#shes reading this conference talk where this guy says “trust is the basis of all relationships” and she says i dont think thats true bc how

[leolaroot]

made my mom cry but i got some serious bull shit off my chest oh well happy mothers day

[babybluebex]

no pressure at all! but if you'd want to write more stan!reader x tom I'd really love that

i literally FLEW to my computer to write this i love the concept of stan!reader so much ((also i tried second person writing here??? i actually like it a lot more than first whoops))

little one [tom holland x reader]

➽ pairing: tom holland x stan!fem!reader (y/n) ➽summary: when you find out you’re pregnant, you worry about how tom and your brother will react. ➽ word count: 1.6k ➽ warnings: angst, pregnancy, a lot of exposition that doesn’t matter tbh  ➽a/n: enjoy!! masterlist & taglist in my bio

Sebastian stood at the door to your room, just looking. It seemed like a lifetime ago that you had moved in with him, when you were just the smallest thing. Pink skirt and pigtails, toting your dolly with you. He had been young when you were born, but still an adult; he was in college, living in the dorms when his mother had called him and told him the good news. He remembered the day you were born: he had been sitting in a lecture when his little flip phone started buzzing in his pocket. It was his stepdad, your father, telling him that his sister was coming. He left the lecture early and made it to the hospital just in time to be the first person to hold you. He was instantly devoted. 

You moved in with him when you were six. His mom had told him that she needed to move back to Romania and that she planned to bring you, and panic had filled his chest. “No, no,” he said. “Sh-She just started school! She doesn’t speak the language, she’s making all kinds of friends here! Mom, you can’t relocate her, you just can’t.” 

“What else can we do?” your mother asked. “Are you going to watch her?”

A month later, Sebastian was your legal guardian. He came to school plays and parent-teacher conferences, he cleaned up your skinned knees, and he read you stories every night. The two of you had gotten into a habit of falling asleep next to each other, and it got to the point where the bed felt too empty without you. Too cold, too lonely.

When you were twelve, you and Sebastian moved into a new apartment. It was bigger and better suited for two people, and you got a big-girl room. You started sleeping in your own bed, but you had no idea the effect it had on your brother. He couldn’t sleep without you next to him, digging your heels into his back and taking up all the blankets. So, he picked his happy ass up out of bed and, making sure to bring his own blanket, came to linger in your doorway. “I… I can’t sleep without you,” he mumbled. 

“You’re a grown man, Seb,” you said; he was always amazed at the little lady you had become, a smart girl with a biting sarcasm, even when you were little. 

“Yeah, and every night for the past six years, I’ve had your feet in my back,” Sebastian said. He settled into your bed next to, and added, “Now, move over, munch, or I’ll drag you back to mine.” 

Sebastian leaned his head against the doorframe, looking at the room. The walls had once been pink but were now an off-white, more becoming of a young woman, and the band posters were replaced with art prints and collages of you with your friends. Sure, he knew everybody grew up eventually, and he liked you as an adult, but sometimes he missed the little girl who was missing her two front teeth. 

The door to the apartment slammed closed, and Sebastian unwillingly pulled himself from his daydream. “Hey, munch!” he called. “How was Tom?”

Back on Valentine's Day, when you told him about you and Tom, he was instantly thrilled. Even though he outwardly seemed like he didn’t like Tom, he knew that Tom would treat you like the princess you were. And, for the past few months, he had been. Flowers were sent to the apartment on a near-weekly basis, handwritten letters came in the mail regularly, and Sebastian often heard little giggling coming from your room when Tom would call you. He had seen you smitten over guys before, but Tom Holland was a different breed. 

After a date with Tom, you were guaranteed to be talking up a storm, but you were quiet. “Munch?” Sebastian called. “Y/N?”

There was a sniffle from the living room, and a meek, “Seb?” 

Sebastian’s heart fell, and he hurried to see you on the couch, the comfy tufted leather that Mackie had so highly praised. You were crying, your knees drawn up to your chest. “No, no, no,” Sebastian cooed and hugged you tightly. “What happened, darling, is everything okay? Did Tom say something? Did you guys… Did you guys break up?” 

You shook your head and opened your mouth, as if to speak, but a sob left instead. Your chest was so heavy, and you knew that admitting this to Sebastian-- to anyone-- would make it too real but the secret was killing you. You had known that you were pregnant for nearly a month now, but you didn’t want to tell anyone. You knew that your brother would say that you’re too young and that Tom would say that he had a career to think about. And, on a small level, you knew that was true. You couldn’t ask Tom to dismantle his life plans for you and a baby. 

“Talk to me, darling,” Sebastian whispered. “What’s wrong?” 

You sniffled and leaned into your brother’s warmth, and your tears became new. Sebastian would flip shit, you knew it. “I--” You started. “Please don’t be mad at me, please, I can’t take it right now--” 

“Hey, hey,” Sebastian said quickly. “I could never be mad at you. Please, talk to me. You’re breaking my heart here, Y/N.” 

You settled your cheek into Sebastian’s chest, and the emotions ran hot in your face and chest and belly. “Seb,” you whispered. “I… I’m pregnant.” 

A million different emotions ran through his brain at once. Elation, anger, confusion, and so much more. “You…” he started. “You’re--”

“I’m so scared, Seb,” you whispered. “W-What if Tommy wants to break up with me?” Your breaths came in quick, sharp gasps, and Sebastian held you tightly to try to ease the anxiety. He was prone to anxiety attacks like this too, and you had learned how to settle him down, but he hardly ever had to do it to you. You were so grounded, so level-headed and serious. This was the most emotionally unhinged that he had seen you in years. 

The sounds of your crying died away, and you found your ears full of deep whispers. You had learned bits and pieces of Romanian growing up-- enough to pull out as a party trick-- but could never fluently speak it like your mom and your brother could, but you recognized the sound of it. Sebastian was whispering Romanian to you in a lilting voice, and it took you a moment to place it. A song; a lullaby. Sebastian was singing you a lullaby. The sound of it eased your nerves enough to dry up your tears, and you sniffled a bit as you sat up, shedding your big brother’s protective embrace. 

“Look,” Sebastian began. “I know I act like a dick to Tom a lot, but… I really like him. I wouldn’t have let him stick around if I didn’t. I trust him to do the right thing here.” 

“B-But what if he doesn’t?” You whimpered. “Wh-What if he does leave?”

“If he leaves, it’s his own fucking loss,” Sebastian told you. “That baby doesn’t need anybody but you and me, right? I’ve got you, darling. I’ve always had you.”  

You nodded because, once again, your older brother was the wiser of you. You knew that everything he said was true, even if your whole body hadn’t quite absorbed it yet. Tom would be a great dad; and if he wasn’t, you had Sebastian. “Can you stay with me?” You asked, grabbing your brother’s hand. “I-I’m gonna call him.” 

“Sure thing, munch,” Sebastian said, and he settled his arm around your shoulders. His little sister, the same little girl that cried at Bambi and Bucky falling off the train, was going to be a mom. Where did the time go?, he wondered. 

The phone rang out quickly, and Tom answered it swiftly. “Hey,” he said. “I just dropped you off, is everything alright?” 

You took a deep breath. Your heart was beating so quickly that you could hear it in your ears, and you mumbled, “Yeah, yeah, I just… I have something to tell you.” 

“Oh,” Tom said. “Sure. What’s going on?” 

Sebastian’s gaze was fixed on you, and he gave you a prompting nod. “Tommy, I…” You started. It was real. This was real now. “I’m pregnant.” 

There was silence on the other end of the line, long and potent enough for anger to start to flare in Sebastian’s stomach. “Are you serious?” Tom whispered finally. His voice was static-y over the phone, and you couldn’t place his emotions at all. 

“I’m so sorry, Tom--”

“Sorry for what?” And then there was a laugh. “Are you really pregnant? Please don’t be kidding with me, you don’t know how happy this makes me!”

Sebastian gave a sigh of relief, and he wiped one of your tears away with his thumb. “I really am,” you told him. “You’re not mad?”

“Why the fuck would I be mad?” Tom laughed. “I’m gonna be a dad! I’m gonna be a dad, Y/N! Thank you, thank you! I love you so much, baby, you have no idea. Does Sebastian know yet?”

“Yeah,” you said. “He’s the first one I told.” 

“Oh, no,” Tom whispered. 

“Yeah, oh no,” Sebastian said. “Dating my sister’s one thing, Holland, but knocking her up is different. What, you’ve got an aversion to condoms or something? I’m gonna kill you.” 

“Hey, Sebastian,” Tom chuckled lightly. “Look, it was an accident--”

“Oh, ‘cause that makes it better?” Sebastian scoffed. “Jesus Christ, you’re lucky you’re not here right now--”

“Shut up, both of you,” you sighed. “Tommy, you swear you’re not mad?” 

“Why would I be mad?” Tom repeated. “I’m so thankful. Thank you, my love, thank you.”

[daiseukiis]

: ̗̀➛𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆

𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙞 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙮 𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙘𝙝𝙞 ?

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

─꒱ in which we peak into how jujutsu kaisen characters handle their child on a daily basis。

─꒱ feat. gojo satoru, fushiguro megumi, kugisaki nobara & itadori yuji

─꒱ warnings ; none

─꒱ notes ; suddenly i’m having jjk as parents brain rot after a night of reading megumi smut

─꒱ JJK AS PARENTS PART TWO

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

─── ➴ GOJO SATORU

꒰꒰ he’s a great dad trust me, spoils his child like no one’s business. you want the entire set of the haikyuu manga and crunchyroll premium? give him five minutes to purchase them. want front row tickets to see nct in korea? yeah, he’ll get it for them and thats plane tickets on first class

꒰꒰ but don’t get me wrong,,, he’s a doting father but sometimes it might be just too much.

꒰꒰ for starters, mans gotta know where their kid's heading on a daily basis. gotta shot him a text that heading to shibuya with your friends or taking a flight to okinawa or hokkaido. he just wants them to be safe !!

꒰꒰ expect him to text his kid almost every time he’s out buying anything. he’d be all the way in osaka, they're in class they will randomly get a text from him if they want uncle rikuro cheese cake or kuidaore taro pudding.

꒰꒰ not to mention !!! he will text you it’s an emergency and they have to call him, a matter of life or death situation. knowing he’s a shaman, he could die but there’s like a percentage of a chance that could happen, it's percentage rivals how fast he can activate his expansion domain. which isn’t much. but when they pick up the phone, he’s just gonna ask the. which top would look better or say there’s a hot deal for these sweets across the street and if they wanna go

꒰꒰ his favourite thing to do it probably embarrass his kid in front of their friends. maybe. yeah. baby pictures and all

꒰꒰ if he has a daughter his father radar is SO high. a boy gives even a glance her way, he will probably threathen them. spoils her with so much it even HURTS to look at his bank account but he's rich so ;;; takes her out shopping and half his camera roll is photos of her or selfies of them

꒰꒰ if it's a guy, he will cheer him on every time a girl confesses his love for his son. probably even gives him condoms and tips but you didn't hear that from me. with no doubt gloat to his students how amazing and manly his son is, takes him out on missions when he wants and goes sweet store hopping with him

꒰꒰ if his child returns home crying for whatever reason, a boy broke her heart or someone beat their kid up for doing the right thing;; bitch gojo is gon beat the shit outta them no cap

꒰꒰ he's the dad every teacher flirts with at parent teacher conferences, and the dad every girl in the friend with has a crush on

─── ➴ FUSHIGURO MEGUMI

꒰꒰ amazaing dad, but probably should work more on the expressing it to his kid area

꒰꒰ he won't spoil them rotten like gojo, but if he sees its something that they truly want and sees that it's of use or valuable, he will get it for them because he wants to see his kid smile

꒰꒰ he's not big on affection, probably a hug time to time and an appreciation pat on the head. if his kid falls he would just crouch down and ask if they need a hand, or is their baby girl starts crying he'll pick her up into his arms and pat his head

꒰꒰ if he has a daughter he would be reluctant to go shopping with her, but he does like the fact that his kid is smiling and showing him her outfits. he better have a say as well if there's an attire that shows to much skin, he just wants the best for his girl. if a boy looks her way with a look, he will emit an aura enough for the boy to piss his pants

꒰꒰ if his kid is a boy, you bet hes gonna teach his son to beat up half the delinquents up the area too ‼ he has so much trust in his son, they would spar sometimes and he would take him on to missions. he sucks at giving advice, probably around the words of 'just be yourself?' he won't show it but he's cheering for you

꒰꒰ he's a chill dad, if their kid ever forgets anything at home and he's off to drop it off at school, he would be a bit reluctant cuz why did they forget it to begun with, but he's gonna do it anyways <3 the one parent that everyone calls pretty

꒰꒰ he'll text his kid basic and short messages, a how's your day or do you want anything from here kinda texts when he's out on missions. he wants to be sure that you're given enough space to be yourself within his reach

꒰꒰ fushiguro screams like the type of dad that would have a family photo in his wallet. i just find that cute and UGGH yes <3

꒰꒰ if his kid comes home crying, he's going to immediately comfort them. bad test or shitty day, he's gonna be slightly awkward but he'll take them out for their favourite food or arcade

꒰꒰ he's also the typa dad that will check up on you before he goes to bed or when he comes back from a mission, when you're all asleep just to make sure you're safe

─── ➴ KUGISAKI NOBARA

꒰꒰ listen,,, listen, kugisaki is a bad bitch mother and it radiates that energy

꒰꒰ if she has a kid, she's gonna raise them to be the baddest bitch in all of tokyo, in all of japan if all i care. she gives her kids credit for even trying to beat gojo up, but if they can't she's still gonna be happy if they tell her they kicked a guy's kneecaps in for taking their lunch money

꒰꒰ a little reckless, her parenting methods are a bit questionable but like its kugisaki here, she does whatever the hell she wants. her kid falls to the ground? don't cry pussy, get up you're better than this

꒰꒰ kugisaki's that mother who probably buys take out food every friday, or takes her kids out to a mf buffet only to tell them to pay for her because she gave birth to their ungrateful asses

꒰꒰ she's the most chill mother out there, all her kids' friends probably want to be adopted by her because she's fun and knows how to kick ass

꒰꒰ if she has a daughter, definitely wants them to be famous instead of a shaman. she wants to see her kid rocking those magazines or fuckin it up in movies or j-dramas, so she got rights to stroll through the red carpet as the most beautiful mother

꒰꒰ if she has a son, definitely will end up making him into a loyal, bad boy who knows how to drink his respect women juice on a daily basis. the son who also get absolutely wrecked by his own mother in smash bros. doesn't matter how old kugisaki is, she would still be able to beat her son even if he's a first grade shaman

꒰꒰ if her kids come home crying, i bet you she'll only scold them. she'll ask why the hell you crying over this guy/girl, they're way low of the standards and are not even it. she would convince them that they're so much better (?) to make them feel good about themselves. and then she'll probably head lock the kid to crush on a better person

꒰꒰ she's the type of mother who wouldn't sit down to talk to her kid often, sometimes she also socks at communicate like fushiguro but at least she knows it. she would be the type that would comfort her kid by bring food ( typical asian parent shit tsk iykyk )

꒰꒰ she's also that type of mother when they tell her that someone makes fun of something to the point that their kid is broken by it, she will get out that car and pick at fight with the kids, and then wipe their ass on the floor, and the mop the deck with their parents

─── ➴ ITADORI YUJI

꒰꒰ this man is the personification of a fun, chill and laid-back father

꒰꒰ he would be the dad that would wake their kid up in the morning so they're not late, pack their food or bring food to their school if they forgot to bring any

꒰꒰ he doesn't really spoil his kid, but you bet he'll take them to fun places like arcades, escape rooms and even go street food binging. definitely would have a movie marathon too

꒰꒰ if he's back from a mission early and near the school his kid goes too, you bet he's going to catch them by the end of school just to walk home with them and take about his mission

꒰꒰ he's the kind of dad that wouldn't mind if they're swearing around the house, but they gotta watch their mouth still, he doesn't want them to be as bad as sailor nor does he want them picking up nasty habits

꒰꒰ if his kid is a girl, he will give her space and room for anything, be it needing some time alone after a bad test or constantly wanting to go out with her friends to get her mind off things that he might not be able to fix. he doesn't mind going shopping, definitely would give an opinion to any outfits with a thumbs up. takes pictures with his daughter on any shenanigans they do together and send them to his group chat with kugisaki and fushiguro

꒰꒰ having a boy, he would want to play sports with them and go on missions. sometimes they would go to the arcade to try the punching game to see who has the highest and then bet the lower pays for food after. he likes giving advice, even though it won't be helpful or will be, he's gonna say it either in hopes that it'll be brought up in their head in any moment they're in

꒰꒰ he's the type of dad that has a selfie of him and his kid as a lockscreen i jUST KNOW IT

꒰꒰ if his kid comes home crying he will be so worried. like whats wrong, what happened, who hurt you, does he have to punch someone?! he's going to pull them into his arms and take them out for food, maybe even a walk. he's they type to want to cheer them up no matter the situation, and probably when they're all good and dandy, he will personally talk to solve the root of the problem behind their back

꒰꒰ when there's something to be settled, i bet you that they settle it with a game of rock-paper-scissors out five ‼‼

─── ➴ SUKUNA ( BONUS )

꒰꒰ what makes you think this man wanted a child, if he did have one ; probably either got it killed during the heian era or he killed it for his superiority complex </3

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

DO NOT REPOST 、 MODIFY 、 CLAIM WORK OR LAYOUT AS YOURS.

© MGUQIIS 、 2020

[supernatural-jackles]

Owe You One - Part 5

Title: Owe You One - Something Old and New

Pairing: Dean x Reader

Word Count: 4,371

Warnings: Minor Angst, Workplace Drama, Light Smut, Dry Humping, Fluff, Implied strained relationship.

Summary: Dean Winchester has been your best friend and neighbour for the last year. A year of finding comfort in random drop ins and casual conversations, but neither of you know the pasts that the other has. Not fully. Pasts that come back to haunt you, and ruin everything you want in life. Can you find what you’re seeking in a couple of favours and a good time between the sheets or is history doomed to repeat itself?

Owe You One - Masterlist

Square Filled: Mechanic AU ( @spnfluffbingo)  Friends With Benefits ( @spndeanbingo ) Clothed Sex ( @spnkinkbingo)

A/N: Happy Tuesday! Here is part 5! I hope y’all enjoy this part! Please leave your thoughts in a reblog, reply or send me an ask! The reason I share is to get a response from you! Happy Reading! 

You let out the biggest yawn as you typed away on your work computer. It was just after one on a Tuesday afternoon, and you were more than ready for Friday to be here. You weren’t sure if you could handle another three days of the same boring work. You needed to find something new, instead of this fashion magazine crap. There was no way you were going to work her for the rest of your life.

 You finished up your last paragraph, saving the file before exiting. Charlie walked past your desk, giving you a wink before she entered the conference room right next to your desk. You were having an afternoon meeting in there to discuss how things were going, along with a bit of a late lunch. Since your floor was all women, getting off topic was a given. It was basically a gossip session in a professional setting.

 You put your computer on sleep mode, getting up from your chair. You decided to bring your sweater into the room, in case you got cold later on. Charlie had picked her usual seat at the end of the table so she could look at the boss directly. You always took the seat next to her, since she was one of your only friends in this place.

 As soon as you took your seat, the rest of the ladies piled into the room, taking their respective seats. Ruby took her seat next to you, and Meg beside her. Across the table, Bela and Lilith sat down. Your project leader Abaddon, walked in last with a platter of sandwiches from the diner down the road.

 “Ladies,” she greeted you as she placed the platter down on the table. “Welcome!”

 “I hope you got vegetarian,” Meg side-eyed her.

 “Of course I did,” Abaddon stated. “Let’s get the boring part of this meeting over-”

 “Please!” Charlie interrupted.

 “As I was saying. Asmodeus gave me the rundown in this morning's meeting about how things are going on our end. Right now, sales have improved by three percent, which isn’t terrible but it’s not what he is expecting out of us. Considering we cater towards women, he thinks we should be doing better. The guys on the floor below us are doing slightly better on their fishing magazine, let’s put it that way.”

 “Who the fuck wants to read a fishing magazine?” Lilith pointed out.

 “Exactly,” Abaddon replied. “Anyway, if we keep at the rate we’re going, odds are we are going to improve. We just need a couple of good hits and maybe a celebrity cameo cover story to sell and we should be on top. With Charlie on website duty, that reels in a whole other audience and we need to keep that up. I’m going to have Y/N do more articles to keep readers coming back. Ruby, I’m thinking of sending you out in the real world to grab some more perspective since you know how to talk to people. Lilith and Meg, you guys will continue working on graphics.”

 “What about Bela?” Charlie asked.

 “Well I'm actually leaving the company next week. I’m going back to England for a few months,” she smiled sadly. “I’ve got something to do back there.”

 “We’ll be sad to see you go,” Abaddon told her.

 “Yeah,” Ruby frowned.

 “Alright, I’ve given you the just of what you needed to know,” she said, taking a seat on the chair before grabbing a sandwich. “Gossip is now in session! Who is first?”

 “I started seeing this girl a few weeks ago,” Charlie started. “I met her in one of my weekends larping. She became one of the queen’s handmaidens in Moondoor and we just clicked instantly. I mean, I have never just clicked with someone like I have with her. She’s hot and not to mention, one of the best kisser’s like ever!”

 “I’m happy for you,” you smiled at her.

 “I’ll have to bring her around sometime. She’s amazing. I think y’all would really like her,” she beamed.

 “Look at her, she’s getting all blushy,” Abaddon teased her.

 “Shut up,” she scoffed. “I’m not!”

 “You are,” Ruby let out a laugh.

 “Someone else share,” Charlie stated.

 “Cas and I are talking about adopting a dog,” Meg shared. “Our schedules finally match up to the point where one of us would always be there. Our relationship is in a really good place and I think this would be as good a time as ever.”

 “For a second there, I thought you were going to say you’re adopting a child,” Ruby smirked.

 “No. Not yet,” she shook her head.

 “And to think, a year ago you thought Cas didn’t feel the same about you. Now look at you guys,” Lilth reminded everyone. “It’s only a matter of time before you guys get married!”

 “That’s still a long way off. But Cas is my best friend. I love him with all my heart,” she smiled.

 “Lilith and I are having a get together at our house next week,” Ruby spoke up. “You guys can all come and bring whoever you want. It’s been too long since we had one and getting all of us together is so hard.”

 “That’s true,” Charlie said. “I’ll bring my girlfriend.”

 “I’m in,” Abaddon smiled. “Count Crowley in too.”

 “How are you and Crowley, by the way?” Charlie asked.

 “We’re good for the most part. You know us. We still argue like an old married couple. Last night we argued over who was cuddling with Juliet. He likes to hold her and I like to have her head in my lap while we watch tv. There was no settling it last night. You know what he’s like,” she shrugged.

 “Do you think he’s going to propose soon? You guys have been dating for what-”

 “Eight years,” she finished. “I don’t know. Maybe? Maybe not. I’m not expecting him to. I’m happy as long as I’m with him. Even though all we do is argue, there is no one I’d rather be with than him.”

 “That’s what matters,” Meg smiled.

 “What about you, Y/N? Any guy in your life?” Abaddon asked you. She was staring directly at you. You didn’t want to say no, because it was a lie. But at the same time, you didn’t want to say yes because what you and Dean did in the bedroom was between the two of you. It wasn’t anyone else’s business.

 “Nope,” you stated.

 “Oh really? What’s with the hickey on your neck?” she smirked. Everyone turned to face you in sync. Your hand instantly reached up, covering the spot you knew she was talking about. You felt your cheeks turn warm. So much for keeping it quiet. Dean’s fucking lips. “You’ve been caught. Spill now!”

 “I’m not dating anyone,” you shrugged, trying to make it seem like it was nothing.

 “But you have a hickey?” Ruby furrowed her brows. “What, just a hook up?”

 “Something like that,” you breathed out.

 “Or is a friends with benefits kind of thing?” Meg cocked her eyebrow. “‘Cause there is nothing wrong with that.”

 “Sorta,” you answered vaguely.

 “What do you mean there is nothing wrong with friends with benefits?” Bela scoffed. “It’s only going to get complicated for one. Two, what is the point to it?”

 “Have you never just had sex with someone?” Meg argued. “There is nothing wrong with two consenting adults having sex.”

 “That is true,” Charlie nodded. “So what if you are. Is he a nice guy at least?”

 “Yes, he is,” you told them. “Look, I’m not ready for what all you guys have. You are all dating someone, or married or getting married. I don’t want that. I like sex and this guy just happens to be awesome at that. He doesn’t want to date. I don’t want to date. This is better than hooking up with random strangers on a constant basis to get what I want. At least with this guy, there is trust.”

 “With trust comes love,” Charlie teased you. “Why don’t you want something more?”

 “Yeah really?” Abaddon added in. “Out of everyone in this room, you are the only one who has never had a significant other.”

 “I just don’t want one. I’m perfectly happy on my own and I don’t need to have a man to make me feel like I’m getting somewhere,” you shrugged.

 “You never know though, Y/N. You might find this guy is worth it in the end,” Abaddon winked. You could hear the judgement in her voice. It was very clear that she thought the friends with benefits thing was stupid. She had been with the same guy for eight years and all she did was fight with him. What did she know about relationships? Better yet, what did she know about you and your life?

 You needed out of this workplace as soon as possible. You didn’t want to continue to be included in the bi-weekly gossip session. You were fucking tired of being judged by them. Even Charlie, who was supposed to be your friend. Granted, she wasn’t as judgy as Abaddon, the queen of drama. But why couldn’t you be happy with just having sex with someone you trusted. With someone who knew how to get the job done and made you feel good?

 You couldn’t have been happier when the meeting was over and you finally got to head out for the night. You needed away from these women and the drama that they exhaled. You made your way back to your desk to gather your things. You checked your phone to make sure you didn’t miss anything from Sam especially.

 *Hey, you wanna stop by the auto shop when you’re done work. Wanna show you something* - Dean

 You smiled for the first time all day. Finally, some normalcy. Someone who wasn’t immersed in drama. You couldn’t have been happier that he was your best friend after a day like today. You grabbed your sweater, pulling it on before throwing your bag over your shoulder. You swiped your card on the way out of the building, making a beeline for the bus.

 You were thankful that Dean’s work wasn’t too far from your own. It was a few blocks away and thankfully, the bus stop you were getting off at wasn’t too far away from his shop. You sent him a quick okay, you were on your way message to let him know you saw it. You had never been inside his workplace before. Not his day job anyways. You were kind of excited to see what he looked like as a mechanic.

 You got up from your seat, heading over to the back doors of the bus to get off. You could see Winchester’s Auto Shop from where you were. It wasn’t too far. About three buildings away from the bus stop. You just hoped that John wasn’t going to be there. Not if you were going to go in. You definitely weren’t up for another fight with one of the Winchester’s.

 The front door of the auto shop was mostly window with Winchester Auto Shop painted on it in red and black window paint. You pulled it open, hearing the ding of the bell shortly after. There was carpet set down, leading to the front desk where a blonde woman sat. You took a deep breath, finally taking a step forward.

 “Hi there hun, what can I do for you?” she greeted you with a smile. You looked down, reading the name Ellen on the metal bar sitting on her desk.

 “Hi,” you smiled at her. “I’m here to see Dean.”

 “Ah yes! You must be Y/N,” she beamed. “Go right on in, sweetie. His office is at the back on your right. Just be careful. They are still working back there.”

 “They?” you dared to ask.

 “Dean and Bobby,” she told you.

 “Thank you,” you said with a soft smile before heading into the garage. It was a big space filled with a lot of different cars and tools. It smelled exactly like a garage. All the oil and metal you expected. You heard someone working on a car to the left of you. By the sounds of it, it sounded like a tire change. Nothing too extensive like you were somewhat expecting. You looked to the right, finding Dean’s office in the corner like Ellen said.

 You could see Dean from the doorway. He was sitting at his desk, writing something in a black notebook. He was clad in a pair of jeans and a snug grey t-shirt that was covered in grease spots. He was solely focused on what he was doing.

 “Hi,” you greeted him, giving him a warm smile. “You wanted to see me, Mr Winchester?”

 “Hey sweetheart,” he grinned. “Yeah, I did. I have a bit of a surprise for you.”

 “A surprise? Dean-”

 “Just, follow me before you protest, okay?” he stated. He got up from his chair, motioning for you to follow him. He lead you both to the back door of the garage, allowing you to step out first before he joined you. You saw a bunch of tires stacked up, and rims to go with them close by. A couple of scrap cars and a two door truck sitting close by.

 “What are we doing out here?” you asked.

 He walked over to the truck, leaning against the bed of it before resting his elbow on it. “I know you’re stuck taking the bus because you can’t afford car payments right now. I mentioned something to Bobby a few months ago and he came across this in his salvage yard. It’s a little beat up and it needs a bit of repair work. I figured I could fix it up and you could have it.”

 “Dean, I can’t accept this,” you breathed out.

 “Yes you can,” he nodded. “It’s going to cost me nothing to fix it up. I can even teach you a thing or two about it,” he smirked. “It’ll save you on bus money and this way you’ve at least got a vehicle to get you from point a to point b.”

 “Thank you for this, Dean. Bobby too,” you beamed.

 “What about me?” a gruff voice said from behind you.

 “Y/N, this is Bobby Singer. Bobby, this is my friend Y/N,” Dean introduced the two of you.

 “It’s nice to meet you, Bobby. Thank you for the truck. I really appreciate it,” you smiled at the older man.

 “It’s no problem. It was just sitting in the yard, taking up space. Dean mentioned that a friend of his needed a vehicle. Better use this way. It was mine for the longest time,” he told you, looking at you a little strangely. You swallowed hard, hoping you weren’t about to get another warning from yet another person in Dean’s life. “I have to say, you look a lot like your mother.”

 “Y- you knew my mother?” you cocked your head, swallowing hard. God, did everyone know your mother?

 “A long, long time ago. Way back when she was a kid on my street,” he revealed.

 “Interesting,” you nodded. “Seems like a lot of people knew her.”

 “She was a popular gal,” he chuckled. “I’m heading out now, Dean. Gonna take Ellen home. See you tomorrow.”

 “See ya, Bobby,” Dean waved him off. You heard the door shut behind you a few seconds later, leaving you and Dean alone once more.

 “You look kinda cute covered in grease,” you commented.

 “It’s a dirty job,” he side-eyed you. “Little miss casual Tuesday.”

 “I had a meeting earlier,” you told him.

 “You mean a gossip session with those girls who don’t know how to do anything else?” he chuckled.

 “Yeah, that,” you breathed out. “I guess I kind of owe you one for the truck.”

 “No you don’t,” he stated. “Not for this, Y/N. You need this truck instead of taking the sketchy ass bus. Now you can take up parking spot twenty six. Right next to Baby.”

 “Dork,” you shook your head with a smile.

 “Well, you could always give me a bit of a thank you in my office,” he wiggled his eyebrows as he made his way over to you.

 “You replace the condom in your wallet?” you asked him.

 “Fuck,” he frowned. You gave him a smile, taking his hand before dragging him back inside the auto shop. There was no sign of Bobby or Ellen anywhere as you walked straight into Dean’s office. Space was a little limited, but you could make do with what you had.

 You shut the door tightly behind the two of you before pushing him down on his office chair. You couldn’t have been more thankful that he didn’t have arm rests like your chair at work did. He was a little confused at what you were doing, and truth be told, you had no idea what you were doing. You just wanted to make him feel good.

 You threw your leg over his lap, settling down on top of him. His hands wrapped around you, resting on the small of your back. His eyes were a little darker than they normally were. You leaned forward, slipping your arms around his shoulders.

 “I’d take you right now if I had a freakin’ condom,” he muttered as he leaned in, his lips inches away from yours.

 “Doesn’t rule out all of our options,” you whispered as you wiggled your eyebrows.

 “No, but we don’t got a whole lotta space in here,” he reminded you as his fingers traced the top of your pants. “My office is kind of small.”

 “Then we’ll make do,” you winked. An idea slipped through your mind. You didn’t necessarily have to have sex right here, right now. There were so many different ways to have fun. One of your personal favourites from way back when was something you hadn’t done in a while.

 You balanced yourself on his broad shoulders, finally closing the space between you, capturing his lips with yours. They were soft and wet, and god, when he kissed you back. His kisses were intoxicating and that’s what kept you coming back. You rolled your hips against his. Holy - did it feel good. You couldn’t have been more thankful for wearing yoga pants to work. You could feel everything so much better.

 “Mhh, what are you doing?” he almost chuckled, breathing out against you. His voice was laced with that same lust that was evident on his face.

 “Saying thank you,” you growled. You gripped your fingers into his shoulders, grinding your hips slower on his lap. You could feel him hardening in his jeans, and that made you smile. It made you feel confident about yourself. That same comfortably that you had the first time you were on top fell over you once more. “You okay with that?”

 “More than okay with that,” he nodded, pecking your lips sweetly. His hands slipped down to your ass, squeezing you with just the right amount of pressure, helping you grind on him with ease. The friction of your center pressed against his bulge had you going. You could feel your slick coating your panties, making them incredibly uncomfortable. His tongue parted your lips, gliding along yours in a smooth motion, tasting you.

 Your hands made their way into his hair, feeling the softness as your fingertips grazed over his scalp. He was as hard as a rock in his jeans. God, you felt like a fucking teenager again. Making out with a guy, trying to get as close to having sex as you possibly could. Only this time, you weren’t worried about someone walking in on you. It felt so euphoric to be this close to him, but still be so far.

 “Fucking hell,” he panted, his fingers digging into the flesh of your ass, causing you to let out a whimper. His eyes fluttered shut as he bucked his hips into yours, pulling you on him. So thankful for wearing yoga pants, you thought to yourself.

 His chest was heaving, just like yours. His lips were parted, the tip of his tongue peaking passed his lips as he breathed heavily. It felt so damn amazing to feel him the way you were. The pressure against you clothed pussy brought you closer and closer with each movement.

 “God, Y/N, feels so good,” he groaned. His eyes peered open, meeting yours as he adjusted his grip on your ass, curling his fingers into your flesh. One long movement on his crotch dragged perfectly along your clit, causing you to throw your head back in pleasure as you let out a loud moan.

 “Dean!”

 His lips crashed to yours once more, his tongue sliding against yours, deepening the kiss instantly. You wrapped your arms securely around his neck, your chest pressing against his. The kiss didn’t last longer than a few seconds, the need for air becoming too much too quickly. You could taste the saltiness on his lips, a thin layer of sweat covered both of your bodies, the clothing making it that much worse.

 “F-fuck sweetheart,” he grunted before letting out a whimpering sigh. You knew he was getting close. He was making the same face as he was the last time before he came. He was panting, trying his hardest to get his breathing under control. He was fucking sexy before he came.

 “De - I’m gonna-” you warned him.

 “Come for me, sweetheart,” he urged you on. “Wanna see you come undone again.”

 Your legs began to quake on either side of his as pleasure soared through you. You let out a moan. Your fingers digging into the muscle in his shoulder, trying to ground yourself as you came. Dean’s hands gripped around your body as he bucked his hips up to yours.

 His eyes slammed shut as he pulled his bottom lip between his teeth, biting down just hard enough for you to see he was holding back a moan. “Son of a bitch,” he breathed out.

 You continued to ride his lap, letting him get as much pleasure as he possibly could from it. You were over sensitive, and your panties were ruined. But you felt so satisfied. You felt even better knowing that you made Dean feel good.

 He smiled at you with his half swollen, cocky grin that had you smiling along with him. He leaned forward, pressing his forehead to yours. His nose nudged against yours before his lips pressed softly to yours.

 “Fuck sweetheart,” he breathed out. “I can’t believe you just made me come in my pants like a fucking teenager.”

 “You’re welcome,” you giggled.

 “Good thing I have a change of clothes,” he chuckled. “I gotta say, you look hot as hell when you come undone.”

 “Thank god I wore thin pants today,” you let out a laugh. “I haven’t done that since I was sixteen.”

 “I’ve never actually done that before,” he admitted.

 “Never?” you cocked your head to the side.

 “No,” he shrugged. You carefully climbed off of his lap, feeling incredibly uncomfortable in your lower region now that your panties were ruined. “I never did the whole make out sessions for hours on end when I was growing up. I’ve worked here since I was fifteen.”

 “Well, I’m glad I was your first,” you smirked.

 “Alright, how about I clean and close up shop. I’ll drive you home so you can get cleaned up and we can go out some place tonight and grab a bite to eat?” he suggested.

 “Go out?” you furrowed your brows.

 “Burgers, fries and pie. We can hang out some place afterwards,” he said nonchalantly. You were all for eating and hanging out, but you didn’t want to run the risk of his parents seeing you together. You didn’t want to endure more drama than you already had today.

 “I’m all for burgers and hanging out, but I don’t want to run the risk of your parents seeing us together, Dean. Why don’t we pick something up on the way home and hang out in my apartment. We can play video games or something?”

 “Okay,” he nodded. “But just so you know, you don’t have to hide out in fear of them seeing us together. I don’t care what they think. I told them straight up that I wasn’t going to stop talking to you, or being friends with you. ‘Sides, I’m thirty. What are they doing to do? Ground me?”

 “No, but they could stop talking to you or something. I don’t want that to happen on account of me,” you frowned, crossing your arms over your chest. “Your mom told me I wasn’t good enough for your family. I’m not going to come between you and them. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I was the reason why you didn’t have a relationship with them.”

 “My mom is a bitch,” he stated, getting up from his chair. He reached beneath his desk where he had a bag. He pulled out a pair of jeans, clean boxers and a shirt. He reached for his belt, making quick work of removing both his pants and boxers. You almost felt bad for looking at him, even though he was stripping down right in front of you. “Trust me, Y/N. You won’t be the one to come between us. It will be them that destroys everything.”

 “Sounds like you’ve got some issues with them,” you said lowly.

 “Let’s just say you’re not the only one that had a rocky relationship with their mom,” he said, pulling on the clean, blue boxers.

 “I’m sorry,” you frowned.

 “It’s not your fault, sweetheart,” he said softly. “We’ve all got our issues. Just remember that you could never destroy my relationship with anyone. I’m a big boy and I can make my own decisions.”

 “Noted,” you nodded. “I’m thinking we get burgers and pie from Jody’s.”

 “Done deal,” he agreed. “I’m down to play a few rounds of Mario Kart too.”

 “Sounds like a good night,” you smiled.

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

Part 6 coming Sunday!

Did you like it? What was your favourite part? Any theories? Please share your thoughts with me via reblog, reply or send me an ask! Nothing is stupid! I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! Your response is the ONLY thing keeping me sharing this story!

Dean Babes

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[unlikelyempathpruneauthor]

A matter of Time

A/n: hey guys long time no see! I made this in many different verisons but here it is. Hope you enjoy! Feed back is appreciated

Warnings: none really probably bad statistics and mixed povs’ and bad spelling.😂 sorry if this sucks.

Summary: being new to the BAU and being elle’s sister and clicking with a certain doctor.

You were with your sister on your way to your first day of work. Joining that bau was one of the things you always wanted to do once you got all your doctorates, the academy was happy with your scores, but physical was one of the ones that needed the most. You were smart but you also had to have the physical movements in as well and being able to shoot and handle psychopaths. Your counselor though gave you a well written letter and plus your boss’s sister allowed you to work with them as long as you were able to pass your qualifications test, your sister also happen to know someone in particular who didn't pass his qualifications as well and thought you two would instantly click.

As you walked into the office eyes were all over you and elle. “Well well well, look at his lady,” Morgan said as Elle stopped him. “Don't even think about it morgan.” she said as his eyebrows rose. “What I just wanna say hi.” he said as she moved over and walked over to her desk. “You must be morgan?” you said as he nodded. “Yes I am and you must be?” he asked, waiting for you to say your name. “y/n, y/n greenaway.” you said as morgan looked at you and back at elle. “wait your elle’s sister?” he said as you nodded. “Yeah I am.” you said as your eyes wandered. “Wait, you're working here? You're the new member?” he asked as you nodded.  “So you specialize in..?” he asked as you answered quickly. “In sexual offense crimes, like elle, and i have doctorates in mathematics, chemistry-” you said as he finished your sentence, “engineering, and you specialize in statistics and geographical profiling...am i right?” he said as you nodded “yeah, how did you know that?” you asked as he chuckled. “Because we have an agent here who does the same things you do, but he's a guy.” he said. “How many words can you read in a minute?” he asked as your sister butted in.  “Trust me, you don't want to know that.” she jokingly said as a pen came up to you. You knew each other, she would come over to your house and you would hang out. “y/n! Hey, hotch is in his office waitting for you.” she said as you hugged and you nodded walking over to hotch’s office.

“Hey hotch.” you said as he grinned at you. When he saw your name in the files he knew you would be a good mix into this team, even though it meant they would be having two Spencers but he was happy to have all the help they could get. Two of Spencer would mean getting things done a lot faster, even though it got done faster than normal.

Elle and hotch both knew you and Spencer would work well together; it was only a matter of minutes till you met. As you sat in your desk you were welcomed by the many agents that worked there. As you placed the little things you brought from home you were looking at some old cases Elle worked on. You would do this when she was away. Even though you weren't  a part of the team, there were many times you would call elle and tell her about something that would pop in your head. Even though you didn't work there legally, but it made Elle look like a rockstar. You saw jj heading towards you guys and you were ready for your first case, but you knew you were gonna have to take baby steps since you were new. You all walked over to the conference room and sat there to debrief. Hotch, Prentiss, Rossi and Spencer were already there. You didn't know who the other two people were, you knew most of the team name but then again you were new, and as if elle read your mind she came close to your ear.

“Younger guy is spencer...or i mean dr. spencer reid. And the lady there is Emily prentiss.” she said as you nodded. So thats who Morgan was talking about earlier. He was young like you which meant that you two were different versions of one another.

Jj walked up to the board and started talking about a case. A guy was murdering women in the middle of the streets with no trace of evidence besides notes that were given to the local police department. “All the women look alike, could be personal, but not in the way he knows them. More like whoever looks like these women did something to him that made him rage into killing because to him they were the same woman. And since the women were in their mid 30’s could be an ex wife, or exgirlfriend.” you said as everyone looked at you, spencer looked at your first; he found you astonishing “Sorry.” you said as the hotch shook his head. “It's fine, good point actually,” he said as you nodded. Going back to Spencer, he didn't even know you were there. He was very surprised with how fast you read through the file. Giving him a hint you were able to read lots of words per minute..just like him.

“But what exactly did this woman do, to get him into a rage of slitting other women’s throats?” Morgan asked as Spencer spoke up. “Most likely a divorce or rejecting marriage.” he said as you looked more into the file. “Could be either one, the percentage of first marriages that end in divorce is 50% , and depending on what ring it is when proposing the rejection is much higher.” you said as you got those facts from the top of your head.

“Okay, let's talk more on the plane, Texas is a long flight, see you all in 30.” hotch said as you all got up and you headed to your desk getting your go-bag and your files. You also brought your books to read on the jet. As you were all on your way to the jet you were walking behind everyone and Spencer thought it could be a good moment to greet on another.

“Hey, im..uh dr. Spencer reid. Or spencer you don't have to call me dr.” he said as you looked over to him and smiled. “Hi, im y/n greenaway. I’m dr. As well.” you said as his eyebrows rose. You didn’t know if it was the dr or your last name that shocked him, It didn't surprise you when people made that face here in the bureau. Your sister was a legend and so was your father.

“Your elle’s sister right?” he asked as elle walked over. “Yes she is so you better not mess with her.” she said as you laughed and she sat down with morgan and you looked around on where to sit, spencer was doing the same. “Do you uh, want to sit together? I mean you don't have to but, we could get to uh, know each other.” he said as you nodded, you were happy that you were getting along with someone who's like you that thought the same things. Being you was hard to make friends. You two talked about many things that you were interested in. He told a little about himself and you did as well.

As you landed you and Spencer were told to look through some files that could get you started on your geographical profile. You two were sitting there just looking through and drinking your coffee, JJ, Prentiss and Rossi were talking to the chief and came over to you guys.

“These are Dr's Spencer Reid and y/n greenaway. They are helping us with the geographical profile. One of the best we know.” JJ said as I smiled and me and Spencer were still looking through.  “How old are you guys? Seems too young to be doctors'' he said as Spencer and I looked at one another. On the jet spencer told you this type of situation would happen almost every time.

“Well we're not those types of doctors, we don't have a medical background, it's more psychological and behavioral,'' Spencer said as the chief was slightly still confused and you noticed so you explained more. “We look at why this man is here to target these women, what makes them want to target the women here. It could be that he has a family of some sort here and he can't really go anywhere, so that tells us he blends in. meaning people talk to him on a daily basis, but they don't notice anything strange because he blends in.” you said as the chief nodded understanding more and talking to rossi.

“Where did you find these guys?” he asked as Rossi just chuckled. “Well it's interesting how, but between you and me they were left at the doorsteps of the fbi. These guys are the best to find your guy.” he said as he nodded leaving him satisfied.

As you two were looking even more closer Spencer brought up the thought you made to the chief. “I think you're right about the unsub blending in, how else could he hide his cover? He has to live here, maybe he lost custody of his kids and that could be a possible stressor” he said as you nodded.

“Should i call garcia and let her do her magic?” you asked as he nodded and you called her going to get some coffee. “How do you like your coffee?” you asked as he looked up. “Just make sure it has enough sugar.” he said as you nodded, calling garcia.

“Hello my wonderful daughter, how may i lead you into the world?” she said as you laughed.

“Hello mother, i was wondering if you could search for men in their mid 30-40’s who recently went through some sort of rejections, divorce, lost a custody battle, and possibly losing their job. Someone who blends in, could be a person who helps a lot here.” you said as she did her typing. “Okay with the information you gave it should give me short list, but i cannot promise anything. Mother goose will call you soon.” she said as you giggled. As you walked back with the coffee and handed it to spencer as he looked up and smiled as a thank you. “So garcia is doing her magic, so she should call us any minute.” you said as he nodded and took a sip of his coffee. He just sat there in shock, you got the perfect amount. You were probably one of the fewer people who did get is order right. Even though it was just coffee and sugar. You noticed his shock as he kept drinking his coffee. “What? Does it taste bad?” you asked as he shook his head. “No, it's quite the opposite actually. It tastes perfect. How'd you know it was the right amount.” he said as you giggled. “Lets just say it was an educated guess.” you said as he chuckled looking back and waiting for your team. His brain was going crazy. You were perfect to him. You’re smart, outgoing, and the one that understood him the most even though you just met. He sat there with a smile as those thoughts ran through his head.

When the team arrived they were ready to give everyone the profile you and Spencer made while they mixed it in with theirs. Just then everyone in the room was getting a call that the man had killed again. Hotch answered and everyone headed out, besides a couple of the members.

As you sat there not being able to do anything garcia called you. You thanked the lords and hoped she found something. “Hey gracia you got something for me?” you said as the clicks on her keyboard were continuing. “As a matter of fact I do. This guy Marcus Gray, recently lost a custody battle to his wife, that looks exactly like the victims, and he recently lost his job, but he got another one and i was told by his schedule that he has not clocked in for over two hours, but then before i called you it shows that he just went into work 10 minutes after the last kill.” she said as your eyes widened. “Do you have addressed to both his house and his job?” you asked as she smirked. “Baby, I already sent them to you.” she said as you sighed. “Thank you mom.” you said as she giggled as you hung up.

“Okay we need hotch and everyone else on here.” you said as rossi made the call. “So lovely garcia found a guy who meets the profile, Marcus gray, who just lost a custody battle and was filed for divorce with his wife that looks like the victims and is considered to be very helpful and local. We have the addresses to his work and home.” you said as everyone was quite surprised at your work.

“Okay good, me, prentiss,elle and morgan, will go to his work, you spencer, and rossi, go to his house. Nice job y/n.” he said as you nodded getting ready.

You were all set up besides not having a gun but you saw you weren't the only one.

“You don't have a gun?” you asked Spencer as he scoffed. “Yeah i don't, i haven't really passed my qualifications test. You neither huh?” he said as you nodded. “Yeah I'm not so good physically,” you said as Rossi spoke up. “Maybe you two could study for it.” he said as you two scoffed. “I don't need to study i've got it, i just can't get my shots right.” you said as Spencer nodded. “Same here, considering i have a doctorate in math, i don't know my angles very well.” he said as you laughed. “Wait, that was a joke?” Rossi asked as you playfully rolled your eyes. “Oh rossi, you need to learn.” you said as you arrived at the unsubs house and checked the inside of it.

No one was home as suspected, as you looked around you saw many pictures of his kids but none of the exwife. You looked around his bedroom and looked through the drawers, one was locked but you got into the lock with a bobby pin. “Did you learn that in the academy?” spencer asked as you scoffed. “No i learned it from elle.” You said as he scrunched his nose, thinking of how elle could’ve possibly taught you that. And as you could read his mind you answered his question. “It’s a long story.” you said as he nodded with a smile. As you looked through the drawer, you saw many pictures of the wife marked up with many words.

“Rossi! Pictures of the wife are in here.” you said as he came into the room and looked though. “And well well well, a lovely picture of her and her girlfriend.” you chimed as held the picture.

“So he’s mad at his exwife for being gay? So religious reason, but also because of the custody battle.'' Spencer said as you nodded. “It has to be. Are the rest of the team at the work address?” you asked as Rossi nodded. “Yes they have him trapped, but he has a lady with him and a weapon.” he said as you nodded “how far away is it from here?” you asked as he checked his phone. “5 minutes away. Why?” he asked as you had a plan. “Get a team to look around in here and take me to where the guy is.” you said as rossi made the call and you were on your way over. “What's your plan?” spencer asked.

“Well i'm gonna try to get the guy to let her go.” you said as you got there and you saw he had his ex wife's girlfriend. Hotch saw you and you walked over to him telling him your plan. You walked to the usub and showed him you didn't have a gun. “Hey marcus. You gotta let her go.” you said as he shook his head. “No she ruined my family. She has to die.” he said as he pulled the knife out to me. “Marcus you're better than this. She didn't ruin your family. You will be the one doing that if you don't let her go. Think about your kids. Do you really want them thinking their dad could kill them in a matter of seconds? I know your kids mean a lot to you, you're a good dad. I know a good dad, and you are a good one.” you said as he lowered the knife down. “You really think i'm a good dad.” he said as you nodded. “You probably are. And you can continue to be a good dad if you let her go.” you said as he gave you the knife and let go of the lady. You threw the gun away and pulled the lady and motioned the team to go in.

You got the girlfriend back to her family and walked next to spencer. “How'd you know how to stop him?” he asked as you looked over at him. “I knew his kids were a weakness, all the pictures he has of his kids, to him they are everything to him since he lost his wife to someone else. He knew he could be the best to them. i knew he would let her go if i mentioned how good of a dad he would be.” you said as you were happy to have everyone alive.

On the jet you were all happy with what happend. Thanks to you everyone was alive and the kids were able to see their father in visits.

“Good job today mini greenaway.” morgan said as you high fived him. “Thanks.” you said as you read your book. You sat alone as Spencer was sitting with Elle, Prentiss and jj. “Come on spencer, go talk to her, ask her out or something.” jj said as his gaze was cut off. “What?” he said as elle looked at him. “we see the way you look at her.” prentiss said as elle chimed in. “Spencer, go after her. I owe you one.” she said as he scrunched his nose in confusion. “You saved my life remember? Let me save yours.” she said as he smiled heading over to you and talking to you some more. Maybe even getting to tell him your story from before.

Morgan sat with them as he got his wallet out. There was a bet on you two. Seeing how long it took for you two to talk and get to know each other and elle won. It was literally a no brainer, but then again Morgan would say it was unfair since you were her sister but he paid up.

She knew you two were gonna get along and maybe even get together but then again it was only a matter of time.

[kaispen]

Fresh Start, BFFs, the Lunar New Year 2018, My Fourth Take on Meet Me in St. Gallen

February 17, 2018

I’ve found myself smiling more often these days.

It must be from clarifying my principles these days, solidifying the lodestar that leads me to my new life, my fresh start.

I spent the Lunar New Year satisfyingly.

First, I had lunch with a friend, E, who, in the course of our friendship (of more than ten years), had risen to a high-ranking position in the four-thousand student strong university he has worked in for the past twenty years. His salary grade had risen four fold, his influence larger. But he wants to go back to his passion, where the real action is: classroom teaching.

In mid-afternoon, I went uptown to meet a friend whose niece was engaged in a Virtual Assistant online job. Two months from now, I will have been on leave, but will still need to earn a living. F, the niece, accommodated my request. After years, my mind finally accommodated the process of an SEO’s job. Just as we finished, BFF joined me in my friend’s house.

My friend’s elder sister, the lady of the house, held us captive by her animated, passionate storytelling of the mishaps of house construction in an upscale subdivision – the one we were visiting: the price padding of the engineer (a cousin whom she helped finish college), the deplorable paint job, the substandard water closets and lavatories (which looked as large as those in local ship cabins). She reenacted her rage in stage play proportions, it was hard not to follow. If it hadn’t been for the mommy duties of bff, we would have stayed till God knows what time.

At sundown, my best friend dropped me off at the uptown mall where I had my progressive eyeglasses checked. After ten months, my glasses had scratches on its surface, so I asked what my next best option was. Separate reading and distance glasses. Reading glasses were the priority. She had frames on sale, Php900 frame + lens. I told her I’d come back. At the ground floor, I found myself reading glasses worth Php300 and brought those home.

After I checked on my son, my friend, L, and I decided at the spur of the moment to hang out. Movie or whatever. Sin Island, I said. She’d wanted to watch Fifty Shades of Grey to which I was averse. Sin Island has better reviews. It has sex, but the movie sounds more intelligent than the dumbing damning Fifty Shades. In the end, we ended up at the hotel with our friends who had gotten married three days before. We had a riot recalling our maddening party days – how my marriage ended with that famous scuffle at the bar wherein my best friends had their starring roles. L’s crazy seven years with her unfaithful husband. Our bride friend relived her escapades which her husband listened to bemusedly. I had just learned that night that the bride and L had the craziest times (before bff and I joined their group).

A story: So L, and the newly wed bride, R, and their other friend, M, were regulars at the happening club in the early 2000’s. They were popular chicks who didn’t go to clubs to snag guys, but simply to drink and get drunk. They were natural partygoer magnets whose table was always a bus stop of hi’s, hello’s from acquaintances and admirers. One time, a younger guy they named D, a cousin of yet another friend, swung by their table. R & M were busy drinking and eating crispy pata while L just drank and ended up chatting with the new guy, D. Before everyone even knew it, L bit D in the chest! Bewildered, flattered and physically in pain, D showed his bruised chest where L had bit him to R & M.

The next week at ladies’ night, L, M, and R were at the same club again. Shortly after they’d settled down to their table to get drunk, D arrived with his basketball posse. D told his team that the hot girl who had given him his battle scar was sure to be in that place. Boy, was she ready to hump, he told his team smugly.

“So where’s the hot girl who’s so onto you?” asked the leader of their team, a tall, imposing man who was eyeing the area. “Over their, boss,” said D, pointing to my friends’ table.

“Fuck, that’s my sister!”

We all bawled over with laughter!

Yesterday was a refreshingly fun day.

Today was better.

My day started going to bff’s office to accompany her to the hospital, hoping to get her eyes checked by a glaucoma specialist.

While waiting for her to finish a conference with her client, I browsed some business starter articles.

I glowed when she and her client emerged into the receiving area. It turned out she was talking to my high school crush, now an aging heartthrob whose career as a playboy has seen better days.

“That voice!” I gushed when he’d gone out. “My goodness, the original Jerry Yan has aged well!”

At two hospitals, the doctors were not in. We went off to have lunch of greens and fish along the main thoroughfare of our city. Our conversation revolved around my immediate plans while going to one specific topic to another, but always back to my plans.

It felt good talking to a friend who didn’t need much explanation over where I have been in life. And even better that she was supportive without being patronizing. Bff has hardly been patronizing.

“Remember when you already had your son, but I was still single and free? That time when you said I could do anything I wanted? It’s you who’s at that place right now. Fresh start. And I am excited for you.”

Fresh start, she wrote on the restaurant’s place mat using her Pilot Prera Fountain Pen.

In mid afternoon, I introduced her to the blind masseuse I went to for a head and shoulder massage. She had wanted to have a massage the day before, but her husband invited her to go shopping on the mall wide sale. Her headache worried her. I told her to have her eyes checked, thus the decision to go doctor-hunting this morning. But since there were no doctors, she had an almost satisfying appointment with the masseuse. It would have been perfect if not for the lack of minutes or the comfort of her bed at home.

But the day was hardly over.

After I’d dropped by to check on my son, bff and I resumed our day.

Because her husband was going to sleep over at the province, she decided to watch Meet Me in St Gallen with me (my fourth viewing).

I went along with her as she finished her Saturday tasks of closing up her law office for the weekend, releasing the payroll to the men who were working on their house construction (this is why my friend’s sister the day before was even more relevant, because bff and husband were having theirs built, too), and then off to the movies. Along the way, we chatted about many things: her marriage, business, our insecurities, people we knew, loved, hated, our children, our escapades in the past.

“This is a good movie to watch if we were in our twenties,” bff said on the first episode of the movie. “Yeah,” I replied, “this is for people who haven’t tasted the bitterness of heartbreak.”

“Sometimes, he’s gwapo,” she’d say of Carlo Aquino, the leading man, “sometimes, so-so.” “To me, he is sooo gwapo,” I whispered my declaration.

On the second episode, she said, “Celeste is to me, as J is to Jesse.” We squealed quietly as I didn’t see that coming. J is her eternal college crush, Salvador del Mundo’s friend. “My god and my husband is not here tonight!” she fake-grumbled when Jesse pulled Celeste for a kiss.

We would laugh as other viewers would make spot on quips, rude as commenting in movie houses was. Eventually, we subsided into taking in the serious scenes that would tie the movie together.

Towards the end of the movie, after Celeste told Jesse that she had a boyfriend, the two were just walking along the snow covered path, Celeste picked her phone up, and we, the audience were tight chested and in tears, someone from a row above us whispered audibly, “Her boyfriend is dead.” Bff and I stifled our hearty laughs through our heartache and tears.

And then the movie ended.

“Reality kills romance.” That is bff’s famous FB comment concluding what she made up about Sharon and Gabby’s small screen McDo ad, that part 2 of the real/reel life lovers reunion would be computing the latter’s arrears in child support for their daughter KC.

Trust and thank bff for taking us for a smooth landing from Cloud 9.

This is the context to which I analyzed Meet Me in St. Gallen with bff.

It is sheer poetry, the movie, I maintained. It is unrealistic, said bff. Because no one would pull off what Celeste did to Jesse in their first meeting. Yes, it was sassy, I agreed, and people like my younger self, would have wanted to emulate. “You’re a stalker!” But reality is, no self-respecting guy would pursue such a cuckoo, if cute, but cuckoo nonetheless approach from a girl. And in real life, the girl, too, would have had other recourses if she did suspect that the guy was a stalker.

But they were in their early twenties and they were in a film. So, yup, it worked out.

Next, we both agreed that we had grown old and crossed over to the dark side, not agreeing to Celeste and Jesse’s decision of sharing that night four years later. Yes, it happens in real life on a regular basis, but no, we didn’t agree that they had to do it.

Besides, Celeste was too good to be true, holding her sassy tongue when “Mahal’s” name blinked while Jesse’s phone rang. In reality, we would have given Jesse a piece of our mind the morning after. And yes, Celeste would have been capable of that, given her cheeky nature.

But the film showed sheer poetry in the wordless minutes when beautiful body language and eye contact danced to the languid melody of “The Morning After”. Celeste is the humanized ideal version of ourselves. The tragic heroine who cried in silence as her torn lover left her to face the aftermath of that morning after.

Indeed, Celeste made Jesse her ideal man. It is hard to marry the ideal man lest he fall short of her expectations. The farting, the bad odors, irritating habits and unforgivable quirks. Reality kills romance. “Good thing I have low expectations of my husband,” bff declared. “Yes, because either you discard the situation or find a way to live with yourself and him,” I added. “This is why I’m single and ‘Because This is My First Life’ is such a good series.”

“But still, that guy above us wanted to kill Celeste’s boyfriend,” we burst out laughing. “I still want them to end up together,” I’m not sure if I said that aloud of just thought about it (why do you think I watched it a fourth time?).

“As much as critics compare it to the ‘Before’ trilogy, in my opinion, St. Gallen is incomparable. I found the intellectual talk in the ‘Before’ trilogy contrived. Here in St. Gallen, the movie spoke to the audience about things that matter – “

“Yes, it has layers, it has depth.”

“Indeed! It talks about life, about love. About things that matter to people. Destiny, choices,”

“And they are so beautiful, the two of them. And Carlo Aquino looks like J.”

“I want to make an oeuvre as beautiful and magical as that.”

“Make a book out of the love letters sent to you.”

Our conversation turned to Amy Tan’s books. We would have talked into the night if bff’s babies weren’t waiting. It was time to call it a night at nine p.m.

After a lighthearted chat with my son, I said a thanksgiving rosary for the wonderful lunar new year. Fresh start. I’m feeling hopeful.

My lodestar verbalized, on the way to being solidified. I’ll write that in another post, I hope.

I had to write these events down before my bedtime shower. Good night.

[lovemesomerafael]

Others Like Me                                   Chapter 19:  After The Fight

Source: @erikisright​

     Chapters 1-15   Chapter 16  Chapter 17   Chapter 18  Read It On AO3

They should be down in the kitchen, having breakfast with the rest of the team.  There’s a formal debrief after that, which is mandatory, at least for Marya.  Somehow, after what happened at Fort Drum the day before, it feels to both of them like it’s mandatory for Bucky now, too.  But they can’t get out of bed.  They’ve tried twice now.  

The first time, Bucky had stood and tried to pull Marya up with him, but she’d simply tripped him to the floor and landed, naked and demanding, on top of him.  He’d really tried to resist.  For a good five seconds, he’d tried to stiff-arm her and refuse to kiss her. But then she’d always fought dirty. She’d simply stopped trying to kiss him and sat up straddling his hips.  

“I want to have sex with you, Sergeant,” she’d said, then begun sliding her hands up her own body.  “But if you will not have sex with me, I will have sex alone and think about you.”

By the time her fingers had teased her nipples to hardness, the show and her gyrations had teased his cock to hardness, too, and he’d had no choice but to fuck her, hard, there on the floor.  Afterward, they’d crawled back under the covers to kiss and cuddle for a while.

The second time, Marya had playfully asked Bucky to carry her to the shower, and he’d agreed.  They might have made it if he’d carried her bridal style, but he’d made the mistake of pulling her into his arms and letting her wrap her legs around his waist. By the time they’d made it to the entrance to the bathroom, he was already hard enough that his cock was pressing up against the inviting pucker of her ass.  And since the lube was in the bedside table, he’d been forced to carry her back there, which…  

So now they’re still in bed, they’ve pretty much missed breakfast, and neither one of them has any desire to be anywhere but where they are. They’ve decided not to go to the debrief.  If anyone tries to make them, they will demand an exemption on the basis that they’ve just been reunited after several years and are therefore entitled under international – and perhaps interuniversal – law to at least three solid days of reunion sex.  

“I think Mr. Stark will figure out that switch now,” Marya is saying.  “If he does, would you ever want to go back to our universe?”

“Depends on whether he can figure out the landing. Because that shit seriously sucks.”

Marya doesn’t laugh, which lets Bucky know that she’s not asking an idle question.  It doesn’t take much to figure out what she’s actually asking.

“Hey,” he says, and tips her chin up to look him in the eye.  “I came to this universe to find you because I love you.  You are the person I want to be with for the rest of my life.”

“But…”

“No, Marya.  There’s no ‘but.’  There’s no Steve.  He’s made his choice and that’s over.  And I’ve made my choice.  I choose you.”

Now Marya does laugh, the sweet, uninhibited way she expresses happiness too great to contain.  She tightens her arms around Bucky, squeezing him with unrestrained delight. Which, honestly, hurts a little bit, but he’s not going to mention it.  

“My Sergeant, mine forever!  How can I be so lucky?  Can we get married?”

“Yes, but you have to let me ask you.”

“Why?”

“It’s the rules.”

“No, it isn’t.”

“It is for me. I’m old fashioned.”

She leans up on an elbow so she can see his face. “But you will ask?”

“Yes, Marya.  I will.”  Then, teasing her but also meaning every word, he adds, “You have to wait, though. I wanna do it right.”

“I can wait.  As long as you are here with me.”

There’s a happy silence for a bit as they both think about what they’ve just decided so easily.  After a few minutes, Marya says, “Steve Rogers is a putz.”

“A putz?”  Bucky barks out a surprised laugh.

“Did I use that wrong? Clint said it means-“

“You used it right.  And accurately, too.  It’s just cute, coming from you.”

“If Mr. Stark ever does figure out how to make that switch work backwards, I’m going to find Captain Rogers and tell him he is a putz.  I will probably punch him, too.”

“He’s an old man, you know.”

“Good. I might actually be able to hurt him now.”

“But if he hadn’t gone back to Peggy Carter, then you and I wouldn’t be here together.”

“I don’t care.  I’m still going to do it.  He deserves it.”

Bucky laughs.  “Can’t argue that.  But I’m too happy to be very mad at him right now.”

“Me, too.”

“Let’s just wish him well, and hope that he’s happy, too.”

“All right, Sergeant, if you ask me to.  But I’m going to make you happier than he is.  Just to spite him.”

“That’ll show him.”

That’s when Tony’s annoyed voice comes from the speakers that usually only broadcast Jarvis’s melodious British-accented politeness.

“Hey, lovebirds, debrief’s in fifteen minutes. Which means if you’re not in the conference room in ten, I’m turning on the fire sprinklers.”

“You wouldn’t do that,” Bucky laughs.

“No, Jarvis wouldn’t do that, which is why you’re talking to me.  And he wouldn’t let me set ‘em off without giving you a warning first, either.  But he will let me manually set ‘em off in ten minutes.  Well, nine minutes and forty-five seconds now.”

“Sir, that’s unfair.  We believe we’re entitled to-“

“Stark out.”

Bucky hisses a very impolite word, but in his current blissed-out state, the effect isn’t very impressive.

  In the conference room, Tony informs Bucky and Marya that the team have voted to require them to sit on opposite sides of the table.  The vote wasn’t unanimous, he says, but he won’t tell them the count, or how anyone voted.

Bucky’s tempted to think they’re kidding, until he sees Marya’s face and watches her obediently take a seat between Natasha and Barnes.  He takes the remaining seat at the table between Bruce and Sam.  He scowls at Tony, who is standing at the head of the conference room table, and is surprised when Tony responds by smiling back, his eyes crinkling with joy.  

“Well,” Tony says, clearing his throat a little. “I suppose we oughtta get this meeting started.  But before we begin the formal debrief, we took another vote this morning that you two oughtta know about.”

Marya’s eyes have just enough fear in them to worry Bucky, even though everyone else at the table looks calm.  A little too calm, maybe?  Like there’s some emotion everyone’s suppressing as they focus on Tony more intently than Bucky’s ever seen them do at any other meeting. Tony’s the only one with an expression on his face; he’s still smiling like a lunatic.  

“Barnes?”  Tony says with a wave of his hand, and sits down.

Barnes rises and faces Bucky across the table. And then, suddenly, he’s smiling, too. “Bucky, after what you did yesterday, we’re certain – all of us - that you’ve been straight with us all along about who you are.  It’s also certain that we and a lot of other people would be dead today if you hadn’t come through for us yesterday.”

Marya beams and struggles to stay quiet and seated in her excitement.  Bucky finds himself smiling, too, a warmth washing through him that he hasn’t felt in a very long time.  This group, which includes three people he’d thought lost to him forever, has done him the honor of trusting him, something he knows must have been very difficult for some of them to do.

“Thank you.  All of you.  I appreciate the faith you showed, giving me access to a quinjet and weapons.  It was an honor to fight with –“

“Will you shut the fuck up?  I ain’t done,” Barnes snaps, but with a grin.

Bucky’s mouth shuts with an audible click.

“We’re hearing from the guys in the CAB, and there’s video of what you did there.  The Hulk saw what you did to help him capture the Mandarin, but of course, Banner doesn’t remember that, so we’ve been watchin’ video of that, too.”  A spasm of pain crosses Barnes’s handsome face as he mentions the Mandarin, but he buries it almost instantly.

“Your hair is an insult to the me’s in every universe, and I don’t know why the fuck you’d ever let anyone call you that lame nickname, but you do OK,” Barnes continues, getting snickers from half the people at the table and groans from the other half.  

And then he gets very serious.  “Which is why we want you on the team.  This is a formal invitation to become one of us.  And you should know that becoming a member of the Avengers Initiative requires a unanimous vote of the whole team.”

There’s a moment of expectant silence, where everyone stares at Bucky, waiting for him to react.  He sits there, stunned into apparent catatonia, for several breaths before the moment is broken from an unexpected quarter.

“You didn’t let me vote,” Marya objects.

Barnes, grinning, looks down at her, seated next to where he’s standing.  “Didn’t think there was any question how you’d vote.  Were we wrong?”

“No.  But for the record, I vote yes!”

At her exultant shout, the suppressed excitement and elation in the room finally erupt.  Bucky finds himself engulfed in a scrum of Avengers, which he’s glad of for a couple of reasons.  First, it seems like the right way to celebrate such a monumental moment.  And second, it lets him surreptitiously wipe his tears on them as they all hug him.  

Bucky isn’t the only one with moist eyes when, after quite some time, everyone moves back to their seats.  He’s surprised to see that one of those having the most trouble concealing their emotions is Tony Stark.  But then he remembers what Tony told him that day in his lab, about his fear that he would ruin what this universe’s Steve Rogers worked so hard for. Bucky doesn’t need to be the exquisitely-trained expert he is to see, in the relaxed set of Tony’s shoulders and the new-found peace in his eyes, that a massive weight has been lifted from him. Bucky put a large part of that weight on Tony himself, simply by showing up in this universe.  But now that the weight of responsibility for deciding whether Bucky can be trusted is gone, a great deal of the weight of losing Steve Rogers from the team has lifted, too.  

Because Bucky was made to be an Avenger.  He didn’t choose to be made into what he is, as this universe’s Barnes did, or as Steve did.  But Bucky’s Steve rescued him from Hydra, and gave him the ability to choose what to do with it.  And this is what he chooses.  

Bucky feels something deep inside him click into place.  From the moment he’s been free to choose, this is what he’s chosen.  Good, and right, and protecting people rather than hurting them.  Which means that this is who he is.  He is not the things Hydra told him he was, or even the things he’s been telling himself he is.  Oh, he’s the Winter Soldier, all right, and he’s for damn sure a weapon.  But he’s a weapon on the right side.  

He wishes, for just a second, that he could tell Steve.  

 *****

For the Avengers, firearms practice involves a good amount of shooting at stationary targets.  Although no one can touch Clint with a bow and arrow (nor does anyone but him really want to use one in combat), they’re all good shots with firearms.  No one can rival Barnes - and now Bucky - with a gun, but it’s inspirational for the rest of the team to have someone that skilled around.  And for the two of them, it’s a gift they never expected to get, having someone of equivalent skill around to challenge them.  They enjoy the hell out of their fierce, raucous, sometimes vicious competition, and even in the short time Bucky’s been with the Avengers Initiative, both have improved their already extraordinary skills as a result.

The others are as competitive with each other as Barnes and Bucky are.  Marya and Sam, in particular, are in a constant battle to best each other’s scores. It’s friendly enough – usually – and it makes them better at what they do, so their rivalry is encouraged.  

More often than stationary targets, however, firearms practice involves shooting at moving targets, because so does saving the world.  Tony designed a system that the Avengers can use to create wicked training environments, configuring them to simulate all sorts of situations and present a wide range of challenges.  They try to outdo each other in creating simulations that involve the most athleticism and skill, and have the greatest potential for kicking your ass if you fuck up.

Marya’s spent the day in firearms training, and she’s tired and sore.  She’s also a bit discouraged, because she hasn’t yet mastered Natasha’s latest training course.  In fact, she got shot and knocked off a five-story building three times today. True, the training environment doesn’t shoot real bullets, but the pain when the rubber bullets impact on your protective armor is real, as are the bruises.  And the five-story fall is real, even if the mats and safety ropes do cushion the landing.  A little.

She’s looking forward to a long, hot shower as she lets herself into her apartment, but she stops dead and her mind goes completely blank as she looks past her living room into her little kitchen.  

Bucky stands in the doorway smiling at her, clean-shaven with significantly shorter hair than he’d had in the morning.  It’s still chin-length; he likes it long and he doesn’t want to wear it the same way Barnes does.  But it’s a very different look than he’d arrived with.  And it’s exactly the way he looked the day they’d met.

Marya’s floored.  She stands for a moment, goggling stupidly at him and moving her lips but making no sound until she finally chokes out, “Your hair…”

“Yeah, got tired of Sam givin’ me shit about it.”

“That is not why.”

He probably should have expected this. Hell, he kind of did; this is Marya, after all.  Bucky stops trying to bluff his way through the moment.  “I let it grow when I was feeling sorry for myself. Couldn’t be bothered.  Thought it was about time I get over myself and grab the reins a little bit here.”

“Sergeant, you look beautiful.  Perfect.  I mean, you always look beautiful and perfect, but now you look like my Sergeant again.  Like when I met you.  Before you were so unhappy.”

“Yeah.  That’s kind of how I feel.”

She’s smiling back at him now, and practically launches herself at him.  He braces himself for impact just in time, and then he’s holding an armload of delighted, if sweaty, giggling woman.  

“I want you to be happy here with me.”

“I am happy, Marya.  That’s why I decided to stop lookin’ like I did when I wasn’t.”

“I’m glad.  I’m so glad, Sergeant.”

Bucky moves to set Marya down on her feet.  “Go take a shower.  It’s game night.”

Marya laughs giddily and tries to pull him by his hand toward the bathroom.  “You come, too.”

“I already had a shower.  Anyway, I have to go get us some cash.  Tonight’s bowling.  Have you ever bowled?”

“What is bowled?”

“That’s a no, then.  OK.  I’ll get a lot of cash.  Looks like you’re gonna lose big.”

  Tony went through a period where he wanted to create something like the holodeck on Star Trek.  He never got quite there, but he did end up with a system on which they can play hundreds of different games, from console-style games like Galaga to real sports like skiing and, yeah, bowling.  The game environment fills a large room, and it’s like a combination of a bunch of different game systems, only more immersive and infinitely more fun. Sales of the commercial version of the system have recently made Tony his latest billion.

But the way the Avengers play isn’t exactly the way the system is advertised.  Marya’s been known to hack it to make it do surprising things (Sam especially did not appreciate the random knife-wielding attack octopi she programmed into Minecraft), and Natasha refuses to play any game unless they find a way to play for money.

There’s always drinking, overly-competitive behavior, trash-talking, and above all, raucous laughter.  Tonight’s game is kind of like league bowling, in that there are three lanes, three teams, and competition for the high score.  But that’s about where the similarity ends. First of all, because the environment’s virtual, and it’s Tony.  So in the Avengers’ version, the “bowling alley” has chandeliers and plays ‘80’s hair metal so loud it’s hard to hear the insults flying everywhere, and everything’s red and gold.  The virtual players in the non-active lanes are all recognizable: for example, there’s a team made up of James Dean, Mary Magdalene, and Boba Fett, and another featuring Stephen Hawking and Hall & Oates.  Tony does make everyone wear bowling shoes and he’s had league shirts made, but the shoes are designed to resemble each player’s fighting signature (Bruce’s are green with black leather fringe) and the shirts are silk.  

There are bets on everything.  Natasha bets Clint three hundred bucks that Tony’s next ball will be a strike.  When Sam rolls a particularly ugly split, Bruce bets him five hundred that he can’t pick it up.  Tony bets Scott on what Bucky’s next swear word will be.  And there are bizarre rules.  Anyone who leaves only the seven pin standing has to play the rest of the game in their underwear and pay everyone else a hundred bucks, but if anyone leaves only the nine pin standing, everyone else has to strip to their underwear and pay that person a hundred bucks.  No one can use a ball of any color found in their shoes.  New rules keep being added until they become so complicated that Jarvis is enlisted to keep track of them all and to tally the amounts of money won and lost.  

And shit blows up.  Marya may never have bowled before, but she figured the game could only be enhanced by the occasional randomly-exploding bowling ball, so she’d programmed that in the day before.  Bruce, who is an outstanding bowler, decides that having the pins blown up shouldn’t count as a strike, because there’s no skill involved.  So an explosion counts as a gutterball.  And actual gutterballs are a disaster, because Marya’s filled the gutters with virtual jelly.  A gutterball splashes jelly onto the lane and it stays there, becoming something the bowler has to take into account in their aiming and strategy.

In lane one are Barnes, Clint, and Scott, who’s back visiting.  Barnes, in his red-and-white-striped shoes with large blue stars on the sides, is doing well because he’s strong enough to power his ball through the slowing effect of the jelly copiously splashed across his lane by Clint’s unfortunate tendency to hook left.  Scott just tries to splash as much jelly as possible before, inevitably, his ball is slowed to a stop in the muck.  

Lane two - Natasha, Bucky, and Bruce’s lane - remains jelly-free.  Bruce is in the lead, but the other two have impressive scores, as well.  It’s the alley that looks the most like an actual game of bowling, except for the bomb craters and scorch marks.

The hopeless quagmire of jelly in the third lane was set on fire when one of Marya’s balls blew up.  Sam, though, seems to have figured out the right approach and has even made a couple of strikes, although the lane is still steadily burning.  Tony is clearly cheating somehow, and has the highest score of anyone despite their alley being full of flaming goo.  Marya has yet to knock down a pin, but she’s having a great time.

That’s when Thor makes his appearance.  

His arrival isn’t that much of a surprise, really, in that when Thor shows up, it’s always random and unannounced.  But they haven’t seen him in many years.  In fact, they haven’t seen him since Marya’s been in this universe.  And his presence on the rooftop quinjet platform has set off the intruder alarm and set them all scrambling.  

He’s Thor, of course, so the chances of him being hurt are pretty slim, but the Avengers are all in various stages of intoxication, which makes his manner of arrival somewhat ill-advised.  Which he acknowledges when Tony, among the drunkest, begins yelling almost immediately.  

“Thor, you dumbass, I could’ve blasted you into next week!”

“Could you?  So you’ve invented a time weapon?  How exciting!”

Tony shakes his head.  Thor can be really frustrating.  

“He means we could have thought you were a real intruder and shot you,” Barnes sighs, shouldering his weapon.  

“You ever heard of calling first?”  Natasha asks, but she’s smiling and walking toward him for a hug.  

After everyone has stepped forward to greet him, Thor sees Bucky and Marya standing together, a little bit behind the others. He squints.

“Bucky!  Marya! Well met!” He calls to them in his booming voice, once he recognizes them.  In his ridiculous, godlike stride, he reaches them in two steps and takes them both into his arms.  He’s beaming while they’re both slack-jawed, pretty much like everyone else on the platform.

“What the hell?”  Clint’s the first to find his voice.  “How do you know who that is?”

“We know one another.  It is good to see you, and I’m pleased to see that you have found one another again.”

“But…  you’re…” Tony tries.  

“What is it, friend Tony?  You seem to be alarmed.”

“Well, yeah!  Barnes doesn’t go by Bucky, and there’s two of him, in case you haven’t noticed.  And how the hell do you know Marya?  She doesn’t even exist in this universe, not like this.”

Thor laughs, finally understanding, and squeezes Bucky and Marya, each in one massive arm.  “Oh, yes, that would be confusing for you.  I know them in their universe.”

The noise rising up from the city is too loud for them to hear the sound of crickets, even if it was actually audible.

“Thor, what the fuck,” Sam finally asks, as gobsmacked as the rest and really needing his buzz back at this moment.  “Are you saying that you’re interdimensional?  Or that you can hop universes?  Whatever the terminology is?”  

“Of course not.  I am of Asgard.  There is only one Asgard.  The Bifrost travels to-“

“Wait,” Natasha says, holding up a hand, palm out, toward Thor.  “You know what?  Just stop. I am both too drunk and not drunk enough for this.  I’m done. I’m calling it.”  With that, she simply walks back into the building.

The rest of the evening passes in finishing their game while Thor tries valiantly to understand the rules.  Tony programs a lane for Thor so that he can join in, giving him Eleanor Roosevelt and Babe Ruth for teammates.  The best part of watching Thor learn the Avengers’ version of bowling is his absolute childlike glee each time his ball explodes.

  Breakfast the following morning begins as a somber affair.  The serum prevents Barnes, Bucky, and Marya from getting drunk, so they’re the only ones not hung over.  The group ends up having to forbid Thor from speaking, because no matter how hard he tries, he cannot quiet his booming voice and their headaches simply won’t tolerate that shit.  The good news is that Tony is a forward thinker, and there are pitchers of Bloody Marys and mimosas to take the edge off.  Thor, not really familiar with these drinks or the concept of pitchers, just puts a straw in one and goes for it.

Once breakfast is over, those who feel capable decide to purge the residual alcohol from their systems by sweating it out in the gym.  As they go, Tony gives Barnes and Bucky his now-customary dirty look and points at them, silent and accusatory.  They nod in acquiescence, as usual, and – also as usual – trade smirks and fist bumps once Tony’s back is turned.  

Tony and Bruce drag Thor up to Tony’s workshop. They can’t wait to see what Asgardian knowledge might have to offer the project of creating a new switch that would allow them to travel to alternate universes.  Although Thor gets bored early, they keep him there, asking him questions that are to him so basic an Asgardian child would ask them in a classroom.  He answers, because he’s polite and they’re his friends, but he’d really rather be in the gym with the others.

  That night, once most of the team members have gone to bed, Tony invites Thor to join him for a late-night cigar on the landing pad outside his penthouse.  Thor is thousands of years old and knows when someone needs a private talk, but he’s not a big fan of cigars.

“Could we not relax in the Common Room instead? That is the place for serious discussions, is it not?”

“Yeah, usually,” Tony agrees.  “But it’s also directly underneath Bucky and Marya’s apartment.  I haven’t perfected the soundproofing yet, and I can’t get them to move, so it’s not a great place to hang out without headphones on these days.”

“I do not understand.”

“Supersoldier sex is loud, Thor.  It’s not just the shouting, either.  There’s a lot of thudding and stuff.  Things get broken a lot.”

“Ah!”  Thor smiles proudly.  “In Asgard, we celebrate exuberant lovemaking.  But I understand that on Midgard, the customs are different.”

Tony doesn’t bother to get into it with him, just leads Thor to his private elevator.  Once out on the spacious balcony, they light up and Tony laughs as Thor makes faces, gamely trying to enjoy his rare Cuban cigar.

“So I was thinking that, if you’re familiar with more than one universe, you probably know several Tony Starks, too, right?”

“Only a few.  I enjoy them all, however.”

“Well, yeah.  But let me ask you this.  How many of the Stark Industries in those universes make weapons?”

Thor frowns in apparent confusion.  “Just you.  But not all of the Stark Industries in all the universes are like this one, or the one in Bucky and Marya’s universe.  Some are quite… modest.”

Thor has to slap Tony on the back for a solid minute after his horrified gasp results in a lungful of unexpected smoke.

“Modest?  What does that mean?”

“Well, one of them makes toys.  They are very clever, and most beloved.  That Tony Stark is also Ironman, but that Stark Industries has never fully recovered after the lawsuits.”

Tony sits down hard on a nearby chaise longue, putting his head between his knees and moaning.

“And, of course, there is the one that makes office supplies.  You’d be very proud.  Stark is the only recognized brand of staplers in that universe.  That Stark Industries is thriving, but not on the scale of yours. It was more lucrative under your father, but at that time it made sexual appliances, which-“

“It made…  we made…”

“Yes, but you and Miss Potts came to an understanding in that universe.  She agreed to marry that Tony Stark and allow him to remain Ironman, but only on the condition that he would manufacture something other than marital aids.”

“Wait, we’re married in that universe?”

“Oh, yes.  Quite happily.”

Tony shakes his head and makes a supreme effort to return to the subject at hand.  “So, I’m the only me whose SI makes weapons?”

“Yes.  But take heart!  Your Stark Industries has the highest earnings of all of them.”

“And in the other universes, is there terrorism like there is in this one?”

“Oh, hell, no,” Thor laughs, puffing on his cigar. “Don’t be stupid.”

[cuthian]

In Hell, We Stand By You Chapter Five

Hi there, guys!

Just a quick FYI for all of you. The last two chapters of this part are still in editing and rewriting, so after the next chapter on tuesday, I will pause updating for a week or so, until my last exam is done and I will be able to spend some more time on actually writing.

It won't take more than a week, maximum two, I'm sure, to have the last two chapters up to where they need to be before I can update them.

Thank you for all the support so far, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Love, Annaelle

TRIGGER WARNING: Steve briefly thinks about suicide and dying, but ultimately doesn't do anything and talks about it with a healthcare professional.

Chapter Five

—————

The war against Iraq has been a part of many Americans’ reality for some time, but it truly hit home for the Barnes-Proctor family six months ago, when news broke that their youngest granddaughter, Capt. Rebecca Barnes, was captured by a faction of Al’Qaeda. Capt. Barnes’ capture was not made public knowledge until two months ago, when images of Capt. Barnes being rescued from her cell by U.S. Army soldiers, guided by Iron Man, flickered onto TV screens and internet sites.

The images of Barnes, 22, shocked Americans, and Barnes’ family specifically, deeply.

…In all, 34 soldiers from Barnes’ unit were unaccounted for – either captured, dead, or missing – after fierce fighting at Basra in south-east Iraq, but Capt. Barnes is as of yet the only known survivor. From the single image that has been released, it seems obvious that Capt. Barnes’ rights as a POW were severely violated, and the fact that her return to the U.S. needed to be delayed by two months until Capt. Barnes was stable enough to withstand transport only reinforces such ideas.

…Barnes, the granddaughter of State Senator James Proctor and Doctor Rebecca Proctor, joined the Army in July 2004 after high school to gain life experience and, to paraphrase Dr. Rebecca Proctor, to “pay her dues to her country as all those in our family have done”.

…“Becca has always been strong,” Dr. Proctor said at a press conference last month. “We have no doubt that she will pull through and return to the U.S. as the hero she now is.”

Capt. Barnes’ ordeal, to which we can only speculate based on a singular image, will certainly keep the nation enthralled for weeks to come, as Capt. Barnes is prepared to return to U.S. by medical envoy.

—M. Pleadt, CNN, ‘Captain Rebecca Barnes to return to the U.S. after time as POW’, 2008

—————

Rebecca Barnes’ residence, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, United States of America

July 2011 Steve

The light that filtered through the thin, gauzy curtains was still faint and pale, and Steve blinked lazily at the clock on the opposite wall. It ticked on merrily, undisturbed by his heavy gaze, showing a time that was far from socially acceptable to be awake. Steve hadn’t slept through an entire night since he had received the serum though, and after he’d been forced to watch Bucky fall to his death…

Closing his eyes…

He swallowed thickly and shook his head.

The thoughts and images that haunted him did not bear thinking of in daylight.

He shook himself again and summarily focused on piece of paper on the fridge, listing his schedule for the day. It was a simple schedule, and he’d only complied in making it because he’d learned, in the weeks since he’d moved out of Becky’s spare bedroom and into the second bedroom in Becca’s apartment, that it was a really great motivator to get out of bed.

One step at a time.

Day by day.

Hour by hour.

Minute by minute.

After Becca had returned Bucky’s dog tags to him, Steve had made a conscious effort to get better.

The twenty-first century terrified him on a daily basis still, but he’d found that it wasn’t so overwhelming once he found the right friends to help him adjust. When he had shown Becca the article on the Smithsonian exhibit, tears of anger and frustration burning in his eyes at the thought of his drawings of Bucky being on display like that, she’d assured him she’d find a way to take care of it.

Two days later, a tall, beautiful woman with strawberry-blonde hair and an impeccable suit had shown up in Becky’s living room with a pile of papers that he needed to sign.

She’d explained that, while no one had been informed he was actually alive, she could put things in motion to have his driver’s license validated, his passport updated and his back pay from the Army released. It had all sounded like a load of hogwash to Steve, but it had been the papers he needed to sign saying he did not consent to his private property being used in a public display that nearly had him bursting into tears again.

The woman—Ms. Potts, as she’d introduced herself—had patted his shoulder kindly and explained that no museum had the right to exhibit his personal belongings without his express permission, but that such technicalities were often overlooked when there wasn’t a family member alive to legally object to the exhibit. He’d never signed anything as fast before.

A day later, Ms. Potts had called him to tell him the exhibit had been temporarily postponed, and she was working on getting the museum to return all of his personal belongings to him.

It had also been the day Steve had caught himself sitting on the bathroom floor with a razor blade slipping between his fingertips, the metal cool and sharp where he had it pressed up against the thin layer of skin covering his ulnar artery.

It had been, quite honestly, a terrifying experience.

He didn’t want to kill himself—not truly.

He didn’t always see the point of being alive when none of his loved ones were anymore, but he’d never actively tried to take his own life before.

He’d confided in Becca first, to his own surprise, counting on the fact that the other woman had been in his shoes—somewhat, anyway—to help her understand his reluctance to admit the weakness he’d discovered in himself.

The thought of having to vocally admit to a weakness like battle-fatigue was petrifying.

He was, for all intents and purposes, still Captain America.

Captain America was never meant to succumb to an act of cowardice as vile and inadequate as battle fatigue. He’d brought it up with Becca for that purpose alone—he knew she would have to understand what it would mean, having been in the Army herself.

He didn’t think Becky, for all that she was immensely knowledgeable and understanding, would know what accusations of such nature could lead to if overheard by the wrong person.

Steve, however, did. He was intimately and painfully aware of what happened to soldiers who succumbed to the weakness. He’d seen good men lead before a tribunal, accused and condemned for something Steve didn’t think was fair—no one asked to see the things they did in war. No one asked to be in a war in the first place; but nonetheless, those that didn’t know how to cope as well as others were ostracized and kicked out…

He’d even seen a man executed for it once.

It had not been common in their ranks, but Private Lucas O’Geary’s terrified, wide eyes as he was led before a firing squad were burned into Steve’s memory.

Becca had, gently and calmly, explained that things weren’t done like that anymore, and that it was no sin nor cowardice to admit to what she called PTSD. She’d told him of the therapist she talked to once a week, and the group meeting she frequented, where she was able to share her experiences with others who had gone through the same thing.

The idea itself was comforting, but it had still taken him several days to take her up on her offer to accompany her to one of said meetings, and a few days more until he relented and called the phone number she had given him—a therapist who was trustworthy and good, and willing to help him.

It had been one of the most terrifying experiences of his life, but there was something reassuring about knowing there was someone other than Becky or Becca to call when his own emotions and the world itself would completely overwhelm him again.

The therapist, a kind, seemly woman named Karen with thick copper curls and a friendly smile that reminded him of his mother so much it ached, had taken everything that came with Steve’s unusual background in stride and had focused, first and foremost, on ensuring he was comfortable.

She had signed the paperwork Becca and Ms. Potts insisted upon without a fuss, and had helped Steve talk through his life before the war, and how it still affected him—when he’d tried to deflect and tell her it was, apparently, all required reading in high school, she easily countered his point and reminded him that none of the historians who wrote those textbooks were him.

She wanted to hear from him.

It had been Karen who suggested mapping out each day, giving him a reason to get out of bed each morning, regardless of the dreary weather or his own dreary mood.

It had, to Steve’s greatest surprise, helped more than he cared to admit.

It had also been Karen who suggested he move out of Becky’s spare bedroom and into an actual apartment, where he could legitimately build himself a home. Becca had offered the second room in her apartment, citing she needed a roommate anyway, and Steve might as well start out with someone he could actually trust.

Living with the youngest Barnes had been… it had been a revelation, to say the very least.

He’d been shocked to his core on the first morning after he had moved in, when he had walked into the kitchen to find Becca eating a bowl of a sugary concoction she claimed was cornflakes dressed in nothing but a skimpy pair of panties and a tank top that honestly revealed more than it covered.

Steve was fairly certain he’d never blushed so hard in his life.

He’d also run into the doorpost trying to walk right back out of the kitchen and had been forced to sit through the most embarrassing ten minutes of his life while Becca’d applied butterfly Band-Aids to the cut above his eyebrow—still dressed in nothing but the top and her underwear—and Steve had tried to look everywhere but at her.

Steve grinned at the memory now, weeks later, after Becca had slapped him up the head and told him to get his head out of the gutter and had reminded him that, “you were like basically married to my great-uncle, or something. Would have been if had been legal. Whatever. It’s weird. You’re hot, but I wouldn’t touch you with a ten-foot-pole, buddy.”

It had made a whole lot more sense when she had been dressed and poking him in the chest until he agreed with her. Once that issue had been cleared, Steve and Becca had fallen into a routine so smoothly, Steve found it difficult to believe he’d been here less than a month.

He had learned to work Becca’s coffeemaker on his second day in the apartment, when it became apparent that Becca didn’t really function as a human being before her third cup of caffeine.

She had shown him how to work the complicated monstrosity before sitting him down and suggesting he and Karen-the-therapist talk about healthy ways to go about trying to catch up with the twenty-first century. It had helped, to have a few different suggestions, to figure out what best suited him.

He’d began with day-to-day things, to ensure he could live without feeling completely out of his depth.

From there on, Becca had helped him choose some books and films to watch, to slowly immerse himself in pop culture until he felt less like he didn’t understand a single word anyone was saying. He quite enjoyed animated movies, and he’d been stunned to watch the progress of Disney movies from Snow White—which he remembered seeing with Bucky in ’37—to newer ones like Moana and Brave.

Neither Becca, nor Becky or Karen-the-therapist ever made him feel like he was an idiot for not understanding every reference or for not being able to navigate his way through life as smoothly as he should be able to, and it meant more to him than he could say now.

He’d felt much like a child, stumbling along in the dark while trying to learn how to walk, before Becca and Karen-the-therapist and Becky had taken his hands in theirs and guided him back out into the light.

He’d learned so much.

He’d learned that the world was a much bigger, but simultaneously a much smaller place now, and that women, people of color and openly queer people could practice any profession they liked, and that Becca liked to flirt with everything that moved when she was sober, and tended to include things that didn’t move when she had had a few drinks.

He learned that it was quite alright for women to have a social life as thriving as Bucky’s had been, back before he had been shipped out and they had to have a cover in place so people wouldn’t be suspicious of the two young, single men living together in a one-bedroom apartment.

He’d learned that Becca’s social life was more than thriving.

She had taken him out for drinks—disregarding his protests about not being able to get drunk—and had introduced him to the bartender in the club nearest to their apartment and her friend, fellow S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and general human catastrophe Clint, before proceeding to get absolutely hammered and dancing with anyone who caught her eye.

Steve had loved it.

He had loved the freedom and the beauty in Becca’s behavior, he’d loved the way she spun both men and women around the dancefloor confidently, without so much as a hint of fear.

He’d loved the way Clint knew sign language and helped him remember and expand his vocabulary before promising to take Steve out to show him real coffee.

He had especially loved her hilarious one-sided conversation with the potted plant in the lobby when they returned home that night, and had almost laughed himself silly before he’d been able to pull himself together enough to get Becca up to their apartment and into her bed without further incidents.

It had been a good night.

Steve smiled wryly now, clenching his fingers around his mostly-empty cup.

It had been a really good night, followed by a series of increasingly terrible days. Days where he couldn’t, where he couldn’t breathe, couldn’t find the will to eat…

He didn’t have many of those days anymore—but they still remained.

Both Becca and Karen-the-therapist had told him it was no more than normal, and Steve believed them—he did—but he still felt so tired.

His lack of sleep was usually to blame on his overly active mind and his nightmares, but every now and then, Becca’s active social life succeeded in keeping him wide awake too. Such had been the case tonight, when Becca and her date of the evening had stumbled into the apartment around one AM, giggling and stumbling over furniture and against the wall until they’d reached Becca’s bedroom.

Steve had felt it prudent to leave his bedroom to avoid hearing anything that might scar him for life.

As if on cue, Becca stumbled into the kitchen, her hair snarled, thrown into a messy knot with strands slipping down to curl against her neck. She was wearing a shirt that Steve was sure was one of the shirts she bought for him before she’d stolen it and shorts that ended mid-thigh and she looked like she wasn’t quite sure why she was conscious.

Steve smiled into his cup as she collapsed at the kitchen island, pillowing her head on her arms, before getting to his feet to get Becca a cup of coffee and to refill his own.

“Good morning,” he drawled playfully, pushing her favorite mug in her hands before retaking his seat.

She groaned wordlessly in response, but after a healthy gulp of her coffee, she glared at him balefully and moaned, “Shut up, Rogers. How are you so perky in the morning? Is it the serum? That’s cheating.”

Her lethargy was almost comical, and Steve couldn’t help but smile at her, because he saw Bucky in her, whining and moaning after he’d gone dancing, and though it hurt, he didn’t mind the ache so much anymore. It meant he was still capable of feeling.

He’d been afraid of losing that permanently for a while.

The ache felt good now—a reminder.

A reminder that though he’d lost something—Bucky—everything—it had been real.

It wasn’t much. But it was something.

“Drink your coffee,” he told her gently, nudging her protruding lower lip with the tip of his finger playfully. “Gotta tell me about your date. Went pretty well, from what I heard,” he added, chuckling slightly when her eyes widened in surprise and then horror.

“You heard us?” she squawked indignantly, cheeks flushing with aghast embarrassment.

Before he could reply, Steve caught sight of a slim, beautiful woman in a tight black dress with straps slipping down her shoulders and high heels with red soles dangling from her fingers by the strap, her short red hair almost as wild and tangled as Becca’s long locks. The woman paused in the doorway, eyes widening as she took both him and Becca in, before she raised an eyebrow at him.

It almost felt like a challenge.  

“I didn’t hear anything too scarring,” he said slowly, both to his roommate and the woman in the doorway. “But the fact that she’s standing in the doorway’s a pretty good indicator too.”

Becca sat bolt upright and swiveled around in her seat to look at the other woman, who now leaned against the doorjamb with something akin to a sheepish grin on her lips. “I promise I wasn’t sneaking out,” she said, slipping the slipping strap of her dress back onto her shoulder. “I have work in a few hours, and I assure you my boss would never let me live it down if I turned up like this.”

There was a distinct lack of accent to her words, and it rubbed Steve the wrong way—usually, with his enhanced hearing, he was more than capable of discerning accents, however faint.

The fact that he couldn’t with Becca’s hook-up bothered him more than he wanted to admit.

“You don’t have to go,” Becca said quietly, slipping off of her stool to approach the other woman, trailing her fingers down the redhead’s arm in an intimate gesture that made Steve flush and look away. “Stay for breakfast,” he heard her say as he turned to the ice box, opening it partially to get started on making aforementioned breakfast, and partially to pretend he wasn’t listening in on the two women.

He did not feel awkward about the fact that Becca had someone over—it had happened once or twice before—but more about the fact that this woman seemed to have no compunction or shame about walking into their kitchen the next morning.

Becca’s usual type snuck out the door while they had breakfast.

He and Becca had had several conversations about it, actually, and though Steve couldn’t imagine feeling content with strictly sexual encounters, he understood that Becca had no need for romantic relationships in her life right now.

The thing that felt most odd for him was how little concern she displayed in regards to her sexuality.

It was, however, comforting to have someone to confide in about his own experiences, someone with similar issues and who understood what it meant to struggle with one’s sexual identity.

Of course, his experiences were limited to Bucky and having to hide what they were to each other for fear of being persecuted and hurt, and Peggy, and the terrifying, new way she had made him feel, even if nothing had ever happened between them.

He set out the carton of eggs and the wrapped plate of bacon, briefly contemplating whether to make French toast too, before discarding the idea. He was the only one that ate more than a regular person, and experience had taught him that Becca ate like a sick bird in the mornings—something about her stomach not tolerating food before noon.

He’d just make one or two eggs extra, a few more slices of bacon and toast, and they’d be fine.

When he let the door fall closed, he caught a glimpse of the two women, entwined in what looked like a very passionate embrace, with Becca’s back pressed against the doorframe and the redhead’s fingers in her hair. Steve coughed awkwardly, averting his eyes as they jumped and broke apart. “Sorry to interrupt,” he deadpanned, biting his lower lip to hide his grin when Becca blushed. “Just checking if you’re actually staying for breakfast.”

“I suppose I could,” the other woman smiled tightly while turning to Becca. “If you wouldn’t mind lending me some clean clothes and your shower?”

Becca looked back at the woman with an expression on her face that reminded Steve all too much of the way he’d used to look at Bucky, or even Peggy. It was an expression filled with awe and fondness, and it made Steve ache nostalgically.

It was odd to see it on Becca’s face, especially considering her feelings towards romance.

He watched as she ushered the other woman back to her bedroom nonetheless, presumably to provide the aforementioned clothing, before turning back to his eggs and bacon and getting to work.

It’d been the deal they’d established when he first moved in; he did not have a stable income yet, so he couldn’t contribute to the rent yet, and he didn’t like doing nothing, so he’d taken over cooking in the apartment. It wasn’t like Becca couldn’t cook or was a bad cook—she’d made it clear she just preferred not to cook, and was happy to relinquish these duties to Steve instead.

He moved to the oven and popped in a couple of slices of bread to lightly toast them before moving back to the stove and getting started on the bacon as Becca walked back into the kitchen, moving around him smoothly and quietly to fetch plates and cutlery.

They moved around each other fluidly, in a dance born of fond familiarity, and it never ceased to amaze Steve. He’d fallen in with Becca and the extended Barnes’ family so easily it almost felt like breathing.

It wasn’t truly like feeling at home—because he didn’t think he could truly feel at home without Bucky at his side—but the sense of belonging and family they gave him made it easier to get up each morning.

The schedule had helped too.

He and Becca had dinner with Becky every Thursday, and he joined Becca at her VA meeting once a week. He met Karen for a therapy session three times a week, usually right after he’d drop Becca off at S.H.I.E.L.D. so he could use her car to drive up to Queens. Clint insisted on bringing him coffee at least a few times a week too.

Last week, he had added boxing at a local boxing gym twice a week to the schedule, because he’d missed boxing, had missed punching stuff when he got pissed off, and the grimy little gym he’d found reminded him of Goldie’s Boxing gym, where Bucky had taught him how to box.

He smiled sadly before refocusing on cooking breakfast, Becca and her guest.

He waited until he could hear the pipes groan as the shower turned on before he turned to Becca, offering her what he hoped was a cheeky grin and raised an eyebrow. “So?” he asked playfully. “Having fun? I thought you preferred it when they didn’t stick around.”

The flush on Becca’s cheeks was very nearly hilarious, but he listened nonetheless when she spoke, shyly, in a tone he’d never heard from her before.

“I know,” she admitted, setting the plates on the kitchen island before fiddling with the cutlery. “I don’t know what it is… she’s…” Becca shrugged helplessly and grinned in the direction of her bedroom. “She’s really cool. And just—” Steve barely managed to suppress the urge to chuckle when Becca flapped her hands desperately. “She’s really, really awesome.”

And though it ached, seeing this… this expression of youthful infatuation on Becca’s face, it made him inexplicably happy for her too. She had been nothing but kind to him, and he was pleased she’d found someone who could make her smile.

“I’m sorry we kept you up though,” she frowned, and Steve hated the way the smile immediately disappeared from her lips. It reminded him all too much of all the times Bucky had lost that smile—that radiant, beautiful smile that seemed to run in the Barnes family—because Steve had needed caring for, because he’d made Bucky worry—

“Becca,” he sighed heavily, turning to the table with the frying pan in hand, evenly distributing the eggs and bacon on the plates before setting it back on the counter. “We’ve been through this. It’s still your apartment. You get to do whatever—and whoever—you want.”

Becca just grinned dopily at him, and he rolled his eyes, shaking his head as he turned back to the oven to pull out the bread. “...did you make a joke? Did Steve Rogers, Captain fucking America, make a joke about my sex life? Holy shit!” Steve groaned as Becca poked at him, but he couldn’t quite suppress the smile that tugged on his lips at her teasing.

“Just,” Becca shook her head and wrinkled her nose as she sipped at her forgotten cold coffee. “Steve. Stevie. C’mon. We’ve been over this. This ain’t just my place anymore. You live here too.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Steve swatted at her half-heartedly and vaguely listened to see if the shower was still on before he took a seat at the kitchen island and gestured at the plate of eggs and toast. “Eat your food,” he told her sternly, wrinkling his nose when she stuck her tongue out at him before complying.

They ate in silence for a while before Becca frowned and glanced towards the bedrooms. “Is it me or is she taking a long time?”

Before he could contemplate her question, there was a firm knock on the door.

Steve looked at Becca quizzically, but her expression was just as comically puzzled as his own undoubtedly was. He hardly thought visitors at six-thirty in the morning were common in this era; they certainly hadn’t been in the time he had been here.

“You expecting more guests?” he asked, aiming for playful, though he could tell the tone fell flat. Becca shook her head wordlessly, frowning in confusion, and rubbed her fingers through her hair, tying it up again in a marginally less messy knot before she padded out of the kitchen to open the door.

Steve remained seated at the table for another few seconds until he pushed himself to his feet, wandering out into the living room to see who had called upon them so ridiculously early in the morning.

He froze halfway between the kitchen and the living room, one hand braced against the doorframe as he stared at the tall, dark skinned man that stood before Becca, looking hilariously out of place in his dark leather trench coat, eyepatch and boots beside Becca, who was still rumpled with sleep and dressed in her pyjamas.

Steve had never met another S.H.I.E.L.D. agent beyond Becca and her friend Clint, but this man breathed authority and Steve barely even had to look at Becca to realise that whoever this man was, he was high up in the chain of command.

He knew S.H.I.E.L.D. would be looking to recruit him, had expected as much after everything he had found out about it in the weeks since he’d been awake, but he hadn’t quite expected them to show up at six-thirty on a Wednesday morning.

He hadn’t quite expected that level of desperation.

“Ah, Captain Rogers,” the man said, eyeing Steve with the one eye—Christ—in a way that made his skin crawl and made him feel entirely too self-conscious in his own soft pyjama pants and Star Wars t-shirt Becca had insisted upon. “Just the man I was looking for.”

“I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage,” Steve said slowly, frowning as he tried to decipher the look on Becca’s face, stepping closer cautiously. He had had his fair share of experience with overbearing officers and higher-ups—senator Brandt had been the least of his concerns at times—but he had to admit that showing up at someone’s private residence at the crack of dawn was beyond anything he’d imagined possible, even in this century, where privacy seemed like a farfetched illusion at times.

“Steve,” Becca spoke up hoarsely, frowning impressively as she glanced towards the bedrooms. “This is Director Fury. He’s the man I told you about.”

Steve stiffened and glanced back to the tall man with new apprehension.

Not just an overbearing superior then—the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. himself. Becca had, in fact, told him about Fury, and how she supposed he would try to recruit Steve as soon as Becca gave him an inch.

It seemed he did not even wait for Becca to give him the inch.

“What brings you here, Director?” Steve demanded, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned against the doorpost, eyes firmly on the Director’s.

There was an air of authority to him that made the soldier in Steve want to straighten his back and snap into position, but he purposefully suppressed the urge. He was not a soldier right now, and he was going to make damned sure Director Fury knew that too.

Steve didn’t miss the way the older man glanced towards Becca with an almost peculiar look on his face before he replied succulently, “I don’t believe Agent Barnes’s presence is required.”

“Excuse me?” Becca hissed, pushing herself away from the front door, and Steve barely managed to put himself between them—it was Fury’s own fault, really. Steve expected the leader of what appeared to be an organisation filled with an assortment of spies and former military personnel to have figured out that it was never a good idea to antagonise someone before their second cup of coffee.

“Becca,” he said softly, curling his fingers around her upper arm delicately—the last time he had grabbed her without thinking, she had carried finger-shaped bruises for a week—to draw the heat of her infuriated gaze back towards himself. “It’s okay.”

The anger in her eyes very swiftly gave way to worry, and that made him feel a little queasy in itself, because he hated when people worried about him.

He nodded towards the bedrooms, where the shower had finally stopped running, and gave her a nudge in that direction. He’d much rather she tend to her guest while he tended to his so they could get back to their damned breakfasts than stand here and argue.

They looked at each other in silence for another moment, and though Steve was uncomfortably aware of Fury’s eye upon them, he didn’t look away from Becca until he saw acceptance bloom in her eyes. She clenched her jaw in defiance and glared at him, but didn’t protest further and stomped towards her bedroom, hands clenched into fists at her sides.

He stared after her for a moment before Fury cleared his throat, and Steve turned back to him reluctantly.

“You’re up early, Captain,” Fury finally said, stopping and turning towards Steve with an inscrutable expression on his face. “Trouble sleeping?”

Steve was, contrary to popular belief, far from innocent and had engaged in plenty of things that would make even Becca blush—not in the least because he’d engaged in most of those things with her late great-uncle—and he didn’t miss the pointed look Fury gave the bedroom door Becca had just closed.

He did not appreciate the wordless implication.

“I slept for seventy years, sir.” He bit back, crossing his arms over his chest. “I think I’ve had my fill.”

The other man inclined his head towards Steve, conceding his point, and followed him into the kitchen when Steve retreated there, his stomach growling something fierce, clearly unhappy at not being fed breakfast—Steve couldn’t say he disagreed there.

“Then you should be out, celebrating,” the director insisted,  “See the world. I’m sure Agent Barnes would be willing to show you whatever you desire.” It was the third implication to his relationship with Becca that the man had made since he’d stepped foot inside, and it rubbed Steve all the wrong ways.

He ignored the urge to lash out at the man and eyed him speculatively.

“You here with a mission, sir?” Steve leaned forward, resting his forearms on the counter as he eyed Fury intently. It was the only reason he could think of for the other man to be insistent on seeing him at 6 AM on a regular Wednesday.

Fury raised an eyebrow, but nodded nonetheless. “I am.”

Steve frowned, unsure of what to do with that information or why Fury would think he would want a mission. “You trying to get me back in the world?”

Fury shrugged and handed him a folder—Steve didn’t even want to know where he’d pulled that thing from—before he said, “I’m trying to save it.” The folder was deceptively thin and light, and Steve was sure he was not going to like what he was going to find inside.

He was right.

He narrowly avoided using some of the finer creative curses he’d picked up from the Howlies when he flipped to the first page and his eye fell upon the fucking cube.

“Hydra’s secret weapon,” he hissed through clenched teeth. “Tell me you haven’t actually been using this.” He looked up at Fury angrily, fingers tightening on the fragile paper of the folder. “Please tell me you knew better than to use their secret weapon.”

Fury shuffled a little, and the look on his face was the first hint of actual human emotion Steve saw on it, even if it was only mild awkwardness. “Howard Stark fished that thing out of the ocean when he was looking for you,” Fury said, nodding towards the picture. “He thought what we think; the Tesseract could be the key to unlimited sustainable energy.” He must have read the confusion from Steve’s face, because he simply shrugged and added, “It is something the world sorely needs.”

He leafed through the limited number of pages in the folder, shaking his head. “Who took it from you?”

“He’s called Loki,” Fury sneered, and Steve was both impressed with and wary of the man that somehow managed to put a crack in Director Fury’s implacable expression. “He’s… not from around here,” the Director continued. “There’s a lot we’ll have to bring you up to speed on if you’re in. The world has gotten even stranger than you already know.”

Steve snorted and thought about some of the websites he had accidentally stumbled upon after Becca had shown him how to Google things and how to order things online. “At this point, sir,” he smiled wryly, “I doubt anything would surprise me.”

Fury grinned sardonically. “Ten bucks says you’re wrong.”

Steve sighed and eyed the folder again. Much as he did not want to fight anymore, he could not ignore something like this—and he was fairly certain that Fury knew he couldn’t too. “If I do this,” he began, tossing the folder onto the counter and tapping his finger on it pointedly. “I want Agent Barnes with me.”

Fury smiled at that, a sagacious kind of smile, that made Steve’s skin crawl a little. “I expected as much. Tell her debriefing packages will be waiting for you both at her desk.” With that, he turned and headed for the door, stopping short to glance over his shoulder. “Is there anything you can tell us about the Tesseract that we ought to know now?”

Steve glanced back at the folder and sighed. “You should have left it in the ocean.”

[pyropsychiccollector]

So, we don't know if Fairy Tail is coming to an end or not - sure seems that way, with Zeref and Acnologia seemingly the last huge hurdles to overcome. But who knows? Maybe Mashima will throw us a curveball and there'll be another arc with Ankhseram or something completely different.

Setting aside that possibility, FT is quite likely reaching its end. It's been quite a ride with lots of bumps in the road; no series is perfect. Speaking for me personally, I only started tuning in for the better part of half a year now. You can tell me all your gripes about the series, and I'll still tell you more than a few things I like about it. Even arcs like GMG.

Buuut this post isn't about that. With the series coming to a close and shippers clamoring to support their ships, I figured I'd post a little something for Natza shippers who might be feeling down about Nalu and Jerza shippers POSSIBLY  'getting their way'. Just consider this a little reminder of some of the reasons you supported Natza in the first place. Out of respect to other shippers, I'll try and tone down 'anti-nalu' and 'anti-jerza' talk, but it might still come up in a few places. Kinda unavoidable...

First up, these two have history. And I don't mean 'slaves trapped constructing a cultist tower', I simply mean prior to the first chapter/episode, these two had seven years together, working and living together at Fairy Tail. That might not seem like much, since Erza became S-Class in X780 and kinda left Natsu and Gray in the dust, but they most certainly associated with one another. Igneel provided a base for Natsu's education, but Erza built up on that. Natsu couldn't read the job request flier he picked out on his own, and Erza made sure he could... Admittedly traumatizing him in the process. You want more than reluctant student and teacher? In a manga chapter we got not too long ago, we got flashbacks of Natsu, Gray, and Erza (as kids) doing stuff together; Erza breaking up fights, Erza teaching them hunting... and yes, even the times they bathed together. You might say, "Well... wait. That's not Natza!" And I'll agree. I'm simply pointing out that Natsu and Erza have history - seven years of it. It's not a case of Natsu being 'scared' of Erza for all that time; yes, he has those times where Erza intimidates him into behaving, but you know that little Pyro. He's just gotta challenge Erza and catch up to her. Erza's not someone unbeatable; she just really... really... strong. And of course Natsu admires that.

So now we're to current events as the series officially begins. Admittedly, it takes a few episodes before Erza gets her debut, but she shows up, and we get our first impressions of the scarlet knight. She's a tough disciplinarian, but she knows Natsu and Gray well enough to know they're capable in their own right. Moreover, Natsu really shows determination here as he makes Erza promise to have a rematch with him after the mission. And that's how they, Lucy, and Happy wind up going on their first conquest of a Dark Guild. Ah, but Erza comes with her own quirks, just like Natsu and Gray. She totes around a HUGE pile of luggage, and to make the train ride easier on Natsu, she... knocks... him... out. Still by far one of my favorite moments of the series. I can see why some might label Natza as a brotp with this kind of scene, but our time will come.

So they beat Eisenwald and Lullaby, and Natsu and Erza get their rematch. Whoo hoo. But their rematch gets broken up as the Council comes to arrest Erza for the destruction of the Guild Conference meeting hall in Clover Town (at least officially...).Of course Natsu won't let that stand, and he makes quite a scene in the courtroom as he tries to save the redhead. ... Well, instead of that slap on the wrist like they'd initially attended, the Council locks the two Fairy Tail mages in a cell for the night. Understandably, Erza is quite frustrated with Natsu's lack of perception, but nonetheless, she thanks him for standing up for her.

As we'll discover throughout the series, there are lots of instances where Natsu and Erza are concerned for one another; but moreover, there are plenty of instances where they strongly believe in one another as well. And it's not just misplaced trust - they DO get the job done, such as when Natsu beats Gajeel and saves Lucy, and when Erza withstood a blast from the Jupiter Cannon for her Guild and still had the energy to take down Aria a short while later. I don't know about you, but I think that's a basis for a healthy relationship right there. Worry and trust come in fair shares; as time goes on, these two become less and less worried for one another even in the face of overwhelming odds. They know the other can handle the situation and come out on top; the worry never goes away fully, just decreases in the face of mutual respect and trust.

And then we reach the epitome of our Natza ship... Nalu's worst nightmare...The Tower of Heaven Arc. I am going to try and sidestep the icky love triangle that Mashima tries to make here - I'll make it as simple as possible. This arc is where we learn about Erza's past. Why she is the way she is, why she doesn't get along with Councilman Siegrain, why she can find it hard to open up to people. Erza tries to keep her Fairy Tail family out of it, but they get dragged into it anyway. She mends bridges with her old friends, thanks to Simon; but on the flipside, Erza acts very much unlike herself here (at least from what we've seen up to this point). In this conflict, Erza is ready to throw her life away to protect both of her families. Despite being a seasoned warrior by this point, she can't summon the same strength that she did when she tried to fight Jose Porla! And she's in better shape than she was at that time! Perhaps some will argue that this is simply who Erza is - strip away her armor, and she's a traumatized little girl with a *tragic* past. Ugh. Nope, nope, nope. By no means am I arguing that Erza can't have her tender side; it'd be hard to like her character if she didn't have such a side. What I am saying is that when Erza left the Tower of Heaven, she was alone and lost when she wandered to Fairy Tail. But in that time there, she acquired a new family, recovered the strength she once had when Grandpa Rob died and she inspired the slaves to keep on fighting. In fact, you could say she surpassed that strength - she became S-Class, didn't she? Yet the moment her past comes back to haunt her, Erza horribly reverts; she goes into that fight with Jellal with a defeatist's mindset. Thankfully, Natsu is up to the task of helping Erza bury her past. He fights Jellal, who is one of the Ten Wizard Saints, who took over the management of the Tower of Heaven, and who killed the mutual friend he and Erza once shared - the guy who made it possible for Erza to reconnect with her old family, Simon. He fights Jellal knowing most if not all of this, even when Erza desperately pleads with him to abandon the fight. Natsu can't and won't abandon her, though. In the end, Natsu makes a gutsy move of eating Etherion, and that gives him the strength to beat down Mr. Wizard Saint. Say what you will about that, how the fight 'should' have gone, but I think it worked very well symbolically. Erza's past warred with her present and future, and guess which came out on top? The scarlet knight picked herself up yet again and moved on with her life, despite lingering thoughts on Jellal and Simon. We can probably agree that Natsu had similar moments of getting worked up over villains hurting other friends - Lucy (present and Future), Yukino, etc. - but for me personally, I feel like there's something fundamentally different in how those moments feel compared to the Tower of Heaven. For Lucy, Natsu saving her happens a little too often without Lucy doing the same as much for my tastes (in other words, those hero moments don't feel as deep and meaningful to me). And for Yukino... well. I think anyone would get worked up over Yukino's treatment by her Guild (especially her Master). I feel like Erza and the Tower of Heaven is different because Natsu connected with her more deeply than he ever had prior to this; he saw her pain, and wished for nothing more than to end her tears. He panicked after she sacrificed herself to stop the Tower from exploding. And in that dreamlike vision of the future brought about by Etherion, Natsu didn't believe that Erza had died. Everyone else had given up, but not him. And whose arms does she wake up in, after realizing someone had saved her from being fully absorbed by Etherion? Natsu's. He even makes her promise not to do such a suicidal move again. On Erza's side, she recognizes his growth the moment he took down Jellal, and she tried to get him out of the Tower before it exploded. After seeing how affected Natsu would have been with her death, Erza cites that, "You don't die for your friends. You live for them." It was a pretty good shippy moment right there, but then the rest of their friends find them and rejoice that they're all alive.

We can whine about it all we want, but when the Oracion Seis arc hit, that's when the Jerza ship began to get a little more wind in its sail. After all, the man that brought Erza pain in the past returned, but he had... amnesia. You gotta be sympathetic to a guy like that, right? They had such a tragic past, and now Jellal can't remember it. What a pity. ... Okay, enough bashing. But it is a bit annoying for us Natza shippers; after the high that we got from ToH, we're suddenly smashed back to earth with Jellal's return. You can say that Natsu came to forgive Jellal in this arc, but that isn't the case when you inspect the arc carefully. After all, what's the first thing Natsu does when he first hears that Wendy revived Jellal? He's intent on making sure Erza never has to see him again. Not out of jealousy - but out of sympathy for his friend. Natsu doesn't want to see her cry again, but despite this, Erza finds the blue-haired mage anyway and comes to the dissatisfying conclusion that Jellal really can't remember all of his past atrocities. Later, Jellal goes off to help Natsu fight Zero, and the Pyro tries to fight him off as well. Sure, Jellal ended up helping Natsu in the end, giving him something equally as potent as Etherion so that he may attain Dragon Force again, but that anger that Natsu holds hasn't vanished. They're tentative allies against a greater threat. And when the Rune Knights come to take Jellal and Oracion Seis away, Natsu doesn't fight for Jellal's freedom because he's a swell guy that helped take down Zero; he does it for Erza, because the redhead is conflicted about resisting the Council's authority. Despite his personal feelings about the blue-haired mage, he tries to resist for Erza's sake so that the two can resolve their past. Of course, Erza tells him and the others to stand down in the end, and the Dragon Slayer grudgingly complies. Erza goes back to angsting about her past.  

I'm not gonna say my interpretation of events is the one, true way to look at the series. I AM saying this is how we Natza fans see the relationships between Natsu, Erza, Jellal, and Lucy. Some of you naysayers will argue Natsu and Erza are siblings; Jellal and Erza have such a tragic and *amazing* past together; Natsu brought Lucy to Fairy Tail and totally fell in love; you're perfectly fine with believing in any of that. Just don't shove your theories down our throats. From a Natza fan's perspective, such as mine, Natsu brings out the best in Erza; he doesn't make her think about her past every five minutes or force her to be the ever-shining beacon in their relationship. On the flipside, Erza doesn't require saving all the time; she stands alongside Natsu, and is a pillar for him when he is sad or has doubts. Natza is mutual, and I think there's something deeper there than sibling love. Heck, there are still Natza moments floating throughout the series, it's just that whenever Jellal gets involved... yeah. You can tell what Mashima is likely pushing for, just not very convincingly. It's fine if Erza becomes Jellal's redemption, but it's such a shame that a mutual, passionate relationship like Natza goes out the window in favor of giving Jellal a relationship to go with his redemption. Just look at all the various moments they have together...

So yeah! Criticize the Natza ship all you want, but you'll never stomp us out completely. Even if Mashima cedes to you Nalu and Jerza fans, we'll still have all these moments and more to look back on - canon, filler, omake, you name it. I think we have reason to be proud of our ship to the very end. We're not a brotp or a fanon couple - if Nalu can be argued to be semi-canon, when it wasn't in Mashima's original plan, then I don't see why we can't make a case for it being at least semi-canon. I've certainly reflected long and hard on it over the past half year I've been into FT. I'm still going to be bummed if Mashima follows the crowd and forces Nalu and Jerza to happen, but I won't falter in my love for this ship. I encourage other 'unpopular' ships to do the same. I certainly don't mind other ships with Natsu involved; Natza is just my OTP.

[leverage-commentary]

Leverage Season 1, Episode 4, The Snow Job, Audio Commentary Transcript

Dean: Hello, my name is Dean Devlin, one of the Executive Producers.

Chris: Hi, I’m Chris Downey, Executive Producer.

John: John Rogers, Executive Producer.

Albert: Albert Kim, writer.

Tony: And Tony Bill, director of this episode.

John: This is The Snow Job, which was the second episode shot in regular order.  We actually shot the pilot, there was the writer’s strike, we came back, Dean shot the Bank Shot, and then Tony shot our - really, our first in production. This was one of the first stories broken, and based on a true story.  Tony, why don’t you tell us how you came to this?

Tony: Well, I came to it, this was basically incestuous because I’ve been in love with Dean forever, and Dean has been kind enough to work with me now and then, starting on my first movie that I ever directed, My Bodyguard. So we’ve been friends and coworkers ever since.

John: Is that where you guys, where you met, um Adam?

Dean: Adam Baldwin.

John: Adam Baldwin, right.

Tony: That’s right. I love this actor.

Albert: Russell.

Tony: He is fabulous.

Albert: He was great.

John: He was fantastic. We did this open auditions, and the casting people brought him in and he was just really grounded and solid -

Albert: Wonderful.

John: - and for a long time was really the gold standard of the victims.

Albert: I have to say the, all the actors they brought in for auditions were really really great. It was amazing watching them. Tony: Yeah, it was a very difficult decision hiring one actor over another, but I think we’re all glad we got the ones we did.

John: This is the jail cell! This is the jail cell that Chris Kane has been tortured in at least four different countries over four different time frames.

[All Laugh.]

Chris: Yeah, yeah, yeah! It was an interesting story with this because it was not originally set - it was set outside - do you remember, Albert, how it was?

Albert: Yeah, it was originally gonna be set in a diner where he takes him after bailing him out of jail, and then we were gonna have his wife and child there as well, but our schedule didn’t permit that so we - I think Dean, came up with the idea of having this scene take place entirely within the jail cell.

Dean: Actually it was Marc Roskin’s idea, and what I liked about the idea is - not only did it save us production-wise, but, I thought him still being in jail while the team is trying to help him had him at more risk than if he’s already out on bail.

Tony: Oh, you care much more about him because he may never get out - he’s, you can see his, you can feel his pain as they say.

John: Well, the diner scene served a separate narrative purpose, which was we were trying to, early in the season, establish how they found their clients and it is one of those things that eventually - we were very worried about, and then nobody really cared about.

Chris: Nope, it’s- they’re almost like angels, really, at the end of the day.

John: Drunken, angry, criminal angels.

Albert: Are there any other kind?

Dean: And this scene is really a good way to reset for the audience what happened with his son and to keep this storyline alive for the season arc.

John: I mean this was really intended to be seen as the second episode after Homecoming, or really, or third.

Tony: This was a hard scene - well, not hard but it was a painful scene for me. I cried during that scene. I really believed in this guy and I felt for him. I felt very moved by his performance.

Albert: This was our first conference room scene.

John: That we ever shot in here.

Albert: The first one we ever shot, we moved into the set in this.

John: The, uh, now when, especially when it’s uh just two people, Tony, I mean that was a very intense, it was a very intense intimate bit of shooting with just Tim and that actor, but you also - this was your first time shooting with the Reds, right?

Tony: Yes it was, it was first one.

John: ‘Cause you told me how much you liked moving to digital just for the actors and stuff.

Tony: I am a completely born again, obnoxious, digital user, and I don’t know why anyone ever shoots film anymore.

Chris: I mean, did you, you’ve talked kind of about the effect on acting during the shoot.

Tony: Yep, I have a theory - that is in my book, as a matter of fact - about why I think we will look back on the digital era and notice a subtle difference in the style of acting, that it will have changed the way - sound or the method changed the way actors act because they no longer need to rehearse. You can film every - you can turn the camera on in the morning and turn it off at the end of the day.

John: And Dean, actually, you don’t like Table Reads. I mean that’s -

Dean: Yeah, I’ve been against the Table Read in general, but specifically shooting this way, as Tony said, sometimes the most wonderful thing happens the very first time you do it and then you can never recreate it. So, since we’re not burning film, it’s just hard drive space, why not shoot it? If you get that one great moment, it’s worth it.

John: Now, it’s interesting, because talking to other showrunners in Hollywood, I tell them we have no table read and they look at me as if we’ve, we’re shooting by imprinting imagery on old pieces of paper with crayons and rubbing over the actor’s faces. It’s like we’re mad. Albert why don’t you tell us how we constructed the bad guys in this, because it’s an unusual construct with the father and son team.

Albert: Yeah, you know, we did some research into this and the bad guys are actually based on real life bad guys. I gotta say, some of the research for this episode was really depressing. I mean, the other writers got to go off and research the Kentucky Derby, and parties, and miraculous feats of Catholic Saints and I had to sit around reading about hundreds of Katrina victims who lost their life savings to unscrupulous contractors. But there was a real life guy that’s sort of, these guys are based on, and the interesting thing I found out was that he ran a family run business in real life and that was part of why the victims fell for him because they thought ‘Oh,’ you know, ‘He runs this thing with his sons and daughters, he must be a good guy.’ And then after losing their life savings to him they, you realize who he is. So, that was kind of the basis for this set up. Also there was this other idea that Chris had - Chris, I think it was your idea about - what was it you were reading that had the, uh -

Chris: The, uh, I was actually, crazy thing, I was reading a book about Stradivarius -

Albert: Oh, right.

Chris: And, uh.

John: Which, by the way, is so out of character for you.

Chris: It is.

John: Usually I’m the one with some bizarre thing, obscure thing, but you’ve got the Stradivarius book.

Chris: No, no it’s true. That’s Stradivarius and he had, obviously the most famous violin maker in the world, and he had two sons, and one of them was the dutiful son who learned the craft with him, and one of them was the idiot who blew all his money in Florence opening shops and, you know. So it was kind of, looking at that dynamic as to look at the father who you know showered all the attention on the screw up son when the dutiful son does all the work, kind of gave us the juice for the bad guy in this one.

Dean: A moment ago we saw some footage of a ski resort, and I remember when you guys were writing the script it was still winter, but I knew we weren’t gonna shoot until summer! And I had this panic attack of where are we gonna get snow in the summer. And we were just wrapping up production on another show that we were shooting in Utah, and I called the line producer in Utah, Steve Lee, I said ‘Steve, you’ve gotta get a camera up to the resorts before the snow goes away!’

John: ‘Just go, just shoot something!’

Dean: ‘Just go!’ he says what do you want, ‘I don’t know - just shoot like crazy’ and that’s where we got it.

John: Yeah. Well, this is one of our pop jokes, we almost - we wound up only doing, really going to flashbacks in this, this is one of the few times we actually see the situation from somebody else’s viewpoint.

Albert: Ute. Ute Ausgartner.

Chris: I love Ute.

Albert: My favorite German Luger.

John: Tony, where are we shooting here?

Tony: Um, this is at a little, not so little, motel - hotel in the middle of the San Fernando valley in the middle of a warm day, and had I not told everybody they would - I hope - never have known that this was right in the middle of Southern California - our own little ski resort that we made.

Chris: It looks great!

John: That’s fantastic.

Albert: What I remember about this day is poor Gina had to wear that, the fur and the leggings and it was incredibly hot in that lodge and there was a roaring fire going and between every take she just had to stand there in the corner with a handheld fan and try to cool herself down.

Tony: She was really fun for me to discover. I love the fact that you guys hired her for this show, because she is a classically trained stage actress who is completely at ease with the film set and with improvising great moments. She always found a way to be alive and fresh in the moment and I love that.

John: This is also the episode where we’re resetting, not just resetting Tim’s tragic - Nate’s tragic past, but also Nate’s drinking problem, with the idea that - what we’re really trying to show here is that for all the romance of the first episode or two, Nate and Sophie have an illusionary relationship, they have this sort of sexy European flirtation and when you actually get down to the brass tacks of trying to have a relationship with somebody who’s broken it’s an entirely different deal and she’s beginning to realize he’s not who she thinks he is and the rest of the team is and this was a very sort of trust and boundaries episode on how far would they go with him and, you know, most people -

Dean: And that plays out through the rest of the season, especially once we get to the season finale.

John: Yeah.

Tony: And Tim really nails the slightly inebriated yet totally in his own sense of control, the kind of alcoholic guy that he is, it’s a wonderful -

Dean: I have no idea where he got that character!

[All Laugh.]

Albert: Cheers.

Tony: It’s really hard to do!

John: No, he’s -

Tony: It’s hard to be drunk on screen. It’s hard to act and he never falters, no matter what degree of drunkenness he’s going for.

John: And that’s what amazes me, is just how he tracks his level of inebriation through the acts and scenes and it’s always - and you’re shooting out of order, but it’s always, you know. There’s another episode where he’s going through withdrawal and the shakes, and it tracks perfectly. Even his face, his eyes are the right - you know, progress perfectly.

Dean: And what some people may notice, or may not notice, is that this episode visually pops in a way that most of the episodes don’t and there’s a reason for it. We made a choice while color correcting this show to up the saturation by over 50% and to stretch the distance between white and black so that the whole thing would have more of a pop look to it - so that Miami would feel more pop-y - The only place we didn’t do it was within the Leverage offices, which we wanted to stay consistent.

Tony: It’s beautiful, it looked beautiful when I saw it finished, and by the way, no snow was damaged in the making of this episode.

Chris: Yes, look at this, this all looks fantastic.

Albert: Yep, this is all green screen.

John: This was green screen on the set, right?

Albert: Right John: We lifted the chair up on a mini crane and then had her dangle off like six - a couple of - yeah, six to eight feet off the ground.

Dean: But this is an effects shot that really depends on how you’re watching the show, and now that is if you see this on a really good screen in high def and you can see all the detail that actually is a very convincing effects shot, but something happens though in the down convert on standard definition where sometimes you don’t see the snow, you don’t see the details, and suddenly it doesn’t look quite as real. That’s the danger of doing these effects shots is you’re kind of counting on people seeing it the way we’re seeing it here when we make it.

John: Yeah, on a 40 foot screen, digitally projected.

Chris: So then, for those of you who don’t have one of these tv’s, there’s no money down, go out and get one right now.

[All Laugh.]

John: Now, really, if you’re going to watch Leverage the way it’s meant to be seen you should buy a widescreen tv. And also, the economy could really use it.

[All Laugh.]

Dean: Tell them Leverage sent you.

John: This was a classic clear out. A classic ‘get the guy out of the office and then use the trappings of his office to convince him - the mark - that you are somebody else.’

Albert: I wish we’d’ve the time and detail to shoot a closer shot of that wonderful miniature village that your art department made for us.

Dean: But this is the thing that makes the scene for me.

John: Yeah.

[Multiple]: Toblerone.

John: I just love that, the little finishing touch, yeah.

Chris: And Christian, you know, he doesn’t get to do a lot of the characters on the show, and he just nails this so well.

Dean: The best part here is as he gets lifted off the ground, the look on his face - ‘cause we know he’s a guy that doesn’t like to be touched, we know he’s a guy who can take this guy out, and he just has to grin and bear it, and you can see it right here.

John: So close to death. So close! To death.

Albert: And what also made it work is that Jonathan in real life is like 6’3” or something, he’s a huge actor.

Tony: There’s that lovely little miniature that you’ll never get to see close enough.

John: It’s basically the blueprint, it’s the whole idea that - it’s a fantastic piece of work.

Tony: Yeah, well they did a beautiful job. I mean, as all Art Departments of quality do, they go way beyond what might be needed to give you something that you’re just sorry you didn’t shoot the whole movie around the piece of work.

John: We actually this was one of the few times we actually changed cities, we actually the -

Dean: Yeah.

John: This is one of the few times we’re sort of strung out and it’s the con on the con on the con, most of the times when we settle into a location -

Dean: We stay there.

John: - we kinda hang out on.

Chris: We kinda envision this show like Alias, like one minute they’re in Miami, then they’re in Marrakesh and it’s just as the show kinda evolved over the season we started to kind of live in one place a lot more.

John: Well, it’s because -

Dean: Interesting thing on this piece of footage here is that this was shot the day after Katrina. And we were doing a six hour miniseries called The Triangle and we had to shoot some Miami footage, so we were on a helicopter in Miami for several days just grabbing Miami footage, but the reason that water is so absolutely calm is that it’s literally the calm after the storm.

John: Oh, wow, that’s cool.

Tony: This is my favorite moment in the show is when Sam looks at her and says ‘niiice.’

[All Laugh.]

John: He’s so, he’s so greasy, he’s so magnificently greasy in this.

Albert: What was kind of fun on the set was that Sam, who plays Henry Retzing there, used to be on Angel with Christian, who was also on Angel, and Danny Strong who plays Dennis Retzing, his younger son, was on Buffy so they had a little sort of mini-reunion of the Joss Whedon players.

Tony: Oh, I didn’t know that.

John: Yeah, it was these- and I will skim off the Whedon ‘verse if that’s what serves us.

Dean: Thank you, Joss.

John: So this house, where’s this house?

Albert: Chatsworth. We were in Chatsworth for a few days there

John: But meanwhile in the bit where they’re parked in theory in Miami behind this house, they’re parked actually in Glendale behind our soundstage.

Tony: That’s right.

Albert: Yes. All stands in for Florida.

John: Yeah. Which is good. There are some cities that it’s easy to do in Los Angeles, and some cities that it’s not easy to do in Los Angeles.

Dean: Now at the point we were doing this, Danny had just recently been nominated for an Emmy!

Albert: That’s right!

Dean: For his writing of the M. O. W. uh -

John: Election.

Multiple: Recount.

John: Recount, pardon me. Yeah it’s nothing better than having an actor who’s been nominated for an Emmy on your set as a writer. That’s really, that’s not - no ego busting at all.

Dean: No intimidation there!

[All Laugh.]

John: Yeah, it’s not like - it’s bad enough having two directors on the set, never mind another writer.

Albert: Beth’s got a stunt coming up here. She has a fair number of stunts in this episode, too.

John: Yep.

Tony: She’s so agile you just believe everything she does is real.

John: Yeah. And she does most of it, I mean, she is pretty fearless. She gets pretty tetchy when we don’t let her do something. The only one is - the only one on the season finale, the moving truck she was like “You know what, I’ll let someone jump on the moving truck from the bridge; I’ll let that slide.”

[All Laugh.]

John: Yeah, and this is also - it’s interesting this is one of the few times you see this pairing, Sophie - pardon me - Parker and Eliot. You see Nate and Hardison paired up a lot, but early in the season is where you start to do these mixes and figure out what actors work best together.

Tony: They’re a good team those two.

Chris: They did; they’re great!

John: The sort of crankiness and insanity works well together.

[All Laugh.]

Dean: Anything that frustrates Eliot is good.  The more frustrated Eliot is, the funnier it is.

Chris: He plays that great.

John: Very well. Yeah, and this is when they shift; this is when they lose control over - and this is when they shift; it’s a small moment in the script, but it’s fairly important because it’s when you realize Sophie is utterly on her own here and she has to make a judgement call sort of on the fly. And you see that they’re not Nate’s puppets; it’s basically much more Nate is sort of the coach calling the signals but it’s up to the players to figure out how they’re gonna play it.

Albert: Well, what was interesting was because this was the second one shot, the first one written after the pilot, the team dynamics are still a bit rough and we were sort of figuring out how they all interact with each other. And it works really well for the relationship stuff you’ll see later in one of the scenes because they’re still all a little bit at odds and a little bit abrasive and it helps all of that because it plays off Nate’s drinking.

John: Yeah.

Tony: I was kinda kicking myself that we never had a shot from inside the car - what he sees through his binoculars, but it’s been so well finessed that I don’t miss it at all.

John: No, isn’t that POV of her going up the stairs, just from a little while ago?

Dean: Yeah. Didn’t we just see that?

Tony: It’s stolen.

John: It’s stolen.

Dean: Oh. It doesn’t look like it.

Tony: But you know he looks out of the car in his binoculars, and we never see what he actually sees, but it goes right by us. We know what he’s looking at.

Dean: I love that she jumps having no idea what’s below.

[All Laugh.]

John: Yeah, exactly.  And that’s our Beth, jumping out a window.

Dean: That little thing she does with her hands on the ground, when she just does this palms up thing, is so odd and wonderfully Parker.

Tony: Notice how we don’t see the camera reflected in the car; very clever of us.

[All Laugh.]

John: Oh, wow.  Very - it’s super clever, actually! I just noticed how reflective that surface was; nicely done. [Pause] Uh, yeah, and this is - it’s interesting because, writing this scene, this is to a certain degree, Nate’s rage. It was the rage that we had when we actually heard this scam.  Because we were - it was before the writers were in, we had heard about this guy and then when Albert did research he peeled all the layers off, but we were randomly looking for bad guys in the newspaper, and this guy literally just fell out of the newspaper like a rotting fish. And it really is -

Tony: Ooh, I like that analogy. Fish, newspaper.

John: Yeah, you like it? It’s almost like I do this for a living.

Albert: There you go.

John: No, yeah, but yeah but really yeah - we could never quite convey in the show how much we wanted to find this guy and beat him up. It’s really, but it’s great because it became also the standard in the writer’s room: as soon as - when you were developing a bad guy - somebody in the writer’s room said “Ooh, I hate this guy,” that meant you were okay. That meant it was time to start writing.

Chris: It was a good moment, too, because we got to have a moment where Nate - the rip up the check moment was something we hadn’t done before where he’s kind of, he’s -

Dean: Well, he’s kind of calling an audible. And what’s great is to see that the team is not all in sync. And sets up the potential -

John: Well, later in the season they become much more responsive to that or much more, yeah.

Dean: Yeah.

John: There’s an arc.

Tony: This little room turned out well. This is a tiny little room in a great big house; it was very hard to shoot in because we had so much going on, but we managed to make it through.

John: Is that the office we see him in for the rest of the show? Whenever we go back to that office?

Albert: We come back to it one more time when he meets with Nate. So yeah, we’re back in there.

John: Yeah. And now what -

Dean: And again kudos to our DP Dave Connell ‘cause he just makes every room look great.

John: Yeah.

Chris: Oh, yeah.

Tony: I loved Aldis in this car scene that we’re cutting back and forth to, because he kind of improvised a lot here in his behavior and his questions, and it was just lovely.

John: Well, he’s very grounded in that character.

Tony: He’s never out of character; he’s always right there with a quip or a smart remark or a -

Dean: There’s actually a funny button he had done during this, that TNT ended up using in their promo, but we had cut it out of the show - but again, only for time.

John: Oh, right.

Dean: But again, if you check this DVD that button will be here somewhere.

Albert: We also, this is the moment we actually originally had - I put in a little flashback scene for Parker which showed her sort of inept attempt at picking up a guy at the bar.

John: That’s the - that was from the pilot!

Albert: Yes, which I ripped off from the pilot - which also got cut from the pilot, but you know, someday I think we’ll -

John: That footage I think will be on the DVD.

Dean: That’ll be on the DVD for sure.

Albert: We finally got to see Parker do the wink and shimmy.

John: The wink and shimmy, yeah. That she’s very very bad at. Yeah, and they’re all bickering. Now Tony, when you’re in like a small room like that, how do you tackle that problem? I mean, did you know when you’re doing the scout “Ok this is gonna be a problem” or did you get there on the day and go “Ugh, the blocking’s funky.”

Tony: No, it’s always on the day for me, because if you lock something in on the scout then you’re sure to be eating your words on the day, I think. This was a challenge for me - how to get all four people on camera when two of them are in a car and something’s happening, but it turned out okay.

John: No, it turned out great.

Dean: Now this shot is actually a daytime shot that we digitally turned nighttime, so if you watch that-

Chris: That’s great!

Dean: So if you rerun that and go back and forth, you’ll see that all the lights inside the building are actually digitally added, tracked on, and put through so we could take our - a day establishing shot and turn it into night.

John: We did that a couple times during the course of the season, right?

Dean: Yeah, well there’s another one later in the show that actually is fabulous because it starts as day and as the camera moves it turns to night, which would be an impossible shot to actually shoot, but we were able to do digitally and it’s really lovely.

Albert: This is a scene, also, where we name - where we tick off a list of all these scams. And I remember after this episode aired everyone kept asking me what these scams actually were.  I was like “Uhhhh, you know, we just made them up.”

John: Sort of, half of them -

Dean: Shh! We didn’t make them; they’re classic scams!

Chris: We’re gonna use them later.

Dean: Don’t believe what the man said!

[All Laugh.]

John: About half of them are real, half of them are made up. We tend to, usually we’ll call Apollo and we’re looking for something like the Spanish Prisoner or the Mexican Lottery or something like that, and once you start hearing the names, the bits start to write themselves. It’s like, well you know, now I can’t help but make up five funny ones.

Albert: I always thought we should list a glossary somewhere on our website with all of them and just actually put them on the -

Dean: That’s a good idea!

Chris: This is a great set, too, I have to say. I just really like it.

Dean: Yeah, just fabulously tacky.

John: Were we on the soundstage for this?

Tony: Yeah, we built this.

Chris: Yeah, we’re on the sound stage. This is kind of a boutique hotel.

Tony: You’d never know that there’s no outside there.

John: Yeah.

Tony: You’d never know that we’re inside.

John: Yeah, and that's the - we’re in the - yeah this is the Miami hotel room. Did we ever - did we wind up reusing that set? Because we have one office that’s in every episode.

Dean: No, we didn’t reuse - that was one of the few that we didn’t find an alternative purpose for.

Tony: Now here’s a scene which for me just will always live in memory, because it’s a wonderful scene with Tim slightly drunk, but when we were rehearsing and playing around with this scene, he started to go over the top and being really, really drunk - just to kind of show another way to do it. And I loved it so much - he was so great as the really, really drunk, it was a struggle -

Dean: to not?

Chris: to have him dial it back?

Tony: To not do it. Because he can do anything. And he was just fabulous in this scene. And he could have been equally fabulous as an almost stumble-down drunk that he tried it one way as.

Dean: Well that’s - the interesting thing here was, again, it’s the first time where in the show, he played a character. He’s always been the straight guy in the booth giving directions.

Tony: You know, the other great thing that impressed me about Tim was - he has a lot of dialogue in this scene and he came to work that day with every single word down pat and he never faltered.

Dean: Yeah, he really sets the bar.

Tony: That’s a real mark of a fine, fine pro.

John: Well that’s - I mean… They always say, when you’re a showrunner and you learn from other showrunners, every other showrunner will tell you - the lead is the captain of the ship. And what the captain sets is the bar, the rest of the cast and even the crew will follow. And Tim really helped on our new show, a baby show coming in, really nailing it.

Dean: I think it’s one of the great surprises of the show, was that - everyone knew that Tim was an Academy Award winning actor, he brings great depth to his characters, great intensity. But I don’t think any of us knew how funny he was.

Tony: I didn’t. I just fell in love with his comedy acting. I could have made the whole episode a comedy with his performance.

John: Well I remember the first time we met, he said, you know, we were talking about acting roles, and I said, “Actually, my favorite thing you’ve done is Archie Goodwin on A Nero Wolfe.” Which was great, because that’s the only other time he’s done comedy, but I knew he had that. But this is kind of Archie he’s doing here, you know, the very sort of slick… Glengarry, by the way, Glen Death is my favorite phrasing for the entire season.

Chris: Yes it is. I’d say that that’s a scam that we actually came up with.

John: Yes.

Chris: I mean, it’s not based on any classic-

Albert: Well when I looked it up, there was a - and it’s in the scene - where there was a variation they did of it during the AIDS years; at the height of the AIDS epidemic.

John: Yes.

Dean: Oh really? I was going to say I’d never heard of that before.

Chris: It was not pooled together.

John: No, it was not pooled together, and it was not a scam, but the AIDS thing came out of real research.

Albert: The other thing about Tim in this scene is that there’s actually a lot of exposition in this scene. There’s a lot of explaining what the scam is, which could be deadly if not delivered correctly, and he just made it really entertaining.

John: This is also one of the ones where the mark’s really hard to hook. Usually we find a way in that’s a little easier. It’s always tough finding the balance between process and con. Like, how much of the hook do you want to see, and how much of the con do you want to see? That strip joint is -

Tony: I love that shot.

John: That’s a great cheat. That’s lovely. That’s on our soundstage - we built a strip joint on our sound stage.

Chris: No, no, no, that was at the Sportsman’s Lodge.

John: What?!

Dean: That was at the Sportsman’s Lodge.

Tony: That was in Pasadena.

John: That was at the place where we did the ski lodge?

Tony: Yes.

Albert: And your stripper was our stand-in Tammy, who was Beth’s stand in, and then we found out while we were there that she had actually won a competition for pole dancing in Michigan.

John: Also in the Army for six years. So… interesting - that’s the great thing about Hollywood, people have this impression of the people in Hollywood. It’s just like the rest of the country, it’s just people that have all these weird jobs, and interesting jobs, they just come here to work instead of stay home.

Dean: And because of - Oh! Here’s that shot I was talking about, so you started in day, and you see the lights coming on at night.

John: And that’s all digital.

Dean: That’s all digital. Every light there was tracked and put in.

Chris: Now, do you want to talk about the use of these cameras and how you’re able to shoot at night like this?

Tony: Well look at this shot.

Dean: This is from the Sony EX1 which was mounted on suction cups on the hood which just allows us to just drive the car around. In the old days, you had the process trailer, and all these rigs and lights. With these cameras, they’re so light sensitive, we were able to do those kind of driving shots, just right off the car.

Tony: And the long shot is just natural light.

Chris: That’s amazing.

Tony: What you see is what you get at night.

John: Really? So that’s just natural light? That’s just what we got?

Tony and Dean: Yep.

John: That’s a great shot. And that’s what’s amazing - these EX1’s are like pro-sumer level cameras, though, like $6,000-$8,000 cameras.

Tony: This is your old pal here, Dean, in the backseat.

Dean: Yeah, although I had no idea that you were even auditioning him and casting him. I found out he was in the show after he had been cast. Which is really great -

John: Oh, that’s great. How do you know him?

Dean: - because that meant he had earned the part. You know the movie Rudy, and the story of Rudy?

John: Yeah.

Dean: He was on that football team.

John: Oh wow!

Dean: He was one of the players on that football team. And I’ve played ice hockey with him for 15 years/20 years. And he’s an actor - he’s a wonderful actor. He’s done other work for me before, he was in Eight Legged Freaks for me, and all kinds of other things.

Albert: I think he was Independence Day?

Dean: And he was in Independence Day. And he’s terrific. But again, it’s always so nice when my friends actually get on without me having any influence whatsoever.

John: Now this is also one of the few times we have - we bring the cops in in a serious way. There’s an awful lot of factions in play in this one. This is a complicated one.

Dean: Yeah - three trains coming together, which is nice.

Tony: And this was a hard scene to get out of, but we found a way to get out of it that I think is pretty satisfying.

John: And Tim did bump his head a little here, didn’t he?

Tony: He did.

John: Yeah, try not to cripple your lead actor in the second week of production. We should probably avoid that in the future.

Tony: He was game. He didn’t complain.

Dean: Not at all.

Tony: He was totally with it.

Chris: This was kind of rewritten a little bit there, wasn’t it?

Tony: Yeah.

Dean: I think what also saves this is Tim’s reaction here. In other words, if he had played that he was too freaked out by it, or injured, it might have been too dark for our show, but the fact that he immediately goes right to the bottle and rubs his temples, it just takes the curse right off of it.

Tony: Yeah, that was lovely.

John: This is the hardest working room in show business. This became almost every bad guy’s office during the course of the season.

Chris: This is kind of a good example of how when you come up with a good scam, it kind of led to this great scene. When we came up with the Glengarry, Glen Death it led to - well, how would they have to prove this? They’d have to fake an MRI.

John: So we called around, and one of the great things about doing research - and this is for any writers out there - it turns out if you call people and ask them about their specialty, they will take for three hours. I mean, everyone wants to talk about their job. And we got both an MRI nurse technician and a neurosurgeon on the line to talk about how you might fake a brain tumor.

Chris: Albert, didn’t you find-?

Albert: Yeah, my dad’s an oncologist -

John: Yeah, your dad came in too.

Albert: I called him and said, “So how would I fake a brain tumor?” And he goes, “Wait, you want to give someone a brain tumor?” “No, I just want to fake the MRI.” And he goes, “Let me get back to you on that.” And he went off and talked to his staff and came back with a bunch of ideas. And what we put together is part of what he had told me.

Dean: I love how Sophie is so excited about the idea that Eliot dated a doctor. She gets really excited about it! It’s so incongruous.

John: It’s weird, this is one of the characters discovering each other bit. And that’s what I actually like about how Eliot wound up. He did not wind up how we envisioned, but he wound up having a much more interesting life.

Multiple People: Yeah.

John: But that’s organic writing. It happened over the course of a season.

Dean: But I would also says this with all the actors - they all brought something that we had originally envisioned, and then the writers took it and ran.

John: Yeah.

Dean: And that was what was so great. They really had a major part in contributing to the growth of those characters.

John: Well, I mean, Aldis being the perfect example. Hardison was always meant to be the tech geek. And part of the casting was, ‘OK, he’s a good looking, big guy, which is off tone.’ And then as soon as you see Aldis talk, it’s like, ‘Well, he can talk your ear right off your skull.’ I mean, you know, you have to put him in the cons. But that’s why you see in these early ones, he’s never doing a con, and then as the season progresses, he’s in the field just much more.

Tony: Well, cause he can fool anybody, now here’s Bill.

Chris: There’s our friend.

Dean: Well what happened was, we were going to shoot this scene and I thought, ‘How are we supposed to know this is a waiting room? We just had Tim sitting there.’ So Tony and I talked and we said, “Let’s put someone sitting next to him and we’ll know it’s a waiting room.” And then it was like, oh God, we’re going to ask an extra to act. And so I ran into the prep room, because Jonathan Frakes was prepping the very next episode that was going to shoot, and I started dragging him. And he goes, “Where are you taking me?” And I go, “Oh, you’re doing a cameo.” He goes, “I am?”

Tony: And this is Jonathan Frakes who’s not normally an actor, he doesn't -

Dean: Not anymore.

Tony: Not anymore. He doesn’t work much as an actor.

Dean: And the first take, he floored Tim. Tim actually fell out of character. The only time all season Tim fell out of character.

Tony: Nobody could keep a straight face on the set.

Dean: No one could keep a straight face, so we actually had to get Frakes to tone it down so we could get through the shot.

John: I know. I mean, one of my little pet projects for TV development, is to actually talk him into doing a recurring on something I’m doing.

Chris: He’s very funny.

John: In a comedy! In like a comedy, because he really is ridiculously funny.

Tony: He is the master of the slow burn, or the look.

Dean: And this was also one of the first scenes where Sophie’s trying to teach Parker how to act. Which again, was something we developed over the course of the season. Which I think really evolves in a nice way. Unfortunately we showed the episodes out of order, so that arc kind of didn’t play on air, but if you’re watching the DVDs, you’ll see it in the correct order.

John: Yeah. If you see it, she starts to teach her how to act, and she’s utterly useless at it here. In the Bank Shot in the middle, she starts to realize she can start to get good at it as long as she’s in character. And then really, The Juror Job is a big one where she finally learns how to do it; Sophie’s kind of finished her tutelage.

Dean: Oh, again - these two guys together in a scene, and I’m just the happiest guy in the world. I just love this chemistry. This scene is a perfect example of why these guys are just awesome together.

Tony: Yeah, they never drop the ball these two guys.

John: Yep. And the Rock, Paper, Scissors bit is - we were gonna do that recurring, and we just never wound up with time for it. The idea that - and this was another little character bit.

Tony: That would be a good recurring gag.

John: The Rock, Paper, Scissors - the idea that - look at… See, this is what I love, is that if you watch Chris, when they’re doing Rock, Paper, Scissors, he knows he’s going to pick up Aldis’ tell, so during the scene, his eyes are actually on Aldis.

All: Yeah.

John: He’s not just playing the bit, he’s playing the set up to the bit in acting. It’s a really subtle choice. It’s really nice.

Dean: And this whole ending part here, Aldis just improv’d.

All: Yeah.

John: The bit of sticking the needle into the corpse again and again to store it is all the two of them playing.

Chris: Notice using the Foley for that. The Foley being the sound effect. Do we know what that was? What was used?

Dean: I don’t know, but it was disgusting.

John: It’s horrible. It’s truly horrible.

Dean: Truly, truly horrible.

Albert: The other thing I love about Christian is that, in character also, every little movement he has, he adds a little bit of flare. You know, he’ll spin the syringe, he’ll spin the Toblerone bar -

Tony: He’s always looking for the physical -

Albert: Which you can always imagine that that’s what Eliot would do.

John: Yep. And this is, again, our computer and production guys taking an incredibly abstract concept and visualizing it in a really clean way. It’s like, well how do you show the rewiring? Nah, you just flip the images. They solved that big problem for us.

Dean: This Derek, who we actually met in Chicago on the pilot, and he’s been working from afar the whole season and just delivering such wonderful graphics, episode after episode.

John: Welcome to the 21st century, right? Our graphics guy is in Chicago. It’s just madness.

Albert: When my dad, the oncologist finally saw that scene, he was like, “That’s a really good tumor.”

[All laugh.]

Albert: “A really good tumor.”

John: That’s really horrible! Thank you, I might not sleep tonight.

Tony: This scene was kind of a desperation scene. We only had like 10 minutes to shoot this whole scene and make sure everything happened all on camera, all at the same time. And I think we did it.

Dean: Did you have two cameras running on this at the same time or…?

Tony: I don’t think so.

Albert: It was just one hallway. We had this one angle, so I don’t think so.

John: What hallway is this?

Dean: This is the hardest working hallway in show business.

Albert: This hallway also appears in the FBI office.

John: This hallway’s ever present. It was attached to Hurley’s office in The 12 Step Job. That was basically the only two standing pieces of set that we had other than that irregular. This room and that hallway, and that’s it.

Tony: I think we did have two cameras because this matches perfectly - the two shot.

Dean: So we had the wide and the tight.

Tony: Yup.

John: And this is also, sort of, early in the season, where we’re trying to figure out how important is money to them? How much? And what they’re doing is, over the course of the season, again - the arc - is they’re learning to let go of their original instinct which is - as soon as you take away their money, they panic - and they begin to realize there’s something more going on. They’re safe. They’re not going to lose it.

Dean: Although Beth always kept that as an extra special part of her character.

John: Oh yeah.

Dean: She cared more about money than life itself. Which is just awesome.

John: Her incredibly creepy response to the money in The Homecoming Job is one of my favorite bits. Where she, it’s blatantly sexual. And this is an improv. This is Aldis just - hey, I’m alone in a scene, I’m going to find you a button.

Tony: And he manages to do it every time.

John: Well that’s one of the finest scenes in the pilot. When after Sophie and Nate have a little moment. It’s an incredibly hot moment - Sophie walks away. We were just in the wide, and we’d forgotten Aldis was left like alone on the other side of the frame, and he scoots across the frame with the, “Ooh? Ooohhh.” Doing the little kid thing and it's one of my favorite bits in the pilot.

Dean: And I said cut and he goes, “Did I screw up the take?”

John: “You just got us out of the scene, kid. No! You did a great job.” And this is the hook. God, I wish Apollo were here for this, because this was the most con-like one we did where it’s all five stages of the con.

Chris: Yeah.

John: Cause it’s the hook, and it’s the - what’s the term he used?

Chris: The hook, the stall?

John: Yeah, the stall.

Chris: We did a stall in this one. Yeah.

John: Yeah, this is the most complicated con in the entire series.

Dean: Now Tony, this is my favorite scene in the entire episode.

Tony: Mine too.

Dean: And it’s very - it’s all about the acting in this scene. And I think because we did this early in the season, and because you directed it, it really set how we were gonna do these sort of scenes for the rest of the show. Can you talk a little bit about directing this scene?

Tony: Well, this scene was a challenge because it’s very quiet. Nobody does anything for a relatively long time in this scene. And so these people are really just talking to each other and they’re all over the room. So how to stage it so that you know where everybody is and why they’re just sitting there. And then in effect, that chair that he’s sitting in did all the work for us. Because his turning his back, or his nervousness, his indecision all kind of ends up being acted by his chair, which I thought was a great use of a prop for us. And I like this scene too, because although I kind of regret that I didn't take somebody’s advice and have Christian, like, throw his chair as he walked out of the room. Somebody said, “Why doesn’t he kick his chair over?”

Chris: I thought he did knock the chair over in one take…

John: You know, I like the controlled one, because one of our things with him is that one of his issues is that he’s capable of violence, but he reins it in.

Tony: Right.

John: So the fact that we made the editing choice not to use that take I actually kind of like. Because it’s a constant battle for him not to do it.

Dean: I also like very much the way Gina plays this scene, because we have a lot of scenes over the course of the show where she’s really kind of pissed off at him and really pushing him about getting his act together. But here she’s very gentle with him -

Tony: She’s very moving here. You read her affection for him on her face without further dialogue.

John: There is easily in their relationship in the show, the most important line of dialogue in all 13 episodes here, which is, “I knew you two years ago.”

Dean: Right.

John: Because this is when she actually realizes that the thing she’s gotten into is not the thing she thought it was.

Dean: Right.

John: And all the frustration and all the frustration both in puzzlement and in annoyance, is out of this line.

Dean: That’s right.

Albert: Yeah, this for me is the scene that holds the whole episode together, really. It’s the crux of the episode, because it defines the relationship between Nate and Sophie and where they are, as well as how he relates to the rest of the team.

Dean: And it sets up really what we struggle with over the whole season, which is you have a group of people who have always worked as loners. They’re enjoying working together, but it’s against their nature. And this is an exact example of how fragile that alliance is.

Tony: You’re right. Right.

John: And this is when everything gets very complicated.

Tony: I had to have Albert explain this to me from here on out.

Chris: it's interesting - It’s funny. I remember at the time you produced The Sting, so I mean, you know, this is -

Tony: It’s not easy for me to catch up with you guys.

[All laugh.]

John: No, it is interesting that when you put this many trains - and this was a lesson, I’ll say in the writer’s room this was a lesson - alright, when you have, we don’t need four trains, just three trains will be fine. It played great, it wound up working wonderfully. And if only for that shirt and those glasses, but yeah, it was a brutally difficult bit. It also taught us about the nature of choreography. It’s like, you know, the one big move is better than trying to pull off two or three little moves. And this is the thing about television, it’s like - the great thing about television as opposed to film is you have 13 episodes to learn how to make that movie. You know, that one 13-hour movie. And it definitely evolves. At least from the writer’s side. The director’s always come in and know what the hell they’re doing. They’ve done this a million times before.

Tony: Eh, not really. I think you’re - when you have a really good script like this, you’re always playing catch-up to it. It’s not paint by numbers, it’s like trying to live up to the challenges of a complex script.

John: Well that is one thing that we’ve gotten from the directors, which is, you know, a lot of other TV shows, they’re in one setting - they’re in a hospital, they’re in a law office, or a court room. We have no template. I mean, the only place we ever really live is in that conference room, and the director that comes in is shooting a movie every week. Utterly different plots. Utterly different settings.

Dean: This, by the way, is an interesting example of why shooting digital can help you when you’re on tight budgets and a tight schedule. This was again a day where we had very limited time we could be in the bank and we had to move on, so it was shot in two reversing three-shots. So all these closeups you’re seeing are actually blow ups of the three-shot.

John: Wait - we never got the close ups?

Dean: No. That’s a blow up.

John: Wow. Actually, that’s pretty cool.

Dean: So that shows you how really flexible the digital material is, that we were able to take those wide shots and turn them into coverage.

Tony: One of the things I think will happen with digital directing in the future, is that you will know that going in that you can do that and you won’t take the time during the day to shoot that close up.

John: I mean, how far can you punch in? I mean, do you have to do that, like, medium to close? Or can you be a little farther out?

Dean: When we’re on the red camera, we can go in about 250%. On the EX1, we can get to about 45%.

John: So that’s like a medium to a close?

Dean: Yeah.

John: OK.

Albert: So theoretically you wouldn’t need as much coverage as you traditionally do.

Dean: Well I think, look, you’re always going to want to shoot it in the best possible way -

Tony: But there’s the chips are down moment.

Chris: You can find it.

John: And the actors make choices if they know they’re in their close ups sometimes.

Tony: That’s right.

Dean: When you’re doing a television show and you’re getting to the end of the day and the clock’s running out, you know you have to do the oner.

John: What’s the most famous saying - What’s the most famous saying for directed television?

Dean: It’s, uh, Gone With the Wind in the morning and Dukes of Hazzard at night.

[All laugh.]

John: Especially since we do these, as has been noted with horror and incredulity with all of our visiting directors, in seven days.

Dean: This is also the episode that sparked a rule on the show, which is called ‘No Fax Machines in the Final Act.’

John: Yes. Really. I mean, getting a fax machine to work on cue, and produce - not so much. Information should really be conveyed personally, usually over some smoking ruins, while the villain screams, “No!” to the sky. That’s really a little more gripping.

Chris: Dean’s appetite for blowing stuff up, really, like, it started here.

Dean: Yeah. Fax? Or building blowing up? I’m going with the blow up.

[All laugh.]

John: You know, a well done, timely arrival of a fax can be gripping, my friend. You’ve obviously never seen some legal thrillers. But, however, if you do track the con all the way through, it actually plays quite nicely. There’s a nice bit of choreography with the printing. And you can do that, by the way. One of the things I’m always amused by is when people go, ‘Oh, you fudge the computers for this, or you fudge the wifi for that.’ 99% of what we do on the show, you can do. It’s just that you’d be horrified to know you could do it.

Dean: As Apollo likes to shock us over and over and over again when he does these things.

John: Yeah. But remote hijacking a printer queue, absolutely doable. No problem whatsoever. And I love this out and in, by the way. This is such, sort of, classic comedy structure here. And he’s lovely. And by the way, there’s something for this character. What was the thing you gave him? The detective?

Albert: Oh, originally he was a little bit OCD where at the end of the scene he had to straighten the family portrait, but it was one of the things that got cut for time.

John: He carries himself in a way that it’s a fully formed character. He did a lot with three scenes, I gotta say. This actor did a nice job. And this is the big revelation. Whenever you can get the bad guy to indict himself or commit a crime that gets him in trouble, it’s always more satisfying.

Dean & John: Hoisted by his own petard/buttocks.

Chris: And a good example coming up of the gloat. That’s another, kind of -

Dean: Gotta have the gloat moment.

John & Chris: Gotta have the gloat moment.

Dean: Now some people were upset about this. They felt it was a cheat, because they didn’t - because we cut this part of the flashback out when you saw it the first time. I think it’s a legitimate -

Tony: I think it’s fair.

Albert: There was a cut. There was a cut there.

John: Yeah.

Dean: We did cut to the exterior of the car during that moment, and we came back in.

John: Yeah...maybe if we’d hung on the car a little longer before he came out.

Dean: Yeah, maybe if you’d hear some ‘murblrublur’ inside the car.

Chris: So many twists are built on “this is the half of the scene you didn’t see.”

Albert: We shot a great moment right as sort of the button to the scene when Danny after the call turns around and flings his cellphone at his older brother. And he just wailed. Like a fastball down the middle.

Dean: By the way, kudos to our sound guy on this, because when - where we were shooting Tim there, there was all these trucks backing up, and dumping stuff out. We thought for sure we were going to have to loop the scene, and it didn’t. It was amazing!

John: Sound interestingly seems to be the one aspect of filmmaking that is really still the most difficult and has had the fewest technological advances. It’s just raw data gathering that hasn’t made the jumps, you know.

Tony: It’s hard to get around the technical aspects of it. If there’s a background noise, most of the time it’s gonna be there.

Dean: Also, when we go on these tech scouts, the one guy we never bring is the sound guy. [All laugh.] And then he says, “Well if you would have brought me, I would have told you we’re next to the freeway!” This is a lovely oner.

All: Yeah.

Tony: This was a real nice collaboration between - everybody on the set had a little thought to add to how to make this work. And it did work. And it had to, because we didn’t have time to do it any other way.

Dean: And again, Gary Camp with the steadicam, who just makes everything smooth and beautiful.

John: He’s our A Camera operator. He’s legendary.

Dean: A Camera and steadicam, yeah.

John: I had missed, you what, until I just watched that just then. I missed the little moment that Beth put at the end of that exchange with Aldis. You know, just cause I was so focusing on the camera move before. And this is where Sophie lays down the terms of their friendship; where she lays down the rules of the partnership.

Tony: The rules for the rest of the game.

Albert: Again, in the course of the season, it does feel like an early season moment, because they’re still sort of feeling each other out. But I like how it played. And they did such a great job with it.

Chris: Great look from him right there.

Dean: And she does set up - they might not always back you. Which was a fabulous gun in the drawer for the rest of the season.

John: Cool. This is the credits. This is where you can throw in anything that you’re thinking about. Tony?

Tony: Just that I had the best time doing this, I really did. I don’t always have a really good time. I have a civilized and polite time [all laugh], but I don’t always, you know, have a really great time. The icing on the cake was there on this set and working with all you people was really a pleasure.

Dean: Well we all really appreciate you coming on board and joining us, Tony. You did us a great favor. Thank you so much.

John: Thank you so much.

[hopeep4-blog]

Episodes of Hope

However, they have to set a good deal of pressure on themselves to get those stories which could successfully make an impression on people's thoughts. The group hasn't planned for these recently ordered episodes. Greg has proved himself of producing the top quality product on television and we expect that we are going to acquire same type of episodes.

It's a famous fact the 'Raising Hope' is an American comedy television series that's attained popularity in only a few days. There's been plenty of pressure on the group of the series as the Fox has ordered a full season of episodes. Greg Garcia, the founder of this series has shown that because the show has attained positive responses from viewers all over the world.

The men and women who have overlooked the episodes if Raising Hope , they can log on to the net. There are tons of websites with event's details, images and even videos. They can use these sites and come to know what was there in the past episodes. Some people have started watching this show after a few episodes. They could return to the history and receive the details about a number of the episodes that were telecast in the early days. This is only one of the top platforms to get the info about the crews and cast of the comedy show.

This series is now popular among youngsters, adults and young ladies. This show will last to be on the air for the remainder of the season as it is among the most promising tv shows. There have been a lot of reviews on the sites and individuals have voted in favor of Raising Hope. The story is all about a young

Comedy shows have always been enjoyed by people, all over the world. One of the most talked about comedy shows these days is 'Raising Hope'. In this series, a young boy named Jimmy, seems after his woman child who is a result of his one night stand. This series began on September 21, 2010 and you're able to watch this show every Tuesday at 9PM on FOX. Since then, a lot of episodes of Raising Hope happen to be viewed by viewers and have received positive responses. The web plays a significant part in our own lives. This is because it can be accessible at anytime during the night and day.

If you would like to see your favorite episodes over and over and wish to laugh; you could search for the movies which are readily available online. All you have to do is get on your favorite search engines and enter the right keywords to get the details about available videos. You can even save them onto your own personal computer and watch them in any given point of time to have fun with your family and friends.

He had been requested to create nine episodes of Raising Hope. As per this guy, he obtained panicked about the stories that should be shot for the new episodes. He's happy and hopeful about the achievement of each episode of the series to be shot. He believes that creating a story for each and every episode is one of the hardest things to do but he's picked up the deal. Virginia, a grandmother before age 40 (played with Martha Plimpton), is getting a cash crisis along with being depressed about "missing her calling ." (No surprise regarding either of these problems, being that she does a not-so-good occupation of cleaning houses for a living.) While accompanying a friend in search of love-life advice, she finds a crass, loud-mouthed "Psychic Reader" palming wads of cash from gullible customers. Virginia's problems are solved.

2. Dead Tooth- It was revealed on televisions on September 28, 2010. In this, Jimmy realizes a day care is required for looking after your kid. He plans Sabrina for help who requests him to get in contact with Shelley, her cousin. She was his love interest two years back.

It has been discovered that people have missed some of those episodes of the show and a number of them have started really late. Glimpses of this show about the preceding episodes are elaborated below:

From the time this article is scheduled to be published, the TV incident to which I'm referring could be available on YouTube or elsewhere with no copyright restrictions which are in place. If you didn't grab the "Tarot Reader" installment of ABC's sitcom Raising Hope (Season 2/ Episode #13, ironically), take the opportunity to do so and make up your own mind as to the level of its offensiveness.

Originally I took issue with that comment, until I watched her clientele. This Isn't to mention there were not potentially-objectionable depictions before

3. Fantasy Hoarders- In this episode, the boy teaches his child how to creep.

I will fess up to seeing this show on a normal basis. I love the Roseanne-esque nature of the quirky family and discover their entire thing foolish and heartwarming at precisely the exact same moment. It is fortunate that my daughter also appreciates Raising Hope because at the night in question she telephoned to alert me that not only was the series about to start, but the topic of the night was Tarot. Quickly I reached to get a notepad and assumed my place on the futon.

4. Say Cheese- This is among the most comic episodes as Sabrina learns horrible family photographs history as anticipated by Virginia.

1. Pilot- This event was telecast on September 21, 2010 and in this type of young boy specifically Jimmy had a 1 night stand and ended with a girl. The mum is a serial killer and convicted of murder. The boy gets custody of the kid who he believes he'll raise. However, he had been totally clueless about raising a child and his parents support him rename the child Hope.

5. Happy Halloween- Jimmy is encouraged a Halloween celebration by Sabrina who has struggle with her boyfriend. In this event, Jimmy asks his father to stay away from Hope as he comes to know that his dad was scaring him for a long moment.

Boy who finds it difficult to raise an infant child who has been left by his mom as she has to undergo a death sentence. This series will definitely acquire admiration in the coming time.

This is excellent! Virginia always wished to be her own boss, being "bossy by character," and figures Tarot reading is a great way to meld all her talents into a profession. She places her neon sign from the window proclaims, "We wait patiently for the idiots." A stranger gets the secret and magical answer to the issues of life.

Which brings on more potentially-objectionable depictions:

All in all, I would give this installment of Raising Hope a "7" on the offensiveness scale, an "8" on the internet value scale, along with a "9" on the entertainment/interest scale. Tarot includes a great deal of difficulty being taken seriously, and this little melodrama probably did not help matters. However, the Tarot, such as an elusive dream, does manage to regularly float to the face of American popular culture. If you happened to have seen the episode, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.

Clients who seek out the guidance of Tarot readers are idiots and so deserve what they get.

Since Virginia soon finds, there's a great deal of responsibility that goes along with telling people things to do. Initially, she is very impressed by this: "Now folks sit up and listento me, like I'm a god... or even Judge Judy." But soon she sees the havoc she's wreaking from the abuse of her presents, and as quickly because neon sign went up, it comes down. "It is too much stress! Too much power!"

Clients are permitted to let you know exactly what to do because they're all-knowing.

Near the end of season two of Mad Men, Don Draper joined Pete Campbell to get a business trip to Los Angeles that saw Don moving AWOL and ending up in the desert with a lot of aristocratic oddballs. It was the strangest episode of this show...until this past week.

Readers tell you exactly what you want to hear so you will pay them.

Both the reader and the customer have to know about the actuality.

The clients who hunt Virginia's brand of guidance are a hapless group. Blindly trusting , they consume everything that Virginia spews, all of which is rooted in her own view of what they need to do: "Cut that rat tail!" "Neuter your truck!" "Call your mother!"

Beaded curtains and tacky furnishings are a necessity for the trade.

But in a back-handed type of manner, some great points were made:

Idiot readers attract target customers and vice-versa.

We all reap what we sow: readers, clients, and everybody in between.

Some Tarot professionals will understand this episode and be biased. The item is chocked full of these recognizable and persistent stereotypes, and I wouldn't blame anyone for being insulted and upset. For me, the worst insinuation was that anybody who goes for a Tarot reading has to be ignorant, pathetically helpless, misguided, and ill-informed. This hurts everyone involved in all sorts of ways.

Psychics are ready and prepared to accept payment (cash only, please) to get false information.

It is an installation where great distances are explored - from feelings of alienation into the bridging of amazing relational chasms into the literal separation of

...and perhaps the Confessing the truth worst cut of all

At least the authors remained true to card significance in this sector of the episode, because Virginia is waving round the King of Swords for the truck (you had to be there), the Queen of Cups for its mother-calling, Three of Swords was in the mix involving a love triangle, etc..

A reader's motivation counts: Is it about the power? Money? Self-importance?

This stage:

Readers are a demanding, rude and abrasive lot. The scene is an illustration of how great Mad Men is. In that short moment, we receive as much information, but it comes in the kind of behaviour, not clunky, expository dialog to telegraph the dynamics on the job. This really is a two-part set-up that is paid off first from the conference room with Heinz, and more importantly, in the end of the episode, between Don and Bert Cooper.

When the Heinz man fretting about the pitch, Peggy informs him that they've done exactly what he asked for. And then the Heinz man claws her into the wall by telling her to quit writing down what he asks for and begin giving him exactly what he needs - the timeless customer lament. Peggy's instincts are right. She turns the tables on the client, as she's seen Don do heaps of times. She accuses the client of enjoying the campaign, but enjoying a great fight even more. She insults the man in front of the room, giving him little room to save face. Ken Cosgrove tries to ease the blow, but just manages a stalemate, and the customer agrees to allow them try.

In the workplace, Peggy and her office-mates are all uptight and crabby. Ginsberg, who's been nothing but agitated since being hired (except for if Don pops-in to get a rare appearance), is annoyed at Peggy when she walks in on a personal phone call. Stan blows in overdue and pissy because he could not find a location to...piss on the best way to work. The 1 ray of hope for Peggy comes when she finds her blessed pack of candy, but it's short-lived. As Megan says "hello," Don takes her away, to get a last-minute trip to observe a potential client. Stan tries to improve her by telling her it's a ultimate vote of confidence from their hero.

The Heinz presentation seems to be going well, with Peggy providing a Don-like presentation of the proposed campaign. The problem is, she's not Don. Even though Don Draper can tell a story about roasted beans that provides it the gravitas of a Russian novel, Peggy can't quite pull it off. Not yet. Instead, the man out of Heinz is frustrated, much like Peggy's boyfriend Abe.

Since the conversation changes to Abe's frustration in Peggy's psychological space, she informs him sounding more than a little like Don when he had been married to Betty, "I desire a second once I walk in the door" "You sound like my father," he snaps, moving on to explain that he's a boyfriend, not a focus group before storming off. This dialog will perform again, such as an echo, but using a different person.

Two individuals over a fantastic distance. It is hypnotically interesting, and just like every other twist and twist in this wonderful show, I saw none of it arriving.

The episode opens with a half-dressed Peggy, at home, frantically looking for a fantastic luck charm pack of candy that Don gave her. She is preparing for work and a significant demonstration for Heinz, the bane of her existence. He puts on a happy face and attempts to divert her, but she's having none of it.