#i am fully on the alan train

[ash-is-not-trash]

Allan is the nonbinary girlie

[secularprolifeconspectus]

Why I call Abortion Violence a Genocide

The reason I stand by my use of "genocide" is because abortion violence follows "The Ten Stages of Genocide" as defined by Dr. Stanton of Genocide Watch in 1986.

To prove this, I will illustrate stage-by-stage how abortion violence meets the criteria of the framework below. Note that I am working from the reasonable premise that all human organisms are people by default, and burden of proof rests on those who claim a class of "human non-persons" exists.

1: Classification

"All cultures have categories to distinguish people into “us and them”. Bipolar societies that lack mixed categories, are the most likely to have genocide."

"Us" is the class of born people, "them" is the class of preborn people.

2: Symbolization

"We give names or other symbols to the classifications. We give the pariah class a name, or distinguish it by colors or dress; and apply the symbols to members of the group."

Born people gave the class of preborn people the name "fetuses".

3: Discrimination

"The powerless group may not be accorded full rights or citizenship. The dominant group is driven by an exclusionary ideology that deprives less powerful groups of their rights. The ideology advocates monopolization of power by the dominant group. It legitimizes the victimization of weaker groups."

The powerless group is The Preborn. They are denied the right to protection from aggressive violence, and they are not recognized as citizens by law. The dominant group, The Born, uses political power and custom to maintain this status quo. Their ideology excludes people with certain age-appropriate limitations of ability from human rights. It advocates for born people to have exclusive power to grant or deny the humanity of powerless preborn people.

4: Dehumanization

"One group denies the humanity of the other group. Members of it are equated with animals, vermin, insects or diseases. Dehumanization overcomes the normal human revulsion against murder. Hate propaganda is used to vilify the victim group. The majority group is taught to regard the other group as less than human. They are indoctrinated to believe that “We are better off without them.” The powerless group can become so depersonalized that they are actually given numbers rather than names. They are equated with impurity and immorality."

Born people deny the humanity of preborn people. The Preborn are equated with primitive animals, property, parasites, or tumors. The Abortion Industrial Complex (AIC) and its activist wing, the Pro-Choice Movement (PCM) uses propaganda to blame The Preborn for patriarchal oppression. The Born are taught to regard The Preborn as not yet fully human. They are indoctrinated to believe that "we are better off without unplanned babies". Preborn people usually are not given names. They are equated with sexual stigma and shame.

5: Organization

"Genocide is always organized, usually by the state, often using militias to provide deniability of state responsibility. Sometimes organization is informal or decentralized. Arms are purchased by states and militias to facilitate acts of genocide. States organize secret police to spy on, arrest, torture, and murder people suspected of opposition to political leaders. Special training is given to murderous militias and special army killing units."

The State sanctions elective feticide and organizes it under NIH population control programs (eugenics campaign by the 20th century elite), using the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) to provide deniability of responsibility (see: Alan Guttmacher.) Facilities are built and supplied to facilitate mass feticide. The State uses the DOJ & FBI to spy on, arrest, and incarcerate pro-life activists. The Ryan Residency gives special training to abortionists.

6: Polarization

"Extremists drive the groups apart. Hate groups broadcast polarizing propaganda. Motivations for targeting a group are indoctrinated through mass media. Extremists intimidate moderates, silencing the center. The dominant group passes laws or decrees that grant them total power over the targeted group. The laws erode fundamental rights. Targeted groups are incapable of self-defense, ensuring the dominant group control."

Pro-Abortion Extremists drive the PCM apart from the PLM (Pro-Life Movement). PPFA broadcasts polarizing posts and ads. Motivations for seeking an abortion are indoctrinated through social media. Pro-Aborts intimidate moderates, silencing the center. A Supreme Court decision grants born people total power over preborn people. The repeal of abortion regulations erode the right to life. The Preborn are incapable of self-defense, ensuring The Born have total control.

7: Preparation

"Plans are made for genocidal killings. Perpetrator group leaders plan the “Final Solution” to the targeted group “question.” They often use euphemisms to cloak their intentions. They indoctrinate the populace with fear of the victim group. Leaders often claim that “if we don’t kill them, they will kill us,” disguising genocide as self-defense. Inflammatory rhetoric and hate propaganda are used with the objective of creating fear of the other group."

PPFA plans to increase their abortion sales quota and expand their business into the global south. The AIC leaders plan the "Solution" to the unplanned fetus "epidemic". They call it "healthcare" to cloak their intentions. They indoctrinate the populace with fear of The Preborn. AIC leaders claim "without abortion, women will die," disguising feticide as self-defense. "Gestational slavery, forced birth" and "unwanted children, rapist's baby" are used in order to create fear.

8: Persecution

"Victims are separated out because of their class identity. Sometimes they are even deported or confined and starved. They are deliberately deprived of resources in order to destroy them. Programs are implemented to prevent procreation through forced abortions. Children are forcibly taken from their parents. The victim group’s basic human rights become systematically abused through killings, torture and forced displacement. They are acts of genocide because they intentionally destroy part of a group."

The Preborn class is treated as separate from the rest of humankind because they exist where and how humans do at that age. They are expelled from their literal place of origin, or held captive within it and slaughtered. They are deliberately deprived of oxygen or nutrition. Preborn babies are forcibly extracted from their parents with vacuums, forceps, and curettes. The basic human rights of preborn humans are systematically abused as they are lethally injected without due process and dismembered alive without anesthesia. The unplanned, imperfect, and unprivileged are intentionally destroyed.

9: Extermination

"The mass killing called “genocide” begins. It is “extermination” to the killers because they do not believe their victims to be fully human. Acts of genocide demonstrate how dehumanized the victims have become. Already dead bodies are dismembered. Destruction of property is employed to annihilate the group’s existence from history. They do not differentiate civilians from non-combatants. They result in widespread war crimes: mass rapes of women and girls, all men of fighting age are murdered."

Mass feticide began with industrialization. It is "termination" to the abortionists because they do not believe The Preborn to be fully human. Brutal later procedures demonstrate how dehumanized The Preborn have become. Already dismembered babies are burned for electricity. Disinformation is spread to eliminate the existence of The Preborn from serious consideration. They do not differentiate viable fetuses from unviable. They result in widespread social and economic coercion: the mass predation by the AIC upon vulnerable women and girls, the silencing of all men who would fight for the lives of babies.

10: Denial

"The perpetrators of genocide try to cover up the evidence and intimidate the witnesses. They deny that they committed any crimes, and often blame what happened on the victims. They block investigations of the crimes, and continue to govern until driven from power by force, when they flee into exile. There they remain with impunity."

The AIC covers up the inhumanity of abortion, malpractice at facilities, and extralegal fetal tissue trade. They intimidate PLM activists and deny the existence of abortion survivors. They lie about evidence and falsify data; they gaslight women who regret their abortions as "sensitive to stigma." They block legal investigations by colluding with corrupt officials. Dangerous abortionists continue to operate with impunity until driven out of business by force, when they flee to a vulnerable community and practice under the radar.

Further commentary:

Over the past few weeks, especially with current events between Israel (committing a genocide) and Palestine (Gaza is a death camp West Bank is apartheid), I've gotten more pushback than usual on using the word "genocide" to describe the mass killing of abortion.

And the critics aren't wrong: abortion doesn't fit the definition in the strict sense. If you are limiting genocide to the original meaning, then it refers exclusively to systematic extermination of the population of an ethnicity, nationality, or religion. In fact, in this sense, "holocaust" probably better describes abortion, as it refers to a sacrificial killing en masse; however, calling abortion "THE Holocaust" is anti-Semitic, so avoid the term altogether. Democide is another option, but it is limited to a mass killing executed by a government power.

And simply calling abortion a "mass killing" or "massacre" frankly doesn't communicate the extent, gravity, and urgency of the human rights violation. Some genocide scholars have generalized the term to describe any widespread killing of a targeted class of people.

When I say "abortion is genocide", I don't mean abortion fits the DEFINITION of genocide. I mean abortion violence fits the PATTERN of a genocide. I'm open to arguments against this, but it's where I stand for now, and I hope I have illustrated my argument well.

ps. The genocide of Gaza is NOT up for debate. FREE PALESTINE!

[lakesbian]

[slapping diagrams up on the wall and taping them into place] I Have A Theory. i am unironically fucking sure that the first four seasons of infinity train were foreshadowing some shit about the structure of the train and the wasteland that would have been fully revealed in the last four seasons if it hadn’t been cancelled. 

there’s this one little line in the tape car that was never really paid much attention by the fandom (at least not to my knowledge) beyond mild interest, and that’s always been weird to me, because...

come on. the fact that lake even says “that robot’s out of his mind” in response to it? it’s absolutely screaming “obvious foreshadowing for a major aspect of the train’s functioning obscured only slightly by the fact that it’s being delivered in a quirky-random one-one line.” 

this is how one-one works as a foreshadowing tool, it’s established time and time again in book one. he says something with intense implications like “my memory has been terrible ever since the change,” atticus and us viewers go “what change?” and one-one follows up with “my new haircut, didn’t you notice?”

...and then later you find out that the “change” he’s referring to is That Time Amelia Took Over The Train And Tore Him Asunder.

so one-one casually saying that one of the cars on the train has “the universe projected on the outside”? pause the goddamn video, we’re gonna take a second to think about The Fucking Implications of that one! 

obviously, outside of the train is the wasteland. [hits my remote button to cue the wasteland structure slideshow]

(spot lake and alan dracula in that last one for a bit of megalophobia about the scale of the train!)

the wasteland appears to stretch on infinitely in all directions, to accommodate the infinite train, with curvature implying some sort of spherical structure. despite this, attempts to venture too far horizontally from the train result in meeting an incredibly strong repulsive force akin to an invisible barrier in a video game environment. when a passenger receives an exit, the wasteland’s apparent sky opens up in a circular vortex to produce a flexible glowing tube which the passenger can travel through to return to earth.

two things here:

1. the horizontal invisible barriers imply that the wasteland has built-in structural limits or “walls” of sorts rather than being a natural and unlimited environment.

2. the vortex and tube that appear when a passenger receives an exit are analogous to structures we see on the train. to a more limited extent, so are the invisible walls. 

when simon tries to find an exit to the debutante car by going through the ceiling panels, he reaches the equivalent of an out-of-bounds area in a video game. he reports with legitimate terror in his voice that “grace, there’s literally nothing out there. it’s just a black void.” a reminder that all car environments are artificially designed with built-in structural limits as opposed to being natural and extensive locations. very much similar to the invisible walls in the wasteland.

when lake enters the tape car, what appears to be the legitimate ceiling/roof of the car opens up into a circle to allow the pod in. 

when the unfinished car starts coming apart and opening up, what appears to be the legitimate sky of the car forms a circular vortex. when the sky breaks into fragments and disappears, it’s revealed that the sky was just part of the car’s ceiling rather than a true sky. it was illusory, 2-D. the real frame of the car is behind it.

when we see the inner workings of the tape car, it’s shown that passengers travel from the memory farm to the number machine by...being sucked into an opening that looks a lot like a miniature circular vortex and then down through a flexible tube.

yeah. flexible, glowing tubes.

the tape car “projects the universe on the outside.” the outside is the wasteland. the wasteland can open a circular hole in the top, in what appears to be its sky, to let passengers in or out. just like how the top of the tape car opens a circular hole to let pods in. just like how the unfinished car forms a circular hole when its faux-sky is opening. just like how a circular hole with a vortex-like appearance is opened in the passenger farm to take passengers in. passengers are taken in through the wasteland via a flexible, glowing tube, and similar tubes are used to ferry passengers through other parts of the train.

i don’t think the wasteland is a discrete environment or dimension the train happens to be traveling through, i think the wasteland is part of the train. the wasteland is being projected by the tape car. it’s the car’s universe projected on the outside. i’m gonna go as far as to say that the wasteland itself is a car with its environment being generated outside of the car’s frame structure instead of inside of it. the vortex and glowing tube look like other parts of the train because they are part of the train, and everything about them is operating on the same technology. the vortex is the same mechanism as the tape car’s pod opening on a larger scale. the wasteland exit tube is a type of mechanism related to the other tubes we see. the invisible barriers are there because cars have artificial limits like the black void outside the debutante car building.

nothing about it is more incomprehensible or supernatural than the rest of the train. the vortex, the invisible walls, the tube--they’re technological aspects of a simulated environment just like parts of any other car! the sky is a very real ceiling that can open to take passengers in/out the same way the tape car’s ceiling can open to take pods in! the wasteland is a really fucking long box with horizontal barriers and a ceiling that looks like it’s a sky but is still a ceiling. the wasteland is the self-generated pocket dimension the train runs in. the wasteland is the car that has every other car in it. 

hell, it even fucking has denizens!

amelia turns atticus into a ghom by shooting him with an orb gun. there are orbs for ghoms, just like there are orbs for every other train asset and denizen. ghoms aren’t some random fucked up monsters from nowhere, they’re denizens that had to be intentionally placed in the wasteland via construction using their orbs, and they exist for the same purpose as the invisible walls--to keep passengers out of the wasteland and on the train. the wasteland is quite literally the car that holds every other car in it, complete with its own denizens. it’s big and extremely inhospitable, but it still checks every single box for being something designed as part of the train.

in conclusion: 

...wait, don’t go anywhere yet. bonus observation about train doors, because it’s related enough to this post that putting it into a separate one would be weird and contextless:

when lake and jesse receive their exit, we get a really good shot of the tube. look at the perspective here! the door is opening into the wasteland, and the tube is extending through it and connecting to the door. we should be seeing the inside of the tube, but instead we’re directly faced with arizona. arizona is inside the tube. it’s like rather than the tube being ready to take us up through itself and back to earth, the tube is displacing earth, pulling it down through the tube and putting it right in front of us.

it actually looks like it’s just working exactly like tesseracts do in a wrinkle in time. which i absolutely cannot paraphrase coherently, so here’s a screenshot:

i think that when passengers go through the doors, the wasteland’s ceiling opens up much like how the tape car’s ceiling opens up--except because the wasteland is opening into earth, a location which exists outside of the train’s pocket dimension, it’s more complicated than just pulling open a circular hole. time and space are bent. the vortex/tube is the train opening up to pull earth into the wasteland car, bringing it directly to the door within the train so that exiting for the passenger is as simple as stepping through.

passengers taking their exits are being pulled through the entire tube and simply just taking one step through a doorway at the same time. note how long the tube is in lake’s view of it from inside jesse’s tape, and note how a mere second after jesse and lake run into the tube they step out the other side. time and space are being fundamentally crunched, stretched, and altered to make the exit through the wasteland’s ceiling feel seamless despite the interdimensional fuckery involved. it is Straight Up A Tesseract. 

thank you for coming to my tedtalk i will now be heading out to bang on hbomax exec doors so i can demand the last 4 seasons in which it Surely will be revealed that basically everything in this post is real and true

[letsbenditlikebennett]

TIMING: Current PARTIES: @alan-duarte & @letsbenditlikebennett SUMMARY: Alex meets up with Alan so that he can teach her how to shift outside the full moon. Unfortunately, their training session is rudely interrupted. CONTENT: Gun use, parental death, domestic abuse

Part of Alex had half a mind to cancel this meeting. After all, she had gotten by for thirteen years without changing outside of the full moon, did she really need to start now? She wanted to go home, back to her garden or her guitar, and forget all about the monster she became three nights a month. That was weak though and even if she hadn’t donned the name in years, somehow the Durand family legacy still hung over her head like a dark cloud, always casting a haze over anything good she tried to find in herself. She desperately wanted these lessons to change that. For her to be able to use the monster she’d become for something good. Maybe she couldn’t engage in combat with grace or agility, but if she could bring out the wolf in a more controlled setting, she could still protect people. If she couldn’t do that, why did she even survive that night? There had to be a reason for it. She had to be more than this. More than a monster. 

There was some unease that settled in the pit of her stomach as Alex walked up to their meeting spot. They would be far away from anyone, surrounded by the comforting blanket of trees and foliage that blanketed the depths of the forest this time of year. Normally, they grounded her, but the tension settled in her shoulders all the same. She still couldn’t fully wrap her mind around Alan killing hunters. Andy made it seem like it was understandable, but how could it be? Moreover, she wanted to get this right and still felt the pathological urge to make sure Alan liked her. Even if she couldn’t let herself parse through the whole murder thing, he was helping her. He was experienced in all of this. He carried himself like he knew what the fuck he was doing and Alex so desperately wanted to know what that felt like. 

A few calming breaths and taking in the smell of damp wood that hung in the air helped Alex bring her heart back down to a normal pace as she approached Alan. “Hey,” she waved with a half smile, “I feel like there should be some pop-culture mentor reference sorta deal here… but…” She shrugged, “Haven’t seen a lot of movies or TV shows.” Something she’d hoped would change as she spent more time with Cass, who loved both with a gusto. 

“So, uh,” Alex made a sort of ‘lead the way’ gesture toward Alan, “Where do we start, old man?” 

—

"Is that what I am?" A mentor. The idea of becoming someone's role model sat uncomfortably on his stomach. 

There was a time, a while ago, where Alan saw himself build a family with someone. Well, not someone. Rafael Brown wasn't just someone to him. He was not his first love, although he'd been his second, and the longest relationship he ever had. They got together before marriage became legal for them, and swiftly got married a year after they allowed it. Then, he got bitten, and Rafael started to suspect Alan didn't spend his all-nighters at work but in good company. Alan hadn't figured out yet why he was blacking out three nights a month when the other filed for a divorce. There was no amount of promising or begging that could have changed a thing for them. He got married again, a few years later, but that had been a terrible choice this time, even if his second husband was in the know. Especially, perhaps, because he was in the know.

He was now too old for this, for being a role model for his own kids. If he accepted to help Alex, he'd have to be at peace with it. He'd have to own it. 

The werewolf took a deep breath, brushing off a wrinkle from his tee-shirt. He'd grabbed something simple at the store. Target clothes were the sort he didn't mind tearing to pieces. 

He'd brought a backpack too. That was one of the things she'd have to learn about: leave a whole bunch of those around, just in case. "I grabbed you a change. You'll need one, so I hope you're not wearing your favourite clothes," because they weren't precisely pretty. He smiled. 

—

If nothing else, Alex had at least gotten the dress code for werewolf shifting club correct. She donned thrift store jeans that were several inches too long on her and a t-shirt from some movie she’d never heard of that she’d nicked because she liked the color. If this outfit was ripped to shreds by the end of the day, she wouldn’t really care. Though Alan had the forethought to think ahead with the whole change of clothes thing. Some part of her wanted to interject humor, place doubt in his ability to pick out a change of clothes, but she really doubted she’d have an issue with the change of clothes. Alan was nothing if not well dressed. Plus, her nerves would make it even harder to give any sort of convincing delivery. 

The idea of honesty had crossed Alex’s mind. It wasn’t too late to tell Alan everything. About the hunter, about how he recognized her sister and would likely recognize her. Some smaller part even wanted to scream about being a monster, about not wanting any of this, but instead, the thoughts were silenced and tucked away in some metaphorical vault. 

“Thanks,” she offered as smoothly as she could, “Did have enough sense to wear clothes I don’t care about.” She gestured at the bottoms of her jeans dragging in the mud, “In case we couldn’t tell by the terrible fit.” She sucked in a deep breath in hopes of finding some balance on the knife’s edge she felt like she was standing on. Even asking for these lessons was some sort of embracing of the monster she was. Was she ready for that? Did it really matter whether she was ready for it? It didn’t and she knew as much. This town didn’t care what you were ready for, it’d throw it at you. 

“So,” she started, looking between the two of them, “How does this work? You’re not gonna go into some capitalist meditative retreat schtick, are you?” 

—

“Not funny,” Alan pointed out. Capitalist meditative retreat schtick. Did he need to remind her that the ugly mean capitalist was offering gracefully, free of charge, to help her, and absolutely not to fill the hole in heart that had been left by crushed dreams of a perfect life with a happy American family. He had the picket fence, he didn’t precisely need a dog, considering he had a nice house, a pool, a best friend, a job, a business he owned. He couldn’t shake off this much : he wasn’t always very happy. 

Lately, happiness had been outnumbered by dimmer days. He couldn’t really pinpoint why. He’d wake up in the morning, feeling grey. Sometimes, passing the threshold of his work place made him take a U turn on those feelings. Sometimes. Maybe this was why he was doing this. It wasn’t graceful. It wasn’t selfless. He just wanted to try something new. At his age, it was about damn time. He also wanted to slap himself. He didn’t have to be so fucking dramatic, did he? He just had to kick his own ass and get back into the right track. 

With a sigh, one that was destined to himself, and his stupid tribulations, Alan turned to face the kid. He put his hands in the pockets of his sweatpants, took a moment to collect his thoughts, and get started. “How does it work?” A tough question. No one had a guide for this. He had gotten help, himself, from wolves that wound up dead months, years later. Hunters. They knew how to make things harder. “You want to control something that won’t want you to control it,” he paused, “but that something. It’s just you.” Which made it more complicated. He couldn’t get in her head, and she couldn’t get in his own. “We’re not the same but, we both want to be aware of what the fuck we’re doing,” no dissociative bullshit. None of it. 

“You’re gonna need to find within you, that thing that takes over during full moons,” it sounded stupid. Perhaps it wasn’t even material, but that’s how he had managed to control it. He located it, or imagined that he did, and he pictured himself controlling it. 

—

“It was kind of funny,” Alex shrugged, “I was only joking anyway.” There was something a little heavier in the way Alan carried himself that she couldn’t quite put her finger on. So much of her childhood had been spent being so tuned into other’s energy that it was hard not to notice the subtle shift. It wasn’t the same as it had been with her father though, she didn’t feel the edge brewing in her that came whenever her father had looked less than pleased. In the context of training especially, it was unnerving. Too many of the cruel things her father had done to make her a better ranger had been in the name of training and she didn’t resent those things, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to welcome them in either. Even with the slight slump in his shoulders, she still felt safe around Alan. In the very back of her mind, she could acknowledge that she felt safer with him than she ever had with her father, but she wasn’t prepared to fully accept that reality just yet. 

As much shit as she liked to give him, Alex had to admit that he was insightful. There wasn’t sugarcoating in his words and he was able to find their common ground with ease. It was funny as different as they were, they shared so much because of what they were. Even if they wanted entirely different things out of life, there was a certain kinship to be had in wanting their lives to be on their own terms. He understood grasping for those threads of control when it felt like everything else had been all but ripped from you. She hated that she could relate to his words, hated that he was right on the money, and most of all, she hated that it furthered her from the mold of a ranger her parents had so tenaciously tried to fit her into. 

“Yeah,” she answered softly, still letting the words sink in. It was hard to acknowledge the werewolf as part of her. There was comfort in the fallacy that a monster wasn’t the only thing she was, that there was somehow more to her, to both of them. Alex shifted on her feet and tried to think of how she felt on the full moon despite the fact she had no desire to immerse herself in those memories. “So more tune into that part of my brain and memories than dissociate,” she clarified. It was admittedly better than the new age bullshit she suspected most people would recommend, not that she was expecting Alan to be an undercover zen girlie or something. 

It sounded simple enough and in reality, it probably was that simple. It’s not like it would be a huge surprise to Alex if she was as shitty of a werewolf as she was a ranger. She shook that thought, the wolf never doubted. At least, in her memories, it never did. 

“Okay, I think I get what you’re going for,” she nodded, “I guess I’ll give it a go with focusing and you… I don’t know, maybe if it’s not kicking in a little show and tell or something?” Maybe the other wolf could coax hers out. Maybe not. She both wanted to master her shift and dreaded it at the same time, but she let her eyes flutter close so she could focus on her full moon memories and the way the beast’s mind worked, how it was driven by instinct and the hunt. 

—

He didn’t reply. Arms crossed over his chest, the werewolf took a look at her. He wondered what was going through her head. It mustn’t have been easy for her either. Alan worried that he might not be a good instructor. She must have been just as worried. Alan didn’t want to think of what he would have done if he had been in her shoes, so young and unable to control himself. “Remember, you’re doing this for yourself,” he pointed out, squatting down to be lower than her, shorter. “You’re not doing this for me, or anyone else. I don’t care if we don’t get results today,” he offered her a smile before he took a seat on the ground. 

It hadn’t rained in a few days, still, he could feel the soil was fresh beneath the fallen leaves. 

“Sit down. You’ll focus better if you relax,” resting his arms on his knees, he nodded. “We don’t want to dissociate. Fuck that,” it was awful, scary, and not something he ever wanted to go through ever again. It wouldn���t be easy, and she’d need to train to achieve that at all times, but even if she never gained full control (God knew he tried), she could at least attempt to. 

Alan nodded along. “We’ll let you try and if it doesn’t work, I’ll show you,” he wasn’t sure if that would help, but didn’t people learn new things by watching how it’s done? He fell silent then, if only to give her all she needed to find that bubble of unhinged feral energy within, dormant, but very much there. 

—

There was something gentle in the way that Alan spoke and explained shifting to her that was unexpected. On their own merit, the interactions Alex shared with the older werewolf had been filled with a number of quips, but something about the kind approach to training was so foreign that it left her momentarily stunned. The environment was already better than the training room in her parents’ house, there was no locking her out here until she got it exactly right. The delivery was already softer, too, and there was something in the way he spoke that she couldn’t see him striking her out of any frustration in the name of building her skills. She felt safe and that was such a stark contrast to any training experience she had when it came to turning her into a ranger worthy of the Durand name. It was alarming that she felt safer here than she ever had training with her own father and she felt guilty for even thinking as much. 

Thoughts of her last name sent another wave of guilt through Alex. There was a hunter out there that recognized the family resemblance and she hadn’t told Alan. Here he was going out of his way to help her despite the fact she’d made it her mission to be the biggest pain in the ass possible and she hadn’t shared such an important piece of information with him. Maybe she could. She wanted to trust Alan. 

“Thank you,” Alex managed after a moment of quiet thought. It was all she could say, at least for the moment. She wasn’t even sure she could understand why the patience in this context meant everything to her and for once, part of her wished that maybe she could. “That kinda takes the pressure off,” she added. Because it did. She was always trying to impress and the fact Alan didn’t care whether or not she got it down today made it feel less big and scary. The idea of practicing shifting was becoming easier to warm up to. 

As directed, Alex took a seat on the ground. It had always been her preferred seat anyhow, especially when it was warm and lush with grass like it was in the midst of summer. She listened to what Alan said and relaxed. That should have been the simplest part of the whole exercise, but when did she ever feel relaxed? Her eyes fluttered shut and she tried to focus on the sound of the wind in the trees and how it rustled the leaves. It helped slow her heart and she tried to bring her mind to the place it was on full moon’s. She tried to embrace the instinctive nature of those thoughts, but her more human mind fought it. There was a certain ferocity to the wolf that Alex just didn’t possess even if the wolf was still her like Alan had said. 

Flashes of her tearing apart various critters flashed through her mind and the bloody images twisted her stomach into knots. Wasn’t that ferocity better than being too soft? Too weak? Alex could still remember the hushed words spoken between her parents like it was only moments ago. She finally had something in her that gave her an edge, but it still felt like forcing herself into a puzzle she wasn’t a part of. Her eyes flew back open. “Did you have a hard time letting that part of your mind in at first,” she asked, “I don’t think I can… make this me shut up enough.” 

—

She looked confused. Alan told himself that she must have had trouble following him, despite the fact that he was convinced of the simplicity of his explanations. What had happened to them was written in many books, but there really wasn't a manual for werewolves. The psychologists had not looked into the question, nor had the pedagogues. Alan would be the only help she could count on. For the first time since they had arrived, he was thinking about that truth again. Their condition left them very lonely in the face of the difficulties encountered. It was chilling.

With his will to control everything, Alan had long since taken control of the wolf that inhabited him, fiercely refusing to be manipulated in any way. If the full moons didn't give him that satisfaction, he could still decide how he wanted to act, but unfortunately not what decisions were made.

"There's no need to thank me," he let his hands slide against the dry leaves. The ground was cool below, even more than the shady forest air. "Just try your best, and remember, it's alright not to immediately get it right," he knew today wouldn't be when she would be in full control. But perhaps she'd manage to transform.

She spoke, and he couldn't hold back a smile. Impatient, weren't we?

"If you want, you can try to materialise it, as if it was a bubble within." He crossed his ankles. It had been a while since he last needed to do so, but he remembered his first time trying. There was always this anger bubbling up in his hand. He'd moved it through him, he was not sure of how, up until it took up all the room. "You need to imagine it grows or… you could try to imagine it moving across your body." 

—

The patience exhibited by the elder wolf seemed to come in endless supply which was a stark contrast to their first meeting. Alex knew which she preferred, but that felt too much like admitting maybe her parents didn’t have things all right. If she was worthy of this sort of calm and respect now, that would mean she had been then too and that was too much to grapple with. The feeling of standing at a ledge waiting for the metaphorical other shoe to drop was easier to swallow. Maybe she was weaving a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy with the inconvenient truth she kept stowed away in her back pocket, but it was becoming more difficult to not trust Alan. If he was singing the same tune at the end of this lesson when she inevitably failed then maybe she would tell him about the hunter and all the other reasons she felt like she needed to master this. But for right now, she would focus on the matter at hand. He was giving sage advice and she wanted to make him proud. 

“I do like bubbles,” she smiled with a feigned confidence. She knew well enough that the werewolf was always part of her. It could be felt in small parts of every day when instincts kicked in. Her reflexes weren’t necessarily better, but senses that allowed you to anticipate the smallest changes in the environment did make a difference. Sometimes, she could even feel the ferocity that wasn’t all her own. 

“I’ll give it a try.” Her eyes fluttered shut again and she tried to imagine the feeling of being in her werewolf form as something tangible. The experience was so heavily based in senses that she tried to engage all of them– the grass tickling her ankles, the rustling of leaves in trees, the thumping of their hearts, the smell of wet earth and something vaguely canine that had grown pleasantly familiar. She tried to move that bubble towards the sensory input and visualize how the werewolf would react. She tried to embrace how the wolf would feel it. Part of that was to keep close to Alan, some form of pack instinct she was sure, but also she found her head inclined to move toward directions of different stimuli. Still, something was holding her back. She tried to cling to that feeling, but it felt… vulnerable. She couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched.

She chewed nervously on her lower lip. “Do you think,” she started and trailed off uncertainly. There was a long pause as she tried to think of what would help. Maybe she’d feel less observed, less like she was being tested if he wasn’t watching… which seemed a little unfeasible, but maybe if he went first. “Sorry, uh, do you think you could go first? I think I’ll feel… less nervous. The bubble thing was definitely helping just… yeah.” 

—

“You want me to go first?” Alan wondered if she’d ever seen someone transform before. It wasn’t a pretty sight, bones popping, creaking, moving under the skin, adopting abnormal angles. He worried for no reason. She’d been doing this longer than him, but he couldn’t put her youthful looks behind that. It just made no sense to him, that someone would harm someone her age and yet, here they were. It was very stupid of him to be worried he might spook her. This hit him like a second thought, and made him smile. “Alright,” looking over at the young woman, the werewolf got himself up, his age showing as he pushed on his hands and failed to repress a grunt. 

He wondered, sometimes, if lycanthropy made it all worse or better. Was it slowly fucking up his bones or would he have had it so much worse without it? Either way, his back was not as young as before. 

Now what was the right course of action : shift effortlessly or pretend it was hard? He felt like either way, she would be concerned but perhaps there was more hope to be found in an easy looking feat. Alan had long replaced the anger within with something more contained, still, the pain of shifting was for a long while what made him lose control over himself. One last time, he looked at Alex, a reassuring look in his eyes letting her know that he trusted her. “And remember, it’s alright if you don’t get it right today. It might take longer,” his smile grew more confident and he left the werewolf take all the room, pushing against every bone, every muscle until there was nothing human about his groans, nothing left of him but what was inside.

—

Alex nodded. The idea of him going first felt like it took some of the pressure off her, not that he was the one applying any pressure to her in the first place. It was becoming more and more apparent that was of her own design, that Alan had no expectations for her other than that she tried which didn’t seem right. How could he not expect more from her? “Please,” she answered meekly. 

There were more reassurances that she gave a soft smile for before she watched Alan turn into a wolf. Alex had never seen the shift from this side before, but she could imagine based on her own experiences that it was about as brutal as it looked. It was fascinating in its own way too and thankfully not quite so bloody that it made her stomach turn. If anything it made her feel the presence of the wolf in her more. As she watched his limbs twist and turn into something more lupine and covered in dust-speckled brown fur, her own instincts and senses felt heightened as if the werewolf in her knew this was her pack. 

For a few moments, all Alex could do was stare at Alan in his werewolf form. He already towered over her normally, but like this he seemed larger than life. When she was a kid, the sheer size of werewolves always intimidated her. She never really wanted to fight them, she’d wanted to hide. Some weird twist of fate meant she never made it to that stage of her training, but she felt no need to hide now. The beast before her was a friend and when he was like this, the wolf in her wouldn’t let her deny that he was becoming something closer to family. She smiled at the shifted werewolf, “You look pretty badass for an old guy.” 

Her own laughter followed her joke and she could practically imagine the wolf giving her an eye roll for continuing to call him old. It became easier to connect with and feel the werewolf within herself and the balance between the two felt foreign, but nice. Alex held onto the feeling and let her mind race through her senses instinctively as the wolf would. Alan in his majestic yet undoubtedly dangerous form seemed to be watching her, as if silently guiding her through the process. 

With every sound, her eyes flicked to follow it or her nose turned to pull in the scent. The werewolf in her felt like it was just at the surface, ready to come out, when the smallest sound in the brush caught her attention. Alex found her eyes falling on a familiar face though not one she had met personally. She’d memorized his features from the photo Andy sent her and the way his dark eyes scrutinized her from a distance. Something ferocious crawled under her skin and she found herself caught in a web of both shame and anger as he studied her. Her fists clenched at her side in an effort to play it off as her own attempt to shift, but then she saw the flash of metal in his hand and the gun cocking which fired off every instinct in her. 

The wolf within that she had been grasping at came to the forefront and her bones mashed themselves into the monstrous form she’d spent so long being ashamed of. A small part of Alex wondered what the hunter’s face looked like as he watched her shift. Had he known he was dealing with two werewolves or had he assumed she was a traitor to their hunter code? It didn’t matter, the more human thoughts quickly subsided as the freshly transformed werewolf barreled toward Alan as the gunshot rang through the field. All four of her paws found the ground to give her as much speed as possible as she raced to intercept the bullet. There were barely seconds between her colliding into Alan to move him from the bullet’s path and her own yowl escaping as silver burned into her back left hip. As if in argument, the pained howl continued as icy blue lycanthrope eyes stared the hunter down. She didn’t want to hurt the man, but she hoped the prospect of two werewolves was enough to make him run before Alan attacked. 

—

This was how it all went. Everything. One minute, everything was fine, the next, a shit storm. Such was life. Or such was his life the moment he left his parents' house. He wondered if perhaps any and all people could relate to it, if any and all parents tried their best to shield their kids for as long as they could from the storm. In Alex's case, Alan knew that she didn't even get that. She never got quiet,simpler times. Things were always complicated. 

Maybe this was why she reacted faster. 

By the time the older werewolf's eyes set on the hunter, he already had taken an aim at him. He didn't see the girl transform, and she took him by surprise as well, pushing him aside, out of harm's way. All for what. Once again, Alan wondered how someone would harm someone her age. Werewolves and hunters, both equally monstrous.

He could hear her pain, heart wrenching and unfair. Picking himself up, the grey wolf, worried as he might have been, moved forward. If he put up a fight, maybe she’d have time to run away from here. Hope. It was all he had. Alan rushed towards the hunter, his brown eyes filled with pain and disgust. The werewolf deserved to be hunted. He had used his abilities for his own gain, he had also killed many hunters to feed his friend. If he could regret the former, he felt not the slightest ounce of sorrow for the latter.

The hunter busying himself with his weapon, Alan thought he had a chance of knocking him down before he reloaded. A shot contradicted him, then a burn in his shoulder confirmed his mistake. He who often thought he was smarter than everyone else, howled in pain, and came to rest his back against a trunk, hoping to escape the hunter while he regained his wits.

—

The fact the afternoon had been going so well should have been a giveaway. Despite her nerves, Alex had been shown patience over and over again by the older werewolf. Just like dancing in the cave with Cass, this lesson with an older werewolf who was easy to see as a father figure was too good to be true. Those kinds of connections were only afforded to people who deserved them and she knew she didn’t, especially considering she hadn’t even warned Alan about the hunter who was crashing the lesson he was so kindly giving her. 

Pushing Alan out of the way had gone well enough, but time felt like it froze around the younger wolf as the silver bullet burned into her hip. No amount of training had made Alex any better at handling pain, at least not such violent pain. The shift had become more natural and didn’t leave her bones feeling heavy for days following the full moon, but this seared and dug into her in a way that felt unbearable. It was almost impossible to ignore, but her nose was quick to pick up the change in Alan’s scent. 

The older werewolf was ready to attack and protect. The thoughts were a bit different as a wolf, Alan’s instinct to protect felt natural, but her own self-loathing thoughts were still mixed with the instinct. She let out a sound between a howl and a grumble in protest, but he was already rushing toward the hunter. The younger werewolf wanted to stop him, to keep him from inevitably eating the hunter because it was wrong, but every breath through the pain felt labored. 

Her own heart pounded in her ears as she watched Alan race toward the hunter only for the deafening sound of another gunshot to echo through the field. Another pained yelp escaped from Alex, but this time, it was not from her own pain. For a flash, she saw Alan’s life and death flash before her eyes, but he was moving again and she felt a wave of relief. He was leaning against a tree and she looked to the hunter… who was running off? Why was he running off? She guessed two werewolves was a bit much for any hunter, but the fact he was running off didn’t bring her any comfort. 

The younger werewolf looked to Alan whose dusty brown fur was becoming coated in blood as he leaned against a tree that was surely bearing the brunt of his weight. He was hurt and it was her fault. She’d lied to him and now he was hurt. She’d put him in danger despite all he was doing for her and the guilt coiled through her like a hurricane. Somehow, even her werewolf form could tremble and she hated herself for that on top of everything else. The blood seemed to be coming from the shoulder and he appeared okay enough leaning against the tree he was at. With the hunter out of sight, that just left the two of them… which meant facing Alan and the inevitable disappointment with the fact she’d lied, with the fact she’d wanted to protect that hunter, too. 

After all the patience and diverted expectations, Alex didn’t think she could face him. She’d let herself feel hopeful that she could find something in the older werewolf. A pack? Maybe? Some part of her knew it was deeper than that and the guilt made everything in her feel like it was on edge, so all she could do was run. It was part instinct, but Alex knew she couldn’t chalk it all up to that. Her own fear had a death grip on the wheel as she barreled away from the scene of the attack and toward anywhere else. After all, why had she thought she could be any less disappointing to a defacto father figure than she had been to her own father? Alan would be okay and better without her bringing problems into his life, even if it was a lot more than the bullet in her hip that ached as she raced away through the trees. 

[gumnut-logic]

Scott came home exhausted.

Sure, ultimately, he had had John on board and the mission had been a success, but still flying Thunderbird Three was very different from flying Thunderbird One.

Once the great red ‘bird was silent in her gantry and he had finished post-flight checks, he activated the pilot retrieval process and the mechanics pulled him backwards and disembarkation took over.

The system dumped him in the locker room and he dragged himself into a shower and into his clothes.

He would have then dragged himself into bed, but his body was demanding sustenance and honestly, he really needed to check on Virgil and Gordon who were still on the other side of the planet digging up a mudslide.

So one am found him stumbling into the comms room. It was dark, the only light was moonlight, but it was enough to sketch out the room, ghost the portraits and give him enough guidance to make his way to his father’s desk. He could have activated the lights, but the dark was restful and calming after the screaming of emergency lighting and terrified people.

“Scott?”

The voice out of nowhere scared his adrenal glands into sudden production and he let out a decidedly high-pitched yelp.

A lump moved on the circular lounge and he stumbled backwards.

It really was a sign of exactly how exhausted he was.

“You okay?” The voice was small and tentative and…decidedly snotty.

“Alan? What the hell are you doing up?! You should be asleep.”

“Wanted to wait for you.”

His heart began to slow, its frantic beating still loud in his ears. “Does Grandma know you’re up?”

“Nooo.”

Scott sighed. This is why he had grey hair. Little brothers. He ran a hand across his face. “Why are you still awake? You need your sleep to recover. The doctor was very adamant about that.”

“I am resting. Just on the couch.” A sniffle. “I was worried about you.”

Another sigh, but this time Scott skipped down the steps into the circular lounge and sat down beside his littlest brother. “I was fine, Allie. I’m fully trained on Thunderbird Three, you know that. Maybe not as proficient as you, but I’m capable. Besides, I had John watching my back. You know how pedantic he is for safety up there.”

The shadow that was his brother shifted along the lounge and curled up against his arm. “I know.” Another sniffle. “It’s just hard, you know. Don’t like being left behind. Sick of being sick.”

Scott let his shoulders drop and lifted his arm, drawing his little brother close. “You’re getting better. It won’t be much longer.”

He received a grunt for that.

Alan had developed a nasty flu during an evacuation in Bangladesh. Fortunately, he had been with Virgil on Two at the time and not alone in space. Fortunately or not, the worried yell from his engineer brother when he found Alan passed out in Two’s main corridor spoke of the reason why Scott suspected Virgil dyed his hair.

There had been a mad dash to hospital after that. Two scorched the lawn in the reserve opposite the Auckland Hospital…again. One of these days, they would give iR a reserved space to land. It would save Scott from having to pay for extra greenskeepers every damn time there was an emergency.

Of course, it wasn’t your usual everyday flu. No, Alan was a Tracy, therefore it was a life threatening rare, tear your hair out as it goes grey kind of virus and it had been very scary for a few days there.

Virgil had been beside himself and Scott worried out of his mind. All the brothers had gathered terrified that they were about to lose their youngest.

There had been tears.

But Alan was tough. Life had always been hard to their littlest. He had lost so much, missed out on so much, and apparently that virus wasn’t up to the fight Alan was willing to throw at it, so it died.

And Alan slowly, ever so slowly, started getting better.

Those days were long past now and Alan only had the dregs. He had been cleared by disease control and allowed home. None of the older brothers had tested positive and it seemed they had escaped another bullet aimed at the Tracy family.

But it had been terrifying.

So Alan was under general moddle-coddling and if Grandma found him out here in the middle of the night there would be all hell to pay.

Scott understood his little brother’s reasoning though.

It was his ‘bird and he wasn’t flying.

“She performed perfectly.”

“Didn’t expect she wouldn’t.” His brother snuggled into his side, the sixteen-year-old reduced to six-year-old behaviour by his illness. “Was lonely.”

“Oh.” Scott tightened his hold.

With Virgil and Gordon out on a mission, the house would be quiet.

“Are they okay?”

“They were when I dropped off John. He would let us know if there were any problems.” Didn’t stop Scott from wanting to double check anyway. Hence his presence in the lounge.

“Can we watch?”

Scott blinked. “I guess so.”

Fumbling in the dark, he found the ‘projector remote and hit the on button. “John?”

His space brother’s tired hologram flickered into the middle of the lounge. “Scott? What are you still doing up? Is there a problem?” A frown as John noticed the other occupant of the sofa. “Alan? You should be in bed. Grandma will blow a circuit if she finds you up.”

“Alan was waiting for me.” It was the Commander’s voice. God, he was tired. A sigh. “Sorry, John, could you relay Virgil and Gordon’s monitoring feed down here? Alan wants to check on them.”

John stared at them a moment. “Okay. FAB.”

His holographic form flickered out to be replaced by a view from Two’s external camera. Virgil walked past covered in mud yelling at someone.

The someone turned out to be an equally mud-covered Gordon. Hell, the strawberry blond was a brunet. Both brothers looked as exhausted as Scott felt as they had a rather energetic discussion. Fortunately, it appeared that the rescue was over and Virgil was loading up the pod into its module. Unfortunately, tired meant grumpy and impatient.

“They look exhausted.”

“It was a nasty rescue. Far too many people died.”

“But they made a difference, didn’t they?” It was a child-like question that they both knew the answer to, but Alan had asked it anyway.

“Yes, they made a difference. Two hundred and three people hauled alive out of the mud today because of International Rescue.”

“We do good.”

“Yeah, we do.”

Gordon threw a glob of mud at Virgil’s head and the resultant yelling match was extensive. Scott sighed. “They need to come home.” He fiddled with the controls and set it to transmit his voice. “Thunderbird Two from Tracy Island. What the hell do you two think you are doing?”

On the ‘projector both brothers jumped as if a voice had come from above. Which it had since both Two’s camera and external speaker were a considerable distance over their heads.

“Mission complete, Tracy Island. Working through clean up. Estimated departure, ten minutes.” At least Virgil managed to regain most of his composure.

“Good. Now stop mucking around and drag your tired butts home.”

“Uh, FAB, Tracy Island.” Virgil stared at Gordon as if Scott had lost a few marbles. But the two of them executed the last of the pack up in an orderly fashion and exactly ten minutes later, their view launched with a flare of VTOL. The ground disappeared beneath and as Virgil hit the rear thrusters, it all became a blur.

Scott hit the kill switch and the room fell into darkness once again.

“They’ll be home soon.”

“Mmmhmm.”

Alan’s head was heavy on his shoulder, but warm and reassuring. Scott brought his other arm around and turned slightly so his brother could curl in a little closer, his head now more under Scott’s chin. Alan muttered something and snuggled up.

Scott rested his cheek against soft hair as Alan’s breathing drifted into the even pace of sleep, the remains of the infection that had brought them so close to losing him, now little more than a rough edge to each breath.

Closing his eyes, Scott revelled in having this moment, of not being denied it, of having another chance.

A moment where exhaustion and relief met and he drifted away.

-o-o-o-

Virgil entered the comms room to find it dark except for the moonlight shining through the rafters. It was just enough light to outline two brothers curled up on the couch together, both deeply asleep.

Deep enough that Virgil was surprised to find his inadvertent entrance hadn’t disturbed the ever fragile slumber of his eldest brother. So, feeling daring, he grabbed a throw rug and wrapped it gently about the two of them.

Neither stirred at all.

Miracles were possible.

Virgil smiled before tiptoeing out and leaving them there in the moonlight.

Together.

-o-o-o-

FIN.

[picsinhead-blog]

Tim’s Favorite Movie Project: Die Hard

Die Hard (1988)

Directed by John McTiernan

Starring Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Bonnie Bedelia, Reginald VelJohnson

Released July 22, 1988 (wide)

Plot: When Lieutenant John McClane (Bruce Willis) of the NYPD planned to visit his wife (Bonnie Bedelia) at her company’s corporate Christmas party at a high rise in Los Angeles on Christmas Eve, he probably expected to get into a fight – he just didn’t expect that fight to be with twelve vicious, well-armed European terrorists. But the terrorists, led by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman), hadn’t planned on John McClane, either. As Christmas day draws closer, Hans and John play cinema’s greatest game of cat and mouse. Will John walk off into the sunset?

My relationship to this movie: My mom taped Die Hard during an HBO or Showtime free preview in probably 1989. She used to watch the movie while she worked out on a loud ski/row exercise machine in the living room, and although there was no way us kids were “allowed” to watch a film as violent and profanity-laden as Die Hard, there really was no way around kindergarten me catching more than a glimpse of the excitement. I was hooked. Die Hard was something we’d play on the playground, Die Hard 2 was something we’d play in the snow, and when Die Hard With a Vengeance came out, I read the novelization. I remember a friend of mine chanting “John McClane, baby, John McClane!” while rooting me on during an arm wrestling contest in middle school, and when we all wore white A-shirts in high school, we didn’t call them “wife beaters,” but “McClanes.”

As I grew up and began to appreciate films for more than just their entertainment value, but also their craft, my love of Die Hard only grew. One of my best friends in film school was a guy who had poo-poo’d action movies as somehow “less than,” and thought they were overly macho and brainless. One night, the girls decided to have a “Girls Night” and went to see Chicago. He was annoyed that they’d excluded us, and said “Why don’t we have a guys night and watch Die Hard?” We watched the movie in my dorm room, quietly, and when the credits rolled, I fully expected some kind of smartass dismissal of the movie, so I didn’t ask what he thought – I just said “what should we watch next?” His reply: “What’s wrong with Die Hard 2?”  My answer? NOTHING. (We watched all three that night, and his favorite ended up being Die Hard With a Vengeance.)

Die Hard is one of two movies I’ve watched every Christmas Eve after church for at least 20 years (the other is It’s a Wonderful Life.) It’s baked into who I am as a movie fan and a lover of film (there is a difference). It’s a part of nearly every important relationship I’ve ever had – Die Hard has been a key point of reference with family, friends from every stage of life, teachers and mentors, coworkers, even girlfriends. I wrote about Die Hard and Die Hard 2 as Christmas movies nine years ago right here, and I don’t have much new to say. It’s as near to perfection as movies get, and it never gets old. Like the best of holiday traditions, it provides added joy during a good year, and comfort following a bad one.   

My favorite _________: Die Hard is my favorite action movie.

List Position at Debut: Die Hard is the fifth entry in this project and starts at number one (knocking out Planes, Trains & Automobiles). 

[theajjf]

How to be a Good Thief - by Sensei Sean Hummer

New Post has been published on https://www.ajjf.org/how-to-be-a-good-thief-by-sensei-sean-hummer/

How to be a Good Thief - by Sensei Sean Hummer

I have a confession to make to you all.  I am a thief.  I can’t help it, but I just have to steal.  And if you give me a chance, I will probably steal something from you too.

Now, some of you may know me personally and think, “No, you’re not a thief.  I know you, and you have never stolen my things.”  So now it seems I must be a liar as well!  Allow me to explain my methods of robbery so that we can agree that I’m telling the truth.

I don’t steal things, objects, or your personal possessions.  I admit that.  But I will steal your ideas and metaphors, and other thoughts that I think might be useful in my quest for understanding.  So now you can relax, and stop worrying about hiding your family heirlooms when I come over. Let’s explore the best way to become a good thief.

We should begin with elaborating what it means to ‘steal’ things in this way.  When we think of stealing in the normal sense, we mean to take something from someone without asking.  And in this way, it is regarded negatively.  We don’t like thieves because they obtain their goods dishonestly.  So to be a good thief is to steal honestly, which is to say we take the item we want or need without harming the owner.  To be a good thief is to steal with a good heart, with the intention of using the object taken to shine the light of understanding to others.  It is with this spirit we continue.

To further elaborate on the ethics of this type of thievery, I should point out to you the number one rule of the good thief: Identify and give credit to the one you stole from.  If you’re using this stolen idea, concept, or thought you must identify the original owner.  Now, sometimes our brains betray us and we cannot remember where exactly we stole from, especially if you’re a prolific thief like myself.  In this case, simply mention that it was stolen goods and continue.

First, you must know what it is you want to steal.  Any good thief needs to identify things worth taking.  For me this is often information or concepts that help me understand the things I don’t fully grasp.  For jujitsu it’s things like teaching tools and methods or ideas that help me understand a technique better.  It can also be a drill that I’ve learned, or a variation of a technique.  This is why it is important to constantly seek.  Go to events, Convention, and study other styles of martial arts.  “Get out the house!”  See, I stole that too.

Next, you are now set to the task of truly understanding the thing you have stolen.  It’s not very helpful to have a room full of stolen things that you never touch.  You must use these things.  It cannot truly be your own until you’ve mastered the thing.  To be a good thief is to truly take ownership of what you’ve taken.  To honor it by using it.  Or else you are wasting your time.  What good is that awesome drill you learned from Professor So-and-So if you never actually use it?  If you are a student, ask your Sensei to do that drill often enough to gain benefit.  If you are Sensei, use that drill frequently enough – actually drill it – so that it becomes useful for training.  Or else it’s just another sailboat in the harbor, only good for cocktail parties1.

Finally, you have to give the stolen item away freely.  This is not negotiable.  If you’ve gotten benefit and greater understanding from what you’ve stolen, you must share it.  Remember the rules above, the intention is to help others.  To serve.  This is what is meant by robbing the rich to feed the poor.  

Now, go and become a great thief.

And remember: “The boughs that bear most hang lowest2” 

  Stole that from Alan Watts.  I steal from him a lot.

See, I can’t help it.

[whatgaviiformes]

Fic: Fixated

A/N: I can’t explain how I am feeling, so I am going to let fic do it instead. This is entirely written without edits, without a read through.  Overworked!Scott

Edit: Okay I did a read through. Remaining mistakes are mine

-----

Virgil is the first to notice. Maybe because he’s Virgil, and possibly because he’s the only one who can call Scott his immediate older brother, so there’s something in their closeness in age, having navigated childhood together almost as equals, that sets his Scott-sense apart from that of his younger siblings.

When Scott was thirteen and Virgil was eleven, Scott was in the eighth grade and had to write a research report on the Wright Brothers, the pioneers of modern aviation. And that was all well and good, because Scott was going to start training for his pilot’s license right when he turned sixteen. The report became not just a chronicle of the historical figures’ lives, but also of flight, of the first airplane itself and the prototypes before it, of physics, and aerodynamics. He researched in a way he never had before because it was a subject he was passionate about.

He obsessed.

Like John but different.

John absorbed the search for knowledge into the fiber of his being, his fingertips always itching to take a deeper dive through archives when he heard a word he didn’t know or a concept he couldn’t explain fully. Research was as much a part of John as music was for Virgil, or swimming was for Gordon. It was a companion he could always revisit later, and so like all of them with hobbies that mattered, John knew how to catalog  and save for a better time, and turn the itch aside when he needed to. He knew when to stop.

Scott didn’t. Scott defined the turn of phrase “down the rabbit hole.” Alice caught and enraptured by the not yet known or understood.

When he cared, he obsessed.  

That project got finished with an A+, but resulted in anxious shaking that didn’t alleviate until a few days after the grades came back. Scott had lost weight, skipped his extra curriculars, and Virgil hadn’t seen him for two whole weeks while he worked. The younger ones likely didn’t remember.

But Virgil did. And he knew the signs. Forgetting to eat, falling asleep at his computer or on his books, waking up earlier than normal to get a head start to whatever imaginary goals he created for himself that day.

So, the day Virgil notices, it’s because Scott missed lunch. Grandma had made hot wings, which was one of his favorites, so the smell of char in the air would’ve been enough to set his stomach rumbling. With Scott absent when he definitely shouldn’t be, Virgil decides to make him a plate, six hot wings with ranch on the side, and some celery.

He finds Scott at their father’s his work desk, his fingers flying over the keyboard, intently scanning the files behind the screen.

“Hey, I brought you lunch.”

No answer.

Virgil steps closer to the desk, sure that once Scott catches him in his periphery, he’d acknowledge his presence. But Scott doesn’t appear to have a periphery when he’s focused like that.

“Scott?” There’s a little room on the desk, so he nudges a few papers to the side and slides the plate down. “Scooter?” He looks tense. He can see knots forming, so he drops a hand on Scott’s shoulder, and –

“FU—”

Scott nearly jumps out of his skin, his hands fly up, catching the side of the plate which clatters, sending ranch and hot sauce all over the floor. Even MAX scurries away with a low beep at the sudden sound, and Virgil flinched in a sudden panic when the dish slipped through his fingers.

“Sorry, sorry! I just meant to help.” Virgil is already kneeling on the floor, trying to pick up what he can with his hands, knowing he needs a wet rag. Maybe a mop.

The little cup that held the ranch slid a ways. Gross.

“Ah. Thanks, Virg,” Scott says. And he means it, Virgil knows that. But he can also see the gears in Scott’s head still working, still thinking about whatever he had been focused on, not quite fully present. “Umm. Do you have this? I’m under a deadline.” He looks at his watch. “Ugh. A rough one. I’d help if I could.”

“No, I got this! Sorry, Scott.” He picks up the dirty hot wings, placing them on a plate for their compost pile. “Is there anything else I can get you instead? These were the last of them.”

But Scott doesn’t answer. He’s already back to his computer.

~*~

Gordon is next.

He may not have the same Scott-sense as Virgil, may not have picked up on it as quickly, but he and Scott both share early morning routines, meeting in the kitchen at 5:00, Scott dressed in a tank and his running shorts, Gordon in his swimsuit, a towel around his shoulders. Coffee is too heavy to start the day, but Scott usually would begin the brew for when they returned (and in case Virgil woke up) while Gordon filled their respective water bottles. Whoever finished first chose the energy boost of choice – sometimes just a snack bar, sometimes a shake. On weekends, it might be oatmeal or toast.

Out by the pool by 5:15. Stretching was important.

Scott began his run. Gordon began his laps. They went about their day. Rinse, repeat.

Occasionally a rescue might come in and affect their sleep cycle just a bit, but Scott and Gordon were both military. If they weren’t rising before the sun, it was too late and they lost half their day already.

So Gordon is next, because Scott doesn’t meet him in the kitchen. He’s not sure he knows how to make smoothies for one – hasn’t in a long time – so he proportions his ingredients for two, fills a second cup for Scott when he wakes, and sticks it in the refrigerator so it will stay cold.

He pushes himself during his exercise. He was long past chasing times, but he still raced himself. Seconds could save a life, and so he exercised for speed, for longevity sometimes. For survival.

It’s a longevity day, so he’s abandons speed for energy conservation, which makes it a long morning.

His muscles are tired and sore when he returns to the kitchen and opens the fridge for a drink to boost his electrolytes. He is not in the mood for coffee today, but sees the pot is half full, so someone is up. But it’s not Scott.

Because the smoothie is still in the fridge, untouched.

He tells himself he needs to check in on Scott once he finishes his research down at the dock today. He’s been tracking a pod of dolphins near Mateo and has been needing to collect the latest data captured by his little research vessel.

He’ll catch him later. Figure out what’s going on.

~*~

Then it’s Alan.

Alan admires Scott, has been practically raised by him since Dad disappeared. Scott is everything Alan wants to be… just the John version of him. Take Scott’s courage and bravery, John’s love of space, you get Alan. Eyes on the horizon, but looking beyond it into stratosphere, exosphere, the space between stars itself.

He’s a hell of a pilot. He knows that. He wouldn’t be the pilot of Thunderbird Three otherwise. But a part of him will always seek the approval of his older siblings. He wants to make Scott proud.

Scott hasn’t had the time for him lately. He’s been working on… oh he doesn’t know. They don’t tell him. Something for Tracy Industries.

His final quarter grades have come out, and he aced all his classes.  It had been a hard semester and juggling his courses between rescues had been tough. He’d needed to call on his brothers’ expertise a few times.

He knows Scott has his file somewhere in his email, but he likely hasn’t gotten to it yet because he hasn’t said anything to him. It’s been a few days. So Alan pulls up his grades on his datapad and strolls past the center of the lounge over to Scott.

The first time he says Scott’s name, he doesn’t answer.

Nor the second.

The thirdfourthfifth time, because that’s how he called for him, the name running together like that, Scott irritably gives him a low grumble of “What do you want, Alan?” He doesn’t glance up, and the smile falters from Alan’s face.

“Oh, I, uh—” This was silly. It’s not important, really. Scott will get to it eventually.  “My grades came through. When you get a chance.”

He grumbles in response. “I’ll look later,” he says. “I need to…”

But he trails off, back to his computer, and Alan still doesn’t know what project stole his brother away.

~*~

John’s the last.

He’s called to check in. He’s definitely connected, but....

Scott is slumped at his desk, and John’s calls are not working.

“Scott!”

No answer. The figure at the desk doesn’t budge. So John opens a channel to the rest of his brothers, his feet already sending him toward the space elevator as he calls out. “I can’t wake Scott!”

[valaks]

Sins of the Father (deleted fic)

John Rider betrayed all of MI6 to SCORPIA leaving his partner to barely escape with his life. 14 years later Senior Field Agent Gregorovich is assigned as the handler for Alex Rider. He says he won’t hold his father’s crimes against him but there are just so many John like features that he wants to break out of him and with carte blanche to shape Alex into the perfect agent, he will have his chance.

“You want me to train him?” He didn’t even bother with a greeting, he knew this was coming the moment that news of Alex Rider breaking into Vauxhall had reached his desk. Possibly before then if he was honest, remembering the considering looks he had caught ever since the assassination of Ian Rider.

“You are a talented trainer and we need to make him a highly capable agent.” Jones observed conversationally. “Ian has already laid quite a bit of ground work he’ll just need some....polishing.”

“Obviously” Yassen had seen the footage of him at the site of Ian’s assassination, of him shadowing Crawley to gain access, they were all the hallmarks of someone trained, not the grieving teenager he was supposed to be. Part of him was suspicious that he was once again being set up with another Rider to stick a knife in his back. Jones said he had been raised with Ian since Helen’s “accident” there were pictures and documentation in the file he had accessed to prove it, but he had worked in this field long enough to know that such things could be faked. “Was that intended or just a convenient accident?”

Jones frowned at him, even using the word ‘convenient’ was enough to signal to her that he already knew the answer. “Ian showed him what was necessary to keep him safe. You know what he is up against better than anyone. But to answer your question, it was not anything that we encouraged or assisted with.”

“Does he know?” Yassen inquired as he stared at the teen in the interrogation room. To an untrained eye he might appear calm - his hands were still on top of the table, he was sitting ramrod straight, staring evenly at the glass as though he could see right through it but the almost imperceptible twitching in his calf told him that he was nervous. As he should be, given that he was caught breaking into a secure government facility. He would have to train those tells out of him, assuming Jones allowed him the...privilege.

“Ian never told him he worked for us, let alone that his father…” she trailed off “Are you certain you’re not too close?”

“I am a professional, Tulip. I won’t go easy on him but then you would not want me to, not with what Mr. Blunt is asking.”

“‘Won’t go easy’ sounds like a convenient catch all for revenge.” Jones replied matter of factly, finally turning away from the mirrored window.

“I can handle it.” He ground out, catching her gaze from the corner of his eye “I wasn’t much older when I went through training” that was a lie and one she caught because it earned him an arched eyebrow “If it will make you feel better, provide me with one of your teams to supervise and report - he will need a retrieval team as a field agent, best for him to become familiar with them now.”

She surveyed him then nodded stiffly “Fine. K Unit is yours. I’ll pull them off assignment and have Wolf report to you.”

“Are they nearby?”

“In an interrogation at our site in Sussex but F Unit is shadowing, they can take over.” She hesitated “You want to start immediately?”

“Of course, he is already here, it will seem like a natural consequence of breaking in and he will only blame himself. I will fan the flames of that.“

“He is clever, Yassen. He will know that there is more to it than just keeping him out of jail.”

“I would be disappointed if he did not, but the fact will remain that he brought himself to our attention. We will meet them in Sussex.”

“You want to start with RTI?” The mistrust was probably earned.

“I think it would be instructive to make it clear just what Alex is in for. His life is not going to be easy form here on out regardless of success or failure, it would be best to start that lesson early.” He turned fully toward her “You are not going to like what you see in the reports, I will have to push him far beyond the limits of a normal agent for him to be what you want.”

“Keep it professional and we won’t have a problem. Blunt wants him to be a working asset, you have 3 months to turn him into one, longer if you are kept on as his handler.”

Yassen nodded thoughtfully, he could work with that “A reasonable time frame, even for a Rider.”

“Yassen…”

He cut across her “He broke into a government facility on a hunch and from his interrogation he is remarkably resilient and determined, very much like his father and his uncle.”

“The interrogation was highly classified.” She said, eyes narrowing.

“Tell that to half the senior field agents on the floor” Yassen returned and her stance shifted, there would be a presentation on classified information in their future. Hopefully he would be deep into Alex’s training by the time it occurred “He won’t go down quietly but I will give you the asset you want.” She shot him a glare, obviously not trusting his intentions. He didn’t blame her. Yassen was known to hold a grudge against the Riders which meant this was probably Blunt's idea but he was one of her favored too “Trust me, Tulip, I haven’t failed to give you a solid agent yet.”

“No, you haven’t, but you also haven’t had a Rider to work with. We kept you and Ian away from each other for a reason.” She said stiffly.

He knew she had her own reservations over the project for far different reasons. She likely didn’t see the miniature John Rider he did. It had been years since her children had been taken, but he had no doubt that when she looked into the room it was one of them who was sitting in Alex’s place. But Tulip Jones didn’t become Deputy Director by letting things cloud her judgement. He would be given more attention for it, but no more than would be fitting given his potential and unique position.

“He’s yours, Gregorovich” she conceded, she had already said that in so many words but he imagined that she was saying it more for herself than him.

“Do you have a dossier of what Ian covered?”

“In the file. A copy is on your desk, though, you have already accessed his electronic file this morning.” He wasn’t surprised that she was aware of that, it was her business to know things like that. She held out two small keys, no doubt to the handcuffs. “Three months, arrange whatever you need, all approvals come through me but Alan has given very few restrictions. I want a functional agent back, Gregorovich, not a broken shell. He’s not John Rider.”

“You will have your asset.” He said taking the keys from her and pocketing them. He cast one last look at the teen still glaring into the mirror. He imagined that the wait and uncertainty seemed daunting to him but in a few weeks Alex Rider would regret not savoring the peace of the interrogation room. Yassen would come back to him, for now he needed to go make arrangements.

[scribbles97]

Crushed

A scene from Left Behind that just wouldn't leave me alone but I also never got around to linking up with the rest of the fic.

@gumnut-logic thank you for giving me ideas for Gordon's accident!

@lenna-z and @janetm74 thank you both for all the love and comments on Left Behind... I'm sorry that it got the better of me.

It should have been routine. Just a recovery mission, he had told her with that sunshine grin as he had headed for his chute. Lucy hadn’t needed to monitor him, there wouldn’t be any more to tell until he got back with whatever it was they were meant to find there.

She had always disliked not watching her boys when they were out on missions, but trusted them enough to know better than to hover.

None of them had expected the emergency code. The tone all of them knew and dreaded filling the whole villa.

There was only one son missing from the lounge, John’s eyes wide and lips pressed thin as he looked straight to her from Thunderbird Five.

“Gordon, you’ve activated your emergency code.”

She found herself holding her breath as they waited for some form of response, anything to tell them what they needed to know.

Nothing came.

“Gordon?” John pressed, eyes breaking away to focus on something outside of the scope of the hologram, “Gordon, do you copy? Gordon!”

It was the fear she didn’t doubt all of them were feeling, no more words spoken as they turned as one towards Thunderbird Two. For once she didn’t even hesitate about Alan’s presence, she needed them all where she could see them.

“It’s Gaat.” Kayo confirmed once Thunderbird Two was in the air, “I’m in pursuit of the Chaos Crew now, GDF are assisting.”

Something in Lucy had broken at the revelation. Gordon had been looking for answers for her, had been put in danger by a man with a grudge against her, yet she had done nothing. She hadn’t even been watching.

Their eyes were all on her, waiting for some form of confirmation, some acknowledgement of what was happening. She was their mother, but also their leader.

It was time for her to lead.

“Kayo be careful, if he’s done this to Thunderbird Four we don’t know what else he might do.”

“F.A.B.”

“John,” She swallowed, turning her attention to the rescue at hand, trying as hard as she could to brush away the thought of just who it was they were rescuing, “I need the closest team possible to--”

“Cen Am team have two subs en-route, they were in the area on drills, eta fifteen minutes.” He hesitated, glancing away and then back again, “Lady Penelope will be joining to assist.”

It was all the team she could ask for.

“F.A.B. thank you John.”

He nodded but didn’t close the line, still hovering in the corner of her vision as she looked to the live feed of vials displayed for them all.

“What do we do, Mom?”

Alan’s voice was every bit the small child she still believed he was, even if she knew he was there to help.

She just had to show him how.

“We rig two sub pods, they’ll be able to manage at that depth for the time we need. External cameras on Four are compromised so we don’t know what we’re going in to. Once we have an exact picture, we’ll make a plan.”

“Who--”

“Go and rig the pods, Alan.” Scott cut him off, “We’ll meet you down there.”

It was the first thing her eldest had said since the emergency code had come in. When she turned in her seat, his eyes were fixed firmly on her, hard and determined just like she knew his father would have been in that exact moment.

“I’ll go down with Alan.”

Anger flared in her chest. Gordon was her son, she had already done too little to help and--

“Mom, you’re compromised.” Scott continued, voice softening, “We don’t know what we’re going to find--”

“And you think it’s okay to send his kid brother down there instead?” She snapped back, “No Scott I won’t--”

“Alan pulled John from space.” He cut her off, “You’re blaming yourself for what’s happened. I trust your judgement Mom, but I don’t think it’s the best thing for you to go down there.”

She wanted to protest more, she needed to do something other than just sit there and watch. Except, she knew Scott was right, knew that at any point something could well tip her over the edge and break the camel's back.

A heavy, solid hand on her shoulder made her look across to Virgil. The slightest of nods from him confirming a quiet agreement to Scott’s reasoning.

She trusted her boys to look after one another, knew that Scott would do everything she would. He hadn’t been the one to send his kid brother out there that day, he held no guilt over the situation.

But still she couldn’t simply sit by and wait.

“I’ll prep the med bay, meet you in the module with a stretcher.” She murmured, glancing back to the weakening life sign.

“Okay.” Scott nodded, smiling softly as he reached out to her other shoulder, “We’ll get him back, Mom. I swear it.”

She straightened, eyes fixing on the stats as they dropped again. It wasn’t getting him to the surface that she was worried about.

“Virgil you’ll be needed to see to him.” There was only one fully trained medic among them, and for that she would forever be grateful, “Once Scott and Alan are up you should transfer control to them and see what’s needed for treatment.”

“F.A.B.” He agreed quietly, “We’re coming up on the drop zone.”

She nodded, unbuckling from her seat, “Let’s get our fish back on dry land.”

***

It was torture to stand in the module and simply listen. Alan’s exclamation had given her visions of all the worst situations, only backed up by Scott’s murmur of things being worse than he thought.

She wasn’t sure if the images John had relayed to her from the pod's external cameras were what she had expected or not. The area was known for its hydrothermal activity, but to see one of the stacks of rock pinning Thunderbird Four upside down, the machine crippled under the weight, made her heart twist painfully.

Scott had taken full direction of the underwater rescue, the two stronger subs lifting the chimney whilst Penelope pulled Gordon from the wreck.

Her soft gasp spoke volumes. Part of Lucy wanting to smile at the thought of just how well the pair suited each other, even if they had been skirting around the fact forever. There was fear there too though and it echoed through Lucy’s entire being.

“Get him up to the med bay.” Scott was instructing, “We’ll recover Thunderbird Four and meet you up there.”

A murmur of agreements and before she knew, Lucy was stepping to one side to allow FAB One to pull into the module.

It was hard to not look too eager as she pulled the rear door open, only to stifle a sob at the sight before her. Gordon draped across the back seat, face bloodied and bruised, everything about him just not quite right.

Penelope’s eyes were just as fearful as Lucy had expected as she looked to her, “He hasn’t stirred.”

It wasn’t a reassurance.

“Let’s move him, get him to a hospital.”

The island infirmary wouldn’t be enough for him.

“His helmet was leaking air,” Penelope explained as they moved as one to get him onto the hover stretcher, “I had to take it off, he was almost out.”

Over the years Lucy had heard enough people giving needless explanations to know what it really was.

“You did the right thing.” She assured, “You got him out of there Penny, thank you.”

The younger woman’s smile was tight as the module clunked into its position within Thunderbird Two.

“Shall I send Virgil?” She offered, hovering at a distance as the hover stretcher maneuvered itself into position in its dock.

Lucy nodded, too focussed on setting up the med scan, he needed a line placing, an oxygen mask. Finally she could at least do something.

His baldrick was first to go, cut away and discarded on the opposite side of the room. She didn’t like the unnatural set of his shoulder or his wrist. She didn’t like all the ambers and reds flashing up in front of her. She didn’t like that he hadn’t moved in the slightest.

“Mom,” John appeared above the stretcher, “Eos is going to remote pilot Two to the nearest hospital, Scott and Alan are going to get a lift with Cen Am once they’ve recovered Four.”

She paused as she taped the line in place in the back of Gordon’s hand, “They’re not--”

“They know he’s in good hands,” John smiled softly, “and that time is precious.”

Swallowing against the sudden lump in her throat, Lucy nodded, “F.A.B.”

It was the sharp movement of his chest that caught her attention, the way it moved deeper for a single breath and held there for a long moment before releasing again with a soft cry.

“Gordy?” She murmured, moving to his head, “Are you with us?”

“Momma?” It was barely a whisper through the mask as cloudy amber eyes blinked up at her, “Mm, it hur’s. Really hur’s momma.”

All of the boys had always loved her stroking their hair, and all of her wished she could at that moment. But there was so much blood, a warning still fresh in her mind of a head injury. She didn’t dare touch anywhere that wasn’t okay.

“I’m here baby,” She soothed, reaching out to the hand she had just placed the cannula in, “I know it hurts, Virgil will be here soon to make it better. ‘Kay? Think you can stay awake for that?”

“Mom, it hurts.” He repeated, eyes so distant she knew he wasn’t seeing the scene in front of him, “‘m scared.”

“You’re safe Gordy.” She soothed softly, blinking away the tears that stung her eyes, “We’re all here for you and we’re gonna make it better.”

His eyes focused, amber that matched her own reflecting back at her in a moment of clarity.

“Mom?”

“Right here Kiddo.” She whispered, braving her own fear to reach out and touch his cheek, “You with me?”

Fingers tightened weakly around hers, holding on with everything he had.

“It’s okay.” She whispered, trying to sound more sure than she felt, “It’s all going to be fine Gordy.”

His eyes were still clear as he watched her, clouded with fear and pain. There wasn’t the spark there should have been, no smile as there had been earlier in the day.

“Mom, I can’t feel my legs.”

[drazzilder]

A Hellish Encounter

By Drazzilder 

Chapter 34: School Life

It’s May and it’s your first day helping students with their quirks. You’re a little worried about how your day will go so Enji took the day off to make sure everything goes well. Even though you can teleport, it’s nice to walk with Enji to help calm your mind. Zaheer is even walking with you today but he seems to only slow you down.

“Zaheer, did you have to eat at every stand we passed by, you’re going to make us late” Enji says with a disappointing tone.

“I’m sorry, I’m just so hungry. Human food always comes in such small portions. And every time I take physical form, it uses a lot of energy.”

“And this is where all of my paycheck goes.” You say patting Zaheer’s abdomen.

“Do I need to give you raise?”

“Well, I can just go to you for more money.”

“I hope you didn’t marry me for my money.” Enji says pulling you close with one arm.

“I could care less about money. I’d say we could be broke and I’d be happy but we need some money to feed this guy.” You say point back to Zaheer.

“Sorry….” He says with a mouth full of food.

“It’s fine Zaheer, I’m just giving you a hard time. I don’t mind that you eat a lot, I just don’t want to be late. I want to make sure I do this right.”

“You’ll be fine.”

“It does make me feel better that your coming. I know Nezu said he has a room for me but I doubt it will be the same as you.”

“I know. I can’t be here everyday but I’ll will try to be here when I can, ok?”

“Thank you.” You say leaning against Enji while walking.

You arrive at AU and Nezu and Midnight greet you at the entrance.

N: “Good morning Hellboy! I’m glad you decided to help our students. I know you have your reservations but I promise that we have taken every precaution. Midnight will be there if you get out of control and I see Endeavor is with you as well.”

(Y/N): “Glad to be here. What will be doing today?”

M: “Oh! So heroic to just get right to the task! Fills me with so much joy!”

E: “Calm down Midnight, Hellboy just wants to get started. He is a little nervous.”

N: “That’s fine. The first student you will be working with is Mirio Togata. He has a very powerful quirk but is having trouble using it. He has gotten better but it is his second year here. If we could help him control it better, he could be a great hero.”

(Y/N): “That sounds exactly like the student I want to help. Where to?”

N: “We are going to the same training room you used before. Right this way.”

You all go to the training room where you meet Mirio. He is clearly is excited to meet you.

MO: “Nice you meet you Hellboy! I’m happy to have this opportunity to help me.”

(Y/N): “Well, very nice to meet you too. I like your positive energy. I’m sorry if this is annoying but I need to ask about your quirk.”

MO: “No problem there. My quirk is permeation. I can pass through anything but I have trouble. It is very hard to use this quirk when in battle. The problem is that I can fall though the floor too easily when fighting. It has gotten me into trouble on more than one occasion.”

E: “That is a interesting quirk, what do you think Hellboy.”

(Y/N): “This sounds like a good opportunity for me. Please, sit down.”

You both sit down as everyone watches. You hold his hands and begin to gain control of Mirio’s body. Suddenly his body falls through the floor as you gain control. Everything is dark as you fall. You try to breath to calm down but you can’t. As you continue to fall, you begin to panic but then you come up with an idea. You try to leave a little control to Mirio and ask for help. “Mirio, stop your quirk. I can’t figure it out if I can’t breath.” You manage to think.

“No problem!” Suddenly you pop back up to the surface. You come to a standing position and see everyone with faces of either relief or shock. You look down to see why, your naked in his body. Quickly putting on his pants, you start to understand his quirk a bit.

(Y/N): “Sorry if I scared you all. I couldn’t control his quirk. Right now we are sharing control till I can understand how this quirk works.”

M: “You could control mine right away. What’s different?”

Z: “Every quirk is different. Some are inherently easier to control than others. It seems this boy’s quirk is difficult even for Hellboy.”

(Y/N): “That seems to be what I’m feeling, what about you Mirio.”

MO: “This is really fun. It’s really weird having another person inside of me.”

E: “Ok, now I’m getting a little worried. You’re both in control?”  

(Y/N): “It’s no different than what Zaheer and I do. Ok, let’s try something. Zaheer, I need you to attack me.”

Z: “Why am I always the test subject.” He says walking up to you.

(Y/N): “Because I can’t hurt you and you’re immortal. Now go.”

Zaheer hesitates at first but then slowly pulls back to punch you in the face. Right before he makes contact, you fall to your left. Zaheer stops and looks down to see your left leg in the ground. He reaches his hand to get you up.

Z: “I think I know what you’re trying to do. It’s like your body, actively thinking about control of your quirk.”

E: “Interesting.”

N: “What do you mean, Zaheer?”

Z: “You unintentionally found (Y/N)’s perfect first student. I’m only telling you this because I was told I can trust you. He has to use his mind/body control constantly because he is fully paralyzed. No one could possibly understand how much mental capacity it takes to think about every muscle when moving. Mirio’s quirk seems to be similar, having to constantly concentrate on using it.”

(Y/N): “I was trying to make his head to phase through your hand but I accidentally made his left leg phase through the floor.”

N: “Now this is fascinating.”

(Y/N): “Again Zaheer, I think I might have it.”

Zaheer goes again for a slow wind up and tries to hit you. That’s when he punches straight through Mirio’s head. Zaheer stumbles a bit from not making contact but then goes for another in the gut. You do manage to not only make his fist go through the boys abdomen but also land a hit on Zaheer’s face. It wasn’t hard, just enough for Zaheer to feel it.

E: “That’s good. How do you feel Hellboy.”

(Y/N): “I feel fine but I don’t want to stay inside him too long.” You then go fully back to your body.

MO: “That’s a funny feeling. Mr. Hellboy, how do you feel?”

(Y/N): “I’m fine. I believe I found out a way to help you with your quirk. It might take a few more sessions in order to master it but I feel like we are on a good path. Your quirk can be very powerful but it requires a great amount of thought.”

N: “Great! This is what I wanted to hear. Why don’t we all go to my office and start on a plan for Mirio to help him along. After that, I might have a few more students for you Hellboy.”

E: “I’d feel comfortable with Hellboy only controlling one student a day.”

(Y/N): “I agree, I’ll admit I do feel a little dizzy from that.”

N: “Ok, take the rest of the day off then. If we can only do one student a day then we will work with that.”

(Y/N): “Thank you Nezu. Have a good day everyone. It was nice meeting you Mirio.”

MO: “Thanks Mr. Hellboy. I can’t wait for our next session!”

Zaheer goes back into you to help with your dizziness and Enji takes you to the teachers lounge to rest for a moment.

“You did great today, (Y/N).”

“Thanks. I’m glad didn’t hurt him. I feel for him, his quirk takes so much thought to use.”

“I’m glad you can help him.”

“Zaheer, do you have anything to say?”

“I knew you could do it. Plus you didn’t lose control. You’re getting better at balancing your quirks.”

“Thanks. I’m just happy I can use this power that hurt so many to help people instead.”  

“What do you want to do now, we have the rest of the day off?” Enji says while taking a quick glance at his watch.

“Can we just hang out. We haven’t done that in a while.”

“Sure, anywhere in particular?”

“Let’s just walk and see where it takes us. Let’s go home and change into normal clothes first.”

You teleport back home and both change into something more normal: something spring. You’re in jeans with a light jacket while Enji is also wearing jeans, he just has his favorite white button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up. You hardly get to see him in jeans so it’s a sight you want to savor. He must have had them tailored because they are hugging him in all the right ways. You manage to break your gaze long enough to get out of the house and begin walking. You have no goal in mind, just walking and following what interests you. You have been walking for about an hour; Enji is busy on a phone call with Sanji and you’re listening to your favorite K Pop song with your earbuds. The music is taking over your mind as you walk and dance to the beat. Even though your eyes are closed, your holding Enji’s hand to make sure you do don’t run into anything. However, Enji must be really into his phone call because he doesn’t notice someone run into you. You bump heads and both end up on the ground. You don’t know what hurts more, banging your head or landing on your tail. Sitting up and rubbing your head, you look at the man who ran into you.

“(Y/N)? Is it really you?”

“Alan?”

Next Chapter

[dalekofchaos]

TROS Fix it post:Finnrey, Jedi/Prince Finn, Rey Skywalker and villain Kylo edition

So I wanted to make a fix it post that’s dedicated to uplifting Rey and Finn as they rise as Jedi, Kylo Ren’s tyranny as the Supreme Leader, discovering Finn’s family, Stormtrooper Rebellion and ending with Finnrey’s happy ending. I think it’s only fair since I’ve done Reylo, FInnpoe and Finnrose centric fix it posts!

To clarify I ship FInnrey, Reylo, FInnpoe and Finnrose. I am in the belief that ship what you want as long as it’s not hurting anyone

Before we begin. You must be wondering how can Finnrey work with Rose’s kiss? Simple in Resistance Reborn, Finn said Rose took it back as it was a heat of the moment kind of thing. Also, Rey closed off her force bond with Kylo Ren. So in their 5 years of training together and in this hypothetical movie, Finnrey can happen! 

Also it’s worth noting that Alan Dean Foster was ordered by Lucasfilm/Disney to scrap any hints of Finnrey romance from the TFA novel as he believed that was the direction of the Sequels’ romance and coincidentally they did next to nothing with and we know it was racially motivated. "I expected to see that developed further in Episode VIII [The Last Jedi]," Foster said. "And zero happened with it. And we all know why zero happened with it — and there's no need to go into it in-depth — but that's, sadly, just the way things are."

Okay with that out of the way, here’s my fix it post. 

The movie will be called Episode IX The Spark Of Hope. Rey and Finn are the Spark Of Hope. There will be at least a 5 year time skip in between TLJ and TSOH. There is no Palpatine. Kylo Ren and the Knights Of Ren are the villains. Hux and Phasma will be Kylo’s right and left hands in The First Order.

For context for The First Order and Supreme Kylo Ren. A part of me feels like the entire trilogy was building up Kylo Ren as the villain. If it were his destiny to abandon the dark side and The First Order, he would have either joined Rey or left in exile and eventually return and join Rey to end the war together. But that didn’t happen. Trust me I wanted that to happen, I wanted Rey to convince Ben to stop the fleet, take her hand and come home and while Rey flies the Falcon, Ben goes to Luke and Leia to make amends. Then Luke and Ben together would stop The First Order on Crait. But that didn’t happen.

But here’s why I think TLJ was setting up Kylo Ren as the villain. In TFA, Kylo Ren killed Han Solo, but did not yet fully embrace the dark side. The deed split his spirit to the bone, which made him unbalanced and conflicted. He was so conflicted that in TLJ, he was unable to pull the trigger to kill his mother. At this point, he still felt a call to the light. Also, in ROTJ, Palpatine said to Luke, “Strike me down with all of your hatred, and your journey toward the dark side will be complete”. While Luke resisted temptation, Kylo Ren did not. When faced with the opportunity to kill Snoke, he didn’t hesitate. I see him turning the lightsaber to strike true. And now, foolish child. He ignites it, and kills his true enemy! At this moment, his journey towards the Dark Side is complete. Then, after the fight against the Praetorian Guards, Kylo Ren was given a chance by Rey to be redeemed. However, he went straight for the throne. He went straight for power. Even during the Battle Of Crait, knowing very well that Leia was probably in the base, Kylo still gave the command to take no prisoners. He was now willing to kill his mother and even ordered that the Falcon be shot out of the sky with both Rey and Chewie on board. He killed Han and Snoke. He was willing to  kill Leia, and he indirectly caused Luke’s death. From this point of view, Kylo Ren has fully cemented himself in the dark side and it was a shame we could not continue this path and a shame they just HAD TO bring back Palpatine.

Palpatine should not have been the villain. It should have been Kylo. The entire trilogy has been building him up as someone who was worse than Vader, doing what he could not do, kill his family AND his dark side master.

I’d also like to point out Kylo has done some pretty horrible shit in the tie in material for TROS. The novel Resistance Reborn revealed that the First Order created and maintained death and labor camps. They captured individuals, forced them to do work that contributed to the First Order’s war machine, and worked them until they died. Some of these individuals were allies and sympathetic to the Resistance, but some were just people who could potentially become Resistance allies and sympathizers.

And in Allegiance, The comic follows the events of The Last Jedi, so the Resistance has largely been wiped out by attacks from the First Order. This has left them with almost no weapons or supplies, forcing the remaining Resistance members into desperate situations to try and gain new tools for their war against the First Order. They’ve stopped at various locations, including a shipyard at Fondor. The citizens of Fondor refused to help the Resistance and turned them away, giving them no weapons.Yet, when the First Order arrived, Supreme Leader Kylo Ren reveals that even communicating with the enemies of the First Order is considered an act of treason. On top of taking control of the shipyards for themselves, Ren personally executes the head of the station via beheading. Before his death, the representative tries to argue with Kylo, claiming that not even the Empire had forced the shipyard into their employ. Instead it recognized some level of freedom for the system and the people who live there. Kylo Ren responds that this was because the Empire was too “leniant” in the application of its authority. He tells his men to spread the news of what happened on Fondor, and how this proves the First Order is willing to be harsher than ever before in their pursuit of the Resistance.

Kylo was ruthless in this comic

So yes, there was so much potential with Supreme Leader Kylo Ren.

Supreme Kylo Ren would look like a Supreme Leader and would not wear the same outfit and a broken helmet. One of the things I really hate about what they did with Kylo in TROS is he has no unique outfit as Supreme Leader. It’s just the same outfit from TLJ and his mask is just repaired instead of a new mask entirely.

Kylo Ren would be given his own unique helmet, something that is his own and something that defines him. From the Art of TROS

Supreme Kylo Ren would look like a Supreme Leader and would not wear the same outfit and a broken helmet. One of the things I really hate about what they did with Ben in TROS is he has no unique outfit as Supreme Leader. It’s just the same outfit from TLJ and his mask is just repaired instead of a new mask entirely.

his outfit would look like this with the mask, art by AJ Pratt Zoom in version for details

To cement his undying loyalty to The First Order as it’s Supreme Leader, The First Order insignia would be on his cape. All black cape, but showing a dark red design on the cape

With Kylo Ren fully embracing the dark side, he is no longer conflicted. Now his Crossguard Lightsaber is stabilized.

I would also  give Kylo Ren a Flagship, The New Horizon to go with his “Kill the past” theme. And it would look like this. Art from the Art of TROS

We would learn Kylo Ren’s motivation for joining and believing in The First Order. Bringing order and stability to a corrupt and lawless galaxy. A line from Kylo in the TFA novelization sums this up perfectly. “It is the task of the First Order to remove the disorder from our own existence, so that civilization may be returned to the stability that promotes progress. A stability that existed under the Empire, was reduced to anarchy by the Rebellion, was inherited in turn by the so-called Republic, and will be restored by us. Future historians will look upon this as the time when a strong hand brought the rule of law back to civilization.” From his point of view, The New Republic was a lawless state that usurped their rightful government and the galaxy has been worse off since the Rebels victory. The galaxy has become a worst place without Imperial rule and Darth Vader’s example.

We’d even find out why he betrayed his family. It started long before Luke entered the hut. It was simple. The New Republic senate revealed the truth that Leia is the daughter of Darth Vader and Ben would’ve seen this at Luke’s temple. Ben felt betrayed by his family ever since. It could’ve been a similar situation after Luke found out the truth. “Ben, why didn’t you tell me.” “Mother…you lied to me….” He feels betrayed by his family and those feelings of resentment lead him back to Snoke. He started to embrace the dark side and his heart was already turned. Which brings us to that faithful night where Luke for a moment thought of igniting his lightsaber and ending the threat before it can begin, but couldn’t. That was all Ben needed. What happens next is he kills the Jedi, burns the temple to the ground and leaves Luke for dead.

So Ben betrays his family because the truth of Anakin was kept from him and because of that Snoke twisted the view of Vader’s fall being compassion and Kylo idolized Vader and viewed Anakin as weakness. He views Vader as the ultimate representation of might and order and power. He wants to destroy everything his family built out of spite and finish what Vader started, which was kill his master, the Jedi and rule the galaxy. Become a stronger Vader, one not held back by sentiment nor compassion. As Supreme Leader He wants to do what the Empire and even Vader could not. Bring order to the galaxy. A new order, his order. Through The First Order, with the Knights Of Ren at his side and as Supreme Leader, he can now do this.

The First Order all view Kylo Ren as the rightful heir to Darth Vader and follows their Supreme Leader without question. Kylo saw through Hux’s plans to release the footage of Snoke’s death and to ensure Hux’s silence, he promoted Hux as Field Marshal. That was enough for Hux. Captain Phasma survives(Gwendoline deserved more time as Phasma and deserves better after GOT final season and we all know that.) and Kylo gives her one final chance to redeem herself. Phasma would be promoted to Admiral. Phasma plans on killing Finn and those in The Resistance who dares protects him and his friends. Phasma intends to kill those who even dared to show the slightest hesitation in battle. Phasma is cracking down hard to ensure there is no chance another FN-2187 can be born. But Phasma is doing this because she knows Finn is Force Sensitive and she wants to draw him out of hiding so she can execute him.

The Knights Of Ren.

For better story purpose, The Knights Of Ren would be the Jedi who followed Ben. These were the first six Jedi who came after Ben. and to Ben they were his closest friends from his time as a Jedi. I don’t know about the other five before becoming Knights, but Jacen Syndulla would for sure become Ben’s best friend from childhood into adulthood. These two would be as thick as thieves ever since Hera and Leia introduced them. The others would be of different races. One is a Twi'lek, a Rattataki, a Zabrak, and two female humans.

But the gist is instead of the lightning strike from TROKR, Luke’s “death” resulted in a civil war between the new Jedi Order. Ben would be horrified that his uncle tried to kill him. Ben doesn’t just go on a slaughter as soon as he collapses the hut on Luke. Rather, the commotion wakes everyone up and Ben suddenly finds himself having to defend himself in the disbelief and horror of those who once were his friends, his brothers and sisters. and he knows how damning it sounds. Luke Skywalker: The war hero, the legend, the jedi master, his family, tried to murder him. and henceforth comes the divide: those who believe him and will stand by his side, and those who believe he has murdered the last Jedi Master and wish to avenge their teacher. the latter party strike first. and they won’t stop until they have his head. thus the bond between those who would become the knights of ren is forged in blood, baptized in tears.

The Knights Of Ren are loyal to Kylo Ren, not Snoke or The First Order.  They are completely loyal and subserviently to Kylo Ren as he opened their eyes and saved them from the dogmatic teachings of the Jedi. We will see companionship between Kylo and his knights. We need to see them as being Kylo’s personal army and trump card. Unlike The Praetorian Guards who were faceless Guards who all just die. Let the Knights Of Ren be people and only unmask in the presence of their Supreme Leader and show them as Kylo’s only true family in his eyes. We know that the purpose of The Knights Of Ren will destroy The Resistance and finally destroy The Last Jedi.

The Knights are as followed.

Jacen Ren

Drago Ren

Leng Ren

Silas Ren

Z’Ev Ren

Azraa Ren

Like Kylo, The Knights have their own unique Lightsaber and TIE Fighter. Jacen would have a Lightblaster(like Jocasta Nu’s Rifle in the Vader comic) Leng would have a Lightbow. Drago would have a Battle Axe Lightsaber. Silas would have a Rapier Lightsaber. Z’Ev would have Lightsaber Tonfas. Azraa would have a Light Pike like the Shadow Guards from Legends used. As for their TIEs. Kylo has the TIE Silencer. Jacen has the TIE Spector. Drago has the TIE Rogue. Leng would have the TIE Dagger. Silas would have the TIE Shadow. Z’Ev would have the TIE Whisper. Azraa would have the TIE Scorpion.

Supreme Kylo Ren should have been a tyrant of a Supreme Leader. Making it clear he is hated and feared by the galaxy, make mention of his labor camps and possible public executions. Kylo and the Knights Of Ren’s mission is to find the Sith Holocrons to guide them in their final journey of the dark side and with that, the final means to crushing The Resistance and the Last Jedi.

The movie would begin with Rey completing Finn’s training on Ach-To.(there would be novels and comics to go over Finn’s Jedi training) Rey would have constructed her own Yellow Lightsaber and Finn would have his own Green Lightsaber. Rey would say something. “You’ve taken your final steps, congrats Finn, you are a Jedi” she smiles proudly. Finn would smile and say “I had a good teacher.” 

Jedi Finn by Andres Bellorin and Jedi Master Rey by Alessandro Campana

Poe would interrupt.  “Hey I hate to interrupt, Jedi love birds, but we’ve got urgent business.”

The Resistance reunited with the remnants of the New Republic with Lando leading the fleets as Admiral Calrissian. The Resistance would now be renamed The United Republic

The urgent business would be that due to the intelligence provided by Rose(Rose would be the head of Intelligence and Engineering, Rose is a big deal in the Resistance), more and more Stormtroopers are rebelling against The First Order and because of this. Phasma is cracking down and executing them one by one. Poe says there is a chance we can save them, but we can’t spare any men as Kylo Ren and his Knights are relentless. So Finn would volunteer. “I volunteer. If there is a chance to save these resisting Stormtroopers, there is a chance I can save them all and turn the tide of this war and burn The First Order from the inside out.”  Poe and Lando approves the mission.  Finn says he will need a team. So Rey and Rose will go with him, while Poe stays behind to mobilize the united fleets against The First Order to retake Corruscant.

We would find out due to their interactions, Rey and Rose are besties and Finn adores them both. 

Meanwhile, Kylo Ren, furious over the fact that Finn has risen as a Jedi, intends to finish the job he started on Starkiller Base and if Rey refuses to join him, Rey will die with the traitor. 

Finn finds the defecting Stormtroopers, led by Jannah. Everyone in Jannah’s squadron are all in awe of Finn. “It’s him!” “It’s Finn. The Finn!” “FN-2187!” “Save us from Phasma,” But Jannah knows FInn. “I’ve found you at last, brother.”

Jannah would explain that she is Finn’s sister. That FInn and Jannah are from the planet Artorias and they are the  lost prince and princess of Artorias. Finn’s family name is Galfridian. The First Order raided the planet for resources and stole the royal children, both due to their force sensitivity as Snoke had plans to make them Knights Of Ren. Both were conscripted into the Stormtrooper program as children and then escaped and now they found each other. Finn explains he intends to free their fellow Stormtroopers and Jannah will help her brother, as will Rose. 

Finn will lead a Stormtrooper Rebellion. Due to Phasma executing his brothers and sisters and Kylo’s tyranny as Supreme Leader will all lead to Finn leading a Stormtrooper Rebellion. They sneak aboard Phasma’s flagship and use it to deploy the signal to every Stormtrooper. I think Finn will possibly use his force sensitivity and letting everyone in the FN corps feel what he felt when he could not bring himself to pull the trigger. What he felt when Starkiller Base committed genocide and what he felt when he stood his ground and fought Kylo Ren. Rose will also use her engineering and hacking skills to ignite a signal and Finn’s speech. Finn’s speech could go something like this. “My name is Finn, I was FN-2187, a Stormtrooper. Like every one of you, I was taken from a family I will never know. I was raised to do one thing… but my first battle, my friend Slip died and that death marked me and made me realize We are people and we have a choice. I wasn’t gonna kill for them. I had nothing to fight for. Until I met my friends, they gave me a name, a purpose and something worth fighting for.(cue Finn smiling at Rey) So I am here to tell you.  You have a choice. You are people. You do not have to kill for them anymore. Take back your lives and fight the people who took your lives away from you. I am giving you the one choice they never gave you and choose for yourselves. You can either storm this very room and kill us or you can take back your lives. The choice is yours.” Then we get a very emotional scene of Stormtroopers led by Finn’s last surviving Squad member, Zeroes removing his helmet and tossing it to the ground and then we see hundreds, to thousands of Stormtroopers ripping their helmets off and tossing them to the ground. Officers DEMAND they put their helmet back on and kill The Resistance scum, but they don’t. It happens. Rebellion.  Finn, Jannah and Rose have successfully led a Stormtrooper Rebellion and together burn The First Order from the inside out.

Finn and Phasma would have a fight for all to see. Phasma has her Baton, while Finn has his Lightsaber. They fight on even footing and finally Finn gets the better of Phasma and disarms her and has his former captain at his mercy. Phasma begging for her life, saying she will call for The First Order’s complete and unconditional surrender and giving Finn and the rest of the Stormtroopers info of their families and planets. But the defected Stormtroopers want blood. All the Stormtroopers who left the First Order because of Finn are telling him he has to kill Phasma while Rey and Rose are telling him killing Phasma will not be right. Finn makes the decision to spare Phasma. Finn tells his brothers and sisters “that’s how we’re going to win this war not by fighting what we hate, but saving what we love.” Inspired by Rose, Finn let’s  go of his past and takes Phasma in alive so he can answer for her crimes.

Rey would commune with Luke’s force ghost. Luke commends Rey for her and FInn’s success. Rey reveals that she’s happy that Finn found his family, but Rey is saddened that Kylo was right about her family. Luke will tell her. “Ben was wrong.” Luke will tell Rey the truth. Maybe it happens like this. “the force is strong in my family. My father had it, I have it, my sister has it and my daughter has it”  “You were never meant to be left on Jakku…I thought you died the night in the academy.” “All those years. I was so alone.” “I know. I’m sorry.” “Did you ever try to find me?” “Of course. For so long I searched the galaxy for you. Everyone said that you had died that night in the temple, that I should give up searching. But through the force, I could still feel you. I knew you were still alive. Every face I seen, it was your. Every voice I heard, it was yours. It drove me crazy. I came to this island, turned away from the force because it was so hard. Feeling that you were somewhere in the galaxy and being unable to find you. Seeing you in front of me right now… I’ve never felt so lucky.” He wanted to turn Rey away from her family heritage and training her because he was afraid of losing her again. But now that he embraces her, he has never been so proud in her life. Luke will explain that Rey’s mother Mara Jade took her away from the academy before she could be killed by Ben during the academy massacre. Mara then took Rey to Jakku and blocked off her memories, so she can never be found by Kylo Ren or the First Order. Rey, now a Jedi will take up her family name and stop her cousin and bring balance to the force. It fits. Throughout The Force Awakens it fits, Rey needs to be a Skywalker in order for her journey to make sense. Rey is the heir to the Skywalkers and Kylo Ren is the Heir to Vader. 

Throughout the movie, Rey and Kylo will have force bond scenes. Kylo taunting her that she should have joined him when she had the chance. In their final force bond session he would remind her that she is nothing and now that she rejected him, she truly is nothing and so is Finn and his army of traitors. Rey will finally snap back. “I was never nothing. I am Rey Skywalker, I am a Jedi like my father, mother and grandfather before me. This exchange is over, cousin.”

Leia will reach out to her son. Obviously it will be like in TROS with Leia’s shadow and Ben. Ben will do all the talking. We get the impression that Leia is pleading with her son, telling him she is sorry for everything that we all failed him. But it will fail as Kylo Ren is too far gone, her son is dead. He has completely submerged himself in darkness  and has pledged himself to destroying everything his family has built. He has promised to Leia that when The Resistance is in ruins, when my uncles(Lando and Chewie) is dead, when “my replacement”(referring to Poe) is dead, the traitor is dead, and when the last jedi lies dead, then I will finally kill you, mother. Then Leia knows that her son is truly gone.

Anakin will attempt to reach his grandson. Anakin’s force ghost will visit Kylo to try and save him, but it is far too late. Snoke was preventing Anakin from seeing his grandson to bring him back and stop his grandson from repeating his mistakes. Ben Solo felt betrayed and lost it when he found out his grandfather was Darth Vader. He never found out that Anakin returned to the light and saved his son. Snoke lied about the truth and gaslighted Kylo into believing only Vader mattered and made him believe that compassion made him weak. Ben never learned the truth about Anakin. As for Anakin. Anakin was always the light that was calling to Ben, but because of Snoke, Anakin watched in vain as his grandson was becoming his mistakes. Anakin could hear everything that’s going on, he was a watching Kylo always but he can never be sensed or seen. Anakin hears Kylo ask “Show me again grandfather” and Anakin is so desperate to do something to turn him away from this dark path but he can’t do anything but watch in sadness and horror. So when he is finally able to manifest to his grandson. Anakin will tell him  “I never wanted you to repeat my mistakes. That pull to the light you were feeling was always me. I wanted you to be better than I was, who I could have been” and showing Ben his memories and what he had to go through. His life as a slave, meeting Padme, meeting Obi-Wan, becoming a Jedi, losing his mother, Order 66, losing Padme and being saved by Luke. And telling Ben “Let the light in. You still have a chance, no one is ever really gone“ And Kylo Ren would refuse to believe this. Kylo will retort that “the light made our family weak, your compassion made you weak, I will finish what you started and were too weak to finish.”  and Anakin watches in horror as his grandson continues his mistakes…His words fell on deaf ears and he could not save his grandson.

Lando, Chewie and Leia will lead the fleets of The Resistance and the remnants of The New Republic and the united galaxy against The Fleet of The First Order led by Hux. Lando would have his ship from Legends The Lady Luck. Leia would have her personal Nebula Class Star Defender which is named The Aldera, Leia leads the fleets on board and guides them with her Battle Meditation. Leia would also send Finn’s message to everyone in the galaxy, convincing them all to fight and take back their galaxy and take back democracy!

The final battle will be the Battle of Coruscant. Leia and Lando uniting the galaxy isn’t a result of “duh big ship blows up a planet duh” it’s the result of ordinary people rising up and taking their democracy and freedom back. It’s poetic that a saga that began with a dictator taking away democracy and turning it into an Empire, ends with the people rising up!

Near the end of the movie, Kylo has found the Sith Holocrons and contacted by the Sith Wraiths of Palpatine, Vader, Maul, Dooku and Darth Bane. By the end of the movie, Kylo absorbs the powers and has 1000 generations of Sith living within him. The Jedi stand with Rey. The force ghosts of Luke, Obi-Wan, Yoda, Qui-Gon and Mace will guide Rey. A thousand Generations live in her now!

Rey calls a meeting between her friends. Finn, Poe, Jannah and Rose arrive. In order to have a hope with stopping Kylo and the Knights Of Ren, Rey and Finn must train Poe, Rose and Jannah as Jedi.(Note. Poe was raised with a force tree so his force sensitivity is possible and Rose just deserves the universe.)

Poe will have a Orange Blastersaber, Rose will have a white Lightsaber and Jannah will have a Lightbow. 

Prior to facing the Knights Of Ren, Rey and Finn will talk. “Rey, before we go, I need to tell you som” Rey will silence him with a kiss and say “I know”

The final battle will be between Kylo and the Knights Of Ren and the new Jedi, who will be Rey, Finn, Poe, Rose and Jannah. The fight will take place on Vader’s castle on Mustafar.

Realistically this will be the best damn Lightsaber fight in the entire saga. The new version of Duel Of Fates will be used.

Rey and Finn together will face Kylo Ren, while their friends and Kylo’s Knights fight. 

Near the end. The Knights Of Ren reign of terror is at an end. Rey’s friends are absolutely exhausted. The Knights are left broken, but alive. Poe was able to talk Jacen down and embraces Jacen in a kiss(they were childhood friends and old flames, Poe is gay damn it)

By the time the battle reaches it’s conclusion Kylo’s helmet is knocked off by Rey and Finn, Kylo’s eyes will be pitch yellow, showing that Kylo Ren has given himself fully to the dark side, also Adam gets to keep his glorious beard.

Rey, Finn and Ben are battling it is full of raw and emotional power and anguish. Rey and FInn are fighting to end this conflict once and for all. Kylo Ren is fighting to kill the Last Jedi and the galaxy’s last hope. In the end, Rey and FInn wins. Finn cuts off Kylo’s arm and Rey cuts his Lightsaber in two. Rey realizes Kylo Ren is still dangerous. There is no hope that he will have a sudden change of heart and turn to the light. But Rey cannot kill her cousin. So Rey does the only thing that could keep her family member alive. Rey severs Kylo’s connection to the force. He cannot harm anyone ever again. 

The battle of Coruscant ends with The United Republic taking back Corruscant. Hux being taken in alive and The First Order’s fleet in ruins.

The movie would end on Rey and Finn’s wedding on Finn’s homeworld of Artorias. Leia gives them away. Poe is Finn’s best man, while Rose and Jannah are Rey’s maidens of honor. Rey and Finn embrace in a kiss as they are crowned King and Queen of Artorias. The Skywalker-Galfridian dynasty begins. They first started out as lonely and abused children, but now they found their family and each other. 

Epilogue. 

The New Order is established. Think Galactic Federation of Free Alliances from Legends. Lando Calrissian is the Chancellor of the New Order. Lando is The Chancellor of The New Order. As king of Artorias, Finn will provide a home for his fellow brothers and sisters after their liberation. He can help them all acclimate back to civilian life or they can voluntarily defend their new home.  Finn leads a program to help properly help his brothers and sisters integrate back into galactic society and to help them all find their families and worlds, but until then, they all have a place in the kingdom of Artorias. Rey will find Force Sensitive children and train them all to become Jedi. But Rey will use her power as queen to house all the children who have been abandoned or orphaned by the war. No one will ever be abandoned under Rey’s watchful eyes. Poe and Jannah would be the Ministers of Defense, always keeping The New Order’s Military strong and on their toes so they can prepare them for whatever threat there is to come. Jacen Syndulla will be put under house arrest, watched over by his mother Hera. It may take some time, but Hera and Jacen will reconnect and learn to forgive each other. Rose leads a sanctuary for all the children and animals who have lost their families due to the war and helps take care of them, but also Rose would lead an attack on arms dealers and war profiteers who have profited off the war and suffering of the galaxy. In time, Rose would bring relief and restoration to Hays Minor and Rose Tico would return home and have a family.

Kylo Ren, Hux and Phasma would be put on a Nuremberg styled trial as they are tried as War Criminals. Just the thought of the FO leadership facing a Space Nuremberg tribunal is too fun to think about. Just imagine Ren, Phasma & Hux backstabbing and shit-talking each other in jail.

Then we see the people who are the victims of their atrocities. Finn and the various Stormtroopers who were forced as children to kill for them. Eila and Kel from SW Resistance tells everyone exactly what Kylo did to their home planet of Tehar. Kazuda Xiono and the rest of the Hosnian Prime survivors will voice heartbreak and outrage for what Hux did, while Hux reminds everyone "I am not alone to blame, Supreme Leader Ren was there as I voiced the plan to Snoke, he did not object and stood by and watched from a distance and did nothing he is just as guilty.” Both Poe and Finn will come forth as witnesses to the massacre of Tuanul. Rey will then come to Finn and stand as witness to the murder of Han Solo. Rose will voice what the First Order did to her home and how Hux confirmed it when she was aboard the Supremacy. R2-D2 will come forth showing the footage of the Jedi massacre. Rey and Poe will come forth and say they were victims of torture by his use of the force and Rey then say “I gave him the chance to turn his back on the FO and save the Resistance twice, to save his mother and he still chose to let everyone die and he almost succeeded on Crait. and still gave the order to wage war until the very last man”

Literally everything is stacked against them and finally, Kylo, Phasma and Hux will get their say.

Phasma will be unapologetic for her actions. “I grew up on a hellhole. Each day clawing my way to stay alive. I killed my own family. Went from clan to clan. Then one day The First Order came. I saw my opportunity and I chose them. I saw power, strength, order and unity. And I did what I had to do to get to where I am today.  I do not regret what I’ve done in the name of The FIrst Order or rescuing children and forging them into an army the likes of which this galaxy has never seen.” Phasma then looks at Finn and her former Stormtroopers. “Only you chose disobedience and cowardice instead of greatness. I don’t regret it. That’s the difference between us. I know what I am, and I embrace it. I’m proud of it. I fought for everything that I have, every bit of what I am.”

Hux will go on a Nazi like rant, saying the New Republic was a lawless and corrupt state that usurped it’s rightful government and it deserved to die! He shows absolutely no remorse whatsoever, only pride. “WE COULD HAVE DESTROYED THE LOATHSOME RESISTANCE, IF ONLY OUR SUPREME LEADER DID NOT LET HIS PATHETIC EMOTIONS CLOUD HIS JUDGEMENT!” Hux will say “LONG LIVE THE FIRST ORDER!” and does his salute and expects his former men to do the same, only the former Stormtroopers doesn’t do anything but look down in shame.

Kylo Ren will show just as little care or empathy for his actions. Basically he will say the galaxy fell without Imperial rule. Without the example of Darth Vader. He will dare claim “I became a stronger Vader, one not held back by sentiment or compassion. I killed the past and became better for it. I was abandoned by everyone, but came back to burn everything down. I do not apologize for ANYTHING I DID! I AM PROUD OF IT. I AM THE SUPREME LEADER AND MASTER OF THE KNIGHTS OF REN, WHERE WOULD YOU BE WITHOUT ME OR THE FIRST ORDER? A CORRUPT GOVERNMENT THAT ALLOWED SLAVERY AND A LAWLESS GALAXY? WE BROUGHT ORDER BACK TO THE GALAXY! I UNITED YOU AGAINST ME AND YOU BECAME STRONGER FOR IT! YOU ALL NEEDED ME! WHERE WOULD ANY OF YOU BE WITHOUT ME? Do what you will, I know what we did was right.”

WIth that, The First Order Triumvirate is sentenced for life in prison.  Phasma still looking as the sole survivor. Hux uttering threats. In one final moment, Kylo Ren would be taunting Leia and Rey. Goading them all to sentence them all to be killed by a firing squad. Leia turns away with Poe wrapping an arm around her, Finn & Rey supporting her. She is with her children and she’s going to be okay.

Kylo Ren ending the trilogy as a disgraced and jailed war criminal seems to be the only realistic solution the more I think about it. Leia doesn’t lose her son but he faces consequences for his crimes. He absolutely must face the consequences of his actions and spend the rest of his life imprisoned for crimes against the galaxy and the Republic. Kylo Ren does not get to have a happy ending. He stood by as Hosnian Prime was wiped out, he killed Han, Luke and wanted to kill Leia, Finn and Rey and countless other atrocities. He chose his path and he has to live with the consequences of his actions.

[benisasoftboi]

Unorganised thoughts on Trails of Cold Steel IV:

WHY ARE THEY CALLED CLASS VII?

WHO ARE CLASS VI?

Anyway - I started playing Trails in August, and I’ve finally, finally caught up (yes I know Hajimari I can’t read Japanese) and like... what do I do now?

It’s a fantastic series and I’m so, so glad I picked up Trails in the Sky on a whim last summer

This game was long. Is it longer than the other ones? It felt that way

The best part was the first chapter because Rean wasn’t in it and yeah I still don’t like him!!! But seriously, it was astonishing how much more I was enjoying things without him

I audibly groaned when goddamn bonding points returned in the second chapter

Actually that was a lie, the best part was Any Time My Angel Estelle Was On Screen

I missed her so much

I let her get the final hit of the game against the boss because she’s the best

Speaking of angels I caught three Wazy cameos!!!

Also Gilbert came back and if there had been a camera on me... I quite literally teared up a little I was so thrilled

I hate the curse it is dumb and rips all the nuance out of the characters. People do not need a goddamn evil curse to be swayed to extremes by overzealous nationalism. Trails I know you are better than this, I played Sky and Crossbell

Fav new location was Milsante (liked Alster too, though). I really like going to tiny little outposts and villages in JRPGs, they make the world feel more real

What the hell was up with the Osgiliath Basin? As in, Giliath Osborne??? Is this going to be a Hajimari thing?

Oh yeah, HOT TAKE, Alan Richard >>> Giliath Osborne. I was reading an LP of Sky FC while playing the game, and Richard’s motivation is clearer and less over-complex, more sympathetic, and he’s just generally a far more human character

Alan Richard best political antagonist in the series fight me (Rufus Albarea distant second)

For best supernatural/cult-y antagonist I’m stuck between Weissmann and Joachim. Or maybe Campanella lol

Oh uh speaking of characters named Georg I will never not hate everything about the George and Angie subplot. Angie should have died and George should have stayed evil, or it shouldn’t have happened at all. As it is, it was a complete waste of time - you could take it all out and NOTHING would change

Angie would have been the perfect character to sacrifice as well, she’s just important enough that it would feel like ‘oh shit’s getting real’ but not so important that it’s unbelievable

(like Olivier. I could not fully believe they’d actually kill him, and the moment Laura told me ‘they never found the bodies’ I was like, oh, so they’re definitely all still alive, cool)

I mean, it would be a Bury Your Gays, but honestly... there are things I like about Angie, but is anyone really looking to her as a lesbian role model? I hope not. Yikes

So yeah I guess I hate George now for getting my hopes up and then being boring. Shame

I did the Towa romantic ending, of course. I genuinely think she’s the best match for Rean, of all his love interests

Chaaaracters

Rean: Still the least interesting person. Not a good sign when I’m sadder about the robot dying than the main protagonist yeeting himself into the sun (side note, the two endings thing? Unnecessary and dumb). There is no reason girls would like him this much, blah blah I’ve said it all before. Liked his new hair. Honestly would have respected it if they’d had the balls to kill him off. I basically never even used him in battle lol, Juna became my new team leader

Juna: Honourary protagonist imo. I’ve changed my mind since CS3, she’s my fav new Class VII without a doubt. She’s just really good and full of personality and depth and OH GOD WHY IS SHE CRUSHING ON REAN WHY FALCOM WHY

Kurt: pls falcom don’t try to force this aroace king into a nonsense ship with Sully I liked her but what are you doing, anyway Kurt is great and he got cool new swords and he got to hang out with Mueller, who I adore, I love Kurt

Altina: I also love this little bunny. Her relationship with Millium is so lovely and seeing her grow and become her own person made me so happy and OH GOD WHY IS SHE CRUSHING ON REAN WHY FALCOM I LITERALLY SAID SHE HAS THE BEST RELATIONSHIP WITH REAN OF ALL THE GIRLS BECAUSE SHE DOESN’T DO THAT IN THE LAST GAME WHY DO YOU HATE ME????

Musse: Yeah I’m still not sold on Musse but I liked her better this time! I like a smart, confident girl! Just stop being weird about your teacher and we’d be golden!

Ash: Good boy. Sweet boy. Ash and Joshua game now Falcom

Alisa: Still cannot believe she’s presented as the deuteragonist by the marketing - but you know what? Solid arc, she got some closure with her parents, maybe she and Jusis can get together for tea and complain about their messed up families. She’s never going to be a character I like all that much, but I don’t dislike her. I just wish she hadn’t clearly been written as ‘Rean’s love interest’ before anything else

Elliot: I love Elliot, I really do. I mean, I wish he hadn’t been flanderised to the point of speaking in music puns half the time, but he’s a solid, consistently pleasant character

Laura: Goddamnit Falcom please give Laura anything resembling an emotion regarding her dad dying. Also you tell me she’s kind of oblivious and stuff but we never see it. I like Laura but she really could have been more

Machias: I love Machias, fight me fan base. He’s so funny to me. It feels like, at this point, all he really wants is a nice office job, near a nice coffee shop, where he files papers and sometimes gets to yell at corrupt rich people, but NO, he has to run about in dungeons and fight monsters, and are you FUCKING kidding me, ANOTHER crazy snake cultist!?!? It’s great, he’s the only one who’s just done with it all and love it

I low key headcanon that he and Jusis are kinda dating at this point, but we don’t see anything because the games are from Rean’s POV and they don’t want to tell him because they know he’d be weird about it

Jusis: I still really like Jusis! He’s interesting, and his surrogate brother-sister relationship with Millium is so sweet (yes, I saw that bouquet catch, Falcom, and I hate it, stop it, gross). Awesome to see him confront his brother, obviously I let him have the final blow. Rufus was a great antagonist. Jusis has some of the best development over the games, and is also really fun to use in battle (apparently I am the only one who feels this way though :/ ah well)

Fie: I was surprised by how much I liked Fie’s confession scene, seeing as I don’t like Rean/Fie at ALL. Fie finally gets to have feelings about her dad, and we see her working with Zin at the end! Very happy for Fie, best girl

Emma: Ahhh I still find Emma kinda dull and exposition heavy, but she also had a nice arc, I liked her relationship with Rose, all good

Rose beat me at Vantage Masters for 40 minutes lol

Gaius: It’s still extremely funny to me that Gaius became one of the most important people on the continent *off screen*. And he still doesn’t really do anything. He has his own airship now, I guess. Justice for Gaius

Sara: Kind of faded from relevance after CS1, but I do really like her all the same. And I loved her speech at the end

Crow: At the end his hair got darker and everyone was like ‘you’re back to normal!’ and I literally did not realise he was meant to have been looking different

But anyway Crow is a really good character and I literally never didn’t enjoy him. I love the bit where Jusis and Machias team up to call him a cringy edgelord, because they are right. Crow is fantastic

Towa: Towa has never done anything wrong in her life and all of Erebonia should pay for her therapy

Patrick: I cannot believe how much I love Patrick now, compared to CS1. He’s just such a sweetie. Good boy

Elise: Take her to the sun with you, Rean. Pointless character

Alfin: Is she the heir now? I hope so. She’s such a funny character, not my fav, but I enjoyed her

Angie and George: Should have died, moving on

Celine: I love her, but did she really need a human form? No, no she did not. Great character though

Tita: Special mention, because you know what? I do not like this version of Tita! Like I said, I was reading FC recently and she was so much better there! Now a third of her lines are just her saying ‘Agate’ in various different tones. And it feels like she’s lost a lot of her confidence, where’s the little girl who followed us up Carnelia Tower? I would have preferred them to just not bring her back at all

Duvalie: Haha I love Duvalie she’s great. Stop implying that she’s crushing on Rean. Literally WHY would she. Ugh

Rose: Everything about Rose is great, I would play a full game about her backstory. More Rose

Ships!

Obviously I like Machias/Jusis because I am BASIC

I didn’t like Olivier/Schera back in Sky, but you know what? They sold me. It’s cute (even if I feel Schera’s character was neglected in favour of Being A Love Interest, sigh). Though I’m not sure when Olivier made the switch from ‘Schera is one of many people I flirt with’ to ‘Schera is my one and only’?

But am I the only person who’s kinda on the Oliver/Schera/Mueller train? I’m not normally into OT3s, but Olivier and Mueller have one of the best dynamics in the series, and Schera and Mueller would probably get along great if they were ever allowed to properly interact. And you know Olivier would be down

Like I say, I do not like Jusis/Millium at all, it’s not a ‘I like another ship better’ thing, it just massively skeeves me out because of the maturity difference 

Ash/Tatiana was unexpected but adorable

Patrick/Elise, because I want Patrick to be happy and Rean to be mad

Also Elise/Alfin, sorry Patrick

I hope Anton and Sharon really do get together. Sharon deserves unconditional love and Anton deserves a happy ending

Sharon also deserves to hook up with Sara like once

I also sort of feel like Sara/Claire would be fun

I’ve actually like Gaius/Linde from CS1, I’m happy it’s kind of a thing now!

If Lila/Maybelle is the LET’S GO LESBIANS Trails ship, then Emily/Theresia is LET’S GO BABY LESBIANS

Vincent/Margarita. They’re both horrible people. At least this way no one else has to deal with them

Joining my Kloe/Josette in the ‘crack ships I love that have very, very little canon basis’ is Fritz/Kairi, based on their interactions in that one mission and then that they’re eating together at Mishelam. It’s pretty much just a height differences thing, lol

Miles/Elnan. I have literally no justification for this

Other stuff There was this one scene where Gaius says how nice it is that Mueller cares about Olivier and Mueller just snaps his head round and the scene ends, and I don’t think it was meant to be funny but I laughed for like a full minute

The intro to the music at Mishelam is extremely creepy to me

I love the Pom Party mini game a whole lot

There were... a lot of typos in the second half of the script. It’s massive, so I’m not mad, but I hope there’s a patch at some point

BERYL BERYL BERYL BERYL BERYL I love her

Uh if we’re still doing romance next arc please give us a gay option, no Crow did not count

I hate divine knight battles! I really do! That last one against Ishmelga was really hard and not in a fun way! In a ‘this is bullshit fake difficulty’ way. Please don’t bring them back!

The true final battle, though? FANTASTIC, now THAT is a final boss! One of the best in the series, like that’s such a fun gimmick!

I got it trapped in break state and spammed Heaven’s Kiss/Quick Star, because I’m a strategic gamer 

I am embarrassed by how long it took me to recognise Lucy

KLOE CAMEO!!!

Oh and I assume Kaela is going to be important next arc, since it’s in Calvard?

I love Thomas??? And Rosine???

Why was the grandmaster reveal hidden behind watching the ending twice, why do that? Great scene, though

My theory is that she is Aidios, I will cling to this for as long as possible

I probably have like a million other things to say that I’m just not remembering right now. Look forward to random shouts into the void about it in upcoming weeks, followers

I really enjoyed this overall, despite the problems I mentioned above. It was just fun, I like the cast, the gameplay is great... just a solid game

Trails is a really fantastic franchise - not perfect, but what is? I’ve had such a fun time with it over the past half-year, and I cannot wait to see what happens next. Thank you, Falcom, the localisation team, the VAs - stellar job all around

This is normally where I’d end on a joke but like. Nah, I’m just happy. Cue ‘The Whereabouts of Light’

[willow-salix]

Fluffember Prompt: Toy

Big massive thanks to the awesome @myladykayo​ for jumping in and writing this for me while I rest.

Day 20 of isolation on Tracy Island 2.0

 Kayo here... I was “convinced” to write this update by Scott...

 “Witchy has never skipped a day before in her isolation updates. We can’t let her down when she’s sick and needs her rest,” he said, using the pity card like one waves a white flag around.

“Then why don’t you write it? You’re her best friend,” I protested.

I’m not a writer. I don’t have Gordon’s knack for storytelling and exaggeration, or Alan’s naivete about life that makes his stories amusing. Scott is used to telling his brothers bedtime stories from when they were younger. Let him do it.

“I have to do office stuff...”

And then, he dared. He smiled his dimpled smile that no one on Earth and beyond can resist, except perhaps for Alan’s zombies and dead people.

“Office stuff.” I tried to sound unimpressed but to my greatest shame, I’m not impervious to the Dimple King’s magical powers and my resolve was already fading. I can’t say I’m very proud of that.

“I can’t postpone it... Please?”

He knows, the traitor. He fluttered his eyelashes, putting damsels in distress to shame and waited.

I do like Witchy and I do want to help her because she’s taking the burden of those idiots off of me when she’s here, so I caved in... I rolled my eyes at him and made sure my face showed how annoyed at him I was. “Fine, but you owe me now.”

“Deal,” he said. We shook hands and he sauntered away toward his office.

***

 Witchy was upstairs, resting (or trying to) and the others were relatively calm in the lounge, which is always a little suspicious. Personally, I would have gone to the training room to lift some weights or do a few fan forms, but I felt I shouldn’t wander off too far in case someone needed a reminder not to go and bother her. I was pondering about catching up on my reading or doing some office work when Virgil arrived from the hangars holding a flat box. “I was doing some cleaning and found a bin of old toys… Remember that game, John?” he asked, putting the box on the lounge table.

The box was faded and something told me that it was old enough to be not only from when the boys were kids and before I arrived on the island, but before that when Jeff was young. Why he kept some of those things, I had no idea. The garish yellow colour was an assault to the eyes in itself, and the silly-looking man pictured there didn’t improve things, nor were the bold red letters forming the word Operation.

John glanced up from his tablet and smiled. “Alan used to stick the tweezers on the edge and let the buzzer ring to no end until dad stopped him and gave him something else to do,” he said.

“Gordon used to tap rhythms and songs with the tweezers,” Virgil added.

“Did Jeff stop him and give him something else to do?” I asked.

“He’d wait for dad to be off with Alan to do it.”

“Then Scott would slap him upside the head,” John finished.

I barely managed not to roll my eyes. I can’t say I was surprised.

Alan opened the box and peered inside. “It requires batteries,” he commented, taking everything out.

Virgil went to fetch some in Jeff’s desk.

“Are you sure about this?” John asked.

Virgil shrugged. “It’s one way to pass time.” He smiled. “Afraid you lost your touch?”

“Not at all. I’m trying to spare you from a crushing defeat.”

All Tracys are competitive. All of them. Even quiet, suspectless John.

“Did I hear crushing defeat? I’m here for the show,” Gordon exclaimed, appearing from nowhere and eying the game on the table. “Wanna play, Kayo?”

I laughed. “No. I’ll take a seat in the peanut gallery,” I said, settling down in my usual launch seat. “I can handle the bank if you want.”

Let them ridicule themselves. I took the pile of false notes from him and Virgil distributed the specialist cards between the four brothers.

“So how do you play?” Alan asked.

“You pick a card and try to remove the part indicated on it. If you succeed, Kayo will pay you. If you fail, whoever has the specialist card can have a go and earn twice the amount if he succeeds. Whoever has the most money at the end wins.”

“Sounds easy enough.”

I saw the exchange between Virgil and Gordon and I think John’s mouth quirked. Nothing was simple with them. Not even children’s games. Why do you think I was sitting away from them?

They let Alan have a go at first. He picked Water on the Knee and successfully removed the plastic bucket. It was handed to me so that I could pay accordingly. John picked the Wish Bone, but as he positioned his hand over the board, Gordon leaned over and began singing close to his brother’s ear to try and distract him. John declared his tactic amateurish and also succeeded.

Apparently, the unspoken rules Tracy version of the game was to try and distract whoever was playing so that they failed. This included John shouting “Look out!” at Gordon at the last moment, Gordon imitating the buzzer sound each time Virgil approached the tweezers from the board, Alan—who caught on very quickly—inching his fingers close to the board as if he was going to rattle it when John had another go and Virgil fully integrating his youngest brother to the game by whispering something to him, which earned him a reply that I can’t write here.

The rowdy game was fully underway when Scott stepped into the lounge. “What are you guys doing? I can hear you all the way from the office,” he complained.

“We’re playing Operation,” Alan replied.

Scott seemed surprised. “I didn’t even know we still had that. I thought you took it apart when you were ten to see how it worked, Virg?”

“And put it back together. Wasn’t that hard.”

“Want to join us?” Alan invited him.

Scott seemed to hesitate. “I still have things to do and I should go back.”

I had to bite my lip to hold back my laughter when someone—and I think it was Virgil!—clucked like a chicken. And as expected, Scott took the bait. He sat down next to John while I was handed back all of the money and the specialist cards were gathered and redistributed.

“Hey, you can’t reset it, I was winning!” Gordon protested.

“You were not. I had $100 more than you,” Alan stated.

Gordon huffed, put the pieces back inside their respective spots, then couldn’t resist playing “Shave and a Haircut” with the buzzer. Scott’s reaction was instantaneous and he reached out to slap the back of his brother’s head twice without even missing a beat.

They all played a first round with varying degrees of success. Watching them play was more entertaining than actually playing. I began mentally assigning scores to their distraction tactics.

When it was his turn, Scott picked Writer’s cramp. The irony of the situation was not lost on me and I fought my better judgement for a whole two seconds before I decided to make a move—I am a Tracy at heart after all... I carefully shifted my weight as he concentrated and extended my arm... then at the last moment, I poked his armpit in that one location I know will tickle him then hurried to sit back straight with my bank notes in my hand and an innocent expression on my face.

He squawked like an offended seagull, hit the side of the game and made it buzz, then looked at the nearest brother accusingly. When said brother stopped laughing long enough to say it wasn’t him, he directed his suspicious eyes at me and I’m rather proud to say that I could keep a straight face and raised an eyebrow at him in return.

John was next. He picked a card... the bread basket. He took the tweezers from Scott’s hand and didn’t even try to be careful and made the game buzz in less than a second.

“HA!” Alan hooted out.

“You didn’t have to play if you didn’t want to anymore,” Virgil side-whispered to him.”

“Oh no, I’m playing,” he assured him, then took one of the specialist cards in front of him and flicked it between his long fingers before handing it to me.

He manoeuvred the tweezers with surgical precision, ignoring Gordon’s heavy breathing in his ear, and dropped the plastic slice of bread into my hand. “I believe that is $2000,” he said with a smug smile.

“Show off,” Virgil muttered good-naturedly while I counted the paper slips and gave them to John.

“My turn,” Gordon said, reaching for a card, “It says... butterflies in the stomach.”

The four others froze more or less visibly and Scott gave me a quick side-eye. He remembered the Venom incident, my aversion for the fluttery little creeps and how I made him pay for laughing at me. I ignored him and winked at Gordon. Surprisingly, he had been my hero at the time and I’ll never forget that. But that’s a story for another time.

Gordon extracted the item from the board without touching the edges. “Once again, I prevailed,” he claimed triumphantly, flicking the plastic butterfly in the air and catching it a few times.

I handed him two $100 notes and of course, Gordon being Gordon tried to take them while the game piece was still in the air. He failed, the plastic butterfly ricocheted off his elbow and landed somewhere under the furniture.

Little items like that never land where you expect them, especially on carpet, especially when bouncing off sharp Tracy elbows (I think we can all agree that they are not lumpy, Lady Penelope’s flirting techniques need a little improvement). I refused to join in on the search because, of course, too many people were there already and I was more helpful sitting in my seat with my legs crossed out of the way.

Gordon looked under the table, then moved on to the little shelf where my father’s bonsai tree and Lady Penelope’s communicator picture are located. He peered underneath, sneezed loudly, then backtracked in horror.

Screeching like a banshee, he rushed out of the seating area and fled toward the kitchen, nearly knocking over poor Witchy who stood at the top of the stairs.

“I go fight a lurgy for an hour, take a moment to get something to drink and this is what I come back to?” she said, visibly unimpressed by the sight of four Tracy butts in the air around the lounge table as they scanned the carpet.

I had to disagree with her on that, it was a rather interesting sight.

“Why is he even screaming like that, he sounds like he’s seen a ghost?” Gordon could be heard sneezing somewhere in the background and she rolled her eyes.

She strode to where he had been crouching and bent down and sighed. “Just as I thought... Scott, you forgot to close the office door again,” she said, reaching out and picking up Buddy the bearded dragon from his hiding spot before he scampered away.

She removed the plastic butterfly from his mouth and cradled him close. “I don’t want a repeat of last time when I had to get him in the vent—”

Witchy’s eagle eye spotted the twitch in John’s face instantly and he held her gaze, doing his own version of the Tracy smile to placate her. They did that fascinating wordless exchange established couples seem to be able to do for a moment and then, she then turned to me, noticed the fake bank notes in my hands and threw me a disappointed: “You’re encouraging them?”

I immediately pointed at John to defend myself. “He’s winning,” I said.

“If I draw brain freeze, I’ll be able to get you a lifetime supply of socks that don’t roll down. Think about it,” he deadpanned.

She looked at us as if we had lost our minds—she might be right—then stormed off with the dragon.

I guess I should go check on Gordon now.  And probably make a new batch of soup as a peace offering.

Author’s note: Shave and a Haircut is what “that knock on the door” is called.

[gumnut-logic]

Apologies for spamming with Virgil pics. I haven’t managed to do much for him today. I’m suffering from fog brain and am sooo tired, so expect more later in the week when I’m feeling a little more energetic.

But in the meantime, after a day of zero writing, I thought I would highlight one of my favourite fics I have written that focusses on Virg. I really need to write a sequel to this one that happens after Jeff returns...and doesn’t realise something about one of his sons :D

-o-o-o-

The world was blurry as he let his head slide on one hand and stared out through the kitchen window. Gordon was in the pool, swimming his morning laps. The sun had yet to rise and Virgil had broken several laws of physics rising himself. This time of day should not exist. But then it didn’t, because it wasn’t day yet because there was no sun!

But no, supersonic big brother wanted to do some special training today. Training that for some reason had been scheduled at sunrise.

It was possibly important, likely scheduled just to get his ass out of bed at this godawful hour. Occasionally there were some issues with having your brother in command. Brotherly love only went so far, brotherly snark had more mileage, and Scott did have that twist of his lips when he announced the schedule.

Four pairs of eyes had immediately turned to him and his return glare had been insufficient to deflect the amusement that followed.

But it was okay. It was fine. He had his own skill drills up his sleeve. Two am would be convenient for him next time, definitely. After all, they all had to keep their skill sets up, didn’t they?

In the meantime, it was black coffee and repeated attempts to focus on Mateo. Mateo was distinctly blurry, and dark and...

“Hey, Virg!” Alan whacked him on the back.

His face nearly ended up in his coffee. “Alan? What the hell?”

“And good morning to you, too, big bro. Ready for this morning’s run?”

He stared at his bright and peppy, yes, peppy, youngest brother. Augh. “Go away.”

“Aww, did the big bear have to get out of bed a little early?”

“Alan...”

“C’mon, Virg, it’s gonna be fun. A race around the island, wind in your hair, blood pumping...it’s gonna be awesome.”

Virgil stared at him, his brain slowly picking up that something wasn’t quite right. “Alan, why aren’t you comatose?”

“What do you mean, big bro?”

A slow blink. “You hate mornings almost as much as I do. Who are you and what have you done with my little brother?” His eyelids drooped all of their own volition.

“It’s called prepared, bro. I’m in it to win it.”

Virgil’s eyes narrowed. “Are you on something? Because if you are, Scott’s going to kill you, and once I’m awake, I’ll resuscitate you so I can kill you again.”

“That’s violence, bro. It’s cool, I promise.”

An arched eyebrow that almost hurt. “What did you do, Alan?”

“Nothing. Well, nothing you aren’t already doing.”

“You drank coffee.”

“Noooooooo.”

“What did you do?”

“A little caffeine is all.”

The arched eyebrow flipped into a frown. “How much?”

“Enough.”

Virgil’s back straightened. “Alan.”

“I’m fine, bro, I promise. I know what I’m doing. I’m not stupid.” A blond frown. “Besides, it’s not like you don’t do the same with your coffee after coffee after coffee technique.”

Virgil’s lips thinned, but to be honest, the kid was right, he didn’t have a leg to stand on. But... “You’re not yet an adult, Alan.”

“Yet, I take the responsibilities of an adult, Virgil.”

“Your body isn’t fully mature!”

“Well, thanks for that, Doctor Virgil!”

“You have to look after yourself!”

“Hard to do anything else when I have four brothers mother-henning me all the time!”

“We worry about you!”

“Well, don’t! I can look after myself.”

“Alan!”

“Virgil!”

“Hey! What the hell is going on here?!”

Virgil found himself looming over his little brother, one brain cell after another slowly catching up with what the hell was going on. Bright blue eyes were staring up at him defiantly, his little brother’s shoulders tight and fists clenched at his sides.

Virgil forced his own fists to uncurl. There was a reason why he preferred not to see this time of day. Disturbed sleep disturbed his calm, his control, and things like this happened.

Scott loomed over the both of them and Virgil took a step back, slumping back onto his seat and hulking over his coffee almost in a pout. “Better ask Alan, he’s the one being stupid.”

“Speak for yourself, Virgil.”

“Both of you, shut it.” Scott could glare with the best of them, but Virgil had exhausted what little energy he had and ignored him. “Alan, dosed himself with caffeine.”

“Virgil!”

He could feel the laserbeams shooting out of Scott’s eyes switching targets and landing on Alan. There was no satisfaction, just blergh. Here we go.

And sure enough, Scott started in on his little brother. There was, of course, shouting. Virgil idly wondered how come Scott got to yell and he didn’t. But then Virgil didn’t really like yelling anyway.

Coffee. Its warmth drifted down his throat and spread into his bones. Oh god, he needed it. Maybe a second one after this? But then the word ‘caffeine’ came up amongst the explosions beside him and he reconsidered. No need to become a target himself.

He let his foggy mind drift a little. It was all his fault really. He could have gone to bed early, but he had made the mistake of getting into a discussion online with an engineering idiot. The topic had become heated, chemical formulas launched like bombs and laced with reactive equations enough to take out half the engineering community. In the end, he’d thrown a hissy fit and sat up to three am writing up his argument. He’d chucked it onto his blog with a great deal of satisfaction and was looking forward to rubbing it in the man’s face.

Just as soon as he could boot his brain.

Coffee, give me strength.

Gordon wandered in at some point, a damp towel around his neck. Being Gordon, he prodded the conflagration in progress and got burnt. The argument became three sided.

Virgil considered snoozing on the counter.

Then he hit on the idea that he could possibly sneak back to bed. He stood up slowly.

Brains bounded into the room, tablet in hand. “Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Brilliant, so b-brilliant!”

The argument came to a sudden halt, four pairs of eyes turning towards the engineer.

The engineer didn’t notice, eyes glued to his tablet. Max bounded in behind him, whirring excitedly. It was the robot who prevented the distracted Brains from walking into the kitchen counter.

“Oh, thank you, M-Max.” His eyes didn’t leave the tablet. “Did you see the p-polymer ratio? Amazing! Such elegance. You know, I am quite d-disap-pointed that I didn’t think of this myself. The applications are going to b-be in-numerable.”

The distraction was enough to break the fuel lines of the argument and Scott settled for a final threat, Alan a final glare and Gordon, a snort of derision. The moment to escape was lost and Virgil slumped where he sat.

Damn.

“Virgil, you going to eat before we run?”

Alan was right, Scott mother-henned.

“Maybe.” Ugh, c’mon coffee kick in. He needed operational braincells.

Scott was peering closely at him. “Earth to Virgil.”

“Shut up, Scott. You got me up at the ass end of the day, I’m here. Don’t expect much more.”

His brother grinned, and Virgil had the odd urge to thump him. Just because this was his element, didn’t mean he had to be a smart ass about it. “Your next physical is going to be hell.”

The grin faltered. Aah, that’s better. Hmm, perhaps his brain was slowly booting. Go, coffee.

“Virgil! You h-have to see these equations. They are brilliant!”

What? Brains’ tablet shifted the remains of his coffee to one side and Virgil found himself staring at a series of numbers that made little sense at this time of the morning. “Brains, looks great. Can I review them later? I’m not all here yet.”

The engineer didn’t appear to hear him. “Look at the polymer decay to reaction ratio! This is a self-healing polymer!”

Huh? He frowned and forced himself to focus. The appropriate neurons clicked into place in his brain and suddenly what he was seeing made sense.

Shit.

He grabbed the tablet, eyeing the equations and spinning calculations in his head. Brains was right. This was perfect. The polymer would be able to self-heal with the application of a mild electrical current. Give it a pattern to follow and it would populate and keep it populated, even after disturbance.

“Did you discover this, Brains?” He frowned. There was something familiar about this. Maybe they had discussed it recently.

“Oh, no, this is V. T. Green. The man is brilliant.” There was that word again. Brilliant.

But it still took a second for it all to click into place.

V. T. Green was his blog. V. T. Green was his pseudonym online, used for obvious reasons to keep his identity hidden. The blog had been for amusement originally. A place to stash his favourite music and art, but at some point, he had found himself venturing into engineering circles and getting into discussion with the online community. It made for interesting discourse and he was able to keep up to date with some of the latest innovations. Not that he could share his own much and IR was well ahead of the majority of the world thanks to one Hiram Hackenbacker, but on occasion he would fiddle with ideas and make suggestions. It was also a great place to postulate out-there concepts.

The equations on Brains’ tablet were Virgil’s.

“Where did you get these?”

Brains was full of far too much energy for this time of the morning. “Green p-posted them during the night and they have h-hit the world by s-storm.”

“What?”

Brains frowned at him. “Haven’t you heard of V. T. Green, Virgil? He is o-one of the leading engineers on this p-planet. I have been f-following his b-blog for over a year n-now. You r-really m-must check it out.”

“Um, must have missed that one.”

“H-how could you m-miss such an important s-site? I know you k-keep up to date. The man is at the centre of a massive discussion about polymer cohesion and decay. Last night, Coloncous in Spain had the nerve to challenge him in the most ridiculous manner. I was so close to cutting him off myself, he was embarrassing us all, but Green replied with this. As expected, it is a brilliant explanation and Coloncous had no choice but to concede and crawl back into the hole he should never have come out of in the first place. He was a fool to think he could go up against Green. But this solution has so many possibilities. Do you realise this could be integrated into Two’s cahelium hull and she would be able to heal damage midflight? Four would be able seal herself in an underwater emergency. So brilliant.”

Virgil stared at the engineer. He didn’t think he had ever heard Brains say so many words in a row. And his stutter had disappeared two sentences in.

“What did you say about sealing Four, Brains?” Gordon’s ears had obviously pricked up at the mention of his ‘bird.

Brains’ attention was immediately drawn to the aquanaut, his verbal diarrhoea spilling all over Gordon and freeing Virgil.

Taking the opportunity, he pulled out his phone and brought up the website.

Shit!

He had notifications enough to clog his inbox. Due to the early hour, his phone was still on silent and he hadn’t heard any of them. A quick glance identified several prominent names and universities.

Shit. His eyes widened.

He glanced up at his family who were now eagerly discussing safety seals for Thunderbird Four. Even Scott’s eyes were wide and enthusiastic.

Shit.

Um.

Yeah.

He needed more coffee.

-o-o-o-

V. T. Green

[jawritter]

Promised

Chapter 9

**Series Warnings!! ** ABO dynamics! Smut, unprotected smut, knotting, claiming, mating, heat, rut, language, overly protective Jensen, age gap! 19-year-old reader, 41-year-old Jensen, virgin reader, loss of virginity, sort of an arranged marriage, hint at possible mob type settings.

Story Description:

In a world where your presentation can be a blessing or a curse, a newly presented Omega will come face to face with the harsh reality of Alphas, Omegas, and pack alliances that are expected to be upheld with the union of your two families…

A/N: Pt.9!!! Please don’t copy my stuff! Feedback is welcomed! If you want to be added to the series tag list, or just my tag list in general let me know! Cross-posted on Wattpad! Hope you enjoy it!! This is my first ABO series so be nice lmao!

Word Count: 2133

Pairing Jensen x Alan Ackles, Jensen X Your Father, Jensen X Uncle David, Jensen x Clif, Jensen x Josh, Jensen x other OFC Characters Jensen x you (Eventually)

Missed it so far? Catch up!

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Jensen’s POV:

Jensen paced around his father’s office where his father, sister, brother, Clif, and a few other high ups in the Ackles pack tried to watch the security cameras to look for any sign of you coming out of the women’s bathroom. There was an outside entrance to the bathroom, and they figured that’s where the person or person’s had taken you when they left the bathroom with you. If you ever made it there. 

Jensen couldn’t stop the growls falling from his lips as he eyed the security tapes. David Y/L/N was tied to a chair across from the large oak desk that they were all standing behind. 

“Alan, I swear I don’t know what’s going on! If I knew where she was I’d tell you! I have no part in this you know that!!”

“I don’t know anything at this point, David, either way, this is a good lesson for you. This happened to my son’s Omega because of a male in your pack. So you need to learn there for that you are responsible as a pack leader for actions like these,” Alan stated calmly, not looking up from the computer screens. 

One glare from Jensen and David shut up really quickly. 

“There!!” Clif yelled, making everyone in the room jump. 

There, on the video, was a man carrying you thrown over his shoulder toward a black SUV. Throwing you inside, before pulling out of the parking lot in a hurry.  

Jensen wanted to cry, scream, and throw shit all at the same time. He didn’t know what to do, but he knew he wanted to do something. 

“I recognize him. That’s one of Y/D/N bodyguards. Looks like Y/N’s dad was to damn chicken to come to do the dirty work himself. So he sent his bodyguard to do it for him.” Clif said. Typing away on his computer. 

“I can pull up the traffic camera footage and see which direction he went in, me and my men will start the hunt from there. We’re gonna find her Jensen.” Clif said, he’d been Jensen’s friend for a long time now, and he could see Jensen was just about to snap.

“If her dad wasn’t here himself, then where is he?” Jensen snapped, crossing the floor in only three strides of his long legs, and hoving over David with malice written across his face. 

“Hom,e last I check,” David said, too fearful of what the Ackles was going to do to him at this point to withhold any information he might know. Y/D/N got himself into this, he can get himself out of it. Though by the look on the Alpha’s face standing directly in front of him he didn’t see his brother getting out of this alive. 

Jensen reached up and hit David hard enough to knock him out. He had, had just about enough of looking at his face, and didn’t want him to hear what he was about to say next. 

“I’m going to her dad’s, and one way or another he's going to tell me where he’s keeping my Omega, and why.” Jensen snatched up his jacket and went to go out of the door.

“Stay here son, we will have him fetched. I’ve already sent a detail to have him removed from the home, remember there are innocent people in there with him. We don’t want to cause them any harm. They have no part in this. Let’s just deal with the source.”

Alan’s voice was calm, but his eyes held the same rage as his sons. He hated to see his son in this much distress. He always had a soft spot for Jensen, and everyone in the family knew it. Now, looking at him this desperate, it made his blood boil. 

“What if we don’t get to her in time Dad? We’re wasting time!” Jensen yelled, frustration getting harder and harder to control.

“He’s been collected. He should be here within five minutes.” A young Alpha Jensen didn’t recognize stood just inside his father’s office door and announced. Alan thanked the young man, and he excused himself quickly.

“Her father is on his way here. We will get to the bottom of this son. She’s going to be just fine.”

Just as Jensen was about to argue the point, Josh cleared his throat from across the room. Making all heads turn toward him.

“Jensen, your Omega was wearing a mating collar wasn’t she?” he asked, approaching his brother cautiously. 

“Yes,” Jensen said, obviously not following his brother’s train of thought. 

“Where did you purchase it?” 

Jensen stood there thinking for a second getting annoyed with the twenty questions when his Omega was out there and in danger. 

“From the family jeweler here in Dallas. Same place you all got your Omega’s there’s.”

A smile broke out over his brother's face. 

“Jensen, the reason we have those collars made at that particular place is because they put tracking devices inside the collars. If we turn on her GPS locator on her collar we can find her down to the street! It will just take about 30 minutes to get it all up and running.” 

Jensen stood there stock-still in the middle of the floor. 

“What if they took it off of her? Threw it somewhere random on the way.” 

The room was so still you could hear a pin drop. All eyes on Josh and Jensen. 

“They can’t. You are the one that put it on her. It would take your fingerprints to release the clasp. There’s no way they could get it off of her.”

Just as Jensen was about to open his mouth and tell them ‘well what the fuck are you waiting for’ the door opened. The young Alpha poking his head just inside. 

“Excuse me, sir. Y/D/N is here. He’s locked down in the basement.” 

Alan turned to Jensen. 

“Go, get what you can out of her father. Do whatever you have to do. I’ll take care of the rest…” 

A look of understanding crossing between father and son that was enough to make a cold shiver run down everyone in the room’s spine.  “We will track down your Omega, and then come and retrieve you when we have her location.” 

Jensen nodded and followed the young Alpha to the door of the basement. Where he opened it for him and stood aside. Letting Jensen descent the stairs on his own. 

Jensen was livid. His eyes flashing red in intervals as he descended the stairs. Taking off his white dress shirt at the end of the stairs, and hanging it there. leaving him just in his undershirt and slacks.  He could hear y/n father cursing at him, and everyone else in the house as he rounded the corner. Seeing the man tied to the chair.

“Hello Y/D/N…” Jensen drew out. Y/N's father stopped yelling immediately.

Staring down Jensen like if he could kill him with his bare hands he would. 

“You know Jensen all this is your fault! If you would have just taken your rightful place in your pack you would still have your Omega right now, but since I can’t have what I want, you can’t have what you want. Simples as that.” The smile that spread across his face made Jensen’s vision go red, and his stomach churns all at the same time.

“You will tell me what you did with y/n.” He said, Leaning over the man that was tied to the chair.

“Oh really I am, and what makes you think I would do a thing like that?” He mouthed back. 

Jensen didn’t have time to think before his first made contact with the man’s mouth. Blood running down his now busted lip. 

“Let’s try that again.. Where is my Omega?” 

This time the man said nothing. Just sat there staring at Jensen, a sinister smirk spread across his face.

“You know, before I came here tonight with Y/n I promised her something…. I promised her I would protect her. You made me break that promise.. I don't appreciate that. I’ll be spending the rest of my life making it up to her….” 

Jensen’s vision was starting to go completely red, he was losing what little bit of control he had left. His temper was getting harder and harder to control, and he knew if he kept up this little game he was going to lose it.

“Mr. Ackles! We found her! They’re holding her in an abandoned warehouse down by the lake.” 

The young Alpha happily reported to his elder in the pack. Jensen nodded his head.

“Give me two minutes... “ he said, his eyes never left Y/N’s father, and he knew by the look on his face that it was y/n’s true location. 

“You know Y/D/N, I made Y/n another promise. This one I intend to keep. What to know that promise was?” 

Jensen leaned over the chair. Holding either side of the man’s shoulders.

“What’s that?” he tried to sound cocky, but it was laced in fear. 

“I told her if you tried anything I’d rip your throat out….. With my teeth…”

Jensen’s vision went red, All he saw was red… 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Less than an hour later Jensen’s SUV in the lead, the convoy pulled up to the old warehouse where y/n’s GPS was showing her location.

Jensen jumped out of the SUV before the car even fully came to a stop. Running into the building. Calling for his Omega, praying with everything in him that he wasn’t too late… 

He went from room to room. Searching, and so far nothing, no guards, no nothing. Fear gripped him deep in his gut. What if they had it wrong? What if she wasn’t here?

Then just when panic pulled at the corner of his subconscious, he did what she should have done instead of running around like an idiot. Stopping the stilling himself. Taking a deep breath, at first nothing. His heart sank in his chest, but he tried again. Taking an even deeper breath, walking a little deeper into the warehouse. 

That’s when he caught it. Her scent, he would know it if he was clinically dead…. 

Running toward the upstairs office looking room he began to pound on the door. He could smell her stronger now, he knew she was in there. She just had to be. 

Finally, with one kick of his foot the door caved, and swung open hitting the wall hard. 

At first, he didn’t see her, then as his eyes adjusted to the darkroom walking around the desk following his sense he found her. Laying on the cold hard ground of the warehouse office floor.

Falling to his knees he didn’t know much after that. He remembers screaming for his father. He remembered the paramedics rushing into the warehouse where he was sitting on the floor with her cold body pressed to his as tight as he could hold her.

He remembered his father and his brother having to hold him back while the paramedics looked her over. 

He remembered all of this, but it was like walking through a clouded blur. 

Finally, a young Omega girl dressed in a paramedics outfit came to stand in front of him and addressed him directly. Jensen shook himself hard enough to pull himself out of his fog. Even though it was hard.

“Mr. Ackles, your Omega is going to be just fine. She’s just sedated. We can’t even find an injury on her. We want to take her to the hospital of your choosing so she can be monitored while she sleeps off the sedative, and maybe they can give her something to counteract it.” 

He stood there for a moment, trying to catch his breath. Relief flooded his system as he processed the news that his Omega was going to be okay.

“Mr. Ackles? Do you want us to transport her to Dallas…”

“NO!” Jensen snapping back to himself jumped up to his feet. Even though the threat had been handled. He didn’t want to stay in Dallas. He said he was going to take her home, and that’s what he intended to do.

“Take her to Austin State Hospital.” Jensen said. Walking over to the medical gurney that they had loaded y/n onto. His heart clenching in his chest at the sight before him. He wanted more than anything to crawl into the gurney with her and hold her more than anything else in the world. 

“Mr. Ackles… That’s a long drive from here…” The young girl said. Afraid to confront the Alpha who was obviously distress about his Omega and her current state. 

“Don’t worry about it. We will just call in a med flight. With a chopper, we can have them both there within the hour.” The older paramedic said. Walking out of the warehouse ahead of the gurney and Jensen who was holding as tightly to Y/n’s hand as he could. 

“We’re going home, sweetheart. We’re going home…”

Tag List:

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