#but he is just making the poor bats more and more paranoid and suspicious

[thelreads]

I’m surprised you came to such a hasty conclusion about Garden. What about all we learned about Garden during the cruise arc? Plus that later chapter where Shopkeeper himself basically noted both Loid and Melinda as possible future targets due to their affiliation with Donovan the War Monger. He wouldn’t do that, or have such a poor opinion of conservatives, if he was siding with their government.

Garden has been very consistently portrayed as a self-contained organisation with a clear leader and philosophy (especially in the cruise arc). They are wholly independent “maintainers of the garden” whose whole deal is keeping the peace no matter how it’s done - legal or illegal - putting them firmly on the anti-war side.

The red circus, on the other hand, seems to be made up of different shoots / groups with different values. Mr Restaurant Boom Boom certainly didn’t bat an eye at causing mass civilian casualties if it meant he could take down Yor with him. So it makes perfect sense that Yor was sent after that part of the red circus - they were dangerous mass murderers. Mr Dead Daughter, on the other hand, is probably only still alive because his no-kill policy hasn’t yet qualified him for Garden’s hit list.

During the Cruise arc we learned that the Garden wants peace, sure, but it leaves a few questions that seem to point at the way they actually operate. If they wanted to just prevent war altogether they could just murder Donovan. That would prevent an eventual war, and more than that, any other person who took power that had warmongering tendencies could also be eliminated rather easily, so why don't they do that?

And here's your answer: The Garden is not necessarily pro-peace. When the shopkeeper talks about them, he says

And just a little after giving Yor the mission

So, not peace, the Garden mission is to keep the world "beautiful"

And how do they do that? By taking down people who interfere in the natural course of things. Traitors of the nation like the Yor killed at the start, or a insurgent group that wants to disrupt things. Yor is the one that thinks that they are wanting peace.

Nothing here says that the shopkeeper doesn't believe that war and violence aren't part of nature, and therefore are part of this beauty

And this is even worse if the idea that the Garden is under the government orders is true. Sure, we had this scene when Yor was talking to him after meeting Melinda

But being honest, I think that the idea the shopkeeper was trying to pass here was not that the problem was that she was conservative, I think the implication was that if she ever decides to leave or go against Donovan then Yor would have to kill her, and because of that she doesn't recommend it.

Sure, there was the exchange about political beliefs

But that could be a way to warn Yor so she doesn't seem suspicious, it never seemed to me like the people of this country were that against Donovan, pretty much the everyone we see on the streets seems to be on his side

Then there was this exchange that makes it seem like Twilight is under suspicion for being interested in Donovan political party

But look at the whole conversation, Yor just said that:

1- Twilight already met Donovan

2-That Twilight thought Donovan seemed like a good person

those could be the things that ticked off the shopkeeper. How did he managed to already get that close to him? And worse, if he met him, how was he still under the impression he seemed like a good person?

The second one could just mean Twilight was an asshole like Donovan, but the first one... A regular person shouldn't be able to do that by accident, considering how paranoid and reclusive the man is.

So, I can't exactly chalk down this possibility. But I can't deny that, no matter how good intentioned Mr. Bombcollar here is, there are a lot of people under his command that aren't as keen on not hurting kids, or innocents. But he wasn't spared because of that, it was because he was hidden outside of the country, like they said at the start of this arc.

[ctheathy]

hello, here my question, what to you think that there's something about knuckles. Do you think it has something to do whit secret history tails?

It is very suspichious

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I would certainly say so!! Not only has there already been confirmed by Mashed themselves that TSAK is connected to TSAA in one way or another, directly validating the idea of the series adding on and looking further into SH Tails’ plan. But evidence has been hinting torwards the exact same thing in the episodes aswell.

It’s the exact same thing, the only thing keeping the two apart being the specific character we’re focusing on here. SH Tails is a very calculating character; it is very much obvious by now he is clearly targeting the counterparts of the team who are at their lowest, making them vulnerable and the easiest to manipulate, and it really shows.

I have already given my personal thoughts on the idea of Tails in TSAK being SH Tails right here. And while my opinion on it still hasn’t changed, I’m definitely open to elaborating a little further on information this time. Keep reading if desired.

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Right off the bat;

I won’t lie, it is very much possible this Miles is really just yet another cover-up for Secret History Tails’ identity theft. He’s clearly done it more than once before and I would vouch for the idea that he’d definitely do so again, with ease nonetheless. But while I’ve once again seen many talk about the proposition of SH Tails having been Masquerading as this counterpart of Miles just like he had done with the one back from TSAA, there’s someone who many are forgetting about if we’re truly down for taking this direct path; Amy.

I doubt she’d let herself be left behind in the multiverse during SH Tails’ absence. Considering the poor state she is in and the amount of time it could take staying in character while observing the current timeline, he’d have to take her with him. But then again, looking at the circumstances of this dimension, with having zero hiding spot opportunities and potential danger lingering at every corner, she’d technically have nowhere to stay at. And it’s important to take note of her having too many physical deformities due to SH Tails’ surgery and holding no shapeshifting techniques like he does whatsoever, it would be close to impossible for her to be playing the role of the other Amy that appeared in TSAK. The amount of medium awareness she’d hold honestly seeming impractical aswell. Though, I mainly believe her to be far too inexperienced and incapable in the manipulation category already.

This is why unlike popular debate and what I believe a lot of people have lacked theorising about; I never even believed the events to take place after TSAA to begin with.

Going back to SH Tails, to think his catchphrase got used again so suddenly and bringing suspicion to the audience surely isn’t a coincidence, but I believe this might all be intentional. It’s connected for sure, but Mashed’s plans on this can possibly not be this simple. Instead, taking a more complex turn; what if the specific sentence had belonged to the original Miles Prower of that universe? [Very much implying that SH Tails is really just an uncreative fu-] It would only be obvious that SH Tails would copy both habits and wording mannerisms of previous Miles’ whom he murdered and replaced in order to impersonate any other of his counterparts better during future occurrences. Which would make perfect sense with the idea that the entire concept of There’s Something About Knuckles is actually a failed mission on SH Tails’ part.

Think about it, other than a few questionable sentences slipping from his mouth, we haven’t seen any direct ill intend from the Tails of TSAK. And his supposedly suspicious choice of wording can easily be explained by living in a literal warzone. He’s paranoid and stressed, individuals do not tend to think clearly when being in such positions, much less about the things they might say that coincidentally may sound sceptical. I know very well this opinion is arguable and easily regrettable aswell, but I feel like as if we’re associating this new Tails with the Secret History one far too rapidly. Especially when twisting his words and the purposes he may have behind his point of view as manipulation. He seems to care deeply about his people and their safeties, and the little scraps left of Sonic just so happens to threaten that piece of him.

This isn’t about him wanting Sonic dead and frame Knuckles for the said plan, it’s about him trying to keep out a fatal and dangerous creation.

Though I understand this theory might pale in comparison to the evidence we’ve gained so far, it is still one that oftentimes lingers in the back of my head, making me wonder if such opportunities remain possible in its entirety. But whatever the storyline ends up being like, it’s important to keep in mind that SH Tails is close by for sure. And we should all be prepared for his reappearance when that time finally comes.

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[marshmallowprotection]

Hm. This is something I've always thought about and i don't quite understand it since we know how obsessed Ray was with us but when you arrive at what will be your room and he takes off the blindfold, you have the option to say "seeing you, i want to persue you first!" and correct me if I'm wrong, Ray doesn't have that much of a reaction over a direct compliment from the MC as he would later on

I think the most important thing to understand in this situation is that he wants to make sure that you do not get a sense of suspicion about him. He is very manipulative and he has the ability to really make you believe this or that. He can be very cunning when he wants to be, and just because he doesn't show an immediate response doesn't mean that he is not internally very proud of this fact.

He just can't let that show the way that it would later on when more of his obsession starts to leak through honestly. He doesn't really let any of that slip through the cracks other than maybe one comment in the initial meeting. Like, when you're walking to your room, that's the time when Ray makes one off-handed comment about trusting him a lot thus far. He can't just tell you he's obsessed with you! He doesn't want to cause a scene!

You came to Magenta willingly! He wants you to come to understand these things on your own... he trusts you enough to do that... unless, you know, you do something that triggers the Bad Ending option on the 4th day when you don't even try to play the game and he wants to fix you to start the game over... and over... and over... until you get it right for him. He can't make it weird. Ray is paranoid about what he could do to fuck everything up all the time.

His desire slips through the cracks of his acting during the time he spends with you before he lets you into the chatroom, but he tries to play it cool to ensure that you aren't suspicious. He can be a lot more forward and expressive once he knows you're stuck with him in Mint Eye. That's just how I see it. He can't make it weird the first day... he can only reveal things slowly over time.

He is cunning, calculated, and make no mistake, he knows what he's doing. Even if he's poor at social cues, Rika trained him for this and it shows. Now, I personally think that after he left the room, he was on the cusp of letting it slip.

He had to keep himself together long enough to get back to his room. At that point, his body would be trembling and shaking with excitement. He never thought that you would say something like that to him right off the bat, so it feels like he's chosen the right person.

He knows that he's chosen the right person, but he has the realization that you're going to come to like him a lot sooner than he thought.

That is a relief to him. He doesn't want to have to use force, and this means he won't have to because you're obviously going to like him and listen to him. Put yourself in his shoes. Are you going to ruin the chance that you have to make everything work by letting on too much too soon? No, that would just be stupid. He knows what he's doing and he has to do it right to make sure that you choose to stay. He just gets more comfortable around you as the days pass so you start to notice more of these things about him.

[volturialice]

whumptober continues

ok so I missed a few days but we’re back bitches

no 5. where do you think you’re going?

On the Run | Failed Escape | Rescue

1,197 words

warnings: none. oops

rating: K

notes: had to live up to my url sometime. disclaimers: very unedited and I don’t speak italian

no. 5: fuori dalla città

There’s a flight out of Florence at 16:10, and she has to be on it, no matter what. Firenze to JFK, JFK to Philadelphia, and then it will be a simple matter to finally, finally find him.

For the first time in her life (that she can remember), Alice packs light. Nothing too flashy; she needs to blend in with the humans when she can. She allows herself the slightest indulgence with the Carolina Herrera dress—she has to look good when she actually meets him, after all.

Her jet-black cloak she leaves behind. Strange, how naked she feels without its familiar weight on her shoulders. (Or perhaps not strange at all. She silences the paranoid corner of her mind that insists it’s Chelsea’s influence at work.)

Bag packed, she waits in the corridor. There’ll be a three-minute window when Felix leaves to check the aboveground post office box—plenty of time to make it to the lobby and feed Gianna some excuse. Alice runs through a few decisions, testing to see which choice will raise the least suspicion. Master wants me out of the way today. Oh, something about keeping Jane happy, you know how she gets. I’ll meet Felix up topside for patrol.

None of her options are exactly solid, but she’s running out of time. Of necessity, Alice’s flight from Volterra could never have been premeditated—not when her thoughts are not her own. Today may be the only chance she’ll ever get.

She seizes it. The second Felix leaves, she’s off like a bat out of hell—which, as metaphors go, is a bit too literal for comfort.

Her heels make barely a click on the marble floor—that won’t do. Too suspicious. She wills herself to walk normally, like she would on any other day. To make pleasant, unhurried small talk with Gianna, like she goes on patrol with the ungifted gray-cloaks all the time. Gianna, who has never once seen her apart from her master’s side (when was the last time he allowed Alice to go anywhere? The rogue newborn incident of ’92, probably.)

If she had a pulse, it would be roaring in her ears as she steps into the elevator. Such a maddeningly slow, human contraption! Get used to it, Alice orders herself. If this works, you’ll have to play human all the time.

She holds her breath until she reaches the city wall, like a child walking past a graveyard. Another uncomfortable metaphor, considering the mass grave somewhere far beneath her feet. She adjusts her sunglasses, flipping through her visions to confirm that yes, the contacts she’s stolen from Heidi will last long enough to get her dark maroon eyes through passport control. And then—America, Philadelphia, Jasper. The words echo in her head, a mantra pulling her onward. Just a few hours more and her life can finally begin.

Demetri will have to be dealt with, of course, but Alice has every expectation of success. Between her supernatural ability and Jasper’s skill in combat, they’ll be able to cross that bridge when they come to it. And in the United States, there’ll be no shortage of vampires willing to come to her aid, too, Alice is certain—Peter and Charlotte, the Cullens. Just thinking their names sends a frisson of excitement down her spine.

She’s never actually had to drive before, but of course she knows how. Even Master’s cosseted dearest ones can jimmy a window and hot wire a vehicle. Alice is pleased at how smoothly it all goes, at the pop of the lock and the purr of the engine. Who knew cars were so much fun?

Intent on the shifting future, she hardly notices the countryside flashing by, and she barely manages to slow down in time to avoid the polizia—wait; make that doesn’t manage. She lets out a string of curses in six different languages as the blue Fiat merges into the lane behind her, but its lights don’t flash—can it be a coincidence? Just her luck, that the officer inside would pick this moment to head back to Florence. No self-respecting vampire drives the speed limit, scoffs an imaginary Demetri in her mind. But there’s no other choice. Alice can’t afford to be pulled over in a stolen car today.

Her hands are practically shaking as she takes the exit for the airport. To her dismay, the Fiat follows—infuriating! It occurs to her that she’s far enough outside Volterra to be allowed to kill whoever’s inside with impunity, and her throat burns distractingly at the though. If only she had the time. It would be best to find some sort of snack before boarding a plane full of humans.

Alice has no memory of what it felt like when her heart pounded—but it must have been something like this, she imagines, turning into the parking garage. Jasper’s gift would be going haywire, if he were only here to feel her!

She parks the car in a shadowy corner, slings her bag over her shoulder, and heads for the elevator. In less than an hour, she’ll be on a plane above the sea. What will it look like? She reaches for a vision and sees…stones? Stone walls—no—wait, that can’t be right—

Ding. The elevator door slides open.

“Hello, dear one,” says Aro.

“Going somewhere, Gorgeous?” quips Demetri. His arm is draped in black fabric—her cloak.

Alice says nothing. A quick series of visions confirm that no, if she bolts to the left she won’t outrun him—and definitely won’t outrun Jane, who smirks from their master’s other side.

Aro heaves a crestfallen sigh. “I did think you might be ready for some more wide-ranging responsibility, after all these years,” he tells her, “but Caius advised me to test your loyalty first. I do so loathe being proven wrong.” He holds out a hand.

Alice sets her jaw, her instincts still raring to fight or flee even as her rational mind recognizes the futility of either plan. She hates the Alice who lifts her hand to slide her fingers into Aro’s. For the first time in nearly sixty years, she feels the urge to flinch away from the familiar chalky, papery feel of his skin.

“Ingenious,” he murmurs without emotion, and Alice almost wishes he would rage at her, be the cruel master she could make herself rebel against.

He does no such thing, of course.

“My poor Alice,” he croons, stroking the side of her face. “So little acquainted with the outside world.”

And whose fault is that? Alice wants to spit. If Aro hears the thought, he doesn’t react.

“If I had known you were suffering so, I would have had the Guard retrieve your mate long ago,” he assures, releasing her hand.

Dread settles in the pit of Alice’s stomach. “That’s not necessary, Master,” she pleads. “You’re…much too kind to me.” (Jane scoffs.) “Truly, I don’t need anything.” Please, please, please leave him be.

“On the contrary, dear one. Clearly I have neglected you for far too long.”

He crooks a finger, and Alice steps into the elevator. Demetri settles the cloak around her shoulders.

.

.

ok it’s very late and I’m slightly buzzed and you can’t even begin to understand how tempting it was to make demetri say “are you lost, babygirl”

[harpy-apparatus-moved]

Sigmatas Immolation Apparatus

This is a basic explaination of my OC’s storyline and the situation that they’re in

This has mentions of homophobia, religion, racism, ableism, classism, corrupt policemen, suicide, blackmail, murder, and descriptions of dead bodies. The story takes place in America in the 1930s, so a lot of this discrimination was typical of this time period. If you are triggered by any of these or aren’t interested in reading, scroll past it!! I don’t wanna upset anyone <3

It’s December, 1935, in the midst of the Great Depression in Boston, Massachusetts. Oliver Green is a young journalist trying to make a living despite his poor success. At last, he finds something worth reporting on.

Oliver was kicked out of his rural home in Italy for being unemployed, so he moved to America to find better chances of a stable income. He unknowingly flew out to America, not knowing the Great Depression and the beginnings of World War 2 was about to hit the country like a hurricane.

Like other major cities, Boston felt the effects of the Great Depression. Since manufacturing played such a big role in our economy, the city was hit pretty hard. Barely anyone had jobs, and bodies were beginning to fill the streets due to starvation, poverty, and hypothermia.

It is the middle of winter and the temperatures are below zero and things are beginning to look bleak for the poor people of Boston. Oliver is staying in a small underground shelter in the ghettos of Boston and is getting desperate for money. Oliver gets close to a young Czechoslovakian orphan refugee named Martha Eve and Oliver takes her under his wing.

He gets in contact with a local detective named Maurice Kozlov and wants to do a column on the recent crimes in Boston. Instead of giving him one, Maurice mentions the recent mystery murders at a local church, and then realizes his mistake of telling a random civilian about an ongoing case. Maurice takes Oliver in to help them with the case, observing that Oliver seems skilled in talking to the church’s members, considering he was raised Roman Catholic.

Maurice is frustrated with the Boston’s police force, since they have no interest in the case and seem to be brushing it under the rug. Maurice is angry that no one is taking him seriously, and is annoyed with the fact it’s probably due to his race, considering the police force is mostly white men.

The Salvator Catholic Church has many strange occurrences happening, one of the choir boys is killed in cold blood, he was bludgeoned to death, probably with a blunt object like a bat. After bashing their heads in, the killer would mutilate the victims genitals and then slit their throat. Another altar boy is killed in the same way. The boys names were Atticus Hale and John Anderson, both of them blue eyed blondes who were considered handsome and attractive by the women at the church. Both killings were brutal and it was obvious there was intent behind the murders, especially because it seemed the murderer had a personal vendetta against the boys they killed.

A Reverend named Vincent Marigold at the church mentions that the choir boy seemed off before his demise, he was paranoid and told the Reverend he found out something he shouldn’t have known, but he wouldn’t tell the reverend what that was. Vincent seemed very concerned and baffled on why the boys were killed, saying that the boys were pure and had no enemies.

A few weeks later, a priest only named Walter Cain commits suicide, stating in his suicide note that he had homosexual relations with the dead altar boy, Atticus Hale, but claimed he was innocent and didn’t kill the boys. Beforehand, Hale blackmailed the priest into giving him money or he would tell the church of his sins and get him condemned from the church.

The church as a whole is suspicious and Oliver wants to figure out the deal before more innocent lives are lost.

He befriends a choir boy named Julius Floyd, and Oliver notices that something is very off about him. Julius doesn’t appear to have any family or friends and is very secretive about himself and the church in general. Julius is only close to one other person at the church, the Reverend.

Oliver notices that most of the church members seem almost scared of Vincent and Oliver finds him extremely suspicious and wants to investigate more into him. Oliver tells these things to Maurice, and Maurice plans to investigate more into Vincent.

Another choir boy mentions to Maurice that Julius used to be outgoing extroverted and an overall jokester, and one day he just stopped. Now he seems scared to be around everyone, jumps when someone touches or bumps into him, and only talks when absolutely needed.

This is all I have for now!! I’m going to make some character sheets for some of the characters so stay in tune for that!!! <3

[tanjamikaelson]

LOVE FOR ETERNITY - PART 56

MASTERLIST

PART 56: | IT MUST BE CHRISTMAS |

Natali was standing in a middle of her room while a tailor fitted a dress she will wear for tonight's evening just when Sonia entered the room while speaking, “I was just at Rousseau's and guess who I’ve met there?”

 - “Who?” Natali asked, wondering who it could be.

 - “Kol’s brother.” Sonia says and looks at her just as Natali opened her mouth to say, “Please say it’s Elijah.” Sonia smiled and continued, “Actually it’s Klaus..” Natali opened her mouth to speak again, but Sonia knowing she will argue with her quickly spoke, “You always said everything awful about him, but you never said how hot he was.”

 - “When I told you to fall in love with non human I didn’t meant Klaus.” Natali told her, sounding strictly.

 - “Who said anything about falling in love?” Sonia questioned, “I think I will close that chapter of my life for a while.”

 - “Good, he isn’t capable of love anyway and I don’t want to see you hurt or dead again.” Natali told her.

 - “Well I’m sure Klaus will hurt me just in a good way.” Sonia says knowing that Natali won't like the sound of those words.

 - Natali rolled her eyes, “But be careful he always has a secret agenda.” she warned her.

 - “Well hopefully it isn’t like the last one.” Sonia said with a smirk.

 - “It can be even worst.” Natali told her.

 - “What is worse than being killed by the one you love?” Sonia asked.

 - “Well knowing Klaus he will try to manipulate you and turn you against me.” Natali told her, “So just be careful around him.”

 - “And here we go, you always find a way to make everything about yourself.” Sonia suddenly snapped, “You think he approached me because he knows that we are friends?”

 - “Yeah, maybe he did.” Natali said in a harsh tone, getting irritated by her behaviour, “I’ll have a talk with him.”

 - “You don’t get to decide who I’ll fuck with.” Sonia hissed.

 - “Hey, calm down.” Natali says, “I don’t bloody care who you fuck with but there is no chance he picked you out of all the others.”

 - Sonia let’s out a laugh of disbelief, “You just can’t accept that some things don’t need to revolve around you.”

 - “You know what? Don’t come to me when you regret it.” Natali tells her.

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[NEW ORLEANS, CHRISTMAS: 25. december 1914]

A group of carolers were singing "Carol of the Bells" around the bonfire, outside of the large, old home. Kol, Mary-Alice Claire and Natali, walked through the front gates of the home. Mary-Alice stopped by the fence to quickly place a head of porcelain doll on there and she muttered an unintelligible spell under her breath.

 - “Ugh, did I say how I don't like her?” Natali questioned Kol while they waited for her to be finished. 

 - Kol throw his arm over Natali’s shoulder pulling her closer and saying, “You did, darling. But there is no reason to hate her.”

 - “Yes there is. She has a crush on you.” Natali stated.

 - “Relax, darling. You remember why we're doing this, right?” Kol asked and she rolled her eyes, but nodded nonetheless.

Once Mary-Alice was done, they headed towards the porch. Astrid, who was already inside opened the door for them.

 - Kol took of his gloves, saying, “Alright ladies, you know what to look for.” The four of them split up to search the house. Natali stayed to search through a cabinet of porcelain dolls, while Kol was searching in a variety of jewelry boxes. 

When they were both unsuccessful they looked around the room for other possible hiding places, before Kol's eyes leaned on the bottle at the bar. As Natali followed where his eyes were looking she could see a huge diamond being used as a bottle stopper.

 - Kol smiles at the sight of it and picks it up, saying, “You sly old bat.” Then Astrid and Mary-Alice join them in the room and Kol holds up the diamond proudly.

 - “Clean up. Meet us at the cemetery. The two of us have a date with a dagger.” Kol said to the two witches and Natali couldn't keep smile off of her face.

As Kol and Natali walked out of the house she took the diamond from Kol’s hand and looked at it saying, “Oh, this is one magnificent diamond.”

 - Kol smiles, saying, “And it'll be more magnificent when we make what we wanted.”

When Natali put the diamond in her bag, she linked her arm with Kol's and as they came down the porch they were ambushed by Klaus and Marcel. Klaus linked his arm with Kol's and Marcel did the same with Natali, on either side of us. 

 - “You're looking very dapper this evening, Kol!” Klaus stated.

 - “Though, gloves without a tail-coat? Unusual, wouldn't you say, Klaus?” Marcel continued for his friend, as Natali and Kol rolled their eyes.

 - “I would! Unless, of course, the gloves are utilitarian in nature.” Klaus trailed off.

 - “I didn't realize you two lovebirds were so interested in fashion.” Natali said to the two of them. Realizing that they probably knew why the two of them were in the house. 

 - “Oh, I can take it or leave it. Mayor Burman, on the other hand, now, his style is impeccable. Especially under present duress.” Klaus says and they stopped walking after reaching the outside of the gate where a woman in black is waiting nearby for them.

 - Klaus continues saying, “You know, he came to me very concerned about the rash of thefts in the city. So, I put Marcel on it.” then Marcel continued sentence, “And, after a little digging, I formed a theory as to our culprit. So, we followed our suspects.” Marcel stops talking as Klaus continued, “And they led us here, to the mansion of the recently deceased Dowager Fauline. You know, she's famous for her collection of rare and priceless jewels. Most notably, of course, the perfect paragon diamond.” Klaus and Marcel both glare at the Kol and Natali.

 - “I didn't realize you two were such detectives. Maybe you'll be the next Watson and Holmes, they are such pleasant gentlemen’s, don't you think Kol?” Natali mocked.

 - Kol smirked as he looked at her, “Yes, they are. Arent they, darling?”

 - “Although I didn't realize that Klaus and Marcel were so paranoid to think we would steal some poor desiccated woman's jewelry.” Natali said.

 - “Tragic, is it not?” Kol sighed and added, “And I believe Natali and I have some place to be.”

They looked at each other quickly before starting to walk past Marcel and Klaus. Trying to get away. But Marcel grabbed Natali’s arm and Klaus flashed in front of Kol.

 - “Hand it over, Kol.” Klaus demanded.

Kol, visibly angry, digs into his pockets and pulls them out showing to the two of them that he doesn't have anything in his pockets.

 - “Hmm.” Klaus says suspicious and nods at the woman behind him, who reveals herself to be a witch when she starts to cast a spell.

The two of them looked at the witch who turned the porcelain doll head on the fence so it is facing toward the house. And while they were distracted Marcel took bag from Natali’s shoulder, then she looked at him saying, “Hey, it's not nice to take a bag from a lady.”

 - “Klaus, do you see a lady around here?” Marcel questioned while he was going through her bag.

 - “No, I don't.” Klaus says and Natali looked angry at the two of them just as Marcel took out a diamond from her bag.

 - “Give that back. It's not yours.” Natali demanded.

 - Klaus takes the diamond, saying, “Love, it's not yours either.” Suddenly, the door starts to rattle as Mary-Alice and Astrid desperately try to get out and Klaus adds, “Oh, I wouldn't bother waiting for them. You see, those women will never leave that house again. Merry Christmas, brother.” Then the two of them leaved, leaving Natali and Kol in front of the gates.

 - “You know I could free them, but I don't like them.” Natali said looking at Kol.

 - “Well we don't need them. They served their purpose.” Kol told her.

 - “Now we need to find diamond again.” Natali said grabbing Kol’s hand and dragging him back to the cemetery.

⚜ ✡ ⚜ ✡ ⚜ ✡

When they came back to their Play house, Natali tried to locate diamond while Kol was walking through room impatient.

 - “It's time to go to the Christmas Ball, darling.” Kol said.

 - “We need to find that diamond.” Natali stated.

 - “I know. We'll try to find it at the compound.” Kol said.

 - “I don't think Klaus keeps it there, but you can go and try to find it, I want to try and locate it.” Natali said calmly.

 - “You were trying it for like an hour.” Kol said.

 - “It would be better if we did this alone. Without those two.” Natali remarked.

 - “You say that just because you hate them.” Kol said.

 - “No, I still don't understand why you need some other witches when you have me.” Natali said with a hard edge to her voice.

 - “I told you why would we do everything, when others can do that for us.” Kol simply answered.

 - “Go, please. I'll be right behind you.” Natali said and Kol kissed her forehead before he walked away.

KOL'S P.O.V:

Kol was in Klaus' bedroom looking for diamond through his closet, when Rebekah, in a red party dress, opens the doors saying, “Do you insist on pilfering before cocktails? And where is Natali?”

 - Kol paused his search, revealed that it was Rebekah and not Klaus, “Nik stole something that belongs to me. I'm simply taking it back. She will be here soon.” he informed his sister.

 - Rebekah gave him a wicked smile in return and said, “I'm surprised she is not here with you, doing mischief like always and I'm simply going to tell Nik what you're doing!” Then she turned to leave but Kol rushes after her to stop her, saying, “Wait!”

Rebekah turns toward him, waiting for whatever he had to say and Kol nervously said, “What if I said Natali is close to finishing a dagger that would work on him.”

 - Rebekah looked intrigued by his words and replied flatly, “You wouldn't dare use it.” her expression was unreadable.

 - Kol tilted his head, saying, “Why? It's no more than he's done to us. And you've suffered at his hands same as me! And, it's not like we'd be killing him. Just giving you some time to be with Marcel.” He was trying his hardest to get his sister on his side, knowing that Marcel was a good angle to use it.

 - Rebekah looked stunned, before saying, “You're entirely serious.”

 - “Haven't we both earned the right to live out of his shadow? Are you with me, sister?” Kol questioned hoping that she would say yes.

 - Rebekah silently considers this offer for a moment, before she said, “You can count me in. But, do hurry downstairs, and throw on one of Nik's jackets. He'll notice your absence if you're late.” Kol, thrilled to have Rebekah's allegiance, smiles at her. NATALI’S P.O.V:

Natali was still at the cemetery trying to find a diamond. She tried dozen different spells, but nothing seemed to work. After sometime she gave up, hoping that maybe Kol succeeded at finding it.

Then she headed back to the compound, she knew she was already late and not ready for the ball, but that's not the most important thing in this moment. As Natali walked into the ballroom she heard Klaus having a toast. When she was near the stairs she spotted a witch Freya that she had invited to a party. When Freya saw her Natali smiled at her and approached her saying, “I'm glad you came.”

Freya nodded and smiled at her, then Natali looked at Kol who was standing on the stairs and saw that he looked confused, but when he saw that she was looking at him he smiled and tilted his head to the side, showing her to come up stairs. After that Kol immediately headed up stairs and Natali walked to the stairs to follow him, but Rebekah stopped her, “You're late. You missed the photo.”

- “I'm sorry. I had some business to do.” as Natali said that she heard Kol yelling her name. 

Then she could see Elijah holding him and heard Klaus saying quickly, “Ladies and gentlemen, I apologize for the disturbance! But, what's a Mikaelson party without a little squabble?”

Then he pulled out the silver dagger and as Natali wanted to rush and stop him from daggering Kol once again, a tight hold gripped her arm and she looked behind her just to see that Rebekah was holding her arm.

- Natali’s eyes found Kol's as she cried out, “NO!” hoping that would stop Klaus and Elijah, but it was too late. Klaus already stabbed the dagger into Kol's heart and he let out a yell of pain as he started desiccation. Then Natali raised her hand and tried to pull dagger out with magic, but Klaus and Elijah were both holding it.

 - “Marcel, please.” Klaus yelled and then Marcel snapped her neck from behind.

⚜ ✡ ⚜ ✡ ⚜ ✡

When Natali woke up and looked around she could see she was on a boat. She tried to stand up, but she was too weak. As she looked up, she saw Klaus, Rebekah and Marcel standing next to her.

- “How could you do that again?” Natali asked Klaus.

- “I'm sorry, love. You both made a mistake and now you two will be separated again. And don’t think I'm going to undagger him, ever again.” Klaus said obviously angry.

- “Nik. Don’t make this worse.” Rebekah said.

- “What did you do to me?” Natali questioned, trying to stand up again.

- “I injected you with vervain, you won't be able to use magic as long as you're weak like this.” Klaus informed her, smile forming on his face.

- “I hate you Klaus!” Natali yelled as loud as she could, her voice cracking, and then said calmly to Rebekah, “Bekah, why are you letting him do this?”

- Rebekah was silent as she looked down at her, but Natali could hear Klaus saying, “Rebekah knows on which side she should be on.”

- “I thought we're friend.” Natali said with tears in her eyes.

- “We are.” Rebekah stated.

- “No, not anymore.” Natali said sadly.

- “Let's end this pathetics.” Klaus said and injected her with more vervain.

When they left the boat, it started moving and every time Natali woke up she was injected with more vervain and she wasn't feeding for days, until she didn’t came back to France. Rebekah compelled one of the sailors to give her his blood when their boat arrive in France. When Natali was in my full power again, she went back to her home in Saint Tropez.

⚜ ✡ ⚜ ✡ ⚜ ✡

[THE PRESENT DAY:]

A large, at least 5-feet-tall Christmas tree was standing next to the stairs. Rebekah made sure that the compound was well decorated and she enjoyed to order the stuff around.

Natali wore a black dress that tailor made just for her, black high heels and a burgundy lipstick and Kol was in a black suit to match her outfit.

When the two of them came to the compound Rebekah, Klaus and Elijah were already sitting at the table full of food that was placed in a middle of a courtyard. They’ve sat across from each other, while Klaus as always sat at the head of the table. When they were all there a servants came and poured their blood into each of their glass, mixing it with a little wine.

 - They sat in silence until Natali decided to spoke, “We don't have nice memories from the last time we were here on Christmas.”

 - “Right. When I got dagger in my heart.” Kol agreed.

 - “Well deserved, I may add.” Klaus remarked.

 - “And if you don’t stop hitting on my friend you will deserve dagger yourself.” Natali told him harshly.

 - Klaus smiles cunningly, “Which friend?”

- “You know which one.” Natali says.

 - “If I knew someone was your friend I wouldn't hit on them.” Klaus tells her.

 - Natali let out a laugh of disbelief, “Yeah, right. I’m sure you have some plan.” Natali says and pauses for a moment before adding, “To turn her against me, maybe?”

 - “Can we have at least one family dinner without fighting?” Elijah spoke up.

 - Rebekah rolls her eyes, “You know we can’t.”

 - “Well that’s because the two of them always start first.” Klaus argued.

 - “We start first?!” Kol says a little too loud.

 - “You are the one who flirts with people he shouldn’t.” Natali stated.

 - “I can flirt with whoever I want.” Klaus told her.

 - Natali clenches her fists, anger rising inside of her, “I’m excited to see how are you going to flirt from the box.”

 - Klaus smirks, “Watch me.”

Kol rises from the table and flashed towards his brother, but he was stopped from hitting him when Elijah came between them.

 - “Enough!” Elijah shouted.

 - “I’m done with this dinner.” Natali says and stands up, then takes Kol’s hand and pulls him with her towards the courtyard.

They sat on the sofa next to a big Christmas tree with gifts under it which Rebekah prepared for the each of them.

 - “Will you at least open my gifts?” Rebekah asked walking towards them.

 - “We’re not 5 years old’s Rebekah.” Kol told her.

 - “But you’re acting like one.” Rebekah shot back.

 - “I just need alcohol.” Natali remarked and looked at the girl that just appeared in front of them saying, “Bring me a bottle of Jack Daniel’s.”

 - “Uh, excuse me.” The girl said trying to get their attention back to her.

 - Natali glanced up at her, “Haven’t you heard what I said?”

 - “I’m sorry, but I’m not a servant.” She said.

 - “Then who are you?” Rebekah asked.

 - A girl smiles at them, “My name is Freya. I’m your sister.”

⚜ ✡ ⚜ ✡ ⚜ ✡

MASTERLIST

Tags: @mikaelsonsmagic   @p3nny4urth0ught5   @cute-freak27   @ias-born  @superhalsteads  @characterobsessed   @hinata7346   @luiza-4-ever  @huntress1428  

[jheselbraum]

GF Theory: Backupsmore is secretly a school for geniuses

Created with @fordtato!

The theory:

President Nixon secretly made a ton of cheap magnet schools/honeypots for smart but poor disenfranchised students (America won the space race because of systematically disenfranchised black women who were great at math and computer programming. The Russians got ahead early on because they had a larger pool of geniuses to choose from). They make the students think they’re going to an awful school, but they’re really going to an incredibly advanced school on par with (if not surpassing) the Ivy Leagues.

Evidence:

Ivy Leagues racist and anti-semitic admissions policies

Not only does Backupsmore have multiple geniuses attending, but enough students to support and maintain classes in fifth dimensional calculus, applied quantum phase theory, etc.

The fact that they had a PhD program at all.

Possible Fourth Amendment violations (is the phrase “mostly bug free dorms” a double entendre?)

Heavy government involvement in school projects (the mind control tie was, after all, taken by the government despite the fact that Ronald Reagan wouldn’t run for president for years).

Introduction: Alarming Trends and Coincidences

Picture this: Young Stanford Pines is a prodigy amongst prodigies. Being gifted is one thing, but possessing the capability and ingenuity to create a physics-defying perpetual motion machine (at 17 no less!) is quite another. Ending up in Backupsmore instead of any Ivy League was nothing more than a tragedy—this genius of the future was left in an unassuming mostly-bug-free dorm, instead of a place where his skills could have been better cultivated.

Right?

Enter Fiddleford Hadron McGucket. This Backupsmore student is also years ahead of his time—decades even. Portable computer technology was a pipe dream in the 60’s and 70’s, but dream it he did, even completing a successful prototype in his thirties (given he and Ford are the same age, approximately). His specialty is robotic mechs unattainable even with today’s technology. He possesses a wealth of knowledge so vast that he was able to construct a polydimensional metavortex thousands of years before mankind had that kind of technology, And, despite all odds, he ended up in the same college as Stanford. Not just the same college, but the same dorm-room, even.

That’s no longer a coincidence. Two geniuses, leagues ahead of the world they live in, in the same dorm? One prodigy is an anomaly. But two? That’s a trend.

Why Backupsmore? Where are the Ivy Leagues?

One could make the argument that both Stanford and Fiddleford are poor, too poor to afford Ivy League colleges on scholarships that (at least Ford) wouldn’t get due to not being valedictorian or even likely in the top ten percent of his class.

But, since Ford is from New Jersey and Fiddlefordd from Tennessee, at least one of them has to be paying Backupsmore out of state tuition.

Plus, college overall was cheaper then, and the system at the time was designed to funnel white students through the system while poorer and less white students were conscripted and shipped off to Vietnam. And if not Ivy League, surely a less prestigious but more qualified school would have accepted either Ford or Fiddleford into their ranks? Perfect grades do not a college student make, after all.

I find it hard to believe that neither of them applied to another school and that neither had been accepted by a school other than Backupsmore.

However… Stanford Pines isn’t white (particularly not by 1960s standards). Stanford Pines is, after all, Jewish.

The Ivy Leagues? The Ivy Leagues are predominately Protestant. Their students come from old money families who would pull their kids out of school in a skinny minute if their “good protestant children” have to spend too much time surrounded by people who aren’t just like them.  

On top of this, the Ivy Leagues (Harvard, Yale, etc) have a noted history of antisemitic admissions policies (whether official or not).

Come to think of it, this could also be why West Coast Tech was so quick to dismiss him. Stanford Pines is a very Jewish name, they likely made their decision before even meeting him. (The representatives were from California, not New Jersey, their attitude can’t be explained by the general culture of the Garden State).

Why is Backupsmore being used as a Magnet School though?

Consider: The year is most likely 1969. We know Ford came to Gravity Falls in 1975 so we can assume he spent most, if not all, of Nixon’s presidency in college.

From 1969 to 1972, there were six manned US moon landings, securing an American victory in the Space Race (and, arguably, the Cold War itself).

And who is responsible for the Apollo 11 moon landing?

None other than Katherine Johnson, a systematically disenfranchised black woman.

Now, consider Richard Nixon, the thirty-seventh president. Nixon was a paranoid, lying, scheming man who disenfranchised the anti-war hippie movement and the black power movement in one fell swoop (the effects of which we’re still feeling today), with his aide, John Ehrlichman, quoted as saying:

“You understand what I’m saying? We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders. raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.”

Nixon also ended the draft with the specific intention of stopping the anti-war movement.

But consider what value Katherine Johnson and others like her presented to the Nixon administration, what pawns disenfranchised geniuses could be to the Nixon administration.

Consider that, by allowing the poor, by allowing people of color, allowing hippies, and Jewish people and Catholics (who were, at the time, considered outsiders, Jewish people much more so than Catholics but still) to get a quality education while thinking they’re receiving a poor one, all while doing the government’s dirty work, America could keep their newfound leg up on Soviet competition.

After all, why fight in a war with only a fraction of your people working with you?

Events of Note

“MOSTLY bug-free dorms” seems like an odd choice of words off the bat— and the tone of voice the speaker (the dean, I believe) says it in makes it sound like a positive thing. However, it’s well known that all college dorms are only mostly bug free. So why bring it up?

Well, if it is Nixon who’s making these magnet schools, and the government is heavily involved in the curriculum, why wouldn’t the dorms be bugged?

This is, of course, a violation of the fourth amendment, but since when has Richard Nixon cared about that?

The “government-funded” mind control tie experiment sounds like something straight from a declassified CIA file.

Backupsmore has suspiciously advanced classes, for a “sub-par” school. Colleges rely on tuition payments to pay faculty members. And if a student underperforms/fails a class, they’re removed from campus.

Backupsmore University, therefore, must not only have enough students to justify hiring professors to teach their advanced classes (again: Applied Quantum Phase Theory and Fifth Dimensional Calculus! Not to mention Ford’s cryptography classes), but have enough students consistently passing these classes as well!

Conclusion

Gravity Falls Richard Nixon created at least one honeypot college for poor or otherwise disenfranchised students, so that he could use their work to further American agendas at home and abroad, all while refusing to actually work for social change, and none of these students actually received a leg up or any social leverage for their trouble.

[marcoacesabo]

Roommate's strange habits

When Ace first moved into the apartment he wasn’t expecting much trouble, even if his grandfather said again and again how suspicious it all was.  Sure it wasn’t the nicest place, and he had answered an ad to share it with a random stranger in the worst part of town the thing was it was very very cheap.

Cheap was Ace’s favorite price. 

Maybe he didn’t like the fact it was in an old building with crack, stains and smells that he would rather not like to know the origins of, maybe Garp was right that this wasn’t a good idea and maybe he was slightly worried his roommate may try to steal his skin in his sleep.

But after meeting Sabo in person he knew that they would get along like fire on a house.  The blond was polite, funny, charming and unfairly handsome, who was just a follow broke college kid trying to make ends means. ( if Ace was being honest he may have even said he found the perfect boyfriend candidate)  

It was after moving in, two weeks with living there, that he realized something. 

Sabo was odd, to put it nicely. Not the odd that send warning bells in his head about a murder, no Sabo was odd as in the “wakes at three in the morning to talk to food” 

But it was this strange habit that got them together. 

Let him explain, it will make sense. 

One night, Ace had gotten up intending to get a cup of water, but as he neared the kitchen he saw that a light was emitting from it. He thought his roommate was fast asleep, so he careful tiptoed back to his room for a metal bat just in case they were broken in to.

With the bat held tightly in both hands, the raven-haired man slowly made his way down the small hall ready to take a swing at anything. The kitchen had looked like a mess, pots, and pans everywhere dripping with colorful liquids. Stains on walls like someone had intentionally splattered them there, had Ace’s swallowing- some of them looked like blood. 

It wasn’t the room lights that were on. It was a bunch of candles around the dining table. They sat among cakes of varies shapes and sizes none like the last.

They were actually very well done. A dragon, a carefully dabbed designs, a flower and much more.

 Ace had counted six but he wasn’t sure it was accurate. He hadn’t looked long enough, beacuse his eyes landed on a giggling Sabo who was carefully frosting a flower onto a small cupcake. 

The man was wearing a blue dragon onesie, hood up so that his face peeked out from the dragon’s mouth.  He didn’t seem to notice the slack jaw Ace, before mumbling to the pastry “You look so pretty. I bet you taste good too. A perfect sacrifice but shhh don’t wake up Ace okay pretty? We won’t want to ruin the fun times right?”

He then exploded into more giggles, face somewhat shadowed by the poor lighting. 

Ace had backpedaled out of there faster then one could say what the fuck!?

He had gone back to his room silent as a shadow, closed his door and barricaded it. He was deeply disturbed. He didn’t sleep a wink of sleep wondering what he had seen, a little paranoid of Sabo barging into his room to do something else that was creepy.

Say like watch him well he sleeps?

Giggle over his form in his weird dragon onesie?

Measure his skin to make a suit out of?

He was shaking, holding onto his metal bat for life on his bed keeping an eye on the objects he used to cover the door and keeping an ear alert of any footsteps coming towards him.

But he heard and saw nothing. 

At one time, he must have fallen asleep beacuse he woke half spooning the bat, his bedside table, three trunks of random stuff and bookcase still perfectly placed against his door. 

Ace had gotten up, taking a wary glance at his clock only to breathe a sigh of relief. Sabo should be gone for his morning classes, giving him four hours to pack up and get the hell out of there. 

He packed his clothes first, bat never too far away. Then take anything else he could fit in the small suitcase knowing he needs boxes or helps to get the rest. 

It was two hours later that he finished he moved the furniture, before walking out. He had 911 on speed dial, just in case he ran into his roommate but nothing seemed out of the ordinary in fact the apartment had been cleaned. 

No pans, no cakes, no stains, no weird blonds. 

Just their modest furniture, and quite a room.  Which didn’t make sense, the stains were gone too. That wouldn’t have been easy to clean. 

H-Had Ace dreamt it all? It wasn’t the first time he was woken from a dream and moved his stuff around beacuse of it....

Maybe he had overreacted?

By the time Sabo came home, bearing a gift in the shape of four large pizzas, Ace had unpacked. 

The following week it happened again. 

This time when Ace had woken it was the smell of cinnamon- his favorite- that stir him to the kitchen at three in the morning. There among trays and trays with of cinnamon rolls was a giggling Sabo once again clad in his dragon onesie. 

He was gently laying the frosting over the buns, cheerfully whispering to them  “Some for you. Some for you. And some for you even though you had way too much mister. ..well okay, you can have one, but no more, we can’t have you eating so much. What would Ace say if our thighs got so big?” 

Ace had shivered in fear, face somewhat green. W-was Sabo talking to the food about him? Was this what he did at night? Sea he had to leave this apartment, this wasn’t normal!

The candle lights hadn’t been bright enough for him to see, so by the time he notices the trays stacked on the floor he was already tripping over them. The loud clatter echoed through the apartment as Ace tried to scramble to his feet. 

He came face to face with a panicking Sabo who was all but ripping the onesie off face twisted in mortification  “Ace! T-this isn’t what it looks like- I can explain!”

Now Ace may be reckless but he wasn’t stupid. It was better to go along with what Sabo wanted for now, instead of having the man with the possible unstable mentally blow up on him.

“I’m sorry for knocking over your trays Sabo.” He said calmly, dusting his clothes off unnecessary.  Ace just wanted to do something so that he wasn’t just standing there.  “There wasn’t anything on them right?”

The blond paused, the fur of his dragon pooling at his feet- he was wearing his regular blue PJs underneath- and he was looking at Ace in confusion. 

“No,” he said slowly like he was worried it was Ace who would snap. “ It...it just was the ones I was going to clean.”

“Okay good. What you making tonight?”  The other asked hoping to keep the terror out of his voice. He was hoping a conversation could buy him enough time to run back for his bat. 

“Um cinnamon rolls.” The blond blinked waving his hand around.  He looked uncomfortable but after a moment of silence added: “Would you..ugh like one?”

No, Ace really didn’t

“Sure.” He said instead of trying to keep up the act that everything was fine. 

Ace had never seen Sabo beam before. Sure he’s seen him smile, seen him laugh but nothing like that could compare to the pure excitement that bloomed on Sabo’s face as he handed him a bun. If he wasn’t fearing for his life he would have found it endearing. 

“This is the first time I ever made them but I think they came out okay.” The blond said acting like he was offering the king one of his creations. He stepped back twirling his fingers into the hem of his shirt.  “I um hope you like it.” 

Silver eyes flickered around the room nervously before Ace took a bit. He tried to ignore the naked anticipation on Sabo’s face as he chewed. It almost killed him to say but it was the best thing he’s ever tasted.

A moan of pleasure slipped out him, and Sabo blushed.  “I see you like it.”

Ace nodded, a little dazed by the blond’s happy little smile. He’s never seen a grown man try to hide behind his bangs and hands but that’s what made Sabo doing it so cute. 

“Can I have more?” He asked around the food in his mouth eyeing the other trays. 

By now the fear had left his body all that remained was a strange warm feeling that was growing stronger the longer he watched his roommate try to stay bashful.  “S-Sure!”

The blond soon had Ace sitting on the couch with a plate of cinnamon wonders in his lap. He flickered on the lights, explaining that the candles were only used to not wake Ace. 

They spent some time chatting. Sabo reveals his love of baking but years in his old home taught him to never let others know. His parents did not approve of it and would make cruel punishments for doing something so “odd” for a male. 

 He was so used to sneaking around at night to bake that once he moved out he couldn’t break the habit. 

Apparently, it was one of his favorite things to do and he often dreamed of opening a bakery one day. 

Ace was not surprised to find he also loved fluffy things, and that too his parents try to beat out of him. The onesie made sense now. 

“You can put it back on. I don’t mind.” The words slipped from his lips without his permission. But Ace had seen the longing look, Sabo would shoot the thing each time he went form the living room to the kitchen, carrying with him more tasty snacks.

Sabo looked surprised before he laughed  “Thank you!” 

A moment later, Ace was joined by a friendly dragon on the couch, and he found much to his surprise he didn’t mind too much. Not with the way Sabo smiled at him and whispered a soft  “Thanks for being cool Ace...I’ve never thought I meet someone who didn’t make fun of me for this.”

“Just don’t talk to the food about me anymore and we’re cool.” Ace joked lightly.

 Sabo flushed darkly, looking away he didn’t notice Ace scoot a little closer.  It was obvious during their talking that the blond couldn’t think properly when Ace got too close- and wasn’t that a thrill to learn?- it wasn’t a surprise that he started rambling the moment their shoulders touched “But who else am I supposed to talk to? I don’t have any friends that will listen to me talk about how hot you are- I mean! I-”

His words were silenced by a pair of lips. “You can talk to me. I’m your boyfriend.”

“Y-you are?”

“Yes. I decided as of right now.” 

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Can I kiss you again then?”

“I thought you never ask.” 

[loxare]

A Talon By Any Other Name

Chapter 7 - Getting to Know You

“Wonderful. You're awake.” Dick beamed at the dry British voice. Every time he heard it, it was followed by cookies and a general feeling of calmness. In the Court, it had been calm any time he wasn't on an assignment, but it was a tense calm. Like the calm before a storm. Agent A was the calm after the storm, when you knew everything was going to be ok now.

As usual, there was a tray full of cookies in the butler's hands. Unusually, there was a glass and a paper cup full of pills as well. “Here we are.” Hood made a tentative grab for the delicious-smelling treats. He'd always been grabby about food. But Agent A gently slapped his hand away. “None of that now. You must have these first.” He held up the paper cup and a glass of water.

Hood was instantly suspicious, recoiling as far back into his pillow as he could. “What is it?”

“Nutrient pills. We attempted to get you on an IV drip, but you continually pushed the needles out. And your blood work was severely lacking in several essential vitamins and minerals.”

There was something about Agent A that made a person instantly want to obey. Batman had obviously built an immunity, and Red seemed to be well on his way, but luckily, Little Wing was new to the butler's no nonsense demeanor. Demurely, he took the cup and dry swallowed the pills. Dick couldn't really tell, because of the mask, but he was fairly sure Agent A rolled his eyes at the action.

He pushed the glass closer. “And the water young sir. Then you may have your cookies.” Dick had to say, he'd never seen something disappear that fast. Hood had gotten the entire glass drank in one gulp.

Satisfied, Agent A maneuvered the tray so it was sitting on Hood's lap and the Talons dived in. They were still eating, savouring every bite, ten minutes later when the Batmobile pulled into the Batcave. Those were the terms now. As soon as he figured out how, he was hacking into the Batcomputer and changing them there.

Red Wing bounded into the medbay as soon as he was showered and changed, as he had been for the past few days. When he saw Hood, his face covered in crumbs, chocolate chips, and raspberry jam, he broke into a smile. “Hood! You're up!”

“Yup. Not dead yet squirt.” He bit down on the last bite of cookie, ignoring the napkin Agent A was not-so-subtly holding out in his direction, choosing to wipe his face off on the back of his hand instead. “So, how've you been since the last time I tried to kill you?”

“Nice try. You never tried to kill me. You were training me.”

“Ah! Little detective, this one!” Hood grinned, and Dick mirrored the expression. His little brother didn't seem to have any bad side effects from Joker's attacks. No brain damage. That was good.

Red Wing's smile dropped into a serious frown. Dick followed that one too, knowing what Red was going to ask and showing silent support. Even though they were Talons, Red idolized them a bit. Probably because of the no-fatal-attacks thing, but probably something else too. “Why? You had plenty of chances. But you never went for a death blow. Not even a maiming one. Why?”

Hood blew out a breath of air. “Right to the heavy question, huh? Alright. First time I ever saw you, you were talking some druggie woman down from a ledge, saved her and her kid. I checked on her a month later. She'd gotten checked into rehab. Her kid was doing well in school.” He scratched at the back of his head. “Dick tell you how we can get memories back sometimes? Just random, out of the blue ones caused by some trigger or another?”

Red Wing nodded. “He got a memory the first time he saw you.”

Hood's eyebrows flew up. Dick frowned. Had he never told... Nope. He had not. Oops. Giving him a Look, Hood continued. “Well, watching you talk to that lady that night gave me one too. Some blonde woman, maybe my mom. Maybe not. I was reading to her. There were needles everywhere and her eyes were all glazed. But sometimes, she smiled.” His eyes were faraway. Dick was listening intently, and he knew Red was doing the same. Anything Hood could remember was a hint as to who he had been. “You were so kind to that lady on the roof. And I thought, maybe, if my mom had had someone to check her into rehab, if she'd gotten clean, I wouldn't have gone to the streets. I wouldn't have been Talon.”

He snapped back to reality and flicked Red on the forehead. “You kind of sucked though. Any Talon could take you out with both hands behind their back and blindfolded. You had a job to save people and you couldn't do it if you were dead. That's why.”

Rubbing his forehead, Red nodded. “Thank you. I'd been wondering.”

“Well stop it. It'll give you little creases that will never go away.” Intent on being annoying, Hood rubbed his thumb between Red Wing's eyebrows, trying to erase the crease there while Red protested. After a moment, Dick joined in, pulling Red's mouth into a smile. “Frowning is bad for you Red. Lighten up!”

“Let go you guys! Stohahhaap!” The last word was severely distorted by giggles when Hood gave up on the seemingly-permanent crease and started tickling the poor little crime fighter. After a particularly fierce chortle threatened to take one of Dick's fingers off, he moved to tickling too. Fingers were a pain to regrow.

“What's going on in here?”

The sudden, stern, Batman-voice had all of them freezing in place. Slowly, they turned to the door, Red still hiccoughing a few snickers. Dick pressed his mouth into a straight line. “He is much too serious for his age. He has way more growing up to do before he becomes a broody tower of darkness like you.”

Hood nodded. “Small children need to smile Bats.”

Ignoring Red's protest (“I an not a small child! And you're not much older than me!”), Batman just glared at Dick, who glared right back. Probably not a good idea to glare at the guy who had decided yesterday that he wouldn't put them in the little cells the Batcave had for some reason, but it needed to be done. “Now if you'll excuse us, we were in the middle of something important.”

Hood got in first, grabbing a very ticklish spot on Red's knee, producing a startled yelp from the boy. Dick went back to focusing on his sides, Hood on the bottoms of his feet. Dick wasn't sure, but he thought he saw Batman smile, shake his head, and turn to leave.

Red didn't escape until twenty minutes later when Agent A walked back in with a new batch of cookies. That man really had the best timing. “Alright Master Dick, Master Hood. I do believe that Master Red has had enough for now.”

Tim jumped. Master Dick and Master Hood...? But Alfred only ever called people he considered family by that title. People who belonged in the Manor. He caught the butler's eye and received a knowing smile in return. So Alfred saw it too?

It had been a bit slow, but Dick had managed to very much incorporate himself into life in the Cave. Any time he wasn't watching over Hood's bedside, he was helping, teaching Tim new moves, showing Bruce how he could use acrobatics to climb buildings faster than even a grapple, helping Alfred dust the computer. Or sometimes making a nuisance of himself, hopping from stalactite to stalactite and scaring the bats, taking naps on top of the computer screen, hanging from the car's platform to startle Tim when he jumped out at the end of a long night. Hood himself had been awake for less than an hour, and he'd already impressed Alfred with his hearty appetite and willingness to pull the ever-serious vigilantes out of their brooding.

A day or two later, once Alfred let Hood get out of bed officially (and after he'd snuck out at least six times), Hood had managed to work his way past the Bat's very impressive walls. A good majority of it was hiding in the stalactites and jumping out to startle him (which never worked) and spotting things in cases that Bruce and Tim missed. For example, one of Riddler's riddles had involved a classical novel, one Bruce had read, but not often and not for a long while. Hood had the entire relevant passage memorized.

By way of explanation, Hood just waved a hand. “I was sent to pick up a delivery from an Owl's house. I may have made off with a book or six as well.” At Dick's raised eyebrow – because really, how did he manage to get away with that? – he grinned. “They were the dusty ones, in the very back of the library. He probably didn't even notice they were gone. That's where I got most of my books. Deliveries. Read them a hundred times, at least. Never took any from any assassination assignments though...”

Soon after, Tim found himself browsing the bookshelves in the study, trying to find something Hood might like. All four books were finished in two days and piled neatly on Tim's workbench. After a half hour, he looked up to see a pair of teal eyes peeking at him longingly from the far end of the table. With a sigh, he stood and walked up the staircase, pulling off his mask as he went.

Bruce, in his usual paranoid fashion, had installed a fingerprint and retina scan, as well as a vocal key, to the door. To keep the Talons out, he said. Tim just smirked and shook his head. Neither of them had shown any interest in going upstairs, although Dick did start waiting at the bottom of the stairs every time he heard someone open the clock.

The study was empty. So was the rest of the house actually. Bruce had gone to a Wayne Enterprises meeting and Alfred had driven him. So it was just Tim and the secret basement of Talons. And apparently, as he grabbed another book off the shelf, someone else. He heard their breathing beyond the door, but there wasn't any time to hide or react. The door burst open and Tim let out a strangled cry as the assailant tackled him, then another as his head slammed into the desk. Dazed, he could barely follow the intruder's conversation as he spoke into a walkie-talkie.

“Yeah, alone, just like you said. ... Nah, I didn't have any trouble breaking in. ... That code the Court gave you really does work on everything. Easiest kidnapping I've ever been paid for.”

The conversation was cut short when the clock burst open. Thankfully, the kidnapper had his back turned as Hood shouldered his way past the magnetic locks and Dick flipped into the room, landing on the guy's head. He went face first into the same desk that Tim had landed on, going unconscious instantly.

Dick gathered Tim in his arms while Hood hogtied the intruder. Then they raced back down the stairs, pulling the clock closed on Tim's insistence. Before Tim could get his bearings, he was sitting in the medbay, with Hood stitching the cut he didn't even realize was bleeding while Dick tried unsuccessfully to call Bruce on the computer.

“Ok, I got nothing. Hood, you still haven't fixed your shoulder?”

“It's fine. Just dislocated. It'll heal.”

“It'll heal faster if you fix it. Red, how do you work this thing?”

Later, Tim would blame the head injury for this. At the time, it seemed like a spectacular idea. “The passwords are 0527DC1939, 0437DC1940, 0416B1943, 03357B1983, 08436B1989, 08647DC1992, and 09655B2006. Batman can be called on the third icon down.” He faded in and out of consciousness, only hearing brief snatches of conversation as Dick relayed what happened.

It was almost like his brain was taking snapshots instead of video. Click. Dick was by the computer, Hood was leaning close to inspect the stitches. Click. He'd fallen over. Hood was picking him up. Dick was rushing over. Click. They had pushed a bed so it was against the wall. Click. They had sat him up and put themselves on either side of him, to keep him from falling over again. Click. They had both fallen asleep. That sounded like a good idea.

Meetings were long and almost always uneventful. This one was one that Lucius could have taken care of by himself, but the board members insisted on his presence. Of course finances were crucial, but this was beyond him, let alone his facade of idiot billionaire playboy. And it was boring. Fighting crime was simultaneously more interesting and more fulfilling.

No, that wasn't quite right. Wayne Enterprises employed thousands of people. Money was donated to charities which he used to fund the criminals who were more desperate and down on their luck than the hardened thugs he normally encountered.

Bruce truly believed that his charities helped those people. The ones who turned to gangs or petty crime so they could feed their little ones. It was largely in part to the Wayne Foundation. Not to mention his own night time activities, which were not as promiscuous as the board wanted to believe. Of course, he normally had a good sense of which person he encountered was a criminal and which one was just desperate.

His phone rang, jostling him from his not-related-to-finance thoughts. Hiding his relief with a look of annoyance, he gestured to the board to continue. Stepping out, he pressed his phone to his ear. “Hello?”

“Ah! I got it to work. Hood, it's working!”

“I can hear that Dickie. Just tell him what happened. Whoa Red, stay upright. I need to bandage this.”

And now Bruce was freaking out a bit. Bandage what? And how had Dick gotten into the computer? “Talk. Now.”

“Right, right. So Red was upstairs getting Hood more books and we heard him scream. Once, and it was probably just him tripping on something. But he screamed twice and we got all worried. So we broke your door and there was a guy and Red was lying on the floor bleeding a bit from his head. I knocked him out and Hood tied him up and now Red is getting stitches and I thought you should know.”

Bruce sighed and rubbed his eyes. “He's alright?” From the sound of things, he was, but Bruce wanted to make sure. He started towards the elevator. He'd give his apology to Lucius tomorrow.

“A little woozy. He probably has a concussion.”

The elevator door closed behind him. Pressing one of his shirt buttons, he temporarily shorted out the camera. And now for the second important question. “Did the intruder see the Cave entrance?”

“Hm? No, he had his back turned when Hood bashed through. Speaking of, Hood, fix your shoulder or I'll fix it for you!”

“Fine!” There was the distinct crack of an arm going back into its shoulder socket.

And the third question. “And you saw the room upstairs? Any notable objects?”

“Oh yeah. There was a desk, and a bunch of decoration stuff!”

“And wall to wall books. Tell him about the books Dick!”

“Hood says there was books.”

“That was the least excited mention of books I have ever heard.”

“That's because it's not exciting.”

Before Hood could reply, Bruce barked, “Focus!” The elevator dinged, and he swept his eyes across the room. Spotting Alfred speaking to the receptionist (a lovely young woman, sir, she wants to go to Yale next year), he waved him over. One last question. “Do you know why the man was there?”

“Yup. Heard him just before we broke in. The Court sent him he was going to kidnap Red.”

“WHAT?”

“No idea why. Maybe we'll find out later? Ah, who am I kidding? You're Bats! You'll figure it out.”

He would have preferred a concrete reason, but this would have to do for now. “Keep an eye on him,” he meant Tim, but he couldn't tell Dick his name, and calling him Red while there was twenty or thirty people in ear shot would be suspicious, “I'll be home in half an hour.” He hung up, and turned to Alfred. “Someone went after Tim today, but whoever it was clearly wasn't expecting our guests to be there. Tim likely has a concussion though.”

Alfred sniffed, holding the door open for Bruce. “Some people have no sense of decorum. Entering a person's house while they're away is the height of poor taste.”

Giving a short laugh, he smiled at his lifelong friend through the mirror. “Indeed it is Alfred. Now let's see how he's doing.”

The ride home was definitely a half hour according to the clock on the dashboard, but it felt like so much longer. As it wore on, Bruce felt something unfamiliar creep up on him. He was trying to shift through every possible culprit who could have gotten past the Manor's security, but his focus kept slipping sideways to Tim. If he was alright, if he was scared or worse, if this was so in the norm for him that he was simply used to it. Maybe making him Red Wing had been a bad idea. If he hadn't, he wouldn't be getting injured on a regular basis. Actually, if he hadn't taken Tim in in the first place, he wouldn't be getting targeted by unknowns. And that wasn't his only failure. He should have kept a better eye on Dick, that day at the circus. Should have gone up and comforted him right away instead of looking for clues as to the murderer's identity. If he had, the Court might not have grabbed him. And Hood had dislocated his shoulder?

“Oh, do stop worrying sir. I'm sure Master Tim is fine.” The curt voice cut through his thoughts.

“I'm not worrying. Am I worrying?” Was he worrying?

Alfred gave him a wry smile. “It appears so Master Bruce. Fret not. It's natural to worry about your children when they're injured.” Children? It made sense for Tim, he supposed. He had adopted the boy after all. But he'd been worrying about Dick and Hood too.

Bruce was saved from having to reply by Alfred pulling up to the front door.

Leaping out, he pushed open the door, already standing ajar, and raced down the hall, to the study. As promised, there was a thug lying on the ground, thoroughly tied up and unconscious. As a precaution, Bruce lifted the man and tossed him into the hall. Alfred could call the police on this one.

He opened the clock, noting the broken magnetic locks, and took the stairs two at a time. He raced through the training room, the main area, and the garage (complete with boat, plane and motorcycles), before he remembered the medbay. Hood had been stitching Tim's head.

And there they were. Sitting on a bed parked longways along the wall, each of them fast asleep. It surprised him a bit when the tight feeling in his chest lessened, not just at the sight of Tim's general health (head wound not withstanding), but also at Dick's and Hood's. Grabbing a blanket from another bed, he covered them and turned to leave, flicking off the lights as he went. He had to speak to Alfred about some guest rooms.

It wasn't until a few hours later that he noticed someone had altered all his equipment records. The “Batmobile”? What?

AN: Another happy chapter! Yay! I don’t know if you noticed, but I am working very hard on getting these out by the end of this week and not forgetting.