My Brother's Keeper (II)

As in every version of the story, Vash only plays the fool. He is not one. Oblivious, hapless and harmless are always masks he wears. From beneath them, he susses out what Wolfwood is pretty much immediately.

Not that it was hard. The man's barely trying. And really, three days into the trip to July and a guy carrying a cross from Nai's freaky book suddenly shows up, walks off the trailer slamming into him, tries to separate Vash from the reporters, lectures him about killing to survive, makes just-kidding-or-am-I remarks about being an assassin, then finally reveals he's actually carrying an absurdly overpowered laser-cross-gun before inviting himself along for their quote-unquote "protection". Nevertheless he sticks almost exclusively by Vash, who is by a very, very, very wide margin the least in need of protection among them.

Just in this scene his lighter has the Eye of Michael sigil on it and judging by the heap of butts, after picking tunnels for everyone to search (including one for him) he stayed right where he was and chain-smoked until Vash returned. Not too long afterwards Roberto abruptly and mysteriously vanishes, and Wolfwood tries to convince Vash the reporters must be dead. …Yeah, I guess that counts as subtle for someone who named himself Millions Knives, but c'mon. Knives thinks his stupid brother won't come to his party unless he's dragged there. Vash has a chaperone now whether he wants one or not.

If I were in Vash's situation I'd be quite annoyed. For fuck's sake, he's an adult. He's been one for over a century. He doesn't need a damn babysitter. And what kind of idiot sends an assassin to do that job?

Except... Knives somehow made the perfect choice in Nick.

Wolfwood's cynical rhetoric has no effect whatsoever on Vash's ideals and he's hardly any more effective at keeping Vash safe. Simply because Wolfwood's there, Zazie and Legato between them find excuses to endanger Vash, which is par for the course when Knives tries to "protect" him. No, what makes Wolfwood the best man for the job is something that may well have happened in spite of Knives, and it's this.

Regardless of his real age, at heart Nick is a kind but wounded boy who's only trying to protect his beloved family, especially his crybaby brother. He kills because he doesn't think there's any choice - he's ultimately a victim of indifferent circumstance. In a way, an innocent.

In Wolfwood Knives gave Vash everything Vash wants to believe is true of Knives himself. With all his heart, Vash wants his brother's cruelty and manipulation to be just... just some wildly misguided but sincere attempt to save the Plants, because he doesn't believe there can be any other way - but he'd be open to an alternative. Nai really does love Vash, just like Vash truly does love Nai, and Rem loved them both. His brother can't be a monster.

If he's smart and kind and strong and brave enough, if he can just overcome his fear, Vash is sure that he can help. He'd convince Nai that humanity doesn't have to die, it's just ignorance and crashing on this barren planet that made everyone's hearts so barren while they struggled to survive. They, the twins, can take responsibility for what they did and help Plants and humans to help each other. If they could do it together...

He could love his brother without it being so fucking painful. They could love each other without every encounter they have leaving more helpless people dead, more scars on Vash. From all that he's lost, he could salvage this one thing. He'd be so content with that. He's survived on much less. He ran before, but he'd stay this time, and for good. Neither of them would be alone. They'd have time.

On top of that, Vash needs to help people - it's what keeps him alive, and it makes him happy. Wolfwood needs someone who'll treat him like he's a person rather than a weapon, to remember that he doesn't have to be the Punisher. That's what keeps him alive. There's still a place for him in the world, even for what he's become.

If Vash can convince Wolfwood, his brother's agent, to accept that place... if he can help him... maybe he could do the same for his brother. Just as Luida did for Vash himself.

And Wolfwood does a damn good job playing the part without even knowing that's what he's doing. Well, he knows he's protecting Vash, but all it's in how he does it.

JPN: You only get one life. You have to fight for it, no matter who you hurt in the process. There's no other way to survive.

ENG: You only get one life, y'know? Self-sacrifice might satisfy the ego, but don't throw your life away. Survival's everything.

This is advice you'd get from a brother. If one must die so another can live, I'd rather you live - so make sure of it. Dumbass. (It's also the final request Rem made of the twins: I want you two to survive./Try your very best to survive for me.) Maybe phrased bluntly and a bit abrasive, but not… insane. No weird sermons about crusades and fire from the sky, no verbal abuse or put-downs, no blame, no hurt. What's more, while Wolfwood does try to convince Vash to leave the reporters for dead, when Vash goes back for them Wolfwood bitches all the way but goes with him. He slices open the Grand Worm for them (though I think also to annoy Zazie). And after that, he clinches it by, of all things, trying to get Meryl to eat bugs.

You're not going so survive like that. Come on!/Are any of you freaks interested in survival? Come on! Open wide!

(This is totally irrelevant, but their stupid bickering in the background in the English dub is hilarious. Nick straight up says "I'm helping!" and adds something about how short Meryl is. Meryl starts protesting that she's a "perfectly average-sized woman." I bet they were unbearable in the truck.)

Nai was always dismissive of, if not outright nasty about, Vash enjoying food he doesn't need. Nick gets it. Consuming food gives physical nourishment, and Plants don't need that to survive. But it's also togetherness, shared joy. Those are things both Plants and humans need, so it's not a 'waste'. We're more than merely serving a material purpose or function, even one that's self-declared. Even as Plants.

No matter how heavy a cross you carry, you still deserve to eat. You still deserve to laugh./Heh, no matter how heavy the cross is you carry, you deserve food. And to laugh.

Vash needed to hear that, or something like it. It's the kind of thing Rem used to say, the kind of thing Luida told him. (It's about everyone getting a share.) Meryl, though she cares for him, doesn't yet know how to break through Vash's rumination.

Nick's being a jackass older brother by happenstance, because he's letting down his guard. It's who he really is: kind of a silly kid who cares deeply about people and shows it by goofing off and pushing their buttons until they want to fucking kill him. But Vash would so relieved to have a brother who's just annoying about how much he cares. Who still cares enough to listen to his opinions, and to compromise when they disagree; who doesn't loathe the person Vash is because it's not what he thinks Vash should be. So Vash eats what Wolfwood offers, despite Roberto's warnings, extending his trust. Wolfwoof takes that in the spirit it was intended, a little shocked. Despite himself (and despite Zazie), he and Vash are genuine friends from this moment onward.

Also Nick is having a ball bugging the shit out of Meryl. She's like three feet tall and so easy to piss off! Maybe if he tries hard enough he can make her head explode. Irritating the little sister mode: activate.

That doesn't mean everything's love and peace, though.

Wolfwood's work isn't over yet. I think he's relieved Vash extended his trust both because, despite himself, Nick likes this dude (and that must have been an interesting realisation to come to about his sadistic boss's fluffy wuffy cotton ball of a twin brother) and because it makes his job easier. But now he's emotionally invested. He shouldn't be. He can't be. Zazie reminded him why, can see it in [his] eyes. The last person who cared like this was Livio.

Again, Vash isn't stupid. He does care about Nick as a person, not a surrogate Nai, just as he cares about everyone; it's why he's so easy to love and so, so many people have come to love him. (Precious darling boy.) Nevertheless, there are gaps between what Vash needs from Nick and what Nick is capable of giving. And there's one huge glaring difference between Wolfwood and Knives.

That difference meant the hope Vash came to have about confronting Knives in July was misplaced. He just couldn't have known until it was too late.

Part I

Part III

Part IV

Part V

Part VI

Part VII

Chained (Lady Dimitrescu x F!Reader)

Ok at first I thought this was Alex

Warnings: nsfw under the cut.

She was assigned to work in Chris’ team to find a civilian named Ethan Winters and his daughter Rose, who were abducted from their house. Their rescue is important because after his involvement in the Dulvey incident he was infected with the mold which was passed down to his daughter. Chris believes the kidnappers want to use their gift in some twisted way. 

Knowing Chris’ history of not being able to keep his men alive, she didn’t trust him enough to follow his commands, sometimes questioning his decisions and doing thing in her own way, which turned out to be effective too. Chris threatened her to kick her out of his team and place her under someone else’s command, but he knew that her rebellious nature would get her fired and she was too good in the field to be discharged. He would have to gain her trust. 

How she wished  he wouldn’t question her captain now. 

The squad got into the castle where the kidnaper, a woman named Miranda, was hiding. They were stunned by the beautiful renaissance architectural style from the inside, everything being a shade of crimson with golden inserts. The aesthetic created a relaxing atmosphere for the team, but they were quickly pulled back to the reality by their captain. 

“This seems too beautiful for a villain’s hideout” she remarked. 

“Focus on our mission.”

Despite his efforts one of their member still got missing. Chris ordered them to stay close and to not investigate on their own. He didn’t want to repeat the incident from Edonia.  However, she got away from the squad despite. His orders thinking she heard the missing man, but it was a trap set by those witches.

As she approached the source of sound she didn’t realise that the hall became more and more narrow and poor illuminated. She was in complete darkness, and the voice sounded like it was still far away. To make the matter worse, her light flickered meaning the battery was running out. 

“Y/N!” Chris was screaming in the radio. “Where the hell are you?”

“I don’t know, I got lost. It’s like these halls are changing. I swear on my way here I saw some paintings. Now they are all gone. Shit, I can’t see a thing, maybe they are still here.”

She heard some gunshots through the emission 

“Chris, is everything alright?” 

“…don’t….back…Miranda…”

“Chris!” The signal was cut off. 

Her light was cut off too. Surrounded by darkness, she got a better grip on her pistol and pressed her finger on the trigger. As she was wandering around on her way back she had a feeling she wasn’t alone anymore. 

She heard some steps behind her and quickly turned around aiming at the possible enemy, but it was nothing there. Sighing in relief, she turned around to continue her walk, but bumped into someone. Yellow bright eyes were looking down at the small woman who was backing up slowly. Her company was tall, muscular, and judging by the large exposed chest she was a woman. She was standing there like a statue without saying a word. Freaked out Y/N pulled out her pistol and shot the woman in the head, who made a few steps back placing a hand on the wound. Y/N didn’t look back and ran past her finding a safe spot. 

She felt that gaze on her as she desperately ran to find Chris. She was trapped. Eventually she got tired of running and stopped to catch her breath. The radio was still off. She didn’t know if her team was alive or dead, or if that lady still followed her. In order to calm herself, she took a deep breath, letting the faint smell of wood and old furniture filling her lungs. It was the equivalent of a library.  She let herself dip into the silence. When her heart stopped beating in her year and she could hear, very dimly, the sound of a piano playing.

“…im going crazy..” She thought. 

“Enjoy the piano?” A firm, feminine voice asked her. She turned around and saw the same woman from early. Her outfit was fitting the aesthetic of the place, wearing a white dress with a crimson flower attacked to her dress, and a big black hat with black leather gloves. Her big smile exposed her perfect teeth. Not to mention she was very tall, Y/N being high up to her chest. She was still a beautiful woman. 

“I would enjoy a way out to be honest.”

“Come with me.”

She didn’t had a choice and she followed her.

The wood was cracking under their feet as they walked through the halls. The woman didn’t say a word, not introduce herself. The only thing Y/N could do was to look around and try to memorize as much as possible her surroundings in case she needs to run again.

“Don’t even think” her attention was back again on the stranger. “You won’t be able to leave by yourself.”

“Where’s Ethan?” Her eyes were fixated on her curvy figure and on the way she balanced her hips while walking.

“That’s where im taking you”

“You’re bluffing. We’ve been here before, I remember. We’re walking around in circles.”

The woman stopped and let out a chuckle. Then, she turned around and smacked Y/N so hard that she sent her flying across the room. The impact was so hard that she loft her consciousness. The only thing she remembers is the blury image of the woman approach her.

She woke up in a dungeon. The wooded smell was replaced with a rotten flesh and blood one. Her head still hurt from the impact. The woman tied her up on a metal table, with her hand laying beside her body. Her weapons, radio and other gear was taken away, leaving her in a turtleneck and cargo pants only. She tried to break from her restraints, the sound of chains hitting the metal surface echoing in the room.

Not long after she woke up the tall woman made her appearance. She walked to her side, caressing her face and removing some strands of hair from her forehead.

“How come a beautiful woman like you works with such beasts.”

She couldn’t help but blush when she heard the remark. She chose to remain silent.

“Im so happy that i took off that savage equipment off your body so i can have a better look at these curves” she trailed with a gloved hand the sides of her abdomen, sending shivers down her spine. It was a soft touch she didn’t experience in a long time. It wasn’t a good time to be touch starved.

The woman bend over her body, her chest pressing against her body and sending a warm wave down her lower abdomen. She removed the fabric that covered her neck and began to lick the tender flesh. Y/N dug her nails in the metal table when she felt the warm tongue licking and nibbling her flesh, and when the woman properly bit her she let out a scream. She was constantly moving like she was searching a vein causing her an immense pain. When she started to suck out her blood it didn’t hurt anymore, her screaming being replaced with loud whimpers.

The woman raised herself to let her breathe. Y/N liked the warm coming from the vampire’s body and she was disappointed when she was hit by the cold breeze.

“I don’t want to kill you, yet.”

“I didn’t know you kind existed.”

“You don’t know many things.” She began to caress her side again, going to her side boob to her hip and up again.

“I always enjoy a mortal’s body. So fragile and easy to break. But also very interesting to please.”

She closed brought her legs closer, feeling her core heating up.

“You blood pressure is high, and your face is all red. I don’t think you’re scared little girl.” She laughed at the conclusion.

“Just do it.” She spat out the words, feeling ashamed she let herself falling for her instincts. In the same time, she wanted the woman so bad.

The woman slid her hands underneath her shirt and reached her boobs, which fit perfectly into her big and large hands. She started to squeeze them firmly, then she raised her shirt and lowered the bra in such manner to release her nipple. The skin hardened in the contact with the cold air, but soon her hands found them again and began to roll the nipple between her fingers. She brought her mouth to one of them and sucked it, leaving lipstick and some of her blood on the skin. The other hand was working the nipple. Y/N tried to lif her legs but she couldn’t because of her restraints.

“Let me help.” The woman went to the end of the table and began to remove the cuffs. Y/N knew it was no point to escape because if her legs were free, her hands were still cuffed. Besides, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to leave.

The vampire freed her legs then she went to unbutton her pants. She grabbed both pants and panties and pulled them down revealing Y/N white smooth skin. She bent her knees and spread her legs. The woman kneeled lifted her dress and kneeled at the end of the table. It wasn’t an issue because she was very tall.

She bent over the table again with her boobs laying on the metal table, her mouth being close to Y/N pussy. She spread her folds and pressed so she could expose her clit, then she pressed her mouth sucking the wetness.

Y/N raised on her tiptoes from the pleasure. Her mouth was hot and her fangs pressed occasionally on her folds sending her head in the clouds. The vampire started to circle the bud with the tip of her tongue, them suck it. She wanted to suck blood from the flesh so bad but she didn’t want to stop her from moaning. Living in the castle tends to be lonely, and eventually you get tired of your minions. The only fun she gets nowadays is with her prisoners.

The vampire lifted her dress so she could slide her hand between her legs. She found it so hot when the mortals are moaning. She continued working her clit, then she moved to her entrance. She tasted so sweet, a vanilla flavour different from what she experienced so far. She moved in circles inside her, then she started to move in and out. Y/N was rocking her hips according to her tongue motions. The vampire pulled out her tongue and placed it again between her folds, but this time she didn’t move her face and let Y/N ride it instead. The hand began her panties started to move faster.

The mortal’s moans were increasing meaning she is approaching her climax. The vampire pressed a hand on her belly to stop her and began to lick her clit again until she finally came. She removed her face and continued to work on her own orgasm which didn’t take long to achieve.

Y/N took a while to get back to reality. By the time she was finally herself, the vampire was gone and her handcuffs were removed completely from both of her limbs. She got up and put on the pants, and went to explore the are.

As she explored the dungeon, she heard some moans coming from a cell. She rushed to it hoping this time there isn’t a trick again. The cell was opened, and inside a blond man was cuffed and beginning to wake up. She immediately recognised him. It was the man from the file and the reason why she’s here. She just found Ethan Winters. Quickly she went to check if he was hurt, but by her relief he just had some minors bruises.

“Wh-who are you?” He asked confused.

“Im not here to hurt you, im here to rescue you.” She helped him to stand up and walked out the cells.

This wasn’t a victory. Yes, she found Ethan, but her gear was gone and she was carrying an injured man in an unknown place. She needed to protect herself and the man, and that was difficult without her gun. Her priority is to find Chris and the res of the squad. Or whoever survived.

Endless Summer Book 4 : Daughter of Vaanu (Chapter 50)

Description: Tahira awakens! And she has a plan. 

Tagging: @endlesshero1122 @mysteli @feartheendlesssummer @whatmcsaid @xo-endlessmayhem-xo @tigerbryn11

Chapter 50: Between the Cracks

Tahira

I can't breathe...I can't breathe! I push against the Endless' grip, trying to reach the surface, but she only holds me tighter.

“It's all right, Tahira. It's all right. Just watch.”

The images are still coming. Quinn Kelly, motionless on a bed her hands folded in a funereal pose atop a large, shining stone. She turns into Alodia, clutching the Prism Crystal, but she's no longer lying in repose. Her face is twisted with fury, her eyes gleaming fuschia with the Crystal's power as she attacks an unseen opponent. I can't breathe. I want to get out. Someone get me out of here! I flail, pounding the Endless' arms feebly with my fists. I can't perceive the images anymore. There's only a vague itch at the edge of my mind, telling me that I know something that I didn't know before.

“Tahira...?” I don't recognize the voice at first, but everything around me is fading. The images. The Endless. The ocean. Then, as I finally draw in a desperate breath, I feel something warm and soft on my cheek. “Tahira, baby, can you hear me?”

“...Mom...?” I realize that I have my eyes closed. I open them carefully, squinting against a sudden assault of florescent light. A figure, blurry but definitely my mother, hovers over me. I hear her choke on a sob as she strokes and kisses my face.

“Oh, baby, thank God!”

I become aware of a pressure on my hand, and turn to see Grayson perched on the edge of my bed, holding my hand. His clothes and hair are rumpled, and there's a layer of fuzz on his face like he hasn't shaved in a day or two.

“Do you remember what happened?” he asks anxiously.

“Got stabbed,” I mumble. My mind feels surprisingly clear, but it's taking my body a bit to catch up, I think, because my tongue feels heavy.

“Yeah. The surgery went well, but you took awhile to wake up afterwards. You had us worried. How are you feeling now?”

“Fine,” I answer without really taking stock. As soon as I say it, I realize that my side still feels like it's on fire. But I feel fairly confident I'll heal quickly now that I'm awake. “...Alodia...she was abducted...”

Mom and Grayson exchange a look of mild surprise.

“...Yeah...” Grayson confirms. “And Diego. How did...?”

“Crystal stuff. I'll explain later. ...I gotta talk to the Catalysts. I think I might have an idea about finding her.”

* * *

“You want to...use the Prism Crystal to find Alodia?”

It feels risky to be on a video call with all the Catalysts plus my team while I'm still in my hospital room, but I've got Grayson standing guard, ready to signal me if any staff get too close.

“Hear me out here. Quinn, when you were...possessed by Vaanu, you could feel the Island's Heart, right? You could feel where it was?”

“Vaguely,” Quinn confirms. “I could feel it pulling me toward the other half.”

“And there were other instances of the crystals leading you places, right?”

“Quarr'tel,” Jake says, nodding. “They slipped a crystal into Raj's pocket and it lit up like a firefly when we were headed in the right direction.”

“And when we had three of them staked together, they literally just showed us the path when we looked through them.”

“The Prism Crystal is specifically Alodia's life essence. But it didn't react until I came in contact with it as her blood relative. Maybe that connection will help me use it to track her.”

“I believe your idea could work in theory,” Varyyn says cautiously. “...I would be extremely hopeful, if not for the fact that her abductors have managed to block her psychic link with me. Suppose they have figured out a way to block any link with her that the Prism Crystal might give to you? What if that was a function of the poison you were dosed with?”

“It might well be,” I admit. “But what do we have to lose by trying?”

“Nothing,” Jake says. “If anything, we'd be failing Alodia and Diego by not trying. If there's even a chance it could get them back sooner...”

“I'm not disagreeing with you, Jake,” Dax chimes in, “But there are a few logistical problems to consider. For one thing, Tahira, you're still in the hospital with an abdomen full of stitches. Even with your enhanced healing, it's going to be a process. You won't do anyone any good if you tear out your stitches and bleed out searching for Alodia and Diego. Two, this isn't La Huerta, where you guys were on your own with only Vaanti authority to deal with. If this works, how do we explain it? How do we explain Dragonness disappearing after these two people she presumably has no connection to, and how do we explain how she found them without giving away too much?”

I wave a hand impatiently. “We'll chalk it up to a mystery of the Prism Crystal and assure the public that we're looking into why the Crystal led me to these people. The public have been remarkably accepting of the idea that the Prism Crystal turned people into superheroes.”

“But why Alodia and Diego in particular? Why not any of the other thousands of missing persons in the US? Why would the Prism Crystal choose two people who went missing in California when it's on the East Coast?”

“You're overthinking this,” Jake says. “Look, my sister's a cop. People go missing every day, and most of them don't get half the attention Alodia and Diego have gotten. The only reason they're getting as much media attention as they are is because they were on the La Huerta trip, and the fact that Alodia's pregnant makes people more sympathetic. Once they're safe home, the media and the cops ain't gonna care too much about how they got there.”

“I can't say that I completely agree,” Poppy says. “I know I'm only a fashion journalist, but that doesn't mean I don't know how the media works. Alodia and Diego are still high-profile people, and there are high-profile people involved in their kidnapping. Dax is right. If this does work like we want it to, we do need to consider how we're going to spin it so that the attention doesn't go anywhere we don't want it to.”

“Let's not get too far ahead of the game,” Michelle cautions. “Dax is also right that Tahira needs a little time to recover before she's fit to go chasing anyone down.”

“Simple solution to that,” Jake declares. “If she gets a lead off the Prism Crystal, I'm going with her.”

I try not to grimace outwardly. I should have seen this coming. “Jake...you know I'll be faster on my own. Considering that I can fly without a plane.”

“Not while you've still got a hole in your gut. If this is gonna work, we don't have a lot of time for you to be on bed-rest here. We got a small window, and it's closing fast.”

Michelle nods. “Jake is right. Whether we find her or the authorities do, we really don't have time to just wait if we're going to take any action. She's due in a matter of weeks, and we can't assume she won't go into labor early. At the same time, Tahira, you can't just go on your own in your present condition. Apart from the stab wound, we don't know if that poison is fully out of your system. So, I'll come too.”

“Can the hospital spare you?”

“I've still technically got a week and change of vacation I haven't used, and I haven't officially put myself back on the schedule yet.”

“Well, you know I'm not letting you go without me,” Sean says firmly, taking his wife's hand. “I can't. Not just now.”

“I expected as much, and I won't argue.”

“I will go as well,” Varyyn declares. “Not least because my partner is among the missing, but also because if Alodia or I somehow managed to break through the barrier they've put on our psychic link, it would not do for me to be miles away.”  

I sigh. This is kinda turning into a plan for the world's most batcrap-crazy road trip, but I honestly can't say that I mind. In fact, I feel a wry smile tugging at my mouth. “...Anyone else want to join in?”

“You know Kenji and I are at your disposal,” Eva says, winking. But I shake my head at that suggestion.

“No, not you two. Someone needs to stay to protect Northbridge. We can't just leave DA Katsaros completely high and dry and expect to stay on her good side, especially given the situation with Caleb and the kids.”

“I'll come instead,” Estela says. “In case you need another fighter.”

“I'm rather handy with a fencing sword,” Aleister offers a bit reluctantly. But his sister shakes her head.

“Stay with your wife and son. There will be enough lonely doves among the Catalysts as is, and you and Zahra need to look after the company and field any questions from the authorities.”

“Besides that, we should keep our numbers as small as possible,” I point out. “Even if I can't go on my own, we will go faster the fewer we are.”

“In the meantime, what should the rest of us be doing?” Raj asks. “I mean, I'm good to stay in California if that's where I'm most needed...”

“We'd appreciate that,” Jake agrees. “Keep looking after our folks for us. I'll see if I can send Rebecca back with our parents, but it's possible they won't be willing to leave me alone unless I bring her with me.”

“Well...I guess we're mostly settled then. We can work out the necessary details once I'm discharged.”

“That's assuming this really works...” Aleister says soberly. “We've begun speaking of it as a certainty...”

For a moment, no one says anything. I hear myself speak first. “We'll know that as soon as I'm discharged, too.”

Jake

I'm not surprised when my parents are reluctant to let me go to Northbridge without them. I'm an adult, they say, and they can't stop me, but they do their best to discourage it. I don't hold it against them. I've disappeared on them too many times for them not to be nervous, even after I promise to check in with them. As I predicted, it's Rebecca's promise to go with me and keep an eye on me that finally convinces them to go back to California and look after Alodia's parents. I vow to go back there myself if Tahira's idea with the Crystal doesn't pan out, though of course I don't say that to my parents. I need them to think my visit to Northbridge is open-ended.

The meager bags Mike and I packed for what we expected to be a night or two away from home were retrieved from the motel we were staying at the night before our abduction. By now, I've been discharged and Mike's finally in recovery after surgery, so I bring him his bag as an excuse to visit before I take off. I wouldn't normally think I needed an excuse to visit, but the hospital staff are still hovering like flies, and the pretense of dropping off the bag gets me access to his parents, who manage to finagle a few minutes for Mike and me to talk privately.

He turns his head toward me as I slip into the room and smiles wanly. He looks pale and exhausted, and he's still got an IV in the crook of his arm, but he's awake and propped up on his pillows. Still, the sheet below his thighs is flat over the mattress. I pull up a chair beside him.

“How're you feeling, kid?”

“...You know those old clothes press things that they used to feed clothes through after they were washed to get all the water out? In the olden days before washers and dryers?”

“I think I know what you mean. I think they were called 'mangles'.”

“Appropriate name. Anyway, I feel like I've gone through one of those.”

I cover his hand with mine and nod down at the flat sheet beneath his thighs. “No new legs yet?”

“Apparently they gotta let the nerves heal or something first. I dunno. They got some metal things on the stumps to keep 'em fresh or whatever. The science blinded me a little. All I really know is they hurt like a bitch.”

“Fuck.” I squeeze his hand. “Sure feels like a shit time for me to be taking off...”

“Where are you heading?”

“Northbridge. ...It's not looking like Alodia and Diego were on the island. But Tahira has an idea to track Alodia using the Prism Crystal. Hopefully it works, and hopefully where we find Alodia, we find Diego.”

“No question you gotta go, then. Not like you'd be doing much good bumming around the hospital with me.”

“Probably not. ...Don't know how much good I'll be doing following Tahira around, either. But if there's even a chance of finding her...”

“You don't have to explain. We both know where you're most needed right now.” He turns his hand over to grip mine, his eyes finding my gaze and holding it. “Find your wife. Bring her home.”

* * *

Rebecca, Varyyn, and I get a private flight to Northbridge, compliments of Aleister and Estela, of course. I'm glad not to be in the pilot's chair on this one. I'm probably still not totally clear to operate heavy machinery after that blow to the head, and I'm not sure I could concentrate, even if I were. Problem is that I can't really sit still, either. I know I shouldn't be wandering more than necessary while the plane's in the air, but I feel like I'm gonna lose my shit if I try to stay seated too long. Predictably, Varyyn is perfectly still—almost stoic. Though I know him better than to assume he's not just as much of a hot mess as I am right now.

“...How're you holding up, Varyyn?” I ask, as much to distract myself as to check in.

“As well as you, I expect,” he sighs. “...I am afraid. I am afraid this will not work. I am afraid of what they might be suffering right now. ...I am afraid that if this does work, we will find Alodia alone and have nothing left to lead us to Diego.”

I grit my teeth, shaking my head hard. “Won't be like that, Varyyn. Don't think like that. They're together. They gotta be together.”

“...We don't know that,” he says softly. “We hope it. But do we really have any evidence that it is true?”

“Why else would they have taken Diego?” I demand. “They weren't together at the time of the abduction, so it wasn't just convenience like with Sean and Michelle. No offense to Diego, but I don't think Rourke really has much use for him in this timeline. He probably doesn't have much use for any of the Catalysts besides Alodia anymore, except to control her. And maybe Diego is useful if he wanted to bait you for some reason, but even then, wouldn't it still make more sense to keep them together, since you could track her if they hadn't blocked it somehow...”

“...It all makes sense...” he admits. “...I just...I can't help but fear...”

I sigh, rubbing my hands over my face. “Of course not. I won't lie, it scares me, too. ...But it makes more sense that they're together. Remember that.”

He nods. “...I feel powerless. I should be able to reach them. I should at least be able to speak to her and confirm that they are unharmed...”

“We all feel powerless here,” Rebecca says. “I'm a detective. I should be able to track and investigate. But because it's a member of my own family, I'm not allowed to help...” She trails off, and the silence that follows is heavy. I think we all want to try and say something comforting or optimistic here, but there's not really anything to say that we haven't already said. We all feel powerless. There's a chance that when we get to Northbridge, we'll have our path made clear for us, but there aren't any guarantees. If this doesn't work...what next?

Grayson

“Are you sure you're up for this, Tahira? You only got out of the hospital yesterday...”

Tahira grits her teeth as she carefully makes her way to her dresser, using crutches to support most of her weight and to keep her stitches from tearing. She's healing fast. Fast enough that eyebrows were raised at the hospital. But not fast enough to have her in fighting shape yet, and she's clearly still in pain. Michelle has cautioned her against heavy lifting, even with her super strength. The only way we were able to confirm that her strength was still intact was by having her bend an iron bar that Dax brought over from the lab. Flying, too, is out right now, though she is still capable of it.

“If this works,” Michelle said last night, “You're basically going to be our tracker, at least for a few days. Let the rest of us do most of the work until I give you the all-clear.”

I cautiously place my hand between her shoulderblades and let my palm move in slow, gentle circles. When she doesn't pull away, I increase the pressure just a little.

“When a person goes missing, the first twenty-four hours are the most crucial,” she says lowly. “...That window has already closed. There's no more time to waste. What we have is already borrowed.”

She pulls out a T-shirt and a pair of jeans from her drawer, and maneuvers herself to take off her pajama top. I sigh.

“Here, let me help you with that. I can't really help with the rescue mission, but I can help you get dressed for it.”

“I think providing us with travel vehicles is extremely helpful,” she says, smiling a little as she carefully raises her arms over her head to let me take her shirt off. I help her on with her clothes, finishing just as the buzzer to her apartment door sounds.

“Tahira? It's Eva and Kenji!” I go to let them in as Tahira settles herself down on the couch. Kenji grins at her as they walk in.

“How's our fearless leader doing? You look like you'll be ready to kick ass again in no time.”

“With any luck, I will at least be ready to do my part when we finally track down Alodia and Diego. Do you have the Crystal, Eva?”

“Haven't let it outta my sight since Caleb tipped us off it they were going after it,” she replies with a mischievous smile, trailing a finger over the chain around her neck. My eyes follow her finger down to where her low-cut top clearly reveals that the pendant on the end is nestled between her breasts. Tahira makes a face as Eva draws the Prism Crystal out of her cleavage.

“That cannot be comfortable...”

Eva shrugs. “You get used to it. Besides....” She grins, waggling her eyebrows. “No way anyone gets to it without me noticing.”

“Yeah, but have you been, like, showering with it in there? Sleeping?”

“Not like water will hurt it. And like I said, you get used to it.”

Tahira rolls her eyes, smirking a little. “Still...maybe I should ask you to wipe off the boob sweat before I try to do anything with it.”

“Tahira, I'm insulted. The very suggestion that I would ever break a sweat...” But she does grab a washcloth out of the basket of clean laundry beside the dresser and rub it over the crystal before handing it to Tahira. “So...what are you going to do with it exactly?”

“I'll start with holding it. Then...I guess I'll think about Alodia...” She shakes her head with a frustrated sigh. “...I'm flying mostly blind here...”

As she closes her hand around the Crystal, we fall silent, not wanting to risk disrupting her concentration. How long will it take, I wonder, before we know if anything is going to happen? I don't have to wonder long. In fact, the thought is barely out of my head before the crystal begins to glow brighter. I hold my breath. For a moment, everything is still except for the bright purple flame dancing beneath the Crystal's surface. Then Tahira's eyes fly open and she gasps softly. I instinctively rush to her side.

“Are you all right? What happened?”

“I'm okay...” she replies dazedly. “...I...think...”

“Did you see anything?” Eva asks. “Do you know where Alodia is?”

“Not exactly, but...” She looks down at the Crystal balanced on her palm, softly pulsing with fuschia light. “I did see her. In flashes. And...I think...”

She stands up and turns a slow circle, keeping her eye on the Crystal. I watch it carefully. It takes a few more circles before I realize what's actually happening, but when I do notice, I feel my heart skip a beat.

“Tahira! The light!”

“Yes!” Tahira cries eagerly, a grin splitting her face! “It dims, except when I start facing this direction! ...What direction am I facing?”

“Northwest-ish,” Kenji says. “Which probably means she isn't on the island...”

Tahira nods. “...If she's even what the Crystal is pointing toward. ...Either way, it's our best lead so far.

* * *

A few more little experiments prove that using the Crystal as a tracking device is a viable option. Although it goes dull when I touch it, Kenji and Eva can both make it react—as can Varyyn and any Catalysts who come in contact with it. And the pulsing light consistently gleams when the one holding it is facing northwest, dimming as they turn south. As soon as is humanly possible, Tahira and her team gather with me and a handful of the Catalysts in the empty executive level of the Prescott Industries parking garage. Two seven-seater SUVs that I rented are the only two vehicles in the place.

“They're both fueled up,” I assure Tahira. “Tire pressure has been checked and there are spares, jacks, and tire irons under the floors.”

“There are also pillows and blankets so you can sleep and drive in shifts and not have to stop as often,” Dax says. “I've also fitted the cars with adaptable communicators so you can communicate through the radios, just in case everyone's cell phones die at the same time. Do you know who's going to be in what car?”

“I'll be with Sean, Tahira, and Jake,” Michelle says. “Since Tahira and Jake aren't cleared to drive just yet, Sean will take the first shift, and Tahira will hold the Crystal to navigate.”

“And Varyyn, Rebecca, and I will follow in the vehicle behind,” Estela adds.

Michelle nods. “I've also got a medical tote stocked. No one mess with that, please. It's not your standard first aid kit. I've also got some sterile towels and blankets double-wrapped in plastic, so hands off those, too. If we find Alodia close to giving birth, we'll need clean towels to lay down for her and something to wrap the baby in.”

“There are also coolers of water, fruit, sandwiches, and about twenty pounds of trail mix,” Quinn adds. “It's not Raj's cooking, and it obviously won't last, but it should mean you don't have to stop for food for a handful of days.”

“I guess we're all set then,” Tahira says. “There's no time to lose. Everyone pile in.”

“Wait...” I catch her hand as she turns toward the car, and pull her in for a kiss, holding her mouth with mine as if I can store up enough of her taste on my lips to tide me over until she gets back. I break away reluctantly and press my forehead to hers. “Good luck. I love you.”

Eva

Kenji and I meet at his apartment that evening. We don't exactly feel safe going back to the clocktower right now, but we don't have a new base of operations yet, either.

“...How much does Caleb actually know now?” I ask him over a cup of heavily-sugared coffee.

“Almost everything. He knows our powers are connected to our DNA, which is connected to the island of La Huerta and a crystal alien that crash-landed here however many billion years ago. He knows that Alodia is that alien's daughter and that Tahira is Alodia's cousin. ...I also basically confirmed that most of what Rourke told him in those interviews is true.”

“And...where is he now?”

Kenji shrugs, talking a long swallow from his coffee mug. “Processing, I guess. He says he can't go back to Gigi anymore. And based on the way their last encounter went, I'm not surprised.”

“And you don't have any reason to think it might be a trick?”

“Just doesn't add up to a trick,” he admits. “He told me he'd originally told Gigi he was going to try to get in good with us to get information out of us, which I know was true. ...But if he was never actually going to turn on her, he probably would have done something to keep us from securing the Prism Crystal once he realized we knew she was going after it. Plus, she was angry enough to try and frame him for burning down the priest's house.”

“...He's out of the hospital, by the way. Don't know where he's living with his house burned out, though.”

“No sign of the kids, either. ...Maybe he's gone after them.”

“Quite honestly, I hope he has. Scoundrel he may be, but I think his intentions towards the kids are good. At least good enough that I'd rather they have him in their corner than be wandering around out there alone. Especially given what's going on now.”

Kenji smiles wryly. “They will have to come back eventually, won't they? Since you still have their dog.”

I snort. “Good luck making me give up that puppy. I think we've bonded.”

“You'll give her up the moment one of those sweet little kids flashes sad doe eyes at you.”

“...Yeah, probably,” I admit. “My cold heart has been defrosting lately. Maybe proof that there's hope for Caleb.”

“There had better be. ...Because if we can't actually trust him, we might be screwed.”

Estela

I am in the office with Aleister and Zahra when the phone on the desk rings. It just barely registers at first, like an acquaintance I give a nod to as I pass on the street. Aleister picks it up.

“Aleister Rourke speaking,” he mutters absently. Then his posture changes. I take notice as he sits up a little straighter. “Raj, hello. Has there been any news.”

My heart wedges in my throat as I sit up to attention. Zahra visibly stiffens as well, her eyebrows knitting as she meets my gaze with anxiety flickering in her dark eyes. Aleister's eyes widen.

“What? Are they sure it's the same one?...” His shoulders sag slightly as he listens to Raj's extended reply. “...Dammit. Does Jake know? ...What are they planning to do?”

There's a longer pause now. Aleister's expression is difficult to read. Zahra stands up from her desk, then awkwardly hovers there as if she's not sure she should come closer.

“...I expect that is the wisest course of action. If the Crystal can track Alodia directly, it would be a waste of time to chase down a lead like that. ...I see. ...Of course. I'll make sure everyone is updated. Thank you. ...I will. ...Goodbye.” He replaces the receiver on the cradle and looks up at me and Zahra in turn. “...That was Raj. The police believe they have found the stolen ambulance that Alodia and Diego were transported in, but it has since been abandoned. They were able to determine that a helicopter took off nearby and they believe Alodia and Diego were on board, but from there, they're having difficulty picking up the trail.”

Zahra and I exchange anxious glances. “...Where was the ambulance found?”

“Cascade mountain range in Oregon. Near Crater Lake.”

“Oregon!” Zahra gasps. “They drove a stolen ambulance from southern California to the Cascade mountains in Oregon and no one noticed until now?!”

“Raj tells me the region around Crater Lake is fairly remote.”

“Maybe, but...” Zahra is already tapping furiously on her phone. After a moment, she turns the screen toward us. “Look, the fastest path to Crater Lake from Riverside is about a twelve-hour drive, straight up through California.”

“They were driving an ambulance,” I point out. “If they had the lights and sirens going, they would have been able to speed and run red lights with impunity. Few people are going to want to impede an ambulance that they think is on the way to save someone's life. Even with the authorities knowing they were likely in a stolen ambulance, I can believe they got as far as Oregon without anyone wanting to risk stopping them. Especially if they swapped the license plate.”

“They still would have needed to stop for gas at some point. And twelve hours trapped in a vehicle can't be good for a pregnant woman. We're still operating under the assumption that Rourke wants Alodia and her baby alive, right?”

“It makes the most sense,” Aleister confirms. “If he just wanted her dead, there are easier ways than kidnapping.”

“What else do we actually know? They found the stolen ambulance, but are they sure Alodia and Diego were inside?”

“They found more than a few hairs inside the vehicle. They matched DNA samples from both Alodia and Diego.”

I nod. “...From what I overheard, I'm guessing Jake and the others aren't going to try to find them in Oregon.”

He shakes his head. “It would be a waste of time, driving some place they have already been removed from when they believe the Prism Crystal can lead them to where Alodia is currently.”

“Why Oregon, though? Why not the island? Why was the Crystal leading them northwest instead of toward the island?”

“...I don't know, Estela. The truth is that we don't know for sure that they don't mean for her to eventually wind up on the island. Maybe the plan is to throw us off the trail.”

I sit back with a frustrated sigh. “...It always feels like our dear father is ten steps ahead of us. The only person who has ever really managed to get the better of him was Alodia when she chose to sacrifice herself for the world.”

“Not entirely true,” Zahra mutters. “...I shot him in at least one timeline.”

“He is a genius and a master manipulator, but he is still human,” Aleister says firmly. “And humans are flawed enough to be outsmarted. Sooner or later, he will make a mistake. I am sure of it.”

Alodia

Something doesn't feel right here. I'm in Elyys'tel. The armor of Andromeda encases my body and gleams gold in the Caribbean sunset. Beneath it, I am wearing my Vaanti warrior's attire. In my hands, I clutch the mask I won in the Valinorim. One hand drifts towards my chest, and my fingers brush the cold metal dogtags that hang on a ball-chain around my neck. My chest is tight, and my head throbs with grief, but I don't cry. I can't cry.

“This isn't going to help, Alodia,” Aleister says solemnly from behind me.

“...They're all dead, Aleister,” I hear myself reply coldly. “He killed them all. Maybe not directly, but he's responsible for all of their deaths.”

“I don't disagree. But killing him won't bring them back.”

I turn to face him, fully prepared to chew him out for his platitudes when he should want his father dead as much as I do. But then I realize what is actually happening.

“...You're going to say that if I insist on joining the battle, you're going to come with me.”

“Of course I am. We're the last Catalysts left. I'm not going to abandon you.”

“...No. You're not. You didn't even betray us this time. You played your father as a double agent. ...When Zahra blew up the MASADA complex, Jake tried to save me. But he was killed in the process and you got me out instead.”

Aleister doesn't seem put off by my explaining what must be recent history to him. “I'm going to die in the coming battle. I have learned that you're the one my father needs to complete his Janus Project. I don't know why yet, but I know that much. I die to keep you from falling into his hands.”

“...And then I bury the last of my family. And I die...and the timeline resets because I can't let it end like this...I can't let any of you die...”

Aleister reaches out to place a hand on my shoulder. “You can't change what's already happened, Alodia.”

“...I don't want to watch it happen again...”

“You don't have to. You know that.” His eyes flick downward. “Don't waste your time on a battle that's already been fought when you have a much more important one to worry about in the here and now.”

I follow his gaze downward, and dark static floods my vision.

The soft flutter of tiny limbs inside me brings me back to consciousness. The pressure on my bladder is unbearable. I push back the itchy blanket that barely keeps out the cold and struggle off the cheap cot I fell asleep on. The thin plastic mattress creaks as I get to my feet, and I hear a gasp and small movement from the cot beside me.

“Allie...?” Diego's voice is anxious, but still clumsy with sleep.

“I'm okay,” I call back. “I just need to pee.”

I make my way to the corner. We've been moved again. There's no en suite toilet in this concrete basement we've been stuck in this time. Only a plastic toddler toilet—the kind Jake and I will be buying in another year or two. ...That is...if I ever see him again... If we ever get to go back to our home in California and lay our daughter in her crib in her jungle-themed nursery...

Lowering myself onto the seat is an arduous and undignified process. I feel tears on my cheeks by the time I manage to relieve myself, and my hand trembles as I wipe with a cheap, rough paper towel—the only thing we've been provided with. By the time I have gotten through the equally undignified process of standing back up and dragging my gray sweatpants back up over my bulging waistline, I am sobbing. I only get a few steps closer to my cot before Diego takes me in his arms and gently draws me against him. I bury my face in his shoulder. When he leans his head against mine, I feel the subtle prickle of facial hair where his cheek briefly brushes my ear.

He doesn't say anything. Our supply of comforting words has all but dried up. Escape seems impossible with me as I am, especially when we don't have any idea how many of them are actually guarding us or how far we are from civilization. We've all but admitted aloud that rescue is our only hope.

I don't want to obey them. I want to defy them. I want to fight them tooth and nail. But I can't fight them while I am sheltering a child within me. And disobedience only gets Diego hurt. So far, the damage has not been permanent. But I don't know if I can keep him safe indefinitely, even if I kill any will to fight that might be left in me.

It's only a matter of time. If help doesn't come for us, it's only a matter of time before they break me.

Diego

I wish I had access to a razor. Or some scissors. The scissors more than the razor, I think. I don't really mind the growth of hair over my face as much as the hair on my head, which is shaggy enough now to get into my eyes, but not long enough to hook behind my ears. It's funny the things I think about when I'm trying not to break apart.

I'm scared. I'm really scared. I'm scared for Allie. I'm scared for her baby. I'm scared for myself. I'm scared of the fact that I can't rely on Allie right now like I almost always could before. It's not her fault, of course. She just needs me to be the brave one right now, and that terrifies me. But damned if I'm not going to do it. Damned if I'm not going to swallow my fear and hold her hand to get her through this nightmare. Damned if I'm not going to look for an opportunity to escape at every new prison they move us to. I know our best option is probably going to be to wait for someone to find us. But I have to keep watching. It helps me keep it together.

We're bound and blindfolded every time they move us. Sometimes we travel by chopper, sometimes by car or van or whatever they're driving. Maybe an ambulance again. We're not long in the concrete basement prison, which I appreciate, because it's really freaking uncomfortable. It's some kind of van that moves us this time. At least we're actually seated and buckled in this time, even if our hands end up tied to what I think must be the handles of the hooks a lot of cars have on the ceiling for hanging up dress clothes.

“Hey, Allie...” I say lightly, turning my head vaguely toward the weight on the seat beside me. “Is there a name for these things we're tied up to?”

I don't know if there's a partition between us and the drivers. I don't know if they can hear us. I am guessing there aren't any windows to either side of us since two people blindfolded in the back seat with their hands tied to the ceiling would probably be conspicuous. But if the driver can hear us, I don't want them to hear us scared.

“I...I don't know,” she replies. Her voice shakes a little, but she's trying to sound nonchalant, so it seems she's picked up what I'm putting down here. “Dress hooks, I guess? Handles? Before cars had seatbelts, some of them had handles for passengers to hold onto, but I don't think there was any special name for them.”

“Where do you think we're going this time? Another nice farmhouse?”

“I hope so. The farmhouse has definitely been my favorite on this vacation. The last place was shit, though.”

“Total shit,” I agree.

We let our conversation be sparse after that, and when we do speak, it's about silly memories from our childhood. We try to remember the rules to a game our first grade P.E. teacher had taught to the class that was like a slightly more complicated version of group tag, except it involved us all playing characters from Star Wars. We try to name all the seasons of Power Rangers that we grew up with. We try to recite the poems we had to memorize for our last literature class in high school.

Allie is nearly through Rudyard Kipling when the van stops and the engine turns off. Although my adrenaline spikes, I can't help but feel a little relieved, too. My hands are starting to go numb. I'm cut loose and I flex my fingers a few times, hissing softly as the feeling floods back into them. I don't resist as they hustle me out of the van and into whatever prison awaits us now. The air outside is bitingly cold, and the ground beneath my feet is hard. The sound my shoes make slapping against it makes me think pavement. Then, the cold air is replaced by surprisingly pleasant warmth. Central heating. A good sign. A less good sign is the way the soles of my shoes are squeaking and sticking against the floor now. I'm thinking this is tile I'm walking on.

We are finally allowed to stop, and my blindfold is removed. The florescent light might as well be sunlight for a moment, but when my eyes start to adjust, a deep, cold dread settles in the pit of my stomach.

The windowless room we're in resembles a doctor's office, with an exam table, cabinets, a sink, and medical instruments hanging from the wall. There are no decorations, though. Nothing to make it welcoming. Which makes the woman standing beside the exam table in full surgical gear—including goggles—all the more ominous. I can't really see anything about what she looks like. I mean, I can tell she's white, and her eyes look brown behind the goggles, but the blue surgical cap isn't giving me a good look at her hair color, and average height aside, I can't tell anything about her build under the shapeless surgical gown.

I don't like where this is going one bit. Neither does Allie judging by her sharp gasp as she takes in the scene. I press close to her, putting my arms protectively around her.

“What is this?!” I demand. “What are you doing?! Who is she?!”

The strange woman spreads her hands, taking a cautious step toward us. “Calm down, Alodia. I am not here to hurt you. I only want to give you a proper exam.”

Allie grips my arm. “Bullshit,” she hisses.

“Watch it, brat!” Fiddler snaps. “Unless you want your friend to suffer for your rudeness.”

“Stay your hand, Jeanine,” the surgeon-woman says mildly. “Just this once, let's try to work with Alodia instead of against her. I am sure she can be made to see reason here without resorting to violence against Diego.”

I can't figure out what it is, but there is something about her voice. My anxiety is ebbing away as I rack my brain trying to place it, but I'm still alert enough to keep my arms firmly around Allie, who glares at the woman.

“Don't touch me!” she snarls.

“I will not touch you if you don't want me to,” the woman promises. “But it would be in your best interests and your baby's best interests to let me give you an examination. Why don't we make a deal, hmm? Jeanine and her soldiers wait outside. Diego can stay in here with you. And you and I can figure out from there how close you want me to get. Sound good?”

“Hardly!” Fiddler scoffs before Allie can answer. “Leave these two alone in here with you? With no one to make sure they don't stab you with your own scalpel?”

“I don't have a scalpel in here, Jeanine,” the woman replies, sounding amused. “And killing me would hardly do them any good with you and your troops standing outside the only exit. Lock the door if it makes you feel better. I will knock when we're finished. ...What do you say to that, Alodia?”

Allie hesitates, looking uncertainly at me. I shrug helplessly. This is crazy. This is totally crazy. Somehow, Rourke has hired an evil obstetrician who is apparently totally okay with the fact that Fiddler and her goons have kidnapped a pregnant woman, but still wants to act like a not-evil doctor by respecting patient boundaries? I can't even comprehend the level of insane that is happening in front of me right now, and I once fought an actual three-headed sea monster. But what kind of choice do we actually have here? This weird woman's offer certainly sounds preferable to any possible alternative. Allie seems to agree, because she slowly nods.

“Excellent. It's decided then. Jeanine, if you would be so kind as to clear out and give the patient a little privacy?”

Fiddler looks like she's going to argue at first, but then she purses her lips, turns on her heel, and stalks out with her goons following behind her. The woman goes to shoo them out, and that's when I see it: a barely detectable green shimmer at the edge of her mask.

Before I can quite process what I've just seen, I hear the door lock from the outside, and the woman turns back to us.

“All right. Now that we have a little privacy...”

The woman touches the stud sparkling in her earlobe, and her white skin dissolves into green as her holographic disguise melts away. She pulls off her surgical cap, revealing her hair underneath—half-lavender and half-bubblegum pink—swept back into a french braid. Now I know why her voice sounded so familiar.

“...Clockmaker...?!”

Second Chances

‘What’s that noise?’ whispered Saché, her fingers twiddling over the holster of her royal pistol. Sabé, Ellé, Moteé and she had been serving in the Alderaanian court since Senator Padmé Amidala’s death as Princess Leia Organa’s personal body guards. ‘Hush,’ Sabé said, waving her silent, her own pistol in her hand. It just after the second hour of the morning, pitch dark clouds overhanging the mountains surrounding the capital. There were rumours that the year-old princess’s life was at stake ever since Viceroy Organa made another offensive motion against Emperor in the senate. Footsteps plodded in the hallway and then two blaster shots fired. Saché fell without a sound. ‘Captain, he’s here,’ Sabé called into her comms. There was no time to mourn her fellow handmaiden, for the princess’s life was threatened. Swiftly, Sabé entered the princess’s chamber, just as another shot hit the door. The invader was coming and within a matter of seconds, the door was broken down. She was prepared for the bounty hunter, but her shots bounced off his armour. The bounty hunter fired at her, but she ducked and rolled, hitting his leg between the plates of armour. He cried out just as she tripped him. He fell forwards and fired up his jet pack. Sabé fired another round of shots, causing his jetpack to overheat. He stripped off the pack before it exploded, sending it hurtling across the room and blasting a hole in the wall on the far side. He fired at her again, hitting her straight in the torso. Clutching her middle, she fell to the ground. Assuming she was dead, the bounty hunter moved back to grab the child. Sabé laid there for a moment, but would not give up. She would not fail Padmé. Sabé struggled to her feet and took hold of a heavy metal tray. With all of the strength she possessed, Sabé tottered towards the bounty hunter and swung straight for his head. The blow was so hard, it knocked his helmet clean off and he toppled to the floor. Tears from the pain clouded her vision, but Sabé wouldn’t be satisfied until he was dead or the royal guards arrested him. She stood over the fallen body, aiming her pistol, but before she could fire, the bounty hunter got to his knees and with a great force, took a swing at her. Sabé was sent flying backwards and before she hit the floor, she heard a sharp crack in the arm she had used to prevent her head from slamming into the wall. The wind knocked out of her, she collapsed with a cry of pain. Now the blaster wound to her abdomen ached so fiercely she was slowly losing consciousnesses. The bounty hunter rose to his feet and made for the young princess once more. Sabé fired at him continuously, barely able to focus on her target, but she refused to pass out until she knew she had successfully prevented the bounty hunter from abducting Padmé’s daughter. 

It had been over a year since his arrival on Tatooine, delivering Senator Padmé Amidala’s firstborn into the hands of his aunt and uncle. Still overcome with penitence and grief over the loss of his former padawan, Obi-Wan had learnt to commune with the spirit of his former master, though he didn’t feel he was progressing as he should. The irony that Qui-Gon said he needed to be patient, that guilt and grief would ebb away in time, only caused it to sting all the more. He had so often rebuked Anakin for his lack of patience. But this evening, Obi-Wan’s dreams were disrupted by haunting images of Padmé’s other child being kidnapped. This vision was superseded by a ripping ache in his abdomen as if it had been torn apart from within. In less than a minute, Obi-Wan was up and making sure Qui-Gon’s spirit would be able to watch over Luke once again in his absence. It was not long before his ship was coming out of hyperspace in the Alderaan system. His security codes and the fact he was flying a Jedi Starfighter lent him little wait before being allowed to land in the city centre. Much like his former apprentice, Obi-Wan jumped out of the ship and was flying past the guards, sensing his way towards the quarters of the baby princess. He hoped it would be under control and that this flight had been needless on his part, but he was compelled by the Force to come here. Shots were being fired from within the princess’s chamber, so he was forced to ignore the fallen handmaiden outside the door. He stepped through the destroyed entrance, lightsaber at the ready. Obi-Wan charged at the bounty hunter and took his life. Padmé’s daughter cooed in her sleep, seemingly unaffected by the tussle. It was then he noticed another handmaiden, sprawled on the ground, pistol in hand. With her royal robe and hood shadowing her face, he didn’t recognise her, but as he stooped over her form to see if she was still alive, he knew her to be Sabé. Sabé felt someone checking her pulse and blinked her eyes open. It had to be a dream. She hadn’t seen him in ages. ‘Obi-Wan…’ she mumbled. ‘Protect…Princess…’ ‘Save your energy,’ Obi-Wan instructed, examining her torso where blood was seeping through her gown. His hand hovered over the wound, straining to close it with the Force. He had never been particularly talented with healing though he could nudge someone’s mind to persuade them with the Force without blinking an eye. He closed his eyes in order to focus. He didn’t know how long he remained in a healing trance though he could vaguely hear voices buzzing in the background. The blaster wounds were too deep, he felt, though it only compelled him to concentrate harder. He would not give up. Peace. Calm. He repeated the mantra in his head, straining to clear his thoughts as he strove to heal her wounds, but his mind kept wandering. His trance gave way to dream visions. He saw a house, larger than his current hut on Tatooine. There were flowers in the garden and some sort of device hanging from one of the larger tree branches. He approached it, testing it for...durability. He heard a young boy squealing as he ran past him. ‘Come back here, Laic!’ came the voice of a young girl. ‘I'm gonna get you!’ Laic looked up at Obi-Wan, ‘Don't tell, Ami!’ he ordered, before dashing behind the tree. The frustrated young girl, hands on hips and her cheeks red from exertion, demanded when she arrived, ‘Where did he go!’ The girl was probably no more than a few years older than Laic. ‘Oh, I don't know. Haven't seen him,’ Obi-Wan replied. The girl closed her eyes. ‘Nuh-uh! You know but you're not telling me!’ ‘No fair! Trying to read my mind!’ cried Obi-Wan. This child was Force sensitive, extremely so. And that's when it dawned on him. These were images of his children. Ami knew exactly where Laic was all along, but was playing along with her little brother. She wandered by the tree, just close enough, but looked in the opposite direction. ‘Where could he be... Oh well, I guess I'll just have to eat all of the chocolate cakes by myself...’ ‘Here I am!’ Laic revealed himself in a grand gesture. The two of them laughed and Ami went over to Obi-Wan. She placed her small hand in his, her large, dark eyes open, loving and trusting as she looked up at him. Obi-Wan broke his trance, finding himself extremely overheated and sweating. He felt a tremendous connection to the children as if they were…his own. If this was a vision of a possible future, sweet and innocent as it was, on the other end of the spectrum was extremely frightening. How could this be if he didn't give up everything he had been raised to believe, everything he had worked so hard to achieve? Surely it wasn't real. After Sabé was taken to the medical centre, the queen’s guards informed him that the queen wished to speak with him. They escorted him to her chambers. Obi-Wan entered to see Queen Breha Organa seated on a platform surrounded by her bodyguards and holding the princess in her arms. He bowed to her. ‘We are indebted to you, Master Kenobi,’ she said, thanking him regally. ‘Security has been tightened. We hope to never experience such an invasion as this ever again.’ ‘As do I,’ he replied. He calmly waited for her dismissal, figuring he was no longer needed. ‘Before you leave, Master Kenobi, I have one final request.’ She handed the baby to one of her handmaidens, rising to her feet to approach Obi-Wan as an equal. ‘Handmaiden Maberrie is to be relocated to Delaya and hard as this news is to bear, I request the galaxy’s best Negotiator to inform her of our decision.’ ‘Relocated? You mean to discharge her?’ Despite his usual tranquil demeanour, Obi-Wan was on the border of outrage on behalf of Sabé. He had always known this woman to be fiercely loyal to her mistress. Now she was being ripped away from what gave her life meaning. ‘Surely her injuries will heal soon enough for her to resume her duties here,’ he said. ...with Padmé’s child. ‘We couldn’t ask that of her. She’s suffered so much already and we feel it is in everyone’s best interest, especially Leia’s, for Sabé to be relieved of her duties.’ How could she? thought Obi-Wan, but he reminded himself that this was the queen and he wouldn’t be able to persuade her differently. He decided to try a different tactic. ‘And the other handmaidens—those from Senator Amidala’s entourage—what will happen to them?’ Though this certainly wasn’t any of the Master Jedi’s concern, Breha answered his question regally. ‘They have been reassigned elsewhere, away from the palace.’ Obi-Wan bowed and turned to leave. But then, with a flash of inspiration or lunacy, he spun around, saying, ‘Sabé Maberrie has served Senator Amidala under the harshest of circumstances as her decoy and handmaiden since her days as Queen of Naboo and now you’re taking away her life! To serve—’ Though he had forgone his Jedi calm, he would not betray the memory of Padmé and his former padawan. Breha sent her staff away with a swift, but not harsh, order before answering the Jedi whose passionate words were not to be ignored. ‘You must understand, Master Kenobi, that we must disassociate ourselves with anything having to do with Senator Amidala.’ Obi-Wan chided himself for his outburst. Of course the queen was acting consciously to protect Leia. He had no place questioning her like this when it had nothing to do with galaxy-wide matters. ‘I understand,’ he said, regaining his composure. Breha thought on the loss of Master Kenobi’s apprentice. No doubt his death had affected the Jedi profoundly, whether they acknowledged such emotions or not. Before dismissing him, she added, ‘You are to give her this once she’s recovered,’ handing him a recording and a pouch containing a good sum of credits. ‘It should be more than enough to compensate her for her years of devoted service.’ ‘Thank you, Your Excellency,’ he replied, bowing. The temporary accommodation on Delaya wasn’t nearly as luxurious as Sabé’s quarters in the palace on Alderaan, but it was a very nice piece of land. Sabé was transported there once the medical droids finished her bacta regiment and were satisfied with her healing. Due to the various pain medications, Sabé was in and out of consciousness for a few days. Once the last of the medication left her system, she was finally able to notice her surroundings were not in fact the medical wing of the palace. Sabé’s arm ached when she attempted to move it within the tight bandaging. With a bit of resistance to her healing torso, she urged herself to a sitting position and then swung her feet over the side of the bed. Where am I? She found her familiar handmaiden robe. The bandages around her torso creased uncomfortably as she drew it around her shoulders before heading out of the small room, finding herself on a balcony. It was either early evening or early morning by the position of the sun. She wasn’t alone. ‘My lady, you should be resting.’ Obi-Wan stood facing away from her, able to sense her movements without looking at her. He was watching the sun rising. The taste of bacta fresh on her lips, Sabé turned carefully to the familiar low voice. ‘Is the princess safe?’ These were the first words out of her mouth and Obi-Wan was burdened with the task of informing her that the princess’s life was no longer her concern. ‘Yes,’ he replied. ‘Thanks to you.’ ‘And the bounty hunter?’ ‘He will no longer harm anyone,’ he replied sombrely. She recalled vague memories of the Jedi’s face hazily stooping over her fallen form. He was speaking to her, but she couldn’t make out what he was saying. Padmé’s daughter was safe and though Sabé thought she was facing death, she was glad at the thought she would die in service to her former mistress. Now, however, she had a second chance at life thanks to Obi-Wan, for she knew now he had saved her. Unable to express her gratitude verbally for fear she would speak out of form, inappropriately, she approached him, her hand touching a cloaked arm, half-embracing him from the side. He turned to face her. ‘My lady—’ His tone of voice was laced with remorse and she recognised this, releasing his arm and taking a step back. ‘I was instructed to bring you here to Delaya and here you are to remain.’ Sabé was confused. ‘What? I do not understand. Are they bringing the princess here for her safety?’ ‘No, they asked me to tell you that they are no longer in need of your services. The queen asked me to give you this.’ He withdrew the recorded message and the credits, handing it to her undamaged arm. He knew this matter shouldn’t wait any longer than necessary to give the woman time to express her sadness and move on. He was not prepared for the effect, as he was not the best judge of female reactions. ‘I’m sorry.’ Feeling as though she had failed, Sabé silently took the pouch from him and went back indoors to watch the holovid. Despite her passive demeanour, Obi-Wan could feel the waves of emotions radiating from her, the confusion, anger, disappointment, and ultimately sadness. He hadn’t watched the recording, but he had a good idea about what they would say. It would be a brief message relating their thanks for everything she had done in their service, perhaps a hint without saying directly why they wanted the rest of Padmé’s former handmaidens away from the palace, and a mention of her payment. After a few minutes, he peered inside to see the outward façade of calm disappear. The holovid projector was off and the former handmaiden’s body was wracked with sobs. He felt the urge to go over to her and take her into his arms, allowing her to cry into his chest, but instead he stood there watching her a moment longer before turning away. Things like this happened, especially during such dark times as these. Whether she knew someone was watching her or not, Sabé let her guard down and cried freely. She thought sarcastically that Master Kenobi ought to have let her die, for death was better than this. Banished. Though they hadn’t used that specific word, it’s basically what they meant. The Organas didn’t want her anywhere near the princess. I would have resisted the urge to tell her about her mother! I just wanted to serve her as faithfully as I did her mother. That is all. To watch the girl grow up…to protect her…to love her… Now she felt she had no purpose. What was she supposed to do here on Delaya? She didn’t know anyone or where anything was… The generous severance pay could in no way compensate her loss of duty, purpose, and belonging. She didn’t want to leave what little she had left of her former mistress and best friend. She didn’t want to leave the comfort and safety of Alderaan and it’s new no weapons tolerance law. When Master Kenobi brought something for her to eat, Sabé had dried her eyes and firmed her resolve. ‘I wish to go back to Naboo.’ ‘Naboo is under the control of the Empire, my lady.’ ‘I cannot stay here. I don’t belong here. People will speak of the royal family I am no longer able to serve and protect. I will see the princess from afar, but not be able to—’ Despite her attempt to remain in control of her emotions, she choked back tears. She took a breath, finally meeting his eyes when he moved to sit next to her where she sat on a settee. ‘I feel like I’m failing her,’ she said. Obi-Wan knew she meant Padmé, figuring to say her name would bring her further pain. ‘I do not know what to do.’ she said, her voice despondent. ‘I am lost.’ Lost. The word haunted him, causing him to recall his exchange with Anakin at his fall. He conceded to her request of returning to Naboo. ‘Before I return to my own exile on Tatooine, I will take you wherever you wish, my lady, but should any spies report I’ve been spotted—’ ‘I understand,’ she replied solemnly. Exile...because of Former Supreme Chancellor now Emperor Palpatine’s order to kill all of the remaining Jedi… He shouldn’t have to be alone. ‘You should eat something,’ he suggested, standing to leave. ‘You’ll feel better.’ It wasn’t much, but it was all that he could offer her. ‘Master Kenobi…’ He turned back, waiting. ‘Why Tatooine?’ ‘Leia’s twin brother,’ he replied, drawing his cloak a bit tighter as he left the chamber. He knew he could trust Sabé with the information only Senator Organa, Yoda, and himself were privy to. With her writing hand broken, she had a bit of difficulty picking up a fork. Though she was still overwrought with emotions, once she took a bite, she realised how hungry she actually was. Tatooine, she thought. Leia’s twin…Padmé had twins… A boy and a girl… If I am not able to protect Leia, then perhaps I can look after her brother. The thought heartened her and she resolved to ask Master Kenobi about this. Only a few days later, Sabé’s arm and torso were fully healed. She spent a good while merely watching Master Kenobi in his meditation. She didn’t even notice how long she watched him, yearning for that peace he seemed to so effortlessly attain. She wondered what it would be like to be able to feel the Force, to be able to reach tranquillity. ‘Step aside, Jedi.’ Clutching his lightsaber defiantly, Obi-Wan stood his ground. ‘This is a peaceful village. We don't want any trouble.’ The rain continued falling at a steady pace. The Dark Jedi reached out towards him, saying, ‘I call upon the power of the Sith!’ he cried, lightning shooting outwards. Obi-Wan blocked the attack. Flashes of light darted out, the fog inhibiting his sight. Other cloaked figures were on either side of him. Obi-Wan took out his two unarmed accomplices with ease. The Dark Jedi’s distractions, using the Force to toss logs and boulders at his opponent, failed to make a difference as Obi-Wan agilely deflected them. Their lightsabers met, blue on red. The energy of the Dark Jedi’s manipulation of the Force invaded Obi-Wan's thoughts, trying to convince him it was futile, that he would lose…that all would be lost. Delving into the Jedi's mind, the Sith Lord saw his late padawan, Anakin Skywalker, now Darth Vader. He saw the disappointment, the fear, and used it to his advantage. Dark Force lightning flashed through the fog. Then the red blade shot forward aimed for Obi-Wan's throat, but with his superior lightsaber skills, he dodged to the left, slicing at the Sith Lord's hand. ‘Don't make me kill you.’ ‘Anakin, my allegiance is to the Republic, to democracy!’ ‘If you are not with me, then you are my enemy.’ ‘Only a Sith deals in absolutes. I will do what I must.’ When the Jedi missed, the Dark Jedi cackled, ‘Surely you can do better!’ Obi-Wan swerved around, avoiding another attack and came at him again. The Sith Lord parried and thrust before releasing another wave of Dark Force lightning. Obi-Wan's blade blocked the lightning as the Dark Jedi lashed out with several critical strikes. With each blocked attack, the Dark Jedi mocked him. ‘It’s a wonder Vader let you live this long.’ He brought forth waves of the most recent painful memories. ‘You were the chosen one! It was said that you would destroy the Sith, not join them. You were to bring balance to the Force, not leave it in darkness!’ ‘I hate you!’ ‘You were my brother, Anakin.’ Obi-Wan fought against the memories, struggling to remain in the here and now as his blade once again met with the Sith Lord’s. ‘I HATE YOU!’ The Dark Jedi rapidly came at Obi-Wan with a hard chop, but the Jedi parried and spun, cutting at the Sith Lord with the backslash. The Dark Lord blocked the strike, but Obi-Wan took his spilt second of uncertainty to slice the Sith Lord in half. ‘I HATE YOU!’ Anakin's voice echoed in his head as he fell to his knees. His lightsaber turned off automatically as it dropped next to him, abandoned. He couldn't help the tears coming to his eyes as he knelt there, head bowed over the mangled body of the Sith Lord in the mud. ‘I've failed. I’ve failed you...’ He saw Anakin crawling with his mechanised arm, clawing at the rocks on Mustafar, hate brimming in his eyes. Spitting, snarling, cursing him... Obi-Wan broke his trance to find Sabé staring at him. Sabé averted her eyes self-consciously. ‘How is your arm feeling?’ he asked, rising to his feet and moving towards her. It was much easier to focus on the here and now with her by his side. Always thinking about other people, she mused before saying, ‘It is much better today. Do you think that perhaps—’ she paused, her eyes cast downwards for a moment before she allowed them to creep up his Jedi tunic. ‘Perhaps I could have the supportive bandages removed from my arm?’ She sought his eyes nervously. The innocent query brought him back from the thoughts of Anakin. He looked at her for a moment, thankful for her presence and the peace of mind she brought to him. ‘Yes, your bandages... Let's have a look and see then, shall we?’ He walked over and dropped next to her on the settee. ‘Does this hurt?’ he asked after removing the bandages and testing the newly exposed flesh. ‘Are you able to move it?’ When he turned to look at her, he noticed just how close she was sitting to him and the room suddenly felt like it was much warmer. Overjoyed that she now had a functional arm, she squeezed his hand to illustrate how well her arm had healed. ‘There is no pain. It is as if it never received any damage.’ Her elation enveloped him, folding warmly around him like a quilt. He watched her moving her arm, grasping his to prove its strength, so unbelievably soft and sth under his calloused hands. Now he knew it was time for him to leave. During his intense meditation session, he had seen a possible vision of her future here. She would be an educator and marry a good man, but there would be no children. She would wait for the parades to catch a glimpse of Leia, but each time they met each other’s glance, Leia would turn away since this woman meant nothing to her, leaving Sabé heartbroken. But this, Obi-Wan reminded himself, was only one possible future and the decisions she made would alter that course of events. He stood to leave. ‘I want to go with you,’ she exclaimed, also rising to her feet, ‘to Tatooine.’ You want to go with me? What does that mean? ‘Certainly life here would be more like that on Naboo,’ Obi-Wan replied, trying not to reveal his surprise. ‘You have been to Tatooine before and you’ve seen what a sandstorm is like…but if you wish it, I will take you there.’ ‘I do not mean to impose,’ Sabé added, bowing her head again, willing herself to take control of her life for once. Though it had only been a few days, she had mulled over her choices and resolved to do this. ‘I do not mean only to accompany you to the planet, but to also—’ He waited patiently for her to continue, unsure as to where her train of thought was going. She took a deep breath before continuing. ‘I would be your perfect cover, Master Kenobi.’ ‘What do you mean?’ He folded his arms in his cloak, looking at her curiously. ‘Who would suspect you for the former Republic General and Jedi Master if you were to change your name and live as a poor moisture farmer with your loyal wife?’ ‘Wife?’ Obi-Wan couldn’t believe the words he was hearing from this steadfast, reserved former handmaiden, but this talk of Tatooine and the two of them reminded him strongly of the few days they’d spent there together when she was acting as decoy queen. ‘That is of course, if you’ll have me. I can cook and clean…run errands for you so you won’t be seen…’ She wandered over to the small knapsack of belongings which had been packed for her when she was unconscious and withdrew the royal Alderaanian embroidered pouch. ‘I have plenty of credits…’ She poured some credits into her hand and outstretched it towards him. ‘No,’ Obi-Wan said automatically. ‘You are meant for a better, more comfortable life here on Delaya.’ He approached and closed her hand which held out the credits. ‘I cannot take this opportunity away from you and—’ ‘And the Jedi aren’t allowed any attachments, I know,’ she replied, disappointment seeping into her voice. ‘But this would merely be a cover, a way to protect you, a way to protect her son.’ Nothing else mattered and she would not be deterred. Obi-Wan recognised the defiance in her as well as the passion in her voice when she spoke of Padmé’s other child. ‘I cannot hold you to live as a lie.’ ‘I have done so before,’ she said, satirically adding with a hint of teasing, ‘have you forgotten?’ ‘You would live a life far away from any greenery such as this,’ he remarked, gesturing to a nearby potted flower. ‘I know.’ He repeated what she already knew, shaking his head. ‘The Jedi Council expressly forbids attachment of any sort.’ He knew then that he was already in love with her. He had been for quite some time and this new arrangement she presented would be so incredibly tempting. Was it truly the will of the Force that brought Sabé to him? Or was it merely a test? Had she been sent to tempt him, to steer him off his Jedi path? Was she a test of his devotion to the Jedi? No... I trust and respect her as old friend… This debate was taxing on his already weighted mind, but he couldn't allow himself to say anything further. What if she were taken from me? I'd let her go, if she wanted. I want what is best for her, whatever makes her happy, even if that means she's not with me, but she doesn't feel the same way, so what harm could come of this? She stood on tiptoe, leaning slightly to peer behind him as she said, ‘I do not see a Jedi Council anywhere, do you?’ Sabé flashed him a mischievous grin that was all-too-familiar, though he couldn’t at the moment place the memory. ‘They have fallen or in hiding,’ Obi-Wan replied simply. ‘Let me join you. You need not do this alone.’ ‘Why are you offering this to me, my lady?’ ‘Please, let me do this. It’s not only to give my life meaning or that I’m indebted to you for saving my life—’ ‘But for Luke.’ ‘Yes, especially for him…and also a bit selfishly for myself.’ ‘How so?’ She touched his cheek, using his forename for this first time aloud. ‘Obi-Wan, I love you. I’ve always loved you and I don’t need the formal attachment. I don’t need a material, tangible symbol or ceremony to commit my life to yours because I already am yours, body and soul. In my life of service to—to her, I’ve only experienced stolen moments of hasty kisses and fumbling around with the wrong men, but there has always been a part of me longing for that Jedi learner who had the audacity to command me as the decoy queen not to send any reply to Naboo. I know there’s little hope, especially now, that you might…’ she broke off, knowing all of this was not only sudden, but extremely inappropriate. ‘Besides, someone has got to be around to make sure you don’t lose your sanity in your seclusion…’ she added to make light of her weighty speech. She hoped he wouldn’t rebuke her for being improper. Had she been five years younger, she wouldn’t have had the courage to blatantly state such things, breaking out of her reserved handmaiden mode, but she needed now to take charge of this life. With everything else spinning out of control, she wanted something to hold on to, a constant. She wanted him to be her constant more than anything in the galaxy. He exhaled and lowered his head for a moment to ponder her offer. Finally, after seemed like ages, he spoke. ‘Should you ever find yourself unhappy, no matter what happens, you will always be free to leave. I will not be your cage.’ Bursting with relief and joy, Sabé threw her arms around him and kissed the side of his mouth swiftly. Feeling awkward and at the same time perceiving her happiness, Obi-Wan stood frozen for a moment and by the time he made an effort to hug her back, she had already separated herself from him. She is not a temptation, he assured himself. I can serve her as any proper Jedi would and not neglect my duties. When the Jedi starfighter landed on the outskirts, he took Sabé’s knapsack for her and led the way to the small hut which had been his humble abode since leaving Polis Massa. Obi-Wan figured she wouldn’t last long away from the estate on Delaya since that was closer to the life she was used to. Here, amongst the sand dunes, it would be a harsh life and he didn’t think she was prepared for it. They left the hidden ship and walked for quite a long time. If it wasn’t for her recent injuries, Sabé wouldn’t have thought the walk was long at all, but as it was, she became short of breath and fell behind. She refused to let him know she was tired and focused her mind on other things to distract herself. His hair is the colour of these rolling hills of sand, she mused. Obi-Wan’s own thoughts were preoccupied thinking about what on earth the spirit of his former master would think of this new arrangement. Then he recalled how often Qui-Gon picked up random pathetic lifeforms who would tag along with them for a period of time. Finally they reached what would now be their home and he looked back to see Sabé was lagging quite a bit behind him. Her long, dark hair had loosened from her intricate plait and now whipped about freely. Perhaps it was the position of the suns or the increasing wind catching up her handmaiden’s cloak, but she looked like an otherworldly figure approaching him. She was beautiful. It wasn’t that he hadn’t noticed before, but Obi-Wan always caught himself from following such a train of thought to conclusion as it might lead to dangerous things such as attachment. Then he reminded himself of the words she had spoken before they left Delaya. She had said she loved him. He couldn’t make that sort of statement though in his heart he knew it had always been true. He never thought there was the slightest chance she would feel the same way. There is no longer a Jedi Council… Upon entering the hut, Sabé was surprised how much larger it seemed than it appeared on the outside. There was plenty of room to move around, but she definitely saw things she could improve on, that is of course if he would allow her to. She shook her head. No, we will be partners in this. We will work together. Though he will never make a commitment to me… ‘So what am I to call you here?’ she asked, catching him off guard. ‘What do you mean?’ ‘Well in public, I most certainly can’t refer to you as “Master Kenobi” or “General Kenobi” since people would recognise the name and you are in hiding, if I am not mistaken.’ When he merely stared back at her with a confused expression, she continued. ‘You did not consider changing your name?’ Her mouth dropped open. ‘For a former Council member and war hero, I am utterly shocked you wouldn’t have thought to— Well, I’ll just have to think of something… Hmm… You don’t have a middle name, do you?’ ‘Just Obi-Wan,’ he replied, hanging her cloak next to his on a peg near the door. She sat down on the couch and undid her hair, starting to re-braid it. ‘Are there common names on Tatooine? Do you think Sabé is too Nabooan? Perhaps I should change it as well,’ she rapidly thought aloud. ‘I-I had not thought much about changing my name before,’ Obi-Wan admitted. He liked her name, Sabé, and didn’t want her to change it. ‘We have to change our names, at least for making acquaintances.’ She was doing this for his safety. He thought of a few different names, but she rejected all of them as too Corusanti. ‘I don’t know…Ben?’ ‘Ben,’ she mused. ‘Ben Kenobi. I like it.’ He grinned at her, pleased he had found a name she liked. ‘And for you, my lady…’ Teasingly, she put her hands on her hips saying, ‘First of all, you are going to have to stop referring to me as “my lady”.’ ‘Yes, my—Sabé,’ he said, correcting himself. Then the thought hit him. ‘ Siena?’ Sabé wrinkled her nose. ‘I shall take that as a “no”.’ ‘You had better!’ she partially joked. ‘Sena? Sophie?’ ‘Sefa?’ ‘Sefa works for me,’ she said, smiling at him. ‘Sefa Kenobi,’ he pondered, not even entertaining the possibility. Sabé took a step towards him, taking his hand. ‘Ben and Sefa Kenobi.’ She looked up into his light blue eyes, adding, ‘I like it. I think it fits.’ She wanted to throw her arms around him, thanking him for allowing her to come here with him, but she resisted the urge. She didn’t want him to kick her out for coming on too strong. After all, it was only for show, this feigned marriage. A month passed and the two of them became used to each other’s presence. Sabé insisted she could make all the trips to the nearest city alone, but he was just as adamant about going with her that he would not be persuaded otherwise. So, the two of them went everywhere together and became familiar with each other’s idiosyncrasies. There was only one incident in which a smuggler thought he recognised Obi-Wan, but Sabé, Sefa, took care of it. Laughing, she said, ‘Do you hear that, Ben? This fellow thinks you look like a Jedi! I wonder what it would be like to feel the Force on me…and those Jedi reflexes ought to be handy in bed…’ Knowing it would make Obi-Wan uncomfortable, but not wanting him to ruin the cover, she planted a kiss on his lips before he could react. The smuggler was convinced he had been mistaken and averted his gaze, wandering away from the couple. After a moment, Sabé pulled away, satisfied that the smuggler had given up and disappeared. Since they were still in public, she continued to play the wifely role, though her cheeks were coloured in embarrassment. Anyone else would assume it was from the heat of midday. Qui-Gon had yet to make an appearance, but Obi-Wan hadn’t thought about the training as his mind was elsewhere. Obi-Wan’s life slowed down considerably compared to the last few years of the tumultuous galactic war. It made him feel older, but with Sabé here, it almost felt like the vague distant memories he had as a young boy before the Jedi took him away to live on Coruscant. He recalled his parents though he couldn't see their faces. They had been farmers. He could have grown up to be a farmer in another life had he not had such a high midichlorian count. If such a fate could be reclaimable, Force-willing, why shouldn't he reclaim it? There was no Jedi Council here. There wasn't a Jedi Council anymore period. She kissed me… He could still taste the hint of mint leaf on his lips. That evening, she set about fixing some recipe he had never heard of. When he questioned her about it, she explained, ‘It is for the Winter Solstice.’ ‘Winter?’ ‘When the lakes of Naboo are frozen and snow falls continuously…the days are shorter and the nights longer. We have great celebrations. The queen holds banquets inviting all the nobles to the palace.’ Sabé continued rolling out the dough and forming it into some sort of ribbon-like shape as she recalled the last formal solstice festival she participated in. ‘Rich blues and purples in dress and decoration…and there is skating and sledding on the hills. It is my favourite time of year.’ It was then Obi-Wan noticed tears in her eyes. ‘What is skating and sledding?’ Having spent most of his life on Coruscant, he wasn’t familiar with such things. ‘Skating is the best,’ she said, smiling. ‘It is like floating on air. We wear special shoes that allow us to glide on the lake.’ She turned away from the dough to face him. ‘On water? Isn’t that dangerous?’ ‘Not since the water is frozen.’ She closed her eyes, picturing the exact spot where she and a few other handmaidens skated while the others attended to Padmé. Padmé had never been a tyrant and had always allowed her handmaidens time to enjoy themselves. This was something he could work with! Obi-Wan reached out with the Force and levitated her just a few centimetres from the floor of the kitchen so that if she were to point her toes, she would touch the ground. ‘Like this?’ She opened her eyes when she felt herself being lifted from the middle and gasped. Sabé moved her feet like she was skating and he moved her slightly with each shift of her feet. ‘Yes, it is almost like this, but this is much sther.’ Her face illustrated her excitement. She closed her eyes again and she could almost feel the biting chill of a winter breeze. She opened her eyes, seeing that he had his eyes closed and wondered, ‘How do you do that?’ ‘Do what?’ ‘Lift me without even seeing me.’ ‘It’s not about seeing an object, but about feeling it,’ he replied, levitating her a bit higher. This information intrigued her. ‘What do I feel like?’ The query about what she "felt" like made him falter, but only slightly. Her voice had this breathy quality to it, so carefree and compelling at the same time. What does she “feel” like? It was certainly hard to put into words, especially as he was concentrating on not dropping her. ‘You feel like—you—’ It was Sabé. To explain what Sabé is... ‘...like warmth, compassion, love…’ And then he nearly lost his concentration, but he wouldn't drop her. He fluidly returned her to the ground and opened his eyes, briefly glancing at her, and then bowing his head. He is such a contradiction, she thought. He didn’t have to do this for her, any of this. This Jedi, peacekeeper, warrior… He was fierce when he needed to be yet so kind and compassionate. He was a perfect balance in every way. ‘I do not understand,’ she said, figuring it was because her lack of Force ability. ‘There is something else I can do that might help,’ he offered. ‘What I felt when I was levitating you— I can send that to you. It might make things clearer...’ Obi-Wan closed his eyes and concentrated, reverting his thoughts to how he had felt her: the warmth, compassion, and most of all, love. Without meaning to do so, he recalled visions of her in the evening… How on more than a few occasions he had be up late into the night for some reason or another and Sabé, who appeared to be in a habit of waking halfway through her sleep cycle, would pad through the living area in her newly purchased pale, lavender nightgown, her long hair cascading down her back. These were the feelings he had an easier time of keeping in check during the day. ‘Can you feel that?’ he asked, the sensations pulsating around him as he tossed it about her in undulating waves. She was the unattainable rose, protected by the thorns of the Jedi Code, preventing him from ever possessing her fully. ‘That's how you feel to me and that's the reason I—’ he broke off, swallowing hard. He waited for her reaction, studying her expression warily. A mix of emotions poured over her, as if she were a plant and Master Kenobi was pouring liquefied feelings over her. It was not what she had expected. She assumed that she would recognize the feelings because it would be a carbon copy of what she felt inside her own body. She was almost expecting to feel nothing that it would mimic what it felt like to breathe, or the sensation of her body weight being supported by her legs, but it was far from that. Sabé closed her eyes, her brow deeply furrowed as she tried to comprehend what he sent her. She received images of herself as well as feelings in pure energy form. She focused on the images first, marvelling at how wonderfully eerie it was to view herself in three-dimensional form from outside eyes. There were so many. She could barely push one to the side of her mind when another would take its place. Finally pushing all the images of herself aside, she focused on the feelings sent. Not knowing how else to process the information, her mind attached her own memories to the feelings so that she had a basis of association. She remembered rewarding, joyful events with her fellow handmaidens, the times when they had assisted the sick, spent time playing with children, or distributed food to the hungry. She was about to utter what she was seeing, to have the Master Jedi help her decipher it, but the memory association switched again and now she was watching the young padawan within the queen's ship on Tatooine. Startled, her eyes flew open and she gazed at Obi-Wan as she considered it all. ‘That was not what I had expected,’ she said calmly. ‘I thought it would be a physical sensation, like what it feels to pick up an object. I saw myself.’ The confusion crease in her brow threatened to become a permanent wrinkle. ‘You saw yourself?’ This was certainly not what he had expected. Obi-Wan figured she had only perceived the feelings he sent her, but it was so much more. It was odd since she obviously didn't have a high midichlorian count nor was she trained in the Jedi arts. What could this mean? She saw me through her eyes as well? This is peculiar indeed. ‘I thought it would be like that too,’ he admitted, thinking on what she was saying. He didn't even consider the fact that she didn't know how he felt about her because he was too focused on the amazement that she saw something. ‘I saw memories of my fellow handmaidens during times of public service...and I saw you.’ She tilted her head. ‘It is very confusing.’ ‘You saw me?’ That was also an interesting development. ‘When I was a padawan learner?’ ‘Yes,’ she commented, a mischievous smile sliding over her lips as she remembered. ‘It was on the Royal Starship…the last time I was on Tatooine.’ She self-consciously returned her gaze to the dough. Suddenly, Obi-Wan recalled that self-same mischievous smile. Startled by an unfamiliar sound on the Nubian vessel, Obi-Wan awoke to find his lightsaber missing. His lightsaber was missing. Padawan Kenobi jumped up, panicking as he searched all over the room. ‘Where is it? How could I have misplaced it? ‘Are you looking for this?’ the young Queen of Naboo asked upon approach. Obi-Wan whipped around, noticing the glinting lightsaber in her hand. ‘Y-yes, Your Majesty...’ ‘You should learn to keep better care of your things,’ said Sabé, who was standing in as Queen. ‘I was told this is a Jedi's most precious possession.’ She flashed him a mischievous grin and he didn't understand what it meant. She was belittling him, wasn't she? Obi-Wan blushed furiously. Embarrassed, his brow furrowed as he received his lightsaber from her silky, painted hand. ‘Yes, Your Majesty,’ he muttered. Their eyes met, briefly, and she turned to leave. ‘I do recall a time when I'd misplaced my lightsaber,’ he said, chuckling at the memory. He only now realised she hadn't been scolding him at all; she had been teasing him. ‘Oh... I had forgotten all about that.’ Despite her best efforts to stifle it, she began giggling like a teenager. ‘Obi-Wan,’ she said, turning towards him and reached for his arm, giving it a gentle squeeze. ‘You must forgive me. It was a cruel trick.’ She started laughing in earnest, unable to hold it back any longer. ‘Oh, your face! I can still see your adorable, embarrassed face.’ ‘You stole it!’ he gasped upon realisation. ‘An impossible task!’ Obi-Wan was surprised she had been able to do so and wondered how she accomplished it. Her light-hearted laughter caused his own face to brighten from amazement to outright cheerfulness. ‘I certainly didn't expect a young queen to lecture me on Jedi matters.’ Her mischievous grin rekindled the very same feelings which he now understood to be attraction. Oh how foolish I had been. Grinning broadly, she gasped for breath from laughter. ‘Oh Obi-Wan, I apologize. I was much more brazen in my youth. It was terrible of me to let you think you had misplaced it and then to tease you for it. It was far too tempting: one handsome, young padawan on a ship full of bored handmaidens with nothing else to do, but stare at each other all day long. Eirtaé wanted me to steal your clothes...’ Sabé blushed, grinning. ‘...but I convinced her that might not be appropriate.’ Eirtaé... Obi-Wan honestly couldn't remember the girl. It was extremely difficult to tell them apart sometimes, especially when they wore veils or covered their faces with large hoods. ‘Steal my clothes?’ He couldn't believe the things he was hearing. ‘And here I was: a naive padawan, with preconceived notions of handmaiden propriety...’ he lightly teased back, his hand finding its way to her waist. ‘It appears I was wrong.’ Sabé gasped in amused mock offence, ‘I showed handmaiden propriety!’ She playfully pushed his hand away from her waist as if to showcase how proper she was. ‘I could have taken your clothes. They were right there, while you were in the ’fresher—’ She clamped a hand over her mouth, admonishing herself for nearly admitting that she had seen him out of his Jedi clothing. ‘You don't mean to tell me—’ It seemed Sabé had this uncanny ability to take him off guard at every turn. He felt that years had been stripped away and he was that reckless young padawan again, unused to the stares from those beautiful girls; mainly from the decoy queen whom he later found to be Sabé herself. ‘You and your fellow handmaidens were spying on me too?’ He feigned offence, but took her hand which she had used to push his away. ‘While I was showering!’ His younger self would have died of embarrassment to learn all of the young handmaidens had peeked in on him. His present self was fairing little better though he still held her hand. A blush rose in his cheeks at the thought. ‘We were not spying!’ Sabé exclaimed, smiling at his impertinent comment about spying. She wrestled with him slightly, nervous that he was grabbing her hand to tickle her. ‘Well, they weren't spying,’ she said, still trying to escape his grasp, ‘and I was spying...by accident.’ ‘Is that so?’ Obi-Wan replied, chuckling to find out she had accidentally snuck a peek. When she fought him slightly, his other hand moved to attack her waist, playfully. ‘I would say, that's hardly fair...I didn't get a chance to wander in on you—’ Squealing in exhilarated laughter, Sabé fought against his playful touch, straining to get away from him but hoping against hope that it would never end. ‘You are such a…a…’ ‘A what?’ ‘A scoundrel!’ She struggled ineffectively, attempting to win the battle. ‘A scoundrel?’ Obi-Wan had a hard time catching his breath, he was laughing so hard. He felt that familiar heat rush through him at her touch. He liked the almost dishevelled look about her as she pushed against him; it was so different from her normally resigned and collected appearance. ‘It wouldn't have mattered,’ she panted from exertion, ‘since you wouldn’t have been able to. We took turns guarding the door.’ ‘Ah, but Jedi are sneaky. And I could have used a mind trick on the guards...’ He cocked his head to the side, grinning boyishly at her. She frowned at him slightly, momentarily thwarted by his very obvious statement that if he really had wanted to sneak a look at Rabé, Eirtaé, or herself, he had the abilities to do so. She rolled her eyes as her retaliation plan formed in her mind. She had a pattern of exchanging teasing remarks and banter with the Jedi and this was war. Ending her struggle against him, she slid in closer with a silky sensuality, running her hands along his arms until they met the bend in his elbows. ‘A Jedi might have the stealth of movements,’ she said, cocking an eyebrow at him suggestively, deciding to give him a full-on assault, ‘but he lacks a woman's insatiable curiosity.’ She pressed her body close to his, bending her knees slightly to rub against him, then straightened gracefully pulling her hands along his side. ‘What would you do with a room full of naked handmaidens, anyway?’ she purred softly, expecting him to back away nervously, coughing and sputtering, at her daring actions. At first he figured she had surrendered, but then her quick wit was back to take another jab at him. She was challenging him! Obi-Wan couldn't help the heat rising once again in his cheeks, not at the thought of a room full of naked girls, but at her vicinity. She was so close to him; and it made him want to embrace her, to touch her, kiss her... Unlike his untrained, younger self, he wouldn't laugh his way out of this. His gaze was transfixed on hers. He didn't say anything at all. For a moment, he just looked at her. Obi-Wan didn't think he would ever tire of looking at her. Everything Sabé encompassed and all the little quirks he had come to learn about this past month had just attracted him all the more. It was no use denying how much he wanted to be with her. He reached out to touch her cheek and then ever-so-carefully leant over to place a tender kiss on her lips. Sabé blinked in shock when Obi-Wan leaned in and kissed her. Of all the things she thought he might do, kissing her was not in the remotest of possibilities in her mind. This entire month, he had successfully avoided much physical contact at all within the hut. Her heart pounded in her chest as she meekly kissed him back, terrified of this unfamiliar territory. The touch of his lips was so soft, so gentle... She lost track of space and time as her body responded to the stimulus. Breathing in deep and enjoying the chemical sensations coursing through her body, she allowed herself to slip carelessly into sublime relaxation. She pushed forward to kiss him deeper, bringing her hand to his bearded face to caress him tenderly. Obi-Wan hadn't thought this through and now she was kissing him back. This warmth of sincerity, affection, radiated from her touch, her taste... Gently following her lead, his other hand ventured to her waist again, but only to draw her flush against him, relishing in her propinquity. In truth, he hadn't been so close to another person before. And kissing? He had only ever dreamt of it, but he had always pushed away that longing. Now it was really happening and it was almost as if his mind couldn't wrap around it. It was all so overpowering. Obi-Wan hadn't been thinking of anything aside from the impulse which drove him to kissing her. And now doubt slipped in. He was unsure of himself, which was something he hadn't truly experienced since his days of padawan training, but it somehow made sense that he should feel like this now. They hadn't ever covered kissing... When he pulled back, he looked at her, smiling and hoping he had not gone about it the wrong way. He also secretly hoped he wasn’t completely inept because he had so enjoyed kissing her that he didn’t want it to be the last. Gazing on her, another feeling of unworthiness seeped in, but instead of apologising, he left a hand tangled in her locks as he breathed, ‘Sabé…’ Her heart pounding in her ears, Sabé breathed deep to inhale the blissful feelings that wrapped around the pair like multicoloured vapour as he pulled away from her. It was a dream; a beautiful, wonderful dream. Her eyes met his and she looked at the Jedi with uncertainty, not knowing what the proper action was after their kiss. Was she to say something profound? I have longed for this day for an eternity... Offer to make him tea? Her eyes darted to the half-prepared items on the kitchen counter. Should she just smile and continue cooking? She opened her mouth as if to ask him a question, then closed it and stood silently, her eyes cast downward. Against her will, her cheeks flushed violet, painting her insecurities across her face. ‘I certainly don't need a room full of handmaidens,’ Obi-Wan murmured, ‘just you.’ And despite not having thought it through and not in the least expecting to say something, the words just naturally spilled out of him as if he had been waiting an eternity to say them. He meant it too, with his entire heart. He could sense she was nervous as well and though he could try to find a centre, to calm his thoughts, he didn't want to. All of this was so new and exciting, but all positive. Blushing similarly to the time she returned his lightsaber to him all those years ago, he asked, ‘May I kiss you again?’ Sabé was overwhelmed by his words, she blushed deeper with the sudden image of him walking in and selecting her from the room of unclothed handmaidens. Why do my thoughts stray to the border of indecency when I am around him? It was too... wonderful... to be real. She had always been so sure that the Jedi Code restricted romantic actions of any kind, assuming that her heart’s desire would remain eternally just out of reach. Perhaps he had finally let down his guard enough to love her in return. She closed her eyes dreamily at his question and then slowly opened them again. ‘I would like that,’ she said. ‘You would?’ he asked, almost unbelieving at first. Obi-Wan didn't bother attempting to contain his joy, perfectly beaming at her leant over to kiss her again. This time, he relaxed into the serenity she so often elicited from within him. It was hard to describe what he was feeling as they kissed. It wasn't that he was losing part of himself in her; but that she awoke in him what he never knew existed before, as if another part of him had been dormant and was now brought to life. All of the waiting, dreaming, hoping for something he didn't ever think was possible was worth it, for she was here with him now, and he wanted to savour this moment forever. Fairly certain of the future, Qui-Gon’s spirit momentarily looked on, sensing the peace they emitted. There would still be time for Obi-Wan to resume his training, but for now, he was thankful Obi-Wan had found the tranquillity he had struggled for since Anakin’s fall. He faded back into the Force essence until the time came, assured that young Skywalker would be looked after by two of the most capable people. After all, there was still a chance the Sith would fall, freedom would be restored, and the Jedi Order would reform its ways. ‘Happy solstice,’ Sabé whispered when they paused between kisses. ‘The first of many, I hope,’ Obi-Wan replied, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear. This would work, he was sure of it now. Leaning down, he murmured, ‘I love you,’ before kissing her again. The Winter Solstice was a time of renewal and of second chances. Surely this was theirs.

Earth-4213

when canon is your playground, you fling yourself off from the swings onto the climbing frame and yell loudly

aka I needed somewhere to dump this timeline for my Marvel fanfiction universe lmao,, this is still kind of WIP (as I post, there is a bit of a gap in the dates where logically things COULD happen and also it's kinda fluid, y'know)

also very much focuses on characters I like because I'm like that

1940s

- Steve Rogers becomes Captain America. Disappears three years later.

- Bucky Barnes (who served as Cap’s sidekick) goes missing the same time – taken by HYDRA and gets Winter Soldier’d.

1970s-1980s

- An ‘original’ Avengers is formed. Members include Ant-Man (Hank Pym), Wasp (Janet Van Dyne) and Black Panther (T’Challa’s grandfather). Headed by Nick Fury Sr. Have to break up because of too much government interference in their work. No other real hero teams form in this time.

- Matt Murdock has the accident that blinds him.

- Young Peter Quill is abducted by the Ravagers moments after his mother’s death.

1990s

- Charles Xavier opens his school for mutants mid-90s. The X-Men is formed a few years later.

- Marc Spector is admitted to a youth psychiatric hospital until he’s eighteen. Is in and about for much of the next decade after.

- Frank Castle marries his wife, serves his first tour with the army.

2000-2004

- Fantastic Four are formed.

- Bruce Banner is involved in the accident that turns him into the Hulk.

- Tony Stark becomes Iron Man.

2005-2010

- Tony Stark openly admits to being Iron Man.

- Luke Cage is experimented on whilst in prison and is given his powers.

- Steve Rodgers is found and brought off ice (2008)

- Marc Spector’s father dies. He later joins the army to escape home. (2009)

- Avengers mark 2 is formed by Nick Fury Jr (2010) – Iron Man, Cap, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow make up the core team.

- Wilson Fisk starts to climb up in the criminal underworld of New York.

- Jessica Jones finally manages to break free of the hold the Purple Man has had one her for the last five years

2011

- Hawkeye (Clint Barton) joins the Avengers, after being a brief antagonist of them.

- Nelson & Murdock’s law firm is formed.

- Daredevil comes onto the scene.

- Peter Parker is fifteen and bitten by a radioactive spider after a visit to Oscorp. Spider-Man is born!

- Uncle Ben dies :(

- Marc Spector is discharged from the army after they find out his mental health past. Found by Frenchie and becomes a mercenary for hire.

- Danny Rand arrives back in New York after a 20+ year absence/disappearance, with the powers of the Iron Fist.

2012

- Frank Castle returns home after his third tour, on leave until further notice after an intense mission. Six months later, his family is killed, and he becomes the Punisher. Three months on, he is put on trial for killing those responsible and is arrested.

- Marc Spector returns to New York with the Moon Knight alias, after being brought back to life by Khonshu.

- First modern sighting of the Winter Soldier.

- Jessica Jones starts Alias Investigations

2013

- Frank Castle escapes from prison and becomes the Punisher full time.

- After an encounter with Castle not long after his escape, Billy Russo becomes Jigsaw.

- Scott Lang is released from prison and, through a series of events, ends up becoming the new Ant-Man under the guidance of Hank Pym. Later joins the Avengers, along with Hank and Janet Van Dyne’s eldest daughter, Hope, who becomes the new Wasp.

- Sam Wilson joins the Avengers.

- Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Danny Rand and Matt Murdock team up properly for the first time. Jessica and Luke start dating not long after.

2014

- Clint Barton leaves the Avengers due to disagreements, fakes his own death, and takes up the anonymous mantle of Ronin in the meantime.

- Kate Bishop takes up the Hawkeye alias with the formation of the Young Avengers.

- Bucky Barnes is un-brainwashed (??) and given a government pardon. Semi-works with the Avengers, mostly with Steve and Sam. Mostly trying to recover.

2015

- David ‘Micro’ Lieberman is fired from his job after leaking company info and exposing them. Enforcers come for him and severely injure his son. Micro fakes his own death then tracks down the Punisher to work with him, seeking revenge.

- Age of Ultron-y stuff

2016

- After it comes out that he didn’t actually die, Clint Barton rejoins the Avengers and begins working alongside Kate Bishop, both using the Hawkeye name.

2018

- Peter Parker, now graduated from college and dating Mary Jane Watson, starts teaching science at a local high school.

2019

- Miles Morales (fourteen years old) is one of Peter’s students and has an oddly similar encounter with a radioactive spider. Peter realises this and takes him under his wing, offering support and training him to be another Spider-Man.

- Due to several ~mysterious gas leakages~ around the world, more and more Inhumans are popping up. This includes Kamala Khan, who becomes the new Ms Marvel.

Hey look I finally made a proper ref for my first Wings of Fire OC! Name: Solar Flare (sometimes is called just 'Flare') Tribe: Skywing/Nightwing hybrid Age: 12 (22 in human years) Personality: A bit shy and quiet, but once she gets to know someone she can be very talkative and outgoing. She studies very hard and enjoys reading. Because her parents are both doctors she knows a lot about medicinal herbs, and enjoys gardening as a hobby. Info: Solar Flare lives in the Sky Kingdom with her mother and father, and works as a detective for Queen Ruby or whoever else needs her help. She was born under 1 full moon and hatched with the power of premonition. However, since she is a hybrid, her powers don't work in the typical way. Instead of being able to see the future, she can only see the past. She doesn't have a lot of control over her visions, they tend to come randomly when she is touching something or someone that has a strong connection to an event in the past. As a dragonet she would have visions of the past here and there, about various things, and at first her mother thought they were things that were going to happen in the future. However, she once touched a spear that her father used during the war, and had a vision of how he got some of his scars. After that, her parents figured out that her powers worked differently then normal. When Solar Flare was born, the Nightwings had already been living in the rainforest for awhile, so there were a few teenage dragons that had future sight living there. Flare's mother brought her to them in an attempt to have her try and learn more about her powers, but since the others could see the future and not the past, she wasn't able to learn much. After about a month or so of trying they returned to the Sky Kingdom, and Flare decided to just practice on her own and master her powers as best as she could. As an adult, she now has a pretty decent understanding of her powers, though she cannot trigger past visions consistently yet. They tend to happen on their own, and always when she is touching something of significance to the past event she is investigating. As a dragonet, she had the habit of wearing gloves so that she wouldn't constantly be bombarded with random visions of the past while living her daily life, but as an adult, she has learned to avoid/stop visions if she is touching something she doesn't want to investigate, such as a bowl or piece of food, etc. ----------- Her mother and father met after the war ended and the Skywing kingdom was being rebuilt. Queen Ruby brought in healers from other tribes to teach the Skywings about medicine. Her father was a Skywing nurse who ended up being tutored by a Nightwing doctor....and then Solar Flare happened. :3 Condor: He was a soldier in the Sandwing War, and while he was a strong and reliable fighter, he never seemed to outshine any of his peers, and so was never promoted to an important rank. During one battle against Icewing forces, he accidentally revealed the hiding place of his troop, and many of his comrades were severely injured. After the Icewings were driven back, his troop leader commanded him to go after them, but Condor disobeyed, and instead stayed to try and help the wounded soldiers any way he could. He felt guilty that it was his fault they had been hurt so badly, and he wanted to do something about it. Thanks to his efforts, many of the soldiers that would have died from blood-loss were saved. However, since he had not only revealed them to the enemy, but also disobeyed the orders of his superior, he was discharged from duty and was stationed as a watchman at the Skywing Palace instead. After Queen Ruby came into power and converted the arena into a hospital for wounded soldiers, Condor was one of the first to volunteer to help. He only worked there for a short time before he met Plaguebringer, a doctor from the Nightwing tribe who had been brought in to help teach the Skywings more advanced medical procedures...

Plaguebringer: She was born on the volcano, and typical of Nightwing dragonets living there, she had a rough, unpleasant childhood. Her only escape from the world around her was in scrolls and studying for her classes. As she grew older, she developed an interest in medicine, and decided to apprentice under one of the Nightwing doctors. She quickly became a valuable asset to their medical team, and for the first time in her life, she didn't dread waking up every morning. However, that changed when the Nightwings began taking Rainwing prisoners hostage. She hated living at the volcano, but as a doctor she couldn't stand seeing anyone in pain, Nightwing or otherwise. She had seen too much suffering growing up, and didn't want to be a part of the Rainforest takeover in any way. The small team of doctors were often called upon to tend to accidental venom injuries during the early stages of the abductions, but Plaguebringer refused to help heal any Nightwings hurt by the venom, as she thought 'they deserved it.' However, as more and more Rainwings were brought to the island, the doctors had to start treating them, too, for things like sores, cuts, infections, and sometimes even broken bones if they had struggled against their captors too much. Many Nightwing doctors didn't want to take time to help the Rainwings, as they thought they were worthless anyway, and didn't want to waste their supplies on them. Plaguebringer was disgusted by this, and so she sought permission from the queen to collect her own supplies on her own time, and heal the Rainwings when she was off duty. Queen Battlewinner thought this was a waste, but she allowed it, as she thought that the extra practice may end up improving Plaguebringer's skills for the Nightwing tribe. After the war was over and the Nightwings moved to the Rainforest, some of the Rainwings remembered her from their time as captives, and were thankful to her for her help and kindness. However, those that did not know her were scared of her because of her name. Due to this, she started asking everyone to simply call her 'Dr.Bringer'. After all, a doctor named Plaguebringer sounded a bit sinister! Not long after the relocation of the Nightwing tribe to the Rainforest, an ambassador from the Sky Kindom arrived seeking doctors to help train the volunteers at the new hospital. Plaguebringer decided to go, as she was eager to see more of the world after being trapped on the volcano for most of her life. At the Sky Kingdom, she was assigned 3 dragons to train, one of whom was named Condor. As time went on, Plaguebringer was impressed by Condor's work ethic, as he always stayed extra late to help patients, and always volunteered to gather supplies. The two of them became close friends, and eventually mates...

Episode Reviews - Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 3 (6 of 6)

Carrying on our run of episode reviews for Star Trek: The Next Generation, it’s time to look at the last two episodes of the show’s third season.

Episode 25: Transfigurations

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

The Enterprise discovers a crashed escape pod in an unexplored star system. Investigating, they find there is one critically injured passenger in the pod, and the crew brings him aboard the ship. Dr Crusher determines the survivor will live due to the stranger's own amazing recuperative powers. Crusher also notes that the survivor's cells are mutating in some way.

 A couple of days later the stranger finally awakens, but has no memory of his life or identity. The crew decides to call him "John Doe". Some time passes and John has recovered physically, but still has amnesia. In addition, from time to time he suffers from severe pain which is somehow tied to his ongoing mutation. He also begins emitting strange, bright energy bursts. John soon learns that he is able to use this energy to heal injuries, as witnessed by Crusher when he aids a patient in her Sickbay.

 In the meantime, Geordi La Forge has determined the pod the Enterprise discovered was a kind of storage device. Geordi is also able to interpret a star chart and find the location of John's home planet. However, John's memory has begun to return, and he senses that he must not go back to his home planet yet. A day or so later, a vessel intercepts the Enterprise, and John declares he has to leave. He tries to steal a shuttle and an energy burst accidentally knocks Lieutenant Worf from a walkway, resulting in a fatal fall to the floor below due to a broken neck. John then uses his healing powers to revive Worf and heal his injuries. Prevented from escaping, John explains that he wanted to leave as he is becoming a danger to himself and the crew.

 Captain Sunad of the intercepting ship communicates with the Enterprise, announcing he is from the planet Zalkon and that he wants John returned to him. He explains that John is a criminal who has been given a death sentence. Captain Picard considers the situation, but refuses to release John to the Zalkonians without more information as to the charges. He contacts the other ship and mentions John's strange powers, which alarms Captain Sunad. Sunad immediately triggers a device which causes the entire Enterprise crew to become unable to breathe. John resists the device and heals everyone aboard the Enterprise with one bright flash of his energy.

 His memory now restored, John transports Sunad to the Enterprise using his powers. John explains that his race has reached a new stage in evolution, in which they are evolving into beings of energy. His homeworld's government fears what is happening and, telling the population it is a deadly sickness, kills any who show the signs of change; John and others aboard the ship were escaping from their homeworld when attacked. John then becomes the first to complete the transformation, becoming invulnerable.

 John offers to help Sunad make this transformation as well, but Sunad still refuses. John sends Sunad back to his own ship, warning him that their government can no longer keep their people in ignorance. The Zalkonian ship then leaves the area. John bids the crew good-bye, transforms into energy and departs the ship. While it's not known where John went, the implication is that John left for his homeworld so that other Zalkonians would have the chance to evolve and join him.

Review:

As with quite a few other TNG episodes I’ve reviewed to date, we’re getting a lot of story or concept theft from the world of Marvel’s X-Men.  The whole concept of the guest alien undergoing a sudden evolutionary change and exhibiting powers beyond their control reads like a classic X-Men storyline if ever there was one, and I have to wonder if Star Trek would have even made the effort a few years later once the classic X-Men animated series began to air.  That being said, the episode isn’t bad; it’s just fairly unoriginal, save for some of the effect the guest character has on Geordi by making him more confident with women.  This was a good, and long overdue, development for Geordi considering he was trying to convince Reg Barclay he was ‘just shy’ a few episodes back. Yeah, um, if Barclay’s ‘just shy’, Mr La Forge, then you should be a totally confident lady-killer by comparison. Since La Forge doesn’t become that until his contact with “John Doe”, maybe he should have chosen his words in ‘Hollow Pursuits’ more carefully.  This kind of inconsistency is where TNG’s general aversion to larger story arcs is basically showing through.  End score on this episode, 7 out of 10.

Episode 26: The Best of Both Worlds (Part 1)

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

The Starship Enterprise responds to a distress call from a Federation colony and arrives to discover the colony gone. The Federation suspect the Borg, cybernetic humanoids that the Enterprise crew encountered over a year ago (in the episode ‘Q Who’).

 Starfleet Admiral Hanson arrives onboard the Enterprise with Lt. Commander Shelby, an expert on the Borg, who assists the crew in determining the cause of the colony's disappearance. Hanson informs Captain Picard that Commander Riker has been offered the command of a starship and suggests that Riker take the position, having turned it down twice previously. Although there is tension between Riker and the ambitious Shelby, who wants to take over Riker’s position of first officer, they confirm that the colony was attacked by the Borg. Hanson advises Picard that another Federation vessel encountered a strange "cube-like" vessel before sending a distress call that ended abruptly. Enterprise moves to intercept and confronts a Borg cube.

 The Borg demand that Picard surrender himself, which he refuses and is puzzled by; during the initial encounter the year before, the Borg showed no interest in the ship’s screw. Although initially deterred by Enterprise's shield modulation, the Borg lock the vessel in a tractor beam and begin cutting into the hull. Shelby suggests randomly changing the frequency of the ship's phasers to prevent the Borg from adapting to the attack, which frees the vessel. The Enterprise escapes to a nearby nebula, where Lt. Commander La Forge and Ensign Wesley Crusher adapt a technique suggested by Shelby to modify the deflector dish to fire a massive energy discharge capable of destroying the Borg cube. The Borg flush Enterprise from the nebula, board the ship, and abduct Picard. The Borg Cube moves at high warp speed towards Earth, with Enterprise in pursuit.

 Riker, now in command of the ship, prepares to join an away team to transport to the cube to rescue Picard, but Counsellor Troi reminds him his place is now on the bridge. Shelby leads the away team onto the Borg cube, where they are ignored by the Borg drones. The team locate Picard's uniform and communicator and then destroy power nodes inside the cube, forcing it out of warp. As the team prepares to transport to Enterprise, they see Picard has been turned into one of the Borg (the first time is seen to have been ‘assimilated’ by the Borg). The Borg contact Enterprise, with Picard stating that he is "Locutus of Borg" and to prepare for assimilation. Riker orders Worf to fire the deflector dish.

Review:

When it comes to episodes that have an impact on their own show and the wider franchise where there is one, ‘The Best of Both Worlds’ holds such status for The Next Generation, and rightly so.  Not only is it well-performed, but it brings back the best original villains TNG had produced up to this point, namely the Borg, and used them in a way that fundamentally redefined them and the show that created them in equal measure.  As a tech-obsessed threat, the Borg couldn’t have gone very far, since there’d only be so many times you could put the ‘tech’ (namely the Enterprise itself) in danger.  Having them develop to also be interested in people and the concept of assimilation driving that suddenly makes the Borg all the more terrifying as opponents, and when they assimilate the commanding officer from the show’s main cast, forcing the first officer to make a very harsh command decision, the show really does seem to be going where no one has gone before.

 This episode is where TNG stopped being compared back to the original show all the time and everyone started to accept it as its own part of the wider Trek franchise.  A good thing too, since a lot of what gets put into this episode and its sequel impacts down through this series and its spin-offs.  It’s also an interesting Riker story because we’re finally looking at why Riker keeps passing up one promotion after another, only for him to suddenly be forced into the command role against his will. Granted, we’ve seen Riker pass up promotions before, but they’ve always done this mid-season and without really focusing on it very well.  This time, it’s at the end of a season, and that means the cliff-hanger becomes all the more tense for the first-time viewer.  At this point, it’s a toss-up whether Picard is saved and the status quo maintained, or Riker becomes Captain of the Enterprise with Shelby as first officer and Picard lost.

 I’m not sure what else I can say at this point, especially considering that there’s a part 2 that needs something in its review when I start tackling the next season.  So, for now, I’ll close out by handing down a score of 9 out of 10. This episode gets a lot of points for being game-changing, but it’s Trek without much issue exploration, and I’m always reluctant to elevate Trek episodes that lack such added depth based on impact and performances alone.

Investigative report offers up-close look at Jacob Blake shooting in Wisconsin

New Post has been published on https://appradab.com/investigative-report-offers-up-close-look-at-jacob-blake-shooting-in-wisconsin/

Investigative report offers up-close look at Jacob Blake shooting in Wisconsin

Laquisha Booker had made such calls before, according to an investigative report by Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley, who on Tuesday outlined a review of more than 40 hours of video and hundreds of documents in an effort to determine what happened the day of the shooting.

Booker’s emergency call at 5:10 p.m. on August 23 concluded with Rusten Sheskey, a White Kenosha Police officer, shooting Blake, a 29-year-old Black man who was left paralyzed from the waist down.

The district attorney said he hoped the Blake shooting leads to a “complicated conversation” that permits “all points of views and allows for all the parties — even those that feel so disenfranchised — to have a voice.”

But criminal charges against Sheskey would be hard to prove, according to Graveley. It would be difficult to convince a jury the officer did not “reasonably believe that the shooting at Jacob Blake was necessary to prevent being stabbed … or necessary to prevent someone else from being in imminent danger of death or great bodily harm.”

“This case is really all about self-defense and can it be proven that it does not exist,” he said.

That Sheskey and two other officers were on a domestic disturbance call was “urgently important,” Graveley wrote in the report.

“They knew they were responding to a domestic disturbance and they knew the man who was the subject of the call, Jacob Blake, had a warrant for his arrest from a prior incident where he was charged with domestic violence offenses and a sexual assault. Every decision the officers made during this incident, in response to this call, must be interpreted in light of those facts.”

Blake’s attorneys maintain their client did not pose a threat to police and the decision to not charge the officer fueled the community’s longstanding distrust of the justice system.

Mother of Blake’s children said she feared he would crash her vehicle

Graveley’s investigative report and comments he made Tuesday provided the most detailed account of events leading up to the shooting.

On the 911 call, Booker told a dispatcher that Blake had taken the keys to an SUV she had rented. She feared he would crash it.

Blake, she told the dispatcher, was “not supposed to be here. Today is his son’s birthday, so I allowed him to spend a couple hours with him, but he’s not giving me the keys to this rental. And that’s all I’m asking for.”

“Is Jacob there right now?” the dispatcher asked.

“Yes and he is trying to kiss his kids, so he can hurry up and leave. He was here talking all types of crazy and now he’s walking off now. Now he’s getting ready to leave.”

She provided the plate number and repeated that Blake was kissing his children.

“He’s is pulling off right now,” she said.

Officer says Blake ripped off Taser wires

The primary officers who responded to the call were Sheskey and Brittany Meronek, who arrived in a marked Kenosha Police Department SUV. Another officer, Vincent Arenas, was the backup. The police department did not provide its officers with body cameras at the time of the shooting.

On a computer screen in their squad cars, the officers learned the complainant said Blake was not supposed to be at the home and had taken the keys to her rented Dodge SUV. They also learned Blake had a felony warrant for domestic violence, disorderly conduct and a felony sexual assault.

Sheskey told investigators that, as he approached a man on the street, a woman screamed: “It’s him! It’s him! He has my keys! It’s my car! It’s registered to me!”

“I’m taking the kid and I am taking the car,” the officer recalled the man saying.

“Let’s talk about this,” the officer told the man, according to the investigative report.

Sheskey said he saw the man place a child in the back seat. He told investigators he was confident the man was Blake. Sheskey said he grabbed the man’s arm to arrest him and mentioned the warrant.

Blake reached for his “waistline area” at one point, according to Sheskey, who said he believed the man was going for a weapon. Sheskey discharged his Taser but Blake broke the wires with his hand.

Sheskey said he then placed the Taser’s metal ends in the area of Blake’s neck and back — a technique known as “drive stun” intended to cause pain but not incapacitate — but the suspect again slipped away. When Sheskey tried to take Blake down, both men fell to the ground. They got back up and Blake moved to the front of the SUV.

“Stop resisting!” Sheskey said he told Blake numerous times. He said he also made numerous other verbal commands.

“He has a knife! Knife! Knife!” the officer — who had not seen the weapon at that point — said he heard someone say. Sheskey said he pulled out his gun.

‘I ain’t going to pull no knife on no damn cop’

Blake told investigators from his hospital bed that he put his children in the back of the SUV after an argument with their mother. Booker had rented the SUV for him to use while his car was in a repair shop. He said he had a knife and believed the blade was still enclosed, but dropped it to the ground when he was first grabbed by Sheskey.

“Why would I pull a knife on a cop?” said Blake, who spoke with investigators days after the shooting and then again in September. “What am I? A knife thrower? I ain’t going to pull no knife on no damn cop.”

He added, “That’s just stupid. I just didn’t want to…I just grabbed it, man, honestly.”

Blake told investigators that he later picked up the knife after dropping it during the tussle with the officer.

Blake said he wanted to “drop” the knife in the car and did not intend to use it. He was thinking: “Get in the truck or they are going to kill you,” according to his statement. He said he opened the driver’s side door to put the knife in the center console when he felt his shirt being pulled.

Blake said “he did not point the knife at anyone; he did not swing the knife at anyone; he did not make any forward motion towards anyone with the knife; and he did not raise the knife towards anyone,” according to the report. “Jacob Blake stated that he did not hold the knife in a way which could be interpreted as being pointed towards anyone, especially the officer.”

He believed he was trying to get rid of the knife when he was shot, according to Blake’s statement.

Sheskey says he ‘feared Blake was going to stab him’

Sheskey told investigators he first saw the knife as Blake moved across the front of the SUV. He ordered him to drop it. Blake then headed for the driver’s side door.

“I don’t know what he is going to do,” Sheskey recalled thinking to himself at the time, according to his account to investigators.

“Is he going to hurt the kid? Is he going to take off in the vehicle? Will we have to pursue the vehicle with a child inside of the car? Is he going to hold the child hostage? Are his actions going to put others at risk?”

As Blake tried to get in the SUV, Sheskey said he grabbed and pulled the man’s shirt. Sheskey told investigators that Blake then “turned his torso right to left” toward the officer. The knife was now in Blake’s right hand, moving toward the officer’s torso, Sheskey told investigators. The officer said he fired his weapon and did not stop until he saw Blake drop the knife in the SUV’s floorboard.

Sheskey said he “feared Jacob Blake was going to stab him with the knife, but knew that he could not retreat because the child was in the car and could be harmed, taken hostage, or abducted by Jacob Blake,” according to the investigative report.

“Step it up. Shots fired. Shots fired,” Meronek yelled into her radio. Officers laid Blake on the ground and provided medical assistance, she said.

Witness captures part of confrontation on cell phone video

In a second-floor apartment across the street, a witness, identified in the investigative report as RW, captured part of the encounter on cell phone video. The witness told investigators that officers had Blake in a headlock and were punching him at one point. He said Blake did not go down when one officer Tased him.

In the video, Blake walked around the front of the SUV with a knife in his hand. The officers had their guns drawn. A male voice is heard yelling, “Drop the knife!” as Blake approached the door.

Moments later, seven shots are heard after Sheskey grabbed Blake’s shirt.

Attorney for Blake’s family disputes that he posed a threat

Blake had four entrance wounds to the back, and three to his left side.

“They didn’t have to shoot me like that,” he said. “I was just trying to leave and he had options to shoot my tires and even punch me, Tase me again, hit me with the night stick. I work armed security and I have gotten into it with cats that are bigger than me and my first thing is, I grab my Taser first and then my baton.”

Asked by an investigator why he didn’t surrender, Blake said, “Because he instantly grabbed my hand and he was trying to put me in handcuffs and I am just like not in front of my kids, not on my kid’s birthday.”

Graveley said Blake had been named in five reports of domestic disturbances involving Booker dating to 2012. Four disputes involved vehicles. The warrant for Blake was issued last summer on criminal trespass, domestic abuse, third-degree sexual assault and other charges in a case involving the mother of his children.

On May 3, Booker told police that Blake had broken into her home, sexually assaulted her and stolen her car keys and her vehicle and her debit card. Prosecutors were unable to locate her before trial in November, according to the investigative report.

Blake pleaded guilty to two counts of disorderly conduct and domestic abuse while the third-degree sexual assault charge was dismissed, according to Kenosha County court records. A judge ordered Blake’s sentence withheld and he was placed on probation for two years.

Blake told investigators after the shooting that Booker “made up the whole thing” about the sex assault.

Investigators have not been able to speak with Booker since the day of the shooting, according to the investigative report.

The officers involved in the August call remain on administrative leave, police said.

An attorney for Blake’s family disputed that he posed a threat that day.

“There was no point in the video that is articulable for an officer to say that he was under harm at that particular point. I think that’s completely bogus and I think that is just a rationalization to try to show what is really, essentially, an intentional act,” attorney B’Ivory LaMarr told reporters shortly after Graveley’s announcement on Tuesday.

“It’s not against the law to have a knife, people have knives for a variety of different reasons. Jacob Blake is privy to having a knife,” the attorney added.

Blake family attorney Ben Crump, along with LaMarr and co-counsel Patrick A. Salvi II, expressed disappointment in Graveley’s decision.

“We feel this decision failed not only Jacob and his family, but the community that protested and demanded justice,” the attorneys said in a statement.

“Officer Sheskey’s actions sparked outrage and advocacy throughout the country, but the District Attorney’s decision not to charge the officer who shot Jacob in the back multiple times, leaving him paralyzed, further destroys trust in our justice system. This sends the wrong message to police officers throughout the country.”

Federal authorities are conducting a civil rights investigation related to the shooting.

Police union lawyer says officers ‘did an outstanding job’

Pete Deates, president of the Kenosha Professional Police Association, said in a statement: “The facts from this incident are finally known. The officers attempted to take Mr. Blake into custody by giving him verbal commands, physically struggling with him AND deploying their Tasers.

“Mr. Blake was also armed. At any time during his interaction with the officers, Mr. Blake could have and should have complied with their lawful orders. If he had, nobody, including the entire Kenosha community would have had to endure the pain and suffering that ensued.”

Police association attorney Brendan Matthews, who represented Sheskey, said the officers “did an outstanding job under challenging circumstances.”

“Officer Sheskey was presented with a difficult and dangerous situation and he acted appropriately and in accordance with his training,” his statement added.

“The video remains difficult to view but that does not change what actually occurred. False and misleading narratives to the contrary need to stop. Kenosha can and will move forward from this. That process begins now.”

Graveley said he spoke briefly with Blake before announcing his decision.

“This was a tragedy first and foremost for Jacob Blake, who still suffers from grievous injuries. These are life lasting injuries,” he said.

The prosecutor recalled telling Blake he has thought often about the lasting impact that witnessing the shooting will have on the man’s children.

“This is a tragedy for those who love Jacob Blake,” he said.

“He is a father, a son and a nephew. And I want to acknowledge and say that I really feel like the Blake family and Mr. Blake himself have tried to be real, truly positive forces in … asking the community to have peaceful but real dialogue about change that I think is necessary in this community outlined by the issues exposed in this case.”

William Bonin (1947-1966) PART ONE

William Bonin, also known as the Freeway Killer (because of the fact that his victims’ bodies were discovered along different freeways), was an American serial killer and sex offender who raped, tortured and murdered at least 21 boys and young women  between 1979 and 1980 in southern California. He is also suspected of at least 15 other murders.

William Bonin was born in Connecticut in January 1947, the 2nd of 3 brothers. His parents, Robert and Alice Bonin, were alcoholics and his father was a compulsive gambler who was also physically abusive to his wife and children. Bonin and his 2 brothers were neglected as children, often needing to be clothed by neighbours. The brothers often ended up staying with their grandfather, a convicted paedophile who had molested Bonin’s own mother (his daughter) when she was a child and teenager, and who is known to have sexually abused his 3 grandsons. When Bonin was 6, he and his brothers were placed in an orphanage by their mother, who was trying to protect them from their abusive father. This particular orphanage was known to severely discipline the children it housed with punishments including beatings, enduring different stress positions and partial drowning in sinks full of water. Although Bonin would later talk about much of his childhood and adolescence, he refused to discuss his memories of this orphanage beyond saying that he had consented to sexual advances from older boys only if they would first tie his hands behind his back. He stayed at this orphanage until the age of 9 when he returned to live with his parents in Mansfield. At the age of 10, Bonin was arrested for stealing licence plates and was placed in a juvenile detention center for other crimes. Whilst there, he was physically and sexually assaulted by several people, including his adult counsellor. 4 years later, in 1961, under the threat of foreclosure of the family home, Bonin’s parents relocated the family to California. They settled in the city of Downey, and had not lived there long when Bonin’s father died of cirrhosis of the liver. During this time, it is known that Bonin molested his younger brother as well as several neighbourhood children. Many of these children were lured to Bonin’s house with the promise of alcohol, and all of them were younger than him. Along with these molestations Bonin also committed several acts of robbery, petty theft and grand theft as a teenager.

Just after graduating high school in 1965 Bonin got engaged, largely at the request of his mother, who believed that getting married would stop her son’s obvious sexual preference for males. The same year Bonin joined the U.S. Air Force, serving 5 months of active duty in the Vietnam War as an aerial gunner, logging more than 700 hours of combat and patrol time. Bonin later stated that his experiences in Vietnam left him with the belief that human life is overvalued. Once, while under enemy fire, Bonin risked his life to save that of a wounded fellow airman, for which he received a Good Conduct Medal in recognition of his bravery. Bonin later claimed that he engaged in consensual sexual relations with both men and women in Vietnam, also admitting to sexually assaulting two fellow soldiers at gunpoint during the Tet Offensive. Bonin served 3 years in the U.S. Air Force before receiving an honourable discharge in October 1968. Following his discharge, he returned to Downey to live with his mother and shortly afterwards married his fiancée – but the couple soon divorced.

At the age of 21, on November 17, 1968, Bonin committed a sexual assault on a  young boy. He went on to commit 3 more sexual assaults on boys over the next 4 months. The 4 victims were aged between 12-18 and were all bound or restrained in some way before being forced to engage in sodomy, oral sex and suffering torture methods including bludgeoning and the squeezing of his young victims’ testicles. A few months later Bonin was arrested as he tried to restrain a 16-year-old boy he had lured into his vehicle. He was indicted on 5 counts of kidnapping, 4 counts of sodomy, 1 count of oral copulation and 1 count of child molestation against the 5 youths he had abducted and assaulted, or attempted to abduct, since the previous November. Bonin pleaded guilty to molestation and forced oral sex and was sentenced to be confined at the Atascadero State Hospital as a ‘mentally disordered sexual offender considered amenable to treatment’ in January 1971. While at the hospital, Bonin was put through a series of psychiatric examinations, which revealed that Bonin’s IQ was at least 121, and he also displayed traits of manic depression as well as damage to the prefrontal cortex (which would likely reduce his ability to contain his violent impulses). His physical examination revealed scars on his head and buttocks, which were likely received in the 3 years he was in Connecticut juvenile detention center when he was young, but Bonin claimed he had no memory of any such incidents or abuse. 2 years after arriving at the Atascadero State Hospital, Bonin was sent to prison and declared unsuitable for further treatment, due to his repeatedly forcing sexual activity on male inmates. On June 11, 1974, he was released from prison after doctors decided he was “no longer a danger to the health and safety of others.”

On September 8, 1975, Bonin met 14-year-old David McVicker hitchhiking in Garden Grove and offered him a ride to his parents’ home in Huntington Beach, McVicker agreed. Shortly after he got into the vehicle, Bonin surprised him by asking if he was gay. When McVicker asked Bonin to stop the car, Bonin produced a gun and drove him to an empty field, where he demanded that McVicker undress before beating and raping him. Afterwards, Bonin began to strangle McVicker with his own T-shirt, before immediately apologising when McVicker began to scream. He then drove his victim home before saying, “We’ll meet again.” McVicker told his mother about the rape immediately and she notified Garden Grove police. Bonin was charged with the rape and forcible oral copulation of a minor and the attempted abduction of a 15-year-old which happened 2 days after the assault on McVicker. In the second incident, Bonin sexually propositioned a 15-year-old who rejected his offer of $35 for sex. Angered by the rejection, Bonin tried to hit the youth with his car. Bonin pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to between 1 and 15 years’ imprisonment on December 31, 1975. He was released from prison on October 11, 1978 with 18 months’ supervised probation.

After his release, Bonin moved to an apartment in Kingswood Village in southeast LA, about 1 mile from his mother’s home, and began working as a truck driver for a Montebello delivery firm called Dependable Drive-Away. He established a reputation among teen boys in the neighbourhood as an extroverted person who let them hang out in his apartment and bought alcohol for minors. Bonin dated a young woman around this time and he told acquaintances he would go to Anaheim with her on Sundays to go roller skating. Not long after moving to Kingswood Village, Bonin met his 43-year-old neighbour, Everett Fraser. Bonin regularly attended Fraser’s parties and at one of them met 21-year-old Vernon Butts and 18-year-old Gregory Miley. Butts, who was fascinated with occultism, later claimed to be in awe and in terror of Bonin and admitted he enjoyed watching Bonin abuse and torture victims. Miley, who was an illiterate Texan with an IQ of 56, also actively took part in the murders he accompanied Bonin to.

Bonin would usually choose young male hitchhikers, schoolboys or male prostitutes as his victims, and they were usually between the ages of 12 and 19. They would either be lured or forced into his Ford Econoline van, where they would be overpowered and restrained, bound hand and foot with a combination of handcuffs, wire or cord. They would then be sexually assaulted, severely beaten around the face, head and genital areas, and tortured before being strangled with their own T-shirts, although some victims were stabbed or battered to death. One victim, Darin Kendrick, was forced to drink hydrochloric acid, 3 victims had ice-picks driven into their ears and 1 victim, Mark Shelton, died of shock. To prevent victims from escaping from his van, Bonin removed all the inner handles from the passenger-side and rear doors of his van. He also kept ligatures, knives, household tools and other instruments stashed around the vehicle to be used in the restraint and torture of his victims. The victims were usually killed in the van before their bodies were dumped alongside or close to various freeways in southern California. In at least 12 of the murders Bonin was helped by 1 or more of his 4 known accomplices. One attorney that was present during Bonin’s later confession said that the escalating brutality Bonin had shown toward his victims were similar to that of a drug addict needing an ever-larger dose to attain a satisfactory high. Bonin later told neurologists he felt an immense sense of excitement as he looked for victims.

The first murder that Bonin was charged with was the killing of 13-year-old Thomas Glen Lundgren, a hitchhiker. Lundgren was last seen leaving his home in Reseda at around 11am on May 28, 1979. The same afternoon, his body, wearing only a T-shirt, shoes and socks was discovered in Agoura. The autopsy showed that Lundgren had been bludgeoned on the face and head, his genitals were removed, and his skull had suffered multiple fractures. Lundgren had also been stabbed repeatedly, had his throat cut, and was strangled to death. His underwear, jeans and severed genitals were found tossed into a field nearby. During this abduction and murder Bonin was assisted by Vernon Butts, who is also suspected of assisting or accompanying Bonin on at least 8 other Freeway Killer murders. In mid 1979 Bonin was arrested for molesting a 17-year-old boy in Dana Point. This violation of his parole should have meant that Bonin was sent back to prison but an admin error that happened before Bonin’s scheduled court date meant he was released. Everett Fraser picked Bonin up from the Orange County Jail where he had been kept. Fraser later remembered that as he drove Bonin home, he made a statements that Fraser interpreted at the time as remorseful: “No one’s going to testify again. This is never going to happen to me again.”

2 months after Thomas Lundgren’s murder, on August 4, 1979, Bonin and Butts abducted 17-year-old Mark Shelton after he left his Westminster home to walk to a movie theatre near Beach Boulevard. Screams were heard near the Shelton home by neighbours, leading police to believe he was abducted by force. Shelton was violated with foreign objects including a pool cue, which caused his body to go into a state of shock that killed him. His body was discarded in San Bernardino County. The next day, Bonin and Butts met 17-year-old West German student Markus Grabs who was trying to hitchhike from Pacific Coast Highway. Grabs was tied with cord and ignition wire and driven to Bonin’s home where he was sodomised, beaten and stabbed 77 times before his naked body was dumped in Malibu Creek near Las Virgenes Canyon Road. His body was found the next morning. One investigator compared the injuries on the victim to that of a rabid dog unable to know when to stop biting. On August 27 Bonin and Butts abducted 15-year-old Hollywood resident Donald Ray Hyden. He was last seen alive walking along Santa Monica Boulevard at 1am. His body was found by construction workers the same morning in a dumpster near Ventura Freeway. Before being strangled to death, Hyden was bound, beaten sodomised and stabbed in the neck and genitalia. He was also bludgeoned about the skull. Attempts had been made to cut his throat and remove his testicles. 2 weeks after the murder of Donald Hyden, Bonin and Butts came across 17-year-old La Mirada youth David Louis Murillo cycling to a movie theatre. He was lured into Bonin’s van where he was bound, raped repeatedly, bludgeoned about the skull with a tire iron and strangled with a ligature. His nude body was tossed over an embankment into a bed of ivy next to Highway 101. 8 days after this murder, 18-year-old Robert Christopher Wirostek from Newport Beach was abducted as he was cycling to the grocery store where he worked. His body was found on 10 days later, on September 27, next to Interstate 10.

It is believed that Bonin didn’t kill again until around November 1, when he and Butts abducted and murdered a young man around 5ft10 and between 19-25 years old. He was never identified. The victim was brutally beaten and strangled to death before his body was dumped in a ditch next to Route 99, near Taft. Bonin later said he thought the victim was around 23, and admitted inserting an ice-pick into his nostrils and ear before his murder. Around 4 weeks later Bonin, alone this time, abducted and strangled a 17-year-old Bellflower boy named Frank Dennis Fox, whose body was found 2 days later next to the Ortega Highway near San Juan Capistrano. The body showed signs of massive blunt force trauma to the face and head, with ligature marks on his wrists and ankles indicating that Fox had been tied up throughout his ordeal. No clothing or other evidence to identify him was found at the scene. 10 days after Frank Fox’s murder, 15-year-old John Frederick Kilpatrick disappeared after leaving his home to meet friends. He was strangled to death before his body was dumped in Rialto. His body was found on December 13, but Kilpatrick was a John Doe until August 5, 1980. On January 1, 1980, Bonin beat and strangled 16-year-old Ontario youth Michael Francis McDonald. His fully dressed body was found next to Highway 71 in San Bernardino County 2 days after his murder but his body was not identified for 3 months.

On February 3, Bonin drove from Downey to Hollywood with 18-year-old Gregory Matthews Miley, with the intention to commit murder. The pair met 15-year-old Charles Miranda standing near the Starwood nightclub, hitchhiking along Santa Monica Boulevard. Miley later said that Bonin and Miranda had consensual sex in the rear of the van as he was driving before Bonin then told Miley, “Kid’s going to die.” Miranda was overpowered and bound by Bonin, who asked him how much money he had with him. After Miranda told Bonin he had “about $6”, he ordered Miley to take the boy’s wallet and then raped him. Miley also tried to rape the boy, but couldn’t get an erection and got frustrated. He assaulted Miley with various sharp objects before helping Bonin to beat Miranda. Bonin then strangled him to death with his own T-shirt and a tire iron as Miley jumped repeatedly on his chest. His naked corpse was dumped in an alleyway next to East Second Street in Los Angeles. 5 minutes after dumping Miranda’s body, Bonin suggested to Miley: “I’m horny again, let’s go and do another one.” Just a few hours later, the pair encountered 12-year-old James Macabe at a bus stop. Macabe was lured into Bonin’s van on the promise that he would take him to his intended location: Disneyland. Miley later said that the boy got into the back of the van voluntarily as Bonin drove to a grocery store where he parked the van and entered the back, with Macabe. Miley then drove aimlessly for what he later said was a “very, very long distance”. As he was driving, Miley could hear Macabe crying as Bonin beat and raped him, before forcing the boy to sleep in his arms. Miley then joined in as Bonin was beating the boy and crushing his neck with a tire iron because he “felt like” it. Bonin strangled Macabe to death with his own T-shirt before the pair dumped his fully clothed, badly beaten body next to a dumpster in Walnut. His body was found 3 days later. On February 4, Bonin was arrested for violating the conditions of his parole. He was remanded in custody at the Orange County Jail until March 4. 10 days after Bonin was released from custody he abducted and killed 18-year-old Ronald Gatlin. Gatlin, from Van Nuys, was abducted just after leaving a friend’s home. He was beaten, sodomised and hacked at with an ice pick to the ear and neck before being strangled. Gatlin’s body, bound hand and foot, was found the next day in Duarte. A week later, on March 21, Bonin lured 14-year-old  Glenn Barker into his van as he was hitchhiking to school. Barker was raped, beaten and strangled to death with a ligature. His body showed evidence of cigarette burns on his neck, and violation with foreign objects that had distended his rectum. At 4pm the same day, 15-year-old Russell Rugh was abducted from a bus stop in Garden Grove. Rugh was bound, beaten and strangled to death after around 8 hours of being held. His body was dumped next to Glenn Barker’s in Cleveland National Forest. The 2 nude bodies were found on March 23.

One night in March, 1980, Bonin offered 17-year-old William Ray Pugh a ride home as they both left Everett Fraser’s house. Within minutes of accepting, Bonin asked Pugh if he wanted to have sex with him. Pugh said later that he panicked and stuttered when he heard the question, and after being silent for a few minutes, he tried to leave the vehicle when it was at a stoplight. Bonin leaned across and grabbed Pugh’s collar, dragging him back into the passenger seat. Pugh said that Bonin then told him that he enjoyed abducting young male hitchhikers at the weekends, whom he restrained and abused before strangling them to death with their own T-shirts. Bonin then casually informed Pugh: “If you want to kill somebody, you should make a plan and find a place to dump the body before you even pick a victim.” Bonin then told Pugh he had not chosen to spare him out of sentiment, but because the pair had been seen leaving Fraser’s party together. Pugh was driven home without being harmed. On March 24, Bonin and Pugh abducted 15-year-old runaway Harry Todd Turner from an LA street. Turner had run away from a boys’ home in Lancaster 4 days before his meeting with Bonin and Pugh. Pugh later testified that he and Bonin lured Turner into Bonin’s van with an offer of $20 for sex. After binding, sodomising and biting the boy, Bonin forced Pugh to “beat him (Turner) up.” After Pugh bludgeoned and beat Turner around the head and body for several minutes, Bonin strangled the youth to death with his own T-shirt before dumping his body at the rear delivery door to an LA business. Turner’s autopsy showed that the boy’s genitals had been mutilated, and he had received 8 fractures to the skull inflicted by a blunt instrument before being strangled.

On April 10, Bonin abducted 16-year-old Steven John Wood as he walked to school, having been to the dentist that morning. Wood’s nude, severely beaten body was dumped in a Long Beach alleyway close to the Pacific Coast Highway. No clothes or other evidence was found at the scene. Wood’s autopsy revealed he had been killed by ligature strangulation. 3 weeks later, while parking in the grounds of a supermarket, Bonin and Butts lured 19-year-old store employee Darin Kendrick into Bonin’s van on the promise of selling him drugs. Kendrick was taken to Butts’ apartment where he was overpowered and bound. Kendrick was forced to endure sodomy and partial ligature strangulation, as well as forcing him to drink hydrochloric acid, which caused chemical burns to his mouth, chin, stomach and chest. Butts drove an ice pick into Kendrick’s ear, which caused a fatal wound to his cervical spinal cord. His body was dumped behind a warehouse near the Artesia Freeway, with the ice pick still sticking out of his ear. On May 17, Bonin abducted and killed a 17-year-old acquaintance of his, later saying he had woken up that morning and was “tired of having him around.” The body of this boy, Lawrence Sharp, was dumped behind a Westminster gas station and his body was discovered the next day. His autopsy revealed he had been bound, sodomised, extensively beaten and strangled with a ligature. 2 days after Sharp’s murder, on May 19, Bonin asked Butts to accompany him to a murder – Butts, for once, refused. Alone, Bonin abducted 14-year-old Sean King from a bus stop in Downey and dumped his body in Live Oak Canyon, Yucaipa. Bonin went to Butts’ apartment to brag about what he had just done. Just 9 days after the murder of Sean King, Bonin invited 18-year-old homeless youth James Michael Munro to move into the apartment he was sharing with his mother in Downey. Munro had been evicted from his family’s house in early 1980 and had been a drifter on the street of Hollywood ever since, so naturally took up Bonin’s offer. As was the case previously with Gregory Miley, Munro (a known bisexual who preferred females) began a consensual sexual relationship with Bonin and accepted an offer of a job at the Montebello delivery company where Bonin worked. Munro later said that he thought of Bonin as “a good guy; really normal”. However, on the evening of June 1, Bonin told Munro he wanted him to join him in the abduction, rape and murder of a teenage hitchhiker.

By the start of 1980, the Freeway Killer murders were getting massive media attention, and a $50,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of the perpetrator(s) was offered by leading gay rights activists. Bonin was collecting newspaper clippings documenting his own murders and the manhunt for him. By the stage, investigators from various jurisdictions had managed to link many of the abductions/murders and they had begun collaborating information in their hunt for the killer. 6 officers from 3 jurisdictions that the Freeway Killer had most regularly either abducted from or disposed the bodies in formed a task force dedicated to the apprehension of the suspect or suspects, who was by this time, striking at an average of once every 2 weeks in the spring of 1980. By May 1980, William Pugh was being housed at the Los Padrinos Juvenile Courthouse for auto theft and on May 29, he overheard the details of the murder spree and confided to a counsellor that he recognised the MO as being that which Bonin had described to him 2 months earlier. This counsellor reported the information to the police, who then relayed the information to an LAPD homicide sergeant named John St. John. After hearing the confidential tip, St. John met with Pugh and interviewed him extensively. Despite the fact that Pugh neglected to tell St. John he had been with Bonin for 1 of the murders, the other information he gave led to St. John deducing that Bonin may indeed be the Freeway Killer. David McVicker had also contacted authorities by this point to report his suspicions that Bonin was the killer. While his suspicions were not dismissed, they were regarded as one of just many public tips to be followed up later. A police investigation into Bonin’s background revealed his long history of convictions for sexually assaulting young boys. Detective St. John assigned a surveillance team to follow Bonin and monitor his activities. The surveillance of William Bonin began on June 2, 1980. His time was running out.

TRIGGER WARNING: ( so many gdi ) incest, teen pregnancy, child loss, death, murder, domestic abuse, mental illness, mental abuse, suicide, child abuse, neglect

okay, i think it’s safe to say i’m weak and have been wanting to rp sienna forever but just didn’t have appropriate resources. for those of you who aren’t aware ( aka most of you ) sienna is from the british soap opera hollyoaks and she is my baby.  i’m gonna list some little facts and background information. please note: she’s quite possibly the most tragic soap character i know so this is probably gonna be hella triggering so i’ll make sure to tag everything just to be safe.

sienna is very posh. a real daddy’s girl who was head girl and has a trust fund. externally she seems like the most put together person in the world.

her mother walked out on her when she was just a baby, taking mark, sienna’s twin brother and leaving sienna with her father.

several times when she was a baby, before her mother left, she’d tried to kill sienna ( & mark. ). she was very mentally unstable after mental and physical abuse from her husband patrick. she returned a few years later and told sienna and patrick that mark was dead. he wasn’t. after this she was sectioned and a restraining order was taken out.

sienna was a real daddy’s girl and lived a posh life. her father was a controlling and occasionally used to beat her as well when she did things wrong.

at thirteen she got pregnant after meeting a builders son working at a school her father was at. patrick locked her in a basement until she had then baby, which she called sophie. he took the baby and told her she’d died.

sienna wasn’t allowed to grieve for the baby she lost, or even talk about her. this really messed her up later in life, but wasn’t evident until her mid-twenties.

when she was a adult her twin brother tracked her and her dad down. he had another family in hollyoaks. they got on well at first and moved to hollyoaks to be closer to him.

whilst reconnecting with her brother sienna found comfort working at a local pub run by the osbourne family. she was a friend to husband and wife, darren and nancy osbourne. after seeing nancy getting seriously addicted to painkillers she became rather angry. long story short: she decided darren deserved better, ended up sleeping with him and then faked a pregnancy. whilst doing this she continued to make nancy look bad, drugging her with painkillers and even making her look like she’d kidnapped her own children.

she went to her biggest extreme when a kid who was staying with the osbourned ( tom ) discovered she wasn’t pregnant. she ended up locking him in a basement at her mothers old house and convincing him he’d been behind an explosion that had killed darren and the police were looking for him. she kept him there for months.

when it all came out and tom was found/ sienna was exposed she lost it. took the youngest kids and did exactly what her mother had done, tried to gas herself in the car with them in. she was stopped and arrested. nancy was found in the boot of her car after they’d fought and sienna had pushed her, causing her to hit her head.

sienna was sectioned after this. whilst in the psychiactric hospital her brother learned that ‘sophie’ hadn’t died. her dad had lied. so sienna became obsessed with finding her daughter.

after being discharged and released from prison on bail she started on a quest to find her daughter sophia. it took a while and a few interferences from her dad but soon sophia found her, sophie being a fourteen year old girl named nico.

after getting her daughter back sienna learned that nico’s father was in fact her twin brother mark. ( i’m still weirded out by this plot but yah this happened in hollyoaks ) they hadn’t known each other and barley remembered the time as they were fairly young and it was a quick meeting. after this sienna relapsed, becoming obsessed with having a perfect family for nico -- she ended up abducting her brother, chaining him to a radiator and trying to force him to marry her.

aaaand queue sectioning no.2

if you think that’s it, i’m not even finished.

her brother had to go on the run after covering for nico for an  assault/attempted murder/murder. ‘tis complicated.

after getting discharged sienna actually settles and ended up in a relationship. buuuuut she believed him to be cheating on her so her and nico went to his house, where she was attacked by a young woman. nico hit the oman over the head to protect her mum. they took her to hospital but she died on arrival.

the young woman, turned out to the daughter that her boyfriend ben hadn’t told her about. sienna decided to say nothing to protect her daughter.

nico kind of went of the rails after this and actually made sienna look sane. after patrick threatened to tell ben about nico killing his daughter, nico killed him. ( he’d been suffering from motor neurone disease so was dying -- people assumed he’d killed himself or his second ex-wife, maxine: who he’d abused had done it. )

things seemed to get better and sienna got engaged to ben, but he started acting like a dick and calling sienna bad mum so she had an affair with a guy called trevor ( who was practically ben’s biggest enemy )

nico found out, and despite the fact that sienna gwas married to ben, she ended the relationship -- causing freak-o nico to stab trevor.

sienna kicked her out and tried to get back to normal after ben took the fall for nico and went to prison. she started a fling with an ex-convict & murderer : warren fox.

when nico came back she gave her another chance but once again things went wrong and, whilst trying to learn who’d killed her father -- sienna ended up getting set up. whilst in a prison cell nico confessed to her. sienna took the wrap.

a few months later, after hearing nico was getting worse, she changed her statement and police started  looking for nico. it was halloween, sienna had ended up also looking for her to help her escape -- they ended up in a fun fair maze which was set alight by another killed ( well what can i say, it’s a soap. ) nico was killed in the fire, sienna was rescued by warren.

she blamed him for nico’s death though and went on this whole scheme to kill his son, which resulted in a burned garage and an angry warren. he let her go though.

aaaand that’s about it -- that’s where sienna is up to know. four years of pure craziness but i love her sm. she’s currently in that whole sly-cunning-grieving-looking for love stage of her life. her most recent work being that she poisoned someone.

yah she’s learned nothing.

probably still needs therapy.

but such a pretty package on the outside and so darn posh. you’d never know anything that had happened to her if you weren’t living in hollyoaks.

if you’ve made it to the bottom of this without bailing congrats. also feel free to hmu for any kind of plots. totally up for someone to come along for sienna to become a little obsessed with. and if anyone wants their life ruined -- she’s your gal!

February 2020 Free Content: "Ear Worm" by Lena Ng

Elmer, for the sixty-third time that day, hummed that stupid song in his head out loud. “Tooda do, tooda dee, tooda doodle do,” he sang. He hummed it as he filled the coffee machine. He hummed it as he took a shower. He aggravated everyone around him on the bus and while waiting in line at the Value Mart. Damn earworm, as his mother would say, for a snippet of song stuck in a mental loop. It played over and over in his mind. In some faint way, Elmer knew how annoying he was. But he couldn’t get it out of his head.

He was humming that blasted song later that evening as he was emptying the dishwasher. In the middle of the refrain—

CRASH

Something big had banged against the house. It rattled the aluminum siding. A discharge of blue light filled his country-style kitchen. Cautiously, he peered out the kitchen window.

Squinting against the blue light, Elmer stared at the smoking hole in his yard, the grass flattened and burnt. A large rock, glowing a faint blue with a surface pocked with craters and larger than his head, indented the centre of his carefully manicured yard. A meteorite with an interesting, radiation-blue glow.

Elmer’s heart leapt with excitement. A gift from the cosmos. And it could hold aliens. Aliens! All his life he had awaited their arrival. He had the tinfoil hats (which he shaped into antennae, all the better to hear them with), the bug-eyed, big-headed plastic models, and the complete series of The X-Files on DVD, lovingly watched and re-watched as he had developed—as most fans had—a fierce crush on Dana Scully. Wouldn’t it be amazing if he—Elmer P. Elmsdale—discovered extraterrestrial life?

He threw off his apron as he raced from the house. Elmer stood at the edge of the smoking hole and stooped to examine his find. A beautiful, smoking, glowing rock. As the smoke dissipated and the glow slowly dampened, Elmer extended a hand and cautiously touched the rock. Warm, but not hot. Rough. He placed a hand on either side of the rock and loosened it from his yard. It wasn’t too heavy when he picked it up and brought it back into the house.

***š›

On the coffee table, the blue light faded away at last. “Hello?” Elmer called out to the rock. “Is there anybody in there?” He studied the rock from every angle—from eye level on the coffee table, from directly overhead, from lying on the floor. He examined it with a magnifying glass. He peered into its crevasses. He poked, with a pencil, its craters. He rocked it and tapped it and turned it over and over.

Just as Elmer was about to give up and go to bed, a trio of tiny eyes on a tiny round head burst out of the rock. It was as if someone glued a triangle of plastic eyes on the head of a blue earthworm. Elmer shrank back. The worm did as well. Elmer leaned forward. “Hi, little guy,” Elmer cooed. “Don’t be frightened.”

The worm made a trilling sound as it again poked out of the rock. “Aww,” Elmer said. “You have nothing to worry about, I come in pe—”

Emitting a small cloud, the worm shot out of the rock. Elmer felt a slimy jolt and an alarming wriggle. He clapped a hand over his ear. What the heck? Damn thing invaded his ear canal. He poked in his pinky and rooted around.

<Cut that out,> the voice inside his ear said.

Elmer and his little finger halted. He plucked his finger out of his ear. “Uhh, what’s going on?”

A small, unnerving waggle. < I’m a traveller exploring the galaxy.>

“Does it have to be in my ear?”

<It’s a fast and easy way to get around. No limbs, you see. Undetectable, too. Most people are hostile to aliens, human or otherwise. All this ‘alien abduction’ and ‘they’re stealing our jobs’ business giving us a bad rap.>

Elmer thought about what the worm said, and it seemed to make sense. “What do you want me to do?”

<Just go about your day. We can start in the morning.>

Elmer went upstairs and tried to get some sleep. In the comforts of Elmer's ear canal, the worm gave a light, trilling snore.

***

Elmer staggered into the bathroom. He turned on the shower. After running for two minutes, the glass shower doors began to steam up. Worm or no worm, Elmer couldn’t help but relax while standing under the hot water. “Tooda do, tooda dee, tooda doodle do,” he sang as he soaped away.

As Elmer dried off, his singing filled the small bathroom. As he started shaving, the worm popped its head out, assessing them both in the steamy mirror. <Why are you singing that song all the time?>

“I’ve got an earworm.”

<Another one?>

“It’s deep in my brain, and I can’t get rid of it.”

Elmer felt the alien worm pop back into his ear. It squirmed, burrowing deeper. <How did it get in there?>

Elmer’s nerves went off like a five-alarm fire. “My brain? What's it to ya?”

<Just askin’. Not like we're trying to take over Earth.>

"WHAT?"

<Haha,> the worm laughed weakly with a trio of shifty eyes.

***

Elmer spent the next day announcing his exciting discovery. He called up his parents who listened patiently. He resurrected a long-abandoned blog. He posted it on Facebook and got thirty-seven “Likes.” He called NASA and left a voicemail.

Over the next week, Elmer showed the worm the town. They went to the aquarium and ogled the octopuses. They skipped on the freshly-cut grass in the park, carefree as little girls. They munched on popcorn at the movies. They browsed for avocados at the farmer's market; they puzzled over post-modern art at the gallery; they cruised through the Science Center, where, when asked about its home planet, the worm vaguely waved to the space left of Neptune.

But, after two weeks, like the saying of fish and guests, the worm overstayed its welcome. The constant tickle of the alien grew into a deep-seated itch, a rash which seemed to extend into Elmer's brain.

After another busy day of sight-seeing, an exhausted Elmer asked, while flopping on the couch, "When are you going?" The itching was slowly driving him crazy. Maybe the worm shed a protein that sensitized him over time. He had taken to walking around with a Q-tip in his ear, disregarding his ridiculousness.

In contrast, the alien worm stretched out in its comfortably-warm, ear canal abode. <Thanks for taking me around. I really like it here. I think I'll stay.>

"In my ear?"

<Why not?>

"You can't stay there."

<Why not?>

"Because you're itchy and wiggly and you talk all the time. No offense."

<You constantly hum to yourself and you smell like salami and—I don’t even have hands—but I know you scratch yourself in terrible places. No offense.>

Elmer jammed the Q-tip around in his ear. The worm stretched, dodged, and ducked. "You get out, or I'll get you out."

The worm crawled in deeper than Elmer's Q-tip dared to follow. <Make me.>

***š›

Deep in the emergency room, surrounded by impatient, suffering patients, Elmer was causing a commotion. He was screaming, "I said, get out, get out, GET OUT!" Each “get out” was punctuated with a punch, from Elmer's own fist, to the side of Elmer's own head. The triage nurse, wearing a starched white cap and uniform, pretended to review some paperwork as she inched her hand under the desk to the panic button.

Elmer realized the rest of the patients were staring at him. He snatched the paperwork from the triage desk and shuffled to an empty seat in the crowded waiting room, digging fruitlessly with his finger into the offending ear.

A few seats over, nudging his son, an annoyed dad pointed at Elmer and said in a loud stage whisper, "And that's why you don't stick anything in your ear."

The alien worm started giggling. <Guess you didn't listen to your dad.>

"You leave my dad out of this."

<Your momma…>

"YOU LEAVE HER OUT OF THIS!” Elmer roared. More shocked stares, and Elmer muttered through the side of his mouth, “Can you keep it down? Everyone thinks I’m crazy.”

<If you had some discretion, people would think you were talking on a cell phone.>

“You know about cell phones?”

<I'm a talking, travelling, interplanetary worm. We're waaaay past cell phones.>

Finally, Elmer's name was called to be assessed by the physician. A gangly, cadaverous doctor ushered him into an evaluation room with a white tiled floor and glaring fluorescent lights. After Elmer nervously settled into the examination chair, the doctor intoned, "From all the screaming and punching in the waiting room, you sound like you're having a psychotic break. How long have you been hearing voices?"

Elmer gripped the chair's padded arms like he was riding a rollercoaster at Disneyland. "I'm not crazy, just look in my effing ear!"

<Haha, earth fool. Think you can get rid of me so easily?>

"Get out of there!"

<Never!>

Humoring the bellowing, belligerent nutcase, the doctor hummed to himself as he calmly poked at Elmer's ear canal with his medical tools. His invading utensils halted. "What do we have here?" He gave an excited chuckle. "A blue-coloured parasite. Don't see one of those every day." The doctor rummaged in a drawer for a syringe of lidocaine which would kill the worm, and a stainless steel hook.

Elmer felt a shotgun blast of air as the worm burst from his ear. As though the worm had pulled a parachute's ripcord, in an eruption of tremendous growth, the alien worm transformed into a massive, three-eyed, Jabba-the-Hut-sized slugbeast. It stretched open its cavernous mouth and—

GULP

The corpse-like doctor disappeared down the alien worm's gaping black hole of a maw.

The explosion of air shot Elmer across the room. The room went black as his head bounced off a wall. He felt the cold tiles slam into his face as his cheek hit the floor.

***š›

Blink.

Blink blink.

Blink blink blink.

With the palm of his hand, Elmer smeared crusty saliva across his swollen face as he picked himself off from the floor. Surgical instruments lay scattered all around him. No one in the room but him. Elmer slowly straightened with a rusty bike-chain creak. Like the doctor said, he must've had a psychotic break. But everything was okay now. Everything was okay now. He had stopped hallucinating. No more annoying alien worm, no more massive slugbeast…

But still an itchy ear…

<Burp>

The sounds was real quiet, like a belch in church.

"How the hell are you still in my ear?" Elmer grabbed a surgical pick which looked like a thin dagger from the floor. If the alien worm was gonna eat the damn doctor, he was going to have to spear the worm himself. With the sharp pick positioned at the entrance of his ear canal, like a fencer, Elmer delicately lunged the pick to the left. Then he angled the instrument and parried to the right. All the while the worm wiggled samba. Finally, he felt the squirmy body press up against the bottom of his ear canal. He made a desperate stab and—

"AAAAAAARRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!"

Elmer had punctured his eardrum. The horrific pain was like—obviously—an icepick to the head. He squeezed his eyes shut as he clapped his hand over the injured ear. Seizing the advantage, the worm swiftly slipped slimily through the rupture and burrowed into Elmer's brain.

***š›

Staring directly ahead, in a zombie-like trance, Elmer monotonously murmured, "Tooda do, tooda dee, tooda doodle do," as he flashed the green laser light from the black-shingled roof of his house. The pattern of flashes, translated from alien Morse code, was an interstellar version of, "Come on in, the water is fine." Throughout the cosmos, an array of lights flashed back.

Satisfied its work was done, the alien worm gnawed further into Elmer's brain. Searching for a mate, it tunneled deeper, leaving chewed-out worm trails as it crawled high and low in dogged pursuit of the other, elusive, singing earworm.

About the author: Lena Ng is from Toronto, Ontario. She has short stories in close to three dozen publications, including Amazing Stories. Her 2020 forthcoming publications include Mother Ghost’s Grimm, Beer-Battered Shrimp, What Monsters Do for Love, Schlock Magazine, and The London Reader. Under the Autumn Moon is her short story collection. If you want to contact her or join her mailing list for story updates, please email: [email protected]

Thank you, Lena!