#how we never see chris further explain anything to Jake

[antiibow-a]

I think people make it too easy to forget Sheva sometimes because ?? Crapcom never has Chris mention her. I just think it's a shame: wouldn't it be difficult to forget someone who helped you kill your literal arch nemesis and rescue your bestfriend and long standing partner from a unit where almost every other member is dead?

That being said, it's also kinda odd that they don't reference Albert Wesker's demise passed re6 like he wasn't the biggest and most long-standing villain the franchise ever had LMAO.

[what-is-your-plan-today]

Riding High Ch 17: Welcome To Miami

Chapter Summary: Frank, Fliss and the Circle Of Truth take a Road Trip….

Chapter Warnings: Bad Language words. SMUT (NSFW) No under 18s!!!

Chapter Pairings:  Frank Adler x OFC Fliss Gallagher

A/N: As always, gotta thank @icanfeelastormbrewing for her help and suggestions with this!

Chapter Song:   Live Forever by Oasis

Series Masterlist  // Main Masterlist 

Maybe you're the same as me, we see things they'll never see, you and I are gonna live forever

June 2018

“How’s Fliss?” Gregg asked as Frank leaned back in his chair, hand curled round his bottle of beer. 

Frank looked at his friend and took a deep breath “She says she’s ok. I think it’s the waiting that’s the worst. Knowing the board’s been held is one thing, not knowing the outcome….” “I know it’s hard and easy for me to say this but…well, even if he gets out he won’t be allowed anywhere near her. As I explained to her likely hood is he’ll be tagged and on a curfew and movements restricted to the state of Mass.” Gregg took a sip of his drink “And if it isn’t done automatically, through the appeal process I can file for further restrictions as well around him contacting her in any way, shape or form…but I’d be surprised if that isn’t a condition.”

“I know.” Frank said, “And she gets that…I think it’s more anger about the whole thing now you know?” “It sucks.” Gregg nodded “He spent so long abusing her and he’s still managing to do it in a way through all this.” Frank raised his eyebrows and took a drink of his beer, nodding to Jake and Simon as they approached their table.

“I know I don’t need to ask but…” Frank started but Gregg raised a hand.

“You’re right, you don’t.” he said, understanding immediately that Frank was asking him to keep quiet, and he nodded as their two friends arrived at the table. After the greetings they all settled down reaching for a beer from the bucket that sat in the middle of them all, the conversation easy. Frank was happy to see the boys, he hadn’t in a few weeks so he’d grabbed the opportunity for a few beers happily, Fliss and Mary practically shoving him out of the door as they had some girly night in planned with Roberta consisting of popcorn, pizza, facemasks and a Marvel DVD, Fliss and Roberta assuring him whole heartedly they were watching it because it was a good film and not merely to perve on Chris Hemsworth or Evans or whoever the hell the Chris was in this particular one.

Whatever, sweetheart.

“So…” Simon said, looking around the table “Are we still on for a weekend somewhere? 22nd to 24th June?”

They all made noises, and Frank nodded. “Schedules cleared, baby sitter lined up…we just need to decide where we’re going.”

“Well, I got something to suggest to y’all…” Jake grinned “Greg already knows about this, but basically, the Company we’re doing the promotional work for has offered us up to 10 each for the Miami Rocks Concert which runs that weekend....so if you’re interested.”

“Rock music?” Simon looked at him, and Jake shook his head. 

“Not just rock.” he said, leaning forward “It’s a combination of tribute acts and the real deal…and there’s different stages each with a different genre, and the main stage which contains the big acts.” “Ok, I’m interested…” Frank leaned forward.

“So the Friday night is a rewind to the 70s, 80s and 90s… headlined by none other than Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, Mr Will Smith himself…” Frank let out a snort and looked at Simon who had started bopping in his seat, clicking his fingers.

“That finishes about midnight and then Saturday is the big one. You got 5 Seconds of Summer, George Ezra and Liam Gallagher from Oasis headlining that night.” Jake continued “The other stages rage from all sorts. Mo-Town, Indie, Chart, Reggae…and then there’s a party after which continues until early hours, run by Hot Dub Time Machine.”

“Shut the front door!” Simon snorted “Hot Dub?”

Jake nodded.

“Dude I saw him one New Year’s Eve in New York a few years ago.” Simon said “He was brilliant!”

Frank sat and listened as his friends started to discuss the concert in more detail. He had to admit, it sounded like a pretty good idea, and just the distraction Fliss could do with.

“Hate to be the voice of logic…” Simon said. “But if it’s only like three weeks off, wont’ we have trouble getting hotel rooms?”

“Fuck that, I’ll sleep on the back of the truck.” Frank said, causing the rest of them to laugh. “No need Frankie-boi, I work for the Hyatt Group man.” Jake shook his head “Three rooms already reserved out in the Regency, about 10 minutes’ walk if that from Bayfront Park where the concert is…just in case you fancied it. $100 a room for 2 nights, including a late checkout on the Sunday coz, well, we’re gonna need it.”

“Three?” Frank frowned.

“You and Fliss, Simon and Bonnie, and Me and Greg…” “What about Zara and Lisa?” he frowned “I thought this was a couple’s thing, not a boys weekend away…”

“Well it was going to be…” Greg shrugged “But Zara’s away with the kids that weekend, decided to go back to California as her sister is being taken in for a C-section, and of course she has to be there…”

“And it’s Lisa’s idea of hell…” Jake supplied.

“So why don’t we re-arrange?” Simon asked.

“Fuck that!” Jake snorted “I’m got a child and fiancée free pass for the weekend.” “Amen brother!” Gregg hi-fived him.

“But you two can bring your girls, no problem…they’re cool” Jake gestured between Frank and Simon with his beer bottle. “Thanks for your permission…” Frank raised an eyebrow.

****

Naturally, Fliss was over the moon with the promise of a music festival, especially when she looked up the acts that were on. So, when the Friday in question rolled around, after dropping Mary at school, with strict instructions she was to behave herself as Frank WOULD be checking, they set off in Fliss’ jeep, Frank driving as she lounged in the passenger seat, eyes hidden by her aviators, hair pulled into a loose side pony tail as they made the four hour down the coast and across state to Florida, stopping half way for some food at a roadside diner.

Given that Simon and Bonnie weren’t due to arrive until just gone 5 ish, Bonnie having to finish the morning’s classes before she could leave and that Jake and Greg were here having come down the night before, when they had checked in they decided to freshen up and go for a walk, Fliss eager to hit Lincoln Road Mall. They spent a few hours just walking and looking in the shops, eventually finding a Pandora one which Fliss headed into wanting a new charm for her bracelet as a memory of the weekend. She paced the shop eventually settling for a silver palm tree with a small diamond in the middle of the trunk and Frank batted her hand down when she went to pay, instead producing his card. The usual argument about who was paying ensued, which eventually Frank won by telling Fliss that he wanted to be the one that filled that bracelet for her, and she relented, smiling softly. Frank didn’t miss the relieved look on the shop assistant’s face as she finally waved the out of the store.

They met Jake and Greg in a bar not far from the hotel, and they were joined by Bonnie and Simon for a drink before the two girls announced they were heading off to get changed and ready for the evening.  Frank left it until about 20 minutes before he needed to be ready and headed up to their room, pulling on one of his infamous hideous Hawaiian shirts which he had brought especially. Fliss looked at him, shaking her head with a fond smile on her face as he innocently asked her what the problem was. She laughed and told him nothing at all, before she gave him a kiss and they headed down to meet the others.

The walk down to the Park took them 10 minutes. Fliss was walking slightly ahead with Bonnie, her braid swinging down her back, gently brushing against the yellow off the shoulder top she was wearing. Her bottom half was dressed in denim shorts, a pair of pink converse boots on her feet. She’d certainly embraced the Festival Vibe, opting for bright colours in honour of the fact they were heading back musically a few decades. They arrived and joined the queue to exchange their tickets for wrists bands which took them about 15 minutes, and then they joined the lines to get through the main gates. That didn’t take long at all and once they were through they followed the crowd before Greg stopped, and looked around.

“We get split up…” “We all got phones!” Jake snorted “What are you, 50?”

“Sorry, force of habit with the kids…” Greg let out a groan as everyone laughed.

“So the main stage is that way…” Jake said, pointing to his left “Right at the back. DJ stage is there, and the other stages are dotted about…anyone got any preference on where we go?” “Other than Will Smith I really wanna to go the 80s stage!” Fliss grinned and Bonnie Hi-Fived her.

“Yeah we got some Duran Duran to dance to.” she agreed. “And Erasure.”

“And Wham.” “And Culture Club….” “Yeah, we get the picture…” Simon rolled his eyes.

“Oh and I want to see the Queen and AC/DC tributes.” Fliss finished.

“Anything else?” Frank looked at her.

“Beer.” she nodded “We need beer.”

“Well we need tokens.” Jake said, “No cash at the bar, tokens only so…the tent is over there…”

They all set off, Fliss and Bonnie hanging behind chatting away, but it wasn’t long before their chatter died down and Frank turned to see that, actually, it hadn’t died down, they’d disappeared. “Where the hell are the girls?”  Simon asked, looking round as he realised they were missing.

“Knowing Fliss in some tent getting her face painted…” Frank paused, turning on the spot before he spotted them. Fliss was stood as Bonnie was sat on a stool, having some sort of Festival glitter painted around her temple and eye socket. “Yup, there you go…” Simon followed his gaze and snorted. “Fucking hell…what are they, 8?” “Leave ‘em be.” Frank said fondly “Come on, let’s go get the drinks sorted.”

He waved at Fliss, before pointing to where they were going and she gave him a thumbs up to show she understood, before Bonnie stood up and she sat down. Frank smiled at her face as it lit up and he headed off after Simon.

By the time they had gotten the tokens and ordered beers for them all, the girls still hadn’t joined them, and it didn’t take long to realise why. They were both in a tent which contained 2 electronic dance mats, right in the middle of a very energetic dance off.

“It’s like having a pair of kids…” Simon mumbled the boys stood by the entrance to the tent whilst Frank simply grinned. As they watched Bonnie made a mistake, the mat flashed red, and then another one, before Fliss made one too. The two girls’ foot work was ridiculously fast as the song gathered pace and finally the routine ended. Fliss grinned and hi-fived Bonnie as their scores flashed up, Fliss winning by 60 points.

“Yesss!” she grinned punching the air as Bonnie shook her head and the man handed them both some really tacky bright pink beaded necklaces for taking part.

“Re-match…” Bonnie said, looking at Fliss as they both dropped the necklaces over their heads.

“Maybe later, I’m fucked now…” Fliss said, bending over, hands on her knees as she drew her breath “I need a drink!”

She turned and saw the boys in the doorway, Frank raised an eyebrow and held up the beer and she grinned.

“I knew I bought you for something.” He rolled his eyes and then Greg suggested they head off to the first stage for the start of the 80s Tribute acts. They only intended to stay for a short while but Fliss begged Frank to stay longer, and was backed up by Bonnie as the Duran-Duran band came on. Fliss told Frank if he wanted to go and meet up later he could, but truth be told he didn’t want to. This was as much a weekend for him and her as it was for him and his friends, so with that in mind Simon and Frank both decided to stay with the girls and that they would find the others later.

And Frank was glad of his decision, as about 20 minutes later, when Hungry Like the Wolf started to play, Fliss was bouncing around like a lunatic. He knew it was one of her favourite songs, and seeing her cutting loose was making him a little horny if truth be told. He moved up behind her and grabbed her hips, swaying with her in time to the music as he dropped a kiss to her shoulder, gently singing along as she danced in front of him, occasionally brushing up against the front of his shorts, which was doing nothing to help his current situation.

“Someone’s definitely on the hunt down…” she teased, pushing her ass back into his crotch whilst she turned her head to face him as the song morphed into Rio. He grinned and gave her a kiss.

“Not hunting, I already got you.” “Hmm, yeah you did…” she murmured against his lips.

The continued dancing with one another, Simon and Bonnie doing the same before the 4 of them all decided they were ready for another drink. As fate would have it, they found Greg and Jake already at the bar. They muscled their way in, grabbed another beer and then all turned to head towards one of the tall, standing tables which were dotted around not far from the bar. Frank waited for Fliss as she had ordered a bottle of water too, and the guy serving had forgotten it. When he came back, apologising, Fliss waved him off and thanked him as Frank picked the bottle up and stuck it in his pocket. He reached for Fliss’ hand, and they were making their way over to their friends when suddenly he felt Fliss yell out and she stopped dead. He turned to face her, seeing someone had bumped into her and her beer had spilt all down her top.

“Hey, come on man…” Frank looked at the guy as Fliss pulled her hand out of his to wipe at her top “Be careful huh…” But the man wasn’t looking at him, his eyes were fixed completely on Fliss. “Yes, wouldn’t want an accident now would we, Felicity?” At the sound of her full name Frank instantly knew this had to be someone to do with her ex-husband and he reached out for Fliss as he saw her stiffen and slowly she raised her head to look at the man, her eyes widening and she swallowed.

“Richard.” she spoke softly.

“Fancy seeing you here. Must be nice to be free to do what you want.” “Yeah, well, making up for lost time I suppose…” she said, “I didn’t exactly get a lot of chance to have fun when your brother was beating the shit out of me.”

Her chin raised a little defiantly and Frank felt a surge of pride as she stood up for herself, the anger evident on her face.

“You’re a fucking liar…” Richard said and Frank immediately stepped in.

“Ok that’s enough…” he said sternly, looking at the man “We’re not here for any trouble, we’re just out for a good time with friends, and I’d like to keep it that way. So, if you don’t mind, we’re done here.” he turned to Fliss and slid his arm round her waist, making to steer her away.

“You need to be careful.” Richard spoke to Frank’s retreating back. “Now she’s got her claws into you, you’re done…first sign of trouble she’ll be accusing you of all sorts.”

Frank sighed, he’d tried to be reasonable, but the anger felt like it was bubbling from his feet and he whirled round, placing himself in between the man and Fliss. “Listen, asshole, why don’t you just fuck off?” he spoke, tone laced with venom. “Your brother is a nasty, wife beating, rapist piece of shit.”

At that Richard stepped forward, drawing himself to full height, still a good 3 inches shorter than Frank. His fists balled as he clenched his hands at his side, his mouth curled up into a snarl.

“She’s a liar.”  Richard pointed at Fliss, before his attention turned back to Frank. “She lied and because of her, John’s life and career is ruined…” “His life? Ruined?” Frank barked out a laugh “Your brother got nothing more than he deserved, and so will you if you don’t get the fuck outta my face.”

“Frank…” Fliss pleaded with him, pulling on his arm and desperately looking around for help before this descended into a fight. Thankfully, she caught Jake’s eye who hit Greg on the shoulder, who in turn tapped Simon, and the three of them plus Bonnie hastily started to jog over.

“If he was that bad why has he been considered for parole?” Richard shrugged “An appeal his lawyer is convinced he’ll win…” Richard said, taking a step back as the other men approached. “And that’s all because they finally saw through her lies…” Frank made an angry noise but Greg pushed himself in between the two men, patting Frank on the chest.

“Come on buddy…” he said. “Whatever it is, leave it…” Jake went to grab Frank’s arm, but he jerked it out of his grip.

“I’ll tell you this…” Frank said, pointing at Richard “If he gets out, you can tell him from me, he stays the fuck away from my girl, and the rest of my family, you got that? Or I’ll put him in a hospital, see how he likes it.”

“Big man making all the threats huh?” “It ain’t a threat, it’s a god-damned promise.” Frank snarled. Richard gave a snort of a laugh before he allowed his wife to steer him away, shooting one last contemptuous glance at both him and Fliss.

“What the fuck?” Simon turned to Frank, who completely ignored him and moved to where Fliss was stood, her arms wrapped cross her front, hugging herself, Bonnie gently talking to her.

“You ok?” he asked her gently and she gave a nod as he took her in his arms, hugging her tightly, hand falling to the back of her head.

Gregg gave Frank a questioning look, which Frank answered with two words “His brother.” Gregg’s mouth fell open and he gave a nod of understanding.

“Who’s brother?” Jake pressed, “What just happened? I’m so confused.” “To be fair that doesn’t take much…” Frank heard Gregg say which earned him a “Fuck you” in response, and the two men began to bicker as Fliss stepped back from his arms. Frank looked down at her, taking her face in his hands.  “You good?” 

“Yeah…” she nodded “You shouldn’t have risen to him.” “Probably not.” he shrugged “But I’m not having that piece of shit or anyone associated with him trash mouthing you.”

“My hero…” she rolled her eyes, but the smile on her face told him he wasn’t in too much trouble. He gave a snort of a laugh and dropped a kiss to her head. “Can we go back to the dancing now please? And I need another beer, that ass hole spilt mine.” “Is it time for tequila yet?” Bonnie asked, offering Fliss a drink of her beer. Fliss took a sip, shaking her head 

“I swore after last time I would never drink that shit again.”

“But that was a lie, right?” Bonnie looked at her as she passed her pint back over.

“Yup, a very big lie…” Fliss agreed, causing the rest of the group to laugh.

So they did their tequila. Several shots of to be intact and spent the rest of the night wandering stage to stage, lapping up the atmosphere. Frank kept a close eye on his girl who seemed none the worse for her encounter as she danced the night away with him and Bonnie, the 2 of them disappearing at one point for a walk around the various stalls that were around the outside, coming back with a packet of interlocking glow sticks which they proceeded to activate and make head wear out of.  

Will Smith took to the stage at about 10 pm and Frank was beside himself with laughter as Fliss reverted to some kind of school kid. She seemed to know every single word to every goddamned song he had, and when it came to Men In Black she launched expertly into the dance routine that half the crowd were doing, in time to the video showing behind the stage.  Simon and Jake tried to copy her before they both gave up and when she finished she turned around and Frank raised his beer to her and she bowed, as they all laughed. Deciding that they didn’t want to stay for the after party, considering they knew it was going to be a really late one the next evening, instead they agreed to head down to the beach. They managed to find a guy who was walking round with a cool box selling beer and they bought 2 bottles each, for twice the price they should be but, whatever…

When in Miami…

As they walked across the sand, Frank looped his arm round Fliss’ shoulder whilst they weaved themselves through the various mini-parties which seemed to be going on as people were set up all over with small fires, beer, drinks and music playing. Frank had a sneaking suspicion half of them were probably intending on sleeping there too. Eventually they found a clear spot and flopped down onto the sand, under the illumination of one of the boardwalk lights and then Simon stood up, heading over to a group of teenagers sat a bit to their right.

“What’s he doing?” Greg asked.

“I think he’s reverse bootlegging.” Jake said and Frank gave a snort of laughter.

“What?” Fliss frowned, “What’s that?” “Instead of selling alcohol to underage kids he’s buying it off them, look.” Frank said, nodding to him. Fliss watched as Simon slipped one of the kids a twenty and took the bottle of vodka he was offering to them, raising it up as he walked back.

“What the fuck man?” Greg snorted “That’s…”

“Shameful.” Jake nodded before he chuckled, shaking his head. “I love it.” With a grin Simon dropped down next to Bonnie, standing the bottle of vodka up in the middle of the circle they seemed to have made as Fliss sat between Frank’s legs, leaning back against his chest. His spare hand ran up and down the outside of her thigh softly as they all sat chatting about the evening, comparing their best bits and what they were looking forward to tomorrow evening. Eventually, someone, Frank wasn’t sure who, decided that they should play Never Have I Ever, and Fliss eagerly agreed, jumping in with the first question.

“Ok, never have I ever driven a boat…” Fliss smirked.

“What, that’s a crap one!” Frank snorted “Everyone here’s probably driven one…including you.”

“Nope…”

“Bullshit!” he snorted “On our first date, and several times since…”

“I sailed it Frankie, I didn’t drive it…”

He paused for a moment and then looked up as everyone in the circle grinned.

“She’s right man…” Simon conceded “I sailed mine too…” “And me…”

“And me…”

“Oh fuck you!” Frank spluttered as they all laughed at him. Fliss handed him the bottle, which he took from her with a glare taking a mouthful. Fucking hell, he could tell it was cheap as it burnt like paint stripper as he swallowed, wincing.

That was basically the way the game went. Each trying to deliberately catch everyone else out. Simon caught Jake spectacularly, forcing him to reveal a tale about how he got locked out of a hotel room, naked on the balcony and climbed down 2 storeys to go and get a spare key from reception, Simon repeatedly got Bonnie on a number of occasions before Frank caught Fliss out with the tale of how she had once called her University Lecturer “Daddy.” by mistake.

“Ok, Never have I ever…”  Fliss paused, before a wicked grin spread on her face and she looked at Frank “Called anyone else’s name during sex.”

“Oh God…” Frank heard Bonnie mumble from where she was sat, but before he could even open his mouth to call Fliss an ass hole, he saw Greg reaching for the bottle.

“No WAY!” Fliss spluttered, looking at Greg “What? When!”

“I was about 21…” Greg said, scrunching up his face. “I was in bed with a girl and, well, I called her mom’s name.” The entire group fell silent before Jake, Frank and Simon all let out a roar of laughter, and Fliss snorted, grinning from ear to ear.

“That’s…impressive.” Frank nodded as Greg put the bottle down and Fliss picked it up and handed it to Frank. Everyone turned their attention to him as he narrowed his eyes and grabbed it from her.

“Spill.” Simon pointed at him.

“I err, well…look, it…” Frank stuttered over his words “I was…look we don’t need to discuss this…” he said, knocking back the vodka and avoiding Bonnie’s eyes, shaking his head “I plead the 5th.” There were various groans around the group but when they realised Frank wasn’t going to budge Greg shrugged, calling him a pussy, and picked the next category.

“Never have I ever kissed someone of the same sex.” he said, with a raised eyebrow. Both Fliss and Bonnie moved for the bottle at the same time, and the boys all cheered. 

“Was it each other?” Simon grinned “Please tell me it was…” “Ok,no…that…” Frank began to protest, hiccupping slightly.  “That would be weird…”

“No it wasn’t each other.” Bonnie grinned at Simon “I was 17, playing spin the bottle and had to kiss this girl called Eva…” “And that’s it?” Simon asked. 

“Yeah…” she nodded, taking a drink from the bottle before she passed it to Fliss.

“Spill…” Frank instructed her, his hand on her hip where she was still nestled in between his legs.

“I was 19…and, yeah, well, I experimented” she shrugged. “A few times…”

“Wait, there was…” Frank looked at her as she turned her head to grin at him “You did more than kiss?”

“For me to know and you to find out Sailor…” she winked. Well fuck me!

Another 15 minutes or go they’d exhausted the bottle of vodka and decided to call it a night. Bonnie was faring the worst out of them all, her and Simon walking a little behind everyone as he kept his arm round her to keep her steady. Frank noticed Fliss was remarkably with it considering what they’d drunk, but then for such a small person she did have quite a high tolerance, and she’d drunk a hell of a lot of water as well.

At the hotel they bid everyone goodnight and headed up to their room where Fliss decided she needed to shower to get rid of all the glitter and sand and sweat from dancing. Frank was inclined to agree so let her go first, swapping over after 10 minutes or so with an exchange of a soft kiss in the bathroom doorway. By the time Frank got out of the shower Fliss was sat cross legged on the large bed dressed in a camisole and boy-shorts set which was white with multi-coloured polka dots on it. It was the set he had bought her for Valentine’s Day, along with a set of baby-pink lace underwear. He loved seeing her in lace, but there was something about the lounge sets like the one she was wearing now that gave her an innocence, made her look so comfy and so settled that he adored seeing her wearing them around the house and to bed…even if they didn’t stay on long.

She grinned up at him as he smiled, crossing to drop a kiss on her head.

“You raid the minibar?” he asked, nodding to the packet of chips she had ripped open.

“Yeah.” she shrugged “Figured fuck it, why not?” “Well…”he crossed the room and opened the fridge which was under the TV unit “In for a penny…” he pulled two beers out, popped the tops and passed her one.

“Don’t you think we’ve had enough?”

“Can you see straight?”

“Yeah…”

“Then no.” he said and she laughed, taking it from him.

“You’re a bad man Frank Adler.” “I try.” he quipped. She shook her head, smiling before she reached for her phone which had just gone off. Frank whipped the towel from around his waist and stepped into a clean pair of boxers before he roughly dried his hair.

“Bonnie says her and Simon are hitting the beach during the day tomorrow…do you fancy it?” “Sure.” he nodded, dropping to the bed, laying down on his side, propping himself up on his elbow as he reached for a Dorito.

“At least I think that’s what this message says. ‘Going to the Bitch…’ I mean that’s gotta be beach huh?”

Frank snorted as Fliss scrunched up the empty chip bag and tossed it across the room where it settled just besides the bin. They both looked at it for a second before Fliss shrugged. ”She was trashed.”

“I’m not surprised.” Fliss said, moving to toss her phone onto the night table before she too settled on her side, facing Frank, elbow on the pillow “Simon was deliberately asking questions in that game where he knew she’d have to drink…” “Oh and you weren’t…” he looked at Fliss who shrugged, grinning cheekily “Never have I ever called anyone else’s name during sex, I mean seriously! She was right there!”

“I know, which is what made it so funny.” “Funny is not the word I would use…” “Oh whatever, and as if Greg has done that too!” she said, chuckling as she also settled on her side “He’s a dark horse…” “So are you…” he looked at her taking a long drink of his beer. “In fact….I think you need to tell me more about these lesbian encounters you experienced whilst experimenting aged 19."  

"They weren't proper lesbian encounters, I was teasing you...."

"I don't care, make em up." He said and she let out a laugh.

"If I do will it get me something nice?" she grinned.

"Something very, very nice."  He raised an eyebrow suggestively.

Fliss grinned and then launched into a clearly made up bullshit story about some girl called Candy and Frank completely zoned out. He was simply too caught up concentrating on the childish, teasing expression on her face as she spoke. Her eyes were shining in the dim light of the room as she talked and grinned in the same manner she had been doing all night. Not even the encounter with that asshole’s brother has dampened her spirit. She was just enjoying herself, freely. And so was he. She said she couldn't remember the last festival or concert she had been to, and Frank had admitted the same. It had to have been easily 10 years ago. It felt good to be recapturing that part of their lives they had both given up (albeit for very different reasons) and making new memories together that he knew would last a lifetime.

A lifetime...huh, how about that?

He zoned back in just in time to hear Fliss' very risqué story telling, and dropped his head with a sight that was half laugh, half groan at her filthy tale.

"...and her thighs were so strong, it was ridiculous, my ears were squashed so hard, I felt like my head was in a vice. Still, I managed to-"

"Ok..." he said, taking her beer off her and setting it down on his nightstand along with his, before he leaned over Fliss, caging her with his arms "I'm getting kinda jealous...and a bit turned on...it’s kinda confusing.

“You asked…” she muttered as his face dropped her hers.

“Yeah, I did…” he said softly, his lips brushing against hers “And I promised you something nice…” “Very,very nice…” Fliss said, her hands sliding up his arms to his shoulder.

“Well, I’m a man of my word…” he grinned, lips pressing to hers harder this time in a soft, deep kiss which he pulled away from and ran his nose against hers.

“Turn over…”

“What?” she looked at him, her eyes widening slightly.

“You trust me?”

“Of course I do…” “Then turn over…”

She took a deep breath, and looked at him and he looked straight back, fully understanding what she was thinking. He’d never asked her to do that before. “Lissy, I promise I’m not gonna hurt you.” “I know you’re not…” she said, shaking her head, before she bit her lip and he moved back so she could turn over onto her stomach. With gently finger tips he brushed her hair off her shoulders, sweeping it to one side gently dropping soft kisses down her neck as his hands traced down to her hips. He gently grasped her top and she moved to allow him to slide it up and over.

The sheets on the bed rustled slightly as he moved downwards, pressing his lips to the small of her back, watching her reaction carefully as he saw her fingers clutching softly at the pillow. He continued his affections, lips and hands exploring every part of the soft skin on her back until he was fully led over her, thighs bracketing hers, his mouth gently sucking at that spot behind her ear that drove her wild. And right on cue she let out a low groan and he felt his groin twitch at the noise. Fliss could feel his hardness against her back and as his teeth gently grazed her ear she felt her spine arch slightly.

He moved away, and his hand gently slid to grasp at the hem of her shorts, and she tilted her hips up slightly so he could pull them down, hurriedly departing with his own boxers before he resumed his previous position.

“You good?” he asked her softly and she nodded in response.

With gentle hands he reached down between her legs to finding her hot and wet for him already. At his touch she arched her back again. Frank let out a grin and moved slightly so he could part her thighs with his knee. Repositioning himself, he led flat, his arms sliding up hers so he could lace his fingers with hers, palms resting on the backs of her hands and he gently pushed into her, the pair of them giving a groan at the feeling and tightness of this angle. He gently thrust, his chest sliding up over her back, and she moved ever so slightly with him, her head tilted back slightly and she turned her face towards his where he caught her mouth in a slow, sloppy kiss. Frank continued his languid, deep movements, listening to the quickening of her breath and eventually he felt her hips beginning to rise in slow circles, her whimpers increasing.

He gently knelt up, and pulled her hips so she was perched on her knees, pushing into her slowly, deeply, letting her get used to the position that they’d never tried before because Frank knew it wasn’t one she had good memories of but right now, her body was relaxed and she was giving him everything. His hand reached up and he traced down her spine before he leaned over and placed another soft kiss on her neck before he moved and grasped at her hips again, his pace gently quickening, a low moan escaping his mouth as Fliss pushed back onto him, wordlessly telling him she wanted more. He thrust forwards again and again, pulling her back onto him at the same time, his eyes focussed on where they were joined, the sight of him sliding in and out of her made him moan with desire.

“Don’t stop…” he heard her half pant, half whisper and he picked up the pace ever so slightly, leaning over to gently nip at the back of her neck, causing her to shudder, a deep growl rumbled in his chest as her walls briefly squeezed around him.

“Fuck, baby…” he groaned as her hands clutched at the bed sheets whilst he buried himself deep inside of her stilling for a moment.

“Frankie…” she whined and squirmed as she turned to look at him over her shoulder. Once glance at his clenched jaw and she knew he was trying to fight back his high as he picked up his previous movements, just a little bit faster. She was close, quietly moaning his name as she dropped her head back down, forehead against the pillows, her spine arching as he continued to thrust.

Frank groaned again “Come on sweetheart...” his voice deeper like it always was when he was in the throes of desire, “let go for me.” He rolled his hips forwards, five or six more times before she was done.

“Fuck, Frank, I…” she let out a broken cry as her core spasmed again and again and her entire body trembled as a loud lament spilled from her lips. He was done himself, and with a groan of her name his relief washed over him with an intensity he couldn’t even begin to describe.

Fliss collapsed forward and Frank tumbled with her, his chest onto her back, his weight crushing her in the best way possible for a second ot two before he rolled onto his side. Reaching out, his hand gently across her bare back as Fliss face, which was pressed into the pillow turned to face him.

He leaned over and gave her a soft kiss, brushing her hair off her face.

“OK…” she mumbled, nodding at him “I’ll concede. That was very, very nice…”

******* “You behaving?” Frank asked Mary as he and Fliss lay in bed the next morning, the phone held at arms-length so they could both see her.

“Yeah, of course…” Mary rolled her eyes “Bill took me to the yard last night and Joanne helped me tack Monty up and then Bill walked round the field with us so the dogs could have a run and it was awesome!”

“When I get back we’ll do the full trail ride.” Fliss smiled at her “Takes a good hour, we can go one evening before it gets dark.”

“Cool!” Mary grinned, bending down and then suddenly Fred’s bemused face filled the screen. Frank snorted as he was instructed to say hi to Fred, which he did, before the cat settled down on Mary’s lap and she continued to chat to him about what she had done the night before…which was basically staying up until gone midnight with Bill watching Harry Potter in the movie room.

Eventually they got her to pass the phone over to Verity, who assured Frank she was no trouble, and then they cut the call and decided to get up and head down for breakfast to meet everyone.

The day was spent lazily on the beach. Fliss hardly moved at all, simply soaking up the sun as Frank and Simon continuously brought her and Bonnie a supply of drinks as the man remained by the bar at the top of the sand.

“I gotta ask…”Bonnie said, turning to look at Fliss “And tell me to shut up if I’m outta line but yesterday, that guy Frank looked like he wanted to kill…who was he? Simon says he’s never seen Frank that angry…” “Oh, err…” Fliss rubbed her head “It was my ex-husbands brother, he was being an ass hole.” “Oh.” Bonnie frowned “I take it you don’t get along…nasty break up?” “You could say that…” Fliss said, taking a sip of her drink, tapping the straw lightly on her lips. “John…my ex…he er…he used to beat me. Badly. He’s actually in prison, well, for how long we don’t know as he had his parole hearing about 4 weeks ago so..” “Oh shit…” Bonnie dropped her gaze “Sorry, I didn’t…” “It’s ok.” Fliss said, waving off the usual apologies that came when she told someone about her past.

There was a moment of silence before Bonnie sat up and looked at Fliss.

“Wanna go for a dip?”

Fliss glanced at her, then down to the ocean and grinned, nodding.

Yelling to the boys to watch their stuff they headed down to the waves, Fliss happily diving straight in, simply allowing herself to float. She was calm, relaxed, and couldn’t remember a time she’d ever felt so happy before.

Eventually, it hit 5pm and Fliss was hungry. So they decided to pack up, grab a bite from the bar and then go change ready for the evening. Fliss had to smile as she saw Frank and the rest of the boys stood at a table by the beach bar all clutching pints and laughing. He was dressed in a pink shirt, black shorts with a baseball cap on the wrong way, glasses shielding his eyes.

“I never realised what an overgrown Frat Boy I’m dating.” Fliss mumbled to Bonnie who snorted as they made their way up the wooden boardwalk, beach bags in their hand.

“Hey pretty girl.” Frank smiled as Fliss slid under his arm, reaching for his pint. With a roll of his eyes he watched as she took a huge drink. “You know if you want one I’ll get you one…” “Tastes better when it’s someone else’s…” Fliss shrugged.

“Yeah, why is that?” Bonnie asked.

“Because it’s stolen.” Simon looked at her “Well known fact, forbidden fruit just tastes better.”

Fliss went again for Frank’s drink and he jerked it out of her reach “Piss off, look, here…” he said, reaching into his pocket and handing her his wallet “Go to the bar…” She grinned and dropped a kiss to his lips, turning away, Bonnie following.

“Dude you’re so whipped.” Jake snorted at him.

“Yeah, I don’t much care.” Frank shrugged, burping slightly as he looked at Fliss, taking in her appearance. Her hair was falling around her face and down her back in a mass of long, messy salt and sand tangled waves and she was wearing a pink crochet slip over her black bikini. He would happily admit he was well under her spell and that she could whip him all she fucking wanted to.

They grabbed a bite to eat, headed back, changed and made their way to the park for their second night of music. It went much the same as the night before, Bonnie and Fliss taking off on their own adventures, and Frank keeping his eyes peeled for any sign of John’s fucker of a brother, but he didn’t see him.

By the time Liam Gallagher came onto the stage, Fliss was drunk. And so was he. But it didn’t stop her from going wild. Once again she knew every single word to every single song and when he launched into Rock and Roll Star she started pogoing like a person possessed. Mind you, so was everyone else on the dance floor in front of the stage, so Frank joined in. He quite liked this song and, well, if you can’t beat ‘em join ‘em…

He ended the set with Live Forever, Frank’s favourite song that he had done and Fliss sighed happily.

“He’s sooo good!” she said, “Why does he have to go?”

“Because his set has finished.”

“But why?” “Because it has!” Frank laughed “He’s been on for almost an hour and it’s 1 am!”

“Hey, Liss, don’t worry…” Bonnie hiccupped “Hot Dub starts in 20…just enough time for a drink…” “Yes…” Fliss agreed, pointing at her. “But I think I need some water too.”

“Pussy…” Frank looked at her and she narrowed his eyes at him.

“I’ll carry on drinking beer if you want, but you’ll be clearing up my puke later…” He snorted and held his hands up, palms out “Water it is…” Hot Dub Time Machine was surreal. He was on for about an hour and took them through a load of the best party songs from the 60s right through to the present day. One minute Frank was doing the Twist and Shout with Fliss, and the next they were all in a circle air-guitaring to Immigrant Song by Led Zep.

By the time they left the park it was almost half 2 in the morning and Fliss decided that she didn’t want to walk and insisted Frank give her a piggy back. He rolled his eyes but crouched down and she took a jump onto his back as he carried her the 10 minutes or so back to the hotel, Simon groaning at him as Bonnie kept complaining he wouldn’t carry her.

“You’re showing me up, dude!” he glared at Frank who simply shrugged as Fliss smirked.

“I like riding him…” she hiccupped, as everyone burst into laughter and Frank shook his head as she pressed a kiss to his cheek.

“You’re a fucking nightmare” he sniggered and she shrugged.

*****

The next morning everyone was feeling the effects of a heavy weekend, and Frank was pleased that they had the late check out option. Eventually, after dragging themselves out of bed they managed to shower, pack up and head down to check out. There was another argument about who was paying for the room, this time Fliss winning as she put her foot down telling him he was paying for New York and that she really wanted to pay for this. She’d told Frank before about John never letting her have any financial control over anything and Frank knew that it meant a lot to her so he relented, and instead bought them brunch before they set off home.

They got back in time for a roast dinner, and then they headed back to the annex to watch a film, Fliss crashing out halfway through. She left them to it and headed to bed and was flat out by the time Frank made his way upstairs.

“I can’t believe you got the day off!” she moaned at him over breakfast on the Monday morning.

“I can’t believe you didn’t” he shot back

“I can’t…clients and stuff.” she pouted, biting into her toast before she groaned again. “I’m too old for partying all weekend…I can’t hack it anymore.” Frank snorted and took a sip of his coffee before Fliss grinned at him. “Can we go again next year?”

Frank laughed “The Circle Of Truth have already decided it’s going to be an annual thing from now on.” he said, standing up and with a kiss to her head he moved to the stairs yelling for Mary to get a wiggle on. She came down the stairs, Fred and Thor following before she ate her cereal and then Frank bustled her out of the door to drop her off for the last Monday of the school term.

Wednesday lunchtime, however, their happy little bubble burst.

Frank was actually in the sales part of the shop, discussing the benefits of different types of engines with a customer, having been asked to give some advice. He spotted Fliss’ jeep pulling up and as soon as she climbed out and turned towards him, he could tell from her face what was going on.

“Excuse me for just one second…” he politely told the customer, and glancing at his boss he jerked his head towards Fliss. His boss, a nice enough guy called Andy, knew vaguely what was going on and nodded in understanding as Frank stepped outside.

“Baby?” he asked tentatively as Fliss stopped in front of him.

“He did it….” she said softly, stepping into his arm, pressing her face into his chest.  “He made parole. They let the fucker out.”

[queenkeeleyhawes]

REPOST: queenkeeleyhawes’s official ranking of keeley’s male character counterparts

**reposting because i added theo (i forgot him the first time), added martin (mutual friends) because i recently watched it. removed david from top tier after i revisited some things. moved sven to top tier because it’s what he deserves. and moved gene hunt lower because let’s be honest, he’s the worst.**

this list includes: husbands, boyfriends, bosses, and other male coworkers. there is some of her work that i left off because her part was too small. i started this list originally at 5 am a couple of weeks ago. these are my personal opinions. please don’t come for me. most are pretty self-explanatory too but i did list reasons anyway. if you happen to disagree with me, that’s fine, but i’m pretty set in my ways so even if we have a nice conversation, you’re unlikely to change my mind. ** SEMI(?) SPOILERS AHEAD**

Top Tier 

Spiros - hello he literally did everything for her and her family. took such good care of them from day one. literally found them a house when they got on the island. and furniture. and a maid. he got her ring back when she sold it to bribe those thugs in series 1. attempted to tutor gerry when she couldn’t find anyone else. held her when she needed a good cry after hugh nearly died and after florence could have died delivering her baby. watched her children while she went back home briefly. built gerry his zoo. the list goes on and on.

Caspar -  saw her for who she was. was impressed by her mind. “you’re beautiful as well as good. one of those things i can't change. the other i never will.” that is all. 

Fabian - *crying emojis* he literally cared so much for her. always wanted to be with her. literally put her aunt into a home and paid for it when it was not cheap. pretty much disowned his eldest daughter for her. after everything still adored her.

Samuel P. - hoo boy it’s a lot. clearly they made a connection. but he respected her and her marriage to not pursue it further when she put an end to it. was so happy for her when she found her son.

Jarvis - he just loved her so much. the lil hotel kissing scene. the way they looked at each other. ugh. we’re not even going to talk about them singing together in rehearsal. i don’t have it in me.

Dick Dewey - i mean hello. good on the eyes. sweetheart. loved her so much. the hand washing scene. the lake scene. saved her father from the bear trap and let some other dude take the credit.  made all the boys apologize to her via song after they humiliated her in church. 

Danny - let her move in with him when he saw how terrible her living arrangements were. so much more. i really wanted them to end up together.

Theo  - obviously, he belongs in Top Tier because he was always just absolutely wonderful to louisa and to gerry (duh) and he always gave her the best advice. like I truly believe they were best friends and though he didn’t include himself, he was definitely part of the “men she loved the most on the island.” also he’s an “honorary woman.” the end.

Sven - literally saved her son from dying. brought her nets for her olives. let gerry borrow a goat. eventually i liked them together and i think they could have worked...but...you know.

Good Tier

Harry - cool dad. loved their relationship. he took care of her.

Tom - they were very good friends and he treated her so well. he genuinely cared for her as an employee. obviously the real chemistry was there but i'm honestly glad they didn’t go in that direction.

Ray - listen i know he’s an ass but he’s the ass that you actually love. and she changed him for the better. i loved the dynamic between him and alex and as they grew as friends. plus dean and keeley just played off each other so nicely.

Daniel - she just wanted him to call about that damn flat but he finally had his little break through by the end so he can stay and obviously matthew and keeley working together is *heart eyes.*

Richard Shaw - he had his issues but he really did love kathleen and even though he was basically in denial about their son and did some things she didn’t like...he was a good man who took care of her.

David - i mean it was literally his job to save her and he did try (we’re not gonna talk about the end of episode 3). i believe he really put her at ease and was making her change her opinions and views on so many things. but there were issues...we can’t deny that.

Mr Morley - we didn’t see them interact much...but he’s fine.

Chris - he’s fine as co-workers go. i think he definitely respected alex eventually but he wasn’t my favorite.

Will (MI-5) - he was fine. a little boring but fine and he literally was not even cute. really zoe??? he did love her. and she did end up having a good life with him.

Bad Tier

Martin Grantham - almost cheated on his wife for revenge. told her potential boss she had mental health problems just to keep her from getting the job. believed a rumor that she had hired a solicitor so he hired one out of spite. umm the bar scene with their son. everything he did with peter. enough said.

Rob Graham - he almost cheated on his wife. he was in slight denial about their son. didn’t want to get a dog. loved her and he clearly fought to stay with her. a few points for that.

Joe M*cb*th - was just kinda there? not horrible but not great.

Steve A - do i really even need to explain? he’s just so infuriating. you’re probably wondering why he’s not lower on this list...but...well just wait until you see the rest.

Mr Royal - he just generally sucks and also he ruined her dessert in that one lil scene and was just horrible. and he fucking slapped her, knocking her to the ground???? no sir.

Peter - the jealousy i mean come on and he terrorized her. nearly killed her best friend. not to mention i’m about 99.8% sure he stole her cat.

Hugh - ugh he was with her to make vasillia jealous. i don’t care what he tried to say. and i hate that he called her angel when that’s what her husband called her. also i think she just liked the idea of them and then realized how quickly it wasn’t going to work out, especially when he wanted her to go back to england when they hadn’t even been there that long and clearly corfu made her happy?!?!? purposefully hurt spiros.

Miles Mollison - it literally took him hearing his mother calling his wife a failure for him to grow a spine?!?!? and dude your wife looked like that *long sigh*

Trash Tier 

Billy - how many times did she have to ask him about getting a job. the jealousy. he didn’t do anything???? he took care of jake so he gets points for that. but he made her feel like crap for it so….bye. and he told tina even though angela didn’t want to tell anyone.

Michael - literally tried to murder her.

Othello - actually murdered her.

Dennis Hamilton  - crazy, jealous. possessive. made her get an abortion. spent all of her money. just gross.

Alec Wilson - hello he literally had another wife and two other children that she knew of. and he only gave her 5 measly fucking pounds….rude. 

Terry Leather - had an affair with another woman. kinda redeemed himself in the end but not really. 

Hallam - literally had an affair with her sister. forced her to take in lotte when she was terrified she’d lose their baby. was trash to his little sister after making a big deal about getting her out of the asylum. was horrible to blanche. was fine (?) with the staff but not really?? 

Sam Webster - had an affair. got another woman pregnant when that’s something his wife wanted again. literally never believed her about anything. blamed her for alice’s death and then later tried to tell her not to blame herself when she was depressed. horrible to their son. just an all around shitty person.

Roger - jealous of j’s power. racist remark about david. tells her something she specifically said she doesn’t care to hear. and let’s be honest he was probably bopping some blonde 20 year old.

Dryden - wouldn’t leave his wife. forced her to get an abortion. literally picked up a 15 year old at some gathering for a bj. gross gross gross.

Gene - grade A asshole. i literally do not understand why people love them together??? he was the one who saved her as a child??? but then almost hooked up with her in the afterlife??? creepy. no matter how many times i re-watch, i cannot find any redeeming qualities in him or any reason why they should be together. also he was a sexist, homophobic, RACIST pig. i don't care it was the 80s...gross. this one you definitely will not be able to fight me on.

[three-drink-amy]

We Wish You a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

It’s Secret Santa Reveal time! 

@captainswan618 It is me, your Secret Santa! I hope you’ve been having a wonderful holiday season and a fantastic end to 2018! Have a great 2019! 

I hope you enjoy this holiday themed B99 fic! 

The break room smelled of sweet hot chocolate as Charles detailed the plans he and Genevieve had made for Christmas this year. Slowly the rest of the squad went around the room sharing their plans for the next day. Amy had just finished telling her and Jake’s plans for their first married Christmas when Officer Lou walked into the breakroom.

As Terry poured himself a cup of coffee, he asked the officer his plans for Christmas.

Lou looked at them in surprise. “Christmas? Have you guys not looked outside?”

Rosa and Gina turned around quickly and looked out the window. “Well son of a -” Rosa said quietly.

“How did we miss a huge snow storm like this?” Jake asked to the room.

“How did Amy miss a snow storm like this?” Gina asked.

Amy lifted her arms up in defense. “It was supposed to miss the city! It was supposed to go way north!”

“So we’re...snowed in?” Jake asked sadly.

Officer Lou nodded. “It came on so fast that it seems like most of the city is.”

“Wait so we can't get home for Christmas?” Charles asked, looking crushed.

“Well it's Christmas Eve,” Rosa reminded. Maybe they’ll have things cleared by tomorrow.

“Could be worse,” Jake offered, “we could be trapped here with a bunch of lawyers like that one Thanksgiving.”

“There are two lawyers talking to one of the other detectives in the bullpen,” Gina pointed out, looking through the window.

“Way to jinx it, Jake,” Rosa said with a punch to Jake’s arm.

The squad slowly filtered out of the break room, leaving Jake and Amy alone. Jake shook his head as he watched his friends sit down at their desks to call their families. “This sucks,” Jake said quietly. Amy nodded her agreement. He looked over at his wife, a grin growing on his face.

“What are you thinking?” She asked nervously.

“Amy, you better watch out. You better not cry. You better not pout. I’m telling you why! Jakey-Claus is coming to town!” Jake sing-songed.

Amy stared at him, completely confused. “What does that even mean?”

Jake grabbed Amy’s shoulders. “Amy, I’m going to save Christmas!” He ran out of the break room without explaining any further.

It was a couple of hours later when Amy saw Jake speeding from the elevator off towards an interrogation room. She jumped up from her desk to follow him. He had just closed the door when she opened it and walked into the room. “Ames!” He screeched in surprise. “What are you doing?”

“I think the better question is what are you doing?” Amy replied quickly.

“That is need to know and you don't need to,” Jake retorted.

Amy rolled her eyes. “Even Santa has help, Jake. He has his elves. Do you need an elf?”

Jake smirked broadly. “Well, Amy, I believe I do.”

She clapped her hands together. “Great! What can I do?”

Jake walked close to her and said softly, “You can go back to your desk and forget you saw me in here.”

Amy glared at him. “Come on, man. I’m your wife. Let me in on the secret!”

“But I’m trying to save Christmas for you too.”

“Just let me help. What are you trying to do?”

Jake sighed, finally giving in. “Well I was inspired by Charles saving our wedding. It still ended up being perfect, so now I want to do that for the squad.”

Amy smiled. “That's very sweet of you.” She wrapped her arms around Jake’s neck. “And you know, you don't have to do it alone.”

He nodded, giving her a quick kiss on her forehead. “Okay, come with me, my little elf.”

Having Amy’s help worked in Jake’s favor. He had someone to distract the squad while he orchestrated the saving of Christmas. The break room was closed off from prying eyes. Amy had led the squad down to the second floor to show them something “really awesome.” Jake wondered what Amy had come up with to show them. He could guarantee it wasn’t something that was actually awesome to them.

Gina’s voice rang through the bullpen as the squad emerged from the elevator. “Really, Amy, you thought Officer Larsen’s coin collection was awesome? You thought we needed to see it?”

Jake peeked out of the window of the darkened break room. Amy shrugged in response to Gina. “It took a lot of time for him to collect those. And that’s just his work collection! Come on, Gina! Imagine the history those coins have seen! He had one from 1901!”

“Amy, I can appreciate things Gina would sneer at, but even I thought you really overhyped that,” Terry said with a disappointed look.

Jake threw open the door to the break room with a dramatic flair. “Well how about this?” he asked, motioning to the break room.

Rosa looked at the room behind him critically. “What? A dark break room? Big whoop.”

“Oh?” Jake asked, jumping over toward the plug. He quickly turned on the Christmas lights strung through the break room. “Well how about now?”

Everyone looked surprised by what Jake had done in the room. Amy smiled brightly as she walked in and looked around at the festive room.

“Jake, what is all this?” Charles asked, looking around the room.

“Look, I know you’d all rather be getting off early and going home to your families,” Jake explained, “but I figured maybe we could still have a good Christmas Eve stuck here.” He uncovered the mail cart where he’d hidden the food. Laying it all out on the table, he explained, “The bakery just down the street did not know this storm was coming and had a surplus of food that no one was going to buy. I gave them a number and they were happy to sell me everything they had so they could officially close and not have the day be a total loss.” Once all the food was out on the table, Jake turned to his friends. “Merry Chri- oh wait, one more thing.” He grabbed the last item out of his hoodie pocket and handed it over to Gina. “Back-up charger. I know your work charger is on the fritz.” Gina looked as if she could cry. Jake beamed. “Merry Christmas, everyone!”

“Merry Christmas,” they all echoed back. Terry walked forward and wrapped Jake in a big hug. The rest of the squad made it a group hug.

As he was eating a cookie and drinking some of the hot chocolate they’d made earlier, Terry said, “Aside from my wife and girls, I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather be snowed in with on Christmas Eve. I love all my grown up babies so much.”

“Oh, and by the way,” Jake added as an afterthought, “while Amy was distracting you and I was setting all this up, I also called around and they think the roads will be cleared for us to leave around midnight. I know it’s late but it’s better than nothing, right?” Jake said with a shrug. Then he walked to the door of the break room. “Hey everyone, free Christmas baked goods in here!”

As the rest of the officers filed into the room to get in on the food, Jake missed the looks exchanged by his fellow squad. They were all so touched by his attempts to save Christmas for them.

One Week Later

“Can’t believe 2018 is almost over. How crazy,” Charles said as he sat next to Jake’s desk. “What would you say was the craziest moment of 2018 for you?”

Jake looked over at Charles thoughtfully. “Well, I got married. That was pretty crazy. I spent a long time thinking that would never happen. What about you?”

“There was one day Nikolaj brought home a bat for a pet. That was kind of crazy. Okay, next question. What would you say was the most exciting discovery you made in 2018?”

“What?” Jake asked, a confused look on his face. “Why do I feel like you’re just trying to distract me?”

“Me? Trying to distract you? I think I need to change my craziest moment of 2018!” Charles practically yelled at Jake.

“Terry, is it finished?” Rosa called toward the copy room.

Terry strolled out from the copy room, raising an envelope above his head, Gina close behind him. “It’s finished!”

“Good, because Charles is the worst at distractions,” Rosa said with a shake of her head.

“Distractions?” Jake asked, his hands raised in question. “Why are you distracting me?”

Gina, Charles, Rosa, and Terry walked over to Jake’s desk. “Hey Amy!” Rosa yelled toward the briefing room. Amy popped her head out and followed Rosa’s motion to join them. She sat down in her old desk chair across from Jake.

“We just wanted to say a thank you for saving Christmas for us,” Terry explained. The others nodded along with him.

“Oh! Well that was nothing. You guys didn’t have to do anything,” Jake said with a shrug.

“Well yeah, but you didn’t have to do anything for us either,” Rosa reminded him. “If it weren’t for your kindness, Gina’s phone would have died and she’d have made us all miserable for hours until we got to leave here.”

“That’s probably true,” Gina agreed with a nod.

“It was very thoughtful and very moving,” Charles said, staring at Jake intensely.

“That’s funny because I was inspired by you saving our wedding,” Jake informed him.  Charles looked as if he was fighting back tears.

“The point is that we appreciated it and we wanted to show you how much,” Terry continued. He held out the envelope for Jake to take. “You’re dismissed for the day. You and Amy both. We know you helped too, Amy.” Amy smiled as she walked over to read what was in the envelope.

“You guys got us a reservation at that new super nice restaurant?” Jake gasped.

“How did you even manage that?” Amy asked, aghast.

“Gina had to call in a couple favors,” Charles explained. She nodded sadly beside him.

Terry pointed to a point on the letter. “It’s been paid for too.”

“You guys, this is too much,” Jake replied, trying to give the letter back to them.

“Whatever, we’re your friends and we...love you,” Rosa said, muttering the last two words.

“Say that again!” Amy cried.

“The next time you’ll hear it will be over your casket at your funeral.” Jake and Amy both laughed.

“She’s right though, we do love you guys,” Terry said with a meaningful look. “You saved our Christmas Eve so we’re going to save your New Year’s Eve. I know you both hate working it anyway. So take this and go have a fancy meal as you toast to the end of the year you got married.”

Jake and Amy slowly agreed to it. The plan did sound pretty wonderful. They really did have the greatest friends around. The squad stood by the elevator as Jake and Amy left. As the doors were closing, Jake shot finger guns and yelled with a laugh, “Hey guys, see you next year!” They all groaned as the doors clunked shut.

Gina chuckled as she walked back to her desk. “That was actually kind of funny.”

Rosa nodded in agreement. “Yeah, but we can never tell him.”

“This is our new secret,” Charles said as he sat down at his desk. “Our last squad secret of 2018!”

Terry looked around at his grown up babies with a smile on his face. He lifted his coffee mug in toast to them. “Hey guys,” he called. They all looked over. “Happy New Year!”

[mpmwrites]

Anyone

So we’ve got some Jealous Hankvin. T for swearing!

Gavin practically bounced as he pushed himself off the couch and away from Hank's side, "Jake." He beamed at the other man who'd let himself into Tina's basement from the back door, stepping close for an affectionate hug. Hank looked away from his place on the couch back to the cards scattered on the table.

He wasn't drunk enough to want to deal with this, and probably not sober enough to handle it in a reasonable way.

Because, when Gavin collapsed back onto the couch, one leg folded under to him, Jake followed, and planted himself on Gavin's other side. And maybe Gavin was sitting directly between them, but he was definitely leaning more toward his old friend and hanging on to his every word. He listened as Gavin offered compliments and asked about Jake's work and if he had a boyfriend.

Apparently, Jake hadn't had a steady in a few years. This revelation prompted sympathy from Gavin in the form of Gavin's palm resting on Jake's thigh.

"What the hell have you been doing? I don't know anyone in the DPD that's this ripped, and you work at a desk." Gavin laughed. Hank took a hard swallow from his beer. Around them, the game proceeded with laughter and at least three people talking over each other; Tina's husband had just won. Cards were returned to the table as everyone helped restack them in the game box. Hank stood and ambled off in the direction of the bathroom, and when he returned Gavin didn't seem to notice he'd even left, save for the fact that he had moved.

Well, he hadn't moved so much as Jake had moved, because Tina was now smooshed onto the couch on the intruder's other side, so Jake had moved closer to Gavin so that there wasn't an inch of space between the three of them. Hank had seen Tina and Gavin sit in a similar way before, usually while drinking, but the presence of the other man was an unwelcome addition. The three were focused on Jake's phone, laughing at old pictures of the three of them, but were pulled back to the group to start the next game.

They proceeded on like that for a few hours: Hank drinking as Gavin leaned across Jake's lap each turn, everyone laughing, and absolutely nobody but Hank finding fault in the younger detective's actions. By one in the morning, everyone was winding down. Chris had left, knowing his wife was home with the baby alone, who still didn't sleep through the night. Five rounds into Clue, Tina's husband won again, bragging that he'd beaten a bunch of detectives at a game about homicide.

"Yeah, but Clue isn't really about homicide. It's about paying attention and making statistically likely guesses." Tina joked, tossing her cards on the table and pushing herself off the couch. Jake followed, stretching.

"How are you old people up so late?" he grinned. Hank absolutely did not take offense as the oldest person in the room. "I'm gonna take off before I'm too tired to drive." He explained, offering a hand to pull Gavin up to stand. They embraced, and when they separated a warm kiss was planted on Gavin's cheek.

Hank watched as his not-boyfriend actually pouted and begged to know when Jake was going to be around again. He gave a noncommittal answer and another hug by way of a goodbye and disappeared out the door. Hank watched the door slide shut and then stood as well.  He was going to grab another beer when Gavin turned to him, grinning and standing close, "Ready to go?"

Hank didn't have the coherence to do anything other than mutter some form of assent and say his goodbyes to Tina. Gavin did the same before he reached into Hank's pocket without warning to take his keys. Tina laughed out a warning about Gavin's poor driving as they left.

Once they were seated in the car, Gavin put the keys in the ignition but paused, "Thank you for coming with me."

"Well, you did all but beg." Hank shrugged as he pulled on his seatbelt.

"Tina told me to get you to come." Gavin admitted, Hank frowned at him, but then glared out the window. "I'm sorry. I know you said this wasn't supposed to get around the precinct, but she's my fucking best friend and I wasn't about to lie to her. And she's not telling anyone." He babbled defensively.

"Tina's a nice girl. It's fine that she knows, I guess." Hank shrugged but didn't look at Gavin. He held tension in his shoulders and clenched his jaw. He told himself not to let this get to him, that he was being unreasonable, that the argument wasn't worth it. He held his tongue, but couldn't will himself not to think about it. Because, yeah, he wanted this whole thing to be their business only, but that didn't mean that it was something he wasn't invested in. Didn't mean that he didn't think that they were exclusive.

"Hank." Gavin probed warily, shaking his head. He was beginning to anger himself. He knew he couldn't take Tina's knowledge back and should have respected Hank's wishes in the first place, but… "I'm allowed to be happy about this. About you." He demanded petulantly. He was going to argue further when Hank spoke again.

"If you're so damn here for it, and so ready to tell your friends, why couldn't you bother to make sure he knew?" He seethed. He didn't raise his voice, and talking about it only made it feel worse. "You can't have it both ways, Reed. If you want to go out and flirt with…" He waved vaguely, "Don't ask me to come watch, and don't expect me to sit around waiting for my turn." The look on Gavin's face is enough to tell him he really should have kept his mouth shut. Confusion, offense, embarrassment, and hurt cross the brunette's face one after the other.

"How is it that when I treat Tina like that it's all fine but when it's a guy it's different? Christ, I'm in the car with you. I'm going home with you. I don't fucking know what you want from me. Jake, Tina, and I have been friends since before high school; so yeah, we're fucking close." He ran a frustrated hand through his hair, then balled his hand into a fist briefly. "And you know what, maybe if this didn't have to be some big gay secret, he would already know, but that's not going to change the way we treat each other."

Hank, in his inebriation, slowly swayed into understanding and then directly to guilt. He scratched slowly at his jaw, trying to formulate some kind of apology for assuming the worst in Gavin. Instead, he dropped a peace offering, "Tell whoever you want." he shrugged, as if it didn't mean anything.

It meant a lot. It meant his first committed relationship since he and his wife split. It meant moving on from her and, in some awful way, Cole too. It meant that maybe he could try to have more sober nights than blackouts. Everyone at work would see him differently, and in a very sudden way. It meant that he had to really, really, want to commit to Gavin.

He did.

Gavin was left speechless for a long moment, collecting his thoughts. "I don't know what that means."

"Hell, Gav, it means that you can go tell Tina or Jake or your fucking cat, or even Fowler for all I care. You are allowed to be happy about it, and I'd like for people to know who's making you happy." Hank sighed deeply, " I was drinking, and I didn't know, and you've never lit up like that for me before, and I guess that's my fault, because I didn't fucking let you." He didn't meet the younger man's eyes, but sat in the wake of his apology as Gavin started the engine. Before he put the car in gear though, he leaned over with one hand on the steering wheel and captured Hank's chin, pulling the older detective into a gentle kiss. When Gavin made to retreat, Hank threaded a hand into the hair at the back of Gavin's neck and continued the kiss, making the younger grin widely against his lips.

They parted carefully and Gavin sank back into the driver's seat, pleased. "I can tell anyone." He confirmed as he buckled his seatbelt and put the car in gear. He pulled away from the curb carefully and Hank nodded. Gavin produced a sly smile, "Can we start with the barista at Starbucks?" Hank laughed,

"Why would she need to know?"

"I just want coffee." Gavin shrugged.

"It's too late for coffee. You'll be up all night."

"Hank, I think we both know that the coffee isn't what's gonna keep me up all night."

[gyllenhaalstories]

Fun question for you Laurie: between Jake's characters, Chris' and Daniel's, who do you see yourself dating?

hi, anon!!!!! this quesyion sent me into an existential crisis for a moment, but i'm back and ready to take this way too seriously! i'm pretty sure i've answered something similar in the past so i apologize if some of my answers don't match the previous ones! there are two ways to go, the realistic one and the ideal boyfriend! enjoy whatever this is!

also i hate the new beta asks thank you next.

for jake:

realistically speaking, i feel like adam bell from enemy would be the obvious choice for me. we'd probably have some mutual appreciation while i studied in the same department of history where he teaches but refused to take it further until i graduated, or perhaps we met at a seminar/congress and discussed research topics and stuff like that. we'd probably be bored of each other real quick, or have trouble separating work and relationship. he feels very within himself and not very talkative. i would rate this relationship a 6/10. we would probably break up after a few years, knowing it takes time for things to fix themselves but we'd never really put the effort in the relationship. would probably meet later in life and we'll be happy for each other that we moved on.

my ideal boyfriend is probably morf. in a very ideal world where my 2 braincells match all of his knowledge and where i can take criticism without crying, we'd be an interersting pair. i'm extremely clingy and we'd probably spend all of our time koala hugging or visiting galleries and me trying to tell him not to destroy yet another artist's dream and career. we'd have a special bond, like he had with joséphine except i won't treat him like crap. he'd insist we travel a lot, we talk down random streets rather than visit popular landmarks and tourists spots. we'd paint for fun, take pottery or knitting classes just for the sake of doing activities together. probably would never get married, which i'm very supportive of. we'd exchange promise rings. we'd adopt a cat and a dog. we'd be very happy, although our perfectionism and high standards would create problems in our relationship that don't even exist. we'd solve the issues with an unplanned trip to prague, to berlin, to wherever our hearts take us. 9/10 (just kidding it's detective loki xox)

for chris:

frank adler. again, we'd meet at school when he was teaching. i took his philosophy class, struggled because it was too advanced, he took pity in me and offered to help. he really did help, like a lot. weekly meetings, emails, advice, anything. we'd get to know each other through all of these meetings, private details would slip accidentally. maybe one time his hand would rest on my thigh as he scoots closer to read through an article i found. we'd laugh awkwardly. we'd just kiss. and promise it would never happen. except it would, even after i'm done with his class. we'd have something very serious, i'd even sign up for a second class with his later on and much to my dismay, he would have vanished before the first day without warning around the time his sister died. it'd take months, if not a whole year or two for one of us to reach out again. he'd invite me to florida, after we exchanged emails and texts and he would tell me all about mary. i would like roberta immediately, she'd hint at frank that she has a good feeling about the two of us. i rate this relationship a solid 8.5/10. i hate kids, but i'd play with legos with mary every time she wants.

ANDY FUCKING BARBER. HELLO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! just marry me already, damn it that's all i'm asking. 9.9/10 (he drinks too much beer so he loses a 0.1).

for daniel:

that one took a lot of thinking. it's a tie between tony from burnt and (modern day) lazslo. TONY IS GAY I KNOW BUT LET ME EXPLAIN why date when you can have a best friend????? friendship can be so wholesome and fulfilling?????? and i think that's what would happen. with tony for example, we could have bumped into each other after breaking up with our partner/having our hearts broken. he is so in love with adam despite knowing it's impossible for his feelings to be mutual; maybe i could have fallen in love with a girl who doesn't love me back. and we just eat ice cream and complain. i'd offer to help him with the restaurant, after hours. put the chairs on the tables while he's short of staff and needs help. tony is a good cook and no one can tell me otherwise, so he'd sneak in the kitchens and make us late night snacks. 10/10 friendship. we'd grow old together, always find ways to hang out despite our schedules getting busy. NOW FOR LASZLO we'd meet in college for sure.i'd ask him to watch my stuff (even if he would be a total stranger at the beginning) while i go pee or something, and he would WATCH IT like sit on my seat and make sure no one dares steal the books i took from the shelves for their own research, or steal a pen idk. it'd make me laugh when i'd come back. we'd bond over just how awkward we are. he'd tell me about his family stories, about how life is in germany where he's from. i like the thought of me being the one to introduce him to mary, she could be my roommate or friend who studies film. laszlo would introduce me to john, who'd probably try to flirt and date. plot twist: i'd have a massive crush on sara, john's childhood friend and friend with benefits and overall confusing situation but i would never act on it. laszlo'd be very good with helping me with my breakdowns and anxiety, although that would become an issue. there would be gray areas where he'd start treating me like a patient or a lab rat from what he's learning in class. he'd be a bit too invasive and insensitive at times. we'd probably have times where we fought and refused to step on our pride and fix the situation. we'd reunite around graduation and celebrate one another. we'd be the kind of friends that don't need to hang out all the time to keep the friendship alive, we could meet once or twice a year and catch up and be good. 7.5/10, but we'd improve as we grow older. plot twist part 2: i would end up with sarah, laszlo with mary and i'd be both the bridesmaid to their wedding with john as the best man and with sara as the flower girl just to laugh at how she'd throw petals in our faces and protest against the institution of marriage.

my one true love: zemo, self explanatory. 10000000/10.

there you go, that's the psychoanalysis no one asked for. <3

[ihaveallthesefeelsokay]

So here’s a fragment I wrote for Jericho - Bill’s POV the night that Jake left town.  It’s definitely a fragment and I might flesh it out and include more POVs to post on AO3, but we’ll see.

The radio squawked to life in the darkness.

“Code eight!  Code eight on Braintree!  Code eight!”

Bill shot straight up in bed, hoping he’d dreamed that.  He’d never heard a code eight – officer in dire need of help – used outside of training in the almost seven years he’d been a deputy.  He’d lived in fear of ever hearing it.

Sara’s voice transmitted next, worried enough Bill knew he hadn’t dreamed it or woken up to some midnight drill.  “Confirming a code eight on Braintree Court in Jericho proper.  All officers please respond.  Connor, please update as possible.”  Her words were calm, but Bill knew she was as desperate as he was for more information.

Despite the fact that it was three in the morning and he’d been asleep just minutes before, Bill had his gear on in record time.  He stopped only long enough to give his dog Sadie a quick ear scritch and apologize for leaving her again so soon.

Braintree Court was in the Pines, the most expensive area in Jericho and generally a quiet place.  What could have happened there that made Connor so desperate for backup?  The radio remained silent other than officers checking in as they arrived on the scene – with everyone in the same place, there was no need to use the radios.

Bill’s apartment was on the south side of town, about as far from the Pines as was possible – he certainly didn’t fit into this neighborhood – making him the last on the scene.  As soon as he turned onto the street, it was obvious where to go.  Pajama-clad people stood in the road, watching a house lit up with the flashing of patrol cars and ambulances both.  Riley stood guard in the driveway, turning away anyone who got too curious.

“Home invasion,” he explained quickly as Bill jogged up.  “Homeowner killed one of them; the other put up a fight.  No surprises who’s involved and we’re all gonna be fucked because of it.”

Bill could have figured part of that out a second later when angry yells sounded from the front of the house.

“He shot him!  He killed him!  Why’re you arresting me?  Arrest him!  I didn’t do anything!” howled Mitchell Cafferty – one of Jonah Prowse’s lowlifes – as he was manhandled into the back of a patrol car by Connor and Salem.  Mitchell’s nose was broken and blood dripped down the front of his shirt, but judging from Connor’s black eyes and busted lip, he’d probably earned it.  Bill wondered whose body he’d find inside.

Bill nodded as Connor and Salem passed, all intradepartmental animosity dropped for the night.  They were deputies first, after all.

Sheriff Dawes greeted him at the door.  “Good, you’re here.  I need you processing the scene while Jimmy gets a full report.”

Bill nodded, unsurprised; the sheriff had been pushing him into a crime scene specialty.  It worked for Bill; he generally had an iron stomach and he’d never been as good as Jimmy at dealing with people.  It sounded like Jimmy already had his hands full – Bill could hear loud sobbing further back in the house.

The sheriff pointed away from the noise.  “Walk through the dining room.  There’s pieces of the kid all over the den.”

Sheriff Dawes referred to everyone under forty as ‘kid’, so Bill still had no clue who’d died.  It might have been Jake – and Bill felt his stomach lurch at the thought.  Only for Stanley’s sake, he told himself, but it was a lie.  He may not have liked Jake, but he’d still known him since they were kids.

The homeowner turned out to be Gray Anderson, one of the owners of the salt mine.  Of course, Bill thought, if a dumbass like Mitchell Cafferty was going to knock over a house, it was going to be the house of the richest man in Jericho.

Gray looked to be in shock, barely registering the EMT buzzing around him at the kitchen table, checking his vitals.  Jimmy sat across from him, trying to calm down the sobbing Mrs. Anderson.

Just past them in the den, Bill saw what was left of the second home invader – and he knew he’d never forget the sight.  It took him a moment, but he recognized the kid – and ‘kid’ was the right term – despite the fact he was missing a quarter of his face.

“Jesus fuck, Chris,” Bill swore under his breath.  Emily Sullivan’s little brother.  Jonah Prowse’s only son.  Riley was right:  there was going to be hell to pay before this was all over.

Three hours later, Bill slunk out of the finally-deserted house and locked up behind the EMTs carrying out Chris Sullivan’s remains.

This hadn’t been the grisliest thing Bill had ever seen, to be sure – there were some car wrecks and suicide calls that kept showing up in nightmares – but it was the first time he’d really known the person involved.  While he worked, Bill had managed to make himself forget that he knew a name for the bits of blood and brain splattering the hardwood, but it’d been exhausting to stay focused.  He was done with that, though, and had a camera full of bloody photos, a pad full of notes, and a sneaking suspicion he wasn’t off-duty just yet.

The street was quiet and empty, except for Bill’s car and Salem’s patrol car, parked across the front of the drive for easy visibility.  Bill collapsed into Salem’s passenger seat without waiting for permission.

“You and I are out here for a few more hours,” Salem said by way of greeting, confirming Bill’s guess.  “Connor checked into the clinic with a concussion and a broken rib, but he’ll be fine.  Taylor’s taken the Andersons to a hotel for the night and Sheriff sent Riley and Sara home to get some sleep.  They’ll take over for us when we’re up.”

Bill nodded, glad for the update on everyone.  “Cafferty?”

“In a cell, scared shitless.  He fought hard enough that I think he wanted us to shoot him.”

“I wouldn’t want to be him right now,” Bill said, shaking his head.  “Jonah’s gonna have it out for whoever survived and let Chris die.”

“Tell you what, I do not want to be there when Jonah finds out.”

“I just hope he stays out of town.”  Hope was all Bill had; Jonah was usually canny enough to be subtle, but he’d also never lost a child.  He might try to target the Andersons, he might attack the salt mine, he might take it out on Jericho in general, or he might do nothing at all.  Bill had no way of predicting what would happen in the morning.

“Sheriff’s gonna ask the mayor for a curfew, just in case.”  Salem rubbed his temples.  “It’s gonna be a long day.”

A long day with a lot that could go wrong.  Bill glanced at the clock – 3:58.  Too early to call his parents to tell them to stay home today, but he could leave them a text message.  He couldn’t tell them any details yet, but maybe they’d call out from work and stay in if he asked them to.

“Talking to your momma?” Salem asked wryly when Bill pulled out his phone.

“Don’t you fucking start with me,” Bill snarled.

Salem laughed hollowly.  “Not tonight, man.  Jonah’s shit is probably gonna hit the fan.”

That was not the response Bill had been expecting.  For Salem, it was a shocking show of concern.  Still…  “I was just gonna tell them to be careful.”

Salem snorted.  “No, you weren’t.  You were gonna tell them to stay home and hide out, weren’t you?  That’s what you always tell your parents when things look skittish.”

Bill bristled.  Salem was being too perceptive for his liking.  “Why don’t you get some sleep?” he suggested.  “I’ll keep an eye out and punch you in the nuts if things get interesting and I need your help.”

“Nah, Koehler.  I’d sleep through that; your throws couldn’t hurt a fly and we both know it.”  Despite his words, Salem stretched out and pulled his hat over his face, shielding him from the streetlamps.

Bill grinned.  If he lucked out, one of Jonah’s goons would do a drive-by and Salem would see how harmless his punches were, after all.

Bill fought to keep from dozing off.  He’d parked the patrol car, ostensibly to watch for speeders, but in reality he and Jimmy were taking turns catnapping and hoping nothing else happened.  Neither of them had gotten any real sleep yet and all the adrenaline had worn off hours ago.

His phone started buzzing.

Bill eyed his cell phone.  Everyone who had his number knew better than to call him during work hours.  Text, sure, but if they needed to talk to him, they had to go through the office.

Jimmy stirred.  “Whozzat?” he mumbled blearily.

“Sheriff Dawes?” Bill said questioningly, staring at the number.  With a shrug, he answered.  “Hello?”

“Bill, I need you and Jimmy to go pick someone up for questioning.  Mitchell’s told us about a third party involved last night.”

It was definitely Sheriff Dawes, but requests like this usually came over the radio.  “Yes, sir.  Why didn’t you radio us?  Is there a problem with our equipment?”

“I didn’t want to tip off the suspect.  I need you to pick up Jake Green.”

“Ja–?  No, of course.  Yes, sir.  We’ll go get him right now.”  Bill had the car in gear before he hung up the phone.

Jimmy rubbed his face, trying to wake up.  “What’s going on?  Something happen at the station?”

“Mitchell talked.  Jake was there last night, too.”

“And he called in case Jake was listening to our radios.”

“Yup.”  Bill nodded solemnly.  “I would be, if I were him.”

Gail Green met them at the door with red-rimmed eyes.  “You’re here for Jake,” she stated bleakly.

“Yes, ma’am,” Jimmy said gently.  “Is he here?”

“He’s not here.”  Gail stepped aside to let them in anyway.  “I haven’t seen him since last night and his things are gone.”

Bill nodded at Gail as he passed her.  “Do you know where he might be?”

She shook her head.  “I’ve already looked for him in his usual places:  the ranch, his grandfather’s, Stanley’s.  I didn’t go to the hunting cabins, though.”

Bill made a mental note to get the locations of the cabins.  He’d been to a couple of them as a teen, but not all.

“Johnston told me what happened,” Gail said.  “Have you checked on Emily yet?”

“No, ma’am,” Jimmy answered as Bill huffed.  When did Gail think they’d had time to check on anyone else?  They were doing well to all still be awake at this point.

“Was Jake part of it?” she asked desperately.

“We can’t say right now.”  Bill wasn’t going to be the one to tell her, at least.

Gail looked imploringly at them both.  “Find him.”

“We’ll do our best,” Jimmy promised.

“If you don’t mind, Mrs. Green, I’ll go check out Jake’s room and you can tell Jimmy where to find all the hunting cabins.”

Gail nodded.  “Let me get coffee for you boys, too.”

Oh, Bill could kiss Gail right now.

Patrol cars were sturdy, but they weren’t designed for off-roading comfortably, Bill noted as they bumped slowly down the road – more of a rough trail, really – from the last of the hunting cabins.

“So where next?” Jimmy asked.

“Let’s double check the Richmonds’ while we’re out here,” Bill suggested, “but I think the next step is to go to Jonah’s.”

Jimmy grimaced.  “I was afraid you were gonna say that.”

“Jonah ain’t here.  You wanna go the fuck away now.”  The guard glared menacingly at Bill and Jimmy through the chain-link fence.

Bill’s hand went instinctively to his holster.  “We told you we’re not here for Jonah.”

“Yeah, you’re looking for Jake Green.  Who ain’t?”

“So Jake isn’t here?” Jimmy asked.

“I didn’t say that.”

“So then he’s here?” Bill countered.  “We need to talk to him.”

“I didn’t say that, either.”

Bill rolled his eyes.  “You gotta say something.  Like maybe, ‘Sure, Jake’s here; let me go get him.’  Or maybe, ‘Jake’s not here, but I’ll tell you where he’s hiding.’  Else we’re gonna be standing here staring at each other’s mugs for a long time.”

“Jake isn’t here,” said a gravelly voice from inside the compound.  Jonah Prowse, looking worse than Bill had ever seen him, stepped out into the light.  “If he was, I’d have strung his guts over the fence for you.”

The hair on Bill’s neck stood on end.  “We’re sorry for what you’ve gone through today, Jonah, but don’t go making threats in front of us.”

Jonah glanced dismissively at Bill, which just made him try to stand up a little taller.  “Deputy Taylor, you won’t find Jake Green here.  My men are looking for him, too.  You should leave before this conversation takes an unpleasant turn.”

Jimmy nodded.  “We have to ask you to let us know if you find him.”

“Leave,” growled Jonah.

“Uh, sorry for your loss,” Jimmy stammered.  He reached out and grabbed Bill’s elbow, making sure Bill followed him.

“’Jonah ain’t here,’ my ass,” Bill snapped as he slammed the car door shut behind him.  “I think we need to go talk to the sheriff now.”

Connor was manning the office when Bill and Jimmy got back.  His face had blossomed into livid black and purple bruises.

Bill whistled.  “Lookin’ good, man.”

Connor flipped him off, moving slowly enough Bill could tell he was still in pain.

Sheriff Dawes waved them into his office.

“We didn’t find Jake,” Jimmy said right away.

“I guessed that when you didn’t bring him in with you,” the sheriff said drily.

“He cleaned out his bedroom at some point last night.  We put a BOLO alert on his car with the state troopers and checked any places he might have holed up,” Bill explained.

“How sure are you that you checked all his hiding spots?”

Bill and Jimmy looked at each other and shrugged.  “Relatively?” Jimmy offered.

“I’m not close to him anymore, but we went to all the places he used to hide out when we were in school.”

Sheriff Dawes sighed.  “If we were a larger department, I’d recuse you for your history with the Green boy, Koehler.  But I need all hands on deck for this.  Did you learn anything else?”

“We did,” Jimmy confirmed.

“Jonah isn’t happy with Jake.  Said his guys are looking for him, too, and came close to saying he’d kill him if he found him.”  Bill thought back.  “The compound was quiet, though.  Everyone seemed on edge, as if they didn’t know what was going on, either.  If they’re planning anything, it’s being done inside and silently.”

“Cafferty made it sound like Green was the mastermind of the plot and then deserted them.  I’m not sure how much of that is bluffing, but he’s vehement that Green was supposed to be there.”  Sheriff Dawes poked at some papers on his desk.  “He’s clammed up now, of course.  Wants to get lawyered up.  I’m not sure what good that’ll do him, since he can’t afford anyone good, but he’s welcome to try.”

Bill frowned.  He hadn’t even thought of how big a trial could get, even in a seemingly open-and-shut case like this one.  Last night wasn’t going to be over for a long time.

“What’s your judgment on Jonah?  Is he planning anything?”

“He’s pissed as hell,” Bill said.  “But he didn’t seem histrionic.  He made no threats against anyone but Jake.”

“Well, he told us to leave before things got heated,” Jimmy pointed out.

Bill nodded.  “Still, I didn’t get the impression he was doing anything but mourning today.”

The sheriff thought for a minute.  “Okay.  I want you boys to do your paperwork and then go home and get some sleep.  Keep your radios on, but rest.  We start fresh on this in the morning.”

There was an end in sight.  Bill thought longingly of his bed.  “Yes, sir.  Thank you, sir.”

[justjessame]

Who Really Believes in Numbers Chapter 5

Colin couldn't fucking believe it. He had been in the middle of a set when Ally Darling bum rushed him on stage. The rest of the band had looked like he felt. His colossal fuck up was going to ruin them. Jesus, did she really think that this would put her in a good light? What did she think this was a rom-com?

After she tried to explain that Jake Adams wasn't for her, that she saw clearly that Colin was her fate or destiny, Jake stared at her like she had lost her mind. Who was this woman? Honestly, Jasmine would shake her senseless trying to get her straight.

"Ally, stop." Colin said, bringing her monologue to a standstill. "I'm sorry, but you and I are not happening." He watched her face fall. "I wasn't completely honest with you from the beginning. I love someone else."

"What are you talking about?" She didn't look heartbroken, just confused. "You've slept with half of Boston, Colin. Who's the LUCKY girl?" Sarcasm, cute.

Colin shook his head. "You'd never understand. Jasmine, we've been together since we were children. She left to go to NYU six years ago and before she left she wanted to-" He struggled to explain and went with the simplest. "We agreed to be in an open relationship. We were always the end game, Ally."

Her eyebrows raised. "You offered me a chance at a relationship with you. What was that?"

She was right, what was that? Sighing he realized how deeply he'd dug this hole. "Jas and I had a hiccup in our relationship. And being an idiot, I tried to convince myself that it was a sign that you and I should try it." Realizing the hiccup was partially her fault, he sent her a look. "The upset in our relationship was sort of your fault."

She shot the look right back. "MY fault? And how is that?"

"The day you took my phone, the first time. You got a call for me, a woman. That was Jasmine. You told her that we were together, at least that's what I assume. I found a call from her that was answered, and the calls before and after were calls you made. Am I wrong?" Colin felt like he was passing the blame around, but truth be told, he was angry at Ally. She was so focused on herself and her wants that she assumed everyone else was part of making her whole.

Ally paled, she remembered the call. "You never told me that you had someone important, how would I have known?"

"Because, Ally, you should have noticed that she was number one on my contacts, and that every time you've taken my phone by accident, how often did women call asking for me?" He asked it without venom. "You didn't care. You made an assumption and ran with it."

"How do you know that this Jasmine will even take you back?" She asked, eyes flashing. "Even with an open relationship, hearing that you're taken by someone else probably pissed her off. We could still try this, Colin." She reached for him, but he stepped back. "Why not try something new?"

Colin glared at her. "I don't care if she takes me back or not, Ally. This," he gestured between them. "Will not be happening. You don't consider me the 'one' until it suits you. You and I aren't right for each other, Ally. We never were and never will be."

Ally turned on her heel and stomped away. Pissed, but not heartbroken Colin noticed. Good, he thought, stepping back on stage and trying to salvage his job. The last thing he needed was a woman who was wishy washy about her feelings. He knew one more thing as he started the next song and noticed several single women glancing his way. He'd be going home alone tonight. And for the foreseeable future. He was done.

Colin sang and formed a plan. It was time to get Jasmine back.

A BAR ACROSS BOSTON~ IN JASMINE AND COLIN'S OLD NEIGHBORHOOD

"Come on, Jas!" Christine yelled over the music. "At least pretend you're having fun!"

Jasmine rolled her eyes. This wasn't her idea of fun. And it wasn't her idea to be here at all. When her hometown best friend had called and insisted on a girl's night out, she'd tried multiple excuses to get out of it. None worked.

"I'd pretend if I could, Chris, but you and I both know I'm no fake." She gave a pained smile. "I'd rather be having dental work."

Chris laughed. "You look like you're having dental work." She sighed and pulled Jasmine to a corner booth, giving up on trying to get her bestie to dance. The booth was quieter, and sitting there she noticed how tired and upset her friend still looked. "The point of this was to get your mind off Colin."

Jasmine shook her head as Chris waved for a waitress' attention. "I know. I'm sorry, I just can't seem to stop thinking about him. Pitiful, huh?"

Chris ordered their drinks and shook her own head. "No, it's not. Jas, you two were together for so long, of course you're upset. Hell, the whole neighborhood is going to be upset. I bet they've been planning your wedding for years."

A dark chuckle escaped Jas' lips. "A wedding. That's rich. I gave him permission to play the field and didn't expect him to find someone else. I'm an idiot." Their drinks arrived and Jasmine shot hers back. Screw it, she decided, getting drunk could be cathartic.

The night progressed in a blur of drinks and, once she finally got a good buzz, dancing. She and Chris were on the dance floor when she noticed her friend's eyes dart to the bar. Rolling her own, she assumed her best friend saw a hottie and was interested. She was about to tell her to go ahead when Chris tried to divert her attention elsewhere. Curiosity peaked, she looked where Chris' attention had been focused.

At the bar were a few of Colin's bandmates. Scanning quickly, heart pumping harder than even the dancing could be credited for, she let out her breath when she realized that Colin wasn't with them. She contemplated going up to them. They were friends of hers after all, but she decided against it. Chris' stress left her when she realized that Jas wasn't interested in confronting them.

Unfortunately they didn't get the memo. Chris watched as Joe and Matt came strutting toward them. Jasmine had gone back to dancing, but Chris' hand on her arm and a nod of her head caused her to look to where Colin's bandmates were approaching. Sighing she nodded and kept dancing as they approached.

"Christine and Jasmine!" Matt yelled over the noise. "Fancy seeing you two here. Been a long time, Jas."

Jasmine nodded her agreement and kept dancing. Hoping against hope that neither Matt, nor Joe would have to bring Colin up, but knowing it was a useless hope.

Joe was watching her carefully, and noticed her hand still wore the ring that Colin had given her. He raised an eyebrow, wondering if they weren't actually broken up. After witnessing the scene at their gig tonight with the blonde neighbor, he was confused.

"Colin's been out of sorts lately." He mentioned casually, judging her reaction. There was a tightness around her eyes, but she didn't say anything. She continued dancing, but it was less frantic and excited, now it looked like it was something she had to keep up. Pretenses.

"Yeah, he had a really rough night. Thought his drama would fuck up our job tonight." Matt agreed, taking a swig from his beer. "That chick just barged onto the stage and took him away for a chat."

That's all Jasmine had to hear, she was done. Clearly Colin's new girl was the center of his world. Anyone who could command his attention during his music was special. She rolled her eyes and walked away. She was done. Thanks for cementing the loss of her relationship, guys, she thought. She waved Chris off. Her house was within walking distance and she needed the air. She wasn't afraid of the darkness, she knew this neighborhood like the back of her hand.

The fresh air helped sober her. She was still a little unsteady on her feet, but she made her way carefully along the path home. So it really was over, she thought and had to stop herself from starting the frightening laughter that would make her start sobbing. Maneuvering along the glowing path, she thought about their past. Before she'd been accepted to NYU. Before she made the stupid decision to give him free reign on sex with other women. She'd never admit it, but she gave him the out, but never took it for herself. Touching another man, any other man didn't appeal to her in the least.

Guys at the bars she'd been forced to frequent during her college years had tried to hit on her. She gave in to a kiss or two, but each time Colin's face, his touch, the kisses they shared would rear up and she'd pull back and shake her head. No one had gotten further than a kiss. It just didn't feel right to her.

She didn't begrudge him taking advantage of what she'd offered him. Jasmine was honest when she said they were too young to not explore other options. Obviously he'd found something more than what they had, while she was stunted. No one would be what Colin had been to her. And even now, wearing the ring that she should have taken off as soon as the other woman picked up his phone, she couldn't really imagine a future without him. Guess being a spinster sounds OK.

She was nearly home when her cell rang. Holding it up to check who the caller was, she squinted. It couldn't be. She was clearly too drunk to read or it was wish fulfillment. He couldn't be calling NOW.

She struggled with her emotions for a split second before pressing ANSWER. Holding the phone to her ear, she felt her heart clench waiting for the last shoe to drop.

[everykindofnerd13]

“How are you mio principe?” Nico asked as his boyfriend entered their cabin on the Argo ll.

“I’m good...” his lover responded and came to collapse in Nico’s arms.

“Mmm, so something’s wrong...” Nico muttered beginning to comfortingly rum his fingers through his boyfriend’s hair. Said boyfriend sighed and sat up on Nico’s chest to stare at him with beautiful sea green eyes.

“I’m tired of being on the run I guess...” Percy muttered and Nico’s brow furrowed confused. This had been Percy’s choice, and Percy seemed so happy, but really if Percy so desires, Nico would bring him back home to his path life, they could act as if Percy was kidnapped and his things had been stolen but really, Nico would hurt for the rest of his life.

“... do you... want to go back?” Nico asked and Percy’s eyes widened.

“Nico!” He swatted his boyfriends chest then pecked his lips, “No! How could you even suggest such a thing!” Nico shrugged sadly, tightening his grip around Percy’s waist.

“You said you were tired of running, the only way we’ll ever be able to stop is if you go back home...” Percy’s eyes softened.

“Nico, sometimes things are worth the exhaustion,” he explained in a hushed tone, caressing Nico’s face, “I may be tired of having to hide when we go places but I wouldn’t trade my life with you and the others for anything.” Nico sighed this time and leaned up to kiss Percy before flopping back down into the expensive pillows and averting eye contact to the side. He wouldn’t trade it either, but Nico couldn’t help but feel as if he was depriving Percy of a much easier, more comfortable life. This expensive bedding and the little bit of clothing, jewelry, and few belongings Percy had brought with him were the only thing Percy had left of his life as a prince. Nico just wanted Percy to live like a prince, with Nico.

“Stop thinking so loud...” Percy muttered and kissed Nico’s temple.

“Percy, I want you to know, that it doesn’t matter how long we’ve been out here, how intimate our relationship is, or how far away we are, if you ever want to return to the palace in Atlantis, I will bring you home...” Nico explained and Percy looked at him slightly annoyed.

“Nico, this is my home,” he reasoned and kissed Nico on the lips, “It’s been my home for many months now, I love our friends. I love the lives that we live. I just wish that I could go out and explore the world with you and not worry about being seen by someone who recognizes me, but if being with you and the others means living like that, so be it.” Nico smiles fondly at the former prince. And kissed his nose.

“I love you Percy...” he muttered and Percy smiled.

“I love you too Nico, now promise me,” Percy forced Nico to look him in the eyes, “that you’ll come to me and talk if you ever feel like this isn’t enough for me. I left behind the palace, the rich life, the easy life, because I love you. Because you and I are the most important thing. Whatever happens. We’re gonna do it together. And when we go to New Rome to grow old and gray together we’ll still take everything together. Promise?” Nico smiles and nodded before pulling down Percy’s head to rest on his chest and shutting his eyes.

——————————————————————————

“Nico, the Argo ll isn’t big enough anymore... there isn’t enough space for over 30 of us on this ship.” Nico sighed but nodded in agreement at Leo’s concerns. The young Latino had pulled him away to voice his concerns a couple minutes before.

“I know Leo...” he muttered and began to think.

“We’ve already expanded to the maximum,” Leo explained and Nico furrows his brows.

“Could we get another ship?” He asked and Nico looked positively scandalized.

“I would never leave behind my precious vessel!” He exclaimed, grabbing the railing of the ship. Nico chuckled and nodded.

“I know Leo, I don’t expect you to, but what if we got a second ship, had Alabaster enchant it to fly, then we could connect them, via some kind of flexible rope bridge and Charles could man one while you man the other.” Leo looked down and pondered Nico’s words before nodding.

“That’s a good idea.” He agreed and Nick nodded fondly.

“So, what kind of boat do you think, my wise brother in law?” Leo flushed and looked down at the two rings on his left ring finger. One from Frank, the other from Hazel. The other two also had matching rings on their own fingers.

“Well, we only really need a ship with a minimum of 8 extra rooms, but preferably something around 10 to 12 so that we can have extra rooms on this ship, and if we had twelve then Cecil, Lou, and Miranda could split up.” Nico nodded.

“So, we’re more likely to find a ship with 14 cabins and a captains cabin right?” Leo nodded and Nico continued to think.

“Well, considering Silena and Beckendorf are expecting, they would obviously get a captain’s quarters.” Leo nodded excitedly, becoming giddy at the reminder of his older brother’s coming child, his niece or nephew. Leo adored children.

“Okay, so it’s settled then, we look for a ship with a minimum of 12 cabins yes? The bigger the better.” Nico suggested and Leo nodded in agreement.

“I’ll gather everyone, for a meeting, you go find Percy and you two start figuring out arrangements? Yes?” Nico nodded at his navigator and headed down to his cabin where he knew Percy was. The second he entered his eyes softened. Despite finding his new clothes infinitely more comfortable, Percy still quite enjoyed wearing the few royal garments he had left around the ship sometimes, same to Triton and Tyson.

“Aw, Gattino, what a beautiful sight walk in on.” Nico practically purred. He had taken to calling Percy a kitten because of how cuddly and seemingly endlessly sleepy the boy was. Percy was sitting on their bed, in front of the large and grand mirror that laid against the wall.

“Mm, I wanted to feel pretty,” he explained while standing to go to Nico’s side and kiss him.

“Aw, but Mio Principe, you always look pretty,” Percy blushes and swatted Nico’s chest.

“Well, as wonderful as this conversation is, there will be a meeting soon so I need your help figuring stuff out.” Nico sat Percy down and explained to him the situation with finding a new ship and how only a few couples would be staying on the Argo ll. Nico had already decided that he and Percy would be one, honestly not willing to part with the precious ship either. And obviously Leo, Hazel, and Frank had to stay in their own cabin, now it was just a matter of choosing the rest of the crew. They eventually came to the conclusion that Jake and Will, Jason and Reyna, and Annabeth and Piper would be staying, purely because Annabeth was very intelligent, Jason and Reyna were Nico’s most brilliant fighters, Ethan and Alabaster (despite being insufferable) were his most trusted advisors, and Will was the doctor. Things would probably have to be re-evaluated later on when Silena had her baby as having Annabeth teach the child was the only option, and Will was the doctor, so having him on the other ship later on when Silena was further along only made sense.

Ultimately it was decided that they would split them up as Nico and Percy planned for now then fix things accordingly later.

Staying on the Argo ll

Nico

Percy

Leo

Hazel

Frank

Jason

Reyna

Annabeth

Piper

Jake

Will

Ethan

Alabaster

Going to the other ship

Silena

Beckendorf

Thalia

Bianca

Grover

Juniper

Chris

Clarisse

Luke

Octavian

Triton

Thanatos

Lou

Cecil

Miranda

Katie

Malcolm

Tyson

Ella

Rachel

Once they had agreed on a fair list and written it down, Nico and Percy headed up to the deck, where all their meetings were held on days with good weather. Everyone was sitting in a semi circle on blankets and pillows, all facing one space where Nico laid out his own blanket and pulled Percy down. Beckendorf was curled protectively around Silena, who was probably 5 and a half months along and showing quite a lot but still had a while to go. Octavian had Luke in his lap, though despite the warm and loving position, the Seer did not look at all happy and even had the audacity to scowl at Percy as he and Nico sat. Nico had never liked Octavian, not even slightly, but he loved Rachel, and he adored Ella, and Octavian seemed to be a package deal, so he put up with him. That however did not make the fact that Octavian scowled when Percy wore his old clothes any more acceptable and Nico shot him his own glare as he and Percy looked around.

“Alright, so, I know that we’ve been dealing, but I don’t personally like making my subordinates deal with anything, plus, it’s been worrying Leo.” Everyone looked on in confusion while Nico spoke and fidgeted with the gold hanging around Percy’s waist.

“There are simply too many people staying on the ship as of now,” everyone exchanged looks of confusion and fear at his words but Nico smiled warmly to calm them.

“I can see the fear on your faces, I’m not gonna force any of you off,” Nico threw a pointed look at Octavian though, “What we’re going to do is look for a second ship, that we’re going to tether to the Argo ll as well.”

Tyson’s eyes brightened, “like a Navy Fleet!” He exclaimed and Nico chuckled but nodded.

“Yes Tyson, like a Navy’s fleet,”

“What do you plan on doing to make it fly? Are we going to spend months modifying it to replicate the Argo ll?” Nico shook his head at Lou’s question then turned to Alabaster.

“I was actually hoping that maybe you could enchant it,” Alabaster looked slightly worried for a only a moment before putting on his well-known false mask of cockiness.

“Of course, I can do anything you want me to Captain,” Nico knew that was a lie, and he could see the concern on Ethan’s features but he nodded anyway.

“We’re looking for a ship with a minimum of 12 cabins and at least one captain’s suite,” Nico explained, then his eyes trained on Beckendorf and Silena, “said captain’s suite will be given to Silena and Beckendorf not only to accomadate space for their coming child but also because I’m assigning you to man the ship Charles,” Beckendorf nodded authoratively while Silena looked down at her stomach.

“We also figured up some things earlier,” Percy reached for Nico’s shirt pocket and pulled out the folded list.

“Yes, Percy and I sat down and figured up what would make the most sense, as I’m still the captain, and the ships are connected, we decided to split us up reasonably,” everyone looked around worried.

“Don’t worry, like I said the ships will be tethered, and the plan will be for an attachable and detachable rope bridge to connect them. Granted, there will be only certain times of day that the bridge will be put up, as it would be far too dangerous to have crew members walking across the bridge while we’re flying fast enough to cause winds. Those times will consist of breakfast, lunch, evening, and dinner, then once after dinner for returning back to your cabins. I know it isn’t ideal,” Nico ignored the obviously mouthing of “duh” that came from Octavian, “but I could never ask Leo to part with the Argo ll and I could never ask any of you to leave, you are my family, some of you maybe for longer, but none of you any less.” Lou, Cecil, Ethan, Alabaster, and Will in particular smiled. While two of them had only joined recently with the princes of Atlantis to be with their lovers, they all had a particular soft spot for the Captain and they were all aware of the soft spot he had for them. As Percy snugged into Nico’s embrace Nico began to list off who would be where and what roles they would play. Surprisingly, not even Octavian put up much of a fight, and Nico was able to end the meeting quickly, letting everyone disperse. He was about to stand with his lover when he heard an uncomfortable groan come from Percy.

“Percy?” He asked as the former prince pressed closer to Nico. The captain grew worried suddenly, and tried to pull Percy away only causing Percy to whimper as if he were in pain.

“Perseus?” He asked again and Percy only groaned louder and buried deeper into Nico’s chest, beginning to cry. Nico began to panic, worried about his love.

“Percy, sweetheart, what’s wrong, are you hurt?” Percy nodded sharply and continued to cry.

“Hey hey, it’s okay, where is it love?” Percy let out a sob that alerted everyone above deck.

“I don’t know what’s going on, I feel like I’m on fire, everything hurts...” He cried and Nico became infinitely worried. He scooped Percy up into his arms as Will rushed over.

“Percy?” Will asked authoratively, only gaining a whimper in response.

“We need to get him to the infirmary.” Will explained quickly, rushing to the infirmary that he was using half of as his own bedroom that he shared with Jake behind a curtain. Nico carried his lover, hugging him close to his chest, to the infirmary. Everyone else watched them concerned, particularly Silena, Luke, Triton, and Annabeth whom had all been particularly protective of Percy since he was just a child.

“Percy, I need you to tell me what’s wrong so I can try to help you okay?” Alabaster stepped into the room as well, incase magic would be needed to stabilize the Prince.

“I don’t know... I feel like my entire body is going to burst up in flames and like my insides are trying to turn inside out...” Percy was still crying, clinging to Nico’s shirt, seeking any form of comfort from his lover who tentatively ran his fingers through Percy’s hair but was careful not to get in Will’s way. Suddenly Alabaster gasped.

“That’s not a sickness...” he muttered and everyone turned to look at him sharply.

“It’s a curse...” he explained and Nico’s eyes narrowed, zeroing in on Alabaster. He trusted the warlock with his life, so if Alabaster knew what it was there was no denying him.

“A curse?” Percy asked confused and Nico shushed him and continued to pet his hair, then scooped Percy up into his lap anyway. Percy was sweating, burning up, and his extremities were freezing.

“Yes, I don’t know what it is, what it’s doing, but that’s what happens when a curse’s conditions aren’t met, I can’t...” Alabaster looked guilty, “I can’t break it myself, those are strong curses...”

“Okay, so do you know how we can figure it out?” Will asked calmly, trying to keep a level head as he knew that if he didn’t Nico may just blow his top in fear and panic.

“It would take... days... and I don’t know if I even have that kind of power...” Will nodded in understanding. Percy whined again and clutched his stomach tighter, holding on to Nico tightly. Nico looked only more afraid for his love and hugged him tighter. All he wanted was for Alabaster to figure out what was wrong with Percy so they could fix it, but the rational part of Nico’s brain knew that using Alabaster’s magic when he didn’t have enough ate his life force and he didn’t want to see his friend die nor the pain Ethan would suffer.

“Go fetch Triton, we’ll see if he knows anything of this.” Will ordered, Alabaster nodded quickly and rushed out only to run straight into Triton’s chest.

“Triton,” he muttered and grabbed his hand, pulling him away from Thanatos and into the infirmary.

“So, it’s a curse, but we don’t know the conditions so we can’t fix it.” Alabaster explained while he summoned a bucket of icecubes for an ice bath that Will was drawing in the large bathtub they had in the ship. It was finely crafted by Jake and Beckendorf a few months back when Silena, Will, and Annabeth had actually voiced their concerns about hygiene, though Percy probably used it the most often. It was hooked up to a barrel of fresh river water. Slowly, Will encouraged Nico to remove Percy’s jewelry carefully and submerge the prince in the ice bath, to attempt to soothe the pain. He also grabbed a a few gloves and placed them on top of the fireplace in the corner to heat up so he could warm Percy’s hands. Percy was whimpering and whining in pain as he sat in the tub, though he did seem looser than earlier, he wasn’t curling in on himself as harshly anymore.

“Nico...” he whimpered tears still streaming down his cheeks as Nico held his gloved hand.

“Hurts...” he muttered and Nick shushed him softly and kissed his forehead.

“I know Gattino, I know, we’re trying to figure out how to fix it, okay?” He continuously kissed Percy’s hand all over and turned his attention to Triton who was wracking his brain, then suddenly something clicked.

“Ocean water will be his friend, but only till a weeks end...” he muttered and Alabaster and Nico looked at him concerned, urgent, and curious.

“Of course!” he exclaimed. Then turned to Nico.

“The ocean! Percy has to to in the ocean at least once a week or the curse set by Eris will...” Triton trailed off and scowled.

“My aunt had the curse placed on Percy. When he came into our care she was still angry, angry that my father had dared impregnate a woman that wasn’t my mother, so she had her witch Eris curse him.” He then rushed out side and looked intensely at Leo.

“We’re heading to the next beach we can find, no matter what, if not Percy may die.”everyone was shocked but nodded and Leo began ushering people either below deck or to masts.

Percy was still in the infirmary whimpering, crying, and trying to get closer to Nico. Luke, Silena, Annabeth, and their significant others along with Triton and Thanatos and Jake had all also crowded into the room.

“Just give the gods damned kid a pain killer he’ll be fine.” Octavian muttered but Nico had keen ears. He pointed the most dangerous glare he had at the seer then looked at Luke.

“Lucas, you better get your vile creature out of this room before I either strangle him or throw him overboard.” He ordered in a dark voice that had everyone shaking in their boots, and they were all reminded that Nico wasn’t just their loving and kind captain who was wrapped around his boyfriend’s finger. He was a war hero, a fighter, he knew a vast array of dark magic himself, and he would not hesitate to hurt anyone that threatened his loved ones. They all also knew that Nico only tolerated Octavian for Luke and Rachel’s sake, as did mostly everyone else. Luke quickly ushered Octavian out and shut the door behind him, maintaining his space in the room.

Finally, they felt the ship slow and Nico sighed relieved. He lifted Percy from the tub, the prince letting out a blood curdling cry that wrenched all their hearts. He still clung to Nico as he was carried down the already lowered ramp and rushed to the water, where despite himself, Nico dropped down in the water in his clothes and held Percy in the water while he cried. After a few minutes, his crying became quieter, Percy stopped whimpering and Nico sighed relieved, pulling Percy up to bury his face in his neck. He looked at the watch on his wrist. An hour and twenty minutes of Percy crying and hurting and whimpering, and for everyone’s sake Nico would never let that happen again.

“Nico?” Percy asked weakly, looking up at his silently crying boyfriend. Nico was crying tears of relief as he clutched Percy to his chest. Everyone else stayed on the shore, not daring interfere with the couple’s moment.

“Nico...” he muttered and kissed his boyfriend’s cheek. After a while, Nico had stopped crying and just hugged and kissed Percy softly and Percy was just smiling then he yawned and curled into Nico’s chest, this time like a cat and not like a hurt puppy.

“Percy, do you wanna go back to the ship?” He asked and Percy nodded quickly. As they left, Percy and Nico were wrapped in warm towels and warm embraces as everyone expressed their relief at Percy’s health.

“Fill what ever empty barrels we have, I’m never letting that happen again.” Ethan nodded sharply at Nico’s order and the crew began searching for free barrels. Meanwhile Nico brought Percy to their room, undressed them, dried them and dressed them both in Nico’s clothes, as he knew how much Percy loved wearing Nico’s slightly bigger white button downs.

“Thank you...” Percy muttered softly as he and Nico cuddled under the blankets.

“Of course Blu Bello, this is my duty as your lover. To care for you no matter what,” Nico explained and kissed Percy’s forehead. Percy fell asleep quickly tucked underneath Nico’s chin and snuggling a large blue silky pillow.

About an hour later there was a soft knock on the door, Nico had been planning for upgrades on the ship and writing down materials for when they landed next, but mostly just caressing Percy’s sides and making sure he looked comfortable. Nico called for whoever it was at the door to come inside, not taking his eyes off the paper in his hand.

In stepped both Will and Alabaster. Alabaster looked incredibly guilty, while Will had that particular look of when he was serious about doing his job. The look that not even Nico would interrupt or prevent him from his work. Nico reluctantly let Will pull Percy away and check him over and make sure there was no permanant damage aside from exhaustion. Alabaster just stood to the side awkwardly, not looking anyone in the eyes as he waited for Will to be done. Nico raised a confused and concerned eyebrow at that, Alabaster was an annoying brat, but he was one of Nico’s favorite annoying brats.

“Alabaster?” He called questioningly and he saw Alabaster visibly tense.

“Yes Captain?” The warlock answered, still not making eye contact with his captain. This set Nico even more on edge, because, yes, he was was Alabaster’s captain, but no one ever called him that unless he was actually in full-on captain-mode.

“Are you okay?” Nico asked quietly and he saw the tears beginning to well in Alabaster’s eyes.

“I’m sorry...” he muttered softly and kept looking at the ground. This alerted Nico quickly, and he stood up from his bed, hastily but gently as not to wake Percy.

“What do you mean Alabaster?” He asked, placing his hands on Alabaster’s shoulders. The young warlock pulled his hands up to his face and tried wiping away tears only for them to return quickly.

“I-I” he stuttered, trying to form sentences but tears a despair obviously stopped him. Nico was beginning to become actually concerned, “I should have been able to do something, I was the royal warlock, I- I’m supposed to break curses, that’s my job, but I couldn’t have saved Percy without killing myself...” Nico looked utterly horrified as he pulled Alabaster into a hug, which were usually saved for Percy exclusively.

“Alabaster, you’re not on this ship so we can use you for your magical abilities, you’re on this ship because you make Ethan happy and because we care about you. I don’t blame you for what’s happened to Percy, his angry Aunt had that curse placed on him, and she probably suffered enough with the price. Most people don’t mess with Eris, you and I both know that.” Alabaster nodded, still looking sad.

“I still should have been able to do something.” Alabaster argued and Nico sighed.

“You could have done something, I wanted you to do somethng so bad, but if you had done something, Ethan would have resented me for the rest of our lives. And Percy would have killed me for killing you, and I would have felt so guilty in the after life I would haunt you specifically to make your life easier,” Alabaster laughed at his captain’s words and nodded, still not moving to touch Nico. The captain held out his arms invitingly, waiting for Alabaster to hug him. The warlock did, placing his cheek on Nico’s shoulder and clutching the back of Nico’s shirt.

“Thank you Nico...” Alabaster whispered and a smile spread across his face. Nico nodded approvingly as they pulled away and ruffled Alabaster’s hair.

“Okay, so did you come in to apologize or to stand there like you’d killed my dog the entire time?” He asked and Will blanched behind them. Nico laughed as he turned to his boyfriend and the doctor, or quite honestly, his bestfriend.

“That was so cute, you’re so cute when you’re serious about people.” Percy muttered where he was staring at Nico. Nico rolled his eyes but felt a blush spread over his cheeks.

“How else am I gonna keep my lovely crew around?” Nico asked and Percy giggled.

“Pretty sure the only reason Octavian’s still here is because Luke and Rachel are here.” Percy pointed out and Nico hummed in agreement.

“Yes, well Luke and Rachel are part of my lovely crew and Octavian is an obnoxious side effect, if it was up to me Octavian wouldn’t be here, but he makes Luke happy, and Luke being happy makes you happy, so I guess that’s more important.” Percy smiled softly and hummed, then made grabby hands at Nico.

“Well, seems like really the only issue I can find with my “doctoring skills” is that you’re exhausted which makes sense, I prescribe a good nights rest, and I’ll check in again tomorrow.” Will then stepped back and looked at Alabaster expectantly. The warlock huffed and sat down in the chair next to Nico and Percy’s bed on Percy’s side.

“This will tickle but not hurt, it’ll feel more like cats whiskers all over your body than anything,” Alabaster explained and lifted his hands over Percy’s body. Said prince giggled and wrapped his arms around Nico’s waist and laid his head in his boyfriend’s lap. Alabaster’s hands began to glow blue with his magic. Nico rubbed Percy’s back while Alabaster did whatever he was doing.

A few minutes later, Percy stopped squirming and Alabaster stopped glowing, “Well,” the warlock stated tiredly, “there are no magical side effects either, congrats Mr. Captain’s Kitten, you’re fine.” Alabaster was being chipper but he looked exhausted so Nico gave Will a look that basically read, see him back into Ethan’s arms so he can rest, which Will nodded to as he lead Alabaster out of the room.

“You really care about your entire crew.” Percy muttered and Nico hummed fondly, running his fingers through Percy’s hair.

“My crew is my family love, no matter how awfully I dislike Octavian, he’s like that one uncle that you don’t like but seems to make your favorite Aunt happy so you accept them,” Percy laughed at his boyfriend’s analogy but nodded in agreement nonetheless.

“Nico?” He asked after a few minutes of comfortable silence.

“Yes?”

“You’re still the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” After that Percy fell asleep in Nico’s lap, leaving the captain stunned and staring at his boyfriend star struck.

“Perseus, you’re the most wonderful thing that has ever pranced into my life,” Nico explained softly and kissed Percy’s forehead as he let himself drift off to sleep.

[queen-of-deans-booty]

Dead in the Water- Part 2

Pairing: Eventual Dean x Reader

Word Count: 4,120 (7,813 words in total)

Warnings: Typical Supernatural violence, angst, language, minor character death, blood, you know the usual

Author’s Note: I do not own anything from Supernatural. All credit goes to their respective owners. Please, if you want to be tagged for this series, let me know and I’ll add you! If you want to be tagged for my other fics, I’ll add you! I want to hear what you guys think about this.

Part One

Feedback is always appreciated

Tags at the bottom

“Mr. Carlton?” You asked, approaching the man in distress. You headed over there immediately thanks to Dean and his driving. You and the boys agreed that you would be doing the talking since you were more compassionate and your voice was more gentle than theirs.

“We’d like to ask you a few questions, if you don’t mind. We’re from the Department,” You were cut off when Bill spoke.

“I don’t care who you're with. I've answered enough questions today.” He sounded so sad, it broke your heart.

“Your son said he saw something in that lake. What about you? You ever see anything out there?” No answer was received and you sighed. “Mr. Carlton, Sophie's drowning and Will's death—we think there might be a connection to you or your family.”

“My children are gone. It’s worse than dying. Please, just go away.” You bit your lip and looked at the boys, nodding. You and the brothers made your way back to the car.

“What do you think?” You asked Dean.

“Aw, I think the poor guy's been through hell. I also think he's not telling us something.” Dean cleared his throat.

“So now what?” Sam asked, sounding defeating. You stood there with the boys for some time now. You looked at Mr. Carlton’s house and you bit your lip. That house looked very familiar. You reached into your jeans and pulled out the picture that Lucas drew for you. You help up the picture next to the house and looked at the boys.

“Maybe Bill isn’t the only one who knows something.” You looked back at the drawing.

“We must talk to that kid.” Dean said, getting into the Impala. The drive to Andrea’s house wasn’t that far, considering how small of a town this really was. The lake connected lots of house to it and Andrea’s house just happened to be one of them. You knocked on the door, hoping Andrea would answer. You got her address when you were looking in the newspaper about her husband, Chris. It was listed in there and you were thankful of that.

“Sam, Dean, Y/N, what are you doing here?” Andrea said once she opened the door.

“May I talk with Lucas?” You bit your lip.

“I’m sorry, I don’t think that’s a good idea.” She sighed.

“I just need to talk to him,” Your eyes widened in desperation. “For a few minutes.”

“He won't say anything. What good's it going to do?”

“Andrea, we think more people might get hurt. We think something's happening out there.”  Sam said gently.

“My husband, the others, they just drowned. That’s all.” Andrea shrugged.

“If that's what you really believe, then we'll go. But if you think there's even a possibility that something else could be going on here, please let me talk to your son.” You sighed, hoping you convinced her. She hesitated at first but she let you and the Winchesters inside, leading you upstairs where her son’s room was.

Lucas was coloring with toy soldiers standing all around him when you entered his room.

“Hey, Lucas, remember me?” You saw Lucas had drawn two more pictures of the red bicycle. “You know, I, uh, I wanted to thank you for that last drawing. But the thing is, I need your help again.” You crouched down next to Lucas and bit your lip. You watched as he drew a picture of a person in water. You took out the drawing he drew you and placed it in front of him.

“How did you know to draw this? Did you know something bad was going to happen? Maybe you could nod yes or no for me?” You asked, hopeful. Still, nothing came from the kid.

“You're scared. It's okay, I understand. See, I saw something real bad happen to my mom, and I was scared, too. I didn't feel like talking, just like you. But see, my mom—I know she wanted me to be brave. I think about that every day and I do my best to be brave. Maybe, your dad wants you to be brave too.” You said gently, telling him what you never told anyone. You knew your mom was proud of you but you tried to be brave so you wouldn’t disappoint her.

Lucas dropped his crayon and you had a small smile on your face, in hopes of him talking to you. All he did was hand a picture to you of a white church, a yellow house, and a boy with a blue baseball cap and a red bicycle in front of a wooden fence.

“Thanks, Lucas.” You got up and looked over at Sam and Dean with a smile. You looked at Andrea to see her frowning but she didn’t say a word to you, just led you and the boys downstairs.

“I hope you got what you were looking for.” Andrea said, crossing her arms.

“I did, thank you.” You walked out of her house quickly, noticing some tension between you two. You got inside of the Impala after Sam and Dean did and Dean started driving down to the town, looking out for buildings that looked like these.

“Andrea said the kid never drew like that till his dad died.” Dean commented, eyes looking around.

“There are cases—going through a traumatic experience could make people more sensitive to premonitions, and psychic tendencies.” Sam tried to explain away the reason why Lucas was drawing like that.

“Whatever's out there, what if Lucas is tapping into it somehow? I mean, it's only a matter of time before somebody else drowns, so if you got something better, please, speak up.” You said from the backseat. You know Lucas had something to do with this and the drawings will help you figure it out.

“Alright, we got another house to find.” Sam said.

“The only problem is there's about a thousand yellow two-stories in this county alone.” Dean sighed.

“See this church? I bet there's less than a thousand of those around here.” You held up the picture to show Sam and Dean.

“Nice job, sweetheart.” You blushed at the nickname and sat back, looking out the window. You saw the exact church you were talking about and tapped Dean’s shoulder.

“It’s right there.” Dean pulled to the curb and shut the car off, getting out. You and Sam followed suit, Sam going across the street to look at it more closely. You were about to follow when Dean stopped you.

“You know, um, what you said about your mom, you never told me that.” Dean’s eyes were soft and held so much care. Not many people see his but he cares a lot and he acts like he doesn’t but you knew him better than that. Maybe that’s why he doesn’t pretend around you.

“It’s no big deal,” You shrugged. “It got him to give me the picture.”

“Okay, sweetheart, whatever you say.” He grabbed your hand and walked with you to where Sam was. You took the picture and held it up, seeing how everything was exactly the way it was. Lucas drew this exact point in the neighborhood.

“I think that house has something to do with it.” You looked at the brothers. You walked over to the house and knocked on the door, waiting.

An old woman answered the door and she smiled at you.

“Yes, can I help you?”

“Yes, we’re sorry to bother you ma’am but does a little boy live here, by chance? He might wear a blue ball cap, has a red bicycle.” You might wonder if this woman was his grandma.

“No ma’am, not for a very long time. Peter's been gone for thirty-five years now.” You looked at the boys as she stepped further into the house. She wanted to talk about this inside and you wouldn’t complain. You walked inside, following her to the living room where she sat down.

“The police never—I never had any idea what happened. He just disappeared. Losing him, you know, it's worse than dying.” She sighed.

“Did he disappear from here? I mean, from the house?” Dean asked, looking around.

“He was supposed to ride his bike straight home after school, and he never showed up.” The woman replied with. You looked over at Dean to see him holding a picture, inspecting it further.

“Sorry for taking up your time.” From once look at Dean, you knew it was time to go. The boys shuffled out of the house, you following their tails. What did Dean figure out from the picture? Dean didn’t say a word until you three were on the road again.

“Okay, this little boy Peter Sweeney vanishes, and this is all connected to Bill Carlton somehow.” Sam spoke first.

“Yeah, Bill sure as hell seems to be hiding something, huh? The picture I found back there was a picture of the kid, Peter, with Bill back in 1970.”

“So what if Bill did something to Peter?” You asked suddenly.

“What if Bill killed him?” Sam looked at you.

“Peter's spirit would be furious. It'd want revenge; it's possible.” You shrugged.

“We should check up on Bill then.” Dean stepped on the gas as he drove back to Bill’s house. When he got there, you three stepped out.

“Mr. Carlton?” Sam called out loudly. You faintly heard an engine roar and you bit your lip, walking over to the side of the house where the lake was and saw Bill on a boat, heading out towards the middle of the lake.

“Mr. Carlton! You need to come back! Come out of the water! Turn the boat around!” Dean yelled, his voice booming.

“Mr. Carlton!!” Sam yelled. You watched as Bill drove his boat to the middle and watched as it flipped over, sending Bill into the water. He never came back up.

“Sheriff!” You called out, walking into the police station. After witnessing Bill go under, you knew that the Sheriff would have to believe you.

“Sam, Dean, Y/N.” Andrea said, going over to you. You saw Lucas huddled up, wide-eyed and scared. You felt bad for the kid but you needed to tell the sheriff what was going on.

“So now you're on a first-name basis. What are you doing here?” Jake Devins said, coming out of his office. The look he gave you was feral, like he knew something you didn’t. He looked at his daughter with a much softer look.

“I brought you dinner.” She smiled, handing him a bag.

“I'm sorry, sweetheart, I don't really have the time.” Jake sighed, looking at you.

“I heard about Bill Carlton. Is it true? Is something going on with the lake?” Andrea bit her lip, worried about what might be happening.

“Right now we don't know what the truth is. But I think it might be better if you and Lucas went on home.” Jake said to his daughter. Suddenly, Lucas shot out of his seat, running to you. He grabbed your arm, yanking on it.

“Lucas, hey, what is it?” You looked down at the kid, worried for him. “Lucas?” You tried again. No matter what, Lucas wouldn’t let go of you.

“Lucas, it's okay, it's okay. Hey, Lucas, it's okay, it's okay.” You tried to sooth the child. His mother pulled her son away from you and leads him outside. Not once did Lucas ever look away from you. That was really weird.

“Okay, just so I'm clear, you see... something attack Bill's boat, sending Bill, who is a very good swimmer, by the way, into the drink, and you never see him again?” Jake said, leading you, Sam and Dean into his office.

“Yeah, that about sums it up.” Dean nodded.

“And I'm supposed to believe this, even though I've already sonar-swept that entire lake? And what you're describing is impossible? And you're not really Wildlife Service?” Jake glared at you, singlehandedly. You bit your lip, looking guilty for a second. “That's right, I checked. Department's never heard of you three.”

“See, now, we can explain that.” Dean chuckled nervously.

“Enough, please. The only reason you're breathing free air is because one of Bill's neighbors saw him steering out that boat just before you did. So, we have a couple of options here. I can arrest you for impersonating government officials and hold you as material witnesses to Bill Carlton's disappearance. Or, we can chalk this all up to a bad day, you get into your car, you put this town in your rearview mirror, and you don't ever darken my doorstep again.” Jake threatened you.

“Door number two sounds good.” Sam nodded. He was always the ‘better safe than sorry’ kind of guy.

“That’s the one I’d pick.” Jake escorted you out of his station. What Jake actually did was escort you out of town. You watched as Jake’s car turned around and left you all alone.

“What the hell are we going to do now?” The streetlight that Dean was at turned green, signaling him that he can turn left. Turning left would get you out of the town but turning right would lead you straight back into it. Dean didn’t say a word as he turned right, heading back into to town.

“But Dean, this job, I think it’s over.” Sam said quietly.

“How can you really say that, Sam?” You said from the backseat.

“If Bill murdered Peter Sweeney and Peter's spirit got its revenge, case closed. The spirit should be at rest.” Sam explained.

“All right, so what if we take off and this thing isn't done? You know, what if we've missed something? What if more people get hurt?” Dean said, looking at his brother for a moment.

“Why would you think that?”

“Because Lucas was really scared.”

“That’s what this is about?” Sam looked back at you.

“I agree with him, Sam. Lucas wouldn’t have been that scared if he knew what was going to happen.”

“Fine, if you’re so sure.” Sam sat back, deciding not to say anything else about it. Dean decided to go to Andrea’s house to make sure Lucas was okay. You hoped to God he was because if something happened to him, you wouldn’t forgive yourself.

“Are you sure about this? It’s pretty late, man.” Sam asked his brother, looking back at you. Dean rang the doorbell, not wanting to answer his brother but when the door opened, you pushed past Sam and Dean, seeing a freighted Lucas.

“Lucas? What’s wrong?” Lucas didn’t answer but he just took off, going upstairs. You rushed inside, running upstairs with Dean and Sam hot on your trail. You stopped when you saw water pouring out from underneath the door and Lucas was pounding it, trying to get his mom to answer. You assumed she was trapped in there. You ran to the door, trying to doorknob but it wouldn’t budge. You knew you wouldn’t get this open.

“Dean, I can’t open the door.” You said.

“I’ll do it.” You grabbed Lucas and got out of the way in time to see Dean kicking the door down. Lucas was about to rush in but you stopped him. “No, Lucas, Sam got it.” Sam rushed in but you were too far away to see anything happen. You heard grunts and shouts come from the bathroom and you would go in and help but you didn’t want Lucas to see what was happening.

Suddenly, everything went quiet and Sam was walking out of the bathroom with a naked Andrea, covered in a towel. She was breathing heavily and you knew that she almost drowned. Somehow, you thought this connected to her family too.

You stayed in the house for the rest of the night, ready to help if anything was out of place; which it wasn’t. When it was around 8, the sun was in the sky but the terror still lingered.

“Can you tell me?” Sam asked Andrea when she was dry and clothed.

“No, it doesn’t make any sense,” She started to cry. “I’m going crazy.”

“No, you’re not. Tell me everything that happened.” Sam said.

“I heard… well, I thought I heard… There was this voice.” Andrea tried saying.

“What did it say?” Sam was questioning her but you were looking at Lucas. Poor kid.

“It said ‘come play with me’,” She shuddered. “What’s happening?” You looked over at Dean when he set a yearbook down in front of her. You walked over to him and stared at the pictures that littered the page.

“Do you recognize the kids in these pictures?” Dean asked Andrea.

“What? Um, um, no. I mean, except that's my dad right there. He must have been about twelve in these pictures.”

“Chris Barr's drowning. The connection wasn't to Bill Carlton. It must have been to the sheriff.” Dean wondered out loud.

“Bill and the sheriff—they were both involved with Peter.” Sam finished Dean’s thought.

“What about Chris? My dad—what are you talking about?” Andrea asked, confused. You were about to explain it to her when Lucas caught your attention. He was staring out of the window, into the woods.

“Lucas? What is it?” You asked. Lucas didn’t answer but opened the door and began to walk outside. You looked at Andrea and followed Lucas, everyone mimicking your actions. Lucas walked a little bit more and then stopped, looking at you.

“You and Lucas get back to the house and stay there, okay?” Dean ordered. Andrea pulled Lucas with her, going back to her house. It was good that she listened to him.

“Why did he lead us here?” You wondered. You saw a stone and began kicking it through the dirt when your foot scraped some dirt and you saw a bit of red peeking out.

“Boys, get the shovels.” You looked at them and they nodded, leaving to get shovels from the Impala. When they got back, you grabbed one and started digging where you saw red. Soon, the shovel hit something and you used the tip of your shovel to pry whatever was there up.

“Peter’s bike.” Sam said, looking at the red bike from the drawings.

“Who are you?” you whipped around to see the Sheriff pointing a gun at you.

“Put the gun down, Jake.” You warned, getting closer to Dean’s side.

“How do you know that was there?” Jake growled. He was hiding something.

“What happened? You and Bill killed Peter, drowned him in the lake and then buried the bike? You can't bury the truth, Jake. Nothing stays buried.” You looked at Dean. Why provoke the man with the gun?

“I don't know what the hell you're talking about.” You saw his lip quiver.

“You and Bill killed Peter Sweeney thirty-five years ago. That's what the hell I'm talking about.” Dean glared.

“Dad!” You heard Andrea say, running over to the group.

“And now you got one seriously pissed-off spirit.” Dean nodded.

“It's going to take Andrea, Lucas, everyone you love. It's going to drown them. And it's going to drag their bodies God knows where, so you can feel the same pain Peter's mom felt. And then, after that, it's going to take you, and it's not going to stop until it does.” Sam spoke up.

“Yeah, how do you know that?” Jake looked at you in the eyes.

“Because that’s exactly what it did to Bill.” You pointed out.

“Listen to yourselves, all three of you. You’re insane.” Said the guy with the gun.

“I don't really give a rat's ass what you think of us. But if we're going to bring down this spirit, we need to find the remains, salt them, and burn them into dust. Now tell me you buried Peter somewhere. Tell me you didn't just let him go in the lake.” Dean asked.

“Dad, is this true?” Andrea asked in a gentle yet hurt voice.

“No, don’t listen to them. They’re liars and they’re dangerous.”

“Something tried to drown me. Chris died on that lake. Look at me!” She demanded. Jake looked at his daughter with guilt all over his face. “Tell me you didn’t kill anyone.” When Jake looked away, she got her answer.

“Billy and I were at the lake. Peter was the smallest one. We always bullied him, but this time, it got rough. We were holding his head under the water’ we didn't mean to. But we held him under too long and he drowned. We let the body go, and it sank.

“Oh, Andrea, we were kids. We were so scared. It was a mistake. But, Andrea, to say that I have anything to do with these drownings, with Chris, because of some ghost? It's not rational.” He looked at his daughter, lowering the gun. Jake looked beyond and his eyes widened.

“Lucas!!!” He yelled. All four of you took off running to the lake, seeing Lucas getting closer and closer to the water. Andrea wasn’t that fast but you were.

“Lucas! Baby, stay where you are!!” She yelled to her son. You watched in horror as a hand reached up and grabbed Lucas, pulling him in. You wouldn’t stop running and you, Sam, and Dean dove into the water, trying to find her son. You didn’t care if the ghost took you at this point. All that mattered was her son.

You couldn’t find him and you came up for air, the carbon dioxide in your lungs begging to be released. You saw Sam and Dean come up, looking around.

“Dean?” You asked. He shook his head and Sam sighed.

“Peter, if you can hear me... please, Peter, I'm sorry. I'm so—I'm so sorry.” Jake said, distraught. He was walking into the water, knowing this was the end of his life.

“Daddy, no!” Andrea pleaded.

“Peter. Lucas—he's, he's just a little boy. Please, it's not his fault, it's mine. Please take me.” Jake bargained. You watched as Peter made an appearance and looked at Jake. Suddenly, Jake was being dragged down, underneath the water. You had to find this boy. You dove underneath the water with Sam and Dean, looking for the boy. It took a few minutes but you grabbed into Lucas’s body and reached the surface, gasping for breath.

Lucas wasn’t moving but he was breathing and that was all that mattered. Lucas was safe.

It bugged you, knowing that you didn’t save everyone. You hated leaving, knowing that there were people who still died.

“Look, we're not going to save everybody.” Sam said to you.

“I know.” You sighed, tossing your duffel bag into the backseat.

“Sam, Dean, Y/N.” you heard a female voice say. You looked up to see Andrea walking with her son. You smiled, seeing how Lucas was okay. “We're glad we caught you. We just, um, we made you lunch for the road.”

“Can I give it to them now?” Lucas said, carrying the try.

“Of course.” Andrea leaned down and kissed her son’s head.

“Come on, Lucas, let’s load the car.” You looked at him and he smiled, following you to the car. You took the tray and placed it on the seat, looking at him.

“Alright, if you’re going to be talking now, listen up. Bottling it in doesn’t help. You may not want to talk about what happened, and that’s okay, but eventually you will. Talk to your mom, tell a friend, tell a teacher but don’t keep it in. I learned the hard way.” You sighed a bit.

“I’m sorry about your mom.” He said softly.

“And I’m sorry about you dad,” You gave him a small smile. Andrea walked over and Lucas walked to her, taking her hand.  You looked at him and winked. “You take care of your mom, okay?”

“Okay.” Lucas smiled. Andrea walked to you and hugged you tightly.

“Thank you, for saving my son and me.” You hugged her back and nodded.

“I know what it’s like growing up without a mom. It’s not fun.” You pulled away and gave her a small smile. You heard the car doors close and you figured Sam and Dean were inside.

“Take care.” You got inside the car and Dean took off. You looked down at your hands when you saw something green. You grinned, taking out the tiny, smashed up toy soldiers. You tapped Sam’s shoulder and when he turned his head, you held up the soldiers, giving him a wink. He grinned and chuckled, turning back around.

Yeah, you lost people along the way but the important thing to remember is that you do what you can because in the end, it makes it all worth it.

Masterlist // Series Rewrite Masterlist

Series Rewrite tags:

@helllonearth @amyisabellal @deanwnchstr @caseykitten6 @roxalya19

Forever tags:

@shorter-than-sammy @maddieburcham1 @ginamsmith @mogaruke

Dean tags:

@akshi8278 @mega-mrs-dean-winchester

Other tags:

@jensen-jarpad @jpadjackles @notnaturalanahi @mysteriouslyme81@deathtonormalcy56 @27bmm

[aion-rsa]

AEW All Out 2020: Date, Time, Card, Matches, Roster, Price, and How to Watch

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There were some growing pains, but All Elite Wrestling has been able to hold its own during the days of COVID. In their last PPV, Double or Nothing 2020, they played up the situation with what’s probably the best ever use of the cinematic wrestling match gimmck with the Stadium Stampede. Now they’re getting ready for their next big PPV, AEW All Out 2020.

There’s some history behind the name of this PPV. AEW’s prototype show back in September 2018 was called All In, which centered around various wrestling promotions and indie talent working together. AEW officially launched a few months later and around its anniversary they had the first All Out. It gave us the crowning of the first AEW Champion in Chris Jericho, an all-women Casino Battle Royal, the surprise debut of Orange Cassidy, and the first (and hopefully not last) Cracker Barrel Clash.

As we prepare for the new edition of AEW All Out, here’s what you need to know about this year’s PPV:

WHEN IS AEW ALL OUT 2020?

The show will take place on Sept. 5 at 8pm ET at Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, FL. Presumably, there will be a Buy-In pre-show at 7 pm.

WHERE CAN I WATCH AEW ALL OUT 2020?

In North America, the show is available on B/R Live. Internationally, you can check it out on Fite.TV.

AEW All Out Price

If you’re watching through FiteTV AEW All Out will cost $49.99. If it’s through another PPV provider, the price is $59.99.

AEW ALL OUT 2020 MATCHES AND CARD

JON MOXLEY (C) VS. MJF

AEW World Championship

Since joining AEW, Jon Moxley has been undefeated in singles competition and it helped him springboard to the top and dethrone original champion Chris Jericho. Moxley has defended the title against Jake Hager, Brodie Lee, Brian Cage, and Darby Allin. So far, nobody’s had his number.

But then there’s Maxwell Jacob Friedman. Like Moxley, his win/loss record is virtually untouchable. His only losses have come in battle royals, a four-way, and a tag match. At no point has he been pinned in AEW. With major wins over guys like Cody and Jungle Boy, MJF truly deserves a high-profile shot at the title.

MJF also feels that not only is he needed as champion but as the true leader of the locker room. MJF’s ascent has taken the form of a political campaign. He and his pet muscle Wardlow also tried to get Moxley to lose his title to Darby Allin (presumably an easier opponent to win the belt), but Moxley retained regardless.

Moxley retaliated by dropping MJF with the Death Rider. MJF and his lawyer have been insisting that the Death Rider be banned from their All Out match. Moxley agreed to sign the contract, but also put in an extra page claiming that he would get a singles match against MJF’s lawyer first.

The match was, as expected, very one-sided and Moxley destroyed the lawyer. Afterwards, Wardlow ambushed Moxley and MJF followed soon after. MJF bloodied up Moxley and posed with his title belt.

CHRIS JERICHO VS. ORANGE CASSIDY

Mimosa Mayhem Match

Ever since Orange Cassidy casually walked through an Inner Circle promo, Chris Jericho has had his problems with the mellow slacker. This led to a match between the two that Jericho won, thanks in part to his teammates interfering. Orange goaded Jericho into a rematch, mostly because he spilled gallons of orange juice onto him from the rafters. Angry at how his $7,000 jacket was ruined, Jericho agreed with the rule that if Jericho won, Orange had to pay him back for the jacket.

Orange defeated Jericho in the rematch. A week later, when Orange was being interviewed, Jericho came out to congratulate him. Since they were 1-1, Jericho offered a special kind of rubber match. Mixing Orange Cassidy’s love for orange juice and Chris Jericho’s love for “the bubbly,” they would surround the ring with a moat of mimosas. Their match can only be decided by pinfall, submission, or throwing the opponent into the mimosa pool.

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Orange accepted and immediately after, he was beaten down by the Inner Circle. Jericho poured out several bottles of his champagne over Orange’s head. A week later, as Jericho did commentary for Dynamite, the show ended with Orange racing out and brawling with him.

SHIDA (C) VS. THUNDER ROSA

AEW Women’s World Championship

Shida won the AEW Women’s World Championship at Double or Nothing against Nyla Rose. Unfortunately, due to the state of AEW’s women’s division, Shida’s potential challengers either already had their chance, are injured, or aren’t up to the standards of getting a title match. Shida asked for someone to step up.

Thunder Rosa answered. The current NWA Women’s Champion has intent to make her AEW debut by becoming a double champion.

KENNY OMEGA AND HANGMAN PAGE (C) VS. FTR

AEW World Tag Team Championship

This one has been brewing for a while. After losing his chance to be the first AEW World Champion at last year’s All Out, Hangman has wanted out of the Elite. Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks still considered him a friend and that feeling of comradery meant never really respecting his decision. As they were concerned, he was always going to be part of their group…whether he liked it or not. This helped Hangman fall into a downward spiral of drinking, but he also started to gain some success.

Hangman and Kenny won the tag titles and defeated all comers. This included a match against the Young Bucks, which seemed to surprise even Hangman. Between that victory and having to band together against the Inner Circle at Double or Nothing, Hangman seemed to have some sense of peace with his Elite teammates. As he put it, he loved them, but just didn’t really like them.

Enter FTR, formally known as the Revival. For years, people have wanted to see them take on the Young Bucks. They played friendly enough with the Bucks and had a couple moments of conflict with Kenny, but they really got their hooks into Hangman. Hangman became an apologist for every shitty thing FTR did.

This all culminated in a tag team gauntlet between the top ranked four teams. Afraid of having to face and potentially lose to the Young Bucks, Hangman cost them the match. FTR ended up winning in the end. Never getting a chance to explain himself, Hangman proceeded to get chewed out and yelled at by the Bucks, who said that he was no longer part of the Elite and no longer their friend.

A week later, FTR mocked Hangman and said that they barely needed to nudge him. While Hangman is pissed at FTR, he also realizes that Kenny is just as disappointed in him as the Bucks.

CASINO BATTLE ROYALE

Winner Gets an AEW World Championship Match

Introduced at Double or Nothing 2019, the Casino Battle Royale is a 21-man Royal Rumble with a twist. Each wrestler selects a playing card from a deck of 21 cards. Every five minutes, five wrestlers will enter the fray, bundled together by the suit they all drew (hearts, diamonds, spades, clubs). After the first 20 have entered, there’s another five minutes of waiting before whoever drew the joker makes his entrance. Elimination only comes from going over the top rope and having both feet hitting the floor.

As it is right now, the entrants include Darby Allin, Ricky Starks, Brian Cage, Lance Archer, Eddie Kingston, Pentagon Jr., Rey Fenix, the Butcher, the Blade, Shawn Spears, Billy Gunn, Austin Gunn, Jake Hager, Santana, Ortiz, Chuck Taylor, Trent, and four others.

MATT HARDY VS SAMMY GUEVARA

Broken Rules Match. If Matt Hardy loses, he must leave AEW

Due to being key parts of the Elite vs. Inner Circle feud, Matt Hardy and Sammy Guevara have been at it for a while. Once that faction war blew off, Matt was very open about how he thought Sammy would be better off by himself than with Chris Jericho. Sammy didn’t take this well and the two started messing with each other’s matches. This culminated in Sammy beating Matt into a bloody pulp, including a projectile chair to the skull that busted Matt open.

Matt became obsessed with getting his revenge. The two had a Tables Match on Dynamite and although Sammy won, he also suffered a huge gash on his head. Now the two will face off in what is basically a Last Man Standing bout. If Matt loses, then he’s out of the company.

DARK ORDER VS. NATURAL NIGHTMARES, MATT CARDONA, AND SCORPIO SKY

Nearly week after week, Cody defended the TNT Championship against all comers, whether they were from AEW or the indies. This was starting to take its toll, as shown when he teamed up with Matt Cardona against a couple Dark Order flunkies and when he barely won against Scorpio Sky. This was when Mr. Brodie Lee of the Dark Order chose to make his own challenge.

A week later, Brodie absolutely destroyed Cody. Cody didn’t even get a lick of offense in. The new TNT Champion celebrated by further injuring Cody. He and his cronies spent the week drinking and eating a lot of Chili’s (it’s…a long story).

When celebrating further on the next Dynamite, the Dark Order was interrupted by Dustin, QT Marshall, Scorpio Sky, and Matt Cardona. A brawl ensued and Cody’s friends and family won out. Now the top members of the Dark Order (Brodie, Evil Uno, Stu Grayson, and Colt Cabana) will face them at the PPV.

YOUNG BUCKS VS. JURASSIC EXPRESS

In the final show before All Out, an eight-man tag was put together of Young Bucks/Jurassic Express vs. Private Party/SCU with the winning team facing each other at the PPV. Thanks to some impressive teamwork, the Bucks and Jurassic Express came out the winners. The Bucks came off seeming more annoyed than anything else, still angry about losing their title shot.

DR. BRITT BAKER DMD VS. BIG SWOLE

Tooth and Nail Match

Due to a bad leg injury, Britt Baker abruptly had to be removed from Double or Nothing. Rather than hide out and return months down the line, the wheelchair-bound Baker had become an annoying fixture on AEW Dynamite. Eventually, her attitude got the attention of Big Swole, who proceeded to kidnap Baker and throw her into a dumpster. For a while, Swole was banned from the building, but has been welcomed back, ready to get her hands on Baker once she’s able to compete. Swole won a 3-on-1 handicap match to earn a shot at Britt and even pick the stipulation.

Big Swole announced it would be a “Tooth and Nail Match,” but before she could explain what that was, Baker and Reba attacked her. Baker revealed that she no longer needed a wheelchair to move.

Check back for more information on AEW All Out 2020 as we learn more!

The post AEW All Out 2020: Date, Time, Card, Matches, Roster, Price, and How to Watch appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3gH5Wdi

[krisrowland]

Promises for this year and reflections on last year

 A few activities that I’m trying to have a positive impact my life in 2019

Reading (so many books I haven’t read on my shelf)

Drawing in my Adam J Curtis book

Writing Kasper pieces

Spend time figuring out a vague shape for Kasper so far.

Organise Skype sessions with friends, Helena, Steph/Archie, Tina/Aine, Rosie, Lauren,

Research artistic meetups

Find time to meditate

Find time to be silly/rehearse monologues

Singing in the shower

Practising monologues

Writing thought pieces

Practical things to work on in 2019

Get a credit card and spend     £50 each month

Buy all birthday cards and     presents for sister, mum, dad, matt, Archie, Sophie, Jonny and Rich and Helena. + any  other major birthdays

Organise birthday party in August

Organise China trip in August

Things I promise to be this year

Being a better uncle to     Archie

Everyone is a little bit racist as they say. I want to be less so.  I want to understand more and go to talks, plays, listen to activists that have a BAME voice . And figure out how else I can be an ally.

Always be willing to learn

Reflections on 2018

January 

I met Chris at Paul's birthday party which was amazing it was so fun and an overwhelm of lust and play.  I stopped doing the Landmark Education introduction Leader Programme after  4 months of emotional, frustrating and enlivening phone calls. I couldn't deal with the pressure I was putting myself under. My grand visions of social justice and my own creative practise were in severe conflict with reality and I needed to reassess what I was saying to myself. I think Landmark has undoubtedly changed my life it has made me really respect myself and find ways of being more flexible on a day to day with others. I now have the best relationship with my Dad, Mum and work I have ever had. I also started counselling for the first of three times this year to clear up some irrational thought patterns, which has continued my personal development journey and understanding of myself. Katharine and I continued our obsession with Stacey Makishi @ The Yard Theatre. Paul and I watched an earthshattering theatrical version of Network at The National theatre.

February started with Rosies hen do and a rekindling of the Notts college crew. I had a two week break to hang round London see shows and art galleries. I had my first rehearsals for Kasper, a performance piece I have wanted to do for ages and invited Chris k to collaborate. I also partied hard with Kayleigh Foulkes for the first time in a number of years in Camden and G.A.Y. The broom dancing team were on form (minus Heather)

March Rosie and Bob's wedding was another wonderful reminder of the awesome people that are in Nottingham, god I love our college crew there is so much I have to thank you for. Catching up with Jake was great, though we only met up three times this year, a culture vulture with a big heart and the best company. Kris R's party was a messy fun night with glitter et al at G.A.Y. And another messy night to welcome Gurdeep to his new Stratford home.

April Discovering the cruisey vibes of Bloc bar with Bryan was amazing. It felt like I was at a gay trance night in the 90's. Pulsating music, guys and telling the time by the number of topless men you could see. April was also Jamie's birthday with a terrific karaoke and Chinese evening. I went to Nestas people powered health conference which made me want to do a service design ma in the new year and had a number of wines for the road with my director and manager.

May was an eventful month starting the new job, Eurovision being a messy evening to say the least in a fabulous location.  I saw Hamilton with Jamie which was an honour and a pleasure it was the best musical I'd seen in ages, intelligent, mainstream, modern and political, never mind catchy. The amount of times I listened to the soundtrack  Spotify created me my own Hamilton playlist as if it was a genre.

In June I did my first stint drinking no alcohol at house parties with support from Helena as she was trying to cut down as well. I joined the Grapes quiz team and won a number of times throughout the rest of the year with them. Helena and I went to Phobiarama which was a political and race based ghost train. Followed by a very iffy messy night at XXL. It was Jonny and Rich's 40th and Sophie's 30th. We said goodbye to the first care leavers peer support group and partied at Chris's caravan to say goodbye to Chris and Helena on their next adventures.

 The start of July was Helenas leaving party :( This years London pride felt like the first time I really understood why we still celebrate. A space in which you can be anything you want to be and feel comfortable being who you are. Years and Years were epic at the Roundhouse showing off their new album with much pizazz. Grindr the Opera was a weridly touching patische that was both hialrious and heartwarming. Helena was back in London and had a brief visit to see Gary in his new pad with Lindsey on the Henley part of the river Thames.

August was my first holiday with my dad in a beautiful air bnb in the New Forest. I had a joint birthday with Chris K starting with a picnic in Green park and ending in the beautiful Set You Free at The Chateau for pure 90s pop #messy. Kayleigh came to London again and we saw Britney at the O2 and went to Jonny woo' club The Glory.

 September I headed off to see Helena and explore Estonian culture in Talinn. I managed to do my best time on a half marathon. 1hour 54 minutes.

 October

Not much happened in October.Cabaret night with Phil Will and Kris. Halloween twas

November I met a really nice guy on Tinder but just didn't get the spark. I started Kasper rehearsals again, trying to figure out what the hell you do in a devised rehearsal space. Fantastic Beasts was a disappointment.

December started off with a fab racalette and wine evening with Chris Will and Phil. We had two Team away days on the same day which I helped organise. The Xmas party was at one my fav craft beer places. I had the gayest of Secret Santa's with unicorn Christmas decorations, a apron with a fake cock attached to it and a very fluffy rainbow pen. I finally went to see The Inheritance. A beautiful bittersweet depiction of modern gay life and the debt we owe older gay men.

Throughout the year I have been volunteering at a care leavers peer support group in Thurrock. It has been a challenging experience with the young people but also being able to find our place in the group. I wrote a blog about my experience here. I am continuing this into next year and won't be continuing after June.

It was a bit of a shock in May to hear that Helena (my closest and best friend) would be moving to China. We have really gone through thick and thin together and with each other over the last two years. Meeting at Landmark on a course and then developing a social impact concept together. Whilst the CCA's output may have left much to be desired. We created some unbelievable friendships ourselves and with other people including Gary, Kris , Annie and Papola. July was the month when she departed to go to Estonia for a few months before leaping over to Bejing to be a lecturer. Looking back over the year it strikes me how much of an impact she has had on me. Getting me off my seriousness addiction, pushing me when I didn't think I could give much more. She is one in million a real open, honest, not afraid to share her thoughts, willing to give anything a go and also a mysterious multitasker that you don't realise is doing so much brilliant stuff.  She has opened my eyes to the EU migrant experience in Britain, Estonia's vibrant culture, my own biases, helped me celebrate myself and so so so much more. Helena I frigging love you and miss you, no one can ever take your place.

At work it was an up and down year. A department restructure and consultation had been taking place since September 2017. After six months we had the finalised structure, my line manager was leaving which was a blessing and a curse. (In some ways he was an amazing line manager giving me space to explore with him what I wanted to develop in the role but he was also not great at following up and holding me to account plus our meetings could go on for hours.) Then looking at the final paper I saw that my job had been deleted. So I had to interview for a new position which mostly matched my previous role, though it was the grade above which softened the blow. We welcomed Jane to the peer support team and many others into the unit and it felt we had new found energy and ambition.  Two colleagues and myself started the LGBTIQ+ workshop which has been an amazing 6 months of creating events, learning, creating structures and trying to see how we are best placed in the organisation.  At the Xmas party we even had someone congratulating us on sustaining the group and seeing us as a steering group for the organisation. I also travelled to Birmingham and Swansea for Influence and Participation (I&P) events, helped create an animation and will be facilitating a session next year for a new set of videos explaining the benefits of I & P to people on their recovery journey. The success of our staff forum pay paper meant in April  that all staff got a pay rise, with further Brexit/ economic developments this will be a key focus in the coming years to see how we can support staff within our capacity as a charity. I was recently made the staff forum chairperson as Zadie leaves after having helped us navigate a consultation that asked major questions of our internal structures and leadership and form a project plan. Things now seem more on track with my role with a clear steer that my efforts to troubleshoot and problem solve is a positive contribution to the units and department as a whole. We will see what happens in the new year.

Jamie was another of Paul's friends who I instantly hit it off with. An amazing creative/ animator who has enthusiasm for all things culture with a labyrinth of music, film, TV shows and merch surrounding his almost iconic living room.  We created a film club watching films we had never seen before it was a zany mix of animation, black comedy, surreal adventures and classics that you are suppose to have seen. After a bit of persuasion Jamie created an amazing puppet lipsynch to Robyn's here. Talent screaming out, can't wait to see what next year brings for this phenomenal guy.

Chris what to say about Chris. Well he has given me some of the best nights of the year pub quizzes, theatre, drinks, nights in, films, banter, Karaoke, clubbing, a picnic. His smile is inffectious. He made me value the small things. We dated and that came to an end but he became a solid friend. There is so much going for him I just wish he would see how great he really is.

Big love

[lizzleolsen]

all of them

Answering all the ones I have not yet.

2: Favourite actor(s)Top 6 Female: Elizabeth Olsen. Saorise Ronan. Brie Larson. Michelle Dockery. Amy Adams. Emily Vancamp.Top 6 male: Chris Evans. Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Jake Gyllenhaal. Sebastian Stan. Dev Patel. Richard Dean Anderson.

3: Favourite genre(s)I really love dramas. musicals. really, I like everything, but I’m not SUPER into comedy.

4: Favourite director(s)This is something I feel like I don’t focus on as much as I need to. So at the moment, I can’t fully answer. I’m not sure.

5: How often do you go see movies in theatres?Because of cost, not too often. Maybe 2 times a year. At least lately.

6: Opinion on remakesI think they can be great. And it just depends how long it’s been since the first, and also if they accept it is a remake. I don’t know how to explain it. But just, it’s a new movie, as well as an old, so it should somehow work within that.

7: Favourite era(s) of filmI’d say right now is pretty good. I’m still working my way back with a lot of classics, but I still say I lean towards the current era more than anything else.

8: Spell your first, middle, and last name out in movie titlessince I don’t put my full name on here, I’ll just do my URL. L - LionI - Ingrid Goes WestZ - ZootopiaZ - ZenonL - Lady BirdE - The Empire Strikes BackO - One DayL - LoganS - SerendipityE - The Edge of SeventeenN - Never Let Me Go

9: Favourite film seriesHarry Potter & MCU. (:

10: Favourite remake(s)Hmm. Well Cheaper By the Dozen was a remake. But my mind just went blank on stuff. So. Yeah. lol.

11: Favourite film character(s)Well, MCU characters are Wanda, Steve, Bucky, Natasha, & Peter P. HP character is Hermione.But otherwise, Nick from Before We Go. Marry Poppins. Adaline Bowman from Age of Adaline. idk, I’m sure there’s a lot more. It’s late. My brain wants to shut off.

12: Favourite movie(s) per genreDrama: Martha Marcy May MarleneThriller: Nocturnal AnimalsAction: Captain America: Civil WarComedy: Psych: The MovieMusical: Mamma Mia

13: Movie(s) you remember as part of your childhoodCheaper By the Dozen of course. Mary Poppins. There was a MyScenes (the dolls) movie I could quote backward and forwards called Jammin’ in Jamaica. That movie was my everything at a time. Jumanji was a movie I watched often with my cousins. And I was never more excited for a movie to premiere than Harry Potter or High School Musical.

14: Movie character(s) you identify withThis is something I really don’t know.

15: Prizes of your movie collectionI don’t really have much of one. So I am sad about that. I do have basically every Disney movie pre 2005 on VHS, so that’s something I am happy to have.

16: Blu-Ray, DVD, or VHS?Blu-Ray. Though I mostly have VHS or DVD. Everything is just digital now

18: Actor(s) you hateI don’t really ‘hate’ anyone, but there are people who do make me not want to watch a movie. And I know I’ve told you them before, and now I can’t even think. I hate my brain.

19: Director(s) you hateSame as above, just not something I have focused on enough to answer.

20: Your pet peeve(s) in moviesMy biggest thing is really obvious overacting. The minute I see it, I’m not as into the movie. It’s just hard to get pulled in. I also hate movies that drag out stuff that does not need to be. Scenes that go on, when they should have ended, and something else could have taken it’s place to actually further the story along.

21: Movie character(s) you have a crush onI am not sure I have time to list them all..... Like too many MCU characters. STEVE. JUST. Bucky. Wanda. Also, Taylor Sloane in Ingrid Goes West. Sophie Sheridan in Mamma Mia. Nick Vaughan & Brooke Dalton in Before we go. Brian O'Conner in Fast and the Furious. John Lennon in Nowhere Boy. I really could keep going on and on. But, I’ll stop. There’s just a lot. (I also had a crush on Kovu from Lion King 2 when I was younger)

22: Last movie you sawI watched Before We Go. Again. lol.

23: Favourite film adaptation of something from another mediumHarry Potter. I think it was amazing from book to movie, and they did such an amazing job with it.

24: Movies you think you probably should’ve seen but haven’t for whatever reason.There are SO MANY. I’d say Mamma Mia 2 is a major one, with how much I love the first movie. And then because of how much I love Saiorse I really want to watch Hanna and The Grand Budapest Hotel.  But I have a 100+ list of stuff to see. So...

25: Worst experience you’ve ever had in a movie theatreWell. Once I went to the theater and had a kid kick my chair for the entire two hours. So. Probably that. Or the time the lights went out. That was not at all fun. It was during Indiana Jones 4.

26: People whose opinions on movies you valueHmm. Well I have a few movie friends that I talk to about them, and value. On here, I instantly think of @aliciavikander and Jess (who I think deleted her blog again because her @ isn’t working)

27: If you could make a movie, what would it be and why?I think about this too often, and don’t really want to say, because I do truly believe I’ll write the book one day.

28: If you could adapt something from another medium into film, what would it be and why?Hmm. I once read a book series called Wicked, that I thought was amazing, and could see as a film so easily when I was reading. 

29: If you could remake any movie to improve what you felt was wrong about it the first time around, what would it be and why?I think Serena had the most potential. An amazing cast. Amazing filming. It just needed a bit of storyline help. Or a lot. Just changing that would have made such a difference.

30: Movie character(s) you find attractiveSee above question 21.

[debraleedebra]

Nick Saban decide between Tua Tagovailoa or Jalen Hurts Alabama Crimson Tide starter

9:00 AM ET

Chris Low & Alex Scarborough

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- No matter how many times the final two plays of the College Football Playoff National Championship have been replayed within the Alabama football offices this offseason, they still don't make sense.

One play, Tua Tagovailoa appears lost, scrambling wildly before committing the cardinal sin of taking a sack and a loss of 16 yards on first down in overtime. Down by three points, backed out of comfortable field goal range at the 41-yard line, it's a complete disaster. But the freshman quarterback does the unthinkable on the next play: Calmly, he takes the shotgun snap, steps up in the pocket and fires a picturesque, game-winning touchdown pass for a 26-23 win.

Tua Tagovailoa threw the game-winning touchdown pass to give Alabama the national championship. Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Confetti falls from the rafters. The trophy is lifted. All is forgiven. But Alabama's coaches can't forget. The 35 seconds from the moment Tagovailoa hit the turf to the moment that fateful touchdown pass left his hand is as concerning as it is inspiring. It's agonizing, really, the wrench thrown into one of the most high-profile and high-stakes quarterback battles in recent memory.

Should Saban ride the momentum and the promise of a wild card with zero career starts in Tagovailoa? Or should he stick with Jalen Hurts, the quarterback who started the title game, who threw only one interception all season and has a 26-2 career record, but also serious questions about his ability to throw the football with consistency?

"I can promise you he's not going to be leveraged by anybody on either side." Source close to Nick Saban

"A great moment doesn't make a great season," warned Clemson coach Dabo Swinney. "It's a different deal when you're the guy. Everything matters."

Everyone seems to have an opinion on what Saban should do. The Tagovailoa and Hurts camps want a decision, and would like one quickly, as they consider their long-term plans. But the 66-year-old Saban isn't in a rush. If anything, he sees the problem he has as a good one.

Are we headed for another Nick Saban-Dabo Swinney playoff clash? That's certainly what it looks like. Find out where the rest of the CFP contenders fit in.

Huskers hysteria with Scott Frost, the Vols' document dump, Kyler Murray's big payday, and Texas A&M's championship expectations among topics that dominated off the field.

Coming up with a preseason top 25 is just the start of the fun. Now we can argue about it. Who can make a playoff run from outside the top 10 and which top-10 team will struggle?

2 Related

"It's better to have two quarterbacks than none," he said.

The plan is simple: Ignore the noise, split the first-team reps down the middle when fall camp begins today and let their play decide the outcome.

"I can promise you he's not going to be leveraged by anybody on either side," a source close to Saban said. "You're talking about a guy who parted ways with his offensive coordinator [Lane Kiffin] the week before the national championship game, and then the next year, the same guy who benched his starter and turned to a true freshman quarterback who hadn't played a meaningful snap all season in the second half of the national championship game. He's not going to be afraid to make the decision he feels like he needs to make."

How did we get here?

Alabama's quarterback battle didn't begin the moment Saban benched Hurts at halftime of the national championship game. Not really. What happened against Georgia, when Tagovailoa became an overnight sensation, only served to pour lighter fluid on an already simmering situation.

Alabama offense by QB in title game

HurtsTagovailoaPlays2446Yards94278Yds per play3.96.0TD03

Inside the Alabama coaching offices, Hurts' hold on the starting job had become increasingly unstable over the course of the previous year. Despite winning SEC Offensive Player of the Year honors as a true freshman in 2016, he hadn't shown significant progress as a passer. The offense had become stagnant and, according to multiple sources, skill players had grown frustrated with Hurts' inability to spread the ball around.

Granted, the offense was still effective in most games with Hurts running the ball, but its one-dimensional nature left the potential for exploitation against higher-quality defenses. Case in point: Alabama's only two losses over the course of the last two seasons came to Auburn and Clemson, two teams loaded with defensive line talent that finished in the top 11 nationally in scoring defense in each of the past two years.

Meanwhile, Tagovailoa captured the attention of coaches in practice with his arm strength and accuracy. It was as if the lefty from Hawaii had eyes on the sides of his head, he had such a good feel for the pass rush.

While Saban sticking with Hurts as the starter wasn't necessarily a surprise because of his experience, the fact that Tagovailoa's role was limited solely to mop-up duty was. Of the seven games during the regular season in which Tagovailoa attempted at least one pass, all were blowouts of 18 points or more.

However, there was confidence among coaches that Tagovailoa was ready for the big stage.

play

0:44

The defending champs define consistent excellence, but QB uncertainty and a reliance on youth have them far from comfortable.

"Hurts was undefeated before the Auburn game," said one former staffer. "I don't care how tight the other guy's spirals are. You don't pull an undefeated quarterback for an unknown one. But things ramped up with all the free time after the loss to Auburn."

The Tide still made the College Football Playoff despite a 26-14 loss to their rival in the regular-season finale. In the lead-up to their semifinal game against Clemson, Hurts fell ill and was forced to miss several days of practice. Tagovailoa received all of the first-team reps as a result, and the practices were some of the best for the offense all season. As one former coach put it, "I don't think the ball hit the ground."

The plan was to play Tagovailoa some against Clemson, sources confirmed, and it was discussed among coaches during the game when might be the best time to put him in. But even with Hurts struggling to get anything going in the passing game, it became apparent that Clemson wasn't going to move the ball against Alabama's defense, and coaches ultimately decided to keep Tagovailoa on the sideline, fearing a change might affect Hurts' psyche for the championship game.

Alabama initially planned on playing Tua Tagovailoa in the CFP semifinal against Clemson. AP Photo/David J. Phillip

Feeling let down, the Tagovailoa family expressed its frustration with the situation and, internally, came to a decision: If Tagovailoa didn't play against Georgia, he was going to seriously explore transferring.

During the ESPN MegaCast Coaches Film Room broadcast, Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said that he couldn't have predicted Saban benching Hurts at halftime, let alone in favor of a true freshman quarterback with no meaningful experience.

"In there, when we weren't on television, we were surprised," Gundy said months later. "Everybody was like, 'Would you do that? I don't know if I'd do that. Would you do it? I don't know.' So we were a little bit shocked."

Since winning the game's Offensive MVP award that night, Tagovailoa has become the toast of Tuscaloosa. He gave a pregame speech to the Alabama women's basketball team and delivered the first serve at an Alabama men's tennis match. The Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook gave him 10-1 odds to win the Heisman Trophy, trailing only Stanford's Bryce Love (5-1) and Wisconsin' Jonathan Taylor (7-1), even though Hurts hadn't yet been technically dethroned as the starter.

2018 Heisman Trophy Odds

PlayerOddsBryce Love, RB, Stanford5-1Jonathan Taylor, RB, Wisconsin7-1Tua Tagovailoa, QB, Alabama10-1Jake Fromm, QB, Georgia14-1Justin Herbert, QB, Oregon14-1Khalil Tate, QB, Arizona14-1>>Westgate Las Vegas

But for anyone who didn't think it was an actual competition, all they needed to do was see Tagovailoa return to practice in the spring, only a few days after breaking a finger in his throwing hand. After all, who risks further injury if they're a sure thing? At the spring game, despite being unable to play, Tagovailoa dressed in full pads.

The same morning, in a move that wasn't seen as a coincidence by some, his brother, 2019 quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa, verbally committed to Alabama on the steps of Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Despite Tagovailoa's absence, however, Hurts failed to capitalize on having the stage to himself, completing 19 of 37 passes for 195 yards, no touchdowns and an interception.

It should be said that despite the competition and the whirlwind surrounding them, Hurts and Tagovailoa aren't bitter enemies. They're quite supportive of one another. Tagovailoa never let his chagrin over a lack of playing time during the regular season affect his relationship with Hurts, whom he thanked for showing him the ropes as a true freshman. And when Tagovailoa supplanted Hurts in the title game, no one in the Alabama locker room was happier for Tagovailoa than Hurts, who told reporters that his understudy was "built for this."

Alabama offensive lineman Ross Pierschbacher said that if he had a dollar for every time he has been asked about his team's quarterback situation this offseason, he'd have enough money to retire. He never could have ever envisioned this situation a year ago, saying that if he had been told then that Hurts would eventually be battling for his job he would have said, "You're crazy."

"It's a testament to recruiting and just bringing in a lot of talented guys," Pierschbaher explained. "Really, at Alabama, your position is never safe, regardless of who you are."

Can Hurts and Tagovailoa coexist?

Jalen Hurts, left, and Tua Tagovailoa have been supportive of each other despite their competition. AP Photo/Brynn Anderson

Make no mistake: If Hurts were to become available on the transfer market, he would be a hot commodity. A proven winner with 61 touchdowns in two seasons, suitors would be lining up at his door. It's not just that he can run, one head coach said of Hurts, "but he also sees the field and has a great arm."

That's why his father, Averion, wasn't necessarily wrong when he told Bleacher Report this spring that his son would be "the biggest free agent in college football history" if he were to transfer. But while transferring certainly is an option for Hurts, it has never been a threat. Before the article was published, Averion met with Saban one-on-one to tell him that they were content to let the competition play out rather than leave early. If a difficult decision had to be made, then so be it, but that would only happen after a starter was named.

Shortly after the article was released, Averion called to reiterate to Saban that nothing had changed from their previous conversation. What went largely unsaid at that time, though, was that Tagovailoa was in a similar situation. Intimating the possibility of transferring, he told people he didn't want to go through another season as the backup.

In June, new legislation paved the way for both quarterbacks to coexist: The NCAA would now allow players to compete in up to four games while still retaining the ability to redshirt. So if Saban wanted to carry the competition into the first few games of the season -- as he's done time and time again in the past -- he is now free to do that without either quarterback losing a valuable year of eligibility.

The new rule doesn't solve every problem, of course. Should the competition last two games, for instance, managing the remaining two games for the backup would be paramount. An injury of any kind would create tremendous pressure to burn the redshirt, weighing the quarterback's future versus the needs of the team.

When former East Carolina quarterback Gardner Minshew flipped his commitment from Alabama to Washington State in the spring, it removed what would have been a valuable safety net in terms of depth at the position. While Mac Jones has shown improvement, he's still a redshirt freshman with no experience. The only other scholarship quarterback on the roster is Layne Hatcher, an unranked prospect previously committed to Arkansas State.

Heading into fall camp, the momentum to win the job is squarely with Tagovailoa. But Hurts hasn't been counted out yet. After Saban said at SEC media days that he had "no idea" whether Hurts would be part of the roster to start the season, Hurts met with him to say he wasn't leaving and that his plan, regardless of his playing situation, would be to stay and graduate in December.

"I think Jalen will rise in this competition," said a former Alabama staffer, "and maybe it's given him even new life."

Another former Alabama staffer said that he thinks first-year offensive coordinator Mike Locksley could be good for Hurts and would actually call a game that's better suited for his skill set.

"The players know Tua is a better passer, but they also trust Jalen," the former staffer said. "It's a good problem to have, one a lot of coaches would love to have, and that's what has separated Alabama under Saban, his ability to create competition at every position and the players buying into that competition."

What will Saban do?

As for Saban, what he hoped would be a private matter has become far too public for comfort.

Nick Saban will wait before making a decision as to which QB will start. Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire

Averion's comments caused a stir, of course, but the attention paid to Tagovailoa wasn't ideal, either. In May, Tagovailoa's hometown in Hawaii threw him what was billed as a four-hour "Hometown Hero Parade." And even though media rarely are granted contact with Crimson Tide players outside of practice, two local outlets made the trip and secured one-on-one interviews with Tagovailoa and his family during the week of celebration.

Prior to the start of camp, Saban attempted to stymie any more unwanted headlines.

"The one thing I've talked to both kids about is that they can't go into this ... with the attitude, 'If I don't win the job, then I'm going to transfer,'" Saban said. "If that's the case, then you're not totally committed to what you're supposed to do. You're ready to cut and run as a competitor before you ever start? That ain't good. Now, neither kid has said that, but you've got other people saying it."

Saban said he has relayed a similar message to the families of both players as well.

"The one thing I've talked to both kids about is that they can't go into this ... with the attitude, 'If I don't win the job, then I'm going to transfer.' If that's the case, then you're not totally committed to what you're supposed to do. You're ready to cut and run as a competitor before you ever start? That ain't good. Now, neither kid has said that, but you've got other people saying it."

Nick Saban

"You are ruining your son's ability to be the leader of the team when you make any kind of these statements because the other kids see it as self-promotion," he told the parents. "The guy who's going to be our quarterback is the guy who wins the team. It's the way it's always been. We're going to let it play out on the practice field."

But perhaps more intriguing than Saban's management of the narrative surrounding the competition is the internal predicament he faces as a coach. The position battle, arguably the most important of his career, isn't just a question of experience and talent. It's also a matter of style that could rewrite his M.O. as a head coach of more than 20 years.

Saban, who has won five national championships at Alabama and one at LSU, has long valued a quarterback with experience that he can trust to take care of the offense -- a "game manager," as he has often said. And in Hurts, there's no question he has just that. Hurts rarely turns the ball over, and his leadership has been evident from the moment he started as a true freshman.

The allure of Tagovailoa, on the other hand, is undeniable. He's perhaps the most talented thrower Saban has ever had. Despite his lack of experience, despite his sometimes reckless choices with the football, he has the potential to unlock the Alabama offense, incorporating more pass-catchers and opening up a downfield attack that's been missing.

"I told them both, 'The more that you can do in your performance, your leadership, how you affect other people, the relationships you have on the team and the confidence that you develop in other players in your ability to distribute the ball, because that's what the quarterback is -- the distribution center of the ball -- then that's the guy who's going to have the best opportunity to win the team," Saban said.

While some in and around the program have already pinned Tagovailoa as the favorite to win the job, Saban hasn't made up his mind. He has seen too many things go sideways during his career -- too many fluke injuries, too many momentum swings -- to predict the future.

Good article originally from ESPN