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a-smol-chub · 4 years

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He can’t be THAT good...

(Hinakamuegi stuffing)

Na.egi Ma.koto frowns as he lets out a sigh. His pudgy stomach surges forward, pushing the zipper of his pants down. He had tried everything, sucking in, laying down, he simply couldn’t get his work pants to button. “...Kamu.kura..?” He calls out hesitantly.

Izu.ru Kamu.kura steps into the doorway almost immediately. His face remains calm and composed, even though Na.egi is flushed red, and looking down in shame. “Uh… can- can you get me some new work clothes…? Mine aren’t fitting anymore…”

Kamu.kura nods and steps into the room, opening a drawer and pulling out a pair of black work pants. “These should fit better,” he states before leaving. Na.egi swallows thickly and peels off the offending pants before pulling the other pair on. They were a little small, but at least they would button. He quickly slips a white work shirt on before grabbing his suit jacket on his way out of the apartment. “Love you!” he shouts before heading out. As soon as the door closes, Kamu.kura ties his hair up and slips an apron on. It was time to start cooking dinner.

Na.egi sighs and plops down in his office chair. He knew he had been gaining weight recently, but Kamu.kura either didn’t notice, or just hadn’t pointed it out yet. He absentmindedly runs a hand over his stomach as he hears a knock at the door. He blushes slightly. “Come in!”

A young intern walks in, holding a stack of files. “Um… Kiri.giri-san asked me to bring these to you, Na.egi-san.”

“Oh, thanks Hin.ata-kun!” Na.egi beams up at the intern. Coincidentally, Na.egi had met his current boyfriend through this coworker, Ha.jime Hin.ata. Hinata had introduced them at a party celebrating Kamu.kura’s big promotion a few months ago.

“Oh… she also wanted me to give you this,” Hin.ata adds, holding out a single sheet of paper. Na.egi frowns, taking it. “It’s a form for a new uniform. She said yours isn’t fitting that well anymore…”

Na.egi flushes and looks down. “It- it’s not my fault…” he mutters weakly. “It’s Kamu.kura, he’s way too good at cooking.” Hin.ata lets out a snort and rolls his eyes.

“Look, that bastard is way too good at most things, but it’s hard to believe he’d actually put that much effort into cooking for anyone. He hates cooking.”

Na.egi pouts and crosses his arms. “Then why don’t you come over some day? So you can see just how much he cooks lately.”

“He must have changed a lot for you to be telling the truth. Oh, I guess I’m mildly interested. When are you guys free?” he asks.

Na.egi pulls out a small pocket calendar from a desk drawer and flips through the pages. “Hmm… looks like we’re both good this Tuesday and Wednesday. Which works better for you?”

“Ah, I have a doctor’s appointment on Tuesday. Let’s do Wednesday,” he says. Na.egi nods excitedly and puts the pocket book back. He couldn’t wait for Hin.ata to find out just how wrong he was.

The rest of the work day is dull, Na.egi flipping through hours of mindless paperwork, signing things, and passing them up to management. He stands up from his desk and blushes as his stomach brushes past the edge of his desk. There had been free donuts and cupcakes in the employee lounge, and he had had way more than he originally thought. He swears internally and hopes that Kamu.kura didn’t have another large dinner planned for him.

----

He was wrong, of course.

After multiple large courses of mouth-watering lasagna, bowls upon bowls of creamy alfredo, and heaping plates of Italian meatballs, Na.egi lets out a quiet whimper and his arms flop to his side. “Kamu.kura… th- these dinners…. I’ve been putting on a lot of weight lately…” he whines.

Kamu.kura frowns and kneels down next to him, rubbing circles on his overfed belly. “Is it upsetting you?” he asks. As always, his face conveys no emotions, no hint of what he was thinking.

Na.egi blushes and sputters, trying to respond, but his mind feels fuzzy. Kamu.kura’s hands kneading his painfully stuffed belly made him feel weak, as he squirmed slightly. He lets out a quiet belch into his fist and looks away. “Everyone in the office just thinks… the- they think I’m doing this myself…”

“You are, are you not? I only provide food for you, but you are the one who stuffs yourself to this capacity.”

Kamu.kura’s words do not help the situation. Na.egi can’t necessarily deny that, even though he sure tries. He can’t justify it even to himself, because Kamu.kura was right and he knew it. He sighs. “Hin.ata-kun doesn’t believe that your cooking is this good… so I told him he could come over for dinner on Wednesday to prove him wrong.”

Kamu.kura pouts, pressing a finger roughly into Na.egi’s stomach. The noise Na.egi lets out makes him stutter and cover his mouth with embarrassment. “Wh- what was that for?”

“I did not give you permission to invite Hin.ata over.”

Na.egi huffs and tries to rub at his own stomach to soothe it. “He- he started talking about the weight I’d gained, and he said I needed a new uniform and I tried to explain that this only happened because of your cooking! But… he didn’t believe me…”

Kamu.kura lets out a quiet chuckle and plants a gentle kiss on Naegi’s neck. “We have been over this. This is not my doing, but yours. You need to start taking responsibility for your own gluttony,” he states monotonously. Na.egi blushes again, looking down. “I… can cancel with him if you want me to… I’m sorry, I should have asked you first.”

“He may come over, but I will need time to prepare dinner for the both of you.”

Na.egi perks up, leaning forward to kiss Kamu.kura in excitement. But his tummy weighs him down, and he flops back into the chair with a small huff.

Kamu.kura gently wraps his arm around Na.egi’s waist and pulls him up, helping him walk down the hallway and into the bedroom. He pulls Na.egi’s work clothes off his grossly overstuffed form, tossing the basically worthless scraps on the floor. He crawls in bed next to his soft lover and pulls a blanket over them both, turning light out.

-----

The days leading up to Hin.ata’s visit were fairly uneventful. Na.egi would wake up, struggle to get dressed, go to work, snack all day, and come home to Kamu.kura’s unfairly good cooking. This continued until Tuesday evening, after work, when Hin.ata walked into Na.egi’s office at the end of his shift. “Hey Na.egi-san. You ready to head out?”

Na.egi presses the power button on his monitor and nods, standing up with a quiet ‘oof’. Damn… he had overdone it today, too. He feels his center of balance shift as he stands, and he rests a hand on his stomach. “Yeah, just let me grab my jacket.”

Hin.ata watches him, silently judging the shorter boy for eating so much at work. He had seen Na.egi sneak into the break room multiple times to bring food to eat mindlessly at his desk. He had seen Na.egi make trips to the vending machine, buying multiple sugary drinks and fattening snacks to stock pile in a drawer. He knew Na.egi was blaming his weight gain on his new partner, Kamu.kura, but seeing how Naegi acts at work, Hin.ata sincerely doubts that.

The two brunettes make their way downstairs to the street to hail a cab together. They both climb in the back of the taxi, and Na.egi leans forward to give the address to the driver. The ride only takes around 10 minutes. Hin.ata passes a couple of dollars to his coworker, who adds his own half, and gives it to the driver. They both thank the driver and step out onto the sidewalk.

Na.egi climbs up the stairs to the apartment and unlocks the door. Hin.ata stands behind him, and is taken aback when the strong aromas of Kamu.kura’s cooking hit him square in the face. Na.egi giggles as he sees Hin.ata stumble forward, not even bothering to take his work jacket off, and sit down at the dining table. Having been subject to this before, Na.egi has enough self control to take his shoes and jacket off before sitting down and filling his plate.

----

He had doubted every word, up until that damn door was opened.

Hin.ata had known Kamu.kura since they were both kids, and they had grown up together. Kamu.kura was apathetic, cold, and didn’t have any motivation to do anything. To hear that his old acquaintance (Hinata wasn’t sure he could call him a friend, exactly) had changed so much as to start cooking this much for Na.egi, for Na.egi to have gained this much weight…

It didn’t make any sense.

He had sincerely doubted it.

He knew he was wrong the second the door opened.

His mouth starts drooling before he even sits down. He sits down at the dining table, grabbing a plate and piling it high with everything in reach. He vaguely registers Na.egi sitting down next to him, grabbing his own plate and filling it with whatever he can.

Hin.ata’s mind is a complete blur. All he can process is the continual flow of food being stuffed down his throat. Tender roast that melts in his mouth, creamy potatoes that slide down his throat, freshly buttered rolls with a perfectly crispy crust. He continues shoveling everything in reach into his gullet, without regard for how quickly he’s filling up. His stomach balloons forward, pushing against the buttons on his shirt. His fork hits the bottom of his plate, and his mind clears for a moment. He lets out a quiet groan and presses a hand against his stomach, trying to comfort it.

“K-Kamu.kura…” he whines, squirming in his seat. Na.egi continues shoving food into his mouth, not hearing Hin.ata. He was already on his third plate. Kamu.kura steps forward, a ghost of a smirk present on his face. “Is there a problem, Hin.ata?”

“It- it hurts… it’s too much…” he moans. Kamu.kura kneels down beside his chair and presses a warm hand against his flesh. Hin.ata’s face flushes and he turns away.

“Then stop,” Kamu.kura says simply. “That’s all you have to do. Don’t fill your plate again, and don’t keep going.”

Even with direct instruction not to, Hin.ata finds himself sitting forward and piling more food onto his plate. Kamu.kura watches with a smirk, continuing to rub circles on his belly. Hin.ata feels and hears his belly gurgle in protest, but he can’t stop his hands from moving.

Na.egi slumps back, groaning, and looks over at Hin.ata and Kamu.kura with bleary eyes. “Is… he alright..?” Na.egi asks between heavy pants. Kamu.kura nods, continuing to rub Hin.ata’s bloated tummy. Hin.ata moans around a particularly large bite of pasta, and he hears a loud ping. He looks down and blushes deeply as he stomach surges forward. He had actually eaten so much that a button had popped off of his shirt.

“Do.. you see what I mean..?” Na.egi asks quietly.

Hin.ata doesn’t have the strength to give a snappy response.

#stuffed #stuffing #stuffed ronpa #stuffedronpa #na.egi #kamu.kura #hin.ata #this is a sequel/sister work of all on his own #which is my first stuffing fanfic #stuffed belly #weight gain #hina.kamu.egi

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kindest-way-to-say · 3 years

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okay so. i’m just gonna rant. about some pain i’ve been experiencing for a while. like, we’re getting into it

if anyone would like to put in their two cents, feel free. im kinda just yelling about my problems into a void, but im definitely not gonna stop people who might know what this is from giving me advice.

idk. my brains shutting down a bit.

TDLR: my left arm has been in constant pain for three days. it’s probably nerves or something. i’m very addled rn. i hate the world i want to sleep for a millennia. i also have had similar, smaller pain issues over a course of 4 months. i hate it here. i would very much like this to not be a thing, please.

so this story starts the mid may. my last month of school. i’m suffering through just to end this bullshit. but i notice that p much every time i have to do some slightly more than normal walking, some random body part of mine will just be in this sort of dull pain.

and i just kinda go. huh. okay. ow. and brush it off. this continues. it’s pretty minor, (like barely a 1/10 on a scale) but enough for me to be mildly annoyed by it on occasion.

go to two weeks before my school lets out for summer.

i get appendicitis and have surgery for it. i’m fine. that situation went better than expected, i was just not the most comfortable.

appendicitis pain traditionally presents in the lower right quadrant of the abdomen. right next to a shit ton of nerves. and the pain i��m going through starts to affect my leg. can’t really walk without alarms going on.

it gets better. i’m not like. comfortable, but i’m just taking ibuprofen a few times a day and managing decently. 3.5/10 pain level average.

but then, as i start going out and living life as a teenager in the summer (hanging out with one person semi-regularly, and doing weird family lunches), i start to notice that most times i leave the house, i’ll come back home with some pretty decent pain in assorted parts of my body.

like my back will hurt, which i just blame on my shit posture. but then it’ll be a weird muscle connected to my ankle or some shit when i am very well known for hating any and all sports except for hockey. which i don’t play.

so i’m not doing things to pull muscles, but i’m feeling twinges of pain kind of a lot. which sucks.

but i brush it off, now consciously keeping an eye on it and taking ibuprofen when needed.

pain levels steadily rise over time, but it’s still at about a 4/10 for the most part. there’s the occasional spike to a 6, but that’s not frequent.

keep going on to mid-july. every time i leave the house, i’m feeling dull ache/twinges in multiple places and my knees feel really fucking off a lot of the time. almost like if your knees were crooked or something?? idk.

but it’s still 5.5 on the worst day. so i just kinda hesitantly mention this to my mom. who’s used to me complaining anyway, but i make it clear that it’s been going on for a while, and it feels like somethings wrong.

and she says “oh yeah we can think about seeing a doctor.”

and i just. okay! cool. fun. rad. sick. vague pain. that’s my favorite activity. i love everything about this.

but i just grit my teeth and bear it. still doing the ibuprofen thing when my ignore it and distract yourself strategy doesn’t work.

now, end of july. trucking along. i’m at least in mind discomfort pretty much all the time. sucks. hate it. i’m concerned.

go to the 31. i pull a crazy all-nighter because i have chemical imbalances in my brain and shit just happens. i stay up for like 44 hours. wild. i sit at my desk for a while, drawing and i notice “wow my left shoulder doesn’t feel that great. huh. i have been sitting here for a while.”

so i go do something else but it doesn’t feel fantastic. almost like a buzzing in parts of my back and my upper arm. on my left arm. i am right handed. don’t know what that’s about.

go to sleep sunday night, i wake up to it just being worse. (also i have some weird circulation problems because of genetics. just random shit. no pain whatsoever. just funky.)

like wtf that’s a 4 right as i’m waking up. what the actual fuck. don’t like that.

but i was raised catholic so none of us talk to each other. so i just joke about my body organizing a shitty coup d’état to a friend and chalk it up to a fucked up muscle. but it’s like kind of moving?? a bit?? weird as fuck. don’t like it. still dull pain, but certainly something that pops up into my conscious mind like 10 times a day.

i didn’t do anything would result in a pulled muscle (trust me. my school is really intense about theatre and show choir. hard core choreography in everything that i practice 3 times a week during school+whatever play/musical) so i’m really just making excuses to soothe my brain and i know it. full denial.

i took ibuprofen the first and second day. can still tell it’s happening, but it sucks less.

yesterday i play a shit ton of guitar, and i can feel my upper arm cramping up and shit (which. oW. 5.7/10. WHAT THE HELL.) even though there is no strain on my left arm except for pressing my fingertips into some strings. no shoulder shit going on.

so i try to stretch out. no help.

and then the adhd medication instead of sleeping medication debacle happens and i don’t go to bed even though i actively tried to multiple times. i write a poem instead.

hurts mildly the whole time. it starts kind of limiting the functions of my arm. which. what the actual fuck. stiff, a bit seized up in especially bad pain moments.

i get focused on writing a poem and shit i only 20 minutes to get ready to leave for my appointment.

i forgot to take any ibuprofen, and it was already reaching 5.85 levels from sitting in my room.

in the car and in the orthodontist office, my left arm is completely fucking useless to me. half of my brain at all times is focused on like “oW OW OW OW OW” because it’s reached a point where i can’t really ignore it. it’s just there now. moving it isn’t great, it sitting in place isn’t fun either.

i’m at 6.5 levels. from the round trip of like 20-ish minutes, it’s raised that much. a lot of internal dialogue about it.

on the way to the orthodontist, i’m talking to my mom about it. she, sounding kind of annoyed, asks “what, do you want to see a doctor?”. i say “honestly? yes. it’s been 3 days nonstop. steady rise. there’s something genuinely wrong. i’m concerned about it.”

it feels like someone is poking around inside my arm with electricity or some shit. whole arm. shifting localizations and slight fluctuation in pain level. rapid escalation even just today.

i explain what it feels like in less wordy terms. and she says “that’s sounds like it could be nerve-related.”

it’s been three days. i’m exhausted. this has already taken a pretty significant mental toll, let alone discomfort level.

i have a high pain tolerance. i only started actively complaining about appendicitis pain the night before it exploded. that shit festers longer than overnight. i had been i pain for half the week before i said shit. and i just kinda sucked it up until i felt like i couldn’t walk without needing hella support.

but it’s really fucking getting to me. shit ton of weird tension, buzzing. just. constant painful buzz moving around.

i express this. “it’s a non-stop pain bad enough to be something i am fully aware of at any given second. if i stare off, im probably thinking about my arm.” and she kinda dismisses it.

it’s been like an hour, and i’ve gone up to 6.8 levels multiple times. based on patterns, it’s not just gonna stop any time soon, and i’m really good at working around weird problems like this.

like i said. pain every time i go out.

i’m good at hiding when i’m not 100%, but this is beyond me. it’s like someone’s just stabbing me with tacs over and over again. on my entire left arm and on the rare occasion, part of my leg.

i’m so genuinely uncomfortable, and i would this to not be a thing anymore.

#long post #uh. help?#oW OW OW #ITS LIKE SOMEONE IS PLAYINH FUCKING OPERSTION ON ME #sorry this is so gigantic #rip my arm ig??#i’m already disabled my body doesn’t need to betray me like this #bitch tried to kill me once already and failed so it’s back and trying again and iT SO MUCH FUCKINB WORSE THAN THE FIRST TIME #HHHHH

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popculturebuffet · 4 years

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The Color of Friendship Review (Commissioned by WeirdKev27): A World of People

Happy Black History Month! Another day, another comission from longtime supporter of the blog Weird Kev and like a good chunk of his-non duck asks, he asked me for something outside my usual wheelhouse. In the past this has meant an episode of the short lived fox show whoops in which we found out how Santa dealt with the end of the world, didn’t know how doors worked, and interacted with some characters so thin you could remake the episode with just Mick Foley in a santa suit and carboard cutouts playing the characters lines and it’d be about the same, and earlier this month Sorry Wrong Meeting, an episode of a sitcom i’d never seen an episode of the Jeffersons about the KKK. So unsuprisingly his big comission for Black History Month was the 2000 Disney Channel Original Movie, The Color of Friendship.

I couldn’t find much on the making of the film, which dosen’t entirely suprise me as at the time this came out, Disney was releasing around 10 a year and whlie that stopped shortly, it still was a whopping 6 a year for some time, ocasionally more ocasionaly less, slowly dwindling down to the two of year we have now. Though it’s still an ongoing concern and has been since the channel started in 83, closing in on 40 years ago, so it’s still impressive Disney hasn’t just outright phased them out. Then again the popular ones make them a lot of money and some like High School Musical and the Descendants Trilogies have broken out so big they’ve lead to spinoff books, tv series in the latter’s case, and all that stuff making them money hand over fist. So making some cheap movies that MIGHT end up making them rich and usually star people that are already on shows they have or were at one point is a no loose proposition, especially now they add an extra release to the Disney Plus callender twice a year. And while the library has it’s gaps and i’ve griped about them enough.. I will say it’s stil la damn good library and it’s nice to be able to watch a film like this, as the dvd was LONG out of print and likely horribly expensive, and while renting it was an option, it would’ve chipped into what I got commissioned for the film. Still would’ve done it it just would’ve sucked to loose money on the deal, if only two bucks, for something I had no control over. Still would do that over adding it onto the comission fee. Point is stuff that’s not been easy to get for some time is now just a few clicks or taps of the remote away, and having the VAST majority of disney’s long and storied history from theatrical to dcom to weird tv oddities like.. this thing

I don’t know what Fuzzbucket is, and frankly I don’t want to know.. I mean I will for a comission or something but i’m not going to go out of my way to find out what that thing is and if it can give me scabies through a telvision screen despite being fictional and proabably long dead. At least I tell myself it’s long dead so ic an sleep at night without worrying about that thing breaking into my house and watchnig me while I sleep changing “SOON JACOB, SOON”. So yeah while you’ll hear me complain about the gaps in DIsney Plus’ library a lot on this blog.

I will give credit where it’s due, and what is on there is pretty expansive and now includes the Muppet Show, which I give them full credit for as that probably took a LOT of work and money to make happen. Plus WandaVision is fucking fantastic, especially now i’m finally all caught up.

But while as I said I couldn’t find much on the making of the film I did find a bit on it’s inspiration: It was inspried by a short story wrtten by Piper Dellums, a writer, poet and activist, and daughter of Ron Dellums. Dellums is a notable congressman who fought against apartheid and constantly fought for a bill to divest from South Africa, something that SHOCKINGLY, Ronald Regan tried to veto because he was a racist disney anamatronic what did you expect, and all in all seemed pretty awesome. He sued Bush SR to try and prevent Desert Storm, in his earliest days in office had an exibit near his phsyical office of vietnam war crimes to try and hold them acountable and in general seems to be a fascenating, hardworking man who constantly and religiously fought for the people and against war.

The story was a real life account of the Piper’s experince housing a South African Student, Marie, who the Delums Family expected to be black.. but turned out ot be white. During Apartheid, south africas racist as hell and horrifying goverment system of segregation that wasn’t abolished till the 90′s. As expected she was racist, but as a proudct of the horribly racist country she came from and much like with her fictional counterpart in this film, slowly grew to realize how fucked up her homeland was and by the time she went back, became an activist She and Piper were very close but her story ends tragically as eventually Piper stopped hearing from her after she was arrested and despite attempts to talk to her.. it was clear by the silence, and by the fact Piper visited South Africa post-aparthied to help and likely would’ve seen her.. that she was likely quitely killed by the state. But her story thankfully lives on, so join me under the cut to see how a 20 year old disney movie aired during black history month handles this difficult real life story, racisim and the 70′s.

The Cast: Quick bit about the cast since I usually do this for first episodes of an animated show and wish i’d done so for my other film reviews so far. Though to keep things simple, i’m only doing the main four cast members, especailly since frankly outside of Mahree’s parents the rest are more supporting roles that don’t have a lot of screen time and in hte case of the south african embassy workers, are just there to be racist card board cutout villians. Piper, who keeps her name from real life is played by Shadia Simmons, who eventually retired from acting to become a High School and Acting Teacher. During her career she was in a bunch of Disney Channel Original Movies, including the first two Zenon Movies, and was in a major role in a bunch of live action childrens shows: I Was A Sizth Grade Alien, Strange Days at Blake Holsely High, and Life with Derek, the only one of which i’ve seen and even then barely so I can’t comment on the rest of her work. Simmons does a decent job in the film, and does shine in the more dramtic scenes, not the best part of it but certainly not bad at all.

Lindsay Haun plays Mahree, and had more of an acting career after this one, having a small recurring role on True Blood as Hadley, while also directing some smaller films. Haun is easily one of the two highlights of the movie and the best of the two main tween actresses by a mile. More on that in a bit.

Next we have Carl Fucking Lumbly as Congressman Ron Dellums. Carl has had a long and storied career and the fucking is because of what I best know him from: Playing the Martian Manhunter Jon Jonzz on Justice League. And let me not undersell it: his version of Jon is waht made me LOVE the character, still do to this day, being the first time I encountered any version of Jon and the one I still love the most, a stoic man who tries to adapt to a world he feels he can never be a part of, adding shades to his stitled demeanour to show off his emtitons and in general being the heart and soul of what made this verison work and made me love the character with his performance. He’s done other stuff too including Cagney and Lacey, Doctor Sleepand what have you.. but he’ll always be Jonn to me and that’s not a bad thing in the slightest. Unsuprisingly he’s the other standout here.

Finally we have Penny Johnson as Ron’s wife and Piper’s Mother Roscoe, who played Captain Sisko’s love intrest on Deep Space 9 and was one of the leads on castle. Haven’t seen either of those but she does seem awesome and does a terrific job here.

Moving on to the film itself.. it’s really fantastic. It has some awkwardness and goofy bollocks as you’d expect from a disney channel original movie in 2000, but it handles a really heavy subject, race relations, gracefully and clearly with the goal of educating an audience with a lot of white kids in it about race. So I can praise what it does right i’m going to be handling the parts that are a bit wobbly first so I can get to the good stuff

Awkwardness and Goofy Bollocks:

First the out and out criticism: The films TV Movie roots show in places, as this film lacks the polish these films would have later this decade, with the film barely having an opening title sequence and just sorta throwing you in, though to their credit it does open with the utterly awesome Back in Love Again, because 70′s.

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That slaps and that’s an undeniable fact. What’s also an undenaible fact is the film dosen’t try the hardest to be very 70′s in it’s sets and what not, though it does do it a little with the clothes and that not being the case with Mahree is intentional, as her family while wealthy is from another culture and one literally and metaphorically behind the times.

I will also say Shadia Simmons is a decent actress, but is mildly weak in comparison to the other 3 in the leads, but its more the result of putting a pretty standard child sitcom actress up against two experinced actors who know what their doing and one whose about as experinced as her, but simply has a LOT to work with and goes above and beyond. It’s less that she’s bad and more that she’s simply not as good as what’s around her, and in general I tend to go easier on child actors since it’s not an easy job for a grown adult much less a teenager, it’s very pressurey and there’s a reason a LOT of them bottom out as they get older or retire all together.

I will say though that Piper’s brothers are awful and I feel are only there because she actually had brothers. The actors try, i’m not pinning this on them but writing wise their just two little shits who contirbute ntohing of value to any scene their in, being generally way to young to get into the heavy topic at hand, and mostly being there for unfunny shneanigans. They aren’t in the film too much otherwise they might’ve ruined it for me, but if Shadia struggles a bit agianst sttronge perofrmances imagine who younger actors with the stage direction “Be the bane of my existence” and you’ll MAYBE see the problem.

The film also loves cheesy time passing montages, including an actual factual shopping montage, easily the goofiest, but it’s something you’d expect from a dcom and helps lighten the mood. That’s a running theme outside the brothers there really isn’t anything too silly.. until the last act. See in the last act, the film tackles the real life death of Steve Biko, a South African activist against apartheid who was captured by the state and very transparently murdered in jail. with the government claming he killed himself which no one bought because why would they, and it sparked riots worldwide and finally got the US to take Apartheid seriously according to the film. Though as I mentioned earlier Regan did not in case you thought the republican party being terrible and deeply racist was a brand new thing. It was not. Guys like Tucker Carlson and Former President Trump are a symptom, not the disease.. though they certainly look and feel like some form of plauge. Point is Mahree is breifly taken by the embassy.. whose staff who take her feel like the Disney Channel Original Movie form of Nazi’s. The heavy accents, the way they compose themselves... I half expect an elderly indiana jones to show up to whip the piss out of them. And dont’ get me wrong, the only diffrence between these pricks and a nazi is the fact they don’t call themselves nazis, this isn’t a nuanced horrifying racist to be scared of but a saturday morning cartoon version.

While white supremacists in real life can be cartoonishly evil, again see trump and carlson, it does kind of undercut the seriousness and nuance of things to have your villians be cold, cackling cutouts who are 5 seconds away from saying “You are part of the rebel alliance and a traitor take her away” to our heroine, especailly since Mahree’s reaction to being taken away and confusion at everything and at being treated like a prisoner by her own people are very painful and very well acted. I do get showing them as monsters, because they were, but given Mahree’s father who as a south african police man was DEFINTELY ONE and even outside his racisim doubts and downtalks his own daughter, still feels like an actual person, if not a GOOD person, they could’ve done better and did in the same film.

But that stuff aside.. I really can’t find much that’s honestly that silly or bad and as you can tell what little I did was more a product of being a tv movie. So now i’ve got the negatives out of the way

This Film Is Pretty Good: It truly is, for a lot of reasons. But the biggest is the nuance. It could’ve been easy to just have Maree as some racist kid needing to learn a lesson who was openly cruel and easy to jeer at.. but the film went iwth the reality: that she was instead an extremley privlaged and insulated girl who simply NEVER knew better. To her her very racist and segregated world is just the way the world worked for her and she dosen’t even consider when the Dellums come to pick her up minus Ron these aren’t servants and her own servant’s words fall on deaf ears, as the poor woman tries to make it clear how miserable her life is and how much she deseprately wants this child to do better. Marhee is never actively malicious even when, due to the shock of her all black host family, she baricades herself in Piper’s room. It’s obnoxious sure and CERTAINLY hurtful and the film makes no bones about it and Piper rightfully calls her out on it. The film dosen’t let her get away with any intetnional racisim like that and after Piper calls her out, she realizes she’s been selifsh and makes a genuine effort. And even then the film makes a good choice in not making it an easy road to realization. Mahree makes a genuine effort in the first place not because of any big revelation or anything, but because she simply hears her dad in her head telling her she’d give up after a week and that, coupled with Piper’s words, makes her see herself as a selfish brat. Even after she’s floored by a mall where black and white people stand side by side aand casually talks about horrors like ID Cards like i’ts a GOOD thing, because that’s what she’s been taught by her dad. That black people are happy being told where they can and can’t go when no they weren’t they simply had no chocie in the matter. And while we do see early on when an asshole at a restraunt assaults a waiter for an accident that Mahree clearly isn’t okay with the more horrifying side of things, she still dosen’t quite grasp WHY that happened, simply that it’s something that does reguarly she dosen’t like. It’s excellently, and unsuprisingly called back when they visit an ice cream place in the states and something similar happens.. but the guy takes it in stride, even ordering a sundae, to Maree’s confusion.

It’s what makes the film work and all the more striking: As Roscoe makes clear to Ron, whose admant about nto having a racist in the house, this is not her fault. While the film makes it clear Mahree’s behavior at first was not okay and her prejudiece is not okay, it also makes it VERY clear she’s a product of a terrible system and terrible parenting from people who choose to benneift from the system instead of challenge it. She’s only like this because she hasn’t had a reason to ever think diffrent and just took her parents at face value and no mater the country, this is something that sadly happens far too often: Someone hating a group or thinking discrimination is okay because that’s how they were taught and that’s all they’ve known and the only way to change that is to challenge that opinon and try to get them to have some empathy and see the other way and as this film shows it’s a struggle.. and at the end of the day while the Dellums make a concentrated effort, Maree is the one who has to realize what her parents taught her is bad and her country is inherently flawed and NEEDS to change, just like ours did, and STILL badly needs to.

And that’s where the nuance kicks in as the good congressman is understandable in not wanting a racist in his house... but his wife is equally right that Maree is not some easy symbol of his hatred towards south africa, but a girl who grew up knowing nothing more than the fucked up system, and eventually he comes around, realizing , especially after she apologizes for him even thinking she’d use a racial slur on piper after a very powerful conversation with the two and piper accidently saying she used the South African N Word, almost accidently getting her friend thrown out, that she simply hasn’t been outside her shell and gently guides her to keep reading roots, even letting her take it with her if she wants back home. The film shows the full pain of the situation but also shows change is posisble. Again it’s not easy, Mahree has a panic attack waiting in an almost all black line in school and it’s shown to be as horrible a thought as it is., but she DOES change and it comes off as real, as someone realizing the system they grew up with is broken and needs to be fixed and she can’t just sit back and let it.

What makes this happen, besides the aformentioned kidnapping by saturday morning cartoon racists, is Piper confronting her after a friend from south africa forces Piper to acccept that while her and Mahree are friends, Mahree might not seee her as equal and Piper in turn in a heated argument and easily Simmons best performance of the film, that things are broken and wrong and that her “firend”, her nanny/servant back home, is not happy. It leaves Mahree crying and Ron telling her the honest truth: Change was, and again still is but this was 2000 and while we should’ve had this talk disney channel wasn’t ready for it, needed to make things better here.. and tha’ts what south african’s doing> Fighting for equal rights at last. It’s some powerful, heavy as hell stuff you woudln’t expect from a line of movie that also include a robot house, before that was an actual thing, a merMAN dad MerMan, a boy slowly turning into a leprechaun, and at least two diffrent movies centering around wacky kidnappings. It’s a nuanced and hard look at race, as hard as late 90′s jsut turned into the 2000′s disney could get mind, aimed at kids and the film, whiel stilted really has my utter praise. It’s genuinely moving, well acted and teaches a valuable message that while not eveyrone can change.. it dosen’t hurt to try and help them, as well as the equal message that change start with YOU. someone has to WANT to be better and learn and actually let other people in to help them. And I wont’ lie and say this is the most naunced or subtle film.. at time’s it’s about as subtle as a ralph wiggum throught he window

But sometimes you don’t need to be. It also taught kids about apartheid, not me as I barely saw the film, but many learned of something ghoulsih that had barely ended at the time of the film’s release, something I only learned about as a teen via bloom county and a diffrent world, which has an utterly awesome apartheid episode “A World Alike”. Seriously check it out if you have prime, as it shows that america isn’t the only country with a deep history of ingraned racisim. And was it an easy way to have an anti racisim narriative without fully confronting america’s own racist history? Yup. Just.. yup. Can I blame Disney Channel for it when they clearly, while equipped to tackle racisim, weren’t ready to tackle something that dense or heavy, and while Proud Family later would there’s a diffrence between a 20 minute one off episode of a cartoon and 90 minutes of film? Yeah. For what it is and for what the time period is, I applaud this film taking on such a heavy topic with grace. Some goofyiness here and there yes and some lack of subtly.. but still grace. For what it is is, it’s pretty good and i hope to show it to my nieces one day soon. It has i’ts heart in the right place and thus has a place in my heart. See you next rainbow.

#the color of friendship #disney channel #dcom #disney channel original movie #black history month #black lives matter

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ejzah · 4 years

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A/N: Part 5, in which the author continues to shamelessly write self-indulgent none sense. Enjoy!

***

The Agent and the Lawyer, Part 5

Kensi took her position behind Sam, waiting for Callen’s signal. From the sound of it, Deeks was still holding his own, but might not be for much longer. His responses were becoming more slurred, the time in between words longer, and Davies’ punches more frequent.

“On my count,” Callen whispered, counting off on his fingers. When he reached three he shouted “NCIS!” as he yanked the door open and Sam barreled through.

There were three men surrounding Deeks, two holding him against the far right wall. One of the men released Deeks, and fired off a series of wild shots while Davies made a run for the other side of the building where there was another exit.

Ducking behind one of the pillars, Kensi looked to Sam and Callen who had also taken cover. Callen nodded and she popped up, aimed at first thug, shooting three times then ducked back down as Sam aimed and fired. His bullet hit the other man directly in the chest and he fell back with a thud.

Callen meanwhile, took off after Davies. The second thug wrapped his arm around Deeks’ neck, his gun jabbing into his ribs.

“Put your weapons down or I’ll shoot him,” the man said and Kensi had no doubt that he would. She looked over at Sam, waiting for him to make a move.

Blood dripped from Deeks’ nose and he sagged in the man’s hold. Kensi expected to see fear and pain in his eyes, but was surprised to find determination there instead. He nodded, almost imperceptibly, and Kensi suddenly knew he was about to do something incredibly stupid. She started to shake her head, but it was too late. “I said put them-agh!”

Deeks jabbed his elbow into his captor’s stomach and then slammed him into the wall. He still had his grip on Deeks though, which meant Kensi couldn’t get a clean shot without possibly hitting Deeks instead. Making an animalistic noise, Deeks slammed his head backwards and the gunman cried out, finally releasing him.

The gunman clamped a hand to his nose, blood streaming through his fingers. He surged towards Deeks and Kensi fired without hesitation, aiming for his chest. As he fell to the ground, Kensi rushed over to the Deeks who had sank to his knees and was pulling in ragged breaths.

Up close, Kensi could see that his injuries were worse than she’d realized. Aside from his broken nose, his lip was split and the rest of his face was covered in cuts and bruises. Dried blood stained his beard and was splattered across his suit.

“I’ll have Eric call an ambulance,” she said, eyeing him in concern.

“I’m fine.” He waved her off, swiping beneath his nose which only smeared more blood across his face.

“You might have broken something.” She crouched down beside him, placing a hand on his arm. He looked up in surprise, but she didn’t move it. She had been scared for him, for this man she barely knew, and it helped to have a reminder that he hadn’t died on her watch.

“I just need a minute,” Deeks insisted.

“Callen has Davies, he’s still alive,” Sam informed Kensi, coming up behind her. “How’s he doing?”

“He is doing fine,” Deeks replied shortly.

“He’s refusing to go to the hospital,” Kensi told Sam, feeling like she was tattling on a schoolmate. Deeks gave her a look of betrayal.

“Hetty’s not gonna like that.”

“Well, I don’t really care what Hetty thinks.” Pushing up against the wall, he started to stand and almost immediately collapsed again, letting out a pained gasp.

Kensi caught him before he completely fell, easing him down onto the cool concrete as she shared a concerned look with Sam. Deeks had both eyes squeezed shut and one hand clamped against his side.

“Deeks, did Davies or his men hit you in the stomach?” Sam asked, kneeling next to Kensi. Deeks tipped his head back against the wall; his skin suddenly looked pale underneath blood.

“They might have,” he groaned.

“How many times?”

“I kind of lost count.” Kensi made an involuntary noise in the back of her throat at the image of Deeks being ruthlessly beaten. Hearing it had been bad enough.

“Eric, call an ambulance for Deeks,” Sam said, his tone indicating it wasn’t up for further discussion.

“No, it’s not that bad,” Deeks repeated. “I really don’t want to ride in an ambulance.” His expression was pleading and Kensi capitulated.

“Fine, then I’ll drive you there.” Deeks looked like he might like to protest, but Sam glared at him until he nodded and let Kensi help him to his feet.

***

“Are you sure you don’t want me to call anyone for you?” Kensi asked, not for the first time.

They’d spent two hours at the emergency (Kensi’s federal badge had helped speed things along), getting him checked out. The attending doctor had diagnosed Deeks with bruise ribs, put three stitches on the inside of his bottom lip and advised him to take it easy for a few weeks. Despite feeling like he’d been run over by a truck, Deeks thought everyone had overreacted just a little bit.

He grinned as he stared out the passenger window. Kensi had been extremely attentive since they’d left the warehouse, worrying over him, asking about his next of kin, and offering to fetch him random items of food. It had almost made his aching ribs worth it.

“I think I’ll be ok, but thanks for offering,” he answered her, leaning back on the headrest. Even though Davies hadn’t hit directly in the head, it still ached.

“You said that before and it turned out you had bruised ribs. I’m not sure I trust your judgment,” Kensi pointed out.

“Ok, then how about I make you a promise?” he started, pausing to smirk at her. “If I need anything, I’ll give you a call.”

He expected an immediate no, but she paused, apparently considering his suggestion. After a minute, she nodded.

“Fine,” she said with a long-suffering sigh. “But,” she jabbed a finger in his direction, “if you even think about calling me for anything less than imminent death, I will make you regret it.” He chuckled, shifting in his seat as tried to rearrange his legs.

“I’m sure you will. God, I forgot how much bruised ribs suck.” He shifted again, aware of Kensi’s eyes on him.

“You’ve had bruised ribs before?”

“Yeah, as a kid,” he answered distractedly.

“What happened?” she asked, innocent curiosity in her voice.

“An accident,” he said shortly as she pulled into his driveway. There was a clear warning note in his tone and she took the hint, not pressing for more. She parked the SUV and got out, going around to his side and offering him an arm for support. He didn’t really need it at this point, but he accepted her help anyway.

“You want a drink?” he asked, when they were at the front door. Again, he expected her to come to her senses and say no, but after moment of hesitation, she shrugged.

“Why not?”

Deeks let them in and led her through the den and into the kitchen, flipping on a couple lights along the way. He noticed Kensi glancing around and couldn’t tell if she was impressed or silently judging him. He’d experienced both reactions since moving here and he had a feeling Kensi Blye might be a silent judger.

“I know, it’s a little over the top,” he said as he grabbed a beer and bottle of water from the fridge. He placed the beer in front of Kensi, gesturing for her to sit down at the island that dominated much of the kitchen. He kept the water for himself and pressed it to his split before he opened it.

“No, I was thinking you have surprisingly good taste,” she replied, waiting a beat before she added, “For a guy who chooses to wear his hair like that.”

Deeks huffed out a surprised laugh, spluttering on a gulp of water. He swiped his hand across his dripping chin as Kensi grinned at him, obviously pleased with herself.

“Wow, I bet you’ve been waiting to use that line all day long.”

“Eh, just the last couple hours.”

“I’ll have you know this look,” he gestured to his hair, which was admittedly more disheveled than usual, “was very popular with the ladies when I was in college. My professors, not so much.”

“I can imagine. I thought that lawyers had a pretty strict dress code,” Kensi said, eyeing him again. He wasn’t sure she even realized she was doing it.

“They do, but I’ve always been a rebel. You can be when you’re as good as I am,” Deeks said.

“You keep talking about how great you are, where’s the proof?” There was a challenge in her voice and he said,

“You should come see me in court sometime. See me in action.” Kensi leaned forward, her eye narrowing as she observed him.

“You are a confusing man, Marty Deeks,” she said, sounding frustrated.

“But you didn’t do too bad today. I was mildly impressed.” He was surprised by the unexpected and, seemingly, genuine praise, even if it was a bit begrudging.

“Really?”

“I mean, I would have taken that guy out a lot faster, but you did alright for a civilian.”

“Hey, I’m just the gardener, remember?” he teased and she groaned.

“Oh my god, you’re never going to let me forget that are you?”

“Probably not.” She rolled her eyes, her voice dripping with sarcasm as she said,

“Yes, for a gardening, surfing, loud-mouthed lawyer, you did well.”

“Wow, that is going right in my resume,” he joked.

Kensi grinned and he decided she could insult him all she wanted if it meant he got to see her gorgeous smile again. Sometime in the last few minutes, they’d moved closer to each other and there was just a few inches between them.

He didn’t know if it was the beer or the unguarded conversation, but when he leaned in, Kensi didn’t pull back. He saw her lips part slightly, heard a shallow intake of breath and wondered what it would be like to touch them. Instead, he dipped his head and kissed her cheek before pulling back and moving several feet away.

Kensi looked surprised, and if he wasn’t mistaken, hurt.

“Well, I should get going,” she murmured, her voice a little raspy and incredibly enticing.

“Kensi, I-“ he started to say, but she cut him off, pulling on a mask of professionalism.

“Make sure you stop in tomorrow to follow up with, Hetty,” she told him. “She’ll want your official report. And believe me, if you don’t show, she’ll hunt you down.”

“Of course, I’ll be there.” As she turned to leave, he lightly touched her arm and said, “See you around, Agent Blye.” She looked back, her expression unreadable.

“Have a good night, Deeks.” He couldn’t help feeling a distinct sense of regret as he watched her go.

#ncis la fanfiction #marty deeks #kensi blye #sam hanna #g callen #eventual densi #the agent and the lawyer #part 5 #au #ejzah fanfiction

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crystalninjaphoenix · 4 years

Text

Agendas & Arrangements

A JSE Fanfic

Another one of these! After the events of the last chapter, we have to see how things follow up. Our good Dr. Laurens is back, and the boys receive yet more shocking news. And what’s going to happen to Jackie now? Only time will tell. Also fun fact, this is the first chapter in which Schneep doesn’t appear in some way. I almost included a scene with him, but there wasn’t much changed with him. Whereas the others have had a lot happen to them that we should check up on jdsklafhjk

You can find the other stories under the pw timeline tag!

Chase’s phone was ringing. Which might not have bothered him too much, if it hadn’t woken him up. He groaned and rolled over, wiggling his arm out of the blanket and reaching towards the nightstand. And his hand hit a lamp instead of his phone. Mildly surprised and confused, Chase pushed the blankets away from his head. The plain room was initially unfamiliar, and he wondered why he wasn’t in his bedroom. He briefly considered the possibility that he’d gotten drunk out on the town and gotten a hotel for the night—that had happened once before, but only once!—before he remembered that he’d stayed the night in the spare room at JJ’s apartment.

Sighing, he grabbed his phone, now able to see where it was on the nightstand. He didn’t recognize the number, so he put the phone back down and tried to go back to sleep. But he found that hard to do when the ringing immediately started up again the second it stopped. And then it did it again. And by that point, he resigned himself to not going back to sleep but was still reluctant to pick up a call from a strange number. He stretched and stood up, starting to leave the room before doubling back and grabbing his phone, stuffing it into his pocket despite the ringing.

Walking back into the main area, Chase was met with a delicious smell. He glanced into the kitchen area to see JJ sitting at the table with a plate in front of him He looked up immediately and waved. Good morning, Chase! he said, looking considerably more cheery than he had been last night. He pointed at a basket sitting in the center of the table. Muffin?

“Uh...sure.” Chase walked on over, grabbing a chocolate chip muffin from the basket and sitting down. “You, uh...going to work?” He was initially about to ask how Jameson was doing, but wasn’t sure if it was okay to get right into it.

JJ smiled a bit. Chase, would I wear a suit for anything else?

“I dunno, you’re always well-dressed. You’re Mr. Long Sleeved Button-Up In The Middle Of Summer.” In fact, JJ’s current state of dress was making him well aware of the fact that he’d slept in his clothes last night.

Chase, please. JJ made a tutting sound. I would never go that far. It gets really hot that time of year.

“Hmm, I’ve seen a couple of times when you’ve done that,” Chase said, laughing a bit. “Dude, it’s like, eight in the morning, when did you have time to get ready and make muffins?”

Oh, I didn’t make these, JJ explained. Emily did. My neighbor. She dropped them off earlier, apparently she made an extra batch. His expression fell for a moment. I...apparently she figured out something happened last night. I wasn’t aware she paid that much attention. After a moment, he shook his head and smiled a bit. Still, it was very kind of her.

“...yeah, it was.” Chase decided not to press the issue any further. He could tell JJ didn’t want to talk about last night just yet. “Maybe your walls are thin. Though I’d be surprised if they are, you’d think a place like this would have better walls.”

JJ raised an eyebrow. Whatever do you mean, Chase? He signed innocently.

“Dude. You’re the one with a two-bed two-bath apartment in the middle of the fucking city, don’t come at me with that,” Chase said jokingly.

Ah, fair point. JJ paused for a moment, long enough for the two of them to eat their muffins in silence. But after a while, JJ asked, Chase, are you aware that your phone is ringing? And, well...has been? This whole time?

Chase sighed deeply. “Yeah.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket. “It’s the same number, I don’t know who the fuck it is or why they’re so insistent.”

Maybe it’s important? JJ suggested. I mean, if they’ve been ringing you for five minutes now.

“Maybe...maybe I know them but didn’t put them in my contacts,” Chase reasoned. After a moment’s hesitation, he grumbled, “If this is a scam I’m gonna be so pissed,” and accepted the call, pressing the phone to his ear. “Hello?”

A strange voice asked, “Is this Mr. Chase Brody?”

“Uh, who is this?” Chase asked.

“My name is Detective Nix. Are you Mr. Chase Brody?”

“Um...” Chase’s heart rate suddenly quickened. “Yeah, I mean, speaking. What’s this about?”

“Well, according to our records, you’re the one who reported a Jackie Donovan as missing, about ten months ago? Is that correct?”

If Chase’s heart rate sped up before, it skyrocketed now. He sat up straight. “Um, y-yeah, that’s, uh...that’s me. Why? Has something happened?”

“We now have a lead, and I’d like you to come down to the police on Tenley so we can discuss this in person.”

“Shit—I-I mean, yeah, I’ll be right there.” Chase stood up, pushing back his chair, and began looking around for his jacket. JJ watched him, eyes wide.

“Excellent. I’ll meet you there.” The call ended.

As soon as Chase put the phone down, JJ started asking questions. What was that about? Who was that?

“Some detective guy,” Chase said absentmindedly. He spotted his jacket on the sofa back in the living room area, and rushed over to grab it, explaining as he put it on. “He asked me if I was the guy who reported Jackie missing, and I said yes, and he said they had a lead and I needed to go down to discuss it in person.” He zipped up the jacket, now looking around for his cap as he ran his fingers through his hair.

JJ’s eyes widened further. Really?! They might know what happened to him?

“I mean, maybe, he didn’t say much.” Chase was now spinning in place, scanning the apartment for his cap. “Shit, where is it?”

Catching on, JJ stood up and walked over to the spare bedroom, disappearing inside briefly and coming out again with Chase’s cap. He tossed it to him, and Chase fumbled before catching it.

“Thanks,” he breathed, pulling it onto his head.

No problem, JJ said. Do you...do you think Jackie’s alright?

Chase hesitated, then nodded. “I mean...yeah, Jackie’s a tough cookie. He’s probably...alive.” In truth, that was all he felt confident saying. He couldn’t quite make it to ‘alright,’ thinking of all the things that could’ve happened to him. “In any case, I gotta go so they can tell me.”

Right, of course, JJ nodded. I’d ask to come with, but you know. Work.

“Yeah, it sucks. I’ll fill you and Marvin in, though.” Now as ready as he could be on such short notice, Chase headed towards the door, opening it. He turned back to look at JJ. “I’ll see you later.”

See you, JJ signed.

Chase headed out, closing the door behind him and quickly heading towards the elevator. He had to get there quickly. The station on Tenley Street was some ways away, maybe he should drive a little faster than usual? No, that probably wasn’t a good idea. Still, he was already looking up the quickest route on his phone. Though he knew there was no real rush to hear this news, he just...had to hear it as soon as possible. He couldn’t bear the wait.

——————

The Tenley Street police station was pretty small—actually, Chase was still getting used to the fact that a lot of the stations in this country were small and kind of casual-looking. But he could tell this one was weirdly small, probably no more than a place for detectives and officers to do paperwork. He entered the building and found himself in a small waiting-room-type area, with a desk and chairs to sit in, a short hallway leading into the main area of the station. Chase immediately walked up to the officer sitting at the desk and explained the situation, after which the officer told him to wait and turned to leave.

Chase exhaled slowly, backing up. So guess he’d just hang out here. With nothing to do—

“Wait. Chase?”

At the sound of his name, Chase jumped and looked behind him at the voice who’d said it. There was a woman sitting in one of the nearby chairs. Her left arm was in a sling, and she looked rather ragged, but she did look a bit familiar...Chase visibly started as he finally recognized her. “Dr. Laurens?”

Laurens grinned wide, and waved. “It is you! Shit, hi.” She laughed loudly, sounding more relieved than happy.

“Yeah, shit, hi.” Chase hurried on over. “What are you—where have you—what happened to your arm?!”

“It’s...a long story,” Laurens said, suddenly more serious. “What’re you doing here?”

“I, uh, got a call from this detective guy,” Chase said, glancing back at the rest of the room and down the hall to the main area. “He said there was a lead in Jackie’s disappearance, and I guess they wanted to tell me, since I reported it, and there’s not many other people they could tell.” Chase paused. Laurens’s expression had suddenly fallen, turning sad, almost...grieving? “You okay?”

Laurens shook her head. “Yeah, I’m fine, but...” She looked up at Chase. “I think I’m the lead they called you about.”

Chase stared at her, processing this for a moment. “What?”

“That’s part of the long story I mentioned,” Laurens said. She seemed hesitant to say more.

“Um...okay.” Chase took a seat next to her. “You don’t have to tell me about it.”

“Well, Jackie’s your friend, you should know,” Laurens said firmly. She glanced away. “But it looks like the story’ll have to wait a bit.”

Chase followed her gaze. A man in a suit had appeared, walking down the short hall towards the waiting area. His eyes landed on the two of them, and he hurried over. “You must be Mr. Brody,” the man said coolly. “I’m Detective Hooper. I believe my partner, Nix, contacted you this morning?”

“Uh, yeah.” Chase nodded.

“Excellent. And you’ve met Ms. Laurens?”

“Doctor Laurens,” Laurens corrected.

“Yes, yes.” Hooper nodded. “Well, you and Ms. Laurens”—Laurens bristled—“can come with me and we’ll get started. Nix will be with us in a moment.”

“Um...” Chase shifted in his chair, but didn’t get up. “Well, I can’t go with Ms. Laurens, ‘cause there isn’t a Ms. Laurens here. I can come with you and Dr. Laurens, is that alright?”

Hooper sighed impatiently. “Yes, you and Dr. Laurens can follow me. Please.”

Laurens shot Chase a grin, which he returned, and the two of them stood up, following Hooper into the main area of the station—which appeared to be mostly made of desk space, small designated areas with two desks each. Hooper led them past a few of these spaces to one specific one. He took a seat at one of the desks, and pointed the two of them to chairs nearby.

“So...what’s this about?” Chase asked, sitting down first.

“Well, at about five thirty yesterday, this young lady came into the station and demanded that we open up one of our unsolved cases,” Hooper said.

“I’m older than you,” Laurens said, decidedly not sitting down.

Hooper continued like he hadn’t heard her. “Of course, this case was one of mine—”

“Oh, one of yours?” Without much warning, another man appeared, causing Hooper to jump. This new man was older, with gray in his hair, and dressed more casually, but the expression on his face was certainly intimidating. “I’m under the impression that Donovan’s case was mine, well before you became my partner. In fact, I seem to recall you insisting it clearly wasn’t important, as it was unlikely anything new would happen at this point.”

Hooper paled visibly. “Sorry, Nix.”

“Hmm. Apology accepted. Don’t do it again.” The older man looked at Laurens and Chase, and he suddenly relaxed visibly, smiling warmly at the pair. “Mr. Brody, I presume. Detective Nix. We spoke on the phone.” He held out his hand.

“Yeah, I remember.” Chase shook the offered hand. “So what’s going on?”

“Well...” Nix sat down at the other desk, right next to Hooper’s. He glanced over at Laurens, and his face softened. “Please sit down, doctor. You shouldn’t even be out of the hospital, it would be terrible if you injured yourself further.”

“My legs are fine,” Laurens said, but sat down anyway. “And I...I wanted to be here to tell Chase in person.”

“Yes, you two know each other?” Nix asked.

“A little,” Chase said. “Laurens is my friend’s doctor—or, uh, I don’t know if it’s still that way, but we’ve talked. Can, uh...someone tell me what’s going on? What’s happened?” He hated to keep pushing the point, but he didn’t think he could take it any longer.

Nix looked over at Laurens. “Well, I think it would be best if Dr. Laurens told you herself.”

Laurens nodded. She looked down, staying quiet for a moment.

Hooper suddenly spoke up again “We have her recorded testimony here if—”

“Actually, I think it would be best if I told him myself, thanks,” Laurens interrupted. She turned to face Chase. “I, uh. About a month and a half ago, I...uh.” She swallowed a lump in her throat. “A man who looked like you—was disguised as you—approached me and attacked. I got knocked out, and when I woke up, I was...with Jackie.”

“You were what?!” Chase gaped. “What? How?”

“Well, the man who attacked me.” Laurens was remaining mostly calm as she spoke, though Chase noticed the way her free hand tapped a wild pattern on the arm of the chair. “It...turns out that he’d kidnapped Jackie. And also Schneep. And then...” She cleared her throat. “...me.”

“Holy shit...” Chase breathed. His mind was racing, but it seemed to keep circling one thing: the conversation he and Marvin had with Jameson the previous night. “Who was this guy? Is Jackie okay? What did he want?”

“Well, Jackie called him Anti,” Laurens explained.

Chase’s heart stopped. It was him. Jameson was right. This Anti, Jameson’s own brother, had been the reason Schneep had disappeared for nine months. What were the odds of that? But...if Anti was really behind Schneep’s disappearance, and now, it was revealed, Jackie’s as well...could he also be behind more? Chase remembered a couple of times, when he’d felt he was being watched, and seen a bystander nearby. He’d initially dismissed it as paranoia, since the bystanders didn’t really seem to be looking at him, but what if...? And the time he’d seen Marvin at the hospital, and Marvin had later denied it. What if Jameson was right, and that was really someone else, someone who was proven to be hostile to his friends? The thought made him shiver.

He listened intently as Laurens laid out the bare bones of what had happened to her—being kept in a basement somewhere with Jackie, Anti interrogating her for information about Schneep, and eventually escaping at the cost of dislocating her wrist. After she was done, he leaned back in his chair. “Holy fuck...” he whispered. Even though Laurens hadn’t given a lot of details, he could tell the experience must’ve been...terrifying.

“That’s not all,” Hooper said. “Ms.—Dr. Laurens showed up here after getting away, saying she had a lead on the Donovan case. Naturally, we were alerted, this being our case. As soon as she told us that we had to get to a certain address as quickly as possible, we mobilized.”

“Yes, we had a team check out this place.” Nix threw a manila folder onto his desk. “860 Underwood Drive, a rather...hmm...high-risk part of the city.” He looked back and forth between Laurens and Chase, landing on Chase. “I called you here today because I thought you should know that, while there was evidence of someone having lived there, and more importantly, evidence of someone else having been held there...the house was empty.”

Chase stared at him. He...actually felt a little breathless. Like he’d been told to walk into a room for a happy surprise, but instead got punched in the stomach. “...what?” he croaked.

Laurens didn’t look much better. She’d gone pale, and her tapping hand suddenly froze. “Are...are you sure?” she asked. “Did you find the basement?”

“Oh yes, we did.” Nix opened the folder, looking down at something inside. “Along with a stash of illegal drugs, stolen hospital equipment, a closet full of things that looked like costume materials, multiple combat-level knives and one handgun, and honestly more that we don’t have time to list.” He snapped the folder shut. “But nobody was there.”

Laurens paled further. “He must’ve left immediately...”

Chase covered his mouth, at a loss for words.

Nix sighed, looking at the other two sympathetically. “There was also no evidence of recent...injury. If he hasn’t harmed Jackie yet, it’s unlikely he will now.”

“He’s definitely harmed him,” Laurens mumbled. “But...I understand.” Nevertheless, Nix’s assurances failed to calm her.

Chase lowered his hand, finally saying something. “You...you have to find him.”

Hooper stared at him. “Understand that if he’s evaded us for this long, it’s unlikely—”

“Yes, thank you, Hooper,” Nix snapped. “Remember that we now know this Anti exists, which changes a lot.” Hooper shut his mouth. Nix looked back at Laurens and Chase. “I understand you’re both also involved in the Schneeplestein case?” When the two of them nodded silently, he continued, “We’ll have to coordinate with the detectives on that case, but I’m sure you can see this information changes everything for that. Dr. Laurens, they may ask to speak to you in addition to your testimony.”

“That’s fine,” Laurens said. “Is...is there anything else?”

Nix shook his head. “If we need anything else, or want to let either of you know about anything, we’ll contact you.” He pulled a pad of paper out of a drawer, then took a pen from a cup on his desk and wrote down something. “This is my number, feel free to add it to your contacts.” He tore the paper out of the pad, then tore it in half and handed each piece to either of them.

“Well, I mean, I can always look for the number that calls me five hundred times in a row,” Chase muttered, thinking it was too low for Nix to pick up.

“I’m sure it wasn’t that many times,” Nix said, smiling a bit.

Chase jumped, then hurriedly stood up. “Well, uh. We’ll be seeing you.”

Laurens stood as well. “Thanks for your help,” she said, looking at Nix and not Hooper.

“You’re welcome,” Nix said. As the two of them started to leave, he called, “And don’t hesitate to ring me if you remember anything that could help!”

Laurens and Chase were silent as they walked out, up until they left the station all together, the double doors swinging behind them. Then Laurens spoke up. “Hey, uh...would you mind if...you drove me home? I took the bus here.”

“Didn’t that Nix guy say you should be in the hospital?” Chase asked.

“I—well, uh...” Laurens stammered. “I...really don’t think—”

“I know you’re like, a mind doctor and not a body doct—that came out wrong, I mean, a medical doctor.” Chase laughed nervously. “But shouldn’t you know all about how you should stay in the hospital after undergoing something, uh...major?”

Laurens slumped. “You’re right...” she sighed. “I guess I could be missing something that the doctors aren’t. I, uh...would you mind if you drove me to the hospital?”

“Sure, which one?” Chase asked, starting to pull out his keys.

“Mariposa. You know that one?”

“Yeah, no problem. It’s on my way home, anyway.”

The two of them climbed on the car. Chase pulled out of the parking lot, and once they were on the way, he asked, “So...what’s next for you? After...everything?”

“Well, I, uh...” Laurens winced a bit. “I know what I should do, but I want to go back to Silver Hills as soon as possible. Now that I...understand, more, what Schneep’s going through, I think I can help him better.”

“Huh. That’s...wow, that’s really nice of you.” Chase paused, then asked, “But, uh, should you really be going back to work after all this? I mean, it’s gotta be...pretty upsetting.”

Laurens looked out the window silently for a while. “Yeah, I know what I should do is take a while to readjust to everything. But I...I can’t just leave someone like that. A-and maybe I can start taking on other patients, too—”

“Uh, maybe slow down a bit, there,” Chase suggested tentatively. He fell silent for a moment, keeping his eyes on the road. “Y’know, I haven’t tried it in a while, and you probably know all about it, being a psychologist—”

“Psychiatrist. It’s different, I can prescribe medicine.”

“—but I hear, uh, therapy would be really good after something like this.”

Laurens shifted awkwardly. “Yeah, I know. But that would be a little...weird, considering I know a lot of the therapists in the city, since they were my colleagues for a bit.”

“For a bit?”

“Yeah, I worked at Silver Hills for a while, then quit to become a private therapist, then came back to Silver just before Schneep arrived.” Laurens paused. “Besides, like I said, I should probably...readjust to things for a while. And I really do want to check in on Schneep, because...” She glanced back at Chase. “Well, I can’t imagine things have been great for him recently. Dr. Newson probably took over after I...was gone, and...she hates him.”

“Yeah, me and the others figured that out,” Chase frowned. “There’s got to be something we can do about that.”

Laurens nodded. “We can come up with something, I’m sure.”

The two of them were quiet the rest of the way to the hospital.

——————

Neither of them had any way of knowing that, later that day, Marvin was working on the next step of his plan to “do something about” Newson.

Luckily, he’d planned this bit out a bit more than the “break into a mental hospital” bit, doing some research and looking up an address for a place he thought could help him. He took the bus there shortly after lunch, carrying his supplies in his bag. Before he walked in, he took a moment to brace himself. His last experience with a place like this hadn’t...ended well. But he was determined to go through with this. So he straightened his posture, and walked inside.

A small, electric bell sounded out the opening of the door. Marvin immediately walked up to what looked like a reception area, with a desk hidden behind a window. Once the clerk behind the window looked up, he said, “Hi, I need to see a civil lawyer.”

The clerk nodded. “One moment, please.” She typed something out on her computer. “Are you the defending party or the prosecuting party?”

“Uh. Prosecuting, I believe.” That was the party that sued people, right?

“Name?” After Marvin gave her his name, the clerk finished typing out whatever she was doing. “Wait here please.” She pointed to the hard, uncomfortable-looking chairs along the edge of the room. Marvin sighed quietly, and went to sit down, taking out his phone to wait.

After a few minutes, there was a voice. “Mr. Maher?”

Marvin looked up to see a woman in a pantsuit standing in front of him. “I’m Aja Bakshi,” she said, holding out a hand. “I understand you have a civil case you need help with?”

Marvin stood up, not taking her hand. “Yeah, that’s right. Well, uh...it’s a little bit complicated, maybe we should go somewhere we can talk for a while?”

Bakshi nodded, not looking too perturbed about the declined handshake. “Of course. We can talk in my office, follow me.”

The two of them had to go up two flights of stairs to reach Bakshi’s office, but once there, Marvin found it comfortable enough. There were a lot of knickknacks on various surfaces and photos on the desk, not to mention the office was big enough to include a small sitting area instead of just a single chair for guests. Marvin immediately sat down in one of the comfier-looking chairs, while Bakshi sat at her desk nearby. “Okay, so, this is a long story,” Marvin started, digging into his bag. “But basically, my friend’s in an institution and the doctor assigned to him hates him, and she actively tries to make things worse. I’d like to sue her for malpractice.”

Bakshi pursed her lips, considering this. “Do you have any relation to this man, or are you just friends?”

“Well, we’re just friends, though a lot of people do think we’re related. ‘Cause we look alike.” Marvin took out a folded piece of paper, unfolding it and setting it down on the desk. “But I took a whole bunch of notes about things that were weird and really suspicious about her.” He also took out a small folder, and set it down as well. “Also I got a copy of the medication she put him on. I did some research, and I’m ninety percent sure that this isn’t going to work for him.”

“How’d you get that?” Bakshi asked, surprised. “Those shouldn’t be accessible to people without permission, according to county laws.”

“Well...” On one hand, Marvin was delighted that Bakshi seemed to have the appropriate knowledge for this particular case. On the other, this part was about to be really awkward. “I may have...taken them.”

Bakshi stared at him, then raised an eyebrow. “What.”

“Look, I’m willing to take whatever punishment I get for doing that,” Marvin said plainly. “But I know we needed this information.” In truth, if he was going to get arrested for something, this was probably the best thing to get arrested for, given all the other things he’d done.

Bakshi considered this, folding her arms. “If this is brought up in the case, we could argue you had justifiable reason for it,” she said after a while. “Provided you had suspicions before you took the medication records.”

“Oh believe me, I did.” Marvin nodded. “I dated my notes on the paper. And this...” He pulled out another piece of paper. “Are my suspicions after getting into the place and seeing what was up.”

“Okay, that’s trespassing. We’ll also have to argue justifiable reason for that.” Bakshi picked up the folder to look at the records inside. Marvin watched in silence as she read over them, then began typing stuff into her computer. This took a while, so Marvin reached inside his bag one more time and grabbed a keychain with a couple different attachments, selecting one that imitated bubble wrap and popping it while he waited. After a while, Bakshi leaned back in her seat and whistled. “The main problem in these records is that the escalation is too quick. And there’s no need for the sedative dose to be that high, especially if your friend doesn’t have a history that requires it.”

Marvin laughed nervously. “Well, I mean...apparently there was this whole big case, I was in Ireland at the time so I had no idea about it, but when I came back it turns out...a-anyway, my friend is Henrik von Schneeplestein, apparently that’s a known name in town now.”

“Oh fuck.” Bakshi hissed. “That does complicate things. But still, I would say this is unreasonable, even with that in mind, and I’m sure many others would agree.” She looked over the records again. “Do you have anything else planned for today? Because putting together this case could take a while.”

“Yeah, I know.” Luckily, Marvin had planned for this. “I don’t have anything else to do until dinnertime.”

At that very moment, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Frowning, he took it out to look at the caller ID. Chase? “Um...excuse me for a moment,” he said, then answered the call. “Hey, what’s up? I’m kind of in the middle of a thing here.” He paused, listening to Chase talk on the other line. Then his eyes widened. “Wait, what?!”

The phone call lasted roughly five minutes, during which Bakshi was content to wait and start going through the paperwork of putting a case together. Marvin mostly listened, occasionally jumping in with a “Really?” or a “Holy shit.” Eventually, Marvin glanced back over at Bakshi and realized this might be a little rude. “Chase, this is great, wonderful, but I’m really busy right now. I have to go.” A pause. “Yeah, I’ll text you later. Yeah. Okay, bye.” He hung up, and looked over at Bakshi again. “Sooo turns out Sch—my friend, uh. Might actually be innocent, in some way.”

Bakshi blinked, at a loss for words with the rapid change of events. “That... changes things,” she said after a while.

“Yeah, my friend just told me they just found out a huge thing,” Marvin nodded. “So, uh. Guess we need to adjust for that?”

“Possibly,” Bakshi agreed. “It’s a good thing we haven’t gotten far.” She leaned forward. “Shall we start, then?”

“Might as well.” Marvin nodded. Hopefully by doing this, they could get Newson away from Schneep, and maybe away from Silver Hills altogether.

——————

This was...new.

He wasn’t sure if “new” was a good thing.

In truth, he felt a little...foggy. It wasn’t an unfamiliar sensation, which sucked, but it was one he hadn’t felt in a while. And it meant that it took him a moment to realize he actually did recognize this new place, if only vaguely.

When Jackie opened his eyes, he noticed he was lying on a sofa, underneath a blanket. Not too alarming, in and of itself. What was more alarming was that he couldn’t move. Once that thought had managed to work its way through the soup in his head, panic slowly started to set in. Why couldn’t he move? Why couldn’t he do anything more than breathing and blinking?

He was stuck lying on his side, staring at the opposite wall. There was a flatscreen TV mounted on it, a small table under it with two game consoles. The wall was papered with a pattern of pale green and yellow stripes, spots of it showing sign of water damage. Seeing that, he remembered he’d been here before.

And then he heard someone talking. It sounded like it probably came from another room, but the person was loud enough, and the walls thin enough, that Jackie could make out the voice almost perfectly.

“I don’t care, and if you think I do, you’re making a big mistake,” the voice snapped. The man speaking had a trace of an Irish accent. He paused for a moment. “I don’t fucking know, find it out!” Another pause. “Yeah, go check, go do that. But don’t you dare hang up.”

Jackie shivered a bit, and was immediately annoyed that he could do that, but not move his head at all. Of course, the annoyance was overwhelmed by the sudden, intense jolt of fear he’d felt hearing that voice. Of course Anti would be here, why wouldn’t he be? It was his apartment. Or at least, that’s what Jackie assumed.

He’d been here once before, though he couldn’t remember most of it. It was back in May. He hadn’t seen Schneep in a while, and that worried him. It always did. The fear that one day Anti would get tired of one or both of them was an ever-present weight. It didn’t help that Anti would take Schneep away seemingly at random, for as long as a day to two weeks. Always, always, Jackie wondered if something would happen. Then Anti would bring Schneep back. Always, always in worse condition than when he’d left. Not physical condition, usually. But Jackie had picked up early on that Anti liked to mess with both of them. He could handle it most of the time, but Anti was a lot harder on Schneep, which would only worsen his condition. Jackie remembered nights where neither of them went to sleep, because Schneep couldn’t remember where he was or who was with him, and Jackie would quietly, calmly, explain it to him every time, even when Schneep would lash out.

That was the routine for six months, and then one day, Anti had taken Schneep out, and returned without him. Jackie remembered the absolute terror, remembered thinking, “this is it, I’m done for.” Then Anti had knocked him out, and when Jackie woke up, he was in this same apartment. Once again, he didn’t recall much of it, but he picked up that Schneep had somehow slipped away on one of Anti’s “errands” that he sometimes took him on. Apparently the police had been close, and Anti had panicked and left Schneep there. And now, it seemed, the situation was similar. Anti took Rya Laurens, and she’d gotten away. So Anti had packed everything up and fled to this place.

“What do you mean?!”

Jackie would’ve flinched if he’d been able to. Apparently Anti’s conversation on the phone wasn’t going so well.

“No, you have to have some somewhere, that’s your whole thing! That’s what you do! Do you not have extra stock, you son of a badger’s ass?! I’d think you would be smart enough to keep that on hand, guess I was wrong!” A pause. “Well of course I did, but the coppers found the house, so everything in there’s gone, including all of that!” Small pause. “Well it’s a good thing you don’t mark the packaging, then, isn’t it? Look, what do you have?”

Anti’s voice fell silent again for a long while. Then, Jackie heard a door open somewhere nearby. He tried to turn to look in its direction, but was still unable to. A light overhead flicked on, lighting up the room previously illuminated only by sunlight that was probably coming from a window somewhere.

“Yeah, that’s all great for you, but not for me,” Anti said. His voice was a lot clearer now. Jackie pictured him hovering in a doorway leading to the room. “I have a fucking PI in my apartment and I need to do something about that!”

Fuck. Jackie realized Anti was talking about him.

“No, really?” Anti drawled sarcastically. “I hadn’t thought of that! Wow, you’re such a genius, Natalie, and here I was collecting knives ‘cause they looked cool.” Small pause. “I’ll call you whatever I like, it’s your fault for putting your real name out there.” Another pause. “The point is, if that was an option, I would’ve done that already!” Pause. “That’s not your fucking business.” Long pause. “Alright fine, I’ll check in then, but if you don’t have any by then I swear to god I’ll—” He cut himself off, presumably because the other person started talking again. “Of course I will. I’ll call you in a week, goodbye.”

The apartment fell silent. Jackie’s eyes strained to see anything beyond the small spot he was facing, to no avail. Soon, he heard footsteps. Heading away. But the room light didn’t turn off, so he’d probably be back.

The footsteps continued in the other room. Something squeaked, like rusty hinges. Then it slammed shut. Jackie felt his heart leap into his throat. The squeaking-slamming repeated. There was a long pause in the footsteps before there were more. Then a few beeping sounds, followed by a humming, and Jackie relaxed a bit as he realized it was a microwave.

Of course, that ended within two minutes, and soon the footsteps started again. Now heading towards him. And at that moment, Jackie was almost glad he couldn’t move, because he was sure that if he could, he would’ve done something stupid like jump up and run.

The footsteps went around the sofa, and somewhere out of his sight Jackie heard the sound of something being set down on a wooden table. A moment of silence. And then Anti appeared.

For a moment, the resemblance to the rest of his friends threw Jackie off. But that only lasted a moment, as the right half of Anti’s face was covered in scars. Some straight, some jagged, some rather like burns. All were fairly faded, but still very noticeable. There was one across Anti’s throat, too, that looked a bit different than the others, possibly having happened at a different time. Anti’s left eye was natural blue, but his right was unnaturally bright green. Besides all this, Anti wore a dark green jacket and a tarnished silver watch on a rusted chain around his neck. He seemed to always have those two things close by, if not actually on him.

“So.” Anti leaned over, staring at Jackie, noticing the way his eyes would lock on him, then dart away before coming back. “Guess I’ll be stuck with you for a bit longer.”

Jackie’s heart sped up further. What did that mean?

Anti frowned. He reached forward, grabbing Jackie’s head with both hands. “How long will this last...?” he muttered, prying open one of Jackie’s eyelids with his fingers. After a while, he let go, letting Jackie’s head fall back. Without another word, he walked out of Jackie’s field of view. Jackie heard a faint sound like someone was hitting a pillow, then the sound of silverware scraping along ceramic. Apparently Anti had decided to sit down nearby and eat, maybe while he waited for whatever was paralyzing Jackie to wear off.

Jackie then realized he was breathing a bit quickly, and he fought to get it under control. Okay. So. He was stuck in a (probably small) apartment with a man who’d killed at least thirteen people, directly and indirectly. He had no idea what said man was planning for him, but he knew it probably wasn’t good.

But for a positive, at least Rya had gotten away. And alerted the police, by the sound of Anti’s phone conversation. That was good. Now people knew the real situation going on here, and so it was more likely that someone would figure out where he was and come get him.

A small part of Jackie’s mind pointed out that “more likely” didn’t mean it was likely to happen at all, but he quickly squashed that. This was significantly more hope than he’d had in a while, and he wanted to hold onto it.

Something had to happen. It had to. Jackie wasn’t sure he could bear the alternative.

#jacksepticeye #jacksepticeye fanfiction #jacksepticegos #septic egos #septic egos au #chase brody #jameson jackson #marvin the magnificent #jackieboy man #antisepticeye #pwtimeline #brigid writes fanfiction

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yourdeepestfathoms · 5 years

Text

Solitary Hide-and-Seek

[Tour!verse]

in which Aragon is an angel...after awhile

TW: Violence, eating difficulties

———————

Honk

Aragon looked up from the book she had been idly going through with a mildly annoyed expression.

There she was, finally getting some alone time after the hectic week of shows and someone is laying on their horn. She was starting to regret not going out with the other queens. Seriously, did no one else in this neighborhood hear it?!

Honk

On a Sunday!

Hooonk

Where were her fellow religious people who always needed it to be quiet on this day?

Hooooooooonk honk

Not even the damn dogs?!

Hooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooonk

“Good grief!”

Aragon put the book down and stomped over to the window to peer out of the blinds to see who she had to rain hellfire on. Out in the parking lot, she saw a car she thought she recognized.

“Of course.”

It was Bessie. Of course it was Bessie- that whore would do anything to annoy Aragon, wouldn’t she?

The queen snatched up an umbrella and stormed out of the house and into the drizzly weather. She could not focus on enjoying her free time with that horn blasting, so she took it upon herself to go shut it up, since nobody else was going to, apparently.

She knocked loudly on the driver’s side window, but the girl inside, who was hunched over on the steering wheel and definitely was not Bessie, did not budge. The car was unlocked, though, and Aragon just decided to pull open the door.

“I really hope you have a good explanation for this-”

Aragon grabbed the girl by the shoulder and leaned her back while talking.

“-...Joan?”

The girl, who she was just now recognizing as Joan Meutas, was hurt. Dried blood snakes out of both nostrils and her busted lip still seemed to be oozing a little. She was soaked, meaning she must have been in the rain, and her mop of wet white-blonde hair slightly covered up her broken glasses.

Aragon was silent for a moment, just taking in the scene set before her. Then, she’s moving, unbuckling Joan’s seat belt and hoisting the girl into her arms. It’s a lot easier than she expected, as Joan was very light. Far too light for a young woman her age.

To be honest, Aragon didn’t quite know why she was doing this. She barely knew anything about Joan, aside from her being Jane’s lady in waiting; the girl was very quiet. Plus, Joan was a roommate to Bessie, who she hated with a burning passion, so seeing her hurt should have made her happy.

...Right?

She set Joan down on her own bed and went to fetch a wet rag from the bathroom to wipe off her face. Maybe it was for bragging rights, as this would crush Bessie. But no, that wasn’t it...

Anger was what was simmering inside of the queen. When she noticed the painful-looking, color-changing bruise on Joan’s stomach from where her shirt was riding up slightly and the particularly nasty set of gashes on her forearm and shoulder, she had to restrain herself from marching out of the house and hunting down the brutes who did this to a teenager.

Thank god she just decided to check outside.

———

Joan woke up feeling warm before she felt the pain.

She grunted and pushed herself up with her good arm, trying to remember when she got into a bed. Hadn’t she been in her car? Where was she, anyway?

“Oh, you’re awake.”

Joan snapped her head around to look at the queen sitting at the small desk in the room. She blinks deliriously at her.

“What am I doing here?” She croaked.

“I should be asking you the same question,” Aragon said, “You were unconscious in your car in the driveway. And you weren’t in the best of shape.”

Joan winced, sitting up against the headboard. Her stomach throbs and she hugs it tightly. She was surprised to see that her arm was cleaned of blood.

“Right... I came here after-” She bites her tongue.

“After what, Joan?”

“After nothing, Lady Aragon.” Joan snapped, matching the queen’s tone.

“A bloody nose, busted lip, bruised stomach, and scratched arm is definitely not ‘nothing’.” Aragon struck back.

“What’s it to you, anyway?” Joan hissed without missing a beat.

“You, a young girl, turn up with your face all bloody and your stomach like that and you expect me not to care? What kind of monster do you think I am?”

Joan flinches at that and dropped her gaze to her lap. Her vision starts to grow foggy, but she doesn’t know if it’s from the ache or that she doesn’t have her glasses on. She grimaced when she saw the broken frames sitting on the nightstand.

“Plus,” Aragon continued, “I carried you in here. If I didn’t care, then I would have woken you up and made you walk.” She paused, “Not that it was too difficult. Hasn’t your doctor ever told you you’re underweight for a girl your age?”

Joan went pale, but didn’t dare raise her head. Suddenly, it clicked.

“Oh! Oh.”

Aragon got up and sat down on the edge of the bed. She extended a hand to touch, but thought against it when Joan flinched away.

“It-it’s not what it looks like.” The girl stammers, “I’m not- I’m not, like, anorexic or anything, I just-”

“You don’t eat?” Aragon put in and Joan’s anxious silence is enough of an answer.

“It’s...fine. It’s fine. Nobody has noticed.”

“But what about when you continue to skip meals? When you start fainting in the middle of shows? When you get weaker and weaker from undernourishment?” Aragon crosses her arms, “They’ll notice then.”

Joan felt every organ in her body twist up at those words. She bit down on her quivering bottom lip and tried to contain herself.

“I-I know. I-I just- Sometimes work becomes so much and I forget to eat, alright? I can’t waste any time, so I just...”

She put her head in her hands and sucked in a shuddering breath. Only silence filled the room for a moment.

“I have Maria...and Bessie and Maggie, b-but sometimes I think I’m not good enough for them... I’m always so busy with work. They get along so much better without me because I never seem to be there. If you ask them, they probably couldn’t even tell you five things about me. They...they don’t care.” Saying that out loud seems to snap something inside of Joan and her eyes glint slightly, “And taking their food to eat just seems rude...”

Aragon frowned deeply upon hearing that. She went to try and touch again, but Joan stood up quickly. The girl nearly falls, but steadies herself and puts a hand to her aching middle.

“God, I’m so sorry. You don’t want to hear me complain.”

“They do care.” Aragon said.

“They don’t.” Joan said. “Don’t try to convince me otherwise...it’s the truth. They barely even talk to me.”

Aragon stands up, her eyebrows furrowed. To be honest, she couldn’t deny her deep concern for the girl. That didn’t happen a lot, but something about this kid being hurt made her worried.

“Why were you even out there to begin with?” Aragon asked, deciding to switch topics.

Joan is quiet for a moment. A shy blush appears on her cheeks.

“I-I got into a bar fight,” She mumbled.

Aragon perks up instantly. That definitely wasn’t what she had been expecting.

“What?”

“I-I’ve been playing at a lot of pubs lately. Usually at night, but there was an open spot today, so I decided to go. But the people there weren’t really nice and...”

“Why are you going to pubs? Are you not being paid enough?”

Joan shrunk down a little, her face darkening.

“I dunno,” She whispered, no longer making eye contact. She reminds Aragon of one of Cleves’ dogs when they get caught chewing up something they shouldn’t.

“Don’t lie to me, Joan.”

“It’s none of your business! What are you gonna do about it? You aren’t a queen anymore! You can’t make me do anything!!”

Joan’s outburst startled both Aragon and the girl herself. They both rear away from one another, however, while Joan looks scared, Aragon seems...impressed.

“I’m sorry,” Joan whispered, “Th-that was rude of me.”

“It definitely was.” Aragon said, not missing the way the girl winced. “Since you can walk- let’s go.”

Joan looks up, fearful.

“Wh-where are we going?” She stammered. There’s terror in her eyes caused by something, probably from her last life, but Aragon can’t figure out what it was.

“Downstairs.” Aragon said. “Let’s go.”

Joan follows obediently, but wobbles treacherously with each step. Aragon practically orders her to sit down at the bar counter as she made some buttered toast. When the plate is eventually set down in front of Joan, the girl stares at it as if it were a human heart.

“Eat.” Aragon said.

Joan doesn’t move.

“I will not ask again.”

That seems to work.

Joan picks up a slice of toast and ate it slowly while Aragon watched her, making sure she didn’t try to spit it out when she wasn’t looking.

“You eat like a mouse.” Aragon remarked.

Joan slowed down her chewing, savoring the last few bites. She glanced up at the queen.

“My mother,” She said through the last mouthful. “She didn't, really.” She swallowed. “Feed me much.”

The words hit Aragon like a punch to the gut.

It was so unfair. That such immature women got to have their children, yet she, a wonderful mother, didn’t get to be with Mary.

“That was absolutely irresponsible of her.”

Joan suddenly got defensive.

“She had a lot of other things to do.” She said, miffed.

Her mother and father hadn't been the best, but they were the only ones she and her brother ever really knew. And Aragon was sure as hell the last person she’d want passing judgement on her life.

“Plus,” She went on, trying to smooth her ruffled feathers and level things out, “My brother- his name is John- got us food. So I did eat.”

“That doesn't excuse you mother not taking proper care of her child.” Aragon replied, indignant.

“I can take care of myself.” Joan snapped back.

“Can you really?” The other responded dryly.

Joan opened her mouth, eyes narrowed and alight, but the flame goes out and she looked down at the plate. Her shoulders hunch in and she closed her eyes, falling silent.

“Are you alright?” Aragon asked after a moment. “You may feel nauseous...or your stomach could cramp. That’s what happens when you don’t eat.”

Joan opened her eyes again and looked up at Aragon. The queen isn’t hovering over her anymore, rather making herself some tea in the kitchen.

“You...you know?” The girl asked quietly, “About...umm...not eating?”

“Yes, I do.” Aragon said. “However, I will not share with you, since you can’t be bothered to tell me why you were performing at pubs.”

As if on cue, Joan’s stomach throbbed and she set a tentative hand on top of the bruised area. She winced and grit her teeth, blinking away tears. The pain was overwhelming. It reminded her too much of...

“Child?”

“I’m fine.” Joan snapped without thinking. She took a deep breath and shook her head. “I’m fine.” She said again, this time with less force. “Sorry.”

“I wasn’t going to ask if you were alright,” Aragon said, “I was going to tell you to keep eating. You still have toast left. Don’t waste.”

Guilt rushed through Joan and she quickly began eating the second piece of toast. While she did so, one hand trailed up to her head and began picking at the scabs that dot her scalp, hidden by her hair. When she didn’t find any good patches (although she did scratch away a dried mound of blood just above the crown of her skull) she moved down to her left arm and found purchase in a thin scratch from Caliburn climbing on her.

The sensation of the crusted flesh being scraped away was beginning to calm her when Aragon suddenly grabbed her by the wrist, startling her.

“Stop that.” The queen said, her voice hard, and she easily notices the way Joan cowers beneath her gaze.

Joan’s mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water, clearly embarrassed. A dark red blush overcomes her pale face, an even brighter contrast with her white-blonde hair.

“It’s not good for you, Joan. Plus, people seeing that will disgust them. You don’t want them to have that opinion of you.”

“Y-your tea is getting cold,” Joan stammered.

Aragon releases Joan’s wrist. She turns and retrieves her teacup, then walks to the living room.

“You don't want me here, do you?”

Aragon didn't even look at her and continued her stride to the couch, delaying her response. “Whatever gave you that idea?”

“Isn't it obvious?” Joan’s face scrunched up. “You've been grouchy and mean all evening. It's pretty clear you don't like me.”

“How do you know I'm not like that all the time?” Aragon sat down, still not looking at Joan. She reaches for the TV remote, then took a sip of her tea. “Besides, I don’t know you that well. You can’t expect me to like you right off the bat.”

“Then why are you letting me stay?”

“Because you’re hurt and it’s just common decency.”

“Well I'll leave you alone now.” Joan could feel herself starting to cry as she stood up. “I’m going home!”

Aragon abruptly turned to the girl with a sigh, still using the same dry tone she’s been using all evening, “Fine. Go. Leave. I don't care.”

She was about to take another sip of her tea when she heard soft sobs coming from Joan’s direction. “Oh stop crying, I didn't mean it.”

But she didn't stop.

With yet another frustrated sigh, Aragon pushed herself up, stumbling over her feet for a moment and almost collapsing her regal queen facade, and, cursing like a sailor, dragged herself over to Joan, who she promptly began leading back over to the couch.

“Look, child.” She sat Joan down, wrapping her arm around the girl’s trembling shoulders, causing her to gasp slightly. “I know I haven't been all that welcoming tonight and that I’ve been really grumpy and- what are you doing...?”

Joan seemed so content laying still and somewhat bewildered against her, as though Aragon’s halfhearted and not-all-that-caring “hug” was the most wonderful thing in the world.

Aragon frowned. “What, have you never been hugged before, child?”

“Not like this...” Joan closed her eyes in wonder, nuzzling into Aragon’s side and wrapping her arms around her. “Not in a long time...”

Aragon remembered back to Joan’s comment about her mother. Now, with the child cuddling into her like she'd never been shown any form of parental love or affection before, she was starting to think she had told her the truth- that it wasn’t just some lie to get her attention.

She let herself relax, unconsciously stroking the girl’s shoulder.

“Did you have nobody to look after you?”

Joan shrugged a little. “My mum and dad left a lot to go work for a ‘Mister Cromwell’-” She missed the way Aragon tensed momentarily, “-so it was just me and John for a long time. We took care of each other, and I love him so much, but...it wasn’t the same as mummy.”

Almost immediately after that moment, Joan’s cheeks flashed deep red in embarrassment. She dipped her head, but Aragon was rather filled with endearment.

After a moment of silence, Joan leaned into Aragon further and yawned slightly, a lot more at ease and content than she had been earlier.

“You know, you’re actually not that mean at all. Well, you were earlier but you’re nice now.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” Aragon’s brows furrowed slightly. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“You didn't know your parents, did you?”

Joan’s eyes darken.

“One day they just...didn’t come back. I was eleven...John was thirteen...and we...we waited for so long, but they never showed up. We-” Her voice wavers and cracks, “-we tried to clean the house like good kids and we did all our chores and we did everything mummy and daddy taught us when they were around, but...” Fresh tears drip down her cheeks, “...they never came home. Nobody- nobody wanted us.”

She has to pause for a moment and took several shaking breaths. Great sorrow reflects in her eyes.

“Then...John left. I can’t- I can’t remember why, like how I can’t remember the name of my mum and dad, but he...he left, too. I never saw him again.” Her voice is tight with pain as she chokes out, “I guess he didn't want me either.”

Her eyes squeezed shut, more tears leaking out and rolling down her pale, flushed cheeks as she hugged Aragon tighter, her trembling returning as she burrowed into her more. “They didn't want me. Nobody wants me.”

Aragon felt her heart soften, and she eased the quietly weeping child into a more tender and natural embrace, practically cradling her in her lap. Joan felt so...warm and soft, like Mary did the few times she got to hold her, and Aragon couldn’t believe how content she felt with Joan nestled in her arms. She vaguely recalled an old memory from when she was still a girl, and heard in her mind her mother’s voice telling her:

“When you become a mother, Catalina, the first time you hold your child, you will feel this huge rush of love... It’s overwhelming, overpowering, yet so beautiful... You forget what just happened and all you care about is the life resting in your arms.”

“You’re getting sappy again, mama.”

“I know I am. But one day I hope you’ll get to feel that love.”

Aragon wondered if this was that fabled love her mother had told her about all those years ago.

Joan was just so lonely, she was now realizing. Before now, she never noticed how alone the music director truly was, but now she was remembering how often she saw Joan at the theater without anyone by her side.

No wonder she seemed so alien to compassion.

The poor kid didn’t have any friends.

She stroked the girl’s head, teasing the baby hairs at the back of her neck. She heard a faint coo come from Joan, who cuddled closer, like a little kitten desperate for love from its mother.

“I know that I haven’t been all that welcoming tonight. And I know that I can be mean and grumpy...” She felt the girl nodding her head. “But...I can tell you this: Even if they didn’t want you around then... I do.”

She was honestly expecting Joan to perk up, eyes wide and a puppy-dog smile on her face, but she she stayed still, contemplating Aragon’s words and enjoying this affection that was so alien to her.

“Do you really mean that?”

She didn’t even pause. “Yes.”

#a test with this friendship 👀👀#mamagon returns!!#soft tour ara has me weak 🥺🥺#six the musical tour #six uk tour #six the musical #six the musical fanfiction #six the musical fanfic #catherine of aragon #tour catherine of aragon #tour joan on the keys #joan on the keys #tw: violence

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redrobin-detective · 4 years

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All Together Now

I’ve been feeling nostalgic and watching some Doctor Who again (ah back to my roots) and I wrote so much DW fic back in the day that I thought I’d share an old favorite. A story in which all 11 (this was written in 2013, just after the 50th so no Capaldi or Whittaker) Doctors meet each other in true disaster fashion. It was fun dialogue and opportunity to flex on my ridiculous amount of DW knowledge. (7′s spectrox toxemia comment to 5, still funny seven years later)

XxX

The Eleventh Doctor was having quite a nice relaxing day. He was bored with it already but he was certainly having it. He stared out at the dark purple waves of Atrios wondering where he would go next. He had dropped Amy and Rory off a while back after the scare at the alien motel and he just couldn't quite get back into the swing of adventuring, not yet anyway. He missed them, plain and simple, and the TARDIS just seemed so lifeless without them.

"Oi, you with the bowtie, would you give me a hand?" The Doctor jumped slightly and considered not turning; actually to be honest he considered getting up and running away screaming. Of course he recognized that voice, how could he not? A few centuries ago he had been speaking in that voice. "Really, it will only take a mo and then you can go back to your sulking." The Doctor scowled and turned around to face his previous incarnation.

"I am not sulking; I was just enjoying the scenery." He looked back over his shoulder at the purple waves, he supposes they were a bit dull. The other Doctor, the tenth version anyway, rolled his eyes.

"Right I forgot never to underestimate the entertainment levels of human tourists. You lot act as if you've never seen an alien ocean." The Doctor quirked an eyebrow, rude and not ginger, yes he was totally seeing it now. Well whatever, he was in it now so he'd better get ole Sandshoes here out of the way before a paradox ensued. How the hell did he not remember this?

"So what sort of help do you need so desperately that you interrupt my… introspection."

"I came here with an Earth woman she has red hair and is very, very loud. I seem to have lost her, have you seen or rather heard her?" The Doctor, or really Eleven since there were two Doctors present, was so confused he couldn't even name the thing that confused him the most. First of all, he doesn't ever remember coming to Atrios with Donna. Second, shouldn't Ten have picked up on the fact that this man was not only a Time Lord but a future version of himself and three, Donna. Donna was here, he could see Donna again. He could talk about adventures and laugh with Donna. All three were very good reasons to stick close to Ten and find out just what was happening. He shook his head.

"I'm afraid not, but I could help you look for her, if you want…" Ten frowned suspiciously and Eleven couldn't help but feel vain about the wrinkles that appeared around his eyes and mouth. "You know, to get away from the sulking thing for a bit, you're right, I just said goodbye to some good mates and well-" Ten smiled and clapped him on the back, Eleven was mildly surprised nothing exploded. They began walking down the beach as Ten went off on a long ramble.

"Sure of course, I understand, come on. I do love chatting; I do it a lot apparently. Donna says I've got a gob that just doesn't stop and I tell her that she's not much better what with all her shouting and stuff. I'm sorry I've gone off again haven't I? What did you say your name was again?" Eleven blinked, would John Smith be too obvious?

"Er uh Rory, Rory Williams." Ten grinned.

"Well my name is…" His eyes darted to something over Eleven's shoulder and they widened to the size of saucers. Eleven almost turned but Ten stopped him finishing loudly. "Yes, and I am Wilfred, Wilfred Mott, lovely to meet you." He leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially. "Ok Rory, act natural. I know this bloke but he doesn't know me yet. I'm a time traveler so this is possible, it'll be over soon. So just stay calm and act natural."

"Oi, hold up, I've got a question. Have you two stooges seen a young girl, about 19 or so with curly blonde hair?" Eleven sucked in his breath and bit his lip. This was bad and getting baderer by the second. As if dealing with Ten wasn't bad enough but now Nine pops up out of nowhere?

"Rose?" Ten choked out and Eleven wanted to roll his eyes. He forgot how that incarnation was nearly overwhelmed by his sentimentality for the London shop girl. Eleven frowned, he couldn't really blame him though, he wasn't much better with his little Amelia. Nine walked over to them with concerned look.

"Oh so you've seen her then, that's good. I've been looking for her for a while now, honestly I don't know what part of 'don't wander off' they don't they get."

Ten and Eleven exchanged a look in which Ten mimed a quick shush noise. It made the eldest Doctor want to tear his hair out. Here he was hiding from Ten who was now trying to convince him to hide from Nine. He was fairly certain this couldn't get any worse. Nine glared at them clearly getting impatient.

"If you two are done making faces at each other, would one of you point me in the direction of my companion? I'd like to get off this heap of rubble as soon as I can thank you very much." A discreet glance in Ten's direction told Eleven that his younger self was still too caught up in the thought of meeting his Rose again. He sighed and turned to address Nine.

"Um sorry mate, don't know any Roses here. My friend… Wilfred and I haven't seen anyone else and hopefully no one else unexpected pops along." Eleven said with a strained smile, the last part muttered under his breath. Ten seemed to snap out of his stupor and properly look at him for the first time. Eleven wasn't sure what would happen if they all started deducing identities but he'd rather not find out. While he was curious as to why Nine was here, this many Doctors in one area couldn't possibly be good.

"Pardon chaps!" The three Doctors froze as Eight all dressed to the nines – dear Rassilon he did not just think that- snuck up behind them. They all turned and gave him a thinly disguised grimace while the pretty faced man just kept smiling as if nothing were wrong. So this is before the Time War then, hard to imagine a time when he was that innocent. "Would one of you tell me where the nearest town is? Lucie wanted to do a bit of shopping or she did before I lost her. I suppose I should be asking if you've seen her about. She's about yeah tall, Northern accent, rather brash." Eight said with a small, kind smile.

"Nope, nuh-uh, none whatsoever!" Ten squeaked rocking on his heels while Nine took a few steps back. Eight regarded them all with a funny expression on his face as his gaze sharpened.

"Is everything alright? Are you in some sort of trouble?"

"No!" Nine said stepping forward with a menacing glare. Eleven winced a little; it appeared Nine was still wounded by his previous regeneration's actions during the war or lack there of perhaps. "And I think it's about time you got going you hussy." Eight took a step back in surprise only for a very distinctive umbrella to swing down in-between the two. Eight's surprise shifted from one Doctor to another as he turned to the newest member of the group.

"Now gentleman, I don't know what's going on between the two of you but you're grown men and I'd think you'd better start acting like it." Seven purred pulling his umbrella back and hooking it onto his arm. "Now really, what is going on here? And what are all you doing staring at me for?" Four Doctors turned to look at one another.

What in the name of Rassilon had he been drinking last night?

"Excuse me dear fellows." Seven's eyes widened as Five approached followed by a very pensive Six who hung back a little, probably to observe to his past self. "Is there a hospital nearby?" He asked jovially before subtly leaning forward gesturing his head back towards Six and whispering conspiratorially. "I don't think that man is quite stable, I think it's best if he got some proper rest." The group was all silence but he thinks he heard Nine muttering about the blasted coat under his breath to which Eleven wholeheartedly agreed. Which would makes sense as they were the same person after all. Eight cleared his throat.

"I'm sorry er Sir, but we're all tourists as well I'm afraid so we're just as lost as you are." He said trailing off slightly as he eyed the group before finally settling on Eleven. "Funny, I thought I'd gotten past the bowtie thing years ago." He mumbled quietly and Eleven huffed and indignantly straightened his very cool accessory. Oblivious, Five nodded a bit sadly casting a glance at Six.

"Yes, well I am a Doctor maybe I can do something on my own. I do wish I knew what had happened that would make him so peculiar." He paused and Seven brought his umbrella to his lips.

"A dose of spectrox toxaemeia and a hero complex will do that any day." The rest of the Doctors cleared their throats or coughed or just outright snorted. Five blinked as he eyed Seven.

"I'm sorry I didn't quite catch that, did you say spectrox-"

"-toxaemia, yes it's a poison found primary on Androzani Minor in the Sirius system. A horrible way to go, or so, I've been told and I'm hoping not to find out myself truth be told." The Fourth Doctor interrupted smiling broadly while Five sputtered before readjusting his celery to cover the motion. The Fourth Doctor adjusted his hat and grinned manically. "Hello, I'm the Doctor; might I ask what's going on here?" Six finally seeming have lost interest in sulking, stepped forward and instinctively all the other Doctors reached forward to stop him from acting too rashly. Too late though.

"Well that's a fairly presumptuous question for you of all people to be asking, Doctor." He said, jabbing Four in the chest. "I think we really ought to be asking who you are and are you doing here?" There has got to be a small star exploding somewhere as five Doctors simultaneously face palmed. The Fourth Doctor blinked and not breaking eye contact reached into his pocket and pulled out a bag.

"Why my good man, I think you need a jelly baby."

"I don't believe I do thank you very much!" Six shouted tugging on his lapels. Seven stepped in and held his hands in a placating way.

"Gentlemen please there's no reason to shout." Six turned his glare onto his future self.

"Oh don't I? Just look at your jumper man. Who dressed you this morning? The Riddler?" Nine snorted at this.

"Oi have you looked in the mirror recently, thank God I got over that phase quickly enough." Six's annoyance melted as he took in the rest of large group as if noticing them for the first time. "Wait are you all...?"

"Did it really take you that long to work it out?" Four asked, biting of the head of a jelly baby. "I weep for my future." He rolled his eyes over in the direction of the older Doctors. Ten quirked an eyebrow in annoyance, "what?"

"Oh nothing," Four said tucking away his jelly babies. "Just looking at a future mid-life crisis, practically children you are. Honestly the next one's going to be twelve years old." His eyes slid over to Eleven, "oops too late." Eleven's mouth twitched, oh to hell with the timelines.

"Oh well aren't you just the coolest with your scarf and your candies." He spat, throwing his arms in the air which probably wasn't the best move if the looks on everyone's' faces were any indication.

"Yes thank you for noticing, a trait you seemed to have misplaced young man. Tell me, are your parents coming to pick you up soon?" Four teased.

"Oh I'd get that big head of yours out of the clouds before you take a fall, opps," he mimicked "too late I guess. Celery boy is better than you every day." Five grimaced.

"Please don't draw me into this narcissistic competition." But still the bickering continued as their voices grew louder and tempers grew shorter.

"You should've wiped out the Daleks when you had the chance you maniac! You could have avoided the whole damn war!" Nine shouted

"Oh will you be quiet you! What happen? Did the pretty princess over there swallow glass to turn into such a bitter angry man? My clothes are a disguise but yours show how ugly you truly are!" Six retorted.

"Disguise for what? Your dreadful personality? If you weren't so distracted by your clothes you could have saved Peri you half wit numbskull." Ten interrupted.

"Hey now therrrrrre everyone calm down. What are we fighting for? Can't we handle this as Doctors?" Seven countered.

"I do concur, we are the Doctor and we should be acting like it so if everyone would just..." Eight pleaded.

"Shut up Lord Byron, just because you didn't fight in the war doesn't mean I don't blame you for it! We're all responsible!" Nine accused.

"Oi, big ears! X-nay on the War-eh." Eleven hissed.

"Mmmhmm!" Though quiet, the sound of an older man clearing his throat caused all the Doctors to turn and find, well himself. The First, Second and Third Doctors stood there looking none too pleased at their future incarnations. The bickering Doctors had least at the sense to look ashamed.

"Now then, which one of you is the eldest?" The First asked giving his cane a light tap on the ground. The Eleventh Doctor slowly stepped forward and rocked awkwardly on his feet at the aggravated look his younger counterparts gave him. Honestly, they should know that he couldn't help the face.

"Oh for Rassilon's sake look at that, younger than Susan I'd bet. Oh no matter, no matter, will you tell me what in the name of sanity is happening, hmmm?" One demanded causing the other two Doctors to nod.

"Yes please enlighten us since you're clearly the most aged and experienced." Three drawled out sarcastically.

"Hmm, what's a boy got to say that we don't know?" Two huffed. Choosing to ignore thm, Eleven continued.

"We're not quite sure but somehow we all ended up in this time and place. I came across Ten who was-" he paused as if remembering something important. "Hang on, I came here alone but didn't you all come with companions?" He saw the other Doctors' eyes grow bright with understanding.

"Yeah, like I said before, I came with Donna" "and Rose" "Lucie..." "Ace is accompanying me currently" "Peri, wait what do you mean I could have saved P-" "I had Tegan and Turlough" " the savage Leela who-" "Miss Sarah Jane Smith" "What? But where did Jamie and Victoria go?"

One nodded at the string of names he did not know but someday would. "And I came with Steven and Dodo, yes I see your point young man, where did they go?" The Doctors suddenly looked around as if it would cause their companions to reappear. Seven took a few steps back away from the group.

"Yes, well I need to be finding Ace. I brought her here to let loose some old Nitro-9 and Rassilon knows what she'll do without prrroper supervision." He tipped his hat, "I look forward to meeting you all, well not particularly." Four smirked as he also turned and sauntered his own way.

"Yeah, same goes for Leela. I don't want to know what she's getting up to. Probably murder if I were to guess. Don't worry, I'll be sure to enjoy being an adult while it lasts. Goodbye, my dears." Nine huffed and spun on his heels as he stalked away.

"Forgot how unpleasant that one could be, reminds me too much of you all. Now I'm off to find my Rose, I swear if I see any of you again-"

"I should be going too," Five interrupted leaning forward to shake Ten and Eleven's hands. "Don't worry what they say, I'm sure you're all doing a cracking job. Have a lovely rest of your day." Ten smiled and returned the handshake enthusiastically.

"Yeah you see that's what I'm talking about! A true inspiration, now you sir, are the Doctor. My Doctor I guess if I had to pick a favorite." The two men smiled and wandered off together. Slowly the Doctors dispersed in their own directions, probably searching for their companions until only One and Eleven remained. Eleven tried to ignore One's rather penetrating stare and instead nervously tugged at his collar.

"You said you came here alone?" One began.

"For now," Eleven shrugged. "It's too dangerous to travel with humans for a long time. They get worn out and sometimes-sometimes bad things happen. It's better this way so I don't needlessly endanger lives." One pursed his lips before treating Eleven to a small smile and a light shoulder tap.

"Hmm so you are wiser than you look. Ho it's nice to know I look that good when my eyes are as old and troubled as yours are. So humor me old man, did we ever get around to fixing that old Chameleon Circuit?"

In a bar about 12 miles away

"I'm bored when's the Doctor going to get here? He promised us a pleasure planet but all I see around here is dirt." Tegan moaned sitting her head on the bar. Something had obviously gone astray as there were many, many people here looking for the Doctor but describing all sorts of different looking men.

One savage looking girl even described the first Doctor she had met, the scarf one, almost to a tee. She was busy arguing with a short teenager over explosives and Tegan was sure the place would be blown up in about 5 minutes. It didn't help that this obnoxious red head kept fawning over this Rose girl. Apparently she was important or something. Boy did she ever needed a drink.

A couple others were huddled in groups talking about their Doctors and what they were like but Tegan was just too upset for that kind of thing right now. All she wanted was for that Time Lord who couldn't tell time to get in here so she could give him a swift kick to the behind. She didn't even have Turlough to pass the time with as he was too busy chatting up some of the prettier girls. One girl was so scantily clad even Tegan was embarrassed. Ugh alien or not, he was still a man. She'd have cozied up to the handsome one in the kilt but the way that Victorian lady held onto him said he was off limits.

The sound of the door swinging open caught her attention as an older looking gentleman wandered in and opened his eyes wide in surprise as he saw them all. He muttered something to himself with a wry little smile on his face and took the seat next to her. He smiled sweetly and she realized that he wasn't nearly as old as he looked, just dirty and worn down like he'd been in a war or something. But there was an impish sparkle in her eyes that was terribly familiar... Oh lord it couldn't be.

"Excuse me Tegan," he began in a light voice. "I'm looking for the Doctor." Tegan smirked.

"Well, you've certainly come to the right place."

#doctor who #really should transfer some of FGtT to AO3 #theres some legit good stuff in there

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foxy-exy · 5 years

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House Keys and Dead Phones

@twinyardsappreciationweek Day 4 - Aaron, with Andrew’s People

AO3 Series

TW: discussion of Aaron & Neil’s abuse

Aaron Minyard did not want to be here. And judging by the muttered swearing of the other man standing five feet away and kicking at his own front door, Neil Josten did not want to be either.

“What kind of asshole forgets his house key?” Aaron spat, and wrapped his arms tighter around himself, hunkering down on the porch step. It was way too cold for this shit. “You went through the whole work day without noticing that you didn’t have the one thing that would let you back into the place you live? And now your phone is dead? How stupid are you?”

“What kind of dickhead shows up unannounced to visit and locks all his shit including his own car keys and phone in his car, dumbass?” Neil returned hotly. One of his idiot cats yowled from the other side of the door that was still rattling under his foot, and Neil stopped immediately to coo, “sorry, Sir, didn’t mean to scare you,” in frankly impressively high pitched baby talk.

“There’s no way you can tell which rat that is.”

Neil turned on him with fire and brimstone in his eyes and Aaron instinctively scrambled down another few steps.

“They sound different, fucker. Also, King is probably sleeping somewhere and doesn’t care enough about where I am to come investigate, anyway.”

“Yeah, I’d feel the same.”

Neil kicked at Aaron’s shoulder and — as Aaron rubbed at the future bruise — flopped down next to him, pulling up the hood of his old Palmetto State sweatshirt and stuffing his hands into the pocket. Of course he still wore it. “God. This sucks.”

“When’s Andrew coming home?”

“I told you, I don’t know,” Neil snapped. “His team’s got a game coming up, they’re probably practicing later than usual tonight. You should have called ahead if you wanted to see him. We’re busy people.”

Aaron rolled his eyes. “I’m a doctor married to a doctor, who owns a dog with a multitude of health problems. I see a last minute spot in my schedule, I take it.”

Neil sniffed and wiped at his nose and they sat in mildly awkward silence for a while. Then, quietly: “How is…the dog…?”

Aaron actually turned to stare now, and Neil ducked further into his hood.

“I called your cats rats.”

“And I’m a decent human being who will ask after your furry child, believe it or not!”

“Debatable on the decent,” Aaron said, because he could. “Popo’s on medications that are working, for now. But pugs have never been the best at breathing, in general.” Even more awkwardly, he added, “And, uh. Them?”

“Christ, Aaron. The cats are fine, but I know you don’t care. This feels as bad as discussing the weather.”

“What, do you want me to pull out therapy techniques or something? Are you going to tell me about your trauma?”

The side of Neil’s mouth twitched down sharply and he went silent, examining his hands. Aaron couldn’t stop his own eyes from dropping to the ruin of skin — faded white lines and raised circular lumps, still apparent on the backs of Neil’s hands, disappearing up his sleeves.

“Do you still take care of those?” he asked before he could stop himself, in his Doctor Voice that Katelyn made fun of.

“Yes,” Neil said. “Do you still go to therapy, then?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know, sometimes when Andrew’s mad, he’ll tell me that I’m just as blind about my mom as you are?” Neil murmured. He laced his fingers together, pressed them to his mouth, and blew warm air, as Aaron felt a familiar old pain tug at his chest.

“Oh?” he managed.

“She always had a reason to hit me. I justified it because it was survival, and I was making mistakes. And she wasn’t my father, she could have really, really hurt me, but she was keeping me alive, when I would have died on my own. But a lot of people have told me that I need to stop trying to defend her actions. Because I didn’t deserve it.”

“But she didn’t need to die like that,” Aaron said, in a rusty voice.

“No,” Neil agreed, softly, as they both looked up to Andrew’s headlights turning into the driveway. “No, she didn’t.”

#aaron minyard #neil josten #the foxhole court #all for the game #foxhole court #aftg #tfc #aftg fanfic #tfc fanfic #all for the game fanfic #the foxhole court fanfic #fanfic #kaystuff #kay fanfic #twinyardsappreciationweek

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sciencelings-writes · 5 years

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Last Man Standing

Summary: I wanted to write another endgame/ infinity war fix it where instead of Peter dusting, It’s Tony. shit goes a little crazy from there. 8.7k words, get ready fam. AO3 LINK

Peter sat in the guardian’s ship, frozen in place. He was in shock. Because the worst thing that could happen, happened again.

He was gone, Mr. Stark was gone. Tony was gone. Disintegrating into dust after a single glance into Peter’s eyes. No goodbye. Not like Ben. Uncle Ben had moments more than Tony did. Bleeding out. Peter didn’t know which was worse, A father figure dying in front of him, slowly, being able to hear his heartbeat slow and stop or his new father figure disappearing without even a chance to say a word. Just look into his eyes, looking worried but not having any time to think about it.

Peter had time to think about it. Too much time. He had worked with the blue cyborg woman to repair the ship for a few days. At least then he could distract himself. But she was working on getting them to earth, and he could only think. Or sleep. But sleeping was so much worse.

He had been zoning out for god knows how long. Hours? Days? It felt like an eternity and he didn’t feel like he was in his body at a certain point. He was only shaking out of it because of Nebula’s, the blue woman’s monotone voice.

“You need to eat.” She ordered simply. He took the space food out of her hand and muttered a thanks. Peter’s normally talkative demeanor was snuffed out after they lost. Nebula wasn’t much of a talker to begin with and they worked together out of necessity. Peter would always be thankful that she didn’t leave him alone on the planet even though she totally could have.

Once she got autopilot fixed and had no need to stay in the cockpit, she seemed to always be near him. Not close but within her silent gaze. He would try to fill his time by tinkering with extra parts and pacing around.

They had their real conversation a full week into flying in space. While they were frantically trying to upgrade the air recycling system so they wouldn’t die days away from earth. They had already run out of food and Peter was growing weaker but air was a little more important.

“Was he your father?” Nebula said dryly as Peter took out the power source from his Iron spider suit. It was a tiny arc reactor hidden in the spider on his chest, made out of nanites.

“Uh, kinda… not really. He’s my mentor but he is… was kinda like a dad to me. You know, teaching me how to be a hero and scolding me when I was being dumb…” His voice was a little hoarse from not being used and from not getting enough water in attempt to conserve it.

“You are lucky. My father was the one we were fighting.”

“Ouch, that’s rough. I thought my luck with father figures was bad…” This managed to lift the sides of Nebula’s mouth for the hint of a smile. It was gone faster than it came, she didn’t seem used to small talk.

“I’m sorry about what happened to him.” She grumbled as they worked.

“It happened to your friends too and half of the universe if I remember. I don’t even know if we are the lucky half.”

“We aren’t.” Nebula muttered. Peter knew she was right. It was much harder to live than it was to die.

Eventually, the work was done and they could rest. The would probably have a few more days of air but they both knew they wouldn’t get to earth fast enough. If they had to die, they would die together and Peter would really rather not die but if he had to die, at least he wasn’t alone.

He tried to hang out with Nebula more, explain earth things, show her how to play games like thumb wars, where she almost broke his hand. She would indulge him, knowing they were not far from suffocating to death. Or starving to death… or dehydrating to death. Whichever one happened first.

Peter got weaker and weaker without the food to sustain him. Nebula had given him her last ration. They were out of fuel, out of water, hours away from being out of air, out of food and out of hope.

They were still so many days away from earth when it got to the point where Peter couldn’t even stand. Nebula sat with him. She even picked him up and placed him on the co-pilots chair so that he could look at the stars instead of the dirty metal.

He was so so tired. It was probable that if he closed his eyes, he would never open them again. If he was hydrated enough to have tears come to his eyes, they would be. They were so close to death and so far away from home. And he was so tired…

His eyes closed, for what he thought would be the last time and he wondered what he would see. Would he see Ben? Tony? Would his mom and dad be up there? Maybe Nebula would see her sister again. Maybe there would be nothing at all. The thought made him strangely at peace. The pain would be over, the sorrow wouldn’t weigh him down, it would all be over.

That’s when a bright light apeared on the other side of his eyelids. He peeked them open, squinting his eyes as it had been so long since he had seen something so bright. Was this it? Was he dead?

The light faded slightly and revealed a blonde woman smiling. Was she an angel? Peter was delirious but it was a nice thought. Maybe she would take him to wherever Ben and Tony were.

She didn’t. She flew under their ship and carried it home. Peter fought to stay awake, he tried to call out to Nebula to tell her about the angel but his voice wasn’t very loud. He smiled knowing that they were saved.

They landed near Avengers Compound, there were people waiting for them. The glowing angel woman had to help Peter out of the ship but he made it. He had never been more excited to breathe in his life.

Captain America ran up to them. Before he could say anything Peter whimpered out a few words.

“I’m sorry… I lost him.”

“We lost,” Cap said sorrowfully. As if Peter couldn’t already tell. Pepper and Rhodey came running after Steve, they weren’t as fast as a super-soldier but they had much more reason to run towards the ship. Tony could’ve been on it. The thought made a ping of pain ripple through Peter’s chest.

“Did Tony-” Pepper started. She didn’t finish. She saw the look in Peter’s eyes and she knew. She put a hand over her mouth to muffle a sob and Rhodey tried to look composed but Peter could see him trembling.

“I’m so sorry…” Peter wheezed before starting a brief coughing fit that made him blackout for a moment. It was kind of spooky. The glowing angel woman still held him up and advised that they take him to the med bay.

That was the last thing he heard before everything went dark, thankfully, not for the last time.

***

He woke up after a terrible dream. By the time his eyes were open, he had already forgotten it but he still felt his heart race and sweat, the moisture of fear, in several uncomfortable places. He noticed the sweat and looked at the optimistic side. He was hydrated. He had enough water in his body that he could sweat.

Then he noticed everything else. He had needles and tubes everywhere they could medically stick him. His throat hurt, probably from having a feeding tube shoved down it. He had an IV and as many monitors that would fit on his malnourished body. The only other person in the room was Pepper. She was on her tablet and he noticed that there were slight shadows under her eyes. He knew he looked a whole lot worse though.

“Ms. Potts?” He said weakly. She looked up quickly and plastered on a fake smile.

“Hey, Pete. Did you sleep well?”

“Uh, Yeah.” he lied, “Did Aunt May…” his voice shook as he left the question hanging, suspecting the answer.

“I’m sorry Peter, she didn’t make it…” he looked down and avoided her gaze. Preparing himself did nothing and it was like the knife that was left by Tony’s death and it was now being twisted. In other words, it fucking sucked.

“This is a pretty sucky fifty percent huh…” Peter muttered after a wet sob.

“Yeah… you could say that.” Pepper smiled sadly as she wiped a few tears from her own eyes.

“Who else did we lose?” Peter asked, desperate for a distraction.

“The kind of Wakanda, his sister came with us to the compound, she wants to be part of the solution. Uh, Sam Wilson, you know, falcon, Nick Fury, Ant-Man…” she went on, naming everyone from celebrities to anyone she thought he would know. Including his friends.

The next few days were the worst of his life. He had to deal with everyone he was close to being dusted and being unable to get out of bed. The later was much less painful but it still bothered him. It made him feel useless in addition to absolutely destroyed and depressed.

Eventually, enough was enough. He took out everything except for the IV as he was still dehydrated and could roll it around pretty easily. He carefully got himself into his wheelchair and rolled himself to where his enhanced senses heard the somber avengers gathering.

Peter was surprised but not that surprised to see a raccoon in clothes in the room with the remaining heroes. He’s seen aliens, it wasn’t that weird to see a talking raccoon with a familiar accent.

“Kid, what are you doing out and about?” Rhode said, looking mildly concerned.

“I got sick of just sitting on my ass.” He grumbled. “Now, does anyone have any idea what we’re going to do or did I just exchange sitting on my ass with access to a comfortable bed for sitting on my ass in a room full of depression?”

“If we find Thanos and get the infinity stones back, we can theoretically bring everyone back.” Doctor Banner said calmly. He ignored Peter’s grumpy mood, everyone dealt with major tragedies differently.

“We couldn’t keep the stones from him, now he has the most powerful weapon in the galaxy and we have half the ranks with some of our best indistinguishable from the sand on a beach. And you want to go back and try again. Like he can’t just snap his fingers and have you join the rest of the universe. Yeah, that’s pretty stupid.” Peter spat as he settled near the holograms listing the people who were dusted.

“Well, do you have any other ideas?” Cap sighed.

“Yeah, anything but that.” Peter groaned. “You’ll all get killed and then the universe will have no hope. Maybe we can contain the stones or something.”

“We wouldn’t be able to do any tests, if it doesn’t work we’re all dead.” Doctor Banner shrugged.

“Tony Stark’s nanotech sheild deflected a direct blast from the purple infinity stone. That’s at least a start.”

“The purple one… that’s the power stone kid! So this dead guy deflected a hit from the power stone with his tech? I’d like to get a hold of that…” The raccoon exclaimed.

“You know, it’s really too bad that this all couldn’t have been avoided…” Peter looked directly at Captain America. He didn’t know why he was consumed with such irrational anger because he would never act this way normally. His line had been crossed weeks ago when Mr. Stark died in front of him. He was just at a point where he didn’t give a fuck.

“What are you even talking about kid?” Steve raised an annoyingly calm eyebrow.

“If only everyone was all together to fight him at once rather than separated and weaker. We almost got the gauntlet off with only like seven people, imagine if it was all of you guys too…” Peter hissed. “You know Tony warned you about this. He knew something was coming and nobody listened.”

“Ultron was made because of his paranoia.”

“So was the Vision. He was our superman and the only being I would trust with the infinite power that he was given. It really sucks because if you all just stuck together and you know, didn’t become war criminals because you had your heads so far up Mr. perfects ass, Tony would still be alive, along with all of my friends and the only family I had left.” Peter gradually started to yell. He had just held too much in for too long and apparently now was the time to let it out.

Most infuriating of all, Steve just stood there. He didn’t try to argue with Peter, he didn’t make any kind of retort. He just stood there with a blank expression.

“If you had any sort of trust in him, he would still be alive!” Peter ripped his IV out of his arm, it was just in the way and it had become one of the things that were just holding him back. He shakily stood up in his adrenaline-filled fury.

“Whoa kid-” Rhodey put a comforting hand on Peter’s shoulder but it did nothing to hold him back.

“No matter how strong and mighty you think you are, you’re nothing compared to the guy that killed him. Don’t let your fucking ego get in the way of the fate of the universe! A fucking wizard with fucking magic couldn’t take this guy down! You’re just full of steroids and misplaced self-confidence.” Peter limped his way to Steve with so much rage in his eyes that the man several inches taller backed away a little. “ So yeah, I’ve got nothing for you. No plan, no ideas, no trust, LIAR!” he had an accusing finger stabbing at Steve’s chest.

This, of course, was the exact time he started to feel light-headed. He stumbled back a little and barely caught his footing. After not standing for so long, thirty full seconds made his useless body want to give up.

He could sense angel lady and Rhodey being ready to catch him when he inevitably fell. He looked at Cap one last time, who also seemed like he was worried that Peter was going to fall.

“I… I don’t feel so good-” His voice shook, less than a second later, his vision turned black and he collapsed to the floor.

The next time he woke up, it was days later. He physically felt as good as new but that changed when he was told what happened while he was sedated. The Avengers came back with Thanos’ blood on their hands but no infinity stones. Thanos had the last laugh when he used the stones to destroy the stones. He destroyed the only thing that could get everyone back and it finally sunk in what happened. They were all gone. And unless they had some reality-defying solution, it would be for good.

***

FIVE YEARS LATER

***

Peter had moved on. Or at least he thought he did. For the first year after the snap, he put all his effort into finding a solution. He didn’t find one. He had to move on. Without MJ or Ned or even Flash, he didn’t have a reason to stay in the same grade. He finished high school early. He sped through college and when he turned eighteen, he revealed his identity to the world and became an official avenger.

He also became best friends with the new black panther and queen of Wakanda. They were both incredibly smart and the same age and were enhanced with the theming of an animal. She was the only person he could feel normal with. Well, It started out as best friends, it evolved a little beyond that.

They became an unstoppable duo, superheroing and not superheroing. They made a pretty good team in smash. Shuri always played Samus and Peter always played Kirby. Peter visited Wakanda when he couldn’t stand living in the city, they worked endless hours in her labs and alternated music choices to blast at ungodly volumes. It was some of the best times of his life.

He moved past Thanos and he finally felt kind of stable. That was until Scott Lang came back from the quantum realm with ideas that have already been thought of. Peter and Shuri had already tried time travel to get their loved ones back but for some reason, this was different. Scott came to them. Most people wouldn’t come to them, they were often underestimated for their intelligence and sometimes ego was a larger factor than actual intellect.

Ant-Man came to Peter and Shuri because right now, they were his best bet to get everyone back. At the moment, they were probably the smartest people on the planet. Sure it wasn’t as taboo as when they were teenagers but they were still too young to be respected as tech geniuses.

But Peter wasn’t ready to change everything again. He had finally found peace after years of trauma and loss. Of course he wanted everyone back but he didn’t know if trying again would just make everything worse. The world had moved on and accepted what happened. It had been over for years, reopening old wounds, potentially for nothing, did not sound fun.

That’s why he said no at first. Even the idea of Thanos still scared the shit out of him. Thanos was dead. At least this version of Thanos was. If they went back in time to get the stones… Thanos would still be alive. Peter thought he had seen the last of that dried eggplant asshole.

He worked on the time travel simulations after Shuri had gone to bed. Scott was staying in a guest room in the palace and Peter was all alone, with barely any hope, trying to solve time travel. Then he did it. At two AM when he was about to give up, he did it. The simulation worked. With the information Scott had about the quantum realm, they could use it to time travel and actually control where they went.

He could get them back… May, Tony, Ned, MJ… all of them. He could bring them back…

He spent the rest of the night crying with joy until he fell asleep on his desk. For once his sleep was peaceful. He dreamed of seeing them again.

***

“I figured it out.” He brought up, out of nowhere the first time they were all gathered for a hologram meeting with the avengers all around the world and the few in space. “Time travel. I figured it out. We can get the stones from the past and use them now to bring everyone back.”

There was silence for a moment as everyone thought about what he said.

“You… figured out time travel?” Natasha said and if Peter wasn’t mistaken, she sounded impressed.

“At least the method. It will take a few days to make the actual time machine. But it is possible and my simulations have been successful. We only have enough Pym particles for nine of us round trip excluding two tests. We’ll have to split up into teams to collect the stones so that we can get to them all. We can discuss everything at the compound after the machine is built so… avengers assemble I guess.” Peter said calmly, but he couldn’t keep a smile from his face.

“Well, you heard Spider-Man, Avengers Assemble.”

***

Peter decided not to go on the time-traveling adventure. They would need tech geniuses on both sides, just so nothing would go wrong. Shuri would go with Professor Hulk, Captain America, and Ant-Man to New York 2012, Carol would go with Rhodey to get the power stone from some planet in the past, punk Hawkeye and Black widow were going for the soul stone, and hobo Thor with Rocket, going to Asgard for the reality stone. The hulk had managed to get Thor out of his hole in New Asgard.

Hawkeye had tested the time machine by going into the past and saving some enhanced kids’ life. Someone named Piedro. He was apparently the magic girl’s brother. Well, she better be thankful when they bring her back from the dust.

“Everyone ready?” Peter said as he flipped all the switches and pressed all the buttons that he needed to get the large time machine set up. The avengers came into the room wearing their black and red quantum nano suits sans helmets.

The vibranium gauntlet that was to hold the infinity stones was waiting to be used beside him. It was hard to accept that for him, it was only going to be a minute before all of the stones were together. They were so close to bringing everyone back that it was almost impossible for Peter to wrap his head around it.

The Avengers took their places on the platform with Shuri bringing up the rear. Before she started on the steps, she leaned down to where he was sitting and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. She smirked at how red his face turned. Natasha snorted at his reaction. Rocket scoffed something that Peter couldn’t quite hear.

“Stay safe your highness. And uh, I guess everyone else.” Peter smiled shyly. “Okay, sending you all off in 3… 2...1!” He twisted a nob and everything started to glow. In a flash, everyone was gone.

“And they should be back in… 3… 2… 1!” He talked to himself as a flash of light flooded the room and everyone was back. Well, almost everyone. Everyone’s helmets disappeared and Natasha had tears in her eyes. Clint wasn’t in the group that came back. There was a moment of silence between all of the Avengers and Shuri jogged towards Peter and almost suffocated him in a hug.

“Woah woah, what happened? You okay?” He said worriedly.

“It’s fine, there were just a few bumps in the road.” She sighed. She looked a little bruised and had a few bloody wounds, nothing too bad though.

“It was a sacrifice…” Natasha said weakly. “It was the only way to get the stone…”

The room went quiet once again. They weren’t prepared for a casualty.

***

They would mourn Clint later, they had all the stones and could finally get everyone back. Peter’s veins were filled with adrenaline. He had never been so excited in his life. He wanted everyone back so fucking bad, but so much had changed. Would they even recognize him now? He was in his early twenties, he had grown so much. Physically and as a person. God, he was probably taller than Tony now…

“I’ll do it.” Carol interrupted his train of thought. Oh yeah, they were trying to decide who would do the snap. “I can absorb the energy that tries to damage me. I’m the safest option.” She said definitively. Thor and Professor Hult seemed to try to argue but Carol talked them down. It wouldn’t hurt her as it would hurt them. She was practically made of infinity stone energy, if anything, it could make her stronger.

Peter had used an enclosed robot arm to place the stones in the dark vibranium gauntlet and it was ready to be used. Carol picked it up and put it on impatiently. They had already waited five years for this moment, none of them wanted to wait any longer.

Arcs of multi-colored light grew on Carol’s arm, she didn’t even wince. She closed her eyes and snapped. There was no more lead up, she just did it.

Peter was the only one that felt an immediate change. He felt what he could only describe as a sigh of relief. It was like all the background noise he tended to tune out was doubled. He just felt the presence of people. It worked. Oh god, it worked. After all this time, they did it. Holy fuck.

It wasn’t a dramatic moment, it was just something that they couldn’t wait to be done. There was no music to confirm that everyone was back, they just had to trust that it worked. It only took a moment for the changes to prove that they happened.

Peter’s phone rang. He whipped it out at the speed of light and sobbed a little when he saw who it was. He didn’t hesitate to answer.

“Peter? Is that you? Can you please tell me what’s going on?” May’s voice sounded a little bit shaky. It took Peter a moment to find his voice.

“Yeah, yeah, it’s me… It’s a little bit of a long story.” He quickly wiped a tear from his eye and shuffled out of the room of avengers. He didn’t what them staring at him. They probably also had a few calls to make. Including one to Clint’s family.

“Why does your voice sound so weird? Are you sick?” May asked.

“My voice is not what you should be focusing on. A whole lot has happened. You might want to sit down…” He said as he did the same. He knew May would be distraught for missing out on his life but it’s not like she had a choice.

“Peter!” Carol’s voice came frantically from the other room. “Kid! Get in the quinjet!”

“Sorry May, I’ve got to go. I’ll explain everything later!” Peter knew that if Carol was panicking, something must have really gone wrong. He ended the call and jumped up to sprint outside to the quinjet. He could vaguely sense the rest of the avengers following him, with a little bit of emphasis on Rocket’s scampering on all fours like the animal he looked like.

Carol scrambled to the pilot’s seat and everyone, even those who could fly independently, filed into the dark jet.

“Okay, can someone tell me what the hell is going on now?” Peter groaned as he stood behind Nebula who was in the co-pilots chair.

“Sorry kid, I guess I got ahead of myself.” Carol sighed. “I just wanted to bring everyone back, I didn’t think that the black order would come back too.”

“Including Thanos or not including Thanos?” Peter’s voice shook and may have risen a few octaves.

“We don’t know, but their ships are gathering above New York City.”

“We still have the infinity stone right? You can just dust them can’t you?”

“The gauntlet is practically unusable. Even made of vibranium it couldn’t stand the strength of the infinity stones.”

“You absorbed the first snap, right? Maybe you could just hold the stones or something.” He said frantically as they took off and headed to the city at full speed. It would only take them a few minutes to get there.

“I almost couldn’t contain the power from the first one with the gauntlet. If I used them without it, I’d explode.”

“Then explode near their ships,” Peter suggested.

“I’ll think about it.” She snorted in response. “I can deal with the ships and hopefully the black order is easily knocked off of the playing board. We need people dealing with civilians.”

“I’ll go. My weapons didn’t do much to these guys last time…” Rhodey said.

“Me too.” Natasha nodded. “Unless you want me to sneak on their ship and take hold of their weapons. I can do that too.”

“Can I come?” Antman asked as his mask flipped on his head. “I can help with small stuff!”

“Sure, go for it,” Carol said, accidentally becoming the leader instead of the other captain. Neither of them really seemed to care.

Peter stayed quiet as they discussed plans, he thought this was all over… He thought Thanos was gone but apparently, he might not be and that scared the shit out of him. Only minutes ago he was pretty damn happy that they brought everyone back but now it could all be undone again and Peter really wasn’t ready.

Okay maybe he was panicking a little but not one was noticing so it didn’t matter. Maybe he was just overthinking it, they had everyone back, it wouldn’t be like last time.

“Spidey, were you listening?” Shuri seemed to realize that Peter was having a little bit of trouble but didn’t point it out.

“Uh, kinda. You should repeat it just to make sure…”

“We’re splitting up the stones since we can’t exactly use them. Carol is taking the power stone since she’s the only one that can hold it, I’m taking the mind stone because I might be able to figure it out, Cap gets time, yadda yadda yadda. You get the Soul Stone. The guardian of the soul stone said that it was different from the other stones so we need someone special to protect it. Someone fast and with a danger sense. Anyway, we’re about there. Just make sure the stones are split up so that we can defeat Thanos without them. Got it? Cool.” Shuri rambled at a speed that only Peter could follow along with.

“Cool.” Peter put on his web-shooters and activated the nanites inside them. The nanotech left their containment and covered his body in his suit. He had adjusted the design of the iron spider suit and even got vibranium added to the mix. There were several lines and points in the suit that had a slight indigo glow from the metal but Peter kept the bright red sections. For the aesthetic. It was the perfect amalgamation of starktech and Shuri’s Wakandan technology with Peter’s own designs sprinkled throughout.

Carol gave him the little orange stone. It seemed too small to be one of the most powerful items in the galaxy. Even through his suit, it was warm. He could feel it’s energy. He put it in a pocket in his web-shooter. Normally the place had extra web fluid but he forgot to refill it. It managed to be the perfect size, thank god.

Then he remembered that people were sacrificed for this little glowing rock. Hawkeye… Nebulas sister… This tiny stone definitely was different than the others. The other ones could be stollen, this one had to be paid, and the price was a little steep by Peter’s standards.

He really hoped that the soul stone wasn’t affected by inflation and that it was always a soul for a soul. Maybe a thousand years ago it was a different cool rock for the magic glowing stone. Like a geode from a national park gift shop for the soul stone. He realized that he may have zoned out a little.

The quinjet hovered above the city and the avengers got ready to jump out. Flyers automatically paired up with non-fliers. Nebula stayed in the cockpit to man the jet while Carol paired herself up with Natasha. Rhodey had Rocket snarling on his shoulder with a gun as big as he was.

One by one, the pairs of avengers leaped out of the quinjet. Except for Captain America, who didn’t need anyone to jump with, he didn’t even have a parachute. From what Peter knew about Steve, that was completely normal.

Peter put his arm safely around Shuri’s waist and jumped out. Shuri whooped like she was on a rollercoaster as if they weren’t going into battle with a resurrected intergalactic warlord. It’s not like he hasn’t taken her web-slinging before, in much safer circumstances.

The city was smoldering and civilians were running as far away as they could. Tripping on debris on the way. Peter spotted people stuck in a crumbling building and as if they had a neurological connection, he and Shuri went to work.

There was a reason they were paired up so often. They were an extremely fluid team that was constantly on the same page. They never had to tell each other what to do, they just knew what they were doing. Okay, they weren’t perfect but they had worked together for years and they knew each other pretty well. Shuri usually depended on Peter to catch her when she fell and he usually did.

This was why when Peter threw Shuri into the window of the building, she didn’t swear at him. With both of his hands free and Shuri in the building with the trapped people, he was able to make a large net with his webs. Shuri helped the family jump into the webbing for Peter to escort to the ground, to run as far away from the carnage as fast as they could.

They carried on like this, staying away from the main fight and helping everyone that needed to be helped until a flash of light caught Peter’s attention. He and Shuri were on a building only a few buildings away from where the flash came from.

It was him. It was Thanos. Below him was Steve, bloody and bruised and broken. He looked dead but Peter hoped otherwise. The glowing green gem hovered in between the mad titan’s massive fingers. One stone down… five to go. Peter shuttered at the thought. The time stone was one of the worst ones for him to get first. Well, any of them would be terrible for him to have but Time was a really bad start.

The purple Hitler alien grinned smugly and sent the black order out to find the rest of the stones. He did so, very dramatically.

“We need to split up,” Peter said urgently.

“That’s what I was going to suggest. We’ve already been risking it with two infinity stone so close together. I wouldn’t be surprised if that asshole can smell them like a dog.” She hissed. She took a precious moment that they could’ve spent running by giving him an urgent kiss. “For luck?” she suggested as she jumped off of the roof. Peter rolled his eyes but started web-slinging the opposite way. He could already tell that he would need that good luck.

For the next half hour, everything was so chaotic that Peter wasn’t sure he could perceive it all. He was pretty sure that he pulled someone from under the debris of a collapsed building, he saved a kid from space Voldemorts telepathic attacks that were missing whatever avenger he was currently after.

One by one, Thanos collected the stones, whether through his minions or himself. He took down each avenger, one at a time. If they had a stone or not. They lost Space, Reality, Mind, and Power. Peter became the last Avenger with an infinity stone. He became the last avenger standing.

When he saw the yellow flash of light, he knew Shuri was caught and he stopped whatever he was doing. He cried out a few choice expletives, Hoping that the bastard had only taken the stone and not her life.

Peter was the last one left. If Captain Marvel couldn’t kick this guys ass, there was no way that he could. Everyone was down except for him. That was a lot of pressure. Not many things could distract him from what was happening in front of him but something managed.

There was a burning pain through his wrist, where he hid the soul stone. It didn’t distract him long, he could ignore it for a minute. But he had to do something. He was the only one that could do something.

So he stepped out into the light and let his nanite mask retract. He wanted his face to show. He wanted to breathe the burning air and he wanted to show Thanos that he wasn’t afraid. This was odd because he had been scared to death of Thanos for half a decade, to a point where he had panic attacks over it, but now, all he felt was rage. A hot burning rage that ignited his veins.

He snuck around the broken city in complete silence. His plan could only work if he had the element of surprise. He couldn’t go against all of the black order and Thanos at once. After an eternity of obsessively controlling his breathing and every movement he made, he was in position. He was right behind Thanos.

He took a breath. A moment to collect his thoughts before shit went down and he was going to get hurt. In… and out... In … and out. He lept into action.

In a flash, he flipped over the titan and grabbed blindly at the gems already in the gauntlet. Good news, he managed to get one. Bad news, it was the power stone and Thanos grabbed him by the throat before he was able to get away. His arm burned with the violet energy as Thanos inspected him with a chuckle that only a bad guy could utter.

“They gave a child the soul stone?”

“I know I look young but come on, I don’t look that young.” He wheezed and wasted what little breath he had. His arm still burned but it was fading, it was as if the soul stone and the power stone were canceling each other out.

“It is impressive how long you were able to evade us, but my will is inevitable, the fight is done now. Give me the stones or I will rip them from your corpse.” The titan said calmly as if he was actually giving Peter the choice and not threatening to murder him.

“I don’t think I will.” Peter rasped. “Jesus Christ, if you let me breathe I might be able to actually talk to you… is this normally how negotiations work with you?” Peter noticed his fist holding the power stone and in the same hand as the soul stone was starting to heat up. Not burning destructively like it was before, but with power that was starting to course through him.

Thanos tightened his grip and raised Peter to the sky, cutting off his air and displaying him thousands of feet in the air. That’s when he started to hear a distantly familiar noise. Like a sparkler on the fourth of July multiplied by a million. He could see golden sparks out of the corners of his eyes. Thanos’s expression tightened but he didn’t react to the portals that Peter knew were starting to appear on top of buildings around him.

“Kid?” A painfully familiar voice yelled from somewhere behind him. He was starting to blackout, his lungs begged painfully for air but he couldn’t even gasp. “Let go of him!”

Peter smiled in between dry gasping like a fish out of water. He saw his fist glowing the orange of the soul stone with a fiery intensity. He closed his eyes and reached out to the soul stone. He finally understood. The little glowing rock was alive. The Soul was the most alive thing in the universe. And it was just as angry as Peter was.

Peter’s vision went white. Not because Thanos had successfully choked him to death, but because of the blast. The energy from the soul stone in contact with the power stone caused a concentrated white-hot explosion that didn’t even affect Peter. He wasn’t blown back, he just landed on the roof of the building as Thanos and the black order all around him were blown away with ease.

He frantically turned around, desperately hoping to catch a glimpse of Tony but his spider-sense went off before he could see his long lost mentor. He jumped off the skyscraper before a blast of energy could catch him off guard.

The soul stone led him to the fallen avengers which were all thankfully, not dead. Peter reached out his hand and the cloudy orange energy lazily floated into their bodies like fog. Wounds faded and gasps of breath echoed from around them. Once Peter knew they were okay, he left.

He swung up to a vacant rooftop and took his first full look at the reinforcements. There were at least four armies, the Wakandan army led by T’Challa, The Asgardian Army led by Valkarie, a mess of aliens behind the resurrected guardians of the galaxy and a few hundred wizards in matching robes, led by Doctor Strange. That wasn’t even including all of the undusted avengers and other heroes that stood at the front lines.

Then, Peter saw a glint of red fly out of the corner of his eye and smiled as he turned his head towards it. Moments later, Tony landed in a fresh bleeding-edge suit, his helmet melted back faster than Peter thought that it could.

“Hey, Mr. Stark. It’s been a little while.” Peter was staying cool for now but he was so close to crying. Tony looked exactly like he did before, maybe a little smaller but that was probably on Peter’s side. He did grow a few inches over the years.

“Peter? Is that really you? You look so… mature.” The man joked and raised his eyebrow.

“I better be, It’s been five years after all... You have been gone for a hot second.” Peter grinned, just glad to see Tony alive and in front of him. He could hear Tony’s heartbeat and it was the most beautiful sound.

“Five years? That’s why you’re so tall.” Peter laughed at Tony’s reaction and couldn’t restrict himself any longer, he hugged his old man.

“I missed you… you don’t even know…” It took a moment but Tony hugged back, just as tightly.

“Thank god someone did, That strange guy seemed rather annoyed that I was with them on Titan.”

“Wait, shit,” Peter pulled back from the hug, “We’re in the middle of a fight. Hugs later okay, the big bad guy still has four singularities that are super powerful by themselves.”

“Yeah, that sucks. Want a piggyback ride to the middle of it?” Tony offered as his helmet folded back on.

“Sure.” Peter shrugged. Moments later, he stood on Iron Mans back like he was a magic carpet. Moments later he dove off to confront Thanos again. This time, he was aware of the power that he held.

The only thing life really needed was a soul, and Peter had the essence of the soul in his hand. No time, no reality, no mind would change the fact that he was in control of life. That’s why it was the only stone that needed a sacrifice, that’s why it required the ultimate sacrifice. Because it was more powerful than the power gem. It was alive and it was angry. It had a will and a connection to every living thing. Including Thanos.

Thanos, in all his strength and intelligence, was not immune to the soul stones rage. No time, no space, no reality, no mind could save him.

It was almost disappointing how easy it was. So anticlimactic. The raging energy ate through the titan like he was paper in a flame. The armor didn’t matter, the stones didn’t matter. In moments, he was gone. After Thanos was defeated, the black order was taken down easily.

It was over. It was finally over. Everything was back to normal.

***

Okay, maybe not back to normal but families were reunited, friends were back from the dead and every other problem seemed pretty minuscule. That’s why, after everyone had a nap, the Avengers had a massive party at the compound.

Everyone’s families were invited, May was there, Carol joyfully hung out with her cat goose, Maria, Monica, and Nick Fury, Sam Wilsons mom was there, she even took the time to make cookies, the Wakandan royal family was there and literally hundreds more people. Everyone was glad to be alive and there was an incredible amount of catching up that needed to be done.

Both T’Challa, May, and Tony were pretty stunned to see Shuri and Peter together but after a moment of thought, it really made sense.

Rocket was crying as he hugged a tree teenager and denied the crying bit. He also seemed happy that the rest of his friends were alive, except Nebula’s sister but most of his friends were undusted.

Thor was still kind of glum but a few conversations with Professor Hulk and Valkarie got him laughing heartily. His family may be gone but he still had his friends.

Peter reunited with Ned and MJ, which was weird at first because he was older than them, and MJ didn’t know that he was Spider-Man, she suspected but she didn’t really know. It didn’t take long for them to realize that Peter was still Peter even though he was a little taller now. He was still the same nerd who had to refrain from giving away Star Wars spoilers from movies and TV shows they didn’t know existed.

It wasn’t all good though, while Ned and MJ took advantage of being around every superhero they had ever idolized, May lowkey started flirting with Carol, and Tony was being hogged by Pepper and Happy, Peter stook in a corner, still trying to accept that everything was fixed.

Even though everyone was back now, he still felt odd. He guessed that everything didn’t just suddenly resolve after everyone was brought back to life. The snap didn’t erase what had already happened. Peter had still spent five years separated from all of his friends and family. He had spent so much time mourning only to get everyone back years later. Those feelings didn’t just disappear.

It felt like a dream that they were all back. His mind sending him a reminder of what they looked and sounded like but he knew they were real. He could hear their heartbeats and laughs across the room. They were alive and Peter was so happy, they missed so much.

Peter had changed while they were gone, he was still Peter, he was just more traumatized and more withdrawn. He had grown but he was still the same. He still liked to hang upside down to nap and he was still bad at cooking but not baking. He was just taller and more in tune with his powers and diagnosed with a panic disorder.

In the long run, those changes wouldn’t matter, at least not to people who truly cared. It would just take them a few weeks to get back into the flow of normal life with the people they thought they lost.

It was like half of the universe was Captain America-ed for five years where literally everything changed. Earth became part of the universe, known to other planets as a complete powerhouse instead of an easy steal for some galactic empire. There were more humans in space than ever before and the snap affected everything. Ecosystems, culture, interplanetary and international relations, governmental control, and practically every aspect of normal human life was changed forever.

Peter was shaken out of his thoughts with Shuri handing him a plate full of deserts. He immediately bit into a cookie.

“Something on your mind?” She asked as she stole the cookie from his hand. He didn’t even react.

“Yeah, I know everything’s all fixed and everyone is back, but I don’t know, it feels weird.” He shrugged and grabbed another treat from the plate, knowing that the cookie was lost.

“I know, a lot happened in five years. We already mourned them and cried for them, and poof, they’re back. It’s not bad it’s just, weird.” She nodded.

“I just don’t feel like the same person that they all knew. Like for them, it’s been five seconds and for us, it’s been five years.”

“Does it matter? You are you. No matter your age or what you’ve been through. People change and grow and they just have to get used to who you are now.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I can’t turn back time to be sixteen again, I definitely don’t even want to. I like the me that I am now, but it’s not the same as my friends and family know. Whatever, this is a party, not therapy.”

“That is true, it is time to avoid our problems like there’s no tomorrow!”

And they did.

***

It was three in the morning and Peter was still awake. Not because he wasn’t tired, he definitely was, but because he was afraid of what would come when he closed his eyes. Instead of sleeping, he was in Tony’s lab. He had spent so much time there during the five years of missing his mentor.

Working always helped, it kept him focused. It was calming and it came naturally for him. He played music in the background that was everything from comedy bands to musicals to modern rock and classic rock. It was so much easier to avoid his problems than deal with them.

“Hey Friday, turn down the music, I need to talk to you.” He said while he was pacing and not working on anything at all.

“Of course. What do you want to talk about?” The AI replied cheerfully. She seemed a lot happier since Tony returned.

“I think it’s time to change your primary user back to Tony. He’s alive again so the ‘EDITH’ protocol should be reset. That also means to give back the trust and all that. I can’t rely on my inheritance anyway…” He rambled.

“I’m sorry Peter but I cannot do that. Boss locked the ‘Old Man’ protocol for his retirement. He wants to keep ‘EDITH’ in place.”

“I mean he’s not dead so why would he keep it?”

“It’s getting a little late kid,” Tony spoke from behind Peter. He turned to the man and shrugged.

“Not a kid. I’m old enough to drink but it doesn’t even do anything so that sucks.”

“Believe me, that’s a good thing. You don’t even get hangovers?”

“No, I can’t even get high dude. Weed is useless.” He sighed. Tony laughed.

“You should seriously go to bed though it’s been a pretty long day.”

“I couldn’t even if I wanted to.” Peter pouted.

“Poor baby.” Tony practically dragged Peter out of the workshop, it had been a pretty long day.

“I’m a little too tall to be a baby.” Peter yawned.

“You’re always going to be my baby,” Tony said surprisingly fondly.

“I’m taller than you.”

“Not emotionally,” Tony noted. Peter snorted in response as they wandered to his bedroom. In the five years of living there, it had barely changed. There were still three Star Wars posters on the wall and the desk was still a mess. The only thing that really changed was the comforter on the queen-sized bed. It had a little flying Iron Man pattern on it and little arc reactors. It used to be a solid scarlet.

“I love you, you know that right? I didn’t get to tell you before and I never want the opportunity to slip away ever again. You’ve been like a dad to me and I could never ask for anyone better. Shit, don’t tell Ben that…” Peter embraced Tony before he left for the night. Tony’s hand instinctually combed comfortingly through his kid’s hair.

“I love you too kid. It’s been rough for you lately but it’s okay now. You saved the universe, not many people can say that.”

“I know right, what are the perks of that? Do I get free food a McDonald’s or something? I mean Jesus got several holidays for saving mankind in some indefinable way, will my birthday become like a day off of school or something?” Peter joked as he stepped back.

“Now that’s an idea… who do you contact for making a holiday…”

“Okay no, don’t do that. Don’t you dare.” Peter said in a serious tone.

“Fine, good night Spider-Jesus.” Tony started to head back to his own room with Pepper.

“I’m not the one that came back from the dead, whatever. Good night Iron Jesus.” He sighed and flopped into bed. He was out like a light in moments. Even if he had a nightmare, he would always wake up to something better than any dream he could conjure. And that was enough.

#webclaws #irondad #endgame fix it #infinity war fix it #MCU fic #queen shuri #black panther shuri

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ilu-writes · 5 years

Text

Reflection

Days and Nights (solangelo)

Rating: G | Warnings: None

AO3 | FF.net |

Prev | x | Next

I wrote this in response to a prompt, but it didn’t quite fit. Still, i really love it. Will gets a little introspective thinking about his job.

Will suppressed a groan as he opened the cupboard and found the nectar store empty. He couldn’t get too frustrated, not when there were so many people around. Instead, he just stuck his head around the door and looked at Austin, who was looking inside one of the compartments. He still looked mildly irritated at having to leave his music, but he’d come as soon as he was asked.

“Any chance there’s any ambrosia in there?” Asked Will, hopefully, but Austin just shook his head.

“Nope,” he said, popping the ‘p’ and turning to face him. “We’re fresh out.”

“Great.” Will couldn’t help the exasperation that leaked into his tone, and he didn’t try. His fingers tapped impatiently against the cupboard door as he tried to think.

No ambrosia or nectar made healing people a lot more difficult, especially since he was basically working on his own. Unfortunately, it happened, especially during summer when the camp was at it’s busiest and they had an influx of new and naïve campers. He didn’t have time to deal with all the injuries from training and the stupid lava climbing wall. Especially when they wouldn’t get anymore supplies until the end of the week.

Will pressed a hand to his temple. “Alright, new plan. Any mild injuries we bandage and get out the door. Anything that needs treatment, we’ll have to go with unicorn draught. But a limited amount – we really need to not run out of at least one thing, alright?”

“Got it.” Austin gave him a mock salute and turned to make his way back to the cluster of people by the door.

Will shut the cupboard and leaned against it, letting out a frustrated breath of air. He hated having to send away campers who were still injured, but all things considered, they could all handle having a few minor scrapes. It didn’t stop some of them complaining, though.

He glanced up when someone new walked in, already tensing in anticipation, but he relaxed when he realised it was Nico. The son of Hades edged awkwardly around the small crowd and beelined towards him.

“I’m guessing you’re not going to have enough time for a training session?” He hummed once he got close enough, and Will rolled his eyes.

“At this point I’ll be lucky to have enough time to eat,” he huffed, and Nico grinned at him.

“Tell you what, if you’re still stuck in here at dinner, I’ll bring you some food,” he offered, touching the other boys arm lightly. Will couldn’t help but smile slightly at the contact, but it quickly fell back to a scowl.

“If I’m still here at dinner, just take me out. Like, with a sword.” He muttered, and Nico rolled his eyes.

“Don’t be dramatic, that’s my job.”

“I’m not, I’m being serious.” Will folded his arms. “If I’m not done, just end me. I’ll thank you.”

“Well, as nice as a ‘thank you’ sounds…” Nico frowned at him. “What’s up? You aren’t normally this sulky.”

“I’m not being sulky-“

“Petulent? Whiny?”

Will tried not to let the corner of his mouth twitch up. “I’m just… frustrated, okay? We’re out of ambrosia and nectar until the end of the week, which makes dealing with all these injuries especially fun. And I haven’t even started on any of my duties as head councillor.” He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I’m just stressed.”

Nico thought for a second. Will loved the way his brow wrinkled when he did that. “I could help you,” he offered, pokeing his boy friends chest. “Somehow. I’m sure you could find something.”

Will gave in and smiled. “No, don’t worry about it,” he assured his boyfriend, catching his hand and looping their fingers together. “It’s fine. The rest of the cabin can deal with the daily inspections and stuff- we never win those, anyway- and I’ve already roped Austin into helping me in here. I’ll figure it out.”

Nico hummed in response, running his thumb across the other boys hand. “But you’re still stressed. And that sucks.”

“It does suck,” Will agreed, making his voice solemn, before sighing. “I just- I keep thinking about Michael, and Lee. They both- they both handled this stuff so easily. I don’t understand how they did it. I feel like no matter how much I do, there’s always more.”

“That’s probably because they had you taking care of the infirmary for them,” noted Nico, rolling his eyes. “It’s probably a lot easier to deal with all of that stuff if you aren’t also the on-call doctor for literally everything.”

“Well, they both taught archery during their time,” countered Will. “And also, they actually fought in the war-“ he cut himself off, and Nico shot him a look of pity.

“I know,” he said, softly.

“It’s not-“ Will drew in a deep breath to ground himself. “It’s just, comparitively, what I do… it seems so minor. And half the time I can’t even manage to do it right.”

“I’ve got a guy with two sewn-on arms that would beg to differ on the ‘minor’ point,” countered Nico, before switching to a more concerned demeanor. “It’s hardly your fault the infirmary ran out of mediciene. That would’ve happened regardless of who was looking after it, ‘cause a lot of people needed it. That’s how this stuff works. And everything you’ve done- in both wars- has been integral to us surviving, you know that. Without a healer- so many people would be dead.”

“I- I do know that,” Will sighed, leaning back against the cupboard without breaking the contact between his hands. “I know. It’s just that I’m feeling frustrated at myself because of all the injuries, and that’s making me feel really self-depracating.”

“Good sense of self awareness,” noted Nico teasingly, but he smiled. “You know these injuries aren’t your fault. Blame the real lava wall. Or the deadly weapons. Or the hay fever pandemic.”

“It’s only a pandemic if it’s a new disease.”

“The point is, it’s dumb to blame yourself for stuff you can’t control. And there’s no point sulking over how ‘bad’ you are just because you’re getting frustrated.”

“I’m not sulking,” muttered Will, although he knew Nico was right.

“You are sulking.”

“I’m not.”

“You are.”

“Well, fine,” Will shrugged, letting his expression lighten up a little. “Maybe I’m sulking.”

Nico grinned at him. “Yeah, maybe.” His expression shifted into something more concerned. “I do wish I could help, though.”

“You did help,” Will said, immediately and honestly. “You always help.”

“All I did was talk to you,” countered Nico, raising an eyebrow.

“All I needed was talking,” said Will, before amending it a bit. “To you, specifically.”

“Hm.” Nico grinned, and moved forward to press their lips together in a quick kiss. “In that case, I should probably go and let you get back to work. There are people’s elbows that need saving.”

“Haha,” deadpanned Will, but he grinned. “Alright, fine. Abandon me.”

“I’m not abandoning you.” Nico rolled his eyes. “In fact, I promise, if you’re still here at dinner, I’ll bring some food over and we can have some alone time. Okay?”

“But what if I’m not here?” Asked Will, pouting. Nico shrugged.

“Then we’ll get some alone time after it. Cross my heart.”

“I’ll hold you to that.”

“I’m fully expecting you to.”

Will grinned and kissed his boyfriend goodbye, before steeling himself for work again.

#solangelo #will solace #nico di angelo #solangelo fanfiction #days and nights #pjo #hoo #toa #Percy Jackon and the Olympians #Heroes of Olympus #trials of apollo #mine #my works

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monsters-demons-and-ai-oh-my · 5 years

Text

What We Lost and What We Have:

Chapter 6: Sock puppets, stomachaches, and what you really learn in college

In which we meet a very strange nurse, talk about teen drug use and the plot thickens.

TW: Conversations about recreational drugs, questions about suicidal intentions, and brief mention of throwing up

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AU somewhat inspired by Episode 2x20 - What Is and What Should Never Be, and the season 14 storyline concerning Jack’s illness.

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AO3 Link

Previous Chapter

First Chapter

Complete Tumblr Chapter List

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Sam and Dean both decided to give the Kline’s a little space after after the incident with Jack’s lunch tray. Ironically both brothers using the excuse that they hadn’t had anything to eat since they arrived early that morning.

Jack seemed on the verge of mortified tears afterward and for selfish reasons or not neither wanted to be the one to push him over the edge.

The kid was already embarrassed enough.

The doctor had told the brothers (much to Dean’s chagrin) that at least one of them should come back in later that evening as they had a few more background questions for all of them once Jack had a chance to rest.

There was only so much the doctor was willing to do when they still didn’t know what was causing Jack’s symptoms but when Jack’s nausea refused to fade and several more bouts dry heaving literally drove Jack to tears they finally gave him anti-nausea drugs that had the added benefit of finally putting him back to sleep.

Getting a few hours of rest (plus something new the doctor gave him via IV to help with the fact he hadn’t eaten for a day and a half) seemed to perk Jack up a bit. At the very least Jack seemed a lot more calm when he woke up around three hours later.

Though, that could have also been the low dose of narcotic painkillers doctor Hannah also decided to give despite the risks when Jack’s stomach pain was bad enough to cause his heart rate to skyrocket.

It wasn’t enough narcotics to make Jack start accusing innocent staff members of being out to suck his blood again, but it was enough to render him quiet and subdued… and not at all like the Jack Castiel knew.

‘He could only watch and try to comfort Jack as he got sick and then hugged his stomach, literally crying with the pain the action caused him…’

A quiet Jack was better than a sobbing Jack, but it still terrified Cas.

It threw him back to sixteen years previously when Jack was first born, made him feel like he was failing Kelly all over again…

He remembered when Jack was four and a half and afraid of long clawed demons under his bed. ( strangely specific child that he was ) Then Castiel could consol him and promise to protect him from any monsters .

When Jack was seven and John died and Jack tried to run away from home, ( only getting so far as the neighbor down the street who lured him in with cookies and called Castiel ) he’d been able to reassure the traumatized boy that his parents and the people around him didn’t die because he was close to them.

“...you’re not cursed Jack, I promise… and I’m not planning on leaving you alone any time soon.”

But this…

Castiel couldn’t promise everything would be okay, he didn’t know how to fix this, he didn’t even know what this was…

Every little twitch Jack gave in his sleep, every harsh intake of breath was like an electric jolt to Cas’s heart, terrifying him that Jack would start seizing again.

By the time that Jack was awake again and Cas was able to call the Winchester’s back in he was thirty-six hours without sleep and felt on the verge of a mental breakdown.

“Med student party here yet?” Cas heard the now unfortunately familiar voice of Dean Winchester over his shoulder.

“No…” Cas said dully, hand tightening over Jack’s as he broke into another fit of harsh wheezy coughs.

‘The antibiotics either weren’t helping the pneumonia or were taking far too long to kick in for comfort.’

“I...I don’t really feel up to p-party,” Jack muttered with a tiny wry smile.

“You feeling any better buddy?” Sam’s voice was a little more tolerable.

“They gave me more drugs?” Jack said bluntly, perhaps the amount of pain meds he was given was still enough to make the teenager a more aloof if not completely loopy.

As scared as Jack must be Cas didn’t have it in him for him to be upset with Jack being a little… high, as it were.

‘Anything to keep away the horrible tears of pain.’

“They’re waiting for me to let them know you’re here…” Cas explained quickly to the brothers reaching for the nurse call button and using the moment to compose himself.

“I thought we were done with all the questions?” Dean sighed pacing by the window like nervous rather unimpressive tomcat not looking at anyone.

“Well apparently they didn’t get what they needed last time.” Cas tried not to think that more questions meant the doctors were at a loss with what answers they did get.

“It probably had something to do with you ‘scaring the crap’ out of the person who was recording them…” Cas glared choosing to believe that instead.

Dean’s eyes narrowed for a moment and he opened his mouth as if to say something scathing but Sam surprised Castiel by speaking up.

“Well whatever the reason pointing fingers won’t help anyone,” Sam said taking Dean’s old spot by the far end of the bed. It seemed like while Sam was rendered relatively unable to function when it came to Jack that same reservations did not stand for confronting his argumentative older brother or Castiel.

“So how about this time we all sit down, and shut up, and get this over with and then neither of you will have to see each other again if you don’t want to…” Sam said with an air of aggressive calm, folded his hands in his lap.

Jack eyes seemed to dart between each one of them tense and nervous, clutching at the sheets without a word.

Castiel felt a pang of guilt in his chest.

He and Dean took their seats… quietly.

They sat awkwardly like two children who’d just been chewed out by the principal until the silence was broken by a knock on the door.

Well… a series of knocks… to the tune of… Yankee Doodle?

Jack’s eyes darted between his uncle and the door like he wasn’t sure if he actually heard what he thought he heard or if the drugs were just kicking in.

“Come in?” Castiel said hesitantly.

The door opened and in stepped not the nervous med student, but another more suspicious looking individual.

Another… nurse?

“Hello,” said the strange skinny man in seemingly oversized giraffe print scrubs. He had a smile about as appropriate for the tense atmosphere as sunbather in a snowstorm, “My name is Garth but you can call me nurse Fitzgerald and I’m here to help Jack and you all with a patient history today.”

Dean shot Sam a confused look that was ignored.

“What happened to the other g-guy?” Jack hacked into the back of his hand, looking wary of having yet another stranger in his room.

"Well, Kevin was having a bit of a hard time, so the head nurse wanted someone with a bit more experience to finish it,” Nurse Fitz-… Garth shrugged the left sleeve of his scrubs dangerously close to sliding off his narrow shoulder, “they send me in when things get a little hinky,"

"Hinky?" Castiel's eyebrows rose.

"Well I say hinky," Garth smiled, "I think it's a much nicer word than the one nurse Master's used... that I won't use in front of a child.

The child in the room looked mildly offended.

"Or what was written on the chart," he picked up Jack’s chart clipboard off the end of the bed and flicked it significantly, “which is… ''disorderly"."

Dean scoffed, "Please, we weren't "disorderly”,” he drew quotation marks in the air.

The strange skinny man just continued to smile shrugging, "okay well you made poor Kevin cry in the on-call room so I wouldn't exactly call that "functional behavior"."

Dean’s mouth opened looking defensive but for a second time the words were lost behind an interruption.

“Sorry…” Jack said quietly, clearing his throat, “they… they mean well… I think…”

“We should… probably apologize to this Kevin though…” Castiel said sheepishly.

“Probably…” Dean muttered noncommittally refusing to look at Castiel.

“What’s that?” Sam spoke up suddenly sounding confused, everyone turning to see at what he pointing at.

I appeared to be a strange looking… sock with lips? hanging of Nurse Garth’s scrubs pocket.

“Oh him?” the nurse pulled the object out his pocket smiling at it fondly before slipping it over one hand, “This… is Mr. Fizzles.”

He opened and closed the sock puppet’s mouth in Jack’s general direction as the boy looked on warily pressed against his pillows.

“A lot of kids find a friend easier to talk to than a stranger, especially when in a big scary place like the hospital.”

He looked at Jack expectantly.

“I...I think I’ll pass…” the teenager said turning a little pink.

Garth seemed mildly disappointed but shrugged and surreptitiously tucked the sock back in his pocket picking back up the chart.

“Well Kevin’s handwriting started getting illegible at… drugs…” he looked up expectantly at Castiel’s affronted face.

“He had a tablet of ibuprofen about seven hours before the seizure and then a second four hours later, but no Jack does not do drugs,” Castiel said flatly.

“I think… he was asking Jack…” Sam said carefully watching Jack who was refusing to look back, scratching at the adhesive over the line in his arm.

“I don’t… do drugs…” Jack said quietly.

Castiel gave nurse Garth a satisfied “see” look.

“But there was… this one time,” Jack coughed sheepishly.

Everyone was suddenly staring at Jack who seemed to be trying to disappear into his hospital mattress.

“Jack…” Cas’s heart sunk more disappointed than angry, he didn’t have a chance to ask why before Jack cut him off seeming desperate to explain.

“It… it was just one time… Noah offered me a hit?” his eyebrows drew together and he looked unsure at the terminology, “of a joint he had?”

Dean gave an impressive little huff earning him a dirty look from Cas.

“Don’t look at me, I didn’t go to college…” Dean shrugged, shooting Sam a knowing smile he refused to return.

“It was just the one time though!” Jack said quickly looking at Cas pleadingly, “It was really, really gross and… and I never did it again!”

“Why wouldn’t you tell me?” Castiel asked exasperated, trying not to show Sam or Dean how hurt he was. What made it worse was he knew how stereotypical it was for a parent to think their teenager would never lie to them. Half the parent teacher conferences he had to call at the high school were dealing with people under such delusions.

“I… I didn’t want to get Noah in trouble…” Jack mumbled biting his lip and refusing to look Cas in the eye.

“Noah?” Castiel mentally ran over his shortlist of acquaintances Jack talked about and came up empty. “Wait… Noah Ophis?” Castiel felt completely at a loss when Jack’s blush seemed to confirm it, “Jack… wasn’t Noah the one who locked you in the school gym’s weight room and then stuck gum in the lock so we had to call maintenance to disassemble the door to get you out?”

“It… was never confirmed…” Jack muttered turning brighter red glancing back between his older brothers as if expecting them to laugh.

“How long ago did you ‘get silly with Mary Jane’?” Garth broke in on the tense moment seeming unbothered.

Jack looked extremely confused for a long moment, “Six… months ago?”

Garth wrote that down, “well it’s probably not that then, the devil’s lettuce only lasts like… a few hours, unless you snort it that’s worse...”

Castiel really did not believe that was an actual way people consumed marajauna… he had gone to college after all.

Cas suppressed the need to start in on a long speech about peer pressure, lying, and the dangers of underage recreational drug use (especially when you didn’t know the source), but now was not the time, not now with as Jack as sick as he was. He would be taking advantage of a secret Jack only willingly told because he was scared for his own safety, and Jack’s health might rely on him being honest with his doctors.

Though Cas was relieved when the next question was, just “Do you have any animal friends?”

He felt his confidence as a surrogate parent had taken enough of a hit for the moment.

“Well… I have Felix… but I don’t know if he thinks of me as a friend, I’ve read their brains can’t really process that sort of thing?” Jack’s eyebrows furrowed in thought.

Sam’s eyebrows rose nearly to his hairline.

Maybe the drugs had a stronger effect on Jack than Castiel first realized.

“What is Felix?” Sam looked completely at a loss.

Jack blinked, “A corn snake,” he said like it should be obvious.

Dean seemed to recoil slightly and then snorted, a very, “of course I’m going to judge the character of a kid I don’t know based on the fact he keeps a snake…” noise.

That was a big mistake… Castiel knew Jack was fairly shy but he’d been on the wrong end of one of Jack’s, “I must defend the honor of snakes everywhere,” speeches before when the Jack was first trying to convince his uncle to let him keep Felix.

“Felix is really great!” he insisted, probably louder than he should have judging by the short fit of coughs that followed. He cleared his throat before croaking, “N-not only do corn snakes eat d-disease carrying pests, they're really gentle, and they’re easy to breed in captivity, and they’re from the US so they... they don’t c-contribute to the… the e-exotic pet trade…”

Castiel remembered vividly Jack showing up in his classroom clutching a shoe box the day before winter break, nervous but determined. He’d gone into a spiel about how a boy had brought the snake to the lunch room to show it off but the boy was planning to kill it at the end of the day with a rock because he thought it was ‘kinder’.

“He said he couldn’t get it to eat, but! he only tried one thing and... and you can’t let him do that, he doesn’t deserve that…”

He’d practically begged Castiel to let him keep the snake, “even if it was just for a little while,” and then spent the next week researching and trying to feed it different things, bringing everything from bags of frozen mice to eggs and minnow into the house before he’d had success.

Cas remembered the huge grin on Jack’s face when he finally succeeded heard him whisper, “see you’re going to be okay now,” into Felix’s enclosure when he thought his uncle wasn’t watching.

Jack dissolved into another fit of coughing near the end of his snake rant, doubling up as Castiel laid a worried hand on his shoulder.

“Fine fine kid jeez…” Dean raised his hands in mock surrender, looking mildly alarmed, “I believe you, don’t lose a lung over it…”

“Snakes are great you’re just a mean,” Jack muttered breathily with one laugh hacking cough, sinking wearily back in his bed. The short bout of passion seemed to have taken a lot out of him.

“I don’t really like snakes, I’m sure they’re great but the way they look at me makes me nervous y'know?” Nurse Garth Gave a shiver, no one knew what he meant. “Also they can carry salmonella…”

The nurse spent the next half hour asking more questions of various degrees of embarrassment. Each answer the brother’s gave grew increasingly bored and each answer Jack gave getting softer as he grew increasingly drowsy.

Any energy Jack gained by resting seemed to run out of him like water through a sieve and soon he had fallen back asleep. Castiel knew seizures could take a lot out of a person but this? This felt different. He breathed deeply to calm himself down, told himself he never finished nursing school, let alone medical school like the doctor’s taking care of Jack.

‘He was in good hands…’

He carefully straightened Jack’s blankets, trying not to listen to the wheezy quality of Jack’s breathing even in sleep.

“Did you get all the answers you needed?” Castiel asked quietly, not wanting to interrupt and of the sleep the boy managed to get.

The nurse smiled looking a little too pleased with himself, “yup just about the entire thing, I don’t know what Kevin was upset about you all seem like very nice people.”

Dean looked up mildly guilt pulling his hand back from where he’d been trying to fish the sock puppet out of Garth’s pocket, while Sam hid his face in his hands. “Yeah… um… so it’s fine for us to take off now?”

‘Of course…’

Garth nodded satisfied, “yeah, visiting hours for everyone but parents are ending soon, and the kid looks like he’s had all the fun he can handle for today.”

Castiel just nodded in agreement trying not to seem to eager carefully fixing Jack’s mussed up hair, “I think he’s had enough of strangers for now…”

That was enough for Dean who left with one last indignant puff of air but Sam stayed back for a moment tettering as was his custom in the doorway.

“Call if something changes?” he asked, like he was half unsure he should say the words.

Cas offered a tight smile, “sure…”

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

Sam and Dean left for their home and hotel respectively the nurse leaving soon after to give Castiel and more importantly Jack some time to rest.

The nurses mostly let Jack be through the evening only coming in once or twice to record his vitals and give him more of the drugs the doctor prescribed earlier, Jack thankfully remained asleep during the visits.

He seemed mostly stable much to Cas’s relief though that could have just been due to the pain and nausea meds masking the worst of his symptoms. It wasn’t until Jack reached a full twenty-four hours without another seizure that Castiel finally let himself relax.

It wasn’t until much later, half past midnight that the doctor came in again.

Castiel had finally fallen asleep in a recliner chair one of the nurses graciously brought in when they realized he was staying with Jack for another night..

‘They’d explained it was standard practice for when a parent stayed with their child on the ward…’

He’d been woken rather unceremonious by doctor Hannah pulling a cumbersome looking machine into Jack’s room.

“What’s… What’s going on?” he asked dumbly rubbing at his face, the confusion quickly turning to alarm when he saw the look on the doctor’s face.

Her face was mostly calm, but her eyebrows were furrowed and her mouth was pressed in a thin tense line.

“I… need you to wake up Jack…” she said something worrying in her calm voice Castiel couldn’t quite identify.

Castiel immediately began to panic head snapping up to the monitor of Jack’s vitals. Everything seemed the same, except the fever which had risen to an even hundred degrees.

“Is… What’s wrong?” He asked in as hushed a tone as he could manage.

The doctor gave him a reassuring smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

“I just need to check something…” she said unhelpfully.

Castiel tried to breathe evenly and remain calm as he gently shook Jack’s shoulder.

‘What was so bad you’d wake a sick kid in the middle of the night?’

He gently shook Jack’s shoulder, calling his name, Jack barely moved, his eyes twitched and he let out a soft cough.

Castiel frowned shaking his shoulder a little more forcefully eliciting an unhappy groan from Jack as he rolled away as far as the tubing on his face would allow him.

‘At least it was confirmation he wasn’t comatose or something…’

“The painkillers he’s on can have a sedative effect,” she frowned, “it’s always best to try to wake someone up naturally but I did bring something if that doesn’t work.

She produced a set of keys from her pocket to unlock the set of rolling drawers the machine she brought was propped on top of.

“Wait,” Castiel quickly held up a hand, “there’s one thing I haven’t tried yet…” he leant down close to Jack’s ear, “Jack… come on you have to get up… we’re going to be late to school…”

Jack tensed up and groaned, “I… I don’t want to, I don’t feel good…” he grumbled face screwing up.

Cas huffed a sad laugh, gently ruffling his hair to keep him from falling back out, “I know Jack, but you still need to wake up.”

Jack finally blinked woefully up at him, “you said I didn’t have to go…” His croaked eyes wandered towards the window as he coughed to clear his throat, “it’s still dark out…” he muttered bewildered.

“I know, I know… you don’t have to go to school, you can go back to sleep... in a little bit?” Cas looked back toward the doctor who offered him another thin smile, neither confirming or denying.

“But doctor Hannah she needs to talk to us… for now, alright?” Castiel said still gently squeezing his shoulder...

Jack just blinked and nodded trustingly too tired to question it.

Doctor Hannah ducked down to his level whispering, “I’m going to turn on the lights now and I need you to roll on your side like before okay?”

Jack looked wary breath speeding up, “P-please don’t stick another needle in my back…”

“It’s okay Jack, I promise I’m not going to do that honey,” she said gently flipping on a switch and making everyone in the room wincing at the sudden brightness, “I just need to run an ultrasound on your back and abdomen…”

Jack looked even more confused, face morphing into mildly suspicion, “But… I can’t have babies?”

Doctor Hannah actually chucked, “No that’s not all we use ultrasound for, and that’s not what I’m looking for…”

“What are you looking for?” Castiel couldn’t hold himself back from asking, fidgeting in the recliner.

The doctor’s face dropped a little before she could stop it, “I’ll let you know if I see it, I… I don’t want to alarm you,”

Her eyes drifted back to Jack with an unspoken, ‘or him’ .

Jack’s eyebrows furrowed but he still did as he was told and the doctor guided him onto his side before pulling down the blanket to his waist and undoing the ties on the upper half of his hospital gown while he blushed pink.

When she carefully began to probed Jack’s back it became abundantly clear the medication didn’t completely numb his pain.

He barely held back a cry of pain between clenched teeth, reducing it to a strained groan, his whole body shaking.

Castiel reach for his hand which was clenched around the bed sheets. “It’s okay Jack… I’m here.”

“Th-that… that really hurts,” Jack mumbled tearfully.

“I know Jack I know…” the doctor said seemingly lost in thought

doing her best to move quickly through prep procedures for the ultrasound. Applying a plastic cover over the wand and spreading clear gel on a portion of his back.

Jack looked like he was trying not to scream when the doctor finally pressed the ultrasound wand into his back, teeth gritted together heart rate spiking.

The doctor’s eyes were fixed on the ultrasound screen beside the bed looking grim and Castiel wished not for the first time that he’d finished his degree so he’d know what she saw.

‘All he could do was hold Jack’s hand.’

“Shit…” he barely heard the doctor mutter as she set aside the wand and gingerly wiped away the gel on Jack’s back.

There were already already tears welling in Jack’s eyes when she had him turn back onto his back.

The doctor promised to be as quick and gentle as she could as she repeated the process with the upper part of Jack’s abdomen.

Jack was shaking and crying silently by the time it was over, and the doctor was if anything quieter.Terrifyingly lost in thought.

Castiel carefully helped him back into his gown, telling him softly that he did well and could go back to sleep soon.

Jack watched the doctor red eyed and wary gripping the blankets a little too tightly even as he wilted exhausted back against the bed.

The doctor waited until the teenager seemed to have calmed back down before speaking.

“Jack… I’m going to ask your uncle and you some questions and I need you to be as honest as possible, alright?”

The tone of doctor Hannah’s voice set off the already ringing alarm bells in Cas’s mind to a shrieking pitch.

Jack nodded cautiously, “O-okay…” he said shakily.

The doctor began pacing at the foot of his bed hands clasping anxiously at one another.

“You said Jack had a headache a few hours before he had a seizure at the restaurant and that you gave him ibuprofen for it, are you sure it was ibuprofen and not aspirin?”

Castiel blinked, “yes I’m sure I know better than to give a child aspirin, and I even remember the brand I bought, it was Advil…”

“It’s was a blue... package,” Jack said after a moment coughing into his elbow, exhaustion, and illness fogging his brain.

The doctor nodded and resumed her pacing, “and… how much did you give him?” she asked seeming careful about her phrasing.

“A lower dose, one tablet… and then another four hours later…” Castiel said suspiciously, “what is this about?”

The doctor hesitated, “did you see Jack take them both times?”

There was a long pause as Jack looked increasingly upset, “wh-what are you tr-trying to say?”

“What are you suggesting?” Castiel knew full well what she was asking but he couldn’t believe he’d heard it.

“I…” she paused and sighed, “I have to ask it’s very important.”

Jack seemed to understand despite everything, “I...I wouldn’t, I couldn’t d-do that I…” his breathing sped up.

“The first thing Jack asked about when he woke up was school and needing to take care of his pet? Does that really strike you as someone who would try to… to…” Cas paused, “to hurt themselves?”

“I… I was upset and sad after what happened but…” Jack’s forehead wrinkled again as his breathing grew more frantic and his heart rate rose with it, “I wouldn’t, I didn’t do that…” he muttered eyes pleading and filling back up with tears, “please believe me.”

“I know Jack… I do believe you,” Castiel reassured him gently squeezing his shoulder.

A thought dawned on Cas and he reached for his coat still hanging off the back of his chair, “he really physically couldn’t…”

Castiel pulled a small half crushed blue box from the pocket of the coat, “I didn’t even buy a bottle of pills they didn’t have any in the hotel commissary they only had it in a box of packets and there were only four pills to start with…”

‘The stupid box had cost a whole ten dollars regardless.’

He handed it over for the doctor to see, “and there’s still two left…”

The doctor looked in the box then checked the date on the bottom, but instead of looking relieved like Cas expected…”

She just looked... frustrated?

“Alright… I’m sorry, we had to rule that out as a possibility…” she sighed.

The apology did nothing to placate Jack, who just stared at her distrustfully tears running silently down his cheeks hugging himself still breathing too fast.

Castiel tried to resist the anger and resentment building up in his own chest he knew the doctor was just doing her job, but it was late and the already ill and drug addled Jack was not tolerating being woken in the middle of the night to be painfully prodded, cross examined, and accused of hurting himself very well.

He placed a protective hopefully comforting hand on Jack’s shoulder, “couldn’t you have just tested for a possible overdose in the blood samples you took instead of coming in here past midnight and harassing him?”

“If the problem was being caused by taking too much ibuprofen it would be important to find out and treat as soon as possible.”

“W-why?” Jack mumbled hunching forward red-eyed and shaking his breath coming out in uncomfortably fast puffs, “what… what’s wrong with me?”

He looked how Castiel felt, on the verge of panic.

“Jack, it’s alright I need you to calm down…” the doctor said looking warily between him and the vitals reading on the monitor.

‘That didn’t calm him down.’

“You… you don’t know d-do you?” Jack sobbed continuing to hyperventilate, heart beating about a mile a minute on the monitors, “y-you don’t…” he coughed, the developing panic attack not helping his already labored breathing, coughing soon turning to wheezing.

Castiel’s mouth became a thin anxious line as he wrapped a supportive arm around his shoulders.

“Jack?”

The doctor moved quickly back over to the locked set of drawers retrieving a vial and injecting something into Jack’s IV line, “it’s alright it’s okay… just try to breathe deeply Jack…”

Jack tried, leaning on his uncle tears running down his face even when his breathing slowed and he relaxed as whatever drug the doctor gave him took effect.

The doctor and Castiel gently helped him lean back into his pillows as his eyes blinked blearily, “it’s alright… just rest now… you’re alright…”

She didn’t look like even she believed what she was saying as he drifted quickly back into unconsciousness the rise and fall of his chest slowly evening back out.

Castiel felt as if a live wire was clenched between his teeth.

“What happening to Jack?” he managed an impossibly calm tone.

The doctor sighed taking a moment to steal herself before answering. “Most of the tests we have back so far… they came back inconclusive… There was no sign of meningitis or encephalitis in his spinal fluid, no… conclusive signs of infection in his blood at all…”

“But,” Castiel said feeling miles away.

“But… between the blood taken when he was first admitted and a few hours ago, we’ve found a significant increase in his liver enzymes and protein levels and if… they don’t improve in the next few hours I want to look at transferring him to Kansas University hospital…”

Castiel felt like the ground was dropping from beneath him, “and… the pain, what you were testing for just now that was…”

The doctor paused for an even longer moment before answering, “Jack’s liver and kidneys… are showing signs of inflammation… and the blood tests results are signs they’re starting to lose function…”

‘Failing… she meant they were beginning to fail’

“And you don’t know why…” Castiel mumbled numbly.

The doctor said nothing...

Notes:

Dun dun dun, and the plot thickens, hopefully the introduction of nurse Garth managed to lighten things up a bit before the darker second half and reveal.

If you enjoyed this chapter and have the time and/or inclination please let me know what you thought :)

#SPN #Supernatural #Castiel #Jack Kline #Dean Winchester #Sam Winchester #fanfiction #whump #humor #illness #family drama #garth fitzgerald iv #Hannah #TW drugs #TW vomit mention #only accusations of not an actual attempt of overdose #kylermalloy

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longroadstonowhere · 5 years

Text

another chapter of wild child freshly published - next chapter should come out a few weeks from now, and the last one a few weeks after that

this, by the way, is a chapter that gave me weird amounts of trouble - weird because there was no reason for the trouble, it just didn’t want to be written for some reason

but hey, here we are now

(1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 ao3)

Somehow, the inside of the house was even more ridiculous to the outside. That was mostly thanks to the gigantic wizard statue just inside the front door, but there were plenty of other bizarre things scattered all around the first floor - fantastical figures and a bronzed vacuum, plus books piled haphazardly next to any kind of seat. It was absolutely nothing like the Egbert house.

In fact, it was almost like the island.

Jade stopped short at the painful burst of emotion that observation gave her. The adults were too tied up in their conversation to really notice, and John was already snooping around their bookcases, leaning up on his tip toes to see what kinds of books the Lalondes had. The only person who saw her freeze was Bec, who shoved his snout into her hand. Automatically she reached back to scratch behind his ears, and that little bit of motion helped bring her back to where she was.

Breathing in deep to clear her mind, she gave Bec a few more enthusiastic scritches. "Thanks, boy," she said quietly to him. Bec just pushed into her with his head before loping over to sniff at a fallen wizard bust.

"It will be simply wonderful, having you all stay with us!" Doctor Lalonde was saying to Mr. Egbert as they moved up the stairs. "Just wait until you see the observatory, completely worth the cost when you see just how gorgeous the stars are at night out here..." Her voice trailed off as the adults disappeared upstairs, leaving John and Jade alone. John seemed comfortable enough poking around, but Jade had barely moved away from the front door. What was she supposed to do?

Before her trepidation could build up too high, a door in the corner opened, and a young girl peeked through the gap. "Oh, so you two did come. Mother said all three of you would be here, but she's never been the best at proper communication."

Jade sucked her lip between her teeth and shared a look with John, who looked about as confused as she felt. "Um..." Jade started to say something, but she had no idea she was supposed to say here. Nothing she'd seen or read or done had prepared her for meeting somebody like this.

The girl didn't act angry or even surprised at their reactions - at least as far as Jade could tell. "Judging by your expressions, you don't know much about me, correct?" She barely paused before continuing. "As I said, she lacks in proper communication skills. Thank the unspeakable gods for the internet, or else I'd never have learned any myself." She stuck out her hand. "My name is Rose. Rose Lalonde. Truly a pleasure to meet you both."

At the sight of her outstretched hand, John grinned and strode forward with his own hand out. "Hi! I'm John! Your house is like some kind of movie set, it's awesome!" Looking at his hand, Jade could only just make out the flesh-colored strap he used for his hand-jolty thing. Before she could even think about it, she was rushing to his side and grabbing his wrist just as he was about to shake Rose's hand. "John! I'm pretty sure it's rude to prank someone the very first time you're meeting them!"

John scowled and tried to pull his hand away. "Aw, Jade! That was the perfect set-up! I can't believe you ruined this for me." After he yanked his arm uselessly around a few times, Jade finally let go, giving him a scowl of her own. Pulling the device off his hand and sticking it back in his pocket, he said, "Honestly, the first time you meet someone is the best time to prank them, since they have no idea what to expect. I can't believe you've been living with us for months now and you still don't get the true core of pranking."

Any response Jade had for that left her brain when she realized Rose was still standing there with her hand out. "Oh geez, sorry Rose, that was rude too, wasn't it?" Jade sucked her lip in between her teeth again. All these social rules were really hard to get right. It felt like she still had way too much to learn.

After a second, Rose just smiled and put her hand down. "Actually, that's not the worst thing someone has done when I've tried to introduce myself. That was... refreshingly straightforward." Jade's brow furrowed a little as she looked at John, because that wasn't what people usually acted like when he tried to prank them. He looked kinda surprised, too, but Rose continued speaking before Jade could try to figure out what else his expression said. "Come, Mother will be giving your father a grand tour of the premises, which will take some time. Let me show you where you'll be staying." With that, she pivoted and opened the door to the room she'd entered from.

John just shrugged at Jade before following Rose into the next room. Jade looked around for Bec and found him sprawled out by some couches, perfectly content to rest for now it seemed. Since he was doing fine, she followed John and Rose.

The room looked like it used to be used for storage or paperwork - there was a desk crammed into one corner and a few boxes lining the walls. Now, though, it was dominated by three beds, beds that seemed way too nice to be temporary. Rose smiled as she gestured to them grandly. "Mother couldn't bear the thought of forcing any guests to sleep on something so crass as a pull-out couch, so she brought these in as soon as we knew you were coming."

"Sweet!" John jumped on the closest bed. "Wow, this mattress is super nice! I thought we'd just be like crashing on a couch or sleeping on the floor or something. This is way better."

"Indeed. It'll be something of a shame to lose this minor haven, but sacrifices must be made to accommodate visitors," Rose said.

Jade tilted her head. "Do you not like the rest of your house?" Rose was talking as though she liked to hide away in this ignored room, but the house was so big, why would she stay here?

Rose looked a little shocked at Jade's question. She took a little time before speaking - organizing her thoughts, maybe? Jade did that herself a lot, but most of the people she talked with didn't seem to think about what they had to say next. "The house is fine," Rose finally said. "My apologies, I have something of a... flair for the dramatic that overtakes me on occasion. Please, pay no mind to my eccentricities. I assure you they are merely a personal failing."

John scooted to the edge of the bed, letting his feet dangle over the side. "I wouldn't call it a failing if that's just how you are. I mean, Jade still acts like a dog half the time but nobody blames her for that."

"Hey!" Jade yelped, trying not to laugh. "And what about your pranks, huh?"

"My pranks," John began gravely, "are the result of generations of hard work at mastering the art of comedic slapstick. It would be a heinous crime for me not to prank everyone around me, as it would be wasting the lives of all those heroes who -"

John's speech was interrupted by Jade tackling him onto the bed and tickling him as hard as she could. The pair wrestled back and forth for a while until an unfamiliar laugh reminded them they weren't at home. They both looked at Rose, who was holding both her hands over her mouth, like she was trying to keep any other laughs from escaping.

Jade sheepishly stood up from the bed. "Sorry, Rose, was that rude?" She'd been feeling antsy from all the traveling and it had felt good to goof around a little, but you probably weren't supposed to wrestle people under someone else's roof.

For her part, Rose just waved one hand in the air. "No offense taken, I'm just... not used to such antics. I wasn't expecting it."

John clambered off the bed and dramatically dusted off his clothes, straightening himself out after their brief tussle. "So, what's your room like? Do you have any cool video games?"

Rose froze for a second, and Jade felt again a similarity to her own actions. I didn't think I'd meet anyone who had to think as much as I do about what they're supposed to do next. Rose probably wasn't freezing for the same reason, but it felt almost nice, just the same.

Rose didn't freeze for long - very quickly she was sweeping into a flourishing bow and gesturing out of the room. "It would be my honor to escort you both on a tour of my abode. Please, follow me." She led John and Jade up the stairs and into her bedroom.

Rose's bedroom was a little small, which was a big contrast to what Jade had seen of the house so far. It fit her bed, a desk, a bookcase, and a dresser, but there wasn't much space between all these things. It might've just looked smaller than it was because of all the stuff strewn about the floor - a few knitted things tossed here and there, and sloppy piles of books like she'd seen downstairs.

"Whoa!" John ran to the window and looked outside. "This window is awesome! All I can see out my window is our front yard, and that is way less cool than this."

"Being surrounded by a forest on all sides does allow for a majestic view, I suppose," Rose stated mildly. "It does wreak havoc on the wifi signal, though."

Jade looked around the room curiously. The only other bedroom she'd visited before was John's, and it was interesting to see how differently Rose lived. As she looked past the bed, a bit of bright color grabbed her attention. Moving closer, it looked like part of an arm for a stuffed animal was sticking out from under the bed. Or, not an arm... a tentacle?

"Wait, is that..." Jade knelt down and reached for the plushie, not noticing Rose's quick "Ah...!" As she pulled it out, Jade grinned widely. "It is! It's a Squiddle! Oh wow, Dave told me nobody would be into this show anymore!"

"A Squiddle?" John turned away from the view out the window to look at the lush squid creature. "Wow, yeah, I haven't thought of that show in a long time."

Rose coughed. "I haven't either, of course. Honestly, I'm surprised I still have that thing. I thought I'd gotten rid of it ages ago."

"Why would you want to get rid of Plumthroat? He's always there for his friends, even if he messes up from time to time." Jade smiled down at the Squiddle. She'd watched the entire show over the course of a Sunday, and although it had been pretty unrealistic, the joy of watching the colorful friends pull each other out of trouble time and time again had drawn her into watching the next episode as fast as possible until there weren't any left. "Do you have any of the others, like Creamsicle or Princess Berryboo?"

"Ah..." Rose looked away, her hands clasped in front of her, one finger tapping against the back of her hand. "I might have one or two more... tucked away somewhere."

"Awesome!" Jade smiled wide. Now she had something more in common with Rose. This trip could really turn out to be the start of something great.

After dinner that evening, Paul stepped out the front door to indulge in his pipe. He'd been trying to cut back, but addiction is a powerful thing, after all. He moved towards the river a little way, so as to help dissipate the smell. Pulling on his pipe, he gazed up at the stars.

Footsteps behind him gave him warning that his solitude would soon be broken. He turned to find Dr. Lalonde picking her way carefully down the path, a half-finished wine glass in her hand. "It really is a wonderful view here," Paul said. "Thank you again for funding our travel expenses. I'm glad John was able to experience something like this."

The doctor laughed and gestured wildly with her glass. "Any time, honestly. One of the best things I've spent money on in a long time, believe me." She took another sip and looked up at the stars herself, sharing in a quiet moment with Paul.

"She could be happy here, I think," Paul spoke. "She's been adjusting amazingly well, but I'm still afraid that it will all be too much for her - too many people, too many rules..." He sighed. "If only she could have come here first."

"Jake was always shoddy with details," Dr. Lalonde responded. "I'm glad you reached out for her - by the time I was contacted by his estate's lawyers, she could've been passed between a dozen foster homes." She laid a hand on Paul's arm, who covered it with one of his own. "And of course, if Jade does have to stay with me, I'll help you and John visit as much as possible. She should know her family."

Paul swallowed past the lump in his throat a few times before trying to speak. "Yes, I... I would appreciate that very much, doctor. Thank you."

"Oh, please call me Roxy!" She shoved at him playfully. "I'm not a doctor outside of the lab, just a mother." She sighed. "And definitely not a well-schooled one. I do my best with Rose, but..." She trailed off, her eyes following the flowing river. She smiled suddenly, turning to Paul with a brightness that seemed a little false. "I'm amazed at how quickly John and Jade befriended her, though! They looked like they were having a grand time together before dinner."

Paul felt a small proud smile grow on his face. "John has a strong talent for getting along with everyone, and Jade has made great strides since she moved in with us. I'm glad to see the three of them getting along so well." He took a final drag from his pipe and blew the smoke out smoothly. "So, the lawyer is coming the day after tomorrow, right?"

"Yep, that's right," Roxy stated simply. "They'll want everything tied up neatly at that point."

"Well then, tomorrow will bring an important discussion, and we should get some rest." Turning back to the house he offered his arm to Roxy. "Shall we?"

Roxy smiled coyly at him as she took his arm, and the pair made their way to rest for the following day.

#wild child jade #oh hm #thinking about changing character tags on ao3 now #i never did add dave though so maybe i won't bother

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danceswithseatbelts · 6 years

Text

Handsome Devil

‘Handsome Devil’

Fandom: The Flash

Snowells (Caitlin Snow x Harry Wells)

Rating: mildly mature? Implied shenanigans

Word Count: 3019

Trying to improve public relations for STAR Labs, Team Flash throws a Halloween party. Coerced into attending, Dr. Wells is his usual intractable self and Caitlin is assigned as his keeper. The devil may be in the details but…this devil, as Caitlin discovers, was capable of unraveling her hard-fought peace of mind. There's no better job for a Snow Angel after all…

Set roughly in season 4, pre-wedding - as canon feeling as I could manage. I tried dammit. Ah, the feels Snowells gives me. <3

><><><

Caitlin stifled a sigh and kept her smile in place for Iris, nodding as the other woman read off every item of the Halloween party list they'd both worked on last week. Impressed with the amount finished, but anxious to get back to work, Caitlin had stopped actively listening. She gave an occasional 'hmm' or 'okay' in acknowledgment only to be brought back to earth when Iris became super excited. What the hell had she agreed to?

"I knew you'd be the one to make sure Dr. Wells comes and wears a costume!" Iris clapped her hands and closed her notebook. "I gotta go talk Barry out of us dressing up as Superman and Supergirl."

Despite herself, Caitlin giggled. "His heart is in the right place at least."

Iris rolled her eyes. "We don't need any more reminders we were basically raised as siblings."

"Good luck!" Caitlin waved goodbye to Iris and wished for her own mega-sized portion of luck; getting Harry to attend and wear a costume was going to be an uphill battle. Well, no time like the present to distract and attack. Guilt, would that work on her favourite grumpy scientist? Ah, no matter. If all else failed, she'd go quiet and sad - that ought to bring him 'round to her wishes.

><><><

Knocking softly on Harry's lab door, Caitlin waited almost a full minute before slowly letting herself into his lair. He might be engrossed in an experiment or tweaking a piece of tech, but Cait knew he'd allow her inside. But it was his lair, his lab was his first home - and if he wasn't here, then she'd just hunt him down to his actual set of quarters.

Empty.

No Harry, no machines busy with esoteric tasks, no activity save one Caitlin Snow walking the perimeter, checking for her own interest the last experiment Harry had been enthusing about.

Plan B then, perhaps Harry was already holed up for the night in his set of rooms. Caitlin couldn't stop herself from letting her fingers caress the stack of books to the right of the computer station. The top tome fell and she hurried to pick it off the floor. Always curious, Cait opened it and flipped through. It was one she'd recommended to Harry - not even two days ago. Interesting.

><><><><

This time, surer of finding Harry, Caitlin knocked with confidence, loud and authoritative; as if her alter ego Killer Frost was telling Harry she was there. No meek miss asking for entrance -rather, telling the occupant there was company to be had. The idea had her grinning and as Harry opened the door, it was her grin that Harry reacted to first.

"Good news?"

"Yes?"

"I'm thinking, no." Despite the negative words, Harry's tone wasn't - he was curious about exactly why the woman he'd been thinking about had shown up on his doorstep. Reality gave him a hard slap and Harry sucked air over his teeth. This had to be a trick or something else - something unpleasant. Caitlin was a delight, but the universe wasn't in the habit of giving him presents. "Come in, you're letting the warm air out." He smirked. Of course that was a lie, but it suited his sense of humour.

"Thank you." Ever the polite and attentive guest, Caitlin hurried over the threshold and shut the door. "I hope I haven't interrupted you doing anything important." She let her eyes dance over everything she saw - she'd been wanting to visit his rooms for the longest time, but she'd never had a good excuse. Today though, she had a reason. Caitlin smiled. "I've come to help you!"

Taken aback, Harry almost dropped the book he was holding. Snow couldn't know of his personal plans; the lubricant waiting in his shower, could she? No, of course not, it was just wishful thinking. "With what?"

"As you know, Team Flash agreed to throw a Halloween party for the fine citizens of Central City in the environs of STAR labs." Caitlin could feel her natural enthusiasm rise to the occasion. "It's my pleasure to assist you with deciding on a costume and attending!"

Harry wondered briefly if he'd become senile. Snow was prattling about a Halloween party? "I’m far too old to play dress-up."

"Don't be such a party pooper, mister!"

"It's doctor, Dr. Snow."

Caitlin gave a rueful smile at the snide comment. "Noted." She chewed her lips and tried to jam her hands into non-existent pockets on her skirt. "It would mean a lot to the team if you showed up and joined us."

"I have experiments to plan and more important issues to take care of than helping inspire the plebian public to feel any sort of indebtedness towards even this Earth's STAR labs." Harry winced as Snow blanched. "Not that it isn't a worthy effort…"

"No, I understand." Caitlin looked at her feet and mentally girded her loins. Resolute, she moved further into Harry's room - closer to his rumpled bed. She'd pegged him as a ship-shape type of man. If he wasn't in bed it should have been pristine. Covers smooth and pillows arranged with military precision. What an odd random thought. Back to the matter at hand. "You're afraid."

Incredulous, Harry did drop the book he'd been cradling. "Don't be ridiculous. Me? Afraid? Of what?"

"Having fun, relating to people, not being a grump, and having fun," Caitlin rejoined quickly. "You're especially scared of having fun. You don't have to pay for your mistakes until the end of time - we know you're a solid member of the team. We all want you to be there. You deserve to have fun."

Harry stared at Snow - such a lady, but right now spitting fire and ire as if that would be enough to bow him to her will. "Crowds aren't fun. Costumes and stupid heathenish rites aren't fun. Halloween is a waste of time."

"You're wrong!" Cait actually stomped her foot. "It's a chance to hide your regular self and have fun exploring any avenue of behaviour you want."

"Oh?" The timbre of Harry's voice dropped.

Caitlin felt the hairs on her arms stand to attention; that raspy voice was sinfully sexy. Without considering her words further, Caitlin said, "A costume is both armour against the world and expression of one's deepest self."

"Unless it's one of those sexy, mass-marketed costumes," said Harry drily, "then it's all about making money from a postage sized scrap of fabric. The people who buy those are foolish, deluded souls."

Aghast at Harry's cruel words, Caitlin blinked and stood frozen. A sharp look entered her eyes. "I bet I can prove you wrong." Not letting Harry speak, Caitlin strode over to him and poked him in the chest. "Why don't you wear a sexy costume and I'll wear something that matches you, but innocent. You stay at the party until I give you permission to leave and I'll --"

"Do whatever I demand?"

"Yes!" Caught up in the moment, Caitlin agreed. "Doesn't matter what! Any of your experiments at all! Whatever you want - I will deliver."

"I accept."

"Y-y-you do? I mean, good!"

"Meet me here tomorrow night and we'll discuss your half of our couple's costume." Harry inwardly screamed. Heaven and hell; both god and the devil had to be laughing. Snow was too innocent even with Killer Frost's influence. "Even as excellent an experiment partner as you are, I may not require that as my fee."

Resolute, Caitlin shook her head. "Doesn't matter. I know you won't take advantage, I'm not scared of you."

><><><><

Caitlin nodded dumbly. Harry had just told her his costume and it was indeed sexy. There were few things that revved her engine as much as a man in a fine suit - and to whit, Harry, in an immaculately tailored suit, even garnished with horns, tail and pitch-fork... That was a recipe for a perfect lust storm.

"--You'll be my Snow Angel of course." Taking it for granted, Harry smirked, arms crossed. "Covered from neck to toes, you'll be pure and pristine to match my evil and loathsome attitude."

"Much like beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so must be evil." Caitlin snapped back her rejoinder and stood defiant in front of Harry. "Even angels fall." She flushed but refused to retract any of her words. "Be ready to have fun Friday night dammit!"

Head held high, Caitlin stomped out of Harry's private set of rooms.

><><><

Loud music and a steady stream of guests entering and winding about the decorated rooms of STAR labs had most of Team Flash excited. Cisco's spirits were high and only getting higher while Joe pessimistically lamented the chances of criminal activity only spiking. Iris and Barry held hands and gazes. Wally rolled his eyes. Jesse tugged the neckline of her costume higher - suddenly freezing as the last two members of Team Flash entered the designated main party room of STAR labs.

"Lookin' fine you two!" Iris jumped in excitement. "You do know most people dress opposite to people's expectations?"

Barry snorted and then looked immediately apologetic. "Oh, I bet lots of people who don't know Dr. Wells wouldn't think of him as Satan."

"Yeah," Cisco gave Barry the 'okay' symbol, "only the people who don't know he's a dick might think he's unsuited to be the devil." In response to Caitlin's moue of dismay, Cisco made an overblown bow and took her hand. "You make a lovely angel."

”A snow angel, dolt." Harry took pleasure in being even more blunt than usual. "She's obviously a snow angel. Look at her voluminous and icy white gown, snowflakes on her cape and icicle halo." Tossing his own red satin cape over his shoulder, Harry gazed coolly at his co-workers. "You'll be lucky if tonight doesn't bite you all in the ass."

"Good talk!" shouted Cisco as Harry dragged Caitlin towards one of the refreshment tables. Cisco cupped his hands around his mouth and continued to sass Harry. "Remind me never to use the phrase 'bite me' with you." Cisco exchanged high-fives with the rest of his team. "Stage one, complete."

><><><

"Thank you." Caitlin accepted a cup of mystery punch and tentatively sipped. It was boozy but sweet and therefore pretty good. "This is nice, isn't it?"

Harry scowled. "Has the definition of nice been changed? I hate crowds and I dislike them more when they're drunk and disorderly."

A man wearing a Captain Marvel costume stumbled into Harry and reached out to steady himself on Caitlin's shoulders. "Ooh, an angel!"

Harry gave the man an evil look. "Keep your hands off the snow angel. If you can't handle your drinks, you ought not be drinking." He detached the offending fingers and glared. "Go away."

"Way to keep in character dude!" Drunk Captain America clapped his hands and smiled lopsidedly. "I'd keep my wife safe too - if I had one!" He laughed as if he'd delivered the wittiest joke. "I gotta go find my own Peggy Carter and Bucky." As fast as he'd interrupted, the stranger staggered away, disappearing into the partying crowd.

"My hero."

"Only you, Snow, would ever have the brass tacks to say that like you meant it." Harry looked down and away before draping Caitlin's free hand into the crook of his arm. "I should keep you close. There's a lot more drunk idiots who might accost you."

"I'll allow it." Caitlin looked at Harry from under her lashes. She wanted to say so much more. Something like, 'I'd rather be with you than without.' God have mercy, how strong had the punch been?

"Excellent." Despite himself, Harry's grin was warm; Caitlin had the ability to rev his engines and soothe. "Hungry?"

"Not just yet." Caitlin giggled. "I was thinking about drinking more before dulling any alcoholic haze with food."

"Then let's indulge."

Caitlin shivered. Harry might not have intended to sound like pure carnality - but he had. Indulge? Oh, there were so many things that Caitlin wanted to do and have done to her. Instead of pouring out her dark desires, Caitlin nodded then drained her cup of punch. "Let's get some real drinks."

><><><

Cisco adjusted his turban. "The amazing Carnac votes we go to the karaoke room!"

"Really?" Joe breathed even heavier into his Vader mask. It was hella fun, making his speech into the notable sound of James Earl Jones. "Make it so, number one."

"Wrong!" Iris shook her head. "Dad! You're mixing up Star Wars and Star Trek!"

"Yeah, 'fraid so, Joe!" Barry flipped his Iron Man mask up to look with worry at his foster father - slash - soon-to-be father-in-law. "Can't you keep D.C. and Marvel separate?"

"Tch! Star Trek is Paramount!"

"Then what am I confusing with D.C.?"

Several voices shouted and began arguing with immense fervour.

><><><

Several shots of tequila later, Caitlin smiled at Harry. He'd kept the worst of the drunken revellers from her as well as staying right next to her side. This might be the best day of the year as far as Caitlin was concerned. Nothing else could compare with being escorted by a tall and handsome devil. Caitlin snorted sudden laughter.

"What's got you amused?"

Harry's gravelly tone stoked Caitlin's hormones.

Harry scowled, but his deep blue eyes betrayed his curiosity. "What else do you need?"

"Don't ask something like that if you don't want an honest answer." Caitlin reached up to adjust her icicle halo. "And before you say anything else, I do understand the difference between need and want."

"Of course." Harry masked his sudden confusion by withdrawing the red silk handkerchief from his suit pocket, tucking it back with more care. "I've always been impressed with your intelligence, Snow. You're remarkable."

"Maybe it's the drinks talking, but why don't you call me your Snow Angel?"

Harry wanted to say so much but settled for a quick nod. There were worse things Caitlin could have asked of him. Sidestepping her last question, Harry decided to guide her back to the bar area. "How's about a few more drinks?"

"Such a naughty, handsome devil. Trying to get me drunk and take advantage? I mean, way to get into the festive feel tonight!"

"If only you were my Snow Angel." Harry muttered this louder than he'd intended - making Caitlin clutch his arm and stand still.

"Are you going to give me a Christmas miracle gift on Halloween?"

"We're both a bit drunk. I don't know what you mean." Harry made the mistake of looking into Caitlin's eyes. Warmth rocketed from the pit of his stomach. "What sort of gift were you wanting?"

"Honesty would be a great start."

"Well, I honestly think I've attended this party long enough," Harry smirked. "I know you like to keep a clean slate. You up for your end of our bargain?"

"More than you know." Caitlin raised her chin. "Let's blow this popsicle stand."

><><><

And very much like a Christmas miracle, the crowd had parted for both Harry and Caitlin; the escape to his private set of rooms at Star Labs was quick and uneventful.

Closing the door, Harry dropped his pitchfork and detached the cheap red horns of his costume. "Ahhhh."

"Not to be rude, but I kind of liked the horns." Caitlin removed her halo, holding onto it with twisting hands. "They didn't look wrong."

"Thanks." Harry drew out the 'ess'. "Your halo - I'd imagine a flower crown would be the only thing to suit you more."

Touched by his sincerity, Caitlin blushed. "What's with the compliments?"

"That's actually tied in with our little wager." Harry stalked further inside his rooms, jamming his hands into his pants pockets. "You've agreed to anything I demand - and even dressed as the devil, I can't imagine forcing my true wants."

"Which is why it was so easy to agree to your demands." Caitlin flopped onto Harry's bed in a boneless display. "I know you and you're much kinder and sweeter than you present yourself." She kicked off her shoes and giggled as they made a god-awful racket. "You're not even close to devil-status, Harry."

"I might be afraid to do the thing I want, but it remains the thing I want."

The sincerity in Harry's voice made Caitlin sit still. Her intellect, only slightly slowed and addled by tonight's alcohol made sense of his words. "I freely agreed to your terms."

"That you did." Wonderment glowed in Harry's eyes. "Are you sure?"

"Are you?"

Harry stalked closer, grinning as he pinned Caitlin to the side of his bed. "What I want is your active participation. If you can't join me, then there's no point."

"Didn't I tell you earlier that even angels can fall?" Caitlin licked her lips. "I'm no angel for all that everyone seems to believe that." She kept smiling at Harry. "Why don't you elaborate exactly what you want?"

"Lots of heat, sweat, and passion." Harry swooped in, connecting his lips to Caitlin's - delving his tongue deep, coaxing a moan from his Snow Angel's lips. Harry plunged his fingers into Caitlin's hair, closing his eyes as he deepened his kiss. He slanted his mouth and panted harshly.

Long minutes passed as the couple writhed on the bed. For her part, Caitlin could only react with delight - and Harry poured his considerable ardour into their lip-lock. Harry groaned, lifting his weight from Snow's body. "This is moving rather fast. I, ah, you don't have to stay."

"I know. I want to be here. Now, let's get rid of these clothes." Caitlin slid her hand from Harry's hair onto his chest and deftly popped several buttons of his dress shirt. "They're cramping my style."

"We can't have that."

“Not when we can have the heat, sweat, and passion you mentioned earlier.” Caitlin smiled up at Harry and winked. “Don’t hold back.” She ripped Harry’s shirt open the rest of the way. “This Snow Angel is very inspired by her personal handsome devil.”

#danceswithseatbelts #snowells #fanfic #the flash #Caitlin Snow x Harry Wells #my new fav OTP #snow x wells #one-shot #handsome devil

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