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wiypt-writes · 3 years

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Leave No One Behind

Chapter 15- Leave No One Behind...

Co written with @icanfeelastormbrewing

Summary: The magic thing about home is that it feel good to leave, and it feels even better to come back…

Warnings: Bad Language words.

Pairings: Ari Levinson x OFC Hannah Horowitz

Word Count- 8k

Leave No One Behind Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Part 14

It was way past dinner time when Ari and Hannah got back to the resort. Fortunately, most of the guests had already called it a night and only a few remained on the beach enjoying the clear starry night and gentle sea breeze. Some of the staff were busy cleaning and clearing the dining area and the kitchen, so Ari asked the team to gather in the reception area as simply put, they had no time to waste.

The team shared concerned glances as Ari, with Hannah's help and assistance at some points, briefed them on the plan. He paced back and forth only stopping to check everyone was following him, and once he had finished explaining and everyone confirmed they had understood what they had to do, it was all systems go.

They needed to wait until all the guests were in bed and not a voice could be heard in the resort before they moved the refugees. Ari knew it cut their window of time down even more and, though it wasn't an ideal situation, he was painfully aware that they couldn't afford getting caught. It had already been hard enough for them to keep more than four hundred people away from suspicious ears and prying eyes and by rushing things he could blow all their hard work. But, ever true to his own nature, he was getting more nervous by the minute, his anxiety heightened by the fact that there was nothing he could do but wait.

He stubbed his cigarette out in the ashtray on his office desk as his eyes roamed the room and took a deep breath, his fingers running through his hair. He needed to focus on what he had to do. The worrying about their safety and that of the refugees they had to smuggle from the country would have to be done later. Right now it was urgent that they got everything ready to abandon the resort in such a way that when Ahmed undoubtedly came looking once more, it appeared they’d done a flit due to a sudden “entrepreneurial vision” rather than it being a matter of "life or death".

The team were running around as sneaky and stealthily as possible, destroying anything that was too incriminating. Lighting a big fire to burn everything to ashes was not an option, the smoke would alert too many people and they also couldn’t waste the time it would require to ensure that everything burnt sufficiently in the small bonfire they occasionally had on the beach. Burying all incriminating evidence was out of the question- it was risky and sloppy too since no matter how deep you dug down on a sandy beach, it would eventually come back to the surface again. In the end, Max saved the day by using one of his suitcases as an improvised treasure chest into which they crammed everything they needed to dispose of. Jake and Sammy then added some extra heavy rocks which made sure it sank when they threw it overboard from one of their diving boats a fair way away from the shore.

Meanwhile, Hannah headed to her and Ari's hut to sweep the place. She was well aware she didn’t have the time or room to take anything that she couldn't put in her pockets or in Ari's small knapsack. She was going through the drawers on her bedside table when she found a stack of Polaroids, most of which dated from two years before when Sammy got her the camera. They were too incriminating to leave behind and, from a selfish point of view, she didn't want to leave them either.

She looked around as she stuck the set of polaroids in the back pocket of her jeans. As she took the now so familiar hut in for the last time, she felt a lump in her throat and her right hand instinctively flew to her firefly pendant. The last few years of her life passed in front of her eyes in a whirlwind. She had known from the moment Ari had set foot in the clinic that morning that it would mean a turning point in her day to day life, his presence around her always did, but what she had never suspected in a million years was the extent in which her life would change.

If someone had told her that day at the clinic, that she would embark on a secret mission to a dangerous African country with the man who had broken her heart all those years before, she would have told them to fuck off. But here she was two years later, about to leave that dangerous country and unofficially engaged to that very same man.

Her Lobo.

Wiping the tears from her eyes, she took a deep breath and had turned to leave the room when in the corner of her eye she spotted a photo stuck to the mirror that she had very nearly missed. She headed over to grab it looking down at the image of her, Ari and Simon on the beach. She smiled fondly at the memory of that day. Simon had been sick with food poisoning the previous night and they had spent almost all afternoon on the beach with him, trying to stop him eating anything he could steal from the kitchen, or rather to prevent Max from feeding him contraband…

And then it dawned on her, she was going to have to leave Simon behind.

Hannah felt a pang in her heart at the mere thought of it. Her throat suddenly felt like it was closing and tears began to well in her eyes. Simon had been her first support. Even when she hadn't had Ari, she had Simon. The dog had found her when she needed him the most and he had been her shadow ever since. It broke her heart to think what would happen to him when they were gone.

She wiped her face as she tried to rationalise it. She knew Simon had survived many years before her, but he now was her baby, and she couldn't help but worry. With a sniff, she took a deep breath, and blinked back more tears as she told herself she needed to be realistic. She was wasting time, and they had important stuff to do. So, with a final swallow, she hastily put the polaroid in her pocket, together with the other ones and headed out onto the beach without so much as a glance back at the hut.

When she got to the reception area, she found Ari there, checking through a filing cabinet. He looked up when he heard footsteps and smiled softly at her, but his smile slid into a frown almost instantly, as he could clearly see she had been crying. Hannah couldn't trust herself to speak, she knew her voice would break the moment Ari asked what was wrong, so she simply nodded and handed him the polaroids to put in his bag.

"Come here." Ari told her once his hands were free again, pulling her to him and holding her tight. "You've been crying, firefly." He whispered in her hair. But Hannah just sniffed in response. "I promise you I'm going to get us home safely, Han."

"But not Simon." She whispered and at her words she felt Ari's shoulders slump slightly.

"Yeah, I know." Ari sighed. "I don't want to leave him either but, well, the staff all love him. We'll leave him in the kitchen with food and water and they'll take care of him, sweetheart."

Hannah nodded. "I know..." and then her voice trailed off and she started crying again. She knew Ari was right but it was not like the staff could write to them back home telling them Simon was doing okay, sending them the occasional photo of the dog.

Ari tightened his hold of her and started rubbing her back in an attempt to sooth her grief a little bit and at that point there was a voice in the doorway. Hannah pulled away, hastily wiping her face.

"Sorry, but, we got one of the women in the huts and she doesn’t look great Hannah, I don’t know if it's nerves or something…" Rachel explained, almost apologetically.

"Yeah, I’ll erm, come now." Hannah nodded, before looking at Ari who gave her a soft smile.

Ari watched her go and sighed, taking a glance around before heading outside too. He found Max and told him to start loading up, there was no time to waste. As he watched Max nod and disappear behind the trucks and into the night, Ari remembered he had left his bag in the office by the reception desk. He headed back inside, grabbed it, and shut the office door behind him, knowing he wasn't going to open it again.

He made his way down the beach a little. More as a way of saying goodbye than to make sure there were no guests still around. But he knew it had been a mistake the moment he set his eyes on the star lit ocean surface and a wave of nostalgia hit him, crashing over his head like the very surf he was watching had done many times over the past few years.

Ari lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply. He was counting the minutes till he could finally leave the resort and that fucking country for good. But, at the same time there was something else there. A nagging, gnawing feeling in the pit of his stomach that was fighting with his sense of duty and his survival instinct. As he stood there he suddenly realised that the feeling was sadness. He was sad to be leaving, and he knew why- because this was the last mission he would ever run.

And it had all been his.

Ari had spent most of his life as an agent following orders and running his bosses, mainly Ethan's, missions, and even though Ari Levinson was known for not sticking to plan and following his instincts when making last minute, even debatable, decisions, he still had to follow his superior guidelines and do as told, for the most part. But this one had been different. He had designed it from scratch, still amazed at how the idea had come to him. He had matured it and watched it grow into something worth selling to Ethan, Isaacs and eventually Weiss. Damn, he had even chosen and recruited the agents he wanted for the mission. Including her. Ari smiled fondly at the memory of his Firefly’s surprised face at the clinic that morning, "Fuck me." was the only thing she had been able to say when she saw him in that examination room.

Ari chuckled softly as he started his way back to the main building. Whilst it had been a while, he still remembered all the expletives Sammy had thrown at him that day too. And then he was pulled out from his memories by the sound of hushed but hectic voices at the front of the hotel as he approached.

He hurried round to find the team gathered near the trucks, loading them with the refugees. He stabbed his cigarette on the floor and started directing a few refugees himself until Max, Sammy and Hannah approached him.

"We've got a problem." A weary eyed Max announced. "There's no way we're all going to fit in the two trucks.”

"There's too many people." Hannah added.

Ari frowned. "Shit. Fuck!" He hissed, looking around frantically for a way out.

And then his eyes landed on the solution.

"Are you serious? A Sudanese tour bus?" Jake, who had spotted what Ari was looking at, asked in disbelief.

Max laughed softly, visibly amused at another of his boss tricks to save his neck again, and looked at Hannah who was grinning and shaking her head as she mused. “You little shit."

Ari looked at her, his brow raised, before his eyes flicked back to the refugees. Hundreds of them, but only a fraction of the amount they’d saved to date…

"Start loading them up. I gotta grab something." He suddenly ordered, as he turned to leave, pausing as Hannah caught his arm.

"Where are you going?" She enquired nervously. "Ari?"

"I'll be right back.” He assured her. “Get on the bus."

He didn't look back and ran inside. In a typical Ari Levinson fashion, he had just decided he wanted to take something with him, a reminder of their time and work there, a reminder of what exactly they had accomplished. He stood by the desk and reached up to the Satisfied Guest board which hung on the wall, removing the shells which bore the total number of refugees that had safely left the Sudan shore. Unhooking it from the wall, he walked back round the desk and paused to take a last look around, into the dining area.

Why was it so difficult to say goodbye?

His eyes then glanced towards the door at the back of the room which led to the kitchen and he signed, knowing what, or who was in there. He bit his lip, pondering for a few seconds, before he let out a groan. He couldn’t do it, he couldn’t leave him.

“Ethan’s gonna kill me,” he muttered as he ran to the kitchen door and jerked it open. “Come on, Si.” He whispered, panting slightly with exertion and the adrenaline now flooding his system. The dog looked up from where he had been napping. “Time to go, buddy.” Ari insisted.

Simon got to his feet, stretching as he yawned.

“Yeah, we’re on a schedule, come on.” Ari hurried the dog as he rolled his eyes. Simon simply stared up at him as he talked and wagged his tail, before trotting out of the door. Ari then bent down to pick him up under his spare arm and hurried towards the bus.

Rachel, who was in the driving seat, looked at him as he climbed up the steps, the painted wooden board under one arm, dog under the other. She snorted as he set Simon down on the floor and he simply shrugged and then smiled as Hannah’s little gasp hit his ears from where she was stood, a little further down the aisle of the bus. Simon scooted off towards her as Ari looked back at Rachel.

"Let's go"

Rachel nodded at Ari's instruction and, as she fired up the engine Hannah reached him, Simon in her arms, eyes full of tears. Sammy, who was sat behind Rachel and next to Kabede, looked up and noticed the dog for the first time and let out a groan.

´Fucking, fuck me."

Kabede turned to him, then to the dog, and then just looked ahead, utter confusion on his face.

“Ari, I…” Hannah began, her voice cracking a little as she cradled her precious pooch in her arms and Ari chuckled a little as he leaned down to give her a quick peck.

"Leave no dog behind."

Once they set off, the bus soon became quieter. No one spoke for a while. The silence only broken every now and then by Ari, who was navigating. Hannah was sat by him at the front row of seats, Simon perched on her lap, looking out of the window right at the front with perked ears.

Every so often, when he felt her squirm on her seat or heard her sigh, Ari would take Hannah's left hand, kissing over her ring finger, exactly where the big lavish ring he was going to buy her would sit. And every so often she would smile and look up at him, the pair of them sharing their happy little news, which remained between the two of them for the time being.

They had been driving for about an hour when Rachel shifted on her seat and Ari looked at her.

"Want me to take over?" He offered.

Rachel hesitated for a moment before asking. "How far we got?"

Ari checked Bowen's map again and then glanced at a passing old road sign before answering. "About eight more kilometers."

She shook her head just as Sammy, who had also spotted a road sign, demanded, “what is this place?"

"Carthago." Ari explained, raising his voice over the noise the bus engine was making. "It's an old British airfield."

"If it's still there." Hannah thought aloud, earning a glare from her brother

"What if it's not still there?" Sammy asked, his voice stern.

Ari took a deep breath and looked at Hannah, then to a dumbfounded Kabede and finally to Sammy who simply shook his head, giving a scoff. No one had an answer.

It was only ten more minutes till Rachel drove through the gates of the long time ago abandoned airfield, making part of it get stuck to the front of the bus. They drove a little distance more into it, with the gate stuck on the front of the bus bumping into every obstacle they found on their way.

Once they stopped, they all quickly climbed off the bus and Max darted up the watch tower. Jake located the power banks and ran up another tower to try and fire up the lights they needed.

Hannah and Rachel stood by the vehicles with the refugees, radio in hand as they watched Ari and Sammy head to the runway and start marking out the guide path with glow sticks, Simon jogging behind them.

They had been there for a few minutes when Hannah's radio cracked and she could hear Sammy talking to Ari.

"Not to state the obvious, but there’s a tree in the middle of the runway."

"When are they supposed to be here?" Max's voice suddenly broke through, just as the bulbs of the tower were brought back to life, flooding the runway with bright, white light. "I don't know, why?" Ari replied, panting as Hannah saw him look round, brushing his hair away from his face. "We have company. Nine kilometers away" Rachel and Hannah shared a worried glance, before Rachel took the radio and spoke. "Should we get them back on the trucks?"

"No, there's still time." Ari stated.

"What did he say?" Hannah asked Rachel, visibly annoyed. "Give me the radio." She snatched it from Rachel's hand. "Ari, stop being a reckless asshole. We need to get out of here." "He’ll be here any minute. We can do it, Han. Just trust me." She heard him say, and scoffed. She could see him still, activating the glow sticks, dropping them to the ground to guide the plane. The plane which should already be there if they wanted to make it before Ahmed’s soldiers, because they all knew too well it would be them approaching, got there.

"Come on, Walton, you motherfucker." Ari whispered as he continued with his task. "What do we do?" Sammy asked as he approached him, having finished his side of the path. Ari looked around worried before he groaned, they were rapidly running out of time.

“Shit, come on."

Both men started running back to the trucks. Ari could see Hannah pacing along the front of the vehicles as he approached, a tell-tale she was anxious and no doubt pissed at him.

"We should get everyone back on the bus and get the fuck out of here." Rachel looked at Ari as he drew up beside her, Sammy to his other side. "She’s right Ari. We’ll have to find another way." Hannah backed Rachel, her eyes pleading with Ari's, who looked at her, trying to think clearly about the best way to proceed. He didn’t want to give up, simply put he couldn’t give up, he had no other plan. "Okay, fine. Get everybody back inside again." Sammy stepped up, leaving no room for hesitation, making everyone start moving. But then Kabede cut in.

"No, wait. Listen. Listen." He urged.

They all paused, their ears straining, and through the quiet of the night came a soft, whooshing and rumbling sound- plane engines.

Everyone looked up at the dark night sky, Hannah gripping Ari’s arm. Simon, who was a short distance away sniffing the fence attached to the front of the bus, suddenly ran back towards them, barking at the noise. And, seconds later, they got their first glimpse of their ticket out of here as the plane suddenly light up in the dark sky above them.

Ari was now grinning ear to ear, and he glanced down at Hannah, relief flooding his system and hers, clearly, as she let out a loud breath. There was a shared feeling of contained excitement as the plane landed and Ari kissed Hannah's temple.

Not wasting a single second, they hurriedly headed over and started organising the refugees onto the cargo plane, Ari yelling a few instructions so that he could be heard over the deafening noise of the plane engines.

However all the relief they had felt upon the arrival of the plane was short lived. A couple of minutes after the first refugees had boarded, the marine pilot in charge of the operation turned to them and said there wasn't enough room for all of them on the plane and that barely half of them would fit in due to weight limitations.

"What the fuck?" Hannah snapped, breaking the shocked silence that had fallen over the group, her forehead creasing at the marine. "Are you serious?"

"If you leave us, we will die!" Kabede pleaded.

The marine looked at them and shook his head, and at that point, Ari’s temper snapped. He was done, and he was fucked if they had come this far only to be thwarted at the last minute. He was adamant they would leave no one behind, certainly not when it meant sentencing them to a certain death.

He lunged at the marine and grabbed his arm, pushing him a couple of steps towards the group "All right, then you decide, you decide who stays and who goes, 'cause I can't do it. You choose who lives, who dies." He spoke sternly, his eyes piercing the dumbfounded marine's, who hesitated as his own eyes roamed the group of people in front of him.

"They're three kilometers out." Max announced, as he appeared panting among the people.

"Better do it fast." Ari urged the marine, who still looked around hesitating.

"We're waiting." Hanna pressed, her arms folded.

The marine turned to look at her and then sighed dejectedly. "It's not that I don't want to, there's no room on the plane."

"Then we'll make room." Sammy declared as he strode up the ramp with determination. Hannah and Ari exchanged a glance but joined him, the three of them quick to start ripping out the seats, throwing them onto the runway. Soon after Max, Jake, Rachel and Bowen started making room as well while Kabede and the marine helped the refugees up the ramp.

And then, rounding the corner in the distance, they could see the lights of the approaching soldiers' trucks.

"Shit." Hannah hissed as she threw one more seat into the runway and Ari darted to up the plane cabin to alert the pilot to start moving the damn plane. For what felt like hours but wasn't more than a couple of minutes, it was a mad scramble to get everyone on, urgently hurrying up the ramp as quickly as they could. They had barely succeeded as the trucks were already speeding through the airfield gate, guns firing, when the plane started moving.

As the plane gathered pace down the runway, the gun shots pinging off the metal of the closing ramp, Ari, Sammy and Bowen made it upstairs to the cabin. As the huge tree in the middle of the runway loomed nearer and nearer, Ari felt his stomach start to drop like a stone.

“We're not gonna make it.” He whispered, “we're not gonna make it.”

“We're gonna make it.” Sammy’s voice was calm yet stern as the nose of the plane began to pull up into the air. But it wasn’t rising fast enough, they were going to hit it.

“We're not gonna make it!” This time, Ari’s comment was louder, frantic almost and Sammy’s voice rose in retaliation, as he repeated his earlier statement.

“We're gonna make it!”

As the plane began to gather more and more height, Ari winced and couldn’t help the loud yell that bust from his mouth as the plane flew straight into the foliage of the tree.

“Shit!” Sammy grabbed Ari, as they both ducked a little, expecting the branches to fly through the cockpit window.

But nothing. The plane steadied, and gathered height, nothing but dark sky in front of them.

Ari’s chest was heaving, as he clung to the side of the plane, shaking his head a little. He raised his head, looked at Sammy, and he couldn’t help the huge grin that spread across his face. Sammy chuckled a little, tipping his head back.

Bowen patted Ari on the shoulder, “I think we can breathe now.” And with that, he headed down the stairs.

Barely daring to believe their luck, Ari took one last glance out of the front of the plane and nodded to the pilot before he followed Bowen and Sammy down into the cargo hold. As he started making his way amongst the sitting refugees towards where Hannah was sat, his throat and chest suddenly grew tight with the realisation of the magnitude of what they’d just done.

He’d never seen this side of their missions before. Once they set the refugees on the rafts with the Navy Seals, their involvement finished. He’d never experienced their quiet, hushed chatting, or seen their tired and anxious, yet relieved faces.

It was amazing, humbling and completely overwhelming.

As he picked his way carefully across the metal cargo hold floor, his eyes flicked to Jake and then Max, both men wiping at their eyes as they too were clearly feeling the emotion of the moment. He nodded to them both and finally reached his girl who was sat next to Kabede. Her own eyes were red, as was the tip of her nose from her tears.

Ari flopped down heavily besides her. For the first time he could recall, he felt old. He ached all over, and he was just so fucking tired. He let out a groan as he lifted his arm to allow Hannah to snuggle into him, rubbing gently at her back as she sniffed.

“Leave no one behind.” Kabede’s gentle voice spoke and Ari turned to look at him. “You're crazy, you know that?”

With a soft chuckle, Ari kissed Hannah’s head as she clung to him. His eyes strayed to Sammy, who was sat across from him, Rachel cuddled into his side. As Ari watched, she gently pressed a kiss to Sammy’s arm and Sammy met Ari’s smile and gave him a small nod back.

Ari shifted a little, and then felt something a little un-even in his back pocket. Reaching for it, he pulled out Maya’s drawing of him, Hannah and Simon. He’d shoved it in there before when he was leaving the hotel, not wanting to leave it behind.

And then, the emotion which he’d fought so hard to keep at bay completely crashed over him as he looked at the drawing that his daughter had done. His face crumpled and his shoulders began to shake in a silent sob. A moment later, he felt Hannah move and she let out a soft sigh.

“Oh, Ari. It’s okay, we made it.”

He sniffed again and then gave a smile, wiping a tear which had trickled down to the tip of his nose as he glanced again at the drawing, then to Hannah.

“I can’t wait for you to meet her, Firefly.”

“I can’t wait to meet her either.” She whispered, smiling at him.

“God, I love you.” He pressed his forehead to hers and closed his eyes as she whispered back.

“I love you too.”

****

Hannah was asleep, her head resting on Ari’s chest. His large arms held her protectively to him, his bearded cheek resting on her head. He wasn’t in a deep sleep, more like a heavy doze. He woke a few times as people attempted to move around in the confines of the aircraft carrier. Eventually, though, the hushed voices started to get louder and murmurs spread across the cabin. Ari cracked his eye open and looked up to see one of the marines descending the stairs. He caught Ari’s eye and gave him a weary smile.

“We’re about to start the descent.”

Ari took a deep breath, the relief washing over him and he felt Hannah stir.

“What’s going on?” She asked, her voice thick with sleep.

“We’re about to start our descent, baby.” He kissed her forehead, his voice cracking with emotion. “We’re home.”

At his words, her eyes begin to water and she struggled for her own words, but managed a strangled whisper of his name. He swallowed in response, wrapped his arms around her tighter and pressed his face into her hair. “I know, I know.”

They sat silently, and air of unmistakable, yet nervous excitement as the plane slowly began to lose altitude. As there were no windows, no one had any idea how far off the ground they were at any given moment, and there were loud shrieks as the wheels hit the ground and they were all jolted slightly. Ari felt Hannah’s hand grab his, and he squeezed her fingers as she glanced over at her brother. Sammy’s lips brushed Rachel’s hairline, smiling as he caught his sister’s eye.

After what felt like forever, the plane came to a shuddering stop, and the agents in the cargo hold all rose to their feet. Ari moved to the rear, his hand still around Hannah’s as he took her with him, the people who were sat on the floor all parting to allow them a path through. As the ramp lowered, the morning sun started sifting through the opening tailgate. Hannah blinked, raising her hand to shield her eyes from the sudden glare.

“Lobo, what time is it?” She asked suddenly. “I err, I don’t know where my watch is. I didn’t-“

“It doesn’t matter, Firefly,” Ari soothed, knowing she’d be upset about losing it, “I’ll get you ano-“ then he stopped dead as he glanced down at his own, realisation flooding his system. “Han?”

“Yeah?”

“Happy birthday, Sweetheart.”

She blinked and then smiled. “Yeah, it is.”

Ari chuckled as he kissed her softly. “I’m so sorry, I nearly forgot…I did have something for you but-”

Her lips curled into a smile against his. “I’ll forgive you, it’s been a busy few days.”

Their foreheads touched together for a few seconds until the ramp hit the floor and they were jerked back into the operation. Ari moved swiftly into his leader role, barking orders to get the people off requiring medical assistance first as a buzz of activity swarmed through the plane. Once he was satisfied that everyone had heard him and understood, he turned and made his way down the ramp, the metal clanging beneath his boots. As soon as his feet touched the ground of his homeland, he took a deep breath, his shoulders sagging in utter relief. He couldn’t even begin to describe the emotions being back spiked in his chest.

But, he didn’t have time to dwell on it. It was non-stop activity as he threw himself into helping the people off the plane, directing them across the tarmac towards the waiting ambulances, military attendees and aid-givers.

Ari had just turned back to the ramp after helping an elderly lady towards a waiting stretcher, when he saw Bowen approach Ethan and Isaacs, shaking their hands. Ethan looked over and caught Ari’s eye and gave him a nod, which he returned before he moved forward to relive one of the soldiers of Kabede.

“I’ve got him.” Ari insisted as he helped his friend over to the paramedics, wanting to make sure the man was given care as a matter of priority.

“Ari, there are thousands more…” Kabede began and Ari nodded, his hand curling over the man’s shoulder.

“We’re gonna go back,” he assured, before he hesitated and took a deep breath, “well, some of us will.”

As the paramedic assured Ari they’d take care of the man, he stood up straight, his hands falling to his hips as he contemplated his words. The us wouldn’t include him, but he felt at peace with that, it was time to bow out.

And what a success of a swan song.

He watched Kabede getting wheeled towards a waiting ambulance and he took a deep breath and headed over towards Hannah who was stood hugging Rachel. Ari stopped with a slight chuckle to pet Simon as the faithful mutt ran towards him, jumping up at his legs.

“Welcome to Tel Aviv, buddy.”

Sammy met him a few strides later, the two men embracing silently. There were no words needed. With their arms around one another they moved towards the girls and Ari inclined his head to Hannah, signalling for her to follow him.

“Is that a fucking dog?” Isaacs asked, watching the animal as it trotted behind Ari and Hannah as they made their way towards them.

“Yes. Simon.” Ethan replied, his eyes twinkling slightly.

“What?” Isaacs turned slowly to look at him.

“The dog. His name is Simon. Simon Le Bone, to give him his full title.” Ethan’s lips curled up in a slight smile as Isaacs let out a noise of disbelief from his nose.

“They brought a fucking dog from fucking Sudan.” It was a statement not a question, and he followed it with a snort and a shake of his head. “He’s so fired.”

“Oh, I already fired him. Again. The other night.” Ethan replied. “But I have a feeling it’s a moot point. By all means, feel free to try once more.”

Hannah and Ari exchanged a look as they approach the two men who had, at that moment, both burst out laughing. Ari shook Isaacs hand as Ethan swept Hannah into a hug.

“From the hospitality trade to animal transportation I see, Ari.” Isaacs levelled him with a look, his eyes twinkling with humour.

“Four hundred refugees,” Ari shot back, as he moved to shake Ethan’s hand “I figured one more wouldn’t make a difference.”

“Mrs Horowitz, nice to see you again.” Isaacs smiled as he shook her hand.

“Miss Navon.” She corrected him a little shyly, and Ari looked at her smiling softly, taking her hand and lacing their fingers together.

Isaacs clearly noticed the sign of affection as he arched his brow, sharing a side glance with Ethan. Simon then gave a little whine, jumping up at Hannah’s leg once more and Isaacs gave a snort. “Yeah, that’s the oddest looking dog I’ve ever seen. Where’s his hair?”

“Same place as mine, I expect.” Ethan spoke, humour in his voice and both Hannah and Ari laughed. “I think he’s rather distinguished looking, wouldn’t you say Barack?”

Isaacs looked at Ethan, his brows raised before he snorted and glanced down at the dog. “Distinguished, hairless Simon.” He stated, before he shook his head and looked back at Hannah and Ari. “Welcome home.”

“Thanks.” Hannah let out a deep breath before she looked at Ethan. “Is Mama here?”

“Everyone is waiting at HQ. We didn’t want to draw too much attention by having everyone here.” He answered and she nodded.

“Is Maya there?” Ari asked.

“Yes.” Ethan raised a brow. “And Sarah.”

At that Hannah frowned and looked down at her shoes, a funny feeling brewing in her stomach. This was the side to being home that she hadn’t, until now, really given much thought. In Sudan, they’d been in their own little bubble, nothing to worry or bother them, no complications pertaining to their relationship to think about. And that was all about to change.

As if he could sense her trepidation, Ari squeezed her hand and she looked at him. He gave her a soft smile before Ethan cleared his throat and spoke again.

“Oh, and happy birthday.”

“Thanks Ethan.” Hannah’s voice was quiet, unlike her brother as he spoke loudly from behind them.

“It’s your birthday?”

She rolled her eyes and turned to look at him over her shoulder where he stood with Rachel. “Don’t worry, Ari forgot too.”

Ari rolled his eyes and was about to answer her back, but he his attention was drawn to Isaacs who was now busy dodging Simon’s attempts to bite his trouser seams. Ethan looked at Ari, both of them trying to hold back a laugh as Isaacs cursed at the dog, nudging him away with his foot.

Max and Jake then joined them and after they had both shaken hands with Isaacs and Ethan, they all made their way towards the cars which were waiting to take them back to HQ.

“There’s no room for the dog in the cars.” Isaacs grumbled, once again moving his leg out of the way of Simon’s teeth. “Not if the fucker’s going to keep biting me, anyway.”

“Don’t worry, he can sit on my knee.” Ari bent down and swooped the dog up into his arms. Simon’s tail began to wag as he licked Ari’s beard. “He likes to put his paws on the dash.”

Isaacs merely groaned in response.

*****

The minute the group of agents walked into the main foyer of Headquarters they started to attract attention, which Ari wasn’t surprised at. Not least did they all look battered and worse for wares, but they had a strange looking dog trotting ahead of them, one that insisted snigging at everyone who stopped to greet them.

After a few hellos, smiles and shaking of hands, they made their way to the elevator at the rear, Ethan selecting the floor that would take them up to the Operations Office. Ari had to give an amused chuckle when, as it started to move, Simon splayed his legs a little and then looked up at Hannah, giving a little whine as he wobbled. She bent down and scratched his ear, soothing him a little as the dog clearly wasn’t impressed with the strange, moving metal box they were in. It didn’t escape Ari how stupid that seemed, considering he’d just spent a fair few hours on a bigger metal box flying through the sky but then again the dog was a funny little creature when all things were considered.

It was for that reason, that as soon as the elevator doors opened, the canine pushed his way out and then stopped dead at the loud round of applause that had erupted. He paused and cocked his head to one side, and then Ari heard a familiar voice, one he’d been aching to hear for so long, as it shouted over the cacophony of noise.

“Simon? Mom, it’s Simon, look! Daddy and Hannah brought him home with them!”

Ari swallowed, tears instantly filling his eyes as he stepped out of the elevator with a purposeful stride and looked at Maya who grinned back at him.

“Daddy!”

He barely had time to register her loud, excited shout when she launched at him. With a heavy thud he dropped to his knees and held her close, his large arms wrapping around her small frame. His face pressed into her long, black hair as he screwed his eyes shut, taking a shuddering breath.

“Hey, Munchkin.” He managed to whisper out, his voice choking as the lump in his throat threatened to close off his airway.

“You stink.” Maya whispered and Ari gave a splutter of a laugh as he pulled back a little, brushing her hair off her face.

“Sorry.” He sniffed and she shrugged, her hands moving to his shirt, fingers fiddling with the buttons just under his collar bone.

“It’s okay.” She smiled, before her arms wrapped around his neck again and she pressed her cheek to his. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too, baby," he let out a small sob, “so very much.”

Meanwhile, Hannah had set off running towards her mom, followed closely by Sammy. The three of them embraced, a loud babble of sobs and whispers of love and greetings in a flurry of English and Spanish as they held each other tight. Maria pulled back to look at both her children, her hands reaching up to cup their faces in turn as she pressed kisses to both their cheeks.

“You two are never going back to a dangerous mission, you hear me?” She spluttered and Hannah gave a little laugh as she cried, hugging her mom tight.

“I didn’t even wanna go on this one so... no arguments from me.” Sammy mumbled as his mom pulled him close. Hannah smiled as he stepped away and turned to watch Rachel who was hugging her kids tightly. As her brother gestured for his girlfriend to come and met their mama, Hannah’s eyes than looked over to see Sarah was embracing Ari tightly. Ari pulled back and smiled at his estranged wife, as he adjusted Maya who was now balanced on his hip. He said something to the woman, who gave him a smile, softly touching his arm as she nodded.

A flash of jealousy suddenly washed over Hannah and she swallowed, taking a deep breath, telling herself she was being unreasonable. No matter what had happened between the two, they had a deep history, and would always in some form care for one another, they had a child together, it was understandable.

Still, she wasn’t sure she liked it.

But, thankfully, she didn’t have much time to think on it all things considered, because Maya tapped Ari’s shoulder and he looked at her, kissing her cheek. She laughed and then spoke, a huge grin spreading across Ari’s face as he nodded. Then, he turned and beamed at Hannah, pointing towards her.

He placed Maya down on the floor and she took his hand, practically pulling him over towards Hannah, a huge grin on her pretty little face.

“Firefly, I got someone here very keen to meet you.” Ari spoke as he stopped in front of her and Hannah raised her brows teasingly, despite the sudden nerves flooding her system at the fact she was about to meet Ari’s daughter for the first time.

“Really? And who would that be?”

Maya gave a little giggle and she looked at Ari who himself chuckled before she turned back to Hannah. “Hi Hannah!”

“Hi, Maya, sweetheart!” Hannah smiled as she crouched down. “I’m so happy to finally meet you.”

Maya beamed and threw her arms round her, temporarily stunning Hannah who recovered quickly and a hugged the girl back as she spoke. “Me too, Dad’s told me all about you.”

Ari smiled as he watched the two of them, his heart feeling beyond full. He took a deep breath and glanced up, spotting Mama Navon reprimanding Max for something he had just said, slapping him behind the head lightly. Ari chuckled, there was no doubt in his mind that Max had quipped something to her about Ethan. Maria looked round, spotted him and smiled. He grinned back and stepped forward to give her a hug.

“Hey, Maria.”

“Oh, Ari, It’s good to see you.” She whispered as she hugged him. He smiled down at her as she pulled back, slapping his arm. “You all had me worried sick!”

He gave a little sigh and a shrug. “Had myself worried for a moment, too.”

Maria squinted her eyes at him. “Typical Levinson, huh?”

At that he smirked. “You know me.”

“Yeah, he never has a plan!” Sammy shot as he stood a few feet away, arm round Rachel who was talking to Ethan.

Ari looked at his friend who was smirking and he let out a scoff, as Sammy’s eyes then flicked to Hannah who was still crouched down chatting to Maya who was bombarding her with questions about Sudan and Simon, the dog sat beside them, his tail thumping as Maya stroked him.

“Well, sometimes the stuff you don’t plan is what works out best.” Ari responded as he met Sammy’s eyes. Sammy scoffed before he chuckled.

“Yeah, because you’re a lucky son of a bitch.”

Ari looked down at Hannah once more, before he met Sammy’s gaze, his eyes flicking to Maria before he shrugged, a soft smile on his face. “Yeah, I am.”

Ari’s attention was then taken by Sarah, who’d approached them a little shyly, her hand dropping to Maya’s head. “Maya, honey, give Hannah some rest.”

Hannah looked up, before she rose to her feet. “Honestly, it’s no bother.”

Sarah gave her a grateful smile before she took a deep breath, holding out her hand. “Hi, Hannah.”

Hannah smiled back, taking it in hers. “How are you, Sarah?”

“I should be asking how you are.” The dark haired woman replied and Hannah shrugged.

“I’m fine now, thanks.”

“Good, I’m glad.”

Maya, who had been watching them both from where she sat on the floor playing with Simon, looked up at Ari who simply shrugged, before he held his hand out and she took it. He pulled her to her feet where she jumped once more into his arms and he lifted her up.

“How long are you home for?” she asked him. He looked at Hannah who’d turned to face him and he smiled, kissing Maya’s cheek again.

“For good baby, for good.”

****

The main office became more and more crowded as time ticked by. Food and champagne suddenly appeared as a ‘Welcome Home’ party of sorts struck up. As Isaacs stood to give a small speech, talking about what they’d achieved, Ari felt a little pang of guilt as his mind flicked to the refugees that had been transported away from the airport to their temporary accommodations. They wouldn’t be getting anything near as flashy or as lavish as this, but he knew they’d be taken care of and given food, water and shelter in a lot better conditions than they’d been in before. With that in mind, he let himself go a little, allowing himself to be proud of what they’d managed to pull off.

It was astounding when he thought about it, the many missions they’d run, the danger they’d overcome. But as he stood in the room where he’d first outlined his vision years ago, he couldn’t help but think about how the best thing of all at that moment was how well Maya and Hannah seemed to be getting on. Maya had almost stuck to her side, and Simon’s, like glue. Ari noticed Sarah’s expression slip a few times as she observed them, but to her credit she said nothing.

Eventually, later in the afternoon, Isaacs called time on the celebrations as they had to debrief and go through the rest of the serious stuff that came after missions. Maya wanted to stay, growing teary when both Ari and Sarah tried to reason with her that she couldn’t. To avoid an impending tantrum and floods of tears, Ari promised he would collect her the following evening from school for dinner, assuring her once more that he wasn’t leaving again and eventually she allowed her mom to take her home after bidding a final goodbye to him, Hannah and the dog she now seemed to be totally in love with.

The formal discussions and reports were given to what felt like the entire Mossad and Military board. There were numerous things to sign, all were given dates and times for appointments with therapists, they were also all subject to medical examinations to ensure neither of them had any temperatures or other symptoms which would suggest they had any underlying infections or diseases. By the time this was over, it was pushing eight pm and all of them were relieved when Isaacs finally dismissed them, telling them to head home for some well-earned rest and recuperation.

But, it was only when Ethan handed Ari the keys to his apartment that it suddenly dawned on him that Hannah and he were about to go their separate ways. He knew she intended on going home with Sammy to her mom’s, having not seen her in over six months and Ari didn’t want to stop her from doing that, especially not on her birthday.

Yet, whilst he understood, completely, he wasn’t particularly looking forward to a night on his own in his apartment.

“You okay, Lobo?” Hannah’s voice roused him from his thoughts and he looked up, closing his fingers around his keys as Ethan left the office.

“Yeah, fine. Just tired.” He smiled as she stepped forward into his arms.

“Me too. I feel like I could sleep for a week.” She mumbled and Ari chuckled.

“Well, you can wake up late tomorrow with your mom fussing and making you brunch.” Ari smiled as he pulled back and Hannah looked up at him, her lips curling up at one side.

“Yeah, she’s looking forward to spoiling us.”

“Sure Sammy can’t wait.” Ari chuckled. “He can finally stop complaining about not knowing if his meet is beef, camel or goat.”

Hannah laughed and then took a deep breath, her fingers playing smoothing gently over the shoulders of his shirt. “She’s already been grilling me about whether you still like Spanish Omelette.”

“Me?” Ari blinked. “Why?”

“For tomorrow.” Hannah looked at him. “I thought, well assumed, that seeing as Maya isn’t staying with you that you’d wanna come back with us. I mean, if you don’t that’s-“

“No, I mean, yes. Of course I do, I just figured that you and Sammy might want a family night alone with your mama.”

“Ari, you are family.” Hannah looked at him, her hand moving to his neck, gently tangling in his hair. “And besides, Sammy’s not had much say in the matter. Mama slapped his protests down about you being a pain in the ass straight away.”

Ari chuckled and shook his head. “He still hates me, huh?”

“No, he loves you.” Hannah shook her head. “He was smiling when he said it. Mind you, we might wanna wait a little till everything’s settled to tell them were getting married.”

Ari smiled, before he took a deep breath and bit his lip. “Yeah I need to break that to Sarah, too. And buy you a ring.”

Hannah beamed, her nails gently scratching his neck. “One thing at a time, we’ll think about all that later. For now let’s just be happy we made it back.”

Ari took a deep breath before he gently leaned down and pressed his lips to Hannah’s. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” Hannah whispered as she kissed him back, his tongue gentle yet domineering as it swept into her mouth, sliding against hers.

He pulled away, pressing his forehead to hers and she smiled before a small bark interrupted them and they turned to see Simon sat by the desk on the corner, his head cocked to one side.

Ari shook his head. “You’re a pain in my ass.” He said to the dog who merely wagged his tail.

“Come on, Lobo.” Hannah slipped her hand in his as she tugged him behind her towards the door. “Let’s go home.”

*****

Chapter 16

#leave no one behind #Ari Levinson #ari levinson x ofc #ari levinson x original female character #red sea diving resort #red sea diving resort fan fic #ari levinson fanfiction #chris evans #chris evans characters

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total-ass · 3 years

Note

You know what. You want hot takes. Have them

Who mains who in smash Bros ultimate:

Owen: Mario (if anyone says Sans Mii gunner "megalowenvania" I swear)

Gwen: Bayonetta in blue

Heather: Bayonetta in red

Duncan: Ganondorf (also kins Ganondorf)

LeShawna: Palutena (both goddesses)

Geoff: Pikachu (electrifying personality. Life of the party)

Izzy: Hero (you never know what bullshit they're gonna pull next)

DJ: doesn't really like violence. Has an extensive collection of amiibo of all the animal characters. Instead he makes Duncan play multiplayer Star Fox with him so he can play as Peppy. Duncan agrees if DJ would play one game of Smash. Duncan tells DJ that Kazooie would cuss at him if he lost so DJ will play as ROB since he probably doesn't feel pain)

Lindsay: Peach (she doesn't really play she just has her Peach amiibo do everything for her)

Bridgette: also Pikachu (doesn't know what a smash brothers is. But Geoff plays Pikachu and she heard Pikachu can surf in Pokémon so)

Trent: toon link (hears toon link has a knack for music and once was a train engineer. Resonates with Trent)

Eva: ryu. Doesn't bother with the special combos. She thinks the game is dumb but her gf Izzy loves it so she plays

Harold: terry (tries to do mad skills with the inputs but fails miraculously). Eventually picks up Sheik

Courtney: Steve (she likes building model UN in Minecraft and likes the resource management gimmick in ssbu. Is known to choose the Enderman skin)

Katie and Sadie: Villager. They both have an Animal Crossing town together and grow hybrids. It's very gay

Beth: joker. Her fujoshi heart refuses to pick anyone else

Cody: Ness. Dork

Tyler: Little Mac. Compensates for being shit at sport. Has a fear of Banjo and Kazooie players for uhh obvious reasons.

Justin: spends an hour trying to make a Mii that looks like him. Cries because Miis cannot capture his beauty. Instead he watches Trent spam arrow as Toon Link

Noah: Daisy

Ezekiel: doesn't know who any of these characters are. Picks Pit because he sorta looks like him

Alejandro: Pokémon trainer. We know he wants to be a lion tamer plus he gets a rush of controlling 3 things instead of 1

Sierra: Lucas. She tries to copy Cody but is also trying to be her own person

Cameron: did wanna play Dr Mario but probably moaned that he's not even medically accurate or that the trajectory of his pills are astronomical. Picks Ness because he can suspend belief for that

Lightning: doesn't have time for video games (canonically said this). Picks captain Falcon because he's buff. Sam laughs when he does so. Lightning only plays as Falcon to impress Sam now

Zoey: Jigglypuff. She thinks Jiggylpuff is cute but really she just gravitates towards them because they're capable of some evil shit or something

Scott: Pichu. Looks can be deceiving.

Jo: plays Ken but she can actually do the combos. Doesn't actually like video games but she commits to everything. Has hospitalised people at tourneys when she loses

Mike: fox (furry)

Svetlana: Zero Suit Samus (also has a crush on her)

Chester: "tf is suh-boo lol. Anyways I remember donkey Kang so i guess him"

Manitoba: Greninja

Vito: also Fox (Vito is not a furry)

Mal: does it need to be said? Sephiroth

Dakota: also Jigglypuff. Zoey falls out with Dakota because Dakota is better than Zoey at her. Sam gives Dakota training

Brick: Luigi. Total beta

Anne Maria: Samus. Would wear armour if it meant protecting her hair. "Anne Maria it's not real your hair is fine" they say. They weren't there when she played with Jo.

Sam: plays a bit of everyone. Secretly plays Sans costume Mii Gunner

Dawn: Zelda. Think she's so cool and magic

B: Snake. Likes the tactics of the bombs and stuff.

Staci: Kirby. Pink and has a big mouth.

Shawn: would've played minecraft Steve. Punched his screen when the zombie skin appeared and now he refuses to do so. Instead he plays Olimar

Sky: Wii Fit Trainer. It's the gymnastics for her

Sugar: Isabelle. Cries because she's awful at the game in private

Jasmine: kind hard to decide. Maybe Daisy also because she likes flowers and she's a bit tomboyish. Maybe Piranha Plant depending on how into the whole flower shop she is

Max: Bowser Jr Bowser Jr Bowser Jr. Plays Bowser in front of others though

Scarlett: sees Cloud has a big sword and chooses him

Dave: uhh. young link. Annoying

Topher: falco. Blue and loves himself too much

Ella: Jigglypuff. Only uses Sing. Congratulates those who beat her. Sugar always plays with her because Ella is the only person she can win against sometimes. Sugar is also the only person Ella has beaten in a smash game

Amy: picks Simon Belmont. Toxic as fuck

Sammy: Mewtwo. Was a massive Pokémon nerd growing up. Didn't like using Mewtwo on her Pokémon teams but because of balancing she feels okay using Mewtwo in smash

Rodney: ALL the female alts. Villager, Corrin, Robin. He cried when he found out Pyra and Mythra were 2 girls in 1. Bought the dlc immediately

Leonard: hero and robin. What more needs to be said?

Beardo: Mega Man. Really resonates with him as he's bionic

Chris: Richter Belmont. He's awful and he likes that Richter looks sorta like him

Chef: Link. Says he does it for the strategy. In reality it's just so he can spam projectiles at Chris to piss him off so he can't approach as R*chter

Blaineley: Wario.

#total drama #td #smash bros #smash bros ultimate #I love this genre of headcanons so much

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jurassicparkpodcast · 3 years

Text

Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous Season 3 SPOILER Review!

The Third Season of Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous has arrived – meaning we’re bringing you some more content around the show, including our spoiler thoughts on how the third season did when compared to the first two. If you haven’t seen Camp Cretaceous Season 3 yet then click off this article now, as we are going to be discussing some of the key set pieces in this series which make it by far the best one to be released to date. Let’s get into it!

We’ll start by summarising the third season – and, in particular, it’s story. The story of the Campers attempting to get off of the island whilst uncovering that a terrifying new hybrid has broken loose is interesting, with plenty done to explore more of Isla Nublar and, indeed, the terrifying work which Doctor Henry Wu was doing in the shadows of the former Jurassic World. Although the kids ultimately escape the island, this isn’t without a few interesting sequences sprinkled in throughout – including direct tie-ins to Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom, and also hints at the future of Mantah Corp and their research into InGen’s work. The third story feels incredibly well balanced – with lots of fantastic set pieces balanced with meaningful storytelling and interesting characters alongside brand-new dinosaurs. The third season brings us a much more grounded story which aims to fill some of the canonical gaps left by Season Two – creating a story which feels satisfying and fulfilling.

The third season maintains the same cast of characters – with each of them getting plenty of interesting development. Darius, for example, spends some time earlier in the season filling the holes in his notebook – giving us a fun look at a Dilophosaurus drawing indicating he encountered this animal on the island at some point. Kenji struggles with the kids liking him and feels the need to use his wealth to impress them, whilst Sammy worries about what Mantah Corp may have done to her family back home. Each character feels three dimensional in the third season – with some great development showing how they have adapted to their environment. Of note here in particular is the character of Yasmina, who selflessly heads across the island in search on an anti-serum when Sammy is poisoned by the quills on the Scorpios Rex. This animal itself is handled incredibly well – with the kids feeling genuinely in danger at some points throughout the story.

The other dinosaurs in the story are good too – including surprising appearances from both the Ouranosaurus and the Monolophosaurus. These animals do go against the pre-established canon of the island a little bit, with neither of them ever mentioned as being present on Nublar, but it is possible that the prior existing list was only ever intended to reflect the public-facing dinosaurs. These animals get some interesting sequences throughout the story – although there are a lot of the Monolophosaurus at one point in the story. Beyond the small canonical issues here, the only other real issue I had with Season 3 was the fact that the Scorpios was developed before the Indominus Rex. This does retroactively go against a lot of the pre-established timeline in things like the viral marketing – but it is possible that the Scorpios was hidden from existence altogether given it was seen as a failure by Simon Masrani. It is interesting to note that the Scorpios was able to reproduce asexually – suggesting a second E750 which is present in the show was able to grow to maturity incredibly quickly. Perhaps this can be explained by the enhanced growth Bumpy also inherits, however. These small issues aside, Season 3 took big strides to fix my issues with Season 2 of the show – creating a much more well-rounded experience which fits better within the universe of the films.

There were a few moments throughout Season 3 which stood out to me as building on the critiques on Season 2 – the first of which was the Ouranosaurus Attack at the dock as the kids attempt to patch up the damage which Tiff’s boat has sustained. I loved how the ambience in this sequence felt reflective of sequences in both The Lost World novel and in Trespasser – with some fantastic, tense sequences utilising natural fog and darkness to really elevate the stakes and create something which felt darker and scarier in tone than anything beforehand. We don’t often see herbivores as direct threats for the human characters in Jurassic, so the attention to ambience and atmosphere throughout this sequence really helped to make the Ouranosaurus feel more intimidating when they eventually attacked. I also loved how this sequence is later explained as the animals behaviours changing due to the ecosystem being tilted off-balance by the Scorpios Rex – a fun note which perhaps suggests that the Spinosaurus may have had a similar impact on Isla Sorna. This was a really fun sequence and one which I thought was worth highlighting here as I really enjoyed it.

Next up I wanted to talk about a sequence which hits the nostalgia factor and tones it up to eleven – with the pair of Scorpios Rexes hunting the campers through the original Visitor’s Centre. A lot of the sequences in the centre feel very similar to those in 1993’s Jurassic Park – with sequences in the kitchen, in particular, recreating shot-for-shot some of the moments from the kitchen sequence in the first film. I really liked these call-backs as whilst they were quite overt, they felt as though they fitted with the show, and worked incredibly well. I also love how the series initially shows Blue nesting in the Visitor Centre before she heads to the Ford Explorer, as this underpins how much of this animal’s present-day existence is nested in Henry Wu’s past work at Jurassic Park. The Visitor’s Centre is also ultimately destroyed by the Scorpios Rexes during this sequence – with both animals buried by the rubble. Whilst some fans may be upset to see this location destroyed, I loved how it underpins a very core concept moving forwards – highlighting how Henry Wu’s arrogance and continued ignorance in the implications of his science has ultimately destroyed the legacy of the work that both he and John Hammond attempted to do.

Lastly, it’s worth noting that the third season features two bonus episodes – with the final two episodes tying directly into the Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom opening sequence. After Season One of the show, I tweeted one of the writers asking him if there was a chance we’d see reference to this in the future, so seeing this recreated shot-for-shot in the show with the kids watching on as the Indominus sample was extracted was awesome. It was also really cool seeing how Wu’s additional mission was to retrieve his laptop – noting that without it, the work he needed to do on the Indoraptor would take years and not months. This perhaps explains why the animal we see during the Lockwood Manor auction sequence is only a prototype – as Wu ultimately leaves the island without this information. It is interesting seeing some of Wu’s dialogue with Brooklynn throughout these episodes – with the character perhaps showing some small semblance of remorse. Ultimately, however, he leaves the kids on Nublar – reinforcing his status as a character with a questionable moral compass moving into Jurassic World Dominion. I have to admit – the way this tie-in played out was handled masterfully, and I was really happy to see things unfold in the way they did. I genuinely screamed out loud at my screen with happiness at one moment – emphasising how much work went in to nailing this crossover. It’s clear that the team working on Camp Cretaceous went to great lengths to smash the third season – and the result is some fantastic crossover which pays off and builds the lore of Wu’s work in meaningful ways without any of the massive contradictions I was worried these sequences may introduce.

The Series ends with the Campers finally escaping the island – heading off in a repaired boat, although we do see at the very closing moments that something else is on-board and hidden in the lower decks. This poses an interesting question in its own right, as it has been pre-established that Scorpios can self-reproduce – so is it possible a third hybrid existed on the island? If so then this could pose a grave risk to people on the mainland when the campers return there. We also know that Mantah Corp may potentially still be at play – with a quad-copter drone observing the Scorpios Rex on the island. Is it possible this shady corporation may now recover the carcasses of the dead hybrids for their own experiments? And what happened to the pilot of the Helicopter which the kids crashed in? She didn’t appear to have been eaten – but we never see her again after the crash sequence. These are just a handful of the questions we were left with at the end of Season 3 – implying there is more story to be told, even if the third season felt like it reached a nice natural ending for the series as a whole.

Overall, the third season of Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous is fantastic. Do not sleep on this season. It adds a lot to the lore of Doctor Henry Wu and his research, and it builds out a lot of interesting lore for the experiments which were happening on Isla Nublar. It also sets up some interesting plot threads for the future without them feeling overly intrusive and detrimental to the wider story telling in the Jurassic universe. Season 2 of this show left me feeling a little deflated, but Season 3 left me feeling reinvigorated. This wraps up the story of E750 and the wider universe in meaningful ways, and is a fantastic and more mature Jurassic adventure which adult fans will enjoy. I can’t wait to see the reception to this season – and how it informs Jurassic content in the future.

Written by: Tom Jurassic

#article #camp cretaceous #camp cretaceous season three #camp cretaceous season 3 #tom jurassic #tom fishenden

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ren1327 · 3 years

Text

Seeing Stars Ch. 5

“Come in, come in!” Darius yelled into a radio and growled.

“Darius, calm down.” Brooklynn said softly from her desk, glancing up from her computer.

“How?” Darius asked. “Ben and Kenji…”

He closed his eyes.

“They’ll be okay.” Yaz said. “You know they will.”

They had holed up in the main bunker, four regular sized rooms available along with a few lockers filled with food, artillery and airtight with recycled air and enough running water for a week at most. After they had been attacked, they were cornered there, the other community bunkers having been unusable since many had leaks and no air purification.

“Why didn’t we all come here?” Brooklynn asked with a sigh.

“Your parents must have never thought to use them.” Sammy said, blowing a cloud of dust off a keyboard.

“Sammy.” Brooklynn said. “How are the security monitors?”

“Half are still dark. No way to get into contact without manually resetting the system.”

“Then we reset the system.” Yaz said and went to a locker.

She opened it to see a set of large heavy flashlights, flares and…

“Hello.” She hummed and pulled out a tranquilizer gun. She found a few darts, checking the expiration on the box. “Still good.”

“You can’t just stroll down the tunnel, Yaz—”

“I’ll go with her, Sammy.” Darius said, taking the second flashlight and a walkie talkie. “I know these tunnels as good as any Roth.”

Brooklynn winked. “He does, trust me.”

Sammy got up and hugged Yaz tight, Yaz pulling away to kiss her nose.

“I’ll be back soon with the boys. Make sure the rooms are locked up tight.” She said, handing Sammy the other walkie talkie.”

“You make sure you stay away from those…those things!” Sammy said and Yaz kissed her softly on the lips, the smaller woman humming softly as Yaz pressed her forehead to hers.

“I will.”

“I’m on channel 2.” Darius told Brooklynn, who nodded.

She quickly squeezed out the door, Darius behind her as she turned, watching it shut and hearing the lock click. Yaz banged on it twice, getting three back.

“Okay. Let’s go.” She said and Darius nodded.

Darius led her quickly through the darkened halls.

“Wow.” She said. “Grayson Roth really has an…imagination.”

Darius smiled. “It’s not a hundred percent sealed, if your claustrophobic.”

“I survived gyro-balls, Dude.” She said. “But why not seal it completely?”

“Because then we’d suffocate or starve to death. Grayson had all these fail safes just in case.”

“Out of pocket?”

“Spared no expense.” Darius said and peeked around the corner. “Okay…there’s a maintenance shaft down this way.”

“How do you know so much about this place?” Yaz asked. “I mean, you practically live here yourself, I know, your brother says so.”

“Have I mentioned how annoying it is that you two became gym buddies?”

“You think you guys could keep up?” She teased.

“Ben’s a fast runner. And Cole…” He sighed.

“I’ve been meaning to ask…” She said softly. “About Cole.”

“He’s a good choice. For Kenji I mean.”

“All respect, I don’t think Kenji likes Cajun food.” Yaz said.

“And that means?” Darius asked as he pushed the door open for her and closed it behind them.

“It means, you want cute southern sweetie to court you instead.” Yaz said.

“I-I…” Darius blushed. “I…Kenji would be a better match.”

“Darius.” Yaz put a hand on his shoulder. “You and I know Kenji and Cole don’t want each other like that.”

“…I came back here to protect what was left of the dinosaurs…” Darius said. “I wanted to make a difference. But then, the Roths came, and Kenji’s dad and the island was, is…perfect. And then I met Cole and…I’m a beta, Yaz. And on top of that…I think I might be asexual.”

Yaz hugged her friend as he teared up, rubbing his back. “That doesn’t matter—”

“Alphas want pups! Alphas have ruts!” Darius said. “I’m too…too wrong—”

“Don’t you dare say that!” Yaz said, holding a finger to his chin. “You survived the island like we did, you helped us stay safe and showed how great a leader you are. I’m gonna say it, Darius. What we and your family have been saying forever.”

“No. Please—”

“Your Dad would be so proud of who you are. And I know, I know for a fact! You can do anything, I mean anything you set your heart on.” She said.

“I…”

“Besides. I’m pretty sure everyone knows Kenji and Ben are like…a thing.” Yaz said and Darius laughed.

“Yeah.” He said with a smile.

“Now—” She paused and looked up. “Whoa.”

Darius looked up himself to see a huge control panel.

“Just like a fuse box.” He said. “Just switch off and on and press the buttons.”

Yaz nodded and looked around the room, noticing another door that seemed to be sealed with a pin pad.

“What is this?” She asked. “Hey Darius?”

“Mmhm?” He asked as he started to carefully go down the board.

“When’s Cole and Brooklynn’s birthday?”

“June first and March eighth.” He called.

Yaz put the dates in the four pin lock and huffed when it beeped at her. She then put in Cole’s and Brooklynn’s birth years. Two more angry beeps after each told her she was wrong.

“How long have Grayson and Jasper been married?”

“Uh…Twenty seven years as if August.”

Yaz typed in 1994 and gasped as the door slid open halfway as the very mountain seemed to shutter and silence.

“Darius?”

“Hold on a sec.” He said.

There was a soft hum and they heard the walkie crackle.

“Yaz?” Sammy called. “Darius?”

“Hey, yeah.” Darius said from the dark. “You guys, okay?”

“Yeah, looks like all the monitors are booting back up and…yes! We have visual—”

“Sammy?” Yaz asked.

“Get out of there!” Brooklynn yelled as the lights came on, many little bodies screeching as the light reflected off their bulbous eyes.

“Darius!” Yaz yelled. “Get inside!”

Darius dove into the doorway as Yaz back up, swinging the tranq gun up as a troodon leapt at them, the door shutting behind it.

“Get behind me!” Yaz yelled and knocked a dart in the gun.

The troodon snarled and crouched, Darius ducking behind Yaz and grabbing a random blunt object.

Yaz shot at it and it flopped down.

“I don’t think it could see us.” Darius said as the creature huffed and laid still.

“Oh thank goodness.” She said and Darius grabbed a roll of electrical tape from the desk of…

“Simon Masrani?” He asked, looking at the name plate in his hand.

“What?” Yaz asked and Darius shoot his head.

“Uh, never mind.” He said and taped the dinosaur’s mouth shut, wrapping it’s eyes with a bandana he had wrapped around his arm.

“Get me that first aid kit?” He asked.

Yaz grabbed a kit from the wall and Darius used gauze, bandages and medical tape to wrap it’s claws up, then tie it’s legs together and arms to its body, Darius using more electric tape over the bandages.

“Smart.”

“Had to do this with some baby velociraptors.” He said, then looked back at the desk, noticing the computer booting up.

“What is this doing locked up?” he asked.

Yaz clicked the space bar and they saw the video system was still on.

“There’s two files.” Yaz said and clicked on one.

Simon Masrani looked at the camera, as if directly at them, his warm face smiling.

“Grayson. My friend. My brother. I must tell you that things…they are not good. I have just been informed that Brom’s widow is pregnant. She was a good wife to him, a good friend to us both. If not for her blessing, Brom and I would not have…We would not have had the time we had together. She allowed the man she married to be with the man he loved, and she did so out of love.”

“Whoa.” Yaz said.

“I loved Brom. In his last few years, I loved with all my heart and it is only just that his child be my rightful heir. That child ties you to me as well.” He looked at his hands. “Four families tied by a single baby.”

He chuckled and looked up at the camera.

“I don’t care if they are an alpha like I am, a beta like their mother or an omega like thier father.” He said. “I want you to make sure when their mother reveals the truth, that they are the one who holds power. I’m counting on you, my friend.”

The video ended and Yaz blinked.

“So…Masrani was having an affair with a married man?”

“A married omega man, who’s wife blessed the union of Masrani and her husband.” Darius supplied.

Yaz clicked on the second video and Masrani looked frantic, he was older, like…

“This looks like the day he died.” Darius said.

“My friend.” He said. “Today, a disaster has fallen over my park and I fear I could lose my life. I need you to make sure my son is taken care of. Make sure his mother is the only one to gain my fortune and do not tell him of his parentage. I was suppose to meet him today!”

He clutched his hair.

“I was going to…Please keep this video close. Show him this."

He looked at the camera, smiling.

“Son...My—”

Yaz sat on the desk.

“This changes everything.” She mumbled.

“I know.” Darius said.

“I don’t think he knows.”

“His mom was suppose to tell him.”

“But!” She huffed and paced. “We need to get back to everyone.”

She found a flash drive and saved the videos to them.

“Okay. Just in case. Ready?”

“For what?”

“To run, Darius. I’m getting to my future wife and showing Kenji this.”

Darius nodded and grabbed the walkie form his belt.

“Come in.” He said.

“Darius, what have you been doing?” Brooklynn asked.

“Get ready.” Darius said. “And turn the lights all the way up in the tunnels.”

“Okay.” There was a pause. “You’re clear. Go, go, go!”

Darius slammed the door open and he and Yaz ran.

Yaz ran behind Darius, watching him pound on the door.

The door opened and Darius fell in, Yaz running behind him as Ben shut the door.

“Ben?!” She yelled and hugged him.

“We just got here.” He said with a smile. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

She looked to see Kenji on a sofa, sweating and panting.

“Kenji?”

“He was bitten.” Sammy said, wiping his head with a cool wet rag.

Ben walked over to him. “I was able to treat him using some tranquilizers and some antibiotics.”

“How did you know to do that?” Yaz asked.

“Ever hear of a Laura Sorkin?” Ben asked.

“Ooh, yeah.” Darius said. “Crazy scientist.”

Yaz took a breath and looked at the security monitors, noticing most were still under water.

“Okay, guys.” She said, placing the tranq gun down. “What now?”

#jurassic world camp cretaceous #camp cretaceous #jwcc #jw fanfic #yaz fadoula #darius bowman #jw brooklynn #sammy gutierrez #ben pincus #kenji kon #kenji x ben #kenben #jw benji #wildcity #ben x kenji #camp cretaceous seeing stars #camp cretaceous fanfic

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what-is-your-plan-today · 4 years

Text

Leave No One Behind

Ch 10- Today Is A Gift, That’s Why They Call It The Present

Co written with @icanfeelastormbrewing

****

Episode Summary: The Team run their second mission, but it doesn’t go according to plan. When one of the refugee women goes into labour, Hannah and Sammy battle to save her life and that of her baby and the outcome isn’t one any of the team hoped for.

Episode Warnings: Bad Language words. Smut (NSFW no under18s). Descriptions of birth and trauma. Still born baby- so PLEASE PLEASE HEED THE WARNING AND DO NOT READ IF THESE COULD TRIGGER.

Episode Pairings: Ari Levinson x OFC Hannah Horowitz

Song for Episode: Hallelujah- Leonard Cohen

A/N: Just to re-iterate, this deals with a very, very difficult subject. Please do NOT read if the warnings above could upset or trigger.

Series Master List // Main Masterlist

Baby I've been here before, I've seen this room and I've walked this floor, I used to live alone before I knew ya. I've seen your flag on the marble arch, but love is not a victory march, it's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah

Things settled down for Ari and Hannah nicely after her birthday. Sammy wasn’t exactly what Ari would call happy about the situation, but he was accepting which was the main thing and he knew that it made Hannah happier. They were careful to be respectful to his feelings and kept PDAs to a minimum, and also, whilst they didn’t hide the fact they were together from any guests, they still wanted to keep up their professional, alter ego fronts. Therefore, the days were full of stolen moments at their cave, the evenings consisted of taking their own time together after dining with the group to enjoy long sunsets sitting or walking along the sand with Simon and a few drinks whilst the later nights were spent wrapped round one another either in his hut or Hannah’s, the physical side of their love lulling them into a satisfied sleep.

If it wasn’t for the fact they were there for a far more serious reason, Ari would have certainly called it paradise. But they had a job to do, and as such, a couple of weeks later in April they embarked on their second mission.

Rachel was manning the radio and overseeing the hotel as usual, and the rest of them piled in the trucks and set off in the dark, following the route they had meticulously planned, maintaining the updates on the radio as required. They arrived without a hitch, the journey going smoothly and Hannah couldn’t resist taking a dig at Sammy about his lack of faith, her brother simply giving her a scathing look as Ari chuckled from the driver’s seat.

The 5 agents operated quickly and efficiently in the dark clearing of the desert loading the refugees into the trucks, and it was with the last group that Hannah spotted a woman being helped towards the truck by 2 others. She was pregnant, very pregnant in fact. And it was evident she was in a severe amount of pain.

“Sammy…” she nudged her brother and pointed towards the woman. Sammy followed her gaze, and once he spotted what she’d seen he let out a loud groan.

“Shit.” He shook his head, and no sooner had the curse left his mouth, the woman fell to her knees, a cry coming from her lips which was hastily stifled by another refugee clamping her hand over her mouth. Hannah rushed forward, dropping besides the woman and smiled kindly at her, before she turned back to look for Kabede who was currently locked in a heated discussion with Sammy.

“Are you crazy?” Sammy shook his head “It’s too dangerous, she should have stayed!”

“If she stayed she would have died.” Kabede shot back “As would her baby…”

“If anyone hears her then we’re all gonna die!” Sammy shot back and Hannah angrily shushed him.

“Stop it, both of you, you’re scaring her” she looked up “Sammy, she’s in labour and we can’t leave her here…”

“Oh great, that’s…just…” Sammy took a deep breath

Hearing the commotion, Ari and Jake shut the tailgate to the other truck and Ari jogged over to find out what was happening.

“What’s going on?” Ari asked and then he glanced at Hannah who was knelt between a young woman’s legs and one look told him exactly why “Oh…shit.”

“Yeah, shit!” Sammy shook his head and Ari took a deep breath as Hannah spoke.

“She’s in labour.” She looked up at Ari, every inch of her face etched with worry as the woman let out a little cry “And she’s pretty far engaged.”

“I knew things were going too smoothly…” Sammy sighed and Hannah glared at him.

“Oh shut up Sammy you prick!” she shook her head and turned back to Ari as he scrubbed a hand down his face.

“Can you help her?” he asked

“I can try, but it’s gonna have to be on route.” Hannah looked at him. “If anything goes wrong the faster we can get her to the doctor on the boats the better.” Ari drew a deep breath “Ok, Sammy help me and Kabede get her in the truck.”

“I’ll go get my kit.” Hannah jumped up and headed for the cab of the truck, pushing past Max as she ran.

“What…” Max followed her with his eyes before he turned back towards Ari and Sammy, his eyes shooting up as he took in the pregnant woman being helped to her feet, his mouth hanging open slightly.

“Other truck is loaded. We ready to go?” Jake asked, drawing up besides Max, frowning at the look on his face. “Something wrong?”

“Looks like we picked up one extra.” Max whispered, and Jake followed his gaze, his mouth dropping open.

“Oh…”

The men looked at each other before Jake mumbled something about a couple of blankets and shot off back to their truck. Meanwhile, Hannah emerged from the cab of the one she had travelled in and ran back to the tail gate as Jake reappeared, passing a small bundle of blanket to Kabede who placed one under the woman’s head as one of the other refugees took hold of her hand.

Kabede looked at Ari who nodded and clapped his hands together.

“Ok, everyone let’s hit the road!” he loudly called before he turned to Hannah as she was about to vault into the back of the truck. His hand gently fell to the side of her neck as he looked at her “You need me to stop just yell, ok?” she nodded and he kissed her forehead “You can do this sweetheart, I trust you.”

She swallowed and then handed her bag to Kabede before Ari helped her climb up into the truck. Kabede hopped down, quickly embracing Ari before he slunk back off into the shadows. Sammy and Ari slammed the tail gate shut and they both sprinted to the cab. With a final glance back into the flat bed where Ari saw Hannah knelt between the woman’s bent legs, talking to her gently, he twisted back and exchanged a glance with Sammy before he put the truck in gear and set off.

Hannah knew there was something wrong from the minute she’d examined the woman. She’d only delivered a few babies but none of those deliveries had involved quite as much blood as this. The thought that the woman could be having a major haemorrhage crossed her mind but she tried to shake it off as she wiped her blood slick hands on the shirt she was wearing. The truck then hit a rut in the road and the woman let out a scream, gripping her friend’s hand.

“Sorry!” Ari yelled back and Hannah glanced up, momentarily to the front before another yell and a hand on her shoulder made her turn back and she saw with horror the woman had passed out.

“Sammy!” she yelled “Sam, please I need…”

Sammy didn’t waste a second, he clambered over the seats into the back looking at Hannah as she wiped the sweat off her brow with her forearm, unknowingly smearing her head with blood.

Sammy crouched in front of the woman, gently checking her pulse.

“She just passed out.” Hannah said. “The baby’s crowning but…”

“She’s losing too much blood.” Sammy stated the obvious, but Hannah didn’t snap.

“I know.” She said softly.

“Ari!” Sammy called and Ari tipped his head slightly to show he was listening “Get on the radio, tell them what’s going on. They need to be prepared.”

“Got it…” Ari said, reaching for the handset.

“Ok, now listen to me Han…” Sammy said, “You’re gonna have to manipulate the baby slightly. Let her body to the work but as she’s passed out you’re gonna need to help ok?”

“Ok.”

Sammy carefully moved, placing his hand on the woman’s stomach “I’ll tell you when she’s contracting again. You need to gently grip the head…”

Hannah did as she was told and looked at her brother.

“When you feel the baby moving forward slightly, pull until you feel resistance. Then stop.”

��Ok…”

There was a few seconds pause and then Sammy nodded “Now.”

Hannah did as she was told, her fingers curing around the edge of the baby’s head and she gave a tug. The head appeared, and then she noticed with horror that the chord was wrapped around its neck.

“Shit, shit, shit…” she mumbled, and looked at Sammy “The chord…”

Sammy instantly moved. “My hand…” he said gently and Hannah understood he wouldn’t be able to manipulate it free with his limited movement. She waited until he had hold of the baby’s head, supporting it and then her nimble fingers she moved to try and manipulated the chord free. As she was doing so, the woman began to stir, and then she started to panic. Sammy glanced at the other woman, holding her hand and spoke to her.

“Calm, please, as much as you can ok?”

Whether she understood or it was the tone he spoke in, Sammy had no idea but the woman moved and placed a hand on her friend’s head, gently talking to her in a soothing voice.

“Got it…” Hannah said, and Sammy nodded as once more the woman began to scream. She tucked her chin into her chest and pushed once more, and the baby’s shoulders broke free and Hannah saw the baby slide out into Sammy’s hands.

“It’s a girl.” He said gently, looking at the woman, but Hannah was completely focussed on the baby’s face, which was a cold shade of blue.

She once more wiped her hands, this time on her jeans, and gently hooked a finger into the baby’s mouth, clearing its airways before she began CPR. Gently blowing into the tiny mouth she then used both fingers to pump at the chest, repeating the motion over a few times before she bent and tipped her ear to the baby’s chest and mouth.

Nothing.

As the woman was screaming and babbling besides her, Hannah continued her attempts to resuscitate the tiny baby as Sammy saw to the woman, cleaning and patching her up as best he could.

“Come on…” Hannah mumbled “Come on…”

Over and over and over she tried, and eventually she felt Sammy gently lay his hand on her shoulder.

“Han…” he said, and she looked at him, tears in her eyes. He shook his head sadly.

“No, just…let me try again, Sammy, I can…” “It’s been ten minutes.” He stopped her protest “I think we should call it.”

Hannah looked down at the tiny, lifeless baby which was lay on the bloodstained blanket on the floor of the truck, her tears gently falling down her face. She gave a soft nod and Sammy squeezed her shoulder before he looked up at the woman.

“I’m sorry he shook her head.”

The silence that had fallen across the back of the truck was punctuated by her loud scream of agony and Hannah let out a soft sob as Sammy curled his arm around her.

“What…is something wrong?” Ari called, his voice anxious.

“You could say that.” Sammy said softly. Ari turned his head to look at them, just in time to see Hannah turn and press her face into Sammy’s shoulder, her small frame wracking with sobs.

“Fuck” He mumbled, hanging his head slightly as he resumed his driving in silence. Ari gave himself a moment before he reached for the radio to fill base in on what had happened.

It felt like forever until they reached the deserted cove where they were rendezvousing with the Navy seals. Hannah remained in the back of the truck, the devastated woman cradling her still born baby to her chest. Once everyone else was loaded up, Ari and Sammy came back to help them down. The woman’s friend said something to her and the woman furiously shook he head and Hannah looked at her.

“What is she saying?” she asked softly, “I’m sorry, I don’t…”

“She not leave baby.” The woman said “

“She doesn’t have to.” Ari said gently.

“She say baby go too. Be buried.”

Ari nodded and the woman spoke to the mother and she nodded as well, and then slowly the 2 men and Hannah helped them off the truck and over the sand to the waiting boat. Hannah walked by her side, supporting her gently and looked at the Navy officer who peered at the bundle and bowed his head.

“HQ told us.” He said gently. “We’ll take care of her.” “She’s lost a lot of blood.” Hannah spoke, swallowing “She’s weak so…” “I promise she’s in good hands.” The officer assured her.

Hannah took a deep breath and looked at the woman again who stared at her, eyes wide. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t help.” Hannah said gently. “I’m so…so sorry.”

The mother’s voice caught in her throat as the lady gently reached out and grabbed her blood stained hand “You…you good person.” She croaked.

Hannah took another shuddering breath and stepped back, the woman releasing her hand, as Ari and Sammy helped push the boat out through the waves before she bent down and began to wash her arms in the salty water of the sea. She jumped slight as she felt a hand on her back and she looked up as Ari crouched next to her.

“I couldn’t help Ari.” She said gently “I tried, but…” “Hey, it’s not your fault honey.” He said, his hand cupping her dirty face.

“I’m a fucking doctor.” She shook her head, shrugging his hands away as she stood up. “That…I should have….”

“Firefly.” Ari soothed as he rose to his feet, the waves crashing around his knees “You did what you could. Sammy said you were brilliant.”

“He’s a far better doctor that me.” She shook her head “If he had both his hands…”

“You stop that right now!” Sammy’s voice came fiercely over the night and Hannah turned to face him where he was stood a few feet away “Han, we had no equipment. No ultra-sound…she was probably in labour for the last 24 hours. The baby could have been in distress for all that time. There’s nothing either of us could have done.”

Hannah looked at him before she turned away and began making her way up the beach. She passed Max and Jake who were stood watching the ocean, both men turning to watch her go before they looked back at Ari and Sammy.

“You alright pal?” Ari glanced at Sammy who took a deep breath, his shoulder slumping.

“It’s never easy…but when it’s a kid, especially a baby.” He shook his head “That’s probably the first one Hannah’s had to deal with.”

Ari looked over to where Hannah was now climbing into the truck, settling back into the seat she’d been before and he pinched the bridge of his nose before he let out a long breath.

“Come on, let’s get back” he said, his hand falling to Sammy’s shoulder as they waded out of the shallow depth of the ocean. “Good job guys.” He nodded to Jake and Max, “Another 174 people safe.”

“Yeah…” Max looked out over the ocean before he turned to look at the truck, then back to Ari, his shoulders slumping, his face sad. “But it’s the one that didn’t make it who we’re all thinking about.”

Ari bowed his head, before he looked at Max and gave the man’s shoulder a squeeze as he walked past. He said nothing, be chase he had absolutely nothing to say that he knew would make a blind bit of difference to how they were feeling.

The 4 men made their way back to the trucks, Ari climbing in and settling to Hannah’s left, Sammy to her right. He gently dropped his hand to her knee. She didn’t look at him, but she acknowledged his touch by dropping her hand to his and giving it a soft squeeze before she let go so he could start the truck and take them home.

***** It was early morning and still dark when they arrived, Rachel waiting for them as ever. Max and Jake trudged towards her, greeting her with a hug whilst Sammy hopped out of the cab, turning to help Hannah down. He slung his arm over her shoulders and together they made their way towards Rachel.

“Hey.” She said gently “There’s some tea on the go if either of you want any?”

Sammy smiled at her and nodded, but Hannah shook her head as she bent down to scoop Simon up. The dog instantly began licking her face and she turned to Rachel.

“Thanks but I’m gonna turn in.” she said.

“You sure?” Rachel asked.

Hannah nodded.

“Ok, well, see you at breakfast then.”

Without a word Hannah walked through the resort and out the back door, just as Ari caught up with the group. He watched Hannah go before he looked around.

“We’ll debrief tomorrow.” His instruction was gentle, his eyes sliding back to the spot Hannah had been in seconds ago “It’s been a long night.”

The group nodded and Max muttered something about needing a snack before he and Jake took off to the kitchen.

“What happened?” Rachel asked “I mean, I got the jist of it but…” “Chord was round the baby’s neck.” Sammy sighed, “Hannah managed to unwrap it but it was too late. Poor thing had probably died well before we got to her.”

“Shit.” Rachel bowed her head, sighing heavily “That’s…” she trailed off and Sammy looked at her before she glanced back up at him “Are you ok?”

Sammy shrugged “It’s never nice.” He replied, having no other words to describe the situation.

Rachel gently squeezed his hand “I’ll go make the tea, Ari?”

“No thanks. I’m gonna go check on Hannah.” He replied. Rachel nodded and then turned to follow Max and Jake. Taking that as his cue to leave, Ari made for the door to the beach.

“Ari…” Sammy spoke softly and Ari spun to look at him. Sammy licked his lips “I know I don’t need to ask but…look after her, ok?”

“Always.” Ari nodded, smiling softly. Sammy gave him a small incline of the head before he headed off towards the kitchen. Taking a deep breath, Ari made his way out of the back of the resort and jogged up the sand towards Hannah’s hut.

He pushed the door open, before he stepped in, locking it behind him. He let out a chuckle as Simon jumped up at him, his tail wagging that hard it was a blur.

“Hey buddy.” He crouched down to give the dog some scratches “Where’s your mamma huh?”

It was a pointless question, as he knew where she would be. In the shower. His eyes glanced at the bed as Simon walked past Hannah’s discarded boots and hopped up, making his way to his favoured place, the pillow on the side Ari slept on. Ari rolled his eyes and sat down on the bed before he bent down to undo his laces. He shucked his hiking boots off and looked back a Simon, and as he did so something else caught his eye. Hannah’s night stand looked different. The lamp was on, there was the standard bottle of water, her book…but there was something missing. And as he racked his brains, trying to figure out what it was, it suddenly clicked. The photo of her and Andy, the one that had been taken in her Mama’s back yard was gone.

Ari didn’t quite know how he felt about that. On the one hand he couldn’t deny he felt, well maybe not pleased but a certain level of comfort or relief if that either of those were the right word at the fact that he no longer had to see Andy’s face when he woke up next to his girl in the morning. But on the other he felt a little sad. Both of them had lived lives with other people, it was a fact neither of them could escape and Ari wasn’t sure he wanted to either. That time apart had taught them things, things about themselves that had shaped their lives, moulded them into the people they were now. He licked his lips and stood up, headed over to the small bathroom at the back of the hut, gently pushing the door open.

“Han?” he asked softly, his eyes adjusting to the dim light from the feeble strip halogen on the ceiling and the sight in front of him broke his heart. Hannah was sat in the bottom of the shower, fully clothed, her arms hugging her knees to her chest, as she wept.

“Oh Firefly…” Ari sighed, crossing the small space and shuffling down next to her, the water soaking his hair and his clothes as he wrapped one strong arm around her. She turned to him, burying her face into his chest, her sobs wracking her small frame. “It’s ok, I got you.” He pressed a kiss to her sopping wet hair and simply held her, his hand rubbing up her back and her shoulder as she cried.

“I tried so hard…” she stuttered and he swallowed again, pressing his face into her hair.

“I know baby.” He said, “I know.”

How long he stayed there simply holding her, Ari had no idea and he didn’t particularly care. Nothing mattered to him, nothing but the girl he was cradling in his arms. Eventually her sobbing evened out and she pulled back slightly to look at him. Without a word she pressed a soft, lingering kiss to his lips which he took, gratefully as he brushed her sodden hair off her face.

“You ready to get cleaned up?” he as softly and she nodded.

Ari stood up, pulling her to her feet and with gently hands he slowly undid the button down she was wearing before she shrugged it down off her shoulders, before he reached down and pulled the sodden tank top off her, which was clinging to her skin. With a quick and easy movement he shrugged his open plaid shirt off before he reached back and grabbed a handful of his wet t-shirt, pulling it over his head. Her eyes focussed on him, Hannah reached for his belt, her gaze falling downwards as she undid his belt then his jeans and he stepped out of them and his boxers in one movement, before he helped Hannah out of the clothing on her bottom half, which was harder work as her jeans were clinging to her thighs and legs. He held them still whilst she stepped out of them, kicking them to the floor of the bathroom and as Ari stood his hands trailed up the outside of her bare legs, coming to rest on her hips.

The moment was intensely intimate, the pair of them sharing a moment that was so raw, it was hard not to be aroused and as Ari looked at her, he saw a flash in her eyes. It wasn’t lust, it was softer, much softer, a pure love coupled with need and want.

He bent down, pressing a soft kiss to her mouth. “Turn around baby girl.” he whispered softly, against her mouth and without so much as a question she did as she was told. Ari reached up, flicked the clasp on her bra and pushed the straps forward, pressing a kiss to each of her shoulder, before he placed a gentle open mouthed one to her neck. Stepping back slightly, Ari reached down for Hannah’s shampoo and squeezed an amount onto his palm and gently began to work it into her hair. He felt her relax slightly, her shoulders dropping, the tension seeping out of her as he massaged her scalp softly.

Hannah gave a low sigh as she leaned back further so her head lay against his shoulder, her eyes closed. She relaxed completely as his touch soothed her, making her feel safe as his fingers softly worked into her hair. After a little while his hands dropped to her hips and she allowed him to guide her round so she was facing him. His hand gently slid to her chin and with a gently nudge he tipped her head back slightly against the stream from the shower and he reached up, brushing the shampoo away from her face and down her long hair, causing her to press against him, her wet skin slick as it slid against his.

Eventually her hair was completely rinsed clear and he repeated the process with her conditioner and once her hair was done, her locks smoothed and tangle free she opened her eyes and looked up at him.

“Your turn.”

Ari turned around, dipping his head slightly as she gently wound her hands into his hair, nails scratching against his scalp, her body pressing into his back. When she’d finished he turned back to face her, dropping his head to rinse out his hair, taking the opportunity to simply look at her, taking in every singled damned detail. Those blue eyes, the curve of her nose, her high cheekbones, her plump lips, toned shoulders, that dip in her collar bone, the line the water was tracing between her breasts… as his eyes raised to hers he knew she’d spotted how unashamedly aching for her he was and she reached up with her hands, the pads of her fingers cupping his face through his beard. She guided his face down to hers where he captured her mouth in a soft, gentle kiss. He let her guide him, tell him how much she wanted, or how little she wanted, his hands simply splaying across the soft skin on her back and it soon became obvious exactly what she wanted when her hands moved to the back of his neck, tangling in his hair as her tongue explored his mouth.

Ari’s fingers flexed on her hips before they gently traced their way up her ribs and back down again. With a quick, strong movement he pivoted her round so her back was pressed against the rough, sand stone tiles and the kiss grew fervent, his mouth slanted over hers. He broke it, trailing his lips across her jawline and neck and Hannah let out a soft whimper as he softly sucked at that point where her neck joined her shoulder. One strong thigh anchored between her legs and he used it to push up gently against her spot and she let out a low keen, her head lolling back against the wall. Watching her reaction carefully, he repeated the action, both hands curling round her hips as he gently guided her movements back and forth, causing her to rub herself against the strong muscle of his thigh. It wasn’t wrong before she was controlling the rocking, pushing down harder as she rode his thigh and Ari rolled his foot up onto the ball, pushing his thigh harder into her and she gave a louder cry this time, the friction sending a hotwire straight up her core.

“Ari…” she gasped out his name as his lips nipped at her ear, his beard rubbing against the skin on her jaw “Need you, please…”

With an easy movement, he reached down and hooked his hands round the back of her thighs, lifting her up. Her legs wrapping around her waist as once more his mouth claimed hers as he lined himself up and pushed into her gently, her heels digging into the tops of his thighs just below his ass. His throat elicited a deep rumble as he kissed her hard, her hands gripping at his broad back as he began to pump in and out, his head falling to her collar bone where he gave a soft nip.

With each roll of his hips Hannah felt her pleasure beginning to mount, soft moans and mutters of his name falling from her lips as she dropped her head to his shoulder, the feeling in her stomach beginning to overwhelm her.

“Look at me Firefly” he said gently, and she opened her eyes, those ocean deep globes locking onto his as he saw her mouth open, lips part in a soft cry as she came, a deeper groan bubbled over in her throat and her head slid backwards against the wall as she succumbed to the pleasure that crashed over her in waves. Ari would never get tired of seeing her like that, ever. It was the most arousing thing in the world to him. His pace began to quicken, the tight bands in his stomach coiling further and further until they snapped as he pressed her harder.

“Hannah…” he half whispered, half gasped into her ear, nose nuzzling at her pulse point as he came, riding out his release with a few more shallow thrusts until his hips stilled and his head dropped to her shoulder, his breathing deep, his body and soul utterly blissed and consumed by her.

Ari kept her supported, feeling her shaking slightly with the afterglow, and raised his head, sliding his nose against hers gently, brushing their lips together ever so tenderly.

“I love you…” he whispered, before he pulled back to look at her as he gently set her on her feet, his hands cupping her face. She ran the tips of her fingers up his spine and into his hair, gently pulling his face down to hers.

“I love you too.” she replied softly, her eye shining as his mouth caught hers once more.

The water in the resort never ran at scalding level, but now it was colder than normal, and Ari felt Hannah shiver slightly. He reached round to turn the water off before he flicked his hair out of his eyes and stepped out, gabbing a towel. He held it out for her and she turned around so he could wrap it round her from behind, his arms holding her to him as he pressed a kiss to her cheek. She turned to look at him, giving him a gentle smile before she left the room and Ari grabbed another towel, quickly rubbing himself down before he wrapped it around his waist and followed her into the room where she was busy digging in one of the drawers. She stilled and gave a snort as she stood up and waved a pair of boxers at him.

“You moving in?” she quipped and he gave a chuckle.

“I didn’t put them there.” He held his hands up. “Must have been Rachel.” Hannah eyed him suspiciously and he gave a laugh “Scouts honour, Firefly.”

“I believe you.” She shrugged, tossing them to him and he caught them expertly in his right hand. “Thousands wouldn’t”

“Good job I don’t need to convince thousands then isn’t it.” He looked at her and she shook her head before she pulled out a pair of panties and a tank-top to change into. Ari dropped his towel, shimmied into the boxers and then shooed Simon off the pillow. The dog glared at him as he stood up and made his way to the end of the bed, flopping down with a loud huff. Ari followed his example, his head falling back against the pillow and he glanced over at Hannah as she pulled the loose tank over her head. He kept his eyes on her as she gently squeezed and dried her hair, picking up a brush, combing her waves out before she deftly braided it.

“You know, I reckon I could braid your hair…” she looked at Ari in the mirror as she stood up and he scoffed.

“You sound like Maya.” He said as she crawled over him, the pair of them climbing under the comforter before Ari turned off the light, his eyes once more glancing at the space where the picture had been. He settled down, debating whether or not now was the right time to bring it up but it was pushed from his mind as Hannah lay her head on his chest, one leg tossed over both of his, his hand gently tracing shapes on her upper arm.

“What’s it like?” her quiet voice broke the silence.

“What’s what like?” he asked, his nose brushing her temple.

“Having a daughter, a kid?”

Ari stilled and looked down at her “Han…”

“I just wondered.” She whispered quietly. “It must be amazing, you know to have this little person you made just there.”

“It is.” He nodded, his hand stroking her arm again “It’s also scary as fuck knowing that they’re gonna depend on you for everything. It’s life changing. Your entire outlook changes. Suddenly it’s all about them you know? Its hard work, stressful, but worth it. I wouldn’t change a thing about it.”

She stayed silent and he kissed her head “Did you ever talk about it? With Andy?”

“Once or twice.” She let out a deep breath “We never got the chance though. He always said he wanted a girl.”

“What about you?” Ari asked.

“I never really had a preference.” She mused “But I guess all women dream about having a boy who looks just like his daddy.”

She sniffed a little and Ari pulled her closer, kissing her head again “You know you’re amazing, right?”

She didn’t reply and he moved so he was led on his side, looking at her, his hand gently brushing a loose strand of damp hair behind her ear.

“What happened tonight wasn’t your fault.”

“I know.” She said gently, “I know that but…”

“Don’t torture yourself about it.” He urged her, his nose bumping hers “I’ve done that myself and nothing good comes of hit Han.” “You mean Andy?”

Ari took a sharp breath in which he released through his nose “Amongst other things.”

“I know you noticed”

“Noticed what.” He played dumb, but it was no use.

“The photo, Lobo.”

“Well, yeah but it’s not really my place to comment, Firefly.”

“I just felt it was time, you know.” She shrugged “Like, I don’t want to forget him. I never will but...well, you gotta move forward right?”

“Yeah, you do.” He nodded “All the time. You keep looking back over your shoulder at the past, you miss today as it unfolds around you. And as I always tell Maya, yesterday is the past, tomorrow’s the future…today is a gift, that’s why they call it the present.”

“That’s very philosophical.” She replied and he chuckled.

“I have my moments.” His chest vibrated with his quiet laugh and he pressed a kiss to her forehead “I mean it though. And that goes for everything.”

Hannah fell silent as she snuggled closer into him, her cheek pressing against his chest as his chin rest on her head.

“I can’t get her out of my head, Ari.” She said quietly, her voice catching “She was blue and, I tried, and…”

“Han…” Ari kissed her head as his arms pulled her closer, his hands rubbing at her back. “It wasn’t your fault.” “Everyone keeps saying that…”

“Because it’s true.” He urged, one of his hands slid round to her face and tipped her chin up so she was looking at him. The room was dark, bar the dim first light of dawn that was sneaking through the lattice shade above the head and he could just pick up the speckles of light in her sad eyes “And I’ll keep telling you until it sinks in. It was a horrible, horrible…accident, twist of fate, whatever. No one could have done anything more.”

“Then why do I feel so shitty about it?”

“Because you’re a beautiful, compassionate woman who cares.” he said, his lips pressing to hers softy “That’s part of the reason I wanted you here after all.”

“Only part?” she quipped through her tears “I knew it.” and Ari gave a soft huff of laughter.

“Well, I’ll admit there was a slight selfishness on my part too but, honestly? In the most it was because you were the right woman for the job.” She stayed silent as he reached up, his thumbs brushing the tears from her cheeks. “And I know that tonight was…well, it was fucking awful but…we gotta focus on the positives. Another 174 lives Firefly, and yeah, that doesn’t make up for the one we lost but…well, it’s gotta mean something yeah?”

“Maybe it will tomorrow, Ari, but right now, I just…”

Ari felt her sag in his arms and she pressed another kiss to her head “Try and get some sleep Firefly, you’re exhausted.”

“Bossy bastard” she mumbled, stifling a yawn and he shook his head.

“Stubborn jack ass.” He shot back and she gave a snort as she yawned again, snuggling deeper into his chest.

Ari’s arms kept her close, his large hands gently rubbing at her back until he felt her relax completely. After 5 minutes or so he glanced down, and could just make out her eyelashes as they lay against her cheeks, her breathing even. Pressing another kiss to her head, he peered down at Simon who had been stealthily creeping further up the bed to his current position of being curled in the space behind her knees.

With a smile at the ridiculous, almost domestic feel of the situation, given that it was as far from a normal domestic life he could leave, he closed his eyes and gave into his own feelings of exhaustion.

#leave no one behind #ari levinson #ari levinson x ofc #red sea diving resort #red sea diving resort fan fic

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schrijverr · 4 years

Text

Get out of jail for free-card

Stanford-era Sam gets a call from Dean, who has been arrested and needs him to bust him out. Jess insits on coming with him and is in for a bit of a surprise with the revelations that come with meeting Dean.

On AO3.

Ships: Sam x Jess

Warnings: Their childhood. Tell me if I missed anything or if you want me to tag something!

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

It was Friday, which meant drinking and having fun for Sam and his friends. Jess was just asking what everyone wanted to drink when a phone rang. It took a few seconds before Sam realized it was his. He shot a confused look to his friends and picked up: “Uh, hello, this is Sam Winchester speaking?”

“Sammy, thank God.”, came Deans voice from the other side.

Shocked Sam said: “Dean?”

“Yeah, it's me, already forgotten the sound of my beautiful voice?” Sam practically heard the smirk in that statement.

He couldn't help the bitch face as he answered: “How could I ever forget that annoying sound. But why the fuck are you calling me?”

Tom raised his brows to Jess who gave him a confused look back, Sam wasn't known to swear and neither had ever heard of this Dean person. They were pulled back to the phone call when Sam exclaimed: “What do you mean you got arrested.”

The comment got Jess to give him A Look, so Sam told Dean: “Wait a sec, gotta move.”

Then he waved at them and said: “Sorry have to take this, you guys go and start the movie.”

Jess frowned, but Sam didn't notice as he was saying: “Yes, Dean, movie night, normal people do that sort of thing on Friday. And don't call me Samantha. Now why are you arrested again?”

“Grave desecration, not really a good excuse for that, you know.” Dean said.

Sam rubbed his forehead and asked: “And why is this my problem again?”

“Dad's in Ohio together with Bobby, a demon, he wouldn't take me, so I got an easy salt 'n burn in San Francisco, but I got busted.” Dean replied.

“Do you need bail money or do you need to be saved?” Sam asked with a tired voice.

“I'm no Disney Princess, dude.” Dean said, “Psh, getting saved. But no, no bail for me, just heard you're pre-law now.”

Sam sighed as he read between the lines, Dean needed Sam to bust him out of a holding cell. He said: “Tell them you called a lawyer and won't do anything until he's there. And what name are you going by right now?”

“Phil Rudd.” Dean said, of course it was a rock star name.

He sighed again and said: “I’ll be there in 50.”

“Thank you, Sammy.”

“It’s Sam.” Sam bitched back, then he hung up and snagged a tie out of his closet along with a dress shirt.

He walked back into the room, where no one had started the movie and everyone was ready to pounce him with questions. “Who’s Dean?” Jess asked.

“And why is he arrested.” Tom added.

Sam grimaced and awkwardly said: “He's my brother, so I'm gonna go pick him up at the police station.”

“And why is he arrested?” Jess asked with an intense look.

“Uhhh,” Sam looked away with an embarrassed flush and said: “Grave desecration.”

“He did what!” Jess exclaimed, “That's terrible! Why would he do that?”

“He has his reasons.” Sam said curtly, then he realized that that didn't help the situation, so he went on: “Look he's a good guy, honestly, just a shitty past that he didn't shake off as well as I did. If you'd meet him, you would know.”

“Then take me with you.” Jess demanded.

Their friends had been watching the discussion like it was a tennis match and in the tense silence that followed they kept their eyes on Sam. Sam, who was having a small crises. On one hand he didn't want to fuck up his relationship with Jessica because he didn't take her with him, but on the other hand he also didn't want to fuck it up because he was busting his brother out, illegally.

When the silence dragged on Jess said: “I’m not letting this go, Samuel, take me with you or this is over.”

And that made the decision for him, he said: “Okay, let’s go, I told him I'd be there as fast as I could.”

The ride was silent and tense for the first 15 minutes, then Jess said: “I don’t want to meet your brother with just a bad image, so what's your best memory?”

“Huh?” Sam asked dumbly.

“What's your best memory of you and Dean?”

Sam smiled softly and said: “Where do I start? God, he was always there for me for a start, according to him my first words were “Bean” in an attempt to say his name, he says he cried.”

He thought some more before saying: “I know it sounds weird, but with Dad almost always gone and mom dead, while constantly on the road, Dean was my everything. He was my brother, best friend and mom all rolled into one. We were SamnDean, no spaces between us.”

Jess shot him a look, but didn’t say anything and he didn’t either, he just looked at the road and thought back to the times were this sight was his daily view, just from the backseat, with two pairs of shoulders and two heads blocking his view.

When they arrived Sam turned to Jess and said: “I need you to stay in the car, please?”

Then he got out of his flannel and buttoned up the dress shirt and put on the tie. Jess frowned at that and asked: “Why? What's going on, Sam?”

“It’s kinda hard to explain, but you have to believe me when I say I hate this as much as you will. Just stay in the car. Me and Dean will be here in a few minutes.” He gave her his best puppy eyes and she relented with an “I don’t like this.”

He gave her a peck on the cheek and said: “I don’t either. See you in a bit.”

Then he was out the car and walking into the station.

Half of the scam was the confidence, so Sam strutted up to the front desk and said: “I’m John Singer, I'm here for Phil Rudd.”

The lady gave him a one over and raised a brow. He knew he was still wearing his shaggy shoes and jeans, plus he looked very young. So he kinds dropped the confidence a bit and said: “I’m just the intern, but my boss, Simon Wright, is out of town, so I’m taking the calls right now.”

A look or pity showed up on the ladies face as she said: “Didn’t expect a call this late, did ya?”

He nodded and said: “I haven’t done this before, sorry, could you point me in the right direction?”

She smiled and quickly walked him through what was expected of him. He thanked her profusely as he walked away.

Dean greeted him with a smirk and said: “Hey, man, what’s the plan?”

Sam gave him a bitch face and said: “I’m risking a lot by being here, so don’t try anything, okay? Jess is waiting in the car, so lets make this quick.”

“Wait a minute. Who’s Jess?” Dean said.

“My girlfriend, now pay attention we can talk later.” Sam said.

Dean whistled impressed, but stayed quiet while Sam explained: “They think I’m an intern, so a newbie. You are going to punch me and then use this time window of no surveillance you've created to escape and hide in the back of Jess’s car, okay? It’s the blue crappy Honda.”

Dean chuckled, but nodded. He got ready to punch but Sam held up his hand and quickly sent Jess a text: ‘Dean will join you in the car shortly, don't say anything to anyone. See you in a few.’

Then he allowed Dean to punch him. He waited until Dean was out the window before he yelled: “Help! He punched me and he's gone!”

Soon the whole room was filled with police. His statement was taken and he was checked over, but after 15 minutes they'd let him go while he gave them Bobby's number for if they wanted more info.

On his way out he texted Bobby about it with a side note not to tell Dad, while he ignored Jessica's messages about how this wasn’t funny.

He got into the car and was immediately slapped by an angry Jess. He looked to Dean who was lying on the back seat to stay out of sight, but he just shot him a ‘hey-don't-look-at-me-dude-this-is-your-problem’ look.

When he said nothing she said: “What took you so long?”

He told her the truth: “They still needed my statement.”

She looked even more angry and said: “Then why is he telling me you busted him out. Illegally!”

He whipped around to give Dean a look and said: “Because he is an idiot.”

“Hey! You brought her with you and told her about your plan. I thought she knew, don’t blame me!” Dean defended himself.

“Why would she know?” Sam said frustrated.

“I don’t know, maybe because she is here and you texted her your plan?”

“God, this is just like Seibert.” Sam gave him an angry look.

Dean got angry as well and loudly replied: “How is this anything like Seibert?”

“Your lack of filter almost fucked me over that’s how.” Sam had a full on bitch face now.

“I told you back then that a twelve-year-old isn’t as convincing as an crying ‘help me I’m lost kid’ than an eight-year-old.”

“And I told you that someone smaller was better for sneaking around, you’re lucky they caught me after I had given dad the keys.”

“I was trying to buy you time, which was my task in the plan.”

“And telling them I was there seemed smart when my task was to remain unseen?”

With every comment their voices got louder and angrier, but before the fight could escalate any further Jess cut in: “What are you even talking about?”

“1991, we were staying in Seibert, but Dad got arrested.” Dean began.

Sam interrupted: “Since when are you such a sharer?”

“Since I’m trying to save your relationship here dude. Look at her, she wants the truth lets give it to her.” Dean shot back.

Sam looked at Jess, who he saw was siding with Dean on the subject. He crossed his arms and muttered: “Like that isn’t gonna ruin everything.”

Then he started up the car and said: “I’m dropping you off at your car hopefully you haven’t lost that too.”

“No, baby is still at my motel, Civic Center Inn, you can drop me there.” Dean said, Jess marveled at how quickly the two calmed down, then Dean turned back to her and said: “So, 1991, Seibert Colorado. Dad had gotten arrested, this wasn’t the first time, so me and Sammy go and bust him out.”

“It’s Sam.”

“Yeah, whatever. So, my plan was that he goes in and acts like he’s lost, creating a diversion for me so that I can sneak dad the keys of his cell.” Dean explained, “Except Sam didn’t agree with that, said I had to play lost, because he was smaller and therefore would be able to sneak better.”

“Which is true.” Sam commented.

“No, it’s not, because it almost went wrong.” Dean jibed.

“And that was your fault.” Sam said.

“No, it’s wasn’t.” Dean started up the discussion again.

Jess just wanted to know what had happened, so she interrupted: “Let it go, both of you.”

“Sorry.” Sam said immediately.

Dean coughed, but Jess was certain she heard “Whipped”, Sam probably did too, because his lips tightened, but he didn’t say a thing.

Dean went on: “Anyway, I go in and start crying telling them I’m lost and it does create a diversion, but not long enough, so I also tell them I lost my younger brother while I was supposed to be watching him. That does work, a small child is lost, so everyone there starts looking and it the end they find him. He tells them he was looking for the bathroom and wondered away and we get dropped off at a random house, which we tell them is ours. Then we walk to the motel where our father joins us shortly after.”

“We skipped town that night.” Sam finished.

Jess sat quietly for a second as she takes everything in, finally she said: “I’m sorry, Sam, that sounds horrible.”

Sam just shrugged and said: “I’ve never known different, so I never missed it. I’ve been helping in illegal scams since I was three or something. That’s just life.”

“Not that he ever liked it.” Dean felt the need to insert himself into the conversation, “He and dad were always fighting.”

Sam rolled his eyes and said: “Yeah, he didn’t want me to go to college and get a normal life, sorry for wanting to be like everyone else.”

“That didn’t mean you had to fight with him about every little thing, Sam.” Dean said.

Jess sat there awkwardly, feeling that this was a whole other set of issues. She quietly asked: “Is that why you never talk about your family?”

Sam sighed sadly: “Yeah, the last words my dad said to me were: “If you go, don’t come back.” not really heartwarming, is it?”

Dean flopped backwards and said: “Our whole family is shit.”

Sam looked over his shoulder with a surprised look and said: “Didn’t think you would say that.”

Dean shrugged and said: “Doesn’t mean you’re not part of it, Sammy. Just call from time to time, okay? Oh, look there’s the turn.”

Sam turned onto the parking of the motel and Dean got out of the car. Before he slammed the door he said: “Jess, that’s your name right? Yeah, okay, Jess, don’t judge Sam for something he never wanted to be a part of. And Sammy? Sammy you don’t let her go, she’s cool. See you next time, nerd.”

Then he was gone.

Sam sat quietly for a minute then he drove off. They didn’t say anything until they were near San Mateo, then Jess carefully said: “Are you going to call him?”

Sam looked at her and said: “He knows we can’t call each other, he didn’t even give me his number to pretend. We’re never gonna talk again and that’s okay, life happens.”

Jess gave him a pained look, but she didn’t know what to say about it.

Sam asked: “Are we over?”

“No, Sam, we aren’t, just, just be more honest about your life to me, okay?” she said with a sigh.

“Are you gonna tell everyone I broke him out instead of paying a bail that didn’t exist.” Sam asked after a moment of silence.

Jess thought about it for a second. Then she shook her head and told him: “No that’s between you and your brother. I just waited in the car and we had a nice chat about you on the way to his motel, nothing peculiar happened.”

Sam grinned: “What would I do without you?”

Jess smirked back: “Crash and burn.”

When Dean broke in to Sams house two years later, he was glad to see that Sam had listened and hadn’t let Jess go.

#RR writing #supernatural #Supernatural pre-series #Sam Winchester #sam and dean #Sam and dean wierd childhood #dean winchester #Jessica Moore #Stanford-era #supernatual stanford-era

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rocket-remmy · 4 years

Text

The Cake Is A Lie||Lydia and Remmy

TIMING: Current PARTIES: @inspirationdivine and @whatsin-yourhead SUMMARY: Lydia catches Remmy in the act of....thinking about baking.

The bruises from last night had healed by the time Remmy decided to get out of the bed and head into the house. Lydia had said they were free to use the kitchen, to treat the home as their own, but Remmy was still tentative as they headed into the kitchen, glancing around. It was far fancier than anything they’d ever been inside of, including the old kitchen at the haunted mansion. Their insides crawled a little, skin vibrating. They just wanted to relax for a little bit, do something to take their mind off the shit that the world was pulling them through, and their go to had always been baking. It had always helped calm them down and they felt as if nothing else would even come close right now. But standing, alone, in Lydia’s giant kitchen, they weren’t sure what to do. After a moment, they turned to leave, deciding maybe just staying in their room would be enough. They could read or watch a movie or just bury their head in pillows and pretend like their life wasn’t falling apart before their very eyes. But instead they nearly ran headlong into Lydia, and they jerked, freezing. “S-sorry!” they said, backing away. “Sorry, I didn’t see you...there... I was just, um-- I was thinking about maybe baking something, but then I…” but they didn’t finish the statement, because there wasn’t a point to. There wasn’t a point to a lot nowadays for them.

Remmy roamed her home much like a skittish cat. Occasionally coming in for a cuddle, but equally sneaking around at night and hiding things. Lydia didn’t mind this so much, not when she was prone to the same. A quiet rendezvous with Marley here, a trip out there. She made sure to be around as often as possible, especially now she’d had to tarp up not one, not two, but four windows while she waited for the glazing company to prepare replacements. This was the problem with custom glass: it needed to be made before it could be replaced. She wandered idly into the kitchen, cardigan wrapped tight around her when Remmy bumped right into her. “Darling,” Lydia said with a smile, with the same cadence as if she’d said it’s okay. “That sounds tempting. What sort of thing were you intending to bake?”

“Oh, um,” Remmy stuttered. They hadn’t actually thought about what they’d bake. Whatever came to them when they opened the cabinets, probably. Cakes and cupcakes were easy, simple. “I didn’t really have anything concrete in mind. Probably something...simple but like, you know, distracting? Maybe cupcakes. Those are fun to decorate,” they rambled quietly, backing away enough to look at Lydia. They didn’t really question the broken windows, just as they knew Lydia wasn’t questioning where they went at night, something they were all the more grateful for here. There was an amount of discretion Lydia afforded them that Remmy wasn’t entirely sure roommates like Blanche and Ham would grant. Not that that made them bad roommates, but if Blanche followed Remmy to the Ring again and saw what was going on...Remmy shook the thought from their head. “Probably red velvet, i-if you have stuff for that. It’s my favorite-- er, was my favorite-- flavor.”

“Cupcakes? Sounds darling.” Lydia smiled softly at Remmy as they backed away. “I might. If I’m honest I do not bake often, but we may have some ingredients lying around from Simon’s entry into the pie contest.” She walked over to the cupboards, and began pulling out a motley arrangement of things. She hadn’t been completely honest. The cocoa powder, sugar and vanilla essence had each last been touched not by her nor Simon, but Anneliese, who had sworn that baking was one of the best things in life. It had kept her happy, and in turn Chloe and Sammy, so Lydia had bought her what she wanted, and left them there after her death. Flour, eggs, food colouring, instant yeast and other baking goodies were unveiled one by one. “Do you see what you’re looking for here?”

Remmy watched Lydia pulling out the ingredients and started formulating something in their mind. There was nothing to make red velvet, but there was enough for some lemon vanilla cupcakes. There was even ingredients to whip up a meringue frosting, if they were feeling it. “Uh, yeah, actually,” they said, taking the ingredients they needed and separating them from everything else Lydia had begun setting out. “You’ve sure got a lot for someone who doesn’t bake,” they said idly, “I don’t even have this much stuff and I used to try and make stuff regularly. It was the only way my roommate-- Blanche-- would eat something other than microwave dinners and candy.” A small pang, as they thought about Blanche, perhaps all alone now, too, in that giant house. They wished they could go back, but they knew this was for the better. Jax knew about Blanche and he had already threatened her once-- they couldn’t let that happen again. “Um-- do you wanna help? I usually let Blanche do all the mixing.”

As they began sorting through the ingredients, Lydia took a long look at the collar resting on Remmy’s neck. She’d never been one to keep track of fast fashion, nor anything that wouldn’t sit in her very feminine wardrobe with intricate structures and figure hugging cuts. Quite far from what Remmy wore anyway, so she’d assumed it was some modern fashion piece. Morgan’s messages had revealed something else, something dangerous. Her gaze flicked away long before Remmy was done. Her smile was as lightweight as her footsteps as she pulled out a mixing bowl and weighing scales, as well as aprons. One of which was bubblegum pink, the other a deep navy with embroidered detailing on the bottom. She handed the navy one to Remmy. “Well, much of it is shelf stable for quite a long time,” Lydia replied with a smile. “Yes darling, I’d love to help. So, what are we making?”

Lydia always had such a calming presence. Remmy didn’t know quite how to thank her for that, but maybe one day they’d be able to find the words. As they gathered up the stuff and started organizing the mixing bowls, they looked over at Lydia with as much of a tired smile as they could muster. “I’m thinking lemon vanilla cupcakes. Nice and light, and there’s enough here for a meringue icing, I think.” Started separating the ingredients, then, into dry and wet and what they needed for the batter and for the icing. “I hope that, um...sounds good,” they paused, unsure of a lot more nowadays than they had been before. They knew Lydia had said they were okay to treat this home as their own, but when their own home felt foreign and wrong, what did that mean for here? They scratched absently at the collar, before they started pouring out some of the dry ingredients, pulling up a simple recipe on their phone.

Cleaning her hands, Lydia looked back at them and nodded. She was not altogether too fond of lemon cakes, but then, she wouldn’t eat much in any case. As much as she cooked in the evenings, she rarely ate herself unless it was to indulge in a rich new treat. Just not too rich. “It does.” She pat their shoulder as she came to stand by their side, peering around Remmy’s shoulder to look at their phone. Gaze flicking to their collar once more. They looked so somber, so uncertain. There was almost nothing Remmy couldn’t heal from, but god did they look scared. The corner of Lydia’s lip twisted into a smile, playfully. “Now, I mightn’t be able to remember how this all works. We start with the flour, don’t we?” She reached for the bag of flour, but instead of pulling it towards her, she scooped up some flour from inside the bag, and did the most unexpected, and thus the most fae thing: she flicked it playfully, right at Remmy’s face.

Of all the things Remmy had expected Lydia to do, that had not been one of them. Though she was soft and compassionate and kind to them, someone who was playful and perhaps a bit devious wasn’t who Remmy had ever pegged her for. Blinking, they stared at her for a moment, flour now on their cheek and nose. Slowly, they reached over and picked up the baking powder can. “Actually,” they said, “I like to start with the baking powder,” and flicked some back at Lydia in kind, a sort of whimsical playfulness now on their face.

“That sounds-ack!” Lydia scrunched her face up as she got the baking powder in her mouth, recoiling, but when she opened her eyes, they glowed blue with bright enthusiasm, as she ran round to the other side of the island counter. This time, she took a handful of flour, hurling it all at Remmy’s face, before ducking under the counter.

Remmy couldn’t help but laugh. That was until a fistful of flour hit them directly in the face and they coughed a little, shaking their head. “Hey!” they exclaimed, brushing the flour from their hair. This might’ve been odd in any other circumstance, but Remmy was grateful for the reprieve. They scooped up a handful of flour themself and tossed it at the counter where Lydia had ducked. “That’s cheating!”

Instead of ensuring that Lydia didn’t get hit, all ducking did was ensuring that she got flour all over her elytra and wings, and her blouse underneath. “Alright, peace!” She called playfully, before standing back up, hands raised. Flour drifted down her clothes to the floor. “I did cheat, and I accept any reasonable punishment you give me.” She laughed, sliding the flour back to where they were baking.

Remmy was smiling by the time Lydia surrendered, something they hadn’t done in a very long time. It felt nice. They grabbed the flour and pulled it back over to the other ingredients, pointing to the bowls. “Your punishment is having to mix the wet ingredients in, that’s always the worst part,” they said, still smiling as they pulled up the recipe and started measuring out the dry ingredients. After a moment they paused, then looked over at Lydia. “Thank you,” they murmured, “for everything.”

“I accept my punishment entirely,” Lydia chuckled, a tiny promise binding herself into place, not that it was an issue for this, leaning against the counter as she watched Remmy starting to set up. “You are most welcome,” She replied softly, reaching over to touch their shoulder reassuringly. “Has the danger eased, yet?”

Remmy always relaxed under Lydia’s touch, it was one of the things about her that they most liked. There was a certain softness to her that made them almost melt. As if under her gaze, everything was okay. Even the collar around their neck. They measured out a few more ingredients before passing along the bowl to Lydia. “I-- it’s...complicated,” they muttered. Trying to find the words. “I sort of...I can’t talk about it,” they went on, “I sort of promised I wouldn’t.”

“I see, and I would never ask you to break a promise.” Lydia replied, searchingly. She looked away from Remmy as she tidied away the ingredients Remmy was finished with, before peeking around their shoulder, and turning the oven to the right temperature. “I have a more general question. See, no other species is quite so particular with their wording as we are, so I feel the need to clarify. Generally speaking, Remmy, when you use the word can’t, do you mean won’t by choice, or that there is a more physical limitation on a situation?”

“Not all promises are good promises…” Remmy mumbled, starting on the mixture and picking out which pan they wanted to use for the cupcakes. Started mixing ingredients for the frosting, a methodic sort of motion. Relaxing. Enough so for them to let down their guard just a bit, release the tension in their shoulders just a bit. “I can’t. I-- I didn’t know at first, but it’s-- the second one.” paused, waiting to see if they’d get sick, but it seemed as if Jax’s wording didn’t extend to someone guessing it and Remmy affirming it. They sighed with relief. Continued mixing again, slowly at first, as if unsure they should go on, peeking at Lydia from the corner of their vision. “I’m sorry. I-- I should’ve said something. I just-- I wasn’t sure I could. O-or should.”

“No, but that doesn’t change their value as a promise,” Lydia replied mildly. Her eyes were still heavy with exhaustion from the day she’d spent upholding her own promise to the Vural witch, that had threatened to consume her whole every time she’d dared to nap. Owing a debt or a promise to the wrong person was a terrible thing indeed. That didn’t mean they weren’t important to keep, until they ended. “That’s all you need to say,” replied Lydia. “Don’t make yourself sick. Anyway, I believe it’s time for me to add the wet ingredients.” She raised her arm, and gestured for the bowl. They didn’t need to discuss this anymore now. It was time for Lydia to find out where Remmy was going each week.

Remmy was relieved when Lydia didn’t press further. They didn’t want to get sick but they also didn’t want to lie to Lydia. Honesty was important to her, and therefore it was important to Remmy to be honest to her. They usually tried to be honest, anyway, but it mattered much more with Lydia. She’d never wrong them or lied to them. They owed her that much. “Here,” they said, measuring out the milk and oil, “add that first and stir, then we’ll add the eggs.” As they handed the stuff over, they thought that, perhaps, Lydia needed this reprieve just as much as they did. And maybe things didn’t always need to be sad or serious. Sometimes it was okay to put that aside and bake something simple with someone you cared about. The thought made Remmy smile, and they grabbed the next bowl. Maybe that was what their uncle had meant when he’d said their mother was peaceful to be around. Maybe she’d found the right balance of life and baking. “Thanks,” they said again, “for doing this with me.” And maybe that was something Remmy wanted, too.

#chatzy #wickedswriting #chatzy: lydia #the cake is a lie #lydia

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inspirationdivine · 4 years

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Wine and Pies || Lydia and Simon

Lydia and Simon have a revealing conversation, right up until the pie prizes arrive.

Set Wednesday

Lydia pulled the curtains closed on the dying light of dusk, as purple skies gave way to black night. Today had been long and exhausting in equal measure, and she felt loose limbed as she flopped into the couch. She tucked a leg under her, running her hands through her damp hair from her earlier shower. Soft classical music was playing through her speakers. Over the course of their entanglement, Lydia had gotten less and less particular about her appearance late in the evening. The more they were stuck, the less it had mattered. Curling up in the living room in a fluffy dressing gown with a book or crossword puzzle with Simon nearby doing his own this had almost become normal. “Do you want a drink or anything? Simon?” It was ideal, really; the couch was soft on Simon’s unusually-sore body, the music was quiet enough that he could hear every note without it irritating his ears and, most importantly, Lydia seemed comfortable as she joined him on the couch. He glanced over at her as she addressed him, his attention going from absent in his puzzle-solving to dedicated, ready to do whatever it was she asked of him but this time, she was asking if he wanted something. “Uh…” He paused, wondering if she was asking out of his necessity or if this was something else. “No, ma’am, I’m okay,” He replied respectfully first, feeling his eyebrows twinge subtly. “Unless you had something in mind.” He added; he had gotten used to her asking if he needed or wanted little things here and there and he had grown comfortable enough with asking her in turn if there was something he felt he needed. Tonight wasn’t exactly atypical but it HAD been a long day… “...Wine?” He asked timidly, tilting his head ever-so-slightly. Was that what she wanted him to say?

Lydia’s couldn’t help the indulgent smile that followed his request, along with the most disbelieving eye roll. “That wasn’t a test. None of this is a test, you know. It was just a question.” She stood up, still smiling, and walked just far enough to reach the wine cooler. Navigating around their bond had become easier over the last little while, such that she’d barely felt it tug at her today because she was so used to staying in Simon’s orbit. Lydia brought back the wine with two wine glasses, a deep fruity red for them both to enjoy. “We’ve seen each other in more than enough revealing situations in the last week, you should know by now that my bark is much worse than my bite.” Though they both knew the limit of their bond seemingly down to the inch by now, Simon still leaned slightly to give her more slack as she went around and retrieved a bottle of dark red wine and two glasses, blue eyes following her figure. “You have a point,” He agreed before hastily adding “er, about the having spent time around each other.” Far be it for him to tell someone or agree with someone on saying their bark was worse than their bite. Part of him wanted to apologise already; he didn’t usually drink so the thought of relaxing on a couch listening to classical and sipping wine never occurred to him. She was tasteful though, the way she positioned herself on the couch, the way her gown draped over her fair shoulders and even her fingers running through her hair and holding a glass of wine - she was picturesque. He refrained from apologising, instead taking one of the glasses carefully. “Thank you.” He said instead. “Today was… strangely long. I’m not even sure why.”

Lydia just laughed at his usual tact. No matter how much her mood doured when they had to interact with the outside world, whenever she was pulled out of her element and into his, in the evenings, when there were no more pretences about trying to work or anything like that, and it was just the two of them, it was easier to have fun with it, and with him. “Today did feel long. I think it’s that the sun keeps setting later, and we’re both trying to do so much.” It was also draining, spending so much time with the same person day in, day out. That didn’t really need saying anymore. “Once we solve this, what are you going to do, for fun?” Simon glanced at her with a small smile (he enjoyed the sound of her genuine laughter), then looked down at the wine he swirled in his glass rhythmically. “Oh, I’m… probably just gonna go back to doing what I did before,” He shrugged his good shoulder. “I don’t really… do that much.” There was an objectivity to his voice, not self-pitying or pathetic but mildly factual. “I go to work, then wander around town people-watching or I just go home, feed my birds and sleep.” He scoffed; it sounded very boring when he mentioned it like that. “What about you?” He asked, looking at her. “I’m sure you have a plethora of hobbies and ways to occupy your schedule.”

“No secret bowling games? Illegal urban exploration? Although in a town like this the latter is probably not advisable.” Lydia coaxed him, leaning in a little more curiously. “It doesn’t surprise me that you’re the quiet type. And I’m sure that here in Wicked’s Rest there’s more to see than your regular city people watching.” Lydia fingered her wine glass, swirling her glass in thought as she considered his question. The most honest answer wasn’t one she was sure she could give him. Simon was sweet, and good natured, and soft. Lydia had no doubt that if she told him her main plan was to continue hunting, it would frighten him away. The thought made her distinctly uncomfortable. “Return to the art circuit. There’s this art gallery with exclusive parties that I want to get into. Eat. I play poker with a small group of people on Thursday nights. That, and, well, there are a few people I want to check on. I imagine I’ll make that a priority.” “Sorry, nothing as exciting as secret bowling games,” Simon chuckled. “I’ve seen some weird stuff while people-watching, though.” Part of him wanted to add that most of his spare time consisted of helping other people out with various and sundry activities or problems but kept the comment to himself. Nothing but the last thing she said surprised him and he quirked an eyebrow slightly. She checked on people? He had gotten to know a fair amount about his host during their forcible stay together and he was able to tell that she had a well-hidden quality of empathy and kindness about her, so the more he thought about it, the less surprised he should’ve been but it still caught him off-guard compared to the ‘eat and go to an exclusive art gallery party’-- wait, eat? Eat what? He remembered her saying that she didn’t eat human food but he didn’t press the matter at the time. “That’s sweet of you,” He referred to the last bit first. “What would you eat?” He decided to ask at the risk of upsetting her; she was private and he didn’t like to ask pressing questions but he supposed his curiosity got the better of him; what would someone like her eat if she didn’t eat human food?

“What kind of things have you seen?” Lydia asked curiously. She smiled at his comment, shaking her head. There was a moral duty to help people in one’s community, and White Crest had far too many wayward souls. Her attention quickly turned to her glass at his question. Too honest, perhaps. It wasn’t like she hadn’t eaten, in a perfunctory kind of way. Locking herself behind doors and cradling Chloe and Sammy for thirty minutes at a time. Chloe would curse her out softly for leaving them alone for so long, Sammy would pick at his cuticles and say nothing, resting his head against her chest. It wasn’t much, just enough to soothe the longing in their chests, and hers in turn. Enough to keep their loyalty strong. If you don’t think you’re doing the wrong thing, then why are you hiding us? Chloe had asked. Lydia had slammed the door in their faces seconds later, the question left unanswered. “My diet is that of life itself,” she replied quietly, not out of shame but out of fear. “I can take it in increments, from any living individual's body.” Though he knew she had asked him a question first, Simon found himself acutely interested in her answer to his own question, which he was sure was an inappropriate response to someone saying that they drained the life force from people; normally, he thought, that would prompt someone to avoid everything to do with that person but for some reason, he didn’t. He also didn’t think that she had fed off of him, or at least not that he was able to tell. Then again, he wasn’t sure what that experience felt like. He wanted to ask, but… Was that what she did behind the doors? He wondered why she didn’t just drain his life force and call it a day - maybe it was too tedious? The question burned inside him, as did a few others. Simon knew she didn’t like humans… were they the ones she fed off of? Was he supposed to think she was a monster because of this? So far, he’d only met one person in White Crest who chose to be the supernatural species they were, so he was under the impression that she didn’t choose to be this way. Could he fault her for what she was? Of course he couldn’t, nor would he. He also wondered if that was one of the reasons why she was so private. He found himself tilting his head slightly again, keeping his blue eyes on her with a gentle expression. He opened his mouth to respond but honestly didn’t know what to say without making it seem like he was either undermining her honesty with a light response, ignoring what she said by answering her first question or being far too dire, which didn’t properly reflect how he was feeling with this information. “I appreciate you telling me,” is what he eventually opted to go with, his tone lacking any form of negativity or malice. “Sorry… I didn’t mean to be nosy.” He looked away from her and down at his own glass this time. “I was just curious.”

“That’s quickly becoming one of my least favourite words,” Lydia teased him lightly, ducking her head so that he could see she was smiling even as he looked down at his glass. “You wouldn’t have asked if you’d thought it was an intrusion, and I wouldn’t have answered had I thought it was a step too far. You needn’t apologise for expressing curiosity. If anything, it seems to have served you well so far, considering how little you knew two months ago.” Nothing. He had barely known at all. Simon was in so many ways a pup. Sometimes he didn’t look like he knew what to do himself. “You don’t have to make yourself so small, you know.” “S--” Simon cut himself off and instead, catching Lydia’s smile, returned it with a small, unsure smile of his own; he was glad that his question didn’t seem to ruin her mood. What she said did bring up a good point he had been neglecting whether intentionally or not; he really didn’t know anything about what he knew now before he moved into town. Some of it - a lot of it - was much easier to digest for him but he was thankful for so many opportunities TO learn through his annoying questions and curious inquiries. He was thankful again for her patience and he started to look up from his glass again but couldn’t quite make it to her face and he settled for keeping his eyes absently on the floor. He had a handful of things he could’ve responded to her with but filed them away as ‘unimportant’. “I just…” He searched for something to say that wouldn’t make it seem like he was talking about himself. “Other people are more interesting.” He said, not dishonestly, using the little boost in confidence at what he said to look at Lydia once more. “Like you. I think you’re fascinating to observe and listen to, how you solve problems, how you spend your time, even what you eat.” His face grew more expressive as he talked. “Your expressions, what makes you happy, what upsets you; you’re an impressive force of nature who’s bold and knows what she wants… at least most of the time.”

Lydia held his gaze as he spoke. She didn’t immediately sit straighter, or preen, or tease him. Her ego was already engorged, but his words sank right into a small ache into her chest. “Thank you. I’m glad you think so,” Lydia murmured. “It would be a terrible fate to be stuck to someone you couldn’t tolerate to think about. I must say, though, that I disagree with you. There are not many more individuals in this town that are more interesting than you.” Albeit, most of them were human, but that didn’t change much. “You shouldn’t talk of yourself like that.” His brow faltered; had he said the wrong thing? Simon realised after he was done that he probably put her on the spot with his… ramble. He had to stop doing the whole ‘flowery talking’ thing he tended to do. He did scoff at what she said though, not out of disrespect for her or what she said but rather at himself for giving her that impression. “There are,” He replied with a false smile on his face this time, looking back down at his wine. “Like all the people I’ve seen. There was this one who ran around barking like a dog in school until she was 17,” He remarked. “I’ve met people here who can do extraordinary things; there’s this kid who invented a machine combined with magic that he could remotely activate to deliver a fatal electric shock. I met a witch who turned mayonnaise into super glue. Nora’s an extremely talented painter and an expert of fear. I’ve met other werewolves who have full control over themselves and describe it as this amazing thing, like they actually like BEING w--” He cut himself off sharply after he said that last part and cleared his throat. “So while I appreciate the compliment, I’m… just a guy.” He said quietly.

That made her heart ache too - that smile that didn’t reach his eyes, as he looked away. His crowfeet barely shifted. Lydia might never truly understand the difficulty of being changed, of having your identity ripped into something new, but it didn’t change how much it horrified her when people admitted how little they liked themselves. “You don’t think that your pianist abilities, your kindness and the way you make people comfortable around you aren’t also incredible things?” She asked softly, shifting her weight to sit a little closer. Lydia bit her lip. “Do you not like being a werewolf because you don’t feel in control?” She asked quietly. That seemed to be the crux of it, for him, for Jeff, for Remmy. Simon didn’t move when she got closer but he wasn’t looking at his glass anymore; his gaze was unfocused, half-lidded and somewhat narrowed and an exhale escaped his thin lips. “No, not really.” It was his turn to murmur, feeling himself tense up slightly and he tried to work up another half-smile but he never got there, the corner of his mouth twitching instead. He considered not responding to her question about being a werewolf at all; he felt inherently wrong in how he felt about that situation, like he was incorrect in his judgements or feelings regarding the whole ordeal. He hadn’t been honest with but one person since he suffered the Bite eight months ago; at this point, it was easier for him to just shrug it off like it didn’t matter which… despite what anyone said to the contrary, it didn’t. “And, uh… I suppose. Sor-- Er, I didn’t mean to bring that up; I don’t know where it came from.” He did release a nervous chuckle this time. “It’s nothing, really. I just figure people don’t mind me being around for… some reason.” Because I’m ineffectual and blend in well to the background.

Lydia leant back, shifting to curl her other leg under her too, in a rather feline manner. She knew better than to keep pushing. “I hope you find someone to mentor you,” was all she said, her gaze compassionate. She’d been about to add something else, but… Lydia could smell butter. Butter and flour, baking? Maybe? “Do you have something in the oven?” She asked, just before the air in front of her exploded into a confetti of flakey pieces of pie crust. A piece of paper and a tin dropped out of the explosion into her lap, and Lydia jolted, eyes flaring. Picking up the piece of paper, Lydia frowned. “Simon? Why does this say that I’ve come third in the weird pie contest?” Simon did catch her look when she replied and he found himself regulating his breathing when she responded with her hidden gentleness, unaware up until that point that he must’ve been getting nervous as his mind kept starting and erasing and restarting sentences until he found the right combination of words. He himself wanted to say something too when he also caught the smell of something. Food, like a cake that was almost ready to come out of the-- He heard her ask about if he had something in the oven and he resisted the urge to give her a somewhat dry look as if to say ‘like you wouldn’t know if I had something in the oven’ but he didn’t have to refrain for long when the air exploded and Lydia recoiled as something landed in her lap. He tilted his head with curiosity, then almost physically bounced with a childish excitement. “Oh! Remember those pies I wanted to make? When we submitted them, I wrote your name on the slip.” He explained as he looked at the tin briefly but ultimately looking back at Lydia.

“You can’t be serious,” Lydia said, looking at him. But he was. She huffed, rolling her eyes in frustration. “Why would you do that?” She stood up, throwing the pie crust flakes off her dressing gown and onto the floor. “I realise I helped, but Simon, this was your idea, your work. Why wouldn’t you take credit for that?” The tin can rolled off her lap and clattered to the floor, after huffing for a moment she bent down to pick it up. “A tin for storing negative thoughts in? What kind of prize is this?” His gaze followed her as she stood, pie flakes fluttering about her like glitter and Simon didn’t immediately answer her, instead giving her a look that was a mixture of timid hopefulness and somewhat like a dog that got caught breaking a benign rule. “Yeah but it was your oven, house and know-how that kept the kitchen from combusting.” He replied, head shaking slightly with instinct as the tin clanged on the floor before she picked it back up. He eyed the tin with raised eyebrows. “A lot of people have receptacles they hold negative thoughts in but usually those are in the forms of diaries or other written documents.” He couldn’t deny that he was curious though. Perhaps you wrote down the negative thoughts on pieces of paper and put them in the tin? It wasn’t a very… original idea but he supposed it could’ve been worse, especially considering he hadn’t anticipated on even being available to be judged alongside the people that made actual pies for actual people.

“Simon, did you consider that perhaps I didn’t want my name involved in major town affairs?” Lydia retorted, her eyes hard to his mischievous look. As soon as she said it, the tin grew heavier in her hand, and the thought vanished from her mind entirely. “I- What did I just say?” Simon’s head cocked further to the side, almost like he was hearing something distant and shrill and he was trying to listen better. “Uh… you got mad at me for putting your name on the submission form,” He recalled in a manner of speaking. Honestly, the thought hadn’t occurred to him that she probably didn’t want to be recognised in a pie-making competition though to his credit, he absolutely didn’t enter that contest with the intention of winning; he just wanted to do something nice for everyone’s dogs. “Sorry…” He apologised out loud this time, his expression falling as his brow furrowed. “I didn’t know that it would actually be judged or that it would… win anything.”

“Uh, oh,” Lydia said. Why didn’t she remember that? All the same, Simon deflated, and Lydia felt bad that whatever she didn’t remember had done that. “Just… don’t do it again. I work hard to… maintain myself in a certain way in the public view. For important reasons. It frightens me to lose control of that.” Her hand dropped and she lost her grip of the can as it suddenly became much heavier again, and it smacked against the floor hard enough to leave a dent. The previous sentence once again lost from her mind. “That’s deeply disturbing. Either way, I do believe it’s yours now. These prizes belong to you. Your work, your innate creativity. I won’t claim credit for that. In fact,” Lydia picked up the certificate again, the corners of her lips turned up. “Let’s restore this to what it should be, hm?” Simon flinched from the sound again and his brow furrowed when she dropped the tin - he knew that she tended to be careful and precise with her movements so it was unusual for him to see her drop something as though she wasn’t holding onto the thing carefully. “I’m sorry… I’ll keep that in mind in the future, I pr-- Uh, yeah.” He scooted over on the couch closer to where she was sitting and leaned forward to pick the tin up curiously, glancing up at Lydia who was holding the certificate. The tin didn’t… SEEM that heavy but he shook it in his hands as if to see if it had anything in it. Empty. Very curious. “. ..Sorry, restore what?” He asked rather dumbly, bringing his full attention back to her.

“The certificate,” Lydia replied patiently, her momentary anger returning back to a quiet simmer, with a real, if pointed smile. She looked at the tin in his hand suspiciously, more questionable than anything else about this whole situation. What kind of third place prize was it, anyway? “No public attention, no one needs to know but you and me, but at the very least the certificate should have the right name on it. Luckily, I happen to be an expert in covering up damage on things. You’re not going to dissuade me, so come on.” Simon set the tin on the couch beside him as he kept his eyes on Lydia. His expression flitted from timidly curious to mournful that they were in this position to gentle in his smile, all passing in a matter of seconds in his eyes and brow. He stood up slowly, still holding the glass of wine and though part of him wanted to dispose of the certificate altogether - he knew he was going to have trouble seeing it without thinking about that time he didn’t read the room properly and unintentionally threw Lydia into the public eye - she had said that he wasn’t going to dissuade her, and she was correct. He wouldn’t. “I can-- I can go tell them that it was my idea…” He offered. “If that would help wipe the tarnish from your reputation.” His stomach was in knots; the more he thought about it, the more foolish he felt. He just wanted to-- and the way she smiled when-- and the looks she gave him when he screwed up-- How he failed on purpose to get her to join him in something. He thought he might’ve been frustrated; he knew he should’ve mentioned that he didn’t want to be judged as an actual contestant. And for what, a piece of paper and an empty tin? He exhaled, unclenching his jaw and he felt his grip on the glass loosening - he was thankful for the new moon, otherwise he might’ve accidentally shattered it. “You are an expert, indeed,” He replied softly, glancing down at her demure, regal frame and giving her a small smile.

“Tarnish my reputation? I think that might be putting it a tad strongly. You made pies for dogs. You weren’t like,” Lydia cringed. “that Adam fellow.” She led him into her studio, where he had already been several times before. They’d brought him in a comfortable chair, so that he could sit and read while she worked in silence for hours at a time. She grabbed an easel from by the wall and her paint pallet from the desk. It only took a drop of solvent to reactivate the restoration grade paints on there. In the lights she could see the cream shade of the certificate, the quality of the dense paper it was printed on. She saw sunflower yellow and ice pink and white, colours she could pick and mix by heart. Forty years of this, and it was easy to match the paint to the paper, carefully painting over the delicate loops of her name. “Much like you don’t like to turn the spotlight on yourself, I don’t like to lose control,” Lydia said quietly. It was easy to talk like this, focused only on the paint in front of her. With one last look for now at the tin and setting his glass on a passing table - he wasn’t going to drink it, he didn’t think - Simon followed Lydia to the studio, familiar by now in the path they took and still matching her pace as resolutely as ever. He supposed it could’ve been worse; his submission COULD’VE had a creepy melted face on it but that was… a bit much. ‘Tarnish’, while indeed a strong word, still felt like it could’ve applied but he hoped she knew that that wasn’t his intention. Either way, they were in the studio by the time he reached the end of that line of thought and he followed her around until she seemed to be set up and part of him, though he was still sore from the day, wanted to stand close enough to her to observe her work but one of the last things he wanted to do was crowd her so he settled in the chair, leaning forward on his knees and keeping his eyes on her as she worked. “Sometimes I have a hard time picturing an instance where you wouldn’t be in control,” He said mildly, rubbing his hands together absently. “Or at least be able to recover quickly.” He added as if to note their specific scenario with it.

“Yet you have seen me less in control than I think I have been the entire time I have lived here,” Lydia replied, setting down her paint brush. If one looked closely, of course, the paint was obvious. The lettering of the rest of the document was ink, not paint. But if one looked at a simple glance, they would see what they should. Credit where credit was due. Lydia had no capacity for creativity, her inspiration was made to give, not keep. But she hadn’t given any here. Whatever… dubious artistic talent the judges had seen in the pie, they hadn’t come from her. Lydia had operated the oven and the easy unstick spray. Lydia had been a tool in his art, nothing more. “Fixed.” Her tone was still cool, still unimpressed. Her hand curled into a tiny little fist, and then flexed again. “I appreciate that you’re trying to remedy this. Likely, time will be the better treatment here. Trying to change anything more would lead to more unwanted attention.” “You’re probably right,” Simon sighed, his brow furrowing and he swallowed whatever urge he wanted to say along the lines of ‘it was nice seeing that you were at least pretending to have fun towards the end of that night’; he was finding himself doubting if that’s what was happening or if that’s just what he wanted to see. He wasn’t sure what he wanted-- well, yes he did… right? He knew one thing for certain and that was to be more careful with how he… went about doing things. Part of him wondered if he put Lydia’s name on the submission to let her get the credit or more to make sure he didn’t get attention. He hadn’t thought about it being a selfish move on his part until just then and that just twisted more knots in his stomach. “Thanks for… fixing it,” He said quietly but genuinely and though he wanted to apologise yet again, he didn’t and decided to leave it at that, his hands knotting around each other nervously.

“It’s rightfully yours,” Lydia replied with finality, standing up. She rubbed her face, and thought about the sad bottle of wine left half finished in the living room, and the strange weighted tin prize. There were pie crust flakes scattered everywhere, that would get rubbed into the couch and flooring if they weren’t careful. The conversation had been so pleasant, before, soft and delicate, and heartwarming. Lydia’s shoulders slumped as she looked back up at Simon, exhausted and now disgruntled. She pushed a smile onto her features, and said, “Let’s go to bed.” Simon caught the shift in body language, getting the feeling that he had ruined the night with his… stupid pie stuff. Always something, always something for him to screw up. Her smile looked artificial, like she didn’t want to. Maybe he was just imagining it. He paused for a moment before getting to his feet slowly. “Yes, ma’am,” He replied softly.

@inconvenientsimonstrocity

#wickedswriting #para #chatzy #simon

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naturallysuperbullshit · 4 years

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S2 E5: Simon Said

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Dean makes a good point about not announcing to a bar full of hunters that Sam has psychic visions

YEAH JO

Wait when did Sam break his wrist - WAIT THE ZOMBIE GIRL THATS RIGHT THEYRE FINALLY GIVING US REAL PAYOFF ON THE INJURIES THE BOYS GET

My dog does NOT like Sam hjhjkjhjjhhj I paused the episode on his face to write some comments and my dog won't stop growling and boofing at him what did Sammy ever do to you, buddy

Ash don't sell your skills for a fucking PBR there are much better beers out there

Man... I do want to see Dean and Sam travel with Jo for a while and let her kick ass

My dog is STILL upset with Sam and I don't know why but it's VERY funny

God I do enjoy the fuck out of Andy's stupid stoner van

"So the demon wants you all out there killing with your minds, is that it? Give me a break" no actually you kinda hit the nail on the head with that one Dean

It is VERY funny how Andy makes Dean give up the Impala in like 30 seconds with a smile on his face

You can really date these episodes not only be the cell phones used but by the references to real events. Fucking OJ Simpson, really?

Dean is full-on fanboying over this van I'm cackling

"One day I'd love to sit down and eat something I didn't have to microwave in a minimart" this is literally the first time we've ever seen you eat something that you apparently microwaved at a minimart Dean

Sam just being completely unphased by Andy's powers while Dean spills his guts is the BEST scene in this episode

Andy you mind control people you got no right to question Sam's visions lmao

Still can't believe they went with the legit evil twin story

Webber looks like if Elijah Wood was 3% more twink

So Yellow Eyes can fucking dreamwalk now okay sure why not

"What am I supposed to do now?" valid question and I feel like it doesn't come up enough at the end of their cases... the Winchesters really do just steamroll through people's lives huh

I think Dean has a point here - Andy didn't want to shoot Webber, but it was that or let Webber kill Tracy and Dean, and probably Sam, too.

YEAH YOU TELL 'EM ELLEN

Oh good the boys finally realized they aren't an army of two, they have people who can and will help them

"Simon Said" final thoughts: I like Andy, I really do! I think he's a fun character, and I really like that even in the space of less than 40 minutes they were able to make him three dimensional as a character, mostly through the use of Webber as his foil.

#s2e5 #spn s2 #simon said #supernatural #supernatural notes

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wiypt-writes · 3 years

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Leave No One Behind

Ch 10- Today Is A Gift, That’s Why They Call It The Present Co written with @icanfeelastormbrewing

Episode Warnings: Bad Language words. Smut (NSFW no under18s). Descriptions of birth and trauma. Still born baby- so PLEASE PLEASE HEED THE WARNING AND DO NOT READ IF THESE COULD TRIGGER.

Episode Pairings: Ari Levinson x OFC Hannah Horowitz

A/N: Just to re-iterate, this deals with a very, very difficult subject. Please do NOT read if the warnings above could upset or trigger.

Leave No One Behind Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Chapter 9 Part 3

“Baby I've been here before, I've seen this room and I've walked this floor, I used to live alone before I knew ya. I've seen your flag on the marble arch, but love is not a victory march, it's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah” Hallelujah- Leonard Cohen

“Sammy…” she nudged her brother and pointed towards the woman. Sammy followed her gaze, and once he spotted what she’d seen he let out a loud groan.

“Are you crazy?” Sammy shook his head “It’s too dangerous, she should have stayed!”

“If she stayed she would have died.” Kabede shot back “As would her baby…”

“If anyone hears her then we’re all gonna die!” Sammy shot back and Hannah angrily shushed him.

“Stop it, both of you, you’re scaring her” she looked up “Sammy, she’s in labour and we can’t leave her here…”

“Oh great, that’s…just…” Sammy took a deep breath

Hearing the commotion, Ari and Jake shut the tailgate to the other truck and Ari jogged over to find out what was happening.

“What’s going on?” Ari asked and then he glanced at Hannah who was knelt between a young woman’s legs and one look told him exactly why “Oh…shit.”

“Yeah, shit!” Sammy shook his head and Ari took a deep breath as Hannah spoke.

“She’s in labour.” She looked up at Ari, every inch of her face etched with worry as the woman let out a little cry “And she’s pretty far engaged.”

“I knew things were going too smoothly…” Sammy sighed and Hannah glared at him.

“Oh shut up Sammy you prick!” she shook her head and turned back to Ari as he scrubbed a hand down his face.

“Can you help her?” he asked

“I’ll go get my kit.” Hannah jumped up and headed for the cab of the truck, pushing past Max as she ran.

“Other truck is loaded. We ready to go?” Jake asked, drawing up besides Max, frowning at the look on his face. “Something wrong?”

“Looks like we picked up one extra.” Max whispered, and Jake followed his gaze, his mouth dropping open.

“Oh…”

Kabede looked at Ari who nodded and clapped his hands together.

“Sorry!” Ari yelled back and Hannah glanced up, momentarily to the front before another yell and a hand on her shoulder made her turn back and she saw with horror the woman had passed out.

“Sammy!” she yelled “Sam, please I need…”

Sammy didn’t waste a second, he clambered over the seats into the back looking at Hannah as she wiped the sweat off her brow with her forearm, unknowingly smearing her head with blood.

Sammy crouched in front of the woman, gently checking her pulse.

“She just passed out.” Hannah said. “The baby’s crowning but…”

“She’s losing too much blood.” Sammy stated the obvious, but Hannah didn’t snap.

“I know.” She said softly.

“Ari!” Sammy called and Ari tipped his head slightly to show he was listening “Get on the radio, tell them what’s going on. They need to be prepared.”

“Got it…” Ari said, reaching for the handset.

“Listen to me Han…” Sammy said, “You’re gonna have to manipulate the baby slightly. Let her body to the work but as she’s passed out you’re gonna need to help ok?”

“Okay.”

Sammy carefully moved, placing his hand on the woman’s stomach “I’ll tell you when she’s contracting again. You need to gently grip the head…”

Hannah did as she was told and looked at her brother.

“When you feel the baby moving forward slightly, pull until you feel resistance. Then stop.”

“Right…”