#his only weapon is bombs and that is not safe at close quarters

[barrel-crow-n]

[x-ceirios-x]

Marina Onice

General

Name: Marina Onice

Nickname: Mari, rina, 

Age: 17 (v1-2)

Gender: cis female 

Race: human

Symbol: 

Affiliation(s): Team NCRM, ruby’s group, formerly Ironwood & Atlas Academy, formerly Beacon academy

The Character’s Appearance

Height: 5’2”

Eye Colour: blue

Hair: navy blue, shoulder length and very blunt cut

Complexion: very pale

Picrew 1 2

About The Character

Status: alive, active huntress

Occupation: huntress, former student

Handedness: right

Clothing: Her outfit changes over time, but when she first gets to Beacon she dresses very plainly—typically a white blouse and gray skirt with black boots, sometimes seen in a sweater. As she begins to come out of her shell and her style develops, she begins to develop her signature outfit as others have. 

Outfit Colors: blues & whites with gray & silver accents

Accessories: glasses, azur (her weaponized charm bracelet), sometimes some other jewelry

Personality

Marina is quiet, in a word. She prefers to mostly keep to herself and listen to those around her, rather than inserting herself into conversations. Genuinely, she prefers books and characters to people and would be lost in another world for hours if someone let her. Despite her timid personality, she’s got a bit of a rebellious streak and, as she learns to come out of her shell, begins to stand up for what she believes in. When she’s truly comfortable with someone, though, she’ll spend quite a bit of time with them, even if she’s quiet. She enjoys following people around and observing their life and counts it as quality time. 

Fear(s): losing people closest to her, anything she doesn’t understand

Likes: big sweaters, reading, literature & history classes

Dislikes: coffee, overly sweet things, things she can’t study for

Habit(s): picking at her nails, nervous habit is cleaning her glasses

Fatal Flaw(s): doesn’t like to argue & doesn’t stand up for herself. She won’t argue a point even if she’s right and will accept consequences for something she didn’t do. 

Strengths: close quarter combat, academic courses, piano

Weaknesses: social interaction, group projects, long-range combat

Weapon

Weapon Name: Cadwyn, Asur

Weapon Description: Cadwyn is a long chain with weights on either end, one end being a sickle and the other being a hexagonal shape of metal. The sickle also functions as a gun, with the handle having the place for a trigger and a barrel that shoots past it before it curves. 

Asur is actually a gift from her sister that she got after she passed—it was something she made while at Atlas and used in a pinch. When a charm is ripped/broken off, it detonates and releases a smoke bomb. 

Relationship With Others

Reputation: Most people either don’t notice her or do and they’re uninterested. She keeps to herself and prefers it that way. 

Friends: Her friends that she’s close with outside the team are pretty minimal, however most would agree that she’s very sweet and caring for those that share the same attitude with her. She’s a great listener and has comforting energy, even if she’s not as good at talking. 

Team: She considers her team a better family than what she has by blood. She and Roza get on well and tend to do things together outside of school (especially when she wants to go shopping and Marina can’t tell her no). Out of the three others, she’s the least close with Ebony because they’re such stark opposites. They don’t have much in common, but she still has his back and he has hers. 

Coal threw her for a loop. At Beacon, she planned on keeping her head low and working with her team when she had to, but Coal didn’t let that happen. From the moment they locked eyes in the forest, she knew she was in for it considering his boisterous and excitable personality. Eventually, she thought of him less as a bee buzzing in her ear, and instead as a friend. That friendship turned into something she hadn’t felt recently: a love that made her feel safe and truly cared for. 

Enemy(ies): Her only real “enemies” are the Grimm she’s fighting and rivalries between siblings in her family. Even then, she swears she still cares about them even if she wants to tear her hair out because of them sometimes. 

The Character’s Abilities

Agility: 6/10

Swordsmanship:  7/10

Long Range Accuracy: 5/10

Defense: 7/10

Offense: 8/10

Aura: 7/10

People Skills: 2/10

Semblance: She has the ability to mute people’s speech. Marina can control who is affected around her and can flip a switch on whether they can make noise or not. She doesn’t like to use it and it doesn’t help in a fight much so not many know of it.

Brief History

Marina grew up in a large family, the youngest of five siblings in Atlas. As the baby of the family, she had a hard time figuring out how to make herself noticeable compared to her (much older) sibling’s achievements, so let herself fall to the wayside when need be. The one person who wouldn’t allow that behavior past reasonable expectations was her oldest sister, Azura, who insisted on helping as much as she could. Azura was a licensed huntress by the time Marina was ten, and they started training together around that time. They worked out an entire plan for her future: she’d attend Beacon in Vale (because she wanted out of Atlas and away from her family) and she’d follow her sister’s footsteps to become a huntress. 

However, before she could even apply, she received news that her sister’s team had been caught in a Grimm attack no one was expecting and Azura had died. While distraught, her entire family’s reaction to the news only spurred her further to attend school and finish what Azura couldn’t. 

Trivia

Had no clue the charm bracelet was a bunch of smoke bombs until one broke during a mission and saved her life from some Grimm 

More to be added

[winchesterxxi]

A Human Wiretap (Poe Dameron x Reader)

GIF BY @captain-flint​

Rating: G (General Audience)

Type: Fluff

Summary: While in Kijimi, Reader is shocked by the revelation of Poe having been a spice runner before becoming a Resistance pilot, unaware that he knows about her own secret

Word Count: 2.5k

Warnings: None

A/N: let the stream of Poe content commence

MASTERPOST | REQUEST HERE | KO-FI

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Kijimi was the last place you wanted to be right now. You had always known of this place to be infested with pirates and all the lawless beings of the galaxy, the country being practically a crime heaven.

The destination had been appointed as The Thieves' Quarter, the place you were told you could find Babu Frik, and to your unrest, your husband seemed to be able to navigate the streets of the foreign planet pretty well, occasionally stopping against a wall at any given corner, looking around for any threats.

“Are you sure you never came here?” you ask one time while leaning against his side on a cold brick wall, waiting for the safe sign.

“Not really.” He says looking over at the snowy empty street, before turning his head back at you for a split second “Coast’s clear, let’s go”

And just as he took the first step to round the corner, an armoured woman came into view pointing a blaster at Poe’s face.

Not even allowing a second to process another thought, you reach for your own blaster, pulling it from its holster and aiming it perfectly so that it was secured in the direction of the person’s head on both of your steady hands.

“Heard you were spotted at Monk’s Gate. Thought He’s not stupid enough to come back here.”

“Oh, you’d be surprised.” Poe mumbles from his stance.

“Blaster off him. Now.” You warn from your spot, a scowl upon your face, ready to shoot, in case she dared to make another move.

“Zorii!” Poe exclaims in fake enthusiasm, before snapping his head quickly between the two of you. “She won’t ask twice, I would listen to her”

“You pull that trigger, you’re next, honey.” You assure her, readjusting your fingers as to place a stronger grip around the camera.

“She used a pet name, she’s serious.” Poe nods and nervously warns the woman whose weapon was now closer to his forehead, almost pressed against it.

“We’re only here to find Babu Frik, we don’t want no trouble.” You tell her cordially, expecting to explain your presence in the clearly unwelcoming planet and maybe have her help you. You eye the woman up and down, eyes scanning the shining golden armour, before settling on the deep black visor.

“Who are you?”

“Honey,” Poe speaks, being careful not to make any sudden moves that could make the woman pull the trigger “this is Zoriii. Zoriii, this Y/N, my wife.”

You are a little taken aback by the fact that they seem to know each other fairly well, given the assurance that Poe had just given you moments ago, that he’d never step foot on Kijimi.

Her helmet turns to you “Wife?” she scoffs “I guess there really is someone for everyone.”

“You have no idea.” he smirks, a momentary lapse, and you snap a look at him.

“I could pull this trigger right now.” She says, pushing the blaster harder against Poe’s head, and you take a step forward.

“You do that, my blaster is the last thing you’ll see in this life.” Sharp words leave your mouth, both you and Poe knowing damn well that you were badass enough to keep the promise.

“Babu only works with the crew. That’s not you anymore.” Zorii says, still talking to Poe, as if your presence and the one of your weapon aimed at her is non-existent.

“What do you mean crew?” you ask her, and for a moment, her attention is directed to you, before slowly tilting once again in your husband’s direction, whose hands were still up in the air in a surrendering feat.

“Oh your wife doesn’t know?” her voice, goes up an octave, clearly amused by whatever is about to unfold. Your eyes scan between the two of them waiting for some kind of explanation of whatever secret conversation was going on in front of you. “Funny he never mentioned it…”

“What is she talking about?” you question Poe but he gives himself no time to utter a word at you, just quickly waving his hand and facing Zorii.

“Zorii, married people are still allowed secrets- “ he tries but she is too quick to reveal the information you were dying to be delivered.

“Your husband was part of the Spice Runner Gang.”

You can’t stop your jaw from going slack at the revelation, not being able to form any coherent words and instead just moving your mouth like a fish out of water, dwelling on whether you felt hurt, angry or any other emotion of the rush that caught you in that moment.

Poe’s shoulders slump slightly and he bites his bottom lip, eyes closed in frustration. He then turns at you, hands still up, as you were still gripping the blaster, which was now pointed at him as he was walking towards you, cautious steps, one at a time.

“I can explain.”

“You were a smuggler? AND A SPICE RUNNER AT THAT?” You drop your blaster to your side, stepping towards him, your brain having decided on anger as the momentary emotion.

“Y/N-“

“In 2 years of marriage NOT ONCE did it occur to you to mention that!?” you yell the two middle words, incredulous at your husband’s secret, having spent your whole relationship that he had always been a resistance pilot, just like he had assured you.

“Oh, don’t act like I’m the only one with a secret here!” his hands drop to his side, and he is no longer trailing in front of you like a lost puppy looking for forgiveness but instead returns to his conflictual side, a defence mechanism, you’ve come to learn.

“What is that supposed to mean?” you scoff, genuinely clueless as to what he could be referring to. And definitely not expecting him to voice the secret you fought years to keep.

“I know you’re a Sywalker!” he says loudly, and its as if your spirit has left your body, the blood draining from your face, and for a moment you forget that breathing is a necessary bodily function.

“H… How do you…”

“The week before we got married I-…” he takes a deep breathe in, running a hand through his wild curls, now dusted with white snow. “I heard you and Leia.”

Poe was making his way to the X-Wing hangar when he stumbled across an ajar door from where he spotted your figure passing across it and disappearing multiple times.

It wasn’t until he stepped closer and leaned against the wall, that he got the full picture.

You were pacing back and forth in an empty resting room of The Radus, pattering your boots across the white floor as Leia sat by the window, looking at you in this impossible frenzy, fingers pressed against your mouth while the other hand rested on your hip.

Your motion comes to a halt in front of her, turning on your toes to face her.

“Should I tell him?”

“I think you should do what you think to be the right thing.” Leia answers her, reaching forward to grab your nervous hands in hers.

“We’re getting married next week, but I don’t think telling him would be any good…”

That’s when Poe’s heart sank to the bottom of his chest, tightening at the implication of your wedding and a number of awful possibilities running across his mind as to what you could be hiding from him.

“He’ll think…I don’t even know. I’ve spent more than half of my life hiding this and if he finds out… What if he thinks I’m a freak? And…And just leave me?”

Poe, from across the door, inches closer, curiosity getting the best of him and brows furrowing.

“Y/N, honey, Poe has been around plenty of force-sensitive people. I can assure you that my niece being one won’t scare him away.” Leia assures you while giving your hands a firm squeeze, and you let your head fall back, closing your eyes.

Wait, what? Poe was really trying to connect the dots at the amount of information that he had been bombed within this short amount of time.

“Not the daughter of Luke Skywalker.” You sigh.

“You knew?... All this time…” your eyes brim with tears.

Poe turns to Zorii who still stood behind him, the blaster having been lowered.

“Can you…give us a moment?”

“Who the hell do you think you are to be asking favours right now?” she snaps but Poe’s eyes plead at her for a single ounce of sympathy. “I’m staying right here.”

Poe turn around to face you, still very aware of the blaster pointed at the back of his head and he lowers his voice so that only the two of you can share the conversation.

“Honey…”

“You still married me?” you are looking down until you speak, watery and red eyes finding those of Poe who’s demeanour completely changes upon your question. He rushes to your front, gloved hands finding your upper arms, giving them a reassuring squeeze. “You knew I was lying to you and you still… you still…”

“Honey,” his hands slide up from your arms to your cheeks “Look at me. I love you. I know why you did it. I probably would’ve done the same. I’m not mad, never have been, never will be.”

You were fighting the urge to ramble on, but upon looking into your husband’s sincere eyes, you relaxed your whole body and he takes that as a cue to pull you in for a hug. With your face flush against his chest, you mumble an apology, fists tightening around the fabric of his cloak.

“I’m sorry… for snapping at you earlier. It was very hypocritical of me.”

Poe smiles against your forehead, before placing a tender kiss against its warm flesh.

“It’s okay, honey, I swear. At least…at least I think I owe you an explanation.” Poe takes a deep breath in “I… When I was a teen, still living on Yavin 4,… their ship crashed near my hometown and I just… I needed out of there, I wanted to be reckless. So I joined them.”

You pull your head away from his chest, craning it upwards.

“Zorri’s mom was… she was the leader of the Spice Runners and she had this plan of inviting other crime lords here to form alliances, but she really was just planning on killing them. Zorii offered to fight against her with me and take control of the Spice Runners but I was done. Honestly, I wanted a better life.”

“And you got it. Congratulations.” Zorii’s voice makes the two of you snap back at her, Poe’s hand rushing down to your side, grabbing your hand and stepping slightly in front of you. “You know, I’m still digging out of the hole you put me in when you left to join the Resistance.”

Her helmet then turns in your direction and you have no time to manoeuvre the blaster back to pointing at her, afraid that she’d shoot.

“You. You’ll do.” She says referring to you “A Skywalker. A bounty for her might just cover us.” She says and you frown at the word us until you find your peripheral vision starting to get dotted on the sides by equally armoured soldiers who you assumed to be Spice Runners.

“Djak’kankah” she commands.

“Don’t djak’kankah” Poe pleads, knowing the meaning of the word.

Just then, when you perceive that the smugglers are running in on you, you quickly snap up your blaster and take them all one by one with perfect aim, sliding your leg under Zorii’s feet and akeing her fall to the cold ground right in front of you, both of you pointing your blasters at each other.

“We could really use your help. Please.” You huff, trying to calm your beating heart from the adrenaline of the previous moment.

“Not that you care…But I think you’re okay.” She breathes through the helmet.

“I care.” You let a sly smile tint your lips, sliding your blaster back into its holster and offering the woman who just seconds ago was dead set on killing you your hand.

When she is hoisted back to her feet, she walks ahead of the both of you signalling for her to be followed but as she is about to pass Poe she throws him a few words.

“She’s a keeper.”

“Don’t I know that.” He smirks, turning back to see you walking to catch up to him. Before you can say anything, his gloved hand is already pressed against your cheek as he brings his lips down to crash against yours.

“I love you.”

“I love you.” You whisper against his lips “But I still need to-“

“You can tell me all about it tonight. While laying in bed. No rush.” He smiles assuringly at you and you swear if you didn’t have a mission at hands you would melt into his embrace for as long as the galaxy aloud you to.

“Let’s find that droidsmith.” You smile at him, before placing one quick kiss against his jaw and walking towards Zorii, leaving the former Spice Runner, current lovestruck Resistance Pilot, completely enamoured and stunned behind you.

 ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ �� ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸

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@blondekel77​  @pedrobreakmyback​

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[edwardprendick1896]

But You Can’t Make It Drink

A BBC Ghosts - inspired short story by me :)

edit: this is the first fic i have ever written so it’s probably not perfect lol

This is my way of saying thank you to the Ghosts fandom on tumblr. I am so grateful to have found people who love this show, and discussing it, as much as me.

CO = Commanding Officer

Word Count: Around 950-1000

content warning for references to homophobia and mental illness (As well as spoilers for Series 2 of Ghosts). probably best not to read if you’re not in a great headspace. This content is “safe for work” it’s just a bit sad.

But You Can’t Make It Drink

“Well, we’re going to have to think of a name, sir.” Havers began, as he tentatively entered the study, cradling two cups of tea.

“Don’t be absurd Havers, a bomb doesn’t need a name. In fact, naming it would make it worse if it were to fail, and blow up in our faces.”

Eyes glued to the blueprints, the Captain absent-mindedly picked up a cup.

“Actually sir, that’s mine, you specifically requested no sugar … or milk.”

The Captain looked up, and his eyes widened. “I-I’m sorry, Lieutenant.” He hastily pushed the tea back over to Havers, causing some to splash over the brim.

“That’s alright, sir.” Havers chuckled, taking care of the spillage with his handkerchief. “And I meant for the operation, sir. We need a code name.”

“Ah yes.” The Captain cleared his throat awkwardly. “That’s what I thought you meant; I was just testing yo-” Havers met his gaze with a knowing smile. “Well, er, we need something clear and to the point, such as, er, … Operation … Secret Weapons Testing.”

Havers put a hand to his forehead, rubbing his temples in an attempt to suppress his eyes from rolling. “I was thinking about something more inconspicuous sir, so as to not draw the attention of any spies that may be in our ranks.”

“Ah. Well-” The Captain looked down and cleared his throat again. “How about Operation William?”

“…My name, sir?”

“Well, yes! Then if a German were to overhear, or read the name in a file, he-”

“Or she, sir.”

“Yes…or she, would think the information only concerned your performance!” he exclaimed, his eyes eager as he beamed at Havers.

“…very well sir, if that’s the name you want, it will do.”

“Well, I-I can’t say I’m all that concerned…” The Captain made an effort to sip his tea in a nonchalant manner. “… but you’re right, it will do.”

Disappointed by Havers’ lukewarm approval, he dropped his eyes back to the desk. The CO had rather been hoping to impress his second-in-command at least once that evening.

*

As they worked, the sky filled with violet-lined clouds as it gradually faded from blue to pink. The corridor outside began to brew with lively chattering and warm laughter, as the members of the Button House Regiment finished their work for the day. Not that the Captain seemed to hear it. For him, there should be no pause to the war effort, as there was no pause to the war.

“Perhaps, we should stop for tonight sir, you’ve worked very hard this evening.” Havers commended, rising from his chair.

“So have you Lieutenant, go and join the others and leave me to the rest.” Standing up, the Captain began to gather the papers and blueprints before a gentle hand touched his arm.

“Nonsense, sir.” Havers insisted, patting his superior’s forearm in an endeavour to reassure him. “…You needn’t work all the time, it’s not good for your health-”

“It is good for the country’s health!” The Captain blurted out, cutting him off.

He cleared his throat before glancing upwards apologetically, meeting the piercing, yet caring, gaze of his Lieutenant. Havers brought his hand to the Captain’s shoulder and leant towards him.

“… b-but you’re absolutely right! I, er … I just need to check-” The CO jumped backwards and hastened towards the door, as if alerted by an air raid siren. He closed the door behind him a little too quickly, producing a stern slam that swept the blueprints across the desk.

That dreadful sound would haunt Havers’ mind until the day he died. Left grasping thin air, he collapsed into his seat, head in his hands. Oh well, you can lead a horse to water.

*

Now that Havers was alone, the darkness of the room suddenly became very apparent. After the Captain entered the corridor, the voices had softened and the laughter subsided. 

The words spoken about the ever-anxious Captain were rarely kind. Due to the man’s clearly fragile nature, Havers was thankful that the worst of it was kept out of earshot, and he ensured all written messages for the Captain came through him first. It seemed that for too many members of the Button House Regiment, “Careless Talk Costs Lives” didn’t apply to slighting their already strained CO. Luckily, the Captain probably wouldn’t acknowledge the term “homosexual” even if it was bellowed at him across the front lawn, let alone muttered at the back of the briefing room.

But what others were in doubt about, Havers knew. After all, it was why he had so quickly been given the position of second-in-command. It was why the Captain was so keen to be orderly, efficient, and tidy. He was more on edge than any other soldier, as if the enemy was constantly poised in the corner of his eye, or slowly creeping into the back of his mind. As the two men had grown closer, Havers had become afraid of leaving the Captain alone with any type of weaponry, particularly the smaller, handheld kind. Written requests for a service revolver still sat at the bottom of a pile of documents in Havers’ quarters.

Earlier that day, Havers had received news of a possible North Africa front, which he was yet to make his CO aware of. He supposed he himself could go to the front, rather than staying to watch helplessly as the man he cared for suffered though loneliness and self-denial.

A curt knock kindly interrupted these thoughts.

“I say Havers.” A soft, quavering voice came, muffled, through the door. “I was wondering if you’d like to take a walk down to the lake.”

His solemn expression breaking into a faint smile, Havers straightened up immediately, wiping his eyes with his tea-stained handkerchief.

“Of course, sir.”

He hurriedly stuffed the handkerchief back into his trouser pocket, pushed himself out of his chair, and strode towards the door.

The End

[writingsbychlo]

put her together again (prologue)

word count; 2398

summary; while in the field, mitch encounters a hostile force who almost takes him out, and accidentally finds himself tangled up in something far more advanced than he’d ever imagined.

notes; this is the prologue to a new series, and it’s a pretty dark one. there will also be a lot of triggering themes, so watch out for that!

warnings; violence, slight gore, reference to torture, death, reference to mental & emotions abuse, possible suicidal references, reference to self harm, reference to branding, reference to brainwashing & manipulation.

Mitch would be dead, if it hadn't been for the quick thinking of Stan. Another agent in the field was unexpected, a target that had training that far exceeded his own, he really stood no chance. Up against him or Stan, even both of them together, she would have come out on top. 

Whoever the girl was, she was one hell of a fighter. 

With his hands on his knees, he lifted one to brush at his forehead, wincing at the blood along his hairline as the cut stung, and he wiped the back of his hand across it, red smearing his skin and the cool air sweeping across it for only a second, before he was feeling blood begin to build up along the gash once again. With a sigh, he searched around for his gun, one that had been knocked from his hand only a minute into the fight, and he located it sitting under some knocked over tables in front of a little street coffee shop. The roads were empty now, not even the honking of horns or screaming of civilians, the man you’d been protecting having achieved in his mission of setting off a bomb, and he glared at you as he clicked the safety off and checked it to be loaded. 

Holding up the weapon, he aimed it at your head, feeling zero remorse as he closed his finger over the trigger, squeezing down and releasing the bullet, only a second after fingers had wrapped around his own and jolted his aim to the side, the metal pinging off of the cobblestone walkway as it cracked the tile it landed on, clattering away across the quarter. 

With a growl, he spun to face the man, his mentor fixing him with an equally stern and hard gaze as it had always been, especially in the first few weeks that he’d been in his training, all that time ago. “She helped kill people today, Stan. She was going to kill us.”

“We aren’t executioners. We take her back with us, we get information out of her.” He snatched his hand back from the man, grunting an agreement before clicking it back to safety and tucking the device into the back of his pants. “You know as well as I do that she was a hired gun. She was protecting him, so much so that she was willing to die at your hand to let him get away. I want to know who hired her, she’s our lead.”

He knew it made sense, it was perfectly logical, but he hated the way you were cooperative in this, he hated that the woman at his feet had allowed such things to happen, and he fought hard to suppress the wild anger he had worked so hard to learn to contain and control back down. Instead, he spat out the blood in his mouth with a grimace, stepping over you to walk back towards the car and making sure to drag his foot across your body to plant a rough kick into your ribs, not that you reacted in your unconscious state, but it made him feel a little better. 

Instead, he did as he was told, opening the trunk of the car and fishing around in the toolkit for the duct tape before making room to stuff you inside a minute or two from now, and he looked at the bullet holes along the side of the vehicle, rolling his eyes with an angry huff. He wasn’t exactly gentle, your arms behind you back and sealed up tightly before attaching you ankles together too, and sealing one over your mouth for good measure, should you wake up on the journey to the safe house. 

By the time he had you loaded into the back of the car and fastened in, Stan was already sitting in the driver’s seat, the engine running as he waited, and the second he was within the car, it was starting up and peeling away from the scene, calling Irene to explain the situation. He didn’t bother to listen in, barely perking up to add his input, before he was resting his head back against the window, the adrenaline coming down and revealing to him just how much his body ached all over. 

He was sore and covered in cuts and bruises, he could already feel it under his clothes, every rub of the fabric against somewhere that was pained, and he couldn't wait to get into the shower, dismissing Irene alongside Hurley from the second they’d arrived at the isolated little home. You were still unconscious when he opened the back of the car up, much to his relief because he knew wasn’t feeling like starting another fight as you resisted, and slung your body over his shoulder to carry you inside, taking the tape with him. Stan had a chair set up, in the middle of the room read for you, and he tossed Stan the roll of tape once you were slumped into it, before making a beeline to the bathroom and calling the first shower.

He barely hesitated, only pausing to grab a change of clothes from his bag, before finding himself switching on the hot water, and peeling his clothes off of his body, stepping under before steam has even begun to fog the mirrors. A groan bubbled up from him before he could stop it, sounding out in the bathroom as the tension immediately soothed just from the hot water, body practically melting into the tub as he eased himself of the aches, and he had to force himself not to fall asleep in the comfortable heat and relaxation. 

Instead, he busied himself with scrubbing down; blood, dirt and grime washing away into the drain as he watched it go, scrubbing a hand through his hair and the colour only darkened as it washed away. The cuts would sting each time he got soap or hot water within them, but once the runoff was going clear instead of red and grey, he was beginning to see where he was grazed and cut, and where he was simply beginning to bruise. He knew he couldn't stay too long, using up all the hot water before Stan had a chance to get in, and as tempted as he was in the will for amusement purposes to leave the older man to shower in the freezing cold, he wasn’t that cruel.

He towelled himself down, and pulled on his boxers, finding the cream from bruises and ointment for his cuts, making sure to take care of himself and place gauze over the worse once, before finally pulling on sweats and a fresh t-shirt, scrubbing at the longer strands of his hair and making a note to get another haircut, before stepping back out into the main room. 

“Leave me some hot water?” He smirked, the thought he’d once had flashing across his mind once again, but he nodded as Stan scooped up a towel and change of clothing for himself. “Good, I won’t be as long as you were, princess, but if she wakes up while I’m in there, just knock on the door.”

He sneered in the older man’s direction, but let him go, and the door closed, leaving him alone with the woman in the chair. He was certain Stan would have already followed all of the formalities, but he decided it wouldn't hurt for him to check you over himself, and so he made sure to pat you down with what he could reach, checking for anything that you could use to escape or fight back. He even checked your hands, and under your tongue, no hidden razor blades or sharp objects, and he eventually deemed you to be okay. Pulling up his one chair, he set it backwards, straddling the seat and resting his arms over it, balancing his chin atop them, before staring at you intently. 

He didn’t like you, but you were a mystery. No matter how many time she had insulted you or goaded you, you’d never once spoken back. You didn’t fall for the temptation to lash out with words like every other person he’d fought had, and you didn’t have the same sinister flash of pure evil in your eyes that he was s used to seeing. There was no hatred, malice or anger when you fought, only determination, but your eyes had been blank as you worked, as though you were simply working, nothing in the situation being of any gain to you.

Stan came out of the bathroom, steam curling out of the doorway as he did, and Mitch turned to offer him a quick look, catching the raised brow he received in response, and letting his thoughts flow freely from him.

“Don’t you think she’s a little odd?”

“What do you mean?” Stan was leaning on the edge of the counter that connected them to the kitchen, and he rubbed a hand over his mouth, before crossing his arms. 

“She didn’t react. I looked into her eyes, there was nothing. Nothing. No anger or hate or pure joy at killing, it was like there was nobody in there. A robot, not a person. It was more terrifying than facing someone who took pleasure in killing.” He sighed, both of them snapping up to look at your from the first twitch of your leg, a foot sounding out across the carpet. 

“Guess we’re about to get some answers. Maybe that’ll put you at ease.”

He huffed doubting it would do anything other than anger him further, but your eyes were opening to look at them both. He expected fear, a sudden jolt as you tried to free yourself, looking around for escape exits and a way to get free. Maybe some glaring, growling out curses under the tape and making a show of trying to seem defensive, but you didn’t.

Instead, you took a single deep breath, keeping your gaze fixed on the carpet before you as your hands flexed out behind your back, cracking your knuckles and stretching your muscles, but then falling flat, and you almost seemed o relax into the chair, slumping your body weight over it but wincing when you pressed against something that must’ve hurt. 

He shared a look with Stan, his confusion only growing, but Stan shrugged a little, before flipping out the blade on his pocketknife, and moving towards you, the scare tactics beginning, but you never even flinched. Not when he peeled the tape from your mouth, not when he pressed the blade to your shoulder with the threat of pushing it through. Threats didn’t work, shouting didn’t work, it didn’t even work when Mitch had filled the tub with cold water and held you over it in a threat of dropping you within, and still, you were unmoving. 

They had thought through every option they could to get their answers, without ever physically harming you, and do Stan had decided to resort to mind games. He filled up a glass of water at the sink upon watching you swallow down thickly on what he assumed to be a dry throat for the fourth time within the last minute, and he made sure to make a show of preparing it. He clinked a spoon against the edge of the glass once, taking his time in preparing it, before bringing it out to you and offering it up to your lips, an almost friendly smile on his lips. 

You leaned in, taking a large gulp of the water without hesitation, drinking down almost half of the glass, much to both of their surprises, and his eyes widened when Mitch turned to him.

“She didn’t even smell it for traces, or taste test. She doesn’t care.”

They were just regrouping for a discussion when you finally spoke up, the sharp intake of breath making their heads snap back toward you, and your eyes were glued on Mitch’s own, a cold and empty gaze that sent a shover rocking along his spine, and goosebumps rising on his skin. 

“Units must not return without assignment success.” His brows furrowed, jaw dropping a little as he turned to face you more fully, and he frowned when you didn’t speak up again, but he gave you a chance, your tongue flicking out to lick over a busted lip as you tried to clear your throat. “Termination in the field, or termination at base. You must terminate the unit.”

“Oh, fucking hell.”

“What? This gibberish mean something to you?” When he looked back at his superior, the man was a little paler, eyes wide like saucers and jaw hanging wide, and Mitch had never seen this look on a man’s face before. “Hurley?”

Instead of responding, he moved to crouch in front of you, holding your gaze intently. “What is the name of your company?”

“Unit cannot comply with your request.”

He let out a ragged sigh, flicking out the blade once again and Mitch got to his feet quickly, fearing that Stan may actually gut you like a fish in his anger, but he circled behind you, cutting away the material of your shirt around your neck and letting out a loud shout at what he found. Stumbling over his own feet to get a look, he found a tattoo, branded into your skin with a symbol he didn’t recognise, but it would seem Stan did.

“I heard rumours from the higher-ups, notes on previous cases as eye witness results, but it always just seemed like a myth.” He seemed almost shocked, and Mitch has no idea what was going on, but he felt like he was drowning in the thoughts flying through his mind, his head pounding with all the new information he was processing. 

“Does that mean something?”

“Yeah, it does.” 

“And what are we supposed to do with her, then?” Stan let out a groan, and you shifted a little when the seat jolted as the older man kicked at the chair leg angrily, but you never looked back at them, your expression never shifting from the same haunting emptiness you’d held continually since he’d first laid eyes on you.

“Call Irene, tell her we have a Nocturnus agent in play, and that she’s alive.”

[descendantofthesparrow]

Shuffle Playlist - Rewrite - Part of Your World - Part 11 - James Hook

(first gif is supposed to be harriet fighting, dunno if it comes across) also lots of Gifs here srry

Warning!  Graphic depiction of violence!

(a/n): i suggest reading this by listening to the potc sound track starting with “the black pearl” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mP-BeFi58tQ&list=PL263677A4D1B673E4&index=3 )

=

Jay blearily opened his eyes, groaning at the soft beam of sun that was blinding him. He quickly sat up as the printer beeped and the wand was only seconds away from being finished. “Carlos” he muttered, smacking his arm when he didn’t respond “Carlos!”

Carlos snorted as he snapped awake, glaring at Jay before his eyes drifted to the now just finished wand. They slowly stood from their chairs, Carlos opening the printer and grabbing the wand. Carlos turned the wand in his hands, pursing his lips in an impressed pout as the wand was seamlessly perfect. “not bad”

Jay nodded, slipping the phony wand from Carlos’ grip and into his own, nodding towards the door “let's go, its” he checked Carlos’ phone, which read 10:45 am “shit come on, I’d rather be just a bit earlier than be late and risk losing Ben” Carlos nodded, about to walk out the door with Jay when he remembered your plan.

He turned back, whistling for Dude “Come on buddy, you’re gonna help!” Dude barked with an excited yip and barreled off his bed, bolting out the door and to the main area, waiting for the boys. “come on what are we waiting for!” Carlos and Jay shared a look and rolled their eyes, following after Dude.

They made it outside, Jay quickly hiding the wand behind his back as Doug came up to them “Hey guys, have you seen Evie….or anyone else for that matter?” Jay and Carlos shared a panicked look before Carlos quickly came up with an excuse.

“They went camping” Doug raised his brow, extremely confused.

“Evie…camping? Evie, I want to live in a castle? Sleeping on the ground with no place to plug in a hairdryer?” Carlos just shrugged.

“Hey, isle kid remember? none of us are against doing that. But (y/n) and Evie decided to plan a last-minute stress reliever trip before cotillion, VKs only thing” Doug crossed his arms, his eyes showing a bit of hurt “aaand (y/n) is there cuz she's an honorary vk, and you weren’t invited because Evie needed you to man her shop here, she must’ve forgotten to tell you, but we’ll be back by tonight!” Jay nodded, slightly impressed by Carlos’ swift bullshiting skill.

Doug sighed and nodded “Alright then… see you guys tonight” he passed by the boys and walked into the dorm building. “Later Doug” Jay laughed, giving Carlos a look as they turned to go back to the limo, groaning a bit as they were stopped again and hid the wand behind his back.

Lonnie smirked at them, tossing one of her braided twin tails behind her shoulder.

“I’m coming with you” Jay laughed, waving off Lonnie’s request.

“whaa, we don’t need swords at the” Lonnie gave him a look “waffle hut?” Carlos slowly turned his head to Jay, his eyes wide in disbelief.

Wait wasn't-? Oh yeah! “ yeah, you can come” Carlos covered Jay's mouth as he tried to object “(y/n) said we would need an extra hand remember? And she said to let Lonnie come when she asked?” Jay stopped, closing his eyes as he realized his minor brain fart. He tossed Carlos’ hand off his mouth and nodding to where they had the limo parked.

“I’m an idiot, come on, we got no time to waste” Lonnie squealed in excitement and tossed her arms around their necks, babbling away about the upcoming battle.

-

You looked down at the messily drawn blueprints of James Hook’s ship, eyes drawn to the brig where Harry was being kept. “Alright let's go over this one last time!” Harriet sighed, her crew all gathered around you, Harriet, and Gil “We storm the ship, you all keep my dad's crew busy by fighting them and sending in the smoke bombs, while (y/n) goes for Harry, and as soon as Harry’s off the ship we retreat. And do not hesitate to take any of them down. Understood?” the crew nodded in agreement, the plan was set and was ready to be put in motion. Harriet let them go mull around until you were all ready to go. She turned to you, raising her brow as you stared at the outline of the captain's quarters. “what's up?”

“He’ll be on the ship when we raid right?” you muttered, fingers drifting over the metal of Harry’s hook that rested in your hands.

“aye?” Harriet answered, placing her hands on her hips and tilting her head “which is why we gotta be careful, he may be a drunk but even when he’s pissed for shit, he’s a damn good swordsman.” She stared at you as you just nodded and started muttering something to yourself “what are you planning girly?” you glanced up at her, giving her a reassuring, but terrifying smirk.

“you’ll see”

-

You, Gil, Harriet, and Xiaohui were crouched on top of the nearest building to the jolly roger, Xiaohui put down her telescope and turned to Harriet “all crew members are on deck captain, the plan is ready to proceed” Harriet nodded and took the hand-held scope from Xiaohui and looked down at the ship for herself.

“Good, if all goes according to plan, we should be able to defeat the crew and get harry out of there within ten minutes” you glanced at Harriet's pocket watch that hung off her belt, mentally groaning a bit as it read; 11:45 am. You hoped to get this done in time for you and Gil to get Harry to the limo safely.

And you wanted time to deal with a certain…backstabber.

“let's do this” Harriet muttered, watching her father go back into the captain's quarters. She handed the scope back to Xiaohui and put her fingers in her mouth, letting out a piercing whistle.

Within the moment of it, and Hook’s crew looking towards the building you and Harriet were on, several spray cans turned smoke bombs were hurdled onto the main deck, blinding James’ crew.

They all yelled in confusion as suddenly multiple footsteps surrounded them, the sound of swords being unsheathed made all of them leap back and draw their own weapon.

“Who’s there!” One of the men yelled, taking off his yellow cap and rubbing his eyes “You have no chance we-oop” as the smoke cleared, the crew took a step back, their eyes drawing wide as they realized they were outnumbered three to one. “Wha-Harriet?!” she smirked as she flipped her sword in her hand. “What are you doing?”

She didn’t bother to respond, letting out another whistle, and cackling as her crew rushed her father's men. She blocked a quick swing coming from the man with the yellow cap and spun around, deciding to end the mess for later quickly by slicing the back of his neck.

The man slumped to the ground leaving Harriet to move quickly towards the brig, eyes drifting to the captain's quarters.

“WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!!” Harriet stopped, fear filling her chest as her father stepped out of his quarters, his eyes drifting over his crew and Harriet’s crew battling. “Harriet” he snarled, his cold blue eyes looking into hers “How dare you, you little brat!?” he raised his hook arm at her, his eyes flashing red, making Harriet step back “first your insolent brother, now you?! Must I teach you a lesson as well!?”

Harriet's crew quickly finished off James’ crew, their bodies slumping to the ground as blood pooled onto the deck. They lifted their swords in James' direction, ready to do anything to protect their captain.

“I think I have a lesson to teach you instead” James' eyes drifted to you, smirking as he realized just who you were as you unsheathed Harry’s sword and gripped onto his hook in your left hand.

“Ahh, the Auradon brat that turned my son into a pathetic Auradon lovesick bastard~” you rolled your eyes at the simple insult and flourished your sword.

“No, I just made your son realize he deserves better than an alcoholic abusive shit mongering asshole of a father.” you smirked as James’ eyes flashed red again “And if you don’t mind, I’m here to get my boyfriend, so-“ you waved Harry’s sword in a motion for him to move out of your way.

James chuckles and unsheathed his sword, shifting his feet as he prepared to fight “if you want him back” he smirked, slightly unnerved as you continued to look at him with an oddly calm look. “you’ll have to kill me, because unless I die, that boy will always be under my command, free for me to sell and ruin as I please”

Your brow twitched…this “man” didn’t deserve death, no..it was too easy for him…you had a better idea. “To the death, it will be!” James cackles, shifting back on his feet as he prepared to rush at you, stopping as you suddenly yelled out;

“No!” James, Harriet, and Gil looked at you in shock. What one moment you were itching to spill blood and the next you backed out? “To the pain.” James' shoulders dropped as he tried to rack through his brain to remember if he knew that term.

“I don’t think I’m familiar with that phrase” he muttered, eyeing Harriet for a moment then glaring back at you.

You smirked, tilting your head down, oh this was going to be fun~ “I’ll explain, and I’ll use small words so that you’ll be sure to understand, you warthog faced Buffon.” Harriet covered her mouth and snorted, looking down at her boots as her father glared at her.

He turned back to you, his eyes flashing red again “I think that is the first time anyone dared insult me” you raised your brow. really? The first time? Man, James really must be off his rocker if he had forgotten “codfish”

“It won't be the last” your eyes didn’t move from his, challenging him to try anything on you. “To the pain means the first thing you lose will be your feet below the ankles, then your other hand at the wrist, next your nose”

James rolled his eyes, taking a slight step back before stepping towards you “and then my tongue I suppose, I've let this go on for far too long-“

“I wasn’t finished” you yelled, enjoying the look of surprise on his face “the next thing you lose will be your left eye followed by your right”

James groaned and rolled his eyes again “and then my ears let's get on with it!” he growled as you smirked at him again and continued to talk.

“Wrong! Your ears you keep, and I’ll tell you why.” Harriet’s crew’s muttering went deadly silent as your voice dropped into a lower tone, shivers running down Harriet's spine as she realized just how far you were willing to go for her baby brother. “So that every shriek of every child of seeing your hideousness will be yours to cherish, every babe that weeps at your approach, every woman who cries out “dear god what is that thing!” will echo in your ears” James couldn’t move, his entire body was frozen in fear. You hadn’t blinked once during your speech, that unnerved him. “That. Is what to the pain means, it means I leave you in anguish, wallowing in freakish misery. Forever.”

The occupants of the main deck stared at you in deathly silence, all trying to detect any lies that came from you. But even Harriet, who could sniff out a lie faster than a bloodhound looking for its favorite treat, couldn’t detect any deceit from you.

James looked from you to Harriet with wide frightened eyes, before looking back at you “I think you’re bluffing” he tried, attempting to get you to back down. You shrugged, slowly closing your eyes and rolling your neck, making hook grit his teeth as he realized you hardly had any guard upon you. You thought you could easily take him, and that pissed him off, but his knees were shaking too much for him to take a single step towards you.

“It's possible pig. I might be bluffing” you opened your eyes and looked into James icy blue ones, smirking again at the fear you saw swirling inside. “it’s conceivable you miserable vomitous mass, I’m only standing here because you lack the courage to step forward”

James' eyes flashed red one last time as he screamed and ran at you, hook swinging back in preparation to slice into your neck. With a sidestep and a flourish of Harry’s sword, James’ arm dropped to the ground, the metal of the hook clanging as it hit the floor and ringing in everyone's ears.

James stared at his missing forearm, looked at you, and let out a piercing scream. “AAAAAAAAAAAAH YOU BITCH-“ You twisted back around and swung the tip of Harry’s sword just inches from James' neck, a small smirk on your face as you stared into James’ fear-filled eyes.

“drop.your.sword.” the entire deck was silent, watching as James reluctantly dropped his sword and took a step back from you.

You spun down into a crouch, arching Harry's blade against James' ankles and slicing them clean off, un-flinching as the substitute spray of blood hit your face.

Harriet and Gil gasped as they watched James fall to the floor with a loud thump, his screaming echoing off the buildings and water below. You slowly stood up and walked to his right side, flipping the blade again and hooking Harry's hook on your belt, tossing Harry’s sword to your now free hand and arching up, slicing off James' right arm.

He screamed again but was silenced as you kicked his side and placed your boot on his face, glaring down at him. “If I ever. Hear about you again, that’s not news that you finally choked and went to hell, I will personally, make sure you can't even tell from your ass to your face.” You kicked his head and took a heavy step on his chest and walked towards Harriet and Gil, nodding back towards James “if anyone else wants a crack at him, go for it, I have a pirate to save”

You cleaned Harry’s sword on a low hanging sail above you and sheathed it, walking towards the brig and grabbing the set of keys that were hanging off a hook next to the opening.

As your steps echoed off the old rotten wood walls, Harry sat up, unsure of the new footsteps that were walking towards him. He glanced at the opening with weary eyes.

You stepped into the small beam of light that was shining through the port window, your eyes brimming with tears as you looked at your poor wounded Harry that sat curled up in a damp dirty cell.

“(y-y/n)?” Harry whimpered, trying to sit up more but fell back “(y/n) yer really here?” a bright grin broke out on his bruised face, tears spilling from his eyes and trailing down his cheeks “Yeh came fer meh” his voice wavered as you rushed to open his cell.

You threw open the metal door and slid down in front of him on your knees, reaching up and gently cupping his face, minding the black bruises and reopened cutes “Oh my Harry, was there any ever doubt?” you sobbed, brushing his messy bangs out of his eyes and shaking your head. “Oh, I’m so sorry I took so long, but it took forever to get to Harriet's ship and- and the smoke bombs and-“ he reached up, cupping the back of your neck and beamed.

“Yer here now, that’s all tha’ matters ta me” he whispered, sniffing and wiping away your tears with his other hand. You stared into his bright ocean blue eyes, you couldn’t believe the amount of hope, trust, and love that was pouring from them.

“I love you harry” you sobbed, a soft smile appearing on your face as Harry’s cheeks and ears turned pink.

“I love yeh too” one moment you were staring into each other's eyes, the next your lips were pressed to his in a passionate kiss. Harry's arms wrapped around your back as you held onto his face, keeping him close as possible.

Your first kiss.

You pulled back for a moment, cracking your eyes open to see Harry's still closed, his lips just slightly parted as he took soft, yet fast-paced breaths. His eyes opened for a split moment, before you both leaned in slowly, lips pressing and moving together in a dance.

Harry let out a quiet sigh of happiness, hands drifting up to cup the back of your head and tilting his to deepen the kiss. You licked his lip carefully, smiling as he whimpered and happily opened his mouth.

‘no’ you thought, pressing one more kiss to his soft lips and pulling back, biting your lip at the whimper that followed as he chased you. ‘not the right time for that’

“Harry” you whispered, caressing his cheek gently with your thumb as he slowly opened his eyes, the blue slightly clouded with his running thoughts “Did anything…happen to you?”

He shook his head gently, heavily leaning his hand into your palm “no” he whispered “nev-never got ta’ tha’ no clients of da’s came, jus’ just beatin’s from the crew” you closed your eyes as you tried to keep calm, getting angry over something that was now over was pointless, right now Harry was priority.

“Thank fuck” you whispered back, leaning forward and wrapping your hands around his torso “okay, Harry, we have to go, I don’t how long we have before the others leave with the limo and I do not want to leave you here” he gave a clumsy nod and stood on wobbly legs with you.

“Gil!” you yelled, smiling a bit as he came running down to the brig “ carry him, and get back to the limo as fast as you can” he nodded, his arms going under Harry's torso and legs and lifting him into his arms in a princess carry. Harry lifted his head up and reached out to you. You smiled and grabbed his hand, pressing a kiss to his knuckles.

“I’ll be right next to you love; the limo is right next to where I need to go.” Gil raised his brow, turning to walk out of the brig with a limp harry in his arms.

“Go where?” Gil wished he hadn't asked as he looked back at you to see a sadistic grin on your face.

“I need to deal with a traitor”

-

Xiaohui watched as you, Gil, Harry, and Harriet ran off the Jolly Rodger and towards the garage under the old pier. She turned to the crew with an impressed look.

“I now have no reason to think I’m straight” Sammy facepalmed and shook his head.

“Bitch you said that when Harriet beat you in a fistfight” Xiaohui shrugged.

“eh, tomato-tomato”

-end of part 11-

HOLY FUCK THEY FINALLY KISSED and YAY Harry is saved~ hopefully, that kiss turned out good! I was lowkey fangirling when I re-read it. Also!!! I hope that “to the pain” part was good, I was also re-reading my first part of your world fic and I was like “hoooow did anyone read this?” but I think I did it justice!!! Next chapter! The fight for the wand! Oh and-

Davy’s demise~

permtaglist!!!

@queer-cosette @sephiralorange (thank you again for being my beta reader/person who deals with my midnight ramblings about this)

@lunanight2012 @daughter-of-the-stars11

@musicarose (and thank you for commissioning me for the first four parts of this! if it wasn't for you, i probably still wouldn't have written the first chapter of Rewrite p1!) @random-thoughts-003 @remembered-license

@rintheemolion @descendantsobsessed @verboetoperee

@imtryingthisout @thecaptainsgingersnap

and taglist for rewrite

@thesailbells @beccad10x​

oh! have this kinda sad “meme” i made because i found a thing on twitter

[untaemedqueen]

The Lions Den

Mafia!Jiminx Wife!Reader

Genre: Mafia!AU, Smut, Fluff, Angst

Chapter 17.

Warnings: Smut, Blood, Guns, Knives, Excessive Cursing, Excessive Alcohol Intake, Smoking (Cigarettes and Cigars), Mental Health Issues

Warnings In This Chapter: Mentions of Mafia Heists, Cocaine Transport, Jimin Being A Psycho, Idiots Breaking Y/N’s Expensive Things

A/N: Man do I love my power couple. Shout out to my forever squad @ppersonna, @xjoonchildx, @ladyartemesia.

TagList- @ayyyocee, @mysugabear03, @wisebtsgot7prune, @imaforeigner, @yeonkiminnie, @stories1907, @ppersonna, @brilee64, @gooplibrary, @vivpurple7, @xjoonchildx, @brightwingr5, @yaniposts22, @rjsmochii, @taeslittletiger, @pjmcth, @bts-chub, @kpoppingthempills, @kim-ji-hyeons-world, @jikooksgirl19, @yoong-i, @ruinsofangels, @absolutefantrash, @chiminies-noona, @eclectically-esoteric, @simplybree, @outrofenty, @yxnxxli​

“But Mommy I don’t want to go stay at Aunt Hyunah’s house! I want to stay with baby!” Hawon whines as she clutches on to your leg. 

Your heart strings tug at her words as you stand in the entryway of the house. The way her small hands clutch onto your dress earns softened eyes from your husband as he stands at your side. 

The silver cross is purchased between his teeth as he feels at the back of his waistband for his gun. It’s becoming a habit he can’t seem to break. 

With a pout, you crouch down to your daughter’s height as you brush some stray baby hairs off of her forehead.

“I know you do but in a few days it will all be over and you’ll be able to see the baby all the time, okay?” You ask her softly as she wraps her arms around your neck.

Burying her face into the crook of your neck, she nods solemnly as she hugs you.

“That’s a good girl.” You whisper, pulling back and pressing your lips to her forehead. 

Jimin checks his Rolex before petting Hawon’s head as she pulls away from you. 

Your eyes flicker to Yoongi, who scratches his scar as he watches on at the sight before him. 

“When you come over to my house, you’ll be able to eat all the sweets you want.” He suggests to your daughter.

She furrows her small eyebrows as you put her small backpack on her.

“Mommy and Daddy say candy is bad for your teeth, Uncle Yoongi.” She murmurs, earning giggles from both of her parents as she trudged to the doorway. 

“Okay big boy! Time to go to Uncle Yoongi’s.” Jimin whispers, kissing his son’s forehead.

Minseok looks up at you with big eyes before smiling widely. You’re so grateful that your children have such innocent souls. 

You watch the door close, seeing their small silhouettes slink out of sight before standing up straight and brushing off your dress.

“Okay.” Jimin whispers before pulling his gun out from behind his back. 

He whistles loudly throughout the silent house as he wraps his arm around your shoulder before loud noises begin to travel up through the maid’s quarters.

Wrapping your arms around his waist, you bury your face into his sweet smelling chest. 

“Boss.” You hear from the kitchen as his crew enters the sitting room.

“Let’s make this place a fortress.” He says before looking down at you and smiling.

“Watch the fucking vase, Haneul!” You yell.

The priceless vase teeters on the stand before stilling and you breathe out a sigh of relief as your husband picks it up.

“Sorry, Madam!” Haneul calls as he sets up the tripod for the automatic machine gun.

“Fucking idiot. You break it, you buy it.” Jimin seethes as he smacks the back of the younger man’s head.

Your husband’s arms extend as you stand in the entryway watching your house become a gun museum. 

“Kitten. Why so serious?” He asks as he sets the vase on the coffee table approaching you slowly.

His hand rubs at your stomach first before engulfing you in a hug. Rubbing soothing circles on your back, you cringe loudly as you hear glass breaking.

“Oh you fucking morons!” Jimin yells as he turns his head to the broken vase on the hardwood floor.

“Sorry Boss! Shit!” One of the boys curses as he begins to pick up the pieces.

“Fucking stupid idiots.” He murmurs as you stomp your foot angrily.

Raising your eyebrows expectantly, he gives you a nervous chuckle before kissing your forehead.

“I’ll buy you a new one?” He asks, giving you a fake smile.

Rolling your eyes, you scoff before shoving people out of your way to enter the kitchen.

“Oh Kitten! I’m sorry, baby!” Jimin calls to you before punching the boy at fault.

“Baby! I’m sorry!” He yells as you step out into the garden.

Stepping along the newly placed pebble walkway, you take in the nice weather as the red and orange leaves fall from the limbs of the trees you’ve become so familiar with. 

This is madness, everything around you is chaotic and you’re smack dab in the middle trying to make sense of it all. 

As psychotic as Jimin seems to have become, you can understand his heart. 

You can understand just how detrimental this all is to him. To have family and loved ones in danger would make anyone go crazy. But, he seems to have a plan, and when your husband has a plan he would stop at nothing to go through with it. 

Your hand lands on your stomach as you sit down on the chaise lounge by the fire pit. Your fingers drift over your small bump as you watch the sun nestle into a cluster of clouds sending the skies into various shades of pinks and purples. 

“Kitten, I’m sorry my love.” Jimin calls to you as he jogs down the walkway. He sheathed his gun behind his back before frowning as you slowly turned your head to him. 

“I want all the priceless things removed before they break everything in my fucking house.” You tell him sternly and he nods as he steps over the stone steps to approach you.

“Anything you want.” He whispers before seeing a feminine body wade through the kitchen.

Both of your heads turn to the woman as she steps out of the kitchen into the backyard.

Rina stands with a manila folder between her two fingers closely followed by Kirsoon as he fixes his suit jacket.

Jimin smiles widely before flagging them over.

“Oh, it’s a party now.” He mumbles before pulling you into his lap as they make their way over. 

“Good evening.” Rina says as she sits in the chair opposite you and your husband.

“Hey.” You say as you look her over.

She was so nervous and frail when you first asked her to take over for you at the casino. Now, as you look at her you can’t help the elation you feel watching her confidence grow. 

“I have the plans for the party if you’re interested.” She says, holding up the folder.

Jimin smiles widely, his hand opening and closing as he leans forward. 

She giggles at his enthusiasm handing him the envelope as he purchases the silver cross between his teeth. 

“Oh, Kitten. This is going to be so much fun.” He murmurs as he places the folder on your lap.

Opening it, his chin hooks over your shoulder as you peruse through the documents.

If everything goes to plan it would be a grand welcome. This is one of the only things you can contribute but with so many mafia families being invited, something is bound to go wrong.

The theme of Casino Night is roaring twenties but more importantly it’s a chance to take in information on all of the mafia families in the area. 

One of them has to be against you and all you have to do is work it out. Easy, right?

Your husband runs his hand over your stomach as he holds you closer.

“You got all the extra cameras installed? Everything is set up?” He asks Kirsoon who nods in agreement.

“I don’t want someone taking a shit without me knowing about it. I don’t want anything to fall out from underneath us. One of these fucks is putting my family in danger. So help me God, I will find out who it is.” He mumbles through clenched teeth as you look at the documents.

“What about weapons, where will we be storing them?” You ask your husband as he runs his fingers over the silver chain around his neck.

“In baggage claim. No one is coming in with weapons, Kirsoon. If they do, I’ll cut your balls off and put them on a necklace for you to wear.” 

The bigger man swallows thickly before nodding wearily at his bosses words. 

“Yes Boss.” He whispers before clearing his throat and bowing his head.

“In just a week’s time. We’ll get these fuckers. Until then, I want you both to be careful. Don’t go anywhere without each other.” 

“That’s um… something I came over to talk to you about. If you turn to the last page, you can see why we can’t do it in a week's time.” Rina whispers as she points at the manila folder.

Your husband's eyebrows furrow before tossing all the pages onto the grass underfoot.

His eyes scan the paper before scoffing loudly.

“What do you mean it’ll take two whole months to fortify the safe and security features?! I’m asking to install automatic guns, not fucking switch bombs!” Your husband yells as he wiggles the paper back and forth.

You give a loud sigh in disappointment before turning to your husband. You watch as his neck veins protrude and thicken as he goes through his bout of anger. 

“Well...two months is worth the wait. I guess.” You say to him as you fix some of his hair behind his ear.

“You’ll be five months pregnant and showing by then.” He mumbles to you.

“That’s alright.” You whisper, earning a loud scoff from him.

“No Kitten. It’s not alright, then if whoever it is sees my baby growing inside of you they’ll work harder to attack us. Goddammit!” He screams, crumpling up the paper and throwing it at Kirsoon.

The paper ball hits the man’s broad chest and he looks at you nervously as Jimin repeatedly taps your thigh to get off of him.

You do as told, sliding down the chaise lounge as he begins to pace back and forth. He pulls his gun out from his waistband and you watch on with bored eyes as he begins to shoot the large trunked tree that has been through quite a bit in this garden of yours. 

He empties the whole clip, screaming in anger all the while before men file out of the kitchen with their guns drawn.

 His fingers run through his hair before sneering at them.

“Get back to work!” He yells before putting his gun back in his waistband. 

With a grunt, he kisses your forehead.

“I’ll be back.” He whispers.

“And, where do you think you’re going?” You call to him as he takes off down the pebbled road.

“To have some fucking fun!” He calls back as he enters the kitchen.

“Jimin...I don’t know if we should be doing this.” Taehyung whispers to his best friend as they sit in the back of the van. 

"Shut up. If you feel so terribly about it then just stay in the truck." He murmurs before purchasing his silver cross between his teeth.

"I don't feel terrible about it, I just don't want any aftermath." His best friend mumbles beneath his breath, something the keen mafia leader hears anyway.

"There will always be aftermath, Tae. Always. Don't go pussying out on me because you got your wife pregnant." Jimin mumbles as he loads bullets into his gun.

There's silence in the van apart from Jeongguk shuffling around and taking swigs of his whisky. 

"You're stinking up the van with that sh-" His voice is cut off to the youngest by the loud ringing of his prepaid phone.

Answering it, he puts the phone on speaker as Taehyung peaks out the driver's side window.

"We got a shipment on our twelve. Looks like a heavy load." He hears Jin call through the phone.

"Clean take, no left overs." Jimin says back as he rolls the silencer onto the mouth of his gun.

The same words are uttered by the men, one the phone and in the van before the call ends.

Jimin tosses the prepaid phone to the youngest who takes off the back and pulls out the battery. 

His fingers are sloppy but quick as he pulls out the prepaid SIM card. Jimin makes it a point to watch the youngest put the card in his mouth before taking a swig of whisky to wash it down. 

"Open your mouth." Jimin instructs and he nods pleased with Guk before pressing his body against the back doors of the van.

"They stopped." Taehyung whispers as he cock his gun.

Jimin holds his hand up in a fist, before lifting his fingers ever so slowly counting.

"One...Two...Three." He whispers aloud before barreling open the back doors and jumping out onto the dirt road.

With the guys quick on his tail, they slowly sneak around the parked van.

"Junggoo is going to flip when he sees all this coke. This is our biggest delivery yet!" The driver cheers happily.

Jimin stations himself below the driver's door and waits for Taehyung's signal.

What the Im's were doing in the cocaine business was anybody's guess but they're taking money and land away from Hyunah and that would not do.

Taehyung whistles loudly and Jimin stands up.

"What the fuc-" The scream is cut off as Jimin smiles widely, his silver cross purchased between his teeth as he pulls the trigger.

The blood splatter is something out of a modernist painting as it coats the windshield and he can't help the throaty chuckle that leaves his throat. Wipin bgg some blood off of his cheek, he begins to whistle as Guk opens the back doors of the drug trunk.

"We got kilos on kilos, Boss." He slurs and Jimin's smile widens as he slowly makes his way to the back. 

Jin's van pulls up in a matter of seconds, dirt flying into the air as he backs the truck up. Taehyung pulls open the doors and the unloading begins. 

Hoseok jumps out of the passenger's side, holding up the phone. Pulling off the back and battery, he swallows the SIM card in Jimin's line of sight before going to change the plates of the abandoned van by the side of the dirt road.

"So where are we taking it?" Namjoon asks as he hangs his body out of the window of the van.

"To the Lee's den. Yoongi is waiting there with some men to distribute and cut." He tells him, earning nods.

"We heard about Casino Night, sorry Chim." Jin says as he walks around the van to his boss.

Jimin lights a cigarette before posting up against the side, his foot purchased on the white metal before shrugging.

"Guess I'll just have to raise hell until I can get my revenge." He notices Jeongguk's smirk out of the corner of his eye before smiling widely.

"And raising hell has always been a skill I've been extremely good at."

[greekgeek21]

Percy Jackson & The Avengers: Convergence - there is a fight scene included

I am not dead, just extremely busy. My summer lacrosse season just ended, so hopefully I get some inspiration to write some new chapters. In the meantime, I hope this will tide you over for some time.

Keep in mind, this was written weeks ago, so I am not in the mood to answer any weirdly specific questions about my artistic choices. In other words, if you don't like it, you don't have to read it! I know, it's a truly monumental realization.

For my kind & loyal readers, don't forget to comment, like, and follow!

- your author

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Avengers or PJO!

Ω ♆ Ω

By the grace of the gods, the group managed to pass the sirens without an issue. It seemed like the mortals had finally accepted that it was in their best interest to listen to the Seven. So, as soon as Percy warned everyone to fill their ears with wax, they filled their ears with wax. Of course there were a few complaints, but that was expected. Nobody was perfect (no matter what Narcissus insists).

From there on out, the nerves were building. Percy had informed the team that their next stop would be Polyphemus' island, and everybody, mortal and demigod alike, knew what that place was. It was where the most infamous cyclops lived, but most importantly, it was where Annabeth was being held, if Percy's father was to be trusted.

Since it would still be another two hours or so, according to the sea expert, until they reached the island, the group decided to try resting. Some tried to nap, while others sharpened their weapons or hung out on the deck. It was futile, but they were trying to prepare themselves for a situation that they had never before encountered, not even Percy.

It was safe to say that everyone was scared shitless.

Ω ♆ Ω

Leo had decided to go downstairs and tinker with some stuff from his belt as a distraction from their impending doom. It was working too! He was in his own little world that only machines could enter. That is, until Tony Stark walked up to him.

"Whatcha doing, kid?" he asked, peering over Leo's shoulder to catch a glimpse at the boy's creation.

"I'm making a mini automaton to help us find Annabeth when we get to the island," was the answer.

Taking a closer look, Tony started to see it. It was a very small machine, but if you looked closely, it was clear that it was made of metal. The automaton was about the size of a quarter, and looked like a celestial bronze spider. Leo was currently adding the last two legs to it when Tony walked up.

When Leo looked up, he held up his creation with a proud smile. "This baby can be our spy. It's eyes are tiny cameras, and it's made almost completely of celestial bronze. We can send this in, and then know where Annabeth is before we storm the place."

Tony nodded, "Yeah... Pretty good idea, kid."

And ok, so Leo was freaking out a little bit on the inside because one of his idols had just complimented his work. But on the outside, he just smiled a little wider.

"You haven't even seen the best part. You've gotta see it after I turn it on. I added stealth-mode so nobody should even be able to know it's there," Leo said, grabbing the spider and flipping it over to press a button.

As soon as he had, the spider flipped itself over in his hand and started crawling up his arm. Tony was a little creeped out, but it was blocked by the fascination for this new kind of science the demigods had. The spider should have to be controlled by a human, but it was moving like it was almost...thinking on its own. There was no way it had an AI, but that was the only solution his mortal brain could come up with.

"Is it an AI?" he asked.

"Nope. It's a greek automaton. They don't need AIs. I programmed it to listen to a few simple commands when needed, but if we don't order it around, it'll just stick around me waiting for orders. Pretty cool, right?"

"Awesome," Tony whispered, in awe of how smart this seventeen year old kid was.

"Thanks. I think I finished it just in time because I heard Percy calling us back upstairs," Leo said. Before he had even finished he was walking towards the deck, not a care in the world for the metal spider crawling around on him.

"Oh, I'm definitely becoming friends with this kid," Tony muttered to himself before following Leo.

Ω ♆ Ω

"Did you get it done, Leo?" Percy asked as soon as he had seen him.

"Yep. Here it is." Leo held up the automaton-spider.

Percy smirked. "Oh, Annabeth's gonna love that."

Leo shrugged, acting clueless. "I have no idea what you're talking about. The spider was just the first thing I could come up with."

"Sure it was," Piper snorted.

Leo fake-gasped. "Beauty Queen! How could you ever think I would lie?! I would never!"

Clint whispered to Natasha, "The kids clearly have a strong bond that only comes from fighting for their lives with each other."

Frank turned to them, surprising the spies that he had heard them, "No shit, Sherlock."

Before anything else could be said, Percy reclaimed the entire group's attention. "If you look to the right, you can see Polyphemus' island. We're going to dock on the south side of the island because that is the only way to get on without climbing a cliff and facing carnivorous sheep. Hazel should be able to disguise the ship until we invade the base, so don't worry about being seen. Leo will send in his spider to check things out and then we'll follow after we know where Annabeth is. Everybody got that?"

At the noises of affirmation, Percy nodded. "Good. Suit up if you're not already."

Of course, Tony had to break the calm solemnity by saying, "Cap, I thought that was your line?"

Everybody collectively rolled their eyes.

Ω ♆ Ω

After they docked, Leo released his spider with specific orders to find Annabeth Chase while staying hidden. That was working until Polyphemus' stupid super-senses could smell the celestial bronze. Leo hadn't known that a blind cyclops would be able to smell metal, but you learn something new everyday, right?

The spider lasted all of five minutes in the cave before Polyphemus smelled it and crushed it under his giant smelly foot. Percy had thought that the cyclops would take longer to reform, but when had he ever been that lucky? Something that completely baffled him was how the mortals got him to not eat them. The dude had been pretty desperate for food the last time Percy had run into him, so how had the weird boss guy gotten him to hold off?

The only thing he could think of for them to feed him would be...nope! He's not going there right now.

The last thing the spider had transmitted to the group was a picture of a mortal holding a gun to Annabeth's head while she was gagged and chained. It made his blood boil.

"I'm going to kill them," He growled, starting to get off the boat and storm the place.

Jason stepped in front of him before he could, "Easy, Perce. You don't know what you're walking into. They want you to go in half-cocked, so we can't give them that. You know Annabeth can handle herself, so just take a breath and we'll figure out a plan."

Percy took a shaky breath, but it did nothing to cool his anger.

"Jace, if you don't step out of my way in the next two seconds, I will be forced to move you, and trust me, you don't want me to do that."

The son of Jupiter stood his ground, "I'm not moving. I know you Percy. Hurting me would go against your fatal flaw. I'm your best friend; your family. I know you would never intentionally hurt me."

Jason glanced over at the rest of the group, who hadn't dared to move if it upset Percy even more. The guy was a ticking time bomb, and they needed to defuse it before it went off and destroyed any chance of getting Annabeth back safely.

Percy almost looked in pain as he spoke his next words, "Jason, I love you. You're my cousin, but Annabeth is my everything. I will hurt you to get to her."

Jason sighed, expecting that answer. "Then at least let us come with you on your suicide mission. I'm not letting you die without me."

"Fine, but hurry up. I'm leaving now," and Percy shoved past Jason and started the trek up to Polyphemus' cave.

Jason turned to the others, who were all staring after Percy with shocked expressions. "Well you heard him! Move your asses!"

That seemed to startle them awake. Everyone but Bruce started moving.

Ω ♆ Ω

By the time the team had been able to catch up to Percy's fast pace, he had already reached the nearest entrance to the cave. It was a dark, narrow path that had walls of rock on either side reaching up for hundreds of feet.

"This is the part in the horror movies where I start screaming at the tv to not go in there and they still go in there," Piper whispered.

They were all just staring at the darkness, and it was getting awkward. For someone who was so hasty to get to Annabeth, Percy was sure taking a long time to get there.

"Are we gonna go in or..." Tony said.

Percy sighed. "Yeah. We're going in. Just don't separate from the group."

He led the way into the cave with Steve right behind him. Percy appreciated having someone else who could take some of the responsibility off his shoulders. Almost his entire time in the godly world, he had been expected to be the leader because of his father, and he had stepped up, but that doesn't mean it didn't weigh on him. Annabeth was the only one who had been able to help him with the stress, and without her, he was losing it. He had already been barely hanging onto his control over his powers, but now without her, what he was doing could barely be called control. It was more like holding back a rampaging bull with a string.

Ten minutes later, they found themselves hiding behind the wall that led to the room where the gang was waiting. Just as the spider had shown them, Annabeth was kneeling under the gang leader's feet while he held a gun to her head.

She looked murderous, so at least something was still normal in the world.

Steve poked his head around and gave a quick scan of the room before turning back to them, "Ok so we've got at least ten humans, with five monsters. One of the monsters is as tall as a building so I think he's the largest threat. Tony, Clint, Nat, and I will deal with the humans if you guys handle the monsters. The main priority is getting Annabeth to safety. Percy, that's your job."

Saying that last bit was just to clarify for everyone else, though they looked like they didn't need to hear it. Percy had a determined look on his face, one that said he wasn't going to allow anyone else to have his assignment.

"You got it, boss," Tony remarked. "Do you just want to storm in there?"

Before he could get an answer, Percy charged into the room, leaving his friends entirely unshocked, but the Avengers were looking a little mad.

"Don't worry, plans aren't really his thing. Even if we do make them, they never go our way. It's better to go with the flow when fighting with Percy," Hazel reassured, and then turned to follow her godly cousin. The rest of the Seven followed, leaving the Avengers to just stare at each other in confusion.

"I like their style," Tony said before flying into the room.

Natasha sighed. "I'm really starting to regret meeting these kids."

Clint smirked at her before leaving, closely followed by Steve and the Black Widow herself. For all three of them, everything about this mission was against their nature, but there wasn't much they could do about it. They were in unknown territory with a group of newly-allied teens and no backup. It was a shitshow before they had even left.

Ω ♆ Ω

Frank was fighting a dracaena, and it was making it super annoying. The thing would not stop talking about grocery stores. It was quite distracting when trying to kill it.

"Seriously! Can you believe how nobody can see how bad those chains are?!" it exclaimed.

Frank sighed, ready for it to be over. Whenever he would try to stab it, it would just slither away right at the last second, all the while continuing to complain.

He decided to use his shapeshifting abilities to catch the thing off-guard. In reality, he could probably deal with it in seconds, but when he really used his inner son of Mars, it drained him. He needed to save his strength if he was going to fight Polyphemus.

Speaking of, so far, the cyclops had stayed out of the fighting. He was just sitting on his throne made of rock, picking at his teeth with what Frank really hoped wasn't a human bone.

Frank changed into a squirrel for a second, climbing up onto the back of the dracaena with the animal's speed and before the monster could react, he changed back into a human and stabbed it through the back with his spear.

"Huh. I guess you can shut up," he remarked as the monster turned into dust.

After, Frank turned to help Hazel take down an empousa. She had already defeated four before that, so it was a pretty easy fight. He had been keeping an eye on her throughout his fight. Sure, he trusted she could take care of herself, but it was also his job to watch her back.

"Thanks," Hazel told him with a quick peck on the cheek after they finished.

Believe it or not, that kiss on the cheek was a major improvement. It had been a real adjustment for Hazel to learn how couples expressed affection nowadays, and it had taken even longer to start showing it herself. It helped that Frank preferred words over touch, too.

"No problem."

Ω ♆ Ω

"Get some, térata!" Leo screamed, running up to the manticore and sending giant, continuous blasts of fire at it.

He had heard of Dr. Thorn from Nico, Percy, and Annabeth before, and had somehow retained the knowledge that it was extremely durable on the outside. That meant that he had to think smart in order to beat it.

So far, Leo was distracting it and holding it off with his fire while he thought of a plan. However, he could only hold it off for so long. He would eventually tire out.

Come on, Leo, THINK!

Then it hit him.

It was so simple! He had been told the story of how the Nemean lion was defeated at Camp. Now usually, he would totally ignore any schooling he was given, but the stuff they were taught at Camp was much more interesting than algebra. So yeah, he remembered some stuff.

So, he decided that his best shot at beating Dr. Thorn was landing a large enough hit inside of him. That meant he had to figure out a way to get him to open his mouth. That wasn't really the hard part, though. The hard part was figuring out how to not die when he had to get closer to the monster.

"Estoy jodido..." he muttered before taking a step forward, never once stopping his assault on the beast.

The Manticore didn't seem to be moving back from the intensity, but rather reveling in the fact that he hadn't gained one burn from the fight. He was just waiting out Leo.

That was not a fun revelation for the son of Hephaestus to have.

And that was when the thorns started attacking him. He should've been expecting it, really. The guy had a tail of poisonous thorns and he hadn't used it yet? Something should've registered in his mind. But that was past-Leo's mistake. Present-Leo had to deal with the super tall, scary, poisonous, and royally pissed-off greek monster in front of him.

Dr. Thorn let out a war cry and swung his tail around, releasing a line of spikes at Leo, who managed to just barely duck out of the way. He was not keen on becoming swiss cheese!

"Ok. It's time to end this." Leo sighed in annoyance, jumping back up and charging.

He swung his battle hammer up and lit it on fire, deciding that he might as well stick with the common theme of stupid ideas. He managed to keep dodging attacks all the way up until he was within ten feet of the manticore. Then, he threw his weapon at the monster, praying to Apollo for good aim. He had fixed the sun chariot plenty of times, so the god had to owe him at least one favor.

Once again, Leo's stupid demigod luck kicked in and the hammer somehow embedded itself in the monster's mouth, which had been opened in a prideful roar. Honestly, the son of Hephaestus didn't know HOW he did it, just that it worked.

With the distraction of having a flaming hammer in his mouth, Dr. Thorn didn't see Leo running up with his arms raised and prepared to fire. By the time he did, it was too late because long blasts of fire were flying straight towards his open mouth.

The monster was able to mutter a silent curse before he disintegrated into dust, once again sent to Tartarus.

"Take that, bitch."

Ω ♆ Ω

Piper was absolutely sure the Fates were laughing at her. They had to be. There was no way that she just happened to be stuck with the two empousa. It didn't help that Jason was struggling to not drool over the girls. She just had to keep chanting in her head that the monsters were using their charm powers on him, and he was not actually attracted to the disgusting things.

After the two monsters tried to both swipe at her at the same time, she growled and shouted, "Jason! Get your head in the game and come help me!"

He had been blinking and shaking his head for the past two minutes and it was getting quite frustrating to have these donkey-cyborg-vampires ganging up on her with no back-up. Once this was over, she was going to make Jason work to get back in her good graces.

With just a little bit of her charmspeak added into her order, Jason was finally able to break free from the empousai's spell. He quickly willed his gladius to be a javelin and launched it through one of the monsters, which made it explode into a shower of golden dust. A traitorous part of Piper's brain insisted on calling that move hot, but she was able to school her expression back into a scowl before her boyfriend could notice.

The other empousa let out a shriek and said, "You MONSTERS! That was my sister! I'll make you pay for that!"

They only had a second to appreciate the irony before she launched herself at them with even more fervor than before, fueled by the rage of losing her "sister."

Jason couldn't help but notice how she was wearing a cheerleading costume. It was very ripped and destroyed, but it was clearly a cheerleading uniform. And as he was deflecting her claws, the ADHD part of his brain realized that the logo on the uniform was for Goode High School, Percy's old school. He almost wanted to laugh when he remembered the story of Kelli, an empousa acting as a cheerleader during Percy's freshman orientation. Percy had always said the monster had a nasty habit of coming back quickly, but Jason had just thought it was an exaggeration. But no, he and Piper were really fighting Kelli, one of Percy's recurring monsters.

It would be hilarious later, truly. But for now, he had to actually kill the thing.

Kelli had backed off when she realized that attacking out of rage wasn't going to work against two experienced demigods, and that also gave Jason and Piper a chance to make a plan themselves.

"Got any ideas?" he asked Piper.

She grinned with a terrifying amount of murderous glee. "I thought you'd never ask."

And then she told him her plan, which was essentially just using him as bait while she got to do all the killing. The prideful Roman part of him wanted to insist on him killing it, but he managed to reign that in when he saw the look on Piper's face. She was not asking, she was telling. Who was he to say no, especially after he hadn't been able to fully resist the empousai's charm?

A scary thought told him he was turning into Percy. He brushed that off for later nightmares.

"Come get me, bloodsucker!" He shouted, raising his arms up in a taunting manner. If he was acting like Percy, might as well go all the way right?

With yet another shriek, Kelli stormed at Jason, completely disregarding the daughter of Aphrodite that was stepping back and preparing to literally stab the monster in the back with her dagger.

Sometimes Jason wonders how a creature could be so stupid. Their plan was so obvious!

It went off without a hitch, technically. Piper let the empousa get a little too close for comfort before she killed it, but he trusted her to get the job done and she came through. Kelli had been prepped and ready to bite into his neck right before she exploded into dust.

It was one Hades of a trust exercise, that's for sure.

"Please don't let it get that close next time, Pipes," he breathed out while he put away Juno's Gladius.

Piper gave him a quick peck on the lips, "Not a chance, Superman."

Ω ♆ Ω

Considering the circumstances, the Avengers weren't doing half-bad. They were actually fairing pretty well. They knew how to deal with humans, so their job wasn't that hard. The only difficulty was that there were four of them and ten of the bad guys. They were sorely outnumbered.

Currently, Steve was fighting two at once, with a third opponent already knocked out a few feet away. He was blocking one with his shield while punching the other in the face. He then switched roles, instead kicking the first attacker and driving his shield into the gut of the second. The one he gutted gasped and fell to the ground, and was knocked unconscious was a simple hit to the temple. While he was distracted with taking down his partner, the still-conscious bad guy recovered from the kick and was able to land a hit to the back of Steve's head. Clearly, the fighter had been prepared to have achieved some form of disorientation from the Captain, but all he got was a pissed-off Avenger.

"That tickled."

It took less than five seconds for Steve to take him down after that.

Natasha also started with three adversaries. Key word being 'started.' It had taken barely any time to take down the first two. And all she had to do for the third was a scissor kick and hold until he passed out. She had just finished doing that when a call from Clint got her attention.

"Nat!" he shouted.

She turned on instinct and threw a throwing knife at the person running up behind her straight into their chest. They stopped with shocked features before falling to the ground in a heap, dead weight pushing the knife even further in and no doubt killing them faster.

"Getting rusty, Clint?" she teased, throwing a look over at her friend.

"No," he defended. "I'm just making sure you're not getting rusty!"

The archer hadn't realised one of his two attackers had sneaked off to go after the "bigger threat." He would never let Nat know he thought she was the bigger threat, though. That would be fueling an ego he knew was somewhere deep down in her.

Tony had been given two people to fight as well, and he was doing pretty well. He had the obvious advantage of being in the air, so all the gang members he was fighting could do was try to shoot at him with their guns, and his armor was designed to withstand a nuclear bomb. Bullets weren't gonna do much damage.

"Guys, seriously, we should just talk this out. We both KNOW I'm going to be knocking you both out in five seconds, so why don't you surrender instead? It'll be so much easier for the both of us!" he said, raising his hands and readying his repulsors.

As expected, the bad guys didn't show any sign of slowing down their useless attack on him. With a roll of his eyes and an obnoxious sigh, Iron Man shot them both in the chest, knocking them out cold.

"That felt too easy. Did that feel too easy to you?" He asked the other Avengers as they gathered back together.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I agree with Tony," Natasha said, "That fight was too good to be true."

Now that the truth had been revealed to them, the Avengers could blame what happened next on the Fates.

Ω ♆ Ω

There it is! I hope you liked it

other chapters :)

[imaginetonyandbucky]

Keeping Me Alive

Chapter 11: Heathens

by @dracusfyre

They made it to the long-term cruise liner parking lot where Tony had staged an SUV for their escape when James stopped and said, “Tracking devices.”

“Shit.” Of course Hydra would have some way of tracking him; he was an expensive tool, after all, not a person. Tony had Jarvis scan him and found two transmitters, one in the metal arm and one in the back of his neck close to the spine. “I can jam them both until we are in a safe place to remove them,” Tony said, “but I can’t get the one out of the arm without tools. And the one in your neck…” Tony trailed off when James pulled a knife out of the sheath on his thigh and held it out.

“Get rid of it.”

Tony wanted to protest but he bit his tongue when he saw the look on James’ face. He would want it out of him as soon as possible as well; he was lucky that Stane hadn’t thought to put one in him too. He climbed laboriously out of his suit and took the knife as James turned around and bent his head. Guess I get to stick a knife in the Winter Soldier after all, Tony thought with a grim smile. Years of working on circuit boards had given him a steady hand, so even though he grimaced as blood welled to the surface when he sliced through James’ skin, he was quick and efficient. “What should we do with it?” Tony asked when it was on his palm, tiny and shaped like a pill capsule. James took it from him and crushed it with his metal hand, letting it fall to the ground before grinding them into the pavement with his boot.

James helped him pack the suit in the back of the SUV and then they both went for the driver’s seat.  “I have the key,” Tony said, pulling it out of his pocket and closing his hand around it when he saw James eyeing it. “Also, you don’t know where we’re going.” 

“If Hydra comes, I should be driving,” James said with a scowl.  

“If Hydra comes, you should be shooting,” Tony countered, and James considered that for a second before going around to the passenger seat. He’d already stashed one of the duffle bags of arms and ammunition that they’d taken from the lab in the floorboard, and as Tony pulled out of the parking lot he began methodically loading all of the rifles and spare magazines. It was a funny thing to find relaxing, but it made him feel safer to think that all of the Soldier’s lethality was on his side for once.

By the time they got onto the 5, the car had fallen into a strained silence, so Tony turned on the radio. The news of his demise had made headlines about an hour into their drive, though the police being interviewed were very careful not to officially declare Tony dead. The radio was the only sound in the car until they were four hours north of LA, when James finally spoke again. “Why?” He asked, his voice low and gruff and barely audible over the radio, even though Tony had the volume low.

Tony, who had been waiting for the question since he first took his helmet off in the lab, glanced over to see James studying him. “Do you recognize me at all?” After a moment of hesitation, James shook his head and Tony turned his eyes back to the road. “You and I have a long history,” Tony said finally. “None of it good. I don’t blame you for it,” Tony added hurriedly when he saw James stiffen. “I mean, I did, but I don’t now, because...Well, the point is, I realized recently that we are – were – both prisoners of Hydra. So I figure that means we have a common enemy, and that we should work together."

"You want me to help you take down Hydra?"

"Well, yeah." Tony glanced back over; James' expression didn't say what he thought of that. "Unless you don't want to, I guess. But we should still stick together until it's safe. I don't know about you, but I'm not going back."

James snorted at that. “So where’re we going?”

“Safe house.” There was silence in the car again as Tony pulled off the next exit to get gas. After he started the pump, he climbed back into the car and opened the center console. It was filled with protein bars, candy, chips, and drinks. “Pick your poison,” Tony said as he grabbed a bottle of water and a candy bar. James eyed Tony and then the stash of snacks before picking out a protein bar and bottle of Gatorade.

“What’s this?” He asked as he eyed the unnaturally blue drink.

“Sugar water, mostly.” Tony chugged his water as James took an experimental sip. “Your file says after you, uh, wake up you need a lot of protein and electrolytes and stuff. So drink up, it’s good for you.”

James grimaced at the taste but drank it steadily like a person that is used to taking medicine. When he was done he started making his way through the stack of protein bars with a grim determination that was almost impressive, if Tony hadn’t started to worry that he should have packed more food for the drive. They weren’t even a quarter of the way to their destination and James had eaten more than half the food. Finally the pump turned off with a thunk, so Tony finished paying and climbed back into the driver’s seat.

“If you've read my file,” James said as they got back onto the highway, “then you know a lot more about me than I know about you.”

“That’s not a high bar,” Tony said with a ghost of a smile. “I know more about you than you know about yourself.” James shot him an unamused look and Tony shrugged. “What do you want to know?”

“You said your name was Tony Stark,” James said. He pointed to the radio. “If that’s true, why do the police think you’re dead?”

Tony’s eyebrows climbed. He didn’t realize James had been paying attention to the radio; he’d spent the entire drive so far staring out the window and checking the rearview mirror, presumably looking for Hydra. “Because I want them to think I’m dead,” Tony said. “That way I can be free to do what needs to be done.”

“What did Hydra want you for?”

“I make weapons. Made,” Tony corrected. “Their little pet engineer, cranking out planes and tanks and bombs for them,” he added bitterly, gesturing to the weapons in the bag at James’ feet. “I have also been fixing your arm for the past few years.”

That made James’ eyebrows draw together. “Music,” he said after a long moment. “I remember loud music.”

“Yeah, that was me. You remember that?”

“Hydra doesn’t exactly play me tunes on a regular basis,” James said dryly. “It stood out.”

Tony barked out a surprised laugh and turned the radio away from the news to classic rock. They switched vehicles a few hours later, then again at the border with Oregon. When they finally pulled in to Tony's cabin - one left to him by Ana and Edwin, and significantly renovated over the past month - Tony turned off the car and sagged against the seat. It wasn't until he felt his shoulders and jaw relaxed that he'd realized how tense he'd been the whole drive; he was suddenly acutely aware that he had been awake for almost 24 hours. "Home sweet home," he said unnecessarily as the engine ticked and cooled.

"I'll be the judge of that," James said. He climbed out of the car then proceeded to fit an unlikely number of firearms on his person before he disappeared into the woods. Tony shrugged and started to lug the suit piece by piece into the house, and when he took a moment to fire up the surveillance system he could see James evaluating the perimeter, pausing each time he noticed one of Tony's cameras. "I may not be an expert, but I am paranoid," Tony said to the monitors, then went back to the SUV for another load. By the time he had the suit in the gantry and ready for the next time he needed to put it on, James had finished his patrol and was standing in the middle of the living room. "Does my security meet your standards?" Tony asked as he headed for the freezer. For now, the cabin was stocked with shelf-stable food and the freezer was packed with instant meals, enough that they could avoid leaving for a few weeks as long as they didn't want things like milk or eggs or fresh fruit and vegetables.

"I have some suggestions," James said, following Tony into the kitchen. "Mostly involving explosives."

"Then you must not have checked around the foundation," Tony said. He picked out a frozen pizza and, checking the instructions, turned on the oven. He turned around to see James still standing there, looking uncertain, and he cursed internally. He wasn't used to having someone else in his space; it was going to take a while for him to get used to having a roommate. "Come on, I'll show you around."

James' room was in the top of the house, in a renovated attic space. Tony had picked it because the windows gave it excellent views on all sides of the house, and since James' files said he was a sniper he thought James would appreciate it. But as they stood there, Tony realized he had underestimated how tall James was, because if he stood anywhere other than the middle of the room he would have to duck. He'd also have to sleep diagonally on the queen size bed, but from the way James had gone all still and quiet when he'd looked at the room, Tony thought it might be good enough. There was one bathroom and it was on the ground floor, next to another bedroom. That was supposed to have been Tony's, but when he'd tried to sleep there he had woken up multiple times with panic attacks, feeling exposed and vulnerable, so his room was now in the basement. The basement had started life as a cellar but Tony had expanded it and reinforced it until it could probably now be classified as a bunker instead.  "And this is HQ," Tony said as the lights came on to the main room. He'd moved everything important out of the LA home before he'd sent it into the Pacific, including his computers, JARVIS's servers, and all of the tools and machinery he would need to design and build new suits. What drew James' attention, though, was the murder board that took up one wall of the room. It was pretty sparse at the moment because Tony had only just started to dig through the Hydra files he'd downloaded, but there was Stane, Pierce, and Stern, as well as some of their more prominent hangers-on.

There were also the people that Tony had seen last time he was in the lab with Stane. Tony picked up a marker and put an X on all the faces he remembered. James pointed to one that he'd missed and then Tony hesitated, fidgeting with the marker before he finally said, “I was there the last time they…” Tony blew out a breath, unable to finish his sentence. "With the.."

“The chair,” James finished for him.

“Yeah.  And I wanted to say I’m sorry.”

“Why? You weren’t one of…” James made an aborted gesture towards his head. “I knew them. I didn’t remember them, but…I knew them.”

“Because I didn’t stop it earlier. I mean, I didn’t know about it, but it was because I didn’t want to know. I was scared and…” Tony swallowed thickly and forced himself to keep going. “Weak. I let Hydra break me down for so long and they didn’t even need the chair to do it.”

“How long?”

“Over twenty years. Since I was sixteen.”

“Sixteen? Christ, you were a child,” James said with disgust. “Where were your parents?”

“Um…” Tony glanced over at him and grimaced. “They died. When I was eighteen.”

“Died?” James caught the look on his face and cursed long and low under his breath. “It was me, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah.” Tony fidgeted with the marker in his hand. “I told them what was happening, and Hydra had them killed.”

“Ah, fuck. When you said we had a bad history you weren’t fucking kidding.” James ran a hand over his mouth and crossed his arms. “Well, for what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”

“Well, it’s not like it was your idea,” Tony started, and then got cut off when James snorted. “What?”

“Look at us idiots, apologizing for shit that was Hydra’s fault,” he said. “I’m sorry Hydra made me pull the trigger on your parents. You’re sorry Hydra tortured and brainwashed me. I hope you got me out because you have a plan to make Hydra sorry I killed your parents and they brainwashed me,” he said, pointing to the murder board.

Tony met his eyes and felt a smile tug on his lips. He pulled out the picture of Ana, Edwin, and Maria from Christmas out of his pocket and propped it up on his desk. “Yeah. Yeah I do.”

[emachinescat]

Wind + Water - Tree in the Road

A MacGyver Fan-Fiction

by @emachinescat

@febuwhump day 12 / alt. 5 - hostage situation

Summary: AU of 2x21.  The bank robbers make their escape with Mac, but this time there isn’t a tree in the road to slow them down.  The rest of the team arrive at the marina just in time to see the robbers procuring a boat - and they have every intention of taking their hostage with them.

Characters: Mac, Jack, Riley, Bozer, Matty, the robbers from 2x21 (apparently their names are Booth, Pike, Dean and Ash)

Words: 4,129

Note: The Spanish is a mixture of my own adventure learning the language (I’m getting there) and a more advanced translator than Google.  Hopefully there aren’t any mistakes, if so - I apologize to any Spanish speakers.

Keep reading here, or on AO3!

If you enjoy, please consider liking, commenting, or re-blogging, and you can follow me for more content like this! :)

“So, for the record, this wasn’t part of the deal,” Angus MacGyver informed his captors testily as he carefully steered the stolen Chevrolet down the narrow, debris strewn backroad toward San Juan Marina and Boat Rentals.  Even though his eyes were on the road, he kept the gun pointed at him in his peripheral vision.  He felt the eyes of the four bank robbers on him, so he continued, very aware that no appeal to logic or conscience that he made at this point would have any effect, largely because these men had depleted stores of both.  Plus, they were desperate.  “I said I’d get you out with the money if you left all the hostages behind,” he continued, then added pointedly, “All including me.”  

One of the three robbers in the backseat, Pike, leaned forward to give their hostage a hearty slap on the back, which sent waves of agony shooting through his battered body.  Mac’s sides, stomach, and back felt every kick and weighted punch, and his mouth tasted like blood.  “Guess you shoulda been more specific,” he taunted, and Mac glanced back long enough to see the amusement on the man’s face.

“Honestly,” said the leader – his followers had called him Booth – “After giving us a glimpse of what you’re capable of, you really think we’d just let you go?”  His tone made it clear that it wouldn’t have mattered if Mac had drawn out and made them sign an extensive contract expressly stating that he was to be left behind with the other hostages, nothing about his predicament would have changed.  He’d gotten them out of a seemingly impossible situation, he’d made himself a valuable asset, and if there was one thing Mac understood about desperate people, it was that once they had something they saw as an advantage, they would never let it go.

The realization left a distinctly sour feeling in Mac’s stomach. He’d been seen and used as a tool before – in the army, he was a bomb defuser; for Phoenix, he was a kind of real-life troubleshooter.  But even in the army, he’d still been a person whose life mattered.  And now, he knew he was valued for so much more than just his skill set by his friends.  

Here, though, with these four men who looked at him with a kind of contemptuous greed in their eyes, he was nothing but a tool, something to be used to their advantage, over and over, until his usefulness had run out, and then he would be discarded like a broken drill bit.  To Booth, Pike, and the others, Mac was less than human, and it made him feel dirty and used and caused his chest to tighten anxiously despite his cool demeanor.  He knew he had to find a way to get away, and soon.  Otherwise, one of two equally unfortunate things was going to happen to him: Either he would be used to bargain their way off the island and then, as soon as they were safely away, he’d be shot and tossed overboard, or they would decide to keep and use him, and his life would become a living hell.  Neither option was a possibility that Mac was willing to entertain, so he would keep his eyes out for the first chance of escape.  

Noting once again the scattering of wreckage in and lining the road, Mac found himself hoping for a large piece of debris – perhaps a fallen tree or power line – would end up in their path.  If they ended up having to get out of the car for any reason, that might give him the chance to plan an escape.  Until then, with the five of them in such close quarters, with all but Mac armed, it was too risky to try anything.  He’d wait for his opportunity, and then make his move.

***

Mac’s opportunity for escape never came, and as he reluctantly directed the vehicle into the marina, the knot it his stomach had imploded into a cavernous pit.  Real tendrils of fear radiated through him, and a furious sense of injustice made his knuckles white and his fingers cramp from the grip he maintained on the steering wheel.  Normally when he was out in the field and in a risky situation, he’d end up finding what he needed to make an escape or at the very least to put a significant hitch in the bad guy’s plan.  It was something he’d come to take for granted, he realized, this bit of luck, that he always had something to work with.  This time, he hadn’t been asking for much – just a piece of debris, a block in the road, on an island ravaged by a natural disaster!  Something should have stood in their way.  The statistical probability of the road being blocked at some point in the twenty-minute drive – especially considering the situation in Puerto Rico – was incredibly high.  He’d counted on that blockage.

And while there had been a couple of branches scattered in their path, none were large enough to hold them up for long at all, and at no point had Mac been allowed out of the car.  In the back of his mind, he remembered what Matty had said to him when she had first taken over.  She didn’t want to be there when Mac’s luck ran out.  He’d been quick to assure her that it wasn’t luck, that he was good at what he did, but now he had his doubts.  If he wasn’t given anything to work with at all, how was he supposed to do what he was so good at?

Still, Angus MacGyver had never been one to give up, and he continued to keep his eyes peeled for anything at all he might be able to use to his advantage.  Even if he couldn’t escape here and now, he would find a way to survive and get back to his friends.  He always did.  

“Stop here.”

Mac did as he was told, putting the car in park and waiting for further instructions.  The gun was still trained on him, and he knew that none of his other captors would hesitate to put a bullet in him from behind if he made one move they didn’t like.  “Dean, grab the kid,” Booth snapped, and the youngest of the robbers, the one who had been gearing up to kill all of the hostages and who couldn’t be any older than Mac himself, got out of the car, went around to Mac’s door, pulled the hostage out of the seat and shoved him forward.  Mac forced himself not to fight back, because Dean’s gun was now pressed into the small of his back, and his voice was deadly as he ordered, “Move.”

The marina was fairly deserted, which would have been odd any other time, but it was midday and most people were either already out on the water or further inland, helping with cleanup and rebuilding.  The only person in sight was the young woman working boat rentals.  She had an open, kind face with eyes that had seen their fair share of suffering – it was a look Mac had seen in Carlos’s more vulnerable moments, and in the eyes of everyone he’d met while on the island.

“Hola,” she greeted, a bit flustered at the new arrivals.  “¿Te puedo ayudar?”  Mac thought that she probably didn’t see a lot of business nowadays.  Tourists were the ones who rented boats more often than not – the locals usually had their own – and tourism had plummeted since the hurricane.  Mac noticed that the bank robbers had hidden their weapons, other than the one at Mac’s back, and to the girl it must have looked like Mac and Dean were just walking close together, side by side.  Maybe she thought they were a couple.  Mac made sure his face was neutral, not wanting to give anything away and put this poor girl in danger.  If only the marina had been deserted, with no one else in the crosshairs!  

“Do I look like I speak Spanish?” Booth snapped impatiently.  

The girl blinked, eyes wide, taken aback by the rudeness.  “I – I’m sorry,” she stammered in heavily accented English.  Mac’s heart went out to her even as he felt his revulsion for his captors grow.  It literally would have expended the same amount of energy to treat the girl with an ounce of respect.  These men were assholes just because they could be. 

“We need a boat,” Booth ordered briskly.  “Now.”

“Bien – ah, okay.”  She looked scared that her accidental slip was going to get her yelled at again.  “Our skippers are not on site at the moment, and most of our boats are being repaired.  We do have one –”

“We’ll take it,” Booth growled, and the girl flinched back at the harshness of his tone.  Tears forming in her eyes, she glanced around briefly at the other men in the party, her eyes landing on Mac last.  He offered her a sympathetic half-smile, knowing that the girl – Mia, her name tag said – was probably having her worst day on the job yet.  At least she didn’t know the true colors of the difficult customers she was dealing with.  

As if worried Mac was trying to tip Mia off, Dean tightened his grip on Mac’s arm and rammed the barrel of the gun painfully into his back.  Mac didn’t react other than to break eye contact with their hostess, who abruptly got back to her task.  “Do you have a boating license that I can see?”  Her dark eyes plainly showed she was afraid of the answer – afraid of what would happen if they did not have the proper documentation and she had to tell them no.

“I don’t have a damn license,” Booth answered, impatience rising with his voice.  

“Lo siento – I’m sorry, you can’t rent a boat without a skipper if you don’t have a license.”  At the fury on her tormentors’ faces, her eyes darted desperately to Mac, as if she had sensed he wasn’t like the others and would step out and ask his friends to give it a rest.  Not wanting to risk her life, Mac felt guilt rise in him as he pointedly avoided her gaze.  Her voice thick with emotion, she regrouped and offered, “But I can call and have someone here within the hour to take you out.”

Booth lost his temper completely.  Slamming his fist down on the counter, he leaned over the cowering girl and hissed in a deadly tone that brooked no argument, “You will get us a boat now.”  Mia stood frozen in shock, and Booth glanced back over his shoulder at his three men and their hostage.  Collectively, they came to a silent agreement – obviously, the subtle approach wasn’t working, and they were running out of time.  With deft movement, so seamless it could have been rehearsed, Dean let go of Mac’s arm and shoved him into Booth, who twisted his greedy, filthy hand in Mac’s hair for the second time that day.  Mac grunted in pain as his head was yanked back and stilled his instinctive struggling as the sun-warmed barrel of Booth’s gun found the left carotid artery in Mac’s neck.  “If you don’t,” Booth added grimly, “I’m going to kill him right before your eyes.”  

Mia’s eyes darted to Mac’s once more and he saw the barely controlled terror just beneath the surface.  She hesitated, and the gun jabbed deeper into Mac’s neck as the safety clicked off, and Mac fought the urge to squeeze his eyes shut as his heart jumped into overdrive.  “You’ll be scrubbing his blood off this dock for the next year,” Booth promised, “and you’ll never get it off your pretty little hands.”

Mac thought for a terrifying moment that Mia was going to pass out or break down, as she swayed slightly on the spot, but then she steeled herself, an inner strength that Mac was proud to see flowing into her.  She straightened her spine, offered a small, scared smile that was probably meant to be reassuring at Mac, and nodded curtly.  “Okay,” she said in a thin voice, and it barely shook, though her hand did as she reached for a set of keys hanging on the wall behind her.  “Just… don’t hurt him, please.”

As she slowly moved away from the wooden counter and motioned for the men to follow her along the dock to their new vessel, Booth yanked Mac’s head back fiercely and whispered, “I knew you would come in handy in some way,” and then shoved Mac forward, finally releasing his hair – Mac’s scalp ached and his neck had already developed a painful stiffness from being twisted back in such an uncomfortable position. The gun moved to the back of Mac’s head.  The safety remained off.

Everything moved far too quickly after that.  It seemed that no time had passed until Mac was being forced onto the deck of a small craft barely big enough for the five of them.  Mac graciously offered to stay behind, and received a crack to the back of the head with the pistol butt in response.  At some point, one of the robbers – Ash, Mac thought his name was – had stepped in and tied Mac’s hands behind his back with sturdy nautical rope.  Mac hadn’t had a single opportunity to attempt escape throughout the whole process, as not only was Booth’s gun still at the base of his neck, but Pike’s own weapon was on the helpless Mia who stood on the dock, tears streaming down her face as she watched the men prepare to leave with their hostage.  Mac knew that if he even thought about doing something stupid, she would be killed without a second thought.

And then many things happened at once – a battered orange car swerved into the parking lot, the sound of screaming sirens not far behind.  Mac couldn’t help but grin when he saw who jumped out: his team, Riley, Bozer, and Jack – who had death in his eyes.  Mac had seen that look many times before.  Someone had threatened his partner.  Mac didn’t envy Booth and his goons once Jack Wyatt Dalton got his hands on them.

Jack already had his own gun drawn as he raced onto the dock.  His boots thunked hollowly against the boards as he sprinted for the boat, keen sights already on the bastard who had his paws on his kid.

But Booth had all the power here, with Mac in his clutches, and he knew it. And with the innocent civilian being held at gunpoint, he’d doubly covered his ass.  Mac’s hope at seeing his team faltered when he realized that Jack’s being here really didn’t change a thing.  It would just make this so much worse, because Jack would be forced to watch as Mac was taken, and when he could finally chase after them, it would probably be too late.  As if to solidify this knowledge, Mac felt Booth’s hand twine in his hair, again – what was it with this guy and Mac’s hair, anyway? – and the gun was back beneath his jaw, Mac could feel the artery rapidly pulsing against the unyielding metal.

“You make one more step, and Boy Wonder here dies,” Booth shouted right in Mac’s ear.  Mac locked eyes with Jack, who stuttered obediently to a stop, Riley and Bozer following suit.  Even now, Mac knew that his partner was desperately searching for any opening, any shot he could take to save his friend.

“I’d put that gun down, if I were you,” Ash called out.

Jack glared at him, unrelenting.  “Who invited Papa Smurf to the party?” he joked, but Mac clearly saw the anxiety in every line on his face.  

A shot rang out.  Mia screamed.  A smoking hole had appeared inches from her feet: The bullet had buried itself into the planks.  “He said,” Booth repeated, “put down your gun.”  He punctuated his words with a brutal yank of Mac’s hair.  “Next time, I put a bullet in your friend. No more warnings.”

Loathing poured off of Jack in waves, but he did as he was told and lowered the weapon, though he didn’t put it down.  The sirens drew nearer, and Mac knew his captors were going to have to make their move before the police arrived, or things would get even messier.  “Ash, start the damn boat,” Booth ordered.  

The man did as he was told, inserting the key, and the engine spluttered, coughed, and fell silent.  He tried again.  Nothing.

“What the hell, man?” Dean barked, an edge of panic creeping into his voice.  

“I’m trying!” Ash shot back, making another attempt to start the motor.  

For a split second, Mac felt Booth twist behind him, trying to get a look at what was going on, and in that moment, Pike was distracted as well.  Just one look away from their hostages was all that Mac and Jack needed – maybe the universe was looking out for them, after all.  While Booth was distracted, both his grip on Mac and on the gun momentarily slackened, and Mac inched over and made himself as small as possible to give Jack a better shot at the man behind him.  The gun was far too close to his face for Mac to lash out himself; now was a time to stand aside and let Jack do what he did best.

In the span of five seconds, Jack brought his gun back up and shot both Pike and Booth in quick succession.  He hit Pike first in the gun hand, and the man toppled over the side of the boat, howling in agony.  Booth’s bullet too had been perfectly timed and aimed – it hit him in the side of the head as he turned back around to deal with his hostage.  He dropped, the gun clattering from his hand, dead before he hit the ground.  It had been a tight shot, and quite the gamble considering the gun that had still been at Mac’s throat, but Jack had timed it perfectly, and Mac never doubted him once. 

***

The next half hour was a blur of police sirens – “‘Bout time you got here,” Jack griped testily – painful but welcome hugs from his friends, and a collective promise of painkillers, a four-way lecture, a hasty debrief, and much-needed rest, in that exact order, on their flight to their next op.  

Jack had been livid, insisting that Mac needed more than on-the-go treatment, but Matty was firm – this op couldn’t wait.  Her fierce eyes did soften when she got a good look at the state that her agent was in, though, and assured him that he was getting a thorough check by medical the second they got home.  Until then, she ordered, with no room for argument, he was to rest and recuperate, and so help her God, if he purposefully threw himself into this kind of mess again.... She didn’t actually finish her threat, which made it all the scarier, and Mac had promised to be good on the next mission.  (Nobody really believed him, though.)

Secretly, though, he was glad that he would get a chance to rest on the flight, because every single bruise, cut, ache, and pain called out, vying for his attention.  A cursory check by Jack and a frazzled EMT revealed that though no ribs were broken, he had severe bruising along his back, sides, and torso.  Booth had chipped a tooth when he’d kicked Mac in the mouth, and Mac did not look forward to spending some quality time with the dentist when he got home.  And there was a nasty, bloody welt on the back of his head from where he’d been pistol-whipped.  

Added to that, his entire body, from his scalp to the tips of his toes ached with a bone-deep weariness that came from the physical abuse and stress of his time as a hostage.  As Jack had reminded him on more than one occasion when Mac had tried to brush similar experiences off, just because it wasn’t his first rodeo, it didn’t make it any less traumatic for his mind or his body – he was still human, after all.  Now, Mac found himself reluctantly agreeing – emotionally, mentally, and physically, he felt in that moment every single thing that had been done to him from the second he’d snuck into that bank.

As usual, though, Mac filed away everything he was feeling to deal with – or even more appealingly, to not deal with – later.  

While Matty finalized the details of their flight, Mac tied up a few loose ends of his own.  First, he called Carlos and spoke to him for a few moments, reassuring his friend that he was really okay and getting the same reassurances in return.  Mac wanted to see Carlos and his family one more time before they took off, but Carlos was just now being released from the hospital, and the Phoenix team was on a very tight schedule.  He did promise to come back and visit soon, and was able to reveal the exciting news that Matty was sending another team in their place, to continue to help with rebuilding.

Next, Mac made his way over to Mia, who was sitting on the edge of an ambulance, her sandaled feet dangling off the side and a bottle of water cradled in her hands.  “Hola,” Mac greeted, and she offered him a small smile.  Mac realized that she was even younger than he’d thought – she couldn’t be more than eighteen or nineteen years old.  “I’m, uh, really sorry about everything,” he stammered, feeling that his words were thoroughly inadequate.

“You have nothing to apologize for!” she exclaimed, dark eyebrows furrowing over kind hazel eyes.  

Mac didn’t agree – as always, that incessant feeling that he could have done more reared its ugly head – but he changed the subject anyway, because Riley and Bozer were approaching, and he knew his time was running short.  “Quiero darte las gracias.” It was important to him that he thanked her in her own language, after the way Booth had treated it.  She deserved better.

She tilted her head, dark brown ponytail swinging with the motion, but a soft smile touched her lips at his fluent but accented Spanish.  “¿Para qué?”

Unable to call the exact words to mind in Spanish, courtesy, he knew, of the light concussion he almost certainly had, he switched back to English apologetically, but Mia didn’t seem to mind at all.  “That was a risky play,” he admitted, “giving them the keys to a boat that didn’t work.  But it was brilliant – and it bought my friend enough time to take control of the situation.  Great job thinking ahead.  You saved my life.”

A brilliant blush colored her cheeks at Mac’s praise.

***

Twenty minutes and a couple of painkillers later, Mac found himself curled up in his seat on the Phoenix jet waiting for the inevitable lecture to start.  He know it had been a stupid and dangerous risk, sneaking into the bank and making himself a hostage.  But he knew that his actions had saved lives, and he would make the same choice if anything like it happened again. 

Jack dropped down into the seat beside him.  “You look like hell, brother,” he observed.  Jack Dalton didn’t sugar coat anything.

“Yeah, well,” Mac admitted, too tired to put up his normal unaffected front.  “Feel like it too.”

The lines around Jack’s eyes deepened.  “The kids are already settling in for the flight,” he said.  “Get some sleep?”

“I thought you guys had a lecture all primed and ready,” Mac muttered, already feeling his eyelids dragging themselves down.  He was exhausted, from everything he’d been through, the pain, and the drugs.  

“Aaah,” Jack waved his hand dismissively.  “What’s the point of lecturin’ you if you’re too strung out to actually hear what we’re trying to drill into that big brain of yours?”

Mac quirked a half-smile.  “Or you could just skip the lecture all together.  You know that you would’ve done the exact same thing in my shoes.”

Jack shrugged.  “Maybe, but tryin’ to get you to look after yourself has become a kind of bonding thing for the rest of us.  And it’s fun seeing you squirm.”

Mac groaned.  “You know I never listen.”

A long-suffering sigh.  “And that’s why my hair’s going gray, hoss.”

Letting his eyes fall shut, Mac couldn’t help but squeeze in one last, murmured jab.  “No, it’s definitely an age thing.”

Mac didn’t hear Jack’s indigent retort, or the quiet cackling of Riley and Bozer from the seats behind.  

He was already asleep.

[themadauthorshatter]

RED SCHOOL AU/UA STORY/HEADCANONS ARC 2 PART 3

Hopefully this is the last part of Arc 2😅

We pick up with Tibe, Elara, and Rhian walking towards the royal quarters, Rhian asking his questons, as requested, beginning with how their journey was and if they found the school easy enough.

Tibe admits while the skeleton bird was jarring and they could've done without the storms, but everything was manageable.

Rhian's glad to hear that, and asks if the children will be alright(he's been a teacher/school master for nearly two centuries, and the SGE cast is 16 years old, so if a person is below 21, they're a child, in Rhian's eyes.) and Elara answers for Tibe that, yes, they will be fine before politely inquiring about having a room seperate from her husband.

Rhian sort of wallows at how almost every royal couple he meets hate each other.

He the asks if the two have seen or learned from a magician in recent memory, to which they confusedly answer no.

Rhian's only asking because he knows a trick when he sees one, a slight of hand, if you will, which he demonstrates by making a card 'disappear' and 'reappear' in his hand, though he reveals he's just moving the card while holding it between his fingers.

Tibe asks what he's talking about and Rhian chuckles and continues to lead them to their room, stating that, having been around girls for a century or so, maybe half, he also knows a perfectly baked cake when he sees one.

Here, we cut/transition to Mare as she enters her room, a couple maids setting things up like blankets and clothes, until she asks that they leave and get some test, as they must be exhausted from the trip.

They shakily agree and leave.

Mare looks around the room and sort of cringes at the horrendous amount of fluorescent pink the decorates the room, like the bed sheets and the pillows, before groaning as she sits down. Maybe we even get a gag of her falling into the bed, like the mattress sort of pulls her in and she sinks into the middle of it. With the maids gone, Mare only groans and tries not to give up on life. "Perfect."

With the SGE crew, more specifically Sophie and Agatha, Sophie pushes and slips through the crowd of students as they return to their dorms after classes(they'll get in HUGE trouble, if they're caught bothering the Silvers, and even get moved down a rank), Agatha on her tail and calling for her to stop and just go to class. Sophie shouts back to, "go hang out with Kiki," and continues on her way(Really wonder where she's going?).

Agatha follows her anyway, until Sophie mogrifs herself into a lovebird and shouts, "Prince Tiberias the Seventh, wait for me!"

Agatha watches, completely appalled and then looks up at the tower where the female Silver children are residing, about a long hallway away from each other. Mareena's got to be in one of those rooms. She looks for any wolves lurking, or other students, and mogrifs into a mouse to sneak to the doorway before she turns back to a human and climbs up the steps. I'll just knock first. If she doesn't want to see anyone, I'll leave. That's not me bothering her, it can't be me bothering her, if I give her space.

Speaking of Mare, she rolls onto her front and sits down cross legged, hair a little messy. Her makeup's safe, though, don't worry. "I hate this place," she grumbles.

Give her some slack, she's been trapped on a boat with Book 1!Evangeline for a week, has a really bad paper cut, and just wrestled a bed that basically tried to eat her.

It doesn't help when a knock on the door interrupts her from checking on said paper cut, right as she removes the bandage. Mare panics, hastily puts on her gloves, and tells the person on the other side of the door to come in.

EXPECTATION SUBVERSION! Cal's there to check on her. Mare welcomes him in.

Cal looks around her room and comments on it, and Mare threatens to throw her shoe at him; if he wants to act like a little shit right now, she'll gladly beat him like one, consequences be damned.

They check in and touch base, making sure they're okay, and just letting each other know that despite the color of their blood, they're in this together, him, Mare, and Maven. Mare sighs that Cal and Maven at least have their family with them, as Mare's is still in Norta, thinking she's in the palace.

Cal holds her hand and promises that this trip will be over and she'll see her family again before she knows it. Mare asks how he lnows and how that can even happen, recalling the hair's width close call from the last time she visited her family. Cal's grip on her hand tightens and he forces a chuckle, admitting that if either he and/or Maven found a way before, they can do it again.

It soothes Mare and gets her smiling, which gives Cal the okay to give her space and let her settle into her girly new room, joking that maybe it will rub off on her and he might be able to see a more feminine side to her.

She hurls her shoe at him as hard as she can right as he leaves, the two snickering, Mare despite herself and Cal for a job well done.

As Cal leaves, though, his smile drops at the realization that he has no idea how the hell he's helping her see her family again without getting caught. As much as he knows the rules, he knows Mare's heart, and, having the same problem as her, can't keep his mind and heart seperated.

Lost in his thoughts, he runs into Agatha on the stairs, who asks where Mare is. Funny, he just left her room, which is the second door on the left hand side.

As he leaves and Agatha contemplates her choice, we cut to Sophie as she pants and perches on the window to Cal's room; she's totally right here, she's at the right room. Her logic is perfectly sound here, she's in the right place.

She turns back into herself and does a quick hair fluff and even pinches some color into her cheeks before knocking on the window, maybe a little too hard because it swings open, just for me, she thinks.

Sophie struts in, announcing herself to the crown prince, proud as a peacock...

Only to scare the hell out of a shiryless Maven; he was cleaning himself off a little and was about to change his clothes when she interrupted him.

He asks what she's doing in his room, and Sophie asks if he's Cal, semi-hoping that this is just someone else because Maven looks nothing like a general or a future king.

No. He's not Cal. He's Cal's brother. Sophie kind of feigns ignorance, and Maven gives his name and the fact that she wrote to him. Still doesn't ring any bells, until he brings up the fact that she thinks she's in the wrong school.

"Oh! You ARE Maven!" Sophie gasps, before asking where his brother is.

Maven, realizing he's stuck with this brat, turns to finish changing, i.e. putting on a shirt, and explains that Cal actually left a couple minutes ago and, knowing him, won't sit still on his first day here, so he'll most likely being wandering the school. Sophie groans, and sits on the edge of his bed, and complains that she's tired from using her magic to fly over to meet him, before asking Maven if she can stay and wait for him to come back.

Maven, thinking quickly, admits she'd have a better chance if she just walked around. Cal's 6'3", pale as hell, and wearing black, red, and silver, so he's damn near impossible to miss.

Sophie huffs and agrees, leaving to go meet her new prince, bidding Maven a pizzazz-y farewell.

Maven rolls his eyes and finishes putting on his shirt and coat before falling back on his bed, groaning at the fact they might be here for a little while. Maybe more.

Time to check back in with Mare, who's examining that really bad paper cut when she gets another knock on her door. She answers it and finds Agatha standing at the door, greeting her politely and suddenly noticing her hand.

"You're bleeding!"

The two rush inside Mare's room, Mare panicking and trying to cover the cut herself, but Agatha helping because she's not good, she's great.

THIS is the bomb drop that Mare's not Silver, and it confuses and surprises the hell out of Agatha, who had it drilled in her head that only Silvers have power in Norta.

With little options, the two sit down on the bed and Mare gets to explaining.

It's been a while since we've checked on Cal, so lets do that: he's actually found his way to the boy's Groom Room and sees them training. The weapons are all wood swords, so no one's terribly injured, and anyone not sword fighting is throwing hammers, climbing ropes, or running or swimming some laps.

There are girls watching, all taking turns peeking out from behind a wall to spot Cal unintentionally being a general and mentally noting each boy's strengths and weaknesses, especially the one they're all trying to beat, Tedros, who's holding his own really well.

Speaking of Tedros, he notices Cal watching and gestures for him to come in.

Cal's already in more casual clothes, save for his coat, and complies, meeting the Everboys, who ask, kind of sheepishly how they did, as Cal is sort of a General and knows a lot a bout combat.

He has to admit, as politely as possible, that while they're all skilled, they would all get demolished in a real fight.

Tedros, the dumbass, asks what that means, as they can use magic.

Cal agrees that magic might be able to help them, but what if they wear themselves out and can't use magic?

Tedros, not listening and thinking unwisely, challenges Cal, just to prove his point. Cal agrees and hangs up his coat, one of the boys giving him a sword, one Cal sized(the 6'3" son of a bitch), and the two stand off before the fight begins, Cal telling Tedros to give it everything he's got while Cal will go easy on him.

Tedros goads him that he can take whatever, but Cal affirms that if HE gave his 100%, Tedros would probably die.

Enough talk, someone ring the bell, because THE FIGHT STARTS NOW!!!

Tedros DOES give his best, but Cal is a general. He either disarms Tedros or knocks him down and mock kills him.

After a while, they go at it again, Tedros doing better, and Cal tells him he'll go a little harder, so he knows that Cal can wipe the floor with him. He doesn't get hurt, but he gets the point.

Another rule Cal makes clear: There is no such thing as a fair fight.

He holds a hand out to Tedros, who's tired and bruused from having his ass handed to him, commenting that he's pretty good.

Tedros accepts with a smile on his face, blocking a swing and showing Cal he's already picking up on what he's teaching him, inadvertently.

It's official: The boys want Cal as their new teacher, because his technique is better than what they've been learning.

Cal can only fight the urge to laugh, seeing how enthusiastic they all are.

Back with Mare and Agatha, who are now sitting cross legged across from each other on the bed, where Agatha asks Mare if she's being serious.

She is, which she demonstrates by holding her cut hand and showing a little lightning. She's Red, she's got powers, and if anyone finds out, it's her and her family's heads on the King's platter.

This hits Agatha right in the gut, even when she asks Mare how Reds are REALLY treated, recounting how the students all believe the Silvers and the Reds are all equals, the Reds only picking up the slack of what the Silvers are unable to do.

Mare sets that vision straight: Reds and Silvers are not equal to each other. As the saying goes, in terms of power, 'What is a King to a God?' Or better yet, what is a farmer to a god? The cherry on top? If you're Red and don't have a job of any kind, have fun dying in a trench while fighting in a war that isn't even yours.

Agatha is at a loss for words, only knowing being ostracized and bullied. Out of words, Agatha offers her confidence, that she won't tell anyone what Mare told her. While Mare's glad for it, she still warns Agatha to stay as far away from Elara as possible, as Elara can and will read her mind. And there will be HELL to pay, if she finds out.

Agatha obviously agrees.

That's when shouting gets their attention, and some clattering, which leads leads them to the Boy's Groom Room; how'd the sound get that far? Vibration. And the vents. And Sophie passed by.

They look inside to see Cal and Tedros at it again with the boys cheering them on. This time they're hand to hand fighting and Tedros is locked in a chokehold as Cal tells him to tap out. Tedros only elbows him and they stand, which begins Round 5 of their fight. Yes, Tedros is shirtless, as Book 1 Tedros is gun' do. Cal is as well, because he got hot, but don't worry he shaved(appearances matter, even when it's something you think no one's going to see).

Turns out Sophie screamed because she's a blushing, squealing mess; Cal is far more than what she dreamed of, and it's killing her. Mare can't exactly blame her for staring, upon seeing how fit Cal is and seeing hiw many scars he has, a very unpleasant reminder of what he is and what he's been trained to be.

Agatha asks about wanting Tedros as her prince, out of confusion and a joke, and Sophie admits that she'll get him back because he'll get jealous. Boys fight each other a lot more when a girl's love is at stake.

Mare contradicts that notion by reminding them, and herself, that Cal's betrothed to Evangeline, and she has the teeth of a doberman; once she latches on to something, have fun trying to get her to let go. Sophie waves her off, bragging she can change his mind in 5 minutes. She just needs time with him alone in a broom closet. Mare and Agatha roll their eyes at this.

With the boys, Tedros spots the girls and inwardly groans at the sight of Sophie, which gives Cal the opening to yank his hair and bring him back to the fight; if he gets distracted, he's going to get himself killed. Tedros brushes it off and jerks his head to the girls, saying they have an audience.

Cal notices Sophie and has a moment of, 'Not this shit again,' when she giggles and waves at him, blushing pure red.

Here is where Tedros warns Cal to keep his distance from Sophie, though it's more serious than Ball Banter. Cal asks if she's his girl, and Tedros admits that she isn't, she's just bad luck and a pure snake. Cal admits that that's a little harsh and asks what she did to deserve getting the Prince of Camelot's cold shoulder as the two trade more harmless hits with each other. She didn't do anything, except lie to him about loving him, use him, and leave him to fend for himslef and die in a Trial by Tale, where Evers and Nevers fight to see who would survive a REAL fairytale. And she's a lunatic, sneaking into Tedros's drawers while he was training at night and trying to put him under a love spell.

Yeah, while he doesn't agree with the snake comment, Cal understands why he should avoid Sophie. He doesn't know how love spells work, but he'd rather not find out.

Just as they're about to go at it again, Professor Dovey shrills at the boys to stop harrassing the Crown Prince, from her place behind the girls.

As he puts his shirt and coat back on and leaves, Cal explains that he saw them training and noticed they could use a few pointers, which led to him getting a little carried away.

Dovey politely tells him that while his advuce is good, he should leave teaching to the professors, just to be in the safe side and no one gets hurt.

He agrees, much to the boys' dismay, and mentally kicks himself for leaving when he sees Sophie in front of him and introducung herself. Granted, he gives her the benefit of the doubt and is as gentlemanly as he can be, thinking, Maybe she isn't that bad, but that hope is shot down when Agatha tries introducing herself and Sophie slips in front of her so Cal can't see her.

Okay, maybe she is that bad.

Good thing Maven inadvertently saves the day as he stumbles into the hallway, getting laughed at and chewed on by fairies, who also take to pulling on his hair to piss him off.

Dovey shouts at them all the leave him alone, which they do, and apologizes to Maven for their behavior. He tells her not to worry, because he's had worse happen, giving a pointed glare to Cal, who semi-jokes he should really watch his back because the Everboys mean nothing but business and will attack on sight.

Dovey waves off this notion as she leads them on an official tour of the school, and explains that the schools have rules to seperate and connect Good and Evil, rules like Evil attacks other people while Good defends them, Evil takes advantage and Good gives opportunity, rules like that. (Sophie and Agatha stay behind, Sophie almost fainting at how much of a dream come true Cal is, even though he's a little awkward. She wonders if he was just stunned by her beauty, but Agatha hides her face in her hands and groans.) Maven comments that that's a very black and white way of thinking, but Dovey assures him it's the way of the school, and the rules and fairytales actually have loopholes. The girl who thwarted Rumplestiltskin did so by tricking him, by using guards she had hired to get his name, Rapunzel was born out of theft, in the original Cinderella, Cindy killed her stepmother. Vice versa, the witch that stole Rapunzel NEVER had to allow Rapunzel's father to keep stealing from her garden, Rumplestiltskin NEVER had to agree to help the girl, there are more examples, but I can't think of any.

Just know that there's some evil in good and there's some good in evil.

Cal asks if the other High House children should join them and Dovey admits she wanted to fetch them for the tour, but didn't want to bother them.

Mare's turn to ask a question, and it's one that's been bothering her: Why fairytales? And why have one guy rule over both Good and Evil, when there should one one leader for each side.

Dovey answers that by explaining the story of the School Master and his brother, a very similar story for SGE fans, but with a change: after the war, the stories continued to end with Evil ending every other time, rather than Good hogging all the glory. There were times Good won more, but that would be solved when Evil won certain times in a row and things got back on track.

Cal asks how such a thing is possible, because he's more than certain there's things maguc still can't do. Dovey points to a painting of the Storian, which the two brothers are fighting over.

Maven asks that all the fighting was over a pen, and Dovey tells him not to be decieved, because there's always more to see beneath the surface, which is said as a voice over as Tedros and Agatha race outside in time to see a group of fairies toss Sophie into the clearing outside of Good, snickering as she flails to a sitting position and glaring at them for ruining her dress.

While Sophie shouts at the fairies and then greets Agatha and Tedros with some degree of sass, Agatha scolds Sophie, saying she shouldn't have rushed in to greet Cal like a crazy person, but Sophie defends herself by saying she HAD thought about waiting, but noticed Beatrix and the others giggling and staring at him and panicked, because she didn't want them to steal her prince away from her again.

Tedros barks that he was never her prince and Cal is not her prince either because HE'S BETROTHED TO EVANGELINE. Sophie huffs and states she can change his mind easily, but stops when she hears a male laugh and tell her that she can try all she wants, but, knowing Evangeline, Sophie will end up being a wedding present to Cal, specifically as a mantel ornament.

Sophie deflates at that, and Tedros asks who the male is, noting his pale skin and armor. Lucas introduces himself and tells children not to worry about Evangeline, because she'll be doing one of four things on this trip: clinging to Cal, picking on Mare with her friends, hanging out with Elane, or bitching to her brother while they train.

Agatha sighs that Silvers train a lot for royals, and Lucas agrees, but that's because they have to. Where they're from, there's a war going on. Coming to the SGE wasa risk, and hopefully they don't stay long because Norta's extremely vulnerable right now.

Tedros asks what it's like, the war, which makes Agatha gulp as she remembers her conversation with Mare, and Lucas gives them all a look of, 'you're way too young to be talkimg about this,' before giving them a rundown on the war: the Lakelands have more farms and access to food, but Norta has more crop-friendly conditions and fertile ground and energy for power. Sophie asks they have enough power with Tibe on the throne and the High Houses backing him. Lucas corrects himself by explaining that Norta has electricity, enough for Silvers and Reds, and the Lakelanders want some of that power.

Tedros asks why they can't just give each other what they want and Lucas admits that of things were that easy, it would be the case, but things are never easy.

The trio remain silent for a little while, which prompts Lucas to take his leave, but Agatha has one more question, a couple small ones, and then one big one:

Is electricity stronger than what the School uses(candles for light, winds for ships, etc.)? Yes.

And the Nortans traveled by ship to the School? Yes.

And the ship was powered by this electricity? The engine was, but yes.

Million dollar question: If the Nortans came to the Woods, can ths students go to Norta, or anywhere else using this electric-powered ship?

Sophie gapes at her and Tedros gives her a look of pure hurt, but Lucas contemplates that, answering with a solid maybe before asking where she'd go, if she had her own ship?

With a glance at a fuming Sophie and a crestfallen Tedros, Agatha begins to answer, right as Dovey passes with Cal, Maven, and Mare following.

Too bad something bursts out of the trees and barrels toward Sophie, eyes blood red, body decayed and soaked with sludgy water, roaring like a wild animal, and armed with an axe.

Yeah, The Beast is back, and he's not happy with Sophie killing him.

Cal, Tedros, and Lucas jump right into action, Lucas using his armor to knock Beast away as Cal and Tedros race to stop him; the only one whi recognizes him is Sophie, so Tedros is acting solely on instinct here.

There's tussling, Tedros getting thrown to the ground and Cal getting cut by the axe, and Maven saving his brother, because he's a one way track.

Lucas neutralizes The Beast by chaining him up, but the bastard breaks free and knocks him aside, giving him a concussion.

With a quick, 'What's wrong with me?' Mare joins in, shooting lightning at him. It works, kind of, but gets a gold spell shot at him by Agtha for almost hitting back.

With their powers combined, and Sophie cheering them on, they take The Beast down, red mist leaving his body and curling away into the sky.

Mare and Agatha sigh and check on each other as Tedros, Cal, and Maven all exchange 'good jobs' and some high fives, which Maven accepts with a heavy conscience.

They all stop when they're interrupted by Elara racing to Maven and hugging him close, too worried to notice the 'OH SHIT' faces Mare and Agatha exchange.

Rhian and Tibe join her and ask what the hell happened, Rhian telling them to explain it to him in his tower, away from any eavesdroppers.

They do so, Tedros semi-fanboying to Agatha that he can't believe she was right, and Sophie staying behind to give The Beast one last nervois glance before catching up, not wanting to be alone if/when The Beast wakes up.

[browningdryingflowers]

“What is locked... can be opened... What is hidden... can be found... What is yours... ...can be mine.” — Garrett, Thief: Deadly Shadows Official Trailer

Garrett is the protagonist of the Thief games - a cynical master thief who wishes nothing more than to be left alone to steal in peace, but who unwittingly becomes embroiled in a series of epic events.

Garrett exhibits a strong sense of survival and self-interest. While on the surface Garrett is callous, cynical and sarcastic, with loyalty only to himself, he does seem to have deeper feelings for a few of his contacts: Artemus, the Keeper that recruited and trained him; Basso the Boxman, a fellow thief; Cutty, his fence. In extreme cases this seems to extend to even to past antagonists such as Viktoria, although that may be a result of Garrett's own self-interest.

Garrett also exhibits a strong sense of professional pride as a thief: he usually refuses to kill while on the job, saying that he's a thief, not a murderer,[1] though Constantine and Karras died as a result of Garret's actions only because he was able to sabotage their evil plans. Lotus was a mercy killing, as he begged for death due to the inhumane conditions that Garrett found him in. Other than that, Garrett has not killed any humans in the Thief canon. It is implied Garrett also never steals from his allies or the poor.[Fact Check]

Orphaned, Garrett spent his youth on the streets surviving as a pickpocket and message runner.

One night, he saw Artemus walking on the street as people, 'just passed him by like he wasn't there'. Thinking the man had some valuables, he decided to make a grab. However, he was caught, and Artemus, impressed with his ability to see a Keeper, offered Garrett a new life. Garrett was then recruited into a secret organization known as the Keepers, dedicated to observing and maintaining stability in the City.[2]

Not much is known about Garrett's education with The Keepers, except the fact that he was given initial training in the arts of stealth and subterfuge practiced by the Keepers. But, he found that it was much more profitable to make use of these skills as a thief than to continue working for the Keepers as an agent.[3] He was called "the most promising acolyte" in the Keeper annals, but left around the age of 20 due to his "imbalance." It was brought before the council to deal with him using the Enforcers, but Caduca informed the council that Garrett would be needed in the future.[4]

At some point in time, Garrett is now working as an independent thief in the City, making contacts with people such as Basso the Boxman, Cutty and Farkus Bernard. Garrett's first known large score comes from stealing an expensive scepter from Lord Bafford. After which, he breaks into the Hammerite prison to spring his fence, Cutty (who dies while still in prison). This leads him deep into the old Hammerite catacombs looking for treasure. Shortly after this thugs working for the local Warden, Ramirez, attempt to kill Garrett for non payment of tribute. Garrett turns the tables, escaping and going on to humiliate Ramirez by looting his mansion, even going on to rob the local thieves guild. This brazen display of skill attracts the attention of Viktoria, a somewhat mysterious independent fence. She contracts Garrett to steal a magical sword from the eccentric nobleman, Constantine.

Upon successfully returning from Constantine's bizarre mansion, Viktoria reveals that she and Constantine are old associates who were testing Garrett. Constantine offers Garrett a fortune for the job of retrieving the gemstone known as The Eye. Getting to The Eye means Garrett must venture through the abandoned and walled-off Old Quarter of the City to the old Hammerite Cathedral. A mysterious catastrophe, rumored to involve great fires and many undead, caused the area's abandonment decades ago. Garrett finds the cathedral sealed, but the Eye itself tells him of an old Keeper library hidden nearby. Writings there tell of where the talismans that open the cathedral are hidden and how the Keepers almost revealed themselves in order to assist the Hammerites and the Hand Brotherhood in containing a great evil. The first talisman was found in a place called The Lost City, the ruins of an ancient civilization buried beneath the existing city, its entrance hidden by the Keepers. To get the second talisman, Garrett enters a Hammerite temple in disguise. The third talisman was kept with a brotherhood of Mages. The fourth lay inside Keeper secured caverns. Unbeknownst to Garrett, the Talisman was recovered by the guards of the Opera House above the caves. Successful, he then returns to the cathedral and collects The Eye from amid the many undead, escaping with the help from the ghost of Brother Murus, a long dead Hammerite priest.

Garrett visits Constantine to hand over The Eye and collect his payment. Instead of paying, however, Constantine reveals himself to be the fabled Trickster (aka The Woodsie Lord), the entity worshiped by the Pagans, and Viktoria, his consort.

They bind Garrett in vines and Viktoria plucks out one of his eyes, using it to seemingly activate The Eye stone, and leave him for dead. Some time later two Keepers find and free the unconscious Garrett from the vines. The Keepers then leave Garrett to escape by himself through the caverns beneath Constantine's mansion and amongst some new and strange beasts. Once he reaches the surface Garrett decides the only thing to do is visit the Hammerites and tell them about what has happened in the hopes they would provide assistance. He heads for the temple but discovers that the Trickster's minions have gotten there first. Venturing inside he finds the remaining Hammerites in a hidden sanctuary down in an underground cavern. With stealth being the only hope against the Trickster's army, the Hammerites provide Garrett with a booby-trapped copy of The Eye. Garrett descends into the Trickster's realm, where he finds the Woodsie Lord performing a ceremony with the Eye. Garrett stealthily swaps the Eye for its trapped copy, which then explodes, thus striking down the Trickster as he attempts to finish the ritual.

The coda shows Garrett walking back to town alone through the snow. Life appears to be returning to normal. A Keeper approaches, Artemus. The two converse and The Keeper warns Garrett, telling him of a book he should read, and that he can't run away from life. Close observation reveals Garrett now has a mechanical eye. Garrett rejects the Keeper's 'help' in his life and says to tell the other Keepers that "I'm through. Tell them Garrett is done". He then walks away into the city streets. Artemus answers quietly "I will tell them this: Nothing is changed. All is as it was written. The Trickster is dead. Beware the dawn of the metal age.", foreshadowing the sequel, Thief II: The Metal Age.

Garrett's role in The Metal Age begins innocuously. Garrett provides a favor to an old acquaintance, Basso, helping him rescue his love Jenivere, so that he may retire from thievery and elope. Next Garrett breaks into the dockside warehouses to get some extra cash for rent. It soon becomes clear that the City Watch, lead by the zealous Sheriff Gorman Truart, is waging a war on crime, brutally persecuting thieves and conducting nighttime raids on the poor neighborhoods with the intent of rounding up criminals. Truart stages a sting operation in an attempt to assassinate Garrett, but he escapes by using a Flash Bomb. With the newly strengthened police force making burglary more difficult, Garrett begins to wage a personal war against Truart, attempting to blackmail him into loosening his grip on the City by exposing his corruption. In the process, Garrett acquaints himself with the Mechanist Order, a splinter faction of the weakening Hammerites led by the charismatic Karras, whose robotic security devices have begun to guard the City's wealthiest businesses and residences. In addition, he discovers that the Mechanists are manufacturing some sort of weaponized "Servant," made from a human body and emitting a substance known as Rust Gas, and that Truart has agreed to round up vagrants under false pretenses to be used for the project.

When Garrett confronts Truart, he finds that Truart has been slain by a strange creature. Trying to unravel the conspiracy, Garrett reunites with Viktoria deep in the Maw. Viktoria identifies the Mechanists as the true enemy, and the two form a tentative alliance. The combined skills of Viktoria's pagan operatives and Garrett's stealth abilities reveal that the Mechanists are gifting the Servants to the City's nobility, and that they are working on a top-secret endeavour known as the "Cetus Project." The Cetus Project turns out to be a gigantic submarine, the Cetus Amicus, and that the Mechanists are using it to access the remains of The Lost City in search of ancient artifacts. By interrogating the head of the Cetus Project, Brother Cavador, the pair discover that the Mechanists have recovered an object known as a Cultivator, and that they have already begun mass-producing them and installing them inside of the Masked Servants. While Garrett stakes out the Gervaisius Estate and steals a mask and the prototype Cultivator, Viktoria's agents observe Karras hermetically sealing Soulforge Cathedral. The pair conduct an experiment with the Cultivator, revealing that the Servants could be commanded to release Rust Gas, which would react violently with the plant matter inside of wealthy nobles' gardens, wiping out all life in the city, with Karras safe inside of Soulforge Cathedral.

Viktoria claims that there is no time to spare and proposes a plan: Garrett must gain control of the beacon controlling the Servants and command them to return to Soulforge and trick Karras into releasing the Rust Gas, while Viktoria fills Soulforge Cathedral with plants, to wipe out the Mechanists instead of the city. Garrett claims the plan is "suicide", claiming he will think of a better plan, and re-affirms that he works alone. As he leaves, a Keeper informs Garrett that Viktoria has begun an assault on the Cathedral herself. Garrett hurries to the Cathedral but is too late to save Viktoria as she is attacked by an onslaught of Mechanist forces. Her dying action is to fill Soulforge Cathedral with plants, as promised. Left with no better plan, Garrett proceeds to assemble a new guiding beacon and redirects the Cathedral's signal towers back to the Cathedral itself. The plan succeeds, and Garrett locks the servants inside the Cathedral. When the rust gas is released, Karras is killed and Soulforge Cathedral is left in ruins.

Garrett returns to the Cathedral after the reaction is complete and is met by a Keeper, who explains that the events of The Metal Age transpired exactly as written, and that the prophecies contain even more predictions. Garrett, previously skeptical of the Keepers' mysterious ways, reluctantly requests to know more.

[prongsisabadger]

TWP Chapter 21

A shuttle took us to the Negotiator once we dropped the 501st and Master Skywalker off on their ship. A report had been given to the Jedi Council already. Eleven dead, several wounded. The price for an arrogant politician's actions. I had made it a point to stay silent the entire time, coming to terms with my feelings regarding the entire situation. My disdain for Chairman Cho, my indifference for his death, my inability to set it all aside and try to come to a peaceful solution.

I had failed as a Jedi, and yet it didn't feel like it. The silent, but powerful gratitude I felt in the clones when I visited the med bay made it all worth it. In the corridors, the 501st said nothing, but every clone I walked past either saluted me or patted my shoulder. There was no need for more. But in the back of my mind, I knew my behavior had not been that of a Jedi. The real question was: was that really wrong?

All of this I considered in silence, I had to sort my emotions on my own before I asked Master Kenobi the important questions. I needed to know the source of my hatred for Cho -other than the obvious-, the reason behind my protectiveness of the clones and my attachment to them. I needed to figure out if I was truly capable of feeling all of this but not let it dictate my actions. Was I capable of accepting the death of those around me and not let my grief turn into hatred? Was I capable of processing it all and letting it go? If I was in a situation where I couldn't really take my time to process it all, how would I react?

Master Kenobi decided not to comment on my silence, at least not until we were on board the Negotiator. He had probably felt my struggle and decided to give me some time to sort it all out. Master Kenobi, I'd realized, was the type of Master to be quietly supportive. He would give you time to figure things out on your own and only interfere if things felt like they were getting out of hand. He was the kind of person who knows when to shut up and when to interfere.

Unlike Master Plo, who decided to simply wait until I came to him with my concerns because he knew I trusted him enough to do so, and he trusted me to figure things out on my own in turn. I guess it was because of the nature of each master. Kenobi might have been a good negotiator, but at the end of the day he was a Guardian, always would be. There was no way he would stand idly by when he felt turmoil within his Padawan.

"You've been awfully quiet since we left orbit." He was trying to be casual about it, asking only when the only people around were a few maintenance droids and the hangar crew. "Don't get me wrong, it is nice to have a Padawan who can stay still for a change, but the Force does not lie, Kriari. What's on your mind?"

I smiled, I'd have to ask him about that some other time.

"I don't know if Master Plo ever told you, but I'm not good with emotions -feeling them that is." I started "I'm more mentally oriented and feelings confuse me a lot. I'm trying to sort mine out and understand them. That way, if I know how I respond emotionally to certain situations, I can know what to expect of myself in the future. It makes not giving into them a bit easier."

This seemed to amuse Obi-Wan.

"Emotions are very volatile, and they are meant to be felt, not thought, young one. Analysing them will only get you so far."

We started to make our way out of the hangar and towards the elevators, we had to meet with Commander Cody for debriefing and status reports on the 212th.

"I know that, Master, but it doesn't hurt to try. It's also an excuse to reevaluate my relationships with the people around me. I might not have acted on impulse in Orto Plutonia, but I did let my feelings get the best of me. Charman Cho-"

"You did nothing wrong in Orto Plutonia, Kriari. The Chairman was a test on the resolve of all of us present. Not acting on your emotions does not mean you don't get to feel them. You are entitled to your own opinion on the man and his actions. The Force knows it was a test for all three of us to keep it together." He said as the doors to the upper level opened. "You forget you are a Padawan, this is the time for you to make mistakes and learn from them, don't be so hard on yourself."

It was at times like these that I realized just how lucky I had been when I'd been assigned both my masters. They were understanding and compassionate, but they knew where to draw the line. Master Kenobi, as a Guardian, often took a more direct approach to every situation, while Master Plo was willing to wait and let things pan out before acting. It was a good thing that I was Padawan to both. One appealed to my rational side, and the other to my intuition, but both of them knew where my priorities lied and respected that.

Cody was waiting for us at the bridge, but the Force around him wasn't calm and collected as usual, something had happened. If I'd felt it, then Master Kenobi had too, but when I looked at him all I saw was his unmoveable exterior. To me, Master Plo felt safe because he was a comforting presence, someone who would validate your fears but guide you through them. Master Kenobi -on the other hand- felt safe because he was strong, supporting, immovable like a pillar holding the ceiling above your head even in the face of an earthquake.

"You have news for us, I gather, Cody." Said my Master.

"I do, Sir," started the commander before turning on a holo map on the tactical table. "We have received a transmission from Naboo. Senator Amidala has found a Separatist lab within the system and has requested Jedi intervention."

What was the saying, again? No rest for the wicked?

...

I adjusted my new armour as I exited my quarters aboard the Negotiator. After the other set had been all but melted off my back, Master Kenobi put a few of his men to work on a new one. This one still had the original gray design of the Pack on the left arm, but the right one now sported a straight yellow line that ran from my shoulder to my wrist. The chest piece had been left its original white, and the symbol of the Jedi order had been moved to where my heart was. When I asked about it, Master Kenobi shot a side glance at Cody and grinned. The Clone Commander blushed lightly. It was so that I could blend in easier in the 212th -he said- scratching nervously at the back of his head. It was heartwarming, the fact that -even after working together for a short while- Cody was still welcoming me into the battalion as if I'd been there the entire time.

Clone loyalty was something that had baffled me from the very beginning. Even during the first assault on Geognosis, the clones had welcomed me in as one of their own, and even after that, some of them remained my closest friends. Art, Twitch, Boost, Wolffe, and even Headfirst had shown their loyalty time and time again. Not only by saving my life and having my back, but also by showing me they cared.

Wolffe tried to keep me safe at every turn, he monitored me closer than anyone else and made sure I was level headed in the field. Art made sure not to pry every time I sat down to get tattooed. He knew the weight of those names, he never asked how many names I had left, or if I was planning to stop at some point. He made sure each stroke was precise so it didn't need going over. He never asked if I was tired of it or if I didn't think I had too many already. Twitch made sure to check on my mental health even when he wasn't assigned to watch me, he would recommend books or bands or holo shows to keep my mind entertained and away from the battlefield. Headfirst made sure to spar with me every time one of us had the time, and he insisted it was so that I wouldn't lose my touch.

And the men of the 212th were starting to warm up to me quickly too. Their loyalty to their General extended to me as well, so it took little convincing for them to acknowledge me as a part of their battalion.

They had all proved to me time and time again that they would be risking their lives for me as much as I'd been doing for them, not because it was their duty, but because they wanted to keep me alive.

I double checked that I had both my lightsaber and my Kel Dor mask before finally stepping into the hangar. I decided that -since we were going to infiltrate a laboratory- it was in my best interest to have something to help filter the air around me. I did not put it past the separatists to use biological warfare when it would clearly give their droid forces an advantage over an army of life forms. Even if blowing up the entire facility would only compromise Naboo instead of the dozens of systems they were aiming for.

After receiving further information from Naboo, Masters Kenobi and Skywalker decided that a smaller taskforce was probably better in close quarters. Master Kenobi and I would be taking a single squad made up of two teams of four. The bomb diffusing team would go in with General Kenobi, and the assault team would come with me. Master Skywalker and Ahsoka would be doing the same. The aim was to capture the lab, its resident chemist and rescue both Senator Amidala and Representative Binks without setting off any of the bombs that contained an airborne version of the Blue Shadow virus. It was a delicate operation, and the stakes were higher than ever.

My master and the rest of the squad were waiting for me aboard the LAAT/i that would take us to the surface where we would have one last briefing before storming the facility. The men were doing last minute checks on their armour integrity and weapons function as the pilot closed the blast doors and carefully started the taking off sequence. In my head I went over the plan once again and did a mental checklist on everything I had on me. Mask, check; lightsaber, check; armour, check; names of the team…

I realized I had never worked closely with any of the 212th before, and there had been no time for introductions right then, rescue missions needed to be quick. I introduced myself to the four troopers that would be working with me. Waxer, Boil, T.H. and Ginger introduced themselves in turn. they had heard a lot about me from Rex, they said. Which only made me dread what the Captain might have told them. I hoped nothing about my tendency to catch fire.

But there was no time for that now. We arrived at Theed in no time, and there was a meeting to attend. The plan was simple: Ahsoka and I would be leading our teams through one of the lab's entrances and creating a distraction so that our Masters could disarm the bombs and rescue the hostages. I was confident we could make it with minimal casualties. And even if ours was the most action packed mission, I would rather face droids than try and diffuse bombs before the virus killed us all.

As it turns out, it didn't really matter what I wanted. In war, if something could go wrong, it would. And this mission was no exception.

[constilationn]

Beautifully Broken || Part 11

A/N: Part 11!! sorry for the delay guys but I really hope you like this one!

Rating: T???

Warning: bad words, mentions of previous torture (only a tiny bit tho)

Summary: Here it is, the moment you finally take back your life. in the immortal words of Rachel Platen - this is my fight song, well, your fight song but you get my drift 

Part 10 💫

You were half way to the briefing the next morning when Finn caught your arm in the hallway and you punched him in the gut before he had time to blink. “It’s...it’s just me.” He wheezed as you winced, trying to hide the smile that pulled at your lips. “S’not funny!” 

“I’m sorry,” you chuckled, coughing a second later in a pointless attempt to hide it. “I’m sorry! Reflexes.” Finn glared at you as he cleared his throat, walking by your side to the hub of the base. “Hey, at least I’m not shaking every time someone comes near me.”

“Yeah you’re just giving them internal organ damage instead.” He nudged your shoulder playfully and you grinned. 

“Seems like I’m back to my old self then.” You laughed, turning the corner past the hangar. 

Finn nodded in agreement. “I’ve heard stories,” he admitted as you raised an eyebrow. “You sound like kind of a badass.”

You shrugged, biting down on your bottom lip. “I guess I was.” You pushed through the crowds to the sound of Leia’s voice. “Not anymore.”

“You still are.” 

You smiled at him, gratitude dancing in your eyes. He was right, you’d once been the most fearless member of the Resistance, always ready for a fight with an arsenal of sarcastic comments and smirks. You’d been Leia’s pride and joy, you’d been a poster-girl for bravery, for freedom, and to have that all taken from you by Hux and his little crew? A fire long-since forgotten finally ignited in your eyes. 

And all of a sudden you knew exactly who you were. 

 You grinned as Leia cleared her throat and the room fell silent, the last whispers dying down before she spoke. Your gaze landed on Poe, standing next to her with his hands clasped behind his back. He caught your eye and winked, smirk playing on his lips. You shook your head, cheeks dusted red as you focused back on Leia. “We have an opportunity to cause serious damage to the First Order,” she gave Poe a dry smile and he smirked. “Commander Dameron will take a team to scout the Star Killer Base and lower the defences. One they give the word, we’ll send in the air support and destroy the super weapon.”Murmurs of agreement rippled through the crowd. “Once it’s down, everyone gets out. We’re not looking for casualties.” 

“How do we lower the defences?” Finn’s voice broke through the excited chatter and you raised an eyebrow in agreement. 

“There’s a panel on the north side,” Poe explained, pulling up the schematics for the base. “It’s their only weak spot and, as far as we know, undefended.” 

“We’ll have to get there on foot, right?” You looked to Leia for conformation, met with her twinkling eyes and a smile. You nodded to yourself, “Well it’s too risky to fly in, they’ll shoot us out of the sky. Our best bet is to land close by and walk in. We can carry what we need, stay under the radar and...” you trailed off, looking up to find every single pair of eyes trained on you. Your lips curled nervously. “What?”

Poe grinned as the room burst back to life, the crowd dispersing as you pushed past people towards Leia and Poe, Finn by your side. “I told you, you’re a badass.” Finn laughed as you rolled your eyes. “Taking command of a room like that.” He raised an eyebrow and you shoved him so hard that he stumbled into Poe. 

Leia raised an eyebrow as you tried to stop laughing, biting down on your fist as your eyes watered. “You’re sure these are the two you want?”

Poe nodded. “Absolutely.”

You grinned over at him as Leia touched your arm. “Come with me.” You glanced over your shoulder as she led you away from Poe and Finn, shaking your head at their raised eyebrows.

“General?” You followed her back through the base towards her quarters, heart pounding with anticipation. No longer did your hands shake with fear, but with excitement. 

“Tell me honestly,” she turned, digging through the crate at the end of her bed. “Do you think you’re mission ready?”

No. “Yes.” You nodded feverishly. “Yes, I’m ready.”

Leia turned to the bed, unwrapping the object in her hands carefully. “I want you to take this.” Your brow furrowed as your fingertips grazed the cold metal. 

Leia held her lightsaber out towards you. 

“I can’t...” You cleared your throat as your voice broke with emotion. “I can’t take this.”

Leia’s eyes softened and she smiled. “I know you feel like you can’t do this,” your gaze fell to the lightsaber as you tried to hide you tears. ”but you can.” She touched your hand gently. “I believe in you.”

You took the lightsaber from her without a second thought. 

“Thank you, General.” 

💫

“You guys ready?” Finn blew into his hands, glancing around the darkening forest as he tossed your tool bag towards you. Your hand brushed Leia’s lightsaber, tucked safely into the holster strapped to your thigh. 

You shouldered your bag with a smirk. “Always.”

“That’s my girl.” Poe’s voice still had a way of making you weak in the knees and he winked at you as you ran your thumb along your bottom lip. Your nerves had your hands shaking and you clasped them together, knuckles white from the effort to appear calm.

Already you couldn’t feel your feet, the snow seeping through the thin soles of your boots as you trudged through the forest. You felt safe with Finn and Poe either side of you but it didn’t stop your breath trembling as you saw the Starkiller base loom over the horizon. 

“Is this...” your voice was small, hoarse, as you drew towards the edge of the tree line. “Is this where...” the words hung above the three of you and Poe lowered his head with a tiny nod.

“Yes.”  

You sucked in a harsh breath, biting the inside of your cheeks as you gave a firm nod. “Okay.” The snow crunched underfoot as you stepped forward. “Let’s go.”

You reminded yourself it didn’t matter, that you were yourself again. It was all over, the pain and the starvation and the sleepless nights. No one could hurt you anymore, you’d make sure of that. 

The three of you struggled through the snow, ducking towards the panel in an attempt to avoid the patrol lights. Snow coated your fingers and numbed your limbs as you fell against the cold metal walls of the base. Finn dug through his bag, pulling a flashlight out as Poe popped the metal lid of the panel off. You squinted, inspecting the wires as Poe took a step back and Finn held the light closer to the panel. 

“It’s all you, baby.” Poe’s fingertips brushed your shoulder as you riffled through your bag. Before Poe had taken you under his wing, you were the best technician the Resistance had ever seen. Every mechanical problem they had went through you and you had pilots begging you to look at their ships. You’d learnt from your father years before you’d joined the Resistance and, lucky for them, you’d carried the skills with you. 

Your fingers worked quickly, cutting and twisting wires with expert speed as your mind reeled. It was a standard panel and it didn’t take long until you cut the final wire, pressing the incendiary bomb into the panel and pushing Finn and Poe away as it sparked, catching fire instantly and lighting up the side of the base. 

“Let’s go! We’ve gotta go!” You pushed Poe back towards the tree line, Finn a few paces behind you as you watched the wall explode. 

You looked up, the drone of the Resistance bombers drawing closer to the base until they shot over the trees, the force of the ships arching the branches around you. You skidded to a halt, Finn crashing into you as you tried to steady yourself against a tree. Droplets of blood sizzled in the snow and you looked down to your arm, scratched and crimson. 

“You okay?” You barely heard Finn over the explosions behind you, too focused on the Resistance ships hurtling towards the ground. 

“I thought we disabled the shields!” Orange fire bloomed across the horizon, smoke curling towards the stars. You glanced around the forest, heart thundering. “Where’s Poe?” 

Finn whirled around, hand tight on his blaster. The trees around you shook with explosions, bright lights barrelling towards you and Finn pushed you into the snow, falling flat next to you as you clamped your hands over your head. The ship, your ship, disappeared above the forest and Finn’s mouth fell open. “Did he just...”

“Take our fucking ship?” You seethed, body shaking with rage. “Yes, he did.”

You sat up in the snow, cradling your arm as you leant against a tree for support. You couldn’t believe it, you couldn’t fucking believe it. Poe Dameron the hero, leaving you and Finn to fend for yourselves in a snow covered forest whilst he jumped into action, saving the day once again. You shook your head as Finn slung an arm around your shoulder. “Is this actually happening to us?”

Finn sighed, chuckling softly. “Yeah, but it seems about right.”

“Yeah,” you watched the sky bleed red and orange and yellow. “It does.”

[so-i-dont-forget-again]

So I Don’t Forget Again: A Breath of The Wild fanfiction

Entry 46: Zora’s Domain

 The Zora weapons are beautiful. Delicate looking yet powerful. The ones prepared for us appear to be made of metal but are actuality crystal. The blade of mine is made of diamond. I was also given a pair of Zora Greaves which would boost my swimming speed. The Prince showed concerns about my carrying a shield. Though my arm still hurts quite a bit, I can use it in battle! The Prince was not pleased with this considering we were going to fight in the most ferocious part of a thunderstorm. I assured him that should the arm get injured I’d fall back. Though reluctant he went along with this.

The Prince led me to the mountain and had me swim up the waterfall next to him. Once I got to the top, I shot up high into the air due to being light and due to the fact I couldn’t see at all with all that water crashing into my face. Thankfully the Prince was there to catch me. He asked how my arm was doing since it was just flailed into the air and thrashed about by the wind. Hurt but still usable. He said that if I was sure I could fight with my arm in this state then he’d believe in that too.

The Lynel is a fearsome beast and by far the toughest opponent I have faced. It’s part horse, part man, and part some other creature. It carries powerful weapons and is skilled in using them. I have no idea how, but it possesses the skills to shoot three shock arrows at the same time, and have his shots be unaffected by the wind. With pools of water strewn about due to the rain those shock arrows were even more dangerous. The Lynel’s weapons are somehow even more powerful than the Zora’s.

My best strategy was to make sure to stay in close quarters combat and not give it a chance to use it’s bow. I fought much more defensively than I normally would, and I didn’t underestimate it. I treated this as a challenge of winning the battle without getting hit once. It took a very long time, and there were more close calls than I’d like to admit, but I did it! The moment the battle was over I swiftly collected everything before it could be blown away. The Prince said I never cease to amaze him and that we should now go appease the Divine Beast as one!

I just had one last thing to do before facing Vah Ruta. Using the metal moving function of the Sheikah Slate I found a chest buried under a tree and retrieved the Zora Helmet.

The Prince led me to the peak of Shatterback Point. From there was a straight dive to where Vah Ruta was. As we were falling the Prince pointed out where exactly the orbs were. Just under the Orbs were waterfalls. The plan was for me to ride the Prince’s back as he swam and avoided any attacks from Vah Ruta, he’d then take me to the waterfalls so I could swim up them and launch myself into the air so I’d have time to shoot the orbs and lower it’s defenses enough so we could enter.

The moment we landed in the water we set the plan into action. As we started approaching Vah Ruta responded to our presence. The Prince is unstoppable and unbelievably fast in the water! He was able to avoid most of the attacks, but the Divine Beast began to hurl giant ice blocks that seemed to home in on us. The Prince was dealing with dodging the under-water attacks, so I took it upon myself to get rid of the ice blocks. One of the weapons that were prepared for me were bomb arrows, but I only had a few so I had to make my shots count. The moment the ice was gone The Prince was able to get me to a waterfall, the rest went just as planned. Each time I got back in the water after having shot one of the orbs Vah Ruta became more hostile, and it’s attacks more vicious with it. It’d lob more ice, some that even traveled along the surface of the water. Some were even in the shape of spiked spheres.

After shooting the last orb the Divine Beast stopped attacking, but instead began to rise out of the water. The Prince quickly spotted an opening, but it was already out of the water. He took a mighty leap and threw me on board. He said that everyone was counting on me. What did he mean by that!? “I came this far because of you, and I refuse to continue in any other fashion!” I swiftly leaned over the edge and held my hands out. I couldn’t see the Prince anywhere, then suddenly he burst from under the water. He was barely able to reach me, I got him to the edge and helped pull him up. He thanked me; he was devastated to think he wouldn’t be able to see this through to the end. He then asked me if my arm was alright. I hadn’t really noticed it, so I said it was better than ever.

Once we got inside, I heard a voice. Well not really hear it, more like it echoed in my mind. The Prince couldn’t hear it though. I was told directions to where a terminal was. At the terminal my Sheikah Slate got a map of the Divine Beast Vah Ruta. I was told that to take back control I’d have to activate all of the terminals with my Sheikah Slate, then go to the main control unit. The main control unit will only activate when I activate all of the terminals. Each time I unlocked a terminal she told me how many were left and whispered encouraging words. As we activated terminals, we got some control over the parts that terminal was attached too so we used that to get to other terminals.

The control unit was at the back of a wide empty room. When I placed the Sheikah Slate on its control panel, darkness exploded from it throwing me across the room. It then formed into a creature straight from a nightmare. This thing is what killed Mipha. The room was locked, there was no escape. Like a Guardian it had that small eerie blue glowing eye. It even had the tiny red light which would track you. It almost appeared as if it wore a mask in which the blue eye was adorn. No matter how we fought it seemed to not take any damage. It’s body seemed as if it were made of mist. We quickly began our attack on the only solid piece of the creature, it’s mask. After breaking off a part of the mask the thing created an ear-piercing screech. In that moment when I shot it I managed to hit the eye which caused it to go into a frenzy. It crashed into the walls and flooded the room. I immediately got on the Prince’s back. Like Vah Ruta, it summoned blocks of ice as weapons. As soon as there was an opening the Prince leaped towards it giving me the opportunity to plunge my sword deep into its eye breaking the mask. It howled, it writhed, it attacked, it collapsed. The mist burst into purple flames then dissipated into nothing. The water drained, and the mist surrounding the control unit dissipated.

The Prince and I checked to see if either of us had any substantial injuries. After we were both satisfied, we approached the control unit. I placed the Sheikah Slate on the control’s panel, gaining control and restoring peace to Vah Ruta.

I heard her. Not in my head this time. I flipped around and saw her. She said because of my courage her spirit was freed as well as Ruta. She thanked me. She stood there and smiled. Her only hope was to see me again. Knowing I’m safe and that I survived she is now able to rest in peace. This was goodbye, her and Ruta had to go and fulfill their duty. We’ll annihilate the Calamity together. Then she left.

I awoke atop the Prince. He was floating on the water, his belly up. He was relieved to see me awake. Moments after I placed the Sheikah Slate on the control panel again I collapsed. The Divine Beast began to move, not knowing what else we could do the Prince took me and the Slate and leaped into the water. The Divine Beast marched up the mountain. It took position and it aimed a bright red light towards the blackened castle.

There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. The warm sun with the cool water felt refreshing. The Domain is stunning when you can actually see it. Though it’s land it almost looks like an underwater paradise. The Prince was pleased to see my reaction to his kingdom. He lazily floated on the water’s surface for a while. It was a much needed reprieve from the intense battling and the literal storm we had just gone through. Though this peace couldn’t last forever.

We made our way back to the castle to give the King the good news. Everyone greeted us with nothing but cheers. They even followed us into the throne room. The King said he was awaiting our return. He and everyone else were grateful for what we had done. Muzu even apologized for his treatment of me and said he’d be overjoyed if I could forgive him, even if it were to happen in the far future. The King said that we must be rewarded. A banquet is being prepared in our honor. I’m planning on wearing my full Zora armor set since it’s the nicest clothing I own. The Prince wants to talk to me about something, but once he saw I was writing he said it could wait for later. So, I’m going to see what he wants now.

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Episode Reviews - Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 4 (2 of 6)

Again, this is bit later in being posted than I’d planned, but here’s my second round of episode reviews for season 4 of Stark Trek: The Next Generation.

Episode 6: Legacy

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

The Enterprise, responds to a distress call from the Federation freighter Arcos, which has suffered engine failure and taken emergency orbit around the planet Turkana IV, the birthplace of the Enterprise's late chief of security, Tasha Yar. The Enterprise arrives just as the Arcos explodes, and finds a trail left behind by the freighter's escape pod leading to the colony. Turkana IV's government collapsed 15 years before; and the last Federation ship to visit, six years earlier, was warned by the colony's warring factions that trespassers to the planet would be executed. Because the freighter crew's lives are in danger, Captain Picard decides to attempt a rescue.

 Commander Riker leads an away team to the surface, where they find the colonists initially unperturbed by their presence, but soon end up in a standoff with one of the colony's two remaining warring factions, the Coalition. Their leader, Hayne, reveals that the other faction, the Alliance, holds the Arcos survivors hostage, and offers the Enterprise the Coalition's support in exchange for Federation weapons, a proposal that Riker rejects. Hayne, however, after learning of Tasha Yar's service aboard the Enterprise, instead offers as a liaison Ishara Yar, claiming she is Tasha's sister. Picard accepts Ishara aboard; although the crew is initially skeptical, DNA tests support her claim, and she gradually gains their trust. Commander Data, who was especially close to Tasha, becomes friends with Ishara, who seems ready to leave behind her life in the colony.

 To find the hostages, Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge suggests using the crashed escape pod's instruments; Ishara recommends that she beam separately to a nearby location as a distraction, because her implanted proximity device will set off the Alliance's alarms. The crew executes the plan, but Ishara is wounded in the attempt. Riker rescues her, and is impressed by her bravery. Later, Ishara privately tells Hayne "It's working."

 When the Enterprise receives a message from the Alliance announcing that they are preparing to kill the Arcos crew, Picard's crew decides to execute Ishara's proposed rescue plan: Dr Crusher removes Ishara's proximity device, which she gives to Data as a memento. Riker leads an away team to the planet, where they rescue the hostages, but Ishara disappears in the confusion. Data finds her trying to disable the Alliance security grid; Ishara reveals that a large Coalition force is just outside the Alliance perimeter waiting to attack. Data concludes that all her interaction with the crew was a ploy. Riker arrives to distract Ishara just as she fires at Data, who dodges and then stuns her and reverses her attempted sabotage. Riker notes that her phaser was set to kill.

 With the away team and Ishara back aboard the Enterprise, Hayne demands that Picard return Ishara and challenges his jurisdiction. While Riker argues that they have cause to hold her for firing on two Starfleet officers, Picard decides to allow her to leave. As Data escorts her to the transporter room, Ishara claims he was the closest thing she had to a friend. Data considers his relationships with both Ishara and Tasha, as the Enterprise departs. Data then discusses the recent events with Riker; while Riker states that trust always carries the risk of betrayal, and that that risk has be taken to have friendships, Data suggests he is lucky to be spared the emotional effects of betrayal.  However, as Data leaves Riker’s quarters, he finds himself still carrying Ishara’s proximity device.

Review:

When it comes to get posthumous mileage out of the late Tasha Yar, I think this is the best effort TNG has offered us so far. Discounting minor allusions in episodes like ‘The Measure of a Man’ and ‘The Most Toys’, the only other episode prior to this to really try and utilise Tasha again was the over-rated ‘Yesterday’s Enterprise’, and that was just trying to re-do her death a bit better. This time, however, we get to see something of where Tasha came from and explore her in a more interesting way by having her crew-mates interact with her former home-world and her sister.  There is also some allegory to gang violence and gang culture in the episode, but with Tasha’s sister Ishara being involved and having a connection of sorts with Data, that allegory is largely missed behind an inadvertent plot point that the episode brings up.

 As I’ve noted in the previous TNG reviews I’ve posted, Data is often a metaphor for many aspects of autism, and the way he above all others is deceived by Ishara in the episode is an inadvertent, ahead-of-its-time allegory of mate crime.  For anyone unfamiliar with that term, mate crime involves the offender pretending to be someone’s friend in order to set up that friend to be injured in some way. This can vary from being lured into a physical ambush to being set up to take the blame for something the victim hasn’t actually done.  It often depends on the victim of this mate crime not having a full grasp of friendship and/or deceit, so people on the autistic spectrum and with other mental frameworks that make this difficult are heavily affected by it.

 This being the case, one can easily see in Ishara Yar the exact kind of person who would commit such an offence in real life; selfish, ruthless and with no real regard for others.  What she does to Data is every bit as heinous as any mate crime committed against an autistic person in the real world.  It is inexcusable, and frankly I think Picard should have locked her up instead of letting her go.  Nothing justifies her being let go at the end of the episode; not being Tasha’s sister, not the crew wanting to see something of Tasha in her, nothing. Honestly, I was hoping for a transporter accident to kill her when she was beamed back down at the end.  Overall score for this episode, 9 out of 10; a transporter death some other suitable retribution on Ishara would have netted this episode top marks.

Episode 7: Reunion

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

The Enterprise is met by a Klingon Vor'cha class battlecruiser, and Ambassador K'Ehleyr requests to speak to Captain Picard on an "urgent matter". When she beams aboard, she brings a young Klingon boy; based on his previous romantic experience with K'Ehleyr, Lt. Worf suspects the child is his son. K'Ehleyr warns the senior staff of a power struggle occurring within the Klingon Empire and implores Picard to meet Chancellor K'mpec aboard the battlecruiser. On the Klingon ship, K'mpec acknowledges that he has been poisoned and is slowly dying, and insists that Picard become the Arbiter of Succession and identify his assassin. K'mpec dies shortly afterward. In a private moment, K'Ehleyr confirms to Worf that the Klingon boy is his son, Alexander, and she did not tell Worf for fear he would try to have a deeper relationship with her; Worf, already burdened by his discommendation, fears for Alexander's future, given the stigma of his family name.

 The two challengers for leadership of the council, Gowron and Duras, arrive for the Rites of Succession. Worf still harbors hatred for Duras, who had (falsely) revealed Worf's father, Mogh, as a traitor in the Khitomer massacre and stained Worf's family name. Both Gowron and Duras attempt to quickly end the proceeding, but a small explosion erupts in the assembly hall. Picard and K'Ehleyr are safe but decide to draw out the Rites using an archaic ceremony while the Enterprise crew perform a forensic analysis on the explosion. Though both resent the longer form, Gowron and Duras have little choice but to agree to continue the Rites.

 The Enterprise crew discover that the explosion came from a Romulan bomb implanted in the arm of one of Duras's guards. K'Ehleyr, aboard the Enterprise, has become intrigued and tries to find out why Worf was discommended. She accesses the Klingon records, and comes across evidence of Duras's father being the true traitor in the Khitomer massacre. Duras, notified of K'Ehleyr's access to the records and already aboard the Enterprise, goes to K’Ehley’s quarters and mortally wounds her. Worf soon discovers K'Ehleyr, dying, just in time for her to reveal that Duras is her killer; then she has Worf promise to look after Alexander. Returning to his quarters, Worf grabs a bat'leth, leaves his combadge behind, and transports to Duras's ship. There he challenges Duras to the Right of Vengeance. Initially, Duras rebuffs Worf, claiming that his traitor status denies him any rights, but Worf declares K'Ehleyr was his mate; since even discommendated Klingons may claim vengeance for a loved one's death, Duras accepts Worf's challenge. Worf easily gains the upper hand, but Duras taunts him; if Worf kills Duras, Worf can never regain his honor. Worf nonetheless strikes the killing blow. With Duras dead and no other challengers present, Gowron is presumably named Chancellor of the Empire.

 After the Klingons leave, Picard takes Worf to task for killing Duras. Though Worf defends his actions as valid under Klingon law (as does the Klingon government), Picard reminds him he is first of all a Starfleet officer and places a formal reprimand on Worf's record. Worf and Alexander mourn their loss, and Worf places the boy in the care of his own adoptive parents, Sergey and Helena Rozhenko, finally admitting to Alexander himself that they are related.

Review:

The first appearances of the Vor’cha class Klingon battleship, the Bat’leth, Gowron and Alexander, plus a combined follow-up on both ‘The Emissary’ and ‘Sins of the Father’.  This episode has not only huge impact on this series and the wider Trek franchise with all that it does, but it’s also very well-performed and, unlike the previous episode, the villain of the piece gets immediate comeuppance. There are numerous occasions up to now where Trek has been a bit too willing to let their villains off a little too easily, so it was good to see Duras finally go down, and to do so in proper Klingon style.

 Now I know some fans were disappointed, upset, even out-raged that K’Ehlyer gets killed off because they all loved the character so much, and some even thought it was a bit sexist of the show to kill such a strong, independent female character on only her second time out. However, let’s put this in a bit of context; first, K’Ehlyer is one of three named characters to die in this episode, the other two of whom are Klingon blokes.  This means that actually it’s not all that sexist because the episode’s body-count, and I believe that of TNG in general up to this point, favours male guest characters for croaking in tried-and-true red-shirt tradition.

 Second, if K’Ehlyer doesn’t die, Worf has no reason to go blade-to-blade with Duras and ultimately bury his Bat’leth in the petaQ’s chest.  K’mpec’s death is hardly going to justify Worf going to such lengths, and I don’t think violent child death would ever be acceptable within the world of Trek. Third, you’re supposed to be upset and out-raged over K’Ehyler’s death, and you’re supposed to direct those emotions the same way Worf does; at Duras.  The idea is to be rooting for Worf, to cast aside the normally high, often too liberal sensibility of the Federation ideology and be rooting for Duras to get slaughtered.  It’s fine to have a visceral reaction this time round; just focus it on the guest character where it belongs.

 My one issue with this episode is Picard’s speech to Worf in reprimanding him for acting against Star Fleet’s code of conduct, or more specifically the line “If anyone cannot perform his or her duty because of the demands of their society, they should resign.” Taken out of the context and applied to real-life military organisations in societies that are highly backwards in their standards of tolerance, this line seems to imply a condoning of societal demands that impede inclusion.  After all, if a society frowns upon certain groups of people serving in a military organisation and makes the life of anyone from those groups who tries to serve harder, Picard’s line could be used to justify forcing that person out of the military.  Frankly, the idea that people have to ‘leave their culture at the door’ seems totally anti-Star Trek.  What’s next, asking Deanna to leave her empathic powers in her quarters? Overall, this episode nets 9 out of 10 for me; Picard’s backwards line robs the episode of top marks.

Episode 8: Future Imperfect

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

Commander Riker's birthday celebration is interrupted as he, Geordi La Forge, and Worf are sent down to a huge cavern on Alpha Onias III, an uninhabited Class M planet, to investigate unusual readings. After their arrival, the cavern suddenly fills with toxic gases, and the three officers fall unconscious.

 Riker awakens in sick bay to find that sixteen years have passed. He is now Captain of the Enterprise with Data as his first officer, and Picard has been promoted to admiral, with Deanna Troi serving as his aide. Riker cannot remember any event after the Alpha Onias III mission, which Doctor Crusher explains is a side effect of a viral infection he contracted on the planet, and his memories of the intervening events may or may not return in time.

 Riker learns that he was married, is now widowed, and has a son named Jean-Luc (named after Picard). He is further startled when Tomalak, a Romulan commander who was formerly an archenemy of the Enterprise but is now an ambassador, beams onto the ship to negotiate a peace treaty with the Federation. Despite Picard's reassurances, Riker is hesitant to reveal sensitive Starfleet information in negotiating the treaty.

 As Riker struggles to adjust to his new life, numerous inconsistencies arise. The Enterprise computer is uncharacteristically slow, numerous systems experience minor technical glitches, and Geordi is unable to correct the problems. Finally, Riker discovers that his late wife "Min" is Minuet, a fictional holodeck character he fell in love with (in the first season episode "11001001"). Riker realizes that the entire "future" he has been experiencing is a charade and confronts Picard and Tomalak on the Enterprise bridge, with more inconsistencies arising as he does so, proving his suspicions. Suddenly, the false future fades away, revealing a Romulan holodeck. Commander Tomalak is revealed to be behind the simulation, the object of which was to trick Riker into giving away the location of a key Federation outpost. The Romulans, Tomalak explains, were fooled by the intensity of Riker's memories of Minuet and had incorporated her into their fantasy on the assumption that she was real.

 Riker is put in a holding area, where he meets the boy whose image the Romulans had used to create his "son". The boy identifies himself as "Ethan". Together, they manage to escape and briefly elude their Romulan guards. However, as the two are hiding from their pursuers, Ethan inadvertently refers to Tomalak as "Ambassador", instead of "Commander". Riker realizes that he is still in a simulation; confronting Ethan over it, he demands that the game end immediately and that he be allowed to leave.

 Everything disappears once more, leaving only Riker and Ethan back in the cavern on Alpha Onias III. Riker is then able to contact the ship and learns that Worf and La Forge had beamed up without incident, but the Enterprise was unable to locate him. After Riker advises the captain that he will presently report back after learning more about his situation, Ethan confesses that he had created the simulations, using sophisticated scanners to read his mind and create the "reality" they experienced. Ethan's planet had been attacked and his people killed; his mother had hidden him in the cavern for his own safety, with all the simulation equipment, before she died; and Ethan, all alone, had been yearning for real companionship. Realizing Ethan's intentions were not hostile, Riker offers him refuge on the Enterprise. Ethan accepts Riker's offer and after Ethan reveals his true form as a grey alien named Barash, the two beam up to the ship.

Review:

This episode is interesting to start off with; alternate timelines/futures can often be quite fun, and according to Memory Alpha’s page on this episode we also get some uncanny prescience in many of the predictions this episode makes, which would become apparent in later episodes, films and series within the world of Trek.  It also very cleverly distinguishes itself from ‘Remember Me’ earlier in this season by having the alternate realities that Riker experiences nested within each other, as opposed to Beverly’s scenario where it was just the one alternate reality.  However, once the second layer of deception gets revealed, I became a little disappointed.

 Why is this?  Well to be honest, I don’t like episodes that try to play on a character’s sense of reality part-way through a TV show that has long since established what its reality is.  It can work by implying an alternate future and memory loss as this episode initially does, but the number of illusions need to be left at one and not keep going. I’d rather the rest of the episode been a straight-up action-adventure where Riker has to escape the Romulans with the aid of the Enterprise crew, possibly with some interrogation room dialogue between Riker and Tomalak beforehand as a means for Riker to play his captor, stall for time, whatever.

 As it is, the ending ends up feeling like a cliché of Star Trek rather than anything truly Trek-oriented.  Certainly there’s no deeper issue exploration or major character development in Riker himself.  Overall, it’s really just a bit of a filler episode when taken on balance. I give it about 7 out of 10.

Episode 9: Final Mission

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

The Enterprise has travelled to the Pentarus system where Captain Picard must mediate a dispute among some miners on the fifth planet. Wesley Crusher receives word that he has been accepted to Starfleet Academy and, for his final mission on the Enterprise, he will accompany Picard on his shuttle trip to Pentarus V. A distress call comes in from Gamilon V, where an unidentified vessel has entered orbit and is giving off lethal doses of radiation. Picard orders Commander Riker to take the Enterprise to resolve that situation while he and Wesley travel in a shuttle sent by the miners, commanded by Captain Dirgo.

 En route, Dirgo's shuttle malfunctions and they are forced to crash-land on the surface of a harsh, desert-like moon. Though they are unharmed, the shuttle is beyond repair, and its communication systems and food replicators are disabled. Dirgo admits he has no emergency supplies on board, so they are forced to search for shelter and water. With his tricorder, Wesley identifies some caves and a potential source of water some distance away, and the three set out across the desert. Reaching a cave, they find a fountain-like water source, but it is protected by a crystalline force field. Dirgo attempts to use a phaser to destroy the field, but this activates a burst of energy from the fountain which encases the phaser in an impenetrable shell and causes a rock slide; Picard pushes Wesley out of the way but is severely injured in doing so.

 Meanwhile, the Enterprise has arrived at Gamilon V, finding the unidentified ship is an abandoned garbage scow filled with radioactive waste. Their initial attempt to attach thrusters to the barge to propel it remotely through an asteroid belt into the Gamilon sun fails, and Riker is forced to attempt to tow the barge themselves using the tractor beam, exposing the crew to the lethal radiation.

 As Wesley continues to analyse the forcefield, Dirgo becomes impatient and attempts to breach the field again, but this time the energy burst encases him as well, killing him. Picard, weak from his injuries, gives Wesley advice about the academy, and tells him he is proud of him. Wesley refuses to give up. Meanwhile, the Enterprise, despite the rising radiation levels on board, manages to get the barge through the asteroid belt and on course into the sun. The Enterprise then speeds off to help in the search for the shuttle.

 Wesley continues to study the fountain, and devises a plan to disable the force field. He fires his phaser at the fountain to attract the energy defence mechanism, then uses his tricorder to disable the mechanism and is finally able to access the water.

 Shortly thereafter, the Enterprise locates the wreckage of the mining shuttle, and Picard and Wesley are rescued. As Picard is carried from the cave, he tells Wesley that he will be missed.

Review:

It’s with this episode that Wil Wheaton finally left TNG as a main cast member in an effort to try and expand his acting career, and given how poorly his character of Wesley Crusher was written in many episodes, it’s not unreasonable or a bad idea that he did so.  After all, Wesley had to get off the Enterprise at some point if he was ever going to attend Star Fleet Academy, and you couldn’t do the show that TNG was if it was all about Star Fleet characters on Earth.  That said, a spin-off about Star Fleet Academy might have been an interesting thing to see.  In any event, this episode is better than most Wesley-centric plots and features a bit of coming-of-age narrative within the story.  However, it has a few bits of less-than-stellar dialogue-writing for Wesley in some of the earlier scenes (Wesley coming onto the bridge and the argument with Dirgo by the crashed shuttle being key examples).

 The b-plot makes for an ok diversion, but part of me wonders why it took the Enterprise so long with that waste barge.  I mean space is three-dimensional and the asteroid belt looked to only be at a certain height, relatively speaking.  I therefore fail to see why the Enterprise couldn’t have pulled the barge above the ‘top’ of the asteroid belt, while keeping it on course for the nearby sun (which, being circular and massive, the barge would easily hit even going over the asteroids and not through them).  If there’s one thing I really hate, it’s stories where people go through an obstacle instead of round when the only reason to go through is because the story is too short otherwise.  Honestly, it’s just as well Wesley gets to return as a guest character a few times after this because it’s not a great episode for him to go out on.  I give this one a score of 6 out of 10.

Episode 10: The Loss

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

Traveling through deep space, the Enterprise stops to investigate an odd phenomenon of phantom sensor readings. Meanwhile, ship's counsellor Deanna Troi experiences pain and loses consciousness as her empathic abilities suddenly cease to work.

 The crew discovers they cannot resume course, as the Enterprise is caught up in a group of two-dimensional lifeforms.

 Without her powers, Troi suffers a tremendous sense of loss, and goes through several classic psychological stages, including denial, fear and anger. Ultimately, despite the reassurances of her friends, she resigns as ship's counsellor, believing that without her empathic abilities she cannot perform her duties.

 Lt. Commander Data determines that the two-dimensional creatures are heading for a cosmic string, with the Enterprise in tow, and that once they reach the string the ship will be torn apart. Noting that Troi's training makes her the most qualified to assist, Captain Picard pleads with her to try and aid Data in communicating with the strange creatures.

 After attempting to warn the creatures of the danger posed by the cosmic string, Troi posits that they are seeking out the cosmic string in much the way a moth is drawn to a flame. Working from this hypothesis, Data and Lt. Commander La Forge simulate the vibration of a cosmic string, using the deflector dish at a position well behind the Enterprise. The simulations eventually cause the creatures to briefly reverse their course, breaking their momentum long enough to allow the Enterprise to break free.

 Freed from the two-dimensional creatures' influence, Troi's empathic ability is restored. She discovers that her powers were never lost, but were instead overwhelmed by the two-dimensional creatures' strong emotions. Troi returns to her old job with a renewed confidence.

Review:

I get that this episode is Next Generation trying to identify with what people who suddenly become differently abled go through when they lose their regularly abled status, and it’s a sound idea in theory. In practice, it’s ruined because they put it across through Troi spending most of the episode being a whiney cry-baby about it.  I mean ok, granted, as someone who has been differently abled all their life and who has been aware of that from a very young age, I don’t easily empathise with those who end up differently abled later in life.  More often than not, they’ve had experiences and opportunities that someone like me has never had, and for that matter may never have.  For instance, having to go to schools away from where I lived means I’ve never been able to grow up with friends I could met outside of school or walk to school with, and being an adult now I can never have that childhood experience everyone else takes from granted.

 Moreover, in the episode ‘Tin Man’ Troi notes that Betazoids are born with their telepathic abilities inactive in the vast majority of cases and develop them during their adolescence, so having her lose her empathic powers doesn’t warrant this level of response.  She’s only been psychic since she was a teen, for crying out loud, and it’s an extra sense rather than one of the five ‘core’ senses most humans/humanoids have by default.  The level of wigging out she experiences would have been far more appropriate if she’d been blinded or deafened, and speaking of the former, why was Geordi not among those who spoke to Deanna about what she was going through?  The one time another member of the TNG main crew loses a sense and you don’t have them compare notes with the one TNG main crew member who was born one sense down on everyone else?  Talk about a ludicrously squandered opportunity.

 Frankly, this episode is a howler of such dire magnitude that it feels like we’ve stepped into a time machine back to the first season.  Frankly, I’d sooner go for any Marvel lore featuring Daredevil or the M*A*S*H episode “Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind” for a good sensory loss story than watch this shipwreck of an episode again.  3 out of 10 here, and that’s mostly for Guinan; it’s amazing how good Whoopi Goldberg can be at making even the worst episodes worth something.