#our laws make it so I can’t technically run for Secretary again and only fill it as an interim officer until a new one comes

[an-undercover-bi]

Anyway, my student org that I co-founded and have been Secretary for since 2021 has been slowly imploding since the month I was out with COVID-19.

[xathia-89]

Long Lost Sibling - Shingen

“Natsuki!” My mother’s screeching was probably the most irritating part of her, along with her insane ability to know when I needed to leave for something.

I had long grown cold to my adoptive parents. They treated everyone else as though they were simply pawns to make their own lives easier, including myself. I loathed their attitude, anyone who didn’t have their vast amounts of wealth was simply not worth the time. And for some ingrained reason, that they claimed to be direct descendants of Nobunaga Oda made my blood boil as well. I was adopted when I was eight, and I definitely had made it clear since I stepped out to college ten years ago that I was my own person. They just insisted on funding me and trying to control what I did, who I associated with, and even had the audacity to attempt to marry me off on one occasion. The marriage plan had fallen swiftly flat on its face since no one had considered that I was a factor in it. I hadn’t been invited to any of those large fancy parties since, which did me a huge favour.

I was a lawyer who took on the cases for less than peanuts. I’d made it my civic duty to protect those who couldn’t defend themselves, and I was definitely making a name for myself as I came down the stairs to face my harpy of a mother. Her face was like thunder, as I made the silent guess my latest case was going to upset her social circle. I was never that great at hiding my smug looks in these situations. I had set up my own company using my parents’ money on purpose. Though I had been oddly fascinated with Sengoku warlords as a teenager, and I’d come across the accomplishments of Shingen Takeda, and one of his vassals, Yukimura Sanada. I’d been so inspired to the point that I’d named the firm after them just to avoid getting my parents’ surname any further publicity.

I wasn’t that surprised to see that my father was standing next to her, ranting on the phone about ‘the ungrateful brat’, while a piece of paper was shoved in my face.

“You sign that, and leave this case!” She barked, as my presence had attracted my father’s attention.

I sighed dramatically, and glanced over the sheet, before getting out my lighter and setting fire to it.

“You can’t buy me with money,” I replied. “Now go away before I call the police again!” I yelled, turning around and heading up the stairs.

I never gave an empty threat. The police loathed attending these scenarios, technically my parents were trespassing and had to be removed, but then their boss would be stuck between pleasing one of the most agitating lawyers who could take down the department with a single piece of paper and the people who funded most of the luxuries they had in the building. Something was said, and they left. The latest case wasn’t about buying someone off, the individuals involved were paid handsomely to keep their mouths shut about it all, but I’d been fighting to find someone who didn’t have the liabilities who would stop them from just taking the money to make an example of what this company was doing.

Seeing the police at the door in an early morning wasn’t that unusual for me, criminals would plead for any lawyer to cover for them and new people started all the time. I was still in my pyjamas, which wasn’t a new sight for any of us involved. I frowned, I knew both these officers, which meant this wasn’t my usual.

“Ms Oda, we’re so sorry,” the woman started. “There was a brutal accident, your father had been drinking and drove straight into an oncoming lorry. Both your parents were killed instantly on impact,” she had the look of expecting even me to crumble into tears at the news.

I felt a relief I’d never known. I didn’t have to keep fighting them both, and listening to their supposed expectations. Though I might have to change my attitude and start taking on some clients who could actually pay my legal bills, which was going to suck, but I needed to live to keep going.

“Thank you, this can’t have been easy for you,” I smiled, and gave them a fair amount from my wallet. “Please take this and make sure everyone at the station gets special coffee and treats from me. It should make things a little easier for yourselves from now on,” I graced them with a goodbye and shut the door.

“I’m sorry, I’m the sole inheritance?” I repeated back to the family solicitor. He was an aged man who had taken no nonsense from either my parents or myself since we’d all started arguing and making life difficult for everyone else.

“Yes Ms Oda, they never changed it despite all their attempts and threats to,” he stoically replied, simply watching me pace about his office.

“Too much of a public backlash to face,” I tried to justify rationally. “Any catches?”

“You are to move back into the mansion,” he sighed, knowing how much I loathed that place. “And you can’t sell it for at least five years.”

“Does it have to stay solely as a place of residence?” I asked after an extended silence.

“No, it doesn’t,” he chuckled. “Here are the details for planning permission.”

“Ms Oda!” my secretary was a woman not a lot younger than myself but refused to call me by my first name as I had insisted on so many times. She was baffled as to why we would be moving into such a grand place. “We cannot afford the lease on such a place-”

“I was left this place by my parents on the strictest point that I couldn’t sell it for five years after they passed. Might as well use it and put more money towards running the business so we can help more people, feel free to move into one of the rooms upstairs. I’ve had all the bedrooms converted into single apartments,” I shrugged, not particularly wanting to do anything except scrub every memory of my childhood from this place.

“I had no idea,” she muttered.

“I couldn’t stand them, anything they stood for and this place, so let’s make this a symbol of hope,” I smiled.

One of the lawyers gave me a wary smile, as he approached my desk in the miniature maze of offices I’d had set up. Open plan offices weren’t always the best, so I’d opted for everything to be glass screens and encouraged individuality for each little space. The library was the only room I hadn’t changed in the manor, it was something out of a university and spread over two floors, only now it was filled entirely with law books and cases, and I was having a mimic of a system installed for all of our case files. It had only been a couple of years since we’d moved in, and most of the lawyers had one of the apartments upstairs, and I’d even made family suites available on the upper floors which hadn’t been converted at the time we’d moved in. I felt like I was making some hope for the area at the very least, as yet another request from Kyoto came in.

“Maybe it’s time to look at expansion,” he suggested.

“Can’t do everything from Tokyo,” I admitted with reluctance. “Kyoto is another good powerhouse to start from, draw me up a list of the cases and get someone to scout out buildings and lawyers for me. I’ll find some time to go and look at it all.”

“If you don’t sleep soon, then you’re going to be finding yourself at burn out,” he warned before leaving to go and do that.

I didn’t even know when it’d become night time, and my stomach grumbled in the complaint of the lack of nourishment as I finally called it a day and went to leave for my apartment. Everything around me had changed so quickly. I’d been sat on a bench in Kyoto after a day of interviewing lawyers and office staff, and three days of office hunting, and then a strange man in a lab coat had caught my attention before I’d been pulled through something and had just rescued a strange man from a burning building. I stank of smoke until we arrived back at the castle, and was able to get a wash and change into clean clothing.

I’d saved Nobunaga Oda from the fire that supposedly killed him in 1582, the strange man in the lab coat turned out to be an astrophysicist chasing wormholes. He had made his way into the castle the first night I was there and introduced himself as Sasuke. He was a ninja, and likely to be working for an enemy as he didn’t want to be found out.

I found Nobunaga himself absolutely repulsive. He found it amusing at first that I would recoil from him and slap his hands away, but then he quickly grew bored as my reactions wouldn’t change. Hideyoshi was quick to scold me, and I was eager to stay out of the way of each of the warlords. I threw myself into cleaning the castle with the maids under the mantle of Chatelaine. Sasuke’s visits were my only glimmer of hope, alongside the escapes I made down into Azuchi. The townspeople were always so pleasant and happy, regardless of the circumstances it felt like as I disappeared to see what the morning had brought in.

A few merchants were new to the market, or clearly hadn’t been in a long while, as I was being stared at all around the place I felt like. A handsome young man was slack-jawed and went to grab me when Sasuke appeared at his side. I waved at Sasuke, who looked like he hadn’t intended on being seen before I resumed my glancing over the melons that had been brought in.

“She looks just like Lord Shingen,” I overheard as I went to return to the castle with my purchases, and turned to see Sasuke and the merchant having a miniature face off. “We can’t just ignore this!” The man venomously hissed. “He’s been searching for her since she disappeared!”

I smiled sadly and passed on the conversation. The new wormhole was due in about six weeks, so I’d survived halfway as I came under the scrutinising gaze of Hideyoshi on my return.

“Lord Nobunaga has requested your presence,” he stated, waiting impatiently for me to tidy away my shopping before I was escorted to the currently ongoing war council.  

I was being glared at from all sides, it wasn’t exactly warming to see the woman who your boss offered everything to, and then see her slap him without another thought. I couldn’t explain my feelings towards the men around me, so I just kept myself tucked away from their daily lives.

“Natsuki,” Oda coldly addressed the room. “I have decided that you will be accompanying us on tomorrow’s battle against the Uesugi and Takeda forces. You are the good luck charm for us all,” he decreed before I was swiftly removed.

I was rightly terrified as the battle erupted around us. I was on the back of Nobunaga’s horse as the man was running irrationally into the middle of the fight. He was loving every second of it as I clung to him out of sheer fear that every second would be my final one.

“Nobunaga!” A voice and tone that had long haunted my dreams drove the battlefield in two. A familiar face was leading the charge with an ugly snarl and determination that I had never seen before. Oda was shrugging casually, a smirk on his face as he clashed swords with the furious male who had imposed himself on our little part of the field.

I was relieved into someone else’s arms, and couldn’t hide my shock to see it was the merchant at Azuchi now fully dressed in armour as he gave me a smile before the whole farce was retreating back to their camp. I was being seen to by a healer, meticulously checked over for any slight problem while the angry man had changed to a very stressed one, and wouldn’t cease his pacing in the background.

“Aside from the strain of being dragged out into the middle of a battle, then she’s fine,” the healer announced, much to the relief of everyone in the immediate vicinity. “Some rest and food will cure her current ailments,” the man smiled before leaving.

Sasuke appeared, much to my surprise, and made me quite dizzy in shock.

“Natsuki, sit down,” the man who had led the charge on Nobunaga instructed, a frown on his face as he made a gesture for some food and drink to be brought over.

“What the hell is going on?” I asked quietly, looking up at the man and then at Sasuke, who had a guilty expression.

“Don’t you remember me?” The man looked hurt, but then Sasuke swept in before much more could be done or said.

“She won’t remember anything from before her disappearance,” the ninja replied. “It’s best we retreat back to Kasugayama before we delve into things too much, it’s easy for anyone to overhear a lot of this,” he calmly explained.

“I’m not going back out there after I’ve finally gotten her back,” the other male shook his head, making his stand clear.

“Lord Kenshin will insist on continuing,” Sasuke warned.

“Then I will take Natsuki back tonight to keep her out of harm’s way,” he staunchly added.

The bickering continued as I was served up a warm bowl of something while wrapped in a blanket by the ‘merchant’. He was busy looking over at what the tall man was doing, rather than looking over me as I just accepted the attention being relieved of me for a little while.

“He won’t fight this battle until you’re home and safe,” the merchant spoke abruptly.

“I don’t even know what I’m doing here right now,” I bitterly added. “I don’t know who anyone is apart from Sasuke,” I replied, jabbing my spoon in the direction of the arguing ninja. Melancholy was welling up from deep inside of me after I put the food down and put my head in my hands. It was easy to pull the blanket over me and have a cry at the overwhelming situation, at least just to clear my head.

“Lord Shingen, I think we all make the retreat tonight, leave Lord Kenshin to fight the last of it and see how it goes. I get the impression that the Oda forces won’t be pursuing us,” the man next to me interrupted the argument without a thought, and I ignored that I had the attention of the decision makers it seemed at that moment in time.

I was riding with Shingen, and he insisted I rode in his arms instead of behind him. His excuse was so that I could fall asleep if I needed to, but I wasn’t buying it.

“She was fighting that for a long time,” Yukimura spoke up after Natsuki had finally dropped off. “I wonder how she ended up with them,” he said, making sure to match the pace of his Lord.

“Sasuke said he would be able to give us a lot of answers back at Echigo, I’m just glad to see her alive and well after nearly twenty years,” Shingen fondly smiled at the sleeping woman. “I imagine I’m not the only one,” he teased, as his vassal flushed bright red in the night.

“We were kids,” he snorted dismissively.

“I recognised that look when you realised it was her as well,” his Lord chuckled. “We’ve got time, we’ll find our answers,” he answered confidently.

It was a few nights before we arrived at Kasugayama. It had a familiar tinge to it, but not one I’d call ‘home’ at exactly. I hadn’t long been disturbed by Shingen, who had put himself into an overprotective brother mode since I had been ‘rescued’ from the opposing forces, and was rubbing at my eyes to try and remove the sleep from them. The townspeople were overjoyed for the return of the soldiers, as many of them broke off to see their families, while we continued on to the castle.

The staff were surprised to see me for sure, especially since the resemblance between Shingen and me had been the hot topic of conversation since the battle. I was eager to hide away until I’d gotten my head around my complete changeover in this era. Kenshin apparently was the Lord of the castle while Shingen and Yukimura were being hosted since their lands had been taken by the Oda forces. The room next to Shingen’s was converted into mine, as the seamstresses descended the second I put my foot inside of it. Then the warlord and his vassal were waiting patiently as the women were taking every measurement of mine I could think of.

I was blushing slightly at how waited on I was, and brushed my hair out of my face as I offered a tight smile to the two men.

“Can I help?” I asked, feeling very uncomfortable.

“Sasuke said that you need a good night’s rest and some decent food down you before we start upsetting everything,” Shingen smiled, “So I was going to suggest that you get some sleep on a futon and we’ll have a feast tonight.”

I nodded. “Certainly, sleeping on you on a horse wasn’t very restful,” I agreed and shut the door to try and quiet my mind.

Everything was very noisy as I was shown to the main hall by one of the maids, and then the room fell silent after the doors had been opened to reveal me. I was blushing, I knew that much before Yukimura came to my rescue and practically pushed me to sit between him and his Lord. Though the ‘normality’ resumed, I knew I was safely the main focal point now. The fight had finished, and I was the only change to this whole scenario.

Since I had slept for most of the day, I was able to outdrink the soldiers now. Which then left the inevitable cluster of me, Sasuke, Yukimura, Kenshin and Shingen as Shingen decided that his room was the best place for the discussion to take place.

Yukimura was avoiding looking at either me or his Lord, which had my curiosity peaked, but not as much as Sasuke apparently knew. I was nervous and started playing with a loose lock of my hair as we were all seated comfortably around the table. Sake supplies had come with us, and something told me that it would be liberally required for myself at the very least.

“This conversation is going to be quite hard to believe,” the ninja opened, taking control straight away as he filled Kenshin’s cup with sake. “I’m originally from five hundred years in the future, and the same wormhole that brought me here, also brought Natsuki from the same place, which is how we know each other,” he said, his tone as neutral as always. “A wormhole is effectively a hole that takes you from one point in time and deposits you somewhere else. Time hasn’t changed for you, but it has for those around you,” he was explaining as much to me as he was to the warlords.

“Then how did Natsuki end up in the future?” Shingen had the deepest frown I’d seen in a long time.

“My theory is that she wasn’t kidnapped like you believed, but she was taken by the wormhole. I was studying wormholes, and I have a theory that they were waiting for Natsuki to come back so they could correct themselves to a degree,” Sasuke replied. “I don’t know how or why she ended up there, but maybe something else decided she needed to be in the future for a while,” he shrugged, as I chugged back my entire cup of sake, and then considered forgoing the cup entirely.

“Well, you’re my little sister,” Shingen chuckled, looking thoughtful about everything. “I wasn’t sure who was more shocked to see you on the back of his horse, me or Yuki,” his smile was all-knowing, as my eyebrows disappeared off my forehead. “You disappeared nearly twenty years ago, our parents were distraught, and no one ever claimed to have you, which makes sense now.”

“I hated my time in Azuchi,” I broke my silence. “There was something deeply ingrained in me about them all, and there was just something none of us could figure out. Oda had declared me his lucky charm since I saved him from the fire before I knew who he was. I appeared in the middle of this burning building, and he was there,” I explained, not looking any of the men in the eye and instead focusing on my sake bottle. “It was always so strained between my adoptive parents as well,” I paused, and then looked at Sasuke. “They claimed to be Oda’s direct descendants,” I said, “I did everything in my power to make them ashamed of me and become the power I had burning inside,” it wasn’t making much sense to anyone else as I smiled. “I even named the business I set up after you,” I added with a sense of embarrassment to my brother. “I wanted nothing to do with the surname that had been forced on me.”

Sasuke gave a wry smile. “Makes sense now,” he tipped his cup back.

“How long were you at Azuchi for?” Shingen asked, a curious look on his face.

“A month and a half,” I shrugged. “Why, how long has Sasuke been here?”

“Four years,” the ninja replied. “Must have been our positioning,” he countered. “And I’d suggest we all go back to our own rooms, it’s a lot of information to soak up,” he gestured specifically to me.

“I’ll take her,” Yuki spoke up brusquely and picked me up by the crook of my elbow. “You weigh nothing, it’s a miracle no one has just walked off with you,” he snorted, walking off before I had a chance to react.

It took a few days to settle down into any kind of routine, and then Sasuke was always finding me to discuss the future and wormholes as he was as intrigued about how we’d ended up so far apart from the same spot. I was slightly surprised about how Yuki would usually end up interrupting us with some excuse about Sasuke being needed by his Lord, or that Shingen had decided he needed something, and would then take me down into Echigo to look around the town.

Echigo was smaller than Azuchi, but everyone was just as friendly. They were all surprised to see me, but then quickly eager to show off their goods since word had soon spread that Shingen’s sister had been found and pieces of the puzzle were forming. I sampled a few of the foods for sale and then admired the books available before I was dragged off to the teahouse.

Yukimura was a little grumpy but had an order of dumplings and tea brought out for us both with a wave to the owner. The dumplings weren’t as sweet as the ones in Azuchi, which was a little disappointing.

“Don’t tell me that sweet tooth is a family trait,” he groaned, as I looked up surprised at the man. “I have to hide the sugar candies and the likes from Lord Shingen, or he’d eat everything in the blink of an eye,” he grumped.

“I love my sweet things, but I like to regulate them,” I replied, trying not to look so embarrassed about how obvious the relation to Shingen really was now it was out in the open.

“Yuki? Shingen didn’t need anything,” the voice of the ninja joined us, a perplexed expression on his face. “He told me to come and find you, and tell you that you’re being obvious? He wouldn’t tell me any more,” Sasuke was sat opposite us, trying to figure out the cryptic message. “If you have time this afternoon Natsuki, I’d love to show you-”

“She doesn’t,” the vassal interrupted, blushing a little as I frowned at him. “Lord Shingen has asked me to take her somewhere this afternoon.”

“Oh, I see now,” I was surprised to see a rare smile on the face of the ninja, and chuckling as he rose. “Lord Kenshin is due back, I best go and make sure there is enough sake to keep him going. Shingen said to tell you that the meadows are the best in the evening.”

The cryptic conversation had me feeling like I was missing a major piece, especially since those around us had all knowing smiles on their faces as well, though they were all quick to look away at the movement of Yuki.

I could only admit it to myself, but it felt like things had just been picked up from where they had left off with Yuki. He hadn’t let go of my hand since the teahouse, and I wasn’t the one who was going to point it out. He felt safe and probably hadn’t changed a lot, I imagined as we eventually made our way to the meadows in time to just relax, and watch the sunset. I’d long had the suspicions that he’d been making excuses to spend time with me, but it always made me happy, and I was feeling selfish in that I didn’t want him to stop it.

I didn’t even know who had made what move exactly, but I was sat in his lap and admiring the last slivers of sunlight dip below the horizon.

I tilted my head up to say something and found his lips with mine. It was slow, we were both determined to make it last and savour each other indefinitely. His fingers were holding my jawline delicately, as my arm was looped upwards to hold the back of his head.

“This is definitely a lot steamier than the version I saw over twenty years ago,” Shingen’s voice broke us apart after we’d separated for air. “Aw, don’t leave me hanging,” he teased, as I picked myself up off the floor after Yuki was trying to hide his blush away from his Lord. “It was cute when you two were kids, and looks like nothing’s changed, so I was just going to invoke the arrangement,” he grinned knowingly at his vassal. ��Not that you have changed venues that much for you two,” he chuckled.

“Wait, what arrangement?” I asked before Yukimura could promptly turn me around and march me out of the field, much to my brother’s deft amusement.

He waited to make sure that we were out of earshot and sighed loudly. “Our parents made a marriage arrangement,” he grumbled, clearly out of his comfort zone and embarrassed about everything, until I kissed him on the cheek.

“Come on, we can go and get him back by stealing the sugar candies,” I suggested with a bright smile, offering my hand out to him.

[aka-willow]

What Comes After

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Words: 1610

Characters: Willow Wren, Tony Stark, Natasha Romanoff

Summary: Willow faces the consequences of running away

Timeline: June 2016

Song: Stepping Up - Henry Jackman

A/N: hello hello

—————————————————————————–

As soon as the quinjet landed, I felt my stomach clench up and as florescent light flooded in, I saw the armed policemen. I took a step back up the gangplank, but Tony pushed me forward.

“Keep your hands where we can see them,” said one of the police in heavily accented English. “No sudden movements.” I raised my hands above my head, palms out, looking up at the ceiling, wishing I could at least see the sky, at least have a chance of escape. I shouldn’t be here. We need to be stopping whatever HYDRA is planning. “All right,” the policeman said as soon as I got to the bottom of the gangplank. “On your knees. Keep your hands where they are.” As soon as my knees hit the ground, the police rushed in, and I felt the pinch of handcuffs as my hands were tugged away from my head. I felt hands patting down the back of my jacket, feeling the wings, discussing something amongst themselves before turning to Tony.

“Wings?”

“Those are them. As long as she can’t let them out, they won’t be a problem.”

“Any weapons that you know of?” one of them asked Tony as I was checked.

“The kid was the weapon,” Tony said.

The officers continued to talk in German, I heard the word Inhuman thrown around and without warning, something cold was snapped around my neck from the back and I panicked as it came to rest over my throat, the pressure just enough to be uncomfortable. “Hey, wait… no,” I said, my breaths getting shorter as my pulse picked up and I felt it beating in my neck. “What’s going on? Mr. Stark?” I tried to turn around to ask him, but I was being pulled off the ground and pushed towards one of the waiting vans. “Mr. Stark!” I called. “Where are we going? Where is Natasha? I’m sorry—”

I was made to sit in one of the seats, the police filling the seats around me and I tried to see Tony through the still-open door before it was pulled shut. The police around me exchanged nervous glances, their gloved hands tight around their weapons, the sounds of soldiers and more enforcement shuffling around outside in the hangar almost overwhelming, making me want to shut it out, but unable to.

I leaned back to rest my head on the seat, but the device around my neck prevented me from setting my head all the way back without my neck aching. My breaths were still rapid, almost gasping, I was lightheaded, overheated, the space around me dissolving into a blurry soup. “I don’t feel well,” I whispered as the van started up and we began to drive, leaving the underground hanger and out into the sunlight for only a moment before we descended into another tunnel, this one under a large building, the flashing blue lights of the van reflecting off the dark walls.

I shut my eyes, repeating the only word running through my head. Sumerkey. Sumerkey. Sumerkey.

When the van stopped again, the wait felt endless, just minutes of sitting in the dark, sweat trickling down the back of my neck, my limbs numb, my head somewhere else completely. The smell of the transport van was enough to nauseate me—something to do with whatever materials it was made out of—it was the same type that HYDRA used to use to transport us to missions.

What if they’re HYDRA? What if Tony was mistaken? Where are they taking me? I need to get out of here, now, as soon as possible.

The van door suddenly slid open and after a few of the police exited, I was allowed to climb out, finding myself in another hanger, this one swarming with law enforcement and military, more armored vehicles than I could count. I couldn’t understand anything that was being said, the voices just molding together into noise upon noise, so much—

“Willow!” I turned around to see Natasha exciting through glass doors across from us, with the letters GTAZ frosted onto them.

“Natasha,” I breathed, relief flooding through me. “Where is this? I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t want this to happen but HYDRA—”

“What is this?” Natasha demanded, ignoring me for a moment and gesturing at the device around my neck. “Is this really necessary?”

“It’s the protocol for any enhanced individuals in custody, ma’am,” one of the police said. “Especially if their powers are… unpredictable… as we’ve heard.”

“I’m going to kill Tony,” Natasha muttered, before turning to look at me. “And then you.” We started walking again, through the glass doors and into the building, down several long hallways before stopping in front of a door that opened to reveal a small room with a table, two chairs, and a bench built into the wall. Two of the walls were glass, looking into some sort of control room with screens monitoring surveillance cameras.

“We’ll have her held here until SHIELD arrives,” one of the guards said, finally unlocking my handcuffs and allowing me to stretch my arms and rotate out the tightness in my wrists.

“Could I talk to her for a moment?” Natasha asked. She looked pointedly at the guards still standing in the room. “Alone.”

“We’ll be outside.”

The door locked shut and Natasha looked me up and down before gesturing at one of the chairs. “Sit.”

I plopped down, staring down at the floor, at her shoes, not wanting to make eye contact. I knew I had fucked up. And Tony was right, this would look bad for all of them. I messed everything up. This is my fault.

Natasha walked over to the other chair, her arms still crossed as she sat and looked down at the metal table and pursed her lips. “Why did you come, Willow?” I could hear the exhaustion in her voice, but the bite had been dialed back, now carefully restrained. “I’m sure you already got the lecture from Tony.”

I sighed and tried not to cry, taking a few deep breaths before speaking. “Um… I saw the news, while I was back at the compound. They said HYDRA and mentioned the Winter Soldier… and I just panicked. I’m afraid there are others like him… like me… still out there. And to see it in action, and so publicly… I just had a bad feeling. Especially with the talk of registration. What if they came looking for me next? My friends… they’ve gone… offline recently… and I was afraid it was connected.”

Natasha nodded, but she didn’t say anything.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “It sounds stupid now.”

“No,” Natasha said. “It doesn’t sound stupid. What you did was stupid, but…” She thought for a moment. “You could have talked to me, or Wanda and Vision. With Barnes in custody, it’s a tense situation here. This is the last place I need you right now.”

“They got him?” I asked.

“He’s on his way here now. Along with Steve and Sam.” She looked away. “You weren’t the only one making things worse today.”

“What about HYDRA?” I asked. “Do they know who his handlers were? Or where he was based? Something doesn’t feel right. My friends are AWOL, Mr. Barnes is out of hiding… I couldn’t stay at the compound. Nat, what if they got me again?” I said, my voice cracking. “I have to help. I know more about their program that… than most people.”

“I’ll pass along what you’re saying,” Natasha said. “As soon as I get back upstairs. Whatever this is, we’ll get to the bottom of it. But my biggest concern for you is keeping you safe and away from all of this. Does that sound fair?”

“Okay,” I said.

“For full transparency, since I know that’s what you want, Secretary Ross already has other questions about your involvement with the Avengers, and Tony and I are doing our best to keep you out of the public eye in the meantime. But… it’s likely you might face more restrictions when you return to the United States. You were under SHIELD guardianship before, mostly off the record, but with the Accords it’s possible you’ll be deemed… well…”

“What?”

“Your abilities are far beyond what the government is used to. You don’t have any tech they can take away.”

“I am the weapon,” I said, echoing Tony, as Natasha nodded regretfully.

“Which means, technically, your abilities themselves would be considered government property… and by extension… well… it will just make things more complicated now. Same with Wanda. But we’re going to protect you.”

I frowned, scratching my neck underneath the device, wishing I could be as calm and collected as Natasha. “You know, HYDRA used to punish us for damaging organization property,” I said, shutting my eyes and thinking back to those moments, returning from the missions, the disappointment, even if the mission had been a success, the pain, the anger. “One time, it was because I got a really bad burn.” I touched the back of my neck, where it had been. “One time it was for breaking a few fingers.” When I held my hand out, to show her, my right ring finger was still crooked. “And one time,” I said, “it was because I got shot. I-I won’t go back to that ever again.”

She let out a deep breath before reaching out to squeeze my hand. “Willow… I…” She looked up at me. “I promise. You’ll never be treated like that ever again. I see you as you are. Steve does, too. We won’t let anything like that happen to you.”

[thedramafilesblog-blog]

Appearing before The Dramacourt: Suits (Korea) Episodes 1 and 2

***If this is your first time browsing The Drama Files, please read The Rules section first for our reviewing and rating system***

***Disclaimer***: This analysis based on Canadian law. This is also NOT LEGAL ADVICE for anyone and this drama is FICTIONAL.

Issues:

Whether the portrayal of Kang Seok and CEO Ha Yeon managing client expectations is accurate.

Whether interviewing for jobs at law firms are as shown.

Whether corporate lawyers can practice criminal law.

Whether you can get potential clients to sign retainer agreements while they are high out of their minds.

Whether you can blackmail your client into dropping his lawsuit against you.

Whether the bromance is legit.

Are Ji Na and Geon Woo the new Mike and Rachel?

The Rule(s):

Yes. Minus the whole lying to the client part.

Somewhat…

It depends…

No!

Hell No!

Ehhh….We’re not really feeling it

Not really….

Analysis:

RedRosette J: Hi guys! Sorry we’ve been AWOL for a while. We had to do some life things like finish Law School! (YAY!) And just as we graduate we get the opportunity to review Suits (Korea)! (*Cheer*) I have to start off by saying that I was a HUGE fan of the US original and I absolutely LOVED it at first. Then I went to Law School and all I could see was how badly written the law stuff was and I had to stop watching it for awhile (occupational hazard LOL). When I heard there was going to be a Kdrama version starring HYUNGSIK I was beyond sold on it! I am all about Hyungsik and his puppyness!

❤

RedRosette J: What really surprised me was how similar to the US version the first two episodes were. They were almost exactly alike but with a little bit of Kdrama jazz added to it. The cinematography, the script, the OST (right down to that quirky toast food truck) was very similar (out of curiosity I went and re-watched the US version pilot episode to compare). I wasn’t sure if I was going to be a fan of the remake because remakes usually faceplant and don’t end well, but I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised!

#aesthetics

Breaking the law like

Dat sandwich tho

Client meetings on the street like?

This is what drowning in work looks like

When your boss is weird af but you have to act normal and keep a straight face

RedRosette J: I am a huge Hyunsik fan and I think that he makes a good “Mike Ross” (Geon Woo) character. When Hyungsik is up with Jang Dong Gun though his acting can be a little underwhelming but I mean it’s not the end of the world. Hyungsik does manage to give us his sad puppy eyes which made my heart melt for poor Geon Woo.  Jang Dong Gun on the other hand is a pretty good Harvey Specter in his character Choi Kang Seok and I’m buying whatever he’s selling.

RedRosette J: I wish CEO Ha Yeon (Jessica Pearson in this alternate reality) had had more screen time because she seems to be written as a composed bad ass just like her US counterpart. From what little we saw, the actress is doing a good job living up to the role so far. I’m slightly disappointed in the Louis Litt character played by Choi Gwi Hwa because a little bit of Louis’s zany-ness is missing from the character Chae Geun Sik. Sure, he is still married to his dictaphone and talks to his pet goldfish but I wish it would have been a bit funnier. I also wish the remake stuck to the running joke about how Louis hates his ancient secretary Norma (LMAO!). I am also not that ecstatic about the Donna character equivalent Hong Da Ham because while the friendship with Kang Seok exists, its not on the same playful level as between Donna and Harvey. I also accept that certain things can get swept away or underplayed in remakes and that character relationships can change when cultural norms are imported into the new version.

#pantsuitgoals

THE DICTAPHONE

Her fashion is on point

Harvey-Donna vibes

In every alternate reality Louis tries to poach Donna!

RedRosette J: As of now, I’m not a fan of the Rachel character Kim Ji Na. She came off too bitchy and mean and I feel like Go Sung Hee doesn’t have electric chemistry with Hyungsik which makes their banter fall a bit flat for me. The drama needs to work on the two of them. The drama however did stay true to the annoying Trevor and Jenny characters in Cheol Soon and Se Hee which I liked and I can’t wait too watch Geon Woo free himself of those toxic friendships.

Kim Ji Na you need to redeem yourself like asap

Oh look its the Trevor guy who ruins Geon Woo’s life

Please do not make this a thing like in the US version

RedRosette J: This remake had big shoes to fill and for the most part I think it delivered.

Issue 1: Whether the portrayal of Kang Seok and CEO Ha Yeon managing client expectations is accurate.

RedRosette J: You do need to manage your client’s expectations just so that they don’t think that you can get them the sun and moon when they retain your services. While I do think that Ha Yeon and Kang Seok needed to talk to their (obnoxious) client so that he was clear about what their services entailed and what he could expect from them, I don’t think it was appropriate (AT ALL) for Kang Seok to lie to him about getting paid already and that the client should just do what they tell him to do. That’s not really how it works. Lying to the client is a big No-No and breaks like a zillion lawyer ethics and rules. To the drama’s credit though, this was addressed constantly throughout both episodes so kudos to that!

When your client is an ass but you gotta be professional

Issue 2: Whether interviewing for jobs at law firms are as shown.

RedRosette J: I can’t really speak for what interviewing as an associate is like because I am technically still a student but for the most part that is what it is like. Everyone gets crowded into a big hall (typically at some shitty banquet hall or convention center) and there’s a lady at the desk who takes your name and then you wait to be called in and the waiting room is a giant stressball of candidates memorizing their perfectly crafted answers. It’s actually quite terrifying. Unfortunately, in real life, it’s nowhere near as nice as the fancy shmancy hotel the Kang & Ham interviews were held at LOL!

Can you feel the stress? Because I can

Who interviews people like this?

Issue 3: Whether corporate lawyers can practice criminal law.

RedRosette J: There’s a common misconception that having the title “Lawyer” means the person knows everything about “the law” and can practice in any type of law whenever they want. FALSE. Most lawyers work in highly specialized parts of the law and it is not recommended that you retain a lawyer who primarily works in one type of law to represent you in a case that is about a totally different type of law. Case in point: corporate lawyers are not experts in criminal law, so don’t get a corporate lawyer to defend you on a criminal case. It’s not that they can’t, it’s just that your interests will be better served by someone who has specialized knowledge in that area. That’s why there are criminal defense lawyers! I think it’s a bit silly that shows do this.

Specialize in one thing peeps

The worst that could happen is you could go to jail bro. It’s all good.

Getting handed your first case like

Issue 4: Whether you can get potential clients to sign retainer agreements while they are high out of their minds.

RedRosette J: Ummm….NO!!!! This is so beyond unethical I can’t even. You cannot get a client to sign a retainer agreement (an agreement stating that they allow you to be their legal representative) while they are high out of their minds! A person entering into any agreement must have the mental capacity and be of sound mind to make a rational and well thought out decision as to whether to enter into the agreement or not. Someone who is as high as a kite on Molly or whatever Lee Yi Kyung’s character was taking was definitely not of sound mind and he was definitely not able to enter into the agreement rationally. On top of that, he was also coerced by the arrival of the cops and Kang Seok threatening him! Nope. No. No can do.

Nope. Not ok. DO NOT SIGN THAT DUDE!

Issue 5: Whether you can blackmail your client into dropping his lawsuit against you.

RedRosette J: Yo no you cannot! Absolutely not. This violates a whole bunch of lawyer ethics, not to mention it is also breaking the law. So no. No matter how much of a pig your client is, you cannot blackmail them into dropping their lawsuit against you. You’d go to jail or be disbarred or both.

Definitely not ok.

Issue 6: Whether the bromance is legit.

RedRosette J: Unfortunately……(don’t hate me) it fell a bit flat for me. I was expecting a fast talking, movie line quoting bromance like the original, but this one just didn’t quite get there for me. While both actors have merit, there’s just something missing between them that just doesn’t quite make the bromance super awesome and one that you want to root for. As of right now, the only relationship on the show I care about is the one of Geon Woo and his Grandma.

This version of Harvey is a baseball fan!

Sorry not feeling it

Nope

Still nothing

Awww my poor heart can’t take it

Issue 7: Are Ji Na and Geon Woo the new Mike and Rachel?

RedRosette J: Again, this fell a bit flat to me because a) their first (real) meeting didn’t have the psazz like Mike and Rachel’s had, b) there was no indication of Geon Woo being totally smitten by Ji Na when they first meet (unlike Mike Ross who is instantly in total awe of Rachel) and c) they shouldn’t have tried to kdrama trope-fy the first meeting. Also idk whether it has to do with the whole kdrama love-hate trope but Ji Na carried that grudge about the rainwater splashing on her for far too long. Girl. Get over it. That shirt wasn’t even that nice. Also she was a bit too mean to him but what I did like about her was that when she realized that she had been wrong about him, she apologized without hesitation so she redeemed herself in my eyes a bit. The two also need more screen time for us to really get a sense of whether or not they are the new “Mike and Rachel”. But there is potential there and I’m not totally dismissing them at this point.

This first meeting kind of didn’t work for me

What is this weird vibe?

At least she apologized

Friends now?

Conclusion: Appeal Allowed.

Rating: 4 = I’ll Give You A Cookie (Mostly because they stuck very close to the original)

File No: Suits (Korea)-EPS-01-and-02 Appearing before The Dramacourt: Suits (Korea) Episodes 1 and 2 ***If this is your first time browsing The Drama Files, please read…