#uh if you meant back from the dead in a literal sense then both Cora and Hazel have died and come back so beware the undead lesbians

[limamaqel]

2, 9, 14, 18 for the writing asks!

2) What was the first story youve ever written?

Oh wow um. I dont remember it in detail but like the fandom I was in, canon had gotten stupid dark and I wasnt a fan. So it was like a spin off AU where things were more happy, yknow where half the characters werent fucking dead

9) Have you ever brought an OC back from the dead?

Nah. The only one of my OCs thats dead is so figuratively and literally and I left that fandom years ago. Her chapter of the book is over

14) Whats something you feel weird/uncomfortable writing about?

Violent death scenes are a no for me. I mean I'll do fight scenes, I'll do character death but nothing intense. Irl gore doesnt bother me at all but I wont write that shit

18) Show us a piece of dialogue you really like

Man, this is old as shit and was done as a gift for a buddy but I still think its a perfect mix of cute and funny

He glanced up at the face of his android bed and smiled. "Hey, big guy."

"Good afternoon. Did you have a nice nap?"

17 nodded and shifted up, head resting onto his shoulder. "Your presence helped."

16 smirked. "As the humans would say: that is gay."

17 laughed and placed a kiss onto his jawline. "It's so gay."

[asterekmess]

S3A - E7

So, I’m starting this episode right after finishing the last one, and I’m still kinda riled up from that bullshit. Let’s get to pissing me off and breaking my heart then. Blood/gore mention warnings for this episode.

Exercise your eyes! Read More!

Let’s just jump right in:

Starting right off with forcing myself into putting the tag in. Scott literally just listened to his mother say that giving this woman something to lessen the pain of her injuries could complicate things and make it harder to treat her. This is like an important medical thing. While yes, it’s really upsetting that she would need to keep being in pain, she needs to be able to identify and explain what exactly she’s feeling to the doctor who is going to be arrive really soon (though I have no idea why the nurses aren’t able to get these people set up. That’s what they did with me? I didn’t see a doctor for like an hour, but they didn’t make me sit in the fucking waiting room before dealing with the blood.) Her pain level will have a direct effect on how quickly she’s seen. This moment is meant to show Scott being soft-hearted, but with the doctor only ten minutes away, he could literally be making this woman’s life a whole lot worse by taking away her pain right now. There is a reason why after I was given pain killers for my surgery I wasn’t allowed to be near any heavy objects. Her pain is keeping her from irritating her wound. She could fuck herself up if she stops responding to the signals her body is trying to send her. This is not the right way to make Scott look kind. He looks like an idiot who doesn’t even listen to his nurse mom.

WHo the FUCK would keep driving with a bunch of bugs in the car? She’s not even on the interstate! PULL OVER IDIOT.

I’m actually agreeing with Scott on this one. I have no idea how medically accurate what melissa just did was, but it look pretty damn cool.

WHat the hell is this conversation? First off, Ethan, you made VERY clear in the last episode that you want to bite Danny even after he said no. Even if that was the possession talking, it was based on what YOU wanted. Danny’s not safe with you. Second, what is this bullshit about knowing Lydia is the important one? Important to Stiles and ALlison maybe. Scott literally never talks to Lydia. THIRD how exactly did you guys come up with that idea when you went after them on the FIRST DAY? You sniff him on them? cus’ if so your noses are damaged.

what...what is with this ghost car shit? She was in the middle of the city, more than ten minutes away from the hospital and behind the traffic caused by the ten car pileup. How did the car drive itself ALL THE WAY here?

Ethan. you’re an alpha. you have night vision. You shouldn’t need to ask what the fucking MOTH in the middle of the driver’s seat is.

HI NOAH! I’ll be honest. I missed you. You’re a really good actor and you just make me feel all safe. WHich is weird bc I hate father figures and I hate cops. Linden Ashby is just too good, I guess.

It’s so frustrating watching Deucalion walk around with humans pretending to be blind. Because he is. He is Pretending to be blind. He’s already proved like a dozen times that he can see just fine when he turns on the Alpha eyes. Which doesn’t make SENSE because Deaton said his iris’ were permanently damaged. He doesn’t have two different sets of eyes! And it sucks, bc they put in these little things that it would’ve been awesome to see if they included an actual blind person properly. The casual use of the cane, taking someone’s elbow and the trust that implies, and even this. Having (that looks like ethan’s coat) Ethan explain what’s in front of Deucalion, describing the scene to him.

DEREK YOUR SECURITY SYSTEM SUCKS. HOW DID THEY DO THAT WITHOUT YOU WAKING UP? WITHOUT CORA NOTICING?

Also, Cora, you look amazing, can you please be my friend and can I hug you? I love your shirt.

I HATE THIS BITCH. Fuck you Julia.

uhh....why is an English teacher filling in for a chemistry/geometry teacher? That’s not how substitutes work. Making a joke out of it doesn’t make it make any more sense. SHe shouldn’t be doing that, especially if Harris has been missing for a while.

So your office can keep werewolves out, but not darach? Okay, let me go full conspiracy theorist here. we only know Deaton saw the moths because we see it. He just tells Scott that he’s going to be taken. This is a story that Scott is telling, so he couldn’t know that deaton saw the moths unless deaton told him. Julia is currently teaching a class. Are you seriously saying she doesn’t need to be involved at all in order to do these kidnappings? She can just put them on a timer and let the autmoatic spellwork do the job for her? OR Is deaton lying about being taken, and this is just a test he came up with to force Scott’s “True Alpha”ness to the surface? JUlia clearly had other plans for her sacrifice. I don’t think Deaton was a ‘distraction’ to keep Scott from finding the actual sacrifice. I think it was Deaton using the situation to his advantage.

why does deaton have a canine acupressure chart on his wall? I’ve never seen a vet’s office have that. Does he do alternative medicine for dogs??

BOYD. ISAAC. MY BOYS. I can’t tell you how much I love this. It’s so sneaky and annoying and so pack-ish I just love it so much.

BOYD YOU ARE A GENIUS BOY AND I LOVE YOU.

I swear, like ninety percent of what the ‘adults’ in this show say is ‘go back to school.’ ‘shouldn’t you be in school’ yadda yadda. Like, they want so badly to write the teens as though they never have to go to class, so they just make them constantly skip and ignore that these are fucking teenagers who would never be able to get out of school that easily, and they handwave it with someone occasionally going ‘hmm, weird that they aren’t in school’ and then just ignoring it? Truancy is like a THING that you can get in major trouble for. At least Boyd and Isaac called in sick. You know how you could have avoided all this class bullshit? PUT THE FUCKING SEASON DURING THE SUMMERTIME DUMBASSES.

It just hurts seeing Stiles beg for Scott not to make him tell his dad, and then turn right around and admit that it’s not okay for him to let other people suffer just because it scares him that he might lose his only parent. Like, he walks into that sacrifice with eyes wide fucking open and it hurts.

I’m not talking about these dumb sex scenes anymore. I’m so tired of them.

OKay, can we talk about the fire alarm thing though? It sounds like a jokey kind of thing with Aiden teasing Lydia about wanting to leave during the fire alarm but... Remember how Lydia was haunted by Peter’s burnt corpse? How she can hear the cries of the dead, and how she went wandering into the crumbling remains of the Hale house? There’s every chance that Lydia remembers the fire through Peter’s eyes. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was forever freaked by fire alarms.

Man, Cora and Lydia, together? The sass involved? If I didn’t ship Allydia so hard, I’d totally ship Cora and Lydia.

ONce again, I wanna point out that AIDEN IS A MURDERER. Literally all it would take is someone Explaining to Lydia that he is serial killer and she’d never touch him again.

Cora and Stiles together? I’m loving it. I just, wanna point out that when Scott showed up Cora couldn’t have given less of a shit. But here....Cora doesn’t remotely question Stiles’ authority here. She immediately goes along with it and when he tells her to let go of Cora she does. Even though she has no real reason to. When she asks about the spirit board, it’s a legit question and she doesn’t argue or make fun.

PLus there’s the whole ‘Well do you know any spirits” which straight up just confirms for me that ghosts and shit are real in this universe. I trust the Hales as lore sources and Cora’s matter-of-fact tone is good enough for me.

jesus christ i wanna get deucalion and Peter in a room together and watch them just...monologue random facts and trivia at each other endlessly. “Lacrosse was originally played by Native Americans.” “Do you know what a metronome is?” Guys. come on.

Exasperated Stiles is literally my favorite Stiles. “We’re trying to save lives here for the love of god” “YOU”RE SOMETHING, OKay? JUST put out your Hand” It’s so fucking good.

Someone EXPLAIN TO ME how Scott learned to do fucking gymnastics. WHEN DID HE LEARN THIS? I hate this bullshit “I’m a werewolf, so I can do anything” shit. Especially since it’s LITERALLY just Scott they let do it. Everyone else has to actually do the work to learn it.

So...how exactly does Deucalion know where Deaton is? This literally just supports my theory that Deaton set the whole thing up.

ALSO, since I already have the tag I feel no shame in pointing out that Scott didn’t even HESITATE when he learned Derek was going to die. He immediately asked about Deaton. Yeah yeah, Deaton is a father figure to him, but if that’s an acceptable excuse for Scott to use now, then it should count as an acceptable one when it’s STILES” FATHER BEING THREATENED (but I digress, we’re not there yet.)

How did I never notice that Lydia’s Left handed?

andd.....how did Lydia know that? How did Scott know that? What did Deucalion say that even remotely hints at Danny? Scott doesn’t know about Danny’s paper...what?

Fuck yeah, vengeful Boyd. I dig it.

uh....why couldn’t allison just stand next to Scott in the closet. you know, like she did while he was getting in? Also, why was Allison hiding with him anyway? It’s HER HOUSE and HER BEDROOM.

um....okay, i know that we all like the sterek fics where they have to hide in the closet and one of them pops a boner...but I’mma be real, it’s a lot more uncomfortable when I know she broke up with Scott and they’ve been in there for like ten seconds. Plus there’s the whole knowing that she DEFINITELY has enough room to move away and so does he. *shrug*

Side note: Allison where the fuck do you get these clothes? THey’re both awesome and...kinda weird? Did you buy that dress in france?

okay, i’ll admit it, i do actually kinda like the camera angle through the map, with the blacklight lighting up the symbols (though the symbols flash on and off a little too fast). It’s kinda cool.

uh, how would taking the picture help? You don’t have the blacklight over it? None of the markings are visible anymore

why does Chris keep walking in and out? AND WHY DIDN”T ALLISON DO THAT THE FIRST TIME?

Stiles in plaid and Converse? Yes. Yes. please. That’s so my aesthetic I’m so fucking jealous. He looks COMFY.

This whole interaction is just so fucking weird XD

But like, why would Stiles know to go through Danny’s stuff instead of just asking him why he might’ve been targeted??

HOW WOULD THEY KNOW TO CUT THE POWER? THIS DOESN’T MAKE SENSE. Why does the ALpha pack keep showing up with way more information than they should have? It’s so annoying! It’s one thing if Morrell is feeding them information, but she wouldn’t have KNOWN about this! This was a good plan and there’s NO REASON the Alphas should’ve known what Boyd, Isaac, and Derek were doing! What the fuck?

....god i love Derek’s red eyes.

....god i hate that I know where this is going.

....god i wish he’d just let them tear her apart.

I know that it’s meant to be setting up the cora/stiles thing, but I love that she doesn’t hesitate to touch him, and that when she stops him it’s with a very quiet “stop.” She’s really gentle with him, which is just fucking nice. Werewolves taking care to be gentle with Stiles is like...nice.

Since when did Scott know about the plan with Boyd and Isaac? Since when did Stiles know? Is Boyd seriously texting Cora while Derek and Kali are fighting, or did he text her as soon as the power was cut?

is this the first time we see a werewolf bounce off the mountain ash? I mean, I think so, but we also see Peter in S1 try to get past some. There’s no glowing when he comes into contact with the shield. It’s the same with Isaac and Erica in s2. I mean...I guess they’re just trying to upgrade the ash stuff? I gotta say though, I kinda prefered when there were no special effects. It seemed cooler when literally the only thing making it work was belief and having this totally invisible barrier that Peter couldn’t cross. It was cool.

....i think i’m procrastinating seeing the end of this fight. I’m gonna fucking cry.

Why...why does Isaac turn and yell ‘wait’ to Boyd when he was the one running forward to Julia? I am confusion.

Dude, if Alphas could break through mountain ash barriers then Talia Hale WOULDN”T HAVE DIED. THE HALE PACK WOULDn’T HAVE DIED.

I wanna point out here, that this fight between Derek and Kali makes sense for once. Him losing makes sense. We know that the Alphas are much older than they look, or at least Kali, Deucalion and Ennis were. Aiden and Ethan don’t show up in that flashback. ANyway, Kali’s probably in her thirties or forties. SHe’s much older than Derek and she’s been fighting for a lot longer, not to mention fighting to kill.

Seriously, someone get my boy a quarterstaff to knock her feet away.

I really really don’t understand this stuff. Why is it whenever people (I mean Derek, because it’s literally always Derek) get forced to use their werewolf claws/teeth (because again I cannot believe this is happening more than once) he for some reason can’t just...shift back? Retract his claws and fangs? Derek has amazing control, he should totally have been able to do it. With the venom it made sense, he was paralyzed. But now??

What exactly was the fucking point of having Scott break the mountain ash barrier, just to have the sheriff show up and shoot Deaton down? That was literally useless.

also, Noah is an amazing shot. Hot damn.

ALSO. LIterally all this info about true alphas is being whispered to Scott when he’s all alone? How the fuck am i supposed to trust that deaton even ever said that shit to Scott? He could totally be lying about it.

WHAT KIND OF TOTAL BULLSHIT BACKWARDS ASS PLOTLINE IS THIS? After half the season being about Deucalion attacking Derek and trying to get him into the pack, suddenly “Deucalion isn’t after Derek, he’s after you” WHAT? THat’s the STUPIDEST LAZIEST SHIT I’VE EVER SEEN.

and to end my rant BOYD SHOULD NOT HAVE DIED. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? PETER STUCK HIS ENTIRE HAND THROUGH DEREK”S CHEST IN SEASON 1 WHIL IN HIS ALPHA FORM AND THREW HIM INTO A WALL AND DEREK SURVIVED JUST FINE. WHAT IS THIS NONSENSE???

Final Thoughts: No. No, no, no no, no, and no. The ‘plotline’ of this episode is literally like fifteen things that have nothing to do with each other.

Admittedly, there were a few nice moments. Cora, Lydia, and Stiles was an awesome trio. Boyd, Isaac, and Derek was an awesome trio. The sheriff? Amazing. Melissa? A fucking hero. Danny, a genius saint.

All in all, I’m going to tear this episode to shreds in order to rewrite it. Get fucked, Davis.

[vaguely-concerned]

Mass Effect Initiation thoughts

In short: this book is actually really good, N.K. Jemisin is, as we all know, an excellent writer! It’s the story of how Cora met Alec Ryder and joined the Initiative, and it has SO much good good SAM content and I am full of emotions. 

- poor cora is so continually out of her depth, I want to give her a hug. the points made about her in the main game are true though -- she is not ready for leadership yet. (and that’s fine! she does much better with something or someone to belong to and that is so Valid. she’s an honorable Loyal Knight!!! one of the sexiest things to be, as we all know)

I think I’ll actually like her a lot more on this new playthrough now -- she must have been quite hard to write compellingly in the game because at the end of the day she’s really very straightforward and honest and loyal, it’s quite hard to uh ‘hide’ things in her character  

- alec ryder deadass installed an unspeakably illegal (and did I mention experimental?) AI in cora’s head with no informed consent whatsoever. d A D 

(when cora is like ‘are you actually going to another galaxy because they don’t have laws to stop you from committing fully to your craziness in public’ and alec is like *...maybe so meme* fadsfhkj he does literally say ‘this is why I’m going to another galaxy’ out loud at a later point of the book)

- this book is giving me the good good SAM content ;________; I love SAM so much, the scene where cora thinks she’s dying and SAM talks to her? when cora asks SAM if he’s okay being connected to her because if he’s sentient that matters to her (cora is a Good)? SAM explicitly having inherited alec ryder’s sense of humour and sarcasm and alec a) doesn’t know how it happened, b) distantly thinks he should probably track that process down and turn it off (and never does) and c) regrets all his life choices when his robot kid mercilessly snarks at him and questions his life choices? please bioware give me an me:a sequel with more of this stuff I’ll eat it up with a spoon

- body diverse asari! HUGE BUFF ASARI! Short stocky beautiful matriarch asari with one krogan and one turian trophy husband fast asleep in her bed in the background of a vidcall fkdjshfkjsdlhfkjsdah god I love mass effect with my entire heart

- OLD LADY INFORMATION BROKER VOLUS WORKING OUT OF ILLIUM!!!! this is not a drill what the fUCK this is the coolest shit 

- fasdklhfsjkdalfhsdjk okay in Alec Ryder POV: “I don’t think [Cora] likes me very much.” Which probably meant she had good judgement. AFLSKJDHGJSDKF ALEC 

he has a weird flip-flopping sense of self -- he is uncompromisingly (one might even say... astoundingly arrogantly) secure in his own intellectual superiority and that most other people are idiots not to be trusted and that he needs to do things himself because others would mess it up, and yet there’s this clear seam of self loathing around basically everything else about himself too. (You know who he reminds me of, in a more military and less visibly anxious way? Rodney McKay. Alec Ryder is like a slightly unfortunate outcome for a McShep lovechild. I think we just figured out why I have sort of a soft spot for him even though he’s a certifiable dick lol) 

- this book really makes it hit home that cora grew up incredibly isolated and dirt poor. I’ve seen some people say her backstory is all sunshine and daisies compared to kaidan and especially jack’s, but honestly her background is complicated and fucked up enough that I’m just like ‘shit baby :(’ all the time

- well I have successfully solved the puzzle about whether alec ryder is an idealist or not; he absolutely is. a grouchy, bad-tempered one with no people skills, but an idealist nonetheless. alec ryder is in fact a storm of 150000 emotions in a trenchcoat, barely held in check by a thin fragile outer shell of iron lol, SAM was absolutely right to say that he was mostly governed by his feelings. (and I mean if anyone would know it’d be SAM I guess). I found some of it sort of sweet actually: he reflects in passing that one of the biggest reliefs of no longer being in the alliance is that he’ll never have to risk other people’s lives again. he fundamentally wants to build something good to help people live and be happy instead of destroying things. (he also is quite bad at predicting how other people could corrupt and use his innovations precisely to be destructive b/c he doesn’t think that’s the ~*logical*~ thing to do, so... y’know haha, maybe it’s good he went to another galaxy, the milky way could not contain his chaos) 

also he thinks a lot about his wife, even though she’s been dead for years at this point. o u c h (she truly does seem to have been a tether for him in so many ways though -- like a tie to the real world/normalcy/possibly sanity, and that’s a bit how he still evokes her)

additionally: alec ryder did fistfight at the very least one dude in the line of bureaucratic duty, and perhaps more, enough for SAM to have a list of warning signs ready and at hand jdfsklfhasdjf. he did, very much, throw a dude through a table. (at least it’s implied said dude was an asshole) I LOVE that alec’s SAM is  the snarkiest iteration we’ve seen and that he’s perfectly willing to call the old man out on his bullshit (alec stresses that SAM is supposed to do what he says at the end of the day, but his SAM is also less subservient and more willing to argue and discuss things than any other we get to see -- and this is of course the SAM Ryder inherits, but I don’t think SAM is as confident in being able to read the PC correctly until a bit further into the game and the twin is of course a different person who’ll respond to different things so he’s not quite as... blunt? I guess? in confronting them about things. (the whole concept is just! so! interesting!!) anyway I feel like all of this says something about alec’s parenting style, for better or for worse haha. he sort of tries to be authoritarian but his children (well canonically at least Sara, she references having yelled at him a lot over the years) aren’t afraid to fight back or scared of the consequences of disagreeing, so I get the distinct feeling his temper never flared violently like that with his family at all, I think he’s more prone to just pulling away in disapproval.) 

- I enjoy how casually diverse this book is  -- Jemisin has done such a good job making sure especially the human characters are from different backgrounds and places, as they would be lore-wise in the Mass Effect universe, though the games often skew unfortunately white. (andromeda much less so than the trilogy, though)   

- my heart. is so so soft for the fact that a huge reason for cora to join the initiative is how much she bonds with SAM-E. and I am so sad for her because she just wants someone or something who’ll stay, something that won’t disappear on her without closure like her parents; she’s so insecure and scared under her competence (and WHY THE FUCK WOULDN’T SHE BE holy shit her parents just. weren’t there one day after she left home so she wouldn’t accidentally crush their ship with her untrained biotics and kill them all). and she chooses alec and his dream. and then alec goes and FUCKING DIES at the first opportunity Y____________Y alternate universe alec please drink your victor sullivan juice and survive, all these dumb children need you  

- I am so surprised about how much fond respect alec seems to have for cora and how quickly he developed it. I suppose he has a harder time with his own children because it’s closer to home? he is a complicated man lol, this last part of the book where he shows her the ark and everything is weirdly sweet. again I think he has the potential to be a good dad somewhere in there and that just makes it so much worse that he wasn’t. (also he staunchly considers himself still a married man. god help me) 

they’ve both grown to honestly love their sams T________T fml. (well alec has sort of bound up all of himself, the things he loves and their future in SAM, so it’s a bit more complicated but my point still stands) alec advocating for a consensual synthesis is very heartfelt and convincing; you really want to believe him.

cora seen through someone else’s eyes is also SO AMAZING!!! after this whole book in her head and she feels so flailing and uncertain and adrift and other people naturally view her completely differently. I especially like alec picking up on her not talking a lot. (I think this is why she responds so well to SAM, who’ll be there always and can be in her head. I wish this part of cora was more evident in the game, the fact that she has this sibling-like connection to SAM seems very important. sequel where both SAM and Ryder grow closer to becoming her actual family? please? I keep begging for ME:A2 into an empty aching void haha) 

- alec ‘I don’t have time to die’ ryder still talking about everyone else being idiots as he’s slowly catching fire while saving SAM fhdjfhsdlfhasdhlfsjd he is an asshole but it is hard not to stan 

- nO SAM-E D:D:D: oh well at least he’s still alive within SAM, in a way?

- hey. hey you know what’s fun. alec tries to use his last words and last thoughts to ask cora to tell the kids about ellen being alive this time too. haha. ha. fuck

he consistently goes out thinking of his family despite all his bullshit and I’m not okay

- CORA IS A PERFECT BODYGUARD/SECOND IN COMMAND AND I’M EMOTIONAL 

- alec is. surprisingly afraid to hurt people emotionally? he keeps putting off telling cora the bad news about SAM-E, to SAM’s stated disapproval lol (I must repeat again: I love SAM so so much). this supports my thesis that in his personal life he’s avoidant rather than confrontational/aggressive. (professionally... again, he did very much throw a man through a table) 

- man I hope we some day get SAM being this comfortably close and sarcastic with Ryder too. thinking about SAM-E and the small differences between him and uh SAM ‘prime’ it really must have been a huge thing for him too to become someone else, especially after the last person died like that. and he kind of has no choice but to experience that loss and death intimately. (now that I think about it that’s. fucked up, man. he literally felt alec go like it happened to himself.) 

If I were to summarize the differences between the SAMs we have seen, cora’s SAM-E seems younger, more exuberant, shyer and more -- what’s a non-shitty word for needy haha? it’s very firmly established that cora longs to feel needed, so this makes perfect sense. alec’s SAM is blunter, snarkier and more prone to questioning things, and hilariously is sort of alec’s emotional intelligence. (probably serves a similar role to what ellen used to, actually. ow) scott/sara’s SAM feels more worried/focused -- which also makes sense; he’s just experienced losing his person/pathfinder, in a real way he’s also recently orphaned and must be Extremely aware that he now has an enormous responsibility, not only what he was built for but for what remains of alec’s family. ...poor SAM 

(come to think of it I guess one vibe I get from in-game SAM is a little bit of ’harried and anxious yet loving and responsible uncle’ hahaha)

- so at this point alec knew cora could never be pathfinder after him, and he never told her. *accumulation of asshole points continues, though I suspect this might have come from a place of not wanting to hurt her again (b/c he’s the only one who has a right to know these important things amirite)* but I’m also strangely touched that the reason he’s hesitant to involve his children in the whole thing isn’t that he doesn’t have faith in them, it’s that he doesn’t want to burden their lives with something so heavy, a burden he created. can you just imagine... if this man had managed to take the time to explain himself, his motivations and his feelings to his children just once. just one fUCKING time. am I laughing am I crying I honestly don’t know

- this book makes me ache all over for the potential of Andromeda. and I don’t think it’s too late to salvage it either. I know a sequel probably won’t happen, at least not any time soon, but... *sits by rainy window like a wife wistfully wondering if her husband will return from sea*

[lilacmoon83]

A Darker Curse

Also on Fanfiction.net and A03

Chapter 30: Heartbeat

August opened his bleary eyes and turned away from the offending sunshine that was peering through the blinds. He rolled away and right against another warm body, suddenly remembering everything from the night before. He gently put his arm around her bare waist and nuzzled her neck, earning him a sleepy sound from her. They had gotten a bit tipsy last night, but still had all their faculties when they made this step to intimacy.

"What a night…" she said. He smiled.

"Yeah...it was," he agreed, as she turned to face him.

"I haven't been this happy in a very long time," she admitted.

"So...that means you're moving to Storybrooke?" he asked hopefully.

"I kind of have to. I mean, that's where my boyfriend lives," she replied playfully. He grinned.

"You're right...that's where he lives," he agreed, as their lips met again and he tossed the covers over their heads.

~*~

Snow gave him a dreamy stare, as their lips parted again, and they cuddled close. He fed her another bite of pancakes and then took one himself. Emma rolled her eyes from across the booth and tore up some more cut up pancakes on her son's tray.

"Guys...I love you, but we're in public," she complained. Snow winced.

"Sorry honey…" she said.

"It's just been a long time since I've been this happy, especially without any obstacles in our way," she added.

"Cora's gone, the curse is broken, and we're all together," she gushed. Emma smiled.

"And I'm happy about all of that, but maybe just a little less making out at breakfast," she replied. David chuckled.

"We'll try, princess," he offered, making her roll her eyes playfully again, just as Neal and his family arrived.

"Good morning," he said, as he kissed the top of little David's head. Their son looked up at him and cooed.

"Morning," Emma said, as he slid into the booth beside her, after pulling up a table so his father and Belle could join them.

"Neal told us you had a late night visitor," Belle mentioned. Snow grimaced.

"We did and I know he's hurting. I feel bad...but I'm not giving up my son," she replied.

"You shouldn't have to. He went about trying to reconnect with August in all the wrong ways," Belle assured.

"She's right...he lied to us and he should be thanking you," David agreed.

"I know...I just want my son to be happy. I hope Geppetto feels the same and just gives him a little time, because I know August will eventually forgive him. If he lets him," Snow said, as they finished up and continued to talk, while Neal, Belle, and Gold ate. Just as they were getting ready to part ways for the day, with David going to the station with Emma, and Snow heading for her first day as Deputy Mayor, without Cora around, they heard a terrible scream coming from the Inn. Neal picked up little David and all of them hurried over there to see what was going on.

~*~

Graham approached the vault in the cemetery with cautious optimism. Now that he had his memories back, he was reflecting on everything and naturally regretted his part in any of Cora's plot, but knew now it was because he literally had no choice. Cora had taken his heart, long ago, after his part in helping Snow and Charming. He didn't regret it though. They were good people and deserved none of what Cora had done to them. He was just glad it was finally over and she was gone. He hadn't even considered that getting his heart back would be an option. He was just glad the person that could use it against him was gone. So when Regina had called and told him he had that option, he had quite literally jumped out of bed.

"Good morning," Regina greeted, as he arrived.

"Morning," he said anxiously.

"I...I don't really know how this part works," Regina said, as the three of them walked into the vault.

"I watched her do a lot of magic, but I'm afraid she never gave any hearts back. So…I'm not really sure how this works," she said, as Graham approached the breathing wall. It was as creepy as he remembered, but one compartment seemed to glow brighter red than the others.

"Well...perhaps it will be easier than anticipated," Robin commented, as he watched his wife extract the compartment and take the heart out.

"I'll try to be gentle," she promised. He nodded.

"It's okay...I'm ready," he said, as she pushed the organ into his chest and he took a sharp breath and felt a flood of emotion course through him. He hadn't felt anything in so long that suddenly doing so was almost overwhelming. But in a good way.

"Thank you," he said.

"You're welcome...and I'd like Emma to remain Sheriff, but I am sure she could use a second deputy to cover the night shift," she suggested. He nodded.

"Emma should be Sheriff and David should have the daytime deputy position so he can be with Snow in the evening. I'm the obvious choice for the night shift...I prefer it anyway," he agreed. Regina nodded, as her phone rang and she answered it.

"Snow?" she asked, as she heard her sister's panicked voice on the other end.

"Oh...okay, we'll be right there," she said, as she hung up.

"What was that about?" Robin asked.

"We need to get over to the Inn. I'll tell you both on the way," she replied, as they followed her.

~*~

"Granny?" Emma called, as they looked around the deserted lobby of the Inn.

"Up here!" they heard her call, as Snow and David followed their daughter upstairs, hand in hand. When they got there, they found the older woman with one of her maids, who was crying hysterically.

"What's going on?" David asked.

"In there," Granny said, as Emma opened the door and was unable to warn her father, before her mother and the others saw the scene. Snow cried out and covered her mouth with her hand, as David pulled her back. She turned away, as he hugged her close, while observing the gruesome scene.

"Do not bring Belle or the baby in here!" Emma called to Neal and Gold, as the latter peered inside. Blood and brain matter was splattered all over the wall, as Greg Mendell lay dead on the floor, his eyes frozen open in death.

"What's going on?" August asked, as he and Tink exited the room down the hall and approached, hand in hand.

"Mom?" he asked, seeing how incredibly shaken she was.

"I'm going to help Emma," David told her, as he kissed her forehead and prodded her toward August, who hugged her.

"Stay with her…" he said. August nodded, as Tink looked in the room.

"Oh my God...Greg…" she uttered.

"Greg is dead…" she said, as she looked back at August.

"We...we just saw him last night," August replied.

"Which means you two might be the last people to see him alive, other than whoever killed him," Emma said, as she and David observed the scene.

"It might not mean anything, but he was shot in the temple and not in the back of the head," David said.

"It might. Back of the head would suggest surprise or execution," Emma replied.

"What was his state of mind?" she asked the other blonde.

"It was good...really good. He was still sad about his father's death, but he had accepted that the person that did it paid for it," she said.

"She's right...he planned to leave town. He was uncertain, but seemed like he was ready to find a new start," August offered.

"Did you have any trances last night?" Emma asked.

"Uh no, I was...busy," he replied.

"Do you think it might come to you?" Neal asked. August shrugged.

"I don't know...it might. But I can't force a trance. They just happen and I don't control them," he replied.

"I'll run out to the squad car and get the crime scene kit. Guess I'll be getting that training you were going to give me on the job," David said, as he kissed Snow quickly and hurried outside.

"Who would kill him?" Tink wondered.

"I don't know...you know him better than me," Emma replied.

"And we won't know until we get an autopsy, but we have to consider suicide," she added.

"No...that makes no sense," Tink refuted.

"The angle of the bullet hole suggests that it's a possibility," Emma said.

"Nothing in his demeanor suggested he was suicidal. He was actually...hopeful," Tink replied, as Emma stood up and put gloves on, as David returned.

"Okay...let's toss the room," she said, as they started searching through everything. David opened the chest of drawers and found a liquor bottle that was almost empty.

"Em...I need a bag," he called, as she tossed him one.

"Empty?" she asked.

"Almost," he replied.

"Maybe he got a little less hopeful," she said.

"No…he was in a good place. I'm telling you," Tink argued.

"His father was murdered and he didn't get to play any active role in making Cora pay. It's possible that he had a drink last night and it hit him that he wasn't going to get a satisfying closure," Emma argued back.

"Or someone wants us to think it's suicide," Tink said.

"Okay...if you think he was murdered, then by who?" David asked.

"He's right...the only other person from your team is still in lock up at the station," Emma replied.

"The only other person here...but trust me, the home office runs deep. Pan has a ton of sheep that follow him and do his bidding all over. Greg wanted out," Tink said.

"He said that?" Emma asked.

"Word for word," August confirmed.

"Then you think we may have another outsider in town?" David asked.

"Another outsider?" Regina asked, as they arrived and saw how upset Snow was.

"It's Greg Mendell...he's dead," Snow said.

"Murder?" she asked, as she came in now that they had the body covered with a sheet.

"The evidence suggests suicide, but Tink thinks that's what it's meant to look like. We won't know more until we get a complete autopsy," Emma replied.

"He wanted out...he told me and August that last night," Tink offered.

"Okay...that is a motive for murder. Any idea who would come to do the job?" Regina asked.

"I have an idea...but if she's here, then she won't reveal herself until she's ready to," Tink said.

"And who is this woman?" David asked, as Tink scrolled through her phone.

"Her name is Tamara...and she was Greg's supervisor, so to speak. She's the one that gets the orders from the Home Office and sent him here, posing as a district attorney," Tink replied, as she showed them the photo.

"What does she want?" David asked.

"Whatever the Home Office wants and even I don't know what that is. But Tamara...she hates magic and wants to destroy it. She's willing to do whatever dirty work they give her as long as the promised goal is destruction of magic," Tink replied.

"Which is this entire town," Gold said. Tink nodded.

"Then we need to find her," David replied.

"Which won't be easy. She's good at this," Tink said.

"Then we draw her out…" Regina suggested.

"How?" Snow asked and her sister smirked.

"This morning, I gave Graham his heart back and as you know, I have many more to return," she said.

"But it requires having the person it belongs to come forward, so we planned to announce to the entire town that anyone needing their heart back should come forward. All I have to do is offer the time to show up to my mother's vault, which is full of magic, and that would be too tempting for this person to ignore," Regina said.

"That's a good plan and we know what she looks like. We'll just have to keep our eye out, just in case she decides to disguise herself somehow," David replied.

"Snow and I can go to the television station now and have them tape a special announcement. I'll encourage them to have it ready for the evening edition of the news," Regina said.

"I can work up a quick front page story for tomorrow morning's mirror too," August agreed.

"We'll get the body to the morgue and get a rush on the autopsy," Emma said. Snow gave David a kiss, before leaving with Regina and Robin, while Graham went with them to the hospital once the morgue van arrived.

~*~

Geppetto entered the cathedral that morning and removed his hat, as he approached the altar.

"Hello Geppetto," Blue greeted solemnly.

"I have come for your help again…" he said.

"Geppetto…" she started to say.

"Please...just hear me…" he pleaded and she nodded.

"My boy...he will not talk to me and I fear he may never after what I did last night," he said.

"What did you do?" Blue asked.

"I visited Snow at her home...at a rather inappropriate time and the conversation became rather heated," he confessed.

"Oh Geppetto…" she chided.

"I know...I just wanted her to understand that he's my son! She needs to let him go!" he said.

"Geppetto...she has been a mother to him for twenty-years. You cannot expect a woman to let go of a child, whether she gave birth to that child or not. We are both lucky that Snow has not lashed out at us or shunned us completely," she reminded him.

"I know this...I know the Prince suffered greatly under the curse, but I had to do what I did for my boy. I sacrificed the Prince to Cora's curse to save my boy from it and I would do it again," he stated.

"And I think even the Prince understands why you did it and he is an honorable man that probably would have given up his spot to August if asked," Blue advised.

"Pinocchio! His name is Pinocchio!" Geppetto insisted.

"No...his name is August and he is a grown man now," she corrected.

"But if I am correct in my suspicions, he will not understand it if you speak harshly to his wife and neither will August," she advised.

"He threw me out...and August was not there. I asked around...and it seems he was with a young lady last night," he said, which peaked her interest.

"A young lady?" Blue asked.

"I believe she was once a fairy too. Tinkerbell I think is her name," he replied, as Blue's gaze narrowed.

"Please...you must help me get my son back," he said, interrupting her thoughts.

"You must give him time...he'll come around," she insisted.

"That is what everyone keeps telling me! But it won't happen! He refuses to have anything to do with me. It would be different if he was still a little boy," Geppetto said, as his eyes widened at that.

"That is the answer…" he realized and Blue became worried when he looked at her.

"You can help me with magic!" he exclaimed.

"You can make him a little boy again!" he insisted.

"No...we can't do that to him," she refuted.

"You must!" he cried.

"You must turn him back! You gave him life in the first place! You can reverse him back to the way he was!" Geppetto insisted.

"Not against August's will I cannot...you would be asking me to take his choice away. His free will...his humanity. It is wrong, Geppetto," she replied.

"Please...you must give me this second chance with my boy!" he cried tearfully and her heart ached for him.

"And what will you say to Princess Snow when you take away a child that she loves? A child that she has raised? You will break her heart and we did that once already when we separated her and the prince," Blue said.

"She has another child! And a grandchild! Not to mention that she has gotten her youth back!" he said heatedly.

"She is young again and can bear more children! I cannot have another child! I did not get my youth back! This is my last chance!" he cried. She nodded mutely.

"We will figure something out," she replied vaguely, as she comforted him.

~*~

"Good afternoon, fellow citizens of Storybrooke," Regina said, as she looked at the camera from the podium, with Snow standing beside her.

"We wanted to take a moment to speak to you all, now that the curse has been broken," she continued.

"We know that some may still be fearful, but we are here to assure you that the time for fear has passed. My mother, former Mayor Cora Mills, is dead," she announced.

"Back in our land, she earned the moniker of the Evil Queen and it was well earned," she added.

"She killed many people and hurt many more. I cannot right all of her wrongs, but there are some that I can fix. My mother took many hearts, those of which are here in Storybrooke," she continued.

"As a gesture of goodwill and a marker of a new era in this town, I am inviting all those that she stole from to come to my vault, tomorrow morning, to receive it back," she added.

"I know that my mother's vault may be a scary place, because of all the magic inside, but I assure you that I have everything under control and will return what belongs to you," Regina said, as Snow stepped to the microphone.

"We know things are still uncertain and that's why we are inviting the whole town to the park nearby for a town wide celebration to begin this new era of peace and love. You no longer have anything to fear and we promise to lead this town into a bright future," Snow concluded, as the camera panned back to the regular reporting and the two women stepped away from the podium.

"I hope that did the trick," Regina murmured.

"You mentioned the magic in the vault. If she's really interested in destroying or even just getting a sample of the magic, such a setting will be too tempting," Snow reasoned. She nodded.

"I hope so...I don't want to think that we just gave false hope when we might have a killer in our midst," Regina said.

"We'll stop her if we do," Snow insisted, as the two of them headed out to return to their offices for the remainder of the day.

~*~

"And that was our new esteemed Mayor, Regina Mills, and her deputy Mayor, Snow White, inviting those that had their hearts stolen by the Evil Queen Cora to gather tomorrow morning at the Mills family vault to have what was taken returned to them. In addition, the Mayor and Deputy Mayor will be holding a celebratory gathering in the park nearby as well," the news droned on and Tamara flipped the television off. She had set up a trailer in the woods and tapped into the local cable. That vault was like a gold mine. She would have to be careful, but she needed to get into that.

"Guess I'm going to a celebration tomorrow," she said, as she grabbed a scarf and some sunglasses, confident that it would be an adequate disguise...

[charyzard]

2000 word Jaal x Ryder fic feat. the crew and a birthday party! (and cats)

Slight spoilers under the cut

It was Fiona’s birthday. 23. Nearly a quarter of a century, give or take 600 years. Scott’s birthday too. She wanted to be on the Nexus, celebrate it with him, but instead, she was stuck on underside of the icy ass of Voeld, waiting for mission results. Sure, it had warmed up since they’d activated the Vault, but it was not paradise. Her email terminal pinged, dragging Fiona’s attention away from her melancholy, and she rolled off of her bed to shuffle over and read it.

“I have a present for you, Lexi said it was your birthday today. And you thought none of us would know, just because you didn’t say anything. Ha! Liam pitched in on ideas- said you were missing some things from the Milky Way. Hope this helps. Meet us in the crew quarters, and hurry!” -Vetra

Her interest was piqued. Of course Lexi would spill that detail.

“Patient confidentiality,” she snorted, fixing her hair and ensuring she looked at least semi-presentable. Then again, there was the possibility of a party, and parties meant pictures… Better to dress herself in real clothes and brush her hair. Plus, she had no doubt Jaal would be there. She indulged herself for a brief moment as she ran a comb through her brown waves, reading his recent email- dearest, he called her. It made her heart flutter.

The crew quarters were just down the hall, and Fiona cautiously waved the door open. She was met with a group of smiling faces, all of them mischievous. Her whole squad had crammed into the small space, even Gil, Lexi, Suvi, and Kallo perched on some of the bunks.

A chorus of happy birthdays brought a massive grin to Fiona’s face. It only widened when Vetra presented a cake, Peebee standing proudly next to her creation.

“Do you know how hard it was to bake that properly on this ship? Gil and I had to rig up an oven from the Nomad’s power source! No synthesized cake for you, Fi,” she proclaimed. Sure, maybe it showed she cared a little too much, but Peebee was willing to bend her rules. Humans didn’t get that many birthdays.

“Aw, you guys, this is amazing! I don’t even know how you managed to get the ingredients for this… Shit, Vetra, can you even eat this?” Fiona couldn’t push the smile from her face, giggles bubbling through her words.

“Ah, I don’t do sweets that much. Well, actually, I- uh- procured some dextro-chocolates from someone, but those are long gone.” The turian shook her head slightly, mandibles flaring. “Now, this isn’t actually the present I was talking about. If Jaal would stop messing with it, we could actually give it to you. It’s in the bathroom.” Vetra passed the cake to Cora with a firm warning to not let Drack anywhere near it- the krogan was eyeing it with vicious intent.

“You’re gonna love it, Fiona. But you have to promise to share, okay?” Liam piped up, sliding next to her.

“Share? What- Why is my present in the bathroom?” Fiona asked, following Vetra and Liam. She knew Jaal was fond of making gifts, but… the bathroom?

“Jaal, we’re coming in. Is it ready?” Liam asked, knocking on the metal door.

“It is ready, yes. And it will not stop talking,” Jaal replied through the door, and Fiona balked.

“You’re giving me something alive?” She hissed, terror on her face as Liam opened the door. God only knew what creature they’d found in Andromeda to torture her with.

“Oh, relax,” Vetra mused, “you’ll know how to take care of it. So, ready to meet your gift?”

The door slid open to reveal Jaal sitting on the ground, twisted to look behind him.

“Come now, you must meet your mistress, little furry thing,” he chided, moving to herd it to the front of the room. Liam shut the door, leaving the four in a very cramped bathroom. Fiona completely forgot her mild claustrophobia when she saw what Jaal was talking too- a small, gray cat, with gorgeous green eyes.

“Holy. Shit,” Fiona breathed, dropping to her knees. “Where the fuck did you find this? How did you get a cat holy shit?! Cake and a cat, am I dead?” She immediately put a hand out, cooing at the creature and wiggling her fingers.

“Lexi told us that the initiative had therapy animals put in cryo alongside the rest of us. Said they’d help with stress levels. It didn’t take much convincing for us to get her on board with the plan, and this little one followed. It’s a boy, his name is up to you. But, a warning, I think you’ll have to fight Jaal for him,” Vetra explained, her heart warming as the cat sniffed Fiona’s fingers. The Pathfinder let out a small whimper, its whiskers tickling her skin.

“Fiona, are you- are you crying?” Liam asked, nudging her with his knee.

“Yes! This is the best birthday I’ve ever had, and I just- you guys, you’re the best!” She let out a small sob, happy tears spilling over her cheeks.

“Is this normal? Do humans cry when you are happy as well as sad?” Jaal asked, observing the exchange carefully.

“Uh-huh. You’ll find that humans cry about a lot of things,” Vetra replied, and she elbowed Liam. “Wanna give them some alone time?”  

“I guess. But seriously Fiona, share the cat. I’ll save you a slice of cake!” He and Vetra slipped out quickly, the sounds of loud music wafting through the walls.

Fiona took a deep breath and rested her back against the door, idly running her hands through the cat’s fur. It was already purring- hell, the thing was affectionate. She blinked the tears from her eyes and finally acknowledged Jaal with a small wave, sitting cross-legged across from him. The cat stretched and paced over to the angara, rubbing against his knees. Jaal watched with absolute fascination, mimicking Fiona’s petting. He was rewarded with a chirp.

“That is a new sound,” he commented, a smile crossing his face. “Are these common pets in the Milky Way?”

Fiona grinned- he said Milky Way in the best way. “Meelkee Way,” she mimicked, stifling a laugh. Jaal rolled his eyes, but let her continue. “Yes, they are. I always wanted a cat as a kid, but Dad never let us keep one. Said they were too messy. Of course I’d have to make it to a whole different galaxy just to get one,” she joked, and Jaal chuckled.

“The angara have symbiotic relationships with animals for agriculture, but we have no animals that are so… domestic. I like it.” He really was fascinated, observing how it wandered and explored the room. “Liam, Suvi, and Cora all advised that it be introduced to the Tempest in small intervals. The bathroom seemed the best choice, both to hide it from you and keep the ‘litter box.’ Will it only defecate in there?” He obviously wanted to know more, but the nature of his questions made Fiona snort.

“Asking the real questions there, huh Jaal? Yeah, most cats will naturally ‘go’ in their litterbox. They also get really crazy sometimes and will start jumping on walls and tearing things up. We call that the ‘midnight crazies,’ even though it happens literally whenever they want.” She wanted to gush about cats- the number of vids she’d watched in her spare time, it was almost shameful.

“That is fascinating. Do you have thoughts on the name?” Jaal asked, waving Fiona over to sit next to him. She obliged, scooting over. Their knees were touching by the time she settled, and the contact made his email suddenly jump to the forefront of her mind. The cat began to clean himself, one leg stuck high in the air. Jaal’s brow furrowed, and he shook his head.

“I was thinking Tann. You know, to fuck with him? Get off of a serious vid-call with him, just to see the cat cleaning itself on the deck. Classic shit right there,” Fiona laughed, framing the cat with her thumb and forefingers. Jaal side-eyed her curiously, his pupils narrowing.

“I like your sense of humor. One of the many things you are wonderful for, jokes,” he commented, and Fiona blushed.

“Must you constantly make me red?” She asked, calling Tann over with a few clicks of her tongue. He regarded her plainly, tongue half out of his mouth, and continued his cleaning.

“Would you prefer I stop?” Jaal asked, and Fiona shook her head.

“Nah, it’s probably good for keeping the blood circulating. So what’s this about fighting you for the cat?”

“Well- he has been on the ship for a day now, and I like him. He is affectionate, but also strong and agile. They are little hunters, and- well, no, this is silly.” He was bashful, Fiona could tell, and she nudged his knee with hers.

“Aaand..? Come on, Jaal, I won’t laugh,” Fiona reassured, and Jaal sighed.

“He looks angaran. I believe it is the eyes,” Jaal admitted, his gaze cast to the side.

“Oh, you do have similar eyes. I always thought you reminded me of a lion for some reason,” Fiona mused, the connection finally making sense.

“What is a lion? I thought this was a cat,” Jaal frowned, crinkling his nose in confusion.

“So, this kind of cat is Felis catus, the domestic breed of cats. There are different species of cats on Earth, some of them are large predators. Like lions, Panthera leo. They can weigh up to 250 kilos and they’re pretty ferocious. I’ll email you a link on them later, but that’s a pretty good thing to be compared to.” Fiona watched Tann pad up to Jaal and climb in his lap, his fur wafting off and sticking to Jaal’s bioelectric field.

“They shed,” he grumbled, swiping fur off of his rofjinn.

“Yeah, good luck getting that off,” Fiona teased. “So, how are we going to get cake and watch the cat at the same time?”

“I believe Liam expressed interest in spending time with him. I am eager to try this ‘cake,’ given your reaction to it. Shall we?” Jaal gently moved Tann to the floor, earning a protest from the feline. He frowned, apologizing to him, and they quickly opened and shut the door.

“I will trade cake for time with the the newest member of our crew! His name is Tann, and he licks his butt!” Fiona announced, and Drack almost choked on his cake.

“I have to tell Kesh!” He exclaimed, his rumbling laughter spreading through the crew.

“I call the cat!” Liam called, grabbing two plates and handing them to Jaal.

“SAM?” Fiona asked quietly, watching her friends in their reverie.

“Yes Pathfinder?”

“Can you record this moment? Save it for me?” There were tears in her eyes again, emotion hitting her like a brick.

“Of course, Fiona. I’m glad you’re happy,” SAM commented, and Fiona nodded.

“Me too, SAM. I think we might finally be home.”

“I concur.”

Jaal arrived a few moments later with cake, the plastic fork awkward in his hand.

“I certainly hope you enjoy that. Cora said she saved it for you, it is a corner piece,” he elaborated, and Fiona shot Cora a grateful smile. She cared, in her own way.

“I hope you like it too. Darling,” she added, the joy in her heart making her daring. It caught Jaal off guard, his fringe shading blue.

“Of course. Dearest.” He took a bite of his cake and his pupils widened, focusing in on the plate. “There is too much sugar in this,” Jaal groaned, “How can you eat this?”

“Well, shit, I’ll eat yours too!” Fiona cheered, and Jaal shook his head. Fiona was a handful, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Who wants to take a group picture? Someone get Liam!” Suvi called from the other side of the room, and the party spread out into the hall and the galley. Someone found the beer, and for a brief moment, no one worried about the fate of the galaxy.

read it on ao3: http://archiveofourown.org/works/10541802