#but just look at how they’re looking at eo in the morning after the first kiss PLEASE!!!

[zoennes]

2.03 ♡ 2.04

[fluentmoviequoter]

to being ghosts.

Chapter 1 - Ordinary Origins

Chapter Warnings: angst, misogynistic/sexist comments towards fem!reader, mentions of death and executions, incorrect depictions of hacking, a lot of world-building and several OCs are introduced. 7.5k+ words.

A siren blaring in the distance wakens you long before you’d prefer. Holding your eyes closed, you hope you can fall back asleep and dream of the old world. Such hope grows weaker every day, unable to keep your mind from the new horrors plaguing the world... your world.

“The New World Charter has assigned a president-elect,” a robotic voice announces outside.

Covering your head with your pillow, you try to drown out the reminders that life will never be the same, not after the death of Eli Ever and the subsequent dissolution of democracies and dictatorships alike.

With a sad sigh, you stand from your bed in your government-assigned apartment, dressing in your uniform and wondering how things went so terribly so quickly.

✯✯✯✯✯

Miles away from you, Victor Vale leads Mitch Turner and Sydney Clarke into an abandoned house on the outskirts of what used to be the overpopulated city of San Francisco. Today, it’s a ghost town, and Victor Vale (along with thousands of other EOs) is using these places as a refuge.

“How many countries are in the New World now?” Victor asks, watching Mitch pick up an outdated newspaper.

“As of two months ago, nearly half of the UN, 85,” he answers.

“Is that bad?” Sydney asks quietly, holding Dol closer as she awaits an answer.

“It may be,” Mitch answers honestly. “As long as they don’t have a unified leader, we’re better off.”

“And when they do?”

Victor looks out the dirt-stained window as he says, “We’ll know.”

✯✯✯✯✯

Walking into the New World Agency Headquarters, or NWA, you look at each passing agent and wonder what they did to earn their place. From open-minded United States federal recruits to Russian KGB leaders, every person wearing an NWA badge is considered qualified and necessary to the long-term mission. You, however, don’t know what the mission is, and though you feel like a ghost in these halls, the moment you decide whether or not you agree with it solidifies your future.

“Morning, agents,” NWA Director Smoak calls.

“Director,” everyone answers in sync.

“You have been called here because of your exemplary records.” He looks around the room as if analyzing each agent, including you. “Consider yourselves lucky to be the first group of recruits for NWA’s new task force, dedicated to the location and execution of EOs.”

Your breath catches in your throat. You didn’t choose to join the NWA; very few did, but you certainly didn’t agree to kill innocent people.

“We’ll be splitting you into teams. Agents Samuelson, Waller, and Daniels, stay here. The rest of you will find your lead agents outside. Head out and do good, bring the new world into the light!”

Following your partner, whom you have only heard referred to as Daniels, you have innumerable questions you want to ask. The walk to the director isn’t far, but it feels like miles as your stomach churns.

“You’re welcome,” Agent Daniels says, turning his head toward you.

“For what?” His eyes meet yours, and you quickly correct, “Sorry. Thank you, but for what, sir?”

“Getting you assigned to the best task force in the agency.”

You stop, unable to walk upon learning that your partner, the man who has been at your side since training ended three months ago, is willing to kill EOs just because they’re different. Not only that, but he thinks the assignment is something worthy of gratitude. A former U.S. Army sniper, Daniels’ kill count consists of a higher number than most peoples’ IQs.

“Daniels, I want you and your partner out by nightfall. You know your first mission, and upon its completion, you will receive the next. Prove your worth and another ticket may be in your future,” Smoak says, ignoring you as he speaks to your supervising agent.

Once upon a time, you dreamed of being a federal agent, but now that title is a nightmare come to life around you.

“Where are we going, sir?” you ask Daniels.

“Some town called Merit,” he answers, leading you through the back hallway of the NWA building.

“Merit? Where Eli Ever was arrested?”

“Maybe. I don’t tend to keep up with monsters like those people.”

“Those people?”

“EOs. We’ve got a long flight, so maybe pace your questions,” he snaps.

Nodding, you ask yourself how someone can have so little empathy for EOs, simply assuming they’re all like Ever. The Gulfstream plane awaiting you could get hundreds of EOs to safety, you think, before realizing that your mind and your mission are nowhere near aligned.

✯✯✯✯✯

“Problem,” Mitch calls.

Victor turns away from the window, walking to Mitch’s side.

“They have a leader. President-Elect Smoak, also rumored to be leading the New World Agency, the combination of all the government and law enforcement agencies of participating countries.”

“Number?”

Mitch doesn’t answer, turning around to face Victor as he tilts his head to the side.

“All of them?” Victor clarifies.

“Which means the new task force, Task O, has plenty of people to back it up.”

“We have to move.”

“Why?”

“Call it a hunch, a ghost giving me a clue, I don’t know, but we do. So, let’s go!” Victor turns away as he calms to say, “Sydney, time to go.”

“What are we telling her?”

“Not a word more than we have to.”

✯✯✯✯✯

“What is your issue?” Daniels asks.

You look up from the picture in the file, glancing at the clouds below. Even the sky seems sad these days.

“He looks like a kid,” you answer, shrugging. “Just not sure how you keep it so separated, sir.”

“He’s not a kid. Not even an ordinary human, not anymore. That- that change makes them different, and someone needs to do something about it.”

After the news shifted to the existence and creation of EOs, particularly Eli Cardale, you’d scoured the internet to find what made them so special. A rough draft of his work from Lockland University was produced by your effort: a simple, straightforward explanation with a bit too much religious symbolism.

“There was a time not long ago when being ordinary was considered a bad thing,” you hum.

“Not at the cost of our souls, our freedom, and the consistency of human nature.”

Human nature has never been consistent, you want to say. Instead, you nod and look back to the file. Daniels continues watching you, a suspicious narrowing of his eyes the only sign that he is experiencing any emotion.

“Do you have a problem with the mission? Because there’s a nice place for NWA agents who decide they don’t agree with our ideals,” Daniels says. “I hear most people never want to return to their old homes after visiting.”

“As nice as that sounds, sir, I’m fine. Just tired, I think.”

“Then get some sleep. We have an ordinary world to protect.”

Reading the top line of the file one last time, you close it and set it aside, wishing you felt safe enough to sleep. Dreams of a different world are the only relief you’ve found, but even that can only do so much.

✯✯✯✯✯

Mitch’s fingers fly across the keyboard, a few clicks of the trackpad interrupting his consistent typing. He knows better than to hack the New World Charter computers. If he can get into the United States government’s records, he may be able to find a thread worthy of tugging.

The screen goes black before an out-of-use desktop loads. Smirking at his success, Mitch navigates to the most recent records. It takes a few minutes, but he finds evidence of a conversation with someone named Smoak. He assumes it is the same Smoak now running the entire world, and the few ideas expressed in the months-old exchange concern him.

Noticing the presence of another user in the system, Mitch freezes his screen, disappearing into the shadows of the servers.

‘hey,’ someone types, ‘we’ve met before. they’re killing EOs, just thought you should know.’

The text box disappears before a small file opens: a single page titled “Task O” lists three teams, one under Smoak’s leadership and the team members. As concerning as it should be, Mitch’s attention is caught on the task motto: “For an ordinary world, no matter the cost.”

He knows he should tell Victor, but something makes him pause. Saving the file to his own computer, Mitch erases any sign of himself and his unknown partner before closing the laptop. Smoak has three teams under his direction: Samuelson, Waller, and Daniels, plus their partners. Seven people answering to one leader, who wants EOs dead as far as Mitch can tell, does not seem like a good thing. Though he knows Smoak’s name, one other name stays on his mind after closing the computer.

✯✯✯✯✯

When the plane lands, Daniels offers to split up and cover more ground, and you immediately agree. If you can find the young EO before Daniels, maybe you can help somehow. Daniels will eliminate him without a word or thought, but there has to be another way.

After a few minutes, you realize that Daniels is following you. He’s keeping his distance, but you must lose him and convince him to trust you for a few minutes before continuing.

“When you find him, radio immediately,” Daniels says in your earpiece.

“Yes, sir.”

After walking around the same city block twice, letting yourself look incompetent, Daniels sighs and breaks away. Picking up where you left off, you navigate the darkest alleys alone. Though you should probably be concerned for your safety, the EOs need your concern and protection more than you do. Daniels has already threatened to make you disappear, but your fate is still in your hands.

“Excuse me,” you call. The man turns around, his eyes wide and wild as he does. “I’m here to help you but I need you to trust me. Someone is trying to hurt you.”

“This is about that other guy that got killed in Miami, ain’t it?” he asks. “All the EOs are talkin’ about it. Like the police think we’re all bad because that Eli guy killed someone. EON was bad enough, but we didn’t think it would get worse after they went away.”

You raise your hand as you attempt to calm him and ease his nerves. “I know. When EON went away, I hoped it would get better for you guys, but there are always going to be people who are scared of new things, different things.”

“Then what’s the point of fighting?” he whispers.

“Because if you don’t, you’re proving them right. Let me help you, and maybe someday, you and the other EOs that I help will be able to make a difference and show the people that they don’t need to be afraid of you.”

Your shirt rides up slightly, exposing your NWA badge. He sees it, staring at it as he takes a step back.

“Hey, hey, look at me. They want me to do something that I’m not going to do, do you understand that? I wear the badge because I have to, but it doesn’t control me. They don’t control me, and you don’t have to let them control you either,” you explain.

He stops, nodding slowly. “What do you want me to do?”

“There’s a little town about ten miles from here. It used to be-“

“The train depot, yeah, I know it,” he interrupts.

“Go that way and wait for me. If I’m not there by sunset to give you more instructions, leave before dark and get to the depot.”

“Why? Why help us?”

“Because what they’re doing is wrong. You deserve a chance.”

“What if you’re wrong?”

You finally smile, and he mirrors it as you say, “Then I’ll change my mind.”

✯✯✯✯✯

Victor’s pale eyes are on Mitch. He fights the urge to squirm at his undivided attention.

“Can I help you?” Mitch asks finally.

“You tell me.”

Mitch glances over at Sydney before saying, “No.”

“Are we leaving again soon? Because I’m really tired,” Sydney asks, lying on the dilapidated couch with Dol under her arm.

“Not for a while. That’s the plan for now, at least, so get some rest,” Victor answers, demanding yet concerned.

“Still can’t help,” Mitch mutters as he walks by Victor.

✯✯✯✯✯

“Suspect down,” you radio, looking around the scene you’ve set up.

Standing on the rooftop, you’re impressed by the view. As the sun sets, mirroring a bloody smear across the sky, you imagine this is how Frodo felt on his journey to Mordor, just with more people to talk to. Below you, you’ve arranged pallets and red paint to look like someone fell off the roof. Your plan isn’t great, and it’s entirely dependent on Daniels believing it from the roof, but it’s all you can do for now. Either way, you gained a few more hours for the target to get to safety.

“I told you to radio when you found him, not after you took him out,” Daniels chides roughly behind you.

“I was going to, but he panicked and fell back when he saw the badge, sir,” you answer, keeping your eyes on the ground below.

Daniels walks to your side, surveying the damage in the alley below. His eyes darken momentarily before he nods.

“Back with the trash where he belongs,” he mutters. “I’ll call Smoak and get our next assignment. Meet you at the plane.”

As he turns around, you ask, “Should we do something with the body?”

“Leave it there. It’ll serve as a warning.”

Closing your eyes, you bite back your anger before you get in trouble. The new government doesn’t care about these people; they only notice EOs because they are afraid. Someone has to show them that EOs aren’t monsters to be feared, though you’re not sure if they’re allies. Regardless, you can’t prove anything without help, so you need to save enough of them to start a revolution.

Taking a deep breath, you hope the future is heading north.

✯✯✯✯✯

Your phone rings as you near the plane. Raising a hand to Daniels, you stop and answer it.

“Hello,” you greet.

“Hey. It’s Barton, do you have a minute?” your classmate from the police academy asks.

“Of course. Where are you these days?”

“NWA analytics. They- they want me to do something that I don’t agree with, and I feel stuck. If I don’t do it, something terrible will happen to me, right?”

“Barton, don’t,” you whisper harshly. “Do not do something stupid.”

“I’m not running.”

“Don’t do something else, then.”

“Too late,” he mutters. “But they won’t know about you.”

You flinch and drop your phone away when a gunshot echoes through the speaker. Ending the call, you breathe heavily as you wonder what he did. His promise that they won’t know about you makes you confident that whatever it is will make an impact. 

Leveling your expression, you walk to the plane and stand beside Daniels. He types quickly, his complete focus on his phone.

“Everything okay, sir?” you ask quietly.

“No,” he answers. “New World Charter is- our leaders are in trouble.”

“How so?”

“Some- some complete idiot at NWA released a list of names.”

“Oh.”

Daniels looks up suddenly, his eyes dark and angry as he glares at you. “’Oh’? That’s all you have to say. Do you know what this means, agent? Every single person working with the New World Charter’s identity, their pictures, addresses, it’s all out there for anyone to see.”

“Well, they’re working for good, so no one should have a problem or try to do anything. Right, sir?” you ask, hoping everyone can see their true intentions and someone decides to do something about it.

“You really have no clue how governments work, do you? No matter how good they are, there will be people who try to hurt them.”

You press your lips together and nod. Daniels shakes his head, looking back at his phone when it buzzes again.

“Great,” he mumbles. “Now NWA.”

“What about it, sir?”

“List of names,” he grumbles.

“Our leaders?”

His eyes scan the screen, scrolling quickly. He releases a small sigh before putting his phone in his pocket.

“Good news?” you pry.

“My name isn’t on the list. Well, it is, but just my last name; listed as your superior.”

“Mine?”

“Oh, yeah, it’s all there. Full name, picture, address, contact information,” he lists off before smiling at you. “Better prove your worth or no one will care what you go home to.”

Daniels turns and boards the plane, yelling for you to follow. You swallow, hoping that having your name and picture made public won’t ruin your chances of helping the next EO.

✯✯✯✯✯

Mitch shakes his head, wondering how a police recruit was assigned to one of the most dangerous task forces in the New World. When he hears Victor approaching, he closes the window and moves away from his laptop.

“It’s getting worse,” he tells Victor.

“Shocking,” Victor mumbles sarcastically.

“Vic, we need to do something other than run. Surely there has to be another option.”

“Like what? Making a stand with a guy who can control pain, a hacker, and a kid who can raise the dead? We have no chance alone, Mitch.”

“Then why are you so opposed to help?”

“Because we aren’t normal people, Mitch. We have no home, no help, and no chance of being noticed without dire consequences. We’re ghosts.”

“You defeated Eli, and then EON. Why is this different?”

“Because this is EON multiplied by a million. And, technically, I didn’t defeat Eli, I just got him out of the way long enough to keep going.”

“If we’re ghosts,” Mitch says slowly, “then there’s still a chance.”

“Three versus the world government is not a fair fight, and one I refuse to pull you or Sydney into.”

“What if we had more help? A Good Samaritan willing to gather EO troops?”

Victor rolls his eyes. “Even if that was a possibility, it will never work. NWA doesn’t recruit Good Samaritans, or at least trains it out of them.”

Mitch doesn’t respond, which leads Victor to return to his side. “You know something.”

“I know lots of things.”

“Mitch,” Victor warns.

“I do, but it’s not important yet. Not pertinent, even.”

“Then tell me.”

“No. If I’m wrong, we don’t need that kind of negative impact.”

“Mitch, if it doesn’t matter, why do you keep bringing it up?” Victor demands.

“Because something is changing!” Mitch replies, raising his voice as he stands. “Can’t you tell that?”

“I can,” Sydney says quietly, standing in the doorway behind them. “There’s more, more life or something. It’s not quite as bad as it was.”

“That doesn’t mean there’s a powerful savior that makes this all go away; we are still in danger of being killed,” Victor argues. “I know it’s not what we want to admit, but it’s the truth – this ends with death for us. Especially if we rush into this fight without stopping to think for a minute. This isn’t beating Eli, not revenge, it is life or death.”

“Not just for us,” Mitch interjects. “Task O, as in O for ordinary, is killing EOs. But I think an agent, or someone else, is helping them. That’s why Sydney can sense more life than there ‘should’ be.”

“So, what you’re telling me is that because of one good NWA agent, there’s a bunch of ghosts?”

“Basically.”

Victor rakes his fingers through his pale hair as he thinks.

“You said it would take more than three ghosts,” Mitch reminds him gently. “If we can find a whole race of ghosts? EO ghosts, at that, and the NWA, the New World Charter doesn’t stand a chance.”

“What else are you keeping from me?” Victor asks.

“Chocolate milk,” Sydney whispers, a smile appearing when Mitch laughs. Each day her smile becomes a little rarer. That alone makes Victor want to fight, even though he’ll never admit it.

“A name,” Mitch answers. “And I’m still going to hold onto it. Until I’m sure.”

“You really think this will work?”

“I do. But not without you on board and willing to trust me.”

“I trust you, Mitch, I do. It’s them I don’t trust.”

“Give it some time. And we need to stay here.”

“It’s been days already; someone will be able to find us if they look hard enough.”

“Exactly,” Mitch says with a smile.

✯✯✯✯✯

You return to NWA Headquarters before receiving your next target. Every agent is recalled upon Barton’s sudden betrayal and execution. Sitting at the back of the crowded room, you hope more EOs have caught word of the ambush and found a safe hiding place. Finding them will be difficult, but the future lies in the hands of the superpowered people your neighbors are hunting.

Your mission, however, is to find the unfindable and get them to a safe place before gathering them for a revolution. Your future, and theirs, of course, has far too many variables. But, you will give everything you have, including your life, to bring peace and remind ordinary people that ExtraOrdinaries aren’t so different.

“Why can’t we just train them?” someone asks. “If EOs are dangerous now, then we can show them another way. Maybe they’re just as lost and surprised as we are. Thousands of experts are at your disposal, able to teach EOs how their powers work and maybe even gain an ally.”

You agree entirely, wishing you had the strength to stand up and voice your opinion, too. When the agent is cut off in the middle of a sentence, you’re glad you waited. NWA is not fond of its agents speaking out of turn, especially when what they say is morally right.

“Any other comments?” Smoak asks, practically daring someone else to speak. “Well then, let’s get this meeting underway.”

“Wait! My partner never showed up and I’m worried,” an agent explains, standing as they speak.

“Yes,” Smoak says, glancing at the paper before him. “Your partner has decided to take a less active role in our Canada region.”

Sighing, you wish you could comfort the agent. ‘The Canada region’ is the codeword NWA officials use for the same place Daniels threatened to send you. It’s a place for exiled and disgraced agents who are never heard from or seen again. You’re sure it’s a type of black site, not simply a prison compound, so you feel empathetic towards the exiled and their partner.

“Focus,” Daniels whispers, tapping you with his elbow. “We’re next.”

“Task O has made excellent progress in the early stages of the program. There is much work to be done ahead of us, and as the days progress, we will add manpower and more teams to this task force. We are aware of the security breach, and it has been dealt with internally, but the information is still out there for the public to view. Our analysis and cyber teams are working to scrub as much of this from global internet servers as possible, but we will be providing temporary housing and other aid as needed. NWA is not just an agency, we are here for you, so do not hesitate to reach out as needed.”

You shake your head, wondering how long they’ll be able to keep up the lies that they’re doing good and here for the people. The idea that Smoak cares about the agents who were exposed is laughable; your memory of hearing Barton’s execution keeps you from exposing your hand too early.

“One team, however, has made a big impact on us here at NWA. Supervising Agent Daniels and his team were the first to complete their initial mission.”

Supervising Agent Daniels and his team… as far as Daniels knows, you completed the mission. Yet, in typical government fashion, the man with seniority gets the credit. Not that you care; you are trying to stay below the radar and make yourself invisible as often as possible. Although, if this were your choice career, you’d be indignant.

“They have both our gratitude and admiration for such effectiveness in the field. For that reason, they will be receiving two assignments moving forward.”

There’s a small round of applause, and Director Smoak nods at Daniels before moving on to the next item on the docket.

“Port operations have resumed in major cities such as Los Angeles, Singapore, and Colón…”

You tune him out, your mind split between wondering what that nod was about and planning where you can send every EO to wait. Waiting will undoubtedly be the worst part of taking the world back from the dictators and murderers currently in charge, so a slow and steady approach is essential.

“You are dismissed,” Smoak nearly yells, pulling you from your planning.

“He wants to meet us about our new targets before we leave again,” Daniels fills you in, leaving you as he walks to the crowd of male leaders at the front of the room.

“Don’t know how you have the patience to work with a woman,” one of them jokes.

Daniels looks at you before reluctantly admitting, “She was vital to our success.”

It’s not an acknowledgment of the truth or your worth, but you play your role and smile at the men, unwilling to get angry or prove them right in any way. You will give Daniels all the praise and credit he wants to keep this assignment. One day, one person may know what you did or tried to do, and that is all you can ask for.

“Daniels,” Director Smoak greets, clapping his back. “You are our best, that’s for sure. Which is why I’m giving you and your partner here a new target. And I’m giving you our current most wanted EO. I don’t expect him to be easy to find, so I want you to blow through these other monsters while you’re hunting him. Shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

Smoak glances toward you, and you nod, giving him a respectful smile.

“I like this one. You work well together.”

“We do,” Daniels agrees. “And that’s certainly not a problem. We’ll keep knocking them down while we make our way to the top.”

“Exactly what I wanted to hear. Meet me in my office and we’ll discuss our most wanted.”

As you walk through the private hallways, off limits to agents such as yourself, you cross your fingers that you can find a well-known EO and get him on board with your plan. Another name, another pair of hands, anything will help. As long as they’re alright with being invisible.

✯✯✯✯✯

Victor drags a marker across a page, the odd domesticity of the situation making him anxious. Sydney returns from a quick walk with Dol, smiling again as she falls onto the couch beside Victor. Mitch is reading something on his computer, not unaware of how they’re all acting like they’re at home. He chuckles at the thought of the three of them sharing a home forever, and Sydney immediately asks what’s so funny.

“Nothing, just picturing how terrible Victor would be as a permanent roommate,” he answers.

Sydney joins his laughter as Victor pauses his editing.

“I wouldn’t be that bad,” he argues.

“Your last roommate is dead,” Sydney points out.

“Who killed him?” Victor challenges.

“Calm down,” Mitch says, feeling more like an overworked dad than ever. “And don’t get too comfortable, this isn’t the new normal, just a- just a break.”

“So, we’re setting a trap, luring someone into finding us?” Sydney clarifies, welcoming Dol onto the couch between her and Victor.

“More or less, yes.”

“Seems like more of a trap for us. Like a mouse sitting in a cage to catch a cat.”

Victor looks over at her, his brows raised as he nods. “Didn’t know you could make sense like that.”

“Says the cryptic old guy.”

Mitch sighs, and Victor returns his attention to the book in his lap, hiding how pleased he is to see Sydney acting like herself again.

“What happens after?” Sydney asks. “We get killed?”

“No,” Mitch and Victor answer together.

“I don’t know for sure what happens, Syd. This isn’t the same world we started in, and I can’t guarantee much past your safety, but I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“Or yourself,” Sydney demands, not a question but a statement.

 Victor nods, aware that he’s lying, and that Sydney knows it too.

✯✯✯✯✯

“Like many of our smaller units, we have a most wanted list for EOs,” Director Smoak explains as you and Daniels sit across from him. “Currently, there are ten EOs worthy of special attention. We don’t have pictures for several of them, but we have names and ideas of what their powers are. These people are dangerous, not just criminals to slap handcuffs on. There’s no training to prepare you for this mission, but you’ve proven yourselves trustworthy and competent.”

“Thank you, sir, it’s our honor to take this on,” Daniels responds.

Smoak slides two file folders across the desk before folding his hands in front of his chest. You open yours as Daniels takes his.

“Our most wanted.”

“Victor Vale,” you read. “What makes him so important, sir?”

“He is responsible for the death of Eli Ever, and the fall of EON. Not immortal or invincible, but he is hard to injure and harder to capture. The few agents who have had contact with him, or something close to it, have experienced excruciating pain and only one fully recovered.”

“His power is an ability to control pain,” Daniels deduces.

“Sorry, sir, but what do you mean by ‘something close to’ contact with him?” you interject.

“You don’t have to see him, even be all that close to him to be affected,” Smoak answers. “If he can see you, he can kill you.”

Nodding, you can’t help but imagine him dropping Daniels and removing perhaps your biggest obstacle. It is no wonder someone so powerful has maintained his freedom for so long.

“Two known associates? That’s a bit strange for EOs,” Daniels adds.

“It is. They tend to move and work alone, but this one has been seen with another man as well as a young girl,” Smoak reads.

“A young girl? Why?”

“We have reason to believe she is one of the EOs Eli Ever was searching for. There’s something special about this one, but we can’t be sure what without getting close. With Victor Vale at her side, that’s nearly impossible.”

“Is she considered dangerous?” you ask.

“Everyone with any association to Victor Vale is considered highly dangerous, especially if they are a suspected EO, as the girl is. While you hunt them, do not let your guard down for even a moment. Dangerous fights are unavoidable, but your safety is a possibility as long as you work together and use caution and logic.”

“You can count on us,” Daniels says.

You nod your agreement, your mind too caught on Smoak’s phrasing to reply. He considers this a hunt, not a search for a criminal. It fits, though, more like a hunt for sport as you track someone with the only intention of killing them. Or that’s what you would do if you weren’t a traitor.

“One more thing,” Smoak says, looking at you for once. “We have plenty of evidence that Eli was able to manipulate people very easily, especially women. Victor may have similar charm, but you need to keep your wits and the mission in mind, okay?”

You blink rapidly at his blatant sexism. “Yes, sir. I know that any interaction with Vale is simply to eliminate him.”

Smoak nods, dismissing you before speaking to Daniels. He doesn’t wait until the door closes and you hear, “Keep an eye on her, she’s good, but empathy has no place in this.”

You agree entirely as you desperately seek a way out of this fight, to finish it, and move on into a world where empathy is once again common and accepted.

✯✯✯✯✯

With the file nearly memorized, you stare at the ‘No Image on File’ block where Victor Vale’s picture should be. When you imagine meeting him, you see three possibilities: he reluctantly trusts you to join your treacherous plan, he doesn’t trust you and ignores you as he leaves, or he recognizes you as an NWA agent and kills you without question. Any choice has pros and cons, including the third, which removes you from the fight but reveals Victor’s path. If, miraculously, Victor chooses the first option, the New World Charter won’t know what hit them.

“What are you thinking about? If you’re worried about the charm statement, just force yourself to remember his known body count is nearing a hundred,” Daniels offers.

“No, sir, I wasn’t thinking about that. I was just wondering how he got his powers; pain can be an emotional experience sometimes, so it’s just an interesting idea.”

Daniels hums before arguing, “It doesn’t matter. He’ll be dead by the time we get to him anyway, so his second death will make a much bigger impact.”

You run your finger under the line about the young girl. If she’s present, you know you will do anything to keep her safe. After your own childhood and working with troubled youth early in your career, you have a soft spot for kids.

“We’re going after a water bender first,” Daniels says. “We’ve got his location and I’m exhausted, so I’m going to sleep until we land. Feel free to get started on tracking our ticket.”

The NWA equivalent of a golden ticket, or an assigning of your choice, a ticket is only achievable by apprehending or eliminating a top-tier EO or criminal. Since NWA was founded several months ago, only two tickets have been given: one for catching a serial killer and another for apprehending the last surviving captive of EON. 

Uninterested in a ticket, you begin researching, hoping to find something that will help you before it helps Daniels. Your hands hover over the keyboard as you wonder where to start. The list of names that Barton leaked, you realize, wasn’t just a moral decision but a head start. Finding his already deleted account, you begin working backward until you find the original posting. With each step, each download and movement of the document, you get a bit more discouraged.

One record, however, was nearly wiped: a download from a U.S. government database. You track it, surprised to find a 30-second interaction between users, just sharing the file and sending a now scrubbed-away message. Assuming it’s somehow related to Victor, you track it as far as possible. There’s no IP address or location, but you get a region: somewhere outside San Francisco with no secure internet. Whoever hacked the database was very good, so you must work quickly and effectively before they realize someone is on their computer.

It's a long shot, but you manipulate the document and post it in a private forum, dropping a link to the two computers you can find. The first one bounces back, but the second seems to deliver. And now you have to wait.

✯✯✯✯✯

“EO down,” Daniels alerts.

You stop in the alley, pressing your hand against the brick wall as you lean forward. Your stomach flips with anxiety and sadness. 

“Copy,” you radio.

A rogue tear breaks past your waterline. Wiping it away quickly, you kick a box before you, wondering how you failed to find this one.

Daniels says your last name, his voice eerily even.

 “Find anything else? This guy implied there was another one around here.”

“His accomplice, Rock?”

“Presumably. All we know about Rock is he has geo-powers. Just keep an eye out, we’ll keep patrolling for a bit.”

“Copy that, sir. I’ll let you know if I find anything.”

Turning, you decide to go back the way you came. As you near the sight of the execution, the ground rumbles beneath you. You stow your badge in your back pocket, out of sight.

“Rock?” you ask quietly, introducing yourself. “I want to help. I’m sorry about your friend.”

“Help? No one can help. You should let him take me, too.”

“I’m not going to do that, Rock. Can you come out and talk to me? There’s still hope.”

“No, there’s not. You let me walk today, and tomorrow someone else comes along, gets scared, and I end up in the same position. I’m tired.”

The ground shakes harder this time, and you grasp the wall beside you.

“Rock, I’ve been helping EOs for a few days, and I’m trying to get more of you to help me fight NWA.”

Rock chuckles sadly. “NWA will always win. You should know, since they’re beating you, too.”

“Just for now. I’m doing what I have to for now, and then they will be history. But I need your help, Rock.”

“I need it more,” he says before the ground tilts beneath you.

Struggling to stand, you slip forward and tumble down the hill you stand on. A man sits at the bottom, and you move toward him slowly.

“Rock,” you say gently.

“It’s over.”

You look past him and see the hills moving, rocks rolling quickly toward the city.

“Rock don’t do this. These people don’t deserve this.”

“Neither do we.”

“Then come with me and help me show them. Killing these people won’t change anything; it will just make them think that you are the monster they believe you to be,” you explain, your voice rising passionately.

“Maybe we are.”

“We’re not!” you yell.

“We?” Rock whispers.

You can’t take it back, and you can’t admit that you misspoke, so you nod. “Don’t let them see us the way they want to.”

The ground stills, the rocks slowing to a stop as the ground levels out.

“What are you planning to do?” he asks.

“Gather EOs, get them to safety, and then when we can group together and make a plan that lets us work together, we take the fight to them. The New World Charter is telling people that EOs are monsters.”

“Won’t fighting them be proving them right, too?”

“Not the way I’m planning,” you answer with a small smile. “But sometimes it takes a little evil to fight for good.”

Rock nods, standing from a tree stump. “Tell me where to go.”

“West. There’s an abandoned train depot. It’s pretty far from here, but it was huge in its day. That’s where I sent the last three EOs.”

Rock nods and takes a step past you before you stop him.

“I can’t guarantee that they’re there,” you admit. “I can’t guarantee your safety after I leave, either. My plan is built on hope and nothing more.”

“We all died before this started. If there’s anything we can trust in, it’s hope,” Rock promises.

“Just- just be careful, Rock.”

He pats your arm, the ground rumbling beneath you.

“You, too. I think you’re in for a lot more trouble than we are.”

As he runs over the hill and out of sight, you let the faint shaking of the ground soothe you. He’s right, you’re in more danger than you care to think about. Now, though, you need to stage another execution.

“You got him?” Daniels asks. Confused, you don’t answer, so Daniels says your name.

“Yes, sir?”

“The ground is still; did you get him?”

“Oh, yes, sir. Sorry, he was strong.”

“Well done. Two in one. Meet me back at the plane.”

Daniels’ apparent trust in you gives you more hope that you are making progress. It also temporarily blinds you, and you don’t notice someone watching you in the shadows. You look at the tree stump beside you and step over it on your way back to the plane.

✯✯✯✯✯

Mitch’s brow furrows as he notices a changed name. The NWA’s list of names has been renamed, so Mitch opens it.

The motto at the bottom has been added to, For an ordinary world, no matter the cost. now says For a world that accepts the unordinary, no matter the cost.

Your name is highlighted, and Mitch smiles as he realizes he was drawn to your information for a reason. He types a quick, nearly unnoticeable change before saving it. A simple letter added, and a change of address to your contact information, which Mitch trusts will be enough to draw you in. The trap has been set, and he hopes they’re the cat in Sydney’s analogy, luring a mouse inside and not the other way around.

✯✯✯✯✯

Your name has been altered, your first and last now surrounding the middle initial V. For Victor, you presume. Your address lists a different city, and you finally know where you’re going.

“Daniels, I think I found a lead. Someone hacked into an old police database and downloaded some files. The computer was in a smaller town outside of San Francisco, sir,” you tell him.

He looks over your shoulder at the computer, and you’re grateful that you took the time to create some faux tracking records. Nodding, Daniels moves to sit across from you as he opens Victor’s file.

“One of the ones that was evacuated?” he asks.

“Yes, sir. During one of the first riots from what I can tell.”

During the dissolution of the United States and its integration into the New World Charter, there were riots in several big cities. They became overwhelmingly violent, and biological weapons were used, or at least threatened to be used in numerous cities, including San Francisco. When it reached this level, many of the residents in the cities and surrounding areas evacuated. Now, ghost towns litter the U.S., acting as the perfect hiding spot for people who don’t want to be found: for ghosts.

“Our next target is on the way to San Francisco; think we have time for a quick stop? Or will they move quickly?”

“I think we have time, sir. The IP location hasn’t changed since the download; maybe that data leak made them think we’d stop searching.”

“Let’s hope. It’d be nice to see that document used for some good.”

If you trusted Daniel a bit more, you’d think he was concerned for the well-being of the people on the list, but he only cares about himself and getting a ticket.

“That would be nice, sir.”

✯✯✯✯✯

“Promise not to get mad,” Mitch begins.

“What about me makes you think that’s something I would do?” Victor replies.

“Vic.”

“Fine. What’ve you got?”

“Our Good Samaritan. NWA Agent.”

“No.”

“Hear me out,” Mitch begs. Victor sighs, so Mitch smiles and continues. “She got into my computer; we’ve gone back and forth a few times, and she’s probably on her way.”

“You told her where we are?” Victor asks incredulously. “We don’t know anything about these people, except that they want to kill us!”

“She changed the motto, Vic, she’s on our side.”

“Oh, right, because liars and cheaters working for the New World Charter would never change a motto to learn where I am.”

“Guys?” Sydney asks, holding her arm over her chest. “It happened again.”

“Another life?” Victor asks, his voice softer.

Sydney nods. “I think I know what is causing it: a lot of people think someone is dead, but they’re not. Or something like that.”

Mitch looks at Victor to hypothesize, “As if someone was pretending to kill EOs, and telling their superiors they did their job. Which would affect the one person who can sense life and bring it back.”

Victor shows no emotion as he begins pacing, thinking about everything he’s learned in the last few weeks and now, minutes.

“Do you really trust her?” Sydney asks, moving to stand by Mitch.

“I do. I never would have told her where you were if I didn’t.”

“He doesn’t trust her.”

“No, I don’t,” Victor interrupts. “But I’m willing to meet her. Alone. If, somehow, she convinces me she is trustworthy, I will give her a chance to explain herself.”

“And if she doesn’t?”

Victor nods, acknowledging that he still vows to hurt people before they can hurt Sydney. His safety, his fate, is not the only thing reliant on his decisions, which is why he makes them so methodically.

✯✯✯✯✯

“I found her, Daniels,” you radio.

Someone is standing behind you, and you tense as you turn to face them. Looking around, you’re surprised that no one is there. You still feel eyes on you, but you ignore it and focus on Daniels’s reply.

“Where are you?”

“Second alley west of Main.”

“I’ll meet you there.”

Daniels enters the alley from the east, which surprises you. He passes you while you look at the alley entrance, wondering where he came from.

“Alright. Let’s go get a ticket, then,” Daniels says.

“That’s it, sir?”

“You did your job, didn’t you?”

Daniels sounds strange, something you can’t place in his expression and his words.

“Yes, sir.”

He shrugs and gestures for you to follow him. “Then we can go.”

Doubt, you realize. He’s doubting you for some reason. Assuming that it’s because you are risking his ticket if you are wrong, you follow him wordlessly.

“I think that I should go in alone to get Vale,” Daniels tells you as the plane door closes.

“Sir?”

“I’m the supervising and senior agent, and I don’t feel right about leading you into a death trap like that.”

“Oh. Yes, sir, I understand.”

Daniels smiles as he adds, “And Vale is mine.”

[right-brain-of-froggy2]

Christmas in July Chapter 25

And we made it! This will be the last "actual" chapter to Christmas in July, but I'll be keeping you entertained until the 31st with extras and little epilogues for chapters 🤗 Much love to everyone! Without any more delay, here is Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy!

AO3 link here!

Alan can’t sleep.

It’s like he’s three again- waiting to hear a noise from downstairs that Santa has come with presents and toys. His insomnia doesn’t quite have the same cause being twenty-one. Maybe he’s just used to the constant hum of his college dorm. Living on campus has been a change this past year and Alan isn’t sure why people told him to live with a roommate that’s not one of his brothers. It’s not great.

He rubs at his eyes and sits up. Thoughts of college are not productive for sleep. With Dad at home for a few years and back to operating at 100%, Alan was free to go to the college of his choosing. There no longer was the looming worry of International Rescue lacking an astronaut and all around operative. It’s nice to follow in his three eldest brother’s footsteps with classes and courses and deadlines, but he misses being home.

Alan kicks the blankets off and untangles himself from the blankets and rug on the floor. Before getting up, he crouches down to peer under his bed. Alan’s presents for his family are still hiding underneath. They’re something he threw together in one of his required arts classes; not quite Virgil-level artistry but still something he’s proud of. Deciding that now is as good of time as any to set them under the tree, Alan creeps out of his room and down the hall.

Christmas Eve brought on the sibling present exchange earlier in the evening. Bits of wrapping paper that didn’t make the dustpan linger on the floor. But somehow, Alan still finds that the tree has no shortage of gifts under the branches. Boxes and bags spill out in all directions with sparkling bows. Grandma did always insist that no one be left out Christmas morning and the phrase “I don’t need anything” is just plain ridiculous. Her and Dad must have snuck out after everyone else went to bed to put it all together.

Alan thinks for a moment before turning with his presents in hand. These would fit better in stockings. Which will be a challenge in and of itself to find everyone’s.

Their stockings are hung in any spot with room for a hook. Alan finds his own squished between Gordon’s and Dad’s on his desk with Grandma’s on the edge. He pulls out the three pieces of parchment that belong to Dad, Gordon, and Grandma. The calligraphy is smooth and even with each name written in a cursive font. Few people use paper anymore beyond the arts. Alan had to practice multiple times in class to get the method of using pen and ink just right.

With those three down, Alan moves around the room to the next patch of stockings. Brains and MAX’s stockings are right next to each other with The Mechanic’s. Alan slips their pieces of paper into each. Then Lady Penelope, Parker, Scott, and Virgil’s. John’s is last along with a small one for EOS. Alan delivers the handwritten name in calligraphy to each.

Alan yawns into his hand. His jaunt out to deliver the presents did his insomnia some good. He makes his way back up to his room. Before starting down the hall to his room, Alan stops at the first door. Dad, Grandma, and the guestrooms are down below. Brains and the Mechanic have rooms closer to the labs for their odd hours. Meaning only his brothers and sister sleep on this level. Alan checks the door and, unsurprisingly, finds it unlocked.

The door swings open without little sound. Alan peeks his head in. Scott is sleeping with the AC on full blast under a mound of blankets. Alan can spot the new Christmas pajamas on from Scott’s arm thrown out on top of the covers. The windows are closed, but the half moon provides enough light that Alan can see how peaceful his brother’s face looks. Scott snores with every inhale in. Not even the soundproofing walls designed for rocket launches can contain his brother’s snores from the hallway. But the sound is more comforting than annoying. Alan grew up hearing that sound his entire life. If Scott can be heard snoring, then everything is right in the world. No monsters under the bed or shadows from the closet could haunt his dreams.

Alan closes the door.

He should get to his own bed. But Alan’s room is at the end of the hall. In between here and his door is all of his siblings’ rooms. There’s no harm in checking in on all of the others.

Gordon’s room is next to Scott’s, squished between the pilot’s and Virgil’s. Alan is gentler opening Gordon’s door. His immediate brother is the second lightest sleeper behind John. The door catches on some plant vine that Alan has to kick away before the pot falls from its shelf. It’s all but a jungle in the aquanaut’s room.

When Gordon sleeps, he looks dead. He’s lying facedown into his pillow with only his mouth hanging over the edge to breathe. Opposite to Scott, Gordon’s on top of the blankets with his “12 Days of Christmas” pajama pants on. The top is probably already lost to the void as Gordon is shirtless except for his favorite sleeping back brace.

Alan waits for a visible breath from Gordon before shutting the door and moving to Virgil’s room.

His middlest brother is definitely the worst in the mornings, but hardly ever wakes unless woken. Alan doesn’t try as hard to keep his noise down as he sticks his head into Virgil’s room. He’s on his side, facing towards the door. Virgil’s face is slack and black hair no longer held up in place by gel. A small speaker is playing music inaudible by Alan’s distance on the nightstand. Alan remembers hiding away over Christmas Eve in Virgil’s bed with him because it was the only room Gordon didn’t dare go into on his 5AM escapades to get presents earlier. He shuts the door.

Alan yawns as he reaches for Kayo’s doorknob. But he can’t go to bed until he’s done.

She’s sprawled out like a starfish under her blankets, with only a single foot in a fuzzy sock sticking out. At the sound of the door opening, Kayo twitches and flops over onto her side, but doesn’t wake up. Her entire head is covered except for strands of knotted hair that are spread out across her pillow. Alan has to bite his lip from laughing at how uncoordinated of a sleeper his sister is. Kayo has been graceful with most everything in her life but sleeping.

Alan leaves and braces himself to be as silent as a ghost for the final room.

John is facing the wall away from the door when Alan enters. Unlike the other rooms, his windows are drawn shut to not let any light in. Which, in Alan’s opinion, is a bit ridiculous when he sleeps with a holoprojector on idle in case EOS calls in a rescue overnight. John’s normally pale face is cast in a gentle blue from the holoprojector. His fingers and arms twitch in a meaningless pattern. If he’s twitching that much, then he must be deep in sleep.

Alan turns to shuffle out of John’s room.

“Alan.”

Oh, that’s not good. John sounds wide awake and has such a hard time falling asleep that Alan instantly feels bad.

“Yes?”

“Did you reconfigure Three’s cargo hold?”

“Um, no.”

“We need more room for rations when you head to Xi’an. Gordon should have the key for them.”

For a second, he really thought he had woken John up! Alan breathes a sigh of relief. It’s just the nonsense of sleep talking coming from John. Alan could push it if he wants and get John to have some wacky conversation, but it’s not that type of night.

“Good night, John.”

“Tell Virgil not to take my favorite cup anymore.”

“Merry Christmas, Johnny.”

[jikookpancakes]

JIKOOK FIC RECS that no one asked for (2021)

but im giving anyway because THE TALENT IN THIS FANDOM IS INSANE

long post incoming!! this is probably just part 1 because i wont stop reading anytime soon so i’m inserting that link just in case i do make another one in the future

What’s a Soul Really Worth, Anyway? by thisneedsmorefilth - 130k words, fantasy, demon!jm, witch!jk, listen, this and the next one are my top 2 jikook fics of all time, so well-written, plot so exciting legit reads like a book, better than a lot of books tbh, the world-building is INSANE, jungkook and the gang accidentally summon demon!jimin and chaos ensue, especially for jungkook...and you know why!!!, so funny, angsty, cried so much, happy ending but listen to me: you gotta read the sequel too, YOU GOTTA.

Militat Omnis Amans: The Beginnings by edaen - 92k words, fantasy, werewolf!jk, vampire!jm, forbidden love, super slow burn but super worth it, JIKOOK IN THIS IS MY FAVORITE JIKOOK IN ANY FIC EVER EVER EVER, this is the ultimate all or nothing will freeze hell over for the other kind of love, and the way this is written is just so... how do i describe it. like you can just tell the author wanted to be very realistic with their feelings. you’ve seen the word count, this is SLOW burn. like you will legit feel their struggle to just be able to love each other and while it hurts, it’s also SO GLORIOUS. i love this one so much and if you like reading angst with happy ending but like cranked up to 200% then read this. bonus feels if you read the whole series

Until Dawn (series) by edaen - this is the long series where the previous one above is part of. highly rec if you love fantasy and you wanna read about bts being a rag tag group of supernatural beings fighting evil yay. also it makes the above fic more satisfying because you see more of jikook just being tgt and in love (with bonus angst because of course)

7 Signs by NamHyora - 27k words, secret spies au, abo, alpha!jk, omega!jm who is always used as a raven in their operations aka they use jimin and his attractive self to attract people and gather information or acquire targets and all that spy stuff, and his bestie alpha jk is not too happy about it hehe, friends to lovers, iove this one so much i wish it was longer but i think the author is planning to write a sequel!

Drop Like Confetti by annie_vi - 110k words, ceo!jk, age difference, age swap, ahhh i love this fic so much cause jimin smart and mature and has this no bs attitude, and he can keep up with jk despite the age gap and the difference in status/experiences, jk sexy dilf in this one eheh, i love it cause the drama/angst tackles a very real concern for such couples, like there’s no angst just for the sake of having angst, it really makes sense where they’re both coming from, they’re so whipped for eo too so love that for me

Fold it Up Like Origami by annie_vi - 99k words, gamer!jk, model!jm, same author as above and jk is so boyfriend goals in this one and in all this author’s fics in general like wow my standards are so high now i will legit be single forever just reading jikook fics (with no regrets), secret relationship due to their celeb status, well-written as usual, dialogues/banter in this author’s fics are just YES

The Tournament by kinkmins - 34k words, prince!jm, bodyguard!jk, abo, i’ll paste part of the summary here “Prince Jimin gets ready to hold a tournament where 50 alphas compete for a chance to court him, his father the king hires a new bodyguard who is a little too blunt and a little too talkative.“, i really love this oneeeee

Screwed Up and Brilliant by annie_vi - 113k words, escort!jk, jimin needed a date for a work event and in comes jungkook, escort extraordinaire with a no sex rule and jimin is just dasdkjfhasl, a lot of that “is this real or is he just acting” kinda angst, fluff smut angst

Like Everything Glows by annie_vi - 180k words, merman!jm, aquatic vet!jk, ok this is like my 4th rec from this author just read all their fics you’re welcome, this is their first fantasy fic but soso good, i rec’d this to someone who doesn’t really read fics and she really loved it and said “their love is so pure hhh”, she’s right

Track one: I love you by honeydice - 30k words, they’re “just” best friends, lots of pining it hurts, there’s some yoonmin and mentioned past jinmin in this so just noting in case, angst, denial of feelings, siiiiigh

InYou by edaen - 4k words, pwp :), abo, the morning after jikook mating, more sexytimes ensue + fluff

Falling For You Again by Rose_gold715 - 30k words, amnesia au, jk forgets about jimin and idk just something about this hits right in the feels. btw i don’t support the jk hated jm before in real life agenda so i don’t like this fic for that reason but i like this fic because i love me some good painful angst with happy ending.

The President’s Son by AmeliaBedelia - 55k words, bodyguard!jk, president’s son!jm, jk is assigned to shadow jm bc his life is under threat, and things develop :), jm is jk’s gay awakening :) :)

A Touch of Sin by pettey - 102k words, fantasy au, police officer!jk, supernatural!jm, shamanism, LOOK AT THE RANGE OF JIKOOK WRITERS YALL, this is such an interesting concept, so different from every other fic i’ve read, really well-written, sometimes you come across fics and you cant help but go “someone out there rly blessing me with this art for free”

Tears to the Tide by haromame - 65k words, abo, alpha!jk, omega!jm, honestly there’s not a lot of abo elements it’s focused more on jungkook having ptsd as he just came from war, established relationship jikook, he comes back home to jimin and things have just... changed. except their love ok THEY LOVE EO SO MUCH this made me cry so f much ugh so good tho.

Zero Hour by edaen - 5k words, canon compliant, a little drabble based around rosebowl jikook, it’s part of a series/collection of canon compliant jikook so if you’re looking for more canon compliant here you go!!, also if you can’t tell already i tend to like several things from a single author, i haven’t read their other fics im legit saving for sad days but i am confident enough to say their other fics are also rec-worthy.

Wonder by wordcouture - 7k words, im sorry in advance, mcd :( pls take care of yourself, i don’t like sad endings ok i don’t, but this is so popular and i was like, ok let’s see what the hype is all about, i get it now, :((((((((((((((((((((, well-written tho, bc the author will manage to crush your heart in just 7k words ha ha

The Omega Revolution by PinkBTS  - 158k words, abo, alpha!jk omega!jm, dystopian au, the hunger games more specifically mockingjay vibes, angst with happy ending but there’s some...things... lost along the way and i think that’s realistic for a dystopian war au, well-written

Blind Switch - 226k words, jockey!jk, rich spoiled brat!jm, jm gets exiled to his grandparents ranch where he meets jk yeehaw, im sorry for the yeehaw, anyway fluff smut angst enemies friends to lovers hurt/comfort slow burn happy ending, all the good stuff, ugh jk so boyfriend goals, also the amount of fluff in the later chapters thank u writer

Finally by Rose_gold715 - 12k words, abo, alpha!jk, omega!jm, angst with happy ending, jikook mate out of convenience and jimin runs away from jk and his pack feeling unloved and outcasted, but jungkook goes after him :((

Park Jimin’s Guide to Good Housekeeping by Ashlyn17 - 235k words, fantasy au, when i say jikook has the best fic writers i mean jikook has the best fic writers because THE WORLD-BUILDING in this one?, THE PLOT TWIST?, yesyesyes, jungkook is a powerful fae and jimin is assigned to be his housekeeper hehe, listen my entire fic rec has several that could be great netflix shows and this is definitely one of them

A Spell That Reminds Me of Your Name by Chimneycricket - 42k words, wizards!au, enemies to friends to lovers and the development felt natural, well-written plus the author sometimes makes art of their fics and other jikook fics and posts on twitter, both their fics and art are so good, i’ve heard good stuff about their other fics too :)

that’s it for now!

just a quick one about my preferences: idc about tops/bottoms, i read just about anything but i prefer fantasy and multi-chaptered fics, i love established relationship jikook so hmu with recs anytime, i don’t like reading anything with cheating and mcd, i love fics where jk and jm are just so friggin in love they are just IT for eo, and at the end of the day even if there are elements to the fics i wouldn’t normally read, as long as they’re well-written then i’m all for it

[whumpwriterforlife]

Could I please request shaking and shivering with Cor? Your writing is so good!

Yes you can! Here you go, shaking and shivering with young Cor!

Shaking and Shivering

Fandom: Final Fantasy XV

Characters: Cor Leonis, Regis Lucis Caelum, Clarus Amicitia, Weskham Armaugh & Cid Sophiar

Whumpee: Cor Leonis

Word count: 3790

Warnings: Sickfic

Can be found on ao3 here

-----

“Wakey, wakey, Sunshine,” Clarus’ voice broke through the sleepy haze surrounding him and then there was a foot nudging him.

Cor grumbled and buried himself deeper into his sleeping bag. His head felt stuffy, his body aching in a way that made him want to do nothing but close his eyes and drift off again.

It was a luxury Clarus didn’t grant him.

Suddenly the world tilted, eliciting a startled yelp from Cor as he scrambled to hold onto the sleeping bag as Clarus dragged him out of the tent by the foot-end of the sleeping bag.

“Hey! You’re buying me a new one if this one gets torn!” He ended up sounding more whiny than anything as he swore at the Shield. Clarus dumped him in front of the fire unceremoniously and laughed as Cor tried — and failed — to smack him. Cor pouted.

“Ah, just in time for breakfast,” Weskham said from somewhere to his left, and Cor turned his head to see him walk over with a bowl of something in his hands. “Here, have some.”

Cor quietly accepted the bowl and peered down at its contents. It was oatmeal with nuts and fruit toppings. Normally he would have been ecstatic about it — it was definitely better than the weird sludge-like ratios they sometimes had — but he didn’t feel hungry this time. He poked some of the fruits with a spoon. Knowing Weskham, or any other of those damn motherhens, they wouldn’t let him get away with skipping the meal. With a resigned sigh, Cor shuffled his way out of the sleeping bag. He instantly missed the warmth of it as he settled down on one of the chairs surrounding the fire.

Regis gave him a curious look from across the fire but said nothing as he dug into the oatmeal. Cor pulled his legs to his chest, ignoring the dirty look Weskham sent his way at that, and slowly started working his way through the oatmeal. At least it was warm if nothing else.

“You’re looking awfully pale this morning. Are you feeling alright, Cor?” Weskham asked as he sat down in the chair next to him.

“I’m fine,” Cor replied and rolled his eyes. It was just a bad day, a minor cold at worst. There was no reason to worry the others with it when he could handle it.

“Are you sure?” Regis asked. “You do look off today.”

Weskham seemed to take this as an invitation to reach over to touch Cor’s forehead. Cor slapped his hand away and sunk deeper into the chair with an unhappy grumble. “Leave me alone. I’m fine.”

Clarus’ eyes narrowed. “Cor...”

Regis put his hand on Clarus’ arm and shook his head. “Let’s finish eating. We have a long day ahead of us.”

“Fine,” Clarus said and shrugged off Regis’ hand before going to get himself breakfast.

Cor stayed silent as they finished eating, barely even greeting Cid as the man appeared from who knows where. He scooted his chair slightly closer to the fire as a shiver raked through his body. It was late Fall, the beginning of the Winter really, and he blamed it on that. He still didn’t have a thick jacket, partly because it was a hindrance in a fight but also because of the cost. Hopefully they would get to the warmer parts of Lucis soon so he wouldn’t have to worry about getting one.

“What’s the plan for today?” Cor asked when the last of the bowls had been put away. They were all still sitting around the fire, watching as the sun rose higher in the sky.

“Well, while you were still sleeping and wasting daytime, Clarus and me went over to a local tipster and got ourselves a few hunts. Nothing too bad but enough to pay for Regalia’s repairs,” Cid told him and sent a glare in Regis’ direction at the last part. Cor snickered. It was the second time Regis had wrecked the Regalia since they had left Insomnia.

“Oh give it a break, Cid, that was hardly my fault,” Regis huffed and got up from his chair.

“You hit a parked car,” Clarus pointed out as he watched Regis disappear into the tent. “The only other car on the lot.”

“It shouldn’t have been parked there!” Regis protested.

“Whatever you say,” Clarus shook his head with a smirk.

Cid looked at the two of them for a moment before rolling his eyes. “The first job is to take care of a pack of saberclaw. According to the map, it takes thirty minutes to drive there and another thirty to hike to their last known location. From there, we’ll head towards Malmalam Thicket for our second hunt.”

“What’s the second hunt?” Cor asked, half dreading the answer. He had hoped the day would be easy, one he could spend sitting in a car, but of course that couldn’t be the case. At least, if he had done the math correctly, he would be able to get a few hours of sleep on the drive to Malmalam Thicket.

“Seadevils,” Clarus told him with an unsettling grin. He was just as much a daredevil as Cor was, even if he was better at hiding it. “Should be fun.”

Cor suppressed a groan. Neither hunt would be exactly easy and there would be no room for slip ups. He got up from his chair. “Right.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Weskham clapped his hands together and nodded. “We should all pack up so we can be on the road as soon as possible.”

Cor grabbed his sleeping bag from the ground and vanished it into the armiger without even bothering to roll it up. He got a few weird looks for it but ignored them as he went to grab his things from the tent.

“I’ll just go wait by the car.”

“No you don’t,” Clarus said and grabbed him by the back of his jacket before he could leave the haven. “It’s your turn to take down the tent.”

Cor yanked his jacket out of Clarus’ grip and glared at the man. Clarus glared right back at him.

This was going to be an awful day.

----

Cor felt like death warmed over. His feet felt leaden as he tried to keep up with everyone else as they hiked towards the Maidenwater Bridge and the second hunt of the day. He buried his face into the crook of his elbow to suppress a cough. Fortunately he was far enough behind the group that they didn’t notice. His condition had only worsened throughout the day. He was cold, frozen to the bone. He was wearing two long-sleeves and the thickest jacket he had — which admittedly wasn’t all that thick — but he was still shivering. His head felt stuffy and he was having a hard time focusing on anything. None of this was exactly good when hunting.

Cor was still committed to making it through the day. What kind of ‘guard would he be if he couldn’t do his job because of a little cold? There were so many people that doubted him, that were just waiting for him to fail and fall, many of them his fellow Crownsguards. He wasn’t going to give them that satisfaction which meant he would just have to power through the rest of the day, one way or another.

“Eos to Cor!” Cor’s head jerked up and he saw Clarus looking at him over his shoulder. The Shield gave him a pointed look. “Keep up, we’re almost there.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Cor rolled his eyes but took off in a jog to catch up to the guys.

He hoped the Seadevils wouldn’t put up too much of a fight. He had heard of them and knew roughly how they acted when engaged but he had never actually fought them. At least the Saberclaw pack hadn’t given them much trouble. No curatives had been used and no one had gotten injured. Well, no one if they didn’t count Regis tripping over a tree root when they had been on their way back to the Regalia. That had been hilarious.

They soon arrived at the bridge. It didn’t take long for them to see the Seadevils. There were five of them just chilling on the shoreline on the other side of the river. Cor pressed his lips into a thin line. They were larger than he had expected. Still manageable but more annoying.

“Well those look vicious,” Regis remarked dryly.

“Those jaws look like they’d have no trouble snapping any of us in half,” Weskham nodded as he scratched his chin thoughtfully. “I suggest we all exercise caution when approaching these creatures. Regis, my research indicates they’re weak to ice elemancy.”

“Excellent,” Regis grinned and Cor glanced at him just in time to see his hands flash light blue. Clarus patted him on the shoulder with a laugh and summoned his broadsword. They were both way too excited about this hunt. Cor would have most likely been right there with them, all ready to fight, if he hadn’t been feeling like shit.

“Let’s get this over with before sundown, don't wanna be stuck out here when the daemons come out,” Cid told them, sounding as grouchy as ever as he started crossing the bridge. Clarus grabbed Regis and was quick to follow him.

Cor sighed, pulling out his katana from the armiger as he walked after the trio. He only made it a couple of steps before there was a hand on his shoulder. He turned his head to see Weskham looking at him with worry. “Yeah?”

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Weskham asked him. “You’re all pale and don’t quite seem to be your usual energetic self today. If you need to-”

“I’m fine, Wesk,” Cor told him, more forceful than he needed as he pulled away from the man. He needed to see this through and could rest when they were back at camp. “The others are going, I don’t want to fall behind.”

Weskham pressed his lips together, clearly less than happy with Cor, but said nothing. Cor took that as his cue to pick up the pace to catch up to everyone else.

Regis and Clarus had already thrown themselves into the fight like the adrenaline junkies that they were and Cid wasn’t far behind them with his trusty spear. Cor jogged down to the shore, ignoring how lightheaded and out of breath it made him feel as he attacked the Seadevil closest to him.

He let his training and instincts take over from there, striking and slashing wherever he could as he avoided ending up a snack. The teeth on those things were large and sharp. If that wasn’t enough, they also shot water out of their mouths with pressure that would easily knock any one of them over. Cor hissed as he twisted out of the way when one Seadevil lunged at him, its jaws snapping shut with a downright terrifying snap. He staggered, barely managing to keep his balance. Adrenaline was a huge help, possibly the only thing keeping him upright at this point, but he was lacking his usual finesse.

It became even more evident when he was forced to evade yet another attack. He staggered, the sleeve of his jacket getting torn in the process as he yanked it out of the beast’s maw. A hand on the shoulder stabilized him, and he craned his neck to see Cid behind him.

“You need to be more careful, kid,” Cid told him. Then he was off, back into the fight.

Cor shook his head and muttered a curse under his breath. He was starting to feel a hint of frustration at how badly he was performing.

“Cor!”

Cor spun on his heels at Clarus’ shout but a heavy weight collided with him before he could see the situation. He gasped, his foot catching on a rock as he tried and failed to recover his balance. His katana disappeared in a flash of blue, a startled yelp escaping his lips as he fell into the freezing cold water.

He gasped for breath. The icy water soaked through his clothes in an instant. He couldn’t breathe. Cold. It was so cold. His whole body felt stiff, and he tried to push himself onto his elbows to get out of the water but they gave out from beneath him. He was shivering worse now.

“Regis get him out of here!”

There was sloshing as someone ran into the water and cursed at the coldness of it. A moment later there were hands propping Cor into a sitting position. Regis said something, his eyes tight with concern as he looked at him but Cor was too busy catching his breath to register the words. Regis threw his sword and his grip around Cor tightened. The world lurched in and out of focus and Cor’s stomach churned dangerously. Then they hit the ground by the bridge, away from the fight.

Cor screwed his eyes shut, a strained noise slipping from his lips as he shivered violently. “Regis-”

Regis pulled him into a better position and started tugging off his jacket. “We need to get you out of these wet clothes.”

“But- but the h-hunt,” Cor pointed out. He was still struggling to catch his breath, his teeth chattering together.

“The others can take care of it, we need to make sure you won’t get hypothermic.” Regis stated sternly and threw Cor’s jacket aside. Cor frowned softly, almost tempted to whine as he looked at the rock pile where his jacket landed. It was his best jacket and Regis had just thrown it away like it was nothing. Cor was about to turn and tell him to fetch it but he was overtaken by a coughing fit. He whimpered.

“Cor, look at me.”

Cor’s gaze flicked over to Regis, only to flinch when he reached over to touch his forehead. He tried to move away but his stiff muscles refused to obey him.

“Shit, you’re burning up,” Regis cursed as he pulled his hand away. “Have you been sick this whole day? Why didn’t you tell us?”

“It’s nothing,” Cor shook his head, regretting it when he was hit by a dizzy spell.

“It’s clearly not ‘nothing’!” Regis retorted. He ran a hand through his hair and muttered something unflattering under his breath. “Astrals, that explains a lot. We just thought you were mad at Clarus for what happened in the morning.”

Cor made a confused noise.

Regis sighed. “We’ll talk about this later. We still need to get you out of those wet clothes and away from here.”

The good thing about the armiger was that it made carrying items easy and was always accessible. Regis helped Cor out of his wet clothes quickly and into a pair of warm sweats and a coat he happened to have lying around — floating around? — in the armiger. Cor had tried to tell him he could do it on his own but the way he was shaking told Regis otherwise.

“How’s the kid?”

Cor looked up to see the rest of the guys walking over to them, having taken care of the Seadevils.

“The ‘kid’ is right here.” He glared at them but the effect was ruined when another shiver shook his frame.

“He’s running a fever,” Regis said. “Been sick the whole day most likely if not longer.”

“Could you guys stop talking like I wasn’t here?”

“You what?” Clarus asked, brow furrowed as he looked at Cor. “Is that true?”

Cor shrugged. It was no use hiding the truth anymore. “Yeah, but it’s-”

“And you didn’t think to tell us? Do you realize how stupid that was!” Clarus exclaimed as he cut him off. Cor clenched his jaw and dropped his gaze to the ground as the Shield continued, “Your job is to keep Regis safe and then you just neglected to tell us-”

“Clarus,” Regis admonished him.

“That’s exactly why I didn’t tell you!” Cor snapped, getting to his feet even as he swayed dangerously. Regis was quick to take him by the arm and stabilize him. Cor didn’t brush him off. “If I had told you, you would have left me behind and been one man short! I did my job, I wasn’t going to let a minor cold take this from me!”

At the end of his tirade, he felt all the energy drain out of him and faltered. Regis wrapped both of his arms around him to keep him from falling.

Clarus opened his mouth to say something but Regis silenced him with a sharp look.

No one said anything for a moment but eventually Cid broke the silence. He shook his head as he glanced at each member of the group. “The sun won’t be up for much longer. We need to find a haven.”

“No, we’re going back to the car,” Regis said as he pulled one of Cor’s arms over his shoulders and wrapped his other arm around his waist. His tone left no room for arguments. “We’re finding a motel for the night.”

“We’ll need to move fast then.” Weskham walked over to where most of Cor’s wet clothes had been discarded and picked them up. “The roads are perilous at night.”

“Right, we should get going then,” Clarus sighed. He crossed the gap between him and Cor, sliding the kid’s hand over his shoulders to support him from the other side.

Cor had a childish urge to push Clarus away after the outburst but he had very little energy left. He shivered, taking a shuddering breath as they started walking. His feet were stiff and sore, as was his whole body, and Regis and Clarus ended up having to support most of his weight. They kept up a steady stream of chatter and made Cor participate so he didn’t fall asleep. At a few points during their trek to the car, they had to stop when Cor got overcome with violent coughing fits that left him unsteady and gasping for air. It was clear that his impromptu river bath had only made his condition worse.

They eventually got to the Regalia, where he was safely tucked to the back seat with Weskham, Regis, and their best-equipped first-aid kit. They denied Cor the warm blanket in it which elicited a barely suppressed whine out of him.

“You have a high fever,” Weskham kindly informed him, as if Cor hadn’t been aware of that before the stupid thermometer had beeped with 39,4 °C. “We need to get your temperature down, not up.”

“I’m cold,” Cor complained as he wrapped his arms around himself.

“You just feel cold,” Weskham replied as he dug through the first-aid kit for something.

“Same difference.”

Regis snorted and patted Cor on the shoulder. Cor pouted. At least one of them was having fun.

A moment later Weskham pushed a water bottle into Cor’s hand and offered him two pills. “These should help lower your fever. Take them and drink as much of the water as you can.”

Cor took the pills as ordered and managed to down nearly half of the water before giving it back to Weskham. He then pointedly ignored everyone in the car, except for Regis and his comfy shoulder that was acting as his makeshift pillow, as he closed his eyes. It didn’t take long for the steady rumble of the car to lull him to sleep.

He stirred an indeterminate amount of time later when a car door slammed shut. His nose scrunched up and he made a soft, disgruntled noise at being woken up. Someone chuckled above him, and it was then that he realized he was not in the car anymore. It took a moment longer for him to pick up on the fact that someone was carrying him. If he had had any more energy, he would have been mortified, but as it was, he could barely crack his eyes open to see it was Regis.

Regis looked down at him, a playful smile on his lips. “Go back to sleep, Cor. We just arrived at the motel.”

Cor blinked at him blearily as his brain registered the words. He licked his lips and frowned. “I can walk.”

“Of course you can,” Regis stated matter-of-factly but didn’t even pretend to put him down. “And I can carry you.”

“Just let him do it, kid,” Cid said. Cor craned his neck to see the man walking a few steps behind them. “Reggie can and will outstubborn you this time.”

Cor huffed. Regis carried him into their motel room and lowered him on one of the beds. He closed his eyes and flopped down on his back, only for his head to snap up a moment later when he felt hands tugging on his boots.

“What are you doing?” “Taking off your shoes,” Clarus said, rolling his eyes.

“I can-” Cor started and went to sit up.

Cid pushed him back down. “Wesk wants you to take it easy, so take it easy.”

“I can take off my own shoes!” Cor grumbled but didn’t try to get up again.

“Let us take care of you for once,” Regis said as he sat down next to Cor. Clarus muttered something about how it would have been nice to have some help with the boots but Regis ignored him. “You’re our brother, we want to help.”

Cor turned his head to look at Regis. He wondered if the fever was making him hear things. “But-”

“But nothing,” Regis cut him off. “You worried us today, Cor. You could have been badly injured. We know you’re as stubborn as can be, but we need you to tell us if you’re sick or injured in any way. Out here we’re on our own and need to take care of each other.”

“I’m sorry,” Cor sighed.

Regis smiled. “It’s okay. Try to get some rest. We’ll wake you up when we have food.”

Cor hummed, eyes falling shut once again. Regis helped him get under the covers and Cor offered no complaints this time. When he felt Regis start to rise, he reached out to grab his arm.

“Regis? About the brothers thing.”

“What is it?”

Cor smirked. “Cid’s old enough to be my grandad…”

There was a crashing sound somewhere in the room, followed by swearing. “How old does that brat think I am?”

“Probably sixty or something,” Clarus muttered in amusement.

“Listen here, Amicitia, I could-”

“Cid! Clarus-” Regis began but the words turned into incoherent mush as Cor drifted off. Hopefully the motel would be still standing when he woke up.

[tracybirds]

I can officially switch the status of Being Known from “stuck” to “WIP” again :) It’s been over a year since the last update for various reasons but I’m very excited to go back to this one and provide a new chapter!

For those new to the story, this was prompted by @kenzie-running-free in March 2020 and slightly got out of hand 😅 I’ve never stopped thinking about it and I bit the bullet and deleted the entirety of Chapter Four a few days ago and let myself rewrite it from scratch.... and it WORKED!!! (use technique with caution... scariest thing I’ve ever done.....)

Anyway...

A ‘what-if’ story based on “The Man From TB5” where the Hood recognized John in the scene when he makes himself known (instead of John stuttering).... and then he gets kidnapped :)

[Part 1] | [Part 2] | [Part 3]

-----------

Darkness bled into John’s line of vision and he scrubbed desperately at his aching eyes. Time collapsed around him as he worked, the abruptly extinguished bulb the only hint of night. And every new day seemed to bring new weariness as he jolted awake by the sudden onslaught of light which interrupted the deepest part of sleep.

Just another tactic to keep him from gathering his wits together.

This morning, if it was morning, the brightly burning bulb was coupled with the scraping sound of a breakfast tray being shoved through the small slot that had been crudely and hastily carved in the door after he’d lain in wait and brought the tray down over one of the guard’s head. He’d left the man stunned on the floor and made it all the way to the end of the corridor before another guard had grabbed him from behind and thrown him bodily back into the room.

He’d woken to security footage of a fire ravaging a building, his own family on screen.

“They’re not looking for you,” sneered the Hood as he swept from the room.

No guards came in anymore.

Two days later, he’d been savagely poked in the eye when he’d tried to look through the new slot that had been hastily added to his door.

He spent hours every day, searching for a way to send out a message, or even create another receiver. Any link to the outside world would do. But it soon became apparent that the Hood had done one thing right in giving him access to an isolated system, keeping the holomonitor he’d been provided with separate even from his own devices.

One thing right among many.

John peered at the screen with his good eye, wincing at the torn skin that pulled over bruised muscle. His head spun as he stared at the endless commands, trying to replicate the spark of life no-one had ever found before EOS.

Not even him.

And that was the rub of it all.

John didn’t know, not after all his time studying EOS and her abilities, just how she’d been born of code and logical absolutes. How she could grow and change and evaluate her own mind in a way that not only seemed human, but was unquestionably so.

He glanced at the clock he’d created from scratch, counting the oscillations in the electrical current and spitting back a digital time at him. This ‘morning’ truly did correspond with the morning, and that meant the Hood would be paying him a visit for an update.

He wasn’t sure how much more time he could stall for until things got truly desperate.

How much time he had until he had to conclude that he was truly on his own.

*                            *                            *

“Scott, the floor’s unstable there!”

“I know what I’m doing, Alan.”

“Yes, but I have the numbers,” Alan replied, his voice cracking as he spoke. He spun the holo in his hands, checking and double checking the analysis that was running under his fingertips.

“Then the numbers are wrong.”

“They can’t be!”

“Alan,” said Scott, patiently. “I need you to check the parameters over again. I’m seeing two trapped vehicles, with no sign of ground stress, both much larger than me and more importantly containing passengers. I need to get them out of there.”

“Yes, but hang on–”

“There’s no time!”

Alan watched in horror as his big brother barrelled forwards. He crouched low as he ran, grabbing at nearby pylons for support. The ground heaved beneath his feet, but still Scott moved forwards steady and sure. Always with his eyes on the scared little boy in the back seat and a gentle smile on his face.

An alert ticked over into the red.

“Jump, Scott!” he yelled, watching the model floor cave in a split second before a real sinkhole opened beneath Scott’s feet.

“Alan, what’s happening up there?” came Virgil’s urgent voice, bound for home with Gordon from their own rescue.

Alan flipped the channel, realising in his hurry he’d accidentally broadcast his message to everyone.

“He’s fine,” he said, eyes still wide as he watched Scott shakily stand on the other side of the chasm. “The floor went.”

“What?”

“He’s fine, he’s fine!”

“Didn’t you run the simulation?”

“I did,” said Alan, pressing the heels of his hands against his eyes. “He wouldn’t listen.”

Silence fell over the space station.

“Hey Alan, can you pilot Thunderbird One over to us? Got my hands full here.”

Scott’s voice rang out loud and clear. Five clear thermal images were standing around him, including one in his arms.

Alan fumbled for the call button.

“F.A.B. Scott.”

“I’ll talk to him, Alan,” said Virgil. His eyes were focused beyond him, but Alan could read the quiet fury beneath the clear focus on his own piloting.

“I can’t do it, Virgil,” whispered Alan. “I must have done something wrong, there must have been something he could see that I couldn’t.”

“You’ve done nothing wrong,” interrupted Virgil.

“He never would have done this to…”

Alan’s voice failed him.

Twenty-two thousand miles below, Virgil choked back his own distress. Gordon was chewing at his lip, staring anxiously at Alan. He leaned forward so he was in view of the holo.

“Hey, Allie,” he said. “John’s gonna be okay. And he’ll be giving Scott hell for ignoring the modelling like that soon enough.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Absolutely, I do,” said Gordon, cracking a grin. “No way, John would let Scott get away with that crap. Not even if he had to haunt him for the rest of his life in ghostly fury to do it.”

“Is he wrapping up now?” asked Virgil, eyes still pinched.

Alan looked down at the display.

“Yeah, he’s on his way home.”

“Right. EOS?”

“Virgil?” Her quiet voice was sullen and more than a little distracted.

“Got room in your processors for another task?”

EOS’s lights flashed suddenly, and Alan’s blood ran cold at the sight. Three weeks he’d been stationed on board Thunderbird Five and he still found himself walking on eggshells around EOS. Her frustration at turning up nothing in the holonet that could lead them closer to John morphed quickly from long, silent sulks to short outbursts of flying bagels and spinning gravity rings. He’d never forgotten the sight of John floating limply like a rag doll that had been torn apart one too many times by a playful, thoughtless, destructive child.

An angry EOS felt too close to losing his brother for good.

“Will it help, John?”

“It’ll keep his brother alive, and that will make it more likely for us to find him.”

“What can I do?”

“Lock Scott out of his controls, Order TB2-5711FR. Make sure Alan gets to Tracy Island before him. Redirect all calls to local authorities in the first instance, follow Protocol 24.”

“I’m not leaving,” argued Alan. “Don’t pull me from duty, I can do better.”

“No arguments.”

Alan wilted, knowing he had no choice but to follow Virgil’s instructions.

“This is done, Virgil,” said EOS, blankly.

“Thank you, EOS,” said Virgil, his manner still stiff and terse. He shifted his gaze from the open ocean in front of him to Alan, his expression softening. “You haven’t done anything wrong, Alan. If Scott takes his life into his own hands, that’s not on you. But we can’t have him in the field like that, cutting corners to get back to finding John. So, we need you down here in his place.”

“You can’t pull Scott,” said Alan, his eyes wide. “What would… well, what would Scott say?”

“We’re doing him a favour,” remarked Gordon with a sarcastic twist of his lips that made a mockery of his usual grin. “He wants to find John, we all do, but if he’s willing to risk lives and rescues to do it then he should put his energy into searching and we shouldn’t stop him.”

Alan swallowed, his eyes filling with tears that he angrily swiped away.

“Does he think we’re not looking just as hard?” he asked. “We haven’t forgotten him. Have we?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Alan,” said Virgil, firmly. “John would have our heads before we put the possibility of finding him above the certainty of ignoring people who need our help.”

“So, we keep going out there,” agreed Gordon. “And when, when Allie, Kayo and Lady P and Parker find something, and they will, we’ll be right there without a moment to lose.”

“I just don’t want him to think we’ve forgotten him.”

“John’s too smart for that,” said Gordon. “Promise you, Allie.”

*                            *                            *

He’d worked it out. Every time he did something to anger the Hood, innocent people paid for it in blood. There was no point in harming him directly, not when what the Hood wanted was inside his mind, ripe for extraction. But his heart and spirit could be broken, as a video feed periodically forced itself over his work to make him watch. Earthquakes, landslides, tidal waves, anything that would get International Rescue on the scene and off his scent.

Senseless destruction and despair epidemic across the world because he couldn’t make an AI fast enough.

But senseless destruction that he could use.

There was no doubt in his mind that his family knew the natural disasters were anything but, he could see it in the determined fury in Scott’s face, in the tense draw of Virgil’s shoulders, in the sardonic mockery in Gordon’s smile as he quietly pocketed yet another piece of equipment.

He didn’t see Alan, and he thought of his baby brother up in space often. None of his brothers had any real idea of the full extent of his contribution, no matter how grateful they were for his guidance, and he hated to know Alan would be forced into that knowledge.

He also suspected that when Alan did spill the beans, he’d find his own rotations scrutinised with a lot more care.

Still, the limited glimpses of his brothers did nothing to discourage him, and he found himself contemplating a plan of escape well into the long, cold nights.

He needed more information.

He needed access to an external holonet connection. And the only way he’d get near one was with a working AI.

Or something that could pass for a few minutes as one.

[snowbarryiscoming]

The First Time- Yoongi

just a warning, I didn’t know how to start this

thinking of BTS not being a group anymore saddens me but I feel like by the time they’re not together, they would’ve achieved so much and they’d be proud of who they were, what they did, and the obstacles they faced to get to where they were

buttttt 

we’re not there so it’s not time for that

Anywho, as always, the Korean seen in this part and all my BTS related fanfic comes from Google and I do apologize if the translation isn’t accurate.

Thank youuuu

“Hey, how’d it go?”

You were sitting on your couch waiting for Yoongi to get home from the meeting with everyone.

This was it. 

BTS was no longer a Kpop group, and it sadden you. Yes, you had a relationship with Yoongi, and you knew and loved all the boys, but the fan inside of you was sobbing like a baby. 

Yoongi shrugged and you got up to go over to him. Looking into his eyes, you could tell he had been crying.

“Na-ege malhae.” (talk to me)

He sighed and led you over to the couch, where you sat on his lap. 

“Jigeum gibun-i eottae?” (what are you feeling right now?)

“Igeos-eun na-ege il-eonan choegoui il-ieossseubnida, mullon dangsin oee. Geuligo ije kkeutnass-eo. Jigeum mueos-eulhaeyahabnikka?”  (this was the best thing that happened to me, besides you of course. And now it’s just over. What do I do now?)

You placed your hand on Yoongi’s cheek and caressed it as you thought.

“Ulineun gajog-i doel su issseubnida, deudieo sinhon yeohaeng-eul tteona.” (we could be a family, finally go on that honeymoon.)

 He glanced down at your body and pressed a finger at your womb, a soft, gummy smile forming on his face. 

“Naneun geu agileul salanghanda, jagi. Neowa iss-eumyeon sang-gwan eobs-eo.” (i love that, baby. i don’t care as long as it’s with you.)

You smiled at him and pressed a kiss to his lips. 

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

He pulled you in for another kiss and held you tight against him. With each second, the kiss became a make-out and he had guided you to straddle his lap. You rolled your hips, which made him moan. He rested his head on the back of the couch as your lips attached to his neck. You placed kisses and nips everywhere you could before pausing to glance at your husband’s face.

“Geu agileul sijaghaeya hal geos gat-a.” (i think we should get started on that baby)

He tilted his head at you. “Hwagsilhabnikka? Igeos-eun cheoeum-ibnida.” (are you sure? this would be your first time)

“Ulineun sunyeon dong-an hamkkehaessseubnida. Ulineun machimnae gyeolhonhaessseubnida geuligo nan dangsin-eul salanghabnida.” (we have been together for many years. we’re finally married and i love you)

His fingers went to cup your cheek and his eyes gazed into yours, making sure this was what you wanted.

He pressed a kiss to your lips again and stood up while carrying you.

“Okay.”

You pressed your lips to his as he went up the stairs to your bedroom and placed you gently on the bed. You glanced up at him as he took of his shirt and you immediately sat up to kiss his chest. His fingers tangled themselves in your hair as he let out a breath. 

He pulled you away gently from your hair after giving him more love bites. His fingers let go of your hair and went down to the hem of your shirt and took it off for you, and smirked. 

“No beula? Nappeun yeoja.” (no bra? naughty girl)

You let out a sigh of pleasure as his fingers brushed against your breasts and then massaged them as he pressed kisses to your neck. 

“Yoongi.”

You pulled him closer by his waist as you felt yourself getting more soaked by the second. He stopped and helped you up so he could pulled your sweatpants off with your panties. He maintained eye contact with you as he got onto his knees and his mouth reached out to your lower lips. 

You moaned and put your hands in his hair to push him closer. His lips began to suck on your clit as you felt a finger come into play. 

“Oh, Yoongi.”

He pulled his lips away for a second and began to use his tongue while he entered another finger. 

“Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

Your fingers tightened its grip in his hair as you felt yourself coming closer and closer to the edge. 

“I’m close, baby.”

You release your grip and gently pulled his head away from you and his eyes found yours as his fingers remained idle inside. 

“Make love to me, Yoongi.”

He gave you a soft, gummy smile as he pulled his fingers away, glancing at how covered there were with you. 

[that one gif of yoongi where he’s like wiping his neck or something and his fingers are wet. that’s the gif i want you to imagine]

He was about to lick his fingers, but you kneeled down and beat him to it. He licked his lips as his eyes were focused on your mouth. You pulled his fingers out, and motioned for him to get up as you stayed on your knees. 

Unbuttoning his jeans, you kept eye contact with him, but could feel the bulge in his pants. You pulled them down, but kept the boxers on. You placed kisses on the bulge, pulling a moan from him. His fingers gripped your hair as you teased him through his boxers. 

“Baby.”

You pulled down his boxers and his length was right there in front you, so you just couldn’t help but take it in your mouth. 

“Shit.”

You took all of it in until it reached the back of your mouth, and Yoongi swore he could cum just from you taking it. 

You began to bob your head as his hands let go of your hair and began to pet it.

“Good girl. Such a good girl for me. Fuck. Just like that. My good girl.”

His words made you soak your panties, as you knew you were his good girl. Anything he said, you did. Anything he wanted, you gave. Sure, there were some times where you tried but couldn’t, but Yoongi was really understanding and sweet.

That’s why you loved him. And he loved you because you make him happy and even if you can’t him certain things, it’s the fact that you at least made the attempt that he’s grateful for. 

But he knew he wanted to marry you 7 years later. He told you in his vows that he waited 7 years to ask you because he wanted to find out everything and anything he could about you. He wanted to take his time with you, since he knew from the first two years that you were the one for him. 

“Come here, baby.”

You released him from your mouth and he helped you onto your knees gently, pressing his lips to your as his hand found your breast. 

“Lay down for me, pretty girl.”

You did as he said and he followed, widening your legs around him as he settled in between. 

“Aniolago malhal majimag gihoe.” (last chance to say no)

“Gyesogga.” (keep going) 

Yoongi lined himself with your entrance and you nodded to him when he glanced at you, giving you one more chance. He slowly filled you up, both of you softly moaning at the feeling. 

Yoongi wanted to go faster, but he’d save that for another time. Right now, in this moment, he wanted to take his time, make this as gentle and passionate and full of love as he could. 

After all, you’ve got the rest of your lives together to have more moments like this one. 

When you both reached your climaxes, he helped you get cleaned up before laying down next to you and pulling you close to cuddle. 

“Palie gago sipni?” (do you want to go to Paris?) 

You glanced at him, sofly smiling, “Neowa hamkkelamyeon eodideun galgeoya.” (i would go anywhere as long as you are with me)

A few weeks later you did end up going on your honeymoon to Paris, nights and mornings filled with love making and wonderful, tender moments. 

A month after BTS’ disbandment, you and Yoongi met up with the rest of the boys to go to lunch. Once you all got to the restaurant, you inhaled the scent of food, and instantly felt nauseous. You ran to the bathroom and kneeled over the toilet, regurgitating everything you had eaten that morning. 

When you returned, you assured you were fine, that it was just a bug of some sort, but deep down you had a suspicion as to what it was. 

After lunch, the boys wanted to go to the mall, and you told Yoongi that you wanted to go to the store to get something for your bug, and that you’d take one of the boys to be safe. He was a little suspicious but let you go anyway. You took Jin, as he was the oldest of the bunch and you knew he wouldn’t let anything happen to you. 

He questioned why you both were going to the store and you told him that he’d see why you were. Once you got there, you led him in and made a beeline to the pregnancy tests and grabbed one, noticing Jin’s shocked expression in your peripheral vision. You quickly paid for it and thankfully, that store had a bathroom. 

You and Jin met back with the boys and went over to Namjoon’s place, Jin not saying a word about what happened. All the boys were sitting on the couch in the living room and you decided that since you were all together and they were your family, it was the right time. 

You stood up and went over to stand in front of all of them. You bit your lip, and instead of say anything, you just took out your test, which was wrapped in paper towel and showed it to them. 

“Jeo imsin haess-eoyo.” (i’m pregnant)

Yoongi was the first to stand up and go over to you, taking the test to see for himself before kissing you. He embraced you tightly and then the rest of the boys came over to embrace the both of you. 

Even though BTS was over, these boys would still be BTS to you

Your BTS family

[destieltropecollection]

Destiel Trope Collection Day 30: Wing Fic

Purifying Snowflakes | @ialwayscomewhenyoucall

Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 1855 Main Tags/Warnings: depression, snow, first kiss, emotional hurt/comfort Summary: “I was asleep, then I had a nightmare.” Dean closes his eyes, schooling his face to stillness so he doesn’t wince. Angel or not, all the trauma Cas has been through in the past few years means he needs to sleep sometimes. And that same trauma means his sleep is almost always interrupted by nightmares. It’s a vicious cycle, one Dean would do anything to break. “Do you want to talk about it?” he asks. Cas shakes his head. “It’s...my room feels too...confined. I need to get out. Could you...would you...walk with me?” “Outside? It’s the middle of…” He’d meant to finish with ‘winter’ but seeing the hope fade from Cas’s eyes changed his mind. “Sure, Cas. Give me five minutes to change. This robe ain’t exactly cold weather gear.” As he’d hoped, this brings the hint of a smile to Cas’s lips. “And you too. I don’t want you wasting your grace just to keep yourself warm. I know it’s not what it once was.” Bristling, Cas starts to protest, but Dean holds his hands up to stave off argument. “Come on, Cas. You take care of me. Let me take care of you, too.”

Always and Forever | @ialwayscomewhenyoucall

Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 2306 Main Tags/Warnings: greek mythology au, god!cas, hunter!dean, bittersweet ending Summary: Falling to his knees, the hunter spoke. “Forgive me, Bright One. These woods are not always safe. It was only instinct that caused me to draw a blade. But I would never harm you. I could never…” His voice trailed off as he stared into up into the face of the god. Castiel drew the hunter to his feet. “I am Castiel.” he said simply. Dean’s eyes widened. “God of the dawn? I have aptly named you Bright One! You bring light wherever you go. Flowers bloom for you. Birds and bees fly in your wake. Mortals…” He paused, blushing. “Mortals sing songs of your beauty.” --a loose retelling of the myth of Eos and Tithonus--

Feathers | @rogueangelshunter

Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 2703 Main Tags/Warnings: Domestic fic, wing fic Summary: Early one morning, Dean stumbles onto something kinda amazing. *Set sometime during season 14, when Cas and Jack are living at the bunker and Cas still has his angelic mojo working.

Eros | @supernatural9917fic

Rating: Explicit Word Count: 3350 Main Tags/Warnings: Canon Universe, Wing Kink, Angel Magic, Dean finally getting his head out of his ass, Sam Winchester is Scarred For Life, switch Summary: Sam finds a spell that can heal Castiel's wings, but there's a bit of a catch...

What Bare Eyes Can't See | @gii-heylittleangel

Rating: General Word Count: 3553 Main Tags/Warnings: Cas with wings; hunt Summary: One of the first things Dean learned when he first met Cas was that he couldn’t see all the planes that Cas exists at outside of his vessel, so when they’re on a hunt for a hellhound and Dean looks at Cas with his scorched with holy fire glasses, he can’t believe his own eyes.

on feathers and dreams | @pomegranatedaffodil

Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 4984 Main Tags/Warnings: Fairy Tale, Winged Castiel, Inventor Dean, Mutual Pining, First Kiss Summary: Once upon a time, an angel fell in love with a man. But Castiel's brethren did not approve of their bond, and so it was put to the test: if Dean could prove his love and his devotion to Castiel in spite of overwhelming obstacles, and if Castiel could keep his faith in Dean for the duration of his trials, only then would they be permitted to be together.

Angel Wings | @Clio-philyra

Rating: Explicit Word Count: 6094 Main Tags/Warnings: Wing kink, fluff and smut, hurt/comfort, Christmas, Summary: Christmas night in the bunker and Dean gets an unexpected visit from an injured Cas.

Finding Flight (WIP) | @ialwayscomewhenyoucall

Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 11960 Main Tags/Warnings: space diplomat au, alien!cas, human!dean, mutual pining, angst with a happy ending Summary: Dean, a low-level (human) diplomat stationed in deep space, is part of a team trying to negotiate peace between two peoples who have been arguing for decades. Cas is an alien brought in to negotiate for the other side. When their lives collide, neither will ever be the same.

Cursed or Not | @dates-with-cas

Rating: Explicit Word Count: 15520 Main Tags/Warnings: canon!verse, witch curse, casefic, mating cycles/in heat, winged!dean, masturbation, public masturbation, reference to intended non-con, sex toys, top!Cas, bottom!Dean, implied switch!Dean Summary: When Dean is cursed by a witch, he doesn't even realize at first, so he doesn't bother Cas or Sam with the sudden, unusual pain until it turns into something he can't deal with on his own.

Birds of a Feather | @tucuxia

Rating: Mature Word Count: 17829 Main Tags/Warnings: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Gabriel/Sam Winchester, Wingfic Summary: Cas wants a pet. If he can't have a cat, he will find something else.

The Last Repentant | @spnsmile

Rating: Mature Word Count: 23000 Main Tags/Warnings: Graphical Depiction of Violence, CanonDivergent Summary: Who will have mercy on his soul? The first time they landed in Purgatory, Dean was forced to leave the angel behind, oblivious to the many things that happened until Castiel escaped with the help of Heaven. Unknown to them are the Shadows lingering in the Forsaken Land, the tortured Souls that haunted the angel, only to be forgotten when Heaven attempted Castiel’s reform. Years later they dived back in Monster land with a mission to end the greatest manipulator, but with bond strained and brotherhood severed, how will Dean and Castiel reconcile? Especially when Dean wakes up to find the angel taken away by the Leviathans. There has to be something to save them before the tortured souls win another one in their number. Injured and beaten, Dean remembers friendly advice inside a confessional a long time ago. Bless me father…? Nope. A prayer.

Grooming Instincts | @jemariel

Rating: Explicit Word Count: 26153 Main Tags/Warnings: Wing kink, grace sharing, angel soul bonds, massage, miscommunication, top!Cas, bottom!Dean Summary: There's something going on with Cas. Dean is determined to help him through it, in whatever way he can. He might end up with more than he bargained for. OR: Dean helps Cas scratch an itch. As it were.

The Angel's Widower (WIP) | @pray4jensen

Rating: Explicit Word Count: 50697 Main Tags/Warnings: Wingfic, Enemies to Lovers, Soul Bond, Switching, Pining, Angst with a Happy Ending Summary: After Castiel dies, the portal to the other world opens and obliterates the universe that Sam and Dean know. Bobby takes them in, teaches them how to survive in a world with new rules and new consequences, a world where humans live in camps enclosed by high walls to keep angels out, where angels will do anything and everything to seduce and lure humans away. Why and to where beyond the wall, no one knows. While Sam struggles to find a way home, a grieving Dean loses all hope. But then one night, while Dean's guarding the wall, in the middle of a snowy blizzard and under the cover of darkness, an angel with beautiful black wings and a familiar face appears. His name is Castiel. And he asks Dean to go with him.

[queenjunoking]

Wolf Taming pt 47

CW: Noncon - Petplay - abuse

Eos didn’t say anything after I spoke. She turned around and walked me back out of the barn. Past all the women locked in their stalls. I could see some had checked out and were staring blankly ahead. I could hear some moaning as the machines were attached to their nipples.

One in particular stayed in my mind as I left the barn. A woman who wasn’t nearly as big as the others locked in the stalls. Her eyes were bright and aware. I could see her look at me as I walked by, begging for help. But there wasn’t anything I could do. I didn’t have a key to her contraption. I didn’t even have hands right now.

“I’m glad you decided to cooperate, Callidora.” Eos said as we made our way down the trail. “To be honest, I feel a little bad that I had to do that to get you to work with me, but I think you’ll find being a race horse will suit you perfectly. You might even enjoy it.”

I didn’t believe her for a second. She enjoyed every moment of what she did. But I bit my tongue. I wasn’t sure what was coming now and I didn’t want to get in trouble before finding out.

We finally exited the woods and the farm was busier than it had been. There were more ponies going from place to place. Some were pulling carts, others were working in teams, some were doing sprints on a track she could see in the distance.

“I have high hopes for you, Callidora. I’ve assigned only the best to be your personal handler.” Eos led her back into the barn and they walked up to a gathering of the black coated stablehands. When they noticed Eos they greeted her before scattering. All but one.

The one that remained was a strawberry blond woman. About average height and wirey. Based on what Eos said, this would be my handler. I couldn’t imagine listening to her in any other circumstance. If I didn’t let her do anything there was no way she could physically force me to obey.

She smiled at me as we approached her, but it didn’t reach her eyes. I was a bit surprised. They seemed sad.

“Good morning, Mistress Eos.” She stood up and bowed as we stopped in front of her.

“Good morning, Clarity. Callidora has come to her senses and decided she wants to be a racehorse.” She turned away from Clarity and looked at me. “Jude is in charge of the red coated stable hands. They work with the lesser ponies and newcomers. Clarity is in charge of the black coated stable hands which handle personal training of our best ponies. Not only is she in charge of all the black coated stable hands, she’ll be your personal handler.”

Eos handed the leash over to Clarity. She took it in one hand and with the other she reached up and stroked my face. “I’m glad you want to be a race horse, Callidora. I miss getting to work with ponies.”

I wanted to bite her. I hated her touching me. But all I could think about was what I had seen earlier. How much resistance were they going to tolerate from me before they decided to lock me in the cow barn? Was it one strike and I’m out? No, this would be the dumbest thing I could do right now.

“Well, I’ll leave you two alone. I’m sure Clarity has already figured out a training regime for you, Callidora. I expect only the best.” Eos turned and waved, walking back out the way we came.

Once Eos was gone, Clarity held up a bottle of water, another smile on her lips that didn’t reach her eyes. “Would you like something to drink, Callidora?”

“No. Lets just… do whatever it is you want me to do so we can get it over with. Z, Eos, now you. I’m sure you won’t be different from the other members of your secret club.” Clarity laughed softly a bit when I said that and I felt my eyes narrow. “What’s so funny?”

Clarity turned, gave my lead a tug, and started to walk for a door at the other end of the barn. “I’m not a member, Callidora. I’m a slave. As are all the stablehands. Aside from Mistress Eos there are only one or two other members that are typically here, but they’re more for bookkeeping.”

What she was saying didn’t make any sense to her. Everyone here was a slave? Not only the ponies and cows. Not just the lesser stablehands. Even people like Clarity were slaves?

“Why?” It slipped out, I hadn’t even thought of a follow up but I had to say it.

Clarity stopped walking and tilted her head like a confused dog. “I’m not sure I understand. Why what?”

“You’re a slave? But… you’re helping Eos instead of us.” I was trying my best to push through my confusion. If the stablehands were all slaves, why didn’t they help us?

“Oh, Callidora. You’re so new to this world, I can’t blame you for being confused. But those aren’t questions for you to ask. I know what you wanted to ask and the implication of it is something things in your position can get horribly punished for.” I grit my teeth as she reached out and stroked my face again. “Consider this your one free pass, Callidora. There’s no reason for you to go down that line of thought. Just be a happy pony.”

I took a deep breath to calm myself before I tried a different question. “Then why are some of us animals while you get to be in charge?”

Clarity looked thoughtful as she considered my question. “Members decide who is meant to be what. You were meant to be a pony and I wasn’t. The cows you saw were meant to be cows. I have more freedom and am in a higher position of power because I can be trusted.”

I bit down on my tongue hard enough to taste blood. What she was saying was bullshit. They had one of the best athletes in the world in that barn. If she had to be taken, why wasn’t she doing what she was good at? Why wasn’t she out here running? Why would you take one of the best athletes in the world and just lock her away? What was the point?

“What makes you more trustable than any of the other slaves here?” I asked, staring daggers at her.

She laughed softly at my question. “I understand how this world works better than you ever will. Some members, like your previous owner Z, were regular people who obtained membership somehow. Others are born into the Society. My family were Society members, but everyone has to earn their place. When you know about the Society you either become a member or you become a slave. I was born into a Society family. Unfortunately, I didn’t have what it takes so I never obtained membership. Instead I was sold off and became a slave.”

I didn’t know what to say. I was stunned at the implication that people in the Society would just willingly give away their friends and family. Did they not care? Were they that callous? They didn’t just lack empathy for regular people, they were willing to send their own into slavery if they didn’t meet some arbitrary standard. Were there others who flunked out among the ponies and other lesser slaves, or were they all like Clarity and had power over them?

Clarity must have taken my silence to mean I was done with my questions. She turned around, tugged on my lead, and continued walking us to the entrance at the other side of the barn.

The sun felt nice on my skin. I was involuntarily grateful for the feeling. After being trapped in Z’s basement for who knows how long. I didn’t want to be grateful for something like this though, I should be able to feel the sun. It was something that I shouldn’t have to give gratitude to my kidnappers for feeling.

Clarity turned and walked down a dirt path. I could see a line of circular pens not too far away. She walked us past several of them, observing the ponies as she went. Most of the stablehands were shouting things at the ponies in the pens. Some were yelling at them to move faster, others to lift their knees higher. Some were told to keep their backs straight. The handlers were full of demands.

She finally stopped in front of one of the pens. Inside was a woman, only a little bit shorter than I was. She had white hair and blue eyes. All the gear on the ponies I had seen so far was black, but her was white leather with blue accents. The opposite was true for her boots, they were blue with white accents. She glanced at me when I was within her sight. But the blinders soon hid her eyes.

After watching her make a few circles Clarity tapped the stablehand on the shoulder. “I think Frosthoof has had enough of a warm up, Natalie. How about you go have her do a time trial this morning?”

I did what I could to stop myself from sighing. Of course they gave her a name like Frosthoof. I was starting to feel better about the stupid name they gave me if that was the alternative.

The stablehand nodded and pressed a button by the gate. The arm in the pen came to a stop and the woman stood there, waiting to see what happened next. “Sounds good, Clarity. She’s been needing to get new results in.” The stablehand went in and removed the woman from the machine. I could see that cords came off of the arm and attached to points on the shoulders.

I wasn’t sure if I was surprised or not when Natalie attached a lead to the sides of the bit in Frosthoof’s mouth instead of to the front of the harness like mine was. I found myself lucky to not have the bit in right now, but I could only assume I’d be led around like that when it was in.

Natalie left the door open as she led Frosthoof somewhere else. I wanted to see where she was going, but Clarity gave my lead a tug and pulled me into the pen. I watched her fiddle with the machine, getting it prepared for me. Every part of me was begging me to move. The gate was still open, I could try and run away.

Audrey’s image entered my mind as I considered running. That was what awaited me if I tried to run. Locked in a horrible rig, never to move again until my mind finally broke.

I stood still as Clarity grabbed the cords and moved to attach them to my harness. I heard the cords snap around the harness rings on my shoulder. It sounded like another nail in my coffin, I couldn’t run now.

“This is the first step in your training, Callidora.” Clarity vanished behind me. I was facing away from the entrance to the pen and the stupid blinders meant I couldn’t see her. I heard the machine suddenly make a few noises as it came to life, but it didn’t move yet. “Every pony is taught the correct way to walk. You’ll be learning several styles and when you aren’t racing or doing special activities you’ll be walking in one of these styles. A normal walk is off the table for you from now on.”

I bit my tongue again, flinching when my teeth found the sensitive spot from last time. I wasn’t going to ruin this. I was already locked in this thing. I had already suffered humiliation at Z’s hand. This wasn’t going to be any worse than that.

I decided I was going to listen and behave. If this is what I had to do to be a good pony then this is what I’d do. Being good meant I’d get a better room. More accommodations. Better food and I wouldn’t have to deal with Jude or be trained in the same style as the lesser ponies. They wanted me to be a race horse, so that’s what I was going to be.

Being good meant I’d have more energy and resources to dedicate to escaping.

[insomniasix]

Chapter VIII - Seaworthy - Part II

Previous

@mzargentum​

 8am the next morning and everyone was up and ready to hit the road once more.

“You know something? Going through all that trouble to make our own custom cup, it’s made me appreciate Cup Noodles even more.” Gladio thought out loud while on the way to the car.

“Perhaps we truly can’t improve upon perfection.” Ignis agreed.

“It’s not about finding the single best ingredient.” Gladio continued, “It’s about crafting that perfect blend of meat, egg and shrimp. That harmony of flavors is key.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Prompto chimed in, “Makes you appreciate how delicious these noodles really are.”

“I know I sure do!” Noctis nodded.

Once the extra meat was delivered to the tipster in Lestallum, the five made their way back to where they had seen the structure of the Imperial Base, determined to bring it down and give it back to the people.

“Ooh, this should be fun.” Gladio commented on the Formouth Base when the company made their way on the tower right outside of it, Six’s eyes studying the entire structure, “What’s the plan?”

“Well, suffice it to say a frontal assault would be ill-advised.” Ignis stood next to the Glaive, gathering his own information to come up with a plan, “Again, stealth is our friend. We enter the base undetected, and cripple it one target at a time.”

Six nodded as two more drop-ships appeared. The MTs were already in place, each of them doing their own rounds around the entirety of the base, along with the armors.

Once the sun was down, the five launched their infiltration.

“There are generators that fortify Magitek troopers.” Ignis instructed once they were in, “Take them out, and the enemy won’t be nearly as fearsome.”

“Let’s go.” Six’s lack of a hood didn’t stop her from imitating the move to put it on, softly laughing at herself for forgetting she had changed her clothing.

“So they’re sleeping?” Noctis asked once he realized the three MTs in their way didn’t even raise their heads when the company passed right next to them.

“Take care to avoid detection.” Ignis instructed, keeping a close eye as they continued on, “If a trooper is alerted to our presence, it will awaken its fellows.”

Following Ignis’ plan, Noctis and Six made their way up the towers, taking down the MT solders silently and turning off the over-sized spotlights pointing at the generator. The plan didn’t go as well as they expected it though, as the soldier pointing the machine-gun around spotted them, alerting the rest.

“Not unfolding quite as planned.” Ignis sighed, getting his weapons ready and joining the two with the rest, “I’ve never made a mistake I myself couldn’t remedy. I’ll take point here.”

“It’s not your fault, Iggy.” Six attacked the troopers making their way to the company after ordering Noctis to take care of the generator, “I was the one spotted.”

“Let’s not point fingers and deal with this.” Gladio joined, using his new learned skills to take large numbers of MTs down.

After dealing with the generator, the solders that overwhelmed the five were easier to take down. The company found their footing fast and managed to take them down with just a few bruises and cuts.

“Shit.” Six breathed, eyes looking at the sky as more drop-ships appeared.

“Heads up, Noct. More incoming!” Gladio followed.

“Didn’t expect to meet again so soon, Highness.” Loqi’s voice was heard from the loudspeaker of the one ship leading the rest, as Caligo’s laugh was heard from the other, “You were foolish to come here. Surrender now, or we will make you wish you had.”

“Who the hell are these jerks?” Gladio was starting to get angry at the cockiness in the latter’s voice.

“Loqi and Caligo, commanders of the Imperial army.” Ignis answered, understanding right there that it wouldn’t matter if the stealthy part of the mission had been successful. The two commanders would still show up as this was their plan all along.

“Noct, this is our chance to settle the score.” Prompto moved closer to the Prince, his gun at the ready.

“Yeah, let’s put an end to this.” Noctis warped on the Riflemen sent down by one of the many ships above their heads. His plan was simple: kill everything until the commanders made an appearance.

“You led us all on a merry chase, but your running days are over. Have at them! Take the prince alive!” Caligo’s voice was heard again when the troopers he’d send down were dealt with.

Drop-ship after drop-ship threw everything they had on the company and both the commanders were starting to get weary at the sight of their army decreasing by the hour.

So much so that the two decided to take matters into their own hands. Dropping down in two MA-X Cuirass, all weapons targeting the company.

“Shit!” Six came up with a plan on the spot, “I’ll get Prompto at the machine-gun, keep them off him!”

She grabbed the blond, warping him on the big gun and letting him do his thing as Prompto got to it right away; shooting both the armors’ vital points.

“You humiliated me before.” Caligo roared, aiming his rocket system on Noctis, “This time the pleasure will be mine!”

Ignis run to the Prince’s side, shoving him out of the way and taking most of the hit himself as his daggers weren’t enough to cover him. Six was next to him before Noctis could scream his name, giving him her last Phoenix Down and helping him up, “No sleeping on the job, Specs.”

“Apologies.” the Advisor breathed, fear of what could have been making his heart beat like crazy.

“Prom, Noct! Take care of Loqi.” her voice was darkened, the move Caligo had just pulled sending bolts of anger all over her body as sparks of lightning escaped her finger tips, silver eyes turning red.

Prompto and Noctis managed to disable Loqi’s armor before turning their attention back to Caligo’s. What they met with was Six’s lightning coming out of her fingers like she was casting a spell, the might behind it freezing the armor in place as the commander spit his insults and swears, unable to move before the Glaive used her new weapon to slice all its limps off, leaving only the center where Caligo was sitting.

“How can they be so strong?” Loqi breathed, the words of the Imperial Chancellor coming back to his mind. Ardyn had warned them, but their egos didn’t let them listen.

“An unexpected outcome.” Caligo coughed once the door separating him and the Glaive’s sword was broken in two. Only now he could see her. Up-close and personal. Her eyes. Her expression. ‘She’s not human!’ the thought as it was all that was left in his mind. Repeating itself as she rose her sword, lights shining along its edge.

Caligo closed his eyes as everyone watched, frozen in fear of what was to come.

She would have done it. Drive the blade down and make sure he or his people wouldn’t hurt her boys again. Never again!

But the shots from the last drop-ship stopped her. Driving her back to her company with a jump before rescuing both the commanders and leading them away to Niflheim's safety once again.

“Six.” Noctis’ hand on her elbow brought her back, eyes gray again, searching all her loved faces.

“Let’s get out of here.” she ordered under her breath, not wanting to talk about what had just happened.

“Not yet.” Ignis was the one to push on the matter. Sure of himself that no-one else would.

“I know what you’re going to say.” she looked ahead, unable to turn and face him.

“No, you don’t.” he moved closer to her.

“Ign-” her sentence was cut in half as she turned around to look at him but was met with his warm embrace instead. She almost broke right away. Wrapping her own arms around him as she whispered against his neck, “I’m sorry. I got-”

“Scared. I know. But I am here.” he comforted her, caressing the nape of her neck, the rest of the company making their way closer and joining in on the hug.

As the first rays of the run spread on Eos, they were all safe.

Next

[scribbles97]

21 you hate when i’m right and 61 alright then, Mr Grumpy

I haven’t written John and Scott in forever and I’m so glad this prompt gave me the idea it did because they’re so great to write together! I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it Nonny! 

@mrseviltedi partly inspired by you and your constant advice I seek when baking! 

Scott had protested, insisted that it wasn’t possible and the whole thing would end up a disaster. He had stormed off in a huff, arms in the air and face like thunder as he had stalked upstairs leaving John in the kitchen leaning on the counter. 

John was a man of science, he liked to know how things worked. Although his specialisation was the stars, he had always had a liking for chemical reactions. 

What Scott failed to realise was that baking was nothing more than a complex chemical reaction. Each of the components added together reacted to form a new compound that tased better than the starting combination. 

The problem was, there were no eggs left for the pancake mix. 

Which wouldn’t be a problem at all if it had been any other day. 

Except, it was Dad’s first morning home from rehab and Scott had been out all night dealing with a landslide in Canada. 

Like all of them, Scott wanted the morning to be perfect, and thus far it had been. The sun was rising on the horizon, the sky a beautiful mix of deep orange shifting to purple and blue, bathing the kitchen in a soft golden glow. Below the villa the sea was calm, and above the birds were singing their songs. Virgil had been out with Grandma the night before once Dad had been settled in his room, and picked fresh flowers for the breakfast table that were just beginning to bloom.

Then Scott had gotten home though, too early for breakfast by anyone's standards, and the food hadn’t been ready, the key ingredients missing. 

Eos had woken John, informed him quietly of his brother's impending meltdown and set him heading for the kitchen to intercept before Storm Scott ruined the day. 

Telling his older brother that it was all fine, that eggs could be replaced with other ingredients hadn’t gone down well. It was Dad’s own recipe, passed down from father to sons until at least one of them had perfected the art of pancake making. As eldest, Scott had apparently taken it upon himself to produce the go-to breakfast that morning, no matter how tired and grumpy he might have been. 

Apparently calling him Mister Grumpy Pants had been the last straw. At least it had left John in peace though to replace the eggs with a little oil and water as Dad had once shown him when nobody else had been around. 

Gordon had been next to appear, taking the fruit from the fridge and chopping it without question into a series of bowls and plates. Each had worked silently, doing their bit towards the breakfast, setting the table and drinks out ready for when the rest of the family arrived. 

Grandma and then Kayo, followed by a yawning Alan and Virgil who most definitely needed coffee. Even Dad had appeared before Scott had returned, all settling in, with only a brief question as to where the eldest was. 

Once they were all settled and suitably distracted by food, he slipped away with the single pancake he had saved. Just a couple of strawberries and plenty of syrup, just as Scott liked. 

He expected big brother to be asleep, it wasn’t a surprise that there was no answer to his light knock on his bedroom door. He hadn’t quite expected Scott to be huddled around his pillow, cheek smushed into the fabric as he had when they had been really young. John was sure he hadn't seen Scott sleep like that since his air force days, big brother always slept on his back, ready to be called upon at any time. 

Perhaps Dad coming home, properly this time, was what big brother needed to finally be able to truly relax. 

“Hey, Scooter?” John murmured, stepping further into the room, grateful that unlike Gordon and Alan, Scott’s floor was clear or trip hazards. 

He shifted under the sheet, snuffling as his eyes blinked open owlishly to look up to John. 

“Huh?”

“Brought you a pancake, wanted to check they meeted Mister Grumpy’s approval.”

Scott rubbed at his face, eyes darting towards the clock and widening as he sat up, “Why didn’t you wake me? I should--”

“Dad wanted you to sleep.” John shook his head, holding out the plate, “I can’t say I disagreed after that melt down earlier.”

Scott frowned at the lone pancake, “But… there were no eggs.”

John smiled as big brother poked at the food, “Oil and water. Simple chemistry.”

His eyes were cautious as he looked up to John with a frown, taking the slice to his mouth slowly before taking a bite. His chewing was hesitant, still wary of what John had presented him with.

John couldn’t help but grin as Scott’s frown dropped and he dove straight into another slice, devouring the pancake and strawberries in a moment. 

“Do you hate me when I’m right?” 

Scott shrugged, “Sometimes.”

John knew it was true, Scott always had to be right. He hated younger brothers proving him wrong. 

“There’s more downstairs.”

Big brother didn’t need to be told twice as he threw his covers back and hopped out of bed. The way he nudged John’s shoulder on his way past with a smile was meant as some sort of thank you, the younger didn’t doubt. It was enough though, once they were down in the kitchen little was said about the eldest’s late appearance. Scott was smiling. Not forced, not tight and fake, a true smile, a smile that was happy and at peace. 

John hoped that they’d be seeing a lot more of that smile and a lot less of the mister grumpy they had got to know. 

As Dad shoved Scott’s shoulder, making him laugh about something or another, John had a feeling that now Dad was back, things would definitely right themselves.

[creampuffqueen]

Aelin x Rowan baby headcanons

All about Aelin and Rowan’s (many) children

-We all know these two would be next. Let's be honest here.

-From scenes in EoS and KoA, we know that they are open to the idea of children, we know they want them, and that Aelin is not likely taking any contraceptive tonic since she knows that conception may be hard for them.

-Well,,, not exactly.

-For whatever reason, Aelin has a fairly easy time getting pregnant. Around five to six months after Yrene's daughter, Amelie, is born, Aelin finds out she's pregnant.

-She's so so excited, but so so scared. She grew up hearing the horror stories of her mother's pregnancy and birth, how she almost died.

-Aelin tells Rowan on a quiet night they have together, one of the first in a long while. They have been super busy rebuilding and whatnot, after all.

-Rowan is silent for like a solid three minutes, and Aelin thinks he's not happy, but then he breaks out one of the biggest smiles she's ever seen on his face. And then he's crying and laughing and asking over and over again if she's sure this is real. He scoops her into his arms and kisses her, and between kisses Aelin is crying too, and they're both just so excited. You would not believe how excited they are.

-They decide to wait a bit to tell everyone, even though they're dying to tell.

-Well, they can't keep the secret for long. Not because they're bad at keeping secrets, but because Aelin starts getting ALL the pregnancy symptoms and can't hide it anymore.

-Literally. ALL they symptoms. She's not quite a month and a half in, and she can't keep any food down. Morning sickness is the pits, man. But she's also achy and hormonal and tired all the time, and she gets the weirdest cravings. Not to mention, she isn't drinking any alcohol.

-So it doesn't take long for the court to figure out what's going on.

-Lysandra squeals so loud the whole castle hears, and she hugs Aelin and won't let go. She says to Rowan, "This is my wife now," and Rowan, not feeling like getting on the shifter's bad side, lets her be for the time being. Elide almost cries, and then she's hugging her too. Then Aedion joins in. He is full on bawling. Like, ugly baby crying. Aelin jokingly says that even Rowan didn't that hard when he found out, and he's the baby's FATHER.

-Aelin is so sick the first trimester. Like, can't move because she's vomiting so much bad. She can't stand certain foods that she previously loved, and can also devour foods she used to hate. Then her taste buds change completely the next day. Rowan is frantically trying to keep up with her.

-And despite the fact that she is puking her guts up and will cry at the drop of a hat and is aching all over, she's horny. So. Fucking. Horny. Like, she's ready for some at all times. Rowan is scared of hurting her or the baby at first, but Aelin is like, "the only thing that can keep me from vomiting right now is either cake or a distraction, so please, please distract me." Rowan is only too happy to oblige his queen.

-When the morning sickness is over, she gets the rest of the symptoms. She has really good senses, like, really good. And they're heightened by the fact that she's Fae. She can smell what's being cooked for dinner from her suite on the like, fourth floor. It's weird.

-She gets big early on, like a good, seeable bump when she's only around four months. Twins are suspected, but the midwife just says it's one very large baby. Wow.

-Aelin gets frustrated with herself quickly. She's the godsdamned queen, she should be able to DO things, but she's either too tired or in too much pain to do much. She hates feeling so helpless.

-Rowan is never far from her side, and Aelin would find it annoying if she didn't actually need him to help her a lot.

-Imagine every pregnancy symptom, combined, and then times ten. Awful, right? Yeah, that's Aelin's pregnancy. It's bad.

-Despite everything being bad, she still finds time to formally announce her pregnancy. The people suspected, but now it's official. After all, the queen regularly walks around the city, but she hasn't been seen much in the last months.

-The official announcement also alerts Aelin's pregnancy to the neighboring kingdoms. Dorian, of course, sends his regards immediately. Yrene and Chaol send congrats soon after, Yrene again promising to be there for the birth. Ansel even sends a letter to congratulate her. A letter arrives from Nesryn, but as the Southern Continent is pretty far away, it doesn't get there until right before the baby is born.

-One of the only upsides to having every pregnancy symptom ever is that Aelin feels the baby kick fairly early on. The first time she cries, like right then and there. She's in the library, just sobbing, and Rowan finds her, and she has him feel. The baby is kicking and dancing around, and Rowan cries too.

-Of course, baby kicks are only cute when they're few and far between. This baby won't stop moving. Now Aelin can't sleep because her unborn child is already keeping her awake.

-When Aelin has about two weeks left before the birth, Yrene arrives. She has left her daughter at home with her husband, despite the fact they've recently discovered that she's deaf. Yrene puts all thoughts of her family from her mind while she cares for her patient.

-The due date comes, and no baby. Then a few more days pass, and still no baby. Aelin is stressing now; it should have been there by now, is something wrong? She really wants to not be pregnant anymore.

-A meeting with the Lords of Terrasen that had already been delayed arrives. Aelin expected to be a new mother, but she is still heavily pregnant. Like, can hardly walk pregnant. She has to have the meeting, though, so she walks all the way to the meeting hall.

-She is uncomfortable the whole meeting, for some reason she can't explain. She won't stop fidgeting, but doesn't know why.

-She stands up because she has to go to the bathroom, and suddenly a huge rush of water just,,, goes everywhere.

-She says awkwardly "Well, either I've just pissed myself really good, or my waters just broke. Either way, I think I should see myself out to go clean up."

-Everyone is silent and lets her go, with Rowan of course accompanying her.

-They are halfway up to their room when she feels a sudden pain. She cries out, and Rowan lets her squeeze his hand while it passes and helps her breathe through it.

-They get to their room, stopping again for a contraction. Rowan draws her a bath and helps her into it. He washes her hair gently and cools her down from the pain. When she's just soaking in the tub, Rowan calls for Yrene, who is winnowed into the bedroom by Fenrys. The male gives a salute and says "good luck" before disappearing.

-Yrene and Rowan get Aelin out of the bath and dried off, since using her powers is beyond her at the moment. Yrene helps her into a nightgown 'that she doesn't mind ruining'.

-Then they get her onto the bed, which Yrene has stripped, and get her comfortable. Yrene checks her, and she's definitely in labor. But it's going to be a while.

-And a while it is. Aelin's labor is long and hard. Very long. In the early stage she is able to get up and walk around, she dances with Rowan (more like just sways to some music, but it's dancing nonetheless) and reads. Lysandra stops in for a visit and chats while combing out Aelin's hair. The contractions are few and not that bad at this point. Then it gets worse.

-Aelin and Rowan start a bet on if it's a boy or a girl. Aelin thinks a boy. Rowan says girl. Yrene votes girl, Lysandra girl, Aedion and Elide boy. Evangeline comes up for a while with Fenrys, who both vote girl.

-When Aelin can't walk any more she gets into bed and tries to sleep, but it's too hard. She's in too much pain. Yrene gives her both a tonic for pain and for sleep, so she can get some rest and preserve her strength.

-Aelin is in labor for twenty-one hours. By the end she's just crying from pain and exhaustion. Rowan and Yrene are there and coaching her through it. The others left for bed hours ago.

-With the final push, Aelin squeezes Rowan's hand so hard that she breaks it. Rowan doesn't even register the pain because he's so focused on his mate. Aelin screams so loud they hear it down in the city.

-And on an early morning, Aelin and Rowan's baby is born.

-The two of them are still reeling from the labor while Yrene cleans the child, rubbing it and trying to get it to cry. A silent baby is never a good sign, they need to cry so they can breathe.

-But this baby is silent.

-Aelin and Rowan notice their baby hasn't cried yet. And they're worried. Aelin asks if anything is wrong, and Yrene answers honestly; the baby needs to cry so it can breathe, and its not crying.

-Aelin is terrified that her baby is stillborn. With tears in her eyes, she asks Yrene to hand her baby over. The healer does so, whispering softly, "It's a girl."

-A baby girl. She has blonde hair like her mother, and her ears are pointed. Fae through and through.

-Aelin clutches her daughter to her and murmurs encouragement, begging her to wake up and cry.

-They think it's too late. Tears are rolling down the faces of everyone in the room.

-But then- the baby lets out a gasp, and then she starts crying. Her squalling fills the room, and then her parents are sobbing in joy. They have a daughter. Terrasen has a crown princess.

-When Rowan goes to hold the baby, he notices that his hand isn't working. Aelin looks at him apologetically, and Yrene steps in to heal it quickly.

-Their friends soon gather round, cooing over the new baby. She cries and cries, and only stops when her mother or father hold her.

-They name her Lyria Nehemia Ashryver Whitethorn Galathynius. It becomes sort of a joke within the court, the ridiculously long name of the crown princess.

-When she opens her eyes, they're the same pine green as her father's. Rowan gets a strange sense of deja vu, and he realizes that he's seen this baby girl in his dreams before. It makes him so happy, he won't put her down all day.

-Lyria is a wildfire. Literally. When she's around eight months old and starting to crawl, that's when her powers start showing up. Not only is their baby girl wild, she also nearly burns down her nursery twice. After that she's moved to more... fire-proof quarters.

-It's when Lyria is around seven months old that Aelin starts to feel... off. She can't place it exactly, but something just doesn't feel normal.

-She soon figures out why. She's pregnant again. She hadn't been on the tonic because she thought it would take years more to have another baby. Not to mention, being new parents along with running a kingdom mean that Aelin and Rowan don't have much... alone time. However, the midwife is positive.

-Aelin and Rowan are excited to be having another baby, but Aelin really doesn't want to be pregnant again. The last time was awful, so how is this one going to be?

-The answer? Just as bad. Possibly worse.

-All the same pregnancy awfulness, combined with a wild baby who can set fire to things on accident and is also crawling now. Not a good combo. Rowan tries to take as much off of her as he can, but there's only so much he can do. And some things must be done by the mother. After all, Lyria is still breastfed.

-The court is just as surprised; they also didn't expect another royal baby. The kingdom feels the same way. And all the other friends. Everyone is surprised.

-Lyria stands when she's ten months old, and walks when she's eleven. Poor Aelin is still having bad morning sickness and can't even appreciate her daughter's first steps properly because she is bent over a toilet and puking up her breakfast.

-Despite everything, she's so happy with her family. Her baby girl is wonderful, and she's a fast learner. Her powers are still unpredictable, but she's already managing them better. Rowan is like, the #1 dad. He is the best. Aelin cannot describe just how much she loves him, she didn't think it was possible to love someone so much.

-Her next labor is a little better, only twenty hours this time. And their baby cries as soon as it's born. Aelin bet on another girl, but Rowan insisted that it would be a boy.

-Rowan is right. They have a baby boy with silver hair and Ashryver eyes. His name is Sam Gavriel Ashryver Whitethorn Galathynius.

-Little Sam is Lyria's opposite. In every way. He is quiet and hardly cries, like, this is one silent baby. Lyria is so interested in her baby brother, it's the cutest damn thing. She loves to sit on one of her parents' laps and hold him, she likes to watch him, she tries to play with him, it's so pure.

-Life progresses. The children get older. Sam also has powers, and quite a lot, but they are slow to manifest. They lean more towards ice and wind, opposite of Lyria's leaning towards fire.

-Both children train with their parents, and when Sam is three, he discovers that he can shift. His other form is a red-tailed hawk. Lyria, on the other hand, is like her mother, with only one form. She is so sad about it, but she learns to love being able to run with her mother while her brother and father fly.

-Aelin finds out she's pregnant again when Lyria is five and Sam is four. She just casually mentions it at dinner with their court one night, saying, "no wine tonight, I can't when i'm pregnant." Everyone collectively gasps, and Aelin just smirks and sips water out of a champagne glass.

-Once again, terrible pregnancy. Just awful. Her children are scared and worried when their Mommy won't get out of bed to play and train with them, and have to be consoled by Rowan for a while.

-Long and hard labor again, twenty-two hours. Aelin says girl. Rowan says boy. Rowan is right again.

-A baby boy is born with silver hair and green eyes. He looks like Rowan. Like, exactly like Rowan. It's uncanny how much this baby looks like his father.

-His name is Aspen Rhoe Ashryver Whitethorn Galathynius. (because it's a pretty name, and also the name of a tree, like Rowan, hehe) His older brother and sister dote on him at every waking moment. Adorable, and actually fairly helpful.

-Aspen looks more and more like Rowan when he gets older. Even his powers and other form are like Rowan's. His form is a white-tailed hawk, and his powers are ice and wind. Not a single lick of flame.

-You'd think they'd be done having kids after three but HAHA. This is Aelin and Rowan. We all know how they are. And with their children sleeping in their own rooms, they can have some alone time ;)

-Aelin gets pregnant again. It's the same rinse and repeat. Hard pregnancy. Hard labor. Rowan guesses the gender again, damn it, why is he so good at it?

-A baby girl is born with silver hair and ocean blue eyes. Her name is Evalin Elena Ashryver Whitethorn Galathynius. Lyria is 8, Sam 7, and Aspen 3. They love their baby sister and vow to protect her always.

-Evalin is definitely the fanciest of the Galathynius children. She loves dressing up, and her favorite thing to do is make crowns using her powers. She can control ice and flame equally, so she is always making crowns for her parents and siblings when she has control over her powers. So cute.

-Evalin's other form is a peregrine falcon. Lyria is a little put out now; even her baby sister has another form and she doesn't. But she's soon okay with is when she proves that her powers are the strongest of all her siblings.

-Evalin is 2 when Aelin gets pregnant again. At this point the court is like, ugh, again? but happy at the same time. It's just,,, they have a lot of kids.

-The pregnancy and labor is, again, hard. Now remember when I mentioned that Lyria was a large baby? No? Well, anyway, this baby is also quite large. But hey, all of their kids were big, how hard can this be?

-Hard. So hard. A day and a half of labor. And at the end Aelin has a sudden loss of blood and nearly bleeds out on her bed. It's so terrifying, Rowan can feel the mating bond growing taut because his mate is in mortal peril. Yrene makes the decision to operate. She does, and, turns out... there were two in there.

-Two screaming, silver haired babies are wrapped in blankets and whisked away while Yrene heals and heals and heals. At the end, she actually falls off the bed and faints. Rowan catches her and sends for another healer to heal the healer.

-Aelin survives, but the operation made it so she could no longer have children. Aelin decides right then and there, holding her newborn twins after nearly dying, that she doesn't want any more children anyway. Six is enough, gods, more than enough, and she's so grateful for them all.

-For once, Aelin wins the bet. She bet girl, Rowan boy. There's a girl and a boy.

-They are named Aerith Essar and Thallan Ress, along with their slew of last names that I was too lazy to type.

-Two more silver haired, Ashryver eyed children join the royal family. Of course, everyone adores them.

-The twins don't have any crazy twin powers, but they do have a secret language between the two of them. Seeing the two of them often makes Fenrys's heart melt, thinking about when he was a child with his twin brother. The twins are, without a doubt, Fenrys's favorite royal children.

-The twins have control over ice, wind, and fire equally, like all their siblings except Aspen. Their other forms are red-shouldered hawks. Nobody can tell them apart in their animal forms.

-All the children get older, learn more, and get more powerful. Lyria is like her mother, she loves to fight, she has an attitude. She is also very compassionate and loves Terrasen deeply. Sam is quiet, but watchful, and very educated. He loves to read and listen to music. Aspen is, like, literally just Rowan. Imagine a teenage Rowan without the tattoo, that's Aspen. Evalin loves all things beautiful and fancy, she loves being a pampered princess, but at the same time is always willing to fight. And the twins are troublemakers who, at the same time, have a heart of gold.

-The story Worlds of Fire and Darkness take place when Lyria is 20, Sam is 19, Aspen is 15, Evalin is 12, and Aerith and Thallan are 10.

[strongerwiththepack]

Sensory Sunday: See

A new challenge you say? I am in. Believe it or not I have a half written fic on my laptop for IRRelief but I never got round to finishing it - whoops! Anyways, I work better with a deadline so managed to bash this one out today. It felt really good to be writing again, thanks so much for organising another challenge for us @gumnut-logic!

Gordon groaned into his pillow at the sound of the claxon but jumped out of bed nonetheless. Glancing at the clock he calculated that he’s barely gotten 3 hours of sleep and rubs his eyes tiredly. When he gets to the lounge Scott’s already there with John. Virgil and Alan are still out on their own rescue. Gordon was usually Virgil’s primary co-pilot but he’d been out on a solo rescue at an underwater research centre when the call had come in so Alan had taken his place.

Scott seemed to be arguing with John when he walked in. “-didn’t have to wake him, I can handle it.”

John glared. “You won’t be able to use the autopilot on One in those winds Scott, this is a two man job.”

John seemed to notice him then. “Sorry Gordon, I know you didn’t get much sleep. You feel up to it?”

Gordon stretched his arms above his head and grinned. “Totally. I am well rested and raring to go.”

He reckoned the statement was kind of ruined by the fact he was still in his pjs with bed-head but he tried his best.

Scott rolled his eyes at the statement as he made his way over to his chute. “Fine, suit-up Gordon but you are off duty for 12 hours minimum when we get back.”

“Aye-aye captain” he said with a salute while running towards his elevator.

…

Scott briefed him on the situation while they flew. A climber had gotten his ropes tangled on the side of a cliff in the French Alps. He was caught on the rocks and had broken his leg when he’d been slammed into the side of the side of the cliff. Mountain Rescue couldn’t get to him due to the growing wind in the area.

Gordon wondered how idiotic you had to be to scale a mountain at this time of year by yourself. That was like rule number one of rock climbing - always have a buddy. Hell, he wasn’t even allowed to go rock climbing on Tracy Island without one of his brothers. It was just common sense.

Gordon rarely flew in Thunderbird One and it was crazy how quickly they got there. Don’t get him wrong he loved Thunderbird Two but he had to admit he was impressed. Even if he had been pushed back into his seat by the G-forces the whole way.

Scott slowed as they reached their destination and John came on the line to direct them to the climbers location. With the reduced speed Gordon was able to stand up and prep for the rescue. He pulled on his helmet and strapped into a harness at the hatch of his brothers bird.

Scott voice sounded through his comm. “Okay Gordon I have sights on the climber, we’re about as close as we’re gonna get.”

Gordon gave confirmation that he was ready and Scott opened the hatch. The wind was harsh as it roared through the opening. Thunderbird One was even swaying slightly as his brother fought to keep her still.

Gordon hooked Thunderbird One’s grappling cable to his belt before taking out his own grappling gun. Scott could have shot One’s grappling cable out on his own but in these winds there was too big a risk of hitting the climber. It was safer for Gordon to grapple across first and attach the bulkier line by hand.

He shot his grapple gun towards the top edge of the cliff, well above the climber, and grinned when it attached straight away.

“Oh yeah, got it in one.” He boasted over the comms. “Heading out now.”

He could practically hear Scott’s eye roll over the comm. “FAB Gordon.”

Gordon braced himself and pulled the cord taunt before jumping down out of the hatch. He sailed across in a smooth arc through the piercing winds and bent his knees as he collided with the rock. He quickly found some hand-holds to steady himself and started making his way over to the climber who was a couple of metres to his right.

He knew John had been in contact with the climber but he called out anyway. “Hey there, heard you got yourself in a bit of trouble here.”

The guy was pretty much flattened against the cliff, one leg hanging loosely while the other was bent up onto a foothold, trying to take some of his weight off of his ropes. His teeth were chattering and his cheeks were red and starting to blister.

Hypothermia. Gordon thought grimly. The guy had been exposed to extreme icy winds for over an hour now. With the broken leg Gordon knew he could be dealing with shock as well

The guy did manage to give him a small smile that turned more into a grimace. “International Rescue.” He said with a relived tone. “Boy am I glad to see you.”

The guy was older than Gordon had expected but he could tell the man must have been a seasoned climber. He had all the right gear and looked to be in pretty good shape for his age. Kind of reminded Gordon of his dad.

Gordon smiled. “Let’s see what we’ve got here.” Gordon scanned the ropes and decided there was no use trying to salvage them. With the cold and the mans broken leg it would be better just to get the man secure and cut the ropes.

“We’ll get that leg set as soon as we’re inside Thunderbird One okay? Any other injuries?” Gordon asked as he attached another carabiner to the man harness, attaching the man to himself.

He looked up as the man shook his head. His heart stopped as he caught sight of something over the mans shoulder. Hardly 10 meters away was one of the chaos crews bombs. There was a blinking light that was steadily getting faster. Dammit.

No time for taking it slow now. He quickly attached the man to one of the ziplines hanging from the line coming from Thunderbird One. His own line was already attached so he gave a quick yank of the line, making sure it was secure before all but pushing the man off the cliff yelling “GO!”

The man yelped as he was suddenly airborne and Gordon followed close behind. He winced as the mans broken leg slammed against Thunderbird One’s interior as they made it inside but he didn’t have time to do anything. He turned back and pressed the manual release of the grapple line to detach them from the mountain.

“What the hell Gordon!?” Scott’s angry voice sounded over the comm. He’d basically broken every single safety procedure they had.

“Go Scott! Get away from the mountain! We’re in.” He yelled. There would be time for explanations when they were out of range of the blast zone. Gordon knew the damage one of Fuse’s bombs could cause.

He knew Scott wanted to shout at him some more but he couldn’t fault his brothers trust in him when they quickly flew away from the cliffside. The hatch started closing as Gordon helped get the man strapped into a seat. He didn’t want to cause the guy any more damage if this thing exploded and rocked their ship.

Gordon realised if there was a bomb on the mountain, the chaos crew couldn’t be far away. He didn’t want to admit that thought made his heart beat a bit faster. The memories of his last encounter weren’t going away anytime soon.

“Scott be careful, I think the chaos crew are in the area.” He warned across the comm link.

“Dammit.” Scott swore, his voice tinted with a growl. “John, can you see anything on the scanners.”

“Nothing Scott.” John was quick to reply. “They could have upgraded their cloaking technology though. EOS is running a more thorough scan.”

“FAB, John. Why do you think they’re here Gordon?”

“I saw one of their bombs on the mountain. It was about to blow.”

John hummed across the line. “There haven’t been any explosions in the area as far as I can see.”

“Maybe it was one of those proximity bombs or something.” Gordon theorised.

Johns answer was crisp. “I’ll look into it.”

Gordon couldn’t help the unease he was feeling as he got himself back into the mindset of a rescuer and returned to helping the climber.

“Sorry about the rough landing.” He tried to keep his voice light. “Let’s take a look at that leg.”

The man just nodded clearly still a bit shaken.

…

Gordon made his way back to the cockpit once they’d unloaded the climber to the local hospital. He gave the man a few choice words about not climbing alone in the future but from the pat on the shoulder and the alright sonny he’d received, he was pretty sure it hadn’t gone in.

He sat down heavily in the cockpit and once they were airborne Scott switched to autopilot and swivelled in his chair to face the younger man.

“Are you okay?” Scott eyed him wearily.

Gordon could understand the concern. That was his first encounter with anything hood-related since his accident.

“I’m fine, Scott.”

At the pointed look he received he sighed. “Honestly, Scott, I am.”

“Okay.” Scott conceded. “Talk me through what happened.”

When Gordon was done Scott gave him a confused look. “Why would the hood go to the trouble of placing a bomb and then not show up? Or even detonate it for that matter.”

Gordon just shrugged. He’d been wondering the same thing. In fact, he was still wired up waiting for a surprise attack. Anywhere they found chaos crew tech, the chaos crew were never far away. And they always showed up.

“Did the climber say anything?”

Gordon shook his head. “Said he didn’t even see the bomb. Don’t know how he missed it, it must’ve been right next to him for the whole hour he was there.”

Scott frowned at that. Something just wasn’t right here. “John notified the GDF, they’re going to scout out the area in a few hours once the storm has passed.”

Gordon just nodded at the statement. “Good.”

…

Gordon woke up that afternoon feeling a lot better after a good 8 hours of sleep. Despite it being the early hours of the morning when they’d gotten back last night he’d had to do a pretty thorough debrief with Scott and he was practically falling asleep standing up by the time they’d finished.

He wandered through to the lounge with a towel hung over his shoulder. With all the stress yesterday, he really needed to get in some laps of the pool.

He found Scott at their fathers desk later in the day. “Hey Scott, any word from the GDF?”

“Yes and no.” His brother replied cryptically with a sigh. Gordon caught the bags under his brothers eyes and knew Scott hadn’t slept as well as he had. He had a worried afterthought that maybe Scott hadn’t slept at all but John was usually on top of that.

Gordon rolled his eyes when his brother didn’t continue. “Are you going to elaborate or..?”

Scott seemed to have forgotten he was there as he looked up from the computer again. He must be working on something. “Uh yeah sorry Gordo.”

“The GDF combed the area but they couldn’t find anything. Not a trace that someone had even been there let alone any tech from the chaos crew.”

Gordon frowned and Scott eyed him wearily. “John’s been monitoring the area as well and he hasn’t found anything, not even a blip in the data…listen Gordon, are you 100% sure you saw something?”

Gordon could hear the reluctance in his brothers voice as he asked the question but it still stung a little. He became defensive. “Yes! It was there Scott.”

Scott held up his hands in a placating manor, but Gordon felt it gave off more of a patronising feel. “Just a question Gords. The visibility wasn’t great and it was a high stress situation, I’m just asking if you’re sure.”

Gordon frowned and actually took a second to think back. The visibility hadn’t been great but he’d seen it! He couldn’t have missed it with the red blinking lights counting down to his doom.

“I’m sure Scott.” He said decisively.

Scott nodded at his statement. “We’ll keep looking into it, if the hood has a new cloaking technology we need to know about it.”

When Scott went back to typing away on his computer Gordon couldn’t help but notice the slither of doubt present on his eldest brothers face. The pain he felt at the slight loss of trust was hard.

…

There was another call a few hours later. A cave-in, multiple groups of climbers scattered throughout the complex mining system. This was an all hands on deck sort of job, luckily Gordon had just passed the 12 hour mark since their last rescue.

He and Alan were burrowing into the East mining site on foot while Scott and Virgil took the West and Central sites respectively. There was only a short tiff from Alan about having to be babysat. If Gordon was honest, he was pretty sure it was himself who was being ‘babysat’ but he didn’t let Alan know that.

Honestly, he quite enjoyed rescues with his baby brother. Alan was much easier to wind up than Virgil and much less dangerous to wind up than Scott. Don’t even get started on the complex task that is winding up John. This was just some fun banter with his little brother who could definitely fire back as good as he got it.

“Y’know every time I look at you in your uniform it just reminds me of when you used to dress up as a power ranger.” Gordon hummed as they walked. Alan’s face turned thunderous and he knew he hit a good one.

“Maybe it’s the shoulder pads” he continued musing as he placed a hand on his chin in mock contemplation. “Oooor” he drawled out. “It’s just the fact that you’re still a little sprout with a babyface.”

Alan glared at him.

“Grandma says I’m going to grow taller than you.” His little brother huffed, sticking out his tongue at the end just to add to Gordon’s enjoyment of the childish statement.

“Oh definitely.” He nodded back. “Going to go from a baby sprout to a bean sprout just like Johnny. Maybe you’ll get the bad coordination to go with it.”

“I can hear you, you know Gordon.” John lectured through his watch.

Gordon at least had the grace to give a sheepish look at his space-bound brother.

“Sorry Johnny.” He grinned with basically no conviction behind the words.

“Mmm-hmm” John shot back.

Alan turned around, giving him a sickly-sweet smile. “You know, we all know you’re just overcompensating for your own height. Too bad you can’t grow out of that one.”

With the cheesy grin on his brothers face Gordon knew he thought he’d got him with that one. Gordon couldn’t give him the satisfaction.

“I’ll have you know I am very comfortable with- ALAN MOVE!”

All Alan had time to do was widen his eyes in panic and start to turn to glance over his shoulder before Gordon grabbed his brother and forcibly shove him behind him. Alan wasn’t ready for that though and lost his footing, taking Gordon down with him.

Alan cried out as they landed hard on the ground and Gordon panicked, thinking it had got him. He looked around wildly but saw nothing. The needed to move.

“What the hell Gordon!?” He heard Alan grunt out.

He practically full-on lifted his brother off the ground in his hurry to get out of there and he didn’t miss his Alans hiss of pain as he cradled his wrist to his chest. He mentally stored that information away for later and gave his brother a light push back towards the way they’d come.

“Run.”

“What’s going on Gordon?” John questioned with a hint of stress behind his words.

They were still running as Gordon answered, keeping Alan in front of him and glancing back frantically to make sure nothing was following them.

“A mecha tried to attacked Alan!”

“A mecha? The Mechanic is in custody Gordon, it couldn’t have been a mecha.”

“Well considering one almost just electrocuted Alan, I think you might want to double check that Johnny.” He huffed out.

“FAB Gordon, I’ll inform Scott and Virgil.”

Gordon didn’t let them stop running until the broke out into the sunlight again. Both him and Alan took a second to pant as they regained their breath. Gordon focused on his little brothers’ wrist immediately which he still held cradled to his chest.

“You okay?” he asked.

Alan grimaced. “Think I sprained my wrist.”

You mean you think I sprained your wrist. Gordon thought darkly as he recalled pushing his brother to the floor.

“Let get it wrapped in Two.” He sighed.

Virgil came running up to them then.

“What the hell happened?” Virgil exclaimed, seemingly trying to assess both his brothers simultaneously as his head pinballed between them almost comically.

“There are mechas in the tunnels!” Gordon told his brother worriedly. “Where’s Scott?”

“He’s on his way out with a group of miners.” Vigil hyper-focused onto Alan’s wrist as Gordon internally winced at the fact that him and Alan had abandoned the miners they were supposed to rescue.

“The mecha did this?” Virgil questioned Alan as he turned his brother’s wrist over gently.

“Uh, well not exactly.” Alan said sheepishly, looking at Gordon apologetically. “Gordon push me out of the way, and I fell on it.”

“Sorry Al.” Gordon said sincerely.

Alan waved him off, but Gordon still felt bad.

…

Scott joined them while they were in Two’s medbay. Alan sat on one of the pull-out beds, wrist wrapped tightly and had taken a couple of mild painkillers to chase away the ache.

Gordon startled as Scott came storming into the room.

“Mechas!? I thought we were done with those! What’s going on?”

John popped up then, like he always did when answers were needed. “I’ve spoken to the GDF, they’ve confirmed The Mechanic is still in custody.”

“So, the hood is using mechas now? Or the chaos crew?” Scott questioned, running a hand through his hair stiffly. Gordon could practically see them turning grey on the spot.

“It doesn’t make any sense, but I don’t have any answers right now.” John said with a frown. It wasn’t often John couldn’t provide the answers and Gordon knew it made him uncomfortable.

“There’s something else.” John said wearily. “I’m still not picking up any signs of any hostiles in the area.”

“What are you saying John?” Scott prodded.

“I should be picking up something on my scanners Scott. Even if the chaos crew aren’t here I should be able to pick up the mechas, I’ve always been able to in the past. There’s just nothing.”

Scott sighed. “FAB John, just keep looking.”

John pursed his lips as if he wanted to say something else but signed off nonetheless.

“We need to go back in to get the last group of climbers.” Scott said wearily.

Gordon started. “The GDF-“

“-won’t get here before this whole tunnelling system collapses” Scott countered quickly.

“How many mechas did you see?” Virgil queried from the side.

“Just the one.” Gordon answered.

“Alan?”

Alan looked like a deer caught in headlights as he looked between Virgil and Gordon. “Well to be honest, I didn’t see any.”

Scott’s brow furrowed at that one.

“Wait what? You didn’t see anything Alan?” Scott questioned.

“Uh no. Gordon pushed me down before I could look.”

Scott and Virgil shared a look and Gordon felt anger bubble up from within him, they’d clearly talked about this.

“Don’t act like I’m not here, I know what you’re thinking Scott.” Gordon growled. “I know what I saw.”

“I’m not saying anything.” Scott tried to diffuse.

There was a beat of tense silence before Scott frowned and headed over to the supply cupboards, taking out some clips to reload his grapple. The silence as he did so was deafening.

Scott put his field commander persona back in place as he continued. “Okay. Virgil, you come with me to get the last group of miners.”

“I can come too.” Gordon tried. “Safety in numbers and all that.”  

“I want you to stay with Alan” Scott said firmly in his Commander voice. Gordon knew that meant there was no room for argument.”

“Fine.” He said in a huffy voice, sitting back down in a chair.

Scott and Virgil made to leave.

“Just- “ Gordon started, stopping them. “-be careful okay?”

“FAB” Scott replied grimly as he and Virgil went back out towards the caves.

…

Scott and Virgil had retrieved the miners with no problems. Gordon had kind of been hoping they’d come across some trace of the Hood. He realised guiltily that he’d subconsciously been hoping his brothers would find trouble. He was glad they were safe but it would’ve been nice to have someone to backup his claims.

The trip back to the island had been pretty quiet but now was time for debrief. Gordon headed to the lounge once he’d showered and changed. He hovered in the doorway when he heard hushed angry voices in the lounge.

“What if it’s PTSD or something?” Scott whispered not-so-quietly.

“He’s not shown any other signs, you’re jumping to conclusions Scott.” That was Virgil.

“He hurt Alan! If he’s seeing things it could be dangerous.”

“No need to whisper fellas.” Gordon decided to announce his presence. “The whole island can hear you.”

“Gordon- “ Scott started, having the grace to look at least slightly guilty.

“It’s fine.” Gordon huffed as he sat down on the couch.

They waited in silence for Alan who ran in a few minutes later grinning sheepishly as Virgil glared at the damp bandages around his wrist. He was supposed to keep them dry. Gordon reckoned a trip to the infirmary was in line for his little brother once they were finished.

John popped up on cue as always and they started the debriefing. Scott talked through the actual rescue and then Gordon gave yet another account of what he saw in the mines. Albeit a much more detailed version while he was practically playing 20 questions with John and Scott. He felt like they were trying to poke holes in his story, but he tried to keep calm.

“Yeah like I said, it climbed up the wall behind Alan and pounced at him with the taser arm thing extended.”

“What was the visibility like?” Scott questioned further.

“Pretty dark but we both had our torches on and it’s kind of hard to miss a sparking spider monster in the dark Scott.” Gordon added a hint of sarcasm into his voice.

“I think Gordon’s told us enough Scott.” Virgil reasoned, always playing buffer between him and Scott.

John stepped in to give his report. “The GDF haven’t found anything in the area. And I still haven’t found anything either.”

John sounded like he was getting frustrated with himself.

“So, you pushed Alan down and it just disappeared?”

Apparently, Scott wasn’t done with his 20 questions yet.

Gordon sighed. To be honest this was the part that was bothering him as well. “Yeah, it’s weird when I knocked Alan out of the way I was sure I was in it’s path.”

He contemplated for a second before continuing. “I could’ve sworn the taser arm touched me before I fell too but I didn’t feel anything. Then I lost sight of it when I fell.”

He felt like the memory was becoming a lot clearer to him and he was finally noticing all the things that just didn’t add up.

“Come to think of it, I didn’t hear it land either.” Gordon knew he wasn’t exactly helping his story here, but he was just trying to be honest. “Those things are huge; it should have crashed to the ground.”

Everyone was staring at him now, Scott with worry, John with curiosity and confusion from both Alan and Virgil.

“What are you saying Gordon?” Scott asked gently, almost tactically.

Gordon was frustrated with this whole thing. “I don’t know okay! Something weird is going on.”

Scott spoke again, even more gently. “Listen Gordon, you’ve been through a very stressful situation when it comes to the Hood, you can tell us if you think you’re seeing things that aren’t there.”

“I know what I saw Scott!”

The concern in Scott’s eyes practically burned into his soul as his brother continued. “Paranoia is common in cases of PTSD, there’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

Gordon scowled, scrunching his fists into the couch. “I’m not crazy Scott! Why can’t you just trust me!?”

“Well give me another answer for what’s happening then Gordon.” Scott shot back.

“I don’t know! But I know what I saw Scott!” Gordon exclaimed jumping up from the couch. All his brothers were looking at him with worried looks now and Gordon felt tears brimming at the edges of his eyes. “Why won’t you guys believe me?”

He knew he must be looking a bit crazy now but the problem was he was beginning to doubt himself as well. What if he hadn’t seen anything? Alan should have been able to see the mecha if it had been there. The climber should have noticed the bomb as well. John should have been able to pick up everything on his scanners and the GDF should have found the tech at the rescue sites.

He knows what he saw. But what if he can’t trust what he’s seeing anymore. Maybe he is imagining things. And then the worst possible thing happens. He sees a mecha on the ceiling in the corner of the living room. It just looks so unnatural in this setting that he cracks.

He sits back down heavily on the sofa and presses the heels of his hands into his head. “I don’t know what’s happening.” He whispers.

He looks back up at the ceiling and the mecha he thought he’d seen has vanished, leaving just the dark shadows of the corner. He is seeing things. His tears finally start to fall.

With tears streaming down his cheeks and panicky breaths coming from his lungs he’s not surprised when Virgil is suddenly there, kneeling down in front of him and placing hands on his shoulders.

“Just breathe Gordo. In and Out.” His brother deepens his own breathing, encouraging Gordon to imitate him. Gordon does and it gives him enough breath to let out a half-muffled sob. Virgil wraps his arms around him, and Gordon has to admit, he immediately feels slightly better. Virgil’s hugs are magic like that sometimes.

“You’re not crazy Gordon.” Virgil assures as he squeezes just a bit tighter. “We’re going to figure this out.”

Gordon sniffs, raising his own arms with a shuddering breath and hugs his brother back before tensing as his eyes catch movement on the table. He sucks in a sharp breath as his eyes watch the mecha. It’s not real. It’s not real.

But then Scott’s guilt-ridden eyes catch his own and follow his gaze. Gordon does not expect it when Scott’s eyes also widen in horror and he back-peddles away from the table so fast he almost trips.

“Holy- “

Gordon pushes Virgil off him in shock, pulling his brother up with him as he backs away, he sees Alan doing the same thing to his left. “You- you can see that?”

Scott just nods as Virgil gapes beside him.

“YES!” Gordon exclaims happily before quickly realising this is not much better of a situation. The glares he receives from his brothers prove as much.

“Sorry, sorry. Just revelling in the fact that I’m not actually going insane.” He tries to say it as a joke but his voice cracks half way though and his hands are still shaking slightly. “But I get it. New problem.”

“Why isn’t it doing anything?” Alan asks quietly and Gordon motions for his little brother to come and stand closer to him and Virgil.

“How did it even manage to get on the island?” Scott asked in bewilderment. Gordon could see the tension running through his eldest brothers body. This was their home, they were suppose to be safe here.

John’s hologram was still hovering above the table that it was standing on and a stupid part of Gordons brain was scared at his brothers supposed proximity to it. His space-bound brother was furiously typing on his keyboard with a deep frown etched onto his face.

“I don’t understand.” John exclaimed. “It’s not on any of my scanners, it shouldn’t exist!”

One of John’s hands was pulling at his hair and Gordon wondered briefly if his brother was feeling the same amount of crazy as he had just moments earlier. Well probably not the same amount, Gordon was pretty sure he’d fallen down the rabbit hole for a few minutes.

“Well I’m looking at it with my own two eyes Johnny so I can confirm it does exist.” Scott shot back.

Gordon couldn’t help himself.

“Sure you’re not seeing things Scott?”

“Not the time Gordon.” Scott grunted.

And then more of them scuttered in through the door. Another six to be precise. They scattered as they came in, covering the room.

“Dammit.” Scott swore. “Where’s Kayo?”

“She’s not on the island Scott.” John answered grimly. “I’ve called her back in but she’ll be at least another half an hour.”

“Grandma and Brains?”

“Locked in Brains’ lab, they’re aware of the situation.”

Scott nodded. “Good.”

Gordon felt Alan pushing in closer to him and peered over, noticing one of them slowly creeping towards his baby brother.

“What do we do Scott?” Gordon asked. He knew it was cruel of him to put this on his eldest brother, but he was just so used to Scott having all the answers.

“Try and get to the balcony. We can lock them inside.”

Gordon grabbed a pillow off the coach before retreating backwards towards the balcony. The mechas just seemed to stare at them as they went and Gordon thought they were going to get away easily before one started skittering towards him at a fast pace. He did the only thing he could do and threw the pillow he was holding with deadly accuracy…only to watch it soar right through the mecha.

What?

The one he’d hit seemed to shimmer slightly before reforming.

“They’re holograms!” Gordon exclaimed.

“Of course!” John gasped, a little too excitedly. “That’s why I wasn’t picking up any signals or thermals from them.”

“And why they never made any noise in the cave!” Gordon added.

Scott looked dumbfounded. “But why? Why go to all this trouble?”

It was then a low laugh sounded through the room and the mechas vanished, leaving behind a very realistic looking Hood.

“For fun Mr. Tracy”

Gordon scowled at the familiar voice.

“Hood.” Scott replied darkly. “Whatever your plan was it didn’t work, we’ve figured out your game.”

The Hood laughed under his breath, filling Gordon with unease. He even threw another pillow at the projection just to make sure he wasn’t the real thing. Thankfullt, it soared through harmlessly again.

“Knowing about them doesn’t reduce the impact Mr. Tracy. I have hundreds of microscopic projectors on your property now. They’re tiny and sophisticatedly cloaked, you’ll never find them all.”

Scott scowled, glaring at the man as he continued. “Let’s see how well you get on when you can’t even trust your own eyes.”

The man gave a roaring final laugh before signing off.

The brothers looked at each other with grim expressions. How were they going to get through this one?

Maybe tbc? I make no promises.

[darkestwolfx]

Hyperspeed - Re-Review #51

So, Scott’s back! He’s obviously been making the most of that vacation time Virgil mentioned, or maybe sorting out things for Tracy Industries? Who knows, choose what you like, but he’s back in blue!

And it’s another high-speed, runaway train (of sorts). He get all the best jobs, doesn’t he?

And hello to you David Tennant (aka Tycho Reeves, billionaire inventor), thank you for joining us in this great episode of TAG looking very like yourself.

Is anyone else getting 10th Doctor vibes? All we need now are his 3D glasses and the look is complete. Really though, they even put him in blue!

So this is the Hypercar - it’s like the next addition to the monorail or the underground (evolved obviously, the underground is redundant by 2060). It’s even faster than FireFlash apparently. That’s saying something.

Now, let’s meet Gertie Bunson - the next annoying reporter to grace TAG with her presence. Really, let’s just stop writing in reporters hey? That’s an idea right there.

“An excited crowds awaits the arrival of the very first Hypercar, which should be here any minute now! Isn’t that right Tycho?”

“Less than a minute in fact. We’ll be pulling to Nightbridge Station in sixteen seconds. Hmm, that’s two seconds early.”

A whole two seconds? To most people, that would go completely unnoticed. Two minutes on the other hand, that we tend to notice. Two seconds? I’m not a clock watcher.

“Here they come now! This is where Tycho and his guest will be arriving- whoa! Wasn’t it supposed to stop?”

Well, if you hadn’t asked that, Gertie, we might never have guessed that was the intention - you know, always try and cover your mistakes.

And then - in very 10th Doctor fashion - Tycho starts rambling on (like all great scientists apparently do) about the size of bugs. Oh, but, did we mention they’re still speeding up? Oopps.

Time to make that call, I think.

John is clearly taking his turn for vacation time now as Grandma’s at the desk doing a spell of monitor duty. At least it keeps her out of the kitchen!

“If anybody can catch up to you it’s us!”

Yep! Now we get to see them try. Love high speed chases me.

“Boys, sorry to interrupt your beauty sleep with an early morning emergency, but these people need help.”

“Time to fly.”

“And I’ll try to work out what has gone wrong with this amazingly brilliant design!”

Sleepy? Wake up as quick as you like, Scott, but ideally before you pilot One, and ideally before the Hypercar crashes. Gosh, really, what has that boy been doing since ‘Long Haul’?

“Closing in on the Hypertube now. Any luck figuring out what’s gone wrong Brains? Brains?”

“Uh, I think your friend may be a tad... starstruck.”

A tad? Brains is literally frozen starting with blinky eyes.

“I’m your number one fan!”

“Well Brains, if you ever want to meet Tycho in person, we better to figure out how to stop his car.”

And then Brains does the sciency bit with a whole lot of praise thrown in. It’s like the opposite of an episode featuring Langstrom Fischler, no negative vibes here please.

“I’ll be able to rescue you after the hypercar makes a water landing.”

“No!

“Absolutely not! We’re travelling in a vacuum.”

“Hitting the atmosphere at mach eight would be like-”

“-slamming into a brick wall.”

Nice try, Scott, but it seems like you’re on delivery boy duty. I love Brains and Tycho finishing each other’s sentences.

I can’t believe this screenshot is like nowhere over the internet! Seriously Gertie being blown away by Thunderbird One’s landing due to her own stupidity is absolutely class entertainment.

“We’ve been told to evacuate the platform as Thunderbird One lands, but we’re not gonna miss a chance to bring you this thrilling live shot of- whoa! Let’s move back a bit shall we?”

It’s like Ned Cook (TOS) reincarnated. Or maybe he finally married, or had a sister we never knew about.

He looks so happy! Honestly though, I would too if I could have a friend like mini-MAX. I want one.

“If you check your sash, you’ll find a new tool of your own.”

“Thanks Brains, but what does it- Whoa!”

“Meet Mini-MAX.”

“Brains, you always surprise me.”

“Just one question. How do you expect your hypercar to catch up with Tycho’s?

“I don’t expect to catch them. I expect them to catch me.”

“I’ve begun to question the merits of this plan!”

You and me both Tycho. I know Scott lives for a bit of speed and danger but this is a new one. 

“You must go faster Scott!”

“Kinda already knew that Brains.”

Tycho is a smart man. I would have strapped in as well.

“Good job! How did you make it go faster?”

“I’m not exactly sure.”

“I’ll try and figure out what you and Mini-MAX did. It may lead us to the problem.”

Now look at Mini-MAX holding on for dear life!

Good idea Brains! Let’s check in with Tycho and the others in their Hypercar, shall we?

“Bet you didn’t know you’d be getting a demonstration of our Collision Protection System, ey?”

“I feel like a balloon animal.”

Where as I saw this, and instantly my brain went;

It’s the Michelin Man!

No, seriously, it is, and he says hello;

And during these testing times, there’s something for everyone. You can join his lockdown running classes;

Or something steadier and calmer, like his yoga classes;

Feel the zen!

Or there’s even dancing classes!

P.S. Wait until we get to the end of the review, I swear this is where Brains gets his moves from. You’ll see, trust me. (And if you’re new to the Re-Review Series, my brains wonders a lot so... and if you’re not new to it, you should have expected to see this).

Right, back to impending doom;

“Tycho, so nice to finally meet you! Virtually at least.”

“Oh, impressive invention!”

It’s like Brains gets to achieve his dream meeting! That little mechanical hand is never getting washed.

Mini-MAX is great, really, I want one, but I’m with Scott here;

“Uh, guys, sorry to interrupt but uh, imminent doom?”

I called that!

“Right.”

“RAD.”

“Tycho’s design appears to be perfect. So the problem must have been a manufacturing error when the car was built.”

“I’ve been thinking the same thing. If the throttle is working, one of the plasma plugs must have machined improperly.

“Oh no.”

“Ah, a couple of bad plasma plugs should be pretty easy to fix.”

You obviously weren’t listening to Brains crucial “oh no” there Scott.

“Fixing them is the easy part, but reaching them is next to impossible.”

“The plasma plug assembly can only be accessed from outside the car. Specifically, underneath it.”

“Got ya.”

I love Mini-MAX clipping Scott to the train. I would trust Mini-MAX over my own self any day.

“Looks like a fun place to hang out.”

What is it with Scott and ‘hanging’ out? This does not look like my idea of fun, thank you very much. I would like to keep myself upright, and maybe in one of those comfy seats feeling like a balloon animal. That sounds appealing whilst the world falls apart... if you need me, I’ll be waiting out with the collision protection system and the Michelin Man.

Joke, I’ll be here working and writing the Re-Reviews! I would now like a balloon animal though...

“Dropping even a single bolt would be catastrophic!”

“I don’t think that’s going to be hard to remember Brains!”

At least we’ve graduated from ‘Runaway’ where Brains insisted Scott take notes. That would be a little impossible here, after all. The notepad would be blown away!

Borrowed just a few of Virgil’s power tools there, did you Scott? Best return them all in once piece or he might ruin your portrait too. I know he got Tycho’s from the control station, but I couldn’t resist the chance to reference ‘Inferno’ here. Whist we’re on the note of references, here’s another ’Brink of Death’ (TOS) situation.

I love our contest winners;

“That was Grandpa. He loves to go fast.”

“I do!”

“And you don’t?”

“Honestly, we’re just lucky I have thrown up yet.”

I’m with Tycho this time. Oh seems appropriate. I love that we’re breaking stereotypes here (something TAG have done pretty well at in general). You don’t have to be young to love a bit of speed.

“I probably want to replace these one at a time then huh?”

“Yes, and very carefully.”

Oh, uh, what were you saying about remembering? First the drill nearly went down and then- wait, down goes the plasma plug!

“Nice catch!”

Mini-MAX to the rescue.

“One more twist and we’ll finally be able to slow- down!”

Or not. You just had to say it.

I think Brains should have got on the phone to EOS - she knows all about hacking high-speed methods of transportation.

“Why would the speed increase at random like that! If the controls aren’t making the car go faster, then the only way it could be accelerating is... oh no! Tycho, one of your formulas has a small error.”

“Impossible! My calculations were perfect.”

“I thought so too.”

“No! That should be metres per second squared! Oh how could I be so foolish!”

“Even genius’ make mistakes.”

There goes that Scott Tracy trait of forgiveness and acceptance again. I do love it when they show moments like this. Of all the brothers, Scott is the best at staying calm and talking to people, reassuring them that things aren’t always black and white. These scenes were always building towards something, and we’re going to see the real test in the next episode. To do a job like this you have to be selfless, but Scott is almost self-sacrificing (well, the whole family is in a sense), but remember with Kat, for example, Scott had no reason to stay, but he did. It’s just him, and this is an excellent follow through.

“Yes, but my mistake is going to destroy us all! There’s no way for us to stop.”

“Let’s just take a breath and slow down so we can think this through.”

“Slow down...”

“Yeah, that’s the idea.”

“No, slow down! We don’t have to stop the car we just need to be in a slower vehicle that won’t vaporize when it’s hits the atmosphere! Oh, you’re a genius! Right the vehicle will need to be fast enough to reach us with enough thrust to slow down in time.”

“Brains, we need Thunderbird Four inside the Hypertube ASAP. And put it in there backwards.”

The man with a plan is on a roll again!

Cut back to Gertie Bunson reporting again, and a nice little reconstruction on Thunderbird Four’s traditional launch sequence, because Thunderbird Four has arrived! A submersible out of water.

And now we go from Scott Photo Central to squid screen time!

“Um, are we sure this is a good idea?”

Maybe not Gordon, but let’s launch before anyone answers you.

“Bad idea!”

And then you can answer yourself! Great times.

“You’re losing speed, Gordon!”

“Don’t worry, Brains. If I can see it, I can catch it.”

You know, I am jealous of how good an aim every member of this family has. I am rubbish at catch.

“Welcome aboard.”

Gordon steadying Scott is like brilliant. We need more moments of these two for sure.

“It’s working. We’re slowing down.”

“But will it be enough?”

And there go the hypercars... exploding.

“Virgil, they’re loading into Thunderbird Four, get ready to show them a way out.”

“FAB.”

And because you’ve got to get a daily dose of Virgil in there;

“Let’s hope you guys make a slower, gentler exit.”

“Hey, I’m nothing if not gentle! Brace for impact!”

We’ll ignore the oxymoron there.

“We made it! We didn’t burn up!”

Yeah, just give away to the poor civilians that you weren’t expecting to survive, Gordon. That’s really reassuring.

“Did you guys have a plan for how to land this thing?”

It’s Gordon and Virgil, Scott. There’s always a plan. Even if it’s a little improvised or thrown together at the last minute.

“Um, kinda.”

Just another mid-air catch of Thunderbird Four, nothing special to see here, folks.

Who am I kidding? Bring in the applause! We’ve seen this move in ‘Extraction’ and ‘Clean Sweep’ and Virgil never gets it wrong. Takes talent.

“Everyone ok?”

“Can we do that again!”

“No thanks.”

Yeah, I’m with Tycho again. Just watching it made my head spin.

“Big thanks to International Rescue for saving our lives.”

“And for the thrill of a lifetime.”

Nice to get a thank you in there for once.

More high fives! Is there a gif set of the TAG high fives yet? Keep them coming I like them. Nice happy moments, high fives. Brains has basically just got his dream come true!

Of this I have no wordable description, and it looks like Grandma doesn’t either.

Do you see?

Look at Mini-MAX! He’s like a robot version of a dog. I really want one, and I’m sad we never see him again! Bye Mini-MAX!

“I did - finally - get you to London.”

“Thanks, but um... how are we getting back to Tokyo?”

“Oh... yes, uh... Scott?”

Yeah, just turn to our ideas man. He’ll always come up with something. It’s a little like TOS ‘Cry Wolf’ here, where Scott lets Tony and Bob ride in Thunderbird One. He’s a crowd pleaser, this one.

“Want to go for a ride?”

“Wow!”

“Oh um, that would be great I guess.”

“Now, tell me about those engines.”

That smile of Tycho’s as they walk to Thunderbird One - goodness I love how much is contained in that single expression.

Oh, but don’t forget Gertie! Desperately trying to get her scoop - very Ned Cook. Maybe she’s his daughter? I don’t think I entertained that possibility earlier...

“Scott Tracy, any chance we can get a quick interview?”

*Engines start... deliberately*

“You know what? Nevermind. Another time. Maybe.”

What gave it away that he didn’t want to talk to you?

This ending scene is one of my favourite, little sweet moments. After an epic rescue like that, this was needed.

Well, let’s look to Monday for the final episode of Series 2! I can’t believe we’ve already made it this far. We can tell something is coming though - the end credit music had a slight variant to it. The musical score in this series really was on point.

[sumeshi-t]

the idea of making hc’s of children is sosososo cute. i’ll follow ur steps chloe @akaashit-baeji lolol this is gonna be really self-indulgent buuut my excuse is that it’s my birthday so here it goes... i'm writing the last half of this with a hangover and a bad case of dysmenorrhea... sucks 2 be me

Oikawa Teru (及川 輝)

his name “輝“ means “bright”, and this boi lives up to it because, let’s face it, he’s gonna be like his dad. he embodies this “brightness”, in a way that he’s smart, and he makes sure he and his team’s (or whichever team he’s going to be in) will shine on the court

wavy/curly hair and a victim of my and his dad’s astigmatism. always has this cheeky smile, and he gets my brimming energy so he’s really approachable and charming

very good with words; it’s like he always knows what to say

when he plays he also wears contact lenses

but don’t be fooled. in their generation, it’s him who has to put iwaizumi’s son in check. he knows everything about his teammates too, he knows more than what he lets on (which sometimes, they find creepy, but they all know he means well)

anyway, unlike his dad, he doesn’t really mind having geniuses around. instead, he watches them very closely; something like “mutualism”. he knows what he lacks and he knows he can learn from them too, vice versa.

is into horror games. in his free time, he and his sister take turns playing. and they decide it by seeing who can last the longest without flinching/screaming. he’s annoyed because his sister’s better at it 

has fans, ngl. i mean look at him. however, the female fans especially, are pretty on guard. he’s approachable, but anytime they see him with his sister... they back out. he doesn’t mind, he loves his sister and it actually amuses him. he’s the same when it comes to the boys who hang around her too!

basically protective siblings who are always there for eo

is very neat. can’t concentrate when something is out of place. he keeps his nails short, has a somewhat flowery scent. yes, he uses female perfumes because he despises strong smells.

bug-catching was his childhood hobby just like mine’s was. used to sneak beetles in iwaizumi’s son’s backpack back then

he will never admit it but he actually asks his sister for fashion tips because his taste sucks ass so bad

basically his major problem or issue in life is getting compared to his father (he’s also a setter). he hates that so much, being hidden in the shadow of his dad, and when people just recognize him for being oikawa tooru’s son.

something he and ushijima’s child relate to so strongly. they’re friendly rivals; might end up being teammates in their career hmm

so when he’s the one stressed, he skips practice for a day just so he could recollect his thoughts. usually stays in the library to read books he picked up based on the titles; might either open up to iwa or his sister later on, it depends. then when he’s okay, he doubles the amount of training

Oikawa Rie (及川 麗恵) it’s /ri-ye/ oki

so the kanjis are: "麗" meaning, beautiful and "恵" is blessed. tooru thought of this name obviously

also has curly hair like mine. has that tiny mole below her eye just like i do. actually has lots of moles over her body; one time she fell asleep on the couch her brother drew connecting lines between the moles on her arm and called them constellations. it was nice she thought but still, the next day, teru had to wear a band-aid over his nose bridge.

she’s just a year younger. is less “vibrant” than her brother, a bit more serious. has a resting bitch face and she’s not even sorry about it and i love her for that

she’s actually relieved she looks like that, or else she knows the girls in her class would flock to her just to get in her brother’s pants. usually brushes them off with “ask him, not me” or “do you think that’s any of my concern?” 

her tongue her words damn never get to this baby girl’s bad side she’s gonna burn you alive. like fr when she’s angry, oh she’s gonna show you that she’s angry. but tbh she's very sweet, leaves little notes or little gifts to her friends every now and then

she just doesn’t want her brother’s heart to be broken (she’s heard stories from her mom about her dad’s many hs exes), and she knows teru’s struggles

therefore

doesn’t really like volleyball that much. it’s because she didn’t get to grow up with her dad around, she felt like it separated her from him. she’s not mad at him though. she’s very supportive of him and her brother.

used to play vb though when they were kids. but that’s all it was for her

she’s the team’s honorary manager lol the occasional “i brought you guys sumn” or “something-kun, a girl from my class says she likes you so do your best” etc

the team’s lil sister how bout that

despite being tolerant of horror games, this girl is vvvv squeamish. she cries at the sight of internal organs or blood. biology lab was the worst time of her life 

when she dug up my hs videos she was shook to discover i once did theater. and thus begins her interest in theater too

and??? baby girl is actually???? really really good???? 

the girls she used to shut down nicknamed her “prima”, short for “prima donna” she hates it. hates it more when her closest theater buddy was the one who spread that around

immediately went to the gym to spike some balls from her brother. baby girl was crying because she was just so pissed.

she was given ice cream and sweets afterwards. ugh it’s so cute idk she’s baby to the team skksksk they protecc

in that upcoming play, her first ever performance, the whole team got front row seats and howled when she came on during curtain call; it was vvv sweet and memorable even if the guys were kinda reprimanded afterwards lmao

which is why, in return, boiis also have a hard time approaching her because damn??? the vb team as your knights???? excuse me??? 

oh have i mentioned she has a sweet tooth? mygod. she has a stash of sweets in her room. teru has had to sneak some away because she might get tooth aches or diabetes

her pastel nail polish is arranged by shade, her body clock is fucked up lmao she hates the mornings; has succulents by her window which she names after various characters from books/plays etc she’s for sure gonna be a theater actress tho

asks help from iwa’s son for math. even her brother’s 0% help. teru is smart but a terrible teacher. she’s an above-average student and that’s all that matters for her. she can leave the spotlight to her brother because she only craves one type of spotlight

Miya Seiichi (宮 聖一) and Miya Seiji (宮 聖二)

their names literally mean “聖” sacred then “一” is one, and “二” is two

atsumu thought it was funny. when they were kids, seiichi’s nickname was “juan” and seiji’s was “tutu” (i gave them the nicknames)

when the twins discovered the meaning behind the nicknames, they hated it. especially seiji, he despises it vvv much

so when they were hs, seiichi = chi, seiji = ji for the people they're close with

as we can see here, the twins unfortunately got my curls. seiichi likes his hair as is. he doesn’t like the thought of dyeing his hair just to be differentiated from his twin. in fact he enjoys twin jokes, enjoys tripping people up about it. seiji on the other hand, grew tired of his brother’s jokes and by the time hs started, he sacrifices his soft hair. 

between the two, seiji is the one who has my ugly eyesight. add to the fact that he reads a lot (once he starts he can’t put it down. so he reads in the dark, in a moving car etc)

the piercings was a thing that happened between them, and their cousins (which were also twins wtf)–it was a 2v2 vb thing and they lost

surprisingly, the cousins weren't pleased bc atsumu didn't scold them for getting piercings (but for playing half-heartedly). seiichi wanted the piercings tho tbh it was the perfect excuse. ngl, seiji also wanted them.

first let's talk abt seiichi, aside from the fact he also got my mole (he feels it makes him look cuter tho)

seiichi's into vb, but not a setter. he's the ace. may or may not push through with it as a career. he hasn't decided yet. is actually a bit sad that seiji didn't join the vb club in hs, he wanted them to be like his dad and uncle.

seiichi doesn't have any uh, quirks like shutting the whole cheer squad up like his dad does. but he usually dribbles the ball five times before any serve (this is something i did before) and he likes the 'ooooh hey' thing the crowd does when he goes for a serve

his side of the room doesn't have much stuff going on except workout equipment. he follows what exercise plan i give him as da PT mom that i am, and he is very strict with his diet and with what he eats–he's close to not needing a calorie counter anymore; but not a picky eater. he loves his uncle's cooking very much and he is jealous he can't cook even if he tries

he can do beatboxing, he learned it through youtube lmao his spotify playlists are da bombest; he learns a lot in youtube tho in his free time. his current interest is magic tricks and french (he thinks he can use it to woo that girl from class 4)

he hates insects, and hates mess. he has had to scold his twin about it that it escalated to them having this imaginary line in the middle of the room

anyway, he's straightforward. but not rude. he just doesn't like any pretenses so he says what he thinks or feels is right. may or may not have led to some misunderstandings, but he owns up to his mistakes if he crossed a line

next, seiji

even if he looks like a nerd with his glasses tbh he is not he actually hates studying. you can love reading without having to love studying right? he's that dude

the only time that he regrets dyeing his hair was when he realizes couldn't change identities so his brother could take his exam for him

his side of the room is littered with his sketches, notes from books, pencils everywhere – he drew a bunch of ants one time on a paper and made it look like they're real ass ants and placed it on seiichi's pillow

to solve this problem, atsumu has planned to give him a tablet for his next birthday

quits vb in hs because he kinda lost interest? he still finds it fun but he doesn't wanna be put under the pressure that his dad and uncle left for them lmao

he's in art clubs tho

he designs banners/posters for the team anyway. they use his strategic mind from the shit he's read for any plays and stuff so when he's not drawing, he's thinking

he might look like he has no emotions, but tbh he is more emotional and empathetic than his brother. he cries easily over the simplest things, like those grandparents vids, or rescuing animals and stuff

and thats why he doesn't let people in too much bc he knows he'll be hurt (dw seiichi knows this vvv well, and even if they do have arguments, he loves his lil bro and helps him about this)

has once begged to have a cat at home–seiichi didn't want bc he knows his twin is gonna leave him for clean up lmao

he can cook period.

he's gonna either be an architect or an animator, still hasn't decided.

his music taste sucks lmao. his youtube recents are filled with cooking stuff; in constant conversation with his uncle abt cooking lol it be cute sometimes atsumu is jealous bc he feels his son is closer to his brother than with him

he is forgetful that's why his stuff is messy lol he keeps misplacing stuff, sometimes it's literally in front of him and he's just 'where????'

but remembers dates well, remembers plays well. he's good at nitpicking tiny nearly insignificant details. just anything outside studying? he's good. dw he passes his classes but he hates giving effort for that shit lololol

[tagsecretsanta]

From Onereyofstarlight

to @taylart-x​

Secret Santa doesn’t own this piece, full credit to the author mentioned above

TW: Referenced Alcoholism, Stress, Depression

Title: Past That Point

“Scott, get dow–”

The transmission was hastily switched off with a flick of the wrist. Scott groaned from his position, huddled on his bed, as the incessant beeping of an International Rescue emergency pierced through the “Do Not Disturb” settings on his communicator.

Was twelve hours too much to ask for? he wondered dimly. His tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth as he slowly sat up. His vision swam in and out as the nausea struck him full force.

Bad idea, retreat, he thought, lowering himself back down again.

That damn beeping was still trying to invade his eardrums. Scott fuzzily wondered if he could convince John to jam all radio frequencies in his room. A clattering of footsteps outside his door shot straight to his head and he doubled over with a groan.

“Scott!” Alan’s voice was high and sharp. “Scott, wake up, there’s an emergency, John is pissed.”

“Don’ say piss,” slurred Scott. “’M on my way.”

“Are you sure Scott?” asked Alan, the worry evident in his tone. “You look like crap.”

“’M fine.”

Alan blindly reached for the light switch and it only took a split second for the lightbulb to imprint its energy into Scott’s head with a sharp pain.

Scott slammed his eyes closed but there were red spots flying behind his eyes, the change too much and too fast, and his body’s response was to make it all stop, to restore Scott to the last moment where all had been okay, when there was no alcohol in his system.

Alan could see better now with the lights on, could see the colour drain from Scott’s face, the shaking in his hands as he tried to draw the covers over his head and the clamminess of his skin. That was all the warning he got before Scott threw up.

“GRANDMA!”

A cry for Grandma was a cry for help, and it was no surprise that not only Grandma Tracy came running around the corner, but Virgil too.

The two of them sized up the situation quickly.

“You boys get going,” said Grandma Tracy grimly. “You’re needed elsewhere, I’ll look after him.”

Virgil pulled Alan away as Grandma Tracy crossed over to Scott’s bed and began to gently extract him from the sheets.

“Is Scott okay?” Alan asked Virgil as they made their way back downstairs. Virgil shook his head. 

“Grandma will sort him out,” he replied, but the crease between his eyes only deepened as they entered the lounge room. Gordon sat on the arm of the couch, chewing anxiously on the corner of his thumbnail. He was avoiding John’s glare, one arm folded defensively across his chest. He looked up in relief when Virgil and Alan entered the room.

“Where the hell is he?” demanded John, his expression thunderous from his position hovering above them.

“He’s sick,” said Alan.

“Virgil?”

“I grounded him,” said Virgil, and Alan’s eyes flickered at the lie. “He shouldn’t be flying for a couple of days. He’s not in the air force anymore, can’t have him trying to push through anything he shouldn’t.” Alan only looked more confused but Gordon straightened a little beside him, his eyes widening a little. Virgil ignored his brothers in favour of looking John dead in the eye as he spoke.

John’s face twitched and then settled into the cool professionalism he reserved for when he was required to distance his personal reactions.

“Alan, you’re in Thunderbird One,” he said in a clipped voice.

“What?!” exclaimed Gordon.

“There’s a tsunami heading for the Philippines and Palau,” said John. “They’re evacuating but they still need us onsite ASAP, Thunderbird One has the most manoeuvrability to pick up the desperate cases before Thunderbird Two arrives, and Alan is our best pilot. He’s trained and he’s going.”

Alan nodded and left to prepare for the rescue.

John turned back to Gordon and Virgil when he was out of sight.

“Bullshit, Scott’s sick,” he said, scowling at the two of them. “I thought we were past this.”

“Not now, John,” said Virgil sharply. “Grandma has him, we can worry about him when we get back.”

“Alan’s going to notice,” said Gordon. “He’s not a kid anymore.”

“I’ll talk to Alan,” said Virgil. “But not before we talk to Scott. Let’s move it.”

“FAB,” said Gordon.

***

It was a pale and wan looking Scott who was waiting for them when Virgil, Gordon and Alan returned home, feet and hearts heavy. Alan collapsed onto the floor by Scott’s feet and reached up to pat his knee.

“Alan!”

“’M all good, Scott,” he said with a yawn. “Jus’ too tired t’ move.” He opened one eye and looked up at Scott. “And you?”

“I’m alright, kid,” said Scott softly. The corners of his lips drooped as he watched Alan, exhausted but filled with a spark of good cheer all the same. 

“Sure Scotty,” said Gordon patting his shoulder. “Come on Alan, at least let’s get you to your own floor.”

The older brothers watched as Gordon hauled his younger brother out of the room. Virgil could see the look Gordon gave him as he glanced back, disguised by the pause to shift Alan’s weight across his shoulders, the look that he wore in the field that told Virgil that he needed to get his battle gear ready.

“John,” slurred Alan. “t’s John, guys. G’nigh’ John.”

“You got him?” came John’s quiet voice through the walls.

“Yeah,” said Gordon. “Try not to kill each other while I’m gone.”

They didn’t hear John’s response but they knew when he walked in, his presence settling over the lounge room like the stifling, humid air before a summer storm. Virgil watched in alarm at the dark anger looming in John’s narrowed eyes.

 “John,” began Virgil, stepping up to intercept him, but John brushed past him without a second glance.

“What the hell, Scott,” he hissed, towering over him. “We needed you out there today, they needed you. How could you do that to us?”

Scott gave no indication that he had heard John, drawing his legs up and tucking the blanket under him. The dead expression on his face was beginning to spread like a disease, his body uncaring of the function it was to perform. Eyes that were unfocused and void of vitality, shoulders and a spine that refused support, hands relaxed when Scott should have been preparing for a fight.

“Are you listening to me?” demanded John. “People died, people we could have saved.”

Scott shrugged, avoiding John’s gaze. “Wouldn’t have made a difference.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I do.”

“I suppose you’ve run all the simulations of every possible outcome of each rescue?” said John, the waspish tone further souring his speech. “Because I have. And you know something? In every trial where we don’t have to sit around waiting for you, International Rescue gets there before the first building is washed away. International Rescue is there when they are needed.”

John spat his words at Scott like a weapon, his voice the sharp point of a sword, each syllable a gunshot crack in the silence. 

“People died because you fucked up, Scott.”

“John, stop,” commanded Virgil. Stepping forward and pulling himself to his full height, his voice rang with authority. His eyes showed the kind of calm certainty that John was used to seeing in his oldest brother, the kind that told him that reassured him that someone had seen the issue at hand. Electricity was still crackling about him as he looked sharply between his brothers, but he quietened under Virgil’s strong gaze and dropped onto a couch opposite.

 “Scott, we’re worried,” said Virgil, slowly as he looked down at Scott. “We haven’t seen you like this since…” He trailed off, taking in the way his brother was already flinching away from him. He knew that Scott had never truly grown comfortable sharing his weaknesses with his younger brothers and even those short sentences had been enough to make Scott hunch over and fold his arms across his chest. He carefully sat down next to Scott and reached out a hand to his shoulder. 

“I know it’s been a rough couple of months,” he said, choosing his words with care. “But you’ve never outright missed a rescue before.”

“It won’t happen again,” said Scott, looking past Virgil out the window. “It was just the one time and it was stupid.”

“Yeah, it was stupid,” said John with a snort. “This isn’t about a one-off event; this is about a pattern.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Your response times for rescues has been steadily decreasing for the last eight months,” said Virgil. “You haven’t slept through a full night since January, and when you are at home, you’re just hiding away from us.”

Scott scoffed at the two of them. “So, what? You’re calling me out because I’m stressed and haven’t caught a break? I should never have given you permission to access my biometrics during downtime.”

“Scott, you skipped a rescue because you were too hungover to move this morning,” said Virgil, impatiently. “Are you seriously trying to wave this off as you just being stressed? Your BAC peaked at 160mg/dL last night, you don’t get that from a couple of beers to relax after work.”

“Yeah, well, I made a mistake,” said Scott. “It happens, you can’t pull me up on that.”

“We can’t afford mistakes like that,” said John, his hackles starting to rise again. “What part of our job being the difference between life and death are you not getting?”

“Easy for you to say,” said Scott, his own temper flaring. For the first time, a spark flashed in his eyes. “All the way up there, your AI ready to take over if you need to step away, what do you know?”

“EOS helps run simulations and filter calls; she doesn’t take over anything. Without her, we’d be out on rescues a lot more, and we’d lose at least 80% of the information I can get you.” 

“More of that ‘we’,” spat Scott. “You don’t have a clue, John.”

“Is this an argument anyone can get in on?” asked Gordon with a slight drawl. “Or is it restricted to assholes over six foot two?” He dropped down to sit on the back of the couch beside John and nudged him with his foot. “John, stop making this personal, he’s just trying to distract you from the problem. Scott, shut the hell up, we’re trying to help you.”

“I don’t need help,” said Scott, turning on his brother. “You act like you’ve never been stressed before.”

“This has gone well beyond stressed, Scott,” said Virgil. “Talk to us.”

“About what?” The phrase burst from his lips and there was the look of a caged creature in his eyes. “What exactly do you want me to say?”

“I want you to explain what you meant when you said that what we do doesn’t make a difference.”

Virgil had a way of cutting to the core of any issue, be it with machinery or words.

“That’s not what I meant,” said Scott, irritably.

“No? Word for word, that’s what you said and you are not in the habit of saying things you don’t mean.”

“I don’t, that’s not,” Scott tugged his head down and groaned. “I didn’t mean you don’t make a difference. 

“He means he doesn’t think he makes a difference,” said John, eyeing his brother sharply. “Not us.”

Scott shook his head trying to clear away the fog and cobwebs that seemed to have permanently taken up residence inside his brain. 

“Look, I’ve done the math,” he said tiredly. “Rescues with me on board are five times more likely to involve a mission failure. And I guess I got tired of watching my efforts go to waste. It’s like you said, Johnny, what we do is life or death and if I can’t cut it, if people die because of the decisions I make?” He shook his head again. “That’s not something I can live with.”

“Okay,” said Virgil. “Okay.”

The brothers sat in silence for a moment.

“So, what do we do now?” asked Gordon, hesitant to take on the role of initiator in this conversation.

Virgil took in a deep breath, unwilling to say what they were all thinking.

“You ground me,” said Scott quietly. “I’m too big a risk, I can coordinate from the island.”

“What, no!” exclaimed Virgil over John’s angry noise of protest. 

“Just like that, you’ve been replaced,” said Gordon, shoving John’s shoulder. Scott realised that with his muddled thought process, that was exactly what he had just suggested.

“I didn’t mean it like that, John,” he said.

“No, no, go ahead, my job is so much easier than yours,” said John, his lips twisting into a sardonic smile. “What was it you said? ‘An AI ready to take over if you need to step away?’ It’s a hard job for anyone to screw up, so it’ll be perfect for you.”

Scott flinched as John threw his words back at him.

“No-one is replacing anyone,” said Virgil, firmly. “This isn’t about being a hazard, this is about your health. Scott, you’re off active duty. That includes missions, that includes reports, that includes coordination of any kind. You’re not getting back in the air until you’ve worked this through.”

Scott looked away from Virgil. He had known what his brother would say, knew he was doing the right thing, but it still hurt. Irrational the thought may be, but the pronouncement smacked of distrust and being left behind.

“Look, Scott,” said Gordon, quietly. “You need a break. You don’t see how you’ve changed over these last few months.”

Scott didn’t respond, a hard stare on his face and a tectonic shift held inside with a tight jaw and clenched fists. His brow burrowed into his skin as he closed his eyes, mirrored by dark shadows that showcased his lack of sleep.

His brothers watched as his lips trembled. They watched as a tear escaped from beneath his eyelid. They watched as he folded his arms across his chest. They watched as he swallowed back a grimace and then a sob. 

Virgil reached out, gathering his big brother into his arms, and with an awful shudder that ripped through his body, Scott collapsed inwardly upon himself. 

Scott was hiding now, as much as he could from his brothers that weren’t so little anymore. He curled in upon himself, clasping his arms even tighter around himself. Virgil’s heart ached to see his big brother like this, horrified to find him at the end of himself and yet still so unwilling to reach out to them.

“We’ve got you, Scott,” said John, walking over and sinking to the floor. His anger had melted away at the sound of Scott’s sobs and he rested his head against Scott’s ankles. Scott couldn’t hear the rest of his murmured words, not even certain if John meant them for his ears.

Gordon squeezed into the space between the arm of the chair and his brother, his own eyes welling up with unshed tears as he watched over Scott. 

Nothing, not misery, not anguish, not even despair, lasts forever and slowly Scott began to unfurl himself as his cries quietened with nothing more to lament. The sudden change was an act of submission, his hitching breaths and swollen eyes laying bare the complete exhaustion of Scott’s emotional reserves. 

“Scott?”

Scott felt John jump against his leg at the uncertain call and Virgil instinctively tightened his grip around his shoulders. 

“Alan.” It was Gordon who responded first, as Gordon often did. “Shit, uh, I mean…” His brother was panicking, Scott could hear it in his voice, torn between checking in on his younger brother and leaving Scott with a shred of dignity intact. Scott knows it’s not a fair choice, knows it’s time to be the oldest once again. After all, it’s Scott his youngest brother is asking for, not Gordon, not Virgil, not even John.

“Get over here, kid,” he said, cracking one eye open and shrugging away Virgil’s arms. “What’s up? Thought you were too tired to move?”

“I slept,” said Alan dismissively, in a manner Scott just knows he’s picked up from visiting John on Thunderbird Five.

He shuffled uncomfortably and Scott sat up with a frown.

“You’ve been crying,” said Alan, looking down at him.

“Scott chuckles, a thin and watery sound. “Yeah kid, I have.”

“You scared me. When you wouldn’t get out of bed.”

Scott winced a little at the blunt sincerity in Alan’s voice. None of his brothers had much cause for subterfuge in their emotions, but Alan was still unpractised in the art of softening the blows they could leave behind. Or maybe, he didn’t care.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I really, really wish you hadn’t seen any of it.”

Alan was silent for a few moments. “I know you’re not gonna talk to me about it,” he said. “None of you ever will, not on purpose.”

“Can’t knock us off our pedestals,” quipped Gordon. “Far too traumatising for a teenager to deal with, much better to have four models of perfection to live up to.”

“Shut up Gordon,” Alan said, rolling his eyes at his brother. “Maybe I don’t want models of perfection. Maybe I just want my brothers. I want Scott to stop all this, and I want all of you to have time for me again.” 

The thing about Alan is that sometimes there’s a selfish streak when he talks. It’s unintentional, the product of both youth and being the baby of their family, and they all let him get away with it. The way he demands things so easily for himself, thinking so little about how they happen and the sacrifices made to ensure their existence, doesn’t come naturally to Scott. Scott has lived his life from the opposite perspective, shouldering the responsibility and making the sacrifices willingly. If Alan wants his brothers back, Scott will make sure he gets them.

“We need a vacation,” announces Alan. “A real break, like a week at least. All of us together somewhere.”

 “Yeah,” he said. “Yeah, okay, I can make that happen.”

“We can, Scotty,” said Gordon. “The whole point is we can.”

Scott watched in amusement as Gordon and Alan began to bicker over the proposed vacation; where they would go, what they should do. Virgil chimed in with his own ideas every now and again, his face breaking into a relieved smile with the return of more familiar territory, providing a buffer between them.

The only person who said nothing was John. Scott nudged him gently with his foot, but he was shaken off.

“I’m still mad at you,” he said and Scott winced. He opened his mouth to reply but John cut him off. “You scared me too.”

“I know,” said Scott. “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

John pursed his lips together and looked firmly out the window. “Don’t make promises you don’t know you can keep, Scott.” He looked up at his brother and his eyes softened. “This won’t be the end. A holiday doesn’t just fix a year of self-neglect. You know that, right?”

Scott swallowed, his throat thick with emotion once more.

“Yeah Johnny, I do,” he said gruffly. “But it’ll be a start.”