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thetorchwoodarchive · 3 years

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Thank you everyone for the wonderful gen-uary recs!!! The list of your favorite gen fics is below:

Rehab No. 5/Unconventional Methods by Jackdaw816 (JackJohn | complete | 17080 | T)

When a job goes wrong, John's left with a choice. Prison or rehab. But he's weathered worse storms than spending a few months dry. He's not afraid to sing that ole tune. Even with a therapist who seems just a tad too interested in him for his own good

They Grip the Ground by giddygeek (JackIanto, Team | complete | 1800 | Not Rated)

Is that a rhinoceros?

The Memory of Trees by Tanarian5 (JackIanto | complete | 860 | PG)

Summary: Jack shows Ianto how he mourns for the people he loses.

They Still Write Poetry in the Fifty-First Century by golden_d (JackIanto | complete | 1980 | G)

"Today I looked out," she reads, "and I saw my name among the stars."

Let me Leaven Your Life by violetmessages (JackIanto | complete | 2452 | T)

In which Ianto's inability to bake sourdough bread leads him to a realization.

Home worlds by Beleriandings (JackCarlaPersis, Jack & Carla & Persis, implied past JackIanto | complete | 1495 | G)

“Why did you lie to us about your home world, Jack?”

Lobo Malo's Authentic Mexican Cuisine by boredsince1894, youngbek (JackIanto, GwenRhys | complete | 5367 | T)

Between Valentine's Day and his past, Owen had never liked any of his past birthdays. Now he had to deal with a competitive Team Torchwood, horrendous driving, the regretful decision that is burritos and hot sauce, and, worst of all, Jack and Ianto constantly being within arm's reach of each other. Though, maybe that wasn't so bad after all.

safe harbour by someawkwardprose (Ianto&Nine, The Doctor & The TARDIS, The TARDIS & Ianto | complete | 18427 | G)

Ianto Jones meets an alien (and the Doctor makes a friend).

Untitled Argument by Paycheckgurl (JackIanto | complete | 1405 | G)

Luke is pet sitting, and Sarah Jane has some words she would like to exchange with Torchwood.

Remnants of a Forgotten Past by Paycheckgurl (Team | complete | 7523 | T)

Torchwood's latest case hits close to home for Tosh when it seems to center on Lodmoor Research Facility's Newest project...of a destructive off world variety.

To Build A Home by PrincessOfTheWorlds (JackIanto, Jack&Jack’s Mom, Jack&Tosh | series | 4,531 | G)

When Javic Thane is thirteen, the Rift takes his mother away. In 2008, it gives her back.

I Make No Promises As To Historical Veracity by copperbadge (Gwen&Ianto | complete | 585 | T)

Ianto copes by inventing the coffee machine. Gwen copes by crossdressing. Shortfic.

contrary views on the main question by fitzroysquare (Gen | complete | 1272 | G)

The Turing test is a determinant of consciousness and personhood. It’s also a test Tosh finds herself having to pass multiple times throughout her life.

Dreams of Siluria by MonsterMince (Gwen & 11th Doctor | complete | 4145 | T)

Gwen misses her team. The Doctor misses his Ponds. A little healing happens while they track Myfanwy down to take her to her new home.

a sort of homecoming by princessoftheworlds ( Jack & Jack's mother | WIP | 4934 | T )

Jack returns to the Boeshane Peninsula in the early fifty-second century, and finds someone he left behind. (or: Jack has another shot with his family. He takes it.)

space tripping (in spaaaaaace!) by princessoftheworlds (Gwen&Ianto, JackIanto, GwenRhys, Gwen&Jack&Ianto | Complete | 5115 | T )

Gwen and Ianto road trip across space - space trip, get high, shop, have a light existential crisis, face grief, and get massages - not all necessarily in that order.

fool's gold by princessoftheworlds, violetmessages (JackIanto, Gwen&Ianto, Team, Others | Complete | 32859 | T )

In 1924: Torchwood India, an outpost in the Empire's shining jewel, gains a new member. Facing challenging new leadership from the Duchess and a visit from the charming Captain Jack Harkness, Torchwood India and its members may not find itself running much longer. In 2009: On the trail of a powerful energy field, Jack, Ianto, and Gwen are led to Delhi. There they discover a wave of hundreds of disappeared locals that, along with the energy signal centers on an old colonial mansion — Torchwood India. Only, it's not deserted as Jack expected. Or: Torchwood's The Golden Age, rewritten.

Snowball Fight by princessoftheworlds ( Ianto&Team | Complete | 447 | G )

The team engages in a snowball fight.

A Torchwood Welcome by princessoftheworlds ( Colin/Colchester, Team | Complete | 1023 | T)

Colchester starts his new job at Torchwood Three and gets his first impressions of Gwen Cooper and Jack Harkness.

Bored, Bored, Bored by princessoftheworlds ( Tosh&Team | Complete | 434 | T )

Tosh, Gwen, and Owen are trapped in the Hub, waiting for Jack and Ianto to rescue them.

extending a hand by princessoftheworlds ( Tosh&Ianto | Complete | 3320 | T )

Five dinner invitations that Tosh extended to Ianto and the one she couldn't.

Cold Coffee Conversations by princessoftheworlds (Owen&Ianto | Complete | 447 | G )

Left behind in the Hub, Owen and Ianto discuss Ianto and Jack.

hands off by princessoftheworlds ( Jack&Tosh, Owen&Tosh, Ianto&Tosh | Complete | 647 | G )

The first time it happens, it’s an honest mistake on Jack’s part. Tosh has just finished retrofitting her new PDA after the last one was destroyed wading through the Cardiff sewers for Weevils. She’s added a Rift energy detector and direct access to the Mainframe and sets the PDA smackdab in the center of her desk when she wanders away in search of a cup of coffee, hoping Suzie or Owen haven’t tried their hands at the abandoned coffee machine again. When she returns, her PDA is not where she left it. In fact, it’s not on her desk at all.

infinite stars (he knows them all by name) by princessoftheworlds ( Jack&Team, JackIanto, ToshOwen | Complete | 2559 | T )

They say that everyone always dies twice, once when their life ends and again when they’re forgotten. There comes a point where their name is said for a final time and then never said again. Luckily for the Torchwood Three team of the twenty-first century, they were loved by an immortal man.

At rest in the hollows that rustle between by Beleriandings (Jack&Gray | Complete | 933 | G )

Gray can't sleep.

Still Breathing by Paycheckgurl ( Gwen&Tosh | Complete | 557 | T )

Feeling their pulse

Children, Daleks, and Mopeds by Paycheckgurl ( GwenRhys, Gwen&Jack | Complete | 9603 | T )

Following a disastrous shopping trip that put her at the center of an explosion, Gwen finds a little alien boy. Or: The series of events in which Gwen acquired another child, had a much needed conversation with Jack, bought a moped, defeated a Dalek with a boxing glove, and learned that loving yourself and saving the world don’t need to be mutually exclusive. A coda to Revolution of the Daleks where I explain why Gwen has a son all of a sudden.

sink your feet into the mud (and I'll return) by violetmessages ( Gwen&Ianto | Complete | 3404 | G )

What if she could bring Ianto back? It’s a dangerous idea. It’s got the potential to be catastrophic. But Gwen is all out of options. She’s surrounded by the graves of the people she loves, abandoned, save for her husband, and she refuses to let her best friend go without a fight.

old refrain by annavale23 ( Gwen&Ianto | Complete | 3248 | T )

Three thousand years later, and Gwen Cooper's friendship with Ianto Jones is still going just as strong.

My Only Sin Is I Can't Win by UniverseOnHerShoulders (Gwen&Jack&Ianto | Complete | 2921 | T )

Faced with a challenge on Earth and unable to reach his usual handy benevolent Time Lord for help, Jack Harkness has to make a snap decision. Travelling to Stormcage with Gwen and Ianto, the three of them set out to liberate the only other person in the universe who might be able to assist: their disgraced former Prime Minister.

Ghost of New Year's Past by Clare_Hope ( Tosh&Jack | Complete | 2346 | T )

Tosh picks up the ghost machine in the Hub and is shown what happened there on New Year's Eve, 1999.

Shut Up And Drive by UniverseOnHerShoulders ( Gwen&Thirteen, GwenRhys | Complete | 3576 | T )

Gwen Cooper has been many things: police officer, defender of Earth, Dalek fighter, reverser of miracles, full-time supermum, restorer of Torchwood Three. But this? Chauffeuring a time-travelling alien to Sheffield? This is new.

Teach them to fly by Beleriandings ( Myfanwy&Team, JackIanto | Complete | 4283 | T )

Myfanwy doesn't always understand everything the other inhabitants of Torchwood Three say and do. But if nothing else, she's learning.

Jack in the Box by asarahworld (Gen | complete | 729 | Not Rated)

Jack died in an unfortunately public place and now we have to break him out of the morgue

And The Chaos is Calling Me by pocky_slash (Gen | complete | 4564 | Gen)

In which Gwen and Ianto explore an alien ship and consider their ties to planet Earth.

Under New Management (or The Runaway Bride Gets a New Position) by ivyfic (Gen | complete | 1028 | G)

What if Donna ran Torchwood?

Double Blind by chronicbookworm (Owen&Ianto&Tosh, Team | complete | 12557 | T)

Why is there never one crisis at a time?” Owen asked in exasperation. “Why do they always pile on top of each other?”

Frames of Reference by Echo (Jack & Owen | complete | 2736 | T)

There's a difference between 'mostly alive' and 'mostly dead'. Sometime it's just hard to remember which one is which, especially when you get right down to the details.

Keep Smiling Through by engagemythrusters (Jack&Martha, MarthaMickey | complete | 1703 | G)

Usually, you would expect your friends to show up to the wedding. But the reception works, too. Better late than never, after all.

The Tin Box (A Story With Pictures) by copperbadge (Gen | complete | 3142 | T)

Jack goes down in history. And he has the photos to prove it.

To Move a Body by someinstant (Gen | complete | 1599 | G)

It's more fun for me," Ianto said, "if I get to do the managing."

house that eats and pleads and kills by violetmessages (Gwen&Ianto, GwenRhys, JackIanto | complete | 4196 | T)

When investigating a reportedly "haunted" house, Gwen's past comes back to haunt her.

and we're walking by jaskofalltrades (Gen | complete | 971 | G)

THE GOD DAMN POKESTOP IS NAMED TORCHWOOD!”

You and me in the war of the end times by Beleriandings (Gwen & Martha | complete | 2440 | G)

Martha met Jack's team once, about six months in.

family edition by toshsatos (Team | complete | 958 | T)

"The gift of immortality, Jack, and you weren't paying attention to the culinary industry. Shame on you."

#event:genuary #torchwood

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ir0n-angel · 5 years

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Symbols

From Love is... (FLUFF-uary 2020). Part of the Beer and Benefits series.

(prompts #14 - first 'I love you' and #6 - gifts)

"I hate waking up without you. I don't want to do it anymore. Nora... I love you. I love you, and I want to always be next to you."

He pulled back to see her jewel-blue eyes had gone incredibly wide.

"A-are you asking me to...?" she stammered, sounding hopeful in spite of herself.

He moved his hand down to take hers, lacing their fingers together. "Yes, I am. If you'll have me...?"

"Oh my darling..." she breathed, eyes filling with happy tears. "Absolutely yes!"

A ring wasn't necessary. Society and all its laws had collapsed in on itself over two centuries ago. There was no need for anything formal to prove or make marriage official in the wastelands. The partners' promise to each other was enough. And honestly, he felt that that was even better than any pre-war traditions.

Still...

Deegan picked up the least dented looking ring from the small box of jewelry Daisy had set before him on the counter. Like the rest, it was just a plain band with no stone setting. Silver, he guessed, even though it was almost pure black with tarnish. He slipped it over his pinkie and back off again with ease; it would be a little big on her, but better too large than too small. And it would take some work to polish it, if he could find any polish, that is.

He turned it over in his palm, considering.

"Toothpaste," Daisy said, unprompted.

He blinked up at her. "Beg pardon?"

She pointed at the ring. "A dab of toothpaste and rub it with a soft cloth," she elaborated. "A little effort and a lot of patience, and it'll shine bright as before the bombs fell." She leaned over to prop on her elbows. "You're so delightfully old-fashioned. You know you don't need that, right? You asked her and she said yes. You two are hitched, as far as the Commonwealth's concerned." She grinned. "Lucky girl."

Ghouls don't blush, but Deegan could have sworn what was left of his ears were burning. "And how would you know about that?"

She let out a cackle. "Gossip travels fast, and none are faster than Holly."

He tried not to roll his eyes. Of course it would be the overly-friendly, Emogene-esque ghoul woman from The Slog. At least she didn't take his rejections personally, he supposed.

"Nora's a special case," he said, turning his attention to the ring again. "She's pre-war, just like we are. I want to give her something... Something familiar. Tangible."

He was decided.

He closed his hand around it, looking up at Daisy's understanding smile.

She put the jewelry box back under her counter and turned to her till. "Delightfully old-fashioned," she repeated. "I fully expect an invitation to the wedding, mister."

"When Garvey said Jamaica Plain had called for assistance, I didn't think it'd be to clear out an entire super mutant stronghold," Valentine grumbled as Nora popped the hatch of her power armor and all but tumbled out. He stepped closer, reaching out to steady her. "How are you holding up, doll?"

She was shaking pretty badly, but she waved him off. Then she bent with her hands on her knees, gasping as the smell of decay and the adrenaline letdown hit her.

Three Suiciders? Really?! Not to mention the hounds, which came close to terrifying her even more.

Preston was definitely going to get one hell of a talking to later.

When she finally caught her breath and pulled herself together again, she drew up her Pip-boy and clicked the knob a few times. "Looks like we got them all, at least. But why so many?"

"I'd wager it's because there's not many buildings this large outside of Boston proper." He looked upward. "At least not with ceilings this tall, even here on the basement level. You think about it, Fallon's is the perfect space for those oversized brutes."

Stepping around a super mutant corpse, she finally got a good look at her surroundings. "I didn't even notice where we were." Outrunning Suiciders tended to make paying attention to certain details difficult. "Isn't this the jewelry department Eddie Winter and his crew pulled that diamond heist?"

"Yeah. At the time, I questioned his wisdom for pulling it off in a joint with only one exit." He motioned to the inoperable escalator. "I guess he felt pretty confident with the Feds in his back pocket, if it didn't work. At least he'd walk free. What's the loss of a few loyal minions to a guy like him."

His tone turned bitter, and Nora put a hand on his arm. He turned his gaze to her. "You got him in the end," she reminded.

"Thanks to you, partner." He smiled, covering her hand with his ruined one.

She pretended not to notice it faltering at the click of metal on metal as he knocked against the silver band on her ring finger. Just like she'd pretended not to see the way his mouth had turned down and he'd ducked his head when he first noticed and asked about it months ago.

Things could have been very different between them at one time, had he not let the fact he was a synth stand in the way. She'd tried and failed, so she moved on; her life was too short for her to wait.

And Deegan made her so very happy.

She let her hand slide out from under his as she turned towards the half smashed display cases. Most likely the work of raiders, since super mutants had no use for things like jewelry and pocket watches. Her own detective instincts guessed that the super mutants had probably attacked mid-plunder, as there was so much left in them.

Free housing and free lunch? What more could a super mutant want?

Okay, she grossed herself out with that one.

Forcing herself to ignore scattered, half-gnawed bones, she picked through the glass of one case. Picking up a watch with a smashed face, she called to Valentine now looting ammunition out of a rifle, "Help me find more of these? I need the gold for upgrading capacitors."

"So we're going to rob the store, too?" he chuckled. "Winter would love the irony."

"Silver would also be good. You can leave the diamonds."

He gave a hearty laugh, and they split up to search opposite sides of the large showroom.

Poor lighting and being loathe to touch any biological matter, as well as stopping to pay respects to the unfortunate woman locked in the hidden vault, made the search slow. Still, Valentine had already circled the room once and was back to collecting bullets when Nora had picked the lock on the last safe.

"Find anything useful?" he called, as she opened it to discover a tray of rings, neatly wedged in a foam display.

"It's a shame there's not a way to build some kind of cutting tool with all these gems," she replied, picking the simpler bands and solitaires out and putting them in a belt pouch. The ones with the baguettes would be more effort than they were worth to get to the metal and virtually useless as laser components.

"You could just enjoy them for the sake of beauty, you know."

She shook her head. "That'd be asking for trouble. Plus it really isn't worth the effort to haul back stuff I can't use."

Coming to the last row, she paused as she noticed one of the plain silver bands was noticeably larger than the rest. Whoever custom ordered it must have had huge hands.

She wondered...

She picked it up and slid it over her thumb.

It was still loose.

Valentine cast around, making sure he hadn't overlooked anything. "I think that pretty much cleans this place out."

She shot a quick glance at him -- he would know, and she didn't want to make things even more uncomfortable for him -- and unzipped her suit just low enough to tuck the ring into her bra, hastily zipping it back up.

Adding the last couple of rings to her pouch, she slid the tray into the safe and closed it back. "All right, then. I guess we should head to Jamaica Plain to give them the all clear before we head back to the Castle," she said, moving to climb back into her power armor.

A thrill of excitement shot through her as the closing hatch pinned her snugly to the forward chestplate, lightly pressing the ring into her breast.

She couldn't wait to get back home to her husband.

#FLUFF-uary 2020 #Fallout 4 #Deegan/F!SoSu #Beer and Benefits #my writing

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pineaberry · 6 years

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Clan-uary is Pride Month

Aric Jorgan x Sartem Roan (F!Republic Trooper)

It started of as a character bio but I twisted it into a ficlet.

In which Jorgan unlocks Sartem’s tragic backstory. There will be Angst and Fluff and just GUSH.

She’d been in the cargo hold, searching for the last of the nerf-jerky rations, when Aric walked up to her and shoved a small parcel in her general direction.

“I know you’ve been busy lately, so… ah, here,” Jorgan shifted awkwardly as he always did when he handed her a gift.

It was customary to bring one’s lover gifts and tokens of appreciation. Having grown up with sisters for littermates, he knew all too well how picky and critical Cathar women could be. A potential mate was always judged by the quality of his gifts. Was he a good provider? Was he observant? Was he strong? Was he clever? Was he a good hunter? Were his claws and teeth dull? Was his mane tangled? In a word, was he worthy?

He’d seen more than his share of Cathar men torn to pieces by a single phrase from a woman who found him lacking and refused to tolerate his advances any longer. Then again, the persistent ones ended up with bloody gashes in addition to a wounded pride. Yet, like all the times before, the moment he offered her the clumsily wrapped gift, she gave him a bright smile. She didn’t even know what was in it but there was approval in her eyes... such large blue eyes he’d felt he could drown in them from the moment he first saw her. The knots in his stomach faded away at the sight of them.

“Aric, did you make this?” she asked as she brought out a bracelet of intricately woven leather cords threaded with small tumbled stones. “It’s beautiful.”

It was a simple enough design. He lacked the dexterity for the complex symbol knots that professional jewellers made for festivals. Still he remembered enough of the simpler knots he’d been taught as a kit. Love. Beauty. Friendship. Loyalty.

“I… I wasn’t sure what your colors were, but you seem to like blues so I went with that,” he said apologetically, “there’s a space for your sigil.”

“My what?” she asked giving him a blank look.

“Your sigil. It’s the third month of the year, I figured you’ve been too busy to make anything for the ceremony.”

“Third month ceremony…” she repeated and he was met with another blank stare.

“The ceremony. The Clan Ceremony,” he insisted some annoyance slipping into his tone to mask his own nerves.

“Oh!” she said as though something had finally clicked in place, “yes. Cathar ceremony month. Clan… Clan-uary... I… don’t really know what that is. I don’t have a Clan. Anymore… -ish…”

“Everyone has a clan,” Jorgan said as though she’d declared there was no such thing as breathing, “even foundlings. If you’re a Cathar, you have a clan.”

“Oh. Sorry I just- It never really came up,” she replied looking sheepish.

A sense of wrongness filled him. She really didn’t know who her people were. How could she not know? It was… well it was sacrilege that's what it was! Even orphans knew their clan name. This was a part of their identity; of her identity!

“Your parent’s never told you, sir?” he asked reigning in his outrage, “I’m sure we can find something about Clan Roan in the Republic records.”

“Bit hard for them to do that from a grave,” she mused looking at his gift absently and running her thumb over the polished stones. “Roan is a human name and I doubt you’ll find anything flattering about them in the Republic Database.”

Aric frowned and Sartem could all but feel it on her skin. She sighed and took a seat on a nearby supply crate before she patted the spot next to her.

“I guess I should have told you this before, there’s really no easy way to explain it,” she said as he took a seat next to her. “I don’t know my parent’s names but I know what they did and who they were. Before I was born there was a schism growing between the Cathar and the Republic. There were prominent people in my parents’ clan that were adamant about their loyalty to the Republic. However, my father shared some misgivings about the Republic’s commitment to the Cathar. He believed the Republic had used our people against the Mandalorians resulting in our near-extinction. The resulting tragedy ensured our continued dependence on the Republic.”

“That was over three-hundred years ago,” Aric protested.

“Yes, and he believed the Cathar were finally strong enough to make a choice, whether it be Empire or Republic, he felt we should be able to choose,” she said before growing silent for a moment. Never once did she look up from the stones in his bracelet, “my father was a very influential member of his Clan and my mother very eloquent. They publicly debated the opposition and afterwards members of all the other Clans began to consider his words. There began to be murmurs against taking Cathar loyalty for granted. Eventually, the Republic noticed.”

Aric grimaced. It wasn’t lost on him what ‘being noticed’ implied.

“They sent both my parents to Belsavis and scrubbed their records. They were to be held in stasis fields indefinitely. I think… I think my father knew my mother was pregnant because he gave his life so that she could escape. I was born in an ice-cavern somewhere on Belsavis. My mother and siblings were too weak to survive the cold. I would have died too but I was found by an escaped prisoner. Captain Roan was an Imperial strategist sentenced to life imprisonment. I spent around seven years on Belsavis hunting, playing, and hiding among the ice. Captain Roan was kind to me. He named me after his own deceased daughter. I still remember the stories he told me every night. Sometimes they were about the stars, or Sith Lords, or strange planets. Sometimes he sang to me because he said I made him smile,” she looked sad at the memory, “I think he wanted a better life for me. In the end, I think he knew what it would cost him. One day, he told me to pack my things and walked me into the nearest Republic outpost. When we got there… They kept hitting him… They didn’t know him, he was unarmed, and they just kept hitting him… I wanted to bite and scratch and protect him, but he ordered me to stay put. Eventually they took him away and I never saw him again.”

Her eyes burned with tears, but they didn’t fall.

“Someone brought me to Coruscant… I was placed in a home along with other children with unfortunate parentage. Marsalyn was our keeper. She was an older Twi’lek woman who had been rescued from the slave camps by the Republic. She was very kind and patient, but she was forbidden from teaching us anything that would divert our allegiance to the Republic. I remember she used to tell us terrible stories of what the Empire did to her family and how lucky I was that the Empire hadn’t gotten to me first otherwise I would have been enslaved. ‘Pretty Cathar girl like you would get snapped up in an instant. They like to keep your kind like pets.’ She used to say. I grew up wondering how someone as kind and clever as Captain Roan could do something so terrible as to end up in Belsavis. Did the same man who sang me to sleep and tell me stories about the stars also burn that number into Marsalyn's neck? If the Empire was full of evil selfish people who wanted to enslave me, why did he give his life so I could be free?”

She held his gift in her hands if only to keep her fingers from trembling.

“I was fifteen when Marsalyn fell ill. She tried to hide it from us, always putting on a brave face. A decade spent in an arms factory without protection from poisonous chemicals finally caught up to her in the end. She had no family, no children. We had been her younglings. Without Marsalyn we were orphans again; wards of the Republic. They sent us off to the military academy. One of the foundlings I grew up with was a brilliant slicer. By all accounts she should have been snapped up by the SIS, but she was a Sith pureblood. Defections by pretty faces like Dorne are distrusted but still welcomed for their usefulness. Ailsa had known nothing but the Republic her entire life, yet she was feared and hated for her species. The SIS wanted nothing to do with her. It was Ailsa who began to search for the past our Keepers kept from us. She was the one who found out how my father died and why. She was the one who helped me piece together my past and showed me a report stating how my mother and siblings were found. Prisoner TX-54987 shot to death during a firefight and TX-54988 found dead of hypothermia along with four stillborn kits. Their names are lost but I remember. I know I don't live like them or follow their customs. I know they would be disappointed that their deaths were meaningless, but I haven't forgotten them. Mother, Father, Captain Roan, Marsalyn even Ailsa… they're all gone now, but I remember them.”

Aric kept searching her face as though to find a clue as to what she was feeling. He didn’t know what to say in the face of such knowledge. The Republic had stripped her of everything: her status, her dignity, her family, her Clan. Only to reshape her in their image and dress it up as a second chance at life. The experience would have made anyone else bitter and angry, but from what he had seen, it had only made her kind. His brow furrowed and he wished he had the words to express his own regret and sorrow at her loss.

“I’m... sorry… it must be difficult in our line of work…”

“Empire, Republic, good, evil, or neutral, they were all of them people. We’re all just people in the end, Aric. There’s bad people who do good things, and good people who do bad things. Believing every Imperial is inherently evil only serves the people who profit from this war. It makes us easier to control,” she said with a sigh, “Havoc is not an execution squad. Under my command, it never will be.”

He tentatively placed a hand over hers and she finally looked up to meet his gaze.

“I’m just a soldier. I can’t say I understand everything, or that I agree with everything the Republic does, but it brought me to you,” he whispered, “and as selfish as that is, I’m glad.”

“Yes, well that… is incredibly selfish, Aric,” she smiled at him before kissing his lips softly.

He could sense her affection through some inexplicable combination of scent and touch. She found him worthy. He could not contain the purr that bubbled from his chest at the realization. Later he would curse at the deeply embarrassing show of emotion, but for now, he was too happy to care.

“I’m glad I met you too,” she murmured nuzzling under his chin as he instinctively wrapped his arm around her, “happy Clan-uary, Aric.”

He snorted and gave a rumbling laugh. “For kriffs sake, don’t call it that-”

He then felt fingertips dig past the soft fur under his jawline and scratch against his skin just so. Were it anyone else, just thinking about doing something like that would result in lost fingers if the loss of an entire arm. Yet with her, the rest of his protest melted into a loud rumbling purr. It was childish, it was humiliating, and he didn’t give a damn. He held her tightly and she felt as though she were encased in a warm, pleasantly rumbling cocoon.

“Thank you for the gift Aric,” Sartem said as she nuzzled his neck.

His piercing eyes closed blissfully at the motion.

She had accepted him. Him. Not Jonas Balkar with his stupid smiling face. Not all the leering Senators and soldiers. She’d chosen him, and it made Aric feel invincible.

Was this what finding a life-mate felt like? They weren’t officially mated, not yet, but even now he didn’t think there would ever be another like her.

Sartem had spent her entire life hounded by loss, yet she somehow made it out untarnished. Every Cathar should feel as though they had a place in their Clan where they belonged. He vowed help her find that place. They’d all failed her: their people, her Clan, her government. However, if she allowed it, he would spend his entire life making up for it.

#Aric Jorgan #Republic Trooper #SWTOR #SWTOR OC #Sartem Roan

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