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orionares · 3 years

Text

BTHB: Comatose

BTHB: Comatose

Law and Order: SVU

@badthingshappenbingo

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“Can I ask you something?”

He flinches at the small voice from across the room. Blue eyes similar to his eyes stare at him blankly beneath brown curly hair with the same tenacity and strength he'd worked side by side with for twelve years.

Elliot nods slowly, prompting the ten year old to slide out of his chair and cross the room to stop inches from the foot of his mother's bed. Noah Benson rests his hand on the foot of the bed and eyes Elliot cautiously. "Did you do something to my mom?"

Elliot chokes on his breath and pushes himself from the huddled position in his chair to face Noah. He stifles a need to burst into tears and instead answers in a cracked voice, “What do you mean?”

“If you were the one that got her hurt,” Noah muses, “you’d be in jail. But- but you aren’t arrested and you have a badge. So you're a cop. Right?”

Elliot can feel his heart shatter as the boy eyes his mother, lying unconscious in one of Sanai’s hospital beds, hooked up to a handful of wires. He himself can’t bring himself to look at her- no, not after what had happened. The guilt alone-

“Do you work with my mom?” Noah’s question comes as he steps closer to Elliot, causing the older man to flinch. “I’ve never seen or heard about you before.”

“You're inquisitive,” Elliot stammers. Noah cocks his head to right and mutters, “What’s itiquative?”

“Inquisitive,” Elliot corrects. He scratches the back of his neck and sighs, “It means you ask a lot of questions. You also like to ask the right questions. Like your mom.”

“That’s what Uncle Fin says.” His face falls as he turns towards the bed and sniffles, “Is she going to be ok?”

A knuckle raps on the door as Fin Tutola ducks his head into the door before stepping in. He pauses to stare at Olivia for a moment before shaking his head in disbelief. Even though he had dropped off Noah an hour earlier, he still finds himself shaken at seeing her in this state. “You ready to head out, Noah?”

Noah doesn’t peel his eyes from the bed. “Why hasn’t she woken up yet?” he answers softly. Behind him, Fin and Elliot exchange a worried look.

“Do you remember what we talked about yesterday?” Fin asks. He walks to the side of the bed opposite Elliot and Noah. He places a hand on Olivia’s forehead and sighs as one of his closest friends doesn’t react to his touch. Noah nods slowly and furrows his brow as he recalls the day prior’s conversation.

“She hit her head on the sidewalk when she and-” Noah quickly whips his head back to Elliot, “Detective Stabler was trying to leave the hospital. It’s a….it’s called a…”

“Cerebral edema,” Elliot finishes. “Brain swelling. They induced a coma to help the swelling go down. It’s going to take a few days for her to heal, buddy.” Using the word ‘buddy’ stings for Elliot- hell, he doesn’t deserve to use that term for the son of the woman whose heart he broke.

Noah shakes his head. “Oh, yeah. Can I stay a little longer? ‘Cause I want to be here when she wakes up.”

“Well, Elliot will be here-”

Noah’s eyes widen and he turns once more to Elliot. He mirrors his mother’s investigative scan at his badge and face. “My mom says your name in her sleep. A lot.”

Fin snorts unexpectedly at the boy’s comment. “Okay. Maybe this is a conversation for another time-”

Elliot finally pulls himself out of his daze and holds up a hand in defense. “No, I-I can head out and-”

“You didn’t answer my question,” Noah counters. “Can I talk to Elliot, Uncle Fin?”

Elliot glances up to Fin, who’s staring at Noah with contemplation. Even after ten years, Elliot can recognize the planning in the sergeant’s eyes. After a minute, Fin looks down to Olivia and whispers to her, “It’s your kid and you know I can’t say that to that face. He’s going to ask a million questions unless we nip it in the butt.”

“Fin-”

“Why don’t you take Noah down to the cafeteria?” Fin suggests, cutting Elliot off. He checks his cellphone to see 7:36 on the lock screen. “I think the cafeteria closes by 8 and he hasn’t had dinner yet.”

“Wait, maybe-”

Noah’s already moving towards the head of the bed where an empty chair sits close enough for him to climb onto the bed. He sits on his knees and begins chatting to his mother, “Mom, I’m going to be right back, ok?”

“She heard you,” Fin says. “I’ll keep an eye on her.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the cafeteria, Noah slides into one of the cafeteria’s booths with a plate of a hotdog and French fries. Elliot stands next to the table and watches the boy slide off his jacket and begin eating hungrily without a word. The detective hesitates before easing down into the booth and sliding across to sit directly across from him.

“How’s the food?” Elliot finally asks after a few minutes of silence.

“Good.”

“I’m glad.” Elliot rests his hands in his lap and asks, “So your question about if I did something to your mom….what made you think that?”

“I heard Auntie Amanda and Uncle Sonny talking about you when I stayed at Auntie Amanda’s apartment,” Noah answers. He takes a bite of his hot dog and continues, “They were talking about how her ex-partner came back and how someone….named Chief said that she should stay away from you. What’d you do?”

“I- '' Elliot inhales and exhales slowly, replaying the many ways he had predicted having a conversation with Olivia’s son. “I was her partner at work for twelve years. We were inseparable and then I left her….without saying goodbye.”

“Why?”

Elliot pauses to formulate his answer. “Adult reasons.”

Noah moves onto his French fries and mumbles, “Adults always say that. It’s dumb.”

“Touché. I was married until a couple of months ago when my wife died,” Elliot explains. Saying the words ‘my wife died’ still stings. “When your mom and I were partners, I…..um…”

“You loved my mom?” Noah’s eyes widen before he shrugs his shoulders at Elliot’s sudden look of disbelief. “What? It happens in the movies all the time.”

“You are too smart for your own good,” Elliot chuckles. “I did but I was married. That’s a complicated line even for adults.”

“Then….why’d you leave?”

“Because I was afraid. Things became complicated so I did what cowards do and ran, Noah.” He ignores the instinct to stop spilling his guts to a ten year old and pushes on. “ My family and I moved to Italy and I cut her out of my life.”

Noah suddenly stops eating, pushes the plate towards Elliot and scowls at the man. “That’s stupid.”

“What?”

“I don’t get why adults do stupid stuff like that. My friend Phillip’s parents hated each other but they stayed married. Philip said they should have gotten a divorce a long time ago but didn’t. He moved away last year with his grandparents, I think. It’s dumb that you left.”

Elliot settles back against the booth, speechless. The observations and opinions shared by everyone in Olivia’s life spilled out by her son in a ten minute conversation. “It was and will be one of the greatest regrets in my life.”

Noah takes another fry off of his plate. His next question comes in a timid voice. “Do you still love my mom?”

Elliot swallows hard and feels tears forming in his eyes. “Why do you ask?” he chokes out.

“Because you keep staying with her at the hospital. And you look like people do when people they love are hurt.”

Elliot nods and chuckles. “You should be a detective when you grow up.”

“I want to be a dancer. Do you?”

Elliot smiles for the first time in days at Noah. “More than anything. More than anything.”

Noah takes another fry before stifling a yawn. “You should tell her...if she...if she…”

“Hey,” Elliot quickly slides out of his side of the boot and moves to sit next to a suddenly tear eyed Noah. Elliot rests a hand on his shoulder and says softly, “Your mom is the absolute strongest woman I ‘ve ever met. She’s going to be ok. You can’t give up hope, okay?”

Noah buries his head against Elliot’s shoulder and whimpers, “Okay.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"They're letting me stay the night," Elliot says softly as he settles back into his chair he had been sitting in for the past two days. After parting ways with Fin and Noah, he had returned to the hospital room to find a blanket , a pillow and a nurse giving a nod in approval. "I think they assume that we've..that we're…together, I guess."

Hw can't bring himself to look at her battered form in the bed. The moments of leaving the hospital after the Chief and IAB had dismissed Bell, Olivia and him to go home replays over and over every time his mind wanders.

"Elliot, I don't need protection!" Olivia growls as the three head towards the parking garage.

"Wheatley got to Angela in a hospital! I'm not going to let him get near you!" Elliot counters. Behind him, Bell's eyes are occupied on her phone, brow furrowed at the information she's just received from Jet.

“I know how to protect myself and my son. I’m a police captain,” she argues back. There’s an anger behind her statement that he can’t quite place but-

Bell suddenly holds up a hand and exclaims, “Hold up! Jet’s just sent me a-”

His sergeant doesn't finish as a concussive force slams into his body , propelling him and the two women across the pavement and into unconsciousness.

Elliot shakes off the memory and continues to talk. “I think it’s because I’ve spent a total of six hours away from you since the explosion. Liv, I can’t- ever since I’ve come back, I’ve put you in danger, caused you stress and….got Kathy killed.”

In the back of his head, he imagines the Olivia of ten years ago, sitting next to him with a cup of coffee and a comforting hand on his shoulder, saying, “El, you can’t blame yourself for something that was out of your control.”

“But I left you and that was in my control,” he answers the voice. He rubs a hand over his face in frustration. Another bit of memory- the briefest moment of consciousness after the explosion replays in his head.

He’ll never forget opening his eyes to her lying unconscious a foot away from him on the pavement with blood running from her ear onto the ground.

“I know I don’t deserve this but,” Elliot whispers, “but don’t leave me please. I didn’t deserve Kathy and I sure as hell don’t deserve you….but” he finally looks up to the bed and can’t stop the sob of guilt that comes. The tubes, cuts and her stillness break him. Elliot stands up and walks to her side, letting the tears fall. The tears don’t fall only for her, but for his wife, his kids, Noah and everyone he’s impacted since returning to New York.

“I love you,” Elliot whispers. He rests his forehead against hers and repeats the words he hopes he can say one day again. “I love you.”

#olivia benson #elliot stabler #law and order svu #bensler #bad things bingo #bad things happen bingo

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addictedtostorytelling · 3 years

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what did you think about episode 4, particularly their scenes with nora cross and the bathrobe and end scenes? i'm going to need a while to forgive them for cutting the kiss.

also, from another anon:

Not a question but I can't stop watching that last scene, the way his voice goes into a whisper "I wanna know what kind of magic you used to put that women under your spell". Add that on top of Sara chilling in bed wearing Grissom's glasses. Don't even get me started on the scene of him checking her out in her robe. I'm dyyyyyyying and I need to to have a fangirl freakout out with someone!!! I wanna know your thoughts on the gsr moments in this ep!

hi, anons!

my thoughts are these:

obviously, super bummed that they cut the kiss. can't understand why they did it. can't believe they learned nothing from the mistake they made at the end of "immortality." don't get why they're so stingy about kisses between two married characters who have literally been in love for twenty-three years. have little hope this problem will be remedied at any point during this season. fully believe i will die having only seen one happy gsr kiss in the entirety of their decades-long fictional relationship.

elsewise, discussion after the "keep reading," if you're interested.

first off, there were, in my view, a few eyeroll-inducing continuity errors (or at least fudges) throughout the episode. namely:

sara actually thinking that she could have possibly signed off on even one case that hodges had worked on—to say nothing of multiple cases—even though she was literally his "supervisor" for all of, like, three hours before she abruptly quit working at the lab;

dating that performance review cross reads to rattle sara not only to after the events of episode 05x13 "nesting dolls" but also well into the thick of s6, even though a) grissom would have already known sara's deal by that point, and, b) sara basically never had another behavioral issue at work again after she and grissom finally got together at least until the later seasons writers regressed her after the divorce*;

acting like sara had never encountered that performance review before even though in the early seasons of the show, it was pretty clearly established that grissom always went over his reviews with his team members after he wrote them (and there's no way that sara didn't want to hear what he wrote about her, both given that she's a career-minded person and also that she cares deeply about his opinion of her);

choosing the diane chase murder to be the compromised case from the "grissom era" of hodges's tenure at the lab, even though it strains credulity that anyone with more than just a glancing knowledge of the case would believe he could have potentially tampered with the evidence, just given his lack of access, the compressed timeline of the investigation, and the fact that the case was already reviewed by iab back in 2006**.

* the incident where she is insubordinate to catherine and ecklie in episode 05x13 “nesting dolls” is literally the last time sara ever individually gets in trouble under either grissom or catherine’s watches. while she still occasionally gets upset or goes overboard on cases, the whole “loose cannon with a gun” thing completely falls by the wayside once she and grissom get together and she has him to support her and keep her confidences.

** while i can believe that the fabricator may have chosen that case to mess with (just given that it is suitably high-profile and already had a lot of confusion surrounding it), i find it harder to swallow the idea that the da and iab could come to the conclusion that hodges actually could have been solely responsible for the fabrication in that case without accomplices. at the very least, wendy would have had to be knowingly complicit, and possibly also grissom and nick, as well. there just wasn't a clear window of opportunity or means of access for hodges to have fabricated the dna evidence otherwise. it's hard for me to accept that the da and iab wouldn't recognize that fact, even if they were eager to make hodges a scapegoat.

as for the grissoms' interactions with nora cross, i like that cross is being written not as straight up evil but rather politic, as that quality is one that both grissom and sara have historically both disdained and also struggled to reckon with when they've faced off against someone possessed of it (cf. ecklie).

as for the content of the interviews themselves:

sara's first interaction with cross, where cross reads off grissom's old evaluation, raises the question of how exactly grissom and sara dealt with the issue of evaluations during the "secret dating phase."

did they have an unspoken understanding that no matter what grissom wrote about sara as a worker, it was separate from their romantic relationship? did they maybe come to a more explicit decision that grissom's evaluations would by necessity have to contain not insubstantial criticism (so as not to arouse suspicions)? did sara just stop reading her evaluations and grissom stop going over them with her in the interest of keeping things copacetic at home?

watching sara's initial reaction to the eval, i initially wondered if we were meant to suppose that she was perhaps been playing cross, even at that early point, pretending she was unfamiliar with and hurt by what she was hearing, even when in actuality she wasn't.

if one assumed that she were really fucking machiavellian, one could perhaps argue that everything sara says and does after she asks "what's wrong with my character?" is an act, meant to trick cross into showing her cards—what dirt does she actually have on sara?—and perhaps reveal her strategy surrounding the hodges case.

on the one hand, this episode does very much make it clear that sara is playing chess while cross is playing checkers, and sara does even say to grissom before she attends the meeting that she is intending to persuade cross, so maybe it is actually possible that sara's just putting on a show when she seemingly gets worked up about what grissom said about her fifteen years ago.

maybe she has already heard that eval before.

maybe she's fully aware that grissom wrote those criticisms of her as part of their old system for keeping their relationship a secret.

maybe she is not at all as surprised as she's making herself out to be, and in reality she just wants cross to think that she's thrown so that cross will drop her guard a bit and maybe reveal useful intel.

perhaps one point in favor of this interpretation: sara refers to the evaluation as “my husband’s words twisted against me” before cross even reads the final (more complimentary) lines aloud to her. does she maybe already know that the evaluation is not wholly negative from beginning to end? is she aware that cross has so far cherrypicked the most damning parts? possibly.

of course, on the other hand, i've already kind of been struggling with this idea of sara as a master manipulator, even with the manipulation that we know about, so i’m not sure if i’m ready to grant that she’s perhaps even more duplicitous than is initially suggested.

for the record: i don’t actually think sara was manipulating cross in that first interview; i just wasn’t sure what the writers intentions were with it to start out.

i mean, don't get me wrong: i know sara is a fucking genius who in terms of raw intelligence can run circles around just about anybody.

—it's just that, in the past, both she (and grissom) always struggled with the human element. she was never as socially savvy as catherine or warrick or even nick. she oftentimes got shown up by manipulators who were better at "playing the game" than was she (such as, for instance, hannah west and heather kessler). she was always too much a "heart on her sleeve" kind of girl to be able to successfully deceive others.

even with her and grissom's secret relationship, they avoided actively lying in favor of simply omitting the truth and being judicious about how they presented themselves in public, not only to assuage their consciences but also because they didn't want to have to test their powers of deception; neither one of them trusted that they could realistically fool anyone if the issue ever were explicitly raised.

that so, i'm not quite sure if i find it believable that sara would be able to string cross—who certainly isn't a dummy—along so completely.

the level of social and self-awareness, people skills, and general acumen necessary to perpetrate that kind of a manipulation would require hannah west-levels of scheming, and for as smart as sara is, it just—i dunno—doesn't exactly feel like a skillset that's in her wheelhouse.

i mean, maybe she has always been capable of it, but certainly we’ve never seen anything like this behavior from her before.

of course, i'm torn on this issue, because the thing is, i love the interview scenes and the fact of sara's plan itself a lot.

watching grissom and sara go back and forth, playing cross like a fiddle—defeating her with the power of love!—is delightful, and i adore how much the plan itself illustrates what an absolute fucking genius sara is.

the whole thing gives me so much joy.

so far, this whole reboot has really been a celebration of sara. she is quite obviously jason tracey’s favorite character, as is reflected not only by the way the narrative treats her but also by all of the characters within the universe of the show enthusiastically agreeing that they all love her.

that so, i find myself scratching my head about the scene, because while i'm not sure that the characterization completely works, i want it to work very much.

i try to rationalize: maybe sara picked up some manipulation skills at some point over the last six years (as part of her eco pirate training), or maybe she's just developed that part of her brain with age.

certainly, i find myself better able to relate to people now that i'm in my thirties than i was when i was in my teens or twenties, so maybe sara is just on a whole other level now that she's fifty. maybe something just clicked for her at some point.

in any case, my questions about sara suddenly being queen of the cons aside, i absolutely adore the interview scenes in themselves and think the dialogue we get from grissom and sara there about each other is absolutely beautiful.

@bartramcat described the dual interviews with grissom and sara as “love letters,” and i couldn’t agree more.

even with sara’s initial interview, i love the final lines of grissom’s evaluation of her. considering that for him, “the job” has always been a kind of loose synonym for himself, him saying “she was made for this job” is tantamount to him saying “she was made for me.”

which is something i’d like to think that sara picks up on when she later repeats the line as she’s talking to allie.

but speaking to the dual interviews specifically, what i keep coming back to is the intimacy of the descriptions they give of each other and how much those descriptions in some ways counter the ways that they tend to be publicly perceived.

grissom says of sara, “naïveté, by definition, is a lack of experience, wisdom, judgment. the antonyms are intelligence, perception, enlightenment—and that would be my wife.”

while pretty much everyone who knows sara agrees that she is intelligent and perceptive, the idea that she is enlightened/wise/not naïve isn’t one that everyone would agree with—and especially wasn’t one everyone agreed with back when she first joined the lvpd.

folks like catherine and ecklie used to think of her as a hotheaded “kid” who oftentimes got ahead of herself and jumped to conclusions about things.

even more recently, folks like nora cross herself have assumed that her emotionality equates to her having a lack of judgment.

but grissom sees her differently.

to him, sara has always been a kind of oracle—a diviner of his feelings when they’re confused, an answerer of his questions, someone who understands him even (and especially) when he doesn’t understand himself. and it’s not only as an expert in him that he trusts her but as someone who is wise in the way of the heart more generally; who knows what matters in life and is aware of how to treat people. that’s part of why she “restores his faith in the human being” (see episode 16x02 “immortality” pt. ii): because she is possessed of an intuitive kind of compassion that grissom believes in above everything.

meanwhile, on sara’s side, when she talks about how methodical grissom tends to be and how he won’t allow any gears to shift until he sees how they work, she means what she says in an entirely complimentary way—which is such a difference from how most people talk about that side of grissom’s personality.

while lots of folks would agree that grissom is “pragmatic” (to phrase it diplomatically), they typically view that as a negative trait in him, tying it to what they see as his overall detachment and “insufficient humanity.” to them, he is an unemotional automaton who always sticks to a protocol.

but that’s not how sara describes him at all.

to her, there’s beauty in how steady his is—that he won’t allow himself to be rushed to conclusions and that he is devoted to finding the truth. in her view, there is nothing inhuman or callous about how he goes about things; to the contrary, she thinks that his commitment to finding answers is deeply connective and something that ties him to people. she obviously admires his integrity so much.

not only are grissom and sara’s assessments of each other true—much more so than the surface-level glosses other people make of them—but they demonstrate a nuanced understanding and also so much love.

they obviously adore each other and each think of each other so highly.

i’m so glad that we were given this scene just to listen to them each explain the philosophy of the other; to speak so knowingly and lovingly as soulmates.

it really is a gorgeous moment.

elsewise, other thoughts about gsr throughout the episode:

the bathrobe scene is funny.

and i have no doubt that sara eventually got what she wanted that night, after grissom’s experiment proved successful.

as for the end scene, for one thing, i’m very glad that they put sara back on her side of the bed. for another, sara just casually wearing grissom’s glasses so she can read is everything.

the scene itself is so warm.

the way sara perks up in bed when grissom comes in, eager to hear his news, and he just stares at her in pure adoration, so in awe of his brilliant wife and her brilliant plan and how tenacious she’s been through this whole effort to clear hodges’s name.

“i wanna know what kind of magic you used to put that woman under your spell” has rocketed up to near the top of my list of favorite grissom lines ever just for the sheer romance of it.

a scientist who starts to believe in magic because he loves his wife so much!

i also adore sara’s about-to-jump-out-of-her-skin-with-curiosity energy through this whole exchange because a) it’s so on-brand for her, and, b) it speaks to the fact that she had perfect faith that grissom would deliver. she gave him an objective—to come home with a name—and she knew he’d achieve it.

we love one (1) married couple of who know each other so well and believe in each other so much, guys.

then, of course, there’s the final face touch, which is just so wonderfully intimate.

i have no doubt that sara probably also got what she wanted after the scene cut there, too.

overall, i feel like we saw so much unity from grissom and sara in this episode; we’ve not just been told that they’re “old marrieds,” but we’re really seeing it in action. this is a longstanding relationship in which the participants know each other on an extremely intimate basis, not only in terms of their characters but also in terms of how the other person will behave in a given situation. their trust in each other is immense, as is their belief in each other’s capabilities. it’s so obvious they are each other’s favorite people, and i really love that.

i do feel like this episode was light on the “landsickness” storyline, so i wonder if there will be more of that in tonight’s episode.

i’m also interested to see what the grissoms do now that they have a suspect in their investigation.

anyway, that’s all i’ve got.

thanks for the questions! please feel welcome to send more any time.

#answered #anon #asks: csi #**#my meta #meta: vegas #cv 01x04 #let's talk shop #csiverse

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fighterkimburgess · 3 years

Text

Second Chances Chapter 12 - Changes

Summary: Adam's forced to go undercover when a white nationalist group targets a family who knew too much, leading to an op going wrong. Series masterlist here

Words: 3.6k

Warnings: case typical talk, child death, talk of hate crimes, white nationalism, guns, drugs mention, divorce mention, abduction, slurs mentioned but not specifically stated

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Adam kept his head up through all of the gossip that was going around the precinct. IAB had cleared he and Kim, confirmed he didn’t have anything to do with his dad’s issues. There was a slap on the wrist for not telling them about him working for Spiro, but an understanding that they couldn’t risk an undercover case. The words from others were vicious, but Platt was good at stopping him from hearing anything he’d get too annoyed about. And at least Voight knew. When things settled down they’d be able to announce, and things felt like they would settle down. He’d get to wear his ring. Call Kim his wife. Hear her call him her husband. It sounded kind of amazing.

“We’re mixing up partners. I want to have a detective in each partnership to stop anyone thinking we’re not serious. Adam, you’re with Al. Kevin with Jay, Kim with Hailey. We’ve got a case in Back of the Yards, multiple bodies found at 4598 West 48th. It’s not a good one.” Voight made his pronouncements and they stood, getting ready to start their new partnerships. Sitting in the car with Al felt normal, Adam leaning his head back.

“So, what’s up with you and Burgess?” Al asked, shocking Adam out of his pre scene thoughts.

“What do you mean? We’re friends, we live in the same building. She’s probably my best friend.” And my wife. “It’s good to be able to talk to her, she’s been a rock through the bullshit with Bob.”

“Is there any news about him yet?”

Adam ran his hand through his hair. “He’s being indicted in four weeks. Three counts of conspiracy, two of corruption and probably more if the ASA can come up with it. Kim’s been subpoenaed to testify at the Grand Jury, but they’ll probably cut a deal with him before a trial.” She’d gotten the subpoena at home the week before, addressed to Officer Kimberly Burgess and she stared at it in horror before opening it and seeing the State of Illinois v Robert David Ruzek case on it.

“Have you talked to him?” Al’s voice was low, and Adam weighed up his words.

“He called me from lockup, he’s been kept in protective custody. I told him I have nothing to say to him and I never wanna talk to him again. You can guess how he took that.” Al laughed at that, and the conversation dropped for a few minutes until they were pulling up alongside the flashing patrol cars and yellow crime scene tape.

“There’s a pool on you and Burgess, by the way. Halstead’s convinced the two of you will end up together.”

“Al, honestly, even thinking about building a relationship is the furthest thing from my mind right now.” His focus was on preserving his marriage through the crap his dad caused them.

They did their walkthrough, and Voight’s warning wasn’t enough for them. Someone had murdered a family, the two parents and two children. It was discovered when the six year old didn’t turn up for First Grade that day. Adam checked the kids rooms, finding nothing and heading for the bedroom where Kim was going through the bedside lockers.

“Want help?” He asked, going to open the one on his side of the room.

“I’ll do these. I know they’re dead, but I think they’d rather a woman going through them, you know? Are they calling it a hate crime?” She asked, closing one drawer and opening the next.

“Possibly. Two Latina lesbians and their kids killed, it seems likely. If it helps, the kids didn’t suffer. I checked with the ME, they didn’t know what was happening.” He watched his wife’s posture relax, her body unwind with his words.

“You once told me kid cases were the worst. Hearing this? That they at least didn’t suffer? It makes it easier I think.” She stood, closing the final drawer and moving around. Adam intertwined their fingers as they passed, giving her a squeeze.

“It does. You and Hailey gonna go through their pasts later?”

“Yeah. I’ve found nothing up here apart from personal items and wedding photos. They looked really in love, you know?”

He nodded, leaving to head for his next search location. It wasn’t till he and Al got back to the precinct that they realised the women had found something. He watched Kim stick photos up on the board, her gun and badge on her hip, before looking away because this wasn’t the time to ogle his wife. Kim turned around, clearing her throat to get everyone’s attention.

“We’ve got Eva and Amanda Sanchez, thirty seven and thirty five respectively as our primary vics. Also DOA were their children - Alejandro, six, and Amanita, eighteen months.” She pointed to the photos as she spoke, Adam watching how careful she was to keep her voice steady. “Eva was a CPA, she was on the board of several LGBT organisations in Chicago. Amanda was a stay at home mother with the kids, but had a background as a teacher. We found some Illinois teacher test books in the home office, looks like she was going back to teach next year. Eva’s the one we’re interested in though. From what we can tell, she was working for a company that’s involved in white nationalist activities, and she found out last week.”

Hailey took over when Kim stopped speaking. “Eva reported it to CPD on Saturday, calling into the 14th. Tuesday morning, the family is dead. It looks like it’s a group called Sons of Odin, who use lax interstate gun laws to run guns and coke across the midwest. They open their cars, it looks like it’s just weapons for gun shows. But the bullets are filled with coke instead of gunpowder. This was partly a hate crime, and the ASA will be able to charge it as one, but Eva Sanchez unwittingly gave us an opening into this group. Gangs have been trying to track them but can’t, so we can.”

“Let’s get to work. I want all the information on where Sanchez worked, how much she knew, how she even discovered this was going on. Now.” Voight looked at all of them, and Adam started digging into the files in front of him.

“We need someone to go under to a Sons meeting,” Hailey announced after lunch, Kim nodding along.

“I’m not bein’ funny, but it can’t be me,” Kev said, nods going around the room.

“They’re generally looking for guys in their mid twenties to early thirties, who’re looking for somewhere to belong. It’s get in, see if you can find anything, get out. Jay, Adam? Who wants to go for it?”

Adam looked across, and Jay widened his eyes asking to please not have to. So he nodded.

“Sure. I’m thirty one, unattached, I’m their kind of person. Where am I going and what am I doing?”

Kim had found a meeting that looked like a typical Sons of Odin recruitment meet, a group of men in a bar using dog whistle language to make it clear to those who needed to know, but could hide it from anyone else. He got changed, mussing up his hair and putting on a tight polo and sneakers. He stared at himself in the mirror for a moment, taking a deep breath. He wasn’t Adam Ruzek anymore, he was David Burns. A thirty one year old who’d just been left by his wife, taking the child he thought was his away. Just the kind of person they’d want to recruit.

The door opened, and Kim came in with a button mic for him. “We can’t wire you properly, but this can go behind the button on the polo. Let me put it in place.” She reached up, taping it into place and then covering the mic with her finger.

“Please be safe, don’t do anything stupid ok?” She whispered, her words barely above a breath.

“I promise. It’s in and out, we’ll be in bed in a few hours.” He leaned down to give her a brief kiss before separating, Kim’s finger off the mic.

“Jay, can you hear me?” Kim said, listening into her earpiece for his response. “Mic’s good to go. Good luck, Ruzek.” She squeezed his hand on her way out of the locker room, heading out to the van for the bumpy ride to the bar. Adam was following in a beat up truck that had been impounded the far side of Chicago a few months back to match his cover.

He arrived into the bar, ordering a beer and sitting on a stool.

“Tough day?” The bartender asked, and Adam nodded.

“Yeah. Tough fuckin’ year. But it’s over, so cheers to that.” He raised his bottle in a mock salute and drank deeply, watching as the bartender stared at him.

“What happened? I’m Chris by the way.” He held out his hand and Adam took it.

“David. My divorce got finalised today, she left me and turns out my kid isn’t my kid. So now I’m gonna drown my sorrows for a night.” Chris pulled down a shot glass and poured Adam a shot.

“Here, on the house. A bunch of my friends meet up here, want me to introduce you? Might be a nice way to meet some new guys.” Chris held up his own shot, clinking glasses with Adam as they swallowed.

“Yeah, sounds good.”

The meeting was boring, exactly what they expected with a first meeting and a new member. They all introduced themselves to him, and the leader, Levi, offered Adam an invitation to a gun range for Saturday afternoon that he agreed to. It started to break up and he left, getting phone numbers and giving out his UC number. It didn’t take long for him to be back at the precinct even with driving in the opposite direction for a few minutes to make sure he wasn’t followed. He got there the same time as the van, getting out and watching his unit.

“Get everything you need?” Adam asked, unsticking the mic from the back of the button and handing it to Jay.

“Yeah. We probably won’t be able to wire you up for the gun range though, it won’t be safe and we won’t be close enough to record. You ok with that?”

“Don’t really have a choice, do I?” Jay shrugged, gratitude on his face.

“No, but still. I know from experience it’s not exactly what you want to hear going undercover.” They went upstairs and debriefed Voight on everything that had happened, along with the invitation for Adam on Saturday.

“While you’re there you can use your shooting skills to give an in. Hailey’s going to be your go between, she’s your childhood best friend who was in the military and is now running guns after being discharged. They won’t be thrilled she’s a woman, but they’ll accept it for the quality you’re going to give them. You’re probably better going straight from your apartment to the range, you can take the truck home on Friday night. It’ll make things easier for you.”

The rest of the week passed in a daze of being so sure of his cover, and the necessary docs being backstopped with the courthouse. David Adam Burns had gotten married six years before to his childhood sweetheart in a shotgun wedding when she got pregnant. In a fight five years later she revealed his son wasn’t his, and they’d recently divorced. He was paying child support and fighting it, working as a labourer on sites. They’d gotten Matt Casey to agree to cover if he was asked if David Burns worked for him as a just in case.

Hailey was his childhood best friend Abi, who’d joined the Army as soon as she turned eighteen to get out of Cicero. She’d served her four years before getting out and starting working with some of her old army buddies tracking down specific merchandise for people. They regularly went shooting together, and if anyone checked the range they’d find weeks of them signing in and out. It was good to go.

On Friday Kim drove them to work so Adam could take the truck home, driving the long way to make sure nobody made him. He watched Kim cook that night, taking over when she yawned for the fifth time in as many minutes.

“Do you need to go to the doctor or something?” He asked, watching her blink to stay awake.

“I’m just drained. It’s been a couple of long weeks. When we finish this case can we book a weekend off? Time to sleep and relax and just do nothing?” She looked so exhausted and Adam just smiled at her.

“Definitely. We need it, plus we can talk about what to do with revealing? I know we need to keep quiet till Bob’s trial, but after then we can confirm, what do you think?” He watched an excited smile spread across his wife’s face that mirrored his own.

“Yes. God it’ll be good to put the name change paperwork in at last. It’s the last thing I need to change, and I really want to.”

She stood and took over from Adam again, and he wrapped his arms around her waist as she mixed the stir fry, pressing kisses to the top of her head as she did. Every time he’d had to mention being divorced it was like a shot through his heart, and he never wanted to say it again. A couple of weeks and this would be over. It’d be fine. It’d have to be.

The next morning he woke early, holding Kim to him firmly. Once he got out of bed he had to start acting like Burns, which meant no holding his wife, no loving her. They both knew it had to happen, how he could turn into the racist, sexist scumbag he was being forced to be for this, but he didn’t want to. So he lay there as long as he could, holding onto getting to be himself for just an extra few minutes.

Kim stirred after a few moments, her sleep filled eyes fluttering open at him.

“Hey,” she murmured, stretching out.

“Morning, Beautiful,” Adam replied, pressing a kiss to her nose and watching her grin at it.

“You’re gonna stay here, and I’m gonna go get dressed and go out for coffee. I won’t be back for a few hours, so you can turn into the asshole. Ok? I’ll see you when you get home.” They kissed again before Kim got out of bed, grasping his hands for the last time. Once she was dressed she came back in, hugging him for a final time before he heard the apartment door open and close.

When she was gone he got dressed, running a comb through his hair but not actually styling it before leaving the apartment. His nerves were high, but he’d be fine. He’d dealt with scumbags, he’d been undercover as a homeless guy and as a high end coke dealer before. But this time just felt different.

As he got out of the truck his UC phone rang, Abs on the screen.

“Hey Abs, I’m about to go do something, can I call you back later?”

“Sure, I was just checking if you wanted to come over and see some things I’ve got. If you’re interested, that is. Got some stuff that I wasn’t sure I could get my hands on, but I’m looking forward to using it.” Hailey was using her bored voice, the one she only pulled out when she was forcing herself to be serious.

“Yeah, later? Sounds good to me, but I’m gonna be busy for the next while. I can give you a call when I’m done. Going shooting.”

“Without me? God, it’s nearly like you’re making friends.”

“What can I say, if I spend too long with you I’m gonna end up growing tits. I’ll call you later.” He hung up and put his phone in his pocket, spotting Levi.

“Man, welcome! Glad you could come. Do you shoot?” Levi asked, and Adam nodded.

“My best friend as a kid is ex-Army, we go shooting once a week or so. That was her on the phone, she got something new in and wanted me to go test it out with her.” He shrugged as they were walking in.

“Yeah? She do that a lot?”

“What are you, a cop? Her business is her business. I just know if people are looking for stuff she can find it. Some contact or something from being in Afghanistan and Iraq.”

They went inside, Adam signing up for the weapons he wanted to try and handing over his UC drivers license and cash to pay. It didn’t take long for the guns to be handed over with the correct ammo, Adam loading them easily.

The two men didn’t speak while they fired, but once it was done Levi was impressed with Adam’s grouping.

“You’ve no military experience? That’s good shooting.”

“Nah. I was in trouble as a teenager, they didn’t want the true fuck ups. It’s why Abs went in instead. Once she got out I was working on building sites, making money, Worked for me.” They moved to the rifles, and Adam breathed deeply before taking his shots. He’d never be as good a marksman as Jay, but this was something he could do easily. Aim, breathe in and put your finger around the trigger, squeeze slowly while he exhaled, taking the recoil on his shoulder. He could have been neater, but he needed to look like someone who did this for fun, not someone who did it because he was used to it.

They were walking out and his phone rang, Abs on the screen again. He muted it, putting it back in his pocket.

“You fuck that girl? She’s calling more than just a friend.” Levi commented, raising an eyebrow.

“When we were kids we made out, but I was never interested in her. It’s weird, but Liss and I were always the ones who were together, Abs was a friend. She lived next door to me.” Adam laughed, watching Levi smile.

“What kind of stuff does she get you?”

“Whatever I need. Depends on what I’m looking for, but she usually has bigger clients. I just get the add ons. Why?” They were at the truck, and Levi motioned to it.

“Talk in the truck?”

They got in, Levi looking at Adam. “You’re not a stupid guy. You know what the Sons are involved in, don’t you?”

He swallowed, making himself look nervous. “I turned up at the bar because someone told me there was a group of guys who hung out, and the bartender introduced us. I’ve heard rumours, did some googling. But I don’t know details.”

“You don’t need to. But I’m looking for someone who can get merchandise for us, good quality products that we can transport across state lines. And with your friend I think we can. How does that sound?” Levi moved slightly and Adam could see the weapon in his jeans.

“I can help. You speak a lot of fuckin’ sense, and I like you guys. I’ll find out what she has. What are you looking for?”

“Title II weapons. Mostly automatic shotguns. Some of our members have plans in the next couple of weeks, and we need whatever we can get our hands on.”

“I’ll ask her and call you?”

“Do that.”

He left Levi and made his way to where Hailey was, taking photos of the ‘stock’ she had and sending them to Levi. The meet was set for the following Tuesday, Adam insisting he couldn’t make it because he had a construction job he needed to do. Once he’d confirmed it with Levi he seemed to be ok, and Adam knew everyone would have their eyes on Hailey so there’d be nothing to worry about.

The morning of the meet the bullpen was a hive of activity, everyone getting ready. Hailey and Kim were ready to go under, Kim as Hailey’s right hand woman. The thought of his wife doing this made Adam’s stomach lurch, but he trusted his team, trusted Kim and knew it was the right call, as little as he wanted it to happen. He had to stay behind to keep his cover, which made it worse. Everyone went to leave, Kim the last to go downstairs and squeezing his hand in goodbye.

While they were out there Adam started digging into the backgrounds of everyone they’d met, to try see where they led in. The FBI had been trying to get information on the Sons for months, CPD were the first team to actually get someone in. He wouldn’t have to go fully under, but they wanted his cover kept.

It was almost two hours later and they still weren’t back, which made Adam start to worry. They’d said it’d be ninety minutes at the most, but he kept his worries at bay. If Kim wasn’t involved he wouldn’t be worried, knowing how these ops easily got off track. When he went to the break room to put a fresh pot of coffee on his cell rang, Voight’s name on the screen.

“Sarge, what do you need me to look up for you?”

“Ruzek, I don’t want you to panic.” As soon as the words hit him his fear rose.

“What’s happened, what hospital is Kim being brought to?”

“She and Hailey have been taken.”

Chapter 13>>

#Burzek #Burzek Fic #Adam ruzek x Kim burgess #Kim burgess x Adam ruzek #Adam x Kim #Kim x Adam #Chicago pd fic #cpd fic #chicago pd au #cpd au #Kim burgess #Adam ruzek #cíara writes

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rahleeyah · 3 years

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Love your post about SVU. While I do ship E/O, I can admit that they were codependent, especially in S7/8. I do have to ask if you think that Liv is much to "blame" for that codependency. Cause it seems that people put the full blame on Elliot like Liv isn't a grown adult and knows what is happening.

Oh ho ho ho *rubs hands together* I love the smell of disk horse in the morning.

I think the "blame" for the codependency is right there in the name. It takes two to tango. It doesn't work if only one of them is twisting; they both have to be. Elliot is possessive, suffocated by his life, sees something in Olivia that calls to the rage and the want and the need in him, in a way no one else ever has. And Olivia, for perhaps the first time, has found someone who sees her, someone who will never say that she is too much, or not enough, someone who knows. And the longer it goes on the deeper it gets; they have a shorthand with one another no one else can decipher, bc thirteen years is a whole lot of memories and a secondhand account won't ever do any of it justice; you just had to be there. They owe their lives to each other. They keep each other's secrets; if I'm going down, you're going down with me. Isn't it implied that's part of the reason Elliot left, that the IAB investigation would pull out all his past transgressions, and Olivia's career would be on the line, too? But it's not just her covering for him; he followed her to Jersey, covered her ass when the Simon thing went down, bailed her out of jail. He shows up at her door almost as often as she shows up at his.

Post Elliot, we see Liv grow. She grows, she travels, she moves in with Cassidy (controversial opinion, maybe, but I liked them together), she sticks with her shrink and tries to work on her issues. She could have done all those things while she was with Elliot, but she... doesn't. Is that his fault? The relationship that they have, her reliance on him, doesn't leave room for more, but I think that's as much on her as it is on him. Did he want her to rely on him for everything? Subconsciously yeah it probably fed something in him and he encouraged it. But she wanted to rely on him, too. As long as they're together, especially after the divorce (and him going back to Kathy after he got her pregnant, again, an act of duty), somewhere in her heart I think Liv knows there's a chance. A chance that, like she says to that other cop later, maybe one day he'd look at her, and realize she was the woman he couldn't live without. She's not gonna let go of that chance, not as long as she's seeing him everyday. It was losing him, and losing that last shred of hope, that pushed her into spreading her wings.

I love how messy and wrapped up in each other they are. But I think they're both responsible. They both had chances to stop it, to lessen it, to go in a different direction, and they both clung on with both hands.

#anonymous #i love this question thank

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raywritesthings · 5 years

Text

Mended Hearts 3/3

My Writing Fandom: Arrow Characters: Oliver Queen, Laurel Lance, Thea Queen, John Diggle, Quentin Lance, Barry Allen, Cisco Ramon, Henry Allen, Sara Lance Pairing: Laurel Lance/Oliver Queen Summary: When Felicity refuses to take part in the plan to capture Cupid, Oliver must find something else to lure the love-obsessed archer in… or someone else. The trouble with the best laid plans is that they often have unintended consequences. *Can be read on my AO3 or FFN, links are in my bio*

Oliver’s heart plummeted as Laurel’s eyes slipped shut.

“Laurel, come on! You have to stay with me.”

The device stopped sparking and he finally managed to rip it off of her. Then he went back to cradling her head.

“Please, Laurel.”

Someone crouched in front of him. “Oliver, wasn’t it?” The only man he didn’t know here, but he had some of Barry’s features. God, Barry. He couldn’t believe his friend had just… disintegrated in front of his very eyes. “I’m a doctor. Let’s get her upstairs so we can see what she needs.”

Mutely, he nodded and picked her up. The last time he’d held Laurel like this, he’d been carrying her over the threshold of her apartment. He wished he could go back to that time, hold it close and appreciate it like he should have.

Dr. Allen directed him to one of the lab rooms. Oliver was forced back as the man felt around Laurel’s throat where an ugly bruise had already formed in the shape of the speedster’s hand. His own fists clenched, hating the powerless feeling he always got going up against what amounted to practically gods. Even if he’d had his bow and arrows on him, he wouldn’t have risked handing over a weapon the way he’d nearly done to Darhk mere weeks ago.

“We’ll need to run an x-ray, and then I need to help Wells with his daughter,” Barry’s father said. Oliver nodded numbly. He didn’t even know this new Wells had a daughter, or why she needed help.

“You might want to contact her next of kin, if any of them are aware of all this. In case some decisions need to be made.”

“Decisions?” It hit him a moment later, and Oliver swallowed. “I’ll call her father. But, um, please go forward with the x-ray and anything else you need to do until I can reach him. I’m her husband,” he said, voice cracking a little on the word. “I’ll take responsibility.”

Dr. Allen squeezed his shoulder, his eyes full of kindness and old pain. “I’ll do everything I can for her.”

“Thank you.” He was left in the room with Laurel after a short time, able to reflect back on what had happened for the first time.

Laurel had attempted to use the Cry device to destroy Wells’ machine like Oliver had requested, only it had gone wrong. She’d been struck by something, some kind of energy. But she’d seemed mostly unharmed as he’d helped her up off the ground.

Then that other speedster had appeared. At first to mock them for Barry’s demise, then singling Laurel our for some reason. He’d looked about to kill her.

But Laurel had reacted on some kind of instinct, screaming in his face. Only it hadn’t been like her normal Cry. It had sounded harsher, louder, and in that short burst he’d thought he’d seen something like rippling air.

The speedster had escaped long before it had had the chance to hit him, and Laurel had sunk to the floor, her device sparking with that same energy she’d been hit with. Now Oliver didn’t know what to think.

He needed to call Quentin. He knew that, but he just couldn’t bring himself to. How did he explain that after surviving Darhk, Laurel was now suffering some unknown injury thanks to a mistake of their allies?

“Hey, any changes?” A voice asked quietly in the doorway. He looked up and saw Cisco standing there with red-rimmed eyes.

“No. I think Dr. Allen’s waiting on an x-ray and some bloodwork.”

That got a nod. “I’m gonna work on her suit, cause she’ll need it,” Cisco told him with confidence Oliver suspected the engineer was forcing himself to feel. “But, uh, I found some personal items in her belt she might want someone to hang onto.”

Oliver reached out a hand to take what Cisco passed to him, only for his eyes to water anew upon seeing the items. The ring he had made her and the photograph he had once left behind. The letter in her desk wasn’t forgotten, wasn’t a mistake. She had kept them for herself.

He turned away from Cisco, a silent request to be alone that was fortunately granted. He took up Laurel’s hand in his, pressing the knuckles to his lips.

“Please wake up,” he murmured to her. There was so much he needed to say to her.

He was a coward. He should have asked her the moment he found the letter, not let it hang there between them this last month.

But he’d worried about being wrong. He’d worried about being right, too. How could Laurel still love him after everything? How did he even deserve it?

He didn’t, but in equal measure, Laurel deserved to be happy. If that happiness included him, how could he keep depriving her of that just to feel he was being appropriately punished for all the terrible things he had done in his past? All he’d ended up doing was hurting them both and seeking solace with a woman he truly hadn’t known as well as he’d thought he did.

“I’m so sorry,” he told Laurel. They could’ve had years by now, they could’ve been married without any pretext of needing to catch a criminal.

Movement in the doorway had him looking up again. Dr. Allen was back.

“I have some answers, but it’s caused a lot more questions. Cisco tells me she isn’t a metahuman.”

Oliver nodded. “That’s right.”

“Was she ever tested for the gene?”

“Not that I’m aware. She wasn’t in Central when the particle accelerator exploded. She’s never had any kind of powers.”

Dr. Allen nodded. “Then we might never know for sure, but the fact is she now has an active meta gene. If it was dormant before, I have to assume that the interaction with- with the reattempt to give Barry his speed triggered it.”

Oliver tried to wrap his head around it. Laurel, a metahuman? “And that’s what that was, when that other speedster attacked her?”

“We won’t know for certain until she wakes. Have you called her father yet?”

Oliver shook his head. “I was meaning to. I will. Um, thank you, Dr. Allen. Please get some rest if you can. I can’t imagine…”

But the doctor shook his head. “If I stop moving now, all I’ll be able to see is — well. I need to go check on Jesse again. Excuse me.”

Oliver say there for another minute or two, then got out his phone. He couldn’t keep putting it off.

Quentin picked up after a couple rings. “Oliver? Something the matter?”

“Yeah. Um, it’s Laurel. She was affected by this, uh, this experiment the Flash’s people were running. She’s stable but she’s not woken up yet.”

“Well, what- what kind of experiment? I mean what kind of effects are we talking here?”

Oliver took Laure hand again with his free one as he explained, “They’re not totally sure yet, but it had to do with the particles that, um, that create metahumans.”

There was silence for a moment on the other end. “Are you trying to tell me what I think you’re trying to tell me?”

“We won’t know for certain until she wakes up what’s happened. They don’t know when that would be. If you wanted to come out here—”

“I can’t. Wouldn’t look good to the IAB if I leave the city while under investigation,” he explained, regret clear in his voice. “Keep me updated. And look after her, alright?”

“I will. I—” He nearly spoke the words he was thinking, the words he hadn’t let himself say for such a long time. But it wouldn’t be right. He wanted her to hear it first.

“I care for Laurel very much,” he said eventually instead. “If I could have prevented this—”

“I know you would’ve. Listen, just…” Quentin didn’t speak for a moment; it seemed like he was weighing his words. “When all of this marriage business is over with, in a year or however long there’s left, you’ll be a standup guy about this, right?”

His heart missed the next beat. “What?”

“I mean you’re not just gonna disappear this time, right? Cause Oliver, I respect the man you’ve become. Don’t fall back on old habits.”

He shook his head. “I wouldn’t.”

“Well, good. You know, I may not have gotten to walk my girl down the aisle—” the slightest hint of ire in his tone made it clear this was something that, fake wedding or not, bothered him still. “—but I’m gonna be there for her every step of this divorce.”

Oliver swallowed. “I understand, Quentin.”

“Good. You get back to watching over her.”

“I will.”

He sat there for a long time, thinking over that last part of the conversation. Everyone, including Laurel, was under the assumption that their marriage had an expiration date. Even if she still cared for him that way, loved him, that didn’t necessarily mean she wanted to remain tied to him legally the rest of their lives, did it? She might not even want to be with him at all. Love didn’t fix all the things that he knew were wrong with him or the ways that he’d hurt her in the past.

He stayed by Laurel’s bedside as she continued to sleep, listening whenever Dr. Allen came back with some new piece of information or to run a basic check on her condition. Oliver was shown the x-ray which revealed an oddity in her larynx, one the doctor wanted to monitor to make sure it didn’t negatively impact her breathing.

He was told to get some rest, which for him meant leaving to make use of the bathroom before returning to sleep in a chair. Laurel remained unconscious through the night as far as he could tell. By morning he knew he needed to find something to eat soon, but he didn’t know what the lab had and didn’t want to head out into the city for that long. Not until something changed in her condition for the better.

He checked the news for Star. Nothing out of the ordinary and no mention of the team, which likely meant Thea and John had done little more than the basic patrol and interceding on any small crime they witnessed. One name in a headline jumped out at him.

Palmer Tech ousts Felicity Smoak as CEO

Against his better judgement, he clicked on the article. It contained statistics about the company from the last few quarters, the last one Ray had been in charge of versus when Felicity had taken over. From the little he knew of business, even he could admit it didn’t look good. If anything, it mimicked his own numbers as CEO. There was also a statement from the head of the board at the company.

“Our decision was based on a number of factors, but simply put, Ms. Smoak had not the experience nor the decorum to helm a company at the forefront of the age of technology such as Palmer Tech.”

Oliver winced. He was sure that had to sting. As upset as he had been with her the last few weeks, a part of him could look back on the friendship that had existed before their rushed romance, and he wondered if he ought to reach out. Then he remembered that all other evidence pointed to the fact that Felicity had blocked his number. He exited out of the article with a sigh instead. Maybe John would be able to do something for their former teammate, or Laurel might have ideas once she woke up.

Trying to focus on more productive things, Oliver borrowed some graph paper and started sketching out a few rough ideas and designs. He knew he needed arrows that couldn’t readily be turned into weapons for the use of his enemies, but how to still make them effective when he used them? Tranquilizers like John sometimes fired, or perhaps blunted tips like rubber bullets? He thought of his improvised use of a boxing glove to soften the blow when he’d once fought Laurel’s old teacher and smirked to himself. The idea of being able to punch someone without even being near them had a certain appeal hard to deny… he’d have to see what Cisco made of some of these rough concepts.

At some point during the wait, he received a call from an unknown number. He ignored it. Sometime later, Thea called.

“Hey, I just heard from the city council. They say they tried contacting you?”

“I’ve been — it’s been busy,” he said.

“Okay, well, they said it was kind of important. You know, Ruve’s office has been kind of quiet lately, since…”

“Yeah.”

“I’d call them back as soon as you can. How’s the new suit coming?”

“It’s, um, I haven’t seen it yet,” he said, glancing out at the empty hallway. He hadn’t seen Cisco for a while now. Or much of anyone.

“Ollie, is everything okay?”

He paused. How much did he really want to get into this?

Voices outside in the hall drew his attention. “Uh, let me get back to you on that. I’ll talk to you soon, Thea.”

Oliver hung up and started to stand, only to sit back down hard when Barry walked through the archway.

“Laurel’s in here?”

“Barry?”

His friend grinned at him, full of life. “Yeah. Sorry about the scare.” He then walked to Laurel’s bedside and touched her hand. A crease formed between his eyebrows. “I was hoping since it worked on Jesse... it must have been a different set of particles that hit her. She probably just needs more time to adjust.”

“You died.”

Barry shook his head. “No, just ended up in the speedforce. Iris and Cisco got me out.”

Oliver wanted to protest and say that was impossible, but then he was talking to a man he knew could time travel by running fast. He buried his face in his hands.

“I’m glad you’re back, I swear, this is just… a lot.”

“Yeah. But it’s gonna be okay. Zoom, I know I can stop him now. And Laurel will be fine, too.”

“How can you know that?”

“Because she’s a fighter. She wouldn’t be on your team if she wasn’t.” Barry was watching him with an easy smile when he looked back up, and his eyes were kind as he added, “Most people wouldn’t marry someone for the safety of others, but that’s just the kind of people you both are.”

Oliver took out Laurel’s ring, staring down at it rather than respond.

“You look like there’s a lot weighing on you, Ollie.”

He sighed. “Yeah. I don’t expect you to understand. For as long as you’ve known me, I’ve tried to ignore it or downplay it or — I don’t know. But Laurel, she’s…” He looked at her face, peaceful and so, so beautiful in sleep.

“She’s your first love.”

He turned back to Barry, who didn’t look the least surprised.

“Joe said once, it never really goes away. And maybe this whole wedding thing got away from you before you realized, but Oliver, all you can really do now is try.”

“I’ll screw it up.”

“Maybe,” Barry admitted. But his newfound confidence returned in the next instant as he added, “But that’s why they say for better or for worse. She’s stuck through it this far, right?”

Oliver felt himself return it with his own soft smile.

Barry was soon called away, leaving Oliver to those thoughts.

If he wanted — if he dared — a life with Laurel, the life she had believed they could have once, all he could do was try. It was as simple as that. He couldn’t ask for more than she might be willing to give, but he could ask. Someday, once he had proven himself worthy of it. And she deserved to be asked, to have a say in this.

If she would only just wake up.

---

Laurel couldn’t remember if she dreamed at all or not. All she remembered was Oliver’s voice calling her name, and then the feeling of a steady presence at her side through the span of time she’d spent in darkness.

Now she registered other things. A mattress at her back. The brightness of fluorescent lights even behind her eyelids and thin sheets covering her.

She could still hear his voice not far away.

“I understand that the decision needs to be made quickly, but I can’t leave Central City until I know my wife is okay. She’s in the hospital.”

Laurel licked at dry lips as a warm feeling spread through her body. A thumb rubbed over the back of her hand and her fingers twitched, gripping onto the hand loosely holding hers.

“Excuse me, I need to go,” Oliver said. She heard him shift and lean closer. “Laurel?”

“Hey.” She grimaced and coughed, hoping to clear up some of the hoarseness in her voice. “How long was I out?”

“Almost two days.”

Her stomach growled. She chanced a sheepish glance at Oliver, who smiled softly.

“I think there’s a couple things I need to take care of, actually,” she decided. He helped her out of the bed, holding her steady when the room swam for a moment. Then she walked on her own to a small bathroom to the left.

After taking care of that and splashing some water in her face, she evaluated a couple things. They’d been here longer than they meant to, she’d been hit by some weird science stuff and then attacked by a speedster before something else happened and Oliver was putting off important phone calls to post sentry at her bedside. And calling her his wife. Her cheeks turned a little pink in the mirror and she narrowed her eyes at her reflection.

“Get a hold of yourself.”

“Laurel? Everything okay?”

“Yeah,” she called back through the door. Then she opened it. “Just could really use a shower.”

He nodded in commiseration. “Barry’s father will be here in a minute to check a couple things and explain what they think happened.”

Sure enough, Dr. Allen soon arrived. “Hi, Laurel. It’s good to see you awake. I’m Henry. I don’t think we had the chance to get introduced before.”

“That’s okay. Sorry to just pass out on all of you like this.”

He shook his head. “Sometimes when the body goes through significant trauma, it needs time to rest without interruption.”

“So what exactly has happened to me?”

“Well, what we know is that you have, whether as a result of the incident two days ago or some earlier incident, developed an active metahuman gene. We can’t know for certain how that will choose to manifest, but I believe we may have seen a hint of it when Zoom attacked you. Like a survival mechanism kicking in.”

“Okay. And it’ll just keep coming back?”

“Yes.”

She sat on the edge of the bed, trying to process that. Her DNA had been changed in such a level that she had, for lack of a better term, powers. How crazy was that?

“You’re welcome to stay as long as you need to in order to figure this out.”

“No, we need to get home.” She looked back up at Oliver. “Who were you talking to on the phone?”

“A city councilman. Ruve, um, she’s disappeared. Must have taken her daughter and left the city.”

“Oh.” She supposed it made sense. With her husband dead, whatever plan they had had was effectively defunct. Then it hit her. “They want you to step in?”

“I don’t know yet. They want to talk to me in person.”

“Then we definitely need to get home. Thank you so much for all your help, Dr. Allen.”

On their way out, Cisco promised to send her the new suit as soon as possible. Seeing as how busy the Flash team seemed to be these days, she didn’t mind so much. And she had a feeling she was benched from the field until they figured out what this meta gene situation meant.

Thea got Oliver into a suit and off to City Hall as soon as they returned while Laurel headed over to her father’s after he sent an invite to lunch.

Though that lunch wasn’t just for the two of them.

“Sara!”

Her sister grinned wide as Laurel moved to embrace her. “Hey, I’m glad you made it back when you did. I can’t stay long.” Then Sara pulled back, grabbing onto Laurel’s left hand. “Well, where is it?”

“What?”

“The ring! Dad told me all about your sham wedding. I’m proud of you, that’s like something I’d have done in college.”

Laurel shook her head. “It’s really nothing.”

Sara snorted. “Look, the last person you’re gonna fool with that is me. I mean, I’m glad you both finally got your act together even if it was totally by accident. Really wasn’t sure what was going on with him and Felicity when I got brought back, you know? Don’t get me wrong,” Sara added, both hands raised. “Felicity’s cute, but Ollie just doesn’t do cute, you know? Especially now.”

“So you’re glad the playing field to Felicity is clear?” Laurel remarked, partly to deflect.

Sara gave an easy shrug. “Hey, if she’s up for it. But I’ll talk to her some other time. You tell me what’s going on with you.”

Laurel let herself be pulled down onto their dad’s couch with Sara but insisted, “Nothing. I’m serious. It was a sham wedding like you said, and once the year is up it’ll be over. I’ve been meaning to start preparing the papers, but things have just been busy.”

“Uh-huh.”

Laurel rolled her eyes. “They really have. But I’ve got time now so I’ll get started on it. Maybe I’ll have them ready for Oliver to sign for his birthday.”

“Some gift,” Sara muttered.

“It would be. It doesn’t matter that things didn’t end up working out with him and Felicity, that doesn’t suddenly mean he wants to be married to me.” Even if he’d been calling her his wife on the phone and waiting at her bedside while she was an invalid. Even if he was living in her home and making them dinner most nights. She couldn’t let herself get caught up in those things, because the minute she did would be the minute they were all taken away. Laurel was sure of it.

“If you say so,” her sister finally sighed, but she perked you a moment later. “Can I still see the ring?”

Laurel might have shown it to her to get her to leave it be, but then she remembered, “I, um, had it in the belt of my old suit. I’ll have to make sure Cisco sends it back with the new one.”

“Getting a new suit yourself? Nice.”

They were able to pass the rest of the time while waiting for their dad to finish preparing lunch on other topics, like Sara’s adventures through time so far and the various eccentric personalities she was essentially roommates with.

Just as they were finishing up eating there was a knock on the door. “I’ll get it,” their dad said. He went out to the front of the apartment and returned a few minutes later with Oliver and Thea.

“Sara, hey.”

“Hey yourselves. You both look fancy.”

“Just came from City Hall,” Thea informed them. “They’re looking for an interim mayor since Ruve skipped town.”

“So they did offer it to you?” Laurel asked Oliver. It was strange; he didn’t look happy they way she thought he would have been.

“They did. I, uh, told them I’d think about it.”

“Nearly turned them down outright,” Thea revealed, though she didn’t seem angry about it.

Laurel exchanged surprised looks with her family, but it was her dad who asked, “How come? Thought you really wanted the job?”

“I did — do. But for me to accept… they don’t like the idea of the mayor being married to someone in the DA’s office.”

Oh.

“They want to kick Laurel out?” Asked Sara.

“That’s why I said no.”

“But Thea stepped in?” When both Queens nodded, Laurel said, “Good. Ollie, you’re going to go back there tomorrow and tell them you’ll take the job.”

“What?”

“Laurel.”

Both her father and Oliver had spoken. Laurel stood up from the table, the better to make her point. It was habit. “We all agreed after you started your campaign that the biggest thing Star City needed from its leadership is stability. We can’t control for that with any other candidate. But we know you can protect yourself and can get in touch with any of the team if things get out of hand.”

“But that shouldn’t mean you have to leave the DA’s office,” Oliver insisted.

“But maybe it does. Ollie, when you came back and became the Hood, it was to get rid of a group of elites that had the city in a stranglehold. The people that exploited the system and got away with murder. The people that let the Undertaking happen.” She walked around the table. “I trust you, and I trust us, but I can see why people might be worried about corruption, about a new group of elites coming in and taking the place of the old.”

“But Laurel, this has been your dream.”

“My dream is to help people. I’m doing that as the Black Canary and I can do that as a lawyer in or out of the DA’s office.”

“You want to join the ACLU or something?” Her dad asked.

“Or start something specific to the needs of the people here. Like CNRI.” She looked down for a moment. “After the quake and Tommy dying there, going back to something like that was just too hard. But I think I’m ready now.” She turned back to Oliver. “And I could still help you while doing it.”

He looked at her conflicted. “It’s just for the interim. There’s no guarantee you’d win a real election.”

“Except you were guaranteed to win before Darhk interfered,” Thea spike up. “And we’ll all work twice as hard to make sure you win this time, Ollie. Laurel’s right. This city needs a mayor who cares and who can stand up to the threats that are out there. That’s still you.”

She noticed the grateful look he gave his sister before turning back to her. “You’re sure?”

Laurel nodded. It was maybe only a seed of an idea in her head at the moment, but the more she thought about it the more certain she was. The DA’s office was a good place to work, but there was far less of that personal touch CNRI had had. She missed being out there amongst real people she was helping.

“Oh yeah, she’s definitely made up her mind,” Sara remarked. “There’s nothing for it now.” She stood up and stretched. “Wish I could stay to see you set things up, but I’m pushing it as it is.”

Laurel and her father both hugged Sara, followed by Thea and even Oliver. Though Laurel thought she saw Sara’s lips move by Oliver’s ear…

It was later on the way home that she decided to ask, “What did Sara say to you?”

Thea leaned into the front to look at her brother in interest as well.

“Oh just, you know, some advice.”

Laurel resisted the urge to rest her head on the steering wheel. “She threatened you, didn’t she?”

“Not in some many words.”

Thea sniggered and sat back. “Better watch out, Ollie. Or it won’t be the terrorists our new mayor has to worry about.”

“It can never be simple.”

The next morning, Oliver was up just as early as she was, already pouring over some papers on the coffee table. “Do you think you could take a lunch meeting today?”

“I could. Why?”

“I’m meeting with the city council at 12:30. I’d like you to be there, because I’ll be giving them our decision.”

She fought down the little flutter in her chest and nodded. “I’d be happy to.”

Laurel made sure to set a reminder on her phone for the meeting, as she ended up getting caught up in prepping her office for her impending resignation. She wouldn’t hand in her two weeks notice until Oliver’s appointment as mayor was confirmed by the city council, of course, but she could organize her papers a little better.

As it was, she made it just on time. Oliver looked up with a smile and opened the door to the office for her. Inside waited the full city council.

“Councilmen, councilwomen, I believe you’ve met my wife,” Oliver said, his tone casual and light. It garnered a few smiles around the room. He led her to a seat at the table and sat beside her.

“We understand you’ve reached a decision regarding what we discussed yesterday?”

“I have, and thank you for allowing me the time. I needed to talk with Laurel before deciding anything. This wasn’t just about me. So I can tell you that I am happy to accept the position of interim mayor of Star City.”

Various members of city council nodded or smiled, clearly glad to have that matter settled.

Oliver continued, “Laurel has graciously agreed to step down from the position of ADA, which is good because I’m planning to have her run the nonprofit I’ll be pushing for the creation of as my first act as mayor.”

The assembled men and women looked at each other with surprise and interest. “And this nonprofit is?”

“A successor to the unfortunately scrapped CNRI. The Citizen Action Network and Resources Initiative. Otherwise known as C-A-N-A-R-I.”

Laurel bit her lip as Oliver met her eye and gave a wink.

“CANARI,” a councilman said with raised eyebrows.

“Yes, if you want to shorten it that way,” Oliver agreed, as if the idea hadn’t even occurred to him before.

“That move may signal to the public this new administration’s openness towards vigilantism, Mr. Queen, which would be a stark reversal from Mayor Adams’ stance.”

“I’m not saying that vigilantism will be legal or even tolerated under this administration, councilman. But there’s no denying the effect those individuals have had on the public. None more so than the Black Canary. I hear the kids especially love her,” Oliver said, and if he was planning to keep this up she was liable to kick his shin under the table to get him to stop. “Besides, a new and expanded CNRI deserves its own name.”

“A legal aid office for those of lower income has been sorely lacking since the earthquake,” one councilwoman pointed out. “It wouldn’t be a hard sell to allocate those funds.”

“We’ll need to see a proper plan for the organization of course,” a second councilwoman added.

“Of course,” Laurel agreed. “Oliver and I will be drafting a proposal for the council to read as soon as possible.”

“Very good. And thank you, Ms. Lance, for making the necessary choice for the sake of this city,” the first councilman said.

She nearly jumped when Oliver took her hand. What was he doing? “Few people have made as many of those choices as Laurel has.”

There were a few more technicalities to discuss before the meeting ended, then she walked out of the building with Oliver to grab a quick bite before heading back to work.

“So what was that in there?”

“What was what?” He asked.

Laurel opened her mouth to respond but that was when she noticed a man in a strange gray shirt and pants like pajamas step out from behind a dumpster with a knife.

“For the new world and for Damien Darhk!”

“Oliver!”

Laurel had only meant to shout in warning. What resulted was something entirely different.

Her scream exploded outwards from her, hitting the attacker like a physical force and sending him flying back into one wall of the alley. Oliver himself has reeled back out of the way of the blast and slowly lowered his hands while staring at her as glass from windows in the buildings above rained down around them.

“I think we know what those particles did to you,” he said, loud in the otherwise complete silence.

They moved together to check on the man. A large bruise was forming where his head had impacted the wall, and blood trickled out of his right ear.

“There’s no real way we can explain this. We’ll have to call it in anonymously.” Oliver took her arm and pulled her the rest of the way down the alley and a few blocks away. Oliver dialed the police and quickly left the tip.

He hung up and looked at her. “Talk to me.”

“Should I?” She let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding when her voice came out sounding normal.

“It must have been the stress. It’s like some kind of trigger. We should see what STAR Labs thinks.”

“I’ll go see them after my resignation.”

“Okay. We can—”

“Oliver, you don’t — this doesn’t have to be some kind of, of political marriage. Where we act like everything’s all picture-perfect in front of the cameras but secretly you’re seeing your secretary and I’m a day drinker. Everyone already knows that’s not what we are, so just—”

“You thought I was acting,” Oliver said, less of a question and more of a horrified statement. “I — God, I’ve been going about this whole thing wrong.”

“What are you talking about?”

Her phone beeped, the second alert telling her she needed to be back in her office. Laurel nearly wanted to scream it into oblivion since she could apparently do that now.

“I have to go. Keep me updated on whatever was happening with that guy back there, okay?” She hurried away before he could reply.

Laurel spent most of her remaining workday cursing herself for that little outburst. She shouldn’t have let it get to her. But then, the more like a real husband he acted the harder it was to accept she was never really going to have that kind of partnership in her life. Didn’t he get that?

They all met up in the base. From what Oliver had been able to get from the SCPD database — it was a good thing Felicity had left a lot of her programs downloaded onto their computers — the man was claiming he was one of the ‘chosen few’ for Darhk’s new world. He’d been planning to destroy the old one, and now a lot of people were angry they didn’t get to live in solitary paradise anymore.

“We’re gonna have to round these people up or we’re gonna have a mob on our hands,” John remarked.

“Yeah, and it sounds like they need some serious therapy,” Thea added.

“Alright, we’ll suit up. Laurel, if you could run the comms? At least until we have a better idea about—” Oliver gestured at his throat.

“Yeah.”

“Speaking of suits, I did find this waiting here for you. Probably a speedster delivery,” John said. He passed a wrapped package of decent weight her way.

“Thanks, John.”

Laurel waited until the others had suited up and left before opening it. She kind of wanted the first look all to herself, childish as it sounded. The suit was still mostly black, but she could tell the material covering her torso was now a dark navy blue and much more reinforced than her black top had been. Her boots were more flat with a steel heel she was sure would do some serious damage. He’d also added some mesh on the outside of each leg of her pants.

Underneath all of this was her jacket, totally restored, and the remnants of her old suit. Lastly, there was a note.

Sorry this took so long. But in the meantime, we met your doppelganger and I got some ideas. There’s a ripcord in the sleeves of your jacket. If you pull them, it’ll release the panels I added and give you some control over a controlled fall — which you should be able to do with those sonic scream powers. Theoretically. Maybe even fly. This is so awesome. Call me for questions. -Cisco

Laurel read the note over again, her head shaking in wonder. Flying? She couldn’t even imagine it. Regardless, she put the new suit away for now.

As she was shutting the case, John’s voice came over the comms. “Heading back for the night.”

She went over to answer. “Sounds good.”

Laurel then went back to the package, taking out her old boots and top. She’d have to find some other purpose for them now. She lifted the belt out and opened each pouch, frowning when every one of them came up empty. Looking through her new belt showed all the usual supplies, but the old photo and her wedding ring were missing. Where had they gone?

Laurel took up her phone and walked into the little side room to call Cisco, not really wanting the others to walk in on this.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Cisco, I just got the suit.”

“What did you think?”

“It’s great. I was just wondering, in my old belt there were some things of mine that I can’t find. Were you still hanging onto them?”

“Oh. No, I gave them to Oliver for safekeeping.”

Laurel’s heart flipped over. “Oliver?”

“Yeah, so I’d ask him to see what he did with them.”

“Okay, I guess I will. Um, thanks again for everything. I’ll try and get out to see you and the others soon.” She hung up and hung her head.

Oliver had the ring. Worse, he knew she’d had the ring and kept it in a special place with an old memento of their love. What did he have to be thinking? She just didn’t understand. If anything, he should have been trying to distance himself instead of growing closer. Shouldn’t he?

Laurel walked out to the main room and nearly collided with him standing there. The others were nowhere to be seen.

“I — how much did you hear?”

“Enough. You, uh, would like your things back?”

“Yes, thank you,” she said with as much dignity as she could muster.

Oliver took the old photo out of a pocket on his own belt. He looked at it for a moment, his eyes soft. Then he held it out. She plucked it from his fingers.

“And the other…?”

“If I’m going to give that to you, there’s some things I need to say first. If that’s okay.”

Laurel nodded.

Oliver drew in a breath. “Laurel, when we agreed to this plan, I was rushing into something I didn’t realize would become so much more to me. I was just focused on my own pain and my own life, and that wasn’t fair to someone I was asking to share my life.”

“Oliver, you weren’t—”

“But I found some clarity the night of the wedding. Not just from your vows or mine, but a pledge I made to you years ago. To never doubt my love for you.”

She froze. The letter in her desk. She’d never had the heart to throw it away even at times when it had felt like it was mocking her.

“I’ve thought a lot about those words since that night. What I meant then, what I still mean.”

“Still?”

He smiled ruefully. “Laurel, it’s been a journey, trying to move on from you, and every time I end up standing back in the same place.”

“But you keep trying to leave,” she pointed out softly.

“I know. And I’m so sorry. There’s this fear I have that I’m just going to keep screwing this up, and then I leave which screws it up anyway. I’ve always been a coward about that. But the wedding, seeing what a life with you could be like if I just let go of that fear, it’s helped me more than you could know.”

Laurel had no response left to give, too overwhelmed. Her eyes felt heavy with tears she was trying to stop from falling and her throat felt tight. Her face was hot. She probably looked a mess.

Oliver took out the ring. “So, if that’s a life you could possibly still want, I’d like to do this properly.” Then he got down on one knee.

Laurel sucked in a sharp breath.

“Dinah Laurel Lance, will you stay married to me?”

Now she was dreaming. Had to be, right? But the more she looked at him, she could see the nerves underneath the calm, and surely her head wouldn’t be pounding if this were her dream proposal. He was still in his Green Arrow suit, they were in the Bunker and she had on her workout sweats. It was that strange combination of them that told her this was real.

“I — well, I have to until March,” she pointed out, stalling for time.

“And after?”

Staring into those blue eyes, she could really only hold out for another moment. Laurel nodded, not trusting herself to speak for it might come out a scream. Oliver’s smile spread across his face, and so she whispered anyway, “Yes.”

He stood up, taking her hand and slipping the ring back on as he did so. It was still a perfect fit. Then his finger tilted her chin up towards his own face. Laurel’s eyes fell closed.

“Yes!”

They both looked towards the source of the noise to see Thea had come out of hiding around the cases for the suits. John was poking his own head out as well.

“Aw, we should’ve had you change, Ollie. I wanted pictures!”

“Pictures later. Do you mind?” He asked his sister.

“Right. Sorry,” Thea said sheepishly. I’ll just be in the car.” She and John slinked away, and Laurel shook with laughter as she rested her forehead on Oliver’s shoulder.

She felt him clear his throat as well as heard it, so she looked back up again. “Sorry, where were we?”

“I think about here,” he replied, leaning in. His lips ghosted over hers, an echo of the past and, with any luck, a promise of the future. Laurel pressed back just as lightly, wanting to savor this moment. A part of her was still in the habit of hoarding their days.

He nosed along her jawline and towards her ear. “I owe you a proper wedding kiss.”

“Mm-hm.”

“And a wedding night.”

Laurel’s breath hitched as goosebumps rose along her arms and tickled the hairs at the back of her neck. Then she threw her arms around his neck.

“Yes, you do.”

It was the last thing she would say for a while, since he sealed his lips over hers in the next instant. It was better than all her closely held memories.

#lauriver #laurel x oliver #laurel lance #oliver queen #arrow #green arrow #black canary #my writing #so i'm maybe considering a smut tie-in to this story #it'd probably be an archive exclusive #since this site is so weird about that kind of stuff #i guess let me know if there's interest

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63l3 · 7 years

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verse three : main : i’m back where i belong.

this verse is my major verse for elliot’s return so here are some of the basic details if you’d like to plot something ! ( i also have another general returned verse for any other plots where he comes back earlier / later / in a different way )

just hanging around his house dealing with having shot jenna and waiting to see if he'd be cleared and he was gone around two to three months before he officially left. with IAB conducting their investigation there was nothing he could do but sit around and free time doesn’t really agree with him.

he gets restless and snappy and kathy does try to be there for him but living with him was hard she decided to start divorce proceedings again, tired of fighting — el let her go without an arguement. their marriage had been dead for a decade anyway and he knew they were clutching at straws trying to stay together for eli’s sake.

he'd been about to put in his papers when an old friend of his caught wind of what was going down and offered him a place working as a uc in the unit he was leading and el takes the position

i’m setting his return in season 16 around the time of episode ‘ undercover mother ’ he, like murphy is working undercover in the sex trafficking ring, though he tends to deal more on the drug side of the equation. working with the underage victims makes him sick and he’s had to shut down a lot in his three years undercover to prevent himself from killing the targets of the operation. the only thing that gets him through it is knowing that figuring out where the head of the snake lies will allow them to save hundreds, possibly thousands more girls like the ones he sees every day. still, he has on occasion helped martha thornhill to buy girls and get them out of the life.

he has olivia’s badge number ( 4015 ) tattooed on the inside of his left wrist, almost always hidden underneath his watch. he got it about a year into his under cover stint because he wanted to feel closer to her again.

a few months after leaving the unit elliot sent liv his medal as it happens in this deleted scene

getting arrested by svu in a sting operation ( not the super bowl sunday raid but another one shortly after where amanda, sonny and nick are undercover ) was actually a huge relief for him. he wasn’t about to ask to be pulled out from undercover but working with these people was destroying him slowly and though he knows he wouldn’t have done well being retired and at home either he often regretted taking the uc position.

in the three years he spent undercover elliot didn’t seen any of his children in person though he keeps an eye on them all from afar.

during the william lewis ordeal he was on the other side of the country and didn’t know a thing about it ( had he, he’d have come back for her, undercover be damned ) he didn’t find out until over a year later when he spotted an old newspaper in one of the rundown houses they were using with her on the cover but by then, after so long without a word ? he assumed she wouldn’t want to hear from him at all

when first arrested elliot is cold and angry, it takes until he sees olivia again for him to start to feel like himself. even then it takes him a few weeks to shake off the persona he’s been living in and return to more of the elliot we know.

with the help of svu they’re able to get johnny d and a number of other upper level traffickers allowing the case elliot was working on to be closed. after his exemplary performance in the undercover unit IAB let up and he’s able to keep his badge and go back to work as normal. el requests to be placed back at svu

things with he and liv are tense at first but he’s determined to win her over. elliot is beyond proud of liv’s rise to sergeant though disappointed that being back in the unit won’t mean having her back as a partner.

elliot grew out his beard while undercover but shaves it off soon after coming back to svu

liv partners him with rollins who he views as a giant pain in the ass at first but they quickly develop an annoying brother / sister type of bond and she becomes a dearly loved pain in the ass / @alwaysfine

elliot spends a almost all of his free time trying to reconnect with his children once he’s back and thanks God that he came back in time to be able to walk maureen down the isle. eli is 8 when he gets back and while he and kathy aren’t on good terms after his extended absence she lets elliot take him every second weekend. he has trouble getting the kids to forgive him for leaving at first but once he’s able to win them over they set up a family dinner every wednesday ( which he hates having to cancel though he has to for work semi regularly ) , dickie only comes every so often. elliot is still working on repairing their relationship.

once he’s done with uc he gets an apartment in the city not too far from the precinct which maureen, kathleen and lizzie decorate for him.

* i’ll probably add to this as i think of things but this is everything for rn

#verse three : main : i’m back where i belong.#( verse information. )#this is long af but i wanted to include as much as possible bc this is my main verse for interacting with the svu 2.0 crew

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annie-bunny-out-there · 7 years

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Random SVU Ship Thoughts (Why I ship/don’t ship certain ones)

SHIPS I LOVE-

(Barson) I am a HUGE Barson shipper, mainly because of the chemistry between Liv and Barba. Season 14 and 16 in particular had so many happy/adorable moments between them, along with 17 & 18. I feel both of them have a repressed attraction to each other, but are too nervous to admit it. They really care for each other and wouldn’t want to see anything happen to the other like Liv’s hand over her heart before Barba met with his boss & pushing him towards the ground when they heard the gunfire in Season 18, and Barba defending Liv from Lil’ Tino in Season 16 and telling her not to feel bad about herself.

(Bensler)- I still hold out for the possibility of Elliot coming back and he and Liv end up getting together, because of either divorce or Elliot became a widower. Elliot deeply cared for Liv while he was there, but there could have been some kind of circumstances in addition to him putting in his papers that he couldn’t see Liv. (I know so many people wish he would have come back during Liv’s whole ordeal with Lewis, but in the fictional world [not because of how the writers wrote that whole arc] again, he could have been faced with circumstances out of his control where he couldn’t see Liv.

(Rollisi)- I LOVE THESE TWO TOGETHER, all of their banter is adorable. My favorites being the whole scene where Carisi asks Rollins to feel his forehead in the measles episode, Carisi holding Jessie and making fun of Rollins for watching reality TV, the artisan pickles scene, their whole road trip to apprehend and bring back Rudnick. It was also cute to see Fin make fun of them for having dinner together. Even though Nooch said he didn’t really want them to be romantically involved, I still have my hopes up!

SHIPS I DON’T LIKE/INDIFFERENT ABOUT-

(Tuckson)- I have nothing against people who ship Liv with Tucker, but I just don’t like them together, not because of their relationship itself while they were together, Liv seemed happy with him; it’s mainly because of the times in the past whenever he had to investigate Liv when he was with IAB. Particularly during “Perverted,” when Liv was framed for murder, he questioned why she saw a therapist for her sexual assault while undercover in prison, she had a trauma and she didn’t have to discuss what went on with anyone she didn’t want to.

(Barisi)- Again, I have nothing against the people who ship them, you guys do you and ship who you want. This is just my personal opinion. I love Rafael Barba and I love Sonny Carisi. I just don’t see them as a romantic couple. I do see them as platonic/good friends and co-workers, but I just don’t think they have any chemistry in a romantic light. Barba was always putting Carisi down with his aspirations to become a lawyer, maybe because he felt threatened that somebody could become a competition in a way. I do like that the writers have made their relationship better, like with Liv and Amanda. I AM NOT AGAINST GAYS AT ALL I AM A HUGE SUPPORTER of LGBT PEOPLE AND SEVERAL OF MY CLOSEST FRIENDS IDENTIFY AS LGBT.

This was just my personal opinion, I don’t hate on other fans for shipping characters I don’t. The thing I do hate is the negativity, spite, harassment, etc. that some people in the SVU fandom give each other for some ships. We all love SVU for different reasons, and I wish people would respect that, especially with ships that for the most part that people have THAT AREN’T EVEN CANON, it’s a fun way for people to bond over a TV show, movie, play, musical, etc. It almost feels cliquey with people in the SVU fandom, when one set of shippers gangs up and hates on others. I’ve been blocked by SVU fans on Twitter because of my opinions on certain ships. It’s one thing to just state an opinion of not liking a certain ship, but it crosses a line when different fans send death threats, say they should kill themselves, or harass them because they said something about that ship the one person didn’t like.

EVERY SHIP IS VALID AND PEOPLE HAVE THE RIGHT TO LOVE WHO AND WHAT THEY WANT!

#svu thoughts #all ships are valid #barson #bensler #rollisi #tuckson #barisi #olivia benson #rafael barba #amanda rollins #sonny carisi #elliot stabler #ed tucker #law and order: special victims unit #ship whoever you want

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rp-timelines · 6 years

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FOTH: 2000-2009

2000

May 18, 2000 Brandyn Cerullo and Drucilla Cartier becamed engaged.

August 31, 2000 Mercer Donnelly was murdered in the line of duty - unknown to most, his murder was a hit ordered by Hollis Cody.

October 28, 2000 Sophia - Cartier was born to Katherine Cartier and - -.

2001

2001 Mercer Riley Donnelly II was born to Angelique Taylor and Daniel Donnelly.

September 11, 2001 Terrorists attacked America, with the most loss of life occuring in Kings Point.

November 17, 2001 Riley Rockefeller was born to Cavalry Rockefeller and Mava Donnelly.

2002

March 13, 2002 Fire Sterling Genovese-Cramer and Karacel Casandra Genovese-Cramer were born to Alivianza Genovese and Cassius Cramer III.

March 30, 2002 Tegna Jacob Poletti was born to Kayla Donnelly and Rockefeller Poletti.

May 16, 2002 Rachelle Drucilla Cartier was born to Cadenza Dimestico and Rossano Cartier in New York.

August 1, 2002 Mark Donnelly and Valetta Quartermaine married.

August 20, 2002 Angel - Donnelly was born to Gabriel Donnelly and Sicilia Boscorelli.

August 31, 2002 A blackout striked the city during a heat wave. Frederick Yokas suffered a heartattack. His wife, Faith Mitchell, saved his life.

September 8, 2002 Alex Taylor was struck by a car.

September 11, 2002 Sergei and Tatiana Deschenko were murdered on Fyoder Chevchenko's orders. John Sullivan's home was burned to the ground.

September 12, 2002 John Sullivan murdered Fyodor Chevchenko.

September 25, 2002 Double funeral held for Sergei and Tatiana Deschenko.

November 2002 A grocery store fire occurred with shoppers inside, including Angela Molino and Maurice Boscorelli. Both are midly injured. Firefighter William Walsh was also injured.

November 22, 2002 Fiona McCarthy and Sheen McGrath married.

December 11, 2002 A back robbery occurred with Emily Yokas and Faith Mitchell taken as hostages.

December 15, 2002 Ambulance was ambushed (hit by a vehicle and shot up) by gang members. Inside were Carlos Nieto, Maurice Boscorelli, Monte Parker and their young patient.

2003

2003 Katriel Cerullo and Winston Barrett began dating.

2003 Drevan Spalding Lansing was born to Julian Lansing and Melrose Genovese.

January 2003 Carlos Nieto was accused of molesting a teenage girl and arrested.

January 21, 2003 Adam Kendrick Zacchara and Jaisen Braxton Zacchara were born to Braxton Zacchara and Larken Scully.

February 17, 2003 A major blizzard occurred. Emily Yokas overdosed on ketamine and nearly died.

February 18, 2003 Maurice Boscorelli and Maritza Cruz were injured in an explosion. Leticia Cruz was killed in the fire caused by the explosion.

March 12, 2003 An explosion occured from a car accident, killing Alexandra Taylor. During a confrontation (with each other), Faith Mitchell and Maritza Cruz were shot.

March 14, 2003 James Doherty was promoted to Lieutenant.

March 15, 2003 Alexandra Taylor's funeral.

May 27, 2003 John Sullivan saved Barbara Carrington from a hit put out on her life. Maritza Cruz was raped and beaten, causing a miscarriage of her unborn child (father was Maurice Boscorelli). Tyrone Davis Jr was injured in an explosion meant for Barbara Carrington.

June 7-8, 2003 A set of men were pretending to be KPPD officers, pulling over, beating and raping women.

June 20, 2003 Angela Molino was fired after Maurice Boscorelli destroyed property at her place of employment.

June 22, 2003 Monte Parker stole Sasha Monroe's gun, held the 55 firehouse hostage and shot his boss. He was then arrested by John Sullivan.

June 23, 2003 Edward Dade, was shot and killed by an aquaintance of Michael Boscorelli.

June 24, 2003 Anthony Boscorelli turned in his son, Michael Boscorelli, who was soon arrested.

July 5, 2003 Sasha Monroe was in a car accident, that led to the death of a child.

July 22, 2003 Michael Boscorelli was released from jail.

July 26, 2003 Michael Boscorelli was murdered. Fred Yokas seperated from Faith Mitchell.

August 1, 2003 Michael Boscorelli's funeral. Angela Molino and John Sullivan were injured when a car crashed into the funeral home. Angel of Mercy Hospital was shot up. Carlos Nieto, Sasha Monroe and Tyrone Davis Jr were injured after being attacked by the shooters. Maurice Boscorelli was shot. Faith Mitchell shot and killed Donald Mann, who ordered the hit. Maritza Cruz helped cover it up.

August 4, 2003 Faith Mitchell was meritoriously promoted to Detective. John Miller began working at the Camelot Precinct.

August 13, 2003 Tyrone Davis Jr was promoted to Field Training Officer

August 15, 2003 Maritza Cruz was arrested for the murder of Donald Mann, sent to Rikers Island. Faith Mitchell confessed (with full immunity) that she shot and killed Donald Mann, resulting in Maritza's release.

August 27, 2003 Sasha Monroe was revealed as IAB to the entire precinct.

August 29, 2003 A bomb exploded at a small coffee shop. Holiday Wilding narrowly escaped the blast. Cathal T. Finney died while working on his car, when it fell and crushed him - unknown to nearly everyone, Cathal actually committed suicide, while Brendan Finney and Tyrone Davis Jr covered it up.

August 30, 2003 Cathal T. Finney's memorial service. Maurice Boscorelli released from hospital.

September 2, 2003 Slate Aubrey Donnelly was born to Mark Donnelly and Valletta Quartermaine.

September 11, 2003 A shooting and murder occurred at the Camelot precinct.

September 30, 2003 Maurice Boscorelli accidently shot Sasha Monroe, causing her to miscarry her baby (father was Tyrone Davis Jr).

October 4, 2003 Brendan Finney and Tyrone Davis Jr were injured in a car crash. A local news station was held hostage and saved by Faith Mitchell. Emily Yokas was held hostage and saved by Maurice Boscorelli. Manuel Santiago was shot.

October 5, 2003 The Camelot Precinct was attacked and destroyed. Maritza Cruz blew up a building killing dozens of the gang members responsible for the attack.

November 2003 Carlos Nieto and Holiday Wilding married.

2004

June 13, 2004 Alivianza Genovese gave birth to a biological son and daughter, whom she placed for adoption. They were adopted by Brandyn Cerullo and Drucilla Cartier. The boy was named Cartier - Cerullo and the girl was named Gloria - Cerullo.

September 26, 2004 Katriel Cerullo and Winston Barrett married.

October 31, 2004 Martiza Cruz and Maurice Boscorelli became engaged and eloped over the weekend with only Angela Boscorelli in attendance.

2005

July 9, 2005 Rilo Giordan Lansing was born to Julian Lansing and Melrose Genovese.

September 14, 2005 Rydyn Thaddeus Cerullo was born to Asher Lansing and Calvin Cerullo.

September 24, 2005 Garland Paula Barrett was born to Katriel Cerullo and Winston Barrett.

December 2005 Julian Lansing and Melrose Genovese divorced.

2006

March 21, 2006 Vegas Brenn Donnelly was born to Mark Donnelly and Valletta Quartermaine.

May 10, 2006 Elise Persephone Rockefeller was born to Cavalry Rockefeller and Mava Donnelly.

May 26, 2006 Rebel King Lansing was born to Alivianza Genovese and Harvard Lansing.

June 13, 2006 Isabela Faith Boscorelli and Leticia Rose Boscorelli were born to Maritza Cruz and Maurice Boscorelli.

September 2006 Alivianza Genovese was arrested for driving under the influence and child endangerment.

September 12, 2006 Atari Carmine Cerullo was born to Asher Lansing and Calvin Cerullo.

September 24, 2006 Carmine Cerullo died of a heartattack at Garland Barrett's 1st birthday party.

October 2006 Adonis Grainger, Aleighse Donnelly, Axelle Grainger, Caspian Barrett, Garland Barrett, Lovelia Donnelly, Katriel Cerullo, Kennedy Genovese, Soleito Genovese, Violette Lansing, Winston Barrett and Zaine Genovese moved in with Gloriana Scully.

2007

2007 Roarke - Donnelly was born to Daniel Donnelly and Erin Falconeri.

January 2007 Alivianza Genovese was arrested for speeding and violatating her probation.

January 20, 2007 Draven McKay and Maurizia Breckenridge married.

May 2007 Blackie Parrish, Winston Barrett and their band went on tour. Caspian stayed with Piedmont Cody and Veronica - for the summer.

May 6, 2007 Evelyn Nichols and Theodore Donnelly married.

June 5, 2007 Alivianza Genovese began her jail term of 45 days.

June 21, 2007 Emmett Jack Cartier was born to Cadenza Dimestico and Rossano Cartier.

June 26, 2007 Alivianza Genovese was released from jail early due to overcrowding.

July 4, 2007 Alivianza Genovese and Harvard Lansing committed their first bank robbery.

August 2007 Blackie Parrish, Winston Barrett and their band returned from touring.

2008

2008 Adonis Grainger, Axelle Grainger, Caspian Barrett, Garland Barrett, Katriel Cerullo, Kennedy Genovese, Soleito Genovese, Winita Barrett, Winston Barrett and Zaine Genovese moved.

January 11, 2008 Harlow Winter Love McGrath was born to Cartney McGrath and Firenza Barrett.

March 18, 2008 Riker Elmo Lansing was born to Alivianza Genovese and Harvard Lansing.

April 4, 2008 Jacob Donnelly and Larken Scully married in a small civic ceremony.

April 14, 2008 Carrelle - Webber was born to Katherine Cartier and Voight Webber.

May 19, 2008 Arlen - Donnelly was born to Evelyn Nichols and Theodore Donnelly.

June 2, 2008 Kaedence Amelise Donnelly was born to Jacob Donnelly and Larken Scully.

September 2008 Caspian Barrett began attending Barrington Preparatory School.

September 13, 2008 Jacob Donnelly and Larken Scully had a large wedding ceremony.

September 16, 2008 Edwin Wolf Donnelly and Valina Jules Donnelly were born to Mark Donnelly and Valletta Quartermaine.

October 12, 2008 Regina Lansing learned she had been kidnapped at birth. Upon learning this, her grandmother Caroline McCarthy had a heart-attack and later died at the hospital. Regina then ran away from home to her brother Harvard Lansing's residence.

November 3, 2008 Carmina Raimonda Zacchara was born to Braxton Zacchara and Gemma Cerullo.

December 6, 2008 Meralda Briony McKay was born to Draven McKay and Maurizia Breckenridge.

December 24, 2008 Diane Hilton forced Regina Lansing to return home.

2009

August 26, 2009 Salem Romano Voight Donnelly was born to Caralina Falconeri and Dean Donnelly.

September 9, 2009 Sparrow Midnight Charles McGrath was born to Cartney McGrath and Firenza Barrett.

October 25, 2009 Katella Diane Lansing was born to Benito Lombardi and Regina Lansing.

November 21, 2009 Cody Donnelly was murdered at a gas station just outside of Kings Point.

#tl: faces of the heart #2000s

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alienation2016-blog · 7 years

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New Post has been published on Alienation

New Post has been published on https://alienation.biz/ad-industry-powers-consider-adopting-ad-blocking-on-a-wide-scale/

Ad Industry Powers Consider Adopting Ad Blocking on a Wide Scale

The most important players in advertising and marketing and tech are mapping out a method to kill off the virtual advertisements that have been deemed as the absolute worst with the aid of clients. The maximum in all likelihood method is the adoption of a “generation” — the time period “advert blocker” has baggage among many of the individuals in talks at the concern — that would prevent browsers inclusive of Google Chrome or Microsoft Side from displaying auto-playing video advertisements with sound, pop-up ads, and ads that fast flash or trade colours.

The time period “advert blocker” has baggage among many of the individuals in talks at the concern — that would prevent browsers inclusive of Google Chrome or Microsoft Side from displaying auto-playing video advertisements with sound, pop-up ads, and ads that fast flash or trade colors. The discussions are taking place among contributors of the industry’s Coalition for Higher commercials, consisting of Google, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, Unilever, WPP’s ad-buying massive GroupM, Facebook, Thomson Reuters, The Washington Submit, the Interactive advertising and marketing Bureau and the Affiliation of National Advertisers, in line with Chuck Curran, suggest to the Coalition and attorney at Venable LLP.attorney at Venable LLP.list of types of industries

The give up the game right here is to dispose of these types of advertisements which

Can be undercutting the client internet revel in,” Curran stated. “Surely, the one’s advertisements can doubtlessly and seriously undercut the wider internet environment.

A “blocking off mechanism” or “technology” to prevent such commercials from appearing can be put into location earlier than the quiet of this 12 months, Curran predicted. Google stated it does no longer comment on speculation, but said it is been operating closely with the Coalition for Better commercials and its individuals. The IAB declined to remark. GroupM, Facebook, Unilever, and P&G could not right away be reached for the remark.blocking psychology.blocking in theatre

Mobile Apps: Helping the Music Industry to Explore New Horizons

Alike some other industry, the arena of a song has received momentum with the upsurge of cellular apps. Musicians connect to people via using a number of advanced approaches these days and most significantly, navigating the landscape of generation has ended up crucial for them to develop.types of industries

Scope of the song enterprise in ‘Going Digital’

The energy of Stay Streaming: With the introduction of Live streaming, unbiased musicians are becoming a possibility to gain a strong foothold in the enterprise now. They do not want any label of big institutions as some of the tech startups are there to promote them within the world of Digital track. Being Internet-Savvy: It has emerged as vital for participants of the music enterprise to have an active and robust Web presence. As a result, they want to recognize the efficiency of organic search visibility in selling their expertise and use the equal effectively.

Greater Sales Opportunities: Gone are the times when music

Changed into the most effective supply of producing earnings. But, musicians can deploy a group of elements nowadays to make earnings like products, podcasts, and iTune optimization. This, in flip, will assist musicians to link to the sector of mCommerce and prevail. Consistent target audience engagement: In advance, tune corporations incurred big costs simplest for the duration of an album launch. But, the image is exclusive now. The enterprise is shifting to the waft of ‘More regular earnings generation and chronic streaming’. How cellular apps are evolving the music industry.list of common industries

Web Optimisation: Building an online presence and optimizing it has to turn out to be important.

Be you’re a musician, a DJ, or an organizer, Net optimization is big for selling the skills at its best. Apps substantially help in optimizing skills throughout the Web thereby, integrating it nicely with logo cognizance. Area-based totally Advertising: Vicinity is one of the important factors that determines the achievement of musicians. With the assist of Area-based cell apps, you can personalize your Advertising sports and hit the target audience in the right region and right time.

Popularity Management: With such a lot of gamers in the music enterprise,

It’s miles crucial for agencies to fetch superb evaluations and hold an aggressive facet. Managing online Reputation is crucial for a logo and with cell apps, you can set off listeners to give opinions and enhance your profile. Content material Display: Placing the Content perfectly across the media channels is critical for musicians. Adhering this reality, mobile apps allow customers to place the Content material at the forefront with right optimization techniques, thereby letting musicians hook up with customers easily. Purchase and Charge: Apps provide the scope to music listeners to shop for song or products. This, in turn, allows musicians to get into the palms of clients and generate Sales which, isn’t always viable with different options like downloading or Live streaming.

The Difference Between Buying and Adopting a Dog

If you’re considering adding a new puppy into your circle of relatives, have you taken into consideration visiting your nearby safe haven or puppy adoption employer? There are many motives why these locations ought to be considered before a pet “purchase” is made. Beneath are only some reasons amongst many. before you head out to the pet keep at your mall, take a minute to think about adoption.

The maximum apparent purpose someone could need to adopt a pet is the truth that a pet’s life is largely stored through the adoption. Shelters and pet companies attempt their exceptional to maintain the animals alive and placed them in suitable houses, but on occasion, the animals are euthanized; there are just too many homeless pets and now not enough loving houses. By means of adopting a pet, you can ensure that the puppy you select is safe while establishing up a spot at the pet business enterprise for another pet in want.

A 2nd reason to undertake in preference to “buy

Is the fee. most of the pets at the shelters have acquired all in their vaccinations, and that they were spayed or neutered. Although there may be the value associated with adoption, it is minimum as compared to what it might price which will attain those veterinary offerings for your personal. Plus, the quantity you pay allows hold the shelter jogging, so other pets and families can benefit from the safe haven’s applications.

Some humans have the wrong ideas approximately pets in shelters

It’s commonplace for a person to assume that the puppy becomes despatched there due to awful conduct. In truth, many pets that grow to be in shelters had been deserted due to divorce, relocation, or incapacity of the owner to care for the puppy. So, don’t suppose that shelters are full of misbehaving animals. Visit a shelter, and spend a while with the animals. You can discover a puppy that completely suits your persona.

Trust it or no longer, there is often a higher selection of animals at a shelter than there’s at a pet keep.

Puppy stores are more restricted in the range and type of the pets they create, whilst shelters take in pets of all ages and breeds. There are regularly tons of puppies to select from, especially the ones which have been rescued. however, not anybody is seeking out a puppy; and it is easy to find a housebroken person canine at a safe haven. Many shelters provide internet websites with pics and statistics approximately all in their animals to be had for adoption. journeying the internet page can prevent plenty of time, especially if you have a specific pet in mind.

Pro’s and Con’s for Blocking or Deleting Your Ex on Facebook

Many humans soar on the risk to delete or block their ex from their Facebook account as quickly as the opportunity provides itself. It also includes a selection made inside the warmness of the instant, pushed by means of anger or grief. However would it not be greater strategic to permit your ex to see what you’re as much as for some time before you lock them out of your digital world absolutely? There are apparent pro’s and con’s associated with both deleting them, or maintaining their digital friendship.

It is easy to get irritated with the individual you have got just broken up with, run domestic, log onto Fb and take terrific pride in deleting them out of your buddies listing. So permit’s examine the pros and cons of keeping your ex-companions digital friendship straight away after a breakup. You may then determine for yourself what route of action fine suits your state of affairs or situation.

So let us start with the positives associated with maintaining off on clicking the ‘delete’ button:

You will be capable of hold tabs on wherein they’re, what they may be doing and who they’re doing it with with the aid of seeing their test wins, pix and posts uploaded to their web page. This may are available in very on hand in case you move in similar circles and want to keep away from “bumping’ into them at a famous bar or eating place.

They will be the type to specific their emotions digitally with the aid of posting on their wall how they have been stricken by the breakup. This can provide you with an insight into their persona or feelings that They may no longer be able to show in character and/or carry readability to the state of affairs need to it have ended abruptly?

You may see what they may be saying to their pals and what their friends are announcing

To them which may also offer precious intelligence about the split, that you wouldn’t otherwise be privileged to in man or woman. You will be very amazed as to what can be made public after their friends assume it’s throughout with you. Smash united states of America can be tough sufficient as is without having to peer chatter across our on-line world about the complete ordeal, so what are the terrible aspects associated with leaving them at the friends listing?

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