#Yes Danny did feel bad about his knee reaction

[dcxdpdabbles]

Cave boy Danny starts talking about one of the debates Tucker and Sam without mentioning their names when asked who the two are,Danny panics again and says that Sam is Selina since that's not that big of a jump when he starts saying her name

"One of my best friends would agree with you." Brucie suddenly speaks up one night at Dinner when Damian rants about his school not offering enough Vegetarian options. "She is an ultra-recyclo-vegetarian."

Bruce blinks having never heard the term before. A quick glance around the table tells him that neither have the others. Must be slang from his universe then. "What does that mean?"

"She doesn't eat anything with a face," Brucie explains. The curve of his lips has the tiniest amount of bestowed fondness that could only come from infatuation. Oh, Brucie is sweet on the girl. Bruce feels mildly alarmed as all his kids and Alfred sits up in interest when spotting it.

Unaware of what he just unwillingly gave away Brucie continues "Not to be confused with being a vegan because she will eat bread and cheese, but not often. She gets real mad when people mislabel her."

Dick grins, leaning over his forgotten dinner to pin Brucie under an eager stare. "I bet. Mislabeling is the worst."

"It is!" Brucie agrees, seemingly satisfied that someone else feels the same. "Especially when getting her to like you is like trying to get a cat's approval. But it's totes worth it when you do. No one has your back better than her."

A....cat's loyalty? Oh no. Surely it couldn't be-?

"What's your best friend's name?" Steph speaks up asking what's on everyone's mind. They all lean in a little closer as Brucie mindlessly gathers some rice on his fork.

"Her name is Sa-" Brucie takes a bite of his rice before swallowing. It takes everything in him not to quote Alfred and scold him for speaking with his mouth full. How Brucie grew up with such manners, Bruce would never know. "Selina! Her name is Selina."

Oh.

It seemed even in another world Bruce's heart would fall into Selina Kyle's hands.

His kids all but burst into cheers. Even Jason, and that was very hard to accomplish in the last few years.

"I knew it! I knew it!"

"Of course, it's Selina! Who else could it have been?"

"I suppose Kyle is not too horrid a partner for Father."

Duke and Cass high-five while Alfred seems to be glowing in parental pride as the other kids chat about his on-and-off girlfriend again. If a civilian version of himself still fell for her, Bruce could convince his Selina to quit the crime life and be his permanently.

Brucie stares a comprehensive eye around the table, so Bruce takes pity on him.

"I have a Selina as well. My kids....enjoy her company." He says, watching blue eyes swing at him as tiny black bangs fall slightly over them. It's adorable, and he finally understands why he had so many admirers. He bets civilian Brucie breaks just as many, if not more, hearts than he did at that age. "How long have you known Selina for?"

"Um...since she moved to my school when we were ten, so about four years, give or take?" Brucie shrugs, a slight blush overtaking his face. "She's great."

Oh, Bruce bet she is.

"Wait." Tim suddenly speaks up, eyes narrow in mistrust. Bruce had noticed before that the second youngest was suspicious of their dimensional visitor. He had been meaning to pull him aside to talk about it. "You said one of your best friends. Who is the other?"

"...Ethan. My other best friend is Ethan," Brucie says after a moment. He must mean Ethan Bennett. Bruce thinks wistfully of the old days when he would play basketball with his dear friend before he was lost in Clayface.

But why did Brucie pause on Ethan's name like that? It almost seemed like he was very carefully selecting that name or was trying to control his facial reaction to it.

A familiar blush bloomed over Brucie's checks and- oh. The boy had spoken about wishing he was from a world where bisexuality was more common, didn't he?

It would make sense. It's not like Ethan hadn't crossed his mind once or twice when Bruce was a teenager, either.

Tim's eyes narrow further. "I don't believe you."

"And I believe you can't stand the sight of your reflection because you're convinced no one will ever want it either." Brucie cheerfully chirps back before closing his eyes and sighing as if tired. He slumps in his chair, leaning his head against the headrest. "Sorry, that was mean. I'm trying to be less mean."

Bruce frowns at him, aware of Tim's eyes going glossy to his right but his son doesn't seem to want to step away. All conversation stops as they glare daggers at Brucie. Dick especially seems the most upset. "That was uncool Brucie"

"Yeah, sorry force of habit. My older sister and I-"

"Your what?" Bruce cuts him off, wondering if he heard right.

"My older sister?"

"You have a sister?"

"Yeah, don't you?"

"No," Bruce whispers. "No, I don't. I'm an only child."

"Oh. I'm the second youngest. I have an older sister, an older brother, and a younger sister." Brucie turns over to Tim to offer a sincere apology that the other gracious takes, but Bruce can't hear him over the sound of blood rushing between his ears.

"Mother and Father had more children?"

"Kind of." Brucie's face twists slightly in consideration. "Tommy and Harley are adopted. They are technically cousins since they were made by my uncle Vlad. Kate.....my older sister Kate, is my aunt Alicia's bio-kid but she was raised by my parents since she was one since Aunt Alicia wasn't...in the best mental state to care for her. No hard feelings are between them."

"Tommy, as in Tommy Elliot?!" Dick gasps, springing to his feet. "He is your adoptive older brother!?"

Brucie appears startled by his reaction, but he nods all the same. Bruce feels dread sink into his stomach.

"He's evil!" Dick shouts.

"I know." Brucie shrugs, uncaring. "Tommy has some issues, and he had them since he was...fourteen, but he's not dangerous.."

"Did you all miss that he said Harley is his younger sister? Harley as in Harleen Quinzel?" Jason cuts in, twisting to pin Brucie with a hard stare. "That's her real name, isn't it?"

"Well, her real name is Harleen Wayne, but she prefers Harley," Bruice says carefully. "Why? Do you know her?"

"She's evil too!" Dick gasps. "Brucie, you're in terrible danger with those two around!"

"Nah, Kate will stop them." Brucie waves his hand. "Sides Tommy and Harley are always traveling. Neither are home much these days."

Bruce feels a headache growing behind his eyes as Dick desperately tries to explain what happens to Brucie's adoptive siblings in their world. At the same time, his counterpart argues on his sibling's behalf.

(No one knows about the electric candles disappearing from the dinner table as the house descends into madness, trying to make the dimension travel realize his danger. Even fewer are aware of Danny's silent apology to Sam, Tucker, Jazz, Dan, or Dani for butchering their names and somehow still connecting them to someone in this world.)

Master Post Link

[five-rivers]

DP/HP twin fic chapter 1

This would be the first chapter of that DP/HP twin fic...  I need a name for it before I post it elsewhere...  I can’t think of a name... help...  @ladylynse I blame you for this entirely.  It’s 3k and they haven’t even met yet.  What am I doing.

.

Here’s the thing.  Danny had encountered wizards before.  And witches.  Multiple times.  

He was not a fan.  

Burning, or other forms of murder, hadn’t ever crossed his mind as a solution to them, even when Freakshow decided to derail his life yet again.  Still. There were only so many times you could stumble upon members of a certain group zapping people with bargain-bin neuralyzers and leaving hours’ worth of uncertain memories in their wake before you got sort of fed up.  

Memory erasure was great in fiction.  Not so much in real life.  

Danny got it.  He’d erased a couple of memories himself.  Well, a lot of memories, depending on how one took the Reality Gauntlet incident.  But as far as motivations went, ‘trying not to be dissected by the government’ was a lot different from ‘we can’t be bothered to be discreet about our sporting events and we think it’s funny that our venue managed to attract ghost hunters when these magicless fools have never seen a real ghost in their lives so we’re going to mess with them.’  

Yeah.  Danny was still annoyed about that.  Also, about their reactions to him when he crossed an invisible line that was apparently supposed to repulse ‘no-majs.’  

That was before getting into Desiree, one of the few witches to become a proper ghost.  According to her, witches and wizards had a different system, and it was rare for magic users to enter the Infinite Realms.  Dora’s dragon amulet had also been enchanted prior to her death, although that could have been a ghost’s work, and Dora had never shared where it had come from.  

Anyway, the point was that Danny knew about magic as an entity separate from ghost powers and at least a small subset of the living beings that relied upon it.  

So, when the woman who dressed like she was living a century ago and smelled of magic walked up to his house, he’d braced himself for a fight.  He wasn’t going to let his parents be ‘obliviated’ again.  They were oblivious enough as it was!

But.  No. She’d come in, no wand in sight (although Danny still wasn’t entirely sure those were necessary) and sat down on the couch, hands primly folded, ignoring all of the… rather questionable features of the Fenton living room.  

To add to the weirdness, his parents had been expecting her.  They knew her by name.  They wanted Danny to be in the room to meet her.  

“Edna,” Jack said, with a strained smile.  “How have you been?”

“Well enough,” said Edna, her eyes flicking to where Danny stood in the kitchen door, watching. “And this must be young Deneb Alased, correct?”

“Yeah,” said Danny, frowning.  There weren’t a whole lot of people who knew his legal name, let alone his middle name.  So, who was this?  “I am.” He looked at his parents, willing them to clear up whatever this was.  

Both of their faces were sour, but they were trying to hide it.  Maddie was doing better than Jack.  

“This is Edna,” said Maddie.  “Why don’t you come and sit down, Danny?”  She patted the back of Jack’s favorite recliner.

Danny noticed how Edna’s mouth twitched down at his nickname. His fingers curled, ghost energy buzzing under his skin just barely kept from his eyes.  He didn’t like this.  

“It’s alright,” said Edna, smiling kindly.  “This must be very confusing for you.  I would be concerned myself, under these circumstances. What I’m about to tell you may be difficult to process, however.”

“We’d like to start it off, actually,” said Maddie. “When you called this morning—” She broke off, making a face.  “We were told this wouldn’t happen.”

“Yes, well,” said Edna.  She shrugged.  “Purebloods. What can you do?  Evidently—Well.  You should have your say, first.”

Danny gave Edna another suspicious glance.  Maybe all wizards weren’t bad.  Maybe Freakshow was an outlier and sports fans just sucked in general.

Yeah, honestly, that tracked.  (Cough, Vlad, cough, Dash, cough.)

He sat down.  “Okay,” he said.  “Way to be ominous.  What’s going on?”

“Well, Danno,” said Jack.  He laughed nervously.

“You’re adopted,” said Maddie, bluntly.

Danny blinked.  “Wait, what?” he said.  “Adopted?  But I look just like you guys!”

Jack’s nervous chuckles continued.  “We are related to your birth parents…  not closely, but…  Yes.”

“Oh my gosh,” said Danny, feeling several layers of personal identity float away from him.  He’d always blamed his weirdness on genetics and family history.  Especially the ghost stuff.  Then again, his name, which definitely did not match with his parents’ or sister’s, probably should have tipped him off.  “You’re serious?”

“I’m afraid so, Danny,” said Jack, kneeling by the chair and patting his knee.  “But don’t worry!  You’ll always be a Fenton, no matter what!”

Danny nodded, swallowing back emotion.  “And Jazz?  Is she…?”

“She’s adopted, too.  At about the same time as you, in fact,” said Maddie.  “So am I and Alicia.  It’s a long story.”

“Okay,” said Danny, determined to get that story at some point.  “Why is she here, then?”

“I was involved in your adoption,” she explained, “and certain members of your birth family want to get back in contact with you.”  

Ancients, that was sure a thing to hit a guy with right after the ‘you’re adopted’ revelation.  

Hold up.  He was forgetting something.  This was a witch.  How did that play into this?  Because it had to.  Witches and wizards, as far as Danny could tell, tended to isolate themselves from the rest of humanity.  

He decided he did not like the probable trajectory of this conversation.  

“Why?” he asked, because he wasn’t going to say he knew about magic until and unless someone else cracked first.  

“Yes,” said Maddie.  “Why?  Why now? We were under the impression that they would never contact us.”

“Evidently,” said Edna, “Deneb’s birth mother was not properly informed of the decision to put him up for adoption.”

Okay.  Yeah. That was a lead-in to his biological parents being magical because he couldn’t think of a single modern western country where that would fly.  

“So, what?  I was kidnapped at birth or something?” asked Danny.

“Not exactly,” said Edna, wincing.  “It was your birth father who filed the paperwork.”

“And she’s only now wondering where Danny is?” asked Maddie, a little shrilly.  Her stress from before was now spilling over into anger so sharp Danny could taste it like a knife on his tongue.  “Did she somehow manage to forget giving birth?”

“No,” said Edna.  “Which brings us to the other matter.  One of the other matters.  The one who first sent the request for your adoption information was actually your twin brother.”

A third monumental revelation.  Wonderful.  What next?

“We, of course, contacted his parents, and discovered the irregularity regarding your birth mother’s consent.  Hence my presence here today.”  She opened her bag and removed a small glass tube, about twice the length of Danny’s palm and the same diameter as a quarter.   “There was also the issue regarding how young you were when you were put up for adoption.  Generally, our agency deals with the placement of children aged from five to eleven.”  She held the tube out to Danny.  “Could you hold this, please?”

“Do you really need to do this?” asked Jack.  

“Due to all the irregularities involved, yes,” said Edna. “Our organization charter unfortunately requires it.  If the mother was not consulted, as is required, the reasoning is that other required things are not as certain.”

“Hold up,” said Danny, hands tightening around the ends of the armrests.  “These people—” Who were most probably wizards, and wasn’t that a thing to get his head around, “—they’re not trying to get custody of me again, are they? After giving me away?”

“No,” said Maddie.  “We won’t let that happen.”

“We’re not going to give him back to people who were going to abandon him just because—!”  Dad broke off.  “Uh. Because.”

Smooth.  

“You know,” said Danny, deciding to cut off… whatever this was. “Even if this ‘test’ is, like…” He trailed off.  “Whatever result you want it to be.  I don’t know.  I’m still going to find out whatever it is you’re dancing around anyway.  Because I’m not going to forget this conversation.”

Silence.  

The witch twitched slightly towards where Danny knew her wand was hidden.  

Screw it.  “And I’m not going to let you erase my memory.  You people do get how messed up that is, right?”

Danny was treated to the sound and sight of three jaws dropping open.  

“How do you-?” started Maddie.  

“You remember when we went to that camp because people thought it was haunted?  But you didn’t find anything?  Well, they managed to get both of you that time, but not me.  And I know you’re one of them, so I’m betting that whatever this is, it has to do with magic.”  He paused. “It was some weird magic sporting event, apparently.”

“The-?  You went to the Quidditch World Cup?” asked Edna.

“What?  No!” protested Maddie.  “That was in Britain, wasn’t it?  We were just in the next state.”  She scowled. “I’m going to write a letter of complaint.  Even if we’re living without magic, we’re not no-majs.  We’re squibs.  They had no right to obliviate us.”

“Okay,” said Danny.  “Yeah.  You’ve lost me.  Squibs?”

No one seemed willing to answer the question.  

“If you’d just take this,” said Edna, holding out the tube a little desperately.  “It will be much easier to explain all at once.”

Danny looked up at his parents.  Jack looked at Maddie.  Maddie drummed her fingers on the back of his chair.  

“It’ll be fine,” said Maddie, “probably.”

“Fine,” said Danny.  He took the tube.  Almost at once, it started glowing green.  

“Oh,” said Edna, frowning and leaning closer.  “It usually isn’t—”

The tube exploded, embedding several small glass shards in Danny’s hands.  

“Ow,” said Danny.  

“Oh,” said Edna again, evidently not registering the small splinter of glass in her cheek.  “Well. Whoever your birth father hired to test your magic as an infant obviously got it wrong.  Congratulations, Mr. Fenton.  You’re a wizard.”

“My hand is bleeding.”

“Yes,” agreed Edna.  “It isn’t supposed to explode, you see.”

.

Once Danny got cleaned up, which involved a lot of glaring at Edna from Maddie and Jack, they adjourned to the kitchen, which was free of random glass shards.  

“The adoption organization I work for,” said Edna, “places squibs—people born to magical parents who do not have magic themselves—with families of squibs.  Assuming the child’s birth parents do want to give up their child over something like not having magic.”  Her nose wrinkled.  “The common wisdom is that it is easier for such children to grow up in an environment that is not explicitly magical.  In any case, it is my personal belief that anyone who would give up a child over something like that isn’t going to be the best of parents.”

“Alright,” said Danny, “so… all of us are squibs.”

“Except you, apparently,” said Edna.  “It’s hard to tell whether or not someone as young as you were when you were given up will be magical or not.  Which is why we usually only deal with older children.  I don’t suppose you’ve noticed anything odd happening around yourself?  Or unusual abilities?”

Danny stared at her flatly for several long moments.  His entire life could be classified as ‘odd,’ and most of it he wasn’t about to share with Edna.  Or his parents, as much as he loved them.

But, on the other hand, he now had a great excuse for at least some of his weirdness.  His parents wouldn’t think ghost if they could think wizard first.

“Like, define ‘odd,’” said Danny.  Despite his earlier encounters with wizards, he had no idea what was normal for them.  Other than memory wiping.  Which he could not do and wouldn’t have demonstrated anyway.  

Okay.  If was actually a wizard, and Edna’s doohickey wasn’t just reacting to his ghostliness, he probably could learn how to do the memory thing, but he didn’t know now, so the distinction was meaningless.  

(Maybe being a wizard or a squib or whatever was why he wasn’t just.  Dead.)

(Yeah, he didn’t want to think about that.)

“Just…  Being in one place, and then a different place.  Surviving something you shouldn’t have been able to unscathed.  Things moving by themselves or changing color or size. Temperature changes.  Something you want very badly happening, even if it is impossible or extremely unlikely.”

“Okay,” said Danny.  “Yeah.”

“To which one?” asked Jack, concerned.  “I haven’t noticed anything like that except what the ghosts do.”

“Um,” said Danny.  “This?”  He put his hand down on the table, intending to leave an icy handprint.  That should be acceptable, right?  If temperature changes were normal…

His nerves got the best of him.  He knew he was nervous showing even one of his powers around his parents.  He overcompensated.  

The table was covered with frost.  

“Oops?” said Danny.  

All the blood had left Edna’s face.  Jack and Maddie didn’t look much better.  

“Dear lord,” said Edna.  “You can do that at will?”

“Yes,” said Danny, holding his hand close to his chest. “More or less.”

“Danny,” said Jack, “why didn’t you tell us?”

“I thought you’d think it was a ghost thing.  You kind of shoot first and ask questions later about ghost things.”

“Oh my god,” said Edna.  “Never mind that.  You can do wandless magic and you’re fourteen?”

“Fifteen,” said Danny, “but, yeah.  I guess.”

Evidently, this wasn’t normal.  

Also, his comment about shooting first hurt his parents’ feelings.  Go figure. Not like they weren’t keeping a massive secret.  

.

“So,” said Danny, once the other discussions had been shelved for the time being, “I have a brother?  I think a brother was, at some point, mentioned.”

“Yes,” said Edna.  “A twin brother.  He wants to meet you.  Along with your biological mother.”

“And if I don’t want to?” asked Danny.  “If I don’t want to have anything to do with them?”

“I don’t even know,” said Edna.  “I can’t believe you slipped under the national detection spell. There’s going to be so much paperwork involved in this.  International paperwork.”

“Huh?”

“You were born in Britain,” said Edna, as if this were a minor detail.  

Yeah.  Like his sense of self needed any further pummeling.  

“But it isn’t our fault everything is so messed up,” said Danny.  He maybe had some curiosity about his twin brother, but if there was any risk he’d be taken away…

“I understand,” said Edna, “but nothing like this has come up before, as far as we know.”  She sighed. “If it makes you feel better, I will use any influence I have in the matter to recommend that you retain custody of Deneb.  In the meantime…  Do you want to, uh, open communications with any members of your biological family?”

“I don’t know,” said Danny.  “Can I think about it?”

.

Relations in the Malfoy household had been strained ever since Draco’s investigation of his family tree (unrelated to the return of the Dark Lord and how blood purity was now much, much more important) had revealed that his twin brother had not, in fact, died at birth.  

And by strained, Draco meant that his parents had taken to living on opposite sides of the manor, interacting only when there were visitors.  Visitors such as his father’s Death Eater friends, members of society, and various government officials.  All of whom were more alike, and had greater overlap, than even Draco had initially suspected.  

This left Draco walking on eggshells between the two of them and wishing for Hogwarts to start again.  Anything he did to please one had to be entirely out of sight of the other, or else they began to fight again.  Truthfully, Draco was more on his mother’s side, all things considered, but his father was the one with the friends, and Draco couldn’t stay home under his mother’s wings for all his life.  Like his dragon namesake, he had to fly.  

Which he would most certainly do.  Soon.  No, he wasn’t hiding from his parents in his room.  That would be ridiculous.  They knew where his room was.  They could find him if they wanted to, and neither of them was anywhere near him.  He knew.  He’d checked.

This made the inarticulate shriek of rage he overheard from his mother all the more concerning.  

It was enough to make him emerge – cautiously! – from his self-imposed exile.  

He was curious.  And stupid.  It got him into enough trouble at school, why not at home?

Also, he really needed to know.  For his own safety.  Tiptoeing around whatever disaster just happened would be impossible if he didn’t know what it was.  

Instead, he tiptoed after his mother.  

His mother, who was angry enough that sparks were coming off the end of her tightly gripped wand.  Green sparks.  

Draco had never actually seen the killing curse in action, but his mother’s face screamed murder all on its own, no magic required, despite the fact that Draco was only catching glimpses of it as she strode towards his father’s half of the house.  

This was going to be bad.  Terrible.  Possibly the kind of event that saw one of his parents in Azkaban and the other in little, tiny pieces all around the smoking room.  

Lucius, for his part, looked paralyzed where he stood, and Draco briefly entertained the notion that Narcissa had managed to cast petrificus totalis on him without moving her wand or speaking the words.

Narcissa planted herself firmly in front of Lucius and glared up at him, seething, her breath making sucking noises as it passed through her teeth.  

She punched Lucius in the face.  The man toppled, clutching his nose.  Narcissa kicked him.

It was a good thing that the Malfoys had no neighbors, because what Narcissa screamed next likely could have been heard for at least a mile.

“He wasn’t even a squib, you lying bastard!”

[multifandomwriter56]

Getting Her Way

A/N: Don’t have much to say except I hope ya’ll enjoy this. Oh, and also I’ve decided I suck at titles. So there’s that. 

Summary: Y/n finds her own way to become a Peaky Blinder and Tommy believes it’s his duty to teach his sister right from wrong; even if he doesn’t learn himself.

Characters: Tommy Shelby, Arthur Shelby, Shelby!Reader (8 years old)

Warnings: language

Word Count: 1,562

"By order of the Peaky fucking Blinders!" Y/n yells as she grabs a fistful of the back of her cap and swings it at the kid. She smacks him with it a few times, ignoring the person calling her name. 

“Y/n Shelby!” Tommy shouts as his hands grip around his sister’s waist and forces her to turn towards him. “What the fuck are you doing?”

The eight year old doesn’t even flinch at his stern tone. “We’re playing Peaky Blinders, Tommy.”

Tommy slowly looks behind his sister, afraid to find a bloody-faced boy who will now be blind for the rest of his life; but to his surprised, there’s not even a start of a bruise forming on the boy’s face. He looks back at the young girl. “Where did you the cap, eh?”

This time, the girl shuffles her feet and bites her lip at his stern tone. “I stole it.”

“From who?”

She looks at her shuffling feet before answering her brother. “Arthur.” She lifts her head, looking at her brother straight in the eye. “But he hasn’t worn it in weeks. I made sure it wasn’t one of his favorites.” 

Tommy suppresses a groan when she folds her arms over her chest; a clear sign she’s about to throw a tantrum. So with the hope to avoid that; he focuses his attention on the other eight year old. “You alright, son?”

“I’m fine, Mr Shelby.”

“You go on home, eh? Y/n will see you at school tomorrow.”

“But Tommy! We were playing!” Y/n whines; ignoring her brother’s warning look and stomps her foot. 

“Go on, son.” Tommy smiles at the young boy who’s glancing between the two siblings before running off towards his home. 

He focuses back on his sister, but before he can say anything, she beats him to it.

“Why can’t I have my own cap? Finn gets one.”

“You never asked me for one.” Tommy points out.

Y/n falters at her brother’s words. She didn’t think about that. “Why were you late picking me up from school?”

Tommy doesn’t even try to hold in his chuckle. “Nice try, my little devil; but we are not done discussing this.” He holds out a hand for her to take. “You’re going to apologize to Arthur for stealing his cap.”

“But he didn’t even noticed it was gone.” She whines, taking a hold of his hand. 

“No whining.” He chides softly. 

The two siblings walk; a comfortable silence settling over them as they make their way through the streets of Small Heath. 

Tommy stops at the entrance to the Garrison. “You’re going to tell Arthur what you did and then I’ll take you home, eh?”

“Yes, Tommy.” Y/n was not looking forward to telling her eldest brother what she did. Arthur believes the youngest Shelby can do no wrong and she would like to keep it that way. 

Tommy barely contains his amusement at his sister’s mood. He knows exactly what she’s thinking. He also knows Arthur’s going defend the little brat and make him be the bad guy. 

“Arthur, you have a visitor!” He calls as the two enter the pub. 

The eldest Shelby sticks his head outside the small office in the back and smiles at the sight before him. “Y/n!” He raises his arms in the air as he makes his over to them. “My favorite eight year old, what are you doing visiting your big brother?” 

Y/n giggles as Arthur pulls her into a bear hug and squeezes her tightly. “Arthur, you squeezing too hard.” She tells him in between giggles.

He lets her go. “My apologizes. Now-” He pulls out a chair and sits in it, patting his knee as an invitation. 

Y/n immediately crawls into his lap; shifting until she’s comfortable. She leans her head against his chest with a smile on her face. But when she looks at the brother that still standing; the smile falls. “I have something to tell you, Arthur.”

“Oi, and what would that be.”

She looks at Tommy with one last pleading look before looking back at Arthur. “I made a new game. It’s called Peaky Blinders. Me and Danny were playing it when someone wass late picking their sister up from-”

“Y/n.” Tommy growls in warning.

Arthur looks up at his brother and then back at his sister who exhales a huff of annoyance; wondering what’s going on between his two siblings. “That sounds like a fun game, Y/N/N. How do you play?”

“Bloody hell.” Tommy mutters as Y/n explains how the game works. 

“And I grab my cap and started smacking him like you, Tommy, and John do when someone doesn’t listen.”

“Like you are now.” The standing brother interrupts. He pulls the cap out of his coat pocket places it in her lap. “Tell Arthur where you-”

“Hey, that’s my cap.” Arthur announces as he picks up the mentioned item. 

“I took it from your stash. I never saw you wear it, so I didn’t think you liked it and I wanted one.”

“Just because you like something, doesn’t mean you can just take it.” Tommy chides. 

Y/n glares at Tommy before looking up at Arthur,hoping he will come to her defense. 

“Tommy’s right, you can’t just take other people’s belongings.” Arthur doesn’t really care that Y/n took his cap; but he understands where his brother is coming from. Y/n’s too young to understand the difference between stealing as a thief and stealing because of who they are as the Peaky Blinders. It’s best just to teach her stealing is bad until she is older and more involved in the business. 

But even though he’s siding with his brother; he’s not going to deny his baby sister’s wants. So he plops the cap on her head, smiling when she does. “It’s yours; looks better on you than me anyways.”

Y/n smiles smugly at Tommy who is glaring at Arthur.

When he notices the smug smile, he points a warning finger at her. “You’re still in trouble.” He nods his head in slight triumph when that wipes the smile right off her face.

“Aw, come on Tom. She didn’t do anything that bad. It’s just a cap; and besides, she took the one she knew I wouldn’t miss. I never even knew it was fucking missing until now.”

“And it’s mine now anyways, so technically I didn’t steal it.”

Oh, now the little devil’s pushing it. 

“Exactly. So no need for the glaring daggers.” Arthur says, gesturing towards Tommy’s narrowed eyes.

Tommy debated on whether or not to fight them over a stolen cap. He decides against it; turning on his heel and heading for the doors.

Y/n and Arthur share a triumphant smirk and high five.

“Y/n, let’s go.”

The eight year old hugs her brother and kisses his cheek; whispering a quick, “thank you” before following after Tommy. 

As the two begin their walk home, Y/n can feel the tension radiating off the gang leader. Biting her lip, she speeds up just enough so she can stop in front of Tommy, forcing him to stop.

“I’m sorry I stole, Tommy.”

The man scoffs. Now’s she rubbing it in his face. 

“Really, Tom. I am. i won’t do it again. I’ll try and ask you first when I want something.” 

Tommy’s head cocks to the side as his eyes scan his sister’s face. “You’re being sincere.” When Y/n nods her head, he bends forward, resting his hands on his knees. “How do you go from being the world’s biggest brat to being the sweetest angel in all of Small Heath, eh?”

Y/n clasps her hands behind her, swaying from side to side; a smile smile tugging at the corner of her lips. “It’s a gift.”

Tommy chuckles, pulling her into his arms as he straightens to his full height. He continues the walk towards home.

“Where did this Peaky Blinders game come from anyways?” He asks her after a few minutes of silence.

“Since I’m not allowed to be involved with the real thing; I decided to make my own game so I can be like you.”

“You want to be like me? What about Arthur?”

“Him too. That’s why I always yell ‘by order of the Peaky fucking Blinders’ when I’m about to beat someone up; just like Arthur.” She tells him proudly.

Tommy shakes his head fondly. “Polly’s going to kill us all if she ever hears about this game.”

Y/n giggles but sobers when she thinks about their aunt’s reaction. “We can’t tell her, Tommy.”

“That’s the plan, little sister.” Tommy agrees as he sets her on her feet and opens the door to number six Watery Lane. 

“Oi! Thomas, is that you? What’s this game Y/n’s been playing at school where she fucking pretends to cut people?”

The two siblings freeze at the doorway.

Y/n looks up at him. “It’s been a while since I’v visited Curly and Uncle Charlie.”

Tommy nods his head, trying his hardest to not actually show his fear from their aunt’s tone. “I need to check on my horse before the upcoming race.”

They quickly make their exit as the click of Polly’s heels become louder by the second.

Forevers: @beautycinders​ @desiredposion​ @ravenoussss​ @simonsbluee​

Peaky Blinders: @cai-neki​

[daisybeewrites]

Academy Blues

oh, deer

word count: 2.8k

warnings: none for this chapter, vague foreshadowing

ship: dousy (daisy johnson x daniel sousa), background Fitzsimmons and Philinda

heyyyyy…. yes i posted it early on Ao3

howeverrr you guys are gonna like this chapter. i just feel it in my bones (bc its fluffy and the angst starts kicking in in the next one)

“You look like Rudolph, Daisy,” Elena greeted.

Daisy took a large swig of coffee, rolling her eyes but smirking. The pair were walking together to Elena’s first class after a tough early-morning spar.

“You’re the one who punched me where I already had a bruise,” Daisy shot back.

“Hey, I already told you I was aiming for the jaw. It’s not my fault you didn’t duck quick enough.”

They laughed as Elena swiped her key card to the comms building. Daisy held the door for Elena, shoving her lightly in the back as she passed.

“Hey!”

“Not my fault you can’t see backwards,” Daisy teased.

It was Elena’s turn to roll her eyes and laugh, slowing to a stop outside May’s lecture room.

“Right. Wish me luck, I heard May was giving a pop quiz today,” Elena grimaced.

“You don’t need any luck. I’ll see ya, Elena,” Daisy replied.

“Yeah, you will!” Elena said, backing into May’s large lecture room.

Daisy watched her wave and sit down with a group of third-years, her perfect french braids swishing behind her, before turning around. Daisy didn’t have a moment to think about where she was going before she ran into a solid wall.

Daisy looked up into a pair of dark chocolate eyes, crinkled at the edges with a small smile. The wall’s hair was ruffled, as if he had just gotten out of bed. He wore black SHIELD sweats and a white t-shirt. The wall was very attractive. She vaguely registered the smattering of books on the ground, her mind more focused on his hands on her shoulders.

“Daisy, are you okay?”

She must have been staring for too long. “Yeah, I’m good! Great! Sorry, Sousa,” she apologized, quickly bending over to pick up his books. She almost dropped them again when his hand brushed hers while she handed the thick textbooks back. She gave him a quick smile, taking a deep breath to compose herself, reciting her affirmations. I am Daisy Johnson. I am an Agent of SHIELD. I can move the Earth. I am powerful. I am in control of myself.

Daniel’s smile grew a bit when he heard Daisy laughing quietly to herself.

“I guess you could say I really swept you off your feet.”

Daniel chuckled at the quip, his hands still on her shoulders. “Yeah. Foot,” Daniel corrected. Daisy furrowed her brows, but ignored the strange comment.

“Right. Well, the bell—” Daisy was cut off by a long, high-pitched bell. She closed her eyes tight, the blaring alarm causing tiny vibrations to travel through her skull. When she opened them, Daniel was still standing in front of her, white tee and black sweats and messy morning hair encouraging just a bit more flirting before he had to leave.

“Wow, look at you. Late! I’m a bad influence on you, Danny.”

Daniel shrugged, glancing at his watch. “S’not the first time,” he murmured lowly, stepping away and giving her a last look before he disappeared into the classroom.

Daisy pretended not to notice her heart rate had risen from it’s usual sixty beats-per-minute to seventy-six beats-per-minute.

Daisy spent the rest of the day absentmindedly completing work in her classes. For some reason, flirting with Daniel felt… different than it had with her exes. Even her exes in SHIELD. Daniel was grounded. He had a calm presence. Being late didn’t phase him in the slightest; Daisy would have internally berated herself for the rest of the day.

She was finishing a short answer assignment from International Law and SHIELD Policy while stretching on the outdoor training grounds when she saw him again: still in sweats despite the heat. He was still walking with same, familiar limp. Then it clicked—’Foot’; the throwaway comment from earlier made much more sense now. He had a prosthetic. Before she could think anymore about that revelation, May called the Ops trainees to gather around her under a giant maple tree. Daisy was the last to get up, hanging towards the back as usual.

“Ops training, eh?”

Sousa turned to Daisy standing beside him, breaking his focus on May to turn to her. “Yeah. I used to be military, remember? 28th Infantry Recon Scout. I figure I’ve got to get at least near the level I used to be before I can go in the field.”

Daisy nodded, her hair caught in a slight breeze. “As long as you don’t steal my crown as the Queen of Spar, Master of Field Ops Physical Training.”

Daniel chuckled quietly, turning his attention back to May, who was explaining today’s exercises.

“Partners,” Daisy breathed. Daisy hated partners, unless it was May. She’d rather condition. It wasn’t that she didn’t like the other trainees, they were great people! But her nerves got the better of her and she ended up holding back, not helping herself or her partner. She knew how to control her powers, how to keep herself from using them while sparring. Whispers of doubt and guilt still invaded, fogging her mind like deadly mist.

You could kill them. It’s happened before…

She was taken back to the moment by Daniel tapping her shoulder. “Partners?”

Daisy reluctantly nodded and motioned to him to follow her over to a thick pad of grass next to a small willow tree.

“So, what exactly are we supposed to be doing? It’s Tuesday, which is usually a mix of breathing and nerve control and focusing on technique, rather than strength.”

Daniel glanced over at the other partners, who were all going through defensive and offensive stances slowly, like tai chi, he thought.

Daisy walked closer to where he had stopped beside the willow, pointing out a pair of partners moving almost in sync.

“They’re focusing on how their breathing can help their fighting. Mentally and physically. If you’re nervous, your heart rate spikes, your brain goes fuzzy and then your body gets sloppy. If you aren’t breathing, your heart rate spikes, your brain goes fuzzy and your body gets sloppy. Breath can make a punch more powerful and a kick more accurate, if you know how to use it. I’ll show you the moves.”

Defensive, offensive, block, strike, block, kick. Daisy continued in a cycle until Sousa could mirror her movements with little effort.

Daisy stopped him then. “Great! You’re a quick learner,” She winked, smiling wide.

Daniel smiled back, “So how do I do the breathing thing?”

Daisy pondered how to explain it for a second. “You have to flow, like water. You control your breathing, you have the power. But at the same time, you have to let the air flow naturally. The moves will align with your breath, don’t force it.”

Daniel nodded, and they were off. It took a minute to get into the groove, but once he did, it felt effortless. Every kick, block, inhale and turn, exhale and strike came naturally. It gave him the opportunity to study Daisy.

Usually, especially in the early mornings in the computer lab, Daisy looked tired. Her brows were drawn slightly, fingers fidgeting, knee bouncing. In the halls she walked briskly and adjusted her bag or checked her watch often, a small tic she didn’t seem to notice. Right now, though, breeze across her olive skin, Daisy looked cool as water.

She felt the earth beneath her. The trees and grass and flowers in the wind. She tuned in to the radio of her surroundings, letting her muscle memory guide her. The forest was really loud. The concrete buildings had a sort of buzz, too. They mixed in her bones like the sounds of a great symphony, low rumbles and high-pitched chittering and long, constant notes that provided a harmony to the undulating melody. The frequencies of each living and non-living thing in the area seemed to be flowing around her, steady.

Daniel softly stared at her as she moved through the flow with him. She was very good at this. He was having a bit of trouble, though he doubted he would be having this much trouble if it wasn't Daisy right in front of him. For an exercise designed to relax them, wasn’t it counterintuitive to partner with the girl that made his heart skip a beat when she smiled?

When May clapped her hands and signaled the end of the session, the tired, sweaty kids gathered around May’s oak tree. The sun was beginning to dip towards the horizon, bringing a glow to each of their faces. Daisy looked radiant.

“Class is dismissed. Tomorrow, we’re conditioning,” May warned. In a quieter voice, May called, “Daisy, can you hang for a second?”

Daisy stepped away from her bag and towards May. “Is everything okay?”

“Yes, everything’s fine. I have a question for you. Would you mind giving up your free period three times a week?”

Daisy’s eyebrows raised, no classes that she knew of only took place three times a week. “I want to say yes, but I’d also like to know why?”

“Fair. Top brass called. If you want to be a field agent with powers, you’ve got to practice fighting with them, get comfortable with them. I know everything that happened with Lincoln…” May paused, gauging Daisy’s reaction. When there wasn’t any, May continued. “Your powers didn’t make you an agent, I did.”

May paused, giving Daisy a chance to settle her thoughts before adding, “But I think this is important.”

Daisy slowly nodded. If this was important to May, then Daisy had no problems giving up her free period.

“Who will I train with?” she asked.

May smiled. “Meet Yo-Yo and I behind the garage at seven sharp tomorrow morning.΅

Daisy saluted playfully, wandering to her bag and walking in the direction the other students had gone. She could see them filtering into the cafeteria. A smoothie sounded nice…

The canteen was full of students grabbing plates of chicken and veggie tacos. Daisy was always happy during dinner on taco Tuesday. She grabbed her plate and a small green juice and searched for a familiar pair of heads, warm brown eyes and freckles sitting next to dirty blonde curls.

As she approached, two hands went up, waving. Weaving her way through students, she saw Fitz pat the seat beside him.

“Oi, Dais! I've got something to show you!”

Daisy sat down, her attention drawn to the tiny device on the table in front of her. It was small enough to fit in her hand, but surprisingly heavy for its size. Multiple coloured wires stuck out from various surfaces. Fitz was grinning at her with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. He pressed a button on a small remote that sat on the table. Daisy looked over at Jemma, puzzled. Was something supposed to be happening?

Daisy glanced down at her hand. There was nothing there but a constant weight.

“Fitz! You replicated cloaking!”

Jemma and Fitz immediately shushed her, looking around. “He wasn’t supposed to! It’s above his ‘level’. Professor Weaver practically forbid him.”

Daisy’s eyes widened. This was very Fitz. Tell him he can’t, and he will, just to prove it to himself. Holding it up to eye level and moving it around, Daisy marveled at the seamless invisibility. “What are you gonna do with it?”

Fitz shrugged. He began to explain a number of uses for the device, along with the technical modifications he’d have to make for them to work. She tuned out after Jemma exasperatedly told him they couldn’t train monkeys to be invisible recon scouts.

Her plan to learn something from Fitzsimmons banter was derailed when Daisy noticed a shadow at the corner of her eye. It slipped away as quickly as it came, around the corner of the cafeteria and out of sight.

Why was she getting déjà vu?

“Dais, you alright there?” Fitz asked quietly.

Daisy turned back to him, smiling. “Yeah, I thought I saw something. Probably just tired.”

The sandy blonde boy laughed, “S’only Tuesday, Dais. We’ve got a whole week ahead of us!”

“Ugh, don’t remind me. I’ve got six tests this week!” Simmons countered.

Daisy’s mouth opened in surprise, quickly shut when Fitz made a comment about catching flies. “Wait, so you aren’t excited for the tests?”

Jemma shook her head miserably, her amber eyes rolling. “No. Usually I would be, it’s so odd! But I was studying the other night and reviewing old tests, and my chest felt so heavy and my head started spinning—”

Fitz stopped her by putting his hand over hers, gently reassuring her. Watching the two, Daisy thought her heart might burst, a bubbly feeling rising in her chest.

Jemma turned back to her, considerably less distressed.

“Do you want some help studying?” Daisy offered.

Jemma nodded. “Tonight, 8, the rooftop?”

The group nodded.

At eight o’clock, Daisy carefully climbed out her window and around the corner to the fire escape. The stairs whispered and creaked with the wind, but you would never know anyone was climbing the iron to the roof unless you ran directly into her.

She arrived at the last landing, one floor above her own, and crouched down. She jumped, using small quakes as a make-shift propulsor. Jemma turned her head towards the soft thump of Daisy landing on the roof.

The space was decorated with a jungle of potted plants and fairy lights strung around the ledge, mix-matched multicoloured and shades of white. They cast a warm glow across the spread of notes and textbooks neatly placed in front of Jemma. Daisy approached, pulling out her laptop and a pouch of pens, pencils, highlighters, and white-out.

“Ready for our study date?”

Jemma smiled. “Yes. Fitz should be here any minute.”

The two girls got comfortable, beginning to go over notes and chat idly. Daisy wrote down vocab and key ideas on note cards and organised them by subject. Jemma laughed loudly when Daisy expressed her confusion at the difference between the three biochemistries that she was taking. Suddenly, loud clanging was heard from the side of the building.

“Daisy! Jems!”

The two girls shared a glance at the panicked voice. Fitz.

They rushed over to where he would be coming onto the iron landing, grabbing his hand and helping him over the concrete barrier onto the roof.

Fitz supported himself on his knees, panting. “There's a guy down there. Creepy bastard.”

Jemma and Daisy shared another glance, this one full of concern and trepidation.

Fitz pointed to Daisy. “Askin’ about you, Dais. Your…” Fitz trailed off, drawing waves in the air with his hand.

Jemma rested a hand on Daisy’s shoulder, squeezing slightly. “Go check it out, we’ll be here when you get back.”

Daisy reluctantly jumped onto the metal landing below, resisting the urge to use her powers to cushion her landing. She quickly checked the perimeter of the dorm, then wandered closer to the forest that backed up to the dorms.

If only she had night vision as well as the power to create earthquakes.

A subtle movement caught her eye, a dark silhouette shifting in between the trees. A haze of clouds covered the moon, making the forest darker than usual. Daisy stepped forward slowly, her breath speeding up.

The air seemed electric, the few clouds in the sky bloodred with the remaining rays of sunset. The tall pines and thick oaks were silhouetted black against the sky, branches seeming to reach out to grab the twilight shadows. Daisy threw a quick glance over her shoulder, letting out a relieved exhale when she saw Fitz and Jemma watching over her from the roof.

A twig snapped right in front of Daisy, the treeline only twenty feet away. Daisy felt the echo bounce around the forest. She took a deep breath, steadying her hands and lungs. Something, someone, was right on the other side of those bushes…

“AAGH!”

A deer leapt out of the brush, landing right in front of her. Its large doe eyes stared at her, ears back. It was just a fawn.

Daisy slowly let out a sigh of relief, dropping her arms from where they had come up in front of her. She snorted.

“You’re just a baby. What are you doing in the bushes by yourself?”

Daisy tentatively reached out, the fawn showed no signs of moving. She opened her palm, letting the deer sniff before it bounded away across the field.

Daisy sighed. She felt something was off, like you would the moment before you were struck by lightning. Like any second, something else would pop out of the forest, this time a real threat…

Silence.

Stillness.

Daisy sighed, shaking her head and rubbing her eyes. I just need sleep. If the paranoia has set in, I definitely need sleep.

Daisy headed back to the dorms, the feeling of eyes on her following until she was safely on the roof with her friends.

The twinkling fairy lights lit the rest of their evening, shadows and deer forgotten in the warmth of laughs and starlight.

[ghostsray]

danny grows baby fangs

truce gift for @phantomofprocrastination!! happy new decade :)

word count: 3,080

____

Being friends with a rival ghost has its pros and cons. The pros are that Danny can call on them whenever he needs help fighting a bigger, badder ghost. The cons are that this does nothing to stop his ally from attacking him whenever they like.

He was awoken in the dead of night (pun intended) by his ghost sense escaping his throat. He quickly transformed and flew outside, preparing to fight a ghost wreaking havoc. Instead, he was met by Johnny, who asked for a spar.

Danny sighed and ran a hand across his face. "Really? You couldn't have picked a better time for this?"

"Of course not!" Johnny delightfully replied. "All the humans are asleep, so you don't have to worry about hurting any of them."

That was...surprisingly thoughtful. Still didn't make it any less annoying. Danny fixed him with a glare and said, "Johnny. I'm half human. I also need to sleep."

The ghost's eyes widened, and his mouth formed a circle. "Oh."

Danny rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Can you go back to the GZ so I can get back to bed?"

Unfortunately, he already knew the answer he would receive when Johnny's face twisted into a wicked smirk. "But you're already here, aren't you? And I do have some energy I need to let out..."

"Dude, I swear..."

Danny didn't have time to finish his threat because the biker ghost was already sending his shadow to attack him. Inwardly, Danny groaned. Here he thought that he was making good progress this year in befriending his previous enemies, but it turns out they're too trained in Hating Danny On Sight to fully stop torturing him.

Danny blocked another swing from the shadow. He formed a ball of ectoplasm in his hands and used its light to fend the phantom off. As he watched it retreat, he bared his teeth at Johnny with a growl, trying to convey clearly that he wasn't happy.

For some reason, Johnny had the opposite reaction. He held up a hand to hold his shadow back and stared at Danny. "Wait, do that again," he said.

Danny frowned, confused. "Do what?"

"Bare your teeth."

Danny was Hella Confused, but he did as he was asked. Johnny clapped his hands and laughed.

"You're growing baby fangs!"

"...What."

The older ghost got closer until he was floating right in front of Danny's face. He pointed at the halfa's mouth, and his face adopted the kind of expression Jazz would make if she saw a baby animal. "Right there," the ghost said with a smile, "the cutest, widdwest baby fa--"

All of a sudden, a light enveloped Johnny, and he looked down to see the halfa sucking him into a Fenton thermos. "Hey! Not fair!" he whined, his voice shrinking as he went in.

"Sorry, but you deserved it," Danny spoke into the cylinder before he closed it.

He sunk from his spot in the air until his boots touched the ground. As soon as he did, he thought about what Johnny said. Now that he noticed, his gums were hurting. When he touched them with his tongue, he felt something sharp growing among his teeth. What did Johnny say? Fangs?

Danny looked at the building sitting across from his home. The lights indoors were all turned off, and the windows perfectly reflected the street and Danny on it. Danny let himself hover an inch off the ground and floated toward the glass. Once he got close enough, he studied his reflection.

Over the years, his ghost form had changed into something a bit more...ghostly. Before, the only parts of his appearance that changed were his eye and hair colors. Now, his hair became wispy, his skin grew tinted green, and even the freckles that had long ago faded from his human skin now literally glowed in ghost form.

Danny ignored these details. (He especially ignored how uncomfortable he felt seeing himself look less and less human.) Instead, he opened his mouth and focused on the trait Johnny pointed out to him.

Sure enough, two small, white points were growing from where his canine teeth should be. Danny stared. Were those really going to grow into fangs? Honestly, he's not sure why he was surprised. Pretty much every ghost he knew had fangs. Even Vlad did, and he's a halfa too.

He grinned at his reflection, and the reflection grinned back, showing off his brand new pair of fangs. Danny tried to imagine what the would look like on him once they grow, replacing the small points with something longer and sharper.

This was a mistake.

Suddenly the image before him seemed eerily familiar. Wispy hair, almost like fire. Greenish skin bordering on teal. Growing muscles underneath his jumpsuit. And fangs.

The grin was gone from Danny's face, but the reflection still smiled. Since when had its eyes turned red?

Danny took a shaky step back.

It was him.

The thermos slipped from his hands with a clunk. He gulped.

He was turning into him.

Fire entered Danny's nose. Fire, and the smell of burning flesh. He whipped around, eyes out of focus. The Nasty Burger. It was gone. The flames licked the sky and danced on where the building once stood.

His family. His friends. He couldn't save them.

"No," he softly said, as if that could erase the scene before him.

He dropped onto his knees on the pavement. The smoke stung his eyes and filled his lungs. He couldn't breathe.

"No," he repeated, gasping and gripping onto his hairs. "No, no, no."

His eyes fell on the thermos next to him. The metal surface reflected Danny's face, but it wasn't the face he saw in the mirror yesterday. It was his face from tomorrow. Red eyes, wispy hair, and grinning at him with long, sharp fangs.

An ecto-blast shot past his ear, jolting Danny back to reality. He looked up, his eyes finally focusing on someone standing over him...someone wearing a teal jumpsuit and red goggles...his mom?

But he saw her die, didn't he? There was the explosion, and...and she was blasted apart like everyone else...and then...oh, right.

It felt like he was finally waking up. The air around him was clear. He wasn't in front of the Nasty Burger, he was in front of his own house. And even if he was there, the restaurant would still be standing. The explosion never happened. Clockwork erased that timeline.

His family was still alive. Maddie was still alive.

A fact that helpfully made itself apparent by the gun she was pointing at him.

"Why are you doing that?" his mother asked, snapping him out of his reverie.

"Doing what?" he replied.

"Pretending to cry."

Danny touched his cheeks. Was he really crying? Sure enough, his gloves came back wet.

"Answer me, phantom," Maddie's voice cut through his thoughts, sharp and bitter.

Danny let his hands fall onto his lap and gulped. "I'm not pretending."

"Of course you are," Maddie stated matter-of-factly. "Ghosts can't shed genuine tears. After all, it's not like they can feel--"

"Yes, they can," Danny suddenly snapped. "They feel! All they do is feel! That's why they're aggressive. Not because they lack emotion, but because they're created from it! Not that it matters to you, since you never listen to what I say."

Maddie's jaw dropped. As soon as the words left Danny's mouth, he knew it was out of character for him. Phantom was a smooth ghost who only spoke to tell bad puns and mock his enemies. He never snapped at anyone like that. A part of him felt ashamed for yelling at his mother, but he wasn't in the mood to feel guilty about it.

He averted his eyes and wiped at his tears. Man, he must have looked pathetic. Why was Maddie even out here? Of course, he had forgotten that his parents had almost as little sleep as he did. She was probably pulling an all-nighter working on some new invention to kill him when she noticed the ghost having a breakdown outside their house.

Danny tried to ignore the embarrassment he felt and pushed himself to his feet. If Maddie noticed the way he shook as he pulled himself up, she didn't comment on it. He took a deep breath. The smell of fire still lingered in his nose.

"Never mind," he said, not looking at her as he spoke. "I'm not in the mood to deal with you tonight." He turned away and prepared to take flight, but a hand suddenly gripped at his wrist, and he turned back to see Maddie holding on to him.

"Wait," she said. After a moment of hesitation, she let go and...lowered her gun? "Let's assume I believe what you said, about ghosts feeling emotion. Why are you crying?"

Danny had to assure himself that he wasn't dreaming. Talking and not shooting? That was new. He must have stared at her for a long time in surprise, because she frowned and urged, "Well?"

He blinked and looked down. "It's nothing."

"So you are faking?"

"What? No!"

"Then what is it?"

He bit his lip. How could he even begin to explain it? Hey, no biggie, but I sort of saw an alternate timeline where I went evil and killed you, which happened a long time ago but apparently I'm not as over it as I thought. Yeah, no. Instead, he asked, "Why do you care?"

He looked up and saw something soften in her face. Her brows knitted, but in an I'm-willing-to-hear-you kind of way, just like the days in his childhood when she sat next to him in bed, ready to soothe him as he woke up crying from another nightmare. It made him meet her eyes, forgetting for just a moment that they were supposed to be enemies. She was not Maddie the ghosthunter, but Mom.

Then the illusion broke when she said, "With how much power you have, it is my duty as a ghosthunter to make sure you dont step out of line. Anything that would cause you to act differently from usual should concern me."

His chest crumpled. Of course she didn't care, and why would she? He was a ghost. This was nothing more than another duty for her as a ghosthunter.

He tried not to show his disappointment, but it must have shown anyway because Maddie asked, "Did I say something wrong?"

"No," he lied. "Of course not."

She sighed. "Of course not." She crossed her arms and turned away, then muttered under her breath, "I don't know why I thought I could help a ghost. I can't even help my own children."

Danny guessed he wasn't meant to hear that last part, but he did. He stared at her incredulously and asked, "What?"

She stiffened, then quickly said, "Nothing. I don't need to tell you about my family life."

He took one step toward her, then immediately took a step back when she aimed her gun on him. Right, he forgot she didn't holster that.

"I mean it," she warned. "This isn't about me."

He stumbled and fell onto the pavement. Maddie stood over him, still aiming her weapon at him. Were they not just having a moment? Obviously not. Maddie Fenton was never one to have moments with a ghost.

"Really, quit breathing. I know you don't need to do that."

Danny only then noticed how hard his chest was rising and falling. He gulped. "I can't keep doing this," he suddenly spoke.

The hand holding the gun faltered. "Doing what?"

His eyes stung, but he held back his tears because he knew she would tell him he was faking again, and he didn't want that to happen. Instead, he fixed his eyes on the red goggles that covered hers and said, "Fighting you, being your enemy, until the day you die."

Maddie remained calm as she said, "You're a ghost. I'm a ghosthunter."

"That doesn't mean we have to fight." He gestured between them and added, "I mean, we were just having a conversation. At least until you pulled out your gun again."

"Is that why you brought me out here?"

"I didn't. You came on your own."

"You were acting strange," she replied. "You still didn't answer why."

His core thrummed against his chest as he continued to stare into her gun. Why are you crying? Because he's still scared of becoming his evil self. Because he doesn't want to hurt his family. Because every time he closed his eyes, he saw their scorched remains, and he doesn't want to be the person to cause that to happen.

"I don't want to be a bad ghost," he answered.

Maddie tilted her head. "That can't be it," she spoke in her snobby scientist voice. "Ghosts dont have a sense of right and wrong--"

"Would you stop making assumptions about ghost morals? I'm the ghost here, not you."

That was the second time he snapped at her. He tore his eyes away from her, instead choosing to glare at the street. Maddie was quiet. "...You're serious," she finally said.

"Yeah, no shit."

She lowered her gun...just slightly. "That still doesn't explain things," she said. "Why the sudden reaction? The tears?"

His eyes landed on the thermos that lay a few feet away, reflecting his green skin and wispy hair and glowing eyes on its surface. His gums hurt.

Danny shut his eyes and gulped back bile. "I...I did something bad, okay?" he said, his voice small. "I thought I could forget about it, but I can't. I--I don't want it to happen again."

A moment of silence hung between them, broken only by the soft whistle of the breeze. He hoped she wouldn't ask, but he knew the question was coming anyway. "What did you do?"

His hands shook. He gripped them into fists, but that did nothing to ebb his emotions.

"Phantom," Maddie urged. "What did--"

"I killed people!" The tears escaped his eyes, which opened to reveal toxic green irises that shone brighter than the streetlights. He faced Maddie, his expression contorted in guilt and pain and Ancients why do his gums still hurt as he cried, "I killed people. They died, and it was because of me. I killed them."

He waited for her to get angry at him, to shoot him. Instead, she gave him a reaction he didn't expect.

"Now I know you're faking," she said, lowering her gun completely.

He blinked away his tears. "What?"

"Feeling guilt over someone's death? Ghosts can't care about that." She held up a hand and continued, "Before you argue again about whether ghosts have morals or not, I'm talking about the concept of life and death. You're dead, so you shouldn't be able to bother over whether others are, too."

Danny sat back and let those words sink in. Was that why his alternate self had seemed so heartless? He had removed his humanity, and along with it, any sympathy he had left toward life. If Danny had fully died in that portal, would he...?

He shook his head. He didn't want to think about that. "But I don't want others to suffer the same fate I did," he argued.

"That's not what other ghosts seem to think," Maddie pointed out. "Even if your obsession was saving others, it should be easy for you to get over a few deaths after some time has passed. It simply doesn't make sense for you to care." She crouched until she was at eye level with him and inquired, "So tell me, Phantom. What makes you so different?"

"...I don't know." What else could he say without revealing his secret? He truthfully told her, "I never asked to be this way."

She scrutinized him, as if looking at him could somehow reveal the truth. After a while, she sighed and stood up...and holstered her gun.

"I can never understand you," she said. "You're just...so human. Your emotions, your thinking, your morals, even your appearance."

He perked up. "You think I look human?"

She looked at him as if he just said the dumbest thing on the planet. "Of course you do," she answered. "Even if you've changed since your first appearance, the change isn't nearly as much as it should be for such an increase in power as yours. Other ghosts your power level would look much more monstrous. But not you. You may grow claws and fangs, but you can still pass as a person."

Danny was dumbfounded. Here he was worried that he might be losing his humanity, and now he was proven wrong by none other than one of the world's leading ghost researchers, his own mother. He thought that was as much relief as he could feel, and then she said,

"You're not a bad ghost, Phantom."

He bit the insides of his mouth to keep himself from crying again because dammit he's already cried enough times this night already. Instead, he blurted out the thing that was on his mind in that moment, which was, "You're not a bad mom."

Mom faltered. For a second, Danny worried that he screwed up. He should not have said that, now she's going to try shooting him again and then everything that just happened would be a waste... But she didn't do that. He couldn't read her face well from underneath her mask, but something crossed her face. She observed him silently, and he squirmed, wondering what she saw. She opened her mouth to say something, but then changed her mind and turned away without a word, leaving the halfa behind as she went back indoors.

Danny sat in the middle of the empty street, watching his mom leave. What just happened? He wasn't sure, but Mom just left without leaving him an injury, which he didn't think could be possible. The world lit up around him as the sun rose from the east.

Shit, he had to return home before someone could walk into his room and find it empty. He fumbled around until he caught the thermos, then paused to look at his reflection. He saw...himself. No evil alternate self. No monster from the future. Just Danny Phantom, existing in the present.

He grinned, showing off his brand new pair of fangs.

Now that he thought about it, having fangs sounds pretty cool.

[phantomphangphucker]

Ectober Day 26: Aim - Would You Like Some Bullets With That, Sir?

Vlad would absolutely have a few people who want him extra dead and maybe one or two actually willing to try. Too bad that doesn’t really work when the guy’s already half-dead. In fact, it does pretty well nothing other than provide mild amusement. Danny gets more of a kick out of it than the billionaire does though.

Danny and Vlad were having a decent walk and talk, a decent bonding experience. Surprising, he knows. But one of the key words there was ‘were’, because of course him and Vlad can’t be getting along without pissing off the universe.

Danny had been pointing the straw of his green tea matcha Frappuccino, with more than a couple espresso shots mixed in, at Vlad; trying to explain the nuances of food-related puns, because if he’s going to influence one thing it’s going to be Vlad’s tendency to use foods as swears. Vlad wasn’t exactly being receptive but hey, neither was Danny on the whole ‘etiquette’ lessons the man was trying to give him. But all that got interrupted when a big ass stereotypical white van pulled up with a screech and the doors slide open to a dude with a fucking machine gun. Well fine, handheld Gatling gun is more accurate but sounds a little less cool; besides it’s still technically a machine gun. Which is, in Danny’s opinion, massive fucking overkill. Vlad would be inclined to agree.

Needless to say, they get shot. A lot. Repeatedly. It’s very loud.

All the bystanders around physically pause, stunned a bit stupid that this was happening in Amity of all places not to mention rather desensitised to violence; regardless everyone starts booking it because, y’ know, big ass gun. Vlad actually crouches and moves to cover his head while flashing angry red eyes, he’s dealt with a fair few assassination attempts but in broad daylight? Really? He’ll give them a few points for having the guts. Danny meanwhile, is way too used to getting shot at to even react beyond just standing there at first, before glancing at his cup -which is draining all its contents through the holes onto the road- and grumbling a bit. The gun man stops when Danny bends over and starts laughing though. Even Vlad gives Danny some concerned looks as Danny waves the gun guy off with one hand on his knees, “sorry! It’s- it’s just! Just that! No ones ever-ever shot me! Shot me with a real- real gun!”. Danny sits on the ground and continues laughing while effectively bleeding out of multiple holes as flesh starts moving to slowly repair itself; which clearly the men have noticed and are scared shitless by, as both he and Vlad can feel, see, and smell the fear coming off the truck.

Vlad huffs, stands himself upright and goes about brushing off and inspecting his suit. Huffing again and turning to the van, crossing his arms, “I do believe you owe me a new suit, young man”. Someone inside the vehicle chokes. Danny thinks that’s a pretty reasonable reaction here. But there’s literally zero fucking point of them acting human here, because fuck they were both riddled with bullet holes and their blood was very literally splattered around the ground. Might as well scare these assholes a little.

Hence why Danny sticks a finger in one of the larger holes due to multiple bullets going through the same general area and giggles, “huh, that tickles”, and grins meanly at the driver who looks absolutely disturbed and too far into shock to try driving away yet. Though thinking of it, Vlad might actually try to kill them; tit for tat was absolutely Vlad’s primary go-to in any situation. Hence their arguably insanely prank wars. So Danny stands up and promptly launches himself inside the vehicle, knocking over the man with the bloody machine gun -seriously, how is that not overkill- and landing with his feet on the guys chest. Danny’s pretty sure the guy wet himself. Which, ew, but understandable.

“Okay I’m feeling nice because this is absurdly hilarious and would qualify as some ridiculous ass overkill for normal folks. Kinda pointless against immortals though, dontcha think?”, turning his head to look at Vlad -who’s quirking a single well-groomed eyebrow while his eye goes about repairing itself- through the door, “what do ya think?”.

Vlad walks over calmly and humming, “well I’ll give them points for accuracy, they hardly damaged the surroundings at all. Which I find I can appreciated since that avoids me having to make yet another dip into the damages funds. And I’ll be generous and give another point for dramatics; board daylight, middle of the city, biggest high-powered rapid-fire weapon anyone’s ever aimed at me, the sudden loud noise. Why I’m almost impressed. But I do find the overall end result to be rather lacking”. Vlad kicks one of the front tires hard enough to puncture it while the driver starts scrambling and fumbling to attempt at driving off. The psssssh sound the tire makes actively increases the smell of fear filling the van. Understandable, these guys had effectively just lost their getaway vehicle.

Danny chuckles, “aww, looks like someone’s not going anywhere anytime fast”, Danny grins meanly and flashes his green eyes. The guy passes out. “Ah damn, he passed out”, shrugging, “eh, hopefully he’ll think this was just some bad dream”.

Vlad hums as he climbs in, ecto-beaming another guy in the head to knock him out. Huh, guess Vlad’s really truly genuinely chilled out some in the evil villain department. “Yes that would be preferred, Daniel. I take it Phantom will be delivering these men to the jailhouse after having shielded the mayor and a young boy at the last second”.

Danny snorts as he gets off the gunman and kicks the driver in the head; the guys head bouncing off the steering wheel and obviously knocking him the Hell out. “Obviously. And hey, why not say Phantom healed any injuries to boot. Not like anyone’s sure about the power set of that spooky bastard”, and smirks. Talking about himself like a different person was arguably not necessary right now, no one was around after all, but hey it was kinda funny.

Vlad nods, riffles through the mens’ pockets and pockets all their cash. Which Danny rolls his eyes at, “old bank robber habits die hard?”. Vlad rolls his eyes, “hardly. This is simply to repay me for the damages. This was a nice suit I’ll have you know”. Which Danny rolls his eyes right back at him over while Vlad hops out of the vehicle, looks around, readjusts the remaining scraps of his suit, and saunters off; grabbing a surprisingly intact handkerchief from a definitely not intact pocket and starts dabbing blood off his face, hair, and hands. Danny’s not going to question why the man doesn’t just phase it off or reabsorb it into his body again.

Danny closes the vehicle doors purely to attempt at not transforming directly in open view in the middle of the street. Grabbing up the three guys before pausing and deciding eh why not and telekinetically floating the freaking machine gun onto his back and making that invisible. Flying off through the vehicle's roof.

-

Danny unceremoniously drops the men on the jailhouse floor, “gotcha a present. They tried to unload, like, a bazillion bullets into the dear ol’ mayor”.

Officer Jay sighs, “we were getting some calls about a shooting? But with regular guns”, motioning a few other cops to drag the guys away.

Danny chuckles and nods, “try machine gun”, the cop almost chokes while Danny continues, “not that that is particularly effective on intangibility”.

The cop looks him over, obviously noticing the healing bullet wounds here and there. Healing however many bullet holes takes time you know! “Obviously you weren’t quite fast enough”.

Danny shrugs, “eh, blowing a bunch of holes in a ghost doesn’t really do much other than make a mess. Mayors cool though”.

“That’s... good”, Jay shakes his head, “well, we’ll take care of these guys and I doubt they legally had a machine gun. You didn’t just leave that out in the street did you?”. Danny waves the guy off nonchalantly, “Fenton was there too, took it as his plundered booty”, he makes a point to make that last bit sound pirate-like. The cop sighs and rubs his temples, “so there’s a seventeen-year-old running around with a machine gun”.

“Yup”, absolutely popping the ‘p’.

Danny easily hears the guy mutter, “somedays I would really like to quit”, before looking back to him, “well that family has every weapon license known to man, so I’m not even going to bother. Have a good day and a fulfilling afterlife”. Danny salutes with a cheeky grin before phasing up through the roof.

-

Sam and Tucker don’t so much as blink from Danny suddenly appearing from around a corner and barging in-between the two of them, “hey guys, some guys left me a little present”

Both give a mildly interested and slightly worried, “oh?”. Which is fair, Danny has described getting a taser stuck in his leg as ‘a present’ before.

He grins a bit psychotically, makes the gun visible, and whips it around to be holding it in his hands, “a machine gun!”.

Sam slows her pace slightly, just enough to no longer have a freaking mini-gun pointed at her stomach, “that’s nice Danny��. While Tucker looks much more excited, “Holy frick that’s awesome. Where’d that come from though?”.

Sam sighs, “or more specifically how and why. Ghosts don’t exactly use human weapons and ‘some guys’ is vague as shit”.

Danny chuckles, because that who ordeal was still stupid funny. “Curtsy of one poorly informed assignation attempt in dear ol’ uncie Vlad”.

Tucker blinks, “wait, someone actually tried to assassinate him”, then pauses, “wait no, of course someone tried to assassinate Vlad. He’s Vlad”. Making all three chuckle while Danny fiddles with the massive ass barrel.

All three grin viciously when they spot Dash and co. across the street. Danny deciding to yell, “hey Dash!”, and easily tilting the machine gun up due to, y’ know, super strength, and fires off a bunch of bullets into the air; extending his intangibility to the bullets of course so that they don’t actually hit anything and forming some ectoplasm ‘round his friends' ears so he doesn’t, like, blow out their eardrums or some shit.

Dash stares at him a little bug-eyed before scowling, sticking his arms out to the side, and shouting back, “I haven’t bullied you in a year! Why you still giving me vague ass death threats!”.

Danny cackles, aims the gun to shoot the sign over the assholes head, and riddles it with bullets, “it’s payback bitch!”. Sure Danny would never have done that if he wasn’t absolutely certain his aim was so fucking flawless that there was zero chance of him hitting anything other than what exactly he wanted to. And sure, maybe he swirled some invisible ectoplasm around the bullet trajectory too but no one needs to know that. Dash predictably staggers back, flips him off, and books it down the road.

Danny lowers the gun with a chuckle, “that was fun. So worth getting shot a few times”. Sam blinks at him and looks more than a little not impressed, “you actually got shot, Danny”.

Danny rolls his eyes, “what, in any world, would make you think I didn’t get shot”. Sam just huffs, obviously having no argument for that. Because yeah, Danny always got shot or stabbed or electrocuted or set on fire or a lot of other things.

Tucker shakes his head, “and yet you look totally fine”.

Danny rolls his eyes, “Tuck, what can a regular ol’ bullet do to me”. That gets both his friends to blink and give him disbelieving, “wait, they weren’t even ecto-bullets”. Tucker shaking his head with a laugh at Danny’s nod, “wow, whoever really did, like, zero research”.

“I know right. We scared them real good though”.

Tucker laughs a bit more, “never before have I actually wished to be at a shooting”, shrugging, “first for everything”.

“Amen to that”, Danny emphasises that statement by smacking the gun.

End.

[flowerfan2]

Gray Skies - Epilogue (now complete)

McDanno, 13k, A03 Read from the beginning here

Hi all!  Apologies for taking so long to finish this - in my head it was done, but a conversation on the H50 writer’s discord about WIPs reminded me that I had meant to give it an epilogue.  So here it is - hope you enjoy it!

Summary: What if Danny misses work because some days, he just can’t manage to come in? What if Danny didn’t move into Steve’s house just because he was worried about Steve, but also about himself? Living with depression doesn’t have to mean living without love.

Epilogue

Six months later

Steve’s in the kitchen, having a philosophical debate with himself over whether trying to find pineapple flavored coffee to tease Danny with is worth the effort, when the man himself comes into the room.

Danny’s looking kind of rough, hair tousled and unshaven.  He clearly hasn’t showered yet.  Steve’s heart squeezes a little, and he moves towards Danny, arms opening to catch him in a hug.

“Nuh-uh, none of that,” Danny says, stepping back and shaking his head.  “I’m fine.”

Steve stops in his tracks.  He’s surprised, to say the least.  Since when has Danny not wanted a morning hug?

“I didn’t say you weren’t fine,” he responds carefully, searching Danny’s face for a clue to his mood.

“But you assumed.”  

Danny’s clearly annoyed, even upset, and Steve can’t fathom why.  “No, I just wanted to-”

“Don’t lie.  You took one look at me,” Danny waves his hand up and down his rather unkempt self, “and you decided I needed help.  Next thing you know you’ll be offering to put on some music and bring me peppermint tea, or build a pillow fort, or give me a back rub.”

“And those are bad things?  I was under the impression that you liked it when I did nice things for you.”  Now Steve is getting annoyed too.  “What’s got into you this morning?”

 “Nothing,” Danny says, a little too loudly.  “Absolutely nothing.  It is an absolutely normal morning.”

 “Then why are you acting like this?” Steve can feel his voice rising to meet Danny’s.

 “Like what?  I haven’t done anything unusual.  It’s you who’s being weird – why aren’t you out on a run, huh? Or swimming around the island, or practicing for a decathlon?”

 “Oh, that’s mature.  And I already went for a run, as you would know if you were having a reasonable conversation with me instead of-”

 “So it’s my fault for not being reasonable?  Forgive me, I should have gotten up earlier, been prepared to quiz you on your morning activities.  Sorry I’m not a mind reader.”  Danny scrubs a hand over his face.  “Shouldn’t have bothered to get up at all, if I can’t do it right.”

 Steve doesn’t understand how this has gotten so out of hand.  “Danny, please, tell me what’s going on?”

 “For god’s sake, Steve, can’t a person just want to have a lazy morning for once, without his partner jumping all over him to fix everything?”

 Steve bites back his immediate reaction, which is to argue some more, and point out that maybe a person who wanted a lazy morning shouldn’t have started it by picking a fight as expertly as Danny just did.  But maybe something he’s learned in therapy is actually sticking, because he takes a deep breath instead.

 Danny’s hands are tightening into fists as he watches Steve, and he can tell Danny is about to blow.  But then, remarkably, Danny takes a deep breath too, and removes himself from the kitchen.

 Steve follows him – slowly, respectfully, not like he’s running after Danny to keep arguing, definitely not – and finds Danny staring out at the lanai.

 “It’s raining pretty hard,” Steve says. He’s not changing the subject so much as giving them both a chance to regroup, and Danny knows it, squeezing his eyes together hard and taking another deep breath before answering.

 “Yeah.  Good for the plants, though.”

 “Yeah.  It’s been dry.”

 “Yeah.”

 Steve lets another long moment pass, watching Danny’s shoulders relax and his fists unclench.  “If I come over there and give you a hug, ‘cause I like you a lot and for no other reason, are you gonna snap at me again?”  Steve asks calmly.

 “Asshole,” Danny mutters.  “Come here.”

 Steve wraps his arms around Danny from behind, and Danny leans back against him.  They both stare out at the downpour for a few minutes.  Steve loves the way he can feel Danny breathing, how he can match his inhales and exhales if he tries.

 He presses his nose into Danny’s shoulder, rubs his cheek against the soft t-shirt Danny wears to sleep in, and Danny tilts his head to rest it on Steve’s.

 Sometimes Steve wants to worm his way right under Danny’s skin, line them up together and fuse them tight with no space between them.  Maybe then he’d understand better what makes Danny tick, when to push and when to give him space.  Thing is, Steve hardly ever wants space from Danny anymore, and he thinks Danny feels the same. They’re getting better at this, lifting each other up without either of them faltering as a result, but it takes practice.

 “You went for a run in the rain?” Danny asks, as a burst of lightening races across the sky.  His voice holds nothing of the accusatory tone from just a few minutes ago, he’s just asking.

 “It wasn’t raining as hard before,” Steve says.

 “You’re kind of crazy.”

 “I know.”

 They fall silent again, but it’s more comfortable now.  Steve nuzzles against the side of Danny’s head, where his hair is buzzed short, and Danny hums contentedly.

 “I don’t feel depressed,” Danny says.

 Steve gets that he’s circling back to their earlier conversation, although he’s not sure yet where it’s going. “Okay,” Steve says carefully.  

 “No, I mean it.”  Danny turns in Steve’s arms, gives him a quick peck in the vicinity of his chin, and then steps away, walking over to the couch and flopping down.  “I’m okay. I’m so much better than I was, you see that, right?”

 “I do,” Steve says, and he means it. They’ve been going to therapy, and are each on slightly different meds, and he thinks it has helped both of them. Sure, there are good days and bad days, and Steve’s nightmares have proved difficult to shake, but overall they’re in a much better place than they were six months ago when Danny finally pushed them to get professional help.

 “But I woke up this morning,” Danny continues, “and I just felt, I don’t know, bleh.”

 “Bleh?”  Steve asks, letting a hint of humor color his tone, and Danny smirks.

 “Yeah.  Bleh.”

 “Okay.”

 “Do you get it, though?  Not hopeless, not as if I couldn’t bother to get up.  Not like there wasn’t any reason I could think of to even move.  Just bleh.”

 Steve comes over to the couch and sits down next to Danny, twisting so he can see his face.  “That’s good, right?”

 Danny snorts.  “Yeah, I thought so.  But then I came downstairs and you looked at me with that concerned face and…”

 “You felt like I wasn’t seeing your success.”

 Danny sighs and gazes away.  “I don’t like the idea that I’m always going to be sick, to you.  Someone who needs help.  I don’t like feeling weak.”

 Steve slides a little closer to Danny and bumps their knees together.  “One, you’re not, and I could tell you about a hundred reasons why, although you know them already.  And two, I could say the same thing about me.”

 Danny looks at him now, his nose wrinkling.  “I know. But why do I still worry about it?”

 Steve shrugs.  “Guess we’re just going to have to be patient.”

 Danny laughs half-heartedly and pokes a finger into Steve’s chest.  “Ha. Good one.  You, patient?  We’re doomed.”

 “As long as we’re doomed together, we can handle it.”  Steve leans his shoulder against Danny and Danny leans back, his hand reaching for Steve’s.

 “We’ve been doomed together before.”

 “Multiple times,” Steve agrees.

 “Remember when we dropped that nuke into the ocean from Kamekona’s helicopter?”

 “Not sure I could forget that, Danny.” Steve would love to forget it, it was terrifying, but there’s no chance.  “We still made it back in time for Kono’s wedding, though.”

 “That we did.”  Danny picks up his hand that’s holding Steve’s, and plays with his fingers.  Steve watches him, his heart stuttering as Danny brings his hand up to his mouth for a kiss, and then lets out a long sigh.

 “You know,” Steve starts out slowly, “I really did intend to have a lazy day today, too.  I cut my workout short and everything.”

 Danny rolls his eyes at Steve. “You did?  What does that even mean?  Only two hundred push-ups?”

 Steve glances over at the window as another burst of lightning streaks through the clouds.  “Thought I’d put on some Norah Jones and make something decadent with bacon.  Maybe eat it in a pillow fort.”  Steve raises an eyebrow at Danny.  “Rainy days are good for pillow forts.”

 “Using my words against me,” Danny groans.  “I’m gonna kill you.”

 “I was thinking about back rubs, too…”

 Danny opens his mouth, then closes it again.  “If back rubs are a euphemism for something else, I may regret rejecting them as a potential activity for today.”

 “Maybe yes, maybe no.  Does that mean you’ll reconsider?”

 Danny lets a smile dance across his face, then stifles it in mock exasperation.  “But no peppermint tea.  A guy’s gotta draw the line somewhere.”

 Steve beams, and pounces on Danny, who flops back on the couch and grins at him as Steve covers his body with his own.  Danny reaches for Steve’s head and pulls him down into a blistering kiss that is entirely out of synch with the whole lazy day aesthetic.

 “Sex now, lazy day and pillow forts later?” Steve asks when Danny lets him come up for air.

 “Sounds like a plan,” Danny replies, one hand sliding down to give Steve’s butt a squeeze, grinding them both together.

 “That’s why I love you so much,” Steve says between kisses, “you have the best plans.”

 Danny laughs against Steve’s skin, sending shivers down his spine, and there’s the Danny he knows again, sunshine bright and heart open.  “Love you too, babe, love you too.”  

[megalony]

You’re perfect

A dad! Roger Taylor imagine that is part of my Loving Charlie series which I hope everyone is enjoying so far.

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

Series masterlist

Enjoy.

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

"Where are we going?"

Roger's eyes widened in slight surprise as a smile pulled at his lips. Danny was talking. He hadn't said anything during the ten-minute drive from the twin's preschool to Charlie's school and all he had said before was that he had a good day.

"We're going to get Charlie." Roger responded before he gently lifted Danny from his car seat setting him down beside Daisy as he shut the door and locked the car. Turning around as either twin proceeded to take one of his hands, their eyes wide as they scanned where they were. Roger had gotten a call just as he was heading to pick up the twins saying that Charlie had fallen and caught his head and wrist as well as his burnt hand so Roger said he would pick him up now.

Glancing to his sides, Roger noticed the differences between the twins as the three of them started walking to the gates of the school. Daisy was tugging on his hand as she walked that little bit quicker than they did but Danny was pressing himself more into Roger's leg, walking slowly as he observed the area. Danny was quiet and cautious but Daisy was babbling away with curiosity instead.

Turning right, Roger walked with the twins down the footpath that lead down to the reception area, past the small car park out front. Turning her head, Daisy looked to Roger as she pointed at the button, waiting for him to nod before she pressed the button to open the door.

"Alright, you both sit down there for me and I'll talk to the lady at the desk." Daisy immediately let go of Roger's hand and skipped over to the small sofa resting against the wall. A giggle leaving her lips when she sat down and the seat seemed to sink and move as if she had sat on a waterbed. "It's okay buddy, I'll be over there." Roger whispered reassuringly as he ruffled Danny's hair. Watching the four-year-old look at him for a moment as if trying to see if he was being truthful before he slowly followed and sat down close next to his sister.

Roger watched Danny for a moment just to make sure he was alright before he moved to the left to go to the reception desk.

"I'm here for Charlie Taylor." Roger stated politely when the middle-aged lady looked up at him expectingly. She looked to the scattered notes in front of her before nodding and looking back up to Roger with a smile.

"He'll be down in a minute. Took quite a fall, scraped his hand and his head... I think he was complaining of a bad headache which is understandable." The lady glanced back down to her notes when she noticed Roger's expression change very quickly. He was no longer smiling politely or looking slightly out of place, he was now confused as if she had told him the wrong thing.

"A headache?" Roger repeated, trying to make sure that he hadn't misheard her or imagined her saying that. But when she nodded he knew he had heard correctly. Roger tipped his head back as he suppressed a groan of annoyance, why was Charlie doing this? More often than not he was breaking the rules that were in place to keep him safe. He had tried to make a drink when he knew he couldn't touch the kettle, if he hurt himself he didn't seem to bother about it and he wasn't checking in the morning to see if he had rashes, cuts or scrapes. That was his morning routine he needed to do but he wasn't.

"Yes... is something wrong?"

Just as Roger was about to respond with a very annoyed no, his head turned at the sound of the doors opening. He watched Charlie walk through them, his teacher nodding at Roger before turning around and disappearing back to the classroom presumably.

The small smile on Charlie's lips disappeared instantly when he took in Roger's appearance. His dad had a hand resting on his hip, his head cocked to the side and his brows raised in a way that showed he was not happy. Charlie slowed down his walk to try and prolong the inevitable as he walked over to Roger, glancing at the twins who he noticed out the corner of his eye before looking back to Roger. He knew why Roger wasn't happy, he knew instantly that he had been caught out.

"Headache?" Roger mocked, watching Charlie lower his head so he couldn't see Roger's expression anymore. "Can you bring up his medical records please?" The drummer questioned, turning his attention to the receptionist who looked beyond confused but she nodded all the same. Concentrating on the computer in front of her as she got Charlie's records on screen.

"Dad-" Charlie's head shot up at the question, his eyes wide as he pleaded for Roger not to but Roger shook his head. He wasn't going to listen to the excuses or reasons Charlie had, he was going to sort this out.

"Was there anything on his medical records you wanted to add or remove or look at?" The receptionist questioned, not wanting to interrupt but she didn't want to sit in awkward silence either. She didn't see the significance of a headache when Charlie had taken a rough fall a break time. He had scraped his hand and caught his head too, surely he was within rights to claim a headache after such a fall?

"Yes, can you add CIPA to the files please? I'll bring in his medical records tomorrow and I'd like to talk to his teacher in the morning too. Thank you." Roger didn't care if the receptionist didn't know what CIPA was as long as she added it. He was going to bring the files Charlie clearly didn't hand in last week and he was going to talk to his teacher so she knew about Charlie's condition and what to do if he got hurt like today.

Both Roger and (Y/n) had been busy on Charlie's first day here last week and they had told him to give the files in at receptionist so they could put his records on file. The headteacher knew of Charlie's condition but clearly, his teacher hadn't been informed.

"Dad please-"

"Be quiet and go get in the car now." Reaching out, Roger held Charlie's shoulder and gave him a nudge towards the door urging him to go as he walked over to where both twins were sitting in worry and slight awkwardness.

Neither of the twins really understood about Charlie's condition since they were only four but they knew he didn't feel pain if he fell like they did. They also knew that Charlie seemed to be getting into trouble a lot more recently and it worried them when they watched either parent telling him off. Bending down, Roger picked Danny up and settled him on his hip before he took Daisy's hand. Following after Charlie who was walking slowly so they could catch him up.

Danny rested his head on Roger's shoulder, clinging to his father's neck as he didn't like the tension nor the look on Roger's face. The little boy shuddered against Roger when Charlie slammed the passenger door shut once he was sat in the car. Slinging his bag down in the footwell before curling up in his seat facing the window. Roger hooked his free arm around Daisy so he could pick her up and put her in her car seat, buckling her belt before he moved to the other side to set Danny in his seat.

"Why'd you do that?" Roger asked once he started driving, leaning his head on his hand as his other hand gripped the steering wheel. His eyes drifting from the road to Charlie before back again, waiting for an answer he knew he wasn't going to get easily. "Your mum gave you those files and you promised you'd hand them in. You'd better start talking soon because I am not in the mood for this."

Roger wasn't in the mood for shouting or telling Charlie off, especially not with the twins sitting in the back trying to chatter to one another to ignore the argument in front. If Charlie didn't start explaining Roger would just ground him or sent him to bed early.

"The files are massive, dad." Charlie slumped further in his seat as much as the seatbelt would allow as he spoke quietly but with a hint of anger to his words.

"What?"

"There's fifty pages or more there, no one else hands in medical stuff that big. I... I just wanted to be like everyone else. I fell and the teacher asked if I had a headache or felt faint but everyone was already surprised I wasn't crying s-so I just said I had a headache." Charlie had pages upon pages of medical records since he was born. Each of them said how he had been admitted to the hospital for breaking his arms, legs, ankles, his ribs, from getting a concussion or scratching his eye too much. Or from chewing through his bottom lip once. They took him to the hospital when he had fevers or when he fell and they didn't know if he had got internal damage.

Charlie saw all the other kids who had to hand in medical files and they handed on two pages, four at the very most. Some kids gave in a spare inhaler just in case or their epilepsy medication or an E-pen for allergic reactions. Charlie would hand in a stack of papers and then have to have his doctor or his parents explain everything.

He just wanted to be normal.

"Charlie, I know being normal is what you want but that's not how life works-"

"Yes it is dad! I don't want them looking at me funny, I'm not normal and I don't like it." Charlie pulled his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around them as he turned his head to look at Roger. Watching how his dad's jaw locked causing the muscles surrounding it to pulse and push out.

"No, it's not. The world doesn't stop because someone is different Charlie, if everyone was normal we'd all have an office job, work nine 'til five and then go home. I'm different, I travel a lot and I work odd hours and I don't have a normal job, do you see me complaining that I want to be normal? Normal is fake Charlie, it's made up because some people just don't want to be different or they're too boring to be different. You are different, that's a fact but it's not a bad difference. You're not a bad person, you don't look different or act differently you just feel different stuff."

Roger didn't believe that anyone could call themselves normal because it was a term that was specific to a certain person or group of people. Different cultures had different ideas of normal, people with different interests had a different idea of what normal was. There was no specific category to fit into to be classed as normal and Roger needed Charlie to know that.

He didn't want his son going through life trying to fit into a category that didn't exist or was just too stupid. He shouldn't have to lie or try and be someone else to fit in, Charlie was perfect as he was and he needed to hear it more often.

"You're perfect as you are, Charlie. But you can't do stuff like this, the teachers need to know about your disorder so they can help you. You can't break rules because you want to be normal or because you don't care." Roger wouldn't stand for anyone telling Charlie he was anything but perfect and he wouldn't have people trying to change Charlie. But he needed his son to know he couldn't keep breaking rules like this.

Charlie needed to learn that his condition wasn't anything to be ashamed of and it couldn't be changed. It was a fact of his life.

[bookoftheironfist]

I think the Iron Fist show perfectly captured the weird, unanswered, fever dream plot threads of the 70's comics. Especially the first season. Do you think they should have gone the 'Ultimates' route and cut out the dragon and K'un L'un considering they were kind of biting off more than they could chew with the resources they had?

    Ooh, interesting… The pragmatist in me says “yes, maybe, I suppose”. The fan in me says “hell no” and starts throwing things. Iron Fist definitely did suffer from having a TV show budget to a much greater extent than the other shows did, which placed serious limits on the flexibility of its storytelling. The ideal format for an IF adaptation would be as a big-budget movie– something with the resources to depict the Capital Cities of Heaven and all that therein lies with the same degree of care and detail as Wakanda, Themyscira, Asgard, Atlantis, etc. have been in recent years. Or, even better, an animated movie/show, which I am now convinced is the best way of handling superhero adaptations– or heck, a lot of sci-fi/fantasy in general. The decision to use Danny in the Netflix shows made sense because of his close association with Luke and Jessica, so I get why they picked him and I’m certainly grateful they did because sweet christmas, heart of the dragon, an Iron Fist adaptation! But on a practical level, he was not the most logical choice.

    That said, I have a knee-jerk negative reaction to the thought of removing the fantasy elements. I was terrified that the show was going to do that, and was shocked and relieved that it did not. One of my complaints about many superhero adaptations– particularly Marvel adaptations and particularly those focusing on “grittier” street-level heroes– is that they tend to aggressively cut out anything outlandish or wacky or, heck, fun. I’ve beaten this point to death on my Daredevil blog, so sorry to anyone who follows me there, but I’ll reiterate: the Daredevil show refused to mention Matt’s radar sense, which is vital to understanding how he operates and isn’t even that weird a superpower. Most of the time they also refused to even call him “Daredevil”, and they replaced the self-empowerment inherent in his choosing that name with a “haha yikes, look at this goofy moniker I’ve been stuck with” situation. This is just one example, but you see it everywhere. The source material is frequently treated as something that needs to be fixed up and given a firmer grounding in the real world. This isn’t, in itself, a bad approach, but it is often done to a degree that suggests the writers are embarrassed to indulge in the weird things that make superhero comics so great. 

    And obviously, that’s partly why the Ultimates universe was created, too– to ground things. And that’s fine. I liked the Ultimates universe. I found Ults Danny interesting, and I think the show could have definitely taken inspiration from that costume because it was great. The show certainly borrowed from that universe a little in giving Danny a romantic relationship with Colleen. But I think it would have been wimpy and boring to give MCU Danny the Ults treatment. Ults Danny is not the most compelling Danny, he is not the version of the character most people want or expect to see in an adaptation, and frankly, if K’un-Lun had been moved to Earth or erased, or if Shou-Lao had been translated into a metaphorical dragon or something, I would have called the showrunner a wimp (only in my head, obviously, but still) and this blog would have consisted of about fifty post of me complaining about it. I would much rather have had them give me all of the fantasy elements that they could on their budget, and preserve that rich and wonderful worldbuilding, even if we only got to see glimpses of it, than to not have gotten any of it at all. “Danny fought a dragon in another dimension, but you’ll just have to imagine it” is, to me, a million times better than any grounded replacement they might have used instead. This image, right here?

    I am grateful that I live in a world where this image exists, because before the show, I had to dream this moment up myself. Even though we don’t get to see Danny fight Shou-Lao, we get to see the aftermath– the nasty fresh scar, the grime, the sweat, the exhaustion – and that’s amazing to me. (MCU Danny actually faints! He didn’t faint in the comics! I love that he faints!) The showrunners did not (for the most part) shy away from the fantasy elements when they easily could have. They made a serious effort. Would I have loved to see more of K’un-Lun and the other cities? The other Weapons? Shou-Lao? Yeah, of course I would! But there are excellent Iron Fist stories that don’t contain any of those things, and the showrunners did their best to find a balance and tell the best stories they could with the resources they had, and I appreciate that. I don’t think they always succeeded– Season 2 had some hiccups– but personally, I feel this was the best way they could’ve approached the material.

    That said, I live in anticipation of the day we might actually get to see K’un-Lun and Shou-Lao depicted as they ought to be in an adaptation with a budget big enough to handle it. I want to see Danny hug the dang dragon just as much as everyone else does.

[thecarmillacurator]

I’ll Keep You Safe If You Keep Me Wild - Carmilla - Fic Review & Recommendation

*New Reviews Posted Every Saturday with one-shots and drabble recommendations Mid-Week*

Title: I’ll Keep You Safe If You Keep Me Wild (Bounty Hunter AU)

Author: The Regalist on Ao3

Word Count: 121K

Chapters: 16

Rating: Mostly Teen with a few Mature scenes

Ship: Hollstein

Tags I’d Assign: #bounty hunter, #hallmark, #nonsupernatural au, #human au #cute, #sweet, #action, #nice brother Will, #Laferry, #theregalist

Author’s Synopsis: Carmilla is a bounty hunter who decides to pick up and move across the country to be closer to her brother Will, who's living in a small-town called Silas. Laura is a journalism student who's just trying to get through her last semester of college while sorting her feelings out for her best friend Danny. One night Laura runs into some serious trouble and Carmilla winds up saving her life and maybe stealing her heart in the process.

Readability: Good. Prose reads smoothly. Narrative flow is easy to follow. There are some word typos in the sense of incorrect homophone usage which are noticeable and consistent but not frequent or particularly distracting, and there could have been more commas (which, honestly, is always better than too many commas).  

Reviewer’s Plot Summary: Non-Supernatural AU. Carmilla Karnstein is a twenty-one year old bounty hunter with a painful and checkered personal history who begrudgingly relocates to be near the only person she cares about, her brother Will. WIll attends college in Silas, a small town in the American South along the Gulf, and Carmilla would ‘love to hate’ the complete hick-ness of it all, except that she absolutely can’t hate a tiny, blonde college Senior named Laura Hollis (or her smile ‘as wide as Texas’) who easily convinces her heart that it’s safe to love again. Carmilla’s New York roots are in further trouble (a kind she doesn’t mind, though) when Laura’s huge Southern family ends up showing her just how good home and a new start can really feel. But, not all is picture perfect: The life of a bounty hunter isn’t all Hallmark movies and Southern charm. Creeping through the underbelly of Silas is a dangerous gangster on the lam, Carmilla’s next bounty, who has a mark of his own. A mark who just happens to be one of Laura’s closest friends. 

Recommended to Read:  Yes, assuming you enjoy sweet love stories that lack serious relational angst. However, even if Hallmark movies aren’t your thing, there’s enough CBS-Prime-Time-type action to keep the feel-good story grounded.

Review:  

The story is written in third person limited, which works, but see the Cons section below for comments on the narrative tone. So, full confession: I’ve watched Hallmark movies in the past (and am still sometimes forced to because of the company I keep), but they’ve never really been my thing. Call me jaded (because yes, I’m jaded), but the reason I’m not a serious fan  isn’t because I don’t enjoy cute and sweet, but because the cheese chunks and plot-holes get to be so big in Hallmark plots that I can’t swallow without choking. What TheRegalist does here is provide a nice balance between PG-13 action-related suspense and what is a sweet love story lacking in the usual heavy relational angst, all without making me roll my eyes until they hurt. In other words, if this were a Hallmark movie, I’d actually watch it. Or, maybe it isn’t a Hallmark movie. Maybe it’s more like a CBS action show (say Magnum P.I. or Walker, Texas Ranger) only where instead of an hour-long episode, they put on a three-hour movie special where the action takes second chair to my ship finally getting together. I can’t call this story fluff, but it is cute and sweet. And the use of the gangster-on-the-lam with a complication that directly places the group in danger is the perfect counterpoint to make sure that a too-good-to-be-true-romance doesn’t become too-sweet-to-ingest. 

The Good: The pure, escapist charm of it.  Life sometimes really sucks. It’s difficult when you work hard and don’t get anywhere. It’s difficult when you’re lonely but everyone is busy or too caught up in themselves to make space for you. Families are rarely ideal. We all struggle with being accepted on one level or another.  Love seems elusive for many of us. Sometimes it feels impossible to believe you’ll find a place where you’ll belong.  But that’s exactly what this story is about, making all of those yearnings become fulfilled for Carmilla, and as the reader, for you. Here, finding the right person just happens. Falling in love isn’t a struggle or filled with  just-for-the-dramatic-tension arguments and growing pains. There’s a huge (huge), Southern, conservative-yet-accepting family jumping at the bit to welcome you into the fold, happy that you’re there. You’ve had bad [crap] happen in your past (loss, rejection, mistakes), but here,

those bumps and bruises aren’t left to haunt you, but are kissed like scraped knees by the Hollises and you’re bribed with red Starbursts by an adorable little child until somehow it’s better. This is a feel-good read, pure and simple. 

Also a great plus: The Hollis-family Sunday meals, as well as quite a few pivotal scenes in this story, are atmospheric and highly visual in how they’re written, and key secondary characters have actual personality. This makes the world of the story easy to immerse in. Laura’s grandmother Gigi is just… amazing.  The bar fight scene is great.  The dynamic between Will and Carm is adorable. Important locations are well-described, and it was easy to picture the Marina and the action sequence finale. 

The Concrit:  If I had to peg this, I’d say it’s written as third person limited, with head hopping. Unfortunately (although, don’t worry, it’s not too dire), as the story passes into the deep end of the word count, two things start to slip. First, is that the clear head-hopping starts to blur and some scenes feel more like third-person omni. Second, is that the characters’ reactions and thoughts lose their individuality of voice and begin to sound similar to each other.  Next, I do wish the characters had been slightly older.  Carm had somehow developed a complex personal history and high-level skill sets which would, in my opinion, have taken a lot longer than twenty-one years to acquire, perfect, and settle into with the comfortable confidence she seems to possess. I’d prefer her to have been closer to thirty. Bumping Laura from being a Senior in college up to maybe finishing a Master’s in Journalism after working at it part time for three or four years would have made that transition easy without changing much of the plot. However, once again, it’s not a deal-breaker in any way. The truth is, in my mind I was already reading them as older and more mature than the age stated by the author anyway.  

Finally, I can suspend my disbelief and actually enjoy the television-style, over-the-top and slightly campy action finale, but as much as I enjoyed the picturesque true-love romance without extra drama, the last chapter (more of an epilog?), Chapter 16, got a little too carried away and could have easily been deleted, or at least the last half of it deleted. Don’t get me wrong, I like the substance of the ending the author creates, but, as written, this is where it finally sinks into the Hallmark trap: Things needed time to mature to get to that ending. And also, at the very, very end of that chapter, there was a fluff bit on the unbelievable side which did, after over 120,000 words, finally earn the Hallmark cheese eyeroll.  So, I’d recommend you stop reading after the end of Chapter 15; you’ll get all the gist you need for their HEA.

Link’s in the title above, but also, read it HERE.

NEXT IN THE QUE:  Over the next four weekends, there will be reviews for the Jason Bourne AU, Vampire Hotel, a fake-dating AU, and a Sports Au. 

[thelastspeecher]

Spy AU - Toxin, Finale

I got an ask earlier today that was about the situation in the Spy AU where Ford gets de-aged temporarily to three years old.  And it reminded me that even though I’ve discussed how that situation gets resolved, I never actually wrote it.  So, here it is.  Enjoy, for once, some legit fluff in the Spy AU.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

              The phone rang.  Stan began to get up from the couch.  Angie gently pushed him back with one hand.

              “No, darlin’, let me,” she said firmly.  Stan didn’t protest, instead sinking into the cushions silently, his eyes reddened from crying.  The both of them were struggling with the news that HQ had been unable to find a cure for Ford’s de-aging, and as such, he would be forced to grow up again.  Though it didn’t make Angie happy in the slightest, Stan was much more greatly affected than her.  She was more than willing to take on a few tasks to make things easier on her husband.  Angie headed over to the phone and answered it.  “McGucket-Pines residence.”

              “Angie, you didn’t get anything started with preparin’ fer Ford, did ya?” her mother asked over the phone.  Angie blinked.

              “Uh, no, not yet.  Why?”

              “Don’t.”

              “Why not?”

              “You don’t need to.”

              “We don’t-”  Angie covered her mouth.  “Ma, is-”

              “Like the toxin, the cure had a delayed reaction.”

              “What?  Really?”

              “Yep.  Now, he ain’t quite back to himself yet, but he’s definitely better.”

              “Is he awake?”

              “Yep.”

              “Lucid?”

              “That, too.  We’ve debriefed him on what seems to have happened, and he wants to come back to stay with you two while he returns to himself.”

              “Is that the wisest idea?  I mean, Kate-”

              “She signed off on it, don’t worry.  Look, just grab Stan and come over.  We’ll debrief the both of ya as well once ya get here.”

              “Got it.”  Angie hung up the phone.  She turned around.  Stan’s head was in his hands, his shoulders shaking with sobs.  Angie sat next to him and rested her hand on his back.  “My love, that was Ma.”

              “And?”  Stan’s voice was thick with tears.

              “It worked.”  Stan’s head jerked up.  “Apparently, it’s delayed, but he’s already better.”

              “He’s-”  Stan swallowed.  “Ford’s gonna be okay?”  Angie nodded. “Oh, thank god.”  Stan slumped against the back of the couch.  “That’s- that’s the best thing I’ve heard since this bullshit started.”

              “Yes, well, apparently he wants to stay here while he recovers, and Ma wants to debrief us more thoroughly at HQ, so…”  Angie wiped Stan’s cheek with her sleeve.  “Collect yourself a bit and we’ll leave.”

----- 

              Angie and Stan followed Ma McGucket into medical wing, where Ford had been housed in for the last week or so, after his condition had deteriorated to the point that he needed around-the-clock surveillance by the team working on his case.  Ford’s specific room was one of the private ones in the back of the wing.  The door was closed when they arrived.  Stan frowned.

              “Where’d the sign go?” he asked.  After Ford had moved in, one of the people on his team had made a sign for his room at his request, with Ford’s name on it and an option for Ford to indicate whether he wanted visitors or not.  Stan and Angie had become used to the colorful sign during their daily visits to check up on Ford.  The undecorated door seemed almost ominous.

              “Ford took it down himself when he packed his things up,” Ma McGucket answered. “Don’t worry.”  She knocked on the door.  “Stanford, Stan and Angie are here.”  The door opened.  Peering up at them through thick brown curls was a young boy approximately six or seven years old.  Stan dropped to one knee to get a closer look.

              “Ford?” Stan asked quietly.  The boy nodded.  A broad smile broke across Stan’s face.  “You look a bit older now.”

              “Yes,” Ford said proudly.  “I’ve been told my age will double every day until I return to my proper self.”

              “Not exactly,” Fiddleford said, walking over.  Stan saw Ford abruptly blush, then duck his head to hide his red face.

              If Ford remembers how he followed Fiddlesticks everywhere, can’t blame him for feeling embarrassed.

              “Yer age has doubled once, and we expect it to double again,” Fiddleford continued, either not noticing or pretending not to see Ford’s behavior.  “Once you turn twelve, you’ll have another boost, to about fourteen or fifteen.  But yer agin’ will slow down then, prob’ly due to puberty-”  Ford’s face turned an even deeper shade of red.  “-so you’ll only age ‘bout a year a day.  Once you hit eighteen, you’ll have two more multiple year jumps to get to yer original age.”

              “So how many days is Ford gonna be re-aging?” Stan asked.  Fiddleford shrugged.

              “About a week or so.”

              “Should we be concerned about emotional and mental re-aging keepin’ up with physical re-aging?” Angie asked.

              “We’ll have a better idea of that once he hits twelve tomorrow, but right now, it doesn’t seem like that’ll be a problem.”  Fiddleford handed Angie a piece of paper.  “Some instructions from Kate, fer how to accommodate his re-aging. As well as what to do if his emotional and mental maturity seem to be lagging.”  Angie nodded.  One of the doctors assigned to Ford’s case, Jen, joined them.  She crouched down to Ford’s eye-height.

              “We’re gonna miss you around the wing, Ford,” she said cheerfully.  “You were a ray of sunshine for us.  But we’re happy you’ll be back to yourself soon.” Ford embraced her.  “Aw, thanks.”  Jen stood up and handed Angie another piece of paper.  “Kate’s instructions were psychological, these are physiological. Ford’s gonna struggle a bit, since each age has its own ups and downs.  Be sure to follow these to ease the growing pains as much as possible. Particularly once he hits the teenage years.”

              “Understood,” Angie said.

              “To make things easier, we already bought all the clothes Ford will need as he re-ages.  They’re in his bag with his other items,” Jen continued.  “Keep us updated.”

              “You got it,” Stan said, standing to his full height again.  “Don’t worry, Ford’s gonna be in great hands.”

              “I know.”  Jen playfully ruffled Ford’s hair before walking away.  Ford looked up at Stan eagerly.

              “I’m big enough that I don’t need to use the car seat anymore!” he bragged. “Mrs. McGucket told me so!”

              “That’s great.  Great enough that I think we need to stop for ice cream on the way home,” Stan said. He looked at Angie.  “Don’t you agree, Ang?”  Angie rolled her eyes.

              “I think the stop we really need to take on the way home is a haircut fer Ford, but yes, we can get ice cream.”

              “Hooray!” Ford cheered.  Stan beamed again.  “Race you to the car!”  Ford immediately took off.

              “Wh- hey!”  Stan chased after him.  Angie chuckled softly.

              “I’m so happy things worked out,” she said to her mother.  Ma McGucket nodded.

              “I agree.”  Ma McGucket eyed Fiddleford.  “Fidds, please keep Ford’s behavior when he was three a secret from him fer a while, will ya?  I think he might die of embarrassment durin’ the teenage days if he finds out he followed ya ‘round like a lil duckling 24/7.”

----- 

              “So the haircut we gave you yesterday was pointless, huh?” Stan asked. Ford glared at him.  After being a cheerful, hyperactive twelve-year-old the day before, he had woken up that day as a sulky teenager.  Stan didn’t remember Ford being this grumpy when they were teens the first time, but he figured the re-aging process was enough to put anyone in a bad mood.  Ford poked at his breakfast, a bowl of cereal.

              “My hair seems to be growing at a rapid pace to match the rest of my body,” Ford muttered darkly.  He blew a strand of hair out of his face.  “I look like one of those emo teens.”

              “Only if you dye your hair black,” Stan said.  He took a sip of his coffee.  “I wonder if either of the girls will go through a phase like that.”

              “Youch!” Ford yelped.  Someone had pulled his hair.  “What-” Ford turned in his seat.  Angie stood behind him, a brush in one hand, a clump of his hair in the other, and multiple hair ties wrapped around her wrist. “Angie-”

              “Do you know how to put hair into a ponytail?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.  Ford was silent.  “Let me do my work.”

              “You could’ve asked,” Ford grumbled, turning back to his breakfast.

              “I already did.  You groaned ‘fine’ and then stormed away ‘fore I could even grab a hair tie.”  Angie gathered the entirety of Ford’s hair in one hand and began to brush it.  Ford let out a few more small yelps.  “I told ya to use conditioner.”

              “I’ve never used conditioner in my life.”

              “When ya have long hair, it’s a necessity,” Angie said firmly.  She finished putting Ford’s hair into a ponytail.  “There.”

              “That hurt…so much,” Ford moaned.  He slammed his head on the table, jostling his cereal bowl and causing a few stray marshmallows to dive over the sides.  “I don’t ever want to go through that again.”

              “Okay, drama queen,” Stan said calmly, setting his newspaper down.  “Do you want us to cut it again?”

              “No.  The haircut you two gave me yesterday was dreadful.  I don’t want to look like that.”

              “It’s either long, loose hair or a ponytail, then.”

              “Ugh!”

              “How about I do your hair tomorrow?” Stan suggested.  Ford raised his head just enough to frown at Stan.

              “Why would I ask you to do my hair?”

              “‘Cause I do Danny and Daisy’s hair,” Stan said with a shrug.  “Never got a complaint from them about it hurting.” Ford let out a long, dramatic sigh.

              “I suppose.”  He rested his head on the table again.  “Everything sucks and I hate it.”

              “Sounds good,” Stan replied, picking up his newspaper and turning it to the sports section.

----- 

              “Stan, quick question.”  Stan turned off the TV and looked over at Angie, standing in the entryway to the living room.  “What was Ford like as a teenager the first time?”

              “Uh, kinda quiet and nerdy.  Basically the same as he was as a kid and adult.  Ford wasn’t really the kind of person to go through phases or whatever.”

              “So this is definitely new, then,” Angie said, crossing her arms.

              “What’s new?” Stan asked.

              “The loud music and the attitude and the sneaking out at night,” Angie said, gesturing towards the guest room, from which angsty music seemed to emanate day and night.

              “Wait, he snuck out?”

              “Last night.  Luckily, Fidds was makin’ a midnight run to the gas station fer emergency batteries.” Stan raised an eyebrow.  “I didn’t ask what for.  Could be a robot, could be a smoke detector-”

              “Could be somethin’ he wouldn’t want his little sister to know he owns,” Stan interjected.  Angie rolled her eyes.

              “Anyways, he saw Ford tryin’ to buy alcohol.”

              “What the fuck?”  Stan rubbed the back of his neck.  “That’s not something Ford ever did.  I did it when we were teens, but not him.”  Stan frowned. “We don’t have any of the fake IDs we use for work in the house, do we?”

              “No.”

              “How did he get his hands on a fake ID, then?”

              “He didn’t,” Angie replied shortly.  “He was tryin’ to buy alcohol without an ID.  His big plan was to just convince the person to let him buy it without showin’ a card.  Of course, the cashier wasn’t havin’ any of it.  Fidds showed up right before the cashier called the cops.”

              “Hang on, hang on.”  Stan held up his hands.  “Ford didn’t have any sort of ID, let alone a fake one?  Okay, that’s it.”  He got up from the couch.  “I’m gonna have a talk with him.”  Angie frowned at her husband.

              “That’s yer big concern?”

              “Well, yeah.  It’s just plain stupid.  Buying alcohol before you’re twenty-one isn’t that bad, but I’d hate for him to get caught.”

              “What if either of the girls pull the same stuff when they get to be teens?”

              “I’ll tell ‘em the same thing I’m about to tell Ford,” Stan said firmly.  “If you’re gonna break the law, be smart about it.”

              “In that case, hopefully they take after me and don’t cause any trouble,” Angie grumbled, looking away.  Stan chuckled and kissed her on the cheek.

              “That’s bullshit, babe.  You’ve always been a troublemaker.”

----- 

              “Wait, I did what?” Ford asked.

              “Took a page outta the ole Stan Pines Book of Teenage Rebellion,” Stan said jovially.  He flipped a steak on the grill.  Ford had returned to his proper age yesterday, but was having some issues with his coordination and mental processing speed.  Everyone at HQ was convinced Ford would be back to normal eventually.  He just needed some more time off.  Ideally, with someone around in case he got lost or injured himself due to his new clumsiness.

              “Geez.”  Ford rubbed the back of his neck.  “Why would I do that?”

              “Beats me.”  Stan grinned at Ford.  “But I kinda liked having a practice run in taking care of a teenager.  I’m gonna have to deal with two at once, after all. Maybe even more, depending on how soon Angie and I get to work on our next gremlin.”

              “You want another child?”

              “Yeah.”  Stan frowned at Ford.  “I know I told you that while you were stuck.”

              “Yes, well, my memory of that time is hazy at best.  Hopefully, I’ll be able to recall it at some point.”

              “Uh, I dunno if you really want to.”

              “…Fair point,” Ford conceded.  The door leading to the backyard burst open, slamming against the wall.

              “Uncle Ford!” Danny and Daisy shrieked, bolting to where Ford sat on the patio.  Ford chuckled.  He ruffled his nieces’ hair.

              “Hello, my dears.”

              “You weren’t at our birthday,” Danny said quietly.  Ford nodded.

              “You’re right.  I wasn’t. I’m very sorry.  Did your mother tell you what happened?”

              “You got sick,” Daisy said.  Ford nodded again.

              “Yes.  Extremely sick.  That’s why you had to stay at your grandparents’.  Your mother and father were helping me get better, but they didn’t want you to be exposed to my germs and get sick, too.”  Ford playfully poked at Daisy’s nose on the word ‘you’. Daisy giggled.

              “All better now?” Danny asked.

              “Mostly.  I’m not sick anymore, but I’m still not fully recovered, so I’ll be staying here until then. If that’s all right with you.”

              “Duh!” Daisy shouted.  Ford laughed.

              “I have presents for you two somewhere, actually,” he said.  He started to get up.

              “No, let me,” Angie said.  Ford looked over.  In the ruckus of his nieces’ arrival, he hadn’t noticed Angie exiting the house as well. She stood by the door, smiling fondly at him and her daughters.  “I know exactly where Stan put ‘em.”  She opened the door.  A blur of dark gray and black ran outside.  “Apple-” she started.

              “It’s fine, I’ll handle it,” Stan said.  Angie nodded once before heading back inside.  Apple ran over to Ford, cocked his head, and then whined loudly. Ford smiled and patted the dog. Danny and Daisy stared at him in shock.

              “Apple…likes you now?” Daisy asked.

              “It appears so,” Ford replied, deciding to keep to himself the many hours he had spent with Apple while he was de-aged, one of the few things he remembered clearly.  Danny turned to Stan.

              “Daddy, Apple likes Uncle Ford!” she shouted.  Stan looked over.

              “Yep.”

              “Did Apple help Uncle Ford get better?”

              “Eh.  Only partly. Mostly, it was magic.”  Stan wiggled his fingers in an exaggerated manner. Danny scoffed.

              “No.”

              “It wasn’t magic,” Ford agreed.  “It was medicine.  Which isn’t magic, but rather, a form of science.”  Daisy climbed into his lap.

              “Tell!”

              “My dear, I don’t have a medical degree,” Ford said, stroking her hair.

              “Fine.  Tell dif’rent science.”

              “Different science?”

              “Yeah!” Danny cheered.  Ford smiled.

              “Very well.  I’ll do just that.”  He cleared his throat.  “Long ago, there was a brilliant man named Nikola Tesla.”

[cards-onthetable]

I'm feeling a little bad for Jamie

(More thoughts from our Aussie friend!)

So as I told you I'm still yet to see episode 18, (it supposedly airs Thursday but channel 10 sucks so it may not). I have been irritated (massively) by this season and the Jamko working together farce, as you know. But from following you guys it seems this episode really pissed people off.

From the snippets I have given in and watched, I agree with the thought that Jamie could've and should've chosen his words better. FYI in that restaurant scene I actually felt Eddie was rude to the waitress but I'm told that is probably just a reflection of cultural differences so I decided to let that go.

However I'm curious why Jamie has irritated you all so much because I think at times Eddie has used similar tone etc with Jamie. In episode 14, Eddie tells Jamie to "cool it" at the dinner table. I recall watching that and thinking she just treated him like a child (in front of others no less). Sure the Reagan brothers were butting heads but Eddie's tone in that scene irritated me. I wouldn't care if Eddie had squeezed his thigh to say hey calm down, but I didn't like the verbal tell off. I would equate Eddie's 'cool it' with Jamie's 'cut it out'. But for me Eddie did it in public.  Jamie was in a public place, but presumably they did not know others in laundromat.

(I disagree, I don’t see anything disrespectful or out of line in Eddie’s tone during that scene. She and Jamie had just had a private discussion on the topic so they knew each other’s points of view. Then when the dinner table discussion got out of hand, Erin stopped things and Eddie jumped in too. Her telling Jamie to “cool it” and then saying “hey, you too” to Danny didn’t come off as disrespectful to me whatsoever. In general, during those ~tense~ family dinners, I tend not to read into anyone’s tone too much because the frustration is usually two-sided and ~justified~ (unlike Jamie’s unwarranted reaction to the softball thing). It was no different than any of the times Linda reeled Danny in during dinner, and not inappropriate in context.)

In episode 12 again at the dinner table Eddie said, "I like him. I hope you turn out like him". It came across to me as a little bit bitchy. The tone was kinda “I'm joking, but yeah I'm really not and you know it Jamie.” I understand that again, his communication about the wedding was awful, (I still can't believe a wedding costs 100k btw) but I just felt like Eddie belittled him a little bit. (Again, the dinner table back-and-forth doesn’t really bother me or strike me as disrespectful/bitchy/etc. I’m actually happy when Eddie feels comfortable enough to ~act like one of the family~ at dinner.)

Then professionally in episode 16 at the very beginning where Eddie walks in to find Jamie in an argument with his subordinate and she immediately inserted herself into the conversation with "what the hell is going on here". It made me feel that Eddie has no respect for Jamie being the boss. (WHY ARE THEY WORKING TOGETHER AGAIN)? That shit just would not fly here. If I'd been Jamie I would not have been so cool about that. While professionally I would remain calm, at home I would have lost my shit badly with a partner of mine interfering at work. If I were Jamie, I'd have been livid. As an aside, this scene was also irritating  in the sense that we are meant to believe nobody knows they are screwing, YEAH RIGHT!!! (Somewhat agree here, but I mostly blame this on a poorly written way to involve Eddie in that conversation. When I first watched the episode I rolled my eyes @ Eddie involving herself at all, but didn’t necessarily think she did it in a way that would be worse than any other way for her to insert herself in the conversation, if that makes sense lol. But I can see how she comes off as not respecting Jamie’s authority.)

 EDDIE CLEARLY WEARS THE PANTS IN THEIR RELATIONSHIP which is perfectly fine. I'm not one for life has to be ruled by a man, but while Jamie should be in charge professionally (and usually is), Eddie is definitely in charge at home. Which makes it even more irritating to me that they are having Eddie play meek and mild in some episodes to make me wonder where old Eddie went and make Jamie the arsehole. If Eddie feels comfortable to belittle Jamie in front of family and colleagues, it is total rubbish to then suggest she'd refuse to try out for softball because Jamie expresses himself poorly. (Talk to me more about how you see Eddie as wearing the pants in their relationship. In the past, when Jamie was an adorable lovesick puppy with an impossible crush, sure. But lately ????? The inconsistency is nuts, you’re right.)

I'm not trying to attack Eddie here, I just find it interesting that so many people have been furious with Jamie over 'softball gate', whether it be on your blog, the BB twitter or facebook pages. I think season 9 would have benefited by having more scenes of Jamko at home (or you know, NOT HAVING SEASON 8 END WITH THEM BECOMING ENGAGED WITHOUT EVER DATING). More balance of 'church and state' may have shown their relationship in a better light. Instead we get them basically at family dinner and arguing at work or in a restaurant arguing about work. I'm ignoring mini golf because well, don't we all wish we could ignore that? (Ugh Yes preach.)

Also I really wonder how much of Jamie being tightly wound is the losses he's had in life or the weight of the family expectations. To me Jamie sets very high standards for himself and if he feels he fails in those standards he really struggles. I'm just thinking that is rooted in childhood. Frank seems to regard Jamie as most like himself and as such Jamie has a lot to live up to. If Frank cut Jamie some slack maybe Jamie wouldn't be so emotionally repressed. For eg hey Frank did you even consider telling Danny he was wrong in episode 14? Nope you left it to Henry. Even then, that seemed to be because the Reagan family name might be tarnished if Jamie actually held Danny accountable for insubordination. I don't care that Danny shot someone, I care that Danny always has and always will get away with giving his superiors grief because he's Danny. Jamie would have been suspended and has been in the past seasons.

(This relates back to conversations from this week about Jamie’s need for therapy, or at a minimum his need to acknowledge all this unspoken baggage everyone insists he has. (I’m slightly skeptical; while I agree the foundations are there, I don’t give the BB writers enough credit to think they’ve developed the character of Jamie Reagan deeply enough to actually consider how his various traumas would manifest in his daily life and relationships. Like their characterization is much more shallow and not that nuanced/complex). But this is why I’m interested in @fixomnia-scribble’s potential rendition of Jamie’s conversations with his therapist (and why I only want to see Jamie’s conversations with his therapist in any such fic, with nobody else involved, lol).)

Oh and hey I was thinking BB writers were being morons with this whole season but I've realised I'M THE MORON because I still kept watching it. SPLIT THEM UP PROFESSIONALLY AND MAKE IT REALISTIC. I'M BEGGING YOU BB. I have other thoughts about the wedding and season 10 but you shouldn't have to read them all. 

the grump from Down Under.

P.S. The wedding pictures gave me a laugh but hey I say put Jamie in a kilt and knee high socks cos I know how you feel about knees. 😛 (THIS WOULD BE AN IMPROVEMENT OVER THE BIB TIE TBH)

[five-rivers]

If you think you can fit this prompt into Pep Talks please do: "You're worried about the future of that quirk, right? If what you're setting in motion is actually going to pay off? That the future bearers will be able to stop your brother? You needn't worry, I've met them, Well, Some of them, I'm still currently doing the rounds"

“Shigaraki-san.”

Kazuki jumped, but calmed when he saw who it was.  “Really, you don’t have to call me that,” said Kazuki.  “It feels unfair when you ask me to call you Danny-kun.”

“Hey, I’m just trying to be polite,” said Danny, sitting next to Kazuki on the bench.  

“How do you always find me, anyway?”

Danny shrugged.  “Pocky?” he offered.  

“Thanks,” said Kazuki.  He nibbled on the candy for a moment.  “You know why I’m here, don’t you?”

“Yeah,” said Danny, shrugging.  “You’re worried about the future, right?  Wondering if what you and Ryuji-san are doing is going to pay off, if he and the future bearers will be able to stop your brother.  If they’ll be able to put an end to this.  If you’re actually helping, or just making things worse, both for people with quirks and those without.”

“Maybe,” muttered Kazuki.  “But, like, more specifically.”  He nodded at the government building across the street.  

“Hmm,” said Danny, smiling faintly, “maybe.  Don’t worry about Ryuji-san.  He’ll be fine.”

Kazuki sighed.  “What is your quirk, anyway?  Some kind of future sight?”

“Nope.  I know a guy like that, though.”

“I’m going to figure it out one of these days,” said Kazuki.  

Danny laughed.  “Would you believe me if I told you I don’t have a quirk?” he asked.  

Kazuki stopped staring at the government building to favor Danny with a flat stare.  “Not a chance.”

“Well,” said Danny, “I guess at that point, the question would be what is a quirk?”

“Isn’t that the million dollar question?” mumbled Kazuki.

“Not really.  I know the answer, but it’s basically worthless.  No one would believe it.”

“Try me,” said Kazuki.  “I mean, I believed you when you told me I could pass my quirk on.”

“That was something you could test.  This?  Not so much.”

“I think you’ve earned some suspension of disbelief from me.”

“Probably,” agreed Danny.  

“And I’ve earned some answers.”

“Sure, but do you want them to be for philosophical questions, or...?”  Danny trailed off, raising an eyebrow.

“You’re a pain, you know that?” 

“Hey, I learned from the best.”

“Seriously.”

Danny picked at the the flap of the Pocky box, separating the paper label from the cardboard.  “I know you have questions,” he said, finally, softly, “and I know I keep dodging them, but...  You’re going to be mad at me, when you get the answers.  If you believe me at all.”

“As long as you aren’t working for my brother or the government, I’m not sure what there is to be mad at you about,” said Kazuki.  “I’m a vigilante that breaks laws on a daily basis and I interact with even shadier people than you pretty regularly.”

“Even shadier, huh?” asked Danny, grinning.  

“Come on, at least tell me how you knew I could pass on my quirk.”  If Danny was somehow working for Kazuki’s brother...  Kazuki didn’t even know what he’d do.  It wasn’t like he and Danny were really close, not like him and Ryuji, but he’d been a relible friend and ally in this mess.  

“Oh,” said Danny.  “Uh.  I’m a time traveler.”

“What.”

“Yeah.  It’s not my quirk.  I’ve got a friend that can do it.  Well, boss more than friend, but, yeah.  Time travel.  Yep.”

“Then- What- You-  You can’t just drop that on a person!”  Kazuki pressed a hand to his chest, feeling his heartrate soar to an unhealthy tempo.  Breathing exercises.  In, out...  Slowly...  “So you know,” he said finally, “when we finally...  When this finally ends.”

“It doesn’t quite work that way,” said Danny.  “Branching paths and all that.  There’s always a chance-”

“Please, Danny.”

Danny sucked in his lips.  “Eight is the first one to win a significant victory.  I haven’t met anyone after him, yet.  Actually, I met him first.”

“Are you pulling my leg?”

“I told you that you wouldn’t believe me.”  Danny drew his legs up onto the bench and hugged his knees.  Like this, he looked so much younger.  

“It isn’t that I don’t believe you,” said Kazuki.  “It’s just... a lot.”

“Heh.  Yeah.  It is kind of... big.”

“At least you don’t have anything to do with my brother, if you’re from the future.”

Danny was silent.  

“... Right?”

“I’m not working for him,” said Danny.  “But I did, um, meet him once and I kinda...  Ugh, it’s complicated.  I didn’t really screw up, per se, but I didn’t think through the consequences of my actions, and I’m sort of... trying to make up for that.”  He made a vague, encompassing gesture with his hands before letting them rest on his knees.  

That wasn’t as bad as Kazuki had feared, but still.  “Did you give him future knowledge or save him from a car crash or something?”

“Not exactly,” said Danny.  “It’s still something I have to take responsibility for.”

“Okay,” said Kazuki, “but what was it?”

“If I tell you, it’ll set off a chain reaction that’ll lead to your brother experimenting with something incredibly disturbing about fifty years too soon.”

“Really?” 

“According to my time traveling friend, yes.  And the last time I didn’t listen to him, I sort of unpersoned myself, so.”

“I guess that would be a deterrent.”

“Yep.  Also, Ryuji’s about to blow something up, and you should really help him with that.”

The explosion of the government building sent Izuku shooting up in bed.  Disoriented, he rolled out, onto the floor of his darkened dorm room.  It took him several minutes to recover from... whatever that had been.  One of First’s memories?

First had known Fenton.  First believed Fenton was a time traveler.  

Izuku groped for his dream notebook.  He’d had a few dreams like this, so far, and he was trying to keep track of everything he’d learned.  

He finished just as his hand started to cramp up.  He shook it out.

Fenton was a time traveler.  A time traveler who claimed to be on the side of One for All, but who had done something for All for One significant enough that he was traveling through time to fix it.  

Assuming he was telling the truth, Fenton had met Toshinori-san before First.  But not Izuku.  Was the order on Fenton’s side important?  Or did it not matter because of the time travel?

Complicated.  He needed to talk to Toshinori-san about this.  

[emerald-eyes-8917]

When the last moon is cast over the last star of morning...

This is a prompt fill for a kind anon with regard to Dan comforting the reader after a bad anxiety attack.  I hope this is filled the way you wanted and to anyone who can take this as a comfort, I hope it will calm you.

This will also be cross-posted to AO3 this evening so please feel free to head over and leave a kudos and a comment.

Thank you as always for reading.  :)

Title: Fear Not This Night

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: Anxiety mentions, dark thoughts.

It had not been this bad in a very long time.

This feeling that the world was crashing down around her ears, that she was not good enough, that she did not deserve to be loved or wanted by anyone...

The chatter was extremely loud in her mind and did not appear to be ceasing.  

Sitting up in bed, arms wrapped around her knees, all she can do is rock back and forth, back and forth, tears streaming down her cheeks, eyes heavy with sleep but refusing to close, stomach churning and skin crawling.

Her partner lies fast asleep, his dandelion curls tousled on the pillow, breathing deep and even.

Why is he even here?  He deserves better than all of this...

She was doing her best to cry as quietly as she could so as not to wake him.  He needed his rest after the week he had and the busy schedule he had for the next month.

She couldn’t ruin it for him, and that thought alone makes her let out an especially pain-filled cry.

Much to her dismay, Danny has turned over with a sleepy groan, one arm reaching out to his right, instinctively searching for her, and when his hand lands on the pillow, finding it empty, he blinks his eyes open with a confused frown.

"Baby?  Hey... baby?  Where are you?"

She answers in a tiny voice, despite wanting to disappear into the mattress, "I'm here..."

Dan rubs his eyes, more than likely trying to focus in the darkness, before his hand finds the small of her back and moves up her back slowly in an absent-minded caress, "Hey... why are you sitting up?  Are you okay?"

"It's fine..."

A badly timed sniff and he immediately pauses.  "Baby... have you been crying?"

"No... I just feel a bit sick..."

"Baby..."

"Really, I'm fine, go back to sleep.  I just need to think for a while and you don’t need to worry..."

Even before she has finished her sentence, Dan shuffles closer, his hands reaching out to try and wrap around her waist, his head nudging her hip as he lets out a sleepy sigh, "You don't have to play the strong card with me, at least when we are alone together.  You can tell me anything.  I want to help you and you're clearly not okay..."

When she opens her mouth, a whimper escapes her, before giving into full-on sobbing, and she clutches her hands in her hair before dragging her palms down her face, pressing her mouth to her hands to try and muffle the crying.

Immediately, Dan is sitting up beside her and has taken her into his arms, holding her close to his chest, gently but firmly with a hand behind her head, twisting into the strands.

"Oh, baby... there, there.  Just cry, just let it out..."

The words come tumbling out in a rush before she can even think to stem the flow of her thoughts, "Danny... I... I can't... it's too loud in my head.  It's just... so loud... I can't sleep... I don't deserve you... I don't deserve to be here with you..."

Dan lets out a broken exhale, "That's not true.  It's not true at all.  It's just your head playing a trick on you.  It's just your anxiety playing up.  This isn't your fault."

Pressing a kiss to the top of her head, he murmurs, "It's not your fault, baby..."

All she can do is cry, clinging to him with renewed strength, absolutely terrified that if she even let go for a moment, he would disappear forever.

Dan rocks her gently, kissing her hair and stroking her back up and down, saying her name gently and all she can do is focus on him, his breathing, his warmth and his voice.

"Here, lay down with me.  I'll try and help you back to sleep.  Come here..."

She allows him to lie her back down on the pillows beside him, his arms still wrapped around her.

As he lifts his head, raising up over her, resting on his elbow, his longer curls tickle her face and she lets out a tearful laugh as a reaction despite feeling quite overwhelmed.

Dan gives her a bemused smile that is entirely adorable to her.

She remarks quite innocently, "Your hair is so long and fluffy..."

Even in the dark, he appears quite bashful and he tips his head back to attempt to shake his curls out of his eyes, "It is becoming Muppet-like and near sentient and there's nothing I can do about it..."

"Please don't cut it, I don't could I could bear it."

The thought alone threatens to make her want to cry, but Dan leans down and nuzzles her nose, and she is immediately cocooned by his hair, "For you, baby, I wouldn't even trim it."

All at once, she is awash with comfort and the chatter in her mind has halted.  She slowly slides her arms around his waist and whispers, "Having you close like this... I think it's helping."

"Yeah?"

"It's... it's quiet now... but there’s still something there... but I don't know how long it’ll be quiet for..."

"Don't think about that now.  Just focus on my voice.  I'm right here, baby..."

He presses a kiss to her cheek, and she can only imagine that he is tasting her tears, for he kisses her cheek several times, followed by several to her nose and her forehead, featherly light and sweet, smoothing his hand through her hair, pressing his fingers to her scalp in a gentle massage.

"Close your eyes... let me kiss those tears away, baby..."

Letting out a hitched breath, she whispers his name, "Danny..."

"I'm here, baby.  It's okay... I've got you and nothing is going to hurt you while I'm here.  Nothing's going to get to you and you will be okay."

She manages to nod, her forehead creasing as a fresh wave of sobbing begins and she holds him even tighter, so tight that the thought occurs that she could actually injure his ribs.

"Don't... don't let me go, please?  I just... I just need you to hold me..."

He leans down and nuzzles her ear, whispering, "Sssshhh... it's okay, baby... I've got you.  Nothing's going to get to you.  You can hold on as tight as you want and as long as you need.  I'm right here... sssshhhh..."

The only answer she can give is a choked sob, lifting her head to kiss his shoulder and his neck, breathing him in.

Carefully, still holding her close to him, Dan rolls over onto his back, taking her with him and she immediately rests her head over his heart, the slow, deliberate thumping of his pulse the most beautiful sound she could ever hear besides his voice.

"Just breathe for me... in and out... in and out... nice and slow.  Breathe in deeply and let it out slowly... there we go.  You’re doing great..."

She obeys, following the cadence of his own breathing and the soothing sound of his voice, until she no longer felt the urge to give into crying.  The pain was still very much present at the front of her mind, but it no longer felt like a weight pressing down on her.

Dan's fingers stroke through her hair, massaging the base of her skull and scratching her scalp, "Does that feel okay?"

"Mmmmhm... more than okay."

She presses a kiss to his chest, tracing patterns across his skin that could have been numbers, initials, or a secret language.

He shifts beneath her so their legs are intertwined beneath the covers, "Your breathing sounds more even now.  Do you feel like you want to sleep?"

The prospect of falling asleep sounds inviting, but the anxious thoughts still remain, alive and breathing, so she has to admit, "Almost... I'm just afraid of having a nightmare... or waking up to the chatter again.  I just wish my brain would behave.  It's just so stupid..."

"Hey... it's not.  Sometimes our brains get stressed, and that is completely normal.  It's like chemicals and thoughts and all that shit tangled up together, and it's not your fault and it is not stupid."

"But still, I..."

"'But still' nothing, baby.  Would you think it was stupid if I broke my arm and didn't heal in a day?  Well, I mean, I probably did something stupid to break it in the first place because I'm basically a deer on two legs..."

Her giggle is quite loud and unrestrained and she has to turn her face more into his chest to quieten herself, but the shaking beneath her and the merry chuckles floating above her head are confirmation that he is laughing too.

"Oh, my God.  I love your laugh..."

As soon as she has calmed down from her giggle-fit, she lifts her head, searching for his eyes in the dark and says with all the sincerity in the world, "I love you, Danny."

Dan's smile is warm, like radiant sunshine as he leans down to give her a soft kiss, "I love you, baby.  You're going to be okay.  I'm going to help you and you will be okay."

"You promise?"

Dan kisses her again and again, whispering between kisses, "Yes... I promise... I promise..."

She rests her head back down again, bending her knee up that bit more and pressing close to him.

"You're so warm."

"Yeah, I'm hot-blooded that way.  Hot blooded, check it and see, I got a fever of a hundred and three..."

He sings a few bars of the song by Foreigner and she can't help but smile, allowing her eyes to slip closed.

"Will you sing to me some more, please?"

"Of course.  Anything you'd like to hear?"

She stretches almost cat-like, arching her spine and settled into the solid warmth of his body, "Something... nice.  From the eighties... or something you wrote with NSP.  Anything at all... I just want to hear you sing..."

"You got it.  Let me see..."

After a moment, he hums the opening melody of a song that was one of the first that she had ever heard him sing, the theme of 'The Last Unicorn'.

Softly, he starts to sing to her, his voice a soothing lullaby, banishing all the negative, draining thoughts from her mind, pushing the anxiety away and flooding golden light back into her waking dreams again.

When the last eagle flies over the last crumbling mountain And the last lion roars at the last dusty fountain In the shadow of the forest though she may be old and worn They will stare unbelieving at the last unicorn

Her body begins to unwind, his voice washing over her, his hand never ceasing the gentle stroking of her hair while his free hand covers hers that is resting on his chest, interlacing their fingers together in a hold that is gentle and true.

When the first breath of winter through the flowers is icing And you look to the north and a pale moon is rising And it seems like all is dying and would leave the world to mourn In the distance hear the laughter of the last unicorn

I'm alive, I'm alive

The images of the film's story come to her in soft, vibrant detail, of the unicorn Amalthea, Molly Gru and Schmendrick the Magician, of brave Prince Lir and the rolling waves of sparkling unicorns

In her mind’s eye, Danny was the bravest knight in the land, battling the monsters that resided in her head, shielding her from the pain.

When the last moon is cast over the last star of morning And the future has passed without even a last desperate warning Then look into the sky where through the clouds a path is torn Look and see her how she sparkles, it's the last unicorn

I'm alive, I'm alive...

Lulled into a calming, relaxing state, she hears his voice still humming the song to her, while his heartbeat beneath her ear serves as her touchstone keeping her tethered to him.

Unbeknownst even to herself, she has begun to drift off to sleep, but Dan does not stop humming or making shushing sounds, and the last thing she hears him say before succumbing to a peaceful sleep, "I love you... I love you, I love you, I love you so much that it hurts sometimes... you are my girl and I love you so much..."

A gentle pause.

"Baby?"

He lets out a gentle chuckle when she does not answer, and only breathes deeply, sweetly, in the ambient silence, "And you're out.  Sweet dreams, my princess.  I'll be here when you wake up, tomorrow and all the days after.  I love you..."

The rest of the night passes peacefully, where she does not wake up, dreaming only of dancing with a handsome prince with a golden voice and stardust in his hair.

[thoughtlesstales]

Finally He Comes Home, Chapter Four

Title: Finally he comes home, Chapter Four Word Count: 2084 Rating: Mature Relationship: Steve McGarrett x Kono Kalakaua Characters: Steve McGarrett, Kono Kalakaua, Chin Ho Kelly, Danny Williams Triggers: Pregnancy, missing presumed dead 

Kono had been back at work for a while now, her hours varied and with Eve they each took a day off in the week to cover the two days John wasn’t at Kindergarten, Kono having the Monday and Eve the Thursday. Kono loved it because it meant she still got to spend time with her baby boy and it worked well for Eve, even more as she got further into her pregnancy.  Kono had watched Steve come back like he had never been gone, it took a week but he was back running Five-0 like he hadn’t been missing for the last five years. He was living at Danny’s, using his spare room instead of being at the house with Kono and John, whenever she looked at him she saw the look in his eyes was one that made her want to reverse time.

Kono had done a week before she took two weeks leave, the tension whenever both of them stepped into the room unbearable and it left everyone around them walking on eggshells. She knew Danny and Chin made sure they were never alone together and they were never given the chance to be sent out together when a case came up. It wasn’t fair to them and the guilt grew worse the more she knew how much they trying to keep them apart. It shouldn’t have been like this, they should have been happy and now living their life now he was home; but it was the opposite and Kono felt like she was drowning again.

She spent the two weeks at home with John and when John was at kindergarten or with the one of the guys she would take a few moments to herself surfing or reading, or just anything which took her mind off her not so dead husband. Steve had asked through Danny if he could spend time with John, Kono hadn’t been able to deny him and so Danny collected John and would take him to meet his father were they would some time together. She wished she could have been there to see it, the look on John’s face as he finally spent time with Steve. Or the look on Steve’s because she knew how much he had wanted a child before he deployed and now he finally had that. John would come home with tales of swimming and football, shave ice and lunch at Kamekona’s. She felt a touch of jealousy when he came home with these stories, because she wanted to be there, she wanted to be involved, she wanted to be laughing along side John and Steve as they enjoyed their time together. She knew she couldn’t though, this was her punishment, to sit on the sidelines and watch her husband build his relationship with the son he never knew he had because of her. She would accept this punishment, but as she kept telling herself, she didn’t regret not telling him.

The atmosphere hadn’t changed when she returned to work, things were still tense and she knew something had to be done about it. Kono was sat with Chin when they watched Steve come in that morning, Danny not far behind. Kono sighed and Chin frowned. “You need to talk to him cuz.” He spoke quietly, that even and calm that always drove her up the wall. The all knowing Chin Ho Kelly.

“He doesn’t want to talk to me.” Kono answered watching the brunette through the glass as he laughed with Danny who was talking animatedly, clearly a story that was important for so much enthusiasm. “He just goes silent and gets that look on his face which makes me feel like the smallest and most horrendous person in the world.” Kono sighed turning back from the glass and sinking lower into her seat.

“You did what you thought was right at the time, you can’t know whether telling him or not would have made a difference to him coming home or not, however you made the decision you thought was right and it might have taken over four years - but he’s come home.” Kono scratched at her head, couldn’t her cousin just spit it out? “You need to speak to him, you need to get the air cleared between you, if not for us, for John. Because you need to figure out if you’re going to try and make this work between you or not and if not John deserves to know now.” Of course he did. John deserved the world and if she could have given it to him she would have; but Chin was right if her and Steve were not going to work this out then they would have do something soon and get their own lives on track and if needed work out the divorce.

“You’re right, as always.” Kono sighed gripping the bars of her chair harshly as she pushed to her feet, this was a better time than any to start something. “Wish me luck.” She muttered sarcastically striding out of Chin’s office and heading for Steve’s where she had just watched him settle into his seat. She pushed open the door and then watched the humour and light fade from his eyes when he looked up and realized it was her.

“What do you want Kono, we have no case at the minute.” He tone was cool and she flinched the harsh tone of voice. No they had no case, but she should have been able to speak to him regardless if they had a case or not.

“We need to sort this out, because it not fair to anyone around us who has to put up with the tension that is here.” Kono figured there was no point in beating around the bush, he clearly wanted her gone, so she might as well spit it out. “Neither of us are going to give up being apart of this team, we means we need to have each other’s back and right now, I can’t be sure you do.” Kono snapped folding her arms firmly across her chest.

“You can’t be serious?” Steve exclaimed leaning back in his chair. “Do you really think that low of me? Do you really think I would let anything happen you regardless of what is happening in our private lives?” Steve’s comment was fair and it made Kono feel worse, because she did know that regardless of what was happening in their lives he would always have her back. She was pushing him, she knew she was pushing him to get a reaction, get some kind of emotion from him to earn herself that, because he had given her nothing over the last couple of days and she hated that.

Kono watched as Steve pushed up of his seat, his chair slamming back into the unit behind his desk, the items on the shelves rattling as she rose. “No I don’t.” She sighed. “I want to sort this, I want to put this right between us and make it right again.” Kono huffed dropping her ass into the chair opposite his desk, leaning forward with her elbows on her knees, her head in her hands. “I know I screwed up not telling you, I know you must hate me for not telling you you’re a father and I sit with that guilt everyday, but it’s not fair for them out there to be treading on eggshells and John as well, if - if we’re not going to be together.” Kono breathed the last sentence, because maybe if he didn’t hear it he wouldn’t agree with her and say that would be the best option.

“I don’t hate you Kono.” Steve’s resigned tone had her looking up as he perched himself on the corner of his desk, his knee bumping against Kono’s forearm. “I just, it’s hard to look past the fact you kept something so big from me -” He raised his hand to stop her interruption. “I know you were doing what you thought best, and I can’t imagine how hard it’s been these last four years raising our son alone.”

“But even if you knew you would have still missed the last fours, you still wouldn’t have been in his life and he wouldn’t have known you. How would it have been fair of me to tell you that I was pregnant, in the small window we spoke no more than a few weeks after I had found out myself?” It wasn’t a whisper, but her voice was quiet as she looked up at Steve. “Why add that extra weight to your mind when you’re out there trying to fight for your life? I know you worry, I know you think of me and the team when you should be focusing what’s happening around you, if I told you and because of that something happened - I would never forgive myself.” Kono explained, it was hard putting what she felt into words and even now she wasn’t sure she quite got across how she had really felt that day.

“But I would have still known and I would have still be able to hold onto that information. You don’t understand what it would have meant to me to know that I had a son to come home too, what it would have done while I was held in a cell twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, I’m good at what I do Kono, I would be dead by now if I wasn’t.” Steve answered, his tone now more amused than anything. “I want to try and make us work, it’s going to take time, but I still love you, I think I will always love you, you just gotta give me time ʻO kaʻu wahine, kaʻu mea aloha.” Kono’s heart flipped and rolled at name he used for her. Hearing it fall from his lips again meant everything to her and it gave her hope, hope that they would eventually sort things out.

“I’m sorry, if I could change it I would, I would.” She repeated, realizing now that actually yes, she did regret not telling Steve and the guilt was as bad as it was because she regretted not telling him she was pregnant when they spoke. She had been in denial with herself for so long that admitting to herself she had been wrong about her choices would have made her worse, would have sent her into a spiral she wasn’t sure she could ever come back up from. “I was wrong, I’m so sorry.” Her voice broke and tears betrayed her, sliding down her cheeks as she looked up Steve who moved quickly as she blinked.

He was crouched in front of her, one hand on her knee and one hand cradling her cheek, his thumb swiping the tears away. “I know.” His words were soft and his tone made Kono cry harder, he should have been harsh, he should have shouting at her telling her she was wrong, telling her she finally seeing sense. His anger she could deal with, she could work with it; but his acceptance made her hurt more, made each breath she took hurt. He pulled her close, Kono tucking her face into to the crook of his neck, she breathed deeply, the scent which was completely him evening her breath. Her arms around his shoulders, willing for it to never be over. His arms folded around her waist, his hands rubbing smoothly up and down her back as she slowly stopped crying. Even though she had stopped they stayed like they were, holding onto each other and just breathing. Kono didn’t want to release him in fear everything would go back to how it was.

“We gotta a -” The door burst open and Danny pushed in obviously not seeing Kono and Steve finally doing something to sort out their relationship. “Shit. Sorry - I’ll -” Steve cut him off, Kono felt him pulling away so she released him and sat back in the chair turning her face away from Danny so she could wiped the damp streaks from her face and put on a semblance of composure.

“It’s fine, we’re coming.” Steve answered for her, she heard the door close and when she looked to Steve who was stood beside her, there was a small smile gracing his features and his hand was extended to her. She took it like the olive branch she believed it was.

[enigmatist17]

Another Step (GCBC)

Here is an AO3 link.

Six months passed in seemed like a blink of an eye. Cold weather began to descend upon Bricksburg and many other realms, the change of seasons looking promising. With the lack of rules to follow, people could celebrate at their leisure, traveling wherever they could desire. Entering the city, a small and unassuming car carefully traveled through the busy city traffic, coming to a stop outside a rather ordinary apartment complex. An older couple exited the car, the driver moving to the truck while the passenger looked up at the building.

“I wonder why it’s not strange lookin’ like everythin’ else.” Ma Cop commented, her husband replied with a shrug. Ciaran closed the trunk, giving his wife Neila a pointed look.

“Could ye help me carry all this in?” Neila chuckled, moving to take a few of the tupperware containers he held, as well as one of their suitcases. No longer having to fear Business, the couple had decided it was about time they came together for a family holiday. Ciaran gently kissed her cheek before the two walked inside, heading to the older but functioning elevator in the corner of the lobby. The ride up to the seventh floor was short, Neila murmuring to her husband as they walked down the long hallway. Their destination was the very last apartment, it’s door just as unassuming as its neighbors. Neila shared a look with her husband before raising her hand to knock on the door.

“I wouldn’t if I was you.” Glancing to her right, they both spotted one of the inhabitants of another apartment on their way out. “You know who lives there?”

“Aye, of course, we do. Our sons.” Ciaran replied calmly, but the warning tone lacing the words did not go unnoticed. The inhabitant shook their heads, muttering something before spitting at their feet.

“You raised a pair of monsters, I hope you know that.” Ciaran just gave a smile, his gaze cold as ice as the person walked away with a disgusted look on their face.

“What an unhappy person Ma.” He shook his head, the two quickly looking to the door as it was unlocked. Daniel was the one to peer out at them after slowly opening the door, eyes going wide in alarm and what seemed fear.

“Can we come in dearie?” His mother smiled, watching as her son opened the door after his brother switched in.

“Hi Mum, hi Dad.” Liam smiled a bit, watching as they placed the food they had brought on his table. The room was sparse, Ciaran looking around a bit as his wife embraced Liam. When they pulled back from each other, Neila reached up with a soft look. She could feel Liam tense when she gently touched one of the scars that now adorned his face, her heart breaking for her sons.

“They’re lookin’ better son.” Ciaran murmured, placing his hand on Liam’s shoulder. “Yer Ma and I were worried...we haven’t heard from ye in a while.”

“Sorry...been caught up in work.” Liam looked down. It wasn’t technically a lie, as he had begun the administrative paperwork to get Bricksburg’s police departments back up and running. They had yet to actually go to one of the stations in person, still fearing a harsh reaction to their presence. Some of the email’s they received still had insults attached to them, but it was getting easier to ignore them now.

“Well, why don’t we get ya fed?” Neila spoke, noting how they probably hadn’t had a decent meal in some time. Liam grinned a bit at the suggestion, a light conversation filling the apartment as the table was set. It did not escape the couples’ notice that Daniel made no appearance.

“Son, is there a reason yer brother is hidin’?” Ciaran finally asked after dinner had been eaten. Liam froze, midway through preparing the guest bed for his parents to sleep in.

“W-What?” Liam looked over, Ciaran’s hands on his hips, while Neila looked on in worry.

“Ya heard me, son, why is Daniel hidin’?” Liam swallowed thickly, his heart racing as his parents waited for their answer.

”I can’t face them.” Daniel sounded terrified at the prospect of talking to their parents. The parents he had let be kragled by his brother. The parents that had only been comforting right before being frozen for days. The parents he had failed.

“You didn’ fail them.” Liam murmured, Ma and Pa knowing they were speaking with each other.

”They must hate me, I know it. I was stubborn, I forced you to do it.” Daniel froze as he realized Liam had switched mid-sentence.

“He would have made sure ye had done it, son.” Neila spoke up, her heart breaking at how scared her son looked.

“Mum...I-I could have fought him.” He dropped the pillow Liam had been holding, not evening seeing his father move to catch his son before he sank to his knees. Ciaran gently coaxed Daniel to sit on the bed, his gaze concerned yet firm as Daniel reached up to force his brother into control.

“No, you don’t, Daniel Copper.” He said in his authoritative voice, crossing his arms as Daniel lowered his hand. He looked like a scolded child, gaze on the floor as his father let out a heavy sigh. “We just want to talk to ye son.”

“Yer friend Benny had to tell us ye were alive,” Neila spoke up, Daniel’s shoulders slumping. “Why didn’ ye let us know?” Daniel’s response was low and muttered, Neila, squaring her shoulders. “Answer me Daniel, right this instant.”

“I was afraid ye would hate us, ma’am.” He answered, having straightened in attention.

“What? Why on earth would we?” She sounded confused beyond belief, Daniel staring at his mother without a wavering glance.

“He threatened ye...over the years he threatened ye both. W-We couldn’t stop, even though it was bad…” Daniel’s voice began to crack, curling his hands into fists as he forced himself to continue. “We are cops...we’re supposed to uphold the law...but we were twistin’ it fer him. We failed ye both.”

“You did no such thing!” Their mother protested in an instant, taking Daniel’s face into her hands. Those mismatched eyes stared into hers, swirling with emotions from the sons she had raised from birth. Guilt, anger, confusion, awe, and overwhelming sadness were all too clear to say, Neila leaning forward to press a kiss to their forehead. “We are not angry with ye lads, not a little bit.”

“Ye were doin’ yer jobs, don’t ever apologize fer it.” Ciaran joined in, watching as Daniel just...broke. Neila was drawn forward as her sons clung to her, the sobs and the apologies coming from both of the at once. They would have done anything for their parents, and they had for eight and a half years without question. Yet, it had all been for naught. The fact that they knew, that they knew Business had threatened them, made the duo feel even worse. It was supposed to be their job to protect and serve, and they had failed at the most basic of levels. Neila and Ciaran comforted their sons, their hearts heavy as they shared a glance. Business had been bad news the first time they had met, his smile following the two every day as their boys began to work for them.

It was late by the time Daniel and Liam had stopped crying, led to their sparse bedroom by Neila. It was the first time they had fallen asleep with ease, their mother stroking their hair as she sang an old Irish lullaby.

“It’s worse than we thought Ma.” Her husband sighed, pulling up a chair beside the bed.

“Aye...our poor boys.” She murmured, tracing one of the more prominent scars with a saddened gaze. “I wanted so much ta stop ‘im.”

“Me too dear.” Pa frowned, remembering the murderous rage that still filled him from time to time. Business. He had taken their sons, turned them into a broken shell who was obedient to a fault and then at the end silenced them. When their friend Benny had come to them, the news that Danny was alive filled them both with absolute joy. The joy faded quickly, however, the couple becoming more and more horrified to learn what had happened to them since then. They left for Bricksburg the very next day, knowing they needed to be there for their sons. “We shoulda come earlier…”

“I know dear, but we couldn’t leave the precinct in its terrible shape.” She frowned. Business had all but destroyed the vast police network that had spanned the multiverses, and it was proving to be a challenge to repair it. He knew she was right, merely gazing at their sleeping sons.

Liam grumbled at the sunlight that hit his face, blindly reaching out for his glasses.

“Thought I told ye to close the blinds last night.” He muttered to his brother, sitting up with a yawn. His eyes went wide when last nights memories hit him like a truck, the man quickly getting up and onto his feet. The smell of croissants and coffee filtered in from the kitchen, Daniel taking control as he went to the kitchen.

“Good mornin’ dearies.” Neila greeted when she noticed her sons, Daniel smiling a bit as she pecked their forehead. “Would ye mind settin’ the table?”

“Sure thing Ma.” He nodded, a bit surprised to see a nice green tablecloth on the table, as well as some new chairs. “Ma?”

“I hope ye don’t mind, but this place is lookin’ a bit sparse.” She replied after noting his slight hesitation. “Pa and I got a few things ta start.”

“Ya didn’t need ta.” Liam replied, switching in as he set the table.

“Oh hush yerselves, this place is far too bare.” She scolded lightly, hand on her hip. “I know ye boys, and ye can’t stand this type of thing fer too long.” Liam frowned lightly, knowing she wasn’t too wrong. Working for Business had been a 24/7 job, so they had never really been home longer than the occasional night or two. “We’re goin’ out as a family later, and pickin’ ye out some nice things.”

“Ma, ye don’t need to.” Liam said once again, their father joining the conversation as he came out from getting washed up.

“Why? Do ye want to build them instead?” Placing a bowl of freshly cooked eggs on the table, she noticed them stiffen. They all had known to keep their familial abilities a secret while Business was in power, something the former overlord thankfully never figured out.

“That’s actually a great idea. It’s been a long time since we all built things tagether.” Ciaran nodded, Liam silent as they all sat down for breakfast. He was staring at his hands as if feeling the urge to build and create. Since Emmet had found him, they had refused to build anymore, almost afraid of another Master Builder catching them in the act. The revulsion would undoubtedly be massive, and they couldn’t handle any more hatred at the moment.

“Perhaps not.” Neila gently patted his arm, gaining Liam’s attention. “One step at a time dearie.”

“...one step at a time.” Liam nodded, giving a small smile before serving himself some of the food.

One step at a time indeed.