#grandpa mutt has seen this before

[gloves94]

Sunburn [Prince Zuko] 9

Warnings: None   Rating: PG-13   Pairings: Zuko/OC   Summary:  “You have everything you’ve ever wanted.” “No.” He said softly. “Not everything…”  His golden eyes looked at her with a melting intensity she had never witnessed before. “I guess not.” She responded with glassy eyes as tears welled up threatening to break the dam of her eyes.

My fanfiction: M A S T E R L I S T

Later that evening Tsai had returned to where the Avatar gang were spending their nights in. Katara had been tossing around in her sleeping bag complaining about not wanting to be in the healing class because she would've gathered be learning how to fight instead.

"All knowledge is power Katara,"Tsai uttered wisely as her grandfather would've said. She lightly played with her choker necklace at the memory of the man. "You never know, the healing techniques that you learn might actually come in handy in the future." She nodded.

"A difference?" Katara questioned popping her head on her palm with curiosity. "What do you mean?"

"Yeah," Aang suddenly commented. "I'm also very curious- how was it that you managed to get past all of those Fire Nation guards at the Pohuai stronghold? He asked.

Tsai lowered her head in an attempt to hide the smirk that slowly inched across her face. She tugged in her arms deeper into her sleeves mischievously.

"I'll keep my secrets," she said with a ghostly smile before turning away from them preparing to sleep. "I'll tell," she said. "But first I have a question," she turned to look at both Aang and Katara once again.

"Why does everybody here hate me?" She asked bluntly.

Aang and Katara exchanged a look of pure confusion.

"In the Water Tribe, I mean." She clarified.

"Tsai," Katara began to explain. "You're Fire Nation. You're their enemy. You're our enemy."

"But why?" She retorted leaning forward as she sat with her legs crossed. "The Fire Nation is and has always been the greatest nation!" She spoke with a sudden bold sense of nationalism. "We bringing our culture and goods to new lands because we want to share our greatness with the world. It would be selfish not to."

"WHAT?" Katara roared furious. Tsai flinched slightly at her explosive reaction. She was not expecting her to react in this way.

"That's what you think the Fire Nation is doing?" She snapped. "I knew we shouldn't have trusted you!" She exited her sleeping back and rose to her feet aggravated. Tsai did the same.

"The Fire Nation took everything away from me! My family, my mother!" She roared. Aang held her back. "Starting this war is just as great of a sacrifice for my nation! It's for the greater good."

"You killed my mother!" She screeched heaving.

Tsai dropped the argument at the accusation. Katara's eyes were wide. Her nostrils were swollen with hatred as her eyes zeroed on the aghast teen before her.

"Can't you see? The Fire Nation has done nothing for the world! Everywhere you go you spread war, hatred, fear, famine, death and pain! You tear families apart. Leave orphan children, widowed wives, wounded soldiers and for what? For greatness?" She spat.

"Katara!" Aang pleaded.

Tsai wasn't going to sit here and take this. She turned away with her jaw clenched and stormed out of the room.

"Tsai! Wait!" Aang called after her. "Where are you going?"

Katara huffed and exhaled a sharp breath before snuggling inside of her sleeping back once again. She punched her pillow angrily a handful of times.

"Tsai means well Katara," Aang said after a moment. "I know it. She's just-" He paused for a moment trying to find the proper words. "The daughter of a Fire Nation governor?"

Aang was quiet at Katara's silent response.

"She's Fire Nation Aang. She's evil. They are all the same. Don't forget."

Xxx

"Is your friend toying with me?" Sokka snapped as he walked back to where they were staying.

"What are you talking about?" Tsai asked confused not in the mood to be dealing with these types of situations.

"I don't understand her. I thought she liked me and now she's telling me to get lost. I don't get it!" He threw his hands up in the air confused. "That's odd," Tsai said. "She told me she really liked you earlier today."

"Is she playing games with me or something like that?"

Yue didn't seem like the type to play these games. And from what she had told Tsai earlier she seemed to genuinely like the Southern Water Tribe boy. She thought for a moment scratching her chin.

"I don't think so," She said not really wanting to engage in conversation in her foul mood after her fight with Katara.

"So what should I do?" He deadpanned.

Was he really asking her for advice?

"I don't know," she shrugged. "Just talk to her. Ask her how she really feels about you."

"Why do I have the feeling you think talking is the solution to everything," he sighed in defeat. "It's probably what my grandpa would've said," she smiled fondly at the memory of the man.

"That is- completely unhelpful," he grumbled and hid his face in his arm.

"Sometimes some things are lost in translation." She says wisely. He looked at her oddly, she suddenly get a sad look on her face. She looked at Sokka one last time before continuing on her trek to nowhere in particular.

Katara was wrong.

The Fire Nation was the greatest nation. The war was well intended. Together all united under one nation the world would thrive. All under the rule of fire.

She thought about her home, Yu Dao. It's history serving as testament of the Fire Nation's greatness. Under Fire Lord Azulon the Fire Nation had made a mecca of industry and commerce out of a nowhere town in the edges of the Earth Kingdom. The city had drowned and blossomed to be one of the most important in the world. That would've never happened without them. So if they were so great...

She looked at a couple who whispered and shied away from her scarring away.

A man walking spit at her feet.

Arnook did not welcome her like a hero would've been welcomed.

If they were so great- why were they so hated?

xxx

"Yue, I need to ask for a favor." Tsai asked the following morning. She hadn't slept in the same room as the Avatar and his friends. Instead she had found comfort outside the doors of the palace simply leaning against the snowy wall and barely sleeping through the cold night. She really hated the weather here.

"Anything," Yue smiled taking her hands in hers. Tsai didn't have time to ask about what had happened with Sokka. It's not like she cared either. She wasn't the nosy type. "I need you to get me an audience with your father."

Moments later Tsai had her audience.

She walked into the meeting room. One which like the entire tribe was made of snow falls which reached the skies. The ceiling was gone allowing for the clear weather and shinning sun to witness their meeting.

"Arnook," she bowed before him in respectful Fire Nation fashion which irked the leader to no end. "You're persistent," he barked.

"What do you want?" He asked impatiently.

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Tsai of Yu Dao. Yu Dao is-" he interrupted her. "I know what Yu Dao is!"

She paused for a moment. Knowing he would be difficult.

"I've come to you with a challenging question." She scrapped everything she had reserved. "Do you think.." She says slowly. "Do you think the Fire Nation and the Water Tribes will ever be able to work together as one?" She pondered.

"If you have come here to sheathe blood and bring darkness and war to my land I'm afraid that you've come to the wrong place," he threatened approaching her. The soldiers and other officials surrounding him raised their hands and weapons menacingly. A bead of sweat formed in her temple as she look at them. They were at least a dozen of them.

"Listen!" She snapped frustrated. "I did not choose where I was born. My mother is of Earth Kingdom descent, my father Fire Nation. Which makes me half of both. I cannot bend fire or earth-" once again he interrupted her.

"That only makes you a mutt." He said bitterly.

It was then that his eyes darted up in the sky. All of them did. She turned after a moment only to see what looked like black snow snowing above them. The girl had never seen snow before, let alone black one. It took her a moment to realize that it was ash raining above them. Which could only mean one thing.

"You have lead them to us!" Arnook pointed accusingly. "Arrest her!"

"No. I have no idea how they found us!" She denied the dangerous accusation.

Tsai tried running. She tried fighting but before she could move an inch was frozen still to the ground in ice.

xxx

The girl was thrown into jail. She didn't know how long she had been in there. It must've been more than a day. Unbeknown to her Yue pleaded with her father. Pleaded with all of her wish and power to let her out. She tried explaining it was a coincidence and that she believed in the Fire Nation girl's honesty, but Arnook would not see to it.

The cell was cold as ice which had her shivering in the corner alone hugging herself in an attempt to retain some of her body's warmth. In her time in jail she felt a terrible headache. One which she felt could've split her forehead in half. Looking out the window she noted that an ominous light as red as her hair crept in. Holding on to her temples in pain she looked out and saw that the full moon had been tinted a color of crimson red blood. She starred eyes wide when she suddenly heard a sudden crash nearby.

Shocked she took cover before a market stall was thrown at the wall making it collapse. Setting her free.

"Well.. That was lucky," she mused as she carefully snuck out of the gaping hole that had been made by the crash. Creeping on her toes she slid down a hill of snow to the streets of the Northern Water tribe with only one objective in her mind. Escaping. She didn't realize where she was falling to and fell into a freezing stream of water. The icy North Pole water felt like a thousand knives nipping at her body from all over.

She had to get out of here fast. As she ran the moon shifted color as the air became colder, the air darker as all color seemed to be drained from the world. She hadn't stopped to wonder just what thing could've thrown such a heavy cart at such a distance when a monstrous creature in the figure of a glowing fish rose from the depth of the waters. It attacked all Fire Nation as it stormed through the village.

She cursed as she avoided it. Noting it was mainly attacking the invading Fire Nation troops that had descended on the Water Tribe's village. If she got near it, it would probably lead to her demise.

Whatever that thing was- She saw fire balls being aimed and fired at the creature which advanced unaffected - whatever was going on - it was not good. There was no time to say goodbye to her friend Yue. To converse with the Avatar. She had to get out.

Tsai continued on her dash towards the docks when she slid around a corner and looking over her shoulder teeth chattering she turned and crashed into something hard. She reached for her head as she tripped over her feet and fell to the ground on her bottom. She looked up and saw a pair of angry eyes glaring daggers at her. Oh, she had crashed into somebody.

"You," the man growled dangerously.

It was that son of a bitch Zhao.

She staggered to her feet but wasn't fast enough. Zhao was fast and his meaty hand claws around her neck with a deathly grip. He had obviously taken the night of the Blue Spirit at the Pohuai Fortress a little too personally.

She coughed struggling to gasp for breath when a third party stumbled upon the scene. Zuko walked into what seemed like the worst surprise of his life. Zhao turned to look at him maliciously.

"One step and I'll make sure your pretty girlfriend has a scar to match yours." He threatened.

Zuko's jaw clenched, he gritted his back molars in anger and frustration. He saw Tsai struggling to breath coughing for breath as her face slowly turned blue. He had to do something. Anything.

"So- tell me, what was your plan? You went in and distracted me and the Blue Spirit did all the dirty work?" He chuckled as he squeezed his grip on the girl's neck. He was holding her up above her feet so that they saw eye to eye. He suddenly dropped her and she gasped and coughed for air the color returning to her face. He turned her and kept a firm grip around her as he slowly retreated out of the scene.

His terrible breath pricked at her skin as he kept his arm wrapped around her body holding her in place.

"It's going to be interesting to find out what could've happened between us that night-" He whispered that and other filth into her ear.

"You're sick!" She growled out at the older man as she struggled against his deathly grip still shivering as she was soaked to the bone.

Zuko was ready to fire. He aimed his hand twitching slightly. His heart was pounding in his rib cage. One wrong move and it was over. He only had one shot before things went South. Zhao continued advancing over a snow bridge. He was going to get away! The girl struggled, her breathing loud as it became harder and harder to breath with every step the admiral gave. It was then that her eyes met his and he saw something familiar in them.

He understood and lowered his hand. Her body was trembling from the cold. Zuko lowered his guard and it was then that he saw offensive. Two silver blades crept our from her long sleeves and in one swift fluid motion she punctured Zhao's arm and Zuko swore he saw the blade go through his hand. The man screamed in pain. She twisted her torso and managed to guide the burning flame in his other arm to the sky missing her by mere inches. She took a sharp breath and ducked with skilled training. She used all the strength in her legs to push away from him. Her body collapsing to the snowy ground. Zhao held his arm put again ready to attack. However lost his footing when she twisted kicking him off his feet smoothly. Without hesitation Zuko stepped in and blasted Zhao away in a fiery dance.

Wounded and miserable the man collapsed to the ground in the middle of the snow bridge.

Massively monstrous blue hands suddenly struck out from the water and clawed at the top surrounding the admiral in a deathly capture. Zuko and Tsai managed to roll away from the monster claws as to their horror witnessed the admiral being dragged away to a watery grave. Tsai glared with eyes narrowed. Zuko was the better person and stretched out his hand in aid. For a second it looked like Zhao was going to take it but the prideful man turned away.

And just like that he was gone. Color returned to the world and it seemed like a glance had returned to the world. Zuko stepped back and saw the red-head shivering a couple of feet away from him. Her teeth chattering. He looked at her and her at him and she couldn't believe how happy she was to see him. To see somebody from home, someone familiar.

"Zuko!" She spoke in a low voice through violent shakes. Now having her she got a good look at his face and noticed the many new scars and wounds that decorated his face. She was about to ask what had happened during her short absence.

"What-" She was left with the words in her mouth when he wrapped his arms around her hugging her in a tight embrace. He almost sighed. Relieved that she was okay. That they had found each other again.

She stood before him sharp hidden blades unsheathed, shocked, shivering, soaked to the coldest bone. It took her a moment of hesitation before hugging him back just as tightly.

"I'm so happy to see you," the words left her mouth before she could process them. She hadn't even realized that she had started to cry. She buried her face on his shoulder. He was warm. He was the piece of home she had been missing. Right now, he was comfort.

"You're freezing," he said taking her hands in his as she retracted her hidden blades. He said nothing. Simply held her icy hands in his and brought them close to his lips breathing a hot air into them slowly warming her back.

She didn't even know why she was crying at this point. She smiled at him endearingly and wiped a stray tear from her. Everything was just too much to handle right now. Way too overwhelming.

"Let's get out of here." He said to her.

She wiped her tears as they escaped the icy tundra.

xxx

They met up with Iroh and Tsai sprinted hard running into his arms hugging him tightly. He hugged her back almost like a missing child and she repeatedly apologized for leaving without saying goodbye. He simply cupped her face with a hand and told her she did the right thing.

"I feel like you're at the crossroads once again Tsai, " Iroh said wisely tucking in both of his hands inside of his sleeves. "I wonder what road you'll take." He said ominously.

She raised an eyebrow confused at his riddle and shook his head.

"Let's just go home," she sighed. "I want to go back to Yu Dao. I think I'm going to be sick." She shivered not wanting to linger in this icy Neverland for another minute.

"Very well." Iroh said understandably. The man insisted on leaving on a makeshift raft boar which the girl refused to get on endlessly. Having been lost at sea for so many dies and almost dying from starvation she refused to put herself through the whole thing again. So instead they stole a slightly larger boat. One from a Water Tribe fisherman.

"They owe me," she grumbled. "That's for throwing me in that cold pit." She said bitterly as she remembered her brief stay in the icy prison cell. She hadn't even done anything!

And so they sailed away. Iroh explained to Tsai everything that had happened. Zhao killing the moon spirit. Yue becoming the moon spirit. The attack. The Avatar becoming one with the same spirit and taking down the fire nation. It had been a loaded day. He reasoned that it was probably the best that she had spent the day in jail for her own safety.

"You're really sure about returning back home?" Iroh asked.

Tsai snapped back into the conversation feeling distraught by her friend Yue's demise into the spirit world. "Sure," She mumbled. "Why not? I don't want to keep on 'getting in the way.'" She glared at a certain scarred prince who looked like he had the worst headache of his life.

"I'm concerned as your status as a traitor to the Fire Nation," Iroh stroked his beard wisely. "But that's a problem for when we arrive back to the mainland," he smiled at her warmly.

"You shouldn't have done that!" Zuko suddenly snapped in a scolding tone. "That stunt at the Pohuai Fortress? What were you thinking!" He sounded almost worried. Tsai misses the slight smirk that is growing on Iroh's face as he looks at them from the side.

"Hey! I freed the Avatar for you! Do you should be thanking me!" She shot back. "If I hadn't done that you'd be sitting in your room right now sulking with your arms crossed over your chest angrily meditating like an idiot."

"I don't sulk!" The other shot back slightly embarrassed and reached for her arm

"Also- may I remind you that Admiral Zhao is disgusting company. Interacting with him was definitely not pleasant," she raised both of her eyebrows eyes holding a little horror in them at the awful memory. It was then that he realized that he was holding on to her lower arm. He raised it up and her sleeves rolled back which exposed her secret weapon. He scrutinized over it looking at the arm braces she wore with the hidden blade mechanism.

Zuko would've never admit it outlaid but this was way more simple than what he had expected. Mind reading, secret bending, being a blood thirsty vampire demon, and super natural powers all came to him in his theories of how Tsai had gotten in an out of the stronghold with such ease.

"I'm glad to see your grandfather's hidden blades are in good hands," Iroh commented with a knowing smile.

"You knew about this Uncle?"

Iroh simply smiled a mischievous glint on his amber eyes.

"My grandfather taught me how to fight," she admitted reaching to touch the sunstone necklace she wore. "But I refuse to unless it's necessary. You see it can be quite deadly."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Zuko asked.

"I guess I didn't want you to think I was... weird." She said looking away slightly embarrassed.

"I....think it's cool," he said sharing the same tone after a moment. "Really?" She turned to look at him beaming. This only caused his cheeks to redden even more.

Iroh chuckled.

Zuko sighed and threw his hands up in the air not wanting to further have this conversation. "I'm tired." He declared.

"Youre not going to chase the Avatar?" Iroh asked.

"No- I'm tired." he repeated as he collapsed on the ship.

"A man needs his rest. Besides, Tsai and I have some much needed catching up to do." Iroh winked in her direction and she winked back.

They certainly did.

xxxx

AN: Your lovely thoughts? Phew and that's the end of Book 1, now onto what's next. Chapter 8 and Chapter 9 were originally one really long chapter so I decided to split them into 2. Also I have the story written until chapter 26 but as I keep editing and rewriting for posting I have made so many changes and I am loving how the story is unfolding.

Much love - G

xxx

FIRST https://gloves94.tumblr.com/post/621142853126602752/sunburn-prince-zuko-1

NEXT https://gloves94.tumblr.com/post/621293121020608512/sunburn-prince-zuko-10

PREV https://gloves94.tumblr.com/post/621256367939993600/sunburn-prince-zuko-8

CHAPTER MASTERLIST

[immortalcoelacanth]

PTA: Science Team (HLVRAI Fic 1/3)

*pulls dusty story out of garage and drops it into Tumblr*

I have been trying to finish the first chapter for AGES, and I finally got it done! I crave PTA AU content due to the wholesomeness and angst, and I just had to work on one short fic for this fandom. So, welcome to the first chapter out of three!

Word count: 1788

Summary: PTA meetings are a sham and no one hates them more than Gordon, but upon being forced to miss a “mandatory” meeting because of work, Benrey comes up with a brilliant idea to deal with this problem.

Chapter 1: Hostile Arrangements Require Equally Hostile Solutions

“Fuck! Shit! Okay-okay, I’ll just-motherfucker she did what?!”

Cursing was in Gordon’s nature. He often used it as a way to express his angry, dismay, shock, and all sorts of other negative emotions. As such it was not unusual to see pacing about and spitting insults left and right. 

What was unusual, however, was the fact that he was cursing in his own home. He had a strict swearing free zone in effect as a way to stop Joshua from picking up on any foul language, including a swear jar that tended to fill up whenever Bubby visited. It was quite fortunate that Joshua was currently being distracted by Benrey as the pair had been playing video games together for the past hour or so. 

Or they had been until, in a surprising display of stealth, Benrey crept out of the young boy’s room and slowly approached the frustrated Gordon. 

Gordon, who was currently continuing to quietly yell into his cell phone. 

“Are you kidding me?! I was scheduled for a meeting on the weekend! I have work tonight! How in the FUCK did she-”

“psssst, hey, hey feetman. you might wanna chill out there and, uh, stuff. turn down the volume.” Benrey cut in while pointing the tv remote at Gordon and clicking the volume button. “don’t wanna be a bad boy and teach joshie any naughty words.” 

“Shut the fuck up.” Gordon sighed, no real anger in his voice before redirecting his attention back to the phone call. “No, not you Natasha, it was just Benrey-”

“tell tasha her cookies are baller.”

“Wha-baller? Who the fuck says baller anymore?!” 

“c’moooooooon man, be a bro.”

“Natasha I am so sorry-tell her that yourself!”

“i can’t feeman, you know i don’t have a phone.”

“YOU WERE THE ONE WHO STUCK IT IN THE MICROWAVE!”

“i-i was just chagrin’ the battery with those radio waves, man. ads… they never lie.”

Laughter could be heard coming from the phone in response to the conversation going on between the two men. It was enough to snap Gordon out of his somewhat enraged state and refocus on whatever it was that Natasha was telling him. He gestured for Benrey to leave and only succeeded in shooing the ex-guard to the kitchen so he could have some peace. 

Not that the peace lasted long based on the muttered cursing and general sounds of Gordon stomping around. 

About ten minutes later, the frustrated physicist joined him in the kitchen, quickly making himself a cup of coffee and grumbling under his breath. Welp, looked like this was the perfect moment for some interrogation. 

“soooooo, wha was that about?” Benrey asked as he took another bite of the block of cheese he had been digging into. If you asked him, he’d say it tasted pretty gouda.

Damn, he needed to torment Gordon with more puns again. 

“Fucking-” Gordon exhaled sharply and ran a hand through his messy hair, too angry to noticed how Benrey reached out and gently pulled at some of the locks, watching them bounce and resume their previously curly shape. “Linda.”

Well, there went his good mood. 

Benrey’s eyes immediately narrowed, becoming nothing more than glowing slits in his shadowy face, as a disgruntled frown replaced his previous smile. Even the cheese in his hand seemed to start burning, smoke wafting off it as it began to melt in response to the sheer anger that name invoked in him. 

Linda Smith, the scourge of the neighborhood and one of the most uptight, pieces of shit that Benrey had ever encountered. A narcissist with a massive superiority complex, she constantly put down everyone around her who she thought of as being inferior.

Which was just a cover for how much of a racist shitwad she was, plus there were the various comments she made about fags invading the neighborhood.

An obvious insult aimed at not just Gordon and Benrey, but the other “not normal” couples that lived here and there. Poor Joshua had overheard some of the insults on multiple occasions, and she had called the kid a mutt to his face-

“Benrey? You wanna calm down before you poke holes in the ceiling again?”

Fortunately, Gordon’s exasperated voice snapped Benrey out of his enraged state before he accidentally inflicted more damage to the kitchen. A place that had seen many, many small explosions and fires. At this point, he towered over the other man as sharpened, boney spikes poked out of his back and scrapped the ceiling. Plaster fell and dusted the countertop. 

“oops, s-sorry dude.” Benrey awkwardly shrugged, flesh dripping from his arms and face in a rather gruesome display, not that Gordon was bothered by this. He was used to how… horrific his partner could become. 

Especially when someone mentioned Joshua being hurt or insulted in any way. It was actually quite wholesome thinking about how much Benrey cared about the young boy and how much their friendship had bloomed since they first met. 

“I get it.” Gordon sighed. “She’s such a bitch she’d make anyone Hulk out.”

“ten points for the ref there, feetman.”

The physicist somewhat seriously flipped Benrey off, making him laugh, before continuing to rant about the purpose of the now finished phone call. 

“I still can’t believe that stupid school listened to her, and I’m not the only one getting fucked over here!” He spat. “I can’t just drop out-”

It was at this moment that the source of Gordon’s rage dawned on Benrey, and the ex-guard spoke up. “wait, the school thingy?”

“You mean meeting?”

“ya.”

Gordon groaned and hid his face in his hands. “The MEETING! Linda fucked up my schedule! I don’t know what she said to the administrator, but they canceled the weekend meeting I was booked for and rescheduled me for tonight. When I have WORK!”

Benrey winced in sympathy and reached out to pat Gordon’s shoulder with his not cheese coated hand. “damn, th-that’s a real cringe move. can’t you get, uh, joshie’s mom to take care of it? s...shea?”

“I can’t,” Gordon muttered, face muffled by his hands. “Shea’s been on a business trip for some conference and she gets back in five days.”

“oooooh, that’s why you’ve had little josh bro for so long?”

Rather than respond, the physicist just continued to groan and hide his face in his hands as he tried to figure out how to fix the mess he had been caught up in. 

Joshua’s school had a very… specific structure to how it was run. Standard funding and where it would be directed was determined by the staff, however, sometimes the school would receive donations or raise large amounts of money through fairs and other events. 

And it was how this extra funding would be spent that the local community had the chance to weigh in on. Determining if it should be used to get more sports supplies, help fund after school programs, or be used to help make the school more accessible. 

The ramp that had been added two years ago was one such example of the potential good that these extra funds had, however there was one problem with this process. 

All parents were required to attend a meeting and voice their thoughts. This was a rather new development that had been added after a small group of disgruntled parents, ones who had objected to using the extra funds to improve the school and arguing that it should go towards planning fun trips instead, had tried to sue the school board. 

Of course, the case had immediately been thrown out and dismissed, but it had set a dangerous precedent. A precedent that now made it mandatory for all parents to attend one meeting to determine their opinions on where the funding should be used and write it down so they could not claim their voices had not been heard. 

Honestly, it was such a stupid arrangement in Gordon’s opinion. Why not just send out an email? Or forms that kids could take home to their parents. It was so… disruptive and annoying, especially for single parents who had to work long hours. 

Like him. 

His hands tensed, nails nearly dug into his skin before Benrey carefully moved them, holding them. As Gordon looked up, the ex-guard sent him an awkward yet warm smile. An attempt at reassuring him that things would turn out alright. 

“hey... you-you gotta chillax feetman, things’ll be okay-”

“How the hell am I supposed to chillax in this situation?!” Gordon barked as he removed his hands from Benrey’s, shoved himself out of his seat, and began pacing around, furiously staring at the floor. 

“I’ve been fucked over by some racist bitch! Joshua needs someone there and it has to be someone who has some kind of guardianship over him for that stupid funding bullshit!”

As his partner raged on about the unfairness and overall stupidity of the situation, Benrey decided that it was time to think. To think, and plot, and come up with something that would hopefully calm Gordon down while solving the problem that Linda had caused. 

Simply put, Joshua needed someone who had designated guardianship over him to be present during the meeting to act in his best interests. Not surprisingly, Benrey did not have this title due as both he and Gordon had agreed that it would not be the best idea due to both his inhumane nature and the potential destruction he might cause. 

But, that did not mean that only Shea and Gordon were listed as the young boy’s guardians. There was one other who had been granted the title in case of an emergency, although his presence had never been needed up until this point, which was probably why Gordon had forgotten about him in his stressed out state. 

Dr. Coomer, one of Joshua’s “grandpas”. 

And, of course, if one member of the Science Team went somewhere, then the rest had to follow. The Science Team stuck together through thick and thin, no matter the strife or struggle and always left chaos in their wake. 

Hostile arrangements required equally hostile solutions, after all. 

“this is gonna be baller.” Benrey chuckled, his eyes flashing brightly at the brilliance of his plan. Now all he had to do was get Gordon to agree to it.

“pssst, yo, xen to gaydon.”

There was something about the tone that Benrey’s voice took on that snapped Gordon out of his ranting. How calm and collected he sounded, the coherency and confidence in his words. Somewhat concerned, the physicist turned around and saw the scheming look in the ex-guard’s glowing eyes as his fingers drummed on the table. 

“feetman, i got a plan.”

                                             xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I would like to make it clear that no offense is intended towards anyone named Linda, aside from the one racist Linda I know that she was named after who will never, ever read this so my sins will forever remain unknown :>

[ryqoshay]

I was tagged by @lonelypond : Answer the questions below before tagging a fairly random number followers you want to get to know better.

I’ve never done one of these before, so what the heck, why not. First time for everything, right?

► Nicknames: In real life, mostly childish variations of my name, used by family and long-term friends. Here on the net, I’ve gained “Grandpa Ryqo” on Sukutomo, which I find amusing as all get out, so I’ve just gone with it.

► Gender: Meh…

► Sign: Not sure, honestly. And I’m too lazy to Google it atm. The only time I remember caring about astrological signs was when a friend got me into playing a modded version of Final Fantasy Tactics. Oh, and rolling my eyes at jokes about Nico being a Cancer.

► Height: A bit taller than average here in the U.S… I think? At least that’s been my observation

► Time: 14:07 CST at the time that I began filling this out… as of posting this, 16:55… I may have gotten distracted a few… oh look, another NicoMaki post!

► Birthday: In the third month of the year, probably

► Favorite Band/Artists: µ’s (They have maintained their top position for quite a while and likely will continue to do so for a while yet), Aqours, Hatsune Miku, Pentatonix, The Pillows, Queen, Benny Goodman, IOSYS, The Three Tenors, OK Go, Gorillaz, Peter Hollens, 2Cellos, The Supremes, The Beatles, Weird Al Yankovic, Lindsey Sterling, Johnny Cash, 403 Forbiddena, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, The Ink Spots, Buddy Holly, … how many pages are you willing to read?

► Song Stuck in My Head: Dancing stars on me (Probably because it was the last song that was playing as I pulled into the garage a while ago)

► Last Movie I Watched: … Is it wrong that I honest don’t remember? My former roommate’s family owned a theater, so I used to keep fairly current. But ever since I moved, I’ve kinda fallen out of the loop. I mean, I watched just the musical numbers of several movies; Love Live (as if that should surprise anyone who might read this), Oliver, Sound of Music, Camelot, The King and I, etc, etc, etc, over the past however long, but I couldn’t even tell you which one of those was most recent. And on writing this, I realize I haven’t seen a movie in the theater since TLJ… Geez, almost halfway through the year and I don’t think I’ve watched a single move from start to finish. I should probably look into fixing that soon.

► Last TV Show I Watched: Shooter (Not sure what episode of the second season, as it was simply where my mom and stepdad had left off. Can’t say I’m entirely sold on the show, but it’s free on Netflix so maybe I’ll watch the first episode someday)

► What Do I Post: NicoMaki (Currently just my own fic and reblogs of pics I like. However, I really should start reblogging some of the other amazing fics out there.), YohaRiko (Again, my own fic and the occasional reblog of pics I like), and more NicoMaki.

I’m not big on getting into politics or religion or the like on the net, so while I may occasionally hit the Like button, I pretty much never reblog; though I might someday make a sideblog for such things. Also, since it seems some people like my writing style, perhaps someday I might start posting some of my other, non-LL stuff.

I actually started this blog posting non-LL stuff (or rather, not-immediately-obvious-LL, or only-LL-if-you-squint stuff) and honestly didn’t expect it to go anywhere. (14 posts with a grand total of 1 Like among them) Heck, even my first two posts for HtHaN didn’t even reach double digits in Notes. But here I am, almost two years later, posting away, and loving it.

Oh, did I mention that I post NicoMaki?

► Do I Get Asks: Yes. Which reminds me, I need to respond to the last few… I have a bad habit of checking my Inbox while I am on break at work and not having time to reply right away, and then forgetting about it when I get home because the notification is gone. (Sorry for delays in responses)

► URL Meaning: Despite my obvious bias towards NicoMaki stuff, and some YohaRiko as well, my screenname, Ryqoshay came from elsewhere. When I first started playing video games, I often named my character (or one of my characters) Ricochet, if they were a ranged character, as a joke referencing a favored sound effect from movies. However, as I entered the world of MMO’s, that name was often already taken, so in the case of City of Heroes, I added -chan to the end and gave her some Japanese ancestry. Also, as part of her bio, it became a nickname granted to an energetic girl who was “always bouncing off the walls.”

Then came City of Villains and once again, Ricochet was taken so I decided to take a different route with the character name by intentionally misspelling it. But, as I fancy myself a writer, I couldn’t leave it at that and had to give her an in-universe reason. And as she was a villain, I was more than happy to take a romp down the well-worn “tragic backstory” road. Thus, her parents finally got names, Yuri and Quentin, and were sacrificed to the deities of drama. After the tragedy, Rico augmented the spelling of her existing nickname to include the first letters of their names. Through my time with CoV, Ryqo gained a mercenary guild as every character I created thereafter became a member, with bios that expanded my new lore.

Things ended up taking a turn for the medieval when what was supposed to be a two paragraph bio for a D&D game turned into dozens of pages and the entire guild being translated over to the new genre. Strangely, it wasn’t even Ryqo that I was going to be playing, rather a member of her guild that had been hired out. This is the story I mentioned earlier that I am still considering posting someday, either here or on AO3, maybe both. Also, more recently, Ryqo found herself translated yet again, into a modern, LL-style world, as an aspiring idol. These are what ended up as the first posts I ever made on this blog, as I had been inspired by an idea that came up on my other digital haunt, Sukutomo.

TL;DR version: Ryqoshay is an intentional misspelling of Ricochet and actually has little to do with my current obsession with NicoMaki and Love Live in general, but I like the name and see little reason to change it now.

► Average Hours of Sleep: You’re going to make me do math…? Hrm… 4 hours there… 6 there… 3 for those nights (days, since I work nights)… I, uhm… dunno. I work nights over the week and shift to a different schedule when I want to spend time with my day-dwelling family or friends. I haven’t had a regular sleep schedule probably since high school.

► Nationality: North American mutt with lineages tracing back to all parts of Europe.

Alright, so I’m supposed to tag a few of my own followers... ... when the heck did I get over 300? Uhm... as this is my first time making one of these, I’m going to take the easy route and stick with names I recognize from the notes on my posts. Let’s go with: @nicoismywaifu​, @nocturnal-one8​, @sayowo​, @kurotheyamineko, @cupcakedesuwa and @thelegend31 for now. I tried tagging spiritpandora and westomaki as I look forward to seeing them show up in the notes of my fics, but Tumblr won’t let me for some reason.

[graysonpuzzle]

Unstable

NOTE: Freshly edited this. I’d like to warn that in this chapter there is a panic attack/anxiety. Also, for the rest of this fic (I like to call it a book lol) this warning will apply, and all of the anixety/panic related things are based on my own experiences, so if you think they are weird/innaccurate, I am basing them off my own panic attacks and anxiety. There is also violence, cussing and all that stuff. I would love some feedback on my writing!

THE PUZZLE 

Chapter Three

----------------------------- June 6th, 1990

“Mommy please don't go!” I remember telling my mom, as I pulled on her shirt.

“I know honey, but mommy and daddy have to help their friends, ok?” She replied and my dad came galloping down the stairs

“Ready girls?” He asked and grabbed his car keys.

I didn't think much of the ride to my grandparents house, but now I think of that car ride constantly; that was the last car ride I'd have with my parents. My dad picked me up out of the car and carried me to grandpas front door. I cried when they left, begging them to stay.

Grandpa said they would be gone for a week at the most. A week passed, then another. In the kitchen of the second week, Grandpa answered the phone and he dropped the phone, letting it hang by the cord. I tried to ask him what was wrong, but he composed himself and acted as if it was nothing. Even though I was small, I knew something was wrong. I was always a smart kid, and could read people before Grandpa made me learn.

Weeks turned into months and everyday I asked my Grandpa when my parents were coming to get me. His replies were always the same: ‘They'll be here in no time, Gray.”

One night I had a nightmare, the first of many that would take place most nights for the rest of my life. I went to my Grandpa's room looking for comfort but instead, he was weeping on the edge of his bed. I ended up doing the comforting.

“It’s ok, Grandpa, I miss Mommy and Daddy too, but you said they’ll be here soon,” I tried to explain, but I didn't understand why he kept crying.

He pulled me up onto his lap and through his tears told me, “Mommy and Daddy went to heaven, we won't see them for a long time.”

As I got older, I understood and remembered every detail of the last day I saw them. I think of my mom when I listen to her favorite music. I think of my Dad when I wear the necklace he gave my mom when they were teenagers. It’s a small chain with the moon on it; I remember my mom loving to go outside and look at the stars, the moon represented her love for the night and stars.

On my birthday each year Grandpa would give me something of theirs. I could tell it pained him to let go of those things, but he always told me they would want me to have them. Everywhere I go I wear the necklace, I listen to the music in the car, and read the books they used to own.

December 29th, 2006

“New York really is pretty in the winter,” I think outloud.

“It’s going to be even better when we kill this werewolf,” Dean states.

We check into the first motel with vacancy and I check in first.

“One king please,” I say to the woman behind the counter, getting money out of my pocket.

“Sorry, sweetie, the only room left is a double queen,” she replies with a severe smokers voice. I look at Sam and Dean, they just nod, whatever that means.

“The three of us will take that room then,” I say and hand her money, and she hands me the keys.

We walk down the hall to find our room. I unlock the door and stand in the entrance in shock. There are mirrors on the ceiling, no wonder it was rather expensive, and it was the last room left. The brothers walk in and Dean just starts smiling like a wierdo. Sam doesn't seem to care and sets his bag on the couch. I drop my bag on the floor and make my way back to the check in desk.

I ring the bell and the same woman comes to the counter, “Yes?”

“Are you sure there aren't any more rooms left, there's um-”

“Mirrors on the ceiling? I know, Sorry hon, it's the last room we got, surprising though since it's almost New Years,” she says.

I walk back to the room, a little disgusted by the room that I have to share with two guys. I get a shiver down my spine and open the door. I throw myself on the first bed and can't stop saying the word ‘ew’ in my mind over and over again.

“We should get started on the case soon, only a few hours until it's dark,” I hear Sam say and sit up.

“Well let's head to the station then,” Dean says.

“Alright,” Sam agrees and they both look at me.

“I think I'm going to check on the latest scene and see if I can find anything,” I say.

“What? No,” Dean says, “I think you should stick with us.”

“Why? Because I’m ‘unstable?’ I can handle myself,” I argue.

“Yeah, actually that's exactly why,” he admits.

“Listen you prick, you don't know me, you have your problems and I have mine,” I snap.

“Dean, come on-” Sam starts but Dean cuts him off.

“STAY OUT OF THIS SAM!”

“Look at that, you just think you're the boss of everyone! Do you always talk to your brother like that?”

“I don't think you're experienced enough to hunt by yourself,” He replies and ignores my question.

“Really? I've been training since I was 7 years old, I could kill you right now just by poking the right pressure points.”

“That doesn't mean anything.”

“It doesn't? Fine, how about I use my knife throwing to defend myself? Or how about archery? Maybe even mixed martial arts?” I list, and Sam raises his brows, impressed by the skills my grandfather made me learn.

“None of that means that you make good decisions!” Dean yells.

“Oh, so it's my judgement?”

“YES! You freaking took on a vampire nest by yourself and now you want to take on a werewolf? Are you insane?”

“You know what, since we're pointing out things ‘wrong’ with me, why don't I point out yours?” I ask sarcastically, “Let's see, who is it that made enemies with Gordon and got me attacked because of it? And you won't even tell me why!”

“That has nothing to do with what we're talking about!” He yells.

I ignore him and continue, “You know what, maybe I will listen to you, if you're honest. Thats one thing I got over you, buddy, at least im honest. Yeah, I'm a little too confident, sometimes I think I can handle these things by myself, but you know what?”

“You're getting on my nerves,” he fumes.

“I can tell just by looking at you that you lie all the time. You lie to make yourself feel better, you lie to your brother quite a bit, and I know for a fact that you bottle everything inside just so people don't see it,” He looks frustrated now, I think I hit him hard, “But I can see right through you, so next time you want to accuse me of being unstable, just look at yourself.”

I put on my jacket, gloves and hat and go to the door, “And just in case you were wondering, psychology is another thing my grandpa trained me in you asshole,” I finish and slam the door behind me.

I make my way to the scene, which is a rather long walk. I get on the street where we think the most recent attack took place. The last kill was in an alleyway. I hear trashcans moving in an alley and go to it. It’s only a cat, scrounging for food, I’m guessing. I pull out what's left of a pack of teddy grahams and give it to the cat. She takes them and rubs against me.

“You're not a big bad wolf, are you?” I say and scratch her head. She looks up suddenly and runs away.

“Fine.” I'm hurt, I thought we were bonding. I turn around to see what the cat saw, there a man standing at the end of the alley. “I don't really feel like getting mugged right now, so leave me alone,” and I keep walking, sure that I can kick his ass if he tries anything.

As I approach, he doesn't move and I can see him better with each step I take. Hes muscular, tall and overall sketchy looking. He stares at me as if I'm an old friend.

“Kelly?” He asks.

“Uh, sorry pal, I'm not the girl you think I am,” I say and walk past him, but he grabs my arm and squeezes hard.

“You look just like my Kelly,” he breathes rather hard and continues, “Beautiful Hazel eyes, waved chestnut hair...”

“Ok, creep, let me go,” I say and jerk my arm out of his grasp and continue walking. I hear a low growl then look back at the man, “look, back off- oh my god.”

The man doesn't look how he did seconds ago...he's the monster im hunting. I pull out my gun and shoot, hitting him in the shoulder as he charges at me. I sprint down the street to get away but I can feel him on my heels. Think, Grayson, think. I take a sharp turn down a different alley that I passed earlier. There's a high fence at the end, it might not stop him, I just hope it gives me time to get away. I get to the fence and climb as fast as I can, but after getting a few feet up, it's over; I feel his claws latch themselves into my ankle and wrench me down. I land on my back and aim my gun but he smacks it from my hand. I crawl backwards like a crab until my back hits the fence.

He puts his face inches from mine and just stares for what feels like minutes. He makes an animal noise and I close my eyes, I don't want to see what he does next. I expect him to kill me, but instead he lifts me up and I open my eyes. Hes carrying me over his beastly shoulder. Shit shit shit, this is not good.

I constantly try to fight, but he squeezes me with so much strength that I have to gasp for breath. He ends up taking me to an abandoned building or something, maybe an old dog kennel, judging by the cages. He literally throws me into one and I land on my tailbone.

“So what now? Trust me I'm shallow and won't fall in love with you based on your personality,” I say, hoping to get a rise out of him so he makes noise or gives me a chance at escape.

He just growls and locks the cage. All I have left is the knife I always have strapped to my thigh and some silver bullets for the gun left in the alley. My phone must've fell out of my pocket while he was chasing me. I've never seen a werewolf act so human while in the animal phase.

Through a small window I can see that the sky has finally gone dark. Hopefully this mutt will stop pacing around in circles and leave so I can make a break for it.

“Alright buddy, if you're going to kill me, might as well get it over with.”

He replies with a low growl.

“So what's the point of keeping me here, huh? You killed all your other victims on the spot, why the sudden change?”

He ignores me and continues pacing. Bitch. I sit on the cement floor and rest my back on the kennel wall. I get out my knife and twirl it around for fun. More hours pass.

“You know, my Grandpa made me get training in knife throwing, if these bars weren't between us, I could hit you right between the eyes,” I say out loud, knowing he either won't respond or do so with a growl.

Either I got used to his paws constantly touching the floor, or he left. Quietly I get up and look out. Hes gone, maybe he's turning back or getting food. I walk to the back of my kennel and kick the chained door as hard as i can. Nothing. I try again, but no luck. Next I try to pick the lock with my knife, which from the beginning was a stupid idea, but was worth a shot. I hear a distant noise and step back. The werewolf comes back, but looks more enraged than ever.

He runs at the bars and his claws scrape the metal on the door. What the hell was the point of trapping me just to have a harder time attacking me? I panic as he begins breaking through. I get an idea and begin climbing up two of the kennel walls, stretching one leg on each side. He breaks the lock and chains and barrels through. He jumps at me and I jump down, kicking him with both feet in the chest. It knocks the beast down and I run as fast as I can out of there.

I get out of the room and enter a long hallway. There are bigger windows and I can tell the sun is about to rise. When he changes I can kill him. I look back for a moment and he breaks through the door and his eyes lock on me. I push myself to run as fast as I can, but he easily catches up just like before. I go into a random room and slam the door. It's a heavy door, so it will take him longer to get through. It looks like an old office or something, because there is a desk and a bunch of random paperwork on the ground.

There's a big window behind the desk. The pounding and scratching on the door is constantly reminding me to hurry. I push the desk out of the way easily and pull the blinds all the way up. Its one of those protected windows that doesn't open, like ones that I see in schools sometimes. I pick up the desk and throw it the best I can manage at the window. The window shatters seconds before the door breaks down.

I jump out the window and bolt down the narrow alley. I get out to the empty street and look around as I turn the corner; I have no idea where I am. I look back for a mere moment and the wolf is nowhere in sight. I decide to go back and see if he changed.

I check the alleyway and the abandoned building, but there's no sight of him. He must've changed back. Now I have to figure out where the motel is and yell at Sam and Dean for not finding me, if they bothered to look. As I walk, the streets get busier and I get dirty looks from a lot of people. I walk past a large window of a building and see why; my clothes are ripped in places, I’m covered in dirt and a little blood, not to mention my hair looks like I brushed it with an eggbeater. I'll take a shower as soon as I get back.

Somehow I make it to the alley with the big fence and find my gun but no phone. I shove it in my jacket and walk back to the motel. I knock on the door of the room I’m sharing with the Winchester brothers and step back waiting for the door to open, arms crossed. Dean opens the door.

“Where have you been?!” he asks frantically.

“Thats a good question Dean,” I reply casually, pushing past him to walk into the room.

“What happened to you?” Sam asks looking at me up and down, seeing the mess that is me.

“I don't know, maybe last night when I was by myself I got attacked by the werewolf and he literally trapped me in a cage the whole night.”

“Why didn't you call us?!” Dean asks, as if I didn't think of that.

“Well, while I was running from him or when he tossed me over his shoulder I lost it, you must think i'm really stupid, why didn't you two try to find me?”

“We did, we found your gun and your hat-” Sam starts.

“We searched all night, we called a million times. At about 4 am we decided to come back here and look for anything that might have helped,” Dean finishes explaining.

“Did you find anything?” I ask.

“Well the first victim was the guy's girlfriend and she looked a little bit like you,” Sam states.

“Kelly…” I whisper to myself.

“Yeah, how'd you know?” Sam asks, confused.

I look up at Sam, Dean looking at me waiting for an answer. “Before he changed, he said I looked just like her but when I tried to walk away he changed and attacked me,” I explain.

“But you said he put you in a cage?” Dean asks.

“Yeah, he didn't hurt me, he just put me in the cage the whole time. He was pacing the room the whole time.” I respond.

“I think I know what's going on here,” Sam states, Dean and I look at him with curiosity.

“Well are you going to explain it to us?” Dean asks sarcastically.

“Amara looks like Kelly right? So when he saw her maybe the animal inside took control.”

“What?” I ask.

“When he saw you, it triggered something, he was supposed to kill you, but he didn't,” Sam finishes and Dean gets a look of realization, but I still don't get it.

“Looks like Wolfy has a crush on you, Sunshine,” Dean says and laughs.

“So he didn't kill me because…?”

“He was protecting you from himself is my guess,” Sam says and I just let out a long sigh.

“So I guess we know how to find him and end this,” I state, dreading what I know I have to do.

Later, I take Sam and Dean back to the kennel place the wolf--Hal is what Sam told me his name is-- took me to last night. We look through the building thoroughly and decided to wait for him to come, if he does come.

After about 2 hours of waiting we hear footsteps coming down the hall I escaped from this morning. The door opens and Hal sees me.

“Wh-what are you doing here?” He asks, panicked.

“I thought I’d pay you a visit.”

“You-you can't be here, you saw what happened, I-”

“Turned into a werewolf?”

“Yes...you need to leave, or it will come back, he's already trying to get out.”

I look at him with my eyes slightly squinted. “Why did you lock me up last night?”

“I was trying to stop it, I- he wants you, it's like he owns you, or at least that's what he thinks.”

“Stop calling it ‘him’, thats you.”

“No...no it's not, I try to keep it in but he just-he just takes control and-” And he starts breaking down in tears.

“Look, I need to end this before you kill more people, or take innocent girls in the middle of the night.”

“What do you mean?” he asks through his bawling.

I just pull my gun from my jacket and his whole mood changes.

“No-I won't let you-AGH- I WON'T LET YOU GET AWAY FROM ME AGAIN KELLY!” He shouts as he turns from human to wolf.

“GUYS!” I shout and the brothers come out from their hiding places and aim their guns at him as I do.

He charges towards me and the three of us shoot simultaneously. He dodges most of the bullets and once again grabs me as I shoot at him. I just can't get a break. Once again I'm thrown over his shoulder as he runs away. I look back at Sam and Dean running after the beast, they are not nearly as fast and I lose sight of them. I still have my gun and try shooting at the back of his feet, but it's hard because of all the movement. I don't want to waste the last bullets I have and decide to wait until the timing is better.

He ends up taking me to woods. All I see is trees in every direction. He sets me down and sniffs me. I seriously hate this. I get my gun out but he sees and scratches my hand and I scream in pain, he knocks the gun feet away and my right hand is covered in blood. The sound of a twig snapping makes him dart his head and he runs. I crawl to my gun, then get up. I take off in the opposite direction that he went and go as fast as I can, hoping that if I go straight I will eventually get out of the woods.

I hate werewolves so much now; maybe I hate them more than shapeshifters. Who am I kidding? Those things will be at the top of my list since what happened with Cameron.

I keep running and dodging trees but surprisingly I haven't found my way out. I stop to climb a tree and see if I can see city lights. I have a hard time- I'll admit I suck at climbing- but I manage to get pretty far up despite the clawed hand. I look and I've been running the wrong way this whole time, guess I have to take my chances with wolf buddy. I get down and go back the way I came. My right leg is starting to hurt from the healing stab wound. I slow down only a little bit and keep going.

I hear the shaking of leaves close by but keep going. Then I hear it; I hear the vicious growl of a werewolf. I turn my head and he pounces on me. My face hits the ground, snow getting in my mouth and eyes. He flips me over onto my back and pins my arms with his mutated paws. His saliva drips on me while I grit my teeth; once again this thing has me waiting for my demise. He barks-more like roars- in my face and I can feel my eyes watering and my chest becoming heavy. If I'm going to die I might as well admit to myself that I'm horrified. I rest my head back and try to look past the beast and at the stars.

Hot tears run down the sides of my cheeks and start to heave. I can feel it coming, a panic attack. The wolf doesn't do anything to me but keep me pinned so he can scare me. The tears start rolling out faster, breathing becomes harder and I start sweating profusely. I'm going to die and my last moments will be spent having a panic attack-great, exactly the way I don't want to go.

The werewolf starts growling and I can see what he's trying to do now, he's trying to bite me. I'd rather die than be a werewolf. I scream and cry as he licks his chops and puts his jaws closer to my skin.

“HEY FURBALL!” I hear someone shout, followed by a gunshot. It hits the thing, but not in a fatal spot. I hear him whimper and he gets off me fast enough that I don't hear another shot go off. Without his weight on me, I can feel my body moving much more from the panic. I stay on the ground, in the same position he had me pinned and keep crying, not able to move. I know I can't control it, so I don't try to. My vision is blurry and it's dark, but I can see someone standing above me, crouching down.

“Grayson, come on, he's gone,” I hear the person say, and realize its Dean. I try to respond but it comes out garbled and I can't even understand myself. Next thing I know he is putting his arms under my knee and arms, lifting me up.

“Put me down, I can walk myself,” I try to say but it sounds more like ‘Puh meown Ikin wall myself.’

“I can't understand you, just focus on calming down,” He replies and keeps walking.

He walks us out of the woods and I see his car, Sam standing there waiting. He looks at me like he's worried but I don't want him to see me like this and turn away, my face in Dean's jacket like a little kid.

He slides me in the back seat and drives. The panic attack is still strong; I can't help but think about how Grandpa would react to this. As he trained me this would happen a bit and he would make me finish the hunt on my own sometimes to try and teach me that staying calm is a big part of hunting, and the only way for me to learn was to make me do it alone so I would get over it. I was 10 when he started doing that.

The car stops and they get out, Dean comes to get me, but I push him away and get myself out. I can tell that I've sweat through my shirt and everytime I think about Grandpa it's like another wave hits me and the attack gets strong again right as I feel like it's going down.

The three of us walk into our shared motel room, Sam in front of me and Dean behind. I go to my bag to get clothes and walk to the bathroom without saying anything to them. I take a long shower and calm down to normal before the water gets cold. When I'm done getting dressed I brush my teeth and get the first aid kit out. My right hand has deep claw marks, but I don't need stitches.

I walk out Sam and Dean are watching tv on the couch. After hearing the door open, they both turn around to see me.

Dean turns off the tv, “We need a lot of sleep if we're going to catch this asshole soon.”

“Agreed,” I reply, “Where do you think they keep the extra blankets?”

“That closet maybe?” Sam suggests and points to the small closet by the entrance.

I go and there are in fact extra blankets and pillows. I grab them off the top shelf and start making my bed on the couch, since it doesn't look like a pull out.

“Hey, i’ll take the couch,” Sam volunteers.

“It's fine,” I say.

“Just take my bed.”

“Sam, I don't-” I start but he walks over and takes the blankets and pillow from me, “Fine. Thanks.”

He starts setting up the couch and I go get in the bed Dean isn't in. When done, Sam shuts off the lights and I try to sleep.

“GRAYSON RENEE REED! YOU ARE PATHETIC!” My grandfather shouts then slaps me, knocking me to the ground.

“I'm sorry!” I cry and rub my cheek. Then Mom and Dad walk in.

“I am disappointed to call you my daughter,” my mother states and kicks my lower stomach while I’m down.

“I never wanted you, I always knew there was something wrong with you,” my father adds.

My grandpa then pulls my hair to make me stand, “Even these two think you're horrible and they just met you.” Sam and Dean appear with disgusted looks on their faces.

“We just feel sorry for you. Why else would anyone ever voluntarily spend time with you?” Sam asks, his head turning to the side to put emphasis on confusion.

“You unstable bitch. You're lucky I don't kill you myself,” Dean states, aggression forming in his face.

“No- No I didn't, I can't control it, I-” I start but my grandfather slaps me to the ground again.  Cameron appears and looks down at me.

“I can't believe you actually thought I loved you, are you really that pathetic?” Cameron asks.

“I'm happy we died, so we don't have to see you screw up!” My mom yells and then I start crying. I can't feel the tears but I know they're there.

“I HATE YOU!” My father yells, then everyone joins in and more people appear to take turns Even that bastard Gordon appears along with faces of familiar hunters.

“STOP!” I screech.

I wake up from my dream sweaty with moist cheeks, I push the covers off of myself and look at the clock. Its nearly 3am. I get up out of the bed and walk outside. The motel has two stories and were on the second level. I walk out in only my shorts and a t-shirt despite the cold. The brisk air immediately cools me down.

“A little cold to be dressed like that don't you think?” I turn and see Mindy walking towards me.

“What do you want?”

“Just checking up on my favorite hunter,” she smirks.

“Stop following me, if you're going to kill me, just go ahead and try.”

“No. Remember our talk last week? I like to play, and you are very feisty,” she taunts.

“I asked you why you're here, now talk.”

“I'm just keeping an eye on you, seeing if you make any progress.”

“Progress? What the hell are you talking about?” I'm seriously confused.

“You don't know. Ha, they never told you,” she laughs and I glare at her, eyes are daggers, “I suggest you look up your family history, you're related to some powerful people.”

“So what? You've been killing my family because they are strong?”

“Trust me, just look up your family tree. You will not be disappointed,” she says and walks off. I don't understand, if she wants to kill me why is she telling me this?

I watch her drive out of the motel parking lot. I take a deep breath and realize I'm freezing. I try to open the door as quietly as possible. I see Dean sitting up in his bed looking right at me.

“You okay?” He asked groggily.

“Yeah, just getting some fresh air, go back to sleep,” I tell him and he shrugs and makes himself comfortable in his bed.

“I just want to finish this hunt and go home,” I state, loading my gun with silver bullets.

“Well it might take longer since we have to stay together,” Sam reasons.

“Where to first?” Dean asks.

“Lets try his house,” Sam replies.

“Screw looking for him, let's lure him to us.”

I can tell Sam doesn't like the idea, “that didn't work the first time, we should try-”

“Please Sam, we can let him follow my scent and take him off guard.”

“That actually doesn't sound too bad,” Dean says, wow he actually agrees with me.

“Fine, but we shouldn't go after him until it's almost dawn so we don't have to fight him too long,” Sam says, so we wait all night until its 6am. The plan is for me to walk ‘alone’ down the streets but Sam and Dean will be close enough to come help if something happens.

I walk down the empty street, my hands in my jacket pockets with my gun on the right side. It's cold enough for me to see my breath. I take a turn down an alley and lean against a wall, waiting. After a few minutes I check the street again, but see nothing. I turn to look deeper into the dark alley and see glowing eyes. I grab my gun from inside my pocket and click the bullet into place. The eyes emerge out of the shadow and I recognize the werewolf.

He stalks towards me, growling. I don't want to move suddenly and cause him to attack me or worse, take me and trap me in a freaking cage again. He gets nearly 10 feet away and I pulled out my hands and aim my gun; he hesitates, but then continues towards me.

“Look, if you leave me alone, I won't shoot you,” I lie but it doesn't make him stop. He starts circling me. It's the perfect opportunity to shoot, but it seems too perfect. What is he doing?

I push the thought to the side and shoot. He lays dead on the cement, bleeding out of his chest. That was too easy. After all the fighting, he just let me shoot him. Did he hold back or something? Did he see Kelly and hold back? I guess I’ll never know the answers.

The brothers give me a ride back to my grandpas cabin and I can't help but think about what's happened in the past 2 weeks: Gordon kidnapping me, the more frequent panic attacks, Mindy telling me she killed my family and then hinting to look up my family tree.

“So..” I start, getting Sam and Deans attention, “Are you guys going to tell me about the whole Gordon thing yet or?”

“You want the truth so bad, fine, go ahead and tell her Sammy,” Dean says not so friendly.

“Well, I-uh- sort of have these premonitions and there are other people like me around the country...long story short, because I'm a psychic, Gordon thinks I'm a monster and wants to kill me,” Sam explains, that is not what I expected.

“So he kidnapped me to lure you, so that he could kill you?”

“Pretty much, yeah,” Sam answers.

“Well, why would he do that if I barely know you guys?”

“He probably thought he could easily take you off your guard,” Dean interrupts.

“And how would he know when to take me off my guard if I’ve never met him before then?” I ask teasingly, “were you guys talking about me?”

They exchange glances. I raise my eyebrows, waiting.

“We met him and we were talking about good hunters we know,” Dean says under his breath.

“I'm sorry what?”

“When we met him we got into a conversation about hunters, and you happened to pop up because you are a hunter,” Dean repeats, I couldve swore the first time he said ‘good hunters’.

“So you think I’m good enough to tell other hunters about?” Man, this keeps getting better and better.

“I'll admit that when you took out that nest when we first met was pretty kickass.” Man, I guess Dean does have a heart after all.

They drop me off at the cabin and I wave as they drive away. Now I can look into the family tree like Mindy suggested. But where to start?

So that’s the end of Chapter three. There are some things I would want to change, but I decided to just edit it for mistakes and post it how it is and focus on writing newer chapters. If you read it, THANK YOU!! Please if you have any suggestions or questions let me know! I will probably post chapter four soon.

[clefspeare99]

Answer all! 200-1

Oh man, haven’t done one of these in ages, well here you go!

200: My crush’s name is: Savannah199: Iwas born in: 1995198: Iam really: Caring197: Mycellphone company is: T-Mobile196: Myeye color is: Brown195: Myshoe size is: 13, sometimes 13 ½ depending on the brand194: Myring size is: Umm, 7 I think? My class ring is a 6 ½, but only fits on mypointer finger193: Myheight is: 6’2192: Iam allergic to: Nothing I’m aware of191: My1st car was: 2012 Dodge Grand Caravan190: My1st job was: Chuck E Cheese189: Lastbook you read: Dragons in Our Midst, Circles of Seven188: Mybed is: A Queen, and feels too large, have been used to a twin all my life187: Mypet: 2 dogs, Gizmo and Stitch186: Mybest friend: Hmm, don’t really have one right now if I’m being honest. Havesort of grown away from most everyone, nothing against anyone, just atransition phase right now, and I’ve always been bad at keeping in touch orjust hanging out with people.185: Myfavorite shampoo is: I use Head & Shoulders, all I’ve ever used, wouldn’tsay favorite, it’s just a good brand.184: Xboxor ps3: Nintendo Switch183: Piggybanks are: Cute, but kind of useless182: Inmy pockets: Nothing currently181: Onmy calendar: Don’t have one180: Marriageis: Very sweet and special179: Spongebobcan: Be very strange178: Mymom: Is a wonderful woman177: Thelast three songs I bought were? I don’t know what song I actually lost bought,I just get my music on youtube.176: LastYouTube video watched: 2017 League of Legends World Championships175: Howmany cousins do you have? A lot, um like 17 I can think of off the top of myhead?174: Doyou have any siblings? Yep, 2, a brother and a sister, both younger than me173: Areyour parents divorced? Nope172: Areyou taller than your mom? Yes, quite a bit taller171: Doyou play an instrument? Nope, did drums in elementary school, stopped in middleschool because I would have no other electives all year if I did band andchoir.170: Whatdid you do yesterday? Work, and saw Kingsman The Golden Circle[ I Believe In ]169: Loveat first sight: Lust yes, love no, you build love with someone, not somethingyou can immediately have in my opinion168: Luck:Yeah, occasionally167: Fate:I believe God has a fate for all of us, something we will learn eventually166: Yourself:Definitely165: Aliens:It’s possible with how many millions of stars and planets are out there.164: Heaven:Yep163: Hell:Yep162: God:Yep161: Horoscopes:They are fun and interesting, though I don’t put any faith in them160: Soulmates: Yeah, why not159: Ghosts:Meh, never really have.158: GayMarriage: Yeah, why stop 2 people from being happy together?157: War:Is something that shouldn’t be needed ever.156: Orbs:Not sure what this is referring to, so I guess no?155: Magic:There is illusion magic, but no actual magic like in fire emblem or other videogames.[ This or That ]154: Hugsor Kisses: Why not both?153: Drunkor High: Neither152: Phoneor Online: Online151: Redheads or Black haired: Red head all day150: Blondesor Brunettes: Brunettes149: Hotor cold: Hot148: Summeror winter: Summer147: Autumnor Spring: Colorado Autumn, Spring most anywhere else though146: Chocolateor vanilla: Vanilla145: Nightor Day: Night144: Orangesor Apples: Apples143: Curlyor Straight hair: Curly142: McDonaldsor Burger King: Mc Donald’s fries, Burger King burger141: WhiteChocolate or Milk Chocolate: White Chocolate140: Macor PC: PC139: Flipflops or high heels: Neither, always wears tennis shoes138: Uglyand rich OR sweet and poor: Sweet and poor, you can stop being poor, it’s a lotharder to stop being an ugly person(I’m referring to personality)137: Cokeor Pepsi: Pepsi136: Hillaryor Obama: Obama I guess, though I’m not big on politics135: Burriedor cremated: Never really thought about it, whatever’s cheaper? Don’t need myfamily pouring out money after I’m dead XD134: Singingor Dancing: Singing, have always loved choir, and I suck at dancing133: Coachor Chanel: Not sure what either of these are, clothes or something?132: KatMcPhee or Taylor Hicks: Also not sure what either of these are, guessingsingers of some sort131: Smalltown or Big city: Small town, though able to drive to the big city130: Wal-Martor Target: Target129: BenStiller or Adam Sandler: I only recognize the name Adam Sandler, so him Iguess?128: Manicureor Pedicure: Have never had either, so don’t know.127: EastCoast or West Coast: West Coast, because Disneyland, which is better thanDisneyworld because it has Walt’s personal touch.126: YourBirthday or Christmas: Both are close in timing, but have to go with Christmassince everyone is just generally in a better mood125: Chocolateor Flowers: Chocolate124: Disneyor Six Flags: Disney 100% not even close123: Yankeesor Red Sox: I’m not big on sports, don’t really care either way[ Here’s What I Think About ]122: War:Was sort of asked earlier, still think the same, it should never be needed121: GeorgeBush: I don’t know enough to have an actual opinion on him120: GayMarriage: Why not let people be happy together, it doesn’t hurt you.119: Thepresidential election: Is clearly broken after out last election, how can thismonster be given power at such a high level when he is clearly hateful anddoesn’t understand the general populous?118: Abortion:Mothers choice ultimately117: MySpace:Does this site even still exist? I never personally used it116: RealityTV: It so fake it’s not even funny115: Parents:Do their best for their kids114: Backstabbers: Are some of the lowest people113: Ebay:Is slowly getting eaten alive by Amazon112: Facebook:Is just sort of a time waste, but also lets you connect from so far apart111: Work:Should be fun, not something that you hate doing110: MyNeighbors: Don’t know them, just moved here109: GasPrices: Are nice and low currently, still kind of high in California though,but can’t complain much108: DesignerClothes: Are over rated107: College:Is a money suck unless you know for sure what you want to do, otherwise youwill be in debt with something you don’t want106: Sports:Are kind of fun to watch, but generally very, and I mean very over paid105: Myfamily: Are always there and rather supportive104: Thefuture: Is looking good, have an interview at Disneyland on Tuesday![ Last time I ]103: Huggedsomeone: If all the kids at Chuck E Cheese count while I was in the Chuck Esuit, then tonight, otherwise then it would be about a week ago when my grandmaand grandpa came out102: Lasttime you ate: Had some pizza at work tonight101: Sawsomeone I haven’t seen in a while: This week, hadn’t seen these grandparents inabout 8 years.100: Criedin front of someone: It’s been a while, can’t remember99: Wentto a movie theater: On Saturday, saw Kingsman: Golden Circle98: Tooka vacation: Back at the end of June, went with my family to Paris for a week,go to go to Euro Disney, was a lot of fun.97: Swamin a pool: A week or two ago, have one in my backyard now so can go whenever Iwant, so long as it’s not too cold out.96: Changeda diaper: about a month and a half when I was with Aubri95: Gotmy nails done: Never have94: Wentto a wedding: Not sure, maybe my Uncle’s weeding like gosh 9 years ago?93: Brokea bone: Well I fractured my arm when I was 12 or so, haven’t actually broken abone though92: Gota peircing: Never have, no real plans to91: Brokethe law: Minus going a bit over the speed limit I can’t think of a timehonestly90: Texted:A few days ago with support at Uber trying to figure out an issue with myaccount[ MISC ]89: Whomakes you laugh the most: Savannah used to, after moving no one in particular theselast 2 months88: SomethingI will really miss when I leave home is: Solitarity, is that a word?87: Thelast movie I saw: Kingsman: Golden Circle86: Thething that I’m looking forward to the most: Job interview on Tuesday85: Thething im not looking forward to: Job interview on Tuesday84: Peoplecall me: Josiah, Siah, Clef(gaming friends)83: Themost difficult thing to do is: be genuinely honest with everyone82: Ihave gotten a speeding ticket: Nope, got a warning once since I was 9 over in a45. It was 2 am, and one of my headlights was out, only reason he pulled meover with a warning81: Myzodiac sign is: Sagittarius80: Thefirst person I talked to today was: Danny, they woke me up cause I was supposedto drop her off at the mall79: Firsttime you had a crush: First crush was probably Megan Conrad, had a crush on herin 3rd grade, never told her about it before she moved. Was going togive her a valentines card, but her family moved like the week before, oh well.78: Theone person who I can’t hide things from: No one currently, used to be Sam, butright now there really isn’t anyone that I’m close enough to that can tellsomething is off77: Lasttime someone said something you were thinking: Can’t remember76: Rightnow I am talking to: No body, just up late as I do, watching League75: Whatare you going to do when you grow up: Am a young adult now, so am starting togrow up more, still working on getting into Disney, want to one day help editand voice over in movies.74: Ihave/will get a job: Currently work at Chuck E Cheese, first thing I could getafter moving out to California, hopefully soon will be at Disneyland, alsodrive for Uber every now and then if I’m bored and have some time73: Tomorrow:Is actually going to be Tuesday now since it’s 1am and so therefore technicallyis the next day. Going to be a big day, fingers crossed all goes well.72: Today:Is just another day, nothing to out of the ordinary71: NextSummer: Not sure, I think my mom is working on getting some sort of familyreunion together70: NextWeekend: Will be working, don’t do much on weekends normally69: Ihave these pets: 2 dogs, Gizmo and Stitch, both mutts68: Theworst sound in the world: nails on a chalkboard67: Theperson that makes me cry the most is: Not sure right now, probably myself66: Peoplethat make you happy: Those that are friendly and enjoyable to be around65: Lasttime I cried: Can’t recall64: Myfriends are: A very strange group of gamers63: Mycomputer is: Pretty good, would like to upgrade again here in the next year ortwo, just don’t have the money right now.62: MySchool: Is not existent currently, not a priority currently, will probably belater after work at Disney can give me more of a specific direction to gorather than throwing money at it and hoping for the best.61: MyCar: Is a good van, and has come in rather handy60: Ilose all respect for people who: Put others down behind their backs59: Themovie I cried at was: Nothing jumps out right now, only one that comes to mindof late was Force Awakens, yes it sounds silly, but every time I saw it and theoriginal theme played when Han got on the Falcon I couldn’t help but get tearyeyed, and each time Rey pulls the lightsaber too herself right past Kylo’sface.58: Yourhair color is: Dark Brown57: TVshows you watch: Arrow, Game of Thrones, Flash, Star Wars Rebels56: Favoriteweb site: Youtube probably55: Yourdream vacation: A couple weeks going to every Disney location with someone close54: Theworst pain I was ever in was: I mean breaking my arm hurt a lot physically, butemotionally there have been a few moments years ago when I learned things thatclose friends went through that I wish didn’t have to be so. Some things youjust can’t explain the real effect of how it messed with your mind and makesyou think differently each day.53: Howdo you like your steak cooked: Well done52: Myroom is: Neat and organized51: Myfavorite celebrity is: Liam Neeson50: Wherewould you like to be: Holding her in my arms49: Doyou want children: Have a beautiful daughter, will likely have more in thefuture once I actually settle down.48: Everbeen in love: Have been a few times47: Who’syour best friend: I know I said earlier that I don’t have one, but my mindinstantly went to Michael when I read this again, even though we haven’t beenclose in years now, but I still hope he is doing great and love seeing where heis going on facebook. He was pretty much a second brother growing up.46: Moreguy friends or girl friends: Guys from gaming, though in person would generallybe girls45: Onething that makes you feel great is: A tight warm hug44: Oneperson that you wish you could see right now: Savannah43: Doyou have a 5 year plan: Not particularly, barely have a 5 day plan42: Haveyou made a list of things to do before you die: Not written it down anywhere,but I want to get to every Disney park location, 3 down so far.41: Haveyou pre-named your children: Nope, have some ideas but nothing for sure,especially since my wife will of course have her own desired names too.40: Lastperson I got mad at: No one outwardly, but a few people in my head, and that’show it stays 99% of the time. I bottle stuff in too much.39: Iwould like to move to: It’s always been California, because that’s whereDisneyland is, but honestly wish I could have Disney in Colorado, am alreadykind of missing it far more than I thought I would.38: Iwish I was a professional: Voice actor, and may someday be.[ My Favorites ]37: Candy:Snickers or Laffy Taffy36: Vehicle:Was a Hummer growing up, but that thing is a gas guzzler, honestly whatever has4 wheels and gets me from point a to point b is good, preferably orange.35: President:Abraham Lincoln, because he was a pretty good guy34: Statevisited: Colorado33: Cellphoneprovider: T-Mobile works, haven’t tried anyone else, am grandfathered into myparents plan32: Athlete:Michael Phelps, or Pele31: Actor:Liam Neeson30: Actress:Cara Delevingne29: Singer:There are so many youtubers I follow, I couldn’t pick just one, impossible.Kurt Hugo Schneider, Sam Tsui, Agaisnt The Current, Pentatonix, ChristinaGrimmie(You are missed), Tiffany Alvord, Peter Hollens, Boyce Avenue, and manymore28: Band:Oh, well I kind of mixed some bands into Singers, um just a band, maybe Skilletor Matt Kearney27: Clothingstore: Nothing in particular, most of my shirts are from t-shirt daily dealwebsites26: Grocerystore: Probably Target, just my go to place25: TVshow: Close between Arrow and Game of Thrones24: Movie:Over The Hedge23: Website:This was asked earlier, but YouTube still22: Animal:Dragons, if you want something non-mythical then Guinea Pigs21: Themepark: Disneyland20: Holiday:Thanksgiving because it’s just about being thankful and spending time withfamily and loved ones. It’s not about getting anything or spending money forgifts, it’s about being there and being thankful.19: Sportto watch: League of Legends, E-sports totally count, if you disagree then youare wrong, and then Soccer would be my answer.18: Sportto play: Ultimate Frisbee, a lot of fun, especially with my good long distancethrows.17: Magazine:Don’t read magazines ever16: Book:The whole Dragons In Our Midst series, if I had to pick one then it would beRaising Dragons, the very first book.15: Dayof the week: None of them are special right now, so they just sort of flowtogether now, Friday I guess since it’s payday?14: Beach:Is nice to walk along on, though am not a fan of swimming in the ocean13: Concertattended: Last one I remember going to was an Audio Adrenaline concert with mydad, but that was ages ago, have never been big on concerts.12: Thingto cook: I suck at cooking, the best food I can make is French toast, is prettygood.11: Food:Cheeseburger. You can’t beat a good burger, 90% of the time at any restaurantit’s what I get.10: Restaurant:In-N-Out for fast food style, Red Lobster for sit down, used to be OliveGarden, but they got rid of their Fettuccini Alfredo Pizza9: Radiostation: K-Love8: Yankeecandle scent: Not sure, Cantaloupe maybe?7: Perfume:I don’t wear any, so don’t have much of an opinion on it, just something sweetsmelling is generally nice6: Flower:Never really thought about it actually, Roses look pretty, though it’s kind ofa generic answer, yeah don’t really have one I guess.5: Color:Orange, always has been, always will be.4: Talkshow host: I don’t watch any talk shows, so not sure who any are.3: Comedian:Jeff Dunham, I think he counts right? Great ventriloquist and comedian2: Dogbreed: Husky, such beautiful dogs, thought they do need a lot of attention totake care of.1: Didyou answer all these truthfully? To the best of my knowledge, yes.

[riskypsy]

Cheesy End to Summer

After a quick spin through Iowa and a night at a pretty cool state park we headed onto Minneapolis, MN to see my dad’s birthplace and check off the Mall of America.  The Old Man drove while I worked and we made our way to the Twin Cities.

The further east we go the bigger Luna seems to get and the more we miss the less populated states of the west and midwest.  UHG so much traffic and we aren’t even on the east coast yet. Boo!

The Old Man found a barber to get his few hairs cut and his out of control beard under control before seeing his grandparents. The dogs and I hung out in the van on a side street me working and them napping, they really need to get jobs lazy little buggers.  The road has been rough for the pups with all of our driving they have spent more time in the van than out of it and I think they are going a bit stir crazy. With some time on our hands after the work day end we found Minnehaha Off-leash Dog Park and what a dog park. 6.6 acres of open running and a river and so much mud. We knew we were in muddy trouble when all the dogs we saw leaving as we arrived were wet muddy and worn out.  

Simon and Jayne had a blast and in true pup form they both found a huge mud puddle and just rolled around in it. They were in hog heaven and I was laughing and crying at the mess we would have to clean upon leaving.  Thankfully not too far past the mud puddle was the river where Simon made himself at home  and washed off most of the stubborn mud all while playing with no longer white husky.  The best part was the Old Man and I got some walking in ourselves which was desperately needed after all the driving and van sitting we have been doing.

An hour or so in and it was time to head back, thankful for our outside shower, the dogs got hosed down and were once again mud free.  The dogs worn out and fed we headed over to Mall of America. Neither the Old Man and I are big fans of malls, but it seemed like something we had to do while in Minneapolis. What can I say about the Mall of America, it is big, it is a mall, it has roller coasters inside.  We chowed down on some Mexican food, walked a bit of the mall and decided to head to our home for the night exhausted from the day.

We woke up early in the lovely Cabela's parking lot (man I have really grown to love Cabela's) filled up on free water (washing dogs consumes a lot of water) and we headed on our way to Mequon, WI for a family adventure. Since we were hanging out with the grandparents we decided on “camping” in a La Quinta so we could have proper showers and look presentable at dinner.  Plus it gives the dogs some room and time to catch up on their NCIS and Harry Potter Movies.

I love The Old Man’s grandparents, I don’t have any of my own anymore so I adopted them, and well they are just the best. They seemed super excited to see The Old Man and they even liked Luna with Grandpa telling us he was jealous.  We offered to kidnap him, but he declined to be fair they have a good gig where they live. The best part of grandparents is they eat and sleep the same hours as the Old Man and I so we were never home later than nine at night.

Finally it was time to escape the city and head up to Lambeau for a pre-season Packer’s game. The Old Man stoked, we had our parking pass, dog boarding reservation and we were set. Dropped the dogs off at the most amazing dog daycare/boarding I have seen (Poochies and Mutts). The place had a rock climb, pool, and live streaming web so the Old Man and I could check on them while we tailgated.

We of course got to our parking spot as soon as we could after a quick stop at the store to refill on beer and Packer’s Wine.  We were spending the night in that spot which while parking lots are boring staying right next to Lambeau was too exciting to pass up. Sam’s mom and her husband joined us (thank you for the tickets) and we had a grand time eating brats, drinking beer, and getting ready.  

I won’t go into how much we spent at the pro shop, but the 3 story high Lombardi trophy was pretty cool. Lambeau is an amazing stadium I compare it to Wrigley and Fenway. It is small and every seat seems to be a good seat. The Packer’s fans are amazing Pre Season with 4 minutes to go in the 4th quarter and the stands were 90% full. I would never see that at Ray Jay.  

The next morning I got to run around Lambeau and Green Bay it was soo cool. This is when I took all my pictures as their were very few people milling around. I like to think I saw Aaron Rodgers on his way into the stadium in the AM, but the reality is a I saw a car driving in which was most likely a coach or stadium employee.  We picked up the dogs, brought them back to the stadium for their mandatory pictures and then headed back down to Milwaukee so the Old Man could get to a co-working space for a podcast.  

Work done we headed back to our hotel with a quickness to get ready for dinner with the grandparents.  I had some great runs in Wisconsin and was thankful for the fairly flat terrain. It was also fun to randomly run upon a beer gardens in the park.

The whole time we were in Wisconsin all we did was eat and drink. Granted all that eating and drinking was coupled with catching up on family so I don’t think the calories counted. I really don’t think the brownies Grandma made the Old Man for an early birthday present had any calories at all, but man there were good.  

Family visited it was time to head out of Wisconsin and off to meet up with some of the Old Man’s old Hubspot clients now friends and hang out with them for the holiday weekend. So long Wisconsin hello MIchigan.  I finally get to see Kalamazoo Michigan party!