#nancy domzalski

[thegreateggbandit]

… what

… WHAT

World War I?!?! NANCY HOW OLD ARE YOU?!?!!?

[earth-ambassador-jim]

Forgiveness

Summary: Toby has a nightmare and accidentally hurts Jim.

(A "Changeling Loyalties" side-story. Takes place when Jim is somewhere between seven and eight.)

AO3 - Fanfiction

~~~~

The sound of harsh breathing and growls woke Jim up. He sat up in bed and rubbed at his eyes sleepily. The room was dark, except for a faint glow coming through the window. He frowned looking around until he was able to see where the noises were coming from.

It was Toby.

In the dim grow of Jim’s nightlight, he could see that his friend’s face was all scrunched up.

He must be having a nightmare, He realized. Jim had those sometimes.

He pushed his blankets off and slid his legs out of bed. He needed to wake him up. Then Jim would give him a hug and tell him it was okay, like his Mom did for him.

Toby let out a sharp gasp and whimpered, curling into a tight ball. His hands clenched tightly.

Jim reached out and gently grabbed his shoulder.

“Toby wake up!”

That turned out to be a mistake.

In an instant Toby’s eyes opened and he shot out of his curled position like a snapped rubber band. His bared teeth glinted in the dim light and his eyes seemed to be glowing.

Jim didn’t get a chance to react before Toby lunged.

~~~~

Toby felt his fist connect with something. It gave way easily and he braced himself for the returning blow. Except it didn’t come.

The haze of fear and anger faded and Toby finally realized he was in the blue darkness of a bedroom, not the sickly green of the Darklands.

He frowned in confusion.

What had he hit?

A sob broke through the last of the haze from the nightmare. Toby realized that Jim was in front of him. The fleshbag whelp was sprawled awkwardly against his bed, holding his nose. Even with his inferior human senses Toby could smell the blood that was dripping between the boy’s fingers. Jim whimpered again and tears leaked out of his eyes.

Toby’s eyes widened and he took a step back. His hands shook.

He didn’t… he hadn’t meant to… to hurt him.

His thoughts derailed as Jim let out a louder sob –though still distorted by his damaged nose.

The bedroom door opened and Dr. Lake burst in.

“What happened?”

Her eyes fell on her injured son and she immediately rushed to his side.

Fear overshowed concern and Toby cowered. This wasn’t going to end well for him. He had to get out of here.

~~~~

Barbara hadn’t been expecting to wake up to her son with a bloody nose at three in the morning.

“Come on Jim,” She said, gently tugging at his hands. “Let me see it.”

He reluctantly let go and she immediately felt a sympathetic pang in her chest. It looked like it wasn’t out of place but given the red discoloration, it was definitely going to swell and be painful.

“Okay, we’re going to go downstairs and put some ice on that.” She picked him up and turned to the other boy. “Toby…”

But he was gone.

Barbara frowned. Where…?

Jim let a hiccupping sob drawing her attention back to him. She drew in a slow breath as she rubbed his back soothingly. She would take care of him first and then go looking for Toby. Hopefully he hadn’t gone far.

…

Unfortunately she had no such luck.

By the time she got done taking care of Jim, Toby was still nowhere to be seen. A quick search revealed that he was not in the house.

Barbara returned to the living room where Jim was sitting on the couch holding an icebag to his nose and halfheartedly watching a movie. At the sound of her footsteps he quickly turned around.

“Where’s Toby?” Jim asked, voice nasally and slurred.

“I don’t know,” Barbara said, keeping her voice level, despite the rising fear.  “Can you tell me what happened?”

She settled on the couch beside Jim, wincing again at the sight of his nose.

“I woke up and… and Toby was having a nightmare… So I tried to wake him up… then…” Jim’s face screwed up and his lip quivered. “Then he punched me.”

Barbara frowned. That was concerning.

“Is… is Toby in trouble?” Asked Jim quietly.

Barbara sighed and reached out to brush his hair back from his face.

“No… It sounds like he didn’t mean to hurt you, but I will need to talk to him.” Jim nodded slowly. “First I have to find him.”

Soon too. It wasn’t safe to be out at night, especially in Arcadia. According to the police there was a nasty epidemic of rabies going around the local raccoon population.

“I’m going to call Nancy and you can stay with her while I look for Toby.”

“But…”

“No buts,” Barbara said gently but firmly as she stood up. “You’re hurt and I don’t want to lose you in the woods.”

With any luck Toby would be at Nancy’s and she wouldn’t have to run around in the woods either.

…

Luck, of course, was not on her side.

Toby was not back at his house, so, with great trepidation, Barbara left Jim in Nana’s care while she ventured into the forest.

“Toby?”

Her cries fell dead in the stillness of the forest. Barbara shivered. Something about night in Arcadia always felt a little creepy to her. She’d thought about moving once or twice, especially since Jim was born, but had never been able to scrape up the energy or money to actually do anything about it.

“Toooooby!” She called out again.

Still nothing.

This wasn’t good.

Ahead of her she heard a rustling in the bushes.

“Toby?”

~~~~

Toby had taken refuge in a small thicket. Initially he had planned to go home, but he had no doubt Dr. Lake would find him there. He didn’t really want to involve Nana in this.

Things had been going so well. Jim was actually tolerable company… for a human… And Dr. Lake had accepted his presence around the house easily enough.

He doubted she would anymore.

He looked down at his fist. Even in his troll form Jim’s blood was still on his knuckles. He almost licked it off but stopped himself, opting to wipe it off in the thick moss instead.

He sighed and leaned against the tree beside him.

What now?

He couldn’t stay out here forever… Well physically speaking he could, but the Janus Order would be pissed. They would find him and kill him if he deserted his post.

If he remembered correctly killing children was illegal among humans. If he waited until she calmed down a bit Dr. Lake probably wouldn’t kill him. He would still get a beating though.

She seemed pretty fair, maybe she’d let him off with a few blows? A busted nose for a busted nose? He hadn’t meant to hurt Jim after all…

But that didn’t change the fact that he had… and in their own house too.

How long would be optimal to hide out then? Nana would be worried…

“Toby?”

Toby flinched at Dr. Lake’s voice and rose to a crouch, ears pressing back.

“Toooooby!”

The changeling blinked. She didn’t sound mad. If anything she sounded concerned.

Toby moved to all fours and peered out of his hiding place. Barbara was bumbling about the forest in her pajamas, walking shoes, and a coat. Her hair was down for once, which was really weird. Her brows where furrowed but there was no aggression in her posture. He sniffed the air trying to catch her scent. He could smell the sweet tang of fear and bitter anxiety but none of sharp pungent aroma that accompanied anger.

Was she looking for him because she was worried about him?

There was a crackle of something moving about further into the woods.

Barbara shined her flashlight toward it.

“Toby?”

Whatever it was wasn’t him, but there was a strong scent of goblins in the area. The changeling flicked his ears indecisively.

Barbara took a step in the direction of the sound. Toby grimaced, he shifted back to human.

“Dr. Lake?” He called hesitantly.

He didn’t move out from his hiding place. Just because he didn’t want her to get eaten by goblins didn’t mean he was willing to risk her anger just yet. The thicket he was wedged in would be too tight for an adult to enter so he would be able to escape if it turned out he was reading her wrong.

“Toby!”

Barbara hurried over to him. Toby flinched as the flashlight hit him in the eyes.

“There you are!” She crouched down to peer into the bushes. “You scared me.”

Toby eyed her warily.

The human frowned and her eyes studied him.

“You’re all scratched up,” She said. She offered a hand. “Come on. Jim’s over at your house. We can get you patched up there.”

Toby stayed firmly where he was.

Barbara sighed.

“I’m not mad,” She said. “Jim told me what happened. You had a nightmare. It was an accident, right?”

Toby nodded slowly, keeping an eye on her outstretched arm.

Barbara glanced at her own hand and then lowered it to rest on her knee.

“Come on,” She said. Standing up and moving back from the entrance. “It’s late. Time for you to get to bed.”

Toby hesitated a moment longer. He would have to come out eventually and Barbara clearly wasn’t leaving without him.

Toby crawled out.

“Where are your shoes?”

“I forgot them…” He’d been in a bit of a panic.

Barbara extended her arms to him.

“I can carry you back,” She offered.

He couldn’t smell very well in this form, but her fists weren’t clenched and her posture was open. Now that he was a bit calmer, he could feel how sore his feet were. If he damaged them further it would be a pain to wait for them to heal. Toby nodded slowly.

He couldn’t quite suppress his flinch when she picked him up, but when no pain came he relaxed a little.

Barbara let out a quiet breath and brushed her hand across his hair.

“Please don’t run away next time,” She said as she retrieved her flashlight and started to walk. “Your Nana and I were very worried.”

“Okay,” Toby said quietly.

She was warm, he thought. Cautiously he let his head rest against her shoulder.

Soon they emerged from the woods onto the short neat grass of Toby’s lawn. Yellow light spilled from window. Barbara flicked off her flashlight.

“Can you hold this for me?” She asked offering it to Toby.

He nodded and released one of his hands from around her shoulders to grab it.

Barbara opened the door and entered.

“I found him,” She called out softly.

Immediately he was swept out of Barbara’s arms into his Nana’s. She turned his head this way and that, peering at him through her thick lenses. Toby put up with the prodding with a huff.

“I’m fine Nana!”

She pulled him into a crushing hug. Her smell of raisins, pie, and instant coffee surrounded him.

“Oh! I’m so glad you’re alright, Toby-pie. Don’t do that again!”

Toby awkwardly patted her back.

“Okay. Sorry, Nana.”

“Toby?”

Toby looked over Nana’s shoulder to see Jim emerging from the living room dragging his blanket with him. His noses was a fierce red and still had some crusty blood under it.

Toby grimaced. He tugged on Nana’s arm and she let go of him.

Toby hesitantly walked over to Jim. He stopped a few steps away.

“I’m sorry for hitting you Jim,” He said, studying the dirty rag rug on the kitchen floor.

Something collided with him and he let out a yelp, stepping back to catch his balance.

It was Jim. The boy wrapped his arms around him.

“I forgive you,” He said. “I’m sorry that I scared you when you were having a nightmare.”

Toby blinked. Right. That was what started this.

“That’s okay,” He said, cautiously patting his… friend’s?... back. “Thank you for trying to help me.”

He glanced over at the adults. They were smiling at them. Toby grimaced, feeling awkward suddenly. He tried to pull apart from Jim but the boy clung to him.

“Come on, Jim,” He whined. “I’m tired.”

Jim held on for a moment longer and then let go.

“Okay… Are you coming back to my house?”

Toby grimaced. After what happened he wasn’t really comfortable with that.

Barbara must have picked up on it.

“I think we’ve had enough excitement for the night. How about we sleep in our own houses and then have breakfast together?”

“Can Nana make breakfast?” Jim asked.

Toby snorted. Barbara looked taken aback. After a moment she closed her mouth and a wry grin tugged at her lips.

“Nancy?”

“I think that can be arranged,” Nana said, coming over to rest her hands on Toby’s shoulders.

She gave them a little squeeze and he looked up. She smiled at him. He gave her a hesitant one back.

“That sounds good,” Barbara said. “Come here, Jim.”

Jim yawned and walked over to Barbara who picked him up.

“Bye, Toby,” He said, waving over Barbara’s shoulder. “I’ll see you tomorrow!”

Toby waved back.

“Come along. Let’s get you to bed,” Nana said, taking his hand.

Toby followed her quietly up the stairs. They stopped by the bathroom to wipe his feet off and patch up his scratches, then they went to his room.

Toby crawled into bed and Nana pulled the sheets over him.

“Sleep well, Toby-pie,” She said kissing his head.

Something in Toby’s throat tightened.

She turned toward the door, flicking his lights off.

“Nana?”

She paused and turned back to toward him. His heart sped up, thumping wetly in his chest.

“Would you…” love me if I wasn’t your grandson?

He couldn’t get the last bit out.

“Would you turn the nightlight on?” He asked instead.

“Of course!”

Nana leaned over slowly and flicked the little amethyst nightlight on. It cast lavender shapes on the walls.

“Good night dear!” She said closing the door partway.

“Good night Nana…”

Toby rolled onto his back and stared up at the ceiling, thinking through the day’s events. He had hurt Jim but he and Dr. Lake had both forgiven him. He hadn’t been punished at all.

Dr. Lake had even risked going out in the woods at night to look for him and carried him back, even though he wasn’t her child.

Nana may care about him because she thought he was her grandchild but Jim and Dr. Lake had never known his familiar. Which meant…

That they cared about Toby. Toby himself, not his familiar. His heart clenched strangely in his chest. He rolled over and pressed his face into his pillow.  

He thought of Barbara’s warm arms as she carried him home and Jim hugging him and forgiving him.

It made him feel warm and tight and light and heavy all at once.

~~~~

~~~~

Notes:

Toby has a lot of PTSD and other issues from his first childhood in the Darklands. There were a few Gumm Gumm mothers in the Darklands and Toby has seen exactly what happened to anyone who harmed their whelps. As a result he views mothers as a terrifying force of nature. Barbara decided not to ask to much that night because of how scared Toby was, but she tries to find out a bit more of what brought this on later. Based off how he's acting she's worried that a teacher or other adult hurt him at some point. Naturally she finds nothing. This is when Toby first starts to view the Lakes as family. Jim learns to be careful about waking Toby up as a result of this. By the time of the main story Toby is mostly safe to wake up but he has relapses sometimes when he's stressed or if he's just had a nightmare.

[abittersweetraisin]

Credits to biancasiercke in twitter. There was a moment in 3below where Nana said to Varvatos something about having been a spy back in World War. I had thought, if she's that old then they're gonna reveal she's actually a witch when we reach Wizards. Sadly, that wasn't the case.

[rosemaidenvixen]

A Secret's Worth

Chapter 37: Barbara

Ao3

“Did you remember to pack extra socks and underwear?”

“Mo-om!” Jim’s face turned lobster red as he descended the stairs to the main floor.

Barbara chuckled as she picked up the cooler, holding Jim’s contribution to the potluck, from the dining room table “Sorry sorry I know I’m hovering,” she fell in step behind him once he reach the floor, the two of them heading out the front door “I just worry about you,”

And she was worried. 

It wasn’t like this came out of nowhere, she’d known for over a month this was coming. But the summer had flown by, June and the first chunk of July passing in a flurry of therapy appointments carpools and outings and texts with other parents. And now here they were, Bon Voyage only minutes away. 

The two of them headed down the porch, Barbara’s throat tightening when she saw the van idling by the curb. She was so so worried about Jim going through with this. But she knew that most of her worries were anchored in her own paranoia rather than reality. 

This was perfectly safe, they had a plan in place and Jim was a responsible young man who could take care of himself.

That didn’t make it any easier to let him go.

“I promise it’ll all go ok,” Jim hefted his bag higher over his shoulder “We’ve got a game plan, and I packed four pairs of underwear,”

He flashed her a reassuring smile, making her heart clench in a way that both stung and relieved “I know I know, now let’s not keep Mary’s moms waiting,”

The two of them approached the van. Darci’s grinning head poking out an open window “About time, we were considering leaving without you,”

“No don’t!” Toby’s voice rang out from inside the car “He needs to come with us so I can smoke him at horseshoes!”

Barbara left the kids to it and stepped towards the driver's window, nodding at the two women in the front seat “Julie, Amy, good to see you,”.

“Barbara, good to see you to,” Julie repiled with her own nod “You need a hand?”

“Nope I’ve got it,” Barabra stepped around to the back of the car, popping the trunk with her foot and sliding the cooler inside before shutting it again. Around the side of the car Jim had already placed his overnight bag inside and was about to step in himself.

A surge of emotion overcame her and before she knew what she was doing Barbara darted towards him and snagged Jim in a tight hug.

“Love you kiddo, have fun and stay safe,”

Jim was stiff for a few seconds before he softened into her embrace, returning her hug with one of his own “Love you to mom, I promise I’ll be fine,”

Her heart swelled, Jim nestled snug against her. In that moment Barbara wanted more than anything to hold Jim close and never let him go.

But she let him go, stepping back onto the sidewalk while Jim climbed inside the van. Flashing one final smile towards her before shutting the door. Less than a second later the van pulled away from the curb. Through the open window she could see Jim waving at her as they went.

Barbara tugged her lips up into what she hoped resembled a grin, giving a jerky wave back.

Then the van rounded the corner past a grove of trees, both it and Jim vanishing from sight.

Now it was just Barbara, standing all alone on the side of the road.

Jim was gone, heading the furthest he’d ever been from her reach, and he wouldn’t be coming back for two days.

Stomach going tight and eyes starting to water, Barbara forced herself to pick up her feet and move back towards the house.

This was perfectly safe, Jim was a teenager, a smart mature responsible teenager, he could look after himself.

He wouldn’t be alone, he’d have his friends, and responsible adult supervision.

This was fine. This was necessary. She and Jim needed to learn how to function separately from each other.

But god was it hard.

Jim was far away and if anything changed or something happened and he needed help she wouldn’t be there and she was so so worried.

Barbara stepped through the front door, shutting it behind her and leaning back against the wood. Closing her eyes and pulling in a deep breath.

And that was ok.

She was worried about Jim, and that was ok. It didn’t make her smothering or overbearing or paranoid. It was ok to worry about her son while he was away on an overnight trip. Now what was she going to do with that worry?

Realistically if something did happen she would get a call from Jim or one of his friends or another adult. She should keep her phone fully charged and on her person at all times in case of an emergency, and unless something did happen that was all she could do. But she shouldn’t just sit and stare at the phone all day waiting for it to ring, that would change nothing and help no one.

Fortunately she’d planned ahead on a distraction.

Pushing off the door and striding into the kitchen, Barbara grabbed the spiral notebook and pen off the counter and the totebags off the floor before heading back outside.

Running errands, and not just the grocery store.

First she’d run by the hardware store to pick up spare home repair supplies, then hit the department store for new clothes and sheets, and finally the grocery store to stock up.

With all Barbara had planned she should well and truly be able to distract herself from Jim’s absence for the rest of the day. Of course after she was done….

Well by then enough time should have passed to take the edge off.

Despite these rationalizations, Barbara still felt dark clouds lurking at the edge of her thoughts as she hopped inside the car, tossing her items onto the passenger seat. Visions of all the ways Jim’s little trip could go horribly wrong. Fighting the knee-jerk urge to shove the thoughts away, Barbara tried to address them as she pulled out onto the street.

His secret being exposed, his friends would cover for him.

A medical emergency, those were just as likely to happen here.

Mauled by a bear…well  the bear might actually lose.

The thoughts acknowledged, Barbara now tried to let them flow away. It wasn’t easy but she was getting better. Like Rose said, there was a big difference between acknowledging and working herself into a lather. 

Jim was gone on a two day trip. He was as safe as reasonably possible but she was still worried. And that was ok. Learning to cope with her worries was an important step for both of them. It was still so so hard, but that was ok to.

Barbara found herself saying that a lot lately.

It had been a month and a half yet somehow felt like it happened both yesterday and centuries ago. A month and a half since James had blown everything she thought she knew out of the water, since she’d started seeing Rose, since her entire way of living for over a decade had been flipped on its head. Leaving her adrift in uncharted waters, unsure of where she was headed or what currents would pull her.

A month and a half and Barbara still hadn’t quite found her bearings.

The blue and white Lowes sign came into view as she pulled into the parking lot. Barbara parked at the far end, the walk would be good for her, and grabbed her notebook.

Alright, time to get out of her own head and be productive.

She hopped out of the car and strode into the store.

And her time in the store was very productive. She bought spare light bulbs, nails, and screws. Looked at the fridge and freezer units, they didn’t actively need one right now but it couldn’t hurt to get some ideas for the future, and had a lovely conversation with a man in the PPE section. 

His name was Mike, he was from Milwaukee and he was here for his son’s graduation from engineering school in Los Angeles.

So when Barbara got back in the car she checked her phone, finding no new messages from Jim or the others, and she was pleased to see the better part of two hours had gone by, and she was still more or less put together.

Next stop, Macys.

Macys proved to be much more hectic than Lowes, because apparently July was an appropriate time to start a back to school sale, but despite the crowds Barbara still managed to get everything she came for and a few sale items.

In fact the trip was so busy that it wasn’t until she got back to the car that Barbara realized she hadn’t thought about Jim once during her rush for sheets and sale price t-shirts.

And after checking her phone, seeing no new messages or texts, she realized she didn’t feel bad about that.

Barbara felt not good, but better than she thought she would as she pushed her cart down the aisle at the grocery store. Jim had gone away for the weekend, and while he wouldn’t be back for a while, so far the sky hadn’t fallen, no catastrophe had happened, and no one had called her with bad news. Barbara had been trying to convince herself all day that this was going to be fine, but only now was she really starting to believe tha–

Her cart rounded the corner and her good mood crashing down to the ground and her heart shooting straight up into her throat.

She hadn’t seen him since that awful night, so much time had passed she’d been starting to hope that he’d left town of his own volition, but here he was. Blinking back at her from across the soup aisle.

His nose had a crooked hunch to it that hadn’t been there before, he’d likely never gotten it properly set after it had been broken, but the man in front of her was still unmistakably James.

For the longest time neither one of them said anything, just staring at each other with the creaking of other shoppers' carts and the store’s radio droning around them.

James was gaping, his mouth flapping open and shut like a fish before he finally managed to get words out.

“Barb I…I’m sorry,”

That broke the spell, shattering the bubble that had formed around her mind and letting rationality crash back in.

Seeing him again brought up a whole storm of conflicting emotions, one that she was nowhere near prepared to untangle. But through all the chaos in her mind one thought was clear.

She didn’t want this man anywhere near herself or her child ever again.

Barbara pulled her cart back, turned on her heel, and immediately started walking the opposite direction. From behind she heard James’ shoes slapping against the linoleum as he struggled to catch up.

“Didn’t you hear me? I’m sorry.”

“That’s nice.” Barbara said, please at how sharp and clipped her tone came out, rounding her cart around the edge of the aisle.

“I messed up bad and let you and Jim down, and I’m ready to do whatever it takes to make it up,”

“Good for you.”

This time she heard a falter in his steps, stopping for a few moments before continuing on after her “Look Barb, ever since I left, things have been hard,”

He darted around to the front of her cart, blocking her path and causing her to halt in her tracks “Will’s bar didn’t work out, for the past five years I’ve been working odd jobs and living paycheck to paycheck. And Heather….Heather cheated on me,”

Another step towards her “I need help getting back on my feet, if you could find it in your heart to just let me stay with you for a few months, six tops, I promise I’ll be there for you the way I should have been all this time,”

Barbara narrowed her eyes, staring at him for a few more seconds before steering the cart around him, walking further down the aisle, exiting it for one of the main corridors of the store. James still following on her heels.

“Barb look I’m pouring my soul out here,” a petulant edge crept into his voice “I’ve already apologized, what more do you want me to do?”

She didn’t slow down, or even turn her head “Go to Vegas, become a millionaire, or go to Hollywood and become an actor. Quite frankly I don’t care what you do, but there is no place for you with me or in my family,”

An abrupt shuffle and a rustle and suddenly James was kneeling on the floor in front of her cart, several other shoppers stopping and staring at the sight.

“Barb I…I fucked up real bad, there’s no way around that. But these past ten years have been so hard. It took me all that just to realize how much you and Jim mean to me. And I’m willing to do whatever it takes to earn your forgiveness,”

No one moved, all the other shoppers staring at him in stunned silence, while James looked up at her, expression pleading.

For a moment Barbara was so taken aback all she could do was stare, mouth agape.

Then his laughter, cruel and mocking, from when he’d learned exactly what he’d done to Jim echoed in her mind and all shock vanished. Replaced with searing rage.

Barbara glared down at him, feeling her lips pull up into a snarl, cold fire smoldering in her chest.

“James let me make this clear. I don’t care about anything you have to say because your actions have proven that you don’t care about Jim and I,” her voice was icy and diamond hard “Whether or not you’re sorry is irrelevant, you’ve burned every bridge between us. And how dare you try to manipulate me by causing a scene in public.”

James flinched back at that, kneeling there on the floor face twisted up in a wince. Someone in the small crowd around them coughed.

“Dude, just get up,”

Not wasting a second, Barbara strode past James and pushed her cart to the front. She paid for and bagged her groceries without incident, all of them fitting in a single tote bag over her shoulder. For a moment she’d started to believe that she’d evaded James for good, but just when she was heading out the doors James darted in front of her again.

“Look Barbara I don’t want to do this, but if you don’t give me a hand I’ll take custody of Jim,”

Hearty laughter burst out of her, drawing stares from the other shoppers and employees around them entering and exiting the store “You’re going to try for custody after ten years of no contact and zero child support? Please do, let me know how that turns out,”

For a few moments James just stared at her, blinking in surprise, then the pleading look dropped off of his face in an instant, something dark taking its place “Don’t laugh Barb, I know your biggest secret. Now either you help me out or I’ll expose Little Jimmy’s ‘condition’ to the whole world,”

That threat sent a bolt of fear through her, heartbeat stuttering, but she dared not show it “You sure about that?” Barbara kept her shoulders square and voice steady, looking him dead in the eye and trying to project a confidence she didn’t feel “Because you have no proof and I’ve got five witnesses willing to say that Jim’s an average teenage boy. Not to mention with the trespassing and assault charges against you I don’t think anyone in Arcadia’s going to be inclined to believe you,”

James’ face darkened further, expression stony and all traces of remorse gone.

Or maybe they’d never been there in the first place. Maybe she was seeing James’ real face for the first time.

“You’re going to regret screwing me like this Barb,”

The cold certainty in his words chilled her to the bone, having to fight to maintain her poker face as she stepped around him and walked out the door “You did this to yourself James,”

Barbar headed out to her car, constantly glancing back to make sure James wasn’t following. Tossing her bag in the backseat before getting in herself and locking all the doors.

Then promptly burst into tears, fumbling for her phone with badly shaking hands. Somehow managing to pull up her contacts and bring it to her ear.

“Hello Rose?”

--

Barbara stepped through the front door, setting the last of her bags down on the floor while it swung shut behind her. She trudged over to the recliner and collapsed down in it, letting out a gusty breath. Today had been exhausting, in more ways than one, but at least it was over.

Sunlight streamed in through the windows, blinds open since Jim was on his trip, it set later this time of year. Nearly six o clock and it was still bright out. And it was just about time for…

Her phone chimed to life, Barbara fumbling to answer it, tapping the screen and holding it close to her ear.

“Hello?”

“Hey mom,” Jim’s voice rang out

“Hi kiddo,” she replied, a soft grin spreading across her face

And just like that, hearing her son’s voice so bright and happy, all the stress and anxiety of the day melted away “It’s good to hear from you. How’s your party going?”

“Great!” Jim said with a deep laugh. Too deep…

“Wait Jim have you…changed already?”

“Yup, about fifteen minutes ago,”

Despite herself she shot forward in her seat “But it’s so early?”

“Up in the mountains the sun sets earlier I guess, but it’s fine. I’m out in the woods, tent’s all set up for the night, but the gang and I are going to meet up later for snacks and scary stories. Well they’ll have snacks, I’ll have the wrappers the snacks came in,”

A soft laugh escaped “I’m…I’m glad you’re having a good time,”

She was, she really really was. She was glad her worries were for nothing and everything was going ok and Jim was having a fun time without her.

But she’d be lying if she said it didn’t sting a little. Jim, her little boy, had outgrown her. Jim was off on his own and doing just fine without her.

Which was good. He was fifteen, it was only natural for him to be more or less independent. But knowing how right this was didn’t do anything to stop her from feeling left in the lurch.

“Yeah….hey mom?”

“Yes?”

“Thanks for letting me come on this trip…I know it’s a big change,”

From out of nowhere a crippling ache struck through her chest, burning surging up behind her eyes “Of course sweetie,” Barbara was careful to not let the sudden wave of emotion color her words “I want you to have a good time with your friends,”

“It’s just, for so long thinking about the future, what I do with all this…it scared me, I didn’t think that there was any way I could be happy. But now when I think about what comes next and everything we’re going to do together, for the the first time ever I’m excited about it,”

Her glasses fogged “That’s great hon,”

“I mean…for years I thought I was trapped, with the way I was stuck in the house, but I guess in the end I wasn’t nearly as trapped as I thought I was. Does that make sense?”

“Y– yes, yes it does,” she tried but wasn’t quite able to keep the tremor out of her voice.

“Thanks mom, I hope you’re having a good time to,”

“You know it, alright I don’t want to keep you from your candy wrappers,” that was a lie, she could talk to Jim for hours, but the longer she stayed on the line the greater the risk of him hearing her cry “I’ll talk to you later kiddo,”

“Ok, bye mom, love you,”

“Bye sweetie, Love you to,”

A tap of the screen and she was alone again. For a few minutes she stayed where she was sitting back in the chair, blinking away the remains of tears with Jim’s words echoing in her skull, observing the empty house in a whole new light.

Jim wasn’t a little boy, he didn’t need her the way he did when he was five. That was good for him, he was old enough he should be independent and living his own life. At first she’d felt left behind, but maybe this was a good thing for her to.

Barbara didn’t have a young child with complex needs that had to be figured out as they went along. Her child was a teenager now; confident, self reliant, and had a rich social life with friends his age. He didn’t need her–

For the first time instead of bringing pain that thought made her feel so dizzyingly light.

She could get in the car right now, drive to Arcadia National park, paint the sunset, and drive back at midnight while hitting every roadside attraction on the way. And Jim would still be A-ok hanging out with his friends at their party. Right now Barbara could do anything she wanted and Jim would still be fine, the whole world seemed to be opening up to her. She could explore museums, pick up old hobbies, paint the town red with her fr–

Before she realized what she was doing Barbara was lifting up her phone again and pulling up her contacts, raising it to her ear as it rang. Only three rings and the other person picked up.

“Hello?” Nancy’s voice echoed out.

“Hi Nancy it’s Barbara, I was just wondering…” she trailed off, suddenly unsure.

“Wondering what?”

“I guess, I mean…it’s still early tonight,” Barbara stammered “And I was wondering if you wanted to go out and…I don’t know, maybe do something like hit up a restaurant or–”

“Count me in!” 

“Are you sure? I mean I don’t want to interrupt your evening–”

“Barbara reruns of Mistrial and Error are still going to be here tomorrow. Now you get your car started while I head over, we’re hitting the town!”

A smile tugging at the edges of her mouth and excitement she hadn’t felt in years bubbling up in her chest, Barbara stood and all but ran towards the door.

[eurazba]

I wanted to draw more Grandpa Douxie au, so a young Douxie and Nancy in the late 60′s

With filters and things to make it look like an old photo haha wheee!

[yellowmagicalgirl]

5 headcanons from a Trollhunters AU of your choice?

So there's this AU that I've had vague ideas about for a while, a roleswap where I swap all the canon ships (not counting Word of God ships and ships where we never see one of the characters). Do note that while the canon ships are getting swapped, the only canon ship that definitely gets together in this AU is Jlaire. (Staja and Darby are both maybe's, but I'm leaning no because IDK how much sense they'd make in this 'verse. Everything else is a NOTP for me.) (Also due to the amount of canon ships, you get more than 5 headcanons.)

Stricklake: Waltolomew is Jim's dad. Jim's bio mom walked out on them when Jim turned five - she accidentally saw Strickler in his true form, and she just wanted to escape. She was concerned that Jim wasn't human either, and she didn't want anything to do with him. (She was right that Jim wasn't fully human, though that didn't manifest as anything other than a very mild iron allergy until he got possessed by Morgana.) Meanwhile, Barbara is a local doctor who ends up getting roped in after she sees too much going on with the local teen defenders, and also after she ends up as Jim's foster mom when Strickler went missing.

Jlaire: The last battle between Kanjigar and Bular took place in a slightly different location, one that Claire was able to ride her bike to. She picked up the amulet and wasn't detected as quickly as Jim was in canon due to Strickler not going into the women's locker rooms. This allows her to have just enough time to learn to fight without Bular killing her for not knowing her way around knives like Jim does. Jim, meanwhile, has recently had the truth of his heritage revealed to him. If he serves the Janus Order well enough, then he can undergo the ritual that could make him a polymorph. (He never goes through the ritual but gains the ability anyways thanks to Morgana.) In the latter half of season 1, he became Team Trollhunters' man on the inside because he can't accept a world where Gunmar reigns (and also because Claire is very pretty in her armor.)

Dromura: Nomura became Kanjigar's apprentice, and while she didn't 100% expect to become the next trollhunter, she is miffed that this human girl with no fighting experience became the next trollhunter instead of her. She also briefly had a fling with Draal, who's human form works with Barbara under the alias of Dr. Aalbregt. Nomura once tried to get Kanjigar and Draal to meet in the hopes that Draal would change sides, but Kanjigar claimed that the impure was not his son. Ouch.

Staja: I'm not saying that Aja is the school bully, but she is rivals with Claire & Mary for popularity, with Claire & Mary being the femme popular crowd and Aja being the star quarterback. (Aja and Darci were neighbors growing up, so they're slightly more cordial.) She also teases Eli, but in a more friendly way since he's her little brother's BFF (and also Eli might have a crush on Krel). Eventually, the Tarron twins + Eli find out the truth. Steve on the other hand is the slightly spoiled heir to House Palchuk of Akiridion V. Seklos help us all.

Nanavex: Varvatos used to babysit Darci and the Tarron twins, sometimes at the same time, because he lives near all of them. He taught them to fight and can tell that something is going on. He doesn't know what. Nancy's son, husband, and daughter-in-law were all killed by the Zerons, and she was left to raise her grandson on her own. Between this and

Darby: I just can't see Darci getting the gravity cursed hammer, and I also can't really see her using a bow in this AU despite her using it in my seasonal amulet AU. I'm gonna say that instead she stole a fancy looking flute from the museum at the end of the second battle of Killahead. This flute was actually the flute that belonged to the Pied Piper, and it allows her to control small animals... and also goblins, because of the long-running raccoon joke. Mary never gets quite as involved in trollhunting as the others do due to being squeamish around violence, which causes her to grow distant from Claire and Darci. The coup happens earlier, Toby makes a cool bracelet for her, and Mary is selfish enough that she decides to befriend this foreign weirdo in order to get cool bracelets. (Due to the coup happening earlier, the two supernatural groups meet earlier. Toby gets to meet Vendel, who is more impressed with him than in canon. Vendel also likes Toby better than Steve.)

Stuart x Gwen: "The bounty hunter (Stuart) you (Morando) sent after us (Steve, Nancy, and Toby) became part of our found family." Meanwhile, I have two potential takes on Gwen. The first is that she's an untrustworthy rogue agent, willing to sell alien tech but also willing to sell secrets to whomever she thinks can get her the best deal. The other is that I replace Gwen of Gorbon with Guinevere, who was an alien all along in this 'verse, and Arthur thought that this foul creature killed his wife when he saw her in her true form. (In the latter case, there would be parallels between Guinevere/Arthur and Waltolomew/Jim's bio mom.)

send me an au and i’ll give you 5+ headcanons about it

[pinkytoothlesso11]

I think part of it was inspired from something I read or watched (don't really know what), but here's a Trollhunter AU based on a freaky dream I had.

• Arcadia Oaks is somewhere by the sea instead of California. Since he could remember, Jim had loved the ocean and had alwau.ys been pulled towards it.

• Barabra and Strickler did get together and eventually married, but Jim was ten years old when it happened.

• Strickler is still a changeling and is working for Bular. Bular always used the Lakes as a leverage against Strickler to keep him in line.

• Jim finds the amulet in an underwater cavern during a dive before school very early in the morning. Toby is also with Jim when he finds it.

• Barabra, Strickler and Nana all know about the early morning dives. They're all right with it so long as they make it to school on time and take extra safety precautions beforehand.

• Blinky and the rest of Jim's allies are still firmly trolls in this AU. In fact, the cavern Jim went diving in happened to be where Trollmarket is. Don't know how they still get their hands on human trash and items though.

Whether or not Claire and Jim still fall in love despite Jim being a diver is up to you. I will say this: Claire is just as fascinated by the sea as Jim is.

Okay, this is a very original idea! I like how Strickler and Barbara are already married and happy, even though Strickler is still basically forced to work with Bular otherwise Barbara and Jim would be in danger.

Jim loving diving is cool! Something I can actually see him being interested in, to get away from all the worries of real life.

I'm assuming the trolls are still the same as Canon, or if not that they are a sort of MerTroll (also because it's mermay so that's fitting lol) otherwise Trollmarket wouldn't be only accessable through a underwater cave.

If Claire is also fascinated by the sea, I don't see why Jlaire wouldn't happen!

[lexel05]

Just simple doodles about Nancy, Walter and Barbara^^

[az-daniels-yeeter]

Arcadiatober Day #14: Plants

[albentelisa]

Hi there! If your still answering Mirrored Conviction questions, here are mine.

What will Bellroc and Skreal's point of view on Jim be? You can make this cryptic to avoid spoilers if you want.

During the time period Jim stays at Toby's for a bit, will Nancy Domzalski suspect anaything wrong with why Jim is staying with them for a while?

How will Claire's parents think of Jim? Before and after learning the truth?

Besides him not telling Jim's relation to Gummar, will Douxie leave anything else out when it comes to Pre Camelot Merlin?

Hi! A bit late with the response, but I still answer asks. 

Initially, the Arcane Order will see Jim as an enemy. He's Merlin's champion, after all. However, past a certain event, they'll realize that Jim could potentially relate to their stance on humanity. And let's say, Merlin's ass behavior will backfire tremendously here.

Both Jim and Toby will try their best to hide the fact that Jim is staying at Domzalski's. There'll be a lot of sneaking past Nana and climbing through windows involved. And when caught, the boys will resort to the lie that Jim is staying overnight - something that isn't that suspicious to Nana.

Much like in the canon, Claire's parents won't like Jim initially, but will eventually come to respect Claire's choice. Past the reveal they'll have some concerns because Jim will be unlucky enough to show his feral side, however, they will also see how devoted he is when it comes to protecting their daughter.

Douxie will also omit to mention the extent of Claire's shadow magic progress and the fact that he got involved earlier. And that some characters ended up switching sides.

[zenithpng]

i have. tales of arcadia theories.

background info: i have a theory that when a wizard's magic reaches a certain power threshold, they remain the physical age they are then for eternity. so for merlin, since he presumably didn't have much outside training, that time came later in life while for douxie, who received training from a young age, that time came rather early.

so. nancy domzalski.

i think it's somewhat possible that she's a wizard :)

THINK about it: she's almost completely unfazed by the existence of trolls and aliens, taking everything easily in stride. yes she has bad eyesight but we know that magical beings are still susceptible to that (archie, for example).

OH YEAH AND THE FACT THAT SHE'S CANONICALLY OVER A CENTURY OLD

in 3Below (don't remember the exact episode) when Varvatos reveals to her that he's an Akiridion, she responds with the fact that she was a spy during the great war. which means she had to have been born at the latest in the year 1900

doing a bit of guesswork here, we know that the modern portion of tales of arcadia is set in the early 21st century as confirmed by a caption in Wizards. taking into account the widespread use of smartphones (esp by high schoolers) i'm gonna say that it was at the earliest set in 2013 (a couple of places online are saying 2016-18 but i'm going to use 2013 here)

so she is *at the very least* 113 years old, yet seems to get along perfectly fine and even manages to care for her grandson all alone. she doens't *look* terribly old either.

so yeah. wizard.

[sonicasura]

Imagine Nana thinks that Mystic was Aaaarrrghs kid? 😆

She absolutely does even when she knows it's Jim. People can have multiple parental figures that aren't biologically related. AAARRRGGHH practically acts like a dad to Jim, even more when Mystic is put in the mix.

Nana thinks the whole thing is cute and absolutely teases them about it.

[earth-ambassador-jim]

Lost Souls: Story 15

Learning from History  

Lost Souls Summary: Merlin awakens early from his  sleep. He decides  that he doesn’t want to leaving anything to chance  and kidnaps the young  James Lake Jr. to began training his Trollhunter  as early as possible.

Barbara  is  determined to hunt down the man who kidnapped her son. In her  efforts  to get her son back she finds a strange old radio that speaks to  her in  a woman’s voice. The radio leads her to an underground society  of  shapeshifters.

Mother and son meet again years later as strangers on opposing sides.

AO3 - Fanfiction

~~~~

~~~~

The loud whistle of the teapot sings through the air. Nancy hums as she took it of the stove and turns off the burner. She pours it into her chipped blue and white china teapot and sets the timer for five minutes. A glance out the window confirms that Barbara is on her third lap of the cul-de-sac. She should be in talking distance just a little after the timer goes off.

Still humming Nancy opens the oven to check on the cherry pie. Perfect! The edges have just turned a pleasant golden brown. She puts on her oven mitts and sets it on the counter to cool.

Now she just needs to set the table and she’ll be ready for company!

The timer goes off and Nancy removes the teabag and transfers to pot to the table. She glances at the clock. Toby and the Scotts will be having dinner right now so she doesn’t need to worry about being interrupted.

Nancy opens to the door to find Barbara standing at the door with her fist raised. They stare at each other for a moment before Barbara lowers it with a resigned expression.

“You saw me walking up and down the road… Didn’t you.”

Nancy nods.

Barbara sighs.

“Mind if I come in?” She asks slowly.

She doesn’t quite look Nancy in the eyes. Instead her gaze is constantly traveling. Observing all her surroundings. She reminds Nancy of some of the soldiers she’d met: men who’d been fighting so long they’d forgotten how to relax.

“Of course,” She says, standing to the side.

Barbara enters lightly. Like the last time, her eyes scan the room before her shoulders loosen ever so slightly.

They make their way to the kitchen and Nancy pours them each a cup of tea. While Barbara studies her tea and slice of pie, Nancy studies her. The scar curving up her jaw, just in front of her ear, is surprising as before. Nancy would still really like to ask how she got it. The dark circles under her eyes seem to be as permanently etched into her face as the wrinkles of her brow. Her red hair, pulled into a low bun, is lank and streaked with grey.

In a word she looks weary.

As she’s watching, Barbara swirls the tea in her cup, sniffs it, and then takes the tiniest taste -not even a sip- before setting it back down on the saucer.

She glances up and blinks when she sees Nancy looking at her. After a pause she awkwardly forces a smile onto her face. It looks more like a grimace.

“So how have you been?” She asks.

Nancy stares back at her and raises an eyebrow.

“I’ve been well, dearie,” She answers and then waits.

Barbara’s hands twitch around the tea cup before one of them creeps up to toy with the chain of the yellow pendant around her neck. She holds Nancy’s gaze for a moment longer before looking away. The plastic smile slides off her face. The sunlight that shines through the kitchen window warms Nancy’s back but stops just shy of Barbara’s fingers.

Nancy eats a bite of her pie and is pleased to find that she got the sweetness to tartness ratio just right. She washes it down with a sip of tea, enjoying the earthy taste of the blackberry nettle combination.

“I…” Nancy looks up at Barbara’s voice.

The red-haired woman is still not looking at her. She’s holding her tea-cup in her hands and staring into it as if it holds all the secrets of the world.

“What,” Barbara frowns and her brows furrow further. “What would you do if you every time you tried to fix things you just made them worse?” Her gaze flicks up for a moment and then back down. “Would you keep trying?”

Ah.

Nancy hums. Taking another sip of her tea as she digests the question.

“When I was a young girl,” She starts. “I lived in Germany.”

She gazes across the room at a black and white picture on the wall. Her vision blurs a bit as she lets herself slip past it into memory.

“Things were hard but I loved my home and my friends and my country but then… then things changed. The Nazis rose to power.”

Barbara looks up sharply, blue eyes finally settling on Nancy’s face.

“I didn’t know a lot at the time, but I didn’t like what I was hearing and seeing. The things they taught us as school made my stomach sick.

“Now it just so happened that my father was someone important. He was important enough that they didn’t ship him off to fight in the war like all my friends’ dads. Rather people would come and meet at our house.

“One day, one of our servants was arrested for spying on one of father’s meetings. As he was dragged off a paper fell out of his pocket. I took it and eventually figured out that the strange figures on it were code for a meeting spot.”

A proud smile tugs at Nancy’s lips.

“I always was good at puzzles. To cut a long story short I was able to meet his contact. They were very wary of me, but I convinced to give me a chance.” In hindsight she’d nearly gotten herself killed approaching the foreign spies. “For two years a listened in on my father’s meetings and carried information to them.”

Nancy frowns and takes a sip of her tea.

“What happened then?” Barbara asks when she doesn’t continue.

“Then I got caught,” Nancy sighs and sets her cup down. “You have to understand that I was young at the time. I was only 14 when I started and well… my judgement wasn’t always the best. I wasn’t as careful as I should have been.

“The men who worked with my father had realized there was a leak and started searching for clues. They found one of my papers. I’d hidden it under my parents’ mattress thinking they’d never look there.”

Nancy takes a slow breath in and holds it for a count before releasing it.

“They thought it was my Mom. They dragged her away as I yelled and screamed that it was really me.”

It had been the only time her father had struck her.

“They didn’t believe that a little girl could have done it.” Or perhaps they realized her father would be willing to sacrifice her Mom and figured that was enough of a lesson for her. “I never saw her again.”

Barbara flinches at that.

“She never claimed innocence, even though she must have known it was me. She just let them take her.”

The last thing she’d said as she was being dragged out the door was “I’m sorry.” Many other memories had faded with time, but Nancy could still hear her quiet voice and see her steady gaze as if it had just happened yesterday.

“I wasn’t able to spy after that. I’m certain my father also knew it was really me. There were no more opportunities and I suddenly was signed up for a dozen new activities with the League of German Girls.” Her nose wrinkles in disgust at the memory.

“It took me years to forgive myself for what happened to my Mom. Years to realize that while my actions might have led to her death, it was the Nazis who were at fault for it.”

She glances up and finds Barbara staring at her.

“I wish my Mom hadn’t taken the fall for me, but I don’t regret working as a spy. It would have been far worse to know that I had lived turning my back on what was happening in that house.”

She downs the last swallow of tea and picks up her fork to work on her pie.

She makes it about half way through before Barbara apparently realizes she’s done talking.

“Thank you for telling me,” Barbara says quietly.

Nancy nods without looking up.

The clock ticks five minutes away before the cuckoo pops out to announce that it’s 6’o clock.

Nancy glances up at it. At the distance the hands are fuzzy and hard to make out.

“Toby-pie should be home soon,” She says.

Barbara hums and then stands up.

“I need to be going,” She says.

She pauses there for a moment.

“Do you mind if I take this with me?” She waves her hand toward her untouched piece of pie.

Nancy smiles.

“Of course, dear! Let me get that wrapped up so it doesn’t make a mess in your vehicle.”

Barbara meet her eyes and small, but genuine smile, curves her lips.

“Thank you,” She says.

~~~~

Barbara clears a place on her cluttered kitchen table to set the plastic wrapped plate of pie before bonelessly collapsing into the chair. Absently she runs her hand across her hair.

What now?

Nancy’s story lingers in the back of her mind. There are things there that she’s not quite ready to think about but it still serves to give Barbara her answer. She can’t keep living the way she has but if she’s going to meddle again she needs to take some precautions.

Barbara gets up and walks a slow careful circuit around the table. Books clutter every available surface. A few have even made it onto the bed. There is a basket for dirty clothes and one for clean. She’s given up on folding them. It’s too much effort. Take-out boxes are stacked in the kitchen. The small Janus Order studio doesn’t look much different from her apartment back during med school. Well at least how it looked before she had…

Barbara shakes her head and takes a slow shuttering breath.

She focuses on the nearest book and reads the title -“A Dictionary of Runes”- before moving on to the next. The book she’s looking for isn’t in one of the kitchen cabinets or on the table or stacked on the chair by the door.

Barbara frowns and adjusts her glasses. She hopes it’s not in her office. She doesn’t want to go in there right now.

As a last ditch she lowers herself to her knees by her bed. She lifts the comforter that has half fallen onto the floor and grimaces. There is so much dust under there that the ground looks like it has a down coat. With a flick of her fingers and a muttered word Barbara directs a gust of wind under the bed.

The dust is dispersed into the air. Barbara immediately starts coughing and sneezing. She quickly rushes to the bathroom and turns on the fan. Through watering eyes she looks around and tries to remember if she has a vacuum. She doesn’t.

She debates on the merits of waiting for the dust to settle or going out to get the community vacuum. Her pride wins out so she pulls her shirt up over her nose and waits.

After a few minutes she releases her shirt and finds the air is mostly breathable. She pulls out her phone, creates a shopping list, and adds the word “Vacuum”.

She kneels back by her bed a looks again. Now that she dust is evenly distributed around the room she can easily make out the shapes of the books scattered beneath. She summons a small orb of light and peers at their spines.

“There it is.”

Barbara shifts to her side and reaches as far as she can. Her fingers claw at the spine. Finally she manages to catch it and pull it out.

She turns it over a wipes the dust off the black leather cover.

“Magic and the Mind”. It’s an old volume she got back when all this nonsense started.

She returns to the table and shoves the month old cup of coffee that she should really deal with to the side and sets the book in its place.

She opens it and skims a few pages before closing it again. It will do. She will also have to revisit that bookstore. She’d seen a book on spell crafting that looked promising.

She hesitates tapping her finger on the table. Given that the real magic books had a “Notice me not” spell on them, she has no doubt that the cashier is a magic user of some variety. His cat had seemed a little too intelligent too.

Barbara hums. Should she…

No it’s better to leave it alone. If she isn’t careful she might get Morgana interested in him and she isn’t inclined to put someone else in her position. Of course given how he phrased his introduction she is sure he would be harder to catch than her.

That aside, magic users tend to be curious people by nature she doesn’t need to give him a reason to start investigating her.

Barbara stares at the book for a moment longer before closing it.

There is one thing she would like to do. She might not know how far she is willing to go yet but she does know she owes this much to the Trollhunter. If she recalls correctly Kanjigar’s head has been being kept in a box in the general storage room. If it were to get mislabeled even slightly the goblins would mistake the box for another bridge piece.

She chuckles.

Usually the goblins’ antics drive her up the wall but right now she’s thankful they’re so unreliable.

She goes to the closet and digs up her map of the Trollhunter’s patrol routes.

When she returns to the table she is reminded that she now has a slice of pie. She sets the map aside and makes her way into the kitchen. A quick search of the drawers turns up a relatively clean fork. She runs it under the facet and then wipes it off on a paper towel just to be sure.

Returning to the table she takes the plastic off the pie and hesitates for a long moment before taking a bite. It’s excellent. Not too sweet, not too tart, and the crust is nice and flaky.

Barbara wonders what it would have been like fresh.

~~~~

~~~~

Author Notes:

If the flow of this is going the way I think it is the next chapter should be fun...

Hope y'all enjoyed seeing Barbara's bachelor flat. I head-cannon her as the type of person who keeps a neat house if she lives with someone else but neglects everything if she lives alone. She currently lives in the Janus Order dorms. As Janus Order Head she could really get something nicer, but she doesn't really care. Anyway a bigger home means more to clean and well...

In 3Below Nancy says she was a spy in World War 1, but I'm modifying things to suit my purposes.

[wheretwofacesmeet]

[rosemaidenvixen]

A Secret's Worth

Chapter 34: Toby

Ao3

“Toby Pie, do you want some juice boxes and goldfish for your friends?”

“Sounds great Nana, I’ll come get them,”

Toby pushed away from his desk, where he’d been watching the sun sink steadily lower in the sky, and hustled downstairs, welcoming the distraction. Stepping into the kitchen he saw that Nana had already dumped the carton of goldfish into a bowl and set them on a tray with the juice boxes.

“So the girls will be getting a ride home from Mr. Scott?” she smiled at him from across the table.

“Yep,” he smiled back and picked up the tray, but before he could move Nana stepped around the table and clapped a hand on his shoulder. 

“When Jim gets here you be sure to remind him that he can stay with us as long as he likes, not just this week,”

Toby flinched at the reminder but did his best not to show it “Got it, will do,”

“Ok then,” she released him “You kids have fun with your nintendo games,”

Toby gave her a nod “Thanks Nana, and thanks for the snacks to,”

He turned and headed back up the stairs, carefully balancing the tray in both hands. Getting up to his room, Toby gently set it down on his desk before shooting an uneasy glance at the orange sky outside the window. The girls would be here any minute, Claire’s dad was dropping them off and Darci’s dad would pick them up. Jim had split from the rest of them after school to go see his therapist, with the plan to meet up with them at Toby’s after swinging by his own place to pack a bag. 

But Jim should have been here by now, or sent him a text, or something. The sun had gone down a while ago but it was still light out, that meant Jim still had time, right?

Guts in a pretzel, Toby pulled out his phone only for his heart to stop. Jim had texted him, twenty minutes ago. He’d sent a text that said.

Come to the window

Toby all but ran to the window and threw it open, hopefully he wasn’t too late and Jim wasn’t–

“Boo,” a voice whispered directly into his ear.

Toby shrieked and jerked back into the room, tumbling to the ground and scrambling backwards on the carpet. Jim’s gravely laughter echoed from outside the window, a duffle bag being tossed into the room before Jim crawled in after it, pulling the hood of his hoodie back, giving Toby a full view of his toothy grin. 

Toby narrowed his eyes at him, even as the sharp spike of adrenaline started to fade.

“Toby pie!?” Nana’s concerned voice echoed up from the first floor “Is everything alright?”

“Yeah I’m ok,” he pushed himself upright and got to his feet without breaking eye contact with Jim, who was smirking at him unashamed, heartbeat already stuttering back down to normal “I just saw a spoiler for Monster Slayer Academia,”

“Ok then, you kids have fun with your animes,”

Nana’s voice faded, his standoff with Jim continued in silence, Toby folding his arms across his chest “Were you waiting out there for over twenty minutes just so you could spook me?”

Jim’s already toothy smile got even wider “Worth it,”

Toby still made a show of glaring at him, but he wasn’t really mad. Jim had gotten him good, and he could respect commitment to the bit, but still…

“How exactly did you get on the roof without me or Nana noticing?”

“I waited ‘till I changed,” Jim have a half hearted shrug that nearly convinced him “When I’m all big and blue climbing is a cinch,”

Toby blinked “Oh,”

It really wasn’t that far between their houses, but it hadn’t been too long ago that Jim never would have even considered leaving his house after dark without a twelve stage plan and at least two, preferably all four, of them there as back up. 

Jim must have read the apprehension on his face “It’s fine, it’s only like, twenty feet between our houses and no one was going to spot me, and even if they did I had my hood up, they wouldn’t have seen anything,”

Toby smiled, stepping up to lay a hand on Jim’s elbow, he would have gone for the shoulder but didn’t feel like getting the stepstool “Well good to have you here, how’s your mom doing?”

Jim winced. And Toby immediately started mentally kicking himself.

“Sorry sorry, dumb question,”

“No it’s– it’s fine,” Jim let out a gusty breath, stepped back, and plunked down onto the bed “She’s…still not great, but she’s more…stable I think. I don’t think she’s about to fall apart at least,”

Toby took a seat next to him “She’s staying at the bed and breakfast on the far side of town for the next week, right?”

“Yeah…” Jim turned towards him, eyebrows raised “How did you…”

Toby sheepishly wrung his hands together “I kinda overheard when she and Nana were…talking,” 

While no one had said so out loud, given what had happened with James, and what they’d learned. Jim and Dr. Lake’s trip east had been canceled. But with James still at large and Dr. Lake a complete wreck everyone agreed that something had to be done, the issue was Nana and Dr. Lake disagreeing about what that something was.

That…argument, if it could even be called that, was one of the most bizarre conversations Toby had ever heard. Nana trying to convince Dr. Lake to stay at a hotel for a week, Dr. Lake refusing over and over again before finally giving in. Then when Nana tried to pay for her stay the argument started up all over again, now going back and forth over who would pay for Dr. Lake’s hotel room, branching into a whole new argument about Dr. Lake giving Nana money for Jim to stay at their house for the week. It had ended in an uneasy stalemate, with Dr. Lake paying for her hotel and Jim staying with them free of charge. But given how Dr. Lake had left an envelope full of cash on their coffee table and Nana kept looking at spa brochures that war was far from over.

Honestly it would have been funny if the circumstances weren’t so awful.

Jim hissed “Yeah they weren’t quiet, I think the only reason mom agreed in the first place was I promised to call every day at six on the dot,”

Toby shifted uncomfortably “Well…I’m glad your mom’s taking a break,” he laid a hand on Jim’s shoulder, within reach now that Jim was sitting down “She deserves it,”

Jim smiled at him, then abruptly perked up “Girls are here,”

Less than a second later the doorbell rang.

“Have I told you that your super senses are awesomeasuce, because they are totally awesomesauce,” Toby hurried towards the door, only pausing briefly to turn back “Back in a flash,”

He headed downstairs to let the girls in, and fend off offers of more juice from Nana, leading them back up to his room where Jim was already setting up the console.

“Hey guys, oh hey Darci you excited about New Orleans?”

She beamed “Heck yeah I am, in less than forty eight hours I’m going to be eating beignets at the best diner in the world,”

Toby let out a low whistle “Lucky,”

“That reminds me,” Mary pulled out her phone “You guys know if you want to come to the cabin party? You don’t have to give me an answer right now, but the sooner the bet–”

“I’m in,”

They all looked up towards Jim. He was standing up straight, hands in his pockets and posture relaxed, but there was an echo of something steely behind his face.

“I can hide in the woods at night, right?”

“Y– yeah,” Mary said with a start.

“Then count me in,”

Toby felt a wide grin spreading across his face as he clambered across the room towards him “This is going to be awesomesauce! You can borrow my– actually, sorry but I don’t think you’re going to fit in my sleeping bag,”

“Th– thanks Toby,” Jim chuckled and ran a hand through his hair. Toby immediately stood at attention. Jim was a terrible liar and an even worse actor, and over the past few months Toby had gotten a lot better at reading his tells. And right now he was giving all the signs of having something weighing on him.

“Everything ok Jimbo?”

“Oh yeah, it’s just…” he sat back on the bed and let out a gust of air “Thank you guys, for everything, especially last night. You guys…have been really great, I couldn’t have made it through all the stuff I have without you,”

Toby went still, both from the warm surge of emotion and the memories from just under twenty four hours ago flashing through his skull. 

Having a fun time until James literally barged in, dropping several mega bombs on them, Dr. Lake completely breaking down…

After Nana had taken care of Dr. Lake they’d spent a lot of time doing deep breathing. Then going over what James had revealed and what exactly that meant. Then because it was nearly one am, they’d settled in for fitful naps. As dawn got closer, and because they’d all decided it was unavoidable, right as the sun was rising the girls had called their parents; who’d shown up within minutes. After getting hit with several ‘Why didn’t you call us earlier’s and plenty of ‘Are you sure he’s really gone’ and all the adults shouting over each other about what to do; Mr. Nuñez has bustled them all in the back of his car to drop them off at school. Before presumably going back for more shouting.

Toby was actually kind of amazed that the girls got their parents to agree to letting them come to this meet up at Toby’s house, especially since James was still at large. Then again Jim had gotten the brunt of the concerned looks this morning, so maybe their worry for him trumped their concerns about James.

Well that and Mr. Nuñez hadn't been nearly as subtle as he thought he was when he passed Claire a tube of pepper spray this morning.

“No worries dude,” he clapped a hand on Jim’s shoulder “I know you’d return the favor,”

Jim flashed him a weak smile only to have it immediately drop off his face “Yeah, I just wish I hadn’t spent so many years living in fear when I didn’t have to. It would have been so much easier if I'd just been honest from the start…”

Abruptly the atmosphere of the room got ten times heavier.

After a few tense seconds Claire spoke up “Hey don’t worry about it, you were playing it safe, you had no idea who you could trust wi–”

“No– I– that’s just the thing, I did,” Jim’s hands plopped down into his lap, looking up at all of them, expression pained “You guys weren’t strangers, you were my friends. You were never anything but kind to me, and you didn’t do anything to deserve my distrust, and I…I should have given you a chance, before things got so bad,”

This time Toby heard the echo of something bitter in Jim’s voice, setting his own stomach churning uncomfortably. Wracking his brain knowing that he couldn’t just let Jim say something like that and leave it but unable to think of anything to say. He was still trying to think of something to counter it when Darci beat him to the punch.

“We…all did things we shouldn’t have over the past few months,” she took a few steps towards him “Maybe things would have been better if we’d done different things, but we didn’t. We can’t go back and change the past, all we can do is learn from it and move on, so we shouldn’t waste the present moaning about it,”

Jim blinked at her with wide eyes, the mood of the room shifting again, still heavy but not nearly as uncomfortable, before his face broke into an easy smile “You’re right, thanks Darc,”

“No problem,”

“No more wasting the present,” Jim abruptly stood and moved back towards the console “So let’s get Go Go Sushi fired up,”

They all laughed, the last of the tension in the room breaking and falling away. Toby went to grab the snack off his desk when he spotted the other object he’d gotten out earlier. Hand freezing in midair.

It didn’t stand out overly, in a lot of ways it was identical to most household flashlights, but with one key difference…

He’d been planning on asking Jim about this for some time. But Jim was so nervous at first and then the thing with James happened and his mom was in a bad way, and the girls were here now and despite how messed up the timing was he couldn’t help but think about asking him now–

You were never anything but kind to me, we can’t go back and change the past, all we can do is learn from it and move on, if I want to say no I’ll say no–

Toby let out a deep breath, passed over the tray, and grabbed the object. He would ask, Jim could handle just being asked, and if the answer was no he’d accept it and move on.

“Hey Jim…”

“Yeah?”

“Before we start sushi slinging there’s something I wanted to ask you about,”

“Sure, I’m all ears,”

Toby slowly turned around, seeing the others all sitting on the floor by the console “So you…change at sunrise and sunset and when you’re underground…”

One of Jim’s eyebrows quirked up “Uh huh?”

“Well…what about uv light?”

Four sets of wide eyes blinked back at him. Toby felt his face heat up but forced himself to keep going “I’ve got a uv light right here if you wanted to…test it, but if not that’s totally–”

“No– no, it’s ok. I’ve just…never thought about that before, and I’m fine with…testing it,” Jim  rolled back one of his sleeves and held out his arm, fingers wriggling. 

Heart in his throat, Toby walked back holding the uv light, the girls watching with rapt attention “So how do you want to….”

“Just shine it on my arm,” Jim wiggled his four fingers, flashing Toby a grin that was only slightly nervous.

Knowing he was going to chicken out if he waited any longer, Toby flicked the light on, bathing Jim’s hand and forearm in purple light, blue skin appearing indigo.

But other than that nothing happened. No sprouting feathers or shedding skin or eyeballs popping up. Nothing.

Toby moved to take the light away, but Jim held up a hand to stop him, his gaze never once leaving his forearm.

“Hang on, I think…I think something’s happening,”

Toby kept the light where it was, all five of them keeping their eyes locked on Jim's arm, breath held.

And as he watched, he slowly but surely realized something was happening. 

The deep indigo of his skin was lightening, gradually shifting into violet. Dark fingernails turning pale, and a pinky sprouting from the side of his hand.

Then they were looking at Jim’s normal human arm bathed in purple light, still attached to the rest of Jim’s big blue stony self.

“Holy frijoles…” Claire whispered.

Toby was too stunned to talk right now, but he shared the sentiment.

Sunset turned him from human to gargoyle, sunrise was gargoyle to human. Underground turned him stony no matter what time of day it was, and now they knew uv light did the same in reverse, turning stone back into flesh. But what did it all mean? What was the connection here–

Abruptly Jim whipped his arm away, the second it was out of the uv light it became blue and stony again, so fast Toby didn’t even notice the transformation.

“Nope, that’s enough of that,” Jim said, shaking his arm out.

Toby flicked off the light and set it on the edge of the desk “Sorry, did that….hurt?”

“It didn’t hurt, it just felt really…not great. Like, normally when it happens it's so quick I barely feel it, but this happened so slow it felt slimy, and really really not great, and have any of you guys ever tried growing a pinky in slow motion? Not fun,”

Things were silent for a few beats.

“I can safely say that I have never grown a pinky in slow motion,” Toby spoke up “But the second I do you four will be the first people I tell,”

Everyone laughed, more at the ease of the tension breaking than anything else.

Jim chuckled before his face abruptly turned serious again “While…while we’re on this, there’s something…else I want to tell you guys, something I haven’t even told my mom,”

Toby felt the ba-dumb of his heartbeat skyrocketing but willed himself not to react “Ok then, we’re all ears,” he plunked down on the floor and sat at attention, the girls all doing the same.

Jim pulled in a deep breath, let it go, and then spoke “So just over a year ago, when me and mom were camping up in Sequoia, one night when I was out walking in the woods I saw…well…I’m not sure what I saw,”

Mary leaned forward “Describe it,”

“Well…there were a lot of them, at least twenty, maybe more. And they were about the size of cats…but that’s not what they were, not even close,”

Another shaky breath left him as he pulled his legs up to the bed to fold underneath him “They were green, no fur, long spindly arms and legs, kind of like monkeys, but…”

His voice hitched “When they looked at me…I could tell they weren’t just regular animals, they were intelligent, when they looked at me they knew exactly what I was,”

The silence that filled the room was deafening, Toby could see all the girls mouths hanging open even while he struggled to shut his own jaw. 

“So there are other…magic…things out there,” Darci spoke up, voice small.

“Yeah,” Jim said, his own voice low and soft “I don’t know what all stuff is out there, but it’s out there,”

Stunned silence filled the room, with Toby contributing more than his fair share.

He’d had a hunch, ever since they’d learned about Jim’s transformation, that there might be more out there. If magical curses and shapeshifting were real, who's to say other things weren’t real to? Things like magic and monsters and things going bump in the night.

But having a hunch was one thing, concrete evidence that there actually was more out there was something else entirely.

More heavy silence filled the room, not suffocating, but close, until Claire cleared her throat.

“Well then, we’ll just have to figure it out together,”

Hearing those words was like a tuning fork being run in Toby's head.

This was scary and new, the world was a whole lot wilder and more dangerous than he’d ever imagined, but he didn’t have to deal with it alone. None of them did.

Toby slid over until he was pressing into Jim’s side “Yep we’re a team, you’re stuck with us for life, shapeshifting and weird fantasy creatures and all,”

Jim looked down at him, expression tender, and smiled back.

[ewritesfanfics]

Chapter 54

---

An old foe, a new one, a stranger, and … a little girl?