#if he found out mike defended his behavior by insisting that they’re friends… | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

yurtletheturtlehenderson · 5 years

Text

S.T. REWRITE - S2:E3; Chapter Three, The Pollywog - [Pt. 4 - FINAL PART]

A Will Byers x Reader Series

Dustin adopts a strange new pet, and Eleven grows increasingly impatient. A well-meaning Bob urges Will to stand up to his fears while Y/n’s powers grow stronger, bringing to light many questions about her past.

A/n: HOLY SLEEP DEPRIVATION, BATMAN. I wrote most of this at like 3 am. Ok, now THIS is a long chapter. I would advise you to take some breaks but I don't know how many of you will actually listen so... yeah, happy reading and count this your daily reminder to drink some water! :D

||3rd Person POV||

El marched through the woods. She had been walking for several hours. Finally, she reached the edge of the woods, and her attention was drawn to the sounds of giggling.

She followed the noise and found just up the hill was a mother pushing her child on the swing.

"Pump your feet," The mother encouraged, smiling.

El couldn't help but feel saddened by this. More memories of Hopper came flooding back.

[FLASHBACK]

"I would feel so sad if I was a disappointment to her,"

Night had fallen and El had been tucked into bed. She listened intently as Hopper read Anne of Greene Gables to her, much like he did for his daughter before her passing.

"because she didn't live very long after that, you see. She died of a fever when I was just three months old. I do wish she'd lived long enough for me to remember calling her mother. I think it would be so sweet to say 'mother.'"

"Do I have a mother?" El asked timidly.

"Yeah, of course you have a mother. You couldn't really be born without one."

"Where is she?"

"She..." Hopper's face fell. "She's not around anymore."

"Gone?"

There was a pain in his eyes as he told her this.

"Yeah."

El's eyes began to water, and Hopper felt a weight on his heart.

"I'm sorry about that, kid." He said sincerely.

There was a moment of silence, and Hopper continued as El quietly wiped the tears from her eyes.

[END OF FLASHBACK]

"Is your mom here?"

El was still staring at the new empty swing set, lost in the memory.

"Sweetie?"

El tore her gaze away to the mom who now stood before her, holding her child's hand. A concerned look was etched on her face.

"School." El croaked. "Where is school?"

The mother only looked more concerned and confused. Reluctantly, she replied.

"The school? It's, uh... it's about a mile that way. At least." She gestured.

She offered El a kind smile.

"Where are your parents?"

El shifted her attention to the swing and the sound of chains rattling grabbed the attention of the younger girl.

"Look, Mommy, look."

The woman looked behind her to see she swing her daughter had previously occupied was now wrapping itself around the structure of the swing set.

Astonished, she looked back to El, only nobody was there. She had vanished.

+++

All Joyce could think about the rest of the day was those mean nasty boys.

The second she walked in the door, she went straight to the video camera. She recalled it being in Will's room. She threw open the door and scanned the messy room.

She recognized the device laying on Will's desk and she made a beeline for it.

After much turbulence and a confusing call with Bob, she got the tape hooked up to the TV and pressed play.

She saw a clip of Bob teaching the boys how to operate the camera. She frowned, as she looked at the buttons on the device. She found the fast forward button and pressed it, scanning the screen carefully. After a considerable amount of time, the camera shifted and was angled up at the sky.

She immediately pressed rewind and then play, right before the incident must have happened. It was the view of Y/n Henderson running after someone, Mike she gathered from her distant voice in the video. When sure enough, just as Bob had said, out of nowhere three teenagers in masks and makeup appeared.

"Watch it, Zombie Boy!" A boy dressed as a werewolf said, before disappearing.

"Trick or treat, freak!"

"Boo!"

As Joyce watched the tape, carefully trying to identify the boys, her face contorted in disgust. She could feel her blood boil at the sight.

By now the camera had fallen to the ground and was angled at the sky. For a moment nothing happened, that was until she heard a familiar voice.

"Will?" It was Y/n, and she sounded worried.

Joyce heard shuffling and then soon enough, Y/n came into view, and her voice rose as she yelled at the fleeting bullies. Her arms waving in her fit of anger.

"Hey, piss off! You leave him alone, you hear me? You leave him the fuck alone!"

Joyce never bothered to fight the small smirk that made its way onto her face. Those pricks had it coming to them. She reminded herself to thank Y/n later.

Her small moment of relief was immediately replaced with heartache when she heard Will begin to call out, frightened.

"Y/n! Mike!" She saw him wander carefully and cautiously into view.

Suddenly, she noticed a pause and then Will running away, followed by a very concerned Y/n.

The screen flickered ever so quickly and she paused the tape when she noticed the faint outline of something.

The screen flickered once more before it stopped. Her eyes caught on the mysterious invisible shape the camera had picked up. Something clicked in her head and she stared at the thin wispy outline in horror.

She jumped to her feet and ran to the kitchen. She ripped open one of the supply drawers and grabbed a sheet of parchment paper, and one of Will's crayons.

Joyce ran back to the television set and put it against the screen, and quickly traced it. When she finished, she knew she recognized the shape and ran it back to the table, comparing it to Will's drawing of the giant monster.

It was an exact match. And her worst fears had been realized.

||Reader's POV||

"This is the reason I was late for class," Dustin assured.

School had just ended, and Dustin, Max, Lucas and I were all gathered around Mr. Clarke's desk. Will and Mike hadn't joined us yet, they were still at their lockers and Will insisted he had to talk to Mike.

Dustin placed the trap on Mr. Clarke's desk, as he began explaining.

Mr. Clarke ran a hand over the closed trap.

"Pretty neat. These doors function?"

"Well, yeah, obviously. But it's not about the trap. It's what's inside. Now, this very well may change your perception of the world."

Mr. Clarke shrugged lightly.

"Consider my interest piqued."

"All right, first, let's just clarify that, this is my discovery, not yours."

Lucas began flailing his arms.

"Dustin, Jesus! Just show him!"

"I'm just trying to clarify--"

"Dustin!" Max insists.

"Okay, fine"

He reaches to open the trap, but before anything can happen the door swings open. Mike comes sprinting in, Will behind him.

"Stop!" Mike yells frantically.

"What is it? What's going on?" I ask.

"Nothing." Mike quickly squeezes in between me and Lucas and grabs the trap, holding it tightly to his chest. "I'm sorry, Mr. Clarke. It was just a stupid prank."

"What the hell are you doing?" Dustin asks angrily.

"I told him to stop. We need to go. Right now."

Max and I share an equally concerned look.

"Mike!" Dustin pleads.

"Right now!" Mike screams, sprinting back into the hall.

+++

Mike had dragged the original party back into the AV room, forcing us to leave Max outside.

"I'm really, really sorry Max. It should only take a minute." I quickly stepped back and explained to her.

The boys shut her out with no effort of explaining so once again, I was trying to undo some of the damage. Hoping she'd still want to be my friend.

"Wait, seriously Y/n?"

The guys were already shutting her out, and now I had to. I hated this.

"I know, I'm so sorry, but I wouldn't be doing this if wasn't absolutely necessary."

"Y/n!" Mike called from inside the AV room, and I huffed.

"I'm really sorry." I started to close the door, but then I met her eye and just before shutting it I lowered my voice. "Please trust me."

Before I had closed the door, she seemed to relax in the slightest. As if considering my words.

I walked over to stand next to Lucas and looked to each of them.

"You better make this quick..." Their expressions all shifted to that of concern at what I said next. "I have something I need to tell you too."

Now that we were all gathered around the trap, Mike caught us up.

Will had said he saw Dart last year. We were all trying to process this, and I guess some time had passed since Max began pounding on the door.

"Hello? Hello?"

I barely made out a sigh from the other side of the door.

"Guys, come on. Can I come in yet?"

I was about to reply when Mike answered her.

"No!"

I glared at Mike's behavior.

He rolled his eyes in response.

"I don't understand," Lucas said finally, ignoring our silent argument.

"What do you not understand?" Mike asked.

"Will saw something that looked like Dart last year?"

"Kind of, but there was no tail," Will answered timidly.

"But then he heard it yesterday. The exact same sound." Mike explained quickly.

"What, the screeching?" I ask.

"Doesn't matter, why didn't you tell us before?" Dustin asked.

"I wasn't sure," Will said quietly.

"So it's a coincidence," Dustin confirmed.

Mike countered. "Or not. What if when Will was stuck in the Upside Down, he somehow acquired True Sight?"

"Remind me what True Sight is again?" I asked.

"It gives you the power to see into the ethereal plane."

Lucas sighed and gestured for Dustin to continue. "Elaborate."

It clicked in my head.

"The Upside Down," I say, in shock.

"Exactly. Maybe these episodes that Will keeps having aren't really flashbacks at all. Maybe they're real. Maybe Will can somehow see into the Upside Down."

"So that would mean..." Lucas trailed off.

"Dart is from the Upside Down." Mike clarifies.

Dustin sighed heavily.

"We have to take him to Hopper," Lucas stated, and Mike quickly agrees.

Dustin, of course, jumped at the chance to defend Dart. "No way. If we take him to Hopper, Dart's as good as dead."

"Maybe he should be," Mike snapped.

I roll my eyes.

"How can you say that?" Dustin asks shocked.

I raise my hands, signaling them to stop.

"Guys, come on." I sigh and turn to Dustin. "Look, Dustin. It's sweet that you care about Dart. But you have to realize what's at stake here. This is exactly what I was talking about before, we don't know anything about him or what he is capable of."

"But that doesn't automatically mean that he's bad. Besides, we have a bond."

Mike scoffs. "A bond? Just because he likes nougat?"

"No, because he trusts me!"

"He trusts you?" Lucas asks slowly, sounding concerned.

"Yes, I promised I would take care of him," Dustin exclaimed.

Suddenly, the trap began to rattle violently and we all stepped back.

There was more pounding on the door.

"Guys, what's going on? Come on."

We could all hear Dart from inside the trap as it shook.

"Dustin, what the hell's wrong with him?" I asked, my pulse quickening.

"I-I don't know!" He stuttered.

The ghost trap shook so much it vibrated and then it was tipped on its side.

Mike grabbed the speaker from one of the radios and held it high, ready to strike.

Dustin threw his hand up, pointing at Mike.

"Don't hurt him." He warned.

"Only if he attacks," Mike argued, eyes never leaving the trap.

"Just open it already." Lucas urged.

Dustin reached for the attachment that opens the device, and after a brief moment of hesitation, he opens it.

We all stare in disbelief as Dart comes rolling out. He was twice his previous size, and several shades darker.

"Holy shit," Lucas stated, sounding disgusted.

Dart dragged himself along the desk. When he stopped, thin webs of skin where we had seen movement from earlier, were stretched out until they sprouted two new legs. And what looked like watered down jam splattered around the desk.

"Oh, my God," I mumble horrified, and sick to my stomach.

Everything went by all too fast after that.

"Oh, shit!" Lucas exclaimed, jumping back.

He looked in the direction of Lucas and me and screeched for the third time.

Mike launched at Dart, but Dustin interfered.

Dart, in an attempt to escape Mike, suddenly launched off the desk and right towards me not caring that I was in his way.

I scream.

The next thing I knew, my arms were outstretched in front of me, shielding myself and it almost felt as if a wave of body heat had rolled off me. Dart let out a painful screech and hit the edge of the desk before tumbling to the ground.

Everyone began yelling at once.

"Shit, Y/n! Did you just-?" Lucas screamed.

"I don't know!" I cried out, scrambling back. "That's kinda what I wanted to tell you guys about but I didn't know I could do that!" The words tumble out of my mouth quickly, in a weak attempt to explain as I scramble after Dart, the others after him too.

"Grab him! Grab him!"

"What do you thinkI’m trying to do?!" I yell in frustration as I scramble after him.

He had made a quick detour under the desk and around the legs of the desk, completely out of my reach.

"Wait, where did he go?"

I had almost had him, but then I lost my footing and stumbled to the ground. I looked up just in time to see Dart make his way towards the door.

It swung open to reveal a confused Max, who must have picked the lock.

"Wait, no, no, no-!" I attempted to get up, only to get trampled by the boys in the process.

The boys spilled out into the hallway, who had also managed to knock down Max.

I finally scrambled to my feet and stumbled into the hallway, my heart pounding against my ribcage.

"Where'd he go?" I asked, looking around frantically.

Max got to her feet, ignoring the question. "What was that?"

Mike whipped around to face her, his face going red with anger.

"Dart!"

"What?"

"You let him escape!"

In turn, Dustin got in Mike's face, jabbing a finger in his chest. "Why did you attack him?"

Mike pushed him aside and ran off. "Come on."

I followed after Mike, and Dustin called after us.

"Don't hurt him. Don't you hurt him!"

||3rd Person POV||

El waited patiently, in the safety behind the trees until the last bus left before she stepped out into the open.

Spotting the bike rack, she quickly sprinted across the parking lot, coming to a stop when she recognized the wide outstretched handlebars of one particular bike.

It was unmistakable. The single light that rested in between the handlebars, the seat that was so worn down, it had been taped back together. And of course, the extra seat attached to the back.

It was his bike.

And it meant he was still here.

+++

Mike made a left turn, walking swiftly down the hallway.

He waited until he passed the few stragglers that were still in the hallway, to clear the area.

"East is clear. No sign of Dart."

He trudged up the stairs, muttering angrily to himself.

"Where'd you go, you little bastard?"

He made his way to the gym, passing several hallways in the process.

El, who sensed movement, reached the end of the hallway, where he had just been. Contemplating which way to go, opted to take a right. Unknowingly growing further and further from Mike with each and every step she took.

+++

In a separate wing of the school, Dustin was scanning his area. He had donned his headset during his search. Dustin turned a corner near one of the exits and had run into Mr. Clarke, who was leaving for the day.

He plastered on his most innocent looking smile and sent his teacher off with a salute, to which he returned and Dustin got back to work.

"West is clear too. Will?"

+++

Will exited the last classroom he had checked. "South is clear. Lucas? Anything?"

Lucas ran down one of several hallways in the north wing, coming across a classroom door, just slightly ajar.

Assuming Dart was behind the door, he ran towards it, kicking it open.

Only to find his math teacher packing up for the day.

"Excuse me! Mr. Sinclair!"

"S-sorry!" He spluttered. "I was looking for study hall. Bye."

He chuckled nervously and backed out into the hallway, his face dropping and he spoke quickly and sternly into the walkie.

"Nothin' here, man. Y/n?"

She was constantly on the move, all over the school. Sweeping the halls in case Dart had narrowly escaped before any of the others had seen.

Her voice crackled over all of their comms.

"I've got a lot of ground to cover, but so far so clear," she quipped. "I'll keep you guys posted though,"

+++

Mike entered the gym, and his attention was immediately brought to the creaking noise across the room.

He noted it was the door to the locker rooms swinging back and forth.

He frowned suspiciously. Quickly and quietly he walked across the gym.

He walked into the tight hallway, most of the lights had turned off and he was starting to feel less confident.

He saw a mop to his left and grabbed it just in case. Slowly but surely, he crept through the locker spaces, and he heard something clatter. His heart pounding, he hid behind the locker, readying himself to attack.

He jumped out from hiding, yelling as he did so. Only for his voice to catch in his throat when he saw Max, board and all, looking at him like he'd grown a second head.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"What are you doing? Why are you in here?" He snapped back.

"I'm looking for Dart." She defends.

"This is the boys' room."

"Yeah, so?"

"So you should go home." He threw the mop to the ground and stormed out.

Max started after him, fuming.

She trailed him all the way out into the gym.

All her anger had finally bubbled over and she raised her voice, allowing herself to scream at the boy.

"Why do you hate me so much?"

"I don't hate you. How can I hate you? I even know you." He threw the words over his shoulder, not bothering to look at her.

"Yeah, but you don't want me in your party." She argued.

"Correct." He spits.

"Why not?"

Mike whirled around to face her, releasing all his anger.

"Because you're annoying." Max recoiled at his words, but he only continued to yell. "Also, we don't need another party member. I'm our paladin, Will's our cleric, Dustin's our bard, Lucas is our ranger, Y/n's our druid, and El is our mage."

Max's face scrunched up in confusion. "El? Who's El?"

Mike shook his head. "Someone. No one."

She raised her eyebrows. "Someone or no one?"

"She was in our party a long time ago. She moved away, okay?" He sighed, hoping she would drop the subject as quickly as possible.

Max, who had other plans, set her skateboard down and began to glide around the gym.

"She was a mage?" Genuinely interested. "Well, what could she do? Like, magic tricks or something?"

She jumped off the board and planted herself in front of Mike.

"Well, I could be your zoomer," she offered.

Mike rolled his eyes. "That's not even a real thing."

"It could be," Max insisted, not refusing to give up.

She got back on her skateboard and began to skate in circles around Mike. He just stood there in annoyance, watching her. She had her arms outstretched and smirk on her face.

"See? Zoomer,"

"Mind-blowing," He deadpanned.

"Come on, you know you're impressed,"

+++

El walked quickly passed the gym. The memories flooding back to her all at once every time she turned a familiar corner. She stopped suddenly when she heard a distant voice.

"I don't see any tricks. You're just going around in a circle,"

She knew that voice. Her pulse quickened, and her palms began to sweat.

Granted his voice was slightly deeper but it was his. Mike.

But then she heard a female voice.

"If it's so easy, you try it,"

El didn't know that voice and it scared her.

Nevertheless, she poked her head around the corner, and she saw the gym doors. The voices continued.

"No,"

"Why not?"

"I don't know how,"

"So, then you admit it's kind of impressive,"

"I think if I spent, like, all day practicing, I could do that,"

"I would give you a million bucks if you could,"

"Okay, you're making me dizzy,"

El crept towards the gym doors, terrified of what she might find.

This wasn't how it was supposed to go.

"Please just stop,"

"I'll stop when I join your party,"

El made it to the gym doors and she saw him. He was taller, much taller but he was still himself. But there was a girl. A pretty girl with long red hair with him. Smiling at him.

"It's a simple question. Am I in or out?"

And there it was. He smiled at her. The way he used to smile at El and the girl was just as happy. El felt her heart grow heavy, she hated this feeling. And after all the excitement for seeing him, everything she had risked to see him.

And yet, for some reason she could not explain, it was hard to stay mad at him. She felt herself getting angry at this girl. Like it was her fault. Like this girl was intentionally replacing her.

Her jaw clenched, and her hands balled into fists as she focused her attention on the front two wheels of the girl's board, and ripped it out from under her.

The girl was thrown off her board, landing on the gym floor with a grunt.

El's face fell as she saw Mike jump to the girl's aid. "Jesus! Are you all right?"

Nothing about what El did made her feel good.

The girl began to sit up, grasping her side. "Yeah, yeah. I think so,"

Mike grabbed her hand and helped her up, and El began to water as she watched the exchange.

"What happened?" Mike asked, his hand lingered on the girl's wrist, hurting El even more.

"I don't know. It was like a magnet or something pulling on my board," The girl explained, quickly shaking her head. "I know that sounds crazy,"

Max walked after her rollaway board, and Mike's eyes widened in familiarity.

He looked over his shoulder, from where he had entered the gym and made a run for it.

It had to be her. It had to be. Right?

And yet, his heart fell when he was met with an empty hallway, no one else in sight.

+++

Will could have sworn he heard noises coming from the bathroom, and he hadn't heard from anybody over the comes for a while.

And so, gathering all his courage, he pushed open the door and crept inside.

He hadn't realized he had been hoping to find nothing until he heard the all too familiar chittering from the furthest stall down and his stomach dropped.

He tiptoed towards the noise, not wanting to scare him off. He reached the stall closest to the windows, slowly reached out a hand and cautiously opened the stall door. Sure enough, there sat Dart.

He was curled up in the corner, where the two walls met. He looked up at will and chittered.

Will raised his walkie slowly, and spoke calmly into it, taking every precaution not to scare him away.

"Guys... I found him,"

"Where?" It was Dustin.

"In the bathroom by Mr. Salerno's," Will whispered.

"Copy that," Mike relayed.

"I copy. I'm on way," Y/n responded.

Dart began to slowly recoil, and Will tried his best to seem as unthreatening as possible.

"It's okay," he said softly. "I'm not gonna hurt you,"

Dart looked at Will before letting out an earsplitting scream.

Startled, Will dropped his walkie and ran out of the bathroom in fright.

He stopped once he left the bathroom to catch his breath, not wanting to let the others down.

There was a loud thud that came from down the hall to his left, and he froze. The lights began to flicker. This wasn't happening again, he didn't want to believe it. He looked at the lights and when his gaze returned to the hallway to his left, the hallways were covered in vines, and everything was slimy. He was back.

An exit. There was an exit just his right. Out of nowhere, a black fog oozed out of the hallway in front of it, heading straight for him. He turned on his heel and ran.

He reached the painted paw print on the wall. He made another right. He quickly looked over his shoulder as he ran and it was still gaining on him. It wasn't relenting.

There was another exit. But he was beginning to believe he wouldn't make it. The farther he ran the quicker it seemed to get. He was panting heavily now but this fog had formed its own tendrils that were reaching out for him.

He finally made it to the doors and he threw them open as hard he could. He was now on the field but he was still in the Upside Down. And that that thing was still after him.

+++

BAM

Dustin threw open every stall door of the bathroom.

He sighed in relief when he opened up the last stall, and even Dart made a noise in contention, having recognized Dustin.

Dustin smiled at his small companion. "Hey, buddy,"

Dustin knelt down and held out his hands, Dart quickly scurried over to him.

"Come here. You know I won't hurt you,"

Dart happily jumped into Dustin's open palms and he calmly stood up. "It's okay. It's just me. You're okay,"

"Let's go. Down here," Mike's voice echoed from the halls.

Lucas could be heard soon after.

"We're coming!"

Dustin panicked, knowing his friends would try to get rid of Dart so he knew he had to buy some time.

Holding Dart in one hand, he moved his headset to hang around his neck, and took off his hat, and put Dart on top of his head, before putting his hat back over Dart.

"Stay low, and keep quiet."

Mike came marching in, Lucas and Max behind him.

"Where's Dart?" Mike asked.

"I don't know. He's not here. Where's Y/n?" Dustin countered, changing the subject.

Mike began looking for Dart and he checking the stalls when he heard he wasn't there.

"We don't know. Figured she'd got here before us," Lucas said.

"He said by Salerno's, right?" Max asked.

"Yeah, maybe Will has him," Dustin quickly lied.

Lucas crossed his arms and looked at Dustin skeptically, while Mike went pale.

"Where is Will?"

+++

Will pumped his arms as he sprinted through the field. He struggled to keep his breathing check so he wouldn't have to slow down.

He could feel the presence getting closer. And the memory of that morning's conversation with Bob flashed in his head.

"Only this time, I didn't run."

His legs came to a stop. Will's eyes widened, his heartbeat quickened, and his palms began to sweat. He grew pale. But he knew it was worth a shot.

He told himself he needed to do this.

"This time, I stood my ground."

Will was panting heavily, but he slowly turned around coming face to face with the monster. It towered over the school, looking directly at Will.

"I said, 'Go away. Go away!'"

Will gathered all his courage, tears brimming his eyes and he cried out.

"Go away!"

It got closer. It was swooping in like vulture but Will didn't give in.

"Go away! Go away!" Tears were streaming down his face, and the monster got closer. "Go away! Go away! Go away!"

The monster bellowed, and one large tentacle began twirling down onto the ground, the size of a small tornado. The swirling gust of black fog engulfed Will.

He stood frozen, now trapped in the swirling fog. Several black tendrils spawned from the mass and invaded Will and he could feel the evil presence as it possessed his body and settled in his very soul.

He felt every essence of warmth cease to be, and all that existed was icy darkness.

"Easy peasy, right?"

"Easy peasy."

Will was gasping for air but every breath he took felt like hundreds of daggers were being plunged in his lungs.

"Just like that."

||Reader's POV|| -MINUTES EARLIER-

I turned yet another corner, my eyes scanning the floors. They flew to my walkie when I heard it crackle. I didn't need any confirmation from the voice to know it belonged to Will.

"Guys... I found him,"

I stopped in my tracks. My ears perked up.

"Where?" It was Dustin.

"In the bathroom by Mr. Salerno's," Will whispered.

"Copy that," Mike replied.

I briskly turned on my heel and began speed walking where I came from. I raised the walkie to my lips.

"I copy. I'm on way,"

Salerno's. I was close.

I turned the corner, releasing the speaker button on my walkie. I passed by countless classrooms in my rush to the bathroom, mindlessly making turns. My mind began to wander to Dart and just how much convincing Dustin is going to need seeing how attached he already was.

'But in all honesty, how can one find that-'

My legs stopped carrying me forward, and my body failed me, I just stood there, glued to the floor staring at what I had accidentally stumbled upon. My breath hitched, I gasped and I could hear my heartbeat in my ears.

"Oh, my God," I breathed, my eyes welling up with tears. "Eleven?"

+++

Tag List: @dickkwad @aimee-lucass @iblesstherainsdown-in-africa@miscellaneoustoasts @happyandlonely

DM me if you want to be added!

86 notes · View notes

bookoftheironfist · 6 years

Text

Iron Fist Week: Day 4

A Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship: Danny and Luke

Of course, I’ve talked about them a lot on both this and my other blog, but I don’t think I’ve written a post specifically focused on Danny and Luke’s Netflix-verse relationship-- which is a relationship that means a lot to me and is, of course, extremely significant in the comics. I also wanted to be sure to highlight Luke because his show was cancelled too. The loss of both Luke Cage and Iron Fist is heartbreaking, but in some ways, it almost feels right that they would go out together. Ideally, Netflix will now take the same action that Marvel editorial did in the 70s, and rescue the two franchises by combining them into one series. But no matter what happens, I will forever cherish the fact that we got to see this dynamic duo on-screen at all.

There is a long and noble tradition of superhero relationships being forged in conflict. In the comics, Luke and Danny’s first interaction is a knock-down, drag-out, building-wrecking brawl that cements a mutual respect and understanding between them. The Neflix shows’ budget restraints prevented an exact replication of this, but MCU Luke and Danny still meet in the midst of emotional turmoil and misunderstanding. Danny is suffering from all-encompassing trauma and self-loathing following the apparent destruction of K’un-Lun. Luke has just been released from prison, and is processing the pain of being unable to help Candace Miller’s rapidly dwindling family. And both bring out the other’s worst fears. When they meet in back of the Chaste hideout, filled with bodies of the recently-dead, Danny likely assumes Luke is the Hand warrior who did the deed. The difficulty Danny has in subduing him is merely a reminder of his weakness, his perceived failure as the Iron Fist. Luke sees Danny as a privileged aggressor attacking a boy he’s trying to protect-- a symbol of an unjust system that ruined his life and is now threatening his neighborhood.

Both are on edge and in pain, and are unable, initially, to understand each other through that pain. Even after Claire vouches for them and brings them together, Luke in particular is unable to see Danny’s side of the equation. Danny and Luke’s differences have always been a key part of their relationship, and as painful as their initial disagreements are in this universe, they work to cement their surface-level differences in order to lend further power to the similarities they discover later.

But of course, first they need a bonding team-up! This fight is awesome. They’re not friends yet, but neither can deny that they work well together, and they even manage some banter. Having each other’s backs in this way prompts them to trust each other, even if they don’t necessarily like each other yet. And trust is a big deal, especially for Danny, who was betrayed by nearly everyone he met in Iron Fist Season 1. That experience has made him more wary of forging personal connections, but he is still desperately in need of companionship. Thus, he latches onto his new superhero friends-- and Luke in particular.

And then they get another chance to talk. While Luke is still wary, Danny is eager to get to know him better, and the little reflexive grins they throw at each other throughout this conversation are very funny. In the midst of all of the chaos, they start to at least grow comfortable in their disagreements with each other, clearly enjoying themselves in spite of everything. Luke, the more cynical of the pair, insists that their connection will end when the mission does. But there are nice little indications throughout this conversation that this is a beginning rather than an ending.

They continue to grow closer through little hints and gestures. There’s a great moment later in this scene when Alexandra tells Danny to submit to her or she will kill the others. Danny hesitates, not wanting to put his new friends’ lives in jeopardy... and then Luke gives him a little supportive nod, communicating to him that he should reject her anyway. And the writers make a point of having Luke and Danny show noted concern for each other throughout the rest of the show.

And then it all goes to pieces when Luke agrees to tie Danny up. This is a horrible, frankly traumatic experience for Danny, since it digs into all of his recent pain. He is being prevented from doing his job as the Iron Fist, risking failing New York the way he feels he failed K’un-Lun. He is being prevented from having his revenge on the Hand, which is the only way he will be able to achieve closure for what happened to his home. And he has been betrayed, yet again, by people he was foolish enough to trust-- Luke in particular, with whom he thought he was actually becoming friends. He’s alone again, helpless, furious. But Luke makes a small gesture of friendship in this scene that, I feel, is one of the most important moments in their developing relationship.

Luke listens to Danny. He doesn’t at first, and he is unfairly mean to Danny throughout this show-- but it’s not just him. The degree to which everyone is skeptical of Danny’s story makes sense, but after a while it shifts from being funny to cruel. Danny has just lost his home, and to have that home scoffed at endlessly by his supposed allies is painful to watch. It is evident how this affects Danny-- in Iron Fist Season 2 he even starts pre-empting it. There’s a moment when he’s discussing Shou-Lao with Ward, and he immediately follows it up with an offhand “I know, dragons, right?” because he’s so used to being laughed at. He desperately needs to talk about K’un-Lun in The Defenders as a way of processing his grief, and instead he’s met with scorn. And Luke too, in this scene, initially makes fun of him. But-- and this is important-- he then sees that Danny has been hurt, and he changes his behavior. He reaches out. He allows Danny to talk, and sincerely engages in conversation with him. It’s a small gesture, but in the context of the show, hugely significant.

With a shaky foundation having been laid in The Defenders, we then jump ahead to the magical tenth episode of Luke Cage Season 2. This time, Danny is here to help Luke, offering him life advice that has been directly informed by his own journey.

(Iron Fist Season 1, anyone?)

This episode is a pure joy, partly because it does not pick up where The Defenders left off. As much fun as it would have been to see every second of this developing relationship, it’s even more fun to skip over all of the hurdles and dive right into the Power Man and Iron Fist dynamic we all know and love. These guys have been hanging out off-screen, and it shows. They are fully comfortable with each other, hugging and fist-bumping and bantering without any indication of early-relationship awkwardness. They have a special handshake. They comment on each other’s mannerisms. They have pre-rehearsed fight moves.

Finally, they have found mutual strength in their own differing life experiences, their distinctions enhancing their bond and allowing them to help and learn from each other. And of course, they kick epic amounts of butt together. Both are opposed to making money off their superheroing in this universe, so Heroes for Hire feels out of the question, but some kind of permanent team-up seems all but inevitable in this episode.

I’m in grief over the possibility that we may never see them together in this way again, or that it will be a small cameo in another show and nothing more. There are so many cool Power Man and Iron Fist stories waiting to be brought to live action (yes, including Danny taking Luke to K’un-Lun). But again-- I’m tremendously grateful for what we have. A huge thank you to Finn and Mike for being the perfect Danny and Luke and making my geeky dreams come true.

#ironfistweek #MCU #Netflix Defenders #Netflix Luke Cage #Iron Fist #Danny Rand #Luke Cage #*Sob*

55 notes · View notes

gabrielxreader · 7 years

Text

Impress Me

Request: Hey you’re really amazing and i love your writing. Can i have a shy, nerdy reader that loves cats and books. And the reader is an angel that likes humany stuff and has a crush on Gabriel and Gabriel likes them and they meet again after him disappearing for a while. and he does stuff to try to impress them. If you don’t want to write this i understand. You probably received better requests. You’re an amazing writer and person and i’m excited to read anything you write. - @fandomland7

A/N: Sorry it’s been so long! Things came up. I hope this is worth the wait! I snuck in references to Lord of the Rings, Indiana Jones, and Magic Mike (because my adoration for Matt Bomer burns like a slightly creepy fire). @fandomland7 , I want to say this, and I believe I speak for all admins on this blog: I don’t believe in “better” requests. While we’re flattered by your compliments, I’m saddened that it comes with this sentiment. Sure, I believe that some people are more willing to enjoy a request than others, but that depends on the person, not the prompt. I don’t feel comfortable writing smut, but that doesn’t mean I think smut is better or worse than any other kind of content. Okay? If anyone ever tells you that your desires or likes are less valid than or not as good as another person’s, remember that they’re probably coming from a very self-centered mindset.

Author: Holly

Warnings: Reference to an R-rated movie, but that’s all

Characters: Y/N, Gabriel, Castiel, Sam, Dean

Word Count: 3,173

Y/N = Your Name

Your favorite human was Sam, by far. He recommended the best literary endeavors. While Castiel followed Dean Winchester’s guidance and often found himself tasting various desserts, Sam offered you a plethora of intellectual challenges, such as novels, politics, and the internet’s seemingly-endless solutions to whatever questions you may have had about humanity. Currently, you were wrapped up in a book that you were truly enjoying.

“Y/N? Y/N!”

Dean yelling your name in the close confines of the Impala made you look up. The vehicle had come to a stop. You had failed to notice, because you coped with the cramping feeling of the car by immersing yourself in a book. “I apologize, Dean,” you said, closing the pages delicately. “I was distracted by the Master of Jewelry.”

Dean sent Sam a bewildered, questioning look. Sam frowned back at him and asked, “Do you mean the Lord of the Rings?”

“Yes, that’s what I said,” you answered, moving the book aside. “Is this the location?”

“Yeah…” Dean slowly said. Sam shook his head and took off his seat belt; they both got out of the car. You cocked your head at them and their tedious clambering, and between one blink and the next, you had flown yourself to the sidewalk outside. Sam turned to make sure you were getting out, only to come face-to-face with you, and he reeled back in surprise. “Anyway, Y/N, we’re not sure what we’ve got this time. That’s why we asked Cas for help. But since he can’t be bothered to come down-“

“He’s busy looking for Father,” you defended quietly. Castiel was the only fellow angel you had left that you could see. The others were under orders to kill you the moment they saw you. Defecting from Heaven for the sake of mutinying against their goal of destroying the earth left you lonely and with few friends. Usually you kept to yourself, only visiting Sam and Dean when Castiel asked for you to, but because they requested angelic help and he wasn’t in a position to provide it, he asked you to keep a watchful eye on them. “He would be here if he could.”

“Right,” Dean snorted. Although you wanted to be angry on your brother’s behalf, you quailed without even trying. Dean was aggressive and hostile towards you in the beginning. Since he’d held an angel blade to your throat before Castiel could stop him, you were understandably wary of the Winchesters. You’d learned not to underestimate them. “There’s definitely some freak-of-the-week hanging out around here. Last week, a guy was found with the skin of his face melted off. Something went all Ark-of-the-Covenant on the vic-“

“I don’t know what that means,” you said softly.

Sam smiled apologetically. “It means Dean needs to spend as much time working as he does watching TV.”

You followed them absently while they started conversing about what they thought could be causing the disturbances. Hunting wasn’t beneath you, per se, but very little was a match for an angel, and the Winchesters were possibly the only humans who could pose a threat to any of your species. Walking was excruciatingly slow compared to flying, but you kept your metaphysical wings tucked in the alternative plane and permitted them to lead you where they wanted to be.

“No way, man!” Sam said, louder, and you looked up. He and Dean both stopped walking by the corner of the street. You stayed back as they devolved into an argument.

These are the humans that trapped and unnerved Raphael? Sometimes it was still hard to believe.

Something soft brushed against your leg while you stood perfectly still, waiting for either of them to address you. Dean said it was freaky when you did that, but it was how you had been trained for millennia. Looking down, you saw a tiny, four-legged creature with perky ears and a pink nose. Its little paws were black and its back was spotted with white.

“Good afternoon,” you said to it politely. Neither brother noticed you talking to an animal. “May I be of assistance?”

“Meow!” It yowled up at you.

“Um, I’m not sure that I understand.”

It rubbed against your leg more insistently. You knelt down slowly so you didn’t scare it. Some animals were more sensitive to your supernatural powers than others. This one seemed to not care. You touched its forehead and stroked its fur carefully. It vibrated against your hand in a purr.

“Hey, Feathers,” Dean called over his shoulder, having seen you moving to get closer to the ground. “Leave the cat alone. It’s probably got rabies.”

Sam wasn’t done with his argument, so Dean’s distraction further upset him. “Look at it, Dean, it’s not rabid! Even if it were, do you really think rabies could hurt an angel?”

“You’re a cat?” You asked the animal curiously. It made the meowing sound at you again. You chose to take it as a yes. “Come here, please.” Scooping your hands under its belly, you lifted it up and cradled it against your vessel’s chest. The cat purred, mewed, and kneaded its paws against your breasts. You cleared your throat. “Sam has informed me that this is unacceptable behavior in public,” you said sternly to the animal, turning to hold it so that it couldn’t get its paws on you while you carried it. “I believe that, were you a human, I would be within my societal rights to harm you.”

The cat meowed once again and waved its right paw in the air. At the same time, something brushed your periphery and you stiffened, standing up straight at attention. The subtle touch of ethereal power didn’t belong to human inventions, and came from something supernatural. You cocked your head and slowly turned to the left, away from the brothers, pinpointing where you sensed it from.

“Something is here,” you whispered to the cat. It was easier to talk to the animal than it was to talk to humans. “Should we go see?” You turned over your shoulder to look at Sam and Dean, both still fighting, voices getting louder. “They would appreciate it if this was taken care of quickly,” you logically told your friend, holding it more firmly and beginning to walk towards the source of the ‘magic,’ as humans would call it.

The power source was in an alley between two larger corporate buildings. Paying no heed to the lesser foot traffic, you turned to walk down while the cat quieted respectfully, as if it too could detect that you were in the presence of something powerful. The closer you got, the stronger the feeling prickling deep within your Grace, until you stopped short and realized that what had seemed like a small nudge was actually part of a much more powerful being.

Just as you were preparing to turn around and go tell the Winchesters that they should summon Castiel, someone spoke.

“Well, well, well. How’re things since ditching the God Squad, Y/N?”

The voice wasn’t familiar to you, but with your name came the lingering touches of Grace. The essence was warm and gentle and you felt something soft affectionately clip your wing, out of sight.

“Gabriel?”

“Yeah, it’s me. Tell Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb to get off my tail, would you? You’d think after Motel Hell, they’d be a bit more considerate of my hobbies.”

Millenia ago, when God was still caring for his children and the archangels were only just beginning to get on each other’s nerves, you and Gabriel would play together. Sometimes Lucifer would join in to pick on Gabriel, and sometimes Balthazar and Anael would team up with you so that the lesser-powered seraphs stood a small chance of beating an archangel in a play fight. Gabriel had been the closest friend you had in Heaven, before things changed for the worse. Dad left. Michael, Lucifer, and Raphael started fighting and hurting each other, and then Lucifer was banished. Gabriel stopped spending time with you, and then he disappeared altogether, leaving you heartbroken and barely motivated enough to fly. Michael took over and began to rule in your father’s stead with an iron fist. Playing became a thing of the past. Brotherly bonds were forsaken, replaced with militaristic solidarity and uniform obedience.

Finding Gabriel again was a shock, but what stunned you the most was how much he had changed. Cuddling the cat in your arms, which made no complaints, you sat on the edge of a hotel bed while Sam, Dean, and Castiel discussed the very archangel you used to care so much for. Now that you knew he was alive, a switch had been flipped, and you cared all over again. But what were you supposed to do? Gabriel had been the one to melt the human man’s skin. He was hurting the very creatures you and Castiel wished to protect.

“Could you pay attention for more than two minutes?!” Dean snapped, stealing your focus back from the cat you had been sadly sharing eye contact with. You shrank back guiltily. “Since when do angels have ADD?!”

“Dean Winchester,” Castiel growled, his low voice deeper than normal. The light over your heads flickered and sparked. “You will not speak to my sister in that manner.”

The three of them went on to argue over what to do. Sam, the smartest of the trio, stayed on the sidelines except when necessary, and then he just threw in his voice before sitting back out on the bench. You pet the cat silently while you listened to them eventually decide to just move on. A fight with an archangel was not what any of you needed.

“Is this satisfactory to you, Y/N?” Castiel asked thoughtfully, turning his eyes to you to ask for assent.

You looked away from them. Having so many eyes on you at once was disarming. “Yes,” you mumbled. “Castiel?”

“Yes, Y/N?”

“I want to keep this cat.”

Dean threw his arms up and stormed away. “Keep that thing away from my Baby!”

Approximately nine Earth days after deciding to move on after reuniting shortly with Gabriel, the trickster appeared before you while you were scrutinizing a plastic replica of a blonde human. Dean had given it to you with a snort, calling it a “Barbie,” and Sam had smacked his arm for it and apologized to you. You failed to see its purpose, but when you touched its limbs, you could manipulate how it bent and posed.

“Hey, doll,” Gabriel scoffed when he saw “Barbie” in your hand. “Where’d you get that? Babies-R-Us?”

“Dean offered it to me to help me learn about human culture.” You tilted Barbie sideways. “I don’t understand the purpose.”

“It’s a kid’s toy.” Gabriel looked chagrined. “I’m gonna make him into a Ken doll for being rude to you.”

You leaned back and stared at him, aghast. “Why would you do that?!” You cried in horror.

“Because this is disrespectful,” Gabriel answered briskly, short-tempered and blunt. He took away Barbie and chucked her into a trash can near the table.

“Then sprinkle glitter on his upholstery,” you suggested, confused. “Turning him into a Ken doll would be enjoyable for him, from what I observe of his actions towards females.”

It was Gabriel’s turn to be confused. “Huh?”

“A Ken doll,” you repeated, frowning. “Is that not a dark-haired, blue-eyed male who strips for the pleasure of an audience?”

Gabriel stared, then he bent over, cackling and howling while gripping his sides. You sat impatiently, unimpressed and embarrassed. You were wrong. And apparently you were so wrong that it was hilarious. Your vessel’s physiognomy responded accordingly, turning her cheeks hot pink.

He swiped away the tears in his eyes, still hooting. “Oh, hell, sweetheart,” he giggled. “Where on earth did you hear that?”

You scooted back on the bed and tried not to meet his eyes. “Dean watched a movie with me so I would understand,” you whispered, understanding suddenly that Dean may not be the one to take much educational experience from. “He said Magic Mike was an academic endeavor.”

Gabriel laughed so hard again that you crossed your arms defensively, and when he didn’t stop, you just left, flying off to Hawaii. You’d found while exploring earth that you enjoyed the beaches were the ocean met the land. You wished you had never said anything. As your face burned and you tried to pretend Gabriel didn’t mean anything to you, you felt like you’d made an idiot of yourself and wanted to just stay away from everyone.

When Dean summoned you the next day through prayer, you returned to the hotel reluctantly. The Winchesters and Castiel were in the parking lot, and Dean was having a temper tantrum. His vehicle was coated with layer upon layer of glitter.

You responded to Castiel’s perplexed prayers to you directly. You flew to his location and found him standing in the quiet cabin you’d found for yourself in Honolulu. Felines were abound, and Castiel had several pawing for his attention, yowling at him for food. Your pet, whom you’d creatively named Kitten, sat on the counter by the sink, bathing its ears.

“Why would you acquire so many cats?” Castiel asked you, looking down to a tawny-colored cat as it scratched at the hem of his trench coat, batting at the thick fabric.

“I didn’t,” you responded helplessly. How would you take care of so many living things when you were often away, scouting out information or protecting Winchesters?

In the end, you made a generous donation to a humane shelter and dropped off the majority of your houseguests at the no-kill facility. You placed fractions of the group in other organizations so that no one facility was overwhelmed by the sudden increase in their numbers. Soon, the only cats left in your small little space were Kitten and a larger, fatter cat that your black-and-white pet had become inexplicably attached to. Castiel named your newest pet Stationary, because you had heard from a human that animals should be named with their personalities taken into account. Stationary seemed to fit him very well, as he only ever chose to move if he was hungry or being shoved at by Kitten.

You proudly told Sam about your new pet. Sam smiled and congratulated you. Dean snickered and asked who on earth would name a pet “Stationary.” When Castiel turned offended eyes to Dean, the hunter made a hasty exit.

Stationary slept on your stomach while Kitten kneaded your open hand. Gabriel regaled “Team Free Will” with an animated story about how he defeated a dozen demons at once, one of them being a crossroads demon and another a direct lieutenant of Lucifer. He boasted about his combat prowess to Sam and Dean, neither of whom were particularly engaged. The archangel kept pausing, calling your name for your attention, and then continuing with his story. When he finished, he looked at you expectantly.

“Yes?” You asked, cocking your head timidly. Were you supposed to say something?

Gabriel’s shoulders fell in disappointment at the nervousness on your face, and he waved it off as nothing before you could say you were sorry. He went on to strictly inform the hunters of a potential lead into demonic activity nearby, and was gone shortly after.

Sam pulled you aside after a reconnaissance report, a hand on your body’s elbow. You listened to him intently, but had no answers when he asked what you were making Gabriel work for.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

Sam sighed. “Look, Y/N, trust me, I get that you like him or whatever. I know that after Ruby I’m the last person to be judging other people’s friendships. No matter how much we don’t like the guy, we’ve gotta put up with him for your sake. If I don’t tell you to throw the angelic jerk a bone, then Dean’s going to. And he won’t be so nice.”

You stared and blinked. “Why would he want a bone?” You asked him. Humans were just so weird sometimes. It was difficult to keep up with them and their reasoning. “Does he have a pet dog he wants the bone for?”

Sam raked his hand through his hair. “No, look, I mean, the glitter? The cat-apocalypse? The dramatic war stories? Gabriel’s going out of his way to do things for your attention. He’s trying to impress you.” The hunter looked around quickly as though he expected Gabriel to be nearby. “Don’t tell him I let you in on it, but I think he just wants you to acknowledge him. You said you used to be friends, right?” You nodded. “Well, I think he wants to be friends again. Dean’s pretty sure it’s more than that, but I don’t think anything can happen if you don’t start at least letting him know you see him. And maybe if you were, you know, together, it might be good for both of you; he could help you actually learn about humans without Dean teaching you convoluted definitions of kids’ toys, and you could probably talk him out of melting people’s faces.”

Although you considered it later on, it took several days for you to decide how to react. Gabriel, an archangel, trying to impress you, a renegade seraph? He was already impressive. Why did he need to appear to be more so? You had already forgiven him for running away. Hurting humans made you upset, but you had chosen not to begin a battle you didn’t feel confident that you could win. What did Dean like to say? “Select your wars cautiously?”

“I believe it was more along the lines of ‘pick your battles carefully, Sammy,’” Castiel recited when you confided with him, asking if there was merit to what Sam had told you. “’Because if I have to spend one more night without getting any of my delicious heart attacks, I might salt and sauté your arm. Now take that rabbit food away from my face before I pop out whiskers and buck teeth.’”

“Dean is strange,” you noted, making an alarmed face.

Castiel sighed. “I am well aware.”

The next time Gabriel popped up for no apparent reason, you were prepared. A funny feeling in your stomach made you feel as if you understood what the brothers meant when they said they were nauseous, but you fought to keep your vessel from betraying your emotions with a blush.

As Gabriel wound down a story in which he boisterously recounted his adventures with a woman named Joan d’Arc and claimed that he saved her from certain death at the hands of her own people, gifting her instead with a quiet relocation to Poland and permitting the French to believe she had burned to death, your heart beat rigorously. Finally, you called his name quietly. Just the whisper of your voice perked him up excitedly.

“I’m impressed,” you told him with a nervous smile. “And I like you, too.”

322 notes · View notes

bountyofbeads · 5 years

Text

Democrats walk out of Syria meeting with Trump, saying he was insulting and went on a ‘nasty diatribe’

By Seung Min Kim and Mike DeBonis | Published October 16 at 3:45 PM ET | Washington Post | Posted October 16, 2019 5:40 PM ET |

President Trump tried Wednesday to distance himself from the escalating chaos in northern Syria following his decision to withdraw U.S. troops from the region — saying that Turkey and the Kurds are fighting “over land that has nothing to do with us” as the outrage over his decision continued to grow on Capitol Hill.

In remarks in the Oval Office, Trump insisted that the ongoing conflict was “between Turkey and Syria” rather than among “Turkey and Syria and the United States” — comments that provoked a fresh round of criticism from congressional Republicans who have said Trump’s decision to withdraw troops allowed the Turkish incursion last week into northern Syria.

“They’re no angels. They’re no angels. Go back and take a look,” Trump said as he sat alongside Italian President Sergio Mattarella, whom the White House was hosting for a visit Wednesday. Trump insisted that the Kurds would be fine because they “know how to fight.”

“There’s a lot of sand they can play with,” Trump said of the region. “It’s possibly never going to be very stable.”

Tensions between Trump and lawmakers from both parties escalated Wednesday, including during an afternoon meeting with congressional leaders to discuss the situation in Turkey.

Democratic leaders left the meeting early after they said Trump insulted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) as a “third-rate politician” in their first face-to-face meeting since the Democrats launched their impeachment inquiry and hours after the House adopted a resolution in an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote that rebuked Trump’s move to pull U.S. troops out of northern Syria — a decision announced Oct. 6 that has found few defenders on Capitol Hill.

“He was insulting, particularly to the speaker. She kept her cool completely. But he called her a third-rate politician. … It was sort of a diatribe, a nasty diatribe not focused on the facts,” Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) told reporters after the meeting, which focused on Syria and during which impeachment was not discussed.

Pelosi described Trump’s behavior as a “meltdown.” She later clarified that Trump called her a “third-grade politician,” not third rate.

Republicans criticized Democratic leaders decision to leave the meeting, which was also attended by Democrats on national defense and foreign policy committees.

“I see a pattern of behavior with Speaker Nancy Pelosi,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said. “She storms out of another meeting, trying to make it unproductive. The other Democrats stayed and actually had a very productive meeting.”

The meeting was tense from the start.

Inside the Cabinet Room, Schumer began making his case against Trump’s decision to withdraw nearly all troops from northern Syria, reading to the president comments from former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on NBC’s “Meet the Press” earlier this week, according to three officials familiar with the comments who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a private exchange. Mattis had argued that the United States needed to keep the pressure on, arguing that if it didn’t, “then ISIS would resurge.”

Trump then interjected and called Mattis the “world’s most overrated general” and remarked that he wasn’t “tough enough” and that Trump himself “captured” the Islamic State, according to the three officials. He boasted that his timeline for capturing the Islamic State was much faster than what Mattis predicted, saying “I captured them in one month.”

Trump told Democrats that “I hate ISIS more than you” and repeatedly said “see you at the polls” before the leaders walked out, according to two people familiar with the conversation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the private meeting.

The White House did not immediately return a request for comment.

Earlier in the day, Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), normally an ally of the president, continued his strong criticism of Trump’s decision to pull troops from northern Syria, a decision he said puts the Kurds, U.S. allies in the fight against the Islamic State, at great risk.

He said Trump’s comments Wednesday “completely undercut” Vice President Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who are heading to Turkey to urge Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan to embrace a cease-fire.

“I hope President Trump is right in his belief that Turkey’s invasion of Syria is of no concern to us, abandoning the Kurds won’t come back to haunt us, ISIS won’t reemerge, and Iran will not fill the vacuum created by this decision,” Graham said Wednesday. “However, I firmly believe that if President Trump continues to make such statements this will be a disaster worse than President Obama’s decision to leave Iraq.”

At a later news conference with Mattarella, Trump dismissed Graham’s concerns.

“Lindsey O. Graham would like to stay in the Middle East for the next 1000 years with thousands of soldiers and fighting other people’s wars,” he said. “I want to get out of the Middle East.”

Trump’s public comments Wednesday continued the mixed messages from the administration on the situation in Syria, even as Pence and Pompeo were scheduled to depart Wednesday for Ankara to try to negotiate an immediate cease-fire with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

In remarks Monday, administration officials also took a harder line with Turkey than Trump, muddying the United States’s message on the hostilities in northern Syria.

“Turkey’s military offensive into northeast Syria is undermining the campaign to defeat ISIS, endangering innocent civilians and threatening peace, security, and stability in the region,” Kelly Craft, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said Monday in New York. “We have made it clear with Turkey that any actions in northeast Syria in violation of international law, including international humanitarian law, are unacceptable.”

The vote on the House resolution rebuking Trump was 354 to 60 with three Republicans and independent Rep. Justin Amash (Mich.) voting present.

All members of the House GOP leadership team were among the 129 Republicans who supported the resolution. A few notable Republican members opposed it, including the leaders of the pro-Trump House Freedom Caucus; Rep. Tom Reed (N.Y.), co-chair of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus; and Rep. Greg Pence (Ind.), the vice president’s brother.

The House strategy is meant to force Trump to sign or veto legislation that scolded his own decision, although Senate Republican leaders have yet to publicly commit to taking up that bill.

“Alliances and values are important,” said Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) speaking out on the House floor. “Walking away from friends is a sad indication of policy that we don't want to support, we don't want to condone. Yes, we want America to be great, but we're also great because of our friends and our allies. Coalitions are not bad. Coalitions strengthen our public policy around the world.”

Pelosi said that she believes the meeting grew so tense because of the margin in the vote on the Turkey resolution.

“Probably the president couldn't handle the fact that the vote was so overwhelming in opposition,” she told reporters.

Trump’s words drew criticism from prominent GOP voices, who continued to condemn his decision to withdraw the troops.

“To have the vice president and the secretary of state going to meet with Erdogan and suggesting that somehow we’re surprised by what’s happening is disingenuous,” said Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), the party’s 2012 presidential nominee. “Very clearly it was a decision by the administration which has led to what you’re seeing. This is a bit like the farmer locking the barn door after the horses left.”

On Trump’s insistence that the Kurds were “no angels,” Romney responded: “Oh my goodness gracious, they are our friends, they have been our ally, and abandoning them was a very dark moment in American history.

**********

Turkey rebuffs U.S. calls for truce in Syria, demands Kurdish fighters disarm

By Erin Cunningham | Published October 16 at 1:59 PM ET | Washington Post | Posted October 16, 5:40 PM ET

ISTANBUL — Turkey rebuffed U.S. calls for a cease-fire in northeastern Syria as it pressed ahead Wednesday with an offensive targeting Syrian Kurdish militants and demanded that the fighters lay down their arms.

Vice President Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo prepared to depart Wednesday evening for Turkey, part of the administration’s efforts to quell the chaos unleashed by the Turkish offensive, which critics warned would create a security vacuum.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday that Kurdish fighters should “drop their weapons” and withdraw from designated border areas by nightfall to halt the fighting. Turkey launched the offensive last week to rout Kurdish-led forces it says pose a threat to Turkish national security.

Erdogan rejected a U.S. offer to broker a truce, saying in a speech before parliament Wednesday that Turkey had “never in its history sat down at a table with terrorist groups.”

Turkish officials view Syrian Kurdish forces as terrorists for their links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which has waged a decades-long war for autonomy in Turkey.

Despite the U.S. proposal to mediate, President Trump said Wednesday that the conflict was “between Turkey and Syria.”

In an interview on Fox Business Network on Wednesday, Pompeo said he expected to hold face-to-face meetings with Erdogan and other Turkish officials.

“He needs to stop the incursion into Syria,” Pompeo said of the Turkish president. “We need a cease-fire, at which point we can begin to put this all back together again.”

Erdogan said that Turkey and allied Syrian rebels would forge ahead with plans to a establish a buffer zone some 20 miles into Syria.

“Nobody can stop us,” he said.

In Syria, U.S. troops continue to take precautionary measures that suggest that completely withdrawing from northern Syria is going to take more time and that their safety is still uncertain.

On Tuesday, advancing fighters aligned with the Turkish government prompted the U.S. military to dispatch F-15 jets and Apache helicopters near the town of Ain Issa in a show of force designed to disperse the fighters, a U.S. defense official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.

The coalition fighting the Islamic State has transferred about 50 alleged Islamic State prisoners from Syria to Iraq over the past week, according to an Iraqi intelligence official who spoke on the spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

“It’s the top fifty,” the official said. The location to which the prisoners have been moved, and who has custody of them, remained unclear Wednesday.

Officials in Baghdad said they have told the U.S. and European governments that they are willing to accept Syria’s Islamic State prisoners for a fee. “The offer is still there, but we haven’t received any response,” the official said. Iraq is already imprisoning at least 17,000 men and women for terrorism offenses, according to judicial records. Human rights monitors and recently released detainees say that conditions are deteriorating rapidly, and that hundreds of prisoners have died because of neglect.

Louisa Loveluck in Irbil, Iraq, Natasha Abbakumova in Moscow, Sarah Dadouch in Beirut, Kareem Fahim in Istanbul and Dan Lamothe, Felicia Sonmez and William Branigin in Washington contributed to this report.

********

U.S. withdrawal, Turkish offensive in Syria send a new wave of refugees to Iraq

By Louisa Loveluck and Mustafa Salim | Published October 16 at 3:12 PM ET | Washington Post | Posted October 16, 2019 5:40 PM ET |

IRBIL, Iraq — As foreign powers jostle for control of northeast Syria, a new wave of refugees is trudging into Iraq, fearful, uncertain and worn out.

Aid groups said Wednesday that more than a thousand Syrians had crossed the Iraqi border in the days since U.S. troops pulled back and Turkey moved in to push Kurdish-led forces from its southern frontier. Should the violence worsen, humanitarian agencies are preparing to receive as many as 50,000 people by January.

Squatting in the shade of the northern Domiz camp’s spartan portacabins this week, many of the new refugees looked shellshocked. Children were jittery, their parents too tired to speak much.

The Turkish-backed offensive did not come as a shock — the refugees said they had been glued to the news, watching with rising dread the Turkish threats against the Kurdish-led administration that ran their area. But when the fighting finally began, its speed took many by surprise. In less than a week, more than 160,000 were fleeing, and those with permission to stay in Iraq headed straight there.

Those without queued for days at the border. Many turned to smugglers, paying exorbitant prices for an hours-long walk through the night.

Salhar Omar Saffar, 30, said she scooped up her young daughter and ran.

“My mother stayed. She said she was too old to make the journey,” Saffar said. “But she told me to go. She told me to take the baby and to find a way to give her a life.”

The Norwegian Refugee Council said 1,006 people had crossed into Iraq since hostilities began Oct. 9.

“We expect more and more in the coming days,” spokesman Tom Peyre-Costa said. Most international aid groups said this week that the violence and insecurity had forced them to suspend humanitarian operations and evacuate foreign staff. The bombing and shelling also led hospitals to close and left areas without access to clean drinking water.

“Winter is coming, and with harsh conditions in Syria, displaced people will be more and more likely pushed to migrate towards Iraq, where they can seek shelter,” Peyre-Costa said.

The Kurdistan Regional Government, which administers Iraq’s northern province, called on the international community Tuesday to provide fresh support as the area prepared to receive a “new wave of displaced people fleeing conflict and persecution.”

After eight years of war in Syria, Iraq is home to 250,000 refugees. Tens of thousands more Iraqis remain displaced by the U.S.-backed fight against the Islamic State here. The United Nations said Wednesday that it was reactivating a camp in Bardarash, east of Mosul, to accommodate the new influx. Camp authorities have worked through the night to turn the lights back on and set up tents to house families. Guards and humanitarian staff in Domiz said they had been working 14-hour days to help the new refugees settle in.

The Trump administration’s decision to pull troops from northeastern Syria has set off a scramble for power there. As the Turkish military shelled border towns this week and an allied Syrian rebel force moved in, Russia brokered the only deal that Kurdish-led authorities had left, Western diplomats said: a partial return for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces and a likely end to the years-long Kurdish governance project there.

As the contours of that agreement remained unclear Wednesday, Turkey rebuffed U.S. calls for a cease-fire and pushed on with its offensive, demanding that the Kurdish fighters lay down their arms.

Few Syrian Kurds who crossed the border this week said they expected to return home any time soon. One man, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear for his family’s safety in Syria, said he had stayed in their hometown through eight years of war, dropping out of school, hiding from militants and watching the futures they had hoped for ebb away. In the end, he said, his family left with smugglers Sunday night because they had a right to “live without war.”

His 19-year-old wife nodded.

“We are young people, and we’ve already lost our childhoods,” she said. “Syria is over for us. We just need to be anywhere else.”

For Saffar, too, Turkey’s offensive seemed to mark an end to life as she knew it in Syria.

“I’m not going back. How can I? We lived eight years there as if there was freedom.”

She gestured toward her daughter, Silina.

“I never thought I’d leave my country, but I left it for her,” she said. “I walked through the mountain for her.”

0 notes