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trickster-archangel · 2 years

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Blood and Shadow

Blame this whole brain mush on the fact that I added Calum Scott's Dancing on my own to my Buddie playlist, leading to thinking about Jolene, leading to thinking about Lil Nas X's Jolene cover, leading to thinking about heteronormativity and comphet, leading to thinking about character's death as a plot device, and its role in 9-1-1.

Humour me.

Coming from the Supernatural fandom, I am quite resigned to witnessing the wildest character killing hunt, even important side characters who had been featured for several seasons (mainly female and POC characters), as a cheap plot device to push the main character's arc forward and shock the audience. So I was pleasantly surprised to notice that in 9-1-1 this isn't quite the same situation, having witnessed very few characters being killed up to this point of the story (I don't think Ramon will die, for the same reason I'm about to explain), and it made me think that those few deaths were really necessary and really meaningful both for the surviving characters involved and us, the audience.

Actually, this whole brain mush started with a not-happened death, or Why didn't they kill Michael?! Since the actor will almost be gone for good after the suing, and all with the brain tumour and the hospital fire, it could've been very easy to simply kill him out of the story, dramatically and honourably.

But they didn't. So, again: why?

PSA: I didn't have the bare time to have a full rewatch, so I might be forgetting someone here. If so, please bear with me and feel totally free to add your own.

I'm now taking into account the following deaths, in no particular order: Kevin, Shannon, Doug, Daniel, Bobby's family, Emmett, Abby's mother. I'm totally NOT considering every single victim from every single episode.

The only side characters we witnessed as interacting with the main ones in the present, thus becoming a real part of the whole story, and not of the single character's arc, are Abby's mother, Shannon, and Doug (just like Michael…who isn’t dead).

If we think about the others, they are just background characters, past characters, memories…they don't belong to the real, mainstream story, the 118 story, the firefam-as-a-whole's story, because they act like gear kicking motivator for the single character's story and arc. With the blatant exception of Hen, who started her own arc with herself being shot and almost dying, and with saving, not losing, her coach.

There's something affecting myself individually about an arc starting with a gruesome death, because it's my own history. So I'm maybe projecting, but humour me.

KEVIN. He belongs to Chimney's past, but if you think about it, his death wasn't really necessary because Chimney had already chosen his path. His death becomes a beautiful and heart-rending memento only in hindsight, after 5x16, when Chimney manages to save Albert and redeem himself in his own eyes. Not anybody else's. His own. But Kevin had to die to tell us something, to make us understand something: that family doesn't end with blood. Sure, the Lees were devastated, especially because Kevin wouldn't have died if he (like Albert years later) wouldn't have wanted so badly to walk into Chimney's steps. But the Lees didn't blame Chimney, didn't hate him, didn't push him aside.

They lost one son, not both. Because in their eyes there was no difference between the blood child and the adopted one. They are the same, and they are loved the same. The message wasn't for Chimney, the message was for us. A family is not built on blood only. Children are not only those born from the same father and the same mother. And from a queer point of view, this is mind-blowing.

BOBBY'S FAMILY. Same as Chimney. Sure, this gruesome, multiple death, was something impacting so horribly on Bobby's psyche (especially if you consider he is a devoted Catholic and guilt is so deeply rooted and ingrained in our psyche, that even if you stopped being one, like me, very early in life, you will never shake it off completely: Catholicism thrives on guilt). And just like Chimney's guilt, it had its own conclusion in 5x16. But those deaths, introduced so early in the series, were also a shout, again, to us as an audience. Again, if Bobby had lost his blood family, this didn't mean he couldn't build another one…hell, other two whole families! One at the 118, and one with Athena. Because, again, a family is not built on blood only. Children are not only those born from the same father and the same mother. And from the beginning of s1 we KNOW that Buck steps into Bobby's kid role, just like Bobby becomes Buck's true father. It's something we, not them, have to understand. It's for us.

EMMETT. Ok, I admit at first I was a bit confused by this whole storyline, because we had been already told in Haunted that Athena had chosen to become a cop after that girl's disappearance, then we had the whole Emmett convincing her and suchlike…but again, as she herself explained in 5x15, being a cop was something she had always wanted…just, pushed aside for a while, probably because of her overbearing mother. Until Emmett came into place to push her back to her true self. The problem here is not what would've happened if Emmett hadn't died. The point, I think, it's Harry's question. Harry Three-Dads Grant. It doesn't matter what Harry and May would've been if Athena had married Emmett, because they would have not been THEM: they are what Athena and Michael made them, not only physically but also emotionally and mentally. Blood doesn't define, doesn't build, doesn't make a person: it's their family's love that shapes them into their true self. And in a three-dads-family, an extended family, a queer family, this is even more poignant, because all of the family members are now involved in their kids parenting, blood bonds set aside. Michael had always been gay, but this fact hadn't made him less of a father for his own kids. Just like cishet Bobby stepping beside him at Athena's side.

DANIEL. The Real Looming Ghost(TM). Buck didn't even know about him. He lived his whole life without having the slightest idea of a Daniel. Sure, he felt something was off, he felt his parents' coldness and disappointment, he lived his entire existence believing himself expendable. But he didn't know him. He wasn't affected by his death. Only by the outcome. Again, plot reasons set aside, I see this as a loud shout to us as an audience again: Look! Look what happens when you put the blood but not the love! Buck was a blood child of the Buckleys, yet he didn't matter, he never mattered. He was their son and all they cared about was a ghost. They were apparently The Perfect Family(TM) and yet they maimed his soul. They materially provided for him, but didn't give a damn about Buck as a living, breathing thing. They only made him for spare, defective parts. So, blood isn't really what makes a family, right….?

ABBY'S MOTHER. Ok so now we're diving into the present. I'm starting with her because it'll be very short, since she doesn't really have a huge weight in terms of agency: she stands literally on borrowed time, through Abby's own words, because she's late stage Alzheimer. She's not even her true self anymore. But she is a huge plot foundation because she's more or less the driving force that brought Buck and Abby to close the physical gap and become lovers, and, in the end, the driving force that split them apart, by means of Abby leaving to look for her true self, to discover the person she was before she had been forced to become her mother's guardian, always thinking and caring for the others before herself (....sounds familiar…). Abby's mom HAD TO die in order to set Buck free in the world with his new baggage of experience and growth. Buck 2.0. If she hadn't died, or if she had died later, maybe when Eddie was already part of the team, what would've become of that immediate bond, that bone-deep understanding, that soul-crashing proximity which set Eddie and Buck into mutual orbits? Nothing, probably. If she had stayed just a little longer, she would've hindered Buddie for being….Buddie. She needed to die to set not only Abby, but Buck as well, free. Free to question themselves: who am I? what am I looking for? what would make me myself truly?

DOUG. There we are. My intention is not to question his morality or ethics. He is horrible and totally not excusable. But….but, they could've made a different choice. His death wasn't really a necessary plot drive, right? He could've almost die, like Maddie. They could've imprisoned him and let him rot. He could've survived. They made the choice to kill him, so I suppose his death was necessary. And truth is, it was. Because otherwise Maddie would have never found the strength to be free, to be herself, to be someone else from Doug's victim. To look for her future and happiness, at Chimney's side.

For as much as Doug kidnapping was traumatic, and pushed them far from each other, in the end they managed to collect their broken pieces and build something new, different for sure, brittle, but with a solid foundation: freedom. Had Doug survived, his ghost would've loomed forever on them, threatening to come back one day and destroy whatever they could've managed to create. They could've got together, but again on borrowed time, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Doug had to die not to shock us, or to push Maddie and Chimney together, which they would've probably done anyway, but because he had to set them free in their love.

Two deaths which, in the end, brings us back to Shannon's death. And to Buddie.

I admit I was at first irritated by her death, she was questionable but also relatable, and I wished for her a growth arc too. But they killed her. And they didn't kill Michael. Why? She had already asked for a divorce, like Michael, so Eddie would've been free anyway. She had even said that she wanted to distance herself from both Eddie and Chris, in a way, so she wouldn't have been around. Why killing her, then, when she simply could've been written out like Michael in 5A?

Because she had the same role as Abby's mom and Doug. Her death wasn't for us, it was for the characters, both Buck and Eddie. Had she been alive and distant, she would've been still a looming presence, a ghost, an hindrance, a road block. Michael wasn't anything like this: his existence didn't pose a threat to Bathena, nor to Bobby's role as a stepfather. He was just another dad. Three dads and a mom. Nobody loses, nobody wins, because there's no competition.

But Shannon? She was Christopher’s mother. Even if she hadn't been Eddie’s wife and partner anymore, she would've still been a solid rock in Christopher’s foundation. And a road block against Buddie. Because let's be honest: we know Eddie. Not Stage Four Eddie Diaz. Not I'm Leaving The 118 Eddie Diaz. Not Breakdown Era Eddie Diaz. The previous one. The one who always put all the others before himself. The one who was dating Ana to give his son a maternal figure and satisfy the world and his parents. The one who was ready to accept Shannon back only to rebuild the family, not because he was truly happy with her.

Had Shannon survived, she would've been the bane of Buck's existence and happiness. She would have prevented Eddie from taking a step, any kind of step, towards anyone, least of all Buck. He would've never been freed of her ghost, just like Maddie from an incarcerated Doug. Had Shannon come back asking to stay again in their life, Eddie would've probably accepted, once again, out of duty and guilt and love for Christopher. He could've had Buck in his life, but Buck could've never parented Chris.

Because, if Buck is Lil Nas X and Shannon is Jolene, there will always be the threat of heteronormativity and social acceptance, and to Eddie would be more cruel for himself, but more acceptable for Chris's sake, to have Shannon rather than Buck. Buck couldn't stand a chance against a legitimate mother, even a bad one.

Doug had to die to free Maddie and let Madney happen for real. Michael didn't have to die to free Athena and let Bathena happen. But Abby's mother had to die before Eddie's introduction to set both Abby and Buck free. And just as well, Shannon had to die in order to set both Eddie and Buck free. And let Buck first become Chris's other parent, and once held the key to Eddie's heart, also his partner. Not on borrowed time, but for real.

Otherwise, we could've had the usual growth arc, Shannon coming back to her rightful place after learning from her mistakes, Buck would've stepped into some wrong relationships learning what he didn't want, and we would've had just two best friends being bros, whimpering over bad romances, until the glorious ending with the oceans of hot tears and redemption, good wives, white picket fence, two families hanging together with the kids. Et cetera.

But Shannon died, and Doug died, and Abby's mom died. And Michael didn't.

So yes, I'm hopeful for Buddie.

#long post #911 meta #buddie meta #death of the character #evan buckley #eddie diaz #christopher diaz #shannon diaz #bobby nash #athena grant #michael grant #chimney han #maddie buckley

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daily911 · 3 years

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I've never seen him like this before.

Image ID: gifset of a scene from 911, Season 2 Episode 12: Chimney Begins

gif 1: Kevin, Chim, Anne, and John are sitting down for dinner. Kevin says, “Fire captain said it was a miracle that everyone got out alive. There was a ton of code violations. Like, that club in El Monte a few years back? Similar situation. 12 people died, mostly from smoke and panic.“

gif 2: Anne replies, “Well, thank God that didn't happen here.“

gif 3: Kevin immediately responds, “Except it did. That one woman went up like a Roman candle. Howie tackles her to the ground like a linebacker.”

gif 4: Chimney jokingly says, “I'm small, but I'm fast, evidently.“

gif 5: Kevin continues, “Everyone is just freaking out. Everyone except Howie. He's totally cool. I mean, he actually takes charge.”

gif 6: Chimney looks around smiling.

#911 #911 fox #911edit #911onfoxedit #chimney han #kevin lee #anne lee #john lee #chimney #kevin #anne #john #chimney x kevin #2.12 #myedit #kevin is so proud of his big brother #and won't let chim downplay what happened #:(#food

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themushroomblues · 3 years

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Yeah, you’ve really been a terrible influence.

#911 #911 fox #911edit #911onfoxedit #daily911 #chimney han #kevin lee #james chen #kenneth choi #alcohol #212 #911mine #tmb gifs #chimney x kevin

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adarafaelbarba · 2 years

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So as mentioned in my previous post about this bingo, my birthday is next month. And for that occasion I wanted to host another bingo! Like my last bingo in October 2021, this one will have moodboards to the squares. You don’t have to use them, but they’re there for inspiration, and can also be used in your fics as a “cover” if you’d like 🥰 I’m gonna have the moodboards up before the bingo starts on Monday 17th of January 😅

here are some rules:

1. It’ll start on January 17th and ends on February 17th at Midnight (Norwegian time)

2. Write one, ten or all of the fics. But don’t feel like you have to write them, this is a fun little writing exercise

3. You can write a head canon, ficlet, multi-chapter (one moodboard/square per fic) or a one shot. But please, if it’s longer than 500 words, put it under read more.

4. The fics can be fluff, smut, angst, etc if you feel like they would fit with the aesthetic of the moodboard you write for. Please remember to tag the fics with the right warnings before posting it.

5. Tag me when you post it, so I can keep tracks of the fics that are posted for this challenge and use the hashtag: #adarafaelbarbabirthdaybingo

6. Characters allowed (reader insert, oc, ships)

SVU:

Rafael Barba

Sonny Carisi

Mike Dodds

Nick Amaro

Peter Stone

Odafin “Fin” Tutuola

Alex Cabot

Casey Novak

Olivia Benson

Amanda Rollins

Rita Calhoun

Kat Tamin

Elizabeth Donnelly

Other Raúl Esparza Characters:

Jackson Neill

Nevada Ramirez

Jonas Nightingale

Bryan Kneef

Frederick Chilton

Paul Mendelsohn

911 / 911 Lone Star:

Evan Buckley

Eddie Diaz

Maddie Buckley

Chimney

Hen Wilson

Bobby Nash

Athena Grant

Owen Strand

T.K. Strand

Grace Ryder

Judd Ryder

Marjan Marwani

Paul Strickland

Carlos Reyes

Tommy Vega

Mayans MC:

Miguel Galindo

Angel Reyes

Ez Reyes

Bishop Losa

Emily Thomas

Coco Cruz

One Chicago:

Matt Casey

Kelly Severide

Brian «Otis» Zvonecek

Joe Cruz

Stella Kidd

Gabby Dawson

Violet Mikami

Sylvie Brett

Emily Foster

Jessica Chilton

Gianna Mackey

Evan Hawkins

Jay Halstead

Antonio Dawson

Adam Ruzek

Kevin Atwater

Erin Lindsay

Hailey Upton

Vanessa Rojas

Sean Roman

Kim Burgess

Connor Rhodes

Ethan Choi

Will Halstead

April Sexton

Crockett Marcel

Jeff Clarke

A Discovery of Witches:

Baldwin Montclair (Trystan and Peter’s version, but specify it 😅)

Matthew de Clermont

Marcus Whitmore

Diana Bishop

Miriam Shepard

Domenico

Sophie Norman

Nathaniel Wilson

Gallowglass

Satu Järvinen

Juliette Durand

Phoebe Taylor

Hamish Osborn

Chris Roberts

Ransome Fayrweather

Outlander:

Ian Murray

Frank Randall

Jamie Fraser

Clair Fraser

Briana Fraser Randall

Roger Mackenzie

Fergus Fraser

Marsali Fraser

Jenny Fraser

Harry Potter/Fantastic Beasts:

Sirius Black

Remus Lupin

James Potter

Newt Scamander

Young Dumbledore

Kingsman:

Eggsy Unwin

Roxy Morton

Harry Hart

Merlin

Charlie Hesketh

Percival

Lancelot / James Spencer

Ginger

Whiskey

Tequila

Characters from the King’s Men

MCU:

Thor Odinson

Steve Rogers / Captain America

Tony Stark / Iron Man

Dr. Bruce Banner / Hulk

Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow

Sam Wilson / Falcon / Captain America

Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier

Dr. Stephen Strange / Dr. Strange

T’Challa / Black panther (rip Chadwick 🥺)

Shaun / Shang-Chi

Xialing

Wenwu

Wong

Peter Parker / Spiderman (Tom, Toby or Andrew. But specify it 😅)

Clint Barton / Hawkeye

Wade Wilson / Deadpool

Scott Lang (Ant-Man)

Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel

Baron Helmut Zemo

Yelena Belova

Monica Rambeau

Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch

Pietro Maximoff / Quicksilver

Charles Xavier / Professor X

Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto

Druig

Makkari

Dane

Thena

Sersi

Ikaris

Ajak

Gilgamesh

Kingo

Phastos

Note: If there’s a character/fadom not listed, feel free to DM me.

7. No RPF/real person fic. No underage character (includes reader/ocs)

8. Please signal boost this post, regardless if you participate or not

9. Most important! Have fun! 🥰 Feel free to dm me with any questions or concerns

#adarafaelbarbabirthdaybingo #law and order svu #one chicago #chicago pd #chicago fire #chicago med #kingsman #marauders #fantastic beasts #outlander #a discovery of witches #marvel #mayans mc #karen hosts a bingo

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libraryofloveletters · 2 years

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2.1k celebration master list

celebration post

**all of these are x reader :)

----

Prompt 10: “I can’t believe you talked me into this” + Adam Ruzek

Prompt 11: “Are you ashamed of me?” + Hank Voight

Prompt 105: “HEY! THOSE ARE MINE!” + Matt Murdock

Prompt 2: “Please don’t cry” + Frank Castle

Prompt 1: “You look better in my clothes than I do” + Connor Rhodes

Prompt 37: “Uh why is your shirt inside out?” + Brian ‘Otis’ Znovecek

Prompt 27: “I could never get tired of you.” + Ravi Panikkar

Prompt 113: “I’m in the hospital” + Chimney Han/Maddie Buckley

Prompt 3: “Have you seen my hoodie/jacket?” “..No” “You’re wearing it, aren't you?” + Nick Amaro

Prompt 52: “You love pissing me off, don't you?” + Kelly Severide

Prompt 2: “I think I'm in love with you and I'm terrified.” + Brian ‘Otis’ Znovecek

Prompt 27: “Who do I need to hurt?” + Billy Russo

Prompt 1: “Quit touching me, your feet are cold” + Kevin Atwater

Prompt 2: “I think I'm in love with you and I’m terrified.” + Connor Rhodes/Luke Alvez

Prompt 42: “Why does it feel like you’re saying goodbye” + Derek Morgan

Prompt 50: “Do you know who you’re talking to?” “yes, but frankly I don't care.” + Hank Voight

Prompt 2: “I think I’m in love with you and I’m terrified” & Prompt 21: "If you walk out that door, don’t come back” + Evan Buckley

Prompt 55: “What do you want?” + Evan Buckley/Kelly Severide

Prompt 49: “I don’t see the same person I loved when I look at you anymore” + Jay Halstead

Prompt 12: "what do you want to do today ?" "nothing, go away." "I'll take that as a 'cuddle me, please!' okay then!" + Ravi Panikkar

Prompt 24: “How mad would you be if I kissed you ?” + Joe Cruz

Prompt 19: “I've never seen anyone look so cute and ridiculous at the same time” + Matt Casey

Prompt 129: "Falling in love with you wasn't apart of the plan but I don't mind." + Nick Amaro

Prompt 7: “Do you even still love me ?” + Adam Ruzek

Prompt 143: “You look like you’re going to pass out” + Kelly Severide

Prompt 2: “You’re not sorry.” + Luke Alvez/Connor Rhodes

Prompt 29: “You said you wouldn't fall in love with me” “I lied.” + Evan Buckley

Prompt 19: “Please don’t let me loose you.” “You never had me in the first place.” + Kaz Brekker

Prompt 10: “Are you flirting with me?” “you finally noticed.” + Matt Murdock

Prompt 33: “How many times are you going to look me in the eye and lie to me?” + Matt Simmons/Matt Casey

Prompt 12: “The way you flirt is shameless.” + Ethan Choi

Prompt 13: “They’re so cute when they’re asleep” + Ravi Panikkar

Prompt 1: “You look better in my clothes than I do” + Evan Buckley

Prompt 13: “Did you just.. hiss at me?” + Matt Murdock

Prompt 24: “You bought me flowers ?” “Yeah, well I noticed you seemed kinda down, so I wanted to cheer you up” + Sonny Carisi

Prompt 78: “Oh my god, what did you do?” + Connor Rhodes

Prompt 141: “To think, we thought just sex would be enough to keep us in love.” + Matt Casey

Prompt 6: “I didn’t realize I was such an inconvenience.” + Jay Halstead

Prompt 8: “you promised me! you promised me you wouldn't be reckless!” + Ravi Panikkar

#2.1k with anj #chicago pd #the punisher #daredevil #chicago med #chicago fire #911 #svu #law and order svu #law and order special victims unit #criminal minds #cm #shadow and bone #sab

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beautifulbizarremagazine · 3 years

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Amazing work by Mary Jane Ansell, "Eventide" [Oil on Aluminium Panel, 12" x 12"] for our upcoming exhibition 'Animalia' at Haven Gallery - Opens this Saturday!The opening reception at Haven Gallery will be open to the public, all are welcome!

Exhibition Dates: October 23rd – November 28th, 2021Opening Reception: Saturday, October 23, 5 - 7pmAt: Haven Gallery90 Main St, Northport, NY 11768, United States

To receive the Collectors Preview please email Erica on [email protected]

Participating artists including the Winners of the 2021 Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize: Adam Alaniz, Alessandra Pisano, Alex Louisa, Alpay Efe, Amahi Mori, Andi Soto, Annie Montgomerie, Bella Kotak, Bill Mayer, Brad Woodfin, Brian Mashburn, Brian Viveros, Brittany, Brodie Colbourne, Caia Koopman, Crystal Morey, David Rice, DD-Anne, Dewi Plass, DULK, Ed Binkley, El Gato Chimney, Elizabeth Wakou, Ellen Jewett, Erika Sanada, Ewa Prończuk-Kuziak, Forest Rogers, Gail Potocki, Hope Doe, Howard Lyon, Ian Francis, Jisu, Jana Brike, Jason Mowry, Jesus Inglés, Jon Ching, Joseph Weinreb, Julio Reyes, Kate MacDowell, Kelsey Bowen, Kevin Peterson, Kevin Sloan, Kim Slate, Koh KiSung, Kris Lewis, Kristin Kwan, Kristine & Colin Poole, Kseniia Boko, Laura Colors, Lavely Miller, Lesley Thiel, Lindsey Carr, Lucia Heffernan, Lucy Havard, Madeline von Foerster, Margo Selski, Mary Jane Ansell, Mathieu Nozieres, Matt Dangler, Michael Bergt, Miho Hirano, Naoto Hattori, Nicole Evans, ONEQ, Phillip Singer, Rachael Bridge, Richard Ahnert, Roland Mikhail, Rose Freymuth-Frazier, Ross Jaylo, Ruth Speer, Sana Yoshida, Scott Brooks, Scott Musgrove, Scott Radke, Stephanie Law, Steven Kenny, Sui Yumeshima, Susan McDonnell, Susannah Martin, Thomas Ascott, Tina Yu, Tran Nguyen, Travis Louie, Vanessa Foley, Victor Grasso...#beautifulbizarre #artexhibition #artinfo #newcontemporary #art #havengallery #bbanimalia #newyorkart #artforsale #artcollector #maryjaneansell #oils #oilpainting #figurativepainting #portraitpainting #realismart #redhead

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fireinyourkiss · 3 years

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seen

(maddie x chimney)

truly have no idea what this is!! it makes zero sense, i wrote it in like 30 mins and it has not been edited! i haven’t written in a very long time. FYI: this takes place during 4x03: Future Tense.

There’s another scar. A smaller one -- crescent-shaped, practically invisible -- right next to the one Howie got from the accident. Maddie’s fingernail follows its slight curve up and down. She can feel Howie’s eyes on her own face, watching every movement in that quiet and steady manner of his. But her eyes remain fixated on the scar: the one she’s never noticed and he’s never mentioned. Does he even remember getting it? She imagines a young Howie trying to climb a tree in a stranger’s yard or a teenage-Howie dared by Kevin to perfect a skating trick. It’s a perfect little thing, blending right into the rest of him, and the possibilities suddenly become endless to her. How much of their lives have they missed? Would the scar still be there if they had met earlier?

She takes a deep breath.

“You know, Buck came to see me at the hospital in Hershey once,” she says.

It’s the story she’s been meaning to tell him all day. A chance to prepare him for the upcoming Buckley family dinner. Buck’s convinced it’s going to be a shit show, and she doesn’t have it in her anymore to disagree. Still. She needs Howie to understand how unmoored her parents made her and Buck feel as kids. He needs to know, needs to understand why they would act like polite coworkers outside work and not a loving family reuniting after time apart.

There’s the other thing he needs to know too, but she shuts the door on that thought before it even finishes itself. It’s easy. She’s had practice.

“Hm?” His response is a second too late, and his voice is gravelly, worn out and tired as he is from his long shift.

They’ve both been working relentlessly this week in order to take the weekend off and spend time with her parents. Her feet have been killing her and she caught him rubbing his forehead whenever he thinks she can’t see.

They really do need to sleep when they can. That had been the original plan, really. But after dinner, Howie changed into the comfiest pajamas he owned and as he slipped into bed, Maddie noticed a freckle below the nape of his neck -- a tiny dot she hadn’t noticed. When he hovered over her to turn off the lamp and kiss her goodnight, her hand had shot out and held him in place above her. He hadn’t questioned it, simply froze in motion before a small smile spread out on his face as he saw her study him.

“When was this?” He asks, a gentle prompt to get her to continue the story.

“He was twenty, I think,” she says, her voice slipping in and out of a whisper. “He’d crashed his motorcycle --”

“Wait, wait, wait. Buck had a motorcycle?”

She laughs at the incredulity in Howie’s voice. “Oh, yeah! He’d been saving up for it for like two years.”

“Wow. I gotta ask him for pictures.”

She doesn’t mention that their parents ended up paying for the bike in full after an accident with a keg in Evan’s sophomore year landed him in the hospital. His miserable face and the diagnosis of a concussion very predictably guilt tripped them into making the purchase a week later.

“Don’t bother. He only had it for a month before he crashed it.”

Howie sobers up immediately, sensing the change in her tone. She keeps her eyes trained on the spot where Howie’s neck meets the rest of his body.

“He showed up with a sling around his arm and cuts and bruises everywhere,” She continues. “He just- He was sitting on that bed and suddenly, he looked so small. He’s always been small, always been... my little brother, you know? But I remember looking at him in that moment, and he was crying or almost crying and I thought- For a second I wanted to hold him like I used to when he was a kid, and mom and dad were fighting over-” Daniel. “-something and I’d pull him into my lap and let him listen to my Walkman. He just showed up that day with this giant bruise on his head and a cast! And all he could talk about was how terrified he was of telling mom and dad.”

She takes a moment, letting a broken gasp out of her mouth. Howie’s hand comes up to wipe the tears she hadn’t noticed had escaped. She looks up at him and sees the pain in his own face. Like he’s living her past with her, seeing the moment unfold as she did eight years ago. His eyebrows are raised and scrunched, and the scar she discovered earlier has been bunched up, practically hidden in the folds. But it’s there. Right there.

“I know I told you my parents weren’t bad people. They’re just bad parents. And I stand by that. But, sometimes we used to get glimpses of these moments where they were happy and we were all happy. But, they were so few and far in between, I’m almost certain I made them up.

“They... they never saw Buck. Ever. And... after a few years, they stopped seeing me, too. I’d only get their attention on important milestones: birthdays, graduation.” A wedding they never attended. “But Buck only got them to look at him when he got hurt. Suddenly, for a few hours, he would be the most important thing in their lives. They would trip over their feet trying to make sure he was taken care of and feeling better. Whatever he wanted, he got. But the minute those bruises faded, they disappeared again.”

Howie’s hand is running through her hair now, so gently it feels like a summer breeze. She has never known comfort like his hands, or the safety of trusting someone to love you when you want them to. His steady gaze is focused on her and she thinks she could live in the space between them. And now, she’s invited her parents to intrude here.

“Howie?”

“Yeah?” He kisses her forehead and lets his lips linger there for a few seconds.

“I just- I just want them to see us.”

Her voice tapers off at the end, and, with that, she can’t stop.

She cries like she hasn’t since Howie came back home. The sobs that echo in the room sound like they’re being punched out of her. Howie wraps his arms around her and shifts them so he can hold her better. She buries her face in his neck, tears running down her jawline and onto his collarbone.

Phillip and Margaret Buckley made their kids fight for their attention, and it wasn’t even on purpose. While Evan flung himself off his skateboards and broke his knees trying to climb trees, Maddie tried to be perfect. She made a list of everything she could remember about Daniel (favorite song: Should I Stay or Should I Go?; favorite game: Pacman; favorite color: yellow) and spent the next ten years making sure she avoided every single one of them. She hated rock music, refused to go to the arcade, and never bought a yellow shirt. Instead, she became valedictorian and head cheerleader. She played the piano and learned to sing. She went to Penn State for pre-med and fell in love with someone. Her every move, every thought became defined by how much she could make sure her parents never saw Daniel in her.

But it was useless. He lived right behind their eyes, a constant reminder and a filter they used to look at the world. Maddie was convinced she sometimes heard her mother talk to Daniel in the kitchen or in the guest bedroom no one was allowed to go into.

She clutches Howie tighter, balling up his shirt in her fist. He whispers he’s got her, he sees her, she’s okay, he loves her, she loves her too, he’s got her. Her cries get softer, her head is lighter. She inhales, feeling like she can finally breathe past the rocks in her throat that were choking her. Howie’s hands have never left her hair and his thumb rubs back and forth along her temple. He bends down to kiss her cheek, her jaw, the top of her head.

“Maddie,” he whispers. He waits until she looks up at him. “I see you.”

He pauses for a second, blinking back tears in his own eyes. Maddie’s hand comes up to rub against his cheekbones.

“I see you,” he says again. “And you look like every dream I’ve ever had.”

Suddenly, Maddie feels a kick. Her eyes widen, at Howie’s words and at the sensation that charges through her. She reaches for Howie’s hand and slides their intertwined hands down to her stomach, hoping to feel her again.

They hold their breath and wait.

Just a second more.

And, she kicks again, harder this time, like she’s trying to be heard. Seen.

“I see you, baby,” Maddie whispers. She lifts her head off the pillow as much as she can and looks down her body. “I see you and I love you.”

She hears a watery laugh and looks up at Howie who’s watching her with- Well.

He looks like he could spend the rest of his life seeing her.

“We see you, Maddie,” he corrects himself, and Maddie thinks she has never loved them more. It’s an incorrect thought, for all its sentimentality. She’ll love them more again tomorrow and the day after. After all, she’s never had to fight to be seen here.

She closes her eyes and feels around at the back of his neck. It takes her two seconds to zero in on the spot. The little freckle that caught her eye. She doesn’t even have to check to make sure she’s got it right. Her finger is flat on the back of his neck and she opens her eyes to see.

“I see you, too.”

#maddie x chimney #911 fic #madney #madney fic #i attempt a thing #this is genuinely so bad and so quickly written but i just needed to write it?? idk sorry!!#maddie x buck #i attempt a fic

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shining-red-diamond · 3 years

Text

Over the Rainbow (ACT I)

Genre: Fluff, angst in some parts, Wizard of Oz!AU

Word count: 7.1k

Warnings: Angst, mentions of violence, kidnapping, illness, and death; fluff, some peril

Rating: PG-13

Pairing: Reader x TBZ English line (Jacob, Kevin, and Eric) (feat. Sangyeon and Kim Chungha)

DISCLAIMER: I’ve changed a few elements to make this story have my own spin on it. It still follows the same basic storyline of the 1939 film.

Dust from the dirt path kicked up from Y/N’s shoes as she ran with her dog away from Mrs. Gulch’s garden. The old grouch had nearly put Toto out of his misery with her rake. Y/N she was going to be in trouble for allowing her precious dog to chase Mrs. Gulch’s cat, but all she worried about now was if her dog was hurt.

“I’m calling the sheriff, young lady!” Mrs. Gulch had threatened the second the two had escaped the garden. “And you better had put that mutt away!”

As soon as she felt far away enough from the old woman’s house, Y/N knelt down by her dog.

“Did she hurt you, boy?” she asked the small, black, wiry-haired dog as she checked his back. Toto just wagged his tail as if nothing was wrong, which told Y/N that he was fine. “She tried to, didn’t she?” –She snuggled him to her chest- “Come on. We’ll go tell Auntie Em and Uncle Henry what happened.”

It was only another half mile before Y/N spotted her family’s farm just about a football field in the distance, and within a few seconds she had reached the gate camouflaged in the white picket fence. Y/N found her aunt and uncle busying themselves in the chicken coop counting baby chicks as the little birds peeped.

Emily (Em for short) was about mid-fifties, her golden-washed hair pulled back into a low bun, revealing the wrinkles on her careworn face. She was a kind and gracious woman in town, but when she was working on the farm or busy in the kitchen, there was no stopping her. When she wanted something done, she made sure to get it done. Her husband Henry was her age, maybe a couple years her senior. He had a few more wrinkles than Em and was balding at the top of his head. Like his wife, Henry was kind and caring, but he was a little more laid back when it came to busy work. However, he was still a hard-worker and had established the farm from scratch.

Y/N had come to live with them after her parents passed when she was ten years old. It was an adjustment from the city into life in the country, but Em and Henry were gracious to let Y/N to come live with them.

“Auntie Em!” Y/N called as she rushed in, Toto following close behind her. “Auntie Em! Uncle Henry!”

“22, 23, 24,” Em counted each chick.

“Auntie Em,” Y/N was now right next her aunt, “you’ll never believe what Mrs. Gulch did to Toto. She-“

“Now, Y/N,” Em sighed, “can’t you see we’re busy? We’re trying to count.”

Y/N didn’t listen as she ran over to her uncle. “Uncle Henry, I was on my way home-“

“Did you not hear, your Aunt, dear?” Henry interrupted. “The incubator’s broke, so we’re trying to make sure we didn’t lose any babies.”

“Oh, the poor little things.” She managed to stroke one of the chicks’ fuzzy, yellow head with her fingertip. “But Aunt Em, Mrs. Gulch hit Toto right over the back with her rake, because she says he gets in her garden and chases her nasty, old cat every day.”

Em took that chick and said, “Why don’t you run along, and we’ll talk at supper?”

Y/N ignored her. “But he doesn’t do it every day,” she continued her rant. “Just once or twice a week. And he can’t catch her old cat, anyway. Now, she says she’s gonna get the sheriff-“

“Y/N, please!” her aunt begged.

With a defeated sigh, Y/N knew she wasn’t going to get her aunt and uncle’s attention right now. Instead of trying again, she decided to try to console to the farmhands, Toto trotting behind her.

All three of them were friends to Y/N. Kevin was the comedian of the group. He always got his work done, but he also new how to make others laugh while doing so. He was once caught dancing with a pitchfork when Uncle Henry played his record player to pass the time. Jacob was the gentle father figure; maybe it was because he was a dad himself. He and his wife had moved into to town about a year earlier, and Auntie Em had helped her deliver their daughter. As a farmhand, he always made sure to work hard at whatever task he was assigned. The youngest of the bunch, Eric, was Y/N’s best friend, but he always tended to act like it was something more. He was a sweetheart, but like the other two, he was a hard worker.

Most days, Eric always had a smile on his face, but now, with a smashed finger, he was not in the best mood.

“There goes my finger,” he groaned.

“Better your finger than your head,” Kevin said as he started carrying food to the pigs’ feeding trough.

“Kevin,” Y/N went up to him, “what am I gonna about do Mrs. Gulch? Just because Toto chases her old cat-“

“Listen, honey,” he interrupted her, “I’ve got the hogs to feed.”

“Now, listen, Y/N,” Eric chimed in, “you’re not using your head about Mrs. Gulch. Think you didn’t have any brains at all.”

“I have brains.”

“Then, why don’t you use them? When you come home, don’t go by Mrs. Gulch’s place, then Toto won’t get in her garden, and you won’t get in no trouble. See?”

“Oh, Eric,” Y/N scoffed. “You just won’t listen, that’s all.”

Eric began on another task before replying, “Well, you’re head’s not made of straw, you know?”

Y/N rolled her eyes and walked away from him. She wandered over to where Kevin was rounding up the pigs into their pen.

“Come on,” he commanded them. “Get in there before I make a dime bank out of you.”

Out of boredom, Y/N climbed onto the wide fence and started to walk across them, keeping her arms out to maintain her balance.

“Listen, kid,” Kevin said before filling the pigs’ trough. “Are you gonna let that old heffer mess with you? She’s nothing to be afraid of. Have a little courage, is all.”

“I’m not afraid of her,” Y/N justified as she continued her walk.

“Then, the next time she squawks, walk right up to her and spit in her eye. That’s what I’d do.”

Kevin was also the most reliable to talk to when you had a problem. Even the smallest of issues you would be facing would be met with advice from Kevin, even if it came of as a joke or a bit of sarcasm.

Y/N started to laugh, but it ended up making her lose her balance. She flew down into the pigpen as they began running around in fear of what just dropped into their living area.

Afraid of getting trampled, Y/N cried for help.

“Kevin, help!” she screamed. “Get me out of here! Help!”

Within a split second, Kevin had booked it over to her, scooped her out of the pen, and carried her to safety. Eric and Jacob helped her stand, and poor Kevin sat down with his hat off and a hand over his heart.

“Are you alright, Y/N?” Jacob asked with concern laced in his voice.

“Yes, I’m okay,” she assured, her voice trembling a little. “I fell in, and Kevin-“ She noticed the farmhand shaking; sweat beginning to run from his dark hairline. “Why Kevin, you’re just as scared as I am.”

“What’s the matter?” Eric teased. “A little pig make a coward out of you?”

“What’s all of the jabber-whopping when there’s work to be done?” Auntie Em’s voice disrupted the laughter. The other four immediately went silent. “I know three farmhands who’ll be out of a job before they know it.”

“Well, Y/N was walking along-,” Jacob chuckled as he tried to explain, but was interrupted by Aunt Em.

“I saw you tinkering with that contraption, Jacob,” she shut him up quickly. “Now, you and Eric get back to that wagon.”

“Alright, Mrs. Gale,” Jacob sighed as he began to walk away, be he almost immediately turned back around. “But someday they’re gonna build a statue of me in this town, and-“

“Well, don’t start posing for it now.”

Eric laughed, and then Aunt Em gave them some dill pickles to snack on.

Kevin took one and tried to explain what had happened, but Em put her foot down.

“It’s no place for Y/N around a pigsty,” she informed. “Now you go mind those hogs before they worry themselves into anemia.”

“Yes, Mrs. Gale,” Kevin nodded.

Em and Y/N began walking away, and Y/N took the opportunity to try to talk to her aunt again.

“Auntie Em, really,” she whined again, “you know what Mrs. Gulch said she’s gonna do to Toto? She said she was gonna-“

Em just shook her had and told, “Now, Y/N, you must stop imagining things. You always get yourself into a fuss over nothing. You just help us out today, and find yourself where you won’t get yourself into any trouble.”

She scurried off, leaving Y/N standing in shock. Her aunt was always there to help her when she needed it, but Y/N had a tendency to exaggerate things at times. She guessed that her aunt thought this was one of those times, but she understood. Maybe Mrs. Gulch was just threatening her and Toto out of spite as usual, but the look on the old grouch’s face said otherwise.

“Someplace where there isn’t any trouble,” Y/N sighed. She looked at her furry friend, who was sitting on the ground and looking up at her as if taking in her every word.

“You think there is such a place, Toto?” Y/N asked, her mind wandering as she strolled over by the old tractor. “There must be. It’s not a place you can get to by a boat or a train. It’s far, far away. Behind the moon, beyond the rain.”

She then remembered a song Aunt Em would sing to her whenever she felt sad and began to sing.

“Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high

There’s a land that I’ve heard of

Once in a lullaby

Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue

And the dreams that you’ve dared to dream

Really do come true

Someday I’ll wish upon a star

And wake up where the clouds are far behind me

Where troubles melt like lemon drops

Away above the chimney tops

That’s where you’ll find me

Somewhere over the rainbow, blue birds fly

Birds fly over the rainbow

Why then, of why can’t I?”

Toto jumped up on the seat of the tractor, and Y/N snuggled him for a second before listening to a few birds chirp. She looked up and gazed up some rays of sun pouring into a tear in the clouds, lighting up the gloominess of the farm just a little bit, almost giving a sense of hope.

Y/N then finished her song.

“If happy little blue birds fly beyond the rainbow,

Why oh why can’t I?”

“That dog is a menace to the community!” Mrs. Gulch barked. “I’m taking him to the sheriff to have him destroyed.”

The forty-something year old woman sat up straight in the chair across from Em. Her raven locks were pulled into a tight bun, and her hat was perched on top of her head as if it would fly off at any given moment. Mrs. Gulch had dressed in her Sunday best, but she wasn’t here for a church sermon. She had come for something sinister.

Her words were like punch in the stomach to Y/N. “D-Destroyed? Toto?”

Mrs. Gulch gave a slight nod.

“Oh no, you can’t,” Y/N begged. “You mustn’t! Auntie Em, Uncle Henry, you won’t let her take him, will you?”

Uncle Henry gave her a reassuring smile. “Of course we won’t, dear,” he promised. “Will we, Em?”

Y/N turned to her aunt, who now had a conflicted look on her face.

“Please, Auntie Em,” she begged. “Toto didn’t mean to. He didn’t know he was doing anything wrong. I’m the one who should be punished. I let him go in her garden. You can send me to bed without dinner.”

“If you don’t hand over that beast,” Mrs. Gulch threatened. “I’ll bring a damage suit that’ll take your whole farm. There’s a law protecting folks against dogs that bite.”

“How about if she keeps him tied up?” Em suggested. “He’s really gentle, with gentle people, that is.”

Mrs. Gulch was taken aback at her neighbor’s words. “Well, “ she huffed, “that’s for the sheriff to decide.” –she reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper- “Here’s his orders allowing me to take him, unless you want to go against the law.”

Auntie Em took the sheet and read it, and Uncle Henry came over to take a look at the order as well.

“We can’t go against the law, Y/N,” Em shook her head as her voice began to shake. “I’m afraid poor Toto had to go.”

“Now you’re seeing reason,” Mrs. Gulch scoffed as she opened her basket. “Here’s what I’m taking him in, so he can’t attack me again. Just put the little rat into the basket.”

This triggered Y/N’s anger even more. “NO, I WON’T LET YOU TAKE HIM!!!” she screamed as she forcefully pushed the basket away. “YOU GO AWAY, OR I’LL BITE YOU MYSELF!”

“Y/N!” Em snapped.

Y/N didn’t take her angry eyes off of their grouchy neighbor. She could feel her tears start to push through.

“You wicked old witch!” she spat as her tears started to fall. “Uncle Henry, Auntie Em, don’t let her take Toto.”

Mrs. Gulch tried to grab Toto out of Y/N’s arms, but she fought against her.

“Henry, just put Toto in the basket,” Em sighed as she massaged one of her temples.

As much as Y/N wanted to resist, she wouldn’t fight her beloved uncle. He was a gentle man, not a fighter. Unless matters got too out of hand, then he would take the appropriate action to settle a dispute. This being why Y/N froze the moment he gently pulled Toto from her arms. The same man who had given her a best friend when she was fourteen was now the one taking him away from her. Sorrow even began to grow on her uncle’s face.

The water works flowed as she watched her best friend being put into the wooden basket. Toto even started to whine a little. Y/N’s heart felt heavy, her head dizzy, and she felt sick. Her feet ran her to her bedroom. She slammed the door and threw herself on the floor and sobbed. She was heartbroken.

For about ten minutes, Y/N cried on the floor, not caring who heard. Toto. Her sweet little dog. Y/N had only tried to let Toto run around to exercise, but why the old grouch’s garden of all places, she’ll never figure it out.

Once she was calm, she sat up and leaned against her bed, beginning to accept that Toto was gone for good.

Two little barks interrupted her thoughts. She looked up and Toto jumped through her open window and onto her bed. He licked her face as if to say, “I’m never leaving you.”

“Toto!” she cried before embracing her pet. “Oh my gosh! You came back!”

Y/N held Toto for about a minute before she realized, “They’ll probably be looking for you once they discover you’re gone.”

Although he was only a dog, Y/N always knew he was smarter than the average canine. If he somehow escaped Mrs. Gulch’s basket, he could possibly escape bigger situations than that.

However, Y/N wasn’t about to let anyone take Toto away from her again. She pulled back, looked at Toto in the eye, and said, “We’ve got to run away.”

As soon as she had packed all that she would need and could carry such as some clothes, shoes, and some of her own money stash from under her bed, she and Toto escaped out of her bedroom window. The two of them took the back roads and headed south. Y/N didn’t know where she was going, but she wanted to be as far away from all of her troubles as much as possible.

After a few minutes of walking, Y/N and Toto came across a large caravan painted in blue with gold and red lettering declaring, “Professor Lee! Acclaimed by the Crowned Heads of Asia.” The closer Y/N got, she could hear a man’s voice singing random tunes.

The owner of the voice then rounded the corner of the caravan and immediately spotted Y/N. He was fairly tall, young man of Asian decent and wore a dark green suit and chocolate brown dress shoes.

“Well, a house guest,” he greeted her with a smile before crossing over to sit by a fire pit that Y/N just now noticed was burning. “Now, may I ask who you are? No, don’t tell me. Let’s see.” –He scanned Y/N up and down- “You’re…going on a visit.”

Y/N shook her head.

“No, that’s not it.” The professor thought again. “You’re traveling in disguise. Nope, wait, you’re running away.”

“How did you guess?” Y/N asked with a smile.

“Professor Lee Sangyeon never guesses,” he claimed with a chuckle. “He knows. Now, why are you running away? No, don’t tell me. Uh…They don’t understand you, or appreciate you. You want to see the world. Cities, oceans, mountains, everything.”

Y/N nearly jumped out of her shoes. “It’s like you could read what was in my head! Oh, please, professor, could Toto and I join you and see all of the crowned heads of Asia?”

“You know any?” Professor Lee asked, then realized what she was talking about. “Oh! Well, I don’t do anything without consulting my crystal first. How about we head inside and I’ll show you?”

Sangyeon guided Y/N to the entrance of his caravan, allowing her to step in first. The inside of the caravan was full of all sorts of treasures. A skull sat on top of the doorframe, colorful paper lanterns lined the ceiling, small jade figurines of various gods lined the walls, and suede furniture sat in the center of all of his collection of treasures. Wax candles sat on each side of the chairs. The furniture surrounded a small wooden table with the most sparkling crystal sphere Y/N had ever seen perched in its holder.

“Have a seat,” Sangyeon motioned towards one of the chairs. When she did so, he began lighting each candle. “This is the same magic crystal used by the priests of Isis and Osiris in the days of the Pharaohs of Egypt in which Cleopatra saw the approach of Julius Caesar and Mark Antony and so on and so forth.”

Y/N watched in awe as the professor prepped the room for his reading. She knew it was probably all an act for a circus somewhere, but she still wanted to see what he was doing.

“Now, you’d better close your eyes, my dear,” the professor instructed. “Just for a moment to be better in tune with the infinite.”

With a nod, she did as she was told. What she didn’t realize was Professor Lee was looking through her basket to find some sort of picture of her and her family to better set up his act. He found one of her, Uncle Henry, and Aunt Em taken in front of the farm the previous summer.

“We can’t do these things without reaching out into the unknown,” he continued before putting the picture back in the basket. “Alright, you can open your eyes now, and we’ll gaze into the crystal.”

Y/N opened her eyes again and watched as the professor stared the crystal ball as if he were studying it very closely. She couldn’t see anything happening, but the act displayed in front of her was making her believe it was real.

“What’s this I see?” he asked to no one in particular, his eyes glued to the crystal. “A house with a picket fence, and a barn with a weathervane. And also, a running horse.”

“That’s our farm,” Y/N pointed out.

“And there’s a woman with graying hair at the temples, a striped dress, and she has a careworn face.”

“That’s Aunt Em.” Is he really seeing everything? She thought.

“Short for Emily?”

“That’s right. What’s she doing?”

Professor Lee’s face twisted into a confused expression. “I can’t quite see. Oh, she’s crying. Someone has hurt her. Someone has just about broken her heart.”

Y/N’s own heart was about to break just hearing this. Of course she was angry that Toto had to be taken away, but was running away the best option?

“Me?” she asked.

“Well, it’s someone she loves very much,” Professor Lee shrugged. “Someone she’s been very kind to and cared for in times of sickness.”

Y/N was getting anxious. “I had really bad pneumonia once. But she stayed right by me every minute. What’s she doing now?”

He had figured she was running away out of some sort of anger, and just from the picture he could tell she was close to her family. Y/N was the first young person to come to him in hopes of finding something better, however, he knew he should at least try to help them make amends with their families. Y/N was no different.

Seeing how upset Y/N was getting, Professor Lee had one last trick up his sleeve. Glancing at his crystal again, the professor’s face displayed a look of shock. “What’s this? She’s placing her hand on her heart, and dropping down on her bed.”

“No,” Y/N began to sob.

“I’m sorry, my dear, but the crystal’s gone dark.”

She couldn’t stay any longer. If her beloved aunt was having a heart attack or stroke, then she needed to go home and try to help her or call a doctor.

“You don’t think she could really be sick, do you?” Y/N suggested as she hastily stood from her chair. “Oh, I’ve got to go home right away!”

“What’s this? I thought you were going to travel with me.”

“Oh, no, I have to get to her right away. Come on, Toto.”

The dog immediately followed Y/N out of the caravan. Professor Lee also followed her out and waved good-bye to her.

“Good-bye, Professor,” Y/N called back to him. “And thank you!”

Professor Lee noticed the drastic change in the weather. What began as a sunny autumn day quickly turned into a mighty windstorm. A tornado was approaching, and he needed to get himself and his horse to the nearest shelter possible.

“Woah, there, boy!” he instructed his horse, Gold Foot, as he caught hold of his reigns. “Better get undercover. There’s a storm brewing up. Poor kid. I hope she gets home alright.”

Back at the farm, chickens were running around panicked, horses were neighing in fright, the cows didn’t seem to care, but the pigs squealed in terror. Kevin and Eric were busy getting the animals to safety as much as possible. Jacob had rushed home to join his wife and baby daughter in their tornado shelter. He helped as much as he could, but Em and Henry told him to go home and protect his family. However, it was still chaos.

“Hurry up and get them horses loose!” Kevin shouted orders to Eric over the loud and wailing winds. “Where’s Jacob?!”

“He has a wife and child to protect!” the younger farmhand reminded him. “So he’s gone into shelter with them!”

Kevin looked up at the sky as Eric went to release the horses from the barn. No longer was it just a partly cloudy day. The sky was covered in a thick black, blanket as a cylinder of wind and dust violently pirouetted though neighboring fields.

“It’s a twister! A twister!” Kevin cried.

Em and Henry gathered everything they needed for the shelter such as food, lanterns, and a few blankets, and Em had gone to get Y/N. To her horror, her niece was missing. She thought Y/N had been in her room, but it was empty. Panicked, she ran around the house and farm, calling out for her every few seconds.

“Y/N! Y/N!” she screamed her nieces name over the tornado.

“Come on, everybody!” Henry rounded everyone up. “In the storm cellar!”

“Help me, Henry! Y/N’s somewhere out in the storm!”

“We can’t look for her now! We have to get in the cellar!”

Em was terrified she wouldn’t see her precious niece again. All she had to do was hope she would be okay once everything calmed.

The wind used all of its might to knock Y/N down as she and Toto made their way back to the farm. The dog began to bark, not wanting to brave it by standing on his own two feet. Y/N was quick to scoop him up and carry him back; leaning forward as she marched to she wouldn’t be knocked over.

“Auntie Em!” she called out. No answer.

The gate was jammed as she fought it open, breaking the lock as she did so. She had some leverage as the house blocked some of the winds force, but Y/N still had to fight her way in. She got the screen door open, but it immediately broke off and was carried off into the storm. However, Y/N was able to get herself and Toto into the house and shut the main door.

“Auntie Em! Uncle Henry!” she called again.

When she went out back to try to open the shelter, it was too late. It was closed and locked. She kicked and screamed for her relatives, but there was no chance of her getting in. She would have to brave the storm alone with her dog and hope for survival.

Y/N retreated to her bedroom, told Toto to hide, and she set her basket down.

“Auntie Em!” she called again just before her bedroom window broke off and knocked her in the back of her head. The impact knocked her out, the darkness consuming her as she fell.

When Y/N opened her eyes, she had no idea of how much time had passed. Toto was licking her face as to wake her up, and Y/N pet his furry head. However, the house was…moving? The wind was blowing, but it wasn’t violent. It was more like a windy day right before it rains. Wind howled much louder until a rooster’s crow broke the silence.

Looking out the window, Y/N couldn’t see anything but a dark gray wall. However, she spotted what she guessed was the roof of the farm’s chicken coop with the rooster standing on top of it. A cow floated around in the air, mooing without a care in the world. A wooden rocking chair floated up, and Old Mrs. Ahn was sitting in it and knitting a quilt. She looked up and waved hello. Confused, Y/N waved back before the old woman floated away again. Two fishermen in a rowboat were next to be in Y/N’s line of sight. They made eye contact with her, tipped their hats, and she waved.

Out of curiosity, Y/N looked down and nearly lost her balance.

“We must be up inside the cyclone!” she shouted over the wind so Toto could hear her.

When she looked back, she saw a familiar face riding her bicycle in the tornado.

“Oh!” Y/N cried out in disgust. “Mrs. Gulch!”

Then, without warning, the grouchy neighbor morphed into something horrible. She now had an ugly, green face, and was dressed in all black with a pointed hat. A large broom was now her choice of transportation. It was a witch. Frightened by the sight, Y/N retreated back to her bed and covered her eyes as the witch released an ear-piercing cackle.

The wind began to pick up. Toto jumped into Y/N’s arms and started to whimper. The house spun more times than Y/N could count. She screamed out of fright and sobbed as she didn’t know what was happening. Was she about to go out like this? She began to regret everything she had done earlier that day from the time she allowed her dog to run around in the neighbor’s garden to running away.

Then, everything stopped. The house seemed to land, and everything went silent. Her room was a mess, but that could be taken care of later. All Y/N cared about was if her family was okay. Some thick trees blocked her outdoor view, so she couldn’t see what was going on outside. She figured the house landed in the nearby woods.

“Are you okay Toto?” Y/N asked her dog. He licked her chin as if to reassure her that he was fine. She then picked him up, gathered her still intact basket, and exited her room.

The house was dark, but Y/N could make out the outlines of the furniture with the help of some light peaking through the curtains. Everything was either broken or knocked over, and a few family pictures were smashed. The important thing was that Y/N was alive, and so was Toto.

Holding Toto close to her, Y/N carefully opened her front door and almost fainted. On the other side of her front door was not her farm, but rather a new world on display in front of her eyes. Colorful plants and flowers surrounded a small duck pond and a stream leading away from it and under a bridge. Next to it was a spiral imprinted in the ground made from yellow and red bricks. In the surrounding area, small, white cylindrical houses with straw and burlap roofs populated around the pound and brick paths, but there seemed to be no one in sight. The sky above was the most gorgeous shade of blue Y/N had ever seen. It was as if she had jumped into a storybook.

“Toto, I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore,” Y/N said to her dog as she wandered around. “We must be over the rainbow.”

After setting Toto down, Y/N glanced up at the sky and noticed a spherical object floating towards her. Was it a bubble? It looked like one, but it wasn’t your average bubble. As it got closer, Y/N noticed it was changing colors and getting bigger. Stepping out of the way, the bubble, now the size of a horse, turned a bright shade of pink as it landed on the brick path.

The bubble dissolved away, revealing a beautiful woman with velvet red, shoulder-length hair and an extravagant silver crown resting on top of it. She was dressed in a sparkling periwinkle dress with glittering butterflies decorating various spots. The skirt part of her gown was almost as wide as a dinner table towards the bottom, and her sleeves were puffed as large as egg crates. In her hand, she carried a long wand with a diamond star at the top.

“Now, I definitely know we’re not in Kansas.” Y/N was speechless. It was the first sign of human life, and all she witnessed was a woman with a wand fly in inside a bubble.

The woman makes eye contact with Y/N and approaches her, her skirt flowing behind her.

“Are you a good witch, or a bad witch?” she asked.

Y/N was taken aback by her question.

“Me?” she asked, and the woman nodded. “I’m not a witch at all. My name is Y/N, and I’m from Kansas.”

“Oh,” the woman replied, and then motioned towards Toto. “Well, is that the witch?”

Y/N just giggled. “Toto’s my dog.”

“Well, I’m a little muddled. I was informed by the munchkins that a new witch has just dropped a house on the Wicked Witch of the East.” She turned towards the slightly damaged house. “There’s the house, and here you are,” –she pointed towards a pair of dark burgundy legs with opalescent shoes on the feet sticking out from underneath the house- “and that’s all that’s left of the Wicked Witch of the East.”

Y/N was in shock. She had accidentally killed someone. She felt bad, but from the tone of the woman’s voice it sounded like it was a good thing.

“And so,” she continued, “what the munchkins what to know is, are you a good witch or a bad witch?”

“But I’ve already told you I’m not a witch at all,” Y/N reassured. “Witches are old and ugly.” A plethora of giggles sounded from behind her. “What was that?”

The woman chuckled. “The munchkins. They are laughing because I am a witch. I am Chungha, Witch of the North.”

Y/N eyes nearly popped out of her head. “You are? My apologies if I’ve offended you, but I’ve never heard of a beautiful witch before.”

“Only bad witches are ugly. The munchkins are happy because you have freed them form the Wicked Witch of the East.”

“Well, if you don’t me asking, what are munchkins?” The laughter sounded again.

“They’re the little people who live here in Muchkinland, and you are their national heroine, my dear. It’s alright, now.” Her attention was on someone else. “You can all come out and thank her. Come out, come out! Wherever you are, and meet the young lady who fell from a star.”

From everywhere in the greenery and behind the small houses, small people no taller than about three feet high began to come into the light of the circle. Their clothing was just as bright as the flowers. The men wore colors of blues, greens, and reds, while the woman wore lighter shades of greens and blues with purples and pinks. Most of them wore hats, their curls sticking out from underneath, and a few of the women’s’ bonnets were decorated with various kinds of flowers such as roses, marigolds, and daisies.

“She fell from the from the sky,” Chungha sang, “she fell very far, and Kansas she says is the name of the star.”

“Kansas she says is the name of the star,” the munchkins repeated as more of them began to appear and surround the new faces in town.

“She brings you good news, or haven’t you heard? When she fell out of Kansas a miracle occurred.”

Y/N was lead to the center of the town, and she began her story. “It really was no miracle. What happened was just this: this wind began to switch, the house to pitch, and suddenly the hinges started to unhitch. Just then the witch, to satisfy and itch, went flying on her broomstick, thumbing for a hitch.”

“And oh, what happened then was rich,” a man in a tall gray hat hopped out.

A few of the woman munchkins joined in on finishing the story. “The house began to pitch, the kitchen took a slitch. It landed on the Wicked Witch in the middle of a ditch, which was not a healthy situation for the Wicked Witch, who began to twitch and was reduced to just a stitch of what was once the Wicked Witch.”

The citizens of Munchkinland performed a small celebratory dance in their freedom from the witch’s clutches, and a horse drawn carriage pulled up. Y/N was guided into it before two citizens approached her with some candy a bouquet of yellow and blue roses.

“We thank you very sweetly,” the first one said with a smile, “for doing it so neatly.”

“You’ve killed her so completely,” the second one said, “thank we thank you very sweetly.”

“Let the joyous news be spread,” Chungha declared, “the Wicked old Witch at last is dead!”

As the carriage began to move, the munchkins cheered wildly and chanted their victory:

“Ding dong, the Witch is dead

Which old Witch? The Wicked Witch!

Ding dong, the Wicked Witch is dead

Wake up, you sleepyhead

Rub your eyes, get out of bed

Wake up, the Wicked Witch is dead

She’s gone where the goblins go

Below, below, below

Yo ho! Let’s open up and sing

And ring the bells out

Ding dong, the merry-o

Sing it high

Sing it low

Let them know the Wicked Witch is dead.”

The carriage stopped in front of a larger homestead, where three trumpeters came out and blew a fanfare as a large-bellied munchkin in a bright blue suit approached Y/N with seven council like people followed behind him.

“As mayor of the munchkin city,” he announced, “in the county of the land of Oz, I welcome you most regally.”

“But we’ve got to verify it regally,” and officially stepped in. “To see…”

“To see.”

“If she…”

“Is morally, ethically, spiritually, physically, positively, absolutely, undeniably and reliably dead.”

Y/N wasn’t sure what was happening at first, but she realized that the council wanted proof that the witch was, in fact, dead. She hadn’t heard anyone scream in fear or seen a dead corpse try to squeeze itself out from under her house, so they must be in the clear.

A munchkin in dark purple robes and holding a scroll approached the council and gave his two cents. “As coroner, I must aver, I thoroughly examined her, and she’s not only merely dead, she’s really most sincerely dead.” He then unraveled the scroll, revealing a certificate of death.

“Then this is a day of independence,” the mayor stated happily, “for all the munchkins and their decendents. Let the joyous news be spread, the Wicked old Witch at last is dead!”

With another wild cheer, the citizens sang their chant in celebration. Y/N was then given thanks from three girls in pink tutus and three boys in colorful suits, both presenting her with candy and a song. Chungha then guided Y/N back to the square where the rest of the people continued their welcome.

Everything then came to halt, when a cloud of bright red smoke exploded from out of nowhere. Munchkins screamed in fright and began to either hide or drop down in fear, and Toto began to bark at who or whatever was unwelcome. Y/N was quick to pick up her dog, but he still growled in protecting her. As the smoke dissolved, the witch Y/N had seen earlier was revealed to be the uninvited guest to the party. Upon seeing her in person, she was more horrid in face as she wore all black clothing and held a broomstick.

“I-I thought you said s-she was dead,” Y/N whispered to Chungha, confused.

“That was her sister, the Wicked Witch of the East,” the Good Witch explained. “This is the Wicked Witch of the West, and she’s worse than the other one was.”

The ugly hag examined the two legs sticking out from underneath the house, and a look of pure wrath shadowed her green face.

“Who killed my sister?” she growled, her voice an unsatisfying pitch. “Who killed the Witch of the East? Was it you?”

“No,” Y/N answered immediately as the witch approached her. “No, I didn’t mean to kill anyone. I promise it was an accident.”

“Well, my little pretty, I can cause accidents, too!”

“Aren’t you forgetting the Opal Slippers?” Chungha asked, unfazed by the witch’s anger.

“The slippers. Yes!” An unsettling smile had appeared on her face as she began to go back to her dead sister’s feet. However, the shoes in question disappeared, and the legs and feet curled up and snaked underneath the house.

“They’re gone!” the witch cried before returning the pair. “The Opal Slippers. What have you done with them? Give them back to me or I’ll-“

“It’s too late,” Chunga stopped her. “There they are, and there they’ll stay.”

Y/N looked down to where the Good Witch was pointing to and realized the slippers were now on her feet, matching beautifully with her pink socks. When did they slip onto her feet? Not that she was complaining about having beautiful shoes on her feet instead of the plain red converse she wore, but the slippers didn’t belong to her.

“Give me back my slippers,” the Wicked Witch demanded. “I’m the only one that knows how to use them. They’re no use to you. Give them back to me. Give them back!”

“Keep a hold of them,” Chungha whispered to Y/N. “Their magic must be very powerful, or she wouldn’t want them so badly.”

“You stay out of this, Chungha, or I’ll break you, as well!”

Chungha just laughed and told her, “Rubbish! You have no power here. Be gone, before somebody drops a house on you, too.”

The witch glanced up at the sky before announcing her departure. “Very well. I’ll bide my time.” Her attention went back to Y/N. “And as for you, young lady, it’s true, I can’t attend to you here and now as I’d like, but just stay out of my way. I’ll get you, my pretty, and you’re little dog, too!” With a cackle, she dashed into the square and disappeared in a thunderous cloud of red smoke followed by a small explosion of fire.

“It’s all right,” Chungha reassured the munchkins. “She’s gone.”

“What just happened?” Y/N asked.

“I’m afraid you’ve made rather a bad enemy of the Wicked Witch of the West. The sooner you get out of Oz altogether, the safer you’ll sleep, my dear.”

“I’d give anything to get out of Oz,” Y/N sighed. “But which way is Kansas? I can’t go the way I came.”

As beautiful as the land was, Y/N just wanted to be back home with her family and friends and bring Toto back with her. She didn’t know if her Aunt was still alive, or even if everyone else was looking for her. It didn’t help that a wicked witch had basically threatened her life over a pair of magical shoes.

“No, that’s true,” Chungha agreed. “The only person who might know would be the great and wonderful Wizard of OZ himself.”

The munchkins immediately bowed at the mention of the man’s name.

“The Wizard of Oz? Is he good, or is he wicked?”

“Very good, but very mysterious. He lives in the Sapphire City, and that’s a long journey from here. Did you bring your broomstick with you?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Then, you’ll have to walk, I’m afraid.”

Thanks, Captain Obvious, Y/N thought.

“The munchkins will see you safely to the border of Munchkinland,” Chungha reassured her. “And remember, never let those slippers off your feet for a moment, or you will be at the mercy of the Wicked Witch of the West.”

“But how do I start for the Sapphire City?” Y/N asked.

“It’s always best to start at the beginning, and all you do is follow the yellow brick road.”

Tagging: @barsformars @barnesbabee @daybreakx @juyeonzz @cosmixity @philosopher-of-fandoms

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youngsamberg · 3 years

Note

all time bish

ohhhh shit okay i will ATTEMPT to list all of my ships of all-time but i will definitely forget some. here we go

current shows (not specifying endgame/nonendgame for obvious reasons):

roy x keeley (ted lasso), ted x rebecca (ted lasso), laszlo x nadja (wwdits), nandor x guillermo (wwdits), brooke x lance (the other two), roman x gerri (succession), midge x lenny (the marvelous mrs maisel), tk x carlos (911: lone star), grace x judd (911: lone star), maddie x chimney (9-1-1), michael x alex (roswell nm), max x liz (roswell nm), kyle x isobel (roswell nm), jimmy x kim (better call saul), janine x gregory (abbott elementary)

shows that have ended rip (ships in itallics aren’t canon endgame):

jake x amy (b99), holt x kevin (b99), amy x jonah (superstore), dina x garrett (superstore), shawn x jules (psych), josh x donna (the west wing), jim x pam (the office), dwight x angela (the office), michael x holly (the office), will x angie (single parents), ben x leslie (parks & rec), andy x april (parks & rec), ann x chris (parks & rec), david x patrick (schitt's creek), ted x alexis (schitt's creek), johnny x moira (schitt's creek), jeff x annie (community), veronica x logan (veronica mars), magnus x alec (shadowhunters), jace x clary (shadowhunters), simon x izzy (shadowhunters), fran x maxwell (the nanny), zoey x max (zoey's extraordinary playlist), rebecca x greg (crazy x girlfriend), monica x chandler (friends), ross x rachel (friends), rory x jess (gilmore girls), luke x lorelai (gilmore girls), barney x robin (himym), jackie x hyde (that 70s show), katie x greg (great news), nick x jess (new girl), cece x schmidt (new girl), winston x ally (new girl), sam x freddie (icarly), dory x drew (search party)

#anonymous #wow this is insane

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awfretgr · 3 years

Text

you'll have to head outside of DC city limits

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foxtophat · 3 years

Link

(still trying to figure out how i link these but whatever)

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!! i decided to just sit down and hammer out the last edits for this lil one-shot so i could get it out today!

i’m gonna be real with you: the only reason i wrote this fic is because i couldn’t get the idea out of my head. you weren’t supposed to see mercyverse for another month, honestly!!! but it’s been cold as fuck here and it’s made me fantasize about classic bed-sharing tropes, and so here we are!

this is a bit of a slice of life, to sort of give an idea of how day-to-day these guys all interact, especially now that carmina doesn’t have to pretend john doesn’t exist. plus, i’m starting to see how the caches might be involved in the overarching plot???? awesome!!!

as usual, the full text is below the cut for my friends who don’t wanna leave tumblr. i hope you enjoy -- feel free to leave a comment, i loooove hearing from readers. likes and reblogs are also great! kudos are fantastic! adding to the hit counter is just fine by me!!! anything you do to show support for fanfic is a good thing imo. i hope y’all have a happy wintereenmas or whatever and i will see you guys in 2021 with more mercyverse :)

The best thing Nick can say about the blizzard currently sweeping the county is that he could see that it was coming. They'd gotten almost a foot of snow the night before, which gets him worried about getting snowed in, and as the day progresses, the sky grows an ominous gray that Nick recognizes from a lifetime of living in the area. He knows that they probably only have a few hours left before they're going to want to get inside and avoid the worst a winter storm has to offer.

Nick and John spend the entire morning hauling wood into the house, while Kim does her best to clean out the broken chimney and ensure they won't die of smoke inhalation. They also pull in some pre-made stock that Kim had left in the freezer after it had gotten cold enough to use, as well as a few smaller pieces for miscellaneous projects. But with the storm rolling in overhead, they don't have long; they end up leaving a lot of things for later as the wind whips up around them and turns the snow sideways.

By two in the afternoon, they've closed the doors to officially bunker down for the rest of the blizzard. They have enough wood to last them three days, plus their military rations and plenty of coffee, so Nick isn't particularly concerned about their safety. The only thing he's really got to contend with is boredom, which is easier to stave off in the first few hours of captivity than it is later in the evening.

For the most part, Nick passes the time by sharpening their knives, cleaning their guns, and checking the radio every hour for any emergencies. The blizzard ensures that not many people are on, but at least he gets to check in with Jerome and make sure that Grace is safely in her bunker. It's unlikely they'll get in contact with the trailer park until after the worst passes, but that just means Nick's gonna worry about those jackasses all night.

Kim is probably the only one comfortable with the downtime, making the most of things as she chews on the radio's instructions. When the technical jargon gets to be too much, she switches to entertaining Carmina, who gets bored quick when her only job is to keep the fire going. The easiest distraction comes from card games; the deck they'd had in the bunker had shrunk to only 32 cards, but now that they've got a full deck to work with, Carmina is eager to relearn and master games like Go Fish and Old Maid. Nick doubts Jacob planned to be entertaining kids with his survival gear, but it's not like the guy's gonna complain.

Carmina isn't the only one that Jacob is keeping busy beyond the grave. Ever since they found that cache of his, John has been borderline obsessed with figuring out what the point of it could be. He'll go all day without mentioning the puzzle plaguing him, but any available downtime has him staring at the map and its coordinates. Nick and Kim have both been keeping an eye on it, just in case it turns into something worse than his usual tunnel-vision, but so far it hasn't gotten out of hand. If anything, John seems more aware and alert now that he has something to focus on, and now Nick can even pretend he's a normal guy for conversations at a time before being reminded otherwise.

Of course, the blizzard's making it impossible to find alternate distractions. John does spend part of the afternoon in his room, but eventually, he can't help but come downstairs to mull over the map. There's only one problem with that — they've hung the map up in the radio room, so there's about ten minutes every hour where Nick has no choice but to sit in John's presence. It probably wouldn't bother him so much if there was somewhere else either of them could be, but they're stuck for the foreseeable future. John's looming is just going to be part of Nick's life until the storm passes.

In the interest of keeping the peace, Nick reluctantly tries to have the same level of interest in the random dots that John shows. His attention, however, is distracted by the penciled-in changes that he, Kim and John have all been making to the landscape. The river's wider in some places now, and there are doodles of trees in spaces that were once open fields. A few X's mark places where bridges have collapsed, and Kim's circled anywhere they've made radio contact with. Their notations have scattered across the valley, and have even spread over to the river region thanks to Hurk and his raider gang, but they still don't know anything about the mountains, or even the spaces that are supposedly occupied by bow-wielding religious nutjobs. It's going to be a while before any of them get the nerve to go poking that particular hornet's nest.

John has his little notebook open, but he's not writing anything down. Nick's not sure what he would even put down, since they haven't gotten any more leads since early autumn, but he's always got the thing tucked in a pocket nowadays. Maybe Nick should be mad he outright stole that resource from the rest of them, but — well, come on. He can't yell at the man for taking up journaling, not without flying in the face of every therapist Nick had pretended not to listen to. It's just... well, what the hell is there for him to write down?

"Are you staring for any particular reason?" John asks, because of course he does.

"That's rich, coming from the guy lurking over my shoulder all day." Nick flips off the static-ridden radio frequency, leaning back in his chair so that he can get a better look at the map push-pinned to the wall. "I hear if you look at it just right, you can see a sailboat."

John's clearly not much of a Kevin Smith fan, because he only sighs heavily at Nick's flat joke. "If you have something better for me to be doing, I'm all ears," he says, revealing to Nick at last just how bored he really is. Weirdly enough, being in the same boat as John is somehow reassuring.

"Okay, fine. At least tell me what you're staring at, so I know what to fake interest in."

Even though it's mostly a joke, it lands softly enough that John doesn't take offense. Stuffing the notebook in his back pocket, he shakes his head, gesturing at the map. Getting John to explain himself is usually like pulling teeth, but right now he seems relieved to have someone to bounce his thoughts off of. It's a long way away from the guy Nick remembers saving, enough so that it almost catches his full interest.

"It's nothing in particular, really. I've already spent hours staring at this thing, but I'm... still looking for a pattern, I guess. Jacob was paranoid and secretive, but if there's a hidden code buried in these coordinates, it's beyond me to see it. And the snow was already keeping us from traveling too far — now with this blizzard, we're likely stuck with no new information until spring ..."

John sighs, rubbing his forehead as the pretense finally abandons him. "I just don't know what I'm supposed to do until then."

That's certainly a feeling that Nick can relate to. Nick is less of a workaholic than John might be, but that doesn't mean he won't go stir-crazy without his own set of chores. Hell, that's why he's been hanging around the radio in between games of cards with the girls and cleaning whatever he can get his hands on. It must suck extra for John; the guy's been spinning his tires in the dirt for years, probably, and being this close to having a purpose beyond doing whatever chores Nick sets him to must be irritating.

Nick props one leg up against the wall, tapping his boot against the wood as he ponders the dots scattered around the map. There are a few still in the valley, but there's no driving until they thaw out. The points in the mountains are probably inaccessible to anybody, and who knows when they'll get to investigate the old vet center or find the Wolf's Den. There are a couple points nearer the trailer park, though, and not for the first time Nick tries to measure the distance from Hurk to the various red dots. There's one near the lumber mill, and one near where that godawful statue was, and of course one right smack dab in the middle of the original Peggy compound.

Nick can't imagine his truck making it all the way there and back, not without more information about the roads. Hurk might not have the same trouble. "I could send the trailer park a couple coordinates," he points out. "They might get to search before us, and it could cut the work in half."

Despite John's scowl, he only sounds tired as he replies, "I've considered it, but I don't trust them. Then again, I hardly trust myself, so who knows."

"I guess you're shit outta luck, then," Nick says. John takes obvious offense at Nick brushing him off, but hey, what else is Nick supposed to do? "God's giving you a freebie with this blizzard. Maybe you should try catching up on your sleep, or something."

"And ruin the precarious schedule I'm keeping?"

"Jesus, then go read a book! Just — you know, quit hovering over me all day. Don't you know how to entertain yourself?"

John seems unphased by Nick's half-hearted outburst. "This is how I entertain myself. Maps, resources, legal documents — that's probably the only decent outlet I've ever had." He stares at Nick's boot, unwilling to meet his eyes. "At least, it's the only one healthy enough to keep."

That is probably a safe bet, Nick realizes, quickly trying to backpedal away from the open scab that is John's history. "Uh, well, what about before the cult?"

John surprises them both with a brief laugh. "If I could source some coke, then yes, I would be entertained."

"Jesus, John."

"I'm not known for my healthy self-care habits," John points out, a little too smug to be truly self-deprecating. At least he seems to understand what Nick had been getting at originally, deferring with a vague hand-wave. "Is my loitering in the kitchen going to be too smothering for you, too, or is that okay?"

Nick rolls his eyes, flipping the radio back on to scan the channels once again. "It's fine, whatever. Just as long as you've got something better to entertain yourself than snaking the whiskey Jacob left."

"I'm more of a gin guy," John admits.

"Of course you are."

It's still a relief, though, knowing they aren't keeping an alcoholic too near his fix. On top of that, John's relaxed disregard for his past vices settles nerves Nick hadn't even realized were rattled. Sure, there's probably a whole other box of American Psycho- esque worms waiting to be opened up from John's time before Eden's Gate, but at least he seems to have comfortably packed that part of his life away for now. Unlike talking about the cult, John has no trouble dropping the conversation, just as casually as he'd brought it up. He retreats into the kitchen to mull over whatever he's written down already, leaving behind no traumatic story or sad-eyed stare — just the casual admission that he would really like to do some drugs.

Weirdly enough, that is probably the most respectable thing about John to date.

Nick spends another fifteen minutes checking the radio, scanning the channels he knows people use most. He winds up with nothing to show for it — either the storm is making radio communication impossible, or everybody else has given up on their radios. It's only after he's cleared the range twice that he flips the radio off and escapes back to Kim and Carmina, leaving John in the kitchen with a broad, somehow-sarcastic gesture towards the now unoccupied radio nook.

Carmina ropes Nick into a game of Go Fish, which Kim seems keen on losing. Nick isn't surprised — Carmina is a wily player, which is to say that she tries to bluff her way through hands with all the grace of a sledgehammer. Kim's not as willing to put up with cheating as Nick is, but neither of them are capable of even pretending to believe Carmina's poker face. It's going to be a problem one day, but Nick isn't exactly ready to teach his daughter how to lie to his face.

Well, that is until she and Nick are on their third round of Go Fish, and Nick has had to pretend not to see through all of Carmina's gambits.

He asks her if she has any threes, and she scrunches her nose up as she glances meaningfully at her cards. "Go fish," she says, making Nick regret not having Kim sit right behind their daughter as a referee.

"Fine," he grumbles, "If you say so."

Kim blinks skeptically at the pants she's fixing, but she doesn't offer Nick any out. If it weren't for his clumsy hands, maybe he could use darning socks and patching shirts as an excuse to quit playing, but as it stands, the only thing he has other than getting trounced is staring at the map with John. And since he already tried that and found it to be mildly aggravating at best...

"You know, this would be more fun with more people," Nick says, desperately glancing at Kim.

Kim, of course, gives him no quarter. "Why don't you ask John," she suggests rhetorically.

"John," Carmina calls out, "Do you wanna play Go Fish?"

Nick opens his mouth to chastise Carmina, but he realizes there's nothing to discipline her for. Especially not when John flippantly replies, "I think your father's looking to play with fewer cheaters, not more."

"I'm not cheating!" Carmina exclaims, not-so-surreptitiously pressing her cards into her lap to ensure nobody's looking at them. Between that and her guiltily furrowed brow, there's no hiding it. Her poker face needs a lot of work.

"Go Fish isn't even worth cheating at," Nick sighs, gesturing for her cards. "If that's the way you wanna play, at least do it the right way. Here, gimme your cards — John, come over here so I can teach my daughter how to lie to your face."

As if playing a game of cards with John wasn't enough to excite Carmina, she's doubly over the moon when he tells her the rules. After all, a ten-year-old girl is the prime demographic for the game Bullshit, especially when she's given carte blanche to shout cuss words at her dad. On top of that, it seems like bluffing really is half of the fun for his daughter — which is a little intimidating, sure, but at least he knows she's smart enough to understand the utility of lying.

John is... unenthusiastic, to say the least, but that only makes the prospect of humiliating him that much better. A few weeks ago, Nick would've thought John was too fragile to be messed with, but now there's a bounce in his step that will make taking him down easier. He's got to do something to remind himself that this nearly-tolerable man is usually a miserable sonofabitch.

Unfortunately, John has a fantastic poker face. Nick figured that from the get-go, but it's still daunting to play against a bored, uninterested party. That's probably why Carmina avoids John in favor of hounding Nick, calling out "bullshit!" with delightful glee whenever she thinks Nick has dropped the wrong face card or played a nine instead of a King. On the one hand, Nick appreciates that he can read her as well as she can, but on the other hand, he'd really like a chance to beat John. So far, he's the only one who's called John out, and all he has to show for it is the extra six cards in his hand.

Although Kim is on standby for this round, she keeps flashing Nick amused grins whenever Carmina calls bullshit. Nick almost hopes John can hold it together to be mundane for two entire rounds of cards because he wouldn't stand a chance against Kim.

Case in point, John lays down two cards that are meant to be threes, and Kim clicks her tongue disapprovingly. Carmina frowns up at her mom, who only shrugs and suggests, "I would call him out, if I were you."

John's neutral frown doesn't change. "Last I checked, you weren't playing," he says.

Kim only shrugs in response. Nick furrows his brow at Kim while Carmina squints suspiciously from the discard pile to John and then back again. Of course, encouraging a ten-year-old to swear is always going to win out, and so Carmina wrinkles her nose and calls John out with a slightly uncertain, "Okay, bullshit."

Without so much as a grimace of defeat, John lets Carmina flip his played cards — one three, and one dirty, rotten, lying, bullshit seven .

"That's what I thought," Kim says, flippantly triumphant. "Guess you're not as hard to read as you thought."

Nick sure can't tell what John's thinking as he lifts one shoulder noncommittally. "I stand corrected."

"Wait," Nick asks, "What gave it away?"

"I'm not helping you too , Nick," Kim laughs. "That wouldn't be fair."

"It's not exactly fair to help Carmina," John points out. Nick bets he's just as interested in what tell Kim noticed, although he manages to be less obvious about it. At least he can't crack Kim's smug smile any better than Nick, which is some small compensation.

Nick manages to win this hand, if only because his play strategy involves lying as little as possible. That seems to work against Carmina no problem, but Nick suspects John threw the game out of personal disinterest. If it weren't for the howling winds whistling through the roof and second story, John would probably excuse himself from another hand by retreating upstairs, but as it is he manages to sit through one more round of cards, this time with Kim joining in.

Carmina's poker-face doesn't improve by leaps and bounds, exactly, but she manages to fool Nick into picking up a fat stack of cards, so that's something. Too bad he'd been trying to teach her to lie to John , not her parents. Well — at least she's a nice enough kid to only do it for fun. He hopes, anyway.

Kim makes John's loss look more organic, at least, and she doesn't rub it in too badly when she wins. It's extra kind of her considering Nick is the one who called her last play bullshit, leaving him to rot in miserable third place after both his girls. Well, fine . At least Carmina seemed to have fun, even if Nick is now sitting with nearly half a deck in his hands. If the blizzard keeps up for too long, they might have to graduate to poker.

Before they can play any more card games, though, they take time out for dinner. It's almost normal, sitting around the fireplace with their military rations and some hot broth — if they were eating Marie Calendar pot-pies and watching Christmas movies, Nick would even be able to ignore John's presence sticking out like a sore thumb.

The next best thing to watching movies is talking about them, which has become something of a tradition between the Ryes. It all started in the bunker, where Kim and Nick ran out of normal Christmas stories and began taking turns narrating whatever holiday movies they could remember. They've run through all the memorable Rankin & Bass flicks, as well as a couple more contemporary ones, so they're starting to reach for their personal favorites or the very bottom of the barrel plots.

Nick intends to be paying Jingle All the Way a tribute tonight, but as soon as he mentions that the Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle is one of his favorites, he's interrupted by John snorting derisively.

"Let me guess," Nick snaps, "You're one of those jackasses who pretends Die Hard is a legitimate Christmas movie just so he doesn't have to watch good, family-friendly content."

"It is a legitimate Christmas movie," John responds, just petulantly enough to tell Nick he hit the nail on the head.

"Look, Kim and I have already had this discussion — just because it takes place during Christmas doesn't make it a Christmas movie . Set dressing alone isn't enough!"

John raises his eyes towards the ceiling, which is as subtle as his eyerolls can get. "Whatever you say, Nick."

"What's Die Hard about?" Carmina asks, excitedly guessing, "Does Santa get to shoot people in it?"

"That would be a good Christmas movie," Nick replies. "No, it's just about some guy who has to fight bad guys in a building."

"During Christmas," Kim points out.

"Okay, fine during Christmas. But nobody's dressed up like Santa, nobody sings any carols, and there sure as hell isn't any Christmas magic that saves the day, so it doesn't count!"

"So what does happen?" Carmina asks.

Damn it — Nick should have known that talking about an action flick would immediately disinterest her towards any sloppy story about consumerism. She doesn't even know what a mall is — but she knows how to shoot a handgun, and now that Nick's thinking about it, she might need to use the duct-tape shoulder holster trick one day. It would be pretty bad-ass if she knew how, anyway.

"Okay, fine, I'll do it real quick. I don't remember all the parts, so Kim, you gotta help."

Real quick turns out to take almost as much time as the movie itself had. Kim interjects whenever Nick forgets a plot point, but at least he remembers the core conflict. Sort of, anyway — by the time he's done recounting John McClane's tale, John looks visibly dissatisfied, and Kim has a "well, sort of" expression on her face that implies he didn't quite nail the execution. Well, who cares what they think? All that matters is that Carmina is entertained, and of course she is. After all, narrated or not, it's still Die Hard . Just so long as she doesn't ask about the sequels, they should be okay.

The wind is still whipping overhead, and Nick can see nothing beyond the windows. There's no telling how late it's gotten. Although his internal clock insists it can't have been that long since sundown, Carmina has been yawning for a while now, and the fire's gone down again. It looks like sleeping through the storm is the only pastime left for Nick to try.

Carmina takes over stoking the fire for the final time before bed, while Kim makes her way upstairs to gather as much of their bedding as she can carry. John follows reluctantly behind, clearly unhappy with the prospect of facing his own cold room, but Nick figures he can deal for five damn minutes. For his part, Nick busies himself checking the radio one last time, just in case there's an emergency. He doesn't know what they'd be able to do if there was one, but that doesn't stop him from checking anyway.

With the radio situated just under the stairs, it's easy to listen in to Kim stomping around in the room above, desperate to keep her temperature up. Nick had put off too many attic repairs before this winter — he's going to have to make up for that in spring, when he and John can worm their way into the rafters and ensure that their next winter won't turn the bedrooms into a cold wasteland. Of course, even if they did patch up the gaps in the floorboards and do their best to insulate the attic, not much can beat a genuine fire in the middle of a snowstorm.

Nick isn't even paying attention to the radio, so he flips it off and trusts that everyone can keep themselves safe for another night. He hears the whump of fabric as Kim tosses their two biggest, least moldy blankets down for Carmina to start with, and the creak of footsteps on the landing overhead. Kim's voice isn't raised, but it carries down to Nick clear as a bell.

"John, you'll freeze if you stay up here," she says. "Get your stuff and come downstairs."

"It's not that cold," John says, attempting to deflect from one weak excuse with another. "I doubt Nick approved that suggestion."

Well, not technically, no, but Nick had sort of assumed they were already all on the same page. What does John think Nick's gonna do, force him to freeze upstairs so he can hog the fireplace all to himself?

Kim doesn't give the excuses a chance to breathe, replying with parental exasperation. "He and I both agree it's too cold to sleep upstairs." Nick can hear the teasing plain as day when she adds, "Just don't be weird about it."

Sure enough, suggesting John might be making things awkward is enough to get him to shut up and follow orders. Nick briefly longs for the days when John would mutely nod and do as told without any additional goading, but only for a second. Even that is long enough retrospection to remind Nick of how creepy and genuinely alarming it had been. Sure, John might get argumentative or exasperated now, but at least there's an actual person to communicate with. Nick might want to kick his ass more now than before, but he absolutely hated dealing with the hollow-eyed monster John had been.

Besides, it's way more satisfying being a dick to him now that he actually gets offended.

Despite John's furrowed-brow glares, Nick doesn't comment whatsoever on him trailing downstairs after Kim, clutching two actual blankets and a tarp that's weather-worn enough to pass muster. He stands and waits for someone to point him in the right direction as Kim and Carmina do their best to bundle together a soft place on the floor, but Nick studiously ignores him until he makes a decision himself. John takes a spot close to the fireplace, off to the right of where the girls are setting up. It's still plenty removed enough, so that nobody will get the wrong idea and think John is supposed to be welcome down here. Nick wonders who he's trying to convince, but there are so many damn demons in the man's head, it's anybody's guess.

With the fire roaring for the last time that night, all the blankets arranged and everybody looking exhausted despite not doing anything all day, Nick finally gets to crawl into bed and put this whole goddamn blizzard behind him. Hopefully, the weather has the common sense to clear up tomorrow — for now, it's time to shut out the cold entirely.

He must be tired. Nick barely stays conscious as Kim and Carmina climb under the blankets, the cool air rapidly warming as they begin to shift around and get comfortable. He rouses a few times at first as Carmina kicks his leg and Kim bumps into him, but eventually, he finds himself dozing in the silence of a quiet house. Far above them, the wind is whipping through the attic, but from down here, it sounds like a generic white-noise machine; coupled with the crackling fire, Nick is lulled to sleep by the sounds of peaceful normalcy.

Who knows how long it is before Nick finds himself conscious again. Even then, he only wakes enough to hear the dying fire popping by his feet. Maybe he should stoke it. But that would mean moving, and Nick is weighted down on either side beneath warm blankets, so that's a hard no. He tries first to roll towards Kim and Carmina, ready to curl into a ball and conserve even more heat, but his right arm is stuck. It takes a few bleary-eyed blinks to realize what's pinned him down, but he's barely coherent enough to make sense of it.

Sometime in the night, John must've migrated from the no-man's-land he'd made for himself towards the Rye's pile of blankets. Unsurprising, really — but more than a little awkward, given how he's pressed into Nick's side, pinning Nick's arm in place. Worse yet, half of his blankets have been absorbed into the mess that Nick's been using to keep warm, which is going to make extracting himself tricky if not impossible.

While he tries to figure out how to avoid making this mortifying situation worse, Nick watches John for any signs of consciousness. The guy usually sleeps light, but Nick watches his breathing for a solid minute and doesn't catch anything. Either his poker-face is just that good, or John is actually asleep. Deeply, peacefully asleep. Nick had assumed that was impossible.

If Nick were a better person, he'd probably be thankful to see it. Glad to know that John's insomnia might finally be coming to an end. But Nick is mostly just an exhausted, anxious mess, and now he's just wondering how to get out of the situation he's found himself in.

John shifts, and like a guilty ten-year-old, Nick immediately closes his eyes and pretends to be asleep. If he's lucky, John will roll away of his own volition, or at least move enough to let Nick roll over himself. If only he'd decided to sleep on Kim's side — she wouldn't have the same trouble Nick has. She'd just kick him away and be done with it.

Slowly, John moves away from Nick. The relief is short-lived as John pulls back the covers enough to send a cold chill down Nick's side; it's a split-second decision that John immediately regrets, hissing under his breath and letting the blankets fall back into place as he recoils from the freezing temperatures.

Nick can't help his quiet huff of amusement — which is enough to break the illusion that he'd been asleep in the first place. He could probably still fake it, but if he does, John will definitely try to move his blankets, and that is going to be a much bigger problem than tolerating John in his personal space.

"Quit squirming so much," Nick mutters. "Gonna let in the cold."

John is silent and tense beside him, but he does stop squirming. It's like lying near a tense bar of iron. After a brief struggle to figure out what to say, John's embarrassment catches in his voice as he apologizes. "I'm sorry," he rasps. "I — must have been tired."

Nick sighs. "Just don't crush my arm again."

Even though John moves as though Nick threatened him, he stops short of retreating from the blankets entirely. Nick can only imagine how cold it must be — every breath of his that makes it above the blanket-line comes with a faint puff of visible air. No matter how humiliating it might be to cuddle up to Nick, it doesn't seem like John had much of a choice in the matter.

Before John can decide to try escaping again, Nick repeats, "Whatever you do, don't let in the cold."

In for a penny, Nick decides, worming deeper into the makeshift bed so that John can have more room. Rolling over is the easiest way to avoid the mortifying process of finding a comfortable sleeping arrangement. Eventually, they wind up back-to-back; Nick normally wouldn't be able to stand John touching him, but the additional body-heat does a lot to soothe Nick's reservations. Who knew all he needed to tolerate John's physical presence would be cold weather and exhaustion?

The Deputy, probably, which only makes Nick grin in tired relief. At least they would be glad to know that Nick's grown as a person. They'd probably be glad to learn he's finally gotten on-board with not murdering the Seeds in cold blood — even if it took an apocalypse to get there. If they could see the shit he's gotten himself into now, they'd probably...

He sighs. It must be a heavier sound than he imagined, because John whispers, "What?"

"Nothing," Nick says immediately, as default an answer as John's yeses are. But that's not fair, he doesn't think, because they never let John get away with his obvious deflections. As late as it is, it's easy to blame his guilt on his exhaustion. "Just thinking about Rook," he admits.

"Oh."

John is clearly uncomfortable with the topic, but he doesn't react when Nick continues sleepily, "They'd get a kick outta this, is all."

John hums. It's a quiet noise, but Nick can feel it vibrate through John's shirt. If there are two people Nick hates bringing Rook up around, it's Sharky and John. Sure, Sharky's crush was the one that was reciprocated, but Dep had always treated John's flat-footed overtures like creepy compliments instead of outright threats. They'd probably figured John's crush was superficial, whereas Sharky's had been more real than probably anything else Nick had seen the poor sap go through. John's infatuation had been about power, control, and Joseph goddamn Seed. Still, Nick can't help but wonder just how much of it might've been real to John at the time.

"They had a bad sense of humor," John finally responds, quietly enough that Nick almost misses the hurt.

"Terrible," Nick agrees.

When John sighs, Nick recognizes it as a sign of defeat. Whatever he's debating with himself, he's clearly lost. Although he doesn't speak up again, Nick isn't sure he's gone back to sleep. He sure hopes he didn't just instill another restless night in the guy, but that's John's burden to bear. Maybe he can use it to finally find some common ground with Sharky.

Nick isn't even sure that he can fall back asleep, but that doesn't seem to matter. Before he knows it, he's being woken up once more — this time by a glance of sunlight coming in through the upper part of the windows. It's just enough light to wake him, but he spends an exhausted minute staring at the wall over Kim's shoulder as he debates whether or not he's really committing this time. He's going to need to use the bathroom sooner or later — and just thinking that is enough to tell Nick that he's not getting back to sleep again.

John's back is still facing Nick, and Kim rolls away as soon as Nick starts to squirm, which leaves his path to escape much more open than it was a few hours ago. He manages to pull himself free without waking anyone else, but as soon as he does, John worms into the warm spot left behind. Nick should probably be upset, but mostly he just needs to pee. He can kick John out of his spot after he takes care of himself.

Nick leaves the rest of them to sleep as he tiptoes across the living room to the front door. Unfortunately, the door only wedges open an inch before it hits a wall of snow. Unwilling to wake anyone else up with catastrophic noise, Nick heads upstairs, going for the broken window in John's room. It's freezing up here, cold enough to keep meat until spring, and Nick pulls his flannel closer as he crosses the room, trying not to take too much stock of his surroundings. He doesn't care about the tallies John used to carve in the wall by his bed, and he definitely doesn't care to snoop through the pile of clothes that John's been growing in the corner. What he does care about is how easy it is to crawl out onto the roof from the window — after all, this isn't the first time Nick's been snowed in, and he's made escaping his childhood home an art-form.

There's a good three and a half feet of snow on the ground below, blocking any exit from the first floor. At least the gray sky above is calm, and the weather seems to have calmed down some. They'll have to prepare for another couple of inches before the week's out, but Nick bets the worst of it is over. Now he can think about breakfast — more specifically, coffee — and debate the best way to clear the doorways. They need a path out to the hangar, although they can wait another day or two before they'll need to press the matter. Nick's still convinced there's a set of tire chains hiding away in there, but it's not like the roads will be in any condition to drive on for a while yet...

Nick spends so much time thinking about what he's got to do, he forgets to consider how willing the rest of the house will be to pitch in. The top-of-the-snow sunlight isn't enough heat to make up for the lack of a fire, and getting Kim out from under the blankets is gonna be like pulling teeth until he does something about it. Worse yet, John's rolled into the spot Nick had occupied — not exactly sprawled out, or anything, but the guy is irritatingly close to Kim's sleeping back. If he decided to roll one more time, he'd probably end up smacking his face into her shoulder.

Nick considers throwing a fit on principle, but honestly, that's too much work. It's much easier to sulk, glowering at the bed he's definitely not getting back into before getting some logs to stack in the fire. He drops them noisily by John's feet, although he makes every effort not to accidentally pull a Misery on the guy.

The sound of hollow wood clattering on the ground is enough to stir John, who wakes with a sharp inhale, and cause Carmina to groan and turn away from the noise. Kim has probably been awake for a while now, but it won't make a lick of difference until the fire's on.

He turns away to toss the logs semi-haphazardly into the fireplace, then remembers the kindling and turns to get it. John has propped himself on his elbows, but his half-waking confusion causes him to overlook Nick entirely as he stares around the room. Seeing Kim and Carmina asleep next to him is initially met with confusion. He barely seems to recognize the shapes bundled in the blankets, but when he does he recoils in shock. All the nasty comments Nick had thought up take an abrupt backseat as he stops to marvel at the physical repulsion John shows. He's not sure if he should be offended or not. Probably not, but this apocalypse has got Nick wired all wrong.

"She's not gonna bite," Nick says. John whips his attention back to Nick the moment he raises his voice, only for Nick to realize that looming over the guy with a thick block of wood in hand might send the wrong message.

Sure enough, John catches sight of him, jerking back with a startled hiss. " Jesus !"

"Shit, sorry." Nick turns and drops the log, wincing at the noise that he'd moments ago been deliberately making. "Well, judging from that reaction, looks like this isn't the first time a man's caught you in bed with his wife."

John's withering glare is enough to lift Nick's mood right up. He turns his attention back to starting the fire, listening as John slowly shifts his way free of the blankets. Part of him wants to make a few more jokes at John's expense, but that can wait until John's coherent enough to be snide in return.

Nick gets the fire going and turns to follow John, who's made his way into the kitchen to peer out the window. "Completely snowed in," Nick tells him as he gets the instant coffee and the beat-up kettle. "But it looks like the worst of it's over."

"Seems to be," John agrees, adding, "We forgot the shovels in the truck. It's going to be difficult digging them out now."

"Not a lot of other options, unless you wanna stay inside until the big thaw. Don't worry, I'm sure Carmina will be excited to help us dig."

John hums in assent, although his mind seems to be somewhere else. Nick can't help but notice that John's pensive states seem damned near reasonable nowadays. He has plenty to think about, and he seems to be keeping one foot in the here-and-now. He's aware enough of his surroundings that he stops Nick before he can leave John to it.

He tries to stare Nick down, but he can't quite manage it. "Thank you for not..."

John gestures vaguely as the rest of the sentence fails to generate. Nick could probably wait it out, but he's just as embarrassed as John apparently is, and he would rather move past the whole thing.

"Don't worry about it," Nick says. "Just don't get too comfortable cuddling up to me."

Rolling his eyes doesn't hide John's faint smile, but he turns away before Nick can see if it lasts. "That won't be a problem, trust me."

Nick is surprised that he does, even for something as small and inconsequential as a joke. "Grab the mugs when you're done looking for Santa," he says, turning back for the warmth of the fire. A few months ago, Nick might've resented how eroded the line has become between John and his own family, but it's honestly too much work to keep up. At a certain point, they're just going to have to include John in their daily routines — Nick just hadn't expected that point to be made by sharing blankets during a blizzard.

Well, there's one good thing about that, Nick supposes — it means that somewhere up there, the Deputy is watching over them. After all, there's no way in hell random chance has the same shitty sense of humor as Rook had.

#fcnd #john seed #nick rye #kim rye #christmas fic #mercyverse #my fic #i don't even use that tag any more wtf??? whatever #love you guys have a safe holiday <3

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