#which we kinda knew from abigails line but still

[eskildit]

also, for my tlt friends who enjoy lore, might i point you to this tor nine houses page which i figure was intended to be promo for nona but honestly contains some very interesting details about house structure and dynamics. also they describe the sixth house as “a sprawling organization of erratic loners, the Sixth are chaotic by nature and terrible at collective action” which is just wonderful

[poppadom0912]

The innocent detective - Part 8

Warnings: Mentions of robbery, breaking in, guns, potential shooting

Summary: The team is on the hunt to find your twin sister, Abigail Y/L/N.

A/N: Honestly, we didn't get enough Halstead brother moments in any of the shows and it really upsets me, especially since we're not going to get anymore with JLS' exit. They had so many opportunities and they missed them all. It's kinda really sad.

Anyways, this is kinda long so I hope you enjoy because we're nearly done!!

Previous Chapter / Series Masterlist / Next Chapter

*****

No one managed to get anything out of Blake so after little to no deliberation, he was sent down to the cage where he would remain till he either spilled Abigail's whereabouts or the team found her on their own accord.

Everyone was pulling their weight, doing the most to find Abigail and finally put an end to all of this but so far, they'd all come out empty handed with nothing but dead ends.

Sighing, Jay gritted his teeth, glaring at his computer screen which showed nothing helpful. They were wasting so much time and he was starting to get restless with this endless searching.

Getting up from his chair, Jay grabbed his jacket and excused himself, saying something along the lines of he was going home to have a shower and get a change of clothes since he'd used up everything inside his locker.

With no objections, Jay up and left the precinct, getting into his car and driving to your shared apartment which was empty. It'd been empty for the seven months you'd been in jail but even after more than half a year, he wasn't used to going home alone.

He didn't have a lot of partners and he had military experience but going home to an empty apartment and a cold bed, no one by his side when he woke up, Jay couldn't become accustomed to that again.

Using the time he was going to be driving, Jay tried giving Will a call, not too sure if he was even available to answer since he was still at work.

Fortunately for Jay, Will did answer, the first thing he said when he answered the call being 'Your lucky I just started my break' before he apologised to Jay because he was going to eat his lunch and wouldn't actively be participating in their conversation which was about to take place.

Not bothered by protocol and legality, Jay told Will everything they knew, starting from the very beginning that you were a twin to Blake being in their custody where he would stay until further notice.

Talking to his older brother was a good distraction for Jay, even if they were talking about the exact thing that he needed a distraction from.

By the time Jay got everything out, spilling all the tea to Will, he was parked and waiting for the elevator to stop at the correct floor. Saying a quick goodbye, promising to call back when he got something good, Jay hung up and made his way to your apartment.

Fishing for his keys in his pocket, Jay's body came to an abrupt stop, his eyes freezing on the open door, a small crack revealing the shoe rack which lay right behind the front door.

Wasting no time, Jay pulled out his gun and cautiously entered the apartment, eyes surveying every inch of every room till he knew it was clear. His shoes made no sound at all and even with the best hearing, you couldn't hear him breathe.

Nothing looked out of place. Everything was where Jay left it and that's what irked him, the fact that nothing was taken but it wasn't till Jay got to the final room he needed to clear, your bedroom, to find out what was taken.

The gun you had in case anything happen to your work one was gone from the safe, your purse and your keys to basically everything you needed a key for in your life, was gone too.

Jay didn't have to think too far, already knowing who would've broken in and taken such random but useful things that just so happened to belong to his girlfriend. Without a second thought, his phone was out of his pocket and on his ear.

"Voight, we've got a problem."

*****

"So, besides Will, the only other person to have a key is our neighbour." Jay walked back into the apartment where the entire unit was, a few techs roaming around for fingerprints and all that jazz but there was nothing they would find that they wouldn't already know of.

"She's in the last stages of dementia, going onto Alzheimer's." Jay explained, defending his neighbour, there was no reason to blame her. "Her daughter, whose her carer, was out so she was alone. Abigail somehow got into the building, knocked on her door and asked for a key."

"She just thought it was Y/N who simply forgot her key." Jay pressed his lips together, hands going to his belt, holding it as tight as he could as a sort of mechanism to ground himself.

"We checked the buildings cameras." Hailey said once Jay finished. "Someone downstairs forgot Y/N was in prison and let her through, only remembering when we arrived. Abigail got in and out easily."

Kim carried on for her. "We've got GPS on Y/N's car, we've got access to all her cards so the second Abigail uses them, we'll know."

It was only a few seconds of silence but it was deafening. It was in those few seconds that they realised all they had to do and were able to do was sit and wait till she moved because as soon as she did, they'd know and they'd be on her ass.

*****

It felt like a break away from all the drama and work even if they were at your apartment all but ten minutes ago. Everyone just got back, cars parked and while half the unit went inside, the other four insisted on staying back for a bit and promised to be back soon.

That left Jay, Kim, Adam and Kevin outside in the carpark. Jay standing by his truck while the officers were up to their usual antics and shared their banter which never failed to bring smiles.

In the middle of Kim scolding Adam, Kevin egging her on, Jay caught sight of someone in the corner of his eye, doing a double take when he recognised the man from a little over half a year ago but never saw him again after that.

The man wasn't fazed by the faces of the four intelligence members, instead, he actually walked towards them, telling his partner to head inside without him.

Jay jutted his head in the mans direction, standing up straight and dropping his smile, the three officers following suit as they watched the man join the circle they unconsciously created.

"Detective, Officers." The man greeted the courteously. "I don't think we've officially met."

Adam scoffed, keeping his lips tightly shut when Kim elbowed him in the gut. Kevin stood to his tallest height which would've intimidated the man had he been looking in his direction but his eyes were glued to Jay who looked at him with nothing but pure hatred burning in his irises.

Jay didn't even bother following his movements, neglecting the hand he was offered to shake. He couldn't care less if it made the man feel awkward because Jay was just starting.

"Detective James Simmons, Homicide." The man formally introduced himself, completely oblivious to what he'd just done. Keeping his customer service smile, he eyed the group with some sort of plan building in the far corner of his mind.

Jay clenched his jaw, this investigation was just filled with plot twists that nothing surprised him anymore. Now that he thought about it, they did look the same, sharing similarities like that smug smile and the same broad shoulders but one wore a silver star while the other wore scrubs.

Jay continued to glare at the man but the corner of his lips perked up. "Have a wonderful day Simmons." He said sarcastically, watching his every movements as he left and went into the district.

"You think we should tell him we have his brother in our interrogation room?"

"We don't do shit."

*****

Shuffling back into the bullpen, they filled in the other half of the unit in on the tea, telling them in semi-shock that the sibling of doctor Blake just so happened to be the detective that arrested Y/N that very night seven months ago at Molly's.

At first, it was shocking but then it made sense but then it didn't. Everyone went back and forth with different propositions, guessing and throwing around scenarios but in the end, no one could come to a solid conclusion nor did they have any evidence that supported any of their theories.

While trying to fill in the gaps, Kim stood up way too fast, alerting everyone that she'd just gotten a notification that your car was on and on the move. It was being driven towards an address that not all of them recognised, but while gearing up, Jay grumbled in disappointment.

Driving towards the high school, it felt so surreal. From here on, anything could happen but whatever happened, it would affect the case. Negatively or positively, they weren't sure but they'd be straight back on their feet the second they had another lead.

But Jay wasn't letting Abigail go because she'd gone too far now. He didn't care if she was your identical twin, he wasn't totally upset that the people that caused you pain were gone but he did care that Abigail killed them. He didn't care if he had to continue running after your sister for the rest of the year and the next, as long as justice was served and you were free, that's what Jay cared about.

With deafening sirens blasting down the roads and the flashing red and blue lights blinding the occasional pedestrian, the high school was notified of the situation and was immediately put on lockdown.

The one person that wasn't given a CPD officer to constantly be by their side was the one person that intelligence thought didn't hurt you but did have a connection to the case.

During the frantic drive, Hailey managed to find out who it was exactly that was Abigail's target and she had to blink a few times to make sure she was seeing what she was seeing.

Why was Abigail going after the wife of Detective Simmons? Realistically, Abigail should like the wife of the man that would one day be her brother-in-law if her and Blake's relationship got to the point of marriage but at the looks of things, they wouldn't even reach the point of engagement.

Not being too bothered with his parking, Jay jumped out his truck and weaved through the patrol cars and the several officers that consisted of a mix of patrol, swat and anyone else that was considered necessary for bringing out the woman roaming the halls of the high school you coincidentally attended when you were sixteen.

Briskly announcing he was a part of intelligence, Jay strode into the school, Hailey close behind him with the rest of the unit separating and covering different exits and entrances.

The halls were deathly quiet. All you could hear was the occasional squeak of their shoes going against the polished floor. Whispering clears to one another as the team all came together in the middle of the school where the quad was.

It was in the midst of the flowers, bushes and small trees that were planted and being grown by the students where they found Abigail, her hand shaking as she pointed her gun at Detective Simmons' wife who they found out not too long ago was called Julia Simmons.

Will all eight of their guns trained on Abigail's back, it felt surreal that after everything that happened, they finally found her. It wasn't the ideal situation they wanted but they could work with this.

Jay did the honours since he was in front of everyone else and the closest to her. "Abigail, put the gun down."

She didn't move, having already sensed the heavy presence behind her before they said anything. Her gun which was actually yours remained inches in front of Julia's forehead who had silent tears rolling down her rosy cheeks with her eyes screwed shut, refusing to look the woman she grew to love like a sister in the eye.

"Come on Abigail, Julia's innocent and has got nothing to do with Y/N." Jay started with, seeing if he could pry Julia away unharmed. "Let her go and show everyone you're willing to cooperate and this can be a lot easier for all of us."

Jay could see your twin debate with herself, her thoughts running wild as she hesitantly lowered your gun when all of a sudden, she whipped around and pointed the gun at the first person she saw who just happened to be Jay.

Encouraging Julia to get up and run, Kim grabbed her forearm and pushed her out of the quad, back into the hallways and into an officers arms where she would be safe.

With their alertness increasing because of where Abigail's gun was pointed, everyone's finger itching to pull the trigger but being held back by the thought of one of their own being hurt and you in the back of their minds.

"Listen to me Abigail." Jay said, keeping his weapon drawn on your carbon copy. It felt so weird, staring at Abigail who was technically called a serial killer for everything she'd done but all he could see was you.

But then he had to remind himself that everything she'd done was the cause of you ending up in jail.

"Don't do this. Put the gun down and come with me, come with us." Jay clenched his jaw, unsure how he was going to convince her. "You know who I am, you know who we are which means you know that all we want is to help Y/N and bring her back home."

"She's been hurt and is suffering in jail and only you can help get her out but only if you put that gun down." Jay said truthfully, watching as her eye twitched at the mention of you being hurt.

"You come with us and we will help her, that's all we want to do."

Taglist:

@samanthavitale

@lovearynacemn

@itsdesiree8686

@sorry-i-spaced

@mads-weasley

@enchantedblackrose

@lanea-1

@laylasbunbunny

@Alkadri-Layal

[takadanobaba]

If you don't mind me making another long post, I'll talk about the current view I had for a part 2 and the what I thought of the characters first thought of the twins. Feel free to correct anything I miss interpretate, we currently don't have too much about the town's folks individual options on the twins and their Pokémon.

I sorted the town's folks into categories based on their opinion on Pokémon instead of the twins themselves but quite a few probably would be cut from the actual chapter unless I made a part 3

Likes Pokémon:

Jas, Vincent, Evelyn, George, Wizard

(George likes Pokémon but doesn't appear to, kinda like the dog owner who insults their dog but still gives it a treat. He might like their Pokémon but he doesn't like the twins because he doesn't want them to mess up the train station.)

Lukewarm about Pokémon:

Alex, Elliott, Harvey, Emily, Leah, Maru, Penny, Caroline, Clint, Gil, Gunther, Linus, Marlon, Marnie, Robin, Willy

(Alex, Elliott, Emily, Maru and Penny are all scared of Pokémon but think they're interest/cool but will observe from a safe distance. Penny is the most scared but also most intrigued)

(Harvey, Leah, Caroline, Linus, Marnie and Willy are scared of Pokémon but have more a neutral option of them and see they more like unprodicatable animals. Harvey favours Klinklang since its the least dangerous looking (and I like to think the Klink line is associated with anything with mechanics like the air force). Linus has mixed feelings about Garbodor, he feels a kinship since they're outcast but has a dislike since she might steal his dinner.)

(Clint, Gil, Gunther, Marlon and Robin are scared of Pokémon but aware that they can be tamed and are often used in their jobs outside of Stardew. Clint would like Boldore. Robin would like Gurdurr. Gunther is aware of fossil Pokémon.)

Plain fear of Pokémon:

Sam, Sebastian, Abigail, Hailey, Gus, Jodi, Lewis

(Sam, Sebastian and Lewis try not to show their fear but would run away if a Pokémon got too close.)

Hostility towards Pokémon:

Shane, Demetrius, Kent, Pam, Pierre

(All hostility mainly stems from parental overprotectiveness but witha small. Since Pam was the original bus driver, she possibly had seen some Pokémon battles outside of Stardew and seen how strong they could get. Kent is probably the only one to never fully like Pokémon.)

HI! Doctorsparkle here! Takadanobaba showed me your ask and well ... he is letting me take the stage on this main replay! I got to say tho Kraken! You are on the right tracks! I have to say you are amazing for paying attention to so many details and nuggets we have placed throughout various posts!

Your fanfic based on the mod is amazing as well and we are glad for all the ideas you have thrown at us. It really helps us when we are stumped.

Few things about some characters.

George - George’s relationship with Submas Twins is - Tolerating their presence.

Ingo and Emmet have a good relation with their wife, Evelyn, and they know that Evelyn adores Pokémon. (He knew she had one, as did he... when they where in their younger years before Stardew got rid of them. Evelyn had a Bellosom. While George problem had a a Crab-Related Pokemon. Like Krabby or Dwebble, really family Pokémon. They weren't trainers, just average folk.)

And since they have a good relation with the wife, well, you know the saying, happy wife. Happy life. As for his views on the train station.. he really doesn’t care… simply due to his age, him being wheelchair bound... and there has been dialogue related to him how he isn’t religious but since he is up there in age he preys to Yoba. (To which I can relate to, George and Evelyn as characters based on my own personal experiences with older family members.)

So really he doesn’t like the twins but as long as his wife is happy and the Pokémon are nice. He doesn’t care what they do… He's probably glad to have some form of company.

Harvey - Harvey is most definitely going to like Klinklang, however, he still views it as dangerous. Every Pokémon the Submas twins has is dangerous in their own way…. For Klinklang tho… well... giant spinning gears. And moving parts. If anyone who has worked with heavy equipment or machinery. Gears and sharp can be dangerous. Get your clothing stuck in there and well— RIP your arm or leg. Or your favorite outfit. He will still be wary and cautious about all moving parts on a Pokémon. Organic or Mechanical. Hence why he harps on the twins about their health more than anything. It's a hate-love relationship. Think of a nagging parent. He doesn’t outright dislike Pokémon but he just can’t turn off his doctor brain. Ya know?

Views on Job Related Pokemon

(Robin, Clint, etc) - LOVE THIS TO BITS! However, do keep in mind that Stardew Valley is isolated… it is a separate region. So, unless you're someone like Pam who travel across Stardew Valley. You're not going to see a Pokemon. Or a Pokemon Battle. I bet you no one even knows what a Pokemon Battle is.

I think they would learn about how Pokemon can help them with their own professions through casual talks with the Submas Twins when they have to say ask Robin for a commission or head down to Clint's to get some metal work done. The knowledge of Pokémon is lacking…. Which feeds into the fear and stigmatization of them. Knowledge is power. The government will most likely be censoring Pokémon related media... except for a few things that fall through the cracks like fashion magazines.

Which we’ll segway into… Hailey and Emily - They will most definitely fear Pokémon, however, we have some plans for the two with Elesa! They will know a little bit about Pokémon but only through fashion magazines. So think cute Pokémon like Happiny or Pachirisu. Anything bigger then a cat… forget it. They will be terrified of all of Submas Pokémon but over time it’ll dull down… they’ll still be jumpy but its not an outright dislike. Just... they prefer to see them from afar or in fashionable clothing in a book or magazine.

Gus - Definitely a fear of Pokemon... however! There are some exceptions. Joltik. And Garbador. Joltik I won’t go into details just yet, but one shows up in an event where Gus is. Garbador tho, think of Linus. Gus will most likely think of Garbador like Linus… so he isn’t scared of them. Plus. They keep the trash clean… so no raccoons or rats near the establishment. Lol. He'd be happy that no food/trash would go to waste and they make less of a mess than the other scavengers, so it's better to have it go to them.

Demetrius - Now he is a complicated one. I would say yes to hating Pokémon HOWEVER, there is definitely some character growth and development with him simply due to how Maru interacts with Pokémon and how much Stardew Valley is changing.

There is dialogue about Demetrius saying it's better that Stardew Valley- or this case the Ferngill Republic- is isolated. He could hate the Pokémon and dislike the twins at first because they are breaking the norm.

Maru, on the other hand, is absolutely fascinated about the changes. Scared and wary, but in awe of the Pokémon. The scientist in her is wanting to challenge the norm, while Demetrius is conservative and stuck in his ways… we’re also not a 100% concrete on this concept yet due to needing to double check dialogue and how his personality is in game but for Demetrius definitely a character development kinda guy.

As for how Stardew Valley relates globally with the Pokémon world stuff, I have been going off of the Setting article on this Wiki here

It shows a very pixel crude map of Ferngill Republic and Gotoro Empire. They are both continents or in this case regions.

You can’t drive to Ferngill Republic through Unova or any other Pokémon region. Only way to get there is by flight and then travel by bus. However when the train-station is up and running there will be Surfliner Routes, theoretical underwater train lines, or a giant bridge.

In Black and White and Black and White 2 there are the Wifi-Lines. I believe these to be international lines that connect to other regions. So, say for example, a train from Kalos deciding to go to Unova via this Wifi-Line or the Cyan Line. etc. etc. since Stardew Valley and Ferngill Republic has been isolated, banned on Pokémon etc. Passenger lines cannot travel on these train lines… also with the state of the station in Stardew, it probably isn't the best either.

The Ferngill Republic, however, conducts Agricultural and Economic trade with the other regions. Tomatos, meat, etc. due to possibly how taboo it is in some regions to kill and to eat Pokémon. Even though Magikarp and Slowpoke Tails might be a delicacy... the culture surrounding Pokémon as being our friends, family, partners in life... well you wouldn't want to murder Mr. Mittens now would you. That wouldn't sit right with some people.

So with the train station being rebuilt, expect a lot more economical benefits etc. and trade.

Hope this least clears up some things but also.. I just info-dumped like Ingo LOLOL. Aaaaaah…. Theres definitely a lot more I can write. Guess you can say… i’m like Lore Keeper Dani from Criticalrole. Anyway! Hope you enjoy this long reply to chew on!

[vanillasakura]

I know Abigail is your fave but what’s your favourite things about her?? And when did you first start loving her character? Did you play the first game or were you first introduced to her through the second?? <3 😊 (hope I’m not bothering you with these questions hehe)

Not at all! I love talking about Abigail so any excuse to do so is warmly welcome

I played rdr2 first, haven’t actually played rdr1 yet because I’m waiting to be in a better headspace before I play a game that I know is going to destroy me (I tend to get very invested in media I care about and when bad things happen to characters I really love, it hits me hard. Just ask my friends how broken up I was during my first watch of Evangelion)

So, here’s a funny story: I actually started playing rdr for the women. My friend and her dad were playing through the game and my friend called me one night and was like “hey, I think you’ll be very attracted to some of the characters in this game you should buy it.” I went on a weekend trip with my mom and my sister not long after, and I downloaded a couple of red dead fics to read in the car when we wouldn’t have service. I totally fell in love with the characters and the setting, and I got the game as soon as I got home. (I spoiled myself on everything main story-wise before I played as a result. This is something I never do, but I’m kinda glad I did because it helped me look forward to the game so much I didn’t care if I knew how it was going to end)

Once I started actually playing, I was drawn to Abigail right away because of how loyal she was to John. He’d hurt her, but even through all of that she still sat by his side and straight up cried for him. Once we got to Horseshoe Overlook I saw how gorgeous she was too (incredibly so…) and I was like “oh no, pretty woman who also looks to be a compelling character…”

So I did the sane thing and started stalking her around camp. Getting to see how wonderful of a mother she was to Jack (like encouraging him to read, talking to him when he’s crying) how she stood up to John for treating her like shit in a few camp interactions, how she comforted Sadie by being honest with her, it all really drew me in.

She’s also incredibly smart. Hosea himself says it during chapter 4. She’s the one who planted the explosives for the bank robbery and she can act. I’ve said it before, but the quote that stood out the most to me I heard from her all game long was in a camp interaction in chapter 2. She and Tilly are talking about how hard it is to be a woman, and if Arthur talks to her afterwards, he says something along the lines of “oh, it’s not that bad,” to which she responds “and what would you know about being a woman?” I know it’s not really anything profound but something about it stood out to me.

On top of being smart, capable, and kind, Abigail’s also refreshingly human. She can get drunk and talk about how she hates being a mother and feels like Jack destroyed her life, she has hopes and dreams, she’s always first in the coffee line, she gets mad and acts without thinking sometimes (especially in the first part of the epilogue when John’s beating up the Laramie Boys) I feel like it’s really easy for a lot of characters to be toned down sometimes to one-beat tropes, but it’s harder to do that for Abi because of how complicated she is. Not saying that it doesn’t happen, this is fandom after all, but shh let me have my moment.

This is more of a personal thing, but her little mannerisms are so adorable. The way she hum/sings, the things she says during dinner at Beecher’s Hope (“okay, go!”), the little cutscenes you can get where she reaches over to cuddle with John in bed, they’re all so cute.

@revswanson mentioned this yesterday, but Abi and John also have such an amazing relationship. I can’t and don’t condone how toxic it was pre-chapter 6, but during the epilogue it’s beautiful, and that continues into rdr1 from what I’ve seen. They both bring out the best in each other, it’s adorable.

So yeah! I hope all that answers your questions. @scarfacemarston also has some really amazing metas on her page about Abigail that I recommend you read too, as they’re much more eloquent than anything I could manage to put together. But yeah, tldr I think Abigail is realistic, smart, and strong, and all of those qualities really drew me towards her

[lifeandlemons]

Okay so I'm fairly new to the Motherland Fort Salem Fandom. But I binged the show in like three days and caught up to watch S2 EP9/10 live. So I'm sure that someone has already posted about this. But I just want to ramble about how much I love the show, Raylla in specific, and why I think they are soulmates.

In season 1, it was established that sexuality is very fluid in the MFS universe and it also doesn't really matter. It's never brought up as like a thing and even Elliot mentions in an After the Storm episode that sexuality is pretty irrelevant. You are free to love who you love and be whoever you want to be without any judgement. Which is quite the opposite of what we see in our world and most other shows with LGBT+ rep.

What's interesting is the shows take on the concept of marriage and I guess monogamy to a certain degree. During the Beltane episode we see Abigail with Clive and Augustin, Gerit despite being with Tally in the end is seen talking to other girls and is eventually married off. You can even see Glory off in the background leaving with a group of girls (whether that was romantic or more of a friendship connect that's up to you to decide). But from the very get go, all the girls are encouraged to meet and be with multiple different people. Not just one. It's about charging up and having connections and getting stronger. Whether that be a romantic or friendly connection.

This is further solidified when we find out in episode 5 that marriage is more of a contract to make kids rather than a lifelong commitment made from love. Charvel and Ciro are only to be married for 5 years to basically have kids and continue on the Bellweather line. Charvel even says that she's not upset about being married to Ciro because she isn't tied down necessarily she can still be with other people if she wanted. Ciro was more of a means to the end to create a "proper" Bellweather heir.

What makes me think Raelle and Scylla are soulmates is because in a world where monogamy isn't necessarily the norm in the militarized witches world we have a couple that is so thoroughly meant for only each other. That are so instantly drawn to one another and continuously fight for one another.

First off Raelle and Scylla only have eyes for each other. At no point do either of them show interest in literally anyone else. Which yes I know Scylla's initial interest is very sketch because she was told to get close to Raelle from the Spree... but work with me here!

Secondly, we have Raylla's parents. Willa married Edwin and stayed with him the entire time, even though he is a civilian and she likely knew that would be heavily frowned upon. I can only assume their marriage was formed out of love, rather than the obligation to have more girls to continue on the Collar line. Similarly, I'm assuming that Scylla's parents relationship was formed out of love due to the fact that they were dodgers and probably weren't fans of the "make babies for the army" thing that's going on. I feel like Raylla would see their parents love and want what they had. A super deep connection rather than a charge up so to speak.

Third, I want to compare their relationship to Abigail and Adil's. Abigail in season 1 was very casual with her sexuality having multiple partners. But we can kinda see that shifting in season 2 where she forms a really close bond with Adil and fights for their relationship despite her mother's wishes. She even says herself that her relationship with him is different because it's so much deeper than anything else that she's had. And it's when Alban Hearst says that the sky and earth cannot meet that they are basically prophesied to be together... i.e. soulmates. They are the opposites of each other, but they blend together so well. And besides Raylla they are the only couple that we see (besides background characters i.e. Willa and Edwin) that are dedicated to literally only one other person. Now I'd like to argue that Scylla and Raelle are kind of the same. Scylla being the earth, the Necro, connecting to death and bringing people back to life. Raelle being the sky, the the Fixer, healing people keeping them from dying. Together they form the circle of life. death and rebirth almost in a sense. They are the opposites of each other and that's why they work so well together. They are connected to each other on a much deeper level. And I mean opposites attract after all.

Idk if this makes any sense and I feel like I'm rambling here and none of my thoughts are coherent at all. But my main point is that in a world that is telling them they can't be together forever, they are saying fuck that because they're soulmates and they can do whatever the fuck they want.

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

[gallpall]

canaan bubble redux as a womb for story/character arcs

I’m sure most of this has been posted about before but: ever since my initial read I’ve been obsessed with the gross bodily/gorey stuff in the Canaan redux and I wanted to organize some of my constant+chaotic thoughts!!

TM has said that a lot of the motifs/events in the bubbles are actually “Silent Hill stand-ins” for story elements and she hopes we pick up on stuff, so here’s my Attempt!

At the same time that Harrow’s mind is being made a tomb for Gideon Nav Wake’s subconscious is pulled in to act as a womb for certain plot elements right alongside it. The chronology/time period of HtN mimics a full nine-month gestation. There’s a lot of very literal imagery here (which is below the cut), but I also think we’re meant to see it as metaphorical: we’re able to glean some things about character arcs based on how everything in the bubble goes down.

I’m particularly interested right now in those ‘side’ characters in the bubble who aren’t actually dead, who barely appear in the bubble at all except to get summarily offed, all in very distinctive ways. Judith, Camilla, Palamedes, and Coronabeth.

(cw below cut for some pregnancy/insemination imagery, canonical body horror and gruesome bubble deaths rehashed)

First of all just some quotes showing some of the imagery that I’ve attributed to being Wake manifesting pregnancy trauma stuff (there’s possibly some of Harrow’s conception trauma here, too) seeping through, for the purposes of this line of speculation. 

This isn’t nearly all of it, but some things that stood out to me as possibly comparing Canaan House 2.0 to a functioning reproductive system:

(ch. 21) a “collection of large, rusted pipette needles” -- turkey basters?

(ch. 35) “great, slithering, pulsing tubes” which contain “whitish-pearl bubbled globules”-- this perhaps recalls ovaries/fallopian tubes, with the ‘globules’ being follicles produced by superovulation for insemination, or corpus luteum that supply progesterone to maintain a pregnancy.

(ch. 45) “stretched webs of organ [...] like nets of sticky venous spiderweb” --uterine walls, maybe; it’s all over the windows, totally encasing them in Canaan’s rooms, and arguably even contracting like a uterus would: “every so often they would tremble uncertainly and erupt in floods of bloody, foamy water.”

in the next pgh we get some more of the tools Wake would have used to conceive/upkeep the pregnancy: “pipettes, broken glass-fronted containers filled with dark fluid,” skeletons sitting atop piles of “capsules or pills” perhaps hormones/supplements. (also holding Drearburh tools, the way Wake’s skelly would have been doomed to do)

(ch. 43) “from that hole emerged a clattering pile of plex scope slides, the type you would preserve a cell sample between“ -- Wake would’ve had to carry out the IVF process for implantation, this also seems like apparatus for that

(ch. 47) there’s the “libation” Abigail uses to summon Wake which is... well. It’s a “thin, milky, whitish liquid pooled at the base, sluggish in the cold,” and the summoning involves a bunch of ‘come’ commands, which I think might be Muir making a very elaborate jizz-adjacent “silly buggers with the emissions” joke. 

Just a note, cause I’m hopeless about Pyrrwake: the Seconds’ quarters are almost completely preserved from the leaky body horror (though it’s still cold in there)--as if they represented a sanctuary in Wake’s subconscious. There are also letters in the nonagonal coffin room which spell out an anagram of “PYRRHA” (ch. 47).

So with all that in mind, I’d posit that the fake-ghost deaths are all metaphorical “rebirths” of various characters arcs for ATN. I haven’t delved into what this imagery might mean for Harrow or Gideon specifically because I know there’s a LOT and it’s probably above my theoretical paygrade (I would love for someone to tack on with that though!!) but I can talk about ‘side’ chars on a very big-picture level.

Judith’s simulacrum gets knocked off first (ch. 18); shot through the heart (both atria) while she and Marta’s ghost are trying to complete the winnowing trial. The Sleeper shoots her 7 more times after that, I guess partly just ‘cause she can, but Ortus notes that it seems like there was an element of "Anger” to it. It’s possible Wake wasn’t pleased to have someone messing around with Pyrrha’s lyctoral trial, infuriated that anyone would be attempting to replicate G1d/Pyr’s original downfall. She then ignores Marta entirely and climbs back in the coffin (now with the sword) once Judith’s out of the way.

[Marta’s] scarlet necktie looked redder too—by the time they’d gotten hold of Judith Deuteros the blood had dried hers nearly black.

Cohort red-and-whites being stained black with blood, like a certain high-collared BOE uniform... could be another little clue to Judith’s "heart” for the Emperor (and for Marta, and pretty much everything else she knew) being lost and her realigning--though not willingly, at least at first--with the other side.

Cam and Pal’s simulacrums are plainly executed (ch. 21), they have their “faces obliterated” each by a single gunshot, and it’s as if they just stood there and let it happen. In the bubble, “Harrow had never seen Sextus or Hect except from afar.” These simulacrums totally avoid having their features revealed to Harrow. I’m willing to bet their faces being obscured and then exploded is one of the clues we get to their eyes being swapped around the next time we see them in the epilogue and in ATN.

Regarding the twins: They are essentially non-extant in the bubble. Ianthe never appears because she’s still kicking and, in her own words, “doesn’t live alternate histories” (GtN ch. 15).

Coronabeth’s simulacrum scene (ch. 37) is SO vivid and cryptic. It fascinates me because it definitely is, in part, trying to tell us something poignant about the initiation of Corona’s “worse twin” arc in ATN.

[Corona] was turned away from Harrow, and her riot of hair—half-caught in a fillet, half-escaping—was soaking wet, a dark and crinkling amber in the rain. She was not fighting or arguing. She was still as a statue, and ready and waiting as a dog.

Sounds like the fake ghost preparing for that major shift in allegiance. Silas is the one to ‘dismiss’ her, with his “may the blood of your blood suffer,” which perhaps is a really Templar-y way of saying ‘now go wreck ianthe’s SHIT.’ When Harrow accuses him of sending Corona to her death, Silas asks “Death?”--as if he sees that what’s really just happened, at least metaphorically, is (re)Birth.

[Harrow] thought she saw, absurdly, a sudden gush of watery blood, as though the fog itself had been knifed; but it was gone almost as soon as she had seen it.

Sounds a bit like amniotic fluid/water breaking? Coronabeth doesn’t ever seem to hit the ocean (bodies of water=necromancy and that’s not her deal), she instead just kinda poofs, and Silas says she would have ended up “on her feet.” Coronabeth is ditching her family ties and is out for blood, and I think her charisma, willpower, and sheer desire for revenge will move her a long way in the ranks of Eden--probably even to the point of echoing Commander Wake’s ambitions and actions. I could delve into that damn portrait mirroring Ianthe’s obsession w/ Cyrus’ paintings on the Mithraeum... but that is a whole other post!

So all of these are fairly baseline observations and I think there’s a LOT more to be expounded on, if y’all wanna reply/reblog/DM with additions I would freaking love that, every time I open a page of this book I find something I missed before and it’s such a delight. Thanks for reading if you got this far!!

[dontjudgemeimawriter]

Excerpt-- the“Breakup”

Surrounding context: (This is earlier in the story than I’ve been writing, though I’ve referenced it.)

Before this, Terran was assigned to kill Jesse Sutton, a PI that he discovered Raymond knew. Raymond was unable to convince him to back off the kill, because Terran was worried about Zachary discovering his true allegiance, already feeling like this was a test. Raymond gave Jesse a heads up, which caught Terran off-guard enough that Jesse was able to convince Terran to let him go. Terran’s still trying to figure out a cover story to give Zachary when Raymond shows up. He’s in a cafe, grabbing a coffee and looking over Jesse’s investigation.

Under the cut

I’d been on edge since I’d left Jesse’s, sure that someone was checking in on me. Jasmine, or someone else sent by Zacahry or Abigail or anyone else. Just because I hadn’t seen anyone I recognized didn’t mean someone was. 

So when my peripheral caught someone walking toward me, I was on edge. I didn't react, only slowly and as natural-looking as I could re-sorted the papers—to-be-destroyed on the bottom, to show Zachary in the middle, and notes on Jodi on top. Could be someone passing by, could be someone sneaking a glance, had to be safe. 

When the person slid into the seat across from me, I figured it must be Jasmine—very much her style to come up to me and sit down. But when I flicked my eyes up, it was someone else entirely—Raymond.

Of freaking course. It was good for me—I could relax about what I had in front of me—but just because he had approached me didn’t mean someone else wasn’t following me. To give Raymond some credit, he was disguised— he had a hat on with the brim low, covering much of his face and hair, a dark red scarf covering part of his face, and the glasses he usually wore were off, which did change his face considerably. 

Still, this was a public place. “We can’t be seen together,” I said, my eyes staying on the yellow note paper in front of me. 

“What did you do?” he asked. He spoke quietly, but I caught an edge of desperation there. I looked up. He was leaning forward, eager, nervous. Scared—he was scared I’d done it. He’d told Jesse to talk to me, but he was afraid it hadn’t worked. 

It felt too dangerous to say it aloud, especially here. I looked up, looked around. “Can we talk in private?”

“Did you?” he asked again.

He needed an answer. I gave the smallest shake of my head—unsure, suddenly, if the question was “did you kill him” or “did you let him go,” so I wasn’t sure if I was answering him—and said, “I can’t talk about this here.”

“Is there really a place no one will be listening?” he asked, but as set as his face was, he sighed. He held out a hand. “Ultimate privacy,” he said.

I stared at his hand. He’d implanted a thought before, yes, but that was different from showing him mine. But why was I being so cautious? It was Raymond. He knew the secrets. 

But I didn’t want to let him in completely. I didn’t want him to witness that scene from my perspective, in all my hesitation—what would he think of it?

“Or somewhere else, whatever,” Raymond said, starting to stand. “If there’s a place that’s safe—”

I reached over and took his hand. He looked at me, surprised, and then it closed around mine, giving me a squeeze. I watched him, nervous, waiting. 

Go ahead, what happened?

He could have just looked himself, pulled the memory to the front of my mind and watched it. Asking the question did that anyway, but he was waiting for my answer. 

I let him go. He left town, I’m going to find him but figure out how to fake his death then.

Raymond nodded, but he didn’t look less tense. He didn’t withdraw his hand yet, so while we had privacy, I added, It was risky for you to tell him I was coming. 

I wasn’t even sure if he’d hear it— I don't know how Nyp magic works, not really, and haven’t let any in other than him. But he must’ve, because he glared and dropped my hand. My wrist landed with a thud on the table and I stared at him, watching his eyebrows furrow in. 

Was he upset with me? I was so used to the opposite— me scolding him to stay hidden, him assuring me he was being careful. I was used to Mika’s anger, but on him it felt so foreign. Mika’s never bothered me, but Raymond being upset with me?

Had he really needed scolding there anyway? I stared at the papers in front of me, not to look at them but just to look anywhere else. After a moment of him glowering at the saltshaker, I said, aloud, “It’s a good thing you did, though,” I admitted, and then that got him to at least look at me. 

“Because you were going to do it,” he said, an edge in his voice. 

I didn’t want to have this conversation, here, aloud, but sometimes a response builds up and comes out anyway. “We talked about this. Last night, I thought you understood—I had to.”

“But you didn’t,” he said, stubbornly.

“I found an alternative, one that probably won’t work,” I snapped, realizing in a sudden rush just how shaky this plan was. I’d had to sound confident with Jesse, even faked myself out, but this was so unpredictable. So many ways for it to go wrong, for us to get caught. I hadn’t even told the first lie yet. “We have to be more careful than ever—”

Raymond leaned forward, setting his hands on the table. His voice was hushed, but sharp.“You almost killed a friend of mine.”

I tried to stay calm. “I’m in a difficult—”

“I know,” he interrupted, in his normal volume. “And you’re very good at it. But if I hadn’t convinced Jesse that you were capable of being a decent person, you would’ve—done it, and you know what? That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Keep your voice down,” I scolded, automatically. 

He narrowed his eyes and I realized I probably shouldn’t be telling him what to do in that moment— even if he did need to be quiet. But he lowered his voice and chose his words carefully. “You almost did, and you intended to, because you were at risk. So I have to ask myself, if you’re willing to kill a friend of mine to keep your cover, can I really trust you?” His eyes dropped, staring hard at the table. “And maybe I shouldn’t.”

A vision flashed of him leaving, of him leaving and never getting to see him again. “Raymond—” I started to say, but there were people around, and I couldn’t say everything I wanted to, and he wasn’t going to reach over and let us talk through my head. 

How could I say, in that moment, how much I needed him? With the exception of this moment, I was safe around him. I was a better person around him, we both knew that. And maybe freeing him, and keeping the cover and helping his friends, maybe it was hard, but he was worth it. And maybe that was why he was upset anyway, but I couldn’t lose him because he was the reason I was taking the risk with Jesse. 

Raymond shook his head and stood up without looking at me, walking to the door.

I wasn’t going to let him leave— he left and I may never see him again. I pulled the papers together and clutched the file, hurrying after him. I caught his arm, searching for something to say, some way to apologize, but before I could find anything he twisted his arm around to hold mine. “Stop. Don’t follow me,” he said, then pulled away, running away.

It should’ve been easy to follow him, to at least know what direction he was going, but as soon as he turned away, it was like my mind forgot who he’d been, and I stared at the people fast-walking every which way and had no idea who I was looking for.

I took a deep breath. I’d lost him, and that feeling was bubbling up in me. I’d always known he’d come back, warned him against it, but taken comfort in knowing that he would, or at least that I could contact him but the contact card were gone— not that he’d respond anyway— and in all our time together, all our arguments and I’m sure, plenty of reasons to infuriate him, he’d never been mad at me before. Not like this.

His words echoed in my head. Could he really trust me, I would have done it… and it would have been so easy. Sure, once Jesse’d shown up it had gotten complicated, but that wasn’t Raymond’s point—my conflict had never been what Raymond wanted it to be. Maybe he was right. Maybe he deserved better than me, would be better off without me involved.

--

(So to answer Sleepy’s question, Raymond’s thoughts here are basically what he said about not being sure he can trust him. Raymond has been defending and forgiving Terran, and something he doesn’t say here is that when he told Jesse to try to talk Terran down, he knew it might not work and that he might be sending his friend to his death. That made Raymond realize that he was forgiving Terran way too much and he felt he needed to draw this line. Raymond’s not sure if he even should like Terran as much as he does, and certainly feels he’s cutting him too much slack, especially when Terran keeps telling him what to do.)

I call this the breakup because even though they’re not together rn I do think of this moment as kinda them breaking up and have referred to it as “When they broke up but not really”

Taglist: @sleepy-night-child @drippingmoon @puzzleddragon02 (you’ve read this scene already though) annnnnnnnd I’m going to superimpose @l-resonant-l to my taglist because I want you to read my stuff

[darling-i-read-it]

Kaiseki

2x01

Hannibal Lecter x reader x Will Graham 

Hannibal Re-Write Series Masterlist

Word Count: 2.7k

Warnings: spoilers for hannibal, murder, mental health problems, jail, angst

Author’s Note: Season! Two! This may be a little harder cause Will is in jail and it’s to big a plot point to change. But i love will graham so much dudes. I hope you guys enjoy!

I took lines directly from the script so some may seem familiar. Those sentences are not mine. 

Official Episode Summary : The psychological thriller based on the Hannibal Lecter legend returns. FBI profiler Will Graham has been framed for Lecter's crimes and wants revenge. 

I don’t own these characters. They belong to author/director 

Tag List: @llperfectsymmetryll​

(not my gif)

“Kaiseki. A Japanese art form that honors the taste and aesthetic of what we eat,” Hannibal said to Jack Crawford as he sat at his table. The lighting of the room was pleasing but also semi threatening. Not that Jack noticed. He wasn’t very good at noticing things. Hannibal himself had noticed that. 

“I feel guilty eating it,” Jack said, looking down at the dish. It was amazingly well put together. It was no surprise that Hannibal had done it.

“I never feel guilty eating anything,” Hannibal said with a small mischievous smile. Jack took a bite and chewed a bit. 

“Can’t quite place the fish.”

“He was a flounder. I last prepared this meal for my Aunt Murasaki under similarly unfortunate circumstances,” Hannibal said. Jack waited for him to go on and when he didn’t he nodded.

“What circumstances were those?” Hannibal shrugged.

“A loss. This is a loss. Will is a loss. We’re mourning a death,” Hannibal said gently. 

“Will’s ‘death’ is on me,” Jack said. Hannibal took a bite of his food and chewed for a moment, considering this.

“It’s on both of us.” 

“I doubt that Y/N would consider you had anything to do with it,” Jack suggested. Hannibal smiled a tad at the mention of your name and the fact that you likely wouldn’t suggest Hannibal was much to blame.

“I tended to be kinder to her and more compassionate to Will,” he said. 

“Abigail thought that you liked them both a bit more,” Jack said chuckling. Hannibal shrugged. 

“We’re all friends.”

“Do you have friends Hannibal?” Hannibal shrugged.

“I had Will. And of course Y/N.” Jack pointed his fork at Hannibal.

“I don’t understand how you managed to stay in her good graces.” 

“I suppose she had about as many friends as I did.” 

“I still can’t comprehend it. Will’s gonna be convicted of five murders. I’ll be convicted of one,” Jack muttered.

“You’re not on trial.”

“I will be. In the halls of the FBI. So will you. According to Will Graham, this was all you. Another place where I’m not sure why Y/N continues to see you.”

“Will was your bloodhound. You can’t ignore where he points.” Hannibal smiled at his plate. “And I do believe you’ll be on a trail in her mind as well.” Jack sighed.

“What’s one more person to convict me,” Jack said.

-

Alana stood beside you. You had a few papers in your hand. The only reason you were still Hannibal’s secretary at all was so that you could have the hours off to come and advocate for Will. Alana handed you another piece of paper and you looked over it. 

“You’re a goddess Alana,” you muttered. In your hands you held all the complaints and disagreements Alana had ever had with Jack about Will. Behind the scenes she had been formally sending in a few letters when she believed, like you, that Will should not have been put into the field.

“You can give Jack all the hell you want but until the FBI looks into it, nothing will happen. And Will’s entire life has changed due to Jack’s actions. It deserves to be documented.” You nodded, a smile gracing your face. She put her hand on your cheek and made you look at her which you did. “You don’t look so good.” 

“Yeah well,” you shrugged. “This has put a rare smile on my face,” you promised. She pursed her lips. She looked into your eyes and moved her hand away but she still looked concerned.

“I’m doing everything in my power to make sure that Will Graham has a fair trial and that he isn’t convicted.”

“Because you think he did it but he wasn’t in the right mind,” you muttered.

“You do too right?”

“I don’t think he did it period.” She shook her head.

“Then who did? And don't’ say Hannibal otherwise I’m going to have to throw you in the hospital.” You shook your head. You felt tired. You hadn’t been getting much sleep. It was probably an attachment issue when it came down to it.  Not being able to sleep beside Will was harder than you thought it would be. The bed always felt cold. Other than that, you had been worried about Will here. Your mind wandered when you tried to sleep about everything that was going through his head. You had the dogs. He had Frederick Chilton. 

“I don’t know who did it Alana. I would like to converse with my boyfriend about that but Chilton has limited visiting hours the bastard.” 

“I’ll try and talk with him. We’re sort of friendly. I think I yelled at him about something a while back but he doesn’t seem to remember it.” You nodded and handed her back the papers on Jack.

“Make him pay.” She nodded.

“I will.”

-

The phone rang as you sat on the porch with the dogs. Winston sat in front of you while the others played and whined at the door. He had been doing that on and off since Will was arrested. You picked up the phone and pet Winston, trying your best to calm him down. 

“Hello?”

“Hey,” Bev said. You tried to make some emotion come out when you spoke next but nothing emerged.

“Hey.” Bev cleared her throat. You didn’t want to fight her. You truly had no interest in it. In fact, Bev had always been in your corner so the worry that she might not be today would have made your heart hurt if it wasn’t already pretty numb with bitterness.

“I just wanted to check in and see how you’re doing,” she said. 

“As well as you may expect. But I appreciate you calling.” She hummed.

“I’m sorry this happened. I know you didn’t ever agree with Jack.” You scoffed.

“You could say that again.” She laughed lightly.

“I’m going to see Will soon. For help on this case. Jack doesn’t know. But I kinda wanted to tell you first so that he didn’t tell you and then you were by default pissed at me.” You weren’t very pleased to hear that but there wasn’t much else you could do.

“I would go in saying you support him or something. He might help you more.” 

“Thank you.” 

-

Hannibal noticed you at the desk. He wasn’t having many patients and didn’t expect to see you. You still had on your coat and looked like you weren’t staying. But still, you looked over the computer and let out a sigh.

“Do you need something?” he asked. You looked up, surprised to see him. He also didn’t look like he was staying. “I thought I gave you a few days off.” He knew he did. He did it explicitly.

“I just thought I left the necklace Will gave me here. I guess not. It’s probably in his car but I have no idea where he put the keys,” you said and laughed dryly in remembrance of sweeter times. “Where are you off to?” 

“I have to go and see a crime scene,” he said. Your eyes went wide and another dry laugh left your lips.

“Nice to see you ‘the new Will Graham’,” you muttered.

“I don’t think Jack intended it to be like that.” You shook your head.

“No because you can’t be nearly as good at it as Will was.” Hannibal was the only person to notice the shift in your emotions correctly. Not from happy to sad. It was from normal to bitter. He would likely see the same shift in Will Graham if he decided to go see him.

“Would you like to come?”

“Is that the best idea? Doing my boyfriends old job with Jack Crawford watching me like I was going to slip up at any given second?” Hannibal shrugged.

“Perhaps it would be good for you. Step where Will once did.” You shook your head.

“Thanks Hannibal but I can’t today. Maybe another murder.” 

“Off to see Will?” 

“Off to attempt to see Will. Perhaps have a fist fight with Frederick Chilton. I’ll decide in the car.” Hannibal laughed lowly and walked over to you. He put a hand on your arm and you leaned into his touch, happy someone was touching you. 

“If you ever need a dinner,” he started and you nodded.

“I’ll call.”

“You’re not worried about what Will says about me are you?” he asked. You shrugged.

“I don't know yet. I just have to talk to him.” Hannibal nodded and you looked up at him. “I care about you Hannibal.” He was silent for a moment and then hugged you, placing his hand on the back of your head. 

“I care about you as well.” And for once, Hannibal was not lying. 

-

Chilton shook his head.

“You will only hinder his therapy,” he said simply. You shook your head and walked up to his desk. 

“Do you think for one second I would do anything that could cause Will to be this bad ever again? I can’t simply not see him.” 

“What if he doesn’t want to see you?” Chilton asked. You were stumped at that. Your face fell.

“Did he say that?”

“Not in so many words. Just maybe that it would be better for you to live a life on your own.” You shook your head and a small smile went over your lips.

“You’re lying.” 

“How would you know?”

“Because I know Will Graham better than anyone in this whole world and he is just conceited and rude enough to tell you to go to hell before saying that about me.” Chilton looked up at you from his spot behind his desk. You stared hard into his eyes.

“Alright,” he muttered. “Once a week. Thirty minutes.” You nodded, happy your point had been made. “Come back tomorrow.” You nodded and turned around, taking your small victory with you out the door.

-

“How was Dr. Bloom’s visit?” Hannibal asked. He sat across from Chilton at dinner in his home. 

“He asked her to hypnotize him to recover memories. This is delicious,” he muttered, pointing at the food. 

“Was he successful?”

“Only in playing Dr. Bloom. It’s sad to see a brilliant psychiatrist fall for such hoary old chestnuts,” Chilton said simply.

“She wants to believe him. I do, too.” Chilton looked disappointed at that and looked down at his plate, then back at Hannibal.

“Will’s girlfriend paid me a visit earlier. She seems like a piece of work. I understand why they go so well together.” Hannibal shrugged. Chilton could tell he was acting as though he were indifferent despite clearly having a side. He just wasn't sure which side that was.

“She’s stubborn but rightly so,” Hannibal said.

“What, you think I should let her see him? I agreed to once a week but I’m still on the fence.” Chilton chewed on a bite.

“I don’t see how it could hurt. In fact, if you plan to utilize the cameras and audio you might get something out of it,” Hannibal suggested. He was very aware that Chilton wanted nothing to do with something he couldn’t get a thing out of. 

Chilton thought this over.

“Perhaps I could give her a few extra minutes. If you think that would be wise.” Hannibal shrugged.

“Maybe I could think about it.”

-

Hannibal sat in the car with you outside of the hospital.

“Will has made accusations against me. Very serious ones,” Hannibal said. 

“Again, I’ll make up my mind about those when I talk with him.” You weren’t sure why you were so nervous. It was just Will. You weren’t scared of Will or anything. Perhaps it was the anticipation.

“But bear in mind who you know me to be,” he said. You nodded and thought really hard about what you knew Hannibal to be. 

“You hid the fact that Abigail killed someone,” you muttered. “Who says you weren’t the murderer after all?” 

“You and Will also hid that. Perhaps you’re the murderer.” 

“If I was the murderer Jack Crawford would be sprawled very neatly across a particular place,” you muttered bitterly. 

“I don’t doubt that,” Hannibal said chuckling. You turned to him and he held your hand, squeezing it once. “Best of luck.” 

You got out of the car.

-

The walk to the cell was a long one. It was odd, the anticipation of knowing Will was so close. When he came into view his eyes were closed. At the sound of your footsteps they opened.

He turned to you slowly and you smiled subtly.

“Where were you?” 

“Fishing,” he whispered. 

“Sorry I interrupted.” He shook his head. 

“I’m glad you’re here. I missed you.” You walked up to the bars and put your hands on them. He did the same, your hands touching. He was warm but not boiling as he had been when he had that nasty fever.

“I only have like, 30 minutes.” He nodded. 

“Step back to the white line ma’am!” the guard at the end of the hall called. You turned around but didn’t move an inch. 

“No!” you called back. Will laughed dryly. 

“You’re supposed to be scared of me,” he whispered. You shook your head.

“Ma’am!” The guards walked over to you and you shook your head angrily, stepping back to the line, so far away from Will. But you didn’t want to be kicked out. 

“I’m not scared of him,” you said to the guard. 

“Doesn’t matter. The white line,” he said to you. You nodded stiffly and he walked away. The distance felt greater than it really was. When the guard closed the door at the end of the hall you stepped back to the bars. 

“You’ve never followed any rules have you?” he asked, laughing. 

“Not once. Now go on.” 

“I resurfaced a memory.” You nodded, gesturing for him to go on. “Chilton can hear us.” 

“That was the memory?”

“No,” he said and laughed a bit. “Just telling you we need to be quiet.” You nodded. “Hannibal shoved that ear down my throat.”

“Abigails?”

“No the other one.” You nodded, accepting your ignorance. 

“And you think he did all this?” 

“I know that they already looked at him and Beverly looked over everything but I know he did this. When i remember what happened to me I can tell you more.” You looked at the ground.

“Did he do stuff to you while I was in the other room?” Will shook his head.

“Don’t blame yourself.”

“I do. I blame myself for letting this happen and if Hannibal, no matter how much I like him, did this to you than how can I ever-”

“Just don’t trust him.” 

“He’s all I have out there. Him and Alana. And the dogs.”

“How are the dogs?” he asked. 

“Winston misses you. Sometimes he thinks he misses you more than I do,” you whispered. 

“You don’t look like you’ve been sleeping.”

“Neither do you. But I like not cutting the hair,” you muttered and messed with his curls. He gripped your hand tighter around the bar. “I wish you could come home.”

“Me too. Honestly.”

“Soon,” you promised. “Alana has some things she wants to look into.”

“And I keep firing lawyers.”

“FBI lawyers,” you corrected. “I would too.” You looked at your watch and he glanced over to it as well.

“20 more minutes,” he whispered. His eyes caught yours and he gestured for you to sit down. You both did. “Tell me about your day.”

2x02

[crimsonandcloverwrites]

bhah ch3 reread u know the drill

what is Jamie doing with all this oil I am concerned

god the tension of knowing Jamie is there but not talking to her but Dani probably secretly hoping she will

aww is she picking up more wonder woman comics for mikey?? cute

gah I love that they slip back into playful banter so easily despite everything going on

also 10/10 that the gays in town would be trying on the tackiest sunglasses in the service station (and 12/10 that Jamie actually brought them)

Dani Carson car adventures!! i would read a whole 20k word chapter just on that

sdfkjdshjfhd Dani throwing herself to the ground when she sees Jamie in the supermarket I’m losing it

“Yeah and then she left” ouch

THREE GAYS IN A SUPERMARKET WHAT WILL HAPPEN

aww Jamie Carson reunion tooooo cute

oh my god the tension of them standing back to back trying not to touch lmao

Jamie rly is the teeniest in town huh

Dani getting all protective and mad over Mikey having to sit outside school is v sweet

Jamie to the rescue how cute

Jamie’s collarbone: hello. Dani’s gay panic: LOOK AWAY

also sdkjfhdkjhg Jamie working w her hands is so hot we need more fics just talking about her getting dirty. for the good of the nation

there is so much going on here the cute teasing Dani feeling all weird abt their whole dynamic jamie giving her looks the engagement ring I am not equipped to process all of it

“you think there are secrets in this town?” just ur burning love for each other ladies!

once again mechanic!jamie... i am compromised

aww Dani bby literally does not know what to do with herself. the juxtaposition of the depth of their relationship and the little moments of familiarity with the awkwardness of people who don’t really know each other properly anymore is so fucking well done here

Eddie’s “honey I’m home” moment carrying her over the threshold afkjhsdkjf good for him

Dani and this house got beef huh

Dani: sometimes things with Eddie just don’t feel right but I’m sure that’s fine. Dani when she loses a tiny piece of her relationship w Jamie: level 5 meltdown. Literally the theme of this fic is “honey you got a big storm comin” and I love it

this dig at pineapple on pizza........ offensive

“Instead, she reset her mask, pulled the rope to part the stage curtains, and tied the other end around her neck.” Jesus.

“the other part of Dani, the part that never knew how to stop missing Jamie” i will cryyyy

starting a gofundme for Dani’s car asap

Eddie putting the moves on I can’t look. but lmao when he finds a girl that’s actually into him and wants this kind of attention his whole world is gonne be rocked

can we get Dani some therapy pls this is not how u should feel abt the person ur gonna marry. or about yourself

*gasp* the wontons mixtape

hmmmm I’m Not in Love and A Case Of You really are a one-two punch huh

lol I just went to play them and I was apparently in the middle of listening to Stop Making This Hurt by The Bleachers which feels... apt

fuck. making a mixtape for someone truly is peak romance huh? music my beloved

hmmm i just realised that this timeline parallels the flashback chapters w a new Taylor in school in each how cool. and also Nan vs Jamie taking on responsibilities w these kids and stepping up for them in their own way pls my emotions

aahh the coffee date I kinda forgot how fast Dani made this relationship rekindle bless her

wait clara and horace does that mean abigail is in Dani’s class too??? she lives??

a reserved sign pls that’s so cute

OWEN! god I love the levity and banter w Jamie he brings to fics

there is just so much fondness between them it always shines through no matter what they’re talking about I love it

this backpacking chat... envisioning Dani n Jamie once Mikey is grown up going on a big tour of europe together n fufilling Dani’s dreams

the fact that Jamie was drawn back to this place... by what hmmmm ms taylor. by what

oof this really is a painful rehashing of the past huh.

“star hike” lmao

"I can fix it." "You can't." OUCH

ooft just rip the bandaid right off. “I missed you. Everyday.” god my heart

arguing in an alley behind the pharmacy that’s gay rights

"Because if it was going to end, then I wanted it over quickly!” jamie ‘everyone always leaves so I cut them off before they can hurt me‘ taylor everyone. I am not doing well

ok with the context of like... everything from the future chapters this scene hits even harder than the first time i read it jesus

still can’t get over Dani ‘trying not to recall the memories of the last time they were in this room together’ was Jamie absolutely falling to pieces in her arms *screams forever* i remember reading that line and imagning so many things it could have been and yet yall went for the ultimate stab to the heart bravo

god I’m just thinking about how much they’ve both changed in those 10 years and how much they’ve stayed the same and just. god the way they’re so drawn to each other still!!!! i can’t even comprehend

blue schrunchie cherished friend

i feel like there is a significance to the red door I cant place and all my brain will provide is “you, me, her” but polyamory adventures is probably not the direction this is going

Jamie like “want a tour of ur future home babe? lets go” (I do love how enchanted Dani is by all of it though)

gah I love Jamie and Mikey together soooo much

find u a person that eats all the foods u don’t like. pickle soulmates

heh “Miss Dani” poor Mikey is goin through it lolol

they are all so cute together i love this lil sunday afternoon family

“Dani kept her gaze fixed on Jamie for just a second longer, studying her profile” gay

there has been several mentions of Jamie’s unreadable/blank expressions this chapter and I can’t stop laughing at her losing her mind over how much she loves Dani and trying to keep it in check every time

THEY’RE FRIENDS AGAIN

AND THEY’RE HUGGING OH HAPPY DAYS

oooh the sandalwood cologne

idk why this Jamie Eddie handshake is making me laugh so much but I love them

Eddie pulling Dani in closer to himself when Jamie’s there..... he knows 

staying awake until 2am to finish rereading gay fanfiction... clownery (but fun!) goodnight

[nightklok]

Why hello it's time for me to be a nuisance and post my detailed Picklegail manifesto after a year of keeping this hidden underground, now it will be raised upground as part of my revenge plan-Under the cut is how I would've wanted their relationship to progress throughout the series-I converted a twitter thread i had into something readable so apologies if some things still don't make sense sdflkj

I like the challenge of trying to keep key elements of the show the same so Abigail won't be introduced until season 4 because I am like this. However, she would be mentioned in passing throughout the series by Pickles. The scene where Nathan mentions wanting to be a regular jackoff in Dethdoubles would probably have a few more lines by Pickles about 'settling down with that nice person you still think about' though the rest of the guys would think it's weird to think that. This would officially start in Snakes N' Barrels Part 2, the scene where Pickles began describing LA.

"Oh yeah, here's where I hosted my first concert in this small club. Got to meet a lot of fans and stuff. Especially this one girl, shit, wonder where she's at now."

This would also kinda explain why Pickles never even seemed to show interest in finding romantic partners throughout the series; almost everyone had an episode where they had a crush on someone even if it never went anywhere in the end. Pickles just never bothered dating because he knew that finding someone genuine as a celebrity was tough and he knew he wouldn't be connected as well as he did with that girl he met back in the 80s. There might also be a scene in Rehabklok where the doctors mention 'letting go of the past', which could also mean both letting go of his trauma from his family and letting go of the idea that he will get the relationship he really missed.

Season 4 comes around and now they all meet. Nathan notices how Pickles looked at Abigail like you would with trying to figure out if you recognize someone.

Nathan: "oh hey was she the chick you went out with back in the 80s?" Pickles: "Ehhh I dunno she is familiar though"

Will it get addressed by the characters? Probably not. Will it instead be painfully dragged out long because the readers will know? Yes, as per the MTL way :D

The two do eventually get some alone time. Abigail interacts with Nathan, Skwisgaar, and him one on one since they're the brains of the band and she wants to get through to them to help get progress on the album. Pickles and Abigail would get more one-on-one time; he especially becomes her translator when it comes to trying to understand what the boys are talking about when brainstorming.

They end up warming up to each other, making jokes, and probably the first time they really did comfy with each other was when Abigail asked Pickles to read the sheet music and he says seriously “I can’t read music”. she laughs thinking it’s a joke (he’s really not)

Abigail: “You know, I met someone back in the 80s who wanted to be a musician but didn’t know how to read music.”

Pickles: “Really? That’s crazy haha wonder if I met em too”

(this is in fact to piss readers off. There will be more dialogue to describe how oblivious the two really are.)

In the background of this, Nathan would be trying to impress Abigail. Her mistake would be beating around the bush instead of telling him upfront, causing very minor miscommunication.

But overall, the progress in the album is coming faster than ever thanks to Abigail's efforts. Though once again Nathan gets the dreams telling him the album isn't ready.

Pickles and Abigail pull an all-nighter to finish one of the last tracks. They get to talking a lot more about their personal lives, finding themselves having quite a bit in common. Abigail mentions meeting a singer back in the 80s who had inspired her to take up music production. After all, it would've been very hard for her to go to college at the time but the man had his own secrets too (being LGBT+ in the 80s) and he somehow managed to be successful. They don't kiss despite the tension but they do fall asleep on the couch together. Nathan sneaks into the recording studio while they're asleep and assumes they're dating which made him quickly back off on trying to flirt with Abigail. It would also make Nathan feel guilty as he realizes that Pickles is still mad at him if he won't tell him about his relationship. However, he wasn't there for that.

He catches the glow of the monitor and sees the album is almost finished. It isn't ready. He quietly attempts to delete it but the light of the monitor changing for him to delete the files slowly wakes Pickles up. He is groggy but then he realizes what's going on and attempts to stop Nathan but once again he's too late.

Abigail wakes up and quickly snaps out of her grogginess when Pickles explains frantically what happened. They both yell at Nathan for destroying their months of progress but Nathan only says, “it’s not ready. We need a better album. Trust me.” But since he doesn’t give a thorough explanation it’s hard to trust him.

Now is Going Downklok. They are in the submarine, Nathan is trying to fix things between him and Pickles but Pickles won’t have it. So he decides instead to let Abigail and him have as much free time as possible.

Nathan just talks about how great Pickles is to Abigail, accidentally dropping hints that she may have known him as the guy from before. And he does the same to pickles though he doesn’t talk to him much anymore and ignores him.

Pickles and Abigail are once again alone at the recording studio, both ranting their frustrations over working with the album once again. Eventually, it carried over to their own personal lives. And finally, they have the braincells to realize that maybe they did meet so many years ago. The room is so stuffy it feels like a sauna and only adds to the growing tension between. It only increased when they tried to leave the studio to remain as professional as possible but one of them instead locks the door. They both end up making out and eventually having sex in the recording studio.

Years of pent-up frustration, loneliness, and overall everything that had led up to the moment washed over. They decide to keep a secret relationship afterward because even though they did find each other, much like in the past, they found each other at the wrong time.

The dinner scene comes up. The two sit feet apart just to make sure no one would be suspicious. Nathan is at his height of frustration because he knows he had to delete the album but everyone is mad at him. He gets a little too drunk, and like the friend he is, outs their Relationship like a drunken wedding speech. Pickles quickly refutes that, instead he screamed at him over broken trust, deleting the second album that Charles had made sure the public wasn't aware and finally decided to quit the band. The news spreads like wildfire.

Abigail is quickly put to blame however it lasted very short since there became other conspiracies surrounding it. Nathan did say quite a lot after all to the point where it’s clear Abigail wasn’t part of the equation. But of course, some people blame her still and she decides to lay low. Pickles has to deal with his own consequences too so he decides to stay at her parents’ place with her as they wait for the news to blow over. While he’s happy to finally be with her, he does miss music terribly. Specifically, he misses playing with Dethklok.

She reminds him he can always talk to Nathan to sort things out but he knows Nathan isn't the type to apologize. The day of the concert comes, things happen as expected in the show. He doesn’t come home because they are in the submarine and he has to explain everything to her through a phone call where he’s beginning to break down, saying he has a terrible feeling that things will never be the same. She tries to calm him down but given how Selacia’s appearance is all over the news, she has the same feeling. They reunite briefly before the funeral.

I haven’t decided on the official ending so here’s ending one:

Toki offers to give up his seat so Pickles can sit next to her. He accepts as he doesn’t want to sit anywhere near Nathan. Magnus seems bothered but doesn’t say anything. There would be a funny scene of them just recreating 'Hello Magnus' 'Hello Pickles' once again.

But Magnus' tension quickly dies down when he hears them whisper to each other. He sees them hold hands discreetly and relaxes.

Magnus: "So I see the rumors are true between you two?"

Pickles: "I-yeah. What are you gonna fuckin' do about it?"

Magnus: "Nah, nothing. Just happy for you, is all."

Magnus does gain Pickles' trust enough to let his guard down by just sharing small talk. When the service begins, MMA texts Magnus over why Toki is sitting so far and how the plan is ruined. Magnus is hesitant to respond for a few moments (regret over what's to come, perhaps?) but he goes through and texts back that there is a change of plans but this plan would be better.

Well, couples would do anything to make sure the other is safe in such extreme circumstances.This plan could be much better, after all.

Ending two: pretty much exactly as canon. Pickles probably a lot more emotional- The end :D

[hopevalley]

@kvanbooven said:  I wholeheartedly agree with the Rosemary line and thought it was weird when I watched it live. Idk if they were going for it to be a normal response and think people would think it was normal or if they were going for a bad response just so they could start a fight, but like Rosemary as Elizabeth’s best friend, would never say that to her. That makes her look so bad and not caring. I maybe could understand it if it was true what she said (like the rest of the convo of it not being Nathan’s fault) but it wasn’t true. Even if it was supposed to be a bad thing to saying on purpose in makes Rosemary and Nathan look like they don’t care about what Jack meant to her idk. 

You know I always look forward to your thoughts!! Thanks for stopping by again. ♥

I think they wanted Rosemary’s reply to Elizabeth to be a “bad” response for the purpose of it causing drama/turmoil, but the thing about bad responses is...it still has to feel like a natural response someone might have to the conversation that’s taking place, and unfortunately Rosemary’s reply didn’t feel like that, at least not for me. 

I can only guess, but I imagine what they wanted to do was give us an episode where Elizabeth is struggling so hard with everything she’s feeling that she doesn’t really know how to talk about it. If this was a novel it would be easy to write out all those feelings to make her reaction to people feel more natural, but I think the writers are really struggling with how to convey this exact type of struggle in a way that both makes sense for the audience and works for the characters.

I talked before about Elizabeth being a sort of selfish “everything’s about me” kind of person and she does that several times within this episode, so I feel Elizabeth is largely in character here. She turns Rosemary’s conversation about Ned and Florence into a discussion about her, for example.

The problem is Rosemary, and it’s not the character. She can be a bit stupid sometimes (she used to jump to conclusions a lot back in the old days, though mostly for humorous reasons) but her logic always tracked. In this episode we have two responses from Rosemary that don’t feel quite right. The first is her “maybe he didn’t think it was important” and the second is “it’s not Nathan’s fault.”

I get what they were going for, though!

It’s not Nathan’s fault Jack died so Nathan didn’t feel the information was important enough to reveal. It would just be upsetting and offer little else.

The problem is...the fact that this information was clearly weighing on Nathan tells us all that he knew it would be a big deal (and therefore important) to Elizabeth.

Which makes it really hard to make the same logic-leap that Rosemary does. The only thing I can assume is that Rosemary has largely been left out of the Nathan side of things; she doesn’t really know him very well (as compared to Lucas) and is just giving it her best guess.

But still, Rosemary knew that Elizabeth felt he was keeping something from her, and if Elizabeth got those vibes from Nathan, then that should tell Rosemary that Nathan is aware it’s not ‘unimportant’ at all.

I’m just going to have to chalk it up to poor writing. There’s no other explanation that works for me.

---

@kvanbooven​ said: What you said about Nathan’s line too got me as well cuz I also felt the last line was out of place. It just don’t flow with the rest of the convo of him telling her why he kept the secret. When this scene was in the promo, I thought it was going to be a scene where Elizabeth was pulling away from him or she was past Lucas already and wasn’t sure if she wanted to be with Nathan or if she was telling him why she couldn’t be with him but could be with Lucas. Idk. Anything else that would have made more sense for that line to follow. I was also afraid of having Nathan coming to town to look after Jacks family, but because he never knew him, to me, it’s not that weird. I actually kinda like how he said I had to protect them rather than take care of them and that it was his duty. 

Yeah, I was expecting his final line about fighting for love to be put into a scene where his willingness to fight for it was called into question. Until this season he was the quieter, less openly emotional character, and I could see where he might feel he needs to be a little more earnest in expressing his intentions—kind of like what we got right out of the gate with his love confession.

I’m not bothered by Nathan’s situation in regards to Jack, either. Both because he didn’t know Jack (as you mentioned) but also because he was very well aware of how odd the situation ended up becoming. He didn’t come to Hope Valley expecting to fall in love with Elizabeth. He didn’t know anything about her when he arrived!

It would be creepy if he’d known Jack well beforehand, or if Jack asked him to look after Elizabeth, but him feeling that he had a hand in Jack’s death (that he was the indirect cause of it in this case) makes the choice...more understandable. All he knew was that Jack had a family, and that nobody would be returning to the post there. So he took it upon himself to do what he thought was the right thing to do: go to Hope Valley and make sure the people Jack cared about were safe and cared for.

I agree with Rosemary that it’s a noble act. It’s not selfless, but it’s noble. I think they handled that aspect of the story extremely well. I was afraid of it happening because I was afraid of how it would be presented, but...they surprised me!

---

@kvanbooven​ said: I will say in the handholding game I got major secondhand embarrassment and almost couldn’t fully watch the scene lol. Elizabeth’s look at rosemary right before fiona puts in the blindfold is absolute Terror. IM DYING ABOUT THE SPARKLY PEN THING. AND ABOUT THE DOCK THING. Haha cuz yes that was frank and Abigail spot and I loved them. 

My husband and I were both shouting during the handholding game! It was just so awkward!! I would have thought it was pretty funny if we saw a bunch of people from town playing it, too, but having it be Florence and then immediately Elizabeth kind of took some of the fun out of it. I’d rather have had a gentler fall from “Cute and Fun” to “Secondhand Embarrassment City.”

I’m glad you enjoyed the other things, too, lol. ;)

@kvanbooven​ said: For the mine disaster, I don’t really remember what happened off the top of my head and if they ever actually really solved it. I think what Henry could know is either specific people or the specific thing that went wrong. I really love your theory about the first mine disaster. Overall wasn’t a bad episode and Lucas is starting to see he might not have a chance I think. Hopefully he’s the one that confronts Elizabeth about it all and makes her face her feelings.

I’m not sure what’s left to solve about the mine. I mean, everyone knows Henry was involved and the company was sued for negligence and the widows won. We got the name of the person who told Henry to shut up from S6: a Mr. J. Smith.

March 27, 1910 1231 Front Street San Francisco, CA 1819383

Re: Noah Stanton

Dear Henry,

After careful review, we feel your concerns regarding any safety issues are unwarranted. 

Please consider this matter closed.

Best,

J. Smith Manager - North West Territory Pacific Northern Mining Company

The only resolution that never occurred were prison sentences for the guilty parties in question, so...maybe Henry has more names, or is willing to tell Bill the entire sequence of events that took place (rather than him having to piece together what he knows occurred). 

I also think it was a pretty decent episode and I can see Lucas losing hope each and every scene he gets with Elizabeth. The poor guy. I agree that it would be nice if he was the one who prompted her to face her feelings and work through that last bit of grief she’s struggling with. It’s the only way I feel like I’d be satisfied with her choosing Nathan, now. 

(They’re still on thin ice, though. If Nathan does anything else stupid or thoughtless I can’t imagine many people will still be rooting for him.)

[sierraraeck]

The Second Case (Pt.1)

BAU x OC Aundreya

Masterlist | Series Masterlist

(This is my gif so please give credit if used)

Summary: The second case with the team means revisiting Aundreya’s hometown of Chicago. It quickly becomes personal and requires her to use connections and skills she acquired on the streets. Story two.

Category: Just working a case with the team

Warnings: Normal CM gore. A case involving young teenage girls. Mentions of drugs. Cussing.

Word Count: 4.8k

A/N: Just a reminder that this is all 100% fiction and I don’t actually know how gangs work.

I did start with the team that Monday, and while I was used to things moving fast, their version of ‘briefing’ was a whole new ball game. The first case felt a lot more like a dry run than anything. I honestly felt kinda useless. They all talked so fast, especially Spencer when he rambled facts or had revelations about something the rest of us didn’t understand. As promised, I was stuck in the precinct for the entire week practically, with plenty of badges around to watch me. And trust me, all of them did. I was back at the bottom of the food chain, a feeling I hadn’t experienced in almost a decade. It was infuriating, but I was just glad to be out in the world. Mostly.

Even though the team had supposedly voted to allow me to join them, it definitely didn’t feel that way. No one hardly talked to me. I mean, Morgan and Reid didn’t even so much as look at me, and when they did, it was only to give me a weird look everytime I said something, even when I was right. Especially when I was right.

But I brushed all of that off when I realized what the next case was. We would be headed right back to Chicago, probably the last place someone like me wanted to be seen with Feds.

Garcia flashed three bodies up on the screen. “Abigail Meyers, Josie Wilson, and Mya Burns. All three were found in their backyards, multiple stab wounds, and their throats slashed.”

“Do you have an age on these girls?” Morgan asked.

“Yes. Abigail and Josie were 15, Mya was 14.”

“They had each been reported missing in the morning and were found dead later that evening,” Hotch said.

“Our unsub would have to be sophisticated enough to be able to get the girls back into their own backyards later that night without being detected by the cops or the parents, since they would all be on high alert for the girls to return in case they had just run off,” Reid said. “Any connection between the three?”

“Besides geography, I haven’t found anything, but as always I will keep digging,” Penelope responded.

“What is that in their right hand?” JJ asked. I directed my attention to what she was talking about. Garcia pulled up another photo zoomed in on their right hands. “Apparently, all three had been stabbed straight through their hand.”

“And our unsub just left the knife through their hand at the crime scene?” Derek asked.

“Switchblade,” I corrected before he could get his answer. They all looked over at me. “I’ve seen something like this before. It’s been a while, but this was the signature of a rival gang, the Angels, in Chicago before ours took it over.”

“Stabbing the girls multiple times and leaving the murder weapon was a gang signature?” Rossi asked me.

“No. Not the multiple stabbings. For a gang member that would take too long. But the blade through the hand? That’s definitely a signature,” I replied.

“Okay, so if this is gang related, why the rest of it? The kidnapping, the stabbing, the dump sight...” Jennifer trailed off.

“I don’t know, but three victims in five days? This guy clearly doesn’t need much of a cooling off period,” Prentiss chimed in.

“Exactly, which means we need to act fast. Wheels up in 30.”

# # # # # # # # # # # # #

When we landed, I went right to the precinct with Aaron and JJ. The rest went to the crime scenes or to talk to the ME.

“I’m SSA Hotchner and this is Agent Jareau and Chambers,” Aaron introduced. The head of the department shook my hand, but held it for a little too long.

“Do I know you from somewhere?” the man asked me.

I shook my head. “No, I don’t believe so.”

“Are you sure? I feel like I know of a Chambers,” he pressed.

“Sorry. I think you’ve got the wrong girl,” I replied. He must’ve been new because if he had been there even two years ago, I’m sure people still would have been talking about me. I was just thankful the FBI made good on their promise to keep my escape and new employee status under the rug. JJ and Hotch looked at me, but I just shrugged them off. As if they didn’t already know I enjoyed lying to new people about who I was. I followed them into the office where we were supposed to set up. They already had a board up with pictures and information about the victims. That’s when Garica called.

“I regret to inform you of this, sir, but another girl has just gone missing. Her name is Jayana Orion…” I stopped listening. Jayana Orion. I hadn’t heard her name in a while. She was supposed to be my responsibility. When her mother, one of the only real friends I made during my 7 years on the streets, died, she asked me to do one thing for her, and that was protect her daughter. Of course, Sydney’s husband, Todd, was still around to help take care of her, but she knew that I would be able to handle the possible threats to Jayana better than he would. Instead, I made a dumb decision which left me in a prison where I could no longer help them. And now I had completely failed her.

“... Chambers?” I was snapped back to reality, Aaron trying to get my attention. “What do you think?”

“Sorry, about what?” I asked. I was going to have to compose myself if I didn’t want them picking up on this.

“Reid called from the ME saying that each girl had cocaine in their systems. Does that mean anything to you?”

“Other than cocaine being a popular street drug, no,” I said, still distracted. “Do we know anything else about Jayana?”

“Garcia is looking into it and Rossi is talking to her father now. If he sticks to schedule, we have until tonight to find her.”

# # # # # # # # # # # # #

“So according to their phone records and laptops, all three girls were talking about how unhappy they were with their parents, but I’ve found no contact between them that is the same,” Garcia said.

“All of their parents agreed that they had been distant lately,” Rossi said.

“So, what? These girls get mad and just decide to run? It sounds to me like this would have to be a stalker,” Prentiss said.

“Yeah, but that doesn’t fit with our gang affiliated profile,” Jareau said.

“Well maybe we got it wrong. Maybe this guy isn’t gang affiliated and just picked up on one of their signatures. I mean, there are no markings claiming responsibility, and no MO that matches a gang to the T,” Morgan offered. I could tell by his undertone that he somewhat enjoyed the idea of me being wrong.

“I still don’t understand. Why the shallow cuts on the arms?” Rossi asked. The room went silent and out of habit, I started scratching my own arm. Wait, my arm. That’s when it hit me. The cuts, the cocaine, the blade through the hand, the backyard...

“Garcia, are you still on the line?” I asked.

“Sure am,” she called.

“Where did you say their phones pinged from last?” Garcia started rattling off places as I dotted them on the map. I could feel the stares on my back as I worked. I turned to face the team. “I think this guy is trying to initiate these girls.”

“What?” Morgan looked at me like I had grown a third arm.

“Yeah. The last place these girls phones pinged are from designated street corners. Each girl stood at a different pick up zone for the Angels initiation. I didn’t immediately put it together because the Angels have been disbanded for almost 8 years. During most initiations, new members ditch their phones, and are forced to take some sort of stimulant or hallucinogenic to make them more compliant. Usually new recruits are asked multiple questions while under the influence so the gang can gage if they think they will be loyal to them or not. If people don’t pass they are usually just released. Traitors, on the other hand, are punished severely. They are usually dumped at a place of significance to them or their partners as a warning. In this case, the place of significance is their own backyard. The blade through the hand was just a way the Angels marked their traitors,” I said.

“So while this guy has them, he initiates them, and then thinks they have betrayed him in some way,” Derek said.

“Which causes him to lash out, which is why we see the overkill, but continues with the rest of the procedures,” Spencer finished.

“That’s great and all, but we still don’t know why he cuts their arms,” Rossi pointed out.

“Well, most initiations have recruits cut themselves and bleed on to, or in to, something of value and importance to the gang, solidifying their loyalty. Plus, most veteran gang members have plenty of cuts on their arms from training accidents or rival gang encounters,” I answered, realizing too late what I’d just invited everyone to do. They all dropped their gaze to my forearms to confirm my theory, which were exposed due to my rolled up sleeves. I quickly tugged them down to cover the small scars littering my arms.

“So that explanation does fit, but how is he finding his victims? Garcia said she found no mutual contact between the girls, but he would have to have some sort of prior contact with them for them to know exactly which street corner to stand on,” JJ said.

“Or maybe these are just victims of opportunity? If these girls ran from their homes, they could have just ended up on the wrong street corner,” Prentiss suggested.

“Or what if there’s a second unsub?” Aaron said. “We profiled initially that this was a gang member. We then completely contradicted our profile and changed to a stalker who would know they were unhappy at home and were just waiting for them to get out of the house. But we could be looking at one of each. A stalker who does all of his contact in person, letting them know what street corner to stand on, then either he or the former gang member picks the girls up and brings them to a second location where they are initiated and killed.”

“Okay, so if there are two of them, finding the stalker is going to lead us to our killer. But where would he go once he’s already delivered a girl to the gang member?” Derek asked.

“He’s probably already stalking his next victim,” Reid said.

“Maybe not,” I proposed. “At the rate these guys are working, they would have already had to know who they wanted to take. I mean, I don’t think this stalker guy can figure out that these girls are having constant trouble at home in just under 24 hours.”

“So what are you thinking?” Emily asked.

“In a gang, there are multiple levels of people. The people in charge of recruiting usually have a certain block or region that they cover looking for vulnerable people they can recruit. So once this guy sees these girls out and around his area, he takes it to another level by stalking them, probably at night when they are with their family. But during the day? He could still be scoping out people in his region,” I said.

“So how are we going to narrow it down? There are plenty of creepy guys on the streets to choose from,” Emily said.

“True. But if things haven’t changed too much in the past 4 years since the last time I was here, I’m pretty sure I know someone who can help us out.”

# # # # # # # # # # # # #

It took a lot of convincing for Aaron, and frankly the rest of the team members, to agree to this. I wasn’t supposed to be out in the field, definitely not this soon after joining the team, but I knew someone who could help and we were running out of time. Deen had been a loyal member of the Cloaks and later joined my ring of elite criminals as an expert in laundering money. He was one of the most important pieces that kept the streets going. While he was great at laundering, he was better at listening. Somehow, he just seemed to hear and pick up on everything. I knew that if agents showed up, or even if I showed up with one, there was no way I was getting any information out of him. Hell, I was worried he wouldn’t even talk to me alone after this many years. But it was my best shot if I wanted to save Jayana.

“We’re going to a bookstore?” Morgan questioned.

“It’s his front,” I answered. It made me uncomfortable to have to give the FBI this much information on Deen. He and I always worked as a well oiled machine and I wasn’t ready to betray his trust. I was trying to give out as little information about him as possible. I hadn’t even told them his name.

“We are going to have to wire you,” Aaron said.

“No! You can’t do that,” I said.

“We can’t just let you in there to talk to some old gang friend without a wire,” Aaron said.

“You have to. I mean, I’m even worried that he’s not going to talk to me after this many years, and if he’s heard anything about my escape or joining the FBI, which there’s a chance he has, the whole plan is screwed. Plus, he’ll probably know that I’m wearing one.”

“How? Unless you alert him that you're wearing one, he shouldn't know,” Morgan stated.

“If he doesn’t know, he’ll probably check. Then we’ll lose him as a reliable contact now, and potentially in the future,” I countered. “Plus, you already have Reid and Jareau in there pretending to be customers in case anything goes wrong, or you think I’m going to try something.”

I had a point and they both knew it. It wasn’t like I was walking into a trap or like he’d set a bomb in there or anything. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had set a bomb for emergency purposes, but the team didn’t need to know that. If anything, he was sitting in the middle of my trap, which had always been one of my specialties. The car slowed to a stop and I got out about a block from the store.

“Remember, you are going in there for one purpose and one purpose only,” Aaron started.

“To figure out where this stalker guy is. Yeah. I got it,” I said. I crossed the street catty-corner and pushed open the glass doors. I immediately spotted Reid standing in one of the isles, skimming through a book, and JJ sitting down in a chair just a few feet from the entrance. Neither turned to look at me, already getting the message through their ear piece that I’d entered the building. It felt stupid that this seemed like a whole undercover operation when all I was doing was talking to someone who could help us save Jayana. But I guess it showed how much they didn’t trust me, and the people I was in contact with.

I confidently walked over to the customer service desk and looked the kid up and down. He was probably just out of high school and was definitely a new recruit.

“Hey, can I speak to your manager?” I asked.

He looked up at me. “Is there a problem?”

I grabbed the hem of my t-shirt and the top of my waistband and quickly flashed him the tattoo over my left hip bone. His eyes went wide. “No. There’s no problem. I would just like to speak with him if that’s alright.”

“Uh, sure, ma’am. I’ll, uh, be right back,” the kid croaked, stumbling over his words and rushing toward the door that was labeled ‘Employees Only.’ The tattoo was of a double infinity sign inside a two-ringed circle. The symbol on the left hip bone identified who was a part of my underground ring. The second ring of my circle signified that I was the leader. Deen had a second ring with dashed lines, to show that he was second in command, and as of now, in charge.

I recognized his walk first. Deen had been shot in the knee and it never healed correctly, so he always had this extra bounce to the way he walked. He shaved all of his facial hair and let his jet black hair grow a little longer than I was used to. But his cat-like green eyes were exactly the same. I almost felt relieved when he pulled me into a giant hug. He was just an inch or so shorter than me, which always made me smile when he had to reach slightly up. You’d think all gang members were cold-hearted and ruthless, which Deen could be at times, but he’d always treated me like a younger sister. A younger sister who was in charge.

“Damn, girl! It’s been too long. What the hell are you doing here, I thought for sure you’d be eaten alive in there!” God I’d missed that slight Spanish accent.

“Oh how I have missed that confidence booster,” I teased.

“You know that’s not what I meant. You could kick anyone’s ass any day. Including mine. But seriously, what are you doing here?” He quickly dropped his voice and his expression became more serious, losing the slight shock that was there a few moments ago from seeing me for the first time in a while.

“I wish I were here under better circumstances,” I started.

“But when has that ever worked out for us?”

“Very true,” I agreed. I leaned in closer to him and dropped my voice to a whisper. “I actually need some information.”

“What kind of information?”

“I’m looking for someone.” Deen glanced around the room and his eyes landed on Reid and Jennifer.

“What is going on?” he asked. I knew that he was going to start putting things together soon, so I had to get him to focus on the matter at hand.

“You remember Sydney, yeah?”

“Of course. How could I forget her?”

“Her daughter, Jayana, is missing,” I said.

“Well, have you spoken to Todd?”

“Yes, do you think I’m an idiot, of course, but he doesn’t know anything.”

“You don’t want me to answer that,” he responded playfully. I’d missed our ability to banter in the middle of a crisis, our way of keeping each other’s head above water. “So what do you need my help for?”

“I need you to help me find a guy.”

“There are a shit ton of guys around here, you’re going to have to be more specific,” Deen said. I rolled my eyes at his dry humor.

“Yeah, you jackass, I know that, but if you’d just shut up and let me finish. You remember where the Angels used to set up? The corners where they’d pick up new recruits?”

“Sure.”

“Well, have you seen anyone you don’t really recognize hanging around those spots?”

“Alionth-” he started.

“Aundreya,” I quickly corrected. I flinched slightly at the sound of the stage name I’d given myself once I took over the gang and pushed it way underground. I hadn’t heard it in so long and I didn’t want to be reminded of the last time someone used it.

“Come with me,” he commanded, taking my hand and dragging me behind the ‘Employees Only’ door. “What is going on? You show up out of nowhere asking for information on a guy that I’m sure you could scope out yourself, ask me to call you by your old gang name, and there are two customers in the store who have been here for too long and kept glancing over at us. What has happened to Jayana and why are you here?”

I knew he would start picking up on stuff. “Look. I’ve been out for only a few weeks-” I started.

“Oh yeah! That too! How the hell are you here because I’d bet my life they didn’t just let you go,” Deen asked. He stared right into me, daring me to lie to him.

“I escaped,” I said. His face contorted and he took a small step back.

“You what now?”

“You heard me.”

“That’s impossible. Most people can’t even get out of normal prison let alone ADX.”

“Well I’m here aren’t I?”

“How’d you do it?”

“Can we please focus?” I was getting restless. I knew they were only going to give me a limited amount of time out of sight and earshot before they burst in. Plus, I could feel the time slipping by, each moment as important as the last if we were going to find Jayana alive. “Look. Jayana is my responsibility. It was the last thing Sydney asked me to do and she is in a lot of trouble. If you do not help me, I will have failed Sydney’s dying wish of protecting her daughter. So will you please just answer my questions?”

Deen gave me a skeptical look, but based off the one I gave him, he knew better than to keep pressing for answers. “Yeah. I’ve seen a guy hanging around.”

“Do you know his name?”

He hesitated before answering, “Ben-somethin’.”

“Could you describe him to me?”

“Short, probably my height or a little shorter. White. Dressed like a bad boy wannabe. And now that you mention it, he was hanging around the Angels' old spots.”

“During the day?”

“Sort of. He’d be there early in the morning, then leave during the middle of the day, come back in the evening, then leave during the middle of the night. Like clockwork,” Deen said. I could always count on him to be observant.

“Would you happen to know where he is now?” I asked.

“Those aren’t customers in my store, are they?” he replied, changing the subject. Instead of answering him, I put my hands behind my head and turned around. “Don’t worry, I know you’re not wired. I already checked that.”

Right, the hug earlier. “So you’re telling me you didn’t actually want a hug?” I pouted.

He laughed. “No, I did. It was multi-purpose.” We stood there staring at each other for a while before I decided to break the silence.

“Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t tell them anything about you, not even your name. I tried my best to shield your face from them as well,” I said.

“And as long as I help you out, I’m in the clear,” Deen finished my train of thought. I nodded. He was handling this a lot better than I expected. Maybe leadership over the course of the past four years helped mellow him out. “Damn. I’d heard rumors but I thought that was all they were.”

“I’m still the same person you knew from four years ago. Still doing what I have to do to survive in the best way I can.” He was silent for a while, probably trying to gage how much he still trusted me. “Please, help me. Help Jayana. Just tell me where you think he’d be, and I will get out of here and take those unwanted customers with me.”

He started nodding. “Fine. Fine. I think he’s moving in a star pattern. Starting at the bottom left, then moving up to the point, bottom right, and so on. I still can’t figure out his pattern when it comes to picking up the girls, but if he’s keeping to his usual schedule, he should be at the far right point today. But,” he said checking his watch, “not for long. You might have 40 minutes max before he leaves again.”

I did my best to retain everything he told me. “Wait, how long have you been watching this guy? I mean, how many girls has he picked up?” Deen was like no other when it came to tracking patterns and people on the street, but not even he was good enough to figure out something that intricate in 5 days.

“I don’t know. A couple months or so. I didn’t start realizing he was picking up girls until a few weeks ago.” This had been going on for a couple months? Where were all the other girls then?

“Thank you so much for this. I hope I can come back soon under different circumstances,” I said, already halfway out the door and back into the store. He came behind me and grabbed my arm, turning me so that I was looking at him.

“I hope you can too, Aundreya, but I swear to God, if anyone finds out I cooperated with Feds, or this place goes under because of this-”

“It won’t. And once they trust me more there will be no reason for them to be on my back all the time and I can come here without a plus two. And if something happens, which it won’t, but if it does, you know how to contact me. Over my undead body,” I said. Deen gave me a half smile at our old phrase, which we used to remind each other that we were loyal to the end. Lucky for us, the end always seemed to mean that of our enemies.

“Over our undead bodies,” he said with a nod. I walked toward the entrance where Spencer and Jennifer were still acting like customers. They were supposed to wait until I had exited, then slowly make their departures after me to try and make it look natural. But considering Deen already knew, and as a show of good faith to him, I decided I’d make it easier.

“C’mon guys. Let’s get outta here,” I said, waiting by the door.

They both looked at me like I’d lost my mind, Jareau opening her mouth then shutting it again.

“He already knows. I told you he would. For once, let’s make it easy on ourselves,” I said, holding the door open for them. Reid let out a frustrated sigh as he pushed past me, avoiding eye contact. JJ walked out after him. I quickly scanned the room one last time, but Deen had already disappeared again, and the young boy was back at the front desk like nothing had happened. “You’re doing a good job, kid,” I said to him, and he smiled shyly at my words. I gave him a single nod, then followed the other two out the door.

“What were you thinking?” Reid said harshly.

“What? The guy knew,” I stated.

“But what if he didn’t know? You would have just blown our cover,” Spencer said, the frustration having never left his voice. His upper back muscles around his shoulder blades and traps started twitching, a tell of discomfort I had gotten used to seeing.

“Well he did know, so it was worthless to waste time,” I replied, still following behind him.

“What if it was a theory he had, and you just confirmed it,” Spencer countered.

“Even you don’t believe that. If you did, you wouldn’t have phrased it as a hypothetical. Plus, the quicker I can get your irritatingly large brain back on topic, the quicker we are going to find Jayana,” I pointed out. We reached the car where Hotch and Morgan were sitting, and I recapped everything Deen had told me. Reid called Garcia to update her and start searching for ‘Ben’s in the area with a track record. The rest of us quickly moved towards the corner this Ben character was supposed to be at. We paired off and started canvassing the area. We’d looked for about 30 minutes and found no one.

“How reliable is your guy?” Morgan asked me.

“Reliable.”

“You sure? ‘Cause we’ve been looking for a while and none of them fit the profile or description.”

“Yeah. I’m sure,” I replied. According to Deen, we only had about 10 more minutes or less to find this guy before he took off.

“Has Garcia identified anyone yet?” Aaron asked.

“No, not yet. There are plenty of ‘Ben’s around,” Morgan answered.

“What if we start looking at cars? If this guy is going to leave soon, and based on the distances he’s going, he’s most likely got a car, probably a van,” JJ offered. We paired back off and went around looking for weird people around vans. Which was a surprising amount. Aaron’s phone started ringing, a call coming in from Morgan.

“He’s got him,” is all he had to say before we were both running back to the SUV where Morgan was already pushing a man into the backseat.

Part 2

[savysavannah]

Practice Challenge One part Two

Special thanks to: @eaton-schreave and @s-morgan

Men have been paying more attention to me lately. Not that they didn't much before, I am a woman after all they're fairly predictable on that front. But what I wasn't expecting was how aggressive they'd be once I became something they knew they couldn't have. 

I tried to continue living on as if nothing happened. Wake up, go to work, work through lunch (you can't let the papparazzi see you with mayo on your cheek again), take a break and call Angelic who works at the palace and has been my personal helper through this transition, beg my boss to let me work through the selection, "I can just go to court virtually!", skip dinner, drive home, make sure no one is following me, they still haven't found out where I live at least, pop open a bottle of gin, then research this bitch who I had to somehow, for the sake of my own ass, not murder. 

The office is on floor 10 of the 20 floor building I work in. I park in the parking lot, thankfully the paparazzi can't follow me there as you have to scan in. I walked up to the elevator and pressed the button. Just as the doors closed a larger man ran up and blocked it with his hand. He was around 6’4 and towered over me, he stood a little too close and I clutched my purse to take the anxiety out.

I watched the numbers go up as we rode but felt him watching me. His pinky finger rubbed against my thigh fiddling with the hem of my pencil skirt. He couldn’t do anything to me, not with who I now was, not in a moving elevator. I tried to remember to breathe as we hit floor eight and leaned to the side to avoid him which he leaned closer in response. Finally we stopped at floor ten and I got off. Thankfully, he didn’t follow. 

I tried to put the moment out of my mind while I worked. It wasn’t the first time something like that had happened, but it was the first time that I was completely and utterly alone. I clicked the B key of my laptop over and over trying to get my brain to pump out something. Some kind of work. But all I got in response was the distracting thoughts of what to do next time. 

At lunch I stared at the elevator. I had to take either the stairs or the elevator. If I took the elevator I'd be stuck in the same situation. If I took the stairs I'd be alone in a dark area for longer. I pressed the button and watched my watch as I waited. 

I was thankfully alone as it lowered to the ground. I was able to breathe and let my mind debate over if I should go to the sandwich place near work or drive home and eat leftovers. Going with the sandwich I started to walk down the block.

“Daniel will you get off that stupid device and pass your sister the peas.” Mother ordered as we all sat at the table of our parents estate. Our weekly dinners were normally a lively event, but tonight was the first night before I left. Daniel and I still hadn’t made up since his plan for vengeance against someone who had not harmed him had succeeded. 

I’d tried to make the best of the situation, research some ounce of goodness in the Prince, but all I found were articles of his outrageous college behavior. Dan had been assuring me that once I was eliminated I would have a sea of men to pick from and would be happily married to a two or upper class three, I could quit work and be a simple housewife like his Marina, this outraged me further and caused a fight. My goal in life is not to be a wife but to work and be content with my work. Danny was the only one who could actually provide any solace reminding me that it would just be for a few weeks, possibly less, then I’d be back to work just as before. Eventually, people would forget I was ever someone to know and I could return to my life. 

Just as we finished dinner the doorbell rang, though there was quickly a rattling of the knob and a busting in before the help could get to the door. Grandmother came in with large pink bags, which I believed to be for me. Soon after I learned that they were filled with all kinds of masks. Masks for face, masks for hair, hands, feet. Apparently, being on TV meant my skin had to be extremely soft.  

Grandmother is the current head of the Mars candy corporation. Next in line is my Uncle Dennis, then my cousins, then uncle Ricky. Hopefully though it won’t come down to Ricky. Ricky blew all his money before he could trap a wife, he’s still a two as grandmother keeps him afloat, but barely. One day he’ll probably be caught with some kind of drug, he’ll be dropped to an eight, it’ll be a shame that could have been prevented had the lawyer in the family not been a stuck up bitch. I’m just tired of working for free on a man who will never change, and doesn’t deserve the luxury. But God forbid I charge family. 

The morning of the flight I wasn’t nervous at all. I said my goodbyes to my boss, let her know I’d be available on my phone or through email if she needed anything, locked up my home, and headed to the formal goodbye where I’d meet up with my family. There was a surprising amount of pride in the province for me being selected. I had read an article about how it seemed I would be destined to be the perfect fit for Queen. I already worked in helping those of Illea through complex laws and policies, I was well educated, from a wealthy family but not a literal two. I was the perfect mold and the pride of Labrador. There were other provinces which had an eight selected that were not quite as cheerful. In the quiet of the airport I was finally able to say my goodbyes. Mother told me to remember to not be too closed off, Father told me to be careful, Danny told me to tough it out but give it an honest try; “He may not be terrible, don’t deny yourself happiness.” Some nonsense like that. 

Dan congratulated me on the opportunity, and Daniel stood quietly trying to avoid eye contact. I was still mad at him. What he did was unforgivable. But we couldn’t leave like this. I hugged him tightly and boarded the plane.

The day was a blur, a blur of useless lessons, a blur of mild appearance changes, girls who were possibly friends, possibly enemies, possibly annoying. It was late into the evening by the time I got to my room. My maids, Florence, Abigail, and Eimear seemed eager to be serving possibly ‘the future queen of illea’ and I was eager for a moment to myself. I dismissed them for the night to unpack on my own. 

I’d snuck a few pairs of my own tailored dress pants in, my laptop, phone, a notebook, a few books, and a family photo. Soon enough the room was a strangers room with sprinkles of me throughout. Once I sat down at my laptop I realized it was already getting fairly late. I changed into a silk nightgown, closed my laptop and tried to sleep. 

As I slept I thought of the footsteps around me, everything felt so loud, a screaming echo that I was in the very last place I ever wanted to be. After a while of tossing and turning I finally stood and walked to the wine cellar. We had been told to make ourselves at home afterall. As I walked back to my room I bumped into a stranger. 

After a moment of shock and regaining my grip on the bottle of wine I looked up to see Prince Eaton. He was known to be more sane than his brother, so I was thankful for at least that. “Oh! I'm sorry, Prince Eaton.” I spoke and gave a small curtsy. 

He looks down at the bottle and myself with a bit of a furrowed brow “You don't need to apologize.”

He pauses for a moment and gives a friendly smile, “And you don't need to curtsy, either. Lady Savannah, is that right?” It’s a bit astonishing he’d both remember my name and recognize it as mine upon seeing me. If I were in his place I’m not sure I could. 

I sighed a bit in relief please I wouldn’t be getting yelled at for my carelessness this evening, “Yes. Just Savannah is fine, or Ms. Mars if you insist on formality. Though, the apology is still warranted considering I should have been watching where I was going. At little out of it, first night and all.” I lifted the bottle as the first night related to the bottle. 

He gave a deadpan joke and I was fortunate then that I am competent in people reading. It may have been awkward if his "I'm not sure wine will help you remember the palace geography.”

“Well, the goal is to drink it once I return to my room. That or the courtyard since it is pretty out tonight. Though, you do make an excellent point that the wine combined with being in an unfamiliar location could have negative consequences.” For a moment I paused. It may not be a horrible idea to make the acquaintance of someone here. 

“Care to have a glass with me? Splitting it and being with someone who knows the 'geography' well may decrease the negatives.” I offered. 

“Interesting that you don't drink though. I'd heard you were more....sober, than your brother but it's noted to the extent. *kinda blushes* not that I was researching you or anything, it's just difficult to not hear things when you both went to my undergrad and you're a prince. Kinda a common conversation topic.”

He stood a bit straighter and eyed the bottle, “I do not drink.” After a moment passed he then cleared his throat, the tone of his statement before must have hit him, “However I can keep you company if you want to.”

I stifled a laugh at him clearing his throat not trying to be rude but finding his realization funny, “Great then. You can be my guide then for the evening.”

he seemed embarrassed and put his hands in his jean pockets, “I'm afraid this kind of thing comes along with the title...“ he took a hand out of his pocket, making a motion like ‘shall we go?’ 

“So you went to the University of Labrador?”

“yup. Go Labs *kinda mumbles for a moment* I wasn't really there for long. We started the same year I think, which I don't really remember much of. I was kinda a different person then. Then I graduated in 2 years and went to Yale law so all in all not a whole lot of time there. But I am from Labrador and my family home is near the campus so I know the area pretty well.”

he had a very small smile “And I showed off to my brother for graduating in three years. Labrador is a beautiful province, though. I miss it.”

“Well, I'm sure you had more to do than me. I'm not some kinda royal so I just got to spend all my time working on getting credits. It is pretty though, I already miss it. Not that Angeles isn't. My mom's family lives here so I've been here a few times, but it's just not Labrador.”

“I agree, but I've come to realize Angeles is full of little gems. You just need to find them. Hopefully you'll be able to get out of the palace to see it for yourself.”

I chuckled a bit at my situation, “Well, I don't imagine I'll be here very long so maybe I'll have a little Angeles vacation”

he raised his eyebrows, “I know... My brother's reputation. But I think he's trying to take this seriously.” He paused for a moment, “Or as seriously as he can take anything.” It was a bit shocking to hear him say that. He seemed like a sensible person, any sensible person would be unlikely to defend the Prince. Though, he was also his brother, perhaps there's a familial bias. 

“Mhm.” I nodded then picked the conversation back up, “well, only time will tell. Hopefully for the sake of the country what's been said about him the last few years are baseless rumours” I sighed a bit thinking about which floozy of a wife will be our future Queen. The floozy and the fuckboy, what leaders. 

Prince Eaton clenched his jaw, “Media is prone to exaggeration.” but did not deny what had been said. 

He was being nice by walking with me so I decided to spare him a grilling and change the topic, “I'm sure. So how do you feel with the whole uh, 35 girls in your house situation?” Great now I sound like an interviewer. 

We reached an access to the gardens and he opened a French window for me, “My space is always invaded, it's nothing worse than usual.” He said with a failed attempt at a smile. I assume he isn’t looking for pity but it’s difficult to not be pitying over such an attempt. 

“That's fair I guess. Surprised you stayed though. Had my brother decided to have a bunch of ladies in our home, privacy be damned I don't wanna be around that mess.” I joked.

He snorted and seemed surprised at himself, “I was supposed to avoid it with a world tour. But things took another turn and now work won't get done alone.”

“World tour sounds a lot more fun. Postponed or cancelled?”

He gave his first genuine smile of the night, “Already done, actually. I came back a couple months ago.”

“Where did you go? Since I assume a world tour isn't literal?”

“Oceania, South Asia, Central Africa, and Europe.” He gave a small wistful sigh. I’d be wistful too if I had been all over there. 

“That's very worldly. I've only been to France and Germany. Did you have a favorite visit?”

He didn’t hesitate for a moment, “New Zealand and Scandinavia. What about you though? Did you enjoy your visits?”

The question caught me off guard so I took a moment trying to remember them, “they were alright. Quite a long time ago though. We only went to stay with my Uncle in France since he runs the part of my family's company in France and then we went to Germany because we were there so we may as well head there. Mostly it was just sitting with my brothers at a hotel while my parents went off or my grandma playing dress up with eight year old me”

“Oh. Do you regret not getting to see more of those places?” He said and looked to a bench we were approaching, but more with a thoughtful consideration than a directional goal. 

“A bit. It would have been nice to go out but they were more business trips than anything else. Maybe I'll go again at some point on my own if I have the free time.” I let us pass the bench, I’d been sitting far too much today with all the lessons and makeovers.  

“Sometimes you have to give yourself the time or you'll never do certain things.”  

“Logically I agree. But emotionally.....it's difficult to step back to work when my work directly impacts horrific moments of people's lives. Like if I were to go see a movie and my phone off, a client could be arrested and their treatment and time in jail without being able to contact their legal representation would be on my hands.”

He nodded slowly, “I can understand that. It gets hard to stop when people's lives are on the line.”

I sighed, trying not to get too revealing over my reasons for being here, afterall telling a stranger- regardless of him being a prince, that my brother had forged my application would be dumb, “I don't even really want to be wasting time here. But it is what it is. Trying to view this as a forced vacation. At least there are pretty flowers and good wine.”

He furrowed his brows, “Is there a way we could keep you working, from here? I guess you couldn't do much, but a little is better than nothing.”

I sighed,  “Yeah I tried. I work for the ICLU so I asked if I could just stay in contact with clients and work from a far. But I wouldn't be able to make any proper court appearances and they wouldn't want someone just thrown on for court so it made more sense to just give me paid vacation. They were pretty proud anyways since apparently it's an honor to be selected for this reboot reality TV bachelor show.”

He pursed his lips, “I'm sorry you don't get to keep working. But they're not wrong. You being selected does give visibility to your organisation.”

I stopped for a moment, completely caught off guard by the comment, “That is true I hadn't thought of that. It's a non-profit so I hope donations may increase from me being here.” I dug into the oversized pockets of my nightgown and grabbed a pen, always best to keep a pen in the pocket, then scribbled on my hand, “reminder to think of ways to bring up iclu during this.” I explained. 

He laughed through his nose and smiled, “See, a couple things might come out of your forced vacation.”

I chuckled a bit, “You're a smartass, and I mean that as a compliment. I can tell already which makes me feel much better about Prince Damian being in charge next.” I sighed content for a moment then remembered I was supposed to be making conversation, “So, you know I'm a nut for my work, what are you passionate about?”

He shrugged and looked around as if the gardens would save him, “My work.”

I smiled wondering a bit why that would be something to be ashamed of, “I get that. But do you have a specific part? I mean I'm sure you do a lot. So do you ever wake up and you're like 'man I get to do blank today!" Like for me it's court days because I love the theatrics of it.” I smiled a bit remembering the fun of cross. 

The question seemed too intimate for him as he tucked his hands in his pockets, “I guess I like working on projects. I mean, when the planning part of it.”

“Projects are fun. I hated them when I was in high school. I was very much so not the nerd I am today.” I tried to avoid going too deep into the projects conversation, not wanting to make him more uncomfortable. 

He raised a brow at the comment of my past, “I understand why people can find them boring, though.” Thankfully he didn’t press further on the past. 

“Yeah I was more of a push off project till the last minute and party with my friends type for a while. Now I kinda wish I could have them again, it'd probably be fun to analyse how the flaws of Gregory Illea still impact us from a historical perspective.”

He snorted and shook his head, “It's more nerve-wracking than fun, in my opinion.”

“Well yeah, but if you can identify the flaws you can work to fix them and the research is fun so overall, more fun.”

He looked up at the stars as he thought, “I don't know... Not all of it is fixable. Not that easily at least.”

I thought as well for a moment, the country had been in a bit of unrest for awhile now. He was probably thinking of that, “Well, just because it isn't easy isn't any reason to not be excited about it. The accomplishment of fixing something difficult is arguable even better.” I tried to reason. 

He stayed thoughtful, and looked down at me, “I see your points. But sometimes I think our ancestors just put us in a situation we'll never fully get out of.”

“That's a very cynical outlook and I disagree. It isn't logical to assume that just because a way hasn't been thought up yet that there can be a way out of a problem.” I said and smiled up at him. 

“Maybe it's cynical, but what I see is history repeating itself.” He looked up again, “It doesn't mean I think things aren't worth fighting for, though. But magical solutions don't exist.”

“I agree. Solutions often require a lot of work and even then are often not perfect. But to never fully get out of seems too far cynical for me to believe.”

  He looked down at me curiously, “You're more optimistic than you appear to be.”

I raised an eyebrow, “hm, interesting that I appear to not be optimistic. I take it that it's the wine bottle causing that.”

He smiled slightly, “Maybe. But just a little.”

“Any reason you don't drink?” I asked before realizing that may be very personal, “that is if you're comfortable answering.”

He shrugged, “I don't like the taste. Or the sensation.”

“That's a fair reason. I didn't like it much till I joined a sorority and ended up just liking it because we drank so much.” I kinda shuddered remembering the hangovers.  

He raised an eyebrow,  “I guess it tastes different once you're inebriated enough.”

“Yeah like spicy foods. Everyone hates them when they are a kid but you grow to love them as you get older.”

He snorted, ”I've always liked spicy foods, even as a kid.”

I laughed, “Well then you're weird. I still can't handle wasabi.”

He laughed softly, “You just need to be careful about the quantity.”

“No literally any bit of it and I'm out. My brother Danny put some on my sushi the other night, it was just a dapple from his chopstick but I couldn't eat the piece.” 

“Did you try to?”

“No. Why would I want to be in pain, I'm not a weird masochist.”

“How do you know it's that bad if you never give it another try though?”

“Hmm, traumatic memories.”

He raised his eyebrows, a curious expression on his face, “Care to share?”

I sighed at the memory, “When I was a kid I really loved matcha paste. It was like a sweet matcha pouch of paste that you could suck out, like those applesauce containers. it was my favorite thing. My grandmother gave me some and since my parents found it effective to shut me up I got it a lot. One day they ordered sushi, left it on the table, I was around four so i could reach it, thought the wasabi was matcha and ate a handful of it. Tears ensued and now I'll never touch it again.”

He laughed softly, “Alright, I understand better. But you could try to overcome your trauma someday.”

“Maybe one day, but with a lot of milk in arms reach”

He nodded, “I'm sure it can be easily arranged during your little vacation.”

I kinda shuddered at the thought, “I'll for sure need a friendly face there with me for moral support.” I laughed.

He laughed quietly, “It shouldn't be hard to find.”

“Probably harder than the wasabi though. So that is task number one on mission wasabi.”

He smiled slightly, “Well, if you stay stuck too long on task number one, I can volunteer as a friendly face.”

“Thank you. Same to you if you ever happen to need one.”

He nodded, “I'll remember that.” He jerked his chin to the wine, “Are you still planning on drinking this?”

I lifted the bottle and stared for a moment, “it'll come back to my room for further deliberation. Possibly a nightcap.”

“If it can help you get some sleep…” He glanced at the palace, “I should walk you back to your room.”

“If you don't mind. I would consider you an expert of palace geography after all.”

He snorted and shook his head, “Do you remember your room number? Or Hall?”

“Ummmmm. I'm gonna guess 14. Could be 15 though.”

He took a step towards the palace, gesturing for me to walk along, “Well, hopefully we won't step into anyone's bedroom.”

“Hm. Well the doors do say our names on them, so assuming one of us is literate I think we're safe from that” .

“I'm a humble geographer, I read maps.” He replied, getting a small giggle from myself.

“lead the way, humble geographer.” We walked for a bit through the palace till we found my room.

“That's me.”

He stopped in front of the room, “Well, we've made it. Unscathed, at that.”

“Very impressive. I would say you're a 10 out of 10 guide for such an achievement.”

He bowed, “Please don't hesitate to post a review on TripAdvisor.”

I chuckled at the joke, “well thank you for all your help. Wishing you the best, Prince Eaton.”

“Eaton's just fine. Goodnight.” He smiled.

“Good night, Eaton” I replied with a curtsy then retired to my room. 

Once I got on my laptop I pulled up my email. It wouldn’t be too annoying if I emailed my boss with some advertisement suggestions. If I let her know I’d be willing to help as much as I could. I could take up some interviews and remind people to donate. But as I typed I found myself hitting the same key over and over. 

Finally I scrolled onto Toogle and began to read about Prince Damian. The bottle of wine found its way to my lips as I read about his partying, his boorish public behavior, his absolutely lack of responsibility for his people. Quickly the bottle was empty. 

The world spun and I closed the laptop. My stomach gurgled demanding sustenance. Crackers? Something salty? Maybe popcorn. Popcorn and a movie sounds good, I mean why should I bother with anything else while I’m here in this hell. If I have to wake up early I can simply nap when I have a moment to spare. I took the bottle with me planning to throw it away in some form of recycling bin which I assumed would be in the kitchen.

I couldn’t find the kitchen. Instead I stood in an unknown hallway for a few moments, before finally deciding to give up and just return to my room. I could ask my maids for popcorn in the morning if I still wanted it. 

I walked to my room on the corner of the hallway, walked in and laid on my bed. I let my shoes slip off and rest on the ground next to where I had placed the empty bottle.

“Um…” I hear someone say who then clears their throat and says a bit louder, “hello?”

I Rolled around to look at her. I had dismissed all of my maids, who was this person? After a moment I recognized her as a selected who I had seen earlier in the day, “Um? Hi?” I mumbled and tried to sit up a bit in bed. This was not a good time for me to be receiving visitors and I hadn’t the slightest clue why this girl was in my room. 

She steps a bit closer to me, “Are you alright?”

“More than. Rich asshole got fucking great wine. I'm Savannah Mars of Labradoradora. Why are you in my room?” I slurred. 

She mouthed “Labradoradora” silently to herself before she blinked again, and walked to the edge of the bed and looked at me. Seeming to understand my condition she smiled, “Somehow someway, you ended up in my room. Sienna. Not... Sorry, what’s your name?” 

“Woops.” I giggled a bit at the situation now fully understanding this poor girl's confusion at my intrusion. “Savannah.”  I lifted an arm in a lazy wave, “Mars. If you read the papers I'm the selected whose brother punched a reporter.” 

She half grimaced, “Well hopefully you don’t punch me when I offer to help you back to your room.” 

I laughed a bit at what this girl must be thinking of me, “not at all! They're just protective over a creepy paparazzi.” I sat up more straightly and swayed a little.“you don't have to help me though. I am perfectly capable of finding a room. Regardless of my state I am in fact a lawyer. Therefore I can read.” 

Her smile is a little more at ease with my laugh, then she nodded slowly, “Oh absolutely. But so I don’t get mixed up in the future, can you let me come?” She said, eyeing my swaying carefully. 

“Gotcha!” I cheered and did some finger guns and stood up successfully with the help of the bedpost, “I'm a lawyer, you?”

She stepped near me and offered a hand, answering distractedly, “Illustrator.” 

I took her hand, “Pretty!” Then blushes a bit at the exclamation, “Illustration i mean! You are too though!” Trying not to insult the stranger.

She laughed softly and took my arm into the crook of hers, “Thank you. The compliment goes both ways.”

I nodded enthusiastically, “oh no bad idea dizzy.” I said and settled myself again, “I sleep somewhere around here. Why do all these doors look the same”

“I see why you got confused heading into my room.” She chuckles as she scans the plates, “Are you sure your room’s in this direction?” She blinked “Never mind.”

Suddenly I saw another door, it said S something, how many selected with S names could there be, “S is me!” I exclaimed. 

She squinted and she looked closer at the nameplate, “S is close to you, but this isn’t your room. It’s Soraya’s,” She frowned and nodded at a guard who we passed. 

“Oh... “ I wondered why someone else would have joined this, I suppose this other selected is a perfect person to ask, “Do you have the hots for the prince?”

She seemed startled by the question, “Well... we haven’t even met him yet.” She then raised a brow, “Do you?”

I laughed and nearly threw my head back, “Absolutely not! But I was wondering if all the girls here would be like” I stopped for a moment to gather myself, “UWUWUW Prince Dammmm i wanna be your wifeeyyy” I batted my eyes mimicking my expectation of my fellow selected, “and shit.”

Thankfully she laughed before quickly covering her mouth, “Let’s see how the interviews go then talk. I might go all moony-eyed.” 

I half chuckled, “I don't think there’s a thing he could say to me to make me go all "uwu'. Strongly dislike the man off the bat.”

“Oh?” She raised a brow, a laugh still in her voice, “Is it the partying?”

“120%” I said fully serious. 

She hummed, “What about it don’t you like?

“The fact that he's supposed to be the heir to illea and he's running around partying like he's just some ordinary frat boy. He has an obligation to the country and his choice to party over starting on work directly impacts thousands of peoples lives. I spend freaking days arguing cases that could just be solved if we had a leader who was sand enough to amend laws that deserve amending but he's out there doing jello shots and drinking tequila!” I complained, probably spilling out a bit much.

She sighed and bobbed her head to one side for a moment, focusing on the hallway before they reached the end of it and realized her room is probably back where they were before, she simply missed it. tugs them back in that direction again, “Maybe he’s... getting it out of his system.” She defended and wrinkled her nose clearly not believing her own words.  

I sighed, “Maybe. At least this will let me tell if he's really that hopeless or not. Not that I'm one to speak in my current state.”

She gave a short laugh, “What if he is hopeless? What will you do then?”

I hadn’t quite thought that far out, “I figure out which one of you is the least hopeless and try to help them win.” I suggested.

She seemed amused at my conclusion, “Why did you submit your name then? For kicks and giggles?”

I sighed, “I didn't submit my application. Let's just leave it at that. Why'd you submit yours?” She seemed to agree with me about the large faults of the prince which made me more curious. 

“Second chance at... something.” A vague answer. 

I snorted, “something? What did you date a prince in a past life?”

She looked down with a smile then back up, “Life. Second chance at life.” I knew what she meant. The chance to reinvent yourself. I was able to get it before, if this was hers I wished her the best. 

I looked up at her and smiled, “Well, I hope you get it Ms. Artist.”

She directed a smile at me, “Thank you.” We finally approach a room directly labeled Savannah Mars, which is funnily enough exactly across the hall from Sienna's. “I hope you don’t get too much of a headache tomorrow.”

I waved, “Nah I chug water.” I smiled at her already feeling the effects wearing off, “Thank you for walking me here, and I'm sorry for lying on your bed.” 

“Sure sure.” She let go of her arm and raised a brow, “Positive you’ll be alright?”

“Positive.” I replied with a brief nod, headed into my room, then passed out for the night. 

[norafike]

Despite all this, I still love you 22

“How are ya?” Nora looked over and her face dropped when she noticed it was Arthur returning for the umpteenth time that day. She sighed but gently patted the floor beside her, inviting him for a seat. She wasn't ready to talk about it, not so soon but the longer she kept what happened suppressed the more it began to affect her. The countless nights where she would wake up in a cold sweat, the nightmares not only from those days when Hixon was after them but also with the memories of the suffering she endured that night.

“What do you wanna hear?” She asked, reluctantly. Arthur pursed his lips into a thin line. Now that she was going to talk he wasn't so sure what to have her start with.

“I guess, why? Why did they take you of all people?”

“Because I started helpin' you.” Her words shook him, how coldly she said them was so harsh and regretful and it almost frightened, Arthur.

“How would Colm now that?” Nora let out a shaky breath, turning away so he couldn't look at her once the tears began to fall.

“Kieran... Colm took him in and tortured the poor boy. That's how he found you where y'all were hidin', how he found out about me.” She exclaimed.

“Do you know what happened to Kieran?” The topic was no longer about what she went through and she let out an exhale of air, glad to be off of the subject of her and onto the O'Driscoll who had disappeared some weeks before.

“Colm didn't say but the grin on his face tells me that the poor bastards dead. Do you really think Kieran could sneak away from them?”

Arthur nodded slowly, he didn't want to admit his inability to save Kieran's life just as he did so long before, but it was true. There could have been no way Kieran survived such a thing, he wasn't Arthur or Nora. “Do you know where Kieran is? Or, what's left of him?”

“Afraid not… Colm didn't even outright say that they killed, Kieran.”

“That's unfortunate.”

“More than that.” She kicked at the ground underneath her, hissing a little at the flare of pain that sparked from the simple interaction and Arthur quickly sprung forward-thinking it more serious than she'd admit too.

“You okay?” He asked.

She waved him away. “Yeah, forget that everything hurts over nothing.”

“Be gentle, Nora. Before I send Grimshaw or Abigail in.”

Nora chuckled lowly. “They're fine, it's Lem who I'd not be able to bare.”

“You don't mean that.” He hummed but Nora only shrugged, gently.

“Kinda do, don't get me wrong he is my best friend but, I don't know… he worries too much about me.”

“Ain't nothin' wrong in that.”

“I know. Last time he cared so much about someone he ended being betrayed when shit fell under, I don't want him to hurt in that way again.”

“Do you plan on betraying him?”

Nora let out a guffaw when she realised just how bad her phrasing sounded and quickly she had to reject that idea, not meaning it in that way. “Oh no, heavens no.” And he too chuckled.

“I'll send him in any way, he's been meanin' to talk with you.”

“Alright, but you don't gotta stop people from seein' me.” Arthur snorted but left the room anyway, holding the door open to be courteous and let Lem inside. When Fike was through the door he greeted Nora with a proud smile and the female felt her cheeks warm slightly from making eye contact with him.

“Hey.” He managed to slip out but he stood at a distance, awkwardly drumming against the pockets of his jacket. Nora gave him a forced smile but called him over with a gentle wave of her hand which he obliged to.

“You alright, Lem?” She asked, her face fading into concern as he kept himself drawn back. He never was one to keep a space between the two, neither was she in truth, so when he blatantly refused to walk over she grew worried.

“Y-Yes.” He kept to the one-word responses.

She raised an eyebrow and struggled to stand, her breath hitching in her throat while she ignored the ache and mixture of pain just so she could walk closer to Lem whose attention was now drawn her way when he heard the struggle in her breathing.

“Nora, don't!” He tried to warn, quickly running to her side just in time to catch her before she collapsed to the floor. Nora hissed at the force but was grateful it was only his arms she fell into and not the solid wood beneath her.

“Guess I ain't got the hang of walkin', yet.” She chuckled, attempting to lighten the situation but he appeared less than impressed with her.

“Worryin' a-about you is gonna be the death of m-me, Nora.” He whispered, moving around so one arm was wrapped around her waist and the other was making sure she didn't fall to the side. But Nora still tried to laugh off just how bad of a state she really was in and shrug away his concern like she usually would do.

“I ain't kiddin'.”

Nora let out a huff of air. “No, I know… I just hate to see you so, glum.”

“Can't help it, especially not recently.”

When she was put back on the old rug she had been sitting on before, Nora reached forward to tug at Lem's shirt to stop him from walking away, acting in that usual childish manner and he couldn't help but let a small smile slip. “What now?” He asked.

“Just stay, please.” Nora pleaded. Lem only rolled his eyes but pulled an old chair over to sit near her but she shuffled over regardless and gently laid her head down on his lap, and with no hesitation, he had placed his hand on top and ran his fingers through her hair. It was something that he could do for hours before, to be curled up with Nora under a tree somewhere while he would either run his fingers through the tangles in her hair or gently braid it.

“You're like a child.” He joked and Nora let out a low unladylike snort at his remark, her hand patting his foot in response that he could only smile at which she didn't see. He was just happy to have that old girl back, for the most part.

“I do act it on times.” She sighed, leaning further into his touch while his fingers gently continued their brushing of her hair.

Lem had been so caught up in making sure that she was okay that he had forgotten to mention how Morgan visited them, demanding to know what had happened to Nora and threatening him all in that same process. So gently he tapped her shoulder to grab her attention and she turned around just as much as she could to look at him.

“I just remembered that your friend, Morgan Canaday paid us a v-visit.”

“She did? What'd she want?” Nora looked surprised as she hadn't spoken to Morgan for a few months, the last she heard from her was just after Hixon.

“She heard about what happened to you.” He answered.

Nora sighed, turning her gaze over towards one of the windows in the house. They were in Bayou Nwa which meant Morgan wasn't too far from them, they could make it a quick trip just so Nora had the satisfaction of telling her old friend that was was okay. “We should see her tomorrow.”

“I don't think-” Lem wanted to argue, but Nora shook her head to shush him.

“Trust me, if we don't see her soon then she'll think that I'm not okay. Then we'll have murder.”

“Nora, you can hardly stand.” Lem reasoned and she knew the facts, nodding gently to agree with him.

“Please.”

Lem drew out a long breath of air before agreeing. He knew Morgan would bring hell and Nora hadn't seen her friend for a while, so who was he to stop her from going?

“I can't stop you. But if at anything bad happens to you we're comin' back. Okay?”

“Okay.” Nora said. “So… it's settled then?”

“It's settled. We'll head out tomorrow, find Miss Canaday.”

[lucy-shining-star]

So, I rarely do episode reactions but this is finale, so I need to do it:

Mingo, Zoom and Estrella <3

Hi Marlena. I think Marlena is my one of my favourites minor characters for if only because I think she has sibling like relationship with Mateo. So I’m glad she did get lowkey bigger role this season even though it’s still small.

I must note despite everything kids didn’t boo at ‘lying cousin Esteban’

Shuriki from Spirit Wolrd: I do not do high-fives, and did you just make me dance? And I wouldn’t let Esteban dance also. 

Puppets facial expressions are something else

I love how Armando had puppet Gabe on his head for a moment

Lmao, I think getting public to not be angry at Esteban wouldn’t be that hard if now it can be singed ‘Poor Victor and Carla Delgado’ after they have been wanted criminals for like...two years?

Puppet Esteban hiding behind puppet AshXD

Armando and Marlena are so cute

I love the parts when kids are singing

I really love ‘long may she reign’ part

Also, I was confused everytime when someone was singing/saying ‘four years’ cause I was not sure if that was ‘four years’ or ‘for years’

Zuzo, don’t scare her

‘You can’t believe everything a whispering campfire tells you’ I love Zuzo being dissmisant of prophercies.

Elena with that excited ‘I waited four years’ 

I saw that people were worried that Francisco was dying because of that and later and I’m like...it didn’t cross my mind that it could mean that.

Well, it’s not last

Naomi,Isabel,Gabe and Mateo are relatable.

Sorry, Dona, Zuzo ruined your chance in previous episode

How Elena doesn’t know she has to do these things? She was heir to throne since birth? She was so busy preparing two episodes ago? HOW litterally everyone else knows and treats like it’s obvious!? 

Elena making Gabe and Mateo hold hands <3

Royals <3

‘I can’t wait to try your fine cuisine’ I see king Toshi has same priorities as me.

I see Alonso looks slightly different than last time?

Valentina being in carriage with Alonso and his father <3 Now that I think about it, Cordoba and Paraiso are both close to Avalor, so they are probably close to each other too?

Hector in carriage with these two kings who he used to boss around until Elena came. I assume they made up and now are equal friends?

Poor Armando. Also, Valentina little too late to say thatXD

Wait, what they were about to do? What runthrough?

That looks beautiful

Lmao at Ixlan not caring

Warning isn’t enough, but does that mean they didn’t warn her? Or they did? Though, if they did they shouldn’t be surprised that she came

Lmao at them knowing she will go anyway

So...that means when Craig said that Franciso may now be ashamed (that was what he wrote?) of his vote about Esteban he was probably just tired of that question and decided to troll?

Elena’s ‘Not anymore’ is kind of scary.

I still can’t believe how naive Ash is

Chatana...Tziloco found it? Okay, he didn’t notice that he found it, but still, that was joined effort.

How did she know it’s under the ocean not on it?

I love how they look at Isa with such admiration cause she invented poisonous arrows.

Only Antonia from the rest of the guards?

Ooo...you are both adorable sidekicks.

Esteban and Elena conflict third season is really direct opposite of Cassandra and Rapunzel conflict in tangled third seasonXD I mean in how how traitor-antagonist and protagonist react to each other.

I’m lowkey surprised that Mateo is surprised that she got his name rightXD 

Esteban and Ixlan sceneXD

I think Isa also thinks that jellyfish is a baby.

Marissa!

Poor Carla.

Why Esteban teleported there?

Wow, Elena really control her emotion powers.

Unforunately, she still let emotions decide for her.

Lmao at Shades renaming themselves.

Mateo, sweetie, that was stupid.

Ixlan finally seeing challenge.

Mateo with glowing green eyes looks nice. Scary, but nice.

Isa already taking charge.

At first I thought Elena’s angery magic started kicking in here. Also her angery face here is glorious.

Okay, Vuli’s face colours changing are like Elena’s dress, but his main colour is green so...I dunno,it’s kinda weirdXD

I think that is my favourite song in whole episode. 

Those Shades really likes to invade Esteban’s personal space

I heard Ozai with angery ‘Tell us!’

I see Hetz actually have to think about what to sing.

Cahu’s voice hypnotizes me. Like when she talks also,but singing is double powerful. Also, I’m not sure if she is the most powerful? Like,on one hand, her powers is the scariest. On the other,she is the only one that needs a tool.

Oh, even Cahu saluted

I love how Cahu sang ‘We’ll meet them’

‘So you can rule your subjects like their puppets on a string’ I see Yolo is planning Esteban rule to be like this Zuzo au.

Did Esteban realize something is off when Cahu sang ‘And we’ll finish what we started long ago?’ I guess he did and then forgot the second she finished that line.

I’m sad we didn’t get to see Ash face when Bobo said ‘The one and only’. She was probably like ‘Hey,that’s my line’

...Now I’m imagining Ash trying to rule the Zanies. Just out of spite.

I wonder, did Isabel and Elena tell anyone else about that vision?

I see Naomi remembers Valentina’s got magic since I guess it’s like ‘Valentina definitely can help, and maybe someone else’

Elena finding out she has more body count than she thought.

‘Oh,drama’XD He is so happy about it

She plays pretty well for someone who can’t stand it.

‘Us probably’ it’s great line,but they are already looking away.

So the answer is Valentina.

Do they know Marissa? Also it’s nice to see Naomi and Marissa coming here together after Naomi hated Marissa that much.

Lmao at Raul and Lucia’s reactions.

Hi Orizaba

First of all: Zoopitole is Mateo’s body count

Which makes me remember I used to think Mateo is ‘looks like cinammon roll,is a cinnamon roll’ while Naomi is ‘looks like they could kill you,can actually kill you’ but it sure looks different. Naomi, you dissapointed me.

So I need to completely change how I see this meme when it comes to all four amigos. So Mateo ‘looks like a cinammon roll,could actually kill you’, Naomi is ‘looks like they could kill you, is actually cinammon roll’ Gabe is ‘looks like a cinammon roll, is a cinammon roll’ and Elena is ‘looks like could kill you,could actually kill you’

Although actually I think they are all capable of killing.

Second of all: Here they should be Flo shouting ‘I was right!’

‘Elena victims club up high!’ is great, tho.

Oh, I didn’t notice earlier that Cahu did little ‘no,don’t say that’ geture to Vulu after he said ‘let’s make it ours’. It looks kinda cute.

‘It’s that you,moustache’ ‘That’s king moustache too you’ lmao

‘They are our allies’...um,Esteban? 

It kinda looked like Vuli is about to touch Abigail’s bust

They are pretty calm for being touched with chaos touch. Like they just hit the hitting bals with clubs.

Chloe and Dona hereXD

Also, is Dona escaping and Naomi right after saying she has some ideas finale foreshadowing on her being new chancellor?

‘If I told you,you wouldn’t let me do it’ ‘What? Isabel!’ Isa, he has enough of this with your sister

‘Your forecast, looks bleak’ I like that line

Isa on her way to have body count

Isa killing powerfulf shade. Gabe and Luna being proud of her <3

Yolo getting scared and Hetz appearing in spirit world immadietely. I love this whole sequence

Hi,Cacahute

Elena looks so cute here when she realised she should go after Ash

‘If you keep hearing in the darkness of your past, you will never see a brighter future’? Though I’m not sure if hearing was the word used here

Wait, that’s still don’t explain everything. Did Esteban make deal with Shuriki knowing that she would invade anyway hoping if he help her she wouldn’t hurt his family? Did he try to convince her to not attack and then she manipulated him with saying she is going to listen to him when his family didn’t?

Vuli really likes to sing.

Ixlan is sure confident.

What exactly Valentina wanted Alonso to do? He has no magic, no sword, no lasso, no fancy cool inventions? I doubt he has much body strenght?

Oh, Vuli being sad for Hetz <3

Oh, Alonso protecting Valentina <3 

Did Esteban just...slide down the railing?

Luisa had great speech 

Esteban really did not realise he is a villain? 

Cahu summed up Esteban great.

But that also mean they saw everything...I think they know that is was really Ash who freed them.

Also, Elena is too focused on revenge, is too emotional, and too focused on past, and Esteban trusts who pretends to listen and wants power to be heard...

They are both Anakin 

That’s why everything ended well in episode with Mark Hamill XD

When you walk in to some evil lady being dangerously close to your first cousin who happens to be often swayed by evil ladies (oh,and also you grandparents are turned to a stone right next to it). No, but seriously she really was close. Isa is going to have trauma

Some time later:

‘Isa: Please tell me you are a gay or ace.

Esteban: What? Why...I’m...

Isa: Please!

Esteban: Okay...So...I’m ace?

Isa:That’s a relief, thanks.-she goes

Esteban:What was that about?

Elena,seeing scene from some distance:No,seriously, what was that about?

Naomi,Mateo and Gabe who know what this is about exchanging”we are not telling her” looks in the bakground’

Rafa didn’t notice something is wrong?

Hi,Alacazar

Flo making sure she annoys Grand Macaw enough she would let her out too

...Actually Elena could just tell him she brought Flo to life with her emotions and he would kick her out to not risk having more creatures like this in his nest.

Thank you Bobo for vocalising your irritation with that. You saved Elena

Didn’t Ash find it suspicious that Elena stopped Bobo or she didn’t notice?

Hi Sanza 

Hi Shuriki, I see you saw that kid eating popcorn during the song in the beggining and decided you want it too.

Also, she is probably happy right now that Elena loses only to find out Elena goes back to real worldXD Unless she knew it, Troyo didn’t seem surprised.

Also, I wonder how music and dance hater feels about being stuck at eternal party. I suppose she found that olaball game moment of relieve

Zoopitole, that was harsh. I can’t believe they made me feel sorry for Ash. I hope she didn’t hear ir.

Mateo’s sad voice when he told shades had taken over Avalor :(

Isa’s sad voice when she said ‘I’m sorry’ :(

‘Pride had put my heart to sleep, but now I’m wide awake. I have hurt everyone, the damage is done’ I love this part. Also love Esteban’s eyes when he opens the door.

The change of scene with fountains is beautiful.

I’m little dissapointed that Isa didn’t talk during that part so I would have all main characters kinda-shared song. Even though only two sing, but still that would be little something.

Elena hugging Skylar <3

Esteban on that throne :(

Carmen’s face after little touch of chaosXD

‘You don’t wanna mess wtih Vuli’ ‘Okay’ I love Migs here

Vuli, you really are attacking your friend for accident?

I love that Gabe didn’t use tamborita in the finale but got his main skill show off just with his tool powered up by a Mateo. 

Also love that got to use his signature move that got stolen by two peopleXD in real fight.

Also, Antonia used tamoborita...I’m kind of starting to think there is some general rule that women more often have natural talent for magic.

‘Or send us’ and not reacting to Elena’s ‘wait, you didn’t mention that’. Same feral energy as Isa’s earlier.

Oh, Yolo (Vulu too? I’m not sure) is happy to see Hetz again <3

Mateo and Gabe turned into a stone right after their sucess :(

Also, I think they are the only one besides Francisco and Luisa to be two people turned into same stone? That’s kind of shippy

Elena’s face after that

Skylar :(

That’s sadistic on one side, but on the other,good that she decided to torture her before killing

Good choice, Esteban. Extremely predictable way to reedem him but that’s a good thing.

Congratulations Esteban on earning your redemption.

Hmm, now all of show main male characters are turned into stone. 

<3

The forgivness dress is white! Yeah, I thought so for longer time!

Though the reason is most probably either cause white is angelic colour or mixed coulour of rainbows I thought this because of that dress (and...that might be foreshadowing of white forgivness dress?):

And to lesser extent that:

Because of that first dress being in episode where Esteban after making mistake decided that he (well,and Naomi and Mateo and Luna.Though not really Luna) owes her more than apology, and also because that’s where we got little more of his backstory.

And the second because Esteban was reffering to this episode in his clue, even though she didn’t have that dress in scene he was reffering to. Also, in that episode Elena was especially worried about being noble leader, and she was afraid of losing everything again even though there was no real threat at those point.

Also, that’s why I kinda tried to find connections to certain episodes in Elena’s other colours. 

'You can’t change what you did before, but you can change what you do next’ right?

Wow, how she control that. And it’s beautiful <3

Oh, and she remembers that others need to be saved to without having to see them

Valentina hug-spinning Alonso <3

Gabe and Mateo nicely landed.

Also, I was lowkey surprised here that Naomi first checked on Mateo, despite being suggested to being in love (in relationship?) with Gabe, but since every other from amigos ships was teased, and that was only Naomi and Mateo one-on-one interaction in the whole special, I’m happy with that.

...How Esteban managed to aim correctly when Elena has to work on that pretty long?

Elena:Well, I let you use my tool, so now I’m going to use yours

Did flames told Quita Moz after the test what it was or he just didn’t tell Elena earlier? Or he figures out himself what test was?

Wow, Luisa is surprised that Elena forgave Esteban

Elena and Esteban hug <3

Elena and Isabel hug <3

Amigos hug <3

We have a queen to crown <3

That pose during changing of the scene is cute:

Mingo, Zoom and Estrella <3

Hector bowing <3

Tomiko doing ‘<3′ <3

I love how all teen(wait,no...young adults?) royals are in the same shot <3

Elena looking at Esteban and he bowing <3 Dona smiling <3

Hi Sofia! And Amber! And James! And Miranda! And Roland!

Although James, Sofia and Amber look kinda weird

Technically, Elena isn’t one yet too, since she isn’t crowned yet

 Also now I kinda wish we had seen Vor in spirit world cause I still don’t know if Sofia has body count or that was just exorcism

‘Elena,queen of Avalor’<3

‘All hail the queen’<3

Lmao at Gabe and Mateo

I saw people saying it looked like marriage proposal before I saw episode, and I thought it was just shipping googles, but damn, it really did look like that.

Daniel and Scarlett already proud in the background

‘With the best insticts in the kingdom’ Naomi, you are awesome

‘Gabe,you’ve been by my side since my first day of rule’ <3 Love Gabe’s eyes here. 

‘Mateo,we’ve been through so much together, you and I’ <3

Mateo is so cute here

Okay, so that was like super cute and ship teasing all ships between Elena and her amigos,but...Does Gabe and Mateo’s new titles change anything for them? Or was Elena just like ‘Okay, I’m going to be queen, I’m going to make Naomi chancellor and Isabel royal inventor...boys would have feel left out. My boys also need fancy titles’

Isa being royal inventor and that hug <3

Elena teasing Mateo and Gabe XD

Kinda thought she might choose Esteban. Still,cute <3

Four servants giving guitars, to four people, and one of them isn’t even from royal family. Wow

Elena touching all amigos hands <3

For some reason I kinda don’t like line ‘And now you’ve crowned me’ but like. Literally only that line. And I don’t know why.

Elena dancing with Francisco <3

Elena hugging Isa and Luisa <3

Elena twirling with Naomi <3

Gabe and Mateo twirling Elena in the while lifting her <3

Gabe putting his hand on Mateo’s shoulder <3 

Elena hugging Skylar <3 Luna being only one eating, relatable. And Skylar coming for more hugs <3

She seemed surprised that they started signing here. But only for a moment

That hand move with ‘I know we gonna be alright’ looks so cool

Mateo and Gabe lifting Elena while she is sitting<3 

Esteban breakdancingXD Though, for being such major character there was very little of him in that last song.

I love the way Naomi pulled Gabe into dance

Isa and James look cute

Lmao, Craig said that he THINKS Ixlan and Antonia share some scene when they actually had a dance with in which Antonia holds Ixlan down with that face? 

Also, Ixlan is impressed

‘Are you ready for day two?’ ‘I am!’ <3

Mateo and Carla buming heads and holding hands <3 I was hoping for some positive interaction that could be seen as ship tease with tight shipping googles but turns out googles didn’t need to be that tight. Also I think I would be happy if that actually means they are confirmed. Like, eleteo is still my otp, but I really love this one too. Kinda like I’m happy with ichihime being canon depsite ishihime being my fave Orihime ship also though it probably helps that ichiruki is my notp and renruki is my otp for whole manga but also why i’m taliing about bleach while didn’t read most of it. Altough that could be just, okay now let’s dance together like normal people

Alonso and Valentina being their extra selves together <3 I waited for any interaction for so long, and now I’ve been fed so much <3

Oh, Hector and Abigail walking-jumping hand in hand. Cute

Marissa twirls beautifully. I lowkey laugh at Marzel’s walk though.

Dona seemingly kissing Julio behind that fan really took me by surprise. I didn’t expect that level of ship tease.

Elena and Sofia being last dance <3

I didn’t notice earlier Naomi threw scepter to Elena

That beautiful spoiled shot <3

Elena’s crown falling down, and she having to adjust it, and Naomi’s face and Isa laugh <3 

Wow,background to credits is stunnigly beautiful.

So anyway, I really love the finale! It’s so emotional and beautifully concludes everything. 

[dancinglifeboat]

Sign Language Coder Bfs Fanfic Part 2

Title: Sign me Your Love (which is what I’ll be signing it from now on!)

Pairing: Coder Boyfriends! (Leif x Tobin)

Post Canon (But max wasn’t fired in this fic bc I make my own rules)

Chapter 1: 

https://dancinglifeboat.tumblr.com/post/622574506020601856/sign-language-coder-boyfriends-fanfic

Chapter 2/?

The One in Which Abigail and Tobin Run the Office Gossip Mill

5 days to launch

Fast forward a few months and Leif thought he was ready. He had been steadily ignoring what he could of Tobin’s signing so that he could fully understand instead of picking up bits and pieces. The launch of the Chirp was at the end of this week, meaning when he dropped that bomb that he now knew sign language after a week of Tobin thinking everything he had signed was beyond Leif’s understanding at the launch party, it would be a very satisfying double victory.

Leif left the apartment earlier than Tobin did; as usual. He spent the bus ride to work only half-listening to his Dracula Audiobook. (He had it close to memorized at this point anyway) He got off at his usual stop, near his and Tobin’s favourite coffee shop. They had discovered that Max and Zoey frequented that same one; but they were easily able to avoid them. Neither Zoey nor Max were blessed with the “Morning Person” gift that Leif and Tobin had. Plus he had overheard them talking about scouting out a new place- so he assumed that he wouldn’t have to worry about running into them. He gave the barista Autumn his and Tobin’s usual order, who seemed cheerier than usual as she wrote on his cup in swirly writing. He didn’t ask- but if he had he would have found out that the reason was that she had gone stargazing the night before with her new boyfriend, who would be picking her up after her shift to go out to lunch with and meet her parents. The service was quick, as usual, and soon he was out the door and in the elevator at Sparkpoint. He dropped off the coffee at Tobin’s desk, who in favour chucked a yogurt at him, assuming (correctly) that Leif had once again forgotten to eat breakfast this morning. Leif lowered his desk from the standing position to a height more suitable for sitting and pulled out his swivel chair before snatching a spoon from the fruit bar and starting into both the yogurt (it was strawberry, one of his favourites) and one of the many last-minute coding issues with the chirp.

A few hours later, Leif swiveled in his chair in time to see Abigail return from her lunch break. He bit back a small grin as he watched her throw a sneaky glance at Tobin’s desk before whipping out a paper airplane and throwing it at him while Zoe wasn’t watching. Leif almost rolled his eyes when it bounced off Tobin’s head, who started and nearly dropped his fidget spinner before spinning to face Abigail with an equally mischievous looking face. Leif had to question if they really thought they were being or if they were just messing around for the fun of it.

Leif had been keeping an eye on Tobin all morning- and it had yet to yield much he didn’t know. Other than that Tobin knew far too many vine references than what was normal. And that any insults he did sign were far more juvenile and kind than he let on. Leif didn’t know why he found that surprising- Tobin was both the most intelligent and most stupid person Leif had ever met, but he wasn’t mean, at least not intentionally. So far “Mrs. Frizzle” was the most insulting thing he had signed that day, and admittedly Zoey’s sweater had been a bit...unorthodox that day.

But this had been what he had been waiting for, Tobin and Abigail's daily gossip session. They had hit it off when Abigail first came to visit- and now that Abigail was interning at Sparkpoint and they were seeing each other on a near daily basis, they had more or less become the prank duo of the floor. (Rip to all of Zoey’s pens) Luckily, as Tobins “BFF” Leif rarely found himself on the pranking side of their escapades. At least that was the excuse Tobin gave; Leif suspected it was because he, as Tobin’s roommate, had a great vantage point for revenge pranking.

Leif finished a line of code before subtly settling himself in to watch, if all went well, he could get some excellent blackmail material out of this.

-------------------------------perspective change *lightning noises*------------------------------------------

Tobin started off by melodramatically holding up the offending airplane;

“Lose something?” He dunked it into his trashcan and paused for effect before continuing, “I mean of course, something other than your fashion sense?” He jokingly raised a judgemental eyebrow,

“Says the one wearing his e-girl wannabe hoodie for the third time this week” She snarked right back, grinning as Tobin mimicked gasping in mock offense before also breaking into a smile. Greetings out of the way, she moved on. “Any updates?” Tobin rolled his eyes,

“Unfortunately Zoey is still oblivious as ever; she needs to step it up- I’ve got 10 bucks on them getting together before the launch” Abigail pulled a candy bar out of her purse and took a bite out of it.

“And Max? Any progress on his end?”

“He used a truly awful pickup line on her this morning, and that’s Me saying that. Luckily for his dignity and unluckily for my 10 bucks she didn’t even seem to notice.”

“Good Grief”

“I know! They’re so oblivious! At this point I might have to intervene!”

“Please do, it would be hilarious to see you butcher being match-maker.” She signed, biting off another chunk of the candy bar, pointedly ignoring the playful glare being sent her way. “Besides, it’s not like you have much  room to talk, huh Mr. Floofy Hair?”

“ONCE, I called him that once! And we are not having this conversation again!”

“Why not? I for one think it’s adorable that you like him. And isn’t it kinda the queer agenda? Pining for your best friend?”

“Bold of you to assume I would adhere to any agenda- queer or not!”

“Yet here we are.” She signed, smirking.

“You are vexatious as they come Ms. Pugnat”

“And you aren’t?”

“Fair enough, and how was I not supposed to fall for him? Have you seen him? He’s flipping adorable!”

“None of the rest of us have.”

“You all have bad taste.”

“Sure Tobin.” She rolled her eyes, biting the last chunk off of the candy bar and crumpling up the wrapper. “But do let me know when you finally make a move, I have twenty bucks on you two.”