#one day i'll open these up as regular comms

[l-lend]

@clonexreaderbingo

a/n: okay first one done. I got Anakin for my square and this needed to involve a clone and well....Captain Rex is his right hand man. Hope you enjoy. Divider by @eloquentmoon

@locitapurplepink, @rain-on-kamino, @writing-positivelyexisting, @burningfieldof-clover, @padawancat97, @ahsokastechie

“And you're sure you'll have them there.”

“A bit of faith would be nice, Anakin.”

The general swiped a hand through his mussed hair under the gaze of the hologram woman.

“I trust you, Padme. It's a private event right?”

She smiled, “Considering it's an exhibit on the flora of Naboo, I was able to ask for a private viewing before it's open to the public.”

“Alright, we'll make planet fall in a few days.”

“Ani.”

He hesitated, that soft whisper always lit a smoldering inferno in him.

“Don't be too hard on him.”

He exhaled a huff of a laugh, “I can't promise that.”

The captain of the 501st stood rigid at the entrance of his general's quarters. This was a regular occurrence for the pair. If his general was in need it was his Captain's job to watch out for him, be it01 on the battlefield or when a certain senator pages him on a private comm channel. The clone was pulled from his thoughts when the doors slid open.

“Rex,”

“General,” He greeted.

“I need you in here.”

He quirked an eyebrow soon following his general. The doors slid shut and locked behind him.

“We're going on a mission together.” The general began, his announcement as casual as how how one would discuss the weather.

“and what kind of mission would that be?”

The jedi crossed his arms with a smirk touching his lips, “We've been asked to escort a senator's visit to an exhibit.”

The clone nodded, “So I take it Senator Amidala will be attending.”

“She will,” the general's smirk grew, “her assistant will be there too.”

The captain's calm facade shattered to pieces in front of his general.

“I- that's...great sir, but are you sure you'd need me. The boys-”

“Jesse and Snips can handle things while we're gone. A few days tops.”

The general felt a tinge of satisfaction at the captain being cornered.

“I...guess we're heading to Coruscant.”

“That we are. You brief Jesse, I got Snips.”

The captain took his leave from his general's quarters only pinching the bridge of his nose once he was out of sight. A frustrated sigh leaving his lips.

The trip to Coruscant was uneventful, but that did nothing to ease the captain's restless thoughts. Certainly a trip to Coruscant was a nice break from blaster fire and Separatists, but being in a socially intimate setting? He would rather take his chances with the clankers. He could not even have the comfort of his armor and hide away behind his visor. Civilian clothes were called for to not raise suspicion.

He sat across from his general as their cab navigated the crowded pathways.

“Breathe, Rex.”

The clone glanced up to see the jedi's amused expression.

“I'm fine.”

“Sure, but try to relax and have some fun.”

Before a retort could be lobbed back, their cab slowed to a halt. A hand squeezed his shoulder.

“Look, I'll be nearby if anything happens. Think of me like a wingman.”

The captain pondered briefly if it was too late to jump from the cab. The doors popped open with the pair filing out. Rex's last ration bar sat like a stone in his stomach. He took a breath before following his superior. Hopefully this would not be a complete disaster.

Her shoulders lowered as she exhaled. A nervous hand smoothing over the fabric of her top. Her companion offered a reassuring smile.

“They'll be here.”

“Thank you, Senator.” She replied, “tell me to proofread a speech that you need in ten minutes and I'm completely fine. This on the other hand...”

Padme chuckled, “Everyone has their strengths, and every senator needs a trustworthy assistant.”

The senator's gaze drifted elsewhere, her smile growing, “There they are.”

the assistant followed her gaze to see the pair of men approaching. General Skywalker was an individual that some could label as attractive, yet the assistant's eyes trailed onto the blonde clone next to him.

“Nice of you to join us.” Padme greeted as soon as they were in ear shot.

“Wouldn't miss it.” The jedi replied, “Rex, you remember Padme's assistant?”

The clone flashed a smile that caused a surge of heat to creep across her cheeks.

“It's great to see you again, Captain.”

“Good to see you again.”

Movement caught their attention to see the jedi and senator strolling away. The civilian bit her lip.

“I...guess we're going at our own pace.”

“I suppose we are.” He chuckled, silently cursing the jedi.

A beat of silence stretched between them before the captain offered his hand, “Shall we?”

She slipped her hand in his before they headed inside. The urban sprawl and durasteel of the ecumenopolis forgotten at the threshold. The pair entering a lush oasis. Flora of varying hues stretched out before them. Delicate blooms rested under the shelter of arboreal goliaths obscuring the artificial light of the exhibit.

“Pretty aren't they?”

The clone captain turned to reply, but the words died in his throat. The way her eyes lit up at the clusters of blossoms. The giddy smile curling her lips. He had to remind himself to breathe.

“They are....hard to believe this is on Coruscant.”

Her giggle had him second guessing his ability to stand.

“Some of these are actually quite fickle during travel, so I'm glad to see most of them made it.” She took a step towards one of the meticulously arranged flower beds. Rex being gently pulled along by their linked hands.

“Those right there,” She pointed towards a group of vermilion blooms, “are native to Naboo.”

He regarded the cluster of blooms, his breathing hitched when he felt her fingers brush against his hand that was still in her grasp. His heart rate picking up as she remained close.

The pair began their stroll through the botanical garden. Their hands remained clasped nearly forgotten about as they filled their time with small talk.

“You know,” She began as they neared the home stretch of their circuit of the garden, “people used to use flowers to communicate. Just about every flower has a meaning, and it was certainly something special if a guy would gift you flowers.”

He quirked a brow, “You mean there's a flower code?”

“Something like that. I made it a bit of a hobby to learn some meanings.”

“Really,” He challenged, an undertone of mirth in his voice.

His eyes scanned the sea of flowers before settling on the vermilion flowers from before, “What about those?”

She opened her mouth to speak, but closed it before trying again, “A uh....declaration..of love.”

A surge of heat coursed under the clone's skin. Was that all it took?

“That...that's quite a meaning.”

“That means that you have to be careful picking the best flower for what you need to say.”

Soon they neared the entrance to the garden much too soon for their liking. Her hand gently squeezed his to draw his attention.

“Captain,”

He halted turning his gaze to her, but before he could ask the reached up pressing her lips to his warm cheek.

“Thank you for listening to my rambling.”

“It was no trouble. Perhaps you could show me more of that flower code sometime.”

She could have lit the planet with her smile alone.

“Of course, just let me know the next time you're planetside.”

The pair regrouped with their superiors soon after. The ladies disappearing among their armored escorts while the jedi and clone hailed a cab. Anakin smirked as he watched Rex.

“I take that it went well.”

Rex was quiet for a moment as his fingers smoothed over where she kissed him. He swore he could still feel his skin tingling.

“Something like that.”

Their transport slowed to a halt before them with the pair soon piling inside.

“General.”

The jedi hummed in response.

“Before we ship off, I...need to find a place that sells flowers.”

[serahlink]

‼️EMERGENCY COMMS OPEN‼️

Help a homeless artist pay for food and rent for their family :") // reblogs are greatly appreciated.

Decided to make this post again since recently work has been getting more scarce and we are falling on worse times again. Long story short, in November 2021 my family and I (me + my father and younger sibling) became homeless after my dad got into a diabetic coma. Thankfully he came out of it alive, but it left him and my sibling without a home since his freight hauling job fired him for the medical emergency. I was also having to find somewhere else to go since my friends family was dealing with their grandmother's medical issues and we couldn't be there.

We didn't have anywhere to go or help with food/rent considering both sides of the family have ignored us/cut us off, so while I was still at my friend's house and moving out, I opened commissions to get us into a motel room. That was almost two years ago now (if I'm calculating right) and since we can't get regular jobs right now due to not having a car, documents to get an id or any transportation or money to get those documents to get an id; we've been stuck trying to just get by day by day since we can't apply for housing without it.

Right now we're in a real emergency of losing the room and without it, we have nowhere to go and no one to call on for help if we have to leave. We owe 120$ for today since we've been having a hard time paying just day by day, let alone food (we haven't eaten in two days now). I'll have photos below of the room and the receipts for it for context.

So, I'm opening commissions to cover what we need for today and hopefully get some food for the three of us since the feeling is getting painful. If you're interested in a commission, you can either pm me here or email me at (lyriumveins__@outlook.com) with the commission details. Reblogs also help a ton since it helps open me up to more job opportunities and help support my family faster.

I mainly draw things surrounding DND or fantasy (elves, dwarves, warriors, humans, and anything surrounding dragon age, etc.), but I'm open if you have a different request outside of that. My turn around time is 2 weeks for a smaller commission and up to a month or two for bigger ones. I'm usually taking on a lot of work to support our situation and am quite busy, but I'll be sure to give frequent updates! And you can message me at any time for an immediate update.

With all that out of the way, my prices and examples are below! Thank you for reading this far and reblogging if you do. It helps us alot given our poor circumstances.

~PRICES~

Sketch (price depending on type of sketch) - base price of 10$

Sketch page - 10$ per sketch

Headshot - 20$ (+10$ if shaded)

Bust - 30$ (+10$ if shaded)

Half body - 45$ (+10$ if shaded)

Full body - 60$ (+10$ if shaded)

Couples Commission (a commission that includes two people) - 90$ (+15$ if shaded)

Group commissions (commission that includes more than two people, price dependant on the details) - 60 base price(one character, unshaded; each extra character is +75% to the original price) (40$+ if shaded) 

Paintings (price depending on the details) - 100$+

[secretkittywolf]

High Life

Chapter 5

Joel awakes quite late in the day. After the fire last night, he decided to finally look at his ask. He opens the book and reads through it.

You and Grian run the business known as "Wingedbean". You want a partnership with Mumbo & Scar AKA "Scars & Moustache", but it falls through so your motive? Kill either "Scars" or "Moustache"

"I can't believe I'm a businessman with Grian of all people! It couldn't be Martyn or Tango no, it's Grian. Fuck me" he sighs. Joel gets out of the king sized bed and makes his way to the bathroom. He quickly showers and changes into a dark green suit with a white shirt, black tie and black shoes. He does his best to deal with his messy hair, but he gives up after five minutes and heads out of the penthouse. Once downstairs, he decides to have a wander around. "Wonder if there's a cafe nearby?" He walks down a street and soon comes across a cafe. It's small and on the corner but had a very cosy feeling to it. It has some tables and chairs outside with a couple of other lifers there. "Hey Joel" he turns to see Etho. "Hey Boat Boy. How are you?" Etho chuckles as Joel sits on the chair opposite to him. "I'm fine. Still Boat Boy, huh? Thought that was left behind in Double Life" "Yeah well, you love me, I love you. Platonically of course. Lizzie is my wife" "I know" He couldn't help but sigh. He genuinely felt like there was a connection between him and Joel but alas, it could never be.

"Is there a menu or do we go and get the food's ourselves?" Joel asks. "There is one" Etho hands him a menu for Joel to look over. "Steak..... Porkchop...... Chicken.... No burgers? Fish and chips? Just, regular Minecraft food? Grian gives us a city, penthouses, guns and suits but no food?!" "Nor any alcohol" spoke a familiar voice. The two turn to see a smirking Scar, drinking what looks like a jump boost potion. "No alcohol?! Fucking hell, Grian. Way to make this less exciting" Scar nods in agreement. "Couldn't have said it better myself, my good sir" he starts drinking the jump boost as Joel goes back to talk to Etho. Scar frowns as he drinks the rest and grabs his gun. He didn't want to kill Joel but he really didn't want to be business partners with him. He raises the gun and aims it at Joel. Etho notices. "Joel!" As Joel turns, Scar fires. The bang startled the other guests as Joel hits the ground. As the others try to process what just happened, Scar gets up, grabbing his cane and starts walking away. "Joel! Joel" Etho was holding him. The bullet hit him directly in his right eye. "Take him. I'm gonna deal with Scar" "Scar? What's Scar got to do with this?!" says Lizzie. "It's okay, Lizzie. I'll deal with this" Etho looks in the direction that Scar went and begins to run after him.

Etho soon sees Scar, humming a tune as he walked down the street. "Scar!" The other man stopped, turning to Etho. "What can I do for you, Etho?" "You shot Joel! What's the matter with you?" "What's the matter with me? Nothing" "If nothing's the matter, why shoot Joel? You could've killed him!" Scar sighs. He quickly checks his comm and no death message popped up. "You're right" Etho sighs with relief. "I should've killed him" The other man raises his head as Scar points the gun at him. "Scar..... What are you-" "If I can't kill Joel, I might as well kill you" "Scar please. Whatever's the matter. Whatever's happening, you can talk to me. You don't have to do this" Scar slowly walks closer, his cane tapping against the smooth andesite path. "No. You see, I do" Just as Scar gets ready to fire, he gets knocked over by a screaming Bdubs. The gun clatters, just out of reach. "Bdubs! What are you doing?" "Running from Doc!" "Why?" Asks Etho. "That's why!" Bdubs scrambles to his feet as Doc emerges from an alleyway. "Hold still, Bdouble00" The hybrid raises a machine gun as all three tense up. "Bdubs" "Yeah?" "Take my hand" "Why?" Scar gets to his feet, grabs a hold of Bdubs and jumps.

The effect of the potion was still in tact as he and Bdubs start jumping away. Doc begins to shoot at them, laughing maniacally. Etho grabs the gun and is about to go after them, when his comm beeps. He takes it out and reads the message.

Lizzie: Joel's been taken to the hospital. The bullet barely missed his brain. Grian says he'll be fine

Etho lets out a sigh of relief. He looks at Doc, chasing Scar and Bdubs. "Nah. I'll let them handle that"

Etho: Give me your coords and I'll be over soon

Lizzie soon sent them as he begins to run away from the maniac with the machine gun, and to Joel instead.

/////////

Thank you @ssueterr for the name Wingedbean! I was having trouble coming up with one for this

[sleepingnova]

Okay so to make up for the fact that I have like a million drafts, but I haven't posted in like months, here. Take this snippet.

It was a regular day, you and Peter are in World History, waiting for lunch. The teacher talks on and on about the difference between the paleolithic and neolithic eras. Peter's hand continuously moves across his notebook, writing down and absorbing information. He jolts suddenly, going unnoticed by everyone, before grabbing his phone and typing on his phone under the desk.

"Something's worng. I don't know what it is, but it's something." He texts you, your phone dinging and the teacher turning around, trying to catch you.  Before your instructor is able to reprimand you, the bell rings, granting you freedom..for 45 minutes.

"Ms. Y/n, next time I see or hear a phone, I'm going to take it. As for today, here." Your teacher says, handing you a detention slip. You groan and leave the room, Peter, Ned, and MJ waiting for you, ready to walk to lunch.

"Hey, I'm gonna go to the bathroom. I'll see you guys at the table." Peter makes up an excuse as he walks quickly the opposite direction down the hallway.

"What's with him?" MJ asks, turning to look at you, but you're nowhere to be found as the both of them turn on circles, trying to find you. You're fairly tall for your age, so it shouldn't be that hard to find you...right?

Meanwhile, the avengers are dealing with a colossal threat. Some "villain of the week", but for some reason, it's worse than last week. Barton fights it off one of the goons and falls back, trying his best not to fall off of the roof. He gets slammed off the edge, flirting with death as he hangs from the room of the building.

"Uh guys? Not to be a downer, but I don't have any more arrows..I'm also hanging on to the edge of the building." He breathes through the comms, earning radio silence from the rest of them.

"Wow, so enthusiastic guys, am I right?" He remarks, earning a warbled sound from Stark.

"Your arrows are retractable.. I made them that way so that this doesn't happen. What the– how in the everloving fuck–" He asks, earning a comment of "language," from cap.

The person he's fighting notices him dangling from the edge of the building, smirking at him as he harshly steps on Clint's fingers, causing him to groan deeply in pain. As he retracted his foot to slam it back down, Clint's hands slip and he starts to plummet, time stilling as he falls.

"Shit, shit!" He sharply gasps as he falls, silently bracing himself for his death.

"I got him!" Tony notifies the group, flying towards the falling Hawkeye at remarkable speed. His suit subtly grasps Clint's fingertips, missing by a fraction of a second. Everything goes silent for a split second as Clint falls, seemingly falling faster, his body just mere feet from hitting the ground.

"Got you!" You interject the deafening silence, catching him and swinging down towards the ground. Clint opens his eyes, hearing the child like voice, half expecting to see Peter, but seeing you instead.

"What the hell? Where'd you come from??" He breathes out a breath he wasnt aware he was keeping in when his feet softly touch the ground.

"Don't worry about it!" You and Peter say in unison, giving each other a glance through your suits.

"Aren't y'all supposed to be in class?!" Tony's surprised shock catches everyone's attention.

"We have lunch right now, it's fine." Peter interjects, trying to ease his mentor's nerves.

"Also, I can't come to the lab after school today, I have detention." You say, breaking the silence. The other avengers look at you in shock.

"What? How the hell?" Tony sputters, obviously shocked by this information.

"My teacher heard my phone go off so he gave me detention. It's fine, I don't mind it's not too bad." You shrug, nudging Peter.

Natasha and Bruce walk up to the group, eyes widening at the fact that you two aren't in class.

"I'll take care of this guy." You say, breaking the stunned silence, swinging up onto the building, crouching low to find the bad guy. You hear Steve and Bruce's voices in your comms telling you to come back, because it's dangerous.

After a while of dancing around with the enemy, you eventually get them pinned and taken care of. You duck behind a building and a bunch of rocks and crushed rubble to change out of your suit.

When you walk back to the group, Tony rolls his eyes and scoffs. "I'm taking both of your suits. Hand them over."

Peter steps back, almost as if he was coming to a realization.

"We have 10 minutes. Run." Peter says, getting ready to swing as you start to sprint back towards your school, he picks you up by the waist, swinging back towards the school. 

"Sorry!" Comes from both of you as you both swing away, eventually coming to a stop at the school. Cutting through your school's courtyard and sneaking back through the halls, you both go and grab your hidden backpacks and change to cover up and scars or messed up elements before walking outside towards your table.

"Where the hell were you guys? I looked up and you were gone." Ned says, pointing at you. Mj comes back from the cafeteria, her eyebrows raised at Peter. "Must have been quite the shit. All the lines are closed man."

(He ended up confiscating both suits later that day. Because you got detention, he came to your house.)

me everyday because endgame:

the avengers is...it just is... I have so much to say bro. I can't 😭☠️

[astrozure]

hello!!! absolutely no pressure i'm just asking via curiosity & so i can prepare for the future.... when are your comms reopening?? (again no rush or pressure!) :-)

Hello! I am currently offering commissions of one chara - bust up - clean sketch for $20! I'm about to finish this current batch and I'll be opening them again in the next few days hopefully (: (if it doesn't happen between these next few days, then it'll be next week!)

I'll leave the form here if you would like to be added to the waiting list!

As for when I'll be opening my regular commissions with more options I truly don't know, but you can always message me with your idea and we can discuss it and I'll see if I could give it a try or not!

🖤

[arty-ffxiv]

Character reference sheet commission for @zenmai--jikake--no--komoriuta! I had a lot of fun working on this one (y’know, when Photoshop didn’t crash and all...)

I’m not accepting names for reference sheet commissions right now, but my regular art commission info can be found here ♥

[melissa-kenobi]

Scars

Commander Kiri x Reader

A/N: heyyy finally got round to writing a Kiri (OC) x Reader yay! I know I've had alot of requests about it so here it is. It still follows the Fallen Premonitions storyline, but reader doesn't end up with Rex, still has her visions of the future and stuff, also they sorta have a thing for each other ahaha, enjoy! x

📷: @pinkiemme (love it so much)

Word Count: 3.4k

"GENERAL!"

The voice of your Commander echoed through the forest as he rushed after you, avoiding the branches that you force threw at him. Your legs ached with pain as you pushed yourself to run faster, not wanting him to catch up with you.

You were on a relief mission, having finished giving the people what they needed, yourself and your two man squadron decided to explore the planet for a while. Neither of you had ever been here before and the shuttle that was supposed to pick you up had been delayed, so there was no point in rushing. You decided that you might as well explore the place with the boys, seeing as they never have a chance to. Which is how you ended up rushing through a forest, having stolen one of your Commanders treats you paced your way through the forest.

Before you knew it, you ran straight into the chest of Hopper, who stood still, glaring at you, all while you gave him a cheeky smile. "Hops, you good?"

"General, what are you doing?" Hopper asked, a hint of sarcasm laced in his tone. You hid the treat behind your back, keeping it out of sight from Hopper and supposedly Kiri.

You rolled your eyes, letting out a small chuckle as you swerved around Hopper, hiding behind him, your head peaking out from the side as you kept an eye out for your commander.

"Nothing!" You innocently smiled, eyes flittering around. Hopper shook his head in annoyance but continued to let you stand behind him, holding onto his arms as protection.

All of a sudden a tap on your shoulder had you flipping around, eyes wide and mouth open as Kiri smiled back at you. "Gotcha..."

"That's not fair, you cheated!" You moaned as you slumped against Hopper who had turned around, watching his General and Commander interact with a curious glint in his eye.

"You're the one who threw branches at me and stole my treat!" Kiri accused as he sent a soft glare your way.

"Wel-" Your words were cut off as you felt a strange presence, no a dark presence embrace your body. You clutched your head in pain as you stumbled, losing your footing. Your head screamed in pain as you felt the darkness embrace your body, you legs weakening as you fell limp. The troopers acted quickly, grabbing you before you could fall to the ground and hurt yourself further.

"General? Are you okay?" Kiri asked, eyes full of concern as he held you in his arms. Hopper checked your pulse only to find a faint beat as he shook you gently trying to wake you up.

"She's not responsive!" Hopper panicked, eyes wide as he looked at Kiri. The Commander picked you up, one hand around your legs and the other around your back as he carried you across to the village. Hopper scurried ahead, looking for the villagers who they had just spoken with, only to find the village completely empty.

"Kiri, there's no-one there! They've all disappeared!"

Kiri furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, eyes flickering around, looking for a safe place to put you. He looked down at you in his arms, your face pale and unconscious as made a split second decision. "Hopper, check that hut over there for supplies, we'll have to make camp here. But be on the lookout, I don't know what's happened but I'll try to contact General Kenobi."

Hopper nodded in understanding, his face stern as he knew your life was on the line.

***

It had been at least an hour since the three of you had made camp. Hopper had found a bundle of material, wrapping you up warm while you shivered unconsciously. You kept mumbling some words, neither Kiri nor Hopper knew what was going on. They had tried to contact General Kenobi but to their disadvantage they couldn't, the signal had been ripped from the village, almost as if this all débâcle was planned.

The boys took it in turns to stay by the fire at your side while the other kept guard by the entrance of the hut they were staying in. Hopper was currently on door duty while Kiri sat besides you, fiddling with his comms, trying to get a signal or something to someone.

"D-dooku...Kiri....H-hops... careful..."

Kiri instantly dropped his comm, his hands coming to hold you down as you shuffled and fought in your sleep. Kiri eventually calmed your down, his body twisting to face you as he gently cupped your cheek, eyes soft as he watched you mumble words. His name to be specific. The very one you had given him, the one he was oh-so proud of.

"Kiri..."

Kiri let out a deep sigh, his eyebrows furrowing as he took a quick glance at Hopper who was focuced on the outdoors before he turned back and spoke to you.

"Cyar'ika, c'mon Y/N, I can't have you dying on me, not when we've just begun. We haven't even had time for a proper mission, or even spend time together." Kiri whispered those few words, hoping Hopper didn't hear him. He leaned down and placed a small kiss on your forehead, leaning down to place his own on yours as he whispered.

"Come back to us. Come back to me."

***

"Kiri! There's some Civ's rolling in!"

Kiri quickly got up, but not before squeezing your hand in comfort, he could have sworn he felt you squeeze back but it could have just been wishful thinking, or he was thinking with his heart.

"They don't look like regular civilians..." Kiri noted as he stood besides Hopper who pulled out his scopes, trying to figure out who the people were.

"That's because they're not! They're clankers! Kriff! Kiri we have to get out of here!"

"We can't!" Kiri instantly turned his head towards your unconscious body in the hut. "She's too weak, we can't move her!"

"Well we have to, otherwise we'll be crushed into pieces and none of us will ever make it out alive!" Hopper retorted, he'd been in a situation like this before with you. But you had been conscious, you had been his saviour, his beacon of hope, but now you were the one who needed the help. That was on of the worst days of his life, but when he saw your face alongside General Plo, he knew it would be alright. You'd taken him into your battalion, practically begged General Plo until he caved and you had been glued to each other since. Hopper wasn't too happy with the way you handled the 265th but you were- no are a good General. He wasn't going to give up on you yet.

"Kiri, you defend! I'll get the General!" Hopper ordered. Kiri panicked, not wanting Hopper to take you, he wanted to be the one, not that he didn't trust Hopper because he did. He just didn't trust himself, would he be able to concentrate when your life was on the line?

No.

He would have to. For his brothers. For you.

Kiri nodded in confirmation as he took out his twin blasters, ready to defend. He started shooting the clankers that came anywhere near the hut, giving Hopper the chance to pick you up and run. Kiri followed suit, but so did the droids, gaining on them as they made their way through the forest, Hopper going as fast as he could, with you slung over his shoulder one hand clutching your back as he shot with the other. Kiri blasting the droids left and right, each one falling down just as quick, but the other behind gaining speed as they soon started to overwhelm the two soldiers.

"Hopper, I can't- I need your help! There are too many of them!" Kiri yelled over the noise of blasters being shot, he narrowly missed a blaster blot being shot into his arm as swooped to te left. Hopper glanced over to Kiri, having taken refuge behind a tree, his back facing Hopper all hope lost from his face, as he breathed heavily. The droids were gaining on them as he took a quick glance. Hopper hid behind a tree, gently placing you on the ground as he placed a small kiss on your forehead whispering a small prayer in mando'a before rushing over to help Kiri.

"What's the plan General?" Hopper asked immediately as he rushed over to Kiri, back to back as they shot the driods that were coming in left and right.

"We need to take out those destroyers!" Kiri stated as he signalled to his right, the two destroyers that were gaining on them. Hopper nodded in confirmation, as he pulled out a grenade, already throwing it in the direction of the destroyers, disabling their shields allowing Kiri to shoot at them, instantly destroying them. But it wasn't enough, they still had droids coming in left and right.

Out of nowhere a force of something threw all the droids back, instantly crushing them to the ground, only leaving the destroyers up, with their shields down, giving the boys a split second to glance back and see you stood there, hands out, a small smile on your face.

"Go..." You whispered, just loud enough for the boys to hear before you gripped onto the tree for support as the troopers quickly looked at each other, eyes filled with fear, not sure whether to go to you or the destroyers. But alas their prayers were answered when several Republic gunships flew in. Generals' Kenobi and Skywalker flying into battle alongside some of thier troopers, giving Kiri and Hopper the chance to rush over to you.

They were too late, Dooku had you in his grip, ready to fly off with you before Kiri blasted his bolts at him, eyes furious as he saw your limp body be dragged away. "Y/N!"

Kiri rushed over to Dooku, blasters held high but never stood a chance against Dooku before he was swept aside like a doll. Dooku regarded this gesture carefully as he watched the young soldier call out your name, leaving his own defenses open. Anakin jumped in at the right time, lightsaber at the ready while he forced pulled your body from Dooku's grip and into his arms. Dooku having already seen your Commander to his left had signalled them to take him instead.

"Kiri! No!" You yelled weakly, tugging on Anakins arms, trying, pleading with him to save Kiri.

"We can't Y/N!" Anakin apologised softly as he watched Dooku fly away, your Commander trapped with the Separatists, all while you stood helpless. You spotted Kiri's helmet, picking it up as you clutched it to your chest, not wanting to let your feelings out in front of Anakin. You caressed the helmet, thumb rubbing over the four arrows marked on it, they represented each of your little squadron, yourself, Hopper, Jester and Luka.

"We'll get you back Kiri. I promise."

***

Coruscant - Council Chambers

"Master Windu, I sugge-"

"No. I'm sorry Y/N, but the council have decided that this mission is far too risky. We can only put our faith in Commander Kiri's hands and hope that he returns to us." Master Windu spoke sternly, eyes fixated on you.

"Bu- I can't let him die! He's my Commander!" You retorted, eyes furrowed in anger.

"We can always get you another one Y/N."

The look of disbelief that crossed your face was more than enough for you to burst out your thoughts. "Then we are no better than the Separatists! Leaving a man behind because he's a clone, because, what, he is replaceable? So are the Jedi, but that doesn't mean you wouldn't at least try and go after them! That is not what the Jedi stand for and not what I signed up for!"

"Y/N! Control yourself." Master Kenobi spoke, eyes sending a warning look at you, instantly telling you to mind your tongue. Obi-Wan's disapproval only angered you further, you wouldn't leave Kiri by himself, not when he sacrificed himself to save you. Why they had taken him was beyond you, but you promised you would get him back.

And you would. Whatever it took. Whether you had the blessing from the council or not.

You bowed in respect. "My apologies Master. I spoke out of turn.. I am just worried about my Commander. He is one of the finest, most loyal person I have ever worked with, and I do consider Kiri a dear friend."

Master Windu nodded in acknowledgement, your apology accepted. "I understand young one, but this matter is out of your hands, as well as the councils."

You nodded in confirmation, ready to leave the council room before Master Yoda called for you. "Yes Master Yoda?"

"Speak to you I wish, in private." Master Yoda asked as he signalled for the other members to leave the room, Obi-Wan placing a hand on your shoulder in comfort before he followed the others out the room.

"What is it Master Yoda?"

"Y/N, sensed a great disturbance in the force I do. Careful you must be when rescuing your Commander."

Your mouth fell open out of shock. "Master Yoda! I-i er, it has been forbidden by the Council, I cannot go!"

"Matter it does not. Ever Clone matters to us, do they not?" You nodded. "Then you will go. Skywalker will go with you, careful you must be Y/N. Dooku looks for you."

"Yes Master Yoda." You knew not to question Master Yoda, especially when he had just given you permission to get Kiri back.

***

"Tell me... Commander... why is she so special? Why do you resist telling me about her?"

The low tones of Asajj Ventress' voice echoed through the tunnels of Dooku's fortress. Her longer fingernails traced the Commanders face, running from the tip of his eyebrow, down his cheek to his lip, before she squeezed his chin in her hands, forcing him to look at her.

Kiri was pinned against the wall on a durasteel contraption, hand held above his head and his leg split apart as they were held down by the same material. His helmet was long gone, probably still stuck on that godforsaken planet, he'd have to get a new one when he got back. If he ever got back. All Kiri could think about was if you were safe, if you made it out alive. He prayed that you did, that whatever he tried to do kept you safe, kept you alive. Your life was worth a million of his, and he was glad that it was him here, instead of you.

"I'll never give you what you want!" Kiri rumbled out, taking deep breaths as she squeezed his windpipe with her bare hands, not using the force.

Ventress growled in anger as he slapped his face, Kiri's head slapping the hard metal as he grunted in slight pain.

"Fine. I guess we'll have to do things the old fashioned way." Ventress taunted as she pulled out a flaring hot viroblade, waving it in the air as she approached Kiri. The blade taunting his skin, as she pressed it slowly, into his upper lip, carving it into his skin. Kiri screamed out, the pain that he was experiencing was excruciating, but it was nothing compared to how he felt when he almost lost you.

Kiri prayed to the maker above, for someone to help him, to hear his pleas, but it was useless. Ventress pulled the viroblade from his face, cleaning the blood off it before hovering over his face again. "It would be a shame to mess this pretty little face up, wouldn't it?"

"Then again, there are several of you clones. Who cares if there's one that's a little bit damaged, or even one less?"

"I do."

Kiri's eyes widened in shock as he saw you approch, your robes swaying behind you as Anakin and Ahsoka followed behind, your twin lightsabers out, a fierce grown painted on your face. Kiri could have sworn he was in heaven, an angel had come to save him, one that had taken the form of you, he would die happily, his last thoughts and visions of you. His eyes started to droop slowly to sleep, as the last thing he remembered was the soft tones of your voice calling his name out.

***

Medical Bay

"Look who's finally awake!"

Luka grinned happily as he hugged his brother, trying his best not to further injure him. Jester copied Luka, giving Kiri a large hug, causing him to slightly wince in pain. Hopper stood on his left as he placed a hand on his shoulder, sending a small smile his way, happy to see his brother alive and well.

"Good to see you back with us Commander."

"Glad to see you too boys." Kiri laughed, although his tone was a little off as Hopper noticed Kiri looking around anxiously.

"She's at a debriefing. Broke a lot of Jedi rules to come get you."

"I-i didn't sa-"

"You didn't have to vod. We already know." Luka smiled, patting Kiri on the arm.

"Already know what?" Your angelic tone echoed through Kiri's room as you entered, a large grin plastered across your face as you saw Kiri wide awake. Kiri's eyes widened in surprise as he wondered if you had overheard their conversation.

The boys quickly looked at each other, before Hopper spoke up, covering up what Kiri had practically confessed to them. "That Ventress got away again."

You rolled your eyes at his statement, taking a seat at the end of Kiri's bed. "She's a coward. She'll always run."

Your boys nodded in agreement, happy to accept whatever it was that you said, moving away from Kiri's confession. "Anyways, I brought some sweets! I bought them from a vendor in Central Coruscant, the twi'lek said they were the sweetest, so I hope they are."

You handed out a packet to each of the boys who looked at them in glee, Jester already stuffing his face with them while Hopper looked sceptical at the sight of them.

"Oh, Hops, they're not gonna harm you! It's just a sweet! Look I'll eat one!" You popped one in your mouth, chewing on the sweet delicacy as you hummed in pleasure. "Here look, Kiri have one!" You took one out, hand coming up to place one in Kiri's mouth when your eyes stopped on the scar that had formed across his upper lip.

It was a deep nasty cut that left a horrible scar, one that you were partially responsible for. "Sorry..." You mumbled, eyes downcast. Hopper could feel the tension a mile away, luckily though before he could intervene, Captain Rex knocked on the door asking for your troopers to report to General Kenobi for their next assignment. The boys said thier goodbyes before leaving you and Kiri alone in the room.

"I am so sorry Kiri! I wish you didn't have to go through all of that, I wish I- we could have done something sooner." Your guilty eyes falling on the scar, and the brusies that scorned his beautiful face.

"Hey, at least we both made it out alive. You saved me, remember? You came back for me."

"I know. But I could have been too late. What would Ventress have done to you if we hadn't arrived on time? If I hadn't gone against the councils wishes? I-i don't know what I would have done." You sighed, feeling the emotions you bottled creep up on you slowly.

"I wish I could take all the pain away for you." You lift a hand, tracing a finger over the scar as Kiri winces slightly, eyes closing in content at your soft fingers tracing his skin.

"You already have."

You look up to Kiri in confusion, eyes caught with his as you leaned in, Kiri simultaneously leaning in too. Your hand moving to trace his cheek as he brought his hand to cup your face his his large hands, bringing your closer as your lips finally met. Eyes closing in content as you felt Kiri's soft lips pressed against yours, the scar brusing your top lip as he pulled away, forehead pressed against you as he smiled happily.

"I would do it all again if it meant keeping you safe."

***

Taglist: @tobitofunction @pinkiemme @shadowfoxey @yamaktaria @callme-eds @starwarsworld

[ibelieveinturtles]

Chapter 4 - Hogwarts

Title: The Quantum Cat, Chapter 4 - Hogwarts

Collaborator(s): ibelieveinturtles

Square (letter, number, and prompt): SWB: N1 - Hogwarts MFB: O1 - Favourite book character AU Samtember: 26. Mistaken Identity

Pairing/Main Ship: N/A

Rating: T for swearing

Major tags: Sam Wilson, Goose the Cat, The Multiverse, The Quantum Tunnel, Not Endgame compliant, Everybody Lives (Eventually), Sam to the rescue

Warnings/Triggers: a little swearing here and there

Summary: Rescue #1 - Sam's excited and Fury's relieved

Word Count: Ch 4, 1017

A/N: This is *mostly* unbeta'd but I hope to have it properly edited before I post it on AO3. I'll be posting all 7 chapters on Tumblr for as long as September 1st lasts around the world and on AO3 later. The reason it's going up on Sept 1st is because it is the only day that the Sam Wilson Bingo overlaps with Samtember :-)

Chapter 4

Sam climbed onto the platform, activating the Tech Suit once he was in place.

“I’m setting the timer for one hour,” Boothby told him, "and you'll return here five minutes fron now."

“Are you sure that’s gonna be enough time?”

“Friday has refined the coordinates to land you as close as possible. You should land within a 200 meter radius of Director Fury. The GPS will beep once five minutes before your time is up, and then again one minute before. If you need to come back sooner, enter the current time and date, reset all the other coordinates to zero, and then activate the suit. ”

“That’s a lot of zero’s,” Sam commented.

“It’s your point of origin in both time and space. Are you ready?”

“Not really but I guess that doesn’t matter, right?”

“No, it doesn’t. On my mark - three, two, one, mark.”

The ground dissolved beneath Sam’s feet and he fell. His stomach bounced around his body, making several attempts at escape as he flew through the quantum realm, down distorted tunnels, past warped lights until he landed on grass. His stomach made one final abortive attempt at escape before reluctantly returning to its accustomed spot. He collapsed to his knees, breathing heavily.

“Holy shit,” he muttered, eyes clamped shut against the lingering vertigo. “And they want me to do that again?”

He took several slow, deep breaths before opening his eyes and looking around. He was standing beside a road, with a big stone wall on one side of him, and a scattering of trees leading towards mountains on the other. Standing up, he noticed that the Tech Suit had retreated into the control band and he was in his regular clothes.

“All right,” he said, looking up and down the road. “Which way to go?”

The choice was made easy when he realised he could see the edge of a large gate along the curve of the wall.

Belatedly remembering the comm in his ear, he tapped it.

“This is Wilson, anybody hear me?”

The silence didn’t reply.

“Well, that’s not comforting,” he muttered. “Right, well I’m gonna keep talking just in case you can hear me even if I can’t hear you. Landed safely. I’m- well, I’m somewhere. Starting the search for Fury now.”

He started walking, describing what his surroundings looked like as he went.

“So there’s this bigass wall made out of stone, I got a forest here, and some mountains. It all looks pretty normal so far. I’m nearly at the gate now, no one else around that I’ve seen yet. Man, I hope this gate is open cos if it ain’t open I don’t know how I’m gonna- holy goddamn hell!”

Sam stopped in the middle of the gate and stared at the enormous castle sitting in the middle of the space enclosed by the wall. He couldn’t see exactly what was on the other side but he didn’t need to. The castle, the dark looming forest, the stadium - no, call it what it was, the Quidditch Pitch - all these things gave it away.

“I’m at Hogwarts,” Sam breathed. “Goddamn it, I’m at Hogwarts!”

Trying to look at everything at once, Sam kept walking. The closer he got to the castle, the harder it was to contain his excitement and curiosity. He was almost at the front steps when a bell chimed and seconds later students streamed out of the door, one of them almost knocking him over.

“Sorry, Professor Falcon! Welcome back, sir!”

Professor Falcon?

“Yeah, thanks,” he called out belatedly and hurried up the steps and through the great door.

Everything was exactly as he expected it. The doors leading to the great hall, the grand staircase - even the four enchanted hourglasses that recorded points awarded for the house cup, gems trickling into the Ravenclaw glass even as he watched.

The hall was full of students moving in all directions. Most of them didn’t give Sam a second look, although several more greeted him as they moved past.

As much as he wanted to explore and possibly learn more about what must be the Hogwarts version of himself, he was on the clock and needed to find Fury fast.

If Sam had a Hogwarts self, maybe Fury did too? But how to find out if there was a Professor Fury around?

As he looked around, considering his options, a small student ran up to him, panting for breath when they stopped.

“Yes?” he asked cautiously.

“Excuse me, Professor, but you’re wanted in Classroom Eleven.”

“Classroom Eleven?” Sam repeated. Where the hell was Classroom Eleven?

“Yessir, Professor sir. It’s just down the corridor, sir.”

The student very helpfully pointed Sam in the right direction before running off again. Sam set off towards the corridor, walking with a deliberate stride, as if he was meant to be there and knew exactly where he was going.

Slipping through the door, he snuck a look at the timer on the GPS. He didn’t have much time left.

“Ah, Professor Falcon, welcome back!”

Dammit.

Turning, Sam almost gaped. He was sure that there was only one person this could be. She looked and sounded exactly like her movie counterpart.

“Professor McGonagall,” he said. “I’m just on my way-”

“Yes, yes. I’m quite aware of what’s going on here,” Professor McGonagall said primly, and then she lowered her voice. “Or should I say, Mr. Wilson?”

“Wilson?” Sam parroted, feigning ignorance.

“Yes. Professor Falcon isn’t due until tomorrow. Besides, Mr. Fury has been quite vocal about his situation and I must confess, I’ll be glad to have him gone. Come along now.”

Sam hurried to catch up. “Wait, you know all about this?”

“Oh yes. As soon as I saw that Flerken skulking along my hallways I knew something fishy was going on. It didn’t take much to discover what it deposited before going on its way. Ah, here we are.”

She paused outside a door and knocked before opening it without waiting for any answer.

“Here we are then, Mr. Fury. I believe this is the gentleman you’ve been waiting for?”

[swordandquill]

Title: Winter Break

Fandom: Leverage

Summary: The team find themselves snowed in in a little town in the middle of nowhere.

Ch 2: Fussing - Nate has to choose between supervising a shopping spree or supervising a grumpy hitter. He definitely chooses the lesser evil.

Author’s Note: I still don’t know where this story is going or when the next update will be. 

Many, many thanks to @whumpybliss for beta reading this chapter!

You can go here to read this on AO3 instead.

"I know what you're trying to do."

Eliot's glare was less impressive than usual, but Nate still would have bet his money on him. Not that he wouldn't always bet on Eliot, and with things much more valuable to him than money.

"Trying to get you to eat saltines, so you don't throw up when you take the prescription strength anti-inflammatories I know you have in your bag?" Nate waved the open sleeve of crackers in front of the hitter.

"Stop fussing," Eliot snapped and snatched the sleeve out of Nate's hand.

Now that Parker had pointed it out, Nate could clearly see Eliot was favoring his left arm. Or, possibly because Parker had pointed it out, Eliot was putting less effort into hiding it.

"They shouldn't be in there alone," Eliot pulled a few crackers out of the sleeve and shoved it back at Nate.

"They're not alone," Nate swapped the sleeve for a water bottle from the grocery bag at his feet, "they have each other. We might be living off of orange soda and Trix for the next two weeks, but I think they'll get each other out of the store in one piece."

Eliot gave him a dubious look but refrained from talking with his mouth full.

"Anyway, I'm listening," Nate tapped the comm he had slipped into his ear.

"Where's my…?" Eliot frowned and tried to reach behind the seat for his bag, wincing hard at the twisting motion.

"Stop it," Nate thumped his side lightly with the back of his hand, "I've got them. Parker hasn't managed to convince Sophie that Froot Loops are both a vegetable and a fruit. Sophie is giving her tips on being persuasive, and Hardison doesn't know the difference between a zucchini and a cucumber, but one of them has made it into the basket."

"How have they made it this far without dying of malnutrition?" Eliot let his head flop back against the headrest.

"Cereal is fortified," Nate said dryly and poked Eliot with the water bottle, "which bag are your meds in?"

"It can wait until we get to the cabin," Eliot grabbed the offending bottle away without opening his eyes.

Nate didn't have to wrangle an injured Eliot often. Most of the time, he was more than capable of managing his own injuries. When he wasn't, Nate usually let Parker take the lead in poking and prodding while he helped Hardison track down whatever medical help their hitter needed.

Parker needed to burn off some energy, though, and Nate would rather supervise a cranky Eliot than his team on a shopping spree. He had trailed Eliot through the first aid aisle, listened to him mutter over spices and knives on the baking aisle, and then dragged him back to the van with saltines and water bottles in hand.

"Just take the anti-inflammatory," Nate argued, "it won't make you drowsy, and the longer you wait, the less well they'll work."

"Stop. Fussing." Eliot growled, somehow managing to drink his water angrily. Nate was always impressed by how Eliot could make the most mundane tasks look threatening. Luckily for him and the rest of the team, Nate was not easily intimidated.

"Just for the sake of argument..." Nate started.

"No," Eliot said flatly.

"We're stuck in the car until Hardison picks a shampoo. Humor me," Nate ignored Hardison's protests over the comm about his sensitive scalp.

"They need to hurry," Eliot groused, 'the snow is getting worse."

"Right," Nate agreed and held the sleeve of saltines out to Eliot again. He was disproportionately pleased when the hitter grabbed a few more without protest, "so let's just say there really is some shadowy figure waiting behind the curtain to get us…"

Eliot raised an eyebrow at that, probably cross-checking his mental list of people who matched that description, but Nate ignored him.

"And they orchestrated stranding the five us in this specific tiny town, in the middle of nowhere, by waiting until we were both split up on five different planes, and there was a massive storm front to force our flights here…"

"Look, I know…" Eliot rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"Which is possible," Nate continued to ignore him, "highly unlikely, but possible. After all, shady figures are usually good at seizing opportunity when they see it. So let's say all of that is true. What's their next move? Where do they expect us to be?"

Eliot frowned before reluctantly admitting, "They expect us to be stranded, at the airport or one of the hotels."

"Right," Nate nodded, "and even if they somehow anticipated us renting a summer house, it would be almost impossible to control which summer house we rented. Hardison must have skimmed through a half dozen search pages worth before we went after this one."

Eliot's frown deepened as he worked the problem and thought how he would have managed something like this from the other side. Nate let him be for a minute because he was still eating crackers while he thought, seemingly without noticing.

"There are ways they could stack the deck in their favor," he finally said slowly. "Knowing what we would want in a place to lay low, making it available even though it looked unavailable, monitoring Hardison for the search criteria he was using, then populating it with multiple properties that they have control of."

"Possible," Nate conceded, "ridiculously elaborate and unnecessarily complicated, but possible."

"So, one of your plans, basically," Eliot snorted.

"I don't have the patience to wait on mother nature," Nate let the jab slide, "my point is, the best thing we can do in this situation is not be where we're most likely to be. The rest, we'll just have to deal with as it comes."

"I know that. It's just…" Eliot just looked worn out now, tired of having to run through every scenario and possibility for every given moment.

Nate had figured out fairly early on that Eliot's paranoia was rooted in both a lot of experience and a lot of trauma. It meant they would be idiots to ignore him when he said something was wrong (and Nate had, unfortunately, been that idiot on more than one occasion, although he tried not to be these days), but they also needed to be a second check on those things for him sometimes, because he could always work his way around to those perceived threats being possible, even if they weren't probable.

It had gotten a lot better over the years, and the team had gotten better at finding ways to help him deal with it when it did come up. There was never a perfect solution, but they were more than happy to settle for an imperfect one if it made things at least a little better.

"And we'll deal with everything a lot better if you just take your diclofenac," Nate cut him off again, "so what bag is it in?"

"Duffel," Eliot conceded defeat finally, "they really do need to hurry."

"I know," Nate turned around and started sifting through the bags they had tossed into the third row of seats, "they're almost done."

Parker had been sitting in the back row, and she had rearranged the luggage that hadn't fit in the trunk to make a nest of sorts for herself around the middle seat. Nate had to practically crawl over the back of the middle row to reach Eliot's duffel bag, and he only felt a little bad for messing up her carefully crafted arrangement.

Eliot carried prescription meds with him and had for as long as Nate had known him. He had worried at first about the bottle of oxi that was always packed in the hitter's personal medkit. In hindsight, he could see the hypocrisy of constantly watching Eliot for signs of opioid addiction while simultaneously getting blackout drunk on a regular basis.

It had only taken a couple months for that concern to shift from Eliot taking too many painkillers to getting Eliot to take them at all. Two years in, and Nate had been worrying about why Eliot felt like jobs would leave him in enough pain on a regular enough basis that he would need to always have that level of painkiller with him. These days, Eliot and meds were mostly a bargaining act, a give and take informed by context and where Eliot's head was at at the given moment.

Oxi made him disoriented and dizzy; he wouldn't take it if he didn't feel safe. Diclofenac made him nauseous if he didn't take it with food (sometimes even when he did). Of the two problems, that was the easier one to solve.

Nate finally managed to find Eliot's duffel bag and pulled the medkit out, tossing the bag back in the pile of luggage for Parker to rearrange and poke through to her heart's content once they got back to the van.

"You want one or two?" Nate opened the kit and sorted through the neatly labeled bottles.

"Just one," Eliot was slumped back against the headrest again, eyes closed.

"You're out of Zofran," Nate shook the empty bottle.

"I gave the last of it to Sophie when we hit that patch of turbulence on the way in for the job," Eliot said dismissively, "it's fine. I'll refill it later."

Nate handed the pill and another water bottle over to Eliot, then texted Parker and asked her to get a bottle of Zofran from the pharmacy. A little thievery would do her good after 8 hours on a plane.

Eliot took the pill, and the van went comfortably quiet aside from the rest of the team's chatter in Nate's ear. It was surprisingly relaxing to listen in on them doing something as mundane as arguing over pasta sauce and gummy frog brands. They were on the comms a lot, but during jobs, there was a certain amount of tension, the constant need to be assessing and reassessing everything that happened.

Nate didn't care what kind of pasta sauce they got, and he didn't like gummy frogs, but it was nice just to sit back and listen to them be together.

There was suddenly weight against his shoulder, and Nate held still as Eliot gradually slumped more heavily against him, eyes closed and breath even. Nate waited until he was sure he was settled before shifting to get an arm around him and stop him from sliding down too far. Eliot fidgeted in his sleep for a moment, then relaxed with a soft sigh.

It wasn't that unusual for Eliot to sleep around them, but after how keyed up he had been at the airport, having him resting solid and relaxed against his side felt like winning.

[imalifegen89]

A Legacy Left Behind - Chapter - 7 - When the Past Unfurls - Part I

Rating: Mature

Category: M/M

Fandoms: Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1, Hawaii Five-0 (2010)

Relationship: Steve McGarrett/John Sheppard

Characters: Steve McGarrett, John Sheppard, Danny "Danno" Williams, Evan Lorne, Bates (Stargate), Laura Cadman, Alicia Vega, Kono Kalakaua, Adam Noshimuri, PO Higgins (OC), Samantha "Sam" Carter, Jack O'Neill, John McGarrett, Dr. Lam, Catherine Rollins, Wo Fat, Original Goa'uld Character(s), Original Characters

Additional Tags: Action/Adventure, Action & Romance, Military, Hurt/Comfort, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Violence, Character Bashing, Not Catherine Rollins Friendly, No DADT, Swearing

Summary :

"Sure John, I'll call," He promised as the SUV came to a stop in front of them. He and Danny both got in and seated themselves. He then gave a short wave to John who was still standing there by the exit watching them leave. Steve hoped what John had told him would be true, that his dad would be able to make it through. He was not ready to lose his only remaining parent. ‘God please, not again! Not so soon ...' His mind was repeating the mantra as Steve let out a weary sigh and closed his eyes."

Steve will find out about what happened to his father, who was involved in it, why it happened and so much more than he ever bargained for...

Hello All, Here's the next part of the series, and it's a two-parter. There are some plot twists on the way and hope you all will enjoy it.

Aethir - Thank you so much for your hard work and for finding some time to help me with editing, commenting, and giving out very helpful tips and suggestions. Idea bouncing and snark is always so much fun with you!!!

Part 1 - Honolulu General

Honolulu General Hospital

Hawaii

The six-hour-long flight in the old and noisy Globemaster had left both SEALs travel-weary and sleep-deprived. Neither had talked much during the flight, trying to catch a few hours of shut-eye, but among the jarring engine noise, the comms chatter, the endless shuddering, and the training maneuvers, that had been impossible. At the end of the flight, they had thanked the crew and disembarked with relief, each carrying their single duffel.

They were both on leave and therefore in civilian clothes, and instead of the usual armory they carried around, they only had their handguns and with extra clips in their bags. Although they were only making a visit to the hospital, neither of them was willing to go completely unarmed.

A short taxi ride brought them to the hospital from Hickam closer to the midday visiting hours. They figured if needed, they could wait in the hospital until they could see John McGarrett.

……….

"Hello, My name’s Steve McGarrett, I got a call last night about my father. Somebody named Curtis called me," said Steve, presenting his credentials to the male nurse manning the reception area of the Outdoor-Patient-Department. The nurse - L. Rider, according to his name tag - gave Steve and his ID a once over and started accessing his system.

"Yes, Mr. McGarrett, your father's been moved from the ICU. He’s in room 308. You can take that elevator to the left," he informed.

“Thanks.”

Steve and Danny both took off towards the given directions.

The room Steve's father was in wasn't hard to find. It was located on the third floor and the room had the number and the name 'John McGarrett' on a plaque clearly displayed. It also had 'Dr. Leonard T. Lester - Cardiologist' listed as his primary care physician.

"I'm going to go look around and find some coffee. Do you need anything?" Danny asked. He was going to give his friend some time with his dad before going in.

"Yeah sure, I could use some coffee.”

……….

During the six long hours he’d had to think about what happened, Steve’s mind had been busy contemplating some horrible scenarios. He hadn’t realized that he had been subconsciously bracing himself for the worst. Nobody in his family had any history of heart attacks and he didn't know what to expect, what to do or how to prepare. Being the trained planner that he was, Steve found the lack of knowledge rather unsettling.

What the nurse at the reception told him, gave him hope though. He theorized that since his dad's already been moved from the ICU to a regular room, his condition shouldn't be that bad.

Steve took a moment to compose himself, watching Danny as he walked away. Then he took a deep breath and knocked on the door before entering room 308.

……….

He stood still by the door to take the scene in.

His dad was lying on the bed and a white and blue hospital gown was peeking out from underneath the white blanket. There was a monitor attached to his chest and Steve could see the leads disappear through the opening of his gown. The apparatus was quiet and its screen indicated a steady rhythm while John McGarrett slept. Steve noticed there was an IV connected to his dad's left hand as well. He scrunched up his nose when the strong odor of antiseptics hit him in the face, contrasting starkly with the smell of gun oil and Old Spice aftershave he usually associated with his dad.

McGarrett senior was sleeping peacefully and didn't seem to be in any pain. Steve was content to let his dad be, preferring to let him wake up on his own. As he stepped further into the room, he saw a chair by the bed and lowered himself to it slowly, mindful not to make a sound. Then he placed his duffel bag on the floor and settled in to wait.

Maybe it was his instincts of being an active duty police officer - John McGarrett surfaced from his slumber knowing that there was somebody in the room with him, within a few minutes of Steve’s entrance. The slight change in the rhythm of the heart monitor alerted Steve to the fact. Not wanting to startle him, Steve leaned forward and addressed his father softly.

"Hey dad," he reached to touch his hand, the one without the IV needle.

"Steve!" His dad's eyes went wide, realizing his son was sitting by the bed. "What are you doing here?" John knew Steve was deployed and he was the last person he expected to see in the hospital this early. He hadn’t even been in here for 24 hours.

"The hospital called me and told me you had a heart attack," Steve explained. He was relieved to see that his dad was speaking clearly and wasn't showing any signs of disorientation or pain. In fact, he looked quite normal. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm alright," John smiled at the raised eyebrow he received from his son at that. So he elaborated. "Just a little tightness in my chest area. But the doctor says it's normal after an attack. Other than that, I really am feeling fine. To be honest, I didn't even know what it was. I only knew I had a heart attack when Dr. Lester told me this morning," He was more curious as to how his son got here so quickly. "Where were you when they called you?"

"Colorado Springs." Steve smiled. He couldn't really get into details about his deployment or his whereabouts other than that, but he was glad that he was in the States to make this trip.

"Hah, and you’re here already. That was quick,"

"Yeah, I got lucky and caught a transport.”

Steve was more than happy to just sit there and exchange pleasantries all day long. But he needed to know what happened first. He got up to go and fetch a glass of water for his father from the bedside table. "Dad, what happened?"

His dad took it and drank some water before handing it back to Steve. Then he turned on his bed to fully settle on his back. Steve put the glass away and leaned towards his dad, giving him his full, undivided attention.

"It was the weirdest thing, kid," said the senior McGarrett, frowning as he cast his mind back to the chain of events that led to his sudden health failure. “I was in that small grocery shop by the filling station near home. I had just finished filling up the tank on the truck and was getting some stuff for the weekend. I remember walking towards the counter to pay and that’s it - for the life of me, I can't remember having any pain or calling for help or anything. I was standing there one moment and was waking up on this bed the next.” He paused to take a deep breath and then exhale slowly. “Then there’s this fellow - Dr. Lester - is telling me how lucky I was to come back from a severe myocardial infarction with no visible damage to my heart,” he made a face, remembering his earlier conversation with the overly cheerful doctor who described the incident in vivid medical detail.

“How’d you get here?”

“He said that the shop owner called for emergency services and sent me here. Apparently, I coded on the way, but they managed to get my heart started again without much fuss. And now, here I am.” John finished recounting the incident.

Steve rubbed a hand across his face, trying to take it all in.

“I wouldn’t obviously know what to expect, it’s not like I’ve had a heart attack before - but I'd have thought that at least you get some kind of a warning sign, you know? Like breathing difficulties, chest pain or something,” McGarrett senior continued after a moment. “Not this going about your normal day-to-day business, and then a complete blackout, followed by waking up in a damn hospital bed - it just doesn't feel normal,” his frown deepened.

Steve didn’t say anything for a long while. He just took his time to sit there and watch his dad who seemed to be doing pretty much okay after going through such an experience. He was immensely relieved and was happy to take his time to enjoy the feeling, letting go of the worry and stress that had built up since the moment he’d received the call.

A knock on the door interrupted the comfortable silence in the room and Danny Williams entered carrying two styrofoam cups of coffee.

“Ah there you are, Cap, how are you feeling?” He asked, handing over a coffee to Steve and coming closer to stand near the bed railing.

“I’m feeling alright, considering,” John smiled crookedly. “Where’s my coffee, Williams?”

“Hey, I don't think coffee is on the approved list for you,” Danny grinned. He was glad to see the man looked healthy enough for someone who had just had a serious health scare, fit to be up and making demands. “Besides, this hospital swill is so bad it might just give you a different problem or three,” he sipped his coffee and grimaced theatrically to prove the point. “So when are they letting you out?”

“Don't know yet, my doctor is supposed to drop by any time now. I don't think I need to stay here any longer at all.” John stated confidently. He was not accustomed to sitting around on a bed all day, especially when he wasn’t feeling different from any other day.

“Let’s let the doctor decide that, yeah dad? As you said, this is the first time something like this has happened to you and they just might need to keep you under observation for a bit - just saying,” Steve cautioned.

He knew his dad and he could see the stubborn man was already planning on going home, to start acting as if nothing happened. He might even insist on going to work unless the doctor gave him strict orders to rest and take it easy for a while.

“Which reminds me, do they know at the station that you are here?” Steve asked his dad before he could start protesting about staying put in the hospital. “I tried calling Kelly before I left, but it went to voicemail,”

“No, I’m on leave - only due back the day after tomorrow,” his dad replied somewhat petulantly.

The room door opened again, this time granting entry to a short, balding Hawaiian native. The name tag embroidered over the chest area of his white coat identified him as Dr. L.T. Lester. He smiled cheerfully at all of them and went to the nearest monitor connected to McGarrett senior.

“So how are you feeling today, John?” the doctor inquired while studying the monitor.

“I’m fine doc, when do I get to go home?” John got straight to the point.

The doctor continued taking readings and making notes with an amused smile on his face. Then he went to unclip the chart hanging on the bed railing and made a few notes on it. After that, instead of answering his reluctant patient, the doctor turned to Steve and Danny to introduce himself. At the end of exchanging pleasantries, he finally turned to address John.

“Well, Mr. McGarrett, I can see you’re doing quite well and your readings are good. But, as I explained to you earlier, what you went through is quite serious and you might have damage to your heart muscle.”

Then sensing the alarm from the visitors of his patient, the doctor hurried to explain. “It’s what happens during a heart attack. The blood flow into the heart gets interrupted and it goes into a sort of overdrive trying to restore the flow. This overactivity can cause damage. Your dad was quite lucky that people near him reacted quickly and sent him to the hospital on time.” The doctor smiled again.

“So, what’s next, doc?” Steve asked.

“We do need to assess the possibility of damage and the cause of the infraction. The most common reason is usually coronary artery disease, which means cholesterol clogging the arteries. There are some instances this could happen if you were experiencing a seizure with severe spasms and contractions. We’ll need to run some tests to determine the cause and then plan steps for the recovery,”

“And how long will all this take?” The McGarrett senior looked crestfallen, resigned to the fact that he wasn’t going to get out soon.

“I actually have you scheduled for some of the tests now. Some blood work, an EKG, and a scan. An attendant should be here shortly to take you for those,” Then the doctor turned to Steve and Danny. “The tests will take about an hour or so. If you need to step out and have a meal or something, now would be the time.”

An elderly female attendant entered the room quietly, pushing a wheelchair as the doctor finished, and started unhooking Steve's dad from his various monitors. Steve took the doctor's advice and took his leave with Danny, after letting his dad know that they’ll be back once the tests were done.

……….

“Well, I’ve gotta admit man, your dad’s right. That does sound weird.” Danny said after listening to Steve about what happened.

“Why?” Steve frowned.

“My uncle Mario had a heart attack a couple of years ago. The man was moving some heavy boxes around. He’d been sweating buckets and breathing through his mouth for about an hour when my aunt found him and made him take a break. Then he felt pain in his chest and aunt Rea took him to a doctor. The doctor took one look at him and sent him to an ER. He’s been suffering from a heart attack for hours by then,” Danny paused and tried to remember the exact details his mother told him about what happened to his uncle. “He is fine now. He had to have a bypass and has to stay away from all the greasy food and the alcohol, but he made it,” he said inspecting the sandwich he took from the vending machine. They were both seated in the hospital cafeteria with bottles of water and sandwiches.

It was crowded and almost all the tables were full with families huddling together having lunch - most probably waiting for news about their loved ones. It wasn’t that noisy, despite being crowded to capacity - and nowhere near cozy or inviting - as one would expect from a busy dining area. It felt as though the sense of expectation, the sense of happiness, and the overpowering sense of grief had all tangled up together to create a very subdued atmosphere. Even the smell of food mixed with the underlying odors of disinfectant contributed to the gloom that pervaded over the souls lost in their own private worlds.

“Wow, I’ve forgotten how crappy the hospital food is. This doesn't look like a roast beef sandwich man,” Danny sniffed at it. “Sure doesn’t smell like it either.” Then he shrugged and started eating. It didn’t taste much better either, but he was hungry after the long flight.

Steve didn’t say anything as he nibbled on his food. He wasn’t really hungry but knew he had to have something to keep his energy up. He was thinking about his dad’s recounting of the incident. He hadn’t said anything to his dad earlier, but the more he thought about it, the less it made sense. What Danny was telling him also made it clear how unusual the whole thing was. He made up his mind to pop into the shop his dad was in, later when they left the hospital. Maybe he could talk to the shopkeeper and even have a look at their security footage if they had any. He might even find something that could explain his dad suddenly suffering a heart attack. Maybe there was something that his dad had forgotten to mention.

He needed to get in touch with Sheppard as well, to let him know his dad’s condition. He knew that John would worry until he heard from him. Taking the last bite of his sandwich, he decided now would be the best time to make that call.

“Listen, I need to call Shep and let him know dad’s alright. I’m just gonna be over there by that balcony,” he told Danny as he stood up, fishing his phone out of his jacket pocket. Then he walked to the area he pointed, dialing Sheppard. “Be right back.”

………..

The sweet and subtle smell of her perfume reached Danny first, as he realized the lady who was wearing it was standing right in front of him. He looked up and saw the familiar, smiling face of Lieutenant Catherine Rollins looking down at him.

“Well, hello!” He grinned. “Fancy running into you here, of all places,” he gestured at the seat Steve had just vacated. “Take a seat,”

“Thanks,” Rollins smiled charmingly as she sat. “I’m just here visiting a friend of mine. She just had her second baby - a cute little baby boy,” her face took on the same expression all women wore when talking about babies. “I popped in here to get a drink and then I saw you,” she said. “I thought you guys were in Colorado? Is everything ok?” Her expression turned into one tinged with concern.

“Yeah, everything’s fine. I’m here with Steve, actually. We got a call about his dad, but he’s alright. We just saw him,” Danny explained without going into much detail. He noticed the Lieutenant perking up at the mention of McGarrett junior.

“He’s over there, on a call.” he pointed with his head.

Steve was leaning over the balcony with his elbows resting on the railing and busy talking to Sheppard. He didn’t see the new arrival as he had his back to them.

Danny saw the wattage of Cathrine’s smile go up as her eyes ran over the view the oblivious SEAL presented. He hid the grin and blinked at her innocently when she turned back to face him.

“So, will you guys be here for a few days then?” She inquired, her gaze snapping back to where Steve was, almost unintentionally.

Danny knew she was mostly interested in finding out whether Steve was going to be around for a while.

“Well, that depends.” He hedged. “We have to see his dad’s doctor and see how it goes,”

He didn’t want to give any definite answers or any other details without Steve’s say so. He opened his bottle and drank some water, wishing Steve would soon return. So that he could decide what to tell this infatuated Lieutenant who was back to staring at Steve’s ass with a dreamy look on her face. Then something started to nag at Danny about what she said earlier, but he couldn’t place it. He pushed it away to sort out later as he saw Steve finishing his call.

……….

“Yeah, so that’s what happened. He seems alright and man, that’s a relief. Depending on what his tests and scans show, it’ll be a day or two more. But I’ll message you when I find out,” Steve said to John, who was quite relieved at the fact that Steve’s dad was fine. He insisted that Steve take as much time as needed to make sure his dad got all the support he needed. He also made Steve promise to message him with updates and implored him to take care of himself before finally ending the call.

Steve put his phone back inside his jacket with a smile. He very much appreciated the time he was given to take care of his dad. Moreover, he was deeply touched by the way Sheppard sounded over the phone. He had been really worried and the relief that poured over from his lover through the call was almost a tangible thing. Steve made a mental note to send regular updates as promised. It wasn’t something he would have done for anyone else, but he knew Sheppard would stress otherwise. It felt nice to know that he had somebody who cared that much about him.

He felt the good feeling wilt away when he turned back to see the penetrating gaze of Catherine Rollins directed at him. He was pretty sure he caught her in the act of staring at his ass. She smiled brilliantly at him and waved. Steve was somewhat reluctant to wave back and tried his best to summon a smile for her. He was sure it looked more like a grimace instead.

Steve didn’t have anything against beautiful women. He was definitely not opposed to being the subject of desire of one, either. He had gone out with many pretty women and Catherine Rollins, with her long black hair, soulful brown eyes, and radiant smile was exactly his type. But he was very much invested in another hazel-eyed brunet and he didn’t see himself veering off anytime soon - if ever at all. Even if he wasn’t, Steve knew that he still wouldn’t be interested in this particular woman. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but there was something off about Lieutenant Rollins - something that rubbed him the wrong way - that made him want to be on his guard whenever she was nearby.

“Hi, Steve,” Rollins greeted cheerfully as he walked towards them.

Again, he was instantly put off by the overly friendly greeting. They had only known each other for about 48 hours, hadn’t they? He had to make a conscious effort to return the greeting without letting his true feelings show.

“Hello, Lieutenant,” He asked, more or less politely. “What brings you here?”

Danny cocked his head to the side and narrowed his eyes, picking up on Steve’s discomfort instantly.

Rollins either didn’t notice or didn’t let it bother her because she launched into the story of her friend and her cute little babies with great enthusiasm.

Steve kept the smile plastered on his face as she talked. Then he made a show of checking time and gestured to Danny. “Hey, listen, it’s nice bumping into you here. But Danny and I’ve gotta run. My dad should be done with his tests now,” he said to the woman as Danny got up from the chair to go with him. Steve didn’t want to give her any details about their visit here and hoped Danny hadn’t run his mouth either.

With that somewhat curt parting, he turned and walked out of the cafeteria, with Danny following closely behind.

“So, it isn’t just me, hah? She gives off weird vibes to you too?” Danny asked, turning his walk into a half jog to keep up with Steve’s longer strides. Steve was eager to put as much distance as possible between them and Rollins.

“Yeah, you didn’t tell her why we’re here, did you?” Steve asked while stabbing the buttons on the elevator.

“Nah, not really. Just told her that we’re here for your dad. That’s it.”

“Is she following us?” Steve was staring at the shiny surface of the elevator door.

The reflections on it were slightly distorted. But Danny could discern the shapely figure of Rollins in tight-fitting jeans and green sleeveless top, slowly making her way towards them.

“Forget this,” Steve spat, pressing a few more buttons for various floors on the keypad. Then he swiftly walked away to the nearest staircase and started climbing two steps at a time. He knew his behavior was a bit irrational; she was just a colleague after all, not another enemy combatant gaining on him. Nevertheless, he wanted to get away from her as soon as possible.

When they finally reached Steve’s dad’s room, the man was already there, enjoying his lunch. It didn’t look much better than what they had either. John McGarrett insisted that there was no need for them to hang around since he was just going to take his pills and take a long nap anyway. He could see the boys were tired and wanted them to go home and catch a few hours of sleep for themselves. Steve relented and promised his dad that they’d drop by later around dinner time. He made him promise to call them if he needed anything before that and then finally hugged him fiercely, before taking their leave.