#*closes my bunker hatch* I will return when my head is not wanted on a pike
Text
I have spent. An insane fucking amount of time looking at MLP infection aus because a couple caught my attention. And now I have IDEAS and I need them OUT.
All under a read more because it's very rambly, and there's talks of body horror and stuff.
FUUUUCKING.
CODE ROT INFECTION AU.
It only targets those with high enough code densities. So Programs and Viruses are able to be infected, as are Code Manifestations and Offshoots. Guardians and Avatars can be infected, but they aren't adversely effected. NPCs and Abyss-borns are the only truly immune ones.
So;
Able to be infected/unimmnue
Programs
Viruses
Offshoots
Code Manifestations
Able to be infected/immune to adverse effects (carriers)(if it mutates, it could affect them..)
Avatars
Guardians
Completely immune
NPCs
Character-level (for now? Depends on how I feel)
Code Deities
Code Rot comes from beings with incomplete code. In an attempt to try and make itself whole, it basically tries to.. take control the host and force it to find anyone who may have the slightest bit of similar code and take it by.. forceful means.
Code Rot Stages
Beings with feelings of itchiness and pain flares. Nothing too bad, but the infected down have occasional thoughts of being imperfect. But it's nothing that can't just be chocked up to as stress.
The itchiness and pain flares get worse. The infected begins to scratch, sometimes drawing blood. They'll report a feeling of imperfection and needing to fix it, but unaware why. They're a bit more finicky during this stage. They start to avoid people and feel like their mind isn't their own.
It goes from concerning to horrifying. They being to self-mutilate. The feelings of imperfection grow. Their code nearly has full control over their mind, and is deadset on finding perfect code to replace the imperfect. The infected is basically a walking host, becoming aggressive towards anyone who tries to stop it. They occasionally black out.
The infected continues to self-mutilate, and their body begins changing as well. Extra limbs, eyes, anything start appearing. The code is trying to be perfect. It can't be. The infected can't be saved.
There's nothing but a husk left at stage 5. The body is unrecognizable at this point. The Code Rot has full control, and it won't stop until its 'perfect'.
Infection can only be done through two ways; an open wound getting corrupted code into it or someone's incomplete code turning into Code Rot. So..
Who is the Patient 0?
WRONG, MFS! IT'S WHO ARE THE PATIENT ZEROES! THAT'S RIGHT! THERES MULTIPLE! BECAUSE ANGST IS MY FOOD!
So! Our Patient 0s are Juliano, Root, and Entropy. Their situations should all be self-explanatory.
Juliano was the first to realize something was wrong. Remember that he isn't fully an Avatar, but only has semi-Avatar code. So when different pains started coming up, pains different than the usual flare ups, he knew he shouldn't hide this one.
Entropy.. is just straight up fucked. There's no way around it. She's such a bad Failed Fusion that it's a miracle that, in the main au, the wireframe scars are her only problem. And if you remember.. she does have all those Programs and Viruses in those glass balls..
Root actually got attacked by a Virus with Code Rot in the code world. (I'm leaving this ambiguous for when it takes place, only that Root is on good terms with everyone.) She was incredibly freaked out by it. It was less that she was attacked and more than she got hurt, with the open wound on her shoulder to prove it. In her panic of being attacked, she accidentally cut her shoulder. The virus had some unrelated corrupted code that dropped into her, and it facilitated the Code Rot's spread.
Root and Juliano both reported what they were feeling to Vitality, coincidentally at the same time as Entropy reached about Stage 4 (her broken code made it very easy) and just started a massacre. She released all the infected prisoners she had, and the code world was thrown into absolute chaos.
Juliano and Root are both kept somewhere very secure. Juliano is allowed to free roam in the area where he and Root are kept, but Root is not. She understands why and is completely accepting of it.
They're not allowed visitors, except for those who are trying to figure out Code Rot and those confirmed to be immune.
With their limited knowledge, it's unfornately an extremely short list.
Juliano does his best to be there for Root, but as her stages progressively get worse.. he's kept away for his own safety.
Root's more 'virus-like' features come out during this time due to her slowly losing control of her code. Her antlers, her tail, her claws.. it's slow, but it's there. Meanwhile, Entropy is causing absolute chaos. Infected are running amuck, and no one has any clue what to do. It's anarchy.
AND THAT. IS ALL I HAVE.
I don't know who the full list of the immune, unfornately. Only the obvious.
#smg4 au#code rot infection au#au lore#!posts!#tw mutilation#tw body horror#not tagging everyone in this. its just something very broad#*closes my bunker hatch* I will return when my head is not wanted on a pike
3 notes
·
View notes
Text
WIP WEDNESDAY NITE
Tagged by @gaeadene , @cassietrn , @inafieldofdaisies , @direwombat , @simplegenius042 , & @josephseedismyfather 💖
Part 2 of The Bad Door from the last WIP day
Aka Eli Palmer is having a rough time in the bunker
Angst ahead!
The Bad Door.
A simple name, but it was all Eli needed to get the point across to one headstrong four year old whose curiosity was as wide and wild as Montana itself. Just a scary name–and some very firm reminders–was all it took to convey to little River that he was to never mess with them, not the door at the top of the stairs nor the hatch above the ladder.
It worked. River minded. The Bad Doors were not to be opened.
Eli never thought he'd be so terrified for anyone else to be near the Bad Door as he was when he found her.
Cappie was on the cold rungs of the ladder, barefoot with fingertips reaching up to the metal hatch above. Suspended, dangled, she didn't move any further. She just stood on the rungs with knuckles white in his militia T-shirt, the hem ghosting her thighs. Eli wondered what those beautiful, emerald eyes saw beyond the Bad Door, for Cappie was nearly moved to tears.
He wanted to catch them like rain, her tears, and so Eli moved to stand beside the ladder to gaze up at her with somber eyes.
"Hey, gorgeous," he whispered.
A gasp left Cappie as her head snapped to look at him, eyes glassy and with a tinge of mania that Eli didn't like.
"I just wanna check," said Cappie, fast like a secret. "Just a peek–"
"Love–"
"Just real fast. Maybe–"
"You can't," pressed Eli in a voice as soothing as morning rain. "You can't, it isn't safe yet. Just, just come to bed–"
"I just need to check–"
"No, Love, its–"
"I miss the sky!"
Her voice startled Eli, how it warbled against the metal walls of the bunker, so desperate, so pained. Eli saw how she trembled on the ladder, how her bare legs prickled with goosebumps. He swallowed.
"You miss the sky," he reflected.
Her gaze bore into his as one would an empty house. Eli returned it with his own scrutiny, searching for Reason.
"I miss the sky," she rasped. "I miss the sun. I don't even know what time it is or, or where I am anymore! I don't know who I am. I can't feel my skin. I can't see my face..."
His arms reached out for her, catching her body as it sagged off of the ladder and into his warm embrace. Eli breathed in the heady aroma of her smell, of warm amber, grounding himself.
"It's 2022," he whispered into the crown of her dark hair, as if the closer he spoke to her wounded mind, the more Cappie would believe him. "It's 3 AM. We're in Hope County, in Montana. You're with me, Eli, in the Wolf's Den. You're Love Palmer. You're Love and you're River's mother–"
"I miss the sky…"
His chest became wet with her hot tears. The broken sob broke his heart, almost as much as seeing their son curled up against Tammy's side as they and the others looked on with a shared sadness.
"I know," admitted Eli. "I miss it, too. But we're gonna see the sky together, gorgeous, because I don't want to see it without ya. We're close. We're almost there. When River is seven, I promise."
"I miss the sky–"
"I know," he whispered. "And I will show you the sky again. For you. And for River. I promise."
A simple promise, but it was all Eli needed to reach her. Cappie allowed him to guide her back to their bed where Cappie slept for the next two days.
Eli didn't know what broke his heart more: How Cappie was fading right before his very eyes or what their son did to the walls of the main hall after his mother stood at the Bad Door.
Blue. It was all so blue with globs of white and crude birds.
A simple explanation between smears of blue crayon and pastel, arcs of atmosphere of a world River never saw. It was enough to shatter Eli's heart into dust.
"I'm giving Mama her sky, Daddy…"
☁️
17 notes
·
View notes
Text
Heat Signatures
*not my gif
The Mandalorian x reader
Summary: The Mandalorian spots something interesting when you’re in a his line of vision while he’s looking with his thermal tech...
Word Count: 1.6k
A/N: Got this idea when I saw Chapter 10, and Mando’s thermal tech. Some sexual implications but, no new season spoilers here!
***
The Mandalorian sighed as the bounty he has been looking for runs from him. It’s not that he was disappointed, but was annoyed to say the least. They always ran, thinking they can get away and escape, but in the end they’ll be frozen in carbonite. It was exciting when he was a relatively new bounty hunter, the thrill of the hunt giving him an adrenaline rush. But at this point in his life, with you and kid now with him, he’d like to settle for a new routine.
Din looked around at his surroundings, the forest wasn’t dense, and the ground was soft enough to leave footprints in the wake of a traveler. Towards his side, he saw you with the Child, the little womp rat chasing a frog much to your amusement. He had to admit that it was nice having you around to look after the kid so he can go out and hunt for his bounty without worrying about him. But that wasn’t the only reason he likes having you around...
The Mandalorian prided himself for keeping his emotions in check, but ever since you came along, he lost all sense of self control. He found himself staring at you at times longer than he should. He would try to find bounties on planets that he’d thought you would enjoy. Din would even bring back indigenous plants back to the ship after hunts since you mentioned one time how you wanted a plant to brighten up the seemingly dreary ship.
Din sighed once again as he slung his blaster into his holster. He couldn’t let his feelings for you distract him from his mission. He reached up to the side of his helmet, activating his thermal technology, and began tracking his target.
***
You observed the Mandalorian disappearing into the tree line, not saying a word to you before his departure. Your heart sank a bit in seeing him leave, silently afraid that he might not come back. It was always a fear that you held in your heart, but it quickly subsided whenever he returned. You basked in his company, even if he didn’t say much. The beskar clad figure provided comfort and security to you that no else could. It wasn’t the security as in protection, but the security of knowing that your heart is safe in his hands. Only if he knew that he had it...
You watched the Child prance around the grass in search for the frog that he took interest in. The little green guy’s face was scrunched up in concentration as he pulled back the blades of grass that was taller than him. For a minute, he looked like he was imitating his dad. You couldn’t help but laugh at the little reenactment.
You stood up from your place on the ground, looking down to better keep track of the Child. You were focusing on the Child with such intent, that you didn’t even notice the Mandalorian returning.
***
The Mandalorian came back trailing the gagged and bound bounty behind him. It was easy to target him with the bounty’s contradicting heat signatures compared to the ones of trees and foliage around him. He was so caught up with capturing the guy, that he forgot to switch off the thermal tech. It was a bit annoying to travel through the forest like this, but he didn’t have the time. He just wanted to get back to the ship and freeze this guy.
Din knew he was close when he spotted you in the clearing, your hands on your hips as you stare down towards the floor, probably looking at the Child. He neared the treeline, and grunted when he gave a final pull of the bounty before letting it go in relief. The Mandalorian watched as you looked up towards him. Though he couldn’t see the expression on your face, he saw a red blot brighten in your chest and face compared to your yellow figure. He watched as you brought a hand to rest over your heart.
“You scared me,” you breathed out, sighing in relief after realizing it was him.
“I didn’t mean to,” he replied, before motioning to the bounty below him. “Help me get him to the ship.”
You approached him, brushing past him while positioning yourself on the other side of the bounty. Din couldn’t help but notice that heat bloomed on the spot where your bodies momentarily touched. It was normal for some heat to be created through a simple interaction, but he never anticipated that much. Why were you suddenly burning up when he touched you?
He put it out of his mind for now, and concentrated on getting the bounty to the ship. But curiosity still gripped Din, so he looked down at the bound prisoner, examining his heat signatures. The friction from your grip on his arm was warm, but not as hot from when Din saw you upon his arrival or when he touched you. Din had to admit that at times he would get warm when you would touch him, but that wasn’t often. Of course, it only occurred when you needed to walk behind him in the tight ship and you would place your hand near his waist to signal him that you needed to get through. Whenever this happened, Din would feel the heat run to his face. He relished in those little touches, and he began to wonder if you felt the same way.
You released your hold on the bounty, dropping him in front of the carbonite freezer upon the Razor Crest.
“I’m going to grab the kid so we can go,” you said, motioning towards the open hatch before beginning to make your way out.
“Good,” Din replied. “Thank you.”
Din watched as you stopped in your tracks, looking back at him.
“Your welcome,” you returned, giving him a smile before exiting the ship.
That smile. That damn smile. You didn’t need to touch him to make him blush. Even if the smile was distorted, he committed your signature grin to memory. He silently thanked the helmet and his Creed while he shoved the bounty into the freezer.
Din needed to know if there was any inclination that you might share the same feelings for him that he has for you. He can’t go on like this. Din turned off his thermal tech, and headed up to the cockpit. He heard you and Child board the ship, and set the coordinates to Navarro.
The Mandalorian sat in the pilot’s seat contemplating his options, but ultimately coming up short. Knowingly creating an emotional connection with someone wasn’t his forte, and every time he thought he had some idea, he immediately discarded it. Din threw his head back, sighing heavily. Maybe he was going about this wrong. He was trying to approach as an experienced seducer, something he clearly wasn’t. Din quickly realizes that he should be approaching this as a hunter, something he clearly was. Din reached up and turned his thermal tech back on, and went out to search for you.
He climbed down the ladder, and turned to find you sitting in the haul, disassembling and cleaning the blaster’s parts. Din knew you were aware of his presence, making his plan all the better.
“Where’s the kid?” he asked, scanning the haul.
“He’s sleeping,” you replied, looking at the part you’re cleaning with concentration. “Little guy was tired from chasing around that frog all day today. You must be too after dragging that bounty.”
“Far from it,” Din said. “You’d be surprised how long I can last before getting tired.”
Din watched as your movements slowed, but still not meeting his eye. Red heat signatures bloomed in your chest and cheeks, and he noticed a temporary change in your breathing. He usually wouldn’t make any suggestive comments to you, but this was his only way to see if what he hopes for is true.
“Must be hard,” you breathed out, shaking your head slightly.
“Yeah,” he said, taking one step towards you. “But some things are harder.”
Din watched as the red blots in your heat signature grew, and how a another one appeared in the area between your legs. Blood rushed to Din’s cock when he saw the red spot, but he evened his breathing to hide his slight discomfort from the tightening in his pants. He knew he should stop this while he already got his answer, but he couldn’t help himself. Din bent down near your figure, placing a hand on top of yours, which was gripping the barrel of the blaster.
“Make sure to keep a tight grip when handling something like this,” he instructed, dropping his voice to sound deeper.
Din heard you take a shaking breath before wrenching your hand away from his. You stood up quickly; your back straightened, your thighs closed together, and your breathing was irregular.
“I’m going to go and check on the kid,” you said in rush, forgetting about the half-cleaned, disassembled blaster that was lying on the floor.
Din watched you disappear into his bunk, and quickly shut the door. He got up from his place on the floor, turning off his thermal vision. Din stared at the door for a long while, once again weighing his options. He got his answers, and was pleased with his results, but he didn’t plan out what to do when he got this far. But he was a hunter, and you were his prey.
Din took a deep breath, and walked to his bunker door.
Taglist: @absurdthirst
#the mandalorian#mandalorain#mandalorian x reader#din djarin#din djarin x reader#star wars#fanfic#fluff#angst#mandalorian season 2#mandalorian season 1#baby yoda
699 notes
·
View notes
Text
Beautiful Mischief [Pt. 7]
Bad Batch x Reader • Angst/Fluff/NSFW (yknow the whole deal) • Mechanic [hidden Jedi] ! Reader • Female reader
Y/N sat alone in a clear field holding her knees close to her chest as she turns to see Obi Wan standing at a distance.
“Will I find something disappointing?”
“Painful”
•
“She can wake up at her own pace. She’ll be safe here. She said it herself. You can still take on hunts if you need to” Reylen reassures adjusting the lines for her IV and monitors so they wouldn’t be in the way. “Y/N always bounces back”
Y/N lays lifeless and pale as her chest slowly rises and falls. Hunter frowns running his index against her cold skin seeing the shift, flooding him with relief.
“We need the credits”
“You’re serious? Leaving her here”
“I trust her” Hunter turns to Reylen before back to his brothers. “And we should trust Y/N. She did lay her life down for us and we did the same. Her payment can be her recovery as we continue for ours.”
“Do you need—-“
“Don’t try to sit out Echo. We need all of us together, and watch each other’s backs so we can return safely” Hunter states stepping out of the room.
——
“You’re trusting me with this?”
“I need one to protect myself. And you have the skills to wield it. Protect yourself and your brothers while I’m out of commission”
“Y/N—“
“I’ll bounce back Hunt. Have faith in the force”
——
Six months later
Reylen stood in the empty field staring at Y/N laying in the grass from afar.
“NER VOD” my sister.
Y/N quickly shot up when the training droids did blocking most shots with the beskar arm bands running toward the forest and using the trees as her running ground getting higher and higher blocking every shot. Before eventually shooting her body out into the open feeling the wind course around her as she flips back feeling the wind in her hair reaching out feeling her lightsaber reach her. Gripping tightly, igniting it fast, she sliced into the tree sliding down before shooting through and cutting three of the training droids using the falling pieces as stepping stones in the air.
“Ke'pare!”
Wait!
As Reylen sprints through meeting Y/N as she stuck the landing quickly but didn’t feel the shot from the still standing training droid. She quickly took out a rag from her utility belt and applied it to Y/N’s upper arm.
“Sorry”
“No. Shit. You don’t have to apologize. I’m surprised you didn’t feel that” Reylen frowns tying it quickly and taking Y/N’s face into her hands. “What’s on your mind, vod?”
“I...”
“Tion'ad hukaat'kama?” Who’s watching your back? Reylen frowns as Y/N removed her hands off her face taking a hold of them in hers. “Y/N?”
“...I’m forgotten. Just like the council. I’ve been erased” Y/N pulls away taking her saber attaching it to her side before stepping into the bunker and seeing what she can do.
Cuy’val Dar
Those who no longer exist
When the night falls on the forest moon of Endor, Y/N held her saber to her chest taking in the night igniting it. She flows with the wind taking in each heated slash in the air to memory feeling a pain build in her chest. As she turns off the glowing gold, another light appears in the distance causing her to stand alert.
“Cyar’ika”
Y/N frowns relaxing when she locked eyes with an injured Hunter. She dropped her guard and quickly ran over taking him into her arms finding all of them hurt behind him.
They were hunted down. Their ship crashed on the moon planet but for obvious reasons, took them a while to find them.
“None of them have major injuries. They should be fine” Reylen reassures as Y/N ran her hand through Hunter’s hair while they were all too tired to keep awake. “They will be fine”
“Six months”
“What?”
“They were without me for six months”
“Y/N. This most likely would’ve still happened and you would’ve gotten hurt as well”
“Yes. But the damage would’ve been minimal”
“Y/N—-“
“You try falling for theses five and watching them kill themselves individuality because of your own actions. If Obi Wan finds nothing, they would’ve left for nothing”
“Leaving the republic was their decision. You didn’t influence it”
“But I did” Y/N frowns removing her hand from him. “I only do bring pain now don’t I?”
“No” Reylen frowns. “You do not. Why would you say that? Your past was unpredictable. You went through a lot. They went through a lot. Both individuality and then together. That’s how love works. As sick as it is to suffer. Together makes everything hurt much less”
“But I wasn’t there for any of them” Y/N frowns feeling the pain in her head return making her leave the medical suite as Reylen sighs sitting beside Tech’s bed and taking his datapad for a second.
Entry 235
I didn’t want to leave her. None of us did. We were following Hunter’s orders...as he was following hers. I’m used to waking up around 0300 hours to record her nightmares. She told me her droid did it for her and she’d wake up on her own, but when I suggested that I’d do it. She’d let me sleep with her afterward instead of staying up for the rest of the night. It helped her. And it helped me. Now I’m simply awake that early and can’t find a reason to go back to sleep.
Entry 268
Crosshair almost hit a child. Again. Y/N would be so infuriated if she saw that happen. But not to excuse his behavior, the kid deserved it. Being told information about us that only tears one of us down without their knowledge, we all would’ve done something about it. Just. Not to a child.
Entry 301
Planning route to come back is difficult when the Havoc had undergone a lot of damage. Really could use our Y/N. I. Mechanic. I meant mechanic. Ugh.
Reylen sets his datapad back down before getting up to go after Y/N.
But once reaching the surface, Y/N had forced the Havoc Marauder over to the base. Reylen immediately opened the hatch to enter the underground hanger to help her.
“So you’re going to work on all of this?”
“I have your team of droids. They’ll help me. But yes”
“I read Tech’s data entries. They would’ve been here sooner if the Marauder wasn’t badly damaged”
Y/N gripped onto her shirt taking a deep breath before removing their cloak and getting to work.
Sometimes
Old habits never die
Echo was first to wake out of the five as he felt more exhausted even after the hit they took. He sat up on the bed seeing his brothers comfortably in their own and Reylen propped up at her desk asleep. He got up slowly keeping in mind of his injuries as he took his blanket and covered Reylen on his way out in search of Y/N.
Y/N continued to work on the Marauder before being pulled out from under thinking it was a droid.
“You fucking tin can I’m in the middle—“ She stopped talking when she locked eyes with Echo who had his anxiety written all over him. “Oh Echo...”
“Cyar’ika...” He frowns as Y/N urgently took him into her embrace feeling him grip onto her back slotting himself in her grasp. “I thought we...we weren’t going to make it in time”
“It’s okay Echo, you’re here now. I’m here”
“You are...fuck” He held onto her not letting ago any time soon...
Not like she wanted to
A few days went by and the batch was back on their feet and doing their recovery in Reylen’s home away from home. As long as Y/N stays around a little while longer, the batch is just as much her family as Y/N.
“OI. Fuck off”
“I need to check your injuries and make sure everything is clean. Please be patient or I’ll tase you” Reylen threats Cross as Y/N came in to get herself a bandage when she saw him not cooperating.
“Rey, I’ve got this one”
“Fucking—-Thank god” Reylen got up grabbing her datapad to go get orders shipped out and received.
Y/N pushes the stool over to Crosshair taking a seat.
“Doll face—“
“She has more medical training than I do. Can’t you listen to her every now and then?”
“Hey I don’t trust many people”
“Hmm. If you can trust me, you can trust her. She doesn’t have as big of a record than I do”
“Maybe that’s why I trust you, doll face” Crosshair gently caresses Y/N’s face watching her ease into such.
“Cross. If it gets infected, I will kill you” Y/N smiles making him laugh before sighing.
“Fine. I’ll let her look”
“No she has other plans. She is a busy woman. I’ll take care of it” Y/N laughs pulling away and getting the bandages including a stim pack.
Crosshair got up to follow her and before she could even react, he took her face into his hands and pressed his lips against hers. Y/N froze for a second, setting the stim down on the table before them grabbing at his blacks and pulling him close.
He’s wanted this for a while now
I knew she felt the same way
Taglist:
@xxeiraxx @fennign @meli-that-girl @Spp2011
#the bad batch#bad batch#the bad batch x reader#bad batch x reader#crosshair bad batch#wrecker bad batch#echo bad batch#hunter bad batch#tech bad batch#aboardthehavocmarauder
72 notes
·
View notes
Text
On the back of my previous post, I couldn't resist to help fill a gap in fics. Here I am.
Title: An Old Flame
Tags: a bit sad, fluff, but don't worry it gets better
Notes: you work for Stark, after taking the wrong turn you find yourself in the hands of the TVA and promptly pruned. Not saying much else as it'll spoil the fun
My sincerest apologies if this is substandard, this is my first reader fic and the first written in second person. This took me a while bc the feels were intense. Enjoy
Y/F/F - your favourite flower
Words: 1622
----
Your nexus event was confusing. The TVA claimed that you were fated to turn the other way when the Avengers returned to Stark Tower with their newest intergalactic villain. But for some reason you noticed the stare of those blue eyes from across the hall. You noted the muzzle; probably for a good reason. Curiosity carried your feet across the tiled floor and you heard footsteps behind you.
Fast forward an undisclosed amount of time and you were in a court, one that seemed very biased without a juror in sight. You had cocked your head when the judge sentenced you to be reset, what could that possibly mean, could you amend your mistake and simply go back to retrace your steps but as they were meant to be?
It seemed that you weren't getting away with your so-called crime so easily as one of the minutemen approached you with a stick. It wasn't until it was twisted and whirred to life that you realised the gravity of the situation. Did it hurt? The sensation was akin to a quick shock as you saw your body begin to disappear from your stomach outward, the yellow energy dissolving your being.
Your head hurt, your body ached, the light stung your eyes as you attempted to flutter your eyes open. Your eyes fixated on a shadow that eventually gave way to a brightly clothed old man, looking like a costume for a child's birthday party. The two golden horns on his headdress bowed forward and curled back, a feature shared by three of the four beings before you. The old man extended a hand to you as your ears began to tune into the world.
"Y/N?" He asked. Your streetwise nature told you to run, that you didn’t know this man regardless if he knew your name or not. Instinct however, that told you that you could trust this man, that in the grand scheme of things that you knew him, that he'd protect you.
You took his glove clad hand in yours, him pulling you to your feet. "We need to keep moving," he said, his gaze betraying a sadness as he locked his sight with yours.
The four began walking off, counting the pet alligator, and you followed them. In this strange world you doubted that you'd make it on your own anyway, "are you running from someone?" You asked the group. The older one turned his head to regard your query.
"Alioth hungers for the pruned variants that are dumped here by the TVA," he replied. There it was again, this time you could see regret spark his eyes. You'd have to ask later.
After a trek through the wasteland filled with junk from many different ages, you were presented with an open hatch in the ground, "after you," the kid said. You nodded and climbed down the ladder, taking in the large bunker you had entered. A few chairs dotted to one side facing a makeshift throne, many trinkets adorned the living area, souvenirs from the surface. As soon as the click of the hatch reached your ears your heart sank, that rational part of your brain considered that you could've been trapped here. Again, part of you calmed upon seeing the older man.
The kid sat on the throne and seemed to be the leader of this strange place. The dark skinned man sat down first, the others following his lead, and so you sat on a free chair next to the old man. You felt safe. You focused on the chatter of the men
"So, after I vanquished Captain America and Iron Man, I claimed my prize, all six Infinity Stones," the dark skinned man said. The alligator growled from it's paddling pool.
"That's alligator for growling and saying "liar" at the same time," the old man translated.
"At least my nexus event wasn't eating the wrong neighbor's cat." And as soon as he'd offended the animal, the old man pried the alligator off the dark skinned man. They laughed and you cleared your throat.
"What are your names?" You asked, omitting introducing yourself as it had been established that they somehow knew your name. You saw the pain rise to the surface again in the old man's eyes, but it was quickly suppressed.
"I'm Loki, so are the others. We're variants of the same being, from different timelines," he explained. You nodded and took in the information. They drank wine and you even sipped a bit of the hearty red wine offered to you. Soon Alligator Loki closed his eyes and curled up in the pool, Boastful and Kid leaving to different sections of the bunker. The style of the old man's clothes looked very retro, and so the nickname in your mind materialised as Classic Loki. He was watching the last of his wine swirl in the goblet.
"What was your nexus event?" You asked. He looked up from his wine slowly and locked his eyes with yours.
"In my timeline, everything proceeded correctly, my entire life, until Thanos attacked our ship.
"I cast a projection of myself so real, even the Mad Titan believed it. Then hid as inanimate debris. After I faked my death, I simply drifted in space. Away from Thor, away from everything. Thought about the universe and my place in it, and it occurred to me that everywhere I went, only pain followed. So I removed myself from the equation, landed on a remote planet and stayed there in isolation, in solitude for a long, long time.
"To tell you the truth, I missed my brother, and I wondered if he missed me, if anybody else did. But as soon as I took my first steps to getting off the planet, the TVA arrived."
"I'm sorry," you said, it seemed the most appropriate response.
"Don't be," he replied, his watchful gaze lingering on yours.
"Ever since I woke up, I felt scared, but something deep inside told me I was safe. Have we met before? I have a strange feeling that I know you from somewhere," the words came tumbling from your lips faster than you could stop the bumbling speech. You saw a smile grow on his face, and for the first time you saw that sadness turn into a glint of hope.
"Y/N my dear, in my timeline I met you on Midgard, the realm you call Earth. My brother convinced me to wear some Midgardian clothes to fit in for a little sightseeing under his guard, the incident in New York made freedom that tiny bit beyond my reach. You were a beautiful maiden I met in the coffee shop Thor took us to. I found out you worked for Stark, and I spent the next few months courting you, as awkward as that was in a cell. Each time you checked on the prisoner I conjured you a gift, sometimes lavish jewellery that you joked that you'd not be able to hide from the others." He laughed as he recalled the memory. "When I was finally granted free roam of certain floors in the Tower I'd always make sure to conjure a vase of flowers on your desk every morning and find ways to see you. A year later we not so subtly decided to take the next step together. The exquisite diamond ring I placed on your finger whilst kneeling for my queen."
You smiled at him, he spoke of you with a great fondness that it brought a tear to your eye. The man's joy was dampened once again.
"We never had the chance to become husband and wife, I brought you to Asgard, well, SHIELD sent you as a liaison officer. Ragnarok came. The ship. It was supposed to take you with the other refugees, Thanos had you killed first to demonstrate his threat to kill anyone who stood in his way to get the Tesseract. You know the rest of the story."
When you watched his reaction, he looked broken again, and you hated to see him so fragile after everything he'd told you. You stood up and looked down at the gap on the cushioned seat. He knew what you were asking, and so he shuffled to the side to allow you enough space to sit next to him. "Could you do me a favour?"
He looked down at you and a soft smile played on his lips. "Of course."
"Can you show me what the ring looked like?" You asked. His smile grew as his green seidr fluttered over your left hand and a flick of his fingers caused the seidr to swirl over your ring finger. When the magic subsided you saw the most intricately cut diamond you'd ever seen, the gold was woven at its base like flowers holding the stone in place. You didn't see the look of adoration that he gave you whilst you inspected the ring. When you turned you grinned at him. "I never thought that anyone would propose to me."
He moved his arm to hover over your shoulders, "may I?" He asked. You nodded and the adoration was back, he was unsure of himself even when you accepted him. His hold was firm yet gentle, showing how much he didn't want to let you go this time.
"Loki, I'd like to stay here with you. Maybe we can rebuild the life you remember we had."
"I will, dear Y/N. But before that," his green magic swirled between his barely clenched hand and formed a bunch of beautiful Y/F/F. "I must bestow my gifts upon you once more, every one, in the order that I gave them to you."
---
Tag list:
@sonhadoraativa @octopus5555 @stayfabulous @hubert-the-pterabug @russianbutchcrushing
47 notes
·
View notes
Text
Two Shorten the Road
Part 2
Joel dawson x reader
Warnings: none I think
Word count: 1951
Promt: you and joel are of to a great start on your journey, that is until your get attacked by one of the mutated monsters
I’ve always hated goodbyes, especially when they might be forever. Joel and I had packed quickly and said our goodbyes.
“So joel, you gotta use your advantages, so like your small and fast, so ya know, don’t fight! Just run, run and hide” Tim told Joel
“Take care of him Y/N”
“Stay alive you two!”
“For real! Do not die!”
I met joel right under the bunker’s exit hatch. He looked at me, fear and excitement in his eyes
“You ready?” He asked as he adjusted his backpack
“As ready as I’ll ever be” I said looking up at the ladder
“You know you don’t have to-“ he stared before i cut him off, what was ur gonna take for him to understand that I was coming and that was that.
“I want to, really, I do” I said smiling at him
“Alright then” he said. He looked up and began climbing up the ladder, I followed after him.
We pushed the hatch open, and Joel helped me out. The sun was hot against my skin. I looked at joel. He was looking is all directions, amazed by the sight of the trees and grass. I smiled at him, remembering how long it had been since he’d been outside. We made eye contact, he took a deap breath. Joel jumped down and I followed.
“Ok so, we need to go west” he said looking at his map
“Right…West” I said looking around, I had no idea which way was west, i normally just followed everyone when i went out hunting.
“This is not….very helpful” he said looking at the map
Joel began walking one way, still looking down at his map. He turned noticing I wasn’t following him. Then he began walking the other way
“We’re gonna die” I said
“Hey just because I’m not entirely sure which way is west does not mean we are screwed” he said defensively
“Actually Kato that’s exactly what it means” I said, grabbing the map from his hands
He looked around, thinking for a second as I studied his map. Suddenly he began walking again, i quickly ran up behind him
“Let’s go this way, ya west is this way” he said, nodding confidently “split the difference, done! First decision made”
And we were off
It’s so weird being outside with Joel. I’m hardly used to being outside in general, and joel. Man I cannot even believe why joel is thinking right now, I mean he hasn’t been outside in 7 years. We have been walking for about one hour. We were walking through what seemed like a deserted neighborhood. There were a lot of cars and busses. Covered in vines, rusting away. Preoccupied with what was around me and not what was below me, I tripped, falling on my face.
“Oh shit! Y/N are you ok?” Joel ran over helping you up
“Yup, ya I’m good” I said dusting myself off. I looked up at joel, his eyes had worry behind them. I smiled telling him I was ok. His hands slowly let go of me. I looked down at what I had tripped over. A hot pink frisbee, how convenient.
“Ya I know, I know, your like an strong bad ass” he said jokingly
You laughed and pushed his arm as you began to start walking again
“Y-ya know I never thanked you and stuff, for ya know? Coming with me, I’m actually really glad you came, I don’t think I could do this without my best friend” he said, looking at his feet
“You don’t need to thank me joel, I don’t think I would have been able to stay one day in that colony without you” I smiled
“Also I really do need to thank you because I’m pretty sure I would have been killed already, to death” he said nodding his head
“Killed to death? Really? Wow sounds gruesome” u said laughing
“Wow” he said and we broke out laughing.
Suddenly a sort of rumbling sound came from somewhere, I couldn’t tell which direction. I looked at joel, panic now rest in his eyes.
“Run and hide” he said repeating what he had been told before leaving the bunker “hide….hide in the house! Y/N this way!” He said running toward the house, i threw my bow over my back, adjusting it and then running after him.
The house was quite, the wood creaked under my feet. I took off my bow and grabbed the arrow. Now I was ready to fight whatever bastard was gonna attack us. The sound got louder causing both me and Joel to run outside through the back door. We stumbled out of the house. I looked over at him and he shrugged. Suddenly another sound came from behind us. Bubbles. Me and Joel slowly turned around to see a little pond that had bubbles emerging on its surface. I grabbed an arrow, threading it through my bow as I began walking toward the pond.
“No Y/N!” joel demanded in a whisper
I stumbled back as a creature emerged, it was huge. I slowly backed away. Shit. I could hear Joel trying to tell me to run. He began counting
“Run on three Y/N! One, two, three!” we both broke off in a run toward the gate. I Pulled back my arrow and prepared to shoot but I was too late. Before I knew it I was being thrown into the fence and then dragged toward the toad-like creature. I grabbed desperately onto a log but it just came along with me.
“JOEL! shit! Help me! Grab my bow!” I yelled trying everything I could to slow this thing down. I could feel it’s tongue in my shoe. Joel was frozen in place. Shit. Then barks, something I hadn't heard for 7 years. A small brown dog came running toward me. It bit and chewed at the creature's yellow tongue. It quickly released me and I staggered up. I ran toward joel.
“Come on! We need to go!” I said , guiding him. I stopped to grab my bow before running out of the gate. The dog was behind us. But so was the Toad. The brown dog ran toward a deserted bus that had been decorated, painted. The doors opened and he ran inside, Joel and I followed.
The bus looked like it had been someone’s home at one point. Many different things hung from the room and pages of magazines and drawings covered the windows. I looked around as Joel caught his breath and calmed himself down. I walked over to a table and sat down, looking at what seemed like craft supplies.
“Nice place” Joel said still out of breath “mine if I sit?” Now this man was talking to a dog, figures. The dog looked up as if to say “yes”. Joel sat on the bed and I moved next to him.
“Are you ok?” He asked sweetly
“Ya, I’m good” I said smiling
Joel nodded, but he didn’t seem convinced. “Are you all alone?” I asked the dog, he was laying on a bed made out of a quilt and a pillow that said “boy” on it. The dog shifted its head away from us in response. I really love dogs, and this was breaking my heart. I sat down next to the animal and began petting it. I could feel Joel’s eyes on me. Eager to break the silence I decided to test my theory for the dog's name.
“Boy” I said and the dog sat up, he was suddenly all ears. “Is that your name? Boy?” I asked, smiling and giving him more pets. Joel smiled.
“Your names boy” joel said “I’m Joel, and that pretty lady is Y/N” he said gesturing to me “she’s my best friend, thank you for saving her” he whispered
I smiled, how could anyone not love this boy? This Aimee chick is quite lucky. I am worried though. What if she moved on? Joel would be broken.
“Nice to meet you” I said kissing the dog on the head
Joel smiled and then continued to look around. His eyes fell on a red dress.
“Is this a dress?” He asked picking it up
“No, it’s a hat” I said sarcastically, Joel looked at me, confused. “I’m kidding” I said and I could see the realization in his eyes. Suddenly Boy moved and grabbed the dress out of Joel’s hands and brought it back to his bed.
“Ok, I won’t touch it again” Joel said, throwing his hand up in defense. I looked carefully at the dog. He looked sad
“Was that your owner’s?” I asked, the dog stayed still. I laid down to get closer to him “it’s ok, you don’t have to talk about it” I looked at Joel and shrugged. Then I realized “wait did you think I was her?” I asked the dog, still he lay avoiding eye contact. I sighed, this poor dog.
“Hey um, I’m gonna lay down too” Joel chimed in “is that o…” he stopped to take off his backpack which seemed to startle the poor thing. “No it’s ok! It’s just my backpack” Joel reassures the dog. He plopped it down on the floor and moved his feet up on the bed. I laid down next to the dog bed, laying my bow and arrows next to me.
“Wait hey” Joel said sitting up a little “you don’t have to nap on the floor” he told me
“It’s fine, I like to be close to Boy” I responded smiling
“Are you sure? I mean I feel like I should really let you sleep on the bed since you almost died and I couldn’t save you” he said sitting up fully
“Joel, it’s fine! I'm serious, and please do not beat yourself up about that. It’s not your fault!” I told him, trying to ease his worry.
He nodded “kkkkkkkkkkk” he said “just take this though” he took off his red jacket and handed it to me
I gave him a look that said “no really I’m fine” then he returned the look with an “I insist” look. I gave in and used the jacket as a blanket. I closed my eyes, almost drifting off to sleep…..but then Joel was up and at em. He put his backpack on and began to walk out of the bus. I scrambled up and followed him. Guess we are leaving…. Boy followed us out and for some reason Joel seemed surprised.
“Oh hey are you coming with us?” Joel asked and Boy ran back inside “ok then” then suddenly Boy was back out with the red dress
“Oh yes of course, Joel,” I looked at Joel. “We cannot forget the dress!” I told him as if it was obvious
“Oh right ya, here Boy let me put it in my backpack” he tried to pull it away from Boy but he wouldn’t drop it
“Hey it’s ok, he’s gonna keep it so safe in the safe pack” I said kneeling down to sooth the dog. He let go and Joel put the red dress in his backpack. I adjusted my bow and we began walking. Me on the right, Joel on the left and Boy in the middle. My weird brain couldn’t help but think about if we could all be a family. If everything was normal. We would get married and adopt Boy. That is if I ever get the courage to tell Joel how I feel and if he feels the same. Welp! Until then I am stuck in my imagination as we venture closer toward our destination.
43 notes
·
View notes
Text
this is the sewer freak romance novel we have all been waiting for but that I will never actually write
Ok so the setting is in what used to be America in the aftermath of what was probably a nuclear war but no one ever goes into it and they just call it The Blight. Humanity rode it out by living in underground bunkers but within living memory they’ve finally been able to build habitat bubbles on the surface and fill them with breathable air so they can at least see sun again. There are several bunkers which maintained digital contact the entire time and while they were underground they built tunnels to each other so they could trade but they’ve had to seal off the tunnels and now you have to travel the blighted landscape to reach other habitats. Bc years back a bunch of people were like “we’re not waiting for your pussy habitat bubbles we can hack it on the surface right now” so they went out and got irradiated and the bunker people wouldn’t let them back in. So they started living in the tunnels and became sewer freaks. The sewer freaks are known to eat people and everyone is convinced they’re just biding their time until they can storm the bunkers and take over the habitats so they have to take the overland path even though it’s objectively more dangerous. The habitats are largely self-sufficient but there are some specialty parts that can only be produced in one habitat… and they just ran out. Enter our heroine
She’s named Ticonderoga bc lots of people are named after silly things from the old world but she goes by Ty. She has pcos or another condition that makes it very unlikely that she’ll ever be able to give birth which makes her uniquely expendable among the young women of the habitat. There’s this huge push in the community to expand the population now that they have the habitat bubbles but she knows she can’t be a part of that and people actually warn the boys her age away from her bc she won’t be able to have kids. Bc in a closed society like this everyone’s medical status is everyone’s business. This combined with the fact that she doesn’t have a job lined up for when she turns 18 bc her mentor died and The Council silently got rid of the job completely means that she’s selected to join the expedition to the other habitat. Btw the job is the storage and maintenance of physical artifacts and documents from the habitats history and from before The Blight. Everyone else has relied on technology for so long that they’ve forgotten the value of Real items and they’re like “didn’t we digitize that ages ago? who give a shit” but ty is Retro and she knows that holding something in your hands gives it a totally different feeling. She also likes to draw by hand. I kind of want her mentor to be a cool lesbian but she does die. Wait I had a great idea I’ll get back to this later
The rest of the expedition team is like older guys who’ve done this before and they’re kind of hazing her and telling her scary stories about sewer freaks. The general vibe is like “if you can’t keep up why are you even here :/" and she’s like it’s not like I asked to be here fuckers. But she’s actually kind of enjoying it in a weird way bc there are all these mutant plants that she’s never seen records of before bc the habitat bubble people ignore the outside world as much as possible. One morning while the guys are breaking camp (she tried to help at first but they were like “don’t chip a fingernail girlie”) she sits down to sketch a mutant flower. Which is hard bc she’s in a hazmat suit but she wants to record it somehow. And when she looks up she realizes the guys left without her. It’s not like they left her for dead bc she has a gps and radio communication. She could call them up and be like “hey fuck you guys.” But it was seriously a dick move and she’s really upset about it. She turns off her comms to kind of process and figure out what to do to catch up/how she’s going to confront them when she does and then suddenly….:.. a sewer monster appears on the surface!!!
We get like two full pages describing the sewer freak’s physicality at this point so as a reader you’re like ok she seriously wants to get hot and heavy with this sewer monster. He has, you know, smooth translucent skin and huge dark eyes and delicate long-fingered hands and he might be bioluminescent although she probably can’t tell that during the day. And he is definitely like cut also. He is one ripped sewer freak
Ty has this emergency signal she’s supposed to set off if she’s separated from the group and something happens to her but she’s not exactly in the mood to get rescued by a bunch of guys who just ditched her for fun. And besides her analytical brain is whirring at the chance to see and interact with a real sewer freak. So she tries to greet him. They have some trouble interacting bc sewerspeak (the language of the sewer freaks) diverged from English some time ago but they manage to communicate that he thought she was hurt but it’s only her feelings that are hurt. Btw sewer people can sense radio waves or some shit so he got concerned about her when he noticed hers cut off bc he knows habitat people always have radios on. So he thought maybe her suit stopped working. He acts like he’s gonna leave and she’s like “no wait!!” bc she wants to make a tangible connection with him bc that’s her thing. So she gets him to stay long enough for her to sketch him. He’s clearly super impressed by the sketch so she hands it to him and he indicates that he wants to borrow her pencil. He adds his own sketch on the corner of the page, a stylized drawing of the flower she was just drawing. She’s like “oh you draw too?” but he points to the flower drawing and then to himself and she understands that it’s a glyph representing him and he’s named after the flower. (This means the habitat people are named after relics from the old world while sewer people are named after things from the current world. Do you get it) They trade names and then he leaves. She’s like wow! Maybe everything everyone said about sewer freaks was wrong, bc clearly some of them are kind of sexy and intriguing. So she heads off to meet up with her party with a spring in her step. The party actually felt guilty and turned around for her bc they saw her gps signal didn’t move at all and she disappeared from comms but when they see her they’re like wtf why is she is such a good mood?? but something tells her she should not brag to them about her freak encounter so she pretends she encountered mutant wildlife and scared it off and they’re a little bit impressed
I just realized if they’re so paranoid and their technology’s so good they could probably invent some vehicles to go between habitats so they wouldn’t have to walk it. Pretend I have an explanation for that one
She gets to the habitat with the group. It has the exact same layout as her home but she can’t stop noticing all the things that are subtly different. They have different slang, and the food they grow and cook is different bc of the backgrounds of the people in this one, and stuff. Also the pregnancy thing is probably more intense compared to her home. Like in her habitat there’s social pressure but here it’s a civic duty. She sees a lot of really young moms and people who clearly don’t want children. She realizes that her infertility actually gives her more choice and autonomy than most women in her society and it’s an uncomfortable realization. Can I have uhhh, unsubtle grappling with conflicting feelings about motherhood as a prerequisite for adulthood using a sci-fi setting for 600, Alex?
Ty wants to get Out Of There and maybe see that spicy little sewer freak on the return trip but there are all these protocols and rituals they have to observe. They have to formally trade. They have to spend the night. They have to accept a meal and travel provisions. Since I guess this is the shitty evangelical Christian habitat the meal is probably like, unseasoned chicken and green bean casserole or something
Idk if Ty has any friends back in her home habitat. I kind of want her to have a gay guy friend who shares her reproduction related struggles bc he’s like “can I live openly as a gay man knowing that people will judge me for not Doing My Duty? even if I go to the medical center and donate sperm am I comfortable fathering children I will never actually be a father to?” so in that way her mentor could be a mentor to him as well since she’s an example of an adult lesbian in their society, and maybe that’s how they met. So she’s also like "man I wanna get back home and hang out with my bff again"
when shes home her parents are like omg we were so worried about you out in the Blighted landscape. while you were gone The Council gave us some of your mentor's stuff that she wanted you to have. and it's like a very tender handwritten note about how much she meant to her mentor that makes her cry and also some blueprints of the now-sealed tunnel opening?? basically her mentor left a coded message telling her to go down to the tunnel opening. she and her bff figure it out together and he's like Uhhh I dont want to go down to the tunnel with the sewer freaks??? but she tells him she met a sewer freak and not only did he not eat her he was smokin hot. if the sewer freaks are like cave dwellers they probably shouldn't have hair but I can't. I need them to have hair. sorry it's not Scientifically Accurate. so anyway she's like "listen it's not like we're going into the tunnels. we're just going Next to them. it's fine"
so they sneak down into the tunnels. it's kind of sad down there. ty's been down there before to cross-reference documents and just to see where her ancestors lived but it's totally different to be down there with just one other person and confront the reality of living in cramped quarters underground. kind of makes her empathize with the sewer freaks as well. when they get to the location the mentor marked they realize that there's a sealed hatch with a broken lock and inside it are mysterious items that were deposited by the sewer freaks! their mentor must have been in contact with the sewer freaks all along and she knew they weren't evil monsters! some weird shit she said starts to make a lot more sense. if ty kept the drawing she puts it in the hatch to try to make contact and if she gave it to him she sees it in the hatch as an attempt at contact
so ty and the sexy sewer guy strike up a gift cache based friendship. they don't meet in person but every time she manages to sneak away to the tunnel he's taken her gift and left something new. she's having to train in a new job that she's not that interested in but knowing that she'll have sewer presents makes her everyday life exciting. this goes on for a while and then one day she receives a drawing of a person crawling through the hatch and she's like omg. I could crawl through the hatch. there's also a drawing of a sunrise so she's like does that mean I should do it at sunrise...? will he be there....? and she decides to fucking go for it. her friend stays behind bc he's scared and also she needs him to cover for her but she has a radio. she wiggles through the hatch as early as possible in the morning and who is waiting for her but the handsome sewer freak!!
he brought a light bc he knows habitat people need them but he personally can see in the dark. she sees his bioluminescence for the first time and is like Wow.... and on his side he’s like amazed and totally hot for her once he sees her out of the hazmat suit bc he wasn’t 100% sure she was human until then. All the adults say habitat people are like humans under the suits but he had never seen one in real life so in the back of his mind he kind of doubted it. Both sides have the thing where they’re like “we’re the only People.” But actually he knew she was a People the moment she drew for him bc spontaneously creating art and then freely giving it away is such a uniquely human gesture
he takes her down through the tunnels and she sees that they've been decorated and added to and the sewer people have a whole civilization down there. they can also go onto the surface freely but they get sunburned real fast so they try to limit it. but the tunnels are now dotted with surface exits and that's how he seemed to appear and disappear when she was on the surface. they just kind of explore for a while bc she's so curious but he clearly wants to lead her somewhere. they get to a large but cozy room full of bioluminescent moss and mushrooms and a ton of sewer freaks just hanging out and who is there but... her dead mentor?!
It turns out The Council actually tried to kill her mentor for being pro-freak!!! They were like “see how much you like those sewer freaks when they’re eating you!” and left her for dead in the tunnels. but since she was friends with the freaks they did not eat her, they took her in and healed her using sewer freak blood and now she has some powers and she’s married to a lady sewer freak
The eating people thing IS true but listen. It’s hard to get protein as a sewer freak ok?? So they’ve been practicing endocannibalism all along (eating the dead members of their community). And they’ve eaten some habitat people who they killed in self defense, and maybe way back in the first few generations of sewer people they did kill and eat habitat people for no reason. But they don’t do that anymore and they feel really bad about. Actually they don’t even do endocannibalism anymore bc they raise cave fish and hunt surface animals but it’s ceremonial
so ty is like whoa i can't believe it, but I do believe it, and her mentor is like "you can't tell the habitat people. they're not ready to accept it. but you can change that. your generation needs to be open minded and accept the new earth and the new people and I think that you are a special girl and if anyone can change minds you can" and she returns to the habitat bubble with the gears in her mind turning over and over wondering how she can possibly accomplish this mission...
I said she would my fair lady the sewer freak but maybe thats book two. and I decided while writing this that the sewer freaks do have their own culture so it's not like he needs to be taught to be human. but I still want her to dress him up in normal clothes and take him home to her parents
16 notes
·
View notes
Text
Your Fault (Supernatural)
Summary: Mary Winchester had died and Jack is in the wind. Sam and Dean just finished burying her and Dean is furious. He takes it out on Y/N and Cas, which leads Y/N attempts to take her life. Dean manages to save her before she follows through. He tries to comfort her but she refuses, so they bring someone else.
Warnings: mentions of self harm, mentions of suicide, attempted suicide, mentions of suicidal thoughts, please do not read if any of these trigger you. And please check up on your friends. You never know what they are going through and refuse to tell anyone about.
Characters: Dean x reader, Sam x reader, Castiel x reader, Jack x reader, Bobby x reader
--
You continue to pace back and forth in the study. "Pacing won't help anything," Cas states as he sits down at the table. "It helps my nerves, that's all that's matters right now." "How are you holding up?" Cas says, looking to you with concern weighing on his ocean blue eyes.
"What if they hate us, Cas?" "He can't hate you, Y/N. You're like family." "No, you're like family. I'm just.. I don't know what I am. You heard Dean, he said we were dead to him." "He's just in pain and he needs us," "We'll see." The door creaks open and the sound of the door closing echoes through the bunker.
Sam's face weighed with sadness, his forehead is absent of it's normal concern creases and his eyes were red and puffy. Dean on the other hand, his face was a neutral but the vertical crease between his eyebrows dipped. "Dean," you say, trying to hold his hand but he pulls away from you sharply. "Don't," he says before pushing past you.
"He just needs time," Sam says before approaching you. "Sam, I.. I'm so sorry." Cas says. "I know," Sam says softly before returning his gaze back to you. "I'll go check on Dean," Cas says before leaving the room. More tears escape Sam's eyes and you take his hand to lead his to his room. He follows you go the room and you close the door when you both lock in.
He sits on the edge of the bed and combs a hand through his hair. You stand in front of him and he looks up at you as he unravels before you eyes. You sit down next to him and his lips quivers. "Come here," you say, opening your arms and he leans into your shoulder. Your hold the back of his head and sobs into you.
The more time passed, the more intense his sobs became. Tears prick your eyes out of guilt and you lean your head against his temple. You were the support role for the Winchesters. The sound board of sorts. Even Mary came to your help for advice when she messed things up with the boys. She said that you knew them better than she did, well, the adult versions anyway.
You met the Winchesters through Bobby when you assisted with stopping the Leviathans and you just kept running into each other in various states. You were convinced that they were stalking you and they were convinced you were stalking them. You did not have any close family telling you to stop hunting, all you really had was Bobby. So you continued to find and go on hunts.
Soon enough, you ended up tagging along with the Winchesters and grew closer with each hunt. Sam is more in tune with his emotions, unlike Dean. Dean sees showing emotions as weak. Any other emotion outside of anger is rejected by him.
He was pissed at you and Cas, you knew it. And what's scares you is that you've never seen him that angry before, let alone at you.
The look he gave when he said if Mary was dead, that you were dead to him, sent chills down your spine. You love and depend on these boys. You would hope that the feeling would be reciprocated, but you're starting to question that. After thirty minutes of holding Sam and drawing circles on his scalp, he falls asleep.
You gently pull yourself away and kiss his forehead before quietly leaving. "You can't keep pushing yourself away, Dean," "Enough of this! Stop pretending to care! If you cared, you would have told me that there was something wrong with Jack ages ago!" "Hey, what's with all the yelling?" You ask, walking into the study.
"Sam is finally sleeping," you add. "How could he sleep after we just buried our mother?" "Hours of crying can drain your energy, believe me." You answer vaguely, not wanting to expose yourself.
"Why are you guys even here? It's clear what side you're on," "There are no sides here, Dean." "Yes there are. There's our side and there is Jack's side. Obviously, you're on his."
"You hated him from the beginning like some how he could control who his father was," Castiel defends. "And clearly I was right because she killed my mom!" Dean yells. "We don't even know the full story, Dean." You say. "I don't care about the whole story. It's about an eye for an eye now." "Dean, come on,"
"No, I think you guys should leave. Go somewhere else, anywhere else besides here." "You know that something goes wrong with the plan. Something always goes wrong," Castiel says. "Yeah, and why does that's something always seems to be you?" Dean snaps. "The angel with the bent halo and the leech overtook their stay," he adds.
"You don't mean that," you whimper with tears threatening your eyes. "I mean every single word." Dean snarks as he nears you. "Since Bobby introduced us, you were like a parasite trying to find it's host in us. No one else wanted you so you thought that we did. Sammy may have made you think that you're needed here but you're just a burgen. And that's all you ever will be," Dean spits.
A sharp pain pierced through your heart and you felt like you were going to be sick. "And you--" "Enough, Dean. You've said enough," Castiel snaps, knowing you were barely holding it together.
"I'll be gone by morning," you say softly before walking into your room. You close the door and lock the door behind you. Your eyes fall to the drawer where you hide your thin razor.
Everytime you relapse, you make the same promise to yourself saying that this is the last time and things will get better. But truthfully, things have only gotten worse and now you question if there's even a point from refraining. You slowly approach the drawer and open the top hatch to reveal the razor.
You take it's thin presence in your hand and smooth your thumb over it. You walk to the bathroom to take off your pants and pull down your underwear a little to see the other faint scars litter your butt and thighs.
You sigh and look at yourself like the filthy, disgusting scar that you were. Just as you were about to dig the razor in when I hear the door knob jiggle. "Y/N, it's me." Cas calls from the other side of the door.
The sweat from your palm makes the razor slicks and it slides right out of your hands. "Wait, no!" You watch helplessly as the razor falls down the unnaturally large drain. "Y/N, is everything alright?" Cas askss. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just need a minute," you call but fear got the best of Cas. He used his wings to fly into the bathroom and he sees your scars.
You quickly pull up your pants and buckle them. He opens his mouth to speak but you go off on a frantic tangent. "Castiel please don't tell them. If they find out that I'm doing this, they'll... they'll look at me like I'm some broken toy that needs fixing." "You are so much more than just a toy, Y/N," "It doesn't matter," "Stop dismissing yourself,"
"What can I say? I've been dismissed all my life, so I try to beat it to the punch." His face softens and he steps closer to you. "How long has this been going on?" "Since Bobby died,"
"That was yea-" "I know it was years ago but the pain is still fresh. I never got the chance to actually mourn him because I was busy helping the boys."
"Just please don't tell them," "Okay." You lean into his chest and he puts his head on top of yours as he hold you. He's less awkward than the first time I hugged him. "I'll pack my stuff tonight but can you drop me off in Boston. I've always wanted to go there." You ask. "Of course, if that's what you want." "Well what I want, I can't have. So this is the best alternative,"
"What do you want?" He asks, pulling away a little. "To escape," "Escape from the bunker or escape the world?" It's amazing how fast he catches on things now. He's come a long way from before. "Both," "Y/N-" "I'm fine, I'll be fine." "I'm sorry but I don't believe you. You've been suffering in silence while Dean takes out his suffering on you, it's not fair."
"Life isn't fair, Castiel. But if you really care about me, then you won't tell them and you'll let me leave. You'll let me escape," you say pushing on his chest. "Promise me," you add. "I promise," he says reluctantly. "Good," you walk back into the room and take out your duffel bags.
You can feel his stare on you but continue to pack. "You deserve better than this," "I'm not too sure about that. Hey, you mind stopping by the grocery store to pick up some snacks?" You ask. He eyes you suspiciously before saying, "Alright." He opens the door and walks out. You wait until the bunker door closes to pull out your laptop and scroll through your files until you come across ImSorry.mp3.
You click on it and look at yourself talking. This wasn't the first time you've had these deep, dark thoughts. But this is the first time they're winning. This seems like the best way to stop your pain. It'll be painless. You wait a few minutes to become one with your intentions.
A shaky breath leaves your lips before standing from the bed. You press pause on the video and activate the algorithm you created to send out the mp3 file an hour from now.
You should be gone by then. You close the laptop and advance towards the door. You walk past the kitchen and through the study when you hear Dean say, "Where are you going?" You stop in your tracks, careful not to let a sob slip. You take a deep breath before walking up the stairs to go to the garage.
"Y/N, wait," he says. You close the door and pick a random car in the garage to take out. You slowly drive out to the nearest bridge. You pull off to the side and put the car in park.
You hop outside and hold onto the ledge as you peer over. The water gushes and hits the massive rocks on the sides. Judging by the height of the bridge, it would kill you on impact.
You inhale sharply before hiking one of your legs over the ledge. You swing the other leg over and cautiously stand up on the ledge. Strong gusts of wind push and pull your hair every which way. You open your arms and close your eyes as you let the wind tug your body closer to the water.
Your feet stayed planted on the concrete ledge and you inhale the wet, salty air from the water below. "I'm sorry, Sam," you whisper. You hear a familiar hum of an engine. You look over your shoulder to see Dean getting out of the car. "Y/N, what the hell are you doing!" Dean yells.
You return your gaze back to the water and you move one foot off the ledge. "Damn it, I didn't mean anything I said. I.. I can't loose you too, please." You turn away from him to hide your tears. "Please, Y/N." "It's time that I be with Bobby, now Dean," "No!" You lean forward and lift off the ledge with your back foot.
Your hair covers your face, preventing you from seeing anything. And that's probably for the best. Gravity gains control of your body and you tumble down towards the water when you feel a strong hand grab your ankle.
Another hand grabs your waist pulls you back onto the ledge. Your eyes meet Dean's wide green eyes.
He pulls you down so your feet are planted on the ground. "You actually jumped. You were willing to die because of something I said," he says in disbelief. He holds the sides of you arms with a firm grip.
"Let me go, Dean," "I can't," "You were more than willing to push me away, how is this any different?" "Because I need you alive. Damn it, I need you."
He squeezes my arms and you stare into his eyes for a moment before looking over your shoulder at the water. He grabs your wrist and drags you towards the trunk of the Impala.
He lifts the trunk and grabs a pair of hand cuffs. He captures your wrists in the them and pushes you into the passenger side.
"Did you even think about us when you jumped?" He says sternly. You look out the window the entire ride back to the bunker. When he pulls into the garage, he lifts you out of the car and motions you to led the way back to the bunker's door. The door opens and there Sam and Cas stood at the bottom of the stairs.
"What happened? Why is she in handcuffs? And why did we get a I'm sorry video from you?" Sam asks frantically. You decided not to say anything and sit down at the table. Dean approaches them and tells them to go to the kitchen. He informs them of what you tried to do and Castiel was pissed.
"Im mean how can she be so selfish?" Dean snaps. "Selfish?" Sam repeats. He was about to say something else when Cas cuts him off. "You are such an asshole, Dean. She's dedicated more of her life and time to you both instead of herself. She hid her suffering and her pain to make sure you two were okay! She was hurting herself damn it, but of course you would give a damn about that!" Cas snaps.
"Cas," Sam mediates. "You have the nerve to shame her for having a big heart. I don't care if I'm dead to you because you blame me for Mary, you're dead to me for making Y/N believe that she'll never be good enough for you!" Cas spits. He pushes past them and makes his way over to Y/N long strides.
"Come on, Y/N, we're leaving." Cas motions you to stand up. You shake your head no and he adds, "You want to stay here?" "I don't know what I want, Cas, that's the problem."
"You should leave, put this -us- in your rearview mirror." Sam says, walking into the study. You shrug and lean your back into the chair. You lean your elbows on the table and rest your face in your hands.
"You could have told me, Y/N. You've been there for me more time than I can count. Let me help you." Sam says softly. "We can be there for you when you need it, Y/N. You just have to trust us." Cas says.
Sam pulls you in for a hug first and Cas followed suit. Dean walks into the study to see that they were hugging.
He didn't know what to do. He feels at fault for Y/N keeping to herself. He made everything about him and Sam and didn't think about how Y/N was holding up.
**
Even after Cas and Sam showed their support, you remained quiet. You appreciate their efforts, but nothing they can do is going to make you feel the closure that you needed to mourn Bobby.
You stayed behind with Charlie to make sure things went as planned on the flip side. Sam and Dean took Bobby to the hospital after Dick shot him in the head.
An hour after his surgery, he died and you never got the chance to say goodbye. "Are you sure this is going to work?" Dean asks Sam. "I really hope that it does." Sam says before looking to Cas. You were fresh out of the shower and in the process of pulling your hair into braids.
You heard a loud clash followed by the ground shaking. "Guys?" You rush out of the room and run to where you heard voices. "Sam? Dean? Castiel?" You call as you cough from the smoke entering your lungs. You swat away the smoke with your hand and continued to cough.
"We're alright," Dean says. The rest of them were coughing too and when the smoke and dust finally cleared, there stood Bobby in the middle of the dried twigs. Him in his favorite white and blue sea bass hat and the green rain jacket he always wore over his flannels.
"What are you idjits doin'! You know how many unwritten laws you're breakin' right now? Too many, that's how many," "Bobby?" You say in disbelief. "Hey pumpkin," he says with his face softening after yelling at the boys.
He knew you're past all too well and he tried his hardest to help you move past it. And here you are, right back where you started. Your body has a mind of its own and runs over to him. He reached out to smooth a hand over your hair and you gasp in disbelief that he was actually here.
"What happened to you, honey? I told you knuckle heads to take care of her," Bobby snarks. "I relapsed again, Bobby. I'm so sorry."
He holds the sides of your face and caresses the hood of your eyes with his thumbs. Bobby was not the physically affectionate type, but he knew that was the only way to show you that he cared.
"There's nothing for you to be ashamed about. You're human and you make mistakes." You duck your face to hide your tears from him and he pulls you into his chest.
You completely unravel and you sobs prevented your ability to breathe. You collapse to floor and Bobby followed you.
He cradled you into his arms and you sobbed into the crook of his arm. Bobby looks up to the boys and they stare at her. "What the hell happened?" "We don't really know. She's been in a rough patch, but we just don't know for how long." Sam says, watching Y/N's body tremble as she cries.
"You boys were suppose to take care of her," Bobby says. "We know, we-" "We failed her, I'm sorry, Bobby." Dean says, clenching his jaw. "Well don't tell me. Hug her and tell her you're sorry. And you better mean it, boy," he commands.
Dean reluctantly kneels down next to you and tugs you towards his chest. You lean your head into his collarbone and holds the side of your head. You sniffle a little but furrow your brow when you hear him sniffle. "I'm so sorry."
You wrap your arms around his neck and rest your head on his shoulder. "Let's give em' a minute, we're all going to take some turns getting our heads out of ours ass. Come on," Bobby says, motioning the rest of the crew to leave.
#sam winchester#sam x reader#sam winchester x reader#dean winchester x reader#dean x reader#supernatural#castiel x reader
91 notes
·
View notes
Text
Welcome to the Nightmare Game II - CH31
**This is an edited machine translation. For more information, please [click here]**
[<<< Previous Chapter | Table of Contents | Next Chapter >>>]
-----
Chapter 31: Star Death Reality Show (XIV)
He did it!
He actually did it!
After running out of this corridor and reaching a safe corner, Qi Leren's flying heart finally fell back to his chest. He collapsed on the ground from how much he had been drained of all his strength, left only with the strength to pant.
Qi Leren had loaded the save file three times in a row just now, that is, he had done it for the first time since the Witchcraft Sacrifice task. He clearly remembered that the last time he had loaded it like this, he couldn’t stand at all afterwards. Today, however, he had loaded the file three times in a row in this extremely challenging high intensity, but he had still been able to burst out of that corridor of death with explosive force… This was not only a breakthrough in physical fitness.
Qi Leren looked at his hand with a hint of thoughtfulness.
Was it because Maria had given him the blessing of the holy light? Since then, although Chen Baiqi let him know every day that his limit was far higher than he imagined, his training days were limited and he couldn't have advanced by leaps and bounds to this extent, even entering the state of "breaking the shell" as described by Chen Baiqi.
In the last few seconds after the file had been loaded when he had run out of the corridor, he definitely broke through the limits of the human body. This was true for speed, agility, willpower, and judgment. Even now that he was out of danger, this breakthrough after exceeding the limit still benefited him greatly.
Qi Leren looked deep into the corridor, and under the faint light he could clearly see the details that he should not have been able to see—peeling walls, broken corners, scattered folders... He hadn't had such good night vision before.
The weakness of his body brought a strong sense of insecurity. Without the peeping eye of the camera, Qi Leren took out a strength potion and drank it steadily, waiting quietly for his body to adjust. His physique was much better now than before. Even if he was trained hellishly one day, he could always continue to exercise without the soreness of exhausted muscles the next day, which made Chen Baiqi very pleased. She had praised him for being much better than she had been, having the ghost-like appearance of a dead dog every day—Qi Leren felt that she was also pretty harsh towards herself.
After his physical strength was restored, Qi Leren stood up and continued to move forward, taking every step carefully.
The scope of this underground facility was huge, so it wasn’t clear whether it was an air defense facility or an underground research institute. However, from what he could see, it was not a particularly high-tech type of place, but rather it had the Soviet architectural style of the Cold War period. The most incredible thing was that this underground facility had electricity! When Qi Leren walked in front of a closed door and pressed the switch, the iron door would still open. It seems that after entering it, there is no detection system like the laser corridor.
What the hell was this place? Qi Leren, filled with doubts, carefully continued to move forward. This underground space was so large that there were even elevators leading levels deeper underground. Because he couldn't read the alien words, Qi Leren could only guess a little from the symbols. There were danger warning signs everywhere. He feared that this wasn’t an air defense facility, but more likely an underground military base built to prevent nuclear war.
However, when this door was opened, the pictures that appeared in front of him made Qi Leren forget his many speculations and affirmed his original expectation.
This was an underground research institute!
This room was as big as two basketball courts and thick pipes ran along all of the walls, ceilings, and floors, so it was impossible to tell where the light source came from. And in the middle of the room, countless column-shaped growth chambers were like rows of pillars, spreading before his eyes to the end of the room. Each growth chamber was connected with a pipe. In the time when they were used, this pipe provided them with oxygen and nutrient solutions. However, after the underground fortress was abandoned, the nutrient solutions became turbid liquid, and the things in the growth chambers had already died.
It was a scene that could only be seen in science fiction movies. Qi Leren was thinking about this as he approached a growth chamber. There was a mass of something in the dirty liquid. Considering that it had been abandoned for many years, there was no doubt that the creature inside was dead, but it had not rotted away.
What was in the growth chamber? Qi Leren took out his flashlight and wanted to take a look at the contents, but just at the moment when he took out the flashlight from his item bar, he heard a click.
Maybe he wouldn't have realized what it was before, but now, even if he heard it in his dreams, he would jump out of bed and fight back—it was the sound of a handgun’s safety being taken off!
Qi Leren flashed behind the growth chamber without thinking and squatted down. He took out the gun that Chen Baiqi gave him and held it in his hand. However, after a short thought, he decided not to launch an attack rashly, but asked aloud: "He Yi?"
"...Qi Leren?" He Yi's voice, which was horribly hoarse, came from behind another growth chamber.
Sure enough, it was He Yi!
Qi Leren put his hand holding the gun behind his back and slowly came out from behind the growth chamber, but did not dare to stray too far from his bunker: "What happened to you and Mark? Afterwards, I sneaked into Annie's house and found the attic in her house. I also found the pipe embedded in the wall leading to the basement. Is that how you came down here?"
He Yi, who was hiding behind the growth chamber, was silent for a while before he came out slowly.
He doesn't seem to be in a good state; his lips are chapped, and there were red burst vessels in his eyes. Instead of relaxing his vigilance, he continued to point his gun at Qi Leren and snapped: "Take your right hand out."
Qi Leren slowly stretched out his right hand from behind his back, but what was in his hand—the gun—had been quietly replaced by his knife. He wasn’t sure whether the invisible camera beside He Yi had been shut off, so he couldn't take out the gun that would be difficult to explain the source of, and he didn't need to use it—dealing with a weak opponent who didn’t know how to hold a gun properly, he didn't need his own gun at all.
With a ting, Qi Leren threw the knife to the ground. He raised his hand and showed a sincere expression: "What happened? You don’t look very good..."
"Don't talk, come over to me and follow my instructions." He Yi gave him a cold look, and his eyes were full of doubt.
"Okay, I'll do it. Don't be nervous. I mean no harm." Qi Leren walked slowly to stand before He Yi and took the initiative to show him the back of his head.
He felt the tension at this time; what had made him so shocked and frightened? After seeing this underground research institute, Qi Leren could vaguely guess: He Yi already knew about the octopus, and he knew that the octopus had parasitized this group of contestants. But at this moment, he couldn't be sure whether Qi Leren, who had suddenly appeared before his eyes, had been parasitized.
But he obviously didn't intend to kill him, otherwise he could have already done so. Did he have some means to detect whether he was infected or not?
He Yi's gun pointed at Qi Leren's head and he continued hoarsely: "Walk forward, go through this door, take the left corridor..."
The two people walked in tandem through the corridors in this maze-like underground research institute. He Yi, who had come here a few days earlier, was more familiar with the route than Qi Leren. He guided Qi Leren all the way to the third floor underground, and then stopped in front of a thick iron door.
"Press the switch to open the door."
Qi Leren did it, the door opened, and the room inside came into view. This was a room like a medical bay with some items that looked like medical instruments.
Qi Leren, who suddenly realized what sort of equipment it was, glanced at He Yi. He stood in front of a monitor and commanded Qi Leren to stand at the wall opposite him.
He Yi, this guy, wanted to confirm whether he had been parasitized, as Qi Leren has suspected.
A blue curtain of light swept over Qi Leren, and He Yi kept staring at the monitor, finally relieved.
But even after seeing this, the calm and even slightly superior temperament of old still did not return to him. He still looked very anxious, even though he tried to restrain himself: "Thank God, you’re not parasitized. Sorry, I shouldn't have pointed a gun at you before. I can explain the ins and outs to you. We’re in danger right now!
"It hatched, it actually... hatched! That monster that almost destroyed all intelligent life in the whole universe is now hidden among us. It’s already bred and is still breeding! According to their habits, it should be that the 'Genocide Day' where they break out and eliminate us all will be the fifth day!"
Today, it was already the fourth day.
-----
[<<< Previous Chapter | Table of Contents | Next Chapter >>>]
22 notes
·
View notes
Text
Bloodlines (1 of 3)
After receiving a vague warning from his mother about his cousin and Richard, Damian goes looking for his runaway ward.
This chapter started as a flashback in the latter half of the story, but I felt like it was running on too long so I decided to cut it out and make it its own chapter. As such the events of this chapter occur a little under five years before the events of the main story, which takes place a few months after “Family Weekend.”
Part of Batkid and Robin
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Damian was surprised to see Nightwing in the Hatch when he arrived. He knew his ex-partner noticed his entrance, but the Super didn’t look up from the conversation he was having with Señal in the doorway to the infirmary.
Taking the hint, Damian turned to E-ko. “What happened?”
“We’re not entirely sure. Izzy and I were both in class and Dax was at work when Dick’s distress beacon went off so only Duke and Dre responded,” she said, glancing towards the infirmary. “By my estimate, they sent out the request for backup almost immediately after they engaged. Nightwing had been finishing up something with Metro across the bay so he responded. Izzy and I were suiting up when ‘Wing dragged them in. He thinks they were fighting talons when he got there, but the guys took off as soon as he got close. Dre was already knocked out -- drugged we think -- and Duke passed out on the way here -- bloodloss.”
“Richard?”
“Your son wasn’t there,” Nightwing said as he and Señal approached. “I didn’t know he was involved until I got here and the girls filled me in.”
“He’s not -” Damian closed his eyes and asked, “Did Signal say anything before he passed out?”
“He slurred something about Cobb and Halloway and I think he tried to say something else, but he was fading fast at that point. Didn’t recognize either name, but I’m not surprised since this seems to be Gotham stuff.”
“Nightwing.”
“Batman.”
Damian glared up at neon blue eyes. “We’re not doing this while Richard is missing.”
“Well, I guess I’ll just stay quiet then. Not sure I have anything to add since I don’t even know the kid.”
The only reaction Damian allowed himself to have was to clench his fists as he turned to Señal. “If the talons are involved, then Cobb is William Cobb. Why would he be after Richard though? The Court has only ever targeted adults for kills and street kids for would-be talons. A child from a prominent family doesn’t fit their M.O.”
“We’re not sure,” she said. “Oracle’s looking into it. In the meantime, Selina’s pulling Stephanie and Jason out of school in case they’re targeting Wayne kids. Cass and Mia are also going to bunker down somewhere safe with Tim if they can drag him away from wherever he is now on his mental breakdown road trip.”
“Don’t call it that.”
The group turned to see Duke slumped against his IV pole in the infirmary’s doorway.
“¡Bobo! Lay back down!” Señal snapped, rushing over to him.
He let his girlfriend take his weight, but didn’t let her drag him back to bed. His chest and arms were heavily bandaged and butterfly stitches were keeping a few cuts on his cheek and neck closed. He was also glaring at Señal. “Lay off Tim.”
“Sorry, I know you want to humor him.”
Duke shook his head and turned to Damian. “We’ve got a problem.”
“I know. We’ll find Richard. Go -”
“No, you don’t understand. Halloway was there. From DCF.”
It took Damian a moment, but he put the name to the face. Cathy Halloway was one of the social workers that gave him the hardest time while trying to foster Richard, but not one of the ones who’d earned his respect because they thought Damian was taking Richard in on a whim. He wasn’t sure if it was Richard’s Romani heritage she had a problem with or if it was the fact Richard was white-passing while Damian had very clearly taken after his mother, but the family had dug up a few comments made by her about keeping Richard “with his own people.”
As if the Gotham branch of the DCF had placed Richard with a family instead of in a detention center.
Backward morals aside, the Bat’s investigation hadn’t turned up anything tying her to the court. “Why was she there?”
The Hatch’s main computer lit up green, announcing Oracle’s presence. “Because Cobb told her he was Dick’s grandfather.”
“What?” Damian asked. Richard didn’t have any living relatives, the Bats checked as had DCF at the Waynes’ insistence. “Why would she believe that?”
“I’m looking into it, but she’s started the paperwork to transfer custody and she was there to help Cobb pull Dick out of school. Selina played it off like she was picking Dick up alongside Steph and Jay then went full PTA mom when she found out they’d sent Dick off with strangers. Alfred’s bringing the little Bats to you while she puts the staff through the wringer to get as much info for us as she can. I’m trying to match our maps of the Court’s labyrinth to what little information from Dick’s beacon is making it through the scramblers so, hopefully, I’ll have a location by the time you’re all suited up.”
Damian made a mental note to bring his own version of hell down on the staff if any of them survived his Step-Mother’s fury then focused back on the matter at hand. “Señal, you know the labyrinth best. Can you see if you can help Oracle? I’ll get Duke back in bed.”
She nodded and passed Duke off to him after giving her boyfriend a quick kiss.
“Sorry, Dames,” Duke said as Damian helped him back onto the medical cot. “The talons cut us off before we could get anywhere near Dick or Cobb.”
“You did your best. We know what we’re facing now. We’ll bring him home, no matter how many talons we have to freeze. Get some rest.”
Duke nodded and leaned back.
Damian returned to the main room and approached E-ko and Nightwing. He asked the latter, “Are you staying?”
The Super gave a sardonic smile. “I guess I should get going. Don’t want to overstay my welcome. Call me if you think the situation is bad enough to need outside help.”
“That’s not what -” Damian started, but Nightwing was already gone. He sighed and turned to E-ko. “Has the Court been up to anything recently that could explain coming after Richard?”
She shook her head. “They’ve been quiet since we reclaimed that youth shelter they were using to try and lure in would-be talons. We knew they’d try to find a new way to bring in kids, and trying to get their hooks in the foster system isn’t too far out there if they don’t realize we’ve been keeping a close eye on it ever since Jason, but going after someone as notable as Dick doesn’t make sense.”
“There has to be a reason.”
“Who cares, let’s just get out there and find Dickie!” Jason called as he stomped into the Hatch. He and Stephanie came towards them while Alfred went off to check on the two in the infirmary.
“Knowing why a person is doing something is very important,” Damian said and Jason scowled.
“It’s not more important than rescuing my Red Bird! Let’s go!” he snapped, shoving Damian towards the changing rooms.
“Rushing in is going to get you in trouble,” Damian huffed, but let his younger brother push him along with Stephanie trailing after.
The three quickly changed into the extra suits they kept in the Hatch in case of emergency then they, Señal, and E-ko set off towards the labyrinth entrance closest to the approximate location Señal and Oracle had decided on.
Batman took the lead, keeping an eye out for danger as Señal directed him through the tunnels. Thankfully the closer they got, the more accurate the beacon's positioning became. He was keeping a sharp eye on everything, looking for the booby traps and talons, so he immediately noticed when Señal and E-ko began to share worried looks.
“What?”
“There aren’t any mazes, meeting halls, or holding cells this way,” E-ko said. “The only things down here are…”
“Labs and cryo-caskets,” Señal finished.
“Shit!”
Batman grabbed Batkid before he could race ahead. “Hold on.”
“Hold on? I’m not going to wait around while those psychos turn Red Bird into one of those monsters!” the boy snarled, then took off down the tunnel.
“They wouldn’t start the process so soon,” E-ko tried to reassure as the four chased after him. “They always start training before beginning the Electrum injections. They want to be sure the investment would be worth it.”
A shadow slid out of a side tunnel and Batman grabbed the edge of Batkid’s cloak. He yanked the boy back just in time for the talon’s dagger to cut through the air in front of his face instead of across his throat.
E-ko intercepted the assassin with her cryo-gun as Señal repelled another two with her chain whip.
“Go find Grayson. We’ll deal with these ones,” E-ko called out and Batman nodded.
He led Batkid and Batgirl forward, bringing up Richard’s distress beacon on his gauntlet computer. They raced up to a heavy door that he quickly kicked in once confirming it was locked.
Inside, scientists and talons stood over an operating bed that held a teary eleven-year-old. Thick leather straps wrapped around Richard’s arms, legs, and chest to keep him pinned to the bed. A scientist had been preparing an iv filled with a dark silver liquid while William Cobb had leaned over Richard with his hand fisted in the boy’s hair, but all eyes turned to the Bats at their entrance.
Batkid immediately launched himself at the scientists, ripping the one closest to Richard away from him and laying into them with a fury. Batgirl and Batman tossed liquid nitrogen pellets at the talons, partially encasing three of them in ice to put them into hibernation. Batgirl engaged another two talons while Batman tackled Cobb.
“You must be getting desperate for new talons if you’re starting to steal children from Gotham’s old families, Talon.” Batman ducked one knife strike, deflected another, then landed a blow that snapped Cobb’s arm with a loud crack.
“Wayne was the one who stole him,” Cobb spat, disengaging just long enough for the Electrum to twist his bones back into place before slashing at Batman’s neck. “The Gray Son was born and raised to serve the Court of Owls. Just as his grandfather, my son, was before him.”
Batman shifted back in time for the claws aiming for his ribs to cut through nothing more than armor. “Emil Grayson was a circus acrobat.”
“Emil was raised by Nathaniel Haley to be the perfect talon, just as I was. Had Nathaniel not passed before he could return my son or instruct his own in the ways of the Court, then Emil would have surpassed even me. Instead, that fool Cameron spirited my son away to Europe. By the time the Court could reforge ties with the circus, my son was lost to us while my grandson had been raised weak and the Court had no influence over him. We could only ensure that the child he bore would receive the proper training and be returned to Gotham when the time came.”
Batman felt sick. He wanted to deny it, but Cobb had no reason to lie and the Bats hadn’t bothered to look that far into Richard’s family’s past. “The Graysons’ deaths…”
“Not the Court’s work, though it provided us with an opportunity to place the boy somewhere we could have full influence over him.”
He’d never felt better about rescuing Richard from that awful detention center. He fought down a smirk that would be both telling and uncharacteristic for Batman as he slammed his foot into Cobb’s chest, audibly breaking a few ribs. “But Wayne took him instead.”
From his place on the ground, Cobb pulled off his mask to spit out discolored blood then glared up at Batman. “It doesn’t matter. The boy is destined for the Court. Whether now or later, the Gray Son of Gotham will be a talon.”
“Never,” Batman growled, freezing the talon with a liquid nitrogen pellet.
When he turned back to the room at large, Batgirl was taking down her opponents while Batkid had tied up the scientists and was pulling off the straps. Batman went to help the boys, pulling Richard into his arms as soon as he was free. The ladies agreed to handle the talons and scientists so Batman and Batkid could get Richard up to the surface where Oracle had police cars and an ambulance waiting.
Once they were out of the labyrinth and away from any cameras the Court may have had, but before they reached the authorities, Dick pressed his face into Batman’s neck. “Dami.”
“I’m here, Dick.”
“Th-that man, he said…”
Batman tightened his grip on his ward. “I know, but I’ve got you now and I promise, the Court won’t ever touch you again.”
Richard wrapped his arms around his neck and Damian quickly ran his fingers through the black-brown curls before Batman stepped out of the shadows and passed Richard off for a paramedic to check him over.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For Reference:
The Batcave: Under Wayne Manor in Bristol, acts as HQ for Batman, Catwoman, and Batgirl (and Batkid)
The Perch: Under Damian and Jon's house in Somerset, acts as HQ for Nightwing and Flamebird (and Robin)
The Hatch: Under the Lucius Fox Center in Burnley, acts as HQ for We Are Future (Signal, Señal, E-ko, Flyfox, and Allegro)
The Clocktower: At the top of Gotham Clock Tower in Old Gotham, acts as HQ for Oracle and Orphan
The Roost: Under Drake Towers in Blüdhaven, acts as HQ for Black Bat and Athens
10 notes
·
View notes
Note
Why can’t I change
The irony is, you inspired this story. You posted a ficlet about Michael and Max going out to distract themselves from the pain of being separated from their soulmates... and this hit me hard:
Max is drinking too much tonight. This is a good bar – Michael’s actually been in here before. Twice. Both times over the last few months, since Alex and Forrest… yeah. He’s left with guys, both times. He’s… he’s trying to figure some stuff out, with himself. What he likes. What he wants, outside of Alex. Um, and hopefully, eventually, with Alex. It’s been… fine. Fun. Light. Uncomplicated. Pretty much everything the rest of his life isn’t right now.
So I started writing a fic where Michael is exploring things about himself, dating and figuring out what he wants, while he lingers in that “hopefully eventually” feeling in place. Of course, dating is hell, and especially it’s hell when there is so much about Michael that is hard to explain to someone- not just the alien parts, but his genius IQ, his “adopted” siblings, his past in social services, no parents, etc. Then the awkwardness of how he can’t stop from watching Alex whenever their paths cross.
SNIPPET :
It started innocently enough like most of Michael’s life-ruining decisions, during a beer break from his newly re-established lab bunker.
“Alright, worst date you’ve ever been on, and go!” Charlie started, taking a long pull of her IPA, before sending a look over to Michael. “You win on the most embarrassing sibling, Guerin, someone needs to teach your sister to knock, but I bet I have you beat on bad dates.”
So five minutes after she had decided to stay in Roswell, Charlie Cameron had ended up tracking down Michael at Sanders, and opened the conversation unceremoniously with, “So aliens are real and I’m guessing you’re one. Consider me the newest member of your Scooby Gang and tell me everything.” He had dropped a heavy wrench on his boot, pain stealing his voice for a moment. Perhaps there was a man out there that was able to resist the no-nonsense stare of a Cameron woman, but that wasn’t Michael, or even Max for that matter.
And that was that, one more person in on the second biggest secret Michael held (he was still in love with Alex being number one). It came with it’s own valuable reveals, finding out from Charlie that although Helena Ortecho had covered her tracks with the group as a red herring for Flint’s sake, Deep Sky was a very real paramilitary group and they were the source of the depowering serum that Helena had used on Michael to keep him compliant.
So ten minutes after catching her up on all things ridiculous and real in Roswell, New Mexico, Charlie had raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow at him and drawled lazily, “Any plans to combat that drug, or are you just going to hope that the next time it’s another benign manipulator? Because the way I see it, I’m a genius biochemist, and you’re a genius period, maybe we can do better than blind hope?”
Whether it was hubris at play to see if it was even possible, or a renewed determination to just fuck up whatever military sponsored plot that was in play, Charlie Cameron signed on to research an antidote to the depowering serum and in the process had become Michael’s newest, and surprisingly easiest, friend to have.
It was strange but Michael was starting to number his friends beyond just Max, Isobel and the currently absent Liz Ortecho. He could begrudgingly add Kyle Valenti to the list, now that Max had come clean with everyone over his heart condition. Although it was exceedingly awkward at times in the wake of their breakup, Maria was trying for friendship with him and it probably said something about them that they fell into that rhythm much easier than he had with Alex.
On paper he could consider Alex his friend. They shared beers together at neutral locations, there was always a conversation to linger over with coffee, and finally, Michael was the person Alex called now, every time he was scheduled to go out of town for work. That was less friendship, and more of a coping mechanism for them both after his abduction by Jesse then Helena.
It meant that Charlie Cameron had won the contest of easiest friend probably by default, but that didn’t make being the target of her knife-sharp sense of humor any easier to deflect when she smelled blood in the water. Thinking about his past, he knew that any conversation about dating was sure to leave him bleeding out.
Michael eyed the open hatch of the bunker lab, wondering if the spanse of time they had spent in the open air was enough for Charlie to nip this conversation to a close and return to the task of experimentation. Long periods of time in solitary confinement in a military prison had left her with a dislike of closed spaces, and it didn’t matter what sort of faux-Restoration Hardware light fixture he hung from the ceiling of his bunker; the walls would start closing in on her after two hours or so of work.
“You win this round, okay?”
“Come on, no bowing out. I told you about the ‘bring your child to work day’ my father suffered through with his conservative asshat co-workers, you can tell me about your worst date.”
“I haven’t dated enough to have a bad one, okay?” Michael admitted, looking away. There was no way he was going to talk about the drive in charity benefit with Alex, when he couldn’t be legitimately sure that it was even a date. Did sharing a six-pack on his tailgate even count? The way that night had ended was better off forgotten. Then there was Maria, where drinks at her bar had started as the natural postscript to an evening together. Did that count? He remembered bargaining with debts to arrange a dinner with Chinese food, that had been postponed almost indefinitely after her visions took center stage.
“Bullshit! Almost the second thing my sister told me about you was to be careful I didn’t end up in your bed.”
Michael ducked his head with an acknowledged wince. Well, Jenna Cameron did have a front-row seat during most of his questionable decisions regarding women and his poor restraint when it came to a certain brand of asshole at the Wild Pony. When he ran across men who reminded him of Foster Dad #5 who thought respect could be beaten into Michael, or men who were like Foster Dad 3 who kept his wife nervously popping pills for her nerves and caked in pancake makeup most Sunday mornings. Some people just needed punching. Michael was always happy to be the one doing it if someone gave him reason to and drunk assholes often did.
He tipped the bottle back to drain the last swallow of nearly flat beer to buy some time as he thought about what to say next. There was little hope of escape, Charlie had the mind of a scientist, sharp and inquisitive and ready to press for more answers. “I’m no virgin, that’s for sure. But that was mainly sex.” He shrugged, dropping the empty into his trash barrel. “From all the movies Izzy makes me watch with her, I gather going on a date is something of a higher tier than a one-off in my truck after last call.”
“What about with Mr. Complicated?” Charlie’s smile was closer to a smirk. Michael revised his assessment of her, from scientist to sadist.
“More than a one-off in my truck,” Michael agreed quietly. “Everything else was why it was complicated. And no, I don’t really want to talk about it, just to say, I have no stories about lost entrées at dinner or suddenly being a part of someone’s wedding reception with him.”
Instead of pressing the knife deeper into him with more questions about Alex, Charlie backed off with a mixed expression. Shit that was pity on her face, wasn’t it? God, it really was a sad story, his relationship with Alex and his life currently, Michael thought. Charlie, who had spent time in the last couple of years in a military prison and was actively evading a paramilitary group interested in her research, actually pitied his life.
“You’re trying to tell me you’re thirty years old, and you don’t have a single dating story to share?” She shook her head giving a sarcastic *bzzz* sound with her lips. “I don’t buy it. What about the hot bartender you were with last year?”
“You ever try to date someone who works in a bar? Her work hours were prime recreational hours. Who wants to go see a movie after last call and closing the till? You especially don’t want to go to another bar during off hours.” Michael pointed out. “Anyway, we kept it low-key. I cooked. Or we had drinks at the Pony. I dunno, life kept getting in the way of anything more.”
“That’s just sad.”
Michael placed his hand against his chest, “Ouch, don’t hold back!”
Charlie straightened up from where she was sitting, on the steps of the old school bus to get to her feet. “Okay you’ve basically described two relationships with feelings, but I’m talking about something different. You swipe right on someone, trade messages, ghost them when they are creepy, you’ve never done any of that? No one has ever slipped their number to you when you’ve gone out with friends?”
“I just told you, those were just one-offs in my truck.”
“Oh my god, give me your phone, we’re downloading some apps.”
#aewriting#michael guerin alien grief cactus#michael joins the dating world#online dating teaches you a lot#wip meme
17 notes
·
View notes
Text
FTWD 6x15: U.S.S. Pennsylvania - Analysis
How did everyone like this episode? I liked it a lot, and basically what happened is what we’ve been predicting for several weeks, now.
***As always, spoilers abound for 6x15 below. Don’t read until you’ve watched!***
I said that they would probably set off one of the nukes, but not all of them. Clearly, it wasn’t going to be a nuclear holocaust or anything, because the TWD storyline is 6 years in the future compared to Fear, and we haven’t seen anything like that.
But in the end, they launched 1 missile that has 10 warheads on it. And Teddy specifically said it might be heading toward water. So we’re right on track with the idea of them poisoning the water this way.
Okay, let's get into details. We start with the wind blowing, and showing the church doors waving back and forth, and a rusted, decrepit merry-go-round. All of these things are foreshadows of what is going to happen. The events in this episode will probably play a huge role in the end of the world. Not just the zombie apocalypse, but potentially killing of humanity for good. Obviously, I don't think that's going happen. But I think all the people in TWD universal will be grappling with that moving forward.
We saw quite a few round wheels divided into three sections while aboard the submarine. Now, I get that this is just what submarines look like. They often use doors and hatches that make use of these wheels to open them. But we saw something like this in the background of almost every scene of the entire episode, and the camera focused on them lot. They really wanted us to notice it. They look a lot like one of the poison/hazard signs we often see. Again, not a big deal, but a foreshadow that what happens on the sub is going end up poisoning the water.
Side note: I looked up what these wheels on submarines that open, close and seal doors are called. They’re called DOGS. No lie. So we basically have tons of Sirius symbolism throughout this episode and especially all over the submarine. Just saying. :D
The basic gist of what happens here is that Morgan's group goes in and tries to stop the missiles from being launched. As I said, only one gets launched, which is better than all 23, but they don't entirely succeed because that one with the 10 warheads does go off. Some people wait outside, and others have gone to some sort of base or bunker to get schematics so that they can talk Morgan's group through where to go once inside the enormous submarine.
We learned that Riley was an officer on the boat, which is how he knows about all of this. Morgan goes down first, but Grace quickly follows. She stays near the hatch to use the radio and communicate between the group going deeper into the sub, because the communications will be cut off, and the people outside. They also learned that there might be as many as 150 walkers in the submarine because that's how many crew were in there and for all they know, the entire crew died in the sub.
I don't have any massive theories about this number but hundred and 50 is a 10x multiple of 15. And that just goes back to Gimple saying he has through season 15 of the show planned out.
I think it's interesting that the interior of the submarine is bright yellow. Again, this might be common for subs—I really don't know—but it's interesting that the outside of the sub is bright red in the inside is bright yellow.
Once they’re in, they start speaking to Teddy via the comm system. I thought it was interesting that once he realized it was John Dorie, Sr speaking to him, he got very agitated.
Strand and Morgan end up in one of the deeper rooms together, trying to find a way to where Teddy is. They learn that the radiation in the path they’re trying to take is very high and will more than likely kill them. Strand wants to find another way. Morgan doesn't. Finally, Morgan relents and goes with Strand, but they soon find themselves trapped with no way through.
Then Strand does something interesting. He basically throws Morgan to the wolves by kicking him towards walkers and leaving him there so Strand himself can escape.
On the surface, this definitely feels like a Shane moment. Strand sacrificed Morgan (just as Shane did Otis in S2) so he could escape himself. But later on, when Morgan makes it out okay, Strand says the reason he did it was because he knew if he pushed Morgan to the point where he had to survive and was on the verge of death, he’d find a way to do it, and Morgan did. So, he makes it sound like this was his plan all along.
It’s basically the, "it went the way it had to; the way it was always going to” theme. Even though no one actually says that, so there’s no dialogue parallel, that's basically what Strand is arguing here. But why would they put that theme here?
Let me explain. Understand, I'm really not suggesting that this is okay or that we should trust Strand in anything. He’s clearly okay with throwing people under the bus so that he can survive, which is not cool. I also do think that this is a massive theme and there’s symbolism going on here.
Morgan was thrown to a group of walkers who then surrounded and piled on top of him. That's pretty much with what we think happened with Beth except she was in the car and had that for protection.
And how did Morgan escape? They don't show us. We don't know. Very similar to when Rick got stuck in the RV in 6x03 and somehow miraculously escaped. I'm not saying all these instances are terribly realistic, but there’s a theme about being surrounded by walkers and that, for all intents and purposes, the character should have died, but somehow, they make it out alive.
So this is a very Beth-ish theme. In the episode, Dakota even says over the radio that Strand killed Morgan, which makes Grace cry. But then he shows up again. So, this is a very tiny death, fake out, and resurrection.
But there’s a more practical product of Strand’s actions here as well. Morgan manages to steal a bunch of key cards (yes, the “keys”) to the room Teddy is in. That would not have happened if Strand had not sacrificed Morgan and left him behind. They would have simply been locked outside the room and all 23 of the missiles would have been launched, more than likely resulting in some kind of nuclear winter. The ONLY reason they were able to prevent as much as they did is because Strand left Morgan behind.
See where I’m going with this? Much as with Beth, according to Father Gabriel was “sacrificed” and left behind, Morgan was, too. And he returned with the keys that saved everyone.
I really do think the same will be true Beth. It will be one of these things where only because she was left behind and knows what she knows about the CRM will team family have any hope of winning the war or surviving in the long term. That's the whole function of her arc of being left behind. It’s why we saw the keys at Grady in Coda. Because what happened there will be the key to saving everyone much farther down the line.
From a Christian symbolism perspective, let’s just appreciate that there were plenty of his followers who mourned him and thought him dead for good because they didn’t understand the resurrection angle. They were shocked when he suddenly stood before him again. Happy, but shocked.
That’s basically the effect tptb are trying to create here with both TF and the audience. That’s why all the misdirection and evasion. That’s why the death fake out. It’s a long game, but it’s really kind of genius.
Anyway, that’s why we saw this whole Strand/Morgan sequence in this episode. It’s a template for what happened with Beth.
Every time we see something like this, it also puts me in mind of what happened with Sasha. We don’t know exactly what it is, yet, but Father Gabriel, in 5x16, accused her of sacrificing one of their own. You could take FG’s entire speech from that episode and apply it to this smaller situation with Morgan and Strand and it would work across the board. So, whatever happened during those missing 17 days, Sasha is in Strand’s position in the template and did something to “sacrifice” Beth.
But I digress…
While standing in front of the door, Strand and Morgan also see a woman who looks like a civilian. Strand says she's probably one of Teddy's people because she's not wearing any kind of Navy uniform. She's wearing almost entirely blue with specs of yellow on her shirt.
The other symbol we saw a lot of here is walkers handcuffed to various places in the submarine. Some of them are handcuffed in their bunks. Others to the stations that were manning when they died. It reminds me of the random handcuffed Daryl found in S8.
In that case, there was no one in it, which suggests escape from captivity (*coughs Beth*). Here, the people are all still in handcuffs and they clearly died and became walkers. So, it's sort of a death while in captivity sort of theme. And I'm not sure how to relate it to Beth, exactly, except that it's an anti-parallel. But I'm absolutely certain it's intentional and we should take note of it.
It took two keys, which is important (2 Theory) to launch the first missile.
Teddy says that one is enough to get them started, and he doesn’t say exactly where it's going or what places he’s targeted, but he says they will be hard to miss. I’m hoping they tell us what the targets were in 6x16 next week. Since they’re in Texas, the targets may play heavily into Texas and Eugene themes. But we’ll just have to wait and see.
Then Teddy literally says this of where the missiles might be going:
"Maybe toward the water—oh." He goes on to say more. The “oh” is a realization of something. But it caught my eye that we had the water mention and the “oh” in the same sentence.
Morgan basically lets John and Riley go. This is the only super unrealistic thing I noticed in this episode. Why would you let them go so they can continue their evil plan? But clearly their time in the story isn’t up and the writers need them to be around for whatever will happen next.
Two more symbols to take note of before I end.
Morgan's ax is broken. I really think this is probably a symbol of the world he’s been trying to create being over. Remember that he put the ax outside the community as a symbol of solidarity and peace. Now it's broken, which means that peace is broken. And no matter what happens, they will probably never have the community Grace saw in her dream. It doesn't surprise me because I figured at some point, the characters from Fear will cross back over to the main show or else to the spinoff. This is just a symbol that the wonderful, peaceful world that Morgan was trying to create pretty much ended when this missile was launched.
Going back to the beginning of the episode when it showed the wind blowing through the church doors and the defunct merry-go-round (which represents his and Grace's relationship), this is why the symbols are so potent. It foreshadows that all the good things that they built up so far are about to end.
Finally, they started with 23 missiles in the submarine. They launched one. Which means there are 22 left. Check out @frangipanilove’s 22 theory for why that's so important.
How did everyone else like the episode? Did you see anything I missed?
#beth greene#beth greene lives#beth is alive#beth is coming#td theory#td theories#team delusional#team defiance#beth is almost here#bethyl
7 notes
·
View notes
Text
The Escape
A little continuation of a previous one shot - Snow264 (you’ll have to read that one first for this one to make sense)...
The woman doesn’t like talking to him. She’s still afraid, Jon thinks. There’s no trust in her eyes when she looks at him and it’s a sensation he’s not used to. As a Crow, Jon must rely and be relied upon by his brothers. They are trained from childhood to trust their fellow soldiers, trust their superiors and doubt only The Outside and the enemy.
Jon has given the nice looking woman his word that he will help her escape, but this is not enough for her. It perplexes him immensely.
He has been given his hours with her only once since first laying eyes on her campfire hair and her sky eyes and those special curves on her chest. She barely talks to him. Only asks questions about the bunker – how many guards, building layout, nearest exit. She must have experience with tactical movement on The Outside.
He wants to ask her lots of questions too, but he doesn’t think she would like that. Mostly, she gives him commands or sits on her cot with her arms wrapped around herself while ignoring his existence. Jon doesn’t mind her commands so much – they are different to when his generals holler at him during training or combat; softer but dripping in fear. He wants to tell her to not be afraid. Fear is not good for a soldier and Jon has had it beaten out of him.
He would never subject the nice woman to that though.
Jon wants to tell his bunkmates about her - to tell them that a woman’s body is smaller and softer and that they smell different.
She smells so good. The whole room that they keep her in smells of her and Jon would very much like to spend more time with that smell. It makes him wrinkle his nose at the scent of his own bunk.
He cannot tell anyone, of course. Not only has he been ordered to stay quiet about the new breeding programme, but he suspects his chances of helping her escape would be greatly hampered if he should tell his bunkmates of how nice women really are and how babies come to be and how he knows all this new information.
He thinks about all that new information he’s learned when he’s alone in his cot. The bunk lights are out and he feels the need to wrap his hand around himself while he thinks... while he... pictures things in his mind. He makes a mess and wipes it up with his undergarments. Normally, he’ll fall asleep pretty soon after the act, but recently he’s had trouble sleeping – trouble with disengaging his thoughts.
Broken sleep before a mission is not helpful to a soldier.
“What is your identifier?” Jon asks on this, his final visit before he makes his attempt at her escape.
She looks up at him, broken from her habit of pretending he is not there. She blinks. No words.
Jon steps closer, not liking the way fear rounds her eyes as he nears. “If I’m to risk my life for your escape, I would like to know what to call you before we do this.”
The corner of her mouth twitches. Her lips look soft. He’s almost overcome with the urge to brush his fingers against them. “Alayne,” she says. “My name is Alayne.”
The sound of it echoes in Jon’s skull. He simply nods. “Be ready,” he tells her. “Tonight.”
***
The nearest exit from where Alayne is being held is the supplies and deliveries depot. Jon had never been there before but he’d asked General Yoren what was there. Yoren was not quick to suspect or punish for curiosity - unlike some of this other commanders - so Jon had simply explained that he’d heard noises coming from that direction and wanted to be sure the bunker was secure – especially now they have a civilian on site. Yoren had snorted derisively. “Just where all yer food, uniform and gear gets brought in, lad. The noises yer hear are delivery trucks.”
This was useful.
Yesterday he’d managed to swipe a security card from one of the men in white coats. The man had left the room for a moment, clipboard in hand and never once suspecting that one of their obedient crows would rifle through his drawers while he was gone. Jon’s heart had been pounding in his ears. He’s never gone against protocol like that before.
His brother crows were deep in slumber when Jon slipped from his cot. He’d memorised as many security codes as he could from watching General Yoren intently the past few days. He ducks into the arms room before going to get her, feeling the need to at least have a SIG on him for this dangerous mission. The doors to Alayne’s room whoosh open and she’s already there, standing, her make-shift shiv pointing in his direction. She’s alert and clever. Jon wonders if this is a trait in all women. “Come,” he says, leading the way.
They find their way to the depot. Jon had expected the place to be empty at this time of night; expected to use the security card and swipe their way out. There were people – not many. Deliveries continued through the night, it seems. Ducking down behind a large crate, Jon peeks out to watch the truck now arriving – sacks and sacks of oats and grains. Five men help unload. Jon’s pulse is drumming in his ears. He needs to treat this like any other campaign on The Outside. Stay calm, stay alert. He glances behind him at Alayne. She’s clutching her shiv as she crouches beside him. Why does this feel so much more important than any mission he’s been on with The Watch? “We might be able to get in the back of that truck,” he whispers.
Alayne nods.
They have their chance a few moments later when the depot workers invite the delivery driver to sit with them for refreshment. “Come on,” Jon whispers. He helps Alayne up into the back of the truck. It’s the only time he’s touched her since that first day when she’d held his hands and begged him to help her. There’s electricity in her touch. Do civilian men feel that too when they touch their women? There’s not much time to ponder on it – they can hear the workers returning. “Here,” he says, hastily grabbing some of the sheets of tarp piled at the back of the truck. He tucks her under it and joins her there.
They are close – closer than Jon has ever been to a civilian. The colour of the tarpaulin is making her look blue. Jon doesn’t like her looking blue. He likes the warm colour of her cheeks and the fire of her hair. Her breathing is not steady, he can feel her hot breath on his face. She’s scared. They listen to the men. Someone has stepped onto the back of the truck with them. Jon can hear his workboots as he walks. He reaches for his SIG as they wait. He looks at Alayne, hoping she can see that he won’t let them take her again without a fight. All he sees is her fear and it twists his guts in knots.
The man merely bundles more tarp on top of them, the material crinkling as he folds it and tries to make it one, rather messy pile in the corner of the truck. Jon would be reprimanded if he’d left his uniform or bunk in half this state.
The footsteps retreat and they can hear the man pull down the shutter on the truck. A few seconds later, the engine starts with a rumble and Jon and Alayne breathe a sigh of relief. Part of him wants to stay here, huddled close to her for the rest of the journey – so close that he’s surrounded by that really nice smell of hers. But he cannot. He needs to stay alert – as soon as the truck stops, they will make a run for it. He hopes this plan will work.
***
It isn’t even an hour on the road and the truck has come to a stop. They stand there, listening to the driver alight his cabin and come ‘round to the back; hear the clink-clunk of him unlocking the shutter, he with his gun and she with her sharpened shard of plastic. The hatch goes up and a flood of light comes in, blinding them both. The driver shouts and Jon aim’s his SIG at the most offensive light. Glass shatters. The light is out but they’re not in the dark yet. Quickly assessing the surroundings, they seem to be at the back of a warehouse. Pallets of more sacks await to be loaded into the back of the truck. Jon jumps down and points his gun at the driver. “Back away!” he commands. “Hands up high!” He hears the light thud of Alayne’s shoes hitting the ground behind him. More men come out of the building, Jon points his weapon at them. None of them are armed. “Hands up, all of you!” They comply. “No one move and no one gets hurt!” He glances back at Alayne but she is gone. Panic rises. The last time he’d felt like this was when he was shot in the chest. Frantically, he looks for her, all while keeping an eye on the workmen.
“Hey, man,” one of them says, “ain’t you a crow?”
“Shut up!” Jon hollers back, turning his head to see where she’s gone.
“What are you doing out of the training camp?”
“Hands up where I can see them!” Where is she?!
It’s then that he spots her – a retreating form running from the warehouse into the surrounding black forest. She’s almost at the treeline. Jon’s heart beats painfully.
“Hey, yo. We got a problem at the loading b-“ one of the workmen had disobeyed his order and was radioing for backup. Jon shot at the ground by the man’s feet. He almost jumps a mile. His face pales as Jon continues to point his weapon at all of them.
“Don’t come after us,” he said, aiming at the remaining light illuminating the back of the warehouse before fleeing after Alayne. His breaths were loud here in the dark of The Outside as he ran and ran, his eyes fixed on the white of her top, the only patch of lightness in the dim of the early dawn. She disappears into the dark fingers of the forest and Jon presses himself to move faster than he ever has before.
Entering where she had, he unclips the small torch from his belt. She’d left tracks. “Alayne!” he calls, getting nothing in return. He’s breathing hard as he follows the tracks, his brow is moist with sweat. Jon stops every now and again, switching off his light and standing still, trying to calm his breathing so he can just listen – listen to the forest, listen for anyone who might be after them, listen for her. Nothing. His torch is on again and he continues his hunt.
Her tracks come to an end. Right in the middle of the forest - they completely disappear at the base of a tree. Looking up, Jon’s just in time to see her jump down from a branch, knocking him to the ground amongst the pine needles and spent leaves.
“Alayne,” he says again but as quick as a rabbit, she’s up and fleeing again. “Alayne!” He’ll not let her get away this time. He makes chase and soon is tackling her to the ground with a thud. She fights him – ineffectively, Jon will admit, but she is only a civilian lacking proper training so the odds are tipped against her. “Alayne!” he huffs sternly, pinning her down to the ground. The both of them breathe heavy as they stare at one another. “Why did you run from me?” She’s bathed in moonglow, filtered down through the trees. She has twigs and leaves in her nice campfire hair.
Alayne only stares up at him, chest rising and falling as she tries to calm her breathing. Her look becomes defiant. “Go on, then,” she spits. “Get on with it and then let me go.”
“Get on with what?”
“You want to fuck me, don’t you? You’ve played the hero and now you expect a reward.”
He does not understand her meaning. The only context he’s heard this word ‘fuck’ in is when General Thorne bellows at them that they need to ‘fuck up’ their enemies or in training when someone fails to meet target and the whole squad is told to ‘do the whole fucking circuit again’. Both of those sound negative to Jon.
“Alayne,” he says, “I don’t want to fuck you.”
She blinks up at him. In the light of the dawn her eyes look like deep, dangerous pools. “Really?” she asks. “Then, what’s this?” Her wrist slips out from under his hold and she reaches down between them to cup him through his fatigues. Jon hisses, his hips bucking forward into her touch. She finds him swollen hard down there and Gods, is there anything more pleasurable than this?
She strokes him through the fabric – barely anything at all but Jon feels like he might explode out of his own skin from the feeling of it. His breath is jagged and though he’s still on top of her, here in the dark of the forest, it is she who holds the power over him because just one intimate touch from her and he is utterly wrecked with pleasure. “Alayne,” he pants, his panted breath moving her hair. “Alay-“ Her smell, her soft curves beneath him, her hand where no-one had touched him before. It was too much. “Uhhnnn.” Jon saw little white sparks behind his eyelids as he screwed his eyes shut and made his sticky mess in his fatigues. He rolled off Alayne, lest he crush her from his weight as he collapsed, feeling both heavy and light all at once.
She sat up, looking down at him as he tried to level his breathing. The moon was caught in her hair. “That... that was... quick.”
He doesn’t know what to say to that. It’s true though – whenever he performs the act upon himself it takes him a lot longer to complete. Alayne smirks at him and he wonders what’s so funny? Was that wrong? That it had taken hardly anything at all for her to unman him? “Don’t run away from me,” he finds himself saying.
She studies him before she stands, brushing off the forest debris from her clothes. “I need to get back to my camp. My brother is there, and my boyfriend. Neither of them would take kindly to me bringing home a crow.”
Jon stands. “You can talk to your brother and this boy. I’m no threat to your camp, Alayne. I swear it.”
Again, her lips twitch into a smirk and again Jon is not aware of what caused it. “He’s not a boy. He is a man.”
“But, you called him-“
Alayne began walking. “My boyfriend, yes.” Jon followed. “Or, at least he was my boyfriend, before his stupid mistake got me captured by your lot.”
Jon said nothing for a while, walking beside her with a mess in his undergarments as they made their way through the forest together. “This... boy-friend. What-... what does that mean exactly?”
Alayne laughed. The sound – oh Gods! The sound! – it made Jon’s chest feel strange. “You don’t know?” Jon shook his head. Alayne laughed again – quieter this time, but no less lovely. “It means... it means he is special to me and... well, we are intimate together.”
“Intimate?”
“Yes... we... make each other feel good.”
“Like before? When you-”
“Yes,” she answers before he could finish. “Like that.” She turns away and Jon wonders if he had been wrong to mention it.
“Does that mean that I am a boy-friend?”
“What? No!” She stops to face him. Jon turns toward her too. “Look, if you’re going to help me get back to my camp and stand any hope of being allowed to stay with us, you need to not mention that, ok?”
His mouth was open. He closes it and nods his head. He may be forbidden from mentioning it, but Jon can already tell that he’ll never forget it.
Her eyes are glinting like moonlight on a lake. They bore into his before faltering. “Just... help me get back and I’ll try to convince them to let you stay.” Jon nods his head. Alayne begins walking again. “And you can call me Sansa now.”
Civilians are so confusing.
45 notes
·
View notes
Text
15x13: Destiny’s Child
Welcome to our last new recap for a while (frowny face). We’ve got a couple requests that we’re going to work on in the next couple weeks, and then chip away at all the episodes we have yet to do while we not-so-patiently wait for more episodes. If you have requests, don’t hesitate to ask!
Then:
Cas loves one (1) pizza man.
Now:
Late night study sesh in the bunker is interrupted when Sam and Dean hear a weird noise down the hall. They take off for the armory, only to find a Fiat and ---SAM AND DEAN?! (And while I guess it’s not, I’m just rolling with the idea that Savage Garden is blasting from that little clown car. I mean, really, what a perfect song and one I never thought would EVER pop up on this show --okay, or any show, it’s been like 20 years since I’ve heard that song, lol.)
The rift flickers and Alt!Sam and Dean disappear.
They tell Cas about what happened. Billie pops up to tell them that Chuck is almost done destroying all the other worlds. They have to be ready --and by that, she means, it’s time for the next step in Jack’s training. He needs to find the Occultum. Sam helpfully translates that as “hidden.” It is hidden --lost for centuries.
Once Billie takes off, Sam sets to learning more about the Occultum. There isn’t much. Dean ponders the futility of killing God. Doesn’t Jack need to kill Amara too? Cas gets a lead on the Occultum from Sergei. Dean and Cas flirt unnecessarily. Cas is so patient with all of Dean’s ideas, I can’t help but think that this is a common thing with these two.
Anyway, the Occultum was owned by the Jacobson family for a long time, until they used it as payment to heal their son. The healer was “attractive, and she healed the child by laying on hands which glowed.” I don’t know if there’s been an unattractive person in this universe, so good luck finding the healer!
Lol, j/k, there’s only one angel healer that’s attractive out there! Sam and Dean find Anael and want her help with killing God. She thinks it’s wiser to stay on the side of the all-powerful being. When the brothers flash their angel blades (eerrr…), Anael confesses that the Occultum is really with Ruby. (I was one of the many rage viewers with this, but well, we’ve been rage watching these writers for so long, and we’ve had to handwave SO much over the years. What’s another plot point that we can easily headcanon at this point? Sigh.)
We get a flashback of Ruby and Anael negotiating the sale of the Occultum. Anael then tells them that the Occultum was never actually sold because they ganked Ruby before she could do anything with it. It’s now safely hidden in Hell.
Jack, meanwhile, is busy getting back to life.
Cas finds him in the kitchen eating EVERYTHING. Jack notes that coming back alive really makes you pay attention to what life is. “Hot, cold, sweet, spicy, funny, scary.” (Kind of like Sam when he was soulless, Jack is describing sensations, and not feelings, emotions, not really getting at what life really is.) They talk about Jack’s soul and what he felt when he had one.
Jack admits that he understands that he hurt Sam and Dean, and wonders if Dean will ever forgive him for what he did to Mary. “Dean, he feels things, more acutely than any human I’ve ever known. So, it’s possible he could work through this. One day, he may explode, and let it all out, and breathe deeply and move on.”
Okayokayokayokay. Jack wants to know how long that’ll take and Cas admits that he doesn’t know, and I’M FEELING about how this ageless, ancient being is just WAITING for Dean to do this very thing. He has all the time in the world from his perspective. He knows Dean --really knows him, and it doesn’t matter how long for him because time doesn’t really matter for Cas (I mean, I think being close to humanity and all it probably means more than it used to but...I’m just rambling about my feelings right now. This is Boris --Natasha is far more coherent and eloquent with her thoughts, lol.)
The brothers make it back to the bunker, planning on heading to Hell. Cas leads them to a room where Alt!Sam and Dean are stuck between the worlds. Dean doesn’t care at this moment --he wants to get the Occultum. They tell Cas their plan and he thinks they’re crazy. They could be searching forever down there. (UH, they’re LITERALLY BFFs with the Queen of Hell.)
Anyway, Dean and Sam head south while Cas babysits the spell.
Cas still doesn’t like this plan and hatches a plan with Jack so he can talk with Ruby in the Empty.
(I know, you just have to roll with Buckleming episodes, etc., but their insistence on making it beyond easy to jump from realm to realm is MADDENING.)
We get a mention of Cas’s deal with the Empty, so that really is still a thing. Cas is “far from happy”, so we’re good!
His plan is for Jack to “draw out most of [his] lifeforce” and store it in a flask. What’s his “lifeforce”? His grace? Something more? Something else? How does he die without his grace? How is he just mostly dead but still able to go to the Empty?
We’re also giving this exchange: “If I screw up?” “Well, then I’ll be lost forever.” WHOA. What kind of fucked up parenting are you writing, Buckleming? Good thing Jack doesn’t have a soul, because that’ll mess with a child forever.
Also, why can Jack use his powers now?
Sam and Dean are ambushed in Hell. Anael wanted them dead apparently and made a deal with some demons (ONCE AGAIN, like Rowena would allow this to happen!?!??) They’re Sam and Dean Winchester though and easily dispatch the demons.
Cas stalks through the Empty calling for Ruby. “Hello, Clarence,” a familiar voice says and Cas turns to find Meg reclining on a throne. He looks sweetly surprised to see her before his face falls as he realizes she’s the Shadow from the Empty.
The Shadow may be allied with Billie, but they’re definitely not good buds with Cas. Nevertheless, “Go get her, pizza man,” Shadow!Meg says and a ball of flame swirls towards Cas and turns into Ruby.
Cas asks about the Occultum, and Ruby asks after Sam. Cas refuses to answer and, since I’ve been stress re-reading some regency romances lately, I’m gonna go ahead and say he acts like an affronted chaperone.
For Gratuitous Cas Science:
We see another flashback of Ruby and Sister Jo’s wild adventures, only this time Jo is the one who invited Ruby to talk to her. Jo tries to tempt Ruby into hiding from the apocalypse in the Occultum. It turns out it’s a place AND a thing. A whatever, if you will. Ruby cut a deal with Jo, hid the object, and then died her noble death.
Ruby promises to help Cas as long as he can get her out of the Empty. You see, instead of lullabies and sweet dreams, or even quiet and no dreams, the Empty is nothing but endless reels of regrets playing over and over for every angel and demon trapped there. “Yeah, I know,” Cas says quietly and we all break a little bit thinking about how he swore it was nothingness instead of constant emotional torture. (That’s SO on brand.) Cas promises to try to free Ruby in exchange for her intel.
The Winchesters return to find Jack babysitting the spell alongside a MOSTLY DEAD Cas. Despite Jack’s (actually really terrible) explanation, Dean and Sam demand that Jack bring Cas back right away. Jack unscrews the flask.
Cas isn’t getting out of this so easily, though. The Shadow smirks and clenches Shadow!Meg’s fist, sending Cas to the ground in pain. The Shadow still is no fan of Cas, and is only willing to uphold deals with Billie, who promised to send the Shadow back to a lovely snooze if they cooperate.
The Shadow ruminates on the fact that Billie has never mentioned Cas as being essential to her plan. This makes Cas expendable.
Cas sputters to life suddenly, only to face Dean’s angry-worried greeting. “You’re an idiot, by the way!” Apparently still in pain or just suffering from almost-not-quite-dead-and-now-actually-quite-alive syndrome, Cas hauls himself up slowly and explains that he now has all the info they need to find the Occultum. “Am I still an idiot?” Listen, boys. Kiss and make up, mmkay?
They’re off to tackle the Occultum quest, but before they go they need to set out some decoys to throw Chuck off their scent if he tries to spy on the bunker. Dean suggests pulling AU Dean and Sam out of the void and setting them up as fake Sam and Dean. He flippantly suggests using Cas’s grace to power the rift this time and FOR THE LOVE OF PIZZA DEAN it’s called body autonomy.
Cut to the Winchesters Set One and Set Two seated at the map table with beers all around. We learn:
Alt Winchesters are also hunters
Their dad is alive (but still SUPER controlling)
They don’t drink beer or watch porn
Private planes fly them all over the world to fight monsters
Their AU could be a middling CW pilot about wealthy monster hunters called “Hunter Corp”
I have a greater appreciation of our flannel-clad boys
Dean and Sam clumsily explain their ploy and their relationship with God and it’s not weird at all!
Later, Team Free Will 2.0 heads to a small church. It’s guarded by a hellhound, which makes Dean SUPER happy and comfortable in his skin. They break into the church and look for clues about where the treasure is hiding. The clue is that the top of a cross points to the treasure. Moonlight streams conveniently through the window and at JUST the right angle to cast a cross of light on the floor. They pull out a little velvet bag from the floorboards.
Cas reads Enochian on the little golden snitch-style ball. “In order to be in the Occultum, the Occultum must be in you.”
Back at the bunker, Alt!Dean and Sam enjoy their new rugged life. Sam watches kitten videos, and we continue to identify very strongly with him, indeed. Alt!Dean finds porn on Dean’s computer and I continue to ask WHY WHY we have to constantly cycle back to Busty Asian Beauties. Porn isn’t objectionable, but that SPECIFIC porn franchise should have died a swift death back in season two. (Boris: AMEN)
Jack swallows the Occultum, as one does. “Spit it out,” Dean demands. But Jack disappears into a flare of light. He wakes up in a garden.
No, he wakes up in THE Garden. He’s greeted by a young girl who tells him that humans are prohibited. A snake confronts Jack. “Who are you really? Who are you meant to be?” Jack flashes through his good and bad memories and suffers an epiphany.
He flutters back into the church like Tinkerbell in a ball of light before zapping back into reality. His reappearance burns away the two hellhounds.
Back at the bunker, Dean sends the Alt Winchesters off to Brazil to enjoy the beach. He’s a little uncomfortable around them until he learns that the Alt Winchesters drove Baby. Then they get shoved out of the bunker just as fast as you please.
Once they’re gone, Cas tells Sam and Dean that Jack has returned changed. He leads them to Jack who hunches over the kitchen table. Jack is crying. He apologizes for killing Mary. He has his soul back!
“Please forgive me,” Jack whispers, and a symphonic line carries us into the black.
Overall Surprisingly Enjoyable Quotes:
The healthcare system sucks so I pick up the slack
Cas, you know what’s good about being dead?
I’m far from happy, so I should be fine
We had a good thing until he killed me
You’re gonna have to lose the man bun
Want to read more? Check out our Recap Archive!
#spn recap#spn 15x13#destiny's child#dean winchester#sam winchester#castiel#cas#jack kline#anael#ruby#the shadow#meg masters#supernatural season 15
64 notes
·
View notes
Text
Family Issues, Part 2
Pairing: Ketch x Reader
When you awoke the next morning, you looked over at the clock on your nightstand. Its numbers showed it to be a bit past 8 am. As Ketch requested, pancakes were on the menu for this morning. That meant you needed to get up and run through your morning routine before you could start making breakfast.
After your shower, you entered the kitchen feeling a little lighter than you did after last night's discussion about the phone calls. You grabbed your largest mixing bowl for the pancake batter and your skillet for the bacon.
You took out the necessary ingredients, and started humming a song that had become stuck in your head. You were so caught up in the music and twirling around the kitchen, that you didn't realize you had an audience. Catching sight of Sam, Dean and Ketch, you shrieked in surprise, nearly dropping the bowl of pancake batter.
Sam entered the kitchen first. "Killer dance moves," he smirked.
Dean followed with, "Morning, sweetheart", as he fought back a grin. He wandered over to the coffee machine and proceeded to make a fresh pot.
Ketch leaned against the doorway, contemplating his next move. "Need any help?" he asked.
You put the bowl of pancake batter on the counter to face him. "Well, that depends. Are you prepared to bust out some of those dance moves you showed on our last hunt? You'll have to do that if you want to work in my kitchen," you replied. A sly smile twitched at the corners of your mouth as you returned to making breakfast.
Ketch approached and took your hand, then smiled as he pulled you close to his body. He took a few waltz steps, twirled you out then in again, so your back was against his chest. You looked at each other and grinned, both clearly enjoying the playful moment.
Without warning, he spun you out then back in, but this time, he dipped you over his knee. As he held you securely in his arms, you stared into each other's eyes. For the briefest of moments, it felt as though you and Ketch were the only two in the kitchen.
"Excuse me," Dean nudged you enough to break you out of your trance and started to flip the bacon over in the pan. "Can't be burning the bacon while you two are goofing off, you know," he teased.
Ketch carefully returned you to an upright position, but seemed reluctant to release you from his embrace. Your cheeks grew warm as he kissed the back of your hand. "Thank you so much for the dance, darling. Now may I assist you in some other way?" he asked.
"Sure, you can get down some plates for everyone, then a platter for the bacon, please," you instructed. You and Ketch got into a rhythm, and soon breakfast was ready in no time. After you all finished eating, you were sitting around talking, enjoying one another's company. Suddenly, your phone rang and without looking at Caller ID, you answered it.
"Hello?" you replied, laughing.
No answer, but you could hear someone breathing, as in the previous phone calls. The smile died on your lips as your heart rate increased. "Who are you and why do you keep calling?" you demanded. All conversation ceased as Sam's, Dean's and Ketch's attention turned sharply towards you and your phone conversation. You pressed the button to put the call on speakerphone.
"I told you that your luck would run out. Time to settle all accounts and to pay the piper," the voice answered. "Meet me tomorrow at 10:00 pm. Alone. I'll text you the address. If any of your friends decide to get involved, I'll make sure they regret it," the voice threatened, then the call disconnected.
You placed your phone on the table with shaking hands. "That, uh....was him. Just waiting on a text message now, I guess," you explained.
"Good, then we can probably track his location that way, through the text message," Sam interjected.
"No! Sam, you can't do that. You heard him, he said for me to come alone. And that if any of you got involved, something would happen to you guys. I can't take that chance, so I'm going by myself," you declared, rising from the table. You left the kitchen and made a beeline for your room.
"Like hell, you're not going alone, it's too dangerous!" Dean shouted as he followed you through the bunker. You got to your room and slammed the door just as Dean caught up to you. "This discussion isn't over, you know," he bellowed.
"Go away, Dean! My mind is made up on this," you retorted through the door.
By this time, Sam and Ketch had also reached your door. "Ketch, you gotta have a talk with your girlfriend. Going in there by herself is not a smart plan, she's going to get herself killed!" Dean exclaimed.
"Dean, she's not my girlfriend," Ketch started. "One dance in the kitchen does not automatically mean we are in a relationship," he explained.
"Oh come on! You two have been 'dancing around' each other for what feels like forever and a day. Just admit it already!" Dean thundered.
"Look, mate, I don't know what you think you see going on, but she and I are work colleagues. Occasionally we are paired together, but you have quite the active imagination if you think--"
Ketch's last words were lost as soon as you opened your door. He could see your red, puffy eyes and where tears had streamed down from them. He hated to think his words may have caused them, but before he could apologize, you held up your hand.
"Save it. I think you all should step away from my door for the time being. I'm not interested in speaking to any one of you or hearing what you have to say. The only exception may be Sam, but I don't even want to talk to him right now," you said quietly, then you closed and locked the door.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A couple of hours later, you heard a knock on your door. "What do you want?" you croaked.
"It's me, Sam. Will you please open up so I can talk to you?" he pleaded.
You unlocked the door and Sam opened it let himself in. He sat on the edge of the bed, while you curled up in your chair. Sam cleared his throat before speaking. "About this plan," he started.
"I have to go in alone, you heard him. He said if any of you get involved, he'd make sure you regretted it. I already lost my sister, Sam. I don't want to lose you guys too, not when I can do something about it," you answered.
"You know, like it or not, to Dean and me, you are our sister. You're-you're family! We don't want to lose you either, because it would hurt just as much as when Dean and I lost each other. And Ketch--" he said.
"Oh, I think Ketch has made his feelings toward me quite clear. At least I didn't do something really stupid, like make a confession about my feelings for him," you muttered.
Sam chuckled. "Yeah, but I don't think he meant to hurt you. I've seen the way Ketch looks at you when he thinks nobody's paying attention. Oh, and that bit in the kitchen this morning? That was more than two 'work colleagues'," Sam smirked.
Your mouth twisted into a wry grin for a few seconds. "Maybe, Sam. I can't think about that right now, though. Bigger fish to fry, and all of that," you replied.
"So, you're still planning on doing this by yourself? Didn't anything I said make a difference?" he snapped.
"Well, what would you have me do instead, Sam?" you shot back.
"Come with me," he said, grabbing your hand and pulling you into the War Room. His long strides made it difficult for you to keep up, but somehow you managed to do so. Along the way, he bellowed for Dean and Ketch to join the meeting at the map table.
For the next couple of hours, the four of you hatched a plan to rid you of this threat once and for all. It was kind of a simple plan, but you all felt that it had the best chance for success. As the meeting was breaking up, Ketch walked over to you. "Listen, about earlier--" he started.
You held up your hand. "No need for further discussion, Arthur. This is just another case, and we're a couple of work colleagues that happen to be paired together," you stated.
"Right. Well, I'll just go and prepare for my part in this plan," he said stiffly as he brushed past you and went off to his room.
Around 9:00 p.m., you quietly gathered your bag and tiptoed out to the garage. You took your keys out of your pocket, then eased your car out of the garage before starting it. You had to clean up this mess yourself. It was the only way to protect them once more from an aspect of your past that might hurt them. You only hoped they would understand your reasons.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A short time after you had left, Ketch found himself in front of your door. He wanted to clear the air, and explain to you how he really felt. He knocked, but didn't hear anything from you in the way of a response. When he tried the knob, he found that it was unlocked, but you were nowhere to be found.
He hurried to the War Room, where Sam was plunking away on his laptop. Ketch asked if he'd seen you, and became worried when the younger Winchester said he had not. "I tried her room, but she isn't there. You don't think...." Ketch trailed off.
Sam could see where this was going and responded, "Yeah, Ketch, that's exactly what I think. Fortunately, I put a tracking device on her car, for this exact reason. After my conversation with her, I knew she wasn't going to let us go with her," he answered.
"That sly little minx," Ketch whispered.
This caused Sam to pause and look at Ketch. "You really do care about her, don't you?" Sam asked.
"More than I would ever admit to anyone. I've always been taught to handle personal relationships differently, as in 'don't have them'. I suppose I was caught a little off guard by Dean's comments about her being my girlfriend. Truthfully, I find her fascinating," Ketch smiled. "She's brave, selfless, kind, and to me, she's rather lovely," he finished with a shy smile.
"Yeah, she's something special all right," Sam grinned. "Let's get our gear together, grab Dean and head over to her location," he replied.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
You climbed out of your car and carefully closed the door so as not to make a sound. The address Martin gave you was for an abandoned shoe factory. The original plan was for you to run up into the factory and make a lot of noise to draw Martin out. Sam, Dean and Ketch would sneak around, taking out any stragglers so you could face Martin on your own. Since you came by yourself, it was up to you to do the sneaking around and hope Martin would come out.
"Still hunting, I see?" Martin drawled from the shadows.
So much for the element of surprise, you thought. "Yep, now why don't you tell me why you kept calling, and what was so important," you retorted.
"Oh, just a little of this," he replied, his eyes flashing all black.
"When did you become a demon, Martin?" you whispered in horror.
"Right after the fifth anniversary of your sister's death. I made a deal of my own, promising my soul for information on your whereabouts. And here you are," he said smugly.
"Didn't you learn anything from Angie's death? About NOT making deals?" you asked.
"What I learned is that if you want something, you have to do whatever it takes to get it. And that means you may have to make deals you don't want to, but if it gets the right results, so be it. Isn't that right?" he called. From out of nowhere, ten more demons showed up, with two of them each taking an arm of yours.
"Let me go!" you screeched. "What do you want with me?"
"I want my revenge! Angela was the love of my life, she wasn't supposed to die!" Martin shouted.
"She made a deal to save your life, Martin. Those deals have consequences, and Angela was very well aware of them. I tried to talk her out of it. I didn't let her out of my sight those first few days, but even I need sleep. That's when she slipped out of your room and went to the crossroads to make her deal," you explained.
"None of that matters. Because, the other part of the deal is that after I take care of you, they'll stop torturing Angie in Hell. We'll be together forever after they release her. You're quite the commodity, considering you hunt with the Winchesters," Martin sneered. "Bring her over to this chair and tie her arms and legs to it," he ordered.
You struggled with your captors as they slammed you into a chair and secured you to it. You considered Martin's words about the other part of his deal. The more you thought about it, the more you knew your decision was right to leave Sam, Dean and Ketch behind. The downside to this was, the boys didn't know you'd left. You seriously doubted you had enough time before Martin was going to finish what he started.
About twenty minutes later, Martin came back into the room, grinning and rubbing his hands together with glee. "Hello! I think it's time we gave you a taste of what's coming your way as a resident of Hell!" he cackled. His pronouncement was followed by a backhand to your face, nearly knocking you over in your chair. You could already feel the bruise forming on your cheek.
"I think I'm doing you a favor, preparing you for how you'll be treated down there," he taunted. He walked over to a table with an array of knives and other assorted blades. He picked one up and held it to the light as he inspected it.
"This is for your own good. I really think you should know what to expect," he stated absently. Martin poised the blade above your left forearm, the tip resting against your flesh. Without warning, he drove it through, eliciting a guttural scream from your throat. Tears streaming down your face, you tried deep breathing to help the pain pass.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Sam, Dean and Ketch carefully picked their way through the warehouse, taking out demons as they went. They got close to where Martin was holding you captive and waited to make their move. When you screamed as Martin drove the blade into your forearm, Ketch jumped up out of hiding. Sam and Dean pulled him back before anyone saw him. He was ready and willing to take on the demon army to rescue you, but knew he had to wait for the best opportunity.
"Relax, Ketch, you'll get your chance. We don't like that she's in there any better than you do, but we gotta be smart about this," Dean whispered.
"Right. Sorry, lads," he acknowledged. Sam and Dean each clapped a hand on his shoulder in understanding. In that moment, Ketch vowed to himself that he wouldn't wait any longer to tell you how he felt about you.
Two demons came in to inform Martin that most of his support staff had been killed. The massacre was courtesy of the Winchesters and their unknown companion. Martin became enraged and he slapped you hard across the face. He chose another blade and jabbed it into your thigh, causing a blood-curdling scream to leave your lips.
"I told you to come alone! Your beloved Winchesters and their friend are causing me no end of trouble. They will be dealt with accordingly. Then I'm coming back for you," he threatened. Martin then turned on his heel and left you in the room.
You didn't figure on leaving this warehouse alive, a thought which brought tears to your eyes. As you drifted in and out of consciousness, your mind wandered back to Arthur Ketch. He would never know how much you cared for him because you never got the courage to tell him. If you ever got out of here, you promised yourself that you would confess your feelings. The black spots in your vision started to get larger, though, and you finally gave in to the darkness.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
When you awoke, you were laying in a bed back in the bunker's infirmary. On your left, sitting in a chair was none other than Arthur Ketch, his eyes closed. His larger hand held your smaller one, your fingers intertwined. You slowly brought his hand up to your lips and kissed the back of it. This caused him to stir and his eyes to open, immediately darting to your face. "Hi," you whispered softly.
"Hello, darling," he whispered back. "I'm so delighted to see you awake. I wasn't sure we had reached you in time, because your injuries were rather extensive," Ketch explained.
"I'm so very glad you did. I'm sorry for leaving and for trying to take on Martin by myself. Speaking of which, what happened to him? Is he gone, or is he still out there?" you asked warily.
"Oh, he's gone, Love. Delivered the fatal blow myself," he replied proudly. His hand cupped your cheek and you leaned into his touch. "You'll never have to worry about him again," Ketch said softly.
"Thank you. I knew I picked the right man to fall in love with," you remarked as you shifted into a sitting position on the bed.
A look of surprise crossed Ketch's face at your confession of love towards him. "Yes, Arthur, you heard correctly. I am in love with you and have been for some time. I thought I was a goner, back in that warehouse. I promised myself that if I made it out somehow, I wouldn't be so foolish again as to waste the opportunity. I love you, Arthur Ketch," you finished.
Ketch sat before you in stunned silence. After hearing no response from him, you wondered if you made a mistake in your confession. You thought that here was the part where he tells you he's not interested in you that way. Silent tears bubbled up in your eyes, threatening to spill over and your bottom lip started to quiver. You withdrew your hand from his and stared at your hands resting in your lap.
Before you could turn away from him, Ketch caught your hand in his again. This forced you to gaze into his blue-grey eyes, nearly losing yourself in them. His thumb gently brushed the tears away as this soft look of love came over his face. "Oh, my darling. I've waited so long to hear those words from you. There's no one I'd rather dance with. I love you," he declared.
Ketch moved over to sit beside you on the bed, so you scooted over to make room. He leaned over and placed one hand on your cheek. He drew you closer and captured your lips with his, kissing you softly at first then deepening it. As you put your arms around his neck, Ketch's free hand roamed up and down your back.
From the doorway, you heard the sound of a throat clearing. You and Ketch broke apart to see Sam standing with a knowing smirk on his face. "I was coming by to check how you were doing, but I see that Ketch has things well in hand. I'll just leave you to it, I suppose," Sam grinned as he left the infirmary.
You rested your head on Ketch's shoulder. "Happy, darling?" Ketch murmured.
"Mmm, absolutely, Arthur. Once I feel a little better, would you like some pancakes for breakfast?" you asked.
"That sounds heavenly, Love. Perhaps with a bit of dancing on the side?" he replied.
"Wouldn't have it any other way," you remarked. Ketch moved to capture your lips with his own in a slow, lazy kiss.
15 notes
·
View notes
Text
alydon fic pt. 3
ao3 for the whole thing
“Michael Guerin, I am going to fucking murder you!”
“Alydon, put your gun down!”
Alex glared at the hole in the ceiling that finally opened after what felt like an hour of waiting. It was loud and then it wasn’t and Alex just had to wait. For a moment, he’d gotten worried that something bad had happened. But now that he could see that nothing had, he was pissed.
“You can’t just put me in a hole in the ground, you asshole,” Alex said, going to climb the latter even though he had one leg. His arms might hate him for it later, but he was running on adrenaline and it was sort of worth it for the look on Michael’s face.
Beside him stood a nearly comically large man with pale hair and transparent skin. Alex tried not to let shock affect him.
“This is your husband?” the clear man asked. Michael licked his lips as he looked between them.
“Alex, this is Alydon. Alydon, this is Alex.”
Something seemed to dawn on Alydon at that moment, his eyes widening as he looked to Michael. Alex held his head up high and let Michael levitate his crutches for him. He refused to have any form of shock on his face in front of this stranger.
“Alex? But… When you spoke of this man, you always said–”
“Yeah, well, surprise,” Michael sighed, finally giving Alex his full attention, “I’m sorry.”
“You can’t just come back, act like things are normal, and then throw me in a fucking bunker, Guerin. You are such a fucking asshole,” Alex spat. Michael grinned at him, eyes soft.
“I really fucking missed you.”
Alex rolled his eyes but accepted the kiss to the side of the face Michael gave him. He helped him to his foot and gave him his crutches. Once he was balancing on his own, he focused more on the man in front of him.
Alydon was as tall and as wide as a door which was only slightly overwhelming. Taking him in, Alex noticed a brown scar-like tattoo of a circle that matched an exposed white one on Michael’s shoulder. He was trying to stay calm and not jump to conclusions, but a large alien had shown up at his house to try to kill his boyfriend (who was now calling him husband which was a different conversation altogether).
“What’s going on, Guerin?” Alex demanded, “Tell me everything. No distracting me this time.” Distracting was a loose word, honestly. Alex had happily gone along with the immediate overload of kisses. He wanted them. He still wanted them, but he now was aware that life was still happening.
So, Michael explained. He told him of his time on Ska, learning of his royal father, practicing his powers, his brethren ceremony with Alydon, meeting the queen, her bamboozling him into marriage, and his massive escape. Alydon filled them in that the Royal Army had been dispatched to find him and the only reason he’d been sent was because of his relationship with the king.
“Right, how did you find me so fast?” Michael asked. Alydon gave a guilty look.
“You are tracked, as am I,” Alydon answered, pressing to a spot beneath his collarbone. Due to his clear skin, the chip was easy to see when looking for it. Alex scoffed and hit Michael’s shoulder.
“How’d you get chipped and not even know it?” Alex asked. Michael shrugged but still looked at him like he was the entire world. That was nice to see. Alex wondered how long it’d last.
He hoped the answer was forever.
“Okay, how long until they notice you aren’t returning?” Alex asked. Michael and Alydon shared a look.
“Maybe another 24 hours if we’re pushing it,” Michael said. Alex sighed and pulled out his phone even though it was the middle of the night.
“I’m going to get both Kyle and Liz to come out here first thing in the morning, we’ll figure out how to get the chip out of you without disturbing it and we’ll go from there,” Alex said. He texted them both and set an alarm for 5 AM just in case he needed to blow up their phones.
“So… this should be a good time to ask if Alydon can stay with us?” Michael asked, giving Alex an exaggerated smile. Alex’s heart skipped a beat. Stay with us. Us.
He shook off the high feeling long enough to form a coherent response. “Like, permanently?” The two men nodded. “You want to stay on an alien planet?”
“I’m technically on an alien planet,” Michael pointed out.
“And I’m loyal to my brother,” Alydon added. Alex sighed and looked at Michael as kindly as possible.
“The sun could kill him, Michael, that’s a big risk. And, even if it doesn’t, how are you going to explain a guy with clear skin to people out in the world?”
“Me and Liz can come up with something, though. For now, we just keep him out of sunlight. He can even stay in the bunker during the day to be safe,” Michael insisted, “Please?”
Alex stared at him and found it impossible to tell him he wouldn’t let him stay. This was a man that had given Michael what he needed to heal. He didn’t want to be the one to take that away from him. So, Alex sighed and nodded.
“He can stay,” he said. Michael was quickly on him in a hug that Alex melted into. It was too easy to forget about everyone that had just been dumped on him. He missed this. On a deep, desperate, lonely level, he missed it.
Alex buried his nose in his neck and closed his eyes, hugging his shirtless body tight. He never wanted to leave that spot.
“Thank you, Alex,” Alydon said. Alex opened his eyes and looked over Michael’s shoulder to the man who seemed to have no discomfort while being left out of the hug. “I will repay you for your kindness anyway I can.”
“Well, right now, we just need to get you guys safe,” Alex said, still not letting Michael go.
“No, right now, we need to go to sleep,” Michael said. Alex closed his eyes again, hiding his smile against his shoulder. He couldn’t wait to be alone with him again. “The bunker Alex was in has a bed and no windows if you wanna sleep down there. We’ll cover up the windows and stuff in the morning before you come out. I don’t really know how the sunlight might affect you yet, so probably best to play it safe.”
“Lovely idea,” Alydon said. Alex didn’t have to have his eyes open to know the man was smiling. It made him hug Michael closer.
“There’s a ladder and we can leave the hatch open so you’re not, like, trapped,” Michael said.
“Don’t worry about me,” Alydon said, “Enjoy your reunion with your husband.”
Within a few minutes, they were in Alex’s bed and alone. Now that the initial shock of his appearance had worn off and the followup shock of him being fucking followed had died down, they could finally take it all in.
“Why does he think I’m your husband?” Alex asked softly as the door closed by itself. Michael scooted closer and Alex touched him wherever his hands could find.
“It was the only way I could really make him understand why I didn’t want to return to the queen,” Michael said, leaning his forehead on Alex’s, “But, on Ska, we’re technically married.”
Alex smiled and dragged his fingers over Michael’s arms and chest. “Oh yeah?”
“On Ska, everyone has, like, a chosen sacred item they have once they become of age. It’s something no one can touch‒unless it’s, like, a doctor‒and then, once someone else touches that object in front of their loved ones, it’s considered marriage.”
“How does that make us married?” Alex asked softly. Michael breathed in slow.
“My ship console,” Michael whispered, “You’re the only one I let touch it.”
Alex nodded and closed the space between them, kissing him as sincerely as he could. This was a fucking dream come true. He’d waited so long.
“I love you,” Alex said.
Michael laid him back, making everything about this situation 100% reality.
“I love you too.”
-
“I… You are the most fascinating thing I’ve ever seen.”
Alex rolled his eyes as Alydon grinned helplessly at Liz. She was half his size in every way, but he seemed utterly enamored with her.
“And I, you,” he said. Michael snorted, but stayed laid out on the table. Alex sat beside him, holding his hand as Kyle shaved a spot beneath Michael’s collarbone.
“You have to stay completely still until I get this out of you,” Kyle warned.
“No problem, Doc,” he said with a grin. Michael then closed his eyes and Alex felt him slowly relax, almost like he was going somewhere else entirely. When he didn’t respond to Kyle literally cutting him open with a scalpel, Alex couldn’t help but think that maybe he did.
“He’s in his mind,” Alydon said with no further explanation. Alex didn’t really need one. He simply leaned forward and kissed his hand.
Kyle worked very efficiently in removing the tracking chip from both Michael while Liz took blood samples from Alydon. She seemed like a giddy child with a new toy. And, perhaps that’s exactly what it was because he looked completely okay with being that for her.
Michael came back to the world after Kyle stitched him up after Alex said his name a few times. He took Alex’s spot and pulled him onto his lap with telekinetic ease that had Alex’s stomach tightening. Alydon replaced Michael on the table.
“Okay, before I cut you open, do you know how much you bleed, how thick your skin is compared to Michael’s, and how fast you heal?” Kyle asked. Liz was perched beside him with a notebook, eyes wide with excitement for the answers. Alydon simply grinned.
“I should bleed no more than he does, but perhaps use a thinner thread?” Alydon explained. Liz scribbled and Kyle nodded, switching his gloves before searching through his surgical thread. “I’ll heal fine.”
“Okay, I’m trusting you on your own body. Don’t blame me if you die,” Kyle warned. Alydon nodded.
Alex tried not to roll his eyes as Alydon acted all manly for Liz, refusing to flinch as he was cut open. Instead, he leaned his head on Michael’s and traced shapes against his arm. The night before played in his head effortlessly, every touch feeling like the first time and like coming home all at once. It was something he could’ve stayed in forever.
Now that he was home, maybe he could.
After stitching Alydon up, it left them with two tracking chips and limited time to get rid of them without causing suspicion.
“Does your ship have an autopilot function?” Alex asked during their brainstorming. Michael nodded, though both of the aliens in the room looked a little uncomfortable as they realized where he was going with it. “The best way to get rid of them is to put them on the ship and send it out there. By the time they track it and realize you’re not there, we could skew their directions off this planet.”
“Doing that means absolutely no option of returning home,” Alydon said slowly. Alex confirmed him with a nod.
“If you’re not comfortable with that, I understand,” Alex insisted.
“We could come up with some other way to send them out into space,” Kyle suggested. Michael shook his head.
“No, it’d take too long. That’s our only option,” he said firmly, “But I know how to get a spaceship done now. If we ever need to leave, we can make one. That one is probably easily tracked anyway.”
“Okay,” Alydon agreed.
Alex held Michael’s hand as they watched his ship leave with their tracking devices. It was for the best, they all knew it. However, it was impossible to feel the sadness coming from him.
“You okay?” Alex asked Michael. He gulped and nodded.
“I am,” he said, “I’m just really bad at letting go.”
“Yeah, I know how that feels,” Alex agreed. That at least got a smile.
“Okay!” Liz said as they came back inside, standing on a stool beside Alydon, “I have a couple ideas on how I can make him safer under the sun and out in public. Obviously, I’m going to need some time to make sure it’s all safe and stuff, but I have an idea that I think is gonna work.”
“She’s so smart,” Alydon added.
“What’s the idea?” Michael asked instead of listening to him.
“Chlorophyll injections,” she said excitedly. They all waited for her to elaborate. “Sort of like how some people need insulin, he’ll need chlorophyll to withstand the sun. It’ll help absorb the sunlight. I don’t know how that extra energy will affect him though, so we’ll need to do tests. We don’t need a giant alien on speed.”
“Chlorophyll?” Alex repeated, “Won’t that make him green?”
“A green alien,” Kyle mused.
“Well, I don’t know yet. Maybe so, but maybe it’ll just be a tint,” Liz said, shrugging off the accusations, “As for how to hide the fact he’s see-through… I think we’ll just have to use makeup.”
“Makeup?” Alydon echoed.
“Yeah,” she said, “Like, only on the parts of you that’ll be showing while in public. Your face, neck, hands, stuff like that just to give you a base color.”
“To hide the green,” Kyle added.
“Stop,” Liz said, “It’ll work.”
“We’ll see,” Alex said, “We have to see if he can even go outside at all before we worry about that.”
“Right,” Liz agreed, “I have blood and DNA samples, so give me a few days and I’ll see what I can do. It was nice meeting you Alydon.” They shook hands and Liz politely acted like she didn’t notice his heart eyes.
“Liz,” Michael said before she could leave, “Could you get Max to come over? And Isobel?”
Liz smiled and nodded. “Absolutely.”
Things calmed down between the time Liz and Kyle left and before Isobel and Max could get there. Alex began connecting to satellites to make sure he’d be alerted if anything was coming for them. He was sure they wouldn’t, but you could never be too safe.
“So,” Michael said, his head falling onto Alex’s shoulder as he tapped away on his laptop, “You think Sander’s will give me my job back?”
“Probably,” Alex agreed, “And, I know you don’t really need it right now, but your airstream is out back.” Michael’s head perked up.
“Yeah? You saved it?”
“Of course I did. It’s a little messy and filled with your bunker stuff that wasn’t super-secret, but it’s still all yours. I wanted to make sure it’d be there if you came back,” Alex told him. Michael smiled.
“If?”
“You never told me what your plans were,” Alex shrugged. Michael sighed and kissed his cheek.
“Well, now I’ll tell you all my plans because they’ll all be involving you,” Michael insisted. Alex grinned.
He liked this. He liked having Michael. He liked the idea of Michael having a friend that was truly his. He liked his house feeling welcome. He liked that their threat level wasn’t fucking horrific, or at least not horrific in the moment.
This he could get used to.
52 notes
·
View notes
Last Seen Blogs
otherbeautifuls
Otherbeautifuls
nochillcharl
charl
platinumblac-blog
Untitled
frostysilk
FrostySilk Jewellery
tully-web
⠀⠀