#also cause its got both the Bad Guys that emma frost was working with and the Bad Guys that nate grey roped in for lack of a better word

[machudson]

one of the 500 things I wish rosencanny ended with instead of leaving everything as loose ends? the champions showing up . because for one youvegot several dozen mutants who just appeared out of thin air after being gone for multiple months and they need some sort of aid and scotts on good terms w the champs so of Course he goes to them. two soorayas on champs and Friends Reunion. and Three, fabio and miles were roommates !!!!! like IMAGINE your roommate one day leaves in the middle of class or something to go fight some maximum stakes all hands on deck battle and he just doesn’t show back up and everyone thinks hes dead and then he’s BACK!!!!!!!

[lilacmoon83]

Finding You Always

Also on Fanfiction.net and A03

Chapter 209: Battle Cry, Pt 2

Bobby looked around in wonder at all the opening portals and was surprised to see a beam of light strike the ground beside them. The light faded, revealing Rose and Fandral's return, via the bi-frost.

"So...you're alive…" Seth growled.

"A God much more powerful than you saved us and I assure you that you will pay for what you've done," Fandral promised. Bobby turned and saw a final portal open behind him. Granny and Red, in her wolf form stepped through, along with Xander, armed with a flamethrower, followed by all seven dwarves, and finally his parents, hand in hand, dressed in their warrior clothing.

Seth looked around, trying to hide his nervousness, at what he was now facing.

"If your plan really hinged on the fact that you thought we wouldn't reunite with our darker halves to save our son from you...then you are more of a fool than we thought," Snow declared boldly.

"Just for that...I think I'll kill you first Snow White and make your husband watch!" Seth growled, as he tried his mind meld, but was shocked when it didn't work. The Chalice glowed between them, but he was confused. Even at full power, the Chalice shouldn't have protected them from his mind meld.

"How...how are you doing this?!" he demanded to know.

"True love," David replied in a simple manner. Snow smiled at him.

"Truest love," she agreed.

"Oh and a little bonding to our elements," Leo added, as his eyes glowed dark blue. Eva's glowed pink, Summer's glowed lavender, and Emma's glowed white.

"All the magic and power in all the realms failed to defeat you...but true love won't," Snow declared, as the chalice separated into their respective weapons, his sword and her arrow shooting gauntlets.

"Nothing can defeat me...and certainly not something like your pathetic true love," Seth seethed, as he signaled his demonic army. David raised his sword to signal their allies.

"This is the United Realms and it's our home!" he shouted.

"And we will purge you and your demons from it!" Snow added, as both sides charged into a battle that would decide the fate of the United Realms...and the world.

~*~

The armies of various Kingdoms immediately charged the massive amounts of demonic minions, taking down the bulk of the dark army to allow the heavy hitters to focus on the more powerful, lethal enemies. Still, the minions proved they were formidable and casualties on both sides began to build. The military from the Land Without Magic, however, was finding themselves to be out of their element a bit though and they were clearly frustrated.

David swiped his way through a hoard of ghouls, using the chalice sword's flails of energy to decimate the minions that were taking a toll on the soldiers.

"Your men, both on the ground and in the air, would be more effective creating a perimeter around this area. We don't want any of these demons spilling into the other realms where they can feed on innocent people," David directed to the commanders.

"Why should we take orders from you? A guy that goes by Prince Charming?" one of them asked, while the others chortled at his joke. Several of Mephisto's creations encroached on them at that point. David turned and swiped through one, obliterating it with the chalice sword. He kicked another away, while thrusting his sword through two more that would have certainly killed the onlooking officers. He threw his sword and it spun like a sidewinder, obliterating a dozen incoming demons, before he caught the sword again and the minions fell to the ground in pieces. They were stunned and their question as to why they should take orders from him was answered. There was a screeching behind him, as one surviving demon tried to attack him, but an arrow hit it and the creature exploded, as Snow sided up to him.

"You always have my back," he said fondly, as he slipped his hand in hers.

"You should listen to my husband, boys. You're looking at a man that helped me take back two Kingdoms," she said, looking at him fondly.

"And get someone on your sixes, because not everyone has someone as amazing as her watching their back," he mentioned, as he lifted her chin with his fingers so he could kiss her briefly, before they joined hands and rushed back into the fight, leaving the soldiers unsure of exactly what they had just seen.

"You heard him...get that perimeter going!" Major Donovan called.

"His orders are as good as mine," she added, as the military switched gears to do as they asked and get that perimeter up.

~*~

Leo wove his way through the mess of airborne furies, slashing at them as he went. But he yelped, as he was hit with a stray blast. He fell off Pegasus, even as the animal nosedived to catch him. But he saw an icy slide appear beneath him, allowing him to slide safely to the ground. He got to his feet and Elsa hugged him.

"Are you okay?" she asked, as she looked at the wound on his shoulder.

"It's fine...it's just a flesh wound," he replied, as Pegasus landed next to them and neighed with worry. He pet the animal's mane, assuring him that he was okay. Leo looked to the sky again and Elsa gasped, as they saw the furies overwhelm one of the military planes, causing it to crash in a fiery explosion.

"Time to clear the air…" Leo said, as his eyes glowed bright blue. His lightning was summoned in the sky and there was a boom of thunder, as the sky flashed bright blue, striking most of the furies. He fried them and turned them into charred, falling objects.

"Nice...but you do know that you've now turned the dangerous flying objects into dangerous falling objects, right?" Eva teased.

"Hey...there's no book on how to defeat demonic hell furies with wings," he pointed out.

"There is now, because this family invented it," Henry commented, as he and Jacinda slashed their way through more ground enemies.

"You had better hurry, before those charred objects are pelting us," Rumple warned.

"I got this," Summer said, as her eyes glowed lavender and JJ watched her in amazement, as she released dozens of bubbles, encasing the falling objects harmlessly within her bubbles. Eva stepped forward and her eyes glowed pink, as she swept all the bubbles into one stream.

"Hey kid...help us out!" Emma called to her baby brother. Bobby's eyes were multicolored, as he slammed one foot into the ground, opening a crevice. Emma's eyes glowed white, as she helped Eva guide the destroyed demons into the lava that was in the earth beneath them. Bobby knelt down once they were done and used his magic-enhanced strength to close the gap up again and seal it.

"Nice…" Emma complimented, but then the five of them were struck by a reptilian tale, as Seth descended upon them, in a horrifying half man, half serpent-like form.

"Time to meet your end, Charmings…" he seethed, as he slithered toward them and they noticed something on the ground that was left behind in his wake.

"What are those white things?" JJ asked.

"I don't know...but I have a bad feeling about this," Summer replied.

"Crap…" Leo uttered, as he drew his sword.

"What?" Emma asked.

"They're eggs," Rumple interjected for him.

"You can't be serious…" Regina protested.

"He is a snake…" Leo reminded her, as Snow and David caught up to them, arriving hand in hand.

"Something tells me this is about to get really gross," Snow commented, as the eggs hatched and slimy, snake-like demons emerged. Their hissing and rattle was almost deafening, as they readied their weapons and magic. The minions scattered, attacking and biting with a ravaging vengeance, while the Charmings surrounded Seth. The seven of them charged the God, while the rest of their close family and friends scattered to help defend against the new onslaught of minions.

~*~

Fandral and Rose dueled with the dangerous frost giant, Fafnir, in his dragon form. The dragon was raging and had already caused some casualties from their army. It was clear that Fandral was the only one with the strength to kill the frost giant and they had managed to isolate him to a corner of the battlefield with a rocky outcropping. It was precarious and he did not like Rose being so close to it, for one slip or loss of footing and they could be skewered by the jagged rocks. But that too was part of their plan.

"For the record, I do not like this plan," he mentioned. She smiled and fired another arrow and then kissed his cheek.

"You'll catch me, my love...you always do," Rose replied, as she climbed up and around the outcroppings, finding her way to the top of the tallest, most jagged one. She threaded another arrow and there was a loud thwack, as she landed it in his chest. The dragon roared angrily and saw her in a prime position. The dragon salivated and spoke in its gravely voice.

"At last...I shall have the ultimate revenge upon you, Fandral of Asgard," he said.

"I shall feast on the pure, sweet blood of your beloved Rose Red and destroy you once and for all by taking her!" he roared, as he left himself open, unknowingly, as he prepared to snap her up in his jaws. But before he could devour her, his breath stopped short and he screamed in pain, as Fandral's sword pierced his belly. Fandral extracted his sword and backed away, as Rose jumped down into his arms. The frost giant then fell forward, gruesomely impaling itself on the rocky outcroppings. Rose turned away from the sight and he held her protectively in his arms.

"See...I knew you'd catch me," she said and he caressed her beautiful face gently.

"Always, my angel," he promised, as they shared a kiss.

~*~

James and Aphrodite dueled the massive and mysterious Horned King. The hulking creature that they could only assume was some sort of man behind the mask, shoved James away. Aphrodite's sword clashed with his and she heard him finally speak.

"Aphrodite...you are not what you seem…" he said. His voice was deep and sent a chill down her spine.

"I am the Goddess Aphrodite of Olympus. I am exactly this. A wife, a mother, and a woman that will eradicate yours and your master's evil," she refuted, as they dueled and James jumped back in.

"You are so certain of your origin...Aphrodite, the goddess that rose from the sea foam. But you are a fraud!" he announced, earning him a vicious kick from James. The Prince swept his large legs out from under him and put his blade to creature's throat.

"Calling my wife names will be hazardous for your health," he quipped.

"The Goddess of love cannot have love…" he warned and that struck her.

"You are cursed…" he continued and then he roared in anguish, as James cut off one of his horns.

"Stay with her, Prince James...and you'll die again," he warned.

"She's the love of my life and the only one dying today...is you," James promised. The Horned King roared angrily and charged her. His words had stunned her and she was caught off guard by him, as he managed to get his massive hand around her neck. James growled and jumped up, passing his sword through his neck. The Horned King's body fell to the ground with a thud and he caught his stunned wife in his arm, before she could fall to the ground.

"Are you okay?" he asked. She smiled up at him and kissed him passionately.

"Thanks to you," she replied, as he hugged her tightly. But the expression on her face was clear. The Horned King's words and their possible meaning were not going to fade from her mind any time soon.

~*~

Nora was beyond pissed. Not only had the Major censured her and had her information technicians monitoring her social media posts, she was stuck in some diner called Granny's to watch the fight. Of course, that was another thing that she was pissed about. It seemed that she wasn't going to be the one to get the first scoop. The whole thing was being broadcast to the entire world somehow. It was being streamed on every screen in existence and she wasn't even sure how that was possible. There were no reporters or cameras on the scene that she was aware of. She noticed the diner owners at the counter, with a little girl and a baby. The little girl looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"Hey, hey...no tears. Everything's going to be fine," Frankie assured.

"He's right...your great grandparents are two of the most extraordinary people we've ever met. They'll defeat that snake," Joe assured.

"Great grandparents?" Nora interjected. Lucy nodded.

"My great grandparents are Snow White and Prince Charming," she announced. Nora snorted.

"There is no way those two freaks are that old," she refuted. Frankie snorted.

"We got ourselves a normie," he commented.

"Listen up, girl...if you want a real story about two people who have more love than your tiny mind can comprehend, then pay attention," Joe retorted. Nora shot him a glare and then turned back to the battle. She couldn't believe this. When she had begun studying this years ago, just after the fiasco in Seattle, she had been on a mission to expose the evil of these strange people. After all, they were at the center of several calamities, including this one, that had plagued their world. They didn't belong in this world; of that she knew for certain now. And she wasn't alone in her opinion. They were fighting this evil, but this evil wouldn't have existed if not for them. And now her own cousin was embroiled in their chaos. But this wasn't over. She'd find a way around the censuring and lead the protest against their presence in this world.

~*~

Henry and Ella slashed at the serpent minions and the former looked on, seeing his grandparents, mother, aunts, and uncles fighting Seth furiously in the near distance.

"They'll be all right, lad…" Hook assured, though he sounded like he was trying to convince himself.

"Bloody hell...these things are disgusting," he complained, as he wiped blue blood from his hook and lifted his boot from one of the crushed creatures.

"We need to keep these things off them so they can focus on Seth," Rumple said, as he whacked another with his cane, while Belle sliced through another.

"Well...then I'd say it's fireball time," Regina said, as she looked at JJ.

"Use that thing we gave you to mow down as many as you can," Regina said. He nodded, as she poofed a few more fireball rifles for the others, including Robin, as she and Rumple started volleying fireballs at the oncoming minions. The others began firing and decimating their enemies.

~*~

The armies of every Kingdom fought relentlessly, with Arendelle leading them and Elsa's powers made quick work of most of Mephisto's creations. Mulan, Phillip, and Aurora faced Shan Yu and his army of undead Huns.

"In my day...I nearly crushed the truest loves and they had to banish me to save themselves from my wrath. Lord Seth will kill this pair and I will finish what I started by annihilating your people!" Shan Yu claimed, as their blades clashed in a deadlock.

"I don't think so…" Mulan hissed, as she made several impressive moves and the Hun leader was stunned when she disarmed him.

"I will not be defeated by the likes of you, girl!" he roared, as he got to his feet.

"Woman...and you already have been. But I'm not going to be the one to take the final blow," Mulan stated.

"I knew it...you do not have the gumption to finish the job," he said smugly, but those were his last words, as he was snapped up in Red's mighty jaws and his remnants were all that remained, as she tore him apart.

"Ooooh...he's dead now," Leroy commented, as one of the ghouls screeched, as he hacked at it with his pick axe. Mulan smirked.

"Time to drive these zombie Huns back into the depths of Tartarus," she said.

"This should help!" Bobby called, as he slammed a foot into the ground and opened up a crevice with lava beneath it.

"Thanks kid," Happy called, as he kicked one of the defeated minions into the lava pit. Red nudged the boy, as he returned to fighting his way through more minions, with his eventual destination being Seth.

~*~

Snow and David dueled Arthur and Gawain furiously, as the fire demons attempted to burn them both.

"I've been waiting a very long time to get my revenge on the pair of you," Arthur growled.

"Don't tell me you're still pissed about the whole Excalibur thing," David goaded, as he dueled the disgraced King.

"Excalibur was my birthright! You and your wife had no right to wield it!" he shouted.

"Excalibur disagreed since we were able to, but we never wanted your sword or Kingdom. You lost both through your own actions!" Snow refuted.

"When she's right...she's right," David agreed, as they fought them both at a breakneck pace.

"It's time we end them, my King...or perhaps force them to be like us," Gawain suggested. Arthur smirked.

"Wouldn't that be poetic. The pillar of love and justice becoming what they hate most. I like it," the former King said, as a wall of fire shot up around them, cutting them off from everyone else.

"Mom! Dad!" they heard their children calling.

"Summer...we have to get through that fire!" Bobby called, as she summoned her bubbles and his eyes glowed, as he motioned his hands, summoning water from the various bodies of water that surrounded the United Realms.

"Careful kid...you don't want to drown us all," Emma warned.

"He won't if we concentrate the water to this spot," Leo said, as they helped contain the water and directed its flow toward the pillar of fire that was trapping their parents.

Gawain cackled, as they held each other close and the flames inched closer and closer to them.

"So much for the truest loves...but perhaps this is fitting. They shall be killed by the great King Arthur," Gawain boasted.

"In the Land Without Magic...I'm already a legend and I'm about the live up to that," Arthur agreed

"Still chasing glory, but there is no glory in power. Only love," David said.

"Save your speeches about true love, Prince Charming and prepare to die as a failure. Your true love is about to fail your entire family, your friends, and the world…" Arthur said.

"Okay...I think I'm ready to be done with him and his ego," Snow said. David smirked and they willed the chalice to join together. There was a bright flash and the flames were extinguished, as their children joined around them. The water they were directing at the wall of fire doused the two demons.

"You think a little water is going to defeat us, brats?" Arthur hissed.

"Nah, but true love will," Bobby said, as the two demons unleashed a blast of fire directly at them. But Snow and Charming held the chalice and it released a pulse of pure power. The fire evaporated in the air, stunning them both, as they stared at the pair in disbelief. Arthur looked at his hands and saw them slowly flaking away to ash. He watched in horror, as Gawain turned to dust and the ash floated away. Arthur looked back at them in horror and dissolved into dust as well.

"We can end this…" Snow realized. He looked at her and kissed her forehead.

"And we will," he said," as he motioned in the near distance, where they saw Mephisto attacking Leo and Elsa and they hurried off to help.

~*~

Elsa and Leo fought off the last of Mephisto's creations, while his parents faced Arthur and Gawain. He blasted them with lightning and she iced the rest, as they pushed them into the abyss.

"That's most of them," she said.

"Yeah...now it's just the big guns that remain," he said, as he cried out suddenly, as one of Mephisto's fiery chains wrapped around his forearm. He cried out in agony and fell to his knees, as the demon King pulled him toward him.

"Once I enslave you, young Leo...you'll do my bidding and destroy your whole family for me," Mephisto hissed.

"No!" Elsa cried in fear, as he cackled evilly, but he was hit with an exploding arrow.

"Get your hands off our son!" Snow growled, as she and David closed in. Mephisto chuckled evilly.

"He's mine now, fair one and there's not a thing you can do about it. And once he's enslaved to me, I'll make him peel the skin from your bones and torture your husband for the mockery he made of me!" Mephisto warned, but his cackle was cut short, as David swiped the chalice sword through his arm, releasing their son from his bonds.

"Elsa...now!" Snow called, as the Queen of Arendelle blasted him and froze him solid. With that, Fandral shoved him into the abyss.

"Good riddance," Rose said, as he fell into the pit of magma.

A hush fell over them, as Seth slithered around them in his giant serpent form. Fandral pulled Rose away, while Snow and David joined the chalice together again. Seth morphed into his humanoid form again, though his skin still had a scaly appearance and his eyes bled a sickly yellow.

"Time to die...Charmings…" he hissed, as his coils wrapped around Snow and David. The chalice fell from their grasp, as he squeezed the life out of them.

"Oh hell…" Emma cried, as her magic collided with him, but wasn't making much of a dent. Leo summoned his lightning and Eva summoned the wind, striking him violently. Regina tossed a fireball at his coils and he screeched, loosening his grip slightly on Snow and David. But it was enough and Summer encased her parents in a bubble, as they floated back to her.

"Thanks sweetie," Snow said, as they hugged her and then picked up the chalice again.

"Hitting him with all the magic on your own isn't going to work," Rumple said.

"Then what do you suggest?" Regina asked.

"The boy knows what he needs to do," Rumple replied, as he looked at Bobby. He nodded and stepped forward.

"Oh no...you are not doing this alone," Snow said, as they walked with him. He smiled.

"I know...we're going to do this together,: Bobby said.

"Hey kid...you got an idea?" Emma asked.

"Eye of the storm," he told her. She smiled and looked at her siblings, as they caught on.

"Eye of the storm," they agreed.

"Enough with your cryptic speech...no matter what you do, I shall kill you all. You are no match for my power!" Seth claimed. Summer started to take her place when JJ took her hand.

"Be careful," he said and she blushed, before smiling at him.

"Thanks," she said, as she and her older siblings surrounded the God, while Bobby and her parents approached him.

"Now Summer…" Bobby called, as she put them all in a large bubble encasing all seven of them inside of it with the monster that threatened their very existence.

"What is this?" Seth growled, as he flew up and tried to break through the bubble, but found he was unable to do so. He set his sights on Summer.

"If I cannot break the bubble...then perhaps I'll just break you instead, young one," he threatened.

"Like hell you will," Leo said, as he unleashed his powers, adding an electric layer to the bubble. A pink cyclone swirled up from Eva's glowing hands and added a layer of wind to the bubble. Emma was next, as she added a layer of white fire. Seth growled and moved to attack, but the rumbling beneath his feet stopped him cold and he watched the storm bubble shrink around him, until he was the only one inside it. He growled and his coils broke through briefly, but he screamed in agony, as Snow and David zapped each coil with the power of the chalice, permanently disfiguring him. Bobby used his powers and channeled all the elements, until he condensed the bubble so small that there was finally a huge explosion. The seven of them waited with bated breath for the smoke to clear. When it did, they saw Seth, writhing on the ground, bleeding blue blood from several wounds, and stuck in a hybrid form with his head and torso intact, by his legs in serpent form.

"How...how can this be? I am Seth...I am chaos!" he cried.

"No one can defeat me!" he claimed.

"You know, just because you keep saying that isn't going to make it true," Leo quipped.

"I'm still alive...I've survived all your power!" Seth hissed, as he tried to slither away, but then screeched, as Emma stomped on his tail.

"Oh, I think you're about to be a scorch mark. You guys gonna finally end this or not?" Emma asked her parents. They smiled at her.

"I guess we should have known this would be the key to ending it," he said, as they gripped the chalice between them.

"A curse to end all curses...one last curse broken," she said, as they realized exactly how to end it all and destroy the dark curse forever.

"True love...useless and pathetic. It will not defeat me!" Seth insisted, as he made his final mistake and morphed fully into his giant serpent form. Snow and Charming's lips met and a blinding pulse of rainbow light emitted from them and the chalice glowed in response, releasing a pulse of blinding, pure light magic. The waves of magic swept over the entire land, bringing light to the darkness once more.

The fighting on the battlefield ceased, as all of Seth's minions and Mephisto's creations were paralyzed by the light magic. One by one, each creature or demon alike crumbled to ash. Seth looked around in horror, as the remainder of his army dissolved to dust in the blink of an eye. He screeched one final cry of horror, as he crumbled to dust and was wiped from existence. It was over at last.

"It's over…" Snow uttered. He grinned at her and hugged her tightly, before spinning her around.

"It's over…" he repeated, as their lips met again. Their children gathered around them with hugs and they looked around the barren landscape.

"This place is such a barren eyesore," Snow said. He smiled at her and then at Leo.

"But it doesn't have to stay that way," David replied, as they raised the chalice, obliterating the shield around Nephilim.

"Of course...Nephilim is right next to the reserve," Leo said.

"Yes, and you've needed an expansion for years," Snow replied, as used the chalice to seed the ground, allowing for the barren landscape to give way to green grass. Aphrodite assisted by using her magic to demolish Seth's dreary castle and replaced it with rolling hills. Bobby stomped his foot and created a very large depression in the ground, while Rumple used his magic to dig far enough to allow the depression fill with water, creating a sparkling lake.

"No more ugly, dreary land of the fallen," Eva said, as the animals began to explore their expanded home.

"That was impressive, though most of the world has no idea what they just saw," the Major interjected, as she and her subordinates approached.

"Yeah...suppose it's too late to just put a barrier up and let everyone keep thinking we're stories," David said.

"I held up my end of the deal," she reminded him.

"Don't worry...we'll hold up ours," he assured.

"Good...then can I count on seeing you in Boston tomorrow," she said.

"Whoa...tomorrow? That's a little soon for us," Snow said, as she clutched his arm.

"Yeah...we kind of just saved the world from an evil God tyrant. Don't you think a few days down time is warranted?" Emma questioned. Patricia smirked.

"You're right and I do need time to figure out a way to explain this to my superiors, though they are going to want a meeting with you. I'll see you in three days," she said, as they moved out.

"You can still seal us away," Rumple reminded them.

"She has control of the remnants of Clayton's operation, so she can get back in. She has mermaid scales and his submarine," David said.

"Well, that's perfect. How the hell did that happen?" Regina asked. Snow shook her head.

"We don't know how she did it, but no one has seen Cecily in a very long time, so she's probably in prison or dead," Snow deduced.

"Now that they know what we can do...they'll never leave us alone," Regina warned.

"No...but I can warn them against overstepping. They can't touch the chalice and you two can make it clear that without the chalice, there's no magic out there. We still have control and I think she knows that. I'm interested as to why," Aphrodite interjected.

"Yeah...the Internet is literally blowing up, so we're screwed about staying secret. Not even magic can stop this now," Leo said.

"We have a lot of things to figure out...overwhelmingly so, but I think we also deserve to celebrate our victory," David suggested, as Snow slid her arms around his waist.

"That sounds like a wonderful idea," she agreed. The battlefield was no more and all trace of Seth was gone. The armies of the United Realms retreated, but the Charmings and those close to them, made their way to Granny's.

~*~

Deep beneath the Earth's crust, the magma flowed like a river and bubbled violently. There was a disturbance in the flow, as a charred being surfaced, screaming in agony. There was barely anything left of this creature and the only evidence that this being had once been humanoid in appearance was the skeletal hand that grabbed onto a rocky outcropping. The remnants of the being managed to pull what was left of itself from the magma and it slithered painstakingly through the layers of earth, until it finally found its way to the sewers. The skeletal creature couldn't be sure how far he had traveled, but knew that this body he had once occupied was done and he needed a new host. As he pulled his essence through a street drain and to the street level, he looked around, and recognized the city to be none other than New York.

Mephisto smirked. Perfect. He needed a new host, but he always looked for someone with evil in their hearts and there would be plenty to choose from in a city such as this. Then, once he was anew again, he would get his revenge on the Charmings, as well as Fandral and his precious Rose. And they would never see him coming...

~*~

"So...is this what your vision showed you?" Belle asked curiously. They had all invaded Granny's and we were welcomes excitedly by Joe and Frankie, with mounds of food and drink awaiting them.

"It is...though I did not see how it would end. It makes sense that it was true love again though. It truly has given us everything," he said, looking at her fondly. She smiled.

"You have no idea how happy it makes me when I hear you champion love over power," she replied. He smirked.

"It may have taken me three hundred some years, but I have learned," he joked. She smiled and kissed him tenderly, as they enjoyed watching their son eating ice cream with Bobby. He was very excited to have his best friend back.

~*~

"Hey...you're a million miles away," James mentioned, as their children colored across from them and he returned with some hot cocoas.

"Yeah...just thinking," she replied.

"Not about what that psycho said?" he asked and she looked at him pensively.

"How can I not?" she asked.

"I was not created exactly the icky way mythology suggests I was from a certain body part, but I did rise from the sea foam. That's what my name means. I had no childhood or traditional birth," she replied, as he listened to her.

"What if my story is not what I think?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"This is Storybrooke, a place where memories have been taken more times than anyone can count. What if...what if my memories were taken? I mean...why did I never question it before? No one is born a full grown person," she replied.

"Well, if it means anything, I don't care how you came to be. I only care that I got a second chance and found the love of my life in you," he said, making her melt.

"What if he's right though? Eros' biological father was killed…" she lamented. He shook his head.

"No...you are not cursed," he refuted.

"I am the Goddess of love...and I had nothing but heartbreak in love before I found you. What if...what if I am always cursed to lose love?" she asked. He took her hands in his own.

"You are not cursed, my love and I'm not going anywhere," he promised, as he pressed a kiss to her forehead. She hugged him tightly and he held her.

"Will Athena help you with these questions? About your past?" he asked.

"She will tell me what I've already heard," she replied.

"Why would she keep the truth from you if there is more to your story?" he asked.

"She wouldn't...unless she was forbidden to tell me," she replied.

"Well...there may be one way we can find out," he suggested and she realized where he was going with that thought.

"Rose Red's library...that would be a very old book," she said.

"True...but it's possible, if you really want the answers," he suggested.

"But know that I don't really care how you came to be. Only that you're here and you're my wife," he added. She smiled and kissed him passionately.

~*~

"What the hell were you thinking? You could have been killed!" Nora complained, as he ate hungrily.

"But I wasn't and it felt good helping in something like that. I mean, helping people is why I became a paramedic and that was literally a battle that probably just saved the world. Since all this is real, I want to do my part," JJ said.

"Yeah right, that's a load of crap and you know it. There's only one reason you did any of this," she complained, as she pointed to the girl at the counter. She had gotten up to get them refills and was currently hugging an older young man that she had identified as her older brother.

"So what if she is? Why do you care?" he asked.

"Uh...hello? Bubble girl is a freak! Her whole family is!" she cried.

"Stop it Nora! They just saved the world and now we know they did the same in Seattle. This is what you wanted all along. You wanted the truth and now that you have it, you're flipping out. What gives?" he asked.

"I wanted the truth out so I could expose them for what they are," she replied.

"And what are they?" he asked.

"JJ...they did all of this to the world. Have you thought for a second that, while they may have saved the world, these people...this place might be the reason for all the evil in the first place?" she asked. But he shook his head.

"They didn't cause any of this, Nora," he refuted.

"Yes...they did. They're not from our world and their presence might be the reason for everything bad," she suggested, as Summer returned and JJ went back to ignoring her.

"Hey…" he said, as she put a tray down.

"I brought some hot cocoas," she said, as she slid a cup toward him.

"Thanks, sounds great," he said, as he watched her sprinkle cinnamon on her whipped cream.

"Cinnamon?" he asked.

"Oh yeah...it's kind of how we drink it in our family," she replied.

"I'll try some," he said, as she slid the cinnamon shaker to him.

"Cocoa?" Summer asked, sliding one to Nora. But she just gave her a look.

"It's September and seventy degrees. I don't want cocoa," she refuted, as she got up and went to the Inn side to her room.

"She really does not like me," Summer said.

"Ignore her...Nora doesn't really like anyone, not even herself sometimes," JJ replied.

"That's sad…" Summer mentioned.

"Yeah...that's Nora. Besides...I like you," he mentioned. She smiled and flushed a little.

"I figured," she murmured.

"Am I that easy to read?" he asked.

"No...well, you probably are for my sister Eva, but it's more that you'd probably have to like me to get involved in something like this. I mean...we just met and you agreed to fight in a crazy battle that just decided the fate of the world," she replied. He smirked and nodded.

"Yeah...you have a point," he agreed.

"No one would have blamed you if you didn't want to get involved," she said.

"I know and I wanted to help, but I have to admit, I did have an ulterior motive," he admitted.

"What was it?" she asked.

"I guess I was afraid if I didn't get involved that I'd probably never see you again," he replied, making her flush again.

"Besides...you kept telling me everything was a long story so I kind of had to stick around to hear the long story," he added, as he sipped at his cocoa. She beamed at him and then pulled a large brown book out of her bag.

"Well then...long story time," she said, as she opened it up and began to tell him that story.

~*~

"We thought you were gone," Ari said, as she and Ben cuddled with their parents and Carina.

"I know, my angels and we are so sorry you all went through that," Rose said, as she stroked Carina's hair.

"We know, mom," their eldest assured her.

"Did Thor save you?" Ben asked. Fandral smiled at his enthusiasm.

"He did and he and his friends helped us get back to you," he confirmed.

"And the bad man is gone too now, right?" Ari asked. They smiled softly.

"Yes...he is gone too, little ones and we are all going home tonight together," Fandral promised, as he and Rose shared a kiss.

~*~

Snow cuddled Hope in her lap, as David sat cuddled with them and doted on the baby with her.

"We have their memories...with her and of the last two years. I'm so grateful for that...they took care of our family for us and I will never forget that," Snow said, as Emma smiled at them.

"They did...and they spoiled Hope rotten, so I'm sure you guys will too," she said.

"Of course...grandpa is going to talk to Uncle Leo and have him see if we can breed a baby Pegasus just for you, my tiny princess," David said.

"Dad...she's not even two. I don't think we need a Pegasus yet," Emma replied.

"Of course she does, don't you tiny angel?" he cooed to her. Emma rolled her eyes playfully and looked to Xander for help.

"Don't look at me. I mean, can you imagine those baby pictures? Hope and a baby Pegasus? I'm going to need some wallets," Xander teased.

"You're a lot of help," she said sarcastically.

"Your father and grandfather are right...we have lost time to make up for and that reminds me, you two never had a real wedding. That was the curse," Snow said to her Leo and Elsa.

"Yeah...I guess it was," Leo said, as he watched the grin spread across his mother's face.

"Please tell me you still want a wedding," Snow pleaded. They smiled back.

"Of course we do...and we can get back to planning it right away," Elsa agreed.

"So...Boston in three days. This should be interesting," Regina mentioned.

"It should be...we hope you two will come with us," David said. Robin smirked.

"I have a feeling it's going to be nothing short of crazy, but we're in," he agreed.

"I think at this point crazy is way understating anything this family is involved with," Leo quipped.

"Definitely," Xander said, as he got a pensive look on his face.

"What is it, Dad?" David asked.

"I guess it's just...this is kind of what Clayton always wanted. He wanted to expose our world and stories to the Land Without Magic. It was his endgame in a way, with the proviso that he had control over it all. And...now it's happened," he lamented.

"Yeah...but it's going to be okay. We're not going to be pushed around by them or allow them to just come in here and take over. They know they couldn't if they wanted to," David said. Xander nodded, hoping his son was right. He still had his fears, but now was not the time to voice them.

Snow smiled and nuzzled her nose against David's and he smiled warmly at her.

"It's a lot to figure out, but we'll be doing it together, as always," he said. Snow smiled.

"Together," she agreed.

"But for now...we have three days to just be," he added, as they shared another tender, passionate kiss. Henry, Ella, and Lucy smiled on, as did the rest of their close family and friends. They had closed one chapter with Seth's defeat, but a whole new one was opening up before them. In many ways, it was a new era that might breed uncertainty, but, as always, they had true love at their defense...

[spartanguard]

a charm of powerful trouble: the jack frost incident

HAPPY (BELATED) BIRTHDAY, B! (@optomisticgirl) Sorry it took so long to get this to you, but here’s (part of) your birthday fic! Inspired by something of a throwaway line in the last chapter of a charm of powerful trouble:

But it was the wolf who ... kept Emma and David warm when Jack Frost decided to ice over the station.

CS & Captain Charming fluff | rating: PG (with teases of M that go nowhere) | 4.3k (you’re rubbing off on me, B)

Emma had just slid the file drawer shut when she was suddenly pushed against the cabinet from behind, a warm body and strong arms holding her tight to the cool metal. Hot breath on her neck was shortly followed by a deep, almost feral voice.

“You looked like you could use some assistance there, love.” Emma could feel Killian’s voice rumbling in his chest from the where it was pressed to her back. “I’d hate to leave a lady wanting.” Every syllable was dragged out and dripping in desire.

There was a reason wolfstime had become her favorite part of the month, and this was it.

Not having the room to turn around within the bracket of his arms, she instead arched her back to brush her ass against his crotch, drawing a growl from him. She grinned. “No, I think I’ve got it, but you seem to need a hand there,” she teased; it was impossible to miss the feel of his erection, even through layers of denim.

He shuffled back and lightly grabbed her shoulders with hand and hook, then gently turned her around to face him. His eyes were wide with lust, taking on that bit of glow they always had in the evening during wolfstime, and though he was trying to maintain it, he had some of that shaggy wolf style going on with his hair and beard. Hot damn.

She’d fixed and reinforced his necklace after the first time he’d worn his enchanted charms, so now Killian was the only one who could remove them and free the wolf. Which meant nights like this—when it was just the two of them working at the station—got a whole lot more interesting.

In one graceful motion, Killian had his arms wrapped around her and pinned her to the cabinet again, his left arm keeping any drawer handles from painfully hitting her back, and hungrily found her lips with his. Emma’s hands slipped under his leather jacket, palms pressed to his back trying to feel his muscles move under too many layers of fabric, and she hitched her leg up to wrap around his and tug him closer.

They both gasped when she rotated her hips against his, and she was just about to lock the door with a flick of her hand when they heard it slam open. The noise was jarring enough to make them halt and pull them from the haze of lust they’d been all too happy to fall into only moments before.

A voice shouted down the hallway, and they instinctively jumped apart. “Bad news, guys!” It was David; of course it was. Like two teenagers caught in the act, Emma and Killian cursed and quickly started to adjust their clothes and hair to look like nothing was happening.

“We’ve got a prob...lem.” David strode into the office intently, but paused at the sight of his daughter and son-in-law not-so-casually leaning against the filing cabinets, awkwardly avoiding eye contact. Emma was studying an incredibly interesting ceiling tile when he asked, “Um, am I interrupting anything?”

“What would give you that idea, mate?” Killian answered, somewhat annoyed but plastering on a cheesy grin anyway. Emma had to bite back a laugh; she knew Killian was just trying to rile David up.

But her dad apparently wasn’t going to take the bait this time. He just sighed disappointedly and continued on. “Whatever. Like I said, we’ve got a problem: someone is causing a snowstorm out there.”

She and Killian both turned to look out the window; they hadn’t noticed it due to their earlier preoccupation, but snow was swirling fiercely outside—certainly not uncommon for Maine, but usually storms died off by this time of year. A shiver went down Emma’s spine; it reminded her of all the Ingrid nonsense a couple years ago.

“Could it be Elsa?” Killian wondered aloud.

“It’s not,” David answered matter-of-factly. “The guy came into Granny’s earlier, before turning the place into an ice rink. Says his name is Jack Frost and he’s giving us a snow day.”

“Ugh, didn’t we have enough of those this winter?” Emma complained. Well, the snow had been annoying; being locked in the house with Killian certainly hadn’t. “So I guess we, what, talk him out of it?”

“It’s a start,” David said with a shrug.

She shot an apologetic look at Killian, who gave her a half smile back. Hopefully, this wouldn’t take long, and they could get back to their scheduled activities.

The trio headed toward the exit, Emma reluctantly pulling a beanie off the coat rack on the way. She’d just haphazardly tugged it on her head when the station’s power cut out, leaving them with only the dim blue light shining through the doorwall.

“Well, this seems familiar,” Killian quipped, somewhat exasperatedly; Emma just groaned and pressed on.

Her dramatic attempt at throwing the door open to face down their new foe fell short; it barely opened a foot before colliding with snow and ice built up on the ground. She managed to slip outside through the gap, but almost immediately regretted it at the first blast of icy air that nearly blew her back inside; Killian caught her before she fell on the slick pavement.

Carefully this time, she took small steps forward, watching both her step and for the source of the trouble. The cause of the power outage became quickly apparent: a layer of ice was growing on the outside of the building, wrapping around it from the back, and was inching closer and closer to the door.

“Hey! You guys can’t be out here!” An unfamiliar male voice was shouting at them; Emma turned toward it. The guy looked like he was still in his teens, with pale skin, spiky white hair, and ice blue eyes. Given the fact that he was also hardly dressed for the elements—barefoot, even—and had a long staff in hand that seemed to be in control of the swirl of snow around them, she was pretty sure she knew who it was.

“Are you Jack Frost?”

He puffed out his chest and defiantly called out, “Yeah, I am, and I’m not letting some dumb cops ruin this snow day for everyone!”

Emma wrapped her arms around herself to brace against the chill and took a few steps closer. “See, the thing about that—we already had a bunch of them this year, and it’s kind of disrupting—”

“No!” the kid screamed, and she could see the wild look in his eyes that told her he was slightly unhinged. “This town needs a break, and you can’t stop it!”

Before Emma could make another protest, a harsh, bitter cold wind hit her like a wall, knocking her on her ass and pushing her across the icy pavement back to the station. She could hear both her father and husband shouting for her as she slid their way, but couldn’t see a thing in the snow and ice that was attacking her.

She was vaguely aware of making contact with two solid objects, but she didn’t stop moving until she came to rest against something hard and metallic—her desk. Jack had pushed her all the way back into the office, and David and Killian were scrambling over to her.

“Are you alright, love?” “Emma, you okay? Did you hit your head?” They both tried to help her sit up, but she promptly ignored both of them as she fought her way to standing.

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” she assured them through chattering teeth; she was cold, but she’d survived that before. “We’ve gotta stop him.”

But she didn’t take two steps before falling back to the floor, her legs still feeling as though they were made of icicles. Killian was at her side immediately, but David continued on to the door. She wanted to yell at him to wait and not face the crazy kid alone, but couldn’t summon the energy.

It wouldn’t have mattered, anyway: right as David got to the door, she could see the solid layer of ice that formed over it, so thick that it was tinted blue. Characteristically, her dad tried to push against it a few times, even throwing his shoulder into it, but the door didn’t budge.

They were trapped.

Shit.

“Dave, stop it—you’re gonna hurt yourself.” Apparently, the prince thought persistence would be what broke the ice and freed the three of them from the station. But he could tell that ice was nearly a foot thick, and given its magical origins, would likely need the same to take it down. And Emma was already down for the count after being blasted with snow and cold air; the last thing they needed was David getting injured, too.

It had been a while, but Killian could feel his captain’s instincts taking charge, even over the wolf ones that were typically in control right now. Though, he supposed it all came down to survival, and the wolf wouldn’t make it if the captain didn’t step up here.

“You need to call Regina; let her know what happened and what we can do to get out. I’ll get Emma settled somewhere more comfortable and track down some blankets.”

Emma tried to protest as Killian scooped her into his arms and lifted her, but it was weak—and reminded him far too much of the time she nearly froze in the ice wall. He’d be bloody damned if he let that happen again.

He carried her into one of the cells and bent to set her on the cot, but to his surprise, she was clinging to him. “You’re so warm,” she murmured, burrowing her face in his shoulder, and he couldn’t hold back the grin.

“I know, Swan; let me get some blankets and you will be, too.” Thankfully, she nodded a concession and let him set her down; she immediately curled into a ball. He could hear David on the phone as he rummaged through the storage closet for whatever extra layers he could find, and made a mental note to order more—and thicker—blankets after only coming up with a few thin ones and some station-issued hoodies. He was alright with the chill, but Emma needed as much heat as she could get, and it was only a matter of time before David too succumbed to what were surely falling temperatures.

He rushed back to Emma’s side, draping the blankets over her and pulling her to his lap. Her shaking had stopped, thankfully, but he could also see his breath in the air—not a good sign.

David walked into the cell, shaking his head. “Well, I’ve got more bad news. Regina says her magic can’t break through; she couldn’t even undo the damage at Granny’s.”

For a brief moment, Killian imagined the look on Granny’s face when Regina likely tried to melt the ice with a fireball and smirked at the thought, but then the ramifications sunk in. “So we’re truly stuck here for a while?”

“She’s got some things she wants to try, but until she can figure something out...yeah.”

Nervousness settled over them. They knew Regina would work fast, but how much time did they truly have? There were some snacks in the break room, and the ventilation seemed to be working alright, but the main issue would be keeping warm.

“T-tell her to call...call Elsa,” Emma stuttered from her perch in his lap. “She might know what to do.”

David nodded in agreement, shooting off a text to Regina, and then Killian made him put on both sweatshirts. His father-in-law tried to scoff at the command, but the unwitting growl Killian gave him—likely paired with the intimidating glow of his eyes, which Killian always seemed to forget about—convinced David otherwise.

And then it was just a waiting game. As expected, the temperature in the station continued to drop as the night wore on. To combat the chill, David took to pacing the room, but it didn’t take Killian’s enhanced vision to see the way he was starting to shake. Emma was still doing okay, but continued to burrow farther into his chest in search of warmth.

At some point, David turned on a battery-operated radio, but the only station that came in was broadcasting a sporting match. Even so, Killian tried to focus on the sounds of that—something about teams called the Rangers and Red Wings and “hockey,” whatever that was—but the more the men on the radio talked about ice, it only continued to make Killian even more aware of their situation. Not even the noise coming from the radio could drown out the sounds of the ice crackling all around them—at least, his wolf ears heard it; if the other two noticed, they made no indication.

Eventually, the game faded to the strains of classical music, intermingled with static. Regina called with an update, but only to say that they still hadn’t figured anything out. At some point, David had gone into the break room to call Snow, and Emma began to shake again, despite the fact that she was practically wrapped around Killian. Even David finally seemed to admit defeat to the chill, collapsing on the cot in the other cell after wrapping up his phone call and unable to stop the shivers that racked him.

The coffee was bitter cold, and Emma’s cocoa from earlier had frozen over. They weren’t going to make it through the night at this rate.

Well, they wouldn’t—Emma and David, that is; Killian would be just fine, with his internal wolf heat keeping him warm. But the other two didn’t have that, so he knew it was going to fall to him to ensure they both made it to morning.

“Dave, come over here. You’ll freeze to death by yourself in there,” he called out.

“I’m f-fine,” David answered through chattering teeth.

Killian snorted. “Yes, clearly you are,” was his sarcastic reply. “Get over here; I won’t let you catch hypothermia on my watch.”

David gave a low sigh. “I am not cuddling up with you and my daughter. I saw enough earlier.”

“Seriously, mate?” Killian rolled his eyes. “This is a life or death situation.”

“I’m sure it won’t be that much longer,” David stubbornly replied.

“Obstinate arse,” Killian muttered under his breath, letting his head fall back against the brick wall. Emma hadn’t made much noise or movement in a while other than her gentle yet constant shivers, so he assumed she was asleep. But at his movement, she gripped the open V of his shirt and her eyes fluttered open, darting around until they settled on his. “It’s alright, love; I’ve got you.”

Her answer was a tiny nod as she tucked her head back against his chest. She seemed so frail and tiny like this, curled up in his lap, and her fingers were like ice where they brushed against his skin, carding through his chest hair. As cold as it was, though, it felt heavenly, and drew a relaxed rumble from his chest much like when she would pet him in his wolf form.

Wait—that was it! Emma would sometimes complain that the wolf gave off too much heat, especially in the summer. But that was exactly what they needed tonight.

Carefully, he gathered Emma in his arms and slid her from his lap to the cot. His heart broke when she whimpered at the loss of his heat, but he placed a gentle kiss on her forehead and whispered, “I’ll be right back.”

As he walked out of the cell, David called out, “J-just where do you think you’re g-going?”

“You’ll see, mate.”

He made his way into the back room and proceeded to strip off his clothes and hook. Once he was naked, he shivered involuntarily, finally feeling the chill, but he knew that as soon as he pulled off his necklace, he’d be fine.

Without wasting another moment, he grabbed the chain and lifted it over his head, just managing to drop it on the pile of his clothes as the transformation took hold. Shifting was no longer the torturous event it was at first, but he couldn’t say it was a pleasant experience—he was all too keenly aware of the sensation of his bones changing shape, his muscles lengthening, and there was still that tingle all over his skin as fur filled in. He shook his head to clear it when the transfiguration was done; it always left him a bit disoriented, even if he had gotten used to being on all fours rather than bipedal. The hardest part was being significantly larger, but his wolf instincts usually accommodated that and all other changes.

After carefully making sure he still fit through the door, he padded back out into the main room. David gasped at first, but then sighed in relief when he realized what was going on. Killian looked at him and jerked his head towards the other cell, trying to beckon him in.

When he got to Emma, he nuzzled her neck and gently licked at it to get her attention; sleepy eyes blinked open, and when she realized what was going on, she smiled at him. Moving sluggishly, clearly mustering all her remaining strength, she stood and spread the blankets on the floor. Killian plopped down on the edge of them, sitting in a semicircle, and Emma followed suit, finding her usual nook near his shoulder.

“Dad, come on,” she tried to yell, but her voice was tired.

It was hard to tell if David was shaking his head ‘no’, or just shaking from the cold. “I s-said I’m f-fine.”

“You don’t sound fine. Please, Dad, come over here.”

But David apparently would rather be ornery than avoid freezing to death. “I don’t want to interrupt again.”

Emma groaned. “For fuck’s sake, Dad, he’s a wolf. He literally transformed to keep us warm and alive. Get your ass over here or else Mom is going to murder all of us.”

Emma’s tirade seemed to convince him. Slowly, David got to his feet and shuffled over. Emma patted the floor next to her, inviting David to settle in on Killian’s stomach, but he only got as far as kneeling.

“Are you sure this won’t hurt him?” he asked, insecurity in his voice. While Killian was touched that David was making sure he’d be fine, he’d grown impatient of the reluctance. So Killian growled at him, long and low, while staring directly at him. “Okay, fine,” David conceded, and settled against Killian’s side.

Once he was laying down, Killian curled up a bit more to try to have them as surrounded as possible. For a while, he stared at them over his shoulder, watching as their shivers finally dissipated, and feeling as David’s breathing evened out and sleep took hold.

But then Emma cracked an eye open at him. She smiled softly, and gently stroked his shoulder. “Hey, we’re fine—thanks to you. Get some rest, okay?”

He snorted in reply; she knew that he’d get no rest while there was any chance of danger to them—not under his watch. But then everything dissipated into a sensation of pure bliss; his eyes closed and head fell back and he was washed away in physical euphoria, though not of the sexual kind.

Bloody hell, it felt incredible, and it took some time before he noted the rubbing sensation behind one of his ears. Dammit—he’d forgotten about that: his canine side was completely weak to a good ear scratch, and Emma was all too aware of it. But there was nothing he could but set his head on his paws as Emma’s ministrations eased the tension from his body and lulled him close to sleep.

The last thing he heard before drifting off was a whispered “I love you”; he was still working out how best to answer that in wolf form, but hopefully his low, gentle growl said it.

“Be careful! We don’t have any room in the town budget for unnecessary repairs!”

“Regina, she’s fine.”

“I’ve definitely gotten through worse, Your Majesty. This is nothing compared to the ice wall. Or my aunt’s weird cave.”

Regina scoffed, but let Elsa work her magic on the thick casing of ice around the sheriff station. Snow looked on impatiently, worried that it had been hours since they last heard from her family trapped inside. It was still dark out—only in the early morning hours—but she was still wide awake, running on adrenaline from the night’s adventure. It turned out the villain of the week was an escapee from Arendelle, so Elsa was all too willing to retrieve him.

Once she arrived, they’d spent half the night tracking him down; but he was safely back in his home realm now, and Elsa was taking care to undo the damage. The harbor needed to be thawed, and Granny’s needed to be set to rights before the upholstery cracked any more, but first things first: freeing David, Emma, and Hook.

Elsa’s magic was focused on the front entrance, a frigid blast that was sending a spray of flurries and ice everywhere as it burrowed through the thick glacier that was wrapped around the building. The most recent text from David had come in around 6 hours ago, and he hadn’t responded to any since then. Though Snow could feel that nothing terrible had happened, she was still worried about what shape the three of them would be in. While Elsa continued to work, she pulled up the number for the hospital on her phone—just in case.

“Almost...there…” Elsa’s strained voice pulled Snow from her thoughts, and she could see the glass doors of the station coming into view. Then a few seconds later, an anticlimactic thud sounded as the last bit of ice fell away.

“That’s it?” Snow asked, surprised that was all it took.

“Yes; I can’t sense any other type of barrier spell. The rest should melt away.”

“She’s right; there’s nothing else there,” Regina confirmed. With a soft smile, she gestured from Snow to the door. “We’ll take care of the rest of town. Go.”

“Thank you!” she shouted, and then ran to the entryway, nearly slipping on ice in her dash. The door didn’t open on the first tug, but she freed it on the next and headed down the hallway. Immediately, she shivered—it was even colder in here than it was outside, so she picked up the pace to the bullpen.

She called out, “David? Emma? Hook? Are you allri—” but her words died on her lips when she saw where they were. And then she couldn’t help the grin that broke out; other than her babies, she couldn’t think of anything she’d seen that was more adorable than this. She hoped she didn’t often have reason to see her daughter and husband curled up on the floor with her son-in-law in his wolf form, but goodness, it was precious.

Her phone was still out, so she quickly and quietly took several pictures, but she apparently wasn’t as silent as she thought: big blue eyes were staring at her in the last one.

“Sorry,” she whispered to Killian. “It was just too cute.” He snorted a wolfish laugh in response; at least, she assumed that’s what it was, because Red used to do the same.

She came closer and knelt to gently scratch the top of his head, holding back her own laugh as his eyes closed in pleasure. “Thank you for keeping them warm,” she murmured. His eyes shot open and he gave her a nod, with that same bashful look he got in his eyes whenever he was on the receiving end of praise. She could almost hear the implied “Of course, milady,” that would have normally accompanied that expression, were he in possession of a human mouth at the moment. She had to admit, there was a strange comfort in having a wolf in town again, and though she wished he could have been spared the accompanying trauma at first, she was glad it was Killian. In a lot of ways, it suited him. And she smiled to think of the trouble he and Ruby could get into together.

She roused both David and Emma in succession with quick pecks on the forehead, receiving sleepy grins in return. Emma gave her a quick hug before running into the break room, but David was slow to rise.

Snow watched as he sat up and wiped the sleep from his eyes, before glancing over at Killian. Wordlessly, her husband reached over and patted Killian’s side. “Thanks, man,” he murmured.

Killian slowly got to his feet, taking time to stretch his oversized canine body. After a final shake, he turned and padded over to David, standing nose-to-nose. For a long moment, they just stared at each other; but then Killian quickly and slyly licked a wet stripe up David’s cheek, and then scampered out of the building before David could properly react.

Snow couldn’t help but giggle first at the shocked look on her husband’s face, then at the way he wiped off the slobber. “Seriously?” he shouted after their son-in-law, just as Emma walked back in holding a bundle of what looked like Killian’s clothes.

“What happened?” she asked, voice still a bit raspy with sleep.

“You need a leash for him,” David grumbled as he stood.

Thankfully, Emma just rolled her eyes and headed out of the station, shouting back, “See you later!”

Snow went up to David to fix his sleep-mussed hair. “Come on—it wasn’t that bad, was it?”

“No,” he admitted reluctantly. “Just...don’t broadcast it.” He wrapped an arm around her waist and leaned into her as they began to wander out of the station.

“Don’t worry; I won’t tell Wilby, if that’s your concern,” she teased. He snorted as she continued. “But...I’m definitely going to frame that.”

Hope your birthday was just the best and that this added to it!!! 

Tagging a few others who (i think) liked this series: @cocohook38 @initiala @snowbellewells @kat2609 @thesschesthair @fergus80 @xpumpkindumplingx @shipsxahoy @annytecture @killian-whump @laschatzi @ive-always-been-a-pirate @jscoutfinch @nfbagelperson @stubble-sandwich @athenascarlet @kmomof4 @ilovemesomekillianjones @whimsicallyenchantedrose @pirateherokillian @luvmylife25 @drowned-dreamer @lenfaz @losttalongthewayy @jsilva0117 

[end-of-the-fing-amazing-imagines]

Once Upon A December: Part 1/? (Jack Frost X Reader)

(Warnings: Poorly edited, loose and confusing story to be seen later :D <3)

I toyed with the small white snowflake on my neck and set it down on my chest once more, looking to the ground as I gulped in fear.

"We were young back then. My older sister, my little brother, and me. I was about five years older than him, she was three years older than I, and I was only fifteen. The three of us were inseparable, even taking part in the same activities. When Lila sighed up for dance, the two of us were right behind her. When Robb joined the soccer league, Lila and I were usually living in games an hour before and after him. Even when I joined Ice-Skating, the three of us woke up early in the morning to skate on the small pound across from our property, knowing our parents would scold us if they knew we doing something dangerous like this But within a year, my life was thrown completely out of balance as my sister left for college. I know, I still have Robb, but he isn't even talking to me anymore. No one is. Even now that its been two years since she left and-" I paused, turning to my  therapist who was looking out of the window at the falling snow through the frosted window. She wasn't even listening. To think my parents pay her. All she does is prescribe me different types of Anti-Depressants because apparently I'm just to depressed to be bothered. Angry, I joined her as she looked out the window.

Children were running across the street throwing balls of pure white snow while other sledded down great hill. Meanwhile some just sat there building snowmen and igloo's. I looked at my therapist again once more, standing from my chair and leaving her in her strange daze, grabbing my backpack and skates on my way out the door.

The lake wasn't far from the therapy center. Nothing in this tiny town was. You knew everyone and everyone had a stereotype. No one likes me and I really don't understand why. I try to be nice. I try to caring. I try to be selfless. I try to be perfect. Do I have to try harder? Do I have to be flawless in order to fit in?

As children, we are constantly reminded and pushed to figure out our lives. We are told we have one chance and we cant screw it up. We are told to figure out who we are and do it quickly because if you don't, then you will be left with little to nothing. That's life today. People have really forgotten that children are merely that, kids. We aren't machines like people such as my parents seem to think. They have my seven year old brother already planning out which college he wants to go to and is saving all of his money to get there! The only time that the younger ones get off is Winter Break.

What happened to fun?!  What happened to dreams?!

My parents defiantly don't support mine. I guess I should say didn't.

Since I started skating, it has been my passion. I took classes, got private lessons, and practiced from dawn until dusk just to make it happen. My parents didn't care. Last year the dropped me out of the class and demanded I put my money to something like saving for college or an apartment. Luckily, I was still able to sign up for commotions, as they didn't cost much and I could sew my own  costumes. Easy. I didn't get caught either. That was, I mean, until my last competition. My parents freaked out at me after the competition, dragging me out of the rink as soon as I had finished my routine. Half the ride home they had spent screaming at me. The other half was spent in silence as I hid my tears and pretended to be asleep.

They left me locked in the car that night, and I left with my bag swung across my chest, cellphone in my pocket, heading straight to the lake.

Now looking across the frozen water as I tightened my laces, about to make my way over to the ice, headphones in both ear.

The first step is always the hardest when it comes to skating, especially on frozen lakes. If you aren't careful then the ice crack or breaks and you will die.

I should have tested the water.. But I just need to get it all out.. My emotions and feelings. This is the way I had always done it.

Besides. I can feel where the ice is bad. It is obviously thinner than the other and you can feel it on the blades...

Leaning back and allowing my feet to themselves around, I closed my eyes drifting off into my mind as the cold winter wind. I could paint the picture in my of the world around me, but who wants to stay in reality?

Instead, I was wrapped in the arms of a boy as he skated behind me. His presence was  warm, but still, nerves and fear settled in on the girl ahead of us with matching brown hair and eyes. The same cold, pale skin. I could feel a hand grab mine as the three of us formed a small chain. Pulling around in a circle and the boy let go of me to spin his sister around and I smiled, looking up at the blue moon in the sky.

"It's amazing what we can come up with in our minds, isn't it Y/N?"A deep accented voice asked causing me to jump and look around.

"Who....Who are you?" I asked, fear creeping up into my mind, "What do you want from me? Where are-"

"Y/N?" The boy asked, his voice music to my ears, skating over to me and grabbing my hand, "Are you okay?" I looked into his eyes for a moment , then down at the small child clutching his leg, sadness and confusion drowning in her pupils. I smiled at him slightly, blushing a bit but still shaking from fear.

"Y-Yeah... I'm fine Jack." I faked a smile, leaning into his arms, "Just cold."

Jack? Why does this sound so familiar....

"Do you want to take a break? We can go inside and-"

"No." I cut him off, looking down at the girl, getting on one knee and hugging her briefly, "I think I'm jut going to sit down for a while. You two go on ahead. I be out there with you two in a minute." Nodding, we parted as I sat in the snow and the siblings spun each other around, Jack throwing me the occasional smile making me blush. It was nice.. peaceful. That was until a migraine was sent spiraling into my head forcing me to collapse into the snow.

"Why don't you just give into your mind Y/N?" The voice returned and I stood up , shaking slightly, turning to Jack and Emma, "Isn't it so much easier here? Where you don't have to try?"

Here? That's right.. I'm just in my head revisiting this nightmare.

"Leave me alone." I snapped coldly, standing onto my feet and getting back onto the slippery ice attempting to escape my own mind. If I keep fighting, maybe he'll leave me alone? That's how it usually works. I skated towards my two friends and looked behind me as the cloud of black swarms towards me. I paused, looking at the two who coward a bit, confused, like always.

Okay.. if you look at the cloud and think hard enough Y/N... It will stop and go away and leave you alone. Closing my eyes, I thought long and hard at the cloud, opening my eyes moments later only to find it closer .

An arm grabbed me from behind, reveling Jack holding Emma up to his chest and pulling me by the shoulder away as we ran into the woods.

"Y/N we have to keep going!" Jack shouted shaking me as I panted. "It will be here any minute."

"You're.... You're not real..." I said between pants, turning away from him and I sat on a log. "Go home... Take... Take Emma home."

"What are you talking about Y/N?!" He exclaimed and I felt a figure grasp my hand, "What do you mean I'm not real?"

"Yeah Y/N.." The dark voice haunted in my head, "What are you talking about?"

Tear brimmed at my eyes as I pinched my skin.

"I need to wake up.. I need to wake up right now."

"Y/N.." Jack pleaded before he was cut out by the voice once more.

"Right now love? Can't we have some fun first?"

As if that was enough for the voice to say, a memory of the man's face was enough to put me over the edge and move away from Jack in search of Emma.... But she wasn't there....

"Emma?" I hollered, looking around, "EMMA!" A sudden panic attack hit me as I ran franticly, trying to find the child, "EMMA! EMMA WHERE ARE-"

The sky suddenly got black and out of the corner of my mind a could hear a earth shattering scream as the cloud surrounded me, blurring up my vision. The black smoke filled my lungs and I coughed uncontrollably, falling to my knees as dizziness found me.

"How long did you think you could go without me finding you Y/N?" The voice continued, laughing darkly, "You're mine once more."

*His POV*

I tapped gently on Jamie's window, waiting for the eldest Bennett child let me in. Surprisingly, it was Sophie who instead let me into the house.

She wrapped her small arms around me and I picked her up gently as she  laughed wildly.

"Hey  Snowflake," I laughed as I set her down, "Look how much you've grown in a year."

"Merry Christmas Eve Jack." She beamed up at me as she grabbed my hand pulling me out of the room and I closed the window.

"Merry Christmas eve." I returned the smile, "Where's your brother?"

"Downstairs. Trying to call the sitter." She replied, "She's never late and usually is early. We're actually a bit worried.. Do you want to see him?"

"Sure." I shrugged  as the girl rapidly ran me down the stairs screaming out to her brother who dropped the phone and ran into my embrace, nearly pushing me over.

"And look at you." I snickered as he let go, "You're going to be taller than me any day now!"

"How long do you get to stay Jack?" Jamie asked excitedly, causing his small sister to echo the action in a hyper manner. 

"Um... I don't know. Maybe an hour or two. Maybe three-"

"But Jack!" Sophie cried out, "You never come and see us!"

"Sophie he has to make it snow! He's kind of busy and has more important things to do than to babysit us when Y/N Y/LN goes missing!"

"Hey now. You know you guys are my top priority..." I trailed off as the sentence the boy had just spoke repeated into my head, memories and concern flooding into my brain, "Jamie.. Did you just say..."

"Y/N? She's the middle child in the Y/L/N family? With her two siblings? Yeah. She also teaches Sophie how to Ice-Skate for free."

"Do you know her Jack?" Little Sophie asked sweetly.

"Yes." I sighed, full of worry, "Yes I do."

"How?" Jamie asked, pulling both he and his sister on the couch.

There is no way that I'm telling them the truth, they'd fear her and she isn't like that... She's never been like that...

"Um... We were friends. She knew me.. before I guess. When I had a sister just like you," I paused, placing a hand on Sophie's, "She used to teach Emma how to skate...We were close but something happened to her and then something happened to me... It's been a while since I've seen her actually..."

"Then let's go find her!" Both of them exclaimed and I couldn't help but snicker in my worry.

"I'll go. You two need to spend time together. It's Christmas Eve!" I made up the excuse as I headed towards the door

"But we wanna spend time with you! Please J-"

"Hey... I'll be right back.. And Y/N will be back with me too. Okay? Now be good." I replied leaving the two gaping at me, confused.

Soaring up into the air creating a snowstorm from my own fear, I flew to the lake where I'd been assigned to watch the girl and I called out to her.

I know, my directions were to wait, but I couldn't anymore. She's been found... She needs to know...

"Y/N..." I called gently, letting my feet hovering above the ice as my eyes scanned the area.

There.

A pothole right there, and I don't think she fell in. I really don't think things just work like that for her.

Never have, Never will.

Rushing to the area, I picked her small, shaking body up from the hole and started to fly her back to the house when I noticed the blood soaking through her sleeve, quickly rolling it up to revel a small message.

I'm back. 

"Jack.." She moaned in her sleep, "He got me.. He hit me and he took everything and-"

"Shh... It's okay. I got you... Nothing's going to get you... Not anymore..."

"I'm so scared..."

"Don't be. Because nothing is going to touch you.. I have you again and I'm never going to let you go... Ever..."

[thisiswhatwereupagainst]

New Evolution Brotherhood fic ideas

I was thinking about the end of the X-Men Evolution series, and how we see that in the future, Magneto will join the X-Men and become teacher to the New Mutants, while the Brotherhood will go on to work for SHIELD. And so I was thinking, if I were to write a continuation of of Evolution, who will be the new bad guys? SHIELD can be antagonistic to the X-Men at times, but that's not the same thing as bad guys. I personally would like to see lots of baddy groups from the comic books who never made it to canon Evo, such as the Marauders and the Hellfire Club, and I already have ideas about the Evolution version of the Hellions to combat the New Mutants, but how about a new Brotherhood too, who would be foes to both the X-Men and SHIELD? I think that would only make sense. The canon Evolution Brotherhood was just vulnerable teenagers being manipulated by an adult into making trouble for her own ends, not real bad guys with any real goals. This new Brotherhood, however, would be more like the Brotherhood of comics and movies, a true radical organization formed in response to rising anti-mutant sentiment as mutants became more and more well-known. Since mutants only became public knowledge during the course of Evolution, things are probably gonna get worse for them before they get better. The new Brotherhood would be adults lashing back against that with real terrorist activity. (I do love the “teen rivals” idea of the original Brotherhood though, so that would continue with the aforementioned Evolution version of the Hellions led by, of course, an Evolution version of Emma Frost. So they would be the successors to the Evolution Brotherhood in spirit---a pack of mostly good kids misled by an awesome evil lady---while this new one would be more in name.)

For this new Brotherhood, I would pick characters from the comics canon who were involved with the 616 Brotherhood and 616 Acolytes (not to be confused with the canon Evo Acolytes which were nothing like them and had none of the same members), as well as similar groups like the Mutant Liberation Front (which was not run by Magneto in the comics, but had likeminded goals, as evident by the name) So here is my lineup idea and my reasons for picking each mutant. Click their names for links to info pages about them elsewhere on the web!

Obviously, with Magneto gone, a leader is needed. I guess Mystique is the obvious choice, but for a NEW series, I think I would like to have a new Big Bad, and have Mystique doing new things. I think she could be a sort of chaotic neutral type, aiding the “bad guys” and “good guys” alike---helping out the Acolytes and their ilk because she agrees with their cause, but also the X-Men in an attempt to win over Kurt and Rogue, as well as anyone else who suits her ends. No, for the actual leader of the new Brotherhood, I would pick (no surprise from me, I guess) Fabian Cortez. At my RP blog for Fabian and the other first-gen Acolytes from the comics ( @thecorteztwins ) I play an Evolution verse where Fabian and his sister Anne Marie are teenagers, not terrorists, and pretty ordinary nice kids. I find it fun to play a Lighter and Softer version of them both. But if I were going to actually write for the show (or just a fanfic) I think that an adult Fabian Cortez, one who is very like his 616 counterpart, would be an excellent choice for a villain and as a successor to Magneto's role---I mean, he did that for awhile in the comics anyway, and he actually did it pretty damn well until Magneto came back and he got demoted to abused comic relief. Also, Evolution Magneto was pretty despicable and far less sympathetic and complex than 616 Magneto, so the fact that Fabian himself isn't at all sympathetic wouldn't be an issue as far as “is this character a good replacement for that one in terms of story role” goes. I also think Fabian would be a bit more fun to work with, because he's not just very competent and clever and threatening as a villain, he's also frequently hilarious and embarrassing as a person, as you know from my other posts about him. So he can be more fleshed-out, versus just the scary bad guy in the background. No offense to Magneto fans here, I just don't think Evo did Magneto justice, at least to my memory.

Fabian being there means that Anne Marie Cortez is a shoe-in for the team psychic. Since they'll be fighting a team that has both Xavier and Jean Grey (until the Phoenix, as also shown in the future of Evolution) I think it's only fair that the Brotherhood has somebody to balance that, though her powers being much more limited compared those of Xavier (she is not a true telepath, but an empath who can also control minds) keeps her from making their side TOO overpowered in that regard (since if the bad guys have their own Xavier, that would just end every fight before it starts) Her enhanced agility and skill with a firearm (as shown in the comics) can make for dramatic physical fights as well, so she's not just standing there with her fingers on her forehead. It would also be neat to work in my theory that Empath of the Hellions is cousin to the Cortez twins. Also to work out if this version of Anne Marie would want to bring Magneto back to the cause, or just sees him as a traitor and is loyal only to the ideas of the Brotherhood, not its founder. That would apply for everyone I guess, but it would especially apply for how I write her because the way I write her 616 version on my RP blog is someone who is fanatically devoted to Magneto as a religious character, so it would be a radically different Anne Marie for me to write in many ways if I changed that. Which would also be interesting. Delgado or Frenzy or Kamal El Alaoui as the team strongman. I have a bias for Delgado since I write him on my RP blog, and Kamal has a cool extra ability too (takes on qualities of whatever he touches, such as steel or concrete) but I really like Frenzy there. Female strongman characters with visible muscle are a bit unusual, and I don't think we've had a super-strong woman in Evolution. Plus, since she joined the X-Men in 616, she could be this season's Rogue...but honestly, I kinda like her better as classic 80s-90s total asshole Frenzy. I guess there could be a way to make it both, though, and redemption stories are more powerful when the person was REALLY bad first.

Astra or Amelia Voght for team teleporter. Amelia was the teleporter for the 616 Acolytes, while Astra was with the 616 Brotherhood. I prefer Amelia for her interactions with Fabian, but Astra would be great for Magneto stories, either pursuing her personal grudge against him (like she had in the comics) or trying to recruit him back into his old life, or both. And if she's trying to recruit him, how does Fabian, the current leader, feel about that? Does he support it, because having Magneto will attract more followers? Or is he opposed to it because he doesn't want his position threatened? I think I'd have to go with Astra for these reasons, and I think Amelia's interactions with Fabian could easily be duplicated with Astra (Fabian is a creep, then pays for it, basically) Just as Astra has a past with Magneto in the comics, Amelia has a past with Xavier, so she could be used for doing an Xavier-centric story, but I think we already know Evolution Xavier is pretty terrible, and I think Astra going after Magneto could make for more actual conflict, so again, I'd pick Astra. But I would still like having Amelia for reasons other than her powers and her connection to Charles, mainly that she was the one who questioned the Acolytes cruelty and, unlike Scanner or Neophyte (see below) she wasn’t meek about it. I think someone like that is important for the team dynamic---you’ve got the sadistic assholes (Carmella, Kleinstocks, Senyaka, etc), the people who aren’t that evil but also don’t care (Phantazia) or are oblivious (Milan), the ones who feel it’s wrong but are too afraid to do anything (the aforementioned Neophyte and Scanner types) and then Amelia, the sole one saying anything. In order not to make her redundant next to Astra, I would tweak her powers, so she no longer teleports via mist, but has powers like those of Mist Mistress, making her a composite character (like how Evolution Avalanche is a combination of comics Avalanche and Rictor) Mist Mistress never got a civilian name in the comics, and Amelia never got a codename, so it works out pretty well! Neophyte or Scanner as the one who, as previously mentioned, is not as cruel as the majority of their comrades but lacks the spine to take a stand. Their powers are different, but their abilities are visually similar and both non-combative, and both of them are meek types who aren't cruel like many of their teammates but too scared and submissive and unsure to actually question Fabian, who they obey and who bullies them behind closed doors like the big dickwad he is. So I would pick just one to use so it's not redundant. Scanner is an adult woman and Neophyte is a teenage boy, so Fabian's interactions with Scanner would have an extra gross edge that they wouldn't with Neophyte. I'm not sure if that's a reason to pick her or a reason NOT to, to be honest. On the one hand, it helps show how awful he is. On the other, this is a kid's show. I think I'll go with Neophyte. Fabian can still be gross to other women in the series, but then they can kick his ass. Plus Neophyte being a teen gives him a chance to connect more with the New Mutants (I picture most of the X-Men being young adults at this point, but the New Mutants will still be teens) I'm not sure about Chrome. He would either make the Brotherhood too over-powered in a fight (since he can turn everyone to metal)...or he would do the reverse and be an enormous liability, since he's making a bunch of metal WHEN THEY ARE FIGHTING MAGNETO. I guess if I picked Delgado for the team strong guy, I would use Chrome too, since it would feel weird to use ¾ of the first-gen Acolytes team from the comics (Fabian, Anne Marie, Chrome, Delgado) and then not use one of them. But since I picked Frenzy for the team muscle, I'll leave out Chrome. Phantazia aka Eileen Harsaw. She was a member of the 616 Brotherhood who could manipulate electromagnetic energy. I'm fond of her, as there aren't that many Brotherhood women as there are men, and she's a little-known 90s character which is my favorite kind. So I would like to include her in this new Evolution Brotherhood. I'm also going for a team that's well-balanced, so since they've thus far got Fabian's support powers, Anne Marie's psychic powers, Frenzy's physical strength, Astra's teleporting, and Neophyte's transport/spy powers, Eileen's offensive elemental/energy powers are a good addition. It will also be neat to see her face off against Magneto, as their abilities seem similar. Not much is known about her, but Blob refers to her as “Ms. PhD” in the comics, suggesting she may be very intelligent or well-educated, and I think something could be done with that as well. The Kleinstock brothers, from the 616 Acolytes, have a mix of physical and energy powers.  Like their comics counterparts, they're just there to be evil sadistic assholes, in order to contrast people like Neophyte. In the comics, they were originally triplets (Eric, Harlan, and Sven) but Eric was killed in their first mission, so most of their appearances have just been Harlan and Sven. I would like to keep it to just Sven and Harlan as well, to avoid confusion with Magneto due to him sharing a first name with Eric, but I also would like for Eric to still be acknowledged. I'm just not sure how to do it. Evolution was dark, but people rarely actually died, so I don't think having Eric die is the way to go. Then again, maybe the Eric/Erik thing won't be such a big deal, since Erik will usually be referred to as Magneto anyway? Francisco Milan was the Acolytes technopath in the comics, and he was precious. Just a precious nerd. I need this precious nerd in the new Evolution Brotherhood. He's not a jerk like Frenzy or the Kleinstocks, but he's not really...aware enough to question things like Neophyte. It's not that he's stupid or callous, he's just totally focused on his own little cyber-world and I don't think he notices much else, he just hacks what they tell him. As in the comics, he probably gets picked on for his non-combative powers by the other Acolytes, and is super happy whenever he gets used to, and very ashamed when he feels he's failed (read: performed less than perfection) LOVE THIS PRECIOUS NERD, EVERYONE! Unus the Untouchable (Angelo Unuscione) or his daughter Carmella Unuscione. Unus was a member of the 616 Brotherhood, Carmella of the 616 Acolytes. I really like the friendship that Unus and the Blob had in the comics, so I'd like to reproduce that in Evolution. But since Unus is old enough to have an adult daughter, he'd be a lot older than Blob is in this universe, since Blob would be a young adult himself when working with SHIELD. Plus, if Blob is with SHIELD, he and Unus would be enemies if Unus is with the Brotherhood. So what I'm thinking is that Angelo “Unus” Unuscione is an older guy who works with SHIELD and was one of their first mutant members, and he becomes a father figure to Fred. Fred's never shown to have any parents in the picture, so this seems like a much-needed thing for him. As for Unus, his daughter being with the Brotherhood provides obvious drama and conflict and an interesting background story, and it also shows why he'd want to mentor a substitute child figure. So, Unus for SHIELD, and Carmella for the Brotherhood. Carmella, by the way, is very much one of the BAD Acolytes in the comics, so she's a horrible person in the Evolution Brotherhood too. Maybe Barnacle as the team Toad Like Frenzy, Carmella, and the Kleinstocks, Senyaka is one of the horrible bloodthirsty human-hating members of the 616 Acolytes, and his Evolution counterpart will fill that role in the Evolution Brotherhood. I don’t particuliarly care for Senyaka but he’s an iconic member of the Acolytes, so including him feels right, and we could use a really scary guy like him.

Lorelei was a Savage Land native in the comics that Magneto artificially mutated, and she served in his Brotherhood. For her Evolution version though, I think she'll just have a cameo. I can't see her as full-time member at all; in the comics, she was totally naive of what was going on and just did what Magneto told her without thought or opposition since he was her creator. She doesn't seem like she at all understands the human/mutant conflict or why she's supposed to fight the X-Men. Her Evolution counterpart would of course not be from the Savage Land, but an ordinary young mutant woman, and therefore know about these things, but I still see her as someone with a personality that just has no interest in participating in this fight. So my idea is that when Anne Marie is captured or otherwise can't fight, they find and recruit her, by payment or force, to fill in for her on a single mission. Anne Marie can control everyone's mind, while Lorelei can only control men, but that's a decent enough replacement in a pinch. Also, Lorelei's name as a Savage Land girl was Lani Ubana, and since the name Lani is a real-world Hawaiin name, her Evolution version would be Native Hawaiian. She'd have a corresponding Hawaiian surname has well, since I doubt Ubana has a coincidentally real-world counterpart as well. Also, Fabian is probably a huge creep to her so she should use her powers to make him slap himself. Solarr or Strobe or Crucible (commonly known as Burner but I prefer his Crucible codename) or Firefist, purely for the sake of a literal firefight with Pyro (which should also happen with Magma of the New Mutants) I like Solarr but I would pick Crucible because in the 1990s animated series, he and Gambit are established to be old friends, and it would be neat to use that in the Evolution universe, especially since the original cartoon was never really clear on how they met or the details of the relationship, so that could be established in this story. Also Solarr is a tall ginger so I think that could get confusing with Fabian around; I’d still keep him as a baddy in the Evo sequel, just not part of this group (Solarr was always about money and never mutant rights anyway) Alternatively for our fire/heat user guy, we could use Reignfire as the team’s evil counterpart to Sunspot. Rather than being Sunspot’s sort-of clone like in the comics, he could be his older brother or cousin instead, to make things less confusing and convoluted. I might also throw in Feral as a cruel counterpart to the Hellion’s Catseye (since she’s included in my Evo Hellions who would also be in this Evolution sequel I shall never write) and/or Mellencamp just to have an overtly monstrous-looking team member. Also maybe work in my Evo ideas for Polaris not so much as a Brotherhood member but more like a target, like maybe part of Astra’s schemes to get at Magneto. Though that would naturally have to involve my ideas for an Evolution version of Zala Dane too!

[not-a-mimic]

Come and Hold My Hand

Allenbert Week Day 1: Pre-Flashpoint Relationship

Continuation of my Pilot!AU - After the accelerator explosion Central City is left to pick up the pieces, minus some of their loved ones.

Come and hold my hand

I wanna contact the living

Not sure I understand

This role I’ve been given

I sit and talk to God

And he just laughs at my plans

My head speaks a language

I don’t understand

Barr. Where are you? I don’t understand, why arent you replying? I need to hear you. Please. Where are you?

Frost licked at his heart and soles as Julian scrambled to get to the station. He had to see his boyfriend - he had to know he was ok. But, as humanity decreed, thousands of loved ones in Central that night had the same idea as him - They needed to make sure their lovers, parents, siblings and family were safe. The roads clogged, slowing down to match the steady pace of Barry’s voicemail - a torturous experience that left Julian half mad by the time he got to the station. What if I lost my rock? I already lost Emma - I can’t lose Barry as well. It’s just my luck though.

By the time Julian finds Joe in the swarm of cops his vision blurs against his will and his knees tremble. Somehow in the short period of time since the explosion Joe’s aged 20 years. Shadows twist around him, shoulders slumped and Julian is struck about how much he looks like a parent who just lost their child, something Julian is all too familiar with (He remembers once having to tell a mother they found her son in the river - The way the slim, tiny, strong spark of hope disappears as quickly as her world shifted. He’d seen people lose loved ones before - his own parents and family themselves - but there he was, watching a woman lose everything. She lost everything and held herself together long enough to see them to the door before following her son into the void. Julian swore then to never forget her.)

He knows he’s watching Joe fall down that same path, following his son down and Julian just knows. Suddenly it doesn’t matter where he is, who’s watching with their dark glares and whispering comments.

He just breaks.

I just wanna feel

Real love feel the home that I live in

‘Cause I got too much life

Running through my veins

Going to waste

I don’t wanna die

But I ain’t keen on living either

Before I fall in love

I’m preparing to leave her

It’s Iris who drags him to the hospital, his body on autopilot. Of course it’s Iris - sweet perfect Iris who Julian had to fight claw and tooth with (without her knowledge) to win Barry’s affections - He’s not bitter ( I’m only a little bitter. Ok I’m bitter. Better? ) but seeing how she is still as perfect as ever even with her makeup smudged from tears and eyes scarlet. All he can focus on his Barry’s heartbeat, teh too-fast pattern of beeps in the stark room that makes his stomach turn and in turn his heart to race faster. It’s no where near Barry-speed, but it’s the thought that counts.

No-one ever mentioned what it would feel like to lose the love of your life - He knows he should be angry, angry at STAR Labs for building the Accelerator, angry at Harrison Wells for ever dreaming up it or angry at the world for taking his light like it too the mother’s son - But he’s just tired. Already he wants to hear Barry’s voice, to see his smile or listen to another stream of god-awful jokes that he’s heard a hundred times before but Barry still tries to make him laugh at and succeeds every time. He wants his boyfriend back - or he wants to know he’s at peace, not stuck in the half-limbo-half-sleep that’s a coma.

Joe joins him at the 3 hour mark, long after they have taken Barry away for another set of tests. He just wants it to be over already, already weary to the bone and its only the first day. He wants to be home in bed with his boyfriend, a tangle of limbs and sheets but happy.

No-one mentions that he’s sitting by a empty bed, still grasping at thin air and dreaming for the impossible.

They don’t want to pledge the hesitant over the edge after all.

Scare myself to death

That’s why I keep on running

Before I’ve arrived

I can see myself coming

Singh takes one look at him and puts him on mandatory leave. Noone’s complaining - Julian looks like he would be at home on the Walking Dead with no problem - and that’s coming from a group of men (and women) who live off cheap coffee and snack while they spend their days cleaning up a city wrecked by a impossible explosion and more impossible people. Julian would say he was interested, he knows he would of before and Barry would of died (he did practically - but whatever god is out there hasn’t held their end of the bargain. Yet. ) to see how Central has evolved over time, the impossible becoming possible and Barry’s half-mad rambles seeming more and more plausible each day.

Julian doesn’t want to go home, doesn’t want to think about the missing body next to his and the nights spent in front of the TV, watching everything from documentaries to reality TV trying to get Julian to crack - Barry never succeeded ( And he may never do so, a traitorous part of him whispers , He may do nothing ever again. )

It’s funny, watching the same things now seem to always get him to crack. He’d be fooling himself if he lied about why, the only light in his life a muted one when Joe and Iris invite him over for dinner. We don’t want you to feel excluded Julian (Iris never called him Julian before - It was always Albert or Desmond or some pun or joke about the two. Never Julian.) You lost as much as both of us that day. (He ignores how the West’s exchange looks at this - Like they know that they all lost an important person to them but that he lost the only important person to him, heart slashed in to and crumbling every second Barr’s asleep, every time he sees anything that reminds him of Barry.)

I just wanna feel

Real love feel the home that I live in

‘Cause I got too much life

Running through my veins

Going to waste

And I need to feel

Real love and the love ever after

I cannot get enough

Harrison Wells comes to them 2 months in, and leaves with Joe’s permission and a bruised lip. Julian comes away with a bloodied fist and glimer of hope in his heart that died months ago. It doesn’t matter about how much he tries to help Barry. Everything he doesn’t rubs Julian the wrong way - Something is wrong with the man and Julian does not want to be there when that’s exposed. Speaking of the devil…

“Mr Albert. I wasn’t aware of you and Mr Allen's… relationship. Isn’t there a policy against it at the CCPD? You both seem to be such talented scientists… Shame if either of you lost your job over a simple romance.”

“Do you dig into every relationship of your patients? Ones who are suffering because of your own mistakes? Or are you threatening me Mr Wells?”

Wells chuckles and Julian would swear later that his eyes flashed with something darker. Or in this case, something more red. He was an army kid - and he’d grown up shunned by his family, spent years in the shadows where the monsters live. Julian didn’t scare easy but this? This innocent man who is handicapped in a wheelchair made every instinct in him scream.

“Of course not Mr Albert, Just the ones who are breaking every rule in the rulebook for them. Neither of us would want Allen to lose his job over it would we? You do care about him.”

“I can’t believe what I’m hearing - You are cold hearted and selfish, thinking it’s appropriate to threaten my own relationship when you have not had one in 15 years. You’re our only hope to save Barry, yes I understand that but I will not stand for being insulted constantly.”

The doctor just smiles his sly snake smile and wheels past Julian, surprisingly strong arms working tirely as he disappears around the corner.

I just wanna feel

Real love feel the home that I live in

I got too much love

Running through my veins

To go to waste

I just wanna feel

Real love and the love ever after

There’s a hole in my soul

You can see it in my face

It’s a real big place

“I don’t trust his Joe - The Meta’s obviously originated at the particle accelerator and now we’ve left Barr there hoping they’ll do something to help him. Wells… Well I don’t trust him.”

“I know… I looked into his other staff - One Cisco Ramon and Caitlin Snow. Ramon’s clean and all reports say he’s a genius with a heart. Snow lost her fiance in the explosion - I don’t know why she’s still there and loyal to Wells but she is, and I have to give her credit for it.”

“So Wells only has 2 people left? Isn’t that a little… “

“Strange? It is a abandoned biohazard created by a impossible explosion. I wouldn’t want to hang around after my life was ruined by it too. It works to our advantage too - Less people to worry about when everything inevitably goes wrong.”

“Hmmm. I just don’t feel like it’s a good idea to leave Barr there - I know it’s our only hope but something’s not right.”

“Julian… We all want him back. Iris is… she’s dating Detective Thawne now. I don’t approve but I always wanted her to end up with Barr…”

“And then he went out and started dating me. A coworker who’s male, none else. Iris is coping in her own way - she’s lost the one person she can confide in, of course she’ll find someone else to help her. Thawne… he’s not a bad guy. A bit upbeat and pretty yes, bad guy no.”

“He’s also modest.”

“I knew I forgot something - But really, please try be nicer to Thawne? He’s good for Iris and is a decent cop Joe. He also bought you coffee that one time without ulterior motives-”

“He was trying to get on my nice side.”

“- Unlike Iris, who uses it as blackmail. How did she even learn to do that anyway?”

“… I’ll go look into STAR Labs.”

Come and hold my hand

I wanna contact the living

Not sure I understand

This role I’ve been given

Not sure I understand

Not sure I understand

Not sure I understand

Not sure I understand