Is Chloe with you? Is she supposed to be travelling?”

“Beca, how’s the wife?”

Beca chuckles at that particular question without responding. She knows it is something that is purposefully brought up time and time again simply because the world refuses to let go of the fascination surrounding her and Chloe’s decision to not get married before having Emma. She supposes now with a second child on the way, the rumour mill is exceptionally full and just desperate in its desire to unleash something particularly spiteful.

“No comment,” Beca says at large, smiling apologetically at the one fan who managed to sneak her way into the throng of paparazzi. She would stop but with her arms full of precious cargo, she doesn’t feel like risking a potential injury, especially for Emma with all the heavy equipment around.

Emma grins at the closest reporter before she begins to wave, cheerily saying, “Hello!” and “Bye-bye!” like she is absolutely a pro at delivering soundbites. Then, to Beca’s horror, Emma says, “butter on mommy!” with absolutely no context because she’s, well, two, but Beca’s face heats up immediately, already envisioning future headlines. Beca Mitchell—butter kink? It is possibly still the cutest thing ever however because Emma says it with such determination, but because of her tiny high-pitched voice, it comes out sounding 100 times less incriminating than if Beca had said something like that herself.

To be fair, Emma is referring to how she has recently been allowed to help Chloe apply body butter to her growing stomach. Unfortunately that is not easily contextualized. Still, Beca hastens to correct that before it gets back to Chloe who probably won’t be too happy with that characterization. “She means, like, lotion,” she explains hastily before pulling open the door and darting inside, still unsure if that was a better explanation at all. She chuckles at Emma’s bewildered expression upon not being able to talk with her ‘friends’. “Told you we had to be quick.”

The security guard gestures towards the elevators. “Right this way, Ms. Mitchell.”

Beca pauses in her blatant adoration of her child and slips on her professional mask. “Right, thank you.”

“Mama work?” Emma asks as they enter an elevator. Then, sadly, “Mama bye-bye?”

“Yeah, just for a bit,” Beca says, reaching up to brush at Emma’s hair. “But you can play with Julia,” she says excitedly, referring to her publicist who somehow manages to hold lengthy conversations with her toddler. It is a skill that few adults seem to be able to achieve with Emma, outside of Beca and Chloe.

“Juwia,” Emma repeats.

“Julia,” Beca attempts to correct even though she thinks Emma’s speech is the cutest ever. She wouldn’t be opposed to hearing those little blips and the sound of tiny voice for a little while longer.

“Juwia.”

“Okay,” Beca laughs.

Emma laughs back like she’s sharing a secret joke with Beca, reaching up to touch Beca’s cheek tenderly before she sighs and rests her head against Beca’s shoulder. Before Beca can do something totally embarrassing like take a million selfies just to send to Chloe, the elevator dings open and Beca mourns the loss of their little bubble being burst as light floods into the small space. Before she knows it, she is already being ushered off into the little green room where she’s meant to get ready with her team.

Emma giggles delightedly upon seeing Hannah who immediately squeals in return and drops her make-up bag on the closest chair and reaches out to pull Emma in for a kiss and a hug. Beca should be concerned at how easily her kid willingly just goes to other people, but she warms at the sight of a group of people she trusts interact so freely and wonderfully with her baby.

And another one on the way soon, Beca’s mind reminds her as if she had somehow forgotten.

“Missing the wife?” Hannah asks knowingly once Emma scurries off to find Jill who is likely hanging up a few of Beca’s clothing choices. She smirks at the way Beca bristles.

“The wife,” Beca says with emphasis and an eye-roll. “Is, unfortunately, a bit too pregnant to fly without me popping an aneurysm on the flight. So she’s at home. And yes, yes, I am missing Chloe, but Emma and I have some time, which is nice.” Beca shrugs, trying to play off exactly how much she misses her girlfriend and tries to get back into the professional mindset.

“Jill has a couple fun outfits for you,” Hannah announces, deftly changing the subject. She hums and reaches out to examine Beca’s hair. “Both of you in case your mini-me wants to match again.”

Beca is secretly excited at the prospect of matching with Emma, mostly because she knows Chloe is going to love it (and likely cry over it, but Beca knows how to soothe her at this point). Outwardly, she simply tries not to smile too much as Hannah begins to fiddle with her make-up and guide Beca over to the miniature sink so she can first wash her face. Beca sighs, knowing that she has to get this over with. She lets the sound of Emma’s delighted screams in the distance soothe her.

  * * * * *

 “Hey,” Beca murmurs, settling on the couch quietly when she has a moment to spare. Chloe’s voicemail had been a disappointment, but she can’t blame Chloe for taking the opportunity to sleep in without a rambunctious two-and-a-half-year-old in the house. “I guess you’re still sleeping, but I just wanted to call to say I love you and I miss you...and Emma can’t shut up about you. We’re basically falling apart without you, hope you’re happy.”

“Mommy?” Emma chimes in from Beca’s immediate left. She reaches for the phone and peers at the screen confusedly as if expecting Chloe’s face to be there. “Mommy,” she repeats, looking up at Beca.

“Mommy’s sleeping so I’m leaving a message for her before I go to work,” Beca explains. Emma is accustomed to FaceTime and seeing Beca or Chloe’s faces on the small screen. “Want to tell mommy you love her?”

“Kisses!” Emma exclaims before planting a huge kiss right on Beca’s phone screen. Beca winces at the amount of spit that ends up on the screen and makes a note to teach Emma how to kiss with her mouth closed. “Kisses for mommy,” Emma declares before handing the phone back to Beca with no small measure of pride.

Emma darts off again, endlessly entertained. Beca wipes the screen hastily before pressing the phone back to her ear.

“Okay, Emma says she loves you and she basically just licked my phone screen to do so...hope you’re happy, Chlo.” Beca chuckles, her heart clenching unexpectedly when there is no Chloe to respond in kind. She misses Chloe so much already and they’ve only been away for a day. “I miss you,” she says again. “Hope you and baby are doing okay. I’ll call you later. And if you’re bored without us, don’t clean the whole fucking house,” Beca instructs, making sure to lower her voice in case Emma is nearby again. “Just chill out, okay? Okay,” she repeats, mostly to herself because it’s weird not hearing Chloe’s voice agreeing with her or bantering back and forth with her. “Bye, gotta go.”

Tapping off the call, Beca sighs. She rests her phone on her lap and closes her eyes for a moment.

A throat is cleared. “Are you ready?”

She opens her eyes and clicks her phone open so she can just take in the photo she has as her lockscreen: Chloe and Emma and herself all at Santa Monica Pier. If Beca takes a moment, she can remember exactly how the sun had felt against her skin; how tightly Emma had gripped her hand as Chloe and her had swung their baby around, walking up and down the pier; she can feel the gentle press of Chloe’s lips against her cheek just after this photo was taken, cold like the ice cream she had just finished.

She can see it all—the endless miles of past memories and future memories—and she feels so incredibly lucky to share it with the love of her life.

She just has to make it through these next few days and she can return home and their family can be together again. The separation anxiety is likely only raring its head in such a horrible way this time around because Chloe is so close to her due date and Beca is feeling exceptionally protective and anxious. That much she knows. But she really, truly hates being apart from her family at all. She didn’t expect the day to drag on so long...and it is still technically morning.

She gazes at the photo again, hearing the echo of Chloe’s laugh in her ear.

“Yeah,” Beca finally says. “Let’s go.”

  * * * * *

 The next two hours of press junket interviews drag on, but Beca wills herself to keep a smile plastered on her face throughout the entirety of the time period, lest her publicist chide her for being too overtly wry or grim for a children’s movie. Beca pretty much is only doing this for her own kids (kids! plural!) because she wants cool mom points and it seems like doing voice work for major animated movies is the way to go.

Also, singing.

She is mulling over an interview opportunity that had just been suggested to her when she finally hears the sound of Emma’s giggling from behind the door.

“Ugh, finally,” Beca drawls out loudly as to announce her presence to her giggling child. She pulls her hair free from the loose up-do she had, shaking it out as she enters the green room only for Emma to dart out to greet her instead. “Hey! Where are you going?”

“Apple,” Emma says, holding the banana up for Beca to look at.

“Banana,” Beca corrects.

“Apple,” Emma insists before giggling at Beca’s inability to recognize the fruit in her hand. Beca reaches for her and she screams, darting off. Beca makes a mental note to ask if Julia had slipped some alcohol or sugar to her kid because what the hell? Beca shakes her head, pulling out her phone to dial Chloe’s number while she has down time before her next round of interviews.

Chloe picks up just as Beca is totally prepared to leave another message. “Finally,” Chloe complains jokingly. “Thought you’d never call me back.”

“Chlo, hi,” Beca says breathlessly as she chases after Emma who is rushing at a surprisingly fast pace down the hall. She offers an apologetic smile at one of her costars who looks entirely too amused at Beca power-walking down the hall in heels. “Your kid is literally running away from me right now.”

Chloe’s laugh is like music. “My kid now? Pretty sure she came out of you.”

“Shut up, she’s yours when she’s crazy fast.”

Chloe sighs like she is reclining comfortably on their bed. Beca is immediately envious. “Hmm, pretty sure you were the one on the track team, babe.”

“Hey, one of the outlets had a fun idea for an interview,” Beca says, finally catching up with her baby. “What would you say to letting me and Emma do a little interview? It’d be like a behind the scenes bonus video for YouTube. Julia thinks it’s a good idea but I dunno…”

Chloe laughs. “That sounds crazy enough to go viral.”

“But the exposure,” Beca worries.

“I know,” Chloe agrees softly. “I don’t want it to be too much for her but…”

“We can request that they turn off comments for the video,” Beca suggests. “But if you think I shouldn’t, then that’s totally fine. I want to know what you think.”

“God, she really is such a ham for the camera,” Chloe murmurs. Beca laughs, wondering if Chloe is looking at the earlier photos.

“Definitely didn’t get that from me,” Beca mumbles.

“Alright, miss Vogue covergirl.”

“Chloe,” Beca whines. “Stop that.”

“Stop what?”

“Stop flirting with me and answer me!” Beca jokes, feeling a light pang in her chest as Chloe laughs along with her.

“Bec, it’s fine. I trust your judgement and honestly it doesn’t sound horrible. And maybe I just want to see how cute my girlfriend and daughter are on screen together.”

For some reason the word “girlfriend” stands out to Beca in full force today. Whether it’s because she just happens to be missing Chloe more or because she feels an itch to settle down more than ever before, she can’t be sure. One thing is for certain, Beca knows she needs to have a conversation with Chloe sooner or later.

“Okay,” Beca finally says. She sighs. “I just...wish you were here. I wish you could be here.” She holds on to a squirming Emma. “Want to talk to this little punk?”

Chloe laughs. “Sure, put her on FaceTime.”

Beca does so and immediately wishes she had thought to FaceTime Chloe right at the beginning. She breaks into a smile at Chloe’s face appearing on her screen. “Emma! Baby, look! It’s mommy!”

Emma gasps dramatically and immediately grabs at the phone, dropping the “banana” she had been holding on the floor. She holds the phone away from her face at arms-length, smiling so widely that Beca wonders if her face hurts at all. “Mommy! Mommy, hi!”

“Emma! You look so cute! I love your hair, sweetie! Are you having fun?”

“Mama working!”

Chloe gasps. “I know! And you’re being a good girl right?”

Emma smiles, this time shyly in a complete show of how she has both Chloe and Beca wrapped around her tiny finger because Beca can see how Chloe visibly softens even through the screen. “Good girl,” Emma repeats before pointing at herself. “Miss you, mommy,” she says, pressing closer to the screen as if she can get closer. She looks like she might kiss the screen again but she just falls silent for a short moment, content with just watching Chloe smile back at her.

Beca totally relates.

  * * * * *

 Emma has an intuition. At first, Beca had rolled her eyes at Chloe when Chloe had pointed it out, but now she kind of sees what Chloe means.

It’s a kind of...jealousy instinct? Beca isn’t sure how to characterize it without being totally weird considering Emma is two (and a half...Jesus, already?), but it’s that Emma kind of knows when people are flirting with Beca or hitting on her (usually totally unprofessionally, but that’s another issue)...and it’s usually before Beca herself realizes what’s going on.

She isn’t expecting it to flare up during this press tour considering Beca’s just there for work and she isn’t even dressed to the nines, but Beca notices that Emma suddenly takes to cuddling close to her while she is in the middle of interacting with an over-enthusiastic interviewer off-camera, off-record.

“Hi you,” Beca greets, reaching down to lift Emma into her arms. She smiles apologetically at Angela (or was it Amy?). “Sorry, you were saying?”

“Oh, she’s adorable. Yours, right? She looks exactly like you.”

Before Beca can respond with an awkward thank you (she still doesn’t know how to take compliments even though she wholeheartedly agrees that Emma is the cutest baby on the planet), Emma is grabbing her cheeks with both hands and saying, with startling firmness, “mommy kiss.”

Beca isn’t quite sure what to make of that and gently shakes her face out of Emma’s grasp, raising an eyebrow.

“Are you mommy?” the interviewer asks with a laugh, none the wiser.

“Mommy kiss!” Emma repeats before turning to stare at the interviewer with a look that Beca has definitely seen before...on Chloe’s face.

Oh.

Beca’s face heats up. “Um, yeah. I’m...yeah,” she lies before laughing awkwardly. She takes a quick step back feeling guilty for no real discernible reason, but now that she’s actually looking, the body language is—yeah. Awkward. “I think she’s a little cranky, I’m just going to let her lie down for a bit, but it was nice talking to you.” Beca can’t quite make it away fast enough, barely resisting from bursting into laughter as she exits into a quiet room, away from prying eyes. “You’re horrible, you know that?” she tells Emma affectionately. “No,” she sighs. “You’re not. You’re like...ridiculously perfect.”

“Sleep now?” Emma asks eagerly. “Sleep, mama,” she insists, sounding so much like Chloe that Beca has to do a double take.

“Soon,” Beca promises.

  * * * * *

 By the third night, Beca is so exhausted from all the running around that she can barely keep her eyes open. However, Emma is rolling around in the large bed, excitedly playing with the stuffed Pluto that Beca had bought her from the Disney Store in Times Square. Emma makes little shrieking sounds that Beca thinks sound like barks, but she can’t be sure. Emma could just be screaming for the sake of screaming and Beca wouldn’t be any wiser.

“Read, mama!” Emma says once Beca finishes towelling off her hair.

Beca flops onto the bed next to Emma, pulling Pluto from her. “This is a dog,” she says clearly. “What sound do dogs make?”

Emma makes a barking sound.

“Oh, so you do know what they sound like,” Beca mutters. She grins and leans into press kisses against Emma’s rosy cheeks, eliciting giggles and flailing arms as Emma tries to push her away.

“Mama, stop!”

“Okay, okay,” she relents. She can’t help but kiss Emma’s cheek again, revelling in the soft scent of soap and baby powder that fills her nose. “Do you want a story before bed?”

Emma nods. “Story,” she says slowly. “Please.” Beca melts because Emma hasn’t quite mastered all her “l” sounds, so it comes out more like pwease and Beca never thought she’d be that mother but she absolutely wants to record every last thing she does.

“What books did we bring with us?” Beca asks aloud. She reaches over to the backpack leaning against the bed, pulling out a series of picture books. “Which one tonight?”

Emma points immediately at her favorite, a story about farm animals which means that Beca will have to make all the animal noises as best as she can.

She’s horrifically bad at that. Even after years in the music industry and literally doing voice work, she still feels woefully inadequate compared to Chloe.

“Are you sure?” Beca tries. “What about this one? There’s singing!”

“Dis one,” Emma says immediately and firmly. Unfortunately her daughter prefers animals over singing. Chloe’s child through and through, Beca thinks with mock-betrayal in her mind.

“Okay, fine,” Beca says. “But you owe me.”

Emma nods like she understands.

Together, they settle back in bed. Beca loves these moments the most, especially in the liminal spaces of the hotel rooms she often finds herself in. Most of the time she’s alone and she longs for the comfort of home. Now, she at least has Emma’s warm body snuggled against her side. She and Chloe have been slowly weaning Emma off from falling asleep in their bed with them, so it’s something that Beca has begun to miss a bit more with each passing day. Emma cuddles into her side, resting her head against Beca’s arm, reaching up to clutch at the fabric of Beca’s shirt. Beca points at each word as she reads, wondering if any of the sentences are really sinking in. Emma giggles—each giggle decreasing in volume—with each animal sound that Beca makes until finally she is silent, her head drooping against Beca’s forearm.

There is nothing quite like the feeling of successfully helping her child fall asleep comfortably. It is better than any validation Beca could receive.

Beca flips the book closed and places it gingerly on the side table. She gently maneuvers them both so they both end up under the sheets and kisses Emma’s forehead one last time before she feels exhaustion catch up with her.

Her last thought before sleep claims her is how incredibly large and empty the bed feels.

  * * * * *

 Before Beca knows it, it is finally their last day in New York. Emma has unfortunately chosen this day to be grouchy and refuses to wake up early so that they can catch their flight back to Los Angeles.

“Don’t you want to see mommy?” Beca pleads, trying to pull Emma’s leggings on. Baby clothes are somehow the hardest pieces of clothing Beca has ever had to wrestle with. “Don’t you want to see mommy and baby?”

“Mommy,” Emma whines.

Beca senses an impending tantrum. “Hey, hey, we’re going home, okay? Don’t you want to tell mommy all about your trip? And how much of a big girl you are now?”

“Go home now?” Emma asks, sniffling.

“Yes! Aren’t you excited? I’m excited. We get to see mommy again!”

Emma allows her to put a sweater over her head, though she still stares at Beca with mild disdain in her blue eyes like she isn’t quite sure what she agreed to. Beca is obsessed with her.

“Come on, little weirdo.” She picks Emma up off the bed, ignoring her squirming. “Let’s go home.”

  * * * * *

 Emma, who had been on the verge of sleep the entire drive from the airport, is suddenly wide awake as the car pulls around the corner of their street. Beca laughs when Chloe flings the door open and has to literally hold onto the back of Emma’s shirt as to stop her from launching right out the window.

“Okay, now you can go,” Beca says, opening the door for her.

Emma shrieks happily and toddles up the path to their house right into Chloe’s arms. Chloe, who immediately bends down as best as she can to sweep her into a tight hug. As Beca approaches with their bags, making sure to shut the gate behind her, she hears Emma babbling nonsensically to Chloe about their trip, ostensibly. Beca catches the tail end of a few words like “Dog” and “Julia” and “Mama”. It almost sounds like an entire paragraph of coherent sentences. Almost.

“Hey you,” Chloe says once Emma releases her and wanders into the house, likely in search of her toys. “Oh my God, are you Beca Mitchell?”

Beca rolls her eyes, pushing her sunglasses up above her forehead. “Shut up, nerd. How have you been,” she asks, tone softening.

Chloe’s palm touches her stomach, a soft smile stretching across her face. “Still pregnant.”

“I can see that,” Beca says before she can help herself.

Chloe swats her immediately. “Don’t be rude.”

“I’m not!” Beca exclaims, laughing. She bends down to press a soft kiss to Chloe’s stomach, only slightly disappointed when there isn’t a kick in return.

“She’s missed you.”

“She has?” Beca asks, straightening so she can cup the back of Chloe’s neck. She smiles, leaning in for a kiss, sighing longingly against Chloe’s lips. “What about...other people? Have there been others who have missed me?”

“I’ve missed you,” Chloe murmurs, giving in far quicker than Beca expected. She pulls Beca in for a slow, wanting kiss, ending the kiss with a soft nip to Beca’s lower lip.

Beca shivers, even as the hot California sun beats down on the back of her neck.

She is so happy to be home.

fin.

*see more of this universe—now i see daylight.*

[magnoliasinbloom]

Awake

Previously - AO3

14: London and Glasgow

* * *

“Hey, love!”

“Did ye get it?” Jamie asked eagerly.

“I did. Thank you, you knew how much I wanted to read it.” I thumbed through my very own copy of Crazy Rich Asians, hand-delivered by Jamie’s friend John, who had business in London. I tucked the phone more firmly against my shoulder, juggling my purse and the book while attempting to open my locker.

“I realize ye could just as easily purchase it there, or get an e-reader version, but—”

“Jamie, I love that you thought of me, and I really appreciate printed books. What kind of girlfriend would I be if I didn’t, you owning a bookshop and all?” I laughed, toeing off my shoes to change.

“I do admit traveling to Glasgow just to buy a book isnae practical at all and…” he trailed off. “Girlfriend?”

I paused, half-dressed. “What? Aren’t we… I thought, when I left—”

“No, no,” he said hurriedly. “It’s just that… this feels like more. Ye ken, us.”

“More.”

“Aye.”

“Weel,” I replied, in imitation of his Scottish burr. “I don’t think more even begins to cover it.”

* * *

They tried to go slow, that first time. Held back by the promise of their bodies that there would be more times when they would lay like this, they savored the initial touches, their hands measured and unhurried. Eventually, the time and distance they had spent apart took its toll and hunger set in.

Their bodies, pressing, wanting, striving to reach an end to the urgency that threatened to consume them. She took his moans in her mouth, and Jamie endured her nails on his back. The red of his hair stood in stark contrast to the ivory of her breasts as he trailed his way down, down, down…

Sliding into her, she cried out in pleasure, spurring him on. Jamie thrust, deeper and deeper as she clenched around him. Soon, the heat and silk of her drove him to his own ending. His arms gave out, and he rested with his head pillowed on her chest.

The candlelight gilded the hollow of Claire’s back as they fell asleep together. It was not the firelight of their shared dream, but close enough that another dream had come true.

* * *

“I don’t think we really considered it. Frank—I wanted to, but I was also focused on my career.” I glanced guiltily into my tea cup, tracing the rim with my finger.

“Do you? Want to, I mean?” Jamie’s hand closed over mine.

“Maybe. Perhaps being a doctor is not ideal for raising children. Time wise.” I raised my eyes and forced myself to look at him.

“I canna deny that I would like children, someday. Preferably with ye.” He smiled gently. “But I also ken I canna force this on you or any woman. We have to both of us agree, and I willna make ye choose between me or your doctoring either. I want ye to be happy.”

“I know I’d be happier with you, children or no. But Jamie…” I hesitated briefly. He deserved to know. “Even with Frank, we were not not-trying, and with no contraception—I never conceived. I mean, neither of us were tested, but I think—” I was babbling.

Jamie was silent. I tried to extricate my hand from his, sure that he wouldn’t want me now, but he held fast.

“Claire,” he said finally, gripping my hand tighter. “I dinna mind. If I just have ye, it is more than enough.”

“More?” I said timidly, raising his hand to my lips.

“It is everything,” he said softly.

* * *

Jamie closed the box. “I found old letters, deeds, and records, Sassenach. My godfather Murtagh also told me about some material he has.” He placed the box back on the shelf in the study.

“So, what is it?”

“Parts of the broch were built in the 12th century, on what was believed to be sacred ground. People would lay offerings on the spot. There are other places considered important, for worship, aye?”

“If they’re anything like what we felt in the tower that day, I can imagine.” Claire’s voice sounded far away. And it was—all the way back in London, while he gazed at the sheep in the fields behind Lallybroch.

“There’s another relatively near, a hill called Craigh na Dun. It’s a wee circle of standing stones.”

“Sounds ominous. Best not go there then, who knows what could happen,” she said playfully.

“Ye should come back to me here to Lallybroch, though, and ye ken well what will happen,” Jamie whispered into the phone, just to hear her laugh.

* * *

“I’m so, so, sorry Jamie, he… tried to kiss me, he just grabbed me and I…”

“What? Who did?” Jamie’s voice sounded rough; I had just woken him up in the small hours of the morning.

“Dr. Bonnet, the internist. He came into the locker room when I was changing, though luckily I was dressed already—”

“Claire.” A voice so calm and deadly.

“I’m sorry, Jamie.” My voice shook

“Why the hell are ye apologizing? Ye did nothing wrong, ye hear me? No, I’m going to kill him, I will get on a train this minute, find him and fucking disembowel him. I will—” Jamie went on while I sniffled and hiccoughed, stopping short of threatening to pillage and burn the hospital with Bonnet in it, his Viking heritage surfacing.

When he began cursing in Gaidhlig, I interrupted. “Jamie, don’t bother, love.”

“What do ye mean don’t bother, he disrespected you! He touched ye without your consent!”

“I know. I kneed him in the balls. It made him throw up.”

“Oh.”

* * * As fair art thou, my bonie lass, So deep in luve am I; And I will luve thee still, my dear, Till a' the seas gang dry.

Jamie glanced at Claire, tucked into his side. Her breathing was regular, warm on his chest. He laid the book on her nightstand carefully, so as not to dislodge and wake her. He cherished these precious moments they had together; they seemed far between.

Claire murmured in her sleep, pressing closer, as though agreeing with his thoughts. He so wanted moments like this, every night, for the rest of his life. But he was afraid to ask, afraid that it might be too soon… afraid enough to not risk losing her. Even with the distance…

Tho' it were ten thousand mile.

* * *

“Claire.”

I whirled around; Frank was standing behind me, a slim blonde woman on his arm. I must have gaped a little, because Frank cleared his throat and introduced us.

“Claire, this is Sandy. We, um, work together. Sandy, this is Claire, my… ex-wife.”

“Hello.” Sandy’s voice was prim and tight.

“What are you doing here?” I addressed Frank, trying to ignore Sandy without seeming too rude.

“We are visiting Sandy’s grandmother here at St. Mary’s. She just had a stroke.” Frank fidgeted and scratched his nose. That had always been his tell for whenever he felt awkward or uncomfortable. At the moment, it made three of us. Sandy sniffed and nodded.

“I’m sorry to hear that. I hope she recovers.” My name was called and I groped on the counter for the to-go cup of tea I had ordered. I toyed with the cardboard collar on it, unsure of what to say next.

Sandy saved me from further conversation when she exclaimed suddenly, “Darling, we must be going! Papa is expecting us at Hélène Darroze.”  

“It was lovely to see you, Claire. You look well.” Frank leaned in as though to kiss me goodbye. I recoiled, unable to help myself, and caught Frank’s wince as I did so. Sandy tugged on his arm, a smirk on her face as she waved goodbye with fluttering fingers.

I watched as they left, before sprinting back to the hospital. I immersed myself in work, counting the minutes until I could call Jamie and vent. He could always make me feel better, no matter what.

Finally, it was time to leave. I pulled my phone from my bag and dialed his number, plopping down on the bench outside the hospital. I pinched the bridge of my nose, willing myself not to cry. “Pick up, please pick up…” It rang and rang.

“Claire.” His voice was behind me.

I whirled around; Jamie’s arms wrapped around me.

* * *

“I’ve been thinking…” Claire trailed off, dreamily gazing beyond the fencing of the kailyard. Her hands continued digging potatoes, as confident working the land as she was in an operating room.

Jamie pulled out a clump of weeds. “Aye, Sassenach?”

“I think I need a change of air. At work. From work, I mean. The city, I don’t know. Maybe—maybe something closer. To you.”

His hands went still over the soil. They trembled slightly, and so many words rushed up that they choked him silent.

“Jamie?” Her tone was anxious. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to push. I know you we both like having our space, and I just thought we could be a little closer.”

“Stop.” Jamie found his voice. He swallowed hard. “Nothing would make me happier. Have ye thought of where you’d like to work?”

She sighed, relieved. “I thought maybe Edinburgh. Or Glasgow.”

He grinned. “Make it Glasgow. If ye can.”

They kept working, helping Jenny with the outdoor work as much as they could – she was expecting again. Claire said she didn’t mind, spending a rare weekend off doing farm work. It never ceased to amaze Jamie how at home Claire looked at Lallybroch, feeding hens and sheep, planting seeds for the wee herbs to season stews and brew healing concoctions.

The sun was near setting when they finished in the kailyard. Claire held a sack full of potatoes; Jamie took it from her and set it by the gate. “I’ve also been thinking—about remodeling and reinforcing the broch. I dinna want to tear it down, it being such a part of Lallybroch. Will ye come take a look at it wi’ me?”

“Of course.” Claire slipped her hand into his and they made their way to the tower. As they approached, a slight hum thrummed in the air, but not so powerfully as last time. Jamie took a deep breath as he held the wooden door open for her.

Stepping inside, he caught her gasp of surprise. Ian had helped, and the children.

Fairy lights were strewn all around the lower rafters, illuminating the ancient stones with a soft glow. The buzzing call of the stones was still there; it settled in his bones and gave him courage. She turned to him, wonder etched on her face.

“Sassenach—Claire. I think I’ve loved ye since I first saw ye, as bairns. Then ye became the woman of my dreams.” His voice almost broke, and Claire grasped his hands, eyes shining. “I am blessed, mo ghraidh, to have ye in my life, real as can be.”

Tears—happy ones, he hoped—spilled from her whiskey eyes. He knelt before her, a ring in his hands.

“Will ye marry me?”

[satuwrites]

8. I’m a renegade, I always was.

A quick note: This story is based on Mass Effect, a video game that turned 10 years old on Monday. If you’re a ME fan, please try to ignore all the factual errors, haha. If you’re not, I hope the story still makes sense to you. I just thought it’d be fun to write a ME story to this song as the game features a Paragon/Renegade system.

In hindsight, I guess it all started when I was four years old.

The day was uncharacteristically hot even for summer. The air was sweltering, pressing down upon us like a heavy blanket, making it difficult to breathe and even more difficult to move. That didn’t seem to bother the other kids running around on the grass that was turning yellow due to the heat and lack of rain, though. Their shrieks of joy filled the otherwise silent surroundings; the hot weather had driven even the birds into hiding.

It was a scorching day, the other children were sweating, and I was seething with jealousy.

I watched as Sally, the daycare bully, galloped across the lawn, her red hair catching the sunlight and making it look like her head was on fire. For a fleeting moment, I could imagine the fire being real, devouring the pink frilly sundress and the body beneath it, burning and burning until there was nothing left but a pile of ashes and a toy model of SSV Hastings.

Sally had arrived at daycare with the model of the starship and a smug grin on her face. She had made sure everyone heard her when she exclaimed how her father, who worked with the Alliance, had brought her the model on his shore leave from said SSV Hastings. The bragging continued the whole morning, and she didn’t fail to mention at least every ten minutes that the toy was not even in stores yet, a fact that we others knew perfectly well, but his father had obviously had no trouble getting an early copy of it, him being the captain of the ship, which was another fact that Sally never let us forget. After all, it seemed to be Sally’s life mission to remind us every day how her father was a Very Important Person in the Alliance and how we, the children of good-for-nothings, could never compare to her. No one ever stood up against her, proving how true her words were, because she was not simply a bully, she was a bully with influential parents who could make our parents lose their jobs with a snap of their fingers.

There was not a person I hated more in the universe than Sally Belliard.

I kept glaring at Sally from my seat under the shade of a tree. She ran with her hand held up, the model of SSV Hastings soaring through the oppressive air, high enough for everyone to see. I could almost feel the envy turning my skin green, like the aliens scientist were sure the humankind would stumble upon any day now, with starships scouting further and further into uncharted space. SSV Hastings was at the forefront of the expansion, having discovered numerous habitable planets for humans to colonise, including our own Mindoir. It had been one of the first colonies established, and the Belliards had been granted the status of First Citizen, effectively ruling over the colony. While Sally’s father was off captaining SSV Hastings, her mother ran the colony, and Sally herself tyrannised over the daycare.

The jealousy was swelling up inside me as I thought how unfair it was that someone like Sally, who didn’t have a passion for exploring space and starships, who only had her father bring her the newest toy models to gloat at daycare, had been allowed on board of SSV Hastings, had been allowed to travel through space. It was my dream to fly among the stars one day, and Sally, ungrateful, spoiled Sally Belliard, had had the audacity to do it before me, when it was my dream.

With these thoughts consuming me, I noticed that Sally was running in my direction, the toy model still in her raised hand. She was going to sprint right by me so that I couldn’t help but pay attention to her and her precious gift. It made me see red, mixed with the green of envy, and I ignored all the times my mother had told me to treat people with kindness and that violence was never the answer. Instead, at just the right moment, I – completely by accident, I would later claim with fake tears in my eyes, I hadn’t noticed Sally, I swear – stretched out my short legs and felt the satisfying impact of her feet catching on mine, and then she was falling. The SSV Hastings flew from her hand, soaring higher and higher like it was a real starship, not just a toy model of one. I followed it with my eyes until it reached the end of its momentum, and started plummeting, crashing down to the ground and shattering on impact.

It was the most delightful moment of my life.

That torrid summer day when I was four years old was the first time I ignored the moral principles my parents had tried to ingrain into me, and took matters into my own hands, but it wasn’t the last.

At fifteen, I punched a teacher who had been making suggestive comments and leering at me, instead of reporting it to the principle. I was suspended for two weeks.

At eighteen, two years after slavers raided Mindoir and slaughtered my family and friends, I hacked the bank account of the captain of the ship that rescued me, transferring funds into my own account, and took off in the middle of the night while we were at port on Earth. I had grown tired of sitting around, not being allowed to do anything of importance, feeling more like a prisoner each passing day.

After enlisting with the Alliance, during a fairly standard mission when I was 21, I defied direct orders of capturing our target alive. Watching the drug dealer, who was responsible for the death of a friend among many others, grovelling in front of me, I ignored the command of my superior to just seize him, and pulled the trigger. I was discharged on the spot, but the following day I was recruited into N7 training to become a special forces agent for the Alliance.

At 25, during the final mission of my training, I led an operation against an underground slaver base. Instead of backing down when it became clear most of my squad would be killed in the close-quarters combat, I pushed them on, not granting mercy to any of the slaver bastards because there had been no mercy when slavers raided my home planet. In the end, only a quarter of my squad was left standing, a feat that initially led to the removal of my rank as N6. Later, I was promoted to N7 because everyone knew I was too good to be let go of.

All these acts of rebellion, and many, many more, are brought to my mind as I stand in the communications room of SSV Normandy, the flagship of the Alliance that I’m the captain of. I’ve just finished a call with the Council, and I can feel my heart racing from the anger the talk has left me in. Another dangerous mission successfully completed, and the Council had, yet again, deigned it below their level to say even a simple ‘thank you’, and only given me another errand to do while they sit on their asses.

I make up my mind. If they think so little of my help and me putting my life at risk for them, let’s see how they’ll do on their own.

“Joker?” I say, knowing the pilot will hear me through the comm system.

The reply is almost instantaneous.

“Yes, Commander Shepard?”

“A change of plans. Take us to Omega. We’ll drop off anyone who still wants to lick the Council’s sorry asses, and then we’re going rogue.”

Silence follows, only broken by the slight crackle of the open comm line. Joker takes his sweet time with answering, and my anger is starting to flare up. Just when I’m about to press for an answer, Joker speaks up:

“What do you mean, we’ll go rogue?”

I sigh in frustration. “You know exactly what that means. We’re abandoning the mission. I’m fed up with getting my hands dirty for people who don’t show even an ounce of gratitude. We’re leaving. End of discussion.”

But of course Joker insists on continuing.

“I’m pretty sure that would be treason, Captain. The Council won’t let us just beat it, they will send agents of every species in the galaxy after us. And even if they don’t, the Alliance definitely won’t approve of us disappearing with their best ship. They’ll track us down to another galaxy if they have to. And what about the Reapers? You’re simply going to let them destroy the world?”

“The Reapers might not even be real!” I burst out, pushing a few strands of hair off my forehead forcefully. “I’m not wasting my time chasing after vague clues and rumours. The Council can get some other lapdog to do their bidding. Take us to Omega, Joker, that’s an order. We’ll figure out the rest after.”

“And what if I want to get off at Omega?”

I let out a harsh laugh. “And abandon Normandy? As if.”

“But…”

“Jeff Moreau,” I snarl, knowing that using his full name alone will let the pilot know how deadly serious I am, “if you’re so worried about the Alliance coming after us and catching us, you might want to consider which the more imminent threat is: That, or me coming down to the bridge and kicking your ass into oblivion.”

Again, there is a long pause, but I already know what the answer will be.

“Understood, Captain.”

“That’s what I thought. Now, get us out of here.”

“Aye aye, Captain.”

Finally, there is full silence, Joker having closed the comm system on his end. I nod grimly to myself, satisfied with the situation. Joker was of course right; what we’re doing will be seen as treason. If we get caught, the repercussions will be severe, but I find myself not caring. I’m sick and tired of risking my life for a world that wouldn’t risk anything for me. Let someone else play the hero for a change because I sure as hell am not one.

I am a renegade.

I think back to the time I was four years old.

I always was.

Song lyrics from Renegade.

[writesandramblings]

The Captain’s Secret - p.11

“The Cure for What Ails”

A/N: I now go out on a limb, because there's only so much you can do with the amount of character background given in the show so far, but I hope you'll agree the story point is worth the risk of any potential contradiction down the line.

This is also the first chapter to feature an adult variant to one of the scenes. It is entirely unnecessary to read the adult content to follow and enjoy the story, but it's there for anyone who wants it.

Full Chapter List << 10 - Minimally Invasive Procedures 12 - Affairs of the Heartless >>

Back on the shuttle, Carver had a hot thermos of coffee ready, strong and black and with a full and rich aroma that smelled like it must have come from her own private reserve, because the coffee in the ship's stores never smelled like this. Carver's family was Brazilian, and as he recalled from her file, coffee was to them what fortune cookies had once been to his ancestors.

"Lt. Carver, you truly are a treasure. How you ended up on the Triton instead of a ship that deserves you, I'll never know."

Carver flashed her pearly whites. "Just good luck, sir."

He settled down in the shuttle's rear, cup in hand. Lalana curled up on the seat next to him, tail over her eyes to sleep. He closed his eyes, too, but more as an excuse to savor the coffee's aroma, though he couldn't deny he was exhausted.

Someone sat down on his other side. He opened his eyes. Morita. She seemed like she wanted to say something. "Yes?" he prompted, sipping his coffee patiently. It was smooth-tasting, slightly nutty, not at all bitter. He would have preferred a little more acidic bite, actually. There was something to be said for really bad coffee at the tail end of a long day.

"Captain, it's not my intent to question you or your command."

Which meant she had a question. He inclined his head for her to continue and took another sip.

"When we went inside the house, what was the plan if we were caught?"

There was no simple answer to that question because there had been no one, single plan for that scenario.

There had been several.

If T'rond'n had found them in the bathroom, for instance, Lorca would have disabled or taken him hostage, then leveraged that to compel one or both of the Dartarans to contact the lului merchants on their behalf, giving them a much more direct path towards their end goal of locating Luluan.

In fact, that exact possibility was why Lorca had decided to go in while the Dartarans were awake in the first place: some primal part of him wanted to see what outcome fortune would dictate, the risky shortcut or the plan he'd set out to achieve.

Another, larger, equally primal part of him wanted to prove his greatest conceit.

Lorca had not been a tremendously profuse reader as a child. He was generously described as rambunctious, preferring any manner of physical pursuit to sitting down with a book in hand, and running around with your nose in a book was generally a surefire way to bust open said nose, which he knew from experience.

Despite this, he did enjoy books and reading, one book in particular. It was the book his mother had read him to sleep with as a child. A worn, old hardcover copy of Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, predating the Eugenics Wars.

It wasn't a particularly rare or well-kept copy. When he was seven or eight years old, he had torn the cover halfway off in a minor climbing incident and his mother had brought him along to a bookbinder to assess the damage. As bookbinding was a "dying art" largely relegated to modern hobbyists, finding a true professional had taken them to one of those vanishing corners of the Earth where currency was still used. The man had taken one look at the book, informed them it would cost many times more than the value of the book to repair it, and recommended replacing it instead. Lorca's mother had insisted on the repairs all the same.

He still remembered the way she stroked his hair as she read, the breathy whisper as she spoke into life the many wonders of the vast, unexplored frontier that was the ocean in 1866, and the words she'd said when he asked if one day he'd get to explore the oceans, too.

"Oh, hon," she had laughed. "There isn't anything left to explore in the oceans. They've already explored it all, before you were even born."

He'd been young enough that his response to this information was to break out in distraught wailing. She'd laughed again, but gently as she brushed the tears from his eyes.

"That's the ocean now, up there." She pointed out the window to the stars. "Look. It's so deep, it's inky black, and it's full of tiny, shining fish." From that moment on, the sky became the ocean, and he imagined the Nautilus traveling through that starry sea, and he looked up every night as she read to him and saw the words play out against the starlit sky, and dreamed of that waiting adventure.

The book was in his quarters at this very moment, sitting beside his bed, still bearing the marks of the repairs to its faded antique cover.

Inside that precious tome, tucked between pages fifty and fifty-one, lay a single slip of paper, barely the size of a pinky finger. It was a fortune he'd opened when he was only fifteen. By that time, he'd already started counting the days until he'd be able to realize his dream of sailing the starry ocean on a ship all his own, and he hadn't needed any encouragement, but the fortune had meant something to him all the same.

It read in tiny, precise black print, "You make your own fortune."

It was the sort of fortune cookie makers intended to be taken tongue in cheek, but that didn't change the potential those five words represented.

Which brought him back to the Dartarans and the risk he had taken in entering their home. He could have waited until they were asleep, gone the most cautious route, risked nothing and played it safe. Instead, he'd chosen a path that let fate enter the picture and affect the outcome.

And then he'd taken that same fate into his own hands and bent it to his own purposes through a combination of sheer intellect, training, and force of will.

Which was why he knew that, no matter how things had played out down on that moon, he would have found a way to complete his mission goals. There were plenty of ways he might have convinced Margeh and T'rond'n to help, too. Lalana might know things they would not want made public which could be used to blackmail them into compliance or silence. Elements of their business practices might be exposed to their financial detriment and potential ruin. As they were partners in business as well as life, one of them potentially had a trigger point at which he or she would fall into line to protect the other.

Supposing they were unmoved by blackmail or coercion. They had proven themselves to be rather stubborn when it came to their shuttle, after all. Well, then they could be brought back to the Triton and detained until the end of the mission. The ramifications with Starfleet would have been tremendously bad, but potentially weatherable. Successfully saving a whole planet of pre-warp aliens would certainly be a rousing factor in any defense.

He'd even had a contingency if one or both of the Dartarans had ended up dead. There was a perfectly good leskos corpse in the woods. Who's to say the Dartarans didn't meet an untimely end pursuing their favorite pastime in their forest of horrors?

It was a multi-layered tree of possibilities and outcomes, and Lorca had mapped enough of them to be able to say that no matter how things turned out, he would have been ready to march ahead with something plausibly workable.

The sum totality of it all was that he had more than he ever could or would say in explanation. The Wizard only ruled Oz so long as no one looked behind the curtain.

He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply from his cup. There was another set of fortune cookies stashed in here, and he wouldn't mind having one to go with his coffee, but for once he didn't feel like getting up. "Apologies, Reiko, but I'm gonna use my prerogative as captain not to answer. You're just gonna have to trust that there was a plan, but the less said about it, the better."

Morita seemed like she had expected as much. "Understood."

He smirked. "Try not to hold it against me."

"Permission to speak freely, sir?" She was professional to the point that, even when he addressed her by her given name, she didn't assume she had that freedom already. (Unlike Billingsley, who seemed to assume she was allowed to speak her mind whether anyone said she could or not. Maybe she felt she still had a blanket permission to speak freely from some previous granting of the right, as if such permissions never expired.)

"Go."

"I'm glad it didn't come to whatever it was. We're already off the books, I'd rather not break any more regulations."

Lorca squinted at her. "Have we broken any regulations?"

She looked surprised. "Trespassing and installing an unauthorized device on private property."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, chief."

She realized what he was doing and half-rolled her eyes in beleaguered amusement. The "if a tree falls in a forest and no one's there to hear it, it didn't make a sound" defense. Practical, albeit rather Machiavellian. "Sir," she said, with the mildest edge of disapproval. "What about the evidence?"

Lorca just shrugged casually and said in low, conspiratorial tone, "What evidence?"

Morita ran over their mission so far in her mind. The communications hijacker was evidence, all right, but it was something they'd confiscated from a pirate, contained no Starfleet components, and depending on how often and thoroughly the Dartarans checked their home data center, it might be months before they even noticed it was there and then they'd be unable to prove when it was installed. Fingerprints and DNA, maybe, but unless the Dartarans figured out what had happened, there would be no reason to check for those, and Russo had carefully wiped all the crucial surfaces down. There wasn't even any evidence that they had a live lului because the evidence indicated Lalana was dead.

It reminded her of something she'd heard at the Academy. "Professor Rokodo's midterm."

He hadn't heard or thought about that name in a long time. "Once again, I am at a loss."

Rokodo taught one of the basic prerequisite starship maintenance classes that no one really liked, not even the most passionate and enthusiastic ship geeks. If rumor was to be believed, a second-year cadet by the name of Gabriel Lorca and some compatriots, faced with the prospect of less than satisfactory scores, had derailed the midterm by executing a rather vicious prank involving a hazardous leak in the testing area. Investigation and expulsion might have been imminent save for the fact that when the hazard team arrived, no leak could be found, despite Rokodo's insistence that the leak had in fact occurred, and he was a certifiable expert in the field, so he would know.

Morita smiled. "Because you didn't do it or because you didn't get caught?"

"Yes," said Lorca, not identifying which. He exhaled heavily and his eyes fluttered closed, then snapped open, as if he might have started to fall asleep and stopped himself. "When you say 'off the books'... The books are the regulations." It sounded like the first part of a point, but no second part was forthcoming. Despite the hot caffeine infusion, he was starting to crash. "I do mostly follow the rules," he said after a moment.

"You do, sir."

"But the captain has to use his own discretion. The people who write the regs aren't out here. They're back, safe and comfy, in Starfleet command." There was another considerable pause. "And sometimes you have to take a risk. Especially when there's a payoff, and it's for a good cause. That's why we went in when we did."

Morita could see this conversation wasn't going to last much longer, but wanted to get what she could while she could from the captain. "What was the payoff?"

Lorca's smile was tired but self-satisfied. "The less time spent on that moon, the better."

There was no arguing with that. Morita leaned forward and looked across Lorca at Lalana. She didn't disagree about the good cause at this point, either. "Well put. Thank you, sir."

"Anytime, chief." Morita returned to the other side of the shuttle to check on Russo's scrapes again and Lorca closed his eyes.

He wasn't aware exactly when he fell asleep, or what happened the half-cup of coffee he didn't finish drinking, but he dreamed about tiny starry fish in an inky-black sky.

He awoke refreshed after a couple hours rest, just in time for their return to the Triton, and felt miles better, though by this point, no amount of rest on a shuttle was going to salvage the appearance of the away team. Dirty, rumpled clothes, scrapes, bruises, mussed hair, and haggard faces marked them as survivors of an arduous ordeal. Only Carver, who had spent the whole mission in the shuttle on standby, looked halfway decent, and even she was beginning to hit her coffee limit. Not that her piloting showed it.

As they approached, Lalana offered her folded up tail to Lorca, a gesture he didn't immediately understand until she tugged his hand out, palm up.

She dropped eight staples into his palm. "I am done with these now. Thank you again."

Lorca stared at the staples, mindful that all of them had been embedded to some degree in her body. He opened his mouth, inhaled with the intent of saying something, then stopped. The situation was what it was. "You're welcome," he lied, and dropped the staples onto the seat so someone in maintenance could worry about disposing of them. He surreptitiously eyed her haunch for any sign of the wound that had been there, but saw none, and there was no indication when she moved that she had ever been wounded.

Benford was waiting for their arrival, flanked by a security officer. He was a sight for sore eyes in the literal as well as figurative sense. "Welcome back, captain!" Benford said, beaming. His relief at having everyone safely back on board was palpable.

"Good to be back, Commander," replied Lorca as he disembarked from the shuttle, Lalana a step behind him.

"And Miss Lalana, lovely to see you, too."

"Commander Benford," replied Lalana graciously.

Of course, Benford was there with security for a reason. "Dr. Ek'Ez would like you to come to sickbay if you don't mind."

"Why?" she asked.

"Just the same old 'can't scan for parasites' routine."

"I really don't have parasites," said Lalana, looking to Lorca for guidance.

"You should let the doc check your wound," he said.

"That is not necessary, it is already fixed."

"Let the doc do his thing," said Lorca, "or I'll never hear the end of it."

Lalana let out a sort of breathy trill Lorca hadn't heard before, but which really felt like annoyance, and complied. She and Russo went with Benford.

Morita and Carver stood waiting for orders. "Excellent work, both of you. Get some rest. Dismissed."

"Aye, captain!" saluted Carver, with her trademark smile. She whirled on her foot and headed away with the others.

Billingsley didn't come out with the others, instead emerging a moment later pulling one of the gear crates from the shuttle. Lorca stared at her with vague disgust. "Billingsley! Leave that for someone else. You're dismissed."

She didn't listen, continuing to drag the crate down the ramp towards Lorca. He sighed at her stubbornness and took the crate's other end.

It was much easier carrying it between the two of them. Despite her clumsiness in regular gravity, Billingsley was no slouch and stronger than she looked, so they split the burden of the crate almost evenly. Almost. Both seemed to be trying to take the brunt of its weight. Competing right to the last, thought Lorca.

They deposited the crate near the shuttlebay doors. Billingsley pushed it against the wall with an angry shove of her foot. Lorca watched disapprovingly. "Watch it, chief," he warned.

She stood there, staring at the crate, her hands balled into fists. Then her hands relaxed. "I hate you," she said at last.

"I know." They stood there a moment more, Billingsley glowering while Lorca regarded her. He checked his watch, which still had Tederek local time displayed. It would be at least another hour or two before it was time to implement the next part of the plan. "Join me for a drink?"

(Mature version of the following scene available here. No content in the mature version of the scene is necessary to the story.)

Afterwards, she sat up, her hair hanging loosely about her shoulders and a twist of sheets around her waist and he noticed something.

She was marked with tiny brown dots like stars in a constellation, perfectly mirrored on both sides of her body at every major joint, as if she were Orion come to life from the sky.

With stubborn reluctance, she explained that they were measurement tattoos, placed on her at a young age so her parents could monitor the progress of the medical intervention taken to counteract the effects of high gravity on her developing skeletal structure. Most people had slight variances between the two halves of their body—one leg slightly longer than the other—but in Billingsley's case, her arms and legs were perfectly symmetrical by design, and she had ten years of precise medical notations to prove it.

"You could have them removed," he noted, running his thumb over the dot on her left shoulder. If you didn't know what the dots were or that they were paired on each side, they could be mistaken for large freckles or small moles.

His suggestion was met with silence. Billingsley was too practical a person for that kind of vain frivolity, and while her tattoos did not feature any image or text communicating their purpose, they were nevertheless as much a reflection of her history as any other tattoo.

Lorca traced his index finger from the dot on her shoulder to the dot on her elbow to the dot on her wrist, then folded his hand into hers. The long thinness of her hands was a side effect of the growth factors used to elongate her limbs. He drew her hand to his lips and kissed it. She snorted and pulled her hand away. "Don't get sentimental on me."

He grinned. "Never," he promised. "And don't you, either. That's an order."

She groaned and rolled her eyes. It wasn't a real order, obviously, but it did underscore the problem at the foundation of this encounter. On top of everything else.

Normally, his partners were slightly less annoyed with him after they were done, but this was Billingsley. Annoyed seemed to be her default setting. "We don't have a problem, do we?"

"No. Sir."

"Sar-ah!" he groaned in mild chastisement. Wait, she didn't think... He sat up suddenly. "This doesn't change anything."

He'd mistaken her response for more antagonistic than she'd intended. "So I don't get a repeat?"

He carefully considered her face and body language. "Do you want a repeat?"

Her shoulders shrugged and her eyes feigned disinterest. "I'm not saying no." She sniffed in sudden amusement. "At least you gave me more than a choice than I had taking this assignment."

It seemed like there was a story there. "How's that?"

She sighed. "I'm supposed to be on Spacedock. If that engineer hadn't gotten kicked out of Starfleet during the ship's last refit..."

He knew that the engineer who had occupied Sarah's position prior had been discharged from Starfleet for behavioral problems, but he'd always assumed Billingsley had taken the job because she wanted it. He said as much.

"They needed someone who was up to speed on the Triton's systems. I was in charge of the refit. So..."

He suddenly realized exactly how much she didn't want to be there. "You can transfer out."

She shrugged. "No starbases have any good engineering posts open. They always go to someone else. Triton isn't exactly a resume-builder."

That annoyed him. No one had ever asked to be assigned to the Triton, but it was still his ship, and he felt he'd done an exemplary job of restoring the ship's reputation to something approaching esteem since taking command. And while it had previously been known as a terrible posting, it was a temporary one. The ship only had four more months until it was decommissioned. This entire assignment was a proving ground. Didn't Billingsley see that?

He might have said any or all of this to her. He settled for a brief, "Four months."

She hummed slightly. "Four months," she repeated.

And in that time, he intended to show Starfleet just what their newly minted captain was made of.

Part 12

[sublimedeal]

Jason Capital – Elite Mentor Summit 2017 + Audio Recordings

Jason Capital – Elite Mentor Summit 2017 + Audio Recordings

How’d You Like A Front Row Seat To What Attendees Are Calling “The Most Influential Event Of The Decade” All Without Paying A Dime For Travel?

Because the recordings of this SOLD OUT Team Capital event have just OFFICIALLY LAUNCHED for you! From: the sunny offices of Jason Capital.. Newport Coast, California

LISTEN UP BADASS, every single word on this page, totally relevant to you..

Because A LOT has changed in today’s success climate. Yet one thing remains the same:

If you want to succeed in this life, you have to do more of what’s PROVEN, and less of what isn’t.. And that’s the real reason why I got the brightest minds in the world together for you, revealing:

The step-by-step proven process we’re going to use to hockey stick your success past anything you’ve ever imagined. I’m talking ridding you of any extra work you’re wasting time on right now and putting your efforts on STEROIDS, leading to MORE MONEY for you).. The simple trick to having stronger business connections and overall relationships in your life for MORE admiration, respect, recognition, and of course, the unbeatable “life juice” that comes with feeling fulfilled, ready to take on anything that comes your way.. And my best attraction, persuasion, influence, and charisma secrets guaranteed to get you EARTH-SHATTERING SEX so loud the neighbors come knocking. I mean, how awesome would that be? And that’s just scratching the surface.

See, it’s one thing to read about success, it’s another thing SEEING and FEELING the transformation happen within minutes, with your Team Capital brothers cheering you on.

Because we’re unloading everything we have to ensure 2017 is the best year of your life.

And that’s why right now, I’m giving you a virtual front row seat to to over 18+ hours of HD footage, secrets, intel, tips, and tricks from The Elite Mentor Summit, all from the comfort of your own home, risk-free for a full 60 days:

The science behind these recordings: Harvard studies have proven that one of the biggest determinants of success is who you surround yourself with. That means by investing in your recordings to hang out with myself your new mentors, and + other like minded individuals — even virtually — it will skyrocket every area of your life in minutes.

Now..

LET’S TALK GETTING YOU THE BIG BUCKS! And no, I’m not just talking about actual money, although I’ll give you templates for that too.

I’m talking about LIFE CURRENCY, the big bucks that aren’t only in your bank account.

I’m talking about the feeling of certainty that floods your body as you realize I’m handing you everything you need in order to do what you’ve always wanted as a kid, and get PAID to do it.

Remember that hobby and passion you gave up because of your current job?

Yeah, getting back to that is exactly what these tapes are about.

I give you everything you need to drop your current job like a bad habit, attract higher quality of people into your life, and create a future filled with abundance and freedom. The same future you wanted for yourself as a kid.

Where you don’t have to worry about the bill at dinner, next month’s rent, or an annoying boss.

A future where you can have your cake AND eat it too.

See..

With these recordings, I’m handing you a SCIENTIFICALLY PROVEN PLAN for freedom, wealth, success, and sex so loud the neighbors come knocking..

How am I going to do that?

It’s simple, by allowing you to borrow my mentors for as long as you’d like.

Mentors who don’t just talk the talk, but walk the walk, with MILLIONS every year to prove it.

Mentors who will mold your mind and actions for you, so that regardless if you can’t afford one now or can’t find one willing, I’ve called in a few favors for you and made it easier than ever to have them come to YOU.

Introducing..

Quite an impressive bunch, right?

What’s even more impressive is that..

We’re relieving secrets, tips, and tricks to life they should’ve taught you in school, but didn’t because they didn’t know any better.. Your parents and teachers had the best intentions, but they didn’t know any of this stuff..

How could you? So if any of this comes as new to you, understand it’s not your fault.

Luckily for you, your new mentors and myself DO know better, and that’s why we’re giving you every secret we have to guarantee 2017 is the best year of your life, or your money back.

And that’s also why 400+ guys eagerly soaked in every word at the event (and the past ones for that matter) leaving with a transformation that will last them a lifetime, and then some.

High Status Vocal Tonality EXPLAINED. I’m revealing the secret to connecting with women, business associates, and friends to skyrocket attraction, admiration, and respect (even if you’re an introvert right now).. How to instantly zero in on your grand purpose in seconds with my famous “Onion method”.. My 30-second exercise you can use to gain clarity on every aspect of your life, never again will you have to feel anxiety creep up on you about the future.. Vocal Tonality Secrets from Ryan Gosling and George Clooney and how you can copy them for the same kind of respect that they get in your own life with women and business.. How I scheduled my entire 2017 to make sure I’m held accountable, and how you can copy and my methods for similar success in all areas of your life (pay CLOSE attention to this).. My STATUS Shock TRICK. How to skyrocket attraction using nothing more than the tonality of your voice and a couple of words. With this, she’ll be eating out of your palm instantly.. The sneaky key you can use to stop comparing yourself to other people and instead LEARN from them, ensuring you’re constantly dominating your path the Team Capital way with us.. How to cure “FOMO” within 5 second flat to get more done throughout the day, even if you’re constantly feeling left out by your friends going out without you (this will solve all of that, and MORE, trust me).. My Famous 20% VT Rule. The simple key to getting people to admire you instantly, infusing your voice with power, persuasion, and purpose for the first time, translating to healthier relationships and more money for you.. The 5 valuable traits of the world’s most effective and admired voices. This alone is worth the investment by far, and the standing ovation given afterward, I know you’ll love this.. How we can leverage brand-new research out of Kent State University to become unmoved, unaffected, and nonreactive to anything and everything that life throws your way.. My favorite 2-min exercise you use every morning to train your High Status Voice.. My Straight Line Success System. Here’s the key to ensuring that you’re getting everything out of your efforts, regardless if success, wealth, and freedom has escaped you in the past.. How to spark sexual tension while talking to women with perfectly timed pauses. I’m talking giving you the chemical key to draw her in, open her mind, heart, and legs while you talk to her.. My Sunday Ritual REVEALED. Here’s what I do every single Sunday in order to make sure that the following week is flawless, without stress, and as profitable as ever.. My social media secret to getting more followers, all without having to waste your precious time on sites that are currently draining you of your money, influence, and status..

How to get your significant other to have a threesome with you, even if it’s her first time (fling, girlfriend, or wife, follow this step by step process and voila! Just promise me you’ll send in a success story afterward).. The shocking information discovered by researchers out of UCLA about exactly what we can do about your happiness and health, as proven by science.. The 7 lessons of Social Proof and how we can leverage them for more money, effortless attraction, and commanded respect from others.. (Translation? More money for your time).. My personal 5 guidelines for living a happy, healthy, and wealth life. Copy these for as long as you’d like, you’re welcome.. The 2 quick and easy amplifiers that all my $75,000/year clients use to increase their Status instantly. And now they’re yours to play around with whenever.. The ONLY 3 things I focus on in my business and why everything else is irrelevant to both myself and you in your own business (pay close attention to this).. My famous rule of 3 when it comes to creating momentum for yourself so fast your friends are scratching their heads wondering how you’re accomplishing everything so fast.. My EXACT Morning Routine Explained. I’m talking allowing you to copy mine, step by step, and how it’ll lead you to getting where you need to be that much faster.. And much, MUCH more.. The 7 key pillars of sexual mating. These determine how successful you’ll be on the dating market (and the good news is, you can change most of them instantly with our help).. The 5 components to human mating as proven by modern science. I’m talking infusing your entire life with proven methods to increase your value in front of the hottest women in your city or town.. The MOST important thing women look for (and no, it’s NOT what you think).. The 7 UNIVERSAL desires that ALL women share, no matter their age of looks, because something things never change. Once you have these, you’re UNSTOPPABLE with women.. What scientists are calling “The Closing Time Effect” and how to use it to your advantage the next time you’re out with friends at a bar, club, or just having dinner to effortlessly attract the women around you.. The 3 standards of attractiveness to women (do you have at least one of these?).. Do women care about age? If so, how much? Here’s what the cold hard science has to say about women’s mating strategies when it comes to sleeping with older men.. WHAT DO WOMEN WANT? The TRUE science behind what some of the hottest women on the planet want, what drives them to go home with you, and how you can use it to your advantage starting as soon as tonight.. The hidden side of female sexuality and what it means for you when it comes to hook ups, one night stands, and seasonal flings (Dr. Buss is giving you exactly what most women are afraid to you tell because of the power it’ll give you).. Masculinity secrets that women DROOL over.. (pay close attention to these).. What scientists are calling the “8 windows of desire”. Use these for more sex in less time.. The 5 key conclusions of human mating strategies that you can use starting right away in order to attract the women you want into your life, and best of all, KEEP them too.. And much, MUCH more.. The sneaky trick to negotiating your own book deal to ensure best-seller status.. The TRUTH about where the money is in YOUR business, and even if you’re starting out, here’s the ONLY thing you should mostly focus on (and no, it’s NOT what you think).. How to supercharge the revenue out of any business idea that you have right now. I’m talking time collapsing right away, cutting the time it takes you to achieve it in half.. The 4 secrets to eternal happiness. What they are, how to get them, and more importantly, how to KEEP them, so that they continue to push you forward every single day.. How you can crack the code on true happiness, fulfillment, and meaningful relationships with the people around you in just days from now.. The 2 MAIN things you must do right now if you want a life you’ve always dreamt of filled with freedom, wealth, and success. Without these, you’re largely wasting your time.. How to distance yourself from family members who aren’t on board with your mission without being an asshole about it (this also works for old friends who can’t seem to keep up and give you shit for going to events and investing in yourself).. The 7 Edge Success Pillars. How you can easily infuse your life with success, connection, and true riches beyond what’s just in your bank account (but don’t worry, he’ll show you how to do that too).. What you can take from Arnold Schwarzenegger, Gary Vaynerchuk, and A-list actress Mila Kunis in order to live a life where we’re admired and respected for what you do.. The Napoleon Hill trick to reframing all of your problems, anxieties, and faults to produce results FOR YOU.. Why you don’t always have to hustle your way to the top, and what some of the SMARTEST worked out there have to say about using strategy and scaling tactics rather than pure elbow grease.. How to FIND and take the right opportunities. Gone are the days you scratch your head curious if you should do it or not, Bedros breaks it all down for you, step by step.. And much, MUCH more..

Jason Capital – Elite Mentor Summit 2017 + Audio Recordings published first on http://ift.tt/2qxBbOD

[endorsereviews]

Jason Capital – Elite Mentor Summit 2017 + Audio Recordings

Jason Capital – Elite Mentor Summit 2017 + Audio Recordings

How’d You Like A Front Row Seat To What Attendees Are Calling “The Most Influential Event Of The Decade” All Without Paying A Dime For Travel?

Because the recordings of this SOLD OUT Team Capital event have just OFFICIALLY LAUNCHED for you! From: the sunny offices of Jason Capital.. Newport Coast, California

LISTEN UP BADASS, every single word on this page, totally relevant to you..

Because A LOT has changed in today’s success climate. Yet one thing remains the same:

If you want to succeed in this life, you have to do more of what’s PROVEN, and less of what isn’t.. And that’s the real reason why I got the brightest minds in the world together for you, revealing:

The step-by-step proven process we’re going to use to hockey stick your success past anything you’ve ever imagined. I’m talking ridding you of any extra work you’re wasting time on right now and putting your efforts on STEROIDS, leading to MORE MONEY for you).. The simple trick to having stronger business connections and overall relationships in your life for MORE admiration, respect, recognition, and of course, the unbeatable “life juice” that comes with feeling fulfilled, ready to take on anything that comes your way.. And my best attraction, persuasion, influence, and charisma secrets guaranteed to get you EARTH-SHATTERING SEX so loud the neighbors come knocking. I mean, how awesome would that be? And that’s just scratching the surface.

See, it’s one thing to read about success, it’s another thing SEEING and FEELING the transformation happen within minutes, with your Team Capital brothers cheering you on.

Because we’re unloading everything we have to ensure 2017 is the best year of your life.

And that’s why right now, I’m giving you a virtual front row seat to to over 18+ hours of HD footage, secrets, intel, tips, and tricks from The Elite Mentor Summit, all from the comfort of your own home, risk-free for a full 60 days:

The science behind these recordings: Harvard studies have proven that one of the biggest determinants of success is who you surround yourself with. That means by investing in your recordings to hang out with myself your new mentors, and + other like minded individuals — even virtually — it will skyrocket every area of your life in minutes.

Now..

LET’S TALK GETTING YOU THE BIG BUCKS! And no, I’m not just talking about actual money, although I’ll give you templates for that too.

I’m talking about LIFE CURRENCY, the big bucks that aren’t only in your bank account.

I’m talking about the feeling of certainty that floods your body as you realize I’m handing you everything you need in order to do what you’ve always wanted as a kid, and get PAID to do it.

Remember that hobby and passion you gave up because of your current job?

Yeah, getting back to that is exactly what these tapes are about.

I give you everything you need to drop your current job like a bad habit, attract higher quality of people into your life, and create a future filled with abundance and freedom. The same future you wanted for yourself as a kid.

Where you don’t have to worry about the bill at dinner, next month’s rent, or an annoying boss.

A future where you can have your cake AND eat it too.

See..

With these recordings, I’m handing you a SCIENTIFICALLY PROVEN PLAN for freedom, wealth, success, and sex so loud the neighbors come knocking..

How am I going to do that?

It’s simple, by allowing you to borrow my mentors for as long as you’d like.

Mentors who don’t just talk the talk, but walk the walk, with MILLIONS every year to prove it.

Mentors who will mold your mind and actions for you, so that regardless if you can’t afford one now or can’t find one willing, I’ve called in a few favors for you and made it easier than ever to have them come to YOU.

Introducing..

Quite an impressive bunch, right?

What’s even more impressive is that..

We’re relieving secrets, tips, and tricks to life they should’ve taught you in school, but didn’t because they didn’t know any better.. Your parents and teachers had the best intentions, but they didn’t know any of this stuff..

How could you? So if any of this comes as new to you, understand it’s not your fault.

Luckily for you, your new mentors and myself DO know better, and that’s why we’re giving you every secret we have to guarantee 2017 is the best year of your life, or your money back.

And that’s also why 400+ guys eagerly soaked in every word at the event (and the past ones for that matter) leaving with a transformation that will last them a lifetime, and then some.

High Status Vocal Tonality EXPLAINED. I’m revealing the secret to connecting with women, business associates, and friends to skyrocket attraction, admiration, and respect (even if you’re an introvert right now).. How to instantly zero in on your grand purpose in seconds with my famous “Onion method”.. My 30-second exercise you can use to gain clarity on every aspect of your life, never again will you have to feel anxiety creep up on you about the future.. Vocal Tonality Secrets from Ryan Gosling and George Clooney and how you can copy them for the same kind of respect that they get in your own life with women and business.. How I scheduled my entire 2017 to make sure I’m held accountable, and how you can copy and my methods for similar success in all areas of your life (pay CLOSE attention to this).. My STATUS Shock TRICK. How to skyrocket attraction using nothing more than the tonality of your voice and a couple of words. With this, she’ll be eating out of your palm instantly.. The sneaky key you can use to stop comparing yourself to other people and instead LEARN from them, ensuring you’re constantly dominating your path the Team Capital way with us.. How to cure “FOMO” within 5 second flat to get more done throughout the day, even if you’re constantly feeling left out by your friends going out without you (this will solve all of that, and MORE, trust me).. My Famous 20% VT Rule. The simple key to getting people to admire you instantly, infusing your voice with power, persuasion, and purpose for the first time, translating to healthier relationships and more money for you.. The 5 valuable traits of the world’s most effective and admired voices. This alone is worth the investment by far, and the standing ovation given afterward, I know you’ll love this.. How we can leverage brand-new research out of Kent State University to become unmoved, unaffected, and nonreactive to anything and everything that life throws your way.. My favorite 2-min exercise you use every morning to train your High Status Voice.. My Straight Line Success System. Here’s the key to ensuring that you’re getting everything out of your efforts, regardless if success, wealth, and freedom has escaped you in the past.. How to spark sexual tension while talking to women with perfectly timed pauses. I’m talking giving you the chemical key to draw her in, open her mind, heart, and legs while you talk to her.. My Sunday Ritual REVEALED. Here’s what I do every single Sunday in order to make sure that the following week is flawless, without stress, and as profitable as ever.. My social media secret to getting more followers, all without having to waste your precious time on sites that are currently draining you of your money, influence, and status..

How to get your significant other to have a threesome with you, even if it’s her first time (fling, girlfriend, or wife, follow this step by step process and voila! Just promise me you’ll send in a success story afterward).. The shocking information discovered by researchers out of UCLA about exactly what we can do about your happiness and health, as proven by science.. The 7 lessons of Social Proof and how we can leverage them for more money, effortless attraction, and commanded respect from others.. (Translation? More money for your time).. My personal 5 guidelines for living a happy, healthy, and wealth life. Copy these for as long as you’d like, you’re welcome.. The 2 quick and easy amplifiers that all my $75,000/year clients use to increase their Status instantly. And now they’re yours to play around with whenever.. The ONLY 3 things I focus on in my business and why everything else is irrelevant to both myself and you in your own business (pay close attention to this).. My famous rule of 3 when it comes to creating momentum for yourself so fast your friends are scratching their heads wondering how you’re accomplishing everything so fast.. My EXACT Morning Routine Explained. I’m talking allowing you to copy mine, step by step, and how it’ll lead you to getting where you need to be that much faster.. And much, MUCH more.. The 7 key pillars of sexual mating. These determine how successful you’ll be on the dating market (and the good news is, you can change most of them instantly with our help).. The 5 components to human mating as proven by modern science. I’m talking infusing your entire life with proven methods to increase your value in front of the hottest women in your city or town.. The MOST important thing women look for (and no, it’s NOT what you think).. The 7 UNIVERSAL desires that ALL women share, no matter their age of looks, because something things never change. Once you have these, you’re UNSTOPPABLE with women.. What scientists are calling “The Closing Time Effect” and how to use it to your advantage the next time you’re out with friends at a bar, club, or just having dinner to effortlessly attract the women around you.. The 3 standards of attractiveness to women (do you have at least one of these?).. Do women care about age? If so, how much? Here’s what the cold hard science has to say about women’s mating strategies when it comes to sleeping with older men.. WHAT DO WOMEN WANT? The TRUE science behind what some of the hottest women on the planet want, what drives them to go home with you, and how you can use it to your advantage starting as soon as tonight.. The hidden side of female sexuality and what it means for you when it comes to hook ups, one night stands, and seasonal flings (Dr. Buss is giving you exactly what most women are afraid to you tell because of the power it’ll give you).. Masculinity secrets that women DROOL over.. (pay close attention to these).. What scientists are calling the “8 windows of desire”. Use these for more sex in less time.. The 5 key conclusions of human mating strategies that you can use starting right away in order to attract the women you want into your life, and best of all, KEEP them too.. And much, MUCH more.. The sneaky trick to negotiating your own book deal to ensure best-seller status.. The TRUTH about where the money is in YOUR business, and even if you’re starting out, here’s the ONLY thing you should mostly focus on (and no, it’s NOT what you think).. How to supercharge the revenue out of any business idea that you have right now. I’m talking time collapsing right away, cutting the time it takes you to achieve it in half.. The 4 secrets to eternal happiness. What they are, how to get them, and more importantly, how to KEEP them, so that they continue to push you forward every single day.. How you can crack the code on true happiness, fulfillment, and meaningful relationships with the people around you in just days from now.. The 2 MAIN things you must do right now if you want a life you’ve always dreamt of filled with freedom, wealth, and success. Without these, you’re largely wasting your time.. How to distance yourself from family members who aren’t on board with your mission without being an asshole about it (this also works for old friends who can’t seem to keep up and give you shit for going to events and investing in yourself).. The 7 Edge Success Pillars. How you can easily infuse your life with success, connection, and true riches beyond what’s just in your bank account (but don’t worry, he’ll show you how to do that too).. What you can take from Arnold Schwarzenegger, Gary Vaynerchuk, and A-list actress Mila Kunis in order to live a life where we’re admired and respected for what you do.. The Napoleon Hill trick to reframing all of your problems, anxieties, and faults to produce results FOR YOU.. Why you don’t always have to hustle your way to the top, and what some of the SMARTEST worked out there have to say about using strategy and scaling tactics rather than pure elbow grease.. How to FIND and take the right opportunities. Gone are the days you scratch your head curious if you should do it or not, Bedros breaks it all down for you, step by step.. And much, MUCH more..

Jason Capital – Elite Mentor Summit 2017 + Audio Recordings posted first on premiumwarezstore.blogspot.com